The Women of Mormondom (2024)

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By EDWARD W. TULLIDGE.

NEW YORK.

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1877.

PREFACE.

Long enough, O women of America, have your Mormon sisters beenblasphemed!

From the day that they, in the name and fear of the Lord theirGod, undertook to "build up Zion," they have been persecuted forrighteousness sake: "A people scattered and peeled from the beginning."

The record of their lives is now sent unto you, that you may have anopportunity to judge them in the spirit of righteousness. So shall yoube judged by Him whom they have honored, whose glory they have sought,and whose name they have magnified.

Respectfully,

EDWARD W. TULLIDGE.

Salt Lake City, March, 1877.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.—A Strange Religious Epic. An Israelitish Type of Woman inthe Age.

CHAPTER II.—The Mother of the Prophet. The Gifts of Inspiration andWorking of Miracles Inherent in her Family. Fragments of her Narrative.

CHAPTER III.—The Opening of a Spiritual Dispensation to America.Woman's Exaltation. The Light of the Latter Days.

CHAPTER IV.—Birth of the Church. Kirtland as the Bride, in theChambers of the Wilderness. The Early Gathering. "Mother Whitney," andEliza R. Snow.

CHAPTER V.—The Voice, and the Messenger of the Covenant.

CHAPTER VI.—An Angel from the Cloud is Heard in Kirtland. The"Daughter of the Voice."

CHAPTER VII.—An Israel Prepared by Visions, Dreams and Angels.Interesting and Miraculous Story of Parley P. Pratt. A Mystic Sign ofMessiah in the Heavens. The Angel's Words Fulfilled.

CHAPTER VIII.—War of the Invisible Powers. Their Master. Jehovah'sMedium.

CHAPTER IX.—Eliza R. Snow's Experience. Glimpses of the Life andCharacter of Joseph Smith. Gathering of the Saints.

CHAPTER X.—The Latter-Day Iliad. Reproduction of the Great HebraicDrama. The Meaning of the Mormon Movement in the Age.

CHAPTER XI.—The Land of Temples. America the New Jerusalem. DaringConception of the Mormon Prophet. Fulfillment of the AbrahamicProgramme. Woman to be an Oracle of Jehovah.

CHAPTER XII.—Eliza R. Snow's Graphic Description of the Temple and itsDedication. Hosannas to God. His Glory Fills the House.

CHAPTER XIII.—The Ancient Order of Blessings. The Prophet's Father.The Patriarch's Mother. His Father. Kirtland High School. Apostasy andPersecution. Exodus of the Church.

CHAPTER XIV.—An Illustrious Mormon Woman. The First Wife of theImmortal Heber C. Kimball. Opening Chapter of her Autobiography. HerWonderful Vision. An Army of Angels Seen in the Heavens.

CHAPTER XV.—Haun's Mill. Joseph Young's Story of the Massacre. SisterAmanda Smith's Story of that Terrible Tragedy. Her Wounded Boy'sMiraculous Cure. Her Final Escape from Missouri.

CHAPTER XVI.—Mobs Drive the Settlers into Far West. Heroic Deathof Apostle Patten. Treachery of Col. Hinkle, and Fall of the MormonCapital. Famous Speech of Major-General Clarke.

CHAPTER XVII.—Episodes of the Persecutions. Continuation of ElizaR. Snow's Narrative. Bathsheba W. Smith's Story. Louisa F. WellsIntroduced to the Reader. Experience of Abigail Leonard. Margaret Foutz.

CHAPTER XVIII.—Joseph Smith's Daring Answer to the Lord. Woman,through Mormonism, Restored to her True Position. The Themes ofMormonism.

CHAPTER XIX.—Eliza R. Snow's Invocation. The Eternal Father andMother. Origin of the Sublime Thought Popularly Attributed to TheodoreParker. Basic Idea of the Mormon Theology.

CHAPTER XX.—The Trinity of Motherhood. Eve, Sarah, and Zion. TheMormon Theory Concerning our First Parents.

CHAPTER XXI.—The Huntingtons. Zina D. Young, and Prescindia L.Kimball. Their Testimony Concerning the Kirtland Manifestations.Unpublished Letter of Joseph Smith. Death of Mother Huntington.

CHAPTER XXII.—Woman's Work in Canada and Great Britain. Heber C.Kimball's Prophesy. Parley P. Pratt's Successful Mission to Canada. ABlind Woman Miraculously Healed. Distinguished Women of that Period.

CHAPTER XXIII.—A Distinguished Canadian Convert. Mrs. M. I. Horne. HerEarly History. Conversion to Mormonism. She Gathers with the Saints andShares their Persecutions. Incidents of her Early Connection with theChurch.

CHAPTER XXIV.—Mormonism Carried to Great Britain. "Truth willPrevail." The Rev. Mr. Fielding. First Baptism in England. First WomanBaptized. Story of Miss Jeannetta Richards. First Branch of the Churchin Foreign Lands Organized at the House of Ann Dawson. First Child Borninto the Church in England. Romantic Sequel. Vilate Kimball Again.

CHAPTER XXV.—Sketch of the Sisters Mary and Mercy R. Fielding. TheFieldings a Semi-Apostolic Family. Their Important Instrumentality inOpening the British Mission. Mary Fielding Marries Hyrum Smith. HerTrials and Sufferings while her Husband is in Prison. Testimony of herSister Mercy. Mary's Letter to her Brother in England.

CHAPTER XXVI.—The Quorum of the Apostles go on Mission to England.Their Landing in Great Britain. They Hold a Conference. A HolidayFestival. Mother Moon and Family. Summary of a Year's Labor. CrowningPeriod of the British Mission.

CHAPTER XXVII.—The Sisters as Missionaries. Evangelical Diplomacy.Without Purse or Scrip. Picture of the Native Elders. A SpecimenMeeting. The Secret of Success. Mormonism a Spiritual Gospel. TheSisters as Tract Distributers. Woman a Potent Evangelist.

CHAPTER XXVIII.—Mormonism and the Queen of England. Presentation ofthe Book of Mormon to the Queen and Prince Albert. Eliza R. Snow'sPoem on that Event. "Zion's Nursing Mother." Heber C. Kimball BlessesVictoria.

CHAPTER XXIX.—Literal Application of Christ's Command. The SaintsLeave Father and Mother, Home and Friends, to Gather to Zion. Mrs.William Staines. Her Early Life and Experience. A Midnight Baptism inMidwinter. Farewell to Home and Every Friend. Incidents of the Journeyto Nauvoo.

CHAPTER XXX.—Rise of Nauvoo. Introduction of Polygamy. Martyrdomof Joseph and Hyrum. Continuation of Eliza R. Snow's Narrative. HerAcceptance of Polygamy, and Marriage to the Prophet. Governor Carlin'sTreachery. Her Scathing Review of the Martyrdom. Mother Lucy's Story ofHer Murdered Sons.

CHAPTER XXXI.—The Exodus. To Your Tents, O Israel. Setting out fromthe Borders of Civilization. Movements of the Camp of Israel. FirstNight at Sugar Creek. Praising God in the Song and Dance. Death by theWayside.

CHAPTER XXXII.—Continuation of Eliza R. Snow's Narrative. Advent of aLittle Stranger Under Adverse Circ*mstances. Dormitory, Sitting-Room,Office, etc., in a Buggy. "The Camp." Interesting Episodes of theJourney. Graphic Description of the Method of Procedure. Mount Pisgah.Winter Quarters.

CHAPTER XXXIII.—Bathsheba W. Smith's Story of the Last Days of Nauvoo.She Receives Celestial Marriage and Gives Her Husband Five "HonorableYoung Women" as Wives. Her Description of the Exodus and Journey toWinter Quarters. Death of One of the Wives. Sister Horne Again.

CHAPTER XXXIV.—The Story of the Huntington Sisters Continued. Zina D.Young's Pathetic Picture of the Martyrdom. Joseph's Mantle Falls UponBrigham. The Exodus. A Birth on the Banks of the Chariton. Death ofFather Huntington.

CHAPTER XXXV.—The Pioneers. The Pioneer Companies that Followed.Method of the March. Mrs. Horne on the Plains. The Emigrant'sPost-Office. Pentecosts by the Way. Death as they Journeyed. A Feast inthe Desert. "Aunt Louisa" Again.

CHAPTER XXXVI.—Bathsheba W. Smith's Story Continued. The PioneersReturn to Winter Quarters. A New Presidency Chosen. Oliver CowderyReturns to the Church. Gathering the Remnant from Winter Quarters.Description of her House on Wheels.

CHAPTER XXXVII.—The Martyred Patriarch's Widow. A Woman's Strengthand Independence. The Captain "Leaves Her Out in the Cold." HerProphesy and Challenge to the Captain. A Pioneer Indeed. She is Led byInspiration. The Seeric Gift of the Smiths with her Her Cattle. TheRace. Fate Against the Captain. The Widow's Prophesy Fulfilled.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.—Utah in the Early Days. President Young's PrimitiveHome. Raising the Stars and Stripes on Mexican Soil. The HistoricalThread up to the Period of the "Utah War."

CHAPTER XXXIX.—The Women of Mormondom in the Period of the Utah War.Their Heroic Resolve to Desolate the Land. The Second Exodus. Mrs.Carrington. Governor Cumming's Wife. A Nation of Heroes.

CHAPTER XL.—Miriam Works and Mary Ann Angell. Scenes of the Past.Death-Bed of Miriam. Early Days of Mary. Her Marriage with Brigham. TheGood Step-mother. She Bears her Cross in the Persecutions. A Battlewith Death. Polygamy. Mary in the Exodus and at Winter Quarters. TheHut in the Valley. Closing a Worthy Life.

CHAPTER XLI.—The Revelation on Polygamy. Bishop Whitney Preserves aCopy of the Original Document. Belinda M. Pratt's Famous Letter.

CHAPTER XLII.—Revelation Supported by Biblical Examples. TheIsraelitish Genius of the Mormons Shown in the Patriarchal Nature oftheir Institutions. The Anti-Polygamic Crusade.

CHAPTER XLIII.—Grand Mass-meeting of the Women of Utah on Polygamy andthe Cullom Bill. Their Noble Remonstrance. Speeches of Apostolic Women.Their Resolutions. Woman's Rights or Woman's Revolution.

CHAPTER XLIV.—Wives of the Apostles. Mrs. Orson Hyde. Incidents ofthe Early Days. The Prophet. Mary Ann Pratt's Life Story. Wife of Gen.Charles C. Rich. Mrs. Franklin D. Richards. Phoebe Woodruff. LeonoraTaylor. Marian Ross Pratt. The Wife of Delegate Cannon. Vilate KimballAgain.

CHAPTER XLV.—Mormon Women of Martha Washington's Time. Aunt RhodaRichards. Wife of the First Mormon Bishop. Honorable Women of Zion.

CHAPTER XLVI.—Mormon Women whose Ancestors were on board the"Mayflower." A Bradford, and Descendant of the Second Governor ofPlymouth Colony. A Descendant of Rogers, the Martyr. The Three Womenwho came with the Pioneers. The First Woman Born in Utah. Women of theCamp of Zion. Women of the Mormon Batallion.

CHAPTER XLVII.—One of the Founders of California. A Woman Missionaryto the Society Islands. Her Life Among the Natives. The only MormonWoman Sent on Mission without Her Husband. A Mormon Woman inWashington. A Sister from the East Indies. A Sister from Texas.

CHAPTER XLVIII—A Leader from England. Mrs. Hannah T. King. A Macdonaldfrom Scotland. The "Welsh Queen." A Representative Woman from Ireland.Sister Howard. A Galaxy of the Sisterhood, from "Many Nations andTongues." Incidents and Testimonials.

CHAPTER XLIX.—The Message to Jerusalem. The Ancient Tones ofMormonism. The Mormon High Priestess in the Holy Land. On the Mount ofOlives. Officiating for the Royal House of Judah.

CHAPTER L.—Woman's Position in the Mormon Church. Grand FemaleOrganization of Mormonism. The Relief Society. Its Inception at Nauvoo.Its Present Status, Aims, and Methods. First Society Building. A WomanLays the Corner-stone. Distinguished Women of the Various Societies.

CHAPTER LI.—The Sisters and the Marriage Question. The Women of UtahEnfranchised. Passage of the Woman Suffrage Bill. A Political Contest.The First Woman that Voted in Utah.

CHAPTER LII.—The Lie of the Enemy Refuted. A View of the Women inCouncil over Female Suffrage. The Sisters know their Political Power.

CHAPTER LIII.—Members of Congress Seek to Disfranchise the Women ofUtah. Claggett's Assault. The Women of America Come to their Aid.Charles Sumner About to Espouse their Cause. Death Prevents the GreatStatesman's Design.

CHAPTER LIV.—Woman Expounds Her Own Subject. The Fall. Her Redemptionfrom the Curse. Returning into the Presence of Her Father. HerExaltation.

CHAPTER LV.—Woman's Voice in the Press of Utah. The Woman's Exponent.Mrs. Emeline Wells. She Speaks for the Women of Utah. Literary andProfessional Women of the Church.

CHAPTER LVI.—Retrospection. Apostolic Mission of the Mormon Women. Howthey have Used the Suffrage. Their Petition to Mrs. Grant. Twenty-sevenThousand Mormon Women Memorialize Congress.

CHAPTER LVII.—Sarah the Mother of the Covenant. In Her the Expoundingof the Polygamic Relations of the Mormon Women. Fulfilment of God'sPromise to Her. The Mormon Parallel. Sarah and Hagar divide theReligious Domination of the World.

CHAPTER LVIII.—Womanhood the Regenerating Influence in the World. FromEve, the First, to Mary, the Second Eve. God and Woman the Hope of Man.Woman's Apostleship. Joseph vs. Paul. The Woman Nature a Predicate ofthe World's Future.

CHAPTER LIX.—Zion, a Type of "The Woman's Age." The Culminating Themeof the Poets of Israel. The Ideal Personification of the Church. TheBride. The Coming Eve.

CHAPTER LX.—Terrible as an Army with Banners. Fifty Thousand Womenwith the Ballot. Their Grand Mission to the Nation. A Foreshadowing ofthe Future of the Women of Mormondom.

CHAPTER I.

A STRANGE RELIGIOUS EPIC—AN ISRAELITISH TYPE OF WOMAN IN THE AGE.

AN epic of woman! Not in all the ages has there been one like unto it.

Fuller of romance than works of fiction are the lives of the Mormonwomen. So strange and thrilling is their story,—so rare in itselements of experience,—that neither history nor fable affords aperfect example; yet is it a reality of our own times.

Women with new types of character, antique rather than modern; themesancient, but transposed to our latter-day experience. Women withtheir eyes open, and the prophecy of their work and mission in theirown utterances, who have dared to enter upon the path of religiousempire-founding with as much divine enthusiasm as had the apostleswho founded Christendom. Such are the Mormon women,—religiousempire-founders, in faith and fact. Never till now did woman essaysuch an extraordinary character; never before did woman rise to theconception of so supreme a mission in her own person and life.

We can only understand the Mormon sisterhood by introducing them inthis cast at the very outset; only comprehend the wonderful story oftheir lives by viewing them as apostles, who have heard the voices ofthe invisibles commanding them to build the temples of a new faith.

Let us forget, then, thus early in their story, all reference topolygamy or monogamy. Rather let us think of them as apostolic mediumsof a new revelation, who at first saw only a dispensation of divineinnovations and manifestations for the age. Let us view them purely asprophetic women, who undertook to found their half of a new Christianempire, and we have exactly the conception with which to start the epicstory of the Women of Mormondom.

They had been educated by the Hebrew Bible, and their minds cast by itsinfluence, long before they saw the book of Mormon or heard the Mormonprophet. The examples of the ancient apostles were familiar to them,and they had yearned for the pentecosts of the early days. But most hadthey been enchanted by the themes of the old Jewish prophets, whosewritings had inspired them with faith in the literal renewal of thecovenant with Israel, and the "restitution of all things" of Abrahamicpromise. This was the case with nearly all of the early disciples ofMormonism,—men and women. They were not as sinners converted toChristianity, but as disciples who had been waiting for the "fullnessof the everlasting gospel." Thus had they been prepared for the newrevelation,—an Israel born unto the promises,—an Israel afterwardsclaiming that in a pre-existent state they were the elect of God.They had also inherited their earnest religious characters from theirfathers and mothers. The pre-natal influences of generations culminatedin the bringing forth of this Mormon Israel.

And here we come to the remarkable fact that the women who, with itsapostles and elders, founded Mormondom, were the Puritan daughters ofNew England, even as were their compeer brothers its sons.

Sons and daughters of the sires and mothers who founded this greatnation; sons and daughters of the sires and mothers who fought andinspired the war of the revolution, and gave to this continent a magnacharta of religious and political liberty! Their stalwart fathers alsowielded the "sword of the Lord" in old England, with Cromwell and hisIronsides, and the self-sacrificing spirit of their pilgrim motherssustained New England in the heat and burden of the day, while itsprimeval forests were being cleared, even as these pilgrim Mormonspioneered our nation the farthest West, and converted the greatAmerican desert into fruitful fields.

That those who established the Mormon Church are of this illustriousorigin we shall abundantly see, in the record of these lives, confirmedby direct genealogical links. Some of their sires were even governorsof the British colonies at their very rise: instance the ancestorof Daniel H. Wells, one of the presidents of the Mormon Church, whowas none other than the illustrious Thomas Wells, fourth governor ofConnecticut; instance the pilgrim forefather of the apostles Orsonand Parley Pratt, who came from England to America in 1633, and withthe Rev. Thomas Hooker and his congregation pioneered through densewildernesses, inhabited only by savages and wild beasts, and becamethe founders of the colony of Hartford, Conn., in June, 1636; instancethe Youngs, the Kimballs, the Smiths, the Woodruffs, the Lymans, theSnows, the Carringtons, the Riches, the Hunters, the Huntingtons, thePatridges, the Whitneys, and a host of other early disciples of theMormon Church. Their ancestors were among the very earliest settlers ofthe English colonies. There is good reason, indeed, to believe that onboard the Mayflower was some of the blood that has been infused intothe Mormon Church.

This genealogical record, upon which the Mormon people pridethemselves, has a vast meaning, not only in accounting for theirempire-founding genius and religious career, but also for their Hebraictypes of character and themes of faith. Their genius is in their veryblood. They are, as observed, a latter-day Israel,—born inheritors ofthe promise,—predestined apostles, both men and women, of the greatermission of this nation,—the elect of the new covenant of God, whichAmerica is destined to unfold to "every nation, kindred, tongue andpeople." This is not merely an author's fancy; it is an affirmation anda prophecy well established in Mormon myth and themes.

If we but truthfully trace the pre-natal expositions of this peculiarpeople—and the sociologist will at once recognize in this method avery book of revelation on the subject—we shall soon come to look uponthese strange Israelitish types and wonders as simply a hereditaryculmination in the nineteenth century.

Mormonism, indeed, is not altogether a new faith, nor a freshinspiration in the world. The facts disclose that its genius has comedown to the children, through generations, in the very blood which theinvisibles inspired in old England, in the seventeenth century, andwhich wrought such wonders of God among the nations then. That bloodhas been speaking in our day with prophet tongue; those wonderfulworks, wrought in the name of the Lord of Hosts, by the saints of thecommonwealth, to establish faith in Israel's God and reverence for Hisname above all earthly powers, are, in their consummation in America,wrought by these latter-day saints in the same august name and for thesame purpose. He shall be honored among the nations; His will doneamong men; His name praised to the ends of the earth! Such was theaffirmation of the saints of the commonwealth of England two hundredand thirty years ago; such the affirmation of the saints raised up toestablish the "Kingdom of God" in the nineteenth century. Understandthis fully, and the major theme of Mormonism is comprehended. It willhave a matchless exemplification in the story of the lives of thesesingle-hearted, simple-minded, but grand women, opening to the reader'sview the methods of that ancient genius, even to the establishing ofthe patriarchal institution and covenant of polygamy.

That America should bring forth a peculiar people, like the Mormons,is as natural as that a mother should bear children in the semblanceof the father who begat them. Monstrous, indeed, would it be if, asoffspring of the patriarchs and mothers of this nation, America broughtforth naught but godless politicians.

CHAPTER II.

THE MOTHER OF THE PROPHET—THE GIFTS OF INSPIRATION AND WORKING OFMIRACLES INHERENT IN HER FAMILY—FRAGMENTS OF HER NARRATIVE.

First among the chosen women of the latter-day dispensation comes themother of the Prophet, to open this divine drama.

It is one of our most beautiful and suggestive proverbs that "greatmen have great mothers." This cannot but be peculiarly true of a greatprophet whose soul is conceptive of a new dispensation.

Prophecy is of the woman. She endows her offspring with thatheaven-born gift.

The father of Joseph was a grand patriarchal type. He was the Abrahamof the Church, holding the office of presiding patriarch. To thisday he is remembered and spoken of by the early disciples with theprofoundest veneration and filial love, and his patriarchal blessings,given to them, are preserved and valued as much as are the patriarchalblessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob valued by their own race.

But it is the mother of the Prophet who properly leads in opening thetestament of the women of Mormondom. She was a prophetess and seeressborn. The gift of prophecy and the power to work miracles also inheredin the family of Lucy Mack, (her maiden name), and the martial spiritwhich distinguished her son, making him a prophet-general, was quitecharacteristic of her race. Of her brother, Major Mack, she says:

"My brother was in the city of Detroit in 1812, the year in which Hullsurrendered the territory to the British crown. My brother, beingsomewhat celebrated for his prowess, was selected by General Hull totake the command of a company as captain. After a short service in thisoffice he was ordered to surrender. (Hull's surrender to the British).At this his indignation was aroused to the highest pitch. He broke hissword across his knee, and throwing it into the river, exclaimed thathe would never submit to such a disgraceful compromise while the bloodof an American continued to flow in his veins."

Lucy Mack's father, Solomon Mack, was a soldier in the Americanrevolution. He entered the army at the age of twenty-one, in the year1755, and in the glorious struggle of his country for independence heenlisted among the patriots in 1776. With him were his two boys, Jasonand Stephen, the latter being the same who afterwards broke his swordand cast it into the river rather than surrender it to the British.

But that which is most interesting here is the seeric gift coupledwith the miracle-working power of "Mother Lucy's" race. Hers was a"visionary" family, in the main, while her elder brother, Jason, wasa strange evangelist, who wandered about during his lifetime, by seaand land, preaching the gospel and working miracles. This Jason evenattempted to establish a body of Christian communists. Of him she says:

"Jason, my oldest brother, was a studious and manly boy. Before he hadattained his sixteenth year he became what was then called a 'seeker,'and believing that by prayer and faith the gifts of the gospel, whichwere enjoyed by the ancient disciples of Christ, might be attained, helabored almost incessantly to convert others to the same faith. He wasalso of the opinion that God would, at some subsequent period, manifestHis power, as He had anciently done, in signs and wonders. At the ageof twenty he became a preacher of the gospel."

Then followed a love episode in Jason's life, in which the young manwas betrayed by his rival while absent in England on business with hisfather. The rival gave out that Jason had died in Liverpool, (beingpost-master, he had also intercepted their correspondence,) so thatwhen the latter returned home he found his betrothed married to hisenemy. The story runs:

"As soon as Jason arrived he repaired immediately to her father'shouse. When he got there she was gone to her brother's funeral; he wentin, and seated himself in the same room where he had once paid hisaddresses to her. In a short time she came home; when she first saw himshe did not know him, but when she got a full view of his countenanceshe recognized him, and instantly fainted. From this time forward shenever recovered her health, but, lingering for two years, died thevictim of disappointment.

"Jason remained in the neighborhood a short time and then went to sea,but he did not follow the sea a great while. He soon left the main, andcommenced preaching, which he continued until his death."

Once or twice during his lifetime Jason visited his family; at last,after a silence of twenty years, his brother Solomon received from himthe following very evangelistic epistle:

"South Branch of Ormucto,

"Province of New Brunswick,

"June 30, 1835.

"MY DEAR BROTHER SOLOMON: You will, no doubt, be surprised to hear that I am still alive, although in an absence of twenty years I have never written to you before. But I trust you will forgive me when I tell you that, for most of the twenty years, I have been so situated that I have had little or no communication with the lines, and have been holding meetings, day and night, from place to place; besides my mind has been so taken up with the deplorable situation of the earth, the darkness in which it lies, that, when my labors did call me near the lines, I did not realize the opportunity which presented itself of letting you know where I was. And, again, I have designed visiting you long since, and annually have promised myself that the succeeding year I would certainly seek out my relatives, and enjoy the privilege of one pleasing interview with them before I passed into the valley and shadow of death. But last, though not least, let me not startle you when I say, that, according to my early adopted principles of the power of faith, the Lord has, in his exceeding kindness, bestowed upon me the gift of healing by the prayer of faith, and the use of such simple means as seem congenial to the human system; but my chief reliance is upon Him who organized us at the first, and can restore at pleasure that which is disorganized.

"The first of my peculiar success in this way was twelve years since, and from nearly that date I have had little rest. In addition to the incessant calls which I in a short time had, there was the most overwhelming torrent of opposition poured down upon me that I ever witnessed. But it pleased God to take the weak to confound the wisdom of the wise. I have in the last twelve years seen the greatest manifestations of the power of God in healing the sick, that, with all my sanguinity, I ever hoped or imagined. And when the learned infidel has declared with sober face, time and again, that disease had obtained such an ascendency that death could be resisted no longer, that the victim must wither beneath his potent arm, I have seen the almost lifeless clay slowly but surely resuscitated and revived, till the pallid monster fled so far that the patient was left in the full bloom of vigorous health. But it is God that hath done it, and to Him let all the praise be given.

"I am now compelled to close this epistle, for I must start immediately on a journey of more than one hundred miles, to attend a heavy case of sickness; so God be with you all. Farewell!

"JASON MACK."

"Mother Lucy," in the interesting accounts of her own and husband'sfamilies, tells some charming stories of visions, dreams, and miraclesamong them, indicating the advent of the latter-day power; but theremarkable visions and mission of her prophet son claim the rulingplace. She says:

"There was a great revival of religion, which extended to all thedenominations of Christians in the surrounding country in which weresided. Many of the world's people, becoming concerned about thesalvation of their souls, came forward and presented themselves asseekers after religion. Most of them were desirous of uniting with somechurch, but were not decided as to the particular faith which theywould adopt. When the numerous meetings were about breaking up, and thecandidates and the various leading church members began to consult uponthe subject of adopting the candidates into some church or churches, asthe case might be, a dispute arose, and there was a great contentionamong them.

"While these things were going forward, Joseph's mind becameconsiderably troubled with regard to religion; and the followingextract from his history will show, more clearly than I can express,the state of his feelings, and the result of his reflections on thisoccasion:"

"I was at this time in my fifteenth year. My father's family was proselyted to the Presbyterian faith, and four of them joined that church, namely, my mother Lucy, my brothers Hyrum and Samuel Harrison, and my sister Sophronia.

"During this time of great excitement my mind was called up to serious reflection and great uneasiness. * * * * The Presbyterians were most decided against the Baptists and Methodists, and used all their powers of either reason or sophistry to prove their errors, or at least to make the people think they were in error. On the other hand the Baptists and Methodists, in their turn, were equally zealous to establish their own tenets and disprove all others.

"In the midst of this war of words, and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself, what is to be done? Who, of all these parties, are right? or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it? and how shall I know it?

"While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads, 'If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth unto all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.' Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did, for how to act I did not know, and, unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passage so differently, as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible. At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs—that is, ask of God. I at last came to the determination to ask of God. So in accordance with this determination I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful clear day, early in the spring of 1820. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt; for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally. After I had retired into the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I knelt down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue, so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair, and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such a marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said, pointing to the other, 'this is my beloved son, hear him:'

"My object in going to inquire of the Lord, was to know which of all these sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right—for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong—and which I should join. I was answered that I should join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight; that those professors were all corrupt. 'They draw near me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrine the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.' He again forbade me to join any of them; and many other things did he say unto me which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven."

"From this time until the 21st of September, 1823, Joseph continued,as usual, to labor with his father, and nothing during this intervaloccurred of very great importance,—though he suffered, as one wouldnaturally suppose, every kind of opposition and persecution from thedifferent orders of religionists.

"On the evening of the 21st of September, he retired to his bed inquite a serious and contemplative state of mind. He shortly betookhimself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God, for a manifestationof his standing before Him, and while thus engaged he received thefollowing vision:"

"While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in the room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noon-day, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor. He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen, nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so also were his feet naked, as were his legs a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but his robe, as it was open so that I could see into his bosom. Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person. When I first looked upon him I was afraid, but the fear soon left me. He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do, and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds and tongues; or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people. He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprung. He also said that the fullness of the everlasting gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Saviour to the ancient inhabitants. Also, that there were two stones in silver bows, and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the urim and thummim, deposited with the plates; and the possession and use of these stones were what constituted seers in ancient or former times; and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book. After telling me these things, he commenced quoting the prophecies of the Old Testament. He first quoted a part of the third chapter of Malachi; and he quoted also the fourth or last chapter of the same prophecy, though with a little variation from the way it reads in our Bible. Instead of quoting the first verse as it reads in our books, he quoted it thus: 'For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall burn as stubble, for they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.' And again he quoted the fifth verse thus: 'Behold, I will reveal unto you the priesthood by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.' He also quoted the next verse differently: 'And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers; if it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at its coming.' In addition to these, he quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, saying that it was about to be fulfilled. He quoted also the third chapter of Acts, twenty-second and twenty-third verses, precisely as they stand in our New Testament. He said that that prophet was Christ, but the day had not yet come 'when they who would not hear His voice should be cut off from among the people,' but soon would come. He also quoted the second chapter of Joel, from the twenty-eighth verse to the last. He also said that this was not yet fulfilled, but was soon to be. And he further stated the fullness of the Gentiles was soon to come in. He quoted many other passages of scripture, and offered many explanations which cannot be mentioned here. Again, he told me that when I got those plates of which he had spoken (for the time that they should be obtained was not then fulfilled), I should not show them to any person, neither the breast-plate, with the urim and thummim, only to those to whom I should be commanded to show them; if I did I should be destroyed. While he was conversing with me about the plates, the vision was opened to my mind that I could see the place where the plates were deposited, and that so clearly and distinctly that I knew the place again when I visited it.

"After this communication, I saw the light in the room begin to gather immediately around the person of him who had been speaking to me, and it continued to do so until the room was again left dark, except just around him; when instantly I saw, as it were, a conduit open right up into Heaven, and he ascended up until he entirely disappeared, and the room was left as it had been before this heavenly light made its appearance.

"I lay musing on the singularity of the scene, and marveling greatly at what had been told me by this extraordinary messenger, when, in the midst of my meditation, I suddenly discovered that my room was again beginning to get lighted, and, in an instant, as it were, the same heavenly messenger was again by my bedside. He commenced, and again related the very same things which he had done at his first visit, without the least variation, which having done, he informed me of great judgments which were coming upon the earth, with great desolations by famine, sword, and pestilence; and that these grievous judgments would come on the earth in this generation. Having related these things, he again ascended as he had done before."

"When the angel ascended the second time he left Joseph overwhelmedwith astonishment, yet gave him but a short time to contemplate thethings which he had told him before he made his reappearance andrehearsed the same things over, adding a few words of caution andinstruction, thus: That he must beware of covetousness, and he must notsuppose the record was to be brought forth with the view of gettinggain, for this was not the case, but that it was to bring forth lightand intelligence, which had for a long time been lost to the world; andthat when he went to get the plates, he must be on his guard, or hismind would be filled with darkness. The angel then told him to tell hisfather all which he had both seen and heard.

"* * * * From this time forth, Joseph continued to receive instructionsfrom the Lord, and we continued to get the children together everyevening, for the purpose of listening while he gave us a relation ofthe same. I presume our family presented an aspect as singular as anythat ever lived upon the face of the earth—all seated in a circle,father, mother, sons, and daughters, and giving the most profoundattention to a boy, eighteen years of age, who had never read theBible through in his life. He seemed much less inclined to the perusalof books than any of the rest of our children, but far more given tomeditation and deep study.

"We were now confirmed in the opinion that God was about to bring tolight something upon which we could stay our minds, or that would giveus a more perfect knowledge of the plan of salvation and the redemptionof the human family. This caused us greatly to rejoice; the sweetestunion and happiness pervaded our house, and tranquillity reigned in ourmidst.

"During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give ussome of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He woulddescribe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, modeof traveling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, theirbuildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also theirreligious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as ifhe had spent his whole life with them."

Thus continued the divine and miraculous experience of the propheticfamily until the golden plates were obtained, the book of Mormonpublished, and the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" wasestablished on the 6th of April, 1830.

But all this shall be written in the book of the prophet!

CHAPTER III.

THE OPENING OF A SPIRITUAL DISPENSATION TO AMERICA—WOMAN'SEXALTATION—THE LIGHT OF THE LATTER DAYS.

Joseph Smith opened to America a great spiritual dispensation. It wassuch the Mormon sisterhood received.

A latter-day prophet! A gospel of miracles! Angels visiting the earthagain! Pentecosts in the nineteenth century! This was Mormonism.

These themes were peculiarly fascinating to those earnest apostolicwomen whom we shall introduce to the reader.

Ever must such themes be potent with woman. She has a divine missionalways, both to manifest spiritual gifts and to perpetuate spiritualdispensations.

Woman is child of faith. Indeed she is faith. Man is reason. His moodis skepticism. Left alone to his apostleship, spiritual missions die,though revealed by a cohort of archangels. Men are too apt to lockagain the heavens which the angels have opened, and convert priesthoodinto priestcraft. It is woman who is the chief architect of a spiritualchurch.

Joseph Smith was a prophet and seer because his mother was a prophetessand seeress. Lucy Smith gave birth to the prophetic genius which haswrought out its manifestations so marvelously in the age. BrighamYoung, who is a society-builder, also received his rare endowmentsfrom his mother. Though differing from Joseph, Brigham has a potentinspiration.

Thus we trace the Mormon genius to these mothers. They gave birth tothe great spiritual dispensation which is destined to incarnate a newand universal Christian church.

Until the faith of Latter-day Saints invoked one, there was no HolyGhost in the world such as the saints of former days would haverecognized. Respectable divines, indeed, had long given out thatrevelation was done away, because no longer needed. The canon ofscripture was said to be full. The voice of prophesy was no more to beheard to the end of time.

But the Mormon prophet invoked the Holy Ghost of the ancient Hebrews,and burst the sealed heavens. The Holy Ghost came, and His apostlespublished the news abroad.

The initial text of Mormonism was precisely that which formed the basisof Peter's colossal sermon on the day of Pentecost:

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pourout my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shallprophesy, and your young men shall dream dreams;

"And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those daysof my spirit; and they shall prophesy."

Here was a magic gospel for the age! And how greatly was woman in itsdivine programme!

No sooner was the application made than the prophesy was discoveredto be pregnant with its own fulfillment. The experience of theformer-day saints became the experience of the "latter-day saints." Itwas claimed, too, that the supreme fulfillment was reserved for thiscrowning dispensation. These were emphatically the "last days." Itwas in the "last days" that God would pour out His spirit upon "allflesh." The manifestation of Pentecost was but the foreshadowing ofthe power of God, to be universally displayed to his glory, and theregeneration of the nations in the "dispensation of the fullness oftimes."

This gospel of a new dispensation came to America by the administrationof angels. But let it not be thought that Joseph Smith alone sawangels. Multitudes received angelic administrations in the early daysof the Church; thousands spoke in tongues and prophesied; and visions,dreams and miracles were daily manifestations among the disciples.

The sisters were quite as familiar with angelic visitors as theapostles. They were in fact the best "mediums" of this spiritual work.They were the "cloud of witnesses." Their Pentecosts of spiritual giftswere of frequent occurrence.

The sisters were also apostolic in a priestly sense. They partookof the priesthood equally with the men. They too "held the keys ofthe administration of angels." Who can doubt it, when faith is thegreatest of all keys to unlock the gates of heaven? But "the Church"herself acknowledged woman's key. There was no Mormon St. Peter in thisnew dispensation to arrogate supremacy over woman, on his solitarypontifical throne. The "Order of Celestial Marriage," not of celestialcelibacy, was about to be revealed to the Church.

Woman also soon became high priestess and prophetess. She was thisofficially. The constitution of the Church acknowledged her divinemission to administer for the regeneration of the race. The genius of apatriarchal priesthood naturally made her the apostolic help-meet forman. If you saw her not in the pulpit teaching the congregation, yetwas she to be found in the temple, administering for the living andthe dead! Even in the holy of holies she was met. As a high priestessshe blessed with the laying on of hands! As a prophetess she oracledin holy places! As an endowment giver she was a Mason, of the Hebraicorder, whose Grand Master is the God of Israel and whose anointer isthe Holy Ghost.

She held the keys of the administration of angels and of the workingof miracles and of the "sealings" pertaining to "the heavens andthe earth." Never before was woman so much as she is in this Mormondispensation!

The supreme spiritual character of the "Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints" (its proper name), is well typed in the hymn sooften sung by the saints at their "testimony meetings," and sometimesin their temples. Here is its theme:

"The spirit of God like a fire is burning,
The latter-day glory begins to come forth,
The visions and blessings of old are returning,
The angels are coming to visit the earth.

Chorus—We'll sing and we'll shout with the armies of heaven—
Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb!
Let glory to them in the highest be given,
Henceforth and forever—amen and amen.

The Lord is extending the saints' understanding,
Restoring their judges and all as at first;
The knowledge and power of God are expanding;
The vail o'er the earth is beginning to burst.

Chorus—We'll sing and we'll shout with the armies of heaven!" etc.

What a strange theme this, forty-seven years ago, before the age of ourmodern spiritual mediums, when the angels visited only the Latter-daySaints! In that day it would seem the angels only dared to come bystealth, so unpopular was their coming. But the way was opened forthe angels. What wonder that they have since come in hosts good andbad, and made their advent popular? Millions testify to their adventnow; and "modern spiritualism," though of "another source," is a proofof Mormonism more astonishing than prophecy herself.

Yet is all this not more remarkable than the promise which Joseph Smithmade to the world in proclaiming his mission. It was the identicalpromise of Christ: "These signs shall follow them that believe!" Thesesigns meant nothing short of all that extraordinary experience familiarto the Hebrew people and the early-day saints. We have no record thatever this sweeping promise was made before by any one but Jesus Christ.Yet Joseph Smith, filled with a divine assurance, dared to re-affirm itand apply the promise to all nations wherever the gospel of his missionshould be preached. The most wonderful of tests is this. But the testwas fulfilled. The signs followed all, and everywhere. Even apostateswitness to this much.

There is nothing in modern spiritualism nearly so marvelous as wasMormonism in its rise and progress in America and Great Britain. It hasindeed made stir enough in the world. But it had to break the way forcoming ages. Revelation was at first a very new and strange theme afterthe more than Egyptian darkness in which the Christian nations had beenfor fifty generations. It was the light set upon the hill now; but thedarkness comprehended it not. Yet was a spiritual dispensation openedagain to the world. Once more was the lost key found. Mormonism was thekey; and it was Joseph and his God-fearing disciples who unlocked theheavens. That fact the world will acknowledge in the coming times.

CHAPTER IV.

BIRTH OF THE CHURCH—KIRTLAND AS THE BRIDE, IN THE CHAMBERS OF THEWILDERNESS—THE EARLY GATHERING—"MOTHER WHITNEY," AND ELIZA R. SNOW.

The birth-place of Mormonism was in the State of New York. There theangels first administered to the youthful prophet; there in the "HillCumorah," near the village of Palmyra, the plates of the book of Mormonwere revealed by Moroni; there, at Manchester, on the 6th of April,1830, the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" was organized,with six members.

But the divine romance of the sisterhood best opens at Kirtland. It isthe place where this Israelitish drama of our times commenced its firstdistinguishing scenes,—the place where the first Mormon temple wasbuilt.

Ohio was the "Great West." Kirtland, the city of the saints, with itstemple, dedicated to the God of Israel, rose in Ohio.

Not, however, as the New Jerusalem of America, was Kirtland founded;but pioneer families, from New England, had settled in Ohio, who earlyreceived the gospel of the Latter-day Church.

Thus Kirtland became an adopted Zion, selected by revelation as agathering place for the saints; and a little village grew into a city,with a temple.

Among these pioneers were the families of "Mother Whitney," and ElizaR. Snow, and the families of "Father Morley," and Edward Partridge, whobecame the "first Bishop" of Zion.

Besides these, there were a host of men and women soon numbered amongthe founders of Mormondom, who were also pioneers in Ohio, Missouri,and Illinois.

There is no feature of the Mormons more interesting than theirdistinguishing mark as pioneers. In this both their Church and familyhistory have a national significance.

Trace their family migrations from old England to New England in theseventeenth century; from Europe to America in the nineteenth; thenfollow them as a people in their empire-track from the State of NewYork, where their Church was born, to Utah and California! It willthus be remarkably illustrated that they and their parents have beenpioneering not only America but the world itself to the "Great West"for the last two hundred and fifty years!

As a community the Mormons have been emphatically the Church ofpioneers. The sisters have been this equally with the brethren. Theirvery religion is endowed with the genius of migrating peoples.

So in 1830-31, almost as soon as the Church was organized, the prophetand the priesthood followed the disciples to the West, where the starof Messiah was rising.

As though the bride had been preparing for the coming! As though,womanlike, intuitively, she had gone into the wilderness—the chambersof a new civilization—to await the bridegroom.

For the time being Kirtland became the Zion of the West; for the timebeing Kirtland among cities was the bride.

But the illustration is also personal. Woman herself had gone to theWest where the star of Messiah was looming. Daughters of the NewJerusalem were already in the chamber awaiting the bridegroom.

Early in the century, two had pioneered into the State of Ohio, whohave since been, for a good lifetime, high priestesses of the Mormontemples. And the voice of prophesy has declared that these have thesacred blood of Israel in their veins. In the divine mysticism of theirorder they are at once of a kingly and priestly line.

There is a rare consistency in the mysticism of the Mormon Church. Thedaughters of the temple are so by right of blood and inheritance. Theyare discovered by gift of revelation in Him who is the voice of theChurch; but they inherit from the fathers and mothers of the temple ofthe Old Jerusalem.

And so these two of the principal heroines of Mormondom—"MotherWhitney" and "Sister Eliza R. Snow"—introduced first as the twoearliest of the Church who pioneered to the "Great West," before theadvent of their prophet, as well as introduced for the divine partwhich they have played in the marvelous history of their people.

These are high priestesses! These are two rare prophetesses! Thesehave the gifts of revelation and "tongues!" These administer in "holyplaces" for the living and the dead.

It was about the year of our Lord 1806 that Oliver Snow, a native ofMassachusetts, and his wife, R. L. Pettibone Snow, of Connecticut,moved with their children to that section of the State of Ohiobordering on Lake Erie on the north and the State of Pennsylvaniaon the east, known then as the "Connecticut Western Reserve." Theypurchased land and settled in Mantua, Portage county.

Eliza R. Snow, who was the second of seven children, four daughtersand three sons, one of whom is the accomplished apostle Lorenzo Snow,was born in Becket, Berkshire county, Mass., January 21st, 1804.Her parents were of English descent; their ancestors were among theearliest settlers of New England.

Although a farmer by occupation, Oliver Snow performed much publicbusiness, officiating in several responsible positions. His daughterEliza, being ten years the senior of her eldest brother, so soon as shewas competent, was employed as secretary in her father's office.

She was skilled in various kinds of needlework and home manufactures.Two years in succession she drew the prize awarded by the committee onmanufactures, at the county fair, for the best manufactured leghorn.

When quite young she commenced writing for publication in variousjournals, which she continued to do for several years, over assumedsignatures,—wishing to be useful as a writer, and yet unknown exceptby intimate friends.

"During the contest between Greece and Turkey," she says, "I watchedwith deep interest the events of the war, and after the terribledestruction of Missolonghi, by the Turks, I wrote an article entitled'The Fall of Missolonghi.' Soon after its publication, the deaths ofAdams and Jefferson occurred on the same memorable fourth of July, andI was requested through the press, to write their requiem, to which Iresponded, and found myself ushered into conspicuity. Subsequently Iwas awarded eight volumes of 'Godey's Lady's Book,' for a first prizepoem published in one of the journals."

The classical reader will remember how the struggle between Greece andTurkey stirred the soul of Byron. That immortal poet was not a saintbut he was a great patriot and fled to the help of Greece.

Precisely the same chord that was struck in the chivalrous mind of LordByron was struck in the Hebraic soul of Eliza R. Snow. It was the chordof the heroic and the antique.

Our Hebraic heroine is even more sensitive to the heroic and patrioticthan to the poetic,—at least she has most self-gratification in loftyand patriotic themes.

"That men are born poets," she continues, "is a common adage. I wasborn a patriot,—at least a warm feeling of patriotism inspired mychildish heart, and mingled in my earliest thoughts, as evinced in manyof the earliest productions of my pen. I can even now recollect how,with beating pulse and strong emotion I listened, when but a smallchild, to the tales of the revolution.

"My grandfather on my mother's side, when fighting for the freedom ofour country, was taken prisoner by British troops, and confined ina dreary cell, and so scantily fed that when his fellow-prisoner byhis side died from exhaustion, he reported him to the jailor as sickin bed, in order to obtain the amount of food for both,—keeping himcovered in their blankets as long as he dared to remain with a decayingbody.

"This, with many similar narratives of revolutionary sufferingsrecounted by my grand-parents, so deeply impressed my mind, that as Igrew up to womanhood I fondly cherished a pride for the flag which soproudly waved over the graves of my brave and valiant ancestors."

It was the poet's soul of this illustrious Mormon woman that firstenchanted the Church with inspired song, and her Hebraic faith andlife have given something of their peculiar tone to the entire Mormonpeople, and especially the sisterhood; just as Joseph Smith and BrighamYoung gave the types and institutions to our modern Israel.

Sister Eliza R. Snow was born with more than the poet's soul. She wasa prophetess in her very nature,—endowed thus by her Creator, beforeher birth. Her gifts are of race quality rather than of mere religioustraining or growth. They have come down to her from the ages. Fromher personal race indications, as well as from the whole tenor andmission of her life, she would readily be pronounced to be of Hebreworigin. One might very well fancy her to be a descendant of Davidhimself; indeed the Prophet Joseph, in blessing her, pronounced herto be a daughter of Judah's royal house. She understands, nearly toperfection, all of the inner views of the system and faith which sherepresents. And the celestial relations and action of the great Mormondrama, in other worlds, and in the "eternities past and to come," haveconstituted her most familiar studies and been in the rehearsals of herdaily ministry.

Mother Whitney says:

"I was born the day after Christmas in the first year of the present century, in the quiet, old-fashioned country town of Derby, New Haven County, Conn. My parents' names were Gibson and Polly Smith. The Smiths were among the earliest settlers there, and were widely known. I was the oldest child, and grew up in an atmosphere of love and tenderness. My parents were not professors of religion, and according to puritanical ideas were grossly in fault to have me taught dancing; but my father had his own peculiar notions upon the subject, and wished me to possess and enjoy, in connection with a sound education and strict morals, such accomplishments as would fit me to fill, with credit to myself and my training, an honorable position in society. He had no sympathy whatever with any of the priests of that day, and was utterly at variance with their teachings and ministry, notwithstanding he was strenuous on all points of honor, honesty morality and uprightness.

"There is nothing in my early life I remember with more intense satisfaction than the agreeable companionship of my father. My mother's health was delicate, and with her household affairs, and two younger children, she gave herself up to domestic life, allowing it to absorb her entire interest, and consequently I was more particularly under my father's jurisdiction and influence; our tastes were most congenial, and this geniality and happiness surrounded me with its beneficial influence until I reached my nineteenth year. Nothing in particular occurred to mar the smoothness of my life's current and prosperity, and love beamed upon our home.

"About this time a new epoch in my life created a turning point which unconsciously to us, who were the actors in the drama, caused all my future to be entirely separate and distinct from those with whom I had been reared and nurtured. My father's sister, a spinster, who had money at her own disposal, and who was one of those strong-minded women of whom so much is said in this our day, concluded to emigrate to the great West,—at that time Ohio seemed a fabulous distance from civilization and enlightenment, and going to Ohio then was as great an undertaking as going to China or Japan is at the present day. She entreated my parents to allow me to accompany her, and promised to be as faithful and devoted to me as possible, until they should join us, and that they expected very shortly to do; their confidence in aunt Sarah's ability and self-reliance was unbounded, and so, after much persuasion, they consented to part with me for a short interval of time; but circ*mstances, over which we mortals have no control, were so overruled that I never saw my beloved mother again. Our journey was a pleasant one; the beautiful scenery through which our route lay had charms indescribable for me, who had never been farther from home than New Haven, in which city I had passed a part of my time, and to me it was nearer a paradise than any other place on earth. The magnificent lakes, rivers, mountains, and romantic forests were all delineations of nature which delighted my imagination.

"We settled a few miles inland from the picturesque Lake Erie, and here in after years, were the saints of God gathered and the everlasting gospel proclaimed. My beloved aunt Sarah was a true friend and instructor to me, and had much influence in maturing my womanly character and developing my home education. She hated the priests of the day, and believed them all deceivers and hypocrites; her religion consisted in visiting the widow and the fatherless and keeping herself 'unspotted from the world.'

"Shortly after entering my twenty-first year I became acquainted with a young man from Vermont, Newel K. Whitney, who, like myself, had left home and relatives and was determined to carve out a fortune for himself. He had been engaged in trading with the settlers and Indians at Green Bay, Mich., buying furs extensively for the eastern markets. In his travels to and from New York he passed along the charming Lake Erie, and from some unknown influence he concluded to settle and make a permanent home for himself in this region of country; and then subsequently we met and became acquainted; and being thoroughly convinced that we were suited to each other, we were married by the Presbyterian minister of that place, the Rev. J. Badger. We prospered in all our efforts to accumulate wealth, so much so, that among our friends it came to be remarked that nothing of Whitney's ever got lost on the lake, and no product of his exportation was ever low in the market; always ready sales and fair prices. We had neither of us ever made any profession of religion, but contrary to my early education I was naturally religious, and I expressed to my husband a wish that we should unite ourselves to one of the churches, after examining into their principles and deciding for ourselves. Accordingly we united ourselves with the Campbellites, who were then making many converts, and whose principles seemed most in accordance with the scriptures. We continued in this church, which to us was the nearest pattern to our Saviour's teachings, until Parley P. Pratt and another elder preached the everlasting gospel in Kirtland."

CHAPTER V.

THE VOICE, AND THE MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT.

And there came one as a "voice crying in the wilderness, prepare ye theway of the Lord!"

Thus ever!

A coming to Israel with "a new and everlasting covenant;" this was thetheme of the ancient prophets, now unfolded.

There was the voice crying in the wilderness of Ohio, just before theadvent of the latter-day prophet.

The voice was Sidney Rigdon. He was to Joseph Smith as a John theBaptist.

The forerunner made straight the way in the wilderness of the virginWest. He raised up a church of disciples in and around Kirtland. He ledthose who afterwards became latter-day saints to faith in the promises,and baptized them in water for the remission of sins. But he had notpower to baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire from heaven.Yet he taught the literal fulfillment of the prophesies concerning thelast days, and heralded the advent of the "one greater than I."

"The same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost."

That is ever the "one greater than I," be his name whatever it may.

Joseph Smith baptized with the Holy Ghost. But Sidney knew not that hewas heralding Joseph.

And the prophet himself was but as the voice crying in the wildernessof the great dark world: "Prepare ye the way for the second advent ofearth's Lord." His mission was also to "make straight in the desert ahighway" for the God of Israel; for Israel was going up,—following theangel of the covenant, to the chambers of the mountains.

He came with a great lamp and a great light in those days, dazzling tothe eyes of the generation that "crucified" him in its blindness.

Joseph was the sign of Messiah's coming. He unlocked the sealed heavensby faith and "election." He came in "the spirit and power of Elijah."The mantle of Elijah was upon him.

Be it always understood that the coming of Joseph Smith "to restore thecovenant to Israel" signifies the near advent of Messiah to reign asKing of Israel. Joseph was the Elijah of the last days.

These are the first principles of Mormonism. And to witness of theirtruth this testament of the sisters is given, with the signs andwonders proceeding from the mission of Him who unlocked the heavens andpreached the gospel of new revelations to the world, whose light ofrevelation had gone out.

But first came the famous Alexander Campbell and his compeer, SidneyRigdon, to the West with the "lamp." Seekers after truth, whose heartshad, been strangely moved by some potent spirit, whose influence theyfelt pervading but understood not, saw the lamp and admired.

Mr. Campbell, of Virginia, was a reformed Baptist. He with SidneyRigdon, a Mr. Walter Scott, and some other gifted men, had dissentedfrom the regular Baptists, from whom they differed much in doctrine.They preached baptism for the remission of sins, promised the gift ofthe Holy Ghost, and believed in the literal fulfillment of prophesy.They also had some of the apostolic forms of organization in theirchurch.

In Ohio they raised up branches. In Kirtland and the regions round,they made many disciples, who bore the style of "disciples," thoughthe popular sect-name was "Campbellites." Among them were Eliza R.Snow, Elizabeth Ann Whitney, and many more, who afterwards embraced the"fullness of the everlasting gospel" as restored by the angels to theMormon prophet.

But these evangels of a John the Baptist mission brought not to theWest the light of new revelation in their lamp.

These had not yet even heard of the opening of a new dispensation ofrevelations. As they came by the way they had seen no angels with newcommissions for the Messiah age. No Moses nor Elijah had been with themon a mount of transfiguration. Nor had they entered into the chamberwith the angel of the covenant, bringing a renewal of the covenant toIsrael. This was in the mission of the "one greater" than they who cameafter.

They brought the lamp without the light—nothing more. Better thelight without the evangelical lamp—better a conscientious intellectthan the forms of sectarian godliness without the power.

Without the power to unlock the heavens, and the Elijah faith to callthe angels down, there could be no new dispensation—no millennialcivilization for the world, to crown the civilization of the ages.

Light came to Sidney Rigdon from the Mormon Elijah, and he comprehendedthe light; but Alexander Campbell rejected the prophet when his messagecame; he would have none of his angels. He had been preaching theliteral fulfillment of prophesy, but when the covenant was revealed hewas not ready. The lamp, not the light, was his admiration. Himselfwas the lamp; Joseph had the light from the spirit world, and thedarkness comprehended it not.

Alexander Campbell was a learned and an able man—the very form ofwisdom, but without the spirit.

Joseph Smith was an unlettered youth. He came not in the polishedform of wisdom—either divine or human—but in the demonstration ofthe Holy Ghost, and with signs following the believer.

Mr. Campbell would receive no new revelation from such an one—noeverlasting covenant from the new Jerusalem which was waiting to comedown, to establish on earth a great spiritual empire, that the Kingmight appear to Zion in his glory, with all his angels and the ancientsof days.

The tattered and blood-stained commissions of old Rome were sufficientfor the polished divine,—Rome which had made all nations drunk withher spiritual fornications,—Rome which put to death the Son of Godwhen his Israel in blindness rejected him.

Between Rome and Jerusalem there was now the great controversy of theGod of Israel. Not the old Jerusalem which had traveled from the eastto the west, led by the angel of the covenant, up out of the land ofEgypt! The new Jerusalem to the earth then, as she is to-day! Ever willshe be the new Jerusalem—ever will "old things" be passing away when"the Lord cometh!"

And the angel of the west appeared by night to the youth, as he watchedin the chamber of his father's house, in a little village in the Stateof New York. On that charmed night when the invisibles hovered aboutthe earth the angel that stood before him read to the messenger ofMessiah the mystic text of his mission:

"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way beforeme; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, eventhe messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold he shallcome, saith the Lord of Hosts."

CHAPTER VI.

AN ANGEL FROM THE CLOUD IS HEARD IN KIRTLAND—THE "DAUGHTER OF THEVOICE."

Now there dwelt in Kirtland in those days disciples who feared the Lord.

And they "spake often one to another; and the Lord hearkened and heardit, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them thatfeared the Lord, and that thought upon his name."

"We had been praying," says mother Whitney, "to know from the Lord howwe could obtain the gift of the Holy Ghost."

"My husband, Newel K. Whitney, and myself, were Campbellites. We hadbeen baptized for the remission of our sins, and believed in the layingon of hands and the gifts of the spirit. But there was no one withauthority to confer the Holy Ghost upon us. We were seeking to know howto obtain the spirit and the gifts bestowed upon the ancient saints.

"Sister Eliza Snow was also a Campbellite. We were acquainted beforethe restoration of the gospel to the earth. She, like myself, wasseeking for the fullness of the gospel. She lived at the time in Mantua.

"One night—it was midnight—as my husband and I, in our house atKirtland, were praying to the father to be shown the way, the spiritrested upon us and a cloud overshadowed the house.

"It was as though we were out of doors. The house passed away fromour vision. We were not conscious of anything but the presence of thespirit and the cloud that was over us.

"We were wrapped in the cloud. A solemn awe pervaded us. We saw thecloud and we felt the spirit of the Lord.

"Then we heard a voice out of the cloud saying:

"'Prepare to receive the word of the Lord, for it is coming!'

"At this we marveled greatly; but from that moment we knew that theword of the Lord was coming to Kirtland."

Now this is an Hebraic sign, well known to Israel after the glory ofIsrael had departed. It was called by the sacred people who inheritedthe covenant "the daughter of the voice."

Blindness had happened to Israel. The prophets and the seers the Lordhad covered, but the "daughter of the voice" was still left to Israel.From time to time a few, with the magic blood of the prophets in them,heard the voice speaking to them out of the cloud.

Down through the ages the "daughter of the voice" followed the childrenof Israel in their dispersions. Down through the ages, from time totime, some of the children of the sacred seed have heard the voice.This is the tradition of the sons and daughters of Judah.

It was the "daughter of the voice" that Mother Whitney and her husbandheard, at midnight, in Kirtland, speaking to them out of the cloud.Mother Whitney and her husband were of the seed of Israel (so run theirpatriarchal blessings); it was their gift and privilege to hear the"voice."

He was coming now, whose right it is to reign. The throne of Davidwas about to be re-set up and given to the lion of the tribe of Judah.The everlasting King of the new Jerusalem was coming down, with thetens of thousands of his saints.

The star of Messiah was traveling from the east to the west. Theprophet—the messenger of Messiah's covenant—was about to removefarther westward, towards the place where his Lord in due time willcommence his reign, which shall extend over all the earth.

This was the meaning of that vision of the "cloud" in Kirtland, atmidnight, overshadowing the house of Newel K. Whitney; this thesignificance of the "voice" which spoke out of the cloud, saying:"Prepare to receive the word of the Lord, for it is coming!"

The Lord of Hosts was about to make up his jewels for the crown of hisappearing; and there were many of those jewels already in the West.

CHAPTER VII.

AN ISRAEL PREPARED BY VISIONS, DREAMS AND ANGELS—INTERESTING ANDMIRACULOUS STORY OF PARLEY P. PRATT—A MYSTIC SIGN OF MESSIAH IN THEHEAVENS—THE ANGEL'S WORDS FULFILLED.

The divine narrative leads directly into the personal story of ParleyP. Pratt. He it was who first brought the Mormon mission west. He itwas who presented the Book of Mormon to Sidney Rigdon, and convertedhim to the new covenant which Jehovah was making with a latter-dayIsrael.

Parley P. Pratt was one of the earliest of the new apostles. By naturehe was both poet and prophet. The soul of prophesy was born in him. Inhis lifetime he was the Mormon Isaiah. All his writings were Hebraic.He may have been of Jewish blood. He certainly possessed the Jewishgenius, of the prophet order.

It would seem that the spirit of this great latter-day work could notthrow its divine charms around the youthful prophet, who had beenraised up to open a crowning spiritual dispensation, without peculiarlyaffecting the spiritual minded everywhere—both men and women.

It is one of the remarkable facts connected with the rise of Mormonismin the age that, at about the time Joseph Smith was receiving theadministration of angels, thousands both in America and Great Britainwere favored with corresponding visions and intuitions. Hence, indeed,its success, which was quite as astonishing as the spiritual work ofthe early Christians.

One of the first manifestations was that of earnest gospel-seekershaving visions of the elders before they came, and recognizing themwhen they did come bearing the tidings. Many of the sisters, as well asthe brethren, can bear witness of this.

This very peculiar experience gave special significance to one of theearliest hymns, sung by the saints, of the angel who "came down fromthe mansions of glory" with "the fullness of Jesus's gospel," and alsothe "covenant to gather his people," the refrain of which was,

"O! Israel! O! Israel! in all your abidings,
Prepare for your Lord, when you hear these glad tidings."

An Israel had been prepared in all their "abidings," by visions andsigns, like sister Whitney, who heard the voice of the angel, from thecloud, bidding her prepare for the coming word of the Lord. Parley P.Pratt was the elder who fulfilled her vision, and brought the word ofthe Lord direct from Joseph to Kirtland.

And Parley himself was one of an Israel who had been thus mysteriouslyprepared for the great latter-day mission, of which he became so markedan apostle.

Before he reached the age of manhood, Parley had in his native State(N.Y.) met with reverses in fortune so serious as to change thepurposes of his life.

"I resolved," he says, "to bid farewell to the civilized world, whereI had met with little else but disappointment, sorrow and unrewardedtoil; and where sectarian divisions disgusted, and ignorance perplexedme,—and to spend the remainder of my days in the solitudes of thegreat West, among the natives of the forest."

In October, 1826, he took leave of his friends and started westward,coming at length to a small settlement about thirty miles west ofCleveland, in the State of Ohio. The country was covered with a denseforest, with only here and there a small opening made by the settlers,and the surface of the earth was one vast scene of mud and mire.

Alone, in a land of strangers, without home or money, and not yettwenty years of age, he became somewhat discouraged, but concluded tostop for the winter.

In the spring he resolved to return to his native State, for there wasone at home whom his heart had long loved and from whom he would nothave been separated, except by misfortune.

But with her, as his wife, he returned to Ohio, the following year, andmade a home on the lands which he cleared with his own hands.^[1]

Eighteen months thereafter Sidney Rigdon came into the neighborhood,as a preacher. With this reformer Parley associated himself in theministry, and organized a society of disciples.

But Parley was not satisfied with even the ancient gospel formwithout the power.

At the commencement of 1830, the very time the Mormon Church wasorganized, he felt drawn out in an extraordinary manner to search theprophets, and to pray for an understanding of the same. His prayerswere soon answered, even beyond his expectations. The prophesies wereopened to his view. He began to understand the things which were aboutto transpire. The restoration of Israel, the coming of Messiah, and theglory that should follow.

Being now "moved upon by the Holy Ghost" to travel about preaching thegospel "without purse or scrip," in August, 1830, he closed his worldlybusiness and bid adieu to his wilderness home, which he never sawafterwards.

"Arriving at Rochester," he says, "I informed my wife that,notwithstanding our passage being paid through the whole distance, yetI must leave the boat and her to pursue her passage to her friends,while I would stop awhile in this region. Why, I did not know; but soit was plainly manifest by the spirit to me.

"I said to her, we part for a season; go and visit our friends in ournative place; I will come soon, but how soon I know not; for I havea work to do in this region of country, and what it is, or how longit will take to perform it, I know not; but I will come when it isperformed.

"My wife would have objected to this, but she had seen the hand of Godso plainly manifest in his dealings with me many times, that she darednot oppose the things manifested to me by his spirit. She, therefore,consented; and I accompanied her as far as Newark, a small town upwardsof one hundred miles from Buffalo, and then took leave of her, and ofthe boat.

"It was early in the morning, just at the dawn of day; I walked tenmiles into the country, and stopped to breakfast with a Mr. Wells.I proposed to preach in the evening. Mr. Wells readily accompaniedme through the neighborhood to visit the people, and circulate theappointment.

"We visited an old Baptist deacon, by the name of Hamlin. After hearingof our appointment for the evening, he began to tell of a book, astrange book, a very strange book, in his possession, which had beenjust published. This book, he said, purported to have been originallywritten on plates, either of gold or brass, by a branch of the tribesof Israel; and to have been discovered and translated by a young mannear Palmyra, in the State of New York, by the aid of visions, or theministry of angels.

"I inquired of him how or where the book was to be obtained. Hepromised me the perusal of it, at his house the next day, if I wouldcall. I felt a strange interest in the book.

"Next morning I called at his house, where for the first time my eyesbeheld the Book of Mormon,—that book of books—that record whichreveals the antiquities of the 'new world' back to the remotest ages,and which unfolds the destiny of its people and the world, for all timeto come."

As he read, the spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he knew andcomprehended that the book was true; whereupon he resolved to visitthe young man who was the instrument in bringing forth this "marvelouswork."

Accordingly he visited the village of Palmyra, and inquired for theresidence of Mr. Joseph Smith, which he found some two or three milesfrom the village. As he approached the house, at the close of the day,he overtook a man driving some cows, and inquired of him for "Mr.Joseph Smith, the translator of the Book of Mormon." This man was noneother than Hyrum, Joseph's brother, who informed him that Joseph thenresided in Pennsylvania, some one hundred miles distant. That nightParley was entertained by Hyrum, who explained to him much of the greatIsraelitish mission just opening to the world.

In the morning he was compelled to take leave of Hyrum, the brother,who at parting presented him with a copy of the Book of Mormon. He hadnot then completed its perusal, and so after traveling on a few mileshe stopped to rest and again commenced to read the book. To his greatjoy he found that Jesus Christ, in his glorified resurrected body,had appeared to the "remnant of Joseph" on the continent of America,soon after his resurrection and ascension into heaven; and that healso administered, in person, to the ten lost tribes; and that throughhis personal ministry in these countries his gospel was revealed andwritten in countries and among nations entirely unknown to the Jewishapostles.

Having rested awhile and perused the sacred book by the roadside, heagain walked on.

After fulfilling his appointments, he resolved to preach no more untilhe had duly received a "commission from on high." So he returned toHyrum, who journeyed with him some twenty-five miles to the residenceof Mr. Whitmer, in Seneca County, who was one of the "witnesses" of theBook of Mormon, and in whose chamber much of the book was translated.

He found the little branch of the church in that place "full of joy,faith, humility and charity."

They rested that night, and on the next day (the 1st of September,1830), Parley was baptized by Oliver Cowdery, who, with the prophetJoseph, had been ordained "under the hands" of the angel John theBaptist to this ministry,—the same John who baptized Jesus Christ inthe River Jordan.

A meeting of these primitive saints was held the same evening, whenParley was confirmed with the gift of the Holy Ghost, and ordained anelder of the church.

Feeling now that he had the true authority to preach, he commencedhis new ministry under the authority and power which the angels hadconferred. "The Holy Ghost," he says, "came upon me mightily. I spokethe word of God with power, reasoning out of the scriptures and theBook of Mormon. The people were convinced, overwhelmed with tears, andcame forward expressing their faith, and were baptized."

The mysterious object for which he took leave of his wife was realized,and so he pursued his journey to the land of his fathers, and of hisboyhood.

He now commenced his labors in good earnest, daily addressing crowdedaudiences; and soon he baptized his brother Orson, a youth of nineteen,but to-day a venerable apostle—the Paul of Mormondom.

It was during his labors in these parts, in the Autumn of 1830, that hesaw a very singular and extraordinary sign in the heavens.

He had been on a visit to the people called Shakers, at New Lebanon,and was returning on foot, on a beautiful evening of September. The skywas without a cloud; the stars shone out beautifully, and all natureseemed reposing in quiet, as he pursued his solitary way, wrapt in deepmeditations on the predictions of the holy prophets; the signs of thetimes; the approaching advent of the Messiah to reign on the earth, andthe important revelations of the Book of Mormon, when his attention wasaroused by a sudden appearance of a brilliant light which shone aroundhim "above the brightness of the sun." He cast his eyes upwards toinquire from whence the light came, when he perceived a long chain oflight extending in the heavens, very bright and of a deep fiery red. Itat first stood stationary in a horizontal position; at length bendingin the centre, the two ends approached each other with a rapid movementso as to form an exact square. In this position it again remainedstationary for some time, perhaps a minute, and then again the endsapproached each other with the same rapidity, and again ceased to move,remaining stationary, for perhaps a minute, in the form of a compass.It then commenced a third movement in the same manner, and closed likethe closing of a compass, the whole forming a straight line like achain doubled. It again remained stationary a minute, and then fadedaway.

"I fell upon my knees in the street," he says, "and thanked the Lordfor so marvelous a sign of the coming of the Son of Man. Some personsmay smile at this, and say that all these exact movements were bychance; but for my part I could as soon believe that the alphabet wouldbe formed by chance and be placed so as to spell my name, as to believethat these signs (known only to the wise) could be formed and shownforth by chance."

Parley now made his second visit to the prophet, who had returned fromPennsylvania to his father's residence in Manchester, near Palmyra, andhere had the pleasure of seeing him for the first time.

It was now October, 1830. A revelation had been given through the mouthof the prophet in which elders Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, TiberPeterson and Parley P. Pratt were appointed to go into the wildernessthrough the Western States, and to the Indian Territory.

These elders journeyed until they came to the spiritual pastorate ofSydney Rigdon, in Ohio. He received the elders cordially, and Parleypresented his former friend and instructor with the Book of Mormon, andrelated to him the history of the same.

"The news of our coming," says Parley, "was soon noised abroad, and thenews of the discovery of the Book of Mormon and the marvelous eventsconnected with it. The interest and excitement now became general inKirtland, and in all the region round about. The people thronged usnight and day, insomuch that we had no time for rest or retirement.Meetings were convened in different neighborhoods, and multitudes cametogether soliciting our attendance; while thousands flocked about usdaily, some to be taught, some for curiosity, some to obey the gospel,and some to dispute or resist it.

"In two or three weeks from our arrival in the neighborhood with thenews, we had baptized one hundred and twenty-seven souls; and thisnumber soon increased to one thousand. The disciples were filled withjoy and gladness; while rage and lying was abundantly manifested bygainsayers. Faith was strong, joy was great, and persecution heavy.

"We proceeded to ordain Sidney Rigdon, Isaac Morley, John Murdock,Lyman Wight, Edward Partridge, and many others to the ministry; andleaving them to take care of the churches, and to minister the gospel,we took leave of the saints, and continued our journey."

Thus was fulfilled the vision of "Mother Whitney." Kirtland hadheard the "word of the Lord." The angel that spoke from the cloud,at midnight, in Kirtland, was endowed with the gift of prophesy. The"daughter of the voice" which followed Israel down through the ages waspotent still—was still an oracle to the children of the covenant.

Footnotes:

1. She died in the early persecution of the church, and when Parley wasin prison for the gospel's sake her spirit visited and comforted him.

CHAPTER VIII.

WAR OF THE INVISIBLE POWERS—THEIR MASTER—JEHOVAH'S MEDIUM.

"You have prayed me here! Now what do you want of me?"

The Master had come!

But who was he?

Whence came he?

Good or evil?

Whose prayers had been answered?

—

There was in Kirtland a controversy between the powers of good andevil, for the mastery. Powers good and evil it would seem to anordinary discernment. Certainly powers representing two sources.

This was the prime manifestation of the new dispensation. Thiscontention of the invisibles for a foothold among mortals.

A Mormon iliad! for such it is! It is the epic of two worlds, in whichthe invisibles, with mortals, take their respective parts.

And now it is the dispensation of the fullness of times! Now all thepowers visible and invisible contend for the mastery of the earth inthe stupendous drama of the last days. This is what Mormonism means.

It is a war of the powers above and below to decide who shall give thenext civilization to earth; which power shall incarnate that supremecivilization with its spirit and genius.

Similar how exactly this has been repeated since Moses and themagicians of Egypt, and Daniel and the magicians of Babylon, contended.

One had risen up in the august name of Jehovah. Mormonism representsthe powers invisible of the Hebrew God.

Shall Jehovah reign in the coming time? Shall he be the Lord Godomnipotent? This, in its entirety, is the Mormon problem.

Joseph is the prophet of that stupendous question, to be decided inthis grand controversy of the two worlds—this controversy of mortalsand immortals!

There are lords many and gods many, but to the prophet and his peoplethere is but one God—Jehovah is his name.

A Mormon iliad, nothing else; and a war of the invisibles—a war ofspiritual empires.

That war was once in Kirtland, when the first temple of a newcivilization rose, to proclaim the supreme name of the God of Israel.

No sooner had the Church of Latter-day Saints been established inthe West than remarkable spiritual manifestations appeared. This wasexactly in accordance with the faith and expectations of the disciples;for the promise to them was that these signs should follow the believer.

But there was a power that the saints could not understand. That it wasa power from the invisible world all readily discerned.

An influence both strange and potent! The power which was notcomprehended was greater, for the time, in its manifestations, than thespirit which the disciples better understood.

These spiritual manifestations occurred remarkably at the house ofElder Whitney, where the saints met often to speak one to the other,and to pray for the power.

The power had come!

It was in the house which had been overshadowed by the magic cloud atmidnight, out of which the angel had prophesied of the coming of theword of the Lord.

The Lord had come!

His word was given. But which Lord? and whose word? That was thequestion in that hour of spiritual controversy.

Similar manifestations were also had in other branches of the church;and they were given at those meetings called "testimony meetings." Atthese the saints testified one to the other of the "great work of Godin the last days," and magnified the gifts of the spirit. But therewere two kinds of gifts and two kinds of spirits.

Some of these manifestations were very similar to those of "modernspiritualism." Especially was this the case with what are styledphysical manifestations.

Others read revelations from their hands; holding them up as a bookbefore them. From this book they read passages of new scriptures. Booksof new revelations had been unsealed.

In letters of light and letters of gold, writing appeared to theirvision, on the hands of these "mediums."

What was singular and confounding to the elders was that many, whocould neither read nor write, while under "the influence," utteredbeautiful language extemporaneously. At this these "mediums" of theMormon Church (twenty years before our "modern mediums" were known),would exclaim concerning the "power of God" manifested through them;challenging the elders, after the spirit had gone out of them, withtheir own natural inability to utter such wonderful sayings, and dosuch marvelous things.

As might be expected the majority of these "mediums" were among thesisters. In modern spiritual parlance, they were more "inspirational."Indeed for the manifestation of both powers the sisters have alwaysbeen the "best mediums" (adopting the descriptive epithet now sopopular and suggestive).

And this manifestation of the "two powers" in the church followedthe preaching of the Mormon gospel all over the world, especially inAmerica and Great Britain. It was God's spell and the spell of someother spiritual genius.

Where the one power was most manifested, there it was always found thatthe power from the "other source" was about equally displayed.

So abounding and counterbalancing were these two powers in nearly allthe branches of the church in the early rise of Mormonism, in Americaand Great Britain, that spiritual manifestations became regarded verygenerally as fire that could burn as well as bless and build up thework of God.

An early hymn of the dispensation told that "the great prince ofdarkness was mustering his forces;" that a battle was coming "betweenthe two kingdoms;" that the armies were "gathering round," and thatthey would "soon in close battle be found."

To this is to be attributed the decline of spiritual gifts in a laterperiod in the Mormon Church, for the "spirits" were poured out soabundantly that the saints began to fear visions, and angels, andprophesy, and the "speaking in tongues."

Thus the sisters, who ever are the "best mediums" of spiritual gifts inthe church, have, in latter years, been shorn of their glory. But thegifts still remain with them; and the prophesy is that some day, whenthere is sufficient wisdom combined with faith, more than the primitivepower will be displayed, and the angels will daily walk and talk withthe people of God.

But in Kirtland in that day there was the controversy of the invisibles.

—

It was in the beginning of the year 1831 that a sleigh drove into thelittle town of Kirtland. There were in it a man and his wife with hergirl, and a man servant driving.

They seemed to be travelers, and to have come a long distance ratherthan from a neighboring village; indeed they had come from anotherState; hundreds of miles from home now; far away in those days for aman to be thus traveling in midwinter with his wife.

But they were not emigrants; at least seemingly not such; certainly notemigrants of an ordinary kind.

No caravan followed in their wake with merchandise for the westernmarket, nor a train of goods and servants to make a home in aneighboring State.

A solitary sleigh; a man with his wife and two servants; a solitarysleigh, and far from home.

That they were not fugitives was apparent in the manly boldness ofthe chief personage and the somewhat imperial presence of the womanby his side. This personal air of confidence, and a certain consciousimportance, were quite marked in both, especially in the man.

They were two decided personages come West. Some event was in theircoming. This much the observer might at once have concluded.

There was thus something of mystery about the solitary sleigh and itsoccupants.

A chariot with a destiny in it—a very primitive chariot of peace, buta chariot with a charm about it. The driver might have felt akin to theboatman who embarked with the imperial Roman: "Fear not—Caesar is inthy boat!"

The sleigh wended its course through the streets of Kirtland until itcame to the store of Messrs. Gilbert & Whitney, merchants. There itstopped.

Leaping from the primitive vehicle the personage shook himself lightly,as a young lion rising from his restful attitude; for the man possesseda royal strength and a magnificent physique. In age he was scarcelymore than twenty-five; young, but with the stamp of one born to command.

Leaving his wife in the sleigh, he walked, with a royal bearing and awonderfully firm step, straight into the store of Gilbert & Whitney.His bearing could not be other. He planted his foot as one who neverturned back—as one destined to make a mark in the great world at hisevery footfall. He had come to Kirtland as though to possess it.

Going up to the counter where stood the merchant Whitney, he tappedhim with hearty affection on the shoulder as he would have done to along separated brother or a companion of by-gone years. There was themagnetism of love in his very touch. Love was the wondrous charm thatthe man carried about him.

"Well, Brother Whitney, how do you do?" was his greeting.

"You have the advantage of me," replied Whitney, wondering who hisvisitor could be. "I could not call you by name."

"I am Joseph, the prophet!"

It was like one of old making himself known to his brethren—"I amJoseph, your brother!"

"Well, what do you want of me?" Joseph asked with a smile; and thenwith grave solicitude added:

"You have prayed me here, now what do you want of me? The Lord wouldnot let me sleep at nights; but said, up and take your wife toKirtland!"

An archangel's coming would not have been a greater event to the saintsthan the coming of Joseph the prophet.

Leaving his store and running across the road to his house, ElderWhitney exclaimed:

"Who do you think was in that sleigh at the store?"

"Well, I don't know," replied Sister Whitney.

"Why, it is Joseph and his wife. Where shall we put them?"

Then came to the mind of Sister Whitney the vision of the cloud thathad overshadowed her house at midnight, and the words of the angel whohad spoken from the pavilion of his hidden glory. The vision had now tothem a meaning and fulfillment indeed. The sister and her husband whohad heard the "voice" felt that "the word of the Lord" was to be givento Kirtland in their own dwelling and under the very roof thus hallowed.

One-half of the house was immediately set apart for the prophet and hiswife. The sleigh drove up to the door and Joseph entered with Emma—the"elect lady" of the church—and they took up their home in the littlecity which, with his presence, was now Zion.

It was the controversy of these two powers in the churches in the Westwhich had called Joseph to Kirtland in the opening of the year 1831.The church in the State of New York—its birthplace—had been commandedby revelation to move West, but Joseph hastened ahead with his wife, aswe have seen.

He had been troubled at nights in his visions. He had seen ElderWhitney and his wife and the good saints praying for his help. Thisis how he had known "Brother Whitney" at sight; for Joseph on suchoccasions saw all things before him as by a map unfolded to his view.

"Up and take your wife to Kirtland," "the Lord" had commanded. And hehad come. The church, from the State of New York, followed him theensuing May.

The master spirit was in Kirtland now. All spirits were subject to him.That was one ruling feature of his apostleship. He held the keys of thedispensation. He commanded and the very invisibles obeyed. They alsorecognized the master spirit. He was only subject to the God of Israel.

"Peace, be still!" the master commanded, and the troubled waters ofKirtland were at peace.

There in the chamber which Sister Whitney consecrated to the prophetthe great revelation was given concerning the tests of spirits. Therealso many of the revelations were given, some of which form part of thebook of doctrine and covenants. The chamber was thereafter called thetranslating room.

Perchance the mystic cloud often overshadowed that house, but theangel of the new covenant could now enter and speak face to face withmortal; for Jehovah's prophet dwelt there. To him the heavens unveiled,and the archangels of celestial spheres appeared in their glory andadministered to him.

Wonderful, indeed, if this be true, of which there is a cloud ofwitnesses; and more wonderful still if hosts of angels, good and bad,have come to earth since that day, converting millions to an age ofrevelation, unless one like unto Joseph has indeed unlocked the newdispensation with an Elijah's keys of power!

CHAPTER IX.

ELIZA R. SNOW'S EXPERIENCE—GLIMPSES OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OFJOSEPH SMITH—GATHERING OF THE SAINTS.

"In the autumn of 1829," says Eliza R. Snow, the high priestess, "thetidings reached my ears that God had spoken from the heavens; that hehad raised up a prophet, and was about to restore the fullness of thegospel with all its gifts and powers.

"During my brief association with the Campbellite church, I was deeplyinterested in the study of the ancient prophets, in which I wasassisted by the erudite Alexander Campbell himself, and Walter Scott,whose acquaintance I made,—but more particularly by Sidney Rigdon, whowas a frequent visitor at my father's house.

"But when I heard of the mission of the prophet Joseph I was afraidit was not genuine. It was just what my soul had hungered for, but Ithought it was a hoax.

"However, I improved the opportunity and attended the first meetingwithin my reach. I listened to the testimonials of two of the witnessesof the Book of Mormon. Such impressive testimonies I had never beforeheard. To hear men testify that they had seen a holy angel—that theyhad listened to his voice, bearing testimony of the work that wasushering in a new dispensation; that the fullness of the gospel was tobe restored and that they were commanded to go forth and declare it,thrilled my inmost soul.

"Yet it must be remembered that when Joseph Smith was called to hisgreat mission, more than human power was requisite to convince peoplethat communication with the invisible world was possible. He wasscoffed at, ridiculed and persecuted for asserting that he had receiveda revelation; now the world is flooded with revelations.

"Early in the spring of 1835, my eldest sister, who, with my mother wasbaptized in 1831, by the prophet, returned home from a visit to thesaints in Kirtland, and reported of the faith and humility of thosewho had received the gospel as taught by Joseph,—the progress of thework, the order of the organization of the priesthood and the frequentmanifestations of the power of God.

"The spirit bore witness to me of the truth. I felt that I had waitedalready a little too long to see whether the work was going to 'flashin the pan' and go out. But my heart was now fixed; and I was baptizedon the 5th of April, 1835. From that day to this I have not doubted thetruth of the work.

"In December following I went to Kirtland and realized much happinessin the enlarged views and rich intelligence that flowed from thefountain of eternal truth, through the inspiration of the Most High.

"I was present on the memorable event of the dedication of the temple,when the mighty power of God was displayed, and after its dedicationenjoyed many refreshing seasons in that holy sanctuary. Many timeshave I witnessed manifestations of the power of God, in the preciousgifts of the gospel,—such as speaking in tongues, the interpretationof tongues, prophesying, healing the sick, causing the lame to walk,the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. Of suchmanifestations in the church I might relate many circ*mstances.

"In the spring I taught a select school for young ladies, boarding inthe family of the prophet, and at the close of the term returned to myfather's house, where my friends and acquaintances flocked around meto inquire about the 'strange people' with whom I was associated. Iwas exceedingly happy in testifying of what I had both seen and heard,until the 1st of January, 1837, when I bade a final adieu to the homeof my youth, to share the fortunes of the people of God.

"On my return to Kirtland, by solicitation, I took up my residence inthe family of the prophet, and taught his family school.

"Again I had ample opportunity of judging of his daily walk andconversation, and the more I made his acquaintance, the more cause Ifound to appreciate him in his divine calling. His lips ever flowedwith instruction and kindness; but, although very forgiving, indulgentand affectionate in his nature, when his godlike intuition suggestedthat the good of his brethren, or the interests of the kingdom of Goddemanded it, no fear of censure, no love of approbation, could preventhis severe and cutting rebukes.

"His expansive mind grasped the great plan of salvation, and solvedthe mystic problem of man's destiny; he was in possession of keys thatunlocked the past and the future, with its successions of eternities;yet in his devotions he was as humble as a little child. Three timesa day he had family worship; and these precious seasons of sacredhousehold service truly seemed a foretaste of celestial happiness."

Thus commenced that peculiar and interesting relationship between theprophet and the inspired heroine who became his celestial bride, andwhose beautiful ideals have so much glorified celestial marriage.

There were also others of our Mormon heroines who had now gathered tothe West to build up Zion, that their "King might appear in his glory."Among them was that exalted woman—so beloved and honored in the Mormonchurch—the life-long wife of Heber C. Kimball. There were also MaryAngel, and many apostolic women from New England, who have since stood,for a generation, as pillars in the latter-day kingdom. We shall meetthem hereafter.

And the saints, as doves flocking to the window of the ark of the newcovenant, gathered to Zion. They came from the East and the West andthe North and the South.

Soon the glad tidings were conveyed to other lands. Great Britain"heard the word of the Lord," borne there by apostles Heber C. Kimball,Orson Hyde and Willard Richards, and others.

Soon also the saints began to gather from the four quarters of theearth; and those gatherings have increased until more than a hundredthousand disciples—the majority of them women—have come to America,as their land of promise, to build up thereon the Zion of the last days.

CHAPTER X.

THE LATTER-DAY ILIAD—REPRODUCTION OF THE GREAT HEBRAIC DRAMA—THEMEANING OF THE MORMON MOVEMENT IN THE AGE.

It was "a gathering dispensation." A strange religion indeed, thatmeant something more than faith and prayers and creeds.

An empire-founding religion, as we have said,—this religion of alatter-day Israel. A religion, in fact, that meant all that the name of"Latter-day Israel" implies.

The women who did their full half in founding Mormondom, comprehended,as much as did their prototypes who came up out of Egypt, thesignificance of the name of Israel.

Out of Egypt the seed of promise, to become a peculiar people, a holynation, with a distinctive God and a distinctive destiny. Out of modernBabylon, to repeat the same Hebraic drama in the latter age.

A Mormon iliad in every view; and the sisters understanding it fully.Indeed perhaps they have best understood it. Their very experiencequickened their comprehension.

The cross and the crown of thorns quicken the conception of acrucifixion. The Mormon women have borne the cross and worn the crownof thorns for a full lifetime; not in their religion, but in theirexperience. Their strange destiny and the divine warfare incarnated intheir lives, gave them an experience matchless in its character andunparalleled in its sacrifices.

The sisters understood their religion, and they counted the cost oftheir divine ambitions.

What that cost has been to these more than Spartan women, we shallfind in tragic stories of their lives, fast unfolding in the comingnarrative of their gatherings and exterminations.

For the first twenty years of their history the tragedy of theLatter-day Israel was woeful enough to make their guardian angels weep,and black enough in its scenes to satisfy the angriest demons.

This part of the Mormon drama began in 1831 with the removal of thechurch from the State of New York to Kirtland, Ohio, and to Jackson,and other counties in Missouri; and it culminated in the martyrdom ofthe prophet and his brother at Nauvoo, and the exodus to the RockyMountains. In all these scenes the sisters have shown themselvesmatchless heroines.

The following, from an early poem, written by the prophetess, Eliza R.Snow, will finely illustrate the Hebraic character of the Mormon work,and the heroic spirit in which these women entered into the divineaction of their lives:

My heart is fix'd—I know in whom I trust.
'Twas not for wealth—'twas not to gather heaps
Of perishable things—'twas not to twine
Around my brow a transitory wreath,
A garland decked with gems of mortal praise,
That I forsook the home of childhood; that
I left the lap of ease—the halo rife
With friendship's richest, soft, and mellow tones;
Affection's fond caresses, and the cup
O'erflowing with the sweets of social life,
With high refinement's golden pearls enrich'd.

Ah, no! A holier purpose fir'd my soul;
A nobler object prompted my pursuit.
Eternal prospects open'd to my view,
And hope celestial in my bosom glow'd.
God, who commanded Abraham to leave
His native country, and to offer up
On the lone altar, where no eye beheld
But that which never sleeps, an only son,
Is still the same; and thousands who have made
A covenant with him by sacrifice,
Are bearing witness to the sacred truth—
Jehovah speaking has reveal'd his will.

The proclamation sounded in my ear—
It reached my heart—I listen'd to the sound—
Counted the cost, and laid my earthly all
Upon the altar, and with purpose fix'd
Unalterably, while the spirit of
Elijah's God within my bosom reigns,
Embrac'd the everlasting covenant,
And am determined now to be a saint,
And number with the tried and faithful ones,
Whose race is measured with their life; whose prize
Is everlasting, and whose happiness
Is God's approval; and to whom 'tis more
Than meat and drink to do his righteous will.

* * * *

Although to be a saint requires
A noble sacrifice—an arduous toil—
A persevering aim; the great reward
Awaiting the grand consummation will
Repay the price, however costly; and
The pathway of the saint the safest path
Will prove; though perilous—for 'tis foretold,
All things that can be shaken, God will shake;
Kingdoms and governments, and institutes,
Both civil and religious, must be tried—
Tried to the core, and sounded to the depth.

Then let me be a saint, and be prepar'd
For the approaching day, which like a snare
Will soon surprise the hypocrite—expose
The rottenness of human schemes—shake off
Oppressive fetters—break the gorgeous reins
Usurpers hold, and lay the pride of man—
The pride of nations, low in dust!

And there was in these gatherings of our latter-day Israel, like as inthis poem, a tremendous meaning. It is of the Hebrew significance andgenius rather than of the Christian; for Christ is now Messiah, King ofIsrael, and not the Babe of Bethlehem. Mormondom is no Christian sect,but an Israelitish nationality, and even woman, the natural prophetessof the reign of peace, is prophesying of the shaking of "kingdoms andgovernments and all human institutions."

The Mormons from the beginning well digested the text to the greatHebrew drama, and none better than the sisters; here it is:

"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, get thee out of thy country, andfrom thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I willshew thee;

"And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, andmake thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing;

"And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseththee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."

And so, for now nearly fifty years, this Mormon Israel have beengetting out of their native countries, and from their kindred, and fromtheir father's house unto the gathering places that their God has shownthem.

But they have been driven from those gathering places from time totime; yes, driven farther west. There was the land which God wasshowing them. At first it was too distant to be seen even by the eye offaith. Too many thousands of miles even for the Spartan heroism of thesisters; too dark a tragedy of expulsions and martyrdoms; and too manyyears of exoduses and probations. The wrath of the Gentiles drove themwhere their destiny led them—to the land which God was showing them.

And for the exact reason that the patriarchal Abraham and Sarah werecommanded to get out of their country and from their kindred and theirfather's house, so were the Abrahams and Sarahs of our time commandedby the same God and for the same purpose.

"I will make of thee a great nation." "And I will make my covenantbetween me and thee, and I will multiply thee exceedingly." "And thoushalt be a father of many nations." "And I will establish my covenantbetween me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations, foran everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and thy seed after thee."

To fulfill this in the lives of these spiritual sons and daughters ofAbraham and Sarah, the gathering dispensation was brought in. TheseMormons have gathered from the beginning that they might become thefathers and mothers of a nation, and that through them the promisesmade to the Abrahamic fathers and mothers might be greatly fulfilled.

This is most literal, and was well understood in the early rise of thechurch, long before polygamy was known. Yet who cannot now see thatin such a patriarchal covenant was the very overture of patriarchalmarriage—or polygamy.

So in the early days quite a host of the daughters of NewEngland—earnest and purest of women—many of them unmarried, and mostof them in the bloom of womanhood—gathered to the virgin West tobecome the mothers of a nation, and to build temples to the name of apatriarchal God!

CHAPTER XI.

THE LAND OF TEMPLES—AMERICA THE NEW JERUSALEM—DARING CONCEPTION OFTHE MORMON PROPHET—FULFILLMENT OF THE ABRAHAMIC PROGRAMME—WOMAN TO BEAN ORACLE OF JEHOVAH.

Two thousand years had nearly passed since the destruction of thetemple of Solomon; three thousand years, nearly, since that temple ofthe old Jerusalem was built.

Yet here in America in the nineteenth century, among the Gentiles, amodern Israel began to rear temples to the name of the God of Israel!Temples to be reared to his august name in every State on this vastcontinent! Thus runs the Mormon prophesy.

All America, the New Jerusalem of the last days! All America for theGod of Israel! What a conception! Yet these daughters of Zion perfectlyunderstood it nearly fifty years ago.

Joseph was indeed a sublime and daring oracle. Such a conceptiongrasped even before he laid the foundation stone of a Zion—that allAmerica is to be the New Jerusalem of the world and of the future—wasworthy to make him the prophet of America.

Zion was not a county in Missouri, a city in Ohio or Illinois; nor isshe now a mere embryo State in the Rocky Mountains.

Kirtland was but a "stake of Zion" where the first temple rose. Jacksoncounty is the enchanted spot where the "centre stake" of Zion is to beplanted, and the grand temple reared, by-and-by. Nauvoo with its templewas another stake. Utah also is but a stake. Here we have already thetemple of St. George, and in Salt Lake City a temple is being builtwhich will be a Masonic unique to this continent.

Perchance it will stand in the coming time scarcely less a monumentto the name of its builder—Brigham Young—than the temple of OldJerusalem has been to the name of Solomon.

But all America is the world's New Jerusalem!

With this cardinal conception crowding the soul of the Mormon prophet,inspired by the very archangels of Israel, what a vast Abrahamic dramaopened to the view of the saints in Kirtland when the first templelifted its sacred tower to the skies!

The archangels of Israel had come down to fulfill on earth thegrand Abrahamic programme. The two worlds—the visible and theinvisible—were quickly engaging in the divine action, to consummate,in this "dispensation of the fullness of times," the promises made untothe fathers.

And all America for the God of Israel.

There is method in Mormonism—method infinite. Mormonism is Masonic.The God of Israel is a covenant maker; the crown of the covenant is thetemple.

But woman must not be lost to view in our admiration of the prophet'sconceptions.

How stands woman in the grand temple economy, as she loomed up in hermission, from the house of the Lord in Kirtland?

The apostles and elders laid the foundations, raised the arches, andput on the cap stone; but it was woman that did the "inner work of thetemple."

George A. Smith hauled the first load of rock; Heber C. Kimball workedas an operative mason, and Brigham Young as a painter and glazier inthe house; but the sisters wrought on the "veils of the temple."

Sister Polly Angel, wife of Truman O. Angel, the church architect,relates that she and a band of sisters were working on the "veils," oneday, when the prophet and Sidney Rigdon came in.

"Well, sisters," observed Joseph, "you are always on hand. The sistersare always first and foremost in all good works. Mary was first at theresurrection; and the sisters now are the first to work on the insideof the temple."

'Tis but a simple incident, but full of significance. It showedJoseph's instinctive appreciation of woman and her mission. Her placewas inside the temple, and he was about to put her there,—a highpriestess of Jehovah, to whose name he was building temples. Andwonderfully suggestive was his prompting, that woman was the firstwitness of the resurrection.

Once again woman had become an oracle of a new dispensation and a newcivilization. She can only properly be this when a temple economy comesround in the unfolding of the ages. She can only be a legitimate oraclein the temple.

When she dares to play the oracle, without her divine mission andanointing, she is accounted in society as a witch, a fortune-teller, amedium, who divines for hire and sells the gift of the invisibles formoney.

But in the temple woman is a sacred and sublime oracle. She is aprophetess and a high priestess. Inside the temple she cannot but beas near the invisibles as man—nearer indeed, from her finer nature,inside the mystic veil, the emblems of which she has worked upon withher own hands.

Of old the oracle had a priestly royalty. The story of Alexander theGreat and the oracle of Delphi is famous. The conqueror demanded speechfrom the oracle concerning his destiny. The oracle was a woman; andwomanlike she refused to utter the voice of destiny at the imperiousbidding of a mortal. But Alexander knew that woman was inspired—thathe held in his grip the incarnated spirit of the temple, and he essayedto drag her to the holy ground where speech was given.

"He is invincible!" exclaimed the oracle, in wrath.

"The oracle speaks!" cried Alexander, in exultation.

The prophetess was provoked to an utterance; woman forced to obey thestronger will of man; but it was woman's inspired voice that sentAlexander through the world a conquering destiny.

And the prophet of Mormondom knew that woman is, by the gifts of Godand nature, an inspired being. If she was this in the temples of Egyptand Greece, more abundantly is she this in the temples of Israel. Inthem woman is the medium of Jehovah. This is what the divine scheme ofthe Mormon prophet has made her to this age; and she began her greatmission to the world in the temple at Kirtland.

But this temple-building of the Mormons has a vaster meaning than thetemples of Egypt, the oracles of Greece, or the cathedrals of theRomish Church.

It is the vast Hebrew iliad, begun with Abraham and brought downthrough the ages, in a race still preserved with more than its originalquality and fibre; and in a God who is raising up unto Abraham amystical seed of promise, a latter-day Israel.

Jehovah is a covenant-maker. "And I will make with Israel a new andeverlasting covenant," is the text that Joseph and Brigham have beenworking upon. Hence this temple building in America, to fulfill andglorify the new covenant of Israel.

The first covenant was made with Abraham and the patriarchs in theEast. The greater and the everlasting covenant will restore thekingdom to Israel. That covenant has been made in the West, withthese veritable children of Abraham. God has raised up children untoAbraham to fulfill the promises made to him. This is Mormonism.

The West is the future world. Yet how shall there be the newcivilization without its distinctive temples? Certainly there shall beno Abrahamic dispensation and covenant unless symbolized by templesraised to the name of the God of Israel!

All America, then, is Zion!

A hundred temples lifting their towers to the skies in the world's NewJerusalem. Temples built to the name of the God of Israel.

Mark this august wonder of the age; the Mormons build not temples tothe name of Jesus, but to the name of Jehovah—not to the Son, but tothe Father.

The Hebrew symbol is not the cross, but the sceptre. The Hebrews knownothing of the cross. It is the symbol of heathenism, whence Romereceived her signs and her worship. Rome adopted the cross and she hasborne it as her mark. She never reared her cathedrals to the name ofthe God of Israel, nor has she taught the nations to fear his name. Norhas she prophesied of the New Jerusalem of the last days, which mustsupersede Rome and give the millennial civilization to the world.

The reign of Messiah! Temples to the Most High God! The sceptre, notthe cross!

There is a grand Masonic consistency in the divine scheme of the Mormonprophet, and the sisters began to comprehend the infinite themes oftheir religion when they worked in the temple at Kirtland, and beheldin the service the glory of Israel's God.

CHAPTER XII.

ELIZA R. SNOW'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE AND ITSDEDICATION—HOSANNAS TO GOD—HIS GLORY FILLS THE HOUSE.

The erection of the Kirtland temple was a leading characteristic of thework of the last dispensation.

It was commenced in June, 1833, under the immediate direction of theAlmighty, through his servant, Joseph Smith, whom he had called inhis boyhood, like Samuel of old, to introduce the fullness of theeverlasting gospel.

At that time the saints were few in number, and most of them very poor;and, had it not been for the assurance that God had spoken, and hadcommanded that a house should be built to his name, of which he notonly revealed the form, but also designated the dimensions, an attempttowards building that temple, under the then existing circ*mstances,would have been, by all concerned, pronounced preposterous.

Although many sections of the world abounded with mosques, churches,synagogues and cathedrals, built professedly for worship, this wasthe first instance, for the lapse of many centuries, of God havinggiven a pattern, from the heavens, and manifested by direct revelationhow the edifice should be constructed, in order that he might acceptand acknowledge it as his own. This knowledge inspired the saints toalmost superhuman efforts, while through faith and union they acquiredstrength. In comparison with eastern churches and cathedrals, thistemple is not large, but in view of the amount of available meanspossessed, a calculation of the cost, at the lowest possible figures,would have staggered the faith of any but Latter-day saints; and it nowstands as a monumental pillar.

Its dimensions are eighty by fifty-nine feet; the walls fifty feethigh, and the tower one hundred and ten feet. The two main hallsare fifty-five by sixty-five feet, in the inner court. The buildinghas four vestries in front, and five rooms in the attic, which weredevoted to literature, and for meetings of the various quorums of thepriesthood.

There was a peculiarity in the arrangement of the inner court whichmade it more than ordinarily impressive—so much so that a sense ofsacred awe seemed to rest upon all who entered; not only the saints,but strangers also manifested a high degree of reverential feeling.Four pulpits stood, one above another, in the centre of the building,from north to south, both on the east and west ends; those on the westfor the presiding officers of the Melchisidec priesthood, and thoseon the east for the Aaronic; and each of these pulpits was separatedby curtains of white painted canvas, which were let down and drawnup at pleasure. In front of each of these two rows of pulpits, was asacrament table, for the administration of that sacred ordinance. Ineach corner of the court was an elevated pew for the singers—the choirbeing distributed into four compartments. In addition to the pulpitcurtains, were others, intersecting at right angles, which dividedthe main ground-floor hall into four equal sections—giving to eachone-half of one set of pulpits.

From the day the ground was broken for laying the foundation for thetemple, until its dedication on the 27th of March, 1836, the work wasvigorously prosecuted.

With very little capital except brain, bone and sinew, combined withunwavering trust in God, men, women, and even children, worked withtheir might; while the brethren labored in their departments, thesisters were actively engaged in boarding and clothing workmen nototherwise provided for—all living as abstemiously as possible sothat every cent might be appropriated to the grand object, whiletheir energies were stimulated by the prospect of participating inthe blessing of a house built by the direction of the Most High andaccepted by him.

The dedication was looked forward to with intense interest; andwhen the day arrived (Sunday, March 27th, 1836), a dense multitudeassembled—the temple was filled to its utmost, and when the usherswere compelled to close the doors, the outside congregation was nearlyif not quite as large as that within.

Four hundred and sixteen elders, including prophets and apostles, withthe first great prophets of the last dispensation at their head, werepresent—men who had been "called of God as was Aaron," and clothedwith the holy priesthood; many of them having just returned frommissions, on which they had gone forth like the ancient disciples,"without purse or scrip," now to feast for a little season on the sweetspirit of love and union, in the midst of those who had "tasted of thepowers of the world to come."

At the hour appointed, the assembly was seated, the Melchisidec andAaronic priesthoods being arranged as follows: West end of the house,Presidents Frederick G. Williams, Joseph Smith, Sr., and William W.Phelps, occupied the first pulpit for the Melchisidec priesthood;Presidents Joseph Smith, Jr., Hyrum Smith and Sidney Rigdon, thesecond; Presidents David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdry and John Whitmer,the third; the fourth pulpit was occupied by the president of thehigh-priest's quorum and his councilors, and two choristers. The twelveapostles were on the right, in the highest three seats; the presidentof the elders, his two councilors and clerk in the seat directly belowthe twelve. The High Council of Kirtland, consisting of twelve, were onthe left, on the first three seats. The fourth seat, and next below theHigh Council, was occupied by Warren A. Cowdry and Warren Parrish, whoofficiated as scribes.

In the east end of the house, the Bishop of Kirtland—Newel K.Whitney—and his councilors occupied the first pulpit for the Aaronicpriesthood; the Bishop of Zion—Edward Partridge—and his councilors,the second; the President of the priests and his councilors, the third;the President of the teachers, and his councilors, and one chorister,the fourth; the High Council of Zion, consisting of twelve councilors,on the right; the President of the deacons, and his councilors, in thenext seat below them, and the seven presidents of the seventies, on theleft.

At nine o'clock, President Sidney Rigdon commenced the services of thatgreat and memorable day, by reading the ninety-sixth and twenty-fourthPsalms; "Ere long the vail will be rent in twain," etc., was sung bythe choir, and after President Rigdon had addressed the throne of gracein fervent prayer, "O happy souls who pray," etc., was sung. PresidentRigdon then read the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth verses ofthe eighteenth chapter of Matthew, and spoke more particularly fromthe last-named verse, continuing his eloquent, logical and sublimediscourse for two and a half hours. At one point, as he reviewed thetoils and privations of those who had labored in rearing the walls ofthat sacred edifice, he drew tears from many eyes, saying, there werethose who had wet those walls with their tears, when, in the silentshades of the night, they were praying to the God of heaven to protectthem, and stay the unhallowed hands of ruthless spoilers, who haduttered a prophesy, when the foundation was laid, that the walls shouldnever be erected.

In reference to his main subject, the speaker assumed that in the daysof the Saviour there were synagogues where the Jews worshipped God;and in addition to those, the splendid temple in Jerusalem; yet when,on a certain occasion, one proposed to follow him, withersoever hewent, though heir of all things, he cried out in bitterness of soul,"The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but theSon of Man hath not where to lay his head." From this the speaker drewthe conclusion that the Most High did not put his name there, neitherdid he accept the worship of those who paid their vows and adorationsthere. This was evident from the fact that they did not receive theSaviour, but thrust him from them, saying, "Away with him! Crucify him!Crucify him!" It was therefore evident that his spirit did not dwell inthem. They were the degenerate sons of noble sires, but they had longsince slain the prophets and seers, through whom the Lord had revealedhimself to the children of men. They were not led by revelation. This,said the speaker, was the grand difficulty—their unbelief in presentrevelation. He then clearly demonstrated the fact that diversity of,and contradictory opinions did, and would prevail among people not ledby present revelation; which forcibly applies to the various religioussects of our own day; and inasmuch as they manifest the same spirit,they must be under the same condemnation with those who were coevalwith the Saviour.

He admitted there were many houses—many sufficiently large, builtfor the worship of God, but not one, except this, on the face of thewhole earth, that was built by divine revelation; and were it not forthis, the dear Redeemer might, in this day of science, intelligence andreligion, say to those who would follow him, "The foxes have holes, thebirds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to layhis head."

After the close of his discourse, President Rigdon presented foran expression of their faith and confidence, Joseph Smith, Jr., asprophet, seer and revelator, to the various quorums, and the wholecongregation of saints, and a simultaneous rising up followed, in tokenof unanimous confidence, and covenant to uphold him as such, by theirfaith and prayers.

The morning services were concluded by the choir singing, "Now let usrejoice in the day of salvation," etc. During an intermission of twentyminutes, the congregation remained seated, and the afternoon servicesopened by singing, "This earth was once a garden place," etc. PresidentJoseph Smith, Jr., addressed the assembly for a few moments, and thenpresented the first presidency of the church as prophets, seers, andrevelators, and called upon all who felt to acknowledge them as such,to manifest it by rising up. All arose. He then presented the twelveapostles who were present, as prophets, seers, and revelators, andspecial witnesses to all the earth, holding the keys of the kingdomof God, to unlock it, or cause it to be done among them; to which allassented by rising to their feet. He then presented the other quorumsin their order, and the vote was unanimous in every instance.

He then prophesied to all, that inasmuch as they would uphold these menin their several stations (alluding to the different quorums in thechurch), the Lord would bless them, "yea, in the name of Christ, theblessings of heaven shall be yours; and when the Lord's anointed shallgo forth to proclaim the word, bearing testimony to this generation,if they receive it they shall be blest; but if not, the judgments ofGod will follow close upon them, until that city or that house whichrejects them, shall be left desolate."

The hymn commencing with "How pleased and blest was I," was sung, andthe following dedicatory prayer offered by the prophet, Joseph Smith:

"Thanks be to thy name, O Lord God of Israel, who keepest covenant and showest mercy unto thy servants who walk uprightly before thee, with all their hearts; thou who hast commanded thy servants to build a house to thy name in this place. And now thou beholdest, O Lord, that thy servants have done according to thy commandment. And now we ask thee, Holy Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, the son of thy bosom, in whose name alone salvation can be administered to the children of men, we ask thee, O Lord, to accept of this house, the workmanship of the hands of us, thy servants, which thou didst command us to build; for thou knowest that we have done this work through great tribulation; and out of our poverty we have given of our substance, to build a house to thy name, that the Son of Man might have a place to manifest himself to his people. And as thou hast said in a revelation, given to us, calling us thy friends, saying, 'call your solemn assembly, as I have commanded you; and as all have not faith, seek ye diligently, and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books, words of wisdom; seek learning even by study, and also by faith. Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God. That your incomings may be in the name of the Lord, that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord, that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with uplifted hands to the Most High.'

"And now, Holy Father, we ask thee to assist us, thy people, with thy grace, in calling our solemn assembly, that it may be done to thy honor, and to thy divine acceptance. And in a manner that we may be found worthy in thy sight, to secure a fulfillment of the promises which thou hast made unto us, thy people, in the revelations given unto us; that thy glory may rest down upon thy people, and upon this thy house, which we now dedicate to thee, that it may be sanctified and consecrated to be holy, and that thy holy presence may be continually in this house, and that all people who shall enter upon the threshold of the Lord's house may feel thy power, and feel constrained to acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it, and that it is thy house, a place of thy holiness. And do thou grant, Holy Father, that all those who shall worship in this house, may be taught words of wisdom out of the best books, and that they may seek learning even by study, and also by faith, as thou hast said; and that they may grow up in thee, and receive a fullness of the Holy Ghost and be organized according to thy laws, and be prepared to obtain every needful thing; and that this house may be a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of glory and of God, even thy house; that all the incomings of thy people, into this house, may be in the name of the Lord; that all the outgoings from this house may be in the name of the Lord; arid that all their salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with holy hands, uplifted to the Most High; and that no unclean thing shall be permitted to come into thy house to pollute it; and when thy people transgress, any of them, they may speedily repent, and return unto thee, and find favor in thy sight, and be restored to the blessings which thou hast ordained to be poured out upon those who shall reverence thee in thy house. And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house, armed with thy power, and thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them; and from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto the ends of the earth, that they may know that this is thy work, and that thou hast put forth thy hand, to fulfill that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of the prophets, concerning the last days. We ask thee, Holy Father, to establish the people that shall worship and honorably hold a name and standing in this thy house, to all generations, and for eternity, that no weapon formed against them shall prosper; that he who diggeth a pit for them shall fall into the same himself; that no combination of wickedness shall have power to rise up and prevail over thy people upon whom thy name shall be put in this house; and if any people shall rise against this people, that thy anger be kindled against them, and if they shall smite this people thou wilt smite them, thou wilt fight for thy people as thou didst in the day of battle, that they may be delivered from the hands of all their enemies.

"We ask thee, Holy Father, to confound, and astonish, and to bring to shame and confusion, all those who have spread lying reports abroad, over the world, against thy servant, or servants, if they will not repent when the everlasting gospel shall be proclaimed in their ears, and that all their works may be brought to naught, and be swept away by, the hail, and by the judgments which thou wilt send upon them in thy anger, that there may be an end to lyings and slanders against thy people; for thou knowest, O Lord, that thy servants have been innocent before thee in bearing record of thy name, for which they have suffered these things; therefore we plead before thee a full and complete deliverance from under this yoke; break it off, O Lord; break it off from the necks of thy servants, by thy power, that we may rise up in the midst of this generation and do thy work.

"O Jehovah, have mercy on this people, and as all men sin, forgive the transgressions of thy people, and let them be blotted out forever. Let the anointing of thy ministers be sealed upon them with power from on high; let it be fulfilled upon them as upon those on the day of pentecost; let the gift of tongues be poured out upon thy people, even cloven tongues as of fire, and the interpretation thereof, and let thy house be filled, as with a rushing mighty wind, with thy glory. Put upon thy servants the testimony of the covenant, that when they go out and proclaim thy word, they may seal up the law, and prepare the hearts of thy saints for all those judgments thou art about to send, in thy wrath, upon the inhabitants of the earth, because of their transgressions; that thy people may not faint in the day of trouble. And whatsoever city thy servants shall enter, and the people of that city receive their testimony, let thy peace and thy salvation be upon that city, that they may gather out of that city the righteous, that they may come forth to Zion, or to her stakes, the places of thy appointment, with songs of everlasting joy; and until this be accomplished, let not thy judgments fall upon this city. And whatsoever city thy servants shall enter, and the people of that city receive not the testimony of thy servants, and thy servants warn them to save themselves from this untoward generation, let it be upon that city according to that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of thy prophets; but deliver thou, O Jehovah, we beseech thee, thy servants from their hands, and cleanse them from their blood. O Lord, we delight not in the destruction of our fellow men! Their souls are precious before thee; but thy word must be fulfilled; help thy servants to say, with thy grace assisting them, thy will be done, O Lord, and not ours. We know that thou hast spoken by the mouth of thy prophets terrible things concerning the wicked, in the last days—that thou wilt pour out thy judgments without measure; therefore, O Lord, deliver thy people from the calamity of the wicked; enable thy servants to seal up the law, and bind up the testimony, that they may be prepared against the day of burning. We ask thee, Holy Father, to remember those who have been driven (by the inhabitants of Jackson county, Missouri), from the lands of their inheritance, and break off, O Lord, this yoke of affliction that has been put upon them. Thou knowest, O Lord, that they have been greatly oppressed and afflicted by wicked men, and our hearts flow out with sorrow, because of their grievous burdens. O Lord, how long wilt thou suffer this people to bear this affliction, and the cries of their innocent ones to ascend up in thine ears, and their blood come up in testimony before thee, and not make a display of thy testimony in their behalf? Have mercy, O Lord, upon that wicked mob, who have driven thy people, that they may cease to spoil, that they may repent of their sins, if repentance is to be found; but if they will not, make bare thine arm, O Lord, and redeem that which thou didst appoint a Zion unto thy people.

"And if it cannot be otherwise, that the cause of thy people may not fail before thee, may thine anger be kindled, and thine indignation fall upon them, that they may be wasted away, both root and branch, from under heaven; but inasmuch as they will repent, thou art gracious and merciful, and wilt turn away thy wrath, when thou lookest upon the face of thine anointed. Have mercy, O Lord, upon all the nations of the earth; have mercy upon the rulers of our land; may those principles which were so honorably and nobly defended, viz.: the constitution of our land, by our fathers, be established forever. Remember the kings, the princes, the nobles, and the great ones of the earth, and all people, and the churches, all the poor, the needy and afflicted ones of the earth, that their hearts may be softened, when thy servants shall go out from thy house, O Jehovah, to bear testimony of thy name, that their prejudices may give way before the truth, and thy people may obtain favor in the sight of all, that all the ends of the earth may know that we thy servants have heard thy voice, and that thou hast sent us; that from all these, thy servants, the sons of Jacob, may gather out the righteous to build a holy city to thy name, as thou hast commanded them. We ask thee to appoint unto Zion other stakes, besides this one which thou hast appointed, that the gathering of thy people may roll on in great power and majesty, that thy work may be cut short in righteousness. Now these words, O Lord, we have spoken before thee, concerning the revelations and commandments which thou hast given unto us, who are identified with the Gentiles; but thou knowest that thou hast a great love for the children of Jacob, who have been scattered upon the mountains, for a long time, in a cloudy and dark day; we therefore ask thee to have mercy upon the children of Jacob, that Jerusalem, from this hour, may begin to be redeemed, and the yoke of bondage begin to be broken off from the house of David, and the children of Judah may begin to return to the lands which thou didst give to Abraham, their father; and cause that the remnants of Jacob, who have been cursed and smitten, because of their transgressions, be converted from their wild and savage condition, to the fullness of the everlasting gospel, that they may lay down their weapons of bloodshed, and cease their rebellions; and may all the scattered remnants of Israel, who have been driven to the ends of the earth, come to a knowledge of the truth, believe in the Messiah, and be redeemed from oppression, and rejoice before thee. O Lord, remember thy servant, Joseph Smith, Jr., and all his afflictions and persecutions, how he has covenanted with Jehovah, and vowed to thee, O mighty God of Jacob, and the commandments which thou hast given unto him, and that he hath sincerely striven to do thy will. Have mercy, O Lord, upon his wife and children, that they may be exalted in thy presence, and preserved by thy fostering hand; have mercy upon all their immediate connections, that their prejudices may be broken up, and swept away as with a flood, that they may be converted and redeemed with Israel, and know that thou art God. Remember, O Lord, the presidents, even all the presidents of thy church, that thy right hand may exalt them, with all their families, and their immediate connections, that their names may be perpetuated, and had in everlasting remembrance, from generation to generation. Remember all thy church, O Lord, with all their families, and all their immediate connections, with all their sick and afflicted ones, with all the poor and meek of the earth, that the kingdom which thou hast set up without hands, may become a great mountain, and fill the whole earth; that thy church may come forth out of the wilderness of darkness, and shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners, and be adorned as a bride for that day when thou shalt unveil the heavens, and cause the mountains to flow down at thy presence, and the valleys to be exalted, the rough places made smooth; that thy glory may fill the earth, that when the trump shall sound for the dead, we shall be caught up in the cloud to meet thee, that we may ever be with the Lord, that our garments may be pure, that we may be clothed upon with robes of righteousness, with palms in our hands, and crowns of glory upon our heads, and reap eternal joy for all our sufferings.

"O Lord God Almighty, hear us in these petitions, and answer us from heaven, thy holy habitation, where thou sittest enthroned, with glory, honor, power, majesty, might, dominion, truth, justice, judgment, mercy, and an infinity of fullness, from everlasting to everlasting. O hear, O hear, O hear us, O Lord, and answer these petitions, and accept the dedication of this house unto thee, the work of our hands, which we have built unto thy name! And also this church, to put upon it thy name; and help us by the power of thy spirit, that we may mingle our voices with those bright shining seraphs around thy throne, with acclamations of praise, singing hosanna to God and the Lamb; and let these thine anointed ones be clothed with salvation, and thy saints shout aloud for joy. Amen, and amen."

The choir then sang, "The spirit of God like a fire is burning," etc.,after which the Lord's supper was administered to the whole assembly.Then President Joseph Smith bore testimony of his mission and of theministration of angels, and, after testimonials and exhortations byother elders, he blest the congregation in the name of the Lord.

Thus ended the ceremonies of the dedication or the first temple builtby special command of the Most High, in this dispensation.

One striking feature of the ceremonies, was the grand shout ofhosanna, which was given by the whole assembly, in standingposition, with uplifted hands. The form of the shout is as follows:"Hosanna—hosanna—hosanna—to God and the Lamb—amen—amen, andamen." The foregoing was deliberately and emphatically pronounced, andthree times repeated, and with such power as seemed almost sufficientto raise the roof from the building.

A singular incident in connection with this shout may be discredited bysome, but it is verily true. A notice had been circulated that childrenin arms would not be admitted at the dedication of the temple. A sisterwho had come a long distance with her babe, six weeks old, having, onher arrival, heard of the above requisition, went to the patriarchJoseph Smith, Sr., in great distress, saying that she knew no one withwhom she could leave her infant; and to be deprived of the privilege ofattending the dedication seemed more than she could endure. The evergenerous and kind-hearted father volunteered to take the responsibilityon himself, and told her to take her child, at the same time givingthe mother a promise that her babe should make no disturbance; and thepromise was verified. But when the congregation shouted hosanna, thatbabe joined in the shout. As marvelous as that incident may appear tomany, it is not more so than other occurrences on that occasion.

The ceremonies of that dedication may be rehearsed, but no mortallanguage can describe the heavenly manifestations of that memorableday. Angels appeared to some, while a sense of divine presencewas realized by all present, and each heart was filled with "joyinexpressible and full of glory."

CHAPTER XIII.

THE ANCIENT ORDER OF BLESSINGS—THE PROPHET'S FATHER—THEPATRIARCH'S MOTHER—HIS FATHER—KIRTLAND HIGH SCHOOL—APOSTASY ANDPERSECUTION—EXODUS OF THE CHURCH.

Concerning affairs at Kirtland subsequent to the dedication of thetemple, and people and incidents of those times, Eliza R. Snowcontinues: With the restoration of the fullness of the gospel camealso the ancient order of patriarchal blessings. Each father, holdingthe priesthood, stands as a patriarch, at the head of his family,with invested right and power to bless his household, and to predictconcerning the future, on the heads of his children, as did Jacob ofold.

Inasmuch as many fathers have died without having conferred thoseblessings, God, in the order of his kingdom, has made provisions tosupply the deficiency, by choosing men to officiate as patriarchs,whose province it is to bless the fatherless. Joseph Smith, Sr., wasordained to this office, and held the position of first patriarch inthe church. He was also, by appointment, president of the Kirtlandstake of Zion, consequently the first presiding officer in all generalmeetings for worship.

A few words descriptive of this noble man may not be deemed amissin this connection. Of a fine physique, he was more than ordinarilyprepossessing in personal appearance. His kind, affable, dignified andunassuming manner naturally inspired strangers with feelings of loveand reverence. To me he was the veritable personification of my idea ofthe ancient Father Abraham.

In his decisions he was strictly just; what can be said of veryfew, may be truly said of him, in judging between man and man: hisjudgment could not be biased by either personal advantage, sympathy,or affection. Such a man was worthy of being the father of the firstprophet of the last dispensation; while his amiable and affectionateconsort, Mother Lucy Smith, was as worthy of being the mother. Of herfaith, faithfulness and untiring efforts in labors of love and duty,until she was broken down by the weight of years and sorrow, too muchcannot be said.

I was present, on the 17th of May, when a messenger arrived andinformed the prophet Joseph that his grandmother, Mary Duty Smith, hadarrived at Fairport, on her way to Kirtland, and wished him to come forher. The messenger stated that she said she had asked the Lord that shemight live to see her children and grandchildren once more. The prophetresponded with earnestness, "I wish she had set the time longer." Ipondered in silence over this remark, thinking there might be moremeaning in the expression than the words indicated, which was proven bythe result, for she only lived a few days after her arrival. She was inthe ninety-fourth year of her age—in appearance not over seventy-five.She had not been baptized, on account of the opposition of her oldestson, Jesse, who was a bitter enemy to the work. She said to Mother LucySmith, "I am going to have your Joseph baptize me, and my Joseph (thepatriarch) bless me."

Her husband, Israel Smith, died in St. Lawrence county, New York, afterhaving received the Book of Mormon, and read it nearly through. He had,long before, predicted that a prophet would be raised up in his family,and was satisfied that his grandson was that prophet. The venerablewidow was also well assured of the fact.

The next day after her arrival at the house of the prophet, where shewas welcomed with every manifestation of kindness and affection, herchildren, grandchildren and great-grandchildren—all who were residentsof Kirtland, and two of her sons, who arrived with her—came togetherto enjoy with her a social family meeting; and a happy one it was—aseason of pure reciprocal conviviality, in which her buoyancy of spiritgreatly augmented the general joy. Let the reader imagine for a momentthis aged matron, surrounded by her four sons, Joseph, Asael, Silasand John, all of them, as well as several of her grandsons, upwardsof six feet in height, with a score of great-grandchildren of varioussizes intermixed; surely the sight was not an uninteresting one. To herit was very exciting—too much so for her years. Feverish symptoms,which were apparent on the following day, indicated that her nervoussystem had been overtaxed. She took her bed, and survived but a fewdays. I was with her, and saw her calmly fall asleep. About ten minutesbefore she expired, she saw a group of angels in the room; and pointingtowards them she exclaimed, "O, how beautiful! but they do not speak."It would seem that they were waiting to escort her spirit to its brightabode.

But to return to the temple. After its dedication, the "Kirtland HighSchool" was taught in the attic story, by H. M. Hawes, professor ofGreek and Latin. The school numbered from one hundred and thirty toone hundred and forty students, divided into three departments—theclassics, where only languages were taught; the English department,where mathematics, common arithmetic, geography, English grammar,reading and writing were taught; and the juvenile department. Thetwo last were under assistant instructors. The school was commencedin November, 1836, and the progress of the several classes, onexaminations before trustees of the school, parents and guardians, wasfound to be of the highest order.

Not only did the Almighty manifest his acceptance of that house, atit* dedication, but an abiding holy heavenly influence was realized;and many extraordinary manifestations of his power were experienced onsubsequent occasions. Not only were angels often seen within, but apillar of light was several times seen resting down upon the roof.

Besides being devoted to general meetings for worship and thecelebration of the Lord's Supper every first day of the week, thetemple was occupied by crowded assemblies on the first Thursday in eachmonth, that day being observed strictly, by the Latter-day Saints, as aday of fasting and prayer. These, called fast-meetings, were hallowedand interesting beyond the power of language to describe. Many, manywere the pentecostal seasons of the outpouring of the spirit of Godon those days, manifesting the gifts of the gospel and the power ofhealing, prophesying, speaking in tongues, the interpretation oftongues, etc. I have there seen the lame man, on being administered to,throw aside his crutches and walk home perfectly healed; and not onlywere the lame made to walk, but the blind to see, the deaf to hear, thedumb to speak, and evil spirits to depart.

On those fast days, the curtains, or veils, mentioned in a precedingchapter, which intersected at right angles, were dropped, dividing thehouse into four equal parts. Each of these sections had a presidingofficer, and the meeting in each section was conducted as though noother were in the building, which afforded opportunity for four personsto occupy the same time. These meetings commenced early in the dayand continued without intermission till four P.M. One hour previousto dismissal, the veils were drawn up and the four congregationsbrought together, and the people who, in the forepart of the day wereinstructed to spend much of the time in prayer, and to speak, sing andpray, mostly in our own language, lest a spirit of enthusiasm shouldcreep in, were permitted, after the curtains were drawn, to speak orsing in tongues, prophesy, pray, interpret tongues, exhort or preach,however they might feel moved upon to do. Then the united faith of thesaints brought them into close fellowship with the spirits of the just,and earth and heaven seemed in close proximity.

On fast days, Father Smith's constant practice was to repair to thetemple very early, and offer up his prayers before sunrise, and thereawait the coming of the people; and so strictly disciplined himselfin the observance of fasting, as not even to wet his lips with wateruntil after the dismissal of the meeting at four P.M. One morning,when he opened meeting, he prayed fervently that the spirit of theMost High might be poured out as it was at Jerusalem, on the day ofpentecost—that it might come "like a mighty rushing wind." It was notlong before it did come, to the astonishment of all, and filled thehouse. It appeared as though the old gentleman had forgotten what hehad prayed for. When it came, he was greatly surprised, and exclaimed,"What! is the house on fire?"

While the faithful saints were enjoying those supernal privileges, "theaccuser of the brethren" did not sleep. Apostasy, with its poisonousfangs, crept into the hearts of some who but a few months before werein quorum meetings, when heavenly hosts appeared; and where, in allhumility of soul, they united with their brethren in sublime shouts ofhosanna to God and the Lamb. And now, full of pride and self-conceit,they join hands with our enemies and take the lead in mobocracy againstthe work which they had advocated with all the energies of their souls.

What a strange and fearful metamorphosis! How suddenly people becomedebased when, having grieved away the spirit of God, the opposite takespossession of their hearts! We read that angels have fallen, and thatone of our Saviour's chosen twelve was Judas, the traitor. Inasmuchas the same causes produce the same effects in all ages, it is nowonder that Joseph Smith, in introducing the same principles, shouldhave to suffer what was to the philosophic Paul the greatest of alltrials—that among false brethren.

Illegal, vexatious lawsuits, one after another, were successivelyinstituted, and the leading officers of the church dragged into court,creating great annoyance and expenditure. This not being sufficient tosatisfy the greed of persecution, the lives of some of the brethrenwere sought, and they left Kirtland, and sought safety in the West.

At this time my father was residing one mile south of the temple. Abouttwelve o'clock one bitter cold night he was startled by a knock at thedoor, and who should enter but Father Smith, the patriarch! A State'swarrant had been served on him for an alleged crime, and the officer inwhose custody he was placed, although an enemy to the church, knowingthe old gentleman to be innocent, had preconcerted a stratagem by whichhe had been let down from a window in the room to which he had takenhim, ostensibly for private consultation but purposely to set him atliberty, having previously prepared a way by which he could reach theground uninjured. He also told him where to go for safety, directinghim to my father's house. The officer returned to the court-room asthough Father Smith followed in the rear, when, on a sudden, he lookedback, and not seeing his prisoner, he hurried back to the private room,examining every point, and returned in great apparent amazement andconfusion, declaring that the prisoner had gone in an unaccountablemanner, saying, ludicrously, "This, gentlemen, is another Mormonmiracle." No vigorous search was made—all must have been convincedthat the proceedings were as unjust as illegal. To return to myfather's house: We were proud of our guest, and all of the family tookpleasure in anticipating and supplying his wants. He remained with ustwo weeks, and in the meantime settled up all his business matters,and, having been joined by his youngest son, Don Carlos, and five otherbrethren, whose lives had been threatened, he bade a final adieu toKirtland, at one hour past midnight, on the 21st of December, 1837. Thenight was intensely cold, but, as they had no conveyance except onehorse, they had sufficient walking exercise to prevent freezing. Theyfound a few Latter-day Saints in a southern county of Ohio, where theystayed till spring, when they left for Missouri.

The pressure of opposition increased, and before spring the prophet andhis brother Hyrum had to leave; and, in the spring and summer of 1838,the most of the church followed; leaving our homes, and our sacred,beautiful temple, the sanctuary of the Lord God of Hosts.

CHAPTER XIV.

AN ILLUSTRIOUS MORMON WOMAN—THE FIRST WIFE OF THE IMMORTAL HEBER C.KIMBALL—OPENING CHAPTER OF HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY—HER WONDERFUL VISION—ANARMY OF ANGELS SEEN IN THE HEAVENS.

One of the very queens of Mormondom, and a woman beloved by the wholechurch, during her long eventful lifetime, was the late Vilate Kimball.To-day she sleeps by the side of her great husband, for Heber C.Kimball was one of the world's remarkable men. He soon followed her tothe grave; a beautiful example she of the true love existing betweentwo kindred souls notwithstanding polygamy. Her sainted memory isenshrined in the hearts of her people, and ever will be as long as therecord of the sisters endures.

"My maiden name," she says, in her autobiography, "was Vilate Murray. Iam the youngest daughter of Roswell and Susannah Murray. I was born inFlorida, Montgomery county, New York, June 1st, 1806. I was married toHeber Chase Kimball November 7, 1822, having lived until that time withmy parents in Victor, Ontario county.

"After marriage my husband settled in Mendon, Monroe county. Here weresided until we gathered in Kirtland in the fall of 1833.

"About three weeks before we heard of the latter-day work we werebaptized into the Baptist Church.

"Five elders of the Church of Latter-day Saints came to the town ofVictor, which was five miles from Mendon, and stopped at the house ofPhineas Young, the brother of Brigham. Their names were Eleazer Miller,Elial Strong, Alpheus Gifford, Enos Curtis and Daniel Bowen.

"Hearing of these men, curiosity prompted Mr. Kimball to go and seethem. Then for the first time he heard the fullness of the everlastinggospel and was convinced of its truth. Brigham Young was with him.

"At their meetings Brigham and Heber saw the manifestations of thespirit and heard the gift of speaking and singing in tongues. They wereconstrained by the spirit to bear testimony to the truth, and when theydid this the power of God rested upon them.

"Desiring to hear more of the saints, in January, 1832, Heber took hishorses and sleigh and started for Columbia, Bradford county, Penn.,a distance of one hundred and twenty-five miles. Brigham and PhineasYoung and their wives went with him.

"They stayed with the church about six days, saw the power of Godmanifested and heard the gift of tongues, and then returned rejoicing,bearing testimony to the people by the way. They were not baptized,however, until the following spring. Brigham was baptized on Sunday,April 14th, 1832, by Eleazer Miller, and Heber C. Kimball was baptizedthe next day.

"Just two weeks from that time I was baptized by Joseph Young, withseveral others.

"The Holy Ghost fell upon Heber so greatly, that he said it was likea consuming fire. He felt as though he was clothed in his right mindand sat at the feet of Jesus; but the people called him crazy. Hecontinued thus for months, till it seemed his flesh would consume away.The Scriptures were unfolded to his mind in such a wonderful manner bythe spirit of revelation that he said it seemed he had formerly beenfamiliar with them.

"Brigham Young and his wife Miriam, with their two little girls,Elizabeth and Vilate, were at the time living at our house; but soonafter her baptism Miriam died. In her expiring moments, she clapped herhands and praised the Lord, and called on all around to help her praisehim; and when her voice was too weak to be heard, her lips and handswere seen moving until she expired.

"This was another testimony to them of the powerful effect of theeverlasting gospel, showing that we shall not die, but will sleep andcome forth in the resurrection and rejoice with her in the flesh.

"Her little girls sister Miriam left to my care, and I did all I couldto be a mother to her little ones to the period of our gathering toKirtland, and the marriage of Brigham to Miss Mary Ann Angell.

"The glorious death of sister Miriam caused us to rejoice in themidst of affliction. But enemies exulted over our loss and threw manyobstacles in the way of our gathering with the saints.

"To my husband's great surprise some of the neighbors issuedattachments against his goods; yet he was not indebted to any of themto the value of five cents, while there were some hundreds of dollarsdue to him. However, he left his own debts uncollected, settled theirunjust claims, and gathered to Kirtland with the saints about the lastof September, 1832, in company with Brigham Young.

"Here I will relate a marvelous incident, of date previous to ourentering the church.

"On the night of the 22d of September, 1827, while living in the townof Mendon, after we retired to bed, John P. Green, who was then atraveling Reformed Methodist preacher, living within one hundred stepsof our house, came and called my husband to come out and see the sightin the heavens. Heber awoke me, and Sister Fanny Young (sister ofBrigham), who was living with us, and we all went out of doors.

"It was one of the most beautiful starlight nights, so clear we couldsee to pick up a pin. We looked to the eastern horizon, and beheld awhite smoke arise towards the heavens. As it ascended, it formed into abelt, and made a noise like the rushing wind, and continued southwest,forming a regular bow, dipping in the western horizon.

"After the bow had formed, it began to widen out, growing transparent,of a bluish cast. It grew wide enough to contain twelve men abreast. Inthis bow an army moved, commencing from the east and marching to thewest. They continued moving until they reached the western horizon.They moved in platoons, and walked so close the rear ranks trod in thesteps of their file leaders, until the whole bow was literally crowdedwith soldiers.

"We could distinctly see the muskets, bayonets and knapsacks of themen, who wore caps and feathers like those used by the Americansoldiers in the last war with Great Britain. We also saw their officerswith their swords and equipage, and heard the clashing and jingling oftheir instruments of war, and could discern the form and features ofthe men. The most profound order existed throughout the entire army.When the foremost man stepped, every man stepped at the same time. Wecould hear their steps.

"When the front rank reached the western horizon, a battle ensued, aswe could hear the report of the arms, and the rush.

"None can judge of our feelings as we beheld this army of spirits asplainly as ever armies of men were seen in the flesh. Every hair of ourheads seemed alive.

"We gazed upon this scenery for hours, until it began to disappear.

"After we became acquainted with Mormonism, we learned that this tookplace the same evening that Joseph Smith received the records of theBook of Mormon from the angel Moroni, who had held those records in hispossession.

"Father Young, and John P. Green's wife (Brigham's sister Rhoda), werealso witnesses of this marvelous scene.

"Frightened at what we saw, I said, Father Young, what does all thismean? He answered, Why it is one of the signs of the coming of the Sonof Man.

"The next night a similar scene was beheld in the west, by theneighbors, representing armies of men engaged in battle.

"After our gathering to Kirtland the church was in a state of povertyand distress. It appeared almost impossible that the commandment tobuild the temple could be fulfilled, the revelation requiring it to beerected by a certain period.

"The enemies were raging, threatening destruction upon the saints; thebrethren were under guard night and day to preserve the prophet's life,and the mobs in Missouri were driving our people from Jackson county.

"In this crisis the 'Camp of Zion' was organized to go to the defenceof the saints in Jackson, Heber being one of the little army. On the5th of May, 1834, they started. It was truly a solemn morning on whichmy husband parted from his wife, children and friends, not knowing thatwe should ever meet again in the flesh. On the 26th of July, however,the brethren returned from their expedition.

"The saints now labored night and day to build the house of the Lord,the sisters knitting and spinning to clothe those who labored upon it.

"When the quorum of the twelve apostles was called, my husband waschosen one of them, and soon he was out with the rest of the apostlespreaching the gospel of the last days; but they returned on the 27th ofthe following September and found their families and friends enjoyinggood health and prosperity.

"The temple was finished and dedicated on the 27th of March, 1836. Itwas a season of great rejoicing, indeed, to the saints, and great andmarvelous were the manifestations and power in the Lord's house. Here Iwill relate a vision of the prophet concerning the twelve apostles ofthis dispensation, for whose welfare his anxiety had been very great.

"He saw the twelve going forth, and they appeared to be in a fardistant land; after some time they unexpectedly met together,apparently in great tribulation, their clothes all ragged, and theirknees and feet sore. They formed into a circle, and all stood withtheir eyes fixed on the ground. The Saviour appeared and stood in theirmidst and wept over them, and wanted to show himself to them, but theydid not discover him.

"He saw until they had accomplished their work and arrived at the gateof the celestial city. There Father Adam stood and opened the gate tothem, and as they entered he embraced them one by one, and kissed them.He then led them to the throne of God, and then the Saviour embracedeach of them in the presence of God. He saw that they all had beautifulheads of hair and all looked alike. The impression this vision left onBrother Joseph's mind was of so acute a nature, that he never couldrefrain from weeping while rehearsing it.

"On the l0th of May, 1836, my husband again went East on a mission,and I made a visit to my friends in Victor, where Heber and I met, andafter spending a few days, returned to Ohio, journeying to Buffalo,where a magistrate came forward and paid five dollars for our passageto Fairport.

"The passengers were chiefly Swiss emigrants. After sitting and hearingthem some time, the spirit of the Lord came upon my husband so that hewas enabled to preach to them in their own language, though of himselfhe knew not a word of their language. They seemed much pleased, andtreated him with great kindness.

"We returned to Kirtland to find a spirit of speculation in the church,and apostacy growing among some of the apostles and leading elders.These were perilous times indeed.

"In the midst of this my husband was called on his mission to GreatBritain, this being the first foreign mission.

"One day while Heber was seated in the front stand in the Kirtlandtemple, the prophet Joseph opened the door and came and whispered inhis ear, 'Brother Heber, the spirit of the Lord has whispered to me,let my servant Heber go to England and proclaim the gospel, and openthe door of salvation.'"

Here we may digress a moment from Sister Vilate's story, to illustratethe view of the apostles "opening the door of salvation to thenations," and preaching the gospel in foreign lands without purse orscrip.

At a later period the Mormon apostles and elders have deemed it asnothing to take missions to foreign lands, but in 1837, before the ageof railroads and steamships had fairly come, going to Great Britain onmission was very like embarking for another world; and the apostolicproposition to gather a people from foreign lands and many nations toform a latter-day Israel, and with these disciples to build up a Zionon this continent, was in seeming the maddest undertaking possible inhuman events. This marvelous scheme of the Mormon prophet, with manyothers equally bold and strangely uncommon for modern times, shall befully treated in the book of his own life, but it is proper to throwinto prominence the wondrous apostolic picture of Heber C. Kimball"opening the door of salvation to the nations that sat in darkness;"and for the gathering of an Israel from every people and from everytongue. Relative to this, by far the greatest event in' his life, Hebersays, in his family journals:

"The idea of being appointed to such an important mission was almostmore than I could bear up under. I felt my weakness and was nearlyready to sink under it, but the moment I understood the will of myheavenly Father, I felt a determination to go at all hazards, believingthat he would support me by his almighty power, and although my familywere dear to me, and I should have to leave them almost destitute, Ifelt that the cause of truth, the gospel of Christ, outweighed everyother consideration. At this time many faltered in their faith, some ofthe twelve were in rebellion against the prophet of God. John Boyntonsaid to me, if you are such a d—d fool as to go at the call of thefallen prophet, I will not help you a dime, and if you are cast on VanDieman's Land I will not make an effort to help you. Lyman E. Johnsonsaid he did not want me to go on my mission, but if I was determinedto go, he would help me all he could; he took his cloak from off hisback and put it on mine. Brother Sidney Rigdon, Joseph Smith, Sr.,Brigham Young, Newel K. Whitney and others said go and do as theprophet has told you and you shall prosper and be blessed with power todo a glorious work. Hyrum, seeing the condition of the church, when hetalked about my mission wept like a little child; he was continuallyblessing and encouraging me, and pouring out his soul in prophesiesupon my head; he said go and you shall prosper as not many haveprospered."

"A short time previous to my husband's starting," continues SisterVilate, "he was prostrated on his bed from a stitch in his back, whichsuddenly seized him while chopping and drawing wood for his family, sothat he could not stir a limb without exclaiming, from the severenessof the pain. Joseph Smith hearing of it came to see him, bringingOliver Cowdery and Bishop Partridge with him. They prayed for andblessed him, Joseph being mouth, beseeching God to raise him up, &c. Hethen took him by the right hand and said, 'Brother Heber, I take you byyour right hand, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and by virtueof the holy priesthood vested in me, I command you, in the name ofJesus Christ, to rise, and be thou made whole.' He arose from his bed,put on his clothes, and started with them, and went up to the temple,and felt no more of the pain afterwards.

"At length the day for the departure of my husband arrived. It was June13th, 1837. He was in the midst of his family, blessing them, whenBrother R. B. Thompson, who was to accompany him two or three hundredmiles, came in to ascertain when Heber would start. Brother Thompson,in after years, writing an account in Heber's journal of his firstmission to Great Britain, in its preface thus describes that solemnfamily scene: 'The door being partly open I entered and felt struckwith the sight which presented itself to my view. I would have retired,thinking I was intruding, but I felt riveted to the spot. The fatherwas pouring out his soul to

That God who rules on high,
Who all the earth surveys;
That rides upon the stormy sky,
And calms the roaring seas,

"that he would grant unto him a prosperous voyage across the mightyocean, and make him useful wherever his lot should be cast, and thathe who careth for the sparrows, and feedeth the young ravens when theycry, would supply the wants of his wife and little ones in his absence.He then, like the patriarchs, and by virtue of his office, laid hishands upon their heads individually, leaving a father's blessing uponthem, and commending them to the care and protection of God, whilehe should be engaged preaching the gospel in foreign lands. Whilethus engaged his voice was almost lost in the sobs of those around,who tried in vain to suppress them. The idea of being separated fromtheir protector and father for so long a time, was indeed painful. Heproceeded, but his heart was too much affected to do so regularly; hisemotions were great, and he was obliged to stop at intervals, whilethe big tears rolled down his cheeks, an index to the feelings whichreigned in his bosom. My heart was not stout enough to refrain; inspite of myself I wept and mingled my tears with theirs at the sametime. I felt thankful that I had the privilege of contemplating such ascene. I realized that nothing could induce that man to tear himselffrom so affectionate a family group—from his partner and children whowere so dear to him—but a sense of duty and love to God and attachmentto his cause.'

"At nine o'clock in the morning of this never-to-be-forgotten-day,"continues Sister Vilate, "Heber bade adieu to his brethren and friendsand started without purse or scrip to preach the gospel in a foreignland. He was accompanied by myself and children, and some of thebrethren and sisters, to Fairport. Sister Mary Fielding, who becameafterwards the wife of Hyrum Smith, gave him five dollars, with whichHeber paid the passage of himself and Brother Hyde to Buffalo. Theywere also accompanied by her and Brother Thompson and his wife (MaryFielding's sister), who were going on a mission to Canada. Heberhimself was accompanied to Great Britain by Elders Orson Hyde, WillardRichards, J. Goodson and J. Russell, and Priest Joseph Fielding."

Here, for the present, we must leave Brother Heber to prosecute hisimportant mission, and this illustrious woman to act her part alone asan apostle's wife, while we introduce others of the sisters, and followthe church through its scenes of persecution and removal from Missourito Illinois.

CHAPTER XV.

HAUN'S MILL—JOSEPH YOUNG'S STORY OF THE MASSACRE—SISTER AMANDASMITH'S STORY OF THAT TERRIBLE TRAGEDY—HER WOUNDED BOY'S MIRACULOUSCURE—HER FINAL ESCAPE FROM MISSOURI.

Towards the close of October, 1838, several small detachments ofmigrants from Ohio entered the State of Missouri. They were of therefugees from Kirtland. Their destinations were the counties ofCaldwell and Davies, where the saints had located in that State.

Haun's Mill, in Caldwell county, was soon to become the scene of one ofthe darkest tragedies on record.

The mill was owned by a Mormon brother whose name it bore, and in theneighborhood some Mormon families had settled.

To Haun's Mill came the doomed refugees.

They had been met on their entrance into the State of Missouri by armedmobs. Governor Boggs had just issued his order to exterminate theentire Mormon community.

The coming of the refugees into the inhospitable State could not havebeen more ill-timed, though when they left Kirtland they expected tofind a brotherhood in Far West.

"Halt!" commanded the leader of a band of well-mounted and well-armedmobocrats, who charged down upon them as they journeyed on their way.

"If you proceed any farther west," said the captain, "you will beinstantly shot."

"Wherefore?" inquired the pilgrims.

"You are d—d Mormons!"

"We are law-abiding Americans, and have given no cause of offence."

"You are d—d Mormons. That's offence enough. Within ten days everyMormon must be out of Missouri, or men, women and children will be shotdown indiscriminately. No mercy will be shown. It is the order of theGovernor that you should all be exterminated; and by G—d you will be."

In consternation the refugees retreated, and gathered at Haun's Mill.

It was Sunday, October 26. The Mormons were holding a council anddeliberating upon the best course to pursue to defend themselvesagainst the mob that was collecting in the neighborhood, under thecommand of a Colonel Jennings, or Livingston, and threatening them withhouse-burning and killing.

Joseph Young, the brother of Brigham, was in the council. He hadarrived at the mill that day, with his family, retreating from the mob.

The decision of the council was that the neighborhood of Haun'sMill should put itself in an attitude of defence. Accordingly abouttwenty-eight of the brethren armed themselves and prepared to resist anattack.

But the same evening the mob sent one of their number to enter into atreaty with the Mormons at the mill. The treaty was accepted on thecondition of mutual forbearance, and that each party should exert itsinfluence to prevent any further hostilities.

At this time, however, there was another mob collecting at WilliamMann's, on Grand River, so that the brethren remained under arms overMonday, the 29th, which passed without attack from any quarter.

"On Tuesday, the 30th," says Joseph Young, "that bloody tragedy wasenacted, the scenes of which I shall never forget.

"More than three-fourths of the day had passed in tranquillity, assmiling as the preceding one. I think there was no individual of ourcompany that was apprised of the sudden and awful fate which hung overour heads like an overwhelming torrent, and which was to change theprospects, the feelings and sympathies of about thirty families.

"The banks of Shoal Creek, on either side, teemed with childrensporting and playing, while their mothers were engaged in domesticemployments. Fathers or husbands were either on guard about themills or other property, or employed in gathering crops for winterconsumption. The weather was very pleasant, the sun shone clearly, andall was tranquil, and no one expressed any apprehension of the awfulcrisis that was near us—even at our doors.

"It was about four o'clock P. M., while sitting in my cabin, withmy babe in my arms, and my wife standing by my side, the door beingopen, I cast my eyes on the opposite bank of Shoal Creek, and saw alarge body of armed men on horses directing their course towards themills with all possible speed. As they advanced through the scatteringtrees that bordered the prairie, they seemed to form themselves intoa three-square position, forming a vanguard in front. At this momentDavid Evans, seeing the superiority of their numbers (there being twohundred and forty of them, according to their own account), gave asignal and cried for peace. This not being heeded, they continued toadvance, and their leader, a man named Comstock, fired a gun, whichwas followed by a solemn pause of about ten or twelve seconds, whenall at once they discharged about one hundred rifles, aiming at ablacksmith's shop, into which our friends had fled for safety. Theythen charged up to the shop, the crevices of which, between the logs,were sufficiently large to enable them to aim directly at the bodies ofthose who had there fled for refuge from the fire of their murderers.There were several families tented in the rear of the shop, whose liveswere exposed, and amid showers of bullets these fled to the woods indifferent directions.

"After standing and gazing at this bloody scene for a few minutes, andfinding myself in the uttermost danger, the bullets having reached thehouse where I was living, I committed my family to the protection ofheaven; and leaving the house on the opposite side, I took a path whichled up the hill, following in the trail of three of my brethren thathad fled from the shop.

"While ascending the hill we were discovered by the mob, who fired atus, and continued so to do till we reached the summit. In descendingthe hill I secreted myself in a thicket of bushes, where I lay till8 o'clock in the evening. At this time I heard a voice calling myname in an undertone. I immediately left the thicket and went to thehouse of Benjamin Lewis, where I found my family—who had fled therein safety—and two of my friends, mortally wounded, one of whom diedbefore morning. Here we passed the painful night in deep and awfulreflections upon the scenes of the preceding evening.

"After daylight appeared some four or five men, with myself, who hadescaped with our lives from this horrid massacre, repaired as soon aspossible to the mills to learn the condition of our friends whose fatewe had but too truly anticipated.

"When we arrived at the house of Mr. Haun, we found Mr. Merrick's bodylying in the rear of the house, and Mr. McBride's in front, literallymangled from head to foot. We were informed by Miss Rebecca Judd, whowas an eye-witness, that he was shot with his own gun after he hadgiven it up, and then cut to pieces with a corn-cutter by a man namedRogers, of Davies county, who kept a ferry on Grand River, and whoafterwards repeatedly boasted of this same barbarity. Mr. York's bodywe found in the house. After viewing these corpses we immediately wentto the blacksmith's shop, where we found nine of our friends, eight ofwhom were already dead—the other, Mr. Cox, of Indiana, in the agoniesof death, who soon expired."

But to sister Amanda Smith must be given the principal thread of thistragedy, for around her centres the terrible interest of the Haun'sMill massacre, which even to-day rises before her in all the horrors ofan occurring scene. She says:

"We sold our beautiful home in Kirtland for a song, and traveled allsummer to Missouri—our teams poor, and with hardly enough to keep bodyand soul together.

"We arrived in Caldwell county, near Haun's Mill, nine wagons of us incompany. Two days before we arrived we were taken prisoners by an armedmob that had demanded every bit of ammunition and every weapon we had.We surrendered all. They knew it, for they searched our wagons.

"A few miles more brought us to Haun's Mill, where that awful scene ofmurder was enacted. My husband pitched his tent by a blacksmith's shop.

"Brother David Evans made a treaty with the mob that they would notmolest us. He came just before the massacre and called the companytogether and they knelt in prayer.

"I sat in my tent. Looking up I suddenly saw the mob coming—the samethat took away our weapons. They came like so many demons or wildIndians.

"Before I could get to the blacksmith's shop door to alarm thebrethren, who were at prayers, the bullets were whistling amongst them.

"I seized my two little girls and escaped across the mill-pond on aslab-walk. Another sister fled with me. Yet though we were women, withtender children, in flight for our lives, the demons poured volleyafter volley to kill us.

"A number of bullets entered my clothes, but I was not wounded. Thesister, however, who was with me, cried out that she was hit. We hadjust reached the trunk of a fallen tree, over which I urged her,bidding her to shelter there where the bullets could not reach her,while I continued my flight to some bottom land.

"When the firing had ceased I went back to the scene of the massacre,for there were my husband and three sons, of whose fate I as yet knewnothing.

"As I returned I found the sister in a pool of blood where she hadfainted, but she was only shot through the hand. Farther on was lyingdead Brother McBride, an aged white-haired revolutionary soldier. Hismurderer had literally cut him to pieces with an old corn-cutter. Hishands had been split down when he raised them in supplication formercy. Then the monster cleft open his head with the same weapon, andthe veteran who had fought for his country, in the glorious days of thepast, was numbered with the martyrs.

"Passing on I came to a scene more terrible still to the mother andwife. Emerging from the blacksmith shop was my eldest son, bearing onhis shoulders his little brother Alma.

"'Oh! my Alma is dead!' I cried, in anguish.

"'No, mother; I think Alma is not dead. But father and brother Sardiusare killed!'

"What an answer was this to appal me! My husband and son murdered;another little son seemingly mortally wounded; and perhaps before thedreadful night should pass the murderers would return and completetheir work!

"But I could not weep then. The fountain of tears was dry; the heartoverburdened with its calamity, and all the mother's sense absorbedin its anxiety for the precious boy which God alone could save by hismiraculous aid.

"The entire hip joint of my wounded boy had been shot away. Flesh, hipbone, joint and all had been ploughed out from the muzzle of the gunwhich the ruffian placed to the child's hip through the logs of theshop and deliberately fired.

"We laid little Alma on a bed in our tent and I examined the wound. Itwas a ghastly sight. I knew not what to do. It was night now.

"There were none left from that terrible scene, throughout that long,dark night, but about half a dozen bereaved and lamenting women, andthe children. Eighteen or nineteen, all grown men excepting my murderedboy and another about the same age, were dead or dying; several more ofthe men were wounded, hiding away, whose groans through the night toowell disclosed their hiding places, while the rest of the men had fled,at the moment of the massacre, to save their lives.

"The women were sobbing, in the greatest anguish of spirit; thechildren were crying loudly with fear and grief at the loss of fathersand brothers; the dogs howled over their dead masters and the cattlewere terrified with the scent of the blood of the murdered.

"Yet was I there, all that long, dreadful night, with my dead and mywounded, and none but God as our physician and help.

"Oh my Heavenly Father, I cried, what shall I do? Thou seest my poorwounded boy and knowest my inexperience. Oh Heavenly Father direct mewhat to do!

"And then I was directed as by a voice speaking to me.

"The ashes of our fire was still smouldering. We had been burning thebark of the shag-bark hickory. I was directed to take those ashes andmake a lye and put a cloth saturated with it right into the wound. Ithurt, but little Alma was too near dead to heed it much. Again andagain I saturated the cloth and put it into the hole from which thehip-joint had been ploughed, and each time mashed flesh and splintersof bone came away with the cloth; and the wound became as white aschicken's flesh.

"Having done as directed I again prayed to the Lord and was againinstructed as distinctly as though a physician had been standing byspeaking to me.

"Near by was a slippery-elm tree. From this I was told to make aslippery-elm poultice and fill the wound with it.

"My eldest boy was sent to get the slippery-elm from the roots, thepoultice was made, and the wound, which took fully a quarter of a yardof linen to cover, so large was it, was properly dressed.

"It was then I found vent to my feelings in tears, and resigned myselfto the anguish of the hour. And all that night we, a few poor, strickenwomen, were thus left there with our dead and wounded. All through thenight we heard the groans of the dying. Once in the dark we crawledover the heap of dead in the blacksmith's shop to try to help or soothethe sufferers' wants; once we followed the cries of a wounded brotherwho hid in some bushes from the murderers, and relieved him all wecould.

"It has passed from my memory whether he was dead in the morning orwhether he recovered.

"Next morning brother Joseph Young came to the scene of the massacre.

"'What shall be done with the dead?' he inquired, in horror and deeptrouble.

"There was not time to bury them, for the mob was coming on us. Neitherwere there left men to dig the graves. All the men excepting the two orthree who had so narrowly escaped were dead or wounded. It had been nobattle, but a massacre indeed.

"'Do anything, Brother Joseph,' I said, 'rather than leave their bodiesto the fiends who have killed them.'

"There was a deep dry weir close by. Into this the bodies had to behurried, eighteen or nineteen in number.

"No funeral service could be performed, nor could they be buried withcustomary decency. The lives of those who in terror performed the lastduty to the dead were in jeopardy. Every moment we expected to befired upon by the fiends who we supposed were lying in ambush waitingthe first opportunity to dispatch the remaining few who had escapedthe slaughter of the preceding day. So in the hurry and terror of themoment some were thrown into the well head downwards and some feetdownwards.

"But when it came to the burial of my murdered boy Sardius, BrotherJoseph Young, who was assisting to carry him on a board to the well,laid down the corpse and declared that he could not throw that boy intothis horrible grave.

"All the way on the journey, that summer, Joseph had played with theinteresting lad who had been so cruelly murdered. It was too much forone whose nature was so tender as Uncle Joseph's, and whose sympathiesby this time were quite overwrought. He could not perform that lastoffice. My murdered son was left unburied.

"'Oh! they have left my Sardius unburied in the sun,' I cried, and ranand got a sheet and covered his body.

"There he lay until the next day, and then I, his mother, assisted byhis elder brother, had to throw him into the well. Straw and earth werethrown into this rude vault to cover the dead.

"Among the wounded who recovered were Isaac Laney, Nathaniel K. Knight,Mr. Yokum, two brothers by the name of Myers, Tarlton Lewis, Mr. Haunand several others, besides Miss Mary Stedwell, who was shot throughthe hand while fleeing with me, and who fainting, fell over the loginto which the mob shot upwards of twenty balls.

"The crawling of my boys under the bellows in the blacksmith's shopwhere the tragedy occurred, is an incident familiar to all our people.Alma's hip was shot away while thus hiding. Sardius was discoveredafter the massacre by the monsters who came in to despoil the bodies.The eldest, Willard, was not discovered. In cold blood, one Glaze,of Carroll county, presented a rifle near the head of Sardius andliterally blew off the upper part of it, leaving the skull empty anddry while the brains and hair of the murdered boy were scattered aroundand on the walls.

"At this one of the men, more merciful than the rest, observed:

"'It was a d—d shame to kill those little boys.'

"'D—n the difference!' retorted the other; 'nits make lice!'

"My son who escaped, also says that the mobocrat William Mann took frommy husband's feet, before he was dead, a pair of new boots. From hishiding place, the boy saw the ruffian drag his father across the shopin the act of pulling off his boot.

"'Oh! you hurt me!' groaned my husband. But the murderer dragged himback again, pulling off the other boot; 'and there' says the boy, 'myfather fell over dead.'

"Afterwards this William Mann showed the boots on his own feet, in FarWest, saying: 'Here is a pair of boots that I pulled off before thed—d Mormon was done kicking!'

"The murderer Glaze also boasted over the country, as a heroic deed,the blowing off the head of my young son.

"But to return to Alma, and how the Lord helped me to save his life.

"I removed the wounded boy to a house, some distance off, the next day,and dressed his hip; the Lord directing me as before. I was remindedthat in my husband's trunk there was a bottle of balsam. This I pouredinto the wound, greatly soothing Alma's pain.

"'Alma, my child,' I said, 'you believe that the Lord made your hip?'

"'Yes, mother.'

"'Well, the Lord can make something there in the place of your hip,don't you believe he can, Alma?'

"'Do you think that the Lord can, mother?' inquired the child, in hissimplicity.

"'Yes, my son,' I replied, 'he has shown it all to me in a vision.'

"Then I laid him comfortably on his face, and said: 'Now you lay likethat, and don't move, and the Lord will make you another hip.'

"So Alma laid on his face for five weeks, until he was entirelyrecovered—a flexible gristle having grown in place of the missingjoint and socket, which remains to this day a marvel to physicians.

"On the day that he walked again I was out of the house fetching abucket of water, when I heard screams from the children. Running back,in affright, I entered, and there was Alma on the floor, dancingaround, and the children screaming in astonishment and joy.

"It is now nearly forty years ago, but Alma has never been the leastcrippled during his life, and he has traveled quite a long period ofthe time as a missionary of the gospel and a living miracle of thepower of God.

"I cannot leave the tragic story without relating some incidentsof those five weeks when I was a prisoner with my wounded boy inMissouri, near the scene of the massacre, unable to obey the order ofextermination.

"All the Mormons in the neighborhood had fled out of the State,excepting a few families of the bereaved women and children who hadgathered at the house of Brother David Evans, two miles from the sceneof the massacre. To this house Alma had been carried after that fatalnight.

"In our utter desolation, what could we women do but pray? Prayer wasour only source of comfort; our Heavenly Father our only helper. Nonebut he could save and deliver us.

"One day a mobber came from the mill with the captain's fiat:

"'The captain says if you women don't stop your d—d praying he willsend down a posse and kill every d—d one of you!'

"And he might as well have done it, as to stop us poor women praying inthat hour of our great calamity.

"Our prayers were hushed in terror. We dared not let our voices beheard in the house in supplication. I could pray in my bed or insilence, but I could not live thus long. This godless silence was moreintolerable than had been that night of the massacre.

"I could bear it no longer. I pined to hear once more my own voice inpetition to my Heavenly Father.

"I stole down into a corn-field, and crawled into a 'stout of corn.' Itwas as the temple of the Lord to me at that moment. I prayed aloud andmost fervently.

"When I emerged from the corn a voice spoke to me. It was a voice asplain as I ever heard one. It was no silent, strong impression of thespirit, but a voice, repeating a verse of the saint's hymn:

"That soul who on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I cannot, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no never, no never forsake!

"From that moment I had no more fear. I felt that nothing could hurtme. Soon after this the mob sent us word that unless we were all out ofthe State by a certain day we should be killed.

"The day came, and at evening came fifty armed men to execute thesentence.

"I met them at the door. They demanded of me why I was not gone? Ibade them enter and see their own work. They crowded into my room andI showed them my wounded boy. They came, party after party, until allhad seen my excuse. Then they quarreled among themselves and came nearfighting.

"At last they went away, all but two. These I thought were detailed tokill us. Then the two returned.

"'Madam,' said one, 'have you any meat in the house?'

"' No,' was my reply.

"'Could you dress a fat hog if one was laid at your door?'

"'I think we could!' was my answer.

"And then they went and caught a fat hog from a herd which had belongedto a now exiled brother, killed it and dragged it to my door, anddeparted.

"These men, who had come to murder us, left on the threshold of ourdoor a meat offering to atone for their repented intention.

"Yet even when my son was well I could not leave the State, nowaccursed indeed to the saints.

"The mob had taken my horses, as they had the drove of horses, and thebeeves, and the hogs, and wagons, and the tents, of the murdered andexiled.

"So I went down into Davies county (ten miles) to Captain Comstock, anddemanded of him my horses. There was one of them in his yard. He said Icould have it if I paid five dollars for its keep. I told him I had nomoney.

"I did not fear the captain of the mob, for I had the Lord's promisethat nothing should hurt me. But his wife swore that the mobberswere fools for not killing the women and children as well as themen—declaring that we would 'breed up a pack ten times worse than thefirst.'

"I left without the captain's permission to take my horse, or givingpay for its keep; but I went into his yard and took it, and returned toour refuge unmolested.

"Learning that my other horse was at the mill, I next yoked up a pairof steers to a sled and went and demanded it also.

"Comstock was there at the mill. He gave me the horse, and then askedif I had any flour.

"'No; we have had none for weeks.'

"He then gave me about fifty pounds of flour and some beef, and filleda can with honey.

"But the mill, and the slaughtered beeves which hung plentifully on itswalls, and the stock of flour and honey, and abundant spoil besides,had all belonged to the murdered or exiled saints.

"Yet was I thus providentially, by the very murderers and mobocratsthemselves, helped out of the State of Missouri.

"The Lord had kept his word. The soul who on Jesus had leaned forsuccor had not been forsaken even in this terrible hour of massacre,and in that infamous extermination of the Mormons from Missouri in theyears 1838-39.

"One incident more, as a fitting close.

"Over that rude grave—that well—where the nineteen martyrs slept,where my murdered husband and boy were entombed, the mobbers ofMissouri, with an exquisite fiendishness, which no savages could haveconceived, had constructed a rude privy. This they constantly used,with a delight which demons might have envied, if demons are morewicked and horribly beastly than were they.

"Thus ends my chapter of the Haun's Mill massacre, to rise in judgmentagainst them!"

CHAPTER XVI.

MOBS DRIVE THE SETTLERS INTO FAR WEST—HEROIC DEATH OF APOSTLEPATTEN—TREACHERY OF COL. HINKLE, AND FALL OF THE MORMONCAPITAL—FAMOUS SPEECH OF MAJOR-GENERAL CLARK.

But the iliad of Mormondom was now in Far West.

Haun's Mill massacre was merely a tragic episode; a huge tragedy initself, it is true, such as civilized times scarcely ever present, yetmerely an episode of this strange religious iliad of America and thenineteenth century.

The capital of Mormondom was now the city of Far West, in Missouri.

There was Joseph the prophet. There was Brigham Young—his St.Peter—who by this time fairly held the keys of the latter-day kingdom.There were the apostles. There were two armies marshaled—the army ofthe Lord and the army of Satan. And these were veritable hosts, offlesh and blood, equipped and marshaled in a religious crusade—notmerely spiritual powers contending.

"On the 4th of July, 1838," writes Apostle Parley Pratt, "thousands ofthe citizens who belonged to the church of the saints assembled at thecity of Far West, the county seat of Caldwell, in order to celebrateour nation's birth.

"We erected a tall standard, on which was hoisted our national colors,the stars and stripes, and the bold eagle of American liberty. Underits waving folds we laid the corner-stone of a temple of God, anddedicated the land and ourselves and families to him who had preservedus in all our troubles.

"An address was then delivered by Sidney Rigdon, in which was portrayedin lively colors the oppression which we had suffered at the hands ofour enemies.

"We then and there declared our constitutional rights as Americancitizens, and manifested our determination to resist, with our utmostendeavors, from that time forth, all oppression, and to maintain ourrights and freedom, according to the holy principles of liberty asguaranteed to every person by the constitution and laws of our country.

"This declaration was received with shouts of hosanna to God and theLamb, and with many long cheers by the assembled thousands, who weredetermined to yield their rights no more unless compelled by superiorpower."

Very proper, too were such resolutions of these sons and daughters ofsires and mothers who were among the pilgrim founders of this nation,and among the heroes and heroines of the Revolution.

But Missouri could not endure this temple-building to the God ofIsrael, nor these mighty shouts of hosanna to his name; while theall-prevailing faith of the sisters brought more of the angels downfrom the New Jerusalem than earth just then was prepared to receive. Inpopular words, this formidable gathering of a modern Israel and thiscity building within its borders loomed up to Missouri as the rising ofa Mormon empire.

Soon the State was alive with mobs determined on the exterminationof the saints; soon those mobs numbered ten thousand armed men; soonalso were they converted into a State army, officered by generals andmajor-generals, with the governor as the commander-in-chief of a boldlyavowed religious crusade, with rival priests as its "inspiring demons."

One feature, all worthy of note, in this Hebraic drama of Mormondom, isthat while modern Israel was ever in the action inspired by archangelsof the new covenant, the anti-Mormon crusade was as constantly inspiredby sectarian priests at war with a dispensation of angels.

Even the mobber, Captain Comstock, who was bold enough to perpetrate aHaun's Mill massacre, was in consternation over the magic prayers of afew stricken women who honored the God of Israel in the hour of direstcalamity.

Thus throughout Missouri. And so the exterminating order of GovernorBoggs prevailed like the edict of a second Nebuchadnezzar.

There was a Mormon war in the State. So it was styled.

Mobs were abroad, painted like Indian warriors, committing murder,robbery, burning the homesteads of the saints, and spreading desolation.

Next, one thousand men were ordered into service by the Governor, underthe command of Major-General Atchison and Brigadier-Generals Park andDoniphan.

This force marched against the saints in several counties. APresbyterian priest, Rev. Sashel Woods, was its chaplain. He saidprayers in the camp, morning and evening. 'Twas a godly service inan ungodly crusade, but the Rev. Sashel Woods was equal to it. ThePhilistines drove modern Israel before them, and their priest prayedJehovah out of countenance.

In Far West a thousand men of our Mormon Israel flew to arms, and inDavies county several hundred men assembled for defence. Colonel DavidPatten, an apostle, with his company put to flight some of the mob;but the crusaders in general drove the saints from settlement aftersettlement.

Hundreds of men, women and children fled from their homes to the citiesand strongholds of their people. From Davies county and the frontiersof Caldwell the refugees daily poured into the city of Far West. Landsand crops were abandoned to the enemy. The citizens in the capital ofthe saints were constantly under arms. Men slept in their clothes, witharms by their side, ready to muster at a given signal at any hour ofthe night.

A company under Colonel Patten went out to meet the enemy across theprairies, a distance of twelve miles, to stop the murder and spoliationof a settlement of their people. Parley Pratt was one of the posse.

"The night was dark," he says; "the distant plains far and wide wereilluminated by blazing fires; immense columns of smoke were seen risingin awful majesty, as if the world was on fire. This scene, added to thesilence of midnight, the rumbling sound of the tramping steeds overthe hard and dried surface of the plain, the clanking of swords intheir scabbards, the occasional gleam of bright armor in the flickeringfirelight, the gloom of surrounding darkness, and the unknown destinyof the expedition, or even of the people who sent it forth, allcombined to impress the mind with deep and solemn thoughts."

At dawn of day they met the enemy in ambush in the wilderness. Theenemy opened fire, mortally wounding a brother named O'Banyon. Soonthe brethren charged the enemy in his camp; several fell upon bothsides, among whom was the brave apostle, David Patten; but the foemenflung themselves into a stream and escaped on the opposite shore, whilethe wilderness resounded with the watchword of the heroes, "God andLiberty:"

Six of the brethren were wounded, and one left dead on the ground.

The heroes returned to Far West. Among those who came out to meet themwas the wife of the dying apostle, Patten.

"O God! O my husband!" she exclaimed, bursting into tears.

The wounds were dressed. David was still able to speak, but he diedthat evening in the triumphs of faith.

"I had rather die," he said, "than live to see it thus in my country!"

The young O'Banyon also died about the same time. They were buriedtogether under military honors; a whole people in tears followed themto their grave.

David Patten was the first of the modern apostles who found a martyr'sgrave. He is said to have been a great and good man, who chose to laydown his life for the cause of truth and right.

Not long now ere Governor Boggs found the opportunity for the grandexpulsion of the entire Mormon community—from twelve to fifteenthousand souls. He issued an order for some ten thousand troops to bemustered into service and marched to the field against the Mormons,giving the command to General Clark. His order was expressly toexterminate the Mormons, or drive them from the State.

The army of extermination marched upon the city of Far West.

The little Mormon host, about five hundred strong, marched out upon theplains on the south of the city, and formed in order of battle. Itsline of infantry extended near half a mile; a small company of horsewas posted on the right wing on a commanding eminence, and another inthe rear of the main body extended as a reserve.

The army of extermination halted and formed along the borders of astream called Goose Creek; and both sides sent out white flags, whichmet between the armies.

"We want three persons out of the city before we massacre the rest!"was the voice of the white flag from the governor's army.

Small need this, for the flag of mercy! But it was as good as the mercyof Haun's Mill, which was given on the very same day.

That night Major-General Lucas encamped near the city. The brethrencontinued under arms, and spent the night throwing up temporarybreastworks. They were determined to defend their homes, wives andchildren to the last. Both armies were considerably reinforced duringthe night, the army of extermination being reinforced with the monstersfrom the Haun's Mill massacre.

But the prophet and brethren were on the next day betrayed by thetraitor Colonel George M. Hinkle, who was in command of the defence ofFar West.

Joseph was now a prisoner of war; Parley and others were prisonersalso; Brigham was at Far West, but even he could not save the prophetand the saints from this formidable army, nor lessen the blow whicha traitor had dealt. The treachery of Colonel Hinkle had, however,perhaps saved the lives of hundreds of women and children, andprevented brave men from fighting in a just cause.

It was November, now, and Major-General Clark was also at Far Westwith his army of extermination. No book of the persecutions could beproperly written without his speech to the Mormons, especially a bookof the sisters, whom it so much concerned:

"GENTLEMEN: You, whose names are not on this list, will now have the privilege of going to your fields to obtain grain for your families—wood, etc. Those that compose the list will go hence to prison, to be tried, and receive the due demerits of their crimes. But you are now at liberty, all but such as charges may hereafter be preferred against. It now devolves upon you to fulfill the treaty that you have entered into—the leading items of which I now lay before you.

"The first of these items you have already complied with—which is, that you deliver up your leading men to be tried according to law. Second, that you deliver up your arms—this has been attended to. The third is, that you sign over your property to defray the expenses of the war; this you have also done. Another thing yet remains for you to comply with; that is: that you leave the State forthwith; and, whatever your feeling concerning this affair, whatever your innocence, it is nothing to me. General Lucas, who is equal in authority with me, has made this treaty with you. I am determined to see it executed.

"The orders of the Governor to me, were, that you should be exterminated, and not allowed to remain in the State. And had your leaders not been given up, and the treaty complied with, before this you and your families would have been destroyed and your houses in ashes.

"There is a discretionary power resting in my hands, which I shall try to exercise for a season. I did not say that you must go now, but you must not think of stopping here another season, or of putting in crops; for the moment you do, the citizens will be upon you. I am determined to see the Governor's orders fulfilled, but shall not come upon you immediately. Do not think that I shall act as I have done any more; but if I have to come again because the treaty which you have made is not complied with, you need not expect any mercy, but extermination; for I am determined that the Governor's order shall be executed.

"As for your leaders, do not think, do not imagine for a moment, do not let it enter your minds that they will be delivered, or that you will see their faces again, for their fate is fixed, their die is cast, their doom is sealed.

"I am sorry, gentlemen, to see so great a number of apparently intelligent men found in the situation that you are. And, oh! that I could invoke the spirit of the unknown God to rest upon you, and deliver you from that awful chain of superstition, and liberate you from those fetters of fanaticism with which you are bound. I would advise you to scatter abroad and never again organize with bishops, presidents, etc., lest you excite the jealousies of the people, and subject yourselves to the same calamities that have now come upon you.

"You have always been the aggressors; you have brought upon yourselves these difficulties by being disaffected, and not being subject to rule; and my advice is, that you become as other citizens, lest by a recurrence of these events you bring upon yourselves inevitable ruin."

CHAPTER XVII.

EPISODES OF THE PERSECUTIONS—CONTINUATION OF ELIZA R. SNOW'SNARRATIVE—BATHSHEBA W. SMITH'S STORY—LOUISA F. WELLS INTRODUCED TOTHE READER—EXPERIENCE OF ABIGAIL LEONARD—MARGARET FOUTZ.

The prophet and his brother Hyrum were in prison and in chains inMissouri; Sidney Rigdon, Parley Pratt and others were also in prisonand in chains, for the gospel's sake.

The St. Peter of Mormondom was engaged in removing the saints fromMissouri to Illinois. He had made a covenant with them that none ofthe faithful should be left. Faithfully he kept that covenant. It wasthen, in fact, that Brigham rose as a great leader of a people, givingpromise of what he has been since the martyrdom of the prophet.

While Joseph is in chains, and Brigham is accomplishing the exodus fromMissouri, the sisters shall relate some episodes of those days.

Sister Snow, continuing the thread of her narrative already given, says:

In Kirtland the persecution increased until many had to flee for theirlives, and in the spring of 1838, in company with my father, mother,three brothers, one sister and her two daughters, I left Kirtland, andarrived in Far West, Caldwell county, Mo., on the 16th of July, whereI stopped at the house of Sidney Rigdon, with my brother Lorenzo, whowas very sick, while the rest of the family went farther, and settledin Adam-Ondi-Ahman, in Davies county. In two weeks, my brother beingsufficiently recovered, my father sent for us and we joined the familygroup. My father purchased the premises of two of the "old settlers,"and paid their demands in full. I mention this, because subsequentevents proved that, at the time of the purchase, although those menostensibly were our warm friends, they had, in connection with othersof the same stripe, concocted plans to mob and drive us from our newlyacquired homes, and repossess them. In this brief biographical sketch,I shall not attempt a review of the scenes that followed. Sufficientto say, while we were busy in making preparations for the approachingwinter, to our great surprise, those neighbors fled from the place, asif driven by a mob, leaving their clocks ticking, dishes spread fortheir meal, coffee-pots boiling, etc., etc., and, as they went, spreadthe report in every direction that the "Mormons" had driven them fromtheir homes, arousing the inhabitants of the surrounding country, whichresulted in the disgraceful, notorious "exterminating order" from theGovernor of the State; in accordance therewith, we left Davies countyfor that of Caldwell, preparatory to fulfilling the injunction ofleaving the State "before grass grows" in the spring.

The clemency of our law-abiding, citizen-expelling Governor allowed usten days to leave our county, and, till the expiration of that term,a posse of militia was to guard us against mobs; but it would be verydifficult to tell which was better, the militia or the mob—nothing wastoo mean for the militia to perform—no property was safe within thereach of those men.

One morning, while we were hard at work, preparing for our exit, theformer occupant of our house entered, and in an impudent and arrogantmanner inquired how soon we should be out of it. My American bloodwarmed to the temperature of an insulted, free-born citizen, as Ilooked at him, and thought, poor man, you little think with whom youhave to deal—God lives! He certainly overruled in that instance, forthose wicked men never got possession of that property, although myfather sacrificed it to American mobocracy.

In assisting widows and others who required help, my father's timewas so occupied that we did not start until the morning of the 10th,and last day of the allotted grace. The weather was very cold and theground covered with snow. After assisting in the arrangements for thejourney, and shivering with cold, in order to warm my aching feet, Iwalked until the teams overtook me. In the mean time, I met one ofthe so-called militia, who accosted me with, "Well, I think this willcure you of your faith!" Looking him steadily in the eye, I replied,"No, sir; it will take more than this to cure me of my faith." Hiscountenance suddenly fell, and he responded, "I must confess, you area better soldier than I am." I passed on, thinking that, unless he wasabove the average of his fellows in that section, I was not highlycomplimented by his confession. It is true our hardships and privationswere sufficient to have disheartened any but the saints of the livingGod—those who were prompted by higher than earthly motives, andtrusting in the arm of Jehovah.

We were two days on our way to Far West, and stopped over night atwhat was called the Half-way House, a log building perhaps twenty feetsquare, with the chinkings between the logs, minus—they probablyhaving been burned for firewood—the owner of the house, BrotherLittlefield, having left with his family to escape being robbed; andthe north wind had free ingress through the openings, wide enough forcats to crawl through. This had been the lodging place of the hundredswho had preceded us, and on the present occasion proved the almostshelterless shelter of seventy-five or eighty souls. To say lodging,would be a hoax, although places were allotted to a few aged andfeeble, to lie down, while the rest of us either sat or stood, or both,all night. My sister and I managed so that mother lay down, and we satby (on the floor, of course), to prevent her being trampled on, for thecrowd was such that people were hardly responsible for their movements.

It was past the middle of December, and the cold was so intense that,in spite of well packing, our food was frozen hard, bread and all,and although a blazing fire was burning on one side of the room, wecould not get to it to thaw our suppers, and had to resort to the nextexpediency, which was this: The boys milked, and while one strainedthe milk, another held the pan (for there was no chance for puttinganything down); then, while one held a bowl of the warm milk, anotherwould, as expeditiously as possible, thinly slice the frozen breadinto it, and thus we managed for supper. In the morning, we were lesscrowded, as some started very early, and we toasted our bread andthawed our meat before the fire. But, withal, that was a very merrynight. None but saints can be happy under every circ*mstance. Abouttwenty feet from the house was a shed, in the centre of which thebrethren built a roaring fire, around which some of them stood andsang songs and hymns all night, while others parched corn and roastedfrosted potatoes, etc. Not a complaint was heard—all were cheerful,and judging from appearances, strangers would have taken us to bepleasure excursionists rather than a band of gubernatorial exiles.

After the mobbing commenced, although my father had purchased, andhad on hand, plenty of wheat, he could get none ground, and we wereunder the necessity of grating corn for our bread on graters made oftin-pails and stove-pipe. I will here insert a few extracts from a longpoem I wrote while in Davies county, as follows:

'Twas autumn—Summer's melting breath was gone,
And Winter's gelid blast was stealing on;
To meet its dread approach, with anxious care
The houseless saints were struggling to prepare;
When round about a desperate mob arose,
Like tigers waking from a night's repose;
They came like hordes from nether shades let loose—
Men without hearts, just fit for Satan's use!
With wild, demoniac rage they sallied forth,
Resolved to drive the saints of God from earth.
Hemm'd in by foes—deprived the use of mill,
Necessity inspires their patient skill;
Tin-pails and stove-pipe, from their service torn,
Are changed to graters to prepare the corn,
That Nature's wants may barely be supplied—
They ask no treat, no luxury beside.
But, where their shelter? Winter hastens fast;
Can tents and wagons stem this northern blast?

The scene presented in the city of Far West, as we stopped over nighton our way to our temporary location, was too important to be omitted,and too sad to narrate. Joseph Smith, and many other prominent men,had been dragged to prison. Their families, having been plundered,were nearly or quite destitute—some living on parched corn, others onboiled wheat; and desolation seemed inscribed on everything but thehearts of the faithful saints. In the midst of affliction, they trustedin God.

After spending the remainder of the winter in the vicinity of Far West,on the 5th of March, 1839, leaving much of our property behind, westarted for Illinois.

From the commencement of hostilities against us, in the State ofMissouri, till our expulsion, no sympathy in our behalf was ever, tomy knowledge, expressed by any of the former citizens, with one singleexception, and that was so strikingly in contrast with the morbidstate of feeling generally manifested that it made a deep impressionon my mind, and I think it worthy of record. I will here relate thecirc*mstance. It occurred on our outward journey.

After a night of rain which turned to snow and covered the ground inthe morning, we thawed our tent, which was stiffly frozen, by holdingand turning it alternately before a blazing fire until it could befolded for packing; and, all things put in order, while we all shookwith the cold, we started on. As the sun mounted upwards, the snowmelted, and increased the depth of the mud with which the road beforeus had been amply stocked, and rendered travel almost impossible.The teams were puffing, and the wagons dragging so heavily that wewere all on foot, tugging along as best we could, when an elderlygentleman, on horseback, overtook us, and, after riding alongside forsome time, apparently absorbed in deep thought, as he (after inquiringwho we were) watched the women and girls, men and boys, teams andwagons, slowly wending our way up a long hill, en route from ouronly earthly homes, and, not knowing where we should find one, he saidemphatically, "If I were in your places, I should want the Governor ofthe State hitched at the head of my teams." I afterwards remarked to myfather that I had not heard as sensible a speech from a stranger sinceentering the State. I never saw that gentleman afterwards, but havefrom that time cherished a filial respect for him, and fancy I see hisresemblance in the portrait of Sir Von Humboldt, now hanging on thewall before me.

We arrived in Quincy, Ill., where many of the exiled saints hadpreceded us, and all were received with generous hospitality.

My father moved to one of the northern counties. I stopped in Quincy,and, while there, wrote for the press, "An Appeal to the Citizens ofthe United States," "An Address to the Citizens of Quincy," and severalother articles, for which I received some very flattering encomiums,with solicitations for effusions, which, probably, were elicited by thefact that they were from the pen of a "Mormon girl."

From Quincy, my sister, her two daughters and I, went to Lima, Hanco*ckcounty, where we found a temporary home under the roof of an oldveteran of the Revolution, who, with his family, treated us with muchkindness, although, through ignorance of the character of the saints,their feelings were like gall towards them as a people, which we knewto be the result of misrepresentation. It was very annoying to ourfeelings to hear bitter aspersions against those whom we knew to be thebest people on earth; but, occupying, as we did, an upper room with aslight flooring between us and those below, we were obliged to hear.Frequently, after our host had traduced our people, of whom he knewnothing, he would suddenly change his tone and boast of the "noblewomen" he had in his house; "no better women ever lived," etc., whichhe would have said of the Mormon people generally, had he known themas well. We were pilgrims, and for the time being had to submit tocirc*mstances. Almost anything is preferable to dependence—with thesepeople we would earn our support at the tailoring business, thanks tomy mother's industrial training, for which I even now bless her dearmemory.

In May the saints commenced gathering in Commerce (afterwards Nauvoo),and on the 16th of July I left our kind host and hostess, much to theirregret, Elder Rigdon having sent for me to teach his family school inCommerce, and, although I regretted to part with my sister, I was trulythankful to be again associated with the body of the church, with thosewhose minds, freed from the fetters of sectarian creeds, and man-madetheology, launch forth in the divine path of investigation into theglorious fields of celestial knowledge and intelligence.

—

Concerning these times, Sister Bathsheba W. Smith says: "When Iwas in my sixteenth year, some Latter-day Saint elders visited ourneighborhood. I heard them preach and believed what they taught; Ibelieved the Book of Mormon to be a divine record, and that JosephSmith was a prophet of God. I knew by the spirit of the Lord, whichI received in answer to prayer, that these things were true. On the21st of August, 1837, I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christof Latter-day Saints, by Elder Samuel James, in Jones' Run, on thefarm and near the residence of Augustus Burgess, and was confirmedby Elder Francis G. Bishop. The spirit of the Lord rested upon me,and I knew that he accepted of me as a member in his kingdom. Mymother was baptized this same day. My sister Sarah, next older thanme, was baptized three days previously. My father, and my two oldestsisters, Matilda and Nancy, together with their husbands, Col. John S.Martin and Josiah W. Fleming, were baptized into the same church soonafterwards. My uncle, Jacob Bigler, and his family had been baptizeda few weeks before. A part of my first experience as a member of thechurch was, that most of my young acquaintances and companions began toridicule us. The spirit of gathering with the saints in Missouri cameupon me, and I became very anxious indeed to go there that fall with mysister Nancy and family, as they had sold out and were getting readyto go. I was told I could not go. This caused me to retire to bed onenight feeling very sorrowful. While pondering upon what had been saidto me about not going, a voice said to me,'Weep not, you will go thisfall' I was satisfied and comforted. The next morning I felt contentedand happy, on observing which my sister Sarah said, 'You have got overfeeling badly about not going to Zion this fall, have you?' I quietly,but firmly, replied, 'I am going—you will see.'

"My brother, Jacob G. Bigler, having gone to Far West, Mo., joined thechurch there and bought a farm for my father, and then returned. Aboutthis time my father sold his farm in West Virginia, and fitted out mymother, my brother, and my sister Sarah, Melissa and myself, and westarted for Far West, in company with my two brothers-in-law and myuncle and their families. Father stayed to settle up his business,intending to join us at Far West in the spring, bringing with him, bywater, farming implements, house furniture, etc. On our journey theyoung folks of our party had much enjoyment; it seemed so novel andromantic to travel in wagons over hill and dale, through dense forestsand over extensive prairies, and occasionally passing through townsand cities, and camping in tents at night. On arriving in Missouri wefound the State preparing to wage war against the Latter-day Saints.The nearer we got to our destination, the more hostile the people were.As we were traveling along, numbers of men would sometimes gatheraround our wagons and stop us. They would inquire who we were, where wewere from, and where we were going to. On receiving answers to theirquestions, they would debate among themselves whether to let us go ornot; their debate would result generally in a statement to the effectof, 'As you are Virginians, we will let you go on, but we believe youwill soon return, for you will quickly become convinced of your folly.'Just before we crossed Grand River, we camped over night with a companyof Eastern saints. We had a meeting, and rejoiced together. In themorning it was thought best for the companies to separate and cross theriver by two different ferries, as this arrangement would enable allto cross in less time. Our company arrived at Far West in safety. Butnot so with the other company; they were overtaken at Haun's Mill by anarmed mob—nineteen were killed, many others were wounded, and some ofthem maimed for life.

"Three nights after we had arrived at the farm which my brother hadbought, and which was four miles south of the city of Far West, wordcame that a mob was gathering on Crooked River, and a call was made formen to go out in command of Captain David W. Patten, for the purposeof trying to stop the depredations of the men, who were whippingand otherwise maltreating our brethren, and who were destroying andburning property. Captain Patten's company went, and a battle ensued.Some of the Latter-day Saints were killed, and several were wounded.I saw Brother James Hendrix, one of the wounded, as he was beingcarried home; he was entirely helpless and nearly speechless. Soonafterwards Captain David W. Patten, who was one of the twelve apostles,was brought wounded into the house where we were. I heard him beartestimony to the truth of Mormonism. He exhorted his wife and allpresent to abide in the faith. His wife asked him if he had anythingagainst any one. He answered, 'No.' Elder Heber C. Kimball asked him ifhe would remember him when he got home. He said he would. Soon afterthis he died, without a struggle.

"In this State I saw thousands of mobbers arrayed against the saints,and I heard their shouts and savage yells when our prophet Joseph andhis brethren were taken into their camp. I saw much, very much, of thesufferings that were brought upon our people by those lawless men.The saints were forced to sign away their property, and to agree toleave the State before it was time to put in spring crops. In thesedistressing times, the spirit of the Lord was with us to comfort andsustain us, and we had a sure testimony that we were being persecutedfor the gospel's sake, and that the Lord was angry with none save thosewho acknowledged not his hand in all things.

"My father had to lose what he had paid on his farm; and in February,1839, in the depth of winter, our family, and thousands of the saints,were on the way to the State of Illinois. On this journey I walked manya mile, to let some poor sick or weary soul ride. At night we wouldmeet around the camp-fire and take pleasure in singing the songs ofZion, trusting in the Lord that all would yet be well, and that Zionwould eventually be redeemed.

"In the spring, father joined us at Quincy, Ill. We also had the joy ofhaving our prophet, Joseph Smith, and his brethren, restored to us fromtheir imprisonment in Missouri. Many, however, had died from want andexposure during our journey. I was sick for a long time with ague andfever, during which time my father was taken severely sick, and diedafter suffering seven weeks. It was the first sickness that either ofus ever had.

"In the spring of 1840 our family moved to Nauvoo, in Illinois.Here I continued my punctuality in attending meetings, had manyopportunities of hearing Joseph Smith preach, and tried to profitby his instructions, and received many testimonials to the truth ofthe doctrines he taught. Meetings were held out of doors in pleasantweather, and in private houses when it was unfavorable. I was presentat the laying of the cornerstones of the foundation of the Nauvootemple, and had become acquainted with the prophet Joseph and hisfamily.

"On the 25th of July, 1841, I was united in holy marriage to GeorgeAlbert Smith, the then youngest member of the quorum of the twelveapostles, and first cousin of the prophet (Elder Don Carlos Smithofficiating at our marriage). My husband was born June 26th, 1817, atPotsdam. St. Lawrence county, N. Y. When I became acquainted with himin Virginia, in 1837, he was the junior member of the first quorum ofseventy. On the 26th day of June, 1838, he was ordained a member ofthe High Council of Adam-Ondi-Ahman, Davies county, Missouri. Justabout the break of day, on the 26th of April, 1839, while kneeling onthe corner-stone of the foundation of the Lord's house in the city ofFar West, Caldwell county, Missouri, he was ordained one of the twelveapostles. Two days after we were married, we started, carpet bag inhand, to go to his father's, who lived at Zarahemla, Iowa Territory,about a mile from the Mississippi. There we found a feast prepared forus, in partaking of which my husband's father, John Smith, drank ourhealth, pronouncing the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob upon us.I did not understand the import of this blessing as well then as I donow."

—

Here we meet another of these Spartan women of Mormondom in the personof Louisa F. Wells, the senior wife of Lieutenant-General Daniel H.Wells.

In July, 1837, her father, Absalom Free, who had embraced Mormonism inFayetteville, St. Clair county, Ill., in the year 1835, emigrated withhis family to Caldwell county, Mo.

In Caldwell, Brother Free purchased a farm and built a good house.He was of the well-to-do farmer class. With his ample means he sooncollected a fine farming outfit, and before him was the promise ofgreat prosperity.

The saints had been driven out of Jackson county, and mobs wereravaging in Davies county, but there was peace in Caldwell until theFourth of July, in 1838, when the anti-Mormons, who were waiting andwatching for a pretext, took occasion, from some remarks made byElder Sidney Rigdon, in a commemorative speech at the celebration, tocommence a crusade against the city of Far West.

When the father of Louisa joined the organization for defence of thecity of Far West, he left a sick son at home, with the women folks ofhis own and five other families, who had gathered there. These wereleft to defend their homes.

Louisa and her sister Emeline, with their cousin, Eliza Free, stoodguard, on a ridge near the house, for three weeks, night and day, towarn the families of the approach of the mob. This sister Emelineis the same who was afterwards so well known in Utah as the wife ofBrigham Young.

While thus standing guard, one day, the girls saw a troop of horsem*nnear, marching with a red flag and the beating of drums. They had withthem a prisoner, on foot, whom they were thus triumphantly marching totheir camp. They were a troop of the mob. The prisoner was grandfatherAndrew Free, though at the time the sisters knew it not.

It was almost night. The horsem*n made direct for their camp with their"prisoner of war," whom they had taken, not in arms, for he was aged,yet was he a soldier of the cross, ready to die for his faith.

Already had the veteran disciple been doomed by his captors. He was tobe shot; one escape only had they reserved for him.

Before the mob tribunal stood the old man, calm and upright in hisintegrity, and resolved in his faith. No one was near to succor him.He stood alone, face to face with death, with those stern, cruel men,whose class had shown so little mercy in Missouri, massacring men,women and children, at Haun's Mill, and elsewhere about the same time.

Then the captain and his band demanded of the old man that he shouldswear there and then to renounce Jo. Smith and his d—d religion, orthey would shoot him on the spot.

Drawing himself up with a lofty mien, and the invincible courage thatthe Mormons have always shown in their persecutions, the veterananswered: "I have not long to live. At the worst you cannot depriveme of many days. I will never betray or deny my faith which I know tobe of God. Here is my breast, shoot away, I am ready to die for myreligion!"

At this he bared his bosom and calmly waited for the mob to fire.

But the band was abashed at his fearless bearing and answer. For a timethe captain and his men consulted, and then they told their prisonerthat they had decided to give him till the morning to reconsiderwhether he would retract his faith or die.

Morning came. Again the old man was before the tribunal, fearless inthe cause of his religion as he had been the previous night. Again camefrom him a similar answer, and then he looked for death, indeed, thenext moment.

But he had conquered his captors, and the leader declared, with anoath: "Any man who can be so d—d true to any d—d religion, deservesto live!"

Thereupon the mob released the heroic disciple of Mormonism, and hereturned to his home in safety.

During the three weeks the girls stood on guard, their father, who wasdesirous to get tidings of his sick son, came frequently to a thicketof underbrush, where the girls would bring his food and communicatewith him concerning affairs at the house.

One evening during this season of guard duty, the girls discovered fivearmed men approaching. Running to the house, they gave the alarm. In afew moments every woman and child of the six families were hiding inthe neighboring corn-field, excepting Louisa, her mother and her sickbrother.

"Mother," said the boy, "you and Louisa run and hide. The mob will besure to kill me. They will see how tall I am by the bed-clothes, andwill think I am a man. You and sister Louisa escape or they will killyou too."

But the mother resolved to share the fate of her son, unless she couldprotect him by her presence, and soften the hearts of savage mobocratsby a mother's prayers for mercy; but she bade her daughter fly withthe baby. Louisa, however, also determined to stay to defend both herbrother and her mother. So they armed themselves—the mother with anaxe, and Louisa with a formidable pair of old-fashioned fire-tongs, andstationed themselves at either door.

But it turned out that the men were a squad of friends, whom the fatherhad sent to inquire after his family; yet the incident illustratesthose days of universal terror for the Mormons in the State ofMissouri. Worse, even, than the horrors of ordinary war must it havebeen, when thus women, children and the sick, when not a Mormon manwas present to provoke the mob to bloodshed, looked for massacre uponmassacre as daily scenes which all in turn might expect to overtakethem.

After the fall of the city of Far West, it being decided that theMormons should make a grand exodus from Missouri in the spring, Mr.Free determined to anticipate it. Gathering up what property he couldsave from the sacrifice, he started with his family for Illinois,abandoning the beautiful farm he had purchased and paid for, along withthe improvements he had made.

In their flight to Illinois they were frequently overtaken andthreatened by mobs, but fortunately escaped personal violence, as itwas evident they were hastening from the inhospitable State. But theinhumanity of the Missourians in those times is well illustrated in thefollowing incident:

Along with Brother Free's party were William Duncan and Solomon Allen,whose feet were so badly frozen one day that they were unable toproceed. At every house on the route the exiles called, solicitingpermission to shelter and care for the disabled men; but at every placethey were turned away, until at last, at eleven o'clock at night, theywere graciously permitted to occupy some negro quarters. The grace,however, of Missouri was redeemed by a codicil that "No d—d Mormonshould stop among white folks!"

This was mercy, indeed, for Missouri, and it is written in the book ofremembrance.

The party stopped and occupied the negro quarters, nursing the menduring the night, and so far restored them that they were enabled to goon the next day.

Arriving at the Mississippi river, above St. Charles, it was found thatthe ice was running so fiercely that it was well-nigh impossible tocross, but the mobbers insisted that they should cross at once.

The crossing was made on a scow ferry-boat, common in those times; andas the boat was near being swamped in the current, to add to the horrorof the incident, it was seriously proposed by the boatmen to throw someof the "d—d Mormons overboard," to lighten the load! The proposition,however, was abandoned, and the party landed safely on the oppositeshore.

Having escaped all the perils of that flight from Missouri, FatherFree and his family made their home in the more hospitable State ofIllinois, where the Mormons for a season found their "second Zion."

Here we leave "Sister Louisa" for awhile, to meet her again in thegrand exodus of her people from "civilization."

—

The following experience of Abigail Leonard, a venerable and respectedlady, now in her eighty-second year of life, will also be of interestin this connection. She says:

"In 1829 Eleazer Miller came to my house, for the purpose of holdingup to us the light of the gospel, and to teach us the necessity of achange of heart. He did not teach creedism, for he did not believetherein. That night was a sleepless one to me, for all night long Isaw before me our Saviour nailed to the cross. I had not yet receivedremission of my sins, and, in consequence thereof, was much distressed.These feelings continued for several days, till one day, while walkingalone in the street, I received the light of the spirit.

"Not long after this, several associated Methodists stopped at ourhouse, and in the morning, while I was preparing breakfast, they wereconversing upon the subject of church matters, and the best places forchurch organization. From the jottings of their conversation, which Icaught from time to time, I saw that they cared more for the fleecethan the flock. The Bible lay on the table near by, and as I passed Ioccasionally read a few words until I was impressed with the question:'What is it that separates two Christians?'

"For two or three weeks this question was constantly on my mind, and Iread the Bible and prayed that this question might be answered to me.

"One morning I took my Bible and went to the woods, when I fell uponmy knees, and exclaimed: 'Now, Lord, I pray for the answer of thisquestion, and I shall never rise till you reveal to me what it isthat separates two Christians.' Immediately a vision passed beforemy eyes, and the different sects passed one after another by me, anda voice called to me, saying: 'These are built up for gain.' Then,beyond, I could see a great light, and a voice from above called out:'I shall raise up a people, whom I shall delight to own and bless.' Iwas then fully satisfied, and returned to the house.

"Not long after this a meeting was held at our house, during whichevery one was invited to speak; and when opportunity presented, I aroseand said: 'To-day I come out from all names, sects and parties, andtake upon myself the name of Christ, resolved to wear it to the end ofmy days.'

"For several days afterward, many people came from differentdenominations and endeavored to persuade me to join their respectivechurches. At length the associated Methodists sent their presidingelder to our house to preach, in the hope that I might be converted.While the elder was discoursing I beheld a vision in which I saw agreat multitude of people in the distance, and over their heads hung athick, dark cloud. Now and then one of the multitude would struggle,and rise up through the gloomy cloud; but the moment his head rose intothe light above, the minister would strike him a blow, which wouldcompel him to retire; and I said in my heart, 'They will never serveme so.'

"Not long after this, I heard of the 'Book of Mormon,' and when afew of us were gathered at a neighbor's we asked that we might havemanifestations in proof of the truth and divine origin of this book,although we had not yet seen it. Our neighbor, a lady, was quite sickand in much distress. It was asked that she be healed, and immediatelyher pain ceased, and health was restored. Brother Bowen defiantly askedthat he might be slain, and in an instant he was prostrated upon thefloor. I requested that I might know of the truth of this book, by thegift and power of the Holy Ghost, and I immediately felt its presence.Then, when the Book of Mormon came, we were ready to receive it and itstruths. The brethren gathered at our house to read it, and such daysof rejoicing and thanksgiving I never saw before nor since. We werenow ready for baptism, and on or about the 20th of August, 1831, werebaptized.

"When we heard of the 'gathering,' we were ready for that also, andbegan preparations for the journey. On the 3d of July, 1832, we startedfor Jackson county, Mo., where we arrived some time in the latter partof December of the same year.

"Here we lived in peace, and enjoyed the blessings of our religion tillthe spring of 1833, when the mob came upon us, and shed its terror inour midst. The first attack was made upon Independence, about twelvemiles from our place. The printing press was destroyed, and the typescattered in the streets. Other buildings, and their furniture, weredestroyed; and Bishop Partridge was tarred and feathered. Next, weheard that the enemy had attacked our brethren in the woods aboutsix miles distant. Then my husband was called upon to go and assisthis brethren. He arrived on the field in the heat of the battle, andreceived fourteen bullet-holes in his garments, but received no wounds,save two very slight marks, one on the hip, the other on the arm.

"The mob was defeated, and my husband returned home for food. I gaveit him, and bade him secrete himself immediately. He did so, and nonetoo soon; for scarcely was he hidden, when the mob appeared. As soonas my husband was secreted I took my children and went to a neighbor'shouse, where the sisters were gathering for safety. About this timeSister Parley Pratt was being helped from a sick bed to this placeof security, and the mob, seeing the sisters laboring to carry her,gave their assistance and carried her in. The mob then searched forfire-arms, but could find none.

"The brethren and the mob formed a treaty about this time, in whichwe agreed to abandon the country by a specified time. Immediately ourpeople commenced moving across the Missouri river, into Clay county.The people of Clay county becoming alarmed at our numbers, and incitedto malice by the people of Jackson county, cut away the boat beforeall our people had crossed, and thus compelled our family with someothers to remain in Jackson county. There were nine families in all.And the mob came and drove us out into the prairie before the bayonet.It was in the cold, cheerless month of November, and our first night'scamp was made the thirteenth of that month, so wide-famed as thenight of falling stars. The next day we continued our journey, overcold, frozen, barren prairie ground, many of our party barefoot andstockingless, feet and legs bleeding. Mine was the only family whosefeet were clothed, and that day, while alone, I asked the Lord what Ishould do, and his answer was: 'Divide among the sufferers, and thoushalt be repaid four-fold!' I then gave till I had given more thanfifteen pairs of stockings. In three and a half days from the time ofstarting, we arrived at a grove of timber, near a small stream, wherewe encamped for the winter. From the time of our arrival till thefollowing February we lived like saints.

"For awhile our men were permitted to return to the settlements inJackson county, and haul away the provisions which they had leftbehind; but at last they would neither sell to us nor allow us anylonger to return for our own provisions left behind.

"A meeting was held, and it was decided that but one thing was left todo, which was to return to Jackson county, to the place we had recentlyleft from compulsion. This we did, and on the evening of February20, 1834, soon after our arrival in the old deserted place, we hadbeen to meeting and returned. It was about eleven o'clock at night,while we were comfortably seated around a blazing fire, built in anold-fashioned Dutch fireplace, when some one on going out discovereda crowd of men at a little distance from the house, on the hill. Thisalarmed the children, who ran out, leaving the door open. In a momentor two five armed men pushed their way into the house and presentedtheir guns to my husband's breast, and demanded, 'Are you a Mormon?' Myhusband replied: 'I profess to belong to the Church of Christ.' Theythen asked if he had any arms, and on being told that he had not, oneof them said: 'Now, d—n you, walk out doors!' My husband was standingup, and did not move.

"Seeing that he would not go, one of them laid down his gun, clutcheda chair, and dealt a fierce blow at my husband's head; but fortunatelythe chair struck a beam overhead, which turned and partially stoppedthe force of the blow, and it fell upon the side of his head andshoulder with too little force to bring him down, yet enough to smashthe chair in pieces upon the hearth. The fiend then caught anotherchair, with which he succeeded in knocking my husband down beneath thestairway. They then struck him several blows with a chair-post, uponthe head, cutting four long gashes in the scalp. The infuriated menthen took him by the feet and dragged him from the room. They raisedhim to his feet, and one of them, grasping a large boulder, hurled itwith full force at his head; but he dropped his head enough to let thestone pass over, and it went against the house like a cannon ball.Several of them threw him into the air, and brought him, with all theirmight, at full length upon the ground. When he fell, one of them sprangupon his breast, and stamping with all his might, broke two of his ribs.

"They then turned him upon his side, and with a chair-post dealt himmany severe blows upon the thigh, which were heard at a distance ofone hundred and twenty rods. Next they tore off his coat and shirt,and proceeded to whip him with their gun-sticks. I had been by myhusband during this whole affray, and one of the mob seeing me, criedout: 'Take that woman in the house, or she will overpower every devilof you!' Four of them presented their guns to my breast, and jumpingoff the ground with rage, uttering the most tremendous oaths, theycommanded me to go into the house. This order I did not obey, buthastened to my husband's assistance, taking stick after stick fromthem, till I must have thrown away twenty.

"By this time my husband felt that he could hold out no longer, andraising his hands toward heaven, asking the Lord to receive his spirit,he fell to the ground, helpless. Every hand was stayed, and I asked asister who was in the house to assist me to carry him in doors.

"We carried him in, and after washing his face and making him ascomfortable as possible, I went forth into the mob, and reasoned withthem, telling them that my husband had never harmed one of them, norraised his arm in defence against them. They then went calmly away, butnext day circulated a report that they had killed one Mormon.

"After the mob had gone, I sent for the elder, and he, with two orthree of the brethren, came and administered to my husband, and he wasinstantly healed. The gashes on his head grew together without leavinga scar, and he went to bed comfortable. In the morning I combed thecoagulated blood out of his hair, and he was so well that he went withme to meeting that same day.

"The mob immediately held a meeting and informed us that we were tohave only three days to leave in, and if we were not off by that timethe whole party would be massacred. We accordingly prepared to leave,and by the time appointed were on our way to Clay county. Soon afterour arrival in Clay county, the 'Camp of Zion' came, and located abouttwenty miles from us. The cholera broke out in the camp, and many died.Three of the party started to where we lived, but two died on the way,leaving Mr. Martin Harris to accomplish the journey alone. The firstthing, when he saw me, he exclaimed: 'Sister Leonard, I came to yourhouse to save my life.' For eight days my husband and I worked with himbefore he began to show signs of recovery, scarcely lying down to takeour rest. While Mr. Harris was lying sick, the prophet Joseph Smithcame, with eleven others, to visit him. This was the first time I hadever seen the prophet.

"The prophet advised us to scatter out over the county, and notcongregate too much together, so that the people would have no causefor alarm.

"While we were yet living in this place, the ague came upon my family,and my husband lay sick for five months, and the children for three.During the whole time I procured my own wood, and never asked any onefor assistance. On the recovery of my husband he bought a beautifullittle farm near by, where we lived long enough to raise one crop,when the mob again came against us, and we were compelled to move intoCaldwell county.

"When we arrived there we moved into a log cabin, without door, window,or fireplace, where my husband left the children and me, and returnedto Clay county, for some of the brethren who were left behind. Duringhis absence a heavy snowstorm came, and we were without wood or fire.My little boy and I, by turns, cut wood enough to keep us warm till myhusband returned.

"Here my husband entered eighty acres of land, and subsequently boughtan additional twenty acres. Here, too, we stayed long enough to raiseone crop, and then moved to Nauvoo, Hanco*ck county, Illinois.

"As soon as we were located, we were all seized with sickness, andscarcely had I recovered, when there came into our midst some brethrenfrom England, who were homeless, and our people took them in with theirown families. One of the families we took to live with us. The womanwas sick, and we sent for the elders to heal her, but their endeavorswere not successful, and I told the husband of the sick woman that butone thing was left to be done, which was to send for the sisters. Thesisters came, washed, anointed, and administered to her. The patient'sextremities were cold, her eyes set, a spot in the back apparentlymortified, and every indication that death was upon her. But before thesisters had ceased to administer, the blood went coursing through hersystem, and to her extremities, and she was sensibly better. Beforenight her appetite returned, and became almost insatiable, so much soat least that, after I had given her to eat all I dared, she becamequite angry because I would not give her more. In three days she sat upand had her hair combed, and soon recovered."

The following portion of Margaret Foutz's narrative will also be ofinterest in this connection. She says:

"I am the daughter of David and Mary Munn, and was born December 11th,1801, in Franklin county, Pa. I was married to Jacob Foutz, July 22d,1822. In the year 1827 we emigrated to Richland county, Ohio. Afterliving here a few years, an elder by the name of David Evans came intothe neighborhood, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, commonly calledMormonism. We united ourselves with the church, being baptized byBrother Evans, in the year 1834. Subsequently we took our departure forMissouri, to gather with the saints. We purchased some land, to make apermanent home, on Crooked River, where a small branch of the churchwas organized, David Evans being the president. We enjoyed ourselvesexceedingly well, and everything seemed to prosper; but the spiritof persecution soon began to make itself manifest. Falsehoods werecirculated about the Mormon population that were settling about thatregion, and there soon began to be signs of trouble. The brethren, inorder to protect their families, organized themselves together.

"Threats being made by the mob to destroy a mill belonging to BrotherHaun, it was considered best to have a few men continually at the millto protect it. One day Brother Evans went and had an interview witha Mr. Comstock, said to be the head man of the mob. All things wereamicably adjusted. Brother Evans then went to inform the brethren (myhusband being among them) that all was well. This was about the middleof the afternoon, when Brother Evans returned from Mr. Comstock's. Ona sudden, without any warning whatever, sixty or seventy men, withblackened faces, came riding their horses at full speed. The brethrenran, for protection, into an old blacksmith shop, they being withoutarms. The mob rode up to the shop, and without any explanation orapparent cause, began a wholesale butchery, by firing round afterround through the cracks between the logs of the shop. I was at homewith my family of five little children, and could hear the firing. Ina moment I knew the mob was upon us. Soon a runner came, telling thewomen and children to hasten into the timber and secrete themselves,which we did, without taking anything to keep us warm; and had we beenfleeing from the scalping knife of the Indian we would not have madegreater haste. And as we ran from house to house, gathering as we went,we finally numbered about forty or fifty women and children. We ranabout three miles into the woods, and there huddled together, spreadingwhat few blankets or shawls we chanced to have on the ground for thechildren; and here we remained until two o'clock the next morning,before we heard anything of the result of the firing at the mill. Whocan imagine our feelings during this dreadful suspense? And when thenews did come, oh! what terrible news! Fathers, brothers and sons,inhumanly butchered! We now took up the line of march for home. Alas!what a home! Who would we find there? And now, with our minds full ofthe most fearful forebodings, we retraced those three long, drearymiles. As we were returning I saw a brother, Myers, who had been shotthrough his body. In that dreadful state he crawled on his hands andknees, about two miles, to his home.

"After I arrived at my house with my children, I hastily made a fireto warm them, and then started for the mill, about one mile distant.My children would not remain at home, saying, 'If father and motherare going to be killed, we want to be with them.' It was about seveno'clock in the morning when we arrived at the mill. In the first houseI came to there were three dead men. One, a Brother McBride, I was toldwas a survivor of the Revolution. He was a terrible sight to behold,having been cut and chopped, and horribly mangled, with a corn-cutter.

"I hurried on, looking for my husband. I found him in an old house,covered with some rubbish. (The mob had taken the bedding and clothingfrom all the houses near the mill). My husband had been shot in thethigh. I rendered him all the assistance I could, but it was eveningbefore I could get him home. I saw thirteen more dead bodies at theshop, and witnessed the beginning of the burial, which consisted inthrowing the bodies into an old, dry well. So great was the fear ofthe men that the mob would return and kill what few of them there wereleft, that they threw the bodies in, head first or feet first, as thecase might be. When they had thrown in three, my heart sickened, and Iturned fainting away.

"At the moment of the massacre, my husband and another brother drewsome of the dead bodies on themselves, and pretended to be dead also,by so doing saving their lives. While in this situation they heardwhat the ruffians said after the firing was over. Two little boys, whohad not been hit, begged for their lives; but with horrible oaths theyput the muzzles of their guns to the children's heads, and blew theirbrains out.

"Oh! what a change one short day had brought! Here were my friends,dead and dying; one in particular asked me to give him relief by takinga hammer and knocking his brains out, so great was his agony. And weknew not what moment our enemies would be upon us again. And all this,not because we had broken any law—on the contrary, it was a part ofour religion to keep the laws of the land. In the evening BrotherEvans got a team and conveyed my husband to his house, carried him in,and placed him on a bed. I then had to attend him, alone, without anydoctor or any one to tell me what to do. Six days afterwards I, with myhusband's assistance, extracted the bullet, it being buried deep in thethick part of the thigh, and flattened like a knife. During the firstten days, mobbers, with blackened faces, came every day, cursing andswearing like demons from the pit, and declaring that they would 'killthat d—d old Mormon preacher.' At times like these, when human naturequailed, I felt the power of God upon me to that degree that I couldstand before them fearless; and although a woman, and alone, thosedemons in human shape had to succumb; for there was a power with methat they knew not of. During these days of mobocratic violence I wouldsometimes hide my husband in the house, and sometimes in the woods,covering him with leaves. And thus was I constantly harassed, untilthe mob finally left us, with the understanding that we should leavein the spring. About the middle of February we started for Quincy,Ill. Arriving there, we tarried for a short time, and thence moved toNauvoo."

CHAPTER XVIII.

JOSEPH SMITH'S DARING ANSWER TO THE LORD—WOMAN, THROUGH MORMONISM,RESTORED TO HER TRUE POSITION—THE THEMES OF MORMONISM.

What potent faith had come into the world that a people should thuslive and die by it?

Show us this new temple of theology in which the sisters had worshipped.

Open the book of themes which constitute the grand system of Mormonism.

—

The disciples of the prophet believed in the Book of Mormon; butnearly all their themes, and that vast system of theology which Josephconceived, as the crowning religion for a world, were derived from theHebrew Bible, the New Testament of Christ, and modern revelation.

New revelation is the signature of Mormonism.

The themes begin with Abraham, rather than with Christ; but they goback to Adam, and to the long "eternities" ere this world was.

Before Adam, was Mormonism!

There are generations of worlds. The Genesis of the Gods was beforethe Genesis of Man.

The Genesis of the Gods is the first book of the Mormon iliad.

"Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 'Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

"'Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou hast understanding.

"'Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line upon it?

"'Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner-stone thereof:

"'When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?'"

Brother Job, where wast thou? Joseph answered the Lord when the Masonicquestion of the Gods was put to him:

"Father, I was with thee; one of the 'morning stars' then; one of thearchangels of thy presence."

'Twas a divinely bold answer. But Joseph was divinely daring.

The genius of Mormonism had come down from the empyrean; it hesitatednot to assert its origin among the Gods.

This is no fanciful treatment—no mere flight to the realm of ideals.The Mormons have literally answered the Lord, their Father, thequestion which he put to their brother, Job, and have made that answera part of their theology.

But where was woman "when the morning stars sang together, and the sonsof God shouted for joy?"

Where was Zion? Where the bride? Where was woman?

"Not yet created; taken afterwards from the rib of Adam; of the earth,not of heaven; created for Adam's glory, that he might rule over her."

So said not Joseph.

It was the young East who thus declared. The aged West had kept thebook of remembrance.

Joseph was gifted with wonderful memories of the "eternities past."He had not forgotten woman. He knew Eve, and he remembered Zion. Herestored woman to her place among the Gods, where her primeval Genesisis written.

Woman was among the morning stars, when they sang together for joy, atthe laying of the foundations of the earth.

When the sons of God thrice gave their Masonic shouts of hosanna, thedaughters of God lifted up their voices with their brothers; and thehallelujahs to the Lord God Omnipotent, were rendered sweeter anddiviner by woman leading the theme.

In the temples, both of the heavens and the earth, woman is found. Sheis there in her character of Eve, and in her character of Zion. Theone is the type of earth, the other the type of heaven; the one themystical name of the mortal, the other of the celestial, woman.

The Mormon prophet rectified the divine drama. Man is nowhere wherewoman is not. Mormonism has restored woman to her pinnacle.

Presently woman herself shall sing of her divine origin. A highpriestess of the faith shall interpret the themes of herself and of herFather-and-Mother God!

At the very moment when the learned divines of Christendom wereglorying that this little earth was the "be-all and the end-all" ofcreation, the prophet of Mormondom was teaching the sisters in thetemple at Kirtland that there has been an eternal chain of creationscoming down from the generations of the Gods—worlds and systems anduniverses. At the time these lights of the Gentiles were pointing tothe star-fretted vault of immensity as so many illuminations—lampshung out by the Creator, six thousand years ago, to light this littleearth through her probation—the prophet of Israel was teaching hispeople that the starry hosts were worlds and suns and universes, someof which had being millions of ages before this earth had physical form.

Moreover, so vast is the divine scheme, and stupendous the worksof creations, that the prophet introduced the expressive wordeternities. The eternities are the times of creations.

This earth is but an atom in the immensities of creations. Innumerableworlds have been peopled with "living souls" of the order of mankind;innumerable worlds have passed through their probations; innumerableworlds have been redeemed, resurrected, and celestialized.

Hell-loving apostles of the sects were sending ninety-nine hundredthsof this poor, young, forlorn earth to the bottomless pit. The Mormonprophet was finding out grand old universes, in exaltation withscarcely the necessity of losing a soul.

The spirit of Mormonism is universal salvation.

Those who are not saved in one glory, may be saved in another.

There are the "glory of the sun," and the "glory of the moon," and the"glory of the stars."

The children of Israel belong to the glory of the sun. They kept theirfirst estate. They are nobly trying to keep their second estate onprobation. Let the devotion, the faith, the divine heroism of theMormon sisters, witness this.

"Adam is our Father and God. He is the God of the earth."

So says Brigham Young.

Adam is the great archangel of this creation. He is Michael. He isthe Ancient of Days. He is the father of our elder brother, JesusChrist—the father of him who shall also come as Messiah to reign. Heis the father of the spirits as well as the tabernacles of the sons anddaughters of man. Adam!

Michael is one of the grand mystical names in the works of creations,redemptions, and resurrections. Jehovah is the second and the highername. Eloheim—signifying the Gods—is the first name of the celestialtrinity.

Michael was a celestial, resurrected being, of another world.

"In the beginning" the Gods created the heavens and the earths.

In their councils they said, let us make man in our own image. So, inthe likeness of the Fathers, and the Mothers—the Gods—created theyman—male and female.

When this earth was prepared for mankind, Michael, as Adam, came down.He brought with him one of his wives, and he called her name Eve.

Adam and Eve are the names of the fathers and mothers of worlds.

Adam was not made out of a lump of clay, as we make a brick, nor wasEve taken as a rib—a bone—from his side. They came by generation. Butwoman, as the wife or mate of man, was a rib of man. She was taken fromhis side, in their glorified world, and brought by him to earth to bethe mother of a race.

These were father and mother of a world of spirits who had been born tothem in heaven. These spirits had been waiting for the grand period oftheir probation, when they should have bodies or tabernacles, so thatthey might become, in the resurrection, like Gods.

When this earth had become an abode for mankind, with its Garden ofEden, then it was that the morning stars sang together, and the sonsand daughters of God shouted for joy. They were coming down to earth.

The children of the sun, at least, knew what the grand scheme of theeverlasting Fathers and the everlasting Mothers meant, and they, bothsons and daughters, shouted for joy. The temple of the eternities shookwith their hosannas, and trembled with divine emotions.

The father and mother were at length in their Garden of Eden. They cameon purpose to fall. They fell "that man might be; and man is, that hemight have joy." They ate of the tree of mortal life, partook of theelements of this earth that they might again become mortal for theirchildren's sake. They fell that another world might have a probation,redemption and resurrection.

The grand patriarchal economy, with Adam, as a resurrected being,who brought his wife Eve from another world, has been very finelyelaborated, by Brigham, from the patriarchal genesis which Josephconceived.

Perchance the scientist might hesitate to accept the Mormon idealsof the genesis of mortals and immortals, but Joseph and Brigham havevery much improved on the Mosaic genesis of man. It is certainlynot scientific to make Adam as a model adobe; the race has come bygeneration. The genesis of a hundred worlds of his family, since hisday, does not suggest brickyards of mortality. The patriarchal economyof Mormonism is at least an improvement, and is decidedly epic in allits constructions and ideals.

A grand patriarchal line, then, down from the "eternities;" generationsof worlds and generations of Gods; all one universal family.

The Gods are the fathers and the mothers, and the brothers and thesisters, of the saints.

Divine ambitions here; a daring genius to thus conceive; a lifting upof man and woman to the very plane of the celestials, while yet onearth.

Now for the father and the children of the covenant.

With Abraham begins the covenant of Israel. The Mormons are aLatter-day Israel.

God made a covenant with Abraham, for Abraham was worthy to bethe grand patriarch of a world, under Adam. Like Jesus, he had apre-existence.

He was "in the beginning" with God; an archangel in the Father'spresence; one not less noble than his elder brother and captain ofsalvation; the patriarch, through whose line Messiah was ordained tocome into the world.

Abraham was the elect of God before the foundation of this earth. Inhim and his seed were all the promises—all the covenants—and all thedivine empires. In them was the kingdom of Messiah to consummate theobject and vast purposes of earth's creation.

He is the father of the faithful and the friend of God. In him and hisseed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. He shall become thefather of many nations. His seed shall be as the sand on the sea-shore.

In Abraham many nations have already been blessed. He and his seedhave given Bible and civilization to Christendom. From his loins cameJesus—from him will come Messiah.

Abraham and his seed have done much for the world, but they will do ahundred fold more. Their genius, their prophets, and their covenants,will leaven and circ*mscribe all civilization.

Jehovah is the God of Israel—the covenant people. There is none likehim in all the earth. There are Lords many, and Gods many, but untoIsrael there is but one God.

Between Jehovah and Abraham there are the everlasting covenants. Thedivine epic is between Abraham and his God.

Mormonism is now that divine epic.

This grand patriarch may be sard to be a grand Mormon; or, better told,the Mormons are a very proper Israel, whom the patriarch acknowledgesas his children, chosen to fulfill the covenants in connection with theJews.

Jehovah never made any covenants outside of Israel. The Gentiles aremade partakers, by adoption into the Abrahamic family.

All is of election and predestination. There is but very littlefree-grace; just enough grace to give the Gentiles room to enter intothe family of Israel, that the promise may be fulfilled that in Israelall the nations of the earth shall be blessed.

In ancient times Jehovah made his people a nation, that his name mightbe glorified. He established his throne in David, by an everlastingcovenant; but the throne and sceptre were taken from Israel, no more tobe, until he comes whose right it is to reign. Messiah is that one. Heis coming to restore the kingdom to Israel.

The earth and mankind were created that they might have a probation;and a probation, that a millennial reign of peace and righteousness mayconsummate the divine plan and purposes.

Righteousness and justice must be established upon the earth in thelast days, or nations must perish utterly.

In the last days God shall set up a kingdom upon the earth, which shallnever be destroyed. It will break into pieces all other kingdoms andempires, and stand forever. It will be given to the saints of the MostHigh, and they will possess it. The Mormons are the saints of the MostHigh.

That kingdom has already been set up, by the administration of angelsto Joseph Smith. This is the burden of Mormonism. It was for that thesaints were driven from Missouri and Illinois; that for which they madetheir exodus to the Rocky Mountains; that for which the sisters haveborne the cross for half a century.

Now also in the present age is to be fulfilled the vision of Daniel;here it is:

"I beheld till thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days (Adam) did sit, whose garments were white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

"A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him; thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

* * * * * *

"I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him.

"And there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages, should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

* * * * * *

"But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.

* * * *

"I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them.

"Until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

* * * * * *

"And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him."

Here is the imperial drama of Mormonism which the saints have appliedmost literally, and sought to work out in America; or, rather the Godof Israel has purposed to fulfill his wondrous scheme, in them, andmultiply them until they shall be an empire of God-fearing men andwomen—ten thousand times ten thousand saints.

No wonder that Missouri drove the saints—no wonder that the sisters,with such views, have risen to such sublime heroism and been inspiredwith such exalted faith. Scarcely to be wondered at even that they havebeen strong enough to bear their crosses throughout eventful lives,which have no parallel in history. With a matchless might of spirit,and divine ambitions, inspired by such a theology, literally applied inthe action of their lives, they have risen to the superhuman.

Comprehend this Hebraic religion of the sisters, and it can thus becomprehended somewhat how they have borne the cross of polygamy, withmore than the courage of martyrs at the stake.

We are coming to polygamy, by-and-by, to let these braver than Spartanwomen speak for themselves, upon their own special subject; butpolygamy was not established until years after the saints were drivenfrom Missouri.

We are but opening these views of Hebraic faith and religion. Thethemes will return frequently in their proper places. But let thesisters most reveal themselves in their expositions, episodes, andtestimonies.

Thus, here, the high priestess of Mormondom, with her beautiful themesof our God-Father and our God-Mother!

CHAPTER XIX.

ELIZA R. SNOW'S INVOCATION—THE ETERNAL FATHER AND MOTHER—ORIGIN OFTHE SUBLIME THOUGHT POPULARLY ATTRIBUTED TO THEODORE PARKER—BASIC IDEAOF THE MORMON THEOLOGY.

Joseph endowed the church with the genesis of a grand theology, andBrigham has reared the colossal fabric of a new civilization; but womanherself must sing of her celestial origin, and her relationship to themajesty of creation.

Inspired by the mystic memories of the past, Eliza R. Snow has madepopular in the worship of the saints a knowledge of the grand family,in our primeval spirit-home. The following gem, which opens the firstvolume of her poems, will give at once a rare view of the spiritualtype of the high priestess of the Mormon Church, and of the divinedrama of Mormonism itself. It is entitled, "Invocation; or, the EternalFather and Mother

O! my Father, thou that dwellest
In the high and holy place;
When shall I regain thy presence,
And again behold thy face?

In thy glorious habitation,
Did my spirit once reside?
In my first primeval childhood,
Was I nurtured by thy side?

For a wise and glorious purpose,
Thou hast placed me here on earth;
And withheld the recollection
Of my former friends and birth.

Yet oft-times a secret something,
Whisper'd, "You're a stranger here;"
And I felt that I had wandered
From a more exalted sphere.

I had learned to call thee Father,
Through thy spirit from on high;
But until the key of knowledge
Was restored, I knew not why.

In the heavens are parents single?
No; the thought makes reason stare;
Truth is reason; truth eternal,
Tells me I've a Mother there.

When I leave this frail existence—
When I lay this mortal by,
Father, Mother, may I meet you
In your royal court on high?

Then at length, when I've completed
All you sent me forth to do,
With your mutual approbation,
Let me come and dwell with you.

A divine drama set to song. And as it is but a choral dramatization,in the simple hymn form, of the celestial themes revealed throughJoseph Smith, it will strikingly illustrate the vast system of Mormontheology, which links the heavens and the earths.

It is well remembered what an ecstacy filled the minds of thetranscendental Christians of America, when the voice of TheodoreParker, bursting into the fervor of a new revelation, addressed, inprayer, our Father and Mother in heaven!

An archangel proclamation that!

Henceforth shall the mother half of creation be worshipped with that ofthe God-Father; and in that worship woman, by the very association ofideas, shall be exalted in the coming civilization.

Wonderful revelation, Brother Theodore; worthy thy glorious intellect!Quite as wonderful that it was not universal long before thy day!

But it will be strange news to many that years before Theodore Parkerbreathed that theme in public prayer, the Mormon people sang their hymnof invocation to the Father and Mother in heaven, given them by theHebraic pen of Eliza R. Snow.

And in this connection it will be proper to relate the fact that aMormon woman once lived as a servant in the house of Theodore Parker.With a disciple's pardonable cunning she was in the habit of leavingMormon books in the way of her master. It is not unlikely that thegreat transcendentalist had read the Mormon poetess' hymn to "OurFather-and-Mother God!"

And perhaps it will appear still more strange to the reader, who mayhave been told that woman in the Mormon scheme ranked low—almost tothe barbarian scale—to learn that the revelation of the Father andMother of creation, given through the Mormon prophet, and set to songby a kindred spirit, is the basic idea of the whole Mormon theology.

The hymn of invocation not only treats our God parents in this grandprimeval sense, but the poetess weaves around their parental centre thedivine drama of the pre-existence of worlds.

This celestial theme was early revealed to the church by the prophet,and for now nearly forty years the hymn of invocation has been familiarin the meetings of the saints.

A marvel indeed is this, that at the time modern Christians, andeven "philosophers," were treating this little earth, with its sixthousand years of mortal history, as the sum of the intelligentuniverse—to which was added this life's sequel, with the gloom of hellprevailing—the Mormon people, in their very household talk, conversedand sang of an endless succession of worlds.

They talked of their own pre-existing lives. They came into the divineaction ages ago, played their parts in a primeval state, and playedthem well. Hence were they the first fruits of the gospel. Theyscarcely limited their pre-existing lives to a beginning, or compassedtheir events, recorded in other worlds, in a finite story. Downthrough the cycles of all eternity they had come, and they were nowentabernacled spirits passing through a mortal probation.

It was of such a theme that "Sister Eliza" sang; and with such a themeher hymn of invocation to our Father and Mother in heaven soon made thesaints familiar in every land.

Let us somewhat further expound the theme of this hymn, which ourpoetess could not fully embody in the simple form of verse.

God the Father and God the Mother stand, in the grand pre-existingview, as the origin and centre of the spirits of all the generations ofmortals who had been entabernacled on this earth.

First and noblest of this great family was Jesus Christ, who was theelder brother, in spirit, of the whole human race. These constituted aworld-family of pre-existing souls.

Brightest among these spirits, and nearest in the circle to our Fatherand Mother in heaven (the Father being Adam), were Seth, Enoch, Noahand Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus Christ—indeed that gloriouscohort of men and women, whose lives have left immortal records in theworld's history. Among these the Mormon faith would rank Joseph Smith,Brigham Young, and their compeers.

In that primeval spirit-state, these were also associated with a divinesisterhood. One can easily imagine the inspired authoress of the hymnon pre-existence, to have been a bright angel among this sister throng.Her hymn is as a memory of that primeval life, and her invocation is asthe soul's yearning for the Father and Mother in whose courts she wasreared, and near whose side her spirit was nurtured.

These are the sons and daughters of Adam—the Ancient of Days—theFather and God of the whole human family. These are the sons anddaughters of Michael, who is Adam, the father of the spirits of all ourrace.

These are the sons and daughters of Eve, the Mother of a world.

What a practical Unitarianism is this! The Christ is not dragged fromhis heavenly estate, to be mere mortal, but mortals are lifted up tohis celestial plane. He is still the God-Man; but he is one among manybrethren who are also God-Men.

Moreover, Jesus is one of a grand order of Saviours. Every world hasits distinctive Saviour, and every dispensation its Christ.

There is a glorious Masonic scheme among the Gods. The everlastingorders come down to us with their mystic and official names. Theheavens and the earths have a grand leveling; not by pulling downcelestial spheres, but by the lifting up of mortal spheres.

Perchance the skeptic and the strict scientist who measures by the coldlogic of facts, but rises not to the logic of ideas, might not acceptthis literal pre-existing view, yet it must be confessed that it is alifting up of the idealities of man's origin. Man is the offspring ofthe Gods. This is the supreme conception which gives to religion itsvery soul. Unless man's divinity comes in somewhere, religion is thewretchedest humbug that ever deluded mortals.

Priestcraft, indeed, then, from the beginning to the end—from theAlpha to the Omega of theologic craft, there is nothing divine.

But the sublime and most primitive conception of Mormonism is, that manin his essential being is divine, that he is the offspring of God—thatGod is indeed his Father.

And woman? for she is the theme now.

Woman is heiress of the Gods. She is joint heir with her elder brother,Jesus the Christ; but she inherits from her God-Father and herGod-Mother. Jesus is the "beloved" of that Father and Mother—theirwell-tried Son, chosen to work out the salvation and exaltation of thewhole human family.

And shall it not be said then that the subject rises from theGod-Father to the God-Mother? Surely it is a rising in the sense ofthe culmination of the divine idea. The God-Father is not robbed ofhis everlasting glory by this maternal completion of himself. It is anexpansion both of deity and humanity.

They twain are one God!

The supreme Unitarian conception is here; the God-Father and theGod-Mother! The grand unity of God is in them—in the divine Fatherhoodand the divine Motherhood—the very beginning and consummation ofcreation. Not in the God-Father and the God-Son can the unity of theheavens and the earths be worked out; neither with any logic of factsnor of idealities. In them the Masonic trinities; in the everlastingFathers and the everlasting Mothers the unities of creations.

Our Mother in heaven is decidedly a new revelation, as beautifuland delicate to the masculine sense of the race as it is just andexalting to the feminine. It is the woman's own revelation. Not evendid Jesus proclaim to the world the revelation of our Mother inheaven—co-existent and co-equal with the eternal Father. This wasleft, among the unrevealed truths, to the present age, when it wouldseem the woman is destined by Providence to become very much the oracleof a new and peculiar civilization.

The oracle of this last grand truth of woman's divinity and of hereternal Mother as the partner with the Father in the creation ofworlds, is none other than the Mormon Church. It was revealed in theglorious theology of Joseph, and established by Brigham in the vastpatriarchal system which he has made firm as the foundations of theearth, by proclaiming Adam as our Father and God. The Father is firstin name and order, but the Mother is with him—these twain, one fromthe beginning.

Then came our Hebraic poetess with her hymn of invocation, and womanherself brought the perfected idea of deity into the forms of praiseand worship. Is not this exalting woman to her sphere beyond allprecedent?

Let it be marked that the Roman Catholic idea of the Mother of God iswonderfully lower than the Mormon idea. The Church of Rome only bringsthe maternal conception, linked with deity, in Christ, and that too inquite the inferior sense. It is not primitive—it is the exception;it begins and ends with the Virgin Mary. A question indeed whether itelevates womanhood and motherhood. The ordinary idea is rather the moreexalted; for that always, in a sense, makes the mother superior to theson. The proverb that great mothers conceive great sons has really morepoetry in it than the Roman Catholic doctrine that Mary was the Motherof God.

The Mormon Church is the oracle of the grandest conception of womanhoodand motherhood. And from her we have it as a revelation to the world,and not a mere thought of a transcendental preacher—a gloriousTheodore Parker flashing a celestial ray upon the best intellects ofthe age.

Excepting the Lord's prayer, there is not in the English language thepeer of this Mormon invocation; and strange to say the invocation isthis time given to the Church through woman—the prophetess and highpriestess of the faith.

CHAPTER XX.

THE TRINITY OF MOTHERHOOD—EVE, SARAH, AND ZION—THE MORMON THEORYCONCERNING OUR FIRST PARENTS.

A trinity of Mothers!

The celestial Masonry of Womanhood!

The other half of the grand patriarchal economy of the heavens and theearths!

The book of patriarchal theology is full of new conceptions. Like thestar-bespangled heavens—like the eternities which it mantles—is thatwondrous theology!

New to the world, but old as the universe. 'Tis the everlasting book ofimmortals, unsealed to mortal view, by these Mormon prophets.

A trinity of Mothers—Eve the Mother of a world; Sarah the Mother ofthe covenant; Zion the Mother of celestial sons and daughters—theMother of the new creation of Messiah's reign, which shall give toearth the crown of her glory and the cup of joy after all her ages oftravail.

Still tracing down the divine themes of Joseph; still faithfullyfollowing the methods of that vast patriarchal economy which shallbe the base of a new order of society and of the temple of a newcivilization.

When Brigham Young proclaimed to the nations that Adam was our Fatherand God, and Eve, his partner, the Mother of a world—both in a mortaland a celestial sense—he made the most important revelation everoracled to the race since the days of Adam himself.

This grand patriarchal revelation is the very keystone of the "newcreation" of the heavens and the earth. It gives new meaning to thewhole system of theology—as much new meaning to the economy ofsalvation as to the economy of creation. By the understanding of theworks of the Father, the works of the Son are illumined.

The revelation was the "Let there be light" again pronounced. "Andthere was light!"

"And God created man in his own image; in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

"And God blessed them; and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it."

Here is the very object of man and woman's creation exposed in theprimitive command. The first words of their genesis are, "Be fruitfuland multiply."

So far, it is of but trifling moment how our "first parents" werecreated; whether like a brick, with the spittle of the Creator and thedust of the earth, or by the more intelligible method of generation.The prime object of man and woman's creation was for the purposes ofcreation.

"Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it," bycountless millions of your offspring.

Thus opened creation, and the womb of everlasting motherhood throbbedwith divine ecstacy.

It is the divine command still. All other maybe dark as a fable, ofthe genesis of the race, but this is not dark. Motherhood to this hourleaps for joy at this word of God, "Be fruitful;" and motherhood issanctified as by the holiest sacrament of nature.

We shall prefer Brigham's expounding of the dark passages of Genesis.

Our first parents were not made up like mortal bricks. They came to bethe Mother and the Father of a new creation of souls.

We say Mother now, first, for we are tracing this everlasting theme ofmotherhood, in the Mormon economy, without which nothing of the womanpart of the divine scheme can be known—next to nothing of patriarchalmarriage, to which we are traveling, be expounded.

Eve—immortal Eve—came down to earth to become the Mother of a race.

How become the Mother of a world of mortals except by herself againbecoming mortal? How become mortal only by transgressing the laws ofimmortality? How only by "eating of the forbidden fruit"—by partakingof the elements of a mortal earth, in which the seed of death waseverywhere scattered?

All orthodox theologians believe Adam and Eve to have been at firstimmortal, and all acknowledge the great command, "Be fruitful andmultiply."

That they were not about to become the parents of a world of immortalsis evident, for they were on a mortal earth. That the earth was mortalall nature here to-day shows. The earth was to be subdued by teemingmillions of mankind—the dying earth actually eaten, in a sense, ascore of times, by the children of these grand parents.

The fall is simple. Our immortal parents came down to fall; came downto transgress the laws of immortality; came down to give birth tomortal tabernacles for a world of spirits.

The "forbidden tree," says Brigham, contained in its fruit the elementsof death, or the elements of mortality. By eating of it, blood wasagain infused into the tabernacles of beings who had become immortal.The basis of mortal generation is blood. Without blood no mortal canbe born. Even could immortals have been conceived on earth, the treesof life had made but the paradise of a few; but a mortal world was theobject of creation then.

Eve, then, came down to be the Mother of a world.

Glorious Mother, capable of dying at the very beginning to give lifeto her offspring, that through mortality the eternal life of the Godsmight be given to her sons and daughters.

Motherhood the same from the beginning even to the end! The love ofmotherhood passing all understanding! Thus read our Mormon sisters thefall of their Mother.

And the serpent tempted the woman with the forbidden fruit.

Did woman hesitate a moment then? Did motherhood refuse the cup for herown sake, or did she, with infinite love, take it and drink for herchildren's sake? The Mother had plunged down, from the pinnacle of hercelestial throne, to earth, to taste of death that her children mighthave everlasting life.

What! should Eve ask Adam to partake of the elements of death first, insuch a sacrament! 'Twould have outraged motherhood!

Eve partook of that supper of the Lord's death first. She ate of thatbody and drank of that blood.

Be it to Adam's eternal credit that he stood by and let ourMother—our ever blessed Mother Eve—partake of the sacrifice beforehimself. Adam followed the Mother's example, for he was great andgrand—a Father worthy indeed of a world. He was wise, too; for theblood of life is the stream of mortality.

What a psalm of everlasting praise to woman, that Eve fell first!

A Goddess came down from her mansions of glory to bring the spirits ofher children down after her, in their myriads of branches and theirhundreds of generations!

She was again a mortal Mother now. The first person in the trinity ofMothers.

The Mormon sisterhood take up their themes of religion with theirMother Eve, and consent with her, at the very threshold of the temple,to bear the cross. Eve is ever with her daughters in the temple of theLord their God.

The Mormon daughters of Eve have also in this eleventh hour come downto earth, like her, to magnify the divine office of motherhood. Shecame down from her resurrected, they from their spirit, estate. Here,with her, in the divine providence of maternity, they begin to ascendthe ladder to heaven, and to their exaltation in the courts of theirFather and Mother God.

Who shall number the blasphemies of the sectarian churches against ourfirst grand parents? Ten thousand priests of the serpent have thunderedanathemas upon the head of "accursed Adam." Appalling, oftentimes,their pious rage. And Eve—the holiest, grandest of Mothers—has beenmade a very by-word to offset the frailties of the most wicked andabandoned.

Very different is Mormon theology! The Mormons exalt the grand parentsof our race. Not even is the name of Christ more sacred to themthan the names of Adam and Eve. It was to them the poetess and highpriestess addressed her hymn of invocation; and Brigham's proclamationthat Adam is our Father and God is like a hallelujah chorus to theireverlasting names. The very earth shall yet take it up; all the sonsand daughters of Adam and Eve shall yet shout it for joy, to the endsof the earth, in every tongue!

Eve stands, then, first—the God-Mother in the maternal trinity ofthis earth. Soon we shall meet Sarah, the Mother of the covenant, andin her daughters comprehend something of patriarchal marriage—"Mormonpolygamy." But leave we awhile these themes of woman, and return to thepersonal thread of the sisters' lives.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE HUNTINGTONS—ZINA D. YOUNG, AND PRESCINDIA L. KIMBALL—THEIRTESTIMONY CONCERNING THE KIRTLAND MANIFESTATIONS—UNPUBLISHED LETTER OFJOSEPH SMITH—DEATH OF MOTHER HUNTINGTON.

Who are these thus pursued as by the demons that ever haunt a greatdestiny?

As observed in the opening chapter, they are the sons and daughtersof the Pilgrim sires and mothers who founded this nation; sons anddaughters of the patriots who fought the battles of independence andwon for these United States a transcendent destiny.

Here meet we two of the grand-nieces of Samuel Huntington, one of thesigners of the Declaration of Independence, Governor of Connecticut,and President of Congress.

Zina Diantha Huntington has long been known and honored as one of themost illustrious women of the Church. She was not only sealed to theprophet Joseph in their sacred covenant of celestial marriage, butafter his martyrdom she was sealed to Brigham Young as one of Joseph'swives. For over a quarter of a century she has been known as Zina D.Young—being mother to one of Brigham's daughters. In her missionof usefulness she has stood side by side with Sister Eliza R. Snow,and her life has been that of one of the most noble and saintly ofwomen. Thus is she introduced to mark her honored standing among thesisterhood. Of her ancestral record she says:

"My father's family is directly descended from Simon Huntington, the'Puritan immigrant' who sailed for America in 1633. He died on thesea, but left three sons and his widow, Margaret. The church recordsof Roxbury, Mass., contain the earliest record of the Huntington nameknown in New England, and is in the handwriting of Rev. John Elliothimself, the pastor of that ancient church. This is the record:'Margaret Huntington, widow, came in 1633. Her husband died by the way,of the small-pox. She brought—children with her.'

"Tradition says that Simon, the Puritan emigrant, sailed for thiscountry to escape the persecutions to which non-conformists weresubjected, during the high-handed administrations of Laud and thefirst Charles. Tradition also declares him to have been beyond doubtan Englishman. The Rev. E. B. Huntington, in his genealogical memoirof the Huntington family in this country, observes: 'The character ofhis immediate descendants is perhaps in proof of both statements; they,were thoroughly English in their feelings, affinities, and language;and that they were as thoroughly religious, their names and officialconnection with the early churches in this country abundantly attest.'

"Of one of my great-grandfathers the Huntington family memoir recordsthus: 'John, born in Norwich, March 15th, 1666, married December 9th,1686, Abigal, daughter of Samuel Lathrop, who was born in May, 1667.Her father moved to Norwich from New London, to which place he had gonefrom Scituate, Mass., in 1648. He was the son of the Rev. John Lathrop,who, for nonconformity, being a preacher in the First CongregationalChurch organized in London, was imprisoned for two years, and who, onbeing released in 1634, came to this country, and became the firstminister of Scituate.'

"The Lathrops, from which my branch of the family was direct, alsomarried with the other branches of the Huntingtons, making us kin ofboth sides, and my sister, Prescindia Lathrop Huntington, bears thefamily name of generations.

"My grandfather, Wm. Huntington, was born September 19th, 1757;married, February 13th, 1783, Prescindia Lathrop, and was one of thefirst settlers in the Black River Valley, in Northern New York. Heresided at Watertown. He married for his second wife his first wife'ssister, Alvira Lathrop Dresser. He died May 11th, 1842. The followingis an obituary notice found in one of the Watertown papers:

"'At his residence, on the 11th inst., Wm. Huntington, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. Mr. Huntington was one of our oldest and most respected inhabitants. He was a native of Tolland, Conn., and for three or four years served in the army of the Revolution. In the year 1784 he emigrated to New Hampshire, where he resided till the year 1804, when he removed to Watertown. He was for many years a member and an officer of the Presbyterian Church.'

"Before his death, however, my grandfather was baptized into theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He always spoke of SamuelHuntington, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, as his UncleSamuel."

This genealogical record is given to illustrate the numerous Puritanand Revolutionary relations of the leading families of the Mormonpeople, and to emphasize the unparalleled outrage of the repeatedexile of such descendants—exiles at last from American civilization.How exact has been the resemblance of their history to that of theirPilgrim fathers and mothers!

But the decided connection of the Huntingtons with the Mormon peoplewas in William Huntington, the father of sisters Zina and Prescindia,who for many years was a presiding High Priest of the Church, being amember of the High Council.

This Wm. Huntington was also a patriot, and served in the war withGreat Britain, in 1812.

The sisters Zina and Prescindia, with their brothers, were raisedfourteen miles east of Sackett's Harbor, where the last battle wasfought between the British and Americans, in that war; so that theRevolutionary history of their country formed a peculiarly interestingtheme to the "young folks" of the Huntington family. Indeed theirbrother, Dimock, at the period of the exodus of the Mormons fromNauvoo, had so much of the blood of the patriots in his veins thathe at once enlisted in the service of his country in the war withMexico—being a soldier in the famous Mormon battalion.

Prescindia Lathrop Huntington, the eldest of these two illustrioussisters, was born in Watertown, Jefferson county, N. Y., September 7th,1810, and was her mother's fourth child; Zina Diantha was born at thesame place, January 31st, 1821.

Prescindia is a woman of very strong character; and her life has beenmarked with great decision and self-reliance, both in thought andpurpose. She was also endowed with a large, inspired mind—the giftsof prophesy, speaking in tongues, and the power to heal and comfortthe sick, being quite pre-eminent in her apostolic life. In appearanceshe is the very counterpart of the Eliza Huntington whose likeness ispublished in the book of the Huntington family. A mother in Israel isSister Prescindia, and the type of one of the Puritan mothers in theolden time. She was sealed to Joseph Smith, and for many years was oneof the wives of the famous Heber C. Kimball.

Mother Huntington was also an exemplary saint. She died a victim of thepersecutions, when the saints were driven from Missouri, and deservesto be enshrined as a martyr among her people. Her name was Zina Baker,born May 2d, 1786, in Plainfield, Cheshire county, N. H., and marriedto Wm. Huntington, December 28, 1806. Her father was one of the firstphysicians in New Hampshire, and her mother, Diantha Dimock, wasdescended from the noble family of Dymocks, whose representatives heldthe hereditary knight-championship of England—instance Sir EdwardDymock, Queen Elizabeth's champion.

Mother Huntington was a woman of great faith. "She believed that Godwould hear and answer prayer in behalf of the sick. The gift of healingwas with her before the gospel was restored in its fullness."

Thus testify her daughters of their mother, whose spirit of faithwas also instilled into their own hearts, preparing them to receivethe gospel of a great spiritual dispensation, and for that apostoliccalling among the sick, to which their useful lives have been greatlydevoted.

Father and Mother Huntington had both been strict Presbyterians; butabout the time of the organization of the Latter-day Church he withdrewfrom the congregation, which had become divided over church forms,and commenced an earnest examination of the Scriptures for himself.To his astonishment he discovered that there was no church extant,to his knowledge, according to the ancient pattern, with apostlesand prophets, nor any possessing the gifts and powers of the ancientgospel. For the next three years he was as a watcher for the coming ofan apostolic mission, when one day Elder Joseph Wakefield brought tohis house the Book of Mormon. Soon his family embraced the Latter-dayfaith, rejoicing in the Lord. Himself and wife, and his son Dimock andhis wife, with "Zina D.," then only a maiden, were the first of thefamily baptized. Zina was baptized by Hyrum Smith, in Watertown, August1st, 1835.

Prescindia at that time was living with her husband at Loraine, alittle village eighteen miles from her native place, when her mother,in the summer of 1835, brought to her the Book of Mormon and herfirst intelligence of the Mormon prophet. She gathered to Kirtland inMay, 1836, and was baptized on the 6th of the following June, and wasconfirmed by Oliver Cowdry.

"In Kirtland," she says, "we enjoyed many very great blessings, andoften saw the power of God manifested. On one occasion I saw angelsclothed in white walking upon the temple. It was during one of ourmonthly fast meetings, when the saints were in the temple worshipping.A little girl came to my door and in wonder called me out, exclaiming,'The meeting is on the top of the meeting house!' I went to the door,and there I saw on the temple angels clothed in white covering the rooffrom end to end. They seemed to be walking to and fro; they appearedand disappeared. The third time they appeared and disappeared beforeI realized that they were not mortal men. Each time in a moment theyvanished, and their reappearance was the same. This was in broaddaylight, in the afternoon. A number of the children in Kirtland sawthe same.

"When the brethren and sisters came home in the evening, they toldof the power of God manifested in the temple that day, and of theprophesying and speaking in tongues. It was also said, in theinterpretation of tongues, 'That the angels were resting down upon thehouse.'

"At another fast meeting I was in the temple with my sister Zina. Thewhole of the congregation were on their knees, praying vocally, forsuch was the custom at the close of these meetings when Father Smithpresided; yet there was no confusion; the voices of the congregationmingled softly together. While the congregation was thus praying, weboth heard, from one corner of the room above our heads, a choir ofangels singing most beautifully. They were invisible to us, but myriadsof angelic voices seemed to be united in singing some song of Zion, andtheir sweet harmony filled the temple of God.

"We were also in the temple at the pentecost. In the morning FatherSmith prayed for a pentecost, in opening the meeting. That day thepower of God rested mightily upon the saints. There was poured outupon us abundantly the spirit of revelation, prophesy and tongues. TheHoly Ghost filled the house; and along in the afternoon a noise washeard. It was the sound of a mighty rushing wind. But at first thecongregation was startled, not knowing what it was. To many it seemedas though the roof was all in flames. Father Smith exclaimed, 'Is thehouse on fire!'

"'Do you not remember your prayer this morning, Father Smith?' inquireda brother.

"Then the patriarch, clasping his hands, exclaimed, 'The spirit of God,like a mighty rushing wind!'

"At another time a cousin of ours came to visit us at Kirtland. Shewanted to go to one of the saints' fast meetings, to hear some one singor speak in tongues, but she said she expected to have a hearty laugh.

"Accordingly we went with our cousin to the meeting, during which aBrother McCarter rose and sang a song of Zion in tongues; I arose andsang simultaneously with him the same tune and words, beginning andending each verse in perfect unison, without varying a word. It wasjust as though we had sung it together a thousand times.

"After we came out of meeting, our cousin observed, 'Instead oflaughing, I never felt so solemn in my life.'"

The family of Huntingtons removed with the saints from Kirtland to FarWest, and passed through the scenes of the expulsion from Missouri. Inthis their experience was very similar to the narratives of the othersisters already given; but Sister Prescindia's visit to the prophet, inLiberty jail, must have special notice. She says:

"In the month of February, 1839, my father, with Heber C. Kimball, andAlanson Ripley, came and stayed over night with us, on their way tovisit the prophet and brethren in Liberty jail. I was invited to gowith them.

"When we arrived at the jail we found a heavy guard outside and insidethe door. We were watched very closely, lest we should leave tools tohelp the prisoners escape.

"I took dinner with the brethren in prison; they were much pleased tosee the faces of true friends; but I cannot describe my feelings onseeing that man of God there confined in such a trying time for thesaints, when his counsel was so much needed. And we were obliged toleave them in that horrid prison, surrounded by a wicked mob.

"While in prison, the brethren were presented with human flesh to eat.My brother, Wm. Huntington, tasted before the word could be passed fromJoseph to him. It was the flesh of a colored man.

"After my second visit to the prison, with Frederick G. Williams, theprophet addressed to me the following letter:

"'LIBERTY JAIL, March 15th, 1839.

"'DEAR SISTER:

"'My heart rejoiced at the friendship you manifested in requesting to have conversation with us; but the jailer is a very jealous man, for fear some one will have tools for us to get out with. He is under the eye of the mob continually, and his life is at stake if he grants us any privilege. He will not let us converse with any one alone.

"'O what a joy it would be for us to see our friends. It would have gladdened my heart to have had the privilege of conversing with you; but the hand of tyranny is upon us; but thanks be to God, it cannot last always; and he that sitteth in the heavens will laugh at their calamity and mock when their fear cometh.

"'We feel, dear sister, that our bondage is not of long duration. I trust that I shall have the chance to give such instructions as have been communicated to us, before long; and as you wanted some instruction from us, and also to give us some information, and administer consolation to us, and to find out what is best for you to do, I think that many of the brethren, if they will be pretty still, can stay in this country until the indignation is over and passed. But I think it will be better for Brother Buell to leave and go with the rest of the brethren, if he keeps the faith, and at any rate, for thus speaketh the spirit concerning him. I want him and you to know that I am your true friend.

"'I was glad to see you. No tongue can tell what inexpressible joy it gives a man to see the face of one who has been a friend, after having been inclosed in the walls of a prison for five months. It seems to me my heart will always be more tender after this than ever it was before.

"'My heart bleeds continually when I contemplate the distress of the Church. O that I could be with them; I would not shrink at toil and hardship to render them comfort and consolation. I want the blessing once more to lift my voice in the midst of the saints. I would pour out my soul to God for their instruction. It has been the plan of the devil to hamper and distress me from the beginning, to keep me from explaining myself to them, and I never have had opportunity to give them the plan that God has revealed to me. Many have run without being sent, crying, 'Tidings, my Lord,' and have caused injury to the Church, giving the adversary more power over them that walk by sight and not by faith. Our trouble will only give us that knowledge to understand the mind of the ancients. For my part I think I never could have felt as I now do if I had not suffered the wrongs which I have suffered. All things shall work together for good to them that love God.

"'Beloved sister, we see that perilous times have truly come, and the things which we have so long expected have at last begun to usher in; but when you see the fig tree begin to put forth its leaves, you may know that the summer is nigh at hand. There will be a short work on the earth; it has now commenced. I suppose there will soon be perplexity all over the earth. Do not let our hearts faint when these things come upon us, for they must come or the word cannot be fulfilled. I know that something will soon take place to stir up this generation to see what they have been doing, and that their fathers have inherited lies, and they have been led captive by the devil to no profit. But they know not what they do. Do not have any feeling of enmity towards any son or daughter of Adam. I believe I shall be let out of their hands some way or other, and shall see good days. We cannot do anything, only stand still and see the salvation of God. He must do his own work or it must fall to the ground. We must not take it in our hands to avenge our wrongs. 'Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord; I will repay.' I have no fears; I shall stand unto death, God being my helper.

"'I wanted to communicate something, and I wrote this. Write to us if you can.

&c.,

"'J. SMITH, JR.'"

This letter to Sister Prescindia, which has never before beenpublished, gives an excellent example of the spirit and style of theprophet. It will be read with interest, even by the anti-Mormon.Himself in prison, and his people even at that moment passing throughtheir expulsion, what passages for admiration are these:

"Do not have any feelings of enmity towards any son or daughter ofAdam." "They know not what they do!" "We must not take it in our handsto avenge our wrongs. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord; I will repay.""I have no fears; I shall stand unto death, God being my helper!"

Like his divine Master this; "Father, forgive them; they know not whatthey do!" A great heart, indeed, had Joseph, and a spirit exalted withnoble aims and purposes.

When Sister Prescindia returned to Far West, her father and mother,with her sister Zina, had started in the exodus of the saints fromMissouri to Illinois. She says:

"I never saw my mother again. I felt alone on the earth, with no one tocomfort me, excepting my little son, George, for my husband had becomea bitter apostate, and I could not speak in favor of the Church in hispresence. There was by this time not one true saint in the State ofMissouri, to my knowledge."

Sister Zina says: "On the 18th of April, 1839, I left Far West, with myfather, mother, and two younger brothers, and arrived at Quincy, Ill.,on the 25th of April, and from thence to Commerce, afterwards calledNauvoo, which we reached on the 14th of May.

"Joseph, the prophet, had just escaped from prison in Missouri, andthe saints were gathering to Nauvoo. My brother Dimock was also inIllinois, living at Judge Cleveland's.

"On the 24th of June my dear mother was taken sick with a congestivechill. About three hours afterwards she called me to her bedside andsaid:

"'Zina, my time has come to die. You will live many years; but O, howlonesome father will be. I am not afraid to die. All I dread is themortal suffering. I shall come forth triumphant when the Saviour comeswith the just to meet the saints on the earth.'

"The next morning I was taken sick; and in a few days my fatherand brother Oliver were also prostrate. My youngest brother, John,twelve years of age, was the only one left that could give us a drinkof water; but the prophet sent his adopted daughter to assist usin our affliction, and saw to our being taken care of, as well ascirc*mstances would permit—for there were hundreds, lying in tents andwagons, who needed care as much as we. Once Joseph came himself andmade us tea with his own hands, and comforted the sick and dying.

"Early in the morning of the 8th of July, 1839, just before the sun hadrisen, the spirit of my blessed mother took its flight, without hermoving a muscle, or even the quiver of the lip.

"Only two of the family could follow the remains to their restingplace. O, who can tell the anguish of the hearts of the survivors, whoknew not whose turn it would be to follow next?

"Thus died my martyred mother! The prophet Joseph often said that thesaints who died in the persecutions were as much martyrs of the Churchas was the apostle David Patten, who was killed in the defence of thesaints, or those who were massacred at Haun's Mill. And my belovedmother was one of the many bright martyrs of the Church in those darkand terrible days of persecution."

CHAPTER XXII.

WOMAN'S WORK IN CANADA AND GREAT BRITAIN—HEBER C. KIMBALL'SPROPHESY—PARLEY P. PRATT'S SUCCESSFUL MISSION TO CANADA—A BLIND WOMANMIRACULOUSLY HEALED—DISTINGUISHED WOMEN OF THAT PERIOD.

By this time (1840, the period of the founding of Nauvoo), the Churchhas had a remarkable history in Canada and Great Britain. To thesemissions we must now go for some of our representative women, and alsoto extend our view of Mormonism throughout the world.

Brigham Young was the first of the elders who took Mormonism intoCanada, soon after his entrance into the Church. There he raised upseveral branches, and gathered a few families to Kirtland; but itwas not until the apostle Parley P. Pratt took his successful andalmost romantic mission to Canada, that Mormonism flourished in theBritish Province, and from there spread over to Great Britain, like anapostolic wave.

Presently we shall see that the romance of Mormonism has centred aroundthe sisters abroad as well as at home. Frequently we shall see themthe characters which first come to view; the first prepared for thegreat spiritual work of the age; the first to receive the elders withtheir tidings of the advent of a prophet and the administration ofangels, after the long night of spiritual darkness, and centuries ofangelic silence; and were it possible to trace their every footstep inthe wonderful work abroad, we should find that the sisters have beeneffective missionaries of the Church, and that, in some sections, theyhave been instrumental in making more disciples than even the elders.

Here is the opening of the story of Parley P. Pratt's mission toCanada, in which a woman immediately comes to the foreground in afamous prophesy:

"It was now April" (1836). "I had retired to rest," says he, "oneevening, at an early hour, and was pondering my future course, whenthere came a knock at the door. I arose and opened it, when Heber C.Kimball and others entered my house, and being filled with the spiritof prophesy, they blessed me and my wife, and prophesied as follows:'Brother Parley, thy wife shall be healed from this hour, and shallbear a son, and his name shall be Parley; and he shall be a choseninstrument in the hands of the Lord to inherit the priesthood andto walk in the steps of his father. He shall do a great work in theearth in ministering the word and teaching the children of men. Arise,therefore, and go forth in the ministry, nothing doubting. Take nothought for your debts, nor the necessaries of life, for the Lord willsupply you with abundant means for all things.

"'Thou shalt go to Upper Canada, even to the city of Toronto, thecapital, and there thou shalt find a people prepared for the fullnessof the gospel, and they shall receive thee, and thou shalt organizethe Church among them, and it shall spread thence into the regionsround about, and many shall be brought to the knowledge of the truth,and shall be filled with joy; and from the things growing out of thismission, shall the fullness of the gospel spread into England, andcause a great work to be done in that land.'

"This prophesy was the more marvelous, because being married near tenyears we had never had any children; and for near six years my wife hadbeen consumptive, and had been considered incurable. However, we calledto mind the faith of Abraham of old, and judging Him faithful who hadpromised, we took courage.

"I now began in earnest to prepare for the mission, and in a few daysall was ready. Taking an affectionate leave of my wife, mother andfriends, I started for Canada, in company with a Brother Nickerson, whokindly offered to bear expenses."

Away to Canada with Parley. We halt with him in the neighborhood ofHamilton. He is an entire stranger in the British Province, and withoutmoney. He knows not what to do. His narrative thus continues:

"The spirit seemed to whisper to me to try the Lord, and see ifanything was too hard for him, that I might know and trust him underall circ*mstances. I retired to a secret place in a forest, and prayedto the Lord for money to enable me to cross the lake. I then enteredHamilton, and commenced to chat with some of the people. I had nottarried many minutes before I was accosted by a stranger, who inquiredmy name and where I was going. He also asked me if I did not wantsome money. I said yes. He then gave me ten dollars, and a letter ofintroduction to John Taylor, of Toronto, where I arrived the sameevening.

"Mrs. Taylor received me kindly, and went for her husband, who was busyin his mechanic shop. To them I made known my errand to the city, butreceived little direct encouragement. I took tea with them, and thensought lodgings at a public house."

Already had he met in Canada a woman destined to bear a representativename in the history of her people, for she is none other than the wifeof the afterwards famous apostle John Taylor. She is the first toreceive him into her house; and the apostolic story still continues thewoman in the foreground:

"In the morning," he says, "I commenced a regular visit to each of theclergy of the place, introducing myself and my errand. I was absolutelyrefused hospitality, and denied the opportunity of preaching in anyof their houses or congregations. Rather an unpromising beginning,thought I, considering the prophesies on my head concerning Toronto.However, nothing daunted, I applied to the sheriff for the use of thecourt-house, and then to the authorities for a public room in themarket-place; but with no better success. What could I do more? I hadexhausted my influence and power without effect. I now repaired to apine grove just out of the town, and, kneeling down, called on theLord, bearing testimony of my unsuccessful exertions; my inability toopen the way; at the same time asking him in the name of Jesus to openan effectual door for his servant to fulfill his mission in that place.

"I then arose and again entered the town, and going to the house ofJohn Taylor, had placed my hand on my baggage to depart from a placewhere I could do no good, when a few inquiries on the part of Mr.Taylor, inspired by a degree of curiosity or of anxiety, caused a fewmoments' delay, during which a lady by the name of Walton entered thehouse, and, being an acquaintance of Mrs. Taylor, was soon engaged inconversation with her in an adjoining room. I overheard the following:

"'Mrs. Walton, I am glad to see you; there is a gentleman here fromthe United States who says the Lord sent him to this city to preachthe gospel. He has applied in vain to the clergy and to the variousauthorities for opportunity to fulfill, his mission, and is now aboutto leave the place. He may be a man of God; I am sorry to have himdepart.'

"'Indeed!' said the lady; 'well, I now understand the feelings andspirit which brought me to your house at this time. I have been busyover the wash-tub and too weary to take a walk; but I felt impressed towalk out. I then thought I would make a call on my sister, the otherside of town; but passing your door, the spirit bade me go in; but Isaid to myself, I will go in when I return; but the spirit said, go innow. I accordingly came in, and I am thankful that I did so. Tell thestranger he is welcome to my house. I am a widow; but I have a spareroom and bed, and food in plenty. He shall have a home at my house,and two large rooms to preach in just when he pleases. Tell him I willsend my son John over to pilot him to my house, while I go and gathermy relatives and friends to come in this very evening and hear himtalk; for I feel by the spirit that he is a man sent by the Lord with amessage which will do us good.'

"The evening found me quietly seated at her house," says Parley, "inthe midst of a number of listeners, who were seated around a large worktable in her parlor, and deeply interested in conversation like thefollowing:

"'Mr. Pratt, we have for some years been anxiously looking for someprovidential event which would gather the sheep into one fold; build upthe true Church as in days of old, and prepare the humble followers ofthe Lamb, now scattered and divided, to receive their coming Lord whenhe shall descend to reign on the earth. As soon as Mrs. Taylor spokeof you I felt assured, as by a strange and unaccountable presentiment,that you were a messenger, with important tidings on these subjects;and I was constrained to invite you here; and now we are all hereanxiously waiting to hear your words.'

"'Well, Mrs. Walton, I will frankly relate to you and your friendsthe particulars of my message am the nature of my commission. A youngman the State of New York, whose name is Joseph Smith, was visitedby an angel of God, and, after several visions and much instruction,was enabled to obtain an ancient record, written by men of old on theAmerican continent, and containing the history, prophesies and gospelin plainness, as revealed to them by Jesus and his messengers. Thissame Joseph Smith and others, were also commissioned by the angelsin these visions, and ordained to the apostleship, with authority toorganize a church, to administer the ordinances, and to ordain others,and thus cause the full, plain gospel in its purity, to be preached inall the world.

"'By these apostles thus commissioned, I have been ordained as anapostle, and sent forth by the word of prophesy to minister the baptismof repentance for remission of sins, in the name of Jesus Christ; andto administer the gift of the Holy Ghost, to heal the sick, to comfortthe mourner, bind up the broken in heart, and proclaim the acceptableyear of the Lord.

"'I was also directed to this city by the spirit of the Lord, witha promise that I should find a people here prepared to receive thegospel, and should organize them in the same. But when I came and wasrejected by all parties, I was about to leave the city; but the Lordsent you, a widow, to receive me, as I was about to depart; and thus Iwas provided for like Elijah of old. And now I bless your house, andall your family and kindred, in his name. Your sins shall be forgivenyou; you shall understand and obey the gospel, and be filled with theHoly Ghost; for so great faith have I never seen in any of my country.'

"'Well, Mr. Pratt, this is precisely the message we were waiting for;we believe your words and are desirous to be baptized.'

"'It is your duty and privilege,' said I; 'but wait yet a littlewhile till I have an opportunity to teach others, with whom you arereligiously connected, and invite them to partake with you of the sameblessings.'"

Next comes a great miracle—the opening of the eyes of the blind—whichseems to have created quite a sensation in Canada; and still the womanis the subject. The apostle continues:

"After conversing with these interesting persons till a late hour,we retired to rest. Next day Mrs. Walton requested me to call on afriend of hers, who was also a widow in deep affliction, being totallyblind with inflammation in the eyes; she had suffered extreme painfor several months, and had also been reduced to want, having fourlittle children to support. She had lost her husband, of cholera, twoyears before, and had sustained herself and family by teaching schooluntil deprived of sight, since which, she had been dependent on theMethodist society; herself and children being then a public charge.Mrs. Walton sent her little daughter of twelve years old to show me theway. I called on the poor blind widow and helpless orphans, and foundthem in a dark and gloomy apartment, rendered more so by having everyray of light obscured to prevent its painful effects on her eyes. Irelated to her the circ*mstances of my mission, and she believed thesame. I laid my hands upon her in the name of Jesus Christ, and saidunto her, 'Your eyes shall be well from this very hour.' She threwoff her bandages—opened her house to the light—dressed herself, andwalking with open eyes, came to the meeting that same evening at SisterWalton's, with eyes as well and as bright as any other persons.

"The Methodist society were now relieved of their burthen in the personof this widow and four orphans. This remarkable miracle was soon noisedabroad, and the poor woman's house was thronged from all parts of thecity and country with visitors; all curious to witness for themselves,and to inquire of her how her eyes were healed.

"'How did the man heal your eyes?' 'What did he do?—tell us,' werequestions so oft repeated that the woman, wearied of replying, came tome for advice to know what she should do. I advised her to tell themthat the Lord had healed her, and to give him the glory, and let thatsuffice. But still they teased her for particulars. 'What did this mando?' 'How were your eyes opened and made well?'

"'He laid his hands upon my head in the name of Jesus Christ, andrebuked the inflammation, and commanded them to be made whole andrestored to sight; and it was instantly done.'

"'Well, give God the glory; for, as to this man, it is well known thathe is an impostor, a follower of Joseph Smith, the false prophet.'

"'Whether he be an impostor or not, I know not; but this much I know,whereas I was blind, now I see! Can an impostor open the eyes of theblind?'"

The widow Walton was baptized, with all her household; John Taylor andhis wife, also; and John soon became an able assistant in the ministry.

And here we meet two more representative women—sisters—whose familywere destined to figure historically in the church. The narrative ofParley continues:

"The work soon spread into the country and enlarged its operations inall that region; many were gathered into the Church, and were filledwith faith and love, and with the holy spirit, and the Lord confirmedthe word with signs following. My first visit to the country was aboutnine miles from Toronto, among a settlement of farmers, by one of whomI had sent an appointment beforehand. John Taylor accompanied me. Wecalled at a Mr. Joseph Fielding's, an acquaintance and friend of Mr.Taylor's. This man had two sisters, young ladies, who seeing us comingran from their house to one of the neighboring houses, lest they shouldgive welcome, or give countenance to 'Mormonism.' Mr. Fielding stayed,and as we entered the house he said he was sorry we had come; he hadopposed our holding meeting in the neighborhood; and, so great was theprejudice, that the Methodist meeting house was closed against us, andthe minister refused, on Sunday, to give out the appointment sent bythe farmer.

"'Ah!' said I, 'why do they oppose Mormonism?' 'I don't know,' said he,'but the name has such a contemptible sound; and, another thing, we donot want a new revelation, or a new religion contrary to the Bible.''Oh,' said I, 'if that is all we shall soon remove your prejudices.Come, call home your sisters, and let's have some supper. Did you saythe appointment was not given out?' 'I said, sir, that it was not givenout in the meeting house, nor by the minister; but the farmer by whomyou sent it agreed to have it at his house.' 'Come, then, send foryour sisters, we will take supper with you, and all go over to meetingtogether. If you and your sisters will agree to this, I will agree topreach the old Bible gospel, and leave out all new revelations whichare opposed to it.'

"The honest man consented. The young ladies came home, got us a goodsupper, and all went to meeting. The house was crowded; I preached,and the people wished to hear more. The meeting house was openedfor further meetings, and in a few days we baptized Brother JosephFielding and his two amiable and intelligent sisters, for such theyproved to be in an eminent degree. We also baptized many others in thatneighborhood, and organized a branch of the church, for the peoplethere drank in truth as water, and loved it as they loved life."

Arriving at home the apostle Parley met continued examples of thefulfillment of prophesy. Sister Pratt is now the interesting characterwho takes the foreground. He says:

"I found my wife had been healed of her seven years' illness from thetime Brother Kimball had ministered unto her, and I began to realizemore fully that every word of his blessing and prophesy upon my headwould surely come to pass."

"After a pleasant visit with the saints," he continues, "I took my wifewith me and returned again to Toronto, in June, 1836. The work I hadcommenced was still spreading its influence, and the saints were stillincreasing in faith and love, in joy and in good works. There werevisions, prophesyings, speaking in tongues and healings, as well as thecasting out of devils and unclean spirits."

The work inaugurated by Parley P. Pratt seemed to have achieved asignal triumph almost from the very beginning. Indeed all had come topass according to the prophesy of Heber C. Kimball, even not exceptingthe promised son and heir, who was born March 25th, 1837. But with thisevent came the mortal end of Parley's estimable wife. She lived justlong enough to accomplish her destiny; and when the child was dressed,and she had looked upon it and embraced it, she passed away.

The following personal description and tribute of the poet apostle tothe memory of his mate is too full of love and distinctively Mormonideality to be lost:

"She was tall, of a slender frame, her face of an oval form, eyes largeand of a dark color, her forehead lofty, clear complexion, hair black,smooth and glossy. She was of a mild and affectionate disposition andfull of energy, perseverance, industry and cheerfulness, when not bornedown with sickness. In order, neatness and refinement of taste andhabit she might be said to excel. She was an affectionate and dutifulwife, an exemplary saint, and, through much tribulation, she has goneto the world of spirits to meet a glorious resurrection and an immortalcrown and kingdom.

"Farewell, my dear Thankful, thou wife of my youth, and mother of myfirst born; the beginning of my strength—farewell. Yet a few morelingering years of sorrow, pain and toil, and I shall be with thee,and clasp thee to my bosom, and thou shalt sit down on my throne, as aqueen and priestess unto thy Lord, arrayed in white robes of dazzlingsplendor, and decked with precious stones and gold, while thy queensisters shall minister before thee and bless thee, and thy sons anddaughters innumerable shall call thee blessed, and hold thy name ineverlasting remembrance."

The interesting story which Parley tells of the visit of the spiritof his wife to him, while he was lying, a prisoner for the gospel'ssake, in a dark, cold and filthy dungeon in Richmond, Ray county,Missouri, will be to the foregoing a charming sequel. While torturedwith the gloom and discomforts of his prison, and most of all with theinactivity of his life of constraint, and earnestly wondering, andpraying to know, if he should ever be free again to enjoy the societyof friends and to preach the gospel, the following was shown to him,which we will tell in his own language:

"After some days of prayer and fasting," says he, "and seeking the Lordon the subject, I one evening retired to my bed in my lonely chamberat an early hour, and while the other prisoners and the guard werechatting and beguiling the lonesome hours in the upper part of theprison, I lay in silence, seeking and expecting an answer to my prayer,when suddenly I seemed carried away in the spirit, and no longersensible to outward objects with which I was surrounded. A heaven ofpeace and calmness pervaded my bosom; a personage from the world ofspirits stood before me with a smile of compassion in every look, andpity mingled with the tenderest love and sympathy in every expressionof the countenance. A soft hand seemed placed within my own, and aglowing cheek was laid in tenderness and warmth upon mine. A well-knownvoice saluted me, which I readily recognized as that of the wife of myyouth, who had then for nearly two years been sweetly sleeping wherethe wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest. I was madeto realize that she was sent to commune with me, and to answer myquestion.

"Knowing this, I said to her, in a most earnest and inquiring tone:'Shall I ever be at liberty again in this life, and enjoy the societyof my family and the saints, and preach the gospel, as I have done?'She answered definitely and unhesitatingly: 'Yes!' I then recollectedthat I had agreed to be satisfied with the knowledge of that one fact,but now I wanted more.

"Said I: 'Can you tell me how, or by what means, or when, I shallescape?' She replied: 'That thing is not made known to me yet.' Iinstantly felt that I had gone beyond my agreement and my faith inasking this last question, and that I must be contented at present withthe answer to the first.

"Her gentle spirit then saluted me and withdrew. I came to myself. Thenoise of the guards again grated on my ears, but heaven and hope werein my soul.

"Next morning I related the whole circ*mstance of my vision to my twofellow-prisoners, who rejoiced exceedingly. This may seem to some likean idle dream, or a romance of the imagination; but to me it was, andalways will be, a reality, both as it regards what I then experiencedand the fulfillment afterwards."

The famous escape from Richmond jail forms one of the romantic chaptersof Mormon history, but it belongs rather to the acts of the apostlesthan to the lives of the sisters.

CHAPTER XXIII.

A DISTINGUISHED CANADIAN CONVERT—MRS. M. I. HORNE—HER EARLYHISTORY—CONVERSION TO MORMONISM—SHE GATHERS WITH THE SAINTS ANDSHARES THEIR PERSECUTIONS—INCIDENTS OF HER EARLY CONNECTION WITH THECHURCH.

Among the early fruits of the Canadian mission, perhaps the name ofno other lady stands more conspicuous for good works and faithfulministrations, than that of Mrs. Mary I. Horne. It will, therefore, beeminently proper to introduce her at this time to the reader, and givea brief sketch of her early career. From her own journals we quote asfollows:

"I was born on the 20th of November, 1818, in the town of Rainham,county of Kent, England. I am the daughter of Stephen and Mary AnnHales, and am the eldest daughter of a large family. My parents werehonest, industrious people; and when very young I was taught to pray,to be honest and truthful, to be kind to my associates, and to dogood to all around me. My father was of the Methodist faith, but mymother attended the Church of England. As I was religiously inclined, Iattended the Methodist Church with my father, who was faithful in theperformance of his religious duties, although he never became a veryenthusiastic Methodist.

"In the year 1832, when I was in my thirteenth year, there was greatexcitement in the town where I lived, over the favorable reports thatwere sent from Van Dieman's Land, and the great inducements held outto those who would go to that country. My father and mother caught thespirit of going, and began to make preparations for leaving England.Before arrangements had been completed for us to go, however, letterswere received from Upper Canada, picturing, in glowing terms, theadvantages of that country. My father changed his mind immediately andmade arrangements to emigrate to the town of York, afterwards calledToronto. Accordingly, on the 16th day of April, 1832, our family,consisting of my parents, five sons, myself and a younger sister, badeadieu to England. We had a tedious voyage of six weeks across theocean, and my mother was sick during the entire voyage. During thepassage across there were three deaths on board—one of the three beingmy brother Elias, whom we sorrowfully consigned to a watery grave.

"Our ship anchored at Quebec in May, and after a tedious passage upthe St. Lawrence by steamer, we landed in safety at the town of York,June 16th, thankful that we were at our journey's end. Here we were ina strange land, and to our dismay we found that the cholera was ragingfearfully in that region; but through all of those trying scenes theLord preserved us in health.

"In the spring of 1833 we removed into the country about eight miles,to a place located in the township of York, and in the spring of 1834 Iattended a Methodist camp-meeting in that neighborhood, where I formedthe acquaintance of Mr. Joseph Horne, who is now my husband.

"The most of the time for the next two years I lived in service in thecity of Toronto, going once in three months to visit my parents.

"On the 9th day of May, 1836, I was married to Mr. Horne. He owneda farm about one mile from my father's house, and I removed to hisresidence soon after our marriage. I now felt that I was settled inlife; and, although I had not been used to farm work, I milked cows,fed pigs and chickens, and made myself at home in my new situation,seeking to make my home pleasant for my husband, and working to advancehis interests.

"About the first of June, of that year, report came to us that a manprofessing to be sent of God to preach to the people would hold ameeting about a mile from our house. My husband decided that we shouldgo and hear him. We accordingly went, and there first heard Elder OrsonPratt. We were very much pleased with his sermon. Another meeting wasappointed for the following week, and Elder Pratt told us that businesscalled him away, but his brother, Parley P. Pratt, would be with us andpreach in his stead. I invited my father to go with us to hear him, andthe appointed evening found all of his family at the 'Mormon' meeting.Elder Pratt told us that God was an unchangeable being—the sameyesterday, to-day, and forever—and taught us the gospel in its purity;then showed from the Bible that the gospel was the same in all ages ofthe world; but man had wandered from God and the true gospel, and thatthe Lord had sent an angel to Joseph Smith, restoring to him the puregospel with its gifts and blessings. My father was so delighted withthe sermon that he left the Methodist Church and attended the 'Mormonmeetings' altogether; and in a short time every member of his familyhad received and obeyed the gospel. This made quite a stir among theMethodists. One of the class-leaders came to converse with us, and usedevery argument he could to convince us that Mormonism was false, butwithout avail. 'Well,' said he, finally, 'there are none but childrenand fools who join them,' and left us to our fate. In July (1836) Iwas baptized by Orson Hyde, and ever after that our house was open formeetings, and became a home for many of the elders.

"The following from Brother Parley P. Pratt's autobiography, is atruthful statement of a circ*mstance which occurred in the fall of thatyear, and to which I can bear witness, as it was of my own personalobservation, the lady in question being a neighbor of ours. He says:

"'Now, there was living in that neighborhood a young man and hiswife, named Whitney; he was a blacksmith by trade; their residencewas perhaps a mile or more from Mr. Lamphere's, where I held mysemi-monthly meetings. His wife was taken down very suddenly aboutthat time with a strange affliction. She would be prostrated by somepower invisible to those about her, and suffer an agony of distressindescribable. She often cried out that she could see two devils inhuman form, who were thus operating upon her, and that she could hearthem talk; but, as the bystanders could not see them, but only see theeffects, they did not know what to think or how to understand.

"'She would have one of these spells once in about twenty-four hours,and when it had passed she would lie in bed so lame, bruised, sore,and helpless that she could not rise alone, or even sit up, for someweeks. All this time she had to have watchers both night and day,and sometimes four and five at a time, insomuch that the neighborswere worn out and weary with watching. Mr. Whitney sent word for metwo or three times, or left word for me to call next time I visitedthe neighborhood. This, however, I had neglected to do, owing tothe extreme pressure of labors upon me in so large a circuit ofmeetings—indeed I had not a moment to spare. At last, as I came roundon the circuit again, the woman, who had often requested to see the manof God, that he might minister to her relief, declared she would seehim anyhow, for she knew she could be healed if she could but get sightof him. In her agony she sprang from her bed, cleared herself from herfrightened husband and others, who were trying to hold her, and ran forMr. Lamphere's, where I was then holding meeting. At first, to use herown words, she felt very weak, and nearly fainted, but her strengthcame to her, and increased at every step till she reached the meeting.Her friends were all astonished, and in alarm, lest she should die inthe attempt, tried to pursue her, and they several times laid hold ofher and tried to force or persuade her back. 'No,' said she, 'let mesee the man of God; I can but die, and I cannot endure such afflictionany longer.' On she came, until at last they gave up, and said, 'Lether go, perhaps it will be according to her faith.' So she came, andwhen the thing was explained the eyes of the whole multitude were uponher. I ceased to preach, and, stepping to her in the presence of thewhole meeting, I laid my hands upon her and said, 'Sister, be of goodcheer, thy sins are forgiven, thy faith hath made thee whole; and, inthe name of Jesus Christ, I rebuke the devils and unclean spirits, andcommand them to trouble thee no more.' She returned home well, wentabout her housekeeping, and remained well from that time forth.'

"In the latter part of the summer of 1837," continues Mrs. Horne, "Ihad the great pleasure of being introduced to, and entertaining, thebeloved prophet, Joseph Smith, with Sidney Rigdon and T. B. Marsh.I said to myself, 'O Lord, I thank thee for granting the desire ofmy girlish heart, in permitting me to associate with prophets andapostles.' On shaking hands with Joseph Smith, I received the holyspirit in such great abundance that I felt it thrill my whole system,from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. I thought I hadnever beheld so lovely a countenance. Nobility and goodness were inevery feature.

"The saints in Kirtland removed in the following spring to Missouri.We started from Canada in March, 1838, with a small company of saints.The roads were very bad, as the frost was coming out of the ground,consequently I had to drive the team during a great portion of thejourney, while my husband walked.

"On arriving at Huntsville, one hundred miles from Far West, we foundseveral families of saints, and tarried a short time with them. ThereI was introduced to the parents of the prophet, and also to hiscousin, George A. Smith. At a meeting held in that place I received apatriarchal blessing from Joseph Smith, Sr. He told me that I had topass through a great deal of sickness, sorrow and tribulation, but 'theLord will bring you through six troubles, and in the seventh he willnot leave you;' all of which has verily been fulfilled."

Mrs. Horne, with her husband and family, reached Far West in August ofthat year, and received their full share of the privations incidentto the settlement of that city, and also a full share of exposure,sickness and peril incident to the expulsion of the saints fromMissouri. Finally thereafter they gathered to Nauvoo; and there forthe present let us leave them—promising the reader that Mrs. Horneshall again come to the front when we treat of the wonderful missionaryefforts of the Mormon women in Utah.

CHAPTER XXIV.

MORMONISM CARRIED TO GREAT BRITAIN—"TRUTH WILL PREVAIL"—THE REV. MR.FIELDING—FIRST BAPTISM IN ENGLAND—FIRST WOMAN BAPTIZED—STORY OFMISS JEANNETTA RICHARDS—FIRST BRANCH OF THE CHURCH IN FOREIGN LANDSORGANIZED AT THE HOUSE OF ANN DAWSON—FIRST CHILD BORN INTO THE CHURCHIN ENGLAND—ROMANTIC SEQUEL—VILATE KIMBALL AGAIN.

The voice of prophesy was no longer hushed; the heavens were no longersealed; the Almighty really spoke to these prophets and apostles ofthe latter days; their words were strangely, sometimes romantically,fulfilled; the genius of Mormonism was alike potent at home and abroad.

"Thou shalt go to Upper Canada, even to the city of Toronto, and therethou shalt find a people prepared for the fullness of the gospel, andthey shall receive thee;" the prophet Heber had oracled over the headof a fellow laborer, "and from the things growing out of this missionshall the fullness of the gospel spread into England and cause a greatwork to be done in that land."

One part of this prophesy the reader has seen exactly fulfilled inthe mission of Parley P. Pratt to Canada, enlivened with some veryinteresting episodes. It falls upon Heber himself—the father of theBritish mission—to fulfill, with the brethren who accompany him, thesupreme part of the prophesy referring to Great Britain.

It will be remembered from the sketch of Vilate Kimball, that MaryFielding gave to Heber five dollars to help him on his journey,and that she with her sister and her sister's husband, Elder R. B.Thompson, were on their way to Canada to engage in the second missionto that Province, while Heber, Orson Hyde, Willard Richards, and JosephFielding, with several other brethren from Canada, pursued their courseto England.

It was July 1st, 1837, when these elders embarked on board the shipGarrick, bound for Liverpool, which they reached on the 20th of thesame month.

On their arrival in that foreign land the three principalelders—Heber, Orson and Willard—had not as much as one farthingin their possession, yet were they destined to accomplish marvelousresults ere their return to America.

Having remained two days in Liverpool, these elders were directed bythe spirit to go to Preston, a flourishing English town in Lancashire,to plant the standard of their Church.

It generally came to pass that some singular incident occurred in allof the initial movements of these elders, opening their way beforethem, or omening their success. So now, the people of Preston werecelebrating a grand national occasion. Queen Victoria, a few dayspreviously (July 17th), had ascended the throne. A fitting event thisto notice in a woman's book. The "Woman's Age" dawned, not only uponEngland, but, it would seem, upon all of the civilized world.

A general election was being held throughout the realm in consequenceof the ascension of the Queen. The populace were parading the streetsof Preston, bands were playing, and flags flying.

In the midst of this universal joy the elders alighted from the coach,and just at that moment a flag was unfurled over their heads, from thehotel, bearing this motto in gold letters: "Truth is mighty and willprevail!" It was as a prophesy to these elders, as if to welcome theircoming, and they lifted up their voices and shouted, "Glory be to God,truth will prevail!" By the way, this flag proclaimed the rise of thetemperance movement in England.

That night Heber and his compeers were entertained by the Rev. JamesFielding, the brother of the sisters Fielding. Already was theother half of the prophesy uttered over the head of Parley beingfulfilled—that the gospel should spread from Canada into England, "andcause a great work to be done in that land."

Previously to this the Rev. James Fielding had received letters fromhis brother Joseph, and his sisters, who had, as we have seen, embracedMormonism in Canada; and these letters, burdened with the tidings ofthe advent of the prophet of America and the administration of angelsin our own times, he read to his congregation. He also exhorted hisflock to pray fervently that the Lord would send over to England hisapostles, and solemnly adjured them to receive their message when theyshould come bearing their glad tidings. Thus in England, as in Canada,a people were "prepared" according to the prophesy.

On Sunday morning, the day after their arrival in Preston, the elderswent to Vauxhall Chapel to hear the Rev. James Fielding preach. At theclose of his discourse he gave out that in the afternoon and eveningmeetings ministers from America would preach in his chapel.

The news spread rapidly in the town, and in a few hours quite asensation was abroad among the inhabitants, who flocked to the chapelat the appointed times, some out of curiosity, others from a genuineinterest. Both in the afternoon and evening the chapel was crowded, andthe apostles preached their opening sermons, Heber C. Kimball being thefirst of them who bore his testimony to "Mormonism" in foreign lands.

On the following Wednesday Vauxhall Chapel was again crowded, whenElder Orson Hyde preached, and Willard Richards bore testimony; andthe Holy Ghost, we are told, powerfully accompanied the word on theoccasion.

Only a few days had passed since the elders arrived on the shores ofGreat Britain, yet "a number believed and began to praise God andrejoice exceedingly."

The Rev. Mr. Fielding, however, saw now the consequence of all this.He was in danger of losing his entire flock. Many were resolving to bebaptized into the Church of Latter-day Saints. A continuation of thisresult for a few weeks signified the entire dissolution of his ownchurch. He was in consternation at the prospect. Trembling, it is said,as if suddenly stricken with the palsy, he presented himself beforethe elders on the morning appointed for the baptism of a number of hisformer disciples, and forbade the baptism. Of course this was in vain.He had met the inevitable.

On Sunday, July 30th, just one month from the time the elders embarkedat New York, the eventful scene occurred in Preston, of the baptism inthe River Ribble of the nine first converts to Mormonism in foreignlands. They were

George D. Watt, Ann Elizabeth Walmesley,

Thomas Walmesley, George Wate,

Miles Hodgen, Mary Ann Brown,

Henry Billsburg, —— Miller,

Ann Dawson.

A public ceremony of baptism in the open air was such a novel event inEngland at that time, when religious innovations were so rare, thatseven or eight thousand persons assembled on the banks of the riverto witness the scene. It is said that this was the first time baptismby immersion was ever thus administered in England, though at a laterperiod several sects of Baptists arose who immersed openly in therivers and for the remission of sins. Such scenes were picturesque,and some of the "new lights" seem to have delighted in them for theirreligious sensation, just as the Methodists did in their camp meetings.

The first woman whose name is recorded in the list of the baptized ofthe Mormon Church in England is Sister Ann Elizabeth Walmesley; and hercase presents the first miracle of the Church in foreign lands. Here isthe incident as related by Heber C. Kimball:

"I had visited Thomas Walmesley, whose wife was sick of theconsumption, and had been so for several years. She was reduced toskin and bone—a mere skeleton—and was given up by the doctors todie. I preached the gospel to her, and promised her in the name of theLord Jesus Christ that if she would believe, repent and be baptized,she should be healed of her sickness. She was carried to the water,and after her baptism began to mend, and at her confirmation she wasblessed and her disease rebuked, when she immediately recovered, and inless than one week after, she was attending to her household duties."

This incident will be the more interesting to the reader from the factthat to-day (forty years after the miracle) Sister Walmesley is livingat Bloomington, Bear Lake Valley, Oneida county, Idaho.

Next came quite an evangelical episode, introducing, with a touch ofromance, Miss Jennetta Richards.

This young lady was the daughter of a minister, of the independentorder, who resided at Walkerfold, about fifteen miles from Preston.She was not only personally interesting and intelligent, but, from theinfluence she possessed over her father and his congregation, coupledwith the fact that the most classical of the apostles "fell in love"with her, she appears to have been a maiden of considerable character.She was a proper person to be the heroine of the British mission, andher conversion was very important in its results, as will be seen inthe following incidents, related by Heber:

It was several days after the public baptism in Preston. "MissJennetta Richards," says the apostle, "came to the house of ThomasWalmesley, with whom she was acquainted. Calling in to see them atthe time she was there, I was introduced to her, and we immediatelyentered into conversation on the subject of the gospel. I found hervery intelligent. She seemed very desirous to hear the things I had toteach and to understand the doctrines of the gospel. I informed her ofmy appointment to preach that evening, and invited her to attend. Shedid so; and likewise the evening following. After attending these twoservices she was fully convinced of the truth.

"Friday morning, 4th, she sent for me, desiring to be baptized, whichrequest I cheerfully complied with, in the River Ribble, and confirmedher at the water side, Elder Hyde assisting. This was the firstconfirmation in England. The following day she started for home, andwept as she was about to leave us. I said to her, 'Sister, be of goodcheer, for the Lord will soften the heart of thy father, that I willyet have the privilege of preaching in his chapel, and it shall resultin a great opening to preach the gospel in that region.' I exhortedher to pray and be humble. She requested me to pray for her, and gaveme some encouragement to expect that her father would open his chapelfor me to preach in. I then hastened to my brethren, told them of thecirc*mstances and the result of my visit with the young lady, andcalled upon them to unite with me in prayer that the Lord would softenthe heart of her father, that he might be induced to open his chapelfor us to preach in."

On the third Sabbath after the arrival of the elders in England, theymet at the house of Sister Ann Dawson, when twenty-seven members wereconfirmed and the first branch of the Church was organized in foreignlands. In the forepart of the ensuing week Heber received a letterfrom Miss Jennetta Richards, and an invitation from her father to cometo Walkerfold and preach in his chapel. The invitation was accepted,and Heber met with great success in laying the gospel before thecongregation of Mr. Richards; so successful was he indeed that thereverend gentleman was forced to shut his chapel doors in order toprevent a complete stampede of his flock.

This evangelical success is crowned with an interesting incidentbetween Jennetta and Elder Willard Richards. Willard, who had been ona mission to Bedford early in January, 1838, visited his brethren atPreston; and then, he says:

"I took a tour through the branches, and preached. While walking inThornly I plucked a snowdrop, far through the hedge, and carried itto James Mercer's and hung it up in his kitchen. Soon after JennettaRichards came into the room, and I walked with her and Alice Parker toRibchester, and attended meeting with Brothers Kimball and Hyde, atBrother Clark's.

"While walking with these sisters, I remarked, 'Richards is a goodname; I never want to change it; do you, Jennetta?' 'No; I do not,' washer reply, 'and I think I never will.'"

The following note in his diary of the same year, furnishes the sequel:

"September 24, 1839, I married Jennetta Richards, daughter of theRev. John Richards, independent minister at Walkerfold, Chaidgley,Lancashire. Most truly do I praise my Heavenly Father for his greatkindness in providing me a partner according to his promise. I receiveher from the Lord, and hold her at his disposal. I pray that he maybless us forever. Amen!"

Passing from Sister Jennetta Richards, we now introduce the first childborn in the British mission. It is a female child. She is also thefirst infant blessed in England; and the incidents of her birth andblessing are both pretty and novel, especially when coupled with thesequel of her womanhood. Heber thus tells the initial part of her story:

"She was the daughter of James and Nancy Smithies, formerly NancyKnowles. After she was born her parents wanted to take her to thechurch to be sprinkled, or christened, as they call it. I used everykind of persuasion to convince them of their folly—it being contraryto the Scriptures and the will of God; the parents wept bitterly, andit seemed as though I could not prevail on them to omit it. I wanted toknow of them why they were so tenacious. The answer was, 'If she diesshe cannot have a burial in the churchyard.' I said to them, 'Brotherand Sister Smithies, I say unto you in the name of Israel's God, sheshall not die on this land, for she shall live until she becomes amother in Israel, and I say it in the name of Jesus Christ, and byvirtue of the holy priesthood vested in me.' That silenced them, andwhen she was two weeks old they presented the child to me; I took itin my arms and blessed it, that it should live to become a mother inIsrael. She was the first child blessed in that country, and the firstborn unto them."

The child lived, and fulfilled the prophesy that she should becomea "mother in Israel." Her birth was destined to glorify Heber's ownkingdom, for she, twenty years afterwards, became his last wife, and isnow the mother of four of his children.

The gospel spread rapidly during the first mission of the elders inEngland. In eight months two thousand were baptized, and the "signsfollowed the believers." We shall meet some of the British convertshereafter, and read the testimonies of the sisters concerning the greatspiritual work of Mormonism in their native land.

Heber, and Orson Hyde, returned to America, leaving the British missionin charge of Joseph Fielding, with Willard Richards and William Claytonas councilors. Here the apostolic thread connects with the wife andfamily of Heber, who have been left to the care of Providence and thebrotherly and sisterly love of the saints during this immortal missionto Great Britain. His daughter Helen, in her journal, says:

"In the absence of my father the Lord was true to his promise. Myfather's prayer, that he had made upon the heads of his wife and littleones whom he had left poor and destitute, was answered. Kind friendscame forward to cheer and comfort them, and administer to their wants.

"Soon after my father's return to Kirtland he commenced makingpreparations to move his family to Missouri, where Brother Joseph Smithand a majority of the church authorities and nearly all of the membershad gone. About the first of July he commenced the journey with hisfamily, accompanied by Brother Orson Hyde and others, and arrived inFar West on the 25th of July, when he had a happy meeting with Joseph,Hyrum, Sidney, and others of the twelve, and numbers of his friends andbrethren, some of whom were affected to tears when they took him by thehand. During our journey from Kirtland, the weather being very warm, wesuffered very much, and were much reduced by sickness. Father continuedquite feeble for a considerable length of time. Joseph requested him topreach to the saints, saying, 'It will revive their spirits and do themgood if you will give them a history of your mission;' which he did,although he was scarcely able to stand. It cheered their hearts andmany of the elders were stirred up to diligence.

"Soon after our arrival Bishop Partridge gave father a lot, and alsosufficient timber to build a house. While it was being erected welived in a place eight by eleven feet and four feet high at the eaves,which had been built for a cow. The brethren were remarkably kind, andcontributed to our necessities. Brother Charles Hubbard made my fathera present of forty acres of land; another brother gave him a cow. Butabout the last of August, after he had labored hard and nearly finishedhis house, he was obliged to abandon it to the mob, who again commencedto persecute the saints."

The history of those persecutions, and the exodus of the saints, isalready sufficiently told. Suffice it to say that Sister Vilate noblybore her part in those trying scenes, while Heber, with Brigham andthe rest of the twelve, kept their covenant—never to rest a momentuntil the last faithful saint was delivered from that State, and thefeet of the whole people planted firmly, in peace and safety, in a newgathering place.

CHAPTER XXV.

SKETCH OF THE SISTERS MARY AND MERCY R. FIELDING—THE FIELDINGS ASEMI-APOSTOLIC FAMILY—THEIR IMPORTANT INSTRUMENTALITY IN OPENING THEBRITISH MISSION—MARY FIELDING MARRIES HYRUM SMITH—HER TRIALS ANDSUFFERINGS WHILE HER HUSBAND IS IN PRISON—TESTIMONY OF HER SISTERMERCY—MARY'S LETTER TO HER BROTHER IN ENGLAND.

Already has the name of Mary Fielding become quite historical tothe reader, but she is now to be introduced in her still morerepresentative character as wife of the patriarch and martyr Hyrum, andas mother of the apostle Joseph F. Smith.

This much-respected lady was born July 21st, 1801, at Honidon,Bedfordshire, England. She was the daughter of John and RachelFielding, and was the eldest of the sisters whom the reader has metsomewhat prominently in an apostolic incident in Canada, out of whichmuch of the early history of the British mission very directly grew.

Mary was of good family, well educated, and piously raised, beingoriginally a Methodist, and a devoted admirer of the character of JohnWesley. Indeed the family of the Fieldings and their connections weresemi-apostolic even before their identification with the Church ofLatter-day Saints.

In 1834 Mary emigrated to Canada. Here she joined her youngest brother,Joseph, and her sister, Mercy Rachel (born in England in 1807), whohad preceded her to America in 1832. As we have seen, this brother andhis two sisters were living near Toronto, Upper Canada, at the timewhen Parley P. Pratt arrived there on his mission, and they immediatelyembraced the faith. This was in May, 1836.

In the following spring the Fieldings gathered to Kirtland. Soon theyoungest of the sisters, Mercy Rachel, was married by the prophet toElder Robert B. Thompson, one of the literati of the Church, who wasappointed on a mission to Canada with his wife. At the same time JosephFielding was appointed on mission to England, to assist the apostles inthat land. But Mary remained in Kirtland, and on the 24th of December,1837, she was married to Hyrum Smith.

Here something deserves to be told of the Fielding family inamplification of the incidental mentionings already made.

The Rev. James Fielding (of Preston, England), Mary's brother, wasquite a religious reformer, and of sufficient ministerial reputationand force to become the founder and head of a Congregational MethodistChurch. Originally he was a minister of the regular body of thatpowerful sect, but becoming convinced that modern Methodists haddeparted from their primitive faith, and that their church no longerenjoyed the Holy Ghost and its gifts, which measurably attended theirillustrious founder and his early disciples, the Rev. Mr. Fieldinginaugurated a religious reform in the direction intimated. It was anattempt to revive in his ministerial sphere the spiritual power of theWesleyan movement; nor did he stop at this, but sought to convince hisdisciples of the necessity of "contending earnestly for the faith oncedelivered to the saints."

Other branches of the family also became prominent in the religiousreforms of England that arose about the time of the establishing of theChurch of Latter-day Saints in America. One of the Fielding sistersmarried no less a personage than the Rev. Timothy R. Matthews, whofigured nearly as conspicuously as the Rev. James Fielding in theearly history of the British mission. This Rev. Timothy Matthews wasat first minister of the Church of England, and is said to have beena very able and learned man. With the famous Robert Aitken, whom hecalled his "son," he attempted reformation even in the establishedChurch; or rather, these innovative divines denounced the "apostasy" ofthat Church, and prosecuted a semi-apostolic mission. It was eminentlysuccessful, Robert Aitken and himself raising up large congregationsof disciples in Preston, Liverpool, Bedford, Northampton and London.These disciples were popularly called Aitkenites and Matthewites.Quite relevant is all this to the history of the Latter-day Saints inEngland, for the congregations of the Rev. James Fielding, Rev. TimothyR. Matthews, and Rev. John Richards (father of Jennetta), gave to theapostles their first disciples abroad, and these ministers themselveswere their instruments in establishing the British mission.

But the name of Fielding, after those of the apostles, was principal inaccomplishing these results. The sisters Mary and Mercy, with Joseph,half converted by their letters, the congregation of their reverendbrother in Preston, before the advent there of the apostles. In theirBrother James' chapel the first apostolic sermon in foreign lands waspreached by Heber C. Kimball, and it was one of the Fielding sisters(Mrs. Watson), who gave to the elders the first money for the "gospel'ssake" donated to the church abroad.

But to return to Kirtland. Hyrum Smith was a widower at the date ofMary Fielding's arrival there from Canada. And this means that hisonly wife was dead; for polygamy was unknown in the Church at thattime. It will therefore, be seen how pertinent is the often-repeatedremark of the sisters that the saints were not driven and persecutedbecause of polygamy, but because of their belief in "new and continuedrevelation." In becoming Hyrum's wife, Mary assumed the responsiblesituation of step-mother to his five children, the task of which sheperformed with unwavering fidelity, taking care of them for years afterthe martyrdom of her husband, and taking the place of both father andmother to them in the exodus of the Church to the Rocky Mountains.And Mary was well trained for this latter task during her husband'slifetime, besides being matured in years and character before hermarriage.

From Kirtland, with her husband and family, she removed to Far West,Mo., where, on the first day of November, 1838, her husband and hisbrother, the prophet, with others, were betrayed by the Mormon ColonelHinkle into the hands of the armed mob under General Clark, in theexecution of Gov. Boggs' exterminating order. On the following dayHyrum was marched, at the point of the bayonet, to his house, by astrong guard, who with hideous oaths and threats commanded Mary totake her last farewell of her husband, for, "His die was cast, and hisdoom was sealed," and she need never think she would see him again;allowing her only a moment, as it were, for that terrible parting,and to provide a change of clothes for the final separation. In thethen critical condition of her health this heart-rending scene camenigh ending her life; but the natural vigor of her mind sustained herin the terrible trial. Twelve days afterwards she gave birth to herfirst born, a son; but she remained prostrate on a bed of afflictionand suffering for several months. In January, 1839, she was taken in awagon, with her infant, on her sick bed, to Liberty, Clay county, Mo.,where she was granted the privilege of visiting her husband in jail,where he was confined by the mob, without trial or conviction, because,forsooth, he was a "Mormon."

While in this condition of health, with her husband immured in adungeon and surrounded by fiends in human form, thirsting for his life,a company of armed men, led by the notorious Methodist priest, Bogart,entered her poor abode and searched it, breaking open a trunk andcarrying away papers and valuables belonging to her husband. In thishelpless condition also she was forced from what shelter she had, inthe worst season of the year, to cross the bleak prairies of Missouri,expelled from the State, to seek protection among strangers in the morehospitable State of Illinois. Here is the story that her sister Mercytells of those days and scenes:

"In 1838 I traveled in company with Hyrum Smith and family to Far West.To describe in a brief sketch the scenes I witnessed and the sufferingsI endured would be impossible. An incident or two, however, I willrelate.

"My husband, with many of the brethren, being threatened and pursued bya mob, fled into the wilderness in November, leaving me with an infantnot five months old. Three months of distressing suspense I enduredbefore I could get any intelligence from him, during which time Istaid with my sister, wife of Hyrum Smith, who, having given birth toa son while her husband was in prison, on the 13th of November took asevere cold and was unable to attend to her domestic duties for fourmonths. This caused much of the care of her family, which was verylarge, to fall on me. Mobs were continually threatening to massacrethe inhabitants of the city, and at times I feared to lay my babe downlest they should slay me and leave it to suffer worse than immediatedeath. About the 1st of February, 1839, by the request of her husband,my sister was placed on a bed in a wagon and taken a journey of fortymiles, to visit him in the prison. Her infant son, Joseph F., beingthen but about eleven weeks old, I had to accompany her, taking my ownbabe, then near eight months old. The weather was extremely cold, andwe suffered much on the journey. This circ*mstance I always reflectupon with peculiar pleasure, notwithstanding the extreme anxiety Iendured from having the care of my sick sister and the two babes. Theremembrance of having had the honor of spending a night in prison, incompany with the prophet and patriarch, produces a feeling I cannotexpress.

"Shortly after our return to Far West we had to abandon our homes andstart, in lumber wagons, for Illinois; my sister being again placed ona bed, in an afflicted state. This was about the middle of February,and the weather was extremely cold. I still had the care of both babes.We arrived at Quincy about the end of the month."

The following interesting letter, from Mary to her brother Joseph inEngland, will fitly close for the present the sketch of these sisters:

"COMMERCE, Ill., North America,

"June, 1839.

"MY VERY DEAR BROTHER:

"As the elders are expecting shortly to take their leave of us again to preach the gospel in my native land, I feel as though I would not let the opportunity of writing you pass unimproved. I believe it will give you pleasure to hear from us by our own hand; notwithstanding you will see the brethren face to face, and have an opportunity of hearing all particulars respecting us and our families.

"As it respects myself, it is now so long since I wrote to you, and so many important things have transpired, and so great have been my affliction, etc., that I know not where to begin; but I can say, hitherto has the Lord preserved me, and I am still among the living to praise him, as I do to-day. I have, to be sure, been called to drink deep of the bitter cup; but you know, my beloved brother, this makes the sweet sweeter.

"You have, I suppose, heard of the imprisonment of my dear husband, with his brother Joseph, Elder Rigdon, and others, who were kept from us nearly six months; and I suppose no one felt the painful effects of their confinement more than myself. I was left in a way that called for the exercise of all the courage and grace I possessed. My husband was taken from me by an armed force, at a time when I needed, in a particular manner, the kindest care and attention of such a friend, instead of which, the care of a large family was suddenly and unexpectedly left upon myself, and, in a few days after, my dear little Joseph F. was added to the number. Shortly after his birth I took a severe cold, which brought on chills and fever; this, together with the anxiety of mind I had to endure, threatened to bring me to the gates of death. I was at least four months entirely unable to take any care either of myself or child; but the Lord was merciful in so ordering things that my dear sister could be with me. Her child was five months old when mine was born; so she had strength given her to nurse them both.

"You will also have heard of our being driven, as a people, from the State, and from our homes; this happened during my sickness, and I had to be removed more than two hundred miles, chiefly on my bed. I suffered much on my journey; but in three or four weeks after we arrived in Illinois, I began to amend, and my health is now as good as ever. It is now little more than a month since the Lord, in his marvelous power, returned my dear husband, with the rest of the brethren, to their families, in tolerable health. We are now living in Commerce, on the bank of the great Mississippi river. The situation is very pleasant; you would be much pleased to see it. How long we may be permitted to enjoy it I know not; but the Lord knows what is best for us. I feel but little concerned about where I am, if I can keep my mind scald upon God; for, you know in this there is perfect peace. I believe the Lord is overruling all things for our good. I suppose our enemies look upon us with astonishment and disappointment.

"I greatly desire to see you, and I think you would be pleased to see our little ones; will you pray for us, that we may have grace to train them up in the way they should go, so that they may be a blessing to us and the world? I have a hope that our brothers and sisters will also embrace the fullness of the gospel, and come into the new and everlasting covenant; I trust their prejudices will give way to the power of truth. I would gladly have them with us here, even though they might have to endure all kind of tribulation and affliction with us and the rest of the children of God, in these last days, so that they might share in the glories of the celestial kingdom. As to myself, I can truly say, that I would not give up the prospect of the latter-day glory for all that glitters in this world. O, my dear brother, I must tell you, for your comfort, that my hope is full, and it is a glorious hope; and though I have been left for near six months in widowhood, in the time of great affliction, and was called to take, joyfully or otherwise, the spoiling of almost all our goods, in the absence of my husband, and all unlawfully, just for the gospel's sake (for the judge himself declared that he was kept in prison for no other reason than because he was a friend to his brother), yet I do not feel in the least discouraged; no, though my sister and I are here together in a strange land, we have been enabled to rejoice, in the midst of our privations and persecutions, that we were counted worthy to suffer these things, so that we may, with the ancient saints who suffered in like manner, inherit the same glorious reward. If it had not been for this hope, I should have sunk before this; but, blessed be the God and rock of my salvation, here I am, and am perfectly satisfied and happy, having not the smallest desire to go one step backward.

"Your last letter to Elder Kimball gave us great pleasure; we thank you for your expression of kindness, and pray God to bless you according to your desires for us.

"The more I see of the dealings of our Heavenly Father with us as a people, the more I am constrained to rejoice that I was ever made acquainted with the everlasting covenant. O may the Lord keep me faithful till my change comes! O, my dear brother, why is it that our friends should stand out against the truth, and look on those that would show it to them as enemies? The work here is prospering much; several men of respectability and intelligence, who have been acquainted with all our difficulties, are coming into the work.

"My husband joins me in love to you. I remain, my dear brother and sister, your affectionate sister,

"MARY SMITH."

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE QUORUM OF THE APOSTLES GO ON MISSION TO ENGLAND—THEIR LANDING INGREAT BRITAIN—THEY HOLD A CONFERENCE—A HOLIDAY FESTIVAL—MOTHER MOONAND FAMILY—SUMMARY OF A YEAR'S LABORS—CROWNING PERIOD OF THE BRITISHMISSION.

Scarcely had the saints made their exodus from Missouri—while many ofthem were still domiciled in tents on the banks of the Mississippi, andNauvoo could only boast of a few rude houses to prophesy the glory ofa "second Zion"—ere nine of the quorum of the apostles were abroad,working their missionary wonders in foreign lands. From that periodto the present (1877), the history of the Latter-day Church, with itsemigrations, has quite one-half belonged to the European mission, whichhas given to America one hundred thousand emigrants.

Early in the year 1840 (January 11th), apostles Wilford Woodruffand John Taylor, with Elder Theodore Turley, landed on the shoresof England. They chose their several fields of labor and soon wereactively engaged in the ministry.

On the 19th of March of the same year Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball,George A. Smith, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, and Reuben Hedlocksailed from New York on board the Patrick Henry. A number of thesaints came down to the wharf to bid them farewell. When the elders gotinto the small-boat to go out to the ship, the saints on shore sang"The Gallant Ship is Under Way," etc., in which song the elders joineduntil their voices were separated by the distance.

Liverpool was reached by these apostles on the 6th of April. It was theanniversary of the organization of the Church, just ten years before.The next day they found Elder Taylor and John Moon, with about thirtysaints who had just received the work in that place, and on the dayfollowing they went to Preston by railroad.

In Preston, the cradle of the British mission, the apostles were metby a multitude of saints, who rejoiced exceedingly at the event of thearrival of the twelve in that land.

Willard Richards immediately hastened to Preston and gave an accountof the churches in the British isles, over which he had been presidingduring the interval from the return of Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hydeto America. The president of the twelve at once commenced to grapplewith the work in foreign lands, convened a conference, and wrote toWilford Woodruff to attend.

It was on the 14th of April, 1840, that the first council of the twelveapostles, in a foreign land, was held at Preston. There were presentBrigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Parley P Pratt, Orson Pratt, JohnTaylor, Wilford Woodruff, and George A. Smith. These proceeded toordain Willard Richards to their quorum, and then Brigham Young waschosen, by a unanimous vote, the standing president of the twelve.

Then followed, during the next two days, "A General Conference of theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," held in the TemperanceHall at Preston, with Heber C. Kimball presiding, and William Claytonclerk. There were represented at this time, one thousand six hundredand seventy-one members, thirty-four elders, fifty-two priests,thirty-eight teachers, and eight deacons.

The conference over, the apostles kept the old Christian holiday ofGood Friday, to regale their spirits after their long journey, whichhad so quickly followed the many vicissitudes of persecution in theirnative land, and before separating again on their arduous mission.

The place chosen to spend their holiday was the village of Penwortham,two miles from Preston. That day Mother Moon made a feast for theapostles at her house. From her treasury of "fat things" she broughtforth a bottle of wine which she had kept for forty years. This theelders blessed and then partook of it. That bottle of wine is spokenof to this day. The family of Mother Moon has also a history. Here istheir page, from Heber's journal of his first mission abroad:

"Having an appointment to preach in the village of Wrightington, whileon the way I stopped at the house of Brother Francis Moon, when I wasinformed that the family of Matthias Moon had sent a request by him forme to visit them, that they might have the privilege of conversing withme on the subject of the gospel. Accordingly Brother Amos Fielding andI paid them a visit that evening. We were very kindly received by thefamily, and had considerable conversation on the subject of my missionto England, and the great work of the Lord in the last days. Theylistened with attention to my statements, but at the same time theyappeared to be prejudiced against them. We remained in conversationuntil a late hour, and then returned home. On our way Brother Fieldingobserved that he thought our visit had been in vain, as the familyseemed to have considerable prejudice. I answered, be not faithless butbelieving; we shall yet see great effects from this visit, for I knowthat some of the family have received the testimony, and will shortlymanifest the same; at which remark he seemed surprised.

"The next morning I continued my journey to Wrightington and Hunter'sHill. After spending two or three days in that vicinity, preaching, Ibaptized seven of the family of Benson, and others, and organized abranch.

"I returned by the way of Brother Fielding's, with whom I again tarriedfor the night. The next morning I started for Preston, but when I gotopposite the lane leading to Mr. Moon's, I was forcibly led by thespirit of the Lord to call and see them again. I therefore directedmy steps to the house. On my arrival I knocked at the door. Mrs. Moonexclaimed: 'Come in! come in! You are welcome here! I and the lasses(meaning her daughters) have just been calling on the Lord, and prayingthat he would send you this way.' She then informed me of her state ofmind since I was there, and said she at first rejected my testimony,and endeavored to think lightly on the things I had advanced, but ontrying to pray, the heavens seemed like brass over her head, and itwas like iron under her feet. She did not know what was the matter,saying, 'Certainly the man has not bewitched me, has he?' And uponinquiring she found it was the same with the lasses. They then beganto reflect on the things I told them, and thinking it possible thatI had told them the truth, they resolved to lay the case before theLord, and beseech him to give them a testimony concerning the things Ihad testified of. She then observed that as soon as they did so lightbroke in upon their minds; they were convinced that I was a messengerof salvation; that it was the work of the Lord, and they had resolvedto obey the gospel. That evening I baptized Mr. Moon and his wife, andfour of his daughters. * * * I visited Mr. Moon again, and baptized theremainder of his family, consisting of thirteen souls, the youngest ofwhom was over twenty years of age. They received the gospel as littlechildren, and rejoiced exceedingly in its blessings. The sons were verygood musicians and the daughters excellent singers. When they unitedtheir instruments and voices in the songs of Zion the effect was trulytransporting. Before I left England there were about thirty of thatfamily and connections baptized, five of whom—Hugh, John, Francis,William and Thomas Moon—were ordained to be fellow-laborers with usin the vineyard, and I left them rejoicing in the truths they hadembraced."

After their short rest in Preston, refreshed and inspired by thecommunion of so many of their quorum, these apostles rose like giantsto their work. Brigham Young and Willard Richards went with WilfordWoodruff into Herefordshire, where Brigham obtained money to publishthe Book of Mormon; Heber C. Kimball visited the disciples whom he hadbrought into the Church during his first mission; Orson Pratt wentinto Scotland, George A. Smith went into Staffordshire, John Taylorcontinued his labors at Liverpool, where he raised up a conference, andParley P. Pratt repaired to Manchester to publish the Millennial Star.

A year passed. Here is the summary of its history, from Brigham Young'sjournal:

"It was with a heart full of thanksgiving and gratitude to God, myHeavenly Father, that I reflected upon his dealings with me and mybrethren of the twelve during the past year of my life, which was spentin England. It truly seems a miracle to look upon the contrast betweenour landing and departing from Liverpool. We landed in the spring of1840, as strangers in a strange land, and penniless, but through themercy of God we have gained many friends, established churches inalmost every noted town and city of Great Britain, baptized betweenseven and eight thousand souls, printed five thousand Books of Mormon,three thousand hymn-books, two thousand five hundred volumes of theMillennial Star, and fifty thousand tracts; emigrated to Zion onethousand souls, establishing a permanent shipping agency, which willbe a great blessing to the saints, and have left sown in the hearts ofmany thousands the seed of eternal life, which shall bring forth fruitto the honor and glory of God; and yet we have lacked nothing to eat,drink or wear; in all these things I acknowledge the hand of God."

But even this was eclipsed by the results of the next ten years.Besides the thousands who had emigrated, the British mission, at theculmination of this third period, numbered nearly forty thousand souls.The Millennial Star reached a weekly circulation of twenty-twothousand; and there were half a million of Orson Pratt's tracts incirculation throughout the land. This crowning period was during thepresidencies of Orson Spencer, Orson Pratt, and Franklin and SamuelRichards.

Too vast this missionary work abroad, and too crowded its events, forus to follow the historic details; but we shall, however, frequentlyhereafter meet representative women from Europe, and read in theirsketches many episodes of the saints in foreign lands.

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE SISTERS AS MISSIONARIES—EVANGELICAL DIPLOMACY—WITHOUT PURSEOR SCRIP—PICTURE OF THE NATIVE ELDERS—A SPECIMEN MEETING—THESECRET OF SUCCESS—MORMONISM A SPIRITUAL GOSPEL—THE SISTERS AS TRACTDISTRIBUTERS—WOMAN A POTENT EVANGELIST.

And what the part of the sisterhood in this great work outlined inforeign lands?

The sisters were side by side with the most potent missionaries theLatter-day Church found. They made nearly as many converts to Mormonismas the elders. They were, often times, the direct instruments whichbrought disciples into the Church. The elders riveted the anchor offaith by good gospel logic, and their eloquent preachers enchantedthe half-inspired mind with well-described millennial views, but thesisters, as a rule, by the nicest evangelical diplomacy brought theresults about. They agitated the very atmosphere with their magicalfaith in the new dispensation; they breathed the spirit of their ownbeautiful enthusiasm into their neighborhoods; they met the firstbrunt of persecution and conquered it by their zeal; they transformedunbelief into belief by their personal testimonies, which arousedcuriosity, or made their relatives and neighbors sleepless with activethoughts of the new, and inspired doubts of the old; they enticed thepeople to hear their elders preach, and did more to disturb the peaceof the town than could have done the town-crier; they crowded theirhalls with an audience when without their sisterly devising those hallshad remained often empty and cold.

In the British mission—in England, Scotland and Wales—the sisters hadmuch better missionary opportunities than in America. The vast extentof country over which the American people were sparsely scattered,forty to fifty years ago, and the almost immediate gatherings of thedisciples to a centre place, or a local Zion, necessarily confinedthe missionary movement at home nearly exclusively to the apostlesand their aids, the "Seventies;" and thus as soon as the disciples"gathered out of Babylon," American society lost even the little leavenwhich the elders had inspired in its midst.

But in England, Scotland and Wales, and at a later period inScandinavia, it was very different. Not merely one local Zion anda score of branches scattered over a score of States, but in theBritish mission at its zenith of progress there were over five hundredbranches, fifty conferences, and about a dozen pastorates—the lattervery like Mormon provinces or bishoprics. There the sisters had grandmissionary opportunities. From village to town, and from town tocity, they helped the elders push their work until this vast churchsuperstructure was reared. With such a leaven as the Mormon sisterhoodin Great Britain, converts were made so fast that it was nearly twentyyears before even the immense yearly emigration of the saints toAmerica began visibly to tell in weakening missionary operations inthat prolific land.

It has often been a matter of wonder how it happened that Mormonismwas such a mighty proselyting power in England compared with whatit had been in America. The two views presented suggest the exactreason; and in addition to the gathering genius of the Mormons, thevery "tidal wave" of the country has swept migrating peoples westward.Three hundred Mormon cities have sprung up on the Pacific slope, justas five hundred branches did in Great Britain, which has required allthe gathering energies of the Church for over a quarter of a century todeplete her of these proselyting saints. It was Great Britain that gaveto the sisters their grand missionary opportunities.

Here another view of the sisters presents itself. Much of the successof "Mormonism" in foreign lands is due to the fact that the elders,like Christ and his apostles of old, went about preaching the gospel"without purse or scrip."

This apostolic custom captivated woman at once. Her sympathies werecharmed. She admired the heroic devotion and self-abnegation of suchministers of Christ. Their examples directly appealed to her, so likewere they to her own faith. The disinterested aims and efforts of thesem*n for human good so accorded with her own divine aspirations, thatshe leapt with a glorious enthusiasm to their side. For once woman hadfound the opportunity to exercise her own methods of apostleship.

She saw these elders upon the altar of sacrifice for a Christian cause.Out in the wilderness of society were they, during the best years ofyouth, preaching without purse or scrip, trusting in Providence fortheir daily bread as truly as do the sparrows whom the Great Fatherfeeds. Wandering through the world were these devoted men, oftenwith blood in their well-worn shoes, preaching the glad tidings ofa new dispensation which the angels had opened to bring immortalityto mortals, and establish the order of heaven on earth. Such werethe examples which the elders presented in their ministry, and suchexamples woman loved.

Though they bore the title of elders, these missionaries, especiallythe native ones, were generally young men from the age of twenty tothirty. Scarcely were they converted ere they were sent out to missionthe land. The prophet Joseph had well cogitated on the saying ofChrist, "The harvest is great but the laborers are few;" and it wasat once a bold and happy stroke of genius on his part to leave thebeaten track of choosing only matured and experienced divines, callinginstead a multitude of youths and striplings to aid him in evangelizingthe world. This was much like Mohammed's choosing of the youthfulenthusiast Ali to be his lieutenant in his religious empire-foundingmission. And so at one time might have been found in Europe nearly athousand of these young men, out in the ministry, bearing the title ofelders. Strange example! Elders at twenty; veterans at twenty-five, whohad built up their conferences! This pleased woman. It was unique. Theexample touched her heart and stimulated her faith through her verysympathy for and admiration of the heroic.

Into the villages of England, Scotland and Wales these youths madetheir way, with hymn-book and Bible in hand, but with no ministerialrecommendation except a forceful, innovative intellectuality, and soulsinspired with the glories of a new and conquering faith.

Alone, at eventide, they would uncover their heads, on some green bitof common, or, if on the Sabbath day, would daringly near the oldvillage church, which well might tremble at such sacrilege, as did theyliterally in those bold missionary attempts, that never had been madebut for youth's rich unconsciousness of inability. Then would ring outthe hymn of the Latter-day Saints:

"Go, ye messengers of glory,
Run, ye legates of the skies,
Go and tell the pleasing story,
That a glorious angel flies;
Great and mighty,
With a message from on high!"

Or perchance it would be this instead:

"The morning breaks, the shadows flee;
Lo, Zion's standard is unfurled;
The dawning of a brighter day
Majestic rises on the world."

And many a village has been startled with this tremendous proclamation,from the lips of young men:

"Jehovah speaks! Let Earth give ear!
And gentile nations turn and live!"

First the woman would come out to listen, on the threshold of hercottage, after supper; then she would draw near, and wonder about thisboy-preacher—to her eyes so much like her own boy, who, perhaps, isplaying at some evening game with his companions, near by. Next comesher husband, and after awhile the boys themselves leave their games,and with their sisters, gather to listen. And so are also gatheredother family groups of the village to swell the impromptu congregation.This is a truthful picture, for the author is describing a literalexperience.

Now comes the supplemental story of this boy-elder, that he is out inthe world preaching the gospel without purse or scrip, that he haseaten nothing that day since breakfast, that he has journeyed miles andis tired out, and that he has no place in which to lay his head thatnight.

The mother and her daughters whisper. They have conceived an idea thatwill exactly fit that poor boy's case. Father is approached. At firsthe will not listen to the proposition; but at last he yields. What elsecould he do? When did woman fail if her sympathies were enlisted? Totheir home the boy-missionary is taken. A supper is gleaned from thehumble peasant's leavings. Water is furnished to bathe the sore andblood-stained feet. The woman is half converted by the sight of so muchyouthful heroism. Mother and daughters dream of the boy-missionary thatnight.

'Tis a simple story; but from that house Mormonism is destined tospread through all the village, until the aged clergyman, educatedat college, in his pulpit which he has occupied for a quarter of acentury, fears that boy as much as a second Goliath might have fearedthe stripling David.

And thus Mormonism ran from village to town, and from town to city;carried, of course, to the larger places by the "veterans;" but in allcases very similar. How much the sisters—mothers and daughters—had todo in this work may be seen at a glance.

But the most salient view to be taken of Mormonism abroad is, as thegreat spiritual movement of the age. The reader may be assured that itwas the beautiful themes of a new dispensation—themes such as angelsmight have accompanied with their hosannas—that charmed disciplesinto the Mormon Church. Spiritual themes and the gifts of the HolyGhost were what converted the tens of thousands in Great Britain; nota cold materialism, much less a sensual gospel. Even to the simplest,who scarcely knew the meaning of idealities, the spiritual and theideal of Mormonism were its principal charms. Indeed, it is to thefact that Mormonism was, in its missionary history, such a unique andextraordinary spiritual, and yet matter-of-fact, movement, that it owesits principal and rare successes.

In America, the splendid ambitions of empire-founding, the worldlyopportunities presented by a migrating people and a growingcommonwealth, sometimes charmed the dominating mind; but in the foreignmissions, especially in Great Britain, where it received its highestintellectual interpretation from elders who championed it on the publicplatform against the best orthodox disputants in the land, it wasMormonism as a great spiritual work that captivated most, and above allit was this aspect of it that most captivated the sisterhood. In thisview, and in this view only, can the explanation be found of how ittook such a deep and lasting hold upon the female portion of society.

In the early rise of the Church abroad the disciples knew nothing ofthe society-founding successes of Brigham Young, which to-day makeMormonism quite potent in America and a periodical sensation to theAmerican Congress. Nothing of this; but much of the divine, much ofthe spiritual, much of the angels' coming to reign with them in amillennium, with Christ on earth.

Such was Mormonism abroad. Such has it ever been, with the sisters, athome. Its success in making converts among women, both old and young,has no parallel in the history of churches. Its all-potent influenceon the heart and brain of woman was miraculous. She received it inas great faith as was that of the woman who laid hold of the skirtof Christ's garment and was healed. She exulted in its unspeakablybeautiful themes; she reveled in its angelic experiences; shemultiplied its disciples.

In some respects Mormonism, in its history and manifestations abroad,compares strikingly with the more recent history of spiritualism inAmerica. Their geniuses are undoubtedly very different, but theirpotency over society has been similar. The one was apostolic andHebraic, with a God as the source of its inspirations, a priesthoodlinking the heavens and the earth as its controlling powers, andanother Catholic or Universal Church as the aim of its ministry. Theother has pulled down what it has dared to call the idols of Deity,makes war on priesthood, and on the Hebrew Jehovah, whom the Mormonsserve, and disintegrates all churches. Yet the themes of both have beenthemes of the angels' coming to visit the earth again; "new revelationsto suit the age;" another great spiritual dispensation for the world.

Mormonism abroad, then, was supremely an apostolic spiritual work.Paul's famous epistle to the Corinthians, upon spiritual gifts,presents an exact view of what Mormonism has been; and as it was achapter often read to the saints—the subject of a thousand sermons—itmay here be fitly quoted to illustrate the view. The apostle says:

"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. * * * *

"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit.

"And there are differences of administration, but the same Lord.

"And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

"But the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

"For to one is given by the spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same spirit;

"To another faith by the same spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same spirit;

"To another the working of miracles; to another prophesy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues;

"But all these worketh that one and the self-same spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

"For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one spirit. * * * *

"And God hath set some in the church, first, apostles; secondarily, prophets; thirdly, teachers; after that miracles; then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

"Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?

"Have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?

"But covet earnestly the best gifts; and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way."

In another chapter of Paul's epistle to the Corinthians, he presentsanother famous spiritual view:

"How is it, then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

"If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.

"But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.

"Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.

"If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.

"For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.

"And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

"For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints."

This is a very exact picture of the Latter-day Saints' testimonymeetings. It is indeed a striking illustration of the gospel and itsmanifestations, as familiar to them as their own faces.

It was this spiritual gospel that the sisters promulgated in GreatBritain, and it was this that made the tens of thousands of converts.Had not Mormonism been of this kind, and had not such been itsmanifestations, woman never would have received it and become itsapostle; nor would it have made such a stir in the world.

The sisters also missioned the land by the distribution of tracts. Thismade them to be preachers, in a way; and they carried their sermons tothe homes of rich and poor, to be read at the fireside by those who,but for this, never would have gone to hear an elder preach.

In all the towns and cities of her Majesty's kingdom the saintsorganized tract societies. In London, where many branches flourished,these tract organizations were numerous; the same was measurablythe case with Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, and theprincipal cities of Scotland and Wales. These tract distributers werenumbered by the thousand. They held their monthly meetings, mapped outtheir districts and brought in their regular reports. At one time, asbefore stated, they had in circulation half a million of Orson Pratt'stracts. It is scarcely necessary to say that the sisters principallydid this work, to which should be added that they were assisted by theyoung men of each branch. In short, the sisters, in the work abroad,were a great missionary power.

And here it may be observed that all evangelical history proves thatwoman is ever the most potent evangelist. She permeates society withthe influence of her church, makes converts in the homes of herneighbors, where her pastor could never reach without her help, andinspires the very faith by which miracles are wrought.

Woman has many striking examples of her influence and acts in thehistory of religious empire-founding. Miriam charmed the congregationof Israel with her songs, and strengthened her brother Moses' power byher prophesies; Esther rendered the captivity of her people lighter byher mediation; Judith delivered her nation from the Assyrian captain;the two Marys and Martha seemed to have understood Jesus better thandid his apostles even, and they saw first their risen Lord; St. Helenadid much to make her son, Constantine, the imperial champion ofChristianity; perchance had there been no Cadijah the world would neverhave known a Mohammed; the Catholic Church has been more potent throughthe sisters of its various orders; and the examples which the Mormonsisterhood have given are almost as striking as those of the sisters ofthat church.

These are some of the views which may be presented of the sisters intheir great missionary work abroad, and they are also fit illustrationsof the spiritual movement, which they represent, in the age.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

MORMONISM AND THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND—PRESENTATION OF THE BOOK OFMORMON TO THE QUEEN AND PRINCE ALBERT—ELIZA R. SNOW'S POEM ON THATEVENT—"ZION'S NURSING MOTHER"—HEBER C. KIMBALL BLESSES VICTORIA.

Here an interesting story is to be told of Mormonism and the Queen ofEngland.

It will be remembered that Victoria ascended the throne of GreatBritain just three days before Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde and WillardRichards arrived in her realm to preach the gospel of Messiah's coming.

There was something poetic in this. Victoria became connected in someway with the new dispensation. She alone of all the monarchs of theearth was prophetically cast in its dramatis personae. Poetry andprophesy both were pregnant with much of subject and promise thatconcerned Victoria of England. She may not be aware of it, but thereis quite a romance of the British Queen in Mormon history, to whichthe presentation of the Book of Mormon to herself and the late Princeconsort gives pictorial display.

Before leaving England, President Brigham Young, who had succeeded inraising means to publish the Book of Mormon, gave directions for copiesto be specially prepared and richly bound for presentation to herMajesty and the Prince consort. The honor of this devolved on LorenzoSnow, who was at that period President of the London Conference. Thepresentation was made in 1842, through the politeness of Sir HenryWheatley; and it is said her Majesty condescended to be pleased, withthe gift. Whether she ever read the Book of Mormon is not known,although, if the presentation has not altogether faded from her memory,Mormonism has been since that date sensational enough to provoke even amonarch to read the book, if for nothing better than curiosity; so, notunlikely Queen Victoria has read some portions at least of the Book ofMormon. The unique circ*mstance called forth from the pen of Eliza R.Snow the following poem, entitled "Queen Victoria:"

"Of all the monarchs of the earth
That wear the robes of royalty,
She has inherited by birth
The broadest wreath of majesty.

From her wide territorial wing
The sun does not withdraw its light,
While earth's diurnal motions bring
To other nations day and night.

All earthly thrones are tott'ring things,
Where lights and shadows intervene;
And regal honor often brings
The scaffold or the guillotine.

But still her sceptre is approved—
All nations deck the wreath she wears;
Yet, like the youth whom Jesus loved,
One thing is lacking even there.

But lo! a prize possessing more
Of worth than gems with honor rife—
A herald of salvation bore
To her the words of endless life.

That gift, however fools deride,
Is worthy of her royal care;
She'd better lay her crown aside
Than spurn the light reflected there,

O would she now her influence lend—
The influence of royalty,
Messiah's kingdom to extend,
And Zion's 'nursing Mother' be;

She, with the glory of her name
Inscribed on Zion's lofty spire,
Would win a wreath of endless fame,
To last when other wreaths expire.

Though over millions called to reign—
Herself a powerful nation's boast,
'Twould be her everlasting gain
To serve the King, the Lord of Hosts.

For there are crowns and thrones on high,
And kingdoms there to be conferred;
There honors wait that never die,
There fame's immortal trump is heard.

Truth speaks—it is Jehovah's word;
Let kings and queens and princes hear:
In distant isles the sound is heard—
Ye heavens, rejoice; O earth, give ear.

The time, the time is now at hand
To give a glorious period birth—
The Son of God will take command,
And rule the nations of the earth."

It will be seen that our Hebraic poetess has suggested for Victoriaof England the title of "Zion's Nursing Mother." The reference isto Isaiah's glorious song of Zion. He, according to the universallyaccepted interpretation, foresaw the rise of Messiah's kingdom on theearth in the last days.

"And they shall call thee the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

"And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

"And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers.

"Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.

"Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him and his work before him."

This is the subject of which the gorgeous Isaiah sang; and the prophesyof Joseph and the poetry of Eliza have applied it principally toAmerica as Zion, and conditionally, to Queen Victoria as her "NursingMother."

Many earthly thrones were about to totter. Soon France—from the daysof Charlemagne styled "The Eldest Daughter of the Church"—saw hercrown trampled in the very gutter, by the rabble of Paris, and a fewyears later the scepter of Rome was wrested from the hands of the"successor of St Peter" by Victor Emanuel; yet of Victoria of England,Zion's poetess sings:

"But still her sceptre is approved."

Mark the poetic and prophetic significance between America as Zion, andGreat Britain, represented in Victoria. A new age is born. Victoria isits imperial star; while from America—the land that owns no earthlysovereign—come these apostles to her realm just three days after thesceptre is placed in her hands. The prophet of America sends them toproclaim to Great Britain the rising of a star superior to her own. Itis the star of Messiah's kingdom. She is called to her mission as itsNursing Mother.

Seeing that Joseph was the prophet of America, and that the Britishmission has given to the Mormon Zion over a hundred thousand of herchildren already gathered to build up her cities and rear her temples,it is not strange that the burden of this prophesy should have beenclaimed and shared between the two great English speaking nations.

But there is a personal romance as well, which centres in Victoria.At the time Sister Eliza wrote the poem to her name, Victoria ofEngland was quite a theme in the Mormon Church. Not only in her ownrealm, among her own subjects, but in Zion also she was preachedabout, prophesied about, dreamed about, and seen in visions. Brigham,as we have seen, caused special copies of the Book of Mormon to beprepared for her and Prince Albert; Lorenzo Snow presented them throughthe courtesy of a state personage, and his sister immortalized thecirc*mstance in verse. The story is told, also, that Heber C. Kimball,while in London, blessed Victoria, as she passed, by the power andauthority of his apostleship; and what Heber did was done with thespirit and with the understanding also. Queen Victoria has beenremarkably successful, and unrivalled in the glory of her reign.

CHAPTER XXIX.

LITERAL APPLICATION OF CHRIST'S COMMAND—THE SAINTS LEAVE FATHER ANDMOTHER, HOME AND FRIENDS, TO GATHER TO ZION—MRS. WILLIAM STAINES—HEREARLY LIFE AND EXPERIENCE—A MIDNIGHT BAPTISM IN MIDWINTER—FAREWELL TOHOME AND EVERY FRIEND—INCIDENTS OF THE JOURNEY TO NAUVOO.

How characteristic the following gospel passages! How well andliterally have they been applied in the history and experience of theLatter-day Saints:

"He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me.

"And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

"He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake, shall find it.

"And every one that has forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life."

This gospel was preached by the Mormon elders with nothing of the"spiritual" sense so acceptable to fashionable churches. Nothing of theidealistic glamour was given to it. Most literal, indeed almost cruellyChristian, was Mormonism here.

But it was not until the "gathering" was preached to the disciplesin Great Britain, that the full significance of such a gospel wasrealized. True it was made as severe to the saints in America, throughtheir persecutions; especially when at length they were driven from theborders of civilization. To the British mission, however, in the earlydays, we must go for striking illustrations. A "gathering dispensation"preached to Europe before the age of emigration had set in! At firstit startled, aye, almost appalled the disciples in Great Britain. Inthose days the common people of England scarcely ever strayed ten milesfrom the churchyards where had slept their kindred from generation togeneration. True the mechanic traveled in search of employment fromone manufacturing city to another, passed along by the helping hand oftrade societies; but families, as a rule, never moved. Migration was tothem an incomprehensible law, to be wondered at even in the example ofthe birds who were forced by climate to migrate as the season changed.Migrating peoples could only be understood in the examples of the Jewsor Gipseys, both of whom were looked upon as being "under the curse.""Going to London" was the crowning event of a lifetime to even thewell-to-do townsman, a hundred miles distant from the metropolis; goingto America was like an imagined flight to the moon. At best emigrationwas transportation from fatherland, and the emigration of tens ofthousands of England-loving saints was a transportation to the commonpeople without parallel for cruelty.

It was long before English society forgave the American elders forpreaching emigration in England. It looked upon them absolutely as thebetrayers of a confiding religious people who had already been too muchbetrayed by an American delusion.

And as observed, the doctrine of emigration from native land toAmerica—the new world; another world in seeming—and that, too, asa necessity to salvation, or at least to the obedience of heaven'scommands, appalled at first the very "elect." Nothing but the HolyGhost could dissipate the terrors of emigration.

Sister Staines shall be first chosen to personally illustrate thissubject, because of the peculiarity of her experience, and for thereason that she is the wife of William C. Staines, himself an earlyMormon emigrant to Nauvoo, and to-day the general emigration agent ofthe Church, and who, during the past fifteen years, has emigrated,under the direction of President Young, about fifty thousand souls fromEurope. Others of the sisters will follow in this peculiar line ofMormon history.

Priscilla Mogridge Staines was born in Widbrook, Wiltshire, England,March 11th, 1823.

"My parents," she says, "were both English. My father's name was JohnMogridge, and my mother's maiden name was Mary Crook.

"I was brought up in the Episcopal faith from my earliest childhood, myparents being members of the Episcopal Church. But as my mind becamematured, and I thought more about religion, I became dissatisfied withthe doctrines taught by that Church, and I prayed to God my HeavenlyFather to direct me aright, that I might know the true religion.

"Shortly after being thus concerned about my salvation, I heardMormonism and believed it God had sent the true gospel to me in answerto my prayer.

"It was a great trial for a young maiden (I was only nineteen yearsof age) to forsake all for the gospel—father, mother, brothers andsisters—and to leave my childhood's home and native land, neverexpecting to see it again. This was the prospect before me. The saintswere already leaving fatherland, in obedience to the doctrine ofgathering, which was preached at this time with great plainness by theelders as an imperative command of God. We looked upon the gatheringas necessary to our salvation. Nothing of our duty in this respect wasconcealed, and we were called upon to emigrate to America as soon asthe way should open, to share the fate of the saints, whatever mightcome. Young as I was and alone of all my family in the faith, I wascalled to take up my cross and lay my earthly all upon the altar; yetso well satisfied was I with my new religion that I was willing to makeevery sacrifice for it in order to gain my salvation and prove myselfnot unworthy of the saints' reward.

"Having determined to be baptized, I resolved to at once obey thegospel, although it was mid-winter, and the weather bitterly cold.

"It is proper to here state that baptism was a trial to the converts inEngland in those days. They had to steal away, even unknown to theirfriends oftentimes, and scarcely daring to tell the saints themselvesthat they were about to take up the cross; and not until the ordinancehad been administered, and the Holy Ghost gave them boldness, couldthey bring themselves to proclaim openly that they had cast in theirlot with the despised Mormons. Nor was this all, for generally theelders had to administer baptism when the village was wrapt in sleep,lest persecutors should gather a mob to disturb the solemn scene withgibes and curses, accompanied with stones or clods of earth torn fromthe river bank and hurled at the disciple and minister during theperformance of the ceremony.

"On the evening of a bitterly cold day in mid-winter, as before stated,I walked four miles to the house of a local elder for baptism. Arrivingat his house, we waited until midnight, in order that the neighborsmight not disturb us, and then repaired to a stream of water a quarterof a mile away. Here we found the water, as we anticipated, frozenover, and the elder had to chop a hole in the ice large enough forthe purpose of baptism. It was a scene and an occasion I shall neverforget. Memory to-day brings back the emotions and sweet awe of thatmoment. None but God and his angels, and the few witnesses who stoodon the bank with us, heard my covenant; but in the solemnity of thatmidnight hour it seemed as though all nature were listening, and therecording angel writing our words in the book of the Lord. Is itstrange that such a scene, occurring in the life of a latter-day saint,should make an everlasting impression, as this did on mine?

"Having been thus baptized, I returned to the house in my wet andfreezing garments.

"Up to this hour, as intimated, my heart's best affection had beencentred on home, and my greatest mental struggle in obeying the gospelhad been over the thought of soon leaving that home; but no soonerhad I emerged from the water, on that night of baptism, and receivedmy confirmation at the water's edge, than I became filled with anirresistible desire to join the saints who were gathering to America.The usual confirmation words, pronounced upon my head, 'Receive ye thegift of the Holy Ghost,' were, indeed, potent. They changed the currentof my life. This remarkable and sudden change of mind and the nowall-absorbing desire to emigrate with the saints was my first testimonyto the truth and power of the gospel.

"Shortly thereafter (December 27th, 1843), I left the home of my birthto gather to Nauvoo. I was alone. It was a dreary winter day on whichI went to Liverpool. The company with which I was to sail were allstrangers to me. When I arrived at Liverpool and saw the ocean thatwould soon roll between me and all I loved, my heart almost failed me.But I had laid my idols all upon the altar. There was no turning back.I remembered the words of the Saviour: 'He that leaveth not father andmother, brother and sister, for my sake, is not worthy of me,' and Ibelieved his promise to those who forsook all for his sake; so I thusalone set out for the reward of everlasting life, trusting in God.

"In company with two hundred and fifty saints I embarked on thesailing vessel Fanny, and after a tedious passage of six weeks'duration, we arrived in New Orleans. There an unexpected difficulty metus. The steamer Maid of Iowa, belonging to the prophet Joseph, and onwhich the company of saints had expected to ascend the Mississippi toNauvoo, was embargoed and lashed to the wharf. But Providence came toour aid. A lady of fortune was in the company—a Mrs. Bennett—and outof her private purse she not only lifted the embargo, but also fittedout the steamer with all necessary provisions, fuel, etc., and soon thecompany were again on their way.

"The journey up the river was a tedious and eventful one, consumingfive weeks of time. At nearly every stopping place the emigrants wereshamefully insulted and persecuted by the citizens. At Memphis somevillain placed a half consumed cigar under a straw mattress and otherbedding that had been laid out, aft of the ladies' cabin, to air. Whenwe steamed out into the river the draft, created by the motion of theboat, soon fanned the fire into a quick flame. Fortunately I myselfdiscovered the fire and gave the alarm in time to have it extinguishedbefore it had consumed more than a portion of the adjoining woodwork.Perhaps one minute more of delay in its discovery, and that companyof two hundred and fifty souls would have been subjected to all thehorrors and perils incident to a panic and fire on shipboard.

"At another place the pilot decided to tie up the boat at a landingand wait for the subsiding of a furious gale that was blowing. This heaccordingly did, and let off steam, thinking to remain there over night.In the meantime a mob gathered. We were Mormons. Too often had mobsshown that the property of Mormons might be destroyed with impunity,in the most lawless manner, and their lives taken by the most horriblemeans. Had that boat been consumed by fire, 'twould, have been but apleasing sensation, seeing that it belonged to the Mormon prophet; andthe two hundred and fifty men, women and children, if consumed, wouldhave been, in the eyes of their persecutors, only so many Mormons welldisposed of. Thus, doubtless, would have thought the mob who gatheredat that landing-place and cut the boat adrift The Maid of Iowa wasnow submitted to the triple peril of being adrift without steam, atthe mercy of a treacherous current, and in the midst of a hurricane.The captain, however, succeeded in raising the steam, and the boatwas brought under sufficient control to enable her to be brought to,under shelter of a heavy forest, where she was tied up to the trees andweathered the gale.

"At another landing a mob collected and began throwing stones throughthe cabin windows, smashing the glass and sash, and jeopardizingthe lives of the passengers. This was a little too much for humanforbearance. The boat was in command of the famous Mormon captain,Dan Jones; his Welsh blood was now thoroughly warm; he knew what mobsmeant. Mustering the brethren, with determined wrath he ordered them toparade with loaded muskets on the side of the boat assailed. Then heinformed the mob that if they did not instantly desist, he would shootthem down like so many dogs; and like so many dogs they slunk away.

"As the Maid of Iowa had made slow progress, and had been frequentlypassed by more swift-going steamers, her progress was well known by thefriends of Nauvoo. So on the day of our arrival the saints were out enmasse to welcome us. I had never before seen any of those assembled,yet I felt certain, as the boat drew near, that I should be able topick out the prophet Joseph at first sight. This belief I communicatedto Mrs. Bennett, whose acquaintance I had made on the voyage. Shewondered at it; but I felt impressed by the spirit that I should knowhim. As we neared the pier the prophet was standing among the crowd. Atthe moment, however, I recognized him according to the impression, andpointed him out to Mrs. Bennett, with whom I was standing alone on thehurricane deck.

"Scarcely had the boat touched the pier when, singularly enough, Josephsprang on board, and, without speaking with any one, made his waydirect to where we were standing, and addressing Mrs. Bennett by name,thanked her kindly for lifting the embargo from his boat, and blessedher for so materially aiding the saints."

CHAPTER XXX.

RISE OF NAUVOO—INTRODUCTION OF POLYGAMY—MARTYRDOM OF JOSEPH ANDHYRUM—CONTINUATION OF ELIZA R. SNOW'S NARRATIVE—HER ACCEPTANCE OFPOLYGAMY, AND MARRIAGE TO THE PROPHET—GOVERNOR CARLIN'S TREACHERY—HERSCATHING REVIEW OF THE MARTYRDOM—MOTHER LUCY'S STORY OF HER MURDEREDSONS.

Meanwhile, since the reader has been called to drop the historicalthread of the saints in America for a view of the rise of Mormonism inforeign lands, Nauvoo, whose name signifies "the beautiful city," hasgrown into an importance worthy her romantic name and character as thesecond Zion. Nauvoo was bidding fair to become the queen of the West;and had she been allowed to continue her career for a quarter of acentury, inspired by the gorgeous genius of her prophet, although shewould not have rivaled Chicago or St. Louis as a commercial city, yetwould she have become the veritable New Jerusalem of America—in theeyes of the "Gentiles" scarcely less than in the faith of our modernIsrael.

Polygamy, also, by this time has been introduced into the Church, andthe examples of the patriarchs Abraham and Jacob, and of kings Davidand Solomon, have begun to prevail. That the "peculiar institution"was the cross of the sisterhood in those days, it would be heartlessto attempt to conceal, for, as already seen, the first wives of thefounders of Mormondom were nearly all daughters of New England, whosemonogamic training was of the severest kind, and whose monogamicconceptions were of the most exacting nature.

Polygamy was undoubtedly introduced by Joseph himself, at Nauvoo,between 1840 and 1844. Years afterwards, however, a monogamic rivalchurch, under the leadership of young Joseph Smith, the first bornof the prophet, arose, denying that the founder of Mormondom was theauthor of polygamy, and affirming that its origin was in Brigham Young,subsequent to the martyrdom of the prophet and his brother Hyrum. This,with the fact that nearly the whole historic weight of polygamy restswith Utah, renders it expedient that we should barely touch the subjectat Nauvoo, and wait for its stupendous sensation after its publicationto the world by Brigham Young—a sensation that Congress has swelledinto a national noise, and that General Grant has made the hobgoblin ofhis dreams.

Nor can we deal largely with the history of Nauvoo. It is not therepresentative period of the sisters. They only come in with dramaticforce in their awful lamentation over the martyrdom, which was notequaled in Jerusalem at the crucifixion. The great historic periodof the women of Mormondom is during the exodus of the Church and itsremoval to the Rocky Mountains, when they figured quite as stronglyas did the women of ancient Israel in the exodus from Egypt. We canscarcely hope to do full justice to that period, but hasten to some ofits salient views. And here the historic thread shall be principallycontinued by Eliza R. Snow. She, touching the city of the saints, andthen slightly on the introduction of polygamy, says:

"The location of the city of Nauvoo was beautiful, but the climatewas so unhealthy that none but Latter-day Saints, full of faith, andtrusting in the power of God, could have established that city. Chillsand fever was the prevailing disease. Notwithstanding we had thisto contend with, through the blessing of God on the indefatigableexertions of the saints, it was not long before Nauvoo prompted theenvy and jealousy of many of the adjacent inhabitants, and, as the'accuser of the brethren' never sleeps, we had many difficulties tomeet, which ultimately culminated in the most bitter persecutions.

"To narrate what transpired within the seven years in which we builtand occupied Nauvoo, the beautiful, would fill many volumes. That is ahistory that never will, and never can, repeat itself. Some of the mostimportant events of my life transpired within that brief term, in whichI was married, and in which my husband, Joseph Smith, the prophet ofGod, sealed his testimony with his blood.

"Although in my youth I had considered marriage to have been ordainedof God, I had remained single; and to-day I acknowledge the kindoverruling providences of God in that circ*mstance as fully as inany other of my life; for I have not known of one of my formersuitors having received the truth; by which it is manifest that I wassingularly preserved from the bondage of a marriage tie which would,in all probability, have prevented my receiving, or enjoying the freeexercise of, that religion which has been, and is now, dearer to methan life.

"In Nauvoo I had the first intimation, or at least the firstunderstanding, that the practice of a plurality of wives would beintroduced into the Church. The thought was very repugnant to myfeelings, and in direct opposition to my educational prepossessions;but when I reflected that this was the dispensation of the fullnessof times, embracing all other dispensations, it was plain that pluralmarriage must be included; and I consoled myself with the idea thatit was a long way in the distance, beyond the period of my mortalexistence, and that, of course, I should not have it to meet. However,it was announced to me that the 'set time' had come—that God hadcommanded his servants to establish the order, by taking additionalwives.

"It seemed for awhile as though all the traditions, prejudices, andsuperstitions of my ancestry, for many generations, accumulated beforeme in one immense mass; but God, who had kept silence for centuries,was speaking; I knew it, and had covenanted in the waters of baptism tolive by every word of his, and my heart was still firmly set to do hisbidding.

"I was sealed to the prophet, Joseph Smith, for time and eternity, inaccordance with the celestial law of marriage which God had revealed,the ceremony being performed by a servant of the Most High—authorizedto officiate in sacred ordinances. This, one of the most importantevents of my life, I have never had cause to regret. The more Icomprehend the pure and ennobling principle of plural marriage, themore I appreciate it. It is a necessity in the salvation of the humanfamily—a necessity in redeeming woman from the curse, and the worldfrom its corruptions.

"When I entered into it, my knowledge of what it was designed toaccomplish was very limited; had I then understood what I nowunderstand, I think I should have hailed its introduction with joy,in consideration of the great good to be accomplished. As it was, Ireceived it because I knew that God required it.

"When in March, 1842, the prophet, Joseph Smith, assisted by someof the leading elders in the church, organized the Female ReliefSociety (now the great female organization of Utah), I was present,and was appointed secretary of that society, of which I shall saymore hereafter. In the summer of 1842 I accompanied Mrs. Emma Smith,the president of the society, to Quincy, Ill., with a petition signedby several hundred members of the society, praying his Excellency,Governor Carlin, for protection from illegal suits then pending againstJoseph Smith. We met with a very cordial reception, and presentedthe petition, whereupon the governor pledged his word and honor thathe would use his influence to protect Mr. Smith, whose innocence heacknowledged. But, soon after our return, we learned that at the timeof our visit and while making protestations of friendship, GovernorCarlin was secretly conniving with the basest of men to destroy ourleader. He was even combining with minions of the great adversary oftruth in the State of Missouri, who were vigilant in stirring up theircolleagues in Illinois, to bring about the terrible crisis.

"The awful tragedy of the 27th of June, 1844, is a livid, burning,scathing stain on our national escutcheon. To look upon the noble,lifeless forms of those brothers, Joseph and Hyrum Smith, as they layside by side in their burial clothes, having been brought home fromCarthage, where they had been slaughtered in their manhood and intheir innocence, was a sight that might well appal the heart of a trueAmerican citizen; but what it was for loving wives and children, theheart may feel, but the tongue can never tell.

"This scene occurred in America, 'the land of the free and the home ofthe brave,' to which our ancestors fled for religious freedom—wherethe 'dear old flag yet waves,' and under which not one effort has beenmade to bring to justice the perpetrators of that foul deed."

To the aged mother of the prophet and patriarch of the Mormon Churchshall be given the personal presentation of the subject of themartyrdom; for although the mother's heartrending description cannotbe considered as a sufficiently great historical word-picture of thescene, yet there is much of tragic force in it. She says:

"On the morning of the 24th of June, 1844, Joseph and Hyrum werearrested for treason, by a warrant founded upon the oaths of A. O.Norton and Augustine Spencer.

"I will not dwell upon the awful scene which succeeded. My heart isthrilled with grief and indignation, and my blood curdles in my veinswhenever I speak of it.

"My sons were thrown into jail, where they remained three days, incompany with Brothers Richards, Taylor, and Markham. At the end ofthis time, the governor disbanded most of the men, but left a guard ofeight of our bitterest enemies over the jail, and sixty more of thesame character about a hundred yards distant. He then came into Nauvoowith a guard of fifty or sixty men, made a short speech, and returnedimmediately. During his absence from Carthage, the guard rushed BrotherMarkham out of the place at the point of the bayonet. Soon after this,two hundred of those discharged in the morning rushed into Carthage,armed, and painted black, red and yellow, and in ten minutes fledagain, leaving my sons murdered and mangled corpses!

"In leaving the place, a few of them found Samuel coming into Carthagealone, on horseback, and finding that he was one of our family, theyattempted to shoot him, but he escaped out of their hands, althoughthey pursued him at the top of their speed for more than two hours. Hesucceeded the next day in getting to Nauvoo in season to go out andmeet the procession with the bodies of Hyrum and Joseph, as the mobhad the kindness to allow us the privilege of bringing them home, andburying them in Nauvoo, notwithstanding the immense reward which wasoffered by the Missourians for Joseph's head.

"Their bodies were attended home by only two persons, save those whowent from this place. These were Brother Willard Richards, and a Mr.Hamilton; Brother John Taylor having been shot in prison, and nearlykilled, he could not be moved until sometime afterwards.

"After the corpses were washed, and dressed in their burial clothes,we were allowed to see them. I had for a long time braced every nerve,roused every energy of my soul, and called upon God to strengthen me;but when I entered the room, and saw my murdered sons extended both atonce before my eyes, and heard the sobs and groans of my family, andthe cries of 'Father! husband! brothers!' from the lips of their wives,children, brother, and sisters, it was too much; I sank back, cryingto the Lord, in the agony of my soul, 'My God, my God, why hast thouforsaken this family!' A voice replied, 'I have taken them to myself,that they might have rest.' Emma was carried back to her room almostin a state of insensibility. Her oldest son approached the corpse, anddropped upon his knees, and laying his cheek against his father's andkissing him, exclaimed, 'Oh! my father! my father!' As for myself, Iwas swallowed up in the depth of my afflictions; and though my soulwas filled with horror past imagination, yet I was dumb, until I aroseagain to contemplate the spectacle before me. Oh! at that moment howmy mind flew through every scene of sorrow and distress which we hadpassed together, in which they had shown the innocence and sympathywhich filled their guileless hearts. As I looked upon their peaceful,smiling countenances, I seemed almost to hear them say, 'Mother, weepnot for us, we have overcome the world by love; we carried to themthe gospel, that their souls might be saved; they slew us for ourtestimony, and thus placed us beyond their power; their ascendency isfor a moment, ours is an eternal triumph.'

"I then thought upon the promise which I had received in Missouri, thatin five years Joseph should have power over all his enemies. The timehad elapsed, and the promise was fulfilled.

"I left the scene and returned to my room, to ponder upon thecalamities of my family. Soon after this Samuel said: 'Mother, I havehad a dreadful distress in my side ever since I was chased by the mob,and I think I have received some injury which is going to make mesick.' And indeed he was then not able to sit up, as he had been brokenof his rest, besides being dreadfully fatigued in the chase, which,joined to the shock occasioned by the death of his brothers, brought ona disease that never was removed.

"On the following day the funeral rites of the murdered ones wereattended to, in the midst of terror and alarm, for the mob had madetheir arrangements to burn the city that night, but by the diligence ofthe brethren, they were kept at bay until they became discouraged, andreturned to their homes.

"In a short time Samuel, who continued unwell, was confined to his bed,and lingering till the 30th of July, his spirit forsook its earthlytabernacle, and went to join his brothers, and the ancient martyrs, inthe paradise of God."

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE EXODUS—TO YOUR TENTS, O ISRAEL—SETTING OUT FROM THE BORDERS OFCIVILIZATION—MOVEMENTS OF THE CAMP OF ISRAEL—FIRST NIGHT AT SUGARCREEK—PRAISING GOD IN THE SONG AND DANCE—DEATH BY THE WAYSIDE.

The heroism of the Mormon women rose to more than tragic splendor inthe exodus. Only two circ*mstances after the martyrdom connect themstrongly with their beloved city. These attach to their consecrationsin, and adieus to, the temple, and the defence of Nauvoo by the remnantof the saints in a three days' battle with the enemy. Then came theevacuation of the city several months after the majority of the twelve,with the body of the Church, had taken up their march towards the RockyMountains.

Early in February, 1846, the saints began to cross the Mississippiin flat-boats, old lighters, and a number of skiffs, forming quitea fleet, which was at work night and day under the direction of thepolice.

On the 15th of the same month, Brigham Young, with his family, andothers, crossed the Mississippi from Nauvoo, and proceeded to the"Camps of Israel," as they were styled by the saints, which waited onthe west side of the river, a few miles on the way, for the coming oftheir leader. These were to form the vanguard of the migrating saints,who were to follow from the various States where they were located, orhad organized themselves into flourishing branches and conferences; andsoon after this period also began to pour across the Atlantic that tideof emigration from Europe, which has since swelled to the number ofabout one hundred thousand souls.

In Nauvoo the saints had heard the magic cry, "To your tents, OIsrael!" And in sublime faith and trust, such as history scarcelygives an example of, they had obeyed, ready to follow their leaderwhithersoever he might direct their pilgrim feet.

The Mormons were setting out, under their leader, from the borders ofcivilization, with their wives and their children, in broad daylight,before the eyes of ten thousand of their enemies, who would havepreferred their utter destruction to their "flight," notwithstandingthey had enforced it by treaties outrageous beyond description,inasmuch as the exiles were nearly all American born, many of themtracing their ancestors to the very founders of the nation. They had tomake a journey of fifteen hundred miles over trackless prairies, sandydeserts and rocky mountains, through bands of war-like Indians, who hadbeen driven, exasperated, towards the West; and at last to seek out andbuild up their Zion in valleys then unfruitful, in a solitary regionwhere the foot of the white man had scarcely trod. These, too, were tobe followed by the aged, the halt, the sick and the blind, the poor,who were to be helped by their little less destitute brethren, and thedelicate young mother with her new-born babe at her breast, and stillworse, for they were not only threatened with the extermination of thepoor remnant at Nauvoo, but news had arrived that the parent governmentdesigned to pursue their pioneers with troops, take from them theirarms, and scatter them, that they might perish by the way, and leavetheir bones bleaching in the wilderness.

At about noon, on the 1st of March, 1846, the "Camp of Israel" began tomove, and at four o'clock nearly four hundred wagons were on the way,traveling in a north-westerly direction. At night they camped again onSugar Creek, having advanced five miles. Scraping away the snow theypitched their tents upon the frozen ground; and, after building largefires in front, they made themselves as comfortable as possible underthe circ*mstances. Indeed, it is questionable whether any other peoplein the world could have cozened themselves into a happy state of mindamid such surroundings, with such a past fresh and bleeding in theirmemories, and with such a prospect as was before both themselves andthe remnant of their brethren left in Nauvoo to the tender merciesof the mob. In his diary, Apostle Orson Pratt wrote that night:"Notwithstanding our sufferings, hardships and privations, we arecheerful, and rejoice that we have the privilege of passing throughtribulation for the truth's sake."

These Mormon pilgrims, who took much consolation on their journey inlikening themselves to the Pilgrim fathers and mothers of this nation,whose descendants many of them, as we have seen, actually were, thatnight made their beds upon the frozen earth. "After bowing beforeour great Creator," wrote Apostle Pratt, "and offering up praiseand thanksgiving to him, and imploring his protection, we resignedourselves to the slumbers of the night."

But the weather was more moderate that night than it had been forseveral weeks previous. At their first encampment the thermometerat one time fell twenty degrees below zero, freezing over the greatMississippi. The survivors of that journey will tell you they neversuffered so much from the cold in their lives as they did on SugarCreek.

And what of the Mormon women? Around them circles almost a tragicromance. Fancy may find abundant subject for graphic story of thedevotion, the suffering, the matchless heroism of the sisters, in thetelling incident that nine children were born to them the first nightthey camped out on Sugar Creek, February 5th, 1846. That day theywept their farewells over their beloved city, or in the sanctuary ofthe temple, in which they had hoped to worship till the end of life,but which they left never to see again; that night suffering natureadministered to them the mixed cup of woman's supremest joy and pain.

But it was not prayer alone that sustained these pilgrims. Thepractical philosophy of their great leader, daily and hourly appliedto the exigencies of their case, did almost as much as their ownmatchless faith to sustain them from the commencement to the end oftheir journey. With that leader had very properly come to the "Campof Israel" several of the twelve and the chief bishops of the Church,but he also brought with him a quorum, humble in pretensions, yetuseful as high priests to the saints in those spirit-saddening days.It was Captain Pitt's brass band. That night the president had thebrethren and sisters out in the dance, and the music was as glad asat a merry-making. Several gentlemen from Iowa gathered to witnessthe strange, interesting scene. They could scarcely believe their ownsenses when they were told that these were Mormons in their "flightfrom civilization," bound they knew not whither, except where Godshould lead them "by the hand of his servant."

Thus in the song and the dance the saints praised the Lord. When thenight was fine, and supper, which consisted of the most primitive fare,was over, some of the men would clear away the snow, while others borelarge logs to the camp-fires in anticipation of the jubilee of theevening. Soon, in a sheltered place, the blazing fires would roar, andfifty couples, old and young, would join, in the merriest spirit, tothe music of the band, or the rival revelry of the solitary fiddle. Asthey journeyed along, too, strangers constantly visited their camps,and great was their wonderment to see the order, unity and good feelingthat prevailed in the midst of the people. By the camp-fires they wouldlinger, listening to the music and song; and they fain had taken partin the merriment had not those scenes been as sacred worship in theexodus of a God-fearing people. To fully understand the incidents herenarrated, the reader must couple in his mind the idea of an exodus withthe idea of an Israelitish jubilee; for it was a jubilee to the Mormonsto be delivered from their enemies at any price.

At one point on their journey the citizens of a town near by came overto camp to invite the "Nauvoo Band," under Captain Pitt, to come totheir village for a concert. There was some music left in the brethren.They had not forgotten how to sing the "songs of Zion," so they madethe good folks of the village merry, and for a time forgot their ownsorrows.

These incidents of travel were varied by an occasional birth in camp.There was also the death of a lamented lady early on the journey. Shewas a gentle wife of a famous Mormon missionary, Orson Spencer, once aBaptist minister of excellent standing. She had requested the brethrento take her with them. She would not be left behind. Life was too farexhausted by the persecutions to survive the exodus, but she could yethave the honor of dying in that immortal circ*mstance of her people.Several others of the sisters also died at the very starting. Ah, whoshall fitly picture the lofty heroism of the Mormon women!

CHAPTER XXXII.

CONTINUATION OF ELIZA R. SNOW'S NARRATIVE—ADVENT OF A LITTLE STRANGERUNDER ADVERSE CIRc*msTANCES—DORMITORY, SITTING-ROOM, OFFICE, ETC.,IN A BUGGY—"THE CAMP"—INTERESTING EPISODES OF THE JOURNEY—GRAPHICDESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD OF PROCEDURE—MOUNT PISGAH—WINTER QUARTERS.

The subject and action of the exodus thus opened, we shall let thesisters chiefly tell their own stories of that extraordinary historicperiod. Eliza R. Snow, continuing her narrative, says:

"We had been preceded by thousands, and I was informed that on thefirst night of the encampment nine children were born into the world,and from that time, as we journeyed onward, mothers gave birth tooffspring under almost every variety of circ*mstances imaginable,except those to which they had been accustomed; some in tents, othersin wagons—in rain-storms and in snow-storms. I heard of one birthwhich occurred under the rude shelter of a hut, the sides of which wereformed of blankets fastened to poles stuck in the ground, with a barkroof through which the rain was dripping. Kind sisters stood holdingdishes to catch the water as it fell, thus protecting the new-comerand its mother from a shower-bath as the little innocent first enteredon the stage of human life; and through faith in the great ruler ofevents, no harm resulted to either.

"Let it be remembered that the mothers of these wilderness-born babeswere not savages, accustomed to roam the forest and brave the stormand tempest—those who had never known the comforts and delicacies ofcivilization and refinement. They were not those who, in the wildsof nature, nursed their offspring amid reeds and rushes, or in therecesses of rocky caverns; most of them were born and educated inthe Eastern States—had there embraced the gospel as taught by Jesusand his apostles, and, for the sake of their religion, had gatheredwith the saints, and under trying circ*mstances had assisted, bytheir faith, patience and energies, in making Nauvoo what its nameindicates, 'the beautiful.' There they had lovely homes, decorated withflowers and enriched with choice fruit trees, just beginning to yieldplentifully.

"To these homes, without lease or sale, they had just bade a finaladieu, and with what little of their substance could be packed intoone, two, and in some instances, three wagons, had started out,desertward, for—where? To this question the only response at that timewas, God knows.

"From the 13th to the 18th we had several snowstorms and very freezingweather, which bridged the Mississippi sufficiently for crossingheavily loaded wagons on the ice. We were on timbered land, hadplenty of wood for fuel, and the men rolled heavy logs together, andkept large fires burning, around the bright blaze of which, when notnecessarily otherwise engaged, they warmed themselves. The women, whenthe duties of cooking and its et ceteras did not prompt them out,huddled with their children into wagons and carriages for protectionfrom the chilling breezes.

"My dormitory, sitting-room, writing-office, and frequentlydining-room, was the buggy in which Sister Markham, her littleson David, and I, rode. One of my brother's wives had one of theold-fashioned foot-stoves, which proved very useful. She frequentlybrought it to me, filled with live coals from one of those mammothfires—a kindness which I remember with gratitude; but withal, Ifrosted my feet enough to occasion inconvenience for weeks afterwards.

"When all who designed traveling in one camp, which numbered aboutfive thousand, had crossed the river, the organization of the wholeinto hundreds, fifties, and tens, commenced, and afterwards wascompleted for the order of traveling; with pioneers, commissaries, andsuperintendents to each hundred, and captains over fifties and tens.It was impossible for us to move in a body; and one company filed offafter another; and, on the first of March we broke camp and moved outfour or five miles and put up for the night, where at first view theprospect was dreary enough. It was nearly sunset—very cold, and theground covered with snow to the depth of four or five inches; but withbrave hearts and strong hands, and a supply of spades and shovels, themen removed the snow, and suddenly transformed the bleak desert sceneinto a living town, with cloth houses, log-heap fires, and a multitudeof cheerful inhabitants. The next day, with weather moderated, theremainder of the original camp arrived with the Nauvoo band, and tentedon the bluff, which overlooked our cozy dell, and at night stirringstrains of music filled the atmosphere, on which they were waftedabroad, and re-echoed on the responsive breezes.

"Lo! a mighty host of people,
Tented on the western shore
Of the noble Mississippi,
They, for weeks, were crossing o'er.
At the last day's dawn of winter,
Bound with frost and wrapped with snow,
Hark! the sound is, 'Up, and onward!
Camp of Zion, rise and go.'

"All, at once, is life and motion—
Trunks and beds and baggage fly;
Oxen yoked and horses harnessed—
Tents, rolled up, are passing by.
Soon the carriage wheels are rolling
Onward to a woodland dell,
Where, at sunset, all are quartered—
Camp of Israel, all is well.

"Soon the tents are thickly clustered—
Neighboring smokes together blend—
Supper served—the hymns are chanted,
And the evening prayers ascend.
Last of all, the guards are stationed;
Heavens! must guards be serving here?
Who would harm the homeless exiles?
Camp of Zion, never fear.

"Where is freedom? Where is justice?
Both have from the nation fled,
And the blood of martyred prophets
Must be answered on its head.
Therefore, 'To your tents, O, Israel,'
Like your Father Abram dwell;
God will execute his purpose—
Camp of Zion, all is well.

"From time to time, companies of men either volunteered or weredetailed from the journeying camps, and, by going off the route,obtained jobs of work for which they received food in payment, to meetthe necessities of those who were only partially supplied, and alsograin for the teams.

"As we passed through a town on the Des Moines river, the inhabitantsmanifested as much curiosity as though they were viewing a travelingmenagerie of wild animals. Their levity and apparent heartlessnesswas, to me, proof of profound ignorance. How little did those peoplecomprehend our movement, and the results the Almighty had in view.

"On the 2d of March we again moved forward—and here I will transcribefrom my journal: 'March 3d—Our encampment this night may trulybe recorded as a miracle, performed on natural, and yet peculiarprinciples—a city reared in a few hours, and everything in operationthat actual living required, and many additional things, which, if notextravagancies, were certainly convenient. The next day, great numbersof the people of the adjacent country were to be seen patrolling thenameless streets of our anonymous city, with astonishment visible intheir countenances. In the evening, Sister Markham and I took a strollabroad, and in the absence of names to the streets, and numbers to thetents, we lost our way, and had to procure a guide to pilot us home.'

"At this point Brother Markham exchanged our buggy for a lumber wagon,and in performing an act of generosity to others, so filled it as togive Sister M. and me barely room to sit in front. And when we startedagain, Sister M. and I were seated on a chest with brass-kettle andsoap-box for our footstools, and were happy in being as comfortablysituated as we were; and well we might be, for many of our sisterswalked all day, rain or shine, and at night prepared suppers for theirfamilies, with no sheltering tents; and then made their beds in andunder wagons that contained their earthly all. How frequently, withintense sympathy and admiration, I watched the mother, when, forgetfulof her own fatigue and destitution, she took unwearied pains to fixup, in the most palatable form, the allotted portion of food, and asshe dealt it out was cheering the hearts of her homeless children,while, as I truly believed, her own was lifted to God in fervent prayerthat their lives might be preserved, and, above all, that they mighthonor him in the religion for which she was an exile from the homeonce sacred to her, for the sake of those precious ones that God hadcommitted to her care. We were living on rations—our leaders havingcounseled that arrangement, to prevent an improvident use of provisionthat would result in extreme destitution.

"We were traveling in the season significantly termed 'between hayand grass,' and the teams, feeding mostly on browse, wasted in flesh,and had but little strength; and it was painful, at times, to see thepoor creatures straining every joint and ligature, doing their utmost,and looking the very picture of discouragement. When crossing the lowlands, where spring rains had soaked the mellow soil, they frequentlystalled on level ground, and we could move only by coupling teams,which made very slow progress. From the effects of chills and fever,I had not strength to walk much, or I should not have been guilty ofriding after those half-famished animals. It would require a painter'spencil and skill to represent our encampment when we stopped, as wefrequently did, to give the jaded teams a chance to recuperate, and usa chance to straighten up matters and things generally. Here is a bitfrom my journal:

"'Our town of yesterday has grown to a city. It is laid out in a halfhollow square, fronting east and south on a beautiful level—with,on one side, an almost perpendicular, and on the other, a gradualdescent into a deep ravine, which defines it on the west and north. Atnine o'clock this morning I noticed a blacksmith's shop in operation,and everything, everywhere, indicating real life and local industry.Only the sick are idle; not a stove or cooking utensil but is calledinto requisition; while tubs, washboards, etc., are one-half miledistant, where washing is being done by the side of a stream of waterbeneath the shade of waving branches. I join Sister M. in the washingdepartment, and get a buggy ride to the scene of action, where theboys have the fire in waiting—while others of our mess stop in thecity and do the general work of housekeeping; and for our dinner sendus a generous portion of their immense pot-pie, designed to satisfythe hunger of about thirty stomachs. It is made of rabbits, squirrels,quails, prairie chickens, etc., trophies of the success of our hunters,of whom each division has its quota. Thus from time to time we aresupplied with fresh meat, which does much in lengthening out our flour.Occasionally our jobbers take bacon in payment, but what I have seen ofthat article is so rancid that nothing short of prospective starvationwould tempt me to eat it.'

"On the 20th of April we arrived at the head waters of the Grand River,where it was decided to make a farming establishment, to be a restingand recruiting place for the saints who should follow us. Elders Bent,Benson and Fullmer were appointed to preside over it.

"The first of June found us in a small grove on the middle fork ofGrand River. This place, over which Elders Rich and Huntington werecalled to preside, was named Pisgah; and from this point most of thedivisions filed off, one after another. Colonel Markham appropriatedall of his teams and one wagon to assist the twelve and others topursue the journey westward, while he returned to the States for afresh supply. Before he left, we were in a house made of logs laidup 'cob fashion,' with from three to eight inches open space betweenthem—roofed by stretching a tent cloth over the ridgepole andfastening it at the bottom, on the outside, which, with blankets andcarpets put up on the north end, as a shield from the cold wind, madeus as comfortable as possible.

"Companies were constantly arriving and others departing; whilethose who intended stopping till the next spring were busily engagedin making gardens, and otherwise preparing for winter—shelteringthemselves in rude log huts for temporary residence.

"The camps were strung along several hundred miles in length from frontto rear, when, about the last of June, one of the most remarkablyunreasonable requisitions came officially to President Young, from theUnited States government, demanding five hundred efficient men to bedrawn from our traveling camps, to enter the United States militaryservice, and march immediately to California and assist in the war withMexico. Upon the receipt of this demand, President Young and Heber C.Kimball, with due loyalty to an unprotective government, under whichwe had been exiled from our homes, started immediately from theirrespective divisions, on horseback, calling for volunteers, from oneextremity of our line to the other; and in an almost incredibly shorttime the five hundred men, who constituted the celebrated 'MormonBattalion,' were under marching orders, commanded by Col. Allen, of theUnited States Infantry. It was our 'country's call,' and the question,'Can we spare five hundred of our most able-bodied men?' was not asked.But it was a heavy tax—a cruel draft—one which imposed accumulatedburdens on those who remained, especially our women, who were under thenecessity of driving their own teams from the several points from whichtheir husbands and sons left, to the Salt Lake Valley; and some of themwalked the whole of that tedious distance.

On the 2d of August Brother Markham arrived from the East with teams;and on the 19th we bade good-bye to Mount Pisgah. Brother M. was minusone teamster, and as Mrs. M. and I were to constitute the occupants ofone wagon, with a gentle yoke of oxen, she proposed to drive. But, soonafter we started, she was taken sick, and, of course, the driving fellto me. Had it been a horse-team I should have been amply qualified, butdriving oxen was entirely a new business; however, I took the whip andvery soon learned to 'haw and gee,' and acquitted myself, as teamster,quite honorably, driving most of the way to winter quarters. The cattlewere so well trained that I could sit and drive. At best, however, itwas fatiguing—the family being all sick by turns, and at times I hadto cook, as well as nurse the sick; all of which I was thankful forstrength to perform.

"On the 27th we crossed the Missouri at Council Bluffs, and the nextday came up with the general camp at winter quarters. From exposure andhardship I was taken sick soon after with a slow fever, that terminatedin chills and fever, and as I lay sick in my wagon, where my bed wasexposed to heavy autumnal rains, and sometimes wet nearly from head tofoot, I realized that I was near the gate of death; but my trust wasin God, and his power preserved me. Many were sick around us, and noone could be properly cared for under the circ*mstances. Although, asbefore stated, I was exposed to the heavy rains while in the wagon,worse was yet to come.

"On the 28th a company, starting out for supplies, required the wagonthat Sister M. and I had occupied; and the log house we moved intowas but partly chinked and mudded, leaving large crevices for thewind—then cold and blustering. This hastily-erected hut was roofed onone side, with a tent-cloth thrown over the other, and, withal, wasminus a chimney. A fire, which was built on one side, filled the housewith smoke until it became unendurable. Sister Markham had partiallyrecovered from her illness, but was quite feeble. I was not able to situp much, and, under those circ*mstances, not at all, for the fire hadto be dispensed with. Our cooking was done out of doors until after themiddle of November, when a chimney was made, the house enclosed, andother improvements added, which we were prepared to appreciate.

"About the last of December I received the sad news of the deathof my mother. She had lived to a good age, and had been a patientparticipator in the scenes of suffering consequent on the persecutionsof the saints. She sleeps in peace; and her grave, and that of myfather, whose death preceded hers less than a year, are side by side,in Walnut Grove, Knox county, Ill.

"At winter quarters our extensive encampment was divided into wards,and so organized that meetings for worship were attended in the severalwards. A general order was established and cheerfully carried out, thateach able-bodied man should either give the labor of each tenth day,or contribute an equivalent, for the support of the destitute, and toaid those families whose men were in the battalion, and those who werewidows indeed.

"Our exposures and privations caused much sickness, and sicknessincreased destitution; but in the midst of all this, we enjoyed a greatportion of the spirit of God, and many seasons of refreshing fromhis presence, with rich manifestations of the gifts and power of thegospel. My life, as well as the lives of many others, was preserved bythe power of God, through faith in him, and not on natural principlesas comprehended by man."

CHAPTER XXXIII.

BATHSHEBA W. SMITH'S STORY OF THE LAST DAYS OF NAUVOO—SHE RECEIVESCELESTIAL MARRIAGE AND GIVES HER HUSBAND FIVE "HONORABLE YOUNGWOMEN" AS WIVES—HER DESCRIPTION OF THE EXODUS AND JOURNEY TO WINTERQUARTERS—DEATH OF ONE OF THE WIVES—SISTER HORNE AGAIN.

Sister Bathsheba W. Smith's story of the last days of Nauvoo, and theintroduction of polygamy, and also her graphic detail of the exodus,will be of interest at this point. She says:

"Immediately after my marriage, my husband, as one of the apostles ofthe Church, started on a mission to some of the Eastern States.

"In the year 1840 he was in England, and again went East on missionin 1843, going as far as Boston, Mass., preaching and attendingconferences by the way. He returned in the fall; soon after which, wewere blessed by receiving our endowments, and were sealed under theholy law of celestial marriage. I heard the prophet Joseph charge thetwelve with the duty and responsibility of administering the ordinancesof endowments and sealing for the living and the dead. I met many timeswith Brother Joseph and others who had received their endowments, incompany with my husband, in an upper room dedicated for that purpose,and prayed with them repeatedly in those meetings. I heard the prophetgive instructions concerning plural marriage; he counseled the sistersnot to trouble themselves in consequence of it, that all would beright, and the result would be for their glory and exaltation.

"On the 5th of May, 1844, my husband again started on mission, and,after he left, a terrible persecution was commenced in the city ofNauvoo, which brought about the barbarous murder of our belovedprophet, and his brother, the patriarch. The death of these men ofGod caused a general mourning which I cannot describe. My husbandreturned about the first of August, and soon the rest of the twelvereturned. The times were very exciting, but under the wise counsels ofthe twelve, and others, the excitement abated. The temple was so farfinished in the fall of 1845, that thousands received their endowments.I officiated for some time as priestess.

"Being thoroughly convinced, as well as my husband, that the doctrineof plurality of wives was from God, and having a fixed determinationto attain to celestial glory, I felt to embrace the whole gospel,and believing that it was for my husband's exaltation that he shouldobey the revelation on celestial marriage, that he might attain tokingdoms, thrones, principalities and powers, firmly believing thatI should participate with him in all his blessings, glory and honor;accordingly, within the last year, like Sarah of old, I had given to myhusband five wives, good, virtuous, honorable young women. They all hadtheir home with us; I being proud of my husband, and loving him verymuch, knowing him to be a man of God, and believing he would not lovethem less because he loved me more for doing this. I had joy in havinga testimony that what I had done was acceptable to my Father in Heaven.

"The fall of 1845 found Nauvoo, as it were, one vast mechanic shop, asnearly every family was engaged in making wagons. Our parlor was usedas a paint-shop in which to paint wagons. All were making preparationsto leave the ensuing winter. On the 9th of February, 1846, in companywith many others, my husband took me and my two children, and someof the other members of his family (the remainder to follow as soonas the weather would permit), and we crossed the Mississippi, toseek a home in the wilderness. Thus we left a comfortable home, theaccumulation and labor of four years, taking with us but a few things,such as clothing, bedding and provisions, leaving everything else forour enemies. We were obliged to stay in camp for a few weeks, on SugarCreek, because of the weather being very cold. The Mississippi frozeover so that hundreds of families crossed on the ice. As soon as theweather permitted, we moved on West. I will not try to describe how wetraveled through storms of snow, wind and rain—how roads had to bemade, bridges built, and rafts constructed—how our poor animals had todrag on, day after day, with scanty feed—nor how our camps sufferedfrom poverty, sickness and death. We were consoled in the midst ofthese hardships by seeing the power of God manifested through thelaying on of the hands of the elders, causing the sick to be healed andthe lame to walk. The Lord was with us, and his power was made manifestdaily. At the head of a slough where we camped several days, we werevisited by the Mus-Quaw-ke band of Indians, headed by Pow-Sheek, astately looking man, wearing a necklace of bear's claws. They werefierce looking men, decorated as they were for war; but they manifesteda friendly spirit, and traded with us. The next move of our camp was tothe Missouri river bank. The cattle were made to swim, and our wagonswere taken over on a flat-boat that our people had built. We made twoencampments after we crossed the river, when we found it too late toproceed farther that year. The last encampment was named Cutler's Park.The camps contained about one thousand wagons. Our men went to workcutting and stacking the coarse prairie grass for hay. The site forour winter quarters was selected and surveyed, and during the fall andwinter some seven hundred log-cabins were built; also about one hundredand fifty dugouts or caves, which are cabins half under ground. Thiswas on the Missouri river, about six miles above the present city ofOmaha. My husband built four cabins and a dug-out. Our chimnies weremade of sod, cut with a spade in the form of a brick; clay was poundedin to make our fireplaces and hearths. In our travels the winds hadliterally blown our tent to pieces, so that we were glad to get intocabins. The most of the roofs were made of timber, covered with clay.The floors were split and hewed puncheon; the doors were generally madeof the same material, of cottonwood and linn. Many houses were coveredwith oak-shakes, fastened on with weight-poles. A few were covered withshingles. A log meeting-house was built, about twenty-four by fortyfeet, and the hewn floor was frequently used for dancing. A grist-millwas built and run by water-power, and in addition to this, severalhorse-mills and hand-mills were used to grind corn.

"Our scanty and only supply of bread, consisting generally of corn, wasmostly brought from Missouri, a distance of some one hundred and fiftymiles, where it fortunately was plentiful and cheap. The camp havingbeen deprived of vegetable food the past year, many were attacked withscurvy. The exposure, together with the want of necessary comforts,caused fevers and ague, and affections of the lungs. Our own familywere not exempt. Nancy Clement, one of my husband's wives, died; alsoher child. She was a woman of excellent disposition, and died in fullfaith in the gospel."

An incident or two of Sister Horne's story may very properly accompanythe foregoing. She says:

"I took my last look, on earth, of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. May I neverexperience another day similar to that! I do not wish to recall thescene but for a moment. That terrible martyrdom deeply scarred thehearts and bewildered the senses of all our people. We could scarcelyrealize the awful event, except in the agony of our feelings; norcomprehend the dark hour, beyond the solemn loneliness which pervadedthe city and made the void in our stricken hearts still more terribleto bear. For the moment the sun of our life had set. The majority ofthe apostles were far from home, and we could do no more than wake theindignation of heaven against the murderers by our lamentations, andweep and pray for divine support in that awful hour.

"Two years had not passed away after the martyrdom, before the saintswere forced by their enemies to hasten in their flight from Nauvoo."

With the Camp of Israel, Sister Horne and family journeyed to winterquarters, sharing the common experience of the saints, so welldescribed by those who have preceded her.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

THE STORY OF THE HUNTINGTON SISTERS CONTINUED—ZINA D. YOUNG'S PATHETICPICTURE OF THE MARTYRDOM—JOSEPH'S MANTLE FALLS UPON BRIGHAM—THEEXODUS—A BIRTH ON THE BANKS OF THE CHARITON—DEATH OF FATHERHUNTINGTON.

"It was June 27th, 1844," writes Zina D. Young (one of the Huntingtonsisters, with whom the reader is familiar), "and it was rumored thatJoseph was expected in from Carthage. I did not know to the contraryuntil I saw the Governor and his guards descending the hill by thetemple, a short distance from my house. Their swords glistened inthe sun, and their appearance startled me, though I knew not what itforeboded. I exclaimed to a neighbor who was with me, 'What is thetrouble! It seems to me that the trees and the grass are in mourning!'A fearful silence pervaded the city, and after the shades of nightgathered around us it was thick darkness. The lightnings flashed, thecattle bellowed, the dogs barked, and the elements wailed. What aterrible night that was to the saints, yet we knew nothing of the darktragedy which had been enacted by the assassins at Carthage.

"The morning dawned; the sad news came; but as yet I had not heard ofthe terrible event. I started to go to Mother Smith's, on an errand. AsI approached I saw men gathered around the door of the mansion. A fewrods from the house I met Jesse P. Harmon. 'Have you heard the news?'he asked. 'What news?' I inquired. 'Joseph and Hyrum are dead!' HadI believed it, I could not have walked any farther. I hastened to mybrother Dimick. He was sitting in his house, mourning and weeping aloudas only strong men can weep. All was confirmed in a moment. My pencannot utter my grief nor describe my horror. But after awhile a changecame, as though the released spirits of the departed sought to comfortus in that hour of dreadful bereavement.

"'The healer was there, pouring balm on my heart,
And wiping the tears from my eyes;
He was binding the chain that was broken in twain,
And fastening it firm in the skies.'

"Never can it be told in words what the saints suffered in those daysof trial; but the sweet spirit—the comforter—did not forsake them;and when the twelve returned, the mantle of Joseph fell upon Brigham.

"When I approached the stand (on the occasion when Sidney Rigdon wasstriving for the guardianship of the Church), President Young wasspeaking. It was the voice of Joseph Smith—not that of Brigham Young.His very person was changed. The mantle was truly given to another.There was no doubting this in the minds of that vast assembly. Allwitnessed the transfiguration, and even to-day thousands bear testimonythereof. I closed my eyes. I could have exclaimed, I know that isJoseph Smith's voice! Yet I knew he had gone. But the same spirit waswith the people; the comforter remained.

"The building of the temple was hurried on. The saints did not slackentheir energies. They had a work to do in that temple for their dead,and blessings to obtain for themselves. They had learned from theprophet Joseph the meaning of Paul's words, 'Why then are ye baptizedfor the dead, if the dead rise not at all?'

"Passing on to the exodus. My family were informed that we were toleave with the first company. So on the 9th of February, 1846, on aclear cold day, we left our home at Nauvoo. All that we possessed wasnow in our wagon. Many of our things remained in the house, unsold, formost of our neighbors were, like ourselves, on the wing.

"Arrived at Sugar Creek, we there first saw who were the brave, thegood, the self-sacrificing. Here we had now openly the first examplesof noble-minded, virtuous women, bravely commencing to live in thenewly-revealed order of celestial marriage.

"'Women; this is my husband's wife!'

"Here, at length, we could give this introduction, without fear ofreproach, or violation of man-made laws, seeing we were bound for therefuge of the Rocky Mountains, where no Gentile society existed, to askof Israel, 'What doest thou?'

"President Young arrived on Sugar Creek, and at once commenced toorganize the camp. George A. Smith was the captain of our company offifty.

"I will pass over the tedious journey to the Chariton river, in theface of the fierce winds of departing winter, and amid rains thatfairly inundated the land. By day we literally waded through mud andwater, and at night camped in anything but pleasant places.

"On the bank of the Chariton an incident occurred ever eventful in thelife of woman. I had been told in the temple that I should acknowledgeGod even in a miracle in my deliverance in woman's hour of trouble,which hour had now come. We had traveled one morning about five miles,when I called for a halt in our inarch. There was but one person withme—Mother Lyman, the aunt of George A. Smith; and there on the bank ofthe Chariton I was delivered of a fine son. On the morning of the 23d,Mother Lyman gave me a cup of coffee and a biscuit. What a luxury forspecial remembrance! Occasionally the wagon had to be stopped, that Imight take breath. Thus I journeyed on. But I did not mind the hardshipof my situation, for my life had been preserved, and my babe seemed sobeautiful.

"We reached Mount Pisgah in May. I was now with my father, who had beenappointed to preside over this temporary settlement of the saints. Butan unlooked for event soon came. One evening Parley P. Pratt arrived,bringing the word from headquarters that the Mormon battalion must beraised in compliance with the requisition of the government upon ourpeople. And what did this news personally amount to, to me? That I hadonly my father to look after me now; for I had parted from my husband;my eldest brother, Dimick Huntington, with his family, had gone intothe battalion, and every man who could be spared was also enlisted.It was impossible for me to go on to winter quarters, so I tarried atMount Pisgah with my father.

"But, alas! a still greater trial awaited me! The call for thebattalion had left many destitute. They had to live in wagons. Butworse than destitution stared us in the face. Sickness came upon usand death invaded our camp. Sickness was so prevalent and deaths sofrequent that enough help could not be had to make coffins, and many ofthe dead were wrapped in their grave-clothes and buried with split logsat the bottom of the grave and brush at the sides, that being all thatcould be done for them by their mourning friends. Too soon it becamemy turn to mourn. My father was taken sick, and in eighteen days hedied. Just before he left us for his better home he raised himself uponhis elbow, and said: 'Man is like the flower or the grass—cut downin an hour! Father, unto thee do I commend my spirit!' This said, hesweetly went to rest with the just, a martyr for the truth; for, likemy dear mother, who died in the expulsion from Missouri, he died in theexpulsion from Nauvoo. Sad was my heart. I alone of all his childrenwas there to mourn.

"It was a sad day at Mount Pisgah, when my father was buried. The poorand needy had lost a friend—the kingdom of God a faithful servant.There upon the hillside was his resting place. The graveyard was sonear that I could hear the wolves howling as they visited the spot;those hungry monsters, who fain would have unsepulchred those sacredbones!

"Those days of trial and grief were succeeded by my journey to winterquarters, where in due time I arrived, and was welcomed by PresidentYoung into his family."

CHAPTER XXXV.

THE PIONEERS—THE PIONEER COMPANIES THAT FOLLOWED—METHOD OF THEMARCH—MRS. HORNE ON THE PLAINS—THE EMIGRANT'S POST-OFFICE—PENTECOSTSBY THE WAY—DEATH AS THEY JOURNEYED—A FEAST IN THE DESERT—"AUNTLOUISA" AGAIN.

Very properly President Young and a chosen cohort of apostles andelders formed the band of pioneers who bore the standard of theirpeople to the Rocky Mountains. On the 7th of April, 1847, that famouscompany left winter quarters in search of another Zion and gatheringplace. Three women only went with them. These must be honored with alasting record. They were Clara Decker, one of the wives of BrighamYoung; her mother, and Ellen Sanders, one of the wives of H. C. Kimball.

Yet the sisters as a mass were scarcely less the co-pioneers of thatapostolic band, for they followed in companies close upon its track. Itwas with them faith, not sight. They continued their pilgrimage to theWest early in June. On the 12th, Captain Jedediah M. Grant's companymoved out in the advance.

"After we started out from winter quarters," says Sister Eliza Snow,"three or four days were consumed in maneuvering and making a goodready, and then, at an appointed place for rendezvous, a generalmeeting was held around a liberty-pole erected for the purpose, andan organization effected, similar to that entered into after leavingNauvoo.

"As we moved forward, one division after another, sometimes infifties, sometimes in tens, but seldom traveling in hundreds, wepassed and repassed each other, but at night kept as nearly compactas circ*mstances would admit, especially when in the Indian country.East of Fort Laramie many of the Sioux Nation mixed with our travelingcamps, on their way to the fort, where a national council was insession. We had no other trouble with them than the loss of a fewcooking utensils, which, when unobserved, they lightly fingered; exceptin one instance, when our ten had been left in the rear to repair abroken wagon, until late in the evening. It was bright moonlight, andas we were passing one of their encampments, they formed in a lineclosely by the roadside, and when our teams passed, they simultaneouslyshook their blankets vigorously on purpose to frighten the teams andcause a stampede, probably with the same object in view as whiterobbers have in ditching railroad trains. However, no serious injuryoccurred, although the animals were dreadfully frightened."

Sister Horne thus relates some incidents of the journey:

"Apostle John Taylor traveled in the company that my family was with,Bishop Hunter being captain of the company of one hundred, and BishopFoutz and my husband being captains of fifties. The officers proposed,for safety in traveling through the Indian country, that the twofifties travel side by side, which was agreed to, Bishop Foutz's fiftytaking the north side. For some days the wind blew from the south withconsiderable force, covering the fifty on the north with dust fromour wagons. This continued for two weeks; it was then agreed that thetwo companies should shift positions in order to give us our fairproportion of the dust; but in a day or two afterwards the wind shiftedto the north, thus driving the dust on to the same company as before.After having some good natured badinage over the circ*mstance, ourcompany changed with the unfortunates and took its share of the dust.

"One day a company of Indians met us and manifested a desire to trade,which we were glad to do; but as the brethren were exchanging cornfor buffalo robes, the squaws were quietly stealing everything theycould lay hands upon. Many bake-kettles, skillets and frying-pans weremissing when we halted that night.

"As our wagons were standing while the trading was going on, one Indiantook a great fancy to my little girl, who was sitting on my knee, andwanted to buy her, offering me a pony. I told him 'no trade.' He thenbrought another pony, and still another, but I told him no; so hebrought the fourth, and gave me to understand that they were all good,and that the last one was especially good for chasing buffalo. Thesituation was becoming decidedly embarrassing, when several more wagonsdrew near, dispersing the crowd of Indians that had gathered around me,and attracting the attention of my persistent patron."

The emigrant's post-offices are thus spoken of by Sister Eliza:

"Much of the time we were on an untrodden way; but when we came on thetrack of the pioneers, as we occasionally did, and read the date oftheir presence, with an 'all well' accompaniment, on a bleached buffaloskull, we had a general time of rejoicing."

For years those bleached buffalo skulls were made the news agents ofthe Mormon emigrations. The morning newspaper of to-day is not readwith so much eagerness as were those dry bones on the plains, tellingof family and friends gone before.

It was a long, tedious journey to those pioneer sisters, yet they hadpentecosts even on their pilgrimage. Again quoting from Sister Eliza:

"Many were the moon and starlight evenings when, as we circled aroundthe blazing fire, and sang our hymns of devotion, and songs of praiseto him who knows the secrets of all hearts, the sound of our unitedvoices reverberated from hill to hill, and echoing through the silentexpanse, seemed to fill the vast concave above, while the glory of Godseemed to rest on all around. Even now while I write, the remembranceof those sacredly romantic and vivifying scenes calls them up afresh,and arouses a feeling of response that language is inadequate toexpress."

But there were dark days also. The story changes to sickness in thewagons and death by the wayside:

"Death," says Sister Eliza, "made occasional inroads among us. Nursingthe sick in tents and wagons was a laborious service; but the patientfaithfulness with which it was performed is, no doubt, registered inthe archives above, as an unfading memento of brotherly and sisterlylove. The burial of the dead by the wayside was a sad office. Forhusbands, wives and children to consign the cherished remains ofloved ones to a lone, desert grave, was enough to try the firmestheartstrings.

"Although every care and kindness possible under the circ*mstanceswere extended to her, the delicate constitution of Mrs. Jedediah M.Grant was not sufficient for the hardships of the journey. I was withher much, previous to her death, which occurred so near to Salt LakeValley, that by forced drives, night and day, her remains were broughtthrough for interment. Not so, however, with her beautiful babe ofeight or ten months, whose death preceded her's about two weeks; it wasburied in the desert."

The companies now began to hear of the pioneers and the location of"Great Salt Lake City." On the 4th of August several of the Mormonbattalion were met returning from the Mexican war. They were husbandsand sons of women in this division. There was joy indeed in themeeting. Next came an express from the valley, and finally the mainbody of the pioneers, returning to winter quarters. On the Sweetwater,Apostle Taylor made for them a royal feast, spoken of to this day.Sisters Taylor, Horne, and others of our leading pioneer women,sustained the honors of that occasion.

Early in October the companies, one after another, reached the valley.

The next year many of the pioneers made their second journey to themountains, and with them now came Daniel H. Wells, the story of whosewife, Louisa, shall close these journeys of the pioneers.

Although exceedingly desirous of crossing the plains with the firstcompany of that year, her father was unable to do more than barelyprovide the two wagons necessary to carry his family and provisions,and the requisite number of oxen to draw them. The luxury of an extrateamster to care for the second wagon was out of the question; andso Louisa, although but twenty-two years of age, and although shehad never driven an ox in her life, heroically undertook the task ofdriving one of the outfits, and caring for a younger brother and sister.

The picture of her starting is somewhat amusing. After seeing that herallotment of baggage and provisions, along with her little brother andsister, had been stowed in the wagon; with a capacious old-fashionedsun-bonnet on her head, a parasol in one hand and an ox-whip in theother, she placed herself by the side of her leading yoke of oxen andbravely set her face westward. Matters went well enough for a shortdistance, considering her inexperience with oxen; but the rain beganto pour, and shortly her parasol was found to be utterly inadequate,so in disgust she threw it into the wagon, and traveled on in the wetgrass amid the pouring rain. Presently the paste-board stiffenersof her sun-bonnet began to succumb to the persuasive moisture, andbefore night, draggled and muddy, and thoroughly wet to the skin, herappearance was fully as forlorn as her condition was pitiable.

This was truly a discouraging start, but nothing daunted she pressed onwith the company, and never allowed her spirits to flag. Arrived at theSweetwater, her best yoke of oxen died from drinking the alkali water,and for a substitute she was obliged to yoke up a couple of cows.Then came the tug of war; for so irregular a proceeding was not to betolerated for a moment by the cows, except under extreme compulsion.More unwilling and refractory laborers were probably never found, andfrom that point onward Louisa proceeded only by dint of the constantand vigorous persuasions of her whip.

During the journey a Mrs. McCarthy was confined; and it was considerednecessary that Louisa should nurse her. But it was impossible for herto leave her team during the day; so it was arranged that she shouldattend the sick woman at night. For three weeks she dropped her whipeach night when the column halted, and leaving her team to be cared forby the brethren, repaired to Mrs. McCarthy's wagon, nursing her throughthe night, and then seizing her whip again as the company moved forwardin the morning.

However, she maintained good health throughout the journey, and safelypiloted her heterodox outfit into the valley along with the rest of thecompany.

On the journey, after wearing out the three pairs of shoes withwhich she was provided, she was obliged to sew rags on her feet forprotection. But each day these would soon wear through, and often sheleft bloody tracks on the cruel stones.

It was on this journey that she first became acquainted with Gen.Wells, to whom she was married shortly after they reached the valley.As the senior wife of that distinguished gentleman, "Aunt Louisa" iswell known throughout Utah; and as a most unselfish and unostentatiousdispenser of charity, and an ever-ready friend and helper of the sickand needy, her name is indelibly engraved on the hearts of thousands.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

BATHSHEBA W. SMITH'S STORY CONTINUED—THE PIONEERS RETURN TO WINTERQUARTERS—A NEW PRESIDENCY CHOSEN—OLIVER COWDERY RETURNS TO THECHURCH—GATHERING THE REMNANT FROM WINTER QUARTERS—DESCRIPTION OF HERHOUSE ON WHEELS.

Continuing her narration of affairs at winter quarters, SisterBathsheba W. Smith says:

"As soon as the weather became warm, and the gardens began to produceearly vegetables, the sick began to recover. We felt considerableanxiety for the safety of the pioneers, and for their success infinding us a home. About the first of December, to our great joy, anumber of them returned. They had found a place in the heart of theGreat Basin, beyond the Rocky Mountains, so barren, dry, desolateand isolated that we thought even the cupidity of religious bigotswould not be excited by it. The pioneers had laid out a city, and hadcommenced a fort; and some seven hundred wagons and about two thousandof our people had by this time arrived there. The country was so verydry that nothing could be made to grow without irrigation.

"After the location of winter quarters a great number of our peoplemade encampments on the east side of the river, on parts of thePottawatomie lands. The camps, thus scattered, spread over a largetract. On one occasion my husband and I visited Hyde Park, one of thesesettlements, in company with the twelve apostles. They there held acouncil in a log-cabin, and a great manifestation of the holy spiritwas poured out upon those present. At this council it was unanimouslydecided to organize the First Presidency of the Church according tothe pattern laid down in the Book of Covenants. Soon after, a generalconference was held in the log tabernacle at Kanesville (now CouncilBluffs), at which the saints acknowledged Brigham Young President ofthe Church, and Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards his councilors.

"Shortly after this conference our family moved to the Iowa side of theriver. My husband bought two log-cabins, and built two more, which madeus quite comfortable. The winter was very cold, but wood was plentiful,and we used it freely. The situation was a romantic one, surrounded aswe were on three sides by hills. We were favored with an abundance ofwild plums and raspberries. We called the place Car-bun-ca, after anIndian brave who had been buried there.

"In May, 1848, about five hundred wagons followed President Young onhis return to Salt Lake. In June some two hundred wagons followed Dr.Willard Richards. When Dr. Richards left, all the saints that could notgo with him were compelled by the United States authorities to vacatewinter quarters. They recrossed into Iowa, and had to build cabinsagain. This was apiece of oppression which was needless and ill-timed,as many of the families which had to move were those of the men who hadgone in the Mormon battalion. This compulsory move was prompted by thesame spirit of persecution that had caused the murder of so many ofour people, and had forced us all to leave our homes and go into thewilderness.

"On the Iowa side of the river we raised wheat, Indian corn, buckwheat,potatoes, and other vegetables; and we gathered from the woods hazeland hickory nuts, white and black walnuts, and in addition to the wildplums and raspberries before mentioned, we gathered elderberries,and made elderberry and raspberry wine. We also preserved plums andberries. By these supplies we were better furnished than we had beensince leaving our homes. The vegetables and fruits caused the scurvy topretty much disappear.

"In September, 1848, a conference was held in a grove on MosquitoCreek, about two thousand of the saints being present. Oliver Cowdery,one of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, was there. He had been tenyears away from the Church, and had become a lawyer of some prominencein Northern Ohio and Wisconsin. At this conference I heard him bear histestimony to the truth of the Book of Mormon, in the same manner as isrecorded in the testimony of the three witnesses in that book.

"In May, 1849, about four hundred wagons were organized and startedWest.

"In the latter part of June following, our family left our encampment.We started on our journey to the valley in a company of two hundred andeighteen wagons. These were organized into three companies, which weresubdivided into companies of ten, each company properly officered. Eachcompany also had its blacksmith and wagon-maker, equipped with propertools for attending to their work of setting tires, shoeing animals,and repairing wagons.

"Twenty-four of the wagons of our company belonged to the Welch saints,who had been led from Wales by Elder Dan Jones. They did not understanddriving oxen. It was very amusing to see them yoke their cattle; twowould have an animal by the horns, one by the tail, and one or twoothers would do their best to put on the yoke, whilst the apparentlyastonished ox, not at all enlightened by the guttural sounds of theWelch tongue, seemed perfectly at a loss what to do, or to know whatwas wanted of him. But these saints amply made up for their lack ofskill in driving cattle by their excellent singing, which afforded usgreat assistance in our public meetings, and helped to enliven ourevenings.

"On this journey my wagon was provided with projections, of about eightinches wide, on each side of the top of the box. The cover, which washigh enough for us to stand erect, was widened by these projections. Aframe was laid across the back part of our wagon, and was corded as abedstead; this made our sleeping very comfortable. Under our beds westowed our heaviest articles. We had a door in one side of the wagoncover, and on the opposite side a window. A step-ladder was used toascend to our door, which was between the wheels. Our cover was of'osnaburg,' lined with blue drilling. Our door and window could beopened and closed at pleasure. I had, hanging up on the inside, alooking-glass, candlestick, pincushion, etc. In the centre of our wagonwe had room for four chairs, in which we and our two children sat androde when we chose. The floor of our traveling house was carpeted, andwe made ourselves as comfortable as we could under the circ*mstances.

"After having experienced the common vicissitudes of that strangejourney, having encountered terrible storms and endured extremehardships, we arrived at our destination on the 5th of November, onehundred and five days after leaving the Missouri river. Having beenhomeless and wandering up to this time, I was prepared to appreciate ahome."

CHAPTER XXXVII.

THE MARTYRED PATRIARCH'S WIDOW—A WOMAN'S STRENGTH ANDINDEPENDENCE—THE CAPTAIN "LEAVES HER OUT IN THE COLD"—-HER PROPHESYAND CHALLENGE TO THE CAPTAIN—A PIONEER INDEED—SHE IS LED BYINSPIRATION—THE SEERIC GIFT OF THE SMITHS WITH HER—HER CATTLE—THERACE—FATE AGAINST THE CAPTAIN—THE WIDOW'S PROPHESY FULFILLED.

"I will beat you to the valley, and ask no help from you either!"

—

The exodus called out the women of Mormondom in all their Spartanstrength of character. They showed themselves State-founders indeed.We are reading examples of them as pioneers unsurpassed even by theexamples of the immortal band of pioneer apostles and elders who ledthem to the "chambers of the mountains." The following story of thewidow of Hyrum Smith will finely illustrate this point:

At the death of the patriarch the care of the family fell upon hiswidow, Mary Smith. Besides the children there were several helpless andinfirm people, whom for various charitable reasons the patriarch hadmaintained; and these also she cared for, and brought through to thevalley the major part of them, under unusually trying circ*mstances.

Passing over the incidents of her journey to winter quarters, afterthe expulsion from Nauvoo, we come at once to her heroic effort fromwinter quarters westward. In the spring of 1848 a tremendous effortwas made by the saints to emigrate to the valley on a grand scale. Noone was more anxious than Widow Smith; but to accomplish it seemed animpossibility, for although a portion of her household had emigrated in1847, she still had a large and, comparatively, helpless family—hersons John and Joseph, mere boys, being her only support. Without teamssufficient to draw the number of wagons necessary to haul provisionsand outfit for the family, and without means to purchase, or friendswho were in circ*mstances to assist, she determined to make theattempt, and trust in the Lord for the issue. Accordingly every nervewas strained, and every available object was brought into requisition.Cows and calves were yoked up, two wagons lashed together, and a teambarely sufficient to draw one was hitched on to them, and in thismanner they rolled out from winter quarters some time in May. After aseries of the most amusing and trying circ*mstances, such as stickingin the mud, doubling teams up all the little hills, and crashing atungovernable speed down the opposite sides, breaking wagon-tongues andreaches, upsetting, and vainly trying to control wild steers, heifers,and unbroken cows, they finally succeeded in reaching the Elk Horn,where the companies were being organized for the plains.

Here Widow Smith reported herself to President Kimball as having"started for the valley." Meantime, she had left no stone unturned orproblem untried, which promised assistance in effecting the necessarypreparations for the journey. She had done to her utmost, and still theway looked dark and impossible.

President Kimball consigned her to Captain ——'s fifty. The captain waspresent. Said he:

"Widow Smith, how many wagons have you?"

"Seven."

"How many yokes of oxen have you?"

"Four," and so many cows and calves.

"Well," said the captain, "it is folly for you to start in this manner;you never can make the journey, and if you try it you will be a burdenupon the company the whole way. My advice to you is, to go back towinter quarters and wait till you can get help."

Widow Smith calmly replied: "Father ——" (he was an aged man), "I willbeat you to the valley, and will ask no help from you either!"

This seemed to nettle the old gentleman, and it doubtless influencedhis conduct toward her during the journey.

While lying at Elk Horn she sent back and succeeded in buying oncredit, and hiring for the journey, several yoke of oxen from brethrenwho were not able to emigrate that year, and when the companies wereready to start she and her family were somewhat better prepared for thejourney, and rolled out with lighter hearts and better prospects thanfavored their egress from winter quarters.

As they journeyed on the captain lost no opportunity to vent hisspleen on the widow and her family; but she prayerfully maintainedher integrity of purpose, and pushed vigorously on, despite severaldiscouraging circ*mstances.

One day, as they were moving slowly through the hot sand and dust,in the neighborhood of the Sweetwater, the sun pouring down withexcessive heat, towards noon, one of Widow Smith's best oxen laiddown in the yoke, rolled over on his side, and stiffened out his legsspasmodically, evidently in the throes of death. The unanimous opinionwas that he was poisoned. All the hindmost teams of course stopped, thepeople coming forward to know what was the matter. In a short time thecaptain, who was in advance of the company, perceiving that somethingwas wrong, came to the spot. Probably no one supposed for a moment thatthe ox would recover, and the captain's first words on seeing him were:

"He is dead, there is no use working with him; we'll have to fix upsome way to take the widow along; I told her she would be a burden uponthe company."

Meantime Widow Smith had been searching for a bottle of consecratedoil in one of the wagons, and now came forward with it, and asked herbrother, Joseph Fielding, and the other brethren, to administer to theox, thinking that the Lord would raise him up. They did so, pouringa portion of oil on the top of his head, between and back of thehorns, and all laid hands upon him, and one prayed, administering theordinance as they would have done to a human being that was sick. Ina moment he gathered up his legs, and at the first word arose to hisfeet, and traveled right off as well as ever. He was not even unyokedfrom his mate.

On the 22d of September the company crossed over "Big Mountain," whenthey had the first glimpse of Salt Lake Valley. Every heart rejoiced,and with lingering fondness they gazed upon the goal of their wearisomejourney. The descent of the western side of "Big Mountain" wasprecipitous and abrupt, and they were obliged to rough lock the hindwheels of the wagons, and, as they were not needed, the forward cattlewere turned loose to be driven to camp, the "wheelers" only beingretained on the wagons. Desirous of shortening the next day's journeyas much as possible, they drove on till a late hour in the night, andfinally camped near the eastern foot of the "Little Mountain." Duringthis night's drive several of Widow Smith's cows, that had been turnedloose from the teams, were lost in the brush. Early next morning herson John returned to hunt for them, their service in the teams beingnecessary to proceed.

At an earlier hour than usual the captain gave orders for the companyto start, knowing well the circ*mstances of the widow, and that shewould be obliged to remain till John returned with the lost cattle.Accordingly the company rolled out, leaving her and her family alone.Hours passed by ere John returned with the lost cattle, and the companycould be seen toiling along far up the mountain. And to human ken itseemed probable that the widow's prediction would ingloriously fail.But as the company were nearing the summit of the mountain a cloudburst over their heads, sending down the rain in torrents, and throwingthem into utter confusion. The cattle refused to pull, and to savethe wagons from crashing down the mountain side, they were obliged tounhitch, and block the wheels. While the teamsters sought shelter, thestorm drove the cattle in every direction, so that when it subsidedit was a day's work to find them and get them together. Meantime, asnoted, John had returned with the stray cattle, and they were hitchedup, and the widow and family rolled up the mountain, passing thecompany and continuing on to the valley, where she arrived fully twentyhours in advance of the captain. And thus was her prophesy fulfilled.

She kept her husband's family together after her arrival in the valley,and her prosperity was unparalleled. At her death, which occurredSeptember 21st, 1852, she left them comfortably provided for, and inpossession of every educational endowment that the facilities of thetimes would permit.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

UTAH IN THE EARLY DAYS—PRESIDENT YOUNG'S PRIMITIVE HOME—RAISING THESTARS AND STRIPES ON MEXICAN SOIL—THE HISTORICAL THREAD UP TO THEPERIOD OF THE "UTAH WAR."

The early days in the valley are thus described by Eliza R. Snow:

"Our first winter in the mountains was delightful; the ground frozebut little; our coldest weather was three or four days in November,after which the men plowed and sowed, built houses, etc. The weatherseemed to have been particularly ordered to meet our very peculiarcirc*mstances. Every labor, such as cultivating the ground, procuringfuel and timber from the canyons, etc., was a matter of experiment.Most of us were houseless; and what the result would have been, hadthat winter been like the succeeding ones, may well be conjectured.

"President Young had kindly made arrangements for me to live with hiswife, Clara Decker, who came with the pioneers, and was living in alog-house about eighteen feet square, which constituted a portionof the east side of our fort. This hut, like most of those builtthe first year, was roofed with willows and earth, the roof havingbut little pitch, the first-comers having adopted the idea that thevalley was subject to little if any rain, and our roofs were nearlyflat. We suffered no inconvenience from this fact until about themiddle of March, when a long storm of snow, sleet and rain occurred,and for several days the sun did not make its appearance. The roofof our dwelling was covered deeper with earth than the adjoiningones, consequently it did not leak so soon, and some of my neighborshuddled in for shelter; but one evening, when several were sociallysitting around, the water commenced dripping in one place, and then inanother; they dodged it for awhile, but it increased so rapidly thatthey finally concluded they might as well go to their own wet houses.After they had gone I spread my umbrella over my head and shoulders asI ensconced myself in bed, the lower part of which, not shielded bythe umbrella, was wet enough before morning. The earth overhead wasthoroughly saturated, and after it commenced to drip the storm was muchworse indoors than out.

"The small amount of breadstuff brought over the plains was sparinglydealt out; and our beef, made of cows and oxen which had constitutedour teams, was, before it had time to fatten on the dry mountain grass,very inferior. Those to whom it yielded sufficient fat to grease theirgriddles, were considered particularly fortunate. But we were happyin the rich blessings of peace, which, in the spirit of brotherly andsisterly union, we mutually enjoyed in our wild mountain home.

"Before we left winter quarters, a committee, appointed for thepurpose, inspected the provisions of each family, in order to ascertainthat all were provided with at least a moderate competency of flour,etc. The amount of flour calculated to be necessary was apportioned atthe rate of three-quarters of a pound for adults and one-half poundper day for children. A portion of the battalion having been disbandedon the Pacific coast, destitute of pay for their services, joined usbefore spring, and we cheerfully divided our rations of flour withthem, which put us on still shorter allowance.

"Soon after our arrival in the valley, a tall liberty-pole was erected,and from its summit (although planted in Mexican soil), the stars andstripes seemed to float with even more significance, if possible, thanthey were wont to do on Eastern breezes.

"I love that flag. When in my childish glee—
A prattling girl, upon my grandsire's knee—
I heard him tell strange tales, with valor rife,
How that same flag was bought with blood and life.

"And his tall form seemed taller when he said,
'Child, for that flag thy grandsire fought and bled.'
My young heart felt that every scar he wore,
Caused him to prize that banner more and more.

"I caught the fire, and as in years I grew,
I loved the flag; I loved my country too.
* * * * * *

"There came a time that I remember well—
Beneath the stars and stripes we could not dwell!
We had to flee; but in our hasty flight
We grasped the flag with more than mortal might;

"And vowed, although our foes should us bereave
Of all things else, the flag we would not leave.
We took the flag; and journeying to the West,
We wore its motto graven on each breast."

The personal narrative, up to the period of the Utah war, is thuscontinued by Bathsheba W. Smith:

"In 1856 my husband was sent as delegate to Washington, by vote of thepeople of the Territory, to ask for the admission of Utah as a State.In May, 1857, he returned. Congress would not admit Utah into theUnion. On his journey East his horse failed, and he had to walk aboutfive hundred miles on the plains. This made him very foot-sore, as hewas a heavy man.

"On the 24th of July, 1857, I was in company with my husband and agoodly number of others at the Big Cottonwood Lake, near the head ofBig Cottonwood Canyon, where we were celebrating the anniversary of thearrival of the pioneers in Salt Lake Valley, when word was brought tous that the United States mail for Utah was stopped, and that PresidentJames Buchanan was sending out an army to exterminate us. We turned tohear what President Young would say. In effect he said: 'If they everget in, it will be because we will permit them to do so.'

"In September my husband went out into the mountains and stayed aboutfour weeks, assisting in conducting the correspondence with the leadersof the invading army. Fear came upon the army, and they dared not comeface to face with our people; so they stayed out in the mountains,while our people came home, excepting a few who remained to watch them.

"Soon after my husband's return, he married Sister Susan ElizabethWest, and brought her home.

"About this time I was having a new house built. One day, in theforenoon, I had been watching the men plastering it, and had beenindulging in the pleasant thoughts that would naturally occur on suchan occasion, when my husband came home and said it had been determinedin council that all of our people were to leave their homes and gosouth, as it was thought wiser to do this than to fight the army.Accordingly, on the last day of March, 1858, Sister Susan, myself, andson and daughter, started south, bidding farewell to our home with muchthe same feelings that I had experienced at leaving Nauvoo.

"Peace having subsequently been restored, we returned to Salt LakeCity on the third of July following. Instead of flowers, I found weedsas high as my head all around the house. When we entered the city itwas near sunset; all was quiet; every door was shut and every windowboarded up. I could see but two chimneys from which smoke was issuing.We were nearly the first that had returned. Being thus restored to myhome again, I was happy and contented, although I had but few of thenecessaries of life."

CHAPTER XXXIX.

THE WOMEN OF MORMONDOM IN THE PERIOD OF THE UTAH WAR—THEIRHEROIC RESOLVE TO DESOLATE THE LAND—THE SECOND EXODUS—MRS.CARRINGTON—GOVERNOR CUMMING'S WIFE—A NATION OF HEROES.

For an example of the heroism of woman excelling all other examples ofhistory—at least of modern times—let us turn to that of the Mormonwomen during the Utah war.

In the expulsions from Missouri, first from county to county, andthen en masse from the State, undoubtedly the Mormons yielded tothe compulsion of a lawless mob, coupled with the militia of theState, executing the exterminating order of Governor Boggs. It was anexample of suffering and martyrdom rather than of spontaneous heroism.Something of the same was illustrated in the expulsion from Illinois.It was at the outset nothing of choice, but all of compulsion. True,after the movement of the community, inspired by the apostolicforcefulness of Brigham Young and his compeers, swelled into a grandIsraelitish exodus, then the example towered like a very pyramid ofheroism; and in that immortal circ*mstance who can doubt that theheroic culminated in the women?

But what shall be said of their example during the Utah war? Here werewomen who chose and resolved to give an example to the civilized worldsuch as it had never seen. The proposed exodus from Utah was not inthe spirit of submission, but an exhibition of an invincible spiritfinding a method of conquest through an exodus. This was not weakness,but strength. It was as though the accumulated might and concentratedpurposes of their lives were brought into a supreme action. The exampleof the Utah war was in fact all their own. The Mormons were notsubdued. Had the issue come, they would have left Utah as conquerors.

"Tell the government that the troops now on the march for Utah shallnot enter the Great Salt Lake Valley. Tell the people of the UnitedStates that should those troops force an entrance they will find Utaha desert, every house burned to the ground, every tree cut down, andevery field laid waste. We will apply the torch to our own dwellings,cut down those richly-laden orchards with our own hands, turn thefruitful field again into a desert, and desolate our cities, withacclamations."

Such was the tenor of the communication carried by Captain Van Vliet tothe government. And he had seen the whole people lift up their hands intheir tabernacle to manifest their absolute resolution to the nation,and heard those acclamations in anticipation of their act.

The very nature of the case brought the women of Mormondom into supremeprominence. Their hands would have applied the torches to theirhomes; they would have been the desolaters of the fast-growing citiesof Utah. The grandeur of the action was in these unconquerable women,who would have maintained their religion and their sacred institutionsin the face of all the world.

The example of the wife of Albert Carrington will, perchance, beoften recalled, generations hence. Capt. Van Vliet, of the UnitedStates Army, had arrived in Salt Lake City in the midst of thetroubles out of which grew the "war." He was received most cordiallyby the authorities, but at the same time was given to understand thatthe people were a unit, and that they had fully determined upon aprogramme. The sisters took him into their gardens, and showed him theparadise that their woman-hands would destroy if the invading armycame. He was awed by the prospect—his ordinary judgment confoundedby such extraordinary examples. To the lady above-mentioned, in whosegarden he was one day walking, in conversation with the governor andothers, he exclaimed:

"What, madam! would you consent to see this beautiful home in ashesand this fruitful orchard destroyed?"

"Yes!" answered Sister Carrington, with heroic resolution, "I would notonly consent to it, but I would set fire to my home with my own hands,and cut down every tree, and root up every plant!"

Coupled with this will be repeated the dramatic incident of GovernorCumming's wife weeping over the scene of the deserted city after thecommunity had partly executed their resolution.

The saints had all gone south, with their leader, when GovernorCumming, with his wife, returned from Camp Scott. They proceeded to theresidence of Elder Staines, whom they found in waiting. His family hadgone south, and in his garden were significantly heaped several loadsof straw.

The governor's wife inquired their meaning, and the cause of thesilence that pervaded the city. Elder Staines informed her of theirresolve to burn the town in case the army attempted to occupy it.

"How terrible!" she exclaimed. "What a sight this is! I shall neverforget it! it has the appearance of a city that has been afflicted withplague. Every house looks like a tomb of the dead! For two miles I haveseen but one man in it. Poor creatures! And so all have left theirhard-earned homes?"

Here she burst into tears.

"Oh! Alfred (to her husband), something must be done to bring themback! Do not permit the army to stay in the city! Can't you dosomething for them?"

"Yes, madam," said he, "I shall do all I can, rest assured."

Mrs. Cumming wept for woman! But the women of Mormondom gloried intheir sublime action as they had never done before. They felt at thatmoment that their example was indeed worthy of a modern Israel.

It thus struck the admiration of journalists both in America andEurope. The Mormons were pronounced "A nation of heroes!" Those heroeswere twice ten thousand women, who could justly claim the tributeequally with their husbands, their brethren and their sons.

CHAPTER XL.

MIRIAM WORKS AND MARY ANN ANGELL—SCENES OF THE PAST—DEATH-BED OFMIRIAM—EARLY DAYS OF MARY—HER MARRIAGE WITH BRIGHAM—THE GOODSTEP-MOTHER—SHE BEARS HER CROSS IN THE PERSECUTIONS—A BATTLE WITHDEATH—POLYGAMY—MARY IN THE EXODUS AND AT WINTER QUARTERS—THE HUT INTHE VALLEY—CLOSING A WORTHY LIFE.

The death-bed of a latter-day saint!

It was in the house of Heber C. Kimball, in the little town of Mendon,N. Y., on the 8th of September, 1832. Principal around that gloriousdeath-bed were Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Vilate, his wife.

The dying saint was Miriam Works, first wife of Brigham Young—a manof destiny, but then unknown in the great world. "In her expiringmoments," he says, "she clapped her hands and praised the Lord, andcalled upon Brother Kimball and all around to also praise the Lord!"

—

On the 8th of June, 1803, in Seneca, Ontario county, N. Y., was bornMary Ann Angell, now for forty-five years the wife of Brigham Young,the mother of his eldest sons, and the faithful step-mother of thedaughters of Miriam Works.

Her parents early leaving her birthplace, Mary was brought up inProvidence, R. I. She was what in those days was denominated a piousmaiden, for her family was strictly of the old Puritan stock of thecountry. She early became a Sunday-school teacher, and united withthe Free-Will Baptists. The study of the prophesies quite engrossedher mind, and she was confidently looking for their fulfillment.Her semi-ministerial duties as a Sunday-school teacher toned andstrengthened her early womanhood; and hence she resolved never to marryuntil she met "a man of God" to whom her heart should go out, to unitewith him in the active duties of a Christian life. Thus it came aboutthat she remained a maiden until nearly thirty years of age. But theprovidence that watched over her had chosen for her a husband.

It was during the year 1830 that Thomas B. Marsh came to Providence,bringing with him the Book of Mormon. From him Mary obtained a copy,and having prayerfully read it, became convinced that it was a workof inspiration. After this she went to Southern New York, where herparents were visiting, and there she and her parents were baptized byJohn P. Greene—Brigham's brother-in-law. It was about this time thatthe Youngs, the Greenes and the Kimballs came into the Church.

Alone, Mary set out for Kirtland, which had just become the gatheringplace of the saints; and there she remained a year before Brigham andHeber gathered with their families. Vilate Kimball was still acting thepart of a mother to the little daughters of Miriam. Through hearingBrigham preach in Kirtland, Mary Angell became acquainted with him.She had found her mate; he had found a mother indeed to his littlemotherless Elizabeth and Vilate.

At the period of the famous march of the elders from Ohio to Missouri,in 1834, to "redeem Zion" in Jackson county, Mary, now for over a yearthe wife of Brigham Young, became the mother of his first son, JosephA., who was born October 14, 1834, just at the return of her husband,after the disbanding of Zion's Camp. Thus during the most trying periodof her first year of marriage, was she left alone in the struggle oflife, providing for herself, and caring for her husband's motherlessgirls.

But a still more trying period came to this excellent woman, afterher husband became a member of the quorum of the twelve, and when therebellion against Joseph arose in Kirtland. First the prophet andSidney Rigdon had to flee for their lives, and next Brigham Young hadto escape from Kirtland. Then came her severest struggle. She now hadfive children to care and provide for the—two daughters of Miriam,her Joseph A., and Brigham, Jr., with his twin sister, Mary Ann. Thosewere dark days of persecution and want. The apostates and anti-Mormonsfrequently searched her house for her husband, and the faithful inKirtland all had enough to do to sustain themselves, in the absence oftheir shepherds, who were now refugees in Far West. At length, withthe five children, she reached her husband; but not long to rest, forquickly came the expulsion from Missouri, in which period she brokeup her home many times before finally settling in Montrose, on theopposite side of the river from Nauvoo.

Scarcely had Brigham and the twelve effected the exodus of the saintsfrom Missouri to Illinois, ere Joseph, having escaped from prison, sentthe twelve with its president to England, on mission.

On each side of the Mississippi, in cabins and tents, the Mormon peoplelay, exhausted by their many expulsions; the multitude sick, manydying, the vigor of life scarcely left even in their strong-willedleaders. Thus lying on the river-side at Commerce and Montrose,they presented a spectacle no longer suggestive of irresistibleempire-founders. Joseph was sick; Brigham was sick; the twelve were allsick; the prophet's house and door-yard was a hospital. It was thenthat the prophet, knowing that power must be invoked or the peoplewould perish, leaped from his sick bed, and entering first the tentsand cabins of the apostles, and bidding them arise and follow him, wentlike an archangel through the midst of his disciples, and "healed themultitude." It is a grand picture in the memory of the saints, beingcalled "The Day of God's Power." Reverse that picture, and there isseen the exact condition of Mary Angell Young and the other apostles'wives when the president and his quorum started on mission to England,leaving them to the care of the Lord, and their brethren. It was aperiod quite as trying to these apostolic sisters as that of theexodus, afterwards. And to none more so than to Mary, who had now theburden of six children to sustain during her husband's absence in aforeign land.

The following entries in the president's journal embody a most graphicstory, easily seized by the imagination:

"We arrived in Commerce on the 18th (May, 1839), and called uponBrother Joseph and his family. Joseph had commenced laying out the cityplot.

"23d—I crossed the Mississippi with my family, and took up myresidence in a room in the old military barracks, in company withBrother Woodruff and his family.

"September 14, 1839—I started from Montrose on my mission to England.My health was so poor that I was unable to go thirty rods, to theriver, without assistance. After I had crossed the river I got IsraelBarlow to carry me on his horse behind him, to Heber C. Kimball's,where I remained sick 'till the 18th. I left my wife sick, with a babeonly ten days old, and all my children sick and unable to wait uponeach other.

"17th—My wife crossed the river, and got a boy with a wagon to bringher up about a mile, to Brother Kimball's, to see me. I remained untilthe 18th at Brother Kimball's, when we started, leaving his family alsosick."

Continue the picture, with the husband's absence, and the wife's noble,every-day struggle to maintain and guard his children, and we have herhistory well described for the next two years.

Taking up the thread again in September, 1841: "On my return fromEngland," says Brigham, in his diary, "I found my family living in asmall unfinished log-cabin, situated on a low, wet lot, so swampy thatwhen the first attempt was made to plough it the oxen mired; but afterthe city was drained it became a very valuable garden spot."

The scene, a year later, is that of President Young at "death's door,"and the wife battling with death to save her husband. He was suddenlyattacked with a slight fit of apoplexy. This was followed by a severefever. For eighteen days he lay upon his back, and was not turned uponhis side during that period.

"When the fever left me, on the eighteenth day," he says, "I wasbolstered up in my chair, but was so near gone that I could not closemy eyes, which were set in my head; my chin dropped down, and my breathstopped. My wife, seeing my situation, threw some cold water in myface and eyes, which I did not feel in the least; neither did I movea muscle. She then held my nostrils between her thumb and finger, andplacing her mouth directly over mine, blew into my lungs until shefilled them with air. This set my lungs in motion, and I again beganto breathe. While this was going on I was perfectly conscious of allthat was passing around me; my spirit was as vivid as it ever was in mylife; but I had no feeling in my body."

Mary, by the help of God, had thus saved the life of President Young!

It was about this time that polygamy, or "celestial marriage," wasintroduced into the Church. To say that it was no cross to these Mormonwives—daughters of the strictest Puritan parentage—would be to mocktheir experience. It was thus, also, with their husbands, in Nauvoo,in 1842. President Young himself tells of the occasion when he stoodby the grave of one of the brethren and wished that the lot of thedeparted was his own. The burden of polygamy seemed heavier than thehand of death. It was nothing less than the potency of the "Thus saiththe Lord," and the faith of the saints as a community, that sustainedthem—both the brethren and the sisters. Mary Angell gave to herhusband other wives, and the testimony which she gives to-day is thatit has been the "Thus saith the Lord" unto her, from the time of itsintroduction to the present.

Scarcely necessary is it to observe that she was in the exodus. Sevenchildren were now under her care. Alice, Luna, and John W. were born inMontrose and Nauvoo, while the twin sister of Brigham, Jr., had died.With these she remained at winter quarters while the president led thepioneers to the Rocky Mountains. Her benevolence to the poor at winterquarters (and who of them were then rich!) is spoken of to this day.Indeed, benevolence has ever been a marked trait in her life.

Then came the hut in the valley. The "heat and burden of the day" hadnot passed. Full twenty years of struggle, self-sacrifice, and devotionas a wife, uncommon in its examples, filled up the pages of "SisterYoung's history," as a latter-day saint, before the days of socialprominence came.

The hut in the valley, where she lived in 1849, is a good pioneerpicture. It stood on the spot where now stands her residence—the"White House;" and some ten rods north-west of that location stood arow of log-cabins where dwelt President Young's other wives, with theirchildren.

Since then the days of grandeur, befitting her station, have come;but "Mother Young"—a name honored in her bearing—has lived most inthe public mind as the faithful wife, the exemplary mother, and alatter-day saint in whose heart benevolence and native goodness haveabounded. She is now seventy-four years of age—closing a marked andworthy life; and her latest expressed desire is that a strong testimonyshould be borne of her faith in Mormonism, and the righteousness of herhusband in carrying out the revelation, given through Joseph Smith, onpolygamy, as the word and will of the Lord to his people.

CHAPTER XLI.

THE REVELATION ON POLYGAMY—BISHOP WHITNEY PRESERVES A COPY OF THEORIGINAL DOCUMENT—BELINDA M. PRATT'S FAMOUS LETTER.

It was nearly twenty-three years after the establishment of the Churchof Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that the revelation on celestialmarriage was published to the world. On the 6th of April, 1830, theChurch was founded on the 14th of September, 1852, the Deseret Newspublished an extra, containing the said revelation, the origin thusdated: "Given to Joseph Smith, Nauvoo, July 12, 1843;" and in theMillennial Star, January 1st, 1853, it was published to the saints ofthe British mission.

No need here for a review of that document on plural marriage, nora sociological discussion of this now world-noised institution ofthe Mormons; but as some persons have ascribed that institution toPresident Young, and denied that Joseph Smith was its revelator, theword of sisters who have been with the Church from the beginning shallbe offered as a finality upon the question of its origin.

Eliza R. Snow has already testified on the subject of her marriage tothe prophet Joseph, not by proxy, but personally, during his lifetime;and all the Church know her as Joseph's wife. The daughters of BishopPartridge, and others, were also sealed to him in person, in the orderof celestial marriage.

A very proper one to speak here is Mother Whitney, for it was herhusband, Bishop Whitney, who preserved the revelation on polygamy.Speaking of the time when her husband kept store for Joseph (1842-3),she says: "It was during this time that Joseph received the revelationconcerning celestial marriage; also concerning the ordinances of thehouse of the Lord. He had been strictly charged, by the angel whocommitted these precious things into his keeping, that he should onlyreveal them to such ones as were pure, and full of integrity to thetruth, and worthy and capable of being entrusted with divine messages;that to spread them abroad would only be like casting pearls beforeswine; and that the most profound secresy was to be maintained, untilthe Lord saw fit to make it known publicly through his servants. Josephhad the most implicit confidence in my husband's uprightness andintegrity of character, and so he confided to him the principles setforth in that revelation, and also gave him the privilege of readingand making a copy of it, believing it would be perfectly safe withhim. It is this same copy that was preserved in the providence of God;for Emma (Joseph's wife), afterwards becoming indignant, burned theoriginal, thinking she had destroyed the only written document uponthe subject in existence. My husband revealed these things to me. Wehad always been united, and had the utmost faith and confidence ineach other. We pondered upon the matter continually, and our prayerswere unceasing that the Lord would grant us some special manifestationconcerning this new and strange doctrine. The Lord was very merciful tous, revealing unto us his power and glory. We were seemingly wrapt in aheavenly vision; a halo of light encircled us, and we were convinced inour own bosoms that God heard and approved our prayers and intercedingsbefore him. Our hearts were comforted, and our faith made so perfectthat we were willing to give our eldest daughter, then seventeen yearsof age, to Joseph, in the order of plural marriage. Laying aside allour traditions and former notions in regard to marriage, we gave herwith our mutual consent. She was the first woman given in pluralmarriage with the consent of both parents. Of course these things hadto be kept an inviolate secret; and as some were false to their vowsand pledges of secresy, persecution arose, and caused grievous sorrowto those who had obeyed, in all purity and sincerity, the requirementsof this celestial order of marriage. The Lord commanded his servants;they themselves did not comprehend what the ultimate course of actionwould be, but were waiting further developments from heaven. Meantime,the ordinances of the house of the Lord were given, to bless andstrengthen us in our future endeavors to promulgate the principlesof divine light and intelligence; but coming in contact with allpreconceived notions and principles heretofore taught as the articlesof religious faith, it was not strange that many could not receive it.Others doubted; and only a few remained firm and immovable."

On the publication of the revelation on polygamy, the theologicalwriters of the Church issued pamphlets, promulgating and defending the"peculiar institution," as the Gentiles styled it. Orson Spencer issuedPatriarchal Marriage; Parley P. Pratt issued Marriage and Morals inUtah; and Orson Pratt was sent to Washington to proclaim, at the seatof government, the great social innovation. This was the origin of theSeer, a periodical there issued by him. Among the various writings ofthe times, upon the subject, was a tract entitled Defence of Polygamyby a Lady of Utah, in a Letter to her Sister in New Hampshire. Thefollowing are extracts from it, in which is strikingly made manifestthe fact that the sisterhood accepted polygamy upon the examples of theHebrew Bible, rather than upon any portion of the Book of Mormon:

"SALT LAKE CITY, January 12, 1854.

"DEAR SISTER:

"Your letter of October 2d was received yesterday. * * * It seems, my dear sister, that we are no nearer together in our religious views than formerly. Why is this? Are we not all bound to leave this world, with all we possess therein, and reap the reward of our doings here in a never-ending hereafter? If so, do we not desire to be undeceived, and to know and to do the truth? Do we not all wish in our hearts to be sincere with ourselves, and to be honest and frank with each other? If so, you will bear with me patiently, while I give a few of my reasons for embracing, and holding sacred, that particular point in the doctrine of the Church of the Saints, to which you, my dear sister, together with a large majority of Christendom, so decidedly object—I mean a 'plurality of wives.'

"I have a Bible which I have been taught from my infancy to hold sacred. In this Bible I read of a holy man named Abraham, who is represented as the friend of God, a faithful man in all things, a man who kept the commandments of God, and who is called in the New Testament the 'father of the faithful.' I find this man had a plurality of wives, some of whom were called concubines. I also find his grandson, Jacob, possessed of four wives, twelve sons and a daughter. These wives are spoken very highly of by the sacred writers, as honorable and virtuous women. 'These,' say the Scriptures, 'did build the house of Israel.' Jacob himself was also a man of God, and the Lord blessed him and his house, and commanded him to be fruitful and multiply. I find also that the twelve sons of Jacob, by these four wives, became princes, heads of tribes, patriarchs, whose names are had in everlasting remembrance to all generations.

"Now God talked with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, frequently; and his angels also visited and talked with them, and blessed them and their wives and children. He also reproved the sins of some of the sons of Jacob, for hating and selling their brother, and for adultery. But in all his communications with them, he never condemned their family organization; but on the contrary, always approved of it, and blessed them in this respect. He even told Abraham that he would make him the father of many nations, and that in him and his seed all the nations and kindreds of the earth should be blessed. In later years I find the plurality of wives perpetuated, sanctioned, and provided for in the law of Moses.

"David, the psalmist, not only had a plurality of wives, but the Lord spoke by he mouth of Nathan the prophet and told David that he (the Lord) had given his master's wives into his bosom; but because he had committed adultery with the wife of Uriah, and caused his murder, he would take his wives and give them to a neighbor of his, etc.

"Here, then, we have the word of the Lord, not only sanctioning polygamy, but actually giving to King David the wives of his master (Saul), and afterward taking the wives of David from him, and giving them to another man. Here we have a sample of severe reproof and punishment for adultery and murder, while polygamy is authorized and approved by the word of God.

"But to come to the New Testament. I find Jesus Christ speaks very highly of Abraham and his family. He says: 'Many shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of God.' Again he said: 'If ye were Abraham's seed, ye would do the works of Abraham.'

"Paul the apostle wrote to the saints of his day, and informed them as follows: 'As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ; and if ye are Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.' He also sets forth Abraham and Sarah as patterns of faith and good works, and as the father and mother of faithful Christians, who should, by faith and good works, aspire to be counted the sons of Abraham and daughters of Sarah.

"Now let us look at some of the works of Sarah, for which she is so highly commended by the apostles, and by them held up as a pattern for Christian ladies to imitate.

"'Now Sarah, Abram's wife, bare him no children; and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarah said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing; I pray thee go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram harkened unto the voice of Sarah. And Sarah, Abram's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband, Abram, to be his wife.' (Gen. xvi.; 1, 2, 3).

"According to Jesus Christ and the apostles, then, the only way to be saved, is to be adopted into the great family of polygamists, by the gospel, and then strictly follow their examples. Again, John the Revelator describes the holy city of the Heavenly Jerusalem, with the names of the twelve sons of Jacob inscribed on the gates.

"To sum up the whole, then, I find that polygamists were the friends of God; that the family and lineage of a polygamist was selected, in which all nations should be blessed; that a polygamist is named in the New Testament as the father of the faithful Christians of after ages, and cited as a pattern for all generations. That the wife of a polygamist, who encouraged her husband in the practice of the same, and even urged him into it, and officiated in giving him another wife, is named as an honorable and virtuous woman, a pattern for Christian ladies, and the very mother of all holy women in the Christian Church, whose aspiration it should be to be called her daughters.

"That Jesus has declared that the great fathers of the polygamic family stand at the head in the kingdom of God; in short, that all the saved of after generations should be saved by becoming members of a polygamic family; that all those who do not become members of it, are strangers and aliens to the covenant of promise, the commonwealth of Israel, and not heirs according to the promise made to Abraham.

"That all people from the east, west, north and south, who enter into the kingdom, enter into the society of polygamists, and under their patriarchal rule and covenant.

"Indeed no one can approach the gates of heaven without beholding the names of twelve polygamists (the sons of four different women by one man), engraven in everlasting glory upon the pearly gates.

"My dear sister, with the Scriptures before me, I could never find it in my heart to reject the heavenly vision which has restored to man the fullness of the gospel, or the latter-day prophets and apostles, merely because in this restoration is included the ancient law of matrimony and of family organization and government, preparatory to the restoration of all Israel.

* * * * * *

"Your affectionate sister,

"BELINDA MARDEN PRATT.

"Mrs. Lydia Kimball, Nashua, N. H."

CHAPTER XLII.

REVELATION SUPPORTED BY BIBLICAL EXAMPLES—THE ISRAELITISH GENIUS OFTHE MORMONS SHOWN IN THE PATRIARCHAL NATURE OF THEIR INSTITUTIONS—THEANTI-POLYGAMIC CRUSADE.

Next after the revelation on celestial marriage, through Joseph theprophet, the Bible of the Hebrews, and not the sacred record of theancients of this continent, must be charged with the authority, theexamples, and, consequently, the practice of polygamy in the Latter-dayChurch. The examples of Abraham, Jacob, Solomon, and the ancients ofIsrael generally, and not the examples of Nephi, Mormon, and theirpeople, whose civilization is now extinct, have been those accepted byour modern Israel—examples of such divine potency that the women ofEngland and America, with all their monogamic training and prejudice,have dared not reject nor make war against in woman's name.

Ever and everywhere is the genius of Mormonism so strikingly inthe Abrahamic likeness and image, that one could almost fancy thepatriarchs of ancient Israel inspiring a modern Israel to perpetuatetheir name, their faith and their institutions. Who shall say that thisis not the fact? Surely this patriarchal genius of the Mormons is themost extraordinary test of a modern Israel. Jerusalem, not Rome, hasbrought forth the Mormons and their peculiar commonwealth.

And here it should be emphasized that polygamy had nought to do withthe expulsions of the Mormons from Missouri and Illinois. The primitive"crime" of the Mormons was their belief in new revelation. Fifty yearsago that was a monstrous crime in the eyes of sectarian Christendom.The present generation can scarcely comprehend how blasphemous thedoctrine of modern revelation seemed to this very nation of America,which now boasts of ten to twelve millions of believers in revelationfrom some source or other. Thus wonderful has been the change in fiftyyears!

Viewed as a cause of their persecutions in the past, next to thisfaith of the Mormons in Jehovah's speaking, was their rapid growth asa gathered and organized people, who bid fair to hold the balance ofpolitical power in several States. A prominent grievance with Missouriand Illinois was exactly that urged against the growth of the ancientChristians—"if we let them alone they will take away our name andnation!"

Following down the record until the period of the Utah war, it is stillthe fact that polygamy was not the cause of the anti-Mormon crusade. Itwas not even the excuse of that period, as given by President Buchananand Congress. It was merely an Israelitish trouble in the world.

Soon after this, however, polygamy did become the excuse, both toCongress and the dominant political party of the country, to takeaction against the Mormons and their Israelitish institutions. Inframing the Chicago platform, the Republican party, just rising tosupremacy, made slavery one of its planks, and polygamy another. Uponthese "twin relics" they rode into the administration of the governmentof the country.

Then came the anti-polygamic law of 1862, especially framed against theMormons. But it was found to be inoperative. Lincoln, who had knownmany of them in the early days, let the Mormons alone.

The civil war was over. The South had succumbed. The work ofreconstruction was fairly in progress. The conquerer Grant, and hisadministration, resolved to grapple with "polygamic theocracy," as theystyled it—if need be by the action and issues of another Mormon war.

First came Colfax to Zion, to "spy out the land." To the polygamicsaints he administered the gentle warning of a soft tongue, which,however, concealed a serpent's sting. Returning east, after his famoustour across the continent, he opened a theological assault upon Mormonpolygamy in the New York Independent, and soon became engaged in aregular battle with apostle John Taylor. Returning to Zion, on hissecond visit, the Vice-President actually preached an anti-polygamicsermon to the Mormons, one evening, in front of the Townsend House,in Salt Lake City, in which he quoted what he interpreted asanti-polygamic passages from the Book of Mormon.

The scene changes to Washington. Colfax, Cullom, Grant and Dr. Newmanare in travail with the Cullom bill and anti-Mormon crusade.

The Cullom bill passed the House and went to the Senate. PresidentGrant had resolved to execute it, by force of arms, should the courtsfail. Vice-President Colfax, while in Utah, had propounded the seriousquestion, "Will Brigham Young fight?"

Congress and the nation thought that now the doom of Mormon polygamyhad come.

Suddenly, like a wall of salvation, fifty thousand women of Mormondomthrew themselves around their patriarchs and their institutions! Awonderful people, these Mormons! More wonderful these women!

CHAPTER XLIII.

GRAND MASS MEETING OF THE WOMEN OF UTAH ON POLYGAMY AND THE CULLOMBILL—THEIR NOBLE REMONSTRANCE—SPEECHES OF APOSTOLIC WOMEN—THEIRRESOLUTIONS—WOMAN'S RIGHTS OR WOMAN'S REVOLUTION.

Probably the most remarkable woman's rights demonstration of the age,was that of the women of Mormondom, in their grand mass-meetings,held throughout Utah, in all its principal cities and settlements, inJanuary of 1870. And it was the more singular and complex, becauseUtah is the land of polygamy—the only land in all Christendom wherethat institution has been established—and that, too, chiefly by anAnglo-Saxon people—the last race in the world that the sociologistmight have supposed would have received the system of plural marriage!Hence, they have lifted it to a plane that, perhaps, no other racecould have done—above mere sexual considerations, and, in itstheories, altogether incompatible with the serfdom of woman; for thetens of thousands of the women of Utah not only held their grandmass-meetings to confirm and maintain polygamy, but they did it at thevery moment of the passage of their female suffrage bill; so that intheir vast assemblages they were virtually exercising their vote.

On the 13th of January, 1870, "notwithstanding the inclemency of theweather, the old tabernacle," says the Deseret News, "was denselypacked with ladies of all ages, and, as that building will comfortablyseat five thousand persons, there could not have been fewer thanbetween five and six thousand present on the occasion."

It was announced in the programme that there were to be nonepresent but ladies. Several reporters of the press, however,obtained admittance, among whom was Colonel Finley Anderson, specialcorrespondent of the New York Herald.

The meeting was opened with a very impressive prayer from Mrs.Zina D. Young; and then, on motion of Eliza R. Snow, Mrs. Sarah M.Kimball was elected president. Mrs. Lydia Alder was chosen secretary,and Mrs. M. T. Smoot, Mrs. M. N. Hyde, Isabella Horn, Mary Leaver,Priscilla Staines and Rachel Grant, were appointed a committee to draftresolutions. This was done with executive dispatch; for many presenthad for years been leaders of women's organizations. The presidentarose and addressed a few pithy remarks to the vast assemblage. Shesaid:

"We are to speak in relation to the government and institutions underwhich we live. She would ask, Have we transgressed any law of theUnited States? [Loud "no" from the audience.] Then why are we hereto-day? We have been driven from place to place, and wherefore? Simplyfor believing and practicing the counsels of God, as contained in thegospel of heaven. The object of this meeting is to consider the justiceof a bill now before the Congress of the United States. We are not hereto advocate woman's rights, but man's rights. The bill in questionwould not only deprive our fathers, husbands and brothers, of enjoyingthe privileges bequeathed to citizens of the United States, but itwould deprive us, as women, of the privilege of selecting our husbands;and against this we unqualifiedly protest."

During the absence of the committee on resolutions, the followingspeech was delivered by Bathsheba W. Smith:

"Beloved Sisters and Friends: It is with no ordinary feelings that Imeet with you on the present occasion. From my early youth I have beenidentified with the Latter-day Saints; hence, I have been an eye andear witness to many of the wrongs that have been inflicted upon ourpeople by a spirit of intolerant persecution.

"I watched by the bedside of the first apostle, David W. Patten, whofell a martyr in the Church. He was a noble soul. He was shot by amob while defending the saints in the State of Missouri. As BrotherPatten's life-blood oozed away, I stood by and heard his dyingtestimony to the truth of our holy religion—declaring himself to bea friend to all mankind. His last words, addressed to his wife, were:'Whatever you do, oh! do not deny the faith.' This circ*mstance made alasting impression on my youthful mind.

"I was intimately acquainted with the life and ministry of our belovedprophet Joseph, and our patriarch Hyrum Smith.. I know that they werepure men, who labored for the redemption of the human family. For sixyears I heard their public and private teachings. It was from theirlips that I heard taught the principle of celestial marriage; andwhen I saw their mangled forms cold in death, having been slain forthe testimony of Jesus, by the hands of cruel bigots, in defiance oflaw, justice and executive pledges; and although this was a scene ofbarbarous cruelty, which can never be erased from the memory of thosewho witnessed the heartrending cries of widows and orphans, and mingledtheir tears with those of thousands of witnesses of the mournfuloccasion—the memories of which I hardly feel willing to awaken—yet Irealized that they had sealed their ministry with their blood, and thattheir testimony was in force.

"On the 9th day of February, 1846—the middle of a cold and bleakwinter—my husband, just rising from a bed of sickness, and I,in company with thousands of saints, were driven again from ourcomfortable home—the accumulation of six years' industry andprudence—and, with the little children, commenced a long and wearyjourney through a wilderness, to seek another home; for a wicked mobhad decreed we must leave. Governor Ford, of Illinois, said the lawswere powerless to protect us. Exposed to the cold of winter and thestorms of spring, we continued our journey, amid want and exposure,burying by the wayside a dead mother, a son, and many kind friends andrelatives.

"We reached the Missouri river in July. Here our country thought properto make a requisition upon us for a battalion to defend our nationalflag in the war pending with Mexico. We responded promptly, many ofour kindred stepping forward and performing a journey characterized bytheir commanding officer as 'unparalleled in history.' With most ofour youths and middle-aged men gone, we could not proceed; hence, wewere compelled to make another home, which, though humble, approachingwinter made very desirable. In 1847-8, all who were able, throughselling their surplus property, proceeded; we who remained were told,by an unfeeling Indian department, we must vacate our houses andre-cross the Missouri river, as the laws would not permit us to remainon Indian lands! We obeyed, and again made a new home, though onlya few miles distant. The latter home we abandoned in 1849, for thepurpose of joining our co-religionists in the then far-off region,denominated on the map 'the Great American Desert,' and by some latergeographies as 'Eastern Upper California.'

"In this isolated country we made new homes, and, for a time, contendedwith the crickets for a scanty subsistence. The rude, ignorant, andalmost nude Indians were a heavy tax upon us, while struggling againto make comfortable homes and improvements; yet we bore it all withoutcomplaint, for we were buoyed up with the happy reflections that wewere so distant from the States, and had found an asylum in such anundesirable country, as to strengthen us in the hope that our homeswould not be coveted; and that should we, through the blessing ofGod, succeed in planting our own vine and fig tree, no one could feelheartless enough to withhold from us that religious liberty which wehad sought in vain amongst our former neighbors.

"Without recapitulating our recent history, the development of a peoplewhose industry and morality have extorted eulogy from their bittertraducers, I cannot but express my surprise, mingled with regret andindignation, at the recent efforts of ignorant, bigoted, and unfeelingmen—headed by the Vice-President—to aid intolerant sectarians andreckless speculators, who seek for proscription and plunder, andwho feel willing to rob the inhabitants of these valleys of theirhard-earned possessions, and, what is dearer, the constitutional boonof religious liberty."

Sister Smith was followed by Mrs. Levi Riter, in a few appropriateremarks, and then the committee on resolutions reported the following:

"Resolved, That we, the ladies of Salt Lake City, in mass-meeting assembled, do manifest our indignation, and protest against the bill before Congress, known as 'the Cullom bill,' also the one known as 'the Cragin bill,' and all similar bills, expressions and manifestoes.

"Resolved, That we consider the above-named bills foul blots on our national escutcheon—absurd documents—atrocious insults to the honorable executive of the United States Government, and malicious attempts to subvert the rights of civil and religious liberty.

"Resolved, That we do hold sacred the constitution bequeathed us by our forefathers, and ignore, with laudable womanly jealousy, every act of those men to whom the responsibilities of government have been entrusted, which is calculated to destroy its efficiency.

"Resolved, That we unitedly exercise every moral power and every right which we inherit as the daughters of American citizens, to prevent the passage of such bills, knowing that they would inevitably cast a stigma on our republican government by jeopardizing the liberty and lives of its most loyal and peaceful citizens.

"Resolved, That, in our candid opinion, the presentation of the aforesaid bills indicates a manifest degeneracy of the great men of our nation; and their adoption would presage a speedy downfall and ultimate extinction of the glorious pedestal of freedom, protection, and equal rights, established by our noble ancestors.

"Resolved, That we acknowledge the institutions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the only reliable safeguard of female virtue and innocence; and the only sure protection against the fearful sin of prostitution, and its attendant evils, now prevalent abroad, and as such, we are and shall be united with our brethren in sustaining them against each and every encroachment.

"Resolved, That we consider the originators of the aforesaid bills disloyal to the constitution, and unworthy of any position of trust in any office which involves the interests of our nation.

"Resolved, That, in case the bills in question should pass both Houses of Congress, and become a law, by which we shall be disfranchised as a Territory, we, the ladies of Salt Lake City, shall exert all our power and influence to aid in the support of our own State government."

These resolutions were greeted with loud cheers from nearly sixthousand women, and carried unanimously; after which, Sister WarrenSmith, a relict of one of the martyrs of Haun's Mill, arose, and withdeep feeling, said:

"Sisters: As I sat upon my seat, listening, it seemed as though, ifI held my peace, the stones of the streets would cry out. With yourprayers aiding me, I will try and make a few remarks." [See chapteron Haun's Mill massacre, in which Sister Smith substantially coversthe same ground.] "We are here to-day to say, if such scenes shall beagain enacted in our midst. I say to you, my sisters, you are Americancitizens; let us stand by the truth, if we die for it."

Mrs. Wilmarth East then said: "It is with feelings of pleasure,mingled with indignation and disgust, that I appear before my sisters,to express my feelings in regard to the Cullom bill, now before theCongress of this once happy republican government. The constitutionfor which our forefathers fought and bled and died, bequeaths to usthe right of religious liberty—the right to worship God accordingto the dictates of our own consciences! Does the Cullom bill giveus this right? Compare it with the constitution, if you please, andsee what a disgrace has come upon this once happy and republicangovernment! Where, O, where, is that liberty, bequeathed to us byour forefathers—the richest boon ever given to man or woman, excepteternal life, or the gospel of the Son of God? I am an American citizenby birth. Having lived under the laws of the land, I claim the rightto worship God according to the dictates of my conscience, and thecommandments that God shall give unto me. Our constitution guaranteeslife, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, to all who live beneathit. What is life to me, if I see the galling yoke of oppression placedon the necks of my husband, sons and brothers, as Mr. Cullom wouldhave it? I am proud to say to you that I am not only a citizen of theUnited States of America, but a citizen of the kingdom of God, and thelaws of this kingdom I am willing to sustain and defend both by exampleand precept. I am thankful to-day that I have the honored privilegeof being the happy recipient of one of the greatest principles everrevealed to man for his redemption and exaltation in the kingdom ofGod—namely, plurality of wives; and I am thankful to-day that I knowthat God is at the helm, and will defend his people."

A veteran sister, Mrs. McMinn, could not refrain from expressingherself in unison with her sisters, in indignation at the bill. She wasan American citizen; her father had fought through the revolution withGeneral Washington; and she claimed the exercise of the liberty forwhich he had fought. She was proud of being a latter-day saint.

In answer to an inquiry, she stated that she was nearly eighty-fiveyears of age.

Sister Eliza R. Snow then addressed the meeting, as follows:

"My Sisters: In addressing you at this time, I realize that theoccasion is a peculiar and interesting one. We are living in a landof freedom, under a constitution that guarantees civil and religiousliberty to all—black and white, Christians, Jews, Mohammedans andPagans; and how strange it is that such considerations should exist asthose which have called us together this afternoon.

"Under the proud banner which now waves from ocean to ocean, strangeas it may seem, we, who have ever been loyal citizens, have beenpersecuted from time to time and driven from place to place, untilat last, beyond the bounds of civilization, under the guidance ofPresident Young, we found an asylum of peace in the midst of thesemountains.

"There are, at times, small and apparently trivial events in the livesof individuals, with which every other event naturally associates.There are circ*mstances in the history of nations, which serve ascentres around which everything else revolves.

"The entrance of our brave pioneers, and the settlement of thelatter-day saints in these mountain vales, which then were only barren,savage wilds, are events with which not only our own future, but thefuture of the whole world, is deeply associated.

"Here they struggled, with more than mortal energy, for their heartsand hands were nerved by the spirit of the Most High, and through hisblessing they succeeded in drawing sustenance from the arid soil; herethey erected the standard on which the 'star spangled banner' waved itssalutation of welcome to the nations of the earth; and here it willbe bequeathed, unsullied, to future generations. Yes, that 'dear oldflag' which in my girlhood I always contemplated with joyous pride, andto which the patriotic strains of my earliest muse were chanted, herefloats triumphantly on the mountain breeze.

"Our numbers, small at first, have increased, until now we number onehundred and fifty thousand; and yet we are allowed only a territorialgovernment. Year after year we have petitioned Congress for that whichis our inalienable right to claim—a State government; and, year afteryear, our petitions have been treated with contempt. Such treatment aswe have received from our rulers, has no precedent in the annals ofhistory.

"And now, instead of granting us our rights as American citizens,bills are being presented to Congress, which are a disgrace to menin responsible stations, professing the least claim to honor andmagnanimity; bills which, if carried into effect, would utterlyannihilate us as a people. But this will never be. There is too muchvirtue yet existing in the nation, and above all there is a God inheaven whose protecting care is over us, and who takes cognizance ofthe acts of men.

"My sisters, we have met to-day to manifest our views and feelingsconcerning the oppressive policy exercised towards us by our republicangovernment. Aside from all local and personal feelings, to me it is asource of deep regret that the standard of American liberty should havebeen so far swayed from its original position, as to have given riseto circ*mstances which not only render such a meeting opportune, butabsolutely necessary.

"Heretofore, while detraction and ridicule have been poured forthin almost every form that malice could invent, while we have beenmisrepresented by speech and press, and exhibited in every shade butour true light, the ladies of Utah have remained comparatively silent.Had not our aims been of the most noble and exalted character, and hadwe not known that we occupied a standpoint far above our traducers,we might have returned volley for volley; but we have all the timerealized that to contradict such egregious absurdities, would be agreat stoop of condescension—far beneath the dignity of those whoprofess to be saints of the living God; and we very unassuminglyapplied to ourselves a saying of an ancient apostle, in writing to theCorinthians, 'Ye suffer fools, gladly, seeing that yourselves are wise.'

"But there is a point at which silence is no longer a virtue. In myhumble opinion, we have arrived at that point. Shall we—ought we—tobe silent, when every right of citizenship, every vestige of civil andreligious liberty, is at stake? When our husbands and sons, our fathersand brothers, are threatened with being either restrained in theirobedience to the commands of God, or incarcerated, year after year,in the dreary confines of a prison, will it be thought presumptuous?Ladies, this subject as deeply interests us as them. In the kingdom ofGod, woman has no interests separate from those of man—all are mutual.

"Our enemies pretend that, in Utah, woman is held in a state ofvassalage—that she does not act from choice, but by coercion—that wewould even prefer life elsewhere, were it possible for us to make ourescape. What nonsense! We all know that if we wished we could leave atany time—either to go singly, or to rise en masse, and there is nopower here that could, or would wish to, prevent us.

"I will now ask this assemblage of intelligent ladies, do you know ofany place on the face of the earth, where woman has more liberty, andwhere she enjoys such high and glorious privileges as she does here,as a latter-day saint? No! The very idea of woman here in a stateof slavery is a burlesque on good common sense. The history of thispeople, with a very little reflection, would instruct outsiders on thispoint. It would show, at once, that the part which woman has acted init, could never have been performed against her will. Amid the manydistressing scenes through which we have passed, the privations andhardships consequent upon our expulsion from State to State, and ourlocation in an isolated, barren wilderness, the women in this Churchhave performed and suffered what could never have been borne andaccomplished by slaves.

"And now, after all that has transpired, can our opponents expect usto look on with silent indifference and see every vestige of thatliberty for which many of our patriotic grandsires fought and bled,that they might bequeath to us, their children, the precious boon ofnational freedom, wrested from our grasp? They must be very dull inestimating the energy of female character, who can persuade themselvesthat women who for the sake of their religion left their homes, crossedthe plains with handcarts, or as many had previously done, drove ox,mule and horse-teams from Nauvoo and from other points, when theirhusbands and sons went, at their country's call, to fight her battlesin Mexico; yes, that very country which had refused us protection, andfrom which we were then struggling to make our escape—I say those whothink that such women and the daughters of such women do not possesstoo much energy of character to remain passive and mute under existingcirc*mstances, are 'reckoning without their host.' To suppose that weshould not be aroused when our brethren are threatened with fines andimprisonment, for their faith in, and obedience to, the laws of God, isan insult to our womanly natures.

"Were we the stupid, degraded, heartbroken beings that we have beenrepresented, silence might better become us; but as women of God, womenfilling high and responsible positions, performing sacred duties—womenwho stand not as dictators, but as counselors to their husbands, andwho, in the purest, noblest sense of refined womanhood, are truly theirhelpmates—we not only speak because we have the right, but justice andhumanity demand that we should.

"My sisters, let us, inasmuch as we are free to do all that love andduty prompt, be brave and unfaltering in sustaining our brethren.Woman's faith can accomplish wonders. Let us, like the devout andsteadfast Miriam, assist our brothers in upholding the hands of Moses.Like the loving Josephine, whose firm and gentle influence bothanimated and soothed the heart of Napoleon, we will encourage andassist the servants of God in establishing righteousness; but unlikeJosephine, never will political inducements, threats or persecutions,prevail on us to relinquish our matrimonial ties. They were performedby the authority of the holy priesthood, the efficiency of whichextends into eternity.

"But to the law and to the testimony. Those obnoxious, fratricidalbills—I feel indignant at the thought that such documents shoulddisgrace our national legislature. The same spirit prompted Herod toseek the life of Jesus—the same that drove our Pilgrim fathers to thiscontinent, and the same that urged the English government to the systemof unrepresented taxation, which resulted in the independence of theAmerican colonies, is conspicuous in those bills. If such measures arepersisted in they will produce similar results. They not only threatenextirpation to us, but they augur destruction to the government. Theauthors of those bills would tear the constitution to shreds; they aresapping the foundation of American freedom—they would obliterate everyvestige of the dearest right of man—liberty of conscience—and reduceour once happy country to a state of anarchy.

"Our trust is in God. He who led Israel from the land of Egypt—whopreserved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace—whor*scued Daniel from the jaws of hungry lions, and who directed BrighamYoung to these mountain vales, lives, and overrules the destinies ofmen and nations. He will make the wrath of man praise him; and hiskingdom will move steadily forward, until wickedness shall be sweptfrom the earth, and truth, love and righteousness reign triumphantly."

Next came a concise, powerful speech from Harriet Cook Young. She said:

"In rising to address this meeting, delicacy prompts me to explain thechief motives which have dictated our present action. We, the ladiesof Salt Lake City, have assembled here to-day, not for the purposeof assuming any particular political power, nor to claim any specialprerogative which may or may not belong to our sex; but to expressour indignation at the unhallowed efforts of men, who, regardless ofevery principle of manhood, justice, and constitutional liberty, wouldforce upon a religious community, by a direct issue, either the courseof apostacy, or the bitter alternative of fire and sword. Surely theinstinct of self-preservation, the love of liberty and happiness, andthe right to worship God, are dear to our sex as well as to the other;and when these most sacred of all rights are thus wickedly assailed, itbecomes absolutely our duty to defend them.

"The mission of the Latter-day Saints is to reform abuses which havefor ages corrupted the world, and to establish an era of peace andrighteousness. The Most High is the founder of this mission, and inorder to its establishment, his providences have so shaped the world'shistory, that, on this continent, blest above all other lands, a freeand enlightened government has been instituted, guaranteeing to allsocial, political, and religious liberty. The constitution of ourcountry is therefore hallowed to us, and we view with a jealous eyeevery infringement upon its great principles, and demand, in the sacredname of liberty, that the miscreant who would trample it under his feetby depriving a hundred thousand American citizens of every vestige ofliberty, should be anathematized throughout the length and breadth ofthe land, as a traitor to God and his country.

"It is not strange that, among the bigoted and corrupt, such a man andsuch a measure should have originated; but it will be strange indeed ifsuch a measure find favor with the honorable and high-minded men whowield the destinies of the nation. Let this seal of ruin be attachedto the archives of our country, and terrible must be the results. Woewill wait upon her steps, and war and desolation will stalk throughthe land; peace and liberty will seek another clime, while anarchy,lawlessness and bloody strife hold high carnival amid the generalwreck. God forbid that wicked men be permitted to force such an issueupon the nation!

"It is true that a corrupt press, and an equally corrupt priestcraft,are leagued against us—that they have pandered to the ignoranceof the masses, and vilified our institutions, to that degree thatit has become popular to believe that the latter-day saints areunworthy to live; but it is also true that there are many, very many,right-thinking men who are not without influence in the nation; and tosuch do we now most solemnly and earnestly appeal. Let the united forceof this assembly give the lie to the popular clamor that the womenof Utah are oppressed and held in bondage. Let the world know thatthe women of Utah prefer virtue to vice, and the home of an honorablewife to the gilded pageantry of fashionable temples of sin. Transitoryallurements, glaring the senses, as is the flame to the moth,short-lived and cruel in their results, possess no charms for us. Everywoman in Utah may have her husband—the husband of her choice. Here weare taught not to destroy our children, but to preserve them, for they,reared in the path of virtue and trained to righteousness, constituteour true glory.

"It is with no wish to accuse our sisters who are not of our faith thatwe so speak; but we are dealing with facts as they exist. Wherevermonogamy reigns, adultery, prostitution and foeticide, directly orindirectly, are its concomitants. It is not enough to say that thevirtuous and high-minded frown upon these evils. We believe they do.But frowning upon them does not cure them; it does not even checktheir rapid growth; either the remedy is too weak, or the disease istoo strong. The women of Utah comprehend this; and they see, in theprinciple of plurality of wives, the only safeguard against adultery,prostitution, and the reckless waste of pre-natal life, practicedthroughout the land.

"It is as co-workers in the great mission of universal reform, notonly in our own behalf, but also, by precept and example, to aid inthe emancipation of our sex generally, that we accept in our heart ofhearts what we know to be a divine commandment: and here, and now,boldly and publicly, we do assert our right, not only to believe inthis holy commandment, but to practice what we believe.

"While these are our views, every attempt to force that obnoxiousmeasure upon us must of necessity be an attempt to coerce us in ourreligious and moral convictions, against which did we not most solemnlyprotest, we would be unworthy the name of American women."

Mrs. Hannah T. King followed with a stinging address to General Cullomhimself. She said:

"My Dear Sisters: I wish I had the language I feel to need, atthe present moment, to truly represent the indignant feelings of myheart and brain on reading, as I did last evening, a string of thirty'sections,' headed by the words, 'A Bill in aid of the Execution ofthe Laws in the Territory of Utah, and for other purposes.' The 'otherpurposes' contain the pith of the matter, and the adamantine chainsthat the author of the said bill seeks to bind this people with, exceedanything that the feudal times of England, or the serfdom of Russia,ever laid upon human beings. My sisters, are we really in America—theworld-renowned land of liberty, freedom, and equal rights?—the landof which I dreamed, in my youth, as being almost an earthly elysium,where freedom of thought and religious liberty were open to all!—theland that Columbus wore his noble life out to discover!—the landthat God himself helped him to exhume, and to aid which endeavorIsabella, a queen, a woman, declared she would pawn her jewels andcrown of Castile, to give him the outfit that he needed!—the land ofWashington, the Father of his Country, and a host of noble spirits,too numerous to mention!—the land to which the Mayflower bore thepilgrim fathers, who rose up and left their homes, and bade theirnative home 'good night,' simply that they might worship God by a purerand holier faith, in a land of freedom and liberty, of which the nameAmerica has long been synonymous! Yes, my sisters, this is America butoh! how are the mighty fallen!

"Who, or what, is the creature who framed this incomparable document?Is he an Esquimaux or a chimpanzee? What isolated land or spot producedhim? What ideas he must have of women! Had he ever a mother, a wife,or a sister? In what academy was he tutored, or to what school does hebelong, that he so coolly and systematically commands the women of thispeople to turn traitors to their husbands, their brothers, and theirsons? Short-sighted man of 'sections' and 'the bill!' Let us, the womenof this people—the sisterhood of Utah—rise en masse, and tell thisnon-descript to defer 'the bill' until he has studied the character ofwoman, such as God intended she should be; then he will discover thatdevotion, veneration and faithfulness are her peculiar attributes; thatGod is her refuge, and his servants her oracles; and that, especially,the women of Utah have paid too high a price for their presentposition, their present light and knowledge, and their noble future,to succumb to so mean and foul a thing as Baskin, Cullom & Co.'s bill.Let him learn that they are one in heart, hand and brain, with thebrotherhood of Utah—that God is their father and their friend—thatinto his hands they commit their cause—and on their pure and simplebanner they have emblazoned their motto, 'God, and my right!'"

The next who spoke was Phoebe Woodruff, who said:

"Ladies of Utah: As I have been called upon to express my viewsupon the important subject which has called us together, I will saythat I am happy to be one of your number in this association. I amproud that I am a citizen of Utah, and a member of the Church of JesusChrist of Latter-day Saints. I have been a member of this church forthirty-six years, and had the privilege of living in the days ofthe prophet Joseph, and heard his teaching for many years. He evercounseled us to honor, obey and maintain the principles of our nobleconstitution, for which our fathers fought, and which many of themsacrificed their lives to establish. President Brigham Young has alwaystaught the same principle. This glorious legacy of our fathers, theconstitution of the United States, guarantees unto all the citizens ofthis great republic the right to worship God according to the dictatesof their own consciences, as it expressly says, 'Congress shall makeno laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting thefree exercise thereof.' Cullom's bill is in direct violation of thisdeclaration of the constitution, and I think it is our duty to do allin our power, by our voices and influence, to thwart the passage ofthis bill, which commits a violent outrage upon our rights, and therights of our fathers, husbands and sons; and whatever may be the finalresult of the action of Congress in passing or enforcing oppressivelaws, for the sake of our religion, upon the noble men who have subduedthese deserts, it is our duty to stand by them and support them by ourfaith, prayers and works, through every dark hour, unto the end, andtrust in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to defend us and all whoare called to suffer for keeping the commandments of God. Shall we,as wives and mothers, sit still and see our husbands and sons, whomwe know are obeying the highest behest of heaven, suffer for theirreligion, without exerting ourselves to the extent of our power fortheir deliverance? No; verily no! God has revealed unto us the law ofthe patriarchal order of marriage, and commanded us to obey it. Weare sealed to our husbands for time and eternity, that we may dwellwith them and our children in the world to come; which guaranteesunto us the greatest blessing for which we are created. If the rulersof the nation will so far depart from the spirit and letter of ourglorious constitution as to deprive our prophets, apostles and eldersof citizenship, and imprison them for obeying this law, let them grantthis, our last request, to make their prisons large enough to holdtheir wives, for where they go we will go also."

Sisters M. I. Horne and Eleanor M. Pratt followed with appropriatewords, and then Sister Eliza R. Snow made the following remarks:

"My remarks in conclusion will be brief. I heard the prophet JosephSmith say, if the people rose and mobbed us and the authoritiescountenanced it, they would have mobs to their hearts' content. Iheard him say that the time would come when this nation would so fardepart from its original purity, its glory, and its love of freedom andprotection of civil and religious rights, that the constitution of ourcountry would hang as it were by a thread. He said, also, that thispeople, the sons of Zion, would rise up and save the constitution, andbear it off triumphantly.

"The spirit of freedom and liberty we should always cultivate, andit is what mothers should inspire in the breasts of their sons, thatthey may grow up brave and noble, and defenders of that gloriousconstitution which has been bequeathed unto us. Let mothers cultivatethat spirit in their own bosoms. Let them manifest their own bravery,and cherish a spirit of encountering difficulties, because they haveto be met, more or less, in every situation of life. If fortitude andnobility of soul be cultivated in your own bosoms, you will transmitthem to your children; your sons will grow up noble defenders oftruth and righteousness, and heralds of salvation to the nationsof the earth. They will be prepared to fill high and responsiblereligious, judicial, civil and executive positions. I consider it mostimportant, my sisters, that we should struggle to preserve the sacredconstitution of our country—one of the blessings of the Almighty, forthe same spirit that inspired Joseph Smith, inspired the framers ofthe constitution; and we should ever hold it sacred, and bear it offtriumphantly."

Mrs. Zina D. Young then moved that the meeting adjourn sine die,which was carried, and Mrs. Phoebe Woodruff pronounced the benediction.

CHAPTER XLIV.

WIVES OF THE APOSTLES—MRS. ORSON HYDE—INCIDENTS OF THE EARLYDAYS—THE PROPHET—MARY ANN PRATT'S LIFE STORY—WIFE OF GEN. CHARLESC. RICH—MRS. FRANKLIN D. RICHARDS—PHOEBE WOODRUFF—LEONORATAYLOR—MARIAN ROSS PRATT—THE WIFE OF DELEGATE CANNON—VILATE KIMBALLAGAIN.

The life of Mrs. Orson Hyde is replete with incidents of the earlydays, including the shameful occurrence of the tarring and featheringof the prophet, which took place while he was at her father's house.

Her maiden name was Marinda M. Johnson, she being the daughter of Johnand Elsa Johnson, a family well known among the pioneer converts ofOhio. She was born in Pomfret, Windsor county, Vermont, June 28, 1815.

"In February of 1818," she says, "my father, in company with severalfamilies from the same place, emigrated to Hiram, Portage county, Ohio.In the winter of 1831, Ezra Booth, a Methodist minister, procured acopy of the Book of Mormon and brought it to my father's house. Theysat up all night reading it, and were very much exercised over it.As soon as they heard that Joseph Smith had arrived in Kirtland, Mr.Booth and wife and my father and mother went immediately to see him.They were convinced and baptized before they returned. They invitedthe prophet and Elder Rigdon to accompany them home, which they did,and preached several times to crowded congregations, baptizing quite anumber. I was baptized in April following. The next fall Joseph camewith his family to live at my father's house. He was at that timetranslating the Bible, and Elder Rigdon was acting as scribe. Thefollowing spring, a mob, disguising themselves as black men, gatheredand burst into his sleeping apartment one night, and dragged him fromthe bed where he was nursing a sick child. They also went to the houseof Elder Rigdon, and took him out with Joseph into an orchard, where,after choking and beating them, they tarred and feathered them, andleft them nearly dead. My father, at the first onset, started to therescue, but was knocked down, and lay senseless for some time. Here Ifeel like bearing my testimony that during the whole year that Josephwas an inmate of my father's house I never saw aught in his daily lifeor conversation to make me doubt his divine mission.

"In 1833 we moved to Kirtland, and in 1834 I was married to Orson Hyde,and became fully initiated into the cares and duties of a missionary'swife, my husband in common with most of the elders giving his time andenergies to the work of the ministry.

"In the summer of 1837, leaving me with a three-weeks old babe, he,in company with Heber C. Kimball and others, went on their firstmission to England. Shortly after his return, in the summer of 1838,we, in company with several other families, went to Missouri, where weremained till the next spring. We then went to Nauvoo. In the spring of1840 Mr. Hyde went on his mission to Palestine; going in the apostolicstyle, without purse or scrip, preaching his way, and when all otherchannels were closed, teaching the English language in Europe, tillhe gained sufficient money to take him to the Holy Land, where heoffered up his prayer on the Mount of Olives, and dedicated Jerusalemto the gathering of the Jews in this dispensation. Having accomplisheda three-years mission, he returned, and shortly after, in accordancewith the revelation on celestial marriage, and with my full consent,married two more wives. At last we were forced to flee from Nauvoo,and in the spring of 1846, we made our way to Council Bluffs, whereour husband left us to go again on mission to England. On his return,in the fall of 1847, he was appointed to take charge of the saints inthe States, and to send off the emigration as fast as it arrived in asuitable condition on the frontiers; also to edit a paper in the churchinterest, the name of which was Frontier Guardian.

"In the summer of 1852 we brought our family safely through to SaltLake City, where we have had peace and safety ever since.

"In 1868 I was chosen to preside over the branch of the Female ReliefSociety of the ward in which I reside, the duties of which position Ihave prayerfully attempted to perform."

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Mary Ann Pratt deserves mention next. It will be remembered thatthe apostle Parley P. Pratt lost his first wife at the birth of hiseldest son. He afterwards married the subject of this sketch, and shebecomes historically important from the fact that she was one of thefirst of those self-subduing women who united with their husbands inestablishing the law of celestial marriage, or the "Patriarchal Order."She gave to her husband other wives. Taking up the story of her lifewith her career as a Latter-day Saint, she says:

"I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintsin the spring of 1835, being convinced of the truthfulness of itsdoctrines by the first sermon I heard; and I said in my heart, ifthere are only three who hold firm to the faith, I will be one of thatnumber; and through all the persecution I have had to endure I haveever felt the same; my heart has never swerved from that resolve.

"I was married to Parley P. Pratt in the spring of 1837, and movingto Missouri, endured with him the persecution of the saints, sooften recorded in history. When my husband was taken by a mob, inthe city of Far West, Mo., and carried to prison, I was confined tomy bed with raging fever, and not able to help myself at all, with ababe three months old and my little girl of five years; but I criedmightily to the Lord for strength to endure, and he in mercy heardmy prayer and carried me safely through. In a few days word came tome that my husband was in prison and in chains. As soon as my healthwas sufficiently restored I took my children and went to him. I foundhim released from his chains, and was permitted to remain with him.I shared his dungeon, which was a damp, dark, filthy place, withoutventilation, merely having a small grating on one side. In this we wereobliged to sleep.

"About the middle of March I bid adieu to my beloved companion, andreturned to Far West to make preparations for leaving the State.Through the kind assistance of Brother David W. Rogers (now an agedresident of Provo), I removed to Quincy, Ill., where I remained untilthe arrival of Mr. Pratt, after his fortunate escape from prison, wherehe had been confined eight months without any just cause.

"Passing briefly over the intervening years, in which I accompanied myhusband on various missions, first to New York, and thence to England,where I remained two years; and, returning to Nauvoo, our sojourn inthat beautiful city a few years, and our final expulsion, and the finalweary gathering to Utah; I hasten to bear my testimony to the worldthat this is the church and people of God, and I pray that I may befound worthy of a place in his celestial kingdom."

The tragedy of the close of the mortal career of Parley P. Pratt isstill fresh in the public mind. It is one of the terrible chapters ofMormon history which the pen of his wife has not dared to touch.

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Another of these "first wives" is presented in the person of SisterRich.

Sarah D. P. Rich, wife of Gen. Chas. C. Rich, and daughter of John andElizabeth Pea, was born September 23d, 1814, in St. Clair county, Ill.In December, 1835, she became a member of the Church of Latter-daySaints, and had the pleasure shortly after of seeing her father'sfamily, with a single exception, converted to the same faith. In 1837they removed to Far West, Mo., where the saints were at that timegathering. At this place she for the first time met Mr. Rich, to whomshe was married on the 11th of February, 1838. During the autumn of1838, the mob having driven many of the saints from their homes inthe vicinity, she received into her house and sheltered no less thanseven families of the homeless outcasts. Among the number was thefamily of Apostle Page, and it was during her sojourn with Mrs. Richthat Apostle Page's wife died. Mrs. R. stood in her door and saw theinfamous mob-leader and Methodist preacher, Bogard, shoot at herhusband as he was returning from the mob camp under a flag of truce.That night Mr. Rich was compelled to flee for his life, and she didnot see him again until she joined him three months later, on thebank of the Mississippi, opposite Quincy. They made the crossing ina canoe, the river being so full of ice that the regular ferry-boatcould not be used. From this place they removed to Nauvoo, where sheremained daring all the succeeding persecutions and trials of thechurch, until February, 1846, when they were forced to leave, whichthey did, with her three small children, crossing the Mississippi onthe ice. Journeying westward to Mount Pisgah, Iowa, they remainedduring the following season, and planted and harvested a crop of corn.In the spring of 1847 they removed to winter quarters, and six weeksafterwards started out on the weary journey across the plains. Shearrived in Salt Lake Valley on the 2d of October, 1847, with the secondcompany of emigrants, of which her husband was the leader.

Since that time she has resided continually in Salt Lake City, withthe exception of a short sojourn in Bear Lake Valley, and has enduredwithout complaint all of the trials, privations and hardships incidentto the settlement of Utah. She is the mother of nine children, and iswell known as the friend of the poor, the nurse of the sick, and thecounselor of the friendless and oppressed among the people; and itis needless to add that she has passed her life in the advocacy andpractice of the principles of that gospel which she embraced in thedays of her youth.

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Mrs. Jane S. Richards, wife of the distinguished apostle, Franklin D.Richards, and daughter of Isaac and Louisa Snyder, was born January31st, 1823, in Pamelia, Jefferson county, N. Y. The prophet andpilot of her father's house into the church was Elder John E. Page,who brought to them the gospel in 1837, while they were living nearKingston, Canada. The family started thence for Far West, Mo., in1839, but were compelled by sickness to stop at La Porte, Indiana.Here, through the faithful ministrations of her brother Robert, shewas restored from the effects of a paralytic stroke, and immediatelyembraced the faith. In the autumn following (1840) she first saw youngElder Richards, then on his first mission. In 1842, after her father'sfamily had moved to Nauvoo, she was married to Mr. Richards. In thejourney of the saints into the wilderness, after their expulsionfrom Nauvoo, she drank to the bitter dregs the cup of hardshipand affliction, her husband being absent on mission and she beingrepeatedly prostrated with sickness. At winter quarters President Youngsaid to her, "It may truly be said, if any have come up through greattribulation from Nauvoo, you have." There her little daughter died,and was the first to be interred in that memorable burying ground ofthe saints. Here also her husband's wife, Elizabeth, died, despite thefaithful efforts of friends, and had it not been for their unweariedattentions, Jane also would have sunk under her load of affliction andsorrow.

In 1848, Mr. Richards having returned from mission, they gatheredto the valley. In 1849 she gave her only sister to her husband inmarriage. From that time forth until their removal to Ogden, in 1869,hers was the fortune of a missionary's wife, her husband being almostconstantly on mission. In 1872 she accepted the presidency of theOgden Relief Society, which she has since very acceptably filled.Among the noteworthy items of interest connected with her presidencyof this society, was the organization of the young ladies of Ogdeninto a branch society for the purpose of retrenchment and economy indress, moral, mental and spiritual improvement, etc., which has beenmost successfully continued, and is now collaterally supported by manybranch societies in the county. But her labors have not been confinedto Ogden alone. She has been appointed to preside over the societiesof Weber county; and, as a sample of her efforts, we may instance thatshe has established the manufacture of home-made straw bonnets andhats, which industry has furnished employment to many. Her heart andhome have ever been open to the wants of the needy; and the sick andafflicted have been the objects of her continual care.

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The closing words of the wife of Apostle Woodruff, at the grandmass-meeting of the women of Utah, have in them a ring stronglysuggestive of what must have been the style of speech of those womenof America who urged their husbands and sons to resist the tyrannyof George III; throw off the yoke of colonial servitude, and provethemselves worthy of national independence.

Phoebe W. Carter was born in Scarboro, in the State of Maine, March8th, 1807. Her father was of English descent, connecting with Americaat about the close of the seventeenth century. Her mother, SarahFabyan, was of the same place, and three generations from England. Thename of Fabyan was one of the noblest names of Rome, ere England was anation, and that lofty tone and strength of character so marked in thewife of Apostle Woodruff was doubtless derived from the Fabyans, Phoebebeing of her mother's stamp.

In the year 1834 she embraced the gospel, and, about a year after, lefther parents and kindred and journeyed to Kirtland, a distance of onethousand miles—a lone maid, sustained only by a lofty faith and trustin Israel's God. In her characteristic Puritan language she says:

"My friends marveled at my course, as did I, but something withinimpelled me on. My mother's grief at my leaving home was almost morethan I could bear; and had it not been for the spirit within I shouldhave faltered at the last. My mother told me she would rather see meburied than going thus alone out into the heartless world. 'Phoebe,'she said, impressively, 'will you come back to me if you find Mormonismfalse?' I answered, 'yes, mother; I will, thrice.' These were mywords, and she knew I would keep my promise. My answer relieved hertrouble; but it cost us all much sorrow to part. When the time came formy departure I dared not trust myself to say farewell; so I wrote mygood-byes to each, and leaving them on my table, ran down stairs andjumped into the carriage. Thus I left the beloved home of my childhoodto link my life with the saints of God.

"When I arrived in Kirtland I became acquainted with the prophet,Joseph Smith, and received more evidence of his divine mission. Therein Kirtland I formed the acquaintance of Elder Wilford Woodruff, towhom I was married in 1836. With him I went to the 'islands of thesea,' and to England, on missions.

"When the principle of polygamy was first taught I thought it the mostwicked thing I ever heard of; consequently I opposed it to the best ofmy ability, until I became sick and wretched. As soon, however, as Ibecame convinced that it originated as a revelation from God throughJoseph, and knowing him to be a prophet, I wrestled with my HeavenlyFather in fervent prayer, to be guided aright at that all-importantmoment of my life. The answer came. Peace was given to my mind. I knewit was the will of God; and from that time to the present I have soughtto faithfully honor the patriarchal law.

"Of Joseph, my testimony is that he was one of the greatest prophetsthe Lord ever called; that he lived for the redemption of mankind, anddied a martyr for the truth. The love of the saints for him will neverdie.

"It was after the martyrdom of Joseph that I accompanied my husband toEngland, in 1845. On our return the advance companies of the saints hadjust left Nauvoo under President Young and others of the twelve. Wefollowed immediately and journeyed to winter quarters.

"The next year Wilford went with the pioneers to the mountains, whilethe care of the family devolved on me. After his return, and thereorganization of the first presidency, I accompanied my husband on hismission to the Eastern States. In 1850 we arrived in the valley, andsince that time Salt Lake City has been my home.

"Of my husband I can truly say, I have found him a worthy man, withscarcely his equal on earth. He has built up a branch wherever he haslabored. He has been faithful to God and his family every day of hislife. My respect for him has increased with our years, and my desirefor an eternal union with him will be the last wish of my mortal life."

Sister Phoebe is one of the noblest of her sex—a mother in Israel.And in her strength of character, consistency, devotion, and apostoliccast, she is second to none.

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A most worthy peer of sister Woodruff was Leonora, the wife of ApostleJohn Taylor. She was the daughter of Capt. Cannon, of the Isle of Man,England, and sister of the father of George Q. Cannon. She left Englandfor Canada, as a companion to the wife of the secretary of the colony,but with the intention of returning. While in Canada, however, she metElder Taylor, then a Methodist minister, whose wife she afterwardsbecame. They were married in 1833. She was a God-fearing woman, and,as we have seen, was the first to receive Parley P. Pratt into herhouse when on his mission to Canada. In the spring of 1838 she gatheredwith her husband and two children to Kirtland. Thence they journeyedto Far West. She was in the expulsion from Missouri; bore the burdenof her family in Nauvoo, as a missionary's wife, while her husband wasin England; felt the stroke of the martyrdom, in which her husbandwas terribly wounded; was in the exodus; was then left at winterquarters while her husband went on his second mission to England; buthe returned in time for them to start with the first companies thatfollowed the pioneers. Sister Leonora was therefore among the earliestwomen of Utah.

When the prospect came, at the period of the Utah war, that the saintswould have to leave American soil, and her husband delivered thosegrand patriotic discourses to his people that will ever live in Mormonhistory, Sister Taylor nobly supported his determination with the restof the saints to put the torch to their homes, rather than submit toinvasion and the renunciation of their liberties. She died in the monthof December, 1867. Hers was a faithful example, and she has left anhonored memory among her people.

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Marian Ross, wife of Apostle Orson Pratt, is a native of Scotland,and was reared among the Highlands. When about seventeen years of ageshe visited her relatives in Edinburgh, where Mormonism was firstbrought to her attention. She was shortly afterwards baptized near theharbor of Leith, on the 27th of August, 1847. A singular feature ofMrs. Pratt's experience was that in a dream she was distinctly shownher future husband, then on his mission to Scotland. When she sawhim she at once recognized him. She made her home at Apostle Pratt'shouse in Liverpool, for a short time, and then emigrated to America,in 1851. After being in Salt Lake City a few months she was marriedto Mr. Pratt. She testifies, "I have been in polygamy twenty-fiveyears, and have never seen the hour when I have regretted that I wasin it. I would not change my position for anything earthly, no matterhow grand and gorgeous it might be; even were it for the throne of aqueen. For a surety do I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he is aprayer-hearing and prayer-answering God."

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Another of these apostolic women, who with their husbands founded Utah,is the wife of Albert Carrington. She was also in the valley in 1847.Her grand example and words to Captain Van Vliet, when the saints wereresolving on another exodus, have been already recorded. A volumewritten could not make her name more imperishable.

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Nor must Artimisa, the first wife of Erastus Snow, who is soconspicuous among the founders of St. George, be forgotten. She is oneof the honorable women of Utah, and the part she has sustained, withher husband, in building up the southern country, has been that ofself-sacrifice, endurance, and noble example.

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Mention should also be made of Elizabeth, daughter of the late BishopHoagland, and first wife of George Q. Cannon. She has borne the burdenof the day as a missionary's wife, and has also accompanied her husbandon mission to England; but her most noteworthy example was in her trulynoble conduct in standing by her husband in those infamous persecutionsof the politicians, over the question of polygamy, in their efforts toprevent him taking his seat in Congress.

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Here let us also speak of the death of Sister Vilate Kimball, whosehistory has been given somewhat at length in previous chapters. Aftersharing with her husband and the saints the perils and hardships ofthe exodus, and the journey across the plains, and after many years ofusefulness to her family and friends, she died Oct. 22d, 1867. She wasmourned by none more sincerely than by her husband, who, according tohis words, spoken over her remains, was "not long after her."

CHAPTER XLV.

MORMON WOMEN OF MARTHA WASHINGTON'S TIME—AUNT RHODA RICHARDS—WIFE OFTHE FIRST MORMON BISHOP—HONORABLE WOMEN OF ZION.

The heroic conduct of the Mormon women, in their eventful history,is not strange, nor their trained sentiments of religious libertyexaggerated in the action of their lives; for it must not be forgottenthat many a sister among the Latter-day Saints had lived in the timeof the Revolution, and had shown examples not unworthy of MarthaWashington herself. Of course those women of the Revolution are nowsleeping with the just, for nearly fifty years, have passed since therise of the church, but there are still left those who can rememberthe father of their country, and the mothers who inspired the war ofindependence. We have such an one to present in the person of AuntRhoda Richards, the sister of Willard, the apostle, and first cousin ofBrigham Young.

Scarcely had the British evacuated New York, and Washington returnedto his home at Mount Vernon, when Rhoda Richards was born. She was thesister of Phineas, Levi, and Willard Richards—three of illustriousmemory in the Mormon Church—was born August 8th, 1784, at Hopkington,Mass., and now, at the advanced age of ninety-three, thus speaks of herlife and works. She says:

"During the early years of my life I was much afflicted with sickness,but, through the mercies and blessings of my Heavenly Father, at theadvanced age of nearly ninety-three, I live, and am privileged to bearmy individual testimony, that for myself I know that Joseph Smith wasa true prophet of the living God; and that the work which he, as anhumble instrument in the hands of God, commenced in this, the eveningof time, will not be cut short, save as the Lord himself, according tohis promise, shall cut short his work in righteousness.

"My first knowledge of the Mormons was gained through my cousin, JosephYoung, though I had previously heard many strange things concerningthem. I lay on a bed of sickness, unable to sit up, when CousinJoseph came to visit at my father's house. I remember distinctly howcautiously my mother broached the subject of the new religion to him.Said she, 'Joseph, I have heard that some of the children of my sister,Abigail Young, have joined the Mormons. How is it?' Joseph replied, 'Itis true, Aunt Richards, and I am one of them!' It was Sabbath day, andin the morning Cousin Joseph attended church with my parents; but inthe afternoon he chose to remain with my brother William, and myself,at home. He remarked that he could not enjoy the meeting, and in replyI said, 'I do not see why we might not have a meeting here.' My cousinwas upon his feet in an instant, and stood and preached to us—mybrother and myself—for about half an hour, finishing his discoursewith, 'There, Cousin Rhoda, I don't know but I have tired you out!'When he sat down I remarked that meetings usually closed with prayer.In an instant he was on his knees, offering up a prayer. That was thefirst Mormon sermon and the first Mormon prayer I ever listened to.I weighed his words and sentences well. It was enough. My soul wasconvinced of the truth. But I waited a year before being baptized.During that time I read the books of the church, and also saw and heardother elders, among whom was my cousin, Brigham Young, and my brothers,Phineas, Levi, and Willard; all of which served to strengthen my faithand brighten my understanding.

"A short time after I was baptized and confirmed I was greatlyafflicted with the raging of a cancer, about to break out in my face.I knew too well the symptoms, having had one removed previously. Theagony of such an operation, only those who have passed through a likeexperience can ever imagine. The idea of again passing through a likephysical suffering seemed almost more than humanity could endure.One Sabbath, after the close of the morning service, I spoke to thepresiding elder, and acquainted him with my situation, requesting thatI might be administered to, according to the pattern that God hadgiven, that the cancer might be rebuked and my body healed. The eldercalled upon the sisters present to unite their faith and prayers in mybehalf, and upon the brethren to come forward and lay their hands uponme, and bless me in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to mydesire. It was done, and I went home completely healed, and rejoicingin the God of my salvation. Many times have I since been healed by thesame power, when, apparently, death had actually seized me as his prey.I would not have it understood, however, that I have been a weakly,sickly, useless individual all my life. Those who have known me cansay quite to the contrary. Some of our ambitious little girls andworking women would doubtless be interested in a simple sketch of somefew things which I have accomplished by manual labor. When myself andmy sisters were only small girls, our excellent mother taught us howto work, and in such a wise manner did she conduct our home educationthat we always loved to work, and were never so happy as when we weremost usefully employed. We knit our own and our brothers' stockings,made our own clothes, braided and sewed straw hats and bonnets, carded,spun, wove, kept house, and did everything that girls and women of aself-sustaining community would need to do. The day that I was thirteenyears old I wove thirteen yards of cloth; and in twenty months, duringwhich time I celebrated my eightieth birthday, I carded twenty weightof cotton, spun two hundred and fifteen balls of candlewicking, andtwo hundred run of yarn, prepared for the weaver's loom; besides doingmy housework, knitting socks, and making shirts for 'my boys' (someof the sons of my brothers). I merely make mention of these things assamples of what my life-work has been. I never was an idler, but havetried to be useful in my humble way, 'doing what my hands found to dowith my might.' I now begin to feel the weight of years upon me, andcan no longer do as I have done in former years for those around me;but, through the boundless mercies of God, I am still able to wash andiron my own clothes, do up my lace caps, and write my own letters. Mymemory is good, and as a general thing I feel well in body and mind. Ihave witnessed the death of many near and dear friends, both old andyoung. In my young days I buried my first and only love, and true tothat affiance, I have passed companionless through life; but am sure ofhaving my proper place and standing in the resurrection, having beensealed to the prophet Joseph, according to the celestial law, by hisown request, under the inspiration of divine revelation."

A very beautiful incident is this latter—the memory of her earlylove, for whose sake she kept sacred her maiden life. The passage isexquisite in sentiment, although emanating from a heart that has knownthe joys and sorrows of nearly a hundred years.

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Lydia Partridge, the aged relict of the first bishop of the MormonChurch, may well accompany the venerable sister of Willard Richards.

She was born September 26, 1793, in the town of Marlboro, Mass., herparents' names being Joseph Clisbee and Merriam Howe. The course ofevents [finally?] brought her to Ohio, where she made the acquaintanceof, and married, Edward Partridge. Her husband and herself wereproselyted into the Campbellite persuasion by Sidney Rigdon; butthey soon afterwards became converts to Mormonism, and Mr. Partridgethereupon commenced his career as a laborer in the ministry of thechurch. They were among the first families to locate in Missouri,and also among the first to feel the sting of persecution in thatState. Removing finally to Nauvoo, her husband there died. In theafter-wanderings of the saints in search of a home in the wildernessshe accompanied them. It may be briefly said of her that now, afterforty-five years in the church, she is as firm and steadfast as ever inher faith, and is one of the staunchest advocates of polygamy.

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Next comes Margaret T. M. Smoot, wife of Bishop Smoot, with thetestimony of her life.

She was born in Chester District, South Carolina, April 16th, 1809.Her father, Anthony McMeans, was a Scotchman by birth, emigratingto America at an early age, and settling in South Carolina, wherehe resided at the breaking out of the Revolutionary war. Fired withpatriotic zeal, he immediately enlisted in the ranks, and continuedfighting in the cause of liberty until the close of the war, when hereturned to his home, where he remained until his death. Her mother wasa Hunter, being of Irish extraction. Her grandfather Hunter also servedin the Revolutionary war, being an intimate friend of Gen. Washington.For these reasons Mrs. Smoot is justly proud of her lineage. Herhusband, the bishop, being also of revolutionary descent, they as afamily well exemplify the claim made elsewhere, that the Mormons wereoriginally of the most honored and patriotic extraction.

She embraced the Mormon faith in 1834, and was married to Mr. Smootthe following year, in the State of Kentucky. In 1837 they went to FarWest, Mo., and their history thence to Utah is the oft-told story ofoutrage and persecution. It is proper to remark, however, that theirson, William, was one of the original pioneers, and that their familywas among the first company that entered the valley.

Sister Smoot is known in the church as one of the most illustriousexamples of the "first wives" who accepted and gave a true Israelitishcharacter and sanctity to the "patriarchal order of marriage;" whilethe long-sustained position of her husband as Mayor of Salt Lake City,enhances the effect of her social example.

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A few incidents from the life of Sister Hendricks, whose husband waswounded in "Crooked River battle," where the apostle David Patten fell,may properly be here preserved.

Of that mournful incident, she says: "A neighbor stopped at the gateand alighted from his horse; I saw him wipe his eyes, and knew that hewas weeping; he came to the door and said, 'Mr. Hendricks wishes you tocome to him at the Widow Metcalf's. He is shot.' I rode to the place,four miles away, and there saw nine of the brethren, pale and weak fromtheir wounds, being assisted into the wagons that were to take them totheir homes. In the house was my husband, and also David Patten, whowas dying. My husband was wounded in the neck in such a manner as toinjure the spinal column, which paralyzed his extremities. Although hecould speak, he could not move any more than if he were dead."

Mr Hendricks lived until 1870, being an almost helpless invalid up tothat time. Their son William was a member of the famous battalion. Mrs.H. still survives, and is the happy progenitress of five children,sixty-three grandchildren, and twenty-three great-grandchildren.

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The wife of Bishop McRae deserves remembrance in connection with anincident of the battle of Nauvoo. When it was determined to surrenderthat city, the fugitive saints were naturally anxious to take with themin their flight whatever of property, etc., they could, that wouldbe necessary to them in their sojourn in the wilderness. It will beseen at once that nothing could have been of more service to them thantheir rifles and ammunition. Hence, with a refinement of cruelty, themobbers determined to rob them of these necessaries. They accordinglydemanded the arms and ammunition of all who left the city, and searchedtheir wagons to see that none were secreted. Mrs. McRae was determinedto save a keg of powder, however, and so she ensconced herself in herwagon with the powder keg as a seat, covering it with the folds of herdress. Soon a squad of the enemy came to her wagon, and making as ifto search it, asked her to surrender whatever arms and ammunition shemight have on hand. She quietly kept her seat, however, and coollyasked them, "How many more times are you going to search this wagonto-day?" This question giving them the impression that they had alreadysearched the wagon, they moved on, and Mrs. McRae saved her powder.

She still lives, and is at present a much respected resident of SaltLake City.

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Mrs. Mary M. Luce, a venerable sister, now in her seventy-seventhyear, and a resident of Salt Lake City, deserves a passing mentionfrom the fact that her religion has caused her to traverse the entirebreadth of the continent, in order to be gathered with the saints.She was a convert of Wilford Woodruff, who visited her native placewhile on mission to the "Islands of the Sea" (Fox Islands, off theCoast of Maine). In 1838, with her family, she journeyed by privateconveyance from Maine to Illinois, joining the saints at Nauvoo. Thiswas, in those days, a very long and tedious journey, consuming severalmonths' time. During the persecutions of Nauvoo, she was reduced toextreme poverty; but, after many vicissitudes, was enabled to reachSalt Lake City the first year after the pioneers, where she has sincecontinued to reside. In her experience she has received many testsand manifestations of the divine origin of the latter-day work, andtestifies that "these are the happiest days" of her life.

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Elizabeth H., wife of William Hyde, for whom "Hyde Park," Utah,was named, was born in Holliston, Middlesex county, Mass., October2d, 1813. She was the daughter of Joel and Lucretia Bullard, and adescendant, on the maternal side, from the Goddards. Her mother andherself were baptized into the Mormon faith in 1838, and they moved toNauvoo in 1841, where Elizabeth was married to Elder Hyde, in 1842. Hewas on mission most of the time up to 1846, when they left Nauvoo, inthe exodus of the church. Her husband joined the Mormon battalion inJuly following, returning home in the last month of 1847. In the springof 1849, with their three surviving children, they journeyed to SaltLake Valley, where they resided until about seventeen years ago, whenthey removed to Cache Valley, and founded the settlement which bearstheir name. Mr. Hyde died in 1872, leaving five wives and twenty-twochildren. "It is my greatest desire," says sister Hyde, "that I may solive as to be accounted worthy to dwell with those who have overcome,and have the promise of eternal lives, which is the greatest gift ofGod."

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Nor should we forget to mention "Mother Sessions," another of thelast-century women who have gathered to Zion. Her maiden name was PattyBartlett, and she was born February 4th, 1795, in the town of Bethel,Oxford county, Maine. She was married to David Sessions in 1812, andsurvives both him and a second husband. Herself and husband joined thechurch in 1834, moved to Nauvoo in 1840, and left there with the exiledsaints in 1846. In the summer of 1847 they crossed the plains to thevalley, Mrs. Sessions, although in her fifty-third year, driving afour-ox team the entire distance.

Mother Sessions is a model of zeal, frugality, industry andbenevolence. When she entered the valley she had but five cents, whichshe had found on the road; now, after having given many hundreds ofdollars to the perpetual emigration fund, tithing fund, etc., andperforming unnumbered deeds of private charity, she is a stockholderin the "Z. C. M. I." to the amount of some twelve or thirteen thousanddollars, and is also possessed of a competence for the remainder ofher days; all of which is a result of her own untiring efforts andhonorable business sagacity. As a testimony of her life she says, "I amnow eighty-two years of age. I drink no tea nor coffee, nor spirituousliquors; neither do I smoke nor take snuff. To all my posterity andfriends I say, do as I have done, and as much better as you can, andthe Lord will bless you as he has me."

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Mrs. R. A. Holden, of Provo, is another of the revolutionarydescendants. Her grandfather, Clement Bishop, was an officer in therevolutionary war, was wounded, and drew a pension until his death.Mrs. H., whose maiden name was Bliss, was born in 1815, in Livingstoncounty, N. Y., and after marrying Mr. Holden, in 1833, moved toIllinois, where, in 1840, they embraced the gospel. Their efforts toreach the valley and gather with the church form an exceptional chapterof hardship and disappointment. Nevertheless, they arrived at Provo in1852, where they have since resided; Mrs. Holden being, since 1867, thepresident of the Relief Society of the Fourth Ward of that city.

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Sister Diantha Morley Billings is another of the aged and respectedcitizens of Provo. She was born August 23d, 1795, at Montague, Mass.About the year 1815 she moved to Kirtland, Ohio, and there was marriedto Titus Billings. Herself and husband and Isaac Morley, her brother,were among the first baptized in Kirtland. They were also among thefirst to remove to Missouri, whence they were driven, and plundered ofall they possessed, by the mobs that arose, in that State, against thesaints. Her husband was in Crooked River battle, standing by ApostlePatten when he fell.

They reached Utah in 1848, and were soon thereafter called to go andstart settlements in San Pete. They returned to Provo in 1864, and in1866 Mr. Billings died.

While living in Nauvoo, after the expulsion from Missouri, Mrs.Billings was ordained and set apart by the prophet Joseph to be anurse, in which calling she has ever since been very skillful.

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Mrs. Amanda Wimley, although but eight years a resident of Utah, wasconverted to Mormonism in Philadelphia, in the year 1839, under thepreaching of Joseph the prophet, being baptized shortly afterward.For thirty years the circ*mstances of her life were such that it wasnot expedient for her to gather with the church; she neverthelessmaintained her faith, and was endowed to a remarkable degree with thegift of healing, which she exercised many times with wonderful effectin her own family. Journeying to Salt Lake City some eight years since,on a visit merely, she has now fully determined to permanently remain,as the representative of her father's house, to "do a work for herancestry and posterity."

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Polly Sawyer Atwood, who died in Salt Lake City, Oct. 16th, 1876, isworthy of a passing notice, because of her many good deeds in theservice of God. She was another of the last century women, being bornin 1790, in Windham, Conn. Her parents were Asahel and ElizabethSawyer. Herself and husband, Dan Atwood, first heard the gospel in1839, and were straightway convinced of its truth. They journeyedto Salt Lake in 1850. Here she displayed in a remarkable manner theworks and gifts of faith, and was much sought after by the sick andafflicted, up to the day of her death, which occurred in her 86thyear. It is worthy of mention that she was the mother of three men ofdistinction in the church—Millen Atwood, who was one of the pioneers,a missionary to England, captain of the first successful handcartcompany, and a member of the high council; Miner Atwood, who was amissionary to South Africa, and also a member of the high council; andSamuel Atwood, who is one of the presiding bishops of the Territory.

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In connection with Mother Atwood may also properly be mentioned herdaughter-in-law, Relief C. Atwood, the wife of Millen, who receivedthe gospel in New Hampshire, in 1843, and in 1845 emigrated to Nauvoo.This was just before the expulsion of the church from that city, and ina few months she found herself in the wilderness. At winter quarters,after the return of the pioneers, she married Mr. Atwood, one of theirnumber, and with him in 1848 journeyed to the valley. Their trialswere at first nigh overwhelming, but in a moment of prayer, whenthey were about to give up in despair, the spirit of the Lord restedupon Mr. A., and he spoke in tongues, and at the same time the giftof interpretation rested upon her. It was an exhortation to renewedhope and trust, which so strengthened them that they were able toovercome every difficulty. Her family has also received many strikingmanifestations of the gift of healing—so much so that she now bearstestimony that "God is their great physician, in whom she can safelytrust."

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Sister Sarah B. Fiske, who was born in Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., N.Y., in 1819, is another of revolutionary ancestry; her grandfathers,on both paternal and maternal side, having served in the revolutionarywar. In 1837 she was married to Ezra H. Allen. Shortly thereafter theywere both converted to Mormonism, and in 1842 moved to Nauvoo. In thespring of '43 they joined the settlement which was attempted at a placecalled Shockoquan, about twenty-five miles north of Nauvoo. Journeyingwith the saints on the exodus, she stopped at Mount Pisgah, while herhusband went forward in the battalion. Nearly two years passed, andword came that the brethren of the battalion were coming back. Withthe most intense anxiety she gathered every word of news concerningtheir return, and at last was informed that they were at a ferry notfar away. She hastened to make herself ready and was about to go out tomeet him when the word was brought that her husband had been murderedby Indians in the California mountains. She was handed her husband'spurse, which had been left by the Indians, and which contained hiswages and savings. This enabled her to procure an outfit, and in 1852she journeyed to the valley.

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Here let us mention another octogenarian sister in the person of JaneNeyman, daughter of David and Mary Harper, who was born in WestmorelandCo., Pa., in 1792. She embraced the gospel in 1838, and became atonce endowed with the gift of healing, which enabled her to work manymarvelous cures, among which may be mentioned the raising of twoinfants from apparent death, they each having been laid out for burial.Herself and family received an unstinted share of the persecutions ofthe saints, in Missouri, and afterwards in Nauvoo, in which latterplace her husband died. Her daughter, Mary Ann Nickerson, then residingon the opposite side of the river from Nauvoo, on the occasion of thetroubles resulting in the battle of Nauvoo, made cartridges at herhome, and alone in her little skiff passed back and forth across theMississippi (one mile wide at that point), delivering the cartridges,without discovery. While the battle was raging she also took sevenpersons, including her mother, on a flat-boat, and by her unaidedexertions ferried them across the river. This heroic lady is now livingin Beaver, Utah.

Mrs. Neyman, now in her 85th year, testifies concerning the truth ofthe gospel as revealed through Joseph Smith: "I know it is the work ofGod, by the unerring witness of the Holy Ghost."

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Malvina Harvey Snow, daughter of Joel Harvey, was born in the State ofVermont, in 1811. She was brought into the church under the ministryof Orson Pratt, in 1833, he being then on mission in that section. Hernearest neighbor was Levi Snow, father of Apostle Erastus Snow. TheSnow family mostly joined the new faith, and Malvina and her sisterSusan journeyed with them to Missouri. At Far West she was marriedto Willard Snow, in 1837, and in about two years afterward they weredriven from the State. They settled at Montrose, but, while her husbandwas on mission to England, she moved across the river to Nauvoo, themob having signified their intention to burn her house over her head.In 1847 they started for Utah, from Council Bluffs, in the wake of thepioneers, arriving in the valley in the fall of that year. Says SisterMalvina, "My faithful sister, Susan, was with me from the time I leftour father's house in Vermont, and when we arrived in Utah my husbandtook her to wife. She bore him a daughter, but lost her life at itsbirth. I took the infant to my bosom, and never felt any differencebetween her and my own children. She is now a married woman. In 1850 myhusband was called on mission to Denmark, from which he never returned.He was buried in the Atlantic, being the only missionary from Utahthat was ever laid in the sea. I raised my five children to manhoodand womanhood, and have now lived a widow twenty-six years. Hoping tofinally meet my beloved husband and family, never again to part, I ampatiently waiting the hour of reunion. May the Lord Jesus Christ helpme to be faithful to the end."

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Sister Caroline Tippits, whose maiden name was Pew, deserves to bementioned as one of the earlier members of the church, having embracedthe gospel in 1831. Shortly afterwards she joined the saints in Jacksoncounty, Mo., and during the persecutions that ensued, endured perhapsthe most trying hardships that were meted out to any of the sisters.Driven out into the midst of a prairie, by the mob, in the month ofJanuary, with a babe and two-years-old child, she was compelled tosleep on the ground with only one thin quilt to cover them, and thesnow frequently falling three or four inches in a night. She came toUtah with the first companies, and is reckoned among the most faithfulof the saints.

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Julia Budge, first wife of Bishop William Budge, may be presented asone of the women who have made polygamy honorable. She was born inEssex, England, where she was baptized by Chas. W. Penrose, one of themost distinguished of the English elders, who afterwards married hersister—a lady of the same excellent disposition. The bishop is to-daythe husband of three wives, whose children have grown up as one family,and the wives have lived together "like sisters." No stranger, withpreconceived notions, would guess that they sustained the very tenderrelation of sister-wives. Their happy polygamic example is a sort of"household word" in the various settlements over which the bishop haspresided.

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Sister Nancy A. Clark, daughter of Sanford Porter, now a resident ofFarmington, Utah, has had a most remarkable personal experience asa servant of God. When a little girl, less than eight years of age,residing with her parents in Missouri, she, in answer to prayer,received the gift of tongues, and became a great object of interestamong the saints. During and succeeding the persecutions in that State,and while her father's family were being driven from place to place,her oft-repeated spiritual experiences were the stay and comfort of allaround her. Her many visions and experiences would fill a volume. It isneedless to say that she is among the most faithful and devoted of thesisterhood.

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A pretty little instance of faith and works is related by MarthaGranger, the wife of Bishop William G. Young, which is worthy ofrecord. In September, 1872, the bishop was riding down Silver CreekCanyon, on his way to Weber river, when he became sunstruck, and fellback in his wagon, insensible. His horses, as if guided by an invisiblehand, kept steadily on, and finally turned into a farmer's barnyard.The farmer, who was at work in the yard, thinking some team had strayedaway, went up to catch them, when he discovered the bishop (a strangerto him) in the wagon. He thought at first that the stranger wasintoxicated, and so hitched the team, thinking to let him lay and sleepit off. But upon a closer examination, failing to detect the fumes ofliquor, he concluded the man was sick, and calling assistance, tookhim into the shade of a haystack, and cared for him. Still the bishopremained unconscious, and the sun went down, and night came on.

Forty miles away, the bishop's good wife at home had called herlittle seven-years-old child to her knee, to say the usual prayerbefore retiring. As the little child had finished the mother observeda far-off look in its eyes, and then came the strange and unusualrequest: "Mother, may I pray, in my own words, for pa? he's sick.""Yes, my child," said the mother, wonderingly. "Oh Lord, heal up pa,that he may live and not die, and come home," was the faltering prayer;and in that same moment the bishop, in that far-off farmer's yard,arose and spoke; and in a few moments was himself praising God for thesuccor that he knew not had been invoked by his own dear child.

CHAPTER XLVI.

MORMON WOMEN WHOSE ANCESTORS WERE ON BOARD THE "MAYFLOWER"—A BRADFORD,AND DESCENDANT OF THE SECOND GOVERNOR OF PLYMOUTH COLONY—A DESCENDANTOF ROGERS, THE MARTYR—THE THREE WOMEN WHO CAME WITH THE PIONEERS—THEFIRST WOMAN BORN IN UTAH—WOMEN OF THE CAMP OF ZION—WOMEN OF THEMORMON BATTALION.

Harriet A., wife of Lorenzo Snow, was born in Aurora, Portage Co.,Ohio, Sept. 13, 1819. Her honorable lineage is best established byreference to the fact that her parents were natives of New England,that one of her grandfathers served in the Revolutionary war, and thather progenitors came to America in the Mayflower.

At twenty-five years of age she embraced the gospel, and in 1846gathered with the church at Nauvoo. In January, '47, she was marriedto Elder Snow, and in the February following, with her husband and histhree other wives, crossed the Mississippi and joined the encampment ofthe saints who had preceded them.

Thence to Salt Lake Valley her story is not dissimilar to that of themajority of the saints, except in personal incident and circ*mstance.A praise-worthy act of hers, during the trip across the plains,deserves historical record, however. A woman had died on the way,leaving three little children—one of them a helpless infant. SisterSnow was so wrought upon by the pitiful condition of the infant, thatshe weaned her own child and nursed the motherless babe. By a stupidblunder of her teamster, also, she was one night left behind, alone,with two little children on the prairie. Luckily for her, a wagon hadbroken down and had been abandoned by the company. Depositing thebabes in the wagon-box, she made search, and found that some flour anda hand-bell had been left in the wreck, and with this scanty outfitshe set about making supper. She first took the clapper out of thebell, then stopped up the hole where it had been fastened in. This nowserved her for a water-pitcher. Filling it at a brook some distanceaway, she wet up some of the flour; then, with some matches that shehad with her, started a fire, and baked the flour-cakes, herself andthirteen-months-old child making their supper upon them. She thenensconced herself in the wagon with her babes, and slept till earlymorning, when her husband found her and complimented her highly for heringenuity and bravery.

From the valley Apostle Snow was sent to Italy on mission, where heremained three years. An illustrative incident of his experience onhis return, is worth telling. His return had been announced, and hischildren, born after his departure, were as jubilant over his coming asthe others; but one little girl, although in raptures about her fatherbefore he came, on his arrival felt somewhat dubious as to whether hewas her father or not, and refused to approach him for some time, andno persuasion could entice her. At length she entered the room wherehe was sitting, and after enquiring of each of the other children,"Is that my favvy?" and receiving an affirmative response, she placedherself directly in front of her father, and looking him full in theface, said, "Is you my favvy?" "Yes," said he, "I am your father." Thelittle doubter, being satisfied, replied, "well, if you is my favvy,I will kiss you." And she most affectionately fulfilled the promise,being now satisfied that her caresses were not being lavished on afalse claimant.

Sister Snow, as will be perceived, was among the first to enterpolygamy, and her testimony now is, after thirty years' experience,that "It is a pure and sacred principle, and calculated to exalt andennoble all who honor and live it as revealed by Joseph Smith."

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Mrs. Elmira Tufts, of Salt Lake City, was born in Maine, in the year1812. Her parents were both natives of New England, and her mother,Betsy Bradford, was a descendant of William Bradford, who came toAmerica on the Mayflower, in 1620, and, after the death of GovernorCarver, was elected governor of the Little Plymouth Colony, whichposition he held for over thirty years. Her father, Nathan Pinkham,also served in the Revolution.

With her husband, Mrs. Tufts gathered to Nauvoo in 1842. With the bodyof the church they shared the vicissitudes of the exodus, and finallythe gathering to the valley. Here Mr. Tufts died in 1850.

Mrs. T. had the pleasure of visiting the recent centennial exhibition,and declares that this is the height and acme of America's grandeur."The grand display," she says, "which all nations were invited towitness, is like the bankrupt's grand ball, just before the crash ofruin."

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Vienna Jacques was born in the vicinity of Boston, in 1788. She wentto Kirtland in 1833, being a single lady and very wealthy. When shearrived in Kirtland she donated all of her property to the church.She is one of the few women mentioned in the Book of Doctrine andCovenants. Her lineage is very direct to the martyr John Rogers. She isstill living and retains all of her faculties.

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The three women who came to the valley with the pioneers are deservingof mention in connection with that event.

Mrs. Harriet Page Wheeler Young, the eldest of the three abovementioned, was born in Hillsborough, N. H., September 7th, 1803. Shewas baptized into the Mormon connection in February, 1836, at NewPortage, Ohio; went with the saints to Missouri, and was expelled fromthat State in 1839; went from there to Nauvoo, and in the spring of1844 was married to Lorenzo Dow Young, brother of President Young. Shewas with her husband in the exodus; and, on the 7th of April, 1847,in company with Helen Saunders, wife of Heber C. Kimball, and ClaraDecker, wife of President Young, accompanied the pioneers on theirfamous journey to the valley of the Great Salt Lake.

They arrived in the valley on the 24th of July, 1847, and campednear what is now Main street, Salt Lake City. Plowing and plantingwas immediately commenced, and houses were soon reared in what wasafterwards called the "Old Fort." On the 24th of September, following,she presented to her husband a son, the first white male child born inthe valley.

In the early days, as is well known, the new settlers of Salt Lakewere considerably troubled with Indian depredations. One day, when"Uncle Lorenzo" was gone from home, and his wife was alone, an Indiancame and asked for biscuit. She gave him all she could spare, but hedemanded more, and when she refused, he drew his bow and arrow andsaid he would kill her. But she outwitted him. In the adjoining roomwas a large dog, which fact the Indian did not know, and Sister Young,feigning great fear, asked the Indian to wait a moment, while she madeas if to go into the other room for more food. She quickly untiedthe dog, and, opening the door, gave him the word. In an instant theIndian was overpowered and begging for mercy. She called off the dog,and bound up the Indian's wounds and let him go, and she was nevertroubled by Indians again. Her dying testimony to her husband, justbefore she expired, December 22d, 1871, was that she had never knownany difference in her feelings and love for the children born to him byhis young wives, and her own.

Sister Helen Saunders Kimball remained in the valley with her husbandand reared a family. She died November 22d, 1871.

Clara Decker Young is still living, and has an interesting family.

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Here may very properly be mentioned the first daughter of "Deseret;"or, more strictly speaking, the first female child born in Utah. Mrs.James Stopley, now a resident of Kanarrah, Kane county, Utah, and themother of five fine children, is the daughter of John and CatherineSteele, who were in the famous Mormon battalion. Just after theirdischarge from the United States service they reached the site of SaltLake City (then occupied by the pioneers), and on the 9th of August,1847, their little daughter was born. This being a proper historicalincident, inasmuch as she was the first white child born in the valley,it may be interesting to note that the event occurred on the east sideof what is now known as Temple Block, at 4 o'clock A. M., of the daymentioned. In honor of President Brigham Young, she was named YoungElizabeth. Her father writes of her at that time as being "a stout,healthy child, and of a most amiable disposition."

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Among the veteran sisters whose names should be preserved to history,are Mrs. Mary Snow Gates, Mrs. Charlotte Alvord, and Mrs. Diana Drake.They are uniques of Mormon history, being the three women who, with"Zion's Camp," went up from Kirtland to Missouri, "to redeem Zion."Their lives have been singularly eventful, and they rank among theearly disciples of the church and the founders of Utah.

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And here let us make a lasting and honorable record of the women of thebattalion:

Mrs. James Brown, Mrs. O. Adams, Albina Williams, J. Chase, —— Tubbs,—— Sharp, D. Wilkin, J. Hess, Fanny Huntington, John Steele, J. Harmon,and C. Stillman, daughter, —— Smith, U. Higgins, M. Ballom, E. Hanks,W. Smithson, Melissa Corey, A. Smithson.

These are the noble Mormon women who accepted the uncertain fortunes ofwar, in the service of their country. Be their names imperishable inAmerican history.

CHAPTER XLVII.

ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF CALIFORNIA—A WOMAN MISSIONARY TO THE SOCIETYISLANDS—HER LIFE AMONG THE NATIVES—THE ONLY MORMON WOMAN SENT ONMISSION WITHOUT HER HUSBAND—A MORMON WOMAN IN WASHINGTON—A SISTERFROM THE EAST INDIES—A SISTER FROM TEXAS.

The Mormons were not only the founders of Utah, but they were also thefirst American emigrants to California. Fremont and his volunteers,and the American navy, had, it is true, effected the coup de main oftaking possession of California, and the American flag was hoisted inthe bay of San Francisco at the very moment of the arrival of the shipBrooklyn with its company of Mormon emigrants, but to that companybelongs the honor of first settlers. The wife of Col. Jackson thusnarrates:

"In the month of February, 1846, I left home and friends and sailedin the ship Brooklyn for California. Before starting I visited myparents in New Hampshire. I told them of my determination to followGod's people, who had already been notified to leave the United States;that our destination was the Pacific coast, and that we should takematerials to plant a colony. When the hour came for parting my fathercould not speak, and my mother cried out in despair, 'When shall we seeyou again, my child?' 'When there is a railroad across the continent,'I answered.

"Selling all my household goods, I took my child in my arms and went onboard ship. Of all the memories of my life not one is so bitter as thatdreary six months' voyage, in an emigrant ship, around the Horn.

"When we entered the harbor of San Francisco, an officer came on boardand said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, I have the honor to inform you thatyou are in the United States.' Three cheers from all on board answeredthe announcement.

"Unlike the California of to-day, we found the country barren anddreary; but we trusted in God and he heard our prayers; and when Isoaked the mouldy ship-bread, purchased from the whale-ships lying inthe harbor, and fried it in the tallow taken from the raw hides lyingon the beach, God made it sweet to me, and to my child, for on thisfood I weaned her. It made me think of Hagar and her babe, and of theGod who watched over her."

Passing over the hardships endured by these emigrants, which weregreatly augmented by the fact that war was then raging between theUnited States and the Spanish residents of California, we deem itproper to here incorporate, as matter of history, some statements ofMrs. Jackson, made to the California journals, concerning the earlydays of San Francisco. She says:

"From many statements made by persons who have lately adoptedCalifornia as their home, I am led to believe it is the generalimpression that no American civilized beings inhabited this regionprior to the discovery of gold; and that the news of this discoveryreaching home, brought the first adventurers. As yet I have nowhereseen recorded the fact that in July, 1846, the ship Brooklyn landedon the shore of San Francisco bay two hundred and fifty passengers,among whom were upwards of seventy females; it being the firstemigration to this place via Cape Horn.

"In October previous a company had arrived overland, most of whom hadbeen detained at Sacramento fort, being forbidden by the governor toproceed further. Upon arriving in Yerba Buena, in '46, we found two ofthese families, some half dozen American gentlemen, three or four oldCalifornians with their families, the officers and marines of the sloopof war Portsmouth, and about one hundred Indians, occupying the placenow called San Francisco.

"The ship Brooklyn left us on the rocks at the foot of what is nowBroadway. From this point we directed our steps to the old adobe on(now) Dupont street. It was the first to shelter us from the chillingwinds. A little further on (toward Jackson street), stood the adobe ofold 'English Jack,' who kept a sort of depot for the milk woman, whocame in daily, with a dozen bottles of milk hung to an old horse, andwhich they retailed at a real (twelve and a half cents) per bottle. Atthis time, where now are Jackson and Stockton streets were the outerboundaries of the town. Back of the home of 'English Jack' stood acottage built by an American who escaped from a whale-ship and marrieda Californian woman. Attached to this house was a windmill and a shop.In this house I lived during the winter of '46, and the principal roomwas used by Dr. Poet, of the navy, as a hospital. Here were broughtthe few who were saved of the unfortunate 'Donner party,' whose sadfate will never be forgotten. One of the Donner children, a girl ofnine years, related to me that her father was the first of that partyto fall a victim to the cold and hunger. Her mother then came on withthe children, 'till the babe grew sick and she was unable to carry itfurther. She told the children to go on with the company, and if thebabe died, or she got stronger, she would come to them, but they sawher no more. After this, two of her little brothers died, and she toldme, with tears running down her face, that she saw them cooked, and hadto eat them; but added, as though fearful of having committed a crime,'I could not help it; I had eaten nothing for days, and I was afraidto die.' The poor child's feet were so badly frozen that her toes haddropped off."

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Very dramatic and picturesque have often been the situations of theMormon sisters. Here is the story of one of them, among the natives ofthe Society Islands. She says:

"I am the wife of the late Elder Addison Pratt, who was the firstmissionary to the Society Islands he having been set apart by theprophet for this mission in 1843. My husband went on his mission, butI, with my children, was left to journey afterwards with the body ofthe church to the Rocky Mountains.

"We reached the valley in the fall of 1848, and had been there buta week when Elder Pratt arrived, coming by the northern route withsoldiers from the Mexican war. He had been absent five years and fourmonths. Only one of his children recognized him, which affected himdeeply. One year passed away in comparative comfort and pleasure, whenagain Mr. Pratt was called to go and leave his family, and again Iwas left to my own resources. However, six months afterwards severalelders were called to join Elder Pratt in the Pacific Isles, and myselfand family were permitted to accompany them. Making the journey byox-team to San Francisco, on the 15th of September, 1850, we embarkedfor Tahiti. Sailing to the southwest of that island three hundred andsixty miles we made the Island of Tupuai, where Mr. Pratt had formerlylabored, and where we expected to find him, but to our chagrin foundthat he was a prisoner under the French governor at Tahiti. Aftercounseling upon the matter we decided to land on Tupuai and petitionthe governor of Tahiti for Mr. Pratt's release, which we did, aidedby the native king, who promised to be responsible for Mr. Pratt'sconduct. The petition was granted by the governor, and in due courseMr. Pratt joined us at Tupuai. It was a day of great rejoicing amongthe natives when he arrived, they all being much attached to him, andit was also a great day for our children.

"A volume might be written in attempting to describe the beauties ofnature on that little speck in the midst of the great ocean; but I musthasten to speak of the people. Simple and uncultivated as the nativesare, they are nevertheless a most loveable and interesting race. Theirpiety is deep and sincere and their faith unbounded.

"Within a year I became a complete master of their language, andaddressed them publicly in the fere-bure-ra (prayer-house),frequently. My daily employment was teaching in the various departmentsof domestic industry, such as needle-work, knitting, etc., and mypupils, old and young, were both industrious and apt."

Elder Addison Pratt died in 1872, but his respected missionary wifeis living in Utah to-day, resting from her labors and waiting for thereward of the faithful.

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A somewhat similar experience to the above is that of Sister MildredE. Randall, who went with her husband, at a later date, to labor inthe Sandwich Islands. Her first mission lasted about eighteen months,and her second one three years. On her third mission to the islands,she was called to go without her husband; thus making her to be theonly woman, in the history of the church, who has been called to go onforeign mission independently of her husband.

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In this connection will also suitably appear Sister Elizabeth DrakeDavis, who served her people well while in the Treasury department atWashington.

She was born in the town of Axminster, Devonshire, England, and was anonly child. Having lost her father when she was but ten years of age,and not being particularly attached to her mother, her life becamemarkedly lonely and desolate. In her extremity she sought the Lord inprayer, when a remarkable vision was shown her, which was repeated attwo subsequent times, making a permanent impression on her life, and,in connection with other similar experiences, leading her to connectherself with the Church of Latter-day Saints.

After being widowed in her native land she crossed the Atlantic andresided for two years in Philadelphia. In May, 1859, with a companyof Philadelphian saints, she gathered to Florence, for the purposeof going thence to Utah. An incident there occurred that will be ofinterest to the reader. She says:

"We reached Florence late one evening; it was quite dark andraining; we were helped from the wagons and put in one of the vacanthouses—myself, my two little daughters and Sister Sarah White. Earlynext morning we were aroused by some one knocking at the door; onopening it we found a little girl with a cup of milk in her hand; sheasked if there was 'a little woman there with two little children.''Yes,' said Sister White, 'come in.' She entered, saying to me, 'If youplease my ma wants to see you; she has sent this milk to your littlegirls.' Her mother's name was strange to me, but I went, thinking tofind some one that I had known. She met me at the door with both handsextended in welcome. 'Good morning, Sister Elizabeth,' said she. I toldher she had the advantage of me, as I did not remember ever seeing herbefore. 'No,' said she, 'and I never saw you before. I am Hyrum Smith'sdaughter (Lovina Walker); my father appeared to me three times lastnight, and told me that you were the child of God, that you was withoutmoney, provisions or friends, and that I must help you.' It is needlessto add that this excellent lady and myself were ever thereafter firmfriends, until her death, which occurred in 1876. I will add thatprevious to her last illness I had not seen her in thirteen years; thatone night her father appeared to me, and making himself known, saidhis daughter was in sore need; I found the message was too true. Yetit will ever be a source of gratitude to think I was at last able toreturn her generous kindness to me when we were strangers."

Mrs. Davis' husband (she having married a second time) enlisted in theUnited States Army in March, 1863. Shortly thereafter she received anappointment as clerk in the Treasury department at Washington, whichposition she held until November, 1869, when she resigned in order toprosecute, unhampered, a design which she had formed to memorializeCongress against the Cullom bill. In this laudable endeavor she wassingularly successful; and it is proper to add that by dint of purepluck, as against extremely discouraging circ*mstances, she secured theco-operation of Gen. Butler, and Mr. Sumner, the great Senator fromMassachusetts. It is entirely just to say that her efforts were largelyinstrumental in modifying the course of Congress upon the Mormonquestion, at that time.

Sister Davis is at present one of the active women of Utah, and willdoubtless figure prominently in the future movements of the sisterhood.

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The story of Sister Hannah Booth is best told by herself. She says:

"I was born in Chumar, India. My father was a native of Portugal, andmy mother was from Manila. My husband was an officer in the Englisharmy in India, as were also my father and grandfather. We lived inaffluent circ*mstances, keeping nine servants, a carriage, etc., and Igave my attention to the profession of obstetrics.

"When the gospel was introduced into India, my son Charles, who wascivil engineer in the army, met the elders traveling by sea, and wasconverted. He brought to me the gospel, which I embraced with joy, andfrom that time was eager to leave possessions, friends, children andcountry, to unite with this people. My son George, a surgeon in thearmy, remained behind, although he had embraced the gospel. My sister,a widow, and my son Charles and his wife—daughter of Lieutenant Kent,son of Sir Robert Kent, of England—and their infant daughter, camewith me. Reaching San Francisco, we proceeded thence to San Bernardino,arriving there in 1855. Having, in India, had no occasion to performhousework, we found ourselves greatly distressed in our new home, byour lack of such needful knowledge. We bought a stove, and I triedfirst to make a fire. I made the fire in the first place that opened(the oven), and was greatly perplexed by its smoking and not drawing.We were too mortified to let our ignorance be known, and our bread wasso badly made, and all our cooking so wretchedly done, that we oftenate fruit and milk rather than the food we had just prepared. We alsobought a cow, and not knowing how to milk her, had great trouble.Four of us surrounded her; my son tied her head to the fence, herlegs to a post, her tail to another; and while he stood by to protectme, my sister and daughter-in-law to suggest and advise, I proceededto milk—on the wrong side, as I afterwards learned. After a while,however, some good sisters kindly taught us how to work.

"Just as we had become settled in our own new house the saints preparedto leave San Bernardino in the winter of '56-7. We sold our home atgreat sacrifice, and, six of us in one wagon, with two yoke of Spanishoxen, started for Utah. On the desert our oxen grew weak and oursupplies began to give out. We, who at home in India had servants atevery turn, now had to walk many weary miles, through desert sands, andin climbing mountains. My sister and I would, in the morning, bind ourcashmere scarfs around our waists, take each a staff, and with a smallpiece of bread each, we would walk ahead of the train. At noon we wouldrest, ask a blessing upon the bread, and go on. Weary, footsore andhungry, we never regretted leaving our luxurious homes, nor longed toreturn. We were thankful for the knowledge that had led us away, andtrusted God to sustain us in our trials and lead us to a resting-placeamong the saints. After our journey ended, we began anew to build ahome.

"I am, after twenty years among this people, willing to finish my dayswith them, whatever their lot and trials may be, and I pray God for hisholy spirit to continue with me to the end."

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Nor should we omit to mention Mrs. Willmirth East, now in her 64thyear, who was converted to Mormonism while residing with her father'sfamily in Texas, in 1853. Her ancestors fought in the Revolutionarywar, and her father, Nathaniel H. Greer, was a member of thelegislature of Georgia, and also a member of the legislature of Texas,after his removal to that State. She has long resided in Utah, is aliving witness of many miracles of healing, and has often manifested inher own person the remarkable gifts of this dispensation. She may beaccounted one of the most enthusiastic and steadfast of the saints.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

A LEADER FROM ENGLAND—MRS HANNAH T. KING—A MACDONALD FROMSCOTLAND—THE "WELSH QUEEN"—A REPRESENTATIVE WOMAN FROMIRELAND—SISTER HOWARD—A GALAXY OF THE SISTERHOOD, FROM "MANY NATIONSAND TONGUES"—INCIDENTS AND TESTIMONIALS.

Here the reader meets an illustration of women from many nationsbaptized into one spirit, and bearing the same testimony.

Mrs. Hannah T. King, a leader from England, shall now speak. She says:

"In 1849, while living in my home in Dernford Dale, Cambridgeshire,England, my attention was first brought to the serious consideration ofMormonism by my seamstress. She was a simple-minded girl, but her tactand respectful ingenuity in presenting the subject won my attention,and I listened, not thinking or even dreaming that her words were aboutto revolutionize my life.

"I need not follow up the thread of my thoughts thereafter; howI struggled against the conviction that had seized my mind; howmy parents and friends marveled at the prospect of my leaving therespectable church associations of a life-time and uniting with 'such alow set'; how I tried to be content with my former belief, and cast thenew out of mind, but all to no purpose. Suffice it to say I embracedthe gospel, forsook the aristocratic associations of the 'High Church'congregation with which I had long been united, and became an associatewith the poor and meek of the earth.

"I was baptized Nov. 4th, 1850, as was also my beloved daughter. Mygood husband, although not persuaded to join the church, consented toemigrate with us to Utah, which we did in the year 1853, bringing quitea little company with us at Mr. King's expense."

Since her arrival in the valley, Mrs. King has been constantlyprominent among the women of Utah. Her name is also familiar as apoetess, there having emanated from her pen some very creditable poems.

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Scotland comes next with a representative woman in the person ofElizabeth G. MacDonald. She says:

"I was born in the city of Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, on the 12th ofJanuary, 1831, and am the fifth of ten daughters born to my parents,John and Christina Graham.

"My attention was first brought to the church of Latter-day Saints in1846, and in 1847 I was baptized and confirmed, being the second personbaptized into the church in Perth. This course brought down upon meso much persecution, from which I was not exempt in my own father'shouse, that I soon left home and went to Edinburgh. There I was kindlyreceived by a Sister Gibson and welcomed into her house. After twoyears had passed my father came to me and, manifesting a better spiritthan when I saw him last, prevailed upon me to return with him. He hadin the meantime become partially paralyzed, and had to use a crutch.Two weeks after my return he consented to be baptized. While beingbaptized the affliction left him, and he walked home without hiscrutch, to the astonishment of all who knew him. This was the signalfor a great work, and the Perth branch, which previously had numberedbut two, soon grew to over one hundred and fifty members.

"In May, '51, I was married to Alexander MacDonald, then an elder inthe church. He went immediately on mission to the Highlands; but in1852 he was called to take charge of the Liverpool conference, whitherI went with him, and there we made our first home together.

"In May, '53, I fell down stairs, which so seriously injured me thatI remained bedridden until the following marvelous occurrence: OneSaturday afternoon as I was feeling especially depressed and sorrowful,and while my neighbor, Mrs. Kent, who had just been in, was gone toher home for some little luxury for me, as I turned in my bed I wasastonished to behold an aged man standing at the foot. As I somewhatrecovered from my natural timidity he came towards the head of the bedand laid his hands upon me, saying, 'I lay my hands upon thy head andbless thee in the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Lordhath seen the integrity of thine heart. In tears and sorrow thou hastbowed before the Lord, asking for children; this blessing is about tobe granted unto thee. Thou shalt be blessed with children from thishour. Thou shalt be gathered to the valleys of the mountains, and therethou shalt see thy children raised as tender plants by thy side. Thychildren and household shall call thee blessed. At present thy husbandis better than many children. Be comforted. These blessings I seal uponthee, in the name of Jesus. Amen.' At this moment Sister Kent came in,and I saw no more of this personage. His presence was so impressedupon me that I can to this day minutely describe his clothing andcountenance.

"The next conference, after this visitation, brought the word thatBrother MacDonald was released to go to the valley, being succeeded byElder Spicer W. Crandall. We started from Liverpool in March, '54, andafter the usual vicissitudes of sea and river navigation, finally wentinto camp near Kansas Village on the Missouri. From there we startedfor Utah in Capt. Daniel Carns' company, reaching Salt Lake City on the30th of September.

"In 1872 my husband was appointed to settle in St. George, where wearrived about the middle of November. Here we have since remained,and I have taken great pleasure in this southern country, especiallyin having my family around me, in the midst of good influences. Thepeople here are sociable and kind, and we have no outside influences tocontend with. All are busy and industrious and striving to live theirreligion."

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The wife of the famous Captain Dan Jones, the founder of the Welshmission, is chosen to represent her people. She thus sketches her lifeto the period of her arrival in Zion:

"I was born April 2d, 1812, in Claddy, South Wales. My parents weremembers of the Baptist Church, which organization I joined when fifteenyears of age. In 1846, several years after my marriage, while keepingtavern, a stranger stopped with us for refreshments, and while thereunfolded to me some of the principles of the, then entirely new to me,Church of Latter-day Saints. His words made a profound impression uponmy mind, which impression was greatly heightened by a dream which I hadshortly thereafter; but it was some time before I could learn more ofthe new doctrine. I made diligent inquiry, however, and was finally, byaccident, privileged to hear an elder preach. In a conversation withhim afterwards I became thoroughly convinced of the truth of Mormonism,and was accordingly baptized into the church. This was in 1847. Afterthis my house became a resort for the elders, and I was the specialsubject of persecution by my neighbors.

"In 1848 I began making preparations to leave my home and start forthe valley. Everything was sold, including a valuable estate, andI determined to lay it all upon the altar in an endeavor to aid mypoorer friends in the church to emigrate also. In 1849 I bade farewellto home, country and friends, and with my six children set out forthe far-off Zion. After a voyage, embodying the usual hardships, fromLiverpool to New Orleans, thence up the Mississippi and Missouri riversto Council Bluffs, some fifty fellow-passengers dying with cholera onthe way, in the early summer I started across the plains. I had paidthe passage of forty persons across the ocean and up to Council Bluffs,and from there I provided for and paid the expenses of thirty-two toSalt Lake City. Having every comfort that could be obtained, we perhapsmade the trip under as favorable circ*mstances as any company that hasever accomplished the journey."

For her magnanimous conduct in thus largely helping the emigrationof the Welsh saints, coupled with her social standing in her nativecountry, she was honored with the title of "The Welsh Queen." The titleis still familiar in connection with her name. Since her arrival inZion she has known many trials, but is still firm in the faith of theLatter-day work.

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The following is a brief personal sketch of Mrs. Howard, an Irish lady,of popularity and prominence in Utah:

"Presuming there are many persons who believe there are no Irish amongthe Mormons, I wish to refute the belief, as there are many in ourvarious towns, most staunch and faithful.

"My parents, Robert and Lucretia Anderson, resided in Carlow, CountyCarlow, Ireland, where, on the 12th of July, 1823, I was born. In 1841my beloved mother died, and in the same year I married, and went toreside in Belfast with my husband.

"My father, who was a thorough reformer in his method of thought,originally suggested several governmental and social innovations thatwere afterwards adopted by the government and the people. He died in1849.

"My parents were Presbyterians, in which faith I was strictly broughtup; but I early came to the conclusion that my father was right whenhe said, as I heard him one day: 'The true religion is yet to come.'After my marriage I attended the Methodist Church mostly, led a morallife, tried to be honest in deal, and 'did' (as well as circ*mstanceswould allow) 'unto others as I would they should do to me.' I thus wenton quietly, until the 'true religion' was presented to me by a Mr.and Mrs. Daniel M. Bell, of Ballygrot. My reason was satisfied, and Iembraced the truth with avidity.

"In February, 1858, my husband, myself and our six children leftIreland on the steamship City of Glasgow, and in due time arrivedat Council Bluffs. Starting across the plains, the first day out Isustained a severe accident by being thrown from my carriage, but thisdid not deter us, and we arrived all safe and well in Salt Lake City onthe 25th of September.

"In 1868 I went with my husband on a mission to England; had apleasant, interesting time, and astonished many who thought 'no goodthing could come out of Utah.' While there I was the subject of nolittle curious questioning, and therefore had many opportunities ofexplaining the principles of the gospel. There was one principle Igloried in telling them about—the principle of plural marriage; andI spared no pains in speaking of the refining, exalting influencethat was carried with the doctrine, wherever entered into in a propermanner."

Sister Howard has not exaggerated in claiming that the Irish nationhas been fairly represented in the Mormon Church. Some of its mosttalented members have been directly of that descent, though it is truethat Mormonism never took deep root in Ireland; but that is no morethan a restatement of the fact that Protestantism of any kind has neverflourished in that Catholic country.

Of the esteemed lady in question it maybe added that she is one ofthe most prominent of the women of Utah, one of the councilors ofMrs. President Horne, and a leader generally, in those vast femaleorganizations and movements inspired by Eliza R. Snow, in the solutionof President Young's peculiar society problems.

—

Scandinavia shall be next represented among the nationalities in thechurch. The Scandinavian mission has been scarcely less importantthan the British mission. It is not as old, but to-day it is the mostvigorous, and for the last quarter of a century it has been pouring itsemigrations into Utah by the thousands. Indeed a very large portion ofthe population of Utah has been gathered from the Scandinavian peoples.The mission was opened by Apostle Erastus Snow, in the year 1850. Oneof the first converts of this apostle, Anna Nilson, afterwards becamehis wife. Here is the brief notice which she gives of herself:

"I am the daughter of Hans and Caroline Nilson, and was born on the1st of April, 1825, in a little village called Dalby, in the Provinceof Skaana, in the kingdom of Sweden. At the age of seventeen I removedto Copenhagen, Denmark. There, in 1850, when the elders from Zionarrived, I gladly received the good news, and was the first womanbaptized into the Church of Latter-day Saints in that kingdom. Thebaptism took place on the 12th of August, 1850; there were fifteen ofus; the ordinance was performed by Elder Erastus Snow. Some time afterthis we hired a hall for our meetings, which called public attentionto us in some degree, whereupon we became the subjects of rowdyismand violent persecution. One evening in particular, I recollect thatI was at a meeting in a village some eight miles out from Copenhagen;as we started to go home we were assailed by a mob which followed anddrove us for several miles. Some of the brethren were thrown intoditches and trampled upon, and the sisters also were roughly handled.Finding myself in the hands of ruffians, I called on my heavenlyFather, and they dropped me like a hot iron. They pelted us with stonesand mud, tore our clothes, and abused us in every way they could.These persecutions continued some weeks, until finally stopped by themilitary.

"In 1852, one week before Christmas, I left Copenhagen, in the firstlarge company, in charge of Elder Forssgren. We encountered a terriblestorm at the outset, but were brought safely through to Salt Lake City,where I have since resided."

—

A Norwegian sister, Mrs. Sarah A. Peterson, the wife of a well-knownmissionary, has remembrance next. She says:

"I was born in the town of Murray, Orleans county, N. Y., February 16,1827. My parents, Cornelius and Carrie Nelson, were among the firstNorwegians who emigrated to America. They left Norway on account ofhaving joined the Quakers, who, at that time, were subject to muchpersecution in that country. In the neighborhood was quite a numberof that sect, and they concluded to emigrate to America in a body. Asthere was no direct line of emigration between Norway and America,they purchased a sloop, in which they performed the voyage. Havingbeen raised on the coast, they were all used to the duties of seamen,and found no trouble in navigating their vessel. They also brought asmall cargo of iron with them, which, together with the vessel, theysold in New York, and then moved to the northwestern portion of thatState, and settled on a wild tract of woodland. Eight years afterwardsmy father died. I was at that time six years old. When I was nine yearsold my uncle went to Illinois, whence he returned with the most glowingaccounts of the fertility of the soil, with plenty of land for sale atgovernment price. The company disposed of their farms at the rate offifty dollars per acre, and again moved from their homes, settling onthe Fox River, near Ottawa, Ill. Here, when fourteen years of age, Ifirst heard the gospel, and at once believed in the divine mission ofthe prophet Joseph; but on account of the opposition of relatives, wasprevented joining the church until four years later.

"In the spring of 1849 I left mother and home and joined a company whowere preparing to leave for the valley. On our way to Council BluffsI was attacked with cholera. But there was a young gentleman in thecompany by the name of Canute Peterson, who, after a season of secretprayer in my behalf, came and placed his hands upon my head, and Iwas instantly healed. Two weeks after our arrival at the Bluffs I wasmarried to him. We joined Ezra T. Benson's company, and arrived inSalt Lake City on the 25th of October, and spent the winter followingin the 'Old Fort.' In 1851 we removed to Dry Creek, afterwards calledLehi. My husband was among the very first to survey land and take upclaims there. In 1852 he was sent on mission to Norway. During the fouryears he was absent I supported myself and the two children. In 1856he returned, much broken in health because of his arduous labor andexposure in the rigorous climate of that country.

"In the fall of 1857 my husband added another wife to his family; butI can truly say that he did not do so without my consent, nor withany other motive than to serve his God. I felt it our duty to obeythe commandment revealed through the prophet Joseph, hence, althoughI felt it to be quite a sacrifice, I encouraged him in so doing.Although not so very well supplied with houseroom, the second wifeand I lived together in harmony and peace. I felt it a pleasure tobe in her company, and even to nurse and take care of her children,and she felt the same way toward me and my children. A few yearsafterwards my husband married another wife, but also with the consentand encouragement of his family. This did not disturb the peacefulrelations of our home, but the same kind feelings were entertained byeach member of the family to one another. We have now lived in polygamytwenty years, have eaten at the same table and raised our childrentogether, and have never been separated, nor have we ever wished to be."

Mrs. Peterson is the present very efficient President of the ReliefSociety at Ephraim, which up to date has disbursed over eleven thousanddollars.

—

Here will also properly appear a short sketch of Bishop Hickenlooper'swife Ann, who made her way to Zion with the famous hand-cart company,under Captain Edmund Ellsworth. She had left home and friends inEngland in 1856, coming to Council Bluffs with the regular emigrationof that year, and continuing her journey with the hand-cart company, asbefore stated From her journal we quote:

"After traveling fourteen weeks we arrived in the near vicinity of SaltLake City, where President Young and other church leaders, with a brassband and a company of military, met and escorted us into the city. Aswe entered, and passed on to the public square in the 16th Ward, thestreets were thronged with thousands of people gazing upon the scene.President Young called on the bishops and people to bring us food. In ashort time we could see loads of provisions coming to our encampment.After partaking of refreshments our company began to melt away, bybeing taken to the homes of friends who had provided for them. I beganto feel very lonely, not knowing a single person in the country, andhaving no relatives to welcome me. I felt indeed that I was a strangerin a strange land. Presently, however, it was arranged that I shouldgo to live with Mr. Hickenlooper's people, he being bishop of the 6thWard. After becoming acquainted with the family, to whom I became muchattached, his first wife invited me to come into the family as thebishop's third wife, which invitation, after mature consideration, Iaccepted.

"I am now the mother of five children, and for twenty years have livedin the same house with the rest of the family, and have eaten at thesame table. My husband was in Nauvoo in the days of the prophet Joseph,and moved with the saints from winter quarters to this city, where hehas been bishop of the 6th Ward twenty-nine years, and of the 5th and6th Wards fifteen years."

—

Several of the sisters who first received the gospel in England andemigrated to Nauvoo during the lifetime of the prophet, claim historicmention. Ruth Moon, wife of William Clayton (who during the last daysof Joseph became famous as his scribe), was among the first fruits ofthe British mission. With her husband she sailed in the first organizedcompany of emigrant saints on board the North America. Here are a fewitems worth preserving, from her diary of that voyage:

"Friday, Sept. 4, 1840.—Bid good-bye to Penwortham, and all started by rail to Liverpool, where we arrived about 5 o'clock, and immediately went on board the packet-ship North America, Captain Loeber, then lying in Prince's dock.

"Tuesday, Sept. 8.—At eight o'clock the ship left the dock; was towed out into the river Mersey, and set sail for New York. On getting into the English Channel we were met by strong head-winds, which soon increased to a gale, compelling the ship to change her course and sail around the north coast of Ireland. The decks were battened down three days and nights. During the gale four of the principal sails were blown away, and the ship otherwise roughly used.

"Saturday, Sept. 12.—The storm having abated, we had a very pleasant view of the north part of Ireland, farms and houses being in plain sight.

"Tuesday, Sept. 22.—About eleven o'clock the company was startled by the ominous cry of the shief mate, 'All hands on deck, and buckets with water.' The ship had taken fire under the cook's galley. The deck was burned through, fire dropping on the berths underneath. It was soon extinguished without serious damage having been done.

"Sunday, Oct. 11.—Arrived in New York."

They journeyed thence by steamer up the Hudson river to Albany; bycanal from Albany to Buffalo; by steamer thence to Chicago; and byflat-boat down the Rock river to Nauvoo, where they arrived Nov. 24th.

—

Elizabeth Birch, who was born in Lancashire, England, in 1810, was awidow with four children when she first heard the gospel, which wasbrought to Preston, by the American elders, in 1837. The new religioncreated great excitement in that section, and people often walked tenmiles and more to hear the elders preach. She was baptized at Preston,on the 24th of Dec., 1838. In 1841 she sailed in the ship Sheffieldfor New Orleans, and thence up the Mississippi river in the secondcompany of saints that sailed for America. In the fall of that year shewas married to Mr. Birch. Her husband being one of those designatedto help finish the temple at Nauvoo they were in the city during thefamous battle of Nauvoo. Her recollections of that perilous event arevery vivid. During the fight one of the sisters brought into her housea cannon-ball which she had picked up, just from the enemy's battery.It was too hot to be handled. They reached the valley in 1850.

Concerning polygamy, she says: "In 1858, my husband having becomeconvinced that the doctrine of celestial marriage and plurality ofwives was true, instructed me in regard to it; and becoming entirely,satisfied that the principle is not only true, but that it iscommanded, I gave my consent to his taking another wife, by whom hehad one daughter; and again in 1860 I consented to his taking anotherone, by whom he had a large family of children. These children we haveraised together, and I love them as if they were my own. Our husbandhas been dead two years, but we still live together in peace, and eachcontributes to the utmost for the support of the family."

—

Lucy Clayton, wife of Elder Thomas Bullock, was the first of the saintsto enter Carthage jail after the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum. Shetells a graphic tale of the excitement of the people of Carthage onthat occasion—how they fled, panic-stricken, from their homes, led byGovernor Ford, thinking that the people of Nauvoo would wreak vengeanceupon them for the murder that had been committed in their midst. Shewas also among the remnant of the sick and dying saints on the banks ofthe Mississippi, after the expulsion, when they were miraculously fedby quails that alighted in their midst. This is an often-told wonder,and is classed with the immortal episode of the children of Israel, fedby quails in the wilderness.

—

The wife of Thomas Smith is also entitled to historic mention. Herhusband, in the early days of the British mission, made a great stirin England, as a Mormon elder, and she was with him in his ministry.He bore the euphonious epithet of "Rough Tom." Having both the geniusand fame of an iconoclast, he disputed, on the platform, with the samesectarian champions who met the great infidels Holyoke, Barker andBradlaugh. His career as a Mormon elder was quite a romance, and inall its scenes his wife, Sister Sarah, was a participant, though shewas as gentle in spirit as he was bold and innovative. A famous careerwas theirs, and the spiritual power and signs that followed them wereastonishing. He was full of prophesy, and she spake in tongues. He alsocast out devils by the legion. The spirits, good and bad, followed himeverywhere. It is of those thrilling scenes that his widow now loves tospeak, as a testimony of the power of God, and of the signs followingthe believer. No sister from the old country could be chosen as abetter witness of the spiritual potency of Mormonism than Sister SarahSmith Wheeler.

—

Sister I. S. Winnerholm, from Denmark, was brought into the church,in Copenhagen, through a series of spiritual experiences of unusualpower and interest; and, throughout her entire life since, she hasbeen remarkably gifted with the power of healing, the interpretationof tongues, etc. Concerning the gift of tongues, she testifies that ata ward meeting in Salt Lake City she heard a lady manifest the gift byspeaking in the dialect of Lapland, which she was fully competent totranslate, being conversant with that dialect, and which the lady inquestion positively knew nothing about, as she had never seen a personfrom that country. Sister Winnerholm has been a resident of Salt LakeCity since 1862, and a member of the church since 1853.

—

As a representative from Scotland, Sister Elizabeth Duncanson, who isone of "Zion's nurses," may be mentioned. A remarkable incident of herlife is the fact that at about the identical moment of the martyrdom ofJoseph and Hyrum Smith, she, in her home in Scotland, saw the entiretragedy in a dream. She told the dream to her husband at the time (bothof them were members of the church), and they were much dispirited withtheir forebodings concerning it. In about six weeks, by due course ofmail, the tidings reached them. Herself and husband reached Utah in1855, and in that same year she was ordained, by President Young, tothe office of nurse, which she has since most acceptably and skillfullyfilled.

—

Another sister from Scotland, Sister Mary Meiklejohn, since 1856 aresident of Tooele City, and also one of "Zion's nurses," shall herebe mentioned. While residing in Bonhill, Scotland, herself and husbandwere baptized into the Mormon Church by Elder Robert Hamilton. Herhusband at once became active in the work of spreading the gospel,and was soon the recipient of the benefits of the gift of healing, toa remarkable degree. By an accident one of his feet was crushed andterribly lacerated by being caught in a steam engine. The physiciansdetermined that the foot must be amputated in order to save his life;but the elders thought differently, and after administering to him,they called a fast, for his benefit, among all the branches in theneighborhood, and the presiding elder prophesied that he should socompletely recover the use of his foot as to dance on it many times inZion. This has been literally fulfilled. Mrs. Meiklejohn is the veryacceptable President of the Tooele Relief Society, which position shehas held since its organization in 1870.

—

It is also noteworthy that among the sisters is Mrs. JosephineUrsenbach, once a Russian Countess. With the instincts of her rank, shetook it upon her to officiate for many of her aristocratic compeersof Europe, in the beautiful ordinance of baptism for the dead. TheEmpress Josephine and Napoleon's wife, Louisa of Austria, were amongthe number. Also Elizabeth of England.

—

The reader will have noticed in the sketches of the sisters, bothAmerican and foreign, frequent mention of the "gift of tongues." Thisseems to have been markedly the woman's gift. One of the first whomanifested it approvedly was Mother Whitney. She was commanded by theprophet Joseph to rise and sing in the gift of tongues in the earlydays of Kirtland. She did so, and Joseph pronounced it the "Adamictongue," or the language spoken by Adam. Parley P. Pratt afterwardsgave a written interpretation of it. It was a story, in verse, of Adamblessing his family in "Adam-Ondi-Ahman"—the Garden of Eden in America.

As an instance in which the gift of tongues proved of decidedlypractical value, we transcribe the following incident, which occurrednear Council Bluffs, in the history of a girl of seventeen by the nameof Jane Grover (afterwards Mrs. Stewart), from her journal:

"One morning we thought we would go and gather gooseberries. FatherTanner (as we familiarly called the good, patriarchal Elder NathanTanner), harnessed a span of horses to a light wagon, and, with twosisters by the name of Lyman, his little granddaughter, and me, startedout. When we reached the woods we told the old gentleman to go to ahouse in sight and rest himself while we picked the berries.

"It was not long before the little girl and I strayed some distancefrom the rest, when suddenly we heard shouts. The little girl thoughtit was her grandfather, and was about to answer, but I restrained her,thinking it might be Indians. We walked forward until within sight ofFather Tanner, when we saw he was running his team around. We thoughtnothing strange at first, but as we approached we saw Indians gatheringaround the wagon, whooping and yelling as others came and joined them.We got into the wagon to start when four of the Indians took hold ofthe wagon-wheels to stop the wagon, and two others held the horses bythe bits, and another came to take me out of the wagon. I then began tobe afraid as well as vexed, and asked Father Tanner to let me get outof the wagon and run for assistance. He said, 'No, poor child; it istoo late!' I told him they should not take me alive. His face was aswhite as a sheet. The Indians had commenced to strip him—had taken hiswatch and handkerchief—and while stripping him, were trying to pullme out of the wagon. I began silently to appeal to my Heavenly Father.While praying and struggling, the spirit of the Almighty fell upon meand I arose with great power; and no tongue can tell my feelings. Iwas happy as I could be. A few moments before I saw worse than deathstaring me in the face, and now my hand was raised by the power ofGod, and I talked to those Indians in their own language. They let gothe horses and wagon, and all stood in front of me while I talked tothem by the power of God. They bowed their heads and answered 'Yes,'in a way that made me know what they meant. The little girl and FatherTanner looked on in speechless amazement. I realized our situation;their calculation was to kill Father Tanner, burn the wagon, and takeus women prisoners. This was plainly shown me. When I stopped talkingthey shook hands with all three of us, and returned all they had takenfrom Father Tanner, who gave them back the handkerchief, and I gavethem berries and crackers. By this time the other two women came up,and we hastened home.

"The Lord gave me a portion of the interpretation of what I had said,which was as follows:

"'I suppose you Indian warriors think you are going to kill us? Don'tyou know the Great Spirit is watching you and knows everything in yourheart? We have come out here to gather some of our father's fruit. Wehave not come to injure you; and if you harm us, or injure one hair ofour heads, the Great Spirit shall smite you to the earth, and you shallnot have power to breathe another breath. We have been driven from ourhomes, and so have you; we have come out here to do you good, and notto injure you. We are the Lord's people and so are you; but you mustcease your murders and wickedness; the Lord is displeased with it andwill not prosper you if you continue in it. You think you own all thisland, this timber, this water, all the horses: Why, you do not own onething on earth, not even the air you breathe—it all belongs to theGreat Spirit.'"

—

Of similar import, and fraught with similar incidents as the preceding,are the testimonies of Mercy R. Thompson, sister of Mary Fielding;Mrs. Janet Young, of South Cottonwood; Elizabeth S. Higgs, of SaltLake City; Ann Gillott Morgan, of Milk Creek, originally from England;Zina Pugh Bishop, for twenty-eight years a member of the church; AnnaWilson, of Taylorsville, originally from Sweden; Mary C. Smith, asister from Wales; Elizabeth Lane Hyde, a sister from South Wales;Sister M. Bingham, an aged saint from England; Sister Mary T. Bennson,of Taylorsville, for thirty-two years a member of the church; Mrs.Isabella Pratt Walton, of Mill Creek; Mrs. Margaret Pratt, fromScotland; and many more, concerning whom a faithful record mightprofitably be made.

CHAPTER XLIX.

THE MESSAGE TO JERUSALEM—THE ANCIENT TONES OF MORMONISM—THE MORMONHIGH PRIESTESS IN THE HOLY LAND—ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES—OFFICIATINGFOR THE ROYAL HOUSE OF JUDAH.

"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received double for all her sins. * * * O Zion, that bringest glad tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, behold your God!"

Themes to this day not understood by the Gentiles! Incomprehensible tothe divines of Christendom!

The everlasting perpetuation of a chosen race—a diviner monument inits dispersion and preservation than in its national antiquity. Itsrestoration to more than its ancient empire, and the rebuilding ofJerusalem, with Jehovah exalted in his chosen people as the Lord GodOmnipotent, is the vast subject of the prophetic Hebrews.

It was such a theme that inspired the genius of grand Isaiah, swellinginto the exultation of millennial jubilee for Israel, in his greatdeclamatory of "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God!"

Gentile Christendom has never been en rapport with the Abrahamicsubject. It has not incarnated its genius. It is destitute of the verysense to appreciate the theme of Jerusalem rebuilt.

Israelitish Mormondom does understand that subject. It has fullyincarnated its genius. It has, not only the prophetic sense toappreciate the theme of Old Jerusalem rebuilt, but also the rising ofthe New Jerusalem of the last days, whose interpreted symbol shall be,"The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!"

The divines of a Romish Christianity—Romish, notwithstanding itssectarian protestantism—have worn threadbare the New Testament; butthe epic soul of the old Hebrew Bible has never possessed GentileChristendom. To it, the prophesies and sublimities of Isaiah, and theeverlasting vastness of the Abrahamic covenant and promise, are all, atbest, but as glorious echoes from the vaults of dead and long buriedages.

Who has blown the trump of this Hebraic resurrection? One only—theprophet of Mormondom!

The Mormons are, as it were, clothing that soul with flesh—giving thethemes of that everlasting epic forms and types. Their Israelitishaction has made the very age palpitate. They render the "Comfort ye,comfort ye my people, saith your God!" as literally as did they thecommand of their prophet to preach the gospel to the British Isles, andgather the saints from that land.

The thread of history leads us directly to a significant episode inthe life of Eliza R. Snow, a prophetess and high priestess of HebraicMormondom, in which the "Comfort ye my people" became embodied in anactual mission to Jerusalem.

Very familiar to the Mormons is the fact that, at the period whenJoseph sent the Twelve to foreign lands, two of their number, OrsonHyde and John E. Page, were appointed on mission to Jerusalem. TheApostle Page failed to fulfill his call, and ultimately apostatized;but Orson Hyde honored the voice that oracled the restoration ofIsrael, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. He did not preach to Judahin the ordinary way, but on the Mount of Olives he reconsecrated theland, and uttered to the listening heavens a command for the Jews togather and rebuild the waste places. It was as the refrain of theinvisible fathers, concerning Israel's redemption, rising from thehearts of their Mormon children. And that mission of Orson Hyde was buta prophesy, to the sons of Judah, of coming events. Other missions wereordained, as it were, to psychologize the age into listening to thevoice of Judah's comforter.

A few years since, the second mission to Jerusalem was accomplished.On the Mount of Olives this time stood also a woman—to take part inthe second consecration! A woman's inspired voice to swell the divinecommand for Israel to gather and become again the favored nation—thecrown of empires.

The journal of Sister Eliza thus opens this episode of her life:

"On the 26th of October, 1872, I started on the mission to Palestine.When I realized that I was indeed going to Jerusalem, in fulfillmentof a prediction of the prophet Joseph that I should visit that antiquecity, uttered nearly thirty years before, and which had not only fledmy anticipations, but had, for years, gone from memory, I was filledwith astonishment."

The Jerusalem missionaries were President Geo. A. Smith, Lorenzo Snow,his sister Eliza R. Snow, and Paul A. Schettler, their secretary,accompanied by several tourists. The following commission, given toPresident Smith, stamps the apostolic character of this peculiarmission, and connects it with the former one, sent by the prophetJoseph, in the person of Orson Hyde, thirty-two years before:

"SALT LAKE CITY, U. T.,

"October 15, 1872.

"PRESIDENT G. A. SMITH:

"Dear Brother: As you are about to start on an extensive tour through Europe and Asia Minor, where you will doubtless be brought in contact with men of position and influence in society, we desire that you closely observe what openings now exist, or where they may be effected, for the introduction of the gospel into the various countries you shall visit.

"When you go to the land of Palestine, we wish you to dedicate and consecrate that land to the Lord, that it may be blessed with fruitfulness preparatory to the return of the Jews in fulfillment of prophesy and the accomplishment of the purposes of our Heavenly Father.

"We pray that you may be preserved to travel in peace and safety; that you may be abundantly blessed with words of wisdom and free utterance in all your conversations pertaining to the holy gospel, dispelling prejudice and sowing seeds of righteousness among the people.

"BRIGHAM YOUNG,

"DANIEL H. WELLS."

Joseph had also predicted that, ere his mortal career closed, "GeorgeA." should see the Holy Land. In the fulfillment of this he maytherefore be considered as the proxy of his great cousin; while SisterEliza, who, it will be remembered, was declared by the prophet to beof the royal seed of Judah, may be considered as a high priestessofficiating for her sacred race.

Away to the East—the cradle of empires—to bless the land where Judahshall become again a nation, clothed with more than the splendor of thedays of Solomon.

Uniting at New York, the company, on the 6th of November, sailed onboard the steamer Minnesota. Arriving in London, they visited some ofthe historic places of that great city, and then embarked for Holland.From place to place on the continent they went, visiting the famouscities, stopping a day to view the battle-field of Waterloo, thenresting a day or two at Paris. At Versailles they were received withhonor by President Theirs, in their peculiar character as missionariesto Jerusalem. Thence back to Paris; from Paris to Marseilles; thento Nice, where they ate Christmas dinner; thence to San Reno, Italy;to Genoa, Turin, Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome. At Rome Sister Elizapassed her seventieth birthday, visiting the famous places of thatclassic city. On the 6th of February, 1873, the apostolic touristsreached Alexandria, Egypt; and at length they approached Jerusalem—themonument of the past, the prophesy of the future! They encamped in the"Valley of Hinnom." Here Sister Eliza writes:

"Sunday morning, March 2d, President Smith made arrangements with out dragoman, and had a tent, table, seats, and carpet taken up on the Mount of Olives, to which all the brethren of the company and myself repaired on horseback. After dismounting on the summit, and committing our animals to the care of servants, we visited the Church of Ascension, a small cathedral, said to stand on the spot from which Jesus ascended. By this time the tent was prepared, which we entered, and after an opening prayer by Brother Carrington, we united in the order of the holy priesthood, President Smith leading in humble, fervent supplications, dedicating the land of Palestine for the gathering of the Jews and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and returned heartfelt thanks and gratitude to God for the fullness of the gospel and the blessings bestowed on the Latter-day Saints. Other brethren led in turn, and we had a very interesting season; to me it seemed the crowning point of the whole tour, realizing as I did that we were worshipping on the summit of the sacred mount, once the frequent resort of the Prince of Life."

This the literal record; but what the symbolical?

A prophesy of Israel's restoration! A sign of the renewal of Jehovah'scovenant to the ancient people! The "comfort ye" to Jerusalem! Zion,from the West, come to the Zion of the East, to ordain her with apresent destiny! A New Jerusalem crying to the Old Jerusalem, "Lift upthy voice with strength; Lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the citiesof Judah, behold your God!"

Woman on the Mount of Olives, in her character of prophetess and highpriestess of the temple! A daughter of David officiating for herFather's house!

Surely the subject is unique, view this extraordinary scene as wemay—either as a romantic episode of Mormonism, or as a real andbeautiful prelude to Jerusalem redeemed.

At the Sea of Gallilee the Hebraic muse of Sister Eliza thus expressedthe rapture awakened by the scenes of the sacred land:

"I have stood on the shore of the beautiful sea—
The renowned and immortalized Gallilee—
When 'twas wrapped in repose, at eventide,
Like a royal queen in her conscious pride.

"No sound was astir—not a murmuring wave—
Not a motion was seen, but the tremulous lave—
A gentle heave of the water's crest—
As the infant breathes on a mother's breast.

"I thought of the past and present; it seemed
That the silent sea with instruction teemed;
For often, indeed, the heart can hear
What never, in sound, has approached the ear.

"There's a depth in the soul that's beyond the reach
Of all earthly sound—of all human speech;
A fiber, too pure and sacred, to chime
With the cold, dull music of earth and time."

* * * * * * *

On their way home our tourists visited Athens. Everywhere, going andreturning, they were honored. Even princes and prime ministers tooka peculiar interest in this extraordinary embassy of Mormon Israel.Evidently all were struck by its unique character.

Recrossing the Atlantic, they returned to their mountain home; thusaccomplishing one of the most singular and romantic religious missionson record.

CHAPTER L.

WOMAN'S POSITION IN THE MORMON CHURCH—GRAND FEMALE ORGANIZATION OFMORMONDOM—THE RELIEF SOCIETY—ITS INCEPTION AT NAUVOO—ITS PRESENTSTATUS, AIMS, AND METHODS—FIRST SOCIETY BUILDING—A WOMAN LAYS THECORNER STONE—DISTINGUISHED WOMEN OF THE VARIOUS SOCIETIES.

The Mormon women, as well as men, hold the priesthood. To all that manattains, in celestial exaltation and glory, woman attains. She is hispartner in estate and office.

John the Revelator thus tells the story of the Church of the FirstBorn, in the New Jerusalem, which shall come down out of heaven:

"And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us unto God, by thy blood, out of every kindred and tongue and nation:

"And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."

Joseph the Revelator has given a grand supplement to this. He also sawthat vast assembly of the New Jerusalem, and heard that song. There wasthe blessed woman-half of that redeemed throng. The sisters sang untothe honor of the Lamb:

"And thou hast made us unto our God queens and priestesses: and we shall reign on the earth!"

"But this is lowering the theme," says the Gentile Christian; "thetheme descends from man—the paragon of excellence—to woman. Enoughthat she should be implied—her identity and glory absorbed in man'saugust splendor! Enough, that, for man, woman was created.

Not so the grand economy of Mormonism. In the Mormon temple, woman isnot merely implied, but well defined and named. There the theme of thesong of the New Jerusalem is faithfully rendered in her personality.If man is anointed priest unto God, woman is anointed priestess; ifsymboled in his heavenly estate as king, she is also symboled as queen.

Gentile publishers, making a sensational convenience of apostatesisters, have turned this to the popular amusem*nt; but to the faithfulMormon woman it is a very sacred and exalted subject.

But not presuming to more than cross the threshold of the temple,return we now to the Mormon woman in her social sphere and dignity. Thegrand organization of fifty thousand Mormon women, under the name of"Relief Societies," will sufficiently illustrate woman in the Mormoneconomy.

The Female Relief Society was organized by the prophet Joseph, atNauvoo. Here is a minute from his own history:

"Thursday, March 24.—I attended by request the Female Relief Society, whose object is, the relief of the poor, the destitute, the widow, and the orphan, and for the exercise of all benevolent purposes. Its organization was completed this day. Mrs. Emma Smith takes the presidential chair; Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Whitney and Mrs. Sarah M. Cleveland are her councilors; Miss Elvira Cole is treasuress, and our well-known and talented poetess, Miss Eliza R. Snow, secretary. * * * * Our ladies have always been signalized for their acts of benevolence and kindness; but the cruel usage that they have received from the barbarians of Missouri, has hitherto prevented their extending the hand of charity in a conspicuous manner."

On another occasion he says:

"I met the members of the Female Relief Society, and after presiding at the admission of many new members, gave a lecture on the priesthood, showing how the sisters would come in possession of the privileges, blessings, and gifts of the priesthood, and that the signs should follow them, such as healing the sick, casting out devils, etc., and that they might attain unto these blessings by a virtuous life, and conversation, and diligence in keeping all the commandments."

But it is in Utah that we see the growth of this society to a vastwoman's organization: an organization which will greatly influence thedestiny of Utah, religiously, socially and politically, for the nextcentury, and, presumably, for all time.

From 1846, the time of the exodus from Nauvoo, the Relief Society wasinoperative until 1855, when it was re-organized in Salt Lake City.

It is a self-governing body, without a written constitution; but isthoroughly organized, and parliamentary in its proceedings. Each branchadopts measures, makes arrangements, appointments, etc., independentlyof others. Because of these organizations, Utah has no "poor-houses."Under the kind and sisterly policy of this society the worthy poor feelmuch less humiliated, and are better supplied, than by any almshousesystem extant. By an admirable arrangement, under the form of visitingcommittees, with well-defined duties, the deserving subjects of charityare seldom, if ever, neglected or overlooked.

Since its revival in Salt Lake City, the society has extended, inbranches, from ward to ward of the cities, and from settlement tosettlement, in the country, until it numbers considerably over twohundred branches; and, as new settlements are constantly being formed,the number of branches is constantly increasing.

The funds of the society are mostly donations; but many branches havestarted various industries, from which they realize moderate incomes.Besides stated business meetings each branch has set days on which towork for the benefit of the poor. When the society commenced its laborsin Salt Lake City, these industrial meetings would have reminded theobserver of the Israelites in Egypt, making "bricks without straw"—thedonations consisting of materials for patch-work quilts, rag-carpets,uncarded wool for socks and stockings, etc. (In one well-authenticatedinstance the hair from slaughtered beeves was gathered, carded—byhand of course, as there were no carding machines in the city atthat time—spun, and knit into socks and mittens.) These industrialmeetings, to this day, are very interesting, from the varieties of workthus brought into close fellowship.

As fast as may be, the various branches are building for themselvesplaces of meeting, workshops, etc. The first of these buildings waserected by the ladies of the Fifteenth Ward of Salt Lake City. Theycommenced their labors as above, their first capital stock beingdonations of pieces for patch-work quilts, carpet-rags, etc. By energyand perseverance, they have sustained their poor, and, in a few years,purchased land and built on it a commodious house.

It should be recorded, as unique in history, that the laying of thecorner-stone of this building was performed by the ladies. Thisceremony, being unostentatiously performed, was followed by appropriatespeechmaking on the part of the presiding officer of the society, Mrs.S. M. Kimball, Eliza R. Snow, and others; each in turn mounting thecorner-stone for a rostrum, and each winning deserved applause from theassembled thousands.

No greater tribute could be paid to the ladies of this organization,than the simple statement of the fact that, since its re-establishment,in 1855, the Relief Society has gathered and disbursed over one hundredthousand dollars!

—

Mrs. Sarah M. Kimball, who, as President of the Fifteenth Ward Society,sustained the honors of the above occasion, belonged to the originalRelief Society in Nauvoo. As elsewhere recorded, she also presided atthe grand mass-meeting of the sisters, in Salt Lake City, in 1870,and has repeatedly appeared as a speaker of talent, and as a leaderamong the women of Utah. Her favorite theme is female suffrage; butshe abounds with other progressive ideas, and is a lady of decidedcharacter. Her history as a Mormon dates from the earliest rise of thechurch.

—

Mrs. Mary I. Horne, frequently mentioned elsewhere, is the Presidentof the "General Retrenchment Society" of Salt Lake City. (It should beexplained that these are auxiliary to the relief societies, and aremore especially designed for the organization of the young ladies ofUtah.) She is also President of the Fourteenth Ward Relief Society,where frequently the sisters hold something like general conventions ofthe societies of the city. She may be said to rank, as an organizer,next to President Eliza R. Snow.

—

Among those who have earned honorable mention, as presidents of reliefsocieties, and leading officers in the more important movements of thesisters, may be mentioned Sisters Rachel Grant, Agnes Taylor Swartz,Maria Wilcox, Minerva, one of the wives of Erastus Snow, of SouthernUtah; Agatha Pratt, Julia Pack, Anna Ivins, Sarah Church, SisterBarney, once a missionary to the Sandwich Islands, and now an activewoman at home; Elizabeth Goddard, Hannah Pierce, Rebecca Jones, Jane C.Richardson, Elmira Taylor, Leonora Snow Morley, sister to Lorenzo andEliza R. Snow: she presided at Brigham City, until her recent death;Mary Ferguson, Sisters Evans, of Lehi; Sister Ezra Benson, RebeccaWareham, Ruth Tyler, Sisters Hunter, Hardy, and Burton, wives of thepresiding bishops; Sister Chase, Sister Lever, Sarah Groo, SisterLayton, wife of Bishop Layton of the battalion; Sister Reed, Mary Ann,one of the wives of Apostle O. Hyde; Sarah Peterson, Ann Bringhurst,Ann Bryant, Helena Madson, M. J. Atwood, Sister Wilde, CarolineCallister, Emma Brown, wife of the man who did the first plowing in thevalley, Nancy Wall, founder of Wallsburg; Elizabeth Stickney, MargaretMcCullough, Amy Bigler, Elizabeth Brown, Ellen Whiton, P. S. Hart, AnnTate, Anna Brown, Martha Simons, Jane Simons, Margaret P. Young, M. A.Hubbard, Agnes Douglas, Jane Cahoon, Mary McAllister, Sister Albertson,Pres. in Bear River City; Mary Dewey, M. A. Hardy, Ann Goldsbrough,Mrs. Sarah Williams, and Miss Emily Williams, of Canton, Ill.; JaneBailey, Jane Bradley, Elizabeth Boyes, Jane M. Howell, D. E. Dudley,Mary Ann Hazon, Mahala Higgins, Jenet Sharp, Lulu Sharp, Jane Price,Ann Daniels, Harriet Burnham, M. C. Morrison, Nellie Hartley, M. A.P. Hyde, Elizabeth Park, Margaret Randall, Elizabeth Wadoup, M. A.Pritchett, M. A. P. Marshall, Sarah S. Taylor, Mary Hutchins, EmilyShirtluff, A. E. H. Hanson, M. J. Crosby, Cordelia Carter, Sarah B.Gibson, Harriet Hardy, Isabella G. Martin, M. A. Boise, Louisa Croshaw,Orissa A. Aldred, Julia Lindsay, C. Liljenquist, Harriet A. Shaw, AnnLowe, Emma Porter, Mary E. Hall, Lydia Remington, Ellen C. Fuller,Harriet E. Laney, Rebecca Marcham, A. L. Cox, Louisa Taylor, Agnes S.Armstrong, M. A. Hubbard, Mary A. Hunter, M. A. House, Mary Griffin,Jane Godfrey, Lydia Rich, E. E. C. Francis, Lydia Ann Wells, E. M.Merrill, Mary A. Bingham, Hannah Child, M. A. Hardy, Fannie Slaughter,Mary Walker, Ann Hughes, Marian Petersom, Mary Hanson, Aurelia S.Rogers, A. M. Frodsham, Sophronia Martin.

Among the presidents and officers of the Young Ladies' RetrenchmentSocieties, should be mentioned Mary Freeze, Melissa Lee, Mary Pierce,Clara Stenhouse Young, Sarah Howard, Mary Williams, Elizabeth Thomas,Cornelia Clayton, Sarah Graham, Susannah E. Facer, Emily Richards,Josephine West, Minnie Snow, May Wells, Emily Wells, Annie E. Wells,Maggie J. Reese, Emily Maddison, Hattie Higginson, Mattie Paul, SarahRussell, Alice M. Rich, Mary E. Manghan, Margaret M. Spencer, SarahJane Bullock, Alice M. Tucker, M. Josephine Mulet, M. J. Tanner, SarahRenshaw, Mary Ann Ward, Lizzie Hawkins, Mary Leaver, Amy Adams, RebeccaWilliams, Mary S. Burnham, Emmarett Brown, Mary A. P. Marshall.

—

Mrs. Bathsheba Smith, whose name has appeared elsewhere, is apostolicin the movements of the sisterhood, and a priestess of the temple.Mrs. Franklin D. Richards is the most prominent organizer outside ofthe metropolis of Utah, having Ogden and Weber counties under herdirection. Sister Smoot leads at Provo. The silk industries are underthe direction of President Zina D. Young. Those sisters who havebeen most energetic in promoting this important branch of industry,which gives promise of becoming a financial success in Utah, havealready earned historic laurels. Of these are Sisters Dunyan, Robison,Carter, Clark, Schettler, and Rockwood. Eliza R. Snow is president,and Priscilla M. Staines vice-president, of the woman's co-operativestore, an enterprise designed to foster home manufactures. Thus are thewomen of Mormondom putting the inchoate State of Deseret under the mostcomplete organization.

CHAPTER LI.

THE SISTERS AND THE MARRIAGE QUESTION—THE WOMEN OF UTAHENFRANCHISED—PASSAGE OF THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE BILL—A POLITICALCONTEST—THE FIRST WOMAN THAT VOTED IN UTAH.

The women of Mormondom, and the marriage question! Two of the greatestsensations of the age united!

Here we meet the subject of woman, in two casts—not less Gentile thanMormon.

Marriage is the great question of the age. It is the woman's specialsubject. Monogamic, or polygamic, it is essentially one problem. Eitherphase is good, or bad, just as people choose to consider it, or just asthey are educated to view it.

The Mormons have been, for a quarter of a century, openly affirming,upon the authority of a new revelation and the establishment of adistinctive institution, that Gentile monogamy is not good. But morethan this is in their history, their religion, and their socialexamples. They have made marriage one of their greatest problems. Andthey accept the patriarchal order of marriage, according to the Bibleexamples, and the revelation of their prophet, as a proper solution.

To Gentile Christians, monogamy is good, and polygamy barbarous. Butit is the old story of likes and dislikes, in which people so widelydiffer.

That the Mormons have been strictly logical, and strictly righteous, inreviving the institutions of the Hebrew patriarchs, in their characterof a modern Israel, may be seen at a glance, by any just mind. Whatsense in their claim to be the Israel of the last days had they notfollowed the types and examples of Israel? If they have incarnated theancient Israelitish genius—and in that fact is the whole significanceof Mormonism—then has the age simply seen that genius naturallymanifested in the action of their lives.

A monstrous absurdity, indeed, for Christendom to hold that the Bibleis divine and infallible, and at the same time to hold that a people isbarbaric for adoption of its faith and examples! Enough this, surely,to justify the infidel in sweeping it away altogether. The Mormons andthe Bible stand or fall together.

In view of this truth, it was a cunning move of the opposition toattempt to take polygamy out of its theologic cast and give it a purelysociologic solution, as in the effort of 1870, when it was proposedby Congressman Julian, of Indiana, to enfranchise the women of Utah.Brigham Young and the legislative body of Utah promptly accepted theproposition, and a bill giving suffrage to the women of Utah was passedby the Territorial Legislature, without a dissenting vote.

Here is a copy of that remarkable instrument:

AN ACT, giving woman the elective franchise in the Territory of Utah.

SEC. I. Be it enacted by the Governor and the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah, that every woman of the age of twenty-one years, who has resided in this territory six months next preceding any general or special election, born or naturalized in the United States, or who is the wife, or widow, or the daughter of a naturalized citizen of the United States, shall be entitled to vote at any election in this territory.

SEC. 2. All laws or parts of laws, conflicting with this act, are hereby repealed.

Approved Feb. 12, 1870.

It may be said by the anti-Mormon that this bill was intended byPresident Young to serve the purposes of his own mission rather thanto benefit the newly enfranchised class; but, as the issue will prove,it was really an important step in the progress of reform. The womenof Utah have now in their own hands the power to absolutely rule theirown destiny; and this is more than can be said of the millions of theirGentile sisters.

The municipal election in Salt Lake City, which occurred but two daysafter the approval of this bill, for the first time in Mormon historypresented a political home issue; but the new voting element was notbrought largely into requisition. Only a few of the sisters claimed thehonor of voting on that occasion. The first of these was Miss SeraphYoung, a niece of President Young, who thus immortalized herself.

This grant of political power to the women of Utah is a sign of thetimes. The fact cannot die that the Mormon people piloted the nationwestward; and, under the inspiration of the great impulses of the age,they are destined to be the reformatory vanguard of the nation.

CHAPTER LII.

THE LIE OF THE ENEMY REFUTED—A VIEW OF THE WOMEN IN COUNCIL OVERFEMALE SUFFRAGE—THE SISTERS KNOW THEIR POLITICAL POWER.

It was charged, however, by the anti-Mormons, that woman suffrage inUtah was only designed to further enslave the Mormon women; that theytook no part in its passage, and have had no soul in its exercise.Nearly the reverse of this is the case, as the records, to follow, willshow.

In the expositions of the Mormon religion, priesthood and genius,which have been given, it has been seen that the women are, equallywith their prophets and apostles, the founders of their church and thepillars of its institutions; the difference being only that the man isfirst in the order, and the woman is his helpmate; or, more perfectlyexpressed, "they twain are one," in the broadest and most exaltedsense. Hence, no sooner was suffrage granted to the Mormon women, thanthey exercised it as a part of their religion, or as the performanceof woman's life duties, marked out for her in the economy of divineprovidence. In this apostolic spirit, they took up the grant ofpolitical power. Hence, also, in accordance with the fundamental Mormonview of an essential partnership existing between the man and thewoman, "in all things," both in this world and in the world to come,there grew up, as we have seen, in the days of Joseph the prophet,female organizations, set apart and blessed for woman's ministry inthis life, to be extended into the "eternities." True, these women'sorganizations have been known by the name of relief societies, buttheir sphere extends to every department of woman's mission, andthey may be viewed as female suffrage societies in a female suffragemovement, or society-mates of any masculine movement which might ariseto shape or control human affairs, religious, social or political. Itwas this society that, as by the lifting of the finger, in a momentaroused fifty thousand women in Utah, simultaneously to hold their"indignation mass-meetings" throughout the territory, against theCullom bill. At that very moment the female suffrage bill was passed bytheir Legislature, so that the exercise of their vote at the subsequentelection was a direct expression of their will upon the most vital ofall social questions—the marriage question. Here are the minutes ofa general meeting of this great Female Relief Society, held in SaltLake City, February 19, 1870—just seven days after the passage oftheir bill, and two days before the exercise of the female vote at theelection:

MINUTES.—Most of the wards of the city were represented. Miss E. R. Snow was elected president, and Mrs. L. D. Alder secretary.

Meeting opened with singing; prayer by Mrs. Harriet Cook Young.

Miss Eliza R. Snow arose and said, to encourage the sisters in good works, she would read an account of our indignation meeting, as it appeared in the Sacramento Union; which account she thought a very fair one. She also stated that an expression of gratitude was due acting-Governor Mann, for signing the document granting woman suffrage in Utah, for we could not have had the right without his sanction, and said that Wyoming had passed a bill of this kind over its Governor's head, but we could not have done this.

The following names were unanimously selected to be a committee for said purpose: Eliza R. Snow, Bathsheba W. Smith, Sarah M. Kimball, M. T. Smoot, H. C. Young, N. D. Young, Phoebe Woodruff, M. I. Horne, M. N. Hyde, Eliza Cannon, Rachel Grant, Amanda Smith.

Mrs. Sarah M. Kimball said she had waited patiently a long time, and now that we were granted the right of suffrage, she would openly declare herself a woman's rights woman, and called upon those who would do so to back her up, whereupon many manifested their approval. She said her experience in life had been different from that of many. She had moved in all grades of society; had been both rich and poor; had always seen much good and intelligence in woman. The interests of man and woman cannot be separated; for the man is not without the woman nor the woman without the man in the Lord. She spoke of the foolish custom which deprived the mother of having control over her sons at a certain age; said she saw the foreshadowing of a brighter day in this respect in the future. She said she had entertained ideas that appeared wild, which she thought would yet be considered woman's rights; spoke of the remarks made by Brother Rockwood, lately, that women would have as much prejudice to overcome, in occupying certain positions, as men would in granting them, and concluded by declaring that woman was the helpmate of man in every department of life.

Mrs. Phoebe Woodruff said she was pleased with the reform, and was heart and hand with her sisters. She was thankful for the privilege that had been granted to women, but thought we must act in wisdom and not go too fast. She had looked for this day for years. God has opened the way for us. We have borne in patience, but the yoke on woman is partly removed. Now that God has moved upon our brethren to grant us the right of female suffrage, let us lay it by, and wait till the time comes to use it, and not run headlong and abuse the privilege. Great and blessed things are ahead. All is right and will come out right, and woman will receive her reward in blessing and honor. May God grant us strength to do right in his sight.

Mrs. Bathsheba W. Smith said she felt pleased to be engaged in the great work before them, and was heart and hand with her sisters. She never felt better in her life, yet never felt more her own weakness, in view of the greater responsibilities which now rested upon them, nor ever felt so much the necessity of wisdom and light; but she was determined to do her best. She believed that woman was coming up in the world. She encouraged her sisters with the faith that there was nothing required of them in the duties of life that they could not perform.

Mrs. Prescindia Kimball said: "I feel comforted and blessed this day. I am glad to be numbered in moving forward in this reform; feel to exercise double diligence and try to accomplish what is required at our hands. We must all put our shoulder to the wheel and go ahead. I am glad to see our daughters elevated with man, and the time come when our votes will assist our leaders, and redeem ourselves. Let us be humble, and triumph will be ours. The day is approaching when woman shall be redeemed from the curse placed upon Eve, and I have often thought that our daughters who are in polygamy will be the first redeemed. Then let us keep the commandments and attain to a fullness, and always bear in mind that our children born in the priesthood will be saviors on Mount Zion."

Mrs. Zina D. Young said she was glad to look upon such an assemblage of bright and happy faces, and was gratified to be numbered with the spirits who had taken tabernacles in this dispensation, and to know that we are associated with kings and priests of God; thought we do not realize our privileges. Be meek and humble and do not move one step aside, but gain power over ourselves. Angels will visit the earth, but are we, as handmaids of the Lord, prepared to meet them? We live in the day that has been looked down upon with great anxiety since the morn of creation.

Mrs. M. T. Smoot said: "We are engaged in a great work, and the principles that we have embraced are life and salvation unto us. Many principles are advanced on which we are slow to act. There are many more to be advanced. Woman's rights have been spoken of. I have never had any desire for more rights than I have. I have considered politics aside from the sphere of woman; but, as things progress, I feel it is right that we should vote, though the path may be fraught with difficulty."

Mrs. Wilmarth East said she would bear testimony to what had been said. She had found by experience that "obedience is better than sacrifice." I desire to be on the safe side and sustain those above us; but I cannot agree with Sister Smoot in regard to woman's rights. I have never felt that woman had her privileges. I always wanted a voice in the politics of the nation, as well as to rear a family. I was much impressed when I read the poem composed by Mrs. Emily Woodmanse—"Who Cares to Win a Woman's Thought." There is a bright day coming; but we need more wisdom and humility than ever before. My sisters, I am glad to be associated with you—those who have borne the heat and burden of the day, and ask God to pour blessings on your head.

Eliza R. Snow, in closing, observed, that there was a business item she wished to lay before the meeting, and suggested that Sister Bathsheba W. Smith be appointed on a mission to preach retrenchment all through the South, and woman's rights, if she wished.

The suggestion was acted upon, and the meeting adjourned with singing "Redeemer of Israel," and benediction by Mrs. M. N. Hyde.

Let the reader be further told that, though this was a sort of aconvention of the great Relief Society of Utah, which can move fiftythousand women in a moment, it was not a woman's suffrage meeting. Itwas a gathering of the sisters for consideration of the retrenchmentof the table, and general domestic economy, the retrenchment societieshaving been just inaugurated under the leadership of Sister Horne.But, it will be seen that the meeting was changed to a woman's feastof anticipations, and table-retrenchment met scarcely an incidentalreference that day; for the spirit of woman's future rested upon thesisters, spoke with its "still, small voice," and pointed to the brightlooming star of woman's destiny.

That these women will move wisely, and in the fear of God, is veryevident; nor will they use the tremendous power which they aredestined to hold to break up their church and destroy their faith inthe revelation of the "new and everlasting covenant," given throughthe prophet Joseph Smith. Indeed, they will yet send their testimonythrough the world, with ten thousand voices, confirmed by the potencyof the woman's vote, and flood the nation with their light.

Congress need not fear to trust the woman's supreme question into thesafe keeping of fifty thousand God-fearing, self-sacrificing, reverentwomen. In vain will the anti-Mormons and pretentious "regenerators"look for these women to become revolutionary or impious. What they dowill be done in the name and fear of the Lord; yet, mark the prophesyof one of their leaders: "The day is approaching when woman shall beredeemed from the curse of Eve; and I have often thought that ourdaughters who are in polygamy will be the first redeemed."

Here is the curse: "In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thydesire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee!" Womanwill be redeemed from that curse, as sure as the coming of to-morrow'ssun. No more, after this generation, shall civilized man rule overhis mate, but "they twain shall be one;" and the sisters are lookingfor that millennial day. These are the "wise virgins" of the church;and their lamps are trimmed.

CHAPTER LIII.

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SEEK TO DISFRANCHISE THE WOMEN OF UTAH—CLAGGETT'SASSAULT—THE WOMEN OF AMERICA COME TO THEIR AID—CHARLES SUMNER ABOUTTO ESPOUSE THEIR CAUSE—DEATH PREVENTS THE GREAT STATESMAN'S DESIGN.

But the enemies of the Mormons, at home and abroad, who have sought tobreak up their religious institutions and turn their sacred relationsinto unholy covenants, have, from the very hour of the grant of woman'scharter, also sought to take away from them female suffrage. Andperhaps they would have done so ere now, had not a million Americanwomen been on the side of the Mormons, in this. Claggett of Montana, inhis attack upon the people of Utah, in the House of Representatives,January 29th, 1873, gave to Congress a touch of the anti-Mormonopposition to female suffrage in Utah. He said:

"My friend from Utah [Hooper] goes on to say that Utah is a long way in advance of the age in one respect; that female suffrage has been adopted there. What was the reason for adopting that measure? Was it because the peculiar institution of the territory recognizes in any degree whatever, the elevation, purity, and sanctity of women? No, sir. When the Union Pacific Railroad was completed, and when the influx of miners and other outsiders began to come into the territory, the chiefs of the Mormon hierarchy, fearing that power would pass from their hands by the gradual change of population, by adopting female suffrage trebled their voting power by a stroke of their pen; and I am credibly informed upon the authority of at least fifty men, that in practice in that territory any child or woman, from twelve years old and upwards, that can wear a yard of calico, exercises the prerogatives of a freeman, so far as voting is concerned."

The flippant remark of the delegate from Montana, that every Mormonwoman could exercise the prerogative of a freeman, called forth a burstof laughter from the house; but it would have been more in keepingwith the great theme of woman's rights, had a hearty "Thank God!" rangfrom the lips of those legislators who laughed in derision. Of course,the gentleman's statement was an exaggeration; but what a story he hasunwittingly told of the power that has been committed to the hands ofthe Mormon women? What an epic prophesy he gave of woman's destiny,when he said, that from the age of twelve years they are trained inUtah to exercise the freeman's prerogative. If this be so—and it isnear enough to the truth—and if the Mormon women have trebled thepower of the men by the grant of female suffrage, then already do theyhold not only their own destiny in their hands, but also the destinyof the men. Their very husbands are depending upon them for grace andsalvation from their enemies, in spite of all their enemies' designs.Do legislators for a moment foolishly fear that the Mormon women willnot discover this vast power which they hold, and discovering, wield italmost as a manifest destiny? They have discovered it; and their futuremovements will manifest it, to the astonishment of the whole civilizedworld. Fifty to a hundred thousand women, who are henceforth in onesingle State to be trained, from the age of twelve, to exercise thepolitical power of "freemen," cannot but be free, and can have nothingless than a splendid future before them.

Mr. Claggett blasphemed against the truth, when he said that therewas nothing in the Mormon religion that "recognized, in any degreewhatever, the elevation, purity and sanctity of woman." This is awicked outrage against the sisters, whose lives are stainless andmatchless records of purity, devotion and heroism. That devotion ofitself would elevate and enoble their characters; and, if Congress andthe American people believe them to be martyrs to their religion, thentheir very martyrdom should sanctify them in the eyes of the nation.

Moreover, woman suffrage is a charter not incompatible with the geniusof Mormonism, but in positive harmony therewith. The Mormon Churchis originally based upon the woman as well as upon the man. She iswith him a partner and priest, in all their religious institutions.The sisters have also exercised the vote in the church for the lastforty-seven years, it being conferred with their membership. So femalesuffrage grows out of the very genius and institutions of their church.

Now the marriage question specially belongs to the women of the age,and not to Congress; and the Mormon women must and will make thecountry practically confess as much. They will do it by a movementpotent enough upon this question, if they have to stir all thewomen of America to the issue. They are forced to this by theirsupreme necessities—their honor, their duty, their love, their mostsacred relations. Their brothers, their husbands and their sons arethreatened with prisons, for that which their religion and the Biblesanction—that Bible which Christendom for nearly two thousand yearshas received as the word of God. If there be a radical fault, then isthe fault in their too substantial faith in that word. Surely therecan be no crime in a Bible faith, else Christendom had been under acondemnation that eternity itself would not outlive. But the damnationof Congress and the regenerators is to be visited upon the heads ofthe innocent—for the shaping of the case is making the sisters in theeye of the law dishonored women. The very spies and minions of thecourt enter their marriage chamber—sacred among even barbarians—tofind the evidence for prosecution, or to drag them to the witness-box,to testify against their husbands, or disown them to screen them frompunishment. Not in the history of civilization has there been such amonstrous example before. Claggett has said, in Congress, of theirmarriage, "That it tears the crown jewel from the diadem of woman'spurity, and takes from her the holy bond which honors her in all thenations of the earth; which has elevated lechery to the dignity of areligious dogma, and burns incense upon the altars of an unhallowedlust; and above all, and as a crime against the future, which agesof forgiveness cannot condone nor the waters of ocean wash out,which yearly writes in letters that blister as they fall, the word'bastard' across the branded brows of an army of little children. Suchan institution is not entitled by any right, either human or divine,to hide the hideous deformity of its nakedness with the mantle ofreligion, nor seek shelter under the protecting aegis of the civillaw." [Applause from Congress.]

The women of Mormondom must force Claggett and Congress to take thisback. It is such as he who spoke, and they who applauded, who havewritten "in letters that blister as they fall the word 'bastard'across the branded brows of an army of little children," and themothers of those dear little branded ones must appeal to the wivesand mothers of America, to take that curse of "bastard" from theirinnocent brows. They must ask those noble women everywhere in America,who are earnestly battling for their own rights, and especially thesupreme right of woman to settle the marriage question; and the answerto their mighty prayer shall come back to them from a million women,throughout the land. The women of America, who lead the van of the newcivilization, shall cry to Congress and the nation in behalf of theirMormon sisters, with voices that will not be hushed, till justice bedone. Indeed, already have they done this, so far as the suffrage isconcerned; and it is due to them alone, under Providence, that thewomen of Utah have not been disfranchised. This is best brought hometo the reader by reference to the following, from the report of thePennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association, read at the Opera House,Detroit, Mich., October 13, 1874:

"During the session of Congress we spent some time in the capital, proposing to work for the enfranchisem*nt of the women of the District of Columbia and of the territories; but finding that Congress was more likely to disfranchise the women who already possessed this right, than to enfranchise others, our efforts were used, as far as possible, to prevent this backward step.

"Had we been a voter, we might have had less trouble to convince some of our friends in this affair.

"Several bills were introduced, anyone of which, if it became a law, would have disfranchised the women of Utah.

"The McKee bill had been referred to the House Committee on Territories. While the subject was under discussion in the committee, by invitation of the members, on two occasions, we stated our views. One of the members, before the committee convened, gave his reason for favoring the passage of the bill.

"'The woman's vote sustains polygamy,' said he, 'and to destroy that, I would take the right of suffrage from every woman in the territory.'

"'Would it do that?' we inquired.

"'I think it would.'

"'Did polygamy exist in the territory before the women voted?'

"'Oh! yes.'

"'Have they ever had the privilege of voting against it?'

"'No; that has never been made an issue; but they voted to send a polygamist to Congress.'

"'Did any man vote for him?'

"'Yes, more than eleven thousand men, and ten thousand women.'

"'How many voted for the opposing candidate?'

"'Something less than two thousand men and women together.'

"'You intend to disfranchise the men who voted for this man?' we asked.

"'Oh! no.'

"'Then the polygamist can still come to Congress by a majority of five to one.' Though this was true, he seemed to think it very wrong to disfranchise the men.

"How many of the committee reasoned as this one did, we are unable to say, but the majority wished to disfranchise the women, as they returned the bill to the House with the obnoxious sections unchanged. The friends of woman, by their honest work, prevented action being taken on the bill, and perhaps saved the country the disgrace of having done such a great wrong, which it could not soon have undone. There was something more vital to the well-being of the nation in this, than some of our legislators were willing to admit. Had they passed this act they would probably have laid the foundation for the ruin of the nation. If Congress has the power to disfranchise one class, it undoubtedly has the power to disfranchise another, and what freeman in such a case is secure in his rights?

"Similar bills were before the Senate and House Judiciary Committees.

"The question came: Where shall we look for help among those in power? To the true, the trusted and the tried. To those of the grandest intellect and the purest heart. To the friends of the weak and the oppressed. Our appeal shall be made to the highest, to the honorable and most honored Charles Sumner. He cordially granted us a hearing. When we stated the object of our visit, he quietly remarked, 'You have come to the wrong person. I have no influence with these men.'

"After talking some time on the subject, he said, 'I should hesitate to take this right from any who now possess it. I will go farther; I would be willing to grant it to those who have it not.' He afterwards remarked, 'I shall investigate this matter thoroughly.'

"'The bill passed the Senate last year, and many good men voted for it,' we said.

"He kindly apologized for their action, in these words: 'They did not fully realize the nature of the bill; they had not examined it carefully.'

"'Had it deprived them, or any class of men, of the right to vote, would they have realized what it meant, and voted differently?' we inquired.

"'In that case they would doubtless have had sharp eyes to note all its defects,' he answered, with a smile. 'I did not vote on it. I was sick in bed at the time. Have you seen Mr. Frelinghuysen in reference to this?' was the next inquiry.

"'We have not. It seems useless. A man who would frame such a bill would not be likely to change it.'

"But we followed his advice, saw Mr. Frelinghuysen, Mr. Edmunds and others. Mr. Frelinghuysen declared he would not change his bill however much he might be abused.

"Two days after we again met Mr. Sumner and stated the results of our efforts.

"In closing this second interview Mr. Sumner said, 'I will present to the Senate any memorial or petition you may wish, and then refer it to the Judiciary Committee. That is the best way to do.'

"His farewell words were: 'Whether you succeed or not, I wish you all well.'

"Just three weeks from the day of our last conversation with Mr. Sumner, his work on earth ceased, and the cause of justice lost a grand friend. On the morning of February 20th we handed him a suffrage memorial, which he presented to the Senate, requesting that it be referred to the Judiciary Committee, which was almost his last official act."

The women of Utah were not disfranchised. Doubtless this was chieflyowing to the searching and logical editorials of the Woman's Journal,which placed the subject in its true light before the people, togetherwith the action of the advocates of woman suffrage in New England,New York, Pennsylvania and other States. This was a grand victory forwoman suffrage. Miss Mary F. Eastman, in her report to the New YorkAssociation, said: "When the bill, disfranchising the women of Utah,came before Congress, our representatives were promptly petitioned touse their influence against the measure."

Thus it will be seen that the women of Mormondom and the women ofAmerica have a common cause, in this all-vital marriage question, whichis destined to receive some very decided and peculiar solution beforethe end of the century. And it must be equally certain that fiftythousand God-fearing women, with the vote of "freemen"—as Mr. Claggetthas it—coming fairly out upon the national platform, in the greatissue, will give a toning to the marriage question, for which evenorthodox Christians, now so much their enemies, will heartily thank God.

CHAPTER LIV.

WOMAN EXPOUNDS HER OWN SUBJECT—THE FALL—HER REDEMPTION FROM THECURSE—RETURNING INTO THE PRESENCE OF HER FATHER—HER EXALTATION.

The high priestess thus expounds the subject of woman, from her Mormonstandpoint:

In the Garden of Eden, before the act of disobedience, through whichAdam and Eve were shut out from the presence of God, it is reasonableto suppose that Eve's position was not inferior to, but equal with,that of Adam, and that the same law was applicable to both. Moses says,"God created man male and female." President Brigham Young says, "Womanis man in the priesthood."

God not only foreknew, but he had a purpose to accomplish through, the"fall;" for he had provided a sacrifice; Jesus being spoken of as a"Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."

It seems that woman took the lead in the great drama. The cursefollowed, and she became subject to man; "and he shall rule overthee," which presupposes a previous equality. But was that curse tobe perpetual? Were the daughters of Eve—who was a willing instrumentin effecting a grand purpose, that shall ultimate in great good tothe human family—to abide that curse forever? No. God had otherwiseordained. Through the atoning blood of Christ, and obedience to hisgospel, a plan was devised to remove the curse and bring the sons anddaughters of Adam and Eve, not only to their primeval standing in thepresence of God, but to a far higher state of glory.

In the meridian of time, the Saviour came and introduced the gospel,"which before was preached unto Abraham," and which, after a lapseof nearly eighteen centuries—when men had "changed its ordinances,and broken the everlasting covenant"—when "the man of sin had beenrevealed, exalting himself above all that is called God"—afterhireling priests had mutilated its form, discarded its powers, andrejected "the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophesy," theLord restored it in fullness to the earth, with all its gifts, powers,blessings and ordinances.

For this purpose he raised up Joseph Smith, the great prophet of thelast days, to whom the angel that John, when on the Isle of Patmos, saw"flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel topreach to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, saying, fear Godand give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come," etc.,appeared, and announced the glorious news of the Dispensation of theFullness of Times, and the restoration of the fullness of the gospel.

This gospel, and this only, will redeem woman from the curse primevallyentailed. It is generally admitted that "Christianity" amelioratesthe condition of woman; but the Christianity of the professing world,mutilated as it has been, can only ameliorate, it cannot redeem.Each religious denomination has fragments or portions of the trueform, but no vestige of the vital power that was manifested by JesusChrist, and restored through Joseph Smith. Nothing short of obedienceto this gospel in its fullness will exalt woman to equality with man,and elevate mankind to a higher condition than we occupied in ourpre-existent state.

Woman, in all enlightened countries, wields, directly or indirectly,the moving influence for good or for ill. It has been pertinentlyremarked: "Show me the women of a nation, and I will describe thatnation." Let the pages of history decide if ever a nation becamea wreck, so long as woman nobly honored her being by faithfullymaintaining the principles of virtuous purity, and filled with graceand dignity her position as wife and mother.

Would God, the kind parent, the loving father, have permitted hischildren to sink into the fallen condition which characterizes humanityin its present degraded state, without instituting means by whichgreat good would result? Would we, as intelligent beings in a formerexistence, have consented, as we did, to resign the remembrance andall recollection of that existence, and come down to earth and runour chances for good or evil, did we not know that, on reasonableconditions, and by means provided, we could work our way back to, atleast, our original positions? Emphatically, no! It is only by that"spirit which searches all things, yea, even the deep things of God,"that we can comprehend our own beings, and our missions on the earth,with the bearing of our pre-existence on our present lives, of which weonly know what God reveals; and, as man, by his own wisdom cannot findout God, so man by reasoning cannot pry into the circ*mstances of hisformer life, nor extend his researches into the interminable eternitiesthat lie beyond.

CHAPTER LV.

WOMAN'S VOICE IN THE PRESS OF UTAH—THE WOMAN'S EXPONENT—MRS. EMELINEWELLS—SHE SPEAKS FOR THE WOMEN OF UTAH—LITERARY AND PROFESSIONALWOMEN OF THE CHURCH.

And the women of Zion have a press. More than up to their Gentilesisters are they in this respect. Few of the church organizations ofChristendom can boast a woman's journal. There are but few of themin all the world, and they are mostly edited and supported by theheterodox rather than the orthodox element.

The Woman's Exponent is one of those few. It is published by thewomen of the Mormon Church, having a company organization, of whichEliza R. Snow is president. Mrs. Emeline B. Wells is the practicaleditor. It was established June 1st, 1872.

The Woman's Exponent, in a general sense, may be consideredheterodox, seeing that it is an advocate of woman's rights on themarriage question and female suffrage, but it is also apostolic,and devoted to the Mormon mission. It represents the opinionsand sentiments of the Mormon women. All of their organizationsare fairly represented in its columns, and it is thus a means ofintercommunication between branches, bringing the remotest into closeconnection with the more central ones, and keeping all advised of thevarious society movements. Its editorial department is fully up to thestandard of American journalism.

Mrs. Wells, the editor, like many prominent Mormon women previouslymentioned, is of Puritan descent, being a native of New England, andof pure English extraction. Her family name was Woodward, and she wasborn in Petersham, Mass., February 29, 1828. At an early age she beganto manifest a penchant for literature, and while in her teens producedmany literary fragments that, as if by manifest destiny, pointed inthe direction of her present profession. In 1842 she was baptized intothe Mormon Church. It is needless to say that this was a cause ofmortification to her many associates and friends, and especially so toa select few, whose appreciative kindness had pictured a glowing futurefor the young litterateur. Her mother, who was also a convert to theMormon faith, fearing that the persuasions of friends might lead herinto error, sent her to Nauvoo, in the spring of 1844, that she mightbe away from their influence. The people to whom her mother confidedher, apostatized shortly after her arrival, but Emeline remainedsteadfast. Some time thereafter she became a plural wife. In theexodus, her mother, who had joined her the year before, succumbed underthe accumulation of hardships that the saints had then to undergo, and,dying, joined the immortal company of martyrs who fell in those days oftrial.

At winter quarters she was engaged in teaching, until her journeyto the valley in 1848. Here, since the organization of reliefsocieties, and more especially since the women of Utah obtained theright of suffrage, she has employed a large portion of her time inpublic labors, for the benefit and elevation of woman. In additionto her present editorial duties, she fills the responsible positionof president of the organization that, since November, 1876, hasbeen engaged in storing up grain against a day of famine. Under theenergetic management of this organization, vast quantities of grainhave been stored in the various wards and settlements of Utah.

Sister Emeline is also a poetess of no little merit. As a set-off tothe popular idea that the Mormon women in polygamy have no sentimenttowards their husbands, the following exquisite production, from herpen, entitled "The Wife to her Husband," is offered:

It seems to me that should I die,
And this poor body cold and lifeless lie,
And thou shouldst touch my lips with thy warm breath,
The life-blood quicken'd in each sep'rate vein,
Would wildly, madly rushing back again,
Bring the glad spirit from the isle of death.

It seems to me that were I dead,
And thou in sympathy shouldst o'er me shed
Some tears of sorrow, or of sad regret,
That every pearly drop that fell in grief,
Would bud, or blossom, bursting into leaf,
To prove immortal love could not forget.

I do believe that round my grave,
When the cool, fragrant, evening zephyrs wave,
Shouldst thou in friendship linger near the spot,
And breathe some tender words in memory,
That this poor heart in grateful constancy,
Would softly whisper back some loving thought.

I do believe that should I pass
Into the unknown land of happiness,
And thou shouldst wish to see my face once more,
That in my earnest longing after thee,
I would come forth in joyful ecstacy,
And once again gaze on thee as before.

I do believe my faith in thee,
Stronger than life, an anchor firm to be,
Planted in thy integrity and worth,
A perfect trust, implicit and secure;
That will all trials and all griefs endure,
And bless and comfort me while here on earth.

I do believe who love hath known,
Or sublime friendship's purest, highest tone,
Hath tasted of the cup of ripest bliss,
And drank the choicest wine life hath to give,
Hath known the truest joy it is to live;
What blessings rich or great compared to this?

I do believe true love to be,
An element that in its tendency,
Is elevating to the human mind;
An intuition which we recognize
As foretaste of immortal Paradise,
Through which the soul will be refined.

Among the more prominent contributors to the Exponent is Lu.Dalton, a lady in whose writings are manifested the true spirit andindependence of the Mormon women. The vigor and vivacity of her poeticproductions are suggestive of a future enviable fame.

Mrs. Hannah T. King, mentioned elsewhere, is a veteran poetess ofwell-sustained reputation. She ranked among the poetesses of Englandbefore joining the Mormon Church, being on intimate terms with thecelebrated Eliza Cook.

Another of the sisters who has won distinction as a poetess of thechurch, is Emily Woodmansee. She is also a native of England, and beganher poetic career when but a girl. Several of her poems have beenreproduced in literary journals of the East, winning marked attention.

Miss Sarah Russell, who writes under the nom de plume of "Hope,"is also a poetess of promise; but she is younger to fame than thebefore-mentioned.

Emily B. Spencer may also be mentioned in this connection.

Miss Mary E. Cook is an apostle of education, in the church. She is aprofessional graduate, and has held prominent positions in first-classschools of St. Louis and Chicago. Coming to Utah several years ago,Miss Cook, being a passionate student of ancient history, was attractedby a cursory glance at the Book of Mormon. On a careful perusal ofit she was struck with the account therein given of the ancientinhabitants of this continent; and especially was she impressed withthe harmony existing between that account and the works of Bancroftand others concerning the ancient races of America. She unhesitatinglypronounced the book genuine. Miss Cook has been instrumental inestablishing the system of graded schools in Utah. Her success hasbeen marked, in this capacity, and she is also a rising leader amongthe women of the church. With her should also be mentioned her sister,Miss Ida Cook, who is now one of the most prominent teachers of theterritory. Nor should we omit to mention Orpha Everett, who is anotherprominent teacher.

The ladies are also represented in the historian's office of thechurch, in the person of a daughter of Apostle Orson Pratt, andMiss Joan M. Campbell. Miss Campbell has been an attache ofthe historian's office since a mere child. She is a clerk of theTerritorial Legislature, and a Notary Public.

Mrs. Romania B. Pratt, wife of Parley P. Pratt, Jr., is a medicalprofessor. She is a graduate of the Woman's Medical College,Philadelphia, and is now connected, as a practitioner, with thecelebrated water-cure establishment at Elmira, N. Y.

Sister Elise Shipp is another Mormon lady now under training for themedical profession in the Woman's Medical College, Pennsylvania.

Thus it will be seen that, in the educational and professional spheres,the Mormon women are making a creditable showing.

CHAPTER LVI.

RETROSPECTION—APOSTOLIC MISSION OF THE MORMON WOMEN—HOW THEY HAVEUSED THE SUFFRAGE—THEIR PETITION TO MRS. GRANT—TWENTY-SEVEN THOUSANDMORMON WOMEN MEMORIALIZE CONGRESS.

Ere this record be closed, let us review the later acts of theseextraordinary women, who have fairly earned the position of apostles tothe whole United States.

They have pioneered the nation westward, where Providence was directingits course of empire, and now they are turning back upon the elderStates of the Union as pioneers of a new civilization.

The manifest prophesy of events is, that Utah, in the near future,is going down from the mountains of refuge to the very seat ofgovernment, with woman's mission to all America. Very consistently,yet very significantly also, are the women of Utah rising to power andimportance in the nation, through woman suffrage and the exercise ofthe constitutional right of petition.

Since the grant of woman suffrage they have exercised the ballotrepeatedly in their municipal and territorial elections. Moreover,within that time, they have voted upon the constitution for the "Stateof Deseret," which will doubtless be substantially the one under whichthe territory will be admitted into the Union. Female suffrage wasone of the planks of that constitution. It will become a part of theorganic act of the future State. No Congress will dare to expunge it,for such an attempt would bring a million of the women of America intoan organized movement against the Congress that should dare to arrayitself against this grand charter of woman's freedom. Though Wyomingwas the first to pass a woman suffrage bill, which met a veto from itsgovernor, and has experienced a somewhat unhappy history since, thehonor of having voted for the greatest measures known in social andpolitical economy rests with the women of Utah. They have taken actionupon the very foundation of society-building. Already, therefore,the women of Utah lead the age in this supreme woman's issue; and,if they carry their State into the Union first on the woman suffrageplank, they will practically make woman suffrage a dispensation in ournational economy for all the States of the Federal Union. And it willbe consistent to look for a female member of Congress from Utah. Letwoman be once recognized as a power in the State, as well as in societyand the church, and her political rights can be extended according tothe public mind.

The Mormon women have also fallen back upon the original right ofcitizens to petition Congress. Their first example of the kind waswhen they held their grand mass-meetings throughout the territory andmemorialized Congress against the Cullom bill. The second was thevery remarkable petition to Mrs. Grant. It is here reproduced as ahistorical unique:

"MRS. PRESIDENT GRANT:

"Honored Lady: Deeming it proper for woman to appeal to woman, we, Latter-day Saints, ladies of Utah, take the liberty of preferring our humble and earnest petition for your kindly and generous aid; not merely that you are the wife of the chief magistrate of this great nation, but we are also induced to appeal to you because of your high personal reputation for nobility and excellence of character.

"Believing that you, as all true women should do (for in our estimation every wife should fill the position of counselor to her husband), possess the confidence of and have much influence with his excellency, President Grant, we earnestly solicit the exercise of that influence with him in behalf of our husbands, fathers, sons and brothers, who are now being exposed to the murderous policy of a clique of federal officers, intent on the destruction of our honest, happy, industrious and prosperous people.

"We have broken no constitutional law; violated no obligation, either national or sectional; we revere the sacred constitution of our country, and have ever been an order-loving, law-abiding people.

"We believe the institution of marriage to have been ordained of God, and therefore subject to his all-wise direction. It is a divine rite, and not a civil contract, and hence no man, unauthorized of God, can legally administer in this holy ordinance.

"We also believe in the Holy Bible, and that God did anciently institute the order of plurality of wives, and sanctioned and honored it in the advent of the Saviour of the world, whose birth, on the mother's side, was in that polygamous lineage, as he testified to his servant John, on the Isle of Patmos, saying: 'I am the root and the offspring of David;' and we not only believe, but most assuredly know, that the Almighty has restored the fullness of the everlasting gospel, through the prophet Joseph Smith, and with it the plurality of wives. This we accept as a purely divine institution. With us it is a matter of conscience, knowing that God commanded its practice.

"Our territorial laws make adultery and licentiousness penal offences, the breach of which subjects offenders to fine and imprisonment. These laws are being basely subverted by our federal officers, who after unscrupulously wresting the territorial offices from their legitimate incumbents, in order to carry out suicidal schemes, are substituting licentiousness for the sacred order of marriage, and seeking by these measures to incarcerate the most moral and upright men of this territory, and thus destroy the peace and prosperity of this entire community. They evidently design to sever the conjugal, parental and paternal ties, which are dearer to us than our lives.

"We appreciate our husbands as highly as it is possible for you, honored madam, to appreciate yours. They have no interests but such as we share in common with them. If they are persecuted, we are persecuted also. If they are imprisoned, we and our children are left unprotected.

"As a community we love peace and promote it. Our leaders are peacemakers, and invariably stimulate the people to pacific measures, even when subjected to the grossest injustice. President Brigham Young and several of his associates, all noble and philanthropic gentlemen, are already under indictment to be arraigned, before a packed jury, mostly non-residents, for the crime of licentiousness, than which a more outrageous absurdity could not exist.

"Under these cruel and forbidding circ*mstances, dear madam, our most fervent petition to you is, that through the sympathy of your womanly heart you will persuade the President to remove these malicious disturbers of the peace, or at least that he will stop the disgraceful court proceedings, and send from Washington a committee of candid, intelligent, reliable men, who shall investigate matters which involve the rights of property, perhaps life, and more than all, the constitutional liberties of more than one hundred thousand citizens.

"By doing this you will be the honored instrument, in the hands of God, of preventing a foul disgrace to the present administration, and an eternal blot on our national escutcheon.

"And your petitioners will ever pray," etc.

It is believed that this petition had due weight in accomplishing thedismissal of Judge McKean, which afterward occurred.

The third example was still greater. It was a memorial to Congress,by the women of Utah, upon their marriage question, the grant of ahomestead right to woman, and for the admission of Utah as a State. Itwas signed by twenty-six thousand six hundred and twenty-six women ofUtah, and was duly presented to both houses of Congress.

And these are the acts and examples of enfranchised Mormon women; notthe acts and promptings of President Young and the apostles, but of theleaders of the sisterhood. It may be stated, however, that PresidentYoung and the apostles approved and blessed their doings; but thisconfesses much to their honor.

How suggestive the question, What if the leading men of every Statein the Union should do as much for woman in her mission, instead ofsetting up barriers in her way? Were such the case, in less than adecade we should see female suffrage established in every State of thefederation.

CHAPTER LVII.

SARAH THE MOTHER OF THE COVENANT—IN HER THE EXPOUNDING OF THEPOLYGAMIC RELATIONS OF THE MORMON WOMEN—FULFILMENT OF GOD'S PROMISETO HER—THE MORMON PARALLEL—SARAH AND HAGAR DIVIDE THE RELIGIOUSDOMINATION OF THE WORLD.

Meet we now Sarah the mother of the covenant. In her is incarnated thevery soul of patriarchal marriage. In her is the expounding of thepatriarchal relations of her Mormon daughters. Sarah, who gave to herhusband another wife, that the covenant which the Lord made with himmight be fulfilled.

O woman, who shall measure thy love? And thus to give thyself asacrifice for thy love! Thus on the altar ever!

It is thy soul-type in nature that makes nature beneficent. Had notnature the soul of woman she had been infinitely selfish; an infinitelove had not been born; there had been no Christ; no sacrifice of self,that blessing and joy might come into the world.

The story of Sarah is the more touchingly beautiful when we rememberthat it has its cross. It would be a grievous wrong to Sarah'smemory should we forget the sacrifice that her act necessitated, orunderestimate that sacrifice. And let us not forget that it was notAbraham who bore that cross, great and good though he was.

The sacrifice in the initial of the covenant is a psalm to woman.

Keeping in mind the episode of Sarah and Hagar, let us continue theAbrahamic story:

"And God said unto Abraham, as for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.

"And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.

* * * * * *

"And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken.

"For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him."

The divine story was once familiar; it is now almost forgotten. But itis the living word of God to the Mormon people.

Reincarnate in modern times the soul of this vast Abrahamic iliad.Breathe the breath of its genius into a young civilization. Acivilization born not in the East, where once was the cradle ofempires—where now are their crumbling tombs. A young civilization,born in the revirgined West—the West, where new empires are springingup on the very dust of empires which had expired when Egypt was but amaiden—ere Babylon was a mother—ere Rome was born.

Re-utter the word and will of that God who spake to the Hebrew sire onthe plains of Mamre; utter it now in the birth and growth of a youngIsrael in the land of America. Comprehend him in his birth and in hisgrowth. Consider his genius and his covenant.

In Abraham of old is the expounding and understanding of the renewedcovenant with the latter-day Israel; and in Sarah of old is theexpounding and understanding of patriarchal marriage among her Mormondaughters.

The Mormon woman is Sarah in the covenant, as she is Eve in thecreation and fall. She has appropriated the text of the covenant.She claims her mother Sarah's rights. She invokes her mother Sarah'sdestiny: "She shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be ofher."

Thus in the mind of the Mormon woman is patriarchal marriageestablished by her God. Be it confessed that woman was a listener tothe Abrahamic promise in the days of Sarah; was she not also a listenerin the days of Joseph the prophet? Could the heavens thus speak andwoman fail to hear? Could such promises be made and motherhood fail toleap for joy?

If she dared to bear the patriarchal cross, was it not because she sawbrightly looming in her destiny the patriarchal crown? In this lifeonly the cross—in all the lives to come a crown of glory!

The Mormon woman knows nothing of "polygamy" as conceived by theGentiles. She is constantly declaring this. There is no "many-wifesystem" in Mormondom. It is patriarchal marriage. There is the destinyof a race in the Mormon woman's vision. For this came she into theworld. In her is motherhood supremely exalted, and woman is redeemedfrom bondage to her husband.

Glance at the story of Sarah again. Mark its stupendous import tomotherhood. Witness the introduction of polygamy into the Abrahamicfamily. And, if the wondrous sequel has any meaning, Isaac was theLord's answering gift to Sarah's act, to fulfil the covenant.

And while remembering the sacrifice of Sarah and Hagar let us alsoremember the compensation. Those two mothers are without parallel inall history. Races and empires came of them. Sarah and Hagar, in theirsons Isaac and Ishmael, have divided the world.

From Isaac's line was given to the world the Christ; from Ishmael cameMohammed, the prophet of hundreds of millions.

Weigh those two mothers, with their sons, their races, and theircivilizations. What a weight of empire! What were Egypt and Babylon,compared with Sarah and Hagar?

The Abrahamic subject is the most stupendous of all history. Thatsubject has been reincarnated in Mormonism. Its genius and covenantsare with the Mormon people; the age is witnessing the results.

Patriarchal marriage is one of those results. Sarah is a live characterof our times. She will fulfil her destiny.

From the courts above the Mormon woman shall look down upon an endlessposterity. In the heavens and in the earth shall her generations bemultiplied.

This is the faith of each Mormon Sarah—each mother of the covenant.This only is her polygamy.

CHAPTER LVIII.

WOMANHOOD THE REGENERATING INFLUENCE IN THE WORLD—FROM EVE, THEFIRST, TO MARY, THE SECOND EVE—GOD AND WOMAN THE HOPE OF MAN—WOMAN'SAPOSTLESHIP—JOSEPH VS. PAUL—THE WOMAN NATURE A PREDICATE OF THEWORLD'S FUTURE.

In the beginning religion and nature dwelt together. The book ofcreation was gospel then. Creation was the only revelation.

Motherhood is the first grace of God, manifested through woman. Thevery name of all things is in the mother: "And Adam called his wife'sname Eve; because she was the mother of all living."

See in what divine ordinance woman's mission on earth began. The themeof the initial psalm that ascended to the heavens, which listened tocatch from earth the first notes of the everlasting harmonies: "I havegotten a man from the Lord!"

But the nature of the mother abounded not in Cain. Woman's soul was notmanifested in her first-born. It was the strength, and the fierceness,and the selfishness of man that was first brought forth.

And Cain was very wroth because of his brother, born with woman'snature, with his mother's gentleness manifested in him. And he "rose upagainst his brother and slew him."

Here is pre-epitomized the coming history of the race. In the savagestrength of nature the world began. In the gentleness of woman, whichat length prevailed in her sons, civilization dawned.

Woman's apostleship as the minister of the "word of God" commenced atthe death of Abel.

—

Turn we now to Mary, the mother of Christ, to see what kind of man she"hath gotten from the Lord." From the first Eve to the second Eve, tofind the grace of woman's nature spreading abroad in her Jesus, for thesalvation of the world. Motherhood now in the regeneration.

"Hail thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

"And behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus."

As also note the episode of her meeting with her cousin Elizabeth, themother of John the Baptist.

These mothers were conscious of the salvation to be born of woman.Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and blessed the greatermother; and Mary magnified the Lord in psalm, and said: "Behold fromhenceforth all generations shall call me blessed."

We shall yet have to give to the gospel word "regeneration" a veryliteral meaning. The world must be regenerated, in fact, before muchsalvation can come unto it; regenerated through the divine nature ofwoman endowing her sons; and regenerated in her apostolic ministry tothe race; which in this age is being so universally acknowledged.

The world must be born again. "Except a man be born again, he cannotenter into the kingdom of heaven." Except mankind be regenerated, noChrist can reign with his saints on earth. There is something more thanmere figure of speech in this gospel.

The generation of mankind began in Cain; the regeneration of mankindbegan in Christ. The one born with the club; the other endowed withall-conquering love. The scepters of the two creations typed in Cainand Jesus.

Jesus was not only the first fruits of the resurrection, but of theregeneration also. And motherhood was (before fatherhood) first withGod in this regeneration. Has egotistic man sufficiently cogitated overthis fact? And does he fully comprehend the equally significant factthat woman was the first witness and testament of the resurrection?

And who began the regeneration of the race? Whose human nature wasmanifested in the work? The woman's!

God's nature in Christ needed no regeneration. Nor did the woman'snature need regeneration, when thus found pure, as in Mary. This is thegreat fact embodied in the Christ example. As soon may Christianity bewiped out as this fact!

What an astounding truth have we in this example—that God and womanhave brought forth a perfect creation and an infinite love, in Jesustheir Christ.

God was the father of Jesus. From him the Holy Ghost. From him thewisdom of the eternities. From him the power to call a legion of angelsdown to his help, had he so willed it. From him the power to lay downhis life and take it up again. From him the power to conquer death andburst the gates of hell.

The mother of Jesus—a virgin of the house of David, and not a flaminggoddess from the skies.

From woman, the love of Jesus for humanity. From her his sympathiesfor the race. 'Twas she, in her son, who forgave sin; she who bade thesinner go and sin no more; she who wept over Jerusalem as a motherweepeth over her young. And it was woman, in her son, who died upon thecross for the sins of the world!

It was not God the father who in Jesus died; not he who passed the darkhour of nature's struggle in the garden; not God who prayed, "Take awaythis cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt."'Twas woman who was left alone on the cross; she, in her son, whocried, "My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?"

Love is of the woman. That is the great lesson which the human natureof Jesus teaches; and it is that element of her nature which shall savethe world.

Would we see what will be her teaching when her apostleship comes toprevail in the earth, let us read the sermon of her son on the Mount.Is not that woman's own gospel? Is it not also her philosophy—"If thybrother smite thee on the one cheek turn unto him the other also?"

And in this regeneration of the race, in nature and spirit, God andwoman are thus seen first alone. Man came not to their help, butthey came to the help of man. Here is groundwork indeed for thereconstruction of society, and the remoulding of philosophy!

In the past the apostleship of woman has not been fairly granted toher, even among the most civilized nations. But it shall be; and thereis the hope of the world.

Paul, in the egotism of man's apostleship, commanded, "Let the woman besilent in the church." Yet the church is the type of woman. If she besilent, then will there be but little of saving gospel in the world. Ifwoman's spiritual nature prevail not in the church, then is the churchdead. If her faith expires, then is there left but a wretched form ofgodliness.

The prophet Joseph corrected Paul, and made woman a voice in thechurch, and endowed her with an apostolic ministry.

And in the regeneration is the entire significance of Mormonpatriarchal marriage. First, woman in her ever blessed office ofmotherhood; next, in her divine ministry. Is not this according to theexample?

The chief faith of the Mormon women concerning themselves is that theyare called with a holy calling to raise up a righteous seed unto theLord—a holy nation—a people zealous of good works.

The Mormon women have a great truth here. Woman must regenerate therace by endowing it with more of her own nature. She must bring forth abetter type of man, to work out with her a better civilization.

It is blasphemy against the divine truth of the world's comingredemption, and of woman's mission in it, to scoff at the Mormon womenfor holding such a faith.

Woman shall leaven the earth with her own nature. She shall leaven itin her great office of maternity, and in her apostolic mission.

It shall be the lofty prophesy of the coming woman, "Behold fromhenceforth all nations call me blessed!"

CHAPTER LIX.

ZION, A TYPE OF "THE WOMAN'S AGE"—THE CULMINATING THEME OF THE POETSOF ISRAEL—THE IDEAL PERSONIFICATION OF THE CHURCH—THE BRIDE—THECOMING EVE.

Zion the joy of the whole earth! She who cometh down from heaven, withthe anointing of salvation upon her head.

The woman of the future, whom the Lord hath chosen! Her type is thechurch, with the divine nature of the race restored.

Zion is coming down to be the spiritual mother of the earth. She shallbruise the serpent's head, in her seed and in her ministry. Now shallwoman be not only the mother of the individual Christ, but she shallalso be the mother of the universal Christ.

"Saviours shall come upon Mount Zion!"

The daughters of Zion shall multiply the seed of Christ.

There was a beautiful consistency and a deep mystical meaning inthe words of the old Jewish prophets when personifying Zion as thewoman—the woman of the Lord's choosing, for the earth's joy.

They sang of Zion as the woman of the future: "Oh that the salvation ofIsrael were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity ofhis people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad."

True, Zion is sometimes spoken of as a city, but always with a mixtureof personification. As the Hebrew poets rose to the height of theirgreat subject they symbolized her as a veritable woman, with a ministryin the earth; and chiefly symbolized her as the woman of the future.

David, the great psalmist, led the theme, for Zion was his daughter;then glorious Isaiah swelled the volume of earth's epic hymn. What aculmination and personification is this: "For thy Maker is thy husband;the Lord of Hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel;the God of the whole earth shall he be called."

This is the very subject of Mary the mother of Jesus. But hereenlarged. This is Zion, who shall be mother of many Messiahs, for sheshall bring forth many sons, with the anointing of their Lord's spiritupon them, to exalt his reign.

"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; for thou shalt bring forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited."

'Tis the divine mission of woman to the race; oracled by lofty souls;her holy apostleship on earth pronounced. She is to be incarnated ina civilization on whose tables shall be written, "Thy Maker is thinehusband."

The mission of woman could not prevail in the barbaric periods of therace; 'twas man's work to chisel the rocks of the temple. Not even hadher time come in the days of Christ, though no one has so distinctlyforeshadowed it as he.

Paul is not to be unqualifiedly reproached for bidding woman be silentin the church. The time had not then come. Not as potent then as nowthe thought: "Show me the women of a nation and I will tell thee itscivilization." And there is still a deeper meaning in this than thepopular thought. How beautifully has Jesus himself kept up the symbolsof the coming woman. With him the woman—Zion—becomes the "Lamb'sbride:"

"Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom."

And this was to be in the age "when the Son of Man shall come in hisglory, and all the holy angels with him."

At his first coming the kingdom of heaven was likened to twelvefishermen—not ten virgins—and he said unto them, "Take up your netsand follow me and I will make you fishers of men."

But when the cry shall go forth, "Behold the bridegroom cometh,"commotion is to be among the virgins of the earth—the virgins of Zionand the virgins of Babylon. Each will trim their lamps. Each will havetheir "five wise" and "five foolish." Every one will have her familiarspirit. But the God of Israel will send his spirit to inspire Zion, forher Maker is her husband. And the daughters of Zion shall trim theirlamps to go forth to meet the bridegroom, who is the Lamb of God.

The age of Messiah's coming is the woman's age! or there is no sense inthe utterances of prophesy, nor meaning in the most beautiful parablesof Christ.

And this is the woman's age! All humanity is proclaiming it!

The women of the age are obeying the impulses of the age. Do theyknow what those impulses mean? They have heard the cry, and have comeforth. Do they comprehend what that cry has signified?—"Behold, thebridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him!"

Unwittingly they are testing the Scriptures, and proving that thecoming of Messiah is the crowning truth of the world. However, thefive wise virgins of Zion are coming forth in faith. They are notunwittingly fulfilling their Lord's word. They have interpreted thecry, and are trimming their lamps.

Man may as well attempt to throw back the ocean with the hollow of hishand, or put out the sun with the breath of his command, as to attemptto defeat the oncoming of "woman's hour."

Let the God of humanity be praised for this; for did not the virginscome out at this eleventh hour, the fishermen might go again to theirnets, and let the midnight pass, and earth take the consequence.

But how wondrously are the divine themes of earth's grace from Godrevealed. Down through the ages they came as echoes mellowed into morecelestial tones.

Creation begins again! Zion—the New Jerusalem—is the Lamb's bride.She is the coming Eve.

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. * * *

"And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

"And there came unto me one of the seven angels * * * saying, come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

"And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of many thunderings, saying Alleluia: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage supper of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

"And he saith unto me, write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."

Surely there is a glorious prophesy and a sublime truth, hallelujahedfrom the ages down, in this proclamation of the woman's mission at thehour of the Lord's coming.

The lives of the Mormon women are as a testament to the age. The verycharacter which their church has taken, as the literal Zion of thelatter days, shall soon be recognized as the symbol of the hour.

And the virgins in every land shall hear the cry, "Behold, thebridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him!"

CHAPTER LX.

TERRIBLE AS AN ARMY WITH BANNERS—FIFTY THOUSAND WOMEN WITH THEBALLOT—THEIR GRAND MISSION TO THE NATION—A FORESHADOWING OF THEFUTURE OF THE WOMEN OF MORMONDOM.

"Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clearas the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?"

The Daughter of Zion!

Fifty thousand daughters of Zion! Each with her banner!

Her banner, female suffrage!

It is the great battle of woman for woman's rights. The Lord of Hostsis with her.

The rights of the women of Zion, and the rights of the women of allnations.

Her battle-field: America first; the great world next. And the God ofIsrael is in the controversy.

—

The chiefest right of woman is in the shaping and settlement of themarriage question. The voice of civilization well enunciates thissupreme doctrine. To commit this all-sacred matter to a congress ofpoliticians, or to leave it to the narrow exactitude of the law-makingdepartment, is as barbaric as any monstrous thing the imaginationcan conceive. Not ruder was it in the warlike founders of Rome toseize the virgins as spoil, and make them wives to accomplish theirempire-founding ambitions, than for a congress of American legislatorsto seize and prostitute the marriage question to their own politicalends and popularity.

Can there be any doubt that the men of Washington have seized polygamyfor their own ends? And are these men of the parliamentary Sodom ofmodern times the proper persons to decide the marriage question?

Will woman allow her sanctuary to be thus invaded and her supremestsubject thus defiled?

If there is anything divine in human affairs it is marriage, or therelations between man and woman. Here love, not congressional law, mustbe the arbitrator. Here woman, not man, must give consent. It is thedivine law of nature, illustrated in all civilized examples. What isnot thus is barbaric.

Woman is chief in the consents of marriage. It is her right, under Godher father and God her mother, to say to society what shall be therelations between man and woman—hers, in plain fact, to decide themarriage question.

The women of Mormondom have thus far decided on the marriage order ofthe patriarchs of Israel; for they have the Israelitish genius andconception of the object of man's creation. In the everlasting covenantof marriage they have considered and honored their God-father andGod-mother.

In turn, the Gentile woman must decide the marriage question forherself. The law of God and nature is the same to her. The questionstill is the woman's. She can decide with or without God, as seemethher best; but the Mormon woman has decided upon the experience andrighteousness of her Heavenly Father and her Heavenly Mother.

A certain manifest destiny has made the marriage problem the supremeof Mormonism. How suggestive, in this view, is the fact that Congress,by special legislation, has made polygamy the very alpha and omegaof the Mormon problem. The Mormon women, therefore, must perforce ofcirc*mstances, by their faith and action greatly influence the futuredestiny of Mormonism.

The enfranchisem*nt of the Mormon women was suggested by the country,to give them the power to rule their own fate and to choose accordingto their own free will. Nothing but their free will can now prevail.

Their Legislature enfranchised them—gave them the power absolute, notonly to determine their own lives, but to hold the very destiny of Utah.

If it was Brigham Young who gave to them that unparalleled power, nomatter what should be declared by the enemy as his motive, then hashe done more for woman than any man living. But Mormon apostles andrepresentatives executed this grand charter of woman's rights; andGeorge Q. Cannon's noble declaration at the time—that the charterof female suffrage ought to be extended to the entire republic—isdeserving the acclamations of the women of America.

New civilizations are the chiefest boons of humanity. Never was a newcivilization more needed than now, for in the last century the worldhas rushed over the track-way of a thousand years. A train dashingforward at the rate of one hundred miles an hour would not be inmore danger than will soon be society, unless a safety-valve—a newcivilization—is opened.

This is the woman's age. The universal voice of society proclaimsthe fact. Woman must, therefore, lay the corner-stone of the newcivilization. Her arm will be most potent in rearing the gloriousstructure of the future. Man cannot prevent it, for in it is a divineintending.

There is a providence in the very attitude of the Mormon women. Theprophesy is distinctly pronounced in the whole history of their lives,that they shall be apostolic to the age.

A new apostleship is ever innovative. The Mormon women have establishedan astounding innovation in polygamy. It has been infinitely offensive.So much the better! For it has made a great noise in the world, and hasshaken the old and rotten institutions of Christendom. That shaking wasnot only inevitable, but necessary, before a new civilization.

—

We have seen the daughters of Zion, with her sons, establish theirinstitutions upon the foundation of new revelation. We have seen themrearing temples to the august name of the God of Israel. We have seentheir matchless faith, their devotion, their heroism.

We have seen them, because of their fidelity to their religion, drivenfrom city to city and from State to State.

We have seen them in the awful hour of martyrdom.

We have seen them in the exodus of modern Israel from Gentilecivilization, following their Moses.

The daughters of Zion were going up to the chambers of the mountains,to hide from the oppressor till the day of their strength.

Their banners were then their pioneer whips. Their banner now is femalesuffrage—on it inscribed, "Woman's Rights! in the name of the God ofIsrael!"

Fifty thousand of the daughters of Zion! Each with her banner!

We have seen them on the cross, with their crown of thorns. We shallsee them on their throne, with their crown of glory. In this is divineand everlasting justice.

They have sown in tears they shall reap in gladness.

With their pioneer whips in their hands they came up to the chambers ofrefuge, as exiles.

With the scepter of woman's rights, they will go down as apostles toevangelize the nation.

"Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clearas the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?"

The Daughter of Zion!