C. V. Waite

“ Our duty to ourselves—to our families—requires us not to tamely submit to be driven and slain, without an attempt to preserve ourselves. Our duty to our country—our holy religion—our God—to freedom and liberty, requires that we should not quietly stand still, and see those fetters forging around us, which are calculated to enslave and bring us in subjection to an unlawful military despotism, such as can only emanate, in a country of constitutional law, from usurpation, tyranny, and oppression. ”

“ She had always believed in Mormonism, and had been taught to have faith in revelation. "Amelia," he said, "you must be my wife; God has revealed it to me. You cannot be saved by any one else. If you will marry me, I will save you, and exalt you to be a queen in the celestial world, but if you refuse, you will be destroyed, both soul and body."
The poor girl believed this hellish impostor, and yielding to his wishes, became his wife. For several months after her marriage, Amelia was sad and dejected, but of late she has rallied, and now appears the gayest of the gay. ”

“ Because of your faithfulness in all these things, I seal upon you the blessings of the Holy Resurrection, with power to come forth in the morning of the first resurrection, clothed with glory, immortality, and eternal lives; and I seal upon you the blessings of thrones and dominions, and principalities, and powers, and exaltations; together with the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and say unto you, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, that you may have joy and rejoicing in your posterity, in the day of the Lord Jesus. ”

“ I would like to live in peace with the Government of the United States, but have no desire to live with the people who have brought ruin and disgrace upon their own heads. I do not wish to live in, or have anything to do with the United States; I will have a free and independent government for myself, where I may live and enjoy my civil and religious liberties. ”

“ Thus it will be seen that in this Territory, as well as in all other parts of the country, has nature failed to make any provision for the practice of polygamy. On the contrary, ever true to herself, even now, after polygamy has been practised over ten years, during which time it has been openly encouraged, nature is reëstablishing her own laws, and maintaining the substantial equality in the numbers of the sexes; thus placing the seal of condemnation on this practice, and saying, in the plainest language, "Let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband." ”

“ It is not our purpose to detract from the merits of any one. We desire to do justice to all. But the impartial truth of history requires us to say that the uniform course of Judge Kinney has been to aid and abet Brigham Young in his ambitious schemes, with but little regard to the advancement of the interests of the whole country, or the requirements of indiscriminate justice. ”

“ Let the curse of God rest on this nation and Government. Let wars and famine, and cruel pestilence overtake them, and let the Church of God, in its glory and power, rule over all the nations, and fill the whole earth. ”

“ Brigham, with true Napoleonic foresight, saw his opportunity, and was not slow to improve it. He came hurriedly to Nauvoo, denounced Rigdon as an impostor and his revelations as emanations from the Devil, cut off both him and his adherents from the true church, cursed Rigdon, and "handed him over to the buffetings of Satan for a thousand years," and was himself elected President by an overwhelming majority.
This exhibition of energy silenced all opposition. Those who did not love, feared him; and all suffered themselves to be led, because they dared not resist, a man so determined to rule. ”

“ I live above law, and so do this people. Do the laws of the United States require us to crouch and bow down to the miserable wretches who violate them? No!
"I defy the world to prove that we have infringed upon that [22] law. You may circumscribe the whole earth, and pass through every Christian nation, so called, and what do you find? If you tell them a 'Mormon' has two wives, they are shocked, and call it dreadful blasphemy. If you whisper such a thing in the ears of a gentile, who takes a fresh woman every night, he is thunderstruck with the enormity of the crime. ”

“ But this necessary assumption of superiority and power, on the part of the man, at once mars, if it does not destroy, all the finer and holier of the marriage relations. The husband loses respect for her who sits at his feet, rather than by his side. A full and perfect communion of thought and feeling ceases to exist. A sense of inferiority on the part of the wife blunts her pride and ambition, and renders her careless of intellectual and moral progress, and insensible to many of the highest and noblest duties of her sex. ”

“ Did death tear asunder husband and wife, divorce that which God had joined together as 'one flesh,' immortal and eternal in its nature? The atonement of Christ will repair the breach, will restore the immortal Eve to the immortal Adam, will join them again as one flesh, never more to be separated, and will again let the lawful husband enjoy the society of his lawful wife. ”

“ Not only is Brigham Young the temporal head of the church, its chief business agent, and the sole custodian of its funds, but he is the spiritual head, the established fountain, in whom is gathered from on high all spiritual blessings, and from whom they are expected to flow through the various officers of the priesthood, and thus be distributed to the faithful among the masses. Standing in this capacity between the people and the Supreme Being, he is at once Prophet, Seer, and Revelator. ”

“ Who could look upon such a sight—a strong man basely stricken down in his early prime by assassin hands, his family crushed with the awful weight of such a sorrow—and not feel it a duty to use every means which honor allows to bring the perpetrators to punishment. During my residence in Utah I have carefully studied the Mormon system, and confidently assert it to be dangerous to the commonweal. I have traced the connection between public utterances of the leaders and crimes wherewith they have been charged, and entertain no doubt of their guilt from evidences found in their own record. ”

“ Believing in polygamy, she left her husband, and became one of the plural wives of the President of the church in which she believed. She loves, with all the intensity of her nature, him for whom she has sacrificed everything. Of course, she deeply feels his neglect, but, like a true woman, complains not. Having sacrificed her happiness upon the altar of her faith, she continues to love, to endure, and to suffer. ”

“ The genius of Mormonism is here fully displayed,—implicit obedience to their leaders, and especially to the teachings of Brigham Young. The people were commanded to be ready to leave their homes at an hour's notice, and flee to the mountains,—and this too, as the snows of winter were falling around them. They were commanded to have the torch ready to set fire to their dwellings, and the axe to cut down all their fruit-trees; and they were ready to obey! The question naturally presents itself, Can blind faith and fanaticism thus lead and control a whole community? ”

“ Those who would enjoy the blessings of celestial marriage, must, "in this life, enter into the eternal covenant of marriage, after the pattern set by the first immortal pair." What was that pattern? Adam and Eve were monogamists. Adam lived with the wife of his youth, and had no other, for nine hundred and thirty years, and according to Pratt, he is to live with the same woman, in the same capacity, throughout all the ages of eternity. Surely he must be very astute who can discover in this "pattern" any sanction for polygamy. ”

“ I say to those persons, 'You must not court persecution here, lest you get so much of it you will not know what to do with it. Do not court persecution.' We have known Gladden Bishop for more than twenty years, and know him to be a poor, dirty curse. Here is sister Vilate Kimball, brother Heber's wife, has borne more from that man than any other woman on earth could bear; but she won't bear it again. I say again, you Gladdenites, do not court persecution, or you will get more than you want, and it will come quicker than you want it. ”

“ The only form of religion in this country which refuses to conform either to the spirit of progress and improvement and enlightened humanity which characterizes the age in which we live, or to our laws and the genius of our free institutions,—drawing constantly from foreign countries hosts of votaries, impelled hither not by a love of republicanism, but rather by a desire to exchange a political for a religious monarchy,—is Mormonism, which presents an antagonism to our Government, and can scarcely fail to result in national trouble. ”

“ If the constitutional rights which pertain unto us as American citizens were extended to Utah, according to the spirit and meaning thereof, and fairly and impartially administered, it is all that we could ask,—all that we have ever asked.
"Our opponents have availed themselves of prejudice existing against us, because of our religious faith, to send out a formidable host to accomplish our destruction. We have had no privilege or opportunity of defending ourselves from the false, foul, and unjust aspersions against us, before the nation. ”

“ They were instructed to say to the Mormons, in the language of the proclamation, "If you obey the laws, keep the peace, and respect the just rights of others, you will be perfectly secure, and may live in your present faith, or change it for another at your pleasure. Every intelligent man among you knows very well that the Government has never, directly or indirectly, sought to molest you in your worship, to control you in your ecclesiastical affairs, or even to influence you in your religious opinions." ”

“ All those who recognize the divine authority of Smith, and are baptized by one having authority, are the chosen people of God, who are to introduce the Millennium, and to reign with Christ, on earth, a thousand years.
Previous to the year 1852, it was also an orthodox principle of the Mormon religion, that a man should have but one wife, to whom he should be true and faithful. ”

“ The issue which has thus been forced upon us compels us to resort to the first great law of self-preservation, and stand in our own self-defence,—a right guaranteed to us by the genius of the institutions of our country, and upon which the Government is based. ”

“ Brigham Young is the Mormon Church, since therein his word is law. It is the deliberate policy of the church to isolate Mormonism from the intrusion of persons averse to the peculiar faith it teaches. That such is the burden of the discourses of its leaders throughout the Territory, and has been for years, will not be seriously disputed by any sensible Mormon. Hence their strenuous efforts to settle up the valleys, or the more desirable portions, by gathering the saints together from all parts of the world, and concentrating their force in Utah. ”

“ While the objects of all this wrath pursue the even tenor of their way, and sleep soundly, with scarce a casement barred, unmindful of the threatened storm without, yet not so with him, 'the Lord's Anointed,' who appears to dream dreams and see visions, that to his distempered fancy seem to foreshadow the 'handwriting on the wall,' at the great day of his judgment which is to come. ”

“ Brigham distinguished her in every way; gave her better rooms than the rest, and servants to wait upon her. She grew to love him, and obtained a powerful influence over him. There is no weapon so powerful as a woman's tears. This Emeline believed, and often acted upon, to bring back her truant lover, when she thought too much attention was paid to others. Finally, so great became the jealousy of the other wives, that the husband of these contending fair ones constructed a private hall leading from his office to Emeline's room, that he might visit her without observation or constraint. ”

“ Men will say,—'My wife, though a most excellent woman, has not seen a happy day since I took my second wife.' 'No, not a happy day for a year,' says one; and another has not seen a happy day for five years. It is said that women are tied down and abused; that they are misused, and have not the liberty that they ought to have; that many of them are wading through a perfect flood of tears, because of the conduct of some men, together with their own folly. ”

“ Much interest naturally attaches to the inner life of such a man as Brigham Young. His time is much occupied. He rises early, calls the whole family together; they sing a hymn; he prays fervently, and they separate for the duties of the day. In past times, he ate at the Harem. His fare is very simple, usually consisting of a bowl of milk, covered with cream, and dry toast or bread.
His next duty used to be, to "see the women folks," to whom he was friendly and kind, but no more. He is not Brigham the husband, but Brigham the Prophet and Seer. ”

“ Like the followers of the Arabian Prophet, they hardly fear death, because they have elaborated 'continuation.' They take no leap in the dark; they spring from this sublunary stage into a known, not into an unknown world; hence also their worship is eminently secular, their sermons are political or commercial, and—religion being with them not a thing apart, but a portion and parcel of every-day life—the intervention of the Lord in their material affairs becomes natural, and only to be expected. ”

“ The feeling of dissatisfaction at the distance placed by the Prophet between himself and his followers, has grown, as that distance became more perceptible, until it has become quite universal among the poorer classes. The poverty-stricken saint, as he takes home upon his back or his wheelbarrow a sack of flour, or piece of meat, obtained with difficulty by his daily toil, beholds his Prophet, his spiritual guide, clothed in fine raiment, seated in a splendid carriage, by his side a courtesan, a so-called wife. ”

“ Thus, by this holy ordinance, both the dead and the living wife will be his in the eternal worlds. But if, previous to marriage for eternity, a woman lose her husband by death, and marry a second, and if her first husband was a good man, then it is the duty of the second husband to be married to her for eternity, not for himself, but in the name of her deceased husband, while he himself can only be married to her for time; and he is obliged to enter into a covenant to deliver her up, and all her children, to her deceased husband, in the morning of the first resurrection. ”

“ The position of woman, and her duties in life, are well defined in the New Testament Scriptures. If married, she is to direct her household affairs, raise up children, be subject unto her husband, and use all due benevolence toward him; but his duties are equally well defined. He must love his wife, even as Christ loved his church and gave himself for it; and the fourth verse of the seventh chapter of Corinthians distinctly states that the rights and duties of the marriage relation should be reciprocal, granting no exclusive privilege to either. ”

“ The facts are too patent to admit of any dispute. The alarming frequency, and I may say recklessness, with which divorces are applied for and granted, is a fact familiar to all, and can only be traced to the causes just stated, unless, indeed, we should—as I am unwilling to do—impute it to the promptings of caprice and passion. Having resided in the Territory nearly two years, it would be impossible for me, unless I had, in the mean time, shut my eyes to what was going on around me, to be ignorant of the state of things to which I have briefly alluded. ”

“ Is not this reciprocity necessarily and entirely destroyed, when the husband brings other wives into the family?
In the face of the direct and positive teachings of Jesus and his Apostles, the "Latter-Day Saints" of Utah, or rather their leaders, have instituted the heathenish and horrible practice of polygamy. And to add to the blasphemy of the scheme, it is all done in the name of the Lord. In this nineteenth century, they have reduced women to the heathen and Jewish standard. ”

“ Make us quick to hear and obey God's servants in the holy priesthood, and if we ever divulge anything that we have received, let the curses this day pronounced, fall upon our heads. Make us faithful in Zion and in the upbuilding of her cause, and at last receive us into thy celestial kingdom, with all the gifts, powers, and blessings this day pronounced upon the faithful in Israel. ”

“ On one occasion he said to Bishop Simpson, "I can stand in my door and see plenty of gold and silver."
These hidden riches, thank God, have been brought to light. Miners are flocking in by thousands, and their rights will be protected, if necessary, by the strong arm of a strong government.
Mormonism must soon give way before the advancing tide of American civilization.
Brigham Young, with his band of desperadoes, may not much longer despise and trample upon our laws, and outrage the rights of our people. ”

“ Alas, that love so devoted, so pure and disinterested as Brigham's, should fail to be rewarded by the object of its choice. But no sooner had the poor singing-master, for such he was, left the Territory for California, than another rival appeared in the field,—a California volunteer,—a dangerous rival; one who would not fear to follow up any advantage he might gain over his spiritual competitor. ”

“ There are sins that can be atoned for by an offering upon the altar, as in ancient days, and there are sins that the blood of a lamb, of a calf, or of turtle-doves cannot remit, but they must be atoned for by the blood of the man. That is the reason why men talk to you as they do from this stand. They understand the doctrine, and throw out a few words about it." [160:A]
But the greatest change of all in the Mormon religion, made by Brigham Young, was the introduction and establishment of polygamy. ”

“ The conflicts which took place between them in Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa, and which are now going on in Utah, ought to convince any intelligent man of the justice and truth of this declaration. Indeed, the Mormons themselves acknowledge it; and so long as they adhere to their belief,—a belief founded upon their own scriptures,—that an absolute theocracy is the only government under which they can and should live, they never will be loyal to our government and countrymen, and hence their hostility to our institutions and people, and their inflexible devotion to their own. ”

“ When all is going on smoothly, she is as calm and serene as a May morning; but let Brigham or any one else in the establishment cross her path, and the blue eyes at once light up, and give evidence of a coming storm. When irritated and aroused, she denounces the whole Mormon religion, including polygamy, and says, "the whole thing is a humbug, and may go to the devil for aught she cares." Brigham, though a stern disciplinarian, makes good his escape, at such times, and the "women" all keep at a respectful distance. ”

“ Obey the voice of God and his holy priesthood, and I will send to Earth a Saviour, that through faith and obedience you shall again inherit your lost estate, again enjoy the ambrosial fruits in the celestial kingdom of the Gods.
[Exeunt all.
SCENE IV. The World. [Enter Adam, Eve, Endowees, and Sectarians.
Timothy Broadbrim. I feel the movement of the Spirit to speak unto thee. Thou knowest that the world is lost in [254] sin and wickedness. But ye should "resist not evil," but "overcome evil with good." "If a man take away thy cloak, give him thy coat also." ”

“ The President, who is the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator over the whole church, throughout the whole world, and who alone holds the keys of authority in this solemn ordinance, calls upon the bridegroom and his wife, and the bride, to arise, which they do, fronting the President. The wife stands on the left hand of her husband, while the bride stands on her left. The President then puts this question to the wife: 'Are you willing to give this woman to your husband, to be his lawful and wedded wife, for time and all eternity? ”