From the “Salt Lake Daily Review”:
THE UTAH MONSTER
“Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord. For behold I, the Lord, have seen the sorrow and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people, because of the wickedness and abominations of their husbands; and I will not suffer that the cries of the fair daughters of this people shall come up to me against the men of my people. For they shall not lead captive the daughters of my people because of their tenderness, save I shall visit them with a sore curse even unto destruction’ for they shall not commit whoredoms lie unto them of old, saith the Lord of Hosts. Behold, ye have done greater iniquities than the Lamanites, our brethren. Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you. And because of the strictness of the word of God, which cometh down against you, many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds.- Book of Mormon, page 118.”
“Polygamy is truly a relic of barbarism.’ Examined from any and every standpoint, it is repulsive to all pure-minded Men and women. On every hand the evils it has entailed are manifest. If those who have introduced it into our midst and sought to enforce its practice by pronouncing anathemas and the pangs of hell against those who did not obey it, are responsible for the wrecked happiness and blighted prospects of thousands who have experienced its mischief, then it were better they had not been born. There is no ground upon which it can be justified for an instant. The only point ever made to its credit, is that it is better than whoredom or desertion of monogamic wives.
There is no emotional, spiritual, or intellectual culture in it. It vitiates the attributes of maritial affection; it severes the bonds that should make husband and wive dearer to each other than all other objects; it leads to a voluptuousness on the part of the wealthy that is destructive to the production of great men; it is practised for the momentary gratification of the sensual appetites; it leads to the debasement of womanhood, and deprives her of that natural companionship which Nature has designed for her, making her the mere instrument of administering to the physical pleasure of one not her own, finally leaving her in melancholy solitude, her mind clouded with an aimless and vague prospect in life, with nothing to stimulate or excite her ambition but to supplant her more favoured sisters and gain the supremacy of the household-seeking her happiness at the distraction of others. Its spirit is the disunion and division of families; it is a constant menace to pure enjoyment.
Whatever is enjoyed, is done surreptitiously. We know the women of Utah are the most dispirited in the world. The fervid anticipations of youth are dissipated; life is not what the heart teaches. The object of life-happiness has miscarried: and nowhere in Christendom is the life of women such a deteriorated blank. We have yet to meet the first woman who does not regret that its practice and trials are necessary to salvation hereafter.
They bleed inwardly. Drop by drop the heart yields the happiness that God would give them, which the beasts of men have defrauded them of possessing. The young men and women of Utah are far behind other countries as regards refinement, civility, polite accomplishments and natural endowments. The majority of parents in polygamy have little conception and less care what trouble and mortification they are subjecting their own flesh and blood to. The man who, regardless of right, truth, decency and respect due to the welfare of others, persists in this practice, deserves the hottest place that the infernal one has prepared for the wicked.”
Polygamy creates “He and She Devils,” plenty of them. A few cases will show that I am not the only one who can truly say, “It is a perfect Hell upon Earth.” It being so much cheaper to board and lodge all the wives under one roof, where one kitchen and parlor serves for the lot. It is considered the best way to manage the affair. But off times when wives are so terribly belligerent, separate houses are built, if the hubby can afford it. Even this separation does not always prevent “war.” I know a man “ blessed “ with more than one wife, who built for his termagant wife a wooden hut in the foot hills, three miles off, and by removing her to this lonely spot, he expected to obtain peace. But alas!
“ The best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft aglee,
And leave us nought but grief and pain for promised joy.”
This virago would often rush down from her “ Mountain Home,” reinvigorated in mind and body, and make a vigorous onslaught upon the” Peaceful Home.” She would come down through blinding snow storms, when least expected, just to have “a real good fight.” It is impossible to have peace in Polygamy, no matter what they try.
I saw two wives of a merchant meet at the door of their husband’s place of business. As the Salt Lake Tribune reporter saw the same, I give the account from that paper. It says:-
“The elder of the two had made a wifely call at the Store, and on coming out met her younger rival, who was bent on the same errand. Her anger was aroused, and she went for that Nasty minx’ in hot haste. Wife, No. 2, found herself divested of her head gear, and her back hair floating in the breeze before she knew there was anything, the matter. She had come for connubial courtesies, and fell into dread Bellona’s arms. It was a good place to get away from, and she made good time with her heels, leaving her scattered garments on the field as a trophy to the victor.”
A next-door neighbour of mine, also a merchant, took a second wife for the purpose of securing eternal glory, and, if possible, a son and heir to his worldly possessions. His first wife had “ blessed “ him with, several daughters but no son. His fond hope was realized, for very soon the second wife gave birth to the heir. So soon as this new mother could mix with the family, she, in presence of the first wife, tauntingly addressed her babe thus, “You are papa’s darling; you are papa’s son and heir! He’s papa’s beautiful son! When she could take it out of doors, she would meet her husband at the gate on his return, place the babe in his arms, fondly embrace him saying, “Here’s your darling son and heir, your pet baby! “ while the first wife who had also come to the gate, stood looking on with feelings better imagined by the ladies than I can describe. This state of affairs grew worse, until finally it so preyed upon the mind of the first wife-a quiet, loving woman-she became a raving maniac. I could give the names in these cases but it would avail nothing, hence I omit them.
Just to show it is as bad since I left in 1880, I give a case from the Salt Lake Tribune, of May 12, 1881. Robbins is a merchant. A dollar is equal, all things considered, to one shilling in England.
“ EDS. TRIBUNE: It seems that this people have made lies their refuge, and under falsehood have hid themselves. Another disgraceful affair happened here the other day, between the second and third wives of C. B. Robbins. A short time ago his first wife left him, and the second was about as sick of Polygamy as the first, consequently Mr. Robbins and his third wife, together with the priesthood, agreed that the second should be allowed 15 dollars per month for the maintenance of herself and family. It appears that when the second heard from her husband what her allowance was to be, she flew into a terrible passion, called her lord everything but a saviour, left the store, picked up a rock and went to the house of No. 3, rapped at the door, and as her antagonist opened it knocked her down, and with the spring of a tigress leaped upon her and tore the hair from off her head and the flesh from her face in a brutal manner. The hired girl ran for the husband, who came immediately, and with difficulty parted them.
“Such are the fruits of Polygamy; it has covered the Territory with blood and baptized it with tears; it has cast a shadow in the heart, in the sunght, of every good and tender man and woman. I say let us rid the earth of this monster, and write upon every lintel in Utah, “Liberty and Law.” LOGAN, May 10th, 1881. AMERICAN CITIZEN.
An old lady who was a close observer of the workings of this plural wife-ism once remarked to me that the women in Polygamy were all either devils or melancholy fools.
During my difficulties at home, a fellow “ Melchizedek Priest” called to see how I got along. In private conversation I told him that I seemed to possess two Mary Magdalenes, each of whom appeared to have 7 devils in her. He replied, “That’s nothing, my women’s chuck full of devils, I’ll bet my last dollar that one of em, my wife Hanner, has 70 times 7 devils in her night and day. You’re in luck my hearty, my best woman is never short of 7 times 7 devils, and I consider her my angel. I wish I could find a woman or two that would only harbour 7 devils, I’d marry ’em this very minnit.” He added “Cheer up, don’t let your pecker go down.”
I answered that I could not cheer up, I could see no silver lining to my cloud. Says he “there’s something wrong with you, take a little of this and it’ll cheer yer up,” taking from his pocket a bottle of whiskey.
I said “no thank you, that would raise the devil worse than ever.” “That’s it” says he “Raise the devil, then devil wo’nt fight against a devil; when they see you’re full of the devil they’ll give in, that’s how I fix ’em. I can’t manage ’em till I get full of whiskey, and full of the devil myself: then I raise the devil you bet, and I’d like to see the devils that would stand agin me when I’m full, you hear me?”
I remarked “simalia sinalibus curantur”
Says he “what’s that?”
I said “Like things are cured by like.”
He replied “ Ah! that’s it.” and took a good swig out of the bottle, was “vexed I wouldn’t jine (join) him, and proceeded to tell how matters were “ ta hum (at home). There’s the devil to pay” he said, and he was “jist on it and gitting ready to fight it out with the she devils ta hum.” Were I to tell what he said no one could possibly believe it of any man, much less one holding “The Melchizedek Priesthood.”
In addition to the task of subduing so many devils in his wives, he declared that his mother-in-laws possessed double the amount of devils. Reader, arithmetise the following: this man had 14 wives altogether (that is, wives, spiritual wives and proxy wives). One possessed 70 times ‘7 devils, the “ Best “ 7 times 7, and his mother-in-laws’ double. He, when “full of Whiskey” professed to have devils enough in him to whip all the devils in his wives, question:–How many devils were there in that family? Please give the answer, my time is too precious, and this is beyond simple arithmetic which I arm best posted in.
“ Apostle “ Kimble in one of his sermons said:-” Some women who think they know everything, go home and abuse their husbands and raise the devil in a man’s family.”-Journal of Discourses, vol. 6 p. 127.
“The devil is not dead yet; he is on hand to do his work, to perform his mission, which is to stir up the Saints to their duty.” Brigham Young’s Sermon-Journal of Discourses, vol. 2. p. 348.,
“As this work progresses, so will the works of Satan increase.”-”Apostle” Kimble, Journal of Discourses’ vol. 2, p. 150.
Now for another picture. A beautiful Kentucky girl eloped with and married a Mormon Elder, who soon became a bishop. As time rolled on, this once beautiful girl became the mother of ten children: when the time of her usefulness in this direction was over, her husband took a young wife to his bosom. This so worked upon the feelings of the hitherto amiable wife, as to transform her into a perfect vixen. She had sternly refused to consent to this plural marriage, and had sworn vengeance upon the incoming bride.
The Bishop prepared for his concubine by adding a room to his dwelling. We will call it the “ Bridechamber.” This was situated on the ground floor, the window of which is easily reached from the garden. The wife also prepared to receive the bride with more than usual attention. For some days prior to the wedding, the contents of domestic utensils were saved for the momentous occasion. It was in the very hot weather, when the Bishop, who had hitherto been “blameless, the husband of one wife,” married his second wife. He brought her from the “Endowment House” on this summer eve after dark when “all was quiet and his old wife and her children sweetly slumbering’ as he thought. He very quietly retired with his bride intent to pass the first night of his second honeymoon.
The first wife was not asleep as he supposed, but closely watching just outside the bridechamber window; and, as she anticipated, the heat of the room being so intense, the window had been opened to admit air. Underneath this window stood a row of buckets. The bridal couch stood close to the window, and when husband and bride were snugly ensconced, the wife gave them a different annointing to that which they received in the endowment house. The Bishop hastily dressed, assisted the bride to attire and took her to a lodging house and soon provided a separate house for her.
For three years the wife was furious, made many rash attempts to murder her rival, and never permitted her husband to enter her house. The heart of the husband still clung a little to the wife of his youth, or she would have been “put out of the way and sent back to her mother earth.” The Bishop often tried to become reconciled, and proposed to spend every alternate week with her, but she scorned the idea of being placed on a level with his concubine, and refused all overtures, unless he would discard the other woman. At length the Bishop fell sick, sent for his wife, and told her he was anxious to return to his family.
She replied “You know the terms, you never return here or speak to this woman again.”
The Bishop humbly ejaculated “Hand me down my pants!” That ended the conflict: the pants were taken from the peg, and after three years of Polygamy, he gave it up and returned to his old home; and family. If this Kentucky grit were infused into all Mormon women, the question of polygamy would soon be solved.
I once saw another Bishop lively chased down the street followed by a broom handle and a woman. As this was seen by reporters and appeared in Newspapers, I give it from the Salt Lake Tribune, which quotes from the Philadelphia Times:-
“The women of Mormondom evidently have it in their power to settle the Polygamy question. If they take it in hand as Mrs. Jones, of Salt Lake City, has done their work will supersede the necessity of further legislative or judicial action. Mrs Jones is the wife of Old Jones, and the only wife he has, or is likely to have. Old Jones was contemplating additional matrimony, and like a dutiful Mormon, consulted the Bishop about it. The Bishop advised him to take two more wives, and Mrs. Jones happened to overhear the advice.
“Forthwith she determined to set her face against the project in a manner which could not be misunderstood. Procuring a large broom with a stout handle, she proceeded to discountenance old Jones. She chased him for a considerable distance along the street,’ inflicting, as opportunity offered, such whacks as were calculated to dissuade him from his cherished hopes of increasing the size of his family. After Jones had taken refuge under a friendly shed, she proceeded with what was left of the broom to discourage the Bishop from the giving of any more such advice. A crowd of Mormon boys followed the portly ecclesiastic down the street as he fled from the wrath and the broom of the demonstrative Mrs. Jones.
“As to marriages already made, most of them will have to stand. As to new marriages, the system adopted by sister Jones will blot out all probability of them. No man wants his wedding ceremonies thus turned into a mixture of circus and funeral. No woman will want to become a bride when the bride of former years threatens her and their joint spouse with broom exercise. Let Mrs. Jones be encouraged, and the doom of Polygamy is sealed.”
The following articles are from the “Salt Lake Tribune”:-
Raliegh is a Bishop and Town Councilor
DIVORCE SUITS.
“A Tribune reporter had a talk with Mrs. Elizabeth Raleigh. The latter is an intelligent, fine looking lady, whose hair is but just tinged with gray, the combined result of years of life and Mormon wedded bliss.
“Mrs. Raleigh’s story is like that of a great many of the women who “ have married into the Church. She first went into Mr. Raleigh’s family as nurse to his former wife, who was upon a bed of sickness from which she never rose. She declined to accept the proposals of marriage when first made, but in obedience to the mandate of Heber C. Kimball, then one of President Young’s counselors, and to whom disobedience was worse than contempt of court, she at length acceded. Her honeymoon was not a particularly bright one, but she took upon herself the care of her husband’s children by his first wife, and was a mother to them during many years that followed.
“She was allowed to work all she pleased, and sometimes more, from the beginning, and as stated in the complaint aided in every way to build up the fortune of her lord and master. As a specimen of what was expected of her, one instance may be related alone. Shortly after the marriage one of the cows died, down in a pasture lot in the edge of town, it was supposed from having in some way become poisoned. She was sent with a Danish boy to skin the dead body, which they did, and Mrs. Raleigh carried the hide to the house over her shoulders, her husband, meantime, standing by with a linen duster on and walking cane in his hand, superintending the work.
“In the course of time new wives were added to the household, the number eventually reaching eight, and at one period six of them occupying one house, and working and eating together in one small room, which served as kitchen, dining-room, sitting-room and parlor. Each had a separate sleeping apartment. They were all expected to earn a living, and if they wanted anything special in the way of clothing, etc., they bought it themselves from money made at washing or otherwise. The head of the household bought his supplies by the quantity, and kept them under lock and key, dealing them out with a sparing hand. He was suspicious always that his wives were trying to rob him, and on one occasion, when he thought he missed a dress pattern off of a bolt of common heavy goods he searched the apartments of his wives, examining the bedticks, looking in small drawers that would not have contained the bulk of the dress, and when urged sarcastically by the plaintiff even peering into a pair of stockings which were hung up in the room. The plaintiff says the finest dress he ever gave her after their marriage was one of common material which would probably cost about a bit a yard now, (2.5 cents or 6.25d.
“As an evidence of the love felt for him by his children it is said that when he had been absent in England on a mission and was returning, they saw him, and one of the boys exclaimed ‘there comes that old scoundrel,’ whereupon they all hastened to conceal themselves. He was called by some less tender and respectful names at other times and all in all his life as a husband and father is not a happy one judging by the respect inspired in his family.”
“ROUGH ON POLYGAMOUS WIVES AND CHILDREN.”
“And the defendant further answering alleges, That at the town of Kirtland, in the State of Ohio, heretofore to wit, on the 10th day of January, 1834 this defendant being then and there an unmarried man, was duly and lawfully married to Mary Ann Angel, by a minister of the gospel who was then and there by the law of said State authorized to solemnize marriage, and that the said marriage was then and there fully consummated, and the said Mary Ann Angel, who is still living, then and there became, and ever since has been and still is, the lawful wife of this defendant.
Extract from Brigham Young’s amended answer in he Ann Eliza case.
“At last we have something definite. The Prophet of the Lord has spoken; and says in unmistakable language, that Mormon plural women’ are not legal wives-that Mary Ann Angel is his true and lawful wife,’ and marriage with her a bar to any subsequent marriage. This Brigham Young has said and sworn to in his amended answer to Ann Eliza. Brigham admits himself to be a coward, and though his person is not in danger, his money is, and he coolly throws his religion and plural wives overboard to save his cash.”
“A short time since a Saint was cut off from the Church, his offence consisting in setting aside a plural without procuring a divorce. Why should I pay to dollars for a divorce? ‘ the thrifty Saint enquired of this writer. I wasn’t legally married to the woman, and I could give her just as good a divorce as the President could.’ His ‘divorce’ consisted in turning the unhappy creature out o’ doors. But what is this but concubinage?
“When the peerless Ann Eliza sued Brigham Young for divorce, the disingenuous man of God set up for an answer that he was not married to her, his connubial relations with his first and legal wife being still undissolved. When Apostle Cannon was charged with polygamy before a committee of the House of Representatives, he solemnly declared that he was not offending against morality or living in violation of any law of God or man.
“These facts show that there is neither sacredness nor binding force in the celestial wifery of these lustful Saints, when the admission of such a relation stands in the way of profit or preferment.”
“The wealthy head of the Mormon Church in Utah, has about as effective a way of ridding himself of obnoxious wives, as that of Henry the Eighth, of England, albeit it is not quite so summary. Starvation is Brigham’s favorite mode of terminating his polygamous entanglements; the slow, agonizing, and certain method of murdering the poor slaves of whose faded charms he so readily tires.
Thus there is one creature, the oldest, and only lawful wife of this monster, Mary Ann Angell, now in the seventy-fourth year of her age, whose vitality has withstood the tyranny of the harem for half a century, and she still lives, a reproach to the system which has degraded her condition to that of serf and drudge. This victim of oppression has recently been assigned a cold and cheerless shelter in the old school house behind the seraglio; one end of that dilapidated structure having been partitioned off like a stable, or a stall for a cow!
Miserably furnished, and in no way a comfortable habitation for a person of any age, that dreary tenement is the abode of Brigham Young’s lawful wife, the mother of three of his sons and two daughters. But this is the Kingdom of God, in which women are taught to bear their crosses of shame for the glory that is to come hereafter. The Prophet says so, whenever he leads a fresh victim to the closet of concupiscence. We make bold to suggest a visit to the venerable occupant of that dismal prison, from our kind hearted Executive. He will find theme a scene to excite him to the deepest sympathy.”
The Inter-Ocean quotes the words of one of Brigham Young’s daughters: My father, prophet, though you call him, broke many a woman’s heart. If it required of me to break as many hearts and ruin as many women as my father did, I should go to perdition before I would go back into the Church. A religion which breaks women’s hearts and ruins them is of the devil. That’s what Mormonism does. Don’t talk to me of my father,’ and concludes that ‘Honor thy father’ does not seem to be in the creed of Mormonism, and does not wonder that it is not. Nobody does, The usages of the sect takes from young girls all purity of thought, and when that is accomplished what room is there for self-respect or respect for others? The inhabitants of Mohammedan countries manage affairs with much more care than they are managed in Utah. There is no such promiscuous living as abounds in the two-roomed harems of Utah, but even in those countries there is so little faith in the virtue of women that they are perpetually watched, and never permitted to appear unveiled in public. The customs of the Mormon Church tend directly to break down all a young girl’s ideas of the sanctity of chastity.” [All these-quotations are from The Salt Lake Tribune, remember.]
“One day the Prophet said to the widow Baird, ‘Now there is Brother Pierce; he wants a wife, and you want SOMEBODY TO SAVE AND EXALT YOU in the eternal worlds. Sister Susannah; I will speak to Brother Robert about it.’ The result was, in the course of a few days, Elder Pierce, aged about seventy-five years, led the blushing widow to the altar, in the House of the Lord, where they were sealed up to life everlasting.
Moved by the Spirit of his faith to chastise his better half occasionally, and not being content to make her labor in the harvest field like a man, he would heap insult upon injury by calling her a ‘ – old hell hound.’ The elder would caress his wife with a hoe handle, as he did his cows, and on one occasion he knocked her teeth out and bloodied her nose. This conduct was continued until in July, 1875, when the elder punished her with a chair.
Forbearance ceased to be a virtue, and MRS. PIERCE CALLED UPON HER PROPHET being full of the devil, to complain. After relating her story interspersed with tears, Brigham feelingly said: ‘Well, Sister Pierce, what did you come into the kingdom for? It is your duty to bear with your husband. You are his, and he has a right to do as he pleases with you.’ But this was the kind of sympathy she was not, looking for, and she told the Prophet so, whereupon he asked: How much property did you take to Brother Pierce? ‘
She replied, “I took some furniture; three chairs and”
“You had three chairs, did you?” said Brigham cutting her off short; well, Sister Susannah, take your three chairs across the street and sit down in them until you are satisfied, and if you don’t feel like obeying, do as you please, and you will Go TO HELL IN A SUN-BONNET.’
“She went home, which came the nearest to following out the last part of Brigham’s instructions of any course she could pursue. Elder Pierce continued his abuse for another year, until finally, he drove her out of the house and forbade her ever to return.”
“ EDS. TRIBUNE. Another scandalous polygamic affair has happened in this city. The man has had five wives. His first wife died leaving several children. He then married again. This one left him. He took a third, who bore him -more children. He then left her and she had to support her family as best she could. The poor woman worked and washed and almost went out of her mind, living in a log hut without care or comfort. Her husband then married a mother who had two young daughters. In a short time he began to tease the wife for the oldest child and she and her daughter had no peace until they both consented. When she attained the age of fourteen he took her through the sink hole, (Endowment House).
It was not long before he began to cast loving winks at the other daughter and commenced to woo her. She had no more comfort day or night until she left her step-father and her brother-in-law, and married a young man. Her sister has lived a life of misery and wretchedness in a log cabin with her mother and the two families, their beds being in the same room and standing foot to foot. One night, after they had retired to bed, the old man talked to the mother, thinking the young wife asleep. Her faults were the subject of the conversation, the old man even calling her a prostitute. She heard the whole of the conversation. In, the morning she wrote a note.
“JOHN ANDREWS: I am going to leave you and shall never again be your wife, nor any’ other man’s concubine. It will be no use for you to follow after me, for I shall never return to be abused by you. My cup of sorrow is full.” –
“This she placed under her pillow and left the following morning. Her mother, the other wife, started in pursuit, but returned without finding the object of her search. The Mormons are trying to create the impression at home and abroad that the grease vats of Zion are no longer used and that polygamous marriages are no longer in fashion in the Kingdom of God on Forth. The smoothest liars are not to be trusted. The concubine factory is kept as busy as ever, and not a Thursday passes but numbers of these marriages are consummated.
“Last Thursday Bishop Davidson of the Third Ward in Logan, took a concubine in the person of Miss McNeil. The girl is nineteen years old, and has become the sealed mistress of the Mormon lecher in spite of the protests of the first and only wife. In the last three months in the Fifth Ward of the same place, four of these illegal alliances have taken place, and it is safe to say fifty have occurred in Logan within the last six months, and still our greatest Government in the world’ does nothing to prevent them.
LOGAN, April 11th, 1881. AMERICAN CITIZEN.”
“There is a Danish Saint at Spanish Fork, named John Hanson, who recently married two pretty Scandinavian girls who came over with the last cargo of immigrants that arrived in Utah, about two months since. This last addition to the Danish harem makes ten concubines that this old brute has, and, it is said, he works the whole gang in the fields while he goes around, like an overseer, well dressed, and well cared for. This old reprobate Hanson makes his ten wives work like beasts in the fields while he roams at large in high clover.
“Ten wives! And yet there are people who think the late cut in the Police Gazette, styled Mormonism Uncovered,’ was an exaggeration; it was on’y too true.”
[The Police Gazette reproduced W. Jarman’s Illustrated Lectures for the information and amusement of its numerous readers.]
DWELLING TOGETHER IN UNITY.
“ Among the ‘infamous libels’ charged against this godless sheet, is branding the issue of these illicit unions with illegitimacy. A short time since a knock down occurred in a prominent Mormon store in town arising from two polygamous sons branding each other with bastardy.
“Those who know Mormonism best have predicted that the greatest enemies to polygamy will be its own offspring.
“William Jennings has boasted that as Mormons, his has been a happy household. His children, he says, live happily together, and all is lovely where once polygamy reigned. We do not doubt Brother Jennings’ word; but if the rumour that reaches us be true, then his statement is incorrect. In the store on Monday evening, we are told that two of Brother Jennings’ sons illustrated that unanimous spirit that invariably follows polygamy. Tom Jennings, it seems, who is son of the first wife, called his half brother, Frank, a bastard. This was resented by a slap in the face, and the happy children went at it just like Gentile boys. The clerks separated them, and we presume happiness reigns in that home once more.”
The Tribune being a secular paper perhaps my Christian friends will prefer that I quote from a few sermons; therefore I introduce “ Apostle” Kimball’s sermon published in the Mormon Church Organ, The Deseret News, vol. 6. On page 291, it says:-
“ I have no wife or child that has any right to rebel against me. If they violate my laws and rebel against me, they will get into trouble just as quickly as though they transgressed the counsels and teachings of Brother Brigham. Does it give a woman a right to sin against me because she is my wife? No; but it is her duty to do my will as I do the duty of my Father and my God. It is the duty of a woman to be obedient to her husband, and unless she is, I would not give a damn for all her queenly right and authority, nor for her either, if she will quarrel and lie about the work of God and the principles of plurality.
“A disregard of plain and correct teachings is the reason why so many are dead and damned and twice plucked up by the roots, and I would as soon baptize the devil as some of you.”
In many families where there are as yet no concubines, the wife is anxious to remove from this valley of Sodom, as well on her own account as to save her young daughters from becoming the inmates of a priestly harem; and -as she has it in her power to obtain a divorce at any time, it may seem strange that she should remain the inmate of such a domestic hell. But a divorce would be of no practical benefit to her. She would be compelled to separate from her children; and, as she is powerless to perform an overland journey of over a thousand miles, to bring herself within the protection of a civilized government, she must, of course, remain, and seek a precarious livelihood, -under the discouraging pressure of Church vengeance.