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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5630.txt b/5630.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..61484f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/5630.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3070 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of "Mormonism", by James E. Talmage + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Story of "Mormonism" + +Author: James E. Talmage + +Release Date: May, 2004 [EBook #5630] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on July 26, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE STORY OF "MORMONISM" *** + + + + +Ben Crowder <crowderb@blankslate.net> +http://www.blankslate.net/lang/etexts.php + + +This etext was originally transcribed into Palm format by Rick +Owen <rickowen@yahoo.com>. + +Reformatted for Project Gutenberg by Ben Crowder +<crowderb@blankslate.net> + + + +THE STORY OF "MORMONISM" + +And + +THE PHILOSOPHY OF "MORMONISM" + +By James E. Talmage, D. Sc., F. R. S. E. + + + +PREFACE + +_The Story of "Mormonism"_ as presented in the following pages +is a revised and reconstructed version of lectures delivered by Dr. +James E. Talmage at the University of Michigan, Cornell +University, and elsewhere. The "Story" first appeared in print +as a lecture report in the _Improvement Era_, and was afterward +issued as a booklet from the office of the _Millennial Star_, +Liverpool. In 1910 it was issued in a revised form by the Bureau +of Information at Salt Lake City, in which edition the lecture +style of direct address was changed to the ordinary form of +essay. The present or third American edition has been revised +and amplified by the author. + +The "Story" has been translated and published abroad. Already +versions have appeared in Swedish, modern Greek, and Russian. + +The subject matter of _The Philosophy of "Mormonism"_ was first +presented as a lecture delivered by Dr. Talmage before the +Philosophical Society of Denver. It appeared later in the +columns of the _Improvement Era_, and translations have been +published in pamphlet form in the Danish and German languages. + +The present publication of these two productions is made in +response to a steady demand. + + THE PUBLISHERS. + +Salt Lake City, Utah, +March, 1914. + + + +THE STORY OF "MORMONISM" + + + +CHAPTER I + +In the minds of many, perhaps of the majority of people, the +scene of the "Mormon" drama is laid almost entirely in Utah; +indeed, the terms "Mormon question" and "Utah question" have been +often used interchangeably. True it is, that the development of +"Mormonism" is closely associated with the history of the +long-time Territory and present State of Utah; but the origin of +the system must be sought in regions far distant from the present +gathering-place of the Latter-day Saints, and at a period +antedating the acquisition of Utah as a part of our national +domain. + +The term "origin" is here used in its commonest application--that +of the first stages apparent to ordinary observation--the visible +birth of the system. But a long, long period of preparation had +led to this physical coming forth of the "Mormon" religion, a +period marked by a multitude of historical events, some of them +preceding by centuries the earthly beginning of this modern +system of prophetic trust. The "Mormon" people regard the +establishment of their Church as the culmination of a great +series of notable events. To them it is the result of causes +unnumbered that have operated through ages of human history, and +they see in it the cause of many developments yet to appear. +This to them establishes an intimate relationship between the +events of their own history and the prophecies of ancient times. + +In reading the earliest pages of "Mormon" history, we are +introduced to a man whose name will ever be prominent in the +story of the Church--the founder of the organization by common +usage of the term, the head of the system as an earthly +establishment--one who is accepted by the Church as an ambassador +specially commissioned of God to be the first revelator of the +latter-day dispensation. This man is Joseph Smith, commonly +known as the "Mormon" prophet. Rarely indeed does history +present an organization, religious, social, or political, in +which an individual holds as conspicuous and in all ways as +important a place as does this man in the development of +"Mormonism." The earnest investigator, the sincere truth-seeker, +can ignore neither the man nor his work; for the Church under +consideration has risen from the testimony solemnly set forth and +the startling declarations made by this person, who, at the time +of his earliest announcements, was a farmer's boy in the first +half of his teens. If his claims to ordination under the hands +of divinely commissioned messengers be fallacious, forming as +they form the foundation of the Church organization, the +superstructure cannot stand; if, on the other hand, such +declarations be true, there is little cause to wonder at the +phenomenally rapid rise and the surprising stability of the +edifice so begun. + +Joseph Smith was born at Sharon, Vermont, in December, 1805. He +was the son of industrious parents, who possessed strong +religious tendencies and tolerant natures. For generations his +ancestors had been laborers, by occupation tillers of the soil; +and though comfortable circumstances had generally been their +lot, reverses and losses in the father's house had brought the +family to poverty; so that from his earliest days the lad Joseph +was made acquainted with the pleasures and pains of hard work. +He is described as having been more than ordinarily studious for +his years; and when that powerful wave of religious agitation and +sectarian revival which characterized the first quarter of the +last century, reached the home of the Smiths, Joseph with others +of the family was profoundly affected. The household became +somewhat divided on the subject of religion, and some of the +members identified themselves with the more popular sects; but +Joseph, while favorably impressed by the Methodists in comparison +with others, confesses that his mind was sorely troubled over the +contemplation of the strife and tumult existing among the +religious bodies; and he hesitated. He tried in vain to solve +the mystery presented to him in the warring factions of what +professed to be the Church of Christ. Surely, thought he, these +several churches, opposed as they are to one another on what +appear to be the vital points of religion, cannot all be right. +While puzzling over this anomaly he chanced upon this verse in +the epistle of St. James: + + "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that + giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and + it shall be given him." + +In common with so many others, the earnest youth found here +within the scriptures, admonition and counsel as directly +applicable to his case and circumstances as if the lines had been +addressed to him by name. A brief period of hesitation, in which +he shrank from the thought that a mortal like himself, weak, +youthful, and unlearned, should approach the Creator with a +personal request, was followed by a humble and contrite +resolution to act upon the counsel of the ancient apostle. The +result, to which he bore solemn record (testifying at first with +the simplicity and enthusiasm of youth, afterward confirming the +declaration with manhood's increasing powers, and at last +voluntarily sealing the testimony with his life's blood,) proved +most startling to the sectarian world--a world in which according +to popular belief no new revelation of truth was possible. It is +a surprising fact that while growth, progress, advancement, +development of known truths and the acquisition of new ones, +characterize every living science, the sectarian world has +declared that nothing new must be expected as direct revelation +from God. + +The testimony of this lad is, that in response to his +supplication, drawn forth by the admonition of an inspired +apostle, he received a divine ministration; heavenly beings +manifested themselves to him--two, clothed in purity, and alike +in form and feature. Pointing to the other, one said, "This is +my beloved Son, hear Him." In answer to the lad's prayer, the +heavenly personage so designated informed Joseph that the Spirit +of God dwelt not with warring sects, which, while professing a +form of godliness, denied the power thereof, and that he should +join none of them. Overjoyed at the glorious manifestation thus +granted unto him, the boy prophet could not withhold from +relatives and acquaintances tidings of the heavenly vision. From +the ministers, who had been so energetic in their efforts to +convert the boy, he received, to his surprise, abuse and +ridicule. "Visions and manifestations from God," said they, "are +of the past, and all such things ceased with the apostles of old; +the canon of scripture is full; religion has reached its +perfection in plan, and, unlike all other systems contrived or +accepted by human kind, is incapable of development or growth. +It is true God lives, but He cares not for His children of modern +times as He did for those of ancient days; He has shut Himself +away from the people, closed the windows of heaven, and has +suspended all direct communication with the people of earth." + +The persecution thus originating with those who called themselves +ministers of the gospel of Christ spread throughout the +community; and the sects that before could not agree together nor +abide in peace, became as one in their efforts to oppose the +youth who thus testified of facts, which though vehemently +denounced, produced an effect that alarmed them the more. And +such a spectacle has ofttimes presented itself before the +world--men who cannot tolerate one another in peace swear +fidelity and mutual support in strife with a common opponent. +The importance of this alleged revelation from the heavens to the +earth is such as to demand attentive consideration. If a fact, +it is a full contradiction of the vague theories that had been +increasing and accumulating for centuries, denying personality +and parts to Deity. + +In 1820, there lived one person who knew that the word of the +Creator, "Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness," +had a meaning more than in metaphor. Joseph Smith, the youthful +prophet and revelator of the nineteenth century, knew that the +Eternal Father and the well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ, were in +form and stature like unto perfect men; and that the human family +was in very truth of divine origin. But this wonderful vision +was not the only manifestation of heavenly power and personality +made to the young man, nor the only incident of the kind destined +to bring upon him the fury of persecution. Sometime after this +visitation, which constituted him a living witness of God unto +men, and which demonstrated the great fact that humanity is the +child of Deity, he was visited by an immortal personage who +announced himself as Moroni, a messenger sent from the presence +of God. The celestial visitor stated that through Joseph as the +earthly agent the Lord would accomplish a great work, and that +the boy would come to be known by good and evil repute amongst +all nations. The angel then announced that an ancient record, +engraven on plates of gold, lay hidden in a hill near by, which +record gave a history of the nations that had of old inhabited +the American continent, and an account of the Savior's +ministrations among them. He further explained that with the +plates were two sacred stones, known as Urim and Thummim, by the +use of which the Lord would bring forth a translation of the +ancient record. Joseph further testifies that he was told that +if he remained faithful to his trust and the confidence reposed +in him, he would some day receive the record into his keeping, +and be commissioned and empowered to translate it. In due time +these promises were literally fulfilled, and the modern version +of these ancient writings was given to the world. + +The record proved to be an account of certain colonies of +immigrants to this hemisphere from the east, who came several +centuries before the Christian era. The principal company was +led by one Lehi, described as a personage of some importance and +wealth, who had formerly lived at Jerusalem in the reign of +Zedekiah, and who left his eastern home about 600 B.C. The book +tells of the journeyings across the water in vessels constructed +according to revealed plan, of the peoples' landing on the +western shores of South America probably somewhere in Chile, of +their prosperity and rapid growth amid the bounteous elements of +the new world, of the increase of pride and consequent dissension +accompanying the accumulation of material wealth, and of the +division of the people into factions which became later two great +nations at enmity with one another. One part following Nephi, +the youngest and most gifted son of Lehi, designated themselves +_Nephites_; the other faction, led by Laman, the elder and wicked +brother of Nephi, were known as _Lamanites_. + +The Nephites lived in cities, some of which attained great size +and were distinguished by great architectural beauty. +Continually advancing northward, these people in time occupied +the greater part of the valleys of the Orinoco, the Amazon, and +the Magdalena. During the thousand years covered by the Nephite +record, the people crossed the Isthmus of Panama, which is +graphically described as a neck of land but a day's journey from +sea to sea, and successively occupied extensive tracts in what is +now Mexico, the valley of the Mississippi, and the Eastern +States. It is not to be supposed that these vast regions were +all populated at any one time by the Nephites; the people were +continually moving to escape the depredations of their hereditary +foes, the Lamanites; and they abandoned in turn all their cities +established along the course of migration. The unprejudiced +student sees in the discoveries of the ancient and now +forest-covered cities of Mexico, Central America, Yucatan, and +the northern regions of South America, collateral testimony +having a bearing upon this history. + +Before their more powerful foes, the Nephites dwindled and fled; +until about the year 400 A.D. they were entirely annihilated +after a series of decisive battles, the last of which was fought +near the very hill, called Cumorah, in the State of New York, +where the hidden record was subsequently revealed to Joseph +Smith. + +The Lamanites led a roving, aggressive life; kept few or no +records, and soon lost the art of history writing. They lived on +the results of the chase and by plunder, degenerating in habit +until they became typical progenitors of the dark-skinned race, +afterward discovered by Columbus and named American Indians. + +The last writer in the ancient record, and the one who hid away +the plates in the hill Cumorah, was Moroni--the same personage +who appeared as a resurrected being in the nineteenth century, a +divinely appointed messenger sent to reveal the depository of the +sacred documents; but the greater part of the plates since +translated had been engraved by the father of Moroni, the Nephite +prophet Mormon. This man, at once warrior, prophet and +historian, had made a transcript and compilation of the +heterogeneous records that had accumulated during the troubled +history of the Nephite nation; this compilation was named on the +plates "The Book of Mormon," which name has been given to the +modern translation--a work that has already made its way over +most of the civilized world. The translation and publication of +the Book of Mormon were marked by many scenes of trouble and +contention, but success attended the undertaking, and the first +edition of the work appeared in print in 1830. + +The question, "What is the Book of Mormon?"--a very pertinent one +on the part of every earnest student and investigator of this +phase of American history--has been partly answered already. The +work has been derisively called the "Mormon Bible," a name that +carries with it the misrepresentation that in the faith of this +people the book takes the place of the scriptural volume which is +universally accepted by Christian sects. No designation could be +more misleading, and in every way more untruthful. The +Latter-day Saints have but one "Bible" and that the Holy Bible of +Christendom. They place it foremost amongst the standard works +of the Church; they accept its admonitions and its doctrines, and +accord thereto a literal significance; it is to them, and ever +has been, the word of God, a compilation made by human agency of +works by various inspired writers; they accept its teachings in +fulness, modifying the meaning in no wise, except in the rare +cases of undoubted mistranslation, concerning which Biblical +scholars of all faiths differ and criticize; and even in such +cases their reverence for the sacred letter renders them even +more conservative than the majority of Bible commentators and +critics in placing free construction upon the text. The +historical part of the Jewish scriptures tells of the divine +dealings with the people of the eastern hemisphere; the Book of +Mormon recounts the mercies and judgments of God, the inspired +teachings of His prophets, the rise and fall of His people as +organized communities on the western continent. + +The Latter-day Saints believe the coming forth of the Book of +Mormon to have been foretold in the Bible, as its destiny is +prophesied of within its own lids; it is to the people the true +"stick of Ephraim" which Ezekiel declared should become one with +the "stick of Judah"--or the Bible. The people challenge the most +critical comparison between this record of the west and the Holy +Scriptures of the east, feeling confident that no discrepancy +exists in letter or spirit. As to the original characters in +which the record was engraved, copies were shown to learned +linguists of the day and pronounced by them as closely resembling +the Reformed Egyptian writing. + +Let us revert, however, to the facts of history concerning this +new scripture, and the reception accorded the printed volume. + +The Book of Mormon was before the world; the Church circulated +the work as freely as possible. The true account of its origin +was rejected by the general public, who thus, assumed the +responsibility of explaining in some plausible way the source of +the record. Among the many false theories propounded, perhaps +the most famous is the so-called Spaulding story. Solomon +Spaulding, a clergyman of Amity, Pennsylvania, died in 1816. He +wrote a romance to which no name other than "Manuscript Story" +was given, and which, but for the unauthorized use of the +writer's name and the misrepresentation of his motives, would +never have been published. Twenty years after the author's +death, one Hurlburt, an apostate "Mormon," announced that he had +recognized a resemblance between the "Manuscript Story" and the +Book of Mormon, and expressed a belief that the work brought +forward by Joseph Smith was nothing but the Spaulding romance +revised and amplified. The apparent credibility of the statement +was increased by various signed declarations to the effect that +the two were alike, though no extracts for comparison were +presented. But the "Manuscript Story" was lost for a time, and +in the absence of proof to the contrary, reports of the +parallelism between the two works multiplied. By a fortunate +circumstance, in 1884, President James H. Fairchild, of Oberlin +College, and a literary friend of his--a Mr. Rice--while +examining a heterogeneous collection of old papers which had been +purchased by the gentleman last named, found the original +manuscript of the "Story." + +After a careful perusal and comparison with the Book of Mormon, +President Fairchild declared in an article published in the New +York _Observer_, February 5, 1885: + + The theory of the origin of the Book of Mormon in the + traditional manuscript of Solomon Spaulding will + probably have to be relinquished. * * * Mr. Rice, + myself, and others compared it [the Spaulding + manuscript] with the Book of Mormon and could detect + no resemblance between the two, in general or in + detail. There seems to be no name nor incident common + to the two. The solemn style of the Book of Mormon in + imitation of the English scriptures does not appear in + the manuscript. * * * Some other explanation of the + origin of the Book of Mormon must be found if any + explanation is required. + +The manuscript was deposited in the library of Oberlin College +where it now reposes. Still, the theory of the "Manuscript +Found," as Spaulding's story has come to be known, is +occasionally pressed into service in the cause of anti-"Mormon" +zeal, by some whom we will charitably believe to be ignorant of +the facts set forth by President Fairchild. A letter of more +recent date, written by that honorable gentleman in reply to an +inquiring correspondent, was published in the _Millennial Star_, +Liverpool, November 3, 1898, and is as follows: + + OBERLIN COLLEGE, OHIO, + October 17, 1895. + + J. R. HINDLEY, ESQ., + + Dear Sir: We have in our college library an original + manuscript of Solomon Spaulding--unquestionably + genuine. + + I found it in 1884 in the hands of Hon. L. L. Rice, + of Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands. He was formerly state + printer at Columbus, Ohio, and before that, publisher + of a paper in Painesville, whose preceding publisher + had visited Mrs. Spaulding and obtained the manuscript + from her. It had lain among his old papers forty + years or more, and was brought out by my asking him to + look up anti-slavery documents among his papers. + + The manuscript has upon it the signatures of several + men of Conneaught, Ohio, who had heard Spaulding read + it and knew it to be his. No one can see it and + question its genuineness. The manuscript has been + printed twice, at least;--once by the Mormons of Salt + Lake City, and once by the Josephite Mormons of Iowa. + The Utah Mormons obtained the copy of Mr. Rice, at + Honolulu, and the Josephites got it of me after it + came into my possession. + + This manuscript is not the original of the Book of + Mormon. + + Yours very truly, + JAMES H. FAIRCHILD. + +The "Manuscript Story" has been published in full, and +comparisons between the same and the Book of Mormon may be made +by anyone who has a mind to investigate the subject.[1] + +[Footnote 1: For a fuller account of the Book of Mormon, see the +author's "Articles of Faith," Lectures 14 and 15; published at +Salt Lake City, Utah, 1913.] + + + +CHAPTER II + +But we have anticipated the current of events. With the +publication of the Book of Mormon, opposition grew more intense +toward the people who professed a belief in the testimony of +Joseph Smith. On the 6th of April, 1830, the Church of Jesus +Christ of Latter-day Saints was formally organized and thus took +on a legal existence. The scene of this organization was +Fayette, New York, and but six persons were directly concerned as +participants. At that time there may have been and probably were +many times that number who had professed adherence to the newly +restored faith; but as the requirements of the law governing the +formation of religious societies were satisfied by the +application of six, only the specified number formally took part. +Such was the beginning of the Church, soon to be so universally +maligned. Its origin was small--a germ, an insignificant seed, +hardly to be thought of as likely to arouse opposition. What was +there to fear in the voluntary association of six men, avowedly +devoted to peaceful pursuits and benevolent purposes? Yet a +storm of persecution was threatened from the earliest day. At +first but a family affair, opposition to the work has involved +successively the town, the county, the state, the country, and +today the "Mormon" question has been accorded extended +consideration at the hands of the national government, and indeed +most civilized nations have taken cognizance of the same. + +Let us observe the contrast between the beginning and the present +proportions of the Church. Instead of but six regularly +affiliated members, and at most two score of adherents, the +organization numbers today many hundred thousand souls. In place +of a single hamlet, in the smallest corner of which the members +could have congregated, there now are about seventy stakes of +Zion and about seven hundred organized wards, each ward and stake +with its full complement of officers and priesthood +organizations. The practise of gathering its proselytes into one +place prevents the building up and strengthening of foreign +branches; and inasmuch as extensive and strong organizations are +seldom met with abroad, very erroneous ideas exist concerning the +strength of the Church. Nevertheless, the mustard seed, among +the smallest of all seeds, has attained the proportions of a +tree, and the birds of the air are nesting in its branches; the +acorn is now an oak offering protection and the sweets of +satisfaction to every earnest pilgrim journeying its way for +truth. + +From the organization of the Church, the spirit of emigration +rested upon the people. Their eyes were from the first turned in +anticipation toward the evening sun--not merely that the work of +proselyting should be carried on in the west, but that the +headquarters of the Church should be there established. The Book +of Mormon had taught the people the true origin and destiny of +the American Indians; and toward this dark-skinned remnant of a +once mighty people, the missionaries of "Mormonism" early turned +their eyes, and with their eyes went their hearts and their +hopes. + +Within three months from the beginning, the Church had +missionaries among the Lamanites. It is notable that the Indian +tribes have generally regarded the religion of the Latter-day +Saints with favor, seeing in the Book of Mormon striking +agreement with their own traditions. + +The first well-established seat of the Church was in the pretty +little town of Kirtland, Ohio, almost within sight of Lake Erie; +and here soon rose the first temple of modern times. Among their +many other peculiarities, the Latter-day Saints are characterized +as a temple-building people, as history proves the Israel of +ancient times to have been. In the days of their infancy as a +Church, while in the thrall of poverty, and amidst the +persecution and direful threats of lawless hordes, they laid the +cornerstone, and in less than three years thereafter they +celebrated the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, a structure at +once beautiful and imposing. Even before this time, however, +populous settlements of Latter-day Saints had been made in +Jackson County, Missouri; and in the town of Independence a site +for a great temple had been selected and purchased; but though +the ground has been dedicated with solemn ceremony, the people +have not as yet built thereon. + +Within two years of its dedication, the temple in Kirtland was +abandoned by the people, who were compelled to flee for their +lives before the onslaughts of mobocrats; but a second temple, +larger and more beautiful than the first, soon reared its spires +in the city of Nauvoo, Illinois. This structure was destroyed by +fire, but the temple-building spirit was not to be quenched, and +in the vales of Utah today are four magnificent temple edifices. +The last completed, which was the first begun, is situated in +Salt Lake City, and is one of the wonders and beauties of that +city by the great salt sea.[2] + +[Footnote 2: For a detailed account of modern temples, with +numerous pictorial views, see "The House of the Lord," by the +present author; Salt Lake City, Utah, 1912.] + +To the fervent Latter-day Saint, a temple is not simply a church +building, a house for religious assembly. Indeed the "Mormon" +temples are rarely used as places of general gatherings. They +are in one sense educational institutions, regular courses of +lectures and instruction being maintained in some of them; but +they are specifically for baptisms and ordinations, for +sanctifying prayer, and for the most sacred ceremonies and rites +of the Church, particularly in the vicarious work for the dead +which is a characteristic of "Mormon" faith. And who that has +gazed upon these splendid shrines will say that the people who +can do so much in poverty and tribulation are insincere? Bigoted +they may seem to those who believe not as they do; fanatics they +may be to multitudes who like the proud Pharisee of old thank God +they are not as these; but insincere they cannot be, even in the +judgment of their bitterest opponent, if he be a creature of +reason. + +The clouds of persecution thickened in Ohio as the intolerant +zeal of mobs found frequent expression; numerous charges, trivial +and serious, were made against the leaders of the Church, and +they were repeatedly brought before the courts, only to be +liberated on the usual finding of no cause for action. Meanwhile +the march to the west was maintained. Soon thousands of converts +had rented or purchased homes in Missouri--Independence, Jackson +County, being their center; but from the first, they were +unpopular among the Missourians. Their system of equal rights +with their marked disapproval of every species of aristocratic +separation and self-aggrandizement was declared to be a species +of communism, dangerous to the state. An inoffensive +journalistic organ, _The Star_, published for the purpose of +properly presenting the religious tenets of the people, was made +the particular object of the mob's rage; the house of its +publisher was razed to the ground, the press and type were +confiscated, and the editor and his family maltreated. An absurd +story was circulated and took firm hold of the masses that the +Book of Mormon promised the western lands to the people of the +Church, and that they intended to take possession of these lands +by force. Throughout the book of revelations regarded by the +people as law specially directed to them, they are told to save +their riches that they may purchase the inheritance promised them +of God. Everywhere are they told to maintain peace; the sword is +never offered as their symbol of conquest. Their gathering is to +be like that of the Jews at Jerusalem--a pacific one, and in +their taking possession of what they regard as a land of promise, +no one previously located there shall be denied his rights. + +A spirit of fierce persecution raged in Jackson and surrounding +counties of Missouri. An appeal was made to the executive of the +state, but little encouragement was returned. The lieutenant- +governor, Lilburn W. Boggs, afterward governor, was a pronounced +"Mormon"-hater, and throughout the period of the troubles, he +manifested sympathy with the persecutors. + +One of the circuit judges who was asked to issue a peace warrant +refused to do so, but advised the "Mormons" to arm themselves and +meet the force of the outlaws with organized resistance. This +advice was not pleasing to the Latter-day Saints, whose religion +enjoined tolerance and peace; but they so far heeded it as to arm +a small force; and when the outlaws next came upon them, the +people were not entirely unprepared. A "Mormon" rebellion was +now proclaimed. The people had been goaded to desperation. The +militia was ordered out, and the "Mormons" were disarmed. The +mob was unrestrained in its eagerness for revenge. The "Mormons" +engaged able lawyers to institute and maintain legal proceedings +against their foes, and this step, the right to which one would +think could be denied no American citizen, called forth such an +uproar of popular wrath as to affect almost the entire state. + +It was winter; but the inclemency of the year only suited the +better the purpose of the oppressor. Homes were destroyed, men +torn from their families were brutally beaten, tarred and +feathered; women with babes in their arms were forced to flee +half-clad into the solitude of the prairie to escape from +mobocratic violence. Their sufferings have never yet been fitly +chronicled by human scribe. Making their way across the river, +most of the refugees found shelter among the more hospitable +people of Clay County, and afterward established themselves in +Caldwell County, therein founding the city of Far West. County +and state judges, the governor, and even the President of the +United States, were appealed to in turn for redress. The +national executive, Andrew Jackson, while expressing sympathy for +the persecuted people, deplored his lack of power to interfere +with the administration or non-administration of state laws; the +national officials could do nothing; the state officials would do +naught. + +But the expulsion from Jackson County was but a prelude to the +tragedy soon to follow. A single scene of the bloody drama is +known as the Haun's Mill massacre. A small settlement had been +founded by "Mormon" families on Shoal Creek, and here on the 30th +of October, 1838, a company of two hundred and forty fell upon +the hapless settlers and butchered a score. No respect was paid +to age or sex; grey heads, and infant lips that scarcely had +learned to lisp a word, vigorous manhood and immature youth, +mother and maiden, fared alike in the scene of carnage, and their +bodies were thrown into an old well. + +In October, 1838, the Governor of Missouri, the same Lilburn W. +Boggs, issued his infamous exterminating order, and called upon +the militia of the state to execute it. The language of this +document, signed by the executive of a sovereign state of the +Union, declared that the "Mormons" must be driven from the state +or exterminated. Be it said to the honor of some of the officers +entrusted with the terrible commission, that when they learned +its true significance they resigned their authority rather than +have anything to do with what they designated a cold-blooded +butchery. But tools were not wanting, as indeed they never have +been, for murder and its kindred outrages. What the heart of man +can conceive, the hand of man will find a way to execute. The +awful work was carried out with dread dispatch. Oh, what a +record to read; what a picture to gaze upon; how awful the fact! +An official edict offering expatriation or death to a peaceable +community with no crime proved against them, and guilty of no +offense other than that of choosing to differ in opinion from the +masses! American school boys read with emotions of horror of the +Albigenses, driven, beaten and killed, with a papal legate +directing the butchery; and of the Vaudois, hunted and hounded +like beasts as the effect of a royal decree; and they yet shall +read in the history of their own country of scenes as terrible as +these in the exhibition of injustice and inhuman hate. + +In the dread alternative offered them, the people determined +again to abandon their homes; but whither should they go? +Already they had fled before the lawless oppressor over well nigh +half a continent; already were they on the frontiers of the +country that they had regarded as the land of promised liberty. +Thus far every move had carried them westward, but farther west +they could not go unless they went entirely beyond the country of +their birth, and gave up their hope of protection under the +Constitution, which to them had ever been an inspired instrument, +the majesty of which, as they had never doubted, would be some +day vindicated, even to securing for them the rights of American +citizens. This time their faces were turned toward the east; and +a host numbering from ten to twelve thousand, including many +women and children, abandoned their homes and fled before their +murderous pursuers, reddening the snow with bloody footprints as +they journeyed. They crossed the Mississippi and sought +protection on the soil of Illinois. There their sad condition +evoked for a time general commiseration. + +The press of the state denounced the treatment of the people by +the Missourians and vindicated the character of the "Mormons" as +peaceable and law-abiding citizens. College professors published +expressions of their horror over the cruel crusade; state +officials, including even the governor, gave substantial evidence +of their sympathy and good feeling. This lull in the storm of +outrage that had so long raged about them offered a strange +contrast to their usual treatment. Let it not be thought that +all the people of Illinois were their friends; from the first, +opposition was manifest, but their condition was so greatly +bettered that they might have thought the advent of their Zion to +be near at hand. + +I stated that professional men, and even college professors +raised their voices in commiseration of the "Mormon" situation +and in denouncing the "Mormon" oppressors. Prof. Turner of +Illinois College wrote: + + Who began the quarrel? Was it the "Mormons?" Is it + not notorious on the contrary that they were hunted + like wild beasts from county to county before they + made any resistance? Did they ever, as a body, + refuse obedience to the laws, when called upon to do + so, until driven to desperation by repeated threats + and assaults by the mob? Did the state ever make + one decent effort to defend them as fellow-citizens + in their rights or to redress their wrongs? Let the + conduct of its governors and attorneys and the fate + of their final petitions answer! Have any who + plundered and openly insulted the "Mormons" ever + been brought to the punishment due to their crimes? + Let boasting murderers of begging and helpless + infancy answer! Has the state ever remunerated even + those known to be innocent for the loss of either + their property or their arms? Did either the pulpit + or the press through the state raise a note of + remonstrance or alarm? Let the clergymen who + abetted and the editors who encouraged the mob + answer! + +As a sample of the press comments against the brutality of the +Missourians I quote a paragraph from the Quincy _Argus_, March +16, 1839: + + We have no language sufficiently strong for the + expression of our indignation and shame at the recent + transaction in a sister state, and that state, + Missouri, a state of which we had long been proud, + alike for her men and history, but now so fallen that + we could wish her star stricken from the bright + constellation of the Union. We say we know of no + language sufficiently strong for the expression of + our shame and abhorrence of her recent conduct. She + has written her own character in letters of blood, + and stained it by acts of merciless cruelty and + brutality that the waters of ages cannot efface. It + will be observed that an organized mob, aided by + many of the civil and military officers of Missouri, + with Gov. Boggs at their head, have been the + prominent actors in this business, incited too, it + appears, against the "Mormons" by political hatred, + and by the additional motives of plunder and revenge. + They have but too well put in execution their threats + of extermination and expulsion, and fully wreaked + their vengeance on a body of industrious and + enterprising men, who had never wronged nor wished to + wrong them, but on the contrary had ever comported + themselves as good and honest citizens, living under + the same laws, and having the same right with + themselves to the sacred immunities of life, liberty + and property. + + + +CHAPTER III + +Settling in and about the obscure village of Commerce, the +"Mormon" refugees soon demonstrated anew the marvelous +recuperative power with which they were endowed, and a city +seemed to spring from the earth. Nauvoo--the City Beautiful--was +the name given to this new abiding place. It was situated but a +few miles from Quincy, in a bend of the majestic river, giving +the town three water fronts. It seemed to nestle there as if the +Father of Waters was encircling it with his mighty arm. Soon a +glorious temple crowned the hill up which the city had run in its +rapid growth. Their settlements extended into Iowa, then a +territory. The governors of both Iowa and Ohio testified to the +worthiness of the Latter-day Saints as citizens, and pledged them +the protection of the commonwealth. The city of Nauvoo was +chartered by the state of Illinois, and the rights of local +self-government were assured to its citizens. + +A military organization, the "Nauvoo Legion," was authorized, and +the establishment of a university was provided for; both these +organizations were successfully effected. It was here that a +memorial was prepared and sent to the national government, +reciting the outrages of Missouri, and asking reparation. Joseph +Smith himself, the head of the delegation, had a personal +interview with President Van Buren, in which the grievances of +the Latter-day Saints were presented. Van Buren replied in words +that will not be forgotten, "Your cause is just, but I can do +nothing for you." + +The peaceful conditions at first characteristic of their Illinois +settlement were not to continue. The element of political +influence asserted itself and the "Mormons" bade fair to soon +hold the balance of power in local affairs. The characteristic +unity, so marked in connection with every phase of the people's +existence, promised too much; immigration into Hancock county was +continuous, and the growing power of the Latter-day Saints was +viewed with apprehension. With this as the true motive, many +pretexts for annoyance were found; and arrests, trials, and +acquittals were common experiences of the Church officers. + +A charge, which promised to prove as devoid of foundation as had +the excuses for the fifty arrests preceding it, led Joseph Smith, +president of the Church, and Hyrum Smith, the patriarch, to again +surrender themselves to the officers of the law. They were taken +to Carthage, Joseph having declared to friends his belief that he +was going to the slaughter. Governor Ford gave to the prisoners +his personal guarantee for their safety; but mob violence was +supreme, more mighty than the power of the state militia placed +there to guard the prison; and these men were shot to death, even +while under the governor's plighted pledge of protection. Hyrum +fell first; and Joseph, appearing at one of the windows in the +second story, received the leaden missiles of the besieging mob, +which was led by a recreant though professed minister of the +gospel. But the brutish passion of the mob was not yet sated; +propping the body against a well-curb in the jail-yard, the +murderers poured a volley of bullets into the corpse, and fled. +Thus was the unholy vow of the mob fulfilled, that as law could +not touch the "Mormon" leaders, powder and ball should. John +Taylor, who became years afterward president of the Church, was +in the jail at the same time; he received four bullets, and was +left supposedly dead. + +Joseph Smith had been more than the ecclesiastical leader; his +presence and personality had been ever powerful as a stimulus to +the hearts of the people; none knew his personal power better +than the members of his own flock, unless indeed it were the +wolves who were ever seeking to harry the fold. It had been the +boast of anti-"Mormons" that with Joseph Smith removed, the +Church would crumble to pieces of itself. In the personality of +their leader, it was thought, lay the secret of the people's +strength; and like the Philistines, the enemy struck at the +supposed bond of power. Terrible as was the blow of the fearful +fatality, the Church soon emerged from its despairing state of +poignant grief, and rose mightier than before. It is the faith +of this people that while the work of God on earth is carried on +by men, yet mortals are but instruments in the Creator's hands +for the accomplishment of divine purposes. The death of the +president disorganized the First Presidency of the Church; but +the official body next in authority, the Council of the Twelve, +stepped to the front, and the progress of the Church was +unhindered. The work of the ministry was not arrested; the +people paused but long enough to bury their dead and clear their +eyes from the blinding tears that fell. + +Let us take a retrospective glance at this unusual man. Though +his opponents deny him the divine commission with which his +friends believe he was charged, they all, friends and foes alike, +admit that he was a great man. Through the testimony of his +life's work and the sanctifying seal of his martyrdom, thousands +have come to acknowledge him all that he professed to be--a +messenger from God to the people. He is not without admirers +among men who deny the truth of his principles and the faith of +his people. + +A historical writer of the time, Josiah Quincy, a few weeks after +the martyrdom, wrote: + + It is by no means improbable that some future text book + for the use of generations yet unborn, will contain a + question something like this: "What historical American + of the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful + influence upon the destinies of his countrymen?" And it + is by no means impossible that the answer to that + interrogatory may be thus written--"Joseph Smith, the + Mormon Prophet." And the reply, absurd as it doubtless + seems to most men now living, may be an obvious + commonplace to their descendants. History deals in + surprises and paradoxes quite as startling as this. A + man who established a religion in this age of free + debate, who was and is today accepted by hundreds of + thousands as a direct emissary from the Most High--such + a rare human being is not to be disposed of by pelting + his memory with unsavory epithets. * * * The most + vital questions Americans are asking each other today, + have to deal with this man and what he has left us. + * * * Joseph Smith, claiming to be an inspired teacher, + faced adversity such as few men have been called to + meet, enjoyed a brief season of prosperity such as few + men have ever attained, and finally * * * went + cheerfully to a martyr's death. When he surrendered + his person to Governor Ford, in order to prevent the + shedding of blood, the Prophet had a presentiment of + what was before him. "I am going like a lamb to the + slaughter," he is reported to have said, "but I am as + calm as a summer's morning. I have a conscience void of + offense, and shall die innocent." + +The "Mormon" people regarded it as a duty to make every proper +effort to bring the perpetrators of the foul assassination of +their leaders to justice; sixty names were presented to the local +grand jury, and of the persons so designated, nine were indicted. +After a farcical semblance of a trial, these were acquitted, and +thus was notice, sanctioned by the constituted authority of the +law, served upon all anti-"Mormons" of Illinois, that they were +safe in any assault they might choose to make on the subjects of +their hate. The mob was composed of apt pupils in the learning +of this lesson. Personal outrages were of every-day occurrence; +husbandmen were captured in their fields, beaten, tortured, until +they barely had strength left to promise compliance with the +demands of their assailants,--that they would leave the state. +Houses were fired while the tenants were wrapped in uneasy +slumber within; indeed, one entire town, that of Morley, was by +such incendiarism reduced to ashes. Women and children were +aroused in the night, and compelled to flee unclad or perish in +their burning dwellings. + +But what of the internal work of the Church during these trying +periods? As the winds of winter, the storms of the year's +deepest night, do but harden and strengthen the mountain pine, +whose roots strike the deeper, whose branches thicken, whose +twigs multiply by the inclemency that would be fatal to the +exotic palm, raised by man with hot-house nursing, so the new +sect continued its growth, partly in spite of, partly because of, +the storms to which it was subjected. It was no green-house +growth, struggling for existence in a foreign clime, but a fit +plant for the soil of a free land; and there existed in the minds +of unprejudiced observers not a doubt as to its vitality. The +Church soon found its equilibrium again after the shock of its +cruel experience. Brigham Young, who for a decade had been +identified with the cause, who had received his full share of +persecution at mobocratic hands, now stood at the head of the +presiding body in the priesthood of the Church. The effect of +this man's wonderful personality, his surprising natural ability, +and to the people, the proofs of his divine acceptance, were +apparent from the first. + +Migration from other states and from foreign shores continued to +swell the "Mormon" band, and this but angered the oppressors the +more. The members of the Church, recognizing the inevitable long +before predicted by their murdered prophet, that the march of the +Church would be westward, redoubled their efforts to complete the +grand temple upon which they had not ceased to work through all +the storms of persecution. This structure, solemnly dedicated to +their God, they entered, and there received their anointings and +their blessings; then they abandoned it to the desecration and +self-condemning outrages of their foes. For the mob's decree had +gone forth, that the "Mormons" must leave Illinois. After a few +sanguinary encounters, the leaders of the people acceded to the +demands of their assailants, and agreed to leave early in the +following spring; but the departure was not speedy enough to +suit, and the lawless persecution was waged the more ruthlessly. + +Soon the soil of Illinois was free from "Mormon" tread; Nauvoo +was deserted, her 20,000 inhabitants expatriated. Colonel Thomas +L. Kane, a conspicuous figure at this stage of our country's +history, was traveling eastward at the time, and reached Nauvoo +shortly after its evacuation. In a lecture before the Historical +Society of Pennsylvania, he related his experience in this +sometime abode of the Saints. I paraphrase a portion of his +eloquent address. + +Sighting the city from the western shore of the mighty +Mississippi, as it nestled in the river's encircling embrace, he +crossed to its principal wharf, and, there to his surprise, found +no soul to meet him. The stillness that everywhere prevailed was +painful, broken only by an occasional faint echo of boisterous +shout or ribald song from a distance. The town was in a dream, +and the warrior trod lightly lest he wake it in affright, for he +plainly saw that it had not slumbered long. No grass grew in the +pavement joints; recent footprints were still distinct in the +dusty thoroughfares. The visitor made his way unmolested into +work-shops and smithies; tools lay as last used; on the +carpenter's bench was the unfinished frame, on the floor were the +shavings fresh and odorous; the wood was piled in readiness +before the baker's oven; the blacksmith's forge was cold, but the +shop looked as though the occupant had just gone off for a +holiday. The gallant soldier entered gardens unchallenged by +owner, human guard, or watchful dog; he might have supposed the +people hidden or dead in their houses; but the doors were not +fastened, and he entered to explore, there were fresh ashes on +the hearth; no great accumulation of the dust of time was on +floors or furniture; the awful quiet compelled him to tread +a-tip-toe as if threading the aisles of an unoccupied cathedral. +He hastened to the graveyard, though surely the city had not been +depopulated by pestilence. No; there were a few stones newly +set, some sods freshly turned in this sacred acre of God, but +where can you find a cemetery of a living town with no such +evidence of recent interment? There were fields of heavy grain, +the bounteous harvest rotting on the ground; there were orchards +dropping their rich and rosy fruit to spoil beneath; not a hand +to gather or save. + +But in a suburban corner, he came across the smoldering embers of +a barbecue fire, with fragments of flesh and other remnants of a +feast. Hereabout houses had been demolished; and there beyond, +around the great temple that had first attracted his attention +from the Iowa shore, armed men were bivouacked. This worthy +representative of our country's service was challenged by the +drunken crowd, and made to give an account of himself, and to +answer for having crossed the river without a permit from the +head of the band. Finding that he was a stranger, they related +to him in fiendish glee their recent exploits of pillage, rapine, +and murder. They conducted him through the temple; everywhere +were marks of their brutish acts; its altars of prayer were +broken; the baptismal font had been so "diligently desecrated as +to render the apartment in which it was contained too noisome to +abide in." There in the steeple close by the "scar of divine +wrath" left by a recent thunderbolt, were broken covers of liquor +and drinking vessels. + +Sickened with the sight, disgusted with this spectacle of +outrage, the colonel recrossed the river at nightfall, beating +upward, for the wind had freshened. Attracted by a faint light +near the bank, he approached the spot, there to find a few +haggard faces surrounding one who seemed to be in the last stages +of fever. The sufferer was partially protected by something like +a tent made from a couple of bed sheets; and amid such +environment, the spirit was pluming itself for flight. Making +his way through this camp of misery, he heard the sobbings of +children hungry and sick; there were men and women dying from +wounds or disease, without a semblance of shelter or other +physical comfort; wives in the pangs of maternity, ushering into +the world innocent babes doomed to be motherless from their +birth. And at intervals, to the ears of those outcasts, the sick +and the dying, the wind brought the soul-piercing sounds of the +reveling mob in the distant city, the scrap of vulgar song, the +shocking oath, shrieked from the temple tower in the madness of +drunken orgies. + +This, however, was but the rear remnant of the' expatriated +Christian band. The van was already far on its way toward the +inviting wilderness of the all but unknown west. But the +wanderers were not wholly without friends; certain Indian tribes, +the Omahas and the Potawatomis, welcomed them to their lands, +inviting them to camp within their territory during the coming +winter. "Welcome," said these children of the forest, "we too +have been driven from our pleasant homes east of the great river, +to these damp and unhealthful bottoms; you now, white men, have +been driven forth to the prairies; we are fellow-sufferers. +Welcome, brothers." + +In return much assistance was rendered by the white refugees to +their, shall I say savage friends? If it was civilization the +wanderers had left, then indeed might the red men of the forest +have felt proud of their distinction. But the Indian agent, a +Christian gentleman, ordered the "Mormons" to move on and leave +the reservation which a kind government had provided for its red +children. An order from President Polk, who had been appealed to +by Colonel Kane, gave the people permission to remain for a short +season. The government of Iowa had courteously assured them +protection while passing through that territory. As soon as the +people were well under way, a thorough organization was effected. +Remembering the toilsome desert march from Egypt to Canaan, the +people assumed the name, "Camp of Israel." The camp consisted of +two main divisions, and each was sub-divided into companies of +hundreds, fifties, and tens, with captains to direct. An officer +with one hundred volunteers went ahead of the main body to select +a route and prepare a road. At this time, there were over one +thousand wagons of the "Mormons" rolling westward, and the line +of march soon reached from the Mississippi to Council Bluffs. +There were in the company not half enough draft animals for the +arduous march, and but an insufficient number of able-bodied men +to tend the camps. The women had to assist in driving teams and +stock, and in other labors of the journey. Yet with their +characteristic cheerfulness the people made the best, and that +proved to be a great deal, out of their lot. When the camp +halted, a city seemed to spring as if by magic from the prairie +soil. Concerts and social gatherings were usual features of the +evening rests. + +But another great event disturbed the equanimity of the camp. +War had broken out between Mexico and the United States. General +Taylor's victories in the early stages of the strife had been all +but decisive, but the Republic was on march to the western ocean +and the provinces of New Mexico and California were in her path. +These two provinces comprised in addition to the territory now +designated by those names, Utah, Nevada, portions of Wyoming and +Colorado, as also Arizona; while Oregon, then claimed by Great +Britain, included Washington, Idaho, and portions of Montana and +Wyoming. It was the plan of the national administration to +occupy these provinces at the earliest moment possible; and a +call was made upon the "Mormon" refugees to contribute to the +general force by furnishing a battalion of five hundred men to +take part in the war with Mexico. The surprise which the message +of the government officer produced in the camp amounted almost to +dismay. Five hundred men fit to bear arms to be drafted from +that camp! What would become of the rest? Already women and +boys had been pressed into service to do the work of men; already +the sick and the halt had been neglected; and many graves marked +the path they had traversed, whose tenants had passed to their +last sleep through lack of care. + +But how long did they hesitate? Scarcely an hour; it was the +call of their country. True, they were even then leaving the +national soil, but not of their own will. To them their country +was and is the promised land, the Lord's chosen place, the land +of Zion. "You shall have your battalion," said Brigham Young to +Captain Allen, the muster officer, "and if there are not young +men enough, we will take the old men, and if they are not enough, +we will take the women." Within a week from the time President +Polk's message was received, the entire force, in all five +hundred and forty-nine souls, was on the march to Fort +Leavenworth. Their path from the Missouri to the Pacific led +them over two thousand miles, much of this distance being +measured through deserts, which prior to that time had not been +trodden by civilized foot. + +Colonel Cooke, the commander of the "Mormon" Battalion, declared, +"History may be searched in vain for an equal march of infantry." +Many were disabled through the severity of the march, and +numerous cases of sickness and death were chronicled. General +Kearney and his successor, Governor R. B. Mason, as military +commandants of California, spoke in high praise of this +organization, and in their official reports declared that they +had made efforts to prolong the battalion's term of service; but +most of the men chose to rejoin their families as soon as they +could secure their honorable discharge. + +But to return to the Camp of Israel: A pioneer party, consisting +of a hundred and forty and four, preceded the main body; and the +line of the migrating hosts soon stretched from the Missouri to +the valley of the Great Salt Lake. Wagons there were, as also +some horses and men, but all too few for the journey; and a great +part of the company walked the full thousand miles across the +great plains and the forbidding deserts of the west. In the +Black Hills region, the pioneers were delayed a week at the +Platte, a stream, which, though usually fordable at this point +was now so swollen as to make fording impossible. Here, too, +their provisions were well nigh exhausted. Game had not been +plentiful, and the "Mormon" pioneers were threatened with the +direst privations. In their slow march they had been passed by a +number of well-equipped parties, some of them from Missouri bound +for the Pacific; but most of these were overtaken on the easterly +side of the river. Amongst the effects of the "Mormon" party was +a leathern boat, which on water served the legitimate purpose of +its maker and on land was made to do service as a wagon box. +This, together with rafts specially constructed, was now put to +good use in ferrying across the river not alone themselves and +their little property, but the other companies and their loads. +For this service they were well paid in camp provisions. + +Thus, the expatriated pioneers found themselves relieved from +want with their meal sacks replenished in the heart of the +wilderness. Many may call it superstition, but some will regard +it as did the thankful travelers--an interposition of Providence, +and an answer to their prayers--an event to be compared, they +said, to the feeding of Israel with manna in the wilderness of +old. + +After over three months' journeying, the pioneer company reached +the valley of the Great Salt Lake; and at the first sight of it, +Brigham Young declared it to be the halting place--the gathering +center for the Saints. But what was there inviting in this +wilderness spread out like a scroll barren of inviting message, +and empty but for the picture it presented of wondrous scenic +grandeur? Looking from the Wasatch barrier, the colonists gazed +upon a scene of entrancing though forbidding beauty. A barren, +arid plain, rimmed by mountains like a literal basin, still +occupied in its lowest parts by the dregs of what had once filled +it to the brim; no green meadows, not a tree worthy the name, +scarce a patch of greensward to entice the adventurous wanderers +into the valley. The slopes were covered with sagebrush, +relieved by patches of chaparral oak and squaw-bush; the wild +sunflower lent its golden hue to intensify the sharp contrasts. +Off to the westward lay the lake, making an impressive, +uninviting picture in its severe, unliving beauty; from its blue +wastes somber peaks rose as precipitous islands, and about the +shores of this dead sea were saline flats that told of the +scorching heat and thirsty atmosphere of this parched region. A +turbid river ran from south to north athwart the valley, +"dividing it in twain," as a historian of the day has written, +"as if the vast bowl in the intense heat of the Master Potter's +fires, in process of formation had cracked asunder." Small +streams of water started in rippling haste from the snow-caps of +the mountains toward the lake, but most of them were devoured by +the thirsty sands of the valley before their journey was half +completed. + +Such was the scene of desolation that greeted the pioneer band. +A more forsaken spot they had not passed in all their wanderings. +And is this the promised land? This is the very place of which +Bridger spake when he proffered a thousand dollars in gold for +the first bushel of grain that could be raised here. With such a +Canaan spread out before them, was it not wholly pardonable if +some did sigh with longing for the leeks and flesh-pots of the +Egypt they had left, or wished to pass by this land and seek a +fairer home? Two of the three women who belonged to the party +were utterly disappointed. "Weak, worn, and weary as I am," said +one of these heroines, "I would rather push on another thousand +miles than stay here." + +But the voice of their leader was heard. "The very place," said +Brigham Young, and in his prophetic mind there rose a vision of +what was to come. Not for a moment did he doubt the future. He +saw a multitude of towns and cities, hamlets and villas filling +this and neighboring valleys, with the fairest of all, a city +whose beauty of situation, whose wealth of resource should become +known throughout the world, rising from the most arid site of the +burning desert before him, hard by the barren salt shores of the +watery waste. There in the very heart of the parched wilderness +should stand the House of the Lord, with other temples in valleys +beyond the horizon of his gaze. + +Within a few hours after the arrival of the vanguard upon the +banks of what is now known as City Creek--the mountain stream +which today furnishes Salt Lake City part of her water +supply--plows were put to work; but the hard-baked soil, never +before disturbed by the efforts of man to till, refused to yield +to the share. A dam was thrown across the stream and the +softening liquid was spread upon the flat that had been chosen +for the first fields. The planting season had already well nigh +passed, and not a day could be lost. Potatoes and other seed +were put in, and the land was again flooded. Such was the +beginning of the irrigation system, which soon became +co-extensive with the area occupied by the "Mormon" settlers, a +system which under the blessing of Providence, has proved to be +the veritable magic touch by which the desert has been made a +field of richness and a garden of beauty; a system which now +after many decades of successful trial is held up by the nation's +wise and great ones to be the one practicable method of +reclaiming our country's vast domains of arid lands. It was on +the 24th of July, 1847, that the main part of the pioneer band +entered the valley of the Great Salt Lake, and that day of the +year is observed as a legal holiday in Utah. From that time to +the present, the stream of immigration to these valleys has never +ceased. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +The dangers of the first company's migration were surpassed by +those of parties who subsequently braved the terrors of the +plains. In their enthusiasm to reach the gathering place of +their people, many of the Latter-day Saints set out from Iowa, +where railway facilities had their termination, with hand-carts +only as a means of conveyance. Today there are living in the +smiling vales of Utah, men and women who then as boys and girls +trudged wearily across the prairies, dragging the lumbering carts +that contained their entire provision against starvation and +freezing. Such handcart companies were organized with care; a +limited amount of freight was allowed to each division; milch +cattle and a very few draft-animals, with wagons for conveying +the heavier baggage and to carry the sick, were assigned. The +tale of those dreary marches has never yet been told; the song of +the heroism and sacrifice displayed by these pilgrims for +conscience sake is awaiting a singer worthy the theme. Wading +the streams with carts in tow, or in cases of unfordable streams, +stopping to construct rafts; at times living on reduced rations +of but a few ounces of meal per day; lying down at night with a +prayer in the heart that they wake no more on earth, a prayer +which had its fulfilment in hundreds of cases; the dying heaving +their parting sighs in the arms of loved ones who were soon to +follow, they journeyed on. + +The inevitable catastrophes and accidents of travel robbed them +of their substance. Hostile savages stampeded their cattle, or +openly attacked and plundered the trains. But on they went, +never swerving from the course. These later companies needed no +chart nor compass to guide them over the desert; the road was +plain from the marks of former camps, and yet more so from the +graves of friends and loved ones who had started before on the +road to the earthly Zion and found that it led them to the +martyr's entrance to heaven, graves that were marked perhaps but +by a rude inscription cut on a pole or a board. And even these +narrow lodgings had not been left inviolate; the wolves of the +plains had too often succeeded in unearthing and rending the +bodies. Every company thus made the course the plainer; each of +them added to the silent population of the desert; sometimes half +a score were interred at one camp, and of one company over a +fourth were thus left beside the prairie road. Now we traverse +the self-same track in a day and a night, reclining on luxurious +cushions of ease, covering fifty miles while dining in luxury; +and we avert the ennui of the journey by berating the railway +company for lack of speed. + +Relief trains were continually on the way between the valley of +the Salt Lake and the Missouri; and the remnants of many a +company were saved from what appeared to be certain destruction +by the opportune arrival of these rescuing parties. Such relief +came from those who were themselves destitute and almost +starving. Brigham Young with a few of the chief officials of the +Church, and aids, returned eastward on such an errand of rescue +within a few weeks after first reaching the valley. The region +to which the early settlers came was in no wise a typical land of +promise; it did not flow spontaneously with milk and honey. + +Drought and unseasonable frosts made the first year's farming +experiments but doubtful successes, and in the succeeding spring +the land was visited by the devastating plague of the Rocky +Mountain crickets. They swarmed down in innumerable hordes upon +the fields, destroying the growing crops as they advanced, +devouring all before them, leaving the land a desert in their +track. The people scarcely knew how to withstand the assault of +this new foe; they drove the marauders into trenches there to be +drowned or burned; men, women and every child that could swing a +stick, were called to the ranks in this insect war; and with all +their fighting, the people forgot not to pray for deliverance, +and they fasted, too, for the best of reasons. + +And as they watched, and prayed, and worked, they saw approaching +from the north and west a veritable host of winged creatures of +more formidable proportions still; and these bore down upon the +fields as though coming to complete the devastation. But see! +these are of the color that betokens peace; they are the gulls, +white and beautiful, advancing upon the hosts of the black +destroyers. Falling upon the people's foes, they devoured them +by the thousand, and when filled to repletion, disgorged and +feasted again. And they did not stop till the crickets were +destroyed. Again the skeptic will say this was but chance; but +the people accepted that chance as a providential ruling in their +behalf, and reverently did they give thanks. + +Today the wanton killing of a gull in Utah is an offense in law; +but stronger than legal proscription, more powerful than fear of +judicial penalties, is the popular sentiment in favor of these +white-winged deliverers. Every year come these graceful +creatures to spend the springtime in the fields and upon the +lakes of Utah; and right well do they feel their welcome, for +they are habitually so tame and fearless that they may almost be +touched by the hand before they take flight. + +By the autumn of 1848, five thousand people had already reached +the valley, and the food problem was a most difficult one. The +winter was severe; and famine, stark and inexorable, threw its +dread shadow over the people. There seemed to be an entry in the +book of fate that every possible test of human endurance and +integrity should be applied to this pilgrim band. Without +distinction as to former station, they went out and dug the roots +of weeds, gathered the tenderest of the coarse grass, thistles, +and wild berries, and thus did they subsist; upon such did they +feast with thanksgiving, until a less scanty harvest relieved +their wants. + +It was at this time that the gold fever was at its height, a +consequence of the discovery of the precious metal in California, +in which discovery, indeed, certain members of the disbanded +"Mormon" Battalion, working their way eastward, were most +prominent. Some of the "Mormon" settlers, becoming infected with +the malady, hastened westward, but the counsel of the Church +authorities prevailed to keep all but a few at home. These +people had not left the country of their birth or adoption to +seek gold; nor bright jewels of the mine; nor the wealth of seas; +nor the spoils of war; they sought and believed they had found, a +faith's pure shrine. But the gold-seekers hastening westward, +and the successful miners returning eastward, halted at the +"Mormon" settlements and there replenished their supplies, +leaving their gold to enrich the people of the desert. + +But of what use is gold in the wilderness! In the old legend a +famishing Arab, finding a well filled bag upon the sand was +thrilled with joy at the thought of dates--his bread; and then +was cast into the depths of despair when he realized that he had +found nothing but a bag of costly pearls. The settlers by the +lake needed horses and wagons, tools, implements of husbandry and +building; and gold was valuable only as it represented a means of +obtaining these. Gold became so plentiful and was withal so +worthless in the desert colony that men refused to take it for +their labor. The yellow metal was collected in buckets and +exported to the States in exchange for the goods so much desired. +Merchandise brought in by caravans of "prairie schooners," was +sold as fast as it could be put out; and strict rules were +enforced allowing but a proportionate amount to each purchaser. + +Within a few months after the first settlement of Utah, public +schools were established; and one of the early acts of the +provisional government was to grant a charter to the Deseret +University, now known as the University of Utah. + +Up to 1849, Utah had no political history. Settling in a Mexican +province, the contest to determine its future ownership by the +United States then in progress, the people in common with most +pioneer communities established their own form of government. +But in February, 1848, the treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo gave +California to the United States; months passed, however, before +the news of the change reached the west. Early in 1849, a call +had been issued to "all the citizens of that portion of Upper +California lying to the east of the Sierra Nevada mountains" to +meet in convention at Great Salt Lake City; and there a petition +was prepared asking of Congress the rights of self-government; +and pending action, a temporary regime was established, under the +name of the Provisional Government of the State of Deseret. + +"Utah" was not the choice of the people as the name of their +state; that word served but to recall the degraded tribes who had +contested the settlement of the valleys. Deseret, a Book of +Mormon name for the honey bee, was more appropriate. The +petition of the people was denied in part, and, in 1850 was +established the territorial form of government in Utah. +Concerning the period of the provisional government, such men as +Gunnison, Stansbury, and other federal officials on duty in the +west, have recorded their praises of the "Mormon" colonists in +official reports. But with the un-American system of territorial +government came troubles. + +At first, many of the territorial officials were appointed from +among the settlers themselves; thus, Brigham Young was the first +governor; but strangers, who knew not the people nor their ways, +filled with prejudice from the false reports they had heard, came +from the east to govern the colonists in the desert. Of the +federal appointees thus forced upon the people of Utah, many made +for themselves most unenviable records. + +Some of them were broken politicians, professional +office-seekers, with no desire but to secure the greatest +possible gain out of their appointment. With effrontery that +would shock the modesty of a savage, the non-"Mormon" party +adopted and flagrantly displayed the carpet-bag as the badge of +their profession. But not all the officials sent to Utah from +afar were of this type; some of them were honorable and upright +men, and amongst this class the "Mormon" people reckon a number +who, while opposed to their religious tenets, were nevertheless +sincere and honest in the opposition they evinced. + +In the early part of 1857, the published libels upon the people +received many serious additions, the principal of which was +promulgated in connection with the resignation of Judge Drummond +of the Utah federal court. In his last letter to the United +States attorney-general, he declared that his life was no longer +safe in Utah, and that he had been compelled to flee from his +bench; but the most serious charge of all was that the people had +destroyed the records of the court, and that they had resented, +with hostile demonstration, his protests; in short, that justice +was dethroned in Utah, and that the people were in a state of +open rebellion. + +With mails three months apart, news traveled slowly; but as soon +as word of this infamous charge reached Salt Lake City, the clerk +of the court, Judge Drummond's clerk, sent a letter by express to +the attorney-general, denying under oath the judge's statements, +and attesting the declaration with official seal. The records, +he declared, had been untouched except by official hands, and +from the time of the court's establishment the files had been +safe and were then in his personal keeping. But, before the +clerk's communication had reached its destination, so difficult +is it for stately truth to overtake flitting falsehood, the +mischief had been done. Upon the most prejudiced reports utterly +unfounded in fact, with a carelessness which even his personal +and political friends found no ample means of explaining away, +President Buchanan allowed himself to be persuaded that a +"Mormon" rebellion existed, and ordered an army of over two +thousand men to proceed straightway to Utah to subdue the rebels. +Successors to the governor and other territorial officials were +appointed, among whom there was not a single resident of Utah; +and the military force was charged with the duty of installing +the foreign appointees. + +With great dispatch and under cover of secrecy, so that the Utah +rebels might be taken by surprise, the army set out on the march. +Before the troops reached the Rocky Mountains, the sworn +statement from the clerk of the supreme court of Utah denying the +charges made by Judge Drummond became public property; and about +the same time men who had come from Utah to New York direct, +published over their own signatures a declaration that all was +peaceful in and about the settlements of Utah. The public eye +began to twitch, and soon to open wide; the conviction was +growing that someone had blundered. But to retract would be a +plain confession of error; blunders must be covered up. + +Let us leave the soldiers on their westward march, and ascertain +how the news of the projected invasion reached the people of +Utah, and what effect the tidings produced. Certain "Mormon" +business agents, operating in Missouri, heard of the hostile +movement. At first they were incredulous, but when the overland +mail carrier from the west delivered his pouch and obtained his +receipt, but was refused the bag of Utah mail with the +postmaster's statement that he had been ordered to hold all mail +for Utah, there seemed no room for doubt. Two of the Utahns +immediately hastened westward. + +On the 24th of July, 1857, the people had assembled in +celebration of Pioneer Day. Silver Lake, a mountain gem set +amidst the snows and forests and towering peaks of the +Cottonwoods, had been selected as a fitting site for the +festivities. The Stars and Stripes streamed above the camp; +bands played; choirs sang; there were speeches, and picnics, and +prayers. Experiences were compared as to the journeyings on the +plains; stories were told of the shifts to which the people had +been put by the vicissitudes of famine; but these dread +experiences seemed to them now like a dream of the night; on this +day all were happy. Were they not safe from savage foes both red +and white? There had been peace for a season; and their desert +homes were already smiling in wealth of flower and tree; the +wilderness was blossoming under their feet; their consciences +were void of offense toward their fellows. Yet at that very +hour, all unbeknown to themselves, and without the opportunity of +speaking a word in defense, these people had been convicted of +insurrection and treason. + +It was midday and the festivities were at their height, when a +party of men rode into camp and sought an interview with Governor +Young. Three of them had plainly ridden hard and far; they gave +their report;--an armed force of thousands was at that hour +approaching the territory; the boasts of officers and men as to +what they would do when they found themselves in "Mormon" towns +were reported; and these stories called up, in the minds of those +who heard, the dread scenes of Far West and Nauvoo. Had these +colonists of the wilderness not gone far enough to satisfy the +hatred of their fellow-citizens in this republic of liberty? +They had halted between the civilization of the east and that of +the west, they had fled from the country that refused them a +home, and now the nation would eject them from their desert +lodgings. + +A council was called and the situation was freely discussed. Had +they not seen, lo, these many times, organized battalions and +companies surpassing fiendish mobs in villainy? The evidence +warranted their conclusion that invasion meant massacre. With +tense calmness the plan of action was decided upon. It was the +general conviction that war was inevitable, and it was decided to +resist to the last. Then, if the army forced its way into the +valleys of Utah on hostile purpose bent, it should find the land +as truly a desert as it was when the pioneers first took +possession. To this effect was the decision:--We have built +cities in the east for our foes to occupy; our very temples have +been desecrated and destroyed by them; but, with the help of +Israel's God, we will prevent them enriching themselves with the +spoils of our labors in these mountain retreats. + +There seemed to be no room for doubt that war was about to break +upon them; and with such a prospect, men may be expected to take +every advantage of their situation. Brigham Young was still +governor of Utah, and the militia was subject to his order. +Promptly he proclaimed the territory under martial law, and +forbade any armed body to cross its boundaries. Echo Canyon, the +one promising route of ingress, was fortified. In those defiles +an army might easily be stopped by a few; ammunition stations +were established; provisions were cached; boulders were collected +upon the cliffs beneath which the invaders must pass if they held +to their purpose of forcing an entrance. The people had been +roused to desperation, and force was to be met with force. In +the settlements, combustibles were placed in readiness, and if +the worst came, every "Mormon" house would be reduced to ashes, +every tree would be hewn down. + +With an experience of suffering that would have well served a +better cause, this picked detachment of the United States army +made its way to the Green River country; and there, counting well +the cost of proceeding farther, went into camp at Fort Bridger. +Many of the troops had almost perished in the storms, for it was +late in November, and the winter had closed in early. Colonel +Cooke reported to the commandant that half his horses had +perished through cold and lack of food; hundreds of beef cattle +had died; yet the region was so wild and forbidding that scarcely +a wolf ventured there to glut itself upon the carcasses. In +Cooke's own words we read that for thirty miles the road was +blocked with carcasses--and "with abandoned and shattered +property, they mark, perhaps beyond example in history, the steps +of an advancing army with the horrors of a disastrous retreat." + +With the army traveled the new federal appointees to offices in +the territory. Cumming, the governor-to-be, issued a +proclamation from his dug-out lodgings, and sent it to Salt Lake +City by courier; he signed it as "Governor of Utah Territory." +This but belittled him, for by the very terms of the Organic Act, +to uphold which was the professed purpose of his coming, he was +not governor until the oath of office had been duly administered +and subscribed. A few days later he went before his +fellow-sufferer Eckles, the appointee for chief justice of Utah, +and took an oath; but why did he swear so recklessly when the one +before whom he swore was no more an official than himself? + +The army wintered at a satisfactory distance from Salt Lake City, +and such a winter, according to official reports, the soldiers of +our nation have rarely had to brave. It was soon apparent that +they need fear no "Mormon" attack; orders had been issued to the +territorial militia to take no life except in cases of absolute +necessity; but General Johnston and his staff had more than their +match in battling with the elements. Communications between +Governor Young and the commandant were frequent; safe conduct was +assured any and all officers who chose to enter the city; and if +necessary hostages were to be given; but the governor was +inexorable in his ultimatum that, as an organized body with +hostile purpose, the soldiers should not pass the mountain +gateway. In the meantime, a full account of the situation was +reported by Governor Young to the President of the United States, +and the truth slowly made its way into the eastern press. +President Buchanan tacitly admitted his mistake; but to recall +the troops at that juncture would be to confess humiliating +failure. + +A peace commissioner, in the person of Colonel Kane, was +dispatched to Salt Lake City; his coming being made known to +Governor Young, an escort was sent to meet him and conduct him +through the "Mormon" lines. The result of the conference was +that the "Mormon" leaders but reiterated their statement that the +President's appointees would be given safe entry to the city, and +be duly installed in their offices, provided they would enter +without the army. This ultimatum was carried to the federal +camp; and to the open chagrin of the commandant, Governor Cumming +and his fellow appointees moved to Salt Lake City under "Mormon" +escort, after a five months' halt in the wilderness. + +I believe that strategy is usually allowed in war, and I am free +to say the "Mormons" availed themselves of this license. At +short intervals in the course of the night-passage through the +canyon, the party was challenged, and the password demanded; +bon-fires were blazing down in the gorges, and the impression was +made that the mountains were full of armed men; whereas the +sentries were members of the escort, who, preceding by short cuts +the main party, continued to challenge and to pass. On their +arrival, the gentlemen were met by the retiring officials, and +were peaceably installed. The new governor called upon the clerk +of the court, and ascertained the truth of the statement that the +records were entirely safe. He promptly reported his conclusions +to General Johnston that there was no further need for the army. +It was decided, however, that the soldiers should be permitted to +march through the city, and straightway the "Mormons" began their +exodus to the south. + +Governor Cumming tried in vain to induce the people to remain, +assuring them that the troops would commit no depredations. "Not +so," said Brigham Young, "we have had experience with troops in +the past, Governor Cumming; we have seen our leaders shot down by +the demoralized soldiery; we have seen mothers with babes at +their breasts sent to their last home by the same bullet; we have +witnessed outrages beyond description. You are now Governor of +Utah; we can no longer command the militia for our own defense. +We do not wish to fight, therefore we depart." Leaving a few men +to apply the brand to the combustibles stored in every house, at +the first sign of plunder by the soldiers, the people again +deserted their homes and moved into the desert anew. + +But the officers of the army kept their word; the troops were put +into camp forty miles from the settlements, and the settlers +returned. The President's commissioners brought the official +pardon, unsolicited, for all acts committed by the "Mormons" in +opposing the entrance of the army. The people asked what they +had done that needed pardon; they had not robbed, they had not +killed. But a critical analysis of these troublous events +revealed at least one overt act--some "Mormon" scouts had +challenged a supply train; and, being opposed, they had destroyed +some of the wagons and provisions; and for this they accepted the +President's most gracious pardon. + + + +CHAPTER V + +After all, the "Mormon" people regard the advent of the Buchanan +army as one of the greatest material blessings ever brought to +them. + +The troops, once in Utah, had to be provisioned; and everything +the settlers could spare was eagerly bought at an unusual price. +The gold changed hands. Then, in their hasty departure, the +soldiers disposed of everything outside of actual necessities in +the way of accouterment and camp equipage. The army found the +people in poverty, and left them in comparative wealth. + +And what was the cause of this hurried departure of the military? +For many months, ominous rumblings had been heard,--indications +of the gathering storm which was soon to break in the awful fury +of civil strife. It could not be doubted that war was imminent; +already the conflict had begun, and a picked part of the army was +away in the western wilds, doing nothing for any phase of the +public good. But a word further concerning the expedition in +general. The sending of troops to Utah was part of a foul scheme +to weaken the government in its impending struggle with the +secessionists. The movement has been called not inaptly +"Buchanan's blunder," but the best and wisest men may make +blunders, and whatever may be said of President Buchanan's +short-sightedness in taking this step, even his enemies do not +question his integrity in the matter. He was unjustly charged +with favoring secession; but the charge was soon disproved. + +However, it was known that certain of his cabinet were in league +with the seceding states; and prominent among them was John +Floyd, secretary of war. The successful efforts of this officer +to disarm the North, while accumulating the munitions of war in +the South; to scatter the forces by locating them in widely +separated and remote stations; and in other ways to dispose of +the regular army in the manner best calculated to favor the +anticipated rebellion, are matters of history. It is also told +how, at the commencement of the rebellion, he allied himself with +the confederate forces, accepting the rank of brigadier-general. +It was through Floyd's advice that Buchanan ordered the military +expedition to Utah, ostensibly to install certain federal +officials and to repress an alleged infantile rebellion which in +fact had never come into existence, but in reality to further the +interests of the secessionists. When the history of that great +struggle with its antecedent and its consequent circumstances is +written with a pen that shall indite naught but truth, when +prejudice and partisanship are lived down, it may appear that +Jefferson Davis rather than James Buchanan was the prime cause of +the great mistake. + +And General Johnston who commanded the army in the west; he who +was so vehement in his denunciation of the rebel "Mormons," and +who rejoiced in being selected to chastise them into submission; +who, because of his vindictiveness incurred the ill-favor of the +governor, whose _posse comitatus_ the army was; what became of +him, at one time so popular that he was spoken of as a likely +successor to Winfield Scott in the office of general-in-chief of +the United States army? He left Utah in the early stages of the +rebellion, turned his arms against the flag he had sworn to +defend, doffed the blue, donned the grey, and fell a rebel on the +field of Shiloh. + +Changes many and great followed in bewildering succession in +Utah. The people were besought to take sides with the South in +the awful scenes of cruel strife; it was openly stated in the +east that Utah had allied herself with the cause of secession; +and by others that the design was to make Salt Lake City the +capital of an independent government. And surely such +conjectures were pardonable on the part of all whose ignorance +and prejudice still nursed the delusion of "Mormon" disloyalty. +Moreover, had the people been inclined to rebellion what greater +opportunity could they have wished? Already a North and a South +were talked of--why not set up also a West? A supreme +opportunity had come and how was it used? It was at this very +time that the Overland Telegraph line, which had been approaching +from the Atlantic and the Pacific, was completed, and the first +tremor felt in that nerve of steel carried these words from +Brigham Young: + + Utah has not seceded, but is firm for the constitution + and laws of our country. + +The "Mormon" people saw in their terrible experiences and in the +outrages to which they had been subjected, only the +mal-administration of laws and the subversion of justice through +human incapacity and hatred. Never even for a moment did they +question the supreme authority and the inspired origin of the +constitution of their land. They knew no North, no South, no +East, no West; they stood positively by the constitution, and +would have nothing to do in the bloody strife between brothers, +unless indeed they were summoned by the authority to which they +had already once loyally responded, to furnish men and arms for +their country's need. + +Following the advent of the telegraph came the railway; and the +land of "Mormondom" was no longer isolated. Her resources were +developed, her wealth became a topic of the world's wonder; the +tide of immigration swelled her population, contributing much of +the best from all the civilized nations of the earth. Every +reader of recent and current history has learned of her rapid +growth; of her repeated appeals for the recognition to which she +had so long been entitled in the sisterhood of states; of the +prompt refusals with which her pleas were persistently met, +though other territories with smaller and more illiterate +populations, more restricted resources, and in every way weaker +claims, were allowed to assume the habiliments of maturity, while +Utah, lusty, large and strong, was kept in swaddling clothes. +But the cries of the vigorous infant were at length heeded, and +in answer to the seventh appeal of the kind, Utah's star was +added to the nation's galaxy. + +But let us turn more particularly to the history of the Church +itself. For a second time and thrice thereafter, the Church of +Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been deprived of its +president, and on each occasion were reiterated the prophecies of +disruption uttered at the time of Joseph Smith's assassination. +Calm observers declared that as the shepherd had gone, the flock +would soon be dispersed; while others, comparable only to wolves, +thinking the fold unguarded, sought to harry and scatter the +sheep. But "Mormonism" died not; every added pang of grief +served but to unite the people. + +When Brigham Young passed from earth, he was mourned of the +people as deeply as was Moses of Israel. And had he not proved +himself a Moses, aye and a Joshua, too? He had led the people +into the land of holy promise, and had divided unto them their +inheritances. He was a man with clear title as one of the small +brotherhood we call great. As carpenter, farmer, pioneer, +capitalist, financier, preacher, apostle, prophet--in everything +he was a leader among men. Even those who opposed him in +politics and in religion respected him for his talents, his +magnanimity, his liberality, and his manliness; and years after +his demise, men who had refused him honor while alive brought +their mites and their gold to erect a monument of stone and +bronze to the memory of this man who needs it not. With his +death closed another epoch in the history of his people, and a +successor arose, one who was capable of leading and judging under +the changed conditions. + + ----------- + +But perhaps I am suspected of having forgotten or of having +intentionally omitted reference to what popular belief once +considered the chief feature of "Mormonism," the cornerstone of +the structure, the secret of its influence over its members, and +of its attractiveness to its proselytes, viz., the peculiarity of +the "Mormon" institution of marriage. The Latter-day Saints were +long regarded as a polygamous people. That plural marriage has +been practised by a limited proportion of the people, under +sanction of Church ordinance, has never since the introduction of +the system been denied. But that plural marriage is a vital +tenet of the Church is not true. What the Latter-day Saints call +celestial marriage is characteristic of the Church, and is in +very general practise; but of celestial marriage, plurality of +wives was an incident, never an essential. Yet the two have +often been confused in the popular mind. + +We believe in a literal resurrection and an actual hereafter, in +which future state shall be recognized every sanctified and +authorized relationship existing here on earth--of parent and +child, brother and sister, husband and wife. We believe, further +that contracts as of marriage, to be valid beyond the veil of +mortality must be sanctioned by a power greater than that of +earth. With the seal of the holy Priesthood upon their wedded +state, these people believe implicitly in the perpetuity of that +relationship on the far side of the grave. They marry not with +the saddening limitation "Until death do you part," but "For time +and for all eternity."[3] This constitutes celestial marriage. +The thought that plural marriage has ever been the head and front +of "Mormon" offending, that to it is traceable as the true cause +the hatred of other sects and the unpopularity of the Church, is +not tenable to the earnest thinker. Sad as have been the +experiences of the people in consequence of this practise, deep +and anguish-laden as have been the sighs and groans, hot and +bitter as have been the tears so caused, the heaviest +persecution, the cruelest treatment of their history began before +plural marriage was known in the Church. + +[Footnote 3: For treatment of Celestial Marraige and other Temple +ordinances, see "The House of the Lord," by the present author, +Salt Lake City, Utah, 1912.] + +There is no sect nor people that sets a higher value on virtue +and chastity than do the Latter-day Saints, nor a people that +visits surer retribution upon the heads of offenders against the +laws of sexual purity. To them marriage is not, can never be, a +civil compact alone; its significance reaches beyond the grave; +its obligations are eternal; and the Latter-day Saints are +notable for the sanctity with which they invest the marital +state. It has been my privilege to tread the soil of many lands, +to observe the customs and study the habits of more nations than +one; and I have yet to find the place and meet the people, where +and with whom the purity of man and woman is held more precious +than among the maligned "Mormons" in the mountain valleys of the +west. There I find this measure of just equality of the sexes-- +_that the sins of man shall not be visited upon the head of +woman_. + +At the inception of plural marriage among the Latter-day Saints, +there was no law, national or state, against its practise. This +statement assumes, as granted, a distinction between bigamy and +the "Mormon" institution of plural marriage. In 1862, a law was +enacted with the purpose of suppressing plural marriage, and, as +had been predicted in the national Senate prior to its passage, +it lay for many years a dead letter. Federal judges and United +States attorneys in Utah, who were not "Mormons" nor lovers of +"Mormonism," refused to entertain complaints or prosecute cases +under the law, because of its manifest injustice and inadequacy. +But other laws followed, most of which, as the Latter-day Saints +believe, were aimed directly at their religious conception of the +marriage contract, and not at social impropriety nor sexual +offense. + +At last the Edmunds-Tucker act took effect, making not the +marriage alone but the subsequent acknowledging of the contract +an offense punishable by fine or imprisonment or both. Under the +spell of unrighteous zeal, the federal judiciary of Utah +announced and practised that most infamous doctrine of +segregation of offenses with accumulating penalties. + +I who write have listened to judges instructing grand juries in +such terms as these: that although the law of Congress designated +as an offense the acknowledging of more living wives than one by +any man, and prescribed a penalty therefor, as Congress had not +specified the length of time during which this unlawful +acknowledging must continue to constitute the offense, grand +juries might indict separately for every day of the period during +which the forbidden relationship existed. This meant that for an +alleged misdemeanor--for which Congress prescribed a maximum +penalty of six months' imprisonment and a fine of three hundred +dollars--a man might be imprisoned for life, aye, for many terms +of a man's natural life did the court's power to enforce its +sentences extend so far, and might be fined millions of dollars. +Before this travesty on the administration of law could be +brought before the court of last resort, and there meet with the +reversal and rebuke it deserved, men were imprisoned under +sentences of many years' duration. + +The people contested these measures one by one in the courts; +presenting in case after case the different phases of the +subject, and urging the unconstitutionality of the measure. Then +the Church was disincorporated, and its property both real and +personal confiscated and escheated to the government of the +United States; and although the personal property was soon +restored, real estate of great value long lay in the hands of the +court's receiver, and the "Mormon" Church had to pay the national +government high rental on its own property. But the people have +suspended the practise of plural marriage; and the testimony of +the governors, judges, and district attorneys of the territory, +and later that of the officers of the state, have declared the +sincerity of the renunciation. + +As the people had adopted the practise under what was believed to +be divine approval, they suspended it when they were justified in +so doing. In whatever light this practise has been regarded in +the past, it is today a dead issue, forbidden by ecclesiastical +rule as it is prohibited by legal statute. And the world is +learning, to its manifest surprise, that plural marriage and +"Mormonism" are not synonymous terms. + + ----------- + +And so the story of "Mormonism" runs on; its finale has not yet +been written; the current press presents continuously new stages +of its progress, new developments of its plan. Today the Church +of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is stronger than ever +before; and the people are confident that it is at its weakest +stage for all time to come. It lives and thrives because within +it are the elements of thrift and the forces of life. It +embraces a boundless liberality of belief and practise; true +toleration is one of its essential features; it makes love for +mankind second only to love for Deity. Its creed provides for +the protection of all men in their rights of worship according to +the dictates of conscience. It contemplates a millennium of +peace, when every man shall love his neighbor and respect his +neighbor's opinion as he regards himself and his own--a day when +the voice of the people shall be in unison with the voice of God. + + + +THE PHILOSOPHY OF "MORMONISM" + + + +CHAPTER I + +In this attempt to treat the philosophy of "Mormonism" it is +assumed that no discussion of Christianity in general nor of the +philosophy of Christianity is required. The "Mormon" creed, so +far as there is a creed professed by the Latter-day Saints, is +pre-eminently Christian in theory, precept, and practise. In +what respect, then, may be properly asked, does "Mormonism" +differ from the faith and practise of other professedly Christian +systems--in short, what is "Mormonism?" + +First, let it be remembered that the term "Mormon," with its +derivatives, is not the official designation of the Church with +which it is usually associated. The name was originally applied +in a spirit of derision, as a nick-name in fact, by the opponents +of the Church; and was doubtless suggested by the title of a +prominent publication given to the world through Joseph Smith in +an early period of the Church's history. This, of course, is the +Book of Mormon. Nevertheless, the people have accepted the name +thus thrust upon them, and answer readily to its call. The +proper title of the organization is "The Church of Jesus Christ +of Latter-day Saints." The philosophy of "Mormonism" is declared +in the name. The people claim this name as having been bestowed +by revelation and therefore that, like other names given of God +as attested by scriptural instances, it is at once name and title +combined. + +The Church declines to sail under any flag of man-made design; it +repudiates the name of mortals as a part of its title, and thus +differs from Lutherans and Wesleyans, Calvinists, Mennonites, and +many others, all of whom, worthy though their organizations may +be, elevating as may be their precepts, good as may be their +practises, declare themselves the followers of men. This is not +the church of Moses nor the prophets, of Paul nor of Cephas, of +Apollos nor of John; neither of Joseph Smith nor of Brigham +Young. It asserts its proud claim as the Church of Jesus Christ. + +It refuses to wear a name indicative of distinctive or peculiar +doctrines; and in this particular, it differs from churches +Catholic and Protestant, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, +Unitarian, Methodist and Baptist; its sole distinguishing +features are those of the Church of Christ. + +In an effort to present in concise form the cardinal doctrines of +this organization, I cannot do better than quote the so-called +_Articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day +Saints_, which have been in published form before the world for +over half a century.[4] + +[Footnote 4: For extended treatment of "Mormon" doctrine see "The +Articles of Faith: a Series of Lectures on the Principal +Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," by +James E. Talmage. Published by the Church: Salt Lake City, Utah; +485 pp.] + + 1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, + Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. + + 2. We believe that men will be punished for their own + sins, and not for Adam's transgression. + + 3. We believe that, through the atonement of Christ, all + mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and + ordinances of the gospel. + + 4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances + of the gospel are: First, Faith in the Lord Jesus + Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion + for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands + for the gift of the Holy Ghost. + + 5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by + prophecy, and by the laying on of hands, by those who + are in authority, to preach the gospel and administer in + the ordinances thereof. + + 6. We believe in the same organization that existed in + the primitive church, namely, apostles, prophets, + pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc. + + 7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, + revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, + etc. + + 8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as + it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of + Mormon to be the word of God. + + 9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that he + does now reveal, and we believe that he will yet reveal + many great and important things pertaining to the + Kingdom of God. + + 10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in + the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion will be + built upon this [the American] continent; that Christ + will reign personally upon the earth, and that the earth + will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory. + + 11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God + according to the dictates of our own conscience, and + allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, + where, or what they may. + + 12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, + rulers and magistrates, in obeying, honoring and + sustaining the law. + + 13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, + benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; + indeed we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul, + We believe all things, we hope all things, we have + endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all + things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of + good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these + things.--JOSEPH SMITH. + +This brief summary of "Mormon" doctrine appears over the +signature of Joseph Smith--the man whom the Latter-day Saints +accept as the instrument in divine hands of re-establishing the +Church of Christ on earth, in this the Dispensation of the +Fulness of Times. Let it not be supposed, however, that these +Articles of Faith are, or profess to be, a complete code of the +doctrines of the Church, for, as declared in one of the +"Articles," belief in continuous revelation from Heaven is a +characteristic feature of "Mormonism." Yet it is to be noted +that no doctrine has been promulgated, which by even strained +interpretation could be construed as antagonistic to this early +declaration of faith. Nor has any revelation to the Church yet +appeared in opposition to earlier revelation of this or of +by-gone dispensations. + +To most of the declarations in the Articles of Faith, many sects +professing Christianity could confidently pledge allegiance; to +many of them, all Christian organizations could and professedly +do subscribe. Belief in the existence and powers of the Supreme +Trinity; in Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer of mankind; +in man's individual accountability for his doings; in the +acceptance of sacred writ as the Word of God; in the rights of +Worship according to the dictates of conscience; in all the moral +virtues;--these professions and beliefs are as a common creed in +the realm of Christendom. There is no peculiarly "Mormon" +interpretation, in the light of which these principles of faith +and practise are viewed by the Latter-day Saints, except in a +certain simplicity and literalness of acceptance--gross +literalness, unrefined materialism, it has been called by some +critical opponents. + +The gospel plan as accepted and taught by the Latter-day Saints +is strikingly simple; disappointing in its simplicity, indeed, to +the mind that can find satisfaction in mysteries alone, and to +him whose love for metaphor, symbolism, and imagery are stronger +than his devotion to truth itself, which may or may not be thus +embellished. The Church asserts that the wisdom of human +learning, while ranking among the choicest of earthly +possessions, is not essential to an understanding of the gospel; +and that the preacher of the Word must be otherwise endowed than +by the learning of the schoolmen. "Mormonism" is for the +wayfaring man, not less than for the scholar, and it possesses a +simplicity adapting it to the one as to the other. A few of the +characteristically "Mormon" tenets may perhaps be profitably +considered. + +"Mormonism" affirms its unqualified belief in the Godhead as the +Holy Trinity, comprising Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; each of the +three a separate and individual personage; the Father and the Son +each a personage of spirit and of immortalized body; the Holy +Ghost a personage of spirit. + +The unity of the Godhead is accepted in the literal fulness of +scriptural declaration--that the three are one in purpose, plan +and method, alike in all their Godly attributes; one in their +divine omniscience and omnipotence; yet as separate and distinct +in their personality as are any three inhabitants of earth. +"Mormonism" claims that scriptures declaring the oneness of the +Trinity admit of this interpretation; that such indeed is the +natural interpretation; and that the conception is in accord with +reason. + +We hold that mankind are literally the spiritual children of God; +that even as the Christ had an existence with the Father before +coming to earth to take upon himself a tabernacle of flesh, to +live and to die as a man in accordance with the fore-ordained +plan of redemption, so, too, every child of earth had an +existence in the spirit-state before entering upon this mortal +probation. We hold the doctrine to be reasonable, scriptural and +true, that mortal birth is no more the beginning of the soul's +existence than is death its end. + +The time-span of mortal life is but one stage in the soul's +career, separating the eternity that has preceded from the +eternity that is to follow. And this mortal existence is one of +the Father's great gifts to his spiritual children, affording +them the opportunity of an untrammeled exercise of their free +agency, the privilege of meeting temptation and of resisting it +if they will, the chance to win exaltation and eternal life. + +We claim that all men are equal as to earthly rights and human +privileges; but that each has individual capacity and +capabilities; that in the primeval world there were spirits noble +and great, as there were others of lesser power and inferior +purpose. There is no chance in the number or nature of spirits +that are born to earth; all who are entitled to the privileges of +mortality and have been assigned to this sphere shall come at the +time appointed, and shall return to inherit each the glory or the +degradation to which he has shown himself adapted. The gospel as +understood by the Latter-day Saints affirms the unconditional +free-agency of man--his right to accept good or evil, to choose +the means of eternal progression or the opposite, to worship as +he elects, or to refuse to worship at all--and then to take the +consequences of his choice. + +"Mormonism" rejects what it regards as a heresy, the false +doctrine of pre-destination as an absolute compulsion or even as +an irresistible tendency forced upon the individual toward right +or wrong--as a pre-appointment to eventual exaltation or +condemnation; yet it affirms that the infinite wisdom and +fore-knowledge of God makes plain to him the end from the +beginning; and that he can read in the natures and dispositions +of his children, their destiny. + +"Mormonism" claims an actual and literal relationship of parent +and child between the Creator and man--not in the figurative +sense in which the engine may be called the child of its builder; +not the relationship of a thing mechanically made to the maker +thereof; but the kinship of father and offspring. In short it is +bold enough to declare that man's spirit being the offspring of +Deity, and man's body though of earthy components yet being in +the very image and likeness of God, man even in his present +degraded--aye, fallen condition--still possesses, if only in a +latent state, inherited traits, tendencies and powers that tell +of his more than royal descent; and that these may be developed +so as to make him, even while mortal, in a measure Godlike. + +But "Mormonism" is bolder yet. It asserts that in accordance +with the inviolable law of organic nature--that like shall beget +like, and that multiplication of numbers and perpetuation of +species shall be in compliance with the condition "each after his +kind," the child may achieve the former status of the parent, and +that in his mortal condition man is a God in embryo. However far +in the future it may be, what ages may elapse, what eternities +may pass before any individual now a mortal being may attain the +rank and sanctity of godship, man nevertheless carries in his +soul the possibilities of such achievement; even as the crawling +caterpillar or the corpse-like chrysalis holds the latent +possibility, nay, barring destruction, the certainty indeed, of +the winged imago in all the glory of maturity. + +"Mormonism" claims that all nature, both on earth and in heaven, +operates on a plan of advancement; that the very Eternal Father +is a progressive Being; that his perfection, while so complete as +to be incomprehensible by man, possesses this essential quality +of true perfection--the capacity of eternal increase. That +therefore, in the far future, beyond the horizon of eternities +perchance, man may attain the status of a God. Yet this does not +mean that he shall be then the equal of the Deity he now worships +nor that he shall ever overtake those intelligences that are +already beyond him in advancement; for to assert such would be to +argue that there is no progression beyond a certain stage of +attainment, and that advancement is a characteristic of low +organization and inferior purpose alone. We believe that there +was more than the sounding of brass or the tinkling of wordy +cymbals in the fervent admonition of the Christ to his +followers--"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is +in heaven is perfect." (Matt. 5:48.) + +But it is beyond dispute that in his present state, man is far +from the condition of even a relatively perfect being. He is +born heir to the weaknesses as well as to the excellencies of +generations of ancestors; he inherits potent tendencies for both +good and evil; and verily, it seems that in the flesh he has to +suffer for the sins of his progenitors. But divine blessings are +not to be reckoned in terms of earthly possessions or bodily +excellencies alone; the child born under conditions of adversity +may after all be richly endowed with opportunity, opportunity +which, perhaps, had been less of service amid the surroundings of +luxury. We hold that the Father has an individual interest in +his children; and that surely in the rendering of divine +judgment, the conditions under which each soul has lived in +mortality shall be considered. + +"Mormonism" accepts the doctrine of the Fall, and the account of +the transgression in Eden, as set forth in Genesis; but it +affirms that none but Adam is or shall be answerable for Adam's +disobedience; that mankind in general are absolutely absolved +from responsibility for that "original sin," and that each shall +account for his own transgressions alone; that the Fall was +foreknown of God--that it was turned to good effect by which the +necessary condition of mortality should be inaugurated; and that +a Redeemer was provided, before the world was; that general +salvation, in the sense of redemption from the effects of the +Fall, comes to all without their seeking it; but that individual +salvation or rescue from the effects of personal sins is to be +acquired by each for himself by faith and good works through the +redemption wrought by Jesus Christ. The Church holds that +children are born to earth in a sinless state, that they need no +individual redemption; that should they die before reaching years +of accountability, they return without taint of earthly sin; but +as they attain youth or maturity in the flesh, their +responsibility increases with their development. + +According to the teachings of "Mormonism," Christ's instructions +to the people to pray "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on +earth as it is in heaven" was not a petition for the impossible, +but a fore-shadowing of what shall eventually be. We believe +that the day shall yet come when the Kingdom of God on earth +shall be one with the Kingdom in heaven; and one King shall rule +in both. The Church is regarded as the beginning of this Kingdom +on earth; though until the coming of the King, there is no +authority in the Church exercising or claiming temporal rule or +dominion among the governments of earth. Yet the Church is none +the less the beginning of the Kingdom, the germ from which the +Kingdom shall develop. + +And the Church must be in direct communication with the heavenly +Kingdom of which the earthly Kingdom when established shall be a +part. Of such a nature was the Church in so far as it existed +before the time of Christ's earthly ministry; for the biblical +record is replete with instances of direct communication between +the prophets and their God. The scriptures are silent as to a +single dispensation in which the spiritual leaders of the people +depended upon the records of earlier times and by-gone ages for +their guidance; but on the contrary, the evidence is complete +that in every stage of the Church's history the God of heaven +communicated his mind and will unto his earthly representatives. +Israel of old were led and governed in all matters spiritual and +to a great extent in their temporal affairs by the direct word of +revelation. Noah did not depend upon the record of God's +dealings with Adam or Enoch, but was directed by the very word +and voice of the God whom he represented. Moses was no mere +theologian trained for his authority or acts on what God had said +to Abraham, to Isaac, or to Jacob; he acted in accordance with +instructions given unto him from time to time, as the +circumstances of his ministry required. And so on through all +the line of prophets, major and minor, down to the priest of the +course of Abia unto whom the angel announced the birth of John +who was to be the direct fore-runner of the Messiah. + +When the Christ came in the flesh he declared that he acted not +of himself but according to instructions given him of the Father. +Thus the Messiah was a revelator, receiving while in the flesh +communication direct and frequent from the heavens. By such +revelation he was guided in his earthly ministry; by such he +instructed his disciples; unto such he taught his apostles to +look for safe guidance when he would have left them. + +During his earthly ministry Christ called and ordained men to +offices in the Church. We have a record of apostles +particularly, numbering twelve, and beside these, seventy others +who were commissioned to preach, teach, baptize and perform other +ordinances of the Church. After our Lord's departure, we read of +the apostles continuing their labors in the light of continued +revelation. By this sure guide they selected and set apart those +who were to officiate in the Church. By revelation, Peter was +directed to carry the gospel to the Gentiles; which expansion of +the work was inaugurated by the conversion of the devout +Cornelius and his household. By revelation, Saul of Tarsus +became Paul the Apostle, a valiant defender of the faith. Holy +men of old spake and wrote as they were moved upon by the Holy +Ghost and depended not upon the precedents of ancient history nor +entirely upon the law then already written. They operated under +the conviction that the living Church must be in communication +with its living Head; and that the work of God, while it was to +be wrought out through the instrumentality of man, was to be +directed by him whose work it was, and is. + +"Mormonism" claims the same necessity to exist today. It holds +that it is no more nearly possible now than it was in the days of +the ancient prophets or in the apostolic age for the Church of +Christ to exist without direct and continuous revelation from +God. This necessitates the existence and authorized +ministrations of prophets, apostles, high priests, seventies, +elders, bishops, priests, teachers and deacons, now as +anciently--not men selected by men without authority, clothed by +human ceremonial alone, nor men with the empty names of office, +but men who bear the title because they possess the authority, +having been called of God. + +Is it unreasonable, is it unphilosophical, thus to look for +additional light and knowledge? Shall religion be the one +department of human thought and effort in which progression is +impossible? What would we say of the chemist, the astronomer, +the physicist, or the geologist, who would proclaim that no +further discovery or revelation of scientific truth is possible, +or who would declare that the only occupation open to students of +science is to con the books of by-gone times and to apply the +principles long ago made known, since none others shall ever be +discovered? + +The chief motive impelling to research and investigation is the +conviction that to knowledge and wisdom there is no end. +"Mormonism" affirms that all wisdom is of God, that the halo of +his glory is intelligence, and that man has not yet learned all +there is to learn of him and his ways. We hold that the doctrine +of continuous revelation from God is not less philosophical and +scientific than scriptural. + + + +CHAPTER II + +The Latter-day Saints affirm that the authority to act in the +name of God--the Holy Priesthood--has been restored to earth in +this dispensation and age, in accordance with the inspired +predictions of earlier times. But, it may be asked, what +necessity was there for a restoration if the Priesthood had been +once established upon earth? None indeed, had it never been +taken away. A general apostasy from the primitive Church is +conceded in effect by some authorities in ecclesiastical history; +though few admit the entire discontinuance of priestly power, or +the full suspension of authority to operate in the ordinances of +the Church. This great apostasy was foretold. Paul warned the +Saints of Thessalonica against those who claimed that the second +coming of Christ was then near at hand: "For," said he, "that day +shall not come except there come a falling away first." (II +Thess. 2:3.) "Mormonism" contends that there has been a general +falling away from the Church of Christ, dating from the time +immediately following the apostolic period. We believe that the +proper interpretation of history will confirm this view; and, +moreover, that the inspired scriptures foretold just such a +condition.[5] + +[Footnote 5: See "The Great Apostasy: Considered in the Light of +Scriptural and Secular History," by James E. Talmage. Published +by the _Deseret News_, Salt Lake City, Utah; 176 pp.] + +If the Priesthood had been once taken from the earth no human +power could re-establish it; the restoration of this authority +from heaven would be necessary. The Church claims that in the +present age this restoration has been effected by the personal +ministrations of those who exercised the authority in earlier +dispensations. Thus, in 1829, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery +received the Lesser or Aaronic Priesthood under the hands of John +the Baptist, who visited them as a resurrected being--the same +Baptist who by special and divine commission held the authority +of that Priesthood in the dispensation of the "Meridian of Time." +Later, the Higher or Melchizedek Priesthood was conferred upon +them through the personal ministrations of Peter, James, and +John--the same three who constituted the presidency of the +apostolic body in the primitive Church, after the departure of +the Lord Jesus Christ by whom it was founded. + +That the claim is a bold one is conceded without argument. The +Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints professes to have the +Priesthood of old restored in its fulness; and, moreover, while +acknowledging the right of every individual as of every sect or +other organization of individuals to believe and practise +according to choice in matters religious, it affirms that it is +the only Church on the face of the earth possessing this +authority and Priesthood; and that therefore it is _The Church_ +and the only Church of Christ upon the earth today. It holds as +absolutely indispensable to proper Church organization, the +presence of the living oracles of God who shall be directed from +the heavens in their earthly ministry; and these, "Mormonism" +asserts, are to be found with the Church of Jesus Christ. + +"Mormonism" emphasizes the doctrine that that which is Caesar's +be given unto Caesar, while that which is God's be rendered unto +him. Therefore, it teaches that all things pertaining unto +earth, and unto man's earthly affairs, may with propriety be +regulated by earthly authority, but that in the performance of +any ordinance, rite, or ceremony, claimed to be of effect beyond, +the grave, a power greater than that of man is requisite or the +performance is void. Therefore, membership in the Church, which, +if of any value and significance at all, is of more than temporal +meaning, must be governed by laws which are prescribed by the +powers of heaven. "Mormonism" recognizes Jesus Christ as the +head of the Church, as the literal Savior and Redeemer of +mankind, as the King of kings and Lord of lords, as the One whose +right it is to reign on earth, who shall yet subdue all worldly +kingdoms under his feet, who shall present the earth in its final +state of redemption to the Father. It is his right to prescribe +the conditions under which mankind may be made partakers of his +bounty and of the privileges of the victory won by him over death +and the grave. + +The Church claims that faith in God is essential to intelligent +service of him; and that faith, trust, confidence in God as the +Father of mankind, as the Supreme Being to whom all shall render +account of their deeds and misdeeds, must lead to a desire to +serve him and thus produce repentance. Faith in God and genuine +repentance of sin, of necessity, therefore constitute the +fundamental principles of the gospel. It is reasonable to expect +that after man has developed faith in God, and has repented of +his sins, he will be eager to find a means of demonstrating his +sincerity; and this means is found in the requirement concerning +baptism as essential to entrance into the Church, and as a means +whereby remission of sins may be obtained. As to the mode of +baptism, the Church affirms that immersion alone is the one +method sanctioned by scripture, and that this mode has been +expressly prescribed by revelation in the present dispensation. + +Water baptism, then, becomes a basic principle and the first +essential ordinance of the gospel. It is to be administered by +one having authority; and that authority rests in the Priesthood +given of God. Following baptism by water, comes the ordinance of +the bestowal of the Holy Ghost by the authorized imposition of +hands, which constitutes the true baptism of the Spirit. These +requirements, designated specifically the "first principles and +ordinances of the gospel," "Mormonism" claims to be absolutely +essential to membership in the Church of Christ, and this without +modification or qualification as to the time at which the +individual lived in mortality. + +Then with propriety it may be asked:--What shall become of those +who lived and died while the Priesthood was not operative upon +the earth?--those who have worked out their mortal probation +during the ages of the great apostasy? Furthermore, what shall +be the destiny of those who, though living in a time of spiritual +light, perhaps had not the opportunity of learning and obeying +the gospel requirements? Here again the inherent justice of +"Mormon" philosophy shows itself in the doctrine of salvation for +the dead. No distinction is made between the living and the dead +in the solemn declaration of the Savior to Nicodemus, which +appears to have been given the widest possible application,--that +except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter +into the Kingdom of God. (John 3:1-5.) + +"Mormonism" proclaims something more than a heaven and a hell, to +one or the other of which all spirits of men shall be assigned, +perhaps on the basis of a very narrow margin of merit or demerit. +As it affirms the existence of an infinite range of graded +intelligences, so it claims the widest and fullest gradation of +conditions of future existence. It holds that the honest, +though, perchance, mistaken soul who lived or tried to live +according to the light he had received, shall be counted among +the honorable of the earth, and shall find opportunity, if not +here then in the hereafter, for compliance with the requirements +essential for salvation. It teaches that repentance with all its +attendant blessings shall be possible beyond the grave; but that +inasmuch as the change we call death does not transform the +character of the soul, repentance there will be difficult for him +who has ruthlessly and willfully rejected the manifold +opportunities afforded him for repentance here. It asserts that +even the heathen devotee who may have bowed down to stocks and +stones, if in so doing he was obeying the highest law of worship +which to his benighted soul had come, shall have part in the +first resurrection, and shall be afforded the opportunity, which +on earth he had not found, of doing that which is required of +God's children for salvation. And for all the dead who have been +without the privileges, perhaps indeed without the knowledge, of +compliance with Christ's law, there shall be given opportunity in +the hereafter. + +Nevertheless, this life of ours is no trifle, no insignificant +incident in the soul's eternal course, having but small and +temporal importance, the omissions of which can be rectified with +ease by the individual beyond the veil. If compliance with the +divine law as exemplified by the requirements of faith, +repentance, baptism, and the bestowal of the right to the +ministrations of the Holy Ghost, are essential to the salvation +of those few who just now are counted among the living, such is +not less necessary for those who once were living but now are +dead. Who are the living of today but those who shortly shall be +added to the uncounted dead? Who are the dead but those who at +some time have lived in mortality? + +Christ has been ordained to be judge of both quick and dead; he +is Lord of living and dead as man uses these terms, for all live +unto him. How then shall the dead receive the blessings and +ordinances denied to them or by them neglected while in the +flesh? "Mormonism" answers: By the vicarious work of the living +in their behalf! It was this great and privileged labor to which +the prophet Malachi referred in his solemn declaration, that +before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, Elijah should be +sent with the commission to turn the hearts of the fathers to the +children and the hearts of the children to the fathers. Elijah's +visitation to earth has been realized. On the 3rd of April, in +the year 1836, there appeared unto Joseph Smith and Oliver +Cowdery, in the temple erected by the. Latter-day Saints at +Kirtland, Ohio, Elijah the prophet, who announced that the time +spoken of by Malachi had fully come; then and there he bestowed +the authority, for this dispensation, to inaugurate and carry on +this labor in behalf of the departed. + +As to the fidelity with which the Latter-day Saints have sought +to discharge the duties thus divinely required at their hands, +let the temples erected in poverty as in relative prosperity--by +the blood and tears of the people--testify. Two of these great +edifices were constructed by the Latter-day Saints in the days of +their tribulation, in times of their direst persecution,--one at +Kirtland, Ohio, the other at Nauvoo, Illinois. The first is +still standing, though no longer possessed by the people who +built it; and no longer employed for the furtherance of the +purposes of its erection; the second fell a prey to flames +enkindled by mobocratic hate. Four others have been constructed +in the vales of Utah, and are today in service, dedicated to the +blessing of the living, and particularly to the vicarious labor +of the living in behalf of the dead. In them the ordinances of +baptism, and the laying on of hands for the bestowal of the Holy +Ghost, are performed upon the living representatives of the +dead.[6] + +[Footnote 6: For a detailed treatment of Temples and Temple labor +among the Latter-day Saints, including a study of the doctrine of +vicarious labor for the dead, see "The House of the Lord, a Study +of Holy Sanctuaries Ancient and Modern," including forty-six +plates illustrative of modern Temples; by James E. Talmage. +Published by the Church: Salt Lake City, Utah; 336 pp.] + +But this labor for the dead is two-fold; it comprises the proper +performance of the required ordinances on earth, and the +preaching of the gospel to the departed. Shall we suppose that +all of God's good gifts to his children are restricted to the +narrow limits of mortal existence? We are told of the +inauguration of this great missionary labor in the spirit world, +as effected by the Christ himself. After his resurrection, and +immediately following the period during which his body had lain +in the tomb guarded by the soldiery, he declared to the sorrowing +Magdalene that he had not at that time ascended to his Father; +and, in the light of his dying promise to the penitent malefactor +who suffered on a cross by his side, we learn that he had been in +paradise. Peter also tells us of his labors--that he was +preaching to the spirits in prison, to those who had been +disobedient in the days of Noah when the long-suffering of God +waited while the ark was preparing. If it was deemed necessary +or just that the gospel be carried to spirits that were +disobedient or neglectful in the days of Noah, are we justified +in concluding that others who have rejected or neglected the word +of God shall be left in a state of perpetual condemnation? + +"Mormonism" claims that not only shall the gospel be carried to +the living, and be preached to every creature, but that the great +missionary labor, the burden of which has been placed on the +Church, must of necessity be extended to the realm of the dead. +It declares unequivocally that without compliance with the +requirements established by Jesus Christ, no soul can be saved +from the fate of the condemned; but that opportunity shall be +given to every one in the season of his fitness to receive it, be +he heathen or civilized, living or dead. + +The whole duty of man is to live and work according to the +highest laws of right made known to him, to walk according to the +best light that has been shed about his path; and while Justice +shall deny to every soul that has not rendered obedience to the +law, entrance into the kingdom of the blessed, Mercy shall claim +opportunity for all who, have shown themselves willing to receive +the truth and obey its behests. + +It will be seen, then, that "Mormonism" offers no modified or +conditional claims as to the necessity of compliance with the +laws and ordinances of the gospel by every responsible inhabitant +of earth unto whom salvation shall come. It distinguishes not +between enlightened and heathen nations, nor between men of high +and low intelligence; nor even between the living and the dead. +No human being who has attained years of accountability in the +flesh, may hope for salvation in the kingdom of God until he has +rendered obedience to the requirements of Christ, the Redeemer of +the world. + +But while thus decisive, "Mormonism" is not exclusive. It does +not claim that all who have failed to accept and obey the gospel +of eternal life shall be eternally and forever damned. While +boldly asserting that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day +Saints is the sole repository of the Holy Priesthood as now +restored to earth, it teaches and demands the fullest toleration +for all individuals, and organizations of individuals, professing +righteousness; and holds that each shall be rewarded for the +measure of good he has wrought, to be adjudged in accordance with +the spiritual knowledge he has gained. For such high claims +combined with such professions of tolerance, the Church has been +accused of inconsistency. Let it not be forgotten, however, that +toleration is not acceptance. I may believe with the utmost +fulness of my soul's powers that I am right and my neighbor is +wrong concerning any proposition or principle; but such +conviction gives me no semblance of right for interfering with +his exercise of freedom. The only bounds to the liberty of an +individual are such as mark the liberty of another, or the rights +of the community. God himself treats as sacred, and therefore as +inviolable, the freedom of the human soul. + + "Know this, that every soul is free + To choose his life and what he'll be; + For this eternal truth is given, + That God will force no man to heaven. + + "He'll call, persuade, direct aright, + Bless him with wisdom, love, and light; + In nameless ways be good and kind, + But never force the human mind." + +"Mormonism" contends that no man or nation possesses the right to +forcibly deprive even the heathen of his right to worship his +deity. Though idolatry has been marked from the earliest ages +with the seal of divine disfavor, it may represent in the +unenlightened soul the sincerest reverence of which the person is +capable. He should be taught better, but not compelled to render +worship which to him is false because in violation of his +conscience. + +In further defense of the Latter-day Saints against the charge of +inconsistency for this their tolerance toward others whom they +verily believe to be wrong, let me again urge the cardinal +principle that every man is accountable for his acts, and shall +be judged in the light of the law as made known to him. + +There is no claim of universal forgiveness; no unwarranted +glorification of Mercy to the degrading or neglect of Justice; no +thought that a single sin of omission or of commission shall fail +to leave its wound or scar. In the great future there shall be +found a place for every soul, whatever his grade of spiritual +intelligence may be. "In my Father's house are many mansions," +(John 14:2), declared the Savior to his apostles; and Paul adds, +"There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but the +glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial +is another. There is one glory of the sun and another glory of +the moon and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth +from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the +dead," (I Cor. 15:40-42). The Latter-day Saints claim a +revelation of the present dispensation as supplementing the +scripture just quoted. From this later scripture (see D&C, Sec. +76), we learn that there are three well-defined degrees in the +future state, with numerous, perhaps numberless, gradations. + +There is the _celestial state_ provided for those who have lived +the whole law, who have accepted the testimony of the Christ, who +have complied with the required ordinances of the gospel, who +have been valiant in the cause of virtue and truth. Then there +is the _terrestrial state_, comparable to the first as is the +moon to the sun. This shall be given to the less valiant, to +many who are nevertheless among the worthy men of the earth, but +who perchance have been deceived as to the gospel and its +requirements. The _telestial state_ is for those who have failed +to live according to the light given them; those who have had to +suffer the results of their sins; those who have been of Moses, +of Paul, of Apollos, and of any one of a multitude of others, but +not of the Christ. + +We hold that there is a wide difference between salvation and +exaltation; that there are infinite gradations beyond the grave +as there are here, and as there were in the state preceding this. + +"Mormonism" is frequently spoken of as a new religion, and the +Church as a new church, a mere addition of one to the many sects +that have so long striven for recognition and ascendency among +men. It is new only as the springtime following the darkness and +the cold of the year's night is new. The Church is a new one +only as the ripening fruit is a new development in the course of +the tree's growth. In a general and true sense, "Mormonism" is +not new to the world. It is founded on the gospel of Christ +which antedates this earth. The establishment of the Church in +the present age was but a restoration. True, the Church is +progressive as it ever has been; it is therefore productive of +more and greater things as the years link themselves into the +centuries; but the living seed contains within its husk all the +possibilities of the mature plant. + +This so-called new, modern gospel is in fact the old one, the +first one, come again. It demands the organization and the +authority characteristic of the Church in former days, when there +was a Church of God upon the earth; it expects no more +consideration, and scarcely hopes for greater popularity, than +were accorded the primitive Church. Opposition, persecution, and +martyrdom have been its portion, but these tribulations it +accepts, knowing well that to bear such has been the lot of the +true Church in every age. + +"Mormonism" is more than a code of morals; it claims a higher +rank than that of an organization of men planned and instituted +by the wisdom and philosophy of men, however worthy. It draws a +distinction between morality and religion; and affirms that human +duty is not comprised in a mere avoidance of sin. It regards the +strictest morality as an indispensable feature of every religious +system claiming in any degree divine recognition; and yet it +looks upon morality as but the alphabet from which the words and +sentences of a truly religious life may be framed. However +euphonious the words, however eloquent the periods, to make the +writing of highest worth there must be present the divine +thought; and this, man of himself cannot conceive. + +It affirms that there was a yesterday as there is a today, and +shall be a tomorrow, in the dealings of God with men; that + + Through the ages one increasing purpose runs; + +and that purpose,--the working out of a divine plan, the ultimate +object of which is the salvation and exaltation of the human +family. + +The central feature of that plan was the earthly ministry and +redeeming sacrifice of the Christ in the meridian of time; the +consummation shall be ushered in by the return of that same +Christ to earth as the Rewarder of righteousness, the Avenger of +iniquity, and as the world's Judge. + +The Church holds that in the light of revelation, ancient and +modern, and by a fair interpretation of the signs of the times, +the second coming of the Redeemer is near at hand. The present +is the final dispensation of the earth in its present state; +these are the last days of which the prophets in all ages have +sung. + +But of what use are theories and philosophies of religion without +practical application? Of what avail is belief as a mere mental +assent or denial? Let it develop into virile faith; vitalize it; +animate it; then it becomes a moving power. The Latter-day +Saints point with some confidence to what they have attempted and +begun, and to the little they have already done in the line of +their convictions, as proof of their sincerity. + +For the second coming of the Redeemer, preparation is demanded of +men; and today, instead of the single priest crying in the +wilderness of Judaea, there are thousands going forth among the +nations with a message as definite and as important as that of +the Baptist; and their proclamation is a reiteration of the voice +in the desert--"Repent Repent! for the Kingdom of Heaven is at +hand." + + +The philosophy of "Mormonism" rests on the literal acceptance of +a living, personal God, and on the unreserved compliance with his +law as from time to time revealed. + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE STORY OF "MORMONISM" *** + +This file should be named 5630.txt or 5630.zip + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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