MORMON AND INDIAN OUTRAGE. -- The Warsaw Signal of the 4th [ult]. confirms a rumor put forth the week previous, in relation to the fate of Lyman Wight and his band of Mormons, in a fight at a trading station, about ninety miles from Prairie du Chein. It appears that Wight's band were suffering for the want of provisions, but he would not let them disperse over the country to find employment. In order to relieve them, he went to the traders and finding that they had flour, he tried to get some on credit; but was refused. He then took thirty men, and told the traders that if they did not let him have the flour he would take it. He was defied, and made the attack on the store. The French and Indians fired on his men and killed four on the spot, and it is supposed that nearly all fell in the retreat.


Notes: (forthcoming)

ONE HUNDRED MORMONS SHOT. -- The western Illinois and Iowa papers of the 14th of Jan. bring reports that the party of Mormons who recently left Nauvoo, for the purpose of settling in the "Pinery" (high up the Mississippi River) have all been murdered! Having got into a dispute at a French trading establishment, about the price of some provisions, which they thought exorbitant, they unceremoniously helped themselves to whatever they wanted; which so exasperated the Frenchmen that they called in the aid of the Indians and massacred 100 of the Mormon party, amounting in all to 300 or 400. The Green Bay Republican gives the same report.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE MORMONS. -- The Saint Louis Reporter says: -- We learn from the Warsaw Signal, that "most of the friends of Rigdon, who still remain in Nauvoo, have been despoiled of their property, and live in constant fear of their lives. One of these, Elder Marks, a man of wealth, fled from that city last week, in the night. Others are are anxious to go, but are afraid to avow it. A young man -- a printer, by the name of Peck, well known in Quincy -- was knocked down not long since, in the streets of Nauvoo, and after being shamefully abused, a bucket of filth was poured over him. His offence was, in having said that he wished it were in his power to prick the veins of the 'twelve.'" -- J. Com.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The friends of Rigdon, who still remain in Nauvoo, have been despoiled of their property and have a constant fear for their lives. Abuses, barbarous and shameful, have been perpetrated upon them. Rigdon has exposed some of the iniquitous tricks of the prophet and his "twelve apostles."


Notes: (forthcoming)

 
(letter from Hancock Co., IL -- under construction)

Note: The letter is dated April 7, 1845. It tells about anti-Mormon activities, Col. Backenstoss, etc. -- mentions Mr. Elliott's escape recent from jail.

 
(letter from Hancock Co., IL -- under construction)

Note: The letter is dated June 6, 1845 -- signed "Macedonius." It tells about the murder of the Smiths and the trial for those charged in the assassination.

Though Sidney Rigdon has left the congregation at Nauvoo, and even made an exposure of their tricks, he has by no means, eschewed Mormonism, but on the contrary was 'set up for himself' at Pittsburgh. Here he has established a newspaper which he calls 'The Messenger and Advocate.' In this journal he pretends to all sorts of revelations from heaven -- to the ability to work miracles -- and to other supernatural powers. He says that he stopped the great fire at Pittsburgh by prayer, he saw heavenly messengers appear in, and then leave the room, after which the course of the wind was changed. He also put forth the following story.

"During the time of prayer, there appeared over our heads, a ray of light forming a hollow square inside of which stood a company of heavenly messengers, each with a banner in his hand, with their eyes looking downward upon us, their countenances expressive of the deep interest they felt in what was then passing on the earth; there also appeared heavenly messengers on horseback with crowns upon their heads, and plumes floating in the air, dressed in glorious attire until, like Elisha, we cried in our hearts, 'The chariots of Israel, and the horsemen thereof;' even my little son of fourteen years, saw the vision and gazed with great astonishment -- saying that he thought his imagination was running away with him; after which we arose and lifted our hands to heaven in holy convocation to God, at which time, it was shown an angel in heaven, registering the acceptance of our work, and the decrees of the Great God, that the kingdom is ours and we shall prevail -- my anxieties therefore, in relation to our work in organizing the kingdom, and the acceptance of that organization, by our heavenly Father, is now forever at rest.'

He is gathering around him a number of deluded wretches, who fully credit all he says, and seem to strive with each other who will be the greatest dupe. -- Neal's Gazette.


Notes: (forthcoming)

A Mormon Elder Caught. -- Charles Chrisman, a Mormon Elder, was caught in Hancock County, Illinois, a few days ago, in the act of carrying off railroad iron which he had stolen from the Railroad between Jacksonville and Meredosia. He had taken thrrr loads before, amounting to more than two tons.

---

Trouble in the Holy City. -- It is rumored that Bill Smith is making trouble for the Twelve, in Nauvoo and will either compel them quietly to surrender their power and submit to him, or else he will throw himself in open rebellion. in consequence of the sickness and death of his wife, Smith has been comparatively quiet since his arrival in the city; but there are many points in which he has disagreed with the leaders of the church, which has led to coldness if not hostility.


Notes: (forthcoming)

MORMON WAR. It is a time of riot, and destruction of property, and, by this time, probably, of human life, in Hancock Co., Ill., in which Nauvoo is situate, and where the Mormons live. The citizens opposed to them seem determined to burn them out and drive them off. They are doubtless troublesome and dangerous neighbors; but this cannot justify lawless violence and cruelty. The Sheriff of the County has issued his proclamation, commanding the rioters to desist. He thus describes their conduct.

The rioters spare not the widow nor the orphan, and while I am writing this proclamation, the smoke is rising to the clouds, and the flames are devouring four buildings which have just been set on fire by the rioters. -- Thousands of dollars worth of property has already been consumed, an entire settlement of about sixty or seventy families laid waste, the inhabitants thereof are fired upon, narrowly escaping with their lives, and forced to flee begore the ravages of the mob.


THE MORMON TEMPLE. This monster work in the far West is progressing and excites the wonder of all who look at it. Is it intended as a place of worship? It is said not. The people are to assemble without to worship; the saints alone are to enter within the "holy of holies." The Warsaw Signal insists upon it that the Temple has another object. -- Mail.

It says: "The Temple, in reality, however, is designed, in our opinion, for fortification. It has regular port holes, in the shape of round windows, in the second story, and is in every respect well situated for a fortification. The wall enclosing five or six acres around the building, is about four feet thick, which can be intended for no other purpose than defence. The idea of its being intended merely as the foundation of an ornamental railing, as pretended by the Saints, is preposterous."


Note: The original article from which the above "Mormon Temple" excerpt was taken, evidently appeared in the Warsaw Signal during September of 1845.

THE MORMON WAR. -- An Extra from the Illinois State Register, dated Sunday, Sept. 21st, states that the rout of the Anti-Mormons, by Sheriff Backenstos and his party, was complete, and that the recontre of the 17th, described in the Sheriff's proclamation, struck such terror to the hearts of the mob supporters, in all the surrounding country, that the people all fled from Carthage, Augusta, and other Anti-Mormon towns, and carried their families into the counties of Adams, Marquette, Schuyler, and McDonough, and were beating up for volunteers, in those counties, to recruit their forces, with which to renew the war. It was believed that, having so disgraced themselves by the incendiary mode in which they carried on the war, their success would not be very great. Before this news reached Springfield, Governor Ford had issued a call for five hundred men, to quell the disturbances. No letters have been received at Springfield from any of the Mormon party, since the commencement of the troubles, except one from a very obscure man in Nauvoo, and another from McDonough county, and no newspapers. It was rumored that the mails were stopped, and there was a story afloat that one mail-carrier had been murdered. No messenger had arrived at the Capital, from all that section of the country, until the 21st, when a committee arrived from Mt. Sterling   [Boston Atlas.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE MORMON WAR. The latest accounts from the seat of the war, give reason to believe that the worst is over. The St. Louis papers of the 23d and 24th, speak in decided terms against the Anti-Mormon movement and in terms of commendation of the general course of the Mormons in this contest. -- Backenstos, the Mormon Sheriff, with an armed posse of some five hundred men, seems to have had, at the latest dates, the field to himself; his enemies having fled the country. His conduct is represented as forbearing and praiseworthy, considering the provocations the Mormons have had. Some accounts, to be sure, charge them with having commenced depredations in the vicinity of Carthage. It is charged upon them that they have pillaged several houses in Carthage, and have driven off the cattle and horses from the neighboring farms. But other accounts say, that they entered Carthage and Warsaw, deserted by their enemies, and left again without the slightest acts of violence.

The account published from the Illinois State Register, of a great battle between Backenstos and the Anties, seems to have been quite an exaggeration of the truth. Indeed, no battle of the kind has taken place. -- Traveller.


Notes: (forthcoming)

MORMON WAR. We copy from the St. Louis Gazette, of the first inst., the latest intelligence from the seat of war, which has reached us.

Information has been received by the Laclede, that Gen. Hardin, with two hundred men, marched on Carthage, Saturday last, and took the town. The Mormons, on the approach of the beseiging force, took refuge in the Court House, which they fortified and prepared to defend. Gen. H at once surrounded their citadel, and ordered them to surrender, giving them fifteen minutes to deliberate. At the end of that time they had laid down their arms, and were prisoners of war! This accomplished, they were permitted to depart on their parole of honor!

We learn by the Quincy Courier of the 29th, that the citizens of Lee county, Iowa, have determined to drive the Mormons from amongst them. -- Boston Trav.


Notes: (forthcoming)

MORMON TROUBLES. The St. Louis Republican of the 14th inst., contains a long article on the Mormon affairs; from which we infer, that the disgraceful conflicts between the Mormons and their belligerent neighbors may not yet be ended. The community are said to be in an excited state; and the Governor os reported to have notified the Mormons "that if a fresh outbreak occurs, it is questionable whether the power of the State can be so exerted as to protect them from being driven from their homes in the winter." And therefore advises to the speedy removal of all such as do not own real estate. -- Boston Trav.


Notes: (forthcoming)

 
(letter from Brigham Young -- under construction)

Note: The letter is dated Oct. 5, 1845, at the beginning of the LDS fall conference, the first held in the Nauvoo Temple. President Young tells about the Mormons' plans to move to Oregon, etc. President Young wrote more than one letter on the subject -- see also his Dec. 17, 1845 communication, which says: "We expect to emigrate West of the mountains next season. If we should eventually settle on Vancouver's Island, according to our calculation we shall greatly desire to have a mail route,... if Oregon should be annexed to the United States,... and Vancouver's Island incorporated in the same by our promptly paying national revenue, and taxes, we can live in peace with all men..."

MORMONISM. William Smith, the Mormon Patriarch, has addressed a long letter to his brethren, in which he dissuades them from listening to the counsel of Brigham Young, and his associates at Nauvoo. The Patriarch expresses the opinion that Young and those acting with him, have been privy to all of the crimes which have been perpetrated at Nauvoo, and that their object in collecting at that place this winter all of the Mormons in the United States, for the purpose of moving to California in the Spring, is merely to enrich themselves and perpetuate their power. When the Mormons gather at Nauvoo, they will be required to surrender all their property into the hands of the Twelve, and, if their expedition to California should prove dangerous, the Twelve will desert their followers; if, however, they should reach their destined home, West of the Rocky Mountains, the power of the leaders, through their secret organizations, will be made despotic, and be exercised for the benefit of the few, to the degradation and ruin of their followers.

The Patriarch's plan is for most of the Mormons to abandon Nauvoo, and to cease to settle together in distinct communities and large bodies. He farther urges that they should renounce the immoral doctrines and practices recently introduced into the Mormon church by Brigham Young, conduct themselves as all other religious sects do in this country, and trust to the same means of propagating their views, In that way he thinks farther evils may be avoided, and the honest saved from destruction which awaits them if they attempt to follow the Twelve to California. According to his statements, Brigham Young and his ten associates should be held responsible for the outrages which have been committed in Nauvoo for the last six months. The Mormons in Nauvoo are kept in ignorance of the secret rites of the Twelve and their agents, and should not be made to suffer for the offences of a few. -- Missouri Reporter, Oct.27


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE MORMONS. -- Mrs. Smith, the widow of the Mormon prophet, has addressed a letter to the New York Sun, declaring that it is not her intention to go to California, or any other remote place, with the Mormons. She says:

"The laws of the United States are quite good enough for me and my children, and my settled intention is to remain where I am, take care of my property, and if I cannot educate my children here, send them to New York or New England for that purpose. -- Many of the Mormons will, no doubt, remove in the spring, and many more will remain here; and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to have a mixed society in Nauvoo, as in other cities, and all exclusive religious distinctions abolished.

"I must now say, that I never, for a moment, believed in what my husband called his apparitions and revelations, as I thought him laboring under a diseased mind; yet, they may all be true, as a prophet is seldom without credence or honor, excepting in his own family or country; but as my conviction is to the contrary, I shall educate my children in a different faith, and teach them to obey and reverence the laws and institutions of their country."

She also says:

"I am left here, sir, with a family of children to attend to, without any means of giving them an education, for there is not a school in the city, nor is it intended there shall be any here, or at any other place, where the men, who now govern this infatuated, simple-minded people, have sway. I have not the least objection that these petty tyrants remove to California, or any other remote place, out of the world if they wish; for they will never be of any service to the Mormons, or the human family, no  matter where they go. Their object is to keep the people over whom they rule in the greatest ignorance, and most abject religous bondage, and if these poor, confiding creatures remove with them, they will die in the wilderness."


Note 1: The Nauvoo Times & Seasons published in its issue for Jan. 15, 1846 the following note of response and refutation to the letter printed by the Sun: Nauvoo, Dec. 30th 1845. -- To the Editor of the New York Sun; Sir: I wish to inform you, and the Public through your paper, that the letter published Tuesday morning, December 9th, is a forgery, the whole of it, and I hope that this notice will put a stop to all such communications. -- EMMA SMITH.

Note 2: While the letter published by the Sun of Dec. 9, 1845, subscribed by "Emma Smith," was probably not sent to that paper by her directly, its still remains arguable that one of her close associates penned the communication and that she secretly allowed the act -- perhaps in carrying out some defensive "blackmail" against her Brighamite opponents in Nauvoo. It is, for example, not inconceivable that a confidant of Mrs. Smith (such as her brother-in-law William) might have taken her words from some other, private communication, added to them, and submitted the results for publication, hoping all the while to thus induce her to admit in public things she had thus far been saying only in private. As things turned out Emma did not follow Brigham Young west; did not raise her children to be Mormons; and did not have any respect for the motives and intentions of "The Twelve" in their subsequent leadership of the Saints.

Note 3: Oddly enough there was very little journalistic reaction to the purported Emma Smith letter. A few papers (like the Quincy Whig & Warsaw Signal) noticed the letter in passing; Sidney Rigdon's Pittsburgh Messenger & Advocate paid it some attention; but, for the most part, the strange communication went unmentioned, outside of the columns of the New York Sun, after its initial appearance there. Its partial reprinting in the Portland Transcript marks a rare exception to this tendency among the papers of the time.

THE MORMONS. -- There is intelligence from Illinois, that the Grand Jury of the United States District Court, sitting at Springfield, has been investigating the state of affairs at Nauvoo. The result is, they have found twelve indictments, (mostly against the head men of the Mormon Church,) for counterfieting the coin of the United States. Among the number indicted are Brigham Young, President of "The Twelve," and Orson Pratt, a prominent leader.


MURDER IN NOUVOO. -- There was a woman murdered in Nauvoo on Sunday last. -- All we could learn in relation to the matter, was, that the murderer fled across the Mississippi on the ice, pursued by five or six men, one of whom fired at him. The woman's name was Walker. The cause of the murder our informant did not learn, but we suspect it has grown out of Spiritual Wifery. -- Warsaw Signal.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Fanaticism  and  Wickedness.

The Editors of the Home Missionary say -- "It is no longer questionable that villany equally with fanaticism, has had a share in the events, which have given notoriety yo the community of Nauvoo. -- There is no such monstrous result as Mormonism to be found in any other portion of the great Valley. The enormous wickedness is not indigenous to the West; it did not originate there, nor has it gathered many converts there. It is an importation of elements of evil gathered from both the old world and the new; the virus of which when diffused, was comparatively harmless and unnoticed, but when concentrated in one vicinity, has become a noisome and notorious pestilence."

A missionary in Hancock County gives some very affecting details of the sufferings brought on that cimmunity by these dreadfully deluded and wicked men. He had been himself called to attend the funeral obsequies of three individuals, at different times, who had fallen by Mormon violence. Two of them were highly respected citizens of Carthage; and were basely assassinated, without having given any provocation. Of the third the account thus proceeds: --

"At about 10 o'clock P.M., the lifeless and mangled body of one of our own townsmen, a young man, was found at a distance of eight or nine miles from home, stretched upon the ground where he had fallen, ten hours before, a victim to the ferocity of a party of Mormons, and suffered the most cruel death. He had received two flesh wounds from leaden balls, three deep wounds upon the head with a heavy cutlass, a stab in the throat, and, finally, his bosom having been deliberately bared, two well directed thrusts at the heart. This violence was inflicted, not in hot haste, but, as we are informed by the Mormons themselves, after consultation, and in contempt of his prayers for life, and was a protracted process of slaughter.

"You will better imagine, than, than I can describe, my feelings on the following morning, when the intelligence of this event was brought to me, and I was requested to do funeral honors for one of my own congregation thus destroyed -- one with whom I was familiar -- one whom I had regarded as possessing a peculiarly inoffensive and amiable disposition -- one whom I had daily observed during the preceeding week, quietly pursuing his honorable calling with his team, while multitudes around him were running to and fro, perfectly crazed with excitement -- one by whose bed-side I had repeatedly sat, wjen he was recovering from a fever, and administered to both his bodily and spiritual wants; and who had said to me, but a few days before, as the tears trickled down his cheeks, 'I know I need religion, I wish I had it, and I hope I shall have it before I die.' I had hoped strongly for his conversion. I had prayed for it. O, how poor a time for repentance, when he saw his dissolution approaching! What hearts must those have been, that would not grant a moment to his agonizing spirit, in which to avoid eternal death!"

Notes: (forthcoming)

Emigration  of  Mormons.

We thank Rev. Mr. Bingham for his attention, in sketching for us the scene described below. It has a painful aspect to be sure. The mind cannot follow these emigrants without a measure of solicitude, on account of possible, and even probable sufferings -- going in such numbers without any certain dwelling place selected. And as they go from New England, New York and New Jersey, it cannot be supposed that they flee from persecution. at least, we never heard of their being disturbed in their erroneous faith in any of these States,

---

MR. CUMMINGS -- Dear Sir: -- Carrying communications for the Sandwich Islands, to-day on board the ship Brooklyn in the East River, I found her, to my surprize, crowded with passengers and their effects, bound to Port St. Francisco. There were on board about 40 families, collected from New England, New York and New Jersey. The passengers amounted to about 170, of every age, from the infant in the young mother's arms, to the faded matron and old man of grey hairs, unwilling to be separated from his children and grand-children. The ship was loosing from the dock, and the passengers were taking leave of their kindred and homes.

They are said to be mostly Mormons and those who are friendly to their strange system. I was introduced to the leader of this company, Mr. Samuel Brannan, who appears to be a man of some energy, in the prime of life. He did not, moreover, profess to know where they would settle, though they were to land at Port St. Francisco and expected to find a place for establishing themselves in California or Oregon.

A large portion of the men who had promptly paid two thirds of their passage money, appeared like plain, hardy pioneers, confident of finding or making room for themselves on the other side of our great continent. There were nearly 60 women reckoning some as such who are unmarried, but above childhood. It is natural to infer a good deal of resolution on their part.

The company have furnished themselves with implements for their various occupations, embracing that of Farmer, House-builder, Stair-builder, Cabinet-maker, Upholsterer, Mill-wright, Blacksmith, Oarfinisher, and Tanner.

Captain Richardson, the Master of the Brooklyn, is a serious and respectable Baptist, belonging to Dr. Williams's Church, in New York City. He has a crew, chiefly American, well selected by his brother, from the "Sailor's Home," whom he expects, according to his custom, to call together daily for social worship, under his own direction, as the Master of a family.

Several of his friends and a large number of the friends of the passengers, accompanied them as they went out, nearly to the "narrows," as the large ship was taken down by a steamer. As the ship and steamer, locked together side by side, were for nearly an hour passing down, and after leaving the pier, the companies, interchanging their farewells, separated gradually, till they were entirely distinct. At the signal, the ringing of the steamer's bell, she disengaged herself, when each company gave three cheers. That, with many, was doubtless, a final parting for this world; but I perceived that numbers were expected to meet soon on the shores of the Pacific,

The steamer returned to New York, leaving the ship and her crowd of passengers to pursue their long track of 20,000 miles to the port of her destination. To reach Port St. Francisco from the Northern States, it is thought to be most convenient, expeditious and economical, for emigrants to go by ship via Cape Horn and the Sandwitch Islands. Others are expected to follow in a few months by the same route, and others to cross the continent with some three or four thousand wagons, to join them, from Nauvoo, and other places, in the interior of our goodly land,

They are said to be seeking a place of freedom, to carry out their principles, where they can enjoy their rights together.

When shall we see such a readiness to embark for China, India and Africa to give the Bible to the heathen, and to honor the God of the Bible?   As ever, yours.

H. BINGHAM.    

Brooklyn, Feb. 4, 1846.


Notes: (forthcoming)

MORMONS. -- The first expedition of "the saints" for the Rocky mountains, is about taking up its line of march.

Dr. White has left Washington on his return to Oregon, and is to be escorted from our Western frontier, through the Indian territories, by companies of U.S, Dragoons.

The advance party of the Mormon expedition, embracing a thousand riflemen, are to be placed at the service of the U.S. Government. There will be some hazard in the experiment, unless they should have a resolute commander not of their own party, some young General Jackson to control them, otherwise they will be likely to "set up for themselves."


Notes: (forthcoming)

Mormonism.

A new and perhaps improved edition of this delusion has begun to make its appearance. It has changed its leaders, or at least has one new one, whose vileness, if he is vile, has not become so widely notorious; and he has more learning and talents to carry out his purposes, whether they be for good or for evil. His head-quarters are in Wisconsin, and he has already begun to send out his orders, and assert his claims, with the confidence and decision of an absolute monarch. The Cincinnati Commercial says --

"On Friday week, M. Searles, a messenger from the new Mormon prophet, James Strang, at Voree, Wisconsin, arrived at Cincinnati, and on Sunday both branches of the Mormons at Cincinnati, the Rigdonites and the Twelveites, disbanded and all but three individuals acknowledged the power and glory of the new Prophet. The messenger brought the news that Emma Smith, wife of Joseph, and her son, Joseph the second, acknowledged Strang as the Lord's anointed. One of the Smiths came from Voree, a few days since, to Nauvoo, and proclaimed Strang the head of the Church, in the Temple, at that place, without molestation. The Saints are flocking to Voree in great numbers; it is to be the gathering place of all this strange people, except the Twelve and their adherents, now on their way to California, over the Rocky Mountains, or to some other country."

The Commercial adds --

"James Strang is a lawyer of considerable emmence in the west, and owns an immense tract of land, the capital of which is Voree. We believe he is the person who came out of Missouri with the Mormons at the time of their disturbances, planned the Temple at Nauvoo, and wrote the bulletins of Joe the Prophet. He will doubtless establish the Mormon dominion at Voree, and, by his intelligence and spirit of enterprise, regenerate this people, casting off the corrupt Twelve and all their followers.

"We have before us the first number of the Voree Herald, W. T., near Burlington, containing a letter from Joseph Smith, written before his murder, and dated Nauvoo, June 18th, 1844, which bears the post mark Nauvoo and Chicago, as it passed on to the said prophet at Voree -- fully recognizing the claims of Strang to succeed him. It distinctly says that Almighty God spoke to him to write, and to order him to form a gathering, and to call it Voree, and that all his people should gather there.

"Strang now announces himself as the prophet of the Most High, and ready to act as his mouthpiece. He gives the Saints a revelation, in the said paper, which was communicated to him by an angel of the Lord! Of course every body will believe what the angel of the Lord shall see fit to communicate.

"We presume that William Smith, who has been lecturing here, will join with the new prophet, and Voree will become a second Nauvoo, in all except the wickedness of that place. They declare themselves determined to behave with more respect for the laws of the country."


Note 1: This news item was obviously written as a "teaser" for the possibility of the Nauvoo Smith family joining Strang's ranks. It was written by John C. Bennett and first appeared in the Feb. 24, 1846 issue of the Cincinnati Daily Commercial.

Note 2: Although the above reprint is more complete than the excerpt Strang chose to publish in his own newspaper, it leaves out the final lines of the original news report: "indeed it would seem that those who left the corrupt Twelve and spiritual wife business, as well as the practising of other enormities did it out of principle. However, we must await and see what this new move will amount to. If the Mormons in establishing Voree fully discard all their offensive acts which have heretofore caused them to be outcast and killed, they can get along, but if Strang be not wise and pure, and use judgment in his new position, he will fix himself in a terrible fix, before long. Let him be wise and not take revelations from bad angels, and he may succeed."

THE TEMPLE AT NAUVOO. We are gratified to learn that there is a prospect of converting the Temple, recently erected at Nauvoo by the Mormons, to a useful and most charitable purpose. A wealthy gentleman from the south arrived here a few days since, en route to purchase the Temple, if it can be bought for a reasonable price. His object, we understand, is to convert the Temple into an asylum for destitute widows and females, and to purchase lands and town lots, and endow it out of the rents of them. The author of this liberal proposition, we understand, is a bachelor, far advanced in life. -- St. Louis Republican, April 16


Notes: (forthcoming)

MORMONS. On the 14th ult., the Mormons and their antagonists of the neighborhood of Nauvoo, were armed and in hostile array towards each other. The city was in a perfect uproar, and a bloody collision seemed inevitable. The determination seemed to be, not only to enforce the removal of the Mormons, but to destroy the temple at Nauvoo. The assailants mumber 400 strong; the Mormons have a force of 600.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE MORMONS.  Poor, deluded, persecuted Mormons! What fate awaits them, none can tell. Not improbably the curse of heaven will follow them as it has hitherto. Their principles, their ignorance and their vices have uniformly made them unwelcome neighbors. Their first encampment was pitched at Kirtland and Jiram, Ohio. Here they became so odious that they made a virtue of necessity, and left in a body for a revealed promised land in the West, and professed to have found it where Joe Smith stuck a stake in the wilderness, in Missouri. A short residence here occasioned mob violence, and serious talk of civil and military power, to drive them from the State. Their passions had in the mean time been highly roused ny ill treatment, and they committed depredations if not crimes, which made them glad to escape from the jurisdiction which could restrain them. -- Thence coming -- nay welcomed into Illinois, they for a time flourished. The pity of the civilized world flowed forth in sympathy for them, and they became rapidly numerous, powerful, dangerous and injurious. Their fellow citizens stood in fear of them. Mutual jealousy, crimes and recriminations became frequent. At last the military array of the State was called into requisition, and they were humbled only by the sacrifice of their leader ny a violent death. They then, almost unanimously resolved, once more to abandon civilization and seek a new home beyond the reach of any power or law besides their own. The shore of the Pacific was the nearest limit, where they hoped to find a haven of peace. -- Their advance division is probably now mid-way in its flight, and the rear has lately left the city of superstition, folly and crime. All may reach their destination, but strange to say, probably they will find the "stripes and stars" planted there before them, and they will have to submit to the same civil authority they have so long fought against in Missouri and Illinois. Without doubt their principles will be modified ny the strange discipline to which divine providence has subjected them, and it may be that, like some other religious communities they may accept of such protection of law, and yield such submission to it, as to procure for a time their integrity as a sect; but unless they greatly change, they will find no peaceful resting place within the United States -- nor indeed within the domains of civilization on the globe. -- Rel. Rec.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Going to Take California: -- The President has determined to sent a regiment of Volunteers around Cape Horn to California. We suppose it will be annexed by force and arms. He can't wait for the Mormons to settle it and then petition Congress to be annexed. Gunpowder is quicker in its operation, and it will blow it right on to us.


Notes: (forthcoming)

NAUVOO.  Gov. Ford heads the expedition which has been started at Springfield, Ill., against the Anti-Mormons at Nauvoo. The Volunteer force from Springfield, numbered one hundred and eleven men, and they had with them two brass six-pounders well appointed, and manned by skillful artillerists. It was expected they would receive large accessions of volunteers on the route. It is the determination of the Governor to put an end, at all hazards, to the violence and outrages that have brought disgrace upon the State. -- St. Louis Republican, 26th ult.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The Mormons in California have laid claim to a large portion of the gold territory, and demand thirty per cent. of the ore taken therefrom. An express has been sent to the Salt Lake settlement, where about 10,000 Mormons are located. There is a rumor that equally rich mines have been discovered in that region. The thirty per cent. demand of the Mormons is expected to lead to trouble.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE NEW CITY OF DESERET, (capital, we presume of the new State of Deseret,) is laid out in blocks, containing 10 acres each, and each block is subdivided into eight lots. There are already 224 blocks, being 16 in one direction, and 14 in the other. The streets are eight rods wide, Nearly 1000 adobe houses have been built, and the whole city, nearly two miles square, has the appearance of a garden. A public building of stone, 50 feet square, is going up to serve for a Council House, Church, and other purposes. Any person wishing to live here, can take an unoccupied lot, without price, but can only sell the improvements. The city is governed by a President and Council; Taxes are laid according to property. Tithes are voluntary. Schools are kept all the year, and are free to all.


Notes: (forthcoming)

                    From the Rochester American.

A  MORMON  APOSTLE.

We received yesterday a visit from Martin Harris, formerly of Palmyra, who was concerned with Joe Smith, in originally proclaiming the Mormon faith. He wrote the book of Mormon from Joe Smith's dictation, the latter reading the text from the golden plates by putting his face in a hat. When the volume was written, Harris raised funds for its publication by mortgaging his farm. But he no longer goes with the Mormons, saying they "have got [sic, gone to?] the devil just like other people." He abandoned them fifteen years ago, when they assumed the appellation of "Latter Day Saints," and bore his testimony against them by declaring that "Latter Day Devils" would be a more appropriate designation.

Mr. Harris visited England some three years ago. At present he professes to have a mission from God, in fulfilment of which he wanders about preaching to "all who will feed him." When this essential condition is not performed by his hearers he shakes off the dust from his feet, and leaves for more hospitable quarters. Mr. H. is exceedingly familiar with the Scriptures, and discusses [sic, discourses?] theology, in his peculiar way, with the fluency and zeal of a devotee.


Note 1: The above article originally appeared in the Rochester Daily American of Nov. 16, 1849.

Note 2: Although the article says that Martin Harris "abandoned" the "Latter Day Saints" some "fifteen years" prior to 1849, it does not make it clear whether Harris then also abandoned his testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon. H. Michael Marquardt, in his 2002 Dialogue article, "Martin Harris: The Kirtland Years," documents the activities of Harris during the time he spent away from the Latter Day Saints, showing that he associated briefly with the Mormon Gladdenites during 1851-52, and thereafter occasionally demonstrated his allegiance to at least some of the tenets of Mormonism, in a variety of situations. If Harris ever did go through a period in his life where he placed no faith in the Book of Mormon, he evidently did not publicize that infidelity.

The Mormons: -- [Brigham Young and Orson Hyde say:] "Remember, that God our heavenly Father was perhaps once a child and mortal like we ourselves, and rose step by step in the scale of progress, in the school of advancement; has moved forward aond overcome until he has arrived at the point where he now is. 'Is this really possible?' Why, my dear friends, how would you like to be governed by a ruler who had not been through all the vicissitudes of life that is common to mortals? ..."


Notes: Apostle Orson Hyde promoted this teaching in his Discourse, delivered before the LDS General Conference at Great Salt Lake City in 1853. The above quote was taken from a published report of the proceedings of that conference, most likely the Deseret News of Oct. 27, 1853.

MORMON  POLYGAMY.

Dear Sister: -- Your letter of Oct. 2nd was received on yesterday. My joy on its reception was more than I can express. I had waited so long for your answer to our last, that I had almost concluded my friends were offended, and would write to me no more. Judge then of my joy when I read the sentiments of friendship and of sisterly affection expressed in your letter.

We are all well here, and are prosperous and happy in our family circle. My children (four in number,) are healthy and cheerful, and fast expanding their physical and intellectual faculties. Health, peace, and prosperity have attended us all the day long.

It seems my dear sister, that we are no nearer together in our religious views than formerly.

Why is this? Are we not all bound to leave this world, with all we possess therein, and reap the reward of our doings here in a never ending hereafter?

It so, do we not desire to be undeceived, and to know and to do the truth?

Do we not all wish in our very hearts to be sincere with ourselves and to be honest and frank with each other?

If so, you will bear with me patiently, while I give a few of my reasons for embracing, and holding sacred that particular point in the doctrine of the Church of the Saints, to which you, my dear sister, together with a large majority of Christendom so decidedly object.

I mean, a “plurality of wives.”

I have a bible which I have been taught from my infancy, to hold sacred.

In this bible, I read of a Holy man named Abraham, who is represented as the friend of God,--a faithful man in all things,--a man who kept the commandments of God; and who is called in the New Testament, the “Father of the faithful” (See James 2nd, 23.—Rom. 4th:16th. Gal. 3rd: 8th, 9th, 16th, 29th.)

I find this man had a plurality of wives, some of which were called concubines. (see book of Genesis; and for his concubines, see 25th chap., 6th verse.)

I also find his grandson Jacob possessed of four wives, twelve sons and a daughter. These wives are spoken very highly of by the sacred writers as honorable and virtuous women. “These,” say the scriptures, “did build the House of Israel.”

Jacob himself was also a man of God, and the Lord blessed him and his house, and commanded him to be fruitful and multiply. (See Genesis 30th chap. to 35, and particularly 35 chap., 10th and 11th verses.)

I find also that the twelve sons of Jacob by these four wives became princes, heads of tribes, patriarchs, whose names are had in everlasting remembrance to all generations.

Now God talked with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob frequently; and his angels also visited and talked with them, and blessed them and their wives and children. He also reproved the sins of some of the sons of Jacob, for hating and selling their brother, and for Adultery. But in all his communications with them, he never condemned their family organization; but on the contrary, always approved of it, and blessed them in this respect.

He even told Abraham, that he would make him the father of many nations, and that in him and his seed, all the nations and kindreds of the earth should be blessed. (See Genesis, 18th chap. 17th, 18th and 19th verses; also 12th chap., 1, 2, and 3 verses.) In later years I find the plurality of wives perpetuated, sanctioned, and provided for in the law of Moses.

David the Psalmist not only had a plurality of wives, but the Lord himself spoke by the mouth of Nathan the prophet, and told David, that He (the Lord,) had given his master’s wives into his bosom; but because he had committed adultery with the wife of Uriah, and had caused his murder, He would take his wives and give them to a neighbor of his, etc. (See 2nd Samuel, 12th chap., 7th to 11th verses.)

Here then we have the word of the Lord, not only sanctioning polygamy, but actually giving to King David the wives of his master, (Saul,) and afterward taking the wives of David from him, and giving them to another man. Here we have a sample of severe reproof and punishment for adultery and murder; while polygamy is authorized and approved by the word of God.

But, to come to the New Testament, I find Jesus Christ speaks very highly of Abraham and his family; He says, “Many shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of God.” (Luke, 13 chap., verses 28 and 29.)

Again he said, “If ye were Abraham’s seed, ye would do the works of Abraham.”

Paul the apostle, wrote to the saints of his day, and informed them as follows: “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ; and if ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

He also sets forth Abraham and Sarah as patterns of faith and good works, and as the father and mother of faithful Christians, who should, by faith and good works, aspire to be counted the sons of Abraham and daughters of Sarah.

Now let us look at some of the works of Sarah, for which she is so highly commended by the Apostles, and by them held up as a pattern for Christian ladies to imitate.

“Now Sarah, Abram’s wife, bare him no children; and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarah said unto Abram, behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing; I pray thee go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened unto the voice of Sarah. And Sarah, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, an d gave her to her husband, Abram, to be his wife.” (See Genesis, 16th chap., verses 1, 2, and 3.)

According to Jesus Christ and the Apostles then, the only way to be saved, is to be adopted into the great family of polygamists, by the gospel, and then strictly follow their examples.

Again, John the Revelator describes the Holy City of the Heavenly Jerusalem, with the names of the twelve sons of Jacob inscribed on the gates. (Rev. 21:12.)

To sum up the whole then, I find that polygamists were the friends of God,--that the family and lineage of a polygamist was selected, in which all nations should be blessed,--that a polygamist is named in the New Testament as the father of the faithful christians of all ages, and cited as a pattern for all generations. That the wife of a polygamist, who encouraged her husband in the practice of the same, and even urged him into it, and officiated in giving him another wife, is named as an honorable and virtuous woman, a pattern for Christian ladies, and the very mother of all holy women in the Christian Church, whose aspiration it should be, to be called her daughters.

That Jesus Christ has declared, that the great fathers of the polygamic family stand at the head in the kingdom of God; in short, that all the saved of after generations should be saved by becoming members of a polygamic family; that all those who do not become members of it, are strangers and aliens in the covenant of promise, the commonwealth of Israel, and not heirs according to the promise made to Abraham.

That all people from the east, west, north or south, who enter into the kingdom, enter into the society of polygamists, and under their Patriarchal rule and government.

Indeed no one can even approach the gates of heaven without beholding the names of twelve polygamists, (the sons of four different women by one man,) engraven in everlasting glory upon the pearly gates.

My dear sister, with the scriptures before me, I could never find it in my heart to reject the Heavenly vision which has restored to man the fulness of the gospel, or the Latter-day Prophets and Apostles, merely because in this restoration is included the ancient law of matrimony and of family organization, and government, preparatory to the restoration of all Israel.

But, leaving all scripture, history, or precedent out of the question, let us come to nature’s law.

What then appears to be the great object of the marriage relations? I answer: the multiplying of our species—the rearing and training of children.

To accomplish this object, natural law would dictate, that a husband should remain apart from his wife at certain seasons, which, in the very constitution of the female are untimely. Or in other words, indulgence should not be merely for pleasure, or wanton desires, but mainly for the purpose of procreation.

The morality of nature would teach a mother, that, during nature’s process in the formation and growth of embryo man, her heart should be pure, her thoughts and affections chaste, her mind calm, her passions without excitement; while her body should be invigorated with every exercise conducive to health and vigor; but by no means subjected to anything calculated to disturb, irritate, weary, or exhaust any of its functions.

And while a kind husband should nourish, sustain, and comfort the wife of his bosom by every kindness and attention consistent with her situation, and with his most tender affection; still he should refrain from all those untimely associations which are forbidden in the great constitutional laws of female nature; which laws we see carried out in almost the entire animal economy. Human animals excepted.

Polygamy then, as practiced under the Patriarchal law of God, leads directly to the chastity of women, and to sound health and morals in the constitutions of their offspring.

You can read, in the law of God, in your Bible, the times and circumstances under which a woman should remain apart from her husband, during which times she is considered unclean; and should her husband come to her bed under such circumstances, he would commit a gross sin both against the laws of nature, and the wise provisions of God’s law, as revealed in his word. In short, he would commit an abomination; he would sin both against his own body—against the body of his wife, and against the laws of procreation, in which the health and morals of his offspring are directly concerned.

The polygamic law of God opens to all vigorous, healthy and virtuous females, a door by which they may become honorable wives of virtuous men, and mothers of faithful, virtuous, healthy, and vigorous children.

And here let me ask you, my dear sister, what female in all New Hampshire would marry a drunkard, a man of hereditary disease, a debauchee, an idler, or a spendthrift; or what woman would become a prostitute; or on the other hand, live and die single; or without forming those inexpressibly dear relationships of wife and mother, if the Abrahamic covenant, or Patriarchal laws of God were extended over your State, and held sacred and honorable by all.

Dear sister, in your thoughtfulness, you inquire, “Why not a plurality of husbands as well as a plurality of wives?”

To which I reply:

1st, God has never commanded or sanctioned a plurality of husbands.

2nd, “Man is the head of the woman,” and no woman can serve two lords.

3rd, Such an order of things would work death and not life—or, in plainer language, it would multiply disease instead of children.

In fact, the experiment of a plurality of husbands, or rather of one woman for many men, is in active operation, and has been, for centuries in all the principal towns and cities of “Christendom!”

It is the genius of “Christian institutions,” falsely so called. It is the result of “Mystery Babylon, the great whore of all the earth.” Or in other words, it is the result of making void the holy ordinances of God in relation to matrimony, and introducing the laws of Rome, in which the clergy and nuns are forbidden to marry, and other members only permitted to have one wife.

This law leaves females expressed to a life of single “blessedness," without husband, child, or friend to provide for and comfort them. Or to a life of poverty and loneliness, exposed to temptation; to perverted affections; to unlawful means to gratify them; or to the necessity of selling themselves for lucre. While the man who has abundance of means is tempted to spend it on a mistress in secret, and in a lawless way, while the law of God would have given her to him as an honorable wife. These circumstances give rise to murder, infanticide, suicide, disease, remorse, despair, wretchedness, poverty, untimely death, with all the attendant train of jealousies, heartrending miseries, want of confidence in families, contaminating disease, etc. And finally, to the horrible license system, in which governments, called Christian, license their fair daughters, I will not say to play the beast, but to a degradation far beneath them; for every species of the animal creation, except man, refrain from such abominable excesses, and observe in a great measure the laws of nature in procreation.

I again repeat, that nature has constituted the female differently from the male; and for a different purpose.

The strength of the female constitution is designed to flow in a stream of life, to nourish and sustain the embryo, to bring it forth, and to nurse it on her bosom.

When nature is not in operation within her in these particulars, and for these heavenly ends, it has wisely provided relief at regular periods, in order that her system may be kept pure, and healthy, without exhausting the fountain of life on the one hand, or drying up its river of life on the other; till mature age, and an approaching change of worlds would render it necessary for her to cease to be fruitful, and give her to rest awhile, and enjoy a tranquil life in the midst of that family circle, endeared to her by so many ties,--which may be supposed at this period of her life to be approaching the vigor of manhood, and therefore able to comfort and sustain her.

Not so with man. He has no such draw back upon his strength. It is his to move in a wider sphere. If God shall count him worthy of an hundred fold in this life, of wives and children, and houses and lands and kindreds, he may even aspire to Patriarchal sovereignty, to empire; to be the prince or head of a tribe, or tribes; and like Abraham of old, be able to send forth for the defense of his country, hundreds and thousands of his own warriors, born in his own house.

A noble—man of God, who is full of the spirit of the Most High, and is counted worthy to converse with Jehovah, or with the Son of God; and to associate with angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect; one who will teach his children, and bring them up in the light of unadulterated and eternal truth, is more worthy of a hundred wives and children, than the ignorant slave of passion, or of vice and folly is to have one wife and one child.

Indeed the God of Abraham is so much better pleased with one than with the other, that he would even take away the one talent, which is habitually abused, neglected, or put to an improper use, and give it to him who has ten talents.

In the Patriarchal order of family government, the wife is bound to the law of her husband. She honors hi, “calls him lord,” even as Sarah obeyed and honored Abraham. She lives for him, and to increase his glory, his greatness, his kingdom, or family. Her affections are centered in her God, her husband, and her children.

The children are also under his government worlds without end. “While life or thought, or being lasts, or immortality endures,” they are bound to obey him as their father and king.

He also has a head to whom he is responsible. He must keep the commandments of God, and observe his laws. He must not take a wife unless she is given to him by the law and authority of God. He must not commit adultery, nor take liberties with any women except his own, who are secured to him by the holy ordinances of matrimony.

Hence a nation organized under the law of the gospel, or in other words, the law of Abraham, and the patriarchs, would have no institutions tending to licentiousness; no adulteries, fornications, etc., would be tolerated. No houses, or institutions would exist for traffic in shame, or in the life blood of our fair daughters. Wealthy men would have no inducement to keep a mistress in secret, or unlawfully. Females would have no grounds for temptation in any such lawless life.

Neither money nor pleasure could tempt them, nor poverty drive them to any such excess; because the door would be open for every virtuous female to form the honorable and endearing relationships of wife and mother, in some virtuous family, where love, and peace, and plenty, would crown her days, and truth and the practice of virtue qualify her to be transplanted with her family circle in that eternal soil, where they may multiply their children, without pain, or sorrow, or death; and go on increasing in numbers, in wealth, in greatness, in glory, might, majesty, power and dominion, in worlds without end.

O my dear sister! could the dark veil of tradition be rent from your mind! Could you gave for a moment on the resurrection of the just! could you behold Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their wives and children, clad in the bloom, freshness and beauty of immortal flesh and bones, clothed in robes of fine, white linen, bedecked with precious stones and gold; and surrounded with an offspring of immortals as countless as the starts of the firmament, or as the grains of sand upon the sea shore; over which they reign as kings and queens for ever and ever!—you would then know something of the weight of those words of the sacred writer which are recorded in relation to the four wives of Jacob, the mothers of the twelve patriarchs, namely: “These did build the house of Israel.”

O that my dear kindred could but realize that they have need to repent of the sins, ignorances and traditions of those perverted systems which are misnamed “Christianity,” and be baptized,--buried in the water, in the likeness of the death and burial of Jesus Christ, and rise to newness of life in the likeness of his resurrection; receive his spirit by the laying on of the hands of an apostle, according to promise, and forsake the world and the pride thereof.

Thus they would be adopted into the family of Abraham,--become his sons and daughters,--see and enjoy for themselves the visions of the spirit of eternal truth, which bear witness of the family order of heaven; and the beauties and glories of eternal kindred ties: for my pen can never describe them.

Dear, dear kindred: Remember, according to the New Testament, and the testimony of an ancient apostle, if you are ever saved in the kingdom of God, it must be by being adopted into the family of polygamists—the family, of the great Patriarch Abraham; for in his seed, or family, and not out of it, “shall all the nations and kindreds of the earth be blessed.”

You say you believe polygamy is “licentiousness:” that it is “abominable,” “beastly,” etc.; “the practice only of the most barbarous nations, or of the dark ages; or of some great or good men, who were left to commit gross sins.”

Yet you say you are anxious for me to be converted to your faith; and that we may see each other in this life, and be associated in one great family, in that life which has no end.

Now in order to comply with your wishes I must renounce the Old and New Testaments;--must count Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and their families as licentious, wicked, beastly, abominable characters; Moses, Nathan, David and the prophets no better. I must look upon the God of Israel as partaker in all these abominations, by holding them in fellowship; and even as a minister of such iniquity, by giving king Saul’s wives into king David’s bosom; and afterwards by taking David’s wives from him, and giving them to his neighbor.

I must consider Jesus Christ, and Paul, and John, as either living in a dark age; as full of the darkness and ignorance of barbarous climes, or else willfully abominable and wicked, in fellowshipping polygamists, and representing them as fathers of the faithful, and rules in heaven.

I must doom them all to hell with adulterers, fornicators, etc.; or else, at least, assign to them some nook or corner in heaven, as ignorant persons, who, knowing but little were beaten with few stripes.

While by analogy, I must learn to consider the Roman Popes, clergy, and nuns who do not marry at all, as foremost in the ranks of glory; and those Catholics and Protestants who have but one wife as next in order of salvation, glory, immortality and eternal life.

Now dear friends, much as I long to see you, and dear as you are to me, I can never come to these terms. I feel as though the gospel had introduced me into the right family, into the right marriage, and into good company. And besides all these considerations, should I ever become so beclouded with unbelief of the scriptures and heavenly institutions, as to agree with my kindred in New Hampshire, in theory, still my practical circumstances are different, and would I fear continue to separate us by a wide and almost impassable gulf.

For instance, I have, (as you see, in all good conscience, founded on the word of God,) formed family and kindred ties, which are inexpressibly dear to me; and which I can never bring my feelings to consent to dissolve.

I have a good and virtuous husband whom I love. We have four little children which are mutually and inexpressibly dear to us. And besides this, my husband has seven other living wives, and one who has departed to a better world He has in all upwards of twenty-five children. All these mothers and children are endeared to me by kindred ties,--by mutual affection—by acquaintance and association; and the mothers in particular by mutual and long continued exercises of toil, patience, long-suffering and sisterly kindness. We all have our imperfections in this life; but I know that these are good and worthy women, and that my husband is a good and worthy man; one who keeps the commandments of Jesus Christ, and presides in his family like an Abraham. He seeks to provide for them with all diligence; he loves them all, and seeks to comfort them and make them happy. He teaches them the commandments of Jesus Christ, and gathers them about him in the family circle to call upon his God, both morning and evening.

He and his family have the confidence, esteem, good will, and fellowship of this entire Territory, and of a wide circle of acquaintances in Europe and America.

He is a practical teacher of morals and religion; a promoter of general education, and at present occupies an honorable seat in the Legislative Council of this Territory.

Now, as to visiting my kindred in New Hampshire, I would be pleased to do so, were it the will of God. But first, the laws of that State must be so modified by enlightened legislation, and the customs and consciences of its inhabitants, and of my kindred, so altered, that my husband can accompany me with all his wives and children, and he as much respected and honored in his family organization, and in his holy calling as he is at home; or in the same manner as the patriarch Jacob would have been respected had he, with his wives and children, paid a visit to his kindred.

As my husband is yet in his youth, as well as myself, I fondly hope we shall live to see that day.

For already the star of Jacob is in the ascendancy; the House of Israel is about to be restored; while “Mystery Babylon,” with all her institutions await her own overthrow.

Till this is the case in New Hampshire, my kindred will be under the necessity of coming here to see us, or on the other hand, we will be mutually compelled to forego the pleasure of each others company.

You mention in your letter, that Paul, the apostle, recommended that bishops be the husband of one wife. Why this was the case I do not know, unless it was as he says, that while he was among Romans he did as Romans did. Rome, at that time governed the world as it were; and although gross idolators, they held to the one wife system. Under these circumstances no doubt, the apostle Paul, seeing a great many polygamists in the Church, recommended that they had better choose for this particular temporal office, men of small families, who would not be in disrepute with the government. This is precisely our course in those countries where Roman institutions still bear sway. Our elders there have but one wife, in order to conform to the laws of men.

You enquire why Elder W., when at your house, denied that the Church of this age held to the doctrine of plurality. I answer, that he might have been ignorant of the fact, as our belief on this point was not published till 1852. And had he known it he had no right to reveal the same until the full time had arrived.

God kindly withheld this doctrine for a time, because of the ignorance and prejudice of the nations of Mystic Babylon, that peradventure he might save some of them.

Now, dear sister, I must close; I wish all my kindred and old acquaintance to see this letter, or a copy thereof; and that they will consider it as if written to themselves. I love them dearly and greatly desire and pray for their salvation, and that we may all meet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God.

Dear sister, do not let your prejudices and traditions keep you from believing the Bible; nor the pride, shame, or love of the world keep you from your seat in the kingdom of heaven, among the royal family of polygamists. Write often and freely.

With sentiments of the deepest affection and kindred feeling, I remain, dear sister, your affectionate sister,

Belinda Marden Pratt.    

Mrs. Lydia Kimball, Nashua, N.H.

P.S. My kind love to your husband, and all enquiring friends.


Note: Exact content uncertain -- the above text was derived from a later reprint, published in the LDS Millennial Star of July 29, 1854, under the heading: "Defence of Polygamy, By a Lady of Utah, In a Letter to Her Sister in New Hampshire."

                          From the Omaha Arrow

A  MORMON  BALL.

(Mormon dancing in Council Bluffs -- under construction)

Note: The report says that, after the opening prayer, "Choice viands and wine were served" to the LDS participants. This was before the Mormon "Word of Wisdom" was strictly observed by the church leaders.