1843 – 15 August, p. 4 – The Mormons in America. The St. Louis Republican, of the 31^st ult., has the following—“Great excitement at Nauvoo! Arrest of Joe Smith, the Mormon prophet. News was brought last evening by the steamer Osprey, that Joe Smith, the Mormon prophet, as been arrested and placed in gaol at Ottawa; and further, that when the intelligence reached Nauvoo 200 horsemen of the Legion started immediately for Ottawa, with the intention of liberating him. The steamboat Iowa has also been chartered at Nauvoo by the Mormons, and is at present ascending Illinois river with 150 armed men to second the attack on Ottawa. Ottawa is situated up the Illinois and is distant about 200 miles from this city. We believe Smith, has been travelling in the northern part of the state, for the purpose of Keeping from the arrest made under the requisition of the governor of this state, which accounts for his being lodged in gaol at Ottawa. The St. Louis Bulletin of the 3^rd instant announced Smith’s rescue by his followers. The Mormons have conducted the false prophet to Nauvoo, where they will strengthen their military position, and wait the action of the state authorities. They are now too strong for any force Judge Lynch can bring against them.”

1845 – 18 November, p. 3 – The Mormon difficulties have been arranged, the sect having agreed to emigrate next spring.

1846 – 6 January, p. 2 – The Mormons have nearly 2500 wagons ready for their California expedition next spring.

1846 – March 3, p. 2 – The March of Intellect. It is said that the wagons that are to convey the Mormons to California will number 5000 and will form a line twenty-five miles long! In the front there will be a press and types, from which will be issued every morning a paper, to be sent back to inform the rear-guard what is going on in the van!

1846 – 20 October, p. 4 – We learn from St. Louis that two Mormon spies had been shot by the Anti-Mormon mob at Nauvoo. This, it is feared, is the commencement of a sanguinary conflict between these factions.

1848 – 14 November, p. 1 – A Mormon Miracle

During this time, they were continually receiving converts to the faith, and many of the more ignorant country people were disposed to join them, being only deterred by the fear of incurring ridicule from the stronger minded. The body of the Mormons seeing this, called upon their prophet Joe Smith, to perform a miracle in public before all comers, which was to prove to those of their own people who still doubted the doctrine, the truth of what it advanced—(the power of performing miracles was steadfastly declared to be in their hands by the prophets)—and to enlist those who wavered in the Mormon cause.

The prophet instantly agreed, and declared that upon a certain day, he would walk across the broad waters of the Missouri without wetting the soles of his feet. On the appointed day, the river banks were thronged by an expectant crowd. The Mormons sang hymns of praise in honor of their prophets, and were proud of the forthcoming miracle, which was to set finally at rest all doubts as to his power and sanctity.

This power of performing miracles, and effecting miraculous cures of the sick, was so generally believed by the Mormons, that physic was never used amongst them. The prophets visited the beds of the sick, and laid hands upon them, and if, as of course was almost invariably the case, the patient died, it was attributed to his or her want of faith; but if, on the contrary, the patient recovered, there was universal glorification on the miraculous cure.

Joe Smith was a tall, fine looking man, of most plausible address, and possessed the gift of the gob in great perfection. At the time appointed for the performance of the walking water miracle, he duly attended on the riverbanks, and descended barefoot to the edge of the water.

“My brethren!” he exclaimed in a loud voice, “this day is a happy one to me, to us all, who venerate the great and only faith. The truth of our great and blessed doctrine will now be proved before the thousands I see around me. You have asked me to prove by a miracle that the power of the prophets of old has been given to me. I say unto you, not only to me, but to all who have faith. I have faith, and can perform miracles—that faith empowers me to walk across the broad surface of that mighty river, without wetting the soles of my unworthy feet; and if ye are to see that miracle performed, it is necessary, that ye have faith also, not only in yourselves, but in me. Have ye this faith in yourselves?”

“We have, we have!” roared the crowd.

“Have ye faith in me, that ye believe I can perform this miracle?”

“We have, we have!” roared the crowd.

“Then,” said Joe Smith, coolly walking away, “with such faith do ye know well that I could, but it boots not that that I should do it; therefore, my brethren, doubt no more”—and Joe put on his boots and disappeared. Blackwood’s Magazine.

1849 – 13 November, p. 4 – It was generally considered that the application of the Mormons for the admission of their territory as a distinct State into the Union, under the title of the State of Deseret, would not be entertained by Congress.

1849 – 18 December, p. 2 – The Mormons of Deseret (Salt Lake) indulge in polygamy, and hold the doctrine that a man may have as many wives as he can support. It is said that some of the old men there have 20 wives, but that few of the young men have more than five.

1850 – 29 January, p. 3 – The Mormons were forming a new colony in the Pitch Valley, about 200 miles south of Salt Lake City. It is represented as remarkably fertile, and the climate as being very fine. About 100 wagons were dispatched thither with provisions and property, and from 50 to 100 families accompanied.

1850 – 21 September, p. 6 – Item #1 – “The Mormons.” We have from time to time noticed in our columns the doings of the Mormons in America. Few incidents in modern days are more strange and interesting to the reader of history than the rise, progress, and present state of this singular sect. It arose—not in a dark age, not in an obscure desert, not among an unknown race, not distant from the lights of science and civilization,—but in our own day, in New York, the most prosaic state in the world, among men of Saxon blood, in the reign of magazines and newspapers. We have seen it ascending step by step from the first grotesque imposture, through various stages of persecution and proscription, till it emerged from the conflicts on the Mississpi [sic] an armed and self-supporting polity,—to found in the region of the Great Salt Lake the new State of Deseret. The early course of some movements which have left lasting traces in the world’s history may receive curious illustration from such a series of contemporary events. Niebuhr sought in the annals of the French Revolution for light on the political changes in Ancient Rome: the future historian of religious movements will find the records of Mormonism full of suggestiveness. As a creed, and as a polity, it has now taken its place on the stage of nations. The latest advices from Deseret represent it as in flourishing condition. Whether its origin was knavery of fanaticism,—whether we laugh at the low vices of its founder, or consider them as the failings to which history shows that prophets have been liable,—the State of Deseret is there. This State, with its foundations laid in what would seem the grossest ignorance and superstition, has established a University; and if we may judge from the address of the Chancellor, the Mormons intend to engage in learning largely in the service. Languages especially they wish to cultivate. If we had no example of bigotries nearer home, this might look like reaction. The measure might seem a suicidal one. It will be curious to follow its effects. Hitherto, we have been accustomed merely to smile at Smith’s revelations and discoveries:—it will be a curiosity to receive a history of them from a devout and learned Mormon. Though the language of the new sect have a strange sound, becoming the utterances of a new people, yet the practical and good sense of their Saxon nature informs and controls their civil polity. They will have no idle students. All the learning is to be made available. The first effort is to be directed to the proper training of teachers; to the collection of books and philosophical apparatus, and the printing of books for primary education. They intend to gather together learned men and teachers of all tongues. The works of all dead languages are to be translated for general use. Among other changes, it is intended “to purge the English alphabet of all needless letters,”—a proceeding which will bring the Mormons favour in the eyes of our Phonetic reformers. It may be hoped—though we dare not be sanguine about it—that the diffusion of so much knowledge may help to discredit the crude impostures on which the Mormon faith is based.—Atheneum.

1851 – 7 June, p. 5 – Item #1 – Latter-day Saints. On Monday afternoon the London Conference festival of the “Latter-day Saints,” or Mormons (whose found and prophet, Joe Smith, was murdered some time ago in the United States), took place at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Great Queen Street, London. About 1,100 persons of both sexes, including a considerable proportion of young persons, were present. The proceedings were of a singular nature, commencing with a procession of the “twelve apostles,” or “fathers in Israel,” accompanied by “presidents of branches,” by a number of young women dressed in white, and by twelve young men wearing large blue scarfs, and carrying a Bible in the right hand, and a “Book of Mormon” in the left. In the course of the afternoon, a number of addresses were delivered, and the proceedings were relieved by singing, performed by the young persons before mentioned. An account of the rise and progress of the “Saints” was given, in the course of which it was stated that the total number in the United Kingdom, in January last, was 30,747; and that during the last 14 years more than 50,000 have been baptized in England, of whom 17,000 have emigrated to America.

1851 – 7 June, p. 5 – Item #2 – Spread of Mormonism. The Mormons have determined on a great and systematic attempt to convert Great Britain to Mormonism. They are at this moment adding to their churches, by adult baptism, 500 disciples every month. And so confident are they that, in fulfillment of Mormon prophecies, they are about to make miraculous progress in this country, they propose to hold a great Mormon conference in the very center of London, in June. [It is not generally known that the Mormons use the arguments found in the books of Roman Catholic controversy, and are now making incredibly large purchases of these books.] – Liverpool Journal.

1851 – 24 July, p. 2 – Some new revelations to the Mormon Church are announced; the portion of the golden plates withheld from Joe Smith having been exhibited mysteriously to Elder Orson Hyde.

1852 – 5 February, p. 2 – The Mormonites in America. (From a Correspondent.)

All our readers have no doubt heard of the “Latter-Day Saints,” or “Mormonites;” a sect of fanatics founded by one Joe Smith, who pretended he had a direct revelation from heaven! This sect has flourished in the United States to such an extent, that, notwithstanding they were “persecuted,” as they call it, in the state of Illinois, and their leader, Smith, and many of the people were killed in skirmishes with their enemies, they have acquired a city and territory on the Great Salt Lake, on the high road to California, which they call Utah. This territory has, on the application of the inhabitants, been admitted into the Union as a separate State, and the “Prophet” who is the successor of Joe Smith, Brigham Young, was recognized as the Governor by the United States Government, who sent there officials as Judges and Secretary of the territory, to administer the law. These gentlemen carried with them considerable sums, supplied by the federal government, for erecting public buildings, paying representatives, etc. These judges and the secretary found the people at Utah subject to Brigham Young; the population, almost entirely, they say, (in a Report addressed to the President) consisting “of a people called Mormons; and the Mormon Church overshadowing and controlling the opinions, the actions, the property, and even the lives of its members; usurping and exercising the functions of legislation and the judicial business of the territory; organizing and commanding the military; disposing of the public lands upon its own terms; coining money, and forcing its circulation at a standard beyond its real value; openly sanctioning and defending the practice of polygamy, or plurality of wives; exacting tithes from its members, and enormous taxes from citizens not members; penetrating and supervising the social and business circles; and inculcating and requiring, as an article of religious faith, implicit obedience to the councils of the church, as paramount to all the obligations of morality, society, allegiance, and of law. At the head of this formidable organization, styled ‘The Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day and Latter End Saints,’ stood Brigham Young, the governor, claiming and representing to be the prophet of God, and his sayings as direct revelations from heaven, commanding thereby unlimited sway over the ignorant and credulous. His opinions were their opinions, and his wishes their wishes. He had but to indicate his sympathies and dislike, and they were made their sympathies and dislikes. In a word, he ruled without rival or opposition, for no man dared question his authority.”

This chief and his people refuse to acknowledge the authority of the United States’ officers, who were treated with studied insults. Mormons, Young said, ought to have been appointed judges, and “none others but——rascals would have come there.”

“He announced to the immense masses who assembled for worship, ‘that he was not opposed to the government of the United States, but it was the——infernal corrupt scoundrels at the head of it.’ In speaking of the organization of the territory and the officers, he declared, with great feeling, ‘that he had governed that people for years himself, and he would still rule them; that the United States’ Judges might remain in the territory, and draw their salaries, but they should never try a cause if he should prevent it.’ Another speaker, high and influential in the church, encouraged by this determination of the Prophet, announced from the pulpit to a large audience,’ that the United States’ officers might remain in the territory, so long as they behaved themselves, and paid their boarding; but if they did not, they (the Mormons) would kick them to ——, where they belonged.’”

A series of this insulting language to the officers, and of the government of the United States, which one man told the Judges “was a stink in the nostrils of Jehovah,” whilst another declared “that it was going to —— as fast as it could, and sooner the better,” is recorded. One speaker is said to have urged with much feeling, that “the Mormons were proscribed by the United States; he had two wives, others of his brethren had more, and Brother Brigham Young had a still greater number.—[The ‘New York Herald’ says he has ninety!] And none of them dare return to the United States with their families, for their dirty, mean, little, contracted laws, would imprison them for polygamy.”

The Judges finding they could make no impression—that their authority was disregarded and their persons insulted—that a merchant from Utica was murdered, and his murderers received in the church as before without punishment—that Brigham Young had seized 20,000 dollars, intended for public buildings, and had applied it to the payment of debts of the Mormon church—and that he meant to lay his hands on 24,000 dollars more which were in the hands of the secretary—thought it best to quit Utah, and return to Washington to lay the matter before the federal government. “A few days before they left the territory, the governor was seen riding through the streets of the city in an omnibus, with a large company of his wives, more than two thirds of whom had infants in their arms.” What the United States government will do in a case in which its authority is so contemptuously defied, remains to be seen; perhaps send some troops to take possession of Utah, and drive the Mormons further into the wilderness.

As a pendant to this account of Mormonism in the West, I may relate an anecdote told by the Hon. Henry Coke (brother to Lord Leicester) in an amusing and spirited work he has just published, called “A ride across the Rocky Mountains.” He encountered in the Far West Prairies, an old Yorkshireman, who professed himself to be a follower of Joe Smith. Mr. Coke and the wanderer had a controversial argument, the principle point of which was the origin of the word “Bible.” Mr. Coke cited the Greek etymology of the word; but the Mormon affirmed that there was a Parliament or Synod of Saints and Prophets, by whom the sacred books were considered and discussed in the same manner as bills are in Parliament. From this arose the name of the Holy Volume, intimating that the various writings of the Great Lawgiver of the Hebrews—of the chroniclers and prophets and of the holy Evangelists and Apostles, had been passed by bill!

1852 – 6 August, p. 7 – A letter from Hamburg states that the Mormons have established a weekly newspaper at Hamburg, and have prepared a translation of their Bible. They have missionaries actively employed, and seem to have money.

1852 – 17 September, p. 8 – Lectures on the Mormon Delusion. The first of a series of Welsh lectures on the above subject, was delivered at the Town Hall, Ruthin, on Friday evening, Sept. 3^rd, by Mr. Thomas Hughes (T. ab Gwilym). R. Edwards, Esq., solicitor in the chair. The audience were numerous, amounting to several hundreds. On taking the chair, Mr. Edwards addressed the assembled multitude in most appropriate terms, explanatory of the objects of the meeting, and the desirableness that some competent person should undertake to test and explain the strange doctrines taught by those people who called themselves the Latter-day Saints. These people declare that they alone are in possession of the truth, and condemn all other denominations of the Christian world as wandering in error; hence, the necessity that we should inquire into, hear both sides of the question, and decide for ourselves. He observed, that if it could be proved that they were in possession of the truth, it would behoove us to listen to them and adhere to their tenets; but, if on the other hand it was proved that what they taught was of a delusive character, and tended to mislead mankind, it would be our duty to stand apart from them, and expose their fraud to the world. By the statistics of the Mormons, we learn that the number of their members amount to several thousands, and they pretend that they have brought over a vast number of our fellow-countrymen to embrace their views: this state is in itself enough to justify an inquiry into the principles promulgated by these people. He entreated the audience to listen attentively, and with an unbiased mind; and if anyone was inclined to contradict anything said by the lecturer, or to require further information on any subject touched upon, an opportunity would be afforded at the close of the meeting. The Chairman called upon a Choir who had volunteered their presence to sing a hymn, and afterwards introduced the lecturer to the meeting.

The Lecturer observed that he had undertaken to compose and deliver lectures on the above subject at the request of several respectable parties; and apologized for his coming forward as a layman, to advocate the cause of truth, which was openly assailed by the Mormons in their publications and orations. He considered it to be an incumbent duty upon every man to stand in defense of what appeared to him, after diligent investigation, to be the truth. He found that it would not be possible for him to trace the delusive system in all its bearings, within the compass of ONE lecture, and that he would therefore deliver a course of six lectures, on the various points into which the system naturally resolves itself.

He would confine himself in the first lecture to treat on the ‘origin of the Mormon delusion.’ The 2^nd, ‘on the Mormon doctrines in reference to God, angels and the soul of man.’ The 3^rd, ‘on the gift of miracles—the opinions and pretensions of the Mormons.’ The 4^th, ‘on the Mormon doctrines touching the preaching to spirits in prison, and baptism for the dead.’ The 5^th, ‘that the Bible is the only standard of the faith and conduct of man, and that the world has no reason for expecting a new revelation. The 6^th, ‘that it was the grand end aimed at by Smith and his apostles to establish a temporal theocratical kingdom in America for their own interest, and worldly aggrandizement.’

After the delivery of the said lectures, the lecturer hoped to accomplish a correct portraiture of the Mormon delusion in all its abominations; and it was not improbable that a fair elucidation of facts would convince some of the deluded saints, and bring them to implore “who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

The lecture on the first subject was most excellent; its delivery eloquent and powerful, and the proofs adduced fair and convincing. The audience listened attentively for an hour and a half, though most were inconvenienced by the want of sittings; and the Chairman observed that he scarcely ever witnessed an audience exhibiting more interest and attention. The thanks of the meeting were voted to the lecturer and the chairman, and the audience expressed their approval of the task taken by T. ap Gwilym.

1853 – 4 March, p. 8 – The Mormons in America. The Swansea Herald publishes a letter just received from a Welsh miner, named Evan Powell [Howell], who embarked last year with his wife and family to join the Mormons in America. It is dated St. Louis, Dec. 7, 1851. The deluded victim says: “Myself, together with my wife and child, have been ill for five months, and now I am somewhat better, but I have lost all my comforts, for I have buried my wife and child in the same grave in Illinois. I am now living at Missouri. It is very unhealthy here, and I beg of you to use all your influence to persuade my friends to stay where they are, rather than suffer themselves to be blindfolded into such a system of roguery and plunder as Mormonism. It is nothing but a mere humbug. I have found it to my heart’s sorrow. It would have been better for us not to have been born than to have come here to have been Mormons. They will take all from you at home, and starve you when you come here, if they have chance, and take your wives from you. Their chief, Brigham Young, has 24 wives, and 19 of them have infants at their breasts at present; and those lower in office than he, have a smaller number in proportion to their office, and according to their station. Some have fourteen, some have seven, and others different numbers. And how they are trying their best to insult the officers of the United States, who have left their places and come to Washington; and as Congress is now sitting, we shall hear what they will do. The Mormons are very unkind one to another. I had to dig my wife’s grave myself. She had a decent burial; but the Mormons did not put their hands to help at all. The men who gave them so much money, had promises of land and everything else, when they reached here; but they have been left to die. I wish to tell you also, that the Sabbath is no more regarded here than any other day. There is gaming of every description here on the Sabbath, and the leaders of the Mormons indulge in these things to a great extent, and everything else that is beyond decency.

1853 – 11 March, p. 7 – The West Indies. Four Mormons had arrived at Kingston from the territory of Utah, but were prevented from lecturing in that city by the mayor and attorney-general, through apprehensions of a riot. One of them, however, had lectured in Spanish Town by permission of the governor, but he was so quizzed by the wags that he could not complete his harangue.

1853 – 10 September, p. 2 – Mormonism. One of the disciples of Joe Smith, the Mormon prophet, sporting the sobriquet of Captain Jones, or Rev. Capt. Jones, we are not certain as to his precise classification, delivered a lecture or sermon in support of the above delusion, in the Waterloo Rooms, in this city, on Monday evening. The audience consisted of about twenty people of both sexes.

1853 – 24 September, p. 3 – Mormonism. The adherents to the doctrines of Mormonism increase rather than diminish in those districts of South Wales where they have established themselves, and of late they have received an accession of strength in several persons of middle-class station. A well-known Welsh lecturer, named Robert Parry, better known by his appellation of “Robyn Ddu,” has recently joined the ranks of Mormonism. An extensive exodus has taken place during the summer, and numbers have found their way over to the waters of the Salt Lake. Large bodies of these people have left Glamorganshire, Carmarthenshire, and the hill country of Monmouth for America, and numbers will leave their native land next spring for their Elysium. Miracles are reputed to have been performed by the elders of the sect, all of which are faithfully believed.

1853 – 26 November, p. 6 – Amenities of Yankee Journalism. The New York Tribune, in an elaborate article on the Mormons, defends bigamy out-and-out. This is rather odd for a “reform paper.”—Lowell Journal and Courier. “The Lowell Journal and Courier, in an unelaborate article on progress, tells a lie out-and-out. This is not at all odd for a paper that needs reforming.”—New York Tribune.

1854 – 13 May, p. 5 – Aberystwyth. On Thursday last a lecture was delivered, by the Rev. William Williams, in Zoar Chapel, Aberystwyth; the subject being the “false doctrines of Mormonism, and their Salt Lake Valley.” Several of the Mormonites came there for the purpose of having a debate on the subject, which Mr. Williams would not allow. Among the Saints was the noted Robin Ddu who visited this town a few years ago, and who lectured then on total abstinence, being then a member with the Independents, but who has been since converted to the Mormonial faith. On Tuesday, the 9^th inst., the Saints held their meeting at the Assembly Rooms, for the purpose of disproving Mr. Williams’s lecture, which they did in some unimportant parts, but left the leading facts untouched.

1854 – 30 September, p. 7 – Isolation of the Mormon Settlement. If the design of the Mormon rulers is selecting the Great Basin at the seat of their power was to isolate their people from the rest of the world, they certainly made a happy choice. The Mormon capital is unapproachable from any civilized point, except by a tedious journey of from eight hundred to a thousand miles. In a severe winter it is entirely inaccessible. The mountain passes then lay in so bountiful a supply of snow, as to set human perseverance at defiance; and the luckless sojourner, who has been accustomed to his daily paper, must content himself with speculations as to events transpiring in the outside world for three or four months. This isolation has its conveniences and inconveniences; it protects the saints from Gentile influence and persecution, and enables the leaders to carry out, without let or hindrance, the most singular experiments upon human superstition and credulity which have been witnessed since the dark ages. But the expenses of living are great; everything which cannot raised from the soil, and which the customs of civilized life have rendered necessary to eat, drink, and wear, costs at least four times as much as in the States, owing to the great land transportation.

1855 – 20 January, p. 3 – The Mormonites. A military governor has been appointed over the Mormons. Lieutenant-Colonel Sterton, of the United States army, has received the appointment, with the understanding, however, that he shall leave the army. “It is doubtful,” says a letter from New York, “whether he will accept the appointment on such terms.” The Mormons are strong enough to give that country great trouble, and will no doubt do so. The men are well drilled, and having bold, determined leaders, will not be put down without difficulty.

1855 – 2 June, p. 3 – Mormons on Slavery. Brigham Young, the High Priest of the Mormons at the Great Salt Lake, has recently issued a manifesto, in which he replies to charges brought against the Mormons by the people of the United States. He states that the charge against the Mormons of being hostile to American slavery is a calumny. His words are: “The seed of Ham, which is the seed of Cain descending through Ham, will, according to the curse put upon him, serve his brethren, and be a ‘servant of servants’ to his fellow-creatures, until God removes the curse, and no power can hinder it. But the conduct of the whites towards the slaves will, in many cases, send both slave and master to hell. The blacks should be used like servants, and not like brutes; but they must serve. It is their privilege to live so as to enjoy many of the blessings which attend obedience to the first principles of the gospel, though they are not entitled to the priesthood.”

1855 – 18 August, p. 6 – Item #1 – Progress of Mormonism. Twenty-five years ago, the “Prophet” Joseph Smith organized the Mormon Church with six members. At the present time the Church in Utah Territory contains three presidents, seven apostles, 2,026 “seventies,” 715 high priests, 994 elders, 514 priests, 471 teachers, 227 deacons, besides the usual ration of persons in training for the ministry, but not yet ordained, and 489 missionaries abroad. During the six months ending with the beginning of April last, 965 children were born in the territory of Utah, 278 persons died, 479 were baptized in the Mormon faith, and 86 were excommunicated from the Church.

1855 – 18 August, p. 6 – Item #2 – The Mormons Again. News from the Utah Territory states: “The Mormons in the valley of the Great Salt Lake were anticipating a famine. The crickets, grasshoppers, and locusts devoured everything in the fields and gardens, and, in spite of active and unceasing efforts to counteract their deprecations, there was little hope of the crops arriving at maturity. Add to this calamity the ravages of the Indians—who seem to have again broken from the control of the whites—and it will be admitted that the Latter-day Saints are in a bad way; to say nothing of flour selling at six dollars per hundred, and very scarce at that price. In view of this state of things, Brigham Young, who had just returned from a jaunt through the country, delivered an address, wherein he advised the faithful to take short excursions with their families, taking care, however, to leave the babies at home. Young acknowledges to the possession of ninety wives, and of children a multitude, and he believes it would promote their health and cheer them up to camp out. The ravages of the insects and the total destruction of the crops suggest the probability of the Mormons abandoning their settlements at the Great Salt Lake City. Supplies cannot be procured nearer than San Bernardino, which is 800 miles distant, and the excursions recommended by the governor may be but the preliminary to a general movement.

1855 – 8 September, p. 6 – A Mormon “Saint” and his wives. Orson Hyde, one of the Mormon saints, was lately in St. Louis for the purpose of marrying twelve more wives to whom he is affianced.

1855 – 15 September, p. 7 – News from Great Salt Lake City to the 1^st of July has come to hand. The grasshoppers had destroyed the third crop of grain, and starvation or an abandonment of the settlements were the alternatives presented to the Mormons.

1855 – 6 October, p. 7 – Revolt of the Mormon Wives. While the Government troops were at the holy city of Great Salt Lake, these soldiers appropriated every opportunity to take the wives and daughters of the saints out walking and riding—especially sleigh-riding—and the havoc which they thus made among the beauties of the principality may be partly conjectured from the announcement that they carried off with them an indefinite number of the Mormon fair ones,” far better or for worse”—“sink or swim, survive or perish”—en route for California. This is momentous news, and very significant withal. It shows that the Mormon women are ripe for rebellion, and that a detachment of the regular army is a greater terror to the patriarchs of the Mormon Jerusalem than Indians, or drought, or grasshoppers. It indicates the way, too, for the extinction of the peculiar institutions of Utah. The astonishing results of the expedition of Colonel Steptoe in this view do most distinctly suggest the future policy of the Government touching this next of Mormons. It is to send out to the Great Salt Lake a fresh detachment of young and good-looking soldiers, and at the end of two or three months order them off to California, and replace them by a new detachment at Salt Lake City, and so on, till those Turks of the desert are reduced by feminine desertions to the standard Christian regulation of one wife apiece. New York Herald.

1855 – 27 October, p. 6 – Mormonism at the Salt Lake. A letter appeared in the Edinburgh News two weeks ago, from a Mormonite, who signs himself “One of the Deluded.” He has been of this anti-Christian sect for eight years. With many others he was induced to emigrate to the Salt Lake. They had to purchase wagons and oxen to drag their goods across the plains, having previous assurance that at headquarters they might either be sold or retained for their own advantage; but on the third or fourth day after their arrival, the prophet, priest, and King of “Zion,” Brigham Young, sold off all, and left them to shift as they best could. The state of things was deplorable, for the means of most of the new settlers was gone, and starvation stared them in the face in the “land of promise.” Their state was so wretched that some, unable to provide themselves with any kind of house or room, had to dig holes in the earth for shelter. Mark how the victims are fleeced: A brother lent one of the elders 100 dollars, which was to be paid on arrival. On appealing for it he referred to Young, who told him he must have a revelation from God ere he could give an answer. On the following Saturday he declared, in the presence of 4,000 or 5,000, “I (Brigham) know by the spirit that is upon me that the elders, while on foreign missions, have occasion to borrow money from their richer brethren for the purpose of carrying on the work of the Lord. Thus saith the Spirit, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto those elders, your Father in heaven is well pleased with you; and He does not expect you to pay such moneys back; for his servants are worthy of their hire, and in His own good time the Lord will repay those benevolent brethren, and will open the windows of heaven and shower down blessings upon them.’” This is only one out of many instances which came under this person’s observation, Brigham wants to be rid of one who is perhaps a little troublesome, or he may have a beautiful wife. The licentious scoundrel tells him that he has got a revelation from God to send him on a foreign mission, and that during his absence he is to raise up seed for him! Should he demur, the “destroying angels” have a commission to shoot him, or drown him, as they do other refractory members! Among these must be included persons who desire to leave, lest they should make revelations of a different kind. Brigham impresses it upon the “saints” to destroy such, and if they cannot, to bring them to him and he will baptize them in blood! Thousands would gladly make their escape if they could. Brigham had 57 wives and concubines; some of the “twelve apostles” have as many; “elders” may have as many as they like. Women are terribly degraded. Should a wife have no child she is taken from her husband and given to another; the change may be repeated, and finally she is disposed of like refractory members, should she still be unfruitful. Glasgow Christian News.

1855 – 17 November, p. 5 – A Desperate Mormon. I have never yet talked so rough in these mountains as I did in the United States when they killed Joseph (Smith). I there said boldly and aloud, “If ever a man should lay his hands on me, and say, on account of my religion, ‘You are my prisoner,’ the Lord Almighty helping me, I would send that man to eternity.” I feel so now. Let mobbers keep their hands off from me, or I will send them where they belong. I am always prepared for such an emergency. Brigham Young.

1855 – 8 December, p. 4 – The Mormons. Great Salt Lake City is situated on the east side of the River Jordan, a small stream that flows northward into Great Salt Lake. The streets, which are eight rods wide, cross each other at right angles, running parallel to the four cardinal points of the compass. There are 19 wards in the city, each containing nine squares, and each square contains 1 ¼ acre each. These lots were originally given to actual settlers, but now vary in price from 150 dollars in the outskirts to as many for a small piece in the center of the city; they are being rapidly subdivided, and no doubt the city will in time be as compactly built as any Gentile city. The streets are still in a primitive condition, being neither graded nor paved; they however present a hard surface. But in one of the high winds that sometimes sweep the streets-phew! all is obscurity, and it is only by an occasional lull in old Boreas’s tide that a person can discern his whereabouts. There is no shade along the walks, except what is made by some diminutive specimens of future expectations. This is not to be wondered at, however, when we consider that seven years ago nothing of the tree kind grew upon the land now occupied by the city. Two large streams flowing from the East Mountains, have been diverted from their old channels, and are led by large ditches into the city, where, by smaller ditches along the edges of the sidewalks, the water is caused to ramify throughout the city and water every square. From these ditches each lot is entitled to use the water, for irrigation, a certain number of hours every week, according to the abundance or scarcity. The houses are either built of logs or adobes, or sun-dried bricks, though chiefly of the latter. These blue or cream-colored adobe houses have a quiet Quaker-like appearance, in agreeable contrast to the glaring colors of the buildings in Eastern towns. On account of the high winds quite frequent in these regions nine-tenths of the buildings are less than two storeys in height. A few flower gardens claim the passing tribute of admiration, but, as a general thing, utility reigns throughout the city from the pole fences to the inward decorations of the houses. Rich, indeed, must be the man who, in these far-off regions, can gather around him all the things of comfort and ornament that adorn the houses of Eastern mechanics. Each ward contains a school-house, wherein, as a general thing, school is only taught during the few winter months. A mud wall, eight feet high by five feet thick at the base, surrounds the city as a protection against the Indians in case of trouble. The city is computed to contain 13,000 inhabitants.

The city government consists of a mayor, board of aldermen; and a common council. There are also justices and constables; but I imagine they are offices of honor rather than profit, for the Mormons generally dislike going to law. Over each ward the church has a bishop, whose office, in conjunction with two counselors, is to attend to the sick and needy, and settle all minor disputes or quarrels that may occur between persons residing in his jurisdiction. If a saint is proved to have wronged or slandered a brother or sister, and refuses to make restitution, or ask forgiveness, he is disfellowshipped, or cut off from the Church, until he repents, such a person being on a par with a criminal among the Gentiles. I never had the good fortune to see a more quiet place than this city. Not a dram-shop or a gaming-saloon is suffered to open its pestilential jaws; and I have yet to see the first drunken person in Salt Lake valley.

This summer the entire wheat crop in and south of this city was cut off by the grasshoppers; they came in millions, eating a field bare in a few minutes. They also extended their ravages to the other grains, vegetables, and fruit. The drought lent its assistance to the grasshoppers, and between them both the crops will come out poorly; but, luckily enough, wheat has been raised north to supply the wants of people until next harvest.

Hard times, the general visitor, when the earthly banks refuse to pay a reasonable percentage on all deposits, has visited every workshop and household within the territory and a scarcity of labor and money is the result. Were not nearly every citizen in this valley a tiller of the soil, on a small or large scale, things would have been worse; but, as it is, there will be no suffering, though considerable deprivation, this winter.

This season’s Mormon emigration across the plains will number about three thousand persons. Eight companies have been fitted out from Atchison, Kansas Territory, five of whom have arrived unmolested by the Indians. The emigrants mostly comprise English families, with a sprinkling of Americans, Danes, Scotch, and Irish. Great efforts will be made next year for a larger emigration from the British Isles, by means of the Perpetual Emigration Fund. To this fund Brigham Young has lately donated several thousand dollars’ worth of property to be worth 200,000 dollars, all of which he was willing to donate to the fund, if purchasers could be found with the hard cash; for the emigration would, in a few years, make him worth five times as much. The old gentleman understands how to manage his own affairs, and can be safely placed on the future lists of American millionaires.

About the 10^th of this month the Governor forwarded to Washington a bundle of official documents, tending to free the Mormons from the stain of having killed Captain Gunnison. It is said they will prove a perfect system of debauchery on the part of the United States officers who were quartered here last winter, some of whom are charged with revamping the accusation of murder against the Mormons.

Every mail brings the supreme head of the Mormon church, on an average, half a dozen letters from lawyers and physicians in the States, stating, after cataloguing their accomplishments, that they are delighted with the principles of Mormonism, and would like to come and dwell with such a happy people as the “Saints,” if they could only establish a professional confidence, in which case they would gladly join the church. Of late these letters have been thrown aside unanswered; but formerly the invariable reply was that the only way for professional gentlemen of their stripe to establish a confidence here would be for them to do like some predecessors—go to work tilling the soil, carrying the hod, or hauling wood from the canyons. There is no record of these answers having brought the devout inquirers into the arms of Mormonism. No doubt the Mormon church has one principle these manufacturers of mischief and graves would have embraced with great gusto, namely, the spiritual wife doctrine.

The ladies of Utah have adopted a new costume, which seems to be gradually increasing in favor. It consists of a loose fitting dress, resembling in cut a man’s dark coat, being buttoned in front, and reaching a few inches below the knees, a pair of pantalets adorning the ankles, and a Leghorn hat sat jauntily upon the head—being, in fact, a modification of the Bloomer costume. The ladies are thus relieved of a superabundant load of petticoats, and their husbands are freed from paying for more than two-thirds the usual quantity of dry goods—no small item of expense in this country. There is no doubt but that there is as much need of reform in the articles of man’s dress as in that of woman’s; for instance, what can be more absurd, cumbersome, and useless, than that monkey-like appearance, a coat-tail? I decidedly prefer the common Utah costume of a flannel or cloth overshirt, as more becoming the male gender, than any other modification of the “long-tailed blue.”—New York Herald.

1856 – 15 March, p. 3 – Mormonism. A gentleman who visited the Mormon territories says: “Yesterday morning was so pleasant that I made another visit to the bath, and on returning took something of a detour, strolling very leisurely, and occasionally dropping into an open door to rest. I find the women very conversable. In one house was a tidy English woman, from Bath, of some native refinement of manner. The roof was garnished with mementoes of her native city, and, as she took down a print to show me the environs, and the particular point from which she came, her eyes filled with tears at the remembrance of home. I felt some hesitation in probing her heart with the ruthless question, “Are you the only wife?” Pretty soon a broad, red-faced came in, and seemed perfectly at home. As soon as she went out of the room, I said, “That woman lives with you?” “Yes.” “Are you relatives?” The poor thing twisted her apron, her lips quivered. I then asked, “She is your husband’s second wife?” It was some moments before she could find words to assure me it was even so. She then went on to relate in a simple artless way how happy she and her husband had lived together; how they had been told that the valley of the Salt Lake was a paradise; that her husband could have land for nothing, and earn five dollars a day; how their expenses had been defrayed by the Mormon agents, to be refunded by her husband’s labor here on the public works. And then, with tears streaming down her face, she said her husband, three months since, had been persuaded to take another wife, and how badly she had felt when she first heard of his resolution. This coarse, blowzy, greasy specimen of womanhood had ruled her with a bar of iron. She could not even have the privilege of a cup of tea without asking the jade’s permission, so effectually had the intruder usurped all authority in this humble abode. My heart wept for her.

1856 – 5 April, p. 5 – Extraordinary Elopement – The Worcester Chronicle describes at length a flight of incipient Mormons, which took place last week. “On the previous Sunday morning Mr. Hodgetts had made one of his usual voyages to the coal country, and on his return on the following Saturday was distracted on finding that his wife had left him, and induced all the children to accompany her. Not only had she left him, but she had taken away a great deal of ready cash, which she had collected from the customers, had drawn £314 by cheque out of the bank on the previous day, and had carried off everything portable, even the bed linen from the house. The poor man’s agony and distraction of mind can scarcely be imagined; he implored the aid of the police in recovering wife and children; and on the same night Superintendent Chipp started with him in pursuit. They proceeded at once to Liverpool, procured the assistance of the police in that town, and, after several hours spend in making inquiries, learned that the Enoch Train had started out of port two hours before with 400 Mormons on board, and it was supposed that Mrs. Hodgetts and family were of the number. With some difficulty a bargain was struck with the captain of a steam-tug, the Great Conquest, which shortly afterwards started in pursuit of the fugitives. Nothing was seen of the Enoch Train until the Conquest had crossed the bar at the mouth of the Mersey, when the captain made out the vessel with his glass, and screwed down his safety valves. For two or three hours the chase continued, when the Enoch Train slackened speed, and the Conquest was allowed to come alongside. As soon as the errand of the pursuers became known, the greatest excitement pervaded the passengers; but after a great deal of wrangling and abuse, which lasted an hour and a half, Mr. Hodgetts was allowed to take away his wife and three of his children. The two eldest girls, aged respectively 16 and 18, obstinately refused to go back. Mr. Hodgetts is now once more safely housed with his wife, who, we believe, positively declares that she will go back to the Salt Lake at some time or other. She has brought back with her the greater portion of the money, but not the whole.”

1856 – 3 May, p. 4 – Life among the Mormons. We have received a long letter from a person named Parrott, residing in Bristol, in which he detailed his experience among the Mormons, which sect he left with the greatest disgust. This person’s statement is to the effect that, some time since, he became entangled in the meshes of Mormonism, through the influence of a “leader,” a most pleasing and fascinating man, who introduced the subject to him, and he was led to join a “church” which met in Milk-street. For a time he was perfectly enchanted with the system, and, with his wife and children, was preparing to leave his home and take his departure for the settlement on the Salt Lake. At first he observed the strictest sanctity in their public services and movements, but after a while their real character began to develop itself, as he says, “in the most Satanic manner.” After honestly watching their private and public actions, and carefully observing their principles, and having been by the priest favored to “attend one of their secret council meetings held every Monday night until midnight, when they secretly concoct their hellish and diabolical purposes to entrap the innocent,” he determined to withdraw from them and on March 18^th last, he wrote a letter to the pastor requesting to be excluded from the “church.” For this conduct he was publicly anathematized in the following language: “May his eyes sink in their sockets; his flesh fall from his bones; may he wish to die, and not be able; may his right arm wither; may he beg his bread, but none be given him.” Mr. Parrott states Brigham Young, the present head of the Mormons, has now about twenty women, whom he denominates as his wives, besides the keeping of all the wives of the missionaries while they are away on their missions for five or seven years together; and he instances the case of an “elder” or “priest,” who has just been removed from Cheltenham for having seduced twenty young women. The Mormons now number “4,345 trained officers or black spirits ready for anything their leader Brigham Young has for them to do.” Mr. Parrott states in conclusion that the real object of the American Mormon leaders, called priests, in their mission to the United Kingdom, is under the mask of religion, to recruit men, women, and children, for the purpose of raising an army to carry the Book of Mormon, by the sword and fire, into the present peaceful States of America, of which army Brigham Young, like a second Mohammed, is to be the king. The men, on leaving England, are expected to provide themselves with a six-barreled revolver, a Minie rifle, a sword, and a large knife, under the pretext of killing buffaloes; while the women are taught to make bullets, &c. The Mormons intend to call to their aid the disaffected powerful tribes of the Indians around Utah, in order to assist them in deluging the States in rivers of blood. Bristol Times.

1856 – 24 May, p. 3 – Departure of the Mormons for Utah. On Wednesday morning at half-past six, a part of Mormons, comprising several families, in all 152 men, women, and children, under the care of Elders Squires and Broderick, left London by the London and North-Western Railway for Liverpool, thence to embark with other parties going with them from different parts of the country for Boston, whence they will proceed by the new northern route for the promised land.

1856 – 9 August, p. 5 – Mormon Morals. The latest numbers of the Deseret News which have reached the States, contain not a few pictures of Mormon life and sentiment. Read, for instance, the following apology for polygamy addressed by Brigham Young to some of the refractory brethren: “I do really wish that some were possessed of better sense. I will therefore tell you a few things you should know. God never introduced the patriarchal order of marriage with a view to please man in his carnal desires, nor to punish females for anything which they had done; but he introduced it for the express purpose of raising up to his name a royal priesthood, a peculiar people. Do we not see the benefit of it? Yes, we have realized its advantaged. Suppose that I had had the privilege of having only one wife, I should have had only three sons, for these are all that my first wife bore, whereas I know have buried five sons and have 13 living. It is obvious that I could not have been blessed with such a family if I had been restricted to one wife; but by the introduction of this law I can be the instrument in preparing tabernacles for those spirits which have to come into this dispensation. Under this law I and my brethren are preparing tabernacles for those spirits which have been preserved to enter into bodies of honor, and be taught the pure principles of life and salvation, and those tabernacles will grow up and become mighty in the kingdom of our God.” One of the elders—brother Grant—in a Sunday morning discourse, gives the following as his experience of the workings of polygamy: “You cannot alter it; you cannot alter it; you cannot revoke this eternal law. If a man has 50 wives, and the 50^th is the best, does the most good, she will get the greatest reward, in spite of the grunting on the part of the first ones.”

1856 – 25 October, p. 8 – Mormonism. To the Editor of the North Wales Chronicle. Sir—If you will deem it proper to insert in your ‘Chronicle’ the following extracts of letters, which bring to light another instance of the treacherous and cruel conduct of the Mormonites, they may, perhaps, prove to be of some service to those “brethren” in Wales, who have any degree of common sense left them. The deluded victims, as you may infer from the letters, were rather deficient in the necessary means to enable them to reach the “Valley.” But money was advanced to them on condition of its being repaid.

Before, however, they arrived at their destination, they found out that it would be to their spiritual, as well as temporal welfare, to break up their connection with the “brotherhood,” and to refund the money which they had borrowed. But instead of complying with this reasonable proposal, the Mormons rejected it with the most knavish contempt.

“Gravois Coal Diggings, St. Louis, North America, 26 June 1856.

Dear Brother—I take the opportunity of writing these few lines to you, hoping they may find you in a good state of health, but they leave me very indifferent indeed. I am sorry to say that my dear husband is dead. He had been ill all last fall, and did but very little work. He fretted very much of his ever having left home, and never enjoyed himself, but still wished to return; and the doctor said he had killed himself with fretting, and taking but little food. He died on Sunday last, and I am left alone, very destitute, but still trust in God that He will be my friend.

Dear brother, we have been badly off since we came to this land; I had nothing to bury dear Stephens, but met with a few friends, and I am now depending upon the charity of my neighbors. If you could send me a little money, I should be thankful. Griffith Roberts was to send me £2. Perhaps you will be kind enough to get them, and send them to me. Dear brother, we have been very unfortunate; we have lost all our boxes, and everything we had, except what we had on our backs.

Please give my kind love to all enquirers, and if you will write by return of post, you will much oblige “Your broken-hearted sister, A. S.”

“Top of Hill, St. Louis, N. America, 27^th July, 1856.

Dear friend—I take this opportunity to write these few lines to you, hoping that you are in good state of health.

I have to inform you that my dear husband died five weeks ago, and so I am bereaved of a comfortable home. I am left lonesome on the wide continent of America. I feel myself weak in body and mind, and depend now on your feelings towards me. If you will assist me, you will not lose your reward. The cause of my husband’s illness was his thoughts of home. We did not like to go to the Salt Lake, and for that they robbed us of all our clothes, and would not give them to us, though we offered the money we owed. My dear husband has been ill for twelve months, and grieved himself to the grave. Barnett Parry and his wife also died of the same disease. Please to enquire of my relations, and let me know how they are. It is impossible for black and white to explain everything that I wish to say, but if we shall see one another face to face, I shall say more. Yours, etc., A. S.”

1856 – 13 December, p. 4 – Troubles of Polygamists. The Deseret News published at Utah, the capital of the Mormon territory, gives some discourses to “the saints” at Utah, recently delivered by President Brigham Young, the governor, from which it seems that the dissatisfaction of the female population of the Great Salt Lake Valley is becoming serious, and driving the leaders of the community to the use of violent language. One of the officials of the Mormon state, President Grant, thus describes the feeling which now prevails; “And we have women here who like anything but the celestial law of God; and if they could break asunder the cable of the church of Christ, there is scarcely a mother in Israel but would do it this day. And they talk it to their husbands, to their daughters, and say they have not seen a week’s happiness since they became acquainted with that law, or since their husbands took a second wife. They want to break up the church of God, and to break it from their husbands, and from their family connections.”

Brigham Young has thus delivered himself on the same theme: “It is said that women are tied down and abused—that they are misused, and have not the liberty they ought to have—that many of them are wading through a flood of tears, because of the conduct of some men, together with their own folly. I wish my own women to understand what I am going to say is for them as well as others, and I want those who are here to tell their sisters—yes, all the women of this community—and then write it back to the States, and do as you please with it. I am going to give you from this time to the 6^th of October next for reflection, that you may determine whether you wish to stay with your husbands or not, and then I am going to set every woman at liberty, and say to them, ‘Now go your way, my women, with the rest—go your way.’ And my wives have got to do one of two things—either round up their shoulders to endure the afflictions of this world, and live their religion, or they may leave, for I will not have them about me. I will go into heaven alone, rather than have scratching and fighting around me. I will set all at liberty. ‘What, first wife, too?’ Yes, I will liberate you all. I know what my women will say; they will say, ‘You can have as many women as you please, Brigham.’ But I want to go somewhere and do something to get rid of the whiners; I do not want them to receive a part of the truth and spurn the rest out of doors. I wish my women, and Mr. Kimball’s and Brother Grant’s, to leave, and every woman in this territory, or else say in their hearts that they will embrace the gospel—the whole of it. Tell the Gentiles that I will free every woman in this territory at our next conference. ‘What, the first wife, too?’ Yes, there shall not b e one held in bondage—all shall be set free. And then let the father be the head of the family, the master of his own household; and let him treat them as an angel would treat them; and let the wives and the children say amen to what he says, and be subject to his dictates—instead of their trying to govern. Now, recollect that two weeks from tomorrow I am going to set you at liberty. But the first wife will say, ‘It is hard, for I have lived with my husband twenty years, or thirty, and have raised a family of children for him, and it is a great trial for me for him to have more women;’ then, I say, it is time that you gave him up to other women who will bear children. If my wife had borne me all the children that she ever would bear, the celestial law would teach me to take young women that would have children. It is the duty of every righteous man and every woman to prepare tabernacles for all the spirits they can. Hence if my women leave, I will go and search up others who will abide by the celestial law, and let all I now have go where they please; though I will send the gospel to them. This is the reason why the doctrine of plurality of wives was revealed, that the noble spirits which are waiting for tabernacles might be brought forth to the glory of Mormonism.”

1857 – 25 April, p. 3 – Rebellion in Utah. We talk of the necessity for a first-class Governor in Kansas; but the news from Utah shows pretty plainly that, unless we have someone there who can cut Gordian knots, we shall have more trouble than the present generation will outlive. It seems from our information, that in January last a party of Mormons, of high standing in the church, under the advice of Brigham Young, broke into the offices of the United States District Judge, and Clerk of the Supreme Court, and carried away by force all the papers and books belonging to the Supreme Court. The reason they gave for this outrage was, that Congress would not admit them as a state, and that they did to intend to tolerate any United States offices in the territory. These Mormons have, we think, reached the term of our patience; it is time they were brought to their senses. It is time it was decided whether they are an independent community or really a territory of the United States. For years they have been exciting the feelings of the American people; it is ow high time that some settlement was had with them, and that the pending issues between us were adjusted on some permanent basis. We have no desire to pre-judge the question, or to attempt from this distance to say what ought to be done in the territory of Utah; but one thing is obviously required—one of the very best men in the country should be sent to Salt Lake City, with a sufficient force of United States troops to enforce respect; and an end should be put, once and forever, by fair means or foul, to the series of outrages of which this violation of the records of the Supreme Court of Utah is the last. New York Herald.

1857 – 9 May, p. 4 – A dispatch from Boston, dated April 20, says: “Eight hundred and fifty Mormons arrived here today from Liverpool, in the packet ship George Washington.”

1857 – 16 May, p. 4 – The Mormons in Utah.

The Deseret News, the official Mormon journal, contains in its last numbers some records which show the state of society in Utah. Here, for example, is President Brigham Young’s message to the Mormon Legislature:—

“Gentlemen, —It is with pleasure that I embrace the opportunity again afforded to present for your consideration those matters of interest which pertain to the growth, prosperity, advancement, and well-being of our young and thriving territory.

“Through the blessings of an all-wise Providence we have been favored with peace, quietness, general health, and a fair portion of the bounties of the earth, partially compensating for the losses of crops and stock of the previous year.

“Let our gratitude and praise be given unto the Lord of Hosts for these mercies and favors, and with them may wisdom and understanding continue to flow unto us.

“In accordance with acts of the Legislative Assembly, a constitution was formed and adopted, the census taken, and delegates chosen to present our application to Congress for admission into the Union as a sovereign and independent State. Recent advices from our delegates show that our application has not been presented, owing to the intolerance evinced by the predominant party in the House of Representatives.

“The enumeration of the inhabitants showed a population of near 77,000 in this territory, and it is presumed that the addition to our numbers since that was taken would amount to 20,000. This gives an aggregate equal to, or exceeding, the ratio of representation for Congressmen, removing every objection, if any were made, to our admission, on the score of insufficient population.

“The financial condition of the territory being sound, but little need be said on that subject.

“It is desirable that the Legislative Assembly lend its pecuniary aid only for the accomplishment of those objects manifestly and immediately conducive to the public interests; among which are the construction of roads and bridges, the promotion of the cause of education, domestic productions and manufactures, the public defense, and the usual expenses attending the administration of government, which last-mentioned are principally defrayed by the general Government, in consideration of our still remaining in a territorial organization.

“The annual state fair, or exhibition of some productions and manufactures, was held in Great Salt Lake City on the first three days of October last, and displayed a commendable interest on the part of the people in supplying our wants with articles of home production. There was a great variety of fruits, vegetables, cereals, stock, and manufactured articles brought into competition, not so much for the prizes offered as to gratify a laudable ambition to excel and bear the palm of superior merit and excellence. This is a harmless ambition, and worthy of still further encouragement. Policy, as well as interest, dictates that we as a people should rely more upon home productions for our consumption.

“For the advancement and progress of our territory we should enact such laws as are necessary for her benefit, the development of her resources, and most conducive to her interests, regardless of what other states or territories may have seen proper to adopt. The dissimilarity of existing circumstances might make theirs a bad example or precedent for us to follow, though beneficial to them. To cull from the experience and history of the past, for the benefit of the future, seems wisdom, and so it is, so far as applicable to our condition; when it is not, it betrays a lack of forecast and penetration which disqualify and render inconsistent those who shelter beneath the shades of precedents. To review the laws, alter and amend where necessary, and adapt them to the present wants of the people, seem to attend the duties of legislation in this age of progression and reform.

“The peace of the territory has remained uninterrupted during the year, except by a few Indians, who commenced hostilities in Utah county in the early part of March, which, though soon suppressed, caused the death of seven persons, mostly herdsmen, and the loss of a large amount of stock. The depredatory Indians escaped, and have since returned to their usual haunts, except the hostile chief, who has fled to the Moquis for shelter. A suitable degree of care should be exercised to provide the territory with arms, supplies of camp equipage, and ammunition, to be kept in store for emergencies of a similar nature.

In conclusion, permit me to add that, while we congratulate ourselves upon the peace, union, and prosperity which so eminently attend our efforts, we continually invoke Him who rules in the affairs of men, for wisdom to enable us to perform the duties devolved upon us with ability before Him and fidelity to our constituents.”

In contrast with this somewhat dignified language, we may give an extract from a sermon of one of the vice-presidents, named Grant:

“This people are asleep, and I will vouch that there are many of them who do not pray; or if they do, three prayers, ‘would freeze hell over,’ as a Methodist minister once said. I want you to pray with the Holy Ghost upon you. It is your duty to keep clean. I have given the teachers a new set of questions to ask the people. I say to them, ask the people to keep clean. Do you wash your bodies once in each week, when circumstances will permit? Do you keep your dwellings, outhouses, and door yards clean? The first work of the reformation with some should be to clear the filth away from their premises. How would some like to have President Young to visit them, and go through their buildings, examine their rooms, bedding, etc.? Many houses stink so bad that a clean man could not live in them. Some men were raised in stink, and so were their fathers before them. I would not attempt to bless anybody in such places. You may inquire why I talk so. Can you talk in a better style about dirt, nastiness, and filth? If you can, I cannot, and at the same time make people feel enough upon the subject to put away their filth and be clean. If you want me to speak smoother, do better, and keep cleaner. Were I to talk about God, Heaven, angels, or anything good, I could talk in a more refined style, but I have to talk about things as they do exist among us.”

1857 – 13 June, p. 4 – We learn from Washington that major B. M’Culloch has declined the governorship of Utah territory. It is stated a Westernman has been selected for the post. It is furthermore stated that the government has determined upon adopting vigorous measures as regards the Mormons. A large military force is to be dispatched thither, probably under command of General Harney.

1857 – 20 June, p. 3 – A Mormon preacher at Southampton said in his sermon a Sunday or two ago—“Shall I tell you, my brethren, when the comet shall come and strike this earth? When Brigham Young chooses to say the word, then will the comet come and strike the earth.”

1857 – 20 June, p. 6 – America. Riots at Washington. The news from the United States is of considerable importance in a political sense. In the first place there is the Mormon difficulty. Then the news from Utah is certainly of war, for Mr. Brigham Young, the successor of the Prophet, is reported to be driving all Nonconformists out of the State.

1857 – 27 June, p. 4 – The Mormons. By the latest dispatches we learn that Brigham Young is carrying things with a high hand in Utah. Accounts from Great Salt Lake state that great excitement prevailed there. The Saints had commenced the work of expelling the Gentiles. Judge Stiles, the United States marshal, the surveyor, and a large number of others, had left the territory, fearing their lives were in danger. If the news is to be credited, the issue between the Mormon leaders and the Government is fully made up, and General Harney and his troops will not reach Utah a moment too soon. Colonel Cummings has accepted the difficult office of Governor of Utah. Brigham Young and party left Great Salt Lake City on the 24^th of April for an excursion to the North, expecting to be absent some four or five week. The General Conference of the Latter-day Saints assembled on the 6^th of April to consider the affairs of the church. A large number of missionaries were dispatched on proselytizing missions to all parts of the world. The militia system of the territory has been recognized and the entire military force put in a state of efficiency.

1857 – 18 July, p. 6 – The Rebellious Saints. A few days since it was announced that General Harney had been ordered to proceed without delay to Fort Leavenforth. Although ostensibly he was appointed to the command of the troops in Kansas, yet it was supposed in some quarters that the president had an ulterior object in view, which was the adoption of vigorous measures in regard to the fanatical and rebellious followers of Joe Smith. Mr. Buchanan could signalize his administration in no more creditable manner than by giving his attention to that community of self-styled “saints,” who have never hesitated to avow their independence of, and virtual contempt for, the authority of the federal government. It is disgraceful to the United States that social habits and institutions utterly at variance with the teachings of Christianity, and tolerated by no other truly civilized nation on the face of the globe, should be permitted to subsist and flourish within their borders; but the Mormons claim that polygamy is a part of their religion, and though in any of the states of the Confederacy it would subject its votaries to the wholesome discipline of the penitentiary, yet so jealous are we of religious freedom that we have forborne to interfere with the harems of the detestable voluptuaries at Salt Lake. The Mormons, moreover, had taken up their quarters in so distant and solitary a spot that it was imagined that we had nothing to fear from the contagion of their licentiousness, and accordingly previous administrations have regarded a “masterly inactivity” as the best policy to be observed in the case. But, unfortunately, this course has not been attended with any practical advantage. On the contrary, Brigham Young, emboldened by the ill-advised toleration of the Federal Government, has greatly presumed upon it, and appears to have very serious ideas of taking the law entirely into his own hands. Judge Drummond, of the Supreme Court of Utah, has been obliged to resign his office, in consequence of inability to fulfill its duties, except at the peril of his life. In such a crisis as this the adoption of vigorous measures on the part of our rulers becomes a pressing duty, which they cannot with honor neglect. A large body of United States troops, under the command of an officer like General Harney, would have a wonderful effect in bringing Young and his subjects to their senses. We have always advocated the necessity of a vigorous demonstration in that quarter. Ineffectual action is worse than none at all in such an exigency. The Mormons are rapidly increasing in numbers, in strength, and in audacity, and if Mr. Buchanan does not move promptly and decisively he will find, before the close of his administration, that his culpable negligence has matured into formidable proportions a serpent with both the will and power to give our national peace a very serious wound.—American Paper.

1857 – 1 August, p. 4 – Anti-Mormon Riot in Birmingham. A feeling of great hostility has for some time past been manifested towards the Mormons, who are rather numerous in Birmingham. On Sunday evening matters reached a climax. The Mormons have a chapel in a narrow thoroughfare, called Thorpe Street, and nearly opposite this building, Dr. Brindley, the master of a scholastic establishment at Leamington, and who recently conducted a school near Liverpool, lectured upon the abominations of Joseph Smith’s followers to between fifteen hundred and two thousand people. His discourse concluded about eight o’clock. Though a few of the more respectable looking of his hearers left the street when he did, the great majority remained, and shortly afterwards a rush was made to the chapel where “President” Aubrey was preaching at the time. The aisles and unoccupied seats were speedily filled, and then a running fire of comment on the sermon was commenced and carried on by the intruders for some five or ten minutes. It is stated that much of the language used was of the lowest and most disgraceful kind. At last Aubrey abruptly closed his discourse, and dismissed his congregation. It was with great difficulty that they forced their way through the crowds in the chapel yard and the street. The females were hustled, insulted, and bespattered with mud; the men had their hats knocked off and were struck on every side. The police were sent for, and quiet was partially restored. As soon, however, as the constables had retired, the door of the chapel was burst open, the crowd rushed in, the front windows were smashed, and a Bible and several other books stolen. The interior of the chapel was a scene of the utmost riot. A body of police arrived at this moment, and dispersed the mob, or in all probability there would have been very serious results, as hints of an intention to burn the chapel were freely circulated. No other disturbance took place that night; but on Monday morning the chapel doors were again broken open; lockfast closets entered and ransacked, and a large number of school and music books were torn in pieces and strewn about the yard. Except when a policeman made his appearance, the crowd remained in possession of the building during the day. In the evening, showers of stones were hurled through the smashed windows. On Wednesday, however, the police took active measures to prevent a repetition of these scenes.

1857 – 15 August, p. 6 – Sir Benjamin Hall added that it had been found necessary to put a stop to preaching in the parks, as advantage had been taken of the permission for Mormons, Infidels, and advocates of all sorts of dangerous and immoral doctrines to promulgate them. He might add that many states contained in a memorial lately addressed to the Government by the friends of preaching, setting forth that the Sunday bands gave rise to scenes of drunkenness, were wholly unfounded.

1857 – 12 September, p. 3 – Item #1 – An Escape from Utah. About four years ago, Joseph Routledge, a miner at Shincliffe Colliery, near Durham, left England for the Salt Lake. After a lengthened stay among the Mormons, he has made his escape with his wife and family. The following letter to his parents will probably be interesting to some of our readers: “Alton Coal Branch, State of Illinois, July 11, 1857. – Dear Father and Mother, I write to inform you that I and my family got here safe. We arrived on the 6^th to brother John’s from Salt Lake Valley, and our hearts were made to rejoice to see the faces of our kindred. They heard we were coming, but they did not expect us so soon. We were three months from the time of leaving. You will have received a letter that I wrote from Fort Laramie, that I was half-way on my journey. We have not been molested since we left Salt Lake Valley. They robbed me of 170 dollars, one yoke of cattle, and a cow, fifty dollars’ worth of clothing, and all we got here in is what we stand up in; but thank God we are here, and in a country where we can get more. * * * * I have had enough of Mormonism. It is not very pleasant to be forced to serve God whether you will or not, and even, if you won’t, to have your throat cut, which was the threat used towards us because we would not stay to become serfs to Brigham. There has 15,000 troops gone up to Utah to give people their freedom. You see they got us out there under the cloak of religion; but I was not there long before I found out that it was nothing more than a political scheme to gain power and a usurpation. I have had to humble myself to the lowest degree to get along. They all send their respects to you. Your son and daughter, Joseph and Alice Routledge. Sunderland Herald.

1857 – 12 September, p. 3 – Item #2 – Mormon Conference in London. This sect held its sixth annual conference on Sunday, at the Adelaide Gallery, Lower Arcade, Strand. It was presided over by “two of the apostles,” Brothers Orson Pratt and Ezra Benson. About 600 persons were present in the morning, about 1,000 in the afternoon, and upwards of 1,000 in the evening, most of whom judging from appearances, were Latter-day Saints, or Mormons. The proceedings consisted chiefly of addresses.

Brother Pratt described, in forcible language, the scriptural claims of Mormonism. Delegates were present from different parts of the country.

From the statement of Pastor Ross, the representative of London, it appeared that 1,260 pounds had been subscribed during the past year for emigration and other purposes. The exertions of the priesthood in the good work had been universally received and accepted. Preaching in the streets, lanes, and other places, had been revived, and where there had been opposition great wisdom had been evidenced.

The President of the Kent Conference said they had had very pleasant times. He looked upon the saints there, who numbered 550, as “a first-class lot of people, as they supported thirteen elders, and also paid their tithing,” and approved all that the elders proposed. They had also to bear their share of opposition, but they had felt the better for it.

The President from Essex said he had re-baptized in his district 241 out of 374. The people were first-rate in the work, and willing to pay their tithes and offerings; the Lord had been with them this year more than ever.

The President from Reading was happy to be present, surrounded as he was by the saints and servants of the Great God. In his district (a poor agricultural one), out of 300 or 400 saints, there were 150 who were good for nothing. Of the remaining 250, the greater portion lived or father vegetated on the parish allowance. They had subscribed 50 pounds during the past year to the emigration fund, and a large number of them would emigrate during the coming season.

A pastor from Southampton and Dorsetshire complained of the want of honesty “on the part of the learned editors.” Not long since the papers teemed with accounts of the vicious character of their elders—of their doing everything unbecoming a man, much less a saint, circulated by Judge Drummond. It had been proved by the American papers that Judge Drummond had invented his stories to injure the Latter-day Saints, and to bring them into collision with the United States government.

The Sheffield delegate (a gentleman from Utah) said the Saints in his district were not rich, “but good looking,” as they enjoyed the spirit of the Lord, which made them look and feel well. He himself had been baptized and received the Holy Ghost by laying on of hands. He conjured his hearers to become Mormons and forsake their sins. They were, he said, the most temperate people in the world. Just go into the houses. Where were their pipes? They had thrown them away. Where were their teapots? They had no use for them. He declared that Joe Smith had done more good than any man since our Savior, and that Brigham Young was a great and mighty prophet and father in Israel.

The proceedings of the afternoon were pleasantly varied by refreshments, such as ginger beer and other cooling drinks. Here and there might be noticed affectionate pairs with their arms round each other’s waists.

The proceedings of the evening consisted chiefly of a rapid review of the origin and history of Mormonism down to the present time, by Mr. Orson Pratt.

Collections were made after each service.

1857 – 12 September, p. 3 – Item #3 – Another Meeting. On Monday night the Mormon Conference was brought to a close by a social meeting at the Teetotal Hall, Broadway, Westminster. The proceedings were certainly of such a character as were never witnessed in a “conference” before. The attendance was not very numerous, but it comprised all the leading members of the conference. At the outset the assemblage engaged in singing, in a loud strain, one of their favorite hymns, led on by Elder Bernard, to the tune of “The Low-backed Car.” The purport of this song was the long looked-for day when they would all get to Zion (Utah). It seemed to be a rather painful effort to Brother Bernard, and it was decidedly so to those of the audience who happened not to be Mormons.

Brother Silver, one of the elders, next obliged the company with a “little harmony.” It was something about—

“I never knew what joy was

“Till I became a Mormon” etc.

Several songs and recitations were given.

One of the elders sang a song styled “Sectarian Nonsense,” one verse of which ridiculed the absurdity of a man when he is ill going to a doctor, as the Gentiles (i.e, all who are not Mormons) do, instead of going to an elder of the church to be healed.

One of the Yankee elders, fresh from the Salt Lake Valley, said he “felt first rate.” He could fetch in firing, if they wanted it; and he calculated he was always “to band” when anybody was wanted to move the fixins, to hunt up the lost sheep, or to drive the oxen. When anything of this kind was to be done he was always at hand, to do the best he could; but he wasn’t much of a hand at discoursing. He drew a pitiable picture of the heathenism of this country, and gave a glowing description of the enlightenment and happiness of the saints in Utah.

A Mr. Harrison, who was one of the very few Englishmen among these Mormon prophets, next addressed the meeting. He said that Mormonism and its professors were not to be judged by existing standards; for they were far above and beyond them. It had been said that Mormonism was unnecessary, because there was nothing new in it that was true, and nothing true in it that was new. This was not the case. It supplemented the revelations of the Bible and completed them. They had been accused of saying nothing yesterday of polygamy. The polygamy they advocated was not the lustful polygamy of the Orientals. The polygamy of the Mormons was a system which controlled the lusts and passions of mankind, and reduced the marital duties to some kind of system. Mormonism did not allow men and women to rush into matrimony as dictated by their passions, and without any guiding principle. Mormonism came to them with principles adapted to every condition of a man’s life; it entered into the privacy of the chamber, and controlled every action. It taught men to act as God would have them act. This was the difference between the Mormonite polygamy and the Oriental system.

The congregation then indulged in some doggerel verses, which they sang to the popular air of “Minnie,” of the words of which song their “psalm” was a wretched parody.

Elder George Read then recited a piece about “The Bishop’s Banquet,” describing the good living of the right rev. prelates—a recitation which was singularly mal-apropos and in very bad taste, seeing that it was immediately followed by the Mormonite refreshments—apples and pears on damp and dirty waiters, with little cake and biscuits, which were stale and unsavory. These were washed down by copious draughts of pump water from large jugs.

Another Elder then indulged in a “little harmony” about “Sleepy Parsons,” the chorus to which was—

“Heigh ho! you sleepy parsons!

“Ha! ha! ha! ha! what a lark!

“After all your college learning

“You will find you’re in the dark.”

The very reverend elder gave this song with much vigor to the air of a well-known nigger melody, “Oh, Susannah, don’t you cry for me,” and he added to the effect by vigorous slaps of his hands upon his stalwart thighs, after the most approved fashion of the Ethiopian serenader. The effort was very much relished by the audience, who loudly applauded.

Sister Pearce and several other sisters subsequently sang.

An Elder, with a strong Yankee brogue, advised the sisters to sell off all their ornaments, which took them so long every day to dust, and to put the money into the emigration fund, to enable them “to gather out of Babylon”—i.e., to leave this country for Utah.

The Apostle Orson Pratt then gave the “Sisters” some advice on the subject of marriage. He said that marriage, if celebrated by the Mormon church, which alone had full authority, extended not only till death, but throughout eternity. He urged them not to marry men not Mormons, or else when they awoke in the Day of Judgment they would find themselves without husbands, and be obliged to remain single throughout eternity. This he described to be a horrible eventuality, and propounded the doctrine that a propagation of spirits would go on in a future world, just as the propagation of our species goes on in this.

Ezra Benson, another Apostle from the Salt Lake Valley, addressed the audience in his shirt sleeves. His speech was full of Yankee humor, rather coarse, but it told well with the saints. He said he felt “fust rate.” He referred to the subject of marriage, and to his own wives and children whom he had left in Utah, and said he believed that all his wives would not apostatize, and that therefore he would not be likely to undergo the misery of remaining single in heaven. He described Brigham Young as the best and holiest man in the world, and said he did not wonder at the sisters falling in love with him. Every good man, he said, ought to have more than one wife. He said he would advise the editors who abused them to consult their works, and they would find everything as “right as taturs.” He indulged in a variety of jokes of the same class.

The proceedings terminated shortly after ten o’clock.

(We omit to record some of the more improper sayings and doings of the evening.)

1857 – 19 September, p. 4 – Item #1 – The Mormons’ Land of Plenty. The Mormons promise a land of plenty. They address the senses. They hold out to the small farmer, and to the starving, scrambling, petty tradesman, the assurance of plenty to eat and drink; and they point to the Bible for confirmation of the fact that God’s chosen people have always had the blessings as well as the promises of the present world. All the spiritual imagery of Scripture they reduce to the coarsest and most material form. They bring down everything, even Almighty God and all his gifts, to mere things of sense. The God who is only a spirit is – to use the Mormons’ own language – “not the God for me.” The Mormons localize heaven, and say, “Here it is, on the Salt Lake, at Nauvoo,” or Utah, as the case may be. The God of the Mormons, they delight to say, has a body, passions, feelings, and special residence like ourselves. Theirs is the reverse of spiritual religion. It is of the earth, earthy; and the earth is with them the mother of abundance, and of all sorts of riches and mere animal enjoyments – flocks and herds, feasts and concubines. This is, after all, what favorable addresses the poor; and in this style the Mormons present religion to their hearers. All the Old Testament language they take to the very letter, and interpret in its coarsest and most material form. They construe everything literally; and this looks honest, and is intelligible. The land flowing with milk and honey, the fat of the kidneys of wheat, the butter of kine, the fruit without labor, and the other good things which are promised to the saints, they proffer as a substantial religion – not in type and in the distance of spiritual blessings, but in solid, rich, unctuous possession in this present world, at a place which can be reached by a steamer. People answer an appeal like this. This is the sort of language which tells on the pining, hard-working laborer, either in field or factory; and this is what wins to the Mormon cause. Saturday Review.

1857 – 19 September, p. 4 – Item #2 – The Mormon Deceit in America. We have a Delhi of our own which has not yet fallen, and, from present indications, is not likely to fall until long after the fate of the Eastern capital shall have been sealed. We have not, like the British in India, conquered a fortress and then given it to the enemy to keep for us, but we have permitted an enemy to build one in the center of our territory, where he has gained such power that he snaps his fingers at us in defiance, and we encourage him still further to defy our power by sending so feeble and inefficient a force to coerce him that it crumbles to pieces on its way. Our Delhi is the Mormon City of Salt Lake, where a rebellious fanaticism, both religious and political, exists, more malignant and better organized than that of India. It will inspire the Mormons with a feeling of contempt for the central government when they learn that even the small expedition of 1,500 men, which was sent out to quell their revolutionary and rebellious movements, has been unable to reach them on account of imperfect organization and the lack of proper administrative talent. The wily and able leader of the Mormons, who has boasted to his deluded followers that he will be himself President of the United States within five years, will turn the failure of the military expedition against Utah to good account for his own interests, and he will doubtless attribute it to his own superhuman agency. The main cause of the failure of the Utah military expedition is said to be owing to desertions, more than one-third of the force having deserted since it commenced its march. There must have been some wretched mismanagement which reflects disgrace upon the War Department, if the reports be true that so large a number of desertions have taken place. They are said to have been mainly from the 5^th Regiment of Infantry, and were, at the last accounts, of daily occurrence. The reports from Washington are to the effect that it is the intention of Government to send forward more recruits, and that the expedition will not be detained. How this may be, we do not know; but we should say that the wiser course would be to order the army for Utah, whatever there may be left of it, into winter quarters, and, in the meantime, make vigorous preparations for sending an efficient force early in the spring. As almost the entire population of Utah is composed of the faithful and fanatical followers of Brigham Young, they may be left to his tender mercies awhile longer. However he may delude them as to his own power and the inability of the Federal Government to molest him, he labors under no delusion himself. The rascal will not have the audacity to lay his hand, at least openly, on any official representative of the United States. He knows too well what would be the inevitable consequence to himself of such conduct, and we need entertain no fear for such United States officers as remain in the territory. In the meantime, before a new force can be organized and sent to Utah, Congress will assemble, and among the first measures of that administration will doubtless be one for the settlement of the Utah difficulty. Senator Douglas has already published his own views of what would be the proper plan for Utah, and it is not unlikely that they may coincide with those of Mr. Buchanan. Salt Lake will have to be disposed of in some way by the present Administration, and it may not prove altogether unfortunate if the military force which was sent to awe the Mormons into good behavior should be compelled to stop short of its destination until some definite plan of dealing with them has been determined upon by the Government. But such a consideration as this should not exonerate the War Department from the censure to which it is so justly entitled. If an army of 1,500 men cannot be sent in mid-summer to the center of our own territory without the loss of more than one-third of its number by desertion, it argues very badly for the proper organization of the chief arm of our military defense.

1857 – 3 October, p. 4 – The Mormon Campaign. Newspapers from Salt Lake City report a public speech of Brigham Young, in which he uttered the following threats: “Now, let me tell you one thing; I shall take it as a witness that God designs to cut the thread between us and the world when an army undertakes to make their appearances in this territory to chastise me or to destroy my life from the earth. I lay it down that right is—or at least should be—might with Heaven, with its servants and with all its people on the earth. As for the rest, we will wait a little while to see, but I shall take a hostile movement by our enemies as an evidence that it is time for the thread to be cut. I think that we will find 300 who will lap water, and we can wipe out Midianites. Brother Heber said that he could turn out his women, and they would whip them. I ask no odds of the wicked, the best way they can fix it.

1857 – 24 October, p. 6 – It is stated that the Mormons had fortified Fort Bridges, intending to defend it against the United States troops.

1857 – 21 November, p. 5 – Mormonism Exposed. A lecture was delivered on Tuesday by the Rev. John Brindley, LL. D., at the British Institution, Cowper Street, City Road, on the subject of Mormonism, the object of which was to refute the pretensions of Mormonism, and expose the abominable practices of the self-styled Latter-day Saints. Mr. Joseph Payne occupied the chair. The Rev. lecturer, who traced the Mormon imposture to its source, and ably set before his audience the iniquitous doings of its professors, was well received. At the close of the lecture a vote of thanks to Mr. Brindley was unanimously awarded. Star.

1857 – 21 November, p. 6 – The Mormons Getting Ready for War. The Mormons, according to a letter from Omaha City, in the New York Times, are on the march; and only ten or twelve days since, on the Loupa Fork of the Platte River, near the mouth of Beaver, and known as Beaver settlement of Mormons, about one hundred miles from Omaha City. Some renegade Mormons or seceders from the Mormon Church, fleeing from the Danites of Salt Lake, had reached that settlement, bringing the news that a large force of the Mormon militia, under Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, were preparing to leave Salt Lake City, with provision and ammunition for a six weeks’ campaign in the mountains to the eastward, and thus stop, if possible, the progress of the United States’ Corps.

1857 – 5 December, p. 4 – Great Slaughter of Emigrants by Indians. A body of emigrants from Missouri and Arkansas, numbering 135, are reported to have been massacred by the Indians. Forty or fifty of the emigrants were capable of bearing arms. The encampments were attacked about daylight in the morning (so say the Indians) by the combined forces of all the various tribes immediately in that section of the country. It appears that the majority of them were slain at the first onset made by the Indians. The remaining force formed themselves in the best position their circumstances would allow, but before they could make the necessary arrangements for protecting themselves from the arrows there were but few left who were able to bear arms. “After having “corralled” their wagons and dug a ditch for their protection, they continued to fire upon the Indians for one or two days, but the Indians had so secreted themselves that, according to their own statement, there was not one of them killed and had few wounded. They (the emigrants) then sent out a flag of truce, borne by a little girl, and gave themselves up to the mercy of the savages, who immediately rushed in and slaughtered all of them, with the exception of fifteen infant children, who had since been purchased with much difficulty by the Mormon interpreters.

The Expedition Against the Mormons. The Canada has arrived at Liverpool, with advices from Boston to the 17th, and 101,704 dollars, and £15,000 in specie. She passed the Niagara on the 19th. The City of Washington arrived at New York on the 16^th.

The following dispatch has been telegraphed from Washington to Boston:—

“The War Department to-day received some highly interesting official dispatches, including a proclamation of Brigham Young, declaring martial law in Utah.

“He claims his right to do so by virtue of his authority as Governor of the territory and superintendent of Indian affairs, not having been suspended from exercising his functions, and, by virtue of his power under the Territorial Organic Act, he expressly forbids the United States’ troops entering the territory without his authority for doing so, and complains that the Mormons have not been treated as American citizens, and that the Government of the United States has acted on misrepresentations the object being to drive the Mormons from the territory. The language of the proclamation is emphatically in hostility to the authority of the United States, and is regarded here as a declaration of war.

“When Colonel Alexander was within thirty miles of Fort Bridger, which place is occupied by Mormon troops, he received a letter from Brigham Young through the commander of the Nauvoo Legion, warning the troops out of the territory, but saying if they desired to remain til spring they might do so, provided they gave up their arms and ammunition, but they must then leave. In the meantime, he would see that they were furnished with provisions. The letter was accompanied by two copies of the proclamation, and a copy of the laws of Utah. The commander tells Colonel Alexander that he is at the fort to carry out Young’s instructions, and expresses the hope that Colonel Alexander’s answer and actions will be dictated by a proper respect for the rights and liberties of American citizens.

“Colonel Alexander, in his reply, dated October 2, says he has given Young’s communication his attentive consideration, and will submit the letters to the General Commanding as soon as he arrives here (meaning the Camp, Winfield, on Hams Fork). ‘In the meantime,’ he adds, ‘I have to say that the troops are here by the order of the President of the United States, and their further movements will depend entirely upon the orders issued by a competent authority.’ Among the documents is a letter from Colonel Johnson, dated from the ‘Camp of the Three Wings of the Sweet Water,’ addressed to ‘Adjutant General M’Cowell, New York,’ in which he confirms the burning of the contractor’s trains by the Mormons. He says the Governor’s escort is four days’ march behind him, with two companies of dragoons. He knows of no reason why Colonel Alexander should attempt to reach Salt Lake by Bear River, excepting from fear that the Mormons have burnt the grass on the shorter route, which they are reported to have done.’ He adds, ‘If I could communicate with Colonel Alexander I would direct him to take up a good position for the winter at Hams Fork; the road is beset between this and Hams Fork with companies of Mormons, so it is doubtful if I shall be able to communicate with Colonel Alexander.’ It is supposed at the War Department that the troops are all in good condition, as nothing in the contrary is said in the dispatches.”

1857 – 12 December, p. 6 – The Mormons and the United States. Brigham Young’s Declaration of War. By the last American mail we learn that advices had been received at Washington from Colonel Alexander, substantially confirming the reports respecting the destruction of contractors’ trains by the Mormons. Brigham Young has issued the following proclamation to the United States troops, defying the Government, and counselling his people to hostilities in the most determined form, and ordering the troops to keep out of Utah:—

“Proclamation by the governor.

“Citizens of Utah—We are invaded by a hostile force, who are evidently assailing us to accomplish our overthrow and destruction. For the last twenty-five years we have trusted officials of the Government, from constables and justices, to judges, governors, and presidents, only to be scorned, held in derision, insulted, and betrayed. Our houses have been plundered and then burned, our fields laid waste, our principal men butchered while under the pledged faith of the government for their safety, and our families driven from their homes to find that shelter in the barren wilderness, and that protection among hostile savages, which were denied them in the boasted abodes of Christianity and civilization.

“The constitution of our common country guarantees unto us all that we do now or have ever claimed. If the constitutional rights which pertain unto us as American citizens were extended to Utah according to the spirit and meaning thereof, and fairly and impartially administered, it is all that we could ask—all that we have ever asked.

“Our opponents have availed themselves of prejudice existing against us, because of our religious faith, to send out a formidable host to accomplish our destruction. We have had no privilege nor opportunity of defending ourselves from the false, foul, and unjust apprehensions against us before the nation. The Government has not condescended to cause an investigating committee or other person to be sent to inquire into and ascertain the truth, as is customary in such cases. We know those aspersions to be false; but that avails us nothing. We are condemned unheard and forced to an issue with an armed mercenary mob, which has been sent against us at the instigation of anonymous letter writers, ashamed to father the base, slanderous falsehoods which they have given to the public—of corrupt officials, who have brought false accusations against us to screen themselves in their own infamy, and of hireling priests and howling editors, who prostitute the truth for filthy lucre’s sake.

“The issue which has thus been forced upon us compels us to resort to the great first law of self-preservation, and stand in our own defense—a right guaranteed upon us by the genius of the institutions of our country, and upon which the government is based. Our duty to ourselves, to our families, requires us not to tamely submit to be driven and slain without an attempt to preserve ourselves. Our duty to our country, our holy religion, our God, to freedom and liberty, requires that we should not quietly stand still and see those fetters forging around us which are calculated to enslave and bring us in subjection to an unlawful military despotism, such as can only emanate, in a country of constitutional law, from usurpation, tyranny, and oppression.

“Therefore I, Brigham Young, Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the territory of Utah, in the name of the people of the United States, in the territory of Utah, forbid,

“First—All armed forces of every description from coming into this territory, under any pretense whatever.

“Second—That all the forces in the said territory hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment’s notice to repel any and all such invasion.

“Third—Martial law is hereby declared to exist in this territory, from and after the publication of this proclamation, and no person shall be allowed to pass or repass into or through or from this territory without a permit from the proper officer.

“Given under my hand and seal, at Great Salt Lake City, Territory of Utah, this fifteenth day of September, A.D. eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-second.

“Brigham Young.”

Colonel Alexander, in reply, states to Brigham Young that the troops were there by order of the President, and would be disposed of as the commanding General saw proper.

1857 – 19 December, p. 4 – The Mormon Expedition. A gentleman just arrived from Leavenworth states that before he left a rumor had reached that city, and obtained credence among the officers at the fort, that the Mormons had raised forces and blockaded all the avenues to Salt Lake City by the route taken by the United States forces, in many cases rendering the canyons impassable, by means of rocks and other impediments. Brigham Young declares that it is not the design of the Mormons to shed blood, unless provoked to do so by a similar action on the part of the Government. It is believed that they will endeavor to possess themselves of the horses, mules, and stores of the expedition, in order to a removal early in the spring. From the exposed position now occupied by the advance, this will be a comparatively easy task, unless the army shall fall back upon Fort Laramie.

1857 – 26 December, p. 6 – The Mormons’ Expedition. Further advices had been received from the Utah expedition. Six hundred cattle had been run off by them in sight of Colonel Alexander’s command. It was expected that the three divisions of the army under Colonels Johnston, Alexander, and Cook would soon be concentrated, and Governor Cummins and the other territorial officers were determined to enter Salt Lake City, if possible. A skirmish had taken place, in which three or four of the Mormons were taken prisoners.

1858 – 2 January, p. 6 – The Americans and the Mormons. Brigham Young on the Expedition. The advices from Utah are to the 7^th of October, and represent the saints as well stirred up. We have the Mormon account of Captain Van Vleet’s visit. The dignitaries of Church, State, and the press met the captain in Social Hall, where there was a public reception and speech-making. Then “after a time spent in a style of conversation ever pleasing to upright and loyal American citizens,” they took the delighted officer on “a stroll through the adjacent orchards, vineyard, and garden.” The captain having expressed a desire to see the workings of the “peculiar institution,” Governor Young showed him the finishing and furnishing of his beehive and lion mansions, from garret to cellar, and introduced him to his numerous family of wives and children. The captain next being asked “whether any of the numerous children indicated idiocy or any degree of mental or physical degeneracy, promptly replied that he could discern nothing of that description.” And when the gallant officer left the Happy Valley he bade them adieu with a prayer that “the angel of Peace should ever extend his wings over Utah.” Among other entertainments while there he was treated to a sermon by Brigham Young, which is printed in the Deseret News. “I shall treat,” he says, “every army and every armed company that attempt to come here as a mob.” (The congregation responded “Amen.”) “You might as well tell me that you can make hell a powder-house as to tell me that you could let an army in here and have peace, and I intend to tell and show them this if they do not keep away. . . Before I will suffer what I have in times past there shall not be one building, nor one foot of timber, nor a stick, nor a tree, nor a particle of grass and hay that will burn left in reach of our enemies. I am sworn, if driven to extremity, to utterly lay waste in the name of Israel’s God. . . As I said this morning, ten years ago on this ground I stated that we would not ask any odds of our enemies in ten years from that date, and the next time I thought of it was ten years afterwards to a day! They are now sending their troops, was the news, and it directly occurred to me, ‘Will you ask any odds of them?’ No, in the name of Israel’s God we will not, for as soon as we ask odds we get ends—of bayonets. . . I am aware that you want to know what will be the result of the present movement against us. Mormonism will take an almighty stride into influence and power, while our enemies will sink and become weaker and weaker, and be no more, and I know it just as well now as I shall five years hence. The Lord Almighty wants a name and a character, and he will show our enemies that He is God, and that He has set His hand again to gather Israel, and to try our faith and integrity. And He is saying, ‘Now, you, my children, dare you take a step to promote righteousness, to direct and open opposition to the popular feelings of all the wicked in your Government? If you do, I will fight your battles.’” Brother Heber C. Kimball also made an exhortation at the same meeting of greater directness and blasphemy. “Wake, ye saints of the Most High, and prepare for any emergency that the Lord our God may have pleasure in bringing forth. We never shall leave these valleys till we get ready—no, never, never! We will live here till we go back to Jackson County, Missouri. I prophesy that in the name of Israel’s God.” (The congregation shouted “Amen!” and President Brigham Young said, “It is true.”)

The Deseret News of the 7^th of October publishes the resolutions adopted by a Mormon Legislature at its last session, and forwarded to Mr. Buchanan. They are long and diffuse. The pith is that they “will resist any attempt of Government officials to set at naught the territorial laws, or to impose upon them those which are inapplicable and of right no in force in this Territory.” From these signs it is not unreasonable to suppose that Mr. Buchanan will have employment enough for his force next summer without stirring up civil war in Kansas.

The Mormon Ladies Taking up Arms.

The following letter was written by a woman at Salt Lake City to her husband, who was on a visit to one of the Eastern cities:

“Salt Lake City, Sept. 4, 1857. My dear husband: I have just received your letter to me, and also read one you wrote to sister -----. I am much disappointed, for I thought you would say positively you were coming home this fall. I think if you understood the spirit the time in the valley you would want to be here. All the men are preparing for war, both old and young. Some companies have gone out to meet the enemy; more are ready to go when called for. The companies are all coming in: what they cannot bring with them they destroy. They have burned hundreds of tons of hay at the stations. Brother Brigham says if the brethren will stand by him, he will never let the Gentiles come into the valleys. He says before they shall come here, he will burn every house, fence, and haystack, and flee to the mountains. We will make a Moscow of the cities and towns in these valleys, and a Potters’ Field of every cannon that our enemies come into. Brother Kimball says all the women must have a dirk knife, so I wish you would bring me one. You must bring plenty powder and lead. Brother Brigham says if every saint will live up to their religion, we will never be driven from these valleys. We shall stay here until the time comes to go to Jackson County. We shall no more be called the traitors of Utah, but the free people of Deseret.”

1858 – 9 January, p. 3 – A Washington correspondent thus writs on the 22^nd ult: “Orders will be issued in a few days from the War Department establishing a weekly mail route between here and the troops now serving in Utah. This is by General Scott’s suggestion, who is expected here early next week, when other important arrangements are expected to be made concerning the Mormon expedition. The government is officially advised of the arrival in New York of two boxes of firearms, a present from the British Government in return for the arms sent thither in August last.”

1858 – 9 January, p. 6 – The City of the Mormons. The City of the Saints, situated in the Salt Valley, is fortified with a wall of mud twelve feet high, with a broad deep ditch in front of it, and semi-bastions at half musket range. These are pierced with loop-holes to afford a front and flank fire in case of attack. Entering through a gate of the wall we find the city divided into blocks, of ten acres each, intersected at right angles by streets one hundred and fifty feet wide, running due north and south and east and west, and in wet weather almost impassable. The houses in the suburbs are scattered, and consist mostly of mud hovels, with dirt roofs and log shanties. The center of the city is more thickly settled and better built. The sidewalks are of respectable width, often with a stream of water flowing through them, on which are planted cotton wood and other trees of rapid growth. Everything bears the impress of industry and toil. Improvements are visible in all quarters, which no drones could have effected. The number of inhabitants is about 15,000. Most of them are English and Scotch, few Americans, many Welsh and some Danes. The Americans, who are principally from the borders of the United States, although composing less than a third part of the population, possess a complete monopoly of political power, fill all the offices, ecclesiastical and civil, and receive all the emoluments. Almost without exception, they are polygamists, bitter is their hatred of the Gentiles and full of zeal for their miserable faith. Arriving at the center of the city, we come upon Temple Block and a street full of stores. The premises are favorable to business, and the merchants make enormous profits often amounting from 150 to 600 per cent. Large stocks of merchandise are yearly imported across the plains, in huge wagons drawn by oxen. The stores are built of adobe sun-dried bricks, and their white color gives a lively appearance to the streets. In this portion of the city reside the principal dignitaries. Their houses are generally comfortable, though with slight pretensions to elegance. You see a large barrack like house on the corner. This is the residence of Elder Benson and his four wives. Brother Grant, with his five wives, lately occupied the pretty house you see on the east side. Parley P. Pratt, with his nine wives, lived in more ascetic style, and was content with the mean looking house you pass on the west. Dr. Richards, with his eleven helpmates, lived in that long dirty row of single rooms, half hidden by a very beautiful orchard and garden. Looking towards the north, we see a whole square covered with house, barns, gardens, and orchards. Here, in serene domestic bliss, resides the great apostle, H. C. Kimball, with his eighteen or twenty wives, their families and dependents. Here is a pompous edifice, with a fierce lion in repose sculptured on its front. It can only be the dwelling of the champion, the “Lion,” as he is sometimes called, the renowned Brigham Young. Here, with his seventeen wives, he watches over the welfare of his charming colony. The house was erected at an expense of over £30,000, in addition to the shingling, which was performed by all the carpenters in the city, at the command of Brigham, “by the authority of the holy priesthood.” But we have now arrived at the grand seraglio of our accidental sultan. This is a large, showy, adobe building finely plastered, brilliantly white, balconied from ground to roof, an observatory on the top, and the whole surmounted by the Mormon symbol of industry, a beehive. It cost over 65,000 dollars, and is the most splendid building in the territory. It is occupied by the senior wife of the patriarch and her family. Orchards and gardens lie behind it and surround it. Nearby is the Social Hall, devoted to dramatic representations and to the dance. This last is a great institution with the Mormons, and Brigham himself does not disdain to initiate the unenlightened into the mysteries of the Terpsichore. He is an accomplished dancing master. The Mormons show a discriminating taste in their choice of dances. They especially affect cotillions, country dances, and reels, but show no favor to the polka, schottische, and similar ambitious performances, being averse, as they say, to seeing their wives and daughters in such close proximity to other men. An original genius among them has invented a double cotillion giving two ladies to each gentleman—a necessary arrangement, as the ball room generally numbers from three to four women to one of the ruder sex. The tabernacle is an imposing structure or temple block, a square containing ten acres, and surrounded with a wall and handsome shade trees. The tabernacle will seat over two thousand persons. They have an instrumental band which play marches, waltzes, and other lively tunes, besides a choir who sing the original productions of the Mormon muse to the air of “Old Dan Tucker,” Bach’s chants, and Handel’s oratorios. Their meetings commence with singing and prayer, then are followed with discourses on adobe making, clothes washing, house cleaning, ditch digging, and similar instructive topics, the whole service winding up with announcements of letters in the post office, plans for picnics, and the arrangement of work. Even their theatrical performances are opened with prayer, and the actors are dismissed with a benediction, often while in a state of pythonic excitement from bad liquor.

1858 – 6 February, p. 6 – The American Expedition against the Mormons. The Times’ New York correspondent writes as follows: “There is again fresh news from the army of Utah; this time with full details of the condition and prospects of the troops. The letters come down in date to the 1^st of December, and represent a state of thing anything but agreeable. The main army had taken possession of Fort Bridger, 113 miles from Great Salt Lake City, and was preparing busily to resist the inclemency of a winter among the mountains. The Mormons had burnt down the old buildings, but the soldiers were at work with picks, shovels, axes, and hammers repairing the mischief. The thermometer had already indicated very cold weather—far beyond anything before known upon the Atlantic. The correspondent of the “Tribune” speaks of the mercury as having been at 16 degrees below zero. Cold, hunger, exposure, and hardships had told with fearful force upon the stock. ‘On the afternoon march,’ the same authority says:

“‘I counted repeatedly five, and once seven horses, oxen, and mules lying dead from cold or starvation within the space of 100 yards. There has been such a prodigious loss of stock by theft, cold, and hunger, that since November 7^th we have not advanced on the average two miles a day. It is necessary to employ all the cattle on one day to haul along one half of the trains, and on the next to send them back to bring up the remainder. Most of the artillery horses are dead, and their places supplied by mules.’”

“Colonel Johnson, who crossed the Rocky Mountains by the South Pass, and approached Fort Bridger by a different route from that of the main army, in order to ensure fresh fodder for the cattle, was within three miles of Fort Bridger, keeping his camp outside for the sake of the grass. The men of both divisions are represented as well cared for and in excellent condition, but much troubled at the necessity of wintering to the east of the mountains by the by the Salt Lake City. The army cherishes lively traditions of the pleasant days when Secretary Marcy essayed to break up the ‘peculiar institutions’ of Utah by importing a regiment from the east into the midst of the Saints. The long march across the more than semi-desserts made the fresh English faces of the Mormon emigrant women all the more sweet to the soldier’s eye. With the celerity that distinguishes the sons of Mars, every soldier was soon paired; indeed, so successful were they, that Brigham hurled his anathemas upon them from the steps of the altar in the great temple, and, if I mistake not, afterwards made their conduct the subject of a special complaint to the Government of the United States. These things are still remembered by the army; and the troops ill brook the purgatory of the eastern side of the mountain when the heaven of the western side is to near. They have in the camp authentic accounts of the state of things in Brigham’s dominions.

“The population of Salt Lake City is almost all under arms, drawn up on the road between Emigration Canyon and Yellow Creek. By examining Stansbury’s map, you will see that this is just outside the city, to the southeast, on the old road to Fort Bridger. The force posted in and about Echo Canyon is 5,000 strong. The Mormons have thrown up earthworks along the summit line of the Canyon, and have dug ditches through it, and so arranged the dams on the Weber River as to be able to submerge the road for miles. This looks like serious resistance on the part of the Saints—a resistance that promises trouble, unless they are attacked in the rear from California before they make their front impregnable. Yet, as the facility of moving a force there, although starting late in the year, has now been practically demonstrated, and as the strength of the resisting force emerges from the shadowy region of speculation into the clear atmosphere of an authentic estimate, the difficulties to be dealt with diminish wonderfully, and it does not seem so hard a matter to manage the rebels. This force started from Kansas very late in the season, and yet it winters at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains, and some of its officers have been in the Great Salt Lake City. They met with snow upon the Rocky Mountain passes to the depth of a foot or a foot and a half, but nowhere else. They have demonstrated the complete feasibility of moving a much larger force than their own with ease upon Utah. They are already making preparations for an early march in the spring. Captain Marcy has started with a picked company for New Mexico, to procure supplies and mules for moving in the spring. Meanwhile the civil governor of the territory has fired in advance into the territory a paper broadside of proclamations, as blank cartridges are first fired upon the mob. As commander-in-chief of the militia of the territory he orders all armed bodies to disband and retire to their homes, and to Brigham Young he sends a treasonable proclamation found upon the person of a Captain Taylor, and wishes to know whether it is authentic.

“The correspondents of the New York papers give many interesting details of the expedition; among others the following—In one of the mountain huts near the camp he found an Englishwoman of 45, a pretty girl of 17, and a ‘stout, honest-faced Englishman.’ The man (Wadsworth by name) had been a miner on the estates of Lord Fitzwilliam, near Sheffield. They were converted to Mormonism in 1855 by a nephew of Brigham Young, and set sail, with an adopted son, for the holy city in May, 1856, with 3,000 dollars of gold in pocket. Before they crossed the Utah line every penny had disappeared before church assessments and the expenses of the journey. On arriving at Salt Lake City, the newcomer was advised to take another wife, and his niece recommended to him for that purpose; and he could preserve her from insult only by pretending to have ‘sealed’ her to himself. At last, disgusted, he resolved to depart. By deceit and payment of money to the Bishop he was enabled to get away; but on the Sweetwater they encountered a party of Mormons, who knew them, and who insisted on forcing them to return. They were rescued by the advance party of Colonel Alexander’s command; but the boy was taken possession of by the Mormons and forcibly carried away, and they are hanging about the army in the hope that he would be able to rejoin them.”

1858 – 6 February, p. 7 – The United States. The internal peace of the United States is now threatened from three sources—the civil war with the Mormons; the same terrible calamity (for what can be more terrible than a civil war) with Kansas; and the filibustering projects of Walker, which are supported by the Southern States, because those states want to “annex” Central America, and to extend the “peculiar institution” of slavery in that country. Perhaps the greatest difficulty and the greatest danger will arise from the war with Utah. Most of our readers know where that territory is situated, and are aware of the peculiar and detestable principles of the inhabitants; but probably some of them may be ignorant of its locality; and of the circumstances under which a “city in the wilderness” has sprung up—where a numerous and thriving society of men could scarcely have been looked for. A few words as to its origin and progress may not, therefore, be out of place.

The territory of Utah, originally called Deseret, was a portion of California. It is on the west side of the Rocky Mountains, which form its eastern boundary; and extends on the south to the 37^th degree of north latitude; west to the Sierra Nevada, dividing it from California; and north to Oregon. It is nearly square, measuring 500 miles each way, and takes its name from the fresh water lake Utah, which is to the southeast of the territory. Its great feature, however, is the Salt Lake, further to the North, 291 miles in circumference, whose waters are as full of briny matter as those of the Dead Sea. It is connected with Lake Utah by a stream 32 miles in length, called the River Jordan. This territory consists mainly of a vast plateau, called “the Great Basin,” which is from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the level of the sea; and is principally a sandy desert, interspersed however with many fertile tracts. The territory is shut in on all sides by mountains; but has a complete internal drainage from its systems of rivers and lakes; though it has no connection whatever with the sea. In 1840, the Mormons, or Latter-day Saints—founded by an imposter named Joseph Smith, who, like Mahomed, pretended to be a prophet, and to have spiritual visitations—took up their residence in the territory of Nauvoo, lying on the Mississippi, in the territory of Illinois, where they resided for several years, and greatly increased in numbers. In 1846, there was an outbreak against them from the remaining population of Nauvoo; Smith and his brothers were thrown into jails, where they were murdered; and his followers then migrated to the neighborhood of the Salt Lake. The inhabitants of Illinois, generally, must have combined against them; as we are told, that, when they had quitted Nauvoo, the population was reduced from 25,000 to fewer than 1000; of course, the smaller number could not have expelled the larger. Brigham Young became their leader, after the death of Smith; and under his guidance they crossed the Mississippi, and proceeded to the west. The van, after encountering great privations, reached Utah, where they pitched their tents; and in the autumn, they were joined by the main body, when they began to build the CITY OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE, which has since become a large and populous place, four miles long, by three broad; the streets, 50 yards in width, crossing each other at right angles. When they first settled in this district, it belonged to Mexico, then at war with the United States. In 1848, the territory was ceded to the latter; and in 1849, the Mormons adopted a constitution, the fundamental basis of which is, that “all civil and ecclesiastical power is vested in the priests;” it also recognizes a plurality of wives. They called their territory the State of Deseret. In 1850, this state was admitted into the Union, as the territory of Utah; and the authority of Brigham Young, whom the Mormons had chosen for their Governor, was confirmed; but it was understood that laws of the Union were to be enforced; and a judge, revenue officers, etc., were sent from Washington, to exercise their authority in the City of the Great Salt Lake. That authority was first disregarded, then openly condemned and set at naught; and at last, all the United States officers were expelled, and told that the Mormons would recognize no authority but that of the successor of the prophet—Brigham Young, or his delegates. To enforce that authority, some troops of soldiers were dispatched to Utah last year, and there are different reports as to their fate. Some say, they were cut off by the Mormons; others, that the force under Col. Johnston, now at For Bridger, where it arrived on the 1^st of December, is the same. The difficulty of reaching that fort was great, as the troops had to traverse 1000 miles of a country entirely destitute of supplies. They are said, however, to have sufficient provisions to last them till June, with a close allowance. The papers received on Monday from the United States, say, that the Mormons continued to harass this expedition, having burnt all the grass, and the animals with the troops were dying at the rate of one hundred per day. All the passes that conducted to the Great Salt Lake City had been fortified; and the Mormons were said to have from 5000 to 6000 men in the field, with abundant munitions of war and supplies, for their number has increased (men, women, and children) to 100,000; and they have converted the desert round their city into highly cultivated and productive fields.

The President, to judge from his language, will shew no quarter to these people; they have been declared in a state of rebellion, and are to be despoiled and driven out into the desert, unless they renounce their faith, which, monstrous and objectionable as it is, they are not likely to do. Their expulsion, however, promises to be no easy task, if the Mormons remain firm—as, besides the armed force of that people, and the natural difficulties of the country, the United States troops will, in all probability, have the Utah Indians, who are in alliance with the Mormons, to encounter.

A subsequent arrival, however, from New York, brings rumors of an expected evacuation of the country. Brigham Young and his followers, it is said, contemplate retiring into the British territories. We do not believe, however, that they will take such a step without a struggle.

1858 – 20 February, p. 8 – There is some prospect of the dispute with the Mormons being accommodated. A Dr. Bernhisel is at Washington, as the representative of Brigham Young; and he has offered, on the part of his principal, to relinquish the territory of the Salt Lake, and evacuate it with his people, “provided the Government of the United States will purchase, at a fair valuation, the Salt Lake City improvements.” It is said, that President Buchanan has given a favorable reply to this proposition; and, if finally adopted, it is thought that the city will be made a grand military station, or depot, for the United States troops stationed in the “extreme west.” The Mormons will move, it is thought, to the Northwest, entering the British territories.

1858 – 6 March, p. 5 – Elopement of a Married Lady with a Mormon. Information has been received, that Mrs. Welsh, hostess of the Rose and Crown Inn, at Ampthill, Bedfordshire, has eloped from her husband, taking with her considerable property, in company with a draper named Rogers, a Latter-day Saint, who, having converted Mrs. Welsh to Mormonism, had induced her to abandon her husband and fly with him to Utah. Mrs. Welsh has left four children behind her, and Mr. Welsh offers £30, to anyone who brings her back to Ampthill.

1858 – 6 March, p. 6 – The Mormon Expedition. Colonel Johnston, the commander of the Mormon expedition, has written a letter to a friend in Kentucky, a portion of which has been published and is as follows:

“Camp Scott, near Fort Bridger, Black’s Fork of Green River, Saturday, Dec. 12, 1857.

“I have an opportunity of sending you a line, but only time to say a few words, as I have been engaged till the last moment in my public correspondence. We are still encamped at this place, and shall continue until we move in the spring. The army has abundance of food and clothing, and is well sheltered from cold in Sibley tents. With your knowledge of camp life you would pronounce our situation one of great comfort. These Sibley tents are tall conical tents, 12 feet high and 20 feet in diameter, open at the top, with a vane to prevent their smoking, which it does not quite do. With a stove, or fire built in the middle, it is a great improvement in the comfort of the soldier, but not as good as a wall-tent with a stove for an officer. I said we have abundance, but inasmuch as no one, from the Governor and civil officers to the private soldier, can obtain more than one ration, we have nothing to give in the way of hospitality, for if I invite my neighbor to dine he would be no better off than if he stayed at home, while I should be damaged by his eating my ration. The regular diner-out would fare badly here. What genius and tact he must be endowed with if he could procure an invitation! The day before the reduction took place we gave a dinner to the Governor, Chief Justice, etc., on our surplus in the larder. Since then I do not think we could feed an extra rat at our mess, such is our health and so nicely is the quantity allowed adjusted to the measure of our wants. We of course find it irksome here, but time will soon roll round, and we shall find ourselves again the midst of those we love and admire. Until then we must be patient. We fear our friends will suffer from groundless apprehensions on our account. We have no reason to complain of anything but absence from our families. Some think the Mormons, when it is necessary to make the issue with them, will submit to the Government. I do not agree with them. I think their fanaticism and villainy will lead them to try one encounter at least, and I think our Government ought to desire it, as affording a simple solution of a difficult political question. If they resist a final settlement would be on the basis of a conquest. We could then dictate to them the terms of adjustment. Brigham Young wrote to me a few days since, sending as a present some 800 lbs. of salt, or, if preferred we might buy it for the troops. Knowing they would entertain a fiendish delight in the knowledge that we should starve or freeze—neither of which we intend to do, although we have no salt—I sent it back to him with this message:

“That Brigham Young and his associates are in rebellion against the Government; that until they return to their allegiance and obey the laws I will accept no favor or courtesy from them, nor hold any correspondence with them; that when I advance the people who remain at their homes or engage only in their private business will be undisturbed. If I find them arrayed in arms, I will attack them whenever I meet them. That if they detain the delusive hope that the army would retire from the territory, they had better banish it; that the army will never take one step back, etc.”

1858 – 1 May, p. 6 – The United States Expedition against the Mormons. The following letter, dated Camp Scott, March 1, has been received at New York:

“One who has not been accustomed to this climate could hardly believe the rapid changes which it undergoes. When I wrote you my last letter, I had to thaw my ink, and with difficulty only could I keep myself from freezing inside my tent. Now I am writing without fire, and am very comfortable. Were it not for the lack of verdure in our landscape, and the mountains, apparently just within a stone’s throw of us, whose tops and sides are groaning under their heavy mantle of snow, and the ice yet bridging over our little stream, I would think I was writing on a summer’s day and under a tropical sun. Today is really a spring day—bright, warm, pleasant, and lovely without. The thermometer marks 56 degrees above zero. This opens well for March. It is an old saying that when March ‘comes in like a lamb, it goes out like a lion.’ If this holds good here, we are yet to be reminded that we are still in the Rocky Mountains. The old mountain men, however, say that the winter is over. One of them told me that he saw, the other day, grass growing on the sunny side of the elevations. The snow is all gone from the valleys and lower latitudes, where the sun could shine. About two weeks ago the weather changed suddenly from cold to warm, and has continued warm ever since; but the mountain streams have not begun to flow.

“The beef stored away for our supplies until spring has commenced to thaw. Fears are entertained that much of it will spoil if this warm spell continues. But efforts are being made to preserve it with ice. If this project fails we have about 600 head of cattle on the hoof that can be slaughtered at pleasure to supply the demand. Six hundred more can be had from Platte-bridge early in the spring.

“Divers rumors are afloat in camp concerning the attitude of the Mormons in Salt Lake. But we have no reliable information from that quarter. One of these rumors says that the Mormons are all leaving the city, and seeking refuge in the mountains. Another states that they are sending only their women and children to the mountains and outside villages for security, while the fighting population are to remain and prepare to give us a hot and inhospitable reception next spring. These rumors are brought in by Indians, who may be interested on behalf of the Mormons to circulate them amongst us.

“No tidings have reached us from Captain Marcy, whose return from Taos, New Mexico, is expected in April, or sooner. Neither have we heard from the ‘Rangers,’ under Ficklin, who left more than two months ago to go to the ‘Flat Head’ nation for Indian ponies. He is expected here soon.

“The expedition which went to reinforce Captain Marcy has been so fortunate as to reclaim forty-four battery horses, which were supposed to have been stolen from the army last fall. These horses were brought into camp three days ago by some Utah Indians. On being questioned where the horses were found, these Indians would only reply, ‘Away, off yonder; away off-many heap of them sleeps from here.’ It is supposed that they were reclaimed somewhere in the Utah Valley.

“We are awaiting anxiously the February mail to bring us information from the States. Unless the President sends positive instructions to Colonel Johnston to remain here until reinforcements reach us, this ‘little’ army, as it is styled by our sympathizing friends in the States, will be in the Salt Lake City by the middle of June. It will move from here in April, and if a battle is to be fought it will be decided soon. I am assured of one thing, namely that it is not the intention of Colonel Johnston to retrace a step which this army has taken, or is to take.”

1858 – 15 May, p. 2 – The Mormon Settlements.

The St. Louis correspondent of the “New York Herald” (April 28) thus writes of a visit to Nauvoo:

“I have just returned from a visit to Nauvoo, the former seat of the Mormons, and the regions thereunto adjacent; and think that perhaps your readers might wish to hear something of the ‘holy city’ and the Prophet Joseph’s widow and family, who still reside there, I hazard this letter, trusting that it will escape the Baalam box and in time see the light.

“Nauvoo is a dull slumbering place, at present inhabited by an Icarian colony of Philosopher Greeley’s pet friends, the French Fourierites. A more beggarly, God-forsaken place I have scarcely ever seen in this country. Communism, they have practically demonstrated, is a humbug. With every advantage to begin with, they have run head and ears in debt, and their buildings present a dingy, squalid, and miserable appearance. They are built directly upon the street, in long rows like stables—no trees about them—no shrubbery—no aesthetic influence of any kind to satisfy the taste or fancy.

“I am told that a gentleman of this city has a mortgage on their property for eleven thousand dollars, and that they will soon be sold out and dispersed. They have a distillery at Nauvoo, and an old mill, but carry on no farming operations. Where all are masters there is often great wrangling about the dirty work to be done. I am told that they live upon thin soup and garlic all the year round, being too indolent to raise anything else. Brisbane and Dana, of the ‘Tribune,’ were out to see them, but did not enter into what the ‘revivalists’ call close communion. Philosopher Greeley did not even call when on his windy lecturing tour in the neighborhood.

“Joe Smith’s widow still resides in Nauvoo—has married a second husband, who thinks all prophets humbugs, and keeps a house of entertainment. They have cut the Mormons, and the husband of the late prophet’s wife believes in nothing but his _____[unclear word]. I slept in the prophet’s chamber, where he was often in the habit of receiving visits from supernatural strangers.

“Young Joe Smith, who should by right have been at the head of the Mormons, and upon whom the mantle of the prophetic Joseph once descended (but slipped off) is a plain country rustic, of about two and twenty, who hates Brigham Young and damns the Salt Lakers. His mother had mush and milk for supper when I was there, and as I could not drink the tea, I proposed to try the mush.

“A portion of the ruins of the stately temple are still standing, ornamented with strange devices of men in the moon, rising suns and stars. It was built said the prophet, from a plan furnished from above. Without intending irreverence, I should say that the celestial architects are a most tasteless set, or else humbugged Joseph. Nauvoo is a plain of ruins, and ______ [unclear word] going to the dogs. It once contained a population of 20,000, and is doubtless the only genuine American ruin we have. The Mississippi spreads out a broad, lake-like expanse in front of the place, and the scenery is dreamy and beautiful. A dull opiate atmosphere broods over the scattered town, and

“‘It seems always afternoon,

All round the coast the languid air doth swoon,

Like one who breatheth with a weary dream.’

“It is a good place to read Tennyson’s ‘Lotus Eaters.’”

1858 – 26 June, p. 2 – Governor Cumming had been installed as Governor of the Mormon Territory, and was well received. The settlements had been broken up, and the inhabitants moving south.

1858 – 3 July, p. 3 – Governor Cumming at the Great Salt Lake. Mr. Cumming, the new Governor at Utah, in a letter addressed to Gen. Cass, the Secretary of the United States, and dated 2^nd May, says:

On the morning of the 24^th inst. Information was communicated to me that a number of persons who were desirous of leaving the territory were unable to do so, and considered themselves to be unlawfully restrained of their liberty. However desirous of conciliating proper opinion, I felt it incumbent upon me to adopt the most energetic measures to ascertain the truth or falsehood of this statement. Postponing, therefore, a journey of importance, which I had in contemplation, to one of the settlements of Utah country, I caused public notice to be given immediately of my readiness to relieve all persons who were or deemed themselves aggrieved, and on the ensuing day, which was Sunday, requested the following notice to be read, in my presence, to the people at the Tabernacle:

Notice—It has been reported to me that there are persons residing in this and in other parts of the territory who are illegally restrained of their liberty. It is, therefore, proper that I should announce that I assume the protection of all such persons, if any there be, and request that they will communicate to me their names and places of residence, under seal, through Mr. Fay Worthen, or to me in person, during my stay in the city. A. Cumming, Governor of the Utah Territory.”

I have since kept my office open at all hours of the day and night, and having registered no less than 56 men, 33 women, 71 children, as desirous of my protection and assistance in proceeding to the States. The large majority of these people who are of English birth, and state that they leave the congregation from a desire to improve their circumstances, and realize elsewhere more money by their labor. Certain leading men among the Mormons have promised to furnish them with flour, and assist them in leaving the country.

My presence at the meeting in the Tabernacle will be remembered by me as an occasion of intense interest. Between three and four thousand persons were assembled for the purpose of public worship; the hall was crowded to overflowing; but the most profound quiet was observed when I appeared. President Brigham Young introduced me by name as the Governor of Utah, and I addressed the audience from “the stand.” I informed them that I had come among them to vindicate the national sovereignty; that it was my duty to secure the supremacy of the constitution and the laws; that I had taken my oath of office, to exact an unconditional submission on their part to the dictates of the law. I was not interrupted. In a discourse of about thirty minutes’ duration, I touched (as I thought best) boldly upon all the leading questions at issue between them and the general Government. I remembered that I had to deal with men embittered by the remembrance and recital of many real and some imaginary wrongs, but did not think it wise to withhold from them the entire truth. They listened respectfully to all that I had to say—approvingly even, I fancied—when I explained to them what I intended should be the character of my administration. In fact, the whole manner of the people was calm, betokening no consciousness of having done wrong, but rather, as it were, indicating a conviction that they had done their duty to their religion and to their country. I have observed that the Mormons profess to view the constitution as the work of inspired men, and respond with readiness to appeals for its support.

Thus the meeting might have ended. But after closing my remarks, I rose and stated that I would be glad to hear from any who might be inclined to address me upon topics of interest to the community. This invitation brought forth in succession several powerful speakers, who evidently exercised great influence over the masses of the people. They harangued on the subject of the assassination of Joseph Smith, jun., and his friends; the services rendered by the Mormon battalion to an ungrateful country; their sufferings on the “plains” during their dreary pilgrimage to their mountain home, etc. The congregation became greatly excited, and joined the speakers in their intemperate language, exhibiting more frenzy than I had expected to witness among a people who habitually exercise great self-control. A speaker now represented the Federal Government as desirous of needlessly introducing the national troops into the territory, “whether a necessity existed for their employment to support the authority of the civil officers or not;” and the wildest uproar ensued. I was fully confirmed in the opinion that this people with their extraordinary religion and customs, would gladly encounter certain death rather than be taxed with a submission to the military power, which they considered to involve a loss of honor.

In my first address I had informed them that they were entitled to a trial by their peers; and that I had no intention of stationing the army in immediate contact with their settlements, and that the military posse could not be restored to until other means of arrest had been tried and failed. I found the greatest difficulty in explaining these points, so great was the excitement. Eventually, however, the efforts of Brigham Young were successful in calming tumult and restoring order before the adjournment of the meetings. It is proper that I should add that more than one speaker had since expressed his regret at having been betrayed into intemperance of language in my presence.

The President and the American people will learn with gratification the auspicious issue of our difficulties here. I regret the necessity which compels me to mingle with my congratulations the announcement of a fact which will occasion grave concern.

The people, including the inhabitants of this city, are moving from every settlement in the northern part of the territory. The roads are everywhere filled with wagons loaded with provisions and household furniture, the women and children, often without shoes or hats, driving their flocks they know not where. They seem not only resigned but cheerful. “It is the will of the Lord,” and they rejoice to exchange the comforts of home for the trials of the wilderness. Their ultimate destination is not, I apprehend, definitely fixed upon. “Going south” seems sufficiently definite for most of them, but many believe that their ultimate destination is Sonora.

1858 – 3 July, p. 6 – The Mormon Expedition—The Ruse of the “Latter-day Saints”—The American Army Starving on its Way. The Washington correspondent of the New York Times says: “General Scott is in the receipt of dispatches from General Johnston, dated at Camp Scott, and five days later than those from Governor Cumming, though sent by the same express. General Johnston arrives at conclusions directly opposite to those of Governor Cumming touching the intention of the Mormons, who, he says, are now arming and fortifying at every point. The administration is now fearful that Governor Cumming has been deceived. The next dispatches will be looked for with intense interest. Many gentlemen conversant with Utah affairs think the President acted prematurely in proclaiming peace. Private accounts from Salt Lake represent Governor Cumming as almost a prisoner, and the Mormon leaders are exercising full sway over the minds of the people.” The New York Herald Washington correspondent says: “Captain Marcy was within six days march of Camp Scott. The forces under General Johnston were under short allowance, and they were eating their candles, and every other oily substance they had, being unwilling to kill their cattle.”

1858 – 10 July, p. 2 – It appears that there are or were two parties—Peace and War parties—among the Mormons, and hence has arisen the difficulty with us to understand their position. The Peace party appears to have triumphed. Brigham Young favored this party.

1858 – 31 July, p. 3 – The half-yearly Conference of the Mormons for London, Reading, Kent, and Essex, was held on Sunday night, in St. George’s Hall, St. George’s-road, Southwark.

1858 – 31 July, p. 6 – The United States. According to a Washington telegram the Utah peace commissioner reported, in a dispatch to the Government, that they had settled the difficulty between the United States Government and the Mormons. The dispatch substantially confirms previous accounts.

1858 – 7 August, p. 6 – America. Later news from Utah states that General Johnston entered Salt Lake City on the 26^th June. The Mormons had been invited to return. Provo was still their headquarters.

1858 – 14 August, p. 6 – The Mormons. Brigham Young’s Idea of a Jury. The dates from Salt Lake City, by way of Fort Leavenworth, are to the 30^th of June. The army had marched from the capital to Cedar Valley, 40 miles below, and Brigham Young, his priests, his wives, and his people, are once more in their homes. No troops were in the city. The newly appointed Government officials were quietly entering upon the discharge of their duties. This news is all telegraphic. There is one other item which is so sublimely impudent that the wires must have made a mistake in transmitting the message—that “Brigham Young was anxious to be tried on the charge of treason, but insists that the jury should consist of Mormons only.

1858 – 14 August, p. 8 – These mails also bring accounts from the Salt Lake. The Mormons were returning to the Salt Lake City, and Brigham Young wanted to be tried for treason, but to have a Mormon jury. What his object was, does not appear; but we imagine it is to procure his acquittal of any charge made against him by the United States Government, on the ground of his resistance to its authority—and thus obtaining free leave and license to reside again in Utah.

1858 – 2 October, p. 2 – Mormon Blasphemy. A correspondent of the New York Herald writes—“I am told, sub rosa, by some of the Mormons of high standing, who are in the counsels of Brigham, that the prophet has a new Bible ready for the printer. Existing circumstances prevent its immediate publication. This Bible makes a god out of Brigham, and constitutes polygamy as the summum bonum of all religion. I am also informed by large numbers of persons that Brigham has heretofore been frequently called god in the Church. Speakers have thus addressed the audience—‘Hero is our god’ (pointing to Brigham); ‘we worship a live god, and will have nothing to do with dead gods.’ The numbers of the persons, both apostates and saints, who have told me this, and their apparent sincerity, ought to be sufficient to gain credence for it. With any other people it would be beyond belief, but with this people all things (blasphemous) are possible.”

1858 – 9 October, p. 2 – Three Hundred Mormons Renouncing the Faith—A correspondent sends the following to the Jefferson City Examiner, under date Sept. 4: “I left Camp Scott on the 13^th of June. The Mormon excitement had entirely abated. Several Mormon trains had passed Camp Scott on their way to the States. I came down with two Mormon trains from Camp Scott, numbering about 300 persons, who were chiefly English and Scotch; and the principal topic of their conversation throughout the absurdity of Mormonism and its principles. They were all unanimous in their denunciations of Brigham Young and his apostles, and talked of his assassination by the Mormons who remained at Fort Scott as a sure event. They have all (without exception) become disgusted with Mormonism, and have renounced it, and expressed their determination from henceforth to use all their efforts for the total annihilation of Mormonism. They all express their desire to return to their native countries, and would, if they had the means to do so, in order that they might be instrumental in saving others from the baneful influence of Mormonism.”

1858 – 23 October, p. 2 – Fight in the Streets of the Salt Lake City. The peace and quietude of Zion was disturbed today (writes the Utah correspondent of the New York Herald, under the date of August 28) by a street fight near the Salt Lake House. The pugilistic parties were the notorious Tom Williams and Major General George D. Grant, of the Nauvoo Legion. The facts of the case are these, as I have been able to gather them: The parties, about twelve o’clock in the day, met in the upper room of the building now occupied by Miller, Russell, and Co., merchants. Williams, it seems, had avoided General Grant ever since his return to the valley, July 7, in consequence of some difficulty that had occurred between them before Williams left the valley in the spring of 1856. When they met today, the subject of their previous difficulties was revived, some sharp altercations passed between them, when Grant seized Williams by the whiskers and presented a pistol to his breast with the intention of firing. Williams, who was very cool and calm, seized the pistol by the barrel, thrusting it to one side. At this juncture of affairs friends interposed and disarmed Grant, preventing, for the time, and further difficulty. Williams, who was unarmed at the time, told the brave General to be ready in ten minutes, that he would return armed for the contest, and would meet him upon the street, or in some alley, and settle the affair. Williams left the room and returned in a few minutes armed with a six-shooter, and called upon the General to face him at ten paces. But the brave General, whose courage had not fled, cried out, “Don’t kill me; I am unarmed.” Williams, desirous of giving the General chance for his life, withheld his shots, and thus the affair ended the second time. About two hours afterward they met upon the street; some words were passed between them, which were quickly followed by blows from both parties, they having laid aside their arms. They were quickly surrounded by a crowd, who endeavored to separate them, but were unable to accomplish their purpose before the General’s face and ribs were pounded into a jelly. Thus, the affray ended. They are both men of prominence in their respective parties, and have many friends. One is a Mormon, the other an ex-Mormon.

1859 – 30 April, p. 5 – Advices from Utah to the 9^th of March had reached New York, from which it is evident that the citizens of that territory conclude that it is about time to again knock at the door of Congress and apply for admission into the Union as a sovereign State. From private sources we learn that the Mormons are satisfied that sending the army and new federal officers to their territory, though at first it promised a collision, is turning to their advantage in a political point of view. Many of the charges against them have, in the course of investigation, been refuted, and consequently the prejudice of the Gentiles in the States is somewhat diminished. Every mail brings confirmation of a good understanding between the military and civil chief in the territory on Mormon matters. It is stated, however, but with what degree of truth we do not vouch, that Brigham Young is unpopular with the Mormons, and that he has agents in the northern provinces of Mexico, and also in Central America, prospecting for a location to which he and his partisans may remove, and set up an independent hierarchy.

1859 – 28 May, p. 2 – Arrival of English Mormons in America. On Wednesday morning a part of about one hundred and thirty Mormons came from the East by the Central Railroad and went to the west by the Canada route. They are destined for Utah, to join the colony of Brigham Young. This party was composed chiefly of females, many of whom were young and tolerably fair. They were from England and Wales, and were attended by Elders, who took good care none of the lambs strayed from the flock. The party were not disposed to hold conversation with the “Gentiles” – and had doubtless been advised to preserve the silence they maintained. Washington Union.

1859 – 4 June, p. 3 – Item #1 – Reinforcement of Mormons. On Friday the ship William Tapscott arrived at New York, bringing seven hundred and twenty-six Mormon emigrants, including women and children. One half of them are from England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales; the other half from Norway, Sweden, Denmark. On Saturday about five hundred of them left for the West by the Albany steamer. President Brigham Young had sent positive instructions to his agents to push all immigrants forward towards Utah as rapidly as possible, and in thirty hours from the time they landed at Castle Garden, the main body were in motion up the Hudson. Verily, the Mormons have energy. The company had altogether 50,000 lbs. of baggage. It is said that not a person tarried behind who had the means to pursue his journey westward, but on the other hand, great numbers went on with the certainty that they must suffer toil and privation by reason of their poverty. Boston Courier.

1859 – 4 June, p. 3 – Item #2 – A Religious Riot – Andrew Balfour Hepburn, 44, described as public lecturer, of No 31, York-street, Commercial-road; Augustus Wilkinson, 14, of East-street, Mile end, confectioner, Joseph Lathliff, 23, of No 23, Tarling-street, St. George-in-the-East, biscuit baker, Alexander Reed, 34, of No 30, Openbottle-court, Whitechapel, cooper, and James Wilson, 43, of No 39, University-street, Tottenham-court-road, chemist, were brought before Mr Self. at the Thames police court, charged with creating a riot and disturbance at a Lecture Hall, at the corner of Philpot-street Commercial-road East, and assaulting James Portch, a police-constable, No 91 K, in the execution of his duty.

Mr Metcalfe, barrister, conducted the prosecution. Mr Stoddart, solicitor, defended Reed and Lathliff.

The investigation lasted several hours, and created much interest in a crowded court. There have been many disturbances in and about the Lecture Hall on Sunday evenings. Infidelity, and other doctrines, have been discussed and advocated in the hall, and complaints have more than once been made by the Rev Mr Bonwell, incumbent of St Philip’s, Stepney, and others, of the irreligious placards exhibited outside the hall. The prisoner Hepburn is a large and remarkably big-headed Scotchman, of somewhat eccentric habits, who has been in the habit of preaching in the Whitechapel road and at the corner of Philpot-street, opposite the lecture hall, against Mormonism and infidelity, and his violence has involved him in trouble with the police on several occasions.

Mr. Metcalfe, in opening the case, said, he would not say the prisoners had disturbed a religious congregation, but had created a riot, which was an offence against the common law. The prisoners had entered a house where a lecture was being delivered, on Sunday night, had recourse to violence, and put people in fear. Whatever might be the particular tenets or notions of those for whom he appeared—whatever their religious notions—and at whatever time they thought proper to meet, the prisoners, if they entertained different opinions, had no right to disturb them. The time had arrived when people of every religious creed might assemble, and the law, he was sure, would not tolerate the persecution of one sect by another. Hepburn had already been convicted once for disturbing a religious congregation, and was allowed to go at large on his entering into recognizances to appear to receive judgment when called upon, and the consequences of committing a second offence would be that he would be fined or imprisoned. Upon other occasions Hepburn appeared in the background, instigating others to commit riots, but on this occasion he was in the foremost rang, and got up a most disgraceful scene. The people for whom he appeared disturbed no one, and had no right to be disturbed themselves.

Wm Hardy, a young man, who said he was managing clerk to a salesman named Folby, of Fenchurch-buildings, was sworn, and on being asked by Mr Stoddart if he believed in the contents of the book on which he had taken the oath, replied in the affirmative. He said he lived at No 27, Stracey-street, Stepney. He was secretary to the East London Secular Society, which held its meetings at the Commercial Hall, Philpot-street. The society was not a Mormonite one. The house belonged to Mr Robert Whitell. On Sunday night between eight and nine o’clock a great many persons were assembled in the hall. Suddenly there was a disturbance and a rush was made towards the hall by a number of persons, among whom were the prisoners, headed by Hepburn. They forced their way into the hall without payment, and were directed to leave. Hepburn said he would stay as long as he pleased. Hepburn then went to the door, and called out “Come in, boys,” and was there two or three minutes haranguing a mob that assembled. Several persons then rushed forward, and among them were Wilson, Reed, and Lathliff. Others pressed behind them shouting and bawling. He heard Reed say, “Push in, boys; down with them;” and Wilson also shouted “Break in, my boys! push forward!” Hepburn put up his hand and rallied the people, and a scene of great confusion ensued. Witness endeavoured to force them out and closed a folding door upon them. Hepburn tried to force back the bolt. Witness and others, however, managed to fasten a folding door and kept them out for a short time. At that time Lathliff said, “Push in the door and serve them out!” Wilson was also shouting and pushing against the door. Hepburn said, “Now let us force the door; now for a rush, my boys!” There was a terrific rush, the asp which held the bolt was forced off, and the door gave way. Part of the time he was swearing loudly.

Mr Metcalfe: That his religion was better than yours?

Witness: Yes; I thought he was a Roman Catholic by his excitement. We have a good deal of trouble with the Irish Roman Catholics, who abound in the district.

Mr Selfe: Come, I will have no national allusions. I don’t want your opinions here.

The witness continued: Reed had an umbrella, and struck me and a Mr Quin several times on the neck, and said to one of the parties in the chapel, “You old —; come out and fight.” Some one went for a police-man. A lady was returning at the time, and she was interrupted and in great fear. A lady begged of him to get her out, and was greatly terrified. She was afraid of being hurt. The lecture was completely interrupted, and 150 persons assembled shouting and bawling. When Hepburn was taken away by the police, his followers commenced hustling a police-constable, and tried to rescue the defendant. Sunday night was not the first occasion that Hepburn had disturbed the congregation in the chapel. Hepburn lectured every Tuesday in the street opposite the chapel. Stones had been repeatedly thrown at the door of the lecture room.

In cross-examination by Mr Stoddart, the witness said a bill was put up outside the door of the chapel that lectures would be given on religious topics. A lady preached on Sunday night. I am not aware that the Rev Mr Bonwell and others complained of the chapel. The chapel was open to any one who might behave themselves, on payment of a fee of one penny.

Mr Metcalfe: At the Roman Catholic chapels fees are demanded for entrance.

Mr Selfe believed it was optional whether persons paid or not at Roman Catholic places of worship.

Mr Metcalfe: I can’t get into Roman Catholic places of worship without paying a shilling. At Moorfields I have paid it.

Mr Stoddart asked Hardy if he believed in the contents of the book in which he had been sworn.

Hardy: I do, and believe in a future state of rewards and punishments. Reed and Lathliff are perfect strangers to me. I did not see Mr Whitell strike Hepburn.

Hepburn put a great many questions to the witness, and made some lengthened observations, asserting that the hall was a regular “blasphemy shop,” where infidelity of the worst kind was avowed. That one of his arms was withered, and in a sling, and he could not act with the violence imputed to him. While he was at the door of the hall, Whitell hit him on the head with a stick, and he thought his head was broke. He was also seized by the throat. He was not the person who called out to the mob.

Hardy: I can’t mistake you or your very broad cotch dialect.

Mr Metcalfe: No one who ever saw or heard Hepburn once could mistake him.

Mr Selfe: I am of your opinion.

The other prisoners, who were not defended by Mr Stoddart, also denied any participation in the affair, and complained of ill-usage.

Mr Stoddart: I have seen Hepburn in this court repeatedly, and I know his left arm has been withered many years.

Robert Whitell, of No 1 Bedford-place, Commercial-road, who said he was the proprietor of the lecture hall, confirmed the evidence of Hardy in every particular. He heard Hepburn shout “Come on, my boys,” and when he was desired to leave he said he would not, and that every one who pleased to stop had a right to be there. Reed struck at every one he could get at with his umbrella, and hit at Hardy and Quin. Reed also said, “Come out and fight you —, although I am twenty years older than you.”

Mr Selfe: I doubt that very much.

Witness: So do I.

Mr Stoddart: Did you see Reed in the hall?

Witness: I did not see him in the chapel.

Mr Stoddart: Why do you call it a chapel? It is not one.

Witness: We don’t call it a chapel. It is called the Commercial Lecture Hall. We charge a penny to go in.

Mr Selfe: Did the prisoners pay their pennies?

Witness: They did not.

Hepburn had charged the witness with striking him three times.

Wilkinson: Yes; and you called Mr. Hepburn a — old scotch — three times.

Whitell: I did not. I deny striking. I had no walking-stick as he alleges.

Sarah Jones, a respectable elderly woman, said she was living gat No 2, Philpot-street, next door to the lecture hall. She saw Hepburn opposite her door on Sunday night. He called out, “Come on, my boys, I mean to have a jolly good row to-night.” She heard gentlemen call out, “Take him away.” Hepburn was very violent and noisy, and people tried to take him away. The witness then went on to state she had no comfort on the Sabbath. Hepburn preached and made a great noise on every Sunday morning; the teetotallers delivered lectures there in the afternoon; and these were lectures in the hall every Sunday night. It was most disgraceful.

Cross-examined by Mr. Stoddart, the witness said: I don’t preach in the hall. I was never inside of it in my life. I am a Protestant, and go to my parish church. It is a common thing every Sunday for rows to take place in front of my house. I have had my things broken. Hepburn preaches outside while they preach inside the hall. I don’t know whether blasphemy is taught in the hall, for I was never there. Hepburn, the Scotch gentleman, preaches on a chair every Sunday morning, and then sends his cap round.

Cross-examined by Hepburn: You come at eleven every Sunday morning and preach till one. I have remonstrated about the noise and confusion. The Sabbath day is one of disturbance and rioting, and not one of peace to me and my neighbors.

Hepburn: Am I to blame for the disturbance made by the teetotallers on Sunday afternoon.

The question was not answered.

James Portch, a police constable, 91 K, said that he was called upon to take Hepburn into custody on Sunday night, between nine and ten o’clock. There were about 300 persons assembled. Several called out, “Take him away.” Hepburn became exceedingly violent, and said, “I will not go. I will see you— first, you — old scoundrel (the witness has been thirty years and three months in the force.)” He told Hepburn he must go away. The two men Wilkinson and Lathliff came in front of him and said Hepburn should not be taken. Wilkinson had a bag containing books with him. Witness was pushed, struck, and kicked. He heard Reed say you had better not take him. Several persons complained of Hepburn forcing himself into the hall. Wilkinson laid his hand upon witness, and said, “You shall not take him.”

In cross examination by Hepburn, the witness said that teetotal lectures were delivered in the afternoon. “You, sir, are always making a disturbance.”

By Mr Stoddart: Reed and Lathliff walked to the station-house, and were then taken into custody. They were not given into custody in Philpot-street.

Portch then stated that Hepburn attempted to bite his hand, and he warned him if he did so he would strike him with his truncheon.

Hepburn denied that he attempted to bite, and said he could only use one hand.

Sheridan, a police-constable, 334 K, said that Hepburn was tried and convicted for disturbing a congregation in a Mormonite chapel four years ago, and was never called up for judgment. He had frequently seen Hepburn preaching about Mormonite chapels. He had frequently seen Hepburn opposite the lecture-hall, and had observed him pointing out Whitell, and calling out he is the best of a bad lot, who ought not to be tolerated in a Christian country.

Mr Stoddart said his clients were respectable men, and were in Philpot-street by accident. They saw the old man Hepburn ill-used, and hearing the cries of shame, interfered. Neither of them were in the infidel lecture-hall on Sunday night.

Mr Selfe said: Wilkinson was a mere lad, and who would stick to his confectionary business in future, might go. He should send the other prisoners for trial.

Mr Bowdler, the clerk, then read over the voluminous depositions, and Mr Stoddart offered bail for his clients.

Mr Selfe said he would take bail for each of the prisoners to appear at the Middlesex Sessions.

Mr Stoddart put in bail for Reed. The other prisoners, who said they would reserve their defence, were sent away in the prison van to the Clerkenwell House of Detention.

1859 – 25 June, p. 6 - United States. The latest advices from Utah represent that the people are in an excited and turbulent condition, bordering on rebellion. Governor Cumming had issued a proclamation ordering the Mormon militia, who had assembled for belligerent purposes, to disperse. These parties are a portion of the militia called out by the governor to resist the entrance of the Government troops during the session of the court at Salt Lake City. The Mormons are being monthly augmented by the arrival of foreign converts. The civil law having failed to answer its purpose, it is the opinion of intelligent Gentiles in the territory that peace can be preserved only by strong military rule, or bloodshed averted by favoring the removal of the Mormons beyond the jurisdiction of the United States.

1859 – 10 September, p. 6 – Mormonism. Mr. Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, records the following conversation with Brigham Young. It is valuable as the direct replies of the avowed leader of the Mormons to the searching questions of a clever man.

H. G. Am I to regard Mormonism (so-called) as a new religion, or as simply a new development of Christianity?

B. Y. We hold that there can be no true Christian Church without a priesthood directly commissioned by and in immediate communication with the Son of God and Savior of mankind. Such a church is that of the Latter-day Saints, called by their enemies Mormons; we know no other that even pretends to have present and direct revelations of God’s will.

H. G. Then I am to understand that you regard all other churches professing to be Christian as the Church of Rome regards all churches not in communion with itself—as schismatic, heretical, and out of the way of salvation?

B. Y. Yes, substantially.

H. G. Apart from this, in what respect do your doctrines differ from those of our Orthodox Protestant Churches—the Baptist or Methodist, for example?

B. Y. We hold the doctrines of Christianity, as revealed in the Old and New Testaments—also in the Book of Mormon, which teaches the same cardinal truths, and those only.

H. G. Do you believe in the doctrine of the Trinity?

B. Y. We do; but not exactly as it is held by other churches. We believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, as equal, but not identical—not as one person. We believe in all the Bible teaches on this subject.

H. G. Do you believe in a personal devil—a distinct, conscious, spiritual being, whose nature and acts are essentially malignant and evil?

B. Y. We do.

H. G. Do you hold the doctrine of Eternal Punishment?

B. Y. We do; though perhaps not exactly as other churches do. We believe it as the Bible teaches it.

H. G. I understand that you regard Baptism by Immersion as essential.

B. Y. We do.

H. G. Do you practice Infant Baptism?

B. Y. No.

H. G. Do you make removal to these valleys obligatory on your converts?

B. Y. They would consider themselves greatly aggrieved if they were not invited hither. We hold to such a gathering together of God’s People as the Bible foretells, and that this is the place and now is the time appointed for its consummation.

H. G. The predictions to which you refer have, usually, I think, been understood to indicate Jerusalem (or Judea) as the place of such gathering.

B. Y. Yes, for the Jews—not for others.

H. G. What is the position of your Church with respect to Slavery?

B. Y. We consider it of Divine institution, and not to abolished until the curse pronounced on Ham shall have been removed from his descendants.

H. G. Are there any slaves now held in this Territory?

B. Y. There are.

H. G. Do your Territorial laws uphold Slavery?

B. Y. Those laws are printed—you can read them for yourself. If slaves are brought here by those who owned them in the States, we do not favor their escape from the service of those owners.

H. G. Am I to infer that Utah, if admitted as a member of the Federal Union, will be a Slave State?

B. Y. No, she will be a Free State. Slavery here would prove useless and unprofitable. I regard it generally as a curse to the masters. I myself hire many laborers and pay them fair wages; I could not afford to own them. I can do better than subject myself to an obligation to feed and clothe their families, to provide and care for them, in sickness and health. Utah is not adapted to Slave Labor.

H. G. Let me now be enlightened with regard more especially to your Church polity; I understand that you require each member to pay over one-tenth of all he produces or earns to the Church.

B. Y. That is a requirement of our faith. There is no compulsion as to the payment. Each member acts in the premises according to his pleasure, under the dictates of his own conscience.

H. G. What is done with the proceeds of this tithing?

B. Y. Part of it is devoted to building temples and other places of worship; part to helping the poor and needy converts on their way to this country; and the largest portion to the support of the poor among the Saints.

H. G. Is none of it paid to Bishops and other dignitaries of the Church?

B. Y. Not one penny. No Bishop, no Elder, no Deacon, or other church officer, receives any compensation for his official services. A Bishop is often required to put his hand in his own pocket and provide therefrom the poor of his charge; but he never receives anything for his services.

H. G. How then to your ministers live?

B. Y. By the labor of their own hands, like the first Apostles. Every Bishop, every Elder, may be daily seen at work in the field or the shop, like his neighbors; every ministers of the Church has his proper calling by which he earns the bread of his family; he who cannot or will not do the Church’s work for nothing is not wanted in her services; even our lawyers (pointing to Gen. Ferguson and another present, who are the regular lawyers of the Church) are paid nothing for their services; I am the only person in the Church who has not a regular calling apart from the Church’s service, and I never received one farthing from her treasury; if I obtain anything from the tithing-house, I am charged with and pay for it, just as anyone else would; the clerks in the tithing-store are paid like other clerks, but no one is ever paid for any service pertaining to the ministry. We think a man who cannot make his living aside from the Ministry of Christ unsuited to that office. I am called rich and consider myself worth $250,000; but no dollar of it was ever paid me by the Church or for any service as a minister of the Everlasting Gospel. I lost nearly all I had when we were broken up in Missouri and driven from that State; I was nearly stripped again when Joseph Smith was murdered and we were driven from Illinois; but nothing was ever made up to me by the Church, nor by anyone. I believe I know how to acquire property and how to take care of it.

H. G. Can you give me any rational explanation of the aversion and hatred with which your people are generally regarded by those among whom they have lived and with whom they have been brought directly in contact?

B. Y. No other explanation than is afforded by the crucifixion of Christ and the kindred treatment of God’s ministers, prophets, saints in all ages.

H. G. I know that a new sect is always decried and traduced—that it is hardly ever deemed respectable to belong to one—that the Baptists, Quakers, Methodists, Universalists, etc., have each in their turn been regarded in the infancy of their sect as the offscouring of the earth; yet I cannot remember that either of them were ever generally represented and regarded by the older sects of their early days as thieves, robbers and murderers.

B. Y. If you will consult the contemporary Jewish accounts of the life and acts of Jesus Christ, you will find that he and his disciples were accused of every abominable deed and purpose—robbery and murder included. Such a work is still extant and may be found by those who seek it.

H. G. What do you say of the so-called Danites, or Destroying Angels, belonging to your Church?

B. Y. What do you say? I know of no such band, no such persons or organization. I hear of them only in the slanders of our enemies.

H. G. How general is polygamy among you?

B. Y. I could not say. Some of those present [heads of the Church] have each but one wife; others have more; each determines what is his individual duty.

H. G. What is the largest number of wives belonging to any one man?

B. Y. I have fifteen; I know no one who has more but some of those sealed to me are old ladies whom I regard rather as mothers than wives, but whom I have taken home to cherish and support.

H. G. Does not the Apostle Paul say that a bishop should be “the husband of one wife?”

B. Y. So we hold. We do not regard any but a married man as fitted for the office of bishop. But the Apostle Paul does not forbid a bishop from having more wives than one.

H. G. Does not Christ say that he who puts away his wife, or marries one whom another has put away, commits adultery?

B. Y. Yes; and I hold that no man should ever put away a wife except for adultery—not always even for that. Such is my individual view of the matter. I do not say that wives have never been put away in our Church, but that I do not approve of the practice.

H. G. How do you regard what is commonly called the Christian Sabbath?

B. Y. As a divinely appointed day of rest from secular labor on that day. We would have no man enslaved to the Sabbath, but we enjoin all to respect and enjoy it.