# Wife No. 19/Chapter 34
### CHAPTER XXXIV.
#### THE PROPHET AT HOME. — HOW HE LOOKS, LIVES, AND ACTS. — MORMON PHILANTHROPY AND EDUCATION.

* Brigham at Forty-five and at Seventy-five.
* Slipping the Yoke.
* The Salt Lake Tribune.
* Books on Mormonism.
* Prophetic Philanthropy.
* The New Temple.
* Paying the Workmen.
* The Tabernacle.
* Advantages of the Presidency.
* Free Schools and Liberal Education.
* Sharp Practice.
* The Rich and the Poor.
* Unconscious Sarcasm.
* Looking into the Future.
* The Spectacles of Ignorance.
* Personal Habits.
* The Prophet's Barber.
* Dinner at the Lion House.
* The Good Provider.
* Helping herself.
* Prophetic Cunning.
* Evening Devotions.
* A Gift in Prayer.
* Advice to the Deity.
* Fatherless Children.
* The Bee Hive.
* Monogamist vs. Polygamist.
Dinner at the Lion House.NLESS I pause and look back almost to my very babyhood, and contrast Brigham Young as he then was with the Brigham Young of to-day, I can scarcely realize the change that has taken place in this man. As I recollect him first, he was a man in the prime of life, with rather a genial face, and a manner which, though abrupt at times, had nothing of the assumption and intolerance which characterize it now. Indeed there was, at that time, a semblance of humility, which served his purpose well, by strengthening the confidence of the people in him.
The "Tabernacle," where the Saints worship at present, is one of Brigham's few "inspirations," and is as great a success as are most of his inspired ideas. It is an ugly-looking building, oval in shape, with a sort of arched roof, which shuts down over it, like the lid of a wicker-work basket. It is very commodious, which is its chief recommendation, holding comfortably twelve thousand persons. In this "inspired" edifice, every law of acoustics is outraged, and only a small portion of the congregation can hear what the speaker is saying. It is two hundred and fifty feet long, one hundred and fifty feet wide, and eighty feet high, while there is not a column in it to obstruct the view, and the interior view is flat and expansive.
The organ claims to have been built by a good Mormon brother, assisted by a large number of mechanics; and is said to be the largest ever built in the United States. It is placed at the end of the Tabernacle, directly back of the speaker's stand, and the seats for the choir are arranged on each side of it.
This building, in which the Saints are to worship until the more pretentious Temple is finished, is ugly in the outward appearance, cheerless in the interior, very inconvenient in its arrangements, and practically useless unless the walls are draped so as to render the voices of the speakers ​audible; but wheu the new building — which is said by Brigham to be of Divine architecture — shall be completed, it is probable that these things will be vastly improved.
In the mean time the begging goes on, but the work moves slowly. Large contributions come flowing in, but the Temple does not advance visibly; while Brigham adds house to house, field to field, increases his bank deposits, and lives as well as any man in his position would wish to live.
The people will take no bonds from him; and as it would Interior of Tabernacle on Sundays. seem like questioning the Lord's anointed, he is supposed to administer the financial affairs under the direction of the Lord, no statements are ever required of him. Once in a while, however, he goes through the form of a settlement of accounts, which he simplifies immensely, by a system all his own. It is said that at one time he balanced his account with the church by ordering the clerk to place two hundred thousand dollars to his account for services rendered, which was exactly the sum of his indebtedness to the church. This was in 1852; and in 1867 he repeated this peculiar financial operation; this time making his ser​Page:Wife No 19.djvu/547 ​Page:Wife No 19.djvu/548 ​Page:Wife No 19.djvu/549 ​Page:Wife No 19.djvu/550 ​Prophet has always maintained the strictest privacy regarding his family.
After dinner they see no more of him until "family prayers." At seven o'clock the bell is rung, and the wives and children gather in the large Lion House parlor. Not only are the wives who live in the house expected to be present, but those who have homes outside are also supposed to attend evening worship. Not all of them avail themselves of this privilege, and the outside attendance is somewhat Family Prayers at "The Lion House." irregular. I used to go whenever I felt inclined, which was very seldom; and the longer I was a member of the family, the more infrequent became my attendance.
Brigham sits in the centre of the room, at a large table, on which is an ornamental "astral" lamp. The wives and their respective families are ranged around the room, in the order in which they appear at the table. When all are seated, Brigham reads a few passages of Scripture, all kneel down, and he makes a long prayer.
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