The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-09 00:00:00

MORMON LIFE.

A correspondent of the New York Times, from
Salt Lake City, gives some interesting details of
Mormon " life." He found Provo overflowing with
the refugees, living in all sorts of habitations—
some camping out in diminutive tents of calico or
white sheeting, others in lodges of willow twigs,
and still others under the shade of roofs made of
strong willow blankets or carpets stretched upon
a framework. of poles. With all of these comfort
was out of the question ; but, nevertheless, thou-
sands have submitted in silence to the order of their
priestly leaders which consigned them to such a
mode of life. A few of the more wealthy have erected
board shanties for themselves, which in this climate,
and during the summer season, arc very comfort-
able. Governor Young has covered an entire block
with this kind of provision for the accommoda-

tion of his " domestic institutions." The locality
which he has selected is upon the eastern edge of

the city, directly in the shadow of the steep moun-
tain sides. Here he has completely enclosed a
block with a row of board shanties one story high,
all opening to the centre, and with no windows
looking out upon the street. Thus the buildings
form ahollow square, with a large courtyard in the
centre, which is entered by gates placed near the
corners. The buildings on two sides are fitted up for
the accommodation of his numerous family, and those
on the other as storehouses, stables, &c. Brighain's
harem is described. He is evidently a fellow of good
taste as regards the fair sex, for his " spirituals"
arc fine-looking women, some of them quite pretty,
and all intelligent. "
He has some N " wives,
and claims to have 40 children living. This,
doubtless, is the highest figure he can claim, as the
" saints " consider a large number of children
a subject of pride and boast. These wives are all
their own servants, and the nurses of their own
children. To see them sitting under the over-
hanging eaves of the shanties just at dusk, with
their numerous children hanging around them, all
crying, chattering, or teasing at once, was cer-
tainly suggestive of a foundling hospital. The
" happiness" of these concubines of the Prophet is
that of stolid listlessness, and the elder women evi:
denly wear their chains with inward murmurings •,
some of the younger appear reckless. An aged
" bishop" sports eight wives and is consumedly
jealous of them. In a one-story building, oppo-
site his family. block, Brigham Young has
his office. He is a man of business, having
large possessions, numerous mills, and extensive
herds of horses and. cattle, and employs several
clerks to keep his books, &e. An hour spent inthis
office satisfied us that Brigham fully understands
the value of the axiom, that " Order is Heaven's
first law." Brigham came here a poor man, and
his adherents assure us that he receives not a cent
from the church as president, or in any other way.
Yet he has become immensely wealthy. If the pre-
mises stated are true, he must have discovered how
to " make bricks without straw"—for his riches
cannot be the product of the labour of his own
hands, nor the result of speculation, nor the rise of
real estate in this valley, where no man holds title to
a foot of landed property. Young is a man a little
above the medium height, somewhat inclined to
corpulency, with a dull, bullet-looking head, sandy
complexion, and an exceedingly sensual-looking
mouth. hen walking in the wind he usually
wears a great pair of green goggles. With these
upon his nose he would naturally be taken for a
country schoolmaster, who had wielded the birch
years enough to acquire a chronic backache. With-
out them he looks the wilful, unrestrained, and
vulgar man of the world, who has just lost a heavy
stake at a rat fight. He is affable in his manners,
exceedingly kind, but patronising to his associates
and. inferiors, easily excited at times, and always
aping the dignity of royalty with a mock gravity
that is ludicrous to the unawed beholder. The
fellow's mind is of a low and vulgar order. He is
grossly illiterate and illogical, but full of vanity
and self-righteousness. His sermons are described
as very sorry performances indeed.

INTRODUCTION OF A NEW SPECIES
OF SILKWORM INTO FRANCE.

For some years past a remarkable disease has
been attacking silkworms in France and Italy.
Whole regions have been denuded of these little
aids to textile luxury. Although a commission of
scientific and practical men has been appointed to
inquire into the cause of the malady very little re-
liable information has been acquired. According to
some observers the disease is primarily attributable
to the food of the silkworm (mulberry leaves) ;
others, apparently with equal sources of information
at hand, deny the justice of this conclusion, and
refer the disorder to a natural derangement f the
worm itself, Meantime the disease progresses at
such a rate that, if not soon checked, or another
source of silk discovered, the use of European-grown
silk promises to be an impracticable luxury.
Amongst the various means which have been
taken to supply what has almost become a necessity
of life is the introduction of a species of silkworm
hitherto unknown to Europe.
M. Guerin _Meneville has recently laid before the
Academy of Sciences a species of silkworm that, un-
like the one at present common in Europe, does not
adopt mulberry leaves for its subsistence, but feeds
exclusively upon the Japanese varnish tree (alan-
thus glandulosa), a tree almost as common in France
as in China,
Missionary priests long ago won celebrity for
themselves in the department of sericulture by in-
troducing ,from China the eggs of the common
mulberry-leaf-consuming silkworm. To missionary
exertion and ingenuity Europeans owe the intro-
duction of the new species. Some years ago an
Italian priest coming back from China brought
some cocoons of the new species with him to Turin;
thence they found their way to France. The expe-
riment was unsuccessful at first ; but more cocoons
having been procured the resulting worms are
thriving remarkably well, and spinning silk of such
admirable quality that, aceording to M. Guerin
Meneville, ladies need not any longer be under the
apprehension of being reduced to the painful con-
dition of the wife of the Emperor Aurelian, who,
having tenderly solicited a silken robe of her im-
perial husband, the latter was obliged to refuse,
saying he really couldn't afford it.
M. Guerin Meneville states his belief that the

new silkworm in question is the true cipzthia of
entomological authors. He mentions as a valuable
characteristic that it lies dormant in the cocoons
during the winter. This indeed is a necessity upon
the alanthus, which, in European climates, is not
evergreen.

THIS DAY'S MARKETS.