Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1854-07-28
PC;ygamy Of the It1ormons.

tees, III Alr. Ferris recent WON oh ''dn,
presents the following striking facts res pee
ting the mora! tendencies and results Of
that abominable feature of their history,
poly ramy. Though lo-thsome they ~"
precisely what might be expected, and
ought to b. known.
"Polygamy," says Mr. Ferris, ais in-
Producing new style Of building at Sal.
Lake City. A man with half dozen
wives builds, if lie can, a long, low dwell
ing, having six entrances from the outside;
and when he takes i'll new wife, II able
to do SO, adds another apartment. Tic
object is to keep the women and babes, as
much as possible, apart, and prevent those
terrible cat-fghts which sometimes occur,
with all the accompaniment of Billings
gate, torn caps, and broken broomsticks
As the divine institution extends, these
buildings increase, and in a few years the
city will look like collection of barracks
for the accommodation Of soldiers Some
have separate buildings in parts Of the city
remote from each other, and others have
farm-houses, ana the wives are thus kept
separate, the husband dividing his time
between them all
The effect on population is decidedly
ielctcrious, The prophet Joseph had over
forty wives at Nauvoo, and the rest Of the
priesthood had various numbers, corrcspon-
ding to their standing aud inclinations !;
and nearly all the children Of this polyga-
nous marriages died at that place; indeed.
it is alleged by Mormons, that not one was
taken to Utah Brigham Young had thir-
ty children, of whom eight are by his law
full wives; the remaining twenty two are
by his .:spirtuais' lie has about fifty
wives, somc Of whom were widows of 10
Smith but, surprising him 10 have thirty
who are capable of having issue which is
below the numher-tle twenty-five chil-
dren would be less than anc child to con
cubinr II each # .h,se degraded females
could have been the hoaorcd wife Of one
husband, the aggregate number Of children,
according to the usual number Of four in
a fImily. would be one hundred and twcn-
ty, showing loss in population of 9S.
The clillr,n are subject to frigh'ful
degree Of sickness and mortality. This is
the combined result of the gross sensuality
Of the parents, and want of care toward
their offspring As a general rule, these
sanity preteulcrs take as little care of
their wives as Of their children aud of
both, lcss than a careful farmer in the
States would of his cattle; and nowhere
out of the Five Points ia New York
city can more filthy, miserable. neglected
looking, aud disorderiy raib.e Of children
be found than in the streets Of Great Salt
Lake City. The Governor, again, whose
attention to his mui'lfariouS family We are
bound to suppose greater than the average,
affords fair illustration lie was twice
lawfully married. and has had eight lcgit-
innate children, who are all living. He
has had large number of concubines-
no one knows how many-it Is only known
that there are twenty two surviving These
do not reside in the Governors house." So
called, but in different establishments, from
one up to a dozen in place
The system Of plurality has obliterated
nearly all sense Of deccncy, and would
seem to be fast leading to all Intercourse
open and promiscuous as the cattle in the
fields. A man living in common with
dozen dirty Arabs, whether he calls them
wives or concubines, can not have very
nice sense Of propriety. 1t is difficult to
give true account of the fleets which
have resulted from this cause, and, at :he
same time, preserve dccency of language.
The Saints are progressive. Last year
1s52) they seriously discussed the sub
ject Of introducing new order in the
church, by which the wives Of absent mis-
sionaries ight be sealed to saints left at
home. There are number Of cases in
which man has taken widow and her
daughter for wives at the same time. One
has a widow and her two daughters
There are also instances of the niece being
sealed to the uncle, and they excite no
more attention than any ordinary case
How far the plasue-spot is to spread i'll
this direction remains to be seen. Brig
ham Young stated in the pulpit in 1852,
that the time might come when, for the
sake of keeping the lineage of the priest
hood unbroken, marriages would be con-
fined to the same families as, for instance,
the son of one mother would marry the
daughter Of another by the same .tadter.
There has been some talk Ct going even
beyond this, and allowing the father to
seal his own daughter to himself.
4 wife, in Utah, can not live out half
her days. In families where polygamy
Is not been introduced, she suffers ~
of apprehension ca the sahj -,
- can scarcely be conceived, mu-l
-.yr7 assctibed. Their is sad, complain
.gE. ..l.erin- 'oak. ohvi,us to the lost