Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1854-05-13
NO GOVERNMENT BOUNTY TO PoLYG-
AMY
SPEECH OF MIR. LYON OF LYoNSDALh.,
NEW YORK,
In The House Of Representatives.. May ], IooF


torial bill proposes 10 give, upon certain cohdi-
tons. one hundred and sixty acres OF land to eY-
cry single man, and three hundred and twenty 10
every married man, ''prorided. further, that me
benefits fthis act shall not ertend 10 any per
person teho shall noto or at any time here9ttef'
he The husband o more than one Uite.' Against
The striking out Of this proYiso | most earnestly
protest. This subject Is too lightly considered,
| fear, by this enlightened committee. Its great
consequence precedence makes II needtui
that our Investigation should be thorough, wor-
thy of Christian statesmen aud Christian law
gyers. would appeal to the hearty patriot
ism of every member present. educated, as they
have been, in the principles Of the Pilgrim faith
ers, Cavaliers, and the lIugnenots-the descen
dants Of men who fled from prohigate, hbdinous,
aud licentious courts to enjoy yirtuous quiet IN
the unbroken wilderness of the West-if they
are unwilling to see this Government disgrace
itself by express or implied Legislation. in any
way sanetioning the practice of polygamy in
this country. Its enormity crime has been
made the subject of stringent statutes in every
State in the Confcderacy. Is "A premium 70 be
paid, in fertile lands, for the debauchng of our
daughters and the .leluding of our wives! Is
this Congress weak as basely TO stoop TO such.
a purpose, reversing all the yirtuous associations
and instructions OF our Childhood Is this black
cancer sore, this creeping leprosy to be encour-
agedl
When the people of Utah placed on the
same basis as the people of other Territories,
is not that sufficient, is not that enough
Strike out the clause and what will eits actual
consequences Individuals will go there whose
senses are stronger than their sentiments, whose
passions override their prinepes,and avail them
selves OF Government bounty. and. like Perslans,
Hndoos and Mussulmen, fill their houses with
the blooming beauties of tho North and the
witching women of the South provided they have
wealth personal attractions to induce such n
painful and horrid sacrifice 1t has been demon
strated clearly by all political economists, DIR.
Franklin, Nautilus, and Miss Martineau, that one
man is just enough for one woman, the very state
the Lord originally intended when he created
Adam and Eve. That there should be no mono
poly of the fair sex. Yet when polygamy is
tactly respectabieized by an American Congress,
it may not be difficult to fill with mothers and
daughters-those whom God has destined for a
nobler domestic sphere-an American lIarem.-
Sir, there is but one way to kill the cockatrice.-
II is to break the egg. II is 10 break the egg.
Let us look for moment to those countries
where polygamy exists-to the feeble and dismem-
bered empire of the Sultan, at present under the
protectorate of England and France. Women,
according to the Koran, have immortal souls;
women are sold as slaves; women are protected
by high walls, guarded by eunuchs the creatures
of appetite ministering to the most iniammable
think things are different among the "Latter-Day
Saints" in the Mormondom of Utah? No, sir
just as bad. Amid the jealousies of plurality of
wives, the respect of parental authority is lost;
the gentleness OF treslde instruction and hearth
stone memories are destroyed. Crime of the
most revolving character ensues. infanticide fol-
lows as Il matter OF course as soon as the husband
finds he is getting more children than he can sup
port Sir, human nature is just the same i'll eve
In,,J I1n vi, al LII NIL tlroo
hundred and seventy wives, has been the father
of only five children! 1t is impossible. applause
and laughter) The bodies of dead infants float
on the sapphire tide of the Bosphorus, and the
light of many a harem from the destruction of
her offspring has been lost among the dark shad-
ows of the cypress of Scutari. There is not
drug shop in an oriental city, but that sells the
means to kill new born babes easy. And, being
warned of these things let us not fix this plague
spot upon the route to the golden gate of the Pa
cific, the western pathway of empire. Posterity,
sir, will anathematize this kind of legislation to
tho latest years of tho Republic. We all shall
die, crumbe to dust, our names be lost in obliv
ion, but the principle we establish by implication,
as the ghost of Ilamlet's father, will evidence
against when we have passed away. Let us
meet this subject, discourage it, condemn IT. re-
iject it. And sir, it will be honorable prece
dent, not for day, but for all time.
The Mormons have been spoken of as n perse-
cuted people--a martyred people, driven from
State to State With their sorrows ! sympathise,
for their griefs grieye; but it seems a curious
way to console them for the past by asking Con
gress to sanction polygamy in the future. 1t is
said that this practice existed in the days of Sol
onion. True. The running after the strange
women of Egypt, the falling from grace in the
service of God, was the true reason OF Solomon's
reign, after glorious day, ending with lurd
sunset. And from his loins issued that undutiful
son, whose un just acts was the scourge of Isra-
el; for plurality of wives destroys young men, and
debases old. The light of the Prophets went out
the night Jesus was crucifed. The old dispen-
sation was fulfilled, and day of progress was
brought in under the rays of a New Testament,
from whose teaching our nationality sprang into
existence. Lamartine beautifully said: "Jerusa-
lem was the sepulehre of the Old World and the
cradle of the New" Let us. as Christians, fol-
low and legslate in the doctrines of Christ, not
of Joe Smith; let us take the holy Gospelnot the
Book of Mormon.
One idea further,n continuation Point me to
nation where poygamy is practiced, and | will
point you to heathens and barharians. 1t serious
y affects the prosperity of States it reards civil
lization, it uproots Christianity. The Ottomans or
Turks are the best specimens of this system; aud
although they import and have for centuries the
most beautiful women from the mountains of Geor-
gia and of the valleys of Circassa those free and
brainful countries, Tartar maidens from beyond
the Caspian, and the Arabian girls from Yemen
yet, efleminacy and weakness, lack of intellectu-
al strength bodily energy, national decay, as its
sad, unfailng result, while the Greeks the Jews
and the Armenians have increased in numbers
and enterprise under the iron heel of their merci-
less oppressors Who fought the battles of the
Turks since the day of Mahomet H. Under
Achmed, Amurath, Selim,and Mahmoud! Under