The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1854-11-15
Utah and the Mormons.

Utah and the Mormons.
Who shall be Governor of Utah 2
This question is one of more serious mo
ment than may at first blush seem appa.
rent Brigham Young's ccmnissiop q
: Governor. expired on the 29th Of So
teihber last, aud lie has on more tnan
one occasion avowed his determination
to retain his position in defiance Of the
power of the Executive of the Union
The Territory comprises population Of
between forty and hfty thousand, re.
markablc for physical energy, as well as
their peculiar religious faith and unpar-
allclcd fanulcism This Territory is
situated at great distance from the civ
3 ilizea portions of our country, and to
reach it - vast Wilderness and broad dcs
crt must be crossed The Mormon peo-
pie are "a strange anomaly, the most re-
markaLle social paradox Of the age
Springing up as if by magic, in a period
of the world when civilization is at the
highest. when intelligence is the most
diliused and the lights of education, phi
losopuy, religion and science shine tho
brightest; these curious people with Il
credulity the most incomprchensiblc and
u superstition utterly Mt war with tue
spirit Of the age. embrace n fa;th the
WITHSTAND a creed the most absurd that
human ingenuity could invent or hypoc-
riSy propagate, aud that not with II
halting confidence. but with an intense
sincerity that nothing can shake. de.
votion of bigotry that has no parallel III
modern history. We speak now of the
mass of the Norman people. There are
among them doubtless. dishonest design
ing men, hyocritcs, if you please, but
even these have cheated themselves into
a sort of faith in the doctrines they have
so loag preached, and have come to be
believers in the truth of falschood that
they themselves helped to invent.
These forty.or fifty thousand people
have made such sacrifices for the peculiar
faith they professas 10 preclude the idea
Of their hypocrisy. Driven from their
homes in Illinois, from the ''Clty of the
Saints" they took up their beds and
walked into the wilderness Like the
Israclitcs of old. they crossed. not the
Red Sea, ccrtaiuly, but vast wilder
ness, traversei an inhosritahle desert,
and anchored thom>elvcs away from
the rcGnemcpts 1T civilization.
in the midst of savage tribes, and
with no protection bnt their own
strength and no reliance but upon their
own cncrgies.aud the promises containcd
in their curious creed. These forty or
fifty thousand people are full Of energy
= aud enterprise and fail of that despcr-
ate and wild courage which is the off
spring Of fanatcism all over the world.
They are bgotod people too. having
peculiar notions Of duty. while they ARE
unrestraincd by the higher moral COLI
sidcrations with which most christian
people are actuated They have peculiar
notions of government too, the offspring
aud comitant Of their faith.uotious which
belong to and are part of their religious
creed
Who shall be Governor of Utah In
March last Brigham YoHg, in a speech
to his Mormon people held the following
language:
d" We have got territorial sovcrnm, nj and
! lam ami pW b. hc G0dcrHor, anil ~ p0irer
coH ktnder il, HnU tie Loyd .imigh'y s0rS,
BRlGutM, You NEED NOT DE GoYERNoa ANI
LoNosR,' and then lam rciHiag to yieid 10 an
nihsr.'
"No persons need trouble themselves about
whether or not he would he removed, for the
Lord would control that matter just as he
pleased, and neither President Pierce nor any
Other President would remove linn until the
Lord permitted"
Every man that comes to impose On this
people, no maiicr By irhOm they are sent, or
i-ho tlcy 1re TINT are sent. THEY LAY TnE ANg
Ar rIIE ROOT or THE TREE TO KILL THEMSELVES
--Mry haI bcilcr be cdrefi dor Lhey e0me here,
LEST | suouLD BEND IY LITTLE FINGER.
The import of these declarations no
man can doubt They breathe deter.
mination. to resist the authority of the
general government, and defy its power,
determination to strike for ndepen-
DEUCE. for self goyel ment. practical il
lniiration Of the modern, though popu-
lar phrase Of ''squatter sovereignty" I"
VIII the Administration be oyerawed,by
the attitude of the Mormon leader, aud
conceae to his threats of revolt the dig
nity of the nation We do not believe
i. will Much as VIC think franklin
Pierce comes short of what we hold u
prcsid ,nt Of this nation should br, we
have too much confidence in bis moral
courage and firmness to believe he will
Weld to the mcnacos of the Mormon
chief Wisdom is requisite in choosing
successor for Brigham Young, a discre-
ton that yields neither to the dread of