Plymouth advertiser. [volume] (Plymouth, Ohio) 1853-1988, 1855-04-20
selertEa Mismllang
The Mormon Wife.

snbjoin curious and striking extract
Of a private letter from lady, which has
fallen into my hands, that touches upon a
point of exceeding interest in the social
relations of the Mormons, which, in the
hands of a capable writer, might be cx
pan9ci into tale Of SURPRISING power
a pelusal of the graphic and moving ex-
tract referred to, will show that | allude to
the iht'mal struggles Of the curly and
devoted Mormon wife, with the fell iunu-
ences oftl.ereliyious superstition that holds
her in its fatal grasp.
1t requires no great insight of perceive
that it is the leaven of the womanhood of
modern civilization among the Mormons,
carried thither by them, which preserves
that body from the ieculence of utter cor
ruption. 1t is an influence which is hour
ly growing weaker, as a matter of course,
and must ultimately be overshadowed and
destroyed by the growth Of system of
vile debauchtry. | extract from the letter
as follows:
You ask me to give little more in de-
tail the incident in the cais, that occurred
as we were crossing the Alleghanies, of
which | briefly spoke when we met. /
could moi half tell you the stoyy now, after
the vsvidne;ss with which it impressed me
has so nearly passed away, and ifI could,
it would not produce the eff c. it did upon
me. | heard it after weeks of anxiety had
reakencl my system, when my long and
wea'isome journey had lett me but the
strength Of a child, and my restless and ex-
cited mind seized upon it in all i S reality
without the moderation always lent to
subject by our own Indifference to- and per-
scnal disconncction with it. A wrong
done to another becomes an outrage when
procsised upon ourselves. l had, through
watching and fasting, become so etherial-
lied as to lose sight of this selfish differ
ence anx to sec my neighbor as myself
l felt that all womankind had been insult
ed and sacrificed in the person of MAR
garet.' 1t was duty not less than hers to
avenge it. could have sent the aggressor
tumbling into the gorge of one of those
mountain torrents, and considered it but
retributive justice.
The Mormon elder came into our car,
near the foot of the mountains, and sat
near Us. He would have been cookbook
ing if he had loked good. He had a
peculiar manner-it indicated such perfect
satisfaction with himself and the world
| heard him say he had gone to Salt Lake
City before the first furrow had been turn
cd in the ground. I listened, for who is
not curious concerning that wonderful ex-
oius? I heard him tell of their great
temple anil how it went on stone by stone;
and with each the power of the devil grew
less and less. How new proseiytes
came pouring in to swell the host that was
waiting 'to receive the Christ when he
should come to reign thousand years
upon tie earth He was man of no
reading. His knowledge was like Mr..
Gadgrind' 5 confled to '.acts, but he had
a natural gift for conversation, and gave a
rapid and skillful outline of his subject
in way that infested you at once
When the n:glt grew dark he came and sat
behind u.s. He had fallen into the hands
Of u gentleman whose dexter.ty in CUES
tioninS led him to speak freely of him
self, and SO gradually they came to the
peculiar institution lie said the woman
seldom cared to mary men of their own
age, that their affections inclined toward
the priests and elders. This convinced
me that ifthc men are all hypocrites, the
women arc not wholly so, but that they
do this for the exaltation of their SOULS
My lawycr,-for as I shall call the ques-
tioner,-asked whether the women were
not jealous Of each other, especially the
younger ones. The Saint answered, NO
Some few he continued, were little
difficult, but it was mostly confined to the
young. TO be sure his wife felt it when
he married asccond time, the rest had
never cared. Did she care so very much?'
continued the lawyer. 'Oh, yes; thought
at first it would have killed her. You see
when | became q convert, did not under
stand that part oft, because my wife and
] had been SO happy together. We mar
ried early. and had scarcely been day
apart when wanted to go to Salt Lake,
she did not incline to go, because she did
not SEQ so clearly as / the truths of our
great religion--but the idea of my mar
rying was no hindrancc. Jtdid not occu,