The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-02-22
UTAH AND POLYGAMY-A GRAPHIC SKETCH.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 1855.

UTAH AND P0LYGAMY-A GRAPHIC SKETCH
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 1855.
Apropos to this subject, subjoin curious
| and striking extract of private letter from
lady, which has fallen into my hands, thai
touches upon point in the social relations O
the Mormons, Of exceeding interest, which, il
the hands of capable writer, might be expand
ed into tale of surprising power. perusa
of the graphic and moving extract referred to
will show that allude to the internal struggles
of the early and devoted Mormon wife, with the
fell influences of the religious superstition that
holds her in its fatal grasp.
l extract from the letter as follows:
"You ask me to give little more
in detail the incident in the cars, that occurred
as we were crossing the Alleghanies, of which
briefly spoke when we met. could not halt
tell you the story now, after the vividness with
which it impressed me has so nearly passed
away; and if could, it would not produce the
effect it did upon me. l heard it after weeks of
anxiety had weakened my system, when my
long and wearisome journey had left me but
the strength of child, and my restless and
excited mind seized upon it in all its reality
without the Moderation always lent to subject,
connection with it. A wrong done to another
becomes an outrage when practiced upon our.
selves. ] had, through watching and fasting,
become 80 etherealized as to lose sight of this
selfish difference, and to see my neighbor as
myself. l felt that all womankind had been
insulted and sacrificed in the person of 'Marga-
ret.'- 1t was my duty not less than hers to
avenge it. | conld have sent the aggressor
tumbling into the gorge of one of those noun.
tain 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 good-looking, if he had
looked 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
turned in the ground. / listened, for who is
not curious concerning that wonderful exodus :?
l heard him tell of their great temple, and how
it went on stone by stone, and with each the
power of the devil grew less and less How
new proselytes came pouring in, to swell the host
that was waiting ito receive the Christ when he
should come to reign thousand years upon
the earth He was a man of no reading. His
knowledge was like Mr.. Gradgrind's) confined
to facts but he had natural gift for CONVEX
sation, and gave rapid and skillful outline of
his subject, in way that interested you at once
When the night grew dark he came and sat
behind us. He had fallen into the hands of
gentlc~r7rr, whose. dexteritv in questioning led
nm on 10 speak freely of himself, and SO gradu-
ally they came to the peculiar institution He
said the women seldom cared to marry men of
their own age, that their affections inclined
toward the priests and elders. This convinced
me, that if the men are all hypocrites, the
women are not wholly SO, but that they do this
for the exaltation of their souls. My lawyer
(for so | shall call the questioner) asked wheth-
or the women were not jealous of each other,
especially the younger ones. The Saint answer
ed, No Some few he continued, were q
little difficult, but it was mostly confined to the
young. To be sure, his wife felt it when he
married second time; the rest had never
cared Did she care so very much?' continu-
ed the lawyer. 'Oh, yes thought at first it
would have killed her. You see, when became
convert, | did not understand that part of it,
because my wife and l had been so happy
together. We married early, and had scarcely
been a day apart. When wanted to go to
Salt Lake, she did not incline to go, because
she did not see so clearly rs the truths of our
great religion-but the idea of my marrying
was no hinderance. 1t did not occur to her as
possible, and it was not for long time after
got there that | thought of it myself
"'Margaret did not mix with the people.
She retained her old Eastern WAYS, and was
always at home / had never let her do much
work (her hands were too small for thatl She
was stately in her form, and she had queer
way of twisting her long hair round her head,
so it looked like crown. The folks said she
was proud, and one or two who had daughters
asked me why did not take wife. and if
ly, while upon her, you see, it fell like stroke
=" You must have found it difficult to break
such thing to her.
"'Yes, it was hard to do. But at last said
l will do it on Thursday; and on Thursday
evening, when / came home she was standing
in the garden, and l went and put my arm
around her, and told her how it had been reveal
ed to me that must marry again
"' What did she say?'
Nothing. Not one word. She lust gave
one scream. / declare shall never get that
scream out Of my ears. / believe / should hear
it if were on the Andes. thought heard it
minute ago.
"The sleet ratified against the windows of
our car, and the bleak midnight wind swept
down the mountains, aud thought heard it
too.
"The Mormon proceeded And then she
fell like one dead. / thought she ,cas dead, but
she came to after while, and, would You believe
it, she never mentioned the subject to me-
could not find it in my heart to say thing
about 1t again for more than five months
Meantime she had taken a cold, and did not get
strong again. ! saw she was wearing the
thought of it about her like mourning weed
and 80, when she seemed little better | talk
ed to her about the great principles of our
Faith, and how those to whom the spirit reveal
ed itself must follow its dictates, or be forever
cast into He'll. And / told her she need not
fear my affection for her would be divided. for
/ had had vision, in which it was told me that I
should love her forever, and that we should
never die, but live together and see the thou.
sand years of Christs reign upon the earth,
and be by him rewarded for our obedience and
willingness now to cast aside our selfish human
will, and sacrifice to him.
""Margaret was always true believer. But
i had always been wandering in search of a
rock of Faith until l anchored here. / had
heard, from pulpit to pulpit, such conflicting
doctrine, could lay my hand on nothing that
seemed secure, and / think she was unwilling
to set me adrift again, and so she consented.
My parting from her was dreadful one, for
she moaned and wept like one in DESPAIR.
and was fool enough to cry too
80 don't WONDER said his interlocutor. 1T
is hard wholly to subdue nature, even at the
call of duty; and he gave low laugh.
"When | came back continued the Nor
mon, 1T had been just so all the time. She
had never eaten and never slept, but only walk
ed up and down, always, hour after hour,
"'Well, how did she get used to itY'
"'She retained the house had first built, of
course. 1t was large, and we had no children,
and she was very lonely, for was necessarily
much away from her. / went as often as
could, bat married in quick succession two
others, and so we were much separated. and
abe frefted In NV ahsenca Al L.. - -. 4L;s