Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1855-03-07
From the Washington Correspondence efthe
.Nec Fork Tribune.
The Horrors OF NIormonism.

JNetC JUh ITlDUNe.
The Horrors OF fMorsnonism.
u
Apropos TO this subject,,I subjoin curl
Gus and striking extract Of private letter
from a lady, which has fallen into my
hands, that touches upon point in the So
cal relations of the Mormons, Of ofexceeding
interest, which. in the hands of a capable
writer, might be expanded into tale of
surprising power. A perusal of the graph
ic and moving extract referred to, will
show that alude to-the internal struggles
of the early and devoted Mormon wife,w,:;!!hh
the fell influences Of the religious supersti-
ton that holds her nits fatal grssp.
"You ask me to give little more
in detail the incident in the cars, that oc-
CURED as we were crossing the Allegha-
nies, of which briefly spoke when we met.
could not half tell ycu the story now, af-
ter 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. | heard it after weeks Of anxi-
ETY. 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 melioratIon always lent
10 subject by our own Indifference 10, and
personal disconnection with IT. A wrong
done to another becomes an outrage when
practised upon ourselves. had, through
watching and fasting, become so ethereal
| ,,o1 10 1oca cinbf oc Tho colfIch differ
ence and to see my neighbor as myself !
felt that all womankind had been insulted
and sacrificed in the person of Margaret
1t was my duty not less than hers TO aver
age it. could have sent the aggressor
tumbling into the gorge OF one of those
mountain torrents, and considered 1t but
retributlve 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 looked good. He had pc
cular 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 bad been turned in
the ground. listened, for who is not Gu
rious concerning that wonderful exodus p
| 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 to re-
ceive the Christ when he should come to
reign thousand years upon the earth.'-
He was man of no reading. His know
ledge was like Mr.. Gradgrind' s) confnedto
facts, but he had natural gift for con-
versation, and gave rapid and skillful
outline Of his subject in way that nteres-
ted you at once. When the night grew
dark he came and sat behind us. He bad
fallen into the hands Of a gentleman whore
dexterlty in questioning, led him on 10
speak freely of himself and so gradually
they came to the peculiar institution
He said the women seldom cared to marry
men of their own age, that their affections
inclined towards 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 exaltaton Of
their souls. My lawyer, for so shall call
the questioner,) 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 second 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 a convert, | did
not understand that part of it, because my
wife and had been so happy together
We married early, and had scarcely been
day apart. When | wanted to go to Salt
Lake she did not incline TO 60, because she
did not see so clearly as the truths Of cur
great religion-but the idea of my marry
ing was no hndrance. II did not occur to
her as possible, and it was not for long
time after | got there that thought OF 1t
myself
margaret did net NIX 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
thaD She was stately in 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 were not AFRAID
So it came upon me gradually, 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 | will do it on Thursday, and on
Thursday evening when came home she
was standing in the garden, and went and
put my arm around her, and told her how
il had been revealed to me that must mar
ry again.
what did she sayP
Nothing. Not one word. She just
gave one scream. l declare shall never
get that scream out Of my years. 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, and thought
heard it too.
"The Mormon proceeded-'And then
she fell like one dead / thought she acas
dead, but she came to after a while, and,
would you believe it, she never mentioned
the subject to me. could not find it in
my heart to say thing about it again for
more than five months. Meantime she had
taken a cold, and cid not get strong again.
saw she was wearing the thought of it a
bout her like mourning weed, and so,
when she seemed little better, talked TO
her about the great principles of our Faith,
and how those to whom the spirit revealed
itself must follow its dictates, or be forever
cast into He'll. And told her she need
no. fear my affection for her would be d.
vlded. for had had vision. in which it
wos Told me that should love her forever.