Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1857-06-20
ArANArrcAL WOMAN.

Mrs. Mclean, in regard to the shooting
of the Mormon Elder Pratt has brought
to light circumstances which furnish am
pie evidence il any were needed, of the
frightful consequences Of this modern ia.
naticism. Our readers have already pursued
the thrilling narrative of the seduction OF
Mrs. II. H. Mclean by the preacher Pratt,
and the subsequent revenge which the injured
husband executed, when the guilty couple en-
deavored to carry his children away to the
land OF iniquity. Mrs. Mclean, who now
signs her maiden name, McComb, instead Of
that of her husband she deserted, has seen fit
to publish reply to the story whirb has been
so generally circulated. This remarkable
| epistle we find in ar Arkansas payer, and in
| sert in another portion OF the journal OF to-
| day. The most that can be said Of this un-
| happy woman, after giving her full hearing
is more snned against than SHINING" She
appears to have been completely blinded by
! a most degrading fanaticism, and to have
been one of the most compliant Of the victims
the artful Pratt brought to the Mormon fold
| She accuses her husband, Mclean, Of having
| used her badly; Of being dissipated brute,
with whom most OF her relatives were not
| upon good terms But she admits the at
| tempt to carry her children away to the
| Great Salt Lake, which, she must have known
if she could clearly understand anything. no
father not q Mormon, could allow. The love
she profeeses for the slaughtered Saint"
| amounts to alteration. She says she washed
| his feet and wiped them with her hair, after
the example of Mary washing and wipiug
the feet of Jesus. She toiled along the road
on foot, while Pratt rode by her side. In
| In brief, the Elder seems TO have had the un-
fortunate woman more completely in suhjec-
tion to his will than If she had been his slave
| Yet Mrs. Mclean was this scoundrel's ninth
wife
And this is the kind OF havoc that NJ
monsm is making, even ID the midst Of some
OF our Atlantic communities. The are or
ganzations OF these Latter Day Saints in
most Of our principal cities, and leaders urc
| laboring quietly but surely in their vllainous
work of breaking up peaceful families, tearing
mothers from their children, and wives from
| husbands who have hitherto dotted upon them
! Even women wha have been tho ornament Of
their peculiar sphere OF society are lured from
the path Of duty and virtue, and induced to
| journey with tho missionaries OF evil, far away
| to Utah, where, If their eyes are opened, they
are compelled to remain in dreadful captivity
But the dclusion is not made to operate
| merely upon this continent Almost every
| week, vessel lands upon our shores numer-
GUS bands cf of converted Mormons from Eu-
ropean countries, where among the ignorant
| peasantry, the missionaries Of Brigham Young
| find an ample field for diffusing their poison
| How many Of the women who accompany
! these expeditions have been induced to leave
husband and children to follow the saints,
we cannot precise determine, but are quite
certain, from facts that have been published
| to tho world, that tho proportion is not very
| small.
| 1t is not strange that under such terrible
provocaiion, the injured husband and father
| should seek TO administer summary punish
mont upon the violators of his peace. H.
deed. it Is rather matter for wonder, that
We hear Of no mere Pratts being hunted and
shot down like dogs. Aud, though massacre
has no advocate in US, can we condemn the
man, who, like Mclean, performs what the
law processes itself insufficient. to accomplish!
Better that thousand such knaves as y YouDg
Pratt and kimball, should be slaughtered
than that this awful fanaticism should be suf.
/! Iered to pursue its invasions of our dometic
happiness. No jury could be found in this
country to convict Mclean for such q deed
for juries seem to supply the equity that is
o'ton wanting in rigid administration OF the
| law. The unfortunate woman to whose epis
tie We have alluded, may rave, but popular
sympathy. and something more, will be with
her husband.