Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1858-08-02

suppose saw in the shanty " quarters some
thirty women-but whether they were all of
them wives of the Prophet, or whether these
constituted his entire household, of course am
not informed. The general impression here
seems to be that he has nearly or quite fifty
wives. He only claims to have forty children
living, having had forty seven altogether. This
doubtless, is the highest figure be can claim, as
the - Saints" consider large number Of chill
dren subject Of pride and boast. These wives
/ are all their own servants, and the nurses of
/ their own children To see them sitting under
the overhanging caves Of the shaniies Just at
dusk, with their numerous children hanging
around them, all crying, chatterng or teasing
at once, was certainly suggestive Of n founding
| hospital.
was curious to know whether these women
were happy in the strange life they led, and a
/ glance at their faces impressed me with the
conviction that theirs was the happiness Of
stoid hstlessness, an existence in which all the
higher and holier sentiments of refinement and
affection had been sacrificed upon the altar Of
fanHticism- They seemed to me to be virtuous
willing, perhaps, and resigued,-but never
theless unhappy victims of self-inhicted tor
tures, by which they hoped to merit sanity re-
ward To a few of them, perhaps, these re-
mlrks would net apply. Some of the Younger
females appeared thoughtless or reckless, but
the elder, who were educated in circles where
woman was queen rather than vassal slaves,
wore their chains evidently with inward mur-
muTings.
EVILS OF POLTGANY-NoRNoN REASONS FOR IT.
am quite satisfied that all we have heard Of
female misery and degradation as the result o.
polygamy, is true. i do not mean to say that
every wife who shares her lords affections with
half-a-dozen others, lives a life of conscious mis-
II Lwwa 81 aN.mWWN = Il
TEN Is 10 make women inferior beings. deprive
her OF the cOurtesies accorded to the gentle sex
under more fortunate circumstances, and to
make her sOulless vassal have eOnversed
with quite number of the brethren here at
Provo upon the subject. They talk about it
with the utmost cOOlness challenge us to pre-
sent scripture proofs against the proprieiy Of
pOlygamy, and argue its advantages with en-
thusiasm, claiming it to be a religious duty TO
raise up children 10 the Lord, and enforcing
this duty IN their public discussions and ser
mons.
YOUSG's OFFICE AND WEALTH.
In a one-story adobe building, opposite his
family block, Brigham Young has his Office
He Is a man of business, having large posses
siOns, numerous mills and extensive herds Of
horses and cattle. and employs several clerks to
| Keep his books, DC An hour spent in this Of
fee, satisfied us that Brigham fully understands
the value of the axiom that Order Is Heav-
ems first law" Brigham came here a pOO-
man, and his adherents assure Us that he re-
eeives not AGENT from the church as President,
OF in any other way. Yet he has become i'm
mensely wealthy. If the premises stated are
true, he must have discovered how to make
bricks without straw for his riches cannot
be the products of the labor of his own hands,
nor the result of speculation, nor the rise Of real
estate in this Valley, where no man holds title
to foot of landed property
THE BowERY AT PROyO-NOBNON cONGREGATIoN
The Bowery is not building, but shade
Ii consists OF beams raised twelve feet high on
posts, and covered with brush SO as to keep out
the sun This roof or shade OF brush covers a
square space caplcitated to seat three thousand
persons. The speakers stand is near the south
end Of the Bowery. There being no shade on
any side the audience receive the full advantage
of every breath of ar. There are but few bench
es in the BOwery, SO the major part Of the PeO-
pie went to church carrying chairs on their
backs. At ten O'Clock your correspondent cross
ed the street for church, and deposited his chair
by the corner of the stand among a crowd Of
women Well, how did the audience lookl-
They were strange, harsh, hardy, severe look
ing people. In some respects they resemble an
old Puritanical audience The men were tan
ned, hard, muRcular mOuntaineeTs; they looked
s.ambre, though as happy and content as ordi-
nary- people The old women were the only
persons who locked really happy; thsy smiled
i benignanty, seemed to enjoy their religion and
to be perfectly satisfied Of their own perfect
righteousness. The young girls less than If
teen years old, did not seem much more moTOse
or rather unanimated, than retiring backwOOds
children ordinarily do. There was a marked
want of that most interesting portion Of all au-
diences-yiz: ladies' who form sOciety-ladies
from fifteen to thirty years Of age The number
Of women between those two ages was few in
deed. and they the saildest part Of the audi
ence; during the entire service hsrdly smile
fitted across the face of any of them. They
seemed sad, troubled, Perplexed, uncertain, un-
happy.
woMEN-wORK--DREss-
There were but very few really beautiful wo-
men present; the audience WAS far below par
when compared to similar gatherings in the
East. This, to some extent, is owing 10 the dark
tan that covered the faces Of almost all the vo-
men; their countenances also showed that they
were accustomed 10 hard, sweating labor This
is indeed working peoPle-men, women and
children, work, work always; even the church
dignitaTies have rough hanJs and hardy faces.
The great majority OF the audience were foreign
ers- The people were dressed very cleanly but
, in simple stuff. The women were habited
rather curiOusly. and white muslin sunbonnet
! was the most popular covering for the head, but
straw hats, silk hats, hoods and every other sort
of head covering were brought into Tequisition.
Crinoline is unknown in the valleys Of the noun
tains the thin and few skirts of the ladies' droop-
, ed down close to their limbs Their dresses, at
least, do no violence to the laws of hysiOlOgy.
They are made very like sack, bag or night
gown, and fall from the shoulders straight to
, the feet, with little or DO ingathering at the
waist The women and children whom have
seen, however, as whole, are dressed better
, applying the word neither to style nor ma
terial, but to the cleanliness and entirety Of
their raiments-than expected to find them
The people complain of want of clothing, but
think their dressing will compare favorably with
other people so far removed from market and
manufactures
APPEARAScE AND PREACHING OF THE PROPHET.
The next speaker who took the stand was the
Prophet Brigham Young He is fat, rather
eorpulent man, five feet ten inches high, has
full, red, cleanly shaved face, double chin,
prominent nose, and mild, BLUSH gray eye.
His eOuntenance on the whole is agreeable
He wore a black coat white vest with a small