Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1859-08-23

regarded by the older sects of their early day,
as thieves, robbers, murderers.
B. Y-If you will consult the contemporary
Jewish accounts of the life and acts Of Jesus
Christ, you will find that he and his disciples
were accused of every abominable deed and
purpose, robbery and murder included. Such
work is still extant, and may be found by
those who seek it.
IL. G.-What do you say of the so-called
Danites or destroying angels, belonging to
your Church
B. WHAT do you say? 1 know of no
such band, no such persons or organization. |
hear OF them only in the SANDERS of our enc
mics.
II. G.-With regard, then, to the grave
question on which your doctrines and practices
are aYowedly at war with those of the Chris
tan world-that of a plurality of wives is the
system of your Church acceptable to the ma
jority of its women =?
Is. Y.-They could not be more averse to it
than was when it was first revealed to us as
the Divine will. l think they generally accept
it, as do, as the will of God.
ii, Glow generally is polygamy among
you
b: VI could not say. Some of these pres.
ent heads of the church. have each but one
WIFE; others have more; each determines what
is his individual duty.
H. G.-What is the largest number of wives
belonging to any one man?
Is. III have fifteen | know no one who has
more; but some of those sealed to me are old
ladies whom regard rather as mothers than
wives, but whom l have taken home to cher
ish and support.
ID. G.-Does not the Apostle Paul say that
bishop should be "the husband of one wife 90
Il. Y.-So we hold. We do not regard any
but a married man as fitted for the office of
bishop. But the Apostle does not forbid
bishop more wives than one.
II. G-Does not Christ say that he who
puts away his wife, or marries one whom
another puts away, commits adultery
b. Y.-9es, and hold that no man shonld
ever put away wife except for aduItery-not
always even for that. Such is my individual
view OF the matter. do not say that wives
have never been put away in our church, but
that do not approve Of the practice.
II. Glow do you regard what is common
ly termed the Christian Sabbath?
u. Y.-As divinely appointed day of rest.
We enjoin all the rest from secular labor on
the Sabbath, but we enjoin all to respect and
enjoy it.
Such is, as nearly as l can recollect, the
substance Of nearly two hours conversation,
wherein much was said incidentally that
would not be worth reporting, even if [ could
remember and reproduce it, and wherein 9th
ers bore part; but, as President Young is
the first minister of the Mormon Church, and
bore the principal part in the conversation |
have reported his answers alone to my ques-
tons and observations. The Others appeared
uniformly to defer to his views, and to acqu-
esce fully in his responses and explanations
He spoke readily not always with grammat-
cal accuracy, but with no appearance of hesit,.
ton or reserve, and with no apparent desire to
conceal anything, nor did he repe any of my
questions as lmpertinent. He was very plain
ly dressed IN thin summer clothing, and wore
no air of sanctimony or fanaticsm. In ap-
pearance, he is portly, frank, good natured,
rather thick-set man OF tifty-five, seeming to
ENJOY life, and be i'll no particular hurry to
get to heaven. His associates are plain men,
evidently born and reared to life of labor,
and looking as little as crafty hypocrtes or
swindlers as any body of men / ever met.
The absence of cane or shuttle from their
manner was marked and general, yet L may
fairly say that their Mormonism has not i'm
poverlshed them-that they ,uaro generally
poor men when they embraced it, and are
now Ill very comfortable cirUunIsunccs-as
men averaging three Or four wives apiece GER
tanly need to be.
If | hazard any criticism on Mormonism
generally, | reserve them for separate letter,
being determined to make this fair and full
expose of the doctrine and polity, in the very
words of its prophet, so far as | can recall
them. | do not believe president Young him
self could present them in terms calculated to
render them less obnoxious to the Gentle
world than the above. But / have a right to
add here, because l said it to the assembled
chiefs at the close of the above colloquy, that
the degradation Tor, if you please, the restric-
tion) of woman to the single Office of child
hoo and if- cprfn &c ifnlNla
consequence of the system here paramount. /
have not observed sign in the streets, an ad-
vertisement in the journals, of this Mormon
metropolis, whereby woman proposes to do
anything whatever. No Mormon has ever
cited to me his wife's or any woman's opinion
on any subject; no Mormon woman has been
introduced or has spoken to me and, though
/ have been asked to visit MOrmons in their
houses, no one has spoken Of his wife Tor
wives) desiring to see me, or his desiring me to
make her Tor their) acquaintance, or volun-
tarily indicated the existence of such being
or beings. | will not attempt to report our
talk on this subject, because, unlike what l
have above given, it assumed somewhat the
character OF disputation, and could hardly
give it impartially but one remark made by
President Young | think l can give accurately,
and it may serve as sample of all that was
offered on that side 1t was in these words, |
think exactly: "If 1 did not consider myself
competent to transact a certain business with
out taking my wife's or any woman's counsel
with regard to it. l think / ought to let that
business alone" The spirit with regard to
woman, of the entire Mormon, as of all other
polygamic systems, is fairly displayed in this
avowal. Let any such system become estab-
lished and prevalent, and woman will soon be
confined to the harem, and her appearance in
the street with unveiled face will be accounted
unchaste. joyfully trust that the genius of
the nineteenth century tends to a solution of
the problem of woman's sphere and destiny
radically different from this. H.G.