Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1859-09-08
that bishop should be "tse hcsbaad of one


that bishop should be "tte hrsband of one
wifei's
B Y.-So we hold. We do not regard
ary but married man as fitted Tor the office
OF bishop. But the Apostle does not forbid
bishop having more wives than one.
II. G.-Does not Christ say that he who
puts away mis- wife, or marries one whom
another has put away, commits adultery!
B. Yves; and 1 hold that no man
should ever put away wife excep. fol
adultery-n not always even for that. Such
is my individual view of the matter. d.
not say tha: wivs s have never beer put away
in our Church, but that do not approve o
the practice.
II. Glow DO : ou regard what is COM
monty term ed the Christian Sabbath
B. Y.-As div;nely appointed day o
rest. We enjoin all to rest from secular
labor on that day. We would have no man
enslaved to the Sabbath, but We enjoin al
to respect and enjoy it.
Such is, as nearly as can recollect, the
substance of nearly two hours converse.
lion, wherein much was said incidentally
that would not be worth reporting, even il
| could remember and reproduce it. and
wherein others bore part; but, as Presi
dent Young is the first minister of the Nor.
mon Church, and bore the principal part in
the conversation, | have reported his
answers alone to my questions and obserya.
tions The others appeared uniformly to
defer to his views, and acquiesce fully in
his responses and explanations. He spoke
readily, not always with grammatical .accu-
racy, but with no appearance OF hesitation
or reserve, and with no apparent desire to
sonceal anything. nor did he repe any of
my questions as impertinent. He was very
plainly dressed in thin summer clDthing,
end with no sir OF sanctimony or fanalicism.
In appearance, he is porily. frank, good
uatured, rather thick-set man of fitty-i
seeming to enjoy life, and b. in no particu
lar hurrv 20 get 20 heaven. His assoc ates
are plain men, evidently bern and reared to
life of labor, ane looking as little like
crs fly hypocrites or swindIers as any body
of men | ever met. The absence of cant or
shuttle from their manner was marked and
general, yet, think | may fairly say that
their Mormonism has not impoverished
them-tha; they were generally poor men
when they embraced i, and are now in
very comfortable circumstances-as men
averaging three or four wives apiece GER
taiBly need to be. ..r
III hazard any criticisms on Mormonism
generally, reserve them for a separate let
ter, being determined to make this fair and
full expose Of the doctrine and polity, in the
very words OF its Prophet, SO far as l can
recall them. do not believe. President
Young himself could present them in terms
calculated to render them less obnoxious to
the Gentle wor.d than above. But l have
a right to add here, because / said it to the
assembled chiefs At the close of the above
colIoquy, that the degradation (or, if you
please, the restriction) of Woman to the
single Office of child-bearing and its acces-
SORES, is an inevitable consequence of the
system here paramount. have not Observ
ed sign in the streets, an advertisement in
the journals. of this Mormon metropolis,
whereby a woman proposes 10 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 Cor
wives) desiring to see me, or his desiring me
to make her (or thei) acquaintance, or vol
unfairly indicated the existence of such a
being or beings. | will not attempt TO re-
port our talk on this subject, because, un-
like what have above given, it assumed
somewhat the character of disputation,
and could hardly give it impartially; but
one remark made by President Young,
think can give accurately, and it may
serve as sample of all that was offered on
that side. 1t was in these words, ! think
exactly: "IfI did not consider myself com.
petent to transact certain business with.
out taking my wife'S or any woman's coun-
sci with regard to it, think ought to lei
thht UusiheSS dtohe. HC spHit Win iS'
gard to Woman, of the entire Mormon, as Of
all other polygamic systems. is fairly dis
played in this avowal. Let any such sys.
TEN become established and prevalent, anc
Woman will soon be confined to the harem
and her appearance in the street with un
veiled face will be accounted immodest.-
| joyfully trust that the genius of the Nine
teenth Century tends to resolution oe the
problem of Woman's sphere and destiny
radically different from this II. G.