New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-11-03
THE RE1RDLNG OF THE PROPHET

eating distinguished persons Tor INC pui Po'o -
printing their replies an intrusive anu "oSu,u
one, it is not to be denied that some Oh 'le
fruits of that enterprise are entertainments anu
are such as we could not hope for through
other agency. 1t is not likely that brigham
Young, jr., who has recently been Oh IiS!
to Philadelphia, would have been mo'eu VI
the spirit to address himself to the newspapers,
and exploit therein at length the various articles
of his faith and the various particulars OF his
practice, unless he had been allured thereto Dy
reportorial solicitation. The testimony Oh
the son of the Prophet concerning the Spr-
itual and temporal affairs of his people Is not
without interest He should know WHEREOF he
discourses, and his voice should be as that OF
one speaking from the inner sanctuary OF the
temple-ts deepest arcanum-its holy OF holies'
He would not probably have volunteered TINS
testimony, but he has yielded it upon the soft
compulsion of the provincial scnbe,-and we
are glad to get it, even though the agency
which elected it is one which we do not much
admire.
The lesser Brigham, according to the report
before us, is not sucking saint-none of your
callow babes of latter-day grace in bib and
swaddling bands, nor yet an adOleScent seraph
in high-heeled boots and secular swallow-tall,
but tough and robustious elder of forty-iiye.
He is adequate, therefore, to the maturest KIND
of excOgitation, and his words are worthy to be
pOndered. We could wish, indeed, that his
interrogation had withheld platitudinous and
irrelevant queries We don't care in the
least what the younger Young thinks OF
Pere Hyacnthe nor Gen. Grant, nor the
beauty of Phladelphian women; but his
statement of the condition. purposes, and
prospects of his people ia not without interest.
The future of that strange community, which,
under the sternest persecution, has thrlven and
waxed numerous, wealthy, and powerful, and
which now presents 20 the world the spectacle
of prosperous and well-Ordered common
wealth, founded upon and deeply attached to
q creed at which ChristendOm reyolts, is a
problem which confronts ms, and of which the
solution cannot be very long postponed.
The attachment of the MormOns to polyg-
amy is, according to Mr.. Young, absolute and
uncquivOcal The divine oracle which enjolned
it upon them, it appears, spoke in no uncer-
tain or eDigmatical phrase 1t ia the corner
stone of their faith. Sooner than give it mp
they are prepared to render to the desert
again the domain which they have res
cued from stcTility. and made fertile and popu-
lous. If they are oppressed 10y the Government
or their liberty of belief or practice i invaded.
they will destroy their habiiations and go forth
into the wilderness to seek a new abiding
place, as the Israclites did of old. But MIR.
Young forebodes no such dismal eXigence. The
age is too liberal, he thinks, to allow O. such
persecution. Meantime lee strenuously pro-
claims the peaceful and patriotic purposes Of
his people They are not ut war with the
Gentle on the contrary. they welcome him.
If he likes their faith, lac can adopt IL If not
ne can cleave to his own, and abide among
the elect without joining their congregation.
That they are very much in earnest IN their
strange and irrational belief is attested by
their earnestness in temporal matters. Energy
and thrift in mundane concerns generally ac-
company robust and determined religions couvs-
tons The Mormons now number two hundced
thousand souls, and have dotted a vide and
fertile territory with home,tcads and
towns, and their belief in the divine
commission of their prophet and the di-
vine authority of their pricsD and elders
is as absolute as that with which the Catholic
recognizes the spiritual authority of the Pope
and the sacred office of the priesthood. Are
they likely TO abandon it i, htly or quietlyI to
acquiesce in Government Interference Brig
ham says not and he certainly ought to know
The best of results are TO be hoped for from
the relation with outer civilization into which
they are brought by means of the Pacific Rail
road. stream of Gcntles perpetually flow
ing through the territory of the Saints cannot
fail to exert powerful influence in modifying
the fanaticsm Of zealOts, and exciting gradual
discomfort with the system which subjects
them to the repTObatiOn and aversion Of Christ
endOm. The faith has been nurtured 10y isOla-
ton and strengthened by persecution.
Those who have voluntarily embraced it
have been chiefly ignorant persons. drawn
from the Obscurest situations in life, and
over such the establishment and maintenance
of priestly authority was not u matter of much
difficulty. But they are educating their chill
dren. They will not always have merely the
kindred elements Of ignorance and superstition
to work upon. They are confronted by peril
more formidable than that Gentle aversion or
governmental INTERCHANGEABLE of domestic
heresy and discomfort internal disSension, and
recusancy Even now, the elder gham is
Illuminating DEGREES of communication right
and left, and schsm is rampant under the very
shadow of the Temple.
Mr.. Young's testimony as TO the industrial
and productive prospects and possibilities of
the Mormon people and territory is not with
out interest. Salt Lake City Is in his opinion
destined to become an important manufactur-
ing center. The woOl-growing capacity of the
Territory ia unrivaled. They have deposits of
iron, coal, and other minerals, and gold-bear-
ing quartz equal to that of Colorado or Cali
fornia. They are not without capital nor other
needs of manufacturing industry, and they