The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1872-11-01
Inside View OF MOrmOnism,

0lrs. StcnnOuSe recently ueiiycfeu q
lecture at Denver, on the peculiar in.
stitution Of the Utah Saints. The Tnb-
une says of il:
Mrs. Stenhouse began her lecture
with a brief sketch Of the origin of the
doctrine which gave rise to the polyg.
annie evil, and its effect upon the wo-
men in Utah and elsewhere. She was
in Switzerland at the time, and it was
her mission TO break it 10 the sisters
there. She felt as if she was bringing a
blight upon every home, and pointing
a poinard at the breast Of evesy woman
in the land. She then described the
practical working Of the system in
Utah, quoting fom Brigham Young
himself to prove the deep, unutterable,
and universal unhappiness caused by
it. The murmurs and tears of the
women were unheeded. They were
commanded to round up their should
ers and bear the burden, or expect q
complete and lasting divorce. Those
who complied were promised rule as
kings and queens in heaven /; those who
did not were to be damned. The terri
BILE maledictions of Young meant some.
thing. They knew that he would ruth
lessly apply his doctrine Of blood atone
ment, If necessary, and many a man and
woman had for their opposition been
buried in quiet graves where they
would rest until the day when they
should meet their murderer, not rs a
judge, but as a trembling culprit. So
little were women respected in Utah
that elders had sid: ave think no
more of marrying a wife than of buying
a cow" But there were no wives in
Utah, they were nothing but slaves.
Mrs. Stenhouse then gave a new and
startling statement OF the attitude and
expectation of the Mormons during the
great rebellion. They glolied in the
the carnage, and predicted that the
males would be killed, except a very
small remnant, and that then they
would take the Gentle women as their
spoil. They applied a passage of Scrip.
ture to that anticipated result, and be-
lieyed hat seven ONE would lay
hold of n man and say we will eat our
own bread, ETC., only let US be called by
thy name to take away our reproach.
Her picture Of the plural wives, their
lonely, %comfortless, and sometimes des-
titute condition, was touc hing, and con-
stitutcd a strong argument against the
Infamous practice. Brigham Young
was denounced as a stern, implacable
tyrant, and his conduct toward his wife,
Harriet Cook, cited as proof. This
young, high-spirited woman had aspired
to the position of Sultana, as having
borne the Prophet the first son under
the new system, but Young had steadi.
ly ignored her pretensions. One day
the child vas punished by her and stic.
lnatized as a bastard. The sting was
not intended for. the boy, but for his
who was within hearing. lie
forward and said, " Harriet, that |
is the last bastard you shall ever haye.n
And for a quarter of a century she has
been a husbandless wife. Other in.
of a similar character were mar.
rated. The fearful practice had its
female supporters, of whom Eliza Snow
chief. She had recently published
! letter %purportipg to come from a
,ountry.woman, in which the degrading
rice is praised MS beneficial to the tenn.
DER and character of women. Mrs. S.
inew of one wife who went insane
When her husband took another TO his
lone, and when he died, soon after,
m out of her hoyel and with curses
nd maniacal rawlings threw stones at
lis coffin. The Union Pacific railroad
anne, and then Young gave women the
uffrage, net that they might emanci.
ate themselves, but because the
iphers should magnify him, the only
CURE recognized of value. The hor-
ors Of the Endowment House were
hen exposed, and a story told of Orson
raft which, for its perfect telling and !,
ne world of woe il reveals, ought to lie
verbatim as a tract, and
OWN broadcast over the world wher. (
yer the disciples of polygamy seek to
lake converts. /