The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1885-04-09
The Land of the Mormons.
THE MORMON WOMEN. LIFE THEY
LEAD AND THE TRIALS THEY ENDURE.
THE, INFATUATIoN OF THE RELIGION,
LETTER No. VII.

Especial Corfespondenceo OF the NIRGIEIAN.l
The Mormon women. how my hear
bleeds for them For patience, and self
abnegati ion wrong-headed and fatuoas a
it isl commend me to these victims Of
monstrous delusion. Asa woman abuse
herself here-shares her husband wit
others, foregoes her claims ton comforta
be support sees another's children pre-
ferred to fers-so in proportion will b
her exaltation in those starry world
which are the Mormon's paradise. hav
read the diaries of certain notable Mon
mon women. and in each one you vii
find the. record Of the heart-sickeninI
SealeasF the TaTofa 81 nature and justici
against this peryersion of doctrine-plu
raj marriage-and then after struggle an,
prayer, they all profess to find peace il
their great remuneration. What think you
of the feeling which can evoke such reverse
as the following from the curse OF polyg
amy? 1T is from poem called "Helel
and Virginia. and expresses the feeling
of the first wife when a second was abou
to enter the household
"When winter came my heart could not
Deny her shelter, aye, and love!
Winter has passed, and now It's spring,
And nature all around me wakes
And lifts it's Offering above
Only my soul delaying breaks
srhe universal law of God.
Shall not my heart pour forth like spring
An offering to creations God?
Or shall I still delaying yield
But fruitless shade to those who cling
Like me, to laws and hopes revealed?
when travel worn and hungry, came
Our blessed Lord, where branching stood
The barren figtree by the way.
He cursed the tree that Knocked His need;
Then, thou my soul that knoweth good
From evil. this same lesson heed.
aAnd what is human love that we
Should count it all, and prize it DER
Gods higher love our best reward?
Were earth love all, 'twould bondage be,
And life game of chance, no more
But knowledge raises, makes US free.
Shall L, when these brief years are past,
Ailu higher spheres Ol lie are NOHs
Repining count earth's pleasures DER
As misers count their shining gold?
No, shall drop them one by one
For Joys more sweet an hundred fold
What shall it matter in that time
The trials we chafe DER to-day?
Only if we were overcome,
Or if we saw beneath disguise.
The tempter Turing us this way,
And won at last, by faith, the prize.
life! so brief thy sweetest days,
So vain thy promises to ALL
SO frail the staff that thou dost lend;
Thou art but token of the goal
To lead us where no more shall fall
From reach the hopes that guide the soul. .
Nature will have its way, and in spite
Of its efforts to raise to higher plane the
conception of this infamous plural mar
riage, it must be degrading in tendency
and bunting to refinement And a great
proportion of the Mormon women seem
to be WORKOUT, draggled creatures, toiling
and weary, old in their prime. They have
no time for enjoyment and improvement
no means for the amenities and luxuries
of civilization-for in a typical Mormon
household cares are multiplied, and means
are divided. 1t is part of the religion Of
these ''sister wives to treat one another
with love and respect, and in the house
hold which came under my observation
they seemed to feel affectionately TOWARD
each other, and there appears to be but
little ground in reality for the story of TIE
small Mormon boy seen running out Of {
house weeping Was your mother al
home ~ No, 6ut mig brothers. mothe,
W0s. -
In one household which came under my
observation, the two wives occupied rooms
in a wing, furnished just alike, and the
husband would take one driving for al
hour or SO, and then return for the othel
with cheerful impartiality. Both worked
very hard, and were heard to console eacf
other thus in private Never mind, VIZ
shall have q beautiful rest by and by. il
heaven" But on earth, little remains fol-
many Mormon wives but grievous toll
poor clothes, few recreations, and a de
privation of the dearest pleasures of hu
man intercourse. The only Mormon
''homen which deserved the name, init
which / had the good fortune to enter
was that of Mrs. Emmeline B. Wells, wife
of apostle Daniel H. Wells, formerly on
Of Brigham Young's councillors. The
walls are hung with fine paintings (no
mere decoratlons), the work Of Mrs
Well s daughter. Some of them have beer
exhibited in eastern galleries. There ar
fine piano, organ and guitar, plenty O
books, pretty bric-a-brac and china and al
atmosphere of refinement and tasteful ele
gance which pervades all. Mrs Wells i
an accomplished and intelligent woman
with remarkable executive ability-a de
voted wife to the man whom she share
with five or six other wiveS-who ador
her, as do her ''nieces so called. She i
the editor of bi-monthlv paper, tn
Womaa's Exponent printed for the Right
of the Women of Zion and Of Womel
everywhere And, as public charaC
ter and q representative woman of Sal
Lake. have felt justified in so personal
notice of one whom | esteem as bette
| than her creed, if not wiser. Mrs. Well
comes of New England stock, was bar
tized into the Mormon church when onl
twelve years old, became at eighteen tn
second wife of Bishop Newell K. Whitney
She shared in the perils of crossing th
plains, and during the journey her daugf
ter was born in an emigrant wagon. Will
a thick snow storm was drifting over til
prairie Bishop Whitney died during til
| journey, and his widow drove the ox-teal
to Deseret with her own hands.
The story of one other woman, and | al
done. She lived at Cambridge, England
the daughter of an English clergyman. an
the centre of happy home, surrounde
by devoted husband and children. A
things had prospered with them, till, OF
day seamstress who had embraced Mo
monism, left tract upon the lady's b
reau. She read it, became interested, sci
for other books, and when the first Mo
mon missionary came to Cambridge, Oh
year after, he found convert awaiti1
him in the person of the mistress of tn
household. She had decided maturely, al
| II cbOO16 have hooO intnilinoOflxr 81