The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-15

the young man himself had gained fame
as a Jealous worker in the church and
successful missionary who has even been
imprisoned for the faith. Five hundred
invitations were issued to the grand re-
ception, banquet and bail at the historic
Beehive house.
But none of the Gentle guests saw the
scaling. The brides own father and
mother were barred. No gentle foot may
enter the sacred and secret portals of the
Temple. No eye may feast upon its gor-
geOus interior except those of Mormons
of high standing in the church, and they
are sworn to tell naught of what is in
side of those famous gray granite walls,
with towers and pinnacles that loom up
so loftily that they rival in prominence
the snow streaked Wasatch or the brown,
green and redding Oquihrr mountains
that skirt the green and picturesque
valley of the Jordan-the prominent land
Of the band of pioneers led across the
plains over half a century ago by Brig
ham Young.
Ask a Mormon what there is inside the
Temple, and he will shake his head and
reply:
"Oh, it's grand-magnifcent You can't
conceive how magnificent it is"
Press him for details and he merely
shakes his head again and closes his lips.
" guarded in their secrecy than are the
rites of sealing, or marriage, in the Tenn
pie. Vows that bind again and again are
sworn to with as much solemnity as lies
within the realm of possibility Ask per-
son who has been through the ceremony
what 1t is like, and he or she will look at
you shocked and astounded at the au-
daCity of such a question. 1t would be
just as easy to get a high Mason to de-
scribe in detail the thirty-third degree as
1t would be to get a Mormon to tell all
about the sealing process.
However, one man who was sealed In
the Temple who has since ceased paying
his tithing and broken away from the
church has been found who is willing
to tell about the interior of the Temple,
and to describe the sealing in general
way But even he refused to tell all
the details.
After all those vows I took" he said.
eff 1 should tell everything that took
place there I'd never sleep another wink.
I'd be so haunted. I can't go quite that
far
But he has told a great deal, and this
Is the first time a description of a Nor
mon wedding ceremony has been pub
Hshed.
The principal event of the day-the seal
Ing itself-is the first. This takes place
at high noon.
From the moment the party enters the
temple everything is calculated to I'M
press with solemaity. The grandeur of
the exterior is carried out in the interior
in massive splendor.
One of the first things the bridal pair
are told is that no mortal must enter the
sacred chamber in his ordinary garments
to pass through the rite of sealing. Each
is set into retiring room, there to take
off all the regular garments and replace
them with white, flowing robes. This
DONE the bridal procession takes up the
march to the Sealing ROOM
This is chamber on the second floor OF
the temple, next to the wonderful See
lestial room" The latter is believed to be
the most magnificent chamber of the kind
In the world. It's arched ceiling and high
walls are finished in white and gold, gen
uine ivory and solid gold entering largely
Into the construction.
From the floor is built up a bower of
magnificent plants, coming from Hawaii,
Australia and every other quarter of the
globe where the church has missions. The
massive furniture is of native woods.
The browning glory of the room is a
series of paintings, worked out beautiful
ly with the use of stained glass. These
represent the Prophet Joseph Smith re-
ceiving from supposedly divine sources
the plates on which were the writings of
the Book of Mormon showing the
prophet visited by divine beings. and rep
resenting other events in the church his
tory. Thousands of little incandescent
lights can be thrown upon these paintings,
illuming them with truly marvellous eff
feet, and relieving the natural gloom of
the grand interior
The sealing room" is smaller, but it is
also beautiful. White and gold are the
prevailing colors there, carried out in the
most conspicuous object in the room-the
altar.
The cost of this altar is unknown. Ivory
enters largely into its construction, while
the top is a plate of solid gold, two inch
es thick. Even this forms only a small
part of the value of the temple, which
cost, all told. close to So 500, 600
Behind the altar is a handsome and