The Story of the Mormons, from the Date of Their Origin to the Year 1901 Part 37

"For these angels did not abide my law, therefore they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity, and from henceforth are not G.o.ds, but are angels of G.o.d, for ever and ever.

"And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, and make a covenant with her for time and for all eternity, if that covenant is not by me, or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, through him whom I have anointed, and appointed unto this power--then it is not valid, neither of force when they are out of the world, because they are not joined by me, saith the Lord, neither by my word; when they are out of the world, it cannot be received there, because the angels and the G.o.ds are appointed there, by whom they cannot pa.s.s; they cannot, therefore, inherit my glory, for my house is a house of order, saith the Lord G.o.d.

"And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power, and the keys of this Priesthood; and it shall be said unto them, ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, princ.i.p.alities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths--then shall it be written in the Lamb's Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity, and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pa.s.s by the angels, and the G.o.ds, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fullness and a continuation of the seeds for ever and ever.

"Then shall they be G.o.ds, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be G.o.ds, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.

"Verily, verily I say unto you, except ye abide my law, ye cannot attain to this glory;...

"And verily, verily I say unto you, that whatsoever you seal on earth, shall be sealed in Heaven; and whatsoever you bind on earth, in my name, and by my word, with the Lord, it shall be eternally bound in the heavens; and whosesoever sins you remit on earth shall be remitted eternally in the heavens; and whosesoever sins you retain on earth, shall be retained in heaven.

"And again, verily I say, whomsoever you bless, I will bless, and whomsoever you curse, I will curse, with the Lord; for I, the Lord, am thy G.o.d....

"Verily I say unto you, a commandment I give unto mine handmaid, Emma Smith, your wife, whom I have given unto you, that she stay herself, and partake not of that which I commanded you to offer unto her; for I did it, saith the Lord, to prove you all, as I did Abraham; and that I might require an offering at your hand, by covenant and sacrifice.

"And let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before me; and those who are not pure, and have said they were pure, shall be destroyed, with the Lord G.o.d;

"For I am the Lord, thy G.o.d, and ye shall obey my voice; and I give unto my servant Joseph that he shall be made ruler over many things, for he hath been faithful over a few things, and from henceforth I will strengthen him.

"And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide this commandment, she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord; for I am the Lord thy G.o.d, and will destroy her, if she abide not in my law;

"But if she will not abide this commandment, then shall my servant Joseph do all things for her, even as he hath said; and I will bless him and multiply him, and give unto him an hundred fold in this world, of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, houses and lands, wives and children, and crowns of eternal lives in the eternal worlds.

"And again, verily I say, let mine handmaid forgive my servant Joseph his trespa.s.ses; and then shall she be forgiven her trespa.s.ses, wherein she has trespa.s.sed against me; and I, the Lord thy G.o.d, will bless her, and multiply her, and make her heart to rejoice....

"And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood, if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent; and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery, for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else.

"And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him, therefore is he justified.

"But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be with another man; she has committed adultery, and shall be destroyed; for they are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfill the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world; and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be glorified.

"And again, verily, verily I say unto you, if any man have a wife who holds the keys of this power, and he teacheth unto her the law of my priesthood, as pertaining to these things, then shall she believe, and administer unto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your G.o.d, for I will destroy her; for I will magnify my name upon all those who receive and abide in my law.

"Therefore, it shall be lawful in me, if she receive not this law, for him to receive all things, whatsoever I, the Lord his G.o.d, will give unto him, because she did not administer unto him according to my word; and she then becomes the transgressor; and he is exempt from the law of Sarah; who administered unto Abraham according to the law, when I commanded Abraham to take Hagar to wife.

"And now, as pertaining to this law, verily, verily I say unto you, I will reveal more unto you, hereafter; therefore, let this suffice for the present. Behold, I am Alpha and Omega. Amen."

This jumble of doctrinal and family commands bears internal evidence of the truth of Clayton's account of its offhand dictation with a view to its immediate submission to the prophet's wife, who was already in a state of rebellion because of his infidelities.

The publication of the "revelation" was made at a Church Conference which opened in Salt Lake City on August 28, 1852, and was called especially to select elders for missionary work.* At the beginning of the second day's session Orson Pratt announced that, unexpectedly, he had been called on to address the conference on the subject of a plurality of wives. "We shall endeavor," he said, "to set forth before this enlightened a.s.sembly some of the causes why the Almighty has revealed such a doctrine, and why it is considered a part and portion of our religious faith."

*For text of the addresses at this conference, see Deseret News, extra, September 14, 1852.

He then took up the att.i.tude of the church, as a practiser of this doctrine, toward the United States government, saying:--

"I believe that they will not, under our present form of government (I mean the government of the United States), try us for treason for believing and practising our religious notions and ideas. I think, if I am not mistaken, that the const.i.tution gives the privilege to all of the inhabitants of this country, of the free exercise of their religious notions, and the freedom of their faith and the practice of it. Then, if it can be proved to a demonstration that the Latter-Day Saints have actually embraced, as a part and portion of their religion, the doctrine of a plurality of wives, it is const.i.tutional. And should there ever be laws enacted by this government to restrict them from the free exercise of their religion, such laws must be unconst.i.tutional."

Thus, at this early date in the history of Utah, was stated the Mormon doctrine of the const.i.tutional foundation of this belief, and, in the views then stated, may be discovered the reason for the bitter opposition which the Mormon church is still making to a const.i.tutional amendment specifically declaring that polygamy is a violation of the fundamental law of the United States.

Pratt then spoke at great length on the necessity and rightfulness of polygamy. Taking up the doctrine of a previous existence of all souls and a kind of n.o.bility among the spirits, he said that the most likely place for the n.o.blest spirits to take their tabernacles was among the Saints, and he continued:--"Now let us inquire what will become of those individuals who have this law taught unto them in plainness, if they reject it." (A voice in the stand "They will be d.a.m.ned.") "I will tell you. They will be d.a.m.ned, saith the Lord, in the revelation he hath given. Why? Because, where much is given, much is required. Where there is great knowledge unfolded for the exaltation, glory and happiness of the sons and daughters of G.o.d, if they close up their hearts, if they reject the testimony of his word and will, and do not give heed to the principles he has ordained for their good, they are worthy of d.a.m.nation, and the Lord has said they shall be d.a.m.ned."

After Brigham Young had made a statement concerning the history of the "revelation," already referred to, the "revelation" itself was read.

The Millennial Star (Liverpool) published the proceedings of this conference in a supplement to its Volume XV, and the text of the "revelation" in its issue of January 1, 1853, saying editorially in the next number:--

"None [of the revelations] seem to penetrate so deep, or be so well calculated to shake to its very center the social structure which has been reared and vainly nurtured by this professedly wise and Christian generation; none more conclusively exhibit how surely an end must come to all the works, inst.i.tutions, ordinances and covenants of men; none more portray the eternity of G.o.d's purpose--and, we may say, none have carried so mighty an influence, or had the power to stamp their divinity upon the mind by absorbing every feeling of the soul, to the extent of the one which has appeared in our last."

With the Mormon church in England, however, the publication of the new doctrine proved a bombsh.e.l.l, as is shown by the fact that 2164 excommunications in the British Isles were reported to the semi-annual conference of December 31, 1852, and 1776 to the conference of the following June.

The doctrine of "sealing" has been variously stated. According to one early definition, the man and the woman who are to be properly mated are selected in heaven in a pre-existent state; if, through a mistake in an earthly marriage, A has got the spouse intended for B, the latter may consider himself a husband to Mrs. A. Another early explanation which may be cited was thus stated by Henry Rowe in the Boston Investigator of, February 3, 1845:--

"The spiritual wife doctrine I will explain, as taught me by Elder W--e, as taught by Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Elder Adams, William Smith, and the rest of the Quorum, etc., etc. Joseph had a revelation from G.o.d that there were a number of spirits to be born into the world before their exaltation in the next; that Christ would not come until all these spirits received or entered their 'tabernacles of clay'; that these spirits were hovering around the world, and at the door of bad houses, watching a chance of getting into their tabernacles; that G.o.d had provided an honorable way for them to come forth--that was, by the Elders in Israel sealing up virtuous women; and as there was no provision made for woman in the Scriptures, their only chance of heaven was to be sealed up to some Elder for time and eternity, and be a star in his crown forever; that those who were the cause of bringing forth these spirits would receive a reward, the ratio of which reward should be the greater or less according to the number they were the means of bringing forth."

Brigham Young's definition of "spiritual wifeism" was thus expressed: "And I would say, as no man can be perfect without the woman, so no woman can be perfect without a man to lead her. I tell you the truth as it is in the bosom of eternity; and I say to every man upon the face of the earth, if he wishes to be saved, he cannot be saved without a woman by his side. This is spiritual wifeism, that is, the doctrine of spiritual wives."*

* Times and Seasons, Vol. VI, p. 955.

The Mormon, under polygamy, was taught that he "married" for time, but was "sealed" for eternity. The "sealing" was therefore the more important ceremony, and was performed in the Endowment House, with the accompaniment of secret oaths and mystic ceremonies. If a wife disliked her husband, and wished to be "sealed" to a man of her choice, the Mormon church would marry her to the latter*--a marriage made actual in every sense--if he was acceptable as a Mormon; and, if the first husband also wanted to be "sealed" to her, the church would perform a mock ceremony to satisfy this husband. "It is impossible," says Hyde, "to state all the licentiousness, under the name of religion, that these sealing ordinances have occasioned." **

* One of Stenhouse's informants about the "reformation" of 1856 in Utah writes: "It was hinted, and secretly taught by authority, that women should form relations with more than one man." On this Stenhouse says: "The author has no personal knowledge, from the present leaders of the church, of this teaching; but he has often heard that something would then be taught which 'would test the brethren as much as polygamy had tried the sisters."'--"Rocky Mountain Saints," p. 301.

** "Mormonism," p. 84.

A Mormon preacher never hesitated to go to any lengths in justifying the doctrine of plural marriages. One ill.u.s.tration of this may suffice.

Orson Hyde, in a discourse in the Salt Lake Tabernacle in March, 1857, made the following argument to support a claim that Jesus Christ was a polygamist:--

"It will be borne in mind that, once on a time, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and on a careful reading of that transaction it will be discovered that no less a person than Jesus Christ was married on that occasion. If he was never married, his intimacy with Mary and Martha, and the other Mary also, whom Jesus loved, must have been highly unbecoming and improper, to say the best of it. I will venture to say that, if Jesus Christ was now to pa.s.s through the most pious countries in Christendom, with a train of women such as used to follow him, fondling about him, combing his hair, anointing him with precious ointments, was.h.i.+ng his feet with tears and wiping them with the hair of their heads, and unmarried, or even married, he would be mobbed, tarred and feathered, and rode, not on an a.s.s, but on a rail.... Did he multiply, and did he see his seed? Did he honor his Father's law by complying with it, or did he not? Others may do as they like, but I will not charge our Saviour with neglect or transgression in this or any other duty."*

* Journal of Discourses, Vol. IV, p. 259.

The doctrine of "adoption," referred to, taught that the direct line of the true priesthood was broken with the death of Christ's apostles, and that the rights of the lineage of Abraham could be secured only by being "adopted" by a modern apostle, all of whom were recognized as lineal descendants of Abraham. Recourse was here had to the Scriptures, and Romans iv. 16 was quoted to sustain this doctrine. The first "adoptions"

took place in the Nauvoo Temple. Lee was "adopted to" Brigham Young, and Young's and Lee's children were then "adopted" to their own fathers.

With this necessary explanation of the introduction of polygamy, we may take up the narrative of events at Nauvoo.

CHAPTER XII. -- THE SUPPRESSION OF THE EXPOSITOR

Smith was now to encounter a kind of resistance within the church that he had never met. In all previous apostasies, where members had dared to attack his character or question his authority, they had been summarily silenced, and in most cases driven at once out of the Mormon community.