Whose light, among so many lights,
Was like that star, on starry nights,
The seaman singles from the sky,
To steer his bark forever by!"
Emeline is tall and graceful; with mild, violet eyes, fair hair, inclined to curl. She has long been the favorite of the Prophet,—the light of his eyes, and the joy of his heart.
Mr. and Mrs. Free, her father and mother, were opposed to polygamy, and Brigham went one day to convince them of their error. The beautiful Emeline was the first he sought to win, and he argued and expounded the new doctrine with wonderful zeal and fervor. At length the parents were convinced. The Prophet of the Lord stepped up to Emeline, laid his saintly hand upon her shoulder, and said, in fervid accents, "Emeline, will you be my wife?" "Yes, sir," was the reply. This was their courtship. She at once became the favorite, and many a heart grew sad when she became an inmate of the Harem.
Brigham distinguished her in every way; gave her better rooms than the rest, and servants to wait upon her. She grew to love him, and obtained a powerful influence over him. There is no weapon so powerful as a woman's tears. This Emeline believed, and often acted upon, to bring back her truant lover, when she thought too much attention was paid to others. Finally, so great became the jealousy of the other wives, that the husband of these contending fair ones constructed a private hall leading from his office to Emeline's room, that he might visit her without observation or constraint. He devoted himself to her exclusively, and she reigned supreme over the sisters. She received her company in the grand saloon; she occupied the seat of honor at the table, at the right hand of her husband. In short, she was the mistress of the Harem.
At that time the most of the women did their own work, and stayed in their own rooms, so that there was but little communication with each other. She has eight children, but is still a young-looking woman.
But, alas! "the course of true love never did run smooth," and Emeline was doomed to have a rival. When the Prophet "took" Amelia, his last love, poor Emeline was heart-broken. She was taken very sick, and her life was, for a long time, despaired of. From her "sisters" she received no sympathy. The bitter cup which they had been obliged to drink, was now commended to her own lips. From the confiding and happy wife, she has become the rejected and suffering mistress, and must now drag out the remainder of her days a faded, cast-off woman. And Amelia, the present queen, what of her? She too, will soon take her place by the side of Emeline and Mary Ann. Other and younger women will take the place she now occupies, and in their turn be cast off, to suffer with her.
"Proxy Women."