"I have told you that if this people will live their religion, all will be well; and I have told you that if there is any man or woman who is not willing to destroy anything or everything of their property that would be of use to an enemy if left, I wanted them to go out of the Territory. And I again say so to-day; for when the time comes to burn and lay waste our improvements, if any man undertakes to shield his, he will be sheared down; for 'judgment will be laid to the line, and righteousness to the plummet.'
"Now, the faint-hearted can go in peace; but should that time come, they must not interfere. Before I will suffer what I have in times gone by, there shall not be one building, nor one foot of lumber, nor a stick, nor a tree, nor a particle of grass or hay that will burn, left in reach of our enemies. I am sworn, if driven to extremity, to utterly lay waste, in the name of Israel's God."
On the same subject, Heber C. Kimball, first counsellor to Brigham, used the following language:—
"Is there a collision between us and the United States? No; we have not collashed; that is the word that sounds nearest to what I mean. But now the thread is cut between them and us, and we will never gybe again,—no, never, worlds without end. [Voices, 'Amen.'] . . .
"Do as you are told, and Brigham Young will never leave the
governorship of this Territory, from this time henceforth and forever. No, never. And there shall no wicked Judge with his w—— ever sit in our courts again; for all who are against Israel are an abomination to me and to our God.
"The spirit that is upon me this morning is the Spirit of the Lord, that is, the Holy Ghost,—though some of you may think that the Holy Ghost is never cheerful. Well, let me tell you, the Holy Ghost is a man; he is one of the sons of our Father and our God, and he is that man that stood next to Jesus Christ,—just as I stand by brother Brigham. . . . You think our Father and our God is not a lively, sociable, and cheerful man; he is one of the most lively men that ever lived. . . . Brother Brigham is my leader, he is my Prophet and my Seer, my Revelator; and whatever he says, that is for me to do, and it is not for me to question him one word, nor to question God a minute."[49:A]
Many sermons were delivered, composed, throughout, of such material as the foregoing extracts. The genius of Mormonism is here fully displayed,—implicit obedience to their leaders, and especially to the teachings of Brigham Young. The people were commanded to be ready to leave their homes at an hour's notice, and flee to the mountains,—and this too, as the snows of winter were falling around them. They were commanded to have the torch ready to set fire to their dwellings, and the axe to cut down all their fruit-trees; and they were ready to obey! The question naturally presents itself, Can blind faith and fanaticism thus lead and control a whole community? That some should be thus blindly infatuated, is not strange; but that a whole community should thus lose their reason, and be willing to beggar themselves and families, in obedience to the call of their leader, is almost beyond belief.
It is safe to say, had the Mormons been left free to choose, at least one half would have remained at home, and even welcomed the troops into the city.
But the fiat of despotism had gone forth. "When the time comes to burn and lay waste our improvements, if any