An Englishwoman in Utah: The Story of a Life's Experience in Mormonism

by Mrs. T. B. H. Stenhouse

And now the devil makes his appearance in the person of W. W. Phelps. Phelps used always to personate the devil in the Endowments, and the rôle suited him admirably. He is dead now, but whether it has made any difference in his status I cannot tell, nor do I know who has succeeded him in his office. The devil wears a very tight-fitting suit of black muslin, with knee-breeches and black stockings and slippers. This dress had all the appearance of a theatrical costume, and the man looked as much like what one might imagine the devil would look as he possibly could. He began by trying to scrape acquaintance with Eve, whom he meets while taking a walk in the garden. The innocent, unsuspecting woman is fascinated by his attentions. Father Adam—who seems to have had a touch of the Mormon about him—perhaps was not the most attentive of husbands; or he may have made the same mistake as that which so many of his sons have since made—neglecting to pay the same attentions after marriage as he was wont to before—and left his young wife to the mercy of the tempter. However that may be, Satan and Eve are soon discovered in conversation together, and Eve appears to be particularly pleased with Satan. At length he offers her some of the fruit of the forbidden tree, and after some little demur she accepts it and eats thereof.

Then the devil leaves her, Adam makes his appearance, and Eve persuades him also to eat of the fruit of the tree. After this they make a dumb show of perceiving their condition, and an apron of white linen is produced, on which are sewn pieces of green silk, in imitation of fig leaves, and in these they both attire themselves.

Then all the brethren and sisters produced similar aprons which they had brought with them on purpose, and these they put on, as Adam and Eve had already done. Elohim now appeared again, and called Adam; but Adam was afraid, and hid himself in the garden with Eve. The curse was now pronounced upon the serpent—the devil—who reappears upon his hands and knees, making a hissing noise as one might suppose a serpent would do. We were then all driven out of the Garden of Eden into another room which represented the world—and this ended the “First Degree.”

We were now supposed to be out in the world, earning our daily bread by the sweat of our brows, and we were informed that although we had been driven out from the presence of the Lord, yet a plan of salvation would be devised for us, by which we should be enabled to return to our first estate. We were to wait patiently until this plan should be disclosed to us.

There was here such a mixture of persons and events that I could not exactly follow the idea that was intended to be conveyed—if there was any idea at all. Men representing the ancient prophets entered, and gave instructions to the people to prepare themselves for the first coming of our Saviour upon earth. Then we were taught certain pass-words and grips; and then we were all arranged in a circle. The women covered their faces with their veils, and we all kneeled down, and, with our right hands uplifted towards heaven, we took the solemn oath of obedience and secrecy.[1] We swore that by every means in our power we would seek to avenge the death of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, upon the Gentiles who had caused his murder, and that we would teach our children to do so; we swore, that without murmur or questioning, we would implicitly obey the commands of the priesthood in everything; we swore that we would not commit adultery—which, with reference to the men, was explained to mean the taking of wives without the permission of the holy Priesthood; and we swore that we would never, under any circumstances, reveal that which transpired in the Endowment House.

The penalty for breaking this oath, which was worded in the most startling and impressive way, was then explained to us. His bowels were—while he was yet living—to be torn from him, his throat was to be cut from ear to ear, and his heart and tongue were to be cut out. In the world to come, everlasting damnation would be his portion.

Let not the reader think that this was merely an imaginary penalty, or that it was expressed merely for the purpose of frightening the weak-minded; for, as will be shown, punishments quite as horrible as that have been deliberately meted out to the Apostate, the Gentile, and the suspected Saint, by the Mormon Priesthood. The innocent blood which cries for vengeance against Brigham Young and some of the leaders of the Church is sufficient to weigh the purest spirit which stands before the throne of God down to the nethermost abysses of hell.

After these fearful oaths had been taken with due solemnity, we were instructed in the various signs representing those dreadful penalties; and we were also given a “grip” peculiar to this degree.

We were next entertained by a long address from the Apostle Heber C. Kimball.—Never in my life—except from Brigham Young—have I listened to such disgusting language, and I trust I never shall be compelled to listen to anything like it again. Brother Kimball always used to pride himself upon using “plain” language, but that day I think he surpassed himself; he seemed to take quite a pleasure in saying anything which could make us blush. The subject of which he discoursed was the married life in the “Celestial Order;” he also laid great stress upon the necessity of our keeping silence concerning all that we had witnessed in the Endowment House—even husbands to their wives, and wives to their husbands, were not to utter a single word. With the sermon ended our “Second Degree.”

We were now taken to another room for the purpose of passing through the “Third Degree” of the Order of the Melchisedec Priesthood. When we were all arranged on one side against the wall, a number of individuals entered who were supposed to represent the ministers of every denomination and religion upon the face of the earth. The devil also makes his appearance again. The ministers set forth the various claims of their respective creeds—each one striving to show that his is the purest and the best—but the devil sows division and hatred among them, and a good deal of confusion ensues.