Even Brigham Young openly avowed that when Joseph Smith gave him the order for the first time it was a great trial to his soul; and it is said that the locks of an apostle turned white in a single night when he was commanded to take another wife. The idea of taking a second wife to a man who is happily married is extremely distasteful. Polygamy, therefore, has enslaved the Mormon men, blunting all the finer feelings of their soul.
But if the men are enslaved by polygamy, the women are martyrized. A writer on Mormonism has said: “Whoever has read debasement in the women of Utah has done them injustice. Some there be who are devoid of refined sentiment and the nobler instincts of the sex, but no women in history ever deserved more respect and sympathy than the true women among the Mormons.” They are taught to believe that polygamy is a divine institution; they are taught that it is their duty to make a self-sacrifice—to bear the cross in order to receive the crown. They are forbidden to covet the entire love of their husband’s heart, because God designed to purify them from all selfishness and, besides, had commanded that if any oppose this revelation on “Celestial Marriage” they shall be destroyed; and while the Mormons do not use any visible coercion to draw persons into this complex marriage, yet that revelation, with its accompanying threat, stands like a frightful ogre, hanging over them like a doom, and sounds the death-knell to their happiness. The Mormon men have claimed that the women get accustomed to plural marriage and are happy in it; but that is a libel upon the nature of woman. Surely no woman ever desired to share her husband with another, and no husband could ever please two wives. No; the wives of polygamists in Utah are living martyrs. What days of silent grief and misery they must endure! The story of such women can never be told. Many a young wife has exclaimed: “I am fainting by the way; but for my children’s sake I must bear up. What will be the end of all this suffering?” Many more have found early graves, the strain of mental anguish, added to physical labor, proving too much for their powers of endurance. In thinking or reading of such heart-rending sorrows, one is impelled to cry: “How long, O Lord, how long!”
And yet this moral bondage is suffered in this land, which is famed for its light and liberty. It is a shame and disgrace to our nation.
“How good to lead the nations of the earth
In every field of valor and of worth!
How good to hold the lightning in our hands,
And flash our energies to other lands!
How sweet erewhile to see the slave go free!
How dear to-day the breath of liberty!
How good to draw the larger, purer breath,
After the years of battle and of death;
To feel how well our country bore the strain,
And settled back to rectitude again!
“And yet—and yet, just now a wailing came
Out of the West—our women steeped in shame,
The name of wife and mother made disgrace,
Home in our midst become the vilest place!
What if no black wrist feels the iron chain,
When snow-white breasts must bear the scarlet stain?
What if the old plantation homes in ruin lie,
If Mormon temples proudly kiss the sky?
*****
The day-break of true chivalry is now;
And every knight is ready for the vow.
*****
How shall our flag, by Freedom’s breath unfurled,
Greet Liberty enlightening the world!
Cowards! The brazen image at a glance
Shall see the craven in each countenance!
The torch it bears in its uplifted hand
Shall not make light the shame-spot on our land.
Day-break indeed! The midnight is not past.
Freedom, forsooth! Not while yon temples last!
Enlightenment! Our bitter inland sea
Gives back the word in shameless mockery!”
CHAPTER X.
THE SOCIAL PUZZLE (continued).
Reasons why Mormon slavery is maintained—Hope of earthly gain—Complete organization of the Mormon Church—Prospect of promotion in office as a bribe—Fear of earthly loss—System of espionage—Apostasy formerly punished by death—Mode of inflicting the punishment—Social ostracism—Religious conviction the mainstay of the Mormon social system.
Having already shown that the Mormon social system is a system of slavery so complete as to bind with its fetters body, mind, and soul—the entire man, let us now briefly inquire into THE REASONS WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO THE MAINTENANCE OF THIS DEGRADING SYSTEM, which is so utterly hostile to the enlightened and progressive spirit of the age.