WORK ON THE "MEDIATION AND ATONEMENT"—ITS CHARACTER—"THE AARONIC PRIESTHOOD"—THE "STORM"—ARRIVAL OF THE COMMISSION—TEST OATH—"IN THE MARRIAGE RELATION"—HOW IT WORKS—FIRST CASE IN THE CRUSADE—PRESIDENT TAYLOR'S REFLECTIONS.
Notwithstanding the cares, labors and anxiety which his position as President of the Church thrust upon him, in these eventful years of which we are now writing, President Taylor still found time to write works on the gospel. In the year 1882 he issued his work on the Mediation and Atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is a book of some two hundred royal octavo pages.
In the main, it is a collection of scriptural passages bearing upon the subject, brought together from both ancient and modern revelations, and arranged in such manner as to develop the necessity, sufficiency, efficacy, glory, power and completeness of the atonement made by Messiah, for the sins of the world. It is not a work ambitious of displaying literary skill, or written with a view to meet the shallow and trifling objections urged against this great, central fact of the gospel by glib-tongued infidels and repeated without thought by their apish followers. It was the object of the author to bring together all the testimonies to be found in holy writ on this subject, as well in modern as in ancient scripture; and most admirably did he succeed, linking the testimonies together with such remarks as make their meanings and bearings clear, and increase the value of the original passages. The student of the great subject of the atonement, will find in President Taylor's work a most valuable collection of material for his consideration.
In chapter XXIII he will also find a most valuable reference to the doctrine of evolution as believed in by the Darwinian school of philosophers—a school of philosophy which professes to trace living phenomena to their origin, and which, if it were true, would at once destroy the doctrine of the Atonement.
In the appendix to the work, also will be found some interesting information in relation to the ideas of a general atonement and redemption entertained by the ancient heathen nations, traces of which may still be found in the traditions of their descendants. From these facts some noted infidel writers have sought to make it appear that the Christian doctrine of the atonement was derived from the heathens; but President Taylor clearly proves that the heathens originally derived their knowledge of these things from the earlier servants of God, and have preserved those truths, though in a mutilated form, in their traditions. "Exhibiting," as President Taylor writes, "that the atonement was a great plan of the Almighty for the salvation, redemption and exaltation of the human family; and that the pretenders in the various ages, had drawn whatever of truth they possessed, from the knowledge of those principles taught by the priesthood from the earliest periods of recorded time; instead of Christianity being indebted, as some late writers would allege, to the turbid system of heathen mythology, and to pagan ceremonies."
About this time he also wrote a pamphlet of some forty-five pages on the Aaronic Priesthood, chiefly relating to the authority and duties of Bishops.
The Mormon question having come once more prominently before the country through the enactments of Congress against it, the editor of theNorth American Reviewvisited Utah for the express purpose of soliciting President Taylor to write an article on the then present state of the Mormon question, which he did, reviewing the operations of the recently passed Edmunds law; and in addition to that, refuted many of the false, slanderous misrepresentations, both new and old, respecting the Saints.
Meantime the storm which President Taylor had predicted at the April conference in 1882, burst upon the Saints in all its fury. The conspirators against the Church of Christ, in the Edmunds enactment, had a law under which they hoped to be able to destroy its power.
The first act of the Commission appointed by that law, was to frame a test oath which they required every person to take before he was permitted to register or vote. This practically disfranchised a whole Territory at one fell swoop; and in order to be reinstated as a voter, every man had to take the oath, which required him to swear that he had never simultaneously lived with more than one woman "in the marriage relation;" or if a woman, that she was not the wife of a polygamist, nor had she entered into any relation with any man in violation of the laws of the United States concerning polygamy and bigamy.
By this arrangement it will be seen that those who cohabited with more than one woman in adultery or prostitution, were not affected by its provisions. Theroue, the libertine, the strumpet, the brothel-keeper, the adulterer and adulteress could vote. No matter how licentious a man or a woman might be, all but the Mormons were screened and protected in the exercise of the franchise by the ingenious insertion of the clause, "in the marriage relation," a clause which nowhere appears in the Edmunds law. Such broad constructionists were the Commission, that they declared no man or woman who had ever been a member of a family practicing plural marriage, should be permitted to register or vote, no matter what their present status might be. As a case in point, President Taylor himself relates the following incidents connected with the operations of this law. They are from the article above referred to in theNorth American Review:
"A former mayor of Salt Lake City, Mr. Feramorz Little, a very honorable gentleman and highly respected, came to this Territory many years ago, before there was any law of Congress against plural marriage, and espoused two wives. Subsequently, one of these wives died, then the other, and at the time that this incident occurred he had been for years without a wife. He had a son who was appointed registrar for a certain district in this city, and this son had the mortification of being compelled, under the ruling of the Commission, to refuse his father permission to register, and consequently deprived him of the right to vote—a privilege which he had a perfect right to exercise, both because of the provision in the Constitution that noex post factolaw shall be made, and again by reason of the statute of limitations, which bars all action in any such cases after the expiration of three years. Soon after the refusal of the registrar to place his father's name on the registration list, a well known keeper of a bagnio and her associates presented themselves, and the son had the humiliation of having to permit them to register. These courtesans afterward voted.
"Another case: A man came to the place of registration, and remarked to the officer that he supposed he could not register, as he had a wife and also kept a mistress. This man might be considered a very straight-forward fellow to make so ready an acknowledgment, but I fail to see anything straight-forward in such a crooked transaction as the breaking of the marriage vows and marital infidelity. But the officer knew what was in the oath better than this man, and advised him to read it. He did so. When he came to the words, 'in the marriage relation,' he immediately said, 'Yes, I see. I can go that,' and was at once sworn and registered."
Having begun the application of the law so as to effect the franchise of the party in the majority, the next move of the conspirators was to begin action judicially.
The first case prosecuted under the new regime was that of Rudger Clawson, a young man highly respected in the community. His case marks the inauguration of as cruel and unjustifiable a judicial crusade as was ever perpetrated against a free people in a professedly free government. He was arraigned both for polygamy and unlawful cohabitation, found guilty and sentenced on the 3rd of November, 1884. His sentence on both charges covered a period of four years imprisonment, and eight hundred dollars in fines.
President Taylor was subpoenaed as a witness in his case, but the testimony he gave was not material. Indeed the prosecution seemed more anxious to involve him in a conflict with the court than to elicit any fact he might know in relation to this particular case. His description of the scene in court during this trial, the character of the man being tried, and that of the men trying him, with a review of their methods and the principles involved in the controversy, together with the picture he draws of the present state of society as he described them off hand in a discourse delivered in Ogden, a few days after the trial, is too important to be omitted; and it demonstrates that the fire of President Taylor's eloquence could still burn brightly on occasion, until it scorched and burned an opponent, and vindicated the right. He said:
"While I was in court a few days ago, and gazing upon the assembly of judges, lawyers, marshals, witnesses, spectators, etc., many reflections of a very peculiar character passed through my mind, some of which I will here rehearse:
"I could not help thinking as I looked upon the scene, that there was no necessity for all this; these parties [Rudger Clawson and his plural wife] need not have placed themselves in this peculiar dilemma. Here was a young man blessed with more than ordinary intelligence, bearing amongst all who know him a most enviable reputation for virtue, honesty, sobriety and all other desirable characteristics that we are in the habit of supposing go to make a man respected and beloved, the civilized world over. He had been trained from early childhood in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, had been an attendant at Sabbath school and Young Men's Improvement Societies, where his course was of the most pleasing kind; more than this, some years ago when quite a youth, he had shown his devotion to the faith in which he had been reared, by going forth without purse or scrip to preach in the midst of the unbelieving the doctrines of a most unpopular faith. And as I reached this point in my reflections, my mind instinctively wanders to a monument I gazed at in Salt Lake City cemetery but a few days ago. That monument records in fitting words of respect and admiration the devotion of two young missionaries in a far-off southern state, one of whom had fallen a victim to mob violence, had sealed with his blood the testimony which he bore, the other had stood by him in his hour of sore need, and rescued his mangled body and brought it safely for thousands of miles to the home of his bereaved parents and sorrowing co-religionists.
"This heroic young man is the one now arraigned before the courts of his country, for an alleged offense against the morality of the age! Assuming that the reports pertaining to him should prove to be correct, and he really has a plural wife, what then would be the position? He from his earliest recollection, had been taught to reverence the Bible as the word of God, to revere the lives and examples of the ancient worthies whom Jehovah honored by making them His confidents, and revealing unto them the secrets of his divine purposes; he had read of one who was called 'the friend of God and the father of the faithful;' of another who was said to be a 'man after God's own heart;' of a third who in all things is said to have done the will of heaven, and so on until they could be numbered by the score; yet all these men, the friends, associates and confidents of the great Creator of heaven and earth, were men with more than one wife, some with many wives, yet they still possessed and rejoiced in the love and honor of the great judge of all the world, whose judgments are just, and whose words are all righteousness. This young man is charged with following these worthy examples; it is asserted that he has taken to wife a beautiful and virtuous young lady, belonging, like himself, to one of our most respected families, and who also believes in the Bible, and in the example set her by those holy women of old, such as Rachel, Ruth, Hannah, and others, who honored God's law, and became the mothers of prophets, priests and kings.
"And as my cogitations ran, I thought what need had these two to follow such examples of a by-gone age; why not walk in the way of the world today, unite with our modern Christian civilization, and if passion guide their actions why call each other husband and wife, why hallow their associations by any sacred ceremony—was there any need of such? Why not do as tens of thousands of others do, live in the condition of illicit love? And then if any child should be feared from this unsanctified union, why not still follow our Christian exemplars, remove the foetal incumbrance, call in some copyist of Madame Restell, the abortionist, male or female that pollute our land? That would have been,sub-rosa, genteel, fashionable, respectable, Christian-like, as Christianity goes in this generation.
"If this did not succeed, the young man might have turned his victim into the street to perish, or die of pollution as is done in tens of thousands of instances, in the most sanctified manner by the hypocrites of the day. Then in either of these cases, the young gentleman could have been received into good society, be petted and applauded; could hold a position under our government, be even a deputy marshal, registrar or what not, and still further, be able to answer all necessary questions; and be admitted as a grand juror without being brought in as a gutter snipe on an open venire, but as a respectable citizen on the regular panel.
"Or, again, these two, in the event of a child being born, might consign it to the care of some degraded hag, some 'baby farmer,' where gradually and quietly its innocent life would ebb out, and bye and bye the grief-stricken parents would receive the anticipated notice that their dear little offspring, notwithstanding every care, was dead and buried! This is a respectable crime, a crime committed principally by those who go to high-toned churches and fashionable meeting houses in velvets and feathers, in silks and satins, and who with upturned eyes and hypocritical voices, insult the majesty of heaven by drawling out, 'Lord have mercy upon us, miserable sinners!' Yet they are murderers—murderers of the worst kind, the shedders of innocent blood, consumers of their own flesh, whom the vengeance of God awaits!
"This young man and woman could have done all this and no marshals with ready feet would have dogged their steps, no packed grand juries with unanimous alacrity would do the bidding of over-zealous prosecuting attorneys; no federal judge would overturn precedent, ignore law, disregard justice on purpose to convict. No, they might have been the friends, associates, companions of judge and prosecutor, governor and commissioner; but now, as they would neither associate unrighteously, nor take means to destroy the results of their union, but honestly and virtuously live, as is claimed, as husband and wife, he stands in the felon's dock, charged with an offense against the dignity of the United States, and to convict him, oppressive laws, more oppressively administered are brought to bear with all the ingenuity that malice can devise and hatred adopt.
"And there, in this ignominious position, he stands with every person who might possibly be his friend, excluded from the jury, without the possibility of a fair trial by his peers, not one of the panel being in the least sympathy with himself; by such people this unfortunate young gentleman has to be tried, judged, prosecuted, proscribed and condemned because of his firm and unswerving faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; of David, Solomon, and numerous other God-fearing and honorable men, who, like him, have despised the cant and hypocrisy of an ungodly world, and dared to obey the behests of Jehovah.
"Of these things he had learned from the Bible, in the Sunday School; no wonder then that our would-be reformers are so anxious to exclude the Bible from our district schools, as its teachings and examples so emphatically condemn the theories on which the acts and legislation of Congress are based, as well as the course pursued by those who seek to aid in the regeneration of Utah, by adding to or taking from the law as is best suited to shield their own corrupt practices; or, on the other hand, by extra judicial proceedings, under cover of law, they pervert, to prosecute and persecute the Mormons.
"Where was this scene enacted? In the gorgeous palaces of Belshazzar, surrounded by his wives, concubines, and nobles, and where was seen written on the walls 'Mene, Mene, Tekel Upharsin?' No. Was it at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, when ten righteous persons could not be found to avert the wrath of an offended God, or in Pompeii or Herculaneum, which, in their turn, for their libidinous and unrighteous practices, as Sodom and Gomorrah, suffered the vengeance of eternal fire? No. Was it at the Saturnalia of the Bacchanals of ancient Greece and Rome? No. Those nations have long been overthrown and are now only known to a few readers of ancient history. Was it during the reign of the first French Republic, when they elevated a prostitute as the goddess of reason? No. Was it in the days of the inquisition, when the rack, the gibbet, the faggot and the flames were brought into requisition to force unwilling victims to testify of things which their conscience forbade, and who perished by thousands for daring to think, and act, and believe in and worship God according to their own consciences? No. Was it under the influence of Bacchus, or in the midnight revelings as exhibited in Rome under Nero? No; this scene was enacted in mid-day, in the nineteenth century, in the year of our Lord, 1884, in the Federal court house, in Salt Lake City, at a court presided over by Judge Charles S. Zane, Chief Justice for the United States in the Territory of Utah, assisted by Prosecuting Attorney William H. Dickson, and the other adjuncts of the law, and in the presence of several hundred American citizens!"
THE STORM BURSTS UPON THE PEOPLE—THE MORALITY PLEA—WHO THE CRIMINALS ARE—TESTIMONY OF STATISTICS—A VISIT TO ARIZONA AND MEXICO—ASSAULT UPON THE PEOPLE IN ARIZONA—AN AMERICAN SIBERIA—SEEKING A PLACE OF REFUGE—IN SAN FRANCISCO—THREATENED WITH ARREST—RETURN TO UTAH—LAST SERMON—WARNING AND PROPHECY.
The "storm" increased in violence. Special appropriations were made in Washington to aid in the enforcement of the infamous Edmunds law. With those funds deputy marshals were multiplied, some of them being men of notoriously immoral lives. They usually went in squads, pouncing first upon one village and then another, raiding the homes of the most respected and honorable men in the community, who were suspected of living with their plural wives—with women they had honored with the name of wife in some instances for more than a quarter of a century, by whom they had reared large and respectable families: and because they would not abandon them—thrust them away like unclean, nameless things—this pack of human hounds were turned loose upon them, to dog their footsteps, to invade their homes and insult their families.
Spotters and spies were employed to betray their neighbors; children were hailed upon the streets and questioned about the affairs of their parents; wives—lawful wives—were dragged into the courts and compelled to testify against their husbands; shamefully indecent questions were put to modest maidens in jury rooms and in open court; juries were packed to convict; a Mormon accused of violation of the anti-polygamy laws stood before a jury of his avowed political and religious enemies; suspicion was equivalent to accusation; accusation to indictment; indictment to conviction; and conviction met almost invariably with the full penalty of the law, unless the victim was so recreant to every sense of honor as to push from him the women he had taken as wives for time and all eternity!
In the midst of this judicial "storm" which broke upon the Church in Utah and the surrounding territories, President Taylor moved calmly on, discharging his duties, counseling, encouraging and strengthening the people. At the same time he did not fail to rebuke and proclaim the hypocrisy of the men who were the prime movers in this unholy crusade, carried on, professedly, in the interests of morality. For this purpose he published the criminal statistics of Utah for the year 1883, by which he demonstrated that while the Gentile population was greatly in the minority, they furnished the overwhelming majority of criminals. Following are his statements:
"The population of Utah may be estimated at one hundred and sixty thousand in 1883.
"Of these say one hundred and thirty thousand are Mormons, and thirty thousand are Gentiles—a very liberal estimate of the latter.
"In this year there were forty-six persons sent to the penitentiary convicted of crime. Of these thirty-three were non-Mormons, and thirteen reputed Mormons.
"At the above estimate of population the ratio or percentage would be one prisoner for every ten thousand Mormons, or one hundredth of one per cent., and of the Gentiles one convict in every nine hundred and nine, or about one ninth of one per cent. So that the actual proportion of criminals is more than ten times greater among the Gentiles of Utah, with the above very liberal estimate, than among the Mormons.
"It is urged that these non-Mormon prisoners are not a fair representation of the average of crime throughout the country, but are the result of the flow of the desperate classes westward to the borders of civilization; with greater truth we reply that the Mormon prisoners are not representatives of Mormonism, nor the results of Mormonism, but of the consequences of a departure from Mormon principles; and of the thirteen prisoners classed as Mormons, the greater portion were only so by family connection or association.
"ARRESTS IN SALT LAKE CITY IN 1883:
Mormons 150
Non-Mormons 1,559
or more than ten times the number of Mormon arrests.
"Again it is estimated that there are six thousand non-Mormons and nineteen thousand Mormons in Salt Lake City, which shows of Mormons one arrest in one hundred and twenty-six and two-thirds.
"Non-Mormons, one arrest in a fraction less than four, or rather more than twenty-five per cent.
"If we were not on the defensive in this case," observed President Taylor, when presenting the above facts, "I would say nothing about these things; but it ill-becomes men who have ten criminals to our one, to come here as our reformers, and try to disfranchise men who are ten times as good as they are. These are facts that are not of my own getting up. They come from the public records and can be verified by the prison and other statistics."
In order to still further explode the defense made by those whom these facts placed in so unenviable a position,viz: that the scum of society from the eastern states had floated out here to the west, and consequently the Gentile population in Utah was not representative of Gentile communities elsewhere, he collected a number of statements from the sermons and writings of leading ministers and writers from various parts of the Union, on the subject of infanticide, foeticide and kindred crimes, that told a sad tale of sexual immorality, which every year, according to the authors he quoted, was growing worse and worse—something too much of this:
Handle it carefully,Deal with it gently,Speak of it tenderly,Poor justice is blind!
Handle it carefully,Deal with it gently,Speak of it tenderly,Poor justice is blind!
The Stakes of Zion located in Arizona suffered quite as much from this judicial crusade as those living in Utah, and they were further away from the chief pastors of the flock, and hence greater perplexity and excitement. On learning of this, President Taylor determined to visit them, learn the true situation of their affairs and counsel them as the Lord should give him wisdom.
Accordingly a party of brethren was made up including his second counselor, Joseph F. Smith, and also Apostles Moses Thatcher and Francis M. Lyman, Bishop John Sharp and others. They were joined in the south also by Apostle Erastus Snow.
The party left Salt Lake City on the 3rd of January, 1885, by the Union Pacific Railway to Denver, thence to Albuquerque, in New Mexico, thence to the settlements of the Saints in Apache County, Arizona, in the vicinity of Winslow.
President Taylor went to St. David, in the extreme south-east corner of Arizona, near Benson, where he met with the Presidents of the four Stakes in that Territory; Jesse N. Smith, Christopher Layton, Alexander F. McDonald and Lot Smith. He found the Saints in a lamentable condition. They had been set upon in the most ruthless manner by their enemies. Nearly all the forms of law had been abandoned in dealing with them, and outrages had been heaped upon them, under the pretext of executing the law, that were well nigh unendurable. Those who had been convicted and sentenced had been shipped off to Detroit, a distance of two thousand miles, notwithstanding there was a good available prison at Yuma, within the Territory.
Under these circumstances President Taylor thought it better for the brethren to evade the law; and in order that those who were being hunted might find a temporary place of refuge, he sent two parties down into Mexico to find suitable place for the settlement of those who had to flee from this unhallowed persecution.
During the absence of these parties, he visited with a portion of his party Guaymas, on the Gulf of California, in the state of Sonora, Mexico. On the return trip he stopped off at Hermosillo, the capital of the state of Sonora, where he and his party were received at the residence of Governor Torres, with distinguished consideration.
Returning to Benson he met with the brethren sent in search of a place of refuge, and decided in his capacity as Trustee-in-Trust of the Church to assist in purchasing a place which had been selected by Christopher Layton, just over the line in the state of Sonora.
After giving general directions to guide the Presidents of the Stakes in Arizona as to their future policy and movements, President Taylor and party visited the settlements of the Saints in Maricopa County, on Salt River; and from thenceviaLos Angeles went to San Francisco. Here he spent a day or two visiting points of interest. Among other features of his visit was a call at the famous library of the veteran historian, Hurbert H. Bancroft.
While in San Francisco he received despatches to the effect that it would not be safe for him to return home, as his arrest had been determined upon. Notwithstanding this information he immediately started for Salt Lake City, where he arrived on Tuesday, January 27th, 1885, having traveled nearly five thousand miles since the 3rd of the same month.
The Sunday following, February 1st, he preached his last public sermon. In it he related the principal incidents of his late mission into Arizona, described the wrongs inflicted upon the people there, and told the counsel he had given them.
As the vindictiveness of the courts had increased during his absence, he gave the same advice to the people of Utah.
He deplored the condition of things in the Territory, not so much on account of the Latter-day Saints, as on the account of the great government of the United States, which had stooped from the proud position it had hitherto boasted as the asylum for the oppressed of all nations, to that of a persecutor of a righteous people for their religion, until they had to find an asylum in an adjoining republic! Referring to the outrages perpetrated both in Arizona and in Utah, he asks:
"What would you do? Would you resent these outrages and break the heads of the men engaged in them, and spill their blood? No;" said he, "avoid them as much as you possibly can—just as you would wolves, or hyenas, or crocodiles, or snakes, or any of these beasts or reptiles. * * * Get out of their way as much as you can. What! Won't you submit to the dignity of the law? Well, I would if the law would only be a little more dignified. But when we see the dignity of the ermine bedragged in the mud and mire, and every principle of justice violated, it behooves men to take care of themselves as best they can. * * * But no breaking of heads, no bloodshed, rendering evil for evil. Let us try to cultivate the spirit of the gospel, and adhere to the principles of truth. * * * While other men are seeking to trample the Constitution under foot, we will try to maintain it. * * * I will tell you what you will see by and by. You will see trouble!trouble! TROUBLE enough in these United States. And as I have said before, I say today—I tell you in the name of God, WOE!to them that fight against Zion, for God will fight against them!"
Such was his last admonition, his last warning, his last prophecy delivered in person in public to the people of God, to the nation in which he had labored as a faithful servant of God, with such untiring zeal, wisdom and skill for half a century.
That night he went into retirement, to escape the ruthless persecution aimed at him by the unrelenting and hate-blinded enemies of the Church of Christ.
PRESIDING UNDER DIFFICULTIES—GENERAL EPISTLE—AN INFAMOUS CRUSADE—HOMES INVADED—JUDICIAL LEGISLATION—COHABITATION—PRESIDENT TAYLOR'S DEPORTMENT.
From his places of retirement among the Saints, President Taylor continued to preside over the Church, and under God to shape its policy and direct its movements. Prevented by the mistaken zeal of the United States officials and the vigilance of their myrmidons—the spotters and spies—from attending the public meetings and conferences of the Church, he, with his counselors, addressed general epistles to the Saints in which they imparted such counsel and instruction as they considered necessary and suited to the conditions by which they were environed.
These papers are remarkable for their conservative tone and wisdom; for the total absence of anger or vindictiveness, as also for the scope and variety of the subjects they treated upon. They compare favorably with the wisest and best state papers ever issued by kings or presidents, ministers of state or cabinet councils. The flock of Christ, therefore, was not left without the counsel of heaven or the care of the shepherds.
Still those were dark days. The seats reserved and usually occupied by the leaders of Israel in the public assemblies were either vacant or filled by comparative strangers. The recent enactments of Congress infamous in themselves, were still more infamously enforced. The courts and United States officials in Utah seemed utterly reckless in their methods of executing the law. Men who at the most were guilty of what the law defined to be a misdemeanor, punishable by six months imprisonment and three hundred dollars fine, were hunted as if they were guilty of the grossest crimes which could endanger the peace and safety of the community.
Frequently, and I may say usually, deputy marshals in the night would surround the houses suspected as being the places where their victims were to be found, and then in the morning, before the inmates were astir, would pounce upon them in the most unceremonious and brutal manner. No place was so sacred in the homes of the people but these minions under the color of law would force their way into it. Even the bed chambers of modest maidenhood were rudely entered before the occupants could dress, and in some instances the covering of their beds stripped from them in the pretended search for violators of the law; and they the while compelled to listen to their low blasphemies.
In proof of these allegations, which may seem too hard for belief as time with its ever-moving wheels carries us away from the years in which these acts of petty tyranny were perpetrated, I insert a few statements of parties who suffered them. These statements are to be found in a memorial addressed to Congress by the women of Utah, presented in the Senate on the 6th of April, 1886, by Senator Blair of New Hampshire, and ordered printed by that body:
"On January 11th, 1886, early in the morning, five deputy marshals appeared at the residence of William Grant, American Fork, forced the front door open, and, while the inmates were still in bed, made their way up stairs to their sleeping apartments. There they were met by one of the daughters of William Grant, who was aroused by the intrusion and, despite her protestations, without giving time for the object of their search to get up and dress himself, made their way into his bedroom, finding him still in bed and his wifeen deshabillein the act of dressing herself."
Mrs. Easton, of Greenville, near Beaver, relates the following:
"About seven a. m. deputies came to our house and demanded admittance. I asked them to wait until we got dressed, and we would let them in. Deputy Gleason said he would not wait, and raised the window and got partly through by the time we opened the door, when he drew himself back and came in through the door. He then went into the bedroom; one of the young ladies had got under the bed, from which Gleason pulled the bedding and ordered the young lady to come out. This she did, and ran into the other room, where she was met by Thompson. I asked Gleason why he pulled the bedding from the bed, and he answered, 'By God! I found Watson in the same kind of a place.' He then said he thought Easton was concealed in a small compass, and that he expected to find him in a similar place, and was going to get him before he left."
Miss Morris, of the same place, says:
"Deputy Gleason came to my bed and pulled the clothing off me, asking if there was any one in bed with me. He then went to the fireplace and pulled a sack of straw from there and looked up the chimney. One of them next pulled up a piece of carpet, when Gleason asked Thompson if there was anyone under there. Thompson said 'No,' and Gleason exclaimed, 'G—d d—it, we will look, any way.' They also looked in cupboards, boxes, trunks, etc., and a small tea chest, but threw nothing out."
Deputy Thompson, referred to in the above, is the man who, a few months afterwards, December 16th, 1886, killed Edward M. Dalton at Parowan by shooting him down in the street under the plea that Dalton was trying to escape arrest for unlawful cohabitation. The testimony of eye witnesses to the whole transaction, however, does not bear out the claims of the man upon whose hands will be found innocent blood when he shall stand before that tribunal where there is no shuffling—where the action will be seen in its true light—where the guilty man himself, even in the teeth and forehead of his offending, must give in the evidence.
The following which occurred in Idaho is also from the aforesaid Memorial:
"February 23rd, 1886, at about eleven o'clock at night, two deputy marshals visited the house of Solomon Edwards, about seven miles from Eagle Rock, Idaho, and arrested Mrs. Edwards, his legal wife, after she had retired to bed, and required her to accompany them immediately to Eagle Rock. Knowing something of the character of one of the deputies, from his having visited the house before, when he indulged in a great deal of drinking, profanity, and abuse, she feared to accompany them without some protection, and requested a neighbor to go along on horseback while she rode in the buggy with the two deputies. On the way the buggy broke down and she, with an infant in her arms, was compelled to walk the rest of the distance—between two and three miles. They could have no reason for subpoenaing her in the night, and compelling her to accompany them at such an untimely hour, except a fiendish malice or a determination to heap all the indignities possible upon her, because she was a Mormon woman, for she never attempted to evade the serving of the warrant, and was perfectly willing to report herself at Eagle Rock the next day. She was taken to Salt Lake City to testify against her husband."
After reading such atrocities—such unjustifiable invasions of the homes of the people—one instinctively asks himself if in the great republic the wheels of civil liberty have not been turning backward instead of forward. More than a century before these things transpired, the eloquent Lord Chatham announced the great doctrine for all England and her colonies, including those in America, that a man's house was his castle; that though it might be so poor that the rains of heaven could penetrate it, and the winds whistle through its crevices, yet the king of England could not cross its threshold without its owner's permission.
Not satisfied with the penalties affixed to the laws against unlawful cohabitation, the Utah courts determined to increase them by means little short of legislation itself. The trick resorted to was to decree that the time a man had cohabited with more women than one as wives, could be divided up into years, months or weeks, and separate bills of indictment be found for each fragment of time. So ruled the Chief Justice, Charles S. Zane. Judge Orlando W. Powers of the First Judicial District, carried the infamous doctrine still further, and in charging a grand jury, on the 23rd of September, 1885, said: "An indictment may be found against a man guilty of unlawful cohabitation, for every day, or other distinct interval of time, during which he offends. Each day that a man cohabits with more than one woman, as I have defined the word cohabit, is a distinct and separate violation of the law, and he is liable for punishment for each separate offense."
His definition of cohabitation was as follows:
"The offense of cohabitation is complete when a man, to all outward appearances, is living or associating with more than one woman as his wife. To constitute the offense it is not necessary that it be shown that the parties indulge in sexual intercourse. The intention of the law-making power, in enacting the law, was to protect monogamous marriage by prohibiting all other marriage, whether evidenced by a ceremony, or by conduct and circumstances alone."
So held all the courts, and under that ruling such infamies as the following were possible:
"In the case of Solomon Edwards recently accused of this offense—unlawful cohabitation—it was proved by the evidence for the prosecution that the defendant had lived with one wife only since the passage of the Edmunds act, but after having separated from his former plural wife, he called with his legal wife at the former's residence to obtain a child, an agreement having been made that each party should have one of the two children, and the court ruled that this was unlawful cohabitation in the meaning of the law, and defendant was convicted."[1]
It is but proper to say that the Supreme Court of the United States, on an appeal being taken to it, decided against this infamous doctrine. But it held sway for a time and exhibited the venomous disposition of those entrusted with the execution of the laws in Utah.
In this crusade every effort was made to find President Taylor. His own houses, the Church offices, and the Gardo House, were well-nigh always under the surveillance of spies or deputy marshals, and the latter places were several times searched, but always in vain. That the place of his concealment was not discovered is little short of the miraculous, since the business to which he continued to give his personal attention was considerable, and required frequent communication with agents who were at liberty to act. He owed his safety, however, more to the promptings of the Holy Spirit than to the cunning of man. More than once, in obedience to its whisperings, and when to all outward appearances there was no danger to be feared, he would leave his place of temporary abode. By frequently changing his place of concealment, while running considerable risk of discovery in moving, he kept his enemies mystified as to his whereabouts.
Though driven into retirement by a malicious and perverted administration of the Edmunds law, he never allowed it to embitter his thoughts or disturb the calmness and patience of his disposition. No, not even so much as to lead him to speak evil of those who persecuted him. "God forgive them," he would say, "they know not what they do." "I pity them, with all my heart." The following letter addressed to his family that had convened to celebrate the anniversary of his birth—a custom with them for years—is the very best evidence both as to his sentiments toward his enemies and the grandeur of his soul.
1. Women's Memorial to Congress.
LETTER TO HIS FAMILY.
"To my wives, my children, relatives and friends, who may have assembled at the Gardo House, to celebrate the return of my birthday, November 1st, 1886:—
"As I am prevented from being with you on the present occasion, I desire to send to you my benediction and blessing; and to say unto you: May grace, mercy and peace be extended to you from God our Eternal Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Savior, Redeemer and Friend.
"I need not say unto you, that it would have afforded me very great pleasure to have been with you on the present occasion, and to have saluted you personally, as I know it would have been very gratifying unto you. But, through the dispensation of an All-wise Providence, things are not in a position that we would desire to have them; they are in accordance, however, with the design of our Heavenly Father, who ordains all things in harmony with the dispensation of His providence towards the children of men.
"Some people suppose that persecutions and trials are afflictions; but sometimes, and generally, if we are doing the will of the Lord and keeping His commandments, they may be truly said to be blessings in disguise. When our great Redeemer was on earth, He said to His disciples: 'Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.'
"Although for the time being, these things may be painful, yet if properly comprehended and realized, we should look at them in another view, and feel as Paul said to the saints in his day: 'For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal,' and will lead us to reflect in most instances even as John Wesley sang:
"'Shall I be carried to the skies,On flowery beds of ease;While others fought to win the prize,And sailed through bloody seas!"'No; I must fight, if I would reign,Increase my courage, Lord;I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,Supported by thy word.'
"'Shall I be carried to the skies,On flowery beds of ease;While others fought to win the prize,And sailed through bloody seas!
"'No; I must fight, if I would reign,Increase my courage, Lord;I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,Supported by thy word.'
"The foregoing are my sentiments, which I express from the bottom of my heart; and I would state further, that if we expect to be united with the hundred and forty-four thousand of which John speaks; who are clothed in white raiment, and who were gathered together from every nation, kindred, people and tongue, and who had washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (therefore were they next the throne and serve their Maker day and night); we must pass through the same ordeal they did.
"These people who were so honored of God, and of the Redeemer, and the heavenly hosts, were those who had come up through much tribulation; and we are further told in late revelations which God has given us through the Prophet Joseph, that 'After much tribulation cometh the blessing.'
"I was very sorry to learn, in the midst of other things, of the sickness of my wives Jane and Sophia, and my heart has gone out in prayer for them, accompanied by my brethren, that they may be healed, and I am pleased to learn that there is some slight improvement in the health of Aunt Jane, and also that there are some reasonable hopes of the removal of the terrible affliction that has overtaken Aunt Sophia. I would here remark that in speaking of these strokes, I have been making careful inquiry about them since her sad affliction, and learned that it is no uncommon thing for people to be healed of this kind of disease. A lady of about her age that I conversed with quite recently, said she had had two strokes of that kind, and she is now quite well, hale and hearty. I mention these things in hopes that it will afford some consolation to Aunt Sophia and to you, her friends.
"I am pleased to be informed that the health of the family is generally good, and that the disposition and feeling of both wives and children is to fear God, to work righteousness, and to yield obedience to His laws. For if we expect to obtain a celestial glory and exaltations with thrones, principalities and powers in the celestial kingdom of our God, we must abide a celestial law. For it is expressly stated that we can only inherit such a kingdom, such glory, and blessings as we prepare ourselves for, by yielding obedience to the laws thereof; whether it be a celestial, or terrestrial or telestial.
"We are engaged in a great work, and laying the foundation thereof—a work that has been spoken of by all the holy prophets since the world was; namely, the dispensation of the fullness of times, wherein God will gather together all things in one, whether they be things in the earth, or things in the heavens; and for this purpose God revealed Himself, as also the Lord Jesus Christ, unto His servant the Prophet Joseph Smith, when the Father pointed to the Son and said: 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him.' He further restored the everlasting gospel; together with the Aaronic and Melchisedek Priesthoods; both of which are everlasting as God is; and in the interest of humanity sent forth His gospel to the nations of the earth. I am happy to say that I have been a bearer of this gospel to several nations, and have been the means of bringing many to the knowledge of the truth; among which are some of you, my wives. We have been gathered together, according to the word of the Lord, and the order of His Priesthood, to our present homes, our lands and our possessions. We have had the privilege of assisting in building temples to the Lord, and administering therein. The principles which have been developed for the progression, the happiness and exaltation of the faithful in Christ Jesus; and some of you, my sons, have been favored with the Holy Priesthood, which is after the order of Melchisedek, after the order of the Son God and of God the Eternal Father, and after the power of an endless life. We expect and have faith, that this earth will yet be renovated and purified, the wicked will be rooted out of it, and the righteous inherit it; and we further look forward to the time when there will be a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness; and a new Jerusalem, wherein the Lord God and the Lamb will be the light thereof, and you, my wives, and also my children who have come to years of maturity, will have the privilege, if faithful to your covenants, of entering into and partaking of the most exalted, glorious, and eternal blessings, which any men or women on earth have enjoyed in this world, or in the world to come; and will eventually be associated with the Gods in the eternal worlds.
"We are here gathered together in this land of Zion for the purpose of purifying, instructing and building up the Church of God; and also building up a Zion of God, and establishing the rule and government of God on the earth, and fulfilling that which is spoken of by the Prophet: 'The Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us.'
"In view of the many great and precious promises which are made to us, and which fall to our lot through obedience to the laws of God; we should at all times place ourselves in conformity with the laws, usages and requirements of the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth. Our lives should not be a blank. We are heirs of eternal lives. We ought to use all our energies in the interest of humanity, in the establishment of the Zion of God, and the building up of the kingdom of God on the earth.
"It would be very proper for you, my wives, and daughters who are of sufficient age, if you have not already done so, to associate yourselves with the Relief Societies; and of my sons and daughters to unite themselves with the Young Men's and Young Women's Mutual Improvement Associations; and thus, while you are receiving information and benefit, you, at the same time may make yourselves useful and a blessing unto others. Let me here say, that the Prophet Joseph Smith instituted the Ladies' Relief Society for that purpose. It is proper that you should all reverence the Lord your God in all things, and cultivate His love and fear in your hearts. All ought to dedicate themselves daily, morning and evening to the Lord, and seek for His mercy, blessing and oversight, both day and night. You who have families ought to gather them together every morning and every evening, and dedicate yourselves to the Lord. And this dedication ought to be in private, between yourselves only and the Lord, as well as in public or family prayer. The Prophet Joseph gave a special charge to me while living, as near as I can remember as follows: 'Brother Taylor, never arise in the morning or retire at night, without dedicating yourself unto God and asking His blessings upon you through the day or night, as the case may be, and the Lord God will hear and answer your prayers; and don't let any circumstances prevent it.' I had been in the habit of doing so, for years before this; but since that time I have not omitted, to my knowledge, the observance of this duty, morning or evening.
"Never do an act that you would be ashamed of man knowing, for God sees us always, both day and night, and if we expect to live and reign with Him in eternity, we ought to do nothing that will disgrace us in time.
"We should be strictly honest, one with another, and with all men; let our word always be as good as our bond; avoid all ostentation of pride and vanity; and be meek, lowly, and humble; be full of integrity and honor; and deal justly and righteously with all men; and have the fear and love of God continually before us, and seek for the comforting influence of the Holy Ghost to dwell with us. Let mothers be loving, kind and considerate with their children, and the children kind and obedient to their mothers, and to their Fathers; and seek always to be governed by good and wise counsel, and so to live every day, and in all our acts, as to keep a conscience void of offense towards God and man. Be kind and courteous to all, seek to promote the welfare of all, be gentlemen and ladies, and treat one another, and all men with proper courtesy, respect and kindness. So shall you be honored by the good and virtuous, enjoy the blessings of a good conscience, and secure the approbation of God, and of the holy angels, in time and throughout all eternity.
"The protecting care of the Lord over me and my brethren has been very manifest since my absence from home, for which I feel to bless and praise His holy name. I always am very desirous to acknowledge His hand in all things, and I am very anxious that you should do the same. For to the Lord we are indebted for every blessing which we enjoy, pertaining to this life, and the life which is to come.
"While we seek to God our Heavenly Father for His blessings, let us be careful to so live that we can secure and claim them, by our obedience to His laws. Be merciful, and kind, and just, and generous to all. Preserve your bodies and your spirits pure, and free from contamination. Avoid lasciviousness, and every corrupting influence; that you may be indeed the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.
"I pray God the Eternal Father that when we have all finished our probation here, we may be presented to the Lord without spot or blemish, as pure and honorable representatives of the Church and kingdom of God on the earth, and then inherit a celestial glory in the kingdom of our God, and enjoy everlasting felicity with the pure and just in the realms of eternal day, through the merits and atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, in worlds without end. Amen.
"To those present of my friends and not of my immediate family, I present a most hearty welcome, and an affectionate regard.
"I thank you all for your sympathetic, kind and generous feelings manifested through the letters I have received. I must also beg you to exercise to me a spirit of benevolence and charity, over my apparent negligence, at times, in not being as prompt as desirable in answering your communications. For while I profoundly respect and appreciate your kindness, it is not always convenient for me to send an immediate reply, as I have daily to attend to all my official duties as when in my office at home.
"In regard to my position and that of my brethren who are with me, I am happy to inform you that we now are, and always have been, during our exile, supplied with everything that is necessary to our comfort and convenience. Go where we will, we have good accommodations, plenty of food and the necessaries of life, kind and sympathetic friends, and the best of treatment. I am also happy in the belief that you are comfortably situated. If there is anything that any of you require and you will inform me, I shall be happy to supply it, if within my power. Some of you have written that you 'would like to have a peep at me.' I heartily reciprocate that feeling, and would like to have a 'peep' at you on this occasion; but in my bodily absence my spirit and peace shall be with you.
"God bless you all, in time and throughout the eternities to come, is the prayer of your affectionate husband, father and friend in the new and everlasting covenant—
"JOHN TAYLOR."