DEFENSE OF CELESTIAL MARRIAGE—BIBLE SOCIETY'S WAR ON MORMONISM—ELDER TAYLOR'S BIBLE—STRANGE SOLUTION OF THE MORMON PROBLEM—THE ARMY TO THE RESCUE.
And what of the question of polygamy, which, during the years thatThe Mormonwas published, was the slogan of the enemies of the people of Utah—the head and front of Mormon offending? To understand the amount of bitterness infused into the remarks of the press—discussion would be too dignified a term for the denunciation and invectives found in it—the reader must remember that besides being a religious controversy, Mormon plural marriage was also dragged into the politics of the country.
The Democratic party at that period took the ground that the territories were to be free to regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States. This was the celebrated "Popular Sovereignty" doctrine, which grew up out of the slavery controversy; and was the manner in which certain sections of the pro-slavery party proposed to settle the question of the existence of slavery in the territories—that is by leaving it to the inhabitants of the Territory to establish or reject it on becoming states. The Abolition Party promptly took advantage of their opponents who accepted the "Popular Sovereignty" doctrine, by saying that if the Territories were to be free to regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, then Utah had a right to establish polygamy as well as slavery if she so elected, and thus threw the odium of sustaining polygamy as well as slavery—which they denominated the "Twin relics of barbarism"—upon the popular sovereignty division of the pro-slavery party.
To escape this odium of sustaining a Territory in the right to establish polygamy, if the inhabitants thereof should so desired, the pro-slavery party was more vindictive in its denunciations of Mormon plural marriage than the abolitionists themselves—and thus all parties, with all the bitterness which characterized political discussions in those days were arrayed against Mormonism—especially against plural marriage: and finally, when the Republican Party was organized, in 1856, and adopted the doctrines of the abolitionists, it incorporated in its platform the following:
"Resolved, That the Constitution confers upon Congress sovereign power over the Territories of the United States for their government, and that in the exercise of this power it is both the right and the imperative duty of Congress to prohibit in the Territories those twin relics of barbarism, slavery and polygamy."
In the midst of the agitation and bitterness which led up to such a conclusion as this, though unaided and alone—sustained only by his own conviction of the truth of the system of marriage that God had revealed, and conscious of the support and approval of Almighty God—Elder Taylor stood unmoved and fearlessly sustained the rightfulness of Mormon plural marriage against all who opposed it.
In the very first issue of theMormon, under the caption "Polygamy," he said:
"Since this doctrine has been promulgated by us as a part of our religious creed, every variety of opinion has been expressed by men in all classes of society. It has been talked about by religious and irreligious, professors and profane. It has been the theme in the legislative hall, the pulpit, the bar-room and the press. Polygamy and the Mormons, Mormons and polygamy have resounded everywhere. * * * In this our first issue it may be expected that something would be said in relation to this matter. This we undertake as cheerfully as any other task; for we are not ashamed here in this great metropolis of America * * * to declare that we are polygamists. We are not ashamed to proclaim to this great nation, to rulers and people, to the president, senators, legislators, judges; to high and low, rich and poor, priests and people, that we are firm, conscientious believers in polygamy, and that it is part and parcel of our religious creed. We do this calmly, seriously and understandingly, after due deliberation, careful examination and close investigation of its principles and bearings religiously, socially, morally, physically and politically! We unhesitatingly pronounce our full and implicit faith in the principle as emanating from God, and that under His direction it would be a blessing to the human family."
After drawing a vivid picture of the immoral state of the world, and allowing that some who opposed polygamy did so because they considered it as a scheme devised to still further plunge humanity into licentiousness, he continues:
"We are not surprised, then, that men of reflection and virtue, and having a knowledge of the world should feel indignant at polygamy. They look upon it as something pandering to the brutal passions of man; and from the exceedingly low standard of virtue, can scarcely conceive of anything but lasciviousness associated with the sex. We respect the conscientious feelings of such men; for we know that with their ideas of such things, they must be extremely revolting. But we would respectfully ask such persons if they ever seriously reflected upon the matter? and further: Is it prejudice, education and the corrupt state of society that has led them to these conclusions [respecting plural marriage]; or matters of fact deduced from scripture, reason, history or precedence? Did they ever think that Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon and a host of other good men mentioned in the scriptures were polygamists? That the Twelve Tribes of Israel, to whom belong the covenants and promises, descended from four women, the wives of one man? Did they ever reflect that those men were more virtuous than this generation; and that for such things that are practiced here every day with impunity—adultery—a man would be stoned to death by all Israel? Did they ever reflect that it might be possible for the Lord to be unchangeable? That He had not learned much from man in a few thousand years; and that possibly He was not in error then; and if not then, the same principles might probably be as correct now as they were at that time? It is well for us not to be too hasty."
Referring again to the sexual corruption everywhere prevalent, and the vain endeavors of philanthropists, statesmen, kings and presidents to check it, he concludes by saying: "The Lord's way [plural marriage] as practiced by ancient men of God—the restitution of which has lately taken place—we think will stop it among us."
Upon these lines he continued to defend the marriage system which God revealed; and when the press, for want of better argument, denounced it as immoral, and pretended to be shocked at Mormon wickedness, because they believed it right under certain conditions for a man to have more wives than one; Elder Taylor drew aside the flimsy veil covering the licentious practices of monogamous "Christian" communities, and reminded his opponents that the cities and towns and states in which they themselves lived, were not so immaculate in their purity that ministers, editors and moralists must needs cross the plains and the mountains, in order to find impurity to suppress. He reminded them that the demon of licentiousness stalked abroad unchallenged in their own midst; that he was to be found in their guilded ball-rooms and opera houses; met them upon their streets, mingled in their best society and even sat in their pews.
This was no attempt to justify the practice of one evil by pointing to the existence of another; but to remind them of the fact that even if Mormon polygamy was as bad as they represented it to be, there were evils infinitely worse rotting and festering in their very midst, and which they sought in vain to ignore, as they met them at every street corner, flaunted in their public highways, and were disgustingly placarded on their walls; while the victims thereof filled their poor houses, shrieked out their madness in their asylums, lay slowly rotting in their hospitals or sought relief in self-destruction. He referred to these things to show up the hypocrisy of a generation that could live in the midst of such social corruption, without an effort to check its ravages; and at the same time pretend to be horrified at supposed social evils existing in distant Utah. In this he further resembled Tertullian, of whom it is said, that being arraigned as a criminal at the bar, he accused and condemned his judges.
But while he uncovered for an instant the corruptions of monogamous Christian communities, in order to reprove their hypocrisy, he by no means regarded that exposure as a defense of plural marriage. His defense of that doctrine he based upon the sanction which Almighty God gave to it, as clearly demonstrated in holy writ; upon well known physiological facts; upon moral and social necessities, and his defense was unassailable.
While he was in New York a number of plans were suggested for the overthrow of Mormonism. Among the more humane ones was that of the American Bible Society, which proposed flooding the settlements of Utah with Bibles, being under the impression, doubtless, that the Mormon people did not accept the Bible as the word of God. Hearing of the project Elder Taylor called at the office of the society and offered his assistance in the enterprise, urging them to send well bound books, and gave them the following advice throughThe Mormon:
"Our mountaineers never do things by halves or for appearance; if they carry Bibles they mean to use them; they'll read them frequently and thoroughly, too. We have a Bible that has kept us company many years on our pilgrimage through life; it has dangled in our pockets many a thousand miles, when, for the gospel's sake, we have visited towns, cities and hamlets. We have had to patch it together frequently, and in fact our friend has got so covered over with our own notes and references, that a white spot is scarcely discernible. We would, therefore, respectfully suggest to the managers of the American Bible Society—if they propose doing real good to the inhabitants of Utah in the Bible line—do it, gentlemen, respectably, for the inhabitants of that Territory will probably use them as we have ours."
Whether his visit and these remarks dashed the ardor of the Bible Society in the undertaking or not, or convinced them of its uselessness, I do not know, but certain it is that the project failed.
Shortly afterwards theSun, seized with a sudden spasm of confidence that Christianity could overwhelm Mormonisn, called upon the churches of New York to send out ministers to convert the Mormons from the error of their ways. Elder Taylor approved of the undertaking, and gave assurance that they would be well treated and receive respectful attention; but he at the same time expressed his doubts as to their going, and referred to the failure of the Bible Society, saying:
"The Bible Society got up a report about two months ago, that they were going to send a Bible agent to Utah. We then hastened to offer them our co-operation, but as we advanced to receive the precious gifts, they vanished into their original element—gas!"
But of all the schemes for the suppression of Mormonism, there was one suggested by the New YorkHerald, which for vileness, stood pre-eminent. In August, 1854, Lieutenant-Colonel E. J. Steptoe arrived in Salt Lake, with a detachment of United States troopsen routefor California, but remained in Utah until the following spring. During their stay, it is said, that members of the command prostituted a number of squaws and also seduced and betrayed several white women. The latter, having lost caste among their former associates, followed their betrayers to California. When this item of news reached the East, the New YorkHeraldmade the following comments and recommendations:
"This is momentous news, and very significant withal. It shows that the Mormon women are ripe for rebellion, and that a detachment of the regular army is a greater terror to the patriarchs of the Mormon Jerusalem than Indians or drouth or grasshoppers. It indicates the way, too, for the abolishment of the peculiar institution of Utah. The astonishing results of the expedition of Colonel Steptoe, in this view, do most distinctly suggest the future policy of the government, touching this nest of Mormons. It is to send out to the Great Salt Lake, a fresh detachment of young, good-looking soldiers, and at the end of two or three months, order them off to California and replace them by a new detachment at Salt Lake City and so on until those Turks of the desert are reduced, by female desertions, to the standard Christian regulation of one wife apiece. Unquestionably, if, with a taking detachment of the army in a new and showy uniform, the President were to send out to Utah at this crisis of impending famine, a corps of regular disciplined woman's rights women, to lay down the law to their sisters among the Mormons, they would soon compel the patriarchal authorities of Salt Lake to an exodus to some other region beyond the reach of our gallant army, and our heroic warriors in petticoats, who know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain them. * * * The hint should be appropriated by the administration, for, if under the doctrine of squatters' sovereignty, we cannot constitutionally reach this crying evil of polygamy at Salt Lake, we must reach it by stratagem. We recommend, therefore, to the President and Secretary of the Interior, the policy of detailing another detachment of troops for Great Salt Lake City with the auxiliary force of half a dozen regular woman's rights women whatever the cost; and thus even should the grasshoppers fail to conquer the Territory in the expulsion of the Saints, the work may be done by a revolution among the wives of the apostles."[1]
To this shameless gloating over the downfall of innocence, and still more infamous recommendation, Elder Taylor remarked:
"Such then is themodus operandiproposed! Gentlemenly debauchee officers are to be sent out—'good looking ones,' that they may be the better able to take away from vice the horrid appearance it would have dressed in another garb. After these shall have performed their work of misery and death, they are to be recruited by others—fine, dashing, young, good-looking fellows, who will be quite competent to deceive and destroy; real Christian gentlemen with 'new, showy uniforms,' who will be able to corrupt the daughters of Utah, and introduce Christianity in all its beauty as practiced in the United States. They are to take with them a number of pals,—'woman's rights women,' who are to assist in their conversion, and to show them their rights, that the inhabitants of Utah may have ocular demonstration of the beautiful workings of monogamous Christianity, and be brought back to the standard Christian regulation of one wife apiece—and as many misses or fast young women as suits our convenience, that a deadly blow may be struck at the virtue of Utah: and that she may be crowded with voluptuaries, and prostitutes like all other good Christian states and cities; that debauchery and corruption may run riot, that we may have our procuresses, pimps, cyprians, hotel accommodations, and houses of assignation; that virtue, chastity and purity may be banished from Utah; that our daughters may be prostituted and our wives debauched; that we may have ournymphis du pave, our 'Five points,' our Randall's Island,[2]our infanticides, ourMaisons d'accouchment, our diseases, doctors and hospitals and all the other appliances of a good Christian community. That when officers, lawyers, judges, soldiers and Gentiles in general go to Utah they can find the same conveniences and accommodations that are to be met with everywhere among the virtuous Gentile monogamous Christians! And all this glory is to be achieved by the gallant officers and soldiers of our army, under the auspices and direction of James Gordon Bennett.[3]* * * * * *
"What are we to think of a man who is publishing a popular journal, and who publicly and unblushingly advocates seduction, and openly proposes the introduction of debased characters into a Territory for the avowed purpose of seduction, prostitution and infamy, for the purpose of corrupting the Mormons and reducing them to our standard previous to their overthrow?"
1. New YorkHerald, 15th Sept., 1855.
2. Famous in those years for its hospital for the unfortunate victims of man's licentiousness.
3. Proprietor and manager of the New YorkHerald.
"THE MORMON" FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE UNION—THE U.P. RAILWAY—INTERVIEWS WITH PRESIDENT FRANKLIN PIERCE—U. S. OFFICIALS—INVASION OF UTAH—DEPARTURE FOR SALT LAKE.
Besides defending the character of the Saints in Utah and their religion,The Mormonraised its voice for the preservation of the Union. In those years disunion sentiments were rife and schemes for splitting up the country into two or more nations were openly discussed.The Mormonsounded a warning to those engaged in such discussions, and called upon the degenerate sons of noble sires to cease such wrangling and preserve the nation bequeathed to them by their fathers.
The Mormonalso urged the construction of a railroad to the Pacific coast, and, in short, discussed in an intelligent spirit the general questions then agitating the public mind.
Elder Taylor occasionally visited Washington, and assisted in watching over the interests of the inchoate state of Deseret. He was introduced to and had several interviews with Mr. Franklin Pierce, then the President of the United States. The first of these interviews occurred in the spring of 1855, when President Pierce, following a mistaken popular sentiment, rather than acting from any relish he had for the undertaking, was persuaded to remove Brigham Young from the office of Governor of Utah. In this interview President Pierce submitted the proposition to Elder Taylor and spoke very highly of the urbanity, wise conservatism and honor of Colonel Steptoe, the man he had in his mind to appoint as Governor Young's successor.
Elder Taylor expressed his pleasure at learning that Colonel Steptoe was so honorable a gentleman, and took occasion to tell the President that the people of Utah had been so frequently abused by incompetent men who seemed determined to make a hobby of the Mormon question whereon to ride into power, that they began to think their rights were infringed upon and that they were used as a convenience for unprincipled political aspirants, who frequently not only interfered with their political but with their religious rights.
The President assured him that Colonel Steptoe would not resort to such meanness.
Elder Taylor then referred to the circumstances under which Utah had been settled, in all of which Brigham Young was their trusted leader; that if any man had a claim upon that position it was Governor Young. Besides, accepting the doctrine of popular sovereignty, the people of Utah considered that their wishes as to who should govern them ought to be somewhat consulted, and if that were done, Brigham Young would be the universal choice of the people. Still he assured the President that he need have no anxiety as to any difficulty arising from his appointing another man: for while the people would think it an act going to the extent of his authority, they of course recognized the authority of the President of the United States, and would submit to any legal or constitutional enactment.
Colonel Steptoe during his stay in Utah was tendered the governorship of Utah by the President, but he refused to accept it, and joined in a petition to President Pierce praying for the re-appointment of Brigham Young, both as Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Governor Young was accordingly re-appointed.
In March, 1856, a Constitutional Convention was held in Salt Lake City, and a constitution, republican in spirit and liberal in its provisions, was adopted. John Taylor and George A. Smith, appointed delegates to present Utah's request for admission into the sisterhood of states. Elder Taylor joined his colleague in Washington during the summer of 1856, and labored among the members of Congress with a view of having a bill introduced for the admission of Utah. The Republican party, however, was already in the field with its platform that denominated polygamy and slavery as "twin relics" of barbarism. This marshaled all the Republicans against the admission of Utah; and so desirous were the Democrats to cast off the odium of befriending a polygamous people, that they were more bitter in their denunciation of the Mormons, if possible, than the Republicans. Even Senator Stephen A. Douglas, who had been a professed friend of the Mormon people, and who had been intimately acquainted with the Prophet Joseph, and in addition to that was recognized as the champion of the Popular Sovereignty doctrine, turned against them, and in a speech delivered in Springfield, Illinois, early in 1856, referred to Mormonism as "the loathsome ulcer of the body politic."[1]
Under such circumstances it would have been folly to have pushed the claims of Utah in Congress; it would only have invited defeat, therefore the delegates decided to withhold any introduction of the matter at that time.
In addition to all these labors, Elder Taylor rendered considerable valuable assistance in looking after the emigration business of the Church, especially in caring for the poor, who, having started from England, could get no further than New York. These he found employment for and watched over them with all the interest of a brother and a friend. He also directed the labors of the brethren who were preaching the gospel in the east and presided over all the churches. When he first went to the east to preside, the branches were disorganized, the Saints were scattered and like sheep without shepherds. But his assuming control of affairs was the signal for activity everywhere, and the work of the Lord revived. In reporting the progress of the work, early in 1856, we have him saying inThe Mormon:
"It affords me very much pleasure to have to state that since the arrival of myself and brethren in these eastern states, Mormonism assumes quite another aspect: we have large and flourishing churches in different parts of this state, [New York] which are continually increasing, not only by emigration but by baptisms. The Spirit of the Lord rests among the assemblies of the Saints; the inquiries after truth are many; the floods of falsehood with which this country was deluged before our arrival are being dissipated, and the light of eternal truth is bursting forth with resplendence and glory."
The spirit of reformation which in those days moved on in such mighty power among the Saints in Utah, extended its operations among the Saints in the east, and there was a general awakening to a sense of duty and responsibility. President Young in a letter to Elder Taylor under date of October 30th, 1856, urged him to take up the work of reformation. He said:
"Brother Taylor, we are arousing the people of this Territory to a sense of their obligations and their duties; great and thorough reformations are pervading every quorum, every family, neighborhood and settlement. The power of the Highest is resting down upon us, and blessing our exertions. We wish to suggest to you that probably a reformation might transpire in New York among the Saints, and in other states, and in Europe and other places where there are any Saints. * * * Arouse you, then, first getting the Holy Ghost, and be ye filled with it, and pour it out upon the people. Preach evenings, make appointments in the various branches and fill them. Make the Elders feel the fire in you, and make them labor."
With many such words did he urge him forward to this work. But long before the slow mails brought the letter to hand, Elder Taylor had been seized with the spirit that the words of President Young were calculated to arouse within him; and the work of reformation was well advanced on the arrival of the letter. The speed of the Spirit of God out-ran the tardy mails, and communicated the will of the Lord to His servant.
Meantime the adversary was not idle. A number of United States officials that had been sent to Utah turned out to be the vilest of characters. Vain, ambitious, corrupt, revengeful, hypocritical; and evidently regarding the Mormons as their legitimate prey—as a people having no rights which they were under obligations to respect. As the time-serving, villainous Oswald, in King Lear, looked upon the eyeless head of the unfortunate, traitor-proclaimed and yet innocent Gloucester, as being framed to raise his fortunes, so did these impudent, corrupt officials regard the Mormon people; and hoped by opposing their unpopular religion, and social customs—with which they had, of right, nothing to do—to ride into popular favor and good fortune. Utah was to be a convenient stepping-stone to higher political preferment.
The outrages of these officials reached a climax in the conduct of Associate Judge W. W. Drummond; who, having deserted his wife in Illinois, brought with him a prostitute who sat by him on the judicial bench in open court; and in various ways insulted the people by unwarranted assaults upon institutions religious and social which they held to be most sacred; and even their territorial laws, to which the government at Washington had taken no exceptions whatever, were threatened by this gambler and black-leg, upon whose unworthy shoulders the ermine had been unwisely thrown. To the honor of the Mormon community, he did not long remain in the Territory to disgrace her judiciary, but fled in fear from Utah to California, from which place he wrote his resignation and falsely reported to the Attorney-General that the Mormons were in open rebellion to the government; that the records and papers of the supreme court had been destroyed by order of the Church; that Brigham Young and other leading Church officials were responsible for the murder of a number of U. S. officials who had died in the Territory, and others who had been massacred by Indians.
Upon receiving these statements from Judge Drummond, President Buchanan, without taking the pains to ascertain the truth or falsehood of them, about the latter part of May, 1857, ordered an army into Utah to suppress this imaginary rebellion.
Many criticisms were made upon the evident inconsiderate action of President Buchanan in this affair. Elder Taylor, in a discussion he had some years later on the "Mormon Question" with Vice-President Schuyler Colfax, in referring to this action on the part of the government, says: "Mr. Buchanan had another object in view, [than that of suppressing the "Mormon Rebellion"] and Mr. J. B. Floyd, Secretary of War, had also his ax to grind, and the whole combined was considered a grandcoup d'etat. It is hardly necessary to inform Mr. Colfax that this army, under pretense of subjugating the Mormons, was intended to coerce the people of Kansas to his views, and that they were not detained, as stated by Mr. Colfax's history, which said: 'The troops necessarily moving slowly were overtaken by the snows of November and wintered at Bridger.' I need not inform Mr Colfax that another part of this grand tableau originated in the desire of Secretary Floyd to scatter the U. S. forces and arms preparatory to the Confederate Rebellion. Such is history and such are facts."
John B. Floyd, Secretary of War in Buchanan's cabinet, was from Virginia, and favored the southern cause, as indeed the whole administration and the party that elected it did; so that Elder Taylor's charge respecting the scattering of United States forces, rests upon the ground of strong probability. Relative to the charge that under pretence of subjugating Utah the President intended to coerce the people of Kansas to an acceptance of his views, it is true that part of the army for Utah left Fort Leavenworth before the last of July; but Brigadier-General Harney, to whom the command of the expedition had been given, remained with several squadrons of the second dragoons in Kansas, until after the elections in that Territory in October; and President Buchanan was involved in an intrigue to defeat the popular will in Kansas.
There is, however, another consideration which I doubt not influenced the action of the administration in sending an army to Utah. The party that supported the administration was anxious to give proof to the country that it was no more favorable to the unpopular Mormons than the Republican party was; and seized upon the false reports of Judge Drummond as a golden opportunity to out-herod Herod, hoping by that movement to throw off the odium its opponents had fastened upon it in charging that its doctrines of popular sovereignty would permit the people of Utah to establish polygamy as well as slavery if they so elected.
It was in May, 1857, that Elder Taylor left New York for the west. Judge William I. Appleby and T. B. H. Stenhouse were left in charge ofThe Mormon, and continued its publication until September 19th, when it was discontinued, principally on account of the threatened "Mormon War."
1. It may be of interest to note in passing that once in conversation with Senator Douglas, early in the forties—the Senator then being a judge in one of the judicial districts of Illinois—the Prophet Joseph said to him in substance: "Judge Douglas, you will yet aspire to the Presidency of the United States; but if you ever turn against me or my people, you will fail." When Senator Douglas forgot the warning of the Prophet and advocated cutting "the loathsome ulcer out of the body politic," he sounded the death knell to his ambitious hopes.
"THE MORMON" COMMENDED BY BRIGHAM YOUNG—TRYING TIMES—COURAGE—ELDER TAYLOR IN THE FRONT—"LET THE TRIAL COME"—SPEECH ON THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE IN THE TERRITORIES.
Elder Taylor arrived in Salt Lake City from his mission to the eastern states on the 7th of August, 1857. Two days later, in the bowery on the Temple square, he preached a powerful discourse, in which he represented what the spirit of the people of the east was in respect to Mormonism, and dwelt at some length on the grandeur of the mission in which the Saints had engaged.
He was followed by President Young, who took occasion to commend the labors of the committee appointed to present Utah's claims for admission into the Union (Elder Taylor was one of the committee, it will be remembered), and respecting the individual labors of Elder Taylor, expressed himself as follows:
"With regard to the labors of Brother Taylor in editing the paper calledThe Mormon, published in the city of New York, I have heard many remarks concerning the editorials in that paper, not only from the Saints, but from those who do not profess to believe the religion we have embraced; and it is probably one of the strongest edited papers that is now published. I can say, as to its editorials, that it is one of the strongest papers ever published, so far as my information extends; and I have never read one sentence in them but what my heart could bid success to it, and beat a happy response to every sentence that I have read or heard read. Brother Taylor, that is for you; and I believe that these are the feelings and the sentiments of all in this community who have perused that paper."
It was a critical time in Utah when he returned. For several years the crops, through excessive drouth and grass-hoppers, had been at least a partial failure; the isolation of the people from manufacturing and commercial centers, with very limited and very slow means of transportation, had left them almost destitute of clothing; an army wasenroutefor the Territory, but as to its mission the governor received no definite information, though there was a general and a fairly accurate understanding that its mission was not one of intended peace and good will to the people of Utah. If its mission was to be judged by the boasts of its officers and men, there was to be a sort of "Mormon conquest," and Mormon houses, gardens, orchards, vineyards, fields, and also Mormon wives and daughters were to be the spoils. The very houses were picked out that certain persons were to inhabit; farms, property and women were to be distributed. "Beauty and booty" were their very watchwords.
It had already been determined by Governor Young and his associates that such an army with such objects in view should not enter the Territory, even if it had to be prevented by force of arms. It had further been determined that before their enemies should again revel in the homes which their industry had builded, they would burn them to ashes; cut down every fruit-tree and shrub, burn the fences, and leave the country behind them a ruined, blackened waste, while they fled again to the wilderness. These were bold measures. The "army of Utah," as the invading force was called, marched under the United States flag; it was commanded by United States officers; it had been ordered to Utah by the President of the United States; and to resist it might be construed into rebellion or even treason—that meant hanging, to the leaders, who opposed it. Yet bold as these measures were, and fraught with such serious consequences to the leaders who adopted them, they were fearlessly proclaimed, and would have been as promptly executed on occasion.
Among that brave band of men who had the courage to thus proclaim their rights, and dared to maintain them even against the United States, none were more bold or fearless than John Taylor. In speech and action he went as far as he who went farthest. In the council chamber and in the field he was in the front rank; shoulder to shoulder he stood with President Young and his brethren, and his public discourses in those times glow with a soul-stirring eloquence that reminds one of the spirit of the Revolutionary patriots of '76. In the very discourse delivered two days after his return from the east, he said:
"So far as I am concerned, I say let everything come as God has ordained it. I do not desire trials; I do not desire affliction; I would pray to God to leave me not in temptation; * * * but if the earthquake bellows, the lightnings flash, the thunders roll and the powers of darkness are let loose, and the spirit of evil is permitted to rage and an evil influence is brought to bear on the Saints, and my life with theirs, is put to the test—let it come. * * * I know that President Young and those associated with him are full of the spirit of revelation, and they know what they are doing; I feel to acquiesce and put my shoulder to the work, whatever it is. If it is for peace, let it be peace; if it is for war, let it be to the hilt."
Speaking again in the latter part of the same month, he stated and expounded the principles which justified the resistance of the people of Utah to the proceedings of the administration at Washington. His speech on that occasion was a sound exposition of the rights of the people inhabiting the Territories as against the encroachments of the general government, and should be preserved as a valuable addition to the political literature extant upon that subject. After disclaiming any disposition on his own or on the part of his brethren to commit the act of treason, Elder Taylor said:
"There are thousands of you who are Americans, who have been born in this land, whose fathers fought for the liberties we used to enjoy, but have not enjoyed for some years past. There are thousands of such men here who feel the same spirit that used to burn in their father's bosoms—the spirit of liberty and equal rights—the spirit of according to every man that which belongs to him, and of robbing no man of his rights. Your fathers and grandfathers met the tyrant when he sought to put a yoke on their necks; as men and true patriots, they came forward and fought for their rights and in defense of that liberty which we, as their children, ought to enjoy. You feel the same spirit that inspired them; the same blood that coursed through their veins flows in yours; you feel true patriotism and a strong attachment to the Constitution and institutions bought by the blood of your fathers, and bequeathed to you by them as your richest patrimony. There are others of you that have taken the oath of allegiance to the United States; and some of you not understanding correct principles, may, perhaps, feel qualms of conscience, and think, probably, that if we undertake to resist the powers that are seeking to make aggression upon us, we are doing wrong. No such thing. You let your conscience sleep at ease; let it be quiet; it is not we who are doing wrong; it is others who are committing wrong upon us."
He then referred to the circumstance of the Saints being driven from Missouri, and of their expulsion from Nauvoo—not for any ill that they had done, not that they had interfered with the rights of others; but because there was not virtue enough either in state or general government to protect an innocent, helpless people in the enjoyment of their Constitutional rights; because, for sooth, they were unpopular—friendless. The speaker then asked:
"What did we do when we came here? We framed a Constitution, a provisional government, and reported our doings to the United States. Right on the back of all the insults, robbery and fraud which we had endured, we still went Constitutionally to work. Afterwards they gave us a territorial government. Is there any step that we have taken that is contrary to law? There is not. They have appointed our governor, our secretaries, our judges, our marshals; they have done to us the same in this matter as they have done with other Territories. I do not believe in their right Constitutionally to appoint our officers. Still they have done it, and we have submitted to it. And they have sent some of the worst scoundrels here that ever existed on the earth. Instead of being fathers, they have tried every influence they could bring to bear in order to destroy us. Such have been our protectors! Those have been the men who have been sworn to fulfill their public duties; but they have foresworn themselves in the face of high heaven. * * * We have submitted to their sending officers here; that is all right enough if we have a mind to. We are citizens of the United States, and profess to support the Constitution of the United States; and wherein that binds us we are bound; wherein it does not, we are not bound. * * * If there is any man in this congregation, or anywhere else, that will show me any principle or authority in the Constitution of the United States that authorizes the President of the United States to send out governors and judges to this Territory, I would like to see it. I cannot find such authority. I will admit that a usage of that kind has obtained—that it is quite customary for the President of the United States, by and with the consent of the senate to appoint governors, judges, marshals, secretaries, and all of those officers that you have had here. But it is a thing that is not authorized by the Constitution,—much less to force them upon us by an armed soldiery. There is no such authority existing.
"I will quote to you from the Constitution—if I had the Constitution here I would read it to you—it is to the effect 'that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.' No matter, therefore, whether the people live in the states or territories, they possess constitutional privileges alike. The most that is said in regard to Territories and the authority of the President or Congress is, that 'The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territoryor other propertyof the United States,' that is speaking of it as land; and some of the most prominent statesmen of the United States have so construed it. It is property as land—territory as land they have a right to interfere with, not territory as regards people. I published this inThe Mormonlong ago, and said the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.[1]By and by the United States judges gave the same decision. I gave mine, however, before they gave theirs. It is a true principle—they have not the authority. If they have it at all, it is in the people ceding it to them, and not what they possess by the Constitution of the United States. * * * So far as right is concerned, then, they have no right to appoint officers for this or any other Territory; and I will defy any man to prove that there is any such right in the Constitution.
"I conversed with a judge Black who was coming up to Nebraska Territory on a steam boat—an intelligent man, a Democrat, of course. When talking about these principles to him, which he acceded to, I said: 'Judge, what are you doing here?'
'I am here,' said he, 'according to the usage that has obtained; but if the people do not want me, all they have to do is to express it, and I will go away again.' I wish we had only half such decent men as that sent here.
"* * * We are not lacking for men in the United States, at the present time who want to make it appear that the United States have a right to lord it over the Territories, the same as the British government used to over their colonies. Thousands of you before me were citizens of the United States, where you came from. You had the right of franchise—had a right to say who should be your governor and who should be municipal and state officers. You came out here by thousands or by tens of thousands.By what right or upon what principle are you disfranchised? Can anybody tell me? Say some: 'You need not have come out here unless you had a mind to.' Of course not. But we had a mind to; we were American citizens before we came out, and we have transgressed no law in coming; and by what rule are we deprived of our citizenship. If we had a right then to vote for anything, we have a right now; and nobody has a right to crowd this or that man upon us without our consent,—much less have they a right to dragoon us into servility to their unconstitutional exactions.
"* * * In the Declaration of Independence, it is stated [as one of the just causes of complaint against the English government] that the people had rulers placed over them, and they had no voice in their election. Read that instrument. It describes our wrongs as plainly as it did the wrongs the people then labored under and discarded. Our government is doing the very things against us that our fathers complained of—'They send armed mercenaries among us to subjugate us.' What is our government doing? The same thing."
"As American citizens and patriots, and as sons of those venerable sires can we, without disgracing ourselves, our fathers and our nation, submit to these insults, and tamely bow to such tyranny? We cannot do it, and we will not do it. We will rally round the Constitution, and declare our rights as American citizens; and we will sustain them in the face of high heaven and the world.
"No man need have any qualms of conscience that he is doing wrong. You are patriots, standing by your rights and opposing the wrong which affects all lovers of freedom as well as you; for those acts of aggression have a withering, deadly effect, and are gnawing like a canker worm at the very vitals of civil and religious liberty. You are standing by the Declaration of Independence, and sustaining the Constitution which was given by inspiration of God; and you are the only people in the United States at this time that are doing it. You dare do it, and you feel right about the matter.
"* * * We are not taking any steps contrary to the laws and the Constitution of the United States, but in everything we are upholding and sustaining them.Gentlemen, hands off! We are free men; we possess equal rights with other men; and if you send your sealed orders[2]here, we may break the seal, and it shall be the opening of the first seal!"
Such, then, were the principles which justified the resistance of Utah to the encroachments of the general government. The Mormons were not religious enthusiasts—fanatics—rebels—seeking to become a law unto themselves; but patriots demanding their rights—rights based upon the broad principles of liberty as set forth in the Declaration of Independence, and guaranteed in the Constitution of their country. They were contending for the right to regulate their own local affairs in their own way, and to be governed by men of their own choosing—they were but walking in the footsteps of their Revolutionary Fathers.
1. This Missouri Compromise was the adjustment of the Territorial question respecting slavery, by which it was agreed in Congress that slavery should not be introduced in the territory ceded by France to the United States north of 36° 30' north latitude. The anti-slavery party in Congress, when Missouri applied for admission in to the Union, in 1820, sought to prohibit slavery in that state; this they could not do; but as a compromise between them and the pro-slavery party, they accepted the provision restricting slavery in the territory above indicated. This was the Missouri Compromise; and it was this compromise which Elder Taylor held to be unconstitutional and which the supreme court of the United States decided was unconstitutional in the Dred Scott decision, given in 1857; in which it was held that Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in any of the territories of the Union.
2. The army approaching Utah was coming with sealed orders.