New York weekly tribune vol. 17 no. 882

              INTERESTING FROM UTAH. 
LIFE IN SALT LAKE CITY. 
A PROCLAMATION FROM GOV. CUMMING. 
The Army at Salt Lake City. 
ITS QUARTERS AT CEDAR VALLEY 
RETURN OF THE MORMONS TO SALT LAKE CITY. 
THE PEACE COMMISSIONERS AT PROVO. 
SPEECH OF GOV. POWELL. 
From Our Special Correspondent.
GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, U. T., 
June 23, 1858. 
To relieve the tedium of the week, we made an excursion to-day to the Great Salt Lake. Just as the ambulance was ready to start, I noticed a small, intensely black boy strolling along the side-walk. It occurred to me that we might make the trip one of philantropy as well as pleasure, and I suggested that we should offer Lee a seat beside the driver, with a view to test the effect of the water on his color. Tie idea was hailed with ac-clamation; Lee was hoisted to his place, and in a few minutes we were rattling over the rickety bridge across the Jordan, The point to which we directed our course was the Black Rock, which juts into the lake just at the extremity of the Oquirrh or West Mountains, which separate the plain in which the city stands from Tuilla Val-ley. The road, 18 miles long, is entirely monoto-nous, nothing but stunted gage brush, intermixed with grass, lining its whole extent A few farm houses, all deserted, were scatterd along the base of the mountain. The view of the lake grows broader and broader, and more and more picturesque, throughout the last five miles of the distance, until, when we reached the shore, the great bottom which intervenes between its margin and the loot of the Wasatch range is almost en-tirely lost sight of; the mountain slopes, their sum-mits flecked with snow, seem to descend into water on every side except the north, on, which the blue line of the horizon is interrupted only by Antelope Island. The prospect is that direction is appar-ently as illimitable as from, the shore of an ocean. The sky was perfectly clear, and the water as intensely blue, except where it dashed over the fragments fallen from the rock, or where some swell, more aspiring than its neighbors, had overreached itself and broken into a thin line of foam. Through a gap in the ranges along the western shore the sandy line of the Great Desert was dimly visible underneath a wavering stream of heated air. The shore of the lake was marked by a broad belt of fine sand, the grains of which are all globular. Along its upper margin is a rank growth of reeds and salt grass. Swarms of tiny flies covered the surface of every half-evaporated pool along the water-line, a few white seagulls were drifting on the swells, and half a dozen goslings, hatched under a hen from the eggs of a wild goose, were sunning themselves among the reeds—these last the property of the little whiteheaded daughter of a salt-boiler, the smoke from whose furnace was curling over the isthmus of fragments which con-nects the great Black Rock with the shore. 
We undressed near a spring which bubbles into a basin constructed for the use of bathers to wash off the coating of salt which is the result of a plunge into the lake. A Mormon Vandal with the ubiquitous name of Jones, desiring to deprive us Gentile invaders of the privilege of the bath, had torn down one side of the basin, but we replaced the stones, and rearranged the hollowed log which conducted the water into a trough used for the same purpose. Retaining our sombreros, shirts, and boots, we marched across the isthmus, chat-ting with the salt-boiler and inspecting his furnace on the way. He was ignorant of everything that had transpired in the city since last month, and asked us whether the Mormons were going to fight, though perhaps this question was suggested by the sight of one of the party, whom incessant fear of Danites had prompted to promenade down from the spring with a pair of revolvers buckled around his semi-nude corpus, a Sharp's rifle in his hand, and an ammunition-pouch swung over his shoulder. Ar-rived at the point of the rock, we disincumbered ourselves of our remaining clothing, and, exchang-ing mutual pledges not to spatter, descended by inches into the water. My companions soon be-came so absorbed in experimenting for the safest a attitude in which to float without danger of getting the brine into ears mouth, nose or eyes, that Lee seemed to be forgotten by everybody but myself. But the merits of my scheme for eman-cipation had taken such hold upon my mind, that I waited anxiously for his appearance: and as soon as he had reached the ponit of the rock (he had followed modestly behind us) I seized him and ducked him. He was very slippery and soon re-gained the ledge of rock, very much terrified by a remark which somebody had made in the ambulance, that we intended to turn him into a sperm caudle end burn him that very night, using his wool for a wick. I watched him drying with a delight that you cannot appreciate as he gradually whitened in the sunshine. It required much persuasion and some force to duck him a second time, and after we had succeeded he escaped from our grasp, and ran to dry in front of the salt-boiler's fire. We swam and floated, as buoyant as corks, until there was hardly one of the party who was not crying or swearing at the pungent effects of the water on his eyes. Then we resumed our pastoral attire, and scrambled back to the spring. Short as was the distance, the heat of the day was such that we dried, and found ourselves powdered with salt be-fore we reached it. The basin answered its purpose, notwithstanding Jones's malicious ravages. The cool, clear, fresh water removed every particle of salt. We ate a hearty dinner of eggs, butter, bread and sweet milk, in front of the salt-boiler's cabin, and then drove Lee, white as a snowdrop, back to the city to his master, falling asleep one by one in the drowsy sunshine which seemed to strike the ambulance before, behind and on both sides. We were awakened only by the rattle of our wheels over the rickety Jordan bridge. 
JUNE 24, 1858. 
The monotony of the week has thus far been un-broken by any event worthy of especial notice. There were no services in the Tabernacle on Sun-day. The only incident to mark the day was the promenade of a Mormon band of music up and down East Temple street early in the morning, and the display of bunting from thereof of the Tithing Office and one or two flag-staffs along the sidewalk. The music was stopped at last by Elder Little, who asked the band whether they were playing to cele-brate the approaching entrance of the troops. 
On Monday evening there was an arrival of a missionary train from the States. The wagons were preceded by a cavalcade. The passengers were all males, 113 in number. They halted near the Quarter master's store and received the con-gratulations of their friends, from whom some of them had Been absent more than six years. The presence of these people and of parties which arrive daily from Provo, as well as from the camp, has imparted a little liveliness to the streets. But the deserted aspect of all the houses is unchanged. None of the boards have been removed from win-dows, and those Mormons who have come up from the south to witness the entrance of the army, gain access to their dwellings through back doors and sleep on the floors. 
This morning the following proclamation, pur-porting to have been issued ten days ago, was found posted near the Globe Restaurant: 
A. CUMMING, Governor of Utah Territory, to the Inhabitants of Utah, and others whom it may concern 
Whereas, James Buchanan, President of the United States, at the City of Washington on the 6th day of April, A D. 1858, did, by his Proclamation, offer to the inhabitants of Utah who submit to the laws, a full and free pardon for all treason and sedition heretofore committed; and 
Whereas, The proffered pardon was accepted with the prescribed terms of the Proclamation by the citi-zens of Utah, 
Now, therefore, I, A. Cumming, Governor of Utah. Territory, in the name of James Buchanan, President of the United States, do proclaim that all persons who submit themselves to the laws and to the authority of the Federal Government, ere by him freely and fully pardoned for all treason and sedition heretofore com-mitted. All criminal offenses associated with or grow-ing out of the overt acts of sedition and treason are merged in them and are embraced in the "full and free" pardon of the President. 
And I extort all persons to persevere in a faithful submission to the laws fend patriotic devotion to the Constitution and Government of our common country.
Peace is restored to our Territory. 
All civil officers, both Federal and Territorial, will resume the performance of the duties of their respec-tive offices without delay, and be diligent and faithful in the execution of the laws. All citizens of the United States in this Territory will aid and assist the officers in the performance of their duties. 
Fellow-Citizens—I offer to you my congratulations for the peaceful and honorable adjustment of recent difficulties. 
Those citizens who have left their homes, I invite to return as soon as they can do so with propriety and convenience. 
To all I announce my determination to enforce obe-dience to the laws, both. Federal and Territorial. 
Trespasses upon property, both real and personal, must be scrupulously avoided. 
Gaming and other vices are punished by Territorial Statutes with peculiar severity, and I commend the perusal of these statutes to those persons who may not have had an opportunity of doing so previously. 
{L. S.}
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Territory to be af-fixed at Great Salt Lake City, in the Territory of Utah, on this 14th day of June in the year 1858, and Independence of the United States, the 82d. 
By the Governor, 	A. CUMMING.
JOHN HARTNETT, Secretary of State. 
His Excellency's style of composition has improved since the issue of his proclamation of November, 1857; but he seems to be incapable of inditing a proclama-tion absolutely faultless. In the present document he undertakes to combine judicial with executive functions, and I doubt whether his construction of the scope of the President's pardon will be sustained or respected by any but Mormon Courts. 
I understand that Gov. Cumming is satisfied that the United States Law Library was not burned by the Mormons, and that he so stated during the con-ferences. Very likely all the books were not burned, but it is a fact which even his Excellency cannot smooth over, that all that portion of the library which was deposited at the time in Judge Stiles's office was destroyed by fire. There are gentlemen in this city whose reputation for veracity is at least as good as that of the persons who have. "satisfied" Gov. Cumming, who saw the smolder-ing relics of those books in the privy into which the Mormons threw them, who caused some of the half-burnt volumes to be taken from the vault and cleansed, and who kept them in their possession for months as proofs of the incendiarism. Ever since Col. Kane's advent, Gov. Cumming and some of his associates whom I might name, have evinced a willingness to stake the word of noted Mormon law-breakers against the word of reputable Gentile citi-zens. It is a fact which ought to be known to the people of the United States, that Gov. Cumming is consorting more intimately with noted Mormon rebels, and consulting with them about his official movements more confidentially than with his Gentile associates in the Territorial Government. 
There is but one luxury which we Gentiles have enjoyed in the city, and that is bathing. The water from the warm springs, which rise at the foot of the ridge just behind Brigham's residence, is conducted by pipes to a little adobe, once used for a bath-house. The building is entirely out of repair, and of course deserted. The wooden tubs and the water-pipes have shared in the dilapidation, but we con-trived to patch the holes with plugs and shreds of cloth, and at last to enjoy the most luxurious bath, of which a Mohammedan ever dreamed. I am no chemist, and cannot tell you what minerals are in solution with the water. Those curious on the sub-ject can find them all recorded by Capt. Stansbury. Neither can I tell you the temperature, for I have no thermometer. I can only testify that a single plunge repaid me for my journey of 3,000 miles. But when I emerged from the bath I realized the idleness of my temporary dream that this was in-deed the fabled Fountain of Youth. I had remained in the water too long, and it had so enervated me that I felt as old as a patriarch. Nothing but a second glance at the looking-glass could convince me that I was indeed not gray and wrinkled 
With such an abundant supply of delicious rippling through every street, and such facilities for bathing as these warm springs also afford, it sur-prises me that the Mormons are not more cleanly in their persons. Perhaps I am hasty in judging of the whole population by the few rough, coarsely dressed men who are now the only occupants of the city; but everything about them shows signs of a cleanliness which they do not evince themselves. The exteriors of the houses are well cared for, ant the fences are rarely marked by gaps or chinks. The streets are smooth and not disfigured by filth or garbage. Every garden, even the smallest and humblest, shows signs of care. If I were not con-tinually conscious of the folly and fanaticism of tide people, the sight of many of these abandoned garden-plots, luxuriant with verdure and flowers, while their owners are huddled in shanties and wagons a hundred miles away, would excite my pity. Those who counseled the rebellion have a long reckoning to discharge, either here or hereafter, for the misery they inflicted on their own people all through the Winter, and which culminated in the exodus to the south. The Church dignitaries could afford to leave men in charge of their dwellings and fields, but the mass of the people were forced to throw their few household valuables into wagons, barricade their windows, lock their doors, and abandon the fruit of ten years' labor to, as they were taught to believe, the ravages of a merciless soldiery. 
The residences of most of the prominent Mormons are in the Thirteenth Ward. Brigham's mansion and offices, and his Lion House, and Heber Kim-ball's row of houses, occupy an entire square, in one corner of which are included, also, the Church Store and the Tithing-Office. Each of the squares into which the city is regularly divided contains tea acres. The mansion is, of course, an adobe, but it is covered with white plaster. It is built in the style of those villas which infest New-England. towns, with piazzas supported by Doric columns, and an ugly cupola, which is surmounted by a bee-hive, the national emblem of Deseret. The Lion House stands with a gable-end toward South Tem-ple street. It is covered with plaster and painted cream color. Over the porch is the image of a large recumbent lion, hewn from sandstone. On each side which looks out on the garden, ten little windows project from the roof, just above the eaves. Heber Kimball's houses are scattered about the north-western comer of the square, directly behind the Tithing Office. They arc ugly piles of adobe, of the ordinary drab color, and look like factory-boarding-houses. The whole square is surrounded by a cobble-stone wall, ten or twelve feet in hight, marked by unmeaning and useless buttresses, at intervals of thirty or forty feet. Directly opposite the Lion House is the office and dwelling of George A. Smith, the "Historian" of the Church. Close in the vicinity, all of them fronting on East Temple street, are the houses of Ezra T. Benson, one of the Apostles; the late Jedediah M. Grant, who was succeeded in the First Presidency by Daniel H. Wells, and Bishop Hunter. The Temple square is surrounded by a lofty adobe wall, plastered ani painted drab, and divided into panels. The Taber-nacle stands in the south- western corner, the En-dowment House in the north-western. The cellar of the Temple has been filled with dirt, so that the line of the foundation is hardly discernible. A branch of the City Creek flows through the square from east to west. The two principal entrances of the square are barricaded with blocks of stone hewn for the foundation of the Temple. 
The houses which I have described are used for headquarters by the fathers of the church, but al-most all of them have other dwellings in different parts of the city. George A. Smith, for instance, has three or four houses in which his wives reside, located in as many different streets. Even Brig-ham's Bee-Hive mansion and Lion House are not spacious enough to contain all his family. Mrs. Cobb and her daughter occupy a separate tenement close in the neighborhood. 
GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, U. T.,
June 28, 1858. } 
The army arrived on Saturday, occupying ten hours in its passage through the city to the camp beyond the Jordan. The advanced guard, com-manded by Bvt.-Col. Smith of the 10th Infantry, consisted of Capt. Da Saussure's company of the 1st Cavalry, Capt. Marcy's of the 5th Infantry, and Capt Gardner's of the 10th, and a section of Phelps's battery, under Lieut. Howard. The head-quarters moved with the advance. Gen. Johnston was attended only by his regular staff, and by the Commissioners, who rode out from the city at an early hour to meet him. 
All the flags which had been flying ever since last Sunday from the staffs on Main street, were struck by the Mormons during the passage of the troops. Most of the men who had been attracted horn the south by curiosity, watched the proces-sion through the cracks between the boards with which their windows were barricaded. The city seemed as dead as on the day our little party of Gentiles entered it a fortnight ago. The only groups of visible spectators were on the corners near the Temple Square. The few laborers who were busy in the gardens and fields kept at their work with an indifference which was affected and amusing. In one little plot I noticed a father and Jus boy weeding a patch of onions. The man bent ever his hoe and chopped at the weeds as steadily as if nothing was going on in the street in front of him; but the boy was continually dropping behind the father's back and casting stealthy glances at the column. Whether acting in pursuance of orders or not I am unaware; but it is certain that members of the armed Mormon Guard, which is stationed in the city under Gov. Cumming's sanction, told per-sons during the morning to retreat into their houses, and not show themselves while the army was pass-ing. I have the names of two persons who were thus commanded. 
The troops, the officers included, wore the rough undress usual on a march. There was perfect order ion the ranks, no cheering or laughing, nothing calcu-lated to aggravate the feelings of the Mormon popu-lation. No one was allowed to leave the column for a moment, and the order was so rigidly enforced that a surgeon in the 10th Infantry, to whom I ap-plied to visit a sick man in a house within a block's distance from the line of march, was unable to leave his place in the regiment, but after reaching the camp, rode back five miles to see the patient. The regimental bands played during the march, but it was noticed that the music was suspended when they passed by the porch on which Gov. Cumming was standing, and that no salute was paid to his Excellency. 
The camp extends along the river-bank for at least two miles. It is hot, dusty and inconvenient. The soil is so parched by the sun that every step taken within a tent raises a cloud of dust. The ground on which it is established was used as a church pasture, and this morning Lewis Robinson, the Quartermaster-General of the Mormon army, demanded the payment of $150 per day for its occu-pation. The demand was singular, not to say more, in consideration of the fact that all the land in Utah Territory is the property of the United States, and not a foot of it is yet subject even to preemption. The Mormon title to the soil is the lowest known to the law—that of mere occupancy. In order to prevent contact between the troops and the Mormons, which seems to be much dreaded by the latter, a guard is stationed at the Jordan bridge, and no soldier is allowed to pass toward the city without producing a written permission, signed at headquarters. A great many officers have ridden across to-day to see the city, and their demeanor caused a great deal of trouble to some of the Mor-mon militia generals, whom they appear to have treated with perfect civility, but without extreme deference to their exalted military rank. In every instance of ill-feeling, however, which has come to my knowledge, the source of the trouble has been the interference of the Mormon gentlemen in com-pany and conversation where their presence was not desired. There are so many Mormon generals riding about town, all of them ranking Gen. John-ston, that the safest course for a Gentile who wishes to aid the Governor in his plan for "harmonizing" the Territory is to apply the title of "General" to almost every Mormon whom he meets.
You are aware that what constitutes polygamy  here is not exactly what would constitute that crime in the States. Here each successive wife taken after the first is a "spiritual," and the pro-cess of uniting her to the husband is called "seal-ing." The first wife only is married. The marry-ing can be performed by almost any magistrate, a judge, a justice of the peace, a clerk of the courts, etc. Sealing, however, can be executed only by the First Presidency, and by two of the Twelve Apostles, who are specially endowed by Brigham with authority for that purpose. Formerly the process of sealing was performed by Brigham alone, but during the "Reformation" of 1856, the cases became so frequent that it was found necessary to divide the labor. At first there was no charge for the performance, but now, I am told, the payment of $10 is required for each "spiritual" sealed. 
By the process of sealing a wife is united to a man, as the Mormons express it, for "time and eternity;" but by the process of marriage only for “time." Therefore, after the first wife has been united by the civil ceremony of marriage, the ec-clesiastical ceremony of sealing is often performed in addition in order that she may be possessed for eternity as well as time. 
It has been rumored that the practice of polygamy is about to be discontinued in the Church. I attach no credit to the rumor. I am informed by a Mor-mon that only yesterday his niece was sealed as a fifth spiritual, at Provo, to Lewis Robinson, the Mormon Quartermaster-General. The girl's age was only fifteen years. 
I have already written to you what an extraordi-nary state of peace and harmony has been effected. There is not a Gentile in the city, an opponent of the Governor's policy, who lies down to sleep without a revolver under his pillow Both Mormons and Gentiles carry weapons openly in the streets. Trade between them is still interdicted by the au-thorities of the church, although the Globe Restau-rant, which is church property, remains open to furnish Gentiles with meals at $3 per day. No Gentile can yet rent a house in the city. The promise of one was secured for the accommodation of the Chief Justice, but the day before the army arrived the owner stated that he had "taken coun-sel," and could not let the building even for a month.
JULY 1, 1858. 
The Governor returned from Provo yesterday, and with him Brigham Young. This indicates an improvement in the disposition of the Mormons. Last Sunday Young preached in the Provo Bowery concerning the the entrance of the troops and the condition of his own people. He complimented Gen Johnston cordially for the order which had prevailed in the army on its march. With regard to a return of the Mormons to the northern settle-ments, he stated his desire that nobody should move without his permission. The impression is that there will be a general movement from the south as soon as the troops are definitely located. As it is, the great "State " road which leads to Lake Utah, and which can be followed with the eye more than twenty miles southward from this city, has been clouded with dust, both yesterday and to-day, from the teams of returning saints. It is noticeable, however, that no families come with these teams. I have observed at least thirty of the wagons loaded with furniture, but only one was accompanied by a woman. 
Last Monday morning (the 28th ult.) Gen. John-ston started to examine Tuilla, Scull, Rush, Cedar, and Yuab Vallies, with a view to the selection of an encampment. His escort consisted of a squad-ron of cavalry, and he was accompanied by Maj. McCulloch, Col. C. F. Smith, Lieut. Col. Cooke, Capt. Newton, Capt. Marcy, Maj. Porter, Dr. Gar-land Hunt, and Mr. David A. Burr. Mr. Burr and Dr. Hunt are thoroughly conversant with the country. The route which the party proposed to take, will lead it through a circuit of nearly 250 miles, and its return is not expected till Saturday. The Mormons have been unanimous in their repre-sentations that Cache Valley, which lies in the heart of the Wasatch range, northeast from the Salt Lake, and at least 90 miles from the city, is the most suit-able place for an encampment. The very urgency with which they pressed the idea, cast suspicion on the motives of their recommendation. There is no probability that the army will be located there. It is very difficult of access, and although it abounds in all the requisites for a good Summer camp, the Winters in its neighborhood are represented as un-commonly severe. 
Col. Lorin of the mounted riflemen wintered some thousands of animals there while on his pas-sage to Oregon many years ago, and the result was the loss of a large proportion of the stock. While Gen. Johnston was on Bear River he dispatched Capt. Newton of the engineer corps to make re-connaisances in that vicinity, but I am not aware what report was made by the Captain on his return. At one time, in anticipation that it might, after all, be selected for the camp-ground, a remonstrance was prepared for presentation to the General, pro-testing against the location of the army in any place or places not speedily accessible to the settlements, and especially to Salt Lake City. This had been signed by all the Gentile civilians present here, when its circulation was stopped by the report that the encampment will certainly not be made north of Ogden City. 
Col. Alexander is left in command! during the General's absence, and on the 29th he marched the army from the dirty, dusty church pasture on the Jordan to a camp about twenty miles southward, nearly halfway to Provo. Judge Eckels remained two days, during which every effort was made to rent or buy a house in the city for him, but no Mor-mon would let without "counsel." The only accommodation which he could have procured would have been in the house of Marshal Dotson, which comprises two small rooms and a pantry, in which twenty-one persons are sleeping nightly. So the Judge followed the army southward yesterday. 
Brigham's return is not yet attended with favor-able effects on house rent. The only two buildings which have fallen into Gentile hands are the Mar-shal's "mansion," already mentioned, and another house of the same size, which the Californians, Messrs. Brookie and Clarkson, who came here on Col. Kinney's business, succeeded in renting yes-terday. Neither is trade any more lively, nor have the prices at the Globe fallen. It is hard to deter-mine whether this state of affairs is more discredit-able thanludicrous or more ludicrous than discred-itable. The day after I mailed my last letters to you I took my blankets to a spacious freight-wagon, where I am now writing, and in which I am com-fortably lodged. The white cover shields me from the sunlight as well as from the night air. I sleep cool and in a good atmosphere. From one end of the wagon I command a view of Brigham's Beehive Mansion and his Lion-House, the numerous little windows on the roof of which indicates the peculiar domes tic architecture of the interior. There I shall re-main till Brigham shall ameliorate and permit his people to let a suite of rooms in some adobe to a Gentile. I took a look at a suite this afternoon, which would suit me, and engaged the refusal of them as soon as the proprietor shall be "counseled" to let the premises. His embarrassment, when I made the proposition, was evident, and he pledged me to solemn secrecy, extorting the pledge while I was in the cellar, under circumstances of extreme dampness and solemnity. 
The washing accommodations of most of my Gen-tile friends are very aboriginal. There being no stores open at which they can procure basins and pitchers, or even pails, the majority perform their ablutions in the gutter. Do not imagine that the water is muddy. It is pure, clear, and cold. The City Creek flows down from the mountains which rise to the north-east of Brigham's square, and is guided between his establishment and that of Bro. Kimball, which are on the highest ground within the city walls. From there it is distributed through every street, the slope of the land allowing this to be successfully accomplished. My Gentile friends wash at a risk of $5 per morning—there being a city ordinance wisely imposing that fine on all per-sons caught fouling the water. 
Though the City Creek supplies the means of cleanliness, the facilities for godliness are not so plentiful. There has never been a Christian preacher in Salt Lake City. An agent of the Bible Society named Van Emmons, did find his way hither a year or two ago, with a wagon load of good books de-signed for sale and distribution. He was kindly received and treated courteously until it was dis-covered that the character of his books was more godly than his own. He induced a woman to make him a suit of endowment clothes, by the aid of which he proposed to do things allowable only to initiated Saints. The fact became known, and a search was instituted for the clothing, but he had received a timely warning and nailed it all into a cigar box, which he hid under a counter in a grocery-store. Among his numerous ex-periences he was once bullied into presenting a $16 Bible to Porter Rockwell. At last, he found it advisable to close his missionary labors and return to the States. If the Bible Society or any other association for propagating religious truth will only turn their attention to Utah, they will find in its present condition a more profitable field for labor than Borrioboola-Gha or Quashee-boo-la-ghee. Only let them be careful in the selection of their agents. There is also no chaplain present with the army of Utah, although I notice by the latest Eastern papers that a Roman Catholic priest has been assigned to that duty—a selection which ought to receive public approval, for three- fourths of the men subject to his ministrations are of his own religious faith. 
The advent of half a dozen zealous Christian mis-sionaries of unimpeachable integrity, and the estab-lishment of an independent Gentile newspaper in Salt Lake City, moderate but decided in its tone, and unconnected with a political party, will do more to reform any social abuses which prevail in this community than the efforts of 500 Governors and Judges. It is the examples of such religionists as Van Emmons and such civilians as Judge Drum-mond that have contributed to the growth of the enmity which the Mormons have displayed toward ; all the Gentiles who have settled among them. 
JULY 2, 1858. 
Last night, from dusk to dawn, a string of wagons rolled into the city from the south. The whole First Presidency of the Church have arrived. More than thirty wagons, I am told by those who were stirring early in the morning, discharged their contents—furniture, provisions and women—at Brigham's alone. From the airy lodgings which I occupy I could hear, beside the rattle of wheels, the incesssnt tapping of hammers all night long. The windows of Brigham's offices and of the front of his Lion House appeared entirely disencumbered of their board barricades this morning. I took a stroll around some of the principal squares to-day, and through open doors and windows I could see that the female population of the city had been considerably augmented within twenty-four hours. To-night, I presume, we shall have a similar immi-gration. 
The Indians south of, Provo have become very troublesome during the last fortnight and committed many depredations and some murders. It is be-lieved that their unruly disposition is attributable in part to the circulation among them of a rumor that Dr. Forney, the Superintendent of Indian Af-fairs, intends to abandon the farm on Spanish Fork established and conducted formerly by Dr. Hart. It is due to the inhabitants in their neighborhood that they should be promptly checked and the of-fenders arrested. Dr. Forney star-ted for the farm from Salt Lake City last Tuesday. On Wednesday he tarried at Provo and held a singular conversa-tion with some of the Saints. Among the partici-pants in it was Heber C. Kimball, who advanced to the Doctor's carriage and blessed him and Gov. Cumming and Col. Kane, stating that he had a right to bless them "in the name of Israel's God," and that he should always pray for them. "I pray also for my enemies," said he. “Yes," said the Doctor, who is an enthusiastic Episcopalian, "that's right; that shows a Christian spirit." "I pray that they may all go to hell," was the conclusion of Heber’s sentence. 
Twenty-six sacks of back mails, weighing 5,500 pounds, arrived from the East at the end of last week. They contained only old Patent-Office re-ports and Congressional Globes under the frank of Mr. Bernhisel. The cost of their transportation to the Territory was just about $10,000.