"FROM OCEAN TO OCEAN"—AN INSIDE VIEW OF BRIGHAM YOUNG'S HAREM—LECTURE BY THE REV. J. P. NEWMAN, D. D.
A large number of people braved the dis-comforts of the coldest night of the season to attend the ecture of the Rev. Dr. J. P. Newman, Chaplain of the U. S. Senate, at Steinway Hall, last evening. Bishop Janes, in introducing the lecturer, expressed his gratification to see such an audience on such an evening for such a sub-ject, attributing it to a rising interest in the knowledge of our beautiful country, and as tan indication of the pa-triotism of the land. Dr. Newman said his subject, "From Ocean to Ocean," suggested the fact that there are two classes of American travelers—those who overestimate traveling abroad, and those who overestimate traveling at home. The former are superficial, and pretentious, the latter are of contracted views and naturally egotistical. The former assume foreign airs, accent and dress; the latter are like the Chinese, who look upon all beyond the limits of their Flowery Kingdom as babarians and fools. The foreign traveler finds himself within structures of grandeur; he mingles with people whose modes of living, forms of re-ligion, systems of education and of government, are in-tensely national. The American traveler enjoys scenes new and peculiar. America is too young to boast of Egyptian pyramids, of Grecian ruins, of Roman basilicas; but in vastness of national domain, in the highest moun-tains, the longest rivers, the biggest trees, the richest mines, the grandest natural scenery, she is unsurpassed; and in renowned battle-fields and great men she has no equal on the globe. [Applause.] The lecturer described the beauty of the Yo Semite Valley, dwelling par-ticularly upon the huge trees which grow in that region. A tree, for instance, 106 feet in circum-ference of the root is only 75 feet in circumference 12 feet from the base. The hight of the trees is enormous, some of them reaching an altitude 100 feet higher than the dome of our National Capitol. As we enter the Grove of Calaveras we behold upon our right an octagonal building erected upon the stump of a tree 92 feet in circumference, and, when standing, over 300 feet high. It required five men 25 days to fell that tree, and such was the breadth of its base that after the stump had been separated therefrom it remained standing. To throw it over required the work of three days. In the center of the grove is the fallen monarch, 72 feet in cir-cumference, and when standing over 300 feet high. You mount it by means of a ladder, and along its ample sides you can drive a coach-and-two. Near by is the Father of the forest, 110 feet in circumference at its base; when standing it was 750 feet high. The interior is hollow, and we rode for 200 feet on horseback through that tree. Here again is the "Old Maid" and the "Old Bachelor." She is 361 feet tall, and 69 feet about the waist. [Laughter.] Her comeliness is gone, her top-knot is fallen, and she is the veriest old spinster of the forest. Nor is he a whit better. He is the roughest, dryest specimen of all the big trees. He has the advantage of his venerable female friend, for in 1866 she attempted to fall into his arms, but missed it and now lies at his feet, while he looks mournfully at her. [Laughter and ap-plause.] It is estimated that some of these patriarchs of the forest are 3,000 years old.
A GLANCE AT SALT LAKE CITY.
After reciting the further picturesque beauties of the Yosemite Valley, the wonderful Geysers, the dizzy pre-cipes, the unfathomed lake, and the dark, mysterious grandeurs of its canons; the lecturer gave an amusing sketch of inside life at the Mormon harems. Entering Salt Lake City there are two objects which cannot fail to attract instant attention. They are the Tabernacle and the residence of Brigham Young. The former building cost $100,000. It is 250 feet long and 150 feet wide. The ceiling is 65 feet high, and forming one unbroken arch is the largest self-supporting roof in America. There are three kinds of marriage in Utah— the actual, the spiritual, and the sub-stantial. By the actual is meant the marriage which is solemnized by actual ceremony. The spiritual marriage is carried into the Eternal World. For instance, if a woman has a husband whom she does not like, and sees a man whom she prefers, she marries him with the un-derstanding that the issue of this latter marriage is to belong to the former husband in Heaven. But we come to the deeper iniquities of the Mormon marriage when we approach the substantial. It is the theory of the Mor-mon Church that a man's exaltation and glory will depend upon the size of his family. When a Mormon saint dies his glorification is arrested, and he is therefore permitted to elect a substitute with the condition that the issue shall be considered his in the eternal world. This form of marriage is carried to such an extent that a Morman woman in Utah in the nineteenth century believes she can be sealed to Father Abraham, though married to another man, and the offsgring be those of the Patriarch himself.
Unlike the Monogamist, the Polygamist has no home. If he would retire at night to the bosom of his family, the question is, Which family shall he go to?[Laughter.] Those in better circumstances keep each wife in a sepa-rate house; while Brigham Young, the Prince of Polyga-mists, from his immense wealth, keeps his wives in those two structures, the "Lion House" and the "Bee Hive." He believes in the saying that "Variety is the spice of life." At this point the speaker presented a humorously-drawn picture of Brigham's 30 wives—ages, sizes, com-plexions, and dispositions. The Mormon women, he continued, are divided into three classes—the acquiescent, the stoical, and the termagant. The first have gone to Utah as a matter of religion. In some instances obeying their religious scruples, they consent to become wife-agents to induce young girls to become the wives of their husbands. There are those, however, who refuse to become wife-agents. Surrounded with a public opinion not favorable to opposition, hearing polygamy preached every Sabbath, with no place to fly to, these poor women, weary in heart, abandon themselves to a stoical indifference. But there are others who are neither acquiescent nor stoical. Made of sterner stuff, they are termagant. Neglect breeds anger, anger engenders hatred, hatred meditates revenge.
The law of consanguimity is trampled into the dust by Mormon saints, some having been known to marry the grandmother, then the mother, then the daughter. Brigham has four sisters in his harem. Despotism there has gained its power by laying its hand upon the people. This has been accomplished by the system of titheing, requiring every man who enters the Mormon Church to give a tenth of his possessions to the Church, and forever thereafter a tenth of his income. In 1856 Mr. Young, dissatisfied with this revenue told his people he had re-ceived a revelation from the Lord commanding them all to consecrate their property to him as trustee of the church of Jesus Christ. Quit claim deeds were there-upon drawn up, and the poor people transferred their property to him, and some, in their enthusiasm, threw in their wives and children. [Applause.] Hence, I was not surprised when a young banker assured me that he was told by an attaché of the Bank of England that Brigham Young was one of the largest depositors in that bank. That this whole system is anti-Republican, anti-Chris-tian, and anti-natural, must be apparent to every intelli-gent mind. [Applause.] It claims existence and perpetuity by the authority of the Constitution of the United States, which says that "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or pro-hibiting the free exercise of the same." It seems to me that even that should have a limitation. The law of limi-tation is just as applicable to marriage as it is to any form of worship. (Applause.) The Hindoo may come here and read his Shasta, but he shall not burn the widow on the funeral pile. Congress has a right to interfere, because Utah is a Territory, and is under the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress; because polygamy is destruc-tion to the family, degrades woman, violates natural and moral law, and is contrary to the enlightened moral sen-timent of our age and our civilization. (Applause.)
