BRIGHAM YOUNG.
Death of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
His Long Career Termi-nated at 4 O'clock Yesterday Af-ternoon.
Will There be a Grand Break-up of Mor-monism?
The Prophet's Work in Try-ing to Build up His Dynasty.
His Confidence in a Mani-festation from the Lord.
THE THREE APOSTLES.
SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 29.—The illness of Brigham Young terminated in his death this afternoon at four o'clock. It became ap-parent on Tuesday that it was impossible for him to survive, though his family continued to hope. His disease was cholera morbus and inflammation of the bowels.
The Prophet's Enormous Estate-His Son, John W., to Succeed Him—The Future of the Mormons.
[New York Sun Letter.]
During the last six months Brigham Young has been engaged with his apostles in reor-ganizing the working machinery of the Mor-mon Church. It has seemed to some that this was owing to the apprehension of danger from the courts in this Territory and from the next Congress. But Brigham has no such fears. He had reasons, some weeks ago, to apprehend trouble, when Burton and Clinton were arrested on the charge of murder but since the former is out on bail and the latter is out of the hands of the United States Mar-shal, he feels perfectly at ease, as far as con-cerns them, and as for Congress, he has al-ways boasted that he could purchase it at any time. For this reorganization of the church there is another reason.
Brigham Young has the appearance of being physically a strong man; yet the reverse is true. He comes of a long-lived race, but he has frequently had hard work to pull through attacks of sickness, and it is only with constant nursing and mild doctoring that he has been able to keep up. When Chief Justice McKean was worrying him, the Mar-shal, with a warrant in his hand, was almost certain to be met with a doctor's certificate that the prophet could not leave his room. This being so frequently the case, those unacquainted with the facts re-garded the statement of his illness as a mere subterfuge to keep out of the hands of the officers of justice. But his inability to leave his house was real, and as he increases in age he grows no better. It is this consciousness of decreasing vitality and the possibility of the recurrence of trouble that has prompted the prophet to “put the church in order," so that in case of sudden death or any other unpleas-ant eventuality, he may have everything pre-pared for his successor, and may rest assured that there will be no repetition of the dis-sensions that almost killed it at the death of Smith.
To those who have asked the question, "Will Mormonism die with Brigham young? Will there not be a general break-up? Who will be his successo ?" the prophet is now giving answer.
More than a dozen years ago Brigham be-gan to prepare for a proper distribution of his private property after his decease. He chose the most capable man in his church for this kind of business, Elder A. Milton Musser, an orphan of some Pennsylvania Dutch family, and he set him to work to travel through the Territory to obtain legal deeds for every piece of property he said was his. In the two hun-dred cities and settlements there is every-where a B. Y. brand. It is imprinted on every-thing he coveted, from a yearling's rump to a forest of pines. Musser was five years at the work, and he amassed for his chief an enormous quantity of proper-ty. The extent of it is incredible to those who do not know the operations of the one-man power. As the whole machinery of election is in his own hands, notaries public and recorders did as they were told, and asked no questions. In this way, Brigham has pro-vided for his legion of wives and children. Now he has begun to provide for the church.
Brigham was once asked by a young man and zealous Apostle: "Who will be your suc-cessor, Brother Brigham?" He answered: "The Lord will manifest that in due time." Brigham was not ready to unvail his mind, and until he is, the very biggest of his crowd can only guess at his intentions. He set out to find a dynasty when he came to these mountains, and it looks now as if he were going to carry out his programme success-fully. The people are becoming familiar with the thought, and the obstacles that were in his way a few years ago are quickly van-ishing.
About a dozen years ago he resolved to make his three sons, Joseph A., Brigham, Jr., and John W., apostles. He consulted no one, but one day when his counsellor, and the second in authority in the church, Heber C. Kimball, came into his office he said: "Brother Heber, let us lay hands on the boys." In the usual manner of ordination Brigham and Heber laid their hands on the heads of the three, and in a few minutes the sons of Brigham were full-fledged apostles. Heber was amazed at the business and the part he had taken in it; but as no opposition to the will of the prophet was possible, without open rebellion, he had to content himself as best he could. That was the first visible step leading to Brigham's successorship, and even that was unknown for years to any but those within the sanctum.
By hereditary right, Joseph A. should have been the heir to the prophet's priesthood, and had he governed his appetite for stimulants, he doubtless would have been the successor. But for that he would have outshown the whole Young family; as it was, he filled an early grave.
For some years thereafter the prophet labored hard to clothe Brigham, Jr, with influence. He sent him to Europe, and raised him to the highest dignity in the Mormon Church there; but there was noth-ing to h m but his name. He is the picture of Jim Fisk in everything but brains; and while he was in England his apery of aristocracy was very costly to the Mormons. He traveled in a princely style through Eu-rope, and will long be remembered in Paris by the English-speaking members of the press for one sumptuous repast. He is said to have driven into Hyde Park with an equestrian outfit beyond the limits allowed by law to any person out of the royal household, and to have been heavily fined for it. These stories, and his reputation as a bon vivant, are against his successorship. On John W., the third son, the choice now seems to center. He is not a fanatic, and very little of a Mormon, and these are the best points in his favor, par-adoxical though it may seem.
The first phase of Mormonism is fast passing away among the intellectual men who are con-nected with it. The leading merchants in this city, the Walker Brothers, are apostate Mormons. They were four poor boys when they came to Utah, but of a good English stock, and, when they fully realized their sit-uation, they abandoned the church and struck out for themselves in business. They are the richest men here, after Brigham. Many oth-ers could be named of the same sort, well-known to business men in New York, such as Godbe, Lawrence, Chislett and Cunnington, who are all "apostates" and successful busi-ness men. Then there is a crowd of intelli-gent men who, though still in fellowship with Brigham, have lost faith; such as Captain Hooper, Wm. Jennings, Bishop Sharp, Nicholas Groesbeck, Dan Cliff, Lew Hills, and others, to whom Mormonism has become a business. They have got into it, have formed business relations with the community, and have grown wealthy with its development, and they conclude that it is better to pay a tithing on large incomes, derivable from association with the Mormons, than to break with them and lose it all. So long as they pay they can think as they please, Brigham does not care a fig, and is sure not to call upon them to preach what is not in their hearts, and so there is a perfect entente cordiale between the prophet and them. These men are a power to Brigham; they back him when he wants it, and though they have no voice in saying who shall be the successor of the prophet, they have consider-able to say about who shall not be.
The monied men in Utah want no more fanaticism shaping itself into armed rebellion against the United States, as in '57; no more Mountain Meadows massacres; and no more Marrisite murders and assassintsions. They want the expansion of commerce, the devel-opment of mines, the construction of rail-roads, and the establishment of free schools and institutions of learning, and, if the man who steps into Brigham's shoes can be relied on for sympathy in that direction, he will find the best men in the community ready to sup-port him. Brigham sees this, and he is mak-ing preparations accordingly.
Had Brigham died fifteen years ago, one of his apostles of the old stock, who knew the original Smith, would have succeeded him, but it can not be done now. Brigham has lived so long that his possible successors have gone before him, and those of them who remain have no influence. Five years ago Brigham remodeled the order of his highest priesthood, to provide against the possibility of rebellion at his death. The highest rank up to that time was the First Presidency, composed of Brigham and two counsellors. The next step in authority was the Quorum of Twelve Apostles. Had Brigham died dur-ing that order of things, George A. Smith, who carried the order for the Moun-tain Meadows massacre, would have, by right, succeeded him, and the Twelve Apostles would have sustained his claim. To cut off the possibility of such an occurrence, Brig-ham increased the number of his counsellors to seven, and put into that quorum five new men, two of whom were his own sons. There was dissatisfaction, of course, but no opposi-tion. To placate the Apostle Taylor, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was remod-eled. Orson Hyde, who had been the Presi-dent for thirty or forty years, and Orson Pratt, who was next in rank, were both hus-tled down the scale, on the plea that they had once apostatized, and Taylor and Wood-ruff were elevated over their shoulders.
That the youngest of Brigham's three sons, John W., will be the next President of the Mormon Church is, in this condition of things, morally certain. He will be acceptable to the believing Mormons if Brigham says so, and to the unbelieving Mormons because he is better than any of the others who could be chosen for the position. He is a young man who has traveled a great deal, and, since the building of the Pacific railroad, has made railroad building his profession. During the last five years he has lived more in New York and Philadelphia than in Utah. He has come in contact with business men and capitalists, both in the Pacific and At-lantic States, and would be remarked for his gentlemanly bearing wherever he might be. He enjoys refinement and the best socie-ty, and by a stranger he would never be sus-pected of being the heir presumptive to the Mormon throne. It seemed a short time ago that he had abandoned his father's faith. Pre-vious to his associations with the Gentiles he had three Mormon wives, the last of whom turned his heart from polygamy. He gave the first a divorce, as she had desired; the second had only a church marriage with him, and, as she could not get a divorce, he made her a handsome allowance and lived a monogamic life, chiefly in Philadelphia, though he was a large portion of his time a guest of the St. Nicholas, in your city. He returned here about a year ago, and his father elevated him to his right hand and made him his first counsellor, and he develops back again to a faithful saint. It is reported that he has renewed his marital felicities with his second wife, and it is said has also taken to wife the young widow of his deceased elder brother.
Brigham Young evidently considers that his dynasty is now securely founded, and his new colonization schemes, by pouring his disciples into Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Old Mexico, too, seem designed to further embarrass the Government in dealing with Mormonism.
