ONE WEEK LATER FROM UTAH.
MORMON LIFE AND MANNERS.
Polygamy—Tyranny of Brigham Young—Federal
Officers in the Territory—The Return
of the Refugees.
Late News from the Army of Utah.
From Our Special Correspondent.
GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, Friday, July 17, 1858.
THE SECOND CITY OF THE TERRITORY.
The City of Ogden, for years past known as the second city of Utah Territory in point of population and wealth, lies only forty miles to the north of this place. Several years ago, when a population of ten thousand was first claimed for Great Salt Lake City, Ogden was said to be its equal in that respect; but since that time the former place, according to Mor-mon authority, has swollen its number to from twen-ty to thirty-five thousand souls, according to the fancy of the particular relator—while Ogden is also claimed to have increased not a little. I visited the latter city a few days ago for the purpose of seeing for my-self what is its real importance, and whether it dif-iers essentially from the other Mormon settlements which I had already examined. The best read thither lies along the lower edge of the mountain range nearly the entire distance, from several points of which may be obtained magnificent views of Great Salt Lake, embracing its entire width and thirty or forty miles of its length. Another road, winding its way on the upper edge of the valley slope, passes through Sessions Settlement, and half a dozen or more additional villages, each numbering from fifty to an hundred dwellings. Sessions Settlement, ten miles north of this, embraces by far the finest agri-cultural district in the Territory. Here are several hundred acres of land, on which superior crops of wheat and other grains are raised with comparatively little labor. Of course this land is entirely taken up, and has been for many years. The Session farms constitute a perfect oasis in the desert, however, for fee proportion of good lands to the barren in plain sight as the traveler stands upon the mountain side, is about as one to twenty-five.
A CONVERSATION WITH A POLYGAMIST.
I spent a night at the residence of PEREGRINE SES-SIONS—the founder of the settlement—obtaining an excellent supper at his domicile, and enjoying a de-lightful night's rest on a stack of straw in his barn-yard, with no roof, save the broad canopy of heaven, studded with its millions of starry brilliants. Mr. SESSIONS is a native of Maine, who, although seem-ingly a very intelligent, man, embraced Mormonism in its early days, and has followed its varying for-tunes, sharing in its sad experiences from that time to the present. He has three wives, all of whom stem to participate in getting up the "entertainment,'' which a great sign over the door-cap prom-ises to weary travelers. After spending a few hours here, I could not avoid the conviction that, however much deceived "Brother SESSIONS'' may be, he is honest in. his support of Polygamy, and in taking his three wives, has sacrificed his really good looks, as well as his feelings, to stern convic-tions of duty;—gallantry forbids further disquisition upon that point. He accompanied me out to my ex-travagan tcouch, and so afforded me a capital opportu-nity to probe him in reference to the "peculiar in-stitution" of Utah. I pressed him to give me an in-telligible idea of the foundation of Polygamy, inquir-ing how he and his brethren and sisters make it a matter of "religion," and why it was deemed a duty. In response, he favored me with a highly interest-and somewhat poetical discourse, the pith and mar-row of which I reduce to plain prose, thus—without the least exaggeration or coloring: He said that we were all children of God, in the na-tural sense, God had a wife, who was our mother, although the Bible said very little about her. God himself was the father of us all, and peo-pled this world with his own progeny. The spirit of every child born to-day was born of God and his wife long ago; and we of the present day are fathers and mothers only to the bodies of our children—the “tab-ernacles of clay" into which God puts the souls or spirits born of himself as aforesaid. God is only a perfected man ; and when we die and go to the spirit-world, we too, in time, shall be Gods, and have new worlds to people with our offspring, to be born in that future state of existence, just as the Creator of Earth has peopled it with his. This being so, it be-comes important that a man should get as many wives as possible on earth, so that when he gets into eternity and has a world to people, he may be in con-dition to do so quickly—for whatsoever is "sealed" to man upon earth shall be sealed to him in eternity; and "as one star differeth from another in glory, so shall it be in the resurrection." This, according to Mormon interpretation, simply means that whatever wives are sealed to a man on earth will bd h wives in Heaven, and that the glory of his “s’ar” or “world" in that sphere will depend solely upon his facilities for raising children to occupy, populate and develop it. "That is our religion," said Mr. SESSIONS to me in conclusion; ''do you get the idee ?" "Certainly,” I replied. "I think I do. Your faith and supposed obligations of duty in the matter of Polygamy grow oat of the ambition to excel each other in glory in the world to come—just as you are ambitious here to have the largest farms and most numerous herds and flocks. Your Religion, in short, is Ambition." To all of which Brother SESSIONS accorded a somewhat hesi-tating and doubtful assent, evidently a little suspicious that, after all, he had failed to convince me of the propriety and necessity of adding half a dozen wives to my household, as a means of cultivating the Chris-tian graces.
Every other man than Mr. SESSIONS, whom I have approached upon the subject of Polygamy, has dashed off in a tangent, defending the institution by citing the example of the Patriarchs, and evading the reason of the faith which he professes. I believe that Mr. S. has given us the strongest—indeed the only doctrinal ex-position upon the subject. Is it to be wondered that among the deluded victims of Mormonism, there are so very few men or women of marked intelligence who remain true to the faith, when forced to examine its foundations?
Polygamy is not confined to Mormons alone in Utah Territory. There is no law against it, and the doctrine of the Church, and people is, that any man who can find the women, and any one to perform the ceremony of marriage, may have a dozen, wheth-er he be Saint or Gentile. But there's the rub, for the Church takes care that no Gentile shall be mar-ried by its priests at all,—and, of course, the Gentile Federal authorities will not marry any one who is already known to have one living wife. One cannot forbear the suggestion here, how much more fortu-nate the Gentile is, (according to Mormon doctrine,) who loses three or four successive wives by death, and so gets a fifth, to enjoy them all in Heaven,—than is his brother, whose one wife is inconsiderate enough to live so long as to cut short his measure of happiness in the world to come. In conclusion upon this topic, I have one general remark to make,—to to wit: That the system of Polygamy is notoriously destructive of everything like affection and tenderness between man and wife. In no single instance have I been able to discover the least trace of any such sentiment between the husband of several wives and the latter. Between all of them, so far as I have had opportunity to observe, there is a coldness and re-straint heart-chilling to the man accustomed to the endearments, the respectful consideration and the genial, confiding tone of voice, so much appreciated and so marked at the family fireside, under more nat-ural and more favorable auspices.
THE MORMONS IN OGDEN.
Our party arrived at Ogden City the next evening, where WE put up at the residence of Bishop CHAUN-CEY W. WEST, formerly of Livingston County, New-York. Mr. WEST is apparently about thirty-five years of age, has five wives, and is a prominent and highly influential man in the Church. His residence is a range of one-story log houses, containing five rooms in a row fronting to the street, with a lean- to addition on the rear containing chambers. His household affairs were evidently conducted with or-der and neatness, and his family, as a whole, was the most comfortable in appearance, as well as most re-fined in manners, of any that I have seen hire in which poly gamy is practiced. The Bishop himself has the appearance of an honest and upright man, bu the depressing gloom of religious fanaticism rests heavily on his brow, giving him the appearance of one who is ill at ease, as though forced by circum-stances to lend himself to arts which his better judgment repels. This place, like most of the Mormon settlements, is surrounded by a mud wall, constructed of the earth taken from a moat dug just outside of it. The town is very dull, only a small portion of its inhabitants having re-turned yet from their refuge-sojourn at Provo and other southern settlements. There is not a single merchant's store in town, nor are there many work-shops in operation. Some of the dwellings are quite neat and tasteful in construction, but far the largest proportion are little more than hovels—places in which the people stay because they can get no , better. So far from the place having a population of 10,000, years ago, a liberal estimate, based upon the number of its dwellings, would scarcely give it 3,000 inhabitants to-day, when all filled. The mass of the people here are evidently very poor, This is true of the whole Territory, and especially of the smaller settlements, of which there are several between here and Ogden. Their dwellings are comfortless, and so far from inviting or favoring the commonest decency in living, actually forbid it, by rendering it impossi-ble. Squalid poverty stares at us from every door and window. Not one woman in ten has a pair of shoes to her feet, their garments are of the coarsest material, and their children ragged, half naked, shockingly dirty, and rude as young Indians. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule, but they are comparatively few outside of Salt Lake City—al-though even here the foregoing description will ap-ply to two-thirds the population.
SCENES OF DESTITUTION.
The refugees returning from the southern settle-ments continue to line the road with their trains of wagons, herds and flocks. Some of these trains pre-sent scenes by no means pleasant to the eye. Here we see a young girl of eighteen, with bare feet and a half-clad form, driving a yoke of oxen, and there, a tender little girl of scarcely 8 years of age, whipping up two or three obstreperous pigs, dragging her little feet wearily and painfully over the sharp gravel road. The wagons are usually piled up with the coarsest and commonest furniture, with a chicken-coop and its cackling occupants strapped upon the rear. Sometimes the pig occupies this post, and the chickens are packed inside the vehicle with the children. But everywhere, poverty—poverty—squalid poverty, meets us, turn as we will. Spend half an-hour in a merchant's store, and we see old women and young girls in plentiful numbers, approaching, with a few new potatoes, a dozen eggs, a handfull of onions, a pound or two of butter, which they—half hopingly and half doubtingly—offer in barter for some trifle of goods—a yard of cotton or calico, or a little thread—casting their eyes wistfully, the while, over the well-filled shelves of goods of which they are so much in need. The People have been warned not to trade with the Gentiles, but the cases are so nu-merous in which the law of necessity is stronger than the law of tie Church, that the merchants are driving a brisk trade, sending their barter supplies of provision to the camp, where they find ready sale.
TYRANNY OF BRIGHAM YOUNG.
I informed you a week ago that the Townsend House, opened as a hotel by its owner, had been suddenly closed by BRIGHAM'S order. Since then HE-BER C. KIMBALL has purchased the establishment and put an agent into it, under whose management it is in full blast. TOWNSEND, who owned the property and several adjoining buildings, but had been fool enough to "consecrate" it to the church, has been ordered away from the city for his temerity in opening it and taking Gentiles to board without BRIG-HAM'S consent! You are already aware, I suppose, that when a Mormon "consecrates" his property, he makes a regular deed of it to BRIGHAM as (to use the accustomed phrase here,) "Trustee in trust for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." Thus he absolutely signs away all control over the prop-erty he has acquired, and becomes a beggar them o-ment he dares resist the despotic will of his priestly superior ! Do you understand that these are solemn facts, incident to life in a Territory of the United States under the American Constitution, and in this nineteenth century?
Mr. NIXON, who had the impudence to rent his warehouse to Messrs. GILBERT & GERRISH, after BRIG-HAM had told them distinctly that they should obtain none with his consent, has been ordered off upon a mission, as a penance for his crime. Mr. MORELL, who had been requested to vacate the rooms rented by him in the Townsend House for Post-Office pur-poses, assured the brethren that if they compelled him to move again he would go to the camp of the army, forty-five miles distant, for that he would not be badgered about any longer. The Saints saw that, if they insisted, there was a fair prospect of being more incommoded themselves than the Gentiles would be, and so they have concluded to let him alone.
The Quartermaster's Department of the United States Army has issued proposals for bids for fur-nishing hay and lumber for public purposes, and it has been a subject of prayerful consideration with the church whether or no they shall allow their peo-ple to put in any bids. Their numerous army of spies soon reported that it would be the policy of the Government officials, in awarding the contracts, to discriminate as far as they could consistently, in fa- the man orders, and against the Church leaders. It was easy to magnify this and declare it to be the fixed purpose of the Uni-ted States Army here to get up dissensions among the people, and so destroy their unity, by a judicious dis tribution of federal gold. The leaders have started that story, are attempting to poison the minds of their followers with it, and to arouse their prejudices that they may more easily carry out the policy which they intimate that they have decided upon—to wit: That of refusing to put in any bids, whatever, with a view of frustrating the efforts of the Army to procure its necessary supplies. There is a continually spread-ing feeling of discontent among the masses of the people, however, and we have reason to hope that the supplies of forage needed will be offered in small lots. But the cañons in which the timber grows, though legally the property of the United States, are covered by the Squatter claims of BRIGHAM and other leaders in Israel,—and it looks now as though the necessary material for covering in the buildings indis-pensable for storage purposes, and to make the army safe and comfortable during the Winter can only be had by the strong hand. When it is remembered that the title to the timber is still in the United States, no one can doubt the justice of this policy, if the "Squatters" insist upon playing dog in the manger. Surely, in such a case, the law of necessity may and ought to be applied without hesitation.
One more case exemplifying the spirit in which this "Constitution-loving" community of "good citizens" are indulging, will suffice. Mr. CHARLES MOGO, who incurred BRIGHAM'S hostility while in the public service here a year or more ago, was driven out. He returned hither with his family when the army entered, to find his dwelling-house stripped of its furniture and all else that he left in it. Having a stock of goods on hand, brought in with him, he sent them to some of the Southern settlements for sale. The Church offi-cers immediately forbade the people from making any purchases of his agent upon pain of excommuni-cation—a sentence which was executed against the latter, who succeeded in secretly bartering away all his stock with little difficulty.
THE FEDERAL OFFICERS.
It will be remembered that during the Spring and Summer of last year the Mormons made strenuous efforts to discredit the reports of the returning United States officials, by circulating through the Press cal-umnious reports concerning their private and official conduct in the Territory. Prominent among these was an affidavit by a man who had been employed in the Surveyor's Office, making the most serious charges against DAVID. H. BURS, Esq,, late Surveyor-General of Utah—charges which the TIMES then stamped as unblushing falsehoods, which could de-ceive no one who knew Mr. BURR personally. To-day your position stands thoroughly vindicated by a counter affidavit recently made by the same party, CHARLES W. MOELLER, in which he repudiates his former declaration, stating it was utterly and basely false; that it was extorted from him by fear of personal danger in case he should not sign it; that he was unduly under the influence of liquor at the time he set his name to it; that alterations were made in the original draft of it by one or more of the following-named parsons who were present when he signed it: BRIGHAM YOUNG, ALBERT CARRINGTON, HIRAM CLAWSON, WILLIAM H. HOOPER, JAMES W. CUMMINGS, and his clerks; that such alterations were made without his consent; that he never knew of any act or word of General DAVID H. BURR which was not entirely upright and honorable; that he was guilty of in-gratitude as well as of untruth in swearing to any such affidavit as that already noted; and j that he believes that the motive of the Mormons who induced him by fear of personal danger to sub-scribe and swear to that affidavit, was groundless, unjust and vile personal malice against General DAVID H. BURR. Lest it should be suspected that Mr. MOELLER made his recantation under re-straint, let me say that I know him to be entirely un-restrained in his movements, and to have been in familiar friendly intercourse with the parties who wit-nessed the act of recantation subsequent thereto. Since making it, however, he has gone to the camp of the Army to seek protection against the personal consequences which, he fears, will be visited upon him for his apostacy from the church, and his ex-posure of its rascality in the case of Mr. BURR. I need not suggest that this affair adds still another to the abundant evidences of the terrorism which reigns here as the very essence of the Mormon sys- tem of Government.
THE TERRITORIAL LIBRARY.
There has been not a little jugglery going on be-tween Governor CUMMING and the Church leaders with reference to the Territorial Library. I have heretofore narrated the evidences upon which the Federal authorities based their statements that the Library had been destroyed, in connection with the Governor's unqualified declaration that the story of its destruction was, to his knowledge, absolutely false and without foundation. Recent events tend to strengthen the suspicion that the Governor was deceived, and that he has been led into sending to Washington a certificate of the integrity of the Library which cannot be sustained by the facts. When I first ar-rived here, I asked permission of the Governor to look at a book of reference, and was peremptorily informed that the Library was closed for the pres-ent. And closed it has remained until a day or two since, when Judge ECKLES' request for admis-sion to the Library met a similar response. The Judge insisted upon his legal right to refer to whatever books the Library contained, and succeeded in obtain-ing entrance. Ten minutes' glance established the fact that at least part of the Law Library in missing, for of eight books, most commonly in use, called far by Judge Eckles, only one could be found! The presumption is that the Mormons have been attempting to keep the establishment closed until they could replace the books destroyed, and so seem to fasten a falsehood, in relation to a very important point, upon the late Federal officials. Charity prompts the hope that Governor CUMMING has not knowingly connived at this dirty scheme. The fact that many volumes are missing to-day, I have from the lips of Judge ECKLES himself, who is too independent a man to equivocate when asked a plain and proper question. The facts fully sustain the assertion that that part of the Public Library was destroyed at the time charged, and as the whole of it was invisible to Gentile eyes at the time, it was natural to suppose the destruction com-plete.
THE ARMY.
The army is still at "Camp Floyd," in Cedar Val-ley, but will probably more soon from its eastern ex-tremity, twelve or fourteen miles further west. A line of daily stage coaches, between this city and the camp has been established and is liberally patronized. The Volunteer Battalion is to start on Monday next on the march for Fort Leavenworth, where it will be disbanded. Those members of the corps who pre-fer to be discharged here, and be employed in the Quartermaster's Department, are to be provided for in that way, and those who desire to go to California are to be discharged at camp with two months' ra-tions.
We have news here of a fatal affray at Camp, a few days ago, between two teamsters, named SIMPSON und WALKER, in which the latter killed the former, almost instantly, by a severe blow in the neck with a Bowie knife. SIMPSON is stated to have been a noted Texan bully. He had attacked WALKER, who is alleged to have acted in self-defence. But your Army Corres-pondent, doubtless, will give you the particular with more accuracy than I can at this distance. Deser-tions from the Army have been frequent of late, under circumstances leading to the conviction that the Mormons are inciting it.
SALT LAKE CITY.
Notwithstanding the people in this city have quite settled down in their homes again, we had no public service last Sabbath, and it is said there is to be no public assemblage of the people again until Winter. The Church leaders, however, arc almost constantly in council. BRIGHAM remains constantly confined to his house, and has not been seen out of doors since his arrival in the city. All the gates in the walls which surround his block are locked and barred, ex-cept the one directly in front of his own private office, at which a guard of five men is stationed con-tinually, and no one is admitted, even within the outer gate, until his name has been sent in, and BRIG-HAM has consented to see him.
For one I am heartily sick and tired of intercourse with his strangely anomalous people, where no man considers it beneath his dignity to play the spy, and scarce any one dares maintain a shade of manly in-dependence. Having made liberal arrangements for the continuance of your Utah correspondence, I leave for San Francisco within a day or two from which point I hope to date my next communication-
S.
Late News from the Army
THE CAMP AT CEDAR VALLEY—SCENS AND
Correspondence of the New-York Times.
CAMP FLOYD, CEDAR VALLEY, U. T., July 16, 1853.
Since the departure of your special correspond-ent "S.," who has made many friends for himself and your valuable paper during his stay among us, I can scarcely be wrong in supposing that you will be pleased to hear occasionally of the operations of the little Army which has now for a year or more been the subject of so much anxious interest in the States.
It would be almost absurd to think of giving you much news from a camp where the daily duties are the routine of military life, and one which is located much as an eagle's nest upon the summit of lofty mountains, with no nearer village than a small ranch of a few houses inhabited, by a set of polygamous Saints, happy in their enjoyment of the luxury of the plurality system, and until now in their isolation from contact with the obnoxious Gentile. Yet it is often-times an interesting fact to friends to know that there is nothing new, and a consolation to feel that those who are dear to them are safe, and at least as com-fortable as when last heard from.
Since passing the fortifications of the Cañons, the impression has become general in camp, that Brother BRIGHAM never intended to fight. Those misguided and deluded creatures, who are so much under the control of the three senior prophets, seers and reve-lators, no doubt were sincere in their hostile inten-tions, and perhaps anticipated the satisfaction of “wiping out" the Army of Utah as it passed through the mountain gorges, or else it would be difficult to conceive their willingness to endure the privations which they must have suffered, in their hovels and arbors during the Winter. The amount of useless labor which they performed in erecting their defen-ces, in the dead of Winter, is almost incredible. I call it useless, as there were two methods by which it could have been rendered unavailable : One by taking another more open route into the valley, and the second by turning and gaining the rear of all the positions which they had selected, and malting them more formidable to them than to us.
Our camp at the City, or opposite to it, on this side of the Jordan, was in a large inclosure claimed by that grasping institution called the Church. The wind was incessant and violent, and the light, sandy soil, cut up in all directions by the hoofs of six thous-and animals, was so easily set in motion that the dust was insufferable. Then, too, the country in the im-mediate vicinity of the City afforded no grazing ground for the herds. For the above reasons it was determined to move to a camp with a firmer soil, and affording a range for the animals, without the neces-sity of sending them more than two or three miles from the main guards.
There is another reason, perhaps, which influenced Gen. JOHNSTON in deciding to make his stay in such close proximity to the City short, and that is that a nonintercourse rule was established on both sides : by BF. IGHAM, that his people might not have the op-portunity of associating with the Gentiles, and learn-ing some of their notions upon personal rights,—and by Gen, JOHNSTON, that the troops might net molest in any way the untenanted houses and uncared for gardens, and thereby confirm the opinion which BRIGHAM had endeavored to impress upon the minds of his followers that the military force was only an "armed mob,"
The Saints refused positively to sell any vegeta-bles, or "garden sass," as they term it, to the troops, and it would have been taxing human nature too severely almost to require them to abstain from helping themselves much longer under the circum-stances.
The good discipline of the Army was forcibly shown when we remember that the troops had been without fresh vegetables far more than a year, and that neglected gardens were within their sight, teem-ing with abundance, and separated from them only by the placid Jordan.
We commenced our march toward this point on the morning of the 30th ult, and passing over a deso-late arid plain, ascended a gentle slope toward the mountains, about twenty miles from the city, and en-camped upon a rapid little stream called West Creek. Finding here excellent grazing for the animals, and much less dust than in the camp which we had left, it was decided to pass a few days, as well as have the usual muster on the last day of the month. General JOHNSTON, in the meantime, accompanied by a board of experienced officers, had gone on a tour of obser-vation to Hush, Tuille and Cedar Valleys, in order to select a location for a permanent camp, with a view to the necessary wood, water and grass, and proxim-ity to the settlements. We remained a day or two after his return, and then set out for Cedar Valley, as possessing more advantages combined than any of the positions examined. The camp on West Creek, like the one opposite the city, soon became intolerably dusty, and the high winds to which we were exposed aggravated the nuisance ; the water was scam also, and we below were cither forced to drink a mixture of mud and water, of the consistence of molasses, or send some two miles into the moun-tains for a clear specimen of the protoxide. Whether our departure may not have been hastened a little by the downfall of the General's tent, and the consequent good dusting which he received, I cannot say with certainty, but it was rumored immediately after the accident alluded to, that a move would be made the next day. As the majority were eager to leave, we might remark that that wind blew somebody good, even if it did bring down the General's ranch and envelop him in dust.
While at this camp we were visited by a few of the Saints.—some with notions and produce for sale, some thirsting after information to convey to BRIG-HAM, and others, I should judge from appearances, after scenes very dry for spiritual consolation ; not that, however, derived from a ducking in the effica-cious waters of the Jordan, but imported in substan-tial iron-bound casks, containing each thirty-one gal-lons, by MR. PERKY, the Sutler, in a train recently arrived from the Banks of the Missouri. The Saints usually take kindly to the imported whisky.
This camp may also deserve a peculiar notice from its proximity to the dwellings of two of the hard-working members of the Church, one a man named SNYDER, and the other the notorious and infamous BILL HICKMAN.
On our next day's march, we forded the Jordan twice, passed the point that HEBER said would be a bone-yard if we advanced that far toward Provo, and encamped in a grassy bottom on the left bank, some two miles from Utah Lake, and three or four from the village of Lehi.
We remained in this camp two days, as we unini-tiated in the mysteries of reasons at Head quarters imagined, for the purpose of allowing the men to bathe and wash their clothing. No one could scarce-ly charge the General with entertaining the belief that this bathing in the sacred stream would more than remove the outward uncleanliness of his men, for most of us regard him as a stubborn skeptic upon the Mormon doctrines in every respect. The whole army support him in the belief that it will require something more than brackish water to cleanse the Saints of their moral filth. My humble opinion is, that baptism in sulphur or brimstone, combined with certain other purifying materials, is the only remedy for their ailings at present, and though the President does not seem disposed to administer that prescrip-tion now, we feel confident that they will receive a full portion hereafter, provided there is any truth in what I was wont to hear preached by Presbyterian clergymen when I was a boy.
The march from the Jordan to the present camp was about eleven miles up a gradual ascent to the base of a snow-covered range of mountains. Here we are, it is said, to remain until the small assaque, or irrigating ditch, which runs through the Camp, dries up. The headquarters and staff are near the mouth of the Canon, and then below, along the as-saque, is the 12-pound battery, manned by a com-pany of the 5th Infantry, the 5th Infantry, the 10th Infantry, the Volunteer Battalion, Colonel LORING'S command, composed of one Company and a detach-ment of Mounted Rifles, one company of the 1st Cavalry, one company of the 7th Infantry, two com-panies of the 6th Infantry, and three of the 3d Infan-try ; below this last command is PHELP'S light battery, and in rear of the last two the 2d Dragoons.
The stream is now quite large enough for our pur-poses, the water is coal and pleasant to the taste, and cedar-wood abundant. Grass is abundant in the valley, tut the soil being very light, and apparently not moistened since the deluge, is carried about by tie wind in all directions, and deposited among our papers, clothing, books, bedding and food, in quanti-ties sufficient to insure our consumption of our peck regularly each week.
The weather is intensely warm during the day, but the nights are cool arid pleasant. A portion of Lake Utah is visible from the camp, and I should judge was a thousand feet below us.
In the present aspect in this territory the Army is doing nothing, and never will do anything as long as the Saints are permitted to entertain the be-lief that their course hitherto has been revealed from above to their principal prophet, and that all their treasonable course last Fall has been justified and forgiven, and they have forced, the Government of the United States into its present course toward them.
The Volunteer Battalion leaves, on the 19th inst., for the States, to be mustered out of service at Fort Leavenworth. Captain B. E. BEE, of the 10th Infan-try, who, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, com-mands them, and Lieut. JAMES H. HILL, 10th Infantry, the Adjutant of the Battalion, are ordered to remain in their present positions and march them through. The General compliments them upon their good be-havior during the Winter, and the efficiency which they have acquired. in so short a period. They ap-pear well as soldiers, and Colonel BEES is justly enti-tled to great credit for their habitually correct deport-ment and efficient discipline.
A market-place has been erected in rear of the camp where the Saints may bring their notions and sell them under the protection of a guard. Milk, buttermilk, butter, eggs, cheese, onions and potatoes are the staples, milk at twenty-five cents per quart, butter sixty cents per pound, eggs sixty cents per dozen, cheese fifty cents per pound, onions twenty-five cents a small bunch, old potatoes two dollars, and new four dollars, per bushel are the usual prices. In trade the Saints lie and cheat quite as much as Jews or Gentiles, and have commenced a traffic with the sol-diers in an article of domestic manufacture called valley-tau, which is an alcholic fluid made from wheat, and answers the purpose of whisky. I am informed that it is the most disagreeable drink ever manufactured, but, from the effect upon those who use it, judge it quite as potent as any of the miné-rifle liquor which the Gentiles bring from the States. This trade could not last long as the Provost-Marshal of the Camp, Lieut. GROVER, of the 10th Infantry, is argus-eyed find as perfectly acquainted with the ways of misdoers about a military camp as one of your new Metropolitan Police captains.
Yours, Q.
MORMON VIEWS OF THE CONDITION OF AFFAIRS.
A RETROSPECT—BLESSINGS OE OBEDIENCE—THE RECEPTION
OF GOV CUMMING.
We have received files of the Deseret News, but they contain very little definite intelligence of Mor-mon movements; the editor carefully abstaining from the publication of the long and ribald discourses with which the paper formerly teemed.
The News praises Gov. CUMMING:
"The participation of Gov. CUMMING in the Con-ferences was highly gratifying to all present, for he had enough manliness, humanity, Americanism and sound judgment to cause him to advance beyond bay-onet points and cannon mouths, in proceeding to the field of his duties ; and from the time of his first ar-rival he has constantly been as energetic as any one could be, in efforts to compass the present amicable adjustment of the late ‘difficulties.' "
The 27th of June being the fourteenth anniversary of the death of JOSEPH and HYRUM SMITH, the News indulges in a retrospective view of toe progress of Mormonism. It says:
"From west to east, from north to south, has this message been carried; its bearers penetrating almost every sea aid traversing almost every land, have cir-cumnavigated the globe. On every continent is his name had in honor by the righteous and in reproach by the wicked. Little did his enemies think when they so cruelly slew him that this would be the result. Lit-tle did they they think that they were contributing to bring to pass and fulfill that which had been foretold through him. Yet this doubtless was the case, for, instead of the work being retarded by his death, it received an impetus. It increased in power and im-portance beyond the calculations of those who knew by the prophecies what the result would be, but in-calculably beyond that, which those who opposed it supposed it ever would."
Of the Peace Commissioners and General JOHN-STON, the News says:
"Commissioners POWELL and MCCULLOCH felt to assure the people of Utah that General JOHNSTON and his command would not in any wav infringe in the least upon the person, rights or property of any one, or locate near any of our settlements ; and it is ex-pected that the United States officers and troops will comport themselves in accordance with the Consti-tution and laws, for the inhabitants of Utah will most certainly do so, as they ever have, in which event all 'difficulties' will remain peacefully ended.
Ex-Governor POWELL was convinced that the troops, now concentrated on the frontiers, were abso-lutely needed at other points; and expected that they would be detailed to other places, without it be a small portion to pass through Utah to the Pacific, or to be stationed on the road for the protection of emi-grants.
Undoubtedly General JOHNSTON, through his supe-rior judgment, will locate his command in Cache Val-ley, that being the most suitable point, and the best supplied with grass, wood and water, of any other in this part of the Territory, and the citizens in that Val-ley are willing to sell their improvements to the Quartermaster, for the convenience of the troops.
The blessings of obedience are set forth in a long article, from which we copy a paragraph :
"What has produced the unanimity and peace that prevail among this people, and that make so great a distinction between us and churches and communities in the world? It has been the obedi-ence which the people of the Church have paid to the authorized head. For the Church of Christ to be successful in its mission, it needs this peculiarity in its members in these days as much as it needed it in former days. The ancient disciples were taught to pray that God's kingdom might come, and His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. His kingdom being established on the earth, His will should be as implicitly obeyed here as in heaven. His authorized agent here should be as unmurmuringly heeded as the angel of His presence or any other authority there When a peo-ple refuse to do this—refuse to obey the voice of the Lord's authorized agents or ministers, or follow their counsel. He will not fail to visit them by chastise-ment and they will experience His displeasure."
The following vote of thanks is tendered to the President:
"We tender our thanks to President BUCHANAN for pardoning acts committed m holding the wrist to a band grasping a weapon to destroy cur lives, and that, too, for no breach of law on our part, for we emphatically affirm that all allegations of our dis-obedience to the Constitution and laws of the United States are untrue."
