OCR Text |
Show COME FROM. 163 England, however, the Mormons know nothing more about the practical workings of polygamy than do the nuns in France. Latterly the president of the English session has been al lowed to take one wife with him ; but this was not permit ted until recently. The former prohibition resulted in con duct disgraceful to some who were sent as well as to the church that sent them. I must mention a rather romantic incident connected with the life of a president who flourish ed in Liverpool not a hundred years ago. While he had two wives in Salt Lake City, he became attracted by a young lady in the city where he was residing, and the inti macy resulted in their marriage. How he evaded the law of the church which requires that plural marriages shall take place only before Brigham Young I do not know ; but he was married nevertheless. He may have been married over again when he returned to Zion, and perhaps reproved for having kept a mistress, for such she must have been consid ered by the church if he was not married according to its laws.. Not long after the celebration of the nuptials, wife number one or number two turned up in Liverpool, when the presi dent found himself in a strait, with two wives, where he would certainly be punished if it were known to the author ities. The young lady was publicly introduced as his wife,. while the American wife was not known to be one. And as the husband had followed the example of Abraham in not remaining true to the wife of his youth, so he followed his example farther, and when in difficulty represented that his Sarah was his sister. In this the man was accidentally con sistent. But as he holds up Abraham as an example, being a polygamist, he should also hold him up as an example being a prevaricator, and if his course justified the one practice, it should also the other, then polygamy and lying ought to be taught together. The president lived several months with his two wives, his first continuing to pass as his sister. The presidents generally are held in high esteem by the resident Mormons, but such is not always the case, as may be seen from the following extract of a letter before me. |