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Show HOW MORMONISM him as they would a cat." Whether they admired his coolness, so as to induce them to desist, or the whole was intended as a scare, I am'unable to say. The doctor being unable to take possession of lands in Zion took one of her fair daughters. I afterward saw him married to Miss Carmichael, the apostate poetess, to whom I have before alluded, and shaking off the dust of the wicked city from their feet, the bride and groom proceeded eastward to the States. While the preemption excitement was rife, it was frequent ly the theme of pulpit discourses, and one Sabbath after noon, when a large congregation had assembled in the Bow ery, Brigham alluded to this subject, and commenting upon the acts of the Gentile settlers, remarked that if one of them should go on his land ( referring to land unlawfully granted to him by the territorial legislature) he would " Give him a preemption to a small tract that would last him to the day of judgment" meaning that he should have a grave. This remark, considered in connection with the assassination of Dr. Robinson, for an offence which the President declares would justify murder, leads some the more strongly to sus pect that the doctor's murder was by authority. The Mormons are an enigma to the Christian world, and the question " What holds together this strange people ? " has been asked me more than once, and the same question, I have no doubt, has arisen in the minds of some who have read these chapters. It might be answered almost as briefly as propounded, < c Their own infatuation, and the ability of Brigham Young, as their leader." With a view to enlighten the public who may feel any interest in the matter, I have referred to the different fea tures of their history as a sect, and to their character as indi viduals to their virtues, as well as to their vices and my motives have been as little influenced by prejudice in one instance as in the other. I have received no favors to prompt words of praise ; nor have I been injured to incite words of condemnation. The conclusions which I may submit, are drawn from a careful study of the people, and I would fain |