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became the victim of his own delusions. But it must be recollected that he had every thing to lose, and but little to gain, by an abandonment of his imposture. His character had become bad in public estimation; and he could go back into society, and settle down into some useful employment, no easier than the state's prison convict, whom every one shuns as he would a pestilence. He had fixed the mark of Cain upon his own forehead, and could have no future fellowship with his kind, except as an impostor. This is sufficient to account for the desperation of his efforts-it was with him a struggle of life and death. Such, in fact, is the history of all grades of cheats and impostors. What is the career of the counterfeiter but one of peril and punishment a series of narrow escapes and durance? Look at him through life: he suffers every thing; runs the gauntlet of human contumely and prisons; and yet with what tenacity will he adhere to his hazardous employment. No one ever thought, however, of suggesting that such men really believed they were performing good uses to society. Why should the religious impostor be judged by any other rule? Whether he practices upon the credulity of mankind as a pretended prophet, or robs them by debasing the currency, makes no great practical difference, except that the former causes the greater mischief. Both have a similar object in view; they only pursue different roads to the same destination, and are to be judged by the same standard of right.

He was no religious enthusiast who began in fraud and ended in sincerity. He lacked every element of the character. Self-convicted enthusiasts have been

ascetics, subjecting themselves to lonely vigils, selftorture, and rigid mortifications of the flesh. The Mormon prophet, however, inculcated and practiced selfindulgence. His epicurean traits marked his whole career. He was the jolly landlord-the bon-vivant boon companion-the fair-weather militia general, caracoling in gay plumage at the head of his staff on the parade-ground-the man of many wives or concubines -the heated partisan, entering the lists for office, and belaboring his antagonists in the style of the bar-room politician. What room was there in the mind of such a man for sincere enthusiasm ?

He possessed a mind extremely fertile in taking advantage of circumstances as they occur. In a community imbued with popular superstitions and enthusiastic fancies, it is not a hard task to explain away or soften down apparent inconsistencies or untoward events. He was, however, an adept at this business; and not only always ready with a plausible reason for the non-fulfillment of a prophecy or failure of a miracle, but wonderfully skillful in turning them to account. To great cunning he added apparent enthusiasm; and as he dealt with the weakness instead of the strength of human nature, his success more than realized his anticipations.

Not

Joseph Smith possessed great popularity of manners, and extraordinary powers of impressing the popular credulity with faith in the sincerity of his pretensions. In those lay the principal secret of his success. withstanding his numerous vices-which, indeed, may be said to form the subsoil from which all his mental fertility received its nourishment-his name is vene

rated, and his words are law, among his followers. An incident, illustrative of his popularity, is related of him while at Nauvoo. Passing along the streets, he found a number of men engaged at pitching quoits. He pulled off his coat, and entered with zest into the amusement. After the game was finished, he said, "Come, boys, we've had our fun, now let us go and cut a load of wood for Widow B-" No quicker said than done the wood-pile was soon ready for the stove.

He did not possess a high order of talent. He lacked in sagacity and comprehensiveness-traits not commonly found united with sensuality and cunning such as his. He could raise the whirlwind, but could not direct the storm. A better balanced mind would have avoided the troubles at Independence and at Nauvoo; perhaps, too, a better balanced mind would not have engaged at all in the business of imposture. His cunning, indeed, was on a low plane; it fell far below sagacity, and could only operate on the weakest points of humanity. This furnishes some explanation of the extraordinary degree of credulity and patient submission manifested by the mass of his followers. They were the only materials with which he could workthe only minds on which he could impose. This was the extent of his reach, and he could no more go beyond it than the common blacksmith could fashion a Venus de Medici or Greek Slave. His capacity was not even equal to cementing together, in regular form, the materials which he collected together; and the imposture would speedily have become a bygone event, had he not been aided by men of more sagacity, though

quite as little troubled with conscientious misgivings as himself.

Joseph Smith was no martyr. There was, in his case, no passive and resigned submission to the bigotry of the religious persecutor, which has ever distinguished the martyr suffering in defense of his faith. If a martyr, he must have been the first who died with arms in his hands, fighting with his foes. His death was not at the hands of Gentile persecutors, but at those of his own quondam followers-the Higbees, the Fosters, the Laws, and others-in revenge for the numerous wrongs which they charged to his account. The husband whose wife had been dishonored-the brother whose sister had been seduced-the farmer whose horse had been stolen, or building burned-revenged themselves upon the prophet's head, in that hour of retribution, for the injuries which they believed had been inflicted upon them through his agency. His death, nevertheless, was a political mistake, and ought to have been prevented, without reference to pledges given for his safety. He ought, in the regular administration of justice, to have found his way to the penitentiary. Joseph, in the dress of a convict, making shoes or cutting stone, in the service of the state, would have been stripped of the lion's hide, and his followers, in gazing at the disgraced impostor through the bars of a prison, would have become disgusted with the idol of their worship.

CHAPTER VIII.

HISTORY CONTINUED.

Excitement at Nauvoo.-Struggle for the Succession.-Rigdon excommunicated.-Brigham Young elected.-Further Troubles with the Gentiles.-The Saints resolve to quit the United States.-Arrangements for that Purpose. —Nauvoo besieged, and Mormons driven out.-Character of Mormon Community, and alleged Perse

cutions.

THE news of the violent death of the prophet produced the wildest state of grief, apprehension, and indignation among the Saints at Nauvoo. Some were exasperated, others terror-stricken, and there was imminent danger of total disorganization. The members of the "Nauvoo Legion" were for avenging the outrage by the strong hand, which, had it been attempted in the then excited state of the public mind, would have led to their entire destruction. The Mormon leaders of whom one of the most influential was Brigham Young, president of the twelve apostles-exerted themselves successfully to quiet the exasperation of some and the fears of others. Under their advice and management, the wise resolution was adopted to remain peaceable, and trust to the laws for redress. The effect of this movement was immediate. Not only were the Saints in Illinois brought into a state of order and quiet, but two addresses sent forth to those abroad, one of which was signed by Brigham Young, as president of the twelve, dated August 15th, 1844,

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