sity of murder (blood atonement) in order to save souls. In 1857 Ann Eliza, his fifteenth wife, left him, and petitioned the United States Court for a divorce, which was denied on the ground that the marriage was polygamous, and therefore null and void. In 1871 Brigham was indicted for polygamy, but no conviction was reached through the lax enforcement of the law by the United States officials then in power. Besides his other offices, he was "Grand Archer of the Order of Danites."

He left seventy-five children, all amply provided for. According to some authorities, he had thirty-six wives. Dora Young, one of his numerous daughters, apostatized, and declared that the first thing that opened her eyes to the atrocities of Mormonism was her father's wholesale perjuries. With the bravery of spirit in which this remarkable man encountered every circumstance in his eventful career, Brigham Young arranged his temporal affairs before making his exit from life. He ordered where and how he should be buried. Evidently he feared that some of his many victims would endeavor to procure his body after death, either through motives of revenge or the desire for profit, and his wishes were carefully executed. His grave is in an otherwise unused yard in the rear of one of his houses of residence. An iron railing surrounds a flat gray stone slab, which bears no inscription. The slab is said to weigh several tons, and covers the vault wherein the remains of the second Prophet rest, in a stone sarcophagus surrounded by several outer casings that are cemented with extraordinary care. After his burial there was a report that he was still living, which probably arose from the fact that the most ignorant and deluded of the Mormons were unwilling to believe that Brigham Young was mortal. There are still people among the Saints who aver that their

great Prophet is alive and dwelling somewhere in obscurity from motives that he deems wise and prudential, and that when the time arrives for him to reappear he will return to them with renewed power and glory.

His demise to the better educated of his followers, to his partners in fraud and delusion, was an evident relief. During his life they were merely his puppets, which he swayed at his will. They accepted his policy in all directions, but could carry it out in agreement with their own ideas.

This man will always stand out as a unique character in history. His mental abilities were greater than those of Joseph Smith, but his personal powers of attractiveness were far less. Some one has written of him as follows : "Brigham Young is very human. He can button himself up to an unwelcome visitor in a style that a stranger is not likely to forget; but when he is in excellent humor he is a perfect Chesterfield." He bewailed the fact that there was silver and gold in the hills of Utah; he forbade his people from searching for it, and the first prospectors who went to Utah to look for it he ordered should be assassinated. He said: "If men grow rich they will want fine houses and horses; their women will want fine clothes, and it will be the destruction of our holy religion."

He called himself "the lion of the Lord," and he made freedom of thought as impossible to the Mormons as to idiots or slaves. In common with the elders and other Mormons, Brigham was fond of talking of the mysteries of his religion. Whether it is ever permitted to the unsanctified to gain an insight into these “ mysteries' or no, this much is certain-the facts which are hidden by the sayings and writings of the Mormons are ofttimes more interesting than any, if any, which they have yet disclosed.

CHAPTER XII.

John Taylor elected as successor to the second Prophet-The trial of Rudger Clawson for bigamy-Salt Lake City-Its beautiful location -The Tabernacle and public buildings-Mormon conferencesThe freedom of the ballot in Utah-The present generation of Mormons-The Territory of Utah-Predictions regarding the future of Mormonism-Far-seeing Mormons preparing a rendezvous for the victims of the Edmunds law.

WHEN Brigham Young died, in August, 1877, it was generally believed throughout the civilized world that the disintegration of Mormonism would follow that event. With the removal of his iron and arbitrary rule, it was supposed that there would be an independence of feeling among the Saints that had not previously existed, and that as railways were constructed, mines developed, and industries established, together with the influx of a Gentile population, the founding of Christian schools, and various institutions under the patronage of Christian missions, the whole scheme of "exclusive salvation" would gradually become extinct. The fallacy of such an opinion is shown by the situation of affairs in Utah at the present time. Brigham Young, Jr., failing to secure his father's office, John Taylor was elected as the successor of the second Prophet. The office fell to Taylor, but upon the shoulders of George Q. Cannon the mantle of authority really descended.

Both men have played conspicuous rôles in the history of Mormonism. Both are of English birth, and emigrated to this country when very young. John Taylor is adroit,

shrewd, subtle; is well educated, is a vigorous writer, and possesses the rarest tact, or he never could have steered his way through the stormy seas of Mormon experiences successfully, or adapted himself to the changeful and tyrannical rule of Brigham Young. He was a favorite with Joseph Smith, and was with him and his brother Hyrum in the jail at Carthage, Ill., at the time they were killed by an infuriated mob. He was then called the "Apostle Taylor," and, it is said, "comforted" the brothers while they were in durance vile. As he was a man of marked ability, and made himself useful in many ways in Utah, he was intrusted with important missions by Brigham Young to distant countries, and possibly to keep him from the realization of ambitious schemes at home, as many other men of talent were sent by the shrewd Prophet. In the year 1852 Taylor founded a Mormon school in Paris called "L'Etoile du Deseret,' and has translated the "Book of Mormon” into French and German. He has also written several books for the enlightenment of the Mormons in spiritual matters. Of these is a work he calls "The Government of God," which has been translated into several languages. President Taylor is now considerably over seventy years of age, and has been a resident of the United States for fifty years. He is tall and distinguished in his personal appearance, and has the winning arts which culture and travel frequently give to a man of wit. His residence in Salt Lake City is called "the Gardo," a handsome house that Brigham built for his favorite Amelia, and after the Prophet's death was purchased as the future home for Mormon presidents. It is, in fact, the "White House" to the people, who look upon Taylor as their real president and political as well as spiritual ruler. He has four wives, and while on a mission in the Isle of Jersey a

few years ago made proposals of polygamous marriage to a pretty maiden whom he converted to Mormonism. Through the preaching of Young, Taylor, and Cannon, and other noted men of the faith, there are seventeen places for Mormon meetings in London alone, and a large number of Mormon missionaries scattered over Great Britain. George Q. Cannon has been a resident of the United States for forty years. For several years he was attorney for the Mormons at Washington, and although he has four wives and four broods of children, occupied a seat as delegate in Congress. Some one has said of him: "He is the sweetest and most plausible sophist on earth." When Brigham Young named him for the place he said: "I will thrust polygamy down the throats of Congressmen." Mr. Cannon's Congressional record proved that his leader's opinion of him was amply justified, and that the affairs of his people were adroitly managed by his wily stratagems and the influence of his honeyed speech.

Mr. Cannon has recently been appointed legal controller and counsellor of Mormon affairs by President Taylor. He is the premier of the Mormon estate, the head centre of all matters concerning his people. From his office at St. George he issues the commands, openly or secretly, which are to direct his people. His expressed opinion on any given subject is an Ultima Thule to the followers of Joseph, which they dare not dispute. In a defence of Mormonism Mr. Cannon has written : "Utah has been the Cinderella of the family of States; give her a fair opportunity, and see if she will not rank with all that is admirable and attractive with her more favored sisters."

With the death of Brigham Young the American leadership of the Mormons was at an end, as nearly all