History of Salt Lake City, Part 61

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company
Number of Pages: 1194

USA > Utah > Salt Lake County > Salt Lake > History of Salt Lake City > Part 61

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The passage of the Cullom Bill in the House signified the immediate despatch to Utah of a large reinforcement of troops to execute the bill. The almost uni- versal expectation throughout the country was that we were on the eve of another " Mormon war,"-that the Cullom Bill could not possibly be executed only by military force, and that the Mormons would resist the execution of the bill, against which they had so resolutely protested. Throughout the nation the affair was a great sensation, and at home in Utah was very serious in its war aspect. The Gentiles were most positive in their assurance that the Government would send on troops to " wipe out the Mormon theocracy." Indeed, it was reported that troops were already on the way for that purpose.

There can be no doubt that the mass meetings of the Mormon women, pro- testing against the Cullom Bill and affirming the sacredness of their marriage had greatly impressed the sympathetic heart and magnanimous mind of the American people. It was frankly confessed in the leading journals, both East and West, that some of the speeches of such women as " Sister Woodruff," were, for their bold tone, worthy their "revolutionary mothers " whose conduct they offered as their pattern. She said :

" I am proud that I am a citizen of Utah, and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have been a member of this church for thirty-six years, and had the privilege of living in the days of the Prophet Joseph, and heard his teaching for many years. He ever counseled us to honor, obey and maintain the principles of our noble Constitution, for which our fathers fought, and which many of them sacrificed their lives to establish. President Brigham Young has always taught the same principle. This glorious legacy of our fathers, the Constitution of the United States, guarantees unto all the citizens of this great Republic the right to worship God according to the dictates of their own con- sciences, as it expressly says, ' Congress shall make no laws respecting an estab- lishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' Cullom's bill is in direct violation of this declaration of the Constitution, and I think it is our duty

468

HISTORY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

to do all in our power, by our voices and influence, to thwart the passage of this bill, which commits a violent outrage upon our rights, and the rights of our fathers, husbands and sons ; and whatever may be the final result of the action of Congress in passing or enforcing oppressive laws, for the sake of our religion, upon the noble men who have subdued these deserts, it is our duty to stand by them and support them by our faith, prayers and works, through every dark hour, unto the end, and trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to defend us and all who are called to suffer for keeping the commandments of God. Shall we, as wives and mothers, sit still and see our husbands and sons, whom we know are obeying the highest behest of heaven, suffer for their religion, without exerting ourselves to the extent of our power for their deliverance ? No; verily no ! God has revealed unto us the law of the patriarchal order of marriage, and commanded us to obey it. We are sealed to our husbands for time and eternity, that we may dwell with them and our children in the world to come ; which guarantees unto us the greatest blessing for which we are created. If the rulers of the nation will so far depart from the spirit and letter of our glorious Constitution as to deprive our prophets, apostles and elders of citizenship, and imprison them for obeying this law, let them grant this, our last request, to make their prisons large enough to hold their wives, for where they go we will go also."

The American public admired; but answered the sisters that "their cause was not as good as their mother's cause had been in Washington's day." The Mor- mon people, however, believed in the integrity of their cause, and therein was the danger to the parties most concerned. Connected with these mass meetings of women, as we have seen, was that great meeting held by the Mormon people in the Tabernacle, at which ten thousand people voted by acclamation an extraordi- nary " Remonstrance " against the Cullom Bill, besides adopting a very elaborate apostolic statement to Congress, of the polygamic revelation and duties of the Mormon Church ; in it was also incorporated the bold declaration that " this Church" would stand by her faith and polygamic institutions. This age has never witnessed another such example of religious defiance of all earthly govern- ments, not even was that of the " Utah war " its equal, for this was made, not in isolation now, but in the very face of the American Nation, with the railroad completed over which, in a few days, troops could have been hurried by the con- queror of the South.

This condition of things-this manifestation of the "irrepressible conflict" from both sides-appalled the best men of the Godbeite movement. In most re- spects touching the situation they were fully in accord with the entire Mormon people. Mr. William Shearman fully expressed their mind when he said, " He would feel just as opposed to the bill were it aimed at any other people than the Mormons, because he considered it unjust, unconstitutional and impolitic, and as an American citizen, he felt he had a perfect right to discuss or dissent from any meas- ures of the Government.

During the agitation, and before the passage of the Cullom Bill in the House, it was resolved, by the Godbeite leaders, that William S. Godbe should at once proceed to Washington to lay before President Grant the full state of affairs and " to counsel " with him ; for they had reasons to believe that the President desired

469

HISTORY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

this. There was also an elaborate " budget " written on Utah affairs and policy and despatched to the President through Government officers to prepare him for the interview. That " budget" bore date " March 8th, 1870."

Mr. Godbe started for Washington immediately afterwards. He was intro- duced to President Grant by Vice-President Colfax. " Mr. Godbe," observed the President, " I am as solicitous as you can possibly be to preserve the Mormon people ; and then he added, with marked significance, that he would himself " save the Mormon people from their dangerous leaders." If more troops were sent to Utah they would be merely designed as a " moral force," he said, to give those leaders "to understand that the Nation intended to enforce her laws in Utah."

Mr. Godbe also had an interview with General Cullom. Together, these gen- tlemen went through the " Cullom Bill," section by section, Mr. Godbe suggest- ing revisions and toning it to better suit the peculiar conditions of the Mormon people. At length, half provoked, the Hon. Member from Illinois exclaimed, " My G-d, Mr. Godbe, you would strike out all the points of my bill !" But the Utah advocate plead the cause of the Mormon people with so much earnest- ness and feeling that all the animus of prosecution was killed. He showed how a devoted Christian people had been moulded by their apostles and their religious faith ; how polygamy had grown up in the Church years after the conversion of a hundred thousand disciples to the original Mormon faith; how they had, as a rule, gone into polygamy sincerely believing it to be the will of God; and how so many dear good women had been already crucified for their religion and their wifely and motherly loves; and he urged that it would indeed be cruel, now, for civiliza- tion itself to crucify them afresh instead of redeeming them. He also plead that sufficient time should be given the Mormon people for a new education,-enforced in the argument the new conditions : that isolation was passing away forever, - that civilization was fast coming up to them.

At that moment, Mr. Cullom was touched with conviction. He perceived that there were events and changes occurring in Mormon society that would, in a reasonable time, accomplish even more than he could hope to be effected by his bill. "Well, Mr. Godbe," said he, in closing his interview, " I shall have to vote for my bill ; " but his words bore the interpretation that he would be satisfied with its simple passage in the House. It did pass the House but it was never brought up for action in the Senate, though Senator Cragin had undertaken its passage there.

470

HISTORY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

CHAPTER LII.

DR. NEWMAN'S EVANGELICAL CRUSADE AGAINST MORMON POLYGAMY. HE AR- RIVES IN SALT LAKE CITY. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE CHAPLAIN OF THE SENATE AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE MORMON CHURCH. NEWMAN ACCEPTS THE CHALLENGE. BRIGHAM DENIES THE CHAL- LENGE, BUT INVITES THE DOCTOR TO PREACH IN THE GREAT TABER- NACLE. NEWMAN'S INDIGNATION: HE CHALLENGES BRIGHAM, WHO ACCEPTS, AND NAMES ORSON PRATT AS HIS SUBSTITUTE. THE GREAT DISCUSSION BEFORE TEN THOUSAND PEOPLE.

In the meantime, since the passage of the Cullom Bill, Dr. Newman had been creating a sensation throughout the country over the subject of polygamy. Vice. President Colfax, in his discussion with Apostle John Taylor, had confined hin - self principally to the State aspects of the question ; but Dr. Newman took up the discussion on Bibical grounds. The speech of Delegate Hooper on the Cullom Bill had embodied, for the information of Congress, quite an elaborate Biblical review and defence of the "peculiar institution." This, it was said, provoked the evangelical ire of the chaplain of the Senate ; and, in turn, he discoursed eloquently on the subject of Mormon polygamy, to the admiration of his aristocratic con- . stituency of the Metropolitan Methodist Church.

The Saints in Zion were much amused at the scene in Washington, and de- cidedly pleased that their institutions should at length be theologically glorified in " high places." So, with journalistic tact, Mr. Edward Sloan, acting editor of the Salt Lake Daily Telegraph, suggested that the chaplain of the Senate should discuss the subject in the Mormon Tabernacle, it being out of place in Washing- ton. Dr. Newman, affecting to regard this as a challenge from Brigham Young, "accepted the challenge," and publicly announced his purpose of visiting Utah to discuss with Brigham Young the subject of Mormon polygamy. On their side the Apostles humored the self-delusion of the reverend champion ; and, though the " Challenge " was a transparent hoax, they were quite ready to give the Chap- lain of the Senate a taste of their apostolic steel. In the event of the polygamic tournament, Orson Pratt was universally chosen by the Mormons as their cham- pion; and soon the Paul of Mormondom and the Chaplain of the Senate of the United States, were engaged in a preliminary encounter through the columns of the New York Herald.

The coming discussion in Zion created a great noise. In some sense, it was a national event. There was just that novelty in it, too, that the public taste so dearly relishes. The American people were prepared for a treat, and the Chaplain of the Senate was duly " billed " and "illustrated" in Harper's Weekly for the oc- casion. Dr. Newman's expectation of a personal discussion with Brigham Young

47 1

HISTORY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

was as absurd as it was presumptuous in the Mormon eye. As well might he have journeyed to Rome, in the expectation of discussing Catholicism with the Pope. However, to the last moment of his leaving Washington, the Doctor affected to believe that he was going up to the stronghold of Mormondom to discuss the sub- ject of polygamy with Brigham Young, before ten thousand people.

Early in August, 1870, Dr. Newman made his advent in Salt Lake City, ac- companied by the Rev. Dr. Sunderland, and immediately opened the following correspondence :

DOCTOR NEWMAN TO PRESIDENT YOUNG. " SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 6, 1870. " To President Brigham Young :

"SIR-In acceptance of the challenge given in your journal, the Salt Lake Daily Telegraph of the 3d of May last, to discuss the question, 'Does the Bible sanction Polygamy?' I have hereby to inform you that I am now ready to hold a public debate with you as the head of the Mormon Church upon the above ques- tion, under such regulations as may be agreed upon for said discussion ; and I suggest for our mutual convenience, that either by yourself or by two gentlemen whom you shall designate, you may meet two gentlemen whom I will select for the purpose of making all necessary arrangements for the debate, with as little delay as possible. May I hope for a reply at your earliest convenience, and at least not later than three o'clock to-day.

" Respectfully, etc., " J. P. NEWMAN."

PRESIDENT YOUNG TO DOCTOR NEWMAN. "SALT LAKE CITY, U. T., Aug., 6, 1870. " Rev. Dr. J. P. Newman :

" SIR-Yours of even date has just been received, in answer to which I have to inform you that no challenge was ever given by me to any person through the colums of the Salt Lake Daily Telegraph, and this is the first information I have received that any such challenge ever appeared.

" You have been misinformed with regard to the Salt Lake Daily Telegraph; it was not my journal, but was owned and edited by Dr. Fuller of Chicago, who was not a member of our church and I was not acquainted with its columns.

" Respectfully, " BRIGHAM YOUNG."

DOCTOR NEWMAN TO PRESIDENT YOUNG. " SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 6, 1870. " To President Brigham Young :

" SIR-I confess my disappointment at the contents of your note in reply to mine of this date. In the far East it is impossible to distinguish the local rela- tions between yourself and those papers which advocate the interests of your church; and when the copy of the Telegraph containing the article of the 3d of May last reached Washington, the only construction put upon it by my friends was that it was a challenge to me to come to your city and discuss the Bible doc- trine of polygamy.

47 2

HISTORY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

" Had I chosen to put a different construction on that article, and to take no further notice of it, you could then have adopted the Telegraph as your organ and the said article as a challenge, which I either could not or dared not accept. That I am justified in this conclusion is clear from the following facts :

"I, The article in the Telegraph, of May 3d, contains these expressions, alluding to my sermon as reported in the N. Y. Herald, it says : 'The discourse was a lengthened argument to prove that the Bible does not sustain polygamy.

'The sermon should have been delivered in the New Taber- nacle in this city, with ten thousand Mormons to listen to it and then Elder Orson Pratt, or some prominent Mormon, should have had a hearing on the other side and the people been allowed to decide. * * * Dr. Newman, by his very sermon, recognizes the religious element of the question. Let us have a fair contest of peaceful argument and let the best side win. We will publish their notices in the Telegraph, report their discourses as far as possible, use every influence in our power, if any is needed, to secure them the biggest halls and crowded congregations, and we are satisfied that every opportu- nity will be given them to conduct a campaign. We base this last remark on a statement made last Sunday week in the Tabernacle, by President Geo. A. Smith, that the public halls throughout the Territory have been and would be open for clergymen of other denominations coming to Utah to preach. * * * Come on and convert them by the peaceful influences of the Bible instead of using the means now proposed. Convince them by reason and Scriptural argument and no Cullom Bill will be required.'

" 2. I understand the article containing the above expressions was written by Elder Sloan, of the Mormon church, and at that time associate editor of the Telegraph; and that he was and has since been in constant intercourse with your- self. The expressions of the said article as above cited, were the foundation of the impression throughout the country, that a challenge had thus been given through the columns of the Telegraph and, as such, I myself had no alternative but so to regard and accept it. I may add that I am informed that an impression prevailed here in Utah, that a challenge had been given and accepted. Under this impression I have acted from that day to this, having myself both spoken of and seen allusions to the anticipated discussion in several prominent papers of the country.

" 3. It was not till after my arrival in your city last evening, in pursuance of this impression, that I learned the fact that the same Elder Sloan, in the issue of the Salt Lake Herald, of Aug. 3d, attempts for the first time to disabuse the public of the idea so generally prevalent. Still acting in good faith and knowing that you had never denied or recalled the challenge of the 3d of May, I informed you of my presence in your city and of the object of my visit here.

" My note this morning with your reply will serve to put the matter before the public in its true light and dispel the impression of very many in all parts of the country, that such a challenge had been given and that such a discussion would be held.

" Feeling that I have now fully discharged my share of the responsibility in the case, it only remains for me to subscribe myself as before,

" Respectfully,

"J. P. NEWMAN."

473

HISTORY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

PRESIDENT YOUNG TO DOCTOR NEWMAN.

"SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 6th, 1870. " Rev. Dr. J. P. Newman :

" SIR-It will be a pleasure to us if you will address our congregation to- morrow morning, the 7th inst., in the small Tabernacle, at ten a.m., or, should you prefer it, in the New Tabernacle at two p.m., same instant, or both morning and evening.

" Respectfully,

" BRIGHAM YOUNG. " P. S. I hope to hear from you immediately."

DOCTOR NEWMAN TO PRESIDENT YOUNG.

"SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 6th, 1870, " 8 o'clock, p.m., " To President Brigham Young

" SIR-In reply to your note just received to preach in the Tabernacle to- morrow, I have to say that after disclaiming and declining, as you have done to- day, the discussion which I came here to hold, other arrangements to speak in the city were accepted by me, which will preclude my compliance with your invi- tation.

" Respectfully, " J. P. NEWMAN."

PRESIDENT YOUNG TO DOCTOR NEWMAN. "SALT LAKE CITY, U. T., Aug. 6th, 1870. " Rev. Dr. Newman :

" SIR-In accordance with our usual custom of tendering clergymen of every denomination passing through our city, the opportunity of preaching in our taber- nacles of worship, I sent you, this afternoon, an invitation tendering you the use of the small Tabernacle in the morning, or the New Tabernacle in the afternoon, or both, at your pleasure, which you have seen proper to decline.

" You charge me with ' disclaiming and declining the discussion' which you came here to hold. I ask you, sir, what right you have to charge me with declin- ing a challenge which I never gave you, or, to assume as a challenge from me, the writing of any unauthorized newspaper editor ? Admitting that you could distort the article in question to be a challenge from me, (which I do not believe you con- scientiously could) was it not the duty of a gentleman to ascertain whether I was responsible for the so-called challenge before your assumption of such a thing ? and certainly, much more so before making your false charges.

" Your assertion, that if you had not chosen to construe the article in ques- tion as a challenge from me, I ' could then have adopted the Telegraph as your [my] organ and the said article as a challenge,' is an insinuation, in my judgment, very discreditable to yourself and ungentlemanly in the extreme, and forces the conclusion that the author of it would not scruple to make use of such a subter- fuge himself.

" You say that Mr. Sloan is the author of the article; if so, he is perfectly 18

474

HISTORY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

capable of defending it, and I have no doubt you will find him equally willing to do so; or Professor Orson Pratt, whose name, it appears, is the only one suggested in the article. I am coufident he would be willing to meet you, as would hun. dreds of our elders, whose fitness and respectability I would consider beyond question.

" In conclusion, I will ask, what must be the opinion of every candid, reflect- ing mind, who views the facts as they appear? Will they not conclude that this distortion of the truth in accusing me of disclaiming and declining a challenge, which I never even contemplated, is unfair and ungentlemanly in the extreme and must have been invented with some sinister motive? Will they not consider it a paltry and insignificant attempt, on your part to gain notoriety, regardless of the truth? This you may succeed in obtaining ; but I am free to confess, as my opinion, that you will find such notoriety more unenviable than profitable, and as disgraceful too, as it is unworthy of your profession.

" If you think you are capable of proving the doctrine of 'Plurality of Wives' unscriptural, tarry here as a missionary ; we will furnish you the suitable place, the congregation, and plenty of our elders, any of whom will discuss with you on that or any other scriptural doctrine.

" Respectfully,

" BRIGHAM YOUNG."

DOCTOR NEWMAN TO PRESIDENT YOUNG.

"SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. Sth, 1870. " To President Brigham Young :

" SIR-Your last note, delivered to me on Sunday morning, and to which, o course, I would not on that day reply does not surprise me.

" It will be, however, impossible for you to conceal from the public the truth, that with the full knowledge of my being present in your city for the purpose of debating with you or your representative the question of Polygamy, you declined to enter into any arrangements for such a discussion ; and after this fact was ascer- tained, I felt at liberty to comply with a subsequent request from other parties, which had been fully arranged before the reception of your note of invitation to preach in your Tabernacle.

" I must frankly say that I regard your professed courtesy, extended under the circumstances as it was, a mere device to cover, if possible, your unwilling. ness to have a fair discussion of the matter in question in the hearing of your people.

" Your comments upon 'disclaiming and declining the discussion ' are simply a reiteration of the disclaimer ; while, in regard to your notice of my construction of the article in the Telegraph of May last, I have only to leave the representa- tions you have seen fit to make to the judgment of a candid public, sure to dis- cover who it is that has resorted to 'subterfuge' in this affair. Your intimation that Elder Sloan, Prof. Pratt or hundreds of other Mormon elders, would be will- ing to discuss the question of polygamy with me from a Bible standpoint, and your impertinent suggestion that I tarry here as a missionary for that purpose, I am compelled to regard as cheap and safe attempts to avoid the appearance of

475

HISTORY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

shrinking from such discussion by seeming to invite it after it had, by your own action, been rendered impossible. As to to the elders you speak of including your- seli, being ready to meet me in public debate, I have to say that I came here with that understanding and expectation, but it was rudely dispelled, on being den- nitely tested. Were it possible to reduce these vague suggestions of yours to something like a distinct proposition for a debate, there is still nothing in your action, so far, to assure me of your sincerity, but, on the contrary, everything to cause me to distrust it.

" I have one more point of remark. You have insinuated that my motive is a thirst for ' notoriety.' I can assure you that if I had been animated by such a motive you give me small credit for good sense by supposing that I would em- ploy such means. Neither you, nor the system of which you are the head, could afford me any ' notoriety ' to be desired.

" But, to show how far I have been governed by merely personal aspir- ations, let the simple history of the case be re-called.

" You send your Delegate to Congress who, in the House of Representatives and in sight and hearing of the whole Nation, throws down the gauntlet upon the subject of polygamy as treated in the Bible. Being Chaplain of the American Senate, and having been consulted by several public men, I deemed it my duty to preach upon the subject. The discourse was published in the New York Herald, and on thus reaching your city one of your elders published an article which is construed as a challenge to me to debate the question with you, or some one whom you should appoint, here in your Tabernacle. Acting upon this presumption, I visit your city, taking the earliest opportunity to inform you, as the head of the Mormon Church, of my purpose and suggesting the steps usual in such cases. You then reply, ignoring the whole subject, but without a hint of your 'pleasure' about my preaching in the Tabernacle.

" Subsequently other arrangements were made which precluded my accepting any invitation to speak in your places of worship. The day passed away, and after sunset I received your note of invitation, my reply to which will answer for itself. And this you intimate is an attempt on my part to obtain 'unenviable notoriety.'

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Salt Lake City, Part 61

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company Number of Pages: 1194

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company
Number of Pages: 1194