Women Under Polygamy

Women Under Polygamy

by Walter Matthew Gallichan
Women Under Polygamy

Women Under Polygamy

by Walter Matthew Gallichan

Available on Compatible NOOK Devices and the free NOOK Apps.
WANT A NOOK?  Explore Now

Related collections and offers

LEND ME® See Details

Overview

An excerpt from the:

FOREWORD


The reader of the American Edition of this interesting book will be inclined to ask: "What about the Mormons?" The Latter-day Saints exist in our midst as the only case of the practice of polygamy, after the laboratory method, among a Western people. The account here given of Mormon polygamy is necessarily brief. It may, therefore, be well to supplement it with a fuller account of these "Saints" of whom Mark Twain once observed: "Their creed is singular, and their wives plural."

The Mormons themselves have furnished an answer to what they complained to be the "unaccountable problem" why the Latter-day Saints are "numbered with Indians, Hottentots, Arabs, Turks, Wolverines, and horned cattle." That answer was borrowed from the enemy; it was that "the conduct of Joseph Smith and the other leaders is such that no community of white men can tolerate." The conduct the "gentiles" complained of was, of course, the practice of polygamy. This went through three stages: It was first forbidden; next it was practiced before it was preached; lastly it was made not only permissive, but obligatory among the faithful. The documents in the case are significant. The Book of Mormon expressly forbade the practice: "Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord . . . Wherefore, I, the Lord God, will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old. Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord; for there shall not any man among you hath save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none; for I, the Lord God, delighteth in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts."

As if the prohibition of the "Gold Bible" was not enough, the Book of Commandments forbade the same practices. But the third of the canonical books, which in order of time and authority superseded the first two, contains the famous "Revelation on the Eternity of the Marriage Covenant, including Plurality of Wives, given through Joseph, the Seer." The salient passages of this document are there: "As pertaining to the law of the priesthood, if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent; and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery, for they are given with him; he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else. And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him, therefore is he justified."

It was easy to justify polygamy on paper. It was much harder in reality. But the thing was done. First the Seer's wife had to be appeased. This was accomplished by a special section in the revelation which ran: "Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph ... let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, and which are pure and virtuous before me. . . ." The same procedure was adopted with other women. Thus the confession of Lucy Kimball runs: "President Joseph Smith sought an interview with me, and said: 'I have a message for you. I have been commanded of God to take another wife and you are the woman.' My astonishment knew no bounds. . . . The prophet discerned my sorrow. He saw how unhappy I was . . . and said: 'Although I cannot, under existing circumstances, acknowledge you as my wife, the time is near when we will go beyond the Rocky Mountains and then you will be acknowledged and honored as my wife ... I will give you until to-morrow to decide this matter. If you reject this message the gate will be closed forever against you.' "

The result of this "command" can be imagined. The woman's surrender was due, as the author suggests, and as I have pointed out in my book, "The Founder of Mormonism," to the hypnotism of a positive personality. The same thing happened with the men. Eliza Snow tells how she requested her "husband," the prophet, to open to her brother, the subject of her plural or "celestial" marriage. "A favorable opportunity soon presented, and, seated together on the bank of the Mississippi River, they had a most interesting conversation. The prophet afterward told me he found that my brother's mind had been previously enlightened on the subject in question. That Comforter which Jesus says shall 'lead into all truth' had penetrated his understanding, and, while in England, had given him an intimation of what at that time was to many a secret . This, was the result of living near the Lord."

So much for the personal side in the origin of Mormon polygamy. The doctrinal is equally curious. The Book of Mormon, as we have seen, expressly reprehended the conduct...

Product Details

BN ID: 2940014875226
Publisher: OGB
Publication date: 08/13/2012
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 803 KB
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews