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Show H 77ie Ltonr of the Lord. . B (By Harry Leon Wilson.) jK Ever since the successful publication of "The Spenders," which made thousands of friends for the young author, a great reading public, ever Hfcnxious for something new and something good and something unusual has awaited with great interest, and more or less curiosity the appear"-ance appear"-ance of another volume from the pen of thiu gifted writer. k "The Lions of the Lord" has made Its appear-Rance, appear-Rance, and the local book stores cannot get Mi enough of the books. Hi. "The Lions of the Lord" is a love story, ln-Rterwoven ln-Rterwoven with all the fanaticism, self-sacrifice, Bpigotry, and horror in the lives of the Mormon people of fifty years ago, and a faithful historical picture of the flight from Nauvoo to "the valleys Hof the mountains," and the incidents, practices, KiTeta, from that time up to the early seventies. B It is a startling book, which will be of na-Btional na-Btional interest, and it is of special interest to B hundreds of people who have lived in Utah for Bany length of time. B The thorough familiarity of the author with Bthe characteristics of the early dominant people Bof this region, the expressions, the names, show Bthat in the short time he spent here, he was a Bkeen observer, and nothing escaped him. B The story evolves about one Joel Rae, who B left with the first company from Nauvoo. The Bgirl he was betrothed to would not leave witn Bhim, and later married an army officer. Some B years later Elder Rae returned to the east and B discovered this. In the meantime he had taken B no wife or wives, hoping to win back the girl he B had left. B A long time afterwards at the Mountain B Meadow massacre this officer and his wife, who fl had joined the emmigrant band are killed in the fl sight of Rae, and the little child of the girl he had fl loved is taken by him and cared for until she fl grows to womanhood. A number of elders have fl their eyes on the girl for eternal sealing, and fln-fl fln-fl ally Brigham Young commands that she be his. fl In the meantime, however, a young man whose fl parents had been killed in the massacre, but who B escaped, being a child at the time, returns for fl vengeance, and takes away the girl. The end B of the story sees the apostacy of Rae, his defiance fl to Brigham before the crowd in a settlement fl meeting house, and his death at the foot of the fl cross on Mountain Meadow. fl The book is replete with the old style Mormon fl sermon, incidents of early days, the horrors of fl blood atonement, and polygamy, the coming of fl Johnson, and later of Connor, and much concern-B concern-B Ing The Lion of The Lord, Brigham Young. B This book by this remarkable young man is fl the best story ever written touching upon the fl Mormon people and religion, and while its suc-B suc-B cess may not be financially so great as The Spen-B Spen-B ders, it will undoubtedly stand as one of the B very best books of the year in the minds of those fl who are at all interested in the early history of B conditions in Utah. B Below are a few extracts: B The first is the conversation between Joel Rae B and his sweetheart before their parting in Nau-B Nau-B voo. Rae says: B "Now for the beginning. You, Prudence Cor-B Cor-B son bethrothed to me these three years and B more, you have been buried in the waters of B baptism and had your washings and anointings B In the temple of the most high God. Is it not B so? Your eyes were anointed that they might be B quick to see, your ears that they might be apt B at hearing, your mouth that you might with wis-B wis-B dom speak the words of eternal life, and your feet that they might be swift to run in the ways of the Lord. You accepted thereby "the truth that the angel of God had delivered to Joseph Smith the sealing keys of power. You accepted the glorious articles of the new covenant. Now I am lost what is it? your father and mother have left the church, and because of what?" "Because of bad things, because of this doctrine doc-trine they practice this wickedness of spiritual wives, plural wives. Think of it, Joel that if I were your wife you might take another." "I need not think of it. Surely you know my love. You know that I could not do that. Indeed In-deed I have heard at least that this doctrine so long gossiped of is a true one. But I have been away and am not yet learned in its mysteries. But this much I do know and it is the very corner-stone of my life: Peter, James and John ordained or-dained Joseph Smith here on this earth, and Joseph ordained the twelve. All other churches have been established by the wisdom or folly of man. Ours is the only one on earth established estab-lished by direct revelation from God. It has a priesthood, and that priesthood is a power we must reverence and obey, no matter what may be its commands. When the truth is taught me of this doctrine you speak of, I shall see it to be right for those to whom it is ordained. And meantime, outside of my own little life my love for you, which would be always) single I can't measure the revealed will of God with my little moral footrule. Joseph was endowed with the open vision. He saw God face to lace and heard His voice. Can the standard of society in its present corruption measure and pass upon the revelations of so white-souled a man?" "I believe he was not white-souled," she replied, re-plied, in a "kind of animated way, as one who has bent upon saving him from error. "I told you I knew why you were sent away on a mission. mis-sion. It was because you were my accepted lover and your white-souled Joseph Smith wanted me for himself." "I can't believe it you couldn't know such a thing" his faith made a brave rally "but even so, if he sought you, why, the more honor to you and to me, if you still clung to me." "Listen. I was afraid to tell you before ashamed but I told my people. It's three years ago. I was seventeen. It was just after we had become engaged. My people were then strong in the faith, as you know. One morning after you had left for the east, Brigham Young and Heber Kimball came to our house for me. They said the Prophet had long known me by sight, and wished to talk to me. Would I go with them to visit him and he would bless and counsel coun-sel me? Of course, I was flattered. I put on my prettiest frock and fetchingest bonnet and set off with them, after mamma had said yes. On the way they kept asking me if I was willing to do all the Prophet required. I said I was sure of it, thinking they meant to be good and worshipful. wor-shipful. Then they would ask if I was ready to take counsel, and they said, 'Many things are revealed unto us in these last days that the world would scoff at,' but that it had been given to them vto know all the mysteries, of the Kingdom. King-dom. Then they said, 'You will see Joseph and he will tell you what you are to do.' " He was listening with a serious, confident eagerness, as if he know she could say nothing to dim the Prophet's luster. "When we reached the building where Joseph's Jo-seph's store was, they led me upstairs to a small-room small-room and sent down stairs for the Prophet. When he came up they introduced me and left me alone in the little room with him. Their ac- B tions had seemed queer to me, but I remembered B that this man had talked face to face with God, M so I tried to feel better. But all at once he stood B before me and asked me to be his wife. Think B of it! I was so frightened- I dared not say no, H he looked at mo so I can't tell you how; but I M said it would not be lawful. He said, 'Yes, Pru- M dence, I have had a revelation from God that M it is lawful and right for a man to have as many wives as he wants for as it was in the days of M Abraham, so it shall be in these days. Accept me M and I shall take you straight to the celestial H Kingdom. Brother Brigham will marry us here, M right now, and you can go home tonight and keep it secret from your parents if you like.' B Then I said, 'But I am betrothed to Joel Rae, the H son of Giles Rae, who is away or a mission.' 'I B know that,' he said. 'I sent him away, and any- B way you will be safer to marry me. You will B then be absolutely sure of your celestial regard, B for in the next world, you know, I am to have B powers, thrones and dominions, whilei Brother fl Joel is very young and has not been tried in the B Kingdom. He may fall away and then you would H be lost.'" B The man In him now is struggling with his H faith, and he seemed about to interrupt here, H but she went on excitedly. B "I said I would not want 'to do anything of B the kind without deliberation. He urged me to B have it over, trying to kiss me, and saying he B knew it would be right before God; that if there B was any sin in it he would take it upon himself. B He said, 'You know I have the keys of the King- B dom, and whatever I bind on earth is bound in M heaven. Come,' he said, 'nothing ventured noth- M ing gained. Let me call Brother Brigham to seal M us, and you shall be a star in my crown forever." B "Then I broke down and cried, for I was so B afrard, and he put his arm around me, but I M pushed away, and after awhile I coaxed him to M give me until the next Sabbath to think it over, M promising on my life to say not one word to any M person. I never let him see me alone again, you H may be sure, and at last when other dreadful tales were told about him heie, of wickedness and his drunkenness he told in the pulpit he had been drunk, and that he did it to keep them from worshippipg him as a God I saw he was a bad, H common man, and I told my people everything, B and soon my father was denounced for an apos- B tate." B i3 iv iv B This is the oath Rae takes on becoming an fl elder: fl "Hold up your right hand and repeat after H me: " 'In the name of Jesus Christ, the son of H God, I do covenant and agree to support the first H presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat- fl ter-day Saints, in all things right or wrong; I will fl faithfully guard them and report to them the fl acts of all men as far as my power lies; I will I assist in executing all the decrees of the first fl president, the patriarch, or president of the H twelve, and I will cause all who speak evil of the fl presidency of heads of the church to die the fl death of dissenters or apostates, unless they JM speedily confess and repent for pestilence, perse- I cution and death shall follow the enemies of Zion. fl I will be a swift herald of salvation and messen- i fl ger of peace to tho Saintp. and I will never make IB known tho secret purpotet of this society called B the sons of Dan, my life Deiug the forfeiture in a I flie of burning tai and brimstone. So help m fl God and keep me steadfast." fl je & fl And in another paragraph is this: Brigham fl went on in his fatherly way to impress him anew fl with the sinfulness of all temporal governments fl outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day fl (Continued on page 14.) H I ' 1 77e Lions of the Lord.-Con. ! , . f Saints. And at the end of a discourse of Brig- i ' barn's is this toast: . "Here's wishing that all the mobocrats of tho nineteenth century were in the middle of the sea, ; I j ; in a stone canoe, with an Iron paddle; that a i j phark would swallow the canoe, and the shark be thrust into the nethermost part of hell, with B I l the door locked, the key lost, and a blind man HB j ' looking for it!" Hfiji i & & & Hl In a chapter on blood atonement we find this: flw i i The day after Brigham's sermon on blood- H I atonement, there had been a meeting in the His- Hj torian's office, presided over by Brigham. And Bj j here for the first time Joel Rae found he was no HK I v longer looked upon as one too radical. Some- flttj 'ill what dazedly, too, he realized at this close range H Ji j j the severely practical aspects of much that he Km I ! had taught in theory. It was strange, almost un- H I nerving, to behold his own teachings naked of BP I their pulpit rhetoric; to find his long-cherished Bt I ifieals materialized by literal minded, practical Hr 9 men. E I He heard again the oath he had sworn, back H i on the river-fiat And then he heard the B I $ business of the meeting discussed. Decisions H f I ! were reached swiftly, and orders given in words H I I that were few and plain. Even had these orders n f been repugnant to him, they were not to be ques- B I I tioned; they came from an infallible priesthood. I j 5 v5 " j . In custody at Kayesville, twenty-flve miles north of Salt Lake City, were six men who had i been arrested by church authority while on their J f way east from California. They were suspected 1 of being federal spies. The night following the 1 ' meeting which Joel Rae had attended, these prls-1 prls-1 oners were attacked while they slept. Two were JL killed at once; two more after a brief struggle; m? and the remaining two the following day, after K I ' they had been pursued through the night. The K 1 capable Bishtop Wright declared in confidence f i to Joel Rae that it reminded him of old days in S Nauvoo. 8 i The same week was saved Rosmas Anderson, k H who had incurred rejection from Israel and eter- H nal wrath by his misbehavior. Becoming sub- Hj missive to the decree of the church, when it was Bj j made known to him by certain men who came in B , the night, it was believed that his atonement Hf would suffice to place him once more in the h9use B of faith. He had asked but a half a day to pre- w I pare for the solemn ceremony. His wife, regret- B i j ful, but Arm in the faith, had provided clean gar- B ments for her sinful husband, and the appointed B M j I executioners dug the grave. They went for him B M at midnight. By the side of the grave they had B iff let nim kneel and pray. His throat had then been B j !B ( cut by a deft hand, and he was held so that his B ji blood ran into the grave, thus consummating the B sacrifice to the God of Israel. The widow, obey- B 9 I ing priestly instructions, announced that her hus- B J9j I band had gone to California. B m I Then the soul of William Parrish at Spring- ville was saved to eternal glory; also the soul of his son, Beason. 4 4W J 7 Yet one apostate the very next day was rash enough to controvert the bishop's views. To a gioup of men in the public street at high noon, and in a loud voice he declared his intention of leaving for California, and he spoke evil of the church. "I tell you," he said in tones of some excitement, excite-ment, "men are murdered here. Their murder is planned by bishops, priests, elders and apostles, by the president and his counselors, and then it is done by men they send to do it. Their laying it on to the Indians don't fool me a minute. That's the kind of church this is, and ycru don't ketch me staying in it any longer." Trees had been early planted in the new settlement, set-tlement, and owing to the care bestowed upon them by the thrifty colonists, many were now matured. From a stout limb of one of these the speaker was found hanging the following morning. morn-ing. A coi oner's jury hastily summoned from among the Saints found that he had committed suicide. Jv 5 56 The conversation between John D. Lee and Rae before the massacre: "It is ordered lrom headquarters that this party must be used up, except such as are too young to tell tales. We got to do it. They have been acting terrible mean ever since we wouldn't sell them anything. If we let them go on now, they have beei making their brag that they'll laise a force in California and come back and wipe us out and Johnston's army already marching march-ing on us fiom the east. Are we going to submit sub-mit again to what we got in Missouri and in 1111-rcis? 1111-rcis? No! Everybody is agreed about' that. "Now, the Indians have failed to do it like we thought they would, so we got to finish it up, that's all." Joel Rae spoke for the fiist time. "You say except such as are too young to tell tales, Brother Higbee; what does that mean?" "Why, all but the smallest children, of course." "Are their children here?" Lee answered: "Oh, a fair sprinkling about what you'd look for in a train of a hundred and thirty people, 'xhe beys got two of the kids yesterday; the fools had dressed them in white dresses and sent them out with a bucket for water. You can see their bodies lying over there this side of the spring." "And there are women?" he asked, feeling a gieat siclcness come upon him. "Plenty of them," answered Klingensmith, "some mighty fine women, too. I could see one yesterday, a monstrous fine figure and hair shinny like a crow's wing, and a little one, powerful pretty, and one kind of between the two it's a shame we can'tkeep some of them, but orders is orders!" "These women must be killed, too?" "That's the orders from headquarters, Brother Rae." "From the niilitary headquarters at Parowan, or from the spiritual headquarters at Salt Lake?" "Better not inquire how far back that order started, Brother Rae not of me, anyway." "But -women and children" "The great Elohim has spoken trom the heavens, heav-ens, Brother Rae that's enough tor me. I can't put my human standards against the revealed will of God." "But women and children" He repeated the words as if he sought to comprehend them. He seemed like a man with defective sight who has come suddenly against a wall that he had thought far off. Higbee now addressed him. "Brother Rae, in religion you have to eat the bran along with the flour. Did you suppose we were going to milk the Gentiles and not ever shed any blood?" "But innocent blood" "There ain't a drop of innocent blood in the P whole damn train. And what are you, to be questioning ques-tioning this way about orders from on high? I've heard you preach many a time about the sin ot such doings as that. You preach in the pulpit about stubborn clay in the hands of the potter Having to be put through the mill a?ain, and now that you're out here In the field, seems to me you get limber like a tallowed rag when the order or-der comes along." W &W m "Major, isn't there a chance that Brother Brigham didn't order this?" "Brother Rae, no one has said he did it wouldn't be just wise." "But did he has any one seen the written order or heard who brought the oral order?" "Brother Rae, look here now you know Brother Brigham. You know his authority, and you know Dame and Haight. You know they wouldn't either of them dare do as much as take another wife without asking Brigham first. Well, then, do you reckon they'd dare order this militia around in this reckless way to cut a hundred and thirty people unless they had mighty good reason rea-son to know he wanted it?" He stood before Lee with bent head; the hope had died. & & & The book is humorous for all its tragedy, as for instance, the following: "Zion has run to seed, Brother Rae; the rank weeds of Babylon is a-goin' to choke it out, root and branch! We ain't get no chance to live a pure and Godly life any longer with railroads coming in, and Gentiles with their fancy contraptions. con-traptions. It weakens the spirit, and it plays the very hob with the women. Soon as they git up there now, and see them new styles from St. Looey or Chicago, they git downright daft. No more homespun for 'em, no more valley tan, no more parched corn for coffee, nor beet molasses nor unbolted flour. Oh, I know what I'm talkin' about. The tone of the good man became as of one l who remembers hurts put upon his soul. He con- . United: "1'ou no sooner let a woman git out of the i wagon there now than she's crazy for a pink ( nubia, and a shell breastpin, and a dress pattern, j j whcle bolt of faclory and a set nf ohiny cup ' and saucers and some of this here perfumery ' Eoap. And that don't do 'em. Then they let oat ' a yell for varnished rockin' cheers with liowcrs ? naint-ad all over 'em in different colors, and they toll you they got to have bristles carpet bristle ; on it that long probably." The injured man indi- catod a length of some eighteen or twenty inches. i The book is on sale at the store of A. R. Derge I & Co. |
