History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

162
THE STORY OF MORMONISM.
as a false prophet. So he approached persons singly,
first the man of the family and then the woman. In
1841 Joseph began to take to himself plural wives,
and his example was followed by some of the others.
Finally, in order that all might know that he was not
acting on his own responsibility alone, the revelation
came, sanctioning and enforcing the system. This, as
I have given it, is the orthodox and authorized explanation
of the matter.
Thus came to the saints the doctrine of polygamy,
first to the leaders and for a time kept secret, and
finally to the whole church, as one of its most prominent
tenets. 18 For years it was known only to a few,
and it was not formally promulgated until after the
great exodus, when the church had become well established
in the valleys of the Yutas. 19
There were several reasons for adopting this course.
First, the hate and obloquy which would be engendered
by its publication, and the wide-spread and bitter opposition
it would meet. The work of missionaries in the
field would greatly suffer. Many in the church would
oppose it; women would rebel, while their sisters
throughout Christendom would hold them in derision.
It was all so new and strange. Even in theory it
was startling enough; but put it in practice, and who
could foretell the result? The very foundations of
18 John Hyde mentions a previous revelation. He says that about the
year 1838 'Smith pretended to obtain a revelation from God authorizing him
to practise polygamy, and began to practise it accordingly.' Mormonism, 203.
See also Slater's Mormonism, 84, and Deseret News, Oct. 22, 1879. There is
no truth whatever in this assertion. And yet John Hyde is regarded as pretty
good authority; but in this loose way thousands of false statements have
been made regarding the secrets of the saints.
19 This revelation was first published in the Deseret News in 1852, and
next in the Millennial Star at Liverpool, England, in 1853. It is given entire
elsewhere in this volume. The Edinburgh Review of April 1854, 335, says, •Xoc
many months have yet passed since the Mormon leaders have decided on a
bolder policy and have publicly avowed this portion of the system,' which
shows that the fact of publication was not generally known to the gentile European
world until two years after the official notice in Salt Lake City appeared.
Copies of it will also be found in Doc. and Gov., 423-32; Young's Wife No.
19, 77-86; Ferris' Utah and the Mormons, app.; Burton's City of the Saints,
451-7; Tucker's Mormonism, 172-S2; Smith's Rise, Prog, and Travels, 42-8;
Pearl of Great Price, 64-70; Stenhouse's Tell It All, 135-8; and Stenhoust's
Exposi of Polygamy, 207-15.