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History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

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THEATRICALS AND FESTIVITIES.<br />

sions festivities were held. 23 Sometimes the guests<br />

contributed toward the expense <strong>of</strong> the entertainment,<br />

the amount that each one was expected to pay being<br />

stated on the card <strong>of</strong> invitation. 24<br />

In winter, theatrical performances were given by<br />

the Deseret Dramatic Association at the social hall,<br />

and in summer at the bowery, the parts being well<br />

sustained and the orchestra and decorations well appointed.<br />

25 At the former, private parties were given<br />

when the gathering was too large for the residence <strong>of</strong><br />

the host; in the basement were appliances for cooking,<br />

and adjoining was a dining-room with seats and tables<br />

sufficient for three hundred persons. All entertainments<br />

were opened with prayer; then came dancing,<br />

songs, and music, followed by supper, the guests being<br />

dismissed with a benediction at an early hour.<br />

The public festivities <strong>of</strong> the Mormons were always<br />

conducted under the auspices <strong>of</strong> the church, and none<br />

were allowed to join in them who were not in good<br />

standing. To sing, dance, and rejoice before the<br />

Lord was regarded almost as a religious duty, but<br />

only those must rejoice whose hearts were pure and<br />

whose hands were clean. Thus, toward christmas <strong>of</strong><br />

this year, 1849, regulations were issued by the high<br />

council for the observance <strong>of</strong> the approaching holidays.<br />

They were to commence on the 20th <strong>of</strong> December<br />

and last until the council should declare them<br />

at an end, <strong>of</strong>ficers being appointed to preside over the<br />

dances. No person who had been disfellowshipped<br />

23 The-christmas festival <strong>of</strong> 1851 is described in the Deseret News, Jan.<br />

'<br />

24, 1852. On the 24th,' writes <strong>Brigham</strong> in regard to another occasion, * I invited<br />

the wives <strong>of</strong> the twelve apostles, and other elders who were on missions,<br />

with a number <strong>of</strong> my relatives, to dine at my house. Seventy ladies sat down<br />

at the first table. I employed five sleighs to collect the company; the day<br />

was stormy; near my house the snow drifted three feet deep.' Hist. B. <strong>Young</strong>,<br />

MS., 1850, 2. .<br />

24 Contributions were <strong>of</strong>ten made in the shape <strong>of</strong> eatables, and an in-door<br />

picnic extemporized. Ferris' <strong>Utah</strong> and the Mormons, 306.<br />

25 In May 1851, the second act <strong>of</strong> ' Robert Macaire' was performed at the<br />

bowery, the performance concluding with the farce <strong>of</strong> 'The Dead Shot.' Contributor,<br />

ii. 271.<br />

295

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