An Englishwoman in Utah. Mrs. T. B. H. Stenhouse
way have all the foreign missions of the Mormon Church been projected and sustained; the elements of success were always present—devotion and self-abnegation on the part of the missionaries, and an earnest, self-sacrificing disposition on the part of the people, commanding respect, however erroneous or foolish the foundation of their faith.
In the bustle of departure, Mr. Stenhouse seemed never to have thought about himself, and certainly he made no preparation for me. I had full confidence in him, however, and loved him devotedly, and knew that my love was returned. But men who look for miracles, and count upon special providences for daily bread, are not generally very prudent or far-seeing in their domestic arrangements. Elder Stenhouse had been told that “the Lord would provide,” and it therefore seemed to him superfluous that he should interfere; it would have been a lack of faith to have shown too much interest in what might become of me. He left me with only 1l.
I now realized the loneliness of my position; there was no earthly friend to whom I could turn for sympathy at a time like this. Before my Heavenly Father alone I could pour out the bitterness of my soul and all my griefs, and in His presence weep and pray.
CHAPTER VI.
MY HUSBAND’S MISSION—I AM LEFT ALONE.
When the Apostle Snow called upon Mr. Stenhouse to go to Italy, the Saints willingly accepted the responsibility of providing for me during his absence.
They thought it was more an honour than a burden to have this charge committed to them; but it was very humiliating to me to be placed in such a position, however anxious they might be to assist me and to serve the general cause. To face opposition, or to give my all for my religion, I was willing indeed; but to depend upon others for my daily bread was utterly repugnant to my feelings, although, of course, if the Church sent away my husband, whose proper place and duty it was to support his family, it was only right that the members of that Church should undertake the responsibility. But then, and at many other times during my life, I have learned the truth of Christ’s precept, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
The American Apostle was not without worldly wisdom when he proposed that an unmarried man should be appointed to preside over the Southampton Conference, as his wants would be few. But Mr. Stenhouse had been solicited by a friend, who had a wife and children, to secure his appointment; and with ready confidence in that friend, he overlooked his own interests and my welfare, and I was left to pass through trials and privations which I can never forget.
The Saints were very kind, and took pleasure in doing all they could for me; but the mistake which my husband committed in leaving his friend to succeed him as president of the Conference was soon apparent. The “friend” thought of his own family first, and the family required all that the Saints could reasonably be expected to contribute; and even then they had not enough. I therefore received only such little sums as could be withheld from them; and to make the matter worse, those who had any property or estate were counselled to sell all, and “gather to Zion.” The more wealthy Saints were soon gone; and the current expenses of the church fell heavily upon those who were hardly able to support their own families.
They tried to send me something every week, and I have no doubt they did send me all that they could. When their contributions reached four or five shillings (about $1) I thought myself fortunate; more often I did not receive the value of fifty cents in the whole week, at times less, and sometimes nothing at all. That unfailing comfort to respectable English poverty, a cup of tea, was my greatest luxury, but at times for weeks together I had not even that; I had nothing but bread; but I never complained.
Whenever it was possible I concealed my true situation from every one, and in my almost daily letters to my husband not a shadow of a hint was ever dropped relative to my own privations. I wanted him to be successful in his mission, and I feared that his energy would desert him if he knew of my difficulties. I was in extreme poverty, certainly, but for myself I was not in trouble. God would provide for me, I felt; and it was glorious to suffer in a sacred cause.
But darker days, days of severer trial, were creeping slowly near me. Up to this time I had worshipped God and loved my husband with a perfect heart. Now the dark shadow of an accursed thing was looming in the distance, and approaching surely if slowly.
In some way an idea had got abroad that the Mormons were somewhat unsound respecting the marriage question. Still the elders stoutly denied the charge, and the more they were accused the more strenuous became their denials.
At a public discussion at Boulogne-sur-mer, in France, the Apostle John Taylor, in reply to the accusations of Polygamy which were brought against him, said—
“We are accused here of actions the most indelicate and disgusting, such as none but a corrupt and depraved heart could have conceived. These things are too outrageous to admit of belief. … I shall content myself with quoting our views of chastity and marriage from a work published by us, containing some of our articles of faith—Doctrine and Covenants.”
He then proceeded to quote from the “Book of Doctrine and Covenants” such passages as the following:—
“Marriage is ordained by God unto man; wherefore it is lawful that he should have one wife, and they twain should be one flesh” (p. 218).
He quoted many other things also, among which might be enumerated the following:—
“Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her, and none else.”
He quoted also many other passages of Scripture which had reference to the subject—each powerful to put aside even the idea of polygamy; and each equally powerful as an argument against polygamy itself.
Let the reader here note the value of what Mormons say when their faith is called in question. See and judge.
Brother Taylor, who spoke at that meeting, and utterly denied polygamy, had himself—at that very moment when he so atrociously perjured himself, and when he swore that no Mormon had more than one wife—five wives living in Salt Lake City. One of his friends there present had two wives; and the other was married to a mother, and her own daughter!
Any conclusion, any expression of disgust at these abominations and deliberate perjuries, I leave to the reader.
Among those who came to see Mr. Stenhouse before he left for Italy, was Elder Margetts, an English elder of some prominence in the British mission. At the picnic of which I have already spoken, I noticed that this elder was more than usually attentive to a pretty young sister who was also present. There was always an affectionate familiarity among the Saints; as I previously mentioned, they were like brothers and sisters, and addressed each other as such. But the attentions of the elder I speak of pointed a little beyond all this. He could not, perhaps, be accused of any open impropriety, but he certainly looked much more like the girl’s lover than an ordinary friend or her spiritual adviser.
I knew this Elder’s family in London, and his conduct pained me a good deal. So I drew the attention of my husband to the circumstance; and he said the Elder was foolish, but he would speak to them both; and this he did.
After the departure of the missionaries, this elder remained for several days. He then returned to London, but it was not long before he was again in Southampton, and he still paid marked attention to the same young sister. This caused unpleasant remarks among the Saints, who at this time certainly did not believe that polygamy was practised in Utah.
At a later date this Elder, with some others, was again in Southampton, and I was invited to take tea with them at the house of one of the Saints. In the course of the evening there was a general conversation on “the work of the Lord,” in which I, of course, was greatly interested.
Whenever any of the missionaries were visiting, the Saints would seek their society, just like children who were glad to meet again their parents after a long absence; and at such times they