ship in the spirit: that this was called spiritual marriage, and upon the supposition that what was sealed by this priesthood, before which this pledge was made on earth, was sealed in heaven, the marriage relation then entered into would continue in eternity. That this was not authorized by command of God or rule of the church; but grew out of the constant discussion had among the elders, and that after a time it resulted in the wish (father to the thought) that married companionship rendered unpleasant here by incompatibilities of different sorts, might be cured for the world to come, by securing through this means a congenial companion in the spirit; that there was but brief hesitancy between the wish and an attempt to put it in form and practice. That once started, the idea grew; spiritual affinities were sought after, and in seeking them the hitherto sacred precincts of home were invaded; less and less restraint was exercised; the lines between virtue and license, hitherto sharply drawn, grew more and more indistinct; spiritual companionship if sanctioned by a holy priesthood, to confer favors and pleasures in the world to come, might be antedated and put to actual test here—and so the enjoyment of a spiritual companionship in eternity became a companionship here; a wife a spiritual wife, if congenial; if not, one that was congenial was sought, and a wife in fact was supplemented by one in spirit, which in easy transition became in essential earthly relationship. From this, if one, why not two or more, and plural marriage or plurality of wives, was the growth."
Why should there have been much discussion among Mormon officials, in the incipiency of that system, upon the subject of spiritual marriage? "From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." That about which officials are muchly concerned they talk much, gives the secret of this discussion. Christ put the Sadducees to silence when they came to him with the question, Whose wife shall she be in the "resurrection?" But neither the wisdom nor authority of heaven can silence a self-constituted modern priesthood. If these
