women entirely free from jealousy and selfishness, such a parceling out of the affections might be endured; but so long as Nature is unchanged, it must result in suffering and sorrow to the wife. It is believed to be a relic of the age of Force —of the semi-barbaric days when Might was the sole arbiter of Right, and when man, by reason of his superior, selfish strength and a supposed proprietorship, crushed and repressed all the nobler aspirations of woman, and made her, as feeling or passion dictated, a petted or a neglected slave. It should be remembered that the monogamous system of marriage is the growth of modern civilization, and is not the direct result of any system of religious teaching. Fourfifths of the human race to-day believe in polygamy; and in the days of the Jewish prophets, through whom we derive our religious faith, polygamy was the universal belief, practiced, as they believed, by the absolute sanction and command of God. Christ made no direct assault upon a marriage system which, in his day, was universal. But he taught, as never had been taught before, the sacredness of individual rights; the greatness and equality of our humanity; the priceless value of each human soul. Through long ages the leaven worked: His teachings, even yet, have not reached full fruition; but one of their noblest results is the substantial recognition of the equality of woman in right and before the law. We have learned, after ages of misconception and suffering, that the relations between the sexes are so intimate and vital, that woman must be elevated and ennobled, to ennoble man; that if her affections are dwarfed and crushed, and her legitimate field of labor and of influence curtailed —if, in aught, the full development of her powers be hampered—man, as well as woman, incurs the penalty of such abuse. In importance to the progress of our humanity, their fields of labor are equal, but diverse.
These results are the legitimate fruits of the Christian doctrines in their fuller development. Polygamy can not be coexistent with the observance of the Golden Rule.
The Mormon people, both men and women, are unquestionably sincere in the belief that polygamy is an essential portion of their religious faith, and that it is right. Upon no other theory can we account for the long submission of their women to its practice, and their earnest advocacy of the rightfulness of the doctrine. It is one of the supposed revelations to Joseph Smith; is, in their eyes, the will of God; and religious sentiment and enthusiasm enable them, uncomplainingly, to bear this great and grievous cross.
The days of the system are, however, rapidly drawing toaclose. Its strength heretofore has been in the isolation of their community. They have been for twenty years almost as separate from our social system as if they had been residents of another planet. In that period half their population has been born in Salt Lake Valley; and these have never had, before the coming of the Railroad, an opportunity to contrast their social life with any other. But all is now changed. Thousands of the outside world yearly visit Salt Lake with their families. The Mormon women feel for the first time their doubtful social position: their self-respect is wounded. A formidable breach has already appeared in the hitherto unbroken ranks of the believers. For the past year scarcely any new polygamous marriages have occurred. Although the system is still theoretically defended, its practice will be quietly abandoned; and hundreds of young girls and women are now open in their avowals that they will marry no man whois a believerin polygamy. The advocates of the Government subsidy to the Pacific Railroad predicted that its construction would, among other things,
