Chapter I: Front Matter (1)

VOL. IV. No. 5

THE INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE.

New-York: STRINGER & TOWNSEND. 1851.

J.W. ORR, N.Y.]

Contents for December.

NAUVOO AND DESERET: THE MORMONS. _Six Engravings_, 577

WINDSOR CASTLE AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. _Two Engravings_, 585

M. JULES GERARD AND THE BARON MUNCHAUSEN, IN AFRICA, 587

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, AND HIS WORKS: _Portrait_, 588

SLIDING SCALES OF DESPAIR, 592

DEATH IN YOUTH: BY H. W. PARKER, 593

A GERMAN HAND-BOOK OF AMERICA, 593

GONDOLETTAS: TWO SONGS: BY ALICE B. NEAL, 597

THE DUTCH GOVERNORS OF NEW AMSTERDAM: BY J. R. BRODHEAD, 597

AN AUTUMN BALLAD: BY W. A. SUTLIFFE, 598

CARLYLE'S LIFE OF JOHN STERLING, 599

SONGS OF THE CASCADE: BY A. OAKEY HALL, 602

HERMAN MELVILLE'S NEW NOVEL OF "THE WHALE," 602

A STORY WITHOUT A NAME: BY G. P. R. JAMES. _Concluded_, 604

CALCUTTA: SOCIAL, INDUSTRIAL, POLITICAL.--_Bentley's Miscellany_, 611

REVOLUTIONS IN RUSSIA. BY ALEXANDER DUMAS.--_Sharpe's Magazine_, 616

DRINKING EXPERIENCES: A TEMPERANCE LECTURE BY "NIMROD," 621

AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN SCENERY COMPARED: BY THE LATE J. F. COOPER, 625

A BULL FIGHT AT RONDA.--_United Service Magazine_, 631

VAGARIES OF THE IMAGINATION.--_Chambers's Edinburgh Journal_, 638

THE FRENCH FLOWER GIRL.--_Dickens's Household Words_, 641

THE THREE ERAS OF OTTOMAN HISTORY.--_The Antheneum_, 643

THE CAPTAIN AND THE NEGRO.--_United Service Magazine_, 646

THE VEILED PICTURE: A TRAVELLER'S STORY.--_New Monthly Magazine_, 648

THE SPENDTHRIFT'S DAUGHTER: IN SIX CHAPTERS.--_Household Words_, 664

MY NOVEL: BY SIR EDWARD BULWER LYTTON. _Continued_, 683

AUTHORS AND BOOKS:

Pendant to Professor Creasy's _Decisive Battles of the
World_, 693.--Correspondence respecting the Thirty Years'
War, 693.--German collection of English Songs, 693.--German
Philologists, 693.--Weil's History of the Califs, 693.--The
Germans in Bohemia, 693.--Andree's Work on America, 694.--Works
on Spinoza, 694.--New Goethean Literature, 694.--The British
Empire in Europe, by Meidinger, 694.--The Play of the
Resurrection, 694.--German History of French Literature,
694.--New work on German Knighthood, &c., 694.--German Romance
in the 18th Century, 695.--Madame Blaze de Bury's New Novel,
695.--Richter's History of the Evangelical German Churches,
695.--German Life of Sir Robert Peel, 695.--Zimmermann on the
English Revolution, 695.--History of Norway, 695.--Reguly,
the Hungarian Traveller, 695.--Political Notabilities of
Hungary, 695.--Speeches, &c., by King William of Prussia,
695.--Pictures from the North, 695.--History of the Swiss
Confederation, 695.--Bern's System of Chronology, by Miss
Peabody, 695.--French Almanacs, 695.--M. Croce-Spinelli's
Work on Popular Government, 696.--Works by the Paris
Asiatic Society, 696.--Cæsar Daly on Parisian Architecture,
696.--Figuier's Modern Discoveries, 696.--The _Annuaire
des Deux Mondes_, 696.--Calvin's Inedited Letters,
697.--Lacretelle, 697.--Critical Studies of Socialism,
697.--Memoirs of Mademoiselle Mars, 697.--The Institute of
France, 697.--Grille, on the War in La Vendée, 697.--History
of the Bourgeoisie of Paris, 697.--_Archives des Missions
Scientifiques_, &c., 697.--Travels in Africa, 698.--Spirit of
New Roman Catholic Literature, 698.--Gardin de Tassy on Mr.
Salisbury's Unpublished Arabic Documents, 699.--New Travels in
Palestine, 698.--The Abbadie Travellers, 699.--French, English,
and American Missionaries, as Scholars, 699.--The Westminster
Review, 690.--A Grandson of Robert Burns, 699.--Friends in
Council, &c., by Mr. Helps, 699.--New English Announcements,
700.--New Dissenters' College, 700.--Sir Charles Lyell, and the
"Free Thinkers," 700.--Professor Wilson, 700.--Miss Kirkland's
Evening Book, 700.--Works by Mrs. Lee, 701.--Mr. Boyd's edition
of Young's Night Thoughts, 702.--"Injustice to the South,"
702.--Splendid American Gift Books for 1852, 703.--New American
Works in Press, 703, &c.

THE FINE ARTS:

Leutze's Washington, 703.--Colossal Statue of Washington at
Munich, 703.--Kaulbach's Frescoes, 703.--Cadame's Compositions
of the Seasons, 703.--Portraits of Bishop White and Daniel
Webster, 703.

HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE MONTH:

The American Elections, 704.--Kossuth In England, 704.--Europe,
and the East, 704.

RECENT DEATHS:

Archibald Alexander. D. D., 705.--J. Kearney Rogers, M. D.,
705.--Rev. William Croswell, D. D., 706.--Granville Sharpe
Pattison, M. D., 706.--Mr. Stephens, author of _The Manuscripts
of Erdely_, 706.--Mr. Gutzlaff, the Missionary, 707.--Don
Manuel Godoy, the Prince of the Peace, 708.--George Baker,
708.--M. De Savigny, 708.--Archbishop Wingard, 708.--Samuel
Beaseley, author of _The Roué_, 708.--H. P. Borrell,
708.--James Tyler. R. D., 708.--Emma Martin, 709.--Yar
Mohammed, 709.--Alexander Lee, 710.--Prince Frederick of
Prussia, 710.

GENTLEMEN'S AND LADIES FASHIONS FOR DECEMBER. _Seven Engravings_, 718

THE INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
Of Literature, Art, and Science.

* * * * *

Vol. IV. NEW-YORK, DECEMBER 1, 1851. No. V.

NAUVOO AND DESERET.

IMPOSTURE AND HISTORY OF THE MORMONS.

Among the many extraordinary chapters in the history of the Nineteenth Century none will seem in the next age more incredible and curious than that in which is related the Rise and Progress of Mormonism. The creed of the Latter Day Saints, as they style themselves, is not, indeed, more absurd and ridiculous than that of the Millerites, but this last sect had but a very brief existence, and is now almost forgotten; while the imposture of Smith and his associates, commencing before Miller began his prophecies, is still successful, and represented by missionaries in almost every state throughout the world.

It has been observed with some reason, that had a Rabelais or a Swift told the story of the Mormons under the veil of allegory, the sane portion of mankind would probably have entered a protest against the extravagance of the satirist. The name of the mock hero, his own and his family's ignorance and want of character, the low cunning of his accomplices, the open and shameless vices in which they indulged, and the extraordinary success of the sect they founded, would all have been thought too obviously conceived with a view to ludicrous effects. Yet the Mormon movement has assumed the condition of an important popular feature, and after much suffering and many reverses, its authors have achieved a condition of eminent industrial prosperity. In twenty years the company, consisting of the impostor and his father and brother, has increased to nearly half a million; they occupy one of the richest portions of this continent, have a regularly organized government, and are represented in the Congress of the United States by a delegate having all the powers usually conferred on the members for territories. With missions in every part of the country, in every capital of Europe, in Mecca, in Jerusalem, and among the islands of the Pacific and the Indian Oceans, all of whom are charged with the duty of making converts and gathering them to the Promised Land of Deseret, they must very soon have a population sufficiently large to claim admission as an equal member to the Union, and perhaps to hold the balance of power in its affairs.

To illustrate the energy and success with which their missions are prosecuted, we may cite the statement contained in a work just published in London, _The Mormons, or Latter Day Saints, a Contemporary History_, that more than fourteen thousand persons have left Great Britain since 1840 for the "Holy City." The emigrants passing through Liverpool in 1849, amounted to 2,500, generally of the better class of mechanics and farmers, and it was estimated that at least 30,000 converts remained behind. In June, 1850, there were in England and Scotland, 27,863, of whom London contributed 2,529; Liverpool, 1,018; Manchester, 2,787; Glasgow, 1,846; Sheffield, 1,920; Edinburgh, 1,331; Birmingham, 1,909; and Wales, 4,342. And the Mormon census was again taken last January, giving the entire number in the British Isles at 30,747. In fourteen years, more than 50,000 had been baptized in England, of whom nearly 17,000 had "emigrated to Zion." Although the Mormon emigration is commonly of the better class, there are also poor Mormons; and that these as well as their more prosperous brethren may be "gathered to the holy city," there is now amassed in Liverpool a very large fund, under the control of officers appointed by the "Apostles," destined exclusively for the equipment and transportation of converts to their place of Refuge.

The interest which recent events have attracted to the community in Deseret or Utah, will render interesting a more particular survey of its origin, progress, and condition.

In 1825 there lived near the village of Palmyra, in New-York, a family of small farmers of the name of Smith. They were of bad repute in the neighborhood, notorious for being continually in debt, and heedless of their business engagements. The eldest son, Joseph, says one of his friends, "could read without much difficulty, wrote a very imperfect hand, and had a very limited understanding of the elementary rules of arithmetic." Associated in some degree with Sidney Rigdon, who comes before us in the first place as a journeyman printer, he was the founder of the new faith. The early history of the conspiracy of these worthies is imperfectly known; but it is evident that Rigdon must have been in Smith's confidence from the first. Rigdon, indeed, probably had more to do with the matter than even Smith; but it was the latter who was first put conspicuously forward, and who managed to retain the pre-eminence. The account of the pretended revelation, as given by Smith, is as follows: He all at once found himself laboring in a state of great darkness and wretchedness of mind--was bewildered among the conflicting doctrines of the Christians, and could find no comfort or rest for his soul. In this state, he resorted to earnest prayer, kneeling in the woods and fields, and after long perseverance was answered by the appearance of a bright light in heaven, which gradually descended until it enveloped the worshipper, who found himself standing face to face with two supernatural beings. Of these he inquired which was the true religion? The reply was, that all existing religions were erroneous, but that the pure doctrine and crowning dispensation of Christianity should at a future period be miraculously revealed to himself. Several similar visitations ensued, and at length he was informed that the North American Indians were a remnant of Israel; that when they first entered America they were a powerful and enlightened people; that their priests and rulers kept the records of their history and doctrines, but that, having fallen off from the true worship, the great body of the nation were supernaturally destroyed--not, however, until a priest and prophet named Mormon, had, by heavenly direction, drawn up an abstract of their records and religious opinions. He was told that this still existed, buried in the earth, and that he was selected as the instrument for its recovery and manifestation to all nations. The record, it was said, contained many prophecies as to these latter days, and instructions for the gathering of the saints into a temporal and spiritual kingdom, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah, which was at hand. After several very similar visions, the spot in which the book lay buried was disclosed. Smith went to it, and after digging, discovered a sort of box, formed of upright and horizontal flags, within which lay a number of plates resembling gold, and of the thickness of common tin. These were bound together by a wire, and were engraved with Egyptian characters. By the side of them lay two transparent stones, called by the ancients, "Urim and Thummim," set in "the two rims of a bow." These stones were divining crystals, and the angels informed Smith, that by using them he would be enabled to decipher the characters on the plates. What ultimately became of the plates--if such things existed at all--does not appear. They were said to have been seen and handled by eleven witnesses. With the exception of three persons, these witnesses were either members of Smith's family, or of a neighboring family of the name of Whitmer. The Smiths, of course, give suspicious testimony. The Whitmers have disappeared, and no one knows any thing about them. Another witness, Oliver Cowdrey, was afterwards an amanuensis to Joseph; and another, Martin Harris, was long a conspicuous disciple. There is some confusion, however, about this person. Although he signs his name, as a witness who has seen and handled the plates, he assured Professor Anthon that he never had seen them, that "he was not sufficiently pure of heart," and that Joseph refused to show him the plates, but gave him instead a transcript on paper of the characters engraved on them. It is difficult to trace the early advances of the imposture. Every thing is vague and uncertain. We have no dates, and only the statements of the prophet and his friends.

Meantime, Smith must have worked successfully on the feeble and superstitious mind of Martin Harris. This man, as we have just said, received from him a written transcript of the mysterious characters, and conveyed it to Professor Anthon, a competent philological authority. Dr. Anthon's account of the interview is one of the most important parts of the entire history. Harris told him he had not seen the plates, but that he intended to sell his farm and give the proceeds to enable Smith to publish a translation of them. This statement, with what follows, shows that Smith's original intention, _quoad_ the alleged plates, was to use them as a means for swindling Harris. The Mormons have published accounts of Professor Anthon's judgment on the paper submitted to him, which he himself states to be "perfectly false." The Mormon version of the interview represents Dr. Anthon "as having been unable to decipher the characters correctly, but as having presumed that, if the original records could be brought, he could assist in translating them." On this statement being made, Dr. Anthon described the document submitted to him as having been a sort of _pot-pourri_ of ancient marks and alphabets. "It had evidently been prepared by some person who had before him a book containing various alphabets; Greek and Hebrew letters, crosses and flourishes, Roman letters, inverted or placed sideways, were arranged in perpendicular columns, and the whole ended in a rude delineation of a circle, divided into various compartments, decked with numerous strange marks, and evidently copied after the Mexican Calendar given by Humboldt, but copied in such a way as not to betray the source whence it was derived." This account disposes of the statement that the characters were Egyptian, while the very jumble of the signs of different nations, languages, and ages, proves that the impostor was deficient both in tact and knowledge. The scheme seems to have been, at all events, _in petto_ when Smith communicated with Harris; but a satisfactory clue to the fabrication is lost in our ignorance of the time and circumstances under which Smith and Rigdon came together. It must have been subsequent to that event that the "translation," by means of the magic Urim and Thummim, was begun. This work Smith is represented as having labored at steadily, assisted by Oliver Cowdrey, until a volume was produced containing as much matter as the Old Testament, written in the Biblical style, and containing, as Smith said the Angel had informed him, a history of the lost tribes in their pilgrimage to and settlement in America, with copious doctrinal and prophetic commentaries and revelations.

The devotion of Harris to the impostor secured a fund sufficient for defraying the cost of printing the pretended revelation, and the sect began slowly to increase. The doctrines of Smith were not at first very clearly defined; it is probable that neither he nor Rigdon had determined what should be their precise character; but like their early contemporary the prophet Matthias (the interesting history of whose career was published in New-York several years ago by the late Colonel Stone), they had no hesitation in deciding on one cardinal point, that the revelations made to Smith at any time should be received with unquestioning and implicit faith, and the earliest of these revelations contemplated a liberal provision for all the prophet's personal necessities. Thus, in February, 1831, it was revealed to the disciples that they should immediately build the prophet a house; on another occasion it was enjoined that, if they had any regard for their own souls, the sooner they provided him with food and raiment, and every thing he needed, the better it would be for them; and in a third revelation, Joseph was informed that "he was not to labor for his living." All these "revelations" were received, and though the impostor seemed to intelligent men little better than a buffoon, his followers soon learned to regard him as almost deserving of adoration, and he began to revel in whatever luxury and profligacy was most agreeable to his vulgar taste and ambition. As in the case of the scarcely more respectable pretender, Andrew Jackson Davis, it was asserted that his original want of cultivation precluded the notion of his having by the exercise of any natural or acquired faculties produced his "revelations." Everywhere his followers said, "The prophet is not learned in a human sense: how could he have become acquainted with all the antiquarian learning here displayed, if it were not supernaturally communicated to him?" But to this question there was soon an answer equally explicit and satisfactory. The real author of the Book of Mormon was a Rev. Solomon Spaulding, who wrote it as a romance. Its entire history and the means by which it came into the possession of Smith are described, in the following statement, by Mr. Spaulding's widow:--

"Since the _Book of Mormon_, or _Golden Bible_ (as it was
originally called), has excited much attention, and is deemed
by a certain new sect of equal authority with the sacred
Scriptures, I think it a duty to the public to state what I
know of its origin.... Solomon Spaulding, to whom I was married
in early life, was a graduate of Dartmouth college, and was
distinguished for a lively imagination, and great fondness for
history. At the time of our marriage, he resided in Cherry
Valley, New York. From this place, we removed to New Salem,
Ashtabula County, Ohio, sometimes called Conneaut, as it is
situated on Conneaut Creek. Shortly after our removal to this
place, his health failed, and he was laid aside from active
labors. In the town of New Salem there are numerous mounds and
forts, supposed by many to be the dilapidated dwellings and
fortifications of a race now extinct. These relics arrest the
attention of new settlers, and become objects of research for
the curious. Numerous implements were found, and other articles
evincing skill in the arts. Mr. Spaulding being an educated
man, took a lively interest in these developments of antiquity;
and in order to beguile the hours of retirement, and furnish
employment for his mind, he conceived the idea of giving an
historical sketch of the long-lost race. Their antiquity led
him to adopt the most ancient style, and he imitated the Old
Testament as nearly as possible. His sole object in writing
this imaginary history was to amuse himself and his neighbors.
This was about the year 1812. Hull's surrender at Detroit
occurred near the same time, and I recollect the date well
from that circumstance. As he progressed in his narrative, the
neighbors would come in from time to time to hear portions
read, and a great interest in the work was excited among them.
It claimed to have been written by one of the lost nation, and
to have been recovered from the earth; and he gave it the title
of 'The Manuscript Found.' The neighbors would often inquire
how Mr. Spaulding advanced in deciphering the manuscript; and
when he had a sufficient portion prepared, he would inform
them, and they would assemble to hear it read. He was enabled,
from his acquaintance with the classics and ancient history,
to introduce many singular names, which were particularly
noticed by the people, and could be easily recognized by them.
Mr. Solomon Spaulding had a brother, Mr. John Spaulding,
residing in the place at the time, who was perfectly familiar
with the work, and repeatedly heard the whole of it. From
New Salem we removed to Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania. Here
Mr. Spaulding found a friend and acquaintance, in the person
of Mr. Patterson, an editor of a newspaper. He exhibited his
manuscript to Mr. Patterson, who was much pleased with it,
and borrowed it for perusal. He retained it a long time, and
informed Mr. Spaulding that if he would make out a title-page
and preface, he would publish it, and it might be a source
of profit. This Mr. Spaulding refused to do. Sidney Rigdon,
who has figured so largely in the history of the Mormons,
was at that time connected with the printing office of Mr.
Patterson, as is well known in that region, and, as Rigdon
himself has frequently stated, became acquainted with Mr.
Spaulding's manuscript, and copied it. It was a matter of
notoriety and interest to all connected with the printing
establishment. At length the manuscript was returned to its
author, and soon after we removed to Amity, Washington county,
where Mr. Spaulding died, in 1816. The manuscript then fell
into my hands, and was carefully preserved. It has frequently
been examined by my daughter, Mrs. M'Kenstry, of Monson,
Massachusetts, with whom I now reside, and by other friends.
After the Book of Mormon came out, a copy of it was taken to
New Salem, the place of Mr. Spaulding's former residence,
and the very place where the 'Manuscript Found' was written.
A woman appointed a meeting there; and in the meeting read
copious extracts from the Book of Mormon. The historical part
was known by all the older inhabitants, as the identical
work of Mr. Spaulding, in which they had all been so deeply
interested years before. Mr. John Spaulding was present, and
recognized perfectly the production of his brother. He was
amazed and afflicted that it should have been perverted to so
wicked a purpose. His grief found vent in tears, and he arose
on the spot, and expressed to the meeting his sorrow that the
writings of his deceased brother should be used for a purpose
so vile and shocking. The excitement in New Salem became so
great, that the inhabitants had a meeting, and deputed Dr.
Philastus Hurlbut, one of their number, to repair to this
place, and to obtain from me the original manuscript of Mr.
Spaulding, for the purpose of comparing it with the Mormon
Bible--to satisfy their own minds and to prevent their friends
from embracing an error so delusive. This was in the year 1834.
Dr. Hurlbut brought with him an introduction and request for
the manuscript, which was signed by Messrs. Henry, Lake, Aaron
Wright, and others, with all of whom I was acquainted, as they
were my neighbors when I resided at New Salem. I am sure that
nothing would grieve my husband more, were he living, than
the use which has been made of his work. The air of antiquity
which was thrown about the composition doubtless suggested
the idea of converting it to the purposes of delusion. Thus,
an historical romance, with the addition of a few pious
expressions, and extracts from the sacred Scriptures, has been
construed into a new Bible, and palmed off upon a company of
poor deluded fanatics as Divine."

Similar evidence as to the Spaulding MS. was given by several private friends, and by the writer's brother, all of whom were familiar with its contents. The facts thus graphically detailed have of course been denied, but have never been disproved. Indeed, without them it is impossible to explain the hold which Rigdon always possessed on the Prophet; for he was a poor creature, without education and without talents. At one time--a critical moment in the history of the new church--a quarrel arose between the accomplices; but it ended in Smith's receiving a "revelation," in which Rigdon was raised by divine command to be equal with himself, having plenary power given to him to bind and loose both on earth and in heaven.

The remaining history of the Mormons is eminently interesting. Ignorant and superstitious as have been the chief part of the disciples, and atrocious as have been the tricks of the knaves who have led them on amid all the varieties of their good and evil fortune, there have occasionally been displayed among them an enthusiasm and bravery of endurance that demand admiration. Nearly from the beginning the leaders of the sect seem to have contemplated settling in the thinly populated regions of the western states, where lands were to be purchased for low prices, and after a short residence at Kirkland, in Ohio, they determined to found a New Jerusalem in Missouri. The interests of the town were confided to suitable officers, and Smith spent his time in travelling through the country and preaching, until the real or pretended immoralities of the sect led to such discontents that in 1839 they were forcibly and lawlessly expelled from the state. We are inclined to believe that they were not only treated with remarkable severity, but that there was not any reason whatever to justify an interference in their affairs.

From Missouri the saints proceeded to Illinois, and on the sixth of April, 1841, with imposing ceremonies, laid at their new city of Nauvoo the corner-stone of the Temple,[1] an immense edifice, without any architectural order or attraction, which in a few months was celebrated every where as not inferior in size and magnificence to that built by Solomon in Jerusalem. Nauvoo is delightfully situated in the midst of a fertile district, and a careful inquirer will not be apt to deny that it became the home of a more industrious, frugal, and generally moral society, than occupied any other town in the state. Whatever charges were preferred against Smith and his disciples, to justify the outrages to which they were subjected, the history of their expulsion from Nauvoo is simply a series of illustrations of the fact that the ruffian population of the neighboring country set on foot a vast scheme of robbery in order to obtain the lands and improvements of the Mormons without paying for them. We have not room for a particular statement of the discontents and conspiracies which grew up in the city, nor for any detail of the aggressions from without. On the 27th of June, 1844, Joseph and Hyrum Smith were murdered, while under the especial protection of the authorities of the state. A writer in the _Christian Reflector_ newspaper, soon after, observed of Joseph Smith:

"Various are the opinions concerning this singular personage;
but whatever may be thought in reference to his principles,
objects, or moral character, all agree that he was a most
remarkable man.... Notwithstanding the low origin, poverty,
and profligacy of these mountebanks, they have augmented
their numbers till more than 100,000 persons are now numbered
among the followers of the Mormon Prophet, and they never
were increasing so rapidly as at the time of his death. Born
in the very lowest walks of life, reared in poverty, educated
in vice, having no claims to even common intelligence, coarse
and vulgar in deportment, the Prophet Smith succeeded in
establishing a religious creed, the tenets of which have been
taught throughout America; the Prophet's virtues have been
rehearsed in Europe; the ministers of Nauvoo have found a
welcome in Asia; Africa has listened to the grave sayings of
the seer of Palmyra; the standard of the Latter-Day Saints
has been reared on the banks of the Nile; and even the Holy
Land has been entered by the emissaries of this impostor. He
founded a city in one of the most beautiful situations in the
world, in a beautiful curve of the 'Father of Waters,' of no
mean pretensions, and in it he had collected a population
of twenty-five thousand, from every part of the world. The
acts of his life exhibit a character as incongruous as it is
remarkable. If we can credit his own words and the testimony
of eye-witnesses, he was at the same time the vicegerent of
God and a tavern-keeper--a prophet and a base libertine--a
minister of peace, and a lieutenant-general--a ruler of tens of
thousands, and a slave to all his own base passions--a preacher
of righteousness, and a profane swearer--a worshipper of
Bacchus, mayor of a city, and a miserable bar-room fiddler--a
judge on the judicial bench, and an invader of the civil,
social, and moral relations of men; and, notwithstanding
these inconsistencies of character, there are not wanting
thousands willing to stake their souls' eternal salvation
on his veracity. For aught we know, time and distance will
embellish his life with some new and rare virtues, which his
most intimate friends failed to discover while living with
him. Reasoning from effect to cause, we must conclude that
the Mormon Prophet was of no common genius: few are able to
commence and carry out an imposition like his, so long, and so
extensively. And we see, in the history of his success, most
striking proofs of the credulity of a large portion of the
human family."

[1] The temple was of white limestone, 128 feet long, 83 feet wide, and 60 feet high. Its style will be seen in the above engraving. It was destroyed by fire, on the 19th of November, 1848. The town of Nauvoo is now occupied by another class of socialists, the Icarians, under M. Cabet, of Paris.

After some dissensions, in which the party of Brigham Young triumphed over that of Sidney Rigdon, the sect were reorganized and for some time were permitted quietly to prosecute their plans at Nauvoo. But early in 1846 they were driven out of their city and compelled in mid winter to seek a new home beyond the farthest borders of civilization. The first companies, embracing sixteen hundred persons, crossed the Mississippi on the 3d February, 1846, and similar detachments continued to leave until July and August, travelling by ox-teams towards California, then almost unknown, and quite unpeopled by the Anglo-Saxon race. Their enemies asserted that the intention of the Saints was to excite the Indians against the government, and that they would return to take vengeance on the whites for the indignities they had suffered. Nothing appears to have been further from their intentions. Their sole object was to plant their Church in some fertile and hitherto undiscovered spot, where they might be unmolested by any opposing sect. The war against Mexico was then raging, and, to test the loyalty of the Mormons, it was suggested that a demand should be made on them to raise five hundred men for the service of the country. They consented, and that number of their best men enrolled themselves under General Kearney, and marched 2,400 miles with the armies of the United States. At the conclusion of the war they were disbanded in Upper California. They allege that it was one of this band who, in working at a mill, first discovered the golden treasures of California; and they are said to have amassed large quantities of gold before the secret was made generally known to the "Gentiles." But faith was not kept with the Mormons who remained in Nauvoo. Although they had agreed to leave in detachments, as rapidly as practicable, they were not allowed necessary time to dispose of their property; and in September, 1846, the city was besieged by their enemies upon the pretence that they did not intend to fulfil the stipulations made with the people and authorities of Illinois. After a three days' bombardment, the last remnant was finally driven out.

The terrible hejira of the Mormon emigrants over the Rocky Mountains has been described by Mr. Kane of Philadelphia, in an interesting pamphlet, which is honorable to his own character for good sense and for benevolent feeling. No religious emigration was ever attended by more suffering, no emigration of any kind was ever prosecuted with more bravery. It resulted in the permanent establishment of the "Commonwealth of the New Covenant," in Utah, or Deseret, one of the most attractive portions of the interior of this Continent, near its western border. Of this territory Mr. Kane says:

Deseret is emphatically a new country; new in its own
characteristic features, newer still in its bringing together
within its limits the most inconsistent peculiarities of
other countries. I cannot aptly compare it to any. Descend
from the mountains, where you have the scenery and climate of
Switzerland, to seek the sky of your choice among the many
climates of Italy, and you may find welling out of the same
hills the freezing springs of Mexico and the hot springs of
Iceland, both together coursing their way to the Salt Sea
of Palestine, in the plain below. The pages of Malte Brun
provide me with a less truthful parallel to it than those which
describe the Happy Valley of Rasselas, or the Continent of
Ballibarbi.

The history of the Mormons has ever since been an unbroken record of prosperity. It has looked as though the elements of fortune, obedient to a law of natural re-action, were struggling to compensate their undue share of suffering. They may be pardoned for deeming it miraculous. But, in truth, the economist accounts for it all, who explains to us the speedy recuperation of cities, laid in ruin by flood, fire, and earthquake. During its years of trial, Mormon labor had subsisted on insufficient capital, and under many difficulties, but it _has_ subsisted, and survives them now, as intelligent and powerful as ever it was at Nauvoo; with this difference, that it has in the mean time been educated to habits of unmatched thrift, energy, and endurance, and has been transplanted to a situation where it is in every respect more productive. Moreover, during all the period of their journey, while some have gained by practice in handicraft, and the experience of repeated essays at their various halting-places, the minds of all have been busy framing designs and planning the improvements they have since found opportunity to execute. Their territory is unequalled as a stock-raising country; the finest pastures of Lombardy are not more estimable than those on the east side of the Utah Lake and its tributary rivers, and it is scarcely less rich in timber and minerals than the most fortunate portions of the continent.

From the first the Mormons have had little to do in Deseret, but attend to mechanical and strictly agricultural pursuits. They have made several successful settlements; the farthest north is distant more than forty miles, and the farthest south, in a valley called the Sanpeech, two hundred, from that first formed. A duplicate of the Lake Tiberias empties its waters into the innocent Dead Sea of Deseret, by a fine river, which they have named the Western Jordan. It was on the right bank of this stream, on a rich table land, traversed by exhaustless waters falling from the highlands, that the pioneers, coming out of the mountains in the night of the 24th of July, 1847, pitched their first camp in the Valley, and consecrated the ground. This spot proved the most favorable site for their chief settlement, and after exploring the whole country, they founded on it their city of the New Jerusalem. Its houses are diffused, to command as much as possible the farms, which are laid out in wards or cantons, with a common fence to each. The farms in wheat already cover a space nearly as large as Rhode Island. The houses of New Jerusalem, or Great Salt Lake City, as it is commonly called, are distributed over an area nearly as great as that of New York. The foundations have been laid for a temple more vast and magnificent than that which was erected at Nauvoo. The Deseret News, a paper established under the direction of the ecclesiastical authority came to us lately with several columns descriptive of the fourth anniversary celebration of the arrival of the disciples in their Promised Land.

Since the preceding paragraphs were written some important information has been received from Utah, justifying apprehensions that the ambition of the chief of the sect, and territorial governor, Brigham Young, will be continually productive of difficulties. It appears that in consequence of his unwarrantable assumptions of authority, the larger and most respectable portion of the territorial officers, including B. O. Harris, Secretary of the Territory, G. K. Brandenburg, Chief Justice, E. P. Bracchas, Associate Justice, H. R. Day, Indian Agent, and Messrs. Gillette and Young, were preparing to leave for the Atlantic States.

The particulars of the difficulty are not stated, but it is said that $20,000 appropriated by Congress for territorial purposes had been squandered by Young, and an attempt made by him to take $24,000 from the Treasurer, who refused, and applied to the Court to support him. This was done, and an injunction granted restraining the proceedings of the Governor.

Of the numerous objects of interest with which the banks of the Thames are so thickly studded, none are of such surpassing grandeur and regal magnificence as Windsor Castle, with its adjacent chapel of St. George, and Eton College. This massive and stately pile is richly storied with poetic associations, and venerable for its antiquity, in having proudly defied the ravages of Time for some eight centuries. Here kings were born; here they kept royal state amid the blaze of fashion and luxurious indulgence; and here in the adjoining mausoleum, they were buried. Here deeds of chivalry and high renown that shine on us from ancient days were enacted; and it is here the most exemplary of England's monarchy still prefers to hold her suburban residence. This brave old fortress, unlike the Tower of London, with its dark records of crime, is rife with pleasant memories. Not only is the edifice itself, with its gigantic towers, its broad bastions, and its kingly halls, sacred with incident and story, but Shakespeare has also rendered classical the very ground on which it stands.

Windsor Forest, with its magnificent old oaks and its richly variegated scenery, of "upland, lawn and stream," has afforded a fruitful theme for the pens of Gray and the poet of "The Seasons;" and Pope, it will be remembered, has felicitously pictured forth its changeful beauties. As far back as the days of the Saxons we have records of palatial residence at Old Windsor, or as its name then was, _Windleshora_, so called from the windings of the Thames in its vicinity. William the Norman built some portions of the Castle, which, until the time of Richard I., seems ever to have been the peaceful abode of royalty. During the civil wars, of which Windsor was a principal scene, the Castle became the most important military establishment in the kingdom. The sanguinary struggles connected with the signing of _Magna Charta_, are familiar to the reader. The birth of Edward III., which took place at Windsor, forms another epoch in its history--that prince having reconstructed the greater part of the Castle, and very largely extended it. William of Wykeham was the architect, with the liberal salary of a shilling a day. It is said he and six hundred workmen employed on the building, at the rate of one penny a day. It was here Richard II. heard the appeal of high treason, brought by the Duke of Lancaster against Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, which resulted in the former becoming Henry IV. It was here the Earl of Surrey, imprisoned for the high crime of eating flesh in Lent, beguiled his solitude, with his muse; and here was the last prison of that unfortunate monarch, Charles I. In Windsor Castle also resided the haughty Elizabeth; and along its terrace might have been seen in the days of the Commonwealth the stern figure of the lion-hearted Cromwell. It was the residence of Henry VIII., and the prison of James I. of Scotland. It is indebted for most of its modern splendor, to the luxurious taste and prodigal expenditure of George IV., who obtained from the House of Commons the sum of £300,000 for the purpose. The suites of royal apartments at present in use by the Queen are superb in the extreme, especially the state drawing rooms, in which are nine pictures by Zuccarelli; and St. George's Hall--a vast apartment in which the state banquets are given.

The long walk, extending about three miles in a direct line to the Palace, presents the finest vista of its kind in the world. It extends from the grand entrance of the Castle, to the top of a commanding hill in the Great Park, which affords a panoramic view of enchanting beauty, including many places memorable in history. On the right is the Thames, seen beyond Charter Island, and the plain of Runnymede, where the Barons extorted _Magna Charta_, whilst in the hazy distance are the rising eminences of Harrow and Hampstead. On the summit of this hill stands the equestrian statue of George III. Near the avenue called Queen Elizabeth's Walk, tradition still points out a withered tree as the identical oak of "Herne the Hunter," who, as the tale goes,

"Sometimes a keeper here in Windsor Forest,
Doth all the winter time, at still midnight,
Walk round the oak, with great ragged horns."

[We derive this article from an interesting and beautifully
illustrated volume of "Memories of the Great Metropolis," by
FREDERIC SAUNDERS, to be issued in a few days by one of our
leading publishers. We shall notice it again.]

MR. GERARD, THE LION KILLER, AND M. LE BARON MUNCHAUSEN, WHO BEAT HIM.

Jules Gerard is an officer in the famous army of Africa, who has a passion for lion killing. He is the Gordon Cumming of France. He follows lions alone; hunts them like sheep, for miles; sleeps near them; and patiently awaits their coming. Last year we published (article "Wild Sports in Algeria," _International_, vol. ii. p. 121,) an account of one of his exploits, to which he now refers us. His last adventure is sufficiently exciting, and incredibly daring. It is told in a letter to a friend, and published in the _Journal des Chasseurs_:--

"My dear Léon,--In my narrative of the month of August, 1850,
I spoke of a large old lion which I had not been able to fall
in with, and of whose sex and age I had formed a notion from
his roarings. On the return of the expeditionary column from
Kabylia, I asked permission from General St. Armand to go and
explore the fine lairs situated on the northern declivity of
Mount Aures, in the environs of Klenchela, where I had left
my animal. Instead of a furlough, I received a mission for
that country, and accordingly had during two months to shut
my ears against the daily reports that were brought to me by
the Arabs of the misdeeds of the solitary. In the beginning of
September, when my mission was terminated, I proceeded to pitch
my tent in the midst of the district haunted by the lion, and
set about my investigations round about the _douars_ to which
he paid the most frequent visits. In this manner I spent many
a night beneath the open sky, without any satisfactory result,
when, on the 15th, in the morning, after a heavy rain which
had lasted till midnight, some natives, who had explored the
cover, came and informed me that the lion was ensconced within
half a league of my tent. I set out at three o'clock, taking
with me an Arab to hold my horse, another carrying my arms,
and a third in charge of a goat most decidedly unconscious of
the important part it was about to perform. Having alighted
at the skirt of the wood, I directed myself towards a glade
situated in the midst of the haunt, where I found a shrub to
which I could tie the goat, and a tuft or two to sit upon. The
Arabs went and crouched down beneath the cover, at a distance
of about 100 paces. I had been there about a quarter of an
hour, the goat meanwhile bleating with all its might, when a
covey of partridges got up behind me, uttering their usual
cry when surprised. I looked about me in every direction,
but could see nothing. Meanwhile the goat had ceased crying,
and its eyes were intently fixed at me. She made an attempt
to break away from the fastening, and then began trembling
in all her limbs. At these symptoms of fright I again turned
round, and perceived behind me, about fifteen paces off, the
lion stretched out at the foot of a juniper-tree, through the
branches of which he was surveying us and making wry faces. In
the position I was in, it was impossible for me to fire without
facing about. I tried to fire from the left shoulder but felt
awkward. In turning gently round without rising, I was in a
favorable position, and just as I was levelling my piece the
lion stood up and began to show me all his teeth, at the same
time shaking his head, as much as to say, 'What the devil are
you doing there?' I did not hesitate a moment, and fired at his
mouth. The animal fell on the spot as if struck by lightning.
My men ran up at the shot; and as they were eager to lay hands
on the lion, I fired a second time between the eyes, in order
to secure his lying perfectly still. The first bullet had taken
the course of the spine throughout its entire length, passing
through the marrow, and had come out at the tail. I had never
before fired a shot that penetrated so deeply, and yet I had
only loaded with sixty grains. It is true the rifle was one of
Devisme's and the bullets steel-pointed. The lion, a black one
and among the oldest I have ever shot, supplied the kettles of
four companies of infantry who were stationed at Klenchela.
Receive, my dear Léon, the assurance of my devoted affection.

JULES GERARD."

The exploit of 1850 was the chasing of two lions, one of which he killed; the other, supposed to be the one now shot, running away from him and escaping, after a vigorous chase of many miles. Some one--a celebrated author, indeed, with whose astonishing adventures we have been familiar from boyhood--envious of the recent fame of Mr. Arthur Gordon Cumming and M. Jules Gerard, has sent the following letter to the editor of the London _Times_:

Sir,--The exploit of M. Jules Gerard, recorded in _The Times_
of the 14th inst., is certainly very wonderful, but by no means
equals one performed by myself in South Africa. Observing on
one occasion a large black lion, about 18 feet in length,
reposing under a caoutchouc tree, I fired, and the bullet, like
that of M. Gerard, went right through the backbone and came
out at the tail; but, wonderful to relate, it hit against the
tree, and rebounding, came back the same way and went straight
into the barrel of my rifle, just after I had reloaded with
powder. I instantly presented my piece at the lioness, which
was reposing by the side of her lord, and fired; and thus I
killed two animals (so large that they supplied three regiments
of the line and 200 irregular cavalry with food for nearly a
week) with one and the same bullet. In case any of your readers
should doubt the truth of this statement, I eschew the usual
fashion of writing under a false name, and subscribe myself,
your very obedient servant,

BARON MUNCHAUSEN.
_London_, Oct. 15.

We present to the readers of the _International Magazine_, this month, from a recent Daguerrotype by Brady, the best portrait ever published of the greatest living poet who writes the English language.

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT was born on the third of November, 1794, in the village of Cummington, Massachusetts. His father, Dr. Peter Bryant of that place, one of the most eminent physicians of the day, was possessed of extensive literary and scientific acquirements, an unusually vigorous and well-disciplined mind, and an elegant and refined taste. He was fond of study, and sought to infuse into the minds of his young and growing family, those habits of intellectual exertion which had been to himself a source of so much exalted pleasure. It was fortunate for the subject of this notice, that such was his character; for when his own genius began to discover signs of its power, he found in his father an able and skilful instructor, who chastened, improved, and encouraged the first rude efforts of his boyhood. That parent did not, like the father of Petrarch, burn the poetic library of his son, amid the tears and groans of the boy; nor, like the relatives of Alfieri, suppress, for nearly one-third of his existence, the poetic fervor which consumed his heart; but, looking upon poetry as a high, perhaps the highest of arts, and poetic eminence as the noblest fame, he nourished with cheerful care the least indications of its presence, and supplied the youth with the means of its culture and growth. Nor were his services unrewarded, as it appears from Mr. Bryant's solemn Hymn to Death, by the subsequent gratitude and success of his pupil.

When only ten years of age, Mr. Bryant produced several small poems, which, though of course marked by the defects and puerilities of so immature an age, were yet thought to possess sufficient merit to be published in the newspaper of a neighboring village--the Hampshire Gazette. His friends, though pleased with these early evidences of talent, did not injure him with injudicious flattery, but, in the spirit of Dryden's simile, treated them

"As those who unripe veins in mines explore,
On the rich bed again the warm turf lay,
Till time digests the yet imperfect ore,
Knowing it would be gold another day."

Mr. Bryant acquired the rudiments of his school education under the care, first of the Rev. Mr. Snell of Brookfield, and then under that of the Rev. Mr. Hallock of Plainfield, Massachusetts. They found in him a sprightly and intelligent pupil, better pleased to lay up knowledge from books, and the silent meditation of nature, than to join in the ordinary pastimes of children. He was quick of apprehension, and diligent in pursuit. He rapidly ran through the usual preliminary studies; and in 1810, then in the sixteenth year of his age, was entered a member of the sophomore class of Williams' College. In that institution, he continued his studies with the same ardor and enthusiasm. He was particularly noted for his fondness for the classics, and in a little while made himself master of the more interesting portions of the literature of Greece and Rome. But he had not been in college more than a year or two, when he asked and procured an honorable dismission, for the purpose of devoting himself to the study of the law. This he did in the office of Judge Howe of Worthington, and afterwards in that of the Hon. William Baylies of Bridgewater, and, in 1815, was admitted to practice at the bar of Plymouth.

But, during the period of his studies, Mr. Bryant had not neglected the cultivation of his poetic abilities. In 1808, before he went to college, he had published, in Boston, a satirical poem, which attracted so much attention, that a second edition was demanded in the course of the next year. "When it is remembered," observes Mr. Leggett, "that this work was given to the public by an author who had not completed his fourteenth year, it cannot but be considered a remarkable instance of early maturity of mind. Pope's Ode to Solitude was written at twelve years of age; but it possesses neither fancy nor feeling, and except for the harmony of its versification, is entitled to no particular praise. His Translation of Sappho to Phaon is indeed an extraordinary production, and has uniformly received the warmest commendation from the critics. Yet, it is but a translation, while the poem of our author, written still earlier in life, is an original effort, and as such cannot but be received with greater surprise, on account of the wonderful precocity of judgment, wit, and fancy it exhibits. Like Cowley's Poetical Blossoms, it must have been composed when the writer was little more than thirteen; but in point of merit, it is decidedly superior to these effusions of unripened genius." Certain political strictures on Mr. Jefferson and his party, which this poem contained, have given rise, since Mr. Bryant has become conspicuous as an ardent friend of democracy, to charges of political inconsistency and faithlessness. They are charges, however, that require no refutation; and we refer to them now only to remark, that it is a singular evidence of Mr. Bryant's integrity and discernment, that the only point of attack which embittered enemies have found in his whole life, are his unconsidered mutterings when a stripling of only thirteen, living in times of high political excitement, and among a people who were all of one way of thinking. How few pass through life with characters so pure and unassailable!