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the number of his wives, all of whom will continue to belong to him after the resurrection, if they have been sealed to him by the President. Hence the term celestial marriage, which they apply to this connexion. Moreover, the first wife, if submissive, will rank as Queen over all the other concubines. In the tract above quoted Abby explains this to Nelly as follows:-"I appreciate a kind intelligent husband, that is ordained and anointed like unto Abraham, to be king over innumerable myriads of the human family, so highly, that I shall not make myself a widow and servant through all eternity, by opposing what God has clearly revealed by all his prophets since the world began. great question is this. Will we unite with the plurality order of ancient patriarchs, or will we consent to be doomed to eternal celibacy? This is the true division of the question. One or the other we must choose. We cannot be married to our husbands for eternity. without subscribing to the law that admits a plurality of wives. . . . . If your George and you should be alone, by the side of such a king as Abraham or Solomon, with all his queens, and their numerous servants and waiting maids in courtly livery, would he not look like a mere rushlight by the side of such suns ? sides, a queen, to him that has his hundreds of wives in eternity, with children as numberless as the stars of heaven, would receive intelligence, honour, and dominion, in some measure proportioned to the exaltation of her husband; while your George, not having much to look after besides you, could not demand the same mea

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sure of wealth, honour, and dominion; because he could use upon you and your little family but a small pittance of what pertains to one moving in a wider and more exalted sphere.

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Nelly. But do you mean to say, Abby, that if I am not married according to God's order before the resurrection, that I shall always have to remain single, and also be your servant, or the servant of some one that is married according to that order?

"Abby. That is what God has most clearly revealed in many scriptures."

This contingent Queenship, however, will be subject to the husband's appointment, and the reversionary interest therein often creates rivalry in the establishment. Mr. Gunnison was informed at Salt Lake that Brigham Young had a wife who died before she became a Mormon, but has since been saved by vicarious baptism, and that the first of his present wives frequently teases her husband by inquiring whether she herself or her predecessor will be his Queen in the world to come. —(G. 77.)

Besides the arguments above mentioned in favour of polygamy, derived from Revelation, others are deduced from reason and expediency. The chief of these is, that the Oriental system will remedy the immorality in which Europe is now sunk. So corrupt is society at present, especially in England, that not only are there "a hundred thousand prostitutes in London," but also that the "haunts of vice" are constantly frequented by those who are specially ordained to be the guardians of public

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morality, "by parsons, and even bishops in disguise.”—(XV. 244.) This foul and wide-spread pollution would be cured by polygamy, for under that institution no female would be driven to vice by the want of a legitimate protector. "Don't you think," says Nelly, in the tract before cited, "that the hundred thousand unfortunate females in London would much rather have such husbands [i. e. husbands shared with several other wives] than lead out their present miserable short lives as they do?"

Again it is urged that the "Patriarchal Order" will soon be rendered necessary by an excess of females over males, which is to result from the destructive wars now impending over the world. A passage in Isaiah is interpreted as prophesying that this excess will be in the proportion of seven to one.

Farther, the system of plurality is desirable as rewarding good men and punishing bad men, for the good will be selected as husbands by many wives, while the bad will be accepted by none. "How many virtuous females," says Chancellor Spencer, "would prefer to unite their destinies to one and the same honourable and virtuous man, rather than to separate their destinies each to an inferior vicious man? Shall such virtuous and innocent females be denied the right to choose the objects of their love?"-(P. O. 2.)

Moreover, far from causing discord among women, this patriarchal institution "is calculated to dispel jealousy."

"For instance, in this country three young women all

love the same young man. Being rivals, it is natural that they should hate each other in exact proportion as they love the young man; because they know that the law will not allow him to be married to them all. If polygamy were allowed, this jealousy would not exist, because a woman would know that she could be married to any man she loved."-(XV. 660.)

Another argument much insisted on is the removal of an impediment which now hinders the conversion of polygamous heathen. This is illustrated by the following story, which we find constantly repeated in the "Mormon Apologies: "—" A Dakotah Indian offered himself for baptism to some Presbyterian missionaries. On being questioned he said, that he had several wives. He was told that he could not be baptized while he had more wives than one. The heathen went away, and returned in a few months renewing his request. He was again questioned how many wives he had. One only, said he. 'What had he done with all the others?' I have eaten them, was the reply.”—(XV. 147.)

From the tone taken by the Mormon advocates of polygamy, it would seem as if the practice must prevail among them extensively. For, otherwise, we cannot understand why they should represent it to the poor in their popular tracts as a state so desirable, that a man with only one wife must be precluded from the higher degrees of happiness in the life to come. Yet, on the other hand, it is hard to conceive how any but the wealthier members of the community can indulge in so expensive a luxury. However this may be, it is certain

from the evidence of such credible witnesses as Captain Stansbury and Lieutenant Gunnison, that the great officers of the Church maintain seraglios on a scale truly Oriental. The latter informs us (p. 120) that the three members of the Presidency had, when he was in Utah, no less than eighty-two wives between them, and that one of the three "was called an old bachelor, because he had only a baker's dozen." And Captain Stansbury describes the "numerous family" of the President as mingling freely in the balls, parties, and other social amusements of the place.

The delightful effects of this practice on the domestic felicity of Utah are thus described by one of the organs of Mormonism:-"Each wife knows that the other wives are as much entitled to the attention of the husband as she herself; she knows that such attentions are not criminal, therefore she does not lose confidence in him; though she may consider him partial, in some respects, yet she has the consolation to know that his attentions towards them are strictly virtuous."-(Seer, i. 125.) And again—

"There is no particular rule as regards the residence of the different branches of a family. It is very frequently the case that they all reside in the same dwelling, and take hold unitedly, with the greatest cheerfulness, of the different branches of household or domestic business; eating at the same table, and kindly looking after each others' welfare, while the greatest peace and harmony prevail year after year. Their children play and associate together with the greatest affection as