MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV) by FREDERICK MARRYAT (leveled readers txt) 📕

Especially In the Event Of A Civil War Or Of A Contest With England.

Having Themselves, By A Mistaken Policy, Collected together A Cordon Of

Offended warriors, The United states Will Some Day Deplore, When Too

Late, Their Former Greediness, And Cruelty Towards The Natural Owners Of

Their Vast Territories.

It Is Among These Tribes That Joe Smith Wishes To Lay The Foundation Of

His Future Empire; And Settling at Independence, He Was Interposing as A

Neutral Force Between Two Opponents, Who Would, Each Of Them, Have

Purchased his Massive Strength And Effective Energy With The Gift Of

Supremacy Over An Immense And Wealthy Territory. As We Have Seen, Chance

And The Fortune Of War Have Thrown Smith And The Mormons Back On The

Eastern Shores Of The Mississippi, Opposite The Entrance Of Desmoines

River; But When Forced back, The Mormons Were An Unruly And Turbulent

Crowd, Without Means Or Military Tactics; Now, Such Is Not The Case.

Already, The Prophet Has Sent Able Agents Over The River; The Sacs And

Foxes, The Same Tribe We Have Just Spoken Of As The Much-Abused nation

Of Wisconsin, And Actually Residing at About Eighty Miles N.N.W. From

Nauvoo, Besides Many Others, Are On A Good Understanding With The

Latter-Day Saints. A Few Bold Apostles Of Mormonism Have Also Gone To

The Far, Far West, Among The Unconquered tribes Of The Prairies, To

Organize An Offensive Power, Ever Ready For Action.

Thus, Link After Link, Smith Extends His Influence, Which Is Already

Felt In illinois, In iowa, In missouri, At Washington, And At The Very

Foot Of The Rocky Mountains. Moreover, Hundreds Of Mormons, Without

Avowing Their Creed, Have Gone To Texas, And Established themselves

There. They Save All Their Crops, And Have Numerous Cattle And Droves Of

Horses, Undoubtedly To Feed and Sustain A Mormon Army On Any Future

Invasion. Let Us Now Examine Further Into This Cunning and Long-Sighted

Policy, And We Shall Admire The Great Genius That Presides Over It. We

Are Not One Of Those, So Common In these Days, Who Have Adopted the _Nil

Admirari_ For Their Motto. Genius, Well Or Ill Guided, Is Still Genius;

And If We Load With Shame The Former Life Of Smith And His Present

Abominable Religious Impositions, Still We Are Bound To Do Justice To

That Conquering Spirit Which Can Form Such Vast Ideas, And Work Such A

Multitude To His Will.

The Population Of Texas Does Not Amount To Seventy Thousand Souls, Among

Whom There Are Twenty-Five Different Forms Of Religion. Two-Thirds Of

The Inhabitants Are Scoundrels, Who Have There Sought A Refuge Against

The Offended laws Of Their Country. They Are Not Only A Curse And A

Check To Civilization, But They Reflect Dishonour Upon The Remaining

Third Portion Of The Texans, Who Have Come From Distant Climes For The

Honest Purposes Of Trade And Agriculture. This Mongrel And Mixed

Congregation Of Beings, Though Firmly United in one Point (War With

Mexico, And That In the Expectation Of A Rich Plunder), Are Continually

At Variance On Other Points. Three Thousand Texans Would Fight Against

Mexico, But Not Two Hundred against The Mormons; And That For Many

Reasons: Government Alone, And Not An Individual, Would Be A Gainer By A

Victory; In texas, Not A Soul Cares For Anything But Himself. Besides,

The Mormons Are Yankees, And Can Handle A Rifle, Setting aside Their

Good Drilling and Excellent Discipline. In number, They Would Also Have

The Advantage; While I Am Now Writing, They Can Muster Five Thousand

Well-Drilled soldiers, And, In the Event Of An Invasion Of Texas, They

Could Easily March Ten Thousand Men From The Sabine To The Rio Grande,

From The Red river To The Gulf Of Mexico. Opposition They Will Not Meet.

A Year After The Capture, The Whole Of Texas Becomes Mormon, While

Joe--King, Emperor, Pharaoh, Judge Or Regenerator--Rules Over A Host Of

Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Devoted subjects.

Let Our Reader Observe That These Are Not The Wild Utopias Of A Heated

Imagination. No; We Speak As We Do Believe, And Our Intercourse With The

Mormons During Our Travels Has Been Sufficiently Close To Give Us A

Clear Insight Into Their Designs For The Future.

Joe'S Policy Is, Above All, To Conciliate The Indians, And That Once

Done, There Will Not Be In america A Power Capable Of Successfully

Opposing Him. In order To Assist This He Joins Them In his New Faith. In

Admitting The Indians To Be The "Right, Though Guilty," Descendants Of

The Sacred tribes, He Flatters Them With An Acknowledgment Of Their

Antiquity, The Only Point On Which A White Can Captivate And Even Blind

The Shrewd Though Untutored man Of The Wilds.

In Explanation Of The Plans And Proceedings Of Joe Smith And The

Mormons, It May Not Be Amiss To Make Some Remarks Upon The Locality

Which He Has Designed as The Seat Of His Empire And Dominion, And Where

He Has Already Established his Followers, As The Destined instruments Of

His Ambition.

According To The Mormon Prophets, The Whole Region Of Country Between

The Rocky Mountains And The Alleghanies Was, At A Period Of About

Thirteen Hundred years Ago, Densely Peopled by Nations Descended from A

Jewish Family, Who Emigrated from Jerusalem In the Time Of The Prophet

Jeremiah, Some Six Or Seven Hundred years Before Christ; Immense Cities

Were Founded, And Sumptuous Edifices Reared, And The Whole Land

Overspread With The Results Of A High And Extensive Civilization.

The Book Of Mormon Speaks Of Cities With Stupendous Stone Walls, And Of

Battles, In which Hundreds Of Thousands Were Slain. The Land Afterwards

Became A Waste And Howling Wilderness, Traversed by A Few Straggling

Bands Or Tribes Of Savages, Descended from A Branch Of The Aforesaid

Jewish Family, Who, In consequence, Of Their Wickedness, Had Their

Complexion Changed from White To Red; But The Emigrants From Europe And

Their Descendants, Having Filled the Land, And God Having Been Pleased

To Grant A Revelation By Which Is Made Known The True History Of The

Past In america, And The Events Which Are About To Take Place, He Has

Also Commanded the Saints Of The Latter Day To Assemble Themselves

Together There, And Occupy The Land Which Was Once Held By The Members

Of The True Church.

The States Of Missouri And Illinois, And The Territory Of Iowa, Are The

Regions To Which The Prophet Has Hitherto Chiefly Directed his Schemes

Of Aggrandizement, And Which Are To Form The Nucleus Of The Mormon

Empire. The Remaining States Are To Be _Licked up_ Like Salt, And Fall

Before The Sweeping Falchion Of Glorious Prophetic Dominion, Like The

Defenceless Lamb Before The Mighty King Of The Forest.

I Have Given The Results Of My Notes Taken Relative To The Mormons, Not,

Perhaps, In very Chronological Order, But As I Gathered them From Time

To Time. The Reader Will Agree With Me, That The Subject Is Well Worth

Attention. Absurd And Ridiculous As The Creed may Be, No Creed ever, In

So Short A Period, Obtained so Many Or Such Devoted proselytes. From

Information I Have Since Received, They May Now Amount To Three Hundred

Thousand; And They Have Wealth, Energy, And Unity--They Have

Everything--In Their Favour; And The Federal Government Has Been So

Long Passive, That I Doubt If It Has The Power To Disperse Them. Indeed,

To Obtain Their Political Support, They Have Received so Many

Advantages, And, I May Say, Such Assistance, That They Are Now So

Strong, That Any Attempt To Wrest From Them The Privileges Which Have

Been Conceded would Be The Signal For A General Rising.

They Have Fortified nauvoo; They Can Turn Out A Disciplined force As

Large As The States Are Likely To Oppose To Them, And, If Successful,

Can Always Expect The Co-Operation Of Seventy Thousand Indians, Or, If

Defeated, A Retreat Among Them, Which Will Enable Them To Coalesce For A

More Fortunate Opportunity Of Action. Neither Do I Imagine That The Loss

Of Their Leader, Joe Smith, Would Now Much Affect Their Strength; There

Are Plenty To Replace Him, Equally Capable, Not Perhaps To Have Formed

The Confederacy, Religious And Political, Which He Has Done, But To

Uphold It, Now That It Is So Strong. The United states Appear To Me To

Be Just Now In a Most Peculiar State Of Progression, And Very Soon The

Eyes Of The Whole World Will Be Directed towards Them And The Result Of

Their Institutions. A Change Is About To Take Place; What That Change

Will Be, It Is Difficult To Say; But A Few Years Will Decide

The Question.

Having Now Related the Principal Events Which I Witnessed, Or In which I

Was An Actor, Both In california And In texas, As These Countries Are

Still New And But Little Known (For, Indeed, The Texans Themselves Know

Nothing Of Their Inland Country), I Will Attempt A Topographical Sketch

Of These Regions, And Also Make Some Remarks Upon The Animals Which

Inhabit The Immense Prairies And Mountains Of The Wilderness.

Along The Shores Of The Pacific Ocean, From The 42 Deg. Down To The 34 Deg.

North, The Climate Is Much The Same; The Only Difference Between The

Winter And Summer Being That The Nights Of The Former Season Are A

Little Chilly. The Causes Of This Mildness In the Temperature Are

Obvious. The Cold Winds Of The North, Rendered sharper Still By Passing

Over The Snows And Ices Of The Great Northern Lakes, Cannot Force Their

Passage Across The Rocky Chain South Of The Latitude 44 Deg. N., Being

Prevented by A Belt Of High Mountains Or By Impenetrable Forests. To The

Eastward, On The Contrary, They Are Felt Very Severely; Not Encountering

Any Kind Of Obstacles, They Sweep Their Course To The Very Shores Of The

Gulf Of Mexico, So That In 26 Deg. N. Latitude, On The Southern Boundaries

Of Texas, Winter Is Still Winter; That Is To Say, Fire Is Necessary In

The Apartments During The Month Of January, And Flannel And Cloth

Dresses Are Worn; While, On The Contrary, The Same Month On The Shores

Of The Pacific, Up To 40 Deg., Is Mild Enough To Allow Strangers From The

South, And Even The Sandwich Islanders, To Wear Their Light Nankeen

Trowsers And Gingham Round-Abouts.

There Is Also A Wide Difference Between The Two Coasts Of The Continent

During Summer. In upper California And The Shoshone Territory, Although

The Heat, From The Rays Of The Sun, Is Intense, The Temperature Is So

Cooled both By The Mountain And Sea-Breeze, As Never To Raise The

Mercury To More Than 95 Deg. Fahrenheit, Even In st. Diego, Which Lies

Under The Parallel Of 32 Deg. 39'; While In the East, From 27 Deg. In south

Texas, And 30 Deg. At New Orleans, Up To 49 Deg. Upon Lake Superior, The Mercury

Rises To 100 Deg. Every Year, And Frequently 105 Deg., 107 Deg. In st Louis, In

Prairie Du Chien, Green Bay, St. Anthony'S Falls, And The Lake Superior.

The _Resume_ Of This Is Simply That The Climate Of The Western Coast Of

America Is The Finest In the World, With An Air So Pure, That During The

Intense Heat Of Summer A Bullock, Killed, Cleansed, And Cut Into Slices,

Will Keep For Months Without Any Salting Nor Smoking.

Another Cause Which Contributes To Render These Countries Healthy And

Pleasant To Live In is, That There Are, Properly Speaking, No Swamps,

Marshes, Nor Bayous, As In the United states, And In the Neighbourhood

Of Acapulco And West Mexico. These Lakes And Bayous Drying During

Summer, And Exposing To The Rays Of The Sun Millions Of Dead Fish,

Impregnate The Atmosphere With Miasma, Generating Typhus, Yellow Fever,

Dysenteries, And Pulmonary Diseases.

If The Reader Will Look Over The Map I Have Sketched of The Shoshone

Country, He Will Perceive How Well The Land Is Watered; The Lakes Are

All Transparent And Deep, The Rivers Run Upon A Rocky Bottom As Well As

All The Brooks And Creeks, The Waters Of Which Are Always Cool And

Plentiful. One More Observation To Convince The Reader Of The

Superiority Of The Clime Is, That, Except A Few Ants In the Forest,

There Are No Insects Whatever To