MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV) - FREDERICK MARRYAT (books to read this summer txt) 📗

Missouri, And Generally Of Great

Fertility; And The Soil Of The Upland Is Equal, If Not Superior, To That

Of Any Other Upland Tract In the United states. The Region South Of The

Missouri River And West Of The Osage, Is Of The Same Description; The

Northern And Western Missouri Country Is Most Delightful, A Soil Of

Inexhaustible Fertility, And A Salubrious Climate, Rendering It A Most

Desirable And Pleasant Residence; But South-East Of The Latter River,

The State Is Traversed by Numerous Ridges Of The Ozark Mountains, And

The Surface Is Here Highly Broken And Rugged.

 

 

 

This Mountainous Tract Has A Breadth Of From One Hundred to One Hundred

And Fifty Miles; But Although It Often Shoots Up Into Precipitous Peaks,

It Is Believed that They Rarely Exceed two Thousand Feet In height; No

Accurate Measurements Of Their Elevation Have, However, Been Made, And

Little Is Known Of The Course And Mutual Relations Of The Chains. The

Timber Found Here Is Pitch-Pine, Shrub Oaks, Cedar, &C., Indicative Of

The Poverty Of The Soil; In the Uplands Of The Rest Of The State,

Hickory, Post-Oak, And White Oaks, &C., Are The Prevailing Growth; And

In River-Bottoms, The Cotton-Tree, Sycamore, Or Button-Wood, Maple, Ash,

Walnut, &C., Predominate. The South-Eastern Corner Of The State, Below

Cape Girardeau, And East Of The Black River, Is A Portion Of The Immense

Inundated region Which Borders The Arkansas. A Considerable Part Of This

Tract Is Indeed above The Reach Of The Floods, But These Patches Are

Isolated and Inaccessible, Except By Boats, During The Rise Of

The Waters.

 

 

 

My Friend, Mr. Courtenay, Penetrated these Swamps With Three Indians And

Two Negroes. His Companions Were Bogged and Lost; He Returned, Having

Killed seven Fine Elks, And Two Buffaloes. Some Of These Mighty Animals

Have Been Breeding There For A Long While, Undisturbed by Man.

 

 

 

The State Of Missouri Is Abundantly Supplied with Navigable Channels,

Affording Easy Access To All Parts. The Mississippi Washes The Eastern

Border, By The Windings Of The Stream, For A Distance Of About Four

Hundred and Seventy Miles. Above St. Genevieve, It Flows For The Most

Part Between High And Abrupt Cliffs Of Limestone, Rising To An Elevation

Of From One Hundred to Four Hundred feet Above The Surface Of The River;

Sometimes Separated from It By Bottoms Of Greater Or Less Width, And At

Others Springing Up Abruptly From The Water'S Edge. A Few Miles Below

Cape Girardeau, And About Thirty-Five Miles Above The Mouth Of The Ohio,

Are The Rocky Ledges, Called the Little And Grand Chain; And About

Half-Way Between That Point And St. Genevieve, Is The Grand Tower, One

Of The Wonders Of The Mississippi. It Is A Stupendous Pile Of Rocks, Of

A Conical Form, About One Hundred and Fifty Feet High, And One Hundred

Feet In circumference At Its Base, Rising Up Out Of The Bed of The

River. It Seems, In connection With The Rocky Shores On Both Sides, To

Have Been Opposed, At Some Former Period, As A Barrier To The Flow Of

The Mississippi, Which Must Here Have Had A Perpendicular Fall Of More

Than One Hundred feet.

 

 

 

The Principal Tributaries Of The Mississippi, With The Exception Of The

Missouri, Are The Desmoines, Wyacond, Fabius, Salt, And Copper Rivers,

Above That Great Stream, And The Merrimac, St. Francis And White River

Below; The Two Last Passing Into Arkansas. Desmoines, Which Is Only A

Boundary Stream, Is Navigable One Hundred and Seventy Miles, And Salt

River, Whose Northern Sources Are In iowa, And Southern In boone County,

And Which Takes Its Name From The Salt Licks Or Salines On Its Borders,

May Be Navigated by Steamboats Up To Florida (A Small Village); That Is

To Say, Ninety-Five Or A Hundred miles. The Riviere Au Cuivre, Or Copper

River, Is Also A Navigable Stream; But The Navigation Of All These

Rivers Is Interrupted by Ice In winter, And By Shoals And Bars In the

Dry Season.

 

 

 

The Missouri River Flows Through The State For A Distance Of About Six

Hundred miles; But Although Steamboats Have Ascended it Two Thousand

Five Hundred miles From Its Mouth, Its Navigation Is Rendered difficult

And Dangerous By Sand-Bars, Falling Banks, Snags, And Shifting Channels.

 

 

 

The Bank Of The Mississippi River, On The Illinois Side, Is Not By Far

So Picturesque As The Country I Have Just Described, But Its Fertility

Is Astonishing. Consequently, The Farms And Villages Are Less Scattered,

And Cities, Built With Taste And A Great Display Of Wealth, Are Found At

A Short Distance One From The Other. Quincy I May Mention, Among Others,

As Being a Truly Beautiful Town, And Quite European In its Style Of

Structure And Neatness. Elegant Fountains Are Pouring Their Cool Waters

At The End Of Every Row Of Houses; Some Of The Squares Are Magnificent,

And, As The Town Is Situated upon A Hill Several Hundred feet Above The

River, The Prospect Is Truly Grand.

 

 

 

At Every Place Where I Stopped between St. Louis And Quincy, I Always

Heard The Mormons Abused and Spoken Of As A Set Of Scoundrels, But From

Quincy To Nauvoo The Reports Were Totally Different. The Higher Or More

Enlightened classes Of The People Have Overlooked the Petty Tricks Of

The Mormon Leaders, To Watch With More Accuracy The Advance And Designs

Of Mormonism. In joe Smith They Recognize A Great Man, A Man Of Will And

Energy, One Who Has The Power Of Carrying Everything Before Him, And

They Fear Him Accordingly.

 

 

 

On Leaving Quincy, I Travelled about Seventy Miles Through A Country

Entirely Flat, But Admirably Cultivated. I Passed through Several Little

Villages And At Noon Of The Second Day I Reached my Destination.

Chapter XLII

Nauvoo, The Holy City Of The Mormons, And Present Capital Of Their

Empire, Is Situated in the North-Western Part Of Illinois, On The East

Bank Of The Mississippi, In lat. 40 Deg. 35' N.; It Is Bounded on The North,

South, And West By The River, Which There Forms A Large Curve, And Is

Nearly Two Miles Wide. Eastward Of The City Is A Beautiful Undulating

Prairie; It Is Distant Ten Miles From Fort Madison, In iowa, And More

Than Two Hundred from St. Louis.

 

 

 

Before The Mormons Gathered there, The Place Was Named _Commerce_, As I

Have Already Said, And Was But A Small And Obscure Village Of Some

Twenty Houses; So Rapidly, However, Have They Accumulated, That There

Are Now, Within Four Years Of Their First Settlement, Upwards Of Fifteen

Thousand Inhabitants In the City, And As Many More In its

Immediate Vicinity.

 

 

 

The Surface Of The Ground Upon Which Nauvoo Is Built Is Very Uneven,

Though There Are No Great Elevations. A Few Feet Below The Soil Is A

Vast Bed of Limestone, From Which Excellent Building Material Can Be

Quarried, To Almost Any Extent. A Number Of _Tumuli_, Or Ancient Mounds,

Are Found Within The Limits Of The City, Proving It To Have Been A

Place Of Some Importance With The Former Inhabitants Of The Country.

 

 

 

The Space Comprised within The City Limits Is About Four Miles In its

Extreme Length, And Three In its Breadth; But Is Very Irregular In its

Outline, And Does Not Cover So Much Ground As The Above Measurement

Would Seem To Indicate.

 

 

 

The City Is Regularly Laid Out, The Streets Crossing Each Other At Right

Angles, And Generally Of Considerable Length, And Of Convenient Width.

The Majority Of The Houses Are Still Nothing More Than Log Cabins, But

Lately A Great Number Of Plank And Brick Houses Have Been Erected. The

Chief Edifices Of Nauvoo Are The Temple, And An Hotel, Called the Nauvoo

House, But Neither Of Them Is Yet Finished; The Latter Is Of Brick, Upon

A Stone Foundation, And Presents A Front Of One Hundred and Twenty Feet,

By Sixty Feet Deep, And Is To Be Three Stories High, Exclusive Of The

Basement. Although Intended chiefly For The Reception And Entertainment

Of Strangers And Travellers, It Contains, Or Rather Will Contain, A

Splendid Suite Of Apartments For The Particular Accommodation Of The

Prophet Joe Smith, And His Heirs And Descendants For Ever.

 

 

 

The Privilege Of This Accommodation He Pretends Was Granted to Him By

The Lord, In a Special Revelation, On Account Of His Services To The

Church. It Is Most Extraordinary That The Americans, Imbued with

Democratic Sentiments And With Such An Utter Aversion To Hereditary

Privileges Of Any Kind, Could For A Moment Be Blinded to The Selfishness

Of The Prophet, Who Thus Easily Provided for Himself And His Posterity A

Palace And A Maintenance.

 

 

 

The Mormon Temple Is A Splendid Structure Of Stone, Quarried within The

Bounds Of The City; Its Breadth Is Eighty Feet, And Its Length One

Hundred and Forty, Independent Of An Outer Court Of Thirty Feet, Making

The Length Of The Whole Structure One Hundred and Seventy Feet. In the

Basement Of The Temple Is The Baptismal Font, Constructed in imitation

Of The Famous Brazen Sea Of Solomon; It Is Supported by Twelve Oxen,

Well Modelled and Overlaid With Gold. Upon The Sides Of The Font, In

Panels, Are Represented various Scriptural Subjects, Well Painted. The

Upper Story Of The Temple Will, When Finished, Be Used as A Lodge-Room

For The Order Lodge And Other Secret Societies. In the Body Of The

Temple, Where It Is Intended that The Congregation Shall Assemble, Are

Two Sets Of Pulpits, One For The Priesthood, And The Other For The

Grandees Of The Church.

 

 

 

The Cost Of This Noble Edifice Had Been Defrayed by Tithing The Whole

Mormon Church. Those Who Reside At Nauvoo And Are Able To Labour, Have

Been Obliged to Work Every Tenth Day In quarrying Stone, Or Upon The

Building Of The Temple Itself. Besides The Temple, There Are In nauvoo

Two Steam Saw-Mills, A Steam Flour-Mill, A Tool-Factory On A Large

Scale, A Foundry, And A Company Of Considerable Wealth, From

Staffordshire, Have Also Established there A Manufacture Of

English China.

 

 

 

The Population Of The Holy City Itself Is Rather A Mixed kind. The

General Gathering Of The Saints Has, Of Course, Brought Together Men Of

All Classes And Characters. The Great Majority Of Them Are Uneducated

And Unpolished people, Who Are Undoubtedly Sincere Believers In the

Prophet And His Doctrines. A Great Proportion Of Them Consist Of

Converts From The English Manufacturing Districts, Who Were Easily

Persuaded by Smith'S Missionaries To Exchange Their Wretchedness At Home

For Ease And Plenty In the Promised land. These Men Are Devotedly

Attached to The Prophet'S Will, And Obey His Orders As They Would Those

Of God Himself.

 

 

 

These Aliens Can, By The Law Of Illinois, Vote After Six Months'

Residence In the State, And They Consequently Vote Blindly, Giving Their

Votes According To The Will Of Joe Smith. To Such An Extent Does His

Will Influence Them, That At The Election In nauvoo (1842) There Were

But Six Votes Against The Candidates He Supported. Of The Mormons, I

Believe The Majority To Be Ignorant, Deluded men, Really And Earnestly

Devoted to Their New Religion. But Their Leaders Are Men Of Intellect,

Who Profess Mormonism Because Of The Wealth, Titles[30], Rank, And Power

Which It Procures Them.

 

 

 

[Footnote 30: As I Have Mentioned the Word _Titles_, I Must Make Myself

Understood. There Are Certain Classes Of Individuals In the United

States Who, By Their Own Fortune, Education, And Social Position, Could

Not Be Easily Brought Over To Mormonism. Joe Smith, As A Founder Of A

Sect, Has Not Only Proved himself A Great Man, But That He Perfectly

Understands His Countrymen, And, Above All, Their Greediness For Any

Kind Of Distinction Which Can Nominally Raise Them Above The Common

Herd, For It Is A Fact That No People Hate The Word Equality More Than

The American. Joe Smith Has Instituted titles, Dignities, And Offices

Corresponding To Those Of The Governments In the Old World. He Has Not

Yet Dared to Make Himself A King, But He Has Created a Nobility That

Will Support Him When He Thinks Proper To Assume The Sovereign Title.

Thus He Has Selected individuals Expressly To Take Care Of The Church;

These Form The Order Of The Templars, With Their Grand Masters, &C., &C.

He Has Organised a Band Of Soldiers, Called _Danites_, A Sacred

Battalion--The _Celeres_ Of Romulus--These Are All