MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV) - FREDERICK MARRYAT (books to read this summer txt) 📗
- Author: FREDERICK MARRYAT
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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.
Chapter XLIVHaving 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
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