Part 30 (1/2)
The parlour which Joseph Smith had provided for Susannah was large and high. On its Brussels carpet immense vases of flowers and peac.o.c.k's feathers sprawled; stiff and gaudy furniture was ranged round the painted walls; stiff window curtains fell from stiff borders of tasteless upholstery. Susannah, long ignorant of anything but deal and rag carpets, knew hardly more than Smith how to criticise, and her taste was only above his in the fact that she did not admire.
Smith came to reason with the rebellious woman.
Susannah no sooner saw him than she knew that he had come braced to try the conclusion with her. He sat himself before her in silence. His waistcoat was white, his neck-cloth white, his collar starched and high; his thick light hair was carefully oiled according to the fas.h.i.+on of the day, and brushed with curling locks upon the sides of the brow. At this critical hour Susannah observed him more narrowly than ever before. His smooth-shaven face, in spite of all his prosperity, was not so stout now as she had seen it in more troublous years; the accentuated arch of the eyebrows was more distinct, the beak line of the nose cut more finely.
She noted certain lines of thickness about the nape of the neck and the jaw which in former years had always spoken to her of the self-indulgence of which she now accused him; yet she could not see that they were more accentuated. She had been schooling her heart to remember that Smith had been her husband's friend; Angel Halsey had loved him, had daily prayed for his faults and failings, and thanked G.o.d for his every virtue and success. Through the medium of these memories now Susannah looked upon him with the clearness of insight which the more divine att.i.tude of mind will always give, the insight which penetrates through the evil and is focussed only on the good.
The prophet's breath came quickly, making his words a little thick.
”Emmar tells me that you have some thoughts of wanting to leave us.”
”You know that very well, for I have told you so myself. I want you to give me money for my journey. If I can I will repay it, as you well know; if not, I will take it instead of all this finery you offer.”
He had folded a newspaper in his hand, and now he unfolded it. She was surprised to see that his hands trembled slightly as he did so, for she had seen him act in many a tragic scene with iron nerve.
”'Tain't often that the Gentile newspapers have a word of justice to say about us,” he observed. ”This is a number of the St. Louis Atlas. It seems there's one man on it can speak the truth.” He gave forth the name of the newspaper as if expecting her to be duly impressed by its importance, and she looked at the outspread sheet amazed.
He went on, ”There's an article here ent.i.tled, 'The City of Nauvoo. The Holy City. The City of Joseph.' I'd like to read it to you if you don't object, Sister Halsey.”
The p.r.o.nunciation of the last t.i.tle seemed to inflate him; his hands ceased to tremble. A flicker of amus.e.m.e.nt lighted the gravity of Susannah's mind.
Joseph read, ”'The city is laid out in streets of convenient width, along which are built good houses, and around every good-sized house are grounds and gardens. It is incorporated by charter, and contains the best inst.i.tutions of the latest civilisation.'” He gave this the emphasis of pause. ”Is that true. Sister Halsey, or is it not?”
She smiled as upon a child. ”Yes, Mr. Smith, it is true.”
”'Most conspicuous among the buildings of the Holy City is the temple built of white stone upon the hill-top. It is intended as a shrine in the western wilderness whereat all nations of the earth may wors.h.i.+p, for on March 1, 1841, the prophet gave it as an ordinance that people of all sects and religions should live and wors.h.i.+p in the City if they would, and that any person guilty of ridiculing or otherwise deprecating another in consequence of his religion should be imprisoned.' Is that true?” Smith inquired again. His questions came in the tone of a pompous refrain.
”Except in the case of those who have joined you and gone back from your doctrine,” she said, but not thinking of herself.
He read on: ”'Here, as elsewhere, Mr. Smith has attended first to the education of his people. The president of the Nauvoo University is Professor James Kelly, a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and a ripe scholar; the professor of English literature is Professor Orson Pratte, a man of pure mind and high order of ability, who without early advantages has had to educate himself amid great difficulties and has achieved learning. The professor of languages is Professor Orson Spencer, graduate of Union College, New York, and of the Baptist theological seminary of that city. No expense has been spared upon school buildings for the youth of both s.e.xes, and the curriculum is good.' Is that true?”
”Yes,” she replied.
He read on: ”'The population is made up chiefly from the labouring cla.s.ses of the United States and the manufacturing districts of England.
They have been grossly misunderstood and shamefully libelled. They are at least quite as honest as the rest of us, in this part of the world or any other. Ardent spirits as a drink; are not in use among them; tobacco is a weed which they almost universally despise. There is not an oath to be heard in the city; everywhere the people are cheerful and polite; there is not a lounger in the streets. Industry is insisted upon, and with the hum of industry the voice of innocent merriment is everywhere heard. Now, as to their morality, if you should throw cold water upon melted iron, the scene would be terrific because the contrast would be so great; so it is with the Saints; if a small portion of wickedness happens among them, the contrast between the spirit of holiness, and the spirit of darkness is so great that it makes a great up-stir and excitement. In other communities the same amount of crime would hardly be noticed.'” Again he asked, ”Sister Halsey, does this evidence of an impartial witness coincide with your observation?”
”Of the people it is undoubtedly true,” she said. There was a reservation in her mind concerning certain leaders in the Church, but she did not make it in words.
He read on: ”'With a shrewd head like that of the prophet to direct, with a spiritual power like his to say ”do” and it is done, what wonder that this thrifty and virtuous people should have made Nauvoo that which its name denotes--the Beautiful City, the home of peace and joy.'”
He laid down the newspaper upon the marble-topped table, his large hand outspread upon it. ”My sister, why do you wish to leave this beautiful city? It is a place where each may have home and part and lot in its delights, but to you _all_ its wealth and power and beauty is offered.
Did I not say unto you, when as a beautiful damsel you gave up home and kindred for the sake of the Church, that you should be as a queen among its elect women, riding as in a carriage drawn by white horses and receiving the elect from among the nations?”
The recollection of the prophecy which he had delivered concerning her upon the desolate autumn road at Fayette brought with it another recollection--that of her parting with Ephraim the same morning--so vividly that her eyes filled with tears. Yet she marvelled too, with inquisitive recognition of the miracle, that the words of the visionary, then a beggar, should have been so nearly fulfilled.
”It is quite true, Mr. Smith, and very marvellous that what you promised me should almost be literally fulfilled. We have come to it, as you also foretold, by a path most terrible, and now we arrive at the consummation. We live in a palace, and at its doors pilgrims from England and all parts of Europe are arriving every day, and the richest of gowns, the grandest of carriages, and the whitest of horses are truly at my disposal. But there is one discrepancy between your vision and the fact--I will not wear the silk robes, nor welcome the pilgrims with the a.s.surance that they have here reached the City of G.o.d. I will not because I cannot. I refuse to accept from the hand of G.o.d such paltry things as money and display, or even the honest affluence of our people, as compensation for the fire and blood through which we have waded. If there be a G.o.d who is the shepherd of those who seek him, this is not the sort of table that he spreads, this is not the cup which he causes to run over”--she had begun lightly, but her voice became more earnest.
”Mr. Smith, we have walked through the shadow of death together; if you would be exalted in the presence of your enemies, have done with your childish delight in such toys.”
Smith moved uneasily on his velvet-covered chair, and it, being of a rather cheap sort, creaked under his bulk.
”What says it in the end of the Book of Job, Sister Halsey? and what compensation did the Lord give for the sore temptations with which he had allowed the devil to tempt his servant? As I read, it was fourteen thousand sheep and six thousand camels, and--”