avail him little with the
dead-in-earnest fanatics who rule Utah under him, and the entirely
persuaded fanatics whom they rule, were not his qualities all
coordinated in this one,--_absolute sincerity of belief and motive_.
Brigham Young is the farthest remove on earth from a hypocrite; he is
that grand, yet awful sight in human nature, a man who has brought the
loftiest Christian self-devotion to the altar of the Devil,--who is
ready to suffer crucifixion for Barabbas, supposing him Christ. Be sure,
that, were he a hypocrite, the Union would have nothing to fear from
Utah. When he dies, at least four hostile factions, which find their
only common ground in deification of his person, will snatch his mantle
at opposite corners. Then will come such a rending as the world has not
seen since the Macedonian generals fought over the coffin of
Alexander,--and then Mormonism will go out of Geography into the History
of Popular Delusions. There is not a single chief, apostle, or bishop,
except Brigham, who possesses any catholicity of influence. I found this
tacitly acknowledged in every quarter. The people seem like citizens of
a beleaguered town, who know they have but a definite amount of bread,
yet have made up their minds to act while it lasts as if there were no
such thing as starvation. The greatest comfort you can afford a Mormon
is to tell him how young Brigham looks; for the quick, unconscious
sequence is, "Then Brigham may last out my time." Those who think at all
have no conjecture of any Mormon future beyond him, and I know that many
Mormons (Heber Kimball included) would gladly die to-day rather than
survive him and encounter that judgment-day and final perdition of their
faith which must dawn on his new-made grave.

Well, we may give them this comfort without any insincerity. Let us
return to where he stands gazing down on the _parquet_. Like any Eastern
party-goer, he is habited in the "customary suit of solemn black," and
looks very distinguished in this dress, though his daily homespun
detracts nothing from the feeling, when in his presence, that you are
beholding a most remarkable man. He is nearly seventy years old, but
appears very little over forty. His height is about five feet ten
inches; his figure very well made and slightly inclining to portliness.
His hair is a rich curly chestnut, formerly worn long, in supposed
imitation of the apostolic coiffure, but now cut in our practical
Eastern fashion, as ac