But enough concerning this extraordinary document. It seems strange, indeed, that any reasonable man or woman can look upon this so-called revelation, announced under such suspicious circumstances, and involved in so many contradictions, as a sufficient authority or excuse for the establishment of a custom which would overturn our most cherished social institutions, and throw us at once back thousands of years in civilization. The conclusion would not be changed if it were admitted that the doctrine of celestial marriage is a part of the Mormon religion; for that has nothing to do with polygamy. On the contrary, this doctrine is expressly founded upon the relation between Adam and Eve before the fall. The following is the language:-- "The first marriage we have on record is that of our first parents. . . . Here was a marriage in which the Lord in person officiated,--a marriage between two immortal beings. . . . He joined them in one, as one flesh, to be indissolubly united, while eternal ages should roll on, or God himself endure. . . . Did death tear asunder husband and wife, divorce that which God had joined together as 'one flesh,' immortal and eternal in its nature? The atonement of Christ will repair the breach, will restore the immortal Eve to the immortal Adam, will join them again as one flesh, never more to be separated, and will again let the lawful husband enjoy the society of his lawful wife. . . . "Therefore, if the children have been married for eternity, as well as for time, by the authority of God, the same as their first parents were, they will, with them, raise up, after the resurrection, an endless posterity of immortal beings. . . . But those who do not, in this life, enter into the eternal covenant of marriage, after the pattern set by the first immortal pair, can never obey the first great command."[234:A] The foregoing extracts convey a very intelligible idea of this doctrine; and from them it will be seen it is founded entirely upon the relation between Adam and Eve. Those who would enjoy the blessings of celestial marriage, must, "in this life, enter into the eternal covenant of marriage, after the pattern set by the first immortal pair." What was that pattern? Adam and Eve were monogamists. Adam lived with the wife of his youth, and had no other, for nine hundred and thirty years, and according to Pratt, he is to live with the same woman, in the same capacity, throughout all the ages of eternity. Surely he must be very astute who can discover in this "pattern" any sanction for polygamy.