The Mormon Prophet and His Harem: Or, An Authentic History of Brigham Young, His Numerous Wives and ChildrenWaite, C. V. (Catherine Van Valkenburg)
History
The Mormon Prophet and His Harem: Or, An Authentic History of Brigham Young, His Numerous Wives and Children
Waite, C. V. (Catherine Van Valkenburg)
Latter Day Saint churches; Young, Brigham, 1801-1877
At this term of court a motion was made to expel James Ferguson from the
bar, for contempt of court. Ferguson offered to retire from the bar,
which was not accepted. He then proposed to plead guilty; but the Judge
said, as it was alleged that a Judge of the United States had been
insulted and intimidated, when in the discharge of his official duty,
it was important that the country be put in possession of the facts, and
no plea of crimination or stultification should prevent an exposure.
The grand jury did, finally, in this case, make the following
presentment:--
"The grand jury find, that James Ferguson, of G. S. L. City,
U. T., did use language and threats calculated to intimidate
Judge George P. Stiles, U. S. District Judge, while in the
discharge of his official duties, and presiding as Judge of
this District Court, at the February Term, 1857.
"ELEAZER MILLER, _Foreman_."
The right of trial by jury is one guaranteed by the Constitution, and
with which it would be highly dangerous to interfere, except in cases of
extreme necessity, involving the safety of a whole people or community.
The Mormons, with their usual shrewdness, take advantage of this, and
manage to control the United States Courts through the grand and petit
juries. The following extracts will show how it is done.
March 2d, 1856, in his remarks, made in the Tabernacle, Jedediah M.
Grant, then one of the "President's" counsellors, said:--
"Last Sunday, the President chastised some of the Apostles and
Bishops, who were on the grand jury. Did he fully succeed in
clearing away the fog which surrounded them, and in removing
blindness from their eyes? No, for they could go to their room
and again disagree; though to their credit it must be admitted
that a brief explanation made them unanimous in their action."
Again, in the same connection, Grant, speaking of a trial-jury,
continues,--
"Several have got into the fog, to suck and eat the filth of a
gentile court; _ostensibly_ a court in Utah."
Here is the highest evidence of the direct interference of Brigham
Young with the right of trial by jury, and the prostitution of the
jury-box to the accomplishment of his schemes. How could he strike a
more fatal blow at our free institutions, or at the rights and liberties
of American citizens who may happen to live within the sphere of his
influence? For this alone he should be hurled from the defiant position
he occupies, and brought to the bar of impartial justice.
Though the evidence was perfectly plain and conclusive in the case of
Ferguson, he was acquitted. Comment is unnecessary.
The Judge, finding all efforts to bring criminals to justice unavailing,
adjourned his court _sine die_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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