Polygamy, also, by this time has been introduced into the Church, and the examples of the patriarchs Abraham and Jacob, and of kings David and Solomon, have begun to prevail. That the "peculiar institution" was the cross of the sisterhood in those days, it would be heartless to attempt to conceal, for, as already seen, the first wives of the founders of Mormondom were nearly all daughters of New England, whose monogamic training was of the severest kind, and whose monogamic conceptions were of the most exacting nature. Polygamy was undoubtedly introduced by Joseph himself, at Nauvoo, between 1840 and 1844. Years afterwards, however, a monogamic rival church, under the leadership of young Joseph Smith, the first born of the prophet, arose, denying that the founder of Mormondom was the author of polygamy, and affirming that its origin was in Brigham Young, subsequent to the martyrdom of the prophet and his brother Hyrum. This, with the fact that nearly the whole historic weight of polygamy rests with Utah, renders it expedient that we should barely touch the subject at Nauvoo, and wait for its stupendous sensation after its publication to the world by Brigham Young--a sensation that Congress has swelled into a national noise, and that General Grant has made the hobgoblin of his dreams. Nor can we deal largely with the history of Nauvoo. It is not the representative period of the sisters. They only come in with dramatic force in their awful lamentation over the martyrdom, which was not equaled in Jerusalem at the crucifixion. The great historic period of the women of Mormondom is during the exodus of the Church and its removal to the Rocky Mountains, when they figured quite as strongly as did the women of ancient Israel in the exodus from Egypt. We can scarcely hope to do full justice to that period, but hasten to some of its salient views. And here the historic thread shall be principally continued by Eliza R. Snow. She, touching the city of the saints, and then slightly on the introduction of polygamy, says: "The location of the city of Nauvoo was beautiful, but the climate was so unhealthy that none but Latter-day Saints, full of faith, and trusting in the power of God, could have established that city. Chills and fever was the prevailing disease. Notwithstanding we had this to contend with, through the blessing of God on the indefatigable exertions of the saints, it was not long before Nauvoo prompted the envy and jealousy of many of the adjacent inhabitants, and, as the 'accuser of the brethren' never sleeps, we had many difficulties to meet, which ultimately culminated in the most bitter persecutions.