the western pioneers. At religious meetings converts would often arise
to talk in gibberish--utterly nonsensical gibberish. This was called a
"speaking with tongues," and could be translated by the speaker or a
bystander in any way he saw fit, without responsibility for the saying.
This was an easy way of calling a man names without standing behind it,
so to speak. The congregation saw visions, read messages on stones
picked up in the field--messages which disappeared as soon as
interpreted. They had fits in meetings, they chased balls of fire
through the fields, they saw wonderful lights in the air, in short they
went through all the hysterical vagaries formerly seen also in the
Methodist revivals under John Wesley.

Turbulence outside was accompanied by turbulence within. Schisms
occurred. Branches were broken off from the Church. The great temporal
power and wealth to which, owing to the obedience and docility of the
rank and file, the leaders had fallen practically sole heirs, had gone
to their heads. The Mormon Church gave every indication of breaking up
into disorganized smaller units, when fortunately for it the prophet
Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed by a mob. This martyrdom
consolidated the church body once more; and before disintegrating
influences could again exert themselves, the reins of power were seized
by the strong hand of a remarkable man, Brigham Young, who thrust aside
the logical successor, Joseph Smith's son.

Young was an uneducated man, but with a deep insight into human nature.
A shrewd practical ability and a rugged intelligence, combined with
absolute cold-blooded unscrupulousness in attaining his ends, were
qualities amply sufficient to put Young in the front rank of the class
of people who composed the Mormon Church. He early established a
hierarchy of sufficient powers so that always he was able to keep the