menu_book Chapter 5

CHAPTER V. Of TELL IT ALL by Fanny Stenhouse. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Mormon Wonders. Anointings and Miracles. Not long after my marriage I saw a miracle performed, a real, true miracle. Let not the reader smile, or think that I am only jesting, for I am quite in earnest and mean what I say. I saw a sick person who for years had been confined to her bed, her limbs distorted

and her back bent. I was present when, after her conversion, the elders visited her. I saw them anoint her and lay hands upon her and pray most fervently, and I saw the same decrepit old woman walking and singing and praising God. If that was not a miracle, I should like to know what is. The Mormon leaders preached everywhere that their religion was not really a new one.

It was only the fullness of the Gospel, the dispensation of the last days. Just, they said, as Jesus Christ fulfilled and completed the old Jewish law, so the modern prophet preached the perfection of Christ's Gospel. Nothing new, only the perfection of the old. Yes it was that made them so very successful when arguing with people who were well taught in the letter of the Bible, but otherwise had received very little educational training.

The following attempt at an argument which was once carried on between a Mormon missionary and a Methodist local preacher in my presence will serve to explain what I mean. Local Preacher But sir, I deny in Toto that your elders ever do work miracles. The age of miracles is past. Mormon Missionary

Statement is not proof. You say, sir, that the age of miracles is past. Do you believe in the Bible? Local Preacher Certainly Missionary

Well then, sir, do you consider that the Bible asserts that miracles can be and have been worked? Do you believe that or not? Local Preacher Certainly I do. Christ and his apostles worked miracles, and the Bible speaks of many others besides.

Local Missionary We agree on that point. But did Christ anywhere say that miracles should ever cease? Did his apostles? Local Preacher Yes. No. Yes. That is to say, I don't remember.

Local Preacher Let me try to refresh your memory. Have not all the sacred writers foretold that ultimately this globe should be destroyed by fire, that the heavens should pass away, and the earth melt and the sun and the stars and the moon be blotted out? Yes, of course we all know that.

Then let me ask you, is such a terrible convulsion a common matter of fact? Is it not out of calculation, out of all order of nature? Is it not a miracle, and a miracle yet to be performed? Have then miracles ceased? Oh yes, but that's not a personal matter like healing the sick. Tell me then, does the Bible teach, or does it not teach, that bone shall come to bone,

and sinew to sinew, and earth and sea shall give up their dead at the last trump? Is not that a miracle? And don't you think it's a little personal to you and to me? Well of course I admit that. But I have not done yet. Did or did not Christ say, These signs shall follow them that believe. In my name they shall cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take

up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Now tell me, are not miracles promised there, and nothing said about when they should cease? Is it not just as fair for the infidel to say that one of Christ's promises was of no avail, as for you to say that he has broken his word? Solemnly he makes a promise to be with them to the end of the world, and to

confirm their miracles. You, because of your want of faith, see and work no miracles, and so you virtually say Christ broke his word on that point. The rest of the promise you don't deny because you can say it is fulfilled without bringing forth any visible proofs. Well, I hardly know what to say to all this. Let me ask you one more question, sir. Have you ever seen a miracle of any kind performed? No sir, certainly not. And are you a teacher

in Israel? And no, not these things? Have you been preaching the gospel as I think you said you had, for over eighteen years, and never yet saw a miracle performed? Been preaching Christ and yet never saw him discover his power in proof of what you taught? I'm afraid not, sir. You trouble me. No sir, it is not I who trouble you. It is he troubles you, whose word you have doubted. Only last week Mr. Stern, a minister of your own persuasion,

but not far I trust from the kingdom of God, visited Bill Wright, the murderer in prison. Bill had lived a life of infamy, the violest of the vile, and he wound up his horrible crimes by cutting the throat of his wife. That brute in human form refused at first to speak with anyone. Day after day and night after night, the good man went to see him, but long in vain. At length one day he chanced to mention the words of Jesus.

Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. A little boy by his mother's knee, the murderer had listened to those words which have brought peace to so many broken hearts. The appeals of the good minister had fallen dead upon his ears, but now was the time of the Spirit's influence, and the strong man wept. I have seen that fiendish man whose very face betrays the depths of degradation to which his nature has fallen. I have seen

him listening meekly and humbly to the word of God, without hope for earth, but with a changed soul within. Tell me, was not that a miracle if ever there was one? Sir, I admit that what you say is very forcible. I admit that these things are miraculous, but what I deny is that in these days men, whether Catholic priests or Mormon missionaries, can like St. Paul or St. Peter go about with power to heal the sick or raise the dead.

And what I assert, sir, is that God in these last days has raised up a holy priesthood to preach the fullness of the everlasting gospel. Peter quoted the prophecy of Joel and said that it was now fulfilled, and that your young men should see visions, and your old men dream dreams. And I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, saith the Lord. Now if those were the last days, what are these? That was the beginning of the end.

This is the end. I do not deny that much imposture has been practiced, but the existence of a counterfeit only proves that the real thing must be somewhere. In many instances, too, some of our holiest men have failed, and the world has scoffed at what it called their imposture. But even the disciples of Christ, you remember, once tried to work a miracle and were not able to do so. What did Christ say? But that it was their want of faith,

and bade them fast and pray more. Well, sir, I am willing to allow this. But if you yourself could perform a miracle before my eyes, if, for instance, you'd cure some man or woman who I knew really and truly was a confirmed invalid, then, sir, I'd accept all you say. I'd become a Mormon at once. But you'd decline that test, I suppose. No, sir, I would not decline. Brother Sturgis, a new convert of ours has been ill for years.

You know him well, for he used to go to your meeting years ago before he fell from a ladder, and the doctors pronounced him incurably deaf. Your religion didn't help him, and the doctors didn't. But if that man has only faith, faith as a little child, he shall hear as well as your eye today. We are going to pray over him. Will you go with me? Yes, I'll go, but I hardly know what to think of it. So saying the two disputants walked off together.

What ocular demonstration of miracle-working was presented to the Methodist minister I do not know. I can only say that a fortnight after, I was present at a meeting of the saints when he was admitted into the church by immersion. He was followed by a goodly number of his flock. He became a very earnest missionary, and years after, died in the full odor of sanctity and was buried in Zion, clothed in the full canonicals of a high priest. At the

time of which I speak, such arguments as those I have briefly sketched from memory, and many which were much more forcibly put, had great weight with me. The holy scriptures I implicitly believed, and taking them quite literally, I found that the reasoning employed by the Mormons was, at least to me, altogether unanswerable. But for all that, I always liked my believing to be mixed with a little seeing and judging for myself, and on this account it was that

I went with a good deal of pleasure to the house of Sister Armstrong, upon whom the elders were going to lay hands and pray. St. James had said, Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. And if he had committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. I wanted to see this

command obeyed in these days, and to note results. Sister Armstrong lived in a by-street not very far from the place where our meetings were held. She had lived in Southampton nearly all her life, and probably even now, although in the course of nature she must long since have gone to her rest. There must be many persons living who could remember her and her sudden recovery from illness. For at the time, as might be expected, it produced no

small sensation in the immediate locality in which she resided. She had been the wife of a master builder who, meeting with an accident while engaged in business, was for a long time confined helplessly to the house, and then to his bed, from which he never arose. His wife was a faithful and good woman. She nursed him tenderly, and, by dint of great exertions on her part, was able to provide all the necessaries and decencies of life

for her afflicted husband, herself, and their two little girls, besides paying for suitable medical attendance. In course of time the girls were sent to school. It was the mother's pride that they should not go to a free school, or as schools of that class are called in England a charity school, and night and day she would toil with her needle in order to carry out this praiseworthy determination. When their father died, the girls were a great

comfort to their mother. They were now almost grown up to womanhood, and were able by their own exertions to add very considerably to the family income. Thus, happily and contentedly, they lived together for several years, until one of the girls married very suitably, a good hard-working mechanic who had known her from childhood. But the other remained at home with her mother. Not long after the marriage of her elder daughter, Mrs. Armstrong was

troubled with a severe cold which confined her for some weeks to the house. She grew alarmingly worse, and finally took to her bed. One morning her daughter found her speechless, and a doctor being called in he pronounced her condition desperate. She was subject to convulsive fits which were at first a very frequent occurrence. After a time they came only at intervals, but their effect upon her was terrible. Her limbs were drawn up towards

her body, and her spine was completely curved, while all one sight of her face was permanently distorted, and this continued for over five years. Sarah, the younger daughter, watched her mother tenderly, earning meanwhile a modest living by her needle, and from the proceeds of a little miscellaneous shop which she was able to tend without leaving the invalid for more than a few minutes at a time. Thus they lived together contentedly and happy until

the arrival of the Mormon missionaries in Southampton. The married daughter and her husband, being rather better in education and position than people of that class usually are in England, had made it a rule to go regularly every Sunday to their own parish church, and their children were baptized by the regular clergyman. This latter gentleman, however, died, and his successor, who of course was appointed without consulting the wishes of

the people, was, although a scholar and a gentleman, utterly without the slightest tinge of religious enthusiasm. The Methodists at that time had a grand revival, and the young couple being induced to attend one of their meetings liked what they heard, and not long after left off their attendance at the Anglican church and joined the denomination to which they had become attached. This change, as might be expected, somewhat unsettled them,

and when the Mormon missionaries came, Bible in hand, and quoting chapter and verse for everything they said, they found ready listeners, and in a very short time the whole family was admitted into the Mormon church by baptism. The affliction of the old lady was naturally the subject of conversation among those newly made saints and their neighbors. As we have seen, the Mormon missionaries not only asserted their power to work miracles, but appealed

to them as proofs of their mission. People suggested that if this was really true, here was an opportunity of the best kind for putting these pretensions to the test, for everyone knew that there was no deception about the malady of Sister Armstrong. Themselves firmly believing in what they taught, the elders desired nothing more than to be able to prove the truth of their assertions, and declared their readiness to do what was required of

them. A proper time was appointed when the relations and friends of the sick person should meet together to intercede for her in solemn prayer, after which they would anoint her with oil, as the Apostle James had directed, and lay their hands upon her that the prayer of faith might save the sick, and God should raise her up. The room was full of people. There were several of the leading elders present, and also a goodly number of the saints who

naturally felt a deep interest in the result of these proceedings. Besides these, the neighbors, who of course had heard what was going on, came and filled up the room quite inconveniently. A stranger would at once have been struck with the prevalence of that peculiar magnetic feeling which evidently influenced all present, even those who, as the poet says, came to scoff, felt the same influence, as many afterwards acknowledged. The elders surrounded the bed

and after a brief but most earnest address from one of them, we all engaged in prayer. The subject of the prayer can readily be supposed, but the earnestness, the intense, anxious pleading of the supplicants, no one could comprehend who had never been present at such a scene. A bottle of oil was now brought out by the eldest daughter of the invalid, and three of the elders took it in their hands. It was an Italian flask of very thin glass

covered with wicker and holding somewhat more than a pint. In taking hold of it, the elders placed their fingers quite rounded, though where many assist in the consecration I have seen them simply touch it with their fingers. Then one of the elders said, And may this oil, which we dedicate especially to the healing of our afflicted sister, penetrate her to the afflicted parts, and give them new life and vigor, that she may be strengthened

and healed by the power of faith and the laying on of hands as commanded by the servants in the last days. For this a special purpose do we bless and consecrate this oil. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. After this a large tablespoon was brought forth and filled with the consecrated oil, which latter was poured down the throat of the patient. She was then thoroughly anointed,

the oil not being applied by the tip of the finger as in extreme unction, but poured upon her, much after the fashion described by King David, when he says the precious fluid ran down the beard of Aaron and saturated all his clothing. The patient, however, was patient indeed. To her it was no idle form. She was newly converted and her heart was burning with zeal and faith. Perhaps the reader may think that this had much to do with the

success of the operation, as probably it had. However this might be, the elders who, while they anointed her, had mingled prayers and benedictions above her head, now once more united in fervent supplication, and then laid their hands upon her according to the letter of the scripture. There was something peculiar about this laying on of hands. It was not a mere gentle touching,

but a thorough manipulation. The two hands were placed firmly on the top of the head and then drawn energetically down the body while vigorous passes, as magnetizers call the action, were made repeatedly over the affected parts. These prayers and manipulations were made for very nearly three hours, when the elders engaged in the work, for work it was, were thoroughly exhausted. One of them, then placing his right hand on the head of

the sufferer, suddenly blessed her in the name of the Lord, told her that her sins were forgiven her, that the evil spirits who had afflicted her were cast out, that the infirmity and disease which for five long years had kept her bound upon the bed of sickness was rebuked, and would torment her no more, and bade her be strong in the faith and be of good cheer, for God would raise her up.

Watching all this as I was, believing all this as I did, my heart filled with joy at the manifestation of heavenly power which I expected to witness. I must, nevertheless, acknowledge that a feeling of wonder pervaded my mind when I saw Sister Armstrong, who for so many years had been unable even to turn in the bed by herself, stretch forth her poor bony arm, all unassisted, and say to one of the elders, Give me your hand, brother. One

of the brethren put forth his hand and took hers, saying as he did so, Have faith, have faith, Sister Armstrong. While the brother who had recently blessed her repeated, The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and God shall raise him up. Sister Armstrong, who an hour before could not unaided have changed her position, now grasping the elder's hand, raised herself up in the bed. She looked upon us with a smile of triumph. For a moment faith

was triumphant. But nature asserted her immutable laws, and the next instant the poor sister sank gently back upon the pillows and closed her eyes. We thought that she was dead. The room was cleared of all but those immediately connected with the sufferer, and I on account of my new position as Elder Stenhouse's wife, was allowed to remain. Sarah and her younger sister applied such simple restoratives as came conveniently to hand, and we were soon

satisfied that Sister Armstrong had only fainted, and who could wonder at it? I sat there not far from the bed, lost in astonishment at what I had seen, and wondering whether what Elder Bronson had said was true, that in a day or two at furthest she would be quite well. To me it was all a mystery. I knew then nothing of the miraculous power of faith, not religious faith but often just the reverse, which has so often relieved and cured diseases

and infirmities which have baffled the power of the most skillful physicians. Moreover, I knew nothing then of that peculiar magnetic power which scientific men now have proved belongs to certain constitutions and can be used for curative purposes. So in the childlike simplicity of my heart, I knelt down and thankfully poured forth my gratitude to God that He had permitted me to witness this wonderful manifestation of His power and love. As I rose from my knees,

I saw standing just by me and intently watching my movements a young girl, little more than a child, who was destined in after years to cross my path more than once, and whose sisterly affection I shall ever cherish among the treasures of my heart. She wore a light summer dress with little ornament, and indeed she needed none, while on her head was a little coquettish hat of the prettiest and most becoming style. Her hair was bright and golden, such hair

as I have never seen except in pictures and on one or two extremely rare occasions, and her eyes, I could not tell the deep, deep love, charming, engaging beauty which beamed from them. The reader may think perhaps I am romancing a little, but I do assure him that when I first saw that young girl, in all the heavenly beauty of budding maidenhood, I could hardly persuade myself for a moment that I was not dreaming after the fashion

of some fairy story. Years passed away, years of anxious, cruel trial, to us both, and now how changed we are. She then a pretty gentle fairy queen, I a new-made bride hardly out of my teens. What are we both now? She came right up to me and said, Sister Stenhouse, you don't know me, but I have seen you often, and I like you very much. Yes, and I want to talk to you. Yes dear, I said, and I kissed her on both cheeks, and she looked pleased.

In her simplicity, she thought it was a great honor to be noticed by a missionary's wife. Then we sat down together, and she told me all about herself, how her father was a wealthy man, a doctor in good practice, and with property beside, how he had accidentally met with a Mormon gentleman, a man of education and position, for many such joined the church before the blighting doctrine of polygamy was promulgated, how that his arguments and Bible proofs had

been so convincing that her father had been baptized, and had cast in his lot among the saints, how that he being called away on business had left her with a maiden aunt who did not belong to the Mormon church, and who would not let her come to see Sister Armstrong anointed, and how she had quietly crept out unnoticed, and would now have to return quite alone. No, I said, I will go out with you and see you safe home, but you must not come out all

by yourself in this way again. She kissed me with a little comical smile dancing on her lips, as much as to intimate that whatever I might sagely suggest, she would, after all, be pretty certain to have her own way. I saw my young friend safely to her father's house, and then I went home myself, thinking of her childish beauty and winning ways, and pondering over what I had witnessed. The next morning Sarah called in to see us.

She told us that her mother had had a calm and peaceful night, and had been much refreshed, that when she awoke she insisted upon being washed and dressed, and was now sitting up, with my new acquaintance, Mary Burton, talking to her. I could hardly believe this could be true, so I put on my bonnet and went to see. There, sure enough, was Sister Armstrong, very pale and evidently very weak, but quite another woman.

No one could have recognized her. The muscles of her face were no longer contracted, and she sat there straight enough for a woman of her age. I could scarcely believe my eyes. The poor old lady seemed glad to see me, and it did my heart good to hear her talk of the mercies of God. As we talked, Mary came near and put her hand in mine. I stooped down and touched her cheek gently and kissed her.

You did not even tell me what your other name was, dear, I asked. No, Sister Stenhouse, but I told you everything else. My name is Mary Burton, she replied, but you must call me only Mary. I stooped down and kissed her again. That was my only answer. Then she arose from the stool on which she was sitting and said,

I must leave you for a few minutes, please. I promised to go back directly when I'd seen how Mrs. Armstrong was, but I'll return soon. And with a little whimsical nod and an imperative wave of the hand, she tripped away. After this I saw plenty of the gift of healing and the working of miracles. Some cases were not quite so successful as that which I have described. Then we were told the fault was

in our want of faith. That cures were really affected, no one who has been present on such occasions could possibly doubt. That they were miracles in the sense in which we generally use that term, I do not for a moment believe. But I think that in cases where the efforts of the elders were successful, scientific inquiry would readily show that the effects were only natural results of natural causes.

One brother, a deacon in the church, was suddenly attacked with cholera. He sent immediately for Elder Stenhouse. It matters not what the disease may be, the same means are employed. Young and old of both sexes are treated alike. From measles to cholera, morbous, from toothache to blindness, from whooping cough to deafness, and from headache to possession by devils, the same prescription serves for everyone. And so satisfied are the saints that this

is the only right way to effect a cure, that until very recently to send for a physician would have been accounted a sin, doubting the promises of God, want of faith. In the case of the deacon to whom I have just alluded, the experiment was successful. Another missionary happened to be in Southampton at that time, and he was with Elder Stenhouse when the messenger arrived. They were both much surprised for they had seen the sick man only an hour and

a half before, but they set off at once and found him in such a state that he could hardly be recognized. They immediately anointed him with oil, administering a good dose internally, then laid hands on him and prayed for him, but the cholera maintained its hold. The two missionaries were full of zeal and were determined not to yield to the terrible disease. From early evening to the following morning at daybreak they continued to anoint the brother

and to lay hands on him praying for his recovery, probably thirty times during the night. In their rough but expressive language they had a regular battle. Victory at length crowned their efforts. The disease was mastered, but they themselves were utterly prostrated by the physical and mental exertions of the night. The saints regarded this as a great miracle, but unbelievers would doubtless wonder why, if it was done by the power of God, as

the elders asserted, it had cost so much exertion on the part of man. I, however, simply state the facts as they fell under my own observation, and I may add that during that same night in the same block of low tenement buildings five persons died of that dreadful scourge. On the following day an enthusiastic sister came running to Elder Stenhouse for him to come and lay hands upon her husband, who had also been attacked by the cholera. She was

a woman of great faith, or thought she was, and she had no doubt what a wonderful miracle would be wrought. Even in the midst of the affliction at home she was perfectly jubilant over the idea that the power of the priesthood would be demonstrated. She had called in several of her neighbors before the elders arrived, and they stood round the bed of the sick men. When the elders reached the house the livid countenance of the sufferer told plainly that

he was very far gone. Elder Stenhouse laid his hands upon him in the usual way, but instead of commanding the disease to depart as it was expected he would, he prayed that the afflicted brother himself might pass away in peace. The head of the dying man instantly fell back upon his pillow, and all was over. The bereaved woman was almost petrified with surprise and disappointment, and the unexpected change which had made her a widow. Elder Stenhouse

could only answer that there was no virtue in him. He had no faith at that moment to heal anyone. The former exercise of the gift had exhausted him. There was perhaps more truth in his answer than he himself imagined. The poor woman of whom I have spoken must have been greatly distressed when she saw the promise of miraculous assistance upon which she had so confidently relied fail her in such an unexpected manner. But she was

not alone in her disappointment. Many a man and woman who believed that the laws of nature would be reversed, and the decrees of the Almighty set aside because their faith was strong, and they expected God to act in such and such a way, made shipwreck of their hopes as this poor woman did upon the quicksands of a false expectation. My husband and myself were invited to take tea at the house of a brother in Southampton. The brother's name

was Isles, and he and his wife had a child who had been very seriously ill for nearly three weeks. Mr. Stenhouse had frequently administered to him by the laying on of hands. On the evening to which I allude, the child appeared to be much better, and he even sat up to the tea table, perched childlike upon his highchair, and in accordance with his own earnest request. We all thought that he was doing very nicely after tea, and just

when we were about to leave, Sister Isles said, Brother Stenhouse, please lay your hands upon my babe and ask the Lord to bless him, that he may have a refreshing sleep tonight. My husband complied and began by praying that the child might rest well, when suddenly, as if by an irresistible impulse, he implored that the child might die easily and without

pain. I instinctively glanced at the mother, and our eyes met. She looked as if frozen to the heart, and in a moment we knew that the child was dying, not painfully, but calmly and peacefully, as if he were going to sleep. The poor mother wept piteously, but my husband bade her not trouble the last moments of the dying child. In a few moments all was over, and I, and probably the mother too, asked mentally, if this also is the age of miracles,

is the Lord's hand shortened that he cannot save, or his ear heavy that he will not hear? We had yet to learn that the thoughts of God are beyond the comprehension of man. Since those times when the spirit of enthusiasm and religious zeal animated the Mormon missionaries and teachers, and stirred up the saints who listened to them to emulate in faithfulness the Christians of the early church, a great change has come over everything connected

with the doctrines which were then taught and practiced. Several years after the occurrence of the events which I have just narrated, when we had been for a considerable time resident in Salt Lake City, our faith in the miraculous gift of healing was still so strong that we suffered one of our children to lie almost at the door of death before we would dare to call in medical assistance. And when at length love for our suffering child overcame

to a certain extent our scruples, it was under protest and with many an effort to silence the voice of a falsely accusing conscience that my husband reluctantly went for the physician. Now so great are the changes which the influx of Gentiles and more intimate contact with the advanced civilization of the age have produced, there is not one of the most pious leaders of the church, including Brother Brigham, who but a very little while ago denounced

such a course as the first step towards rank apostasy, who would not call in if it appeared needful the very best medical assistance, whether Mormon or Gentile, which could be procured. And yet Brigham, despite his notorious inconsistencies, lays claim to an infallible priesthood. The saints in theory still cling to the first teachings of the church. But if the truth must be told, not only does iniquity abound, but the love of many has waxed cold.