{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_35974/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_35974","id":"gutenberg_35974","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35974","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Historical Novels","Category: Novels","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Latter Day Saints","Latter Day Saints -- Fiction"],"text":"</pre>\n\n\n\nProduced by the Mormon Texts Project,\nhttp://bencrowder.net/books/mtp. Volunteers: Stephen\nBruington, Byron Clark, Ben Crowder, Lili DeForest, Eric\nHeaps, Tod Robbins.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCORIANTON\n\nA Nephite Story\n\n\nBY B. H. ROBERTS\n\n\n\n\nCOPYRIGHTED BY\nB. H. ROBERTS\n1902\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nCorianton was first published as a serial in the Contributor, 1889. At\nthat time the story was well received by a large circle of readers and\nthe Author was urged by many of his friends to continue in that line\nof composition, as much good might come of it. A call came to engage\nin other work, however, and the delightful field just entered had to\nbe abandoned. During the years that have intervened since the first\npublication of the story, many have inquired if Corianton would not\nappear in booklet form, to which the Author always replied in the\naffirmative, but without being able to say when the time of\npublication would come. Since the simple Nephite story, however,\npromises to become famous through Mr. O. U. Bean's dramatization of\nit, many--I may say very many--have expressed a desire of forming the\nacquaintance of Corianton as he first appeared; and hence the Author\npresents Corianton, the Nephite.\n\n\n\n\nCORIANTON.\n\n\nCHAPTER ONE.\n\nTHE PRISONER.\n\n\nThe summer's sun was just struggling through the mists that overhung\nthe eastern horizon, and faintly gilding the towers and housetops of\nZarahemla, as a party of seven horsemen, evidently weary with the\nnight's travel, were seen slowly moving along the foot of the hill\nManti, in the direction of the above named city.\n\nThe manner in which the party traveled was evidently by\npre-arrangement, and for a purpose. Two rode in advance and two in the\nrear, while the other three rode abreast, the one in the middle being\nclosely guarded by those who rode beside him. A second look showed\nthat his arms were securely bound behind him, and the guard on each\nside held the powerful horse he rode by means of a strap of raw-hide\nfastened to the bridle. The prisoner was the most, in fact the only\nperson of striking appearance in the little cavalcade, the others\nbeing rather heavy, dull men of serious countenance; the prisoner,\nhowever, had an air of boldness and cool defiance which contrasted\nsharply with the humble aspect of his guards. He sat his horse with an\neasy grace which gave less evidence of fatigue from the long ride\nthrough the sultry night than that exhibited by his guards; the man,\nindeed, seemed especially adapted for endurance. The head, too, was\nmassive and the countenance striking; the brilliancy of the bold black\neyes challenged contest or flashed back defiance, while the peculiar\nexpression about the mouth, half scornful smile, half sneer, seemed to\nbreathe contempt for all things on which he looked.\n\nThe party now came in full view of the city. \"At last,\" with mocked\nsolemnity, exclaimed he that was bound, \"the soldiers of Christ and\ntheir prisoner behold the holy city, where dwells the great\nprophet--even God's High Priest, who smites with the words of his\nmouth, and with the breath of his lips slays the wicked!\" and the\nspeaker laughed scornfully, but his guards made no reply.\n\n\"Methinks ye soldiers of the king that is to be, give scant homage to\na shrine so holy as this--why, think men, this is the abode of God's\nvicegerent, the headquarters of heaven on earth so to speak! And yet\nye move on in full view of this holy shrine unbowed! Down slaves, and\nworship the place of my sanctuary--so run the words of holy prophets,\nis it not so?\"\n\nStill no answer.\n\n\"Yet uncovered and unbowed? Ah, I forgot, you are from the land of\nGideon, where dwells another of these holy prophets--and, it may be,\nthat to worship at this shrine would be treason to your own High\nPriest! O, thou bright-eyed goddess of liberty, what distraction, what\nfears must disturb the breasts of the poor, craven wretches who\nworship aught but thee!\"\n\nFurther remarks of the scoffer were cut short by the guards in advance\nurging their horses into a brisk gallop, an example followed by the\nrest of the party. The good broad road, down which they dashed, sloped\ngently from the western base of the hill Manti to the gate in the east\nwall of the city. The road had been cut through a primeval forest, and\nthe strips of woodland on either side of it, still untouched by the\nwoodman's ax, made of it a grand avenue. Here and there to the right\nand left were lanes leading off to the fields beyond, toward which\nagricultural laborers were slowly moving to begin the toil of the day.\nThese turned to look with unconcealed wonder upon the strange party as\nit dashed past them, and some few turned back to the city, bent on\nfinding out who the prisoner was and what was afoot.\n\nAs the party drew rein near the gate, two guards armed with heavy\nswords and long spears, challenged their entrance, and demanded their\nbusiness.\n\n\"Great God!\" exclaimed the prisoner, \"and this is the people who boast\nof their freedom! This is the free city of Zarahemla! and yet here\nstands the minions of the High Priest and the Chief Judge to question\nwhence ye come and why!\"\n\n\"We come from the city of Gideon,\" said one of the guards of the\nprisoner, in answer to the questions, \"we have in charge Korihor, the\nanti-Christ, who seeks to destroy religion and subvert all government;\nwe\"--\n\n\"Thou liest, almost as well as a high priest,\" broke in the prisoner;\n\"I seek but to root out of men's minds the false traditions of the\nfathers concerning God and Christ, and to make them free! I only\"--\n\n\"You will do well,\" quietly replied he whom he had interrupted, \"to\nmake your defense before the High Priest and Chief Judge of the city,\nand not before your own and the city guards.\" Then turning to the\nguards of the gate he continued: \"We have brought Korihor from the\ncity of Gideon where he was tried\"--\n\n\"For his virtues,\" broke in the prisoner.--\n\n--\"for his offenses,\" continued the guard, not heeding the\ninterruption, \"but the Chief Judge at Gideon hath sent him to the\nChief Judge of the whole land in this city, to hear his case, and\nhe\"--\n\n\"And God's High Priest,\" spoke up the prisoner, \"I charge thee, guard,\nleave not out the holy prophet, I long to meet in sharp contest the\nvicegerent on earth of your Christ that is to be--'according to the\nholy prophets.'\"\n\n\"Well, then, we seek the High Priest and Chief Judge before whom this\nman is to be tried,\" said the guard, evidently vexed with the mocking\ntone of the scoffer.\n\n\"Pass on,\" said the guard at the gate: \"Com,\" said he to his\ncompanion, \"conduct these men to the Judgment Hall, give their\nprisoner to the keeper of the prison, then direct them to the house of\nthe chief judge; I shall wait until you return; and I pray God that\nthis bold man may be silenced, for before now he hath disturbed the\nquiet of our city not a little.\"\n\nAs the party passed through the massive gateway, Korihor turned to\nlook back at the guard, and raising his voice, said to the crowd which\nhad gathered there rather than to the one whom he addressed, \"Guard,\ntell your good people as they pass in and out of the city, that\nKorihor, their friend, who would see them free, is in bonds for\nliberty's sake, and is soon to be tried before an imperious High\nPriest and a tyrant judge, for honest disbelief in the foolish\ntraditions of their fathers--tell them this, and ask them if the time\nhas came when all men must be slaves to superstition!\" There was an\ninstant buzz of excitement in the crowd, for Korihor was not unknown\nin Zarahemla. A few months before he had been through that city and\nhad spoken boldly against the prophets and the traditions respecting\nthe coming and Atonement of Christ. Since then he had been traveling\nthrough the land of Jershon among the people of Ammon, there he met\nwith little success; for that people bound him and banished him from\ntheir lands. From thence he went into the land of Gideon where he\nsought, as in other places, to stir up sedition. He was brought before\nthe High Priest and Chief Judge of that city, and they being in doubt\nas to what they ought to do with him, bound him and sent him to the\nHigh Priest over the whole church, and to the Chief Judge of the whole\nland, both of whom resided in the city of Zarahemla.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWO.\n\nZARAHEMLA.\n\n\nThe city of Zarahemla which our party of horsemen and their prisoner\nhad entered, was the capital and metropolis of the Nephite Republic.\nIts exact location cannot be definitely fixed. According to the Book\nof Mormon it was situated on the west bank of tho river Sidon, a noble\nstream, supposed to be identical with the river Magdalena. It rises in\nthe great mountain chain of western South America, and flows directly\nnorth through an immense valley to the sea. The city Zarahemla was\noriginally founded by the descendants of a colony of Jews that escaped\nfrom Jerusalem, after the destruction of that city by King\nNebuchadnezzar, early in the sixth century B. C. With the colony of\nJews that escaped was Mulek, the son of King Zedekiah, and the colony\ntook its name from him. They landed in the northern continent of the\nwestern world and afterwards drifted southward into the valley of\nSidon, and there founded a city, but what name they gave it is not\nknown. Having brought no records with them from Jerusalem, and being\nin possession of none of those incentives to the preservation of\ncivilization, it is not surprising that they deteriorated to\nsemi-civilized and irreligious conditions. Serious wars broke out\namong them at times, but they preserved themselves a people, and by\nthe year 200 B. C., had become very numerous. It was about this time\nthat their chief city was discovered by a migrating host of Nephites\nfrom the South, led by Mosiah I, whom God had commanded to gather\ntogether the more righteous part of the people of Nephi and take them\ninto the land northward. A double purpose was served in this movement:\nfirst, the righteous Nephites were relieved from the oppressions\npracticed upon them by their more vicious brethren; second, they\ncarried enlightenment, and especially the knowledge of God, to a\nnumerous people. At the time of the arrival of the Nephites in the\nvalley of the Sidon, one Zarahemla was the recognized leader of the\ndescendants of the people of Mulek. It was a Nephite custom to name\ntheir cities after the men who founded them, and the surrounding\ncountry after the name of the chief city therein. In this instance the\nNephites doubtless named the city after the chief man they found\nthere, \"Zarahemla,\" and the surrounding country \"the land of\nZarahemla.\" But as suggested, this may not have been the name of the\ncity previous to the advent of the Nephites. The two peoples readily\nunited under the form of government known at that time among the\nNephites, viz., a limited and at times elective monarchy. Mosiah, the\nNephite leader, became king of the united people. He caused that the\npeople of Zarahemla should be taught in the knowledge of their\nforefathers; and in reverence for the God of Israel. Both peoples were\ngreatly benefited by this union. The people of Zarahemla so\nstrengthened the Nephites in numbers as to make them strong enough to\nresist any attempted invasion of Lamanites; while to the people of\nZarahemla the Nephites brought their civilization, their ideas of\ngovernment, and enlightenment through means of education.\n\nAt the time of the opening of our story, 75 B. C., something of a\nrepublican form of government or reign of Judges had supplanted the\nbefore mentioned monarchy. King Mosiah I. was succeeded by his son\nBenjamin, and he by his son, under the title of Mosiah II. It was the\nreign of the last mentioned king that the remarkable revolution took\nplace which resulted in the establishment of the Nephite Republic in\nplace of the kingly form of government which under various\nmodifications had existed from the first Nephi, until about 91 B. C.,\nor some sixteen years previous to the events recorded in the preceding\nchapter. The revolution seems to have occurred at that time in\nconsequence of the sons of the second Mosiah refusing to accept the\nkingly dignity. They had consecrated their lives to the service of the\nChurch, and had departed on missionary expeditions among the\nLamanites. The good King Mosiah II was fearful that if the people\nelected a king, as was their light under certain contingencies, his\nsons might subsequently seek to take possession of the throne they had\nabdicated, and thus bring on civil war. In his anxiety to avoid the\npossibility of so great a calamity he proposed a change in the\nconstitution by which the kingly form of government should be\nabolished, and a species of republic established in its place. The\nprincipal feature of the new constitution was the provision for the\nelection of a Chief Judge and subordinate Judges, graded most likely\naccording to the importance of the city or district of country over\nwhich their administration extended. All the judges were endowed with\nexecutive as well as judicial power; from the subordinate judges\nappeals could be taken to the superior judges; while an easy means of\nimpeachment was provided as a corrective of corrupt administration.\nThe revolution proposed was carried out peacefully under the wise\nsupervision of Mosiah II, who stipulated, when proposing the\nconstitutional change, that he would continue as king until his death,\nat which event the new government was to go into force. The first\nelection was held within the lifetime of Mosiah II. Alma, the\npresiding High Priest of the Church, was elected Chief Judge, so that\nhe united in his person both priestly and civil power. Alma was a\nremarkable character. He was the son of the Nephite High Priest of the\nsame name. In his youthful days he had been exceedingly wayward, and\nhad united with the sons of King Mosiah II, in their efforts to\noverthrow what they called the superstition of their fathers. Being\nyoung men of marked abilities and pleasing address, the mischief they\ndid was appalling. The very pillars of the Church seem to be shaken by\ntheir audacious boldness of declamation against it. And it was only\nthrough the visitation of an angel who appeared before them in all the\nglorious brightness, of that heaven from which he had descended, and\nthe administration of sharp reproofs, that they were turned from their\nsinful ways, and stopped from persecuting the Church of Christ. As is\nfrequently the case with characters of this description, from being\nviolent scoffers of religion and bitter enemies of the Church, they\nbecame ardent supporters of both, and, as already stated, the sons of\nMosiah II, abdicated their right to the Nephite throne and consecrated\ntheir lives to the service of the Church, of which Alma became the\nHigh Priest upon the death of his father, Alma; and, as we have seen,\nwas made Chief Judge also of the republic. He did not hold the double\noffice long, however; for finding that the office of Chief Judge so\noccupied his time that it forced neglect upon his duties as High\nPriest, he resigned his civil position after eight years of service,\nthat he might devote himself exclusively to his ministerial calling.\nNephihah was elected to the office of Chief Judge, and held that\nposition at the opening of our story. By this action of Alma's the\noffice of High Priest was separated from that of Chief Judge, still\nthere appears to have been some participation in the affairs of\ngovernment by the High Priest.  Not that there was a union of church\nand state as that term is usually understood, for the Church was\nrecognized as being separated from the state; but while they were\ndistinct societies, they were close neighbors, and nearly interested\nin one another; they lived separate, but not estranged; and each\nhelped the other at need. And hence it happened that the High Priest\nat times sat with the Chief Judge in cases involving the interests of\nthe Church.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER THREE.\n\nTHE BROTHERS.\n\n\nMeantime our party passed down one of the principal streets of the\nancient city, into the market square. Here many were engaged in\nunpacking fruits and vegetables from huge baskets strapped across the\nbacks of asses, and arranging them under awnings to preserve them from\nthe scorching rays of the sun. In the richest profusion were piles of\nfruits and vegetables, luscious grapes and fragrant bananas, lemons,\nlimes, figs, dates, bread-fruit and a variety of vegetables such as\nthe tropics alone can produce. Purchasers were already thronging to\nthe market, and as our party from the city of Gideon passed on,\nKorihor shouted to them, as he had done to the crowd at the gate,\nwhich resulted in quickly gathering a throng of men who eagerly\nquestioned the guards as to the man's offense--\"alleged offense, you\nmean,\" he cried, \"for I am guilty of no crime, except we have fallen\non those evil days to which the idle traditions of our fathers tend,\nwhen to disbelieve the words of ancient dotards styling themselves\nprophets, and giving expression to one's honest thoughts has become a\ncrime; or when resisting the oppression of judges, who ever have one\near turned to a priest to learn what superstition teaches is the word\nof God, be a wrong; and when to be the friend of liberty, a foe to\ntyranny whether in priest or judge--and an enemy to an enslaving\nsuperstition, is considered worthy of bonds and the prison.\"\n\nThis and much more that he said as he passed along, surrounded by his\nguards, produced no little excitement in the crowd, for in those\nancient days and distant climes, as well as in our own day those who\npersuaded men they were not well governed had many willing followers;\nand then as now demagogues, blasphemers and the enemies of law and\norder knew what a tower of strength the cry of freedom gave to a\ncause, however unworthy or destructive of the very thing in the\ninterest of which, ostensibly, they worked.\n\nHaving passed through the marketsquare and through a narrow, irregular\nstreet, with massive, two-story stone houses on either side, which\nmarked the most ancient part of the city, the guards suddenly turned\nto the right into a large square, on one side of which stood an\nimmense structure of hewn stone with a wide, high porch, supported by\nmassive pillars, and approached by a broad flight of stone steps. This\nwas the Hall of Justice, as indicated in an inscription carved in the\nstone above the porch. To the right of the building extended a high\nstone wall in which was hung a heavy wooden door, plentifully studded\nwith iron spikes. To this door the guard who had led the party from\nthe east gate of the city directed his footsteps, and taking a small\nwooden mallet suspended by a chain fastened to the door post, he\nstruck the door three smart blows, and a moment later a small wicket\nin the upper part of the door was opened and a harsh voice demanded\nwhat was wanted.\n\n\"A guard of horsemen from the city of Gideon bring with them to the\njudgment seat of the High Priest and Chief Judge, one Korihor, charged\nwith seeking to breed sedition and subvert the government; they\ndeliver him to the care of the keeper of the prison--open the door and\nadmit him at once--the people are becoming excited and may raise a\ntumult.\" The latter clause of the sentence was delivered hurriedly and\nin an undertone. There was a profuse rattling of chains, the falling\nof an iron bar, and the door swung open with a grating sound. Meantime\nthe guards of Korihor had assisted him to dismount and with their\nprisoner before them, and leading their horses, passed into the\nprison-yard. A number of men pressed close after them, but were denied\nadmittance by the gate keeper, who drove them back and closed and\nbarred the door.\n\nSeeing Korihor safely bestowed, and their horses cared for, the guards\nfrom Gideon were conducted across the square fronting the Hall of\nJustice, to the house of the Chief Judge, and presented to him the\ncommunication or commitment from the High Priest and Chief Judge of\nGideon.\n\nThe crowd which had been attracted by the unusual spectacle of the\nsmall cavalcade passing through their streets, and the animated\nspeeches of the prisoner, still lingered in the public square,\ngathered in groups, discussing the events of the morning. \"I tell\nyou,\" said a hard visaged man to a group of listeners standing near\nthe center of the square,--\"I tell you there is too much truth in the\ncomplaints of Korihor. The High Priests and the Chief Judges are\nbecoming too arbitrary in their rulings; there's too much said about\nlaw and order and not enough regard paid to personal liberty.\"\n\n\"Tut, man,\" said a voice from the outskirts of the group, \"whenever\nhas a disturber of the peace, a blasphemer of God, an enemy to\nreligion come amongst us but what he has taken refuge behind the cry\nof 'liberty?' So did Nehor in the first year of the reign of the\njudges; so did Amlici five years later; and Korihor is such as they\nwere, and with like cunning adopts their cry of 'liberty,' when in\nreality his principles lead to the destruction of freedom and all its\nsafeguards. Believe me friends,\" he continued, addressing the crowd\namong whom there began to be great agitation--\"Believe me, not every\none that cries out against God, religion and the law is a friend to\nfreedom, they are always its enemies. The law stands watch and guard\nover your rights and liberties; by that Korihor will be judged and\njustice rendered. In the meantime let not your minds be carried away\nby the persuasions of men whose business is agitation, who prosper by\nviolence, and thrive on tumults.\" So saying, the young man, for such\nhe was, putting his arm about a still younger man who stood at his\nside, walked away. The crowd also began to break up, the man who had\nbeen harangueing it when interrupted, muttering that it could only be\nexpected that the sons of the High Priest would defend the oppressions\nof their father; they themselves were interested.\n\nAs the two young men were crossing the square, the younger said to his\nbrother: \"Notwithstanding what you said just now to the crowd,\nShiblon, and the truth of it in general, I think this treatment of\nKorihor is too harsh. Our law protects a man in his belief and in the\nexpression of it; and though Korihor hath a proud bearing and holds\nwhat you believe to be dangerous views, still I think the officers at\nGideon exceeded their jurisdiction in sending him bound to this city.\"\n\n\"Holds what I believe to be dangerous views! And do not you believe\nthem to be dangerous? Corianton, I fear the spirit of unbelief, the\nmoral and spiritual poison that the orations of this same man infused\ninto your soul when he first appeared in our city, hath not yet been\nworked out.\" The hot blood rushed to the temples of Corianton at this\naccusation, and he replied with some warmth, not unmixed with\nbitterness: \"It has not been the fault of brother Helaman or yourself,\nthen, for I have heard little else since his departure from Zarahemla\nbut your lame arguments in support of the shadowy traditions of our\nfathers about the coming of Messiah and his Atonement.\"\n\n\"I am sorry to find you in this mood my brother,\" replied Shiblon,\n\"and it grieves me to hear you speak so lightly of things that are\nsacred; but if too much restraint has been thrown upon the liberty of\nKorihor by the authorities of Gideon, you know full well that justice\nwill be done him in the court of our father and the Chief Judge--you\nknow that no oppression is countenanced by them.\"\n\nAt this moment the guard from the gate who had conducted those in\ncharge of Korihor to the presence of the Chief Judge passed them, and\nin answer to a question from Corianton replied that the case of\nKorihor was appointed to be heard on the morrow.\n\n\"It is the time of day,\" said Shiblon to his brother, \"appointed for\nthe meeting of the priesthood, to consider the mission about to be\nappointed to the Zoramites. Our father sent me to find you and bring\nyou to the council, for I think he wishes you to be a party to the\nundertaking.\"\n\n\"You may go, brother, but I will not,\" replied Corianton. \"I have no\nrelish for these dull councils, and as for converting the Zoramites,\nthey may be as nearly right in their theology as yourself or our\nfather, for aught I know; the whole subject is so wrapt in mystery\nthat we can at least afford to be liberal, and not bind men and thrust\nthem into prison for daring to assert their unbelief in these\nmysterious things.\"\n\n\"But it is the express wish of father that you should attend this\ncouncil,\" said Shiblon, \"out of respect for him, will you not come?\"\n\n\"Say, to our good father the Priest, that I am gone to visit one who\nis cast into prison for the cause of liberty.\" Then seeing the pained\nexpression in his brother's face, his manner changed, and placing his\nhand affectionately on his shoulder he said: \"Shiblon, go thou to the\ncouncil, and give no further thought to me; let me follow the bent of\nmy own mind. Your steady patience; your deep conviction as to the\ntruth of the traditions of our fathers: your wisdom and goodness make\nyou a fitting minister for God, if such a being there is; you are\ndestined to become a pillar in the church; not so with me; my wild\nlove of liberty can ill brook the restraints of the gospel or the\npriesthood, and the skepticism ingrained in my very nature\ndisqualifies me for the work I could readily believe you were designed\nto support. But I'll none of it, until I see some manifestation of the\npower of God spoken of so frequently by our father and of which the\nscriptures speak on nearly every page; so farewell.\" Turning on his\nheel, he bent his footsteps in the direction of the prison gate, while\nShiblon with a troubled heart stood gazing after him.\n\n\"David had his Absalom, Lehi, his Laman, and this my brother, my\nfather's darling son, seems destined to wring my father's heart, as\nthey did theirs. Oh! why is it, that those formed in the very\nprodigality of nature--endowed with a heaven-born intelligence--\ngenius--must be cursed with a doubting, rebellious spirit that weighs\ndown all their better parts, and wrecks the hopes, built on what their\ntalents promise? Oh, that some good angel would my brother meet, as\nwas my father met, shake off his doubting fears, and give him back to\nus converted to the truth and pledged to its maintenance, as was my\nfather! Then how would shine that master power within him which\noverawes men's minds or bends them to his purpose! Brother, flout me,\nresist me how you will; I'll follow you through all your fortunes\ngood or ill, and win you yet to God and truth!\"\n\nWith these words on his lips, and this pious purpose in his heart,\nShiblon, the son of Alma the Priest, directed his steps to the council\nchamber.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER FOUR.\n\nIN THE HALL OF JUSTICE.\n\n\nThe next morning the sun shone more brightly than on the day before.\nThrough the night a terrific storm had raged. Black clouds burdened\nwith moisture had been split by vivid flashes of lightning, and poured\ndown all their floods. But with the approach of light the storm\nceased, the clouds parted and drifted into great cumulous heaps\nlightened to snowy whiteness by the glorious morning sun. The air was\nfresh and pure, the electric storm having dispelled the mists and fogs\nso common to the tropics.\n\nLong before the sun had reached midway between his rising and high\nnoon, the open square before the Hall of Justice was filled with\ngroups of men, some boisterously disputing the rightfulness of\nKorihor's treatment, and others with equal warmth defending the action\nof the authorities of Gideon.\n\nThe Hall of Justice was crowded to overflowing with men anxious to see\nand hear the man, who had by a few leaps and bounds sprung into\nnotoriety. The hall within was circular in form, with tiers of stone\nseats rising one above the other, their regularity broken only by\nthree promenades extending three-fourths of the way around the\nbuilding. The entrance was through two wide double doors in the south,\nalong a walk leading into a circular space, around which ranged the\nfirst row of seats, and from which ran flights of steps leading to the\nseats and promenades above. On the west side was a spacious platform\nwith two seats well to the back of it, raised on a dais, evidently\nintended for the high officials of the state.\n\nA murmur that commenced near the entrance and then extended to all\nparts of the house, gave notice that some one of importance--perhaps\nsome of the chief actors in what was to take place that day--were\nentering. Two men walking side by side and preceded by two guards and\nfollowed by two, passed up the short flight of steps to the platform,\nand occupied the seats before mentioned. One of them was still in the\nprime of manhood, with a full beard and glossy black hair. The eyes\nwere deep set and black, the forehead low and broad, the lower part of\nthe face square and heavy. The stature of the man was in keeping with\nthe face; below the common height, broad shouldered and ungraceful,\nthe whole aspect was stern, almost harsh--such was Nephihah, the Chief\nJudge of the whole land. His companion, the High Priest, was a\ndifferent type of man; tall in person, slightly stooped with age, a\nhigh receding forehead, and hair of silvery whiteness. In that face\none could see compassion, patience, tenderness--all the qualities in\nfact that go to make up the highly spiritual temperament. But, as one\nmay say, back of the indications of those qualities stood others of\nsterner character. The closely compressed lips, together with the\nwhole form and movement was expressive of determination; while the\nlight that flashed from the eyes when animated, bespoke a quick spirit\nwithin. But now as he takes his seat by the side of the Chief Judge,\nhis whole air is calmness, almost sadness; and indeed, care had drawn\nmany and deep lines in the noble face of Alma.\n\nNeither of these officers, though the foremost men in the great\nNephite Republic, wore any badge of office; but was dressed very\nsimilar to hundreds of common people in the hall. The dress consisted\nof a sort of tunic drawn over a close fitting under garment, gathered\nin at the waist by a girdle and extending to the knees, but leaving\nthe arms and legs bare. Over the tunic was generally thrown a light\nrobe, very often of rich material and varying in color to suit the\ntaste of the wearer; on the feet sandals were worn, fastened to the\nfeet and legs by broad thongs of tanned deer hide--such was the male\ndress of that period among the Nephites. The chief judge's tunic was\nof light brown, with a dull red robe thrown over the shoulders. The\ntunic of the high priest was white and his robe a light blue gathered\nin graceful folds about his person.\n\nAt a signal from the Chief Judge one of the guards left the hall and\nsoon returned, conducting to the platform Korihor and the guards who\nbrought him from Gideon, a few others following--friends of the\naccused. Among the latter there was one whose graceful form towered\nabove the rest, whose step was more firm, and whose every limb and\nfeature and movement seemed conscious of power and pride. As he\nfollowed Korihor up the steps to the platform and stood near him, the\nHigh Priest started from his seat--there was a convulsive twitching of\nthe fine features, and then the tears stole silently down his furrowed\ncheeks. He had recognized his son Corianton, as the follower of this\nunbeliever. He was aware that his son had called upon him the day\nbefore, knew that he had expressed some sympathy for him, but he was\nnot prepared to see him thus openly identify himself with the cause of\nthe scoffer against God.\n\nAs Korihor took his place before the Chief Judge the latter unrolled a\nparchment which contained the charges against him, as set forth by the\nauthorities of Gideon.\n\n\"Korihor,\" said he, the voice was strong and harsh, \"you are charged,\nby the authorities of the land of Gideon with having sought to stir up\nsedition, disrupt the government and destroy religion. It doth not\nappear, however, that you have set on foot any definite movement, or\norganization looking to the accomplishment of these unworthy purposes.\nIt cannot be said you are guilty of any overt act in pursuance of your\npernicious doctrines, but have merely agitated for them by your\nspeeches. Our law cannot punish a man for his belief nor for the\nexpression of it, therefore it is our decision that you be set at\nliberty. However, it becomes my duty to caution you that the path you\ntread is filled with danger, both to yourself and those you may induce\nto follow you. Let me remind you that our present system of government\nhas been most fruitful of happiness to the people, and holds out to\nthem the fairest promise of future good; and he who becomes its enemy,\nbecomes the enemy of the people, and in the end must come to sorrow.\nLet not, therefore, your love of notoriety, or any other motive,\nbetray you into seeking it, by paths so pregnant with danger to\nyourself should you fail, and so disastrous to the public weal should\nyou succeed. You are acquitted before the law of the land; but the\nHigh Priest may have some advice for you.\"\n\n\"Acquitted by the law of the land--now I suppose I am to be tried by\nthe law of--heaven!\" said Korihor. \"Well, we've heard from earth, now\nwe are ready to hear from heaven--what a pity the other place,\"\npointing significantly downward, \"is not also represented, we would\nthen have a trinity of you to hear from. Proceed heaven!\" said he,\nturning to the High Priest.\n\n\"Korihor,\" said the High Priest, \"your speech ill becomes your\nintelligence, your\"--\n\n\"What, has a priest turned flatterer, can a priest speak to an\nopponent in fair, well-seeming words? You know well to whom you\nspeak-one who will not kneel in the dust before you-one who fears\nneither you nor your gods, but whose soul abhors you both, and is free\nfrom your superstition and the slavish submission it begets, else we\nshould have had thunder from 'God's mouthpiece,' and not the\nmellifluous tones breathing softly--'Korihor, your speech ill becomes\nyour intelligence;' but go on, speak as is your wont, I despise your\nflattery as I defy your power.\"\n\n\"Think not I meant to flatter,\" continued the High Priest, unmoved by\nthe rude interruption, \"for I meant to say, had you listened\npatiently, that your utterances are but the vain repetition of what\nothers of like temperament have said before you. You scarcely do more\nthat repeat, parrot-like, the catch phrases of Nehor and Amlici, your\nimmediate predecessors in this ribaldry of blasphemy.\"\n\nThis was a conclusion of the sentence Korihor had scarcely expected,\nand the scoffer felt that his impetuosity had placed him at a\ndisadvantage.\n\n\"Why do you go about to destroy the people's belief in God and their\nhope in Christ?\" continued the High Priest.\n\n\"To undeceive them, to free them from a groveling superstition, which\nbows down their souls that they dare not assert their rights and\nliberties, nor raise their heads in manly pride, nor gratify their\nappetites, lest they offend the God of your tradition--a being who\nnever has been seen or known, nor ever will be. I seek to strike off\nthe servile chains, with which your priests have loaded them, in order\nto bring to pass your own designs--that you may glut yourselves with\nthe labors of their hands, and hold them at your mercy. I would see\nmen free from superstition, acknowledging no power more potent than\ntheir own, I would teach them that intelligent management is\nprovidence, that genius is God; that this life--so far as we\nknow--terminates existence, and therefore they should encompass all\nthe pleasure possible, by enjoying what the appetites and passions\ncrave. I tell thee, proud priest, now playing at humility,\" he\nexclaimed with sudden vehemence, \"your religion is slavery; your\npriesthood, a fraud; your Christ, a delusion: your God, a lie!\"\n\nThe great audience grew breathless at the fierce denunciation, and\nthen the calm but strong voice of the High Priest rang through the\nhall--\"Could a deception, a lie produce such supreme joy in the hearts\nof men as the faith of this people in God does?\"\n\n\"Yea it could, and the proof of it is in that it does; but the joy\nthis people think they have is not joy; man never tastes joy until he\nbreaks away from all restraint, and feels himself accountable to no\none for his actions, then and then only is he capable of joy.\"\n\n\"'Tis a lying spirit prompts thee so to answer,\" replied Alma, \"for\nnever while sense and judgment keep their seat in the mind of man can\nhe cast off restraint, or become dead to the sense of moral\nresponsibility; therefore what you would call joy would be the wild\ndelirium of the madman or the drunken--long may this people be\npreserved from such joy as this--its spirit is drawn from hell, its\neffect is destruction. Equally false is your statement that the\npriests glut themselves on the labors of the people. From the\ncommencement of the reign of the judges, seventeen years since, until\nnow, I have labored with my own hands for my support; and\nnotwithstanding all my travels for the Church, and labors in it, I\nhave never received even one senine for my labors, nor have my\nbrethren, save it were in the judgment seat; and then we have received\nonly according to the law for our time. What doth it profit us to\nlabor in the Church, then, but to declare the truth, that we might\nhave happiness in the prosperity of our people?\"\n\nThe scoffer was silent at the calmness of the high priest; something\nin the manner of Alma moved him strangely, but he stared boldly in the\nface of the speaker. Corianton, however, manifested more uneasiness,\nfor under the calm exterior he saw the spirit in his father awakening.\n\n\"Korihor,\" said the High Priest, and there was an intensity in the\nvoice now which thrilled the whole assembly, \"you mock at religion,\nyou deny the existence of God, but I testify to you there is a God,\nand now will you deny his existence or blaspheme his name?\"\n\n\"Yea, that I will! What, thinkest thou because a High Priest says in\nsolemn tones, 'I tell thee, Korihor, there is a God,' that I will\ncrouch at his feet and confess what ye would call my sins, and like an\necho say 'amen' to your testimony? By the gods, if such there be, you\nmust think my spirit easily over-awed! I tell thee no, there is no\nGod--ye have no evidence that there is--give me proof of his\nexistence--let me see a manifestation of his power--show me a sign!\"\n\n\"All things testify of his existence. The traditions of our fathers\naffirm it\"--\n\n\"The traditions of our fathers!\" contemptuously broke in Korihor, \"I\ndemand a living sign, and you talk to me of tradition!\"\n\n--\"The written testimony of many of the prophets from the beginning of\nthe world to the time our fathers left Jerusalem, as recorded upon the\nbrass plates they brought with them into this land, prove his\nexistence; the testimony of all the holy prophets that God hath raised\nup to minister to this people declare it; and back of these witnesses\nstands all nature--the earth with its wealth of fruits and flowers and\nvegetation and animal life; the rains which make it fruitful, the\nglorious sun, which kisses its fruits and grains to ripeness; day and\nnight, seed-time and harvest--all proclaim the Creator and his\ngoodness and wisdom and love! The existence and harmonious movement\nthrough space of many other worlds than ours in such exact order and\nregularity, proclaim his power and glory; and more than all, the still\nsmall voice of the Spirit of God, testifying to the secret soul of man\nof the being of God and man's accountability to him--all these things\nunited give ample proof of God's existence and power and majesty. Yet\nthere stands a man,\" and he pointed his finger at Korihor, and\naddressed himself to the audience, \"who denies there is any proof;\nturns from all this and impiously demands a sign!\"\n\nThe scoffer stood awed before the awful form of the priest; and well\nindeed he might, for he had risen in delivering the above; his face\nshone with intelligence, his eyes reflected the light of heaven, his\nvoice trembled with the power of God; and the form drawn up to its\nfall height was magnificently grand.\n\n\"I--I do not say--there is--no God,\" faltered Korihor in subdued,\nhusky tones, and trembling from fear--\"I do not believe there is,--I\nwill not believe\"--recovering some of his boldness--\"except ye show me\na sign!\"\n\n\"Then this shall be thy sign--I tell thee, in the name of God, thou\nshalt be dumb and never speak again!\"\n\nThe voice was trumpet toned now, and seemed to shake the building and\nthe whole audience had started to its feet. There was a half stifled\nexclamation from the scoffer, and he wildly clutched the air; his eyes\nseemed bursting from their sockets and his face was purple with his\neffort to speak. Those who had stood with him drew back as if by\ninstinct, and he stood alone writhing under his curse. Exhausted at\nlast by violent contortions of his whole frame, he became more calm;\nand in answer to the question by the Chief Judge--\n\n\"Art thou now convinced of the existence of God?\"\n\nHe wrote an answer, saying that he was; that he knew there was a God,\nbut the devil had deceived him by appearing to him as an angel of\nlight, that he had taught his words because they were pleasing to the\ncarnal mind, and his success made him believe, finally, that they were\ntrue. He pleaded piteously that the High Priest would remove the\ncurse, but Alma replied:\n\n\"If this curse should be taken from thee, thou wouldst again lead away\nthe hearts of this people; therefore it shall be unto thee, even as\nthe Lord will.\"\n\nKorihor looked around him, but no one gave him recognition as a\nfriend; those who had accompanied him into the hall stood terror\nstricken, and amazement was depicted in every countenance. He realized\nthat he was deserted in this his extremity, and with a gurgling cry he\nfled from the hall and the city.\n\nThe vast audience which had breathlessly witnessed this remarkable\nscene and the demonstration of the power of God, began to break up,\nand quietly leave the hall, each person too deeply impressed with what\nhe had witnessed to speak to his neighbor. The Chief Judge and the\nHigh Priest were among the last to depart. As the latter was\napproaching the door his robe was clutched, and turning round he stood\nface to face with his wayward son--Corianton.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER FIVE.\n\nTHE NEW CONVERT.\n\n\nFor a moment father and son faced each other, but neither spoke. The\nproud head of Corianton was bowed, his lips quivered with emotion. The\nfather held out his hand, and the young man grasped it. \"Father,\" he\nsaid, in humbled tone, \"I have sinned against God, and against thee; I\npray you pardon me, and ask thy God to pardon me, too.\"\n\n\"Corianton, thy rebellion against God is in truth a grievous sin. But\nyouth is thoughtless and wayward, impatient of restraint, easily\nmisled, and often, too, by generous impulses. The high sounding\nphrase, the reckless plea for unbridled license, miscalled liberty, of\nwhich men of Korihor's type well know the influence, the mocking jests\nat sober, righteous lives, the boldness which dares mock at sacred\nthings, and bid defiance even to God, hath in it a false daring which\ncaptures inconsiderate youth, and works its ruin. I do remember my own\nyouth, Corianton, and how in my mad folly I threw away restraint,\nconsorted with the wicked, mocked the righteous, and impiously\nblasphemed the name of God, and afflicted my noble father's soul as\nthou hast mine--but I forgive thee,\" hastily added the Priest, as a\ngreat sob escaped his son, \"as he did me; and so far as my earnest\nprayer can pluck down God's forgiveness on thy head, be assured, my\nson, my most dear son, God shall forgive thee, too.\" With these words\nho fondly embraced Corianton, and a few moments later they left the\nHall of Justice together.\n\nAt the house of the High Priest they found Ammon, Aaron, Omner and\nHimni, and also Helaman and Shiblon, the two elder sons of Alma. The\nfirst four persons named were the sons of Mosiah, the last king of the\nNephites, at whose death the reign of the judges began. These men had\nbeen the companions of Alma from his boyhood, and together in their\nyouthful days they had been recklessly wicked and sought the\ndestruction of the Church, as already detailed in chapter two. After\ntheir conversion they had traveled to and fro through all the land of\nthe Nephites, seeking to undo the mischief they had done; and then\nperformed glorious missions among the Lamanites where the power of God\nhad been wondrously manifested to the converting of many of that\npeople to the truth. Often separated in their labors, cast into\nprisons, surrounded by dangers, threatened by mobs, weary, foot-sore,\nhungry--now received into palaces and hailed almost as Gods, now\noutcasts, without a place to lay their heads--they experienced all the\nchanges, the successes, and the vicissitudes of missionary life, but\nthrough all of it they were faithful to God, and held each other in\nfondest remembrance.\n\nThe present occasion of their meeting together was to determine what\nsteps should be taken in relation to the Zoramites, a people who had\ndissented from the Nephites and had established themselves at\nAntionum, south of the land Gershon, and bordering on the lands\noccupied by the Lamanites; and it was feared they would become\nconfederate with the Lamanites and create trouble. The meeting held on\nthe subject the day before had been interrupted by the Chief Judge\nsending for Alma to consult over the case of Korihor. Now they had met\nto conclude the business thus interrupted.\n\nAlma was warmly greeted by his brethren, who had witnessed the scene\nin the Hall of Justice; and all expressed their gratitude to God for\nthe great manifestation of his power, and the vindication of his\ncause.\n\n\"The most happy fruit of this issue,\" said Alma, \"is that it gives\nback to us my son Corianton; who, at first, stood with the unbeliever,\nbut now has seen a demonstration of God's power, to the conversion of\nhis soul.\" At this announcement the brethren gathered about Corianton\nand warmly embraced him, thanking God for his deliverance from\ndarkness.\n\nIt was finally arranged that Alma, Ammon, Aaron, Omner together with\nShiblon and Corianton, should go on a mission to the Zoramites; that\nHimni should remain to preside over the church at Zarahemla, assisted\nby Helaman.\n\nAs the council was breaking up, Alma suggested that he would like to\ntake with him on this mission Amulek and Zeezrom, but they were in the\ncity of Melek, west of Zarahemla. Corianton volunteered to go after\nthem, and Shiblon expressed a willingness to accompany him. That\nafternoon they started.\n\nEn route they passed through several villages, and on such occasions\nwere everywhere questioned in relation to the curse which had fallen\nupon Korihor, of which they had heard conflicting rumors. The young\nmen gave to those inquiring correct information, though Corianton in\ntestifying to the existence of God, and to the truth, was not always\nas humble or merciful to those who were not yet converted as was\nconformable to the spirit of the gospel, or consistent with the\nposition which he himself had so lately occupied. It is ever thus with\nyour new convert; by his actions and by his words you would be led to\nthink, if you did not know better, that he was the last sinner God was\nwaiting to bring into his fold before he damned the rest. Shiblon\nobserved these faults in his brother, but knowing his haughty spirit,\nwhich could ill brook restraint, he resolved to remain silent, and let\nthose older correct him.\n\nFinding Amulek and Zeezrom, they delivered their message from the\ncouncil of the priesthood in Zarahemla, and both these worthy men\nreturned with them to that city, and from thence the party took its\njourney to Antionum, the chief city of the Zoramites.\n\nOf that journey it is necessary to say but little. It occupied eight\ndays, the party going on foot, driving with them but two asses, on\nwhich were packed the tents, food and other necessary articles for the\ncomfort of the party. For the sons of Mosiah and Alma, who were all\nexperienced missionaries, and had passed through many trying scenes\ntogether, as also, indeed, had Amulek and Zeezroni, it was a glorious\nreunion; and many and various were the adventures and special\nmanifestations of the power of God related. To the younger men,\nShiblon and Corianton, it was a feast of spiritual food--the\nconversation of these servants of God.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER SIX.\n\nTHE ZORAMITES.\n\n\nThe sun was slowly sinking in the western sky, as the party of\nmissionaries presented themselves at the main entrance to the city\nAntionum, the gateway of the north wall. They were permitted to pass\nin unchallenged, and inquired out a lodging house, where they all\nstayed together. Uninformed as to the exact nature of the heresy of\nthe Zoramites, they had resolved to avoid proclaiming their mission,\nuntil they should become acquainted with the nature of the errors it\nwas their hope to correct.\n\nThe day following their entrance into the city was the holy day of the\nZoramites, when they repaired to the synagogues, of which there were\nmany, to worship. The interior of their places of worship was\ngorgeously decorated. Near the center of each rose a stand, the top of\nwhich extended half the height from the floor to the ceiling. The\nstand proper rested on a sort of frustum of a cone. Up the sides were\nseveral flights of steps, and at the top of the frustum was standing\nroom for a number of people; but in the stand proper there was room\nfor but one. Each in his turn ascended the single flight of steps to\nthe top of this holy stand--Rameumptom they called it--and stretching\nforth his hands towards heaven, exclaimed in solemn tones:\n\n        Holy, Holy, Holy God!\n      Thou art God, There is no God beside.\n    Spirit Bright, and Everlasting--\n    The same to-day and ever more.\n    Separate are we from men--\n    Elected us hast Thou and made us holy,\n    While all beside thou hast condemned;\n    For which, Most High, and Holy God we give Thee thanks--\n    That we are not as other men.\n    Separated are we from false traditions of the Christ--\n    That deep blasphemy of corrupted Nephites,\n    Who know not Thee as Spirit-God:\n    But as a man expect to see Thee\n    Come on earth, and all mankind redeemed!\n    For deliverance from such traditions vile\n    Most High and Holy God--I give Thee thanks!\n      Amen, amen, amen!\n\nAt the conclusion of every distinct thought in the above prayer, the\ncompany of worshippers at the top of the frustum would cry\naloud--\"Amen, amen!\" And at the conclusion of the prayer an unseen\nchoir accompanied by instruments, chanted selected and slightly\naltered passages of the above prayer such as--\n\n\"Holy, holy God! Thou art God. Thou are holy. Thou are spirit, and\never shall be--Holy is thy name! Amen! amen!\"\n\nSuch was their form of worship, such their set prayers, as witnessed\nthat day by Alma and his fellow missionaries.\n\nAfter witnessing this mixture of impiety and hypocrisy,\nself-glorification, and abasement of those not of them. Alma thought\nit not necessary to wait longer in commencing the work, and hence,\nthat night he laid hands upon the heads of his associates, blessed\nthem and set them apart for the accomplishment of the work in hand.\nThe next morning they separated for the better prosecution of their\nenterprise. They took no thought of themselves, what they should eat,\nor where they should be lodged. They preached in the synagogues, in\nprivate houses, and even in the streets.\n\nNo one in the beginning of this work was more zealous, or more\nsuccessful than Corianton. Indeed it was his success that began to\nwork a great mischief; for it filled him with pride and boasting in\nhis own strength. By the force of his brilliancy, and a kind of genius\nfor controversy, he discomfited the Zoramites, and exposed the\nshallowness of their principles to the great delight of the multitude\nwho, though they believed not the message he was delivering, were\nimmensely pleased with the youthful orator.\n\nThere were fundamental truths of the gospel, however, to which\nCorianton himself was not converted; the atonement of Christ, the\nresurrection, the justice of God in punishing the wicked, being among\nthem. He found, as many since his day have found, that seeing a single\nmanifestation of the power of God--a miracle--had not removed all the\ndifficulties in the way of a sound faith in the gospel; and in his own\nmind he began to find ways of accounting for the destruction of\nKorihor's speech--his own excitement, the mysterious magnetism of his\nfather which swayed men's minds, a power which he flattered himself he\nhad inherited, notwithstanding his unbelief.\n\nOne day about sunset, while in this frame of mind, as he was passing\ndown one of the main thoroughfares of Antionum, he saw a poor,\nwretched object begging of those who passed him on the street. He was\nmiserably clad and filthy, his form emaciated and trembling with\nweakness, but there was something in the profile of the face, a\nresemblance to a countenance which lived in Corianton's recollection,\nthat attracted his attention. As he approached nearer he observed a\nwildness about the man, occasioned by desperate efforts at speech,\nresulting only in harsh, disconnected and unintelligible mumbling. To\nhis astonishment, it was Korihor. The form was wasted, the features\nshrunken almost past recognition, and insanity glared from his wild\neyes. Corianton gazed in pity upon him, and Korihor returned that look\nwith one of puzzled wonder. Then as the mists and confusion of his\nmind cleared up for the moment, he recognized his former, and what he\naccounted his false friend, and with a wild shriek fled out into the\nstreet, looking back at Corianton as he ran with an air expressive of\nhorror. At that moment a troop of horsemen was passing down the\nstreet, and so sudden had been the poor half maniac's flight from the\npresence of Corianton, that he threw himself in front of the horsemen,\nand before they could check their speed or change their course, he was\nknocked down and trampled upon.\n\nA crowd quickly gathered around the bruised and bleeding form. His\ncase was notorious in Antionum, and it was generally believed that his\ndumbness was brought upon him through sorcery; hence, even while he\nwas shunned by the people, there were many who sympathized with him,\nso far, at least, as execrating those who had been the means, as they\nthought, of bringing the evil upon him. Corianton ran to the man and\nraised him to a sitting posture, but he never regained consciousness;\na few painful gasps, and the body sank back into the arms of the young\nman, limp and lifeless. One of the guards of the city came up to the\ncrowd, and, recognizing the body as that of the dumb, half-crazed\nbeggar, he took charge of it, and finally interred it.\n\nAs Corianton walked away with the mangled form of the once bold\nanti-Christ vividly pictured in his mind, he muttered half\naloud--\"This is one of the judgments of God--cruel, infinitely cruel!\nHe above all others could have been generous and have pardoned him\nbefore his justice,\" and he fairly hissed the word, \"had turned to\ncruelty!\"\n\nBy this time he had reached his lodgings, one of the finest palaces in\nall that city, and strange enough, it was the home of one of the chief\nZoramites who had been especially pleased, or at least feigned to be\nespecially pleased, with Corianton, and had invited him to make his\nhouse his home. At the entrance to the walk leading up to the house,\nhe was met by a woman, who asked if he was one of the Nephite prophets\nthat had come to preach the doctrines of the Nephites to the\nZoramites. Corianton answered that he was of that party. \"And is your\nname Corianton?\"\n\n\"Yes, that is my name.\"\n\n\"Then at last I have found you!\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER SEVEN.\n\nJOAN.\n\n\nWas the woman who accosted Corianton at the gate of his lodging,\nyoung, beautiful? He could not tell; the twilight had deepened too\nmuch into the shadow of night, to permit him to see clearly; but there\nwas a fascination in the full, sweet tones of her voice, and he was\nthrilled by the touch of her soft hand, as she laid it gently on his\narm, as if to detain him while asking the questions with which the\nlast chapter closed.\n\n\"You are going to Seantum's?\"\n\n\"Yes, that is where I lodge.\"\n\n\"I will go with you.\"\n\nHe hesitated, and was not a little astonished at her perfect\nself-possession, which, to his thinking, bordered on boldness. It must\nbe remembered that among the Nephites, one of the chief\ncharacteristics of their women, so far as one is able to judge from\ntheir annals, was modesty--an excellent thing in woman, when not\nfeigned or prudish. The freedom, therefore, with which this woman had\naccosted him, a perfect stranger, and now proposed to go with him,\nuninvited, to the place where he lodged, was a boldness to which\nCorianton was unaccustomed. She observed that he hesitated, and broke\nout into a light, silvery laugh.\n\n\"Ah, I forgot,\" she said, in an apologizing tone, yet with a touch of\nmockery in it, \"thou art one of the prophets, perhaps a solemn one,\nand unacquainted with our people, and my manners are too bold. But\nSeantum, with whom you lodge, is a near kinsman--my father's brother;\nnow, will you throw open the gate, and allow me to go in with you?\"\n\nHe complied with her request mechanically, and in silence, for he knew\nnot what to say. As they approached the house he again felt that soft\nhand laid gently on his arm, and the same sweet voice said, almost\npleadingly: \"Let us not go into the house yet, the evening is\nbeautiful; see, the moon is just peeping over the tree tops, and\nfloods the earth with her soft light--let us walk in the garden.\" She\nhad retained her hold upon his arm, and obeying her will rather than\nhis own, he turned down a path leading away from the house.\n\nThe house of Seantum was situated at the southern outskirts of the\ncity, in the midst of a spacious and splendid garden. There were\nextensive lawns, studded with tropical trees, several species of palms\nand plantain; the cocoa trees standing in groups, their great tufts of\ngigantic leaves rustling in the moonlight at the height of sixty and\nseventy feet; banana and papaw trees growing side by side in rows\nalong the walks, and back of them in irregular order stood\npomegranates, while here and there were clumps of lindens,\ninterspersed with sumach and cashew, and a great variety of evergreen\nshrubbery. Here side by side, and in fine contrast, were\nrhododendrons, with their rose-colored flowers, and the coffee shrub\nwith its clusters of delicate white blossoms. Other flowers and\nflowering trees there were in great profusion--the fragrant eglantine,\nthe elegant, airy though thorny acacia, and now and then an aloe\nplant, and, ah, rare sight! several of them were in full bloom; these,\nwith splendid magnolias, mingled their odors; and burdened the air\nwith ambrosial fragrance, which, with the chirrup and hum of insect\nlife, the gentle whispering wind, stealing softly through shrubbery\nand tree, and all kissed to beauty by the glorious moonlight, made up\na night such as lovers love, and love's young dream expands.\n\n\"You are not at all curious,\" said Corianton's new-found companion.\n\"You have not yet asked my name, nor why I am here, nor what it is I\nwant with you--you have not spoken half a dozen words since we\nmet--you smile, do you mean by that I have not given you a chance to\nsay more?\"\n\n\"Such were my thoughts, lady, but I would know your name, and am most\ncurious to know what you would with me.\"\n\nBy this they had reached a lakelet at the lower end of the garden,\nfrom whose moist beach grew several gigantic mango and sycamore trees.\nThey had passed in the shadow of one of the latter whose inclining\ntrunk extended far out over the water-lily bedecked lake. Half seating\nherself on the inclined tree, she raised her hand to clutch a grape\nvine that drooped from a branch above, and as she did so the ample\nfolds of her sleeve slipped back and left uncovered a beautiful white\narm.  And now Corianton noticed for the first time that the form was\nsupple and finely proportioned. Her head, too, had been covered with a\nkind of mantilla which had also partly shrouded her face; this fell\nback now, revealing a face of uncommon loveliness, and a profusion of\nbrown hair.\n\n\"You must know then, sir prophet,\" she said with a light air, \"that I\nam Joan, from Siron; my father is a Nephite by birth, but when young\nmet with my mother, taken captive during a war with your people. He\nfell in love with the captive, married her and she induced him to go\nwith her to her people. They settled in Siron where they lived happily\nuntil my mother died. My father still lives, and has never been\nentirely rid of the traditions of the Nephites, and hearing that a\nparty of Nephite prophets were preaching in Antionum, it was his wish\nthat I should come to our kinsman Seantum, find you, and ask that you\nwould also preach in Siron.\"\n\n\"But why did you come to me? I do not lead our party, I am youngest in\nit.\"\n\n\"Ah, sir prophet, you are more famous than you know. It was Corianton\nthat we first heard of in Siron; it is he whose eloquence most baffles\nthe Zoramites, and threatens the disruption of their church--believe\nme, sir, I was charged by my father to bid you come.\"\n\nOh, flattery! what man is proof against thy sweet, seducing charms!\nAnd how those charms are heightened, when flattery falls from beauty's\nlips! The vanity of Corianton was well pleased with the words of the\nwoman; pride swelled his bosom, and he felt exalted above his\nbrethren.\n\n\"For two days I have sought you\" (Corianton had been absent two days\nfrom his lodgings), \"now I have found you and delivered my message,\nwill you go to Siron?\"\n\n\"I cannot say, lady, I must first confer with my brethren, and if by\nthem it is thought best, I--\"\n\n\"What! are you not free to come and go where and when you like. Are\nyou in bondage?\"\n\n\"No, lady, not in bondage, yet it is mete I counsel with my\nassociates, and if--\"\n\n\"And 'if' they give you leave, why then you'll go! Ah me, that is such\nliberty as a maiden has under her father's control. I've often wished\nmyself a man, that I might have a more extended liberty, but if men\ncannot act independent of control, it pleases me that I am a woman.  I\nfear, Sir prophet, that I shall never be a convert to your faith.\"\n\n\"Then I would esteem my success in Siron of little value though I\ngained the whole people, if I failed to number one so fair among those\nwho followed me.\"\n\n\"Come, sir, let us now go in; you begin to find your tongue, and even\na prophet, I see, can flatter.\"\n\nSo saying she drew her mantle over her head, and they walked in\nsilence towards the house.\n\nCorianton, as he walked away, did not observe shadowy forms glide from\nunder adjacent trees, hold a brief consultation and depart from the\nspot which he himself had just quitted.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER EIGHT.\n\nTHE REVEL.\n\n\nAs Corianton and Joan approached the house, lively strains of music\nfloated out upon the evening air, and lights gleamed from all the\nwindows; now sounds of revelry could be heard--the merry laugh, and\nflying feet. In the hall they were met by Seantum. \"Returned home at\nlast, Corianton, eh?\" he said with blustering familiarity, \"what, and\nwith Joan, too!\"\n\n\"Yes, kinsman; I found our prophet as he was entering the grounds, and\nhave detained him long enough to deliver my message.\"\n\n\"Quite right, too, quite right; if you have anything to do, do it, and\ndo it at once, say I. But come, sir, some young people have gathered\nhere, to make merry the night, recreation will do you good, sir; youth\nwas made for enjoyment, sir, and youth cheats itself if it make not\ngood use of its time.\"\n\n\"Oh, kinsman, you forget!\" said Joan. \"This man, though he hath not a\ngray beard, or a stooped back--and though he hath no staff, yet is he\na holy man! and will account the youthful revels you commend, as\nsinful. Alas,\" said she, with charming mock solemnity,--\"alas, that\nyouth should so soon wed itself to the vocation of the aged! Besides,\nI warrant me, he will tell thee he must first counsel with his\nfellow-prophets, before he can stir in what you would have him enjoy.\nSo pray forbear, tempt not the holy prophet!\" And with this\ntantalizing witchery she left him.\n\nSeantum laughed heartily at the evident discomfiture of Corianton. \"By\nmy life, sir, she hath hit you as hard with her sarcasm of your\nsolemnities, as your ridicule hits the weakness of our Zoramite faith;\nbut come, sir, come, you must rally, you must let her see that you\nhave spirit--which I know you have--go in, sir,\" lowering his voice,\n\"it shall not harm your reputation; go in, you shall find beauty,\ngaiety, pleasure and secrecy beneath my roof--go in, sir; youth was\nmade for pleasure!\"\n\nHis pride, wounded by the light sarcasm of Joan, and, influenced, it\nmust also be confessed, by the cajolery of Seantum, Corianton permitted\nhimself to be led down the hall into a spacious saloon, brilliantly\nlighted by cressets, and at one end of which, on a platform, was\narranged a banqueting table, ladened profusely with all the delicacies\nof the tropics--a rich variety of meats, fruits and wines, of which\nall were free to partake at pleasure. The ceiling and wall of the\nsaloon were frescoed with voluptuous figures or grim monsters, half\nanimal, half human--with here and there indications that some\nknowledge of the old mythologies was still retained; the windows were\ndraped with curtains of rich stuffs, variously colored; their ample\nfolds gently stirred by the soft breeze which stole into the room,\nfilling it with the rich perfumes of the garden. The floor was\nvariegated Mosaic work, smooth as polished ivory, covered at the sides\nand ends by soft carpeting.\n\nAs Corianton and Seantum entered the saloon, a pretty dark-eyed girl\nwas executing a sort of fandango to the evident delight of a number of\nyoung men sitting or lounging promiscuously about the room. At the\nconclusion of the dance the girl was greeted warmly with a round of\napplause. Then there was quiet, broken occasionally by light ripples\nof laughter, the hum of confused conversation, or occasional commands\nto the slaves to serve fruits or wines. There were whispered nothings,\ntender caresses, and loose jests. Groups of women of all degrees of\nbeauty were reclining on divans or cushions, half concealed by the\nrich foliage of gigantic plants in great vases; and sometimes in\nrecesses nearly shut out from the main body of the saloon by closely\ndrawn curtains.\n\nThe entrance of Seantum and Corianton had attracted no attention; but\nas the tall, graceful Nephite passed the various groups, the girls\nbroke out in exclamations of admiration--\"how handsome!\" \"how young!\"\n\"what fine eyes!--and what a form!\" \"who is he?\" \"a stranger--a\nNephite.\" All this agitated Corianton, and rendered him uneasy.\nArriving at the head of the saloon, he was introduced to a group of\nyoung men about his own age.\n\n\"This is my Nephite prophet of whom you have heard me speak,\" said\nSeantum, \"receive him as my honored guest and friend.\" At this\nCorianton was warmly saluted, and called upon to pledge the\nacquaintance in wine. There was no retreating now, nor could there be\nany refusal.\n\n\"Though our new friend is a Nephite,\" said Seantum, after the pledge\nof friendship had been drunk, \"and reared under traditions which we\nhave forsaken, religious differences, arising solely from training in\nchildhood, should make no difference in social life.\" \"No, no,\" broke\nin several voices. \"Let us bury thoughts of all such differences in\nanother bowl of wine,\" said a youth of Lamanitish appearance, and\nalready under the influence of the beverage he now called for.\n\nAt that moment in the lower part of the saloon some one was greeted by\nhearty applause; looking in that direction Joan was seen advancing\nclad in loose, fleecy garments; she held in her hand a long strip of\ncrimson gauze, and as she reached the middle of the saloon she shook\nout its folds and began a dance of exquisite grace.\n\nWhat mischief hath not been worked by the witching grace exhibited by\nbeautiful women in the dance! The elegance and harmony of motion, the\npoetry of movement, gives a lustre to beauty and influences the senses\nthrough the imagination. 'Twas the dancing of the fair daughter of\nJared which drove Akish of old to pledge himself to murder King Omer\namong the Jaredites; and men hereafter shall promise with an oath\nanything to the half of a kingdom, to some fair one for dancing before\nthem.\n\nNever had Corianton seen such a combination of motion and beauty as\nthat now before him. The slight willowy form of Joan swaying with easy\ngrace, the poise of the head, the movement of the arms, all in perfect\nharmony with the rest of her actions. Frequently the company applauded\nher, but now evidently the dance is drawing to a close, concluding\nwith rapid whirling round the entire saloon. As she passed near\nCorianton she suddenly threw her gauze scarf over his head, as a\nchallenge for him to join her in the finale; and he, forgetful of all\nbut her loveliness and bewitching grace, caught her hand, holding the\ntips of her fingers, and accompanied her in that whirling circuit. He\nhad evidently acquitted himself well, for he shared in the applause\nwhich greeted her, and the compliments that followed.\n\n\"Ah, my friend, I scarcely thought a prophet could do so well,\" she\nwhispered, in her taunting manner; but seeing that he turned pale at\nher remark, and that a pained expression also passed over his\nfeatures, she quickly added \"you did well, I am proud of you, and you\nmust be my companion for the night;\" and her hand once more stole\nwithin his arm.\n\nThe revels were continued through the night, wine flowed as freely as\nwater, and long before the gray dawn began to break in the east, many\nhad sunk down in a helpless, drunken sleep. Corianton also was\nintoxicated, but not so much with wine as with the beauty and chic of\nJoan. When she left him, as she did soon after midnight, he began to\nrealize the situation into which his half thoughtless indiscretion had\nplunged him, and he knew not how he would well answer his brethren for\nhis conduct. Though he had drunk but little wine, not being accustomed\nto it his brain was on fire, and a mad spirit of recklessness seized\nhim. Passing a group of young fellows in an advanced stage of\nintoxication in one of the recesses of the saloon, he was hailed by\nthem, and congratulated upon his conquest of the fairest lady in all\ntheir land. He joined them in their praises of her beauty and in their\nrevel. What he did, what was done he knew not, his brain was\nconfused--he had an indistinct recollection of boisterous, frenzied\njollity, then high words, a quarrel, but not the reason of it, and\nthen all was darkness, oblivion.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER NINE.\n\nISABEL.\n\n\nAs the grey light of morning struggled through the heavy curtained\nwindows of the saloon, Corianton awoke. For some time he lay half\nbewildered, unable to call to mind what had happened, or where he was,\nconscious only of the heavy, dull pain in his head. At last, however,\nthe revels of the past night were conjured up by his recollection; but\nawakening consciousness brought with it a sickening sense of shame. He\nwas lying on a cushioned divan in one of the many recesses opening\ninto the saloon, and near him in a heavy stupor, on the floor, was a\nyoung Lamanite girl. He arose and staggered from the recess to seek\nthe open air. In the saloon the lights in the cressets were burning\nlow, but giving out sufficient of their pale, yellow light to reveal\nthe general disorder that prevailed. Fruits, drinking bowls, withered\nflowers and ottomans lay scattered about promiscuously. The banquet\ntable itself with its burden of fruits and wines and silver furniture,\nhad been overturned, doubtless in the melee which followed the\nquarrel, of which Corianton had but an indistinct recollection. Near\nthe door leading into the hall were two slaves sleeping in each\nother's arms--worn out by the services of the past night.\n\nCorianton wended his way through all this debris and at last reached\nthe garden; but neither the cool morning air, the song of birds nor\nthe perfume of flowers brought relief to his aching heart or troubled\nmind.\n\nHe followed the same path down which Joan had led him the night before\nto the margin of the lake, and stood under the same trees where her\nloveliness first attracted his attention. Again he saw her half\nreclining against the tree, once more heard her sweet voice deriding\nhis faith and mocking at the bondage it brought with it--\"What, are\nyou not free? Are you in bondage?\" she had said; and the humiliation he\nhad experienced by the taunting question still hurt his pride. He\nsought a bower near at hand, and stretching himself upon a seat\nbeneath it, was soon lost in a fitful slumber.\n\nHe was suddenly awakened by some one in a subdued but hurried tone\ncalling his name. Shaking off his sleep at last, he was surprised and\nnot a little troubled at seeing his brother Shiblon standing over him.\n\n\"Wake, brother, wake and leave this horrible place!\" The speaker was\npale and evidently much excited. \"Come brother, in the name of God\nshake off this slumber, and come with me before it is too late!\"\n\n\"Why Shiblon, what's amiss?\"\n\n\"Alas, I fear thou art amiss; and your bad deeds are like to bring\ntrouble to us all. Your association with harlots in this place is the\ntalk of the whole city, and everywhere we are threatened with\nviolence--we can no longer preach to the people since they judge us\nall by your conduct, and condemn us all as hypocrites and bid us be\ngone. The other brethren have started to leave the city, but I came in\nsearch of you; now brother, come--in God's name come! Come, let us\nleave together; by a penitent life you may yet cancel this great\nsin--you are young--not yet hardened in vice; I pray you, come!\"\n\nCorianton stood before his brother bewildered; to him his speech was\nincoherent--wild. \"Shiblon,\" said he, \"I have not associated with\nharlots, and though the revels of last night were indiscreet, I am\nfree from such sin as you impute to me.\"\n\n\"God grant that you are, and far be it from me to believe that you add\nthe sin of falsehood to a grosser sin; but brother, the house of\nSeantum where you have lodged, is the worst den of infamy in all\nAntionum, and only last night you were seen in loving converse on the\nshores of this very lake with the harlot Isabel.\"\n\n\"Isabel!\" echoed Corianton, \"I know and have seen no such woman. I\nwalked through the grounds here last evening with Joan, niece of\nSeantum, and though of sprightly disposition yet modest, and I believe\nas virtuous as she is fair.\"\n\n\"Oh, Corianton, in this you are cozened. That woman is not Joan, nor\nis she Seantum's niece; but a wicked harlot from Siron whose body to\nthe chief men of this city has been as common as their wills have\ndesired it; you have fallen into the trap laid by the Zoramites to\ndestroy the mission in this city. Seantum is one of the leaders of the\nZoramites, he it was who sent for this cunning harlot to work your\nruin, and in that hoped for the destruction of our mission; and he has\nsucceeded, alas! too well. They have deceived you; and as the devil\nappears as an angel of light, so this woman assumes a virtue that she\npossesses not, and by that seeming grace wins you to your destruction.\nBut break this chain, and let us flee.\"\n\nBefore Corianton could reply there was heard a hurrying of feet and\nthey were surrounded by a body of men.\n\n\"Take that man,\" said Seantum, pointing to Shiblon, \"and bind him.\"\nThe young man saw at a glance that neither flight nor resistance would\navail anything, and he submitted without an effort at either.\n\n\"Corianton,\" said Seantum, \"I overheard the ungracious words of your\nbrother against my house and my kinswoman, and I insist upon a\nvindication of both before the magistrates of this city; hence I have\ntaken him, but I mean him no further mischief; and does not justice to\nmy great reputation and to my household dictate the taking of this\ncourse?\"\n\n\"Though the sentence fall upon my brother, I must say your cause is\njust; let him answer it before your judges, and let this experience\nteach him discretion.\"\n\n\"Corianton,\" said Shiblon, \"I complain not at my captivity, incurred\nby an anxiety for your good; nor shall I shrink before the judges\nhowever unjust or merciless they may be. But take my advice, if you\nare still free from the sin that reputation sticks on you, lose no\ntime in leaving this man's accursed house; trust not his friendship,\nfor it is poison; believe not in the pretensions of the harlot Isabel,\nJoan she is not, she is one whose feet go down to death, whose steps\ntake hold on hell!\"\n\n\"Away with him, and stop his slanderous mouth!\" cried Corianton, white\nwith rage. One of those who held him, struck Shiblon a blow in the\nface.\n\n\"Noble Seantum,\" continued Corianton, \"see that yourself and your fair\nniece be cleared of those slanders, and tell her that there is one\nNephite at least who can rise above the prejudices of a narrow faith\nand not impute lewdness to mirthfulness, nor wantonness to innocent\ngaiety.\"\n\n\"Be assured, sir,\" replied the one addressed, \"I shall not fail to\nreport you truly to the fair Joan; and you shall not suffer in her\nestimation by reason of your brother's slander.\"\n\n\"Brother, you are now blinded by your infatuation and anger,\" said\nShiblon, whose spirit neither blows nor prospective harsher treatment\ncould daunt, \"but the time will come, when the scales will fall, and\nyou will see the black wickedness of those who have entrapped your\nunwary feet; farewell, and whatever fate overtakes me, remember I\nsuffer it out of love of you.\"\n\nHe was then dragged away in the direction of the house, followed by\nSeantum.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TEN.\n\nTAUNTS OF THE CROWD.\n\n\nLeft alone to battle with the contending emotions that struggled in\nhis breast, and his anger having subsided, Corianton began to be\nplagued with rising apprehensions. What if Shiblon were right? What if\nhe had been duped by the crafty Zoramites? Many things that passed\nunder his observation in the banqueting saloon the night before now\narose to give support to his increasing fears. \"Yet, I'll not believe\nit, until proven true, then if she be indeed a harlot, and hath\nbetrayed me into this compromising position, may God pity her, for she\nhath need of pity!\"\n\nWith these words he left the garden and started in the direction of\nthe market place of the city.\n\nHe observed as he walked along that many people looked curiously at\nhim, and turned to follow him with their gaze. As he turned into one\nof the principal streets he heard a tumult, and saw an excited crowd\nof people rapidly gathering about two men who were evidently making\nefforts to extricate themselves from the throng. They were coming in\nhis direction, and stepping aside into a narrow alleyway, he thought\nto let the throng pass without being observed. As the crowd drew near,\nto his astonishment, he saw the two men were his father and Ammon. The\nmob at their heels, however, was evidently, as yet, good natured, and\nwere merely mocking them. Some who occasionally ran in front of them\nwould shout at the spectators gathered at the sides of the streets--\n\n\"Behold the Nephite prophet, who comes to teach us 'holiness' while\nhis son makes merry the night with harlots!\"\n\n\"Teach your own son virtue before you leave your cities to convert the\nZoramites,\" cried another.\n\n\"The son's no worse than the father I'll warrant,\" shouted a third.\n\n\"Nor so bad either,\" broke in several.\n\n\"Say old greybeard,\" said a voice from the crowd, \"which of you holy\nmen is contracted to Isabel to-night?\" and the insinuation was\nfollowed by shouts of laughter.\n\nSo the crowd passed on, yelling, cursing, mocking, deriding, pushing;\nthe spirit of violence constantly increasing. The two prophets\nanswered nothing, but bore all meekly; the only sign of emotion being\nthe tears that silently flowed down the furrowed cheeks of Alma at the\ntaunts thrown at him respecting his son; indeed he seemed weighed down\nwith grief, and would have been trampled under foot but for the\nsupport of his strong companion, who bore him up, and kept back those\nwho would have used violence had they dared.\n\nThe crowd passed and their shouts rose faintly above the busy hum of\nlife in the city, and then at last died away altogether.\n\nCorianton had remained in the alley way from which he had seen and\nheard what is described above; there he stood trembling from head to\nfoot in an agony of shame and terror. At last he walked away, and\nrather from instinct than design he retraced his footsteps in the\ndirection of Seantum's.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER ELEVEN.\n\nFACE TO FACE.\n\n\nAs he walked along Corianton increased his speed; passion rocked his\nframe, and a deep design for revenge filled his heart. He passed down\nthe path with rapid strides and entered the hall of Seantum's\ndwelling. Here he met a maid who had attended on Joan--Isabel,--and in\nwhose company he had left her the night before.\n\n\"Where is your mistress, maid?\" he demanded in no gentle tones.\n\n\"She is yet in her room, sir prophet,\" said the maid, trembling with\nfear.\n\n\"And where is that room?\"\n\n\"The first door to the left opens to a passage leading to it; shall I\nsay to my mistress you would see her?\"\n\n\"No,\" he replied in tones husky with anger. \"I will see her\nunannounced. Small need to stand on ceremony with such as she.\"\n\nAnd with a few rapid strides he reached the door indicated, and\nentered the passage leading to the splendid rooms set apart for the\nuse of Isabel.\n\nHe threw aside the heavy curtain drawn across the passage and stood in\nthe presence of the woman bent on his destruction. She was seated on a\nlow ottoman with a silver mirror in her hand and a slave was just\nputting the finishing touches to her toilet. She hastily arose as\nCorianton entered, and intense anger flashed in her dark eyes.\n\n\"Methinks this entrance is somewhat rude, bold Nephite. At least I\nshould have thought a 'prophet' would have had respect for a maiden's\nprivacy.\"\n\n\"Aye, no doubt he would. All men would respect a maiden's privacy; the\nmost licentious wretch would tremble did he invade its hallowed\nprecinct. But who respects the privacy of a commoner? Who pauses on\nthe threshold of a strumpet?\"\n\n\"Commoner? Strumpet?\" echoed Isabel, choking with rage, \"what mean\nyou?\"\n\n\"Mean? mean?\" he cried, \"I mean that the mask behind which you would\nhide as Joan is snatched away. I mean that you are a base harlot; that\nthat fair face is besmirked with loathsome filth, that the sweet tones\nof your voice, the arch smile, that angel form, are but the\nblandishments of hell to decoy men to ruin. I mean that you with your\nparamours conspired to work my undoing; and I, fool-like, must walk in\nmidday light into your traps.\"\n\nHe had approached her at this climax of his passion and seized her by\nthe throat! With a shriek she sank upon her knees before him in\nterror. Finding her helpless in his grasp, he recovered his\nself-control sufficiently to loose his hold.\n\n\"No, no, I will not kill you--I meant not to harm you--pardon me. O,\nmy God! why, oh why, is this woman so foul and yet so fair that heated\nrage is cooled, madness subdued to gentleness, and man's purposed\nrevenge weeps itself to softness in woman's tears?\" Covering his face\nwith his hands he sank into a settee overpowered by the emotions which\nshook his frame.\n\nBy this time Isabel had recovered from the terror into which\nCorianton's sudden rage had thrown her; and deeply read in man's moods\nand passions, she saw what an influence she held over the one now\nbefore her. Stealing softly to his side, and placing her hand on his\nshoulder she gently said:\n\n\"Corianton, have you done well in thus proceeding? What have I done to\nmerit such harsh treatment--such bitter words--how deserved it?\"\n\n\"What have you done?\" he cried--\"you came to me with a lie on your\nlips, deceit in your heart, and under the guise of innocence, purity\nand goodness sought to encompass my ruin!--Well madame, your plans\nhave carried--I am undone--ruined! I can never return to my people, to\nthem I am infamous--an outcast!\" And again his form was convulsed in\nan agony of grief.\n\n\"But may there not be some extenuating circumstances to free me from\nthe harsh judgment you passed upon me? Trained from my childhood to\nhate your people, and taught that all means were proper that would\nlead to their destruction, the helpless instrument of unscrupulous men\nbent on defeating your mission to the Zoramites--is it any wonder that\nI undertook the part assigned me in the scheme? But Corianton,\" and\nshe sank on her knees at his feet, \"the moment I saw you--so noble in\nbearing--so young--my heart relented; I shrank from the performance\nof the wicked plot--but what was I to do? Had I told you the truth--\nthat I was Isabel--the infamy of that name would have steeled your\nheart against me--you would have driven me from you as an unclean\nthing; and your presence--the nobility which looked from your eyes,\ninspired me with love such as I have never known before--I experienced\na longing for something better than I had known--a desire for purity,\ngoodness, virtue, that I might be worthy of you; and even wicked and\nunclean as I am, hope whispered high promises to my woman's\nheart--'love will forgive and forget the past; it lives only in the\npresent and for the future,' it said; but alas! it was a vain hope--I\nawake and find it dust! Oh, why is there so much difference between\nman and woman! No matter what the past of a man may have been, he hath\nbut to repent, and all is forgiven--and, forgotten. But when a woman\nfalls, 'tis never more to rise or be forgiven.\"\n\nThese indirect appeals to him touched the gentler nature of Corianton,\nand bending over her as he took her hand, he said: \"Nay, do not weep;\nif I have fallen I alone am to blame, I should have had better\ndiscretion. I am no coward to lay the blame upon another. I alone am\nto blame and I will alone bear the burden of God's displeasure.\"\n\n\"Corianton,\" cried Isabel as a sudden idea seized her, \"if you are an\noutcast; come to me, go with me to Siron; we are both young, we may\nlive for each other, and life may yield us much of happiness--I will\nbe true to you, work for you, nay, my proud spirit is conquered by my\nlove, I will even be your slave; let us unite our shattered fortunes:\nall may yet be well.\"\n\nOh youth, how elastic is thy texture! Oppressed with the heaviest\ngrief, bowed down into the dust by ruin, thy buoyancy will up-raise\nthe soul--hope dwells perennially in thy breast! The proposition of\nIsabel revived the sinking spirits of Corianton, and under the\ninfluence of her hopeful words his life yet seemed to promise\nsomething worth living for.\n\n\"If you have become an outcast from your people,\" she continued, \"and\nthat through me, I will become an outcast from those who knew me here,\nI will forsake my friends for you; and then, hand in hand, we will\nseek our new and better fortune. But men are changeful in their love,\"\nshe added, \"and when time or care steals beauty from our checks, your\neyes will wander--swear to be true to me, Corianton.\"\n\nHer arms stole gently about his neck and she looked pleadingly into\nhis eyes. All his love for this woman now seemed to go out to her, and\nwarmly returning her tender embrace he said:\n\n\"Do not fear the vanishing of my love, Isabel, for I do love thee with\nmy whole heart, better than my country, my people or my God--the last\nI am estranged from, and henceforth thou shalt be my idol,\" and he\nlovingly kissed her lips.\n\nThat night they left for Siron, and reached their destination.\n\nThe following day when it became known that Corianton had gone to\nSiron with Isabel, the excitement in Antionum greatly increased.\nShiblon the day before had been released from his bondage and was\nstoned by the people in the streets, led on by some of the servants of\nSeantum. He escaped them, however, and joined his father and brethren,\nand told them of the blind infatuation of Corianton.\n\nIt was decided that it would be useless to attempt to preach longer to\nthe people of Antionum, and that evening the brethren of the mission\ndeparted for the land of Jershon, their spirits bowed down with grief\nat the hardness of the hearts of the Zoramites; but sorrowing most of\nall for the wickedness of Corianton and the disgrace he had brought\nupon the work.\n\nZoram and his associates, chief among whom was Seantum, were not\nsatisfied with the departure of the Nephite prophets; but formed the\nresolution of driving from their midst those who had believed in their\nwords. Hence they sent among the people secretly to find out those who\nbelieved in the words which Alma and his companions had taught; and\nlearned the sentiments of those who disbelieved their teachings. The\nreports justified them in concluding they could drive the former out\nof their land with impunity. The effort was successful; and the\noutcasts fled to Jershon where the people of Ammon received them with\ngladness, and provided for their immediate wants.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWELVE.\n\nTHE LOVE OF A WANTON.\n\n\nThe home of Isabel, in Siron, was nearly as magnificent as that of\nSeantum in Antionum. All that wealth could do to satisfy the caprice\nand extravagant tastes of woman, had evidently been lavished upon\nIsabel by her lovers. For two days after the arrival from Antionum she\nhad been all that could be desired by Corianton--loving, gentle, and\nat times sprightly. But the morning of the third day when he suggested\nleaving her establishment, whose luxury constantly reminded him of her\nformer life and shame, she manifested some petulance, and replied--\n\n\"You knew who and what I was before you came here, I take it unkindly\nthat you upbraid me for the past.\"\n\nThe fact was that during the night Zoram had arrived from Antionum and\nwas filled with jealous rage. He feared the young and handsome Nephite\nhad won the fancy of his mistress, and demanded that he should be\ngotten rid of.\n\nAbout midday Corianton entered the apartments of Isabel and urged\nagain that she would consent to leave Siron and go to a land where she\nwas not known and there begin their new life.\n\n\"There is the door,\" she said coolly, \"if you like not to stay, you\nmay go.\"\n\n\"Nay, Isabel, but you promised that you would forsake all this for\nme!\"\n\n\"And are you so simple as to believe a woman's words? I was blinded by\nmy infatuation and half repentance, but the dream is past, I am myself\nagain, and see we are not suited to each other; you had better return\nto your people, sir prophet, fall down at their feet, and seek their\nforgiveness.\"\n\nHe stood amazed--twice deceived and by this woman--twice damned in\nshame for a thing scarce worth his pity!\n\n\"And is this the return for my great love for you?\" he asked.\n\n\"That for your love,\" and she threw a goblet of wine in his face. \"I\ndespise both you and your love.\"\n\nSeveral of the servants and Zoram entering the apartment at that\nmoment, she threw herself into the arms of the latter, saying as she\nkissed him, \"this is my love--my prince--my king of men! Now go!\" she\ncried, pointing to the door.\n\n\"Not I,\" replied Corianton; \"I will not budge until I have laid him\ndead at my feet who set on foot the plan that brought my shame!\" And\nhe sprang at Zoram with the fury of an enraged tiger. Before he could\nreach him, however, he was overpowered by the servants and bound\nsecurely. Zoram had drawn his dagger, and would have killed the\nNephite, but Isabel clung to him.\n\n\"No, no, you shall not slay him, he is my prey, and 'tis for me to say\nwhat shall be his fate. Nephite,\" she said, \"our friend Korihor went\ninto your chief city where, through sorcery, he was smitten dumb and\nfled from your land. He returned to us half crazed, and miserably\nperished. That, your people said, was a judgment of God,--a\nmanifestation of his almighty power. Now live, return to your people\nto be the scorn and shame of the times, and let them know that your\nfall is a manifestation of Isabel's power--let it be Corianton for\nKorihor--Isabel against your God!\"\n\n* * *\n\n\"See that a number of servants go with him as guards and take him to\nthe borders of the land Jershon,\" said Zoram. \"Come, move, slaves,\naway with him, and be not over-tender of him in your journey!\"\n\nTwo men were soon mounted, and Corianton, his hands bound behind him,\nwas compelled to run between them, each of his guards holding him by a\nthong fastened about his body. All that day and night, and part of the\nnext day they continued their journey, with occasional rests for\nthemselves and their horses. Reaching the borders of the land of\nJershon before noon of the second day, they cruelly beat their\nprisoner and left him, directing their course for Siron.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER THIRTEEN.\n\nA BROTHER'S LOVE.\n\n\nLeft more dead than alive by his hard journey and merciless beating,\nCorianton lay in a stupor for some time. Regaining consciousness he\nwandered, he knew not whither, but at last came to one of the chief\ntowns of the people of Ammon; where a large number of the outcast\nZoramites had been given a resting place. In passing through the\nstreets he was recognized by some of them, and the news of his return\nsoon spread throughout the city.\n\nThe people came running together to see him. Some looked on him with\npity, others looked upon him as the author of all their distress and\nbegan clamoring for vengeance. The latter class was by far the more\nnumerous, and the excitement was growing uncontrolable. \"Stone him,\nstone him!\" was the cry. Corianton, hard pressed, threw back his\ntattered robe, and addressing the crowd said--\n\n\"Yes, good people, I am the cause of the affliction that has befallen\nyou--let my life pay the penalty of my follies--I refuse not to\ndie--to die would be relief.\"\n\nThose who heard these words, and saw the majesty of the speaker,\nfallen though he was, were awed into silence; but those on the\noutskirts of the ever-increasing crowd still clamored for his life,\nand even began to cast stones at him. These volleys soon caused those\nnear him to draw back, and he stood alone. Shrouding his face in his\nmantle he sank to the ground prepared to meet the worst.\n\nAt that moment a clear, strong voice rose above the tumult of the mob:\n\"In the name of God, hold! Stay your hands, men! Let him be accursed\nthat casts another stone!\"\n\nShiblon, all breathless, pushed his way through that angry crowd to\nwhere his brother lay, half stunned and bleeding. He threw aside the\nmantle and bent over the poor, bruised form. \"Alas! my brother, cast\ndown and well nigh destroyed!\" and the tears flowed down his cheeks\nand dropped upon the half unconscious face of Corianton. Then the\nmurmurs of the crowd, awed but for the moment by Shiblon's appearance,\nrose into cries for vengeance. Quickly rising to his feet, Shiblon\nwaved his hand for silence and thus addressed them:\n\n\"You people from Antionum, listen to me. My father and the sons of\nMosiah, together with this my brother and myself, came into your midst\nto teach you the truth. Out of love for you my father, though bowed\nwith age and unremitting toil in the behalf of others, left the\npleasures and comforts of his home, risked his life, and endured the\nscoffs of the proud Zoramites, that you might live, and live in the\ntruth, and be free, and for this you would reward him by slaying his\ndearest son, who fell by the practice of a cunning harlot. I grant you\nthe sin was great; such as he are great, even in their sins; and they\nare likewise great in their sufferings.\n\n\"If his crime is worthy of death, has he not already suffered more\nthan death? The burden of his great sin he must carry through\nlife--and could his worst enemy be gratified by casting one more stone\nat this poor, bleeding body, or be pleased by adding one more pang to\nhis tortured mind? Oh, men! has pity, mercy, gratitude left your\nbreasts; and does your mad frenzy make you brutish beasts? My\nbrother's sin is more against himself and God than you, and it is for\nyou to leave him to the justice and mercy of his God who hath said,\n'Vengeance is mine, I will repay.\"\n\nThe crowd slunk away, except those who remained to assist Shiblon in\nremoving his brother to the home of Ammon, who lived in the city. Here\nhis wounds were dressed; and he was attended upon by Shiblon with all\nthe devotion of a loving brother.\n\nHis father forgave him, and took no small pains in teaching him,\ninstilling into his soul faith in the great fundamental truths of the\nGospel. And Corianton's proud, haughty spirit now humbled to the dust,\nlistened with prayerful attention to the instruction of his father,\nand found the faith of the Gospel the stay and hope of his soul, and\nno longer questioned, but lovingly trusted in the justice and mercy of\nGod.\n\nMay it not be that even this great sin was necessary to humble his\npride, and prepare him to receive and sense the gospel, that by and\nthrough it he might be prepared to receive the highest degree of glory\nto which his nature could attain, and which he never could have\nattained with his pride unbroken?\n\n\"I give unto men weakness,\" saith the Lord, \"that they may be humble;\nand my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before\nme.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"Corianton: A Nephite Story","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":17217}