UTAH. 



UXBRIDQE. 



068 



wwt of UM Sierra Nevada, or what now formi the state of California, 

 VM tlready in the poasneion of the cilunus of the Doited States, the 

 Orwl 1 '-. hithttto iWiMl""^ to the native Indians, lay open to 

 Ml* body of settlers strong enough to maintain themselves within it 

 Bj Mioh body it was occupied in 1847. It dot* not fall within our 

 to relate hew UM early history of that remarkable Met the 

 of the territory hu forested Utah with 



It will be enough to remind the reader, that 



UM Mormons first settled as a community at Independence, and after- 

 in flay county, Missouri; and that on being expelled in 

 each of these places 'hey left the state, and 

 _ilves at Nauroo in Illinois. Here they speedily 

 a bug* and flourishing body ; and, besides Tarious public 

 ediAos*, erected a spacioua temple at a cost of nearly a million dollars. 

 Josrpti Smith, their prophet, governed them with absolute and 

 almost noqumtiourd authority until his death in 1844, which was 

 brought about in a very shocking manner. A newspaper established 

 . ivoo by some opponents of the sect, having published certain 

 scandalous statements respecting him, the town council directed its 

 publication to be stopped and the office to be razed. The editors 

 appealed to the mayor of Carthage, who issued a warrant for the arrest 

 of Smith and his brother. Smith at first refused to obey, and placed 

 UM city in a state of defence ; but he was induced to surrender in 

 order to prevent a collision between his followers and the state 

 authorities, on receiving a pledge of protection from the populace. A 

 mob was however permitted to break into the state jail and murder 

 both Smith and hit brother. The Mormons elected a new prophet, 

 Ilrigham Yonng, as the successor of Smith, and affairs again became 

 prosperous. But organised mobs several times attacked the city, and 

 at length regularly invested it; and the leaders were forced to under- 

 take that the whole body should entirely quit the state. The prophet 

 and elders now formed the bold resolution to lead their followers 

 across the vast western wilderness, to the far distant and nearly 

 unknown country lying beyond the Rocky Mountains there to seek 

 some secluded retreat beyond the reach of their persecutors. They 

 had been promised to be allowed till the spring to make their prepa- 

 rations for the departure of the first or pioneer party ; but their 

 enemies became clamorous, and they were obliged to set out in 

 February 1840, while it was yet winter. The sufferings of this 

 pioneer party were of the most terrible and trying kind ; but they 

 struggled on resolutely, planting crops and otherwise preparing the 

 way for those who were to follow them. It was not till July of the 

 following year that the first section of the pioneers reached the 

 promised land. The remainder were soon to follow ; for although 

 the authorities had engaged that the rest of the community should be 

 allowed to stay in Nauvoo till apprised of the safe arrival of the first 

 migration, their old opponents came down and drove them all out of 

 the city in September 1846. 



On taking possession of the site of their new city by the Great Salt 

 Lake, the elders at once set about organising a regular government, at 

 the bead of which they placed their prophet Bri^ham Young ; and as 

 soon as what they deemed a sufficient number of their followers had 

 arrived, and their territory had become by cession from Mexico a part 

 of the United States, they elected the usual state officers, and applied 

 to the federal government to ba admitted into the Union as a 

 sovereign state under the name of the State of Deseret But 

 Congress refused their application, and remanded the state back to a 

 territorial condition, entitling it Utah. Brigham Young was however 

 appointed or continued as governor; and the community, though 

 nominally under the laws of the Union, remained virtually inde- 

 pendent, and governed by the maxims of the Mormon leaders. 

 Within the but year or two however Young has been superseded by 

 the president, who has appointed a ' Gentile ' governor, and the federal 

 government has assumed a more direct control 



The religious opinions of the Mormons do not properly belong to 

 Geography. Here however, as Utah is their appointed Zion, and 

 as they are almost its only inhabitants, we may just state that the 

 Mormons profess to be a separate people, living under a patriarchal 

 dispensation, with prophets, elders, and apostles, who have the rule in 

 temporal as well a< religious matters ; their doctrines being embodied 

 in the ' Book of Mormon ' and the ' Book of Doctrine and Covenants,' 

 revealed to their first prophet, Joseph Smith ; that they look for a 

 literal gathering of Israel in this western land; and that here Christ 

 will reign psnonalhr for a millcniuin, when the earth will be restored 

 to its paradisaical glory. The practice of polygamy, which has drawn 

 upon them to much obloquy, has not been, we believe, officially 

 admitted ; but there U little doubt that it has been allowed, at least 

 to their leaders, and some of their mora ardent advocates defend it by 

 reference to the practice of the ancient Jewish patriarchs. That such 

 a ysUm could possibly grow up into such magnitude in these times 

 is sufficiently startling ; but that it can long maintain itself if not 

 subjected to persecution in inconceivable. 



As we did not notice A'anroo under ILLHCOB, we may add to what 

 we have said of it above, that it stends on the Mississippi, 125 miles 



'.N.W. from Springfield; and that after the departure of the 

 Mormons, Nauvoo became the seat of a colony of French commuu- 

 UU, or Icarians, under UM direction of M. Cabot, who were however 

 far from successful. Of its present state we hare no trustworthy 



[particulars; its population has dwindled down to a very insignificant 

 number. The great Mormon temple of Nauvoo was, in October 1848, 

 set on fire by an Incendiary and destroyed. 



(Cspt Howard Stansbury, Topographical Engineers, U.S. Army, 

 Expedition to Ike Valley of the Great Salt Lake of Utah ; Fremont, 

 fir/tort of Expedition to the Rocky Mountain); Lieut. J. W. Gunnison, 

 The Mormon*, <tc.\ Statittical View of Ike United Stnta ; Seventh 

 Ccntiu of the United State* ; Gazetteer* of the United States, &&) 



UTICA, U. a [New YORK .] 



UTIKL. [CABTILtA LA NCEVA.] 



UTHKCHT, one of the Dutch provinces, is bounded N. by Holland 

 and the Zuiderzee, K. by Gelderland, S. by Gelderland and Holland, 

 and W. by Holland. Its area is 534 square miles ; and the popula- 

 tion at the end of 1853 numbered 155,324. In the northern and 

 western parts, and on the banks of the Leek, the surface is level and 

 low ; towards the south-east there are some low hills. The low ground 

 is rich and fertile ; in the more elevated tracts the soil is sandy, with 

 here and there some low thickets, extensive heaths, and peat-moors. 

 The province is traversed by the Rhine and its branches, and by 

 several canals. The climate is not so damp as that of the province 

 of Holland : the air i pure and healthy, and there is good fresh- 

 water. The natural productions are the common domestic animals, 

 poultry, fish, bees, corn, pulse, garden-fruit, culinary vegetables, flax, 

 hemp, and tobacco. The manufactures are carried on chiefly in the 

 towns, and consist of woollen, cotton, silk, and linen fabrics ; there are 

 also breweries and distilleries. The exports are corn, cattle, swine, 

 butter, cheese, manufactured goods, bricks, and tiles. Railways run 

 from Utrecht, the capital of the province, to Arnhem, Amsterdam, the 

 Hague, and Rotterdam. A direct line from Utrecht to Rotterdam has 

 been for some years in course of construction ; it is now open to 

 Gouda, 20 miles west by south from Utrecht. The chief towns of the 

 province are AMEKSFOORT and UTUECHT. 



UTRECHT, the capital of the province of Utrecht in Holland, is 

 situated in 52 7' N. lat., 5 6' E. long., in a pleasant country, at the 

 bifurcation of the Old Rhine and the Vecht, 22 miles by railway S.E. 

 from Amsterdam. The Rhine divides the city into two parts, and 

 there are likewise two canals with 36 drawbridges. The position of 

 the city is healthy, and free from the inconvenience of damp, so 

 common in Holland, it being situated on a dry and rather elevated 

 soil, with a descent towards the river. The approaches to the city 

 are very beautiful, especially that from Amsterdam, which consists of 

 a broad avenue, bordered with rows of trees. The appearance of the 

 city itself is antique, many of the houses being in the gothic style. 

 It was formerly strongly fortified, but the ramparts have been con- 

 verted into public walks. There is a beautiful walk called the Malie- 

 bann, above half a mile in length, planted with eight rows of lime- 

 trees. The cathedral with its tower, 388 feet high, was destroyed by 

 fire a few years ago. There are 8 Calvinist, 1 Lutheran, 1 Anglican, 

 1 Moravian, and 3 Roman Catholic churches. The town-house is a 

 handsome modern building. The university, founded in 1634, has five 

 faculties, between 300 and 400 students annually, a botauic garden, 

 observatory, kc. The population of Utrecht is about 45,000 : the 

 inhabitants manufacture broadcloths, silk, lace, linen, needles, refined 

 sugar, salt, fire-arms, tiles, &c. The town ha? also important bleach- 

 works, and an extensive general commerce. Utrecht is the birthplace of 

 Fope Adrian VI. ; it gives title to a Catholic archbishop, who is metro- 

 politan for his co-religionists in the Netherlands. 



UTTOXETER, Staffordshire, a market-town and the seat of a Poor- 

 Law Union, in the parish of Uttoxeter, is situated in 52 51' N. lat., 

 1 51' W. long., distant 14 miles E.N.E. from Stafford, 135 miles N.W. 

 from London by road, and 136 miles by the North- Western and North 

 Staffordshire railways. The population of the town in 1851 was 3468. 

 The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Stafford and diocese 

 of Liohfield. Uttoxeter Poor-Law Union contains 21 parishes and 

 townships, with an area of 62,930 acres, and a population in 1851 

 of 15,140. 



At Uttoxeter the river Dove is crossed by a handsome stone bridge. 

 The houses in the town arc generally well built. The church has been 

 rebuilt of late years, but the lofty tower and spire of the former edifice 

 remain. There are chapels for Wcsleyan Methodists, Baptists, Inde- 

 pendents, and Quakers. Alleyne's Grammar school is under the care 

 of a head-master and an assistant. There are National schools and 

 a savings bank. The market is on Wednesday : there are several 

 yearly fairs. A county court is held. The Caldon Canal, which 

 joins the Grand Trunk Canal near Stoke, ends at Uttoxeter. 



UXBRIDGE, Middlesex, a market-town and the seat of a Poor-Law 

 Union, in the parish of HUlingdon, is situated on the left bank of the 

 river Colno, in 51 33' N. lat., 29' W. long., distant 15 miles W. by 

 N. from London. The population of the town of Uxbridge in 1851 

 was 3236. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of 

 Middlesex and diocese of London. Uxbridge Poor-Law Union contains 

 10 parishes and townships, with an area of 25,906 acres, and a popula- 

 tion in 1851 of 19,475. 



Uxbridge was formerly a place of strength and a corporate town, 

 and in the civil wars of Charles I. was the scene of an unavailing 

 negotiation for peace between tho commissioners of the king and those 

 of the parliament. The mansion in which the conferences were held 

 is still standing. The town, which is lighted with gas, extends for 



