DOMESTIC LIFE AMONG THE NEPHITES--HOUSE-HOLD DUTIES--DRESS--ORNAMENTS--HOMES--FOOD--MANUFACTURES--TRANSPORTATION.
From the casual references found in the historic portions of the Book of Mormon, we are led to infer that the domestic life of the Nephites was patterned, as it very naturally would be, after the manners and customs of their forefathers in the land of Jerusalem, modified, of course, by time and their surroundings. The changed material conditions, the absence of older though co-existent peoples and powers, the new and sometimes strange animal and vegetable productions, etc., all had an influence in the formation and growth of their civilization; trivial, perhaps, when considered separately, but when taken together, and working for centuries, having a marked effect on their public polity and home life. It is, however, necessary to explain that the details of the latter are very meagre, and only obtained incidentally, as they may form a link in the chain of some historical narrative, or be introduced as an illustration in some doctrinal teaching or prophetic warning.
In the midst of a people guided or reproved through their entire national life by an almost continuous succession of inspired teachers, it is but reasonable to conclude that the domestic virtues were assiduously cultivated, and all departures therefrom severely rebuked. Industry, economy, thrift, prudence, and moderation in dress were evidently as much the subject of the prophet's commendation then as in these latter days. Zeniff and others directly refer to the labors and toils of the Nephite women in spinning and making the material with which they clothed themselves and their households; and the same fabrics which delight the modern daughters of Israel also appear to have pleased the eyes of their Nephite sisters in the long ago. We must, however, say to the praise of these ancient worthies, the mothers of Mosiah, Alma, Moroni, Helaman, and of the two thousand striplings who loved to call the latter father, that the beauty of their apparel was the workmanship of their own hands. Steam looms, spinning jennys, and their like, were unknown, so far as we can learn, to the enterprising, vigorous, God-blessed race that for nearly a thousand years filled the American continent with the favored seed of Jacob's much-loved son.