Y TATEMENT PREFATOR S .

FOR a number of years I have been an interested student of Mormonism and have gathered many 1 1 8 facts concerning it . On Dec . 7, 99, I delivered two addresses on Mormonism in the church of A which I am pastor . large number who heard them , and many who did not hear them , have urged that they be published . In compliance with this m h de and I ave rewritten and greatly enlarged them , and in the interest of truth and true religion send them forth to the public . I have used only reliable authority , and have verified all statements made, as

far as possible . Reference is duly made to the sources of information , and can be verified by those

inclined to doubt any statement . In order to save space I have used a system of abbreviations which is easily understood . I am indebted to Rev . N . S . DD Burton , , for valuable suggestions and assist ance in the preparation of the pamphlet .

Sincerely ,

0 1 00 . Jan . 3 , 9 T . W . YOUNG .

ABBREV AT N EX N I IO S AND PLA ATIONS .

’ McMHPUS McMaster s History of the People l I a V o . V . of the United St tes , BHAC Bacon ’ s History of American Christi ni a ty . M cMHSM McMillans Historical Sketch of Mor

monism . ’ TOPM Tucker s Origin and Progress of Mor

monism . ’ o HMU H we s Mormonism Unveiled .

PGP Pearl of Great Price .

DC Doctrine and Covenants . ’ ACAB Appleton s Cyclopedia of American Bi

r h l o a V o . V . g p y, , Art Spalding, Rigdon and

Smith . e SM Spalding M morial . Sc ’ . 1 880 . Scribner s Magazine, Aug ,

BM Book of Mormon .

I . ol . V MWH Magazine of Western History , V PWDABM Pratt ’ s Work on the Divine Author

ity of the Book of Mormon .

MC Mormon Catechism . HJSM S ' : History of Joseph Smith in the Millen

nial Star . E DAL S D . A . Leonard in Bibliotheca Sacra , l 2 V o . 4 . PW ’ p Pratt s Works , paper . ABB EV ATI m AN n N 6 R I ONS AND B A O s .

’

BH N . R WG . r B H Robe t s , New Witness for

God . D JSJ Joseph Smith in Journal of Discourses . PKT ’ Pratt s Key to the Science of Theology . EME o E . Book of Morm n , ther BY D _ i J Br gham Young 111 Journal of Discourses . AHCK C . Apostle H C Kimball , Conference TS The Seer . AOHRMS Apostle Orson Hyde, Rocky Moun

tain Saints . EYMRW Eugene Young in Missionary Review

of the World .

In . . NFC d . m Rev . N E Cle enson in Independent d n i n . EYI . Eugene Young Independent MRW Missionary Review of the World .

Ind . Independent .

ME Ind . . . d t J Prof . M E Jones in In ependen .

1 8 8. March 3 , 9 M Pres . J G President J . M . Grant . BY : DN Brigham Young m Deseret News . P D : i n O J Orson Pratt Journal of Discourses . AGSJD Apostle George Smith in Journal of Dis-f

courses . AH K D C J Apostle H . C . Kimball in Journal of

Discourses .

MD Mormon Doctrine . H EH ’ B R . B . H . Roberts Ecclesiastical History AJTJD Apostle John Taylor in Journal of Dis

courses . BYHW ’ Brigham Young in Harper s Weekly,

. 1 0 1 8 . Dec , 99 NYCA o 1 1 New York Christian Adv cate, Jan . ,

1 900 . : MORMONISM ITS ORIGIN , DOCTRINE

AND DANGERS .

T ri in o o i he O g ofM rm n sm.

Our Lord said that after his departure false prophets and false teachers would arise and lead many astray . Every succeeding generation has fur nished m 1 82 a fulfil ent of this prediction . In 9 the o English poet, R bert Southey, cast the horoscope of our western world in these memorable words “ The next Aaron Burr who seeks to carve a king dom for himself out ofthe overgrown territories of the Union may discern that fanaticism is the most effective weapon with which affl bition can arm itself ; that the way for both is prepared by that immorality i which the want of relig on necessarily induces , and that camp - meetings may be very well directed to forward the designs of military prophets . Were r there another Mohammed to arise, there is no pa t of the world where he would find more scope or fairer opportunity than in that part of the Anglo American Union into which the older states continu a a ally disch rge the restless p rt of their population, a a a le ving l ws and Gospel to overt ke it, if they can, for in the march of modern civilization both are left behind . He did not know when he was uttering these words that in the very territory of which he was amm was speaking, there then another Moh ed preparing another Koran to be published the fol lowing year . For more than half a century the people of this country have laughed at the super stitions and pre m a tentions of Mor onism and s id, that as icebergs drift from northern seas into southern oceans and a m ta melt, so this bsurd ecclesiasticis would cer inly f perish in the light o advancing civilization . This a expectation has not been re lized, for today it is one of the most troublesome and menacing problems o thrust upon us for solution . Providence and p li tics have now brought us face to face with the issue . The origin of Mormonism is entirely too recent to plead sanctity under the cover of obscurity . It was born a little too late to be permanently success “

. a ful in its deceits Lincoln s id , You could fool all om l the people sometime , and you could fool s e peop e all the time, but you can never fool all the people all ” the time . The deceptions of Mormonism will dis in solve the light of information .

T Tim T Ti he e and he de.

The first half of the nineteenth century was ol marked by the most phenomenal expansion . F lowing the downfall of the Napoleonic Empire in “ ” a o Fr nce , there was an era of go d feeling in this “ acification country, and the p of Europe, the dis a war banding of the armies and n vies, the enormous and e taxes , the general depression of trad and agri RIGIN DOCTRINB S AND AN ERS 9 O , D G .

e E cultur sent the middle classes of urope, Ireland and Germany to our shores by thousands . The 1 20 immigration up to 8 was inconsiderable . But between 1 820- 29 the annual arrival of immigrants h x us . u n t e 1 8 0 was nine tho and D ri g ne t decade , 3

- 1 8 0 a five . 4 , the annu l arrival was thirty thousand The English Parliament was called upon to do some “ ' thing to stop this ruinous drain of the most useful ” part of the population of the United Kingdom . These multitudinous aliens were bound for the great western territories lying between the Alle ni gha es and the Mississippi river . The roads were “ th ronged ‘ winter and summer with flitting families ” from the eastern states . The exodus from the sea board became alarming . It created a vacuum in the labor markets . This stream of emigrants pouring down th e western slope of the Alleghanies was for the most

r . part ignorant , immoral , and ir eligious The relig iou s societies of the East could not supply the de mand for religious teachers and preachers in the new

I 1 1 . . n 8 West 5 two missionaries , Samuel J Mills h m rhorn n . Sc e e and John F , were se t to the West, and Mills reported that wherever t hey went the “ people were in a state of spiritual darkness . In his opinion , he said , there were between the Alle ghany Mountains and the Mississippi river not less than seventy- sixthousand families destitute of the ” Bible .

The preaching of itinerant missionaries . and

- l . m trave ing evangelists was popular Ca p meetings , 1 0 11 01111 0111 81 .

where people came from afar and dwelt in tents , a became the order of the day . Gre t religious excite n ment prevailed . The ig orant people , when con victed wa of their sins , gave y to their emotions , and were seized with dancing, shouting, laughter, weep ing, or violent jerking . Many who resisted the religious excitement became conspicuous infidels ; and others giving way to it became religious fan i s a at c . The godly ministers being few and tr nsient, a this uneducated piety soon wasted away , or else g ve

‘ rise to strange and innumerable religious sects . The character and condition of the people presented n an inviti g field to any religious adventurer . In mm this period of i igration, ignorance, irreligion and a excit ble piety, there did arise such religious delu “ ” “ as Win atism sions g , Followers of the True ” “ ” “ ” “ ” Christ, Halcyons , New Lights , Adventism , “ ” “ m ” Spiritualism , Mor onism and many others .

Some of them came to a speedy death , while others have perpetuated themselves till the present time by trading with the semblance of Christian truth . 50 ; HBACp334)

‘ Th R e nted F ther o M ormoni e p a f sm.

TH E origin of Mormonism is inseparably con nected with Joseph Smith , Sidney Rigdon and Solo

a . mon Sp lding The reputed father, however, is me ns DoorRmBs AND AN ER l l o , D G S.

s V t . 1 80 dishonest parent in Sharon , , in 5 , who were “ followers of the Wingate delusion By the use of ‘ ’ ’ n i Rod an i strument wh ch they called St . John s , th e folowers of this imposter claimed to be able to discover gold , silver, currents of water under ground i o all and medic nal ro ts and herbs , and so to cure e a mann r of dise ses . Like the victims of all such delusions they banked with . unlimited impudence ‘ ’ upon the Lost Tribes of Israel , and promised a ‘ n and Lat gatheri g of the favored people of God , a ’ ter - day Glory far exceeding the glory of former days . The whole movement proved to be a scheme d was . W of a band of swin lers ingate , the leader , arrested, but escaped from justice , and the move o ment came to an end ( M cM HSMp6 ) . J seph His t was born at the height of this delusion . paren s a moved from pill r to post, making a living in a pre

. e a carious way His moth r was fortune teller, and

Joseph , the third of nine children, became an adept ’ ’ th e in Wingate s theology, and tricks of his mother s m trade . Early in his life this strolling fa ily turned up in Palmyra , N . Y where his father opened a “ T M 1 2 cake and beer shop ( OP p ) . Both sire and “ son were considered by their neighbors to be eu tirely destitute of moral character and addicted to ”

HMU 26 1 . vicious habits , and intemperate ( p ) re When about fifteen years old . he attended some li iou s e g meetings in the villag , and his superficial nature drew him into the religious excitement com th mon to the time . His religious inclinations and e vivid imagination of his untutored mind created for 1 2 M R NISM O MO .

m t him visions and drea s . He pretended to have e ceived ro m visits from an angel , who withheld him f

t u t , joining any church , because hey were all corr p b . u t and wrong in their faith The true reason , no do , h e was a is that no church would receive him, for a tr disreputable character, wandering bout the coun y

rt e s professing to discover gold , silver and lost a icl “ ” a n sub by means of seer sto e , and searching for h terraneous streams of wa ter with a divining switc . s He also pretended to have revelations and vision , t and to have received visits from John the Baptis ,

e . and the apostles Peter, Jam s and John It is hardly to be expected that any sensible church would receive such a questionable character . His pre tended revelations and incredible experiences of the communt was made him the butt y , and he “ ”

h . nicknamed Holy Joe, the W ite Hat Prophet . He

finally left home to escape ridicule , and went, nobody

. m knew where Two years of the ti e, however, he worked as a teamster for W . H . Sabine , a lawyer at Y V . . . Onondaga alley, N , who was a brother of Mrs

Solomon Spalding . After four years he was back at his old home in

Palmyra . He tells us that the angel Maroni came into hi s room by night and filled it wit h a glorious h im light , read to several chapters from the Bible, and afterward piloted him to a hill four miles from is Palmyra . This hill he called Cumorah . It now “ ” known as Bible Hill , and is the property of e t h e Admiral Sampson . The ang l brough him , so a l wed tells us , to a l rge bou der , beneath which he sho ' RI IN DoorRINBs AND AN ER . 1 3 O G , D G S

B t him a stone box containing golden plates . u he was forbidden to touch or to reveal them to anyone

1 82 . till the proper time should come . This was in 3 In each September of th e next four years the angel i c s the inv ted him to ome to thi spot on hill , and he 1 82 him box . would show the In 7, however, the s hi m i angel a sisted m in re ov ng the stone, and the

stone box was placed in the hands of Joseph Smith .

It contained a book eight inches long, seven inches

wide and six inches thick . The leaves were of gold,

and bound together by three golden rings . The

writing was in Reformed Egyptian . Within the x bo was a pair of supernatural spectacles , crystals

set in a silver bow . These he called Urim and h ut Thummim , and w en he p them on he was enabled

to understand and translate the mysterious language . He was forbidden ever to show the golden plates to

anyone , except those divinely pointed out to him to m see the . Oliver Cowdery was selected to act as his

scribe . And Joseph Smith concealed himself behind a bed- blanket stretched diagonally across his ’ mother s kitchen and translated from the golden o plates , while Oliver Cowdery , sitting on the opp site r h r side , w ote down w atever was dictated . Afte three years of dictation and translation the work was r completed . Smith claims that while he and Olive “ Cowdery were in the woods praying respecting ” b s a aptism and the remi sion of sins , messenger from heaven descended in a cloud of light and con at fe rred upon them the Aaronic priesthood . Then ’ the angel s command they baptized each other , and 1 4 u omromsn

ordained each other to the priesthood . Thus they were given plenary power to organize true churches , m ofii ad inister their ordinances , and appoint their find cers . This we Joseph Smith doing in Manches

Y . 1 8 0 . ter , N . , in 3 This first church was organized m and with only six embers , for some mysterious a five re son only of the eleven witnesses , who swore they had seen the golden plates , went into the organ ization ( PGPp56 The subsequent life of this latter- day prophet is briefly as follows :His own community at Palmyra and Manchester became disgusted with his incred ible tales , and made it so uncomfortable for him , that with thirty of his followers he moved to Kirt

O . Z land , , which he intended to make the ion of his new religion . The citizens of the place became so intensely disgusted with his shiftless , dishonest and immoral conduct that they drove him from the place . . The Kirtland bank was a magnificent monument of his rascality . He crossed the Mississippi with a large company and settled in Jackson County, Mo . , and i but their character, conduct teach ng were so thoroughly obj ectionable that the indignant citizens rose in arms against them and ej ected them . The governor of the state had to send troops to protect 1 life and property . In 838 Joseph Smith was back auvoo in Illinois , founding the city of N as the capi t l k a of th e Mormon ingdom . He had himself i m elected mayor of the c ty, secured permission fro ” the governor to organize the Nauvoo Legion with and ot t t members , g himself elec ed lieutenan

msn 1 6 u omto .

a and their press destroyed . Things came to such pitch that Governor Ford sent state troops to keep and the peace . Smith finally submitted to arrest of was sent to Carthage jail . But the people, many d them his once blinded followers , coul neither for give nor forget his offensive life and unspeakable 200 l crimes . A mob of more than assaulted the jai

so- mm u e to bring the called prophet to su ary j stic , and in the melee he was shot and fell dead pierced by four bullets ( ACAB vol . V . p who This is the man, his character and career, “ ” a professed to be the Seer, Revel tor, and Prophet

DD. h . . t t e of God . Rev W . A Stanton, . , pas or of

Pa . s Shady Avenue Baptist Church, Pittsburg, , say

a - n' l w he has often he rd his father i aw , who kne

S - mith well , say that he was a quick witted, lazy, superstitious fellow who spent his time in digging for treasures and locating springs for wells with a ”

. . . . at divining rod Mr L P Moseley, now living

his daughter, Mrs . M . E . Coo “

. . 1 0 1 00 : lev of Ann Arbor, Mich , Jan , 9 I have often heard your uncle , Jeremiah Lyke, whose farm was ‘ ’ s just acros the road from Bible Hill , say that Joe w Smith , whom he kne well, was a lazy, shiftless fel m low , hunting and fishing day ti es , and at night pre tending to dig for treasures in that hill in front of ’ vour uncle s . He pretended that they lost the treas h ure by speaking just as t ey were coming to it, but your uncle never for a moment thought that they ”

d u . find ever foun anytreas re I have yet to anybody, not Mormon that or any book, , has a single good word me ns T RINE AND DANGBRs. 1 7 o , DOC

to say of Joseph Smith . He was one of the most disreputable and degenerate characters that appea red in that period of ignorance , irreligion and immigra tion . When God makes companions of devils , and o reveals his truth to vicious and licenti us men , then, t but not till then, will it be possible to believe hat Joseph Smith ever heard a voice or had a visitant from heaven .

is The R eal Father ofM ormon m.

Joseph Smith tells us in hi s fantastic fable about the finding of the “ Golden Bible” that the angel h Maroni guided him to t e place of its concealment. “ Who was this angel ' Birds of a feather flock to ” gether, is a trite and true proverb . Near the vil s lage of Library, a few miles south of Pitt burg, on 1 1 r Feb . 9, 793 , Sidney Rigdon was born . He g ew up in the community a bold , daring and imperious leader of the neighborhood youth . He was proud , am e bitious , and excessively fond of pre minence and

. r parade He was disposed to rove about the count y.

It was the fashion of the day . The tide of people

r pushing westward, and the disappointed ones e u a t rning, encouraged restless and discontented dis

. alm . position He lived for a while in P yra , N Y and was called good for geeting up exciting ' articles . He is supposed to have lived also for a

O . time in New Salem , , at the time of Solomon ’ Spalding s residence there, and was possibly one of 1 8 MORMONISM .

’ the company who heard Spalding s readings from l his historical romance . When So omon Spalding 1 8 1 2 n moved to Pittsburg in , Sidney Rigdon soo him u followed , and sec red a position in the printing M f S 2 . o fice of Robert Patterson ( p 37 ) In May, 1 8 1 7 , Sidney Rigdon is back at his old home at 1 Library . May 3 he joined the Baptist church and d i x ri was baptize by Rev . David Phill ps . In his e pe ence before the church he professed a good deal that was miraculous and incredible . He afterwards con fessed to a Baptist deacon in Pittsburg that he “ made up his experince in order to get into the ” church . From the first he was a distress to his

c . pastor , and a disturber in the hurch Mr . Phillips “ As said of him , long as Rigdon lives he will be a ” curse to the church of Christ . He was a young u man of fine native ability , f ll of selfish vanity and ” fatuous ambition . He got himself licensed to

1 1 8 1 . preach on April , 9 A few years later he is

O . pastor of the Baptist church at Warren , , where was he a popular preacher , and began to form a close friendship with Alexander Campbell , whose

‘ operations were then chiefly in Ohio and Pennsyl vania . For a short time in 1 822 Alexander Camp bell supplied the pulpit of the First Baptist church in Pittsburg, and persuaded the church to call Sid ney Rigdon to become its pastor . He accepted the

. 28 1 22 8 . call , and began his work Jan , Six months later he began boldly to proclaim strange and fantas :“ tical doctrines , such as Christians are under no o am C RINE AND AN ER . 1 9 m , DO T S D G S obligation to keep the moral law that God might h have given t e Jews a better dispensation , if he had e e been disposed , and what he did for th m only mad them sevenfold more the children of hell ; that a change of heart consi sts merely in a change of view and bapti sm ; that there is no such thing as a relig ious experience ; that saving faith is merely accept ing t he testimony given by the evangelists ; and that it ’ ” s is wrong to use the Lord s prayer . Against the e unscriptural fancies fifteen of his members rose in

protest . He had them excluded from the church . They met and organized under the leadership of

. s Rev John Winter , a resident Baptist mini ter and

re school teacher . They appealed to the courts to Th gain possession of th eir church property . ev i gained their suit . Then Rigdon and h s sympa

thizers h e became the excluded members . T es immediately j oined an independent congregation in the city that practiced immersion for the remission was bv e of sins , and led Walt r Scott, another inti e of e mate fri nd Alexand r Campbell . Disappointed in his ambitious schemes for preéminenece and lead

ershi n a s p amo g Pennsylvania B ptist , Rigdon moved an d n back into Ohio , conti ued to preach his new e doctrin s , to disturb and divide churches wherever et he could g a hearing . He gathered about him a t a 0 . large following Mentor ,

H u i i u s s c o s . 1 82 ere now is a p coincidence In 7 ,

s O . at New Li bon , , the Mahoning Baptist Associa n tio met . Alexander Campbell , Walter Scott and

n R n all ese e Sid ey igdo were pr nt , eith r by prear 0 R NI 2 MO MO SM .

’

e . en rangem nt , or accident Through Campbell s treaties Rigdon was invited to preach on Sun

. 2 a dav evening, Aug 3 , and Walter Scott was p

omted s p a sociational missionary and succeeded, in

ss le than a year , in disbanding the whole as i ’ h sociation . R gdon s home at t is time was in

Kirtland , to which place Joseph Smith and his thirty followers moved three years later . Just R thirty days after igdon preached at that association , Joseph Smith proclaimed the discovery of the

Golden Bible near Manchester . Sidney Rigdon set out at once to visit Smith . He professed his “ ” e faith in the new find , and preach d the first Mor s mon ermon in Palmyra , in which he displayed a marvellous familiarity with the new bible for a fresh convert . The reason for his familiarity with the new religion is very evident when all the facts are known . o o So n after this visit fr m Rigdon , Joseph Smith said “ it was made known to him in dreams that he was chosen of the Lord to be a great prophet to restore the Gospel which had been taken from the world ” H M n Mc M . ma y centuries ago . ( S p7)

- - Z in . Mr . . Rudolph , the father law of Mrs

e en Pr sid t Garfield , knew Rigdon well , and he “ e u s e t lls that , during the winter pr vious to the appearance of the Book of Mormon Rigdon spent week s away from home gone no one knew where ; when he returned he seemed very much preoc cu ied in i p , talked a dreamy , imag native way , and

e puzzl d his neighbors . His joining the Mormons so quickly made his neighbors sure that he was D Ia AND ANGERS 21 RI IN oc . O G , D in the secret of the authorship of the Book of ' r o 1 8 0 Mo mon . This b ok was published in 3 in f Wa ne S entinel the o fice of the y , whose editor 1 86 was Pomeroy Tucker . In 7 he published a “ book on The Origin and Progress of Mormon ism , in which he states that during the summer of 1 82 h 7 , the very year in whic Joseph Smith made ” known his discovery of the Leaves of Gold , a stranger made repeated mysterious visits to Smith ’ s n home , and that he was afterwards recog ized as Sid i r ney R gdon , who preached the first Mormon se mon in Palmyra . Mrs . Dr . Horace Eaton , who lived in Palmvra r for more than thi ty years , corroborates ’ s at T PM Mil thi st ement of Tucker s ( O ) . In the lenial H arbin er 1 8 g of 44, a paper of the Disciples m A deno ination, is a statement from lexander Camp

le - i - . Bent v n bell , and Rev Adam a brother law of h be Sidney Rigdon , in whic they say that two years fore the Book of Mormon made its appearance Rig “ don told them that such a book was coming out , and that the manuscript of it had been found en ” graved on gold plates . From these facts there can be no doubt but that these two rolling stones , Smith w and Rigdon , ere intimately acquainted and often

. met They both had a mutual friend in Parley P .

Pratt, a traveling tinker , and also a preacher of some ability who plied his trade vibrating between Palmy r Y a . . , N , where Smith lived , and Mentor, O . , where

. Rigdon lived He greatly admired the latter, and was ’ his frequently in congregation . By 1 827 Rigdon s m an sche es were pretty well matured , d he had found N 22 MORMO ISM . a suitable catspaw in Joseph Smith to pull hi s “ et new Golden Bible out of the ground , and g a

s s e da sy tem of religion tart d , as many others in his y

e e h e s w r doing, in which could be the upreme leader

s and dictator . That Jo eph Smith and Sidney Rig dong were old acquaintances and w ere in collusion in th e production of the Book of Mormon is beyond ’ ' M ar e s a e . s all r a on bl doubt Jo eph Smith s angel ,

was i e oni , none other than S dn y Rigdon , whom the

s s e e m an d Bapti t xcluded from th ir inistry , Alex ander Campbell dropped when he di scovered in him

- an unmanageable and unbalanced co worker . Why he never became the real leader of Mormonism no

e e body v r knew except Joseph Smith . Rigdon put

n at the and e s Smith i to the saddle first , was aft rward i ’ h m ou t . e unable to get . At Smith s d ath he aspired

th e es e le to pr id ncy . and when not e cted , he refused the to submit to authority of Brigham Young . For his insubordination he was excluded from the Mor “ mon church and given ove r to the buffetings of ” n Sata for a thou sand year s .

“ Th l B e —Th M n u i Fou n d e Go den ibl . e a scr t p , and S olom n l i o Spa d ng .

What was the origin of the Book of Mormon ' In answe ring thi s question we must consider an

e s s e e s a oth r di tingui h d p r on ge who is inseparably , n e e . . 20 though innoc tly conn cted with it On Feb , 1 6 1 7 , Solomon Spalding was born at Ashford ,

e Conn . , of cultur d and highly respected parents . At

R NIS MO MO M.

ff n sea Old World , su ered in umerable hardships by , t sav having lost heir compass , and at the hands of nh ages after landing in this country . The i abitant s of the country were divided into the righteous and a the wicked . The Indians play a conspicuous p rt in the romance . It is full of wars and rumors of

“ ' r t n hraseolo o wa . It was writ e in Biblical p gy t a r make it as quaintly olden as possible, and to c r y out the conception of its mound origin ( SM p 238) ’ his . nd We are assured by Mr Spalding s wife, a M Kin tr . . c s m daughter, Mrs . Dr . M S y, and nu erous h ad . a others who heard Mr Sp lding read portions , of r a r or all his manusc ipt, that its leading ch racte s m m bore such na es as Mormon , Maroni , La anite , Nephi and others similar to those in the Book of m of ’ Mor on . The title Spalding s romance is , “ ” “ M - anuscript Found , which he wrote to beguile the hours of retirement and to furnish employment ” for his lively imagination . 1 1 e In 8 2 he moved to Pittsburg. His wif tells us in a letter published in the Boston Re cor der 1 1 8 , April 9, 39, that soon after their

Mr . removal to Pittsburg, they found a friend in

Robert Patterson , a printer, and editor of a news “ paper ; that her husband exhibited his manu i scr pt to Mr . Patterson who was very much pleased with it, and borrowed it for perusal . He retained rm it for a long time, and info ed Mr . Spalding that if he would make out a title page, and preface , he ” would publish it, and it would be a source of profit . Sidney Rigdon was at this time employed in the RI IN RINES AND ANGE O G . DOCT D RS . 25

’ oflI ce i printing , and became deeply interested n the n r Spaldi g novel . Fo some reason Spalding was 1 8 1 unable to have his romance published . In 4 he m moved to A ity , a short distance from Pittsburg, vears h where two later e died . Spalding rewrote his “ Manuscript Found with a v iew to having it published . In doing so he made it

much longer , changed the starting point of his Old

World pilgrims from Rome to Jerusalem , and like of re wise the names his characters to suit . This written manuscript he submitted to the printer and

never saw it again , and nobody knows what became o of it except Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon . J se h p Miller , a citizen of Amity and a friend of

Spalding, says that he had heard Spalding read his “ manuscript, and that Spalding told him , while the m t ’ ffi anuscript was at the prin er s o ce it was stolen , ” nd a that a Sidney Rigdon was suspected . When 1 8 0 the Book of Mormon made its appearance in 3 , Joseph Miller read it and testifies under oath :“ I h m e ave recently exa in d the Book of Mormon , and fi nd in it the writings of Solomon Spalding from b ’ eginning to end , but mixed up with Smith s and ’ others religious matter which I did not meet in the ‘ ’ Manuscript Found . Many of the passages in the l Book of Mormon are verbatim from Spa ding, and

’ ot . hers in part The names of Nephi , Lehi , Maroni , and in fact all the principal names are brought fresh ‘ ” to my recollection by the golden Bible ( ACABvol

V S ) .

Ten years after being a printer in Pittsburg, R MO MONISM .

Sidney Rigdon returned to become pastor of t h e R o First Baptist Church . obert Patters n had di e d

1 8 1 d e d in 4, and Lambdin , an employe , had succee in . a him the business He , formerly , had been ’ of Lambdin s k friend Rigdon , who now made boo and ffi R e v . store printing o ce a lounging place .

John Winter tells us that in 1 822 - 3 he was in Ri g ’ e don s study , and saw him take from his desk a larg an m uscript , and heard him state that , A Presby h e M r . terian ( was a Congregational ) minister , e th e Spalding , whos health failed , brought this to see a printer to if it would pay to publish it . It is ”

e . R h e ev . . . t romanc of the Bible The A J Bonsall , e s the s pr sent pa tor of Baptist Church at Roche ter , P i a . s . s , who a stepson of Dr Winter, a few month R ev . . . DD ago stated to W A Stanton , . . , of Pitts “ s burg, that his tepfather often referred to this in e s b e ident , aying that the Manuscript purported to a history of the American Indians , and that Rigdon ” ’ s aid he got it from the printers . Dr . Winter s

\V . P a e . a a . d ught r , Mrs M ry Irvine , of Sharon , , “ says :I have frequently heard my father speak of ’ ’ Rigdon s having Spalding s manuscript , that he said he got it from the printer to read as a curiosity . As su s m ch he howed it to y father , and then seemed to have no intention of u sing it as he evidently after e ward did . Fath r always said that Rigdon helped Smith in hi s scheme by revising and transforming ” thi s manuscript into the Mormon bible . These

n ce e . statem e ts have re ntly be n made to Dr . W . A

DD. . s t . S anton , , pastor of the Shady Ave Bapti t RI IN CTRINE AND AN ERS . 27 O G , DO S D G

a e bv Churc in Pittsburg . They were publish d him n t nd r d 22 1 8 re i the Chicago S a a of July , 99, and we

ffi e . 1 1 00 . rea rmed in a lett r to me on Jan , 9 A few years after the Book of Mormon was pub lish ed M ormon . preachers appeared in northern Ohio , in the verv community where Sidney Rigdon was living and preparing the way . They went to New

l . Salem , where Spalding ived and wrote his story At a public meeting they read from the Book of on w Morm , and there were present people who ere intimate friends of Spalding , and had heard him Th read his manuscript . ev recognized at once the striking similarity between the manuscript and the f . a new bible John Spalding , who was perfectly ’ hi s s s miliar with brother s manu cript, aro e in the meeting and expressed his deep sorrow and regret that the writings of his sainted brother should be use d for a purpose so vile and shocking The feel ing of indignation became so wide - spread that a

Phil s r e was . a te me ting called , and Dr Hurlbut was

- n sent to call upon Mrs . Spalding Daviso , for she was now married again , and was living at Monson ,

ma Mass to secure from her the original nuscript, “ for the purpose of comparing it with the Book of

s e Mormon to sati fy th ir own minds , and to prevent ” h ds t eir frien from embracing an error so delusive .

s Dr . Hurlbut ucceeded in getting from Mrs . Spald ing- Davison a manuscript of her husband which was “ undoubte dly the original draft of the Manuscript ” re- Found , but not the written copy used by Smith and Rigdon which was stolen from the printing 28 MORMONISM .

i ofl ce . This copy of the Manuscript Found was,

e no doubt, d stroyed by Smith and Rigdon to prevent their theft and deception ever coming to light . This is beyond question what Joseph Smith meant when he says that an angel descended and bore the “ golden ” plates away as soon as he had finished translating them . 1 This visit of Hurlbut was in 834. The fol

M . r . . lowing year E D Howe , editor of the Paines Tele ra h ville ( Ohio) g p , who had examined the manuscript secured by Hurlbut, published a book “ ” called Mormonism Unveiled . This book was a I t severe arraignment of the Mormon deception .

2 - 2 n contains the testimonies ( pp . 78 87 ) of living a d l and reputable witnesses , six of whom , John Spa ding r of wife , Henry Lake , a fo mer business partner h t Solomon Spalding, Oliver Smith , Aaron Wrig of and Nahum Howard , were neighbors and friends

Solomon Spalding in New Salem , who agree in say ing that the historica l part of the Book of Mormon ’ “ ” and Solomon Spalding s Manuscript Found were strikingly similar and in some names and details 1 820 identical . In Mrs . Spalding married Mr . Da h Y . 1 828 d u w . a vison of Hart ick , N , and in her g i r . M K n t . c s . ter married Dr A y, of Monson , Mass R ecorder 1 1 8 ublished a The Boston of April 9, 39, p

- t . leng hy statement from Mrs Spalding Davison , and ’ S cribner s M a azine 1 880 g for August , , published a M Kin . . . c str similar statement from Mrs M S y , in which they declare the substantial identity between the historical strata of the Book of Mormon and the RI IN RINE AND AN ER . O G , DOCT S D G S m anuscript of Solomon Spalding . They also tell of the excitement iri New Salem when the Book of M ormon was first read , and of the coming of Dr . H x urlbut to secure the original , and e pose the hypo c ritical pretention of the Mormons SMp24o ; Sc ’ - v 1 2 1 . 0 4 p6 3 ) When Mrs . Spalding Davison s letter R ecorder appeared in the Boston , Sidney Rigdon wrote a bitter and vulgar letter denying that he had ever been a printer in Pittsburg , or that he had ever heard of Solomon Spalding . But in the light of the actual facts , it seems that Rigdon was also a gifted liar as well as a man of “more than common cun ”

a . ning and c pacity Denial is not proof , and the whole attempt of the Mormons to disprove the life of printer Rigdon in Pittsburg at the time of Spald ’ ing s residence there ; and of his long and intimate acquaintance with Joseph Smith previous to the pub lication of the Book of Mormon ; and of his know ledge of the contents of the Book of Mormon pre

n so- vio s to his called conversion to the new faith , is only a desperate attempt to save the whole Mormon fabrication from utter collapse .

V .

Bi Th B o k o The P u bli cation ofthe Golden ble. e o f M or on m . The publication of this book is as mysterious and suspicious as its compilation and discovery . Joseph Smith tells us it was first shown him by the angel 1 82 o Maroni in 3 , but he was not all wed to touch it, 1 82 a or tell of it , till in 7, though the angel g ve him NI 30 MORMO SM .

a glimpse of it annually in the meantime . This is a ’ of pure fabrication Smith s deluded brain , for Thur

e and ublisher low W ed , editor p of the Rochester ,

Tel r h 1 82 a o . e a m N Y g p , says that in 5 a man c e int “ his office and introduced himself as Joseph Smith

Y . o of Palmyra , N . , whose bject, he said , was to get

s n a book publi hed . He stated then that he had bee in guided by a vision to a spot he described , where

a cavern he found what he called a golden bible . It consisted of a tablet which he placed in his hat and from which he proceeded to read the first chapter e of the Book of Mormon . I li stened until I becam weary of what seemed to me an incomprehensible ” jargon . Mr . Weed declined to print it, and a few l e n days at r Smith came back bringi g Martin Harris ,

ffe a substantial farmer , who o red to go security for “ the money . Smith urged that the book was a di e vine rev lation , and would be accepted , and that he

e would be r ceived by the world as a prophet . Mr .

ee ev e s and W d how er , refus d to publi h it, says , in the meantime he discovered that “ Smith was a

shrewd , scheming fellow who passed his time at taverns and stores in Palmyra without business and apparently without visible means of support” ( Scr M A 1 a . u 880 g g , , p Smith and Rigdon evi d ently made some unsuccessful attempts before they

s launched their enterpri e . e n 1 8 0 Wh n the book was finally pri ted in 3 , it contained a sworn statement from Oliver Cow e s h d ry , Martin Harri , and David Whitmer . t at the angel showed them the plates from which

h moved to Monson, Mass . , to live wit her daughter, this old trunk of papers was left in charge of Mr . “ t Jerome Clark at Hartwicks , and the Manuscrip ” - a . Found was t ken from it , with Mrs Spalding Da ’ om 1 8 . vison s consent, by Hurlbut in 34 Fr Hurl “ ” but the Manuscript Found passed into the hands a of Mr . E . D . Howe, who made the first ttempt to expose the deceits of Mormonism in the publication “ ”

1 8 . of his book, Mormonism Unveiled, in 35 Hurl but had promised to return the manuscript to the l fami y after using it, but never did, and ignored all

1 . letters written him by the family . In 839 Mr

Lewis L . Rice bought out Mr . Howe, and became the possessor of all the books and manuscripts con nected Tele ra h em with the g p , though he never se ed to know that Solomon Spalding’ s manuscript was o among the papers . Later in life he went to Hon

. 1 8 r 8 . lulu , Hawaii In 4 President James H Fai child visited his friend Mr . Rice in Honolulu to se cure from him some valuable anti - slavery papers for l l ’ Ober in Co lege . In the search through Rice s pa pers the old Solomon Spalding manuscript was

found , and afterwards deposited in Oberlin Col

. a lege Library In letter to me from Mr . A . S . h . 1 00 e Root, Librarian of Oberlin College , Jan 9, 9 , says : This Library possesses a manuscript which seems beyond question to be a manuscript written by m Solomon Spalding, and which came to us fro

Honolulu through Mr . L . L . Rice . President Fairchild felt some disappointment at failing to find as great a likeness between the Book of Mormon 1 Gm Doct RINBs AND AN ERS . 83 OR , D G

’ and Spalding s manuscript as was expected , or as has generally been supposed . His examination ,

s su erfi comparison , and conclusion are , however, p cial and hasty ( MWH4M ay

The Hon . A . T . Schroeder , of Salt Lake City , knows more thoroughly the history and doctrines of

Mormonism than anv living man . He went to Utah in M ormonism be years ago strongly sympathy with , lieving they were a misunderstood and misrepresent ed body oi Christian people . He made a thorough study of their history and system , and as a result has become one of the most trenchant writers exposing th e u m fraud lency , hypocrisy, im orality and irreligion

the . . 1 of whole scheme In a letter from him , Jan 7, 1 00 i 9 , he says Fairch ld had undoubtedly the genuine

original outline of the story . In rewriting it, Spald ing changed the starting point of his immigrants

and changed the names and incidents to suit . The

outline is the same . The story as rewritten is the m one that Rigdon received fro the printer . Fair ’ h e child s examination was superficial , in this , that did not know the evidences upon which the theory rests and therefore he did not discover that this

manuscript instead of disproving , confirms the the ” ory of the Spalding origin of the Book of Mormon .

Prof . W . H . Whitsitt, LL . D . , has given extended u st dy to the Book of Mormon , and has written , but in not published , a life of Sidney Rigdon , which he shows beyond a doubt that Rigdon is the responsible

author of the Book of Mormon , and that he used ’ Spalding s manuscript as a basis for his work . Act 34 R NI MO MO SM . ual identity between the Spalding manuscript and the Book of Mormon has never been maintained by h was those familiar with the facts , but t at the one d k ma e from the other is beyond doubt . The Boo of Mormon is more than six times as large as the “ of Manuscript Found , but the thought and plot m the latter runs all through the former . And fro

first to last , through a bold and daring piece of lit erar o y piracy , dishonesty , and hyp crisy , the Book of r m Mo mon was compiled , published and proclai ed by Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon as a divine revela ' tion , a new and improved system of religion In all the pages of history there is not a more shrewdly cons i r conceived , boldly executed , and successful p acy than this one of Sidney Rigdon , Joseph Smith , n Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer , and Marti

Harris .

o Doctrine and D n er M orm n s a g s .

The doctrines of Mormonism are ambigu ously and set forth in the Book of Mormon , Doctrine ar Covenants , Pearl of Great Price , and the Oracul r utterances of the First Presidency . All of these a e

. fi d of divine and equal authority But nothing is xe .

Improvements are always in order . Future doc m trines are promised and expected . The new ay the supersede the old any day, or the dead letter of old may be summoned into living practice as condi ffi of tions may demand . Their doctrines are di cult

- o . classification , since there is no authorized hand bo k Some of their doctrines are for the weak and unin 35 RIG IN C RINE AND DAN ER . O , DO T S G S i i t ated . Their proselyting missionaries are instruct “ e d to withhold the choicest morsels of their doc ” trine from th e crass multitude . These esoteric h truths are . only for those who are brought into t e

e t conf rences of the pries hood , and their secret gath

heir do trines e rin s . t c g in their temples But , as they h have been compiled from t eir books , and from the s utterances of their prophets , priests and apostle ,

- n s constitute a medley of merit maki g Buddhi m , ‘ an n m cestral worship of Confucia is , social pollutions m s e of Moham edani m , intrigu and chicanery of

s s Jesuiti m , ceremonial formalities of Judai m , sub

e - s lime s lf conceit of Pharisai m , the coarseness of

materialism , all bound together by the rites and

- covenants of a modified free masonry . “ ” 1 8 2 l e In 4 Artic es of Faith were published . Thes

have the semblance of Christian teaching , but this is

o a e nly one of their deceptive tr cts for Gentiles to r ad , for in these no claim is made to prophetic gifts and

is of asbolute calling, nothing said the authority of

the priesthood , of the plurality of gods , polygamy,

a e u or b ptism for the d ad , tithing, comm nism , living a h cles , etc . , all of w ich are the distinguishing doc e h trin s of the Mormon c urch . The Mormon faith intended for the uninitiated and uninformed always

has and bu t the form language of Christian creeds ,

is alwa s with ou h i ni t t e r mea n . y g When understood , s it is a gro s perversion of Christian truth . Though

Mormons are called Christians , and style themselves

e — are Latt r day Saints , they neither Christians nor

saints . Th ey are a s much outside the pale of 86 MORMONI SM .

s as u In Chri tianity B ddhists , or Mohammedans . fact there i s l ess of genuine Christian truth in their

s s e 1 3 i n i or y t m of faith , than there e ther Buddhism “ e Mohamm danism . A knowledge of Comparative ” s i Religion hows th s fact to be indisputable . I wish l now to cal your attention to some of their doctrines .

Th ir r i u e S c p t r es .

Th e Mormons profess that they believe the Bibl e to be the Word of God as far as it is translated ” correctly . But thi s statement is a deception . They believe that each separate nation has a Bible divinely n Th w given to that natio . e Bible e have was given

th e e s and t s and nt s to J w , is rue hi tory, co ain the will of God for th e J ews to whom it was di vinely re

It is vealed . not the Bibl e for thi s age or our na h . as n e u s no t tion It no bindi g forc upon , and does contain the plan of salvation for us ( BM z Neph i 20 :2 They teach that our Bible is incorrectly

an s ate and no w e e tr l d , with kno l dg of Hebrew , or

a a ee a s e him Ar m ic , or Gr k ; with no m nu cript befor in which th e Scriptures have been preserved ; with

e n a s h not ve correct knowledge of Engli h , Josep Smith set himself to th e task of giving to the world

th e a correct translation of the Bible . But from “ sampl e pages of his translation given in the Pear l ” of Great Price it is very evident that he was mere ly

n th e n a es e s copyi g Ki g J m v r ion of the Bible , trans posing and adding whatever he saw fit to give plaus RI IN DoorRIN Rs AND ANGER . O G , D S 37 ibilit y to his villainous scheme . Above the Bible “ they put the Book of Mormon . It is the fulness of the gospel ” restored to the world after seventeen

s centuries of concealment in the earth . This bring

an o its a man nearer to God than y ther book , and teaching is to supersede all other commandments 1 1 2 H SM S e 22 : . and cov nants ( DC ; CIII , ; J 1 0 P DABM 2 1 8p79 :\V p 8) . I was assured by a Mormon Elder that if I “ would read the Book of Mormon I would feel n the force of its divi ity I did read it , look e e ing for the int rnal evid nce of its divinity , and I di scovered that it is an i ncomprehensible jar ” It fl is a gon . is chie y h toric l , giving an account

Lehites an h of the Nephites , , Lam ites , and ot er anv such people as never lived in race or age , ’ and had no exi stence anywhere except in the writer s

s imagination . The content of this famous book is “ indeed a revelation to the informed student . One eighteenth of its content s is composed of quotations

e s e from the Bibl , whole chapters being tran ferr d

sa . s from I iah Curiou ly enough , in every one the ’ rendering of King James translation is followed to ‘ e e t the lett r , and even in all its rrors , hough not made till more than a thou sand years after Maroni laid the book away in the hill Cumorah ' Hamlet is quoted years before the bard of Avon was

s born . Ho ts of citations are made from the Gos

s e et e u n pels and Epi tl s , when as v the latt r were

t penned . Phraseology abounds which was curren ’ in Smith s dav in American politics and Methodist MORMONISM

‘ revivals , such as , If ye have experienced a change , ’ ‘ of heart ; Ye shall awake to a sense of your awful condition ‘I am encircled about eternally in the

‘ arms of hi s love enter into a covenant to support the cause of freedom , that they might maintain a ’ ‘ free government ; there were no robbers nor mur i derers in those days ; neither were there Laman tes ' n an i tes ( India s ) , or y manner of , And when Ma the roni had said these words he went forth , waving

rent hi s e of garm nt in the air , that all might see the ” writing which he had wr ote u p on the r ent ( DAL 2 1 ha B S4 p 7 ) . There is nothing more certain t that vocabulary and grammar fix the source of ma erial t and date of authorship . The Book of Mor an mon is exceedingly modern , notwithstanding its i s n . tique style , and a master piece of nonse se “The Doctrine and Covenants ” is another book

- fi e of divine gift and authority . The first seventy v pages contain the Lectures on Faith ” given by Sid

ney Rigdon to the early followers at Kirtland . These are an illogical and unmetaphysical attempt Th to give a philosophical presentation of faith . e rest of the book is a compilation of the pretended

e cs e h 2 - r velations of J p Smith given between 1 8 3 43 .

e To read this as I hav done , is to feel the force of its divinity in the same way with reading the Book “ n of Mormo , for it is full of execrable grammar ” and ridiculous rhetoric . It abounds in absurdities ,

e ambiguities , and unfulfill d prophecies , and is writ in ten imitation of H ebrew prophecy . It is a hodge

podge of political jargon , religious cant common at

40 MORMONISM .

authoritative standards , they pretend to pity Chris tendom because so poverty - stricken as to have only one Book of divine authority , and no divinely called and ordained priesthood to speak the new revela tions which God sends for new emergencies .

T Tr i it 1 God . he n y . ( )

The first article of their faith says :We believe in e Son God the eternal Fath r , and in his , Jesus

s . e r Chri t, and in the Holy Ghost That r ads o tho dox h in enoug , but does not express Mormon belief h n t e Tri ity . That was written for Gentiles to read . The e i God they believ in s not the God of the Bible . “ H e is not the God who is the personal Spirit , per

fectlv oo in e g d , who holy lov creates , sustains , and ’ e s ord r all No , the Mormon s god is a material “ ” se u s s and nsuo being, posse sing parts and passions , “ ' n es and es as havi g fl h bon tangible as ours , who once lived on earth and practiced polygamy ' Their “ god is only a deified man who was once as we are ” now a , and who is ever dvancing, always becoming

e . more perf ct , but never reaching perfection In his exalted station now he is surrounded by a beav en l and y harem , is the father of innumerable god

s let , for he is still multiplying immortal children . “ s ff Angels , men , and devil are his o spring by pro ” 1 0 :22 S DvolV I PKT o 2 creation ( DC 3 ; J J p3 ; p4 , 5 BM EI There is not a system of heathenism in existence that teaches a more vicious conception of RIGIN TRINES AND AN C S O , DOC D ER . 41

. the Morm God And even in . on system this poly gamons god is so far removed that we have nothing

to do with him . He is only the President of the ” f Grand Council o gods . The god to whom the

Mormons are directly responsible is Adam . The head god in grand assembly gave him permission to

create and govern a world , and he made the one we

- live in . This Adam god doctrine was proclaimed 1 8 2 in 5 in the name of the Lord , and to the amaze

e u m nt of all , by Brigham Yo ng in these words “ 0 i a a s Now hear it , nh bit nt of the earth , Jew and h n s n . Gentile , sai t and i ner W en our Father Adam

n rd came i to the ga en of Eden , he came into it with

a e an d one o his wives c lestial body , brought Eve , f , h with him . He elped to make and organize this h world . He is Mic ael the Archangel , the Ancient

o f men Davs , about whom holy have written and

n . spoke He is our Father , and our God , and the ” BY D l I only God with whom we have to do J vo V .

u nre p50 ) . And thi s monstrous dogma stands

and pealed in their theology , believed by the Mor

m a ons . They bo st that our God is their devil , and od so the g they worship is one of the most lively , c iable and cheerful men that ever lived ( AHCK

c . 1 Sept 5 ,

Tr 2 T init J esus . h e y . ( )

Mormons talk piously and beautifully about Je i s u s . s , the Son of God But this only their pious

e c ant to catch th ignorant . The Jesus they talk a is bout not , and cannot be the only begotten Son 42 R NI MO MO SM .

God of , the spotless Christ of our faith , for the Mor mons teach that Jesus was not begotten of the Holy f natural o s rin A n Ghost , but is the fl p g of dam a d M ar a y ; that on earth he was a polyg mist, because “ ” “ he was the bridegroom at Cana, and loved Mary ” and o Martha, who were his wives, as were als a m Mary M gdalene and other holy women , with who he associated , and that now in heaven he, like God , T 1 2 has a multitudinous harem ( SvI . p 58 ; DC 1 3 1 30 :22 PKTp43 AOHRMSp485 ; ' BY D ol J v V Lp5o ) . Think of it ' Nothing can be conceived so impious and blasphemous as this dis u f g sting teaching concerning Jesus . This is one o s and their choice morsel of doctrine for the initiated , not for the multitude .

The Tr init H ol iri t y . y S p . ( 3 )

i i n i Mormons pretend to bel eve the Holy Spir t, and the enrichment of their faith over ours through the abundant gifts of the Spirit, in revelations , gift of . tongues , interpretations of tongues , healing the sick , casting out devils , etc . But the Holy Spirit they believe in is not the Holy Spirit whom Jesus

e promised to s nd into the world , and who is our ' Comforter and Teacher . Far from it The Holy

Spirit in Mormon theology is the rankest nonsense . in It is a kind of fluid , or essence , composed of an

e of en finite numb r atoms , every one of which is

e dowed with knowl dge , wisdom , truth , love , justice , “ ” - flu id in all their ramifications . This spirit is ” widely diffused among the elements of space , like RI IN Boc INRs AND AN ER . 43 O G . D G S

electricity, galvanism , animal magnetism, and sub in j cet to the same laws as all other matter . It is visible only because of the coarseness of our uu re

fined and uninstructed nature . It is everywhere “ ” “ i fin i e n tu de . pr sent , because of the of atoms It is intermingled through all other matter ; pierces the human system to its utmost recesses ; produces all

s the phenomena of nature . In le s refined particles : i it exists as light becomes nstinct in animals , reason

in man and v1 s10n in the prophets . Jesus filled with

this ethereal fluid , uttered the truth with authority a in and wrought wonders of healing . By the s me spiration the priesthood speaks with equal author ” 1 0 :22 ity, and works marvels j ust as great ( DC 3 1 1 DA 2 1 3 LBS4 p 3 ) . It would seem that if any body h as ever committed the e sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost , since J o s sus charged it up n the Pharisees , the Mormon have '

M en B ecome Gods .

The Mormons are polytheists . This they deny “ and point to their articles of faith , and claim to be “ ” Unitarian as to the Godhead . But this denial is o i nl y a ruse to deceive the un nstructed . Their sys t em of doctrine about gods is primitive anthropo morphic polytheism with its polygamous god at the

head ; next below him is his polygamous son , Jesus , “ the eldest born and first heir of all the realms o f 44 RM NIS MO O M.

n d i . e s l ght Th n ta ds Adam , the god who create

e s m and gov rns thi world , and is the only god to who nnu Mormons are responsible . Then there is an i merable company of gods who were once polyga

men e s mous on arth , uch as Abraham , David , Solo

i n and \V ilfor ( l mon , Joseph Smith , Br gham You g ,

ood ru ff r W . All true Mo mons finally become gods , bu t the only way open to a place in the pantheon o f ” cele stial glory i s through blind obedience to th e o Mormon priesthood , and the practice of p lygamy . The more wive s a man has and the more children h e

e s e b come the fath r of , the bigger god he will be , for

hi h s he can rule over only s own vast progeny . In t i verv way all others from their head god down he “ is to came gods , and in th way all others may learn ” “ s s th e be gods . The e deified polygamist become ” and n Kings , Princes . Priests Nobles of Eter ity, and to any one of these deified men permission mat r “ e be given at any time to create, organize , peopl , r o on gove n , control , exalt , glorify, and enj y worlds ” re worlds . and the inhabitants thereof . Let it be membered that all the Mormon gods from top to m e e m and botto , w re onc polyga ous men on earth ,

e th y are all now deified polygamous men in heaven ,

d s s surrounde by their cele tial wive , and still multi a s plying vast progeny, who are born bodyless spirit e and float around in infinite spac , waiting for some Mormon child to be born on thi s earth into which th ev a can enter, and through an e rthly life of disci be pline and growth , and the practice of polygamy come in turn gods ' In this way Mormons obtain m Bs AND AN E 45 ORIG DoorRIN RS . , D G

their belief in the preexi stence of souls . This para dise of licentiousness is infinitely more u n - Christian and devilish than that of Mohammedanism ( BYJD I PKT 1 2 vol . V . o p5 ; j4 ,43 , 5 ;

P o m lyga y .

\Vhen the Mormon faith is understood it will be

seen that polygamy is essential to its coherency , and

was not an appendage . It first authorized by Joseph

1 8 . Smith in 43 at Nauvoo , Ill , but the practice was

in operation before the revelation came . In this

e monstrous r velation that authorized it , Joseph Smith threatened eternal damnation to all wh o

would not receive it , and eternal damnation to his

e any wif , Emma Smith , in particular , if she made objection to it ( DC 1 32 :5 1 It is declared to “ be an everlasting covenant to be received by all “ ” e i who hope to nter into celest al glory , and become

gods . Mormons appeal to the polygamous practice

of the Old Testament patriarchs , which they declare y God has never forbidden , while in realit He never

e if - ndorsed it . And this was good for former dav

- saints , it is also a blessing for Latter day Saints .

Poly gamy follows logically from the Smith - Rigdon attempt to follow literally all ancient precedents and

precepts . It is also based upon their theory of the p reéx istence of sou lsf The Mormon gods are rev

l lu st an d l e ing in a heaven of , space is fil ed with body le s u l s so s which the gods have produced , waiting 46 MORMONISM

to enter into some body of clay on the earth . You have often seen , as vou looked across a sunbeam

e falling through a small op ning into a room , fine h particles of dust floating in t e air . Just imagine these particles of dust to be souls , children of deified

s in polygamist , floating about space , aimless and

e t n n bodyl ss , wai ing for some child to be bor i to wh th ev can e vou n ich ent r, and have the Mormo conception of pree xistent soul s ' And many of the choicest spirits of eternitv have been reserved until thev these davs . so that could enter the children of polygamous Mormons and in turn become gods . All who reject the doctrine of polygamy are to be be damned , and those who do not practice it never l come gods , but on y become angels , and must for ever be the servants and slaves of those who through their plurality of wives and multitudinous children ri se to be gods PKTp4o- 4I BHRNWG460

From the first , polygamy has been resisted by

s many Mormon , and so they developed the practice “ ” of sealing wives , which went steadily on , but was r h r eve y e e denied . Missionaries sent out were in t n all struc ed to pronou ce such charges wicked lies . And thou sands of converts brought over from Eng land did not even know that polygamy was a doc

trine of the church till brought here . All Mormon “ ” marriages are of two kinds , for time and eternity ,

or for eternity only . In this world men must get n their wives , si ce no marriages are celebrated in v heaven , but each man can there ha e all the wives

NI 48 MORMO SM .

ae began to revive again, though secretly . The pr “ ” tice of sealing wives was resorted to , though as of

‘ E In v 1 0 old everywhere denied by Mormons ( Y d . 0 5 p 1 096 and M RWvolXI . p839) . From the date of its inauguration the doctrine of polygamy stands um n re repudiated, and u repealed . It has never been nou nced i indefinitel su s end or abol shed , but only y p ed by force of political pressure . Mormons cannot eradicate polygamy from their faith without recon i stru ct ng their whole system . And though they may “ not now openly practice polygamy , it is still funda mental to the coherence and consistency of their ” h faith . W en the Mormons presented their Dec ” laration of Grievances and Protest to President “ Cleveland they said , Among the principles of our religion is that of immediate revelation from God ; one of the doctrines so revealed is celestial , or plural a d m rriage, for which ostensibly we are stigmatize

e . and hat d This is a vital part of our religion .

e All orthodox Mormons beli ve in polygamy , and

is that it an essential part of their creed . This state document commits the Mormon church to polygamy . The high offi cials in the church still uphold the divinity of the plural marriage system . Angus

M . Cannon , president of the largest subdivision of :“ the church , said We still believe in the principle , of plural marriage, as we believe in the practices of ’ ’ the patriarchs . You can t change a people s be l oodru ff iefs Apostle W , son of President Wood ruff who issued the manifesto of 1 890 suspending polygamy , said , in an address to a convention of ORIGm Doct RINBs AND ANGER , D S.

o 1 1 8 8 : voung pe ple , June 4, 9 The belief in poly gamy is as much a part of the faith of the Mormon was church today as it ever , and the young people cannot deny this part of their belief without at the m ” same ti e denying the prophet Joseph Smith .

The present head of the church , Lorenzo Snow , said :“ I believe in the revelation given to Joseph a Smith , the prophet, on celestial m rriage, and that under certain conditions Latter - day Saints would be doing no moral or religious wrong in practicing plu ral marriage under divine sanction and religious ” reg ulations . During the political campaign of

1 8 8 GOV . . 9 , Heber M Wells , in replying to the chal “

. . b : lenge of B H Ro erts , said I would rather my tongue were torn from its roots than that I should utter a word against the divinity of the system which

gave me birth . I have not said one word against ” the system of plural marriage . Thus we see that polygamy is indi ssolubly bound up in their vicious

theory of gods . It is set forth in their doctrine as “ ” an everlasting covenant to be received by all . It in has never been repealed , nor renounced , but only

definitely suspended . Its divinity is still taught and f upheld by the high o ficials in their church . And o Mormons l ok forward with confidence to. the time . when it will be universally received and practiced

without restraint . The Mormons have not abandoned polygamy a since Utah g ined statehood , though they solemnly

promised they would , and have the mendacity to as

sert that they have . The neighbors of Lorenzo 50 RM NI S MO O M.

a i Snow, the president of the church, ssert that he s now ff secretly living with four di erent wives , one of the . H youngest having a child two years old B . . ‘ r Robe ts , their rejected representative , by his own

confession , and the finding of the Congr essional has committee , three living wives , the last one , Dr .

1 8 . Maggie Shipp, taking his name in 97 The Mor

mons themselves confess that few , if any, have abandoned plural marriages contracted previous to 1 8 0 m 9 , though they sole nly promised to . Now they i t claim , as a matter of consc ence , hat they cannot t forsake their immorality , and that there was a taci a underst nding that they should not, which is only a mental reservation among themselves . The Pres

b ter . 2 1 8 8 y y of Utah , at its annual meeting Aug 9, 9 , brought seven charges against the Mormon church . “ The third one says :The Mormons are being urged ‘ ’ ‘ ’ to live their religion . One lives his religion in Utah who has entered the ‘celestial order of mar ’ ‘ ’ riage, and cohabits with all his wives . Of such cases more than two thousand have come to our no n t m e tice , and this livi g has resulted in the bir h of or than one thousand children since statehood was ” n 1 8 6 a . . granted , J 4, 9 Ind

March 3 , These charges were brought

E . through Prof . M . . Jones of Salt Lake City They were afterwards affirmed by the Methodist confer t m ence of U ah , and are confirmed by innu erable people who live and labor in Utah and know the r t facts . To conceal their immoralities and unt u h e 1 886 t fulness , th court records from to the presen RIGIN C RINE AND ANGER 5 1 O , DO T S D S . time show that polygamous Mormons have unblush ingly resorted to mendacity and perjury ( MEJInd . a 1 8 8 M rch 3 , 9 ,

B o Atone ent lo d m .

The Mormon doctrines have not all come at once ,

s a but have been added , as the occa ion dem nded , “ ro h through the living oracles of the presidents , p p ets , and seers . Soon after settlement in Utah in 1 8 t 47, secure in heir isolation , the fertile imagina tion of Brigham Young, that furnace of furious pas “ ” d - sions , devise the doctrine of blood atonement , v which is , that the only way to secure the sal ation and eternal exaltation of some apostates from the church , and some incorrigible Gentiles , is to murder them . Their spilt blood ascending to heaven as a “ s smoking incense would atone for their sin , “ s the wherea , if such is not case , they would stick to i w l ” them , and remain upon them in the sp rit or d . ” This cutting ofl people from the earth is declared

as to be . loving their enemies themselves , and that “ many have been righteously slain in order to atone ” ’ for their sins . If their neighbor s blood ought to be shed to atone for their s1ns , then their duty is to o shed it . The auth rs of this diabolism declared that “ the wickedness and ignorance of the nations forbid this principle being in full force but expressed the “ wish that they were in a situati on favorable to our

i s u s a e e doing that which j tifi bl b fore God , without 5 2 MORMONISM . any contaminating influences of Gentile amalgama

e tion , laws , and traditions , that the p ople of God s Mormon ) might lay the ax to the root of the tree , and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit ” ( become obedient Mormons ) might b e hewn down B Y D Pres M G M arch 1 2 1 8 BYDN ( 4J 53 , 54 J , , 54 ; 4JD2 1 9- 2o ; O PJDI 6 ; AGS I JD97 AK7JD

These extracts are not newspaper reports , but

een have b gathered by the Hon . A . T . Schroeder of Salt Lake City from the authorized publications of M R N the church ( VV ov . When this barbarity was authorized in the name ” of religion the Reformation set in . The Mountain Meadow Massacre in southern Utah in 1 857 was de “ ” termined upon by a high council of the church . It was e e e b r n s x cut d y Mo mo militia , a sisted by a few

s 200 men e and Indian , when , wom n children , Gentile

s s emigrant , were avagely slaughtered ; their horses , n wagons , cattle , clothing and mo ey appropriated by n d ffi a . the church , divided among the church o cials The leaders of the murde rous plot were shielded

th e s and from the law by Mormon , rewarded with “ s wives and pre tige for their dastardly work . The

ass V m acre in the valley of the Rio irgin , the murder

M orrisites of the , when scores of men , women and children of an apostate sect were slaughtered ; the

e s e R at butch rie the Danite Port r ockwell , whose tempt to a ssassinate Governor Boggs of Missouri ; th e B rassfield o th e outrage committed upon b ys , and

th e es all the assassination of Parish , show how the doctrine was practically applied to destroy out RIGIN Doc INBs AND ANGERS 5 8 O , D .

conveni siders . The Mormons , of course, have ently forgotten these malodorous deeds , or bitterly deny that they were instituted by the church . But denial is not proof . The facts are all against them . a u n And this doctrine stands today unrepe led , but “ ” practiced , in the midst of their living oracles .

Th P r e ies thood .

The Mormons claim that their ecclesisastical system is not only modeled after its Hebrew proto x o type , but is an e act repr duction of the literal king dom of God which Jesus came to inaugurate . But earl through apostasy in the v centuries all churches , dectrines be societies , covenants , and governments : came corrupt and full of error , and are destined to

- perish ( DC22 :1 4 ; l :3o ) . For seventeen hundred years there has been no true church , no divinely

s called minister , no authorized teachers , only a spu

- h riou s n and . , ig orant man made priest ood But with

Joseph Smith a new era dawned , the only true church was restored to the world , the only divinely called , inspired and authorized priesthood set up , which is to bear rule over all things secular , civil and l re igious . Corresponding to an imaginary graded priesthood in heaven , of which Jesus is the Great

s High Prie t; is the Mormon priesthood on earth . For the carrying on of affairs in this world Jesus has bestowed plenary power upon Joseph Smith and through him upon others , consequently only Mor 54 R NI MO MO SM .

re mons have the right to teach , preach , dictate in li ion m n g , ad inister the business and ordi ances of the ff church , govern in political a airs, and their sway is even to be supreme over the home and business life of all subjects . The Mormon priesthood is divided into two chief divisions , with multitudinous subdivisions, so that in theory every white adult male is an ordained mem ber of this mystic order . Women , children and negroes are , of course, excluded . In the beginning in the ante—mundane strife between the Son who a rom proposed to save f llen man f sin , and Lucifer e sin who propos d to save man in , a third part of the heavenly host sided with Lucifer and were defeated and expelled . But there was another despicable

m u e ofth in co p any who were neutral , and beca s eir

' difl erence were doomed to be negroes during their

ou I n on a t - na al e soj earth . Bec use of this an e t curs the negro is not eligible to the Mormon priesthood The first division of the priesthood is the Aaronic w or ith its bishops , priests , teachers and deacons , all anized g into suitable clubs , who are to look after the ff temporal a airs of the church . Then comes the M elchisadec priesthood with its apostles , seventies, patriarchs , high priests and elders, suitably organ ized to govern in all spiritual things . This latter is superior to the Aaronic , and standing at the head , the apex of this priestly pyramid , is the President, ’ - Prophet, Seer , Revelator , and God s only vice gerent on earth , responsible to no power in the world , the a absolute dictator in things spiritu l , political , indus

RM NI 56 MO O SM.

I would just as soon think of heaven entering into chaos and of the throne of God being shaken to its foundation as to think that the priesthood of the Son th e of God had gone wrong in its authority, or that

Lord would permit such a thing . It is a o dreadful thing to fight against, or in any manner p T L J ou rn l pose the priesthood . h e ogan a of May 26 1 8 8 r n o a : , 9 , reports P eside t G wans as s ying “ Their priesthood gives them the right to advise and

instruct the saints , and their jurisdiction extends ” Rob over all things , spiritual or temporal . B . H . “

in . 1 8 s : erts his New Witness for God , p 7, say “ Men who hold the priesthood possess divine au thority thus to act for God and possessing part of ’ God s power they are in reality part of God . Men who honor the priesthood in them honor God,

s and tho e who reject it, reject God . The chief end

of man is to obey the Mormon priesthood .

Th ei rs not t o make repl y

Th ei rs not to r eason wh y .

Man ’ s temporal and eternal destiny is determined o not up n his personal relation to God , and to Jesus ’ Christ, the world s Redeemer, but upon unthinking, i the unquestion ng obedience to Mormon priesthood . a nd Nothing could be more arrog nt, unscriptural, a unchristian than such a usurpation ' RIGIN Doc'I‘RIa AND AN E O , D G RS. 5 7

’ B a tism Lord s S u r Tithi n o e C mmunism. p , pp , g,

Th e Mormons practice immersion to wash away

. a sins Children are baptized when eight ye rs old ,

‘ for they are supposed to be accountable at that age, and baptism is often administered to the same per'

son several times during life . But no one has any divine right to administer baptism except a Mormon l r priest or e de . They not only baptize the living in

order to the forgiveness of sin , but they baptize the

living for the dead . If any one has failed of the

grace of Mormonism and died, he may be rescued from purgatorial fires by having some one baptized ff for him . President Woodru declared publicly in 1 897 that he had been baptized in the Temple of St . o George for the men who wrote the C nstitution , and signed the Declaration of Independence of the

United States , and that he had been given a guaran tee that they are now all elders in Israel . Such o superstitious folly is practiced and enc uraged . ’ The Lord s Supper is observed every Sunday and everybody from th e very aged down to the young ’ infants in their mother s arms take part in it . Water

I is generally substituted for wine . There s neither solemnity , nor spiritual significance attached to it . The observance is a hollow mockery and more de serving the sharp censure of Paul than ever did the drunken orgies of the Corinthians . A rigid system of tithing was inau gu aretd at the R NI 58 MO MO SM.

first of Mormon history . The new convert must give a tenth of his property to the church, and then h in tithe is income each year . Tithes may be given products of the soil , in merchandise or in money . Large storehouses are provided where goods are re i ce ved . , and then sold No account is ever rendered of the tithes received . Nobody knows where they ‘ i l be ofli c a s . go, except the church These usually h come men of wealth . In theory t e tithes support cof the church , in reality most of them go into the fers of Mormon officials . The poor and ignorant people have a belief that if they do not pay the tithe “ n a black a gel will send some calamity upon them , Th or will cause them to pine away and perish . e whole system of tithing is nothing but a shrewdly the devised scheme of brigandage , in order to rob n h ma v and enrich t e few . From time to time the leaders have attempted to s establish communism , but the members have alway resisted this . The only relic of these attempts is the “ ” Order of Enoch established by Brigham Young, and is composed of that high and holy number of Mormons who are u nworldy enough to call nothing that they have their own .

r r o th The S ou r ces of M o mon G w . It is a matter of surprise that such a politico ecclesiastical despotism has grown to its present r a dimensions . The first Mo mon church was org n Y 1 8 0 mem iz . . ed in Fayette , N , in 3 , with only six bers . Three were Smiths and two were Whitmers , 59 IN DoorRINBs AND AN ER . ORI G , D G S

the other being Oliver Cowdery . At first no creed aim was adopted . They had no doctrines . Their was to gain adherents rega rdless of religious faith

or character . In that day of political discontent, and m ffi religious acri ony , it was no di cult task to band together the ignorant and dissatisfied in a new or ganization that proposed to round out the creeds of

christendom . These ambitious religionists began by proclaiming such exciting doctrines as the restor

ation of the Jews , the speedy coming of Christ, the of t e approaching end the world , and h presence of

a living prophet . At the present time Mormons claim

members, with millions of dollars of property, and

profess to be growing at a rapid rate . The sources

of supply are chiefly three .

I—N t r l I ncr a u a ease .

The road to celestial glory and deification lies

through multiplying wives and children . The belief in the speedy coming of Christ when th e incarnation of spirits shall cease lends encouragement to the

practice of polygamy . This is the cause, partly, of

the recent revival in polygamy . Among these people children naturally multiply faster than among u monogamo s and virtuous people . Mormon par “ ents train up their children in the nurture and ad ” of o monition the Mormon priesthood , th ugh they n are grossly ig orant of the teaching of Jesus Christ . Children taught and trained to be Mormons seldom I forsake the training of their childhood . t is a noto 00 MORMONISM .

i r ou s . saving, Once a Mormon always a Mormon Sunday schools are abundant and universally n attended . Church services are multiplied a d widely attended . In every community are religious o scho ls , which Mormon children are required to o attend , in addition to the public sch ols where their religion is not allowed to be taught . Though in many of the public schools Mormonism is secretly taught by the Mormon teachers .

—I m or t tion II p a . The most fruitful source of supply is that of im i n ortat o . p During the dark days at Kirtland, when Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were tarred and feathered and had to flee under cover of night for m their lives , it was revealed to Joseph that he ust do “ ” something to save the church, and he sent Heber

C . Kimball and six others over the sea to make con verts and send them to this country. So shrewd and successful were they in their work that one thousand were baptized within six months . Other mission aries were sent to England Things at Nauvoo e se med peaceful and prosperous , and five thousand converts from England were sent over in 1 840 by the successful missionaries . Mormon missionaries have gone into almost every country of the world . About 1 800 of them are at work in various parts of the earth at the present time A stream of foreign converts is constantly pouring into the western states . In European countries the peasant class are familiar with priestcraft and state RI IN Doc INBs AND DANGRRs 01 O G ,

n religio s . To these are presented only the attract ive features of Mormonism . They are anxious to r come to this count y , especially to Utah , which is “ ” n o pictured as the la d fl wing with milk and honey, where there is peace and plenty—the richest and most righteous state in the Union . Money is sup plied them for their passage out of the Mormon ”

1 8 . Emigration Fund , which was established in 49 and A home is promised them at nominal cost , ecu money loaned to get settled with . All of these p niary inducements the new made converts gladly

e acc pt . but when once here they learn that it all

i s t . e . to be paid back to the church , with int res Rev D D i . . n Dwight Spencer, of New York, a letter to n 1 8 1 00 a . me J , 9 , states that he heard President “ John Taylor say in 1 882 that there was then due the ‘Emigrant Fund ’ from emigrants already brought over about and he urged payment in order that the money might be used in bringing ”

. t over other emigrants Last mon h ( December, 1 899) the Washington correspondent of the New Evenin P os t York g , called the attention of the public to the increasing immigration of young women con verts to Mormondom from European countries . o The immigration commissi ner at Castle Garden ,

Fitchie 1 000 Thos . J . , states that at least young r women come every year, in groups of from thi ty to fifty , in charge of Mormon elders , with their tick ets through to Utah . They come from the lower classes of Scotland , the north of England , Wales , D n . . D Norway and Swede Rev Dwight Spencer , . ISM MORMON .

h for some years a resident of Utah , writes me t at in 1 88 1 he was in Ogden and saw a thousand Euro pean immigrants and Mormon converts unload from a single train . It is exceedingly doubtful if these novitiates of Mormonism know the real inwardness of their new faith , till after reaching Utah , for many of them apostatize soon after the missionaries ’ pic ture is found to be a fake . The prevalence of for eigners is at once noticeable to anyone going to Utah . “ o All thr ugh the state are colonies of foreigners,

- poor, simple minded folks , many of whom cannot even understand English . These people are not the scum of Europe and America , the vicious and de raved p , but the majority of them are the ignorant, simple, religious people , on whose blind credulity and superstitious zeal the leaders can count with certainty Since the first company of English con l 1 8 0 verts anded in Nauvoo in 4 , it is estimated that not less than have emigrated from foreign lands , and the number grows at an average rate of two thousand a year . But for this foreign supply the church would long ago have exhausted itself , for the number who have fallen away from Latter day grace has been large . After the perils and dis

- graces at Nauvoo , fully one half apostatized . When polygamy was first proclaimed in Great Britain in 1 853 th e church was well nigh broken up by rebel 1 lion and desertion . Between 855 and 1 883 over 1 n have abandoned the church disgust . And a every ye r the apostates are numerous . But the fields and field workers keep the ranks at home l fi led up .

64 MORMONISM .

between their doctrines and Christian doctrines . The seventh charge preferred against the Mormons 1 8 8 by the Presbytery of Utah in 9 , and endorsed by all Christian workers who are familiar with Mormon “ : a methods , says The missionaries c rry a veiled gospel . They do not say all they have to say in the ‘ ’ d o not first sermon , nor in any field sermon . They ‘ ’ ‘ ’

i m . even g ve the people meat, much less strong eal ‘ ’ e They feed milk . It is safer . Bett r adapted to

weak and sensitive stomachs . Faith , repentance , baptism by immersion for the forgiveness of sins by

‘ ’ one having authority , and imposition of hands , and th e stock doctrines commanded by Joseph Smith and his successors to be taught to the world ; while the —od m Adam g , i mediate revelation , infallibility of the th e priesthood , divinity of Book of Mormon, celes

tial order of marriage, God as a polygamist , Christ i the husband of three w ves , salvation for the dead by

vicarious baptism , the duty of tithes , implicit obedi

ence to the priesthood in all things , personal or blood n atoneme t for the pardon of the unpardonable sin , and such like doctrines they save until the digestion of the new convert is improved and he can take ‘ ’ M R . NO W v . 8 8 0 strong meat 9 p 4 ) . Many of their missionaries are earnest and m n sincere e . They thoroughly believe what they

teach , but they have been trained in the school

of deception . The methods they use they believe ” to be thoroughly legitimate , and being crafty they catch the unstable and uninformed in their net “ Mormonism is adapted to the intellectual RIGIN RINE AND ANGERS . 65 O , DOCT S D

th e m capacities of the masses, ultitude of the

and o ignorant po r, the wretched , the Pariahs of ff society . To these are o ered just what they

re a sure always to hunger for, bald assumption

n e and bou dl ss assertion , great show of authority, these helping to certitude in faith ; salvation by

s - form , by the legerdemain of rites , the hocus pocus of initiation and anointing :literal interpretation of the Scriptures, and profuse quotation of texts , spec ially such as are set i n th e poetical and obscure dic tion of the prophets . The sameminds delight in prodi

‘ ’ i o irifi Th m re m i u od n tum r m co. e o ter . o s gies ' g , p y t o f h n s ou s the more t . o o t e endowme t rue The secrecy, , has a charm as well as the ofli ces and titles which

- each one may possess . Of such gew gaws and tin h e sel this churc has unlimit d store . And who is not flattered by the assurance that he is of the few wise

and blessed of the race, that the many outside his coterie are foolish and doomed ' No doubt also by

setting the standard of morality so lamentably low , and offeringsalvation to the worst on such easy terms n as exter al obedience and service, thousands have ” h DALB 2 been captured and eld ( S4 p39) . Armed a thus with a doctrine f scinating to excitable minds , and playing upon the emotions and credulity of the

- simple minded , thousands of converts are made by l their missionaries . Mormon e ders are not only in

structed to make converts , but also to gather them “ Z o to i n . And it is a well known fact that no sooner is a neophyte baptized in any part of the world than

he i s seized with an irresistible longing to forsake 66 M R NI M O MO S . home and friends and hasten to dwell with his fel

- low saints . The hue and cry of persecution has long been an effective means among them of enkind l ing sympathy . It has been true with them that the

e - d blood of Latt r ay Saints is the see d of the church . Through these and other agencies this western s s o uper titi n has surprisingly flourished , and it will

so imm ration im flourish long as g , ignorance and morality furni sh material .

M ormonism P oli ti c M en ce a al a . The Mormon religion is essentially a politico

e ecclesiastical despotism . The priesthood is suprem and absolute in all things spiritual and temporal .

h the Their organization is that of a state c urch , with priesthood wielding every form and grade of au i thor t . y, whether municipal , state, or national All

- and other administrators are intruders , self chosen s r profane . The prie thood claims the right to cont ol

e e h In th consciences and the vot s of t eir subj ects . Missouri it was discovered that the Mormon church

e a vot d solidly , and their bold interference in politic l i l affairs prec pitated their troub es upon them . Nau

w s a n a voo . a e , Ill , mu icip lity well nigh independ nt of th e state di tated b ose h Smith wh o e , c to y J p , got hims lf set up by his follow ers as a candidate for the presi “ deney of the United States on a platform of free ’ ” trade and sailors rights . And more than 300 Mor mon elders were sent broadcast over the land to elec

h e e fi tioneer for him . From t v ry rst the Mormon church has been an i nveterate and audacious med

e th dl or in political affairs . Wh n e priesthood dic RI IN DoorRINRs AND ANGER . 67 O G , D S

a e th rowiI e e d t t s , the Mormon vote is wherev r n ede to hold the balance of power . Men who are Demo crats dic turn Republicans in a single night, at the tation of the church , for they are Mormons first , 1 then politicians . In 895 B . H . Roberts and Moses Thatcher resisted the dictation of the priesthood in

e political matt rs , and they both were defeated , and Thatcher was degraded from every offi cial position 1 8 . 8 in the church In 9 B . H . Roberts had acknow ledged the rule of his ecclesiastical superiors and as a reward for his obedience was elected to Congress . No man can be elected to offi ce unles s acceptable to . h the priesthood of t e church . Before becoming a a c ndidate he must secure their approval . As soon as Utah attained statehood the Mor mon church entered aggressively into political ff a airs . At the first state election in 1 895 they

e . . lected a Mormon governor , H M Wells , who

o but e in is not a p lygamist , a b liever the divin it h y of t e system . His election gave them of ih ti i n control the state educational s tut o s . In 1 897 the city governments of Salt Lake City

e and Ogden dropped complet ly into their hands , and “ further advances were made in the subjugation

all of city and county schools , and in the formation of lines by which the church leaders may gauge their l po itical movements with accuracy . Only the judi ciary in Utah is now l e ft ou tside the pale of th e ” u a ch rch . Not only is Ut h almost wholly in the

o f m s power the Mormons , but Mor on legislator have already been the arbiters in two senatorial con test s in a e ed th Id ho , and hav prevent e election 68 R NI MO MO SM . of a senator in Wyoming by refusing to break a deadlock . Colorado , Nevada , and New Mexico have

d t t alrea y felt heir force , and been driven to pay e spect to their influence . With a controlling influ l ence in so many western legis atures , it becomes an easy matter to dictate a policy for the whole nation .

aimni YI This the Mormons are now g to do ( E nd . ’ ’ 8 1 EYM R n ct . 2 1 O 9 p 096 ; WJa . 99p The Mormon church arrogates to itself the right

to make kings , presidents , constitutions , and in ’ short to control governments . It is forbidden to have any alliance or fellowship with any other churches or societies , and all nations must obey it or “ be eternally damned . All merely human religious or political institutions , all republics , states , king ” doms , empires must be dissolved . The Mormon theocracy has come to take their place ( DC 1 z3o ; I PGPp47 ; PKTp73 ; BHRNWGp ) . At the celebration of their fiftieth jubilee Bishop Lunt said : “Like a grain of mustard seed was the truth planted in Zion ; and it is destined to spread through all the world . Our

has church been organized only fifty years , and vet behold its wealth and power ' This is our year of jubilee . We look forward with per fect confidence to the day when we will hold the reins of the United States government . This is our pres ent temporal aim ; after that we expect to control the ” continent . When Judge King went to aid the Mormon propaganda in Brooklyn a few years ago “ he declared that , Mormonism is a challenge which e meets you in the roadway of lif , and compels you 69 IN RINES AND ANGER . ORI G , DOCT D S

to give th e watchword of true Christianity . It com pels you to say whether you are with God or not ; it challenges the orthodoxy of today and calls it het x has erodo y . Mormonism come to make the whole ” world one nation, one people, one faith . This aim of conquest was incorporated in the beginning ; it has been fostered all along its history ; and is cher

ished today with brazen effrontery . When Mor “ r mons point to their a ticles of faith and say , We in r believe being subject to kings , p esidents , rulers

and magistrates , in obeying, honoring and sustain ” ing law , it is well to remember that in their creeds r it is always Mo mon kings , presidents , rulers and law h , and that t ey look forward to the time when l every civil functionary sha l be a Mormon . They s be imply tolerate existing governments and laws , ’ cause they can t help themselves .

‘ Mormonism is the deadly enemy of religious n liberty and freedom of co sci ence . Their pro fessions to the contrary are Only to soothe gov ernment fears The planting upon American soil of the Oriental pagan institution of poly

'

gamy is by no means its greatest evil . Even the rank and file of Mormons have never accepted

e and this doctrin do not practice it . But Mormon i sm in is absolute its aim . It brooks no rivalry in

. religion It shows no alliance in politics . It alone has the right to make and unmake kings , presidents ns and co titutions . The triumph of Mormonism would mean the utter overthrow of all religious free i a dom , polit c l liberty , and the characteristics of our e h n i n . nlig te ed civilizat o It would reduce, woman to , 70 R NI MO MO SM .

e to Oriental slavery, and turn the whol world back the twilight of patriarchal practice . But the Ameri can people will not be beguiled by any such insane s uperstition , and undertake to go without a reli “ gion . Dr . H . K . Carroll says of Mormonism : It was conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity . It seems strange that Mormonism should ever have obtained the hold on people that it did , or should

e have outliv d the generation in which it was born . Its foundations were laid in fraud and perjury ; its book was inspired by insanity or satanity ; its reve lations a came not from above , but from bene th ; its doctrines are sensual and devilish ; its priesthood ,

s l as was at lea t , in the early days was as ungod y it tyrannical ; its hierarchy inspired the awful crime of

s the Mountain Meadow ma sacre , and Bishop John

D . Lee was convicted and executed ; assassination ,

e - n und r the guise of the doctrine of blood atoneme t , was frequent in its early years at Salt Lake

City . Hardly a crime in the catalogue is omit ted from the terrible indictment which lies against thi s so- called Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day

s - fiv s Saint . In the last twenty e years the trong arm

e u of the Unit d States has kept it nder control , while railroads opened the Territory to th e light of civili i ff zat on . No doubt the church is ruled by a di erent policy today ; but its teachings have scarcely changed .

not s an It is biblical , it is not Chri ti , it is not moral , n and it is ot entitl ed to respect as a religion . The Christian churches owe it to the cause for which

e n o th y sta d , and to the go d name of this Christian

n a n e cou try , to l bor dilige tly to enlight n and Chris