The Express.
London, England, 1848-01-03 00:00:00

WORCESTERSHIRE.

THE MORMOSITEs IY ENGLAND.—The Worcester
Herald of Saturday says: "Some instructive rarratives of
the conduct of Mormonite missionaries and their dupe- have
appeared frnn time to time in this journal. We have now
to record an event which is astounding, when regarded as
having taken place in the midst of a sane community. Sun-
day three weeks ago, a conference of Mormonites was held
in a large room in Carden-street, Blockhouse—the place
where formerly the Socialists used to hold their assemblies.
At the conference a person from the United States attended,
and acted as the moving spirit. There were about 300 per-
sons present, but, with the exception of half a dozen or so,
they were entirely composed of country people. A great num-
ber of the men wore smock frocks, and the general appearance
of the femalesbespoke them as belonging to the poorer classes.
There w.s, however, a sprinkling of both 1, acs of that
class which may ho placed between the middle and the lower
—people well to do in the world, for their station in life,
saving mechanics and their wives and first-clan labourers,
who, by industry, and as much skill as could be exerted in
their humhle sphere, have contrived to raise themselves out
of the reach of that poverty in which the great majority of
their fellows are immersed during their lives. The city put
of the assemblage consisted apparently of mere curioaity
seekers; our informant has been accustomed to mark the
distinctions in people, and he states that this part of the
audience did not exceed the trifling number above stated.
The assemblage was drawn chiefly from the parishes of
Upton Snodsbury, Grafton, Pinvin, Wyre Piddle, Crowle,
Droitwieh, and Sales-green. Why the meeting was called a
conference ' did not appear, and the only speaker was
the Yankee above referred to. This individual s;oke ex-
tempore on the tenet. of Mormonism for a long space. He
then ' ordained' several priests and deacons horn among
the congregation, setting them apart to preach the Mor-
i monite gospel in various localities ; and one man named
Fletcher he specially appointed to proend as a miiisionary to
Norwich. The ceremonial was a rough burlesque upon the
formalities used in the church on such solemnities. and the

doctrines age already tolerably well known to our readers as a
tissue of them. et transparent nonsense, founded upon a mass
of impudent fslsehood. The Yankee apostle of Mormonism
did not stop in his assumption of solemn functions at online.
tiers of priests, and setting apart of miasionaries; he enacted
a blasphemous parody upon the most sacred Christian rite by
administering the Lord's Supper to all that would partake.
Assisted by his ' elders' he broke a quartern loaf into Mims,
and then being presided with a large can of pump water, he
consecrated these as the incremental elements. It is melan-
choly to think that a great number of persons joined in
this daring impiety, and appeared as earnestly and deeply
impressed as if they had been engaged much more worthily
than in parodying so veered a right. The apostle's finale to
the afternoon ' service,' as he called it, was to inform the
' brothers and sisters' that the kettle was boiling, and tea
about to be made, and he invited all present to stay and
partake, adding that, though there was no compulsion, they
might throw into the treasury what they chose, in order to
defray the cost of Brother Fletcher's mission to Norwich !
Our informant did not remain for tea drinking, having seen
and heard quite enough of Mormonism. The worst feature
in the ease is, that the dupes of Mormonism are in general
drawn from that estimable class of our rural population who,
finding that they have higher desires to be gratified than
mere physical affections, are yet too ignorant to distinguish
between truth and falsehood an matters wherein the nerves
are capable of being so seriously and variously affected as in
questions of religion."
LINCOLNSHIRE.
FARMERS' CLUBS.—At the last monthly meeting
of the Spalding Farmers' Club, an interesting and well sus-
tained discusaion took place relative to " Underdraining ;"
on which subject the following resolution was unanimously
agreed to:—" That it is the opinion of this meeting that
pipe-tilein drainingi
ettheta
tmtret rll
7.
si e nsthm.
uold
notwheree lteehso
thanout
fall is
three feet six inches deep. Tho distance of the drains apart
to be regulated by the nature of the soil."—Mr. Webeter,
from the Peterboro' club, after speaking on the subject be-
fore the meeting, remarked how very beneficial these societies
were to farmers in general, as well from the individual good
feeling they were instrumental in producing and promoting,
as from the moans they afforded, in conjunction with the
central society in London, of extending improvements and
communicating agricultural knowledge through the length
and breadth of the land. He also instanced several beneficial
results to tke neighbourhood of Peterboro' from the institu-
tion of the society there for giving premiums to the most
clever and industrious labourers, particularly with reference
to underdraining, which tended to show that the ridicule
lately attempted to be thrown on such societies in certain
quarters, was undeserved and unjust. In these opinions he
was warmly supported by the meeting.
Tna LINCOLN COUNTY PRISON was lit up with gas
for the first time on Wednesday night, and will very speedily
be fit for occupation. There are three tiers of cells, and each
cell is provided with a gas-light, a wash-hand basin, and a
closet, and the bed is a hammock swung from the walls. The
heating is procured by an apparatus which exhausts the air
above, and the causes a current upwards from the cella,
whilst a current of heated air is sent into the cells from ano-
ther quarter. By means of a small eyelet in each door the
whole cell can be surveyed, and the food of the prisoner can
be given him through a small Ilap-door. Every prisoner can
summon a turnkey at any moment, by means of a bell, the
ringing of which throws out a signal against the cell-door
and no prisoner can assault a turnkey by pushing to the door
and thus fastening the turnkey in the cell with him, as by a
very ingenious contrivance the lock-bolt can be prevented
from acting whilst a turnkey is in the cell. Provision is
made for hot or cold baths at a minute's warning, and
the cooking apparatus is of the most complete description.