The Express.
London, England, 1851-08-23 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

3foratoos or Latter Day Sointo; a Cullom/wary
flish.ra. 011iee of the National Illustrated Library.
19S, Strand.

Wu suppose that there is no breach of anybody's
confidence in saving that this volume is the produc-
tion a l)r. Charles Mackay. That clear and liberal-
minded writer had his attention directed to the
"Mormons" when engaged on an inquiry into the
question of " labour and the poor" at Liverpool. The
result is before us in a very interesting and curious
history. Though, by-the-bye, we must protest in
lintine against " Joe ginitles being called, as he is
both in the title page and in the advertisements, the
"American Mahomet." In the present state of
European knowledge and European opinion, any
such view of %Memel as is implied in a comparison
of him to our present hero the founder of Nlonnon-
ism, can only appear very- illiberal and very ignor-
ant : of course, this observation does not apply to
the author, but only to the humbler functionary who-
ever he was, who hit on this unfortunate piece of
clap-trap, and who, doubtless, is innocently un-
conscioua of all that has been said about the old
Arabian prophet from Grotius and Reland to Wash-
ington Irving. Now-a-days this sort of thing ought
to be left to told women and the authors of university
prize essays.
Who are the Mormons—and what have they done?
The Nlornions are a sect called formally the Latter-
Day Saints, numbering 31/0,101) people, and occupy-
ing a state in America called lkseret, in New Cali-
fornia—nearly as large as England. They have a
thorough organisation, spiritual and temporal, and
aro as prosperous as, und perhaps superior in their
energy to. any body of people living. Now here is
what a contemporary would calla " great fact." Ikre
we have a certain result accomplished which certainly
is a good one. For if work be the distinctive feature of
the age, as everybody pronounces it, here arc the hest
workers • if faith be the distinctive avant of the age,
as everybody saes likewise, a hy, here arc the latest
body of men who have fought and suffered for the
faith that thee profess. Accordingly. if we want to
know %hue :Mormonism means (which, we appre-
hend to be the Object of sensible people), we must
begin by recognising it as a real product of the age.
Let us try and forget that poor Joe Smith is called a
" prophet." The contrast between the words
" prophet " and " Smith" indeed is such as to be
peireptible to people of very (ordinary powers of
humour—in fact, might readily afford delight to
what Thackeray calls a " boorish wag." Perhaps,
also. no history would be so attractive to, so provoca-
tive of the powers of, tenth-rate Gibbons' and tenth-
rate Voltaire as this history of Nlormomism. Let us
leave all that kind of thinebehind 114, and, imitating
the impartiality which we are happy to say charac-
terises l)r. Mackay's narrative. endeavour to learn
what there is to be learned from this singular
phenomenon.
Joseph Smith was horn the son of poor farmer
people in Sharon, Windsor, county Vermont, United
States, in the year Dee:). lie seems to have been des-
tined to be a farmer, and to have grown up in an
obscure enough way. It is important to notice that
his youth was spent in the midst of all sort of secta-
rian din—in the wildest hubbub of contending sects.
Ho was quite uneducated, it would seem also.
Coupling these facts we shall he able to guess what
strange shapes auv devotional impulses of his would
be likely to take. Now, what sort of devo-
tional impulses had he ? That he had some such
appears perfectly clear. Dr. Mackay considers
hum to have behoved in his own mission long after-
waAs. And the fact is perfectly plain that in
his youth he had a genuine interest in the
subject of religion. We heir of his having "visions"
and believing in divine communications--sick delu-
sions certainly—hut the capability of experiencing
that form of delusion, shows the possession of the
feeling. A man will scarcely fancy that lie Potts an
angel who does not believe that angels exist : Luther
would not have flung his inkstand at the devil unless
a previous faith had convinced him that this appa-
rition was likely to be really the fiend. Or, to use
another illustration, the sheerest hypochondriac who
imagines himself made of glass, moist have been
tolerably impressed with the reality of glass before-
hand. 'We should be inclined to say, therefore, that
poor Joe Smith had some basis sf devotiontil feeling
as the foundation of his character. This must be
taken into account of course along with turbid
ignorance and all the unfortunate facts of his position
us life—if it be as. 'lined his influence on masses of
people will be natural enough and—historically
viewed—by no rut an. impress dented. But simply
saying that he was a sheer unpo,tor will account fur
nothing; sheer impostors don't take that line of
hu.iness. No form of fanaticism whatever has as yet
procet did from Capel-court, or been founded by a low
attorney.
However. it was not long before Joe developed
himself in a manner not to be applauded as far as
purt of it is concerned. For it is now that we Legin
to hear for the first time of the - Book of Mormon,
which gave its name to the sect. In 1n27 the news
went about, that. inspired by a vision, he bad
searched under ground and found some " plates, ap-
parently of god." This immediately attracted
attention. What and whence were the " plates?"
Joe sod Joe's disciples 'one or two of whom now
made their appearance:. asserted that they contained,
written in Egyptian characters., what may be de-
scribed as an additional Bible : but here is its de-
scription by Parks- P. Pratt. one of the " apostles :"
The 11 soli of Mormon euutains the history of the ancient
inhAitints of .trn. wets a breech of the house
of of Joseph; of whom the Indians
are still a r• 7tir.st ! . but the principal nation of thins
having (.open in b.itth . in the fourth or fifth century, one
of their prophet.. wlt se name was Mormon, saw at to
molts an abridgment of tht.r ltistory, their proplise;es, aid
it dot trine, which hi engraft' on plats*, and afterwards
faux Lain, the f.:l into the hands of Lib inn Moroni,
oho, tieing hunted be bis enemies. was dirceted to dept-it
the record safely is; tea earth. with a promise from God that
it should Ist preserewd. dud slivuld be brought to loan in
the latter days of wino. of a ta,xttilr tuaisw• wbv should
P.Cb% the land *re mode shout the year
420, on a bill thin cc'.. che....riu county,
where it was peewees artery until it 0.. s brought to
light by no less than thi ministry of rug' le. and translated
by inspiration. Aud tat street Jcliotati bore mord of
the came to amen • :Lwow*, %Liu &fiats it to the world.

This is an odd account oertaiuly. The book in
question is extant iu a single volume in the British
Museum: it is dead) nothing but en imitation of
scriptural language, and as little like an inspired
wolk as possible. Now, how are we to account fur
its production ? The American oppouenta of the met
dee that it is fouuded on u historical romance,
wriven by an American author some 'ears before
smith. tcmc. 1./r. Mackay gives the statements of
all pl.rt:es on the in Itter, and decides in favour of the
let'. r of accounting fur it. We certainly agree
with him; Joe Smith's minsion thus commences its
fitkie • career tain•ed with fraud- Fraudulent
tit was in the external pirapArriviliti of his
Itissim on starting. But we must remember that
this invention of the "Book of Mormon" was not
the sole caw* of his influence: the essence of the
mote slits in this. that belief in the " Book of Mor-
mon" involved a belief in the Bible itself—a conti-
nheion or supplement to which it professed to be.
If he was socceostill. he succeeded by virtue of what
was Rood in his work. not what was-had in it. Per-
haps At most consistent way of explaining his pro-
ecedinßa to suppose that. with an honest intention
of doing a good work, he adopted what was frandu-
hat as strategy to help Lim on in it. Utter rotten- I
nes- tbarut..? we should be loathe to impute to
an 'nigh) from which good to many of our fellow-
r''.`:ttara his conic. Pity rather belongs to the
hide. skinewd. wild-heartid Yankee—pour semi-in-
spired bkekhead, and semi-devout knave!
A: all events. there were hundreds of his country-
who did believe good of him, who. living near
11. :bright him stiil an inspired superior being. To
.run!,n‘ns he preached constantly, and, a• far as we men
Presehed a form of Christianity—preached
dogmatic doctrines of Christianity—dwelling
ta'4h on one article of his doctrine, a coming milk's-
" Mae." Joe taught, "are the latter days."
;Le"Rtipg millennium? What is that but a form of
"*" Pia Progress doctrine—the "good time coin-
Ina —which the verse of Ili. Mackay has circulated
re v.ilaWTtlY ? We think that we should not be
. .
rwroft. in definirg this rel4ion of the Mormons
flhatical or irupernatural form of the Pr=
axtrine. Their hymns, for instance, are the