The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-05-30
The Mormon Immigrants.
To THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD.

Your reporter, In yesterday morniags paper, fell into
In stating that "a large number of wesh
among the Mormon immigrants who recently arrived at
this port by the William steson aud in the further
gratutous assertion that Mormonism was rife In
wales.n
We paid visi. to the william Steton yesterday, de-
termnsd to investigate the subject The captain sub
mtted to us copy Of his official manifest setting forth
the age SEX place Of nativity aud of all his
passengers. Not satisfied with this, We called
smithurst the Mormon elder and president who went
carefully The list with u.s. and Of the cns hundred
and eighty eight adult Mormons on board there were
only fourteen fifteen who bore Welsh names, and
whom the elder regarded in any light Welsh people.
We do not call this "a large number of the whole.
In answer to inquiries the elder stated that those
people whom he regarded Welsh proseytsed in
Liverpool and of them in Wales Nearly all the re-
mainder he set down Scotch English He said some
OF the scotch were proseysed in Liverpool and others
In Scotland, and who received in Liverpool from
that country He stated that the chief occupation OF
Enalish converts chiefly from the
districts of Lancashire which had supplied the greatest
though they hsd enrolled themselves as EnslisS Claimed
their paternity or origin from Ireland
The assertion that Mormonsm is rife in Wales" is
unsupported by evidence whatever. Indeed, Welsh
men or character and education in this city natives OF
Waes and recently from thence, positively deny the
statement The present moral religious condition of
Wales renders supposton in a measure impossi-
BILE. BY the last British census taken in 1851, Wales
numbered about one million and quarter Of people. It
also appeared that outside of tbs established church.
they supported about 900 Independent chapels and
churches, while the established church had only about
AGO. The independents composed of Presoyteriaua
Baptists Methodsts and stonaliss being the
similar sects In the United states.
On Sunday the census taken to ascertain the
number who usually attended church, and it found
that over 600 of its population, which was
about all OF proper condition regarded health,
age, &c attended. OF the whole population
at least three fourhs to speak the Welsh
Language, into which the Bible and a large number OF
standard theological and miscellaneous have been
misunderstanding Miltons Paradise Lost ""Watts
Hymns" besides q large number Of scientific books
They have, besides extensive literature which is
original, in their own language.
There are pablished at this time in Wales less than
thirteen quarterly and monthly and magazines
in the Welsh language. We speak from proof, for we
have the copies and have list before besdes
at least six newspapers in Welsh, which circulate
largely all over the Princpalty
In the city New York there four Welsh churches
Baptist Methodist, Presby yterian and Congregation
alstwhere sermons preached every Sunday in the
Welsh languago-that tongue in which the Gospel was
first in Britain seventeen centuries ago They
publish Welsh newspaper il New York which numbers
five thousand subscribers and they also publish four
periodical reviews and magazines in the United States
There are no people in Europe more thoroughly Pro-
testant thoroughly welded to the Christian re
gion than the natives OF wales, or in general way,
less likely to give for Mormonism any other
lusion, or intOerant bigotry Of any description,
A NATIVE AMERICAN