Mountain Democrat., 1857-03-28
Mnr~nnAam.

Characteristic letter HOm OuT pHS @W
sanity Mormon friend, Elder Cooke, who
evidently imagincs himself "somc pun
kinS," in reply to our structures on his
indecent language and the lecture Of MIR.
HYDE. With unusual modcsty, which
takes us completely by surprise, he con
fcsses that his communication is ''iilthy,
and hopes AN unnecessary hope - it
Twill not Sully the pure pages Of the Stan
dard by all insertion! Of course, not,
Eldcr; nothing better was to be expect
cd from YOU, and its "filth' was its chief
rec ommendation. 1t is a precious m"r'
ccdW, and will give you a free entry int"
the refined society Of Salt Lake City.
You must be aware that it takes all extra
quantity of "filth," and evidently there is
an abundance oft in the city ofthe Saints,
if we are to judge by the language of the
Elders it sends out among the Gcntilcs, to
''SulIy the pages" Ofa Mormon paper, or
the reputation of Mormon Elder
We confess that VIC have not been -ini-
tiatcd into tho fascinating mysteries Of
MormOniSm, nor do We know much about
it, but the little that we do know is not
crcditablc either to the doctrines taught,
the teachers, or the members of the
church. From our limited knowledge Of
it, and from Mr.. Cookies own admissions,
it is admirably adapted to suit the tastes
of dcpravrd men; and the great Nor
mon leader Brigham Young do not Slandcr
his brethren, a greater set OF groccIcSS
scamps, liars, thieves, swindlcrs, pcriu-
rcrc, bloats, gamblers andlibcrtinesncver
polluted the Garth, than are to be found
at Salt Lake, in the very bosom Of the
church. Mr.. Hyde read an article from
the D.Seret -Ne'rs, written by Brigham,
in which he boastcd that the Mormons
could "bcat the world at Dragging, +ying,
cheating, swindling, swearing, drinking" "
&c., &c. We do not make these charges
we only quote the authority Of the
chuch. We do know, however, that
Mormonsm, when it was tolerated in H.
linois, blighted the fair name of the State,
and drove many respectable families from
it, who could not bc forced to believe that
prostitution was virtue or blasphcmy
religion. Elder Cooke says:
IL told them had yet to learn that Mormon
Ism prOfessed to introduce any new principles.
that it was eternal, immutable truth, and
claimed to be nothing more or less than the
ancient gospel restored, and that 1t was either
what it claimed to be or it vas the most stu
pendous delusion which had ever been visited
upon the world
You did tell them so, and Mr.. Hyde
proved that you either did not understand
or were wholly and incxcusabIy ignorant
Of the Mormon doctrine. lie named a
number of "ncw principles it introduced" -"
disgracetul and rcpulSivc as new, which
you tacitly admittcd.. If it eternal,
immutablc TRUTH" why does it so fire.
qucntly contradict itself? 1t cannot be
true and falsc at the same time. Mr..
Hyde read a number Of passages from
what is termed the Mormon bible, fatty
and positively contradicting each other.
Truth isnot inconsistent, but the Mormon
bible certainly is If it introduced no
new principle" said Mr.. Hyde, ''therc is
no necessity for it; if it has introduced
new principles let us investigate them and
sec if they are good and worthy of incul-
eating" He, not Elder Cooke, for the
Elder was too prudent to mention some
of the slight rGgdries of Mormonism, NAM
ed number of the 'ncw principles in
troduecd" by the Mormon Book, every
one of which was in direct opposition to
decency and religion. Mormonism, ac-
cording to itS O,cn authority, cannot be
what it claims to be. and must therefore
be in tho graphic and truthful language
of Elder Cooke, .ethc most stupendous de-
lusion that has ever" cursed mankind.
We must take one more extract from
our amiable Elders letter before We dis
miss him. HC says, with no little assu-
rance:
"Mr. Hyde did not show us that a better
state of things existed in what is called the
Christian or civilized world than existed in
Utah."
lie did far better, Elder,-hc proved by
Brigham's own voluntary statements,
published by himself in boaStful man.
ncr, that Utah could beat the world in
every species of villainy. No man better
understands or is more thoroughly ac.
quaiptcd with the peculiar characteristics
Of the society he governs, than the Ibid
inous Governor of Utah Territory. lie
is the "father confcssor" of the men, wo-
men and children, their spiritual as we'll
as their temporal master; no knows all
their secrets and kindly indulgcs them in
all their innocent Whima. What he says
Of them must be true, for he would not
needlessly injure the reputation of his
friends, nor bring rcproach and disgrace
on his congregation by attributing to
them imaginary crimes. How a worse
state Of things could by any possibility
exist in a heathen country than exists in
Utah, if Mormon authority may be relied
on, We cannot imagine. They are super
stitiOus, ignorant and dcpravod, says
Brigham, and Brigham ought to know.
They are deluded people, and arc moro