American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1857-06-27
Ft0n the Losdo, Times, Jans 3.
THE MORMON QUESTION.

been suppressed by force. and for.
NAL act of rebellion against the Fed.
eral Government having been commit
tod, it would appear that there was on.
ly one course for the Federal Govern
ment to take, aud that was To dispatch
military force to Utah, suppress the
present territorial Governments and
carry on the laws by meaps Of magis.
trares of Federal appointment, acting
under the protection of the military.
until such time as another territorial
settlement could be Effected If tie
United Gorernm eat as true to- Itself 10
can hare no choice in The naattea. because
The Gerry principle Of The Federation as
denied by this Dlormonitc act. The Fed
eral law has been virtually superseded
in Utah long time, and the Mormon.
tie juries have refused to convict upon
the plainest evidence. But this is an
open and a definite act, and though not
done by the real instiga,or Brigham
Young, in person, is not cancelled or
punished by him; so that the state of
things is this,-that the Federal law is
suppressed, and that. in the absense of
any effort on the part Of the territorial
Government TO re.establsh it. the Fed
eral Government must itself step in
and defend it's own authority. The
United States Government were. per.
haps, wise in giving the Mormons rope.
and waiting ill an act, about which
there could be no mistake, was COM
mi'ted; but now, at any rate, the OPP
p@rtunity is given.
We may hope, then, now for some
thing like breakup Of the Mennonite
establishment. At present the sect
profess to live under kind of theoc-
racy, which identifies Church and
State, and places the Priesthood aud
civil Government in the same hands,
There must be considerable drop
ing of the Mennonite mind when these
two authorities are fairly severed, end
the ChuI CHI finds itself one fine morn
ing only-if we may so abuse the
word-a religious communion, under a
temporal government administered by
"Gentiles." How deeply the union Of
the two estates enters into the Mormon
lite idea" we see from these very facts,
which are simply the result ofimpatience
of any temporal power independent of
and not included within the Church.
When, then, the union has been formal.
y severed by the reduction ofMr. Brig.
ham Young from the King to the Priest
tsimply, a great blow will have been
struck at the system, and we hope that
such crisis will open the eyes of ma.
ny convert.
1t is. indeed, lamentable to think how
many Of our own countrymen have
been fascinated by this monslrous de.
lusion. According to the calculation
of Mr. Carvalho, who was the compau-
ion of Colonel Fremont in his Journey
over the Rocky Mountains in 1858,
and spent several weeks among the Nor
moniteS, mine tenths of the population
were the peasantry Of Scotland, Eng
land, and Wales" We cannot account
for such strange infatuation, except
on the supposition Of a remarkable an
ion of motives and stimulan,s from diff.
ferent quarters which have conspirea
to favor it. There has bern the emf
grafton movement. The Mormons took
advantage of this new tide in The pop
ular mind. 1t took "a great deal to
shake the passive and stationary TEN.
per of the rural population. To rouse it
from its lethargy, and, give il the emf
grant impulse. When that impulse,
then, was once given them, it implied a
kind Of excitement Of the popular mind,
and the nnmooring from an old anch.
orags The Murmons adroilly availed
themselves Of this excitement, and turn
ed it TO their purpose. Their arguments
and pictures were addressed to a mass
that was already on tho move, both in
mind and body. Then they appealed
to the superstitous element in the pop.
ular mind. We know from recent
ia cts how strong that is, and to what
an extent the lowest and coarsest i'm.
postures takes with our poor, may, even
with class above the poorest. The
morbid Difference To pretences to super.
natural knowledge which sends our
poor to the "wise woman" and which
sustained such gentlemen as Mr.. Harri.
son, had only 10 take another turn TO
follow the Transatlantic prophets" and,
with morbid religion, discomfort and
onpidity easily mingle. The time Of
distress which just preceded the great
emigrant movement was exactly the
time of which the highly coored picture
of peace, comfort, and prosperity in a
new land, drawn by the Mormonite mis-.
sionarY would tell most powerfully
upon our own people, crushed by low
wages, and tempted to look upon tbeii
own country as scene of immovable
hardship, inequality, and oppression. -.
1t is justice, too, to our poorer classes,
to state that the worst features of Nor
monism were Studiously kept out Of their
sight. The missionaries from Utah re.
ceived strict orders to conceal the whole
fact polygamy; they were even fur.
nished with a false book, called Doc.