New-York daily tribune., 1858-02-02


in the army, suppOsing they would have an easier
time OF It,
MORNONISM.
We make the following extracts from the speech OF
Nr. John Thompson OF this state, sehVereu III 'ne
House of Representatives, Jan. Y;
"Moruonism as a religious system, nad us OF 'u
q romance written about the year 1910 6y solomon
Snslding native Of Connecticut, who had oeeh euu-
csed for the ministry, but followed msrcsntie eu
ployment removed 70 Cherry valley, \. l., ~%neie %
fe amused his leisure hours by weaving INTO oooA
entitled by him The MSS Found the notion enter
taiped or suggested by writers that the
Indians are the descendants Of the lost ten loes oI
Israel Hence he starts them from ma srs
onarrels turmos stres, separations, until they peo-
pe this continent and leave behind them the yesges
Of mounds tumuli Notifications, sculpture ana cities
dapidated, which are dscoVeIeu ~ - Sr,ra
Central America. IL written somewhat IN scripture
siyle and uses the machinery of the jewish economy
throughout. He read his manuscript TO various per-
sons, who yet member H. but was not successiu IN
procuring rs publication. Somewhere about the year
lS23 this manuscript fell into the hands of 10 Smith,
native of Windsor County, Vermont. Smith was
about twenty years of age and already exhibited that
singular compound OF genius and folly, OF cunning ana
absurLity of incidence and energy, Of craft and
stness which distinguished hun to the end oil his
career. x,. =, CO,
Under the new-ligh preachers Of that day Smith
became mbued with al the wild and e1travsgant no
tione of seeing sights hearing voices, receiving reVe-
laons meeting and lighting the devil in bodily form
which Indicate diseased Imagination and want oil al
solid instruction and fixed principles on rehgous suo
iects Enthusiasm ran mad through the whole region
where he dwet, and Smith was one OF Its most phi
liant complications, ultimately having revelation
that all existing systems OF religion were wrong anu
that he should be made the prophet OF a new ia,.n
For than five years he vibrated between his eau
tion and his enthusiasm, giving out occasion"
ally dark hints about certain mysterious plates
to be dug up by him, containing new rev.
elaton. Part of his time spent in lying,
swindng and debauchery, and the remainder in vs-
ions and repentsnce-the vulgar habits Of the brute
contendng With the higher functions OF the prophet
At length he pretended TO dig out the plates from the
side Of hill in Palmyra, Wayne County, N. T.,
placed himself behind curtain permitting no one to
enter from which sanctum he translated from the
plates the book of Mormon TO an amanuensls, reading
It all from Spadings manuscript in his possession one
hundred and eighteen pages OF it having been stolen
by Martin Harris. With th. new Koran our modern
Mohammed started upon his career
"On the 5th of May, 1899, John the Baptist came
back TO earth to baptize Smith; and on the 9th Of
April, 1880, the first church Of LatterD Day Saints
was organized al Manchester New-York, consisting
Of four Smiths and two converts out of the family
Pratt, RigdoD, Kimball, and Young joining after
ward This Bible, unlike that Of the Christian or
Mussulman purports to be chiefly HISTORICAL and does
not enuncate enforce system OF moral and religious
truth in philosophic ddsctc FORM all its incl
dental lessons upon life or being derived from
current doctrines Of this day. II is consequently In
capable Of comparison with any other extant form OF
religious faith. One might as well compare the Chris.
tan religion with Feneons Teemschus, or one OF
James's novels. 49,
church was organized IN 1899. In August 1881 they
commenced settlement At Independence jackson
County, Missouri-reveaed to Smith as the site of the
New Jerusalem. Smith wavered long between this
place and Kirkland Ohio, where, IN 1888, they com
menced building their first temple, which was finished
in 1896 al a cost Of about fifty thousand dollars In
1889 they relad the foundations Of their temple in
Missouri. They left THE region again for Nauvoo IN
Illinois where another temple was soon erected. 10
Smiths life and labors ended together in Carthage
Jail where, on the 9th Of June, 1874, he was shot
by gang Of Border Ruffsns from Missouri.
:" In ls45 they turned their eyes wes.wsrd-to Van
couyers leland 10 Texas, TO Cafornia, and finally 70
q valley in the Rocky Mountains In l84s, as the
young grass was peeriDg from the sod aud The buds
bursting into flowers, in the month OF May the
exodus to Utah commenced.
From that day Young has reigned supreme, and
thousands and tens Of thousands have focked TO MS
standard. The unsettled religious sentiment Of the
lower grades Of mind grayitate 10 Salt Lake. II is the
Botany Bay of the world There il stands, rampant
ard defying-s despotlsm consummste, wearing the
show OF popular approval and bending willingly TO
the nod Of tyrant. There IL standst is before you
in your path TO the Pscifcit will not away al your
bidding; huge, ugly, stubborn fact, which no igno.
rance can disregard and no political faulty despse.
What will you do with il VIII you turn despOt
and saber GO 90 souls because they believe in Brig.
ham Young and poygamy VIII you meet the IA
naticsm Of folly and fraud by the anacism Of eIter-
mipation VIII you make the city desert ana the
region howling wilderness on the one hand or, will
you suffer this moral cancer, nfamng political trea-
SOD to grow on untouched until il becomes too vast TO
handle Will you permit an independent and defiant
despotism organized in the very besrt Of this cOnti-
nent and embracing the vilest and most ntractable
elements Of which community can be composed 10
compact and strengthen ts defenses 10 train its bat.
taons call home its forces, and Light ere a. your
threshold which all the forces Of the Republic cannot
subdue
Il know some think We should lei them alone and
that the system must soon fall pieces But how long
has Moharnmedanism lasted How much less reliable
il the fanaticsm OF to-day than that Of ten centuries
ago What element Of this structure gives signs of
impotence or decay What limb OF ths hale giant is
already smitten with moral paralysis and gives tokens
that its energies are spent, even wearied Sir.
have let them alone, and from ontemp1ble handful
they have grown into a nation The citizens Of Illi-
nois and Missouri could eject them without aid but
now they stand behind a wall OF ten thousand bsyo-
nets and dare you the encounter. The unorganzed
snateism Of the world gravtates to Utah. and there
il s nodded into armies. Eight .enths a. least Of
these elements foreign, uneduca,ed by and unac.
customed % our ns stutons, with nc love for Democ
raey, and reverence for national law; restless
masses, aten of restraint and fatemizrg only on
.he lust Of License and the hope Of power"
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