The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-08-08

COU61Oer6tlO0s
Ibe despised and exeorated Mormons are men and
women whose humanity Is quite as genuine and un.
n istakabe as that Of the starched and pasteboard
Puritans OF Exeter Hall or the perfumed and painted
miserable SINNERS and exquisite saints of st. James
As men and women, nothing that appertains to them
can be altogether alien or Indifferent to u.s. The
Mormons have been reviled and ridiculed. They
have been proclaimed to be the worst of the bad and
the vilest of the vile Men who arrogate to them
selves the name of Christians-andm ministers who
profess to he the servants of Him who commanded
Peter to put up his sword into its scabbard-have
recommended towards the Mormons the merciless
and exterminating policy which Joshua, the son of
Nun. pursued towards the doomed Canaanites.
On the other hand, the Mormonites have been eu.
logzed and fattered They have been and still are,
self styled the salt of the EARTH the chosen the
Lord a "holy and peculiar people," the Latter
Day Saints" &c. All who do not belong to them
are termed Gentles; declared to be reprobate, and
having their damnation made sure. These extIava-
CANT rawlings Of hostile and friendly fanaticism are
nothing more than what might be expected. But
such extremes OF eulogy and vituperation may be
safely lett TO neutraze each other 1t was inevita-
bic that the eXaggeration should elicit its oppo
site. Let them, therefore, work their work-which
undoubtedly they will do. Meantime let us endea-
voT to form accurate estimate of what Mornonism
really is-what it signifies aud whittier it tends.
Failing in arriving at perfect accuracy, let US. at
least approximate towards it as closely as we can.
In order to do this, the phenomenon Of Mormonsm
must be studied, not in the radiant and rainbow
tinted deiineations of it's enamored votares far less
ought we to study tiff truth be our object-in the
hideous, tartareanhued caricatures Of malignant and
unscrupulous enemies. The batteries OF friends and
the Calumnies Of foes are alike Incompatible with
faithful pCrtrai'ure. Tie encomiums and the re-
wings OF sanatcism are equally remote from reality
What, then, is Mormonis,a? Here let Us remark
that il might not Le prudent certainly not pleasant
to inquire tpo curiously into the origin OF any ex'
iiting system of seciarianism. The charms OF Anna
Boley n--ths lust of Henry the Eignth- the amours
OF Mary Stuart, and the avslce OF tho Scottish no
bles-bad, according 10 all Romish ard some Pro-
testant historians, something 10 do with the origin
of the reformed religion in these realms of England
and Scotland. On the other hand, the Protestant
who may be anxious to retaate for this silly oblec-
ton to his creed, will find abundant material for
retort in the biographies of the Romish pontifs the
fact is that the truth falsity of any system OF re-
ligion does not depend upon the character OF its
champions and propagators. Bad men may, and.
indeed, have been, the enunciators OF great truths.
Good men have been the advocators and dissemina-
tors Of perncious Christianity true though
both Judas and Satan should vOuch for 1t.
characterization may be false, though Sir
Thomas More, Paschsl, Bossuet, and Fene-
Ion, and thousands of other equally great aud
good men have vouched for it. Somehow or other,
the foes and the wlckedress of men seem to lie at
the foundation of all existing systems-social, poll
teal and religious. In the moral and spiritual world,
it may he as in the physical Corruption may be es.
sential to growth The lOveliest and the most useful
of the products of nature-the golden gram aud the
fairest lowers-are rooted in, and nourished by the
rotenness and the feculence from which the sight and
the smel turn away with loathng and disgust Joseph
Smith and Brigham Young may be as detestabe aud
miscreantsh as the most virulent OF their enemies
would have US believes and Mormonism be as vera
cious. II not as respectable, as some OF the most
fashionable of the extant systems OF theology Nor
mobism does net, either in its rites or its dogmis.
greatly differ from the orthodox forms Of Christianity.
ltembraces both the OLD and the New Testament; aud
in addition to these, it includes the socalled Book
of Mormon in its sacred canons 1t ought, however,
to be borne in mind, that the Mormons profess to
derive the whole of their doctrines and customs from
the Old and New Testaments, independently OF the
Book of Mormon. So far as known to us, the most
reprehensible Of these is the practice of polygamy
which undoubtedly would be a great and grievous
blot upon any religion sanctionIng system OF con-
cubinage, legalized other, however excellent IN
other respects that religion may be. But we have
yet TO learn that the doctrine and practice OF pla-
raty Of wives is more forbidden by the letter, or
more antagonstic to the spirit, of pure and undeled
religion, than the hdeous and allpervading system
OF vagrant and promiscuous prostitution, that
abounds in this aud every other socaed Christian
country. Let. therefore, modern pharisaism and SUI
percilous orthodoxy rid themselves Of this suppura
ting and devouring ulcer before they point, with the
finger Of puritanic scorn and holy disgust, at the
recognized and regulated RIGHTEOUSNESS OF the LAT
ter Day Saints So much for Mormonisin aad its
peculiarities. Now for the ,rmons
Who are they and what do they want They are
mostly Anglo Saxons and Scandinayians "a breed OF
certainly not inferior, either in intellectual ca
pacty physical pro wess. to any race Of men that
have Impressed their mark upon this planet. They
arc chiefy-we may say exclusively gathered from
the various Protestant denominations OF Europe IL
Is n remarkable and suggestive fact, that few, or
none OF the Roman Catholics Of either the Old World
or the New have embraced the Mormon heresy.
This we are disposed to attribute, not 10 any supe'
riority Tin which we 90 not beiievc) OF Roinanism
over its rival, Professionalism hut TO the greater
fathfuness TO their duties which characterize the
Roman Catholic ministers of religion. In this coun-
try, and in Ireland especially the contrast which the
sziness, worljliness. and pride OF the Protestant
parson presents 10 the zeal, the poverty. the hu.
inility, and care for the poor which characterize
the Romish priest, IL, unquestionaby, most
striking, and anything but advantageous to our
State supported relgionism. The Mormons, we have
reason TO believe, are composed Of those casteiess
and downtroddcn classes who have been abandoned
10y our rulers. robbed by our landlords and capita
ls,s neglected and desoised by the established and
dissenting vendors OF Protestant Christianity. FIX.
cept a. taypayin1 and wealthprodncing machines.
the rulers OF the nations ignored them and abln-
doncd them 10 the tender merces OF landlords and
capitalists. From the church they received neither
consolation nor protection. How should they? For.
do we not the Of the apostles plehorc
and spoplectic with dainty and luxuriant living!
Like Prince Albsr's prize pigs, the hearts OF the
bishops are clogged with iatness, and their souls
smothered in carnality, 80 that they can
hardly move or breathe on their own account
much less render assistance to the poor. With a
few illustrious exceptions, the inferior clergy
initiate their bettcrs. by hungering and hunting for
the flesh pots Of the State. A for the dissent.
ing diviDes. they were too busiy engaged in
making for themselves friends of the Msmrnon Of
uurirhteousncss-the only one OF the njunctions of
their Master which they seem to understand to pay
any attention TO the suerings Of the enslaved class
CO. Besides the dissenters OF our day would sccm
10 consider II unworthy Of their calling 10 interest
themselves in the spiritual or moral welfare Of any
beneath the rank of shopkeepers and counter Jump
crs. II would appear as IL the prim and vinegar
ysaged preachers OF dissent sconed TO work for the
salvation Of any souls lower in the social scale than
those Of the ten pound householders-thus requiring
property qualification for the kingdom OF Heaven,
as well a. tor the elective franchise To thousands
OF the working classes the fashionable Christianity
Of the day resembles the apples q the Dead Sea
fair 20 the eye but to the taste bitterness aud ashes
This with the saplcss bones and emptied shells
(cmpticd but when charged with deadly poison)
Of an .fsts theology, constitute the whole of the
religious nutriment with which the licensed dealers
in spiritual commodities regae the perishng souls
OF the toilexhiusted people.
II Ia then to bc ruarypilfd at that nde