Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1859-08-30
0Qlortcster 0ailp Spp.
GREELEYs OVERLAND JOURNEY
THE MoRMoNs AND MoRMoNIsM.


Mormons in their social or festive and in their
devotional assemblies. OF private social in
tercourse-that is, intercourse between family
and family-I judge that there is comparative
ly little here; between Mormons and Gentiles
or strangers, of course still less Their reli-
gious services are much like those that may be
shared or witnessed in the churches of most of
our popular sects; the music rather better than
you will hear III an average worshipping
semblage in the States; the prayers pertinent
and full of JUNCTION; the sermons adapted to
tastes or needs different from mine. They
seemed to me rambling, dogmatic and i'll
digested; in fact Elder Orson Pratt who
preached in the morning, prefaced his harangue
by statement that he had been hard at work
on his farm throughout the week, and labored
under consequent physca exhaustion. Elder
John Taylor II believe he is one of the Twelve
at all events he is a high digntary in the
Church and man of decided natural ability
spoke likewise in the afternoon with little or
no generalization. Now, | believe that every
preacher should be also worker; | like to
see one moving or pitching hay in his shirt
sleeves; and l hear with edification an inlet
tered but devout and earnest evangelist who,
having worked part of the week for the sub
sistence of his family, devotes the rest of it to
preaching the gospel to small schoohouse or
waysde gatherings Of hearers, simply for the
good of their souls. Let him only be sure to
talk good sense, and will excuse some bad
grammar. But when preacher is to address
congregation of one to three thousand per-
sons, like that which assemblies twice each
Sabbath in the Salt Lake City tabernacle, 1
insist that due regard to the economy of time
requires that he should prepare himself, by
study and reflection, if not by writing to speak
directly to the point This mortal life is too
short and precious to be wasted in listening to
rambling, loose jointed harangues, or even
those which severally consume an hour in the
utterance, when they might be boiled down
and clarified until they were brought within
the compass of half an hour each. A thou
sand half hours, Rev. Sir! have you ever pom
dered their value? Suppose your time to be
worth ten times that Of an average hearer;
still, to take an extra half hour from thou
sand hearers in order to save yourself one or
fifteen hours labor in the due and careful pre-
paration of sermon, is scandalous waste,
which | see not how to justify. Be entreated
to repent and amend
The discourses to which | listened were
both intensely and exclusively Mormon.
That is, they assumed that the Mormons were
Gods peculiar, chosen, beloved people, and
that all the rest of mankind are out of the ark
of safety and houndering in heather darkness
l am not edited by this sort of preaching. 1t
reminds me forcibly of the Pharisee's prayer:
Lord, | thank thee that l am not as other
men are,-unjust, extortoners," SC. l do not
think good men delight in this assumption of
an exclusive patent for the grace of God and
am quite sure it is not well adapted to the
transformation Of bad men into good. 1t is too
well calculated to puff its disciples with self
conceit and spiritual pride. That Jesus Christ
is about to reappear on the earth in all the
pomp and splendor of mighty conqueror-
that he will then proceed to take vengeance
on his enemies mankind in general, whether
heather or nomnally Christian) and to go-
rify his elect 1.-THE Latter-Day Saints or
Mormons,) were treated by the Tabernacle
preachers as propositions too self-eyident to
need demonstration. Having thus chastised
his enemies AMI gathered his elect from
the four winds of Heaven" the Saviour is
ITO reign over them here ON earth for thou
sand years at the end of which period, they
are together to be transferred to heaven. OF
course, had heard the like of this before, but
it always seems to me a very gross and wood
en- perYersion of the magnificent imagery
whereby the Bible foreshadows great spiritual
transformations. But the spirit of the Mormon
religion appears to me Judaic rather than
Christian and l readily believe that Heber
Kimball, or at any rate one Of the great lights
of the Church. once said in conversation with
GENTLE" do pray for my enemies 1pray
that they may all go to hell" Neither from
the pulpit nor elsewhere have | heard from a
No., - .,,,,t,,,lo,, loor+,, ,.ono,ro;+;on
~ Inv ono 90 i,,,
u s"c es'ons"i ~ i e.. tho M
1n%n eenuat"S f III ,aind IN
t aIu 9"L - " ' dntati,,
the otner manu-, l nav ueeh So
70 unueisIlu ust ny ~
SIT on thrones anu u pear lue orei a.
III tie approaching Aiisuoil y. G 1 Ia lae',
one sincere ueFout man ills 'o-Iay assis"Iu
tnat 10 lhe as i teaSoI III poly s'.ny mo
waits 70 qualily n ill " iuliis To-
anu uiseIsineu fanny nele, ~, .ti, !, ti,nt
pver ms pllntlpanIy ~ 'hI IL t for
ne knows TO De ~ manu-. tnilih ne ni1sil. Ia
oeter ue'ole lew ye'ls " ponuels ms .e
saying 10 enls enec9i ne WIZ Moulu a Iu 1' ho
III tiie kii,guon u AieaVen' 'le s"ine sn"n W
si9a~ ros nndooo;vod with rooord 70 the Roor
was uiueIeiseu VIII ~. " ;nG
.! nloIlo iiu 49, .. 20 ~ Nv
nneuahy uiscaiueu' VI ~ ie"9. D;s,;stno,os
Iie ~ 10 oo, s,o,,s; ns ts oo
ilu o.i 4 latS ~ tisu;g,,n.t o ~ ooIol
een,e a,,u ~ ;,',,l,+o,,no 1;t, +l,a Old and
aulhoII,y anu inpoi L. S;1 ~. - e., ~
New des.an ian e, MaIeoh; ' n and auotaJ text
ho"etel, e e .lDa ,3.,'i,nt, rt;oh Lo o;tod
al'er t5A. rom tiie -, 'opt, ',d d;son,,oru Of
as pIeuielioHs Vi INC Wiling "io N'''ooi'
tiils oooA' either service
The .cQp&sff hundred to two thousand per-
sons-more in the morning than in the after
noon. A large majority Of them mot incud-
ing the Elders and chief men, of whom dozen
or so were present., were evidently of Euro
pean birth / think majority of the males
were past the meridian of life. All gave
earnest heed to the exercises throughout in
fact, 1 have seldom seen more devout and
intent assemblape. / had been told that the