Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1865-08-24
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Mr.. Bowles, of the Springfield Repub-
lican, one of the Colfax party, visiting
Mormondom, in his last letter writes as
follows:
Brigham Young's preaching to-day was
q very unsatisfactory, disappointing per-
Torrance. There was every incentive to
him to do his best; he had an immense
audience, spread out under the "Bowery"
10 the number Of five or six thousand /;
before him was Mr.. Colfax, who had ask
ed him to preach upon Mormon doctrines;
around him were all his elders and bish-
ops, in unusual numbers and he wal
fresh from the exciting discussion of yes
terday on the subject Of ~polygamy. But
his address lacked logic, lacked effect,
lacked wholly magnetism or impressive
mesa. 1t was a curious medley Of scrip
tural exposition, exhortation, bold and
bare statement, coarse denunciation and
vulgar illusions; cheap rant and poor
cant. So far as his statement of Mormon
belief went, it amounted to this that God
was q human, material body, with like
flesh and blood and passions to ourselves,
only perfect in all things; that he begot
his son Jesus in the same way that chill
dren are begotten now that Jesus and
the Father looked alike and were alike,
distinguishable only by the former being
older; that our resurrection would be
material, and We should. live in Heaven
with the same bodies and the same
passions as on Garth ; that Mormon
ism was the most perfect and true
religion ; that those Christians who
were not Mormons would not necessarily
go to hell and be burned by living fire
and tortured by ugly devils, but that they
would not occupy so high places in Heay-
en- as the Latter Day Saints D.; that polyg-
amy was the habit of all the children Of
God in the earlier ages, and was first ahol-
ished by the Cloths and Vandals who On
quered and constructed Rome ; that Mar
tin Luther approved of 1t IN a single case
at least ; that a clergyman of the Church
of England once married a man to his
second wife while his first was living /; and
that in England now, if a man wanted to
change his wife. he had only to offer her
at auction and knock her off for a pot Of
beer or q shilling, and marry another.
(This statement called out q voice of dis
sent from an English working face in the
audience.) A good deal of Boosting Of
the success of the Mormons, their temper
ance, frugality and honesty, and a sharp
dcnunciation of the " few sinking lawyers
who lived down in whisky street, and for
five dollars would attempt to make a lie
into a TRUTH" were the only other notice
able features of this discourse of the Pres
ident Of the Church of the Latter Dny
Saints. 1t was a very material interpre-
tation OF the statements and truths Of
scripture, very i~llogically and roughly
rendered, and calculated only to influence
a cheap and vulgar audience. Brigham
Young may be n shrewd business man, an
able organizer of labor, q bold, brave per-
son in dealing with the probabilities Of
life-he must, indeed, be all Of these, for
we see the evidence oil around this city
and country ; but he is in no sense an
impressive or effective preacher, judged by
any standards that l have been accus
toned to.