The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1869-09-30


most prominent object in the city, and !
is the first building seen in approach
ing. 1t has a capacity for seating |
eight thousand people comfortably, !
and can accommodate ten thousand. /
Except on special occasions when the
whole people turn out, "a huge osnaburg /
curtain, of home manufacture, IS let
down about two thirds Of the way
back. SO as TO consolidate the audience.
and improve the acoustic properties
of the room. which are quite defect
i've. The audience which assemblies
every Sunday is larger by far than
any other regular religious body IN |
America, Plymouth Church, Brook |
Ivn. not excepted. At the west end |
of the Tabernacle is an immense plat |
form, capable of seating at least a
thousand people, which is for the ac-
commodatIon of the President Proph- I
ct, Brigham, the Counsellors, Twelve
Apostles, Bishops, and other mag
mates of the Church, whose name is
legion; and In rear Of these, the grand
organ, and the choir whose full
strength is two hundred and fifty.
The organ, the second or third in
size In this country, and, except the
metal, constructed entirely of Utah
material and by Mormon workmen,
Is yet scarcely half completed, but is
now used during the services. Com
petent musical judges have pro-
nounced it perfect In tone and power,
and it certainly promises to be most
elegant in finish and imposing in pro-
portions. The people occupy the
comfortable but not very attractive
seats as they choose, throughout the
house, the women In the middle seats,
and the men on either side.
The services are patterned after our
general Protestant Church exercises,
commencing with the singing of
hymn from the Mormon hymn book.
Among the hymns sung during to-day,
recall How firm a foundation"
Come, ye who love the Lord, !" /
love Thy Church, Oh, God, and other
familiar songs of our Churches. This
was followed by an e.rtempoTe prayer,
which was simple and appropriate,
fully up to the orthodox standard,
chaste in diction; and, except a few
local illusions and personal petitions
referring to Thy servant Brigham"
and other Church dignitaries, would
have been appropriate to any of our
pulpits. In fact. the prayers were
greatly superior to the addresses and
talks o. the day.
The Mormon pulpit is not peculiar
ly sacred place, nor those who oc-
cupy it necessarily ordained or set
apart to the work. 1t is free and
open to any whom the presiding
Apostle or Bishop may choose to call
into it. The Brble lies upon the
desk, but is rarely ever used either
for texts, lessons, or references.
After the prayer, the Communion is
served every Sabbath afternoon-the
, bread in twelve silver cake baskets,
and the water (instead of wine) in the
same number of large silver cups
passed through the congregation.
} During aud after the Communion. ad-
} dresses (they are never what would be
classed as sermons1 are made. To day
we listened, both in the forenoon and
) afternoon, to addresses from Mission
! aries just returned from the States
and from Europe. These purported
to be narratives of their experiences
and the work accomplished by them,
but allusion was hardly made TO
these. The burden of their stories
was a contrast between the outrageous
wickedness of civilized Christians, T"
and the moral, temperate, peaceful
and holy life of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints here
I'm the valleys of the Mountains. F"
, In this comparison the licentiousness
and drunkenness of our large cities,
the spiritual manifestations, and the
hypocrisy of our church members
were frequently referred to.
After the Missionary talks at both
services the congregation. was ad-
: dressed by some of the Bishops or
Apostles, which consisted of lectures
on social and moral duties, exhorta-
tons to be united in temporal as they
were in spiritual things Clearing In
mind the Cooperative Mercantile In
stitutions), and injunctions to receive
and venerate Brother Brigham" as
the chosen servant and prophet of the
Lord, and implicitly to follow his rev.
Citations and directions; for it was
, through his inspiration and guidance
they had received and were enjoy
ing all their spiritual and temporal
blessings here in the valleys of the
mountains" None of the speeches
of to-day have been marked by
: any native ability, and all of them
; betray great want of education.
There was nothing In them which
should have any influence upon intel
ligent and thinking minds.
} A look upon the faces of the audi
} ence was sad and humiliating to our
common humanity. There was scarce
Iy to be seen an intelligent counte-
nance, but ignorance, superstition
aud detection were the general char
acteristios. During the services there
was commendable observance Of or
der and decorum. but / saw little ap-
pearance Of intelligent spiritual wor-
ship-it was an air ofvaoanta and stolid
Indifference, except when the counte-
, nance was occasionally lit up by the
g rough or stale jokes INDUCED In by
the speakers. 1t was a painful refec-
ton to look upon this vast throng of
: human beings duped by the artful-
: ness of their fellow men. L went back
, to the hotel full of serious thoughts.
1t is no wonder that this system is
t making so many in6dels of the Young
er members of this community. grow
ing up with better education and
broader associations with the outside
world. The topics for letters present
ed by the study of this Mormon rid
die OF life crowd upon me, but l must
close. j. w. f.
Farmers, Beware!
Under the infamous Radical reve-