New-York tribune., 1870-08-22
BEARDING THE LION

Since the days of chivalry we do not know
that anything plucBIer has been recorded than
the visit of the Rev. j. p Newman to Salt
Lake City to do battle, logical and exegetlcai'
with the wicked and obscene Dragon OF Poly
gamy. 1t must have required good deal OF
enthusiasm to go all that distance to refute
what all virtuOus persons consider to be an
immortality, and all sensible persons an alb
surdity But Mr.. Newman was, in manner,
constrained to go. He had preached sermon
ON the subject, which was heard Of in Utah;
whereupon The Utah Telegraph asked why he
did not come to that Territory to preach it
Gin the new Tabernacle, before 10000 Nor
"mons, with Orson Hyde or some other prom
:" inent Mormon to answer" Mr.. Newman i'm
mediately packed his trunk, bought his rail-
way ticket and started very much as Don
ouixote would have done under like circum-
stances. But it was one thing to go to Utah,
and quite another thing to get either Brigham
or his man Orson to meet him in debate
Young coolly for August, replied that he had
given no challenge; nor did the great OlsOh
show any desire to enter the lists. Apparently
Mr.. Newman had his long journey for his
pains. But Young was too shrewd a man not
to see that he had lost ground by declining
the contest; and he therefore sent Mr.. New
man an invitation to come and preach IN the
Tabernacle Mr.. Newman replied that he
had already made arrangements to preach IN
the NJ E. meeting-hOu And he did preach
there 90 for three mortal hours" i'll 81 swelter-
ing August afternoon" a sermon brimful of
texts, to prove that there might be cOncublnage
among the Jews, but that, in our sense of the
word, they had no pOlygamy. Since then the
battle royal itself has finally been arranged
and fought. In other columns we present the
| details
We do not here attempt any abstract of the
arguments Much as we respect Mr.. Newman,
we do not consider that such of them as
were drawn from the manners and customs OF
the Jews had any pertinence OF consequence
We believe that with Christianity came a
better and nobler and purer Dispensation.
The polygamy of the Jews, or the cOncubinage,
was temporary and local, and not of Divine
ordination. If otherwise why do not the Jews,
as a body, now practice it' They virtu-
ally acknowledge that there was no
command of perpetual validity to main
tain polygamy; for while in matters of
their law they are nearly as strict
as ever, they cheerfully obey our Laws of
Marriage. To be sure, they could not do
| otherwise without being sent to the Peniten-
| tiary; but we have no reason to believe that
they wish to do otherwise.
| We prefer to base our hostility to polygamy
upon the fact that all modern civilized nations
| are homogeneous, so far as that word implies
having one wife at time. Mr. Newman
shows that such is the doctrine of Christianity,
and such being its doctrine, there is no room
| left for an argument. The example of Utah
| alone shows how inconsistent is Polygamy
with refinement with intellectual culture, with
the happiness of woman. The preaching in
the Tabernacle is coarse and rude, and often
b,asphemous; the feminine instincts perpetu-
ally revolt against this desecraton of the insti-
tuition of marriages. and there is no man who
looks at the matter nationally who does not
see that there can be nothing permanent in
the custom. 1t may not be easy to put it
down, but so long as it lasts it is a national
shame and reproach. Nothing but the great
distance of Utah from the seat of Government
has saved it but now that a considerable party
in Utah itself has been organized against it,
we may consider it as doomed. 1t must pass
away at least with The present generation.