The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-08-30
MORMONISM.
An Interesting Lecture by Elder Jarrnan.

Young Mems Christian Association Hall
was crowded with a very intelligent audience
last evening, who listened with much interest
to the lecture by Elder Jarman OF the Utah
Sect on Mormonism. The address was two and
half hours in duration, and was beautifully
illustrated by views thrown on the screen by
the stereopticon. We present below the points
of the lecture. The Elder is a spare man of
medium height, with dark hair and English
side whiskels, and a very nervous manner.
He is about 40 years of age.
The speaker said Mormonism is the greatest
monstrosity of any age seemingly reserved for
this great model government here in the full
blaze of the light and knowledge of the nine
teenth century. America produces and up
holds the very worst form OF religion. A
modern one, though, worse than Mahommed-
ism, for other false creeds had some kindly and
redeeming feature, even Buddhism and Brah-
minism. These inculcated, in some slight
degree pure code of morals 1t was reserved
for Mormonism in all its hideous deformity to
rear its head and defanty proclaim creed
without one redeeming feature. Mormonism
sets at defiance all the acknowledged princi-
pies of moral ethics and repudiates the COM
mon instincts of humanity and common law
also. Mormonism is growing very rapidly,
carrying the balance of power in idaho, Mon
tana, Nevada, Wyoming, Dakota Arizona,
Colorado and New Mexico. They have lately
sent out thousand missionaries in addition
to the vast number which are spread over the
civilized globe. They are annually importing
thousands from Europe, with which they are
filing up the Western States and Territories
They have most of the Indians of the West
converted 10 their church and the Mormons
claim that with the disloyal people of the
South and the Indians of the West gathered
to the fold, they can whip the United States
They send as delegate to Congress from Utah
a man with six wives. Polygamy is praeEiced
among them more than ever. They are no.
marrying girls WE'VE years old They boldly
and defantly proclaim their independence OF
the United States government. They have an
independent government of their own under
the name of the Estate of Deseret" All the
officers of state are good MormonS The few
United States officials sent there are poTerle
to act The church holds civil as well as
ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the masses. The
Word of the Prophet is the Word of God to
the people. They dare not disobey They
publicly teach that II is right to shed n aus
blood for disobedience. Many have been
full power over the souls as well as the bodies
of their wives. Ii mars wife disobeys, he
has power to kill her. She is his slave to do
with just as he pleases. She has to work to
support her lord and and master, and the more
wives man has the better off he is, for he has
more to work for him. A man trade OF
swap wives. know of mule trade where q
mo n gave wife and five dollars TO boot and
got the mule he wanted There is no happi-
ness in poly gamy, but plenty of misery, fight
ing and hair-pulling. Jealousy is rampant.
Solomon was the only man to describe Jealousy.
He knew how ii worked, having 1000 wives
The children growing up in polygamy are
coarse and vulgar; they have no parental care.
his attention between twenty or thirty families,
and the mothers have to work hard in the
fields. They do not educate their chill
dren, but keep them in ignorance.
They are Outlines murderers, because their
mothers feels like staying the other wives and
hence the children partake of the feelings OF
the mother that bore them. There is John
d. Lee of Mountain Meadow fame. He had
eighteen wives. Think of these men whose
hands are stained with blood, with so many
wives, raising up a vast number of young muir
derers And these Mormons claim that theirs is
the kingdom Daniel saw, that should break
in pieces all other kingdomS and eventually
fill the earth. One OF their Bishops lately TOLD
a San Francisco reporter that they held the
balance Of power in the Western Territories.
They do not recognize the federal officers sent
out to govern them. They claim that with
their complete organization, aud by giving the
women the suffrage, who will always vote as
they are told to sustain the church, they
roll up majority that will carry everything
before it.