New-York tribune., 1883-06-03
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
rp.vr1LyNG CHRONICLES.

I'm u.
..r-ns - rn ANTS Tour Across the States and
siSSLmSS ,S 1as,, with Three Months Among the MOT
,noas n By Phil ROBINSON l6ino' pp' S'o' hoo'
erss nS,1 1Brothers
..,,., a good woman" says Mr.. Stevenson
sora good book aud tobacco. there Is nothing
.o ao,eeab,e on earth as a river" Inc truth OF
.b,s assertion he goes far to prove IN
his little volume describing a canoe voyage through
pa,c;uu and Northern France. There is a jocund
~ood na.nre in his recital that makes 1t attractive
r.adinc No rough weather IS sufficient 10 shake
his temper and though the rver in caprice al
fempts 10 drown hlm, he has no reproaches. Inc
adventures py the way he takes In geniai
suir,t. and views the people he meets WIN
tbs eve of a philosopher and the
sn,ile of a good fellow. There is an agreeable hui
NOR in the book-humor which is refined, but not al
vavs spontaneous perhaps. The merry turns have
sometimes the air of being too carefully conned.
The plilosophic and poetic touches which Mr.. Ste-
xensou gives to his work do not particularly I'M
prove il: but the modern essay OF travel may not
be without them AS for his STYLE 1t is so neat ana
nimble that we can afford to excuse its irresstDie
suggestion that the author has been modelling IL
upon that of eighteenth century essaylsts. ineie
are some phrases and turns OF expression so
indicative Of this that they cannot but seem al
fected. .
Sarious criticism is. however. hardly IN place IN
The consideration of this pretty trhe III IL ia'cr
for the enjoyment of an afternoon In june an ac-
compartment to wooing airs, 10 Piash'ns
waters and dreamy idleness. 1t is not
hool, 70 he taken up q second time And this, in
deed must be said of many of its class the ephem-
era of holiday journeying The writing OF so
many Of these graceful but shortiyed books is one
of the oddities of the present literary period.
man of talent may well think twice before he puts
his strength into a kind of work which. however
creditable ana delightful has vogue so
brief and which it will be con-
ceded is becoming dangerously overdone
Mr.. Stevenson showed so much cleverness and orig
inaty in his volume of short stories that one natn
rally looks for something more worthy OF his mettie
than this pleasant bit of trting.
The goodness and graces of the Mormons are the
subjects upon which Mr.. Phil Robinson chiefly des
cants. The months which he spent
among those thrifty souls he occu-
pied in detecting their virtues ana
setting down their deeds of brotherly charity. lie
celebrates their industry. honesty and sobrety,
and holds them to be far from degraded, and as for
polygamy he sees its conqueror in the fashionable
millner whose weapon Is a twenty-doiIar bonnet
In the growing cost of plural marriage lies its fu
ture remedy He can hardly say enough In praise
of the character of the community.
Ihaye SEEN and spoken to. and lived with. Nor
mon men and women OF every class ana never IN
my life in any Christian country, not even III
happy rural England have come IN copaac1 arIH w,In
charity say this deliberately. Without par:l-
clio of odious sanctimony, these folk are III their
thougbt to see men and women. A perpetual spirit
of charity seems possess them, and II the prayers
of simple devout humanity are ever OF any avail,
II must surely be this wonderful Mormon earnest
ness in appeals 10 Heaven. / have often watched
Mosems IN India praying, and thought then thas
had seen the extremity ofdevotl0n. put now tnst
have seen these people on their knees IN tnelr Kcn
ems at morning and at night, and heard their Ole
men-men who remember the dark days OF the attn
pour out from their hearts their grattude 1or past
mercy their pleas for future protection, IND that
1 have met with even more striking form of
PRAYER than have ever met with before: Equally
striking is the universal reverence ana aneetoa ot
with which they, quite unconscious OF the fact
that was taking notes." spoke of the authorities
of their Church. Fear there was none, but respect
man who. IN one Of these Mormon hsmlots. ven
tured to repeat the ISLANDERS current among Cen
tiles elsewhere, And IL would indeed ee base
and women and then went away to cainmniate
them. ,,,
only people in all Utah VINO libel these Mormons are
elther those who are ignorant Of them those who
have spostatized frequently under compulson)
from the Church those the official clique and their
sycoph.nts who have been charged with looking
forward to a share of the pluncer OF the Terrific
rial treasury. On the other hand | know many
polygamy itself detestable, speak of this people
As patterns to themselves commercial honesty,
religious earnestness and social charity.
Travelling through the settlements, found that
every one voluntarily considered his poorer neigh
bors as a charge upon himself. When man ar
rives there stranger and penniiess. one heips 10
up plot of ground. A third lends him his wagon
to draw some frewood from the canon or hillside; ;
a fourth gives up some of his time TO show hlIn how
to bring the water on to his ground and so on
through all the first requirements of the fororn
newcomer. Behind them all meanwhile is the
Church. the person of the presiding Elder OF the
settlement who makes HIM such advances as are
considered necessary. 1t Is wonderful system,
and as pathetic, TO my mind, as any struggle Tor
man who smong them is another unit of
strength. and LET him be only straight-spoken
faiI-dealing fellow, with his heart IN nis work
and he finds every ono's hand ready to assist him.
Not less conspicuous is the uniform sincerity in
religion school and meeting-h is to he found
IN every settlement. though there may be only
hat-a-dozen families, aud beside the regular at
tendance Of the people at weekly services the pr-
yatc PRAYERS oil each usehOld are punctual as
their meals In the e prayers, after the ordinary
eeneralites the head Of tue house usually prays for
all the authorities OF the church. from the PRESIDENT
downward for the 'a 81 authorities. for the Church
as a body. aud O.. asissionar1es abroad, fol bis
household and its Aef tor the United States, and
FOR Congress and io' ~ the world that feels kindly
50 ard Mormoni>ia. But quiie apart from the
ter OF the~ tgs'a :; their manner Is very STR k
ne ard the srs q a humble house, when n large
f.1ily ,crats r.ayer- and half the members,
aju,i,rg d. rs.Sla Gi furniture un0ccnpled for the
trghclox ypsi.Sn of devotion. drop into attitudes
O. erta1,l reVere1ce, kneeling IN the middle Of
thf q. meals very strongly to the eye OF those
arcust ,ned 10 the stereotyped piety of more adj
yanced eI- ilization.
One more conspicuous feature of Mormon life is
s.briety. / have boen the guest of some fifty ar
ferent households, and only once was offered even
beer That exception was ia a Danish household,
where the wife brewed her own 0l, IAN Opaque
beverage OF bome-fermented wheat and home grown
hops-as a curiosity curious, as an Indulgence
doubtful, as regular drink impossible. On no
other occasion was anything but tea, coffee, milk
or water offered And tea and coffee being
discouraged by tine Church, but seldom drunk.
As q heather outsider depiored my beer, and was
grateful for coffee; but the rest of the household.
In almost every instance, drank tcdter Tobacco Is
virtually unused. II is used. but so seldom that it
does not affect my statement. The spittooD. there
fore though in every roDm, is behind the door or
in corner under piece OF furniture. In case 1t