Show L I MORMO ISM IN STYLE i I f r 1 1Cf l i Mr Mil Robinson it and > aMlri bune Reporter r HOWrSJBE WAJIIP TlieIiondon P tpers on fylie Affair A Lively Tiaie Score the Mor inons One I I 1 l1 1 j < > r J LONDON October 13 18SG To the Editor of rIlE HE1LD t J The Mormons last evening held a meeting in St georges Hall whicn 1 = i situated in the west end of thecity and is due of the finest and most aristocratic hallsin London as its location would denote Five of the leading dailies nave this morning devoted considerable space to the report of the lecture and all of the evening papers have also given some space to itvand many of them have commented quite favorably while others haye shown a certain amount of unjustifiable prejudice and have exhibited their teeth by wandering wander-ing off into a biased slushy and idiotic strain wincn WOUlO well fit ana be more suitable for publication in such an unpalatable un-palatable sheet as the Tribune Considerable Con-siderable bias was shown by someof me reporters while at the lecture and their rude behavior only fully convinced us tnat they were reared near the lowly air of Seven Dials instead of being representative re-presentative London gentleman as they profess and it would be well for them to look to their own etiquette before accusing the Mormons of ungentlemanly ungentle-manly and slouchy manners of which i by some of the quotations from their ar tices you will see the missionaries on I the stand were accused By requ st of I President D H Wells Elder R W Sloan after being honorably released some two months ago to return home remained to attend the series of lectures lec-tures of which this is the first and the latter has since been very active and has devoted his whole time to assist in its success The author of Sinners and Saints is the projector of the scheme and will be well remembered in Salt Lake City as his visit there left the kindliest recollections of him as a true man and one who was not timid in publishing to the world his candid convictions con-victions in regard to the Mormons as aa injured and foully misrepresented people and he has before as in the present pre-sent instance shown that he desires the people of Utah to have their rights and also to obtain a fair hearing hear-ing Although this lecture has been given through Mr Phil Robinsons influence i in-fluence and interest in Utahs behalf he has had absolutely no pecuniary interests inter-ests in it The question was asked him a few days since As I know you are making nothing out of this what is your motive for the interest you have shown in your endeavors to get us a hearing before the British public To which fie replied U My dear Sloan as you knock around through this world you will occasionally come across a fellow fel-low who teels it to be his duty to help you all he can and who wants to do it Hence this lecture had been planned and the above named hall procured pro-cured for the purpose Ten thousand small hand bills and a number of large ones were printed and the former distributed dis-tributed among the population of the metropolis th latter being placed on boards and carried through Fleet Street Strand Regent Street and many of the principal thoroughfares by twenty men all in TOW commonly known as Sandwichmen and from which the streets are never free This as a matter of course caused considerable comment I as the bills were headed IIA Bit er Cry from the Persecuted Mormons of Utah For fair play and justice then giving the place date etc Several of the London papers gave an article prior to the lecture more favorable than many that appear in print in the world regarding the Latterday Saints and yet it appears that it was not sufficiently suffi-ciently advertised and another great disadvantageous the inclemency of the weather as the aqueous fluid poured down profusely up to 9 p m So what with that and the bitter opposition constantly con-stantly brought to bear against anything any-thing connected with Mormonism we were but little surprised on arriving at the hall to find comparatively few assembled as-sembled considering the seating capacity capac-ity is 500 but before the first lecturer had proceeded far a few more than a hundred were scattered about the auditorium audi-torium and balcony The hall has the appearance of a theatre1 and the elders with a few of the London Saint took seats upon the stage Mr Robinson acting as chairman said I have been asked by my acquaintances the Mormons Mor-mons of Utah to introduce them A letter appeared in a daily paper this r morning in which an English citizen takes exception to a Mormon meeting in London It is the first time I have heard of a really powerful London news pa er objecting to any people having afar a-far and free hearing in London It is mv opinion that men are free to worship wor-ship liod in the way they think best The Mormons nave been working amongst us for nearly the last fifty years with the most unobtrusive modesty without any kind of disorder and without even appearing in a police court I am not here as an advocate of Mormonism I have perhaps slated them more than anyone but I have also praised them more than any one and it is because I have trested them impartially imparti-ally that I am here My own Iome tic establishment is based strictly upon the monopamic principal When I wentto Utah I had an idea that the Mormons were a licentious degraded people but I found that they were to a man strict teetotallers Another thing is they are perpetually at their prayers and in his usual jocular and good humored way in m laudable desire to conform con-form to the customs of the country I nearly wore out a pair of trousers and if it should ever be mv lot to again visit that community I shall have a pair of leather knee caps made Laughter My conclusion is that if you want to meet a thoroughly Godfearing earnest and virtuous people you ought to go to Uah II The e were four poins upon which ths Eluers spoke The first was the charge of irreligion which had been LbronehtJtgflingt Hinm KIT th4 rTMJ j I brief address up n the first subject I I He I sajd II Probably most of you who are present have never before beheld a real live Mormon and perhaps you will be disappointed in finding they are but ordinary individuals The Latterday Saints have however one characteristic characteris-tic which distinguishes them from all other people on the face of the earth they are everywhere spoken against Inn In-n in the pulpit in the press at is very seldom that anything favorable to them can be heard or rea l We only want fair play we do not want pity We are not here to give up any of our principles or to ask pardon par-don for anything we have done We are not conscipus of having wronged anyone but we are conscious of being very much wronged We are charged among other things with not believing in God but of worshiping and idolizing Joseph Smith Now we believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet ot God just as much as was Isaiah Moses Jeremiah and others of the ancient men of God We do not believe in the God of the Protestantsnor the divinity of any of the Christian sects but we worship and believe in the God of the Old Testament and of the New Testament Testa-ment a rational being The Ilev Henry Ward Beecher said Elder Kelson describes his God as a being wbose feet reach the lOwest depths of the earth while His head towrs above all glory and he declares he is a son or God How proud such a collossal being must be of His little son Henry Christianity Chris-tianity after a trial of over f800 years has from a moral and social standpoint stand-point proven a failure Phi TT7QQ inn mrir h nf a T1 inilliwcfJhi truth for the listeners andt they soon showed their disapproval Before the speaker sat down he remarked that one could travel 200 miles in Utah without finding a drinking saloon or 1 gambling gam-bling hell and some one in the gallery cried out hit is false It is needless to state that some of the papers made his statement refer to Utah as a whole but he candidly told why they existed in Salt Lake Ogden and other towns where there are a number of outsiders out-siders among the population Elder M B Shipp said one of the characteistics of the Latterday Saints is the high estimate and sacredness with which they revere the married relation As to the effects of their faith I can only point to the results There is not a purer people under the seining sun than Latterday Stunts They have exercised a power and energy which if they were corrupt and foul they would not have been able to do The Mormons have beautiful hap homes happier homes than anywhere else on the face of the earth U He also explained some theological views of general character and was followed oy Elder R W Sloan whose remarks were made with impressive emphasis As some one of the hearers had asked in an impatient somewhat sarcastic manner V polygamy was practiced by Mormons Elaer Sloan proceeded as follows We practice polygamy because we krow it to be the will of Almighty Al-mighty God and because we have a a revelation from God that it is a right and proper state for man to live in There is no law of God either in the Old or New Testament against polygamy poly-gamy and Christ who has denounced all crimes has said nothing in reference to it Neither is there any law of I nature against it A gentleman in the gallery who was intoxicated with the exuberance ofhis own verbosity and had several times shown his freshness and talkativeness talk-ativeness here interposed by saying How about social economy 7 The everready Elder Sloan replied If you would exercise it a little more yourself I think you would have less to say which effectually quieted himand created a laugh There are many women who would make good wivesbut are not permitted to fulfil the end for which they were created and as long as there are thousands of men who will not marry there will exist these poor miserable creature of whom there are 90000 on the streets of London thrown out on this cruel cold world by the debased and immoral fiends in human form who ruin and cast them adrilt and then seek for other innocent girls on whom to practice their vile purposes pur-poses Cries of hear hear which in England is a way of showing appreciation apprecia-tion Which is the mot honorable polygamy as practiced in Utah or as its it-s in England I defy you to walk through Utah and find a tithe of tl c I polygamy which I know to exist in England and on the continent If all men would marry there would be an end to polygamy No man is allowed to marry or beget children by our law who cannot support them While here if a man seduce a young and virtuous girl and the consequence be a child sympathy and justice she gets is probably 1 shilling and 6 pence per week and this accounts for the poor waifs tramping the streets at midnight trying to sell a halfpenny box of matche or a newspaper You all cry let me fly to the bosom of Abraham 1 but when you get there what will you do Turn back and run away because you will find him a polygamist The names of the twelve sons of Jacob are to adorn the twelve gates of New Jerusalem > Jeru-salem and tefore you enter those pearly gates you will be forced to recognize thm as coming from polygamous polyg-amous loins and accept the principle Vhere the people of the world are married mar-ried for time we are mftrrfprl for timp and eternity as we are told in the resurrection re-surrection there will be no marrying nor giving in marriage The speaker here adduced numerous scriptural cita tion as evidence of the truth of his assertions as-sertions and in all his remarks had the attention and apparent approval of the audience I here insert a most amusing article from The Echt which needs no comment All sorts and conditions of men from America have of late ap cared in England Some lite Dr Talmage and Henry Ward Beeoher with the avowed object of making a pile of dollars others liee Booth ana Murphy with the avowed object of convert I lag the na ion en mease to teetotalism who also manage to make their pile The strangest and latest importation is a d puta I tion of Mormons who appeared last nlghtst the Westend Perhaps it was not adver1 I tised sufficiently for there was a poor rt i I sponse othe a < peal of the persecuted Mormons 1 Mor-mons of Utah Elder K Ison said that they only wanted fair pa > and justice but if we were ever so 1 benevolently dispoed we could not help r these persecuted saints Thpy do not want i to leave Utah and they can remain there I unmolested if they only comply with the I I conditions under which Englishmen live I j They say they are married for et raity I I I Njbody has aiv obj tionto that if it stis fies them thoujrh by tie way a good many 1 people find a lifetime too long as the records re-cords of the div > rre court how I Fron tin MVnionT > v ± nLtjh nn1 t1 charm jn perpetual company with a wife like that Elder Shipp tells us that nowhere in the Bible is polygamy expressly forbidden He need not have come from Americato tell us that If he can show that any nations practising polygamy have treated woman with due honour and reverence then it might be worth while to discuss the question ques-tion but not otherwise It as undoubtedly true that many women cannot marry but most women that are unmarried would prefer single blessedness to the possession oVa fraction of a husband and those who are married would unanimously refuse to surrender anything to their less fortunate sisters I The Tribune representative who had been silently watching his note book as the Faber therein traced his quahy report arose while Elder Sloan was on the marriage question and elicited the information whether a marriage contracted con-tracted according to English law WAS recognized by the Mormons l and urged that therefore in Utah he would not be considered as married to his wife The lecturer quickly said I do I dot know that you are married to h rand r-and as some one else followed WIth another interrogation he the eore told the company that he would answer any question which might be propounded il possible and on account of his wit and readiness reply to the many inquiries in-quiries which were pelted and hurled at him from all sides for upwards of half an hour the Lonam Daily Times says Mr Sloan further volunteered vol-unteered to answer questions and this he did in a manner not a little suggestive of the cormr man of the Christy Minstrel performances perform-ances They were disappointed at not finding an ignorant fool with whom they could cope and overcome The Dfiily Telegraph states Mr Sloan was a rather smart brisk flippant sort of an elder The same paper further says Three or four of the men on the platform plat-form looked slouchy and sheepish walked awkwardly c The elder blunrering abstractions and loose generalities mingled with trite reproofs re-proofs of sin and wickedness left practically prac-tically untouched the question of persecution perse-cution It was not said they would treat that point at all and apparently some men are more capable of exhausting their vocrb lary in countenancing the depredations of such noted place as Petticoat Land tt an of writing with the least decree of decency commonsense common-sense or reason upon any reijious topi After all some have said in attempting to making a laughing stock of the Latter day baints their idiotical assertions will eventually evaporate and become a mystical nothingness While Elder loan was auswerin the questions many of which were nonsensical in the extreme our Tribune friend called out I feel insulted Elder 810anu1 beg J your pardon but I know nothing of your private affairs Laughter Here some one asked if one of the ladies on the stand would not kindly volunteer some information in respect to the womans sde of the question in Utah One of the ladies stated As a whole the homes in Utah are happy ones Women of course have different differ-ent dispositions but they are satisfied with polygamy because they believe it is of the true faith I wpuld ashamed to see my ichildreu on the streets as some are in London Mr Robinson saidThe way iu which the laws are made punish a polygamist in America is that a man may be sent to the Penitentiary for eight years when your esteemed contemporarys correspondent jumped immediately to a standing posture and with that unmitigated amount of gall so common to such men made the bold ludicrous assertion that no man had ever been convicted in Utah or the United States of the offense of polygamy The chairman replied by asking him three questions in regard tq what the Pen of Utah is now filled with The effect of this was so thoroughly confusing con-fusing that it became necessary for Mr Robinson to tell the posted gentleman gen-tleman if he could pot talk sensibly he had better be seated and amid hissing hiss-ing and laughter he quickly retired to aback a-back seat in order to hid his chagrin and the crimson tints which rushed to his countenance so rapidly that he must have felt like a whipped puppy It would almost have been possible to light a candle by his face This will probably account for any variations from this report which may be seen in the one he sends to his paper Though the Tribune editorinchief could from his own kennel bark at Mr Robinson as though he were another pup the London representative of that paper knowing the gentlemans most enviable envia-ble position in the highest literary circles cir-cles of this great city found advisable to treat him with that deferential courtesy to which his great ment entitles him He the repiesenta tive also knows that Mr Rob insons name would carry even an inferior article if it were indeed possible possi-ble for him to write one into the columns col-umns of any of the leading dailies or magazines where C C Goodwins would convey one of his best efforts to the waste paper basket of any English country newpaper Some gentleman in the a dience who was more partial thau many of the other said I do not understand why the hulled States cannot respect the Mormon people as the English government does the poly amous customs and practices of the Indian nation I with other English men have been in Inda andr sided there for a perioa of there years and have noted the effect of their manners and practices upon our English officers and judges who not only tolerate but have learned to highly respect them This opened up the field and Elder Sloan intormed his hearers just why the Latterday Saints were and ane continuously persecuted which was done briefly Of course some expostulations were made but as usual they were very thin The qu a ions on the whole were answered to the satisfaction of the audienca says the Daily Chronicle which gives a very concise account ot the proceedings I believe in giving credit where itis due and the Tri unman un-man proposed a vote of thanks to Mi Sloan for so kindly answering thJ questions which was carried and the proceedings brought a close Several men came forward and conversed with the elders and seemed greatly pleased with what they had heard Another lecture will likely be given in a week or so There is to be an anti Mormon meeting at the same hall on Sunday October 17th and will doubt less do the Mormons more good than injury The following clippings from I The fetgwpK show the inconsistency and injustice with which the Utah mar punishable i s 1 by la i 4 This is justj j 1 exactly the state of affairs and when the MofiVmhiedan is tolerated apd honored his practices why should not the women of Utah be allowed as many rights as arc the polygamous wives of the east In Europe a woman who has been betrayed and has foregone the ceremony cere-mony of marriage sometimes asserts that she is a wife in the sight of God arid no doubt there are fanatic females ini Utah who hold themselves pStffied in accepting the corresponding aftid precarious position out there yKp1 Sophistry can make a wife fijrif 4 of a woman who practically depnontba conscience or constancy < man3hd who may according to her own aaiiits siQn and ideas be virtually set aside any day for a younger or more af tra r tfve comranion In Mussulman land I the wife thorgh only one of two three or four haf1iT i in Be fiQrrei which cannot be abrogated thtwiJ ofher husband whoraccoriugttLe Koran interpreted b Rh CadiJ be severely punished if he deer E d or illuded her A Vormo t 0 ij the other hand might any day l > a e alljhs women to starve without fea s f interference by church or State NO t = withstanding one of the lecturers informed in-formed the people on Tuesday night that excommunication would immediately immed-iately follow desertion the above was published and the derisiQn with whih the face of Joseph Smiths bayinji been a Prophet is ireatVd I only tells oq that they have not mai hood enough to respect even While I wrie this thi news of the meeting is fast being made known throughout the whole of Great Bntian and thus where it has hereto lore been impossible for the Moruons to preach to tie wealth and aristocracy of the world of London the newspaper news-paper of these classes are doing ipr Mormons what they have not pen able to do for themselves No roater whether they treat the subject sub-ject with contempt or not they will be compelled to admit that the peopleof Utah are greatly wronged and according accord-ing to arguments presented in their favor will see that they are not the licentious and iniquitous people they are represented as being It is one of the finest privileges the missionaries have had for many par to delivera sermon to the London = rpu lic and if many of them put aaide their prejudce a favorable impression may probably have been made upon at least a few VAEAH |