| Show I 1 num the arlisle of a kinister KIn lster THE MOEMON ON PEOPLE I A mora friendly disposition evinced by y the english pi ess than heretofore shown sh own the fo following article is republished fron from the mercury ry a weekly 12 page 0 paper publish edin 0 in birmingham Ln england gland thu the BUM H R P does not bel believe in polygamy but he believes strongly in the cormons mormons Mor Morn mons ions he went utitia i 1 vure furr and lie hp remained to bless he be went to find a depraved ind and degenerate people and lie he dis es estered ci vered the nearest nea reit approach ot humanity to sainthood the mor for mon shave been greatly abused and no doubt they hav been brently misunderstood and misrepresented though for this they themselves and their methods are chiefly re pon sibie hut but after mr Haw eisa championship of them in the contemporary review they can no longer airgood qualities litie are sare unrecognized indeed the reverend i alii inadi gics into such raptures over iver thila the disciples of the far famed prophet JOSEPH SMITH that one wonder whether lie intends to ibadin liis his london pulpit and be bc take himself to salt lake city or whether his benefi beneficent vent intention is to assist those enterprising agents agents whose business s is to induce youna women to emig emigrate rate mr hawkis is iq unlined in lined to think that plural marriage mar ringe was a mischievous del asio n arid and though lie he cannot lint find it in his heart to d defend ef rid the system which as hy he tells us tilt was enc encouraged ura by abraham and jacob yet he can and docs apologize in for it there seemed no way lie he tells u of protections protect ins ina the numbers of poor women who joined the mormon hormon ranks rank except by marrying them arid and providing for their children this is very pretty but the way in which the mormon elders ciders jumped at the opportune opp opportunity ity and clung to the privilege long after it had ceased to be if ever it was ned necessary essary seems to imply that they were not solely prompted by philanthropy polygamy g amy was declared illegal by the sul supreme aerne court of america in 1889 1881 and the cormons mormons at one once forsook the practice had they done this voluntarily the whole world would have thought better belter of them except perhaps mr hanei Hawe iQ who could not think better belter than however much he tried that the cormons mormons would still continue the practice if they could is quite evident from the remarks ot of mr cannon one of the ablest of 01 the morn mormon ion rulers who said if we triad to continue it we could not we are surrounded by government spies and informers we are tracked and watched and any infringement of the law w as it stands would be instantly vi cited with arrest and imprisonment therefore we cannot arree agree 0 with mr haueis that it is ia to the mormons cormons Mor mons credit that thy they no longer indulge W in more than one wife we ve can only v admire their discretion in yielding to superior force no doubt when the united states santes decree was passed a situation of some pathos was created alie man has many wives and in each case all buethe but the first lost her status mr cannon gave r mr an account of his own ex experience peri ence it was a terrible thin thing he said but our lives have always been lives f Fac sacrifice and we felt that one more I 1 supreme sacrifice fac me was now d demanded 0 of us in tile cause of duty he explained that in spite of all that has been urged umed against polygamy they and their families were singularly happy and united the women n loving each other like bisters at and id the children growing g up happily together miserable marriage wore were quite the exception and when the wrench came it was a terrible one 1 I called my wives together said mr cannon 1 I explained to thern them the law they were noir free I 1 said to 0 o depart arid and to marry if they chose but I 1 was morally bound to provide loi for them if they did not licit do so we had lived long iong and happily to gether I 1 could never suffer them to want and I 1 shall still provide for the education and maintenance of my dear chi children dren and wives they nil all lepied they accepted the sacrifice imposed hut they would rint nt leave me anle compelled compell cd tu to do so go it was hard bard very baid a terrible rending of family ties all round but I 1 had to decide what I 1 would do av ir adds that as the old 0 gentleman ent leman continued talking ca ea arid and sensibly lie could not help feeling to how different the it ii ital al mormon looked from the ignorant a and satyr and would be assassin of the popular irria imagination ina it never to have lieve occurred to lie rev gentle ryan how repulsive the whole of the previous condition of affairs was and all his sympathy was for the m roan a n who in future must live less like a bluss ulma n and more like a christian no doubt the utah community anity has in other re specs been commendable in its conduct intemperance and thelt theft aie scarcely known nowie and pauperism does docs not exist but the mormons are a large family living in their own territory a separate and exclusive pec pie and this alone would be sufficient to repass ordia ordinary crime Mern members bers of the same f family do not rob and kill each other as a rule and the law of tb the e family applies ahr ther that family be small or large the cormons mormons Mori live amicably ther and mr cannon has gone so far as to say that their system and religion have produced some of il the noblest and most refined types of womanhood I 1 had almost aid sainthood in utah the fe 1 emale population is largely iu in excess of the male and it is sup supposed posed that the old problem will arise what to do with the surplus wonet iru n the mormon solution was to allot them theia to husbands but as B this is no longer allowed a new solution is awaited other people and nations have to grapple with tile the same difficulty difficult arid and it cannot be said that their various plans and schemes chemes s meet with invariable success mr hints that polygamy may again be resorted 1 to though in justice to the mormons cormons lie from the presidential dental manifesto to show that for the present all events it is most severely polygamy was no part of mormonism and as tile the religion founded by bv JOSEPH SMITH has been so much subject to condemnation on unfair and untrustworthy grounds mr concludes his article with a sketch of that remarkable ind individual vidual SMITH had visions and dreams dream ind and was either completely d eluded deluded by them or was a deliberate impostor mr that the man possessed abnormal powers and that his integrity can scarcely be questioned 1 it t is i s now evident he says that some people have remark remarkable visions which however subjective they may be in reality appear to them at the ho time lime objective as indeed do all dreams while they loar itis it is also certain abat by suggestion others can be got pt to see and feel what those it in i hypnotic eap rapport port with them see arid aftel ft el and on one can read the life of JOSEPH SMITH without strongly suspecting that those who were much with him began to see and feel very dimich what he asid and felt or thought he saw raw aud and felt the prophet had an extraordinary tra ordinary and half paralyzing paralysing fascination lor for all who were brought within his influence time after time lime lie he wits was arraigned in the law courts some times before prejudiced judges ana and packed juries yet lie he ii was as always acquitted ilis his enemies gave way to him when he spoke and he seemed to cast a spell upon unon all who were bear him lie ile wa was s only thirty eight when lie he was murdered and in a very short period lie had won hundreds of apostles who were willing 0 to un dero der dt ago a o martyrdom for him and for the religion lie he taught the mor mons h have ave thriven bounder under persecution they treasure thur ther book claiming to be the record of two great reat races that lived on the ameti cin continent after the flood and ferent fervently ly believed that SMITH was inspired to search for the gold plates alie divination crystals crystal the arim and which led to the true and only religion 0 being revealed again 0 to meu men sir mr fla wels aa sa 9 there is no evidence of fraud in tile matter though eliou ah tile evidence of inspiration is slender th rhe most astonishing part of ahe bu business einess is that have suffered 60 0 much persecution if lie was con coll of having a weak case IN his birzer as mr reminds u us was one of tremendous storm a and nd viii yet it was war hee dee from the 8 stains t a i n arid and impurities of the common adventurer As an nd administrator lie he was brilliant successful and uncorrupt yet no man inan has been pillo pilloried pillories so often though r we think that the addition of polygamy to mormon rites is in later times the chief cause of tho the hostility hosti lit which bis been inai manifested r ed |
