Show lowell kowell laran Branch eh ind Indifference If ferenee ference slept mun dun infanticide opposition mass may 7 1670 editor deseret mews news I 1 have been spending the last four weeks in Lowell with the exception of two visits miles distant and a few days spent in visiting relatives at dunstable a village a few miles west of here and near the new hampshire line there is now a branch of thirteen members in lowell under the presidency of bro wm win a good man in whom the ibe entire branch repose great faith and confidence fi fl spiritually considered the branch is 19 in good condition a most fleaming Fl easing pleasing degree of humility and tove iove 0 e pervading it the members are not rich though all are in comfortable for table circumstances with a good prospect of saving funds for dor emigration by exercising diligence and economy every member of the branch is from bradford england and by in a happy coincidence or rather a providence ot of god they have been brought together under the presidency of a man whom all knew know and highly esteemed in their native place I 1 I 1 have through the grace of god been permitted to meet with ard and address the branch in the afternoon and evening of each of the last three Sabbat sabbaths Sab bab baths bs these meetings have been held in a private house and have been attended by quite a number of the neighbors and friends frienda of the saints but the interest in them has been confined to a comparatively ively small circle for so large a place as lowell though I 1 have done my utmost to increase it by means of tracts etc I 1 have also tried to get a public room in which to hold meetings but have failed the indifference of the people upon religious subjects and their prejudice against the mormons cormons Mor mons are great lowell is more or less celebrated for skepticism and that peculiarly horrible crime infanticide As an illustration of the latter practice as weli well as the beauties of monogamy I 1 here repeat a statement made to me hie by a relative an old gentleman whose word I 1 do not doubt A number of years ago the narrator a stonemason was employed as one of a number of workmen to clean out and repair a canal which carried water for propelling one of the large mills in lowell lowen and during the process of shoveling out the sediment etc t that had accumulated in the bottom the skeletons of about thirty infants in various stages ot of decay were found were it not for the evidences of the wickedness of modern new now england society so pal to beor me or had tho the above been stated by other than tin nn eye witness s I 1 would scarcely have credited it but under the circumstances I 1 am almost forced to believe it what horrible phases of society the discovery of those infant bone bones sug gestl what dark secrets ard 1 crimes and misery the bour our la lac tory girl impelled not only by her ber own weak human nature but by actual necessities accepts the seducers bribe and then seeks to hide the consequent shame and avoid the care and expense se of or the child by casting it into the silent wafer water which as they murmur on to the sea murmur not in intelligible language of the dark secrets their depths conceal the fashionable mother knowing that children chi I 1 are nop not fashionable and willing to lay her imi immortal ortal soul asa as a sacrifice on the of her bend fiend goddess fashion her little innocent babe or casts its body into the stream af aft r the abortion ab or is produced another evidence that the awful picture is not overdrawn a census marshal who has lately been taking statistics in lowell stated to a member of the branch who is is a good sister bister and doing a good work in the way of a numerous posterity herity that in a long and crowde crowded d street etin in lowell inhabited exclusively by americans he found but one small child tile the street contains inhabitants enough to make a good sized village but only one small child at this rate how long will it take fake new england the land of puritans and religious martyrs mar tyis to prepare itself for one vast complete utter exterminating alid aud pu r if y ng cities of the plain cremation and yet lowell its exa exemplar in in crime is so bitterly opposed to pure lawful plural marriage as to refuse to listen to a discourse on gospel principles from one of those abominable A lermon mermen elders 0 consistency thou art a jewel not found in the treasures of f modern christian theology and moral phil 1 I will relate my experience in dunstable a fair sample sampie of new england villages in order to illustrate what I 1 often meet with I 1 arrived in the village about five pm and put up with an aged uncle of my rathers fathers received me graci graciously f outly but bill who during my stay never asked a single question about my religion having as he be represented a mighty poor opinion 01 0 mormonism his is wife however in in ills his absence asked me a few questions when alaid our doctrines before her on tho the following day having a number of distant relatives in the v vicinity before whom as well aa as the people ef of the village I 1 desired to lay the tho principles of the gospel I 1 sallied forth to try to get one of the schoolhouses school houses bouses in the village of which there were two both in charge of the same trio of trustees I 1 found one of these in a field at work and politely pali tely asked for ifor the P privilege lege of holding a meeting in op one e of the schoolrooms at the same rame time telling him of my calling he gave I 1 me an immediate gruff and emphatic reply ili in the negative I 1 suggested tha that perhaps his appos opposition and prejudice wera were based on misrepresentations of the truth b which be he had bad heard but my respectful arguments were all to no i purpose pur poe and andee he further informed inform pd me we that he would use all his bis influence to prevent my ray holding a meeting in that village on parti parting rig tig I 1 j bore him a simple though strong testimony of the dicinit divinity ay iy of my mission bade dade him goodday good day and left the field before I 1 could see the other two he had called on and cautioned them against giving me permission to use either of the schoolrooms and as the people generally seemed to care little to hear me I 1 held no meeting though I 1 might h have v e hired red the only hall in the place fa for r a few dollars being thus r rejected and opposed I 1 left duri Duli dunstable table tabie and returned to holowell toi toJ Lowell on the following day conscious of avin having g done my duty auty even though I 1 had bad failed in the attempt at breaking the shell of bigotry and skepticism in which dunstable like the average new england town and village is so quietly dozing in fancied security destined to do doze but a short time however before the people will be awakened to a sense of their alarmingly dangerous position very respectfully your brother B P F GS i JB R |