Show FROM THE ORIENT in ila an F english paper the oldham chronicle chronic e of october 1888 mention is made of a lecture delivered by dr watts watte of london on the north american indians the lecturer has been laboring as a missionary among the indians for several years and my may basup be supposed 0 sed to be well acquainted with fh their e ir customs language langua e and traditions although he lid did not say anything not already known to the litter latter day saints yet as he may be considered an impartial witness in the controversy concerning the genuineness and authenticity of the book of mormon I 1 thought I 1 would jay the substance of his lecture before the readers of the DR sir ET WEEKLY copied verbatim from the ChrOni cl e rhe AMERICAN INDIANS dr watts of london delivered a lecture on the above subject iu in the methodist new Ch chapel ajel union street on monday evening councilor E buckley presided ded the lecturer said aalde that centuries ago the mighty continent of america was occupied by people of different tribes and dialects but mainly of one religion one language one race and one ona origin their origin was in all probability asiatic for the features lan guage customs and religious rites of the two races were strikingly si similar in prehistoric times the leonle people crossed over from asia and had since remained there founding empires and attaining to a high civilization there were of indians in north america and in south america re he had been a missionary amongst them for some time and had consequently had an opportunity of studying them in canada itself there were a great number of tribes to whom by divine right the whole of the land belonged the desire amongst the white men for aggrandizement diz ement however had caused them to appropriate the land tor for their own uses and the red men were continually being driven back further and further without one voice being uplifted in their imperial parliament to save the race from extermination it was customary when the indians had business of general inte interest rost to transact to call a rno meeting eting of the chiefs of the different tribes but when the business only affected one tribe the chief of that tribe himself transacted it with regard to the language of the indians none of the tribes when discovered by the eur european eanes had any written lan guage oft it was a unique fact that the only one which could claim the honor of having invented an alphabet was the cherokee tribe the people had a tradition to the effect that when god created the red man and the white man he gave the red man a book and the white man a bow and arrow the latter however stole the book and left the former the bow and arrow they therefore considered it useless for a red man to attempt to write a book one of the tri tribe be geo guest gues did not believe this story he consequently set about the task and after foiling falling to write one with symbolic characters he ascertained the number of sounds in the language and formed a character for each in this manner he succeeded with respect to their religion 11 ion they believed in the existence of of one supreme being the great spirit and of numerous subordinate deities great importance was attached to dreams owing however lo 10 i 0 the efforts of missionaries christian settlements and churches and schools were springing up in the foregoing dr watts has brought out several points which confirm the authenticity of the book of mormon most decidedly I 1 1 he admits that the present indian tribes have one origin 2 this origin is asiatic 3 A high civilization has once flourished among them 4 their written language was lost when the indians were first discovered 5 they still retain some recollection of a lost book 6 their religion shows clearly that they once have had the light of revelation shining among them for how coul i they otherwise know anything of a supreme bein being 9 a spirit world and revelation through dreams dreama 7 their great number amounting to some in all now it is well known that the book of mormon teaches all this por for half a century that remarkable volume has laid these facts before the world and also shown how they came about As genesis explains how the human ram race cattle to be scattered on the surface of the earth the origin of the diversity of languages and gives a brief history of the world down to the time lime of moses so the book of mormon accounts acts coun ts for the presence of the red peo people ale on the american continent anti and treats of their wonderful history for a period of many centuries and all in harmony with the latest reliable discoveries how is this to be accounted for Is any other conclusion possible than this that the book must be a genuine and authentic record to say that it is a mere chance that the book of mormon came to contain the truth in these respects will not do any longer that is too silly altogether it might just as well be said that the history of england by macaulay is nothing but a work of chance the book of mormon cannot be amounted accounted for in this way its historical truths are too apparent how then did these truths come into that much contradicted volume to an honest thinking mind only one answer is possible the book of mormon is a genuine record its history is is proved roved to be true its doctrines must consequently be true too A tract entitled the mormon I 1 quite extensively circulated among the germans has fallen into my hands lately it appears that rev bev 1 I C iliff the prominent methodist priest of utah visited berlin in 1881 and on may in that year delivered a lecture on mormonism I 1 s m the tract professed to be the substance of that lecture and it will no doubt be interesting to residents of utah to learn how that reve reverend kend gentleman abroad represents the people who have been so courteous towards him on the first page of that tract we learn that joe smith 91 was a dishonest and unbridled 11 character and that brigham young himself testifies to this effect concerning the people that this accusation is a palpable falsehood is easily demonstrated the vary first persons who accepted joseph as a prophet were those who knew him best in his private private life this is a sure asure proof of tae the purity of his character it is a moral impossibility for any man mahl to exercise influence over his fellow men unless he is pure As soon as it is known that a man has fallen his influence is gone let mr iliff try the experiment and he will soon find that from the moment he becomes known as an unbridled 1 character his influence is gone mr iliff further ainther says on page 3 that the mormons cormons Mor mons were driven to ohio and finally to utah on account of the godless god lesa corrupt life I 1 of joseph smith and his his followers At another iother palpable falsehood when were men ever driven away from a place aglace on amount account of their ungodliness njma such a thing has never been heard of before in the whole history of america thure are thousands upon thousands of godless persons in america and the methodist churches who pay mr iliff have a considerable share of godless persons in their holy lestaa ligh lish mente ments but they are never driven away satan never makos makes war upon himself no awas sweaters swear ers and li arsand thieves and adulterers and murderers live peaceably everywhere such ambr not driven anywhere as long as th they T can keep out of the clutches of WO the law only saints are driven awa i I 1 further on page 5 we learn that w joseph smith according to wa theology of the mormons cormons Mor mons 11 is the fifth person in the godhead mf iliff a professed preacher of t gospel has the impudence to awa the following barefaced false falsehood hodd according to parley P arx pratts key to theology the mor molls teach that the deity consists of several beings elohim is the farin jehovah the second adam the third jesus christ the fourth and joseph smith the god of this generation era tion the fifth if it were possible for a priest ta wa havet tny good feelings in his breut breast a priest whose whole position as suc gut is nothing but one continuous fala filler hood from the beginning to the th end then the rev gentleman woula would feel ashamed of himself when re fleeting on the fact that he has cir the above lie but saw alas a priest is a priest i t we are further told page 7 thit thai the religion of the saints canedo tow murder and that in utah a secret seere organization the canites Da exi existe st A which is ie a bloody inquisition all antt rl 2 has to put out of the way everyone JP P who appears to be suspicious J what next how can men darety dare w speak such falsehoods ag against adust their fel Is there no no judg meB to come and shall liars not be cast into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone canites Da would mr iliff have dared to appear among the mormons cormons Mor mons if he had ha thought for one moment that stroh safo a bloody inquisition i 0 exist ilstad among them I 1 think not for a nall s who can bear such false testimony against his neighbor when abroad abraao and then come back all en styling sunshine is a coward the K judas iscariot was just as abrald aft 4 J canites among the twelve as a 01 rev bev iliff is among the saints emigrants we are further ww have chave been murdered in multitude 1 I page 8 bri bright young not only commander comman commanded deg aw W but mountain meadow massacre sanctioned it and rewarded tho 06 who took part in it because they balc done their duty pages 8 and 9 finally comes a long iong jeremia jer emla concerning the fearful fate of women of utah they are slaves their hearts are broken I 1 and so on and tills this is mr luff iliff a gens who has received much courtesy in utah he has preached in our meeting houses and numbers 1 va be t lieve several prominent cormons mormons Mor mons among his personal friends it time that these friends and the pa pie in general should know tale w add quality of that friendship anu also understand that it is 18 to find friends among en emless in religious matters a man inan musto must either or A medium exists UX DW and must not be sought after wu er for or against is the law of kingdom of god as well esaw ws and immutable as the law of citation in nature ahe ahe christian mission in the ori ailt oas bus for years been driven with money the e same as any other busi bus lie Q well ass no ot only y are the missionaries c paid d for their work but the verts are also as a rule rule more vs dt leas less surrounded with the blessings of it th e god of this world the v judas of kig oth was a mere nh snooty compared to our modern modem te tian missionaries for he did not realize more than 30 by his atle willi while our modern missionaries doblar ake more than many thousands of cwi iwi a year y out of their sales in tb e effect is this the natives erlat their ideas deas generally combine a ral wio nary and money conversion and profit hardly com they can pre liend that a man can sacrifice his pro doerty onion mile perty and tuu travel isavei thousands ua of 01 tha and come me out here pr preaching eachin 9 ohp 8 P pel without remuneration ardt think llila ll Ilk there must be some i n it ans they think Christ christians christians lans here 44 th e mans now nowadays a days ada are like the Cret iane have helped ten to an idea they have y nlaly that a mormon is a raAn Witt nany y wives and the 40 having abing enlarged the idea tw tell leil each other that there art arb co in haifa who have alv rae in ila order to find five hundred dundr e d ah 68 the poor missionaries have hav e 4 j the re reputation Es citation of paying liber tot ti wib stock of wives one one in had got the story the other ray va lie came to me in the street gebby t and asked if I 1 could not bag him 8 a few wives and some who heihs ft OY and emigrate emi gate him some wd saida he did not care where he tor aher his wives were there bowd reoul le 16 also alao be such startling the e mormons cormons Mor mons will have tian ua to and thank their chris irk in ponds fa ends for helping the natives plating the yarns C only y knows how long this known knas system of falsehood 0 o M C christianity shall play I 1 ay its da this earth buttis but this t we haa 11 low that when he rules who 1 ra evall the right ht then only shall truth BJ J M sa elac palestine feb 13 1889 |