As large as the Old Testament. A tedious historical romance on the ancient inhabitants of the
American Continent, whose ancestors emigrated from Jerusalem b.c. 600, and whose degenerate
descendants are the red Indians. Said to have been written as a book of fiction by a Presbyterian
minister, Samuel Spalding.
The Doctrines and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. Salt Lake
City, Utah Territory. Contains the special revelations given to Joseph Smith and Brigham Young
at different times. Written in similar style and equally insipid as the Book of Mormon.
A Catechism for Children by Elder John Jaques. Salt Lake City. 25th thousand, 1877.
We cannot close this chapter on Oriental Mohammedanism without some remarks on the
abnormal American phenomenon of Mormonism, which arose in the nineteenth century, and presents
an instructive analogy to the former. Joseph Smith (born at Sharon, Vt., 1805; shot dead at Nauvoo,
in Illinois, 1844), the first founder, or rather Brigham Young (d. 1877), the organizer of the sect,
may be called the American Mohammed, although far beneath the prophet of Arabia in genius and
power.
The points of resemblance are numerous and striking: the claim to a supernatural revelation
mediated by an angel; the abrogation of previous revelations by later and more convenient ones;
the embodiment of the revelations in an inspired book; the eclectic character of the system, which
is compounded of Jewish, heathenish, and all sorts of sectarian Christian elements; the intense
fanaticism and heroic endurance of the early Mormons amidst violent abuse and persecution from
state to state, till they found a refuge in the desert of Utah Territory, which they turned into a garden;
the missionary zeal in sending apostles to distant lands and importing proselytes to their Eldorado
of saints from the ignorant population of England, Wales, Norway, Germany, and Switzerland; the
union of religion with civil government, in direct opposition to the American separation of church
and state; the institution of polygamy in defiance of the social order of Christian civilization. In
sensuality and avarice Brigham Young surpassed Mohammed; for he left at his death in Salt Lake
City seventeen wives, sixteen sons, and twenty-eight daughters (having had in all fifty-six or more
children), and property estimated at two millions of dollars.^209
The government of the United States cannot touch the Mormon religion; but it can regulate
the social institutions connected therewith, as long as Utah is a Territory under the immediate
jurisdiction of Congress. Polygamy has been prohibited by law in the Territories under its control,
and President Hayes has given warning to foreign governments (in 1879) that Mormon converts
emigrating to the United States run the risk of punishment for violating the laws of the land. President
Garfield (in his inaugural address, March 4, 1881) took the same decided ground on the Mormon
question, saying: "The Mormon church not only offends the moral sense of mankind by sanctioning
polygamy, but prevents the administration of justice through the ordinary instrumentalities of law.
In my judgment it is the duty of Congress, while respecting to the uttermost the conscientious
convictions and religious scruples of every citizen, to prohibit within its jurisdiction all criminal
practices, especially of that class which destroy the family relations and endanger social order. Nor
can any ecclesiastical organization be safely permitted to usurp in the smallest degree the functions
and powers of the National Government."
(^209) As stated in the New York Tribune for Sept. 3, 1877.