314 



MORMONS 



the direction of the apostles. The special nil. 



patriarch is in administer patriarchal 1.1. --in--. 

 AiMistles, patriarchs, high priests, seventies, bishops 



it huh piie-t- 1. and elders can preach, baptise 

 (invariably l>v immersion), lay on hands for the 

 gift of tlie (inly Ghost, and minister in varinus 

 other ordinances of tlie church. Neither orient*, 

 teachers, nor deacons can lay <>n luiml- for tlie gift 

 ill the II. .Iv Ghost, lull ii priest may preach and 

 baptise. Neither a teacher nor :i MMOB can 

 liaptise nr administer the sacrament, which all the 

 other officers named may do. The -]>. i.i! <liity of 

 a teacher is to visit ami teach t he memliei-8 in order 

 In |>r<>innte iixirality and faithfulness. The special 

 duty of a deacon in to attend to minor temporalities. 

 and' to assist the teacher in his duties. 



Doctrine. The articles of faith of the Church of 

 Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints : ' We lielieve in 

 God, the Kternal Father, and in his Sou, Jesus 

 Christ, and in tin- Holy ( ihost. \Ve believe that 

 men will he punished for their n\vn sins, and not 

 for Adam's transgicssioii. We believe that through 

 the atonement of < 'Im-t all mankind may lie saved, 

 by obedience to the laws ami ordinances of the 

 gospel. We tielieve that these ordinances are 

 ( 1 ) faith in the Lord Jesus Christ ; (2) repentance ; 

 (3) baptism by immersion for j remission of sins ; (4) 

 laving on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

 We lielieve that a man must !" called of (IIM! by 

 "prophecy and by the laying on of hands," by those 

 who are in authority, to preach the gospel ami 

 administer in the ordinances thereof. We believe 

 in the same organisation that existed in the primi- 

 tive church viz. apostles, prophets, paMoi-. 

 teachers, evangel i.-ts, \c. We Believe in the gifts 

 of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healings, 

 interpretation of tongues, &c. We lielieve the 

 liihle to lie the word of God, as far as it is trans- 

 lated correctly ; we also lielieve the Book of .!/</;- 

 man tit be the word of God. We believe all that 

 God has revealed, all that he does now reveal, and 

 we believe that he will yet reveal many great ami 

 important tiling- pertaining to the kingdom of God. 

 We lielieve in the literal gathering of Israel ami in 

 the restoration of the ten tribes ; that Zion will lie 

 built upon this [American] continent ; I liat ( 'lui-t 

 will leign personally upon the earth, and that the 

 earth will lie renewed and will reach its paradisaic 

 glory. We claim the privilege of worshipping 

 Almighty ("id according to the dictates of our own 

 conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, 

 let them wni-hip how, where, or what they may. 

 We lielieve ill l>eing subject to king", president-, 

 rulers, and magistrates, in olicyiiig, honouring, and 

 sustaining the law. We believe in being honest. 

 true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, ami in doing 

 good to all men ; indeed, we follow the admonition 

 of 1'niil " We Udieve all things, we hope all 

 things,'' we have endured many things, ami hope 

 to I..- able to endure all things. If there is any 

 thing virtuous, lovely, or of good report or pi 

 worthy, wes.-ek after these things '( Joseph Smith). 



They also liclieved in the patriarchal order 

 of marriage, as practised by Abraham, Jacob, 

 and other ancient worthies ; they held that it 

 U right and proper, under certain restrict ions, 

 for a man to nave more than one wife, providing 

 he is chaste an. I upright in his conduct and other 

 wi-e worthy of the privilege. Their marriages are 

 'for time ami all eternity, 1 as they lielieve in the 

 perpetuation of the family relationships hereafter. 

 Joseph Smith n ivcd the ' revelation on the eter- 

 nity of the marriage covenant, including plurality 

 of wives,' July 12, 1843, but it was not published 

 to the world until Angu-t 29, 1852. A woman, 

 among the Mormons, who does not marry and 

 bear children is regarded as not having fulfilled 

 all the law of her own being. A defence of 



the system has been set up on moral grounds, 

 as well as on the ground of revelation. They 



.1. .hue that prior to the advent of the Pacific 

 railroads (which, by the way, the Mormon* 

 helped to construct ). ami the consequent intliu 

 of ' i,,. mile' civilisation, their community wa* 

 free from the horrible vices ami degrading social 

 evils that prevail elsewhere ; fornication nnd 

 adultery were unknown ; there were no prostitutes, 

 no vile se.hu. 'is. n illegitimate children. Theii 

 wives are asserted to IM- Imiipy, virtuous, ami 

 healthy, and their social ami domestic purity ami 

 ielicn\ challenge (he highest commendation. 



Congtess has legislated repeatedly against the 

 polygamic feature of their faith. Ananti polygamy 

 law, passed in 1SI!2, remained practically a dead 

 letter, only one conviction ln-ing seemed in twenty 

 years, and that in a test ea.se, upon evidence fur- 

 nrshed by the defendant. For veins after the puss 

 ing of the act referred to congress peimitted a 

 Mormon delegate, who had scveial wives, to hold 

 his -eat in the House of Keiiresciitativcs ; but ill 

 ]ss-j he \\a-s denied that light, ami a monogamic 

 M. union was sent in his stead to congress. In 

 March 1882 an act supplementing the law ot 

 18(52 was passed, making it an oll'eiicc punish 

 able by line and imprisonment for a man to 

 marry more than one wife or to cohabit with more 

 than one woman. This act, popularly known as 

 the Edmunds Ijiw, was applied specially against 

 the Mormons, and was rigorously enforced. In 

 .Inly 1S*7 a constitutional convention, composed 

 entirely of monoganiic Mormons, who were vast Iv in 

 the majority in the church, met at Salt Lake City, 

 and, adopting a c. institution for the ' state of 

 1 tali,' containing a clause prohibiting and punish 

 ing polygamy ami unlawful cohabitation, applied 

 once more the fifth time in the history of the 

 territoiy tot admission to the I nion as a state. 

 Like ail the previous applications, however, this 

 vva- lel'iised. Finally, in Septcmlier IS!H) President 

 Woodrutl' issued 11 proclamation declaring that the 

 church no longer teaches the doctrine of polygamy 

 or plural marriages, and accepts the Tinted States 

 law prohibiting such marriages ; and this declara- 

 tion was afterwards confirmed in conference. Fol- 

 lowing the manifesto by President Woodruff] the 

 Mormons began to divide on political party lines, 

 aligning themselves individually with the two great 

 national parties of the republic. The elections 

 which ensued clearly demonstrated that tho Mor- 

 mon people were about equally divided in their 

 IMilitical Mews and preferments. At the session of 

 thet'nited States; congress for 1893-94 the question 

 of statehood for I' tali was early sprung, and an F.na- 

 bling Act for its admission was passed \\ ith but little 

 op|M>sition. In accordance with this act a constitu- 

 tional convention was held in Salt Lake City, the 

 capital of I'tah, in March May 18!). r i, and a consti- 

 tution framed for submission to the legal voters of 

 the territory. The chief provisions of the Knabling 

 \. t were that perfect toleration of religious centi 

 ment should be secured, that polygamous or plural 

 marrkiges should be forever prohibited, that pro- 

 vision should be made for the establishment, and 

 maintenance of a system of public schools which 

 -hould lie open to all the children of said state and 

 free from sectarian control, and that these provi- 

 ions should b rendered by ordinance irrevocable 

 without the consent of the. I'nitcd States and the 

 people of the state. The constitution as framed 

 was ratified by a large majority. See UTAH. 



[The foregoing article is written from the Mor- 

 mon point of view by the historiographer of the 

 cliiircn. The mcmliersliip of the church is esti 

 muted at 250,000, of whom, according to the United 

 States census of 1890, 117,029 were in Utah. In 

 the same year there were 3000 in New Zealand and 



