the name given to that system of faith maintained by the Mormons, or Mormonites, or Latter-day Saints, a religious sect which has sprung up in the United States of America during the present century, and whose progress has been attended with surprising success. Mormonism is unquestionably one of the greatest religious impostures of this or of any age; and the evidence which has been adduced of the unblushing effrontery and blasphemous lies employed to give it currency is so cogent and overwhelming, that no one but a fanatical dupe of the delusion could give credence for a moment to such a tissue of deceptions.

The author of the Mormon imposture was one Joseph Smith, who was born in the town of Sharon, Windsor county, Vermont, U.S., on the 23rd December 1805. His father, who was a small farmer, removed afterwards with his family to Palmyra, New York, where they lived a sort of idle, vagrant life, and were principally known as money-diggers. The elder Smith was notorious for his incantations, delusions, and lies; and he soon discovered that his son Joseph concealed under a guise of dulness and sloth a decided genius for "second-sight." Accordingly, when a money-digging excursion was projected, young Joseph was chosen guide; and by looking through a peculiar stone, which he placed in his hat, he "saw into the depths of the earth," and decided where the money-seekers should begin to dig. Dig they did, but unfortunately always blundered in the process; so that no gold was found, and yet the correctness of Joseph's vision remained unchallenged. Despite the want of success which attended their ostensible profession of money-digging, the Smiths contrived, by whatever means, to be nearly always idle and very generally drunk. In addition to those accomplishments, they practised that of lying. A number of the most respectable residents in their neighbourhood solemnly declared upon oath that "no credit can be given to any one member of the Smith family." These general traits of the family character were all to be met with in the person of Joseph Smith junior, only in fuller development and richer growth. Indeed, these early personal vices were afterwards publicly admitted by "the Prophet," and dexterously turned to his own advantage. In short, the founder of Mormonism had, at the period of his finding the Golden Bible, a well-authenticated character for dexterous knavery, astute lying, and gross drunkenness: a very limited moral capital certainly on which to commence business as a founder of a new religion. Nor were his literary qualifications of a much higher order. He could read tolerably, write imperfectly, calculate with difficulty, and, as his inspired productions afterwards showed, blundered sadly in spelling, and held all grammar in abhorrence. Yet to a man who sees "remarkable visions," and is favoured with an occasional visit from John the Baptist, what may not be possible?

According to the testimony of Mr Peter Ingersoll, who was a neighbour of Smith's from 1822 to 1830, taken under oath in 1833, the future "Prophet" came in one day with a joyful countenance to the deponent, and communicated to him the following piece of information:—"As I was passing yesterday across the woods after a heavy shower of rain, I found in a hollow some beautiful white sand that had been washed up by the water. I took off my frock, and tied up several quarts of it, and then went home. On my entering the house I found the family at table eating dinner. They were all anxious to know the contents of my frock. At that moment I happened to think of what I had heard about a history found in Canada, called the Golden Bible; so I very gravely told them it was the Golden Bible. To my surprise, they were credulous enough to believe what I said. Accordingly, I told them I had received a commandment to let no one see it; for, said I, no one can see it with the naked eye and live." The deponent then goes on to state:—"Notwithstanding he [Smith] told me he had no such book, and believed there never was any such; yet he told me that he actually went to Willard Chase to get him to make a chest in which he might deposit his Golden Bible." In September 1827, after this interview with Ingersoll, Smith went to Chase and asked him to make him a chest, for he expected soon to get the Golden Bible. Shortly after, Smith returned to the workman, and said that he had been directed to a hill in the neighbourhood, where he found the book deposited in the ground, and hid it in a tree-top. The elder Smith's tale of this wonderful discovery was highly embellished with the marvellous, and was at the same time perfectly characteristic. The book was marvellous; it had been found in a marvellous way; it required marvellous qualifications to obtain it; and it was marvellous to an unparalleled degree in the influence it had exerted over the faith of the family of Smith. No one had seen the book, indeed, but the inspired Joseph; but then its disclosure to the eye of mortal was prohibited by a special revelation of the book itself. The origin of the Golden Bible, however, is a genuine historical fact, and is briefly explained.

In the year 1809 one Solomon Spaulding, a graduate of Dartmouth College, and who had for some time been a clergyman, having relinquished his profession in favour of mercantile pursuits, removed first to Cherry Valley, New York, and subsequently to Conneaut in Ohio. Being a man possessed of a sort of literary taste, he occupied his leisure hours in writing a fabulous account of the origin of the North American Indians, who at that time were alleged by some to be the descendants of the lost ten tribes of Israel. He laboured for three years upon this religious fiction, which he entitled The Manuscript Found. Two of the leading characters in the book were Mormon and his son Moroni, who figure so largely in Joseph Smith's Book of Mormon. To give the work a fictitious origin, he resolved to bring it forward as having been found in a cave; and, to lend it an air of antiquity, he adopted the style employed in the common translation of the Scriptures. Spaulding made no secret, moreover, of the curious task on which he was engaged. On the contrary, as his work progressed, says his widow, "the neighbours would come in from time to time to hear portions read, and a great interest in the work was excited among them;" which, among other things, showed how exceedingly easily the honest folks were pleased; for in point of dreary dulness and stupidity a more notable MS. never came from the pen of man. Solomon's brother John was "perfectly familiar with the work," and afterwards recognised it at once when it had been converted into the Golden Bible. "He was amazed and afflicted that it should have been perverted to so wicked a purpose." The evidence of Spaulding's brother, and that of Lake his partner, as to the identity of the Book of Mormon and The Manuscript Found, was given publicly upon oath, and is thus far conclusive. (See Expose of Mormonism, by John Bennett, Boston, 1842.) Spaulding completed his volume about 1813; and there appeared an announcement in the newspapers of the day that it consisted of a translation of the Book of Mormon, recently discovered, containing a history of the lost tribes. The manuscript was placed in the hands of a printer or bookseller, named Patterson, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who was much pleased with the work; but before any definite arrangements could be come to respecting its publication the author died. The manuscript remained in the possession of Patterson, who lent it to one Sydney Rigdon, a compositor in his employment, and who combined with his calling of printer the functions of preacher to some sect of religionists. Whatever may have been Rigdon's ultimate design, it is at least alleged that he deliberately copied out the manuscript of Spaulding. How Joseph Smith and this person became connected is not known; but at all events, by taking advantage of the rage for religious excitement then current in various parts of the States, the idea originated between them of making a new Bible out of Solomon Spaulding's historical novel. But how was the imposture to be palmed upon the world? This required considerable address; and a consummate amount of craft and brazen-faced impudence were brought to the task. In the authorized Mormon chronology of the most important events which have transpired in their church we find the first three entries as follows:—“1820. Early in the spring, J. Smith jun. had his first vision. 1823. September 21, J. Smith jun. had a second vision, in which was revealed to him the existence of the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. The next day he opened the place where the plates were deposited, and saw them. 1827. September 22, J. Smith jun. obtained possession of the plates of the Book of Mormon, the Urim and Thummim, and Breastplate.” Now, this is skilfully done; there is no undue haste or precipitation displayed; the mind of Joseph had to undergo a gradual preparation before he could be deemed worthy to be made the vehicle of a new revelation.

The progress of events have also another aspect. Nothing could be made of Spaulding's manuscript during Patterson's life; and hence “the plates” could not be obtained possession of till 1827, a few months after the worthy printer died. All this falls in admirably, the one part with the other. The way is now clear, and Joseph's long-expected Golden Bible makes its appearance. He found it deposited in the ground, the characters beautifully engraved on plates of gold, fastened together by rings of the same metal. Joseph was a mean scholar, but he was inspired to execute the task of translating this mysterious language into English. He set to work accordingly, in conjunction with Rigdon and one Oliver Cowdery, who acted as scribe, and interpolated at judicious intervals in Spaulding's manuscript certain religious maxims, prophecies, &c., garbled from the sacred Scriptures, and grafted upon the original romance—not itself a miracle of correctness—in a manner so illiterate and clumsy as at once to betray the ignorance of the interpolator. But all errors are admitted by the Mormons. With them no amount of anachronisms or contradictions can invalidate the plenary inspiration of the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith was a chosen vessel, and it was not necessary that he should write correct English. The inspired translator, however, despite all his money-digging, was a poor man, and his coadjutor Rigdon, printer and preacher, was little richer. Money must be had to carry on the divine task; for Joseph was only inspired to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics, not to discover the philosopher's stone.

Martin Harris, a farmer, more wealthy than wise, and a man who had already gone through all the phases of faith within his reach, was fixed upon as a fit subject on which to operate. Simple Martin proved an easy prey: the revelation which said, “impart it [i.e., thy property] freely to the printing of the Book of Mormon” (sec. 44 of Doctrines and Covenants of the Latter-day Saints, Nauvoo, 1846) he could neglect only at his peril; and so the dollars of the honest farmer began gradually to slide through his fingers, with little immediate prospect of recovering them. His faith began to diminish as well as his purse, and something required to be done to increase it. He was accordingly despatched by Joseph Smith, with what the credulous farmer was led to believe to be a fac-simile of a portion of the golden plates, to Anthon of New York, the well-known editor of various classical works, to test the learning of the professor on the Golden Bible. The scholarship of the classic was at fault: the Book of Mormon was beyond his comprehension. “It consisted,” Anthon afterwards wrote to Mr Howe in 1834, “of all kinds of crooked characters, disposed in columns, and had evidently been prepared by some person who had before him at the time a book containing various alphabets, Greek and Hebrew letters, crosses, flourishes, &c.” “I began to regard it,” he says, “as part of a scheme to cheat the farmer of his money, and I communicated my suspicions to him, warning him to beware of rogues.” Harris returned to “the Prophet,” who doubtless turned the professor's apparent ignorance to good account. The printing of the Golden Bible commenced, and Harris was loud in his praises, to the printers, of the wonderful wisdom of the translators of the mysterious plates. The printers had their suspicions, however, and they were not to be duped. To bring this vaunted wisdom to the test, after putting one sheet in type, they laid it aside, and told Harris it was lost, and must be replaced. “After two or three weeks,” says Mr Tucker, who was connected with the office, “another sheet was produced, but no more like the original than any other sheet of paper would have been, written over by a common school-boy after having read, as they did, the manuscripts preceding and succeeding the lost sheet.”

The Book of Mormon was ultimately published; and among other revelations of the will of God, Smith was declared to be his “Prophet,” with all power, and entitled to all obedience. He soon found himself at the head of a small but rapidly-increasing body of ardent followers. The first conference of the sect as an organized church was held at Fayette on the 1st June 1830, when the numbers of the “Saints,” including the family of the Smiths, amounted to thirty. During the same year a revelation was made to Joseph, styling him “Seer, Translator, Prophet, Apostle of Jesus Christ, and Elder of the Church,” and enacting that “the church shall give heed to all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you; for his word shall ye receive as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.” (Doc. and Cor., &c., sec. 46.) Joseph began boldly and openly to baptize his disciples in a neighbouring stream; but the inhabitants of Fayette knew too much of the swindling money-digger and his fraternity to tolerate such a pitch of blasphemous audacity, and accordingly employed language and threw out hints by no means flattering to “the Prophet.” He judged it prudent to transplant his new religion elsewhere, and accordingly removed to Kirtland in Ohio, a revelation having been duly promulgated to that effect. This place continued to be the residence of “the Prophet,” and the ecclesiastical seat of the sect, till 1838, when they migrated to Missouri. In 1831, after their removal to Kirtland, a revelation was promulgated that they should consecrate all their property to God. Joseph accordingly set up a mercantile house and a bank, appointing himself president; and Rigdon, the fidus Achates, cashier. This speculation had only a temporary success, however. Joseph had perhaps forgotten, or not sufficiently considered, the revelation of his earlier career—“In temporal labours thou shalt not have strength, for that is not thy calling.” (Doc. and Cor., sec. 9.) At all events, in 1837 the bank stopped payment, and “the Prophet” was induced to depart secretly in the night for Missouri, leaving his creditors to their own shift. He probably had a “revelation” for this movement also. Kirtland did not prove a Zion to the Mormonites: “the Prophet” was tarred and feathered by the mob; and his followers had to submit to numerous indignities at the hands of the “Gentiles.” The history of the sect for the next three years after their removal to Missouri is one of strife and contentions with their unrelenting enemies. Not a few of the “Saints” themselves showed signs of dissatisfaction and declension, and a great schism broke out in 1838, when Joseph found it necessary to denounce his chosen confederates, Cowdery, Harris, and Rigdon. The Mormons presumptuously claimed the entire country as theirs by spiritual right, and the people of the neighbouring districts, not fully appreciating the validity of the claim, and dreading the fanatical ambition of the "Saints," commenced a series of outrages upon them, which ended in sheer massacre and bloodshed, and the final expulsion of the Mormons from Missouri. It must be admitted, however, that they were most cruelly treated by the Missourians; and, considering the slight causes of aggravation, the conduct of the people of Far West was altogether reprehensible.

A few months after their compulsory departure from Missouri, the Mormons, amounting in all to 15,000, found refuge in Illinois, where they founded the city of "Nauvoo," and appointed Joseph Smith mayor. The recent reverses which the sect had undergone had tended, if possible, to exalt "the Prophet" still higher in their estimation. His unflinching courage in the most perilous circumstances commanded their admiration; and his constant reliance on the ultimate triumph of his cause inflamed their fanaticism, and inspired them with the most extravagant hopes. The organization of the sect was gradually becoming more complete, and the Mormons had already begun to display that steady industry and judicious frugality on which their subsequent success has so much depended. New converts or wandering adventurers flocked from all parts of the Union, and even from England, to cast in their lot with the followers of "the Prophet," and add a stone to the temple of the "Holy City." The darling dream of the impostor's ambition was now becoming realized. His supremacy was undivided, and his word was law. He was both temporal and spiritual head of his people, and not only enjoyed the titles of "Prophet," "President," and "Mayor," but also rejoiced in the military distinction of "General."

Smith, in virtue of his command over the Nauvoo Legion, a body of militia which he had recently organized. The period of the "Saints'" residence in Missouri was not at all rich in "revelations." Their hold upon the territory was too insecure to warrant any likelihood of success in the prophetic art. Joseph thought, with Epimenides and Bacon, doubtless, that in these circumstances it was safer to prophesy after the thing had happened. Affairs had now assumed a more settled aspect in Illinois; and a "revelation" was made known to the faithful of "Come ye with all your gold and silver," &c., to build a "boarding-house," and "let it be built in my name, and let my name be named upon it, and let my servant Joseph Smith and his house have place therein from generation to generation, for ever and ever, saith the Lord." Joseph was always duly provided for in all the revelations. In this "boarding-house," it is said, the "revelator" kept a tavern, which proved a very successful speculation. But the great undertaking of Nauvoo was the building of the Mormon temple, on which it is said the sect expended nearly a million of dollars. The foundation of this splendid edifice was laid with great pomp on the 6th of April 1841. The rapid growth of the "Holy City" was quite surprising; and the spiritual pride of the "Saints" kept pace with their prosperity. In 1843 Joseph aspired to the presidency of the United States, and published a statement of his views. He did not succeed; but he soon discovered that all his presidential authority was required among his own disciples at home. Their former presumption towards the "Gentiles," and their own private dissensions, were again renewed. Sidney Rigdon, who had been re-admitted into the confidence of "the Prophet," introduced a novelty called the "spiritual wife" doctrine, which led to great scandal, and ultimately to an unexpected catastrophe. Smith, though he disowned the practice in public, seems to have been himself a warm patron of polygamy, and is said to have rivalled Mohammed in the number of his favourites. But Rigdon outdid "the Prophet" here, and had "revelations" of his own, in which he blasphemously claimed the sanction of Heaven for systematic seduction. Whether justly or unjustly, Smith himself was charged by certain of his own followers with countenancing and even practising this abominable doctrine; and in attempting to extinguish this alleged scandal by violent measures, "the Prophet" brought himself within the power of the legal authorities of the county. He was imprisoned, with his brother Hyrum and certain of his confederates, in Carthage, to take their trial for riot. The governor pledged his word to protect them against threatened violence; but on the evening of the 27th of June 1844, "nearly two hundred men with blackened faces" rushed into the prison where the obnoxious sectaries lay, and instantly fired upon them. Joseph and Hyrum were both shot dead on the spot, but the rest escaped.

Thus fell this singular character, who, from a position of poverty, ignorance, and vice, had, in the short space of twenty years, raised himself, by the most unblushing imposition and blasphemous fraud, to be the acknowledged head of 100,000 ardent followers, and the author of a creed which had already found zealous teachers and ready believers over half the globe. Whether in his later years he continued the vulgar and ambitious impostor of his earlier career, it is difficult to say. There are not a few incidents in his later life which would favour the supposition that he really believed what he asserted. It would seem that, by a whole life of falsehood and deception, he had so habituated himself to assumption and imposition, that a lie became the only possible truth for him. But however this may be, he was certainly one of the most notorious men of modern times.

On the death of Smith, addresses and proclamations were issued to the "Saints'" and Brigham Young, an English Mormon, succeeded, after expelling Rigdon, in securing the leadership of the sect. After a short period of transient prosperity, new troubles and hostilities arose between the "Saints" and the "Gentiles." A battle ensued between the Mormon forces and the state militia, which ended in the final expulsion of the former from the "Holy City" and the Illinois territory. Some went to the western border of Iowa, and formed a temporary settlement on the Missouri River. A large body sought a permanent refuge in the Great Salt Lake Valley, between the Nevada and the Rocky Mountains.—"a remarkable pilgrimage," says Dr Mackay (The Mormons, or Latter-day Saints, 1856), "which has not been paralleled in the history of mankind since Moses led the Israelites from Egypt." The pioneers of this great and perilous expedition entered the Great Salt Lake Valley on the 24th July 1847. Their persecutions, which they had suffered manfully and with surprising patience, being now over, they devoted themselves to the labours of the field with extraordinary industry and success. Since the period of their arrival, a large and flourishing city, called the "Great Salt Lake City," has arisen at the foot of the splendid mountains which surround the valley; and the long arable reaches of land in the neighbourhood are skilfully cultivated, and are yielding rich and abundant crops. A "perpetual emigration fund" was organized in 1849, to enable the poorer converts to Mormonism to reach the promised land. From all parts of Britain, and from many cities of the Continent, and especially from Germany, thousands of proselytes to the new faith are annually flocking to the land of Utah. Polygamy, which was at first concealed under the doctrine of the "spiritual wife," is now openly practised, and even inculcated as a Christian duty, and is leading to the worst of consequences. (See Patriarchal Order, or Plurality of Wives, by Orson Pratt, Liverpool, 1853.) The inequality of the sexes is at once a religious doctrine and a rule of life among the "Saints." Women must obey their husbands in all things, whether right or wrong. Numerous cases of desertion are said to be daily occurring; and from an account given of the state of Mormon affairs at head-quarters, by twenty-six of their number who had escaped in June 1857 to San Francisco, it would appear that instant death is the doom of all apostates. A band of blood-thirsty ruffians, called the "Destroying Angels," has been instituted for the extermination of all deserters and apostates from the faith. So utterly are many of their deluded adherents disgusted with the bestiality practised in the Holy City, that it is confidently alleged, that if the government of the United States were to afford them protection from the persecution consequent on desertion, one-half of the inhabitants of the Great Salt Lake Valley would seek a residence elsewhere. Brigham Young, a clever, audacious blackguard, is the political as well as the spiritual head of his people; and he has recently preached open rebellion against the United States, of which Utah since 1850 has formed a territory. Such a system is a virtual treason against the laws of human society; and the government of the United States is at present (Nov. 1857) contemplating an armed expedition to Utah to reduce the "Saints" to sounder views of territorial obedience. Lieutenant Gunnison, however, affirms that, with their 8000 militia, who are under excellent discipline, the Mormons could defy the whole 10,000 of a standing army possessed by the United States. (History of the Mormons, by Lieutenant Gunnison, Philadelphia, 1862.)

The first Mormon mission to England was begun in 1837; and in 1843 the converts throughout different parts of Britain amounted to upwards of 10,000. They were almost entirely drawn from the illiterate among the working-classes,—Wales furnishing a larger proportion than any other part of Great Britain. From authentic returns published by an American paper in August 1856, it appears that the Mormons number in America 68,700; of whom 38,000 are in Utah, 5000 in New York, 4000 in California, 5000 in Nova Scotia and Canada, and 9000 in South America and the Sandwich Islands. Europe contains 39,000; of whom 32,000 are in Great Britain and Ireland, 5000 in Scandinavia, 1000 in Germany and Switzerland, 500 in France, and 500 in the other countries of Europe. In Asia they are said to number 1000; in Australia and Polynesia, 2400; in Africa, 100; on travel, 1800. There are in addition 8500 schismatics, including Strangites, Rigolites, and Wightites. Their aggregate amount is above 120,000; and it is supposed that the whole sect cannot exceed 126,000. These statistics are considerably below those published by the "Saints" themselves; but it is alleged by those who have visited the Great Salt Lake, that, from some cause or other, the faithful are greatly given to exaggeration on this point. Their number, as at present estimated by themselves, is upwards of 300,000.

The precise religious creed of the Mormons cannot be easily ascertained. They profess to believe in the word of God recorded in the Bible, also in the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, which in their opinion completes the Scriptures, and forms the fulness of the gospel. Their mode of interpreting Scripture, however, is often somewhat peculiar. They describe God in their symbolic books as "a material, organized intelligence, possessing both body and parts." They maintain that the gift of prophecy and the power of working miracles have not ceased, and that many of their number can work miracles and cast out devils. They hold that the end of the world is near, and that they are the "saints" mentioned in the Apocalypse, who will reign with Christ in a temporal kingdom in this world. The seat of this kingdom, they allege, will be either Missouri or their present location in Utah. They hold, that in order to be saved men must comply with four conditions:—They must believe in Christ's atonement; they must repent of their sins; they must receive baptism by immersion, administered by an apostle of Christ's appointment; they must receive the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, by duly authorized apostles. They recognize two orders of priesthood, called the "Aaronic" and the "Melchizedek;" and are governed by a prophet, twelve apostles, "the seventies," bishops, high-priests, deacons, elders, and teachers. (See A Compendium of the Faith and Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by F. D. Richards, 1857, passim.)

The first cause of the rapid and vigorous growth of Mormonism which strikes the attention is the alleged possession of a living visible prophet, and a direct and permanent inspiration. Its votaries are thus saved the trouble of wrestling with those problems of life which demand solution from all earnest minds who do not pin their faith to any outward authority. They accordingly inform us in their authorized organ (Millennial Star, vol. xiv., p. 444), that "Latter-day Saints know that the Lord has spoken in this age; they know that angels do now converse with men; they know that the gifts of the Holy Ghost are manifested in these days by dreams, &c." In the second place, the skilful organization of the sect has enabled it to direct the energies of its votaries to the best purpose. They have made a very religion of industry. Thirdly, we may ascribe very much of the success of Mormonism to the discontent which prevails among the working-classes against the rich. To many such the voice of the Mormon apostle sounds like that of Moses to his oppressed brethren in Egypt, inviting them to fly from oppression and slavery to that promised land where the poor are lords of the soil, where social equality is the rule, and universal brotherhood the grand maxim of life. This cause has doubtless operated more extensively in making converts to Mormonism among our operatives in this country than is generally supposed. Another cause, which cannot be overlooked, is the premium held out upon sensualism by elevating some of its grossest practices into direct Christian duties. But while these causes may serve in some degree to explain the rapid extension of the Mormon delusion, have we any reason to suppose that any or all of them will be sufficient to secure its permanent stability? While any answer to such a question must be to a great extent conjectural, it is nevertheless tolerably obvious that Mormonism contains within itself more than one element of weakness and decay. The present zeal for proselytism must to some extent pass away when the necessity for increasing the population has ceased, by the requisite 60,000 elevating the present Utah territory into a state of the Union. Secondly, the rooting of the sect to a single spot will tend—if future "revelations" prevent not—by localizing it, to limit its ultimate extension, and neutralize its vaunted catholicity. Thirdly, the theocratic and democratic elements, which are at present merged together, will be in constant danger of being confounded. The death of a president may lead to a violent disruption any day. And, in the last place, it is alleged by those who have resided in Deseret that the rising generation of the "Saints" is growing up faithless and false,—the younger citizens laughing in their sleeve at the "martyr" Joseph with his plates and prophecies. If this be so, we shall have the old cycle of the world's history again repeated (si licet parva componere magnis), of an age of scepticism succeeding a generation of credulity,—of lazy luxury and gross sensuality following in the wake of earnest, manly industry and honourable prosperity. (Conybeare's Essays, p. 280.)

(For further information respecting the rise, progress, and present state of Mormonism, consult the Prophet of the Nineteenth Century, and the City of the Mormons, by Professor Caswall of Missouri, London, 1843; Census of the Religious Worship of Great Britain, 1851, by Mr Horace MOROCCO.