mon's duty to lay all his possessions at the apostles' feet." The Mormons believe that the Lord has ordered his Church to be established on earth; that its success involves man's salvation; that the apostles are the pillars of the sacred edifice, and that the disciple is bound, like Barnabas, when called upon, to lay his all at the apostles' feet; practically, however, the measure never takes place. "That the high dignitaries are enriched by tithes and by plundering the people." I believe, for reasons before given, this assertion to be as wholly destitute of fact as of probability. "That the elders borrow money from their Gentile disciples, and that the Saints 'milk the Gentiles.'" The Mormons, like sensible men, do not deny that their net has drawn up bad fish as well as good; they assert, however, and I believe with truth, that their community will bear comparison in point of honesty with any other.
I have already remarked how thoroughly hateful to the petulant fanatical republican of the New World is the Mormon state within state, their absolute aristocracy clothed in the wolf-skin of democracy; and I have also shown how little of that "largest liberty," concerning which the traveler in the United States hears so often and sees so seldom, has been extended to them or to their institutions. Let us now consider a few of the political objections to Mormonism.
"That the Mormon Church overshadows and controverts the actions and opinions, the property, and even the lives of its members." The Mormons boast that their Church, which is their state, does so legitimately, and deny any abuse of its power. "That the Church usurps and exercises the legislative and political business of the Territory." The foregoing pages disprove this. "That the Church organizes and commands a military force." True, for her own protection. "That the Church disposes of public lands on her own terms." The Mormons reply that, as squatters, they have earned by their improvements the right of pre-emption, and as the federal government delays to recognize their title, they approve of the Church so doing. "That the Church has coined money and forced its circulation." The former clause is admitted, and the excellence of the Californian gold is warranted; the latter is justly treated with ridicule. "That the Church levies the tenth part of every thing from its members under the charge of tithing." The Mormons derive this practice from the laws of Moses, and assert that the gift is purely a free-will offering estimated by the donor, and never taken except from those who are in full communion. "That the Church imposes enormous taxes upon Gentile citizens." The Mormons own that they levy a large octroi, in the form of a regulated license system, upon ardent spirits, but they deny that more is taken from the Gentile than from the Saint. "That the Church supervises and penetrates into the domestic circle, and enjoins and inculcates obedience to her own counsels, as articles of faith paramount to all the obligations of society and morality, allegiance and law."
