Hierarchical Organization.—Mormonisni is a pure theocracy; its priesthood, who rule in matters temporal and ecclesiastical, are divided into various orders. The highest is the first presidency, composed of three persons, who are the successors of Peter, James, and John in the Gospel church. Of these, even Brigham Young was nominally only pri1:2718 inter pares. The first presidency is elected by the body of the church, and pos sesses supreme authority. The second office in point of dignity is that of patriarch, held at present by the nephew of Joseph Smith, whose chief duty is to administer blessings. Then follows the council of "the twelve," whose functions are of great practical impor tance. They ordain all other officers, elders, priests, teachers, and deacons; they bap tize, administer the sacraments, and take the lead in all meetings. Next come the seventies (of whom there are many). They are under the direction of the " twelve apos tles"—and are the great propagandists, missionaries, and preachers of the body. The fifth order is that of high-priests, composed usually of men advanced in years. Their duty is to officiate in all the offices of the church when there are no higher authorities present. After these come the bishops, who are "overseers" of the church chiefly in secular matters, attending to the registration of births, marriages, and deaths, the sup port of " literary concerns" (such as newspapers and magazines), house-visiting, the settlement of private grievances, and the care of the poor. Indeed, according to Dixon (-Vac Aneerica, vol. i., p. 260), "a bishop's main function is to see that no man in his ward, in his county, is in want of food and raiment." The duties of the elders are not very precise, they are charged with the conduct of meetings, and exercise a general sur veillance over the priest.% who correspond to the "fixed ministry" of other sects, i.e., they preach, exhort, and expound the Scriptures. The lowest orders are the teachers and deacons; the former are simply assistants to the priests, elders, and bishops, and act as catechists; the latter are chnrch-eollectors, treasurers, etc.—The whole priesthood is divided into two classes, the MelcAisedek and the Aaronic. To the first belong the offices of apostle, seventy. patriarch, high-priest, and elder; to the second, those of bishop. priest," teacher, and deacon. The latter can he held only by "literal descendants of Aaron," who are pointed out by special revelation.
Doctrine.—The saints are almost incredibly materialistic in their doctrines. Their godhead is formed on Buddhistic principles. While professing to believe in the trinity, :they explain that God was once a man, who has, however. so advanced in intelligence land power that he may now be called (comparatively speaking) perfect, infinite, etc., but that he has still the form and figure of a man; he has even ''legs," its is evident (says Mr. Pratt, "the leading scholar of the Mormon church ") from his appearance to Abra ham, though he has this advantage over his creatures, that "he can move up or down through the air without using them." Christ is the offspring of the " material " union, on the plains of Palestine, of God and the virgin Mary—the latter being duly married after betrothal by the angel Gabriel. Yet he is believed to have had a previous existence, to have even made the universe out of "unformed chaotic matter as old as God," and his worship is enjoined as Lord of all. The Paraclete is vaguely described, but is also material. It would appear, however, that there is an older trinity, that of " Elohim, Jehovah, and Michael, which is Adam." Adam, again, is declared to be the "god" of Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ. the god of Joseph Smith; and Joseph Smith is now the god of this generation: hut the whole affair is a mass of unintelligible rubbish. The human Intellect probably never sank into more abysmal nonsense; all that can be definitely set before the mind is that Mormons believe that by faith, obedience, holiness, any man may rise into a deity, mid acquire the power of making, peopling. and ruling a " world " forever! The second article of the Mormon creed affirms that "men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgressions;" the third article states that " through the atonement of Christ. all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." Thefonrt14 Lilac affirms.these " ordinanCes" to be: 1. Faith in the Lord Jesus; 2. Repentance; 3. Baptism; 4. Imposition of hands by the gift of the Holy Spirit; 5. The Lord's Supper, administered kneeling. The saints, who are notch averse to strong drinks, use water instead of wine in the sacrament, which is taken every week. The Jyth article declares that "men must be called to the work of God by inspi
ration ;" the shvth, that the same organization must now exist that existed in the primitive church; the seventh, that miraculous gifts—" discerning of spirits, prophecy, revelations, visions. healing, tongues," etc —have not ceased. The " discerning of spirits" led Smith, or rather his friends Higdon, Pratt, etc., who are understood to be the real authors of the metaphysics, into a variety of curious speculations. They believe that the soul of man was not created, but "coexisted equal with God." The eighth article is decidedly lib eral; it expresses a belief that the word of God is recorded not only in the Bible and the book of Mormon, but in "all other good books." As for the contradictions that exist in the first, they are admitted, hut it is alleged that they are " corruptions," and that they can be removed by any prophet's inspired explanations. On the other hand, the state ment that the saints pretend to have a new and inspired translation of the Bible was denied by Brigham Young in a conversation with Dixon (Nana America, vol. i. pp. 210 217). The ninth article expresses a belief in all that God has revealed, is revealing, or will yet reveal. The tenth affirms the literal gathering of Israel, the restoration of the ten tribes (the "American Indians," who are, in consequence, treated with considerable humanity by the saints; the negro, on the other hand, being excluded from the Mormon church, as a descendant of Cain), the establishment of the new Zion on the western con tinent—the millennial reign of Christ on earth, and the transformation of earth into a paradise. The eleventh article maintains " the literal resurrection of the body." The twelfth article asserts the absolute liberty of private judgment in matters of religion; the thirteenth declares it the duty of the saints and all others to be " subject to the powers that be," whether monarchical or republican. The fourteenth and last is worthy of being universally accepted: " We believe in being honest, true, chaste, temperate, benevolent, virtuous, and upright; and in doing good to all men;" also that " an idle or lazy per son cannot be a Christian, neither have salvation." The great social peculiarity of the sect is their practice of polygamy. It was not so, however, at first. Rigdon, Kimball, Pratt, Hyde, and Young are its trite originators; Ennua.wife and widow of the prophet, stoutly denied that her husband ever had any wife but herself. Young's "revelation " she declared to be a fraud, and in conseimenee she withdrew to NatIV00. Her four sons followed her, and have now founded a monogamic Mormon community,called the losephites. Another branch of the Mormons (who altogether may number 200,000 souls) has recently 'settled at Independence, Missouri, the proposed site of the ''New Jerusalem." Meanwhile, at Salt Lake City, the practice of polygamy is encouraged ou the ground that the rank and dignity of the saints is proportioned to the num ber of their wives and children. A defense of the practice is also set up on moral grounds. Mormons assert that their community is free of the horrible sin and viciousness that prevail elsewhere; fornication and adultery, with their guilty passions and abandoned conduct, are declared to be unknown; their wives are asserted (Burton and others are very strong on this point) to be happy,. virtuous, and healthy and they challenge comparison in regard to their domestic and social purity and felicity with any monogamic in the world. Dixon (New America, vol. i. p. 243) (Ivor] sings a sort of paean on their virtues: "'Their streets are clean, their houses bright, their gardens fruitful. Peace reigns in their cities. Harlots and drunkards are unknown among them. • They keep open more common schools than any other sect in the United States." See Book of Mormon (1830); Book of Doctrine and Cotenants, consisting of select "revelations" given to Smith (1882); The Pearl of Great Price, also by Smith (first pub lished, Liverpool,' 1851); Journal of Discourses, by Brigham Young and others (1854 seq.); The Jdrploration and Survey of the Great Salt Lake, by capt. Stansbury (1819); The 3fmnons, or Latter-day Saints; by lieut. Gunnison of the U. S. topographical engineers (1852); The Mormons, by col. T. L. Kane (1850); The Mormons, or Latter-day Saints, with Memoirs (f the Life of Joseph Smith (ollice of the national illustrated library, London); Voyage an Pays des Mormons, par .Jules Remy (1890); The City of the Saints, by R. F. Burton (1M); Dixon's Memo (1807); and Busch, Geschichte der Mornzonen (Leip sic. 1870).