2. And then, in strict accordance with that false notion, is the idea that _the Mormons are a mere horde of sensualized barbarians_, and should consequently be dealt with in the most severe manner imaginable; whereas, the fact is that the great mass of Mormons do not practise polygamy, and _never have done so_. It is true that, as a people, they are chargeable with the gravest crimes; and yet they have been perpetrated by _the few_, while _the many_ have been, and are, devoted to what _they believe_ to be the true and the right. Contrasts are often drawn (and truthfully drawn, too) by their preachers between "the unworldly lives of the Saints and the evil practices of the Gentiles," and pertinent examples are given of aberration from rectitude of men intrusted with the making of our laws or those who ministers at the altars of divine worship, until they regard themselves as clothed with the resplendent robes of righteousness. Perhaps the worst thing that can be said of the mass of the Mormons is that they are poor, ignorant, and superstitious, and therefore an easy prey to a corrupt and infamous priesthood. But many who are equally poor, ignorant, and superstitious can be found in every State in the Union, and in some States they are far greater in number than in Utah. 3. Then, too, there is another mistaken idea concerning Mormonism. The assertion is often made that _it is an exotic--an importation from the Old World_, and especially that the pollutions of polygamy may justly be charged to the English, Swedes, and Danes. But this is not true. Facts compel a conclusion far less flattering. Smith and his system are essentially a New World product. It took its rise in a region lying between the birthplace of the Rochester Rappings, from which Modern Spiritualism sprang, and the seat of the Oneida Community. It had much in common, too, with the great Campbellite movement, which antedated it only by five or ten years, and from which it received a large number of important accessions. Millerism and Shakerism were also near relatives and neighbors. Yea, more--in Mormonism we have an obnoxious plant which _sprang from Puritan seed_, though it first _took root_ in the Empire State. Joseph Smith, its founder, and Brigham Young, its greatest leader, were both born in Vermont. At least ninety per cent of the converts gathered during the first ten years (1830-40) were of New England descent. In 1860, out of a population in Utah of some 70,000, it is affirmed that 10,000 were born in New York and 20,000 in New England; while in the legislature, of thirty-six members, thirteen were born in New York, six in Massachusetts, and five in Vermont. And in an editorial written less than two years ago, the official Mormon Church paper states that "of twenty-eight men constituting the general authorities of the Church, twenty-four were born in the United States and eighteen were of New England birth or origin. Of twenty-seven 'Stakes of Zion,' twenty have