1855 – 15 September, p. 4 – Deplorable condition of the Latter-day Saints at Utah Territory. News from the Great Salt Lake City to the 1^st of July has come to hand. The grasshoppers had destroyed the third crop of grain, and starvation or an abandonment of the settlements were the alternatives presented to the Mormons.

1855 – 29 September, p. 2 – Chapel Anniversary. The Coed-y-Cymmer Baptist Chapel anniversary took place on Sunday last, when the Revs. J. Evans, Abercanaid; R. Roberts, Tabernacle; E. Evans, Caersalem; J. Lloyd, Ebenezer; and J. Jones, Zion, delivered very appropriate sermons on the occasion. On the following evening (Monday), the latter gentleman delivered a withering lecture against Mormonism at which the Rev. R. Jenkins presided.

1855 – 29 September, p. 3 – Tredegar. Mormonism. A course of four lectures has been delivered by Mr. P. Hepburn, of Scotland, during the past week in the Town Hall, at this place, upon the delinquencies of Mormonism. As the lecturer stated that he had himself belonged to that community he pretended to be well able to “shew up” their nefarious practices. For ourselves, we look with considerable suspicion on the sincerity of these ignorant and idle itinerant lecturers who foist themselves on the weaker portion of the public by pretending to be influenced by public good.

1856 – 5 April, p. 4 – The Mormons. A fine ship, the Enoch Trail [Train], having been chartered to convey a cargo of Mormons to the United States en route to their settlement in Utah territory, 300 men and woman and boys and girls left Birmingham for the purpose on the 19^th, to join the rest of the contingent at Liverpool. There are altogether 900 on board the Enoch Train, which sailed on Monday.

1856 – 21 June, p. 3 – Preachers’ License. Two Mormon preachers, who gave their names Abednego Williams, and Israel Evans, residing in Garden Street, applied for license to preach at the White Lion. Having taken the oaths of abjuration, of allegiance, and of supremacy, and made the declaration against popery according to the 52 Geo. III., the licenses were granted.

1856 – 28 June, p. 1 – Mormonism Again!! Truth Will Prevail! The Latter-day Saints will hold their Half Yearly Conference in the Cymreigyddion Hall, White Lion Inn, Merthyr, on Sunday, the 29^th June, 1856, when Presidents Daniel Daniels, Israel Evans, and others from the Salt Lake Valley, with several Presidents of Conferences will address the Audience. Meeting to commence at Half-past Ten, a.m., Half-past Two, and Half-past Six, p.m. Come and hear and judge for yourselves! On the following Monday there will be a Tea Party and Concert.—Tea on the Tables at Three o’clock, Concert to commence at Seven. Tickets, One Shilling Each.

1856 – 26 July, p. 3 – Utah and the Mormons. A lecture was delivered on Thursday evening, the 17^th inst., in the long room of the Talbot Inn, Tredegar, upon the Geography of the Great Salt Lake Country and the State of Religion and Morals amongst the Inhabitants, by Elder J. Evans, from the Salt Lake Valley, and one of the first settlers therein. A general invitation was given for all who were desirous to learn the truth concerning these singular and far-off people, to come and hear for themselves. The admission fee was three pence, and the audience numbered about forty. According to the elder’s statement he had been the Mormons about 22 years, although he did not seem to your correspondent to be quite so old as even that. He had preached, prayed, fought, and in short done almost everything that man could do for the promotion of Mormonism. He was no fatalist, he did not believe in the do-nothing system, he even believed in the necessity of fighting as much as he did in the virtue of praying for the prosperity of the church of God. He said that it was nine years ago, the 24^th of the present month, since they had first entered those regions. The extent of their territory from north to south, and from east to west, is about 350 miles, whilst the population is from 77,000 to 80,000. That their houses and other buildings are chiefly composed of sun-dried bricks. He also stated that three-fourths of the Salt Lake water is pure salt, and that it was from this supply they obtained all they used. The country throughout was eminently healthy, and was suitable for all that chose to make themselves useful. Much (said the speaker) had been said against the authority exercised by its just and godly rulers, but in Utah was the very acme of liberty, for every man there was permitted to take as many wives as he was able to support!

1856 – 9 August, p. 2 – Item #1 – The Mormons. Open-air meetings are held in some part of the town or neighborhood of Merthyr every Sunday evening, by parties who formerly belonged to the Mormons, but who are now intent upon exposing their “abominations and wickedness.” One of the latest pieces of intelligence of the Mormon doings in Utah is the following: John Strong, a blacksmith of long standing, in All-hollow’s-lane, Kendal, with his wife, and a numerous family, left Kendal for Utah, on the Salt Lake, in the spring of last year, at which place of abominations his eldest son, brought up to the same business as his father, had been settled a few years. Intelligence has arrived in Kendal that Strong has been short for refusing to give his wife and daughter up to the embraces of the high priest! Strong was a leader and priest of the Mormon connection in Kendal for some years previous to his departure therefrom, and no advice or admonition could break his faith in the detestable infatuation.

1856 – 9 August, p. 2 – Item #2 – A Mormon Apostle Nearly Drowned. On Sunday last, several of the Latter-day Saints of this place were to be baptized, and in order to have the Holy ordinance performed with decency and to the exclusion of the rabble, the apostles R—T—and W—J—who are well known as miners at the Plymouth iron works, were followed up about six o’clock in the morning to the Clynmil pond, and after the ceremony was over the two brethren apostles contested as to which of them would be able to give proof of the strongest faith, upon which brother R—T—said that he could walk upon the water without any inconvenience, to the astonishment of all present, as our Savior did of old; and in order to prove his assertion he plunged into the deep, but unfortunately his faith failed him, and he sank twice to the bottom, and when he was nearly drowned (for he had been left there long enough to test his faith) was rescued by a second party from a watery grave, and in a state of great exhaustion. It is a great pity that the human race are so degraded as to be led astray by a set of deluded people to desecrate the Sabbath day. A Correspondent.

1856 – 6 September, p. 4 – Mormonism is making such progress in Denmark that several petitions have been sent in to the Government from different parts of the kingdom, praying that a stop may be put to the nuisance. Jutland is the part where the great hotbed of Mormon proselytism is to be found.

1856 – 27 September, p. 2 – Mormonism Again! – Angels’ visits – Few and far between. We are rather at a loss whether to laugh heartily at the absurdities of Mormonism or look stern, and lament, that in an age of progress, such as the present, men will be such arrant dupes.

Well; in this narration we will treat them gently, for to oppose “Saints,” is to encourage them to persevere in levying tribute from the poor misguided working man, who, too often, is looked upon as a capital bit of prey for the wary “liver on his wits.” Of this class there are many in the world; men who have every inclination, yet lack the courage necessary to perform exploits worthy of the Newgate calendar heroes. They must fleece the multitude;--work they cannot;--to beg they are ashamed, what then is to be done? They cannot stop mankind upon the highway—mankind might get the best of it—Swindle at games of chance? No; policemen have an antipathy against that sort of thing. Ah! they have it—found a new sect!—’Tis done; land gulls are more plentiful than sea gulls—they go in—men applaud them—they win; men honor them.

Some time ago, a “Revelation” was said to have been made by a Latter-day Saint, that the Deity wanted a large sum of money, (recollect all the statements we make are obtained from excellent authority), this sum of money was to be subscribed by the faithful, and that without delay. What was to be done, the pockets of the elect were rather badly furnished, still the money must be found. Two or three saints were working in a pit soon after, and the question was put “what should they do?” One of them suggested that if the Almighty would favor them with light to work by, all the money they paid for candles should be subscribed. A capital plan, and soon acted upon; the candles were blown out on the instant, and the men waited anxiously for some time, expecting the appearance of gas lights, argand lamps, or such like, but as none came, the candles were again lighted, and with strong, but expressive language, they worked away in rather a desponding state of mind, half inclined to adopt extremely heterodox opinions.

We will not weary the reader with any more revelations of the kind, but at once narrate, what we have just heard, as the substance of a statement now being made by the Latter-day Sin--, we beg their pardon, Saints of the town.

In Twynyrodyn lies a “Saint,” whom we will call by the rather unsaintly name of Smith. Smith, up to a late date, had been ailing for nine years with a complication of disorders, the chief of which was asthma; alike defying the skill of our doctors, or the quack nostrums of our dodgers. Nothing would cure him; not that Smith was weak in faith, but the prayers of another saint were needed, and must be had. Fortunate man; one of the faithful prayed devoutly for him, but as no good result followed immediately, persons satirically inclined, suggested the faithful one had better have been at work, and such like insinuations of a personal character. Weeks, however, come to an end, and the eventful week did. Sunday came—Smith felt that something was going to happen, for good or ill, and desired the family to leave him alone in his—bed, not glory, for he felt very unwell, and thought he was going to die.

The family left to hear brother so and so. The sick man closed his eyes—opened them; rubbed them hard; was it? yes, by his bedside knelt an Angel, clothed in a black surplice!!

The angel addressed him in Welsh! not the peculiar compound spoken here fluently, nor the peculiar lisp-like dialect of North Wales, spoken gutturally, still it was a dialect of Welsh; and as saints are gifted at these remarkable visits with the power of speaking, and understanding a variety of “unknown tongues,” they, the angel and Smith, rubbed along very comfortably. To lessen his surprise at hearing an angel speak Welsh, the patient was informed that all men would eventually become saints, and all saints in time speak the Welsh language; the same, we presume, as “Adam did,” whose proper name is rather impiously said to have been Adam Jones!

After an interesting conversation, Smith was asked if he had any “anointing oil?” “No.” Well, then, he must send to a member, naming one, and if he had it not, to another, at all events he must get some. Directions were also given how to apply the “wonderful remedy for the cure of all disorders;” and, with a few words of comfort, the mysterious visitor departed, or rather disappeared, leaving Smith “no ways alarmed, but most hopeful that he would soon be sound again.”

When the family returned, the surprising news was told them; the oil was obtained—leading members flocked to the room; nine times was the oil applied, and now, so they say, the sick man is himself again—free from any ail, and vigorous in mind.

Such, readers, is the last new bit of Mormonism. Comment is not required; but we must add our fervent hope that the members, already diminishing in this district (thanks to the exertions of a few working men, amongst whom we are glad to notice William Thomas, one of the letter carriers of the town), will continue to decrease, till we are offended no longer here with a people, who, in a distant land, are earning for themselves a name hereafter to be associated with all that is impious, immoral, and ignorant. K.

1856 – 25 October, p. 2 – “The Latter-day Saints.” “Mormonism is Greek for humbug—Knavery.” – Welshness. “Mormonism is not yet dead, though in a sickly condition. The last bulletin we had was ominous, leaving little hope amongst the faithful of its ever rising from its prostrate state, and assuring the unbelievers, of all classes, that the leprous taint is passing away to its fitting resting place—obscurity.

We had another instance of the gross superstition existing lately amongst the brethren, narrated to us by an intelligent man who has figured somewhat conspicuously in that “holding forth quarter,” known as “the timbers;” a place by-the-bye, where, after a strong speech against Mormonism, varied by reflections against a professor present, he has found it a difficult matter to withhold the people from following out the suggestion of an impulsive working man, to heave the obnoxious individual into the river! “Now, boys,” “heeve, heve im”—“wesh im,” – happily no violence has been allowed, and though our regret at any such violent display of feeling might have been tempered with the reflection, that in a sanitary point of view, the professor would have been benefited by the baptism, still the more such strong feelings are kept under control, the better for the anti-Mormons, and their cause. People side with the abused and suffering; were one of the Saints to be martyrized either in England or the happy valley of the (shadow of D--?) the Salt Lake, there would be every probability that Mormonism would lift up its haggard head once again, and through pleasant lands, and in happy homes wade once more as it has waded, blighting the hopes of families; the once pure and gentle, proving a bane, by insidiously destroying the inherent principles of virtue, and preparing the human fabric for its slow but certain descent—the man to be one of the scum, and the woman one of the despised.

The narrative we alluded to is but a slight one; we give it as heard by our informant; hence the first person is used.

“I am a miner, born in a small village in Pembrokeshire. By attending the meetings of the Latter-day Saints, I became converted to their faith. Soon after my joining I was called from my work by an officer of the church, who informed me that he desired me to be present at the casting out of a devil from a sister of ours. I was much pleased, because I wished to have some knowledge of how the thing was done, knowing it to be a doctrine taught among our people. We proceeded to the dwelling of the sister, and both of us prayed heartily over her. The elder laid holy hands on her, and in the language of Scripture commanded the unclean spirit to come out of her; but the devil proved stubborn, he either did not hear us, or did not understand, as we did not speak in the unknown tongue at that time, but in plain English.

The next part of the farce, for such I know it was now, though then I was as great a goose as any of them, was for the elder to exclaim, with his hands uplifted towards the ceiling—“Thou wicked and unclean spirit, by the power of the holy priesthood in me conferred, I command thee to tell me thy name?” The answer to this was, “Dolly,” (Dolly was the name of the sister) “now hark ye,” said the elder to me, “how cunning he is, trying to deceive us by making use of the sister’s name for his own.” What was to be done?—we thought it was no use going on this way, for the unclean spirit would not budge an inch. Well, another trial—so my friend, the elder, in a loud voice said, “I command thee to tell me where thou comest from?” “Where do I come from,” said a voice, apparently Dolly’s, “why, from Sardis mountain.” This was another puzzler, for Sardis mountain was not only the place where Dolly was born, but in olden times, it was a noted quarter for ghosts, witches, and such like things, so the answer of the evil spirit confounded us again. Never say die, said the elder, but this is an awkward customer to move, beats all I ever heard of. “Now then, hark ye” said he, and with increased vehemence of manner, and fierce countenance, he cried out, “Where, spirit is thy abiding home?” “Sardis mountain,” (Dolly’s residence) was the reply as before; so seeing we were not to be successful, we came away, and said the narrator, to use his quaint phraseology, “If there was a devil in Dolly when we visited her he still remained when we left, for all our efforts were fruitless.” Dolly she was then, Dolly she still remains. We need scarcely add that the poor woman was a nervous invalid, that her name was Dolly, that she came from Sardis mountain, and that it was she who answered the question, and not, as the elder thought, the “ould gentleman.”

Mormonism, we repeat, is dying; probably in the Salt Lake Valley it may long exist, but in England few converts are obtained, and in Wales, we rejoice to say, the multitude are beginning to see through the deception.

But a short time ago we were going from the Cefn to the Vaynor; it was a beautiful summer day; a Sabbath day, and one when the roar of the works had ceased, and the pure sounds of nature, the stream’s solemn tone, and the melody from woodlands, came to refreshen and inspire with devotion. On a heap a cluster of people had gathered around a man who, we must confess, as he stood bareheaded, and with clasped hands, attracted our attention, and almost gained our respect, till the unusual sound of a passer-by caused him, yet praying devoutly, to open one eye—only one—on our humble selves; but it gave a look of quiet cunning, such (we are not taxing our imagination) as we remember seeing in that admirable painting, where Stan is represented as playing chess with man for—his soul. The look of Satan, as he eyes the thoughtful faced man, and the glance of the praying Mormon, will always be associated when we think of one or the other.

One paragraph more, and our long paper must come to an end, though, we trust, the long and rambling remarks may, however slightly, act in dissuading the few inclined from periling their present and future welfare, in conforming to views so opposed to morality and common sense; in believing in polygamy and a material Deity! in the ability of ignorant and lately converted characters, to perform the most startling miracles; in receiving express messages of the most trivial importance from the deity; and all the long list of absurdities, which for the last few years, have allured hundreds of poor deluded men from this town, but which now is coming to a close; for our common notions of morality and reverence cannot much longer be outraged by a people who, by their lives, tell us they lack but the physical power to perpetrate deeds equal to those which stained the annals of France in the end of the 18^th century. As visitations of famine, plague, misfortunes, and all the many trials and sufferings we are heir to are nevertheless full of teaching, so in the fate, which sooner or later overtakes the erring individual, in the decline of a system or a nation; who amongst us fails to detect the hand of retributive justice, the slow but sure workings of the Almighty power, whose operations like those seen by us in the roll of time and the revolution of worlds, are unalterable and majestic. When a nation neglects the moral basis which should uphold her growth, the causes of her decline and extinction are implanted. And when a system appealing to the worst passions of humanity, based on credulity and sensuality is reared aloft, that too is fated, the novelty may attract, for a brief span, erring mortals may be allured, but certain and not distant comes the storm to annihilate, leaving but a recollection to remain as a moral and a lesson to the world. K.

1857 – 28 February, p. 2 – A Mormon Madman. A Copenhagen journal publishes the follow: A young man named Nielson, possessed of small fortune, and a horticulturist in the village of Brahetrolleborg, near Faaborg, in the Isle of Fionia, became about two years ago converted to Mormonism—and like most converts he manifested great zeal for his new faith. He pressed his wife, a young woman of excellent character, to embrace Mormonism also, but she positively refused to abandon the Lutherian creed in which she had been brought up. Finding his efforts vain, he became much excited, and recently declared that he would repudiate her, and go with his three children to the country of the Mormons in America. A few days back they had a violent quarrel on the subject, and in the dead of night he aroused his wife, and to her surprise she saw that he had a torch in one hand, and a poniard in the other. He said that an angel had appeared to him, and had charged him in the name of God to convert her to the faith of the Mormons. The young woman said that she would sooner die than change her religion, whereupon he cried, “Then perish in final impenitence!” And at the same moment he stabbed her three times in the abdomen with his poniard; but finding that that did not kill her, he went into the kitchen for a large knife, and with it cut her throat. Shortly after he called up his servant, made her prepare him a breakfast of which he partook heartily, and he then went to the authorities, stated the preceding circumstances, and was at his own request lodged in gaol.

1857 – 7 March, p. 3 – Sufferings of Mormon Emigrants. The Boston Puritan says: “We have dreadful accounts of the sufferings among the Mormon emigrants by the handcart train which is now in the mountains. The train contained 350 souls; one-seventh are already dead; and they are dying at the rate of fifteen per day. There are some 600 more behind, of which we have heard nothing. We hope that they stopped at Laramie. It is impossible for them to get through this fall. The Mormons estimate that there are no less than 1,500 of their brethren yet to come in, and the snow is reported to be not less than a foot deep in the mountains.

1857 – 21 March, p. 3 – Letter from the Salt Lake. The following is an extract from a letter lately received from Rees Llewellyn, a person well known in the neighborhood of Pentrebach: “There were in all six companies of handcarts crossing the plains this season, but only four have arrived at Salt Lake City, the remainder having been overtaken with snow and frost, and are obliged to stop in the mountains until spring. There are now on the plains, in all, 1,200 people, including the team stopping at Fort Bridger. The authorities here are preparing tons of provisions to send to them, and 300 men to make roads, etc. The reason of the delay is, that they did not start according to the instructions issued by Brigham Young’s council [counsel], which were, that they were to start in May, but they did not do so until September. There is a report that hundreds of them have perished in the snow. The weight that each man has in traveling by handcarts is 17 lbs., including bedding and linen change. Clothes are scarce with us at present, owing to the luggage team having been obliged to stop in the mountains until the spring; but for all I am quite happy here, and send my best respects to you my dear mother, and all my friends. William Morgan, engine-tender, from Cyfarthfa, sends his respects to you, hoping that you are in the same spirit for emigrating as when he left you. Many have left here for the gold diggings, some of whom you knew. Mary Llewellyn and her children live 12 miles from me, at a place called Spanish Hooke [Fork]. I live 72 miles from Salt Lake. I have very little to say of the country: it is healthy, and the atmosphere is here much clearer than in the old country. It is a good country for the Mormons; but there are many living here that do not belong to them; whilst there are some of the worst men on the face of the earth here, I know there are a few of the bet men. As the net cast into the sea, brings all kinds of fish, so you may depend on my word there are some sharks here.”

1857 – 16 May, p. 2 – Item #1 – Clubs in Public Houses. We give the working men of Merthyr Tydfil credit for entertaining, and, to some extent, adopting, the advice from time to time given them. As regards ourselves we have rarely originated plans, or devised methods whereby the homes of industry might be made happier; but in pointing out what others have suggested, and co-operating where assistance was needed, we have endeavored, however humbly, to do our part, and benefit them and theirs. One instance we may, perhaps, be suffered to mention: the influence once held over great numbers of the artisans of this neighborhood by the Mormons. What is the condition of the Mormon faith now? Hopefully we prophesied its decline in our district; energetically were efforts made by thoughtful, earnest men to effect that decline. Now we see the result. Great numbers used to meet at the White Lion—lately only eleven met. Formerly the Penydarren branch was strong—now it has dwindled into insignificance. A little while ago they numbered many in Georgetown—they are now but three; and these, with a few from Penydarren, and eleven at Mill Street, form the total strength of a foolish body of men!

1857 – 16 May, p. 2 – Item #2 – Merthyr Police Court. Monday. (Before J. C. Fowler, Esqr.) Mormonism. John Morgan applied for a license to preach the gospel according to Mormonism. He took the oath of adjuration, the oath of allegiance, the oath of supremacy, and subscribed to the declaration of being a Christian Protestant and a believer of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, as translated and used in protestant churches.

1857 – 30 May, p. 3 – Mormonism. The Rev. George Dukir Thomas, Georgetown, subscribed to the usual declaration of being a Christian, and took the usual oaths of adjuration and supremacy, to enable him to follow his profession as a Mormon preacher.

1857 – 12 September, p. 3 – California. From the Correspondent of the London Times. San Francisco, July 19. We have accounts from Salt Lake City to the beginning of last month, brought by a party of 26 persons who escaped from the Mormons after enduring much persecution. These persons had resided for some time with the Mormons, but did not become inoculated with their doctrines, and decided not to reside permanently with them. Some of them are married and have families. They say one-half the population of Salt Lake will leave if the United States’ Government sends a military force sufficient to protect them from the punishments inflicted upon apostates. This party brings the usual accounts of all sorts of atrocious practices, a few of which I cull.

Open and avowed murder of all who have and are becoming obnoxious is advocated in public assemblages.” “The ‘Destroying Angels’ are busily engaged at their hellish works murdering and robbing those who are apostates.” It appears that notwithstanding all the stringent means adopted to keep their body united, the numbers of the “Saints” are continually thinning by desertion; and no wonder, for here is a sufficient cause: The account says, “That which produces the most ill feeling is Brigham (the Mormon King) ‘sealing’ young girls to old men,” frequently in violation of the laws of consanguinity. “Several heads of families have been ‘put out of the way,’ as they call it, on suspicion of their being apostates, by which means the families are prevented from leaving, and several who heretofore have been in the confidence of the high priests are known to have been murdered in attempting to leave.” “Seven ladies, with their families, whose husbands had made their escape, begged to be taken away” by the party proceeding to California,” as they expected daily some of their number would be dragged to the harem of some of the ‘anointed.’” “Brigham Young has preached open rebellion against the United States.” One of his latest edicts is a “new law by which he governs disobedient wives by degrading and making menials of them, depriving them of the right to marry or have a ‘protector.’” It is called “the earthly hell,” and a very appropriate title no doubt. Here are warnings enough, one would think, to prevent deluded women from throwing themselves into the fangs of these lecherous, incestuous murderers. One blushes to hear that many of these wretched victims are English and most Welsh. There is a powerful sprinkling of native Americans also. But wherever they come from it is quite clear that their fate is the most cruel and degrading that coarse-minded and vulgar men can assign them, for the Mormons at home and in private do not even cloak their bestiality with the mantle of religion. I see it stated that “Young in secret council sits with a crown upon his head, as representing God’s vice-regent upon earth.” This fellow is a vulgar ruffian who can’t speak decent English! Monday’s Times.

1858 – 16 January, p. 4 – Dr. Mackay, who is now in America, has a new work in the press upon the Mormons—their present condition and future prospects. Very interesting letters from him arrive by every mail.

1858 – 6 March, p. 3 – The Mormon News is interesting, but unreliable. There was a rumor of a battle between the United States troops and the saints, but it was not believed. There was also a report that five American citizens had been killed by the Mormons.

1858 – 20 March, p. 4 – California. Later news from Salt Lake City, and from the camp has been received. The weather was mild, and the troops in good health and spirits. The extemporaneous court organized by Judge Eckels, in Green County, had found bills of indictment for high treason against Brigham Young and other Mormon prominent leaders.

Brigham Young delivered a message to the Utah Legislature, in which, after alluding to the condition of the territory as regards agriculture, the mechanic arts, mining, education, the policy pursued towards the Indians, and the mail contract, he discusses the difficulties of the Saints with the Gentiles. Having received no official notification of the intention of the Government to supersede him in the gubernatorial office, nor of the dispatch of troops to Utah, Young affects to regard the army at Fort Bridger and the civil authorities there as an organized mob, against which he has already fulminated a proclamation to disperse; and he calls upon the Legislature to adopt such measures as may be deemed proper in the premises. The Legislature thereupon passed resolutions expressing their entire confidence in Brigham Young, and their determination to sustain him. It also passed a law attaching Green county to Salt Lake country, with the view, probably, nullifying some of the proceedings of the United States Court which had opened there by Judge Eckels.

1858 – 10 April, p. 2 – Mormons in British Territory. Advices from St. Louis state that Father Desmil, a Catholic missionary, who has spent many years among the Indian tribes, asserts that on another slope of the Rocky Mountains there is a perfectly practicable and easy route north from Salt Lake to the British possessions. Father Desmil states that he has traveled the route several times with light wagons. He gives it as his opinion that if the Mormons leave their present location, they will proceed northward to New Caledonia, British America, and settle at the base of the Portage Mountains, near the 48^th parallel. The route is described in detail. The country and climate are stated to eminently superior in every respect to that of Utah. Canadian News.

1858 – 24 April, p. 2 – Mormon Trick. To the Editor. Sir—Since your heroic comportment stands against tyranny and oppression, and battles in favor of freedom and justice, allow me, through means of your newspaper, to have space for these few lines to appear “in the face of the sun and in the eye of light.” In the parish of Merthyr there is a piece of land on which one hundred and sixty sheep and a number of horses grazed during this last winter season; and the owner had a shepherd to keep them within their proper boundaries. Near them situated to the south is an acknowledged piece of land claimed by a gentleman of the neighborhood who has an overseer who is one of the Mormons. About three weeks ago the shepherd was confined within the bounds of his bed by the painful illness of smallpox. Within a few days the Mormon showed up at the house where the shepherd was staying, and he told him that some of his sheep were on the land which he oversaw, and he belched forth passionate threats that he would put them between the walls of the fold if he did not come to get them off his land. He was answered by some of the neighbors that the shepherd was sick in his bed. “May he become even more sick,” said the Mormon! But the shepherd, to be faithful to his master, rather than permitting the Mormon to get his vengeance, arose from his bed in his affliction and pains, even though he was making his coffin. Today he is in another world! I would like to know from one of the Mormon clan, whether behavior of that sort is in accordance with Christian principles. Penybylcha. Gildas. P.S. The reason for writing these lines in Welsh is because I believe that there are as many subscribers to the Telegraph who are as proficient in Welsh as they are in English.

1858 – 1 May, p. 4 – Private letters from officers of the army at Walla Walla, Columbia River, say that the Mormon settlements are being broken up in that region, and the Mormons leaving for Salt Lake.

1858 – 5 June, p. 3 – End of the Mormon War. Departure of the Latter-day Saints from the Salt Lake Valley. (From the New York Tribune of May 18.) The Utah war is ended. We believe there is no longer reason to doubt the fact that Governor Cumming peaceable entered the Salt Lake City on the 1^st ult., and that a considerable portion of the Mormons had already left, or were leaving for some point on the South-West. We may fairly presume that Brigham Young and his chief counselors were in the advance of this movement, and that neither marshal nor troops will be able to arrest them. We shall be disappointed if the Mormons do not make their way out of the territories of the Union, and found a new “Zion,” either in Sonora, Lower California, or in some of the isles of the Pacific. If such be their purpose, we trust they will be allowed to consummate it without further molestation on the part of our Government. This is the third distinct settlement within our national boundaries from which the Mormons have been driven by force. If they are now willing to leave the country why should they be obstructed or harassed? If they are willing to leave, let them depart in peace. We trust orders will forthwith be dispatched from Washington by telegraph to arrest the dispatch of provision trains from Fort Leavenworth westward. The corn, the cattle, the horses, etc., collected near that for the Utah army, present and prospective, are all needed, and will do good service in Kansas and Nebraska. The contractors and forwarders have made their fortunes. Now, let whatever is not needed be fairly sold in small lots to the highest bidder so that the settlers may have a chance of benefit. It would be absurd to send forward another man, or ox, or bushel of grain, if this news is to be credited. We trust, too, that the Volunteer Regiments Act will be held in abeyance by the President. He has no shadow of need of those regiments now, while his Secretary of the Treasury will inform him, if applied to, that the public coffers can ill spare the three or four millions per annum which they must cost, if created. We trust it will not be necessary to repeal the Act—let that stand for use in an emergency; but no such emergency now exists, while the Treasury is in a galloping consumption. It should be favored so far as possible. When the full truth becomes known we believe it will be found that great credit is due to Colonel Thomas L. Kane for this auspicious termination of the Mormon broil. He went out to Utah with the consent, indeed, of the President, but prompted by his own generous heart, animated by an earnest desire to prevent a needless, and therefore a highly culpable, effusion of human blood. By his past services to and experiences with the Mormons he had won the confidence of their leaders, while his knowledge of the purposes and preparations of the Government enabled him to convince those leaders that resistance on their part was hopeless. We wish he had gone to Utah some months earlier; but his bold and self-sacrificing mission has doubtless been undertaken in season to save millions to the Treasury and avert from our nation the stain of a fruitless slaughter of thousands and the devastation of their home. “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

1858 – 3 July, p. 2 – Flight of the Mormons. A few years ago, this town and the surrounding districts were the scene of Mormon labor. Here the converted tailor or shoemaker gathered a crowd around him in the evening, and on the Sabbath day; a crowd of workmen eager to learn a little of the mysteries of Mormonism, and be enlightened on the strange doctrines those strange and misguided men the Saints professed and practiced. On heaps of refuse, and by the banks of the slow rolling Taff, in outhouses, and on balks of timber, the apostles stood, and declaimed in strong language against existing beliefs, against the Christian faith, and the worthy ministers of our churches and chapels. Now and then the cudgels were taken up against them by a zealous Christian, knotty points would be argued, texts quoted, and strong truths hurled at them from the everlasting Word; but in despite of all the persuasion of speakers and writers, the drain from our places of worship continued, and daily, for a length of time, there was a continual secession from Christianity to Mormonism. The servant girl, ignorant of the world and the deception therein; the honest miner and collier, who for years had trudged to their humble chapels each day of rest—their wives and their daughters, led by the parent, and not from the force of reason; men of the lowest grade and men of property; with a sprinkling of individuals, ambitious to become elders and men of note, now swayed by belief in the inferiority of Mormon doctrines, forsook, one and all, the old creed, and became members of the worst society ever enrolled—forsook their homes, their friends, the scenes of their nativity, and traveled away with hopeful hearts to the promised land in far away Utah.

It was a sad sight to observe such delusion, and that too in the age of steam engines, and at a time when the Press disseminated knowledge broadly and cheaply over the land. They went. Many of our readers have friends or parents who left hither, and never reached their goal. Many more yet confess that relatives of their own still belong to the notorious confederacy against morality and religion; but few have need now to lament that the influence, the seduction of Mormonism, continues. It has become a dead letter. The eyes of our people are open to the deception, and however skillful the trap may be baited, there is no fear that Merthyr Tydfil will continue to supply frail and simple victims.

The latest accounts from Utah are of an interesting character. We learn that the threatened hostilities between the Americans and Saints have produced no evil fruit, and that the warlike attitude of the Mormon has been changed into a more peaceful, if less manly gesture. The new governor appointed by the American Republic called a large meeting together, and addressed it in the most fatherly manner. He urged the Saints to leave the standard of the great deceiver, and confide in his protection. He would preserve them. This appeal, however, only attracted about a hundred men and women to him. The great body, numbering nearly 40,000 souls, adhering to Brigham Young, and at the latest date, were proceeding to march southward to a region where they would be free to practice their absurdities and gross immoralities without outraging the soil of freedom.

The destined scene of their third essay to found a Model Republic (Heaven save the mark!) is in Mexico, and towards a pleasant district called Sonora, this great army, furnished by sons and daughters from every country, is steadily beginning its way. Poor misguided beings! Long as the track may be, over lofty mountains and through valleys rarely or ever trod, the line of the Mormon march will be preserved to future times, by the graves that will crowd in each lone spot, by the shady groves and streams, along the track of Death.

1858 – 3 July, p. 3 – The news from Utah is still conflicting. A dispatch from Washington states that General Scott had received dispatches from Utah of five days’ later date than those transmitted by Governor Cumming. They represent that Governor Cumming had been deceived by the Mormons; that after they had removed their women and children from Salt Lake City, the men returned, strengthened their defensive position, and assumed a threatening attitude. This news was regarded as reliable.

1858 – 21 August, p. 4 – Pigs in Harness. From the Mormon country, Governor Cummings testifies to having observed a wagon on the road from Salt Lake City to Provo, which was drawn by pigs harnessed to the tongue by an ingenious combination of straps and cords. In it was seated a fat man, who excited his team into a trot by the aid of a black snake whip.

1859 – 9 April, p. 4 – A Gentile and his Mormon Bride Separated in Utah. A Gentile resident of Frogtown a short time ago went over to Provo after a young woman, who, it seems had taken a fancy to him, and who wished to leave Provo and come and live in Frogtown with her Gentile admirer. But a mob collected around the house where she and her lover were, and he was advised that he would find it conducive to his health to leave immediately, which he did. The young woman was then taken out and publicly whipped.—Utah Correspondent of the New York Tribune.

1859 – 30 April, p. 3 – Advices from Utah to the 9^th of March had reached New York, from which it is evident that the citizens of that territory conclude that it is about time to again knock at the door of Congress, and apply for admission into the Union as a sovereign State. From private sources we learn that the Mormons are satisfied that sending the army and new federal officers to their territory, though at first it promised a collision, is turning to their advantage in a political point of view. Many of the charges against them have, in the course of investigation, been refuted, and consequently the prejudice of the Gentiles in the States is somewhat diminished. Every mail brings confirmation of a good understanding between the military and civil chief in the territory, on Mormon matters. It is states, however, but with what degree of truth we do not vouch, that Brigham Young is unpopular with the Mormons and that he has agents in the northern provinces of Mexico, and also in Central America, prospecting for a location to which he and his partisans may remove, and set up an independent hierarchy.

1859 – 4 June, p. 4 – Reinforcement of Mormons. On Friday the ship William Tapscott arrived at New York, bringing seven hundred and twenty-six Mormon immigrants, including women and children. One half of them are from England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales; the other half from Norway, Sweden, Denmark. On Saturday about five hundred of them left for the West by the Albany steamer. President Brigham Young had sent positive instructions to his agents to push all immigrants forward towards Utah as rapidly as possible, and in thirty hours from the time they landed at Castle Garden, the main body were in motion up the Hudson. Verily, the Mormons have energy. The company had altogether 50,000 lbs. of baggage. It is said that not a person tarried behind who had the means to pursue his journey westward, but on the other hand, great numbers went on with the certainty that they must suffer toil and privation by reason of their poverty. Boston Courier.