Episodes

9.1—One vicar attacks, and another vicar agrees—John S. Davis responds

9.2—William Rowlands, another vicar, publishes a pamphlet—John S. Davis scoffs

9.3—John S. Davis faces off against his former boss, J. Jones of Llangollen

9.4—Apostate Evan Howell accuses—Eyewitness Alfred J. Wood defends

9.5—Two different writers assess the Welsh translation of the Book of Mormon

9.6—Four hundred Latter-day Saints are miraculously unharmed by a ceiling collapse in Newport

9.7—An Independent minister defends the Latter-day Saints and is attacked by a colleague

9.8—Thomas Hughes’s first pamphlet receives eight rave reviews

Salient Events

• 2 March 1852—William Phillips responds publicly to the 25 February 1852 lecture of Rev. J. Jones, Llangollen. But it was John S. Davis who responded to two other lectures presented by his former boss, Rev. J. Jones. Davis had worked as a typesetter for J. Jones a few years earlier, before and during the time Dan Jones was publishing materials in Rhydybont, Carmarthenshire. In response to J. Jones’s lectures, Davis would eventually publish six lectures on the nature of miracles. In the introduction to the first one, he wrote:

Although we are but a small “shepherd boy” alongside the Giant of Llangollen, yet we feel totally unafraid, and although we heard him proclaim in his last lecture, “It will have to be something before it can bring me down,” yet who knows but what some sharp stones of truth from our insignificant sling, will adhere to his skull, and cause him to fall to the ground. God knows best concerning that; but we know this, that we are battling for God, and woe unto them that fight against him.[1]

See Episode 9.3 in this chapter.

• 17 April 1852—The final signature of the Welsh Book of Mormon is sent out with this issue of Zion’s Trumpet. A preface entitled “To the Welsh” has the names of William Phillips, John Davis, and Thomas Pugh, but the translation is clearly Davis’s work. Here is the first paragraph of the preface:

Beloved Countrymen.—It is not without feelings of gratitude to God that we have the honor of presenting before you this valuable book in the Welsh language. Many of you have freely given your opinion of this book, before you ever saw it, and condemned it, but now, after laboring so long under disadvantages, you can read it for yourselves and see whether your former opinion was correct. We did not of ourselves take upon us this work but were counseled to do it by our President F. D. Richards, who is over us in the Lord. We need not praise this book any more than the Bible, for both speak for themselves, to those that love light and truth. It will suffice, therefore, to say that we know it is a good book, and a gift of God, and that whoever will believe and do according to its words shall receive eternal life, but it is in vain to think that all will say the same of it; for few are those that walk in the narrow path.[2]

• 10 May 1852—A mine explosion in the little mining town of Cwmbach, Glamorganshire, claims the lives of sixty-seven men and boys. Of this number, nineteen were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Sadly, President Ebenezer Morris and his two sons, eleven-year-old John and ten-year-old David, were three of the nineteen. Morris had been sent on a mission to preside over the Cwmbach Branch. He moved there with his family and found employment in the mine. Ten months after the explosion, his widow, Mary Reese Morris, and their four surviving children went to Salt Lake City and eventually settled in Wellsville, Cache County, Utah.

Because the mine in Cwmbach was known for having dubious safety regulations, the pay was a bit higher than that offered by other mines. Wanting to save up enough money to emigrate as soon as possible, David Jenkins, another victim, had been willing to take the risk. Two of his children were able to journey to Utah in 1866, fourteen years after the explosion. Two years later, these two children made it possible for David’s widow, Anna Evans Jenkins, to finally accomplish her dream of going to America with the other children. They settled in Samaria, Oneida County, Idaho.[3]

• 8 July 1852—In his periodical, the editor of the Star of Wales expresses his reaction to the recently published Welsh translation of the Book of Mormon:

We cannot be expected to give any approval whatsoever to this work, or praise the superstition of the Welsh people for supporting its publication in Welsh; and there is no composition set up as equal to the Word of God which deserves any more than the most definitive condemnation. Whatever of that, there is no danger that anyone who reads it attentively will be deceived by it, so as to become one of the Latter-day Saints; for it appears to us to be nothing but a pack of foolish lies, composed deceitfully to imitate, to some extent, the scriptural account, and the names of persons have been changed, and many fables have been added. Whatever of that, the work has been printed well, with clear letters and excellent paper, as is all the work of Mr. Davis. The translation also is fluid and intelligible.

• 12 July 1852—On this Monday evening, the ceiling of the Sunderland Hall in Newport, South Wales, collapsed. An estimated four hundred Latter-day Saints were gathered in this large hall when the ceiling came down on them. Miraculously no one was seriously injured except for “two or three unbelievers, who had gone thither to revile and sneer at the true followers of Joe Smith.”[4] See Episode 9.6 in this chapter.
• 18 September 1852—Lewis Bowen is baptized in Blaenavon, Wales. His minister had requested that he curb the astounding progress of the Latter-day Saints in that area by debating them. During the debate, however, Bowen stated to all present that the elders were the ones who had the truth. His father immediately disowned him and two years later sent a letter reprimanding Bowen for being in his brother’s home: “You have been . . . sowing the weeds of Mormonism in the locality, which thing your mother and I scorn to the uttermost degree.” His father added: “Because of this, we cannot conscientiously ask you to our house. For one thing, your mother is too weak to stand the sorrow you have caused her, and you have received advantages to know better than to join such presumptuous, assumptive, deceiving, and vile people.” Eighty-two years later, Lewis’s grandson, Albert E. Bowen, was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.[5]
• 20 September 1852—Dan Jones, on his way back to Wales, meets up with William Morgan and other Welsh pioneers who were on the plains eighty miles east of Salt Lake City. Many of the Welsh in this company had been on the Buena Vista with Jones three years earlier, and it was a tear-filled reunion. Some of the tears were for joy at reuniting, and some were for sadness at remembering the many who had died of cholera on the Missouri River.
• 16 October 1852—John S. Davis announces in print that his Welsh translation of the Pearl of Great Price is available for purchase for one shilling twopence. He says, “We do not think any of the Saints should be without a copy.”[6]
• 27 December 1852—Dan Jones, Thomas Jeremy, and Daniel Daniels arrive back in Merthyr Tydfil to serve missions. William Phillips would continue as the president of the Church in Wales throughout 1853, and John S. Davis would continue as editor of Zion’s Trumpet all during 1853. Dan Jones would become the president of the Church in Wales at the beginning of 1854, with Jeremy and Daniels as his counselors. Jones would also become the editor of Zion’s Trumpet at the beginning of 1854. Jones, Jeremy, and Daniels were the first Welsh missionaries to have made the journey to Utah.

Commentary

1852: January, Y Bedyddiwr (The Baptist), pp. 32–33 (605 words). “Saintly Literature.”

This article consists of three letters, one that the sender, “Dafydd Avan,” wrote to the editor, and two that are from Emrys Davies—a recent convert to the Church—to J. Bedford, the distributor of the Baptist in Aberavon, near Port Talbot, regarding a debate arranged between Emrys Davies and Thomas Davies for 8 December 1851. Apparently, Bedford had agreed to “settle the rules of the debate.” In his first letter, dated 3 December 1851, Emrys Davies wishes to offer some rules he considers “to be fair and reasonable.” In the second, dated 6 December 1851, Davies expresses remorse that his opponent in the debate is unwell and that the debate must be postponed.

“Dafydd Avan” is possibly the nom de plume of J. Bedford, the original recipient of the Davies letters. In his letter to the editor, Avan explains that he is sending copies of the two Emrys Davies letters, which Avan had rewritten “word for word,” to be printed in the Baptist “for the readers’ amusement at the beginning of a new year.” He himself finds the letters amusing because of all the grammatical and spelling errors Davies made, errors which Avan painstakingly reproduces.[7]

1852: 10 January, Monmouthshire Beacon, p. 5 (53 words).

The Mormons are laboring at the Sandwich Islands, in companies of two, to convert the population (natives, foreigners, missionaries, and all) to their faith. It is not a little worthy of note, that while in England and Scotland they have made converts by thousands, in Hawaii they have met with no success whatever.

1852: 23 January, The Welshman, p. 2 (180 words). “Mormonism.”

Some statistics regarding plural marriage taken from the New York National Police Gazette. Here is an example:

The pluralist wife system is in full vogue here. Governor Young is said to have 90 wives. He drove along the streets a few days ago with 16 of them in a long carriage, 14 of them having each an infant at her bosom.

1852: 24 January, Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, p. 3 (600 words). “Mormonism in America.” The writer quotes the report of the Utah territory judges relative to the proceedings of “the Mormons.” He says the report is “full of disgusting details of the debauchery carried on by the leading members of that sect.” The focus is mainly on plural marriage.

1852: 29 January, Y Gwron Cymreig (The Welsh Hero), p. 4 (180 words). “Mormonism.” The writer quotes the New York National Police Gazette to reveal “a host of the most disgusting stories relating to the behavior of this sect by the Salt Lake.” He declares:

The alarming truth is that even now hosts of men are leaving Great Britain to join with the Mormons, despite all the odious reports made of them.

Episode 9.1

Start: One vicar attacks, and another vicar agrees—John S. Davis responds

1852: 30 January, The Cambrian (845 words). John Griffith, the vicar of Aberdare, wrote this letter entitled “The Mormons or Latter-day Saints.” Having read the latest report “made to Congress by the Judges of Utah Territory,” Griffith felt compelled to express his concern at the presence of such a large number of “Mormons” in Wales and especially in his town of Aberdare. The report to the United States Congress by the judges who lived in Utah declared that polygamy was “openly avowed and practiced in the territory, under the sanction and in obedience to the direct commands of the Church.” Griffith condemned the “universality” of polygamy as well as its “shamelessness” and its “incestuous nature.” He also declared that there should be a greater effort made throughout Wales to educate the working classes about this evil in order to stem the tide of converts to this new religion. Griffith’s letter was also printed in the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian and the Monmouthshire Merlin.

1852: 31 January, Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, p. 4 (865 words). “The Mormons, or Latter-day Saints.” The same letter by John Griffith that was printed in the 30 January 1852 issue of the Cambrian.

1852: 6 February, Monmouthshire Merlin, p. 3 (865 words). “The Mormons, or Latter-day Saints.” The same letter by John Griffith that was printed in the 30 January 1852 issue of the Cambrian and the 31 January 1852 issue of the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian.

1852: 14 February, Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, p. 4 (800 words). “Mormonism. To the Editor of the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian.” David Evans, the vicar of Aberavon—about twenty-five miles to the southwest of Aberdare—agrees wholeheartedly with his colleague John Griffith about the menace of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

The letter on Mormonism by the Vicar of Aberdare, which appeared in your last impression, is at this time of greater importance than many, perhaps, are disposed to attach to it.

He explains further:

Many are they who consider Mormonism and its abominations too despicable to be noticed; but when it is remembered how many thousands of our fellow-immortals have been led astray by it, some to the vortex of the foulest licentiousness—and some, after loss of goods, reputation, and peace, to utter destruction both of body and soul!—and when it is further remembered that it still continues to lead, as if by silken bands, thousands more to the same abyss of ruin, I think that the voice of scripture, equally with the voice of reason, calls loudly upon every faithful minister and disciple of the Blessed Savior to use every legitimate means to banish and drive away this monstrous heresy.

Evans then declares the vital importance of the press in combating “this evil.” He indicates that the publication “best calculated to give a true picture of this ‘abortion’” is a pamphlet entitled “Mormonism, an exposure of the impositions adopted by the sect called the Latter-day Saints,” written by the Reverend F. B. Ashley, vicar of Wooburn, Buckinghamshire. Evans adds that he has already indicated to a friend his willingness to translate Ashley’s pamphlet into Welsh. The Welsh version of the pamphlet in question was indeed published the following year (1853), but the translator was not the Reverend David Evans of Aberavon; rather, it was the Reverend G. C. F. Harries, the curate of the Merthyr Tydfil parish. (See the pamphlet section following Chapter 16 of this book for more information.)

In closing, Evans expresses this wish regarding the impact of the Welsh translation of Ashley’s pamphlet:

I hope . . . that this destructive heresy will be banished from the hills to the valleys, and from the valleys to the sea, and may ere long sink like a stone into the deep and perish in the waters.

1852: 7 February, Udgorn Seion (Zion’s Trumpet), p. 37 (1,610 words). “The Mormons in Utah.” Instead of responding directly to the allegations presented by John Griffith and David Evans in their articles in the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, John S. Davis elected to print in his own periodical a lengthy article that had appeared in the New York Daily Tribune on 13 January 1852. In this article, which favorably regards the Latter-day Saints then in Utah, the writer opens with the following statement:

We have published the statements of Judges Brocchus and Brandeburg and Secretary Harris, accusing the Mormons of sedition as well as immorality, and stating reasons why those officials could not consistently remain in the Territory. These statements have been flatly contradicted by Mr. Bernhisel, the Delegate of Utah, on the floor of Congress, who challenges and demands the strictest investigation of the whole matter, so far as it concerns the Government of the United States.[8]

He then quotes from the Republic “an article on the Mormon side” which, he says, “comes from a responsible source.” The unnamed writer of this article had been present for the Fourth of July celebration in Salt Lake City the previous year, and he reports that he witnessed nothing but appropriate behavior on the part of the Latter-day Saints in their support of the United States government. He also defends the Latter-day Saints concerning their reaction a few years earlier to a request for a battalion of five hundred men to fight for their country in its war with Mexico; the reaction was very positive and patriotic, the direct opposite of the resentful response the Saints had been accused of.

The writer also includes the words of praise written by John Wilson, who had passed through Utah on his way to the West Coast to assume the office of Indian Agent in California:

A more orderly, earnest, industrious, and civil people, I have never been among than these, and it is incredible how much they have done here in the wilderness in so short a time.[9]

The writer concludes by expressing his opposition to the US government’s sending an “armed expedition to reduce them to subjection”:

It does not appear that the Mormons desire to separate from us, and if they do not, they should remain and be treated fairly, according to the Constitution and laws of the Union.[10]

1852: 28 February, Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, p. 3 (445 words). “Mormonism. To the Editor of the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian.” The Reverend John Griffith, vicar of Aberdare, addresses John S. Davis’s method of defending The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through Zion’s Trumpet:

Sir—The Mormon Church of these parts [has] replied to my letter on Mormonism by reissuing at Merthyr an article from the New York Tribune. This little pamphlet their delegate brought me on Sunday last.

Griffith points out the glaring omission of any mention of his primary objection to Davis’s religion:

There is not one word in it touching the serious crime of polygamy with which the American judges charged them. Surely this silence is very significant. Either the New York Tribune must know it to be true and cannot refute it; or, knowing it to be true, it did not, like a faithful Mormon, care to rebut it.

Griffith then presents some of the details surrounding the wife and child of a Latter-day Saint who formerly lived in Aberdare and who had “abandoned his wife and child now for nearly two years, and, as far as we can learn, she has heard nothing yet of him, or received anything from him.” He adds:

If it had not been for the parish and the kindness of individuals, both his wife and child would have perished of starvation.

Griffith concludes:

When, therefore, these things can be said of them, it requires a very different kind of testimony to that which they have brought forward from the New York Tribune to set aside the special report of solemn judges. Testimony, indeed, it is none, as there is no pretense in it anywhere to meet the charge of immorality. The entire article turns on the civil and not on the moral administration of the community.

End: One vicar attacks and another vicar agrees—John S. Davis responds

1852: 31 January, The Silurian, p. 1 (705 words). “Mormon Immoralities in America.” A fairly long article taken from “the report of the Judge of the Utah Territory.” The article is “full of disgusting details of the debauchery carried on by the leading members of the sect.”

1852: January, Cronicl y Cymdeithasau Crefyddol (Chronicle of the Religious Societies), p. 27 (650 words). “The Mormons.” The writer of this article reports that those who call themselves “Latter-day Saints” are now divided into seven different sects. He expresses surprise and disappointment that people who called themselves “Saints” are not more unified and then gives the following advice:

If there is anyone in any place who wishes to become one of the Mormons, first let him sit down pensively and honestly to examine their history, and to study their principles; and then if he is convinced that they are sincere “Saints,” and that they have the miraculous gifts, and that they alone are the “one true church,” let him then profess Mormonism in a dignified and unassuming spirit.

1852: January, Y Cenhadwr Americanaidd (The American Messenger), pp. 20–21 (860 words). “The Mormons. Letter from One Who Was an Eye-witness of Their Superstitions.” One who calls himself “A Welshman from Missouri” writes a lengthy letter about his fourteen-day visit to Salt Lake City. He begins his letter with observations about the land, the houses, and the preaching in the large meetinghouse where he heard Brigham Young say that “he [Young] was in the pleasures of the world for thirty years” without knowing what happiness was “until he embraced Mormonism,” and then “he was a happy man.” The writer continues:

Well, if women are what make a man happy, he is sure to be one of them. He has ninety of them, according to their own assertions; and I can assure you that the Mormons do not tell lies about their leader. Some of them have two or three wives, and their leaders have more than that. They are united in their creed that a man may have as many wives as he wants, if he is able to take care of them.

He has this to say about the reception he received from the Welsh in Salt Lake City:

I saw there several Welshmen, who were very kind to me. Wonder! Wonder! Wonder! forever, that the fair Welsh, beautiful in their appearance, have become so foolish as to believe the doctrine of this second Mohammed! Some of them have followed the example of their leaders by taking more than one wife. Yes, and even worse, some of them have taken the wives of some others as wives for themselves! May the Lord have mercy on them; but those are nearly hopeless.

Finally, the writer has a warning for his fellow Welsh:

Beware, Welshman! lest you be caught in the snare. There are many Welsh who were wealthy when they went there, but now they are very poor. And there are scores there, yes, perhaps hundreds who have repented for the bad bargain they have made, and who wish to have the chance to escape from them—and especially the women.

After his letter was printed in the American Messenger in New York, the “Welshman from Missouri” sent it to his brother in Wales.

Episode 9.2

Start: William Rowlands, another vicar, publishes a pamphlet—John S. Davis scoffs

1852: TwyllMormoniaeth; ynnghydahanesbywydamarwolaeth Joseph Smith, o America, Prophwyd Santyddoly Dydiau Diweddaf, gany Parch. William Rowlands (Deceit of Mormonism; together with the history of the life and death of Joseph Smith, from America, the Hallowed Prophet of the Latter Days, by the Rev. William Rowlands), pamphlet,16 pages.

The entire pamphlet consists of a series of questions and answers. Most of the questions are about Joseph Smith and the church he founded. The answers come from a variety of publications listed on the final page. Here are some examples:

Q. What did Joe have in mind by putting verses from the Bible in his own book, to mix truth and untruth together?

A. Only to make the fly similar to the color of the water, in order to hook men.

Q. Are men so ignorant as to believe such foolish­ness as this?

A. Yes, and to our great surprise, the Welsh believe it.

1852: 21 February, Udgorn Seion (Zion’s Trumpet), pp. 53–55 (1,037 words). “Reviewing Books.” Instead of writing a long article to answer point by point the erroneous statements made by William Rowlands, John S. Davis wrote this article. Here are his opening sentences:

Reviewing books against the Saints has become a very tedious task for us lately, because our detractors write things for which they have been provided answers before. They are unwilling to look into our principles or our history; rather they heap up old nonsense from books of the enemies who have written before them.[11]

He then specifically refers to the pamphlet recently published by Rowlands:

There is a pamphlet before us now, entitled “Deceit of Mormonism, together with an Account of the Life and Death of Joseph Smith,” by the Rev. William Rowlands, curate, Merthyr; which shows clearly that its author has made no effort to search out anything about the principles of the Saints, or the history of Joseph Smith, except only in the books of our detractors, which had been proved false before Mr. Rowlands ever saw them.[12]

Davis then encourages Rowlands and all others who wish to have accurate information about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to read the various publications available at his office. He gives his general assessment of Rowlands’s pamphlet:

It is utterly shameful that Mr. Rowlands attaches his name to so much senseless rubbish that is in his pamphlet, not to mention the barefaced lies that speckle its pages.[13]

End: William Rowland, another vicar, publishes a pamphlet—John S. Davis scoffs

1852: 5 February, North Wales Chronicle, p. 2 (1,070 words). “The Mormonites in America.” A rather long article full of many of the common criticisms of the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who lived in the United States.

1852: 14 February, The Silurian, p. 4 (620 words). “Mormon priest Drowned at a Baptism in the Trent.” A detailed account of the drowning of William Barnes, age twenty-two, in the Trent River. Barnes was there to baptize a young girl and had preached a farewell discourse in the place of meeting at Beeston, since he planned to emigrate. Considerable detail is provided about his drowning.

1852: 26 February, Y Gwron Cymreig (The Welsh Hero), p. 2 (835 words). “The Mormons in California.” This letter is the same one that appears in the American Messenger,[14] with only slight modifications.

1852: February, Yr Haul (The Sun), pp. 71–72 (110 words). “Mormonism.”

The New York National Police Gazette has a lot of news about the Mormons of Salt Lake, in California. One of the correspondents of this newspaper gives a frightening account of their morals. “President Young has ninety wives; he has ridden in a carriage through the town lately accompanied by sixteen of them; and fourteen of them have children on their laps. It is said that Heber C. Kimball, a member of the Tribunal council, and the second person in the Trinity, has about the same number, among which are a mother and her two daughters. One man is free to keep as many wives as the other.”

1852: February, Yr Hyfforddwr sef Misiadyr Llenyddol (The Guide or the Literary Monthly), p. 32 (95 words). “The Glory of Mormonism.” This article is taken from the London Times and has the same information about polygamy in Utah as appeared in the Sun during the same month, with very similar wording.[15]

Episode 9.3

Start: John S. Davis faces off against his former boss, J. Jones of Llangollen

1852: 20 March, Udgorn Seion (Zion’s Trumpet), pp. 97–98 (660 words). “Lectures on Miracles.”

John S. Davis introduces this battle of words and ideas about the topic of miracles, a topic he engaged in with “J. Jones, Llangollen,” a Congregationalist minister who was the older brother of Dan Jones.

Perhaps many of our readers are aware that the Rev. J. Jones, Llangollen, has been delivering a number of lectures on the above topic in several places, and latest in Merthyr Tydfil, where we had the pleasure of listening to him, on the 25th of February, and on the 3rd and the 17th of March.

Davis was well acquainted with J. Jones, since Davis had previously been in Jones’s employ as a typesetter in the village of Rhydybont near the market town of Llanybydder, located about eighteen miles north of Carmarthen. In December 1845, Dan Jones had used his brother’s press to print his Welsh translation of Proclamation of the Twelve Apostles.[16] During the three years that followed, the press at Rhydybont would print for Dan Jones more than a dozen other pamphlets, a hymnal, a history of the Latter-day Saints, and twenty-eight issues of the Prophet of the Jubilee. John S. Davis, twenty-three years old at the time, was baptized on 19 April 1846, just four months after becoming acquainted with Dan Jones and the Church he represented.

About three years later, with Dan Jones’s departure for America in February 1849, twenty-six-year-old Davis became the printer for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Wales. Using a press he had acquired, he printed the final two numbers of Prophet of the Jubilee (November and December 1848) and the first two numbers of Zion’s Trumpet (January and February 1849) in his hometown of Carmarthen. By March 1849, Davis had relocated to Merthyr Tydfil, where he continued his printing activities for the next five years.

The Reverend J. Jones also moved with his family to Merthyr Tydfil, but he no longer had his own press or his own congregation. He did, however, give public lectures, three of which John S. Davis attended and during which Davis no doubt took copious notes. To Jones’s 25 February 1849 lecture, William Phillips responded a week later on 2 March in Cymreigyddion Hall, the long room above the Railway Inn where the Latter-day Saints regularly met. To Jones’s 3 March lecture, Davis—more than twenty years Jones’s junior—responded on 9 and 11 March in the same venue “before large congregations.”

In his March 1852 issue of Zion’s Trumpet, Davis assesses the objective of Jones’s lectures:

Mr. Jones, in his lectures, attempted to gainsay the majority of the principles of the Saints, and as he delivered them, he received every approval the world could give him; for the world loves its own.[17]

Davis then lists over twenty assertions made by Jones, assertions which “have been disproved by the Saints.” Davis then announces his plan of action:

The definite verses under scrutiny will be the next thing for the Saints to focus on, if we dare to come out, for Mr. Jones threatens to treat us roughly if we come out again to oppose him. Mr. Jones boasts that he has conquered hosts before us, and that “it must be something in order to fell him.” We see that he is Goliath, and that we are little David the shepherd boy, who depends on his God, and on his sling.

Davis later wrote, in the introduction to the first of his “Treatises on Miracles,” the following:

But since Mr. Jones continues to deliver these lectures up and down the country, we deemed it appropriate, through the encouragement of hosts of brethren, to review them in a series of treatises, which can visit every corner of Wales. At the same time, we shall review the pamphlet that is called “Miraculous Gifts,” by the Rev. J. Davies, Llanelli, Brecknockshire, which, in many topics agrees with Mr. Jones.

See next entry for information about the pamphlet by the Rev. J. Davies.

1852: Y Doniau Gwyrthiol fel eu Darlunir yn yr Ysgrythyrau Sanctaidd, gyda Sylwadau ar Bynciau Eraill Cysylltiedig a Gwyrthiau (The Miraculous Gifts as They Are Portrayed in the Holy Scriptures, with Observations on Other Topics Related to Miracles), pamphlet, 60 pages.

The pamphlet has eight chapters, the last of which is entitled “The Growth and Deceit of the Latter-day Saints.” The contents of this final chapter consist mainly of information taken from English-language sources about the history of Joseph Smith and the origins of the Book of Mormon. Davies ends the pamphlet with a caution for his fellow Welsh:

Who in Wales will be so foolish and insult his intelligence and damage his temporal and eternal well-being by joining with and supporting this kind of deceit! The latest letters published from Salt Lake, as well as the reports of the United States delegates, prove the existence there of violence and oppression, sin and corruption of the most loathsome kind. No doubt if Salt Lake were closer to us and the delivery of letters were more convenient, we would have hundreds of letters revealing the repentance from those who spent their money for that which was not bread and gave their labor for that which does not satisfy.[18]

After Davis had reviewed Davies’s pamphlet, Davis’s involvement in translating and publishing the Book of Mormon in Welsh slightly delayed the appearance of his treatises on the topic of miracles. The last signature of Llyfr Mormon (The Book of Mormon) was sent out with the 17 April 1852 Zion’s Trumpet, and the first treatise on miracles is dated 21 May 1852; the other five are dated 3 June, 15 June, 19 June, 2 July, and 15 July 1852. Each segment of Davis’s translation was sent out with an issue of Zion’s Trumpet for distribution and sale. The treatises were later bound into a seventy-two-page pamphlet.[19]

1852: August, Y Diwygiwr (The Revivalist), pp. 246–47. “The Spiritual Gifts as They Are Portrayed in the Holy Scriptures.”

A review of Davies’s pamphlet (see previous entry). After commenting on the genesis of the pamphlet and making a few observations concerning its contents, the editor of the Revivalist gives his endorsement:

We enthusiastically recommend this book as very necessary and suitable for the circumstances of the present times, when there are so many of the wavering children being confused by the baseless assertions of the hare-brained impostors. We are confident that the churches will strive to spread the book among the people in general; and if, after reading it, the fools decide to be offended, plundered, deceived, defiled, and destroyed, body, soul, and circumstances by the Mormons or anyone else, they will be free to say loudly as God said, “That which dies, let it die.”[20]

1852: 5 August, Seren Cymru (Star of Wales), p. 123 (605 words). “The Miraculous Gifts.”

This article is another review of the Davies pamphlet. The editor declares this sixty-page booklet to be “one of the best on the topic that has ever come to our attention.” With specific reference to the final chapter, “Rise and Deceit of Mormonism,” he writes:

Although we have never considered the Mormon deceit worth spending our time to write against, we respectfully believe that the author of this little booklet is worthy of praise, since he has performed a service to religion; and if the booklet happens to fall into the hands of some Mormon, or into the hands of someone who is halting between two opinions, we do not doubt but what it will be of great benefit to him, if it is read thoughtfully.

1852: 2 September, Seren Cymru (Star of Wales), p. 139 (2,015 words). “The Growth and Deceit of Mormonism.”

The editor of Star of Wales elected to quote this entire chapter, six pages in all, from Davies’s pamphlet. The primary focus of this, the pamphlet’s final chapter, is the Spaulding theory of the origin of the Book of Mormon and is taken entirely from English-language sources. The facsimile translation of these six pages is in Section 2.

End: John S. Davis faces off against his former boss, J. Jones of Llangollen

1852: March, Y Bedyddiwr (The Baptist), pp. 95–97 (1,540 words). “Mormonism in Its Glory.”

In July 1851, a group of federal territorial appointees arrived in Salt Lake City to assume their offices in the Utah territorial government. Almost immediately they incurred the wrath of Church leaders and members with their insulting remarks about Utah society and the practice of plural marriage. About three months later, the federal appointees abruptly left Utah to return to Washington. Their lengthy report to the United States government included numerous unflattering statements about what they had observed during their brief stay in Utah. This article in the Baptist contains an assortment of their statements. Their report is the original source of the oft-quoted statement about Brigham Young’s excursion with sixteen of his wives, fourteen of whom had babies on their laps.

1852: March, Yr Ymofynydd (Inquirer), pp. 67–68 (905 words). “The Immorality of the Mormons in America.”

This article is similar to the one that appears in the Baptist for March 1852 (see above). The stated source is the News of the World for 25 January 1852, which obtained its information from the report of the federal territorial appointees after their three months in Salt Lake City. The reporter concludes:

So goes the story in the News of the World. I hope it will be read and considered by many a Welshman who is possibly on the verge of being lured by their deceit and fraud, and that he can be saved from falling into such a foul ditch—such shameless immorality—such filth beyond paganism! A mother and two daughters married to the same man—no, an animal, and not a man! Pagans, blush—humanity, hide your head in tears! Is the thing believable? Is it possible? Can all this take place under the name of religion! Mormons, Mormons, hold on, slow down, consider where you stand.[21]

1852: March, Y Diwygiwr (Revivalist), p. 100, Item #1 (70 words). “An Honest Saint.”

This article contains the account of Elder Erasmus Snow’s admission about his plural marriage, a topic he addressed at a gathering in Utah before he left on a mission:

“Brethren,” said he, “I have two wives, and what is that to anyone else?” The comment was received with smiles among the ladies, and shouts of approval by the men.

1852: March, Y Diwygiwr (Revivalist), p. 100, Item #2 (175 words). “Mormonism.”

This article contains the same account about Brigham Young and his excursion with sixteen of his wives as reported in the March issue of the Baptist.[22] The writer concludes:

It is a lamentable truth that even now there are hosts of men leaving Great Britain to join with the Mormons despite all the repugnant revelations made about them.

1852: March, Yr Haul (Sun), p. 104 (105 words). “The Fate of a Mormon.”

As a man by the name of William Barnes entered the Trent River near Beeston to baptize two converts into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was swept away by the river and drowned. The writer concludes:

We had intended to make a brief observation here, but we shall refrain from doing so at present.

Episode 9.4

Start: Apostate Evan Howell accuses—Eyewitness Alfred J. Wood defends

1852: 10 March, Yr Amserau (Times), p. 3 (805 words). “The Saints Again.”

A 7 December 1851 letter written from St. Louis by Evan Howell (sometimes referred to as “Evan Powell” in print),a passenger on the Ellen Maria, which had left Liverpool on 1 February 1851 with 378 passengers. Howell was accompanied by his wife, Mary, and their infant son. Here counts their experience to discourage others from leaving Wales with the Latter-day Saints:

I wish for you to make every effort within your power to persuade my friends and all the people there to stay where they are, instead of being hoodwinked by the Mormons, which is nothing but complete humbug, which I have been able to experience to my grief and sorrow.

He claims that of the four hundred passengers on the Ellen Maria, “about 200 of them have died.” He tells of having to bury his wife and son with no help from his coreligionists, and he states that the Saints failed to deliver on their promises and had no respect for keeping the Sabbath.

1852: 19 March, The Welshman, p. 3 (555 words). “Mormonism.”

A shorter version of the letter that was in the Times for 10 March 1852.

1852: 20 March, Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, p. 4 (550 words). “Copy of a Letter from a Latter-day Saint in America.”

This letter is the same version of the Evan Howell letter of 7 Dec 1851 that was printed in the Welshman for 19 March 1852.

1852: 3 April, The Silurian, p. 4 (405 words). “The Mormons in America.”

Quoting the Swansea Herald, this article is a shorter version of the Evan Howell letter.

1852: 9 April, Monmouthshire Merlin, p. 3 (405 words). “The Mormons.”

Quoting the Swansea Herald, this article contains part of the Evan Howell letter.

1852: 9 April, Cambrian (345 words). “The American Mormons.”

Also has quotes from the Evan Howell letter.

1852: 10 April, Caernarvon and Denbigh Herald, p. 7 (550 words).

The same version of the letter that was in the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian for 20 March 1852.

1852: April, Y Drysorfa (Treasury), p. 140 (415 words). “The Latter-day Saints in their ‘New Jerusalem.’”

This article contains quotes from the Evan Howell letter.

1852: April, Yr Haul (Sun), pp. 136–37 (755 words). “Mormonism.”

This is the Evan Howell letter with but few variations from how it appeared in the Times. The submitter expressed alarm at the large numbers among the Welsh who had converted to the new religion of the Latter-day Saints:

Twenty years ago, if anyone had said that the time was at hand for wanderers to come to the door, and preach an American prophet to the people, that he had seen visions of the Almighty, had received revelations from heaven, that he had received a golden book through the hands of angels, that the followers of this sect would perform miracles and wonders, would speak in foreign tongues, and that the people would go away in their hundreds to the ends of the earth, to establish a new state and church, etc., it would have been thought that the one who said this was completely mad. But it has happened, yes, in Wales. Hundreds, if not thousands, of the Welsh have accepted this deceit.[23]

1852: April, Yr Hyfforddwr sef Misiadyr Llenyddol (The Guide or the Literary Monthly), pp. 63–64 (890 words).

The editor explains why he had chosen to print the Evan Howell letter in his periodical:

The following letter was published in The Times for March 10. Since the Guide can reach the hands of some who do not have the opportunity to see The Times, we, for the sake of such, are reprinting it, hoping that it will serve as a warning to those who may be inclined to be deceived through the cunning of the Mormons. If anyone doubts the authenticity of the letter, the original can be seen by visiting Mr. J. Lewis, Mineral Agent, Victoria Iron Works.

1852: 12 June, Udgorn Seion (Zion’s Trumpet), pp. 189–93 (1,780 words). “False Accusers of the Saints.”

John S. Davis, the editor of Zion’s Trumpet, received a long letter in English from Alfred J. Wood, a passenger on the Ellen Maria—the same ship on which Evan Howell sailed from Liverpool to New Orleans. Alfred describes his feelings upon seeing Howell’s letter in the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian:

I was truly disgusted with its contents, and I fearlessly assert that it is nothing but false and exaggerated accounts, which could not emanate from any but wicked, designing apostates, infuriated by their deep-rooted hatred to the Mormons.

He then offers clarifications rebutting the various accusations made by Howell concerning his difficulties. Davis then adds that his reason for printing Wood’s letter in English in his periodical was “so the Saints may show it to the persons who read the English newspapers.” He also sent the Wood letter to the Welshman and the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian. The former does not appear to have printed the letter, but the latter printed a brief letter from William S. Phillips as well as the Wood letter in its entirety.[24]

1852: 12 June, Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, p. 3 (145 words in the request from W. S. Phillips; 1,695 words in Wood’s letter). “The Latter-day Saints.” The editor printed the entire letter of Alfred J. Wood, preceded by the request from W. S. Phillips. Here is the request in its entirety:

Sir—Having read in one of the numbers of your paper a letter from Evan Howell (late of Victoria) and William Davies (late of Abercarn), who reside at present in St. Louis, North America, charging the Latter-day Saints with unkindness towards them there, I desire of you if you will be so kind as to let the enclosed appear in the next number of your paper. If you will please grant this favor, I know it will be satisfactory to many of the readers of the Cardiff Guardian, who I am particularly acquainted with, and who are particularly acquainted with Alfred Wood. I took the trouble to copy [it] from Wood’s letter, which Mr. John Davis, printer, of this place, received last Sunday morning, with whom the original may be seen, if required. Yours respectfully, W. S. Phillips, 14, Castle Street, Merthyr Tydfil. June 8th, 1852.

1853: 4 March, North Wales Chronicle, p. 8 (390 words). “The Mormons in America.”

A quote from the Swansea Herald about the St. Louis 7 December 1851 letter from Evan Howell (here called “Powell”). It is strange that the North Wales Chronicle would publish this well-known letter a full year after its first appearance in Yr Amserau (The Times).

End: Apostate Evan Howell accuses—Eye witness Alfred J. Wooddefends.

1852: March, Cyfaill o’r Hen Wlad yn America (Friend of the Old Country in America), pp. 80–82 (1,320 words). “Joe Smith and the Mormons.”

Efrawc Gadarn translated this article from English into Welsh to appear in Friend of the Old Country in America. The English version of the article is in the June 1851 issue of Harper’s New Monthly Magazine and contains general information about Joseph Smith and the establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[25]

1852: April, Cyfaill o’r Hen Wlad yn America (Friend of the Old Country in America), pp. 113–15 (1,520 words). “Joe Smith and the Mormons.”

The second part of Efrawc Gadarn’s Welsh translation.

1852: 22 April, Y Gwron Cymreig (Welsh Hero), p. 2 (710 words). “Mormonism.”

“Glan Aerfen” is the writer of this sizable article. He expresses surprise and alarm that so many in Wales had allowed themselves to be “allured by the untutored breezes of the Mormon foolishness.” He warns his compatriots to be vigilant and resist the deceit of the Latter-day Saints, whom he describes in the following manner:

What is the life of “the Saints” (may the saints on high forgive me for calling them such) but a filthy abomination? What are the elders of the “Saints” but the excommunicated offscourings of religion, and if the life of the “Saints” is an abomination here, what are they like on the far side of the sea!! What is Mormonism? A cunning device of the followers of Mammon to persuade the naïve to part with their possessions. An accursed scheme devised by the lustful so that they may enjoy the desires of their lascivious passions; Mormonism is a blast of hot air that shrivels all virtue.

1852: 24 April, Silurian, p.4, item 1 (185 words). “A Mormon Miracle.”

Taken from the Liverpool Courier.

A boilermaker, who was a Mormonite, met with an accident from the nut of a screw, which flew off while he was at work, and struck him on the eye with such force as to destroy the pupil.

The injured man asked the elders for the laying on of hands to restore his sight. When they learned that his employers had recommended that he consult Dr. Neill, the eminent oculist, one of the elders said that he should do so and that “whatever he does we will bless, and God will bless it too.” The writer concludes:

The man accordingly went to Dr. Neill, but whether the pupil of his eye was restored or not, he got his vision in another way, and saw enough of Mormonism to leave it.[26]

1852: 24 April, Silurian, p. 4, Item 2 (210 words). “The Mormon Bible.”

Account of a discussion held recently in Carlisle “between a Mormonite leader and a lecturer named Porter.” The lecturer read some extracts from the Book of Mormon about the barges constructed to convey a group across the Atlantic Ocean.

1852: April, Yr Eurgrawn Wesleyaidd (Wesleyan Treasury), pp. 132–33 (480 words). “The Mormons. Abridgement of the letter of one who visited their holy place in California.”

This letter, considerably abridged, is the same one that appears in the American Messenger.[27]

1852: April, Y Dysgedydd (Instructor), p. 119 (170 words). “Impromptu Verses to the Mormons.” A poem of eight 4-line stanzas. Here is the second stanza:

Behold ungifted black magicians—all

Wanting to trick each soul,

And some dark hideous swarm—lowly minstrels,

The old Mormons, we wish they were dead.

1852: 1 May, Caernarvon and Denbigh Herald, p. 3 (90 words).

Another terrible steamboat explosion, by which it is supposed 100 lives have been sacrificed, took place on April 9, at Lexington. The New York Herald says: “The steamer Saluda, bound for Council Bluffs, exploded her boilers at Lexington, on Monday, April 9. She had on board, besides other passengers, a large number of Mormon emigrants. All the officers of the boat were killed, except the first clerk and mate. About 100 lives are supposed to have been lost. The boat is a total wreck. Her boilers have been in use several years.

1852: 1 May, Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, p. 2 (30 words).

Another awful steamboat explosion took place on the 9th instant, at Lexington, Missouri. The Saluda burst her boilers, killing 100 passengers—Mormons, on their way to the Salt Lake.

1852: 14 May, Cambrian (50 words).

A brief announcement that Rev. William Griffiths and Rev. C. Short will be preaching their lectures on Mormonism.

1852: 21 May, Cambrian (90 words). “Mormonism.”

A brief report of the lecture delivered by Rev. C. Short at the Mount Pleasant chapel.

1852: May, Seren Gomer (Star of Gomer), p. 238 (730 words). “The Mormons.”

This article is a set of quotes from the report written by the group of federal territorial appointees who had spent about three months in Salt Lake City from July to September 1851. The editor of Star of Gomer elected to include the paragraphs about the dictatorial reign of Brigham Young, the murder of James Munroe, and the information about polygamy. The final paragraph consists of the editor’s own conclusion:

Here is a survey of Mormonism now in Utah, in its own territory, where it is allowed to work out its polluted and blasphemous principles unchecked; and if they do not bear the same horrible fruit in this country, that must be attributed to the hindrance put in their way by the laws of the kingdom, rather than to the natural tendency of the principles of that system of atheism, which is believed and professed by the people who presume to call themselves “Latter-day Saints,” “in the Church of Jesus Christ,” and at the same time be guilty of the most fearsome blasphemies, the bloodiest murders, and live in the most horrible adultery and incest! Perhaps some of the brotherhood in Wales will try to deny this; but it is not fitting for them to do so; because the facts are realized by respectable and credible officials, who testify to what they heard and saw. It is mournful to think that scores of our fellow nationals have been deceived and bewitched to go to the Sodom-like Utah which is portrayed above; and perhaps some of them are wallowing in the wicked filth described. We shall give more yet of their story before long.

1852: May, Y Diwygiwr (Revivalist), p.164 (185 words).

The brief account of a boilermaker whose eye was seriously injured in an accident.[28] Rather than consult with Dr. Neill in Liverpool, as his work masters advised him to do, the boilermaker opted to request a blessing from the elders of his church. Seeing the impossibility of the boilermaker ever regaining the use of his eye, and knowing that he had been counseled by his work masters to consult with Dr. Neill, the elders said, “Very well, go to Dr. Neill, and whatever he chooses to do, he has our blessing, and God will bless him as well.” The writer concludes:

He went to Dr. Neill; but whether he received his natural eye or not, his eye was opened in another way, so that he was able to see enough of Mormonism to the point of leaving it.

1852: 8 May, Udgorn Seion (Zion’s Trumpet), p. 147 (150 words). “Defense of the Mormons.”

Davis was obviously very pleased to include in his periodical this highly positive report from the Liverpool Journal about the Latter-day Saints:

A correspondent in Philadelphia of the Manchester Examiner says: “I have noticed the utterly untrue and vain accounts of the tumult of the Mormons in Salt Lake, and their unwillingness toward the federal government, etc. Many of these that are mentioned are erroneous and exaggerated, and inappropriately tend to cast undeserved insult on that deceived and misguided, but diligent, frugal and successful society; for it has clearly been shown through more recent information, and through being able to hear the two sides of the controversy, that the judges and the other officers who were sent out by the government in Washington, have behaved in an arrogant and improper manner, and are more to blame than are the Mormons. It is beyond argument that the Mormons have been highly successful, and on the whole contented and happy, in their new settlement, and their numbers are rapidly increasing.”

1852: 5 June, The Silurian, p. 1 (145 words). “Mormon ‘Fashions.’”

A quote from the Deseret News of 10 January 1852 about “one of the ladies of Utah” who “appeared in the public assembly last Sabbath, clad in a buckskin sack beautifully ornamented with the same material.” The article also mentions Captain David Evans, who “has made his appearance in the Representatives’ Hall clad in his own family manufactured habiliments, worthy the imitation of a nabob.”

1852: 12 June, Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, p. 1 (210 words). “The Mormon Bible.”

The same article as had been printed in the Silurian for 24 April 1852.

1852: 30 June, Yr Amserau (The Times), p. 1 (125 words). “Cerrigydrudion.” A brief and rather puzzling account of a Latter-day Saint missionary’s recent visit to the town of Cerrigydrudion in North Wales:

On the 21st of this month, this area was visited by one of the “Saints.” He testified as he began to address his listeners, that it was not their custom to take a topic except it be given them directly from heaven; but in order for the listeners to have the proper idea of the sermon this time, he would take one. And so the natural deduction is, that he himself would be allowed to wend his way through the service without receiving anything from above. But he did not utter a word of observation on the “text” except just to say it; he promised to visit us once again, and perhaps we will have more to report the next time.

1852: 17 June, Y Gwron Cymreig (Welsh Hero), p. 4, Item #1 (315 words). “Witching and Mormoning.”

The writer, “Llywarch,” equates witchcraft with the persuasive power of the Latter-day Saint proselytizing. He explains the success this new religion was having among the Welsh:

I am not the least surprised that the Mormons are receiving a welcome in Wales, for the country has not been cleansed from witching yet. And since witching and Mormoning are two things so similar to each other, and are offered by unlearned, but crafty men, to simple people who are so easily charmed and ensnared, is it any wonder that the occasional disciple is won to the Mormon cause here and there throughout the Principality?

1852: 17 June, Y Gwron Cymreig (Welsh Hero), p. 4, Item 2 (435 words). “Mormonism or Saintism.”

This is the second article in this issue of the Welsh Hero. The writer states his previous approach to dealing with this new set of beliefs:

Mormonism is such an unnatural manifestation of human folly, such a concoction of madness and nothing but madness, that one feels that it is rather an insult to reason to debate the subject. We have felt this for a long time, and as a result have refrained from commenting on the absurd hodgepodge, lest we should lend it a significance it does not deserve.

He then presents his current stance:

To save those who have sunk entirely into this polluted mire is out of the question; it could be that to try to restrain those who are on the verge of falling in is equally hopeless; but possibly there is yet one, here and there, the odd one—one in whom there is some grain of common sense, who is in danger—and it is possible to save him.

The writer then recommends to his readers that they read a pamphlet entitled Joseph Smith, the Great American Impostor, which was recently published by a Congregationalist minister named Thomas Tyson.

1852: June, Yr Eurgrawn Wesleyaidd (Wesleyan Treasury), p. 207 (160 words). “The Mormons.”

A poem that consists of three 8-line stanzas. The poet opens the poem with the question, “Who are the wandering strangers of devilish, poisonous tongue?” and then provides a variety of answers throughout the remainder of the poem. Here is the final stanza:

A fine religion to the taste of mortals,

It gives the comforts of the here and now;

Their hope is in the things of this world,

Their faith in the California gold!

They perform wondrous false miracles,

They make the blind more blind,

They teach hard workers to be idle,

And send their children on the parish.

1852: June, Yr Hyfforddwr sef Misiadyr Llenyddol (The Guide or the Literary Monthly), p. 104 (60 words). “A Mormon Denies His Religion.”

One of the Saints (?) from Machynlleth, while in Llanfair lately, was asked whether he was a Saint. He denied it and said that he was one of the Dear Baptists! “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,” but “I am ashamed of the gospel of Joe,” says the behavior of this Mormon.

Episode 9.5

Start: Two different writers assess the Welsh translation of the Book of Mormon

1852: 8 July, Seren Cymru (Star of Wales), p. 4 (175 words).

A brief review of the Welsh translation of the Book of Mormon, or Llyfr Mormon. The converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Wales were elated to finally have, in their own language, this book of what they believed to be scripture. John Davis, the editor of Zion’s Trumpet, was the translator and publisher of Llyfr Mormon, and beginning on 20 September 1851, he sent out signatures—sixteen-page segments—of his translation with biweekly issues of the periodical. The more than 1,500 subscribers to the periodical and the translation project would collect the signatures and eventually have them bound. The final signature was sent to the subscribers on 17 April 1852, just thirty-one weeks following the distribution of the first one. The editor of Star of Gomer, a Baptist periodical for which Davis had formerly worked, said that it was a “pity such valuable labor in producing so perfect a translation had been bestowed upon so worthless a work as the Book of Mormon.”[29] Samuel Evans, the editor of Star of Wales, published the following review:

We cannot be expected to give any approval whatsoever to this work, or praise the superstition of the Welsh people for supporting its publication in Welsh; and there is no composition set up as equal to the Word of God which deserves any more than the most definitive condemnation. Whatever of that, there is no danger that anyone who reads it attentively will be deceived by it, so as to become one of the Latter-day Saints; for it appears to us to be nothing but a pack of foolish lies, composed deceitfully to imitate, to some extent, the scriptural account, and the names of persons have been changed, and many fables have been added. Whatever of that, the work has been printed well, with clear letters and excellent paper, as is all the work of Mr. Davis. The translation also is fluid and intelligible.

1852: 4 September, Udgorn Seion (Zion’s Trumpet), pp. 285–86 (620 words). “Review of the Book of Mormon.”

Upon completing his translation of the Book of Mormon into Welsh, John S. Davis sent a copy to Samuel Evans, the editor of Star of Wales. Evans’s review appeared in the 8 July 1852 issue (see previous entry). In addition to printing the complete review in Zion’s Trumpet, Davis made a few observations of his own:

Now, that is the opinion of the above Editor about the Book of Mormon; and we feel grateful to him for speaking his mind; for he could not say anything that would give any more approval to the Book of Mormon, than what he said.[30]

Davis adds:

Little do the sectarian editors and preachers know that their reviews and their sermons against the Book of Mormon speak more in its favor than their hearts ever imagined.[31]

End: Two different writers assess the Welsh translation of the Book of Mormon

1852: 15 July, Y Gwron Cymreig (Welsh Hero), p. 2, Item 1 (105 words). “Mormonism.”

A brief note from a subscriber to the publisher.

Reverend Sir—I take this present opportunity to write a few lines to say that I do not wish you to send me the Hero. It is totally superfluous to my requirements at present, and for that reason I do not wish you to send me anything more, as mercifully, [ I have broken all connection between us at present, as I have been released from the law of sin. I now conclude. Briefly yours, William James, Twyncarno.

1852: 15 July, Y Gwron Cymreig (Welsh Hero), p. 2, Item 2 (660 words). “Mormonism.”

A letter to the editor from “J. B. D.,” who wishes to report a prophecy about the destruction of Cwmbach, Aberdare. This prediction was made by a self-proclaimed prophet “sent by God, obliged to come and warn the inhabitants of the place, which is to happen 120 years hence.” The writer reports a variety of this preacher’s statements about Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He concludes:

Gentle reader, I now write this down so that you will be prepared by the time you hear the prophet, if you have not already heard him. Guard against meddling in foolishness, lest you should be so foolish as to believe false prophets.

Episode 9.6

Start: Four hundred Latter-day Saints are miraculously unharmed by a ceiling collapse in Newport

1852: 17 July, Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, p. 3 (620 words). “Alarming Occurrence at Newport.”

The writer presents a lengthy and detailed account of a roof collapse in Newport where the Latter-day Saints were meeting:

Scarcely had tea been commenced, when, without a moment’s warning, exactly one half of the lofty and heavy ceiling of the building fell with a sudden crash. For a moment all was blinding and suffocating dust and confusion, then succeeded the most appalling shrieks and the most terrifying clamor; and, amidst the din and horrible confusion that ensured, people rushed from all the surrounding houses, apprehending that some great calamity had occurred. Fearful screams were again heard bursting forth, presently the windows of the hall were dashed out, and the affrighted creatures within flung themselves through the broken sashes to the ground below; some were observed clinging with extreme tenacity to the window frames and sills apprehending death within, and fearful of mutilated limbs if they fell. The doors were burst open from without as well as the piles of people heaped upon one another inside permitted, and ingress being at length obtained, the sight that presented itself was enough to appall the stoutest heart—beams and rafters, whole patches of ceiling, amidst clouds of dust, lying upon scores of people; while the tea tables, affording protection to many, were crowded below with numbers crying aloud for mercy, for protection, and for a miracle to save them.

The writer then explains how the miracle came about:

Immediate exertions were made, and in the course of an hour the wretched creatures were all extricated from the ruins, and on a minute search being instituted, not one was found missing; and, what is still more remarkable, although the beams and rafters were heavy, and some, with huge pieces of entire ceiling, fell directly upon the tables, and others in a direction that appeared to insure [ensure] inevitable death, not one single Mormon was injured, though it was estimated that two or three unbelievers, who had gone thither to revile and sneer at the true followers of Joe Smith, received injuries, which may serve their consciences as remembrances.

1852: 17 July, Silurian, p. 4 (600 words). “Extraordinary and Miraculous Escape of Four Hundred Latter-day Saints.”

This article is another lengthy and detailed account of the roof collapse in Newport where the Latter-day Saints were meeting. The author, however, is not the same one who wrote the account printed in the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian.

1852: 21 July, Yr Amserau (Times), p. 2 (280 words). “Accidents.”

A much shorter account of the roof collapse in Newport. This one adds the detail that, miraculously, the only persons injured were “two or three men who went there to mock the acts of the Joe Smithites.”

1852: 24 July, Udgorn Seion (Zion’s Trumpet), p. 243 (44 words). “Happening.”

Here is the complete article:

In the banquet after the latest Conference in Newport, when the hall was overflowing with Saints, the ceiling fell on them, from above the platform; but we are happy to report that no one received any injury, which caused surprise through the whole town.

The articles printed by the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, the Silurian, and The Times all have much greater detail in their reports.

1852: August, Y Bedyddiwr (Baptist), p. 258 (295 words). “Mormons.”

A shorter account of the roof collapse in Newport.

1852: August, Seren Gomer (Star of Gomer), p. 382 (275 words). “A Frightful Happening.”

Another shorter account of the roof collapse in Newport.

End: Four hundred Latter-day Saints are miraculously unharmed by a ceiling collapse in Newport

1852: 29 July, Y Gwron Cymreig (Welsh Hero), p.2 (910 words). “The Mormons.”

The writer, using the nomdeplume “Sion Callestr,” condemns the “arrogance of the Mormons” and objects to “the great infallibility which they claim.” He poses this question:

Which is easier to believe, a man who has made learning and theology the chief study of his life, who has lived a life worthy of the Gospel, being of good repute, who preaches the truth, who has stayed in the same place, amongst the same people for twenty to forty years, more or less, or else to listen to ignorant strays who are unable to write two grammatically correct sentences in any language under heaven; and who blurt out the first thing that comes into their heads at street corners and at the roadside? They must be very foolish, or think that people are very foolish, when they expect their philosophy to be accepted by anyone in his right mind.

He concludes his article by expressing optimism:

We in Wales have never heard of such a crowd of ignoramuses, with nothing but arrogance to commend them, trying to promote their beliefs, until the followers of Joe Smith climbed up to the stump. One has confidence that the country generally possesses more common sense than to be drawn into their trap.

1852: 6 August, Monmouthshire Merlin, p. 6 (39 words).

A letter from Hamburg states that the Mormons have established a weekly newspaper at Hamburg, and have prepared a translation of their Bible. They have missionaries actively employed, and seem to have money. In Norway their doctrines are spreading.

1852: 6 August, North Wales Chronicle, p. 7 (33 words).

This article is the same one that appears in the Monmouthshire Merlin for 6 August 1852, minus the final sentence.

Episode 9.7

Start: An Independent minister defends the Latter-day Saints and is attacked by a colleague.

1852: Yr Amserau Presenol (Present Times), booklet, 55 pages.

This booklet by Rev. Joshua Lewis, an Independent minister, was the result of two presentations given by the author in late 1851. Some from among his audience suggested that he put the presentations into print. On pages 23 and 24, Lewis makes a few observations about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

Mormonism is a manifestation of something more than the ignorance, foolishness, and superstition of those who support it. It is a clear and public manifestation of the spiritual poverty and deficiencies of the churches. Its existence and its success constitute an important and instructive fact in the civilized world; it behooves us to consider it in a wise, fair, and deliberate spirit.

Unlike other critics of the Latter-day Saints in Wales, Lewis does not issue a blanket condemnation of the converts to this new religion:

Not all of the Latter-day Saints are the most ignorant and thoughtless dregs of the world and refuse of society.

He then points out:

Men and women of respectable position in the world, and equal to their neighbors in knowledge and wisdom, are among them.

1852: August, Y Diwygiwr (Revivalist), pp. 243–46 (910 words). “The Present Times.”

This article is a lengthy response to Rev. Joshua Lewis from his colleague of the cloth, Rev. Rhys Jones, who uses the nom de plume “Gwesyn” (meaning “a youth”). Gwesyn puts forth a very supercilious observation of Lewis’s writing in general:

It appears to me that it would be good for you, when you write, to have someone at your side now and then, to bring to mind that there is a world and being outside your personal existence, and that there are abundant areas besides the area of Henllan, in which there are men who think as well as you do.[32]

And Gwesyn is just as supercilious in his comments about Lewis’s observations on “Mormonism”:

It is better for you to have a second look at Mormonism before reporting anything further about it. I conclude one of two things—either you have not had the opportunity to become acquainted with real Mormonism, and consequently you have formed an ideal of it in your own mind, which is completely contrary to the real, as contradictory as are substance and spirit, or else you have been blinded by the fair look which it wears on the outside, without paying any attention to its component parts.[33]

1852: September, Y Diwygiwr (Revivalist), pp. 272–75 (860 words). “The Present Times.”

This article is Lewis’s lengthy response to Gwesyn, in which Lewis also assumes a very condescending attitude in addressing his critic. Regarding “Mormonism,” Lewis writes:

I look on it as an important Phenomenon in the moral world, and as a fact overflowing with important teachings and resolute warnings. It is cause for lament that it has not been viewed in a more philosophical spirit.[34]

Lewis then proceeds in this “philosophical spirit” to answer the question of why any sensible person would convert to this new religion. He postulates:

Here is a serious man, but unlearned, a holder of strong convictions; his fears about his spiritual status are awakened and causing daily torment to his soul. There is in him a thirst for the happiness and the peace which are promised to the faithful, but which he has never before experienced.[35]

Lewis then describes the impact on such an individual when he is introduced to a new way of thinking:

In this condition, he meets a Mormon. He tells him that if he is but immersed by him, that he will be freed from his fears—that he is a child of God—that he will receive daily proofs that his prayers are heard and that he will have continual association with God—and that he will be filled with spiritual comfort. Such things cannot help but have influences on him. Those are the things he needs.[36]

Lewis points out that the promises of “comfort, of peace and rest” are “deceitful promises.” And then he suggests a possible approach to the issue:

If we wish to understand the genius of Mormonism, we ought to look at it as it relates to the best class of those who profess it, as well as the worst class. That is only fair. The spirit of the age toward this heresy is not only irreligious, but also unphilosophical.[37]

1852: November, Y Diwygiwr (The Revivalist), pp. 339–44 (3,300 words). “‘The Present Times’ Again.”

Gwesyn’s continued response to Joshua Lewis’s analysis of “Mormonism.” The first part of Gwesyn’s article is entitled “Philosophy” and contains no mention of “Mormonism.” The second part, however, is an entirely different matter. Gwesyn exhibits bewilderment at the outset:

I fail to account for the tenderness Mr. Lewis feels toward the Mormon deceivers. He complains because of the behavior of the age toward them, while he himself sets them out, without exception, as unprincipled deceivers. Some of his statements pertaining to them appear to me as new, strange, and erroneous, and some of his arguments as defective. . . . And if we have deciphered the proper meaning of the words, I think that Mormonism will never receive better praise from the mouth of its best friends than is given to it here. . . . We expect before long to see the Millennial Star quoting The Revivalist to encourage the Mormons to go forward in their deceit.[38]

Gwesyn states clearly that he views all who accept the teachings of Joseph Smith as “fools or knaves or both.” In support of the position that such teachings are “a heap of blasphemies and foolishness,” Gwesyn presents part of a letter written by Captain Dan Jones nearly four years earlier regarding a conference held in Merthyr Tydfil. In the letter, Jones recounts how the adversary disrupted the meeting:

He sent a legion of evil spirits into the hall at that time, as though he was determined with one grand rally to storm our little fortress and demolish our citadel with impunity. In five minutes after their arrival, which was seen by some, three females were possessed and many more nearly as bad; however, I perceived the enemy’s design, and having command of the post, I lost no time in returning him a heavy broadside with the artilleries of heaven by commanding every evil spirit in the place to depart in the name of Jesus Christ, which was responded to by all the audience with such powerful Amens! that the neighbors thought it thundered, that all the devils, except three, had run away in a fright; and the echoes opened the windows of heaven, so that the power of God was felt and seen by all others in the place, and some of our worst persecutors, having come there with evil intent, confessed that God was with us, and shouted Amen as loud as any.[39]

Dan Jones then tells of the interaction he had with the evil spirits:

They swore that they would not depart without “Old Brigham Young, from America, and that if he would come, that they would have to obey him; but that they held an office higher than any others.” I questioned one of them on whether he had ever possessed any other person in Wales. “Yes, very many!” was the reply. I asked, “Did you ever leave one unless compelled?” He replied, “No, nor will I go from here either.” Then I rebuked him for telling a falsehood, inasmuch as that Brigham Young had never visited Wales, and that he had better business than to come and wait on such beings as him, at which he sneered and laughed; that echoed through the hall and alarmed many; at the same time the streets were crowded with strangers and policemen, drawn there by the noise, and shortly the whole town was in an uproar, like Ephesus of old.”[40]

Following the letter, Gwesyn declares:

Without making any further comments, I will leave to Mr. Lewis the task of persuading the readers of the Revivalist to believe that a religious system whose chief leaders write such lying rubbish is unfairly dealt with by the age through leaving it unobserved.[41]

End: An Independent minister defends the Latter-day Saints and is attacked by a colleague

1852: 14 August, Caernarvon and Denbigh Herald,p. 6 (40 words). “The Mormons on the North of Europe.”

A letter from Hamburg states that the Mormons have established a weekly newspaper at Hamburg, and have prepared a translation of their bible. They have missionaries actively employed, and seem to have money. In Norway also their doctrines are spreading.

1852: August, Yr Hyfforddwr sef Misiadyr Llenyddol (The Guide or the Literary Monthly), pp. 143–44 (345 words). “Mormon Deceit.”

The review of a lecture given recently by a “Mr. Jones.” Someone who attended the event sent to the editor of the Guide or the Literary Monthly an outline of the “excellent lecture” which consisted of three main points:

1. That man is able to determine the truth of things.
2. That the revealed will of the Son of God is easy to determine as truth.
3. That it is impossible, while being consistent with reason and revelation, to determine the truth of Mormonism.

At the end of his lecture, Mr. Jones offered to allow anyone to oppose his lecture “by reason and scripture,” at which “one little Saint arose and said that he would review the lecture of Mr. Jones the following Thursday night.” The editor concludes:

But despite going to the Town Hall to hear him, I heard nothing more than a greater confirmation of the Lecture, and a greater display of the wretchedness of Mormonism than I had ever seen.[42]

1852: August, Y Cenhadwr Americanaidd (American Messenger), p. 253 (605 words). “The Fall of the Anti-Christ.”

A poem of fourteen 8-line stanzas composed by William Watkins of Llewellyn, Pennsylvania. The poem is a prophecy of the eventual triumph of truth over evil. Watkins declares that the two main forces of evil then opposing truth on the earth were “Mormonism” and “Papism.” Here are the two stanzas that focus on the “Mormons”:

It is said that the Mormons

Are wicked and wild people

And that they can work miracles

As in the days of old,

Namely to cause the blind to see,

And the lame to walk freely,

And the mute to speak

If he has the faith.

The wicked Mormon says

That it is appropriate for man

To have a great number of wives

All to himself;

But reason and the scripture

Clearly forbid it,

For Adam had only

Eve in the garden.

The poem has equal disdain for the Catholics and predicts that both they and the “Mormons” will be put down at the Second Coming.

1852: August, Y Diwygiwr (Revivalist), p. 253 (320 words).

About “J. Jones, Llangollen,” the older brother of Dan Jones, the leader of the Latter-day Saints in Wales. As a Congregationalist minister, J. Jones was as controversial in Wales as his younger brother was. This article deals with someone’s request “to reconsider the appropriateness of allowing Mr. Jones, Llangollen, to preach” Christ. The writer of the response in The Revivalist declined to take sides in the issue.

1852: 11 September, The Silurian, p. 3 (85 words). “The Mormons.”

The Latter-day Saints are prosecuting the propagation of their peculiar notions with characteristic industry; and, it would seem, with no want of success. Among us in Wales they have obtained not a few converts. We observe that they are now laboring energetically in spreading their doctrines in Norway and Sweden; that they have prepared an edition, in German, of the Book of Mormon; and that they have established a weekly newspaper in Hamburg, for the better advocacy of Latter-day Saintism among the dreamy Germans.

1852: September, Yr Eurgrawn Wesleyaidd (Wesleyan Treasury), pp. 316–17 (290 words). “These Three Are One.”

The “Three” are the Pagan, the Catholic, and the Latter-day Saint. The writer compares the three regarding their modes of receiving communication from God, their methods of preaching, and their beliefs about the hereafter. Here is what the writer says about the three differing beliefs regarding the hereafter:

The Pagans say that the souls of those who are dead go to other bodies; the Catholics say that they go to purgatory; and the Saints say that the departed godly people, who were erroneous in their judgments, are in some place of punishment until the morning of the resurrection.

1852: September, Yr Eurgrawn Wesleyaidd (Wesleyan Treasury), p. 327 (65 words). “Who Are Right?”

The Welsh translation for “Who Are Right?” is “Pwy sydd yn eu lle?” But this Welsh version has two possible translations: “Who Are Right?” or “Who Are in Their Place?” Here is the answer to both translations according to the periodical:

This is a common question in our country with regard to the religious Denominations; and it was answered the other day by one of them as follows: “The ‘Saints’ were certain of being in their place [or “being right”] the Sunday before last, for they were preaching at the top of the place called ‘Trunk of Lies.’”

1852: September, Y Greal (Grail), pp. 197–98 (315 words). “The Laying On of Hands.”

This is the first part of a two-part article by “Mathetes,” the nom de plume of John Jones. Mathetes explains that his article is a response to an article also entitled “The Laying On of Hands,” authored by John Evans of Abercanaid and published in the April 1852 issue of The Baptist.[43] Here is part of a small section in which Mathetes mentions the practice of the laying on of hands by the “Mormons”:

If the laying on of hands is anything, it is an ordinance; if it is viewed as an ordinance, it would be desirable to know by whom it was established. The practice of the apostles is the rule of the Mormons, according to their witness; and thus, according to this reasoning, this doctrine is thorough Mormonism; and the procedure of these impostors is to lay on hands, anoint with oil, work miracles, etc. May Mr. Evans cease to blaspheme “brothers of a trade.” The proper Mormon view in the opinion of the writer is to see six or seven “reverends” placing a hand (not hands) on that which they call the “head of the preacher,” in order to ordain him to baptize and break bread.[44]

Although the various Baptist ministers in nineteenth-century Wales were consistent in baptizing by immersion, they were at odds with each other concerning the practice of the laying on of hands. The ordained Baptist minister David Bevan Jones, whose nom de plume was “Dewi Elfed Jones,” of the Gwawr Chapel in Aberaman, was censured by his colleague, Thomas Price, for practicing the laying on of hands. Jones eventually converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After President William Phillips baptized Jones by immersion in the Cynon River, Phillips confirmed Jones a member of the Church of Jesus Christ by the laying on of hands in Jones’s own Baptist chapel. See Episode 8.2 for more details.

1852: 2 October, Caernarvon and Denbigh Herald, p. 7 (50 words). “Latter-day Saints: New Way of Getting a Congregation.”

On Sunday morning last, several persons stopped in coming out of the different chapels to read the anti-militia papers which had been posted on the walls of the Meat-market. One of the saints mounted a chair and delivered a Mormon lecture to the loungers.

1852: 30 October, Silurian, p. 4 (1,205 words). “The Settlement of the Mormons on the Great Salt Lake.”

A lengthy quotation from An Expedition to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake by Howard Stansbury, published in 1852.

1852: October, Y Bedyddiwr (Baptist), pp. 320–21 (620 words).

This is a strange report about a man named Richard Duckett, who was taken before a magistrate in London. Duckett’s wife had sworn out a complaint against him for threatening her life. When the magistrate asked Duckett to explain the difficulty between him and his wife, he answered: “My wife said to me a few days ago, ‘If you do not receive your baptism in the church of the Latter-day Saints, your soul will be lost, and you will be damned.’ I said to her, ‘If you continue to annoy me about your damned religion, I will cut your throat.’” The next morning Duckett was accosted by some men who took him by force and tied him to a straw bed in a large building. There, a doctor interviewed Duckett twice, said that Duckett was not insane, and ordered his release. When Duckett appeared with his wife before the magistrate, he explained that although he had attended meetings of the Latter-day Saints over a short period of time, he had stopped going when “he found out what kind of people he had to deal with.” Then his wife “had him arrested as a lunatic.” The magistrate told him:

You are no more crazy than I am, although the circumstances you have been through have been sufficient to make you so; and the persons who caused you to be imprisoned are accountable for the consequences. I hereby nullify the warrant and release you.

1852: October, Yr Eurgrawn Wesleyaidd (Wesleyan Treasury), p. 351 (625 words). “The Perfection of Mormonism.”

Using the nom de plume “Delta,” the writer explains to the editor that the letter he is submitting was written by John Evans, a Latter-day Saint, to Evans’s uncle. In the letter Evans declares that his work is “to preach the Eternal Gospel which has the power of everlasting life” and wishes for his uncle and his family to accept baptism. The letter is filled with erroneous grammar and spelling and lacks punctuation.[45] Following the letter, Delta adds:

I took care to write the above as it is in the original letter—every letter as it was written—in the hope that they may appear in the same way.

The correspondent’s obvious aim is to demonstrate the ignorance and low level of sophistication of the Latter-day Saints. The unintended consequence, however, is that the very sincere desire of John Evans to benefit his relatives and share his happiness with them is also on display.

Episode 9.8

Start: Thomas Hughes’s first pamphlet receives eight rave reviews.

1852: Darlithiauar Dwyll Mormoniaeth: Darlith I (Lectures on the Deceit of Mormonism: Lecture 1), pamphlet, 16 pages.

This pamphlet is the printing of the first lecture given by Thomas Hughes (using the nomdeplume “T.ab Gwilym”) at the Rhuth in town hall on 3 September 1852. His intent was to present a total of six lectures on the following topics:

1. Exposing the deceit of the beginning of Mormonism
2. The opinion of the Saints about God, angels, and the souls of man
3. The Spiritual Gifts—the belief and claims of the Saints about them
4. The belief of the Saints about preaching to the spirits in prison and baptism for the dead
5. The Bible is the only standard of faith and conduct of man, and there is no basis to expect new revelation.
6. The primary objective of the prophet Joseph Smith and his apostles through this deceit was to establish an earthly kingdom in America for their own benefit and worldly glory.

Hughes declared at the outset:

After delivering the stated lectures, I am confident that I will have painted a very accurate picture of the monstrousness of Mormonism; and it is not impossible that a clear look at the corrupt system may perhaps give fright to a few saints to come to the point of shouting, “Who will deliver me from this society of suffering?”

In this first lecture, Hughes quotes substantially from the writings of Orson Pratt and then explains why Pratt is mistaken in his assertions. Hughes also borrows heavily from a seventy-page booklet by John Bowes entitled Mormonism Exposed.[46]

In addition to the printing of his first lecture, only the pamphlet that resulted from Hughes’s second lecture has been identified. The facsimile translations for these first two are in Section 2.

1852: 11 September, Caernarvon and Denbigh Herald, p. 5 (750 words). “Lectures on the Mormon Delusion.”

A very lengthy and laudatory review of the first lecture presented by Thomas Hughes at the town hall in Ruthin on 3 September.

1852: 17 September, North Wales Chronicle, p. 8 (715 words). “Lectures on the Mormon Delusion.”

Nearly identical article to the one published in the Caernarvon and Denbigh Herald for 11 September 1852.

1852: October, Seren Cymru (Star of Wales), p. 3 (590 words). “Press Review. Lectures on the Deceit of Mormonism by Thomas Hughes (T. ab Gwilym). Isaac Clarke, Ruthin.”

The editor of the Star of Wales was exultant in his review of Hughes’s first lecture:

The lecturer treats his topic in this lecture with unusual skill, and we are not surprised that it has received such high praise by those who heard it being delivered. It exposes all the deceit and the tricks used in the establishment of Mormonism, so that there is no further reason to hesitate about them; and we are amazed that any man in his right mind has been enticed to believe such blasphemous foolishness.

The editor adds:

There is no doubt that these lectures will be of tremendous benefit in forestalling Mormonism, and we would counsel all to read them attentively if they wish to know the truth. . . . If everyone knew the undeniable facts which are set out in this lecture, we think that Mormonism would cease immediately.

1852: December, Y Drysorfa (Treasury), pp. 416–17 (135 words). “Lectures on the Deceit of Mormonism. Lecture I.”

Another review of Thomas Hughes’s first lecture. The reviewer declares:

The irrefutable facts herein prove that Joe Smith and his co-workers in the founding of Mormonism were unprincipled and fraudulent persons, and that the “Book of Mormon” is nothing but the fruit of cunning thievery interspersed with lies. Those who believe Mormonism must have turned their backs on common sense, if ever they had any sense at all; for on the scheme from start to finish there are nothing but the fingerprints of impudence and knavery.

1852: December, Y Diwygiwr (Revivalist), pp. 376–77 (280 words). “Lectures on the Deceit of Mormonism by Thomas Hughes.”

The reviewer observes:

Mormonism is such a moral epidemic in the country that it will not be cured by making local superficial adjustments; for the structure has risen from general debility. The skilled doctor, most often, heals the sick and cures external injuries to the human body by giving something to the sufferer to take, and not by any outward application. Mormonism is made up of such elements, so that it cannot be killed by curing only the head. The deism, Catholicism, and the worldliness that pertain to it are incurable, except through an inner adjustment of the religious truths in the church, until it improves as a body, and then Mormonism will die in its own stench.

1853: January, Cronicl y Cymdeithasau Crefyddol (Chronicle of the Religious Societies), pp. 18–19 (650 words). “The Deceit of Mormonism, by T. Hughes (T. ab Gwilym).”

The writer, “J. R.,” announces that the first lecture of Thomas Hughes on “a revelation of the deceit of the beginning of Mormonism” is now off the press, with five more to follow. He does not review the lecture but instead presents the strange story of someone he knew who had been baptized a Latter-day Saint. Admitting that his personal knowledge of this religion does not extend beyond North Wales, J. R. declares:

What I have heard with my ears, and seen with my eyes, leads me to pity them rather than fear them—to pray for them rather than waste arguments on them.[47]

He says this about Joseph Smith and the religion he founded:

But there is nothing clearer than the fact that Joe Smith in America intended to play Mahomet as his brother had done in Asia. The disorderly Mormon system is made up of Atheism, Muslimism, Catholicism, and a pretense of Christianity.[48]

He further observes:

Mormonism in America has had some able and skillful defenders, such as Orson Pratt, etc., but our honest opinion is that they were paid servants selling their gift for money, and not seekers for the truth. The skill of their defense, and the madness of the principles they uphold, are completely irreconcilable on any other grounds.[49]

1853: January, Yr Athraw at Wasanaeth yr Ysgolion Sabbathol (The Teacher at the Service of the Sunday Schools), pp. 21–22 (145 words). “Lectures on the Deceit of Mormonism, by Thomas Hughes, Rhuthin.”

The editor declares that the pamphlet containing the first lecture of Thomas Hughes is now off the press. He sizes up the new religion of “Mormonism” as follows:

The lecturer shows that the origin of Mormonism is from deceit, that its principles are contrary to the religion of Christ, except for a few things, which are used as bait to attract.

1853: June, Yr Eurgrawn Wesleyaidd (Wesleyan Treasury), pp. 206–8 (1,160 words). “Review. Lectures on the Deceit of Mormonism.”

On 25 February 1853, Thomas Hughes gave his second lecture at the Rhuthin town hall. In this review, the writer presents several quotations from Hughes’s lectures and laments the success that the Latter-day Saint missionaries had had in Britain:

It is remarkable . . . the increase they have made among some part of the population. It appears from their statistics in January 1851 that this cunning deceit throughout the United Kingdom has been effective in enticing 30,747 into their system; and what is even more surprising and distressing is that 4,848 of that number are in Wales![50]

Of the projected six lectures and six pamphlets, apparently only the first two materialized (see next entry).

1853: Darlithiau ar Dwyll Mormoniaeth: Darlith II. (Lectures on the Deceit of Mormonism: Lecture 2), pamphlet, 16 pages.

This is the printing of the second lecture given by Thomas Hughes (T. ab Gwilym) at the Rhuthin town hall on 25 February 1853. The topic for this second lecture was “the opinion of the Saints about God, angels, and the souls of man.” As in the first, Hughes borrows heavily from the writings of Orson Pratt and refutes them with a great deal of sarcasm.

End: Thomas Hughes’s first pamphlet receives eight rave reviews

1852: Dirgelion Saint y Dyddiau Diweddaf, yn cael eu Dinoethi, Gan Hugh Jones. (Mysteries of the Saints of the Latter Days, Exposed, by Hugh Jones), pamphlet, 24 pages.

Hugh Jones had been with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for two years before leaving. In his preface, dated 6 November 1852, Hugh Jones explains the reason behind his twenty-four-page pamphlet:

My conscience compelled me, to the extent possible, to undo whatever damage I was enabled to do by defending such an organization; and I have no way to do that except through the press.

Jones also expresses his wish for all who may read of his experience:

I can only hope that the reading of the following pages will be a means of keeping those who may be as little children, from being led to such foolishness, and I am confident that it will be a means of opening the eyes of every honest person who may be among them, so that they may be able to flee from such a mortal sin.

Jones provides numerous details regarding his conversion and his two-year journey in his new faith. Over time, he wearied of the constant monetary collections imposed on him—for tithing, fast offerings, emigrating funds, temple funds, and the support of the district president. He had doubts about the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. He also questioned the comportment of some of the leaders. But it was the whisperings of the practice of polygamy in Utah that appear to have prompted him to leave the Church. For “the sake of fair play,” Jones includes in his pamphlet a copy of the entire letter written by William Phillips to the editor of the Times and printed in the 15 October 1851 issue. In his letter Phillips states categorically:

The polygamy of the Saints is an old story, and everyone can know that it is a lie just like its devil father.[51]

Hugh Jones writes that “Mr. Phillips is concealing the truth in order to preserve his own character.” And he concludes by saying that his two-year journey with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a “departure from the [true] path” and one that he regrets.

The only mention of the name of Hugh Jones in any Latter-day Saint publication is one in the 1852 volume of Zion’s Trumpet for 16 October, just three weeks before the preface date of Secrets of the Saints:

President Simms, of the Anglesey Conference, wishes it to be known that Hugh Jones, a seller of varnish, etc., has been cut off from the Church, together with his wife.[52]

1852: 11 November, Seren Cymru (Star of Wales), p. 7 (25 words).

The Mormons have sent one of their prophets to East India; and it is said that he is very successful in converting the Hindus.

1852: 4 December, Silurian, p. 4 (190 words). “The Mormons.”

A quote from Lieutenant Gunnison, the associate of Captain Stansbury in the US government survey of the Great Salt Lake. Gunnison said, “The contemplation of plurality [plural marriage] is highly distasteful to the young Mormon ladies of any independence of feeling.”

1852: 17 December, Cambrian (170 words). “Latter-day Saints Concert.”

The concert was held at a small chapel in Llanelli, the only such structure built by the Latter-day Saints in Wales during the nineteenth century. According to this report, the concert consisted of “many popular airs, songs, duets, glees, etc.” sung by choirs from Carmarthen and Llanelli. Also “Elder Martel excited much merriment by the recitation of a dialogue between a saint and a ‘man of the world.’”[53]

Notes

[1] Defending the Faith: Early Welsh Missionary Publications, item D21, 2.

[2] For more details concerning the translation of the Book of Mormon into Welsh, see http://welshmormon.byu.edu/Resources/pdf/18713.pdf

[3] For further information about the Morris and Jenkins families and the 1852 Cwmbach mine explosion, visit http://welshmormon.byu.edu/Resource_Info.aspx?id=1208

[4] Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, 17 July 1852, 3.

[5] For Lewis Bowen’s profile on the Welsh Mormon History website, see http://welshmormon.byu.edu/Immigrant_View.aspx?id=1876

[6] Zion’s Trumpet, October 1852, 340.

[7] These errors are not reflected in the English translation, as it would be a virtually impossible task.

[8] Zion’s Trumpet, 7 February 1852, 37.

[9] Ibid., 39.

[10] Ibid., 40.

[11] Zion’s Trumpet, 21 February 1852, 53.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Ibid.

[14] The American Messenger, January 1852, 20–21.

[15] The Sun, February 1852, 71–72.

[16] See Welsh Mormon Writings, item 2.

[17] Zion’s Trumpet, March 1852, 97.

[18] John Davies, The Miraculous Gifts as They are Portrayed in the Holy Scriptures, 60. See also Isaiah 55:2.

[19] See Defending the Faith: Early Welsh Missionary Publications, item D21.

[20] The Revivalist, August 1852, 247. See also Zachariah 11:9.

[21] The Inquirer, March 1852, 68.

[22] The Baptist, March 1852, 95–97.

[23] The Sun, April 1852, 136.

[24] See the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, 12 June 1852, 3.

[25] Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, June 1851, 64–66.

[26] A similar account of this incident is in The Revivalist, May 1852, 164.

[27] The American Messenger, January 1852, 20–21.

[28] A similar account of this incident is in The Silurian, 24 April 1852, 4, item #1.

[29] Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah, vol. 4 (Salt Lake City: Cannon and sons, 1892), 352.

[30] Zion’s Trumpet, 4 September 1852, 286.

[31] Ibid.

[32] The Revivalist, August 1852, 243.

[33] Ibid.

[34] The Revivalist, September 1852, 273.

[35] Ibid.

[36] Ibid.

[37] Ibid., 274.

[38] The Revivalist, November 1852, 341–42.

[39] Millennial Star 11:39, quoted in Welsh in Ibid., 343, translation by author.

[40] Ibid.

[41] Ibid.

[42] The Guide or the Literary Monthly, August 1852, 144.

[43] The Baptist, April 1852, 109–12.

[44] The Grail, September 1852, 197.

[45] The English translation of the letter is presented in Appendix A without punctuation as in the original, but no effort has been made to imitate the errors in grammar and spelling.

[46] John Bowes, Mormonism Exposed, in Its Swindling and Licentious Abominations, Refuted in Its Principles, and in the Claims of Its Head, the Modern Mohammed, Joseph Smith (London: about 1850).

[47] Chronicle of the Religious Societies, January 1853, 18.

[48] Ibid., 19.

[49] Ibid.

[50] The Wesleyan Treasury, June 1853, 208.

[51] Hugh Jones, Mysteries of the Saints of the Latter Days, Exposed, 1852, 21.

[52] Zion’s Trumpet, 16 October 1852, 340.

[53] A “man of the world” indicates anyone having opinions not in agreement with those of the followers of Joseph Smith.