THE GLOBE. MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 1880.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1843, 19 January 1880, Page 2

THE GLOBE. MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 1880.

The charmingly breezy manner in which the " Lyttelton Times " has treated the Mormon question is amusing and surprising others besides the residents in Canterbury. On Boxing Day a picnic of Latter Day Saints took place at the River Styx. " Proseleytes," says our contemporary, " from Christchurch, Papanui, Rangiora, Halswell, Greenpark, and other places were present, and at the head of all stood Elders George Batt and T. A. Shroeve, missionaries from America. These gentlemen organised a Female Relief Society, with Sister James, of Christchurch, as President; Sister Lawson, of Papanui, and Sister Doak, of Rangiora, as her two counsellors. A sister was then administered to, by the laying on of hands, for the restoration of her health, and if we may believe an enthusiastic correspondent who was invited to the picnic, and has sent us a glowing account of it, she at once got better, and enjoyed her self throughout the day." And then the "Times" correspondent goes on t« say—" Many games were played, causing a great deal of innocent fun ; plenty of good food and pure cold water was to be partaken of; no intoxicating drinks were there, no unkind word, no swearing, all was p«ace, love, and joy. Several ladies and gentlemen not belonging to the church were invited, and we were constrained to acknowledge that the ' Latterday Saints' are as happy a peoplo as can be found on the earth, notwithstanding the evil reports we hoar of this most wonderful people." To these remarks of its correspondent the Lyttelton Times adds the following : —" We have no doubt that the effect of the publicity thus given to this picnic will be such as to gladden the hearts of tha Mormon gentlemen who are now seeking to gather in lost sheep to the folds of Utah, and converts to the polgamy of Brigham Young and his successors." There is no doubt whatsovever that " the gentlemen who are seeking to gather in lost sheep to the folds of Utah" will be extremely obliged to our contemporary for its kindness in placing so prominently before the public the virtues of the adherents to their creed. The picture drawn is quite idealistic, and tho "Lyttelton Times" must evidently see much to admire in the whole affair, as it quite refrains from drawing public attention to the real state of the case. That some Mormon missionaries and a number of Mormon converts should besport themselves on the banks of the Styx, and do this without drinking intoxicating fluids or swearing is all very well in its way. But the more ignorant sections of the community who are alone liable to be led away by the tenets of this noxious creed should in all charity have the matter placed fairly before them. The missionaries who were so active on the banks of the Styx were preachers of polygamy, pure and simple. Whatever other doctrines may be bound up in the general creed, that is its mainstay and without the existence of that nauseous item Mormonism, would vanish into thin air. Like many other principles of evil, this one evidently possesses a vitality which renders it dangerous. The whole power of the United States has hitherto been unable to crush the hydra in America, and the Government has appealed to foreign States to assist it in its endeavors. Tho gentlemen who danced so lightly on Boxing Day are not mere members of a Friendly Society, but persons incalculating a principle against which the tenets of modern socioty and the genius of all christian creeds utterly revolt. It is a cruel thing to place before the unenlightened public the report of a correspondent who, if not a convert, at least looks favorably on the movement, and not at tho same time to raise a warning note against tho existonce of a grave scandal in our midst. Wore so-called Missionaries to preach doctrines involving far lighter breaches of the moral law as at present understood, public opinion would hoot down the attempt. But here we have a leading journal touching the matter in the airiest of styles, as if polygamy was a charming institution, or at least as if it were scarcely worth the trouble to run a tilt against it. The fc • misguided individuals who may neon allured by the promises held forth by tb missionaries, or won over by tho A «.uian beauties of tho Styx picnic, have surely been shabily treated by ,xa contemporary.