the Gods, with the heavens, and the earth."-(XIV. 455.) And the same prophet also tells us (Ibid.), that a hundred and forty-four thousand of these gods are mentioned by St. John in the Apocalypse. Moreover, "each God is the God of the spirits of all flesh pertaining to the world which he forms."-(Seer, i. 38.) And it has been lately revealed by the President, that the God of our own planet is Adam (!), who (it seems) was only another form of the Archangel Michael ( ! ) "When our father Adam came into the Garden of Eden, he brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organise this world. He is Michael, the Archangel, the Ancient of Days. He is our Father and our God, and the only God with whom we have to do.” -(From Discourses of the Presidency, in XV. 769.)

may

It is curious to observe, from such examples, how easily the extremes of materialism and immaterialism. be made to meet. For here we have the rudest form of anthropomorphism connected with a theory of emanation, which might be identified with that of some Gnostic and Oriental idealists. But under its present intellectual guides, Mormonism is rapidly passing into that form of Atheism which is euphemistically termed Pantheism. Thus we read in the Washington organ of the Presidency, that the only thing which has existed from eternity is "An infinite quantity of self-moving intelligent matter. Every particle of matter which now exists, existed in the infinite depths of past duration, and was then capable of self-motion."-(Seer, i. 129.) "There is no substance in the universe which feels and

thinks now, but what has eternally possessed that capacity." (Ib. 102.) "Each individual of the vegetable and animal kingdom contains a living spirit, possessed of intelligent capacities.”—(Ib. 34.) "Persons are only tabernacles, and truth is the God that dwells in them. When we speak of only one God, and state that he is eternal, &c., we have no reference to any particular person, but to truth dwelling in a vast variety of substances."―(Ib. 25.)

The same authority informs us that every man is an aggregate of as many intelligent individuals as there are elementary particles of matter in his system.—(Ib. 103.) And so President Brigham, in a recent sermon, tells his hearers that the reward of the good will be a continual progress to a more perfect organization, and the punishment of the bad will be a "decomposition into the particles that compose the native elements."(B. Young, in XV. 835.)

It is evident that in these latter portions of the Mormon creed we may recognise the speculations of Oken, Fichte, Hegel, and others, filtered through such popularising media as Emerson, Carlyle, Parker, and the "Vestiges of Creation." It would appear that the more startling of these innovations, which date from the last year of Smith's life, are due to Orson Pratt, the intellectual guide of recent Mormonism, under whose influence Joseph seems to have fallen, after he had quarrelled with Sidney Rigdon.

But, it may be asked, how can this be the theology of a sect which professes to receive the Bible as the

Word of God? The answer is twofold. First, the Mormon writers teach that the Christian Revelation, though authoritative when first given, is now superseded by their own. "The Epistles of the ancient Apostles, Paul, Peter, and John, we must say are dead letters, when compared to the Epistles that are written to the saints in our day by the living priesthood."-(XIV. 328.) And the possession of a living source of inspiration enables them to modify, not only the doctrines of the ancient Scriptures, but even the revelations of their own prophets. Thus Polygamy is pronounced in the Book of Mormon to be "abominable before the Lord" (Jac. chap. ii. sec. 6); yet it was afterwards authorized in a new revelation by Joseph himself, and is now declared to be the special blessing of the latter covenant. But, secondly, lest this view should not satisfy all scruples, it was revealed to Smith that our present Scriptures have been grievously altered and corrupted, and he was divinely commissioned to make a revised and corrected edition of them. We find from his statement in his autobiography (XIV. 422, 451, 452), that he lived to complete this emended Bible. But he never ventured to print it, and it still remains in manuscript among the muniments of the Church. It is to be published as soon as the world is ripe to receive it. Meanwhile some specimens have been given, among which one of the most remarkable is the beginning of Genesis, which we have quoted above.*

* Many extracts from this emended Bible have been lately published by Orson Pratt, in the Seer. The additions are so numerous as to double the Scriptural text.

The existence of this secret Bible is an example of the Mormon practice of reserve, which forms a connecting link between their theological and their ethical system. The doctrines which they teach among the initiated may differ to any extent from those proclaimed to the Gentiles. "If man receives all truths," says their organ-(XV. 507), "he must receive them on a graduated scale. The Latter Day Saints act upon this simple, natural principle. Paul had milk for babes, and things unlawful to utter." (!) The most striking instance of this system of pious fraud is their persevering denial of the charge of polygamy. So boldly did they disavow the practice, that even the careful and accurate author of "Mormonism Illustrated" was deceived by their asseverations; and though he states the accusations against them fairly, yet decides that, at least as against Smith, they were unfounded. At length, however, it became necessary to drop the mask. As the population of Utah increased, the practices prevalent there became better known to the world, through multiplying channels of communication. It was useless to repudiate an ordinance which must be so prominent in the first letters of every new citizen of Salt Lake to his English friends. The Church therefore decided that the time was come for publishing to the world the revelation which sanctioned their seraglios. We have already cited that singular document, which Joseph circulated among the initiated in the year before his death. Since its publication, which took place in 1852, the Mormonite leaders have completely thrown off the

veil, and have defended polygamy as impudently as they before denied it. Tracts, dialogues, and hymns are circulated in its behalf. And even the "pluralistic" marriage service has been published. The following is an extract from this novel rubric:-"The president [or his deputy*] calls upon the bridegroom and his [first] wife, and the bride to arise. The [first] wife stands on the left hand of her husband, while the bride stands on the wife's left. The President then says to the [first] wife, Are you willing to give this woman to your husband, to be his lawful and wedded wife for time and for eternity? If you are, place her right hand within the right hand of your husband.† The right hands of the bridegroom and bride being thus joined, the [first] wife takes her husband by the left arm, as if in the attitude of walking. The president then asks the man, Do you, brother M., take sister N. by the right hand, to receive her unto yourself, to be your lawful and wedded wife? . . . . The bridegroom answers, Yes. The President then asks the bride, Do you, sister N., take brother M. and give yourself unto him to be his lawful and wedded wife? &c. The bride answers, Yes. The president then says..

*See XV. 215.

This would at first appear as if the wife possessed a veto. But the official organ informs us in the same article that if the wife refuses to consent to her husband's polygamy, "then it is lawful for her husband, if permitted by revelation through the Prophet, to be married to others without her consent; and she will be condemned because she did not give them unto him; as Sarah gave Hagar unto Abraham, and as Rachael and Leah gave Bilhah and Zilpah unto Jacob."-(See also XV. 215.)