The City of the Mormons or, Three Days at Nauvoo, in 1842   By: Henry Caswall

OR,

THREE DAYS AT NAUVOO, IN 1842.

BY THE REV. HENRY CASWALL, M.A.

AUTHOR OF "AMERICA AND THE AMERICAN CHURCH," AND PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY IN KEMPER COLLEGE, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR J. G. F. & J. RIVINGTON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD, AND WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL: & SOLD BY W. GRAPEL, LIVERPOOL.

1842.

O merciful God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast made: have mercy upon all Jews, Turks, Infidels, and HERETICS, and take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy word; and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, TO THY FLOCK, that they may be saved among the remnant of true Israelites, and be made one fold under one Shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. A M E N.

PREFACE.

The following narrative, the result of a few weeks' leisure on shipboard, is presented to the Christian public, with a deep sense, on the Author's part, of the iniquity of an imposture, which, under the name of religion, is spreading extensively in America and in Great Britain. Mormonism needs but to be seen in its true light to be hated; and if the following pages, consisting almost exclusively of the personal testimony of the Author, should assist in awakening public indignation against a cruel delusion and a preposterous heresy, he will consider himself amply rewarded. A History of Mormonism, from its commencement to the present time, may perhaps form the subject of a future publication.

Liverpool, June 19, 1842.

THE CITY OF THE MORMONS, &c.

The rise and progress of a new religion afford a subject of the highest interest to the philosophical observer. Under these circumstances human nature may be seen in a novel aspect. We behold the mind grasping at an ideal form of perfection, exulting in the imaginary possession of revelations, and rejoicing in its fancied intercourse with the Supreme Being. A new religion must, of necessity, be regarded by Christians as a mere imposture. Painful, however, as it is to contemplate our fellow beings deceiving and deceived, it is instructive, on the one hand, to watch the demeanour of those who have succeeded in establishing a spiritual dominion, and, on the other hand, to notice the conduct of those who believe themselves surrounded by the full blaze of prophecy and miracle.

Nor is the growth of a new religion a subject merely of philosophical curiosity. In a historical point of view it is worthy of all the light which careful investigation can bestow. The cause of truth imperatively demands that the progress of error should be diligently noted. How gladly should we receive the testimony of one who had been a witness of the early growth of the religion of Mahomet! How highly should we esteem an authentic account of the process by which the corrupt Christian of the seventh century was gradually alienated from the faith of his fathers, and induced to accept as divine the "revelations" of the Arabian impostor!