Page:History of Utah.djvu/90

 of the ten tribes; we believed that Jesus would come to reign personally on the earth; we believed that there ought to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, as in former days, and that the gifts of healing and the power of God ought to be associated with the church.” These ideas, of course, were not held by all; in many respects the strictly orthodox evangelical churches taught the contrary; but there was enough of this literal interpretation and license of thought among the people to enable them to accept in all honesty and sincerity any doctrine in harmony with these views.

Such were the people and the place, such the atmosphere and conditions under which was to spring up the germ of a new theocracy, destined in its development to accomplish the first settlement of Utah—a people and an atmosphere already sufficiently charged, one would think, with doctrines and dogmas, with vulgar folly and stupid fanaticism, with unchristian hate and disputation over the commands of God and the charity of Christ. All this must be taken into account in estimating character, and in passing judgment on credulity; men of one time and place cannot with justice be measured by the standard of other times and places.

Before entering upon the history of Mormonism, I would here remark, as I have before said in the preface to this volume, that it is my purpose to treat the subject historically, not as a social, political, or religious partisan, but historically to deal with the sect organized under the name of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as I would deal with any other body of people, thus carrying over Utah the same quality of work which I have applied to my entire field, whether in Alaska, California, or Central America. Whatever they may be, howsoever righteous or wicked, they are entitled at the hand of those desirous of knowing the truth to a dispassionate and