"THE GOSPEL PUBLISHER, "
This is a neat little paper, and published in Shermanstown, Pa. and contains a va riety of news, and short remarks on general subjects, as well as religious topics.
The editor is in trouble about the sur-prising progress of the MORMONS. We extract the following from his paper:
"MORMAN ARMY.—On Friday last eleven wagons passed through this place with families for the town of Nauvoo, Illinois, the Mormon city. More, we learned from one of them, are to follow soon. They are all from Chester co Pa, where the Mormon agents have lately and are perhaps still, mak-ing proselytes to Jo Smith's doctrine. Alas what a delusion! It is astonishing, that in this enlightened age, and age of humbugs too, that people should be so infatuated with the doctrine.'
We agree with the editor in one or two of his remarks, that it is the “age of hum-bugs," else why are the people humbug-ged out of their money by giving it to mis-sionaries, so called, to spread the gospel, when they have not the power to spread it at home!
If they can spread the gospel at all, it would have been a gospel-like act to have converted those silly people of West-chester, and thereby have prevented them from leaving their homes to join those heathen Mormons, almost in sight of Phila-delphia, where the General Assembly of Presbyterians hold their sitting. Had they been faithful shepherds, and possessed the gospel (as they pretend) sufficiently to con-vert heathens in foreign lands, these Mor-mons would not, as they do, beguile so many of our citizens, neither would our country be, as it now certainly is, deluged by crime.
The Mormons, and money Christians have the same object in view—that is, POWER. "Two of a trade can never agree." By power they get money, and with money they get power, and as for christianity, it seems to have fled the coun try except in name, and hypocrisy, pride and crime have usurped its place.
If our brother Weishample (the editor) would bestow a few essays on those money Christians, he might do something towards opening the eyes of the people.
Now a few words will demonstrate 1st. that their object is not to spread the gos-pel, and 2d. that it is to obtain power.
1st. Whence do all those means of spreading the gospel originate? such as missionary schools, Sunday schools, tracts, newspapers, societies, &c. forming a reve-nue of upwards of $8,000,000 per annum. From whom do those gospel spreaders re-ceive these "means?" From the people, Then if the people have the means (money) within themselves, why do they not keep it? for [agreeably to the logic of the gospel spreaders,] in the “means" lies the gospel; for they say they cannot spread the gospel without the means—that is, money and we all know they receive it under this pre-tence—then the question clearly resolves itself into this, that money is gospel
But say they, God sanctifies the "means' in the hands of his people. But we an swer, God is no respecter of persons, and can sanctify the means as well in the hands of one person as another.
But that money is not the gospel—nor the gospel money—the means of spreading the gospel is placed beyond cavil by Jesus Christ himself, for he charges his disci-ples to "Go and teach all nations, and preach the gospel: but take neither scrip nor purse." This is proof 1st. that the gospel can be spread without money, and 2d. that money is not the means of spreading the gospel—therefore this money is not designed for any purpose than spreading the gospel, as we have just proved. What then is the object? We should say from certain visible results, it is to increase sectarian power.
But we have an unerring guide whereby to test true from false religion, also in the words of Jesus Christ. ''By their fruits ye shall know them." "The tree is known by its fruit." What are the fruits? Crime! Crime has attained to such a height in our country, that no man's life or property is safe. “Something rotten in Denmark!"
