History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

RESULTS OF MORMON EVANGELISM. 413
and even in Jerusalem, was the Mormon gospel
preached. 39
It may be stated in general terms that the success
of Mormon evangelism has been the most pronounced
in countries where the climate is harsh, where wages
are low, and the conditions of life severe, where there
is freedom of conscience, and where there is a large
class of illiterate men and women, prone to superstition
and fanaticism. Elsewhere no lasting impression
has been made. Thus for many years the stronghold
of Mormonism was, as we have seen, in England,
while in the British colonies, where for the most
part food is cheap, labor is in demand at living rates,
and the people are somewhat more enlightened than
in the mother country, missionaries have met with
little encouragement. In Norway, Sweden, and Denmark
large numbers of proselytes have also been baptized;
but in central and southern Europe, with the
exception perhaps of Switzerland, the results have
been meagre, and accomplished with great effort.
The Scandinavian and British missions, the former
including Denmark, claimed, at the close of 1878,
nearly 8,000 members of the church; 40 and it is probable
that in other parts of Europe there could not be
6, 57-60, vii. 14; Times and Seaso?is, vi. 812-14, 835-8, 882, 1019. These
elders started in Oct. 1843, their passage being paid by P. B. Lewis as a donation
to the mission. One of their number, K. F. Hanks, died on the voyage
and was buried at sea. They baptized over 1,200 natives. Other missionaries
at these islands were Jas S. Brown, Alva Hanks, and one Whittaker;
but all were expelled by the French in 1851. Smith's Fuse, Progress, and Travels,
31. See also Utah Early Records, MS., 35, 37, 84.
39 Orson Hyde was appointed by a general conference held at Nauvoo Apr.
6, 1840, to a mission to the Jews in London, Amsterdam, Constantinople, and
Jerusalem. He arrived in the last-mentioned city Oct. 24, 1841, and returned
to Nauvoo in 1842. Utah Pioneers, 33d A nn. , 26. By his own efforts, he raised
the money for his passage, often suffering great privation during his labors,
his only food at times being snails. Of Jewish descent, he stirred up his unbelieving
race in the towns to which he was sent to a livelier faith in the
promises of their gathering, and consecrated their land anew to their restoration,
when the glory of their latter house should be greater than the glory of
their former house. Richards' Utah Miscell., MS., 18. See also Smith's Eise,
Progress, and Travels, 31; Millennial Star, ii. 166-9. For mission to Palestine
in 1872, see Corresp. of Pal. Tourists, passim.
40 A statistical report is given in Millennial Star, xli. 110-11.