{"id":44283,"date":"2017-09-16T13:37:29","date_gmt":"2017-09-16T19:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=44283"},"modified":"2017-09-16T13:37:29","modified_gmt":"2017-09-16T19:37:29","slug":"charles-dickens-mormons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/charles-dickens-mormons.html","title":{"rendered":"Charles Dickens on the Mormons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
An effigy of Charles Dickens at Madame Tussaud\u2019s in London
(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, first, some additional\u00a0items for your rapidly-growing \u201cReligion Poisons Everything\u201d file:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

USA Today<\/em>: \u00a0\u201cFaith groups provide the bulk of disaster recovery, in coordination with FEMA\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cChurch Offering Relief to Tens of Thousands of Flood-Weary Peruvians\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 (from way back on 3 April 2017)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cChurch Offering Relief, Support in Aftermath of Deadly Quake in Southern Mexico\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cChurch work parties pour into flooded Texas neighborhoods\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Eyring lifts spirits in Irma-weary Puerto Rico\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

From the LDS Newsroom: \u00a0\u201cHurricane Irma Updates\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, if, even after these stories and many more like them, you remain undisgusted by the evils of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a>, here\u2019s how you can donate to LDS Humanitarian Services:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

https:\/\/ldsp-pay.ldschurch.org\/donations\/lds-church\/humanitarian-services\/humanitarian-aid-fund.html?cde2=796<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In June 1863, the passenger ship\u00a0Amazon<\/em>\u00a0set sail from London for America with nearly 900 Latter-day Saint emigrants aboard. \u00a0However, just before she weighed anchor, many Londoners\u2014including both government officials and clergymen\u2014came to take\u00a0a look at the Mormons<\/a>, up close and at first hand, as well as at\u00a0their traveling arrangements. \u00a0One of these visitors\u00a0Charles Dickens, the famous author of such works, by that time, as\u00a0The Pickwick Papers<\/em> (1837), Oliver Twist<\/em> (1839), Nicholas Nickleby<\/em> (1839), The Old Curiosity Shop<\/em> (1841), Barnaby Rudge<\/em> (1841), A Christmas Carol<\/em> (1849), Martin Chuzzlewit<\/em> (1844), Dombey and Son<\/em> (1848), David Copperfield<\/em> (1850), Bleak House<\/em> (1853), Hard Times<\/em> (1854), Little Dorrit<\/em> (1857), A Tale of Two Cities<\/em> (1859), and Great Expectations<\/em> (1861). \u00a0He is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of Victorian England.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dickens spent several hours on board the Amazon, quietly observing the Saints on the ship and interviewing George Q. Cannon, a member of the Twelve who was serving at the time as the president of the British Mission. \u00a0(Elder Cannon would go on to serve as a counselor in the First Presidency to Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A month or so after his visit to the Amazon, Dickens published an account of it in an essay for the periodical All the Year Round<\/em> (4 July 1863), titled \u201cThe Uncommercial Traveller.\u201d\u00a0 In his essay, he remarked that virtually all of the emigrating Latter-day Saints were tradesmen and craftsmen and their families, people of the working class. \u00a0He was worried\u00a0about what these British converts to Mormonism might encounter when they actually arrived in Utah. \u00a0(He was surely familiar with the horror stories going around England at the time \u2013 which would continue for the next several generations \u2014 about the theocratic \u201cMormon kingdom\u201d in the remote North American west.) \u00a0But he was deeply impressed by what he had actually seen. \u00a0The emigration was thoroughly well-organized, calm, orderly.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI went on board their ship,\u201d he wrote, \u201cto bear testimony against them if they deserved it, as I fully believed they would; to my great astonishment they did not deserve it; and my predispositions and tendencies must not affect me as an honest witness. I went over the\u00a0Amazon\u2019s\u00a0side feeling it impossible to deny that, so far, some remarkable influence had produced a remarkable result, which better known influences have often missed.\u201d Of the Saints\u00a0themselves, Dickens confessed\u00a0that, had he not known they were Mormons, he would have described them as, \u201cin their degree, the pick and flower of England.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 But, first, some additional\u00a0items for your rapidly-growing \u201cReligion Poisons Everything\u201d file: \u00a0 USA Today: \u00a0\u201cFaith groups provide the bulk of disaster recovery, in coordination with FEMA\u201d \u00a0 \u201cChurch Offering Relief to Tens of Thousands of Flood-Weary Peruvians\u201d\u00a0 (from way back on 3 April 2017) \u00a0 \u201cChurch Offering Relief, Support in Aftermath of Deadly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nCharles Dickens on the Mormons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    But, first, some additional\u00a0items for your rapidly-growing "Religion Poisons Everything" file:   USA Today: \u00a0"Faith groups provide the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/charles-dickens-mormons.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Charles Dickens on the Mormons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"    But, first, some additional\u00a0items for your rapidly-growing "Religion Poisons Everything" file:   USA Today: \u00a0"Faith groups provide the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/charles-dickens-mormons.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-16T19:37:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2017\/09\/Charles_Dickens_at_Madame_Tussauds_wax_cabinet-1024x768.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/charles-dickens-mormons.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/charles-dickens-mormons.html\",\"name\":\"Charles Dickens on the Mormons\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-16T19:37:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-09-16T19:37:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\"    But, first, some additional\u00a0items for your rapidly-growing \\\"Religion Poisons Everything\\\" file:   USA Today: \u00a0\\\"Faith groups provide the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/charles-dickens-mormons.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/charles-dickens-mormons.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/charles-dickens-mormons.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Charles Dickens on the Mormons\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Charles Dickens on the Mormons","description":"    But, first, some additional\u00a0items for your rapidly-growing \"Religion Poisons Everything\" file:   USA Today: \u00a0\"Faith groups provide the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/charles-dickens-mormons.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Charles Dickens on the Mormons","og_description":"    But, first, some additional\u00a0items for your rapidly-growing \"Religion Poisons Everything\" file:   USA Today: \u00a0\"Faith groups provide the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/charles-dickens-mormons.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2017-09-16T19:37:29+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2017\/09\/Charles_Dickens_at_Madame_Tussauds_wax_cabinet-1024x768.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/charles-dickens-mormons.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/charles-dickens-mormons.html","name":"Charles Dickens on the Mormons","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-09-16T19:37:29+00:00","dateModified":"2017-09-16T19:37:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":"    But, first, some additional\u00a0items for your rapidly-growing \"Religion Poisons Everything\" file:   USA Today: \u00a0\"Faith groups provide the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/charles-dickens-mormons.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/charles-dickens-mormons.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/charles-dickens-mormons.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Charles Dickens on the Mormons"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44283\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}