bound to do, he every now and then holds them up to ridicule
in a vein of the deepest irony. In one case a palpable
error of perspective, by which a man is made equal in size
to a mountain, has been purposely committed, and the shouts
of laughter that arise as soon as the ridiculous picture
appears is tremendous. But there is no mirth in the face of
Artemus; he seems even deaf to the roar; and when he
proceeds to the explanation of the landscape, he touches on
the ridiculous point in a slurring way that provokes a new
explosion.

"The particulars of the lecture we need not describe. Many
accounts of the Mormons, more or less credible, and all
authenticated, have been given by serious historians, and
Mr. W.H. Dixon, who has just returned from Utah to London,
is said to have brought with him new stores of solid
information. But to most of us Mormonism is still a
mystery, and under those circumstances a lecturer who has
professedly visited a country for the sake more of picking
up fun than of sifting facts, and whose chief object it must
be to make his narrative amusing, can scarcely be accepted
as an authority. We will, therefore, content ourselves with
stating that the lecture is entertaining to such a degree
that to those who seek amusement its brevity is its only
fault; that it is utterly free from offence, though the
opportunities for offence given by the subject of Mormonism
are obviously numerous; that it is interspersed, not only
with irresistible jokes, but with shrewd remarks, proving
that Artemus Ward is a man of reflection, as well as a
consummate humorist."