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FROM 
 
 PALMYRA, NEW YORK, 181, 
 
 TO 
 
 Independence, Missouri, 1894. 
 
 PART 1. 
 
 The Book Unsealed, Revised and Enlarged, 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Eleven Works Against Mormonism, Six United 
 States School Histories, Four Leading En- 
 cyclopedias and Reissues Compared 
 with Each Other and Reviewed 
 irL the Light of Facts on 
 the Subject Treated. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 A (Jonipendium of Evidences of Material Value 
 Mainly from Outside Parties and Em- 
 bracing Three Court Decisions. 
 
 By ELDER R. KTZEXHOUSER, 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter 
 Day Saints. 
 
 Ikdependekce, Mo, 
 
 ENSIGN PUBLISHING HOUSE. 
 
 1894-. 
 
Copyrighted 1894 
 
 R. ETZENHOUSER. 
 
;/iUY f: 
 
 1 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The author of this work makes no claim to scholar- 
 ship in the presentation of its pages, and prefers that 
 it shall be judged by the measure of truth it contains, 
 rather than by its quality as a literary production. 
 
 The "Book Unsealed" iu a revised and enlarged 
 
 form constitutes Part I of this work. Extreme care 
 
 has been used in the preparation of its matter. A. very 
 
 few quotations taken from accepted reliable sources and 
 
 which ha\ie not been compared with originals, appear 
 
 designated as such by a dagger (f ). These quotations 
 
 could have been dispensed with, as on all points upon 
 
 which they bear a sufficient quantity would still remain. 
 
 Different editions of a number of authors are quoted 
 
 from, as for instance, Priest's of 1833 and 1838. As the 
 
 quotations not compared with originals are designated 
 
 as before mentioned, the different editions of works cited 
 
 » 
 are not given accompanying quotations. 
 
 Libraries at St. Louis, Kansas City, St. Joseph, Den- 
 ver, Salt Lake City, Des Moines, Chicago, Cincinnati, 
 Philadelphia, Brooklyn and New Brunswick have been 
 searched, and for aid in this, the author is indebted to 
 Llders F. G. Pitt, A. H. Parsons and J. B. Roush, also 
 10 Miss Etta M. Izatt. 
 
 Part II is the only production of the kind, and some- 
 thing of the kind has long been recognized as needed. It 
 embraces the review and exposure of eleven works vvrit- 
 ten against "Mormonism," with other matter of the kind. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Also, a review of six United States School Histories as 
 a sample in general upon the subject from that source. 
 Four of the leading encyclopedias and their later editions 
 are examined and reviewed. Statements of encyclope- 
 dias and the press relative to the Reorganized Church of 
 Latter Day Saints, are given. 
 
 Part III presents Joseph Smith as the founder of the 
 Latter Day Work, his character, etc., by those not mem- 
 bers but directly acquainted with him. 
 
 Evidences of the same class relative to the early 
 scenes in New York, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois, the 
 character of the Saints, etc. Three prominent court 
 decisions, that of Kirtland Temple, Ohio, 1880; the 
 Canada Court on the rights of the Reor^^anized Church 
 of Latter Day Saints, 1893, and the Temple Lot case of 
 1894. 
 
 The title, "From Palmyra, New York, to Independ- 
 ence, Missouri," is not indicative of continuous narative 
 but embracing material facts during that lapse of years. 
 
 In Part II appears two articles from the pen of Elder 
 Heraan C. Smith and one rom Elder C. Scott, taken 
 from the Saints' Herald. Matter furnished by Elder 
 I. M. Smith, as also \^aluable suggestions are ac- 
 knowledged with pleasure; also, matter from brethren 
 A. H. Parsons and Albert Carmichael. 
 
 A glance through the manuscript with the author 
 led Elders Joseph Luff, L N. White, F. M. Sheehy and 
 I. M. Smith to say, "The work will be a useful one." 
 With this end in view the work is now submitted to its 
 readers. ' R. E. 
 
 Independence, Mo., May 12, 1S94. 
 
THE 
 
 BOOK UNSEALED 
 
 AN 
 
 Exposition of Prophecy 
 
 AND 
 
 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The Claims of the Book of Mormon Examined 
 and Sustained. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE BOOK OF MORMON: 
 
 The Book of Mormon derives its name from the 
 writer of one of the several books of which it is com- 
 posed, whose name was Mormon, and who compiled 
 the several books as they appear. The book, by those 
 not acquainted with it, has been supposed to counte- 
 nance and sanction the institution of polygamy, while 
 just the opposite is true; nothing in the realm ot litera- 
 ture being more condemnatory of polygamy. 
 
 "Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and harken to 
 the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man 
 among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he 
 shall have none, for I the Lord God delighteth in the 
 chastity of women." —Book of Mormon, p. ii6. (All 
 
2. THK BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 citations from Piano edition except where other's works 
 are quoted). 
 
 The time the Book of Mormon covers is divided 
 into two periods; the first, from the confusion of lan- 
 guages at Babel, from whence the first colony, the Jar 
 edites came to the western continent, to the time they 
 becartie extinct, which was wrought through a series of 
 bloody wars before the Nephite colony came over from 
 Jerusalem, which migration occurred during the reign 
 of Zedekiah, kingof Judah, about 6co B. C. This col- 
 ony having become possessed of the Jaredite record, 
 and having completed their own, added the record of 
 the former people in an abridged form. 
 
 The second colony, some years after their arrival 
 here, divided, each party taking the name of its respect- 
 ive leader, and so were known as Nephites and La- 
 manites. 
 
 The Jaredites, like the Ne[)hites and L^amanites, 
 were of the white race. The Lamanites, because of 
 their rebellion against God and his appointments, were 
 cursed with a dark or copper colored skin, their de- 
 scendants being the American Indians of today. Both 
 of the colonies were a highly civilized, enlightened and 
 religious people, and attained excellence in art, science, 
 architecture and agriculture. 
 
 The Nephites lost their national existence in war 
 with the Lamanites about the year 420 of the Christian 
 era; the remnant of that people were then merged into 
 the Lamanites. Their records were hidden in the place 
 from which they were taken in 1827 by Joseph Smith, 
 the translator of the book. 
 
 From the preface to Delafield's work entitled '\\n 
 inquiry into the Origin of the Antiquities of America," 
 
THE BOOK UNSKALED. 3. 
 
 which was published in 1839, at New York, London and 
 Paris, by the Right Rever;ind Chas. P. Mcllvaine, D. D., 
 bishop of the diocese of Ohio: 
 
 "Suppose that in searching the tumuli that are 
 scattered so widely over this country, the silent, aged, 
 mysterious remembrance of some populous race,^nce 
 carrying on all the business of life where now are only the 
 wild forests of many centuries, a race of whom we ask 
 so often, who they were, whence they came, whither 
 they went; suppose that untler one of those huge struct- 
 ures of earth which remain of their works, a book were 
 discovered, an alphabetic history of that race for a thous- 
 and years, containing their written" language, and exam- 
 ples of their poetry and other literature, and all undeni- 
 ably composed many hundreds of years before any of 
 the nations now possessing this continent were here! 
 What a wonder would this be! What intense interest 
 would attach to such a relici What price would not the 
 learned be willing to give for iti" 
 
 The Book of Mormon, published ten years before 
 Mr. Mcllvaine wrote, gave the facts he asked and sighed 
 for. 
 
 Josiah Priest, in American Antiquities^ edition of 
 1838, p. 361, says: 
 
 "But what has finally become of these nations, and 
 where are their descendants, are questions which, could 
 they be answered, would be highly gratifying." 
 
 Mr. Wm. Pidgeon, in his Traditions of De-coo-dah 
 and Antiquarian Researches, edition of 1853, p. 11, 
 says: "But it yet remains for America to awake her 
 story from sleep, to string lyre, and nerve the pen, to tell 
 the tale of her antiquities, as seen in the relics of na- 
 tions, coeval perhaps with the oldest works of man." 
 
4- THE BOOK UNHEALED. 
 
 'i'hese men, with all others who have written on 
 American antiquity, while setting aside the Book of Mor- 
 mon as a matter of nonsense, pile up the evidences of its 
 divinity as the reader will see as he proceeds. 
 
 Rev. John AlcCalman, of New Bedford, Massachu- 
 setts, prea ihed in the Middle Street Christian church 
 in that place, S mday, March 4th, 1894, in the course 
 of which sermon he said: 
 
 "The word of the Lord is divine communication, 
 teaching his children what to do under circumstances 
 in which they find themselves at a given time and place. 
 Sometimes we call it confidence. If today your hearts 
 are open to receive divine communication, the word of 
 the Lord will be present. You ask, how shall I know 
 it is the word of God? Joseph Smith published to 
 the world at large that he had received a divine com- 
 munication. Now, what right have I to say that that 
 communication was not a divine one?" 
 
 "God moves in a mysterious way" in many things. 
 The Book of Mormon he caused to come forth before 
 the Antiquities of America were known, and in their 
 discovery by those who did not accept the book he 
 secures a cloud of witnesses. 
 
 The Book of Mormon has been criticised on two 
 lines: P'irst, its literary inelegance, and second, that it 
 is not a true record. Is Peter's part of the New Tes- 
 tament untrue because not so elegant as the writing of 
 the learned Paul? 
 
 Here is what some of the writers in the Book of 
 Mormon say of this work: 
 
 "And I know that the record which I makeistrue> 
 and I make it with mine own hand; and I make it accord- 
 ing to my knowledge." — B. of M., p. i, par. i. 1'he 
 
THE B(^OK UNSEALED. 5. 
 
 record was made according to Nephi's knowledge, not 
 according to the knowledge of God, but the things re- 
 corded are true. 
 
 "And it came to pass that I, Jacob, began to be 
 old; and the record of this people being kept on the 
 other plates of Nephi, wherefore I conclude this record, 
 declaring that I have written according to the best of 
 my knowledge." — B. of M., p. 131, par. 8. 
 
 "And whoso receiveth this record, and shall not 
 condemn it because of the imperfections which are in 
 it, the same shall know of greater things than these. 
 Behold, I am Moroni; and were it possible, I would 
 make all things known unto you." — B. of M. p. 495, 
 par. I. The same admission is made by Moroni on 
 page 500, paragraph 8. 
 
 The prophets and apostles were inspired of God to 
 write and speak; and yet each one has his distinctive 
 style of expression. This seems to plainly indicate 
 that, as a rule, God gave the sentiment, — the ideas — 
 but these men were left to express these ideas according 
 to their own language, and their own knowledge. 
 
 "Home's Introduction," p. 115: 
 
 "When it is said, that Scripture is divinely inspir- 
 ed, we are not to understand that God suggested every 
 word or dictated every expression. From the dif- 
 ferent styles in which the books are written, and from the 
 different manner in which the same events are related and 
 predicted by different authors, it appears that the sa- 
 cred penmen were permitted to write as their several 
 tempers, understandings, and habits of life, directed; 
 and that the knowledge communicated to them by in 
 spiration on the subject of their writings, was applied 
 in the same manner as any knowledge acquired by or- 
 
6. IHE BOOR UNSEALED. 
 
 dinary means. Nor is it to be supposed that they were 
 even thus inspired in every fact which they related, or 
 in every precept which they delivered. They were leU 
 to the common use of their faculties, and did not, upon 
 every occasion, stand in need of supernatural communi- 
 cations; but whenever, and as far as divine assistance 
 was necessary, it was always afforded." 
 
 Also, page 521: "But with respect to the choice 
 of words in which they wrote, I know not but they 
 might be left to the free and rational exercise of their 
 own minds, to express themselves in the manner that 
 was natural and familiar to them, while at the same 
 time they were preserved from error, in the ideas they 
 conveyed. If this were the case, it would sufficiently 
 account for the over observable diversity of style and 
 manner among the inspired writers. The Spirit guided 
 them to write nothing but truth concerning religion, 
 yet they might be left to express that truth in their own 
 language." Quoted by Home from "Parry's Inquiry 
 into the Nature and Extent of the Inspiration of the 
 Apotsles." 
 
 A few facts are now presented in a miscellaneous 
 manner in the remainder of this chapter. 
 
 "For sure it is the earth that moves and not the 
 sun." — B. of M., Helaman, 4: 8. 
 
 "The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all 
 things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and 
 all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its mo- 
 tion; yea, and also all the planets which move in their 
 regular form, doth witness that there is a Supreme Cre- 
 ator." — B. of M., Alma, i6 : 7. 
 
 Now let a voice from the World's Fair confirm this, 
 for the Book of Mormon has been charged with having 
 
I'lIK BOOK UNSKAI.ED. 7. 
 
 claimed to contain knowledge of the rotary motion of 
 the earth before it had been discovered, and now it is 
 authenticated: 
 
 "ANCIENT AMERICANS. 
 'THKY WERE GREAT ASTRONOMERS. 
 
 "World's Fair Grounds, Chicago, August 29. — 
 What is claimed to be a correct interpretation of the 
 ancient Aztec calendar was made public for the first 
 time today at a meeting of the anthropological congress 
 at the Fair. Scholars pronounce it to be the most im- 
 portant discovery in its line of this century. 
 
 "The interpretation was made by a woman, Mrs. 
 Zelia Nuttal, one cf the judges of ethnology at the Fair, 
 who explained the wonderful calendar to the anthropo- 
 logical congress. Dr. Daniel G. Drinton, A. B., pres- 
 ident of the congress, said it would eventually lead to 
 a translation of the hieroglyphics carved on the ruins 
 of Mexico and Central America and thus reveal the his- 
 tory of the wonderfid people who built them. 
 
 "The accuracy and perfection of the calendar is 
 convincing evidence of the civilization and mathemati- 
 cal attainments of the ancient inhabitants of America. 
 It was estimated that no less than 4,000 years of astro- 
 nomical observations would have been necessary to 
 perfect the calendar. A complete cycle of the calendar 
 referring to the revolution of the moon and earth 
 about the sun covers a period of 1,094 years. It shows 
 that the ancient inhabitants of America were familiar 
 with the movements of the planets, Jupiter, Venus, 
 Mercury, and perhaps Mars, as well as those of the 
 Earth and Moon." 
 
 The above clipping is from the St. Joseph, Mis- 
 souri, weekly News, of September ist, 1893. 
 
8. THE BOOK UNHEALED. 
 
 Book of Mormon, Nephi, 4th chapter, sets forth iti 
 a graphic manner the convulsions that took i)lace on 
 this continent of North America and says: "But behold, 
 there was a more great and terrible destruction in the 
 land northward: for behold, the whole face of the land 
 was changed." ('I'he reader is referred to the entire 
 chapter.) 
 
 John T. Short, in his American Antiquties pa'ge 
 233, writing of a race of giants says: A great convul- 
 sion of nature which shook the earth, and caused the 
 mountains and volcanoes to swallow up and kill them.'' 
 On page 125, "In 1857, a portion of a human cranium 
 was found associated with bones of the mastodon at 
 the depth of one hundred and eighty feet below the sur- 
 face in a mining shaft at Table Mountain, California."" 
 
 Baldwin, in his x\ncient America, page 176, says of 
 Central America: "The land was shaken by frightful 
 earthquakes, and the waves of the sea combined with 
 volcanic fire to overwhelm and engulf it." 
 
 Josiah Priest describes three wells near Cincinnati, 
 Ohio, the shallowest being eighty feet deep, in each of 
 which when dug, the stump of a tree was taken out at 
 that depth. The citations are given in chapter ten of 
 this book. 
 
 And in addition to the above a very singular dis- 
 covery was reported in the Leadville, Colorado, papers 
 in March, 1891. A man by the name of John Sunger 
 had brought to the city an arrowhead, made of temper- 
 ed copper, and a number of human bones, which were 
 found in a mine, four hundred and sixty feet below the 
 surface of the earth, imbeded in a vein of silver bearing 
 oar. Over one hundred dollars worth of ore clung to 
 the bones when they were removed from the mine. 
 
THE BOOK UNSHALEI). 9. 
 
 M he arrowhead is four inches long, and one and one 
 half inches wide at the widest part. The shank is one 
 and one half inches long and has a hole pierced through 
 the center by which the shaft was fastened to the spike. 
 The oar clung to it when taken from the vein, and was 
 with some difficulty removed." 
 
 Any one who has crossed Wyoming on the Union 
 Pacific railroad in day light has seen what is by many 
 believed to have been the bottom of a great inland sea, 
 which it appears clearly to have been. 
 
 All who have seen the famous Salt Lake Valley of 
 Utah, could trace what is called the water line. It is 
 far up the Wasatch mountains, and is to be seen all 
 around the valley and marks where the lake waters once 
 stood. "The face of the land was changed." 
 
 A number of works on xAntiquity relate similar 
 facts. See chapter nine of this work, citation from 
 Pittsburg Leader, telling of brick and a coin found at 
 the depth of one hundred and twenty five feet in a 
 well at Helena, Arkansas. 
 
 A remarkable corroboration of the above is found 
 in a paper written by Dr. D. L. Yates, the same having 
 been read by T. H. Hittel before the Historical Soci- 
 ety, in a meeting of that body held in San Francisco. 
 The same appeared in the Bulletin in March, 1888, as 
 follows: 
 
 "It fs'as said that California possessed some ot 
 the oldest known relics on the continent. The first 
 authenticated record of the original occupants was 
 found on the table mountain region in Tuolumne county, 
 and is of an age prior to the great volcanic outburst. 
 Fossil remains of the rhinoceros and an extinct horse 
 are found under the lava layers forming the table 
 
lO. IHK i;<><)K UNSRAI^KD. 
 
 mountains which are 1,400 feet thick, 1,700 feet wide 
 T> * * where the river beds have been washed out, 
 and have been covered again to the depth of from three 
 thousand to four thousand feet more since the flow of 
 the lava. This lava rests on a bed of detritus, which 
 is often entered by running tunnels (in mining). The 
 human relics and stone implements found in these 
 formations give evidence of human habitants differing 
 from any known since. There have been found spear- 
 heads, a pipe of polished stone, two scoop of stalactite 
 rock (resembling the grocer's scoop), an implement of 
 aragonite, resembling an unbent bow, but the use of 
 which is unknown and cannot- be conjectured, a stone 
 needle with notches at the larger end, and the. finest 
 charmstones that have ever been found. 
 
 "There have been brought to light the fossils of 
 nine mastodons, twenty elephants, various pachyderms 
 in the Table Mountains, numerous evidences of animal 
 life in the calcareous formations in the Texas flats, ob- 
 sidian spearheads, fossils of the elephant, horse and 
 camel about Hornitos, bones and evidences of prehis- 
 toric human industry in Tulare, and in Trinity and 
 Siskiyou many proofs of the contemporaneous exist 
 ence of man and extinct mammals. 
 
 "In the San Jose Valley are deep layers of conif- 
 erous trees in such a carbonized state that they crumble 
 into dust when exposeil to the air. They «are of the 
 pliocene period, and show that the entire topography 
 of the region has changed, and that where now the 
 valleys and mountains are destitute of timber, they 
 were once coniferous and deciduous trees, affording 
 food and shelter to monster mammals in comparison to 
 which, man was but an insignificant mite. In the lay- 
 
IHh: HOOK L'N>HALKI). II. 
 
 ers of the iniocene period are found in California the 
 remains of amphibious animals not to be found else- 
 where/' 
 
 Thus it is seen, that east, west, north and south, 
 unmistakable evidences abound to show that "the face 
 of the land was changed,'' as stated in the Book of 
 Mormon. 
 
 On pages 399, 408, 426-428, Book of Mormon, 
 the Gadianton robbers are described and their strong- 
 holds in their mountain home in the cliffs. Any one 
 who was at the World's Fair could well appreciate the 
 account, having seen the exhibit of the Cliff Dwellers. 
 The Independent Patriot of September 14th, 1893, con- 
 tains the following: 
 
 "In this exhibit may be seen what is intended to 
 represent the moiiatain homes of the cliff dwellers; the 
 methods by which they obtained ingress and egress; 
 the rugs, mats, implements of war and peace which 
 they had; some of the corn they raised, with cob, grain 
 and husk quite well preserved. When we reached this 
 point in the exhibit the lecturer was asked how long ago 
 he supposed this race to have lived upon this continent. 
 He answered, 'From two to four thousand years.' 
 *From what part of the earth, and what branch of the 
 human family do you suppose these people to have 
 come?' 'From the ancient Aryan branch of Asia, 
 which sent out portions of its[]descendants to Africa, 
 Europe, and I think also to America.' 
 
 "The skulls of the cliff dwellers were exhibited in 
 profusion, and presented, as we were told by the lect- 
 urer, the appearance of having belonged to a highly 
 intelligent and well developed race of people. Some 
 (iays previous to our visit, he informed us, a profess- 
 
12. THE BO(3K UNSEALED. 
 
 ional phrenologist had visited the room, and to him 
 had been handed an Indian skull along with a cliff 
 dweller's. He at once stated that the latter was a well 
 developed type of a highly civilized and intelligent 
 race; while the former looked more like the skull of an 
 American Indian than anything else. These were 
 handed the professor, as we were told, without his 
 being. informed as to what race or races they belonged." 
 
 All who saw the hair on skulls, and several bunches 
 besides, will attest it was of fine texture and of various 
 shades of brown and auburn. Very unlike Indian hair; 
 but like that of the white race. Being there, I saw it. 
 
 Baldwin, on page 173, says: 
 
 "Tradition of the native Mexicans and Central 
 Americans xiescribed the first civilizers as "bearded 
 white men," who "came from the east in ships." 
 
 This accords with the Book of Mormon, pages 
 502-505. 
 
 Bancroft, volumn 5, page 24, says: 
 
 "There are numerous vague traditions of settle- 
 ments or nations of white men who lived apart from 
 the other people of the country, and were possessed of 
 an advanced civilization." 
 
 Josiah Priest, in his edition of 1838, page 390^ 
 American Antiquities, gives headlines for a chapter 
 thus: "Traits of white nations in Georgia and Kentucky 
 before Columbus' time and the traditions ot the Indians 
 respecting them." 
 
 Donnely says of the Peruvians: "The native tra- 
 ditions said this city was built by bearded white men, 
 who came there long before the time of the Incas, and 
 established a settlement." — Atlantis, p. 393. 
 
 The Jaredites and Nephites were both white. 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. I3. 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF RELICS AT THE WORJ^D'S FAIR. 
 
 Don McGuire, Chief Dept. Mines and Archaeology, 
 of Utah, contributing to Salt Lake City Tribune, 
 in its issue for October 29th, 1893. says: 
 
 "In the department of anthropology at Jackson 
 Park, man has an opportunity of becoming acquainted 
 with the remains and relics of many races. * * * In 
 the Wisconsin state collection there is a fine lot of cop- 
 per implements and arms, consisting of axes, chisels, 
 lance heads, arrow points, needles, combs, cups, 
 crowns, armlets, finger rings, and hundreds of articles, 
 the use of which is wholly a mystery to us. From the 
 same state comes stone axes and stone lance heads. 
 The copper was taken from the present copper mines 
 of Lake Superior; it was hammered into form, and this 
 hammering rendered it quite hard. The tools are very 
 well fashioned and show considerable skill. 
 
 "There is a fine exhibit from south, central and 
 northern Illinois, which comes from the mounds of 
 this state. The work is well done and it is varied in 
 its makeup. Flint, steatite, clay, limestone and cop- 
 per were used as in Wisconsin, and amongst the Illinois 
 collection we are struck with the beauty of the great 
 array of pipes found in the mounds, some of which 
 are exceedingly beautiful. 
 
 "But when the collection of the Ohio Valley is 
 reached we are before the greatest find, and at the 
 same time most varied collection that has been made 
 for many years from the mounds of that region, and 
 one that surpasses in many ways all that we found in 
 any of the state exhibits east of the Missouri river. 
 
14- THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 One Charles Morehead for the two past years has been 
 engaged in excavating in the great mounds of Central 
 Ohio, around Marietta and through the Sceota \ alley. 
 From a few mounds of that state we see here a collec- 
 tion of copper tools of every description, also of tools 
 of obsidian and also of flint, and beautiful ornaments 
 of abalone shell, and mother of pearl, and thousands 
 of pearls, along with articles of bone, stone and cop- 
 per, long since perished. There was cloth and feather 
 work, but it. is now in dust. 
 
 "The fortress in which these were found would 
 conveniently contain forty thousand people, and when 
 we see the articles of agriculture we have little doubt 
 but that this people who occupied this land in remote 
 ages were a great commercial and far travelling race of 
 men" 
 
 Writes of Colorado relics: ^'These relics and dis- 
 coveries consist of fifteen very well preserved mummies 
 of the ancient cliff-dwellers, and a great variety of their 
 pottery, stone weapons and wooden implements, cotton 
 cloth, feather cloth, cordage, tanned leather, bone and 
 shellwork, haircloth, hair cordage, and husk matting 
 and carpets, corn, cotton seed, squash, pumpkin and 
 gourd seed; in a word, it represents that ingenious and 
 lost people as they were, and the mummies are, as they 
 lie there, about as interesting, repulsive and iU-odored 
 a lot of human junk as ever startled a weak-nerved 
 mortal of this world/' 
 
 Of a Utah skeleton and relics: '*It is the finest 
 specimen of desiccated humanity ever discovered on 
 the American continent, and with him were found the 
 most interesting and valuable lot of relics yet brought 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 1 5. 
 
 forth from a cliff-dweller's tomb. They consist of pot- 
 tery, corn, beans, cotton cloth, feather cloth, cordage 
 of various kinds, wooden implements, pipes, arrow and 
 lance heads." 
 
 Of Central American ruins: "These remains were 
 taken from the desolate and long abandoned cities that 
 are buried deep amid the forests of Central America, 
 where beyond question at one time remote in the by- 
 gone years a great city and a proud nation flourished. 
 As we look out of the building we behold sections of 
 those old palaces that were built here as fac-similes of 
 the architecture of these races that are found in Yuca- 
 tan. Old palaces represented here show wonderful ar- 
 chitecture, which even in our own day of great build- 
 ings compare favorably with the most substantial of 
 man's work. There is a mystery, dark, deep, unfath- 
 omable in all these traces of a lost race, those altars 
 rich in sculptured relief work, these raised inscriptions 
 in an unknown and lost tongue, all are as a wild, un- 
 distinguishable voice coming back from vanished gen- 
 erations that have crossed the flood." 
 
 Of Peruvian relics: ^'There is here also from Peru 
 a large number of pots, vases, cups, dishes of very fine 
 workmanship by the artisans of fhe Inca empire. Their 
 cotton, their vicuna wool, their tanned leather, their 
 corn, dried fruit, their weapons, arms and jewels of 
 obsidian, jasper, copper, gold and silver. "No such 
 exhibit was ever made outside of Peru, and as one gazes 
 spellbound upon this rich and ancient lot of skeletons, 
 mummies, pottery, gold and silver from Peru, he re- 
 grets that the fair is not to last twelve months longer." 
 
 "The uniform and constant report of Peruvian 
 tradition places the beginning of this old civilization 
 
1 6. THE BOOK UNSEAI.ED. 
 
 in the valley of Cuzco, near lake Titicaca." — Baldwin's 
 Ancient America, page 236. 
 
 "Those who criticise Montesinos admit that 'his 
 advantages were great,' that 'no one equaled him in 
 archselogical knowledge of Peru,' and that 'he became 
 acquainted with original instruments which he occas- 
 onally transferred to his own pages * * '^' difficult to 
 meet elsewhere.'" — Ibid 263. 
 
 Of Peruvian civilization he says: "'It was origin- 
 ated,' he says, 'by a people led by four brothers, who 
 settled in the Valley of Cuzco. "* * * The youngest of 
 these brothers assumed supreme authority and became 
 the first of a long line of sovereigns.' "^ — Ibid 264. 
 
 The above agrees exactly to the Nephite colony 
 as any one will discover by reading the Book of Mor- 
 mon, Laman, Lemuel, Samuel and Nephi were the 
 brothers, and position, no doubt, that of Peru. Nephi, 
 the youngest of the four was the first of a long line of 
 rulers. 
 
 The Marqueis De Nadaillac in his work ''Prehis- 
 toric People," on pages 268-9 ^"^ elsewhere, sets forth 
 that the ancient American's trepanned skulls, tells of 
 the skulls being found showing the operatfon, he sug- 
 gests it was done with stone. His imagination must 
 be strong, trepanning is by no means a common piece 
 of surgery with the instruments of to-day. The steel 
 instruments of the ancient Americans all having de- 
 cayed by rust, therefore stone would do for anything 
 is concluded. The wonderful and extensive buildings 
 of Central America, are passed by many in silence as 
 to what the tools were that were used in their, construc- 
 tion. 
 
THE HOOK UNSEALED. 1 7. 
 
 It is recently admitted that the builders of Egyp- 
 tian pyramids had some tools, possibly it will be, some 
 day, that the Americans had also. 
 
 "TOOLS OF THE PYRAMID BUILDERS. 
 
 '•^A two years' study at Gizeh has convinced Mr. 
 Flinders Petrie that the Egyptian stone workers of 
 four thousand years ago had a surprising acquaititance 
 with what have been considered modern tools. Among 
 the many tools used by the pyramid-builders were 
 both solid and tubular drills and straight and circular 
 saws. The drills, like those of to-day, were set with 
 jewels (probably corundum, as the diamond was very 
 scarce), and even lathe'tools had such cutting edges. 
 So remarkable was the quality of the tubular drills and 
 the skill of the workmen, that the cutting-marks in 
 hard granite give no indication of wear of the tool, 
 while a cut of a tenth of an inch was made in the hard- 
 est rock at each revolution, and a hole through both 
 the hardest and softest material was bored perfectly 
 smooth and uniform throughout." — American Analyst, 
 New York. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 CONTINENTS AND NATIONS, 
 
 There being two continents, nothing is more rea- 
 sonable than that the people of each may have had re- 
 cognition from, and communication with God. 
 
 That this is clearly adraissable, is evident from 
 Acts 17; 24-27, ^^Go-d that made the world, and 
 iall things ^ * hath made of one blood all nations of 
 anen for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath 
 determined the times before appointed, and the bounds 
 
l8. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 of iheir habitation. That they should seek the l.or.l, 
 if haply they might feel after him and find him, though 
 he be not very far from every one of us." 
 
 The following points are clear: 
 
 ist x\ll nations were from one source. 
 
 2d. — By God's decree they were to inhabit "All 
 the face of the earth." 
 
 3d. — Their distribution as to "times" and "bounds" 
 God directs. 
 
 4th. — "They should seek the Lord." He would 
 not command them to seek unless it were possible that 
 he should be found. Peter said, "Of a truth I perceive 
 that God is no respector of persons, but in every na- 
 tion he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is 
 accepted with him." — Acts 10: 34. 
 
 As the nations of the eastern continent sought and 
 found God, and had revelation and covenant relation 
 with him, so could the nations *of the western conti- 
 nent, in fulfillment of God's covenant to Abraham: 
 "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be 
 blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice." — Gen. 
 22: 18. The Prophet Ezekiel, in chapter 37, mentions 
 two "sticks," (records), one for Judah and the child- 
 ren of Israel his companions, "another stick [record] 
 for Joseph and for all the house of Israel, his compan- 
 ions." 
 
 The stick for Judah being the Bible, a similiar 
 record or "another stick" should appear for Joseph. 
 This is realized in the Book of Mormon, which is a 
 record of the dealings of God with the descendants of 
 Joseph on. the western continent. It is therefore of 
 equal authority with other sacred writings, and throws 
 light upon doctrine, promise and prophecy. For as 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. I9. 
 
 Paul says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God 
 and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correc- 
 tion, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of 
 God may be thoroughly furnished in all good works." 
 —2 Tim. 3: 19. It does not in any sense supplant the 
 Bible or take its place, but is a companion volume 
 thereto. 
 
 We quote Bishop Mcllvaine again from preface to 
 Delafield's work. He is right, that American Antiquity 
 is to confirm the Scriptures. The gospel of Christ had 
 been taught here as the priests supposed. The uni- 
 versal and uniform .traditions of the nations of both 
 continents are strong evidence of a common origin as 
 set forth in this chapter from the Bible; 
 
 "Traditions have been distinctly traced, in oppo- 
 site regions of the globe, and in the most unconnected 
 nations of the creation; of the production of all living 
 creatures out of watef by the power of the Supreme 
 mind; the formation of man, last, in the image of God, 
 his being invested with dominion over all other animals; 
 the primitive state of innocence and happiness; Para- 
 dise; the Sabbath; the division of time into weeks; 
 the fall of man; (the mother of mankind is represented 
 in American tradition as fallen aad accompanied by a 
 serpent); the promise of a deliverer; Cain and Abel; 
 the general degeneracy of mankind; the longevity of 
 the Patriarchs; the general deluge; the escape of only 
 a siagle family in an ark; the dove sent out by Noah; 
 the rainbow as a sign; the number of persons in the 
 ark; the Tower of Babel; the destruction of Sodom 
 and Gomorrah — these with divers circumstances and 
 details illustrating the main particulars. So remark- 
 able were the traditions of several of these facts, among 
 
20. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 the inhabitants of America, at the time of the Spanish 
 conquest, that the priests, who accompanied the army^ 
 were induced to suppose that Christianity, or at least 
 Judaism, had been inculcated among them at some 
 very distant period. Humboldt, however, sees no need 
 of such explanation 'since similar traditions, (he says) 
 of high and venerable antiquity, are found among the 
 followers of Brama, and among the Shamans of the 
 eastern steppes of Tartary.' 
 
 '"The traditions of the deluge are particularly 
 numerous. They are derived from the oldest nations 
 of antiquity — the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Greeks (and 
 mentioned by Berosus, Hesiod, Plato, Plutarch, Lu- 
 cian, &c ), as well as from people the most recently 
 discovered; as the natives of North and South America 
 and of the islands of the South Sea. The antipodes of 
 the earth unite in testimony to the deluge. Chinese 
 and Sanscrit literature concurs with Chilian and Peru- 
 vian and Mexican tradition in bearing witness to that 
 catastrophe. Among the natives of America it is com- 
 memorated by a fable similar to that of Pyrrha and 
 Deucalion. 'These ancient traditions of the human 
 race (says Humboldt) which we find dispersed over the 
 surface of the globe, like the fragments of a vast ship- 
 wreck, are of the greatest interest in the philosophical 
 study of our species. * * * 
 
 "The Antiquities of America are an immense field 
 for inquiry, hardly entered; abounding in promise of 
 reward for the most devoted investigations. Let it be 
 thoroughly explored for the truth's sake. The Scrip- 
 tures have yet to gather a richer cabinet of illustrative 
 and corroborating collections from the long buried and 
 unknown depositories of American antiquity. 
 
THK HOOK UNSRALED. 2i, 
 
 "■In reference to the question, whether all the races 
 of men have descended from one common stock, the 
 antiquities of this continent are especially interesting, 
 and may prove of very great value. It is a question, 
 indeed, forever settled by the researches of Bryant, 
 Faber and Sir William Jones: 'The dark Negro, the 
 white European, and the swarthy Asiatic, being plainly 
 traced to their respective ancestors in the family of 
 Noah.' But much confirmatory testimony may yet be 
 obtained. The contingent of America to the host of 
 evidence already in array is yet to take its entire place 
 in the line. If the present volume shall only increase 
 the ardor of investigation and the number of minds 
 turning their energies upon the disinterment of the 
 buried antiquarian treasures of this continent, jt will do 
 a good work and deserve the thanks of all lovers of 
 truth. — Kenyon College, Ohio, January, 1839." 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE JAREDITES FROM BABEL. 
 
 On pages 501-2, (new edition 445-6), of the Book 
 of Mormon is an account of the Jaredites who were* 
 led from the tower of Babel to a "choice land," '"be- 
 yond the sea." In answer to prayer they were permit- 
 ted to retain their language, which was the Adamic, 
 and so were not given a new language in the confusion 
 of tongues. The statement found in Gen. 9:18, 19, 
 confirms such position: "And of them [sons of Noah] 
 was the whole earth overspread." The foregoing dec- 
 laration was evidently intended to include in its fulfill- 
 ment events connected with the confusion of tongues 
 
2 2. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 at Babel. It is written: "So the Lord scattered 
 them abroad from thence upon the face of all the 
 earth. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; be- 
 cause the Lord did there confound the language of all 
 the earth, and from thence did the Lord scatter them 
 abroad upon the face of all the earth.'' — Gen. ii: 8, 9. 
 
 Opinions of many old Spanish writers were ex- 
 pressed in substance by Father Duran in 1585 in his 
 history, '-New Spain." "Adair the expert, and Eman- 
 uel De Moraes, agree that the Quichees by tradition 
 afifirm that they made a long journey by land and 
 crossed the sea from the east. The tradition of their 
 origin states that they came from the far east across 
 immense .tracts of land and water." 
 
 It is scarcely presumable that from the year 1492 
 A. D. to the year 1585 A. D., only ninety-three years 
 having elapsed, that the Indians could have had such 
 a tradition created and received a»nong them as com- 
 ing down through their sages, by their limited contact 
 with the treacherous Spaniards, who had from the very 
 beginning betrayed all confidence reposed in them. 
 
 "In Yucatan the traditions all point to an eastern 
 •AND FOREIGN origin for the race. The early writers 
 report that the natives believe their ancestors to have 
 crossed the sea by a passage which was opened for 
 them." — Landa's Relacion, p. 28. Atlantis 167. 
 
 I)r. Le Plongeon, in a newspaper article states: 
 "Of the Nahan predecessors of the Toltecs in Mexico 
 the Olmecs and Xicalancans were the most important. 
 They were the forerunners of the great race that fol- 
 lowed. According to Ixtlilxochitl. these people — 
 which are conceded to be one — occupied the world in 
 
IHF. H(10K UNSEALED. 2^^. 
 
 the third age; they came from the East in ships or 
 barks to the land of Potonchan, which they com- 
 menced to populate." Atlantis, p. 167. 
 
 From Josiah Priest: "If so, then it is clear that 
 the inhabitants of x\merica who had the knowledge of 
 this kind of fabrication, did indeed belong to an era 
 as ancient as the first people of Asia itself, and even 
 before the settlement of Europe; this is not a small 
 witness in favor of our opinion of the extreme antiquity 
 of those ancient works of the west." — Priest's Ameri- 
 can Antiquities, p. 258. 
 
 Pidgeon says: "That the present Indians and 
 the ancient Mound Builders were of distinct national 
 origin, is equally evident." — Traditions of Dee-Coo- 
 Dah, p. 101. 
 
 Equally as positive upon the distinct race, is Mac- 
 Lean: "An ancient race, entirely distinct from the 
 Indian, possessing a certain degree of civilization, 
 on<:e inhabited the central portion of the United 
 States. "t — Mound Builders, p. 13. 
 
 Bancroft says: "Most and the best authorities 
 deem it impossible that the Mound Builders were even 
 the remote ancestors of the Indian tribes; and while 
 inclined to be less positive than most who have written 
 on the subject respecting the possible changes that 
 have been effected by a long course of centuries, I 
 think that the evidence of a race locally extinct, is 
 much stronger here than in any other part of the con- 
 tinent." — Nat. Races of Pacific States, Vol. 4, p. 787. 
 
 Stephens, writing of the antiquity of Palenque, 
 says: "Here were the remains of a cultivated, pol- 
 ished AND PECULIAR PEOPLE who had passcd through 
 all THE STAGES incident to the rise and fall of nations, 
 
2 4. THE BOOK L'NSEAI-ED. 
 
 reached their golden age and perished entirely vs- 
 known/' — Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, Vol. 2, p. 
 
 356. 
 
 ''The most ancient civilization on this continent, 
 judging from the combined testimony of tradition, 
 records, and architectural remains, was that which 
 grew up under the favorable climate and geographical 
 surroundings which the Central American region south- 
 ward of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec afforded. The 
 great Maya family with its numerous branches, each in 
 >time developing its own dialect, if not its own peculiar 
 language, at an early date fixed itself in the fertile val- 
 ley of the river Usumasinta, and produced a civiliza- 
 tion which was old and ripe when the Toltecs came in 
 contact with it. Here in this picturesque valley re- 
 gion in Tabasco and Chiapas, we may look for the 
 cradle of American civilization. Under the shadow 
 of the magnificent and mysterious ruins of Palenque a 
 people grew to power, who spread into Guatemala and 
 Honduras, northward toward Anahuac and southward 
 into Yucatan, and for a period of, probably twenty-five 
 centuries, exercised a sway, which at one time, excited 
 the envy and fear of its neighbors. 
 
 ''We are fully aware of the uncertainty which at- 
 taches itself to tradition in general, and of the caution 
 with which it should be accepted in treating of the 
 foundation of history; but still, with reference to the 
 origin and growth of old world nations, nothing better 
 offers itself in many instances than suspicious legends. 
 The histories of the Egyptians, the Trogens, the Greeks, 
 and even of ancient Rome rest on no surer footing. 
 Clavigero says, the Chiapanese have been the first peo- 
 plers of the new world, if we give credit to their iradi- 
 
THE l!OOK UNSKALP.!). 25. 
 
 tions. They say that Votan, the grandson of that re- 
 spectable old man that built the great ark to save 
 himself and family from the deluge, anvl one of those 
 who undertook the building of that lofty edifice, which 
 was to reach up to heaven, went by express command 
 of the Lord to people that land. 
 
 ''The tradition of Votan, the founder of Maya cul- 
 ture, though somewhat warped, probably by having 
 passed through priestly hands, is nevertheless one of 
 the most valuable pieces of information which we have 
 concerning the Ancient Americans. Without it our 
 knowledge of the Mayas would be a hopeless blank and 
 the ruins of Palenque would be more a mystery than 
 ever. 
 
 "According to this tradition, Votan came from the 
 East, from Valum Chivim, by the way of Valum Votan, 
 from across the sea, by divine command, to apportion 
 the land of the new continent to seven families vvhich 
 he brought with him."- -North*Americans of Antiquity, 
 John T. Short, pages 203-4. 
 
 Short says, of Francisco Nunes de la Vega, Bishop 
 of Chiapas, who had read a book* or document discov- 
 ered by him and which is mentioned as a Votanic doc- 
 ument, ^'He fails to give any definite information from 
 the document except the most general statements wich 
 reference to Votan's place in the calendar, and his hav- 
 ing seen the tower of Babel, at vvhich each people was 
 given a new language."— Ibid 206. "While some of 
 the details of Votanic tradition are not worthy of a 
 moment's consideration, it is quite certain that in the 
 general facts we ha\e a key to the origin of what all 
 Americanists agree in pronouncing the oldest civiliza- 
 tion on this continent, one which was already gray and 
 
26. THE HOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 declining when the Toltecs entered Mexico. There is 
 not the slightest evidence that it originated in any other 
 place than in Chiapas where it is found, and extended 
 itself into Guatemala, Yucatan, and probably branched 
 northward in a colony as remote as Culhuacan " — Ibid 
 
 2 lO. 
 
 ''It is found in the history of the Toltecs that this 
 age and first world, as they call it, lasted 1716 years, 
 that men were destroyed by tremendous rains and light- 
 nings from the sky, and even all the land, without the 
 exception of anything, and the highest mountains were 
 covered up and submerged in water "^ * fifteen cubits 
 
 * * and how, after men multiplied, they erected a very 
 high * ^'' tower * * in order to take refuge in it, should 
 the second world [age] be destroyed. Presently the 
 language was confused, and not able to understand each 
 other, they went to different parts of the earth. The 
 Toltecs, consisting of s^ven friends and their wives, 
 who understood the same language, came to these parts, 
 
 * * 520 years after the flood." — Ibid 238. 
 
 In the introduction to his History General, (Saha- 
 gun) in speaking of the origin of this people, expresses 
 the opinion that it is impossible to definitely determine 
 more than that they report, "That all the natives came 
 from seven caves, and that these seven caves are the 
 seven ships or galleys in which the first populators of 
 the land came. This people came in quest of the ter- 
 restrial paradise, and were known by the name of Tam- 
 oanchan, by which they mean, "We seek our home " — 
 Ibid 242. 
 
 Delafield says: "A tradition exists among the na- 
 tive Mexicans f-earing close analogy to the Semitic ac- 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 27. 
 
 count of the flood, the building of the tower of Babel 
 and its destruction.'' — Antiquities, p. ^^. 
 
 And still more important from the same author: 
 '"Still farther and more important evidence, however, 
 renders the point conclusive that southern Asia was the 
 birth-]dace of this people, as we detect among them 
 actual traditions of the flood, the building of Babel and 
 the death of Abel; and from their cosmogony we think 
 we trace farther traditions of the famine and the destruc- 
 tion of the cities of the plain. These historical facts 
 stamp their origin conclusively, as they are peculiar to 
 those who have been once residents of the country 
 where the transactions occurred."" — Ibid, p. 41. 
 
 Bancroft says: "They believed the rainbow was 
 not only a passive sign that the earth would not be de- 
 stroyed by a second deluge, but an active instrument to 
 prevent the recurrence of such a catastrophe." — Na- 
 tional Races, Vol. 5, p. 17. 
 
 Again he says: "Many of these flood myths are 
 supplemented with an account of an attempt to provide 
 against a second deluge, by building a tower of refuge, 
 resembling more or less closely the Biblical legend of 
 the tower of Babel." — Ibid, p. 17. 
 
 He extends his remarks as follows: "These myths 
 have lead many writers to believe that the Americans 
 had a knowledge of the tower of Babel, while some 
 think that they are the direct descendants of the build- 
 ers of that tower, who, after the confusion of tongues, 
 wandered over the earth until they reached America." — 
 Ibid, p. 18. 
 
 Speaking of Votan, Bancroft says: "Votan, an- 
 other mysterious personage, closely resembling Quetz- 
 alcoatl in many points, was the supposed founder of 
 
28. THK H<)(JK UNSEALED. 
 
 the Maya civilization. He is said to have been a de- 
 scendant of Noah, and to have assisted at the building 
 of the tower of Babel. After the confusion of tongues, 
 he lead a portion of the dispersed people to America.'' 
 — Nat. Rac. Pac. States, Vol. 5, p. 27. 
 
 "The polished nations of the new world, and par- 
 ticularly those of Mexico; preserve in their traditions 
 and in their paintings the memory of the creation of 
 the world and of the building of the tower of Babel, 
 the confusion of language and the dispersion of the 
 people." — Short's American Antiquities, p. 140. 
 
 All of the above citations are very confirmatory of 
 the account cited in the Book of Mormon, respecting 
 the migration of the Jaredites to the western continent. 
 As to the peculiar construction of the vessels of the 
 Jaredite colony, (which are eight in number, seven of 
 which were used for the people, the remaining one 
 specially for their cargo), the following is very interest- 
 ing: "The little steamer Norton, which is to sail from 
 Long Island Sound for Southern* France to-morrow, is, 
 it is claimed by her builder and captain, a craft that 
 cannot sink. She is only fifty-eight feet in length, but 
 the most conspicuous feature about her is that she has 
 a double bottom and six ballast compartments Water 
 is admitted through holes in the outer bottom. When 
 the boat careens, the body of water between the bot- 
 toms presses the air in the compartments and acts as 
 a ballast, the air serving as a cushion. This prevents 
 the boat from capsizing or from diverging far from its 
 center, even in the roughest seas. It is claimed that 
 the double bottom and air tight compartments make it 
 impossible to sink should the boat be cut in two. If 
 the builder's theory be correct, its application will rev- 
 
VHK H(^Ok UNSF.ALED. 29. 
 
 c)lutionize naval architecture. The result of the Nor- 
 ton's first voyage will be awaited with great interest." 
 — Philadelphia Record, December 13, 1891. 
 
 "If Victor Hugo were now alive he would have a 
 new field, or new light on one of his old fields of work. 
 Navigating the sea has always been supposed to mean 
 plowing the surface, whatever the motor might be. 
 But we can now travel under the sea as well as on the 
 surface. Recent experiments have been made at Tou- 
 lon with a submarine boat, that proves to be a great 
 success. It runs from nine to ten knots, while the 
 light is good and respiration easy. The boat can be 
 moved in any direction, either vertically or horizontal- 
 ly. It will carry five persons. Of course its purport 
 is warfare, but there is no reason why such a boat may 
 not be applied to purposes more peaceful, especially to 
 aid scientific research."— Globe-Democrat, February 
 3d, 1889. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TWO DISTINCT AND HIGHLY CIVIL- 
 IZED PEOPLES. 
 
 '*The Neolithic and Bronze ages preceded the Pal- 
 eaolithic, at least in the Mississippi basin, not that the 
 last inhabitants deteriorated and lost the high arts 
 which are well known to have been cultivated upon 
 the same soil by them, but that they were preceded by 
 a race possessed of no inferior civilization, who were not 
 their ancestors, but a distinct people with a capacity 
 for progress, for the exercise of government, for the 
 erection of magnificent architectural monuments, and 
 
30. 
 
 THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 possessed of a respectable knowledge of geometrical 
 principles." — North Americans of Antiquity, (Short), 
 
 P- 27. 
 
 Pidgeon says: "From these facts in connection 
 with the traditions of De Coo Dah, respecting the an- 
 cient inhabitants of these regions, as of various lan- 
 guages, customs and color, we are led to the conclusion 
 that at least two distinct races of men have occupied 
 this territory at different eras, and that both became 
 nationally extinct anterior to the occupation of the 
 present Indian race.'' — Traditions of De Coo Dah, pp. 
 176-7. 
 
 Bancroft says: "The resemblance in the different 
 groups of ruins in Chiapas, Yucatan and Honduras, are 
 more than sufficient to prove intimate conneciion be- 
 tween the builders and artists. The differences poiated 
 out prove just as conclusively that the edifices were not 
 all erected and dedicated by the same people, under 
 the same laws and religious control,.at the same epoch." 
 — Native Races, Pacific States, Vol. 4, p. 359. 
 
 "It is a point of no little interest that these old 
 constructiotis belong to^ different periods in the past, 
 and represent somewhat different phases of cixiliza- 
 tion." * * "The attention of investigators has lin- 
 gered in speculation. They find in them a significance 
 which is stated as follows by Brasseur de Bourbourg: 
 'Among the edifices forgotten by time in the forests of 
 Mexico and Central America, we find architectural 
 characteristics so different from each other, that it is 
 impossible to attribute them to the same people as to 
 believe they were all built at the same epoch.'" — Bald- 
 win's Ancient America, pp. 155. 156, 
 
'IHK BOOK UNSF.ALED. 3 I. 
 
 We have now presented Short, Pidgeon, Bancroft 
 and Baldwin, four eminent authorities on there having 
 been two distinct peoples, and who preceded the abo- 
 rigines of America, in the possession of this land, which 
 supports the claim of the Book of Mormon for the 
 Jaredite and Nephite colonizations. These four author- 
 ities agreeing as to the "two distinct" peoples, and Mr. 
 Short classing them as having "capacity" for the "ex- 
 ercise of government," "erection of magnificent archi- 
 tectural monuments," and possessed of a "respectable 
 knowledge of geometrical principles," we shall now pre- 
 sent evidences of high civilization without classification. 
 
 Pidgeon says: "It cannot any longer be denied 
 that there has been a day when this continent swarmed 
 with millions of inhabitants, when the arts and sciences 
 flourished." — Antiquarian Researches, p. 5. 
 
 Of ancient America's knowledge of astronomy, 
 Donnelly says: "It will be conceded, that a consider- 
 able degree of astronomical knowledge must have been 
 necessary to reach conclusively that the true year con- 
 sisted of 365 days and six hours; (modern science has 
 demonstrated that it consists of 365 days, five hours, 
 less ten seconds), and a higher degree of civilization 
 was requisite to insist that the year must be brought 
 around 5y the intercalation of a certain number of days 
 in a certain period of time, to its true relation to the 
 season. Both were the outgrowth of a vast ancient 
 civilization of the highest order." — Atlantis, p. 368. 
 
 That Abraham was an astronomer, appears from a 
 statement made by Josephus: "Berosus," says he, "men 
 tions our father Abraham, not by name, but after this 
 manner: 'In the tenth generation after the flood there 
 were among the Chaldeans a righteous man, who was 
 
32. THE BOOK UNSEAf-ED. 
 
 also skilled in the knowledge of the heavens.' '" — Jose- 
 phus, Book 1, Chapter 7. 
 
 Abraham's posterity in Egypt first, then in America, 
 were versed in astronomy: "The Egyptians were the 
 first land surveyors, mathematicians and astronomers 
 of the old world. They calculated the eclipses and 
 periods of the planets and constellations from a remote 
 antiquity." — l^eginnings of Civilization, p. 35. and At- 
 lantis, p. 364. 
 
 The proficiency of the Aztecs, in astronomy is 
 thus spoken of by Prescott: "That they should be 
 capable of accurately adjusting their festivals by the 
 movements of the heavenly bodies, and should fix the 
 true length of the tropical year with a precision un- 
 known to the great philosophers of antiquity, could be 
 the result only of a long series of nice and patient ob- 
 servations, evincing no slight progress in civilization." 
 — Atlantis, p. 352. 
 
 Delafield says: "The investigations of Mons Bai- 
 ley in the astronomy of the ancients generally, of 
 Mons. Jomard in that of Egypt, and of Baron Hum- 
 boldt in that of Mexico and South America, present 
 most striking incidents of coincidence, not only their 
 division of time, but also in the Zodiacal signs.'' — Del- 
 afield, p. 48. 
 
 Mr. Jomard says: "I have also recognized in 
 your memoir on the division of time among the Mex- 
 ican nations, compared with those of Asia, some very 
 striking analogies between the Toltec character, and 
 institutions observed on the banks of the Nile. Among 
 these analogies is one worthy of attention. It is the 
 use of the vague year of three hundred and sixty-five 
 days, composed of equal months, and of five com- 
 
THE HOOK UNSEALED. T,;^. 
 
 pieinentary days equally employed at Thebes and Mex- 
 ico, a distance of three thousand leagues '' — Ibid, p. 52. 
 
 Mr. Schoolcraft gives this account of a discovery 
 iriade in West Virginia: "Antique tube; telescopic de- 
 vice. In the course of excavations made in 1842 in the 
 easternmost of three mounds of the Elizabethtovvn group, 
 several tirbes of stone were disclosed, the precise object 
 of which have been the subject of various opinions. 
 The longest measured twelve inches, the shortest eight. 
 Three of them were carved out of steatite, being skill- 
 fully cut and polished. The diameter of the tube, ex- 
 ternally, was one inch and four-tenths. The bore 
 eight-tentlis of an inch. The caliber was continued 
 until within three-eighths of an inch of the sight end, 
 when it diminishes to two-tenths of an inch. By plac- 
 ing the eve at the diminished end, the extraneous light 
 is shut from the pupil and distant objects are more 
 clearly discerned." ^^ * "An ancient Peruvian relic 
 found a few years since, shows the figure of a man 
 wrought in silver, in the act of studying the heavens 
 through such a tube.'' — Baldwin's Ancient America, 
 p. 42. 
 
 "It has been already stated that finely wrought 
 telescopic tubes have been found among remains of the 
 Mound Builders. They were used, it seems, by the an- 
 cient people of Mexico and Central America, and they 
 were known also in ancient Peru, where a silver figure 
 of a man in the act of useing such a tube has been dis- 
 covered in one of the old tombs." — Baldwin's Ancient 
 America, p. 123. 
 
 "•Montesinos gives a list of sixty-four sovereigns 
 who reigned (in Peru) in the first period.* * The 
 twenty-first Manco-Capac-Amauta, being adicted to 
 
34- 'I'H^> HOOK INSf.ALKD. 
 
 astronomy, convened a scientific council. * * Amauta, 
 the thirty-eighth of the line, Yahuar-Huquiz, the fifty- 
 first were 'celebrated for astronomical knowledge,' and 
 the latter 'intercalated a year at the end of four cen- 
 turies.' " — Ibid, pp. 264-6. 
 
 ''From the earliest ages, we find skill and knowl- 
 edge in astronomy, and the more we examine, the more 
 we are surprised at the extent of astronomical science 
 in the earliest history of the world." — Delatield's Amer- 
 ican Antiquity, p. 48. 
 
 "This is no slight analogy, to find the system of 
 intercalation and the number of complementary days 
 identical between Mexico and Egypt." — Ibid, p. 50. 
 
 "In the sanctuaries of Palenque are found sculpt- 
 ured representations of idols which resemble the most 
 ancient gods, both of Egypt and Syria; planispheres 
 and godiacs exist, which exhibit a superior astronomi- 
 cal and chronological system to that which was pos- 
 sessed by the Egyptians." — Ibid p. 50. 
 
 Priest, quoting Atwater: " 'On the whole,' says 
 Atwater, 'I am convinced from an attention to many 
 hundreds of these works in every part of the west which 
 I have visited, that their authors had a knowledge of 
 astronomy.'" American Antiquity, p. 273. 
 
 Le Plongeon, says: "The Troano, (Maya Book) 
 is a very ancient treatise on geology." — Sacred Mys- 
 teries, p. 70. So it will certainly appear that at that 
 day the science of geology was not without its devotees 
 and propagators in ancient America. Of "Chimu," a 
 city of South America, built by the ancients, Doiinelly 
 says: "Tombs, temples and palaces arise on every 
 hand, ruined but still traceable, immense pyramidal 
 structures, some of them a half mile in circuit; vast 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 35. 
 
 areas shut in l-y massive walls, each containing its wa- 
 ter tank, its shops, municipal edifices, and the dwell- 
 ings of its inhabitants, and each a branch of a larger 
 organization; prisons, furnaces for smelting metals, and 
 almost every concomitant of ci/ilization existed in the 
 ancient Chimu capital. "--Atlantis, p. 393. 
 
 Baldwin says: "To find the chief seats and most 
 abundant remains of the most remarkable civilization 
 of this old American race, we ^'- * go * "^ into Central 
 America and * * Mexico. * '•' Many ancient cities 
 have been discovered. * * The chief peculiarity of 
 these ruins, * * is the evidence they furnish that their 
 builders had remarkable skill in architecture and '■' 
 ornamentation. * * The rooms and corridors in these 
 edifices were finely and often elaborately finished; plas- 
 ter, stucco, and sculpture being used. * * "Through- 
 out," he again says, (quoting Stephens), "the laying 
 and polishing of the stones are as perfect as under the 
 rules of the best modern masonry. * * The ornamen- 
 tation is no less remarkable than the masonry and ar- 
 chitectural fitiish'." — Ancient Ainerica, pp. 93, 99. 
 
 The Marquis de Nadaillac, author of Prehistoric 
 America, says of the old civilization of Peru: "No- 
 where in the world, perhaps, has man displayed greater 
 energy. It was in these desolate regions that arose the 
 most powerful and most highly civilized empire of the 
 two Americas, * * imposing ruins, * * fortresses de- 
 fending it, * * roads intersecting it, * * canals con- 
 ducting the water for fertilizing the fields, * * houses 
 of refuge in the mountains for the use of travelers, * * 
 potteries, linen and cotton cloth, ornaments of gold and 
 silver, which are sought for by the Tapadas, with in- 
 satiable zeal." t — Prehistoric America, p ^S8. 
 
30. THE ROOK UNSEALED. 
 
 Priest says: ''The Americans were equal in an- 
 tiquity, civilization and sciences, to the nations of 
 Europe and Africa; like them the children of the Asiat- 
 ic nations." — Antiquities, p. 305. 
 
 Speaking of a portion of the ruins of l.abna, Steph- 
 ens says: ''Above the cornice of the building rises a 
 gigantic perpendicular wall to the height of thirty feet, 
 once ornamented from top to bottom and from one 
 side to the other with colossal figures and other designs 
 in stucco, now broken into fragments, but still present- 
 ing a curious and extraordinary appearance, such as the 
 art of no other people ever produced." — Incidents of 
 Travel in Yucatan, Vol. 2, p. 51. 
 
 Baldwin says: "At Palenque are remains of a 
 well built aqueduct; and near the ruins, especially in 
 Yucatan, are frequently found the remains of many 
 finely constructed aguadas or artificial lakes. * * These 
 antiquities show that this section of the continent was 
 anciently occupied by a people admirably skilled in 
 the arts of masonry, building, and architectural decor- 
 ation. Some of their works can not be. excelled by 
 the best of our constructors and decorators." — Ancient 
 America, p. loi. 
 
 Short says of Mexico: ''Here the silver-smith, 
 the sculptor, the artist and the architect, we are led to 
 believe, from the testimony of both tradition and re- 
 mains, flourished." — American Antiquities, p, 270. 
 
 Baldwin, of Central American ruins, says; "As to 
 the ornamentation, the walls, piers, and cornices are 
 covered with it. Everywhere the masterly workman- 
 ship and artistic skill of the old constructors compel 
 admiration, Mr. Stephens going so far as to say of 
 sculptured human figures found in fragments, Tn just- 
 
THE B(^OK UNSEALED. 37. 
 
 ness of proportion and symmetry, they must have ap- 
 proached the Greek Models. * * Dupaix says: 'It 
 is impossible to describe adequately the interior deco- 
 rations of this sumptuous temple.' 
 
 "Stephens states, in the Preface to his work on 
 Yucatan, that he visited forty-four cities or places." — 
 Ancient America, pp. 108-9, ^^5- 
 
 Baldwin says: "Here, (Copan) as at Palenque, the 
 ornamentation was 'rich and abundant.' The ruins, 
 greatly worn by decay, still show that 'architecture, 
 sculpture, painting and all the arts that embellish life, 
 had flourished in this overgrown forest.'" — Ancient 
 America, p. 113. * 
 
 Of ruins at Mitla, "Their beauty," says M. Char- 
 ney, "can be matched only by the monuments of Greece 
 and Rome in their best days." — Ibid., p. 121. 
 
 Of the ruin called "Kabbah," the author says: 
 "The cornice running over the doorways, tried by the 
 severest rules of art recognized among us, would em- 
 bellish the architecture of any known era." — Ibid., p. 
 
 137- 
 
 "Many ages must have been required to develop 
 such admirable skill in masonry and ornamentation." 
 —Ibid., p. 153. 
 
 In the late work of John T. Short, published in 
 1882, he tells the following concerning the city of 
 Palenque: *'The accompanying cut shows Waldeck's 
 drawing (employed by Mr. Bancroft), Four hundred 
 yards south of the palace stands the ruins of a pyramid 
 and temple, which at the time of Dupaix's and Wal- 
 deck's visits were in a good state of preservation, but 
 quite dilapidated when seen by Charney. The temple 
 faces the east, and on the western wall of its inner 
 
T^8. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 apartment itself facing the eastern light, is found, (or 
 rather was, for it has now entirely disappeared), the 
 most beautiful specimens of stucco relief in America. 
 M. Waldeck with the critical insight of an experienced 
 artist declares it worthy to be compared to the most 
 beautiful works of the a-ge of Augustus. He therefore 
 named the temple Beau Relief. The above cut is a 
 reduction from Waldeck's drawing used in Mr. Han- 
 croft's work, and is very accurate. However, the 
 peculiar beauty of Waldeck's drawing is such that it 
 must be seen in order to be fully appreciated. It is 
 scarcely necessary for us to call the reader's attention 
 to tlie details of this picture, in which correctness of 
 designs and graceful outlines predominate to such an 
 extent, that we may safely pronounce the beautiful 
 youth who sits enthroned on his elaborate and artistic 
 throne, the American Apollo. In the original drawing 
 the grace of the arms and wrists is truly matchless, and 
 the chest muscles are displayed in the most perfect 
 manner."— North Americans of Antiquity, p. 387. 
 
 The same author further writes of Palenque: "-The 
 stuccoed roofs and piers of both the temples — Cross and 
 Sun — may be truly pronounced works of art of a high 
 order. On the former, Stephens observed busts and 
 heads approaching Greek models m symmetry of con- 
 tour and perfectness of proportion. Mr. Waldeck has 
 preserved in his magnificent drawings some of these 
 figures, which are certainly sufficient to prove beyond 
 controversy that the Ancient Palenqueans were a culti- 
 vated and artistic people In passing to Uxmal the 
 transition is from delineations of the human figure, to 
 the elegant and exterior' superabundant ornamentation 
 of edifices, and from stucco to stone as the material 
 
THK BOOK UNSEALED. 39. 
 
 em, loyed. The human figure, however, when it is rep- 
 resented, is in statuary of a high order. The elegant 
 square panels of grecques and frets which compose the 
 cornice of the Casa del Gobernador, delineated in the 
 works of Stephens, Baldwin and Bancroft, are a marvel 
 of beauty which must excite the admiration of the most 
 indifferent student of the subject."— Ibid., p. 392. 
 
 Bancroft says in regard to the Peruvian antiqui- 
 ties: "The Peruvians seem to have had a more abund- 
 ant supply of metals than the civilized nations of North 
 America, and to have been at least equally skillful in 
 working them. The cuts show specimens of copper 
 cutting implements, of which a great variety are found. 
 Besides copper, they had gold and silver in much 
 greater abundance than the northern artisans, and the 
 arts of melting, casting, soldering, beating, inlaying 
 and carving these metals, were carried to a high degree 
 of perfection." — Native Races, Vol. 4, p, 792. 
 
 Bancroft says: "Closely enveloped in the dense 
 forests of Chiapas, Guatemala, Yucatan and Honduras, 
 the ruins of several ancient cities have been discov- 
 ered, which are far superior in extent and magnificence 
 to any seen in Aztec territory, and of which a de- 
 tailed description may be found in the fourth volume 
 of this work. They bear hieroglyphic descriptions ap- 
 parently identical in character; in other respects they 
 resemble each other more than they resemble the Aztec 
 ruins, or even other and apparently later works in Gua- 
 temala and Honduras. All these remains bear evident 
 remarks of great antiquity. Their existence and simi- 
 larity, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, 
 would indicate the occupation of the whole country, at 
 some remote period, by nations far advanced in civili- 
 
40. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 zation, and closely allied in manners and customs, if 
 not in blood and language. Furthermore, the tradi- 
 tions of several of the most advanced nations point 
 to a wide-spread civilization, introduced among a 
 numerous and powerful people by Votan and Zarana, 
 who, or their successors, built the cities referred to, 
 and founded great allied empires in Chiapas, Yucatan 
 and Guatemala. And moreover, the tradition is con- 
 firmed by the universality of one family of languages 
 or dialects spoken among the civilized nations, and 
 among their descendants to this day. I deem the 
 grounds sufficient, therefore, for accepting this Central 
 American civilization of the past as a fact." — Native 
 Races of Pacific States, Vol. 2, p. 116. 
 
 In regard to the ruins of Palenque, Stephens says: 
 "The intermediate country is now occupied by races of 
 Indians speaking many different languages, and entirely 
 unintelligible to each other; but there is room for be- 
 lief that the whole of this country was once occupied 
 by the same race, speaking the same language, or at 
 least having the same written characters." — Travels in 
 Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan, Vol. 2, p. 343. 
 
 William Hosea Bullou, in Scientific American for 
 January 26th, 1889, quoting Le Plongeon, says: "Here 
 (at Chichen) were many beautiful mineral paintings, 
 probably the only vestiges now existing of ancient 
 American art." 
 
 With regard to the calendar stone of Mexico, Ban- 
 croft says: "The calendar stone was a rectangular 
 parallelopipedon of porphyry, 13 feet,i^ inches square, 
 3 feet, 3)^ inches thick, and weighing in its present 
 mutilated state, 24 tons." — Native Race?, Vol. 4, p. 
 506. 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 41. 
 
 The concentric circles, the divisions, ami the sub- 
 divisions, without numbers are traced with mathematical 
 exactitude." — Ibid., p. 508. 
 
 Of this stone Short says: '*Thus it is that the 
 stone speaks and testifies to the astronomical knowledge 
 of the Aztecs, the accuracy of which casts into the 
 shade the imperfect Julian Calendar in use by Eu- 
 ropeans at the time of the conquest." — American An- 
 tiquities, p. 455. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that these various authors 
 clearly and distinctly affirm that the ancient denizens 
 of America possessed high culture, polish and civiliza- 
 tion. And so do they add their testimony in support 
 of the Book of Mormon, for that is in line with its 
 statements touching these things. 
 
 CHAPTER V. ^ 
 
 BOOKS, WEAVING AND DYEING, 
 
 Elder Wm. Woodhead, in writing for Herald, says: 
 "The following description of the 'Troano' will prob- 
 ably be a fair one, as to the merit of the 'many ancient 
 Maya books said to have been destroyed by the vandal- 
 ism of Landa and other early fathers.' 'The Troano,' 
 says Dr. Le Plongeon, 'is a very encient treatise on 
 geology.' " — Sacred Mysteries, p. 70. 
 
 Of writing in Central America, Baldwin says: "The 
 ruins show that they had the art of writing, and that at 
 the s&uth this art was more developed, more like a 
 phonetic system of writing than that found in use among 
 the Aztecs. * * It is known that books or manu- 
 script writings were abundant among them in the ages 
 previous to the Aztec period." — Ancient America, p. 
 187. 
 
42. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 It is evident then tliat these books were not the 
 fruits of as*!ociation with the Spaniards, for the Aztec 
 period antedated the Spaniards by some centuries. 
 
 Baldwin says: "These chroniclers had likewise to 
 calculate the days, months and years, and though they 
 had no writings like ours, they had their symbols and 
 characters through which they understood everything^ 
 and they had great books, which were composed with 
 such ingenuity and art, that our characters were really 
 of no great assistance to them. Our priests have seen 
 those books, and I myself, * * many were burned at 
 the instigation of the jnonks. * * Books, such as those 
 here described by Las Cassas must have contained im- 
 portant historical information." — Ancient America, p. 
 i88. Again: "We learn from Spanish writers that a 
 still greater destruction of the old books was effected 
 by the more ignorant and fanatical of the Spanish 
 priests wh% were established in the country as mission- 
 aries after the conquest. This is said by Las Cassas, 
 himself, one of the missionaries" — Ibid., 188-9 
 
 "There are existing monuments of an American an- 
 cient history which invites study, and most of which 
 might, doubtless, have been studied more successfully 
 in the first part of the sixteenth century, before nearly 
 all the old books of Central America had been destroyed 
 by Spanish fanaticism, than at present." — Baldwin's 
 Ancient America, p. 14. 
 
 "They were highly skilled, also, in the appliances 
 of civilized life, and they had the art of writing, a fact 
 placed beyond dispute by their many inscriptions." — 
 Ibid., 101. 
 
 "Sahagun wrote such a history, which shows that 
 he had studied the traditions and some of the old 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 43. 
 
 books; this work is printed in the great collection of 
 Lord Kingsborough."--Ibid., 191. 
 
 Delafield says: "Their buildings, particularly the 
 sacred houses, were covered with hieroglyphics. Each 
 race, Egyptian, Mexican and Peruvian recorded the 
 deeds of their gods upon the walls of their temples." — 
 American Antiquities,.- p. 60. 
 
 Speaking of a sculptured figure al Uxmal, Steph- 
 ens says: "Around the head of the principal figure 
 are rows of characters. We now discovered that these 
 characters were hieroglyphics." — Incidents of Travel 
 in Yucatan, Vol. i, p. 167. 
 
 "In Peru a paper was made of plantain leaves, and 
 books were common in the earlier ages. Humboldt 
 mentions books of hieroglyphical writings among the 
 Panoes, which were 'bundles of their paper resembling 
 our volumes of quarto.' "—Atlantis, p. 451. 
 
 Of the Aztec writing, Baldwin says: "Their skill in 
 architecture and architectural ornamentation did not 
 enable them to build such cities as Mitla and Palenque, 
 and their 'picture writing' was a much ruder form of 
 the graphic art than the phonetic system of the Mayas 
 and the Quiches." — Ancient America, p. 221. 
 
 From the above we are led to believe that a wide 
 contrast existed in the writings of the Ancient Americans. 
 Some were elegant in their artistic appearance, while 
 some were rude. 
 
 Bancroft describes one of them (the Troano) in 
 these words: "The original is written on a strip of 
 maguey paper about fourteen feet long and nine inches 
 wide, the surface of which is covered with a white var- 
 nish, on which the figures are painted in black, red, 
 blue, and brown. It is folded fan-like in thirty-five 
 
44- I'HK BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 folds; presenting, when shut, much the appearance of a 
 modern large octavo volume. The hieroglyphics cover 
 both sides of the paper, and the writing is consequent- 
 ly divided into seventy columns, each about five by 
 nine inches, apparently having been executed after the 
 paper was folded, so that the folding does not inter- 
 fere with the written matter. * "^ The regular lines 
 of written characters are uniformly black, while the 
 pictorial portions of what may perhaps be considered 
 representative signs are in red and blue, chiefly the 
 former, and the blue appears for the most part as a 
 background in some of the pages." — J. T Short, p. 422 
 
 This description of the Troano will probably be a 
 fair description of the "many" ancient Maya books 
 said to have been "destroyed by the vandalism of 
 Landa and other early Fathers." 
 
 Desire Charney says: "Documents were not want- 
 ing, and had the religious zeal of the men of that time 
 been less ill-judged, they would have found in the vari- 
 ous multiform manuscripts, in the charts or maps, in 
 the idols, in the pottery and living traditions, ample 
 and reliable materials from which to write an exhaust- 
 ive history of the Maya civilization." — Ancient Cities, 
 p. 270. 
 
 Some of the Peruvian tongues had names for pa- 
 per, and according to Montesino's writing, books 
 were common in the older times, that is to say, in ages 
 long previous to the Incas." — Baldwin's Ancient Amer- 
 ica, p. 255. 
 
 "Humboldt mentions books of hieroglyphica) 
 writings found among the Panoes, on the river Ucayli, 
 
THK B(^OK UNSEALED. 45. 
 
 * * A Franciscan missionary found an old man * * 
 reading one of these books to several young persons.*' 
 —Ibid., 255-6. 
 
 Boudinot says: "There is a tradition related by an 
 aged Indian of the Stockbridge Tribe, that their fathers 
 were once in- possession of a sacred book, which was 
 handed down from generation to generation, and at 
 last HID IN THE EARTH, since which time they have been 
 under the feet of their enemies."! — Star of the West." 
 
 Baldwin says of Mound Builders: "They manu- 
 factured cloth, but their intelligence, skill and civilized 
 ways are shown not only by their constructions and 
 manufactures, but also by their mining works." — An- 
 cient America, p. 6i. 
 
 McLean says: "The Mound Builders * * for their 
 principal raiment used cloth regularly spun with a uni- 
 form thread, and woven with a warp and woof. Frag- 
 ments of clothing have been taken from a low mound 
 near Charleston, Jackson county, Ohio. In construct- 
 ing the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton R. R., a 
 mound was cut through near Middleton, Ohio, and in 
 it ^ * was found cloth connected with tassals and orna- 
 ments. — Mound Builders," p. 73. 
 
 Donnelly says: "Their works in cotton and wool 
 exceed in fineness anything known in Egypt at that 
 time " (Time of conquest). — Atlantis, p. 395. 
 
 Of cloth made from the wool of Peruvian sheep, 
 Prescott says: "The cloth was finished on both sides 
 alike; the delicacy of the texture was such as to give to 
 it the lustre of silk; and the brilliancy of the dyes ex- 
 cited the admiration and envy of the European artizan." 
 — Prescott's Conquest of Peru, Vol. i, p. 149. 
 
46. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 Desire Charney says: "Toltecs "^ * had sculp- 
 tors, Mosaists, painters, and smelters of gold and silver; 
 and by means of molds, knew how to give metals every 
 yariety of shape; their jewelers and lapidaries could 
 imitate all manner of animals, plants, flowers, birds, 
 etc. Cotton was spun by the women, and given a bril- 
 liant coloring, both from animal and mineral sub- 
 stances; it was manufactured of every degree of fine- 
 ness so that some looked like muslin, some like 
 ploth and some like velvet. They had also the art of 
 interweaving with these the delicate hair of animals and 
 birds' feathers, which made a cloth of great beauty." — 
 Ancient Cities, p. 88. 
 
 Fragments of such cloth were to be seen at the 
 World's Fair. There are also some on exhibition at 
 the Chamber of Commerce Library, Denver, Colorado. 
 
 Baldwin in speaking of the Peruvians says: "They 
 had great proficiency in the arts of spinning, weaving 
 and dyeing. For their cloth they used cotton and 
 wool of four varieties of the llama, that of the vicuna 
 being the finest. Some of their cloth had interwoven 
 designs aad ornaments very skillfully executed. "■' * 
 They possessed the secret of fixing the dye of all col- 
 ors, flesh-color, yellow, gray, blue, green, black, etc., so 
 firmly in the thread, or in the cloth already woven, 
 that they never faded during the lapse of ages, even 
 when exposed to the air, or buried (in tombs) under 
 the ground. Only the cotton became slightly discol- 
 ored, while the woolen fabrics preserved their primi- 
 tive lustre. It is a circumstance worth remarking that 
 chemical analysis made of pieces of cloth of all the 
 different dyes prove that the Peruvians extracted all 
 their colors from theyegetable and none of the mineral 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 47. 
 
 kingdom. In fact, the natives of the Peruvian moun- 
 tains now use plants unknown to Europeans, producing 
 from them bright and lasting colors." — Ancient Amer- 
 ica, pp. 247-8. 
 
 "The American nations manufactured woolen and 
 cotton goods, they made pottery as beautiful as the 
 wares of Egypt. They manufactured glass, they en- 
 graved gems and precious stones." — Atlantis, p. 142. 
 
 "In both continents we find brick, glassware and 
 even porcelain." — Ibid., p. 350. 
 
 Priest mentioning a Mr. Brown says: "He dis- 
 covered in one mound an article of glass, in form 
 resembling the bottom of a tumbler, weighing five 
 ounces; it was concave on both of its sides. It is true 
 that although glass is said not to have been found out 
 till 644 of the Christian era, yet it was known to the 
 ancient Romans, * ^ Pompeii and Herculaneum buried 
 by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Among 
 the vast discoveries '^ * has been found one bow win- 
 dow, lighted with glass of a green tinge, or color." — 
 American Antiquities, p. 280. 
 
 Chambers says: "The invention of glass dates from 
 the earliest antiquity, and the honor of its discovery 
 has been contested by several nations. As the oldest 
 known specimens are Egyptian, its invention may with 
 great probability be attributed to that people." (1445 
 B. C.) — Chambers' Encyclopedia, Article, Glass. 
 
 I give one citation of many in the Book of Mor- 
 mon which are amply sustainsd by the above mentioned 
 authorities on weaving: "Behold their women did toil 
 and spin and did make all manner of cloth of fine 
 twined linen, and cloth of every kind." — Piano Edi- 
 tion, Book of Mormon, p. 394. 
 
CHAPTER VT. 
 ISRAEL IN AMERICA. 
 
 That Israel was to be scattered far wider than the 
 eastern continent, is evident from Isaiah ii: ii, 12: 
 '^And It shall come to pass that the Lord shall set his 
 hand again the second time to recover the remnant of 
 his people which shall be left, from Assyria, and from 
 Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from 
 Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hammath, and from 
 tlie islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign 
 for the nations and assemble the outcasts of Israel, and 
 gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of 
 the earth." 
 
 The liberal mention of lands, supplemented by 
 "and from the islands of the sea," covers all lands in 
 its scope. The "ensign for the nations," and to "as- 
 semble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the 
 dispersed of Judah, from the four corners of the earth," 
 contemplates the entire earth. The effort to "recover ' 
 outcast Israel and dispersed Judah must occur after the 
 year 70 A. D., when Judah was dispersed and Jerula- 
 lem destroyed. 
 
 The first desolation and scattering of Israel oc- 
 curred about 590 B. C, when the power of Babylon 
 wrought the complete overthrow of the Jews, and des- 
 troyed Jerusalem and burned the magnificent temple 
 erected by Solomon. 
 
• THE BOOK UNSEALED. 49. 
 
 The first restoration occurred about 520 B. C, 
 when their beloved Jerusalem was restored, and the 
 temple rebuilt, under the splendid patronagl^ and aid 
 of Cyrus, king of Persia, the great ruler of the east. 
 
 The second desolation and scattering came in the 
 year 70 of the Christian era, when the famed city, 
 "beautiful for situation," and "the joy of the whole 
 earth," was laid in ruins, and the second temple razed 
 to the- ground, when the Jews perished by pestilence, 
 famine and war; and only a reinnant escaped, to endure 
 exile and captivity under the yoke of the Roman Em- 
 pire. 
 
 The second restoration, which is so plainly pre- 
 dicted by the prophet, can only occur after the second 
 scattering and exile of that people; and therefore, must 
 have its fulfillment subsequent to the year 70 of the 
 Christian era. 
 
 The prophet Amos said: "And I will plant them 
 upon their own land, and they shall no more be pulled 
 up out of their land, which I have given them, saith the 
 Lord thy God " — Amos 9:15. 
 
 "My sheep wandered through all the mountains, 
 and upon every high hill; yea, my flock was scattered 
 upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or 
 seek after them. For thus sailh the Lord (xod: Behold, 
 I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them out. 
 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock, * * so will I seek 
 out my sheep * * out of all places * =^ I will bring 
 them out from the people, and gather them from the 
 countries, and will bring them into their own land." — 
 Ezek. 6: 1 1, 13. 
 
 The above, presents vividly, the extensive scatter- 
 ing of the past, and the complete gathering yet to be, 
 
50. THE BOOK UNSEALED. » 
 
 and Israel being planted in "their own land" from 
 which they were ''outcast" and "dispersed." Israel 
 here called "sheep" are so mentioned by Christ; "Go 
 not into the way ui the Gentiles, and into any cit}^ of 
 the Samaritans enter ye not:' But go rather to the lost 
 sheep of the house of Israel" — Matt, lo: 5, 6. God, 
 who "hath determined the times before appointed" 
 and the ''bounds" of "habitation," gave the "sure 
 word of prophecy" portraying the history of his chosen 
 ])eople, ere it came to pass; and so we are enabled to 
 trace Israel, by ancient promise and prophecy to the 
 land of America. 
 
 Genesis 48: 11-20, relates the blessing of Joseph's 
 sons, Manasseh and Ephriam, by Jacob; Ephriam, the 
 younger receives the special, or "right hand" blessing, 
 while the custom was in favor of the first born. Of the 
 two, Jacob said, "He [Manasseh] also shall be great, 
 but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, 
 and his seed shall become a multitude of nations * * 
 and he set Ephriam before Manasseh. Genesis 49: 22- 
 26, presents the blessings of God to Joseph's posterity. 
 "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a 
 well, whose branches run over the wall, [or that sur- 
 rounding that continent, the sea]. The God of thy 
 fathers * * shall help thee, * * the Almight)' * * 
 shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above [reve- 
 lation]; blessings of the deep that lieth under: blessings 
 of the breast and of the womb. The blessings of thy 
 father have prevailed above the blessings of my progen- 
 itors unto the utmost bound [afar off] of the everlast- 
 ing hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph and on 
 the crown of the head cf him that was separated from 
 his brethren." 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 5 I. 
 
 The geographical extent of the lands of the pro- 
 genitors of Jacob, (Abraham and Isaac) is described 
 minutely, and nations mentioned who were occupying 
 it. "And the Lord appeared unto Abraham and said, 
 Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there he builded 
 an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him." — 
 Gen. 13: 15. ''For all the land which thou seest, to 
 thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever." — Gen. 12: 
 7. "In that same day the Lord made a covenant with 
 Abraham, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, 
 from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river 
 Euphrates: The Kennites, Kenizzites, * * Kadmon- 
 ites, * *■ Hittites, Perizzites, * * Rephaim, * * Am- 
 orites, * * Canaanites, Girgashites, * * and the Jebu- 
 sites." — Gen, 15: 18-21. 
 
 "And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after 
 thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land 
 of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be 
 their God,"--Gen. 17: 18. 
 
 While the above described and limited country was 
 given to Abraham and his seed, to Joseph and his seed, 
 God added that "over the wall, [sea] unto the utmost 
 bounds of the everlasting hills," or those farthest away. 
 
 Deut. ^^: 13-17, gives a description of Joseph's 
 land. "And of Joseph he said. Blessed of the Lord be 
 his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew 
 and the deep that coucheth beneath, * * precious 
 fruits brought forth by the sun, * * the moon, * * 
 chief things of ancient mountains, * * precious things 
 of the lasting hills, and for the precious things of the 
 earth and the fullness thereof, and for the good will of 
 him that dwelt in the bush, let the blessings come upon 
 
52. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of 
 him that was separated from his brethren." 
 
 The description thus given through Moses of 
 Joseph's land must certainly apply to that land "afar 
 off" "the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills," 
 and cannot describe that little strip of tribal inheritance 
 upon the coast of the Mediterranean sea. There was 
 nothing of special significance in the blessing of the 
 land upon the Mediterranean, that such a glowing and 
 enlarged statement of its luxuriance and richness should 
 have been given. "Blessed be his [Joseph's] land for 
 the precious things of heaven above." This we under- 
 stand to be revelation from God. 
 
 Now we ask, What special blessing of God did 
 Joseph receive in his first or tribal inheritance? We 
 know of none. But after going over and beyond the 
 sea, or "wall" as the prophet describes it, their record, 
 the Book of Mormon, tells us that God in his loving 
 kindness and eternal wisdom, gave to them the revela- 
 tion of his will concerning them from time to time. 
 The land of America will certainly do justice to the 
 splendid description of Joseph's land given by the 
 prophet. For this is a choice land above all other 
 lands of the earth; varied in its richness of climate, of 
 soil, of mineral resources, abounding in all things the 
 heart could desire, from the ice-bound regions to those 
 of the tropics, affording almost all the fruits of the 
 earth. All of these things point to the Western conti- 
 nent as Joseph's land. This theory is supported by the 
 following texts: "O vine of Sibmah, I will weep, for 
 thee with the weeping of Jazer; thy plants are gone 
 over the sea." — Jer. 48:32. "For the fields of Hesh- 
 bon languish, and the vine of Sibmah; the lords of the 
 
THK BOOK UNSEALED. 53. 
 
 heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof 
 * * they have gone over the sea." — Isaiah i6: 18. 
 
 As identifying the ''vine of Sibmah," "whose plants 
 are gone over the sea," "for of old time have I broken 
 thy yoke, and burst thy bands." — Jer. 2: 20. This 
 clearly describes the freeing of Israel from Egyptian 
 bondage, as does alsoi "Thou hast brought a vine out 
 of Egypt, thou hast cast out the heathen and planted 
 it." — Ps. 80: 8. Joseph's posterity, the "branches of 
 the fruitful bough," which were to "run over the wall;" 
 the plants of the "vine of Sibmah," are, without doubt, 
 of Israel. 
 
 Now if they went over the sea, or "wall," as the 
 prophet termed it, where did they go? What other 
 land save the Western Continent can fulfill the terms of 
 prophetic description, as given by Moses? We know 
 of none. Surely it is not found in Europe, or among 
 the nations of Asia. Here was the land, "choice above 
 all other lands." • 
 
 Besides this evidence of a portion of Israel emi- 
 grating from the eastern to the western continent is the 
 warning of the Prophet Jeremiah, disclosing King Neb- 
 uchadnezzar's "purpose,"- and the warning of God, com- 
 manding them to flee. "Flee, get you far off; dwell 
 deep, [go secretly, unobserved], O ye inhabitants of 
 Hazor, saith the Lord, for Nebuchadnezzar hath taken 
 counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose 
 against you. x\rise, get you up unto the wealthy na- 
 tion, that dwelleth without care saith the Lord, which 
 have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone. And 
 their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their 
 "cattle a spoil, and I will scatter into all winds them 
 
54- 'i'HE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 that are in 'the utmost corners, and I will bring their 
 calamity from all sides thereof, saith the Lord." — Jer. 
 49:30-32. 
 
 The following points are prominent: First, l^hey 
 were to "flee;" "get >ou far off;" "dwell deep;'' (go 
 unobserved). Second, They were to go to a "wealthy 
 nation that dwelleth without care," one occupying a 
 land "alone," and, therefore, had neither "gates nor 
 bars' to keep away others, as was the case upon the 
 eastern continent. Third, 'I'he camels of the "wealthy 
 nation" were to be a "booty;" "the multitude of their 
 cattle a spoil." Fourth, Those by whom the "booty" 
 and the "spoiT' should be left, were to be "scattered to 
 all winds," carried away, obliterated, become extinct; 
 "them that are in the utmost corners" their "calamity" 
 was to "come from all sides;" such was the case with 
 the Jaredite nation in every point. They were "afar 
 off," "wealthy," "dwelt alone," without gates or bars; 
 having grown wicked, were in a continual war, for the 
 last-battle of which the armies were four years in gath- 
 ering, and in which their extinction was accomplished. 
 (See close of Book of Esther, Book of Mormon.) 
 
 The Nephites wrote: "And we did find upon the 
 land of promise as we iourneyed in the wilderness, that 
 there were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the 
 cow, and the ox, and the ass, and the horse, and the 
 goat, and the wild goat, and all manner of wild ani- 
 mals, which were for the use of men, and we did find 
 all manner of ore, both of gold, silver and of copper." 
 — Book of Mormon, p. 43. 
 
 When the Book of Mormon was published, the 
 horse in particular, as also other of the domestic ani- 
 mals, was supposed not to have been on the Western 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 55. 
 
 Coniinent until brought by the Spaniards ''In North 
 America * * in the Champlain period there wrere great 
 elephants, and mastodons, oxen, horses, stags, beaver, 
 and some edentates in quarternary North America, un- 
 surpassed by any in the world." — Text Book of Ge- 
 ology, J. D. Dana, L. L. D., p. 325. 
 
 The Marquis de Naidaillac says: "It is the same 
 in America, animals of the equine race that were so 
 numerous in early geologic times, had long since dis- 
 appeared on the arrival of the Spaniards." — Prehistoric 
 Peoples, p. 158. 
 
 Prof. F. V. Hayden, U. S. Surveyor, Report 1873: 
 ''The skeleton, which I excavated with my own hands 
 from the side of a bluff, adds considerably to our 
 knowledge of this genus of horses." — Page 524. 
 
 Speaking of the Aceratherium, Megalodus says: 
 *'This large species and the A. Crassus Leidy, were 
 very abundant during the Pliocftie period in Western 
 North America. Their remains are everywhere min- 
 gled with those of horses and camels." — Page 520. 
 
 The American Encyclopedia says: "Its fossil re- 
 mains, chiefly molar teeth, have been so frequently 
 found, especially in the southern and western states and 
 in Sputh America, and have been so carefully examined 
 by competent palaeontologists, that no doubt can re- 
 main of the former existence of the horse in the west- 
 ern world. * * Prof. Leidy says there is no room to 
 doubt the former existence of the horse on the Amer- 
 ican continent, at the same time with the mastodon, and 
 that 'man probably was his companion,'" — See article 
 Horse. 
 
 Prof. Alexander Winchell says: "I have myself 
 observed the bones of the mastodon and elephant im- 
 
56. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 bedded in peat at depths so shallow that I could readi- 
 ly believe the animals to have occupied the country 
 during its possession by the Indians, and gave publica- 
 tion to this conviction in 1862. More recently, Prof. 
 Holmes, of Charleston, has informed the Academy of 
 Natural Science of Philadelphia, that he finds upon the 
 banks of the Ashley river a remarkable conglomeration 
 of fossil remains in deposit of post-tertiary age. Re- 
 mains of the hog, horse and other animals of recent 
 date, together with human bones, stone arrow-heads, 
 hatchets and fragments of pottery, are there lying min- 
 gled with the bones of the mastodon and extinct 
 gigantic lizards. Cotemporary with these American 
 animals, but not yet found associated in their remains 
 with the relics of the human species, lived in North 
 America horses much larger than the existing species, 
 grazing in company with wild oxen and herds of bison 
 and shrub-loving taj^rs. The streams were dammed 
 by the labors of gigantic beavers, while the forests af- 
 forded a range for a species of hog, and a grateful dwell- 
 ing place for numerous edentate quadrupeds related to 
 the sloth, but of gigantic proportions."" — Sketches of 
 Creation, pp. 356-7. 
 
 "It is a curious fact that so many genera, now ex- 
 tinct from the continent, but living in other quarters of 
 the globe, were once abundant on the plain« of North 
 America. Various species of the horse have dwelt 
 here for ages, and the question reasonably arises 
 whether the wild horses of the Pampas may not have 
 been indigenous. Here, too, the camel found a suita- 
 ble home." — Ibid., p. 210. 
 
 "Recent discoveries in the fossil beds of the Bad 
 Lands of Nebraska prove that the horse originated in 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. * 57. 
 
 America. Professor Marsh, of Yale College, has identi- 
 fied the several preceding forms from which it was de- 
 veloped, rising, in the course of ages, from a creature 
 not larger than a fox until, by successive steps, it de- 
 veloped in the true horse. * * The fossil remains 
 of the camel are found in India, Africa, South Amer- 
 ica and in Kansas. The existing alpacas and llamas 
 of South America are but varieties of the camel fam- 
 ily. ''— Atlantis, p 54-5- 
 
 Desire Charney believes that he has found in the 
 ruiiis of Tula the bones of "swine and sheep" '"in a fos- 
 sil state, indicating an immense antiquity."- Ibid., p. 
 
 Of four varieties of the Peruvian sheep, the llama, 
 the one most familiarly known, is the least valuable on 
 account of its wool." — Prescott's Conquest of Peru, 
 Vol. I, p. 147. 
 
 In The Youth's Companion of March 30th, 1882, 
 is the following article: "The Mastodon a Recent 
 Animal. — It has been common with a class of scientists 
 to class the mastodon among animals which became 
 extinct many ages ago. And as the bones of men and 
 extinct species of animals have been found mingled 
 together, it was inferred that man may have had a re- 
 mote antiquity, reaching back a hundred thousand 
 years or more. But the following facts from Prof. 
 Collett's Geological Report of Indiana, go to show 
 that the mastodon disappeared at a quite recent period. 
 A skeleton was discovered in excavating the bed of the 
 canal a few miles north of Covington, in wet peat. 
 The teeth are in good preservation, and when the 
 larger bones were cut open, the marrow^ still preserved, 
 was utilized by the bog cutters to "grease" their boots. 
 
58. ' THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 Pieces of sperm-like substance, two and a half or three 
 inches in diameter, occupied the place of the kidney- 
 fat of the monster. During the summer of 1880, an al- 
 most complete skeleton of a mastodon was found in 
 Illinois which must have survived until the vegetation 
 of to-day prevailed. The tusks formed each a full 
 quarter of a circle; were nine feet long, twenty-two 
 inches in circumference at the base, and weighed one 
 hundred and seventy pounds. The lower jaw was well 
 preserved with a full set of magnificent teeth, and is 
 nearly three feet long. On inspecting the remains 
 closely, a mass of fibrous, bark-like material, was found 
 between the ribs, filling the place of the animal's 
 stomach. When carefully separated, it proved to be a 
 crushed mass of herbs and grasses, similar to those 
 which still grow in the vicinity. In the same bed of 
 miry clay a multitude of small fresh-water and land 
 shells were observed. These mollusks prevail all over 
 the State of Illinois, Indiana, and parts of Michigan, 
 and show conclusively that the animal and vegetable 
 life, and consequently climate, are the same now as 
 when this mastodon sank in his grave of mire and 
 clay." 
 
 From Independent Patriot, November 20, 1890: 
 The skeleton of a mastodon found at Higate, forty 
 miles west of St. Thomas, Canada, is on exhibition in 
 that town. The area of the graves where the monster's 
 bones were found is thirty-five by twenty-on^ feet. 
 bones were scattered over it, one joint fitting into the 
 other in a bed of gray merl about six feet below the 
 rface. Over the merl is a thick layer of black, 
 loamy soil. The length of the animal, gauged by the 
 measurements of the bones already found, and allowing 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 59. 
 
 for those that have not yet been discovered, is, from 
 the point of the nostril to the root of the tail, about 
 twenty-one feet. This is greater than that of the cele- 
 brated "'Mastodon giganteu^"" discovered near New- 
 burg, N. Y., in the summer of 1845, ^^^ ^^^^ skeleton, 
 as a whole, is larger and more complete than any that 
 have been found in Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, Cali- 
 fornia or Oregon. — Scientific American. 
 
 Prof. VVm. Larrabee, A. M., in '"Lectures on the 
 Scientific Evidence of Natural and Revealed Religion," 
 says: "'The Mastodon was a native of North America. 
 He resembled the elephant, but was much larger." — 
 p. 312. 
 
 In the Chicago Times for April 26, 1882, was the 
 following concerning the elephants of Ancient America: 
 "Jumbo wasn't a circumstance to the elephants that 
 used to stamp around this country." 
 
 Priest in his American Antiquities says of skeleton 
 of Mastodon in Philadelphia Museum: The ribs are. 
 six inches in width, and in thickness three. The whole 
 skeleton as it is, with the exception of a few bones, 
 weighs one thousand pounds." — p. 151. 
 
 Of another skeleton discovered in Louisiana, on 
 the Mississippi: "The largest bone, which was thought 
 to be the shoulder-blade, or jaw bone, is twenty feet 
 long, three broad, and weighed one thousand two hun- 
 dred pounds." — Ibid., p. 155. 
 
 In the Chamber of Commerce Library at Denver, 
 Colorado, may be seen and labeled thus: "Tooth of 
 Prehistoric Elephant, unearthed in 1871, Corner Lari- 
 mee and Sixteenth streets; weight twenty-one pounds." 
 
6o. THK BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 Another relic labcletl: "Portion of tusk of Mammoth, 
 found in Douglas county; the total length of tusk when 
 found, eleven feet." 
 
 "We know that the equine type of quadrupeds ex- 
 isted in America from the period of the Eocene. We 
 are in fact, acquainted with twenty one species of horse- 
 like animals, and the genus of true horses has been 
 traced down to the times preceding the present." — 
 Prof. A. Winchell, Chancellor, Syracuse University, 
 Evolution, p. 82. 
 
 Prof. Cooper, in a lecture 1875, ^^ ^^^ Francisco, 
 said that during the "Pliocene epoch" in California, 
 ''through the luxuriant forests roamed a llama as large 
 as a bactrian camel; herds of huge buffalo disported in 
 the meadows along with wild horses of a giant race." f 
 
 "In the later fauna were the remains of a number 
 of species of extinct camels, one of which was of the size 
 of the Arabian camel, and a second about two-thirds 
 as large; also a smaller one. * * Although no horses 
 were known to exist on this continent prior to its dis- 
 covery by Europeans, yet Dr. Leidy has shown that 
 before the age of man, this was emphatically the coun- 
 try of horses. Dr. Leidy has reported twenty- seven 
 species of the horse family which are known to have 
 lived on this continent prior to the advent of man." — 
 U. S. Surveyor, F. V. Hayden's Great West, p. 44- 
 
 The Book of Mormon mentions two large, very 
 large animals, classing them with the elephant. The 
 statement as found in Chambers' Encyclopedia, Vol. 6, 
 Article Mastodon, is therefore full of significance: 
 "Eleven or twelve species have been described from 
 the Miocene, Pliocene and Pleistocene strata in Eu- 
 rope, Asia and America." 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 6l. 
 
 Of the third and smaller number of people who 
 migrated to the western continent, it is recorded on 
 page 137, Book of Mormon, that they came from Jeru- 
 salem when Zedekiah, who was afterward carried cap- 
 tive into Babylon, was king of Judah. Of this people 
 the prophet Ezekiel says: "Thus saith the Lord God, 
 I will also take the highest branch of the high cedar, 
 and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young 
 twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon a high moun- 
 tain and eminent. In the mountain of the height of 
 Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, 
 and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar; and under it 
 shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the 
 branches thereof shall they dwell" -Ezek. ry: 22, 23. 
 
 First, King Zedekiah was of Israel. Second, 
 Those taken from his household were to be planted in 
 the "mountain of the height of Israel," where a gov- 
 ernment would arise in which could "dwell" all "fowl 
 of every wing," or men from all the races, as is the 
 case in America. 
 
 The Prophet Isaiah, describes in a graphic manner 
 the Western Continent: "Woe to the land shadowing 
 with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia." — 
 Isaiah 18: i. 
 
 First, The American continent is in the form of a 
 pair of wings. Second, It lies west, or beyond the 
 rivers of Ethiopia, from where the prophet had his 
 abode, at Jerusalem. 
 
 Zephaniah 3: 10, "From beyond the rivers of 
 Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughters of my dis- 
 persed, shall bring mine offering." This text presents 
 the people of the western land, or that land "beyond 
 
62. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 the rivers of Ethiopia," bringing offering, which sup- 
 ports all that is claimed in the foregoing chapter in re- 
 gard to the location of Israel. 
 
 For Joseph, whose posterity was to come to the 
 Western Continent, as hitherto shown, there was to be 
 a record. "The word of the Lord came again unto 
 me, saying, Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one 
 stick, and write upon it, for Judah, and for the children 
 of Israel his companions; then take another stick, and 
 write upon it, for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and 
 for all the house of Israel his companions: And join 
 them one to another into one stick; and they shall be- 
 come one in thine hand. And when the children of 
 thy people shall speak unto thee, saying. Wilt thou not 
 show us what thou meanest by these.-* Say unto them. 
 Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick 
 of Joseph, which is in the hands of Ephraim, and the 
 tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, 
 even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, 
 and they shall be one in mine hand." — Ezek. 37: 15-19. 
 
 First, there is to be a stick (record) for '"Judah" 
 and "Israel his companions." Second, "Another stick" 
 (record) for "Joseph in the hand of Ephraim, and 
 Israel his companions." Third, They are to be joined 
 "one to another," and thus made companion volumes. 
 Fourth, God was to put the stick (record) in the hand 
 of Ephraim with that of Judah, which, in the preserva- 
 tion of the records of the Book of Mormon and their 
 translation was fulfilled. Fifth, Ephraim's pre-emi- 
 nence, as shown in his blessing, is clearly brought to 
 light, in his possession of the "stick of Joseph," and 
 "Joseph's land." The Western Continent is therefore 
 provided with its record, as was the eastern, with the 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 63. 
 
 record of God's dealings with his people upon that 
 land. 
 
 The prophet says: "I have written to him the 
 great things of my law, but they were accounted as a 
 strange thing." — Hosea 8: 12. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 HEBREW RELICS, CUSTOMS AND LANGUAGE 
 
 IN AMERICA. 
 
 Bancroft says: "The theory that the Americans 
 are of Jewish descent has been discussed more minutely 
 and at greater length than any other. Its advocates, 
 or at least those of them who have made original re- 
 searches, are comparatively few, but the extent of their 
 investigations and the multitude of parallelisms they 
 adduce in support of their hypothesis exceed by far any- 
 thing that we have yet encountered." — Native Races, 
 Vol. 5, pp. 77-8. 
 
 Mr. George Catline says: "I believe with many 
 others that the North American Indians are a mixed 
 people; that they have Jewish blood in their veins, 
 though I would not assert, as some have undertaken to 
 prove, that they are Jews, or that they are the "ten lost 
 tribes" of Israel. From the character and composition 
 of their heads, I am compelled to look upon them as an 
 amalgam race, but still savages, and from many of their 
 customs, which seem to me peculiarly Jewish, as well 
 as from the character of their heads, I am forced to 
 believe that some part of those ancient tribes who have 
 been dispersed by Christians in so many ways, and in 
 so many different eras, have found their way to this 
 country where they have entered among the native 
 
64. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 Stock. I am led to believe this from the very many 
 customs which I have witnessed among them, that ap- 
 pear to be decidedly Jewish, and many of them so 
 peculiarly so, that it would seem almost impossible, or, 
 at all events, exceedingly improbable, that two peoples 
 in a state of nature should have hit upon them and 
 practiced them exactly alike. The first and most 
 striking fact among the North American Indians that 
 refers us to the Jews, is that of their worshiping in all 
 parts, the "Great Spirit," or Jehovah, as the Jew^s were 
 ordered to do by divine precept, instead of a plurality 
 of gods, as ancient pagans and heathens did, and the 
 idols of their ov\n formation."— Catlin's North Amer- 
 ican. Indians, p. 232. 
 
 Mr. Catlin then offers "twelve reasons" why he ac- 
 cepted the idea that the American Indians are descend- 
 ants from the Israelites in some way, and as his in- 
 vestigations contain many facts which enter into this 
 discussion, I offer them for consideration: First, "The 
 Jews had their sanctum sanctorum, and so it may be 
 said the Indians have, in their council or medicine 
 houses, which are alwa)'s held as sacred places." Sec- 
 ond, "x'\s the Jews had, they have their high priests 
 and their prophets." Third, "Among the Indians, as 
 among the ancient Hebrews, the women are not allowed 
 to worship with the men, and in all cases also they eat 
 separately." Fourth, "The Indians everywhere believe 
 that they are certainly like those ancient people, perse- 
 cuted, as every man's hand seems to be raised against 
 them." Fifth, "In their marriages, the Indians, as did 
 the ancient Jews, uniformly buy their wives by giving 
 presents, and in many tribes, very closely resemble 
 them in other forms and ceremonies of their marriages." 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 65. 
 
 Sixth, "In their prep>--ration for war, and in peace- 
 making, they are strikingly similar." Seventh, "In their 
 treatment of the sick, burial of the dead, and mourn- 
 ing, they are also similar." Eighth, "In their bathing 
 and ablutions, at all seasons of the year, as a part of 
 their religious observances — having separate places for 
 men and women to perform these immersions — they re- 
 semble again." Ninth, "The customs among women of 
 absenting themselves during the lunar influences, is ex- 
 actly consonant to the Mosaic law." Tenth, "After this 
 season of separation, purification in running water and 
 annointing, precisely in accordance with the Jewish 
 command, is required before she can enter the family 
 lodge." Eleventh, "Many of them have a feast close- 
 ly resembling the annual feast of the Jewish Passover, 
 and amongst others, an occasion much like the Israel- 
 itish feast of the Tabernacle, which lasted eight days 
 (when history tells us they carried bundles of wil- 
 low bows and fasted several days and nights) making 
 sacrifices of the first fruits and best of everything, 
 closely resembling the sin offering of the Hebrews. 
 (See the history in Vol. i, pp. 159-170 of Religious 
 Ceremonies of the Mandarins)." Twelfth, "Amongst^ 
 the list of their customs, however, we meet a number 
 which had their origin, it would seem, in the Jewish 
 ceremonial code, and which are so very peculiar in their 
 forms that it would seem quite improbable, and almost 
 impossible, that two different peoples should have hit 
 upon them alike, without some knowledge of each other. 
 These, I consider, go farther than anything else, as evi- 
 dence, and carry, in my mind, conclusive proof that 
 these people are tinctured with Jewish blood." — Ibid., 
 Vol. 2, pp 232-235. 
 
66. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 Joseph Merrick gave the following account, that in 
 1815 he was leveling some ground * * situated on 
 Indian Hill * * discovered * * a black strap, * * threw 
 it into an old tool box, * * later found it, * * was 
 formed of two pieces of thick raw hide, sewed and made 
 water-tight, with sinews of some animal, and gummed 
 over * * in the fold was contained four pieces of 
 parchment. They were of a dark yellow hue and con- 
 tained some kind of writing. The neighbors * * tore 
 one of the pieces to atoms, * * the other three pieces 
 Mr. Merrick saved and sent them to Cambridge where 
 they were examined and discovered to have been writ- 
 ten by a pen in Hebrew, plain and legible. The writing 
 on the remaining pieces of parchment was quotations 
 from the Old Testament." — Ibid., p. 93. 
 
 Mr. A. A. Bancroft thus describes a relic: "A slab 
 of stone of "hard and fine quality, an inch and a half 
 thick, eight inches long, four and a half inches wide at 
 one end, and tapering to three at the other. Upon the 
 face of the slab was the figure of a man, apparently a 
 priest, with a flowing beard and a robe reaching to his 
 feet. Over his head was a curved line of characters, 
 and upon the edge and back of the stone were closely 
 and neatly carved letters. The slab, which I saw my- 
 self, was shown to the Episcopalian clergyman of New- 
 ark, and he pronounced the writing to be the Ten Com- 
 mandments in ancient Hebrew." — Antiquities of Lick- 
 ing Co., Ohio., or Bancroft, Vol. 5, p. 95. 
 
 The following is a representation of the supposed 
 "key stone," found 29th of June, i860, (near Newark^ 
 Ohio, by D. Wyrick): "This stone is in the shape and 
 size represented by the cuts, and has upon each of the 
 four sides a Hebrew inscription in the Hebrew charac- 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 67. 
 
 ter, which when translated reads: 'The King of the 
 earth;' 'The word of the Lord;' 'The laws of Jehovah;' 
 'The Holy of Holies ' Another stone, 'encased in a stone 
 box buried some twenty feet in the earth * * was found 
 on the first of November, 185 i,' has 'four cuts on its four 
 sides,' * * with the characters on each side, the Eng- 
 lish of which appears to be an abridgement of the Ten 
 Commandments. The translation was given by J. W. 
 McCarty. The word 'Moses' and the statement 'Who 
 brought them out of the land of Egypt,' * * appears 
 above an image on the stone." — Pamphlet entitled "A 
 representation of the two stones with the characters in- 
 scribed upon them, one found by D. Wyrick during 
 the summer of •i860, near Newark, Ohio." 
 
 Of four stones and Rev. Miller's lecture on relics 
 found in Ohio, Elder Josiah Ellis, of Pittsburgh, Pa., 
 wrote to the Herald in 1866, the following: "Rev. R. 
 M. Miller, lecturing in the First Presbyterian church, 
 Alleghany, Pa., on relics found near Newark, Ohio, 
 containing Hebrew inscriptions, exhibited a photograph 
 of a stone head, on the forehead of which was written 
 in Hebrew, 'May the Lord have mercy on an untimely 
 birth.' The original was owned by Mr. Tenant, of 
 Newark, Ohio. Another relic owned by Mr. Strock, 
 of Newark, contained in Hebrew: 'It is good to love 
 the aged;' and, 'The heart is deceitful.' A third relic, 
 in the shape of a wedge, had on its respective four sides 
 in Hebrew: 'The Lord is king of all the earth;' 'The 
 sword of the Lord is the law;' 'The Holy of Holies;' 
 'The jew of life is the Lord awakening souls.' A fourth, 
 called a Teraphim or household god by Mr. Miller, 
 (he quoted Judges, 17th chapter, to prove it), was eight 
 inches long, three wide and two thick, having a depres- 
 
68. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 sion on one side half an inch deep, in which was carved 
 a figure of a man dressed in priestly robes, over the 
 head the word Moses, on the back and edges was the 
 Ten Commandmenis. This Teraphim was found by 
 digging into a very large mound, two and a half miles 
 from Newark, Ohio, at some depth, and in a stone box, 
 in i860, and was owned by David Johnson, of Coshoc- 
 ton, Ohio. 
 
 "The Rev. Miller seemed a good Hebrew scholar as 
 he read and criticised the language in the presence of 
 several of the theological professors of the Presbyterian 
 college of Alleghany City. He stated that he had 
 shown them to several learned Rabbis, and they were 
 agreed that the Hebrew characters wertf of a date be- 
 yond Ezra. 
 
 "Mr. Miller described on a black-board, the differ- 
 ence of formation of the letters before and after that 
 period. His conclusions were: First, That some of the 
 tribes or parts of tribes of Israel had once inhabited 
 this land; Second, That they were Mound Builders." 
 
 Of these stones or similar ones, "The Prophetic 
 Watchman" of September 14th, 1866, said: "We are 
 all more or less acquainted with the so-called 'Indian 
 Mounds,' found in various parts of our country. * * 
 For centuries it has been a most interesting subject of 
 inquiry as to who built these mounds and whence came 
 their builders. Within the last few years some relics 
 have been discovered which are thought to throw light 
 upon the subject. The first is a little coarse sand stone, 
 not quite an inch and a half high by two inches long. 
 It was found in the 'Wilson Mound' and bears the face 
 of a human being. On the forehead are five distinct 
 Hebrew characters, which are interpreted to mean 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED . 69. 
 
 'May the Lord have mercy on him (or me) an untime- 
 ly birth,' evidently an expression of humiliation. The 
 second relic from the same mound is a stone closely 
 resembling lime stone. It is rather triangular than 
 square in its form, and yet differs widely from both. 
 It represents an animal, and contains four human faces 
 and three inscriptions in Hebrew, signifying devotion, 
 reverence and natural depravity. The^third stone was 
 found in i860, about three miles from Newark. It is 
 shaped like a wedge and is about six inches long, taper- 
 ing at the end. On one end is a handle and at the top 
 are four Hebrew inscriptions. The last relic is an ob- 
 ject of much interest; it was found in i860, and has 
 engraved upon it, Moses and the Ten Commandments. 
 One side is depressed and the reverse protrudes. Over 
 the figure is a Hebrew word signifying Moses. The 
 other inscriptions are almost literally the words found 
 in some parts of the Bible, and the Ten Commandments 
 are given in part and entirely, the longest being abbre- 
 viated. The alphabet used, it is thought, is the original 
 Hebrew one, as there are letters not known in the He- 
 brew alphabet now in use, but bearing a resemblance to 
 them. xAll things on this stone point to the time before 
 Ezra." 
 
 G. R. Lederer, editor "Israelite Indeed," wrote in 
 May, 1861: "We suppose that many if not most of 
 our readers have seen in religious, as well as in secular 
 papers, the accounts of some relics which were found 
 a few months ago in a mound near Newark, Ohio- 
 These relics consist of stones of strange shapes, bear- 
 ing Hebrew inscriptions, which makes the case particu- 
 larly interesting to me as a Hebrew. * * In calling 
 a few days ago on my friend, Mr. Theodore Dwight, 
 
70. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 (the Recording Secretary of the American Ethnological 
 Society and my associate in the editorship of this maga- 
 zine), my eyes met with the very object of my desire. 
 That I examined these antiquities carefully none of our 
 readers will, I think, entertain any doubt. I recognized 
 all the letters except one, (the ayin) though the forms 
 of many of them are different from those now in use." 
 
 According *to the statement of the Book of Mor- 
 mon, that portion of Israel known as the Nephites and 
 Lamanites came over to the Western Continent about 
 600 B. C. Usher's chronology locates Ezra's proph- 
 ecy, ending 556 B. C. It would be of the current He- 
 brew in its letters and forms of the times of Ezra, that 
 the Nephites would have brought with them. The fact 
 that the Hebrew discovered upon the relics already 
 described, is clearly of that period, is a strong proof 
 in support of the claim made in the Book of Mormon, 
 This is the stronger, when it is known that since A. D. 
 1829, the searcher and seeker after the curious of an- 
 tiquity have been at work, constantly increasing the 
 volume and variety of evidence, all in confirmation of 
 the testimony of this book. 
 
 Of the Indians, Priest says: "Their Jewish cus- 
 toms are too many to be enumerated in this work. He- 
 brew words are found among the American Indians in 
 considerable variety." --x\merican Antiquities, pp. 59, 
 
 65. 
 
 Palacio relates that at Azori in Honduras, the na- 
 tives circumcised boys before an idol called lcelca."f 
 —Carta, p. 84 
 
 "Both Malvenda and Acosta affirm that the natives 
 observed a jubilee year according to Israel's usage." — 
 A Star in the'West, p. 250. 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED 7 1. 
 
 Acosta says: "That the South Amjerican Indians 
 dress like the ancient Jews, that they wear a square lit- 
 tle poke over a little coat." — Ibid., 249. 
 
 Mr. Edwards, in his history of the West Indies says: 
 "The striking conformity of prejudices and customs of 
 the Charivee Indians to the practice of the Jews has 
 not escaped the notice of historians, as Gamella and 
 Du Terte and others." — Ibid., 250. 
 
 "The Indians to the eastward say that in Central 
 and eastern America, previous to the white people com- 
 ing into the country, their ancestors were used to the 
 custom of circumcision, but latterly, not being able to 
 assign any reason for so strange a practice, their young 
 people insisted upon it being absolved." — Ibid., 113. 
 
 "Dr. Beattie in Beattie's Journal says, of a visit he 
 paid the Indians on the Ohio about the year 1770, that 
 an old Christian Indian informed him that an old uncle 
 who had died about t728, related to him several cus- 
 toms and traditions of former times; and among others, 
 that circumcision was practiced among the Indians long 
 ago, but their young, making mock of it, brought it in- 
 to disrepute, and so it came to be disused." — Ibid., 1 13. 
 
 "Souard, in his Melenges De Literature, or literary 
 miscellanies, speaking of the Indians of Guiana, says, 
 on the authority of a learned Jew, Isaac Nasci, residing 
 at Surinan, * * that the language of the Indians, which 
 he calls the Galibe dialect, "*" * is soft and agreeable 
 to the ear, abounding in vowels and synonyms, and pos- 
 sessing a syntax as regular as it would have been had 
 it been established by an academy. This Jew asserts 
 that all the substantives are Hebrew. The word 
 expressive of sotil in each language, means breath. 
 They have the same word in Hebrew to denominate 
 
72, 
 
 THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 God, which means, Master or Lord." — Ibid., 107. 
 
 Lact, in his description of South America, says, 
 that he had often heard the Indians repeat the word 
 "Hallelujah;" others attest that "Jehovah" or "Yeho- 
 vo" is found in frequent use. — Ibid., 249. 
 
 H. A. Stebbins reported for the Herald: "A 
 learned Indian, lecturing in Wisconsin in 1868, said that 
 five hundred Indian words within his knowledge were 
 Hebrew." 
 
 A table of words and phrases is furnished by Dr. 
 Boudinot, Adair and others, to show the similarity, in 
 some of the Indian languages, to the Hebrew, and that 
 the fornier must have been derived from the latter. 
 The following is an example afforded from the sources 
 quoted: 
 
 WORDS. 
 
 ENGLISH. INDIAN. IIEBKATC, OK C'lIALDAU:. 
 
 Jehovah, 
 
 Yohewah, 
 
 Jahoveh. 
 
 God, 
 
 Ale, 
 
 Ale, Aleim. 
 
 Jah, 
 
 Yah or Wah, 
 
 Jah. 
 
 Shiloah, 
 
 Shilu, 
 
 Shiloh. 
 
 Heavens, 
 
 Chemim, 
 
 Shemim. 
 
 Father, 
 
 Abba, 
 
 Abba. 
 
 Man, 
 
 Ish, Ishie, 
 
 Ish. 
 
 Woman, 
 
 Ishto, 
 
 Ishto. 
 
 Wife, 
 
 A wah. 
 
 Ewah, Eve. 
 
 Thou, 
 
 Keah, 
 
 Ka. 
 
 His wife, 
 
 Liani, 
 
 Lihene. 
 
 This man, 
 
 Uwoh, 
 
 Huah. 
 
 Nose, 
 
 Nichiri, 
 
 Neheri. 
 
 Roof of a house, 
 
 Taubanaora, 
 
 Debonaou. 
 
 Winter, 
 
 Kora, 
 
 Korah. 
 
 Canaan, 
 
 Canaai, 
 
 Canaan. 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 73- 
 
 ENGLISH. 
 
 
 INDIAX. 
 
 HEBKAIC, OK< IIAI.DAIC, 
 
 To pay, 
 
 
 Phale, 
 
 Phalace. 
 
 Now, 
 
 
 Na, 
 
 Na. 
 
 Hind part, 
 
 
 Kesh, 
 
 Kish. 
 
 Do, 
 
 
 Jennais, 
 
 Jannon. 
 
 To blow. 
 
 
 Phaubac, 
 
 Phauhe. 
 
 Rushing wind. 
 
 
 Rowah, 
 
 Ruach. 
 
 Ararat, or high 
 
 Mt., 
 
 Ararat, 
 
 Ararat. 
 
 Assembly, 
 
 
 Ivurbet, 
 
 Grabit. 
 
 My skin, 
 
 
 Nora, 
 
 Ourni. 
 
 Man of God, 
 
 
 Ashto Alio; 
 
 Ishda Alloa 
 
 Waiter of the high 
 
 
 
 priest, 
 
 
 Sag^n, 
 
 Sagan. 
 
 PARTS OF SENTENCES. 
 
 ENGLISH. INDIAN. HEBREW. 
 
 Very Hot, Heru hara or hala, Hara hara. 
 
 Praise to the first 
 
 cause, Hallehuwah, Hallelujah. 
 
 Give me food, Natoni boman, Natoni bamen. 
 
 Go thy way, Bayon boorkaa, Bona bonak. 
 
 Good be with you, Halea tibon. Ye hali etonboa. 
 
 My necklace, Yene Kali, Vongali. 
 
 I am sick, Nane guale, Nance heti. 
 
 • — Star of the West, pp. 100-107. 
 Rev. Ethen Smith says: "Their languages in their 
 roots, idioms and particular construction, appear to 
 have the whole genius of the Hebrew; and what is very 
 remarkable, have most of the peculiarities of that lan- 
 guage, especially those in which it differs from most 
 other languages. "f— The American Indians, pp. 98-101. 
 In regard to the ruins of Palenque, Stephens says: 
 "The intermediate country is now occupied by races of 
 
74- THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 Indians speaking many different languages and entirely 
 unintelligible to each other; but there is room for the 
 belief that the whole of this country was once occupied 
 by the same race, speaking the same language, or at 
 least having the same written characters." — Travels in 
 Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan, Vol. 2, p. 343. 
 
 CHAPTER Vin. 
 
 EGYPTIAN RESEMBLANCE AND LANGUAGE 
 
 IN AMERICA. 
 
 Of Moses it is said: "-*And Moses was learned in 
 all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in 
 words and deeds." Acts 7:22. He was also supposed 
 to have entered the Egyptian priesthood, as was the 
 custom for kings' sons, except those who were en- 
 throned."! — Fragmental History, Vol. 2, p. 580. 
 
 It will be remembered that during Joseph's sojourn 
 in Egypt, he became distinguished in learning, as no 
 doubt others did during those times. The contact of 
 the children of Israel with the Egyptians for hundreds 
 of years, during which time flourished a Joseph and a 
 Moses, skilled in all the learning of that renowned 
 land, and the services of Moses as their instructor for 
 forty years, would certainly be sufficient to establish 
 Egyptian customs and language with that people. And 
 if Israel came to America, we may reasonably look for 
 and expect Egyptian traces and resemblances in 
 America. 
 
 Deiafield says: '*On a review then of the archi- 
 tectural evidence, we trace identity between the Mexi- 
 cans and Peruvians and the Egyptians, in (First) the 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 75- 
 
 coincidence in the pyramidal sarcophagi and temples, 
 and their peculiar structure. (Second.) The posses- 
 sion of the same architectural and mechanical genius 
 which enabled them to remove masses, which our me- 
 chanical skill has not attained to. (Third.) The 
 peculiarity of hieroglyphic inscription of the zodiac 
 and planispheric sculpture in their sacred buildings. 
 (Fourth.) An identity of architectural and sepulchral 
 decorations. (Fifth.) An analogous construction of 
 bridges. (Sixth.) A singular analogy in the specimen 
 given of their sculpture." — Delafield, p. 6i. 
 
 Bancroft says: '"Resemblances have been found 
 between the calendar systems of Egypt and America, 
 based chiefly upon the length and division of the year, 
 and the number of intercalary and complementary 
 days.'" — Native Races, Vol. 5, p. 62. 
 
 Pidgeon says: "Ancient Egypt, first in science 
 and famous in art, has also left her impress here. In 
 1775 some of the first settlers in Kentucky, whose curi- 
 osity was excited by something remarkable in the ar- 
 rangement of stones that filled the entrance to a cave, 
 removed them, and on entering, discovered a number 
 of mummies, preserved by the art of embalming in as 
 great a state of perfection as was known by the ancient 
 Egyptians 1800 years before Christ, which was about 
 the time the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt. This 
 custom would seem as purely Egyptian, and was prac- 
 ticed in the earliest age of their national existence. A 
 trait of national practice so strong and palpable as is 
 this peculiar art, should lead the mind without hesita- 
 tion to the belief that wherever it was practiced, its 
 authors or pupils existed." — Traditions of De Coo Dab, 
 p. 19, Also Priest's American Antiquities, pp. 1 14-1 17. 
 
76. ■ THK BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 ''But at Lexington, Kentucky, the traits are too 
 notorious to allow them to be other than pure Egyptian, 
 in full possession of the strongest complexion of their 
 national character, that of embalming, which was con- 
 nected with their religion." — Priest's American An- 
 tiquities, p. 119. 
 
 "One of the most interesting sources of compari- 
 son between Mexico, Peru, and Egypt, is to be found 
 in an investigation of their hieroglyphic system. Each 
 of these countries had a peculiar method of recording 
 events by means of hieroglyphic signs, sculpturing 
 them on monuments and buildings, and portraying 
 them on papyrus and maguey."— -Delafield's American 
 Antiquities, p. 42. 
 
 "It is the opinion of the author that further inves- 
 tigations and discoveries in deciphering Mexican hiero- 
 glyphic paintings will exhibit a close analogy to the 
 Egyptian in the use of two scriptural systems; the one 
 for monumental inscription, the other for ordinary pur- 
 poses of record and transmission of information. We 
 find the three species of hieroglyphics common to Mex- 
 ico and Egypt." — Ibid., p. 46. 
 
 Le Plongeon says: "The ancient Maya hieratic 
 alphabet, discovered by me, is as near alike to the an- 
 cient hieratic alphabet of the Egyptians, as two alpha- 
 bets can possibly be, forcing upon us the conclusion 
 that the Mayas and the Egyptians either learned the 
 art of writing from the same masters, or that the 
 Egyptians learned it from the Mayas." — Sacred Mys- 
 teries, p. 1 13. 
 
 "In tracing, then, the ancestry of the Mexicans 
 and Peruvians, by analogy in their hieroglyphic system, 
 where shall we take them but to Egypt and south- 
 
THK BOOK UNSEALED 77. 
 
 ern Asia.?" — Delafield's American Antiquities, p. 47. 
 
 Of a comparison of quotations given on page 51, 
 Delafield says: ''Th^e quotations we consider very 
 positive evidence of an early identity between the ab- 
 original race ot America and the southern Asiatic and 
 Itgyptian family." — American Antiquities, p- 51. 
 
 "Let us now take a brief review of the analogical 
 evidence of an identity of the family of Mexico and 
 Peru with that of Hindostan or Egypt to simplify 
 which we name the several coincidences, which have 
 been specified in their proper order." — Ibid., p. 65. 
 On the same page then follows twenty-six coinci- 
 dences under seven- headings. 
 
 "As to the Mexicans it would be superfluous to ex- 
 amine how they obtained their knowledge. Such a 
 problem would not soon be solved; but the fact that 
 the intercalation of thirteen days in every cycle, that is, 
 the use of a solar year of three hundred and sixty-five 
 and one fourth days, is proof that it is either borrowed 
 from the Egyptians, or that they had a common origin " 
 — Delafield's American Antiquities, p. 53. 
 
 Elder R. M. Elvin in writing for Herald, says: 
 "Wm. Hosea Ballou in the Scientific American of Jan- 
 uary 6th, 1889, gives the following statement from Dr. 
 Le Plongeon, 'Here (Uxmal) were many beautiful min- 
 eral paintings, probably the only vestiges now existing 
 by ancient American Art. * * They were on the walls, 
 which were smoothly and beautifully plastered. The 
 paintings were" in vegetable colors the same as upon the 
 tombs of Egypt. They represent the history of the 
 life of the individual buried beneath the mausoleum.' " 
 
 Bancroft says: "The columns of Copan stand de- 
 tached and solitary, so do the obelisks of Egypt do the 
 
78. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 same, both are square or four sided and covered with 
 the art of the sculptor." — Native Races, Vol. 5, p. 60. 
 
 "Strange indeed that even*the obelisks of Egypt 
 have their counterpart in America. Molina, in his his- 
 tory of Chili says: 'Between the hills of Mendoza and 
 La Punta is a pillar of stone one hundred and fifty feet 
 high and twelve feet in diameter.' "t - History of Chili, 
 tom. I, p. 169. 
 
 The report of the Davenport Academy of Science 
 for 1882, in the description of the stone tablet says: 
 "This tablet, * * represents a planetary configuration, 
 th*e twelve signs of the Zodiac known to all nations of 
 old, and seven planets conjoined' with six different 
 signs. * * The figures of the signs are the same which 
 we find depicted on Egyptian, Greek, Roman and other 
 monuments."— Presidency and Priesthood, p. 286. 
 
 "There is a very distinct resemblance in some of 
 these hieroglyphics (of Central America) to those of 
 Egypt." — Prehistoric America, p. 328 or Presidency 
 and Priesthood, p. 269. 
 
 "Above the door and simulating windows (in the 
 valley of Youcay, one of the tributaries of the Amazon), 
 we meet again with the Egyptian 'tau' that we have 
 already seen at Palenque." — Ibid^, p. 417. 
 
 "The ornamentations of the buildings resemble that 
 upon Egyptian monuments." — Ibid., p. 324. 
 
 "Statues resemble those of Egypt and head dress 
 a little like that of the Assyrians." — Ibid., p. 327. 
 
 "They wore a head dress that has been pronounced 
 Egyptian." — Ibid., p. 392. 
 
 As to the hieroglyphical writing, Delafield says: 
 "Their buildings, particularly the sacred houses, were 
 covered with hieroglyphics. Each race, Egyptian, 
 
IHK BOOK UNSEALED 79. 
 
 Mexican and Peruvian recorded the deeds of their gods 
 upon the walls of their temples." — Inq. Origin Ameri- 
 can Antiquities, p. 60. 
 
 Wm. Woodhead contributing to Herald writes: 
 ''The shape of the temples (in Yucatan and Central 
 America) was that of the Egyptian letter M, called 
 ma i 1 , a word that also means 'place,' 'country' 
 and, by extension, 'the Universe.' The Egyptians 
 adopted it, therefore, not because they believed, as Dr. 
 Fanton suggests, that the earth was square or oblong; 
 for they knew full well it was spherical, but becuase the 
 sign of the word 'ma' conveyed to their mind the idea 
 of the earth, as the word 'earth' represents it to ours. 
 But ma is also the radicalof Mayax; and likewise, in 
 the Maya language, it means 'the country,' 'the earth.' " 
 — Sacred Mysteries, p. ;^^. 
 
 Again he says, concerning prehistoric man in Cen- 
 tral America: "In all the buildings, whatever their 
 size, the ground plan was in the shape of an oblong 
 square, 1 i that is of their letter M, pronounced ma 
 Ma is, the contraction of Mam, the ancestor, as they de 
 nominated the Earth, and by extension, the Universe 
 Ma is also the radical of Mayax, the name of the Yu 
 catecan peninsula, in ancient times. * * in Egypt 
 and in Mayax the figure i in the hieroglyphics 
 
 stands for Earth and Universe." — Ibid., p. 62. 
 
 i ! "It is the letter M, pronounced Ma, of the 
 Maya and Egyptian ancient alphabets. It is the radi- 
 cal of Mayax, name of the empire. But Ma in Egypt 
 as in Mayax, is a word that signifies country, and by 
 extension, Universe; and in Mayax as in Egypt I 1 ' is 
 one of the signs for land." — Ibid., p. 104. 
 
 Now this is curious enough, isn't it, that a people 
 
8o. THE BOOK UNSKAI,KD. 
 
 that sixty years ago were said to have been nearly sav- 
 ages with '•*no mental culture or intellectual develop- 
 ment," should be now found to represent the earth by 
 the same hieroglyphic that the enlightened Egyptians 
 did. Both nations represented the earth by the same 
 sign, and it is remarkable, too, that the same sign 
 should not only be the same in form, but also the same 
 in meaning in both countries, in their hieroglyphics and 
 ^•Iphabets! The sign ' 1 "conveyed to their minds 
 the idea of the earth, as the word 'earth' represents it 
 to ours," and did not mean to them an earth with four 
 corners; "they knew full well it was spherical." The 
 fact is, "they knew the rotundity of the earth, which 
 it was supposed Columbus had discovered." See At- 
 lantis, p. 364. 
 
 We will now proceed a step further,, and see what 
 is said concerning the Yucatan or Landa alphabet. 
 
 "It is astonishing to notice that while Landa's "B 
 is, according to Valentine, represented by a footprint, 
 and that path and footprint are pronounced Be in the 
 Maya dictionary, the Egyptian sign for B was the 
 human leg. Still more surprising is it that the H of 
 Landa's alphabet is a tie of cord, while the Egyptian 
 H is a twisted cord. * * But the most striking coin- 
 cidence of all occurs in the coiled or curled line repre- 
 senting Landa's U, for it is absolutely identical with 
 the Egyptian curled U. The Mayan word for to wind 
 or bend is Uuc; but why should the Egyptians, con- 
 fined as they were to the valley of the Nile, and abhor- 
 ing, as they did, the sea and sailors, write their U pre- 
 cisely like Landa's alphabet U in Central America? 
 There is one other remarkable coincidence between 
 Landa's and the P2gyptian alphabets; and, by the way. 
 
I 
 
 THE BOOK UNSEALEU. 8 1 
 
 the English and other Teutonic dialects have a curious 
 share in it. Landa's D (T) is a disk with Jines inside 
 the four quarters, the allowed Mexican symbol for a 
 (lay or sun. So far as sound is concerned, the English 
 day represents it; so far as form is concerned, the 
 Egyptian 'cake,' ideograph for (i) country and (2) the 
 sun's orbit, is essentially the same." — ''Proceedings of 
 the American Philosophical Society," December, 1880, 
 p. 154, as quoted in Atlantis, p. 2^11. 
 
 Donnelly commenting on the Landa Alphabet says: 
 "It would appear as if both the Phienicians and Egyp- 
 tians drew their alphabets from a common source, of 
 which the Maya is a survival, but did not borrow from 
 one another. They followed out different characteris- 
 tics in the same lOriginal hieroglyph, as, for instance, 
 in the letter b. xAnd yet I have shown that the closest 
 resemblances exist between the Maya alphabet and the 
 Egyptian signs [of this system] in the c, h, t, i, k, 1, 
 ra, n, o, q, and s eleven letters in all; in some cases, 
 as in the n and k, the signs are identical; thek, in both 
 alphabets, is not only a serpent, but a serpent with a 
 protuberance or convolution in the middlel If we add 
 to the above the b and u, referred to in the 'Proceed- 
 ings of the American Philosophical Society,' we have 
 thirteen letters out of sixteen in the Maya and Egyptian 
 related to each other. Can any theory of^ accidental 
 coincidences account for all this? And it must be re- 
 membered that these resemblances are found between 
 the only two phonetic systems of alphabets in the 
 world." — Atlantis, p. 232. 
 
 The Phoenicians here referred to were the people 
 that occupied Tyre and Sidon in Bible history, and 
 were neighbors to the Jews, with whom they appear to 
 
$2. THK BC^OK UNSEALED. 
 
 have been related. It was "Hiram," king of Tyre, 
 that furnished skilled workmen to Solomon. (See 
 I Kings 7: 13, etc.) 
 
 From the above we learn that these three ancient 
 nations, viz: Egyptians, Phoenicians and Central 
 Americans, seem to have had originally the same alpha- 
 bet; and either one people learned and derived their 
 alphabet from the other, or each drew from a common 
 source; but each afterward separately followed out dif- 
 ferent characteristics in the changes they made, and 
 did not borrow from one another. That is precisely 
 what the Book of Mormon teaches about ancient iVmeri- 
 can writing. Lehi and his colony brought with them 
 from Jerusalem to America a knowledge of Egyptian 
 writing as the Jews at Jerusalem taught it. And Moroni 
 says the Egyptian writing known to them had been 
 changed by the Nephites "according to our manner of 
 speech." Now the characters on the plates were not 
 exactly the same as any one of the systems of Egyptian 
 writing; but were one of those systems "reformed." 
 
 But to the alphabet again. 
 
 Lee us suppose that two men agree that each shall 
 construct apart from the other a phonetic alphabet of 
 sixteen letters; that they shall employ only simple 
 forms (combinations of straight or curved lines), and 
 that their signs shall not in any wise resemble the let- 
 ters now in use. They go to work apart; they have a 
 multitudinous array of forms to drsiw from — the thous- 
 and possible combinations of lines, angles, circles, and 
 curves; when they have finished, they bring their alpha- 
 bets together for comparison. Under such circum- 
 stances it is possible that out of sixteen signs one sign 
 might appear in both alphabets; there is one chance in 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. S^. 
 
 a hundred that such might be the case; but there is not 
 one chance in five hundred that this sign should in both 
 cases represent the same sound. It is barely possible 
 that two men working thus apart should hit upon two 
 or three identical forms, but altogether impossible that 
 these forms should have same significance; and by no 
 stretch of the imagination can it be supposed that in 
 these alphabets so created, without correspondence, 
 thirteen out of sixteen signs should be the same in form 
 and the same in meaning." — Atlantis, pp. 232, 233. 
 
 This Landa alphabet was discovered in Central 
 America, where the Nephite nation was located accord- 
 ing to the author of the Book of Mormon, which nation 
 appears to have settled there about four hundred and 
 seventy years after Lehi's colony left Jerusalem. If the 
 Nephite system of writing and their language were under- 
 going changes from time to time, "according to our 
 manner of speech," do we not see that they had in their 
 isolated condition ample time to have made several 
 changes in their style of letters before they reached and 
 settled Central America. And some of these slight 
 changes in the form of these letters may have been 
 made with the Jews, even before they left the "land of 
 Jerusalem." The "learning of the Jew" may be re- 
 sponsible for some of the slight changes found in the 
 Landa alphabet. 
 
 On page 219 of Atlantis which is a plate (jf char- 
 acters of various alphabets, column one and two are 
 distinct forms of tne Maya alphabet, while the third is 
 a column of what are termed intermediate forms so 
 there were three or more kinds of Maya alphabet char- 
 acters. 
 
 Delafield says: "We find three species of hiero- 
 
84. i'HE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 glyphics common to Mexico) and Egypt." — American 
 Antiquities, p. 46. 
 
 "Egyptian writing is of three distinct kinds, which 
 are known respectively by the names of Hyeroglyphic, 
 Hieratic and Demotic or Enchorial." 
 
 "The hieroglyphic is that of almost all monuments, 
 and is also occasionally found in manuscripts. The 
 hieratic and demotic occur with extreme rarity upon 
 monuments, but are employed far more commonly than 
 the hieroglyphics in the papyrus rolls or books of the 
 Egyptians." — Rawlinson's Egypt, Vol. 1, p. 120. 
 
 Le Plongeon says: "The ancient Maya hieratic 
 alphabet, discovered by me, is as near alike to the an- 
 cient hieratic alphabet of the Egyptians, as two alpha- 
 bets can possibly be, forcing upon us the conclusion 
 that the Mayas and the Egyptians either learned the 
 art of writing from the same masters, or that the 
 Egyptians learned it from the Mayas." — Sacred Mys- 
 teries 113. 
 
 The Nephite use of language was universal in 
 North, Central, and South America, as clearly set forth 
 in the Book of Mormon. The subjugation of the Ne- 
 phites by the Lamanites wrought out the decline and 
 overthrow of the common language and its division in- 
 to a "multiplicity of tongues." 
 
 Bancroft says: "The researches of the few phi- 
 lologists who have given American languages their study 
 have brought to light the following facts: First, that 
 a relationship exists among all the tongues of the 
 Northern and Southern continents; and that while cer- 
 tain characteristics are found in common throughout 
 all the languages of America, these languages are as a 
 whole sufficiently peculiar to be distinguishable from 
 
THE HOOK UNSEALED 85. 
 
 the speech of all the other races of the world. Al- 
 though some of these characteristics, as a matter of 
 course, are found in some of the languages of the old 
 world, more of them in the Turanian family than any 
 other, yet nowhere on the globe are uniformities of 
 speech carried over vast areas and through innumerable 
 and diversified races with such persistency, as in 
 America; nowhere are tongues so dissimilar and yet so 
 alike as here." — National Races, vol. 3, p. 553. 
 
 He says again: '-The multiplicity of tongues, 
 even within comparatively narrow areas, rendered the 
 adoption of some. sort of universal language absolutely 
 necessary. This international language in America is 
 for the most part confined to gestures, and nowhere 
 has gesture language attained a higher degree of per- 
 fection than here; and what is most remarkable, the 
 same representatives are employed from Alaska to 
 Mexico, and even in South America." — Ibid., p. 556. 
 
 Professor Benjamin Smith Barton, was the first to 
 collect and classify American words. After him fol- 
 lowed Vater, who in his Mithridates, published in Leip- 
 sic in 1810, carried out the subject in an extended 
 form. The result of their labors is thus stated: "In 
 eighty-three American languages, one hundred and 
 seventy words have been found, the roots of which have 
 been the same in both continents; and it is easy to 
 perceive that this analogy is not accidental, since it 
 does not rest merely on imitative harmony, or on 
 that conformity of organs which produces almost an 
 identity in the first sounds articulated by children. 
 Of these, three fifths resemble the Mantchou, Ton- 
 gouse, Mongul, and Samoide languages; and two-fifths 
 the Celtic, Tchoud, Biscayan, Coptic and Congo 
 
86. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 languages." — Delafield's American Antiquities, p. 25. 
 
 ''In America there are at least five hundred lan- 
 guages." — Ibid., p. 23. 
 
 Priest quoting Prof. Rafinesque says: " 'A multi- 
 tude of languages exists in America, which may per- 
 haps be reduced to twenty-five radical languages, and 
 two thousand dialects. But they are often unlike the 
 Hebrew, in roots, words and grammar; they have by 
 far, says the author, more analogies with the Sanscrit,* 
 (the ancient Chinese), 'Celtic, Bask, Pelasgian, Ber- 
 ber,' (in Europe) 'Lybian, Egyptian,', (in Africa) 'Per- 
 sian, Turan,' etc., (also in Europe) or in fact, all the 
 primitive languages of mankind." — American Antiqui- 
 ties, p. 78. 
 
 "The actual number of American languages and 
 dialects is as yet unascertained, but estimated at nearly 
 thirteen hundred, six hundred of which Mr. Bancroft 
 has classified in his third volume." — Native Races of 
 Pacific States. 
 
 "Language in aboriginal America may be pro- 
 nounced a mystery of mysteries and a babel of babels. 
 Mr. Bancroft has catalogued nearly six hundred 
 distinct languages, existing between northern Alaska 
 and the Isthmus of Panama." — Short's American An- 
 tiquities, pp. 190, 469. 
 
 The Nephites engraving their plates in reformed 
 Egyptian, is not a strange claim, in the light of their 
 association with Egyptian learning in the times past. 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED 87. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 PLATES— RECORDS. 
 Elder J. R. Lambert in the Independent Patriot 
 says: "In the days of Job, writing on imperishable 
 material was understood. Job 19: 23, 24: 'Oh that 
 my words were now written! oh that they were printed 
 in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen 
 
 and lead in the rock forever.' " 
 
 » 
 
 It was understood and practiced in the days of 
 Moses. Exodus 39: 30: ''And they made the plate of 
 the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writ- 
 ing like to the engravings of a signet. Holiness to the 
 Lord." 
 
 In the Apocrypha, i Mace. 14: 48, 49, we have 
 the following plain statements: '^^nd they command- 
 ed that this writing should be put in tables of brass, and 
 that they should be set up within the compass of the 
 sanctuary, in a conspicuous place, and that a copy 
 thereof should be put in the treasury, that Simon and 
 his sons may have it." — Douay Translation. 
 
 "After the destruction of Jerusalem, about A. D. 
 70, Titus, the Roman general, called at Antioch, and 
 the people presented to him a petition against the Jews. 
 Of this translation, Josephus says: 'Whereupon the 
 people of Antioch, when they had failed of success in 
 this their first request, made him a second, for they de- 
 sired that he would order those tables of brass to be re- 
 
88. THE BOOK UNSKALKD. 
 
 moved, on which the Jews' privileges were engraven/ 
 etc." — Josephus, vol, 6, p. 132. 
 
 The American nations writing on metal plates and 
 other imperishable materials, is not strange in the light 
 of this, and it is highly probable in the case of the Ne- 
 phites, as they were Israelites. 
 
 The claim of the Book of Mormon that the ancient 
 American nations had written on metallic plates, was 
 thought to be its sure defeat; but plates and various 
 materials containing hieroglyphical writing have since 
 been found in such abundance, that the claim is now 
 fully sustained. 
 
 In the Quincy (111.) Whig appeared an article de- 
 scribing plates found April 23d, 1843:^ 
 
 *'A Mr. J. Roberts from Pike county, called upon 
 us last Monday with a written description of a discov- 
 ery which was recently made near Kinderhook in that 
 county. * * It appeared that a young man by the name 
 of Wiley, a resident of Kinderhook, commenced dig- 
 ging into a mound, finding it quite laborious, he in- 
 vited others to assist him; finally a company of ten or 
 twelve repaired to the mound and assisted. * * After 
 penetrating the mound about eleven feet they came to a 
 bed of limestone that had been apparently subjected to 
 the fire. They removed the stones * * to the depth of 
 two feet, * * when they found six brass plates secured 
 or fastened together by two iron wires, but which were 
 so decayed that they readily crumbled to dust upon be- 
 ing handled. The plates were so completely covered 
 with dust as almost to obliterate the characters in- 
 scribed upon them, but after undergoing a chemical 
 process, the inscriptions were brought out plain and 
 distinct. There were six plates four inches in length. 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 89. 
 
 i^ inches wide at the top, and 2^ wide at the bottom, 
 flaring at the points. There are four lines of characters 
 or hieroglyphics on each. * * In the place where the 
 plates were deposited, were also found human bones, 
 in the last stage of decomposition: * * it is believed that 
 it was but the burial place of a small number, perhaps 
 a person or a family of distinction, in ages long gone 
 by, * * of a people that existed far, far beyond the 
 memory or the present race. * * The plates, above 
 alluded to were exhibited in this city last week.'' 
 
 Wiley and eight others testify, in the "Times and 
 Seasons," to the finding of these plates, as follows: 
 "We, the citizens of Kinderhook, whose names are an- 
 nexed, do certify and declare that on the 23d of April, 
 1843, while excavating at large mound in this vicinity, 
 Mr. Wiley took from said mound six brass plates of a 
 bell shape, covered with ancient characters. Said 
 plates were very much oxidated. The bands and rings 
 on said plates mouldered into dust on a slight pressure. 
 R. Wiley, George Deckenson, W. Longnecker, G. W. 
 F. Ward, J. R. Sharp, Ira S. Curtis, Fayette Grubb, 
 W. P. Harris, W. Fugate." 
 
 Of articles discovered opposite Marietta, Ohio, on 
 the Muskingum, Priest says: "Sixth, Under a heap of 
 dust and tennons, shreds of feathered cloth and hair, a 
 parcel of brass rings, cut out of a solid piece of metal, 
 and in such a manner that the rings were suspended 
 from each other, without the aid of solder or any other 
 visible agency whatever. Each ring was three inches 
 in diameter, and the bar of the rings a half inch thick, 
 and were square;- a variety of characters were deeply 
 engraved on the sides of the rings resembling the Chin- 
 ese characters." — American Antiquities, p. 93. 
 
90. THK BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 G. W. West of Manchester, Adams county, Ohio, 
 wrote an article dated January .19th, 1880, which ap- 
 peared in Herald, in which it is set forth that. Near 
 Manchester, Adams county, Ohio, on the old Smith 
 farm on the Portsmouth pike, in 1880, in a cave where 
 twenty-five bodies had been entombed as in Egypt, 
 was found a square package at the head of a tomb, 
 wrapped in varnished cloth, containing a book of one 
 hundred leaves of thin copper, fastened loosely at the 
 top and crowded with finely engraved characters. Mr. 
 Samuel Groom, who owned the farm at the time, is re- 
 ported as having forwarded these to the Smithsonian 
 Institute. 
 
 The Newport, Vermont, Express and Standard of 
 August 15th, 1882, quoting from the New Orleans Dem- 
 ocrat says: "The pyramids and mounds which so 
 often occur in the western states * * have been leveled 
 * * by zealous searchers for relics of antiquity. Nor 
 liave their efforts been in vain, copper hatchets, chisels 
 and various other kinds of tools have been unearthed 
 with copper plates covered with inscriptions." 
 
 "Chillicothe,. Ohio, December 15, 1891. — Hun- 
 dreds came today to see the mound builder relics un- 
 covered by Warren K. Moorehead, Monday. Of the 
 five skeletons lying side by side, two were covered with 
 a sheet of copper six by eight feet. A large, thick cop- 
 per ax weighed forty-one pounds and in point of size 
 and value exceeds any single specimen ever found in 
 the United States. There are traces of gold in it. The 
 cutting edge is seven inches broad and very sharp. 
 How it could have been fastened in a handle and used 
 is a mystery. All the smaller copper axes are such as 
 have been found before. 
 
THE BOOK UNSKALED. 9I. 
 
 ''Thirty copper plates with mound builders' cloth on 
 them overlapped the axes, • The average size of the 
 plates was ten by six inches. A great copper eagle, 
 twenty inches in diameter, wings outspread, beak open, 
 tail and wing feathers neatly staniped upon the copper 
 surface, covered the knees of one of the skeletons. 
 This is one of the most artistic designs ever found in 
 copper. 
 
 ''Remains of a copper stool about a foot in length 
 and several inches in heighth lay near the head of one 
 of the skeletons. The stool had been made out of wood 
 and had been covered with sheet copper. Flint imple- 
 ments, bear tusks, sea-shells and other trinkets were al- 
 so found." — Chicago Daily News. 
 
 In the St. Louis Chronicle in February, 1889, ap- 
 peared the following: "Rev. S. D. Peet, the well 
 known antiquarian, is reported as having found in Illi- 
 nois, two cross plates which have all the appearance of 
 being rude musical instruments. These plates are 
 about fifteen inches square and there are places for 
 strings and a bridge. Along the lower edge is a row of 
 hieroglyphics similar to those on the famous Palmyra 
 plates, said to have been discovered by Joseph Smith 
 and from which he interpreted the Book of Mormon." 
 
 John T. Short on pages 38-9 of North Americans 
 of Antiquity, describes two tablets and presents a cut 
 of one, found near Davenport, Iowa, of which he says: 
 "The most remarkable discovery of all, however, (rel- 
 ics of eastern Iowa), was made January loth, 1877, by 
 Rev. Mr. Gass, * * two tablets of coal slate covered 
 with a variety of figures and hieroglyphics were found." 
 
 The Cincinnati tablet is described thus: "The 
 material is a fine grained compact sandstone, of light 
 
92. IHK BOOK UNSKAI.RD. 
 
 brown color. It measures five inches in length, by 
 three in breadth at the ends, two and six tenths at the 
 middle, and is about half an inch in thickness. The 
 sculptured face varies very slightly from a perfect plane. 
 The figures are cut in low relief, (the lines being not 
 more than one twentieth of an inch in depth), and oc- 
 cupy a rectangular space of four inches and two tenths 
 long, by two and one tenth wide."— Short's American 
 Antiquities, pp. 46, 47. This tablet was found Novem- 
 ber, 1841, corner Fifth and Mound streets, Cincinnati, 
 Ohio. 
 
 'Tn 1870 there was found a tablet in a mound near 
 Lafayette Bayou, * * Miss., which has the same re- 
 duplication of figures in the carved work as exists in 
 the Cincinnati Tablet." — Maclean's Mound Builders, 
 ]). 1 10. 
 
 Another, known as the Berlin tablet, found near 
 Berlin, Ohio, by Dr. J. E. Sylvester, June 14th, 1876, 
 described on the last page cited, is similar to the last 
 two treated upon. 
 
 Statements concerning other plates and tablets 
 could have been given, but the foregoing abundantly 
 establish the claim of the Bpok of Mormon, as to an- 
 cient, Americans having written on plates of imperish- 
 able material. 
 
 The Book of Mormon plates were f )und in a. stone 
 BOX in the earth. The same is true of Hebrew tab-. 
 LETS mentioned in chapter seven of this work. 
 
 The Davenport tablet and another plate found are 
 described in a foot note, on page 38, of J. T. Short's 
 work, American Antiquities, thus: *'The two plates 
 were closely encircled by a single row of weathered 
 limestones. These stones are irregular in shape but al- 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED 
 
 93- 
 
 most of the same size, their dimensions being about 
 3x7 or 8 inches, and the diameter of the circle two 
 feet." 
 
 Weekly Inter-Ocean, December 23, 1890: ''Two 
 inscribed tablets were found near Davenport, Iowa, 
 covered with peculiar figures, and among the figures 
 some strange hieroglyphic letters. Prof. Seyffarth of 
 St. Louis says, that the tablets were descriptive of the 
 flood, and that the people who deposited them had mi- 
 grated from Asia." 
 
 " *Dr. West of Stockbridge, relates that an old In- 
 dian informed him that his fathers in this country had, 
 not long since, been in the possession of a book, which 
 they had for a long time carried with them, but having 
 lost the knowledge of reading it, they buried it with an 
 Indian chief.' View of the Hebrews, p. 223". — Priest's 
 Antiquities, p. 69. 
 
 Ellen Russell Emerson says: '*The Ujibway In- 
 dians, relates *Mr. Copway,' had three depositories for 
 sacred records near the waters of Lake Superior. Ten 
 of the wisest and most venerable men of the nation 
 dwelt near these, and wete appointed guardians of 
 them."f — Indian Myths, pp. 225-6. 
 
 Boudinot says: ''It is said among their principle, 
 or beloved men. that they have it handed down from 
 their ancestors, that the book which the white people 
 have was once theirs. That while they had it they 
 prospered exceeding, but that the white people bought 
 it of them, and learned many things from it, while the 
 Indians lost their credit, offended the Great Spirit and 
 suffered exceedingly from the neighboring nations. * ^ 
 They also say that their forefathers were possessed of 
 an extraordinary divine Spirit, by which they foretold 
 
94- I'HE BOOK UNSKALED. 
 
 future events, and controlled the common course of 
 nature, and this they transmitted to their offspring on 
 condition of their obeying the sacred laws. That they 
 did by these means bring down showers of plenty on 
 the beloved people. But that this power, for a long 
 time past, had entirely ceased." — A Star in the West, 
 
 pp. no, III. 
 
 "Dr. West of Stockbridge, (Massachusetts), re- 
 lates that an old Indian informed him that his fathers 
 in this country had been in possession of a book, 
 which, for a long time, they carried with them, but, 
 having lost the knowledge of reading it, they buried 
 it with a chief. "—Priest's American Antiquities, edition 
 ^^33y P- ^9? o^ View of the Hebrews by Dr. West, 
 p. 223. 
 
 The Book of Mormon mentions coins of different 
 value, used as money. In the light of this, the follow- 
 ing is interesting as well as confirmatory of its state- 
 ment. Correspondence to the press, from Helena, Ar- 
 kansas, bearing date of October 19th, 1891, says: "A 
 most remarkable find is reported from the little town of 
 Laconia, about twenty-five miles south of this city. A 
 well was being drilled; at the depth of one hundred and 
 twenty-five feet the drillings showed they were passing 
 through a layer of brick. * * As there were no brick 
 houses in the town and never had been it could not be 
 believed. While quite a crowd was around the well- 
 hole, the men brought up to the surface a lot of mud 
 and examined it, as they had done from the time they 
 found the brick residue. In the mass of mud there was 
 a small piece of metal, which when cleaned off, was 
 found to be a piece of money. It was octagonal in 
 shape and had hieroglyphics on it, which could not be 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 95. 
 
 deciphered, but which were evidently meant to repre- 
 sent the value of the piece. * * It is claimed by anti- 
 quarians here that the bricks and coin are the relics of 
 a prehistoric race which lived here many years before 
 the Indians, and built the pavements and roads which 
 were discovered at Memphis, on the other side of the 
 river above here." — Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Leader, 
 November 6, 1891. 
 
 Among relics found at Circleville, Ohio, a coin is 
 mentioned by Priest. 
 
 ''Near the same place was dug up from beneath 
 the roots of a hickory tree, seven feet eight inches, in 
 circumference, a copper coin, bearing no comparison 
 with any coin known." — American Antiquities, p. 175. 
 Another coin is described on page 260. 
 
 **At the meeting of the Tennessee Historical So- 
 ciety at Nashville, Tuesday night, there was a letter 
 read from W. E. McElwee, of Rockwood, Tennessee, 
 describing a coin found in an Indian mound in that 
 country. It bears an urn burning incense on one side, 
 with the inscription in Hebrew, 'shekel of Israel.' On 
 the other is a fig or olive branch, and the words in He- 
 brew, 'Jerusalem, the holy land.' A similar coin was 
 exhibited, but how the coin got into the mound is a 
 matter of mystery." — Stephenson (Alabama) Chronicle, 
 of February 20th, 1894. 
 
 "A round copper coin with a serpent stamped on 
 it was found at Palenque, and T shaped copper coins 
 are very abundant in the ruins of Central America." — 
 Atlantis, p. 245. 
 
96: , THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 METALS, IMPLEMENTS AND INSTRUMENTS.. 
 
 The Book of Mormon on pages 43, 64, 394, and 
 520, as also elsewhere, mentions gold, silver, brass, 
 copper, steel and iron. The ancient Americans were 
 supposed to have used stone for tools, but not the sev- 
 eral precious metals; and for years the Book of Mor- 
 mon was alone in this claim, for the use of metals on 
 the western continent. 
 
 "The Peruvians had such immense numbers of 
 vessels, and ornaments of gold that the Inca paid with 
 them a ransom for himself to Pizzaro of the value of 
 fifteen million dollars." — Atlantis, p. 142. 
 
 "The Peruvians called gold, 'The tears wept by 
 the sun.' * * The great temple of the sun at Cuzco was 
 called the 'Place of Gold.' It was as I have shown 
 literally a mine of gold.' Walls, cornices, statuary, 
 plate, ornaments, all were of gold; the very sewer- 
 pipes and aqueducts, even the agricultural implements 
 used in the garden of the temple were of gold and siL 
 ver. ' The value of the jewels which adorned the temple 
 Was equal to one hundred and eighty millions of dol- 
 lars. "^Atla:titis, pp. 345. 
 
 In speaking of Costa Rica, Mr. Bancroft says: 
 "Mr. Boyle makes the general statement that gold or- 
 naments and idols are constantly found, and that the 
 ancient mines which supplied the precious metal are 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 97; 
 
 often seen by modern prospectors." — Native Races, 
 Pacific States, Vol. 4, p. 23. 
 
 ''Montezuma, in his diplomacy, presents to Cortez, 
 on his arrival to Mexico, gold and native fabrics of the 
 most delicate character; shields, helmets, cuirasses, 
 collars, bracelets, sandals, fans, pearls, precious stones, 
 loads of cotton cloth, extraordinary manufactures of 
 feathers, circular plates of gold and silver, as large as 
 carriage wheels." — HistoFy of Mexico, New Mexico 
 and California, Vol. i, p. 26. 
 
 "Calendars made of gold and silver were common 
 in Mexico. Before Cortez reached the capitol, Monte- 
 zuma sent him two *as large as cart wheels,' one repre- 
 senting the sun, the other the moon, both 'richly 
 carved.' It was with articles of this gold work that the 
 Inca Alahullpa filled a room in his vain endeavor to 
 purchase release from captivity. One of the old 
 chroniclers mentions ^statuary, jars, vases and every 
 species of vessels, all of fine gold. * * An artificial gar- 
 den * * of fine gold, * * more than twenty sheep 
 (llamas) with their lambs, attended by shepherds, all 
 made of gold.' * * In the course of twenty-five years 
 after the conquest, the Spandiards sent from Peru to 
 Spain more than four hundred million ducats ($800,- 
 000,000) worth of gold." — Baldwin's Ancient America, 
 pp. 215, 249, :^5o. Donnely gives substantially the 
 same account on page 395 of Atlantis. 
 
 "Gold ornaments are said to have been found in 
 several tumuli. Silver, very well plated on copper, has 
 been found in several mounds, besides those of Circle- 
 ville and Marietta. An ornament of copper was found 
 in a stone mound near Chillicothe; it was a bracelet 
 fdf the ankle or wrist."— J*riest's Amer. Ant., p. 221. 
 
98. THK BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 "Silver was accessible in such quantities that 
 Pizarro found in it a substitute for iron to shoe the horses 
 of his cavalry. Copper and tin, in like manner, 
 abounded in the mountains, and the Peruvians had 
 learned to alloy the copper, both with tin and silver. 
 * * Discovery of well adjusted silver balances in some 
 of the tombs of the Incas, shows that they made use of 
 weights in determining the value of their commodities." 
 — Prehistoric Man, Geo. Wilson, Vol. i, page 440. 
 
 Mr. Squire says: "These articles have been criti- 
 cally examined and it is beyond doubt that the copper 
 bosses were absolutely plated, not simply overlaid with 
 silver. Between the copper and the silver exists a con- 
 nection such as it seems to me could only be produced 
 by heat, and if it is admitted that these are genuine rel- 
 ics of the Mound Builders, it must at the same time be 
 admitted they possessed the difficult art of plating one 
 metal upon another." — Atlantis, p. 378. 
 
 Priest says: "In many instances articles made of 
 copper and sometimes plated with silver have been met 
 with on opening their (Mound Builders) works, circu- 
 lar pieces of copper intended either as medals or breast 
 plates, have been found several inches in diameter, 
 very much injured by time. " — Inquiry Origin American 
 Antiquities, p. 263. 
 
 "In South America * * many interesting speci- 
 mens have been exhumed. * * 'Among these,' says Dr. 
 Reese, 'are mirrors of various dimensions of hard shin- 
 ing stones, highly polished, * * hatchets and other in- 
 struments, * * some were of flint, some of copper, 
 hardened by an unknown process to such a degree as to 
 supply the place of iron."f — Mayer's Mexico, p. 227. 
 
 Bryant describes copper instruments found in Wis- 
 
THE BOOK UNSRALKD, 99. 
 
 consin: "An adz with wings for fitting. An arrow 
 head with wings for fitting to arrow. A knife with 
 socket for handle. A chisel apparently cast, the rough- 
 ness showing sand-mould, and white spots of melted 
 silver. An awl. A spear head, eleven inches in 
 length with socket for handle." — History U. S., Vol. i, 
 
 P- 31- 
 
 Of discoveries at Circleville, Ohio, Priest says: 
 '*On this mirror was a plate of iron which had become 
 an oxide; but before it was disturbed by the spade, re- 
 sembled a plate of cast iron." — Priest's American An- 
 tiquities, pp. 178-9. The size of mirror mentioned is 
 given as one and a half by three feet. 
 
 *' 'But besides this, there have been found very well 
 manufactured swords and knives of iron and possibly 
 STEEL,' says Mr. Atwater." — Ibid., p. 265. 
 
 Priest gives the following account: "In 1826 near 
 Cincinnati, Ohio, a gentlemen dug a well. At the 
 depth of eighty feet there appeared the stump of a tree 
 three feet in diameter and two feet high, which had 
 been cut down with an axe. The blows were yet visi- 
 ble." Mr. Priest's fourth reflection is: "Ancient 
 Americans were acquainted with the use and properties 
 of iron. The rust of the axe was on tap of the stump 
 when discovered." — Priest's American Antiquities, p. 
 129. 
 
 Mr. Priest mentions two more wells; one ninety, and 
 another ninty-four feet deep, each containing a stump 
 of a tree. Of the second he says: "Another stump 
 was found at ninety-four feet below the surface which 
 had evident marks of an axe; and on its top there ap- 
 peared as if some iron tool had been consumed by 
 rust." — Page 139. 
 
lOO. THK BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 "A piece of a cast iron vessel was taken out of the 
 circular embankment at Circleville, Ohio." — ^Priest's 
 American Antiquities, p. 175. 
 
 Another find is recorded on page 260. In caves 
 on the Gasconade river, a tributary of the Missouri 
 river, were found **axes and hammers made of iron." 
 — Ibid., 239. 
 
 **In December, 1827, a planter of South America 
 discovered in a tomb of masonry, two extremely ancient 
 swords, a helmet and shield, which had suffered much 
 from rust." — Ibid., p. 47. 
 
 Priest mentions articles found in digging the 
 Louisville canal. "Medals of copper and silver swords, 
 and other implements of iron." *'Mr. Flint assures us 
 that he has seen these strange ancient swords. He 
 also examined a small iron shoe, like a horse shoe, en- 
 crusted with the rust of ages, and found far beneath the 
 soil, and the copper axe weighing about two pounds, 
 singularly tempered, and of peculiar construction." — 
 American Antiquities, p. 378. 
 
 " *It is remarkable,' says Molina, 'that iron which 
 has been thought unknown to the Ancient Americnas, 
 had particular names in sorrie of their tongues. In 
 official Peruvian it was called, quillary; and in Chilian, 
 panillic. The Mound Builders fashioned implements 
 out of meteoric iron.' " — Atlantis, p. 451. 
 
 Again he says: ''We find the remains of an iron 
 sword and meteoric weapons in the mounds of the Mis- 
 sissippi Valley, while the name of the metal is found in 
 the ancient languages of Peru and Chili> and the Incas 
 worked in iron on the shores of Lake Titicaca." — Ibid., 
 p. 462. 
 
 "Near the falls of Ohio, six brass ornaments such 
 
THK BOOK UNSEALED. lOl 
 
 as soldiers usually wear in front of their belts, was dug 
 up, attached to six skeletons." — Priest's American An- 
 tiquities, p. 232. 
 
 Of discoveries in New York: ''In Scipio on Sal- 
 mon Creek, a Mr. Halstead has from time to time, dur- 
 ing ten years past, ploughed up * * seven or eight 
 hundred pounds of brass, which appeared to have once 
 been formed into various implements, both of husban- 
 dry and war; helmets and working utensils mingled to- 
 gether." — Ibid., p. 261. 
 
 Of relics found in mound at Marietta, Ohio: "Three 
 large circular ornaments which had adorned a sword 
 belt or buckler, and were composed of copper, overlaid 
 with a plate of silver." — Ibid., p. 268. 
 
 Priest, writing of the town of Pompey, Onondago 
 county. New York, says: ''In Pompey, on lot four- 
 teen, is the site of an ancient burying ground, upon 
 which, when the country was first settled, was found 
 timber, growing apparently, of the second growth, judg- 
 ing from the old timber, reduced to mold, lying around 
 which was one hundred years old, ascertained by count- 
 ing the concentric grains. In one of those graves was 
 found a glass bottle. * * In the same grave with the 
 bottle was foand an iron hatchet edged with steel. * * 
 In the same town, on lot number seventeen, was found 
 the remains of a blacksmith's forge; at this spot have 
 been ploughed up crucibles, such as mineralogists use in 
 refining metals." — Priest's American Antiquities, p. 260. 
 
 Priest says: "In Virginia, near Blacksburg, eighty 
 miles from Marietta, there was found the half of a steel 
 BOW, which when entire would have measured five or 
 six feet." — Priest's American Antiquities, p. 176. 
 (Edition of 1833.) 
 
I02. THE BOOK UNSP:ALKD. 
 
 "In Liberiy township, Washington county, Ohio, 
 are yet to be seen twenty or thirty rude furnaces, per- 
 haps used in smelting ore. Large trees are still grow- 
 ing on them and attest their age. They stand in the 
 midst of a rich body of iron ore, and in a wild, hilly, 
 rough part of the country, better adapted to manufac- 
 ture than to agriculture." —Delafield's x'^merican An- 
 tiquities, p. 55. 
 
 Large earthen vessel. "It was twelve feet across the 
 top and of consequence thirty-six feet in circumference, 
 and otherwise of proportioned depth and form." — 
 Priest's American Antiqiiities, p. 112. 
 
 Jones says: "In 1834, Colonels Meriwether and 
 Lumsden, while engaged in digging a canal in Dukes 
 Creek Valley, Georgia, * * unearthed a subterraneous 
 village * * of thirty-four small cabins. * * They were 
 made of logs hewn at the ends and notched down. * * 
 This hewing and notching had evidently been done with 
 sharp metallic tools, the marks being such as would 
 have been caused by a chopping axe. * * Eleven old 
 shafts have been found varying in dei)th from ninety 
 to one hundred feet. * * In 1854 one * * was cleaned 
 out, * * at ninety feet was found a windlass of post- 
 oak well hewn, with an inch auger hole bored through 
 each end. Distinct traces appeared where it had been 
 banded with iron. * * The presence of iron and the 
 marks of sharp metallic tools prove that these ancient 
 mining operations cannot be referred to the labor of 
 the Indians." — Antiquity of Southern Indians, pp. 
 48-9. 
 
 GRF.AT WORKS. 
 
 "The most astonishing remains are found still 
 farther south, in Chiapa, Tabasco, Oxaca, Yucatan, 
 
THK BOOK UNSEALED. I03. 
 
 Honduras, Tehauntepec, Guatemala and other parts of 
 Central America, * * of great cities and temples." — 
 Baldwin's Ancient America, p. 77. 
 
 "'I'he pyramid of Cholulu covers an area of forty- 
 five acres. It was terraced and built with four stages. 
 When measured by Humboldt it was fourteen hundred 
 feet square at the base, and one hundred and sixty feet 
 high. * * Thousands of other monun';trnts, unrecorded 
 * * invest every sierra and valley of Mexico with pro- 
 found interest." — Ibid., pp. 90-1. 
 
 "Another class of these antiquities consists of en- 
 closures formt-d by heavy embankments of earth and 
 stone. There is nothing to explain these constructions 
 so clearly as to leave no roojn for conjecture and spec- 
 ulation It has been suggested that some of them may 
 have been intended for defense, others for religious 
 purposes. A portion of them, it may be, encircled vil- 
 lages and towns. In some cases, the ditches or fosses 
 were on the inside, in others, on the outside. * * Lines 
 of embankment, varying from five to thirty feet in 
 height, and enclosing from one to fifty acres, are very 
 common, while inclosures containing from one hundred 
 to two hundred acres are not infrequent, and occasion- 
 ally, works are found, inclosing as many as four hun- 
 dred acres. * * About one hundred inclo ures and five 
 hundred mounds have been examined in Ross county, 
 Ohio. The number of mounds in the whole state is es- 
 timated at over ten thousand, and the number of in- 
 closures at more than fifteen hundred. * * They were 
 constructed with a geometrical precision which implies 
 a kind of knowledge in the builders that may be called 
 scientific." — Baldwin's Ancient America, pp. 19, 20,23, 
 24, 39- 
 
I04. THE BOOK UNSEALKD. 
 
 "The number and frequency of tumuli through 
 the country, have led the writer to believe that they 
 have not only been used as the last home of the war- 
 rior and his family, but that they served as scopuloi, 
 or beacons, and points of observation, connecting the 
 large and extensive castra." — Delafield's American An- 
 tiquities, p. 54. 
 
 Compare with the above the Book of Mormon, pp. 
 
 337, 341, 344, 346. 
 
 See Prescott's Peru, as cited by Donnelly on Pub- 
 lic Works: "The American nations built public works 
 as great as, or greater than any known in Europe. The 
 Peruvians had public roads, one thousand five hundred 
 to two thousand miles long, made so thoroughly as to 
 elicit the astonishment of the Spaniards. At every few 
 miles taverns or hotels were established for the accom- 
 modation of travelers. Humboldt pronounced these 
 Peruvian roads 'among the most useful and stupendous 
 works ever executed by man.' They built aqueducts 
 for purposes of irrigation, some of which were five hun- 
 dred miles long. They constructed magnificent bridges 
 of stone, and had even invented suspension bridges 
 thousands of years before they were introduced into 
 Europe. They had, both in Peru and Mexico, a sys- 
 tem of posts, by means of which news was transmitted 
 hundreds of miles in a day, precisely like those known 
 among the Persians in the time of Herodotus, and sub 
 sequently among the Romans. Stones similar to mile- 
 stones were placed along the roads in Peru." — Atlantis, 
 pp. 141-2. 
 
 Baldwin says in relation to mining: "Remains of 
 their mining works were first discovered in 1848 by 
 Mr. S. O. Knapp, agent of the Minnesota mining com- 
 
THE BOOK UNSF.ALED. IO5. 
 
 pany, and in 1849 they were described by Dr. Charles 
 T. Jackson, in his geographical report to the national 
 government."' — Ancient America, p. 43. 
 
 "Mr. Knapp discovered a detatched mass of cop- 
 per weighing nearly six tons." — Ibid., p. 43. 
 
 "All who have examined these works agree with 
 Colonel Whittlesy that they (Mound Builders) worked 
 the Lake Superior copper mines for a great length of 
 time." — Ibid., 53. 
 
 "We find one feature common to the architectural 
 genius of these races, which is to be discovered no- 
 where else. We allude to the surprising mechanical 
 power they must have employed in constructing their 
 works of massive masonry, such as the present race of 
 man has attempted in vain to move. Travelers in 
 Egypt invariably are filled with amazement at the stu- 
 pendous blocks of stone with which the pyramids, tem- 
 ples and tombs are constructed, and the size of the ob- 
 elisks and monuments yet remaining. In Peru the same 
 is observed.'' — Delafield's American Antiquities, p. 59. 
 
 "It surprised me to see these enormous gateways 
 made of great masses of stone, some of which were 
 thirty feet long, fifteen feet high and six feet thick. * * 
 In one case, large masses of sculptured stone, ten yards 
 in length and six in width, were used to make grinding 
 stones for a chocolate mill." — Baldwin's Ancient Amer- 
 ica, p. 233. 
 
 "Ruins of towns, castles, fortresses and other struc- 
 tures are found all about the country. * * It is noticed 
 everywhere that the ancient Peruvians made large use 
 of aqueducts, which they built with notable skill, using 
 hewn stones and cement, and making them very sub- 
 stantial. Some of them are still in use. They were 
 
Io6. THK BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 used to carry water to the cities and to irrigate the ciil- 
 tivate(i lands. A few of them were very Jong. There 
 is mention of one which was one hundred and fifty 
 miles long, and of another which was extended four 
 hundred and fifty miles across sierras and over rivers, 
 from south to north. "--Ibid , 243. 
 
 "The American nations built public works as great 
 or greater than any known in Europe. * * Huinbolt 
 pronounces these Peruvian roads, 'among the most use- 
 ful and stupendous works ever executed by man.' They 
 built aqueducts for purposes of irri.s:alion, some of 
 which were five hundred miles long. They constructed 
 magnificent bridges of stone, and had even invented 
 suspension bridges thousands of years before they were 
 introduced into Europe. They had, both in Peru and 
 Mexico, a system of posts, by means of which news 
 was transmitted hundreds of miles a day." — Atlantis, 
 p. 141-2. 
 
 THE GREAr PERUVIAN ROADS. 
 
 "Nothing in ancient Peru was more remarkable 
 than the public roads. No ancient people has left 
 traces of works more astonishing than these, so vast was 
 their extent, and so great the skill and labor required 
 to construct theni. One of these roals ran along the 
 mountains through the whole length of the empire, 
 from Quito to Chili. Another, starting from Cuzco, 
 went down to the coast and extended northward to the 
 equator. These roads were built on beds or deep un- 
 derstructures of masonry. The width of the roadways 
 varied from twenty to twenty-five feet, and they were 
 made level and smooth by paving, and in some places 
 by a sort of macadamizing with pulverized stone mixed 
 with lime and bituminous cement. This cement was 
 
THE BOOK UNSKALED. TO7. 
 
 used in all the masonry. On each side of the roadway 
 was a very strong wall more than a fathom in thickness. 
 This road went over marshes, rivers, and great chasms 
 of the sierras, and through rocky precipices and moun- 
 tain-sides. The great road passing along the mountains 
 was a marvelous work. In many places its way was 
 cut through rock for leagues. Great ravines were filled 
 up with solid masonry Rivers were crossed by means 
 of a curious kind of suspension bridges, and no ob- 
 struction was encountered which the builders did not 
 overcome. The builders of our Pacific Railroad, with 
 their superior engineering skill and mechanical appli- 
 ances, might reasonably shrink from the cost and the 
 difficulties ©-f such a work as this. Extending from one 
 degree north of Quito to Cuzco, and from Cuzco to 
 Chili, it was quite as long as the two Pacific railroads, 
 and its wild route among the mountains was far more 
 difficult. * * Along these roads at equal distances were 
 edifices, a kind of caravanseras, built of hewn stone, 
 for the accommodation of travelers." — Baldwin's An- 
 cient America, pp. 243, 244-5. ^^^o Atlantis, 392-5. 
 
 The class of works found in chapter four, setting 
 forth clearly the civilizations of ancient America, to- 
 gether with the stupendous works named in this chap- 
 ter, especially the great Peruvian roads, will convince 
 reasonable minds that the metals, and especially stekl, 
 was in common use. To grant that such tasks were 
 performed without it, would be to admit for those an- 
 cient workmen far more skill than if they possessed it. 
 
 Since the confusion of Babel was followed bv the 
 scattering of man from "Thence upon the face of all 
 the earth," (Gen. 11:8) and as a knowledge of metals 
 must then have been obtained in order to the building 
 
108. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 of the ark, there is no reason why the knowledge of the 
 metals may^not have been brought to the western con- 
 tinent by its first inhabitants. 
 
 Wilkinson says: "Iron and copper mines are 
 found in the Egyptian desert which were worked in old 
 times, and the monuments of Thebes and even their 
 tombs about Memphis, dating more than four thousand 
 years ago, represent butchers sharpening their knives 
 on a round bar of metal, attached to their aprons, 
 which from its blue color can only be steel; and the 
 distinction between the bronzed and iron weapons in 
 the tomb of Ramase&, III, one painted red and the other 
 blue, leaves no doubt of both having been used (as in 
 Rome) at the same period." — American Ervcyclopedia, 
 Vol. 9, p. 585. 
 
 The Nephites used a compass or instrument simi- 
 lar to it, as recorded in the Book of Mormon. Of the 
 compass, Donelly says: "In A. D. 868 it was em- 
 ployed by the Northmen." (The Landnamabok, Vol. 
 I, chap. 2.) 
 
 An Italian poem of A. D. 1190, referred to it as in 
 use among the Italian sailors at that date. In the an- 
 cient language of the Hindoos, the Sanscrit, which has 
 been a dead language for a period of twenty-two hun- 
 dred years, the magnet was called "The precious stone 
 beloved of Iron." The Talmud speaks of it as "The 
 stone of attraction," and it is alluded to in the early 
 Hebrew prayers as "kalamitah," the name given it by 
 the Greeks, from the reed upon which the compass 
 floated. 
 
 In the year 2700 B. C. the Emperor (of China) 
 Wangti, placed a magnetic figure with an extended arm, 
 like the Astarte of the Phoenicians, oti the front of car- 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. IO9. 
 
 riages, the arm always turning and pointing to the 
 south, which the Chinese regarded as the principal 
 pole." — Atlantis, pp. 440-1. 
 
 The Chinese invented the mariner's compass eleven 
 centuries before Christ. See Light in Darkness, by 
 J. E. & A. H. Godbey, p. 289. 
 
 *<The earliest references to the use of the compass 
 are to be found in Chinese history. * * In the sixty- 
 fourth year of the reign of Ho-ang-ti, 2634, B. C." — 
 Encyclopedia Britannica. 
 
 Chambers gives it the same date and the Chinese 
 the credit of its invention. , 
 
 ''The ancients discovered the rotundity of the 
 earth, and the difference of local time, and of the hour 
 of the day between places of different longitude; knew 
 the causes and laws of eclipses and constructed tables 
 which give the motion of the sun, moon and stars, and 
 the annual revolution of the sun was mapped out and 
 divided into twelve signs known as the zodiac, was pre- 
 served in the 'Almagest' of Ptolemy, a' work which re- 
 mained authority for sixteen hundred years." — John- 
 son's Universal Encyclopedia. 
 
 "The astronomical tables sent by Alexander the 
 Great to Aristotle, show that observations had been 
 taken by the Babylonians which reached to 2234 years 
 B. C." — Encyclopedia Religious Knowledge, read page 
 
 163-5- 
 
 Mr. P. C. Truman, before the Shelby county 
 (Iowa) Normal Institute, September 7th, 1876, said: 
 
 "Let us turn for a moment to our own contineat 
 and then I am done. When and by whom America was 
 first settled is yet unknown. Geologists tell us it is the 
 older continent, and some claim that it was first inhab- 
 
no. THE BOOK UNSKALED. 
 
 ited. This much we do know: Ages before Columbus 
 ever saw it^sliore, America contained great cities and 
 mighty empires. When the Spaniards conquered Mex- 
 ico and Central America, the ruins of a civilization, 
 long preceding that of the Aztecs, were hidden by the 
 forests of Yucatan and Honduras, and the natives of 
 those places had no tradition even of who had built or 
 destroyed them. Scattered over the whole United 
 States are the remains of a people, perhaps as different 
 from the wild Indians as we are. That they had at- 
 tained a good degree of culture is abundantly proved; 
 that the country was, thickly peopled is very evident, 
 but who they were, whence they came, and what con- 
 vulsion of nature or politics swept them away, are un- 
 solved problems. When the Spaniards over-ran Mexico 
 and Peru, they found those empires already in a de- 
 cline. A galloping consumption set in, and in about 
 two hundred years, those delightful specimens of Chris- 
 tianity civilized them and their people from off the 
 face of the earth. The whole history of the intercourse 
 of the White and Indian races, had been marked by 
 fraud, aggression and calculating cruelty on the one 
 side, and ineffectual resistance, often accompanied by 
 fiendish barbarity, on the other. To this there are a 
 few pleasant exceptions, proving that it need not have 
 been. The peaceful, honest followers of Penn were not 
 molested by the Indians while other colonies were con- 
 tinually at war with them. The Toltecs and Mound 
 Builders have left written records, but their works are 
 found amid the forests of Central America and in the 
 mountains of Colorado. Traces of their work and the 
 stone, bronze and copper tools with which that work 
 was done, are found in the copper mines of Lake Super- 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. III. 
 
 ior and the desert| of Arizona, in the mounds of Ohio 
 and the cliff built cities of New Mexico. And the ruins 
 of Palenque and Chichen-Itza rival those of Nineveh 
 and Palmyra in magnificence and extent. One by one 
 the fads are being gathered that will some day enable 
 us to write a history of these people that ma^ be toler- 
 ably correct. Still it must not be supposed that they 
 have left no other records. The Spaniards found books, 
 written in the Toltec and Maya tongues, a few of which 
 have been preserved. What fearful calamity so utterly 
 destroyed these people, we may never know. They 
 perished centuries ago and the savage Indians took their 
 place." 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 DATES OF AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES. 
 WHEN PUBLISHED. 
 
 As to whether or not, it was possible for Joseph 
 Smith to haye read works of antiquity, and then have 
 written the Book of Mormon in conformity with the 
 findings of the explorers, the following is very interest- 
 ing: Bancroft writes, "Since 1830 the veil has been 
 lifted from the principle ruins of ancient Maya works, 
 by the researches of Zalva, Waldec, Stephens, Cather- 
 wood, Norman, Fredderickstahl and Charney. A gen- 
 eral account of the antiquarian writings and explora- 
 tions of these gentlemen is given in the appended note, 
 — It will be noticed that all the authors mentioned who 
 write from actual observation, have confined their ob- 
 servations to from ONE to four of the principal ruins, 
 
ri2. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 whose existence was known previous to their visits, ex- 
 cepting Messrs. Stephens and Catherwood. These gen- 
 tlemen boldly left the beaten track and brought to the 
 knowledge of the world about forty ruined cities, 
 whose very existence had been previously unknown 
 even to the residents of the larger cities of the very 
 state in whose territory they lie. * * The visit of 
 these explorers was the first, and thus far proved, in 
 most cases, the last." — Native Races, Vol. 4, pp. 144- 
 46. 
 
 Mr. David S. Banks, who went from New York to 
 Yucatan in the especial interest of certain departments 
 of scientific knowledge lets light shine upon several top- 
 ics that are strong proofs of the correctness of the Book 
 of Mormon. It will be remembered that Stephens, in 
 1842, gave the number of ruined cities at forty-two, 
 while this man gives an increased or corrected list in 
 1888, as follows: "There are between sixty and 
 seventy ruined cities in Yucatan, as far as they have 
 been discovered." — Leslie's Monthly, May, 1889, p. 
 
 547- 
 
 Of Yucatan Ruins, Stephens says: "The ruins of 
 Mayapan cover a great plain, which was at that time so 
 overgrown that hardly any object was visible until we 
 were close upon it, and the undergrowth was so thick 
 that it was difficult to work our way through it. Ours 
 was the first visit to examine these ruins. For ages 
 they had been unnoticed, almost unknown, and left to 
 struggle with rank tropical vegetation." — Incidents of 
 Travel in Yucatan, Vol. i, p. 131. 
 
 Short says of Stephens and Catherwood: "These 
 indefatigable explorers examined about forty ruined 
 cities, nearly all of which were previously unknown to 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. II3. 
 
 Others than the natives, and many of them were un- 
 known at Merida, the capitol of the country." — Ameri- 
 can Antiquities, p. 347. (He dates Stephens' first 
 edition, 1843.) 
 
 Baldwin in his work issued 187 1, says in its pre- 
 face: "The purpose of this volume is to give a sum- 
 mary of what*is known of American Antiquities. * * 
 Many of the more important of these works are either 
 in French or Spanish, or in great English quartos and 
 folios * * and not one of them attempts to give a com- 
 prehensive view of the whole subject." 
 
 Baldwin says of Central America: '^Palacios, who 
 described Copan in 1576, may properly be called the 
 first explorer." — Ancient America, p. 102. 
 
 The discovery by Palacios was not published how- 
 ever until 1843, ^^^ ^^t ^^ English until i860. See 
 Native Races, Vol. 4, p. 79, also American Encyclo- 
 pedia, Article Squier. 
 
 In his "Origin American Antiquities," published in 
 1839, page eleven, Delafield says: "The antiquities of 
 America are an immense field hardly entered, abound- 
 ing in promise of reward for the most devoted investiga- 
 tions." 
 
 Priest says 'in his book of 1838: "It yet remains 
 for America to awake her story from its oblivious sleep, 
 and tell the tale of her antiquities, the traits of nations, 
 coeval perhaps, with the oldest works of man this side 
 of the flood." — American Antiquities, p. 40. 
 
 Baldwin says: "One of the most learned writers 
 on American antiquities, a Frenchman, speaking of dis- 
 coveries in Peru, exclaims, 'America is to be again dis- 
 covered!' * * The gold hunting marauders who subju- 
 gated Mexico and Peru could be robbers and destroyers. 
 
114. ''HK BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 but they were not qualified in any respect to become 
 intelligent /Students of American antiquity." — Ancient 
 America, p. 13. 
 
 "But it remains for America to awake her story 
 from sleep, to string lyre and nerve the pen, to tell the 
 tale of her antiquities, as seen in the relics of nations, 
 coeval, perhaps, with the oldest works of man." — Tra- 
 ditions of De-coo dah by Wm. Pidgeon, (1853), p. 11. 
 
 Bancroft writes: "The only author who has at- 
 tempted to treat of the subject of Central American 
 Civilization, and antiquity comprehensively as a whole, 
 is the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg. " — Native Races, 
 Vol. 2, p. 116. The work cited was first published in 
 1857-9. See American Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 214. 
 
 He further writes: "Of all American peoples, the 
 Quichees of Guatemala have left us the richest mytho- 
 logical legacy. Their description of the creation as 
 given in the Popol Vuh, which may be called the na- 
 tional book of the Quichees, in its rude, strange elo- 
 quence and poetic originality, one of the rarest relics 
 of aboriginal thought." — Native Races Pacific States, 
 Vol. 3, pp. 42, 43. 
 
 "In Vienna in 1857, the book, now best known as 
 the Popol Vuh, was first brought to the notice of 
 European Scholars." — Ibid., p. 42. 
 
 The Book of Mormon was published in 1830, and 
 so gave the facts twenty-seven years before this last 
 mentioned publication. 
 
 Bancroft writes: "For what is known of Copan, 
 the world is indebted almost entirely to the works of 
 the American traveler, Mr. John L. Stephens, and of 
 his most skillful artist companion, Mr. F. Catherwood." 
 — Native Races, Vol. 4, p. 81. 
 
THE BOOK UNSKALED. II5. 
 
 These gentlemen were sent out in 1839 by the 
 United States government. Mr. Stephens wrote: "I 
 shall make one remark in regard to the work of Mr. 
 Waldec which was published in folio in Paris in 1835, 
 and except my own hurried notice, is the only account 
 that has ever been published of the ruins of Uxmal, 
 Yucatan." — Incidents of Travel, Vol. i, p. 297. 
 
 It is said that Humboldt whose work was published 
 in 1809, wrote of the civilization of Central America, 
 but Stephens did not so understand: "The first new 
 light thrown upon this subject as regards Mexico was 
 by the great Humboldt, who visited that country at a 
 time when, by the jealous policy of the government it 
 was almost as much closed against strangers as China is 
 now. No man could have better deserved such for- 
 tune. * * Unfortunately, of the great cities beyond the 
 Vale of Mexico, buried in forests, ruined, desolate, and 
 without a name, Humboldt never heard, or, at least, he 
 never visited them." — Incidents of Travel, Vol. i, 
 p. 98. 
 
 "The study of the great architectural works of the 
 ancient Mexican and Peruvians led Humboldt to inves- 
 tigations of their languages, records, early culture and 
 migrations." — American Encyclopedia, Vol. 9, p. 45. 
 
 Some, who are totally uninformed upon the sub 
 ject; affirm that Kingsborough wrote upon Central 
 American civilization before the publication of the 
 Book of Mormon. In answer to this it is only neces- 
 sary to state, that the earliest date given for the publi- 
 cation of Kingsborough's work, is 1830; the American 
 Encyclopedia gives it as 1831. See Prescott's Con- 
 quest of Mexico, Vol. i, p. 128; and American Ency- 
 clopedia, article Kingsborough. 
 
Il6. THK BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 JOSEPH SMITH'S OBJECT— A VISION. 
 
 "My object in going to inquire of the Lord, was 
 to know which of all these sects was right, that I might 
 know which to join. * * I asked the personages, who 
 stood above me in the light, which of all these sects was 
 right, — for at that time it had never entered my head 
 that all were wrong, — and which I should join. I was 
 answered that\I should join none of them, for they were 
 all wrong; and the personage who addressed me said 
 that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight, 
 that those professors were all corrupt, 'They draw near 
 me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me;' 
 'They teach for doctrine the commandments of men,' 
 'having a form of godliness, but they deny the power 
 thereof.' He again forbade me to join any of them." — 
 Times and Seasons, Vol. 3, p. 727. 
 
 On the eve of September 21st, 1823, through fer- 
 vent prayer, anoth'er vision was presented to Mr. Smith, 
 and he gives it, in part, as follows: * 'After I had re- 
 tired to my bed for the night, I betook myself to prayer 
 and supplication to the Almighty God for forgiveness 
 of all my sins and follies, and also for a manifestation 
 to me, that I might know of my state and standing be- 
 fore him, fori had full confidence in obtaining a divine 
 manifestation, as I h^d previously had one. While 1 
 was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. II7. 
 
 light appearing in the room, which continued to in- 
 crease until the room was lighter than at noonday, 
 when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, 
 standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor. 
 He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It 
 was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen, 
 nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made 
 to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His 
 hands were naked, and his arms also a little above the 
 wrists; so, also, were his feet naked, as were his legs, 
 a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also 
 bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing 
 on but this robe, as it was open so that I could see in- 
 to his bosom. Not only was his robe exceedingly 
 white, but his whole person was glorious beyond der 
 scription, and his countenance truly like lightning. 
 The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright 
 as immediately around his person. When I first looked 
 upon him I was afraid, but the fear soon left me. He 
 called me by name, and said unto me, that he was a 
 messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and 
 that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for 
 me to do, and that my name should be had for good 
 and evil among all nations, kindreds and tongues; or 
 that it should be both good and evil spoken of among 
 all people. He said there was a book deposited, writ- 
 ten upon gold plates, giving an account of the former 
 inhabitants of this continent, and the source from 
 whence they sprang. He also said that the fullness of 
 the everlasting gospel was contained in it, as delivered 
 by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants. Al'so, that 
 there were two stones in silver bows, (and these stones, 
 fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the 
 
Il8. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 Urim and Thumraim) deposited with the plates, and 
 the possession and use of thes3 stones was what consti- 
 tuted seers,- in ancient or former times, and that God 
 had prepared tliem for the purpose of translating the 
 book." 
 
 "After telling me these things, he commenced 
 quoting the prophecies of the Old Testament. He first 
 quoted a part of the third chapter of Malachi, and he, 
 quoted, also, the fourth or last chapter of the same 
 prophecy, though with a little variation from the way 
 it reads in our Bible. Instead of quoting the ftrst verse 
 as it reads in our book, he quoted it thus: 'For be- 
 hold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven, and 
 all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall burn 
 as stubble; for they that come shall burn them, saith 
 the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root 
 nor branch.' And again, he quoted the fifth verse thus: 
 'Behold, I will reveal unto you the priesthood, by the 
 hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the 
 great and dreadful day of the Lord.' He also quoted 
 the next verse differently: 'And he shall plant in the 
 hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, 
 and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers; 
 if it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wast- 
 ed at his coming.' In addition to these, he quoted the 
 eleventh chapter of Isaiah, saying that it was about to 
 be fulfilled. He quoted, also, the third chapter of 
 Acts, twenty-second and twenty-third verses, precisely 
 as they stand in our New Testament. He said that that 
 prophet was Christ; but the day had not yet come when 
 'they who would not hear his voice should be cut off 
 from among the people,' but soon would come. He 
 also quoted the second chapter of Joel, from the twenty- 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. II9. 
 
 eighth verse to the last. He also said that this was not 
 yet fulfilled, but was soon to be. And he further stated, 
 the fullness of the Gentiles was soon to come in. He 
 quoted many other passages of scripture, and offered 
 many explanations which cannot be mentioned here. 
 Again, he told me that when I got those plates of which 
 he had spoken, — for the time that they should be ob- 
 tained was not yet fulfilled, — I should not show them 
 to any person; neither the breastplate with the Urim 
 and Thummim; only to those to whom I should be com- 
 manded to show them. If I did, I should be destroyed. 
 While he was conversing with me about the plates, the 
 vision was opened to my mind, that I could see the 
 place where the plates were deposited, and that so 
 clearly and distinctly that I knew the place again when 
 I visited it. "—Times and Seasons, Vol. 3, p. 729. 
 
 CHAPTER Xni. 
 THE SEALED BOOK TO COME FORTH— FUL- 
 FILLMENT OF PSALM 85 AND ISAIAH 
 29— PALESTINE RESTORED. 
 The Savior said (John 17: 17), ' 'Thy word is truth. " 
 The Psalmist said, 'T will hear what the Lord will 
 speak, for he will speak peace unto his people." — Ps. 
 85: 8. In verse eleven he says: ''Truth shall spring 
 ,out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down 
 from heaven." Verse twelve states: "Yea the Lord 
 shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield 
 her increase." 
 
 Thus it will be seen (i) that the Lord was to speak 
 unto his people; and (2) that associated with the Lord 
 speaking, would, be the coming forth of "truth," a 
 
120. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 record of God's ''word," ''out of the earth;" and (3) 
 that at that time the Lord was to bless the land of Pal- 
 estine, and give his people "that which is good," and 
 the "land" which had been under the curse of sterility, 
 was again to become fertile as in ancient times. 
 
 That "truth" should "spring out of the earth," it 
 was necessary that it should have been reposed to its 
 keeping, to come forth in the due time of the Lord. 
 The Book of Mormon is God's word, "truth," as de- 
 livered to the ancient nations of America; and in its 
 coming forth "out of the earth," clearly fulfills this 
 prophecy of the "sweet singer of Israel." 
 
 The prophet Isaiah, in chapter twenty-nine, begins 
 with vivid expressions of "woe," "distress," "heavi- 
 ness," and "sorrow" to "Ariel, the city where David 
 dwelt;" and in the latter clause of verse two, introduces 
 that which says: "And it shall be unto me as Ariel." 
 This that "shall be unto me as Ariel," is none other 
 than another part of Israel, included in his prophecy, 
 and not Jerusalem alone. In chapter eighteen the 
 prophet has described the Western continent both as .to 
 its form, and location, — "Woe to the land shadowing 
 with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia." 
 *^And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out 
 of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the 
 dust." (29: 4). Being "brought down;" "speak out 
 of the ground;" "and thy speech low out of the dust;" 
 '^^whisper out of the dust," are strange particulars to be 
 fulfilled in the history of the other Ariel, that people of 
 whom the Savior spoke: "And other sheep I have 
 which are not of this fold, [place] them also must I 
 bring, and they shall hear my voice." — St. John 10: 16. 
 This could only be accomplished by the coming forth 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 12 1. 
 
 of the records of a people perished from tlie earth. Of 
 the people destroyed at Jerusalem, no record of which 
 we have any knowledge, was ever deposited in the 
 bosom of ^'mother earth;" and therefore, no record has 
 ever been recovered from the earth, concerning that 
 people and the times in which they lived. And now 
 the time is already past for the fulfillment of this proph- 
 ecy, as we shall show later on. 
 
 The Israel of the Western continent, committed 
 their records to the earth; and that they have been 
 brought forth, is fully attested by evidence which can 
 never be impeached. The prophecies of David and 
 Isaiafi relate to the same subject, and are as one in 
 their fulfillment, while Christ's definition of ''truth" is 
 brought out in bold relief. 
 
 The people of to-day, "The day of His prepara- 
 tion," (see Nahum 2: 34), are presented with the record 
 and history of those who in ages past, flourished upon 
 the land "choice above all other lands." Verses five 
 and six deal with the distress and destruction to be vis- 
 ited upon that people. In verses seven and eight, the 
 "nations" who were to be arrayed against Ariel, or 
 "fight against Mount Zion," are represented as a hun- 
 gry or thirsty man, who dreams of eating and drinking 
 only to awaken*and "Behold he is faint, and his soul 
 hath appetite." These "nations" are estranged from 
 God; and although they make a great show that they 
 are on the Lord's side, and'are fed with the manna from 
 heaven, yet it is only as a dream, it is not real. A mis- 
 taken, apostate Christianity has been their heritage, 
 which will be confessed in that day yet to come. 
 Hence, Jeremiah prophesied: "Gentiles shall come un- 
 to thee from the ends of the earth and shall say, 'Surely 
 
122. THE BOOK UNSKALKD. 
 
 our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wh.ere- 
 in there is no profit.' " — 16: 19. 
 
 The JLord states their condition in Isaiah 29: 9, as 
 being ''Drunken but not with wine, they stagger but not 
 with strong drink." Tliis evidently portrays their 
 spiritual condition, showing them to be spiritually 
 drunk, having imbibed of false doctrine and heresies, 
 partaking with the "great Babylon of the earth" "the 
 wine of the wrath of her fornication." They were to be 
 without present revelation from God; and to them there 
 was to be "No answer from God." See also Micah 
 3:6, 7. The tenth verse (Isaiah 29) says: "For the 
 Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep lleep, 
 and hath closed your eyes; the prophets and your rul- 
 ers, the seers hath he covered." Truly their condition 
 must have been deplorable, to have been described as 
 drunken and sleepy, hungry and athirst. And yet this 
 was to be their sad state, and serves but to illustrate 
 the necessity of living prophets, and teachers divinely 
 APPOINTED to minister the word of life unto the people. 
 Verse eleven reads: "And the vision of all has be- 
 come unto you, as the words of a book that is sealed, 
 which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, read 
 this I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot for it is sealed." 
 "The vision of all;" the writings of prophets and apos- 
 tles as found in the Holy Scriptures, were to be pos- 
 sessed by that people, and to become unto them "as 
 the words of a book that is *sealed." They were to be 
 without that inspiration of God (Job 32: 8). so neces- 
 sary to understand the things of God, (see i Cor. 2: 
 11), and as a result were not to understand the things 
 written. 
 
 "The vision of all," (or scripture possessed by 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 1 23. 
 
 them), being not understood, are compared unto anoth- 
 er book, a book which they did not possess, — "The 
 words of a book that is sealed." "These words," the 
 prophet declares, "Men deliver unto one that is learned, 
 saying, 'Read this I pray thee,' and he saith, I cannot, 
 for it is sealed." A transcript of the hieroglyphics of a 
 certain part of the Book of Mormon was prepared by 
 Joseph Smith, and sent by Martin Harris to Prof. An- 
 thon of New York. When informed as to the manner 
 of Joseph Smith obtaining the "book," he said, when 
 asked to translate, "I cannot, for it is sealed." No- 
 tice, that the "book" was not to be "'delivered" "to 
 one that is learned," but the "words" only, which was 
 done when the transcript taken by Smith was delivered 
 by Harris, as already described. Verse twelve: "And 
 the book is delivered to him that is not learned, say- 
 ing. Read this I pray thee, and he saith, I am not 
 learned." To Joseph Smith was delivered the book; 
 he was one "not learned." That he did have the 
 records in his possession is attested by eight persons 
 who SAW and handled them, whose testimony as also 
 that of three others, was published in connection with 
 the Book of Mormon. He complained to the Lord, 
 saying, "I am not learned." 
 
 Verses thirteen and fourteen: "Fosasmuch as this 
 people draw near me with their mouth, and with their 
 lips do honor me, but have removed their heart faf 
 from me, and their fear towaHrme is taught by the pre- 
 cept of men: Therefore, behold I will proceed to do a 
 marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous 
 work and a wonder." It is clear that this "marvelous 
 work" was not to be founded in the wisdom and precept 
 of men, but in the wisdom and power of God. There- 
 
124. THE BOOK UNSKALKD. 
 
 fore the unlearned was selected, and to "him" "was 
 deliver^" the "book." The Lord was to do the work, 
 and this is accomplished by bestowing upon the "one 
 not learned," power from God, with the use of the 
 "Urim and Thummim," to *'read" the "book that is 
 sealed." 
 
 The worship of the times when this was to trans- 
 pire, is described as of the "lip," "while the heart is 
 removed far from me." The hungry, thirsty, dreamy, 
 drunken condition, one of "deep sleep," is still upon 
 the "nations." Human precepts (creeds) are substi- 
 tuted for the doctrine of Christ. The "marvelous work 
 and a wonder," so introduced by God in the latter days, 
 occasions not a little wondering and marveling, that 
 "The wisdom of the wise men shall perish, and the 
 understanding of the prudent men shall be hid." — v. 14. 
 
 And so we perceive another prophecy fulfilled. 
 The efforts of the "wise" were to signally fail in their 
 attempts to overthrow the work so introduced. Verses 
 fifteen and sixteen are strong in condemnation of those 
 who work in the dark, characterized as "Turning things 
 upside down," opposing God's truth, perverting in- 
 stead of receiving the way of truth. Verse seventeen is 
 a veritable milestone, marking the fulfillment of proph- 
 ecy: "Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall 
 be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field 
 shall be esteemed as a forest." Only "a little while" 
 after the fulfillment of the things foretold, and Lebanon 
 or Palestine "shall be turned into a fruitful field." 
 
 Although century upon century should pass, and 
 Palestine during this time should remain under the 
 curse of barrenness and sterility; yet when the time ap- 
 pointed of God should have arrived, and the "little 
 
THE HOOK UNSEALED. 1 25. 
 
 while'- elapsed, then the curse is to be removed, and the 
 "land of promise" shall again be a "fruitful field." In 
 1830 the Book of Mormon was published, fulfilling the 
 prophecy concerning the "words of the book that is 
 sealed" being "delivered by men to one that is learned;" 
 the book itself being delivered (not by man or men) to 
 "one not learned," and God's "marvelous work" intro- 
 duced. 
 
 Louis Van Buren wrote, only a few years ago, an 
 account of his sojourn, and observations in Palestine: 
 "I arrived in Indiana a few days since, from the East- 
 ern Continent. I stopped at Joppa nearly the whole 
 winter. For my part I was well pleased with the coun- 
 try. It is certainly a land of most wonderful fruitful- 
 ness, with a delightsome climate, producing everything, 
 i/ properly cultivated, and from two to three crops in a 
 year. They have grain,' fruit and vegetables all the 
 year round; in fact I never was in such a country be- 
 fore. I have seen much good country in Europe and 
 America, but none to compare with Palestine; its fruit- 
 fulness is uncommon, and the climate the most delight- 
 some; even in winter I did not see the least sort of 
 frost, and vegetables of every sort were growing in per- 
 fection in gardens. It is a fact that the rain and dew 
 are restored; recently, in 1853, the former and the lat- 
 ter rain were restored, to the astonishment of the na- 
 tives." -Louis Van Buren, Sen., Nov. 14th, A. D. 1867. 
 
 Thus it is seen that only twenty-three years had 
 passed after the publication of the Book of Mormon 
 before the long promised restoration came. Accord- 
 ing to Usher's Chronology, Isaiah made this prediction 
 two thousand, five hundred and sixty-five years before 
 its fulfillment. This restoration of Palestine and the 
 
126. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 rebuilding of Jerusalem, was widely ta'ught by the Latter 
 Day faints from the year 1830 down to the year 1853. 
 They had faith in the immediate fulfillment of that 
 promise, for they knew that the time was at hand. 
 And now with pleasure they can point to the restora- 
 tion and rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the even-ts in the 
 east which tend to push the sons of Abraham thither, 
 and can say, "We told you so." 
 
 '•It [Palestine] has the same bright sun and un- 
 clouded sky, as well as the early and latter rain, which, 
 however, is diminished in quantity, owing to the de- 
 struction of trees." — Chambers' Encyclopedia, Vol. 7, 
 p. II. — Palestine. 
 
 "The result of Dr. Barclay's observations is to 
 show that the greatest fall of rain at Jerusalem in a 
 single year was eighty-five inches, and the smallest 
 forty-four, the mean being 51 1-6. These figures will 
 be best appreciated by recollecting that the average 
 rain fall at London during the whole year is only 
 twenty-five inches, and that in the wettest parts of the 
 country, such as Cumberland and Devon, it rarely ex- 
 ceeds fifty inches. As in the time of our Savior, (Luke* 
 12: 54), the rains come chiefly from the south or south- 
 west; they commeiice at the end of October, or begin- 
 ning of November, and continue with greater or lesser 
 constancy till the end of February, or middle of March, 
 and, occasionally, though rarely, till the end of April. 
 Between April and November, there is, with the rarest 
 exception, an uninterrupted period of fine weather, and 
 skies without a cloud. During the summer the dews 
 are very heavy, and often saturate the traveler's tent, 
 as if a shower had passed over it. The nights, espe- 
 cially towards sunrise, are very cold, and thick fog or 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. I27. 
 
 mists are common all over the country. Thunder 
 storms of great violence, are frequent during the winter 
 months." — Dictionary of Bible, by Wm. Smith, p. 636. 
 —Art. Palestine. 
 
 In D A. Randall's Hand Writing of God, page 
 nineteen, occurs his introduction to Dr. Barclay of the 
 Disciple church and missionary to the land of Pales- 
 tine, and resident of Jerusalem twenty years, but resi- 
 dent of Joppa at the time of Randall's visit. "The 
 country about Joppa is certainly a most delightful one. 
 Extensive plains covered with luxuriant vegetation 
 stretched along the shore of the sea and far ijtito the in- 
 terior. Large orange groves were just yielding their 
 luxuriant harvest of golden colored fruit. Such 
 oranges I had never before seen and I had no idea that 
 they ever grew to such a great size. The ground was 
 dotted with flowers of every hue and the air was vocal 
 with the music of birds." — Ibid., p. 23. 
 
 "Lydia or Ludd. It numbers about two thousand 
 inhabitants, and is surrounded by beautiful groves, 
 among which may be seen the olive, fig and pomegran- 
 ate, etc. "--Ibid., p. 24. 
 
 *'Here, where we are now walking, an(l within the 
 walls, are several large patches of ground upon which 
 barley and wheat are growing. But a few weeks since 
 the plow passed over that ground and the seed was 
 scattered upon the furrowed soil, and close by it are 
 great mounds of ruins covered with vegetation." (See 
 Micah 3: 12) — Ibid., p. 60. 
 
 *'This is about the closing up of the latter rains; 
 after a fewtiays they expect no more rain until the lat- 
 ter part of September or October." — Ibid., p. 261. 
 
 "The tall rank grass was waving among the stone, 
 
125. THK BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 andjthe ground had been plowed to the very founda- 
 tion walls, and a crop of barley was rapidly approach- 
 ing harvest." — Ibid., 271. 
 
 ''The Baldwin Locomotive works in Philadelphia, 
 has received the following note from its representative 
 in Palestine: 
 
 'Hotel Jerusalem, Jaffa, October ;^d, 1890. 
 
 'Gentlemen: — I am very glad to be able to report 
 that we made a successful trial trip of the first engine 
 (Jaffa) to-day. All Jaffa was out to see it, including the 
 Turkish Governor and his court. It was estimated that 
 at least ten thousand people were on the house-tops 
 and along the line of the road, and over two- thirds of 
 them never saw a locomotive before. Many of the 
 Arab women moved their household effects along the 
 line of the road several days ago, so as to be on hand 
 when the great thing went along. Many flags were 
 hoisted over public buildings in honor of the occasion. 
 I got an American flag from the Consul and put it on 
 the front bumper. The French engineers put two French 
 flags on each corner of the cab, and we secured a 
 Turkish one to put on the other corner of the bumper, 
 and so we went up into town. I doubt if any. other 
 engine built by the works ever received so much atten- 
 tion as 8 24 D, 24, and as for me, well, I never exj)ected 
 people to regard me as the Arabs did today, and have 
 been doing. They simply think I have been cutting 
 ^nd carving it out of a lot of railroad iron and boxes. 
 They have a great respect for the French engineeRs, and 
 think them very smart, but when it comes to making a 
 machine such as they saw today, ' "they can't do it in 
 France, they had to send to America for a man to make 
 it." ' " — Hebrew Christian. 
 
THE HOOK UNSEAr.KD. 1 29. 
 
 Rabbi F. De Sola Mendes, of New York City, 
 contributing to the Patriot wrote: "The future of the 
 Jews is inalienably and unalterably associated with 
 Palestine, their own old home; let us turn thither. 
 From time to time American readers have been familiar 
 with newspaper statements of the enormous influx into 
 Palestine of Russian and Roumanian Hebrew refugees. 
 The scale of this immigration, although considerable, 
 has by no means been as large as usually asserted; it is 
 questionable whether there are today as many as seventy 
 thousand Hebrews in all Syria, while Mr. Selah Merril, 
 U. S. consul at Jerusalem, very recently reported their 
 numbers as being only forty-three thousand, but this 
 probably refers only to Palestine proper. Jerusalem, 
 naturally, is the chief focus of this immigration, and 
 all reports agree in placing her fewish population today 
 at about thirty thousand. This already makes the 
 Hcly City a Jewish one, seeing that that is considerably 
 more than half the total population of the place. In 
 Safed, too, more than half of the twenty-five thousand 
 inhabitants are Jews, while in Tiberias, another import- 
 ant city, they number three thousand out of the total 
 four thousand. In Hebron, on the other hand, they 
 are only twelve hundred out of eight thousand. They 
 have seventy synagogues, it is computed, and in Jerusa- 
 lem several large hospitals and schools. The Roths- 
 child. Agricultural school at Jaffa, has for many years 
 done niUch towards building up the real development 
 pf the country, by annually sending forth many well- 
 equipped agricultural educators and farmers. This of 
 course, isthe pressing need of the land, to build up the 
 svaste: places, to plant the desolate fields, and to restore 
 tli£ ^'lashed away soil to the mountain plateaus, whence 
 
130. THE BOOK UNSKALED. 
 
 the iKu;hecked and uncontrolled rains of centuries have 
 been allowed to flood it away. * * The screech of the 
 railroad whistle may be heard in Jaffa, on the two- 
 thirds finished road from that seaport to Jerusalem, 
 rhere is an electric light outside the Damascus gate at 
 the Holy City; the shadow of a telegraph pole falls 
 upon Jacob's well near Shechem, and a prosaic steam- 
 mill puffs hard day and night close by the ancient wall 
 of Nazareth. * * A very much more important railroad, 
 as far as the commerce of the country is concerned, is 
 that for which a concession has recently been granted, 
 from Haifa near Carmel, across the country to the 
 Hauran and Damascus. It will cross the plain of 
 Esdraelon, the upper Jordan, and the country to the 
 south of Mt. Hermon, the most fertile district of all 
 Syria. Its chief result will be the opening up of the 
 Hauran, an enormous wheatfield, as it were, south of 
 Hermon, some sixty miles by thirty in extent. The 
 traffic, on camel-back, is today already enormous, the 
 people, who are quite wealthy, importing all their 
 illuminating-oil, their iron, their lumber and their fruit 
 — there are no trees in the Hauran — in exchange for 
 their grain; what will it grow to when the iron horse is 
 ready to shoulder their loads? There is no sign of 
 impending change so potent as this new railroad, one 
 of whose termini will be under the shadow of hoary 
 Carmel by the sea, the other in venerable Damascus, 
 whose whistle will be heard in Nazareth and echo from 
 the shores of Galilee, and whose bridges will be flung 
 across the Kishon — "that venerable stream" — the 
 Jordan and the Pharphar. Eleven years ago, says a 
 recent traveler, the plain of Esdraelon was cultivated 
 only in small patches, the crops of which were pretty 
 
THK HOOK UNSEALED. I3I. 
 
 regularly swept away by the marauding Bedaween of 
 East Jordan; now it is almost one unbroken sea of 
 wheat, owned and farmed by a wealthy Greek of 
 Beyrout. Wine growing too is being followed with* 
 great success in the Lebanon, and the proverbial fig 
 tree will not be long in appearing. The Jews, of course, 
 are manfully taking their part in this transformation of 
 the land. • Many colonies have been founded, with 
 varying success natural to a new occupation to new 
 men in a new .country. * * With patience and perse- 
 verance these men will work on with God's blessings; 
 all true friends of Israel will watch their progress with 
 interest and concern, and hail each new enterprise 
 which looks to making loved Palestine's "wilderness 
 like an Eden, her deserts like the garden of the Lord." 
 "So shall joy and gladness be found therein once more, 
 thanksgiving and the voice of song." — Independent 
 Patriot, October 19, 1892. 
 
 Mr. E. Haldane contributing io the St. Louis 
 Republic wrote from Jaffa, December loth, 1892: "An 
 English syndicate is now building a railway from Haifa 
 to Damascus. The cost of this Damascus road will be 
 about ten million dollars. The Jaffa road is to have a 
 branch to Gaza in ancient Philistia, and this will con- 
 tinue down to Egypt, with its probable terminous at 
 Port Said. This latter road will tap the great grain- 
 producing region of Southern Palestine and Upper 
 Egypt. As a result of all this railroad building the 
 whole of Syria is now experiencing such a "boom" as 
 has never before been felt in the East. The harvests 
 of the Hauran — where the finest wheat and barley in 
 the world are raised — now exceed two hundred thousand 
 tons of cereals, of which five eighths are exported, being 
 
132. THE HOOK UNSKALED. 
 
 carrtexi on caniel-back to Damascus, which adds fifty 
 per cent to the cost. Caravans from Damascus, which, 
 with its po|)ulation of three hundred thousand, is the 
 1:ommercial center of Syria, travel through Mesopo- 
 tamia, by the Tigris and Euphrates, to Mosul, Bagdad 
 and Hilleh.andto the most distant parts of Arabia, 
 Africa and fCgypt. 
 
 "'JAFFA, Palestine, December 3d, 1892. 
 ''EDiroKS Hkkald: — In September last, the day 
 the first rain began, the wind and sea were high, and 
 the last boat load of passengers was swamped and most 
 of them drowned; little children with their parents. 
 The rain is still pouring with thunder and lightning. 
 The old Solomon's harbor is full and running over. 
 There were slight showers of rain all through the sum- 
 mer. The people thought it would be unhealthy, but 
 it has been quite the contrary. The rain is so heavy 
 that the houses are falling down, some also that have 
 been newly built, and the ovens also where the bread is 
 baked for market are broken down and cannot be 
 baked in at present, as it is still raining — pouring is the 
 word, for such a storm as this one. 
 
 "Abigail York Ali.kv '' 
 
 ^'railroads for palestine, 
 '"Formal announcement was made at London, 
 England, October 14th, that the contract for building 
 the much talked-of railroad from Haifa, in Syria, to 
 Damascus has been awarded to a Chicago firm^ Huss 
 & Townsend, who have built the Mexican railroad also 
 for English capitalists. Mr. Townsend said that the 
 equipment, engines and cars would probably be of 
 American make. The contractors will sail for Haifa 
 
THE BOOK UNSKALED. I33. 
 
 on October i8th and will immediately begin work. 
 Tiiey expect to complete the road in eighteen months. 
 The project contemplates an ultimate extension of the 
 road to India if Persian concessions can be obtained.'' 
 — Independent Patriot, Oct. 19th, '93. 
 
 Joseph Smith affirmed that the angel said to him, 
 ''Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls 
 for the multitude of men and cattle therein." Thus 
 was fulfilled Zechariah 2: 4, applying it to modern 
 times. Those ancient walls, destroyed by the Roman 
 armies, were never to be rebuilt. The city, rebuilt, is 
 ''without walls," just as the prophet declared it would 
 be. Verse eighteen, (Isa. 29), "In that day shall the 
 deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the 
 blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness." 
 This has had its literal fulfillment in the case of many 
 through the blessings of the restored gospel. 
 
 Verse nineteen: "The meek also shall increase 
 their joy in the Lord, and. the poor among men shall 
 rejoice in the Holy One of Israel." With the increas- 
 ing light of the latter days, and the blessings of the gos- 
 pel of Christ once more among men, the "meek" may 
 "increase their joy in the Lord," and the "poor among 
 men rejoice," because they again have the gospel of 
 Christ in its simplicity declared unto them, "Not in 
 word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, 
 and in much assurance." The twentieth and twenty- 
 first verses declare that the devices of the evil one shall 
 be "brought to naught," the "scorner consumed,-'' 
 showing it to be a time of judgment. The twenty- 
 second verse is a promise to the Hebrew. It is there 
 stated that it is to be a time of returning favor for 
 Jacob. "Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither 
 
£34- I'HE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 shall his face now wax pale." The long period of 
 oppression, sorrow and afifliction, visited upon thern 
 since their rejection of Jesus the Christ, is to be fol- 
 lowed with a day of relaxation and liberty. Israel will 
 once more enjoy his liberty among men, and the favor 
 of God, ere they shall say in fulfillment of the Savior's 
 words, ^'Ye shall no more see me till ye shall say. 
 Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Ivord." 
 
 There has been a wonderful revolution of senti- 
 ment in favor of the Jews during this generation. And 
 while all persecution has not ceased, yet so great has 
 been its abatement, that many of that people have risen 
 to positions of great honor and distinction, ranking 
 among statesmen and figuring as leaders of the people. 
 Surely the sons of Jacob are regaining favor among the 
 nations, and this is in clear fulfillment of verse twenty- 
 two. 
 
 In this connection we shall mention a few of that 
 race who have received positions of political honor and 
 distinction. 
 
 Disraeli, Premier of England, where, formerly, 
 Hebrews were not permitted to own land. Solomon 
 Hirsch was appointed minister to Turkey by President 
 Harrison. Marcus Otterbourg, was the first American 
 Hebrew to occupy the high office of Envoy P2xtraordi- 
 nary and Minister Plenipotentiary, appointed by Presi- 
 dent Lincoln to Mexico. Oscar S. Straus, Minister to 
 Turkey, by President Cleveland. Henry M. Phillips, 
 one of the most distinguished members of the thirty- 
 fifth Congress. Lewis C. Levin, who served in Con- 
 gress three terms. E. B. Hart of the Congress of 185 1. 
 David Levy Youles, was for many years prior to the 
 civil war. United States Senator from Florida. Isaac 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. I35. 
 
 Phillips, General Appraiser of the port of New York, 
 which position he held fifteen years, was appointed by 
 President Pierce. By appointment of President Grant, 
 Dr. Herman Bendell, was Superintendent of Indian 
 Affairs; and later, was Consul to Denmark. Henry 
 M. Hymans, Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana. A 
 host of others occupying places of distinction in the 
 leading nations could have been given. 
 
 The return of Israel unto God is signified in the 
 twenty-third verse, (Isa. 29), ''They shall sanctify my 
 name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall 
 fear the God of Israel." The last verse of the chapter 
 is as follows: "They also that erred in spirit shall 
 come to understanding, and they that murmured shall 
 learn doctrine." Under the ministry of the gospel of 
 Jesus Christ as again restored, ''the marvelous work 
 and a wonder," the power of the Holy Ghost, and the 
 record of the word, will be ample and sufficient to "try 
 the spirits" which are abroad in the earth, and as a 
 result, those who have "erred" need not continue there- 
 in, for to them special help is promised. "And they 
 that murmured shall learn doctrine." This is to be 
 fulfilled by reason of the flood of light to be ushered in, 
 and the dawning of the latter day glory. With the 
 records of both Judah and Joseph in their midst, 
 matters of doctrine will have right solution, and the 
 "faith once delivered" will be fully established, and a 
 people prepared to meet the Christ when he comes to 
 reign on the earth. 
 
136. THK BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 AN ADMISSION, WITNESSES TESTIFY. 
 
 PROF. ANTHON's admission. 
 
 "Some years ago a plain, apparently simple hearted 
 farmer, called on me with a note from Dr. Mitchell, of 
 our city, now dead, requesting me to decipher, if possi- 
 ble, a paper which the farmer would hand me, and 
 which Dr. Mitchell confessed he had been unable to 
 understand. When I asked the pars m who brought it 
 how he obtained the writing, he gave me, as far as I 
 now recollect [Note this language, 'As far as I now 
 recollect'] the following account: A gold book con- 
 sisting of a number of plates of gold fastened together 
 in the shape of a book, by wires of the same metal, 
 which had been dug up in the northern part of the state 
 of New York, and along with the book an enormous 
 ])air of gold spectacles. [Urim and Thummim]. 
 These spectacles were so large that if a person attempted 
 to look through them, his two eyes would have to be 
 turned toward one of the glasses merely, the spectacles' 
 in question being altogether too large for the human 
 face. Whoever examined the plates through the spec- 
 tacles was enabled to not only read them, but under- 
 stand their meaning. All of this knowledge, however, 
 
THE HOOK UNSEALED. I37. 
 
 was confined at that time to the young man who had 
 the trunk containing the plates and spectacles in his 
 sole possession. He put on the spectacles, or rather 
 looked through one of the glasses, and deciphered the 
 characters in the book, and having committed some of 
 them . to paper, handed copies to a person outside. 
 This paper was in fact a singular scroll. It consisted 
 of all kinds of crooked characters, disposed in columns, 
 and had evidently been prepared by some person who 
 had before him at the time a book containing various 
 alphabets, Greek and Hebrew letters, crosses and 
 flourishes. Roman letters inverted or placed sideways, 
 ■were ranged in perpendicular columns, and the whole 
 ended in a rude delineation of a circle, decked with 
 various strange marks, and evidently copied after the 
 Mexican calendar given by Humboldt." — E. D. Howe's 
 work, p. 272. 
 
 THE TESTIMONY OF IHREK WITNESSES. 
 
 Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, 
 and people, unto whom this work shall come, that we, 
 through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this 
 record, which is a record of the people of Nephi, and 
 also of the Lamanites, their brethren, and also of the 
 people of Jared, who canie from the tower of which 
 hath been spoken; and We also know that they have 
 been translated by the gift and power of God, for his 
 voice hath declared it unto us; w^herefore we know of a 
 surety, that the work is true. And we also testify that 
 we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates, 
 and they have been shown unto us by the power of 
 God, and not of man. And we declare with words of 
 
138. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 s^^erness, that an angel of God came down from 
 heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that 
 we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings 
 thereon: and we know that it is by the grace of God the 
 Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and 
 bare record that these things are true; and it is marvel- 
 ous in our eyes, nevertheless the voice of the Lord 
 commanded us that we should bear record of it; where- 
 fore, to be obedient unto the commandments of God, 
 we bear testimony of these things. And we know that 
 if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of 
 the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the 
 judgment seat of Christ, and shall dwell with him 
 eternally in the heavens. And the honor be to th^e 
 Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which 
 is one God. Amen. 
 
 Oliver Cowdery, 
 David Whitmer, 
 Martin Harris. 
 
 the testimony of eight witnesses. 
 
 Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues 
 and people, unto whom this work shall come, that 
 Joseph Smith, Jr., the translator of this work, has 
 shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, 
 which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the 
 leaves as the said Smith has translated, we did handle 
 with our hands, and we also saw the engravings thereon, 
 all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and 
 of curious workmanship. And this we bear record with 
 words of soberness, that the said Smith has shown unto 
 us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety 
 tliat the said Smith has got the plates of which we have 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. I39. 
 
 Spoken. And we give our names unto the world to 
 witness unto the world that which we have seen, and 
 we lie not, God bearing witness of it. 
 
 Christian Whit.mer, 
 Jacob Whitmek, 
 Peter Whitmer, Jr., 
 John Whitmer, 
 Hiram Page, 
 Joseph Smith, Sr., 
 Hvrum Smith, 
 Samuel H. Smith. 
 
 death of the jhree witnesses. 
 
 Oliver Cowdery died at Richmond, Missouri, 
 March, 1850; his dying charge to David Whitmer, 
 being, ''Be true to our testimony, Brother David." 
 This was related by Mr. Whitmer to the writer of this 
 book, in company with Elder E. C. Briggs, in April, 
 1885, when visiting Mr. Whitmer. 
 
 Martin Harris died at Clarkston, Cache county, 
 Utah, July, 1875. Answering the question of H. 
 B. Emerson, of New Richmond, Ohio, "Did you go to 
 England to lecture against Mormonism?" he said, "I 
 answer emphatically, No, I did not; no man ever heard 
 me in any way deny the truth of the Book of Mormon." 
 
 David Whitmer died at Richmond, Missouri, where 
 he had lived half a centurv, January 25th, 1888. Of 
 his death and the avowal of his testimony at that time, 
 the Richmond Democrat, of January 26th, 1888, said: 
 *'On Sunday evening at 5:30, January 22d, 1888, Mr. 
 Whitmer called his family and some friends to his bed- 
 side, and addressing himself to the attending physician, 
 said, *Dr. Buchanan, I want you to say whether or not, 
 I am in my right mind, before I give ray dying testi- 
 mony.' The doctor answered, 'Yes, you are in your 
 
140. THE BOOK UNSKALKD. 
 
 riffht mind, for I have just had a conversation with you/ 
 :He then addressed himself to ail around his bedside in 
 these words, 'Now you must all be faithful in Christ; 
 I want to say to all of you that the Bible, and the record 
 of the Nephites (Book of Mormon) is true, so you can 
 say that you have heard me bear my testimony on my 
 death-bed.' " 
 
 The Globe-Uemocrat of January 25th, 1888, states 
 of Mr. Whitmer's death: ''A night or t\vo since he 
 called his physician, Dr. Buchanan, to his side and told 
 him that his testimony as recorded in the Book of 
 Mormon was true." 
 
 ''We the undersigne<l citizens of Richmond, Ray 
 county, Missouri, where David Whitmer, Sr., has 
 resided since the year A. D. 1838, certify that we have 
 been long and intimately acquainted with him and know 
 him to be a man of the highest integrity, and of un- 
 doubted truth and veracity:" A .W. Doniphan; G. W. 
 Dunn, Judge of the f'ifth Judicial Circuit; T. D. Wood- 
 son, President of Ray County Savings Bank; J. T. 
 Child, Editor of Conservator; H. C. Garner, Cashier of 
 Ray County Savings Bank; . W. A. Holman, County 
 Treasurer; J. S. Hughes, Banker; James Hughes, Banker; 
 D. P. Whitmer, Attorney at Law; Jas. W. Black, Attorney 
 at Law; L. C. Cantwell, Postmaster; Geo. L Wasson, 
 Mayor; Jas. A. Davis, County Collector; C. J. Hughes, 
 Probate Judge and Presiding Justice of Ray County Court ; 
 George W. Trigg, County Clerk; W. W. Mosby, M. D.; 
 Thos. McGinnis, ex-Sherriff Ray County; J. P. Quesen- 
 berry. Merchant; W. R. Holman, Furniture Merchant; 
 Lewis Slaughter, Recorder of Deeds; Geo. W. Buch- 
 anan, M. D.; A. K. Reyburn. 
 
 Given at Richmond, Mo., this March 19th, A. D. 1881. 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. I4T, 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 Now, dear reader, we solicit your candid attention, 
 while we proceed with our statement of conclusions 
 upon some of the many evidences presented in this 
 work. 
 
 At the time of the coming forth of the Book of 
 Mormon very little was known of American antiquities; 
 but since then, interest has been awakened and effort 
 stimulated, which have resulted in a flood of light being 
 thrown. upon the great past of ancient America. The 
 treasure-house has been unlocked, and the remains and 
 monuments of her ancient civilizations now tell the 
 story of those past ages. 
 
 The students of American antiquities will find, upon 
 a careful examination, that no discovery has thus far 
 been made which, in a single instance, contradicts the 
 record of America's great and glorious past, as found 
 in the Book of Mormon. 
 
 The Book of Mormon contains the record of a 
 people who came to the Western continent from the 
 tower of Babel at the confusion of tongues. Fortunately 
 for the believers in the authority of the Bible, there is 
 in the Book of Genesis, an historical statement which 
 fully warrants the statement of the Book of Mormon. 
 See Gen. 11:9. 
 
t42. THE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 The labors of the student of ethnology and aborig- 
 irvSTtraditions, have resulted in finding the statements, 
 both of Genesis and the Book of Mormon, confirmed 
 by the clearly defined traditions of the aborigines of 
 the Central American states. This corroboration of 
 history and tradition, especially where the existence of 
 one had nothing to do with the creation of the other, is 
 but a link in the chain of facts with which- the Book of 
 Mormon is vindicated. 
 
 The Book of Mormon affirms that two Hebraic 
 colonies came to America from Jerusalem about six 
 hundred years before the Christian era. Its statement 
 is also in harmony with special promises and prophecies 
 delivered by the olden Israelitish prophets concerning 
 the colonization of a distant land by a portion of the 
 house of Israel. (See Gen, 49: 22-26; Zeph. 3: 10). 
 In this case also, now that the record attests the fulfill- 
 ment of those prophetic promises made to .ancient 
 Israel, we have ample vindication of that Spirit which 
 gave the ''sure word of prophecy" unto His people in 
 all the ages. The antiquarian comes to the front con- 
 firming the statement of prophecy, and the book which 
 is the subject of this work. We are confronted with 
 the indisputable evidence of the Hebrew language, as 
 found upon tablets discovered in mounds and tumuli 
 where they were deposited in the ages long ago. Tab- 
 lets and ancient parchment containing parts of the 
 Jewish scriptures and Mosaic Law have been found, 
 which confirm the statement of the Book of Mormon, 
 that there was an Hebrew colonization, and that they 
 brought their customs and religion, and also their sacred 
 books with them when coming to this land. In this we 
 have a striking fulfillment of ancient prophecy, and a 
 
THE BOOK UNSP:ALED. I43. 
 
 Strong endorsement of the book which records its fulfill- 
 ment. The use of stone tablets and parchment for the 
 purposes of record are of ancient custom with Israel, 
 and their discovery in America, employing the language 
 and the religion of that people, are strong evidences 
 that their authors were of Israel, just as stated in the 
 Book of Mormon. 
 
 The writers of the Book of Mormon affirm that 
 they made records upon metallic sheets or plates, as is 
 instanced in the golden plates from which the book 
 itself was translated. At the time of the publication of 
 that book there had been no discovery of an ancient 
 writing upon a metallic sheet or plate in all America, 
 save that alone made by Joseph Smith concerning the 
 plates of the Book of Mormon. The wise and learned 
 scouted the idea, not supposing for a moment that time 
 in its developments would confirm the statements of the 
 unlearned Smith, and the record* of the Book of Mor- 
 mon. And yet in the order of events calculated alike 
 to confound the unbelieving scoffer and to inspire faith 
 in those who accepted that book as containing a true 
 record, only thirteen years elapsed before the discovery 
 of what are known as the Kinderhook plates. They 
 were of brass and covered with hieroglyphics. Only a 
 few years ago there was a remarkable find in Ohio, 
 when a large number of copper plates were unearthed, 
 and these also were covered with hieroglyphical charac- 
 ters. And only about twenty years ago there were 
 found in old Mexico, quite a number of earthenware 
 plates also covered with engravings. And it would 
 seem that while the work of exploration proceeds stimu- 
 lated by the thirst for discovery by those engaged in it, 
 the providence of "Him who doeth all things well," is 
 
144- 'I'HE BOOK UNSEALED. 
 
 apfiropriating their labors to coafirm the claims of the 
 book, now unsealed. In this last cited proof, we have a 
 clear case in confirmation of the Book of Mormon. 
 
 That book of ancient story affirms the ancient 
 existence and use of domestic animals, such as the horse 
 and the ox, upon the American continent. In 1830, 
 when that publication first appeared, the idea of the 
 horse or the ox having existed upon this land anciently 
 was considered by men of education and learning, as 
 simply ridiculous; for it was believed that such animals 
 were first introduced by the Europeans after the year 
 1492. But in this particular, as also in others, the 
 antiquarian serenely puts in an appearance and gives a 
 good eye-opener, effectually exploding the popular 
 error, and fully establishing the fact that the domestic 
 animals named, did flourish in the ages long ago upon 
 the American continent. Thus we perceive that the 
 wisdom of the wise,* when contradicting the Book of 
 Mormon, is brought to naught, while the statements of 
 that book are corroborated and sustained as the years 
 roll by. The Book of Mormon clearly affirms that in 
 the bye-gone ages there were two distinct civilizations 
 upon this land. And now, after sixty-two years have 
 passed since the first publications of that work, and 
 during which time the work of exploration has been 
 pushed by hundreds and thousands of able men, the 
 conclusion generally reached is, that in the ages past 
 there were two distinct peoples and civilizations upon 
 the American continent. And so it is, that as knowl- 
 edge increases and the curtain of the past is lifted and 
 the remains of the great past are exposed to view, that 
 one by one the statements of the Book of Mormon are 
 verified and proved to be true. 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 1 45. 
 
 It has ever been the privilege of God's people to 
 have their prayers, when made in righteousness, heard 
 and answered by the Giver of all good. In this the 
 unchangeable character of God is asserted, and his 
 people are furnished a basis upon which to exercise 
 faith in his word. If the ancient people of America 
 were favored of God, and records were kept among 
 them of their experiences from time to time, it is not 
 unreasonable that some of their records, under divine 
 providence, should be preserved for the enlightenment 
 and blessing of mankind. A revelation such as the 
 Book of Mormon claims to be, is neither unreasonable 
 nor unscriptural, but as shown in these pages, it is both 
 reasonable and scriptural, and therefore, worthy of our 
 'belief. 
 
 In its fulfillment of the twenty-ninth chapter of 
 Isaiah, the Book of Mormon has as clear a case in 
 vindication of prophecy as was ever known among men. 
 Even those remarkable prophecies detailing the events 
 in the life of the great Nazarine, are not more lucid and 
 explicit than are those of Isaiah 29, and Psalms 85, in 
 their application to the coming forth of a record of 
 truth, a book to be unsealed. The thirty-seventh 
 chapter of Ezekiel is full of significance, pointing to 
 the coming of another record, "The Stick of Joseph," 
 and its being -''joined" in its use with the "Stick of 
 Judah." The Book of Mormon alone fulfills the express 
 terms of prophecy concerning the "sealed book" and 
 the prophecies we have cited, and so stands as a strong 
 witness attesting the divinity of those ancient prophe- 
 cies. 
 
 It will doubtless be asked: What benefit to the 
 believer in Christ is the Book of Mormon? We answer: 
 
146. THE BOOK UNSKALKD. 
 
 ist, It gives additional witness concerning Jesus the 
 Christ. 2d, It speaks in great plainness upon doctrine, 
 forever setting at rest matters of^^octrine in dispute 
 among the various sects of Christendom. 3d, It con- 
 tains many "precious promises" unto God's people, 
 and like "All scripture, is given by inspiration of 
 God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for 
 correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the 
 man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto 
 all good works." — 2 Tim. 3: 16, 17. 
 
 We now invite attention to the witnesses whose 
 testimony is published in the Book of Mormon, which 
 they gave to the world concerniag the plates from 
 which the book was translated, and the visitation of the 
 angel of God who afifirmed that the record so translated' 
 was true. The testimony of eight persons who saw and 
 handled the plates while they were yet in the possession 
 of the one who translated them, has never been 
 impeached. Those men while they lived, constantly 
 re-affirmed their original testimony. Their lives gave 
 evidence of their sincerity which must be regarded as 
 the test of truth, and all died in the faith of the Book of 
 Mormon. 
 
 The testimony of the three special witnesses, 
 namely: Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris and David 
 Whitmer, is of great significance in its relation to the 
 coming forth of the book so attested. They testify: 
 ist, That an holy angel brought unto them the plates 
 of the Book of Mormon, and permitted them to handle 
 them and see them: 2nd, That the angel bore testi- 
 mony identifying the plates as those from which the 
 Book of Mormon had been translated, and certified to 
 the correctness and truth of the translation so made. 
 
THE HOOK UNSEALED. 147. 
 
 Upon an examination of the Book of Mormon it is 
 found that it contains a prophecy concerning this occur- 
 rence,— the testimony of the three witnesses. See 
 ]^ook of Mormon, page loo. Joseph Smith had also 
 received an especial revelation in which it was asserted 
 4;hat the Lord would raise up three witnesses to whom 
 would be shown those plates in a most remarkable way. 
 — See Doctrine and Covenants, page 69. The testimony 
 of these men not only attests the truthfullness of the 
 Book of Mormon, but also furnishes a most signal 
 instance in the fulfillment of prophecy. In the year 
 1838 there was an estrangement between the three wit- 
 nesses and the prophet, and under the pressure of the 
 fiery trial and bitter persecution visited upon the Saints, 
 these men ceased to hold membership in the church, 
 and remained aloof during the remainder of the prophet*s 
 life. It certainly is most reasonable, that if there had 
 been a collusion between these men to give false testi- 
 mony to the world concerning the angel's testimony 
 and the plates of the Book of Mormon, that when they 
 ceased to be friends, and these witnesses were no more 
 members of the church, they would have renounced 
 their testimony, and have pronounced Joseph Smith to 
 have been only a scheming imposter. It is, however, 
 notorious that during their long and eventful lives, these 
 men ever declared that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, 
 and that their testimony concerning the Book of Mor- 
 mon was true. They had affirmed an occurrence— ^a 
 fact; and the years that followed, furnished conclusive 
 evidence that they were sincere in the testimony so given 
 to the world. As men of sound minds, if they were 
 sincere in their statement of the alleged fact, and their 
 statements all agree, the conclusion is inevitable, that 
 
148. THE BOOK UNSKALKD. 
 
 they told the truth. Upon iheir death-beds, they 
 re-affirmed their testimony, and passed peacefully away. 
 
 (Coincident with the publication of the Book of 
 Mormon was the founding anew of the church afterward 
 known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day 
 Saints. The authority to preach the gospel and ad- 
 minister its ordinances had been restored to the earth, 
 and as a result, the church with the gifts and blessings 
 as of old, was again among men. Tongues, prophecy, 
 interpretation of tongues, healings, and other gifts 
 named in the twelfth chapter of first Corinthians, were 
 among the blessed experiences of the faithful and true 
 of ''like precious faith." Experiences and scenes like 
 those of the day of Pentecost, are testified of by men 
 and women from all parts of the earth. This universal 
 testimony and witness of the Holy Ghost are surely the 
 seal of the Almighty to the divinity of the Book of 
 Mormon and the church of the last days. The restora- 
 tion of the "former and latter rain" to the land of Pal- 
 estine, just as predicted by the Prince-Prophet of Israel, 
 coming as it does in the time of the coming forth of the 
 "sealed book," now that the book is unsealed and pub- 
 lished to the nations, and the ''marvelous work and a 
 wonder" established among men, shows quite conclu- 
 sively that the time is fulfilled, and the events foretold 
 have truly come to pass. 
 
 In the doctrine and promise, the Book of Mormon 
 is in harmony with all other authoritative declarations 
 of "law and testimony," and therefore, as tried by the 
 divine standard, stands approved. In James i: 5, is a 
 choice promise to those who will seek the Lord for 
 guidance and light. In the Book of Mormon, on page 
 544, is a promise fraught with importance to those who 
 
THE BOOK UNSEALED. 149. 
 
 love the Lord and his truth. It is there promised that 
 if the people to whom the Book of Mormon should go, 
 will seek the Lord for witness ^nd testimony concern- 
 ing it, that God will hear them, and the Holy Ghost 
 WILL ATTEST ITS TRUTH. Dear reader, will you not 
 accept this TEST, and so ''Prove all things and 
 
 HOLD fast to that WHICH IS GOOD?" 
 
 May the loving Father bless you in your search for 
 truth, and ultimately grant you ''abundant entrance'* 
 into the mansions of everlasting rest. 
 
F^A.1^^^ II. 
 
 Twelve Works Against Morfflonism 
 
 IN COMPARISON WITH THEMSELVES AND 
 EACH OTHER. 
 
 Braden's Mistakes. — Other Contradictory State- 
 ments. — Six United State.s School Histories 
 Reviewed in Comparison with Each Other and. 
 Facts. — Four Leading Encyclopedias with 
 Their Re-issues, Examiked in Comparison and 
 with Facts. — Encyclopedia, Official and Press 
 References Relative to the Reorganized 
 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 
 
 "Oh! * * that mine adversary had written a book," 
 —]bh 31: 35. . 
 
 Job, a man of God, knew the adversary's book, 
 when examined, would defeat its aim, with those of true 
 mind and heart. Let us examine some of the works on* 
 Mormonism from this standpoint. E. D. Howe of 
 Painsville, Ohio, (about ten miles from Kirtland), wrote 
 and published the first, entitled "Mormonism Un-' 
 veiled." ' 
 
152. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 On page 27 he represents Nephi as making 
 plates in the wilderness with no ore. Book of Mormon, 
 Palmyra Edition, page 43, shows the plates were made 
 after the people arrived upon this continent, and after 
 they had found ore with many other things. 
 
 Howe, same page: "Has a commandment from 
 the Lord to make plates for the special purpose of 
 making a record of his own ministry and his own peo- 
 ple.'^ 
 
 Book of Mormon, P. E., page 17: •'! have 
 received a commandment from the Lord that I should 
 make these plates for the special purpose that there 
 should be an account engraven of the ministry of my 
 people." 
 
 Howe again: "Our hero introduces himself as a 
 minister." 
 
 Book of Mormon, P. E., page 17: "And now I, 
 Nephi, proceed to give an account upon these plates 
 and of my proceedings, and my reign and ministry.'' 
 
 Howe, page 32: "It brought them all safely on 
 the borders of the Red sea with the exception of 
 Ishmael." 
 
 Book of Mormon, P. E., page 42: "i\nd we did 
 sojourn for the space of many years, yea, even eight 
 years, in the wilderness. And we did come to the land 
 which we call Bountiful, because of its much fruit, and 
 we beheld the sea, which we called Ireantum, which, 
 being interpreted, is many waters." Notice there is no 
 Red sea in it. 
 
 Howe, page 35: "Whether the ship was propelled 
 by oars, or by a current, or by the wind, or by the 
 power of the spindle, we can not inform our readers, for 
 it is not stated." 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 1 53. 
 
 Book of Mormon, P. E., page 48: ''And it came 
 to pass that after we had all gone down into the ship 
 and taken with us our provisions and things which had 
 been commanded us, we did put forth into the sea, and 
 were driven forth before the wind towards the promised 
 land." 
 
 Howe, page 42: ''The Nephites warred with each 
 other until they exterminated the whole race except 
 three, who were immortalized." 
 
 Book of Mormon, P. E., pages 493-496: "Yea, 
 even all my people, save it were those twenty and four 
 who were with me, and also a few who had escaped 
 into the south countries, and a few who had dissented 
 over unto the Lamanites, had fallen and their flesh and 
 bones and blood, lay upon the face of the earth." 
 
 "Howe, page 52: "We are likewise told in the 
 same discourse that the plates or book would be sealed 
 up, and should finally be found by an unlearned man, 
 who should see them and ^ow them to three others." 
 
 Here is found the great bug-bear sought to be kept 
 before the people to deceive. How different, however, 
 it is from the true reading. 
 
 Book of Mormon, P. E., page 110: "Wherefore, 
 at that day when the book shall be delivered unto the, 
 man of whom I have spoken, the book shall be hid from 
 the eyes of the world, that the eyes of none shall be- 
 hold it, save it be that three witnesses shall behold it, 
 by the power of God, beside him to whom the book 
 shall be delivered, and they shall testify to the truth of 
 the book and the things therein. And there is none 
 others which shall view it, save it be a few, according to 
 the will of God, to bear testimony of his word unto 
 the children of men." 
 
154- WORKS AGAINST MORMONiSM REVIEWED. 
 
 I 
 
 Howe, page 77: ''Smith used a stone in a hat for 
 the purpose of translating the plates. The spectacles 
 (Urim and Thummim) and plates were found together, 
 but were taken from him and hid up again before he 
 had translated one word, and he has never seen them 
 since." ''This is Smith's own story." 
 
 Pearl of Great Price, page 53, says: ''By the 
 wisdom of God. (the plates, Urim and Thummim and 
 breastplate) remained safe in my hands until I had 
 accomplished by them what was required at my hand, 
 when, according to arrangements, the messenger calle,d 
 for them; I delivered them up to him and he has them 
 in his charge until this day being the second day of 
 May, 1838." 
 
 Ibid., page 46, Oliver Cowdery wrote: "Day after 
 day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth 
 as he translated with the Urim and Tnummim, or, as 
 the Nephites would have said. Interpreters, the history 
 or record called the Book of Mormon." 
 
 Howe,, page 89: "The whole record being handed 
 down and altered according to our manner of speech." 
 
 Book of Mormon, P. E., page 538: "And now 
 we have written this record according to our knowledge 
 in the characters, which are called among us, reformed 
 Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us accord- 
 ing to our manner of speech." The characters were 
 altered, not the record. 
 
 Howe, page 90: "God marched before them in a 
 cloud." 
 
 Book of Mormon, P. E., pages 451-2: "The Lord 
 did go before them, and talked to them while he stood 
 in a cloud, and gave directions whither they should 
 travel." 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 1 55. 
 
 Howe, page 124: '-Even their wine they used for 
 communion they were ordered to make from cider and 
 other materials." 
 
 Book of Doctrine and Covenants, page 112: "You 
 shall not purchase wine, neither strong drink from your 
 enemies, wherefore you shall partake of none save it is 
 made new among you." Cider and other materials are 
 not mentioned. 
 
 Howe, page 129: "If thou lovest me, thou shalt 
 serve me and keep my commandments, and thou shalt 
 consecrate all thy properties, that which thou hast, unto 
 me, with a covenant and a deed which can not be 
 broken." 
 
 Book of Doctrine and Covenants, page 143, from 
 which the above is garbled, reads: "If thou lovest me, 
 thou shalt serve me and keep all my commandments. 
 And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and conse- 
 crate of thy properties for their support that which thou 
 hast to impart unto them, with a covenant and a deed 
 which cannot be broken, and inasmuch as you impart 
 of your substance unto the poor, ye will do it unto me." 
 
 The foregoing is ample to show Howe to be utterly 
 unreliable. Also that the work he assailed could not be 
 defeated with truth, hence his only resource to vilify. 
 The copious affidavits to be found in Howe's work and 
 copied into many others, sometimes in varied form, are 
 of the same stamp. One who will falsify a record so 
 widely published as the Book of Mormon, as shown, 
 will not fail to manufacture anything he may need to 
 accomplish his purpose; such was Howe's work — 
 "Mormonism Unveiled." 
 
156. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 Following the inscription of title page of Mrs. 
 Maria Ward's expose of Mormonism, are a few of her 
 glaring lying blunders, that show clearly her work is 
 simply trash. 
 
 '^FEMALE LIFE AMONG THE MORMONS. 
 
 ''A NARRATIVE OF MANY YEARS' PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, 
 
 HY THE WIFE OF A MORMON ELDER, RECENTLY 
 
 FROM UTAH. NEW YORK, 1855." 
 
 Mrs. Ward, relating her capture by Ward, says 
 on page 12: **I became immediately sensible of some 
 unaccountable influence drawing my sympathies towards 
 him. In vain I struggled to break the spell. I was 
 like a fluttering bird before the gaze of the serpent- 
 charmer." 
 
 On page 417, treating of the same influence again, 
 she says: "I learned the whole affair in my inter- 
 course with the elders. I was present when Smith 
 instructed Mr. Ward in the art." 
 
 On page 18, of eavesdropping when a miracle was 
 to be performed, she says: ^'Perhaps it was a breach 
 of hospitality, but my curiosity overcame my discre- 
 tion. I applied the key, the bolt flew back, and the 
 door swung open. I now perceived that this was the 
 entrance to a long hall or passage, with doors on either 
 side, communicating with other rooms. I advanced to 
 one of them, and plainly perceived the glimmering of 
 light through the crevices, and heard the indistinct 
 murmur of voices." 
 
 On page 209, she is very much horrified. ** 'But, 
 Mrs. Stillman,' I began, for my mind rather recoiled 
 from so dishonorable an act as private listening, 'is 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORNONISM REVIEWED. 157* 
 
 there no other way by wliich your curiosity could be 
 satisfied?' " 
 
 But on page 60, she advertises her method thus: 
 "The place of our encampment was on the border 
 of a wood, near the banks of a limpid stream. I had 
 wandered off by myself, and sat down on a fallen log 
 behind a clump of elders and laurels, yet in plain view 
 of the encampment, and where I could see all that was 
 going on without being seen." 
 
 On page 137, Joseph Smith's death is described as 
 seen by Mrs. Ward: '* *This is for my wife, my poor, 
 forsaken Laura,' said Clarke, as he raised the gleaming 
 tube of death to his eye. It exploded. I heard a wild 
 and piercing screech, and saw Smith fall from the 
 horse." 
 
 And on page 147, Mrs. Ward's High Priestess, Mrs. 
 Bradish, says: "On that dreadful night," she said, 
 "when these eyes beheld the fall of our holy prophet, 
 when he tumbled from his horse." 
 
 On page 176, a raft built as follows, using ropes, 
 chains, planks, etc., as if in New York city, when 
 hundreds of miles from any such supplies, and far to the 
 west on their journey, "The raft was soon constructed. 
 It consisted of middling-sized logs, bound together by 
 very strong ropes and chains, on which thick planks 
 were laid, and fastened with iron spikes." 
 
 , See what a time Mrs. Ward had with Buffaloes and 
 grass on pages 19 1-2: "One morning we came unex- 
 pectedly on an immense drove of buffalo, which were 
 swarming, as far as the eye could reach, over the 
 plains, where they had left scarcely a blade of 9RASS 
 remaining. In the presence of such a huge mass of 
 animated beings, the beholder feels overcome by a 
 
158. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 Strange emotion of grandeur. The continuous undulat- 
 ing motion, the dull, confused noise, unlike any other, 
 and so admitting no comparison, struck us with awe 
 and astonishment. Here a cow, separated a little from 
 the others, stood quietly suckling her calf; there a huge 
 bull would be rolling and tumbling in the grass; 
 and, not far off, clouds of dust would prove the "exist- 
 ence of an obstinately contested fight." 
 
 On page 254, Mrs. Ward kindly gives us a combin- 
 ation affair, dry rivers, luxuriant flowers, no insects 
 except a troop of wild horses. She says: "That, 
 however, was only the beginning of sorrow, for in a 
 few days we entered a sandy and barren region, where, 
 to our other ills and inconveniences, that most intoler- 
 able of all, the want of water, was added. The streams 
 were all dried up, the rivers disappeared from their 
 channels, there was neither rain nor dew. But, though 
 the air seemed intensely hot, and the sky exhibited not 
 a trace of clouds, there was a softness in the atmos- 
 phere at night, a resplendent glory in the stars, alto- 
 gether incomprehensible and most delightful. And this 
 region, otherwise so sterile, was filled with flowers of 
 the richest perfume and the brightest colors. In many 
 places, where it would seem, from the gravelly, sandy 
 nature of the soil, that no plant whatever could take 
 root, cactuses, literally covered with a profusion of 
 large crimson flowers, thrived luxuriantly, thus present- 
 ing a remarkable contrast to the surrounding desola- 
 tion. For one of the remarkable characteristics of this 
 place, was the utter absence of animal life. Not a bird 
 visited these resplendent blossoms, not a butterfly or 
 insect enlivened the solitude. Neither hares nor 
 pheasants lurked beneath their coverts. Even the 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 1 5 9. 
 
 Indians seemed to avoid the country. Once, and once 
 only, we caught the glimpse of a troop of wild horses, 
 skirting the horizon. It was only a glimpse, and yet I 
 shall ever remember the graceful agility of their mo- 
 tions, and the sleek sparkle of their glossy sides. But 
 sadder sights than these awaited us. I had descended 
 from the wagon to walk, in order that I might examine 
 the beautiful flowers. I was particularly charmed by 
 two or three huge plants of the cactus species, which 
 had grown so close together that they appeared com- 
 pact. They were, at least, ninety feet in circumference, 
 and large scarlet blossoms depended from the branches. 
 But, while stooping to gather a bouquet, my fingers 
 inadvertently touched a relic, the sight of which filled 
 me with h )rror. It was a human skeleton." 
 
 Extracts from the work of Mrs. C. V. Waite, who 
 was wife of Chief Justice C. B. Waite, who served in 
 Utah when Mrs.. Waite wrote, in i866. She has been 
 very much more fair than most others, only a fragment 
 of one of her books was at hand in the arranging of 
 this which did not contain the contradictions so com- 
 mon to other works on the subject. 
 
 ''THE MORMON PROPHET AND HIS HAREM. 
 
 **BY MRS. C. V. WAITE. FIFTH EDITION, REVISED AND EN- 
 LARGED. ' CHICAGO; CINCINNATI; 1867." 
 
 On page 13, Mrs. Waite mentions Brigham Young 
 in the ascending scale officially, and suggests his zeal 
 to be worthy of a "better cause." She says: "In 
 1835, on the 14th of February, at Kirtland, Brigham 
 Young was ordained one of the newly-organized quorum 
 
l6o. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 of the Twelve Apostles. Armed with his new power, 
 and fired with a zeal worthy of a better cause, he went 
 forth, and preached and proselyted with marked suc- 
 cess. Thomas B. Marsh having apostatized, Brigham 
 was chosen to succ^jed him, as President of the Twelve 
 Apostles, in 1836." 
 
 On page 18, of the usurpation of leadership by Brig- 
 ham, she says: *'Young was now ready to enact another 
 scene in this Mormon drama. He was ruling the church 
 in the capacity of President of the Twelve Apostles. 
 He desired greater power; he wished to occupy the 
 place of the Prophet of the Lord. This was the more 
 difficult, as the people venerated the memory of Joseph 
 Smith, sanctified as it was by the remembrance of his 
 cruel and untimely death. Brigham knew well the 
 extent of this feeling, and that it would be impossible 
 to supplant Joseph in their affections, and extremely 
 difficult to occupy his position. But his plans de- 
 manded that he should be in form what he was in fact, 
 — the absolute head of the church. He resolved to 
 execute a brilliant coup d'etat, and risk the conse- 
 quences." 
 
 Page 92 says: 'Tt may be well here to remark, 
 for the benefit of the tender- footed upon "this subject, 
 that polygamy is no part of the Mormon religion, so 
 far as the same has any history, and can be distin- 
 guished from the personal edicts of .Brigham Young. 
 It is not only not permitted but explicitly condemned 
 in the 'Book of Mormon' and the 'Book of Doctrine 
 and Covenants,' which are the Old and New Testa- 
 ments of Mormonism." 
 
 Having treated on the Morris movement, the work 
 of the Reorganized Church is thus set forth on pages 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. l6l. 
 
 142-147: ''The next movement and one which prom- 
 ises seriously to interfere with the schemes of Brigham 
 Young, is under the auspices of the Mormon Church 
 East, or the 'Josephites, ' as they are called, in contra- 
 distinction to the 'Brighamites.' 
 
 "Joseph Smith, the son of the Prophet, resides at 
 Nauvoo, in Illinois, near where his father was put to 
 death. He claims to be the head of the true Mormon 
 Church, and of course repudiates Young for the same 
 position. He is opposed to polygamy, is loyal to the 
 Government and laws of the United States, and is said 
 to be a good and worthy citizen. 
 
 **For several years there have been indications of 
 a 'breaking up' among the followers of the Pretender, 
 Brigham, and a rallying around the standard of the 
 legitimate House of Joseph. In the States, those who 
 have gone back to their first love are to be numbered 
 by thousands. 
 
 "In Utah the progress of disintegration, and of 
 secession from the church as there organized, is slower, 
 and accompanied by more danger. 
 
 "But in July, 1863, the 'fulness of time' having 
 come, the movement was commenced in earnest, and a 
 system of proselyting inaugurated, which has already 
 drawn hundreds of deluded people back to their duty 
 to themselves and their country, and which even now 
 threatens the power of Brigham so strongly that it seems 
 almost tottering to its fall. 
 
 "During the latter part of the month mentioned, 
 E. C. Briggs and Alexander McCord, two missionaries, 
 sent by the Church East, for that purpose, arrived in 
 Salt Lake, and announced themselves as harbingers of 
 a better gospel, — as messengers of the true Church of 
 
1 62. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 Christ on earth. Taking their lives in their hands, 'they 
 had crossed the Plains alone, and the Lord had pro- 
 tected and sustained them. 
 
 **It may be supposed that their arrival caused con- 
 siderable excitement at Salt Lake City. 
 
 ''Briggs called on Young and acquainted him with 
 the nature of his 'mission.' The Prophet became very 
 angry; refused him the use of the Tabernacle, or any 
 other building in the city; forbade him preaching to 
 the people and said if he remained in the city, he 
 (Young) would not be responsible for his personal 
 safety. Briggs declined to avail himself of this polite 
 hint to leave, and notwithstanding these thunders from 
 the Vatican, he went boldly to work, and 'daily ceased 
 not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.' 
 
 ''He talked with the people,- visited them at their 
 houses, prayed with them, and sang with them. 
 
 "The effect was electrical. Singly, by dozens, and 
 by scores, the people began to fall off from the great 
 apostasy, and to return to the mother-church. Perse- 
 cution commenced from the first day of his labors. He 
 and McCord were forbidden all the houses of the city, 
 by an order of Brigham, which none dared to disobey. 
 One house, that of a gentile, was still open to them, 
 and there they held their meetings, which were well 
 attended. 
 
 "Before spring their numbers had increased to over 
 three hundred. About half of that number returned 
 across the Plains in the spring of. 1864, and so strong 
 was the excitement, and so bitter the persecution and 
 enmity of the 'Saints' toward this comparatively hand- 
 ful of seceders from Brigham's authority and dominions, 
 that Gen. Connor deemed it necessary and advisable to 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 1 63. 
 
 send a strong escort with them as far as Green River, 
 about 145 miles. 
 
 "Besides this number who departed for the region 
 of the rising sun, large numbers of the westward-bound 
 emigration were stopped, and having their eyes opened 
 by missionaries of the same stamp, were induced to 
 withhold their steps, at least until another season. 
 
 ''The Josephites in Salt Lake, although the sub- 
 jects of bitter and unrelenting persecution from the 
 Mormons, found favor and protection from Gen, Con- 
 nor and the military under his command. 
 
 "They will doubtless continue to flourish and in- 
 crease, and it is possible that in this way Utah may be 
 brought to loyalty and good citizenship, without blood- 
 shed or commotion." 
 
 Of those seeking release from Utah Mormon bond- 
 age, page 210 says: "To such, the new preachers sent 
 by the 'Josephites,' to bring the people back to virtue, 
 to loyalty, and to the original Mormon religion, appear 
 as angels from heaven, and hence the ready assent 
 given to their teachings, and the rapid defection from 
 the established church." 
 
 Of reformatory influences and showing that her 
 best appreciation is bestowed elsewhere than Mormon- 
 ism, page 299 says: "Among the agencies already at 
 work to accomplish this desirable end, and to redeem 
 Utah from her enthrallment, may be mentioned the dis- 
 covery of mines of precious metals, and the large influx 
 o4 miners, — the preaching not only of a purer Mormon 
 faith, under the auspices of Joseph Smith, Jr., but the 
 promulgation of the Gospel itself, and of the principles 
 of Christianity in their purity, by Rev. Norman Mc- 
 Leod, a Congregational minister of great boldness and 
 
164. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 talent, who is now firmly established in the Territory." 
 
 Of the time previous to 1852, page 172 says- 
 "Previous to the year 1852, it was also an orthodox 
 principle of the Mormon religion, that a man should 
 have but one wife, to whom he should be true and 
 faithful." 
 
 Page 176 says: ''But the greatest change of all in 
 the Mormon religion, made by Brigham Young, was 
 the introduction and establishment of polygamy. This 
 was no part of the Mormon system of religion as 
 originally established. On the contrary it was expressly 
 repudiated by all the Mormon writers and speakers, 
 previous to 1852 and in Europe for some years after- 
 ward. 
 
 *'The Mormon religion was founded by Joseph 
 Smith and his coadjutors, and the principles and doc- 
 trines of the religion were, in the first instance, such as 
 they established. The Book of Mormon is the histori- 
 cal foundation, corresponding with the Old Testament 
 of the Christian Bible. Afterward, a volume of revela- 
 tions to Smith and others was collected and published^ 
 called the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. This cor- 
 responds to the Christian's New Testament. It may be 
 safely asserted, therefore, that previous to the innova- 
 tions of Young, the Mormon religion was embodied in 
 these two volumes. Their authority in the church is 
 universal and unquestioned. 
 
 "Let us examine these volumes, and see whether 
 they teach or countenance polygamy. 
 
 "The Book of Mormon nowhere contains a word 
 in favor of it." 
 
 Treating on this, ten citations are given from Book 
 of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, page 178, 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 165. 
 
 gives this as one: *'As if to place this matter beyond 
 ;^ny question, we have the following still more explici|t 
 testimony,' on pages 115 and 118: , 
 
 ** 'And now it came to pass that the people of Nephi, 
 under the reign of the second king, began to grow hard 
 in their hearts and indulge themselves somewhat in 
 wicked practices, such as like unto David of old, desir- 
 ing many wives and concubines, and- also Solomon his 
 son.' 
 
 *5 *The word of God burdens me because of your 
 grosser crimes. For behold, thus saith the Lord, thi? 
 people begin to wax in iniquity; they understand nof 
 the Scriptures; for they seek to excuse themselves iij 
 committing whoredoms, because of the things which 
 were written concerning David, and Solomon his son. 
 Behold David and Solomon truly had many wives an(^ 
 concubines, which thing was abominable before me, 
 saith the Lord; wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I hay^ 
 led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by 
 the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto m^ 
 a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph. 
 Wherefore, I, the Lord God, will not suffer that this 
 people shall do like unto them of old. Wherefore, my 
 brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the 
 Lord; for there shall not any man among you have, 
 save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none; 
 for I, the Lord God, delighteth in the chastity of 
 women. And whoredoms are an abomination before 
 me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts.'— Jacob, ist and 24 
 chapters. Book of Mormon. 
 
 ''Here it is stated, as coming from God himself^ 
 that the polygamy and concubinage of David and Solo- 
 mon were abominable before the Lord. And yet we. 
 
l66. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 every day hear David and Solomon, as well as Abra- 
 ham, Jacob, and others, cited by those practicing 
 polygamy, as their illustrious prototypes, whose example 
 is worthy of all imitation." 
 
 Page i8o says: **Let us now turn to the Book of 
 Doctrine and Covenants, and see if we can find in that 
 volume any authority for polygamy. The following 
 passages will determine the question: 
 
 ** 'Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and 
 shalt cleave unto her, and none else; and he that 
 Jooketh upon a women to lust after her, shall deny the 
 faith, and shall not have the spirit; and if he repents 
 not he shall be cast out.' 
 
 ''Again. In 1845, the year after Smith's death, 
 an Appendix was authoritatively added to the Book of 
 Doctrine and Covenants, containing the following, 
 which is extracted from the section entitled 'Mar- 
 riage': 
 
 " '2. Marriage should be celebrated with prayer 
 and thanksgiving; and at the solemnization, the per- 
 sons to be married standing together,' etc., 'he [the 
 person officiating] shall say, calling each by their 
 names, "you both mutually agree to be each other's 
 companion, husband and wife, observing the legal 
 rights belonging to this condition; that is, keeping 
 yourselves wholly for each other, and from all others, 
 during your lives." And when they have answered 
 "yes," he shall pronounce them "husband and wife," 
 in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by virtue 
 of the laws of the country, and authority vested in 
 him.' * * 
 
 " '4. * * Inasmuch as this church has been re- 
 proached with the crime of fornication and polygamy; 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 1 67. 
 
 we declare that we believe that one man should have 
 one wife; and one woman but one husband, except in 
 case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again. 
 
 "Can anything be more explicit than this? Polyg-^ 
 amy is not only expressly repudiated by the church, but 
 is classed by the side of fornication as a crime. 
 
 ''Thus we find that polygamy is contrary to both 
 books of the Mormon Bible. That it is, in fact, strongly 
 condemned in those volumes. 
 
 "It is, therefore, no part of the Mormon religion, 
 as given to the world by Joseph Smith." 
 
 Pages 247-249, give the several denials of polyg- 
 amy of Joseph and Hyrum, Pratt, Spencer, Taylor, 
 etc., up to 1850. 
 
 Page 172 says of Brigham's Theology, or Utah 
 Mormonism: "The doctrines taught and practiced by 
 the present head of the Mormon Church differ so much 
 from the previously established tenants of the church, 
 that they require a separate consideration. One of the 
 most important innovations upon the established doC' 
 trines of the church, is in relation to the Godhead. In 
 April, 1852, Brigham put forth the startling doctrine 
 that Adam is God, and to be recognized and honored 
 as such! This announcement created some consterna- 
 tion among the Mormon theologians and some had the 
 courage to oppose it." 
 
 Page 175 says: "Another doctrine of«a startling 
 character, promulgated by one of Young's counsellors 
 and endorsed by him, is that of human sacrifice for the: 
 remission of sins. 
 
 "It was first announced by Jedediah M. Grantj 
 Second Counsellor to the President, in the following 
 language: 
 
£68. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 " 'Brethren and sisters, we want you to repent and 
 forsake your sins. And you who have committed sin*^ 
 that cannot be forgiven through baptisni, let your blood 
 be shed, and let the smoke ascend, that the incense 
 thereof may come up before God as an atonement fot 
 your sins, and that the sinners in Zion may be afraid.' 
 ^^Deseret News, October r, 1856. 
 
 ''Again: 
 
 " 'We have been trying long enough with this 
 people, and I go in for letting the sword of the Almighty 
 be unsheathed, not only in word, but in deed.'— Ibid. 
 
 "In accordance with such bloody teaching, it is 
 said that an altar of sacrifice was actually built by 
 Grant, in the temple block, upon which these human 
 sacrifices were to be made. On the 21st of September, 
 ^85 6, Grant said: 
 
 " 'I say there are men and women here that 1 
 would advise to go to the President immediately, and 
 ask him to appoint a committee to attend to their case; 
 and then let a place be selected, and let that committee 
 shed their blood.' — Ibid., Vol. VI, p. 235." 
 ^ Brigham is also quoted at length from Deseret News, 
 October i, 1856. 
 
 P. TUCKER'S "RISE AND PROGRESS OF 
 .MORMONISM" EXAMINED. 
 There are numerous publications abroad in the 
 land that claim to give the history of the Church of 
 Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but which are iii 
 ^^eality but the histories of the false reports that have 
 been circulated by opposers of the work, and therefore 
 only calculated to mislead the public mind, in reference 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 169I 
 
 to the rise of the Church, its origin, doctrine and 
 practice, its aims, policy and Objects. 
 
 It is not oiir object to entef into an examination of 
 all these various works referred to, but to make a slight 
 investigation of thd one designated in our caption. It 
 was written as late as 1867; at least was published in- 
 that year, arid the writer had the advantage of similar 
 works published prior to that date. Our apology for 
 examining this work, is: The writer Was a resident of 
 Palmyra, N. Y., the place where the work began, about 
 the time of the rise of the Church, and was acquainted 
 (or claimed to have been) with the Smith family,' 
 Harris, Cowdery, arid all the "Pioneer Mormons," and 
 with all the important events connected with the ''Ad- 
 vent of Mormonism." Let us examirie these claims; 
 and if we shall discover that "would-be witnesses" fail 
 to give us a truthful relation of things they claim to see, 
 then beware of the writings of those "far away." 
 
 We begin this review by reference to a statement 
 found in the preface of Mr. Tucker's work, and which 
 is as follows: 
 
 "The facts and reminiscences contained in this 
 volume, based upon the author's personal knowledge 
 and information, are produced to fill the blank and 
 supply the omitted chapters in Mormon history," and 
 * 'this truthful narrative is necessary to the completion 
 of the history from the foundation of the institutioii." 
 
 We wish thiese statements to be borne in mind, for 
 if they are true, we shall find that the author "person- 
 ally knows" some very opposite things, that the sources 
 of his "information" are very conflicting ancf contra- 
 dictory, even amounting to "it is believed," "I hav^ 
 heard," and "it is thought," etc. 
 
170. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 As testimony of the authenticity of the work, Mr. 
 Tucker, on page five, cites names to the number of ten, 
 and as an evidence of the strength of the evidence of his 
 witnesses, inserts a letter from Mr. Thurlow Weed, 
 some time of Rochester, N. Y., in which is found this 
 statement: **The character you have given 'Joe 
 Smith,' his family and associates, corresponds with 
 what I have often heard from the old citizens of Pal- 
 myra." ''Often heard." This needs no comment. In 
 the first two chapters of the work we are treated to a 
 pretty full history of the stories then current, (but these 
 did not happen to be known till about 1827), concern- 
 ing the boyhood days of Joseph Smith, and his father's 
 family. Of all this, however, he could have had no 
 knowledge till the tenth year of Smith's age, as he did 
 not reside in Palmyra till of that age. Beside, there is 
 nothing in the after years of Joseph's life to warrant 
 the statements made by Mr. Tucker. He tells us, how- 
 ever, on page seventeen of the work, that as Joseph 
 "further advanced in reading and knowledge, he as- 
 sumed a spiritual or religious turn of mind, and fre- 
 quently perused the Bible, becoming quite familiar with 
 portions thereof, both of the OJd and New Testa- 
 ments." 
 
 But Mr. Tucker fearing he had said too much in 
 Joseph's favor, immediately proceeds to kill the strength 
 of the foregoing statement, by telling us on the 
 eighteenth page, that: 'Tn unbelief, theory and prac- 
 tice, the Smith family * * were unqualified Atheists." 
 This latter saying not only contradicts the former one, 
 but also^he public record of their lives, as attested by 
 their works, their friends and their foes. This illus- 
 trates the utter regardlessness, as to truth, of Mr. 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. I 7 1. 
 
 Tucker in his pretended history of those he writes of. 
 
 In chapter two of Mr. Tucker's work, is a detailed 
 account of some of the false stories that were manufac- 
 tured by the enemies of the work, about the "fortune- 
 telling," '^money-digging" schemes of Joseph, all con 
 cocted to falsify and ridicule the fact of his having 
 labored for one Mr. Stoal, of a neighboring county to 
 Wayne, who believed there was money or silver on his 
 farm, and who employed Joseph, in company with 
 others, in digging for it. Why not brand the others as 
 "money-diggers?" Nay, all the gold and silver miners 
 of the ''Great West?" Mr. Stoal failed to find the 
 supposed treasure, and h^nce the failures of Joseph's 
 ^'schemes!" ^ 
 
 But this "long-continued" "career" of Smith's 
 '^failures" of "seven or eight years," all sprung out of 
 a "curious shaped" "stone," found in digging a well 
 for Mr. Clark Chase, in the year 1819, of which Joseph 
 became possessed at the time — this was the "fortune- 
 stone" — the "acorn" from which the Mormon tree grew. 
 
 On pages twenty-four and twenty-five is a lengthy 
 description of one of Joseph's "money-digging," night 
 scenes, said to have taken place by "lantern-light." 
 He now "assumes a mysterious air," employs the "mir- 
 aculous stone," goes to neighbor Stafford, who is "a 
 respectable farmer in comfortable worldly circum- 
 stances," who supplies the "black sheep," the blood of 
 which is to encircle that spot where the treasure lies 
 buried in the earth. All being now in readiness, Joseph 
 and his dupes repair to the spot, and the digging begins. 
 All is silent, no one daring to speak! But bye and bye 
 some one in a moment of forgetfulness speaks, the 
 spell is broken, the treasure vanishes, and the work 
 
172. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED, 
 
 ceases! . A retrospect of the locality shows that the 
 sjheep's carcase is gone, investigation reveals that J. 
 Smith, Sen., has taken it to his house, ''reduced to 
 mutton'' for family use. The above is only illustrative 
 of the many, and in all such work respectable farmers, 
 ^uch as Harris and Stafford; with school teachers, such 
 ^s O. Cowdery, are engaged! Does it seem reasonable 
 that respectable farmers and school teachers would be 
 duped in this way out of their sleep, property and 
 honesty? And lawyers too! ? But Mr. Tucker has not 
 informed us whether he was present as one of Joseph's 
 chief managers,, or one of his dupes! Probably the 
 latter, that is, if he knows these things to be true where.- 
 ^of he writes. Mr. Tucker spoils all these stories, how- 
 ever, when he tells us, on page twenty-seven, that these 
 ''failures" were of "seven or eight years" duration. 
 Can it be possible that men of sense and education could 
 thus be duped, and led, and deceived in such a many 
 ner for a petiod of seven or eight years? Think of thisj 
 ye respectable farmers, everywhere. Could you be 
 made to believe that men of your class could be 
 deceived in this manner, by experiences not of a mystic 
 or spiritual character, but of a natural, physical charac- 
 ter? What utter nonsense! If any body can be found 
 silly enough to believe these stories, then,, in the lan.- 
 guage of Mr. Tycker, "The fools are not all dead yet." 
 I much prefer to believe in the doctrine of the minister- 
 pg of angels in {:his age of the world. 
 
 ^r. Tucker goes back to the pretended "little 
 stone," as a basis on which to novelize and ridicule th^ 
 Urim and Thunqmim. And in attempting to accoun^J 
 for its non-existence; in 1827, says; "This spectacle 
 pretension, is believed to haye been purely an Rafter.- 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 1 73. 
 
 thought, for it was not heard of outside of the Smith 
 family for a considerable period subsequent to the first 
 story." Yes, "it is believed," and we are called on to 
 receive this belief as evidence. 
 
 There is no reason whatever for believing that these 
 said-to-be first stories - false stories— had any existence 
 till after the real events thus counterfeited by the false, 
 had really transpired, and thus these pretended fore- 
 thoughts, are in reality the after-thoughts, not of 
 Joseph, or his opposers. If the best evidence of the 
 best witness is belief only, what of the testimony of a 
 "far off" writer. 
 
 On pages ^S and 39, is enumerated the names 
 of some thirty-one persons "and the remainder 
 of the Smith family," with the statement, "It is 
 believed that this list embraces all the persons 
 residing at or near the prime seat of the Mormon 
 advent, who from first to last made a profession of be- 
 lief either in the money-digging, or Golden Bible find- 
 ing pretensions of Joseph Smith, Jun." Another in- 
 stance of "it is believed," but the writer does not tell 
 us who it is believed by; does not even say whether he 
 believes it or not. Hut this kind of evidence seems to 
 be characteristic of. "the author's personal knowledge" 
 of the things he writes concerning. Belief is not 
 evidence, either legal or historical, hence is no decision 
 of this question. 
 
 On page ^;^, Mr. Tucker avers that it is further 
 "believed" that the development of the Book of 
 Mormon or the "plates" "was also a secondary 
 invention." By this- it may be clearly seen that the 
 very best evidence, that the most accredited historian 
 on the negative side of this question concerning the 
 
174- WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 Urim and Thummim and the Book of Mormon is in 
 possession of, is mere belief, and belief only. These 
 examples serve to illustrate "the author's personal knowl- 
 edge"' of the historical "facts" he pretends torelate. 
 
 In dealing with this question the author encounters 
 the plain, straightforward, unequivocal testimony of 
 twelve witnesses to the veritable existence of the plates, 
 and not being able to impeach their evidence by refer- 
 ence to character, proceeds if) manufacture "another 
 theory" as a basis for their testimony which he 
 divulges at length on pages 74 and 75, entitled 
 the "Glyph" theory; that is: -As similar plates to 
 those described by the witness in some respects, are 
 referred to by Professor Rafinesque in his Atlantic 
 Journal for 1832, and others found in Pike county, 
 Illinois, in 1836. "Smith may have obtained through 
 Rigdon (the literary genius behind the screen) one of 
 these glyphs, which resemble so nearly his description 
 of the book he pretended to find on Mormon Hill. For 
 the credit of human character, it is better at any rate 
 to presume this, and that the eleven ignorant witnesses 
 were deceived by appearances, than to conclude that 
 they willfully committed such gross moral perjury be- 
 fore high heaven, as their solemn averments imply." 
 
 From this statement we learn that even Mr. Tucker 
 had too much respect for the "moral" character of the 
 witnesses to believe they would knowingly testify of 
 things they knew not, and tries to apologize for their 
 testimony on other grounds, as above stated. This 
 ought to have its due weight with those who consider 
 this author as good authority. But the testimony of 
 the eleven witnesses was published to the world in 1830, 
 and those plates described by Professor Rafinesque 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 1 75. 
 
 were not discovered till 1832, and those of Illinois 
 in 1836. This '^Cilyph" theory will not answer, and 
 this Mr. Tucker admits on page 112. He says, in 
 speaking of the origin of the Book of Mormon, "It,V 
 the Glyph theory, "can in no wise apply in this 
 case." And last, but not least, he only "presumes" 
 all this "for the credit of human character." When 
 we remember that Mr. Tucker was a resident of Pal- 
 myra in 1830, and had ample opportunity to investigate 
 these events in detail, and that this was the best explan- 
 ation he was able to give, as a result of his own investi- 
 gation, what of the explanation of those "from afar?" 
 
 Mr Tucker, however, repudiates his own "Glyph" 
 theory, as we have seen, to make room for the intro- 
 duction of the "Spaulding Story" theory, as gathered 
 from books that had been published prior to his own; 
 thus manifesting his determination to write a book at 
 all hazards, all this exemplary of "the author's personal 
 knowledge." 
 
 In presenting his claims to our consideration of 
 his rendering of the "Spaulding Story," he informs us 
 that his data are "derived from the declarations of Mrs. 
 Spaulding herself, as in 1831 and subsequently." Page 
 124. Our author anticipates the current date of the 
 story, however, by telling us that, "Sidney Rigdon," 
 who on pages 28 and 46, is styled "a mysterious 
 stranger," frequently visited at Joseph's house be- 
 tween the years 1820-27, planning the arrangements 
 to be subsequently developed. That these visits 
 were "the subject of inquiry and conjecture by ob- 
 servers, from whom was withheld all explanation of his 
 identity, or purpose." If these visits were subjects 
 "of enquiry and conjecture" and "all explanation 
 
176. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM RP:VIEWEr^. 
 
 of identity and purpose" was "withheld," how does 
 Mr. Tucker know that they were plotting this great 
 delusion during these years? More especially, if, 
 as he says on page 121, "they were mutually sworn" to 
 *'secrecy and falsehood." How does he know that this 
 ^'mysterious stranger" was Rigdon, if "all explanation 
 of his identity was withheld?" 
 
 All this is mere "conjecture" with him, as with 
 other ^'observers." As to Rigdon's whereabouts from 
 the time of his birth till [827, yes, 1830, the following 
 from the Family Record of Rigdon's father, is quite 
 satisfactory: "He returned to Pittsburgh in the win- 
 ter of 182 1 and '22, and took the care of the First Reg- 
 ular Baptist Church, and there continued to preach 
 until the Baptist Association met in Pittsburgh in 1824 
 Rev. Williams (at which time they brought some 
 charges against him for not being sound in the faith) 
 brought him to trial, but denied him the liberty of 
 speaking in self-defence, and he declared a non-fellow- 
 ship with them, and began to preach Campbellism. 
 And he and those that joined with him got the liberty 
 of the Court House; there they held their meetings, 
 and he and his brother-in-law, Mr. Brooks, followed 
 the tanning business till the winter of r827 and '28, 
 when he (S. Rigdon) moved somewhere into the West- 
 ern Reserve of Ohio, and there continued to preach 
 till the Latter Day Saints came to that part of the 
 country, when he joined them and continued to be an 
 Elder in that Church (of Latter Day Saints, called 
 Mormons)." This is confirmed by Carvil Rigdon and 
 Peter Boyer, whose characters are attested by five 
 others, two of whom are members of the Old Regular 
 Baptist Church. 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 1 77. 
 
 But, as Mr. Tucker admits that *'the bearing of 
 these circumstances (of the visits of the mysterious 
 stranger to Joseph Smith during the years 1820-27) 
 upon any important question, can only be left to reas- 
 onable conjecture in reference to the subsequent devel- 
 opments," we need not devote further space to a refuta- 
 tion of this assumption. Page 48. 
 
 We are told on pages 122 and 123, that Spaulding 
 took his manuscript to a Mr. Patterson of Pittsburg, a 
 printer, for publication. Patterson did not print it. 
 In 1816 "it was reclaimed by the author, who in that 
 year removed to Amity, Washington county, N?Y., 
 where he died in 1827." But this same Mrs. Spauld- 
 ing, who supplies the above data, says in her Boston 
 letter, published in the Episcopal Recorder: "At 
 length the manuscript was returned to the author, 
 and soon after we re^ioved to Amity, Washing- 
 ton county, Pa., where Mr. Spaulding deceased in 
 *i8i6." Mr. Tucker further says, page 123, that 
 "one Sidney Rigdon" was in the office of Patterson in 
 18 16, "and the probable solution of the mystery of 
 the Book of ^formon is found in the fact that he 
 had made a copy of Spaulding's manuscript, and 
 communicated information of the existence of the 
 fictitious record to Joseph Smith, Jun." Also, page 
 125 "Rigdon was in possession of a copy of this 
 manuscript before he had heard of Smith's money- 
 digging delusions." But, we ask, What object had 
 Rigdon in making "a copy" of this romance ere he 
 became acquainted with Smith and his designs touch- 
 ing the establishment of a church? An answer is 
 unneccessary. Rev. Samuel Williams of Pittsburgh, a 
 Bitter opponent of the Latter Day Saints, on the twenty- 
 
178. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 second page of his Mormonism Ex|)osed, says: "Rig- 
 don came to this city and connected himself with the 
 First Regular Baptist Church on the 28th of January, 
 1822." 
 
 Dr. Hulbert, an apostate from the Church of Lat- 
 ter Day Saints, said in 1834, on the 289th page 
 of liis History of Mormonism: "Now, as Spaulding's 
 book can nowhere be found, or anything heard of it 
 after being carried to this establishment, there is the 
 strongest presumption that it remained there in seclu- 
 sion till about the year 1823 or 1824, at which time 
 Sidrffey Rigdon located himself in ihat city." 
 
 Rigdon's Family Record says he went to Pittsburg 
 in the "winter of 1822 and '23." Hence, Rigdon was 
 not in Pittsburgh for eight years after the manuscript 
 was taken to Amity by its author, and therefore had no 
 opportunity of copying it, and Mr. Tucker's "fact" is a 
 false one. Now, while Mrs. Spaulding tells Mr. Tucker 
 that the manuscript was reclai?ned by the author in* 
 1816, she informs Dr. Hulbert that she "was unable 
 to tell whether it was ever returned or not from this 
 office." — Tucker, page 123; Howe, page 287. 
 
 ' Our reason for introducing the testimony of Howe, 
 is that Mrs. Spaulding's statements are the basis of his 
 data likewise, and no two persons whose writing we 
 have yet consulted, render her story alike. And this 
 fact demonstrates that the sources of their information 
 are not to be relied on. And further, shows this 
 Spaulding Story to be a mere conjuration by the 
 enemies of the work of God. 
 
 Again, Mr. Tucker says, page 123: "The manu- 
 script remained in the widow's possession until it was 
 missed or stolen from a trunk in Otsego county, wher% 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 1 79. 
 
 she had removed about the time tl\e Book of Mormon 
 began to be publicly spoken of." Howe says: **She 
 was unable to tell whether it was ever returned or not 
 from this office." In her Boston letter Mrs. Spaulding 
 says: 
 
 "The manuscript then (1816) fell into my hands 
 and was carefully preserved. It has frequently been 
 examined by my daughter [who was five years old when 
 the manuscript was written in i8cg-io, see Haven's 
 letter in the Quincy (111.) Whig, and was twelve years 
 eld when she read it in 1816 or 1817], Mrs. McKin- 
 stery, of Monson, Massachusetts, with whom I now 
 reside, and by other friends. After the Book of Mor- 
 mon came out a copy of it was taken to New Salem. 
 * * The excitement became so great in New Salem 
 that the inhabitants had a meeting, and deputed Dr. 
 Philastus Hulbert, to repair to this place and obtain 
 from me the original manuscript of Mr. Spaulding, for 
 the purpose of comparing it with the Mormon Bible, 
 to satisfy their own minds and to prevent their friends 
 from embracing an error so delusive. This was in the 
 year 1834. Dr. Hulbert brought with him an introduc- 
 tion and request for the manuscript signed by Messrs. 
 Henry Lake, Aaron Wright and others, with all of whom 
 I was acquainted, as they were my old neighbors when 
 1 resided at New Salem." 
 
 Can any one tell from the three foregoing state- 
 ments whether the manuscript was stolen, remained at 
 Patterson's office, or whether it was preserved carefully 
 by Spaulding's widow till 1834. Yet these authors all 
 claim that the widow Spaulding is their authority for 
 the three contradictory stories. How many Spaulding 
 stories are there as origins of the Book of Mormon? 
 
l8o. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 Would not any judge, justice or jury in all the land dis- 
 miss such a witness as the above testimony shows Mrs. 
 Spaulding to be, from the couit and reject the evidence 
 as unworthy of credence? It seems so to us. 
 
 Now this whole story of Rigdon's copying the 
 manuscript seems to contradict what Mr. Tucker had 
 before said on page 36: "The manuscripts were 
 in the handwriting of one Oliver Cowdery." The reason 
 assigned was "Cowdery had been a school-master, and 
 was the only man in the band who could make a copy 
 for the printer." 
 
 Thus it seems, the more we investigate this Spauld- 
 ing Story, as to its giving rise to, or relation to the 
 Book of Mormon, the greater the humbuggery of the 
 story appears. And Mr. Tucker's efforts relative to 
 this, like those of his predecessors, amount to nothing 
 against the work. 
 
 On pages 55 and 56, in referring to the print- 
 ing cf the Book of Mormon, Mr. Tucker tells us 
 that: "The first and second books of Nephi and some 
 other portions of the forthcoming revelations were 
 printed in sheets; and armed with a copy of these, 
 Smith commenced other preparations for a mission to 
 Pennsylvania, where he had some relatives residing, 
 and where the before mentioned Rev. Sidney Rigdon 
 was then (1829) residing, or temporarily sojourning." 
 Mr. Tucker is not certain about where Rigdon then 
 resided, but bye and bye he grows more positive, 
 and on page 76, he tells: "He was a backsliding 
 clergyman of the Baptist persuasion, and at the period 
 referred to (1830) was the principle preacher of a sort 
 of religious society calling themselves 'Reformers,' or 
 'Disciples,' at Mentor, Ohio, near Kirtland." While 
 
WORKS AGAINST iMORMONISM REVIEWED. l8l. 
 
 this latter statement seems to harmonize with and sup-, 
 port the ''Family Record" of Rigdon, it surely contra-, 
 diets and invalidates the former one, and still further 
 illustrates the utter unreliability of Mr. Tucker's history 
 of the "Rise and Progress of Mormonism." 
 
 Again, on page 76: "This man Rigdon now 
 [1830, see page 126] appeared as the first regular Mor- 
 mon preacher in Palmyra." Now as the »Cluirch was 
 organized on the 6th of April, and a conference was 
 held in June, 1830, near Palmyra, and as Joseph Smith, 
 Oliver Cowdery and others took missions from tliis 
 conference, and they h;ad all preached at Palmyra, now 
 could Rigdon appear "as the first regular Mormon 
 preacher at Palmyra?" More especially, since Mr. 
 Tucker himself informs us on page eighty-two, that: 
 "Jn the summer of 1830 the founders of the Mormon 
 CliUrch then remaining at the scene of its birthplace 
 * * went to Mentor, Ohio, the residence of Rigdon, 
 and of Parley P. Pratt, his friend and co-worker." 
 "Near this place is Kirtlaiid, where there were a few 
 families belonging to Rigdon's congregation. ,* * 
 Seventeen of these people, men and women, readily 
 espoused the new revelation, and were immersed by 
 Cowdery in one night." 
 
 We learn by these statements, first, that Rigdon 
 resided in Ohio, instead of Pennsylvania, in 1829 and 
 1830; second, that instead of preaching the Mormon 
 faith at Palmyra then, he was a pastor of a congrega- 
 tion of "Disciples" at Mentor, Ohio; that seventeen of 
 his congregation were baptized by Cowdery, when on 
 his mission west, in the latter part of 1830. 
 
 On page 56, Mr. Tucker speaks further of Smith's 
 visit to northern Pennsvlvania, as before referred 
 
lS2. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 to, and says: ''The result was, that in November, 
 [1829, see page 55], Smith went to northern Penn- 
 sylvania, as previously appointed, when he married 
 the daughter of Isaac Hale, and was baptized after the 
 Mormon ritual — Rigdon being the 'match-maker' and 
 officiating 'clergyman' in these celebrations." 
 
 As to Joseph's marriage, Mr. Tucker falsifies in 
 three points, viz: Joseph was married by Squire Tar- 
 bell, in South Bainbridge, Chenango county. New 
 York, January i8th, 1827. See birth and marriage 
 record of Joseph Smith, Sen., as published in "Joseph 
 Smith the Prophet," page 40; printed 1853; written 
 by Joseph's mother. 
 
 Mrs. Emma Smith, one of the parties to the mar- 
 riage under consideration, about three months prior to 
 her death, in reply to the following question: "Who 
 performed the marriage ceremony for Joseph Smith and 
 Emma Hale? When? Where?" as propounded by her 
 own son, Joseph Smith, now of Piano, Illinois, an- 
 swered: 'T was married at South Bainbridge, New 
 York, at the house of Squire Tarbell, by him, when I 
 was in my twenty-second or twenty-third year." (See 
 the Saints' Herald, number for October ist, 1879). 
 As to Joseph's baptism, by Oliver Cowdery, in May, 
 1829. See "Pearl of Great Price," page 45; "Joseph 
 Smith the Prophet," page 131. Now while these works 
 cited place the date of Joseph's baptism in May, 1829, 
 Mr. Tucker says it was subsequent to November of that 
 year; and while they say Cowdery officiated, he says 
 Rigdon baptized him. One is the evidence of Smith 
 and Cowdery; the other is according to the "informa- 
 tion" of Mr. Tucker. How creditable the sources of 
 Mr. Tucker's information! 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 183. 
 
 Mr. Tucker is not satisfied with having made false 
 and contradictory statements concerning the foregoing 
 subjects and characters, but proceeds to falsify and 
 misrepresent the plain, unequivocal record and histori- 
 cal statements of the Book of Mormon itself, and hence 
 on page 35 of his work, in referring to the trans- 
 lation of the Book of Mormon, says: ''These transla- 
 tions purported to relate to the history of scattered 
 tribes of the earth, chiefly Nephites and Lamanites, 
 who, after the confusion of tongues at the tower of 
 Babel, had been directed by the Lord across the sea to 
 this then wilderness land, where they mostly perished 
 by wars among themselves, and by famine and pesti- 
 lence, and from whose remnants sprang our North 
 American Indians." Now, while it is true that the 
 Book represents that the Aborigines of America sprang 
 from the Lamanites alone, it does not say that the 
 Nephites and Lamanites ''had been directed by the 
 Lord across the sea," at any time, or from any place. 
 The progenitors of the Nephites and Lamanites never 
 had been at the tower of Babel, so far as is now known 
 to us through any record whatever. And we believe 
 this statement of Mr. Tucker to be a willful misrepre- 
 sentation of the record, just like hundreds of other sub- 
 jects he refers to, as we are able to make manifest. 
 
 Our reason for so believing, is because he has 
 devoted the greater part of three or four chapters of his 
 work to extracts from the Book of Mormon itself, and 
 in making his selections and arranging them, it is plainly 
 manifest that he was not ignorant of its contents. 
 Moreover, some of the very extracts which he gives are 
 from the Books of Nephi, and contain the history of 
 the progenitors of the Nephites and Lamanites; of their 
 
1 84- WORKS AGAINST ^lORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 exodus from Jerusalem, about six hundred years before 
 Christ, as may be seen by referring to the eighty-sixth 
 and eighty-seventh pages of the work. When a pre- 
 tended author knowingly and willfully misrepresents and 
 falsifies a plain matter of record like this, can we accept 
 as valid and t^fue his writings on any subject treated of 
 by him? Enough has been culled from the work 
 already, to arouse the suspicions of those who have 
 trusted his veracity, and to create doubt in their minds 
 as to his honesty as a historian. His testimony should 
 be discredited and rejected. 
 
 On the fifty eighth page, Mr. Tucker, in giving an 
 account of the organization of the Church, says: ^'This 
 ceremony, conducted with apparent seriousness by the 
 prophet, supported on the right and left by Cowdery 
 ■and Harris — of which it is now too late to write the full 
 particulars from memory — took place at the dwelling- 
 house of Joseph Smith, Sen., in the month of June, 
 1830. There was no praying, singing or preaching 
 attempted, but Joseph gave various readings and inter- 
 pretations of the new Bible. The senior Smith was 
 installed as Patriarch and President of the Church of 
 Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." 
 
 A glance at the above statement will detect no less 
 than three falsities. First, the Church, instead of being 
 organized in the month of June, was organized April 
 the 6th, 1830. But we are sure that Mr. Tucker means 
 to tell us and have us to understand that this organiza- 
 tion that was affected in June, was the first and original 
 organization of the Church, for on the next — ^the fifty- 
 ninth page — he styles it "this incipient church inaugu- 
 ration;'* and on the next, or sixtieth page, "this pre- 
 liminary launching of the Mormon ship'* Zion— -"this 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 185. 
 
 primeval foundation." Now, if our author was at Pal- 
 myra whin the ''incipient" organization of the Church 
 was effected, April 6th, 1830, and was not aware of it, 
 nor had he learned it after thirty-seven anniversary 
 conferences had convened, all on April 6th, in com- 
 memoration of the ''incipient" organization, what does 
 the authenticity of his history amount to? Secondly, 
 "No praying, singing or preaching was attempted" on 
 this occasion. This meeting referred to was the first 
 conference ever held by the Church, and the thought 
 expressed by our author (?) is altogether an unreason- 
 able one. There were more than thirty, persons present 
 at this meeting, according to Mr. Tucker himself. And 
 the idea that a conference would be held and no pray- 
 ing, singing, or preaching even attempted, is evidently 
 untrue. Yet, he describes to us that '-Cowdery and 
 Harris" were ordained to office, by laying on of hands, 
 and that other "ceremonious observances" were at- 
 tended to. These other ceremonies are not described^ 
 but had they been, would no doubt have contradicted 
 the statement referred to, that there Was neither prayer 
 nor song. Thirdly, "The senior Smith was installed 
 Patriarch and President of the Church of Jesus Christ 
 of Latter Day Saints." How this statement could be 
 made by Mr. Tucker, with the history of the Church, 
 for and against it, for thirty-seven years before him, 
 we are unable to explain, unless it be his desire willfully 
 to misrepresent and falsify. Those who are acquainted 
 to any extent whatever, with the history of the rise of 
 the Church, are aware that this is a clear mistake. 
 
 On page 130, Mr. Tucker repeats this same story: 
 "Joseph Smith, Sen., the first Patriarch and President 
 of the Church;" but, on pages 134 and 135, he informs 
 
l86. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 US better, and contradicting the former statements, tells 
 us: ''Joseph Smith, Jun., was the first President;" and 
 after quoting from some of the early revelations of 
 Joseph, as now found in the Book of Doctrine and 
 Covenants to prove this, says in conclusion: "By 
 these exalted authorities, the prophet becomes the 
 president of the Church." This surely entitles our 
 author (?) to valid authenticity! 
 
 For the sake of consistency, we must quote once 
 more from page 35: ''These translations purported to 
 relate to the history of scattered tribes of the earth, 
 chiefly 'Nephites' and 'Lamanites,' who, after the con- 
 fusion of tongues at "the tower of Babel, had been 
 directed by the Lord across the sea to this then wilder- 
 ness land." And to the above annex as a part of a 
 summary, as given on page 85: "The reader will dis- 
 cover a chain of events, incidents, episodes, perils, and 
 tribulations, by wilderness and by sea, constituting the 
 story of immigration by various Israelitish tribes, with 
 their brazen and golden records, from the beginning 
 of their journeyings at Jerusalem, to the consummation 
 of the same in the promised land." 
 
 The Nephites and Lamanites referred to in the 
 first quotation, are the descendants of but a part of one 
 Israelitish tribe, that came from Jerusalem, six hun- 
 dred years before Christ, instead of from Babel, after 
 the confusion of tongues. Both of these statements 
 misrepresent the claims of the Book of Mormon in 
 some points, while they contradict each other in others; 
 at the same time they manifest the utter unscrupul- 
 ousness of the writer, as well as his disregard as to 
 whether he states the facts in the case or not. A 
 writer that will falsifv the historic statements of a 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 187. 
 
 record, will give false renderings as to its origin. 
 
 We now call attention to a lengthy statement found 
 on page 125, where, in referring to the coming forth 
 forth, printing, and other circumstances connected with 
 the publication of the Book of Mormon, says: 
 
 "Indeed, it is apparent from the marked changes 
 IN STYLE OF COMPOSITION occurring in numbers of in- 
 stances, that EMENDATIONS AND ADDITIONS WERE MADE by 
 
 some other than the original writer's hand. Then, too, 
 the verbose title-page — the 'preface' in regard to the 
 translations lost by the incendiarism of Mrs. Harris — 
 the testimonies of witnesses, and the long line of revela- 
 tions that followed — which are not presumed to have 
 
 P.EEN composed BY THE ILLITERATE SmITH, BUT BY RiGDON 
 
 DURING Smith's life-time — all these are strong corrob 
 (M-ative considerations connected with the proofs that 
 Rigdon supplied the literary aliment needed in con- 
 forming the Spaulding production to the grand co-part- 
 nership Mormon speculation. And it is not known that 
 he has ever disclaimed the part that for more than 
 thirty years has been publicly assigned to him in the 
 great plagiarism and imposture." 
 
 We have emphasized some words in the foregoing, 
 and wish them to be considered. The 'Hinity" of 
 ''Style of composition" that characterizes the Book of 
 Mormon, all through it, has been urged by many as an 
 objection, when it is considered that it is a compila- 
 tion of many books, written by as many different 
 writers, or nearly so. But this objection has been 
 answered by the fact that the compilation was effected 
 mainly by one man. And were it not for this latter 
 fact, the objection would be a valid one. The ''emen- 
 dations" referred to, are simply an abridgement and 
 
1 88. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 condensation of the parts not compiled b) the com- 
 piler. As to the additions which our author (?) supposes 
 to be found in the books^ just the opposite is true, for 
 instead of adding to the writings of those he compiled, 
 the compiler condensed and abridged much of their 
 writings, and what the compiler has said of himself, is 
 no addition to their writings. As to "the title," ''pre- 
 face," "testimony of the witnesses," '-'lost translations" 
 and the "long line of revelations," their writing, or 
 composition, Mr. Tucker presumes they were written,- 
 not by "Smith, but by Rigdon, during Smith's life- 
 time." As all this is presumption with no evidence to 
 sustain it, it needs no refutation. Mr. Tucker does 
 not claim to have been informed of all this, much less 
 to have "personal knowledge of it." This presumption 
 is said to be a "strong corroborative consideration con- 
 nected with the proof that Rigdon supplied the literary 
 aliment needed in conforming tlie Spaulding production 
 to the grand co-partnership Mormon speculation." 
 Tyhe "proofs" that the above allegation is true, have 
 been examined and compared, and have been found to 
 be contradictory and false; and this presumptive aux- '' 
 iliary to the "proof" is as true as the proof has been 
 found to be. In relation to the last sentence of this 
 quotation, we say most emphatically that "it is known" 
 that Rigdon "had disclaimed," and most positively 
 denied "the part that for more than thirty years has 
 been publicly assigned to him in the great plagiarism 
 and imposture," that he is said, (though not proved), 
 to have committed, in connection with the origin of 
 the Book of Mormon. As evidence of this, see his 
 letter written to Messrs Bartlett and Sullivan, Editors 
 of some periodical, on the 27th of May, 1839. This 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 189. 
 
 letter was reprinted, and published as late as 1843 ^r 
 1844; and was also inserted in another work pub- 
 lished as a ''History of the Mormons," and is re- 
 corded on pages 45-48. The title page of this latter 
 history was torn off ere it came into our possession, 
 hence we know not the author's name, but it was writ- 
 ten subsequent to 1849, as it contains a lengthy article 
 from a correspondent of the New York Tribune, from 
 Salt Lake City, July 8th, 1849, which stands on pages 
 310-314. This proves that Mr. Tucker writes falsely in 
 regard to Sidney Rigdon. And we scarce believe that, 
 when collating data for his work, he was ignorant of all 
 this. 
 
 Mr. Rigdon says: '*If I were to say that I ever 
 heard of the Rev. Solomon Spaulding and his wife, 
 until Dr. P. Hulbert wrote his lie about me, I should 
 be a liar like unto themselves. Why was not the testi-' 
 mony of Mr. Patterson obtained to give force to this 
 shameful tale of lies? The only reason is, he was not 
 a fit tool for them to work with; he would not lie for 
 them; if he were called on, he would testify to what I 
 have here said." 
 
 Mr. Tucker gives a very lengthy account of the 
 troubles of the Saints, while in the State of Missouri; 
 of the arbitrations of the Saints and citizens; of the 
 riotous scenes that followed; and on page 161, says: 
 ''Riotous scenes of violence followed. The printing 
 office was destroyed, several of the 'saints' were tarred 
 and feathered, and others were killed and wounded 
 while defending their rights." He concludes his story 
 of these events on page 166, as follows: "Perhaps the 
 occasion should not pass without the remark, that by 
 enlightened people the Mormons were regarded as the 
 
190. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIKWED. 
 
 victims of misguided vengeance in Missouri. The 
 ruffianly violence they encountered at the hands of 
 lawless mobs, in several instances eventuating in delib- 
 erate murder, finds no extenuation in any alleged provo- 
 cation. The due process of law might have afforded 
 adequate redress for the criminalities of which they 
 should be found guilty on legal trial. Such was the 
 view of the subject rightly taken by the people of 
 Illinois and of the world, though it may have been 
 wrongfully applied in favor of the persecuted." 
 
 When it is remembered that the data used by Mr. 
 Tucker, as the basis of his history of these Missouri 
 scenes, are the statements of the civil and military 
 officers of the state, uttered during the excitement of 
 those times, the foregoing are peculiarly strange admis- 
 sions to be made by one so bitterly opposed to the 
 Church as Mr. Tucker was. That the unparalleled per- 
 secutions of the Saints was brought on by ''lawless 
 mobs" is surely*more than was aimed to be said, and 
 ought to be duly considered by those who hold to Mr. 
 Tucker as authority. 
 
 "The due process of law," is all the Saints ever 
 asked at the hands of the officers of the Government, 
 as their entreaties and ''petitions, " and "memorials" to 
 the State and United States Governments will show. 
 And the only reply ever received to these written 
 instruments, were, by Missouri, "You must be exter- 
 minated;"' by the Union, "Your cause is just, but we 
 can do nothing for you." 
 
 But the testimonies of the opposing side of this 
 question, as on others, is contradictory and conflict- 
 ing. Hence, page 162, speaking of the efforts of the 
 Saints to obtain redress for their wrongs, says: "In 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. I9I. 
 
 the interim, the Governor of the State was appealed to 
 by the Mormons for redress, and he advised them to 
 apply to the courts," and in their efforts to carry out 
 this advice, and urging their suits in the courts, "a. 
 further lawless violence was thus provoked." And on 
 page 165, represents Gov. Boggs as saying to the Leg- 
 islature of Missouri, in 1840: ^'These people had vio- 
 lated the laws of the land by open force and armed 
 resistence to them; they had undertaken, without the 
 aid of the civil authority, to redress their real or fancied 
 grievances." 
 
 One or the other of these statements is untrue, for 
 they are opposed to each other, and an honest historian 
 would have ascertained which was true and left the false 
 statement out, if he wished to be believed. 
 
 On page 164, Mr. Tucker represents General 
 Clark as writing to Gov. Boggs, in 1838: "There is 
 no crime from treason down to petit larceny, but these 
 people, or a majority of them, have been guilty of." 
 
 Now as to the truthfulness of this communication 
 we can better judge, by a comparison of this with a 
 statement uttered by this same Gen. Clark in his ad- 
 dress to the Mormons, about the year 1838, which says: 
 '•'Another thing yet remains for you to comply with — 
 that is, that you leave the State forthwith; and what- 
 ever your feelings concerning this affair, whatever your 
 innocence, it is nothing to me. General Lucas, who is 
 equal in authority with me, has made this treaty with 
 you, I am determined to see it carried out." — History 
 of the Mormons, page iii. A treaty has been entered 
 into between the Saints and Gen. Lucas, and Gen. 
 Clark was to see it carried out. As to the innocency 
 of the Saints, this was nothing to him; thus admitting 
 
192. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 that he knows nothing of their innocence or guilt. But 
 of their innocency he cares not; he simply is determined 
 to carry out the treaty of Gen. Lucas. 
 
 Mr. Tucker's work is mainly a revision of previous- 
 ly printed works, as is manifest from his reference to 
 subjects treated of by Howe and others; not only in 
 regard to the Spaulding story, but the history of Mrs. 
 Waite is cited; as also introduction to Wright & Go's 
 New York edition of the Book of Mormon, and a 
 lengthy article written by Ex-Gov. S. S. Harding 
 expressly for this work. And, hence, a refutation of 
 the false statements made in this work, is an answer to 
 all the works referred to by Mr. Tucker. 
 
 In view of the above, we see why the forged, or 
 pretended affidavit, as gotten up by Howe, is referred 
 to by Mr. Tucker on the 128th page of his work, 
 and fathered on to one Peter Ingersoll. Now we are 
 credibly informed that this same Peter Ingersoll lives in 
 Lapeer county, Michigan, and solemnly denies ever 
 making oath to the subject referred to, or any other 
 subject connected with the faith of the Saints. This 
 affidavit is "Dated Palmyra, Wayne county, New York, 
 December 2d, 1833, certified by Thomas T. Baldwin, 
 Judge of Wayne county, to have been sworn to before 
 him according to law, 9th day of December, 1833.'' 
 
 In 1833, there was no such office as Judge of 
 ''County Court." Circuit Courts, Courts of Oyer and 
 Terminer, Common Pleas and General Sessions were 
 held for every county, but there was no "County 
 Court." For these latter statements we are indebted to 
 a "Mr. W. W.," of Boyne, Michigan, December 6th, 
 1876. 
 
 This pretended affidavit, manufactured by Dr. Hul- 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. I93. 
 
 bert alias Howe, is used by Mr. Tucker as evidence 
 against the Saints in his efforts to degrade their char- 
 acter, and is only another evidence of the utter 
 unscrupulousness of Mr. Tucker, as to the truth or 
 falsity of what he uses as evidence against those he 
 opposes. 
 
 An occasional anecdote characterizes the work of 
 Mr. Tucker, but these are the statements only of ''fun- 
 loving dare-devils" and "notorious wags," and we are 
 inclined to the idea that the greater part of his data is 
 from a like source. See pages 31 and 80. 
 
 The "Rise and Progress of Mormonism" contains 
 a lengthy history of the Utah apostates, and the pre- 
 tended revelation on polygamy, accepting at the same 
 time the assumption that it was developed by Joseph 
 Smith. As to this assumption, the only evidence 
 ever produced to sustain it is the word of Brighara 
 Young, and his word only; and though he claims that 
 it was in existence as early as 1843, and that Emma 
 Smith, Joseph's wife, burned the original revelation, he 
 (Brigham) preserved a copy of it, but never considered 
 it expedient to present it to the Church, or bring it to 
 light, till 1852, which he then did at a special confer- 
 ence in Salt Lake City, asking that it be received as au- 
 thority. As to the burning of the original, Mrs. Emma 
 Smith says, "This is a lie, made out of whole cloth." 
 This she said as late as 1867. And in the same con- 
 versation with Elder J. W. Briggs, now of Iowa, in 
 1867, in reply to the question, 'fDid you ever see that 
 document [the pretended revelation] in manuscript or 
 previous to its publication by Pratt?" (1852). Answer 
 by Mrs. Bidamon, (Smith), "I never did." This con- 
 versation is found on page 7, of "A Criticism upon 
 
194- WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 the SO called Revelation, of 1843," by J. W. Briggs. 
 And he that fabricates a falsehood in regard to the pre- 
 tended history of a pretended revelation, would do the 
 same in regard to its pretended origin. There is no 
 evidence that such an instrument of writing as this pre- 
 tended revelation is, ever came through, or originated 
 with Joseph Smith. We challenge any credible evi- 
 dence. 
 
 Mr Tucker is not satisfied with charging Joseph 
 with having originated polygamy, but also with practic- 
 ing the doctrine; with having ''forty wives all told." 
 Just as well tell a big lie as a little one, while he is 
 about it. But there is not one word of evidence of the 
 truthfulness of this on record anywhere. As our reply 
 to this charge will conclude our investigation and expos- 
 ition of Mr. Tucker's work, we shall not amplify to any 
 great extent, — shall not here introduce the many nega- 
 tive proofs, as found in the Book of Mormon and Doc-' 
 trine and Covenants, as these, with others, are exten- 
 sively circulated through the medium of the tracts pub- 
 lished by the Church, also the Saints' Herald. W^e 
 shall, however, append a few questions, as propounded 
 to Mrs. Emma Bidamon, formerly Smith, by her son, 
 Joseph, about three months prior to her death, and 
 her answers, "whereby though she being dead, yet 
 speaketh." 
 
 "Question. — 'What of spiritual wifery?' 
 
 "Answer. — 'There was no revelation on either 
 polygamy or spiritual wifery. No such thing as poly- 
 gamy, or spiritual wifery, .was taught, either publicly 
 or privately, before my husband's death, that I now 
 have, or ever had any knowledge of.' 
 
 "Q. — 'Did he not have other wives than yourself?' 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM KEVIKWED. I95. 
 
 •'*A. — 'He had no other wife but me; nor did he 
 to my knowledge ever have.' 
 
 "Q. — 'Did he not hold marital relation with other 
 women than yourself?' 
 
 "A. — 'He did not have improper relations with 
 any woman that ever came to my knowledge.' " — The 
 Saints' Herald, Oct. ist, 1879. 
 
 This testimony was borne by Sister Emma, to her 
 own son, only about three months before her death, 
 and is now recorded, and consequently is of force. 
 Just prior to death is the wrong time of one's life to 
 bear false witness and deny the wrong done during life, 
 or to conceal the wrongs of others with whom they 
 have been connected. This testimony, therefore, 
 should, with all honest people, be an end of contro- 
 versy relative to this subject, and forever close the 
 mouths of ''false accusers" "of the brethren." 
 
 As we have reviewed the modern historical part 
 of this work, except that part which relates to the peo- 
 ple of Utah, and as we are not "set for the defense" of 
 those in apostasy, we now submit our efforts to a can- 
 did public, asking a patient hearing, and a faithful 
 comparison of this our review with the "work re- 
 viewed." C. Scott. 
 Lawrence, Michigan, Nov. 14th, 1879. 
 
 The above lengthy expose is inserted for the reason 
 that Tucker was a resident of Palmyra, New York, and 
 had access to the entire work of both Hulbert and 
 Howe, as well as others, up to 1867, when his work was 
 issued. 
 
196. WORKS AGAINST MGRMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 LIFE IN UTAH; 
 
 OR THE MYSTERIES AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM, 
 BY J. H. BEADLE, 1870. 
 
 * 'Several works have appeared, purporting to be 
 exposures of the secret rites and mysteries of this 
 strange sect, but none have been complete, and few 
 authentic. The high praise which this work has 
 received from members of Congress, and Government 
 ofificials to whom it was submitted, and by whom its 
 publication was urged as a duty to the country, stamps 
 it as no ordinary work, but as one of the most power- 
 ful and thrilling books ever published." 
 
 After giving items of Joseph Smith's birth, etc., 
 Beadle says, on page 22: "Almost innumerable are 
 the stories of his youth, giving bright promise of future 
 rascality. But many of them depend on little more 
 than popular report, and we can only receive as authen 
 tic tho^e events which rest upon the sworn testimony 
 of reliable men who were his neighbors." 
 
 Connecting Smith and Rigdon and alleging Solo- 
 mon Spaulding's manuscript was stolen of Mrs. Spauld- 
 ing says, page 22: ''She thinks it was stolen from her 
 trunk. Thus far all is clear. * *" 
 
 How is that for sworn evidence? Of the evidence 
 setting forth that the Book of Mormon was made up 
 from Spaulding's manuscript. Beadle on page 32, says: 
 "Suffice it to say, that while it is of moral force suf- 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWKD. 1 97. 
 
 ficient to convince most minds, it is yet not such proof 
 as would establish the fact beyond all doubt, or con- 
 vict Smith and Rigdon of theft and forgery in a court 
 of justice." 
 
 Mr. IJeadie's sworn testimony seems to be lacking! 
 But let Mr. i5eadle speak again; page 27 says: "The 
 *Book of Mormon' was fiVst given to the world early 
 in 1830, when three thousand volumes were published, 
 under contract, by Mr, Pomeroy Tucker, then propri- 
 etor of a paper in the county." 
 
 On page 33, Beadle says:, "In August of 1830, 
 Parley P. Pratt, a young Campbellite preacher, came 
 on a visit especially to hear of the new faith, and was 
 at once converted, and soon after, Sidney Rigdon 
 appeared as a leading Mormon." 
 
 And on page 34: "Rigdon had previously col- 
 lected a band of nearly one hundred persons, who 
 called themselves Disciples, mostly seceders from other 
 denominations, holding to a literal and rapid fulfill- 
 ment of the prophecies, very fanatical and looking 
 daily for 'some great event to occur.' Many of these 
 adopted the new faith at once, and a church of thirty 
 was organized." 
 
 In the light of the preceding, how does this sound 
 from page 32: "The best evidence furthermore shows, 
 that Sidney Rigdon was the prime mover in the fraud, 
 and that Joe Smith was conveniently put forward as 
 the Prophet." 
 
 Mrs. Emma Smith is written of on page ;^^; 
 "She became thoroughly disgusted at her husband's 
 religion while in Nauvoo, and expressed no particular 
 regret at his death; she refused to emigrate to Utah, 
 but apostatized and married a Gentile, and is rather 
 
IgS. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM RP:vrEWEri, 
 
 popular as land-lady of the old Mansion House, at 
 Nauvoo." She never wavered, raised her family in 
 the faith, and she died firm in it in 1879. 
 
 Beadle disposes of Cowdery, Harris and Whitmer,. 
 the three witnesses, thus, on page 26. Cowdery: "He 
 led a rambling life for many years, and died a short 
 time since a miserable drunkard." He died reaffirm- 
 ing his testimony in a most solemn manner, in February, 
 1850, at Richmond, Missouri, which was twenty years 
 before Beadie wrote. 
 
 Harris next: "He continued with the Mormons 
 till his means were exhausted, and, having quarrelled 
 with Joe Smith, in Missouri, returned to his old resi- 
 dence in New York.'" Harris died in Utah, also 
 reaffirming his testimony at time of his death in 1875. 
 
 "Of David Whitmer little is known. He dropped 
 out of the Mormon community, in one of the 'drives' 
 in Missouri, and settled in that State." Yes, Mr. 
 Beadle knew or wrote little. Whitmer lived at Rich- 
 mond, Missouri, from 1838 to January 25th, 1888, was 
 often interviewed by the press of various leading cities, 
 Mrs. Smith, Cowdery, Harris and Whitmer are wantonly 
 misrepresented in his alleged authentic work! 
 
 Page 48 says: "Joe Smith, Hyrum Smith, and 
 forty others were held for trial, and the militia officers 
 forthwith organized a Court Martial and condemned 
 several of them to be shot. But General Doniphan, 
 a sound lawyer and brave man, by a firm use of his 
 authority and influence, prevented this foolishly illegal 
 action. The prisoners were taken before the nearest 
 Circuit Judge and put upon trial 'for treason, murder, 
 robbery, arson, larceny, and breach of the peace.' 
 They could not well have been tried for more, but it 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. I99. 
 
 seems by the evidence that many of them were guilty 
 on most of the charges. They were committed to jail 
 to await their final'trial. The evidence in the case was 
 printed by order of the Missouri legislature, and pre- 
 sents a singular instance of how a few knaves may lead 
 to their destruction a whole people, if sufficiently ignor- 
 ant and fanatical." 
 
 Page 50 says: *• The Missourians found, in the 
 meantime, that they had 'caught an elephant;', the)' had 
 Joe Smith, his brother Hyrum, and forty others in jail 
 on a multitude of charges, but many of the witnesses 
 were gone, the trial would have been long and expen- 
 sive, and it was probably the best policy to get them 
 all out of the State in such a way that none would 
 re-enter it, rather than condemn a few to the peniten- 
 tiary." 
 
 What difference, Mr. Beadle, about witnesses gone, 
 with evidence printed by order of legislature? Hard 
 to make a case against an innocent people. 
 
 Page 58: "A city rose as if by magic. Tempor- 
 ary in character as most of the buildings were, rude 
 log houses or frame shanties, they served to shelter the 
 rapidly gathering Saints. The first house on the new 
 site was erected June ii, 1839, and in eighteen months 
 thereafter, there were two thousand dwellings besides 
 school houses and other public buildings * * The 
 temporary buildings, in no long time, gave way to more 
 permanent buildings; improvements multiplied on every 
 hand, and Joe Smith had almost daily revelations 
 directing how every work should be carried on." 
 
 Compare with preceding, this, page 74: '*Two 
 years had not elapsed since the first fugitives arrived at 
 Nauvoo before the Mormons outnumbered the old 
 
200. WORKS AGAINST .^lORMONIS^r REVIEWED. 
 
 settlers. * * None of the promised advantages had 
 accrued from the settlement of the Moriuons among 
 them. They had created but little trade or commercey 
 had made no improvement of the raj)ids, had estab- 
 lished no manufactories, erected no school houses^ 
 organized no institutions for instruction, and made no 
 provision for the support of the poor." 
 
 Beadle, quoting Gov. Ford, on page 98, says^ 
 "Justice, however, requires me here to say, that upon 
 such investigation as I then could make, the charge of 
 promiscuous stealing appeared to be exaggerated." 
 
 Ford again, page irt: "The Mormons had been 
 represented to me as a lawless, infatuated and fanatical 
 people, not governed by the ordinary motives which 
 influence the rest of mankind." 
 
 Another statement of his, page 98: "But the great 
 cause of popular fury was, that the Mormons at several 
 preceding elections had cast their vote as a unit, there- 
 by making the fact apparent, that no one could aspire 
 to the honors or ofifices of the country within the sphere 
 of their influence, without their approbation and votes."" 
 
 It was similar in Missouri. Beadle says, page 39:: 
 "In April, 1833, a number of Missourians came to- 
 gether in Independence, and decided that 'means of 
 defence ought to be taken,' but determined upon noth- 
 ing. The first June number of the 'Morning and 
 Evening Star' contained an intemperate article, headed, 
 *Free People of Color,' which excited the wrath of the 
 old citizens against the Mormons, as 'abolitionists/ 
 and was answered by a small pamphlet, headed, 'Be- 
 ware^ of False Prophets.' As summer advanced, it 
 appeared that the Mormons would be sufficiently 
 numerous to carry the county at the August election, 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVlp:\VKD. 20I. 
 
 and this roused all t*be fears of t)ie old settlers afresh. 
 Without apparent concert, an armed mob of three 
 hundred assembled at Independence, tore down the 
 newspaper office, larred and feathered several of the 
 Saints, whipped two of them a little, and ordered all to 
 leave the county.'' 
 
 Page ii6 sa3's: "The spiritual wives of the dead 
 Prophet filled the city with their cries, but his lawful 
 wife Emma, was quiet and resigned." 
 
 Dr. B. \y. Richmond, an eye witness, and not a 
 Mormon, said of Emma Smith: ">ix times she at- 
 tempted to see the bodies, and six times she was 
 removed in the arms of her two attendants." — Herald, 
 January i, 1876. 
 
 Page 82 contains: "So completely had Joe's head 
 been turn^ed and so wild and visionary had he become, 
 that it was not without reason that his wife, only a few 
 years after his death, published a statement in the 
 *Quincy Whig' that she had no belief in his prophetic 
 character, and considered his pretended revelations 
 the emanations of a diseased mind." She did nothing 
 of the kind, or more than one expose of Mormonism 
 would have published it; why does not Mr. Beadle 
 furnish it? 
 
 Page 375 says: ^'Joseph Smith had a dozen 
 spiritual wives; but three sons survived him- all of 
 his legal wife " Strange that an even dozen were not 
 prolific! 
 
 Of Joseph Smith's fortune, reputed to be a million, 
 that accumulated from sale of land, Beadle gives one 
 use he put it to on page 428: "With this he paid all 
 his old debts in Ohio." * * 
 
 Mr. Beadle divides time on page 351: "I. The 
 
202. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 raonogamic period: from its origin till 1843, during 
 which time all iheir publications and sermons were 
 opposed to polygamy in their tone. II. The transi- 
 tion period: from 1843 till 1852, when polygamy was 
 secretly taught and extended, but openly denied and 
 condemned. III. The polygamic period: from 1852 
 to the present, in all which time polygamy has been 
 avowed and defended as an essential part of Mormon 
 religion." 
 
 Page 347 says: "So the doctrine was more and 
 more openly discussed, and finally, on the 2Qth of 
 August, 1852, it was publicly announced by Brigham 
 Young, in a meeting at Salt Lake City, where the reve- 
 lation was for the first time publicly read and pro- 
 nounced valid." 
 
 Page 429: "In i860, young Smith was 'called as 
 a Prophet' and the 'Re-organized Church' was set up, 
 with head-quarters at Piano, Illinois. They number 
 twenty or thirty thousand in the West, and have flour- 
 ishing missions in Great Britain and Scandinavia. In 
 July, 1863, E. C. Briggs and Alex. McCord, their first 
 missionaries to Utah, reached Salt Lake and created 
 quite a sensation; Brigham intimated to them that their 
 lives were in danger, and refused them the use of any 
 public building in the city. But General Connor was 
 then in command at Camp Douglas, with a small pro- 
 vost guard in the city, and the Brighamites dared not 
 try violence; Briggs visited the people at their homes 
 and preached wherever Gentiles would open their 
 houses to him, and soon had many converts. Nearly 
 two hundred of these left the territory in 1864, under 
 a military escort furnished by General Connor, and 
 since that time many more have left Utah, and their 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM KEVIEWKD. 203. 
 
 missions there include over five hundred members. 
 
 See how Mr. Beacile plies his pen on the fly ques- 
 tion! Verily he is a great writer and discloses often how 
 authentic his book is. Pages 217 and 251. "On the 
 morning of August 28th, 1868, from the heights east of 
 Green River, then the eastern boundary of the Terri- 
 tory, I took my first view of Utah, .'^t the end of two 
 weeks in Salt Lake City my impressions are, on the 
 whole, rather favorable. I find the city quiet, appar 
 ently in good order, neat and pleasant to dwell in " 
 
 Pages 472 and 162: "In Salt Lake City, the flies 
 are probably worse, both as to number and peculiari- 
 ties, than in any other city in America, but fortunately 
 thek time is very short. During the spring and early 
 summer they are rarely seen; in August they begin to 
 multiply, 'coming in with the emigration,' according to 
 local phrase, meaning the Mormon emigrants, who for- 
 merly completed the journey across the plains by the 
 latter part of July. From the middle of August till 
 cool weather they are perfectly fearful, certainly much 
 worse than they need be if proper cleanliness were 
 practiced; large, flat-headed, light-winged and awkward, 
 they light and crawl over the person in the most annoy- 
 ing manner, not yielding, like 'Gentile flies,' to a light 
 brush or switch, but requiring literally to be swept off. 
 No other part of the Territory I have visited, is half so 
 bad in this respect as Salt Lake City, and the southern 
 valleys seem peculiarly free from this pest.'' 
 
 "The Secrets of the Great City" (New York) pub- 
 lished two years before Beadle's work, or in 1868, con- 
 tains a cut entitled "Noon Day Prayer meeting, at the 
 Wickedest Man's Dance House," which Mr. Beadle 
 reproduced in his work between pages 248-9, and en- 
 
204. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 titled it "Mormon Missionaries Preaching to the Mor- 
 mons/' This piece of piracy is quite fitting to his 
 work as a whole. If this man is not the ten cent novel 
 writer, he should join him, if falsifying is a success. 
 ''Members of congress and government officials" must 
 have been very proud of this book! See title page! 
 
 Examination of Mr. T. B. H. Stenhouse's Book. 
 He was twenty-five years a Mormon. He cites five 
 pages of authorities consulted, some of which contain 
 thirty-eight to the page. The inscription of his title 
 page is: 
 
 "THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAINTS. 
 
 "a full and complete history of the mormons from 
 
 THE first vision of JOSEPH smith to the last 
 
 COURTSHIP of brigham young, by t. b. 
 
 h. stenhouse. d. appleton & 
 
 CO., new YORK, 1873." 
 
 Stenhouse, page i: "The faith of the Latter Day 
 Saints was in the beginning strictly confined to Biblical 
 doctrines, and the preaching of the first elders was 
 something like a resuscitation of the dispensation com- 
 mitted to the apostolic fisherman of Galilee."' 
 
 Page 4: "The reader will readily perceive from 
 the following chapters that Mormonism has contained 
 within itself the elements of a sincere faith." * * 
 
 Page 6: "The polygamic faith contended for tOr 
 day was not in the original programme, neither has it 
 contributed to create the power that now reigns in 
 Utah." 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWtD. 205. 
 
 On page 184 Mr. Stenhouse refers to John C. Ben- 
 nett and his book "Mormonism Exposed," thus: 
 ''There is, no doubt, much truth in Bennett's book, 
 'Mormonism Exposed,' but no statement that he 
 makes can be received with confidence. * * He (Ben- 
 nett) states that he never was a believer, but only 
 assumed the faith in order to become thoroughly initia- 
 ted, and qualify himself for its exposure." 
 
 Mr. Stenhouse then confirms his words with Gov. 
 Ford in his ''History of Illinois." Page 263: "This 
 Bennett was probably the greatest scamp in the western 
 country. I have made particular enquiries concerning 
 him, and have traced him in several places in which he 
 had lived before he joined the Mormons, in Ohio, 
 Indiana and Illinois, and he was everywhere accounted 
 the same debauched, unprincipled, and profligate char- 
 acter." 
 
 If Bennett is not to be believed, how about Sten- 
 house? who claims in his introductory pages, fellow- 
 ship "over a quarter of a century," * * "familiar in- 
 timacy with the apostles and leading elders, and for a 
 dozen years had daily intercourse with Brigham Young." 
 Why did he not quit sooner? 
 
 On page 193, Mr. Stenhouse charges Brigham with 
 the preservation of falsehood a "quarter of a century," 
 which he seems to think too long. "Brigham is pecul- 
 iarly unctuous in confessing other men's sins to the 
 public, but his own are never mentioned. It would 
 have been equally proper for him on this occasion to 
 have explained why he, for nearly a quarter of a cen- 
 tury, had preserved that falsehood in the 'Book of 
 Covenants,' [monogamic marriage regulation. — Author] 
 notwithstanding the opportunities he had of removing 
 
206. WORKS AGAINST MORMOMSM RKVlEWEf). 
 
 it in the several editions of the book that have been 
 published under his Presidency. Why does not the 
 good Mr. Stenhouse explain his "quarter of a century 
 membership?" 
 
 Page 472, Mr. Stenhouse says: "The believers in 
 the new faith were organized in 1830; they were only 
 six in number, but they were full of their mission., and, 
 in their way, wholly devoted to Christ. Their heroism 
 in the proclamation of their doctrines never was sur- 
 passed in any age or in any country, by any other dis- 
 ciples or missionaries of any faith. They were pure in 
 thought, and burned with zeal for the redemption of 
 mankind." 
 
 On page 194, Mr. Stenhouse says: "Joseph Smith 
 and Oliver Co.vdery must, as early as the first year 
 of the church, have contemplated * * polygamy." 
 While on page 6, already given, he says: "The 
 polygamic faith contended for today was not in the 
 original programme." Mr, Stenhouse having testified 
 on both sides, is impeached and out of court. 
 
 Page 196, Mr, Stenhouse says: "It is not a little 
 singular that the most forcible arguments that have yet 
 been adduced against Mormon polygamy are those fur- 
 nished by the pens of the three sons of Joseph Smith?" 
 
 Then occurs a memorial of which Mr. Stenhouse 
 says: "The name of the oldest son of the prophet is 
 found at the head." 
 
 Of the polygamic revelation, Mr. Stenhouse says, on 
 pages 201 and 202: "Had this revelation been pre- 
 sented to the Mormons with the 'first principles' taught 
 by the elders, not one in ten thousand among them 
 would have accepted it as an emanation from Jesus 
 Christ. " 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 207. 
 
 "On the first of January, 1853, it was published in 
 the Star. It fell like a thunderbolt upon the Saints, 
 and fearfully shattered the mission." 
 
 Page 202: "The statistical reports of the mission 
 in the British Islands, June 30, 1853, show that the 
 enormous number of one thousand, seven hundred and 
 seventy-six persons were excommunicated there during 
 the first six months of the preaching of polygamy." 
 
 Page 208 says of Sidney Rigdon: "All through 
 his trial, those who knew him before lie was a Mormon, 
 spoke of him in such a manner as leaves no room to 
 doubt Rigdon's own sincerity in the Mormon faith, 
 and his total ignorance oif the existence of Joseph 
 Smith and the Book of Mormon till after that work had 
 been published." 
 
 Page 212 says of Wm. B. Smith, quoting the Clay- 
 ton County, Iowa Journal: "He served two years as 
 a soldier in helping to put down the rebellion. In 
 1841-2 * * in legislature of -Illinois * * a farmer in 
 the vicinity of Elkader and upon Sundays occasionally 
 preaching. As a man, he is candid, honest and upright 
 — a citizen of whom rumor speaks no evil, * * a faith- 
 ful expounder of Mormonism while he deprecates 
 polygamy." 
 
 On page 204, Mr. Stenhouse says: "Unfortunate-, 
 ly, however, for the peace and unity of the Church, in 
 all the multitude of his sayings and doings he made no 
 direct and open preparation for the presidency of the 
 Church in case of his death, and thus his martyrdom 
 wrought confusion among the disciples." 
 
 On page 628: "From the death of the founder of 
 Mormonism, the Saints had had their attention riveted 
 on 'the seed' of the Prophet, and expected that some 
 
208. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIKWF.I). 
 
 day the young man Joseph would be the head of the 
 Church. Brigham had fostered this faith in the Saints 
 for some years, but when in i860 young Joseph was 
 chosen President of the Reorganized Church and pub- 
 licly denounced Brigham * * David H. was to be 
 the man." How did it happen that the Saints had their 
 attention riveted on the seed of the Prophet, and ex- 
 pected that some day the young man Joseph would be 
 the head of the church? 
 
 "The reader is referred to Judge Philips' decision 
 on the Temple Lot case, March 3, 1894, where he sets 
 forth how plainly J9seph Smith predicted his successor. 
 On page 639, Mr. Stenhouse says: "The names 
 of Godbe, Harrison, Tullidge, Stenhouse and three 
 others — not rebels — were called, and, as all these gen- 
 tlemen were absent, Brigham in his anger, moved that 
 they all be 'disfellowshipped' from the church, and the 
 following brief notification was sent each: 
 
 << 'Salt Lake City, Oct. i6th, 1869. 
 " 'Dear Brother: — I hereby inform you that a 
 motion was made, seconded, and carried by a unanim- 
 ous vote of the School of the Prophets today, that you 
 be disfellowshipped from the church until you appear 
 in the School and give satisfactory reasons for your 
 irregular attendance there. 
 
 " 'Your brother in the gospel, 
 
 " 'Geo. Stoddard, Secretary.' 
 
 "On the Saturday following, the rebels appeared in 
 the School." 
 
 Mr, Stenhouse continues: "Never before had 
 there been such a scene in the 'Old Tabernacle.' Mr. 
 Godbe frankly stated his position, and Brigham fol- 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 209 
 
 lowed him with aggravating mimicry, turning every- 
 thing into ridicule. Mr. Harrison threw caution to the 
 winds, and answered the insinuations of the Prophet 
 defiantly. It was a squally time, and not without ap- 
 prehension of danger." Why did Mr. Stenhouse keep 
 still? 
 
 Page 642 says: **To all this add that Elders 
 Godbe, Harrison, Kelsey, Tullidge, Sherman, Law- 
 rence, and others had a living faith to preach — that 
 which the people knew to be the original faith of the 
 founder of Mormonism, and 'the gifts' came back 
 again." 
 
 Is it not a little strange that after the ''quarter of a 
 century" "fellowship" that Mr. Stenhouse neither re- 
 ports himself as helping to beard the lion in his den, 
 or with the others who rebelled, preaching the "living 
 faith?" How else could he exhibit true manhood? 
 Perhaps he was practicing as stated in the next quota- 
 tion. 
 
 Page 665: "Furthermore, though he (Stenhouse) 
 had daily intercourse with Brigham Young, his family 
 and his immediate friends, not a single thing that ever 
 transpired in Brigham's office or house, in his presence, 
 has been alluded to. On all that he saw or heard while 
 Brigham's guest, or when with him in the capacity of 
 friend a studied silence has been maintained." 
 
 The readers' attention is called to the fact, that 
 while Stenhouse culls from more works and documents 
 by far than the average writer, and while his wife 
 expatiates much on his paper and editorship in Salt 
 Lake City, not a scintilla of evidence is given of his 
 denouncing Brighamism, or of having supported those 
 who broke away from the terrible iniquity before his 
 
2IO. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 book appeared. All he says relating to his having been 
 a Mormon and leaving it is, that he has ''outgrown the 
 past," and the reference he makes of his being ''cutoff." 
 
 Page 588: "It was the author's intention when he 
 commenced this work to give a complete expose of 
 polygamy, exhibiting that institution in all its bearings 
 and influences upon the social life of the people of 
 Utah, but an unlooked for incident induced Mrs. Sten- 
 house to publish what she knew of polygamy. Had 
 that book been written by any other authoress, refer- 
 ence would have unquestionably been made to it in this 
 work; the author, therefore, sees no impropriety in 
 acknowledging that his wife has produced a work which 
 only a woman could write, and superior to anything 
 which he himself could offer to the public, and he re- 
 fers the reader to 'A lady's life among the Mormons' 
 (Russell Bros., New York) as a full and unreserved 
 Expose of Polygamy in Utah." Let the reader here' 
 refer back to his title page where his work is stated as 
 full and complete from first vision of Joseph Smith to 
 last courtship of Brigham Young. 
 
 The work of Mrs. Stenhouse, here referred to, was 
 her first; the one we review hereafter is her perfected 
 work, of 1876, which was three years after that of Mr. 
 Stenhouse. Of the first, he said, it was "superior to 
 ANYTHING which he himself could offer to the "public." 
 ' Stenhouse, in his forty-ninth chapter, devotes thirty- 
 four pages to an expose of the Book of Mormon, and 
 follows the -beaten trail of the ridiculous quibbling that 
 has been doled out by all his predecessors, even deny- 
 ing, as usual, on page 532, elephants, horses, asses, etc., 
 as having existence on this continent ages ago, as 
 claimed in Book of Mormon. It is no small compli- 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM RKVIEWED. 211. 
 
 ment to that book that after his "over a quarter of a 
 century fellowship" in the church, he dare not make an 
 attack from the standpoint of morals or doctrine 
 found therein. Can the book be entirely human and 
 its doctrines and morals beyond attack? The conces- 
 sion by failing so to attack, is strong evidence in its 
 favor. All who have tried to expose it have quibbled 
 over its literary inelegance as viewed by them. 
 
 ''TELL IT ALL. 
 
 ''THE STORY OF A LIFE'S EXPERIENCE IN MORMONISM, BY 
 
 MRS. T. B. H. STENHOUSE. A. D. WORTHING - 
 
 TON & CO., PUBLISHERS, 1876." 
 
 A preface, written by Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, 
 contains the following sentences: "In these pages, a 
 woman, a wife and mother, speaks of the sorrows and 
 oppressions of which she has been the witness and the 
 victim. * * It is no sensational story, but a plain, 
 unvarnished tale of truth, stranger and sadder than fic- 
 tion." 
 
 The closing sentence or phrase of her own preface 
 is: "I have told the truth, the whole truth and noth- 
 ing but the truth." 
 
 The entire preface is a lamentation over the un- 
 truthfulness of nearly all the works on Mormonism which 
 had been written before hers. If any reliable works 
 had been written they were either out of date or were 
 only partial accounts, in her estimation. 
 
 The opening sentence of chapter one is: "The 
 story which I propose to tell in these pages is a plain. 
 
2 12. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 unexaggerated record of facts which have come immed- 
 iately under my own notice, or which I have myself 
 personally experienced." 
 
 Of early preaching in England, she says: "Their 
 first teaching had been a mixture of Bible texts about the 
 last days, and arguments about the millenium, the return 
 of the Jews to Palestine, the resurrection of the dead 
 and a new revelation and a new prophet." — p. 41. 
 
 Read this in connection: "Mormonism was bold 
 then in Europe, it had no American history to meet in 
 those days. * * 'i'he saving love of Christ, the glory 
 and fullness of the everlasting gospel, the gifts and 
 graces of the Spirit, together with repentance, baptism 
 and faith, were the points upon which the Mormons 
 touched, and who can wonder that with such topics as 
 these, and fortifying every statement with powerful 
 and numerous texts of Scripture, they should captivate 
 the minds of religiously inclined people.'' — p. 48. 
 
 * 'Controversy wduld arise, and his appeal (that of 
 missionary) to Scripture, literally interpreted, was 
 almost invariably triumphant." — p. 56. 
 
 **A person who has never attended a Mormon 
 meeting can form no idea of the joyous spirit which 
 seemed to animate every one present. I am not, of 
 course, speaking of modern meetings, but of meetings 
 as they used to be." — p. 57. 
 
 Of meetings in the old room in England: "Never 
 did I experience so rapt a feeling of communion with 
 'the armies of heaven' as I felt in that unadorned meet- 
 ing room, surrounded by those plain but earnest and 
 united people." — p. 59. 
 
 On the 6th of February, 1850, * * I was married 
 to * * Elder Stenhouse." — p. 72. 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVlEWtl). 213 
 
 •'Not long after my marriage I saw a miracle per- 
 formed — a real true miracle. Let not the reader smile, 
 or think that I am onl) jesting, for I am quite in earn- 
 est, and mean what I say. I saw a sick person who 
 for years had been confined to her bed, her limbs dis- 
 torted and her back bent, * * I saw them annoint her, 
 and lay hands upon her, and pray most fervently, and 
 I saw the same decrepit old woman walking and sing- 
 ing and praising God. If that was not a miracle I 
 should like to know what is" — p. 74. 
 
 Compare the following with the above: "After 
 this I saw plenty * * of miracles. * * That they were 
 miracles in the sense in which we generally use that 
 term, I do not for a moment believe, but I think that 
 in cases where the efforts of the elders were successful, 
 scientific enquiry would readily show that the effects 
 were only natural results of natural causes. One 
 brother, a deacon in the church, was suddenly attacked 
 with cholera. He sent immediately for Elder Sten- 
 house. * * In the case of the deacon to whom I have 
 just alluded, the experiment was successful." — p. 86. 
 
 *'0n the following day, an enthusiastic sister came 
 running to Elder Stenhouse for him to come and lay 
 hands upon her husband who had also been attacked 
 by cholera. * * Elder Stenhouse laid hands upon him 
 in the usual way, but instead of commanding the 
 disease to depart as it was expected he would, he prayed 
 that the afflicted brother * * might pass away in peace. 
 The head of the dying man instantly fell back upon his 
 pillow, and all was over." — p. 87. 
 
 Of a sick child: ''My husband complied, and be- 
 gan by praying that the child might rest well, when 
 suddenly, as if by an irresistible impulse he implored 
 
2 14- WORKS AGAINST MOKiMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 that the child might die easily and without pain. * * 
 In a moment we knew that the child was dying * * 
 peacefully, as if he were going to sleep." — p. 88. 
 
 Mrs. Stenhouse does not tell us if scientific enquiry 
 would discover why Elder Stenhouse was so moved in 
 these two cases. But she does say: "There are 
 moments of our life when silence is better than speech, 
 and it is safer to trust in the mercy of God than try to 
 shape our own destiny." — p. 94. Why not use scien- 
 tific enquiry, Mrs. Stenhouse? 
 
 On page 120 she gives a personal experience of 
 extremity, and says: *'We realized literally the neces- 
 sity of trusting to God's daily mercies for our daily 
 bread, * * our only hope." 
 
 "Never, till the possibility that polygamy might 
 some day be acknowledged by the church, began to be 
 whispered * * did a solitary doubt respecting my re- 
 ligion itself intrude upon my mind." — p. 139. 
 
 Pages 143-149 recite a sickly tale of Mrs. Sten- 
 house theoretically accepting the doctrine of polygamy 
 and how she and Madame Baliif taught it. She says: 
 "That God had sent the revelation I never questioned, 
 and all rebellion to his will I knew to be sinful." 
 
 Compare with the above this: "About this time 
 I procured a copy of the revelation * * and read it 
 through carefully and calmly, from beginning to end. 
 The reader may, perhaps, remember that when a copy 
 of it was first given me, in Switzerland, years before, I 
 was so angry and indignant that when I had got only 
 partly through it, I cast it from me in disgust as an out- 
 rage upon all that was good and true. From that time, 
 although I had heard portions of it quoted and read, I 
 had never perused it as a whole." — p. 541. Yet she 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 215 
 
 and Madame Baliff had taught the doctrine of polygamy! 
 
 On page 132 she relates the first appearance of the 
 revelation in the Millenial Star, January, 1853. Of it 
 she says: *'I retired to my own chamber. There, for 
 the first time I read that document, * * 
 
 Pages 135-138 contain the revelation, then follows: 
 *'And this was the revelation — this mass of confusion, 
 cunning, absurdity, falsehood and bad grammar!" 
 Yet she had taught it, had no doubt but that God gave 
 it, had not read it, and then again tells us she had. 
 
 ''New Year's we set foot upon the shore of the New 
 World."— p. 178. (Jan. i, 1856). 
 
 Having reached Utah, she says: "The Tabernacle 
 services seemed to me as strange as the women. * * As 
 for the spirituality and devotional feeling which charac- 
 terized our meetings in England, they were conspicuous 
 only by their absence and many devout Saints * * feel 
 as if they had come to witness a puppet show, rather 
 than atter^d a religious meeting." — p. 251. 
 
 "My own experience as a Mormon woman leads 
 me to form anything but a flattering opinion of the 
 Mormon stories told by Gentile pens." — p. 258. 
 
 'T do not think Brigham Young a wicked man or 
 an imposter in the sense in which those words are 
 ordinarily used; * * ." — p. 266, 
 
 Compare this with the above: "The innocent 
 blood which cries for vengeance against Brigham Young 
 and some of the leaders * * is sufficient to weigh the 
 purest spirit which stands before the throne of God 
 down to the nethermost abyss of hell." — p. 365. 
 
 Pages 304-308 are devoted to scenes and condi- 
 tions in Missouri and Illinois where she does not claim 
 to have been at all, yet the opening sentence of the 
 
2 I 6. WORKS AGAINST MOKMONISM RKVI F.WEI). 
 
 book says: "Facts which have come immediately 
 under my own notice, or which I have myself exper- 
 ienced." Now listen! **One instance I can give from 
 my own personal knowledge." — p. 319. She promised 
 they all should be. 
 
 ''Shortly after our arrival in Salt Lake City, we 
 visited President Young, who received us very gracious- 
 ly, and appointed an early day for us to dine with him. 
 On that occasion * * we passed an exceedingly 
 pleasant evening." — p. 263. 
 
 Compare this: ''It was with the greatest difficulty 
 that I could control my feelings sufficiently to call upon 
 any family where there was more than one wife." — 
 
 P- 345- 
 
 And this: "When I first knew Bro. Brighara, 
 poor man, he had only sixteen living with him in Salt 
 Lake City, and even now he has no more than nine- 
 teen! * * Eliza Ann has run away." — p. 276. 
 
 "My husband gave no signs of apostasy,^ and, as a 
 Saint, I knew he would never think of undertaking any- 
 thing without the permission of Bro. Brigham." — p. 511. 
 
 Regarding Stenhouse's visits east: "After these 
 visits his editorials took a more liberal turn." — p. 544. 
 
 "My husband's paper was silent upon the subject, 
 and in consequence he was suspected of being in league 
 with the enemy." — p. 577. 
 
 "The change from Methodism to Mormonism, as it 
 was first presented to the world, was nothing near so 
 great, as the departure which Brigham has made from 
 the original faith of the Saints." — p. 614. 
 
 "In the preceding pages I have endeavored to 
 present to the reader the story of my life's experience 
 in Mormonism and polygamy, and to place before him 
 
. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 2 I 7. 
 
 a truthful picture of the doctrine of the Saints." — 
 p. 618. 
 
 She proceeds again to lament the unreliability of 
 others, as she had done in her preface, and then says: 
 ♦'I have told my story simply but truthfully." — p. 620. 
 
 Again she weaves in the phrase "all too true!" 
 Again, "I have most scrupulously kept to the very letter 
 of the truth."— p. 620. 
 
 . That she told much truth is granted. That she 
 was most reckless and contradicted herself often is as 
 clear as the noonday sun. She emerges from the mael- 
 strom of pollution — polygamy; intends to make some 
 money; panders to the prejudice of the world, and 
 attempts to down the early part of the latter day 
 work as a farce, as well as her late experience in Utah. 
 Let the reader calmly think over all that Mrs. Harriet 
 Beecher Stowe subscribed to and vouched for, refer- 
 ring to the book as "a plain, unvarnished tale of truth, 
 stranger and sadder than fiction." Mr. Stenhouse had 
 a very large idea of the gullibility of the people, when 
 he wrote of Mrs. Stenhouse's book, that it was "superior 
 to anything he could offer to the public." 
 
 "WIFE NUMBER. NINETEEN; 
 
 "OR, THE STORY OF A LIFE IN BONDAGE. HY ANN 
 ELIZA YOUNG, 1876." 
 
 "All the events which I shall relate will be some 
 of my own personal experiences, or the experience of 
 those so closely connected with me that they have 
 fallen directly under ray observation, and for whose 
 truth I can vouch without hesitation. * * I was born 
 
2l8. WORKS AGAINST MOKMONISM RKVIEWEI). • 
 
 at Nauvoo, Illinois, on the 13th of September, 1844." 
 —p. 32. 
 
 Speaking of her father she says: "He first heard the 
 Mormon doctrine preached in 1833. "^ * Joseph Smith 
 had given the Book of Mormon to the world, and had 
 announced himself as another Messiah." — p. ^^. Why 
 did not Eliza give us some evidence on this? It is 
 basely false. 
 
 Speaking of the Kirtland bank matter she says: 
 ''But, as usual, he eluded the officers of justice, and all 
 attempts to arrest him were unavailing." — p. 41. 
 
 '^Others had him arrested every little while! It is 
 a matter of official record that he was several times 
 arrested but not proven guilty as charged." — p. 41. 
 
 Eliza tells of being told by a ''person:" "At one 
 time he was himself sent by the prophet to steal lumber 
 for coffins. He went with a party of men down the 
 river, loaded a raft with lumber from a Gentile saw- 
 mill, and brought it up to the city of the Saints." — p. 52. 
 
 In the light of extract from page ;^^ she can vouch 
 for this THIEF. Just how the raft was taken up the 
 RIVER OVER THE RAPIDS she does not say. The reader 
 should remember, however, it was for coffins. 
 
 Eliza says: "I feel that I must pay this tribute to 
 the Mormon people. Naturally, they were a law-abid- 
 ing, peace-loving, intensely religious people."— p. 58. 
 
 Compare the above with: "Although its founder 
 arrogated to it the title of the 'Church of Jesus Christ,' 
 there is nothing Christ-like in its teachings or in its 
 practice." — p. 59. 
 
 And with this: "They applied oil, and -laid 
 hands' on all sick persons, without regard to their ail- 
 ments." — p. 124. See Mark 16: 18 and James 5: 14, 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 219. 
 
 whether this was Christ-like in teaching or practice? 
 See first few pages of both Mr. and Mrs. Stenhoiise's 
 books, as examined in this j)art of this work. 
 
 ''The first public announcement Joseph ever made 
 of his belief in the plurality of wiA-es was at Nauvoo in 
 1840." — p. 67. This is a base lie, all his work proves 
 the opposite as seen in the evidence and decision of 
 the recent Temple lot case. 
 
 Compare this with the last citation: "So intense 
 was the feeling that in the Summer of 1843, the prophet, 
 moved by pressure * * was compelled to intrench 
 himself behind a * * revelation. * * It was at first 
 only communicated to a chosen few, * * . Young de- 
 livered it to the world in 1852." — pp. 76, 77. Joseph 
 had preached it in 1840 by public announcement, but 
 now it was restricted to a ''chosen few." Pooh! 
 
 "Joseph Smith had been assassinated the previous 
 July." — p. 89. Ignorance or stupidity, which? It was 
 June 27, 1844. On page 64 she gives a cut view of the 
 assassination as unreal as her date. The building still 
 stands and is properly given by Beadle; having seen it, 
 I know. (R. E.) 
 
 Of house furnishing: "It was the very cheapest 
 pine furniture which could be bought in the city, and 
 the crockery was dishes that Brigham had left when he 
 sold the Globe bakery." — p. 458. 
 
 Selling furniture: "Arrangements having been 
 previously made, three furniture vans came at the same 
 time, and in forty minutes my entire household goods 
 were in charge of the auctioneer. They were sold the 
 next day, and I realized three hundred and eighty dol- 
 lars from the sale." — p. 546. Eliza tried to start her- 
 self out with funds, at any rate! 
 
220. WORKS AGAINhT MOKMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 "MORMONISM UNVEILED; 
 
 "OR, THE LIFE AND CONFESSIONS OF JOHN D. LEE.'' 
 
 A book, bearing the above title is now going the 
 rounds, and the enemies of the latter day work think 
 they have now found the weapon which shall forever 
 demolish "Mormonism" as a whole, and many, though 
 refusing to accept the testimony of honest, law abiding 
 citizens in regard to "Mormonism," are ready to swal- 
 low with greediness every statement that militates against 
 the people they have tried so long, but in vain, to over- 
 throw; though it proceeds from a culprit who has been 
 executed for his crimes. This work is published by 
 Bryan, Brand & Co., St. Louis, Missouri, who claim 
 to have received the manuscript from Wm, W. Bishop, 
 of Pioche, Nevada, Lee's confidential attorney, in 
 whose hand the history and confession had been placed 
 by Lee himself, prior to his execution. 
 
 I had repeatedly been informed that a perusal of 
 this work would satisfy me that "Mormonism" was a 
 fraud from its inception; but at the risk of having my 
 faith shaken I concluded to examine the work, and my 
 conclusion is, it will not do to rely on as evidence. 
 For the benefit of those who may be trying to get at 
 the truth of the matter, and those who may feel scared 
 about the book, I will give my reasons for the above 
 conclusion. 
 
 Under the head of "How I First Heard of the Doc- 
 trine of Polygamy," Lee is made to say that while act- 
 ing as police in the c ity of Nauvoo, he was ordered by 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 22 1. 
 
 the Chief of Police to guard the house of a widow and 
 knock down a man who was in the habit of spending 
 his nights there. Lee reported the order to Hyrum 
 Smith, and says, "Hyrum then told me that the man 
 that I was ordered to attack was Howard Egan, and 
 that he had been sealed to Mrs. Clawson, and that their 
 marriage was a most holy one; that it was in accord- 
 ance with a REVELATION that the prophet had recently 
 received direct from God. He then explained to me 
 fully the doctrine of polygamy, and wherein it was per- 
 mitted, and why it was right." (Page 288). 
 
 Again, he is made to say: "During the winter (of 
 1844), Joseph, the prophet, set a man by the name of 
 Sidney Hay Jacobs, [Henry Jacobs. — Ed.], to select 
 from the Old Bible such scriptures as pertained to 
 polygamy, or celestial marriage, and to write it in a 
 pamphlet form, and to advocate the doctrine. This 
 he did as a feeler among the people to pave the way for 
 celestial marriage. * * The excitement among the peo- 
 ple became so great that the subject was laid before 
 the prophet. No one was more opposed to it than his 
 brother Hyrum who denounced it as from beneath." 
 (Page 146). 
 
 Here Lee is made to say, that when he first heard 
 of polygamy it was explained to him by Hyrum, and 
 declared to be "most holy." Again, when polygamy 
 was first introduced Hyrum "denounced it as from be- 
 neath." Which of these statements is true? Both can 
 not be. If it be argued that he first denounced it, and 
 then when the revelation was given, he advocated, we 
 answer that Lee has Hyrum denouncing it as late as 
 the winter of 1844, and it is claimed that the revelation 
 was given the 12th day of July, 1843. Moreover, if 
 
2 22. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 Lee had never heaid of it until explained to him by 
 Hyrum, how did he know that he had before denounced 
 it? I see no way of harmonizing the passages, and 
 must, therefore, reject one or both. 
 
 Again, he says: "In less than one year after I 
 first learned the will of the Lord concerning the mar- 
 riage of the Saints, I was the husband of nine wives." 
 (Page 288). On page 166, he tells us that his second 
 wife, Nancy Bean, was sealed to him in the winter of 
 1845. So, according to his own statement, he had but 
 one wife in the days of the martyrs, as they were killed 
 the 27th day of June, 1844. 
 
 On page 168 he tells us: "About the ist of De- 
 cember, 1845, we commenced fitting up the rooms for 
 giving endowments." Now notice, that more than 
 seventeen months had elapsed since the death of Hyrum 
 Smith, yet he goes on to tell us that: "In the Temple 
 I took three more wives - Martha Berry, Polly Ann 
 Workman and Delethea Morris." On page 289, he 
 gives us the order in which he took his wives, and says: 
 "Polly Ann Workman was eighth, and Martha Berry 
 ninth." Now, these women were not sealed to him 
 until more than seventeen months after the death of 
 Hyrum, yet Lee was the husband of "nine wives" "in 
 less than one year" from the time he first heard the doc- 
 trine, and Hyrum first explained it to him, and it took 
 these wives to complete the nine. 
 
 "O, what a tangled web they weave 
 Who practice solely to deceive!" 
 
 Again, he says, on page 289, "In i847", while at 
 Council Bluffs, Brigham Young sealed to me three 
 women in one night, viz., Nancy Armstrong, Polly V. 
 Young and Louisa Young Next I was sealed to * * 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 223. 
 
 Emeline Vaughn;" but on page 199 he says the next 
 (after these three) was "Emeline Woolsey." And on 
 page 199 he says Emeline Woolsey was his thirteenth 
 wife, but on page 289 he says Louisa Young was num- 
 ber thirteen. 
 
 In giving the number of his wives on page 289, he 
 does not mention Emeline Woolsey; I suppose he had 
 forgotten her. Well, just as I expected, polygamy 
 causes a man to forget his wife! 
 
 On page 184, he states that in 1844, prior to 
 Joseph Smith being nominated for the Presidency of 
 the United States, 'he wrote to Martin Van Buren, also 
 to Wm. H. Harrison, asking them their "views in 
 regard to the grievances and wrongs of the Mormon 
 people," should they be elected. Did not Lee know 
 that Martin Van Buren took his seat in 1837, served 
 his time, and retired from office three years before this, 
 and that General Harrison took his seat 4th of March, 
 1841, and died a month later? Comment is useless. 
 
 On page 134, in speaking of his travels in Tennes- 
 see, in connection with Elder Twist, in 1842 or 1843, 
 he says: "While we were in Memphis, General Wm. 
 Henry Harrison, then a candidate for President, 
 arrived, and a great political meeting of the Whig party 
 was held in the open air." 
 
 Well, General Harrison may have been a candi- 
 date for President after his death, but this is the first, 
 intimation I ever had of it. 
 
 He states that Lyman Wight was one of the Twelve 
 before the difficulty commenced in Missouri, in 1838, 
 (see p. 56), which is not so, as David Patten was killed 
 during the trouble, and Lyman Wight was ordained in 
 his stead. 
 
2 24- WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 On page 135 he says that at Memphis, Tennessee, 
 they "took passage in a new steamer that was owned in 
 Nashville, and was then making its first trip from Nash- 
 ville to New Orleans. The boat got into a race with 
 the Eclipse, another fine boat. '^ * I threw off * * and 
 our boat soon left the Eclipse far in the- rear. The 
 steamers parted at the mouth of the Ohio." 
 
 Now this boat was on its way from "Nashville to 
 New Orleans;" after passing Memphis, Tenn., it got 
 into a race with the Eclipse, and parted company with 
 her at the mouth of the Ohio. I wish some of those 
 who are so much carried away with ''Lee's, Confession," 
 would tell us how a steamer can pass the mo th of the 
 Ohio, between Memphis and New Orleans. I confess 
 I can not understand it. 
 
 On page 137, he tells us that he used "the Masonic 
 sign of distress" while in trouble in Tennessee; then on 
 page 144 he gives us an account of joining the Masonic 
 order after he had returned to Nauvoo. Is it reason- 
 able to suppose that he understood and used Masonic 
 signs before he was a Mason? 
 
 On page 51, he says that the first sermon that he 
 "ever heard concerning Mormonism" was in 1837, and 
 on page 35, he says he was baptized June T7th, 1838, 
 in Abrosia, Davies county, Missouri. This would do 
 very well, but he spoils it all by saying on page 279, "I 
 have been with the Church since the dark days in Jack- 
 son county. Now every one acquainted with the history 
 of the Church knows that they left Jackson county 
 the autumn of 1833. ^c) if Lee never heard a sermon 
 "concerning Mormonism" till 1837, his statement that 
 he had "been with the Church since th.e dark days in 
 Jackson county," must be a mistake to say the least of it. 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 225. 
 
 On page 120, he says, the "plates containing the 
 Book of Mormon, and God's will, * * were taken to 
 Professor Anthon of New York City, for translation." 
 Now it has never been claimed by those connected with 
 this affair that the plates were taken to Prof. Anthon; 
 on the contrary, Joseph Smith was forbidden to show 
 them to any only a few that were chosen to bear testi- 
 mony, and their names may be found in connection 
 with the Book of Mormon. A few of the characters 
 were transcribed and sent to Professor Anthon, and 
 that is all that was claimed by Joseph Smith who sent 
 them, or Martin Harris who carried them, or by Pro 
 fessor Anthon himself. And the Prophet Isaiah only 
 predicts that "the words of the book" should be sent to 
 him that is learned. (Isa. 29). 
 
 Again he says, on page 184: "While there, (St. 
 Joseph, Mo.) I met Luke Johnson, one of the witnesses 
 to the Book of Mormon. I had a curiosity to talk with 
 him concerning the same. We took a walk down on 
 the river bank. 1 asked him if the statement he signed 
 about seeing the angel and the plates was true. If he 
 did see the plates from which the Bock of Mormon was 
 printed or translated. He said it was true." 
 
 Now every one who knows anytliing about the 
 Book of Mormon or its history, knows that Luke John- 
 son was not one of the witnesses. But three (besides 
 Joseph Smith) testify to having segn the "angel," viz: 
 Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris. 
 Luke Johnson did not even testify to having seen the 
 plates, and according to history he did not see them. 
 
 I am tempted right here to say I do not believe 
 Lee ever wrote the book bearing his name, for he must 
 have known that Luke Johnson was not one of the wit- 
 
226. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 nesses to the Book of Mormon: he must also have 
 known that the claim had never been made that the 
 plates were taken to Professor Anthon. 
 
 But whether I.ee, Bishop or the publishers are re- 
 sponsible for these statements it does not change the 
 FACT that the book is unreliable. While 1 have no 
 sympathy with the works of darkness in Utah, my faith 
 in original "Mormonisni" is unshaken by the perusal of 
 the work; and while I sincerely hope that all those 
 engaged in the "Mountain Meadow Massacre," and 
 crimes of like nature, may be overtaken and punished 
 according to their crime, I can have but little confi- 
 dence in "Mormonism Unveiled, or the Life and Con- 
 fessions of John D. Lee." 
 
 Heman C. Smith. 
 Garland, Alabama, Sept. llth, 1878. 
 
 "HISTORY OF THE MORMONS, OR LETTER 
 DAY SAINTS. 
 
 "FROM THEIR ORIGIN TO THE PRESENT TIME. BY SAMUEL 
 
 M. SMUCKER, A. M. HURST & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
 
 122 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK. 
 
 COPYRIGHT l88l." 
 
 Having reached page ^6, the errand of Harris to 
 Professor Anthon it taken up, and while all parties con- 
 cerned, Anthon^ included, say a paper was shown him, 
 Mr. Smucker on page 37, says: "Submitted the plates 
 to him." "Professor had seen the plates." While so 
 much is put in, from Anthon's letter is withheld the 
 phrases: "And which Dr. M. confessed he had been 
 unable to understand." The other being: "As far as 
 
WORl^S AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 227. 
 
 I now recollect." — Howe's Book, page 272, is the first 
 appearance of it in print. 
 
 The following except emphasized words appear on 
 pages 36 and 37. 
 
 "ITe was at once captivated by the doctrines and 
 pretensions of Joseph, and lent the 'prophet' the sum 
 of fifty dollars to enable him to publish his new Bible. 
 Joseph, though asked by Martin Harris to show the 
 plates, refused, on the pretence that he was not pure of 
 heart enough to be allowed a sight of such treasures; 
 but he generously made a transcript of a portion of 
 them upon paper, which he told him to submit to any 
 learned scholar in the world, if he wished to be satisfied. 
 Martin Harris was an earnest man, and he set out from 
 Palmyra to New York, to visit Professor Anthon, a 
 gentleman of the highest reputation, both in America 
 and Europe, and well known for his valuable and cor- 
 rect editions of the classics. He found the Professor, 
 and submitted the plates to him. The Mormons at this 
 time were too insignificant to excite attention, and the 
 result of Martin Harris' interview with the learned 
 man was not known until three or four years afterwards, 
 when a report having been spread abroad by the Mor- 
 mons that the Professor had seen the plates, and pro- 
 nounced the inscriptions to be in the Egyptian charac- 
 ter, that gentleman was requested by a letter directed 
 to him by M. E. D. Howe, of Painesville, Ohio, to 
 declare whether such was the fact? Professor Anthon 
 returned the following answer, detailing his interview 
 with the simple-minded Martin Harris: 
 
 " 'New York, Feb. 17, 1834. 
 
 " 'Dear Sir: — I received your letter of the 9th, 
 and lose no time in making a reply. The whole story 
 
228. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVimVED. 
 
 about my pronouncing the Mormonite inscription to 
 be "Reformed Egyptian Hieroglyphics," is perfectly 
 false. Some years ago a plain, apparently simple- 
 hearted, farmer called on me with a note from Dr. 
 Mitchell, 'of our cit)', now dead, requesting me to deci- 
 pher, if possible, a paper which the farmer would hand 
 me, AND WHICH Dr. Mi confessed he had been unable 
 TO understand. Upon examining the paper in ques- 
 tion, I soon came to the conclusion that it was all a 
 trick, perhaps a hoax. When I asked the person who 
 brought it how he obtained the writing, he gave me, as 
 FAR AS I now recollect, the following account: A 
 "gold book," consisting of a number of plates fastened 
 together by wires of the same material, had been dug 
 up in the northern part of the State of New York, and 
 along with it an enormous pair of "spectacles!" These 
 spectacles were so large, that if any person attempted 
 to look through them, his two eyes would look through 
 one glass only, the spectacles in question being alto- 
 gether too large for the human face. "Whoever," he 
 said, "examined the plates through the glasses was 
 enabled, not only to read them, but fully to understand 
 their meaning." * * 
 
 " 'This paper, in question, was in fact a singular 
 scroll. It consisted of all kinds of crooked characters, 
 disposed in columns, and had evidently been prepared 
 by some person who had before him at the time a book 
 containing various alphabets, Greek and Hebrew let- 
 ters, crosses and flourishes; Roman letters inverted or 
 placed sideways, ^ere arranged and placed in perpen- 
 dicular columns, and the whole ended in a rude delinea- 
 tion of a circle, divided into various compartments, 
 decked with various strange marks, and evidently 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 229 
 
 copied after the Mexican Calendar, given by Hum- 
 boldt, but copied in such a way as not to betray the 
 source whence it was derived,' " 
 
 Of matters in Missouri, page 89 says: ''The Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor of the state of Missouri, Lilburn W. 
 Boggs — a man who from thenceforward appears to have 
 pursued the Mormons with unrelenting hostility — was 
 in the immediate neighborhood of the riot, but declined 
 to take any part in preserving the peace." 
 
 Of the situation at Nauvoo, Smucker, on page 128, 
 says: ''The organization of the sect began to be more 
 fully and admirably developed, and the Mormons were 
 even at this early period of their career, a pre-eminent- 
 ly industrious, frugal, and pains-taking people. They 
 felt the advantages of co-operation. Though robbed 
 and plundered, they did not lose their time in vain 
 repinings, but set themselves to repair the calamities 
 they had suffered. The needy were aided by the more 
 affluent in the purchase of land, and in the plenishing 
 of their farms; and the inducements which they held 
 out to skilled mechanics and others to join them, were 
 not merely of a religious and spiritual, but of a social 
 and worldly character. The Mormons as a body under- 
 stood the dignity and the holiness of hard work, and 
 they practiced to the fullest extent the duty of self-re- 
 liance." 
 
 Pages no, in gives this: "The following ad- 
 dress, which is of itself sufficient evidence of the cruelty 
 and injustice with which the sect was^ treated, was de- 
 livered at Far West by Major- General Clark to the 
 Mormons, after they had surrendered their arms, and 
 declared themselves prisoners of war: 
 
 " 'Gentlemen, — You whose names are not attached 
 
2;^0. ■ WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM KEVFEWED. 
 
 to this list of names, will now have the privilege of go- 
 ing to your fields to obtain corn for your families, 
 wood, etc. Those that are now taken will go from 
 thence to prison, be tried, and receive the due merit of 
 their crimes; but you are now at liberty, all but such 
 as charges may be hereafter preferred against. It now 
 devolves upon you to fulfill the treaty that you have 
 entered into, the leading items of which I now lay be- 
 fore you. The first of these you have already com- 
 plied with, which is, that you deliver up your leading 
 men to be tried according to law. Second, that you 
 deliver up your arms — this has been attended to. The 
 third is, that you sign over your properties to defray 
 the expenses of the war — this 3 ou have also done. 
 Another thing yet remains for you to comply with — that 
 is, that you leave the state forthwith; and whatever 
 your feelings concerning this affair, whatever your inno- 
 cence, it is nothing to me. General Lucas, who is 
 equal in authority with me, has made this treaty with 
 you. I am determined to see it executed. The orders 
 of the Governor to me were, that you should be exter- 
 minated, and not allowed to continue in the state; and 
 had your leader not been given up, and the treaty com- 
 plied with, before this, you and your families would 
 have been destroyed, and your houses in ashes. 
 
 " 'There is a discretionary power vested in my 
 hands, which I shall try to exercise for a season. I did 
 not say that you shall go now, but you must not think 
 of staying here another season, or of putting in crops, 
 for the moment you do, the citizens will be upon you. 
 I am determined to see the Governor's message fulfilled, 
 but shall not come upon you immediately — do not 
 think that I shall act as I have done any more — but if 
 
WORKS AGAINST xMORMONISM REVIEWED. 23 1. 
 
 I have to come again, because the treaty which you 
 have made here shall be broken, you need not expect 
 any mercy, but extermination; for I am determined the 
 Governor's order shall be executed. As for your lead- 
 ers, do not once think — do not imagine for a moment — 
 do not let it enter your mind — that they will be deliv- 
 ered, or that you will see their faces again, for their 
 fate is fixed, their die is cast, their doom is sealed.' " 
 
 Mr. Smucker gives a preacher's account of the 
 * 'prophet" in the pulpit, on page 151: "Another ac- 
 count of Joseph was published about the same time by 
 a Methodist preacher of the name of Prior. 
 
 *' *I will not attempt,' said this writer, 'to describe 
 the various feelings of my bosom as I took my seat in 
 a conspicuous place in the congregation, who were 
 waiting in breathless silence for his appearance. While 
 he tarried, I had plenty of time to revolve in my mind 
 the character and common report of that truly sin-gular 
 personage. I fancied that 1 should behold a counte- 
 ance sad and sorrowful, yet containing the fiery marks 
 of rage and exasperation. I supposed that I should be 
 enabled to discover in him some of those thoughtful 
 and reserved features, those mystic and sarcastic 
 glances, which I had fancied the ancient sages to pos- 
 sess. I expected to see that fearful, faltering look of 
 conscious shame, which, from what I had heard of him, 
 he might be expected to evince. He appeared at last; 
 but how was I disappointed, when instead of the heads 
 and horns of the beast and false prophet, I beheld only 
 the appearance of a common man of tolerably large 
 proportions. I was sadly disappointed, and thought 
 that, although his appearance could not be wrested to 
 indicate anything against him, yet he would manifest 
 
232. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 all I had heard of him when he began to preach. I sat 
 uneasily, and watched him closely. He commenced 
 preaching, not from the Boook of Mormon, however, 
 but from the Bible; the first chapter of the first of Peter 
 was his text. He commenced calmly, and continued dis- 
 passionately to pursue his subject, while I sat in breath- 
 less silence, waiting to hear that foul aspersion of the 
 other sects, that diabolical disposition of revenge, and 
 to hear that rancorous denunciation of every indivi- 
 dual but a Mormon. I waited in vain; I listened with 
 surprise; I sat uneasy in my seat, and could hardly per- 
 suade myself but that he had been apprised of my pres- 
 ence, and so ordered his discourse on my account, that 
 I might not be able to find fault with it, for instead of 
 a jumbled jargon of half connected sentences, and a 
 volley of imprecations, and diabolical and malignant 
 denunciations heaped upon the heads of all who differed 
 from him, and the dreadful twisting and wresting of the 
 Scriptures to suit his own peculiar views, and attempts 
 to weave a web of dark and mystic sophistry around 
 the gospel truths, which I had anticipated, he glided 
 along through a very interesting and elaborate dis- 
 course with all the care and happy facility of one who 
 was well aware of his important station, and his duty to 
 God and man.' " 
 
 On page 152, he describes Nauvoo: ''At length 
 the city burst upon my sight. Instead of seeing a few 
 miserable log cabins and mud hovels, which I had ex- 
 pected to find, I was surprised to see one of the most 
 romantic looking places that I had visited in the west 
 The buildings, though many of them were small, and 
 of wood, yet bore the marks of neatness which I have 
 not seen equaled in the country." 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 233. 
 
 Another item of Prior's account, on page 155: "I 
 passed on into the more active parts of the city, look- 
 ing into every street and lane to observe all that was 
 passing. I found all the people engaged in some use- 
 ful and healthy employment. The place was alive with 
 business— much more so than any place I have visited 
 since the hard times commenced. I sought in vain for 
 anything that bore the marks of immorality, but was 
 both astonished and highly pleased at my ill success. 
 I could see no loungers about the streets nor any drunk- 
 ards about the taverns. I did not meet with those dis- 
 torted features of ruffians, or with the ill-bred and im- 
 pudent. I heard not an oath in the place, I saw not a 
 gloomy countenance; all were cheerful, polite, and in- 
 dustrious." 
 
 An Englishman's letter, given by Smucker, fur- 
 nishes the following on page 159: "I have witnessed 
 the Mormons in their assemblies on a Sunday, and I 
 know not where a similar scene could be effected or 
 produced. With respect to the teachings of the Prophet, 
 I must say that there are some things hard to be under- 
 stood, but he invariably supports himself from our good 
 old Bible. Peace and harmony reign in the city. The 
 drunkard is scarcely ever seen, as in other cities, neither 
 does the awful imprecation or profane oath strike upon 
 your ear; but, while all is storm and tempest and con- 
 fusion abroad respecting the Mormons, all is peace and 
 harmony at home." 
 
 Col. Kane, brother of the arctic explorer, is quoted 
 by Mrs. Smucker on page 236, thus: "I can scarcely 
 describe the gratification I felt in associating again with 
 persons who were almost all of Eastern American origin 
 — persons of refined and cleanly habits and decent Ian- 
 
234- WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVl KWED. 
 
 guage — and in observing their peculiar and interesting 
 mode of life, while every day seemed to bring with it 
 its own especial incidents, fruitful in the illustration of 
 habits and character. It was during the period of 
 which I have just spoken, that the Mormon battalion 
 of five hundred and twenty men was recruited and 
 marched for the Pacific coast." 
 
 Again, of sportive scenes on the Missouri River, 
 on page 248: "But in the hours after hours that I have 
 watched this sport at the ferry-side, I never heard an 
 oath, or the language of quarrel, or knew it provoked 
 the least sign of ill-feeling." 
 
 Mr. Smucker's first of two accounts of the intro- 
 duction of polygamy or spiritual wifery, occurs on 
 page 161: "The power and influence of Joseph were 
 too great not to excite envy, and Sidney Rigdon did 
 great mischief by introducing a novelty called the 
 'spiritual wife' doctrine. This caused great scandal, 
 both among the* Mormons and among their enemies." 
 
 Of Joseph Smith's attitude on the matter occurs 
 the following, page 171: "Joseph would not tolerate 
 this scandal, and every offender was forthwith excom 
 municated, and publicly declared to be cut off from the 
 church." 
 
 Page 172: "The Mormons then, and ever since, 
 have indignantly denied the truth of this particular 
 charge; and of all the charges brought against Joseph 
 as regards a plurality of wives — and in especial refer- 
 ence to the 'spiritual wife' doctrine — they allege what 
 appe;ars from his whole career to be most probable, that 
 he was at all times most anxious to preserve the church 
 free from taint, and to exclude adulterers, seducers, 
 and persons of immoral lives." 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONMSM REVIEWED. 235. 
 
 Page 174: "It is utterly . incredible that Joseph 
 Smith, who, great impostor as he was, never missed an 
 opportunity to denounce seducers and adulterers as un- 
 fit to enter into his church, should have been concerned 
 directly or indirectly in proceedings like these, though 
 it is scarcely surprising that when such stories had been 
 circulated by men whom the 'Prophet' had thwarted or 
 reprimanded, there should have been found some per- 
 sons willing to credit them." 
 
 Pages 382-384 contain the leading quotations on 
 the matter from the Doctrine and Covenants, showing 
 the strict monogamic rule. On page 384 is found: 
 *'And if they are to be judged by their writings, we 
 may assume that their efforts are continually directed 
 towards the attainment of a higher system of morality 
 than that commonly in vogue." 
 
 On page 379 is found: "We must remember, too, 
 thatS«iith, universally, in all his letters, revelations, and 
 speeches, denounced adultery and fornication. Subject 
 as all founders of religious systems are to calumny, we 
 cannot resist the doubt that there may have been mis- 
 representation and exaggeration, both as to the character 
 of Joseph Smith and the cause of his untimely end." 
 
 After all this, Mr. Smucker gives us the second 
 account of the introduction of polygamy on page 413: 
 "The prominent and peculiar feature in this part of 
 their system, is the defence and prevalence of polyg- 
 amy, which Joe Smith first introduced, at the com- 
 mencement of his career, and which has ever since pre- 
 vailed among his followers." 
 
 And on page 416: "Joe Smith had over forty wives 
 at Nauvoo, and yet the number of his offspring fell far 
 short of even that of Young." 
 
236. WORKS AGAINST xMORMONlSM REVIEWED. 
 
 A Statement about Oliver Cowdery on page 375, 
 says: "Thus, we learn from an obituary in the Millen 
 nial Star (July 1st, 1850), that one of the 'three wit- 
 nesses' has lately died. Elder Wallace informs us, 
 that Oliver Cowdery died last February, of consump- 
 tion. Brother Cowdery is one of the 'three witnesses' 
 to the Book of Mormon. For rebellious conduct 
 he was expelled from the Church some years since. 
 Although he stood aloof from the Church for several 
 years, he never, in a single instance, cast the least 
 doubt on the truth of his former testimony. Sometime 
 in 1847 or 1848, he sought to be re-admitted to the 
 fellowship of the Saints. His return to the fold was 
 hailed with great joy by the Saints, who still remem- 
 bered him with kindly recollection, as one who had suf- 
 fered much in the first rise of the Church." 
 
 Mr. Smucker, in his book, has dealt more fairly than 
 many others, but, like most all who have exposed Mor- 
 monism, he has not failed to expose himself. 
 
 AN EXAMINATION OF REV. M. T. LAMB'S 
 GOLDEN BIBLE. 
 
 ISSUED 1886 BY WARD AND DRUMMAND, NEW YORK. 
 
 Preface, page 12, he says: "The book is not writ- 
 ten for literary critics. It makes no pretensions what- 
 ever to any literary excellence." 
 
 Page 14 of the preface, he says: "The author 
 desires to acknowledge his great obligations to Dr. 
 Brisbin of Philaderphia, and Dr. Augustus Le Plongeon 
 of Brooklyn, two of the most accomplished antiquar- 
 ians now living, for valuable suggestions in their special 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 237. 
 
 lines of study. Also to Rev. H. G, Weston, D. D., 
 President of Crozier Theological Seminary; Rev. T. J. 
 Morgan, Principal of the State Normal School, Provi- 
 dence, Rhode Island; Rev. J. W. Wilmarth, D. D., of 
 Philadelphia; Rev, A. J. Rowlands, D. D., of Balti- 
 more; Rev. G. F. Genung, of New London City, and 
 Rev. T. F. Day, of the Presbyterian Board of Utah, for 
 valuable criticisms and suggestions. And especially to 
 the Rev. G. W. Hervey, D. D., of New York, for a 
 careful and painstaking examination of the entire 
 work." 
 
 No literary merit after all this- flourish of titles! 
 just think! One almost feels dizzy passing over such a 
 list. Then Mr. Lamb thinks a book may have merit 
 other than literary merit. Why then does he use nearly 
 all his precious space trying to defeat the Book of 
 Mormon from a literary point of view, and*that, too, in 
 the face of the fact that it nowhere claims elegance in 
 that line, but, on its opening page statement, signed 
 Moroni, says: "And now if there are faults they are 
 the mistakes of men." Why does not Mr. Lamb attack 
 the doctrines and morals set forth in it? If it is entire- 
 ly human as he claims, in its origin, it would be easy to 
 make an inroad upon it. 
 
 Pages I and 2 he proceeds: **It is claimed for the 
 Book of Mormon that it is superior to the Bible in 
 several particulars: It was translated by Divine in- 
 spiration, the Bible was not. The translation of the 
 Bible was the work of fallible men, and therefore liable 
 to many errors; the Book of Mormon, was translated 
 through the <Urim and Thummim,' helped by an angel 
 sent from heaven, and therefore free from the errors 
 that necessarily attach to a human translation." The 
 
2^8. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 phrase ''helped by an angel sent down from heaven," 
 is a deliberate falsehood of Mr. Lamb's. 
 
 On page 2, he quotes from the testimony of the 
 three witnesses to the Book of Mormon: "And we 
 know also that they have been translated by the gift 
 and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto 
 us, wherefore we know of a certainty that the work is 
 true." This was not strong enough in its claim of di- 
 vine aid. Mr. Lamb takes the pains to add an angel 
 by way of help. 
 
 Then on pages 2, 9, 10, 240 and 241 he gives us 
 eight extracts from accounts of the translation, not one 
 of which connects angel help with the translating. 
 
 A ninth extract occurs on page 240, where other 
 matters^ are treated of, but not one word said about 
 translating; in this one an angel is mentioned. 
 
 On page 3, Mr. Lamb quotes from the Book of 
 Mormon: "For behold they have taken away from 
 the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and 
 most precious." Which refers to the Bible as it is, 
 having passed through many changes during the ages. 
 Does the building up and tearing down of creeds, the 
 existence of all the various sects, argue such a condi- 
 tion of the Bible? or, does Mr. Lamb wish to plead 
 guilty for himself and all the rest that they conflict of 
 preference? 
 
 Mr. Lamb says, on page 5: "It professes two 
 things — first to be a true record or history of three dif- 
 ferent colonies that came over from the old world to 
 this country in ancient times, and lived and flourished 
 here for a period of twenty- five hundred years Second, 
 It professes to contain the fullness of the gospel of 
 Christ, a fuller and more complete presentation of the 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 239. 
 
 plan of salvation than is found in the Bible, either in 
 the Old or New Testament." Does Mr. Lamb examine 
 the book on these facts, its history and doctrine? 
 Whether it is more clear on points of doctrine than the 
 Bible? What its moral tone is? He does not. 
 
 After making and exploding a few bubbles, Mr. 
 Lamb says on page ii: **But after a careful study of 
 the book, a conscientious and painstaking examination 
 of all the evidences he has been able to gather both for 
 and against it, the author of these pages has been forced 
 to reject every one of the above claims. He is com- 
 pelled to believe that no such people as are described 
 in the Book of Mormon ever lived upon this continent. 
 * * In short, that no such civilization, Christian or 
 otherwise, as is described in the Book of Mormon, ever 
 had an existence upon either North or South America. '' 
 
 This sweeping statement he seems to have forgot- 
 ten; page 268 says: '*We should, therefore, certainly 
 expect to find, in every portion of both continents, the 
 same evidences of an ancient civilization as are found 
 in Central America." 
 
 Again, on page 272: "Remains of antiquity have 
 
 been so well preserved * * upon paper and parchment, 
 
 hundreds of ancient books and manuscripts were found 
 
 well preserved at the time of the Spanish conquest, three 
 
 hundred years ago." Mr. Lamb!! Listen!!! 
 
 "Oh what a tangled web they weave, 
 Who pra'^tice solely to deceive." 
 
 You are down and out of court on your own evidence. 
 
 Mr. Lamb adds to his own impeachment in his 
 eighth chapter, pages 253-283. Why does he do so 
 after a "painstaking examination of all the evidence on 
 both sides." 
 
240. WORKS AGAINST MORMONfSM REVIEWED. 
 
 On pages ii and 12 he saysr "On the contrary, 
 the book is altogether, and in every part of it, except 
 so much as is borrowed from the Bible, a modern fab- 
 rication. * * In the discussion of this important ques- 
 tion, the author proposes to say nothing whatever of 
 the various theories that have be.en propounded to ac- 
 count for the origin of the book. * * There is, as the 
 author conceives, a far more direct and satisfactory 
 method of reaching a conclusion — that is, by an exam- 
 ination of the book itself." 
 
 Into this examination Mr. Lamb plunges, using 
 the most of the space from page 12 to 253 to show the 
 LITERARY INELEGANCE of the Book of Momion. Yet 
 Moroni on the opening page says: "And now if there 
 are faults they are the mistakes of men." The same is 
 expressed in other words on pages 44, 495 and 500. 
 (Small print edition). Mr. Lamb claims no literary 
 merit for his own book, but thinks its merits as to facts, 
 all right. Why is not the Book of Mormon rated in the 
 same way? Mr. Lamb is a preacher; wonder if he ever 
 read, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you 
 do ye even so to them?'^ Are all the books of the 
 Bible of the same literary merit? Is that of the un- 
 learned Peter, an humble fisherman, as elegant as that 
 of the learned Paul or Luke? Is Peter's writing less in- 
 spired because he was not a polished scholar? Pshaw I 
 shame on any man that takes such position. 
 
 Read the following: "Companion to the Revised 
 Version of the New Testament," by Alexander Roberts, 
 D. D., page i. "The number of various readings in 
 the New Testament has been differently estimated at 
 different times. Nor could this have been otherwise. 
 Every new manuscript which is discovered increases 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 24 1. 
 
 the amount, and every more accurate examination of 
 already known manuscripts tends to the same result. 
 Hence, while the varieties of reading in the New Testa- 
 ment were reckoned at about thirty thousand in the last 
 century, they are generally referred to as amounting to 
 no less than one hundred and fifty thousand at the 
 present day." Mr. Lamb should put a stop to such 
 work, for his ideas of grammar and rhetoric would not 
 admit of the differences existing, and that would spoil 
 their inspiration. 
 
 Jared's barges do not escape Mr. Lamb's scrutiny, 
 with their ''hole in the bottom, and hole in the top." 
 Ridicule of that feature of their construction has been ex- 
 ploded a hundred tknes; it being shown that vessels 
 are now so constructed. See citations from Philadel- 
 phia Record, December 13, 1891, and Globe Democrat, 
 February 3, 1889, in chapter 3 of Book Unsealed, or 
 visit any prominent life-saving station. Mr. Lamb, 
 evidently for the want of something better, gives us 
 alternately his ignorance and pusillanimity. 
 
 On pages 209, 210, 211, three pages, he gives 
 fifty-two quotations from the Book of Mormon, but 
 does not cite a page from where taken. Then triumph- 
 antly asserts "No advance upon the Bible whatever." 
 Why did he not give the pages from where taken so the 
 impartial reader could examine for himself? Simply 
 because his misrepresentation would thereby be laid 
 bare. 
 
 On pages 208, 209, he says: ''The Book of Mor- 
 mon has nothing whatever upon the subject of 'Laying 
 on of hands,' 'Christ's second coming,' his 'Millennial 
 reign,' the subject of 'marriage,' except the prohibition 
 of polygamy already noticed, 'tithing,' the 'Sabbath' 
 
242. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 and 'baptism for the dead.' Have we a Mormon 
 reader who can believe that any book could contain the 
 'Fullness of the Gospel' without a word upon either of 
 the above subjects? These are all very important sub- 
 jects; with the Latter Day Saints they are fundamental, 
 and yet here this Golden Bible is entirely silent." 
 To show how UTTERLY FALSE the preceding is, a few 
 of many citations are given. 
 
 Book of Mormon, Alma 4: i, says: "And now it 
 came to pass that after Alma had made an end of speak- 
 ing unto the people of the church, which was estab- 
 lished in the city of Zarehemla, he ordained priests and 
 elders, by laying on his hands according to the order 
 of God, to preside and watch over the church." 
 Moroni 2:1: "Ye shall have power that on whom ye 
 shall lay your hands, ye shall give the Holy Ghost; and 
 in my name ye shall give it." Also Moroni 3:1. On 
 millennium, see Nephi 10: i; Ether 6: i, and Nephi 9:9. 
 On tithing, see Alma 10: i; Jacob 2:5; Mosiah 9: 9, 
 and Nephi 11: 3-7. On Sabbath, see Jarom 1: 3; 
 Mosiah 9: 9; 7: 21. Mr. Lamb could not have written 
 a more glaring falsehood. 
 
 On page 219, Mr. Lamb treats of modern words 
 used in Book of Mormon, and because it contains such, 
 concludes it is a modern production. If some of 
 Adam's writing should be found and translated into our 
 language it would contain modern words and therefore 
 be untrue according to Mr. Lamb's wonderful logic! 
 The one hundred and fifty thousand various readings 
 cited by Mr. Roberts, of the New Testament, evident- 
 ly have several modern words! What translated 
 work would not, Mr. Lamb? 
 
 On page 235, Mr. Lamb tells us Harvey discovered 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 243. 
 
 the ''circulation of the blood about the year 1619 A. 
 D., and the fact that the skin has pores could not have 
 been known * * until after the invention of the micro- 
 scope." Wonderful logic, Mr. Lamb! Was any body 
 permitted to sweat before the invention of the micro- 
 scope? We suppose Mr. Lamb would say no. And 
 therefore Jesus never "sweat as it were great drops of 
 blood." — Bible. The foregoing is Mr. -Lamb's hard 
 hit at the Book of Mormon, stating with respect to Jesus, 
 * 'blood cometh from every pore." It is a fair sample 
 of both the man and his book as to merit. In his ninth 
 chapter "American Antiquities versus the Book of 
 Mormon," he says: "The Mound Builders of the Ohio 
 and the Mississippi valleys do not represent the oldest, 
 but the youngest, by far the younger of the two civili- 
 zations already mentioned." Mr. Lamb has forgotten 
 again that he denied "civilization, christian or other- 
 wise," to have an "existence either upon North or 
 South America." But why did he not give book and 
 page where he found what he states about Mound- 
 Builders. 
 
 Bancroft, Short, Baldwin and many others, in 
 fact nearly all writers on American antiquity accord to 
 the Mound Builders, the earlier settlement. But then, 
 Mr. Lamb "examined all the evidences on both sides." 
 To misrepresent facts in a collossal manner seems to 
 be his ambition. 
 
 On page 257, Mr. Lamb begins to annihilate 
 "Smith's reformed Egyptian," and on page 260, says: 
 "Unfortunately for the claims of the Book of Mormon, 
 we are able to learn precisely what kind of characters 
 were used in Central America by its ancient inhabitants, 
 * * in Copan and Palenque are found in abundance 
 
244- WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 the strange hieroglyphics, the written language of the 
 people/' 
 
 Consider this: ''Egyptian writing is of three 
 DISTINCT kinds, which are known respectively by the 
 names of Hieroglyphic, Hieratic and Demotic or En- 
 chorial. The hieroglyphic is that of almost all monu- 
 ments, and is also occasionally found in manuscripts. 
 The hieratic and demotic occur with extreme rarity 
 upon monuments, but are employed far more commonly 
 than the hieroglyphic in the papyrus rolls or books of 
 the Egyptians." — Rawlinson's Egypt, vol. i, p. 120. 
 
 In the Book of Mormon reformed Egyptian was 
 used. 
 
 Consider this: "We find three species of hiero- 
 glyphics COMMON to Mexico and Egypt." — Delafield's 
 American Antiquities, p. 46. 
 
 The reader is also referred to Atlantis, page 219, 
 where two distinct and then other forms of Maya alpha- 
 betic characters are given. 
 
 Mr. Lamb is down and out again, while Smith's 
 claim remains undimmed. 
 
 Mr. Lamb, page 300, says: "Facts are stubborn 
 things, and the simple testimony of past history already 
 presented, buries the fabrications of the Book of Mor- 
 mon beyond the possibility of resurrection." Then he 
 proceeds to deny the existence and use of iron and 
 steel in ancient times on this continent. See chapter 
 10, Book Unsealed. Mr. Lamb devotes pages 306 and 
 307 to a denial of horses, cattle, sheep and goats as 
 having existed in America anciently. The reader is 
 referred to chapter 6, Book Unsealed. 
 
 Extract from a letter of Augustus Le Plongeon, cor- 
 responding with S. F. Walker, of Lamoni, Iowa: 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 245. 
 
 *^204 Washington St., Brooklyn, N. Y., i, 8, '89, 
 *'S. F. Walker Esq., 
 
 /'Dear Sir: — Your favor of December 28th, came 
 to hand three days ago. * * This calls to my mind the 
 visit of a certain Rev. Mr. Lamb, who introduced him- 
 self to me by stating that he resided at Salt Lake City, 
 and was there combating the Mormon doctrine and 
 showing that their pretended revelations were all hum- 
 bug. He presented me with a book published by him 
 in which he pretended to show many absurdities con- 
 tained in the Book of Mormon. He finished by telling 
 me that he had called upon me in order to obtain my 
 opinion on what is said in the book relatively to the 
 ANIMALS such as the horse, the pig, the cattle and 
 sheep that lived anciently on the Western Continent, 
 which he contended proves that the whole book is an 
 absurd fabrication; and hoped that I would help him 
 with my knowledge in showing it to be such. The man 
 evidently either had been misinformed concerning me, 
 or had not taken the trouble to enquire. When he 
 ceased speaking, I asked him if he was a Christian, to 
 which he emphatically answered, 'Yes!' and I as em- 
 phatically replied no! because he did not follow the 
 doctrine of Jesus — 'do not do to others what you do 
 not wish others to do to you.' I informed him that I 
 did not care a straw if the Book of Mormon was a rev- 
 elation or a fabrication. That I considered every man 
 had an absolute right to worship Deity as 'best he 
 thought. That on the other hand I could not join him 
 in disproving the Book of Mormon in the part in 
 which the animals mentioned are said to have lived on 
 the American Continent, because I was not in the habit 
 of making a fool of myself if I could help it. Then I 
 
246. WORKS AGAINST MORMOXrsM REVIEWEj>, 
 
 informed him that seventeen species of fossil horses 
 had been discovered in America, that the buffaloes 
 were cattle, that, the mountain sheep still lived in the 
 Rocky Mountains, and that peccaries or wild pigs 
 roamed yet in large numbers in the forests of Central 
 America After that I gave him a piece of my' mind 
 dnd bowed him out of the house. * * 
 ''[Signed.] Augustus Le Plongeon, M. D." 
 
 The reader will now please refer back to opening 
 page of this examination of the Golden Bible and see 
 how Lamb uses Le Plongeon's name as an authority;, 
 after he had set down squarely on him. Lamb had out 
 a previous smaller work, a copy of which he evidently 
 handed Le Plongeon. 
 
 Any one who is conversant with one or more works 
 on American antiquity will readily notice that the very 
 few quotations Lamb gives from such works are abund- 
 antly offset, in the same works by vastly more testimony 
 to the reverse in most instances. Those who are not 
 students of such works, will find an abundance of evi- 
 dence in the Book Unsealed. Almost all writers on an- 
 tiquity give the varied views of others as well as their own, 
 hence the different evidences, pro and con. The great 
 preponderance of which supports the Book of Mormon. 
 
 Mr. Lamb solemnly and benevolently closes the 
 preface to his work in a postscript thus: "It may be 
 proper to state in this connection, that this work has 
 been wholly a work of love, a benevolent and not a 
 mercenary enterprise. The author has given a yjsar 
 without salary or compensation, to the work, and all 
 contributions made, aside from the bare support of his 
 family, will be sacredly used in distributing copies of 
 the book among the Mormons.'' Whoever saw so much 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 247. 
 
 falsifying just for ''LOVE!" How could he expect 
 Mormons or other persons to believe such a mess of 
 stuff. Is it not strangely significant that all who make 
 such herculean efforts to down the Book of Mormon 
 enshroud themselves in a mass of falsehood? 
 
 No change in Book of Mormon. Mr. Lamb says 
 on page ii6: "I have seen two copies of the first 
 edition of the book, published in Palmyra, New York, 
 in 1830, and a brief comparison with the latest edition, 
 will satisfy any reasonable person that the church has 
 never ventured to change a sentence except the title page 
 as already mentioned." 
 
 •a glance at E. a. ALLEN'S ''PREHISTORIC 
 WORLD, OR VANISHED RACES." 
 
 ISSUED BY CINCINNATI CENTRAL PUBLISHING 
 HOUSE, 1885. 
 
 [This work is not directed against Mormouism special!}', but 
 is put under examicjation and criticism, as the twelfth work 
 against Mormonism because of some of the statements found in it 
 which are at variance with the testimony of the Book of Mormon 
 and with demonstrated facts. On the title page we announce 
 "Kleven Works Against Mormonism Reviewed," but have since 
 deci<led to add this and make twelve.] 
 
 This work contains eight hundred and twenty 
 l5tges, the most of which is devoted to prehistoric man 
 of the New Continent. 
 
 On the title page occurs: "Each of the following 
 well known scholars reviewed one or more chapters, 
 and made valuable suggestions." Then follows these 
 distinguished names: C. C. Abbott, M. D., author of 
 "Primitive Industry;" Prof. F. W. Putnam, Curator of 
 Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Har- 
 vard University; A. F. Bandelier, explorer for Archae- 
 ological Institute of America, author of "Archaeologi- 
 
24^. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWKD. 
 
 cal Tour in Mexico;" Prof. Charles Rau, Curator of 
 Archaeological department of Smithsonian Institution; 
 Alexander Winchell, L. L. D., Professor of Geology 
 and Paleontology, University of M ichigan; Cyrus 
 Thomas, Ph. D., of the Bureau of Ethnology; G. F. 
 Wright, of the United States Geological Survey, Profes- 
 sor in Theological Seminary, Oberlin, Ohio. 
 
 Thus the book is given force. On pages 325, ^;^i 
 and 377, the Mound Builders are declared to have been 
 destitute of the use of metals for tools, also of domestic 
 animals. The chapter on Mound Builders was re- 
 viewed by Prof. Putnam. On page 631, metalic tools 
 are again denied, and on pages 640 and 675, both ixie- 
 talic tools and domestic animals are still denied. The% 
 chapter on Maya Tribes is not mentioned as reviewed 
 by any one, so it will be seen that while Prof. Putnam 
 is committed by statements on the three pages cited 
 from the chapter on Mound Builders, no one but Mr. 
 Allen is responsible for the other three in the chapter 
 pertaining to the Mayas. 
 
 That Prof. Putnam should have so committed him- 
 self seems queer, as he must be a man of extensive 
 reading. And that Mr. Allen, quoting Dana and Win- 
 chell as much as he does, is not better informed ^ 
 the existence of domestic animals, to say nothing of 
 what else he should have found in his reputed wide 
 research, is equally strange; and more strange still that 
 his own reports of works achieved by the ancient 
 Americans, does not impel him to conclude that metalic 
 tools of variety and high order, as well as domestic 
 animals must have been had. 
 
 Mr. Allen's work being recently issued and having 
 the support of these eminent men, will doubtless play a 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED 249. 
 
 part yet in discussion, ^s I do not remember that it 
 has been quoted from, for the benefit of those to whose 
 convenience it may be, I give a few extracts. 
 
 Of fossil remains of man, page 308 says: *'0n 
 our Western Continent we have the mysterious remains 
 in the gold-bearing gravels of the Pacific coast, the sig- 
 nificance of which is yet in dispute. We have the 
 Paleolithic Age of Europe, represented by the remains 
 found in the gravels of the Delaware at Trenton, New 
 Jersey. When deposited there, and by what people 
 used, is, perhaps, still enshrouded in doubt. 
 
 Page 310: ''We must not forget that these are the 
 antiquities of our own country, that the broken archaeo- 
 logical fragments we pick up, will, when put together, 
 give us a knowledge of tribes that lived here when civ- 
 ilization was struggling into being in the east. * * In a 
 general way we have regarded the Indians as a late 
 arrival from Asia, and cared but little for their early 
 history. It is only recently that we have become con- 
 vinced of an extended past in the history of this coun- 
 try, and it is only of late that able writers have brought 
 to our attention the wonders of an ancient culture, and 
 shown us the footprints of a vanished people." 
 
 Page 311; "Indeed, to judge from the difference 
 of the remains, they must have been the work of differ- 
 ent people or tribes, who were doubtless possessed of 
 different degrees of culture." 
 
 Page 324 gives a cut of the Grave Creek Mound, 
 twelve miles b^low Wheeling in West Virginia. A 
 description follows, then, on page 325, we read: "A 
 moment's thought will show us what a great work such 
 a mound must have been for a people destitute of me- 
 talic tools and domestic animals." 
 
250. WORKS AGAINST xMORMONiSM RP:V1EWED. 
 
 Page 330 presents a cut of Cahokia Mound which 
 is opposite to St. Louis, Missouri. The description 
 ends with: "The areas of all the platforms are not far 
 from six acres. We require to dwell on these facts a 
 moment before we realize what a stupendous piece of 
 work this is. The base is larger than that of the Great 
 Pyramid, [Egypt. — R. E.] and we must not lose sight 
 of the fact that the earth for its construction was 
 scraped up and brought thither without the aid of 
 metallic tools or beasts of burden, and yet the earth 
 was obtained somewhere and piled up over an area of 
 fifteen acres in one place to a height of one hundred 
 feet, and even the lowest platform is fifty feet above 
 the plain.'' 
 
 Page 376 gives a cut of Fort Ancient, forty miles 
 east of Cincinnati, Ohio. The description given closes 
 thus on page 377: "The total length of the embank- 
 ment is about five miles, the area enclosed about one 
 hundred acres. For most of this distance the grading 
 of the walls resembles the heavy grading of a railroad 
 track. Only one who has personally examined the 
 walls, can realize the amount of labor they represent 
 for a people destitute of metallic tools, beasts of bur 
 den, and other facilities to construct it." 
 
 Page 332, dealing with the magnitude of Cahokia 
 Mound says: "If the result of religious zeal, we may 
 be sure that a religion which exacted from its votaries 
 the erection of such a stupendous piece of work was 
 one of great power. 
 
 On page 361, Mr. Allen quotes Mr. Squier: "We 
 have reason to believe that the religious system of the 
 Mound Builders, like that of the Aztecs, exercised 
 among them a great, if not a controlling, influence." 
 
WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 25 I. 
 
 The foregoing extracts are from chapter lo, "The 
 Mound Builders," and on page 413, the last of the 
 chapter, occurs: "In fact there is no good reason for 
 separating them from the Indian race as a whole." 
 
 This conclusion is no doubt, as well founded as, 
 that there were no domestic animals or meta'lic tools 
 had among them. 
 
 We now present extracts from chapter 14 — "The 
 Maya Tribes." 
 
 Page 568 presents a cut of the ruins of Copan, in 
 the State of Honduras, Central America, and on page 
 569 occurs: "Though Mr. Stephens warns us that this 
 terrace was not as large as the base of the Pyramid of 
 Ghizeh, still it must have required an immense amount 
 of work, since careful computations show that over 
 twenty-six million cubic feet of stone were used in its 
 construction. This stone was brought from the quar- 
 ries two miles away. We must not forget that this 
 work was performed by a people destitute of metallic 
 tools." Just because, forsooth, Mr. Allen thought sol 
 
 Of fourteen statues, a cut of one being given on 
 page 571, page 570 says: "The places where these 
 statues are found is seen to the right of the main body 
 of ruins. It will be seen that only one is within the 
 terrace area of the temple. Three others are situated 
 near it, but the majority are near the southern end of 
 the enclosure. We are not given the dimensions of all, 
 but the smallest one given is eleven feet, eight inches 
 high, by three feet, four inches width and depth; the 
 largest, thirteen feet high, four feet wide, and three 
 feet deep. No inconsiderable part of the labor on the 
 statues must have been that of quarrying the large 
 blocks of stone out of which they were carved, and 
 
252. WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIKWED. 
 
 transporting them to the place where found. They 
 came from the same quarry as the other stones used in 
 building, and so were transported a distance of about 
 two miles." 
 
 Mr. Allen would have us believe stone columns 
 could be quarried and carved in the fine lines he illus- 
 trates in his cuts, and describes elaborately, with stone 
 MAULS, etc. 
 
 Of a palace at the city of Utatlan, Guatemala, page 
 582 says: ''Mr. Stephens describes alarge ruin which is 
 called The Palace. It is said, in round numbers to 
 have been eleven hundred by twenty-two hundred feet. 
 As this area is more than fifty-five acres in extent, we 
 can see it was not a palace in our sense of the word. 
 The stones of which it was composed have been largely 
 removed to build the modern town of Santa Cruz." 
 
 Pages 630 and 631 present three cuts of most intri- 
 cate and elaborate carving, of a magnificent building at 
 Uxmal Yucatan, and then says: ''We must reflect that 
 its builders were not possessed of metalic tools. It 
 extends entirely around the building, though the end 
 and rear walls are not as elaborately decorated as the 
 front. A little calculation shows that it contains over 
 ten thousand square feet of carved stone." What 
 finger-nails those fellows must have had! 
 
 Page 640, reviewing the ruins of Uxmal in a gen- 
 eral way, after the splendid cuts and explanation of 
 intricate carving, says: "When we reflect on the 
 patient labor that must have been expended on this 
 pyramid and these buildings, we are filled with admira-- 
 tion for their perseverance and ingenuity. They had 
 neither domestic animals or metalic tools. The build- 
 ings were massively built and richly ornamented. The 
 
W'ORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED, 253. 
 
 sculptured portion covers over twenty-four thousand 
 square feet." 
 
 Page 644 says: -'We want to repeat that Yucatan, 
 even to this day, is far from being thoroughly explored 
 Almost our only source of information is the writings 
 of Mr. Stephens. But he only describes a few places. 
 In a trip of thirty-nine miles he took in a westerly di- 
 rection from Uxmal he saw no less than seven different 
 groups of ruins. * * As to the question of use to which 
 these buildings were applied, we must either suppose 
 they had an immense number of temples and palaces — 
 one or the other every few miles — or else they were the 
 residences of the people themselves. And, though it 
 may seem very strange that an imperfectly developed 
 people should ornament so profusely and delicately 
 their ordinary places of abode, yet it is difficult to 
 understanti why they should rear such an abundance of 
 temples and palaces." 
 
 Page 675, speaking of Mexico and Central America, 
 says: "••We must remember that throughout the entire 
 territory we are considering the tribes had no domestic 
 animals, their agriculture was in a rude state, and they 
 were practically destitute of metals." 
 
 Pages 810 and 8ii present cuts of large and mag- 
 nificent stone structures and says: "Round holes were 
 drilled in the bottom and top of each stone. Tl\ere is 
 reason to suppose that bronze pins fitted into these 
 holes." But, Mr. Allen, bronze is a combination of 
 metals and they were destitute of them! 
 
 Page 815 says of ruins at Cuzco, Peru: "Some of 
 the stones must weigh several tons, and they are fitted 
 together with marvelous precision, one stone having as 
 many as twelve angles." 
 
254- WORKS AGAINST MORMONISM REVIEWED. 
 
 Since writing the above, I have found the follow- 
 ing in the May number of "The Archaeologist" of 1894^ 
 published at Waterloo, Indiana, the editor of which is 
 Warren K. Moorehead, whose location is Orton Hall, 
 State University, Columbus, Ohio, and who had an 
 exhibit at the World's Fair: Quoting from Prof. Put- 
 nam on page 131: "It is fully time that we acknowl- 
 edge that our old peoplf^s, particularly the people who 
 made the great earth works in the Ohio Valley, were 
 pretty far advanced in many of the arts, and certainly 
 had reached a high plane of achievement in the work- 
 ing of native copper, native silver, native (meteoric) 
 iron, and occasionally gold, all by hammering, pressure, 
 rubbing and cutting." 
 
 Right glad are we to record Prof. Putnam as a wit- 
 ness that iron was had and worked by prehistoric peo 
 pie of the Western Continent. Mr. Allen's only wit- 
 ness who had passed upon what Allen had written is 
 thus found on the other side. And in Prof. Putnam's 
 language we may conclude, "It is fully time that we 
 acknowledge * * iron." The character of works 
 abounding impel the intelligent reasonable mind to this 
 conclusion. And as for the domestic animals having 
 existed, their remains are found in such quantity and 
 variety that the existence of the moon may as well be 
 denied. 
 
BR.^BEN'S MISTAKES. 
 
 TSt. States on page 34 of Braden and Kelley Debate 
 that the Book of Mormon speaks of "ore plates," when 
 the language of the book is "I did make plates of ore." 
 
 2d. On page 43 he says he proved certain things 
 by sixteen witnesses who from reading it, (Spaulding 
 Romance), and hearing him read it, became more or 
 less familiar with its contents; when he had produced 
 testimony from only six who testify to having read or 
 hearing it read. 
 
 3d. On page 43 he says he proved by these sixteen 
 witnesses that Solomon Spaulding, "between the years 
 1809 and [816," "spent much of his time in preparing 
 manuscripts/' &c. He had produced testimony from 
 NONE giving these dates. 
 
 4th. He had produced testimony from only one 
 who spoke of manuscripts in the plural. 
 
 5th. On page 43 he claims the sixteen give "an 
 outline of the historic portion of the Nephite part of 
 the Book of Mormon." He had produced testimony 
 from only nine who relate any incident related by the 
 Book of Mocmon. 
 
 6th. On page 43 he claims his sixteen witnesses 
 give names "of the principal characters." Only seven 
 pretend to give names. 
 
256. BRADEN^S MISTAKES. 
 
 ytb. Claims on page 43. that the sixteen give the 
 •'starting point of the history," when only six of them 
 mention it, 
 
 8th. On page 43, '-They (the sixteen) all declare 
 tliere was no religious matter in his manuscript." In 
 their testimony as presented by Hraden but few had 
 said so. 
 
 9th. He says on page 43, "Oliver Smith testifies 
 that Spaulding told him, just before going to Pittsburg, 
 that he would prepare the manuscript for press," &c. 
 This is not in Oliver Smith's testimony as produced by 
 Braden. See p. 35 of Debate. 
 
 loth. On page 43 he says that J. N. Miller testi- 
 fies: "Spaulding told him that he landed the people 
 at the Isthmus of Darien which he called Zarahemla." 
 This is not in J. N. Miller's testimony, found on page 35. 
 
 nth. On page 52 he says: "The Book of Mor- 
 mon declares in several places the Nephites were 
 Manassehites," which is not true. 
 
 i2th. On page 62 he represents Mr. Gilbert as 
 saying the manuscript "abounded in mis-spelled words," 
 when Gilbert says: "The spelling was good.'* See 
 p. 382. 
 
 13th. On page 64 he claims Spaulding was guilty 
 of "carricaturing the Bible;" but on page 67 he says: 
 "Nearly all of our witnesses are careful to state that 
 the religious portion of the Book of Mormon was not 
 in the Manuscript Found." 
 
 14th. On page 65 he claims Spaulding was "the 
 very man that would attract company, and of the 
 highest character and intelligence;" yet on page 64 he 
 makes him out a skeptic, a liar, and his motives "very 
 questionable." 
 
braden's mistakes. 257. 
 
 15th. On page 66 he claims Mrs. Solomon Spauld- 
 ing, Miss Mariha Spaulding, John Spaulding, Mrs. John 
 Spaulding, Lake, J. N. Miller, Smith, Wright, Howard, 
 Cunningham, Jas. Miller, McKee, Dodd and Sidney 
 Rigdon, testify to Spaulding's Romance being a history 
 of the first settlers of America; when he had produced 
 no testimony to this effect from Miss Spaulding, Jas. 
 Miller, McKee, Dodd, or Rigdon 
 
 1 6th. On page 66 quotes Miss Martha Spaulding, 
 Mrs. J. Spaulding, Smith, Cunningham and Jackson, to 
 prove the leaders' names as represented by Spaulding, 
 were Nephi and Lehi, which is false, so far as Miss 
 Spaulding, Qunningham and Jackson are concerned. 
 
 ryth. On page 66 he says: "The end of their 
 wars, in two instances, was the total annihilation in 
 battle, of all but one," for which he quotes Jackson. 
 Jackson does not say so. See p. 42. 
 
 i8th. On page 66 he quotes J. Spaulding, Mrs J. 
 Spaulding, Miller and Smith as authority for the 
 "Romance," giving an "account of the civilization, 
 arts, sciences, laws and customs of the aborigines of 
 America." Mrs. J. Spaulding nor Miller speak of this 
 point. 
 
 19th. On page 66^ as authority that the Romance 
 was ''written in Scriptural Style," he quotes "Rigdon, 
 Winter, Spaulding, Mrs. S. Spaulding, Mrs, J. Spauld 
 ing, Lake, Jas. Miller, Smith, Cunningham and Jack- 
 son. By examination it will be seen he had produced 
 no evidence upon this point from either Rigdon, Mrs. 
 J. Spaulding, Lake, Miller, or Smith. 
 
 20th. On page 66, as authority that the Romance 
 contained the phrases, "And it came to pass," "And 
 now it came to pass," he names Mrs. S. Spaulding, J. 
 
258. BRAUEN's iMISTAKES. 
 
 Spaulding, Mrs. J. Spaulding, Lake, Cunningham and 
 Jas. Miller. Consult their testimony as produced by 
 Braden, and you will find this false so far as Mrs. S. 
 Spaulding, Mrs. J. Spaulding, Cunningham and Miller 
 are concerned. 
 
 2ist. On page 66 he says: "One party of emi- 
 grants landed near the Isthmus of Darien, which they 
 called Zarahemla, and migrated across the continent in 
 a northeast direction," and quotes J. N. Miller. See 
 Miller's testimony on page 35. 
 
 22d. On page 73 he says: "He spent five years 
 on it,,' (The Romance), but on page 43, he says "seven 
 years." 
 
 23d. On page 73 he says that Mrs. Spaulding, Miss 
 Spaulding and Miller ''declare that he had many manu- 
 scripts." He produced this testimony from none of them. 
 
 24th, On page 73 he says: "That he (Rigdon) 
 had it (Spaulding Romance) in 1826, and declared it 
 would be a great thing some day, to his neice Mrs. 
 D'cnlap." Mrs. Spaulding does not say he had the 
 Spaulding Romance. See p. 45. 
 
 25th. On page 73 he says: "We have proved that 
 he (Rigdon) knew of the publication of the Book of 
 Mormon long before it appeared, by D. Atwater, A. 
 Bently, Alexander Campbell, Green and Dille." This 
 is false, especially as regards Green and Dille. See p. 46. 
 
 26th. Read what he says he proved by Campbell, 
 Atwater and Bently, as found on pages 74 and 75, and 
 then read their testimonies as found on page 45, and 
 the reader will see a great mistake indeed. 
 
 27th. On page 95 he says that Mrs. Davidson said 
 she "only gave him (Hurlbut) an order to examine a 
 trunk hundreds of miles away, in Hartwich, New York, 
 
BRADEN'S MISTAKES. 
 
 59- 
 
 to see if it (the manuscript) was in the trunk." If 
 the reader will refer to Mrs. Davidson's testimony he 
 will discover this to be a false statement. 
 
 28th. On page 96, in regard to the charge that 
 Hurlbut sold the manuscript to the Mormons, he says: 
 "These charges, Hurlbut never met but laid under 
 them until his death." On page 91, in a letter Hurlbut 
 wrote to Mr. Patterson of Pittsburg, dated August 19th, 
 1879, he says: "I did not destroy the manuscript nor 
 dispose of it to Joe Smith or to any other person." 
 
 29th. Will Mr. Braden tell us where he finds his 
 authority for saying that Joseph Smith claimed to have 
 "examined all religious parties?" See p. 98. 
 
 30th. Will he also tell us why he says Joseph 
 Smith claimed to "found a purer system than the 
 world had ever seen?" See p. 98. 
 
 31st. On page 107 he garbles the testimony of the 
 Three Witnesses. See p. 5. 
 
 32d. On page 108 he states, in speaking of what 
 the Book of Mormon teaches, thatNephi "makes Laban 
 drunk." This is false. See Book of Mormon, p. 8. 
 
 33d. On page 109 he says Lehi prophesied "that 
 these plates of Laban shall go forth to all nations;" but 
 the book adds, "who were of his seed." See Book of 
 Mormon, p. 11. 
 
 34th. On page iii he represents that the Book of 
 Mormon claim* that Nephi and his company left only 
 Laraan and Lemuel and their families when departing 
 into the wilderness, which is absolutely false. See 
 Book of Mormon, p. 62. 
 
 35th. On page 119 he represents Mrs. Salisbury 
 as saying the plates were translated "at their father's," 
 which she does not say. See p. 100. 
 
26o. ' bradkn's mistakks. 
 
 36th. On page 120 he says: King Jacob tells us 
 that "a hundredth part of the wars, contentions and 
 exploits of the Nephites could not be engrav-en on his 
 plates." A quotation not to be found. 
 
 37th. On page 120, in speaking of events recorded 
 on page 118 of Book of Mormon, he says: "About 
 forty years before this, six women left Jerusalem," 
 when, according to the book, at least fifty-five years 
 had passed. See Book of Mormon, p. 112. 
 
 38th. The number of women as stated above is 
 wrong. There were Lehi's wife, (see page 4,) Ishmael's 
 wife and five daughters, (see page 12,) besides Nephi 
 speaks of his sisters, how many we do not know. See 
 p. 64. 
 
 39th. Braden adds, "but one (of these women) 
 was then married." Doubtless the wives of Lehi and 
 Ishmael were both married. 
 
 40th. On page 120 he garbles a quotation from 
 page 120 of the Book of Mormon as follows: The 
 book says: "It began to put forth somewhat a little, 
 young and tender branches." Braden quotes it: "It 
 began to put forth somewhat a tender little branches." 
 
 (Note. — Nearly every passage I have examined 
 purporting to be from Book of Mormon is more or less 
 garbled. Space will not allow me to notice all.) 
 
 41st. He says on page 130: "Moroni takes up 
 Mormon's work, and he informs us th^t masonry shall 
 be prevalent when the Book of Mormon appears," when 
 the word mason or masonry does not appear in the 
 book. 
 
 42d. On page 132 he says: "Moroni prophesies 
 the one who finds these plates shall show them to three 
 persons. Joe showed them to eleven." The Ian- 
 
braden's mistakes. 261. 
 
 guage of the book is: ''And behold ye may be privi- 
 leged that ye may show the plates unto those who shall 
 assist to bring forth this work; and untp three shall 
 they be shown by the power of God." 
 
 43d. He says on page 34: "It is our purpose to 
 prove that the Book of Mormon originated with Solo- 
 mon Spaulding," but on page 139 he calls "Rigdon, the 
 author of the book." 
 
 44th. On page\i4i he says: "Amulek declares 
 that Nephi, and all who went with Lehi were Mannas- 
 sehites, and not Jews at all. Amulek only says, ''Lehi 
 was^a descendant of Mannasseh." See Book of Mor- 
 mon, p. 231. 
 
 45th. On page 141 he says: "On page 375 we are 
 told the devil led Jared and his people." It is not 
 there. 
 
 46th. On page 148, after many falsehoods in regard 
 to the Jaredites, he says: "Sidney did not stop and 
 figure that story out when he wrote it;" but on page 43 
 he says:^ Spaulding "added the Jaredite emigration." 
 
 47th. On page 150 he claims that events recorded 
 on page 136 of the Book of Mormon transpired two 
 hundred and fifty years B. C; but on page 151 he says 
 this page relates to things happening four hundred years 
 B. C. 
 
 48th. On page 151 in trying to make the Book of 
 Mormon to agree with Shakespeare he misquotes the 
 former. 
 
 49th. On page 159 he says, speaking of the Book 
 of Mormon: "It had not a mark of punctuation in it;" 
 but on page 160 he says: "The fabrications of the 
 Book of Mormon copied * * the punctuation of King 
 James' version." 
 
2(}2. BRADEN's mistakes. 
 
 50th. On page 159 he says it .vas ''badly spelled;'^ 
 but Gilbert says, (seep, 382), "The spelling was good." 
 
 51st. On page 161 he tries to make Spaulding out 
 an ignorant man, but on page 75 he says, "he received 
 the degree of A. M. from Dartmouth College." 
 
 52d. On page 161 he says: "It was like Josh 
 Billings' spelling." Gilbert says: "The spelling was 
 good." 
 
 53d. On page 161 he says: "We have proved by 
 historic evidence that Rigdon remodeled Spaulding's 
 manuscript;" but on page 171 he says: "We can trace 
 it no farther back than Joe Smith in 1830." 
 
 54th. On page 2i?i he tells us he expects to prove 
 the Book of Mormon had its origin "about seventy 
 years ago," (1814), then admits his failure on page 171 
 by saying: "From the Tower of Babel to 1830, not a 
 human being knew of the book, or knew a single par- 
 ticle of its pretended history." 
 
 55th. On page 173 he says a certain document was 
 signed by "Sidney Rigdon and eighty-four other lead- 
 ing Mormons," and on same page says, "Rigdon and 
 eighty-three other leading Mormons." 
 
 56th. On page 173 he accuses O. Cowdery of liv- 
 ing in adultery at Nauvoo, when he did not reside there 
 at all. 
 
 57th. On page 180 he says: "The eight witnesses 
 tell us that the leaves Joe had translated were loose, 
 separated from what he had not translated." This is 
 false, as will be seen by reference to their testimony 
 found on page 5. 
 
 58th. On page 180 he tells us that the eight wit- 
 nesses testify that they did not see the plates which 
 were not translated. False again. See p. 5. 
 
braden's mistakes. 263. 
 
 59th. On page 202 he relates what a *'Mr. More- 
 ton, one of the first apostles, told his daughter." There 
 was no man of that name among the first apostles. 
 
 60th. On page 206 he falsely states: *'The Jose- 
 phites publish, and use as their standards, the works of 
 the Pratts and other Utah Mormons." 
 
 6ist. On page 206 he misquotes the Book of Mor- 
 mon on the subject of polygamy. 
 
 62d. On page 214 he falsely states that William 
 Marks was once the editor of ''their (the Josephite) 
 official organ." 
 
 63d. On same page he makes the same false asser- 
 tion in regard to Zenas H. Gurley. 
 
 64th. On page 216 he claims to have produced 
 testimony from Rigdon to the effect ''that Solomon 
 Spaiilding wrote a romance," which can not be found 
 in the book. 
 
 65th. He claims on page 218 to have proved that 
 Cowdery "died a drunken sot, with delirum tremens." 
 This he has not attempted to prove. 
 
 66th. He almost invariably misquotes the Bible. 
 I will ask the reader to read the two passages found on 
 page 222 as samples of his garbling. 
 
 I have not written this to refute the position taken 
 by Mr. Braden; this was neatly and thoroughly done 
 by his opponent. But as Mr. Braden was introduced 
 as a witness in my late debate, and may be so intro- 
 duced again, I write it to show his utter unreliability. 
 I thought first to speak of all his mistakes, but they 
 multiplied so rapidly, I concluded to pass by misrepre- 
 sentation of other books, and confine myself to the 
 book under consideration, and the standard of evidencis. 
 I soon found however that this would have to be 
 
264. braden's mistakes. 
 
 abridged. Then when I had passed through one prop- 
 osition, noting perhaps half of his mistakes, I concluded 
 if I examined the other two, it would be too voluminous 
 to publish, and so conclude. Surely here is enough to 
 accomplish my object. Heman C. Smith. 
 
FOUR PROMINENT MEN, VOUCHED FOR BY 
 OTHERS. TELL WHAT THEY SAW. 
 
 ) 
 
 WISE REVERENDS DIFFER JOSEPH SMITH A VERY 
 
 REMARKABLE YOUTH. 
 
 The Christian Cynosure published by Ezra A. 
 Cook, at Chicago, Illinois, contained in its issue of 
 December 20th, 1877, an article entitled, ''Joseph 
 Smith the Mormon," by the Rev. Samuel D. Green, 
 who says of Smith: ''He saw money deposited by an 
 early settler, who sat down by this river and deposited 
 his money in the earth just where the miller was erect- 
 ing his abutments, some of Smith's believers went and 
 dug for the money and one of the walls fell. The dig- 
 gers were disappointed, and helped rebuild it. This is 
 the only act of mischief I ever heard of him, and of 
 this I never searched the truth, it was a report, and 
 whether true or not, I have no knowledge. 
 
 "There was living in Bethany, a Rev. M. Spauld- 
 ing. * * He had written so-me chronicles on the ruins 
 of Central America and some Bible truths mixed up 
 together. Some early history of the character of the 
 inhabitants, connected with bigamy, etc. Joe Smith 
 and Cochran got some knowledge and borrowed it, and 
 from the help of Spaulding's manuscript they made the 
 Mormon Bible. Rev. Mr. Spaulding called and sent 
 for it a great many times, and his wife came for it, but 
 
266. CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS. 
 
 Smith would not let them have it. Smith told Spauld- 
 ing, and I heard him, that he had made a Mormon 
 Bible of it, and the Lord had taken it into the wilder- 
 ness. And he, Joe Smith, prophesied where it was 
 deposited in Palmyra woods about twelve miles east of 
 Rochester, New York. James Harris was appointed 
 to go and get it. He went and pretended he found it 
 beside a log just where Smith said it was. This is the 
 true history of Joe Smith and the beginning of Mor- 
 monism, and the people who settled at Salt Lake. 
 After Mr. Spaulding died, his wife came east to Mun- 
 son, Massachusetts, while I lived there, to visit her 
 friends or relatives, Dr. McKingsbury's family, my near 
 neighbor." 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE ABOVE. 
 
 ist. As Mr. Green wrote in 1877 and knew Smith 
 was only guilty of one act of mischief, which was but 
 a report; so Smith is clear of all else at least. 
 
 2d, As Mr. Spaulding died in 18 16 as repeatedly 
 published in his wife's letter. Mr. Smith told in 
 Green's presence the name of the Book of Mormon 
 when but eleven years old, as he was born in 1805, and 
 as the plates were not had till 1827, Mr. Smith is made 
 a prophet at eleven years of age. 
 
 3d, Mr. Green being totally ignorant of what he 
 writes, gives the name Cochrane for Cowdery, James 
 Harris for Martin Harris, and McKinsbury for McKin- 
 stry. 
 
 Elder M. T. Short of Millersburg, Illinois, re- 
 viewed the letter of Mr. Green in the issue of the Cyno- 
 sure of July 25th, 1878, of which the editor in an ap- 
 pended statement said: "The above is the history of 
 the Spaulding book from a Mormon standpoint, most 
 
CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS. 267. 
 
 of our readers will recollect the letter from Samuel D. 
 Green in the issue of December 20th, 1877, giving a 
 history of Joe Smith, while stopping at his hotel in 
 Batavia, New York, and the origin of the Book of Mor- 
 mon. Mr. Green saw this Mr. Spaulding as late as 
 1827, knew that he lent his manuscript to Smith and 
 called for its return several times in vain, and heard 
 Smith tell him it was disposed of. The writer of the 
 above would do well to study Mr. Green's letter as it is 
 altogether reliable and its author is yet living in Chel- 
 sea, Massachusetts." 
 
 ''Chelsea, Mass., May 12th, 1879. 
 <'Mr. I. N. White. 
 
 ''Dear Sir: — I send you the Christian Cynosure 
 of the 20th of December, 1877. If you had taken the 
 Cynosure, one of the best, open, candid. Christian 
 papers published, you would long ago know all the 
 questions you asked me. * * I saw Mr. Spaulding as 
 late as 1827 and I have a letter from Wm. Jenkins (now 
 dead) that he saw Spaulding in Attica in 1829, and he 
 wanted to preach there. Another needful you will get 
 from the Cynosure. * * 
 
 "Yours truly, 
 
 "Samuel D. Green. 
 . "P. S.— Send for the 'Broken Seal' to Ezra H. 
 Cook & Co., Chicago, Illinois." 
 
 QUOTATIONS FROM THE BROKEN SEAL. 
 
 "Samuel D. Green, of Chelsea, Massachusetts, a 
 Master Mason, who was a member of Batavia Lodge, 
 to which Morgan belonged, and an intimate friend of 
 Morgan's, and was, at the time of this abduction, 
 mayor or president of Batavia, and a member of the 
 Presbyterian church. 
 
268. CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS. 
 
 "A Masonic Revelation.— Mr. Samuel D. Green 
 is a venerable gentleman of the highest respectability, 
 whose statements seem to be worthy of full credence. 
 The Broken Seal, or, Personal Reminiscences of the 
 Morgan Abduction and Murder, is the title of a book 
 of some three hundred pages iust issued by him, pur- 
 porting to give a full and accurate account, from per- 
 sonal knowledge, of the Morgan 'abduction,' and other 
 Masonic matters which made such an excitement in this 
 country, now almost half a century ago." — Congrega- 
 tionalist and Recorder, Boston. 
 
 "A Book for the Times.— We have received from 
 the publisher a book of thrilling interest, entitled 'The 
 Broken Seal, or, Personal Reminiscences of Samuel D. 
 Green, on the abduction of William Morgan by Free- 
 masons, in 1826,' 
 
 "Mr. Green is an acquaintance of ours. He is a 
 venerable gentleman, of high respectability and intelli- 
 gence, upwards of eighty-two years of age, a member 
 of the Congregational church, and we esteem him as a 
 Christian man," — World's Crisis. 
 
 In the Congregatioilalist of October 24th, 1877, 
 the Rev. Tryon Edwards, D. D., of Philadelphia, tells 
 what he knows about Mormonism; he says: "The 
 Book of Mormon was in substance written by Rev. SjoI- 
 omon Spaulding, who was a graduate of Dartmouth 
 college and a Presbyterian minister, once settled in 
 Cherry Valley, New York, and afterward living in New 
 Salem, (also called Conneaut), Ohio. Beginning in 
 1809, and writing at intervals as he did, he often read 
 parts of the work to his neighbors, and among the lis- 
 teners was Joseph Smith, who not only attended the 
 readings, but borrowed the manuscripts, as he said, to 
 
CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS. 269. 
 
 read to his family at home. In 1812 the completed 
 manuscript was placed in the hands of a printer in 
 Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, by the name of Patterson, with a 
 view to its publication. While the printing was delayed, 
 Mr. Spaulding left Pittsburg, for Washington county, 
 Pennsylvania, where he died in 1816. While the man- 
 uscript was in the hands of Patterson, Sidney Rigdon 
 was working for him as a journeyman printer, and it is 
 supposed that he, having copied the manuscript, with 
 Smith concoted the idea of the new religion!!!" 
 
 MEDITATIVE OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Mr. Smith who was born December 23d, 1805, 
 must have been a very interested listener to the reading 
 of the manuscript, which was completed ''in 1812," 
 and ''placed in the hands of a printer." And with 
 what elegance he must have read it to "his family!" 
 Not many boys of seven have a family. The vilifiers 
 of Joseph Smith often make him more remarkable than 
 his friends do. 
 
 But Mr. Edwards places Mr. Green in a bad fix, 
 as Spaulding died in 1816 he says, while Green saw 
 Spaulding in 1827, Mr. Green having heard Smith tell 
 Spaulding he "made a Mormon Bible out of it," (man- 
 uscript) and as Spaulding died in 1816, Smith was a 
 literary wonder at eleven years of age. 
 
 In the Detroit Tribune of February ist, 1872, ap- 
 peared an article entitled, "The Mormon Church." 
 The writer, J. F. D., mentions a celebrated discussion 
 held in New York City, in 1836 or 1837, at which he 
 was present, and of whichhesays: "It was shown that 
 Mr. Spaulding, from reading the discoveries made by 
 Mr. Stephens and others in Central America, was led 
 
2 JO. CONTKADICTORV STATEMENTS. 
 
 to select the subject of his novel/' Mr. Stephens says; 
 "Being entrusted with a special confidential mission to 
 Central America, on Wednesday, October 3d, 1839, I 
 embarked on board the British Brig, Mary Ann, for the 
 bay of Honduras." See Stephen's work. Vol. i, chap. 
 I, p. 9. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM **LIFE OF KIT CARSON," BY JOHN 
 S. C. ABBOTT. 
 
 Mr. Abbott introduces one Wm. E. Goodyear, 
 and vouches for his intelligence and veracity; inserts a 
 letter from him in which he says: "In the year 1852, 
 I, then a young man, in all the vigor of early youth, 
 and of unusual health and strength, when the wildest 
 _*dventures were pleasure, was led by peculiar circum- 
 stances to undertake a trip across the continent. * * 
 We reached the Great Salt Lake, the home of the Mor- 
 mons, in safety. Here we remained for nearly a 
 month. I called on Brighara Young and also on the 
 old patriarch Joe Smith; from the latter, I received a 
 commission, or power of attorney, for the consideration 
 two dollars, authorizing me to heal the sick, to raise 
 the dead, and to speak all languages. Perhaps my 
 want of faith left me as powerless as other men, notwith- 
 standing my commission."— pp. 286-292. 
 
 The old patriarch, Joe Smith, as he is here vulgarly 
 called, died at Nauvoo, Illinois, September 4th, 1840, 
 and Hyrum had succeeded him, he being killed in 1844, 
 and beside there has been no man of that name among 
 the Brighamites as patriarch to this day Seeing a man 
 who had been dead twelve years is but a small item in 
 lying on the Mormons. 
 
CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS. 27 1. 
 
 JOHN L. HILDRETH DEAD. ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN 
 
 MEN IN THE WEST DIES IN PUEBLO — LIFE OF THE 
 
 MAN WHO LOST THREE FORTUNES 
 
 CAUSE OF HIS DEATH. 
 
 Special to The News • 
 
 PuEBLo, Colo., Feb. i8th, 1894. — John L. Hil- 
 dreth died this evening, aged seventy years. Deceased 
 had a very adventurous life in California, Colorado, 
 and the west generally, until about twenty years ago. 
 In 1849, with his parents and the family, he went to 
 California, from Hannibal, Missouri, and ^from Salt 
 Lake his party were guided by Joseph Smith, after- 
 wards chief prophet of the Mormon church. They 
 suspicioned treachery on the part of Smith, however, 
 and sent him back. In their party were the Oatman 
 family, who got tired of the slow progress of the train 
 one day, and pushed aliead. They were killed in the 
 Mountain Meadow massacre and their wagons were 
 burning when the Hildreth party came on the scene. — 
 Rocky Mountain News, February i8th, 1894. 
 
 Joseph Smith, the chief prophet of the Mormon 
 church, never was west farther than Missouri, and had 
 been dead over four years when this well known man 
 saw him. The Mountain Meadow Massacre was in 
 1857, think of these poor people eight years in transit, 
 how tired they must have been! 
 
 EXTRACT FROM THE '^VILD WEST, PUBLISHED 
 BY R. S. PEALE, 1888. 
 
 This purports to be an account of a dialogue be- 
 tween one Simpson, leader of U. S. Army train, and 
 Joseph Smith, in 1857. Simpson asks: '* 'But who 
 are you?' T am Joe Smith,' was the reply. 'What! 
 
272. CONIRADICTORV STATEMENTS. 
 
 the leader of the Danites?' asked Simpson. 'You are 
 correct,' said Smith. * * 'What do you propose to d6 
 with us now?' 'I intend to burn your train. * * I have 
 no way to convey the stuff to my people, I'll see that it 
 does not reat:h the U. S. troops.' " — pp. 436-9. 
 
 The name "Joe Smith," as well as the phrase "my 
 people," shows it was the man who was killed in 1844, 
 thirteen years before. Beside there has been no Joe 
 Smith at the head of the Utah church or its Danite band ! 
 
 JOSEPH SMITH'S WIVES— WRITERS VARY. 
 
 Ann Eliza says Smith lived with eleven girls as 
 adopted daughters. 
 
 "Joseph Smith had a dozen spiritual wives; but 
 three sons survived him — all of his legal wife." — Beadle 
 
 P- 375- 
 
 "Joe Smith had over forty wives at Nauvoo, and 
 yet the number of his offspring fell far short of even 
 that of Young." — Smucker p. 416. 
 
 F. D. Richards, apostle and assistant historian 
 in behalf of the Utah Mormon church, whose all de- 
 pends upon the matter, says: "In a chapter furnished 
 a book, entitled "What the W^orld Believes," page 600, 
 "It is well understood among the Latter Day Saints 
 that Joseph Smith and many other prominent members 
 of the church married or had sealed to them several 
 wives. Joseph Smith's first wife was Emma Hale, who 
 was married to him January i8th, 1827. Of the names 
 or number of his other wives, as also dates of their mar- 
 riage to him, we are not informed." Richards has seen 
 the fixing of names and dates go to the wall too often to 
 do so. 
 
EXTRACTS FROM SIX U. S. HISTORIES, 
 
 COMPARED WITH EACH OTHER 
 
 AND WITH FACTS. 
 
 "The Mormons or Latter Day Saints, are a relig- 
 ious sect, founded in New York State in 1830, * * 
 afterward moved to Utah. The founder of this sect 
 was Joseph Smith, who pretended to preach a new gos- 
 pel. He published 'his revelation' as the 'Book of 
 Mormon,' which he induced a small number of fanatics 
 to accept as a New Bible. The sect located first in 
 Ohio, in 183 1, and next at Independence, Missouri, 
 where their religious law brought them into conflict with 
 the civil authorities. In consequence of this, they 
 moved, in 1838, to Illinois, where the legislature gave 
 theni a charter for a city, Nauvoo. Here Smith set the 
 example of polygamous marriages, and polygamy be- 
 came the practice of the leaders, though not adopted 
 by the Mormon church as a part of their creed until 
 later. This custom and numerous depredations upon 
 property, brought the Mormons into trouble with the 
 authorities of Illinois. Joseph Smith was shot in a riot, 
 (1844). Brigham Young took Smith's place at the 
 head of the church, and under Young's leadership most 
 of the Mormons emigrated to the vicinity of Great Salt 
 Lake, in Utah, (1847-8)." Extract from California 
 State Series History of the U. S., pp. 262-3. 
 
2 74- HISTORIES COMPARED. 
 
 The errors in the above are, first, Joseph Smith 
 did not pretend to preach a new gospel, but that of 
 the New Testament which is old; second, about two 
 hundred thousand accepted the Book of Mormon as 
 true and divine, instead of a ''few fanatics;*' third, 
 the Book of Mormon was never presented as a Bible, 
 either new or old, but as distinct from the Bible as are 
 the continents from each other; fourth, their relig- 
 ious views did not bring them into conflict with the 
 Missourians. President Van Buren said, "Your cause 
 is just." — Beadle, p. 60; fifth, Joseph Smith did not 
 establish polygamy; all his life's labors were opposed to 
 it, as shown in the recent decision by Judge Philips in 
 the Temple Lot case; sixth, Joseph Smith was not shot 
 in a riot, but in jail. Jail and riot are hardly synony- 
 mous. 
 
 "The trouble in Utah was with the Mormons. 
 This sect, known as Mormons or Latter Day Saints, 
 tolerating a plurality of wives, arose some time before. 
 Joseph Smith was the founder. He was born in 1805, 
 in Vermont, of humble origin. He removed with his 
 father when quite a boy to the neighborhood of Pal- 
 myra, New York. The family was of that thriftless 
 class who made a livelihood by hunting, trapping, well- 
 digging and peddling cakes and beer. He pretended 
 to have received his call as a 'prophet' in 1823, by a 
 divine revelation. The revelation was made to Mor- 
 mon, a former prophet, and it wa-s called the Book of 
 Mormon, and hence t-he name of the sect. But it wa5 
 not till 1830 that Mormonism began to take shape as a 
 distinct sect; a considerable number of accesions was 
 soon made to its ranks. At Kirtland, Ohio, and Inde- 
 pendence, Missouri, settlements were established. But 
 
HISTORIES COMPARKD. 275. 
 
 public opinion soon drove them from Missouri and 
 Ohio. They migrated to Illinois in 1839, and built the 
 city of Nauvoo. * * Within the space of two years, 
 two thousand houses were constructed. After a short 
 while, ill feeling was engendered betwixt then} and the 
 people of the neighborhood, whk^h threatened to result 
 in a conflict of arms. On this perturbed state of things 
 Smith himself was apprehended, lodged in jail, and 
 while there killed by a mob in June, 1844." — Alex. H. 
 Stephens, Pictorial History of the U. S., 1882 edition 
 published by National Publishing Co., Chicago. 111. 
 
 First, this account is short the usual tale, of water 
 witching, digging for treasures, sheep stealing, etc., but the 
 "peddling of beer and cakes" makes up the deficiency! 
 Second, * 'A considerable number of accessions was soon 
 made to its ranks," while the previous one had it "a few 
 fanatics." They disagree! Third,. ''Ill feeling was 
 engendered, * * Smith himself was apprehended, 
 lodged in jail and while there killed by a mob in June, 
 1844." That is a very general statement which preju- 
 dice decides against Smith. Eighteen hundred years 
 ago, ill feeling was engendered. Christ was appre- 
 hended, lodged in several places, and killed by a mob. 
 Fourth, By comparison of these two extracts and the 
 following, by Bryant, it is clearly seen that history on 
 the matter has been very carelessly written. 
 
 "In the autumn of 1857 the defiant resolution of 
 the Mormons in Utak compelled the president to re- 
 move the governor, Brigham Young, and appoint 
 Alfred Cumming, an officer of the army his successor. 
 * * Driven first from Missouri to Illinois in 1838, and 
 thence, ten years afterwards into the wilderness, they 
 sought a resting place and refuge in what was then 
 
276. HISTORIES COMPARED. 
 
 called 'The Great American Desert.' * * In after years 
 the treacherous temper of their chief saints had imposed 
 the system of polygamy as a latter revelation to Smith." 
 — pp. 427-8, Bryant's Popular History U. S., published 
 1881, byChas. Scribner, N. Y. 
 
 "The immorality of the Mormon doctrines, among 
 which, that of polygamy, or the allowing of a plurality 
 of wives, was prominent, recommended them to some, 
 and in 1833, Smith found himself at the head of twelve 
 hundred followers. Jackson county, Missouri, became 
 their headquarters. * * They crossed to Illinois,, * * 
 founded the city of Nauvoo. * * At last, Joseph Smith, 
 still the leading spirit among the Mormons, was arrested, 
 and with his brother, lodged in jail at Carthage. Here 
 on the 7th of July, 1844, they were killed by a mob 
 which broke into the prison." — Quackenbos, History 
 U. S., published by D. Appleton & Co., N. Y.. 1875. 
 
 This reckless writer charges polygamy as leading to 
 the success attained in 1833. Bitter enemies as well as 
 conclusive evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 The killing of the Smiths he gives as July 7th, whereas 
 it was June 27th. This could hardly be a typographi- 
 cal error, and shows extreme recklessness. 
 
 "Being expelled from Ohio, in 1838, and from 
 Missouri in 1839, Smith attempted to introduce polyg- 
 amy in the Mormon belief when they settled at Nauvoo, 
 Illinois, but was strongly opposed by certain of the 
 community, who established a 'press and published 
 opposition articles. Smith headed a mob which demol- 
 ished this press, but this act cost the prophet his life." 
 — Eclectic History U. S., by M. E. Thalheimer, pub- 
 lished by Antwerp, Bragg & Co., Cincinnati and New 
 York. Article on the Mormons and Joseph Smith. 
 
HISTORIES COMPARKD, 277. 
 
 While Quackenbos, the last examined, set forth 
 polygamy as existing before 1833, this one places its 
 introduction after 1839. Smith did not introduce 
 polygamy, neither did he head the mob that demol- 
 ished the press. 
 
 "Mormonism gives its followers license to commit 
 every crime that may be sanctioned by the leading 
 prophet, especially does it, by allowing polygamy, de- 
 grade and demoralize women. * * But murders, rob- 
 beries and other secret crimes became frequent in their 
 neighborhood. The surrounding people were enraged; 
 the Mormon prophet and his brother were seized by 
 the state officers, and confined in jail at Carthage. A 
 hundred armed men in disguise broke in and murdered 
 them. * * .The Rev. Mr. Spaulding wrote the Book of 
 Mormon as a work of imagination." — History of the 
 U. S., by Emma Willard, published by A. S. Barnes & 
 Co., 1870. 
 
 In the above no distinction is made at all between 
 the career of Smith and Young. It is now a matter of 
 United States Court decision in Temple Lot case that 
 Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were widely different. 
 None of the above allegations were true as occurring 
 under Smith's presidency and sanction. See part 3, 
 chapters 6 and 7, and on last clause chapter 4 of same. 
 These six examined show a queer medley of history for 
 the proud nation of United States. 
 
ENCYCLOPEDIAS EXAMINED. 
 
 Extracts from, and Brief Comment on, American 
 Encyclopedia of 1863 and 1875. Britannica of 
 1863, (Scribner^s) 1844, (Stoddart's) and that 
 of 1890, (Peale's). Johnson's of 1888 and 1891. 
 Columbia of 1891. Constituting Four Leading 
 Encyclopedias and Eight Editions. 
 
 The comments or references to evidences, showing 
 their errors, are notes numbered i, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 
 and g; to avoid needless repetition they appear conse- 
 cutively and reference is made to them farther on as 
 occasion requires. 
 
 Chambers' edition of 1881 has the only fair account 
 of the origin, rise and development of the Latter Day 
 Saints. Subsequent editions not now at hand for com- 
 pari'[?on evidently are identical. It is a credit to Cham- 
 bers, that an attempt to give facts was made, whereas 
 the others have been made up from trashy stories on 
 Mormonism, and from each other. 
 
 American Encyclopedia, by D. Appleton & Co., 
 1863, Vol. II, p. 733: "From the testimony of their 
 neighbors in Palmyra, the reputation of the Smiths was 
 bad. They avoided honest labor, and occupied them- 
 selves chiefly in digging for hidden treasures, and in 
 similar visionary pursuits. They were intemperate and 
 
ENCYCLOPEDIAS EXAMINED. 279. 
 
 untruthful, and were commonly suspected of sheep 
 stealing and other offences. Upward of sixty of the 
 most respectable citizens of Wayne county, testified, in 
 1833, under oalh, that the Smith family, were of im- 
 moral, false, and fraudulent character, and that Joseph 
 was the worst of them. These statements are not in 
 general, contradicted by the Mormons." (See note i 
 at close of quotation). 
 
 Referring to the testimony of the three witnesses, 
 Harris, Cowdery and Whitmer, to the Book of Mor- 
 mon, says: "Several years afterward, however, all 
 three of the witnesses quarreled with Smith, renounced 
 Monnonism, and avowed the falsity of their testimony." 
 (See note 2). 
 
 Pages 735-740: "According to the opponents of 
 Mormonism, from investigations soon after the appear- 
 ance of the 'Book of Mormon, the fact is fully estab 
 lished that the real author of the work was Solomon 
 Spaulding, who was born in Ashford, Connecticut, in 
 1761, was graduated at Dartmouth College, and after- 
 ward ordained." * * (See note 3). "As eaily as 1813 
 this work was announced in the newspapers as forth- 
 coming, and as containing a translation of the Book of 
 Mormon. (See note 4). Spaulding entitled his book 
 'Manuscript Found,' and intended to publish with it by 
 way of preface or advertisement, a fictitious account of 
 its discovery in a cave in Ohio. * * John Spaulding, 
 a brother of Solomon, says in a deposition: 'I made 
 him (Solomon Spaulding) a visit about three years 
 after and found that he had failed,^ and was consider- 
 ably involved in debt. He then told me he had been 
 writing a book, which he intended to have printed, the 
 avails of which he thought would enable him to pay all 
 
2S0. ENCYCLOPEDrAS EXAMINED. 
 
 his debts. The book was entitled "Manuscript Found," 
 of which he read to me many passages. * * By what 
 means it has fallen into the hands of Joseph Smith, I 
 am unable to determine ' Martha Spaulding, the wife 
 of John Spaulding, Henry Lake, the partner in busi- 
 ness of Solomon Spaulding, and many others corrobor- 
 ated these statements in the fullest manner. John N. 
 Miller of Springfield, Pennsylvania, testified in Septem- 
 ber, 1833, that in 181 1 he was in the employ of Spauld- 
 ing, and lodged and boarded in his house, and frequent- 
 ly perused portions of the 'Manuscript Found,' which 
 the author also sometimes read to him. Miller says: 
 'I have recently examined the Book of Mormon and 
 find in it the writings of Solomon Spaulding from be- 
 ginning to end, but mixed up with Scripture and other 
 religious matter, which I did not meet in the "Manu- 
 script Found." Many of the passages in the Book of 
 Mormon are verbatim from Spaulding and others in 
 part. (See note 5). The names of Nephi, Lehi, 
 Moroni, and in fact all the principal names are brought 
 fresh to my recollection by the gold bible.' " (See 
 note 6). 
 
 Encyclopedia Britannica, ninth edition, J. M. Stod- 
 dart & Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1884, Vol. 16, 
 p. 852: *'Smith was born December 23d, 1805, at 
 Sharon, Windsor county, Vermont, from which place 
 ten years later, his parents, a poor, ignorant, thriftless, 
 and not too honest couple, removed to New York, 
 where they settled on a farm near Palmyra, Wayne 
 county, (then Ontario)." (See note i). Speaking of 
 Harris, Cowdery and Whitmer, as witnesses and their 
 testimony found in Book of Mormon, says: "This tes- 
 timony, all three on renouncing Mormonism some 
 
ENCYCI-OPEDIAS EXAMINED. 261. 
 
 years later, denounced as false; (see note 2), but mean- 
 while it helped Smith to impose on the credulous, par- 
 ticularly in the absence of the gold plates themselves 
 which suddenly and mysteriously disappeared." "This 
 is Smith's account of the book, but in reality it was 
 written in 1812 as an historical romance by one Solo- 
 mon Spaulding, a cracked brained preacher, and the 
 manuscript falling into the hands of an unscrupulous 
 compositor, Sidney Rigdon, was copied by him and 
 subsequently given to Smith." (See note 7 at close of 
 this). 
 
 The ninth edition, by Scribner, of 1883 and that of 
 R. S. Peale & Co. of 1890 are identical. 
 
 Johnson's Encyclopedia, issued 1888, Vol. 7, p. 
 304: "Joseph Smith was born at Sharon, Vermont, 
 December 23d, 1805, removed while a child, with his 
 parents, to Palmyra, New York, where he grew up 
 almost without education, leading an idle and rather 
 disreputable life, (see note i), and about 1828 began 
 to put forth vague claims as the founder of a new relig- 
 ion, or rather as the restorer of the original true faith." 
 Of the ttrree witnesses to the Book of Mormon, says: 
 "Subsequently all three of the witnesses fell out with 
 Smith and declared the whole matter to be a hoax." 
 (See note 2). "There can be no doubt that the Book cf 
 Mormon was a kind of historical romance, written 
 nearly twenty years before by Samuel Spaulding, at 
 one time a clergyman." (See note 5). 
 
 Vol. 5, page 540: "It was soon proved beyond 
 doubt that the Book of Mormon was simply a sort of 
 historical romance written in 1812, by one Solomon 
 Spaulding * * and that the manuscript became lost in 
 a printing ofifice in Pittsburg, under the hands of an 
 
282. ENCYCLOPEDIAS EXAMINED. 
 
 apprentice, Sidney Rigdon, vvho in 1829 became an as- 
 sociate of Joseph Smith." (See note 7). Describing 
 Brigham Young, it says: "The whole success of the sect 
 and all the elements of respectability are due to him, 
 whil^ all its miseries and all its excesses had their roots 
 in Joseph Smith's character." 
 
 Mr. Johnson, appreciating Brigham's career as re- 
 spectable, would of course set forth Joseph Smith's the 
 reverse as they were opposites. No one will deny Mr. 
 Johnson the right of choice. What of the Reorganiza- 
 tion that Mr. Johnson entirely ignores? Johnson's 
 reissue of 1891 is identical with the above. 
 
 The Columbian Encyclopedia by Garretson, Cox 
 & Co., New York, 1891, Vol. 20, article Mormon: 
 "Joseph Smith was born in 1805, at Sharon, Windsor 
 county, Vermont, son of a farmer. His parents were 
 ignorant and of low repute. * * The reputation of the 
 family is said to have been of the worst kind; we are 
 told that they avoided honest labor, were intemperate, 
 untruthful, and suspected of sheep stealing and other 
 offenses." (See note i). "There is the most satisfac- 
 tory evidence — that of his enemies — to show>that from 
 an early period he was regarded as a visionary and a 
 fanatic." (Note 8). "The Book of Mormon finally 
 appeared before the world in 1830 with the names of 
 Cowdery, Harris and Whitmer appended to a statement 
 that an angel from God came down from heaven and 
 showed them the original plates, a statement which, a 
 few years later, was declared false by all three witnes- 
 ses." (Note 2). "The so called Book of Mormon 
 was really borrowed or stolen nearly verbatim from a 
 manuscript historical romance written in 1812, by 
 a quondam clergyman, Solomon Spaulding, a man of 
 
ENCYCLOPEDIAS EXAMINED. 283. 
 
 some gifts but of unbalanced mind, who died in 1816. 
 The Mormons of course declare the whole story of 
 Spaulding's manuscript romance a scandalous fabrica- 
 tion. While the death of those who could have testi- 
 fied to the facts prevents the evidence of Spaulding's 
 authorship from being absolutely conclusive, nothing 
 has ever been shown disproving it." (See note 5 again). 
 Of settlement in Missouri in 1831, says: "Land was 
 largely bought, preaching was vigorously carried on, a 
 printing press was established, * * everywhere was 
 visible a spirit of industry, sobriety, order, and clean- 
 liness. It is only fair to the Mormons to state these 
 things. Account for it as we may, they were in many 
 important respects, morally, socially and industrially, 
 far in advance of their neighbors." (Note 9). '^1832, 
 March 22d, a mob of Methodists, Baptists, Disciples, 
 and miscellaneous zealots broke into the prophet's 
 house, tore him from his wife's arras, * * and tarred 
 and feathered him." 
 
 This last item shows clearly why Smith and his co- 
 workers were held to be such bad fellows; having ex* 
 hausted all else to down them and their cause, tar and 
 FEATHERS was rcsortcd to by this religious mob. Sev- 
 eral extracts from Bancroft in part 3, chapter 6, set 
 forth the same facts. Those who would descend to tar 
 and feathers, would also malign and vilify. Lies go 
 swiftly but truth wins in the end. 
 
 Note i. — The statements referred to have been 
 denied all along the line for sixty years by Mormons, 
 and proved untrue from various sources and at divers 
 times and places. See Facts from Painsville, Mur- 
 dock's protest, and interview of citizens of Palmyra, 
 New York. Part 3, chapter 3 of this work. 
 
284. ENCYCLOPEDIAS EXAMINED. 
 
 Note 2. - Never, in a single instance, did either of 
 the three deny their testimony; even after they stood 
 aloof from the church, and at death all reaffirmed their 
 testimony. See chapter 14, Book Unsealed. 
 
 Note 3. — Mrs. Spaulding in 1834 delivered to 
 Hurlbut the manuscript so it could be published. See 
 part 3, chapter 4 of this work. '"The Spaulding Manu- 
 script Story in Brief." 
 
 Note 4. — Spaulding according to this was to trans- 
 late the Book of Mormon fourteen years before Joseph 
 Smith procured the plates, and seven years before he 
 first saw them, and when Smith was but eight years of 
 age. Lying may yet be found a good thing, but it cer- 
 tainly was overdone in this case. 
 
 Note 5. — -AVhat a miserable, reckless liar this Mil- 
 ler .must have been. Howe did not publish the manu- 
 script because "it did not read like we expected, and 
 we did not use it." See part 3, chapter 4 again, espec- 
 ially the comparison made by Fairchild and Rice, also, 
 that John N. Miller's name is in the postscript as 
 witness to the verity of manuscript as Spaulding's. 
 
 Note 6. — Reference same as in notes 3 and 5, the 
 reader will notice that Rice and P&irchild say: "There 
 seems to be no name or incident common to the two." 
 ''There is no identity of names, of persons or places, 
 and there is no similarity of style between them." 
 
 Note 7. — This date, 1829, is unfortunately late, as 
 the manuscript of Book of Mormon was delivered to 
 the printer in August, 1829. Mr. Braden in his vast 
 research attending the labor of four debates with 
 Elder E. L. Kelley, takes the position that 1827 was 
 the best time to bring Smith and Rigdon together. 
 Smith's home was Palmyra, New York; Rigdon in Ohio, 
 
ENCYCLOPEDIAS EXAMINED. . 285, 
 
 several hundreds of miles apart and no railroads or 
 even stage lines direct. Rigdon's whereabouts for 1827 
 as given by Kelley in the Laraoni, Iowa, debate: '*My 
 first date is January, 1827, Rigdon is at Mantua, O., 
 Hayden's History, p. 237; February 27th, at Chester, 
 O.; March and April, protracted meeting at Mentor, 
 O.; June 5-7, Painsville, O., probate records; July 
 3- [2, Mentor, O., probate records; July 19, Men- 
 tor, O.; August 23, New Lisbon, O. ; Hayden pp. 
 55-57; September, returns home to Mentor, O.; Octo- 
 ber 9, Mentor, O.; October last part, Warren, O.; 
 Hayden, p. 59; November, New Lisbon, Hayden, pp. 
 72-76; December 6, Kirtland, O., probate records; 
 December 13, Concord, O., probate records." See 
 also part 3, chapter 5 of this work. 
 
 Note 8. — "There is the most satisfactory evidence, 
 that of his enemies." Is not that a brilliant view 
 of evidence? No juror is admitted who has formed 
 an opinion on a case! Whose reputation or character 
 on earth, or the angels of heaven either, would be safe 
 from this point of view? Shame on such work. 
 
 Note 9. — The date given is 1831, remember. This 
 strong statement from an opposing witness, showing 
 the virtues of this people in advance of those surround- 
 ing them, nicely offsets much of the villainous lying that 
 has been done. Joseph Smith being an honorable, 
 honest, conscientious, God-fearing man, gathered such 
 around him. See also extract from Bancroft's New 
 History of Utah, p. 164, as found in part 3, chapter 6 
 of this work. 
 
 Let those who fight Joseph Smith so hard and prove 
 nothing against him, consider Moses who slew theFgyp- 
 tian, and David who placed Uriah in front of battle. 
 
286. ENCYCLOPEDIAS EXAMINED. 
 
 and this also: "The smoke ascending from the funeral 
 pile of Servetus was a witness of the stain upon the 
 character of John Calvin that all the special pleading 
 of men can not remove. The followers of Calvin or 
 Knox forget to tell the world that the former burned 
 Servetus. The Presbyterian of today would quickly 
 resent the insult offered his faith, were we to tell him 
 that Presbyterianism sanctioned murder. He would 
 suddenly discover that individual unholy acts did not 
 condemn the doctrines held by the transgressor, unless 
 they were the legitimate consequence of them." Even 
 of our good Mr. Wesley it is related that: "He was 
 accused of diverting the people from labor, (while 
 laboring as a missionary at Savannah, Georgia,), of 
 fomenting divisions, of claiming high and unwarranted 
 ecclesiastical authority. His conduct towards a neice 
 of one of the principal settlers, (a Miss Williams), was 
 highly resented by her friends. Thirteen indictments 
 for alleged offences, were found against him, but be- 
 fore the time of trial he returned to England, (left 
 under cover of his friends at night,) and therefor many 
 years pursued a successful and distinguished career of 
 piety and usefulness." — History of the United States, 
 by Wiley, published in 1830, in New York. 
 
REFERENCES RELATIVE TO THE REORGAN- 
 IZED CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST 
 OF LATTER DAY SAINTS. 
 
 Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. i6, p. 828: *'A1- 
 ready there are not wanting signs of approaching disso- 
 lution, of which, perhaps, the most significant is the 
 conference of the 'Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ 
 of Latter Day Saints,' held on the 6th of April, 1883, 
 at Kirtland, Lake county, Ohio. This sect originated 
 in 185 1, seven years after the death of Joseph Smith, 
 when several officers of the church met and claimed to 
 have received a revelation from God, directing them to 
 repudiate Brigham Young as not being the divinely 
 appointed and legitimate successor of Joseph Smith, 
 and as being the promulgator of such false doctrines as 
 polygamy, Adam God worship and the right to shed 
 the blood of apostates. * 
 
 "Nothing of special importance occurred, how- 
 ever, until i860, when Joseph Smith, jr., the eldest son 
 of the founder of the faith, became identified with the 
 Reorganized Church as its president. Since then the 
 seceders have prosecuted misssionary work throughout 
 the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Scandinavia^, 
 Switzerland, Australia and the Society Islands, until 
 their communicants are said to number over twenty- 
 seven thousand. Their headquarters are at Lamoni, 
 
288. REFERENCES TO REORGANIZED CHURCH. 
 
 Iowa, to which place they removed from Piano, Illinois, 
 1881. 
 
 *'The Reorganized Church holds that the legiti- 
 mate successor to Joseph Smith was his eldest son; that 
 the allegation that Smith introduced polygamy on the 
 strength of divine revelation was an invention of Brig 
 ham Young; that the Utah Church has departed griev- 
 ously from the faith and practices laid down in the 
 Book of Mormon and subsequent revelations of Joseph 
 Smith, and that the Reorganized Church is the only 
 true and lawful continuation of and successor to the 
 the original church and as such is legally entitled to all 
 that church's property and rights; and it was to cele- 
 brate the decision of the United States' Court of Ohio, 
 confirming this last claim, and vesting in them the right 
 to the temple consecrated in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1836, 
 and for nearly forty years disused, owing to litigation, 
 that the Reorganized church met in that temple on the 
 6th of April, 1883.'' 
 
 The above is from edition of 1883, that of 1890, 
 by Peale, being identical. 
 
 ''A portion of the Mormons reject polygamy, and 
 do not approve of Brigham Young or of the church in 
 Utah. Joseph Smith, the son of the prophet, is re- 
 garded by them as the true living head of the church, 
 and under his direction they have established them- 
 selves at Nauvoo."— American Encyclopedia, issues of 
 1863 and 1875. The supplement for 1894 has the first 
 article as furnished by the Reorganization, all hitherto 
 being refused though different encyclopedias were furn- 
 ished copy. * 
 
 ''The great social peculiarity of the sect is their 
 practice of polygamy. It was not so, however, at first. 
 
REFERENCES 1 REORGANIZED CHURCH. 289. 
 
 Rigdon, Kimball, Pratt, Hyde and Young, are its true 
 originators. Emma, wife and widow of the prophet 
 Smith, stoutly denied that her husband ever had any wife 
 but herself: Young's 'revelation' she declared to be a 
 fraud, and in consequence she withdrew to Nauvoo. 
 Her four sons followed her, and have now founded a 
 monogamic Mormon community, called the Josephites, 
 but naming themselves the Reorganized Church of Jesus 
 Christ of Latter Day Saints." 
 
 The above is from the Columbia Encyclopedia of 
 1891. Chambers of 1891 being identical as to facts 
 and almost verbatim in word. 
 
 the difference stated officially. 
 
 "Department of State, }^ 
 "Washington, April 4, (88;^. \ 
 
 "Messrs. Joseph Smith and Z. H. Gurley, 
 
 Committe, etc., Lamoni, Iowa, 
 "Gentlemen: — I have to acknowledge your com- 
 munication of the 23d of February last in regard to a 
 circular letter issued by the Hon. W. M. Evarts, when 
 Secretary of State, to the diplomatic agents of this 
 country abroad, requesting foreign Governments to dis- 
 criminate against the emigration of Mormon converts 
 to the United States, and you ask that a distinction be 
 made between the polygamous Mormons of Utah, and 
 the non-polygamous Mormons of the Reformed Church 
 to which you belong. In reply, I have to say that Mr. 
 Evarts' circular was directed against polygamy, and in- 
 tended to warn those persons abroad who emigrated to 
 this country for the purpose of joining polygamous 
 communities that they would thereby expose themselves 
 to the operation of the penal laws of the United States. 
 
290. REFERENCES TO REORGANIZED CHURCH. 
 
 It is contrary to the practice of this government to give 
 by circular, as is proposed, any sanction or indorse- 
 ment of a specific form of belief. 
 
 ''It is for the agents of any religion to make known 
 its character. Law-abiding emigrants are secure 
 against interference. I am, gentlemen, 
 "Your obliging servant, 
 
 ''Frederick T. Frelinghuysen." 
 
 Governor Murray says in The North American 
 Review for January, 1884: "The Mormons known as 
 the 'Reorganized Church,' are entitled to the respect of 
 all, and that Church recognizes and receives in com- 
 mon with all others, every protection under the consti- 
 tutional guarantee. But polygamous Mormonism, 
 which has overridden the Constitution, nullified Feder- 
 al legislation, and defied the Government, has made of 
 Utah a deformed child." 
 
 KNOWN FAVORABLY THROUGH THE PRESS. 
 
 Of very, many collected, the author of this work 
 has had difficulty in confining himself to the few 
 notices of the press given. The first thought was to 
 present one from each paper; that being precluded the 
 next was one from each locality, but finally they are 
 passed by from east, west, north and south, and only 
 the few that follow selected. 
 
 History Decatur county, Iowa, pp. 513, 514, says 
 of President Joseph Smith of the Reorganize*! Church: 
 "His youth was passed amid trials, sorrows and afflic- 
 tions that would have embittered one of less noble char- 
 acter against thc^vorld. His life has been saddened by 
 the events of those years, but his manhood has not 
 deteriorated, and it may be that the persecution of his 
 
REFERENCES TO REORGANIZED CHURCH. 29I. 
 
 family, which did not end with the death of his father, 
 has had much to do with forming his character. No 
 semblance of intolerance has place there. The same 
 liberty of action and thought he exercises himself, he 
 freely accords to all. * * In religion, loyal to the faith 
 of his father, he recognizes in every worker of good, a 
 brother. As a citizen, no man outranks him in fealty 
 to the government. As a man, his character of honor 
 and integrity stands unquestioned. * * He has with 
 others labored diligently, * * has seen the church 
 over which he presides grow from a handful, obscure 
 and unpopular, into a body of persistent workers of 
 many thousands of honest, honorable men, known and 
 loved of their neighbors, and loyal to their country." 
 
 The Kendall County Record said of President 
 Joseph Smith's departure, when removing to Lamoni, 
 Iowa, in October, 1881: "Mr. Smith leaves Piano, 
 but carries the good will of Piano's citizens with him. 
 He has lived' here for the past fifteen years, and has 
 always borne the reputation of a good citizen. Always 
 to be found on the side of right, he maintained his pos- 
 ition to the end, and goes to his future home with sad 
 farewells and good wishes of his many friends." 
 
 Iowa contains more of the members of the Reor- 
 ganized Latter Day Saint Church than aay other state. 
 The leading paper of the state says editorially: ''The 
 Reorganized Mormon church under President Smith not 
 only refrains from endorsing polygamy, but is perhaps 
 the most alert and active enemy that the abomination 
 has. As a church under this president, it is as much 
 entitled to recognition and public favor as any of the 
 many churches of the day, so far as honesty of purpose 
 and action are concerned." — Register, March 20, 1887. 
 
292. REFERENCES TO REORGANIZED CHURCH. 
 
 The Cleveland Herald says of the Reorganized 
 Church in conference, April 1883, under date of April 
 6th: *'The flood-gates were lifted this morning, and 
 the deluge of praise and thanksgiving, of reminiscence 
 and story, that for ten days is to envelop Kirtland, 
 came down in full force. All day yesterday and all 
 through today the crowds have poured in until this 
 little village is full. * * Although many more are ex- 
 pected, enough are already present to comfortably fill 
 the spacious audience room. As a class, the Mormons 
 gathered within the old temple this afternoon were as 
 fine a looking religious body of men and women as ever 
 gathered together. Many of them saw the interior of 
 the old temple for the first time in over forty years. To 
 others it was the first realization to them of the famil- 
 iar story of the early struggles of their fathers in the 
 faith, when the Church was in its infancy." 
 
 Under date of the 7th it says: *'To say the open- 
 ing [of conference] was a magnificent success, is not 
 putting it too strong." 
 
 The Herald of the 9th contained the following: 
 **The affair is certainly a success. Nearly six hundred 
 votes are cast at the business meetings. * * It is the 
 anniversary of the founding of a church that has 
 attracted the attention of people in all parts of the 
 world. * * A more devoted or conscientious body of 
 delegates never assembled for a like purpose. * * 
 Nothing can exceed the persistency with which the 
 Mormons gathered here denounce the evils of their 
 brethren of the Utah Church. The consciousness that 
 they are continually reproached on that account evi- 
 dently aggravates them greatly. 
 
 "Said President Smith to your representative this 
 
REFERENCES TO REORGANIZED CHURCH. 293. 
 
 morning, 'We differ from them in almost everything. 
 They are a theocracy. What they are told to do must 
 be done. There can be no excuse. With us there is 
 freedom of thought.' The Hon. R. P. Harmon, in 
 speaking of the ministers present says: *In intellectual 
 acumen I think they stand above the average clerical 
 assemblies.' " 
 
 INVITED BACK TO KIRTLAND, OHIO. 
 
 ''Editor Willoughby Independent: — Saturday 
 evening last will be long remembered as one of the largest 
 and most enthusiastic gatherings in the history of Kirt- 
 land. The event that called forth this company was the 
 work of the late discussion between the Rev. Clark 
 Braden, of Illinois, of the Disciple Church, and E. L. 
 Kelley, now of Kirtland, formerly of Glenwood, Iowa, of 
 the Reorganized Church of Christ of L. D. S. The gath- 
 ering was in recognition of the work of Mr. Kelley dur- 
 ing the discussion, and made a surprise to him and his 
 family — and also a further honor to Elder Wm. H. 
 Kelley, of Coldwater, Michigan, who has for the past 
 year rendered at times ministerial labor in Kirtland. 
 The company consisted of seventy-five citizens of Kirt- 
 land, nearly all of whom had attended upon the eigh- 
 teen sessions of the discussion just closed, and none of 
 whom are connected with the church of which Mr. 
 Kelley is a member; and a number of other citizens who 
 had attended upon the discussion sent their regrets at 
 not being able to be present from various causes of 
 hindrance. * * Speech by L. V. Sanborn, Esq., of 
 Kirtland, as follows: 
 
 " 'Mr. E. L. Kelley: — A few of your friends and 
 neighbors have met at your house this evening for the 
 
294- REFERENCES TO REORGANI^^ED CHURCH. 
 
 purpose of expressing, by word and by deed, our appre- 
 ciation of you as a citizen, as a neighbor, and as a 
 christian. AVe come in unity of sentiment with regard 
 to our views as to the sincerity of your belief. During 
 the late discussion in whk:h you have been engaged, we 
 have had strong evidences of your faith by the charity 
 of your language, in return for the abuses of your oppo- 
 nent. But in strict keeping with the agreement for the 
 discussion. You have met the enemy on every issue 
 and he is vanquished; and now we have come to crown 
 the success of your efforts, and to encourage you, if 
 possible, by our visit and our sentiments, in the main- 
 tenance of that manly bearing and christian spirit which 
 has so characterized your conduct and your language 
 through the entire discussion. We admire the honest 
 and able manner in which you discussed the questions 
 at issue, and especially denounce the dishonest, unquali- 
 fied language of your opponent, whose part of the 
 debate was not argument, but mere slander and vilifi- 
 cation, which pleased and satisfied only the bigoted, 
 the prejudiced, or the weak minded. And we believe 
 it would be a serious mistake for member* of this com- 
 munity to support or favor such an 'act, knowing the 
 dishonorable reputation of the man, whose manner and 
 language does not belie that reputation — just because 
 he opposes the religion of the Reorganized Church of 
 Latter Day Saints, whose only sin (if it may be called 
 a sin) is in believing the whole of the Bible, and a little 
 more.' " 
 
 At a later social occasion the following was said: 
 *<To Mr. and Mrs. Kelley and Elder Columbus Scott: 
 The citizens of Kirtland who have met at this social 
 gathering, welcome you back to the place of worship, 
 
REFERENCKS TO REORGANIZED CHURCH. 295. 
 
 and home of your fathers; and may your every effort 
 be blessed in doing good, and to this end do we extend 
 our sincere sympathy and warmest congratulations." 
 
 INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI. 
 
 ''The Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints is 
 holding an annual conference of the world here at the 
 present time. The leading men of the church are here 
 and it is fully represented in all its parts. 
 
 "The conference is composed of a greater number 
 of delegates than ever assembled at Independence prior 
 to this time, and of a representation from a greater terri- 
 tory than has gathered together for similar purposes in 
 many years. 
 
 "The people who have come here have the appear- 
 ance of honest, zealous, faithful men, engaged in what 
 they conceive to be the propagation of great truths that 
 have been confided their care and been made their 
 especial responsibilities. They teach the cardinal virtues 
 of the christian religion and such the orthodox churches 
 hold and believe. They claim a new revelation and 
 that the day of special revelation has not passed. They 
 invite investigation, and are open and candid in their 
 lives and conduct. 
 
 *'I't is not longer excusable to charge upon the Re- 
 organized Church sympathy with the polygamists. They 
 regret the Salt Lake dogma with loathing and disgust, 
 and teach and keep the marriage relation as sacredly as 
 other Protestant people. 
 
 "The sobriety of the Mormon people of this com- 
 munity and their testimony against all forms of dissipa- 
 tion does them great honor and ought to silence the 
 tongue of ignorant criticism. Men are entitled to 
 
296. REFERENCES TO REORGANIZED CHURCH. 
 
 credit for lives of usefulness and morality and there 
 should be no disposition to withhold it from them. It 
 can not be an unprofitable thing for other than the 
 Mormon citizens of Independence to make this confer- 
 ence the means of learning more about the sect or 
 denomination that has become so numerous in and 
 about the city and which is destined, it seems, to take 
 so prominent a part in moulding the minds of so many 
 people." — Editorial, Independence (Mb.) Daily Sen- 
 tinel, April 7, 1888. 
 
 Of the conference of 1882, the Slewartsville, Mis- 
 souri, Independent said: "The conference of the 
 Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) is in session in 
 this city, and is attended by large numbers of members 
 from all parts of the union. Every train has brought 
 new additions to the already large number, until the 
 city presents a very lively appearance. It is thought 
 that the visit of many of them will result in the pur- 
 chase of property and becoming residents. They are a 
 good class of citizens and should be given every facility 
 to become residents if they wish." 
 
 INVITED TO NAUVOO. 
 
 Herald, January i, 1878, contained this: *'0n the 
 i8th of December, 1877, we received by express, a 
 petition of which the following is a copy, addressed to 
 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: 
 
 " 'We, the undersigned citizens of Nauvoo, and 
 surrounding country, most cordially invite the head or 
 leaders of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of 
 Latter Day Saints, to establish the headquarters of 
 their church in said city of Nauvoo. 
 
 " 'We believe that the odium rightfully attached 
 
REFERENCES TO REORGANIZED CHURCH. 297. 
 
 to the Brighamite Mormons in the infamous practice 
 of polygamy is detached from the Reorganized Church 
 of Latter Day Saints; we believe you will receive a 
 cordial welcome and reception from all philanthropic 
 people of our county, and we further believe by estab- 
 lishing the headquarters of your church in the afore- 
 said City of Nauvoo, with our united efforts we can 
 build, or make it one of the most popular cities in the 
 military district.' (Signed). 
 
 "This petition is followed by a list of signers three 
 and a half yards long, some portion of its length signed 
 in double columns, comprising the names of nearly all 
 the leading business, professional and laboring men of 
 the city and its immediate vicinity. We are pleased to 
 note the names of many citizens whom we knew while re- 
 siding at Nauvoo, ^^hom we respected, and with whom we 
 labored for the good'and quiet of the town. * * Nor 
 was our joy made less upon seeing in the Cafthage 
 Gazette, a paper published at the county seat of Han- 
 cock county, by Mr. Thomas C. Sharp, whom all Saints 
 have reason to remember, the following editorial: 
 
 " 'The Nauvoo Independent says that a petition, 
 signed by some four hundred persons, has been for- 
 warded to Joseph Smith, Jr., requesting him to make 
 Nauvoo the Head Quarters of his reformed church of 
 Latter Day Saints. Some of the old anti-Mormon citi- 
 zens are a little nervous over this matter — we are not. 
 * * '—Carthage Gazette, Dec. 26th, 1877." 
 
 REUNION AT LOGAN, IOWA. 
 
 "The Glob^, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, in its issue 
 for October 13th, 1892, gave the Latter Day Saints the 
 following flattering notice: 
 
298. REFERENCES TO REORGANIZED CHURCH. 
 
 " 'COME TO COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 " 'At Logan tomorrow the Latter Da\ Saints will 
 decide upon the next place of meeting for next year. 
 About fifteen thousand people attended the meeting at 
 Logan, and it will be seen that the city that secures the 
 meeting captures a big prize. Council Bluffs will make 
 an effort to have the next meeting held here. The 
 Chautauqua grounds are especially fitted for such and 
 the city could easily care for this large assemblage. 
 The people of Council Bluffs will gladly welcome them 
 and the Globe bespeaks for them a generous and kind 
 treatment in the event of their coming. The Latter 
 Day Saints can rest assured that if they honor Council 
 Bluffs by holding their next annual reunion here, and it 
 is an honor to the city to be the scene of the meeting of 
 such a body of respectable ciiizens, they will be given 
 the best of treatment.' " — Herald 
 
 '♦Many are the agencies that together are shaping 
 the future of the great civilization now centering in this 
 Garden Valley of the world. Silent and unnoticed are 
 the forces moving into position for the final fulfillment 
 of our destiny as a nation." * * 
 
 "By disintegration the Latter Day Saints found 
 themselves separated from the polygamous Mormons 
 and left to develop into a moral civilizing force in the 
 fertile valleys where Mormonism first found foothold, 
 while the evil portion went on to its rapid rise to power 
 and even more rapid fall to pieces. * * These Latter 
 Day Saints in camp in our country for their annual 
 harvest of souls, point with pride to their open creed as 
 evidence of their true Christian spir^ and the world 
 cannot but say: 'Ye have done well, abide with us.' 
 Their devotions are genuine. Their moral lives of the 
 
REFERENCES TO REORGANIZED CHURCH. 299. 
 
 best. riifir presses are messengers bearing good tid- 
 ings. Their loyalty leeds them to place the national 
 colors over their holy altars. It is well. * * Tried by 
 these signs the Latter Day Saints are worthy of a wel- 
 come as one of the forces that will at all times hold 
 high the starry banner, honor the powers that in creat- 
 ing it gave them a home where freedom of conscience 
 is the keystone of all liberty, of all Christianity, and of 
 all civilization.'' — Editorial, Missouri Valley News. 
 
 "The Reunion of the Latter Day Saint Church ended 
 yesterday. This has been the largest ever held here 
 and has been very successful, a large number being 
 received into the church by baptism. It was decided 
 to hold it here next year, which will be the fourth 
 reunion at this place. The fact that the vote locating 
 it here for 1893 was almost unanimous, speaks well for 
 Logan, and that Logan people wished to have them 
 come for the fourth successive meeting, speaks well for 
 the people who attend the reunions. The fact is, it 
 would be impossible to have a more quiet, devout 
 assemblage than has occupied the grove on the hill for 
 the last sixteen days." — Iowa State Register, Oct. ry, 
 1892. 
 
 "The World Reunion of the Latter Day Saints 
 closed Sunday night [16], taking their departure for 
 their homes on Monday. This has been an exceedingly 
 pleasant gathering to them. Their leaders have been 
 with them, their most eloquent preachers have addressed 
 them, and the meeting has been the longest and largest 
 ever held. The remembrance of the reunion of 1892 
 will be long cherished. No better meeting will ever be 
 held. For sixteen days the interest was kept up and 
 the last Sunday found the tent well filled, every space 
 
300. REFERENCES TO REORGANIZED CHURCH. 
 
 occupied. The attendance was about as large as at 
 any time during the meeting. .Eighty four joined the 
 church by baptism. On Friday last the vote was taken 
 by the church members on the question of locating the 
 reunion for 1893. By nearly a unanimous vote it was 
 decided to hold it at Logan. Council Bluffs, Iowa, 
 Warrensburg and Clinton, Missouri, and Piano, Illinois, 
 were Logan's competitors, but when Logan's proposi- 
 tion to do just the same in 1893 as was done this year, 
 was presented, the other places were not in it. Logan 
 has carried out every agreement with strict fidelity and 
 it is a well recognized fact that even more than the con- 
 tractj:alled for has been done." — Logan Observer. 
 
T^J^I^ir III. 
 
 COMPENDIOM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 Joseph Smith Exonerated. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CHICAGO TIMES EDITORIAL.— JOSIAH QUIN- 
 
 CY AND DR. FOSTER SPEAK.— DANITES 
 
 DENOUNCED BY JOSEPH SMITH. 
 
 JOSEPH SMITH, FOUNDER OF THE LATTER DAY SAINTS. 
 
 The Chicago Times of February 20th, 1889, said 
 editorially: "Do people in general want to know the 
 truth about Joseph Smith, the founder of the sect which 
 styles itself the 'Latter Day Saints,' and the origin of 
 the book which they claim supplements the Old and 
 New Testaments? Apparently they do not. * * It is 
 fair to presume that few of these persons ever read any 
 of the publications of the 'Saints,' or ever attended any 
 of their meetings." 
 
302. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 Time on its eternal march must yet exonorate 
 Joseph Smith as it did Wesley who was also calumniated 
 in his day by all classes. 
 
 HOW WESLEY WAS USED IN HIS DAY ! 
 
 "March 2, 1891, is the centenary of the death of 
 John Wesley. Many biographies of him have been 
 written, and the minutest incidents of his life are famil- 
 iar to the members of the religious community who are 
 called by his name. Others are far less acquainted 
 with his personality, and may not be sorry to be 
 reminded what manner of man he was. * * 
 
 "We might think it strange that the desire to preach 
 the gospel of Christ should invoke such deadly opposi 
 tion, alike of the so-called respectable and religious 
 classes, and of the rude and ignorant multitude. Yet 
 so it was. * * Every form of opposition, we are told, 
 was tried against him. 'Mill dams were let out; church 
 bells were jangled; drunken fiddlers and ballad singers 
 were hired; organs pealed forth; drums were beaten;' 
 street- vendors, clowns, drunken fops, and Papists were 
 hired, and incited to brawl or blow horns, so as to 
 drown his voice. He was struck in the face with sticks^ 
 he was cursed and groaned at, pelted with stones, 
 beaten to the ground, threatened with murder, dragged 
 and hustled hither and thither by drinking, cursing, 
 swearing, riotous mobs, who acted the part of judge, 
 jury and executioner. 'Knock him down and kill him 
 at once,' was the shout of the brutal roughs who 
 assaulted him at Wednesbury. On more than one 
 occasion, a mad or a baited bull was driven into the 
 midst of his assemblies; the windows of the houses in 
 which he stayed were broken, and rioters burst their 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 303. 
 
 way even into his private rooms. 'The men,' says Dr. 
 Taylor, 'who commenced and continued this arduous 
 service — and they were scholars and gentleman — dis- 
 played a courage far surpassing that which carries the 
 soldier through the hailstorm of the battle-field. Ten 
 thousand might more easily be found who would con- 
 front a battery than two, who, with the sensitiveness of 
 education about them, could (in that day) mount a 
 table by the roadside, give out a Psalm, and gather a 
 mob.' 
 
 "III. To face all this, and to face it day after day, 
 and year by year, in England, in Scotland, in Wales, 
 in Cornwall, in Ireland, required a supreme bravery, 
 and persistence. Yet it needed even greater courage 
 to meet hurricanes of abuse, and tornadoes of slander. 
 Wesley had to face this also on all sides. The most 
 popular actors of the day held him up to odium and 
 ridicule in lewd comedies. Reams of calumny were 
 written against him; shoals of pamphlets, full of viru- 
 lence and falsehood, were poured forth from the press. 
 The most simple, the most innocent, the most generous 
 of men, he was called a smuggler, a liar, an immoral and 
 designing intriguer, a Pope, a Jesuit, a swindler, the 
 most notorious hypocrite living. The clergy, I grieve 
 to say, led the way. Rowland Hill called Wesley 'a 
 lying apostle, a designing wolf, a dealer in stolen wares,' 
 and said that he was 'as unprincipled as a rook, and as 
 silly as a jackdaw, first pilfering his neighbor's plumage, 
 and then going proudly forth to display it to a laugh- 
 ing world.' Augustus Toplady said, among floods of 
 other and worse abuse, that 'for thirty years he had 
 been endeavoring to pialm on his credulous followers 
 his pernicious doctrines, with all the sophistry of a 
 
304. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 Jesuit, and the dictatorial authority of a Pope;' and 
 described him as 'the most rancorous hater of the gos- 
 pel system that ever appeared in England/ Bisho]) 
 Lavington, of Exeter, denounced the iMethodists as a 
 dangerous and presumptuous sect, animated with an 
 enthusiastical and fanatical spirit, and said that they 
 were 'either innocent madmen or infamous cheats.' " — 
 Archdeacon Farrar, D. D , in The Contemporary 
 Review. 
 
 JOSEPH SMITH AT NAUVOO. 
 
 From figures of the past. From the leaves of old 
 journals, page 376, by Josiah Quincy, Class of Harvard 
 College, 1821, published at Boston, Massachusetts, by 
 Messrs. Roberts Brothers, 1883. 
 
 *'It is by no means improbable that some future 
 text book, for the use of generations yet unborn, will 
 contain a question something like this: What histori- 
 cal American of the nineteenth century has exerted the 
 most powerful influence upon the destinies of his coun- 
 trymen! And it is by no means impossible that the 
 answer to that interrogatory may be thus written: 
 Joseph Smith the Mormon Prophet. And the reply, 
 absurd as it will doubtless seem to most men now liv- 
 ing, may be an obvious commonplace to their descend- 
 ants. History deals in surprises and paradoxes quite 
 as startling as this. The man who established a religion 
 in this age of free debate, and who was and is today, 
 accepted by hundreds of thousands as a direct emissary 
 from the Most High, such a rare human being is not to 
 be disposed of by pelting his memory with unsavory 
 epithets. Fanatic, imposter, charlatan, he may have 
 been, but these hard names furnish no solution to the 
 problem he presents to us. Fanatics and imposters are 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 305. 
 
 living and dying every day, and their memory is buried 
 with them. But the wonderful influence which this 
 founder of religion exerted and still exerts, throws him 
 into relief before us, not as a rogue to be criminated, 
 but as a phenomenen to be explained. * * Joseph 
 Smith claiming to be an inspired teacher, faced adver 
 sity such as few men have been called to meet, enjoyed 
 a brief season of prosperity such as few men ever 
 attained, and finally, forty-three days after I visited and 
 saw him, went cheerfully to a martyr's death. A fine 
 looking man, is what the passer-by would instinctively 
 have murmured upon meeting the remarkable individual 
 who had fashioned the mold upon which was to be 
 shaped the feelings of so many thousands of his fellow 
 mortals. But Smith was more than this, and one could 
 not resist the impression that capacity and resource 
 were natural to his stalwart person. I have already 
 mentioned the resemblance he bore to Elisha R. Potter, 
 of Rhode Island, whom I met in Washington in 1826. 
 The likeness was not such as would be recognized 
 in a picture, but rather one that would be felt in a 
 grave emergency. Of all men I have met, these two 
 seemed the best endowed with that kingly faculty which 
 directs, as by intrinsic right, the feeble or confused 
 souls who are looking for guidance. * * 
 
 "On the right hand, as we entered the house, was 
 a small and very comfortable, or comfortless looking 
 bar room, all the more comfortless, perchance, for it« 
 being a dry bar room, as no spirituous" liquors of any 
 kind were permitted at Nauvoo. * * 
 
 "Polygamy, it must be remembered, formed no 
 part of the alleged revelations upon which the social 
 life at Nauvoo was based." 
 
306. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 R. D. FOSTER'S TESTIMONY. 
 
 "LoDA, 111., Feb. 14th, 1874. 
 ''Joseph Smith, President of the Church of Jesus 
 
 Christ of Latter Day Saints, Piano, Illinois. 
 "Dear Sir: — Accept my sincere thanks for the 
 favors that came to hand this day, by mail, namely, a 
 copy of the Book of Mormon and a copy of Parley P. 
 Pratt's Voice of Warning, as well as your very welcome 
 letter with your photograph enclosed; the same now occu- 
 pies a page in my daughter's album and is very highly 
 appreciated. Next in order comes many familiar 
 names that you enumerate as co-workers in advancing 
 the cause of gospel truth. While reading them over I 
 was carried back some thirty odd years, and many 
 incidents of, or about that period were made vivid in 
 my memory; scenes that occurred when you was quite 
 a little boy and I was in the prime of manhood. One 
 particular circumstance I will mention, as it appears to 
 me to be incontrovertible evidence of the fact that your 
 father was no false pretender, but that he was a true 
 prophet of the living God. I was practicing my pro- 
 fession in Kingston, Illinois, in the year 1837, and 
 boarding with a Benjamin S. Wilber, a member of the 
 Latter Day Saints' Church; his wife was also a member, 
 and a most excellent little lady and very intelligent. 
 In the fall of this year President Joseph Smith, Sidney 
 Rigdon, Judge Elias Higbee and Porter Rockwell, came 
 to this house on their way to the city of Washington, in 
 accordance with a revelation given to the church at 
 Commerce, (afterwards Nauvoo), through Joseph 
 Smith, the prophet, to lay their grievances before the 
 President of the United States, (Martin Van Buren), 
 for the sufferings they underwent in Missouri, from 
 
COiMPENDlUM OF EVIDENCE. 307. 
 
 which State the church had been driven by mob law, 
 after many of them had been inhumanly murdered, and 
 others driven from the lands they had purchased of the 
 United States government in that state. On the arrival 
 of this company at Mr. Wilber's I was told by Joseph 
 Smith, the prophet, that if I was willing to obey the 
 will of God, and be obedient to his commandments, I 
 must quit my practice and start the next day with them 
 to the city of Washington. * * 
 
 *'I have many incidents, dottings and jottings, 
 taken during our journey, one of which I will mention. 
 After we got to Dayton, Ohio, we left our horses in 
 care of a brother in the church, and proceeded by 
 stage, part of us; and the same coach that conveyed us 
 over the Allegheny Mountains also had on board, as 
 passengers. Senator Aaron of Missouri, and a Mr. 
 Ingersol, a member of Congress, either from New Jersey 
 or Pennsylvania, I forget which, an i at the top of the 
 mountain called Cumberland Ridge, the driver left the 
 stage and his four horses drinking at the trough in the 
 road, while he went into the tavern to take what is very 
 common to stage drivers, a glass of spirits. While he 
 was gone the horses took fright and ran away with the 
 coach and passengers. There was also in the coach a 
 lady with a small child, who was terribly frightened. 
 Some of the passengers leaped from the coach, but in 
 doing so none escaped more or less injury, as the horses 
 were running at a fearful speed, and it was down the 
 side of a very steep mountain. The woman was about 
 to throw out the child, and said she intended to jump 
 out herself, as she felt sure all would be dashed to 
 pieces that remained, as there was quite a curve in the 
 road, and on one side the mountain loomed up hun- 
 
3o8. COMPENDIUM OF evidp:nce. 
 
 dreds of feet above the horses, and the other side was a 
 deep chasm or ravine, and the road only a very narrow 
 cut on the side of the mountain, about midway between 
 the highest and lowest parts. At the time the lady was 
 going to throw out the child, Joseph Smith, your father, 
 caught the woman and very imperiously told her to sit 
 down, and that not a hair of her head or any one on 
 the coach should be hurt. He did this in such con- 
 fident manner that all on board seemed spell-bound; 
 and after admor^ishing and encouraging the passengers 
 he pushed open one of the doors, caught by the railing 
 around the driver's seat with one hand, and with a 
 spring and a bound he was in the seat of the driver. 
 The lines were all coiled around the rail above, to hold 
 them from falling while the driver was away; he loosed 
 them, took them in his hands, and although those 
 horses were running at their utmost speed, he, with 
 more than herculean strength, brought them down to a 
 moderate canter, a trot, a walk, and at the foot of Cum- 
 berland Ridge, to a halt, without the least accident or 
 injury to passenger, horse or coach, and the horses 
 appeared as quiet and easy afterward as though they 
 never run away. One by one the passengers came 
 along, some of them limping badly, others bruised, and 
 some of them swearing about the driver and threaten- 
 ing to have him arrested, etc. 
 
 ''At last the driver took his place and we were all 
 going along nicely, when one of these members of 
 Congress, after hearing the history of our ride and 
 escape, from the lady on board, said it was a miracle, 
 and if Joe Smith could perform such a miracle, he 
 would then believe he was a prophet sent from God. 
 This was Mr. Ingersol. Mr. Smith and Sidney Rigdon 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 309* 
 
 were both traveling incog., as, if their real names had 
 been made public on the way, especially that of Mr. 
 Smith, we should have been very much annoyed by the 
 inquisitive. Little did those gentlemen think that Joseph 
 Smith was the identical man that was instrumental in 
 the hands of God in saving that coach load of human 
 beings from a terrible death. 
 
 ''We made our first stop at Gadsby's hotel, in 
 Washington City. * * 
 
 "We staid there during the winter of 1839 and 1840 
 to testify before committees and attend to all we could 
 in the premises and in the meantime to preach and talk 
 to the heads of the nation upon the mission and calling of 
 Mr. Smith in this latter day. Curiosity was on tip-toe, 
 until many believed, and some were baptized and went 
 back to Nauvoo, or Commerce, as it was then called. 
 
 ''Benjamin Winchester and Elder Barnes were 
 preaching at that time in Philadelphia, and Mr. Smith 
 and Mr. Higbee went there and did some preaching, 
 leaving myself in the city of Washington to take care of 
 Mr. Rigdon, and also to wait upon every preacher in 
 the city, irrespective of his church organization, and 
 particularly to declare unto them the tidings of the Lat- 
 ter Day Saints, committed to this generation through 
 Joseph Smith, Jr., and to warn them against the danger 
 consequent upon its rejection. I commenced my duties 
 as soon as I had any time, and called upon all the 
 leaders of the different organizations of religion in the 
 city. As a general thing I was pretty well received and 
 very kindly treated. * * j thought that my report 
 would be uniformly favorable, but I had one more visit 
 to make; that was to Geo. C. Cookman, the chief 
 preacher and elder of the other branch of the Methodist 
 
510. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 Church; and he was then chaplain of the United States 
 Senate, On my introduction he was rigid as marble 
 and cold as an icicle. He was proud, tonguey and 
 arrogant in the extreme. * * I begged him to take time 
 and consider the matter; not to decide hastily; that it 
 was unwise to give a decision until both sides were fairly 
 and fully before him. I asked him for his church, and 
 told him that either Mr. Smith or Mr. Rigdon would be 
 glad to illustrate the subject any time before him and 
 his congregation. He said that my impudence could 
 only be attributed to one of two causes, and he was 
 constrained to believe it was not from ignorance, but 
 was intended as an insult; that he would neither let me 
 have his church nor hear anything further on the sub- 
 ject, and should take good care to warn his brethren 
 and sisters against listening to any such blasphemy. 
 With this he opened his library door, conducted me to 
 the outer hall door, and refused to give me his hand. 
 I reported this to Mr. Rigdon, and wrote to Philadel- 
 phia to Mr. Smith the result of my labors. On the fol- 
 lowing Sunday this same George C. Cookman preached 
 m his church, and told some strange tales; that he had 
 had an interview with Jo Smith, that arch imposter, 
 and that the doctrines he taught were very irreligious 
 and inconsistent with Bible truth; that he, Smith, did 
 not believe in the Bible, but had got a new one, dug up 
 in Palmyra, New York; and that it was nothing but an 
 irreligious romance, and that Smith had obtained it 
 from the widow of one Spaulding, who wrote it for his 
 own amusement. I wrote this to Mr. Smith, and he 
 said there must be some preaching in Washington to 
 counteract these statements, as he was sure God had 
 some people in that city. We first got an upper room 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 3 II, 
 
 of. an engine house to speak in, but half, no, not a quar- 
 ter, of the people could get in. We had speaking then 
 in the open air, on Pennsylvania Avenue, near that 
 place, and gave out that there would be further services 
 as soon as a room could be obtained- Before night 
 some people secured the use of Carusi's saloon, one of 
 the largest and most suitable rooms in the city, outside 
 the capitol building, and. at night there was held ser- 
 vice. A great many of the members of Congress and 
 heads of departments were present, as well as Martin 
 Van Buren. We, of the committee from Illinois, all 
 took the speaker's desk. And when near the close, 
 who should come into the hall but Joseph Smith him- 
 self. We speedily got him up on the stand, and I had 
 the honor of introducing him to that vast audience. 
 He had just come in on the train from Philadelphia, 
 and was tired, but he arose by the invitation of many 
 who called for him, and on that occasion he uttered a 
 prophecy, one of the most wonderful predictions of his 
 life. He adverted to the statements made by this 
 George C. Cookman, declaring them to be wilfully and 
 wickedly false, and that if he, Cookman, did not take 
 it back and acknowledge that he had dealt falsely of 
 him, his people, and his own congregation, also that he 
 must turn and preach the truth and quit deceiving the 
 people with fables, he should be cut off from the face 
 of the earth, both he and his posterity. And he said 
 that this should be so plainly manifest that all should 
 know it. At this, many gentlemen took out of their 
 pockets their tablets and began to take notes of the 
 prophecy; and Mr. Smith noticing them, 'Yes,' said 
 he, 'write it on your tablets; write it in a book; write 
 it in your memory; for as sure as God ever spoke 
 
312. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE, 
 
 by my mouth, all these things shall come to pass.' 
 ^'Henry Clay, Felix Grundy, Tom Benton, John 
 Q. Adams and many other celebrated characters were 
 present at this time. Now, instead of Cookman doing 
 according to justice and truth, he became more virulent 
 than ever, and laid all the /obstacles in our way that he 
 could during our stay in the city. The matter appeared 
 to be forgotten by many, and I thought often upon the 
 subject, having taken notes also. Soon after this there 
 was an extraordinary excitement in the religious world, 
 and they appointed a conference of all orthodox re- 
 ligions to assemble in England, at a certain time, to 
 adopt measures of harmony between all the sects; the 
 United States were invited and accepted a part in these 
 proceedings to break down the partition wall that sepa- 
 rated the various churches. George C. Gookman was 
 elected or appointed as a delegate for the District of 
 Columbia to represent his views on the subject, stand- 
 ing, as he did, at the very head of the church, and 
 Chaplain of the United States Senate. Now he, being 
 an Englishman by birth, and his family in suitable cir- 
 cumstances for a pleasure trip, at the appointed time he 
 (Cookman) thought it would be very pleasant to take 
 his whole family with him, and this he did. Both he, 
 his wife, and all his children went on board the steam- 
 ship 'President,' and neither the ship nor a soul is left 
 to tell what was their sad end. But the prophecy is 
 fulfilled to the letter, and the words uttered on that 
 occasion have never been forgotten by me, nor I pre- 
 sume by hundreds of others. Had Cookman gone 
 alone, it might be charged to chance, but why was it 
 that his whole family were so suddenly cut off, both 
 root and branch! 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 3 1 3. 
 
 •'This, sir, is one of many wonderful evidences 
 that Joseph Smith was as much a prophet as Jonah, 
 who foretold the destruction of Nineveh; or Nahum, 
 who prophesied concerning the present locomotion for 
 traveling; both of them took centuries and one of them 
 thousands of years for their fulfillment; but the proph- 
 ecy by Joseph Smith on George C. Cookman has been 
 literally fulfilled in the shortest possible period; and 
 that too in its fullness, beyond the possibility of ques- 
 tion from any source. * * 
 
 "I will tell you also another prophecy that Joseph 
 Smith uttered in my presence, that has been proved 
 true. This was in relation to Stephen A. Douglas. He 
 said he was a giant in intellect, but a dwarf in stature, 
 that he would yet run for President of the United States, 
 but that he would never reach that station; that he 
 would occupy a conspicuous place in the counsels of the 
 nation, and have multitudes of admiring friends; and 
 that in his place he would introduce and carry out some 
 of the most gigantic measures in the history of the 
 nation. This was said when Douglas was Judge in that 
 district of Illinois, and before he ever went to Con- 
 gress. Has it not been fulfilled? Did he not get 
 Andrew Jackson's fine remitted by law, a thing that was 
 by all considered impossible? Did he not introduce 
 the bills for the covering of Illinois with railroads, 
 without one cent's expense to the general government? 
 Under his management, were not the Illinois bonds 
 raised from a condition nearly worthless to a value 
 nearly par with currency? Did he not rule in and 
 through the State of Illinois, work and carry out its 
 destiny for twenty consecutive years, more than any 
 and all other men together? Was he not always one of 
 
314- COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 the greatest men in the Senate? Did he not do more 
 for the line of compromise on slavery than any other 
 one man? Did he not say, 'and cursed be the ruthless 
 hand that attempts to remove it?' Did he not run for 
 President and get defeated? Did he not take the most 
 'active part in removing or breaking down that line of 
 compromise? Let the history of Kansas and Nebraska 
 tell the story! Did he not fulfill his destiny, and at last, 
 on his dying bed, bequeath his children to his country, 
 and counsel them to obey the laws and the constitution? 
 Did he not utter these memorable words at the commence- 
 ment of the rebellion, 'That there were only two parties in 
 all the land; the one he called Patriots, the other Traitors?' 
 Was it not true? Did he not throw his adhesion to A. 
 Lincoln at the time of deep trouble? And does he not 
 now occupy an honored spot in the memory of his 
 many friends, and a sacred spot in his own loved city 
 of Chicago? Yes, this prophecy has been literally ful 
 filled in my day, and I bear testimony to its truth, 
 when compared with history. * * 
 
 "I know something about some of the leaders at 
 Salt Lake City, and to my sorrow too, as many of them 
 forgot to settle claims that I still hold against them. I 
 and my whole family were driven from the city, [of 
 Nauvoo, Author.] my property confiscated, and thou- 
 sands, yes, tens of thousands of dollars worth of my 
 property was taken and sold, and I was defrauded out of 
 the whole by wicked and corrupt men, aided by the head 
 men that now live in Salt Lake City. The records of my 
 property were carried away, and never could be obtained, 
 and I was reduced from affluence and wealth to poverty 
 by their means. And they claim to have done all these 
 things in obedience to the commands and will of God. 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 315. 
 
 "With considerations of very kind regards, I am, 
 sir, yours for the truth. 
 
 "Robert D. Foster." 
 From Saints' Herald, April 15th, 1875. 
 
 Joseph Smith, speaking of his angel visitor at the 
 time of his early experience, said: "He called me by 
 name and said unto me that he was a messenger sent 
 from the presence of God to me, and that his name was 
 Moroni; that God had a work for me to do, and that 
 my name should be had for good and evil among all 
 nations, kindreds and tongues, or that it should be both 
 good and evil spoken of among all people." 
 
 This experience occurred September 21, 1823. 
 See Cowdery's Letters, Messenger and Advocate, Kirt- 
 land, Ohio, 1834; or Pearl of Great Price, p. 49, 185 1. 
 Though only in his fifteenth year, with but little appar- 
 ent promise of prominence, this has been most graphi- 
 cally fulfilled as a first prediction. 
 
 When Joseph Smith asked God in fervent prayer 
 which of the existing churches he should join, he was 
 answered, "do not join any of them, for their creeds 
 are all wrong and an abomination in my sight." Does 
 the following confirm it? 
 
 "Rev. J. D. Williamson said before the Presbytery 
 at Cleveland, Ohio: *To suppose that those Westminster 
 divines reached the high water mark of biblical state- 
 ment of truth is to my mind preposterous. I have read 
 and reread chapter third on God's eternal decree, and 
 my moral sense has been no less shocked than when I 
 first read the confession. I find also that the idea of 
 God which this chapter presents is utterly abhorrent. 
 It is as it now stands a chilling document, instead of 
 
3l6. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 being warm with the love of God.' " — Cleveland Plain 
 Dealer, Oct. 8, 1889. 
 
 ''Rev. T. A. Goodwin, of the M. E. church, said 
 at Indianapolis, Ind., in February, 1890: 'For more 
 than seventeen years the church has been tinkering at 
 her creeds until they are a theological hodge podge, in 
 many cases widely departing from the faith once deliv- 
 ered to the saints. From the time of the apostles' creed 
 to this day, creed building and repairing has been a 
 chief occupation, until creeds are as numerous as sands 
 upon the sea shore, and they all claim to be in harmony 
 with the apostles' creed and the Bible as well. But 
 what of Methodism and some other isms? For nearly 
 three hundred years it has been uncomfortably quar- 
 tered in a house of theological patchwork. The whole 
 needs to be torn down and reconstructed from cel- 
 lar to garret, so as to make a symmetrical and con- 
 gruous structure, consistent with itself by being con- 
 sistent throughout with the Bible.' " This exposes the 
 imperfections of that creed, and of the societies repre- 
 sented at that particular time. 
 
 "The St. Louis 'Globe Democrat' of March 3d, 
 1890, contains the following from Talmage on 'Why a 
 new creed is needed:' 'I was sorry to have the ques- 
 tion disturbed at all. The creed did not hinder us from 
 offering the pardon and the comfort of the gospel to all 
 men, and the Westminster Confession has not interfered 
 with me one minute. But now that the electric lights 
 have been turned on, the imperfections of that creed — 
 and everything that man fashions is imperfect — let us 
 put the old creed respectfully aside and get a brand new 
 one. I move for a creed for all our denominations 
 made out of Scripture quotations pure and simple. That 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 317. 
 
 would take the earth for God. That would be impreg- 
 nable against infidelity and Apollyonic assault. That 
 would be beyond hunman criticism. The denomina- 
 tion, whatever its name be, that can rise up to that will 
 be the church of the millennium, will swallow up all 
 other denominations and be the one that will be the 
 bride when the Bridegroom cometh.' " 
 
 These were the churches Mr. Smith had been at- 
 tending and four of the family belonged to the Presby- 
 terian. Much more could be added, but this fully con- 
 firms his second prediction. 
 
 In Book of Mormon, 2d Nephi 12:6, as to 
 what the Book of Mormon would be called, occurs 
 this: "A bible, a bible, we have got a bible, and there 
 cannot be any more bible." Though the believers in 
 the book protested from the first that it was not a bible, 
 it has been so called and is yet, Mormon Bible, Golden 
 Bible, etc We have then a third prediction fulfilled. 
 Those in Mr. Foster's testimony in the preceeding 
 pages relative to Rev. George C. Cookman and Stephen 
 A. Douglass are here referred to as a fourth and fifth 
 prediction and fulfillment. 
 
 A REVELATION AND PROPHECY BY THE PROPHET, SEER 
 
 AND REVELATOR, JOSBPH SMITH, GIVEN 
 
 DECEMBER 25TH, 1832. 
 
 "Verily, thus saith the Lord, concerning the wars 
 that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the re- 
 bellion of South Carolina, which will eventually 
 terminate in the death and misery of many souls. 
 The days will come that war will be poured out upon 
 all nations, beginning at that place: for behold, the 
 Southern States shall be divided against the Northern 
 
3l8. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 States, and the Southern States will call on other na- 
 tions, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, 
 and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to 
 defend themselves against other nations; and thus war 
 shall be poured out upon all nations. 
 
 "And it shall come to pass, after many days, slaves 
 shall rise up against their masters, who shall be mar- 
 shalled and disciplined for war. 
 
 ''And it shall come to pass also, that the remnants 
 who are left of the land will marshall themselves, and 
 shall become exceeding angry, and shall vex the Gen- 
 tiles with a sore vexation; and thus, with the sword, 
 and by bloodshed, the inhabitants of the earth shall 
 mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquakes, 
 and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid 
 lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be 
 made to feel the wrath, and indignation, and chasten- 
 ing hand of an xA^lmighty God, until the consumption 
 decreed hath made a full end of all nations; that the 
 cry of the Saints, and of the blood of the Saints, shall 
 cease to come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, 
 from the earth, to be avenged of their enemies. 
 
 "Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not 
 moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold it 
 cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen." — "Pearl of 
 Great Price," published at Liverpool, England, in 185 i. 
 
 No prophetic utterance was ever more strikingly 
 fulfilled. This, therefore, is a sixth. 
 
 Iowa State Register, for January 26th, 1894, con- 
 tained this: 
 
 "MORMONS, 'LATTER DAY SAINTS,' ETC. 
 
 "Verona, Michigan. — Please answer in Sunday 
 Register: 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 319- 
 
 "i. Was Joseph Smith, the Mormon leader, 
 really a prophet? 
 
 "2. Was he at any time convicted of a crime? 
 
 "3. Is there any difference between the sects call- 
 ing themselves 'Latter Day Saints' in Utah and those 
 who go under the same name ,and have their head- 
 quarters at Lamoni, Iowa? 
 
 "4. Have the Latter Day Saints of Lamoni a 
 special permit or any extraordinary authority from the 
 United States government, in other words, any special 
 privileges which other churches do not enjoy? West. 
 
 "Ans. — I. He claimed that gift, and made some 
 predictions, which were startlingly fulfilled years after- 
 ward. 
 
 "2. He was arrested between fifty and seventy- 
 five times, once under the charge of ^murder, treason, 
 burglary, arson, and larceny,' but was never, to the 
 best of my knowledge, convicted of any of these crimes. 
 He was in jail at Carthage, Illinois, at the time of his 
 assassination. 
 
 "3. The main difference between the 'Latter Day 
 Saints' of Utah and those of Iowa is that the latter nev- 
 er practiced polygamy. The Iowa branch is under the 
 leadership of a son of 'Joseph the Prophet,' and is 
 known as 'The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of 
 Latter Day Saints.' " 
 
 The court records would show it if Mr. Smith had 
 been convicted of crime, and it would h^fve been pub- 
 lished all over the world. His murderers knew the 
 just operation of law would again exonerate him, and 
 so they dyed their hands in his innocent blood. 
 
 Of the Danite Band Abomination Joseph Smith 
 wrote October 1838: 
 
320. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 '•When a knowledge of Avard's rascality came to 
 the Presidency of the Church, he was cut off from the 
 Church, and every means used to destroy his influence, 
 at which he was highly incensed, and went about whis 
 pering his evil insinuations, but finding every effort un- 
 availing, he again turned conspirator, and sought to 
 make friends with the mob. 
 
 *'And here let it be distinctly understood, that 
 these companies of tens and fifties got up by Avard, 
 were altogether separate and distinct from those com- 
 panies of tens and fifties organized by the brethren for 
 self defense, in case of an attack from the mob, and 
 more particularly that in this time of alarm no family 
 or person might be neglected; therefore, one company 
 would be engaged in drawing wood, another in cutting 
 it, another in gathering corn, another in grinding, an- 
 other in butchering, another in distributing meat, etc., 
 so that all should be employed in turn, and no one lack 
 the necessaries of life. Therefore, let no one hereafter, 
 by mistake or design, confound this organization of the 
 Church for good and righteous purposes, with the 
 organization of the Danites, of the apostate Avard, 
 which died almost before it had an existence." 
 
 Joseph, on page 025, says further, that Avard, 
 who was taken into the camp of the mob, Friday, 
 October 2d, 1838, "told them that Daniteism was an order 
 of the Church, and by his lying tried to make the 
 Church a scape goat for his sins." 
 
 When in Liberty jail, Missouri, December i6th, 
 1838, Joseph wrote to the Church, and said of Dr. 
 Avard, "We have learned also since we have been in 
 prison that many false and pernicious things, which 
 were calculated to lead the Saints astray and do great 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 321. 
 
 injury, have been taught by Dr. Avard, who has repre- 
 sented them as coming from the Presidency; and we 
 have reason to fear that many other designing and cor- 
 rupt characters, like unto himself, have taught many 
 things which the Presidency never knew of until after 
 they were made prisoners, which, if they had known, 
 they would have spurned them and their authors as 
 as they would a serpent. 
 
 "Thus we find that there have been frauds, secret 
 abominations, and evil works of darkness going on, 
 leading the minds of the weak and unwary into con- 
 fusion and distraction, and all of which have been en- 
 deavored to be palmed upon the Presidency, who were 
 ignorant of these things which were practiced upon the 
 Church in our name." — Times and Seasons Vol. i, 
 Millenial Star, Vol. 16, p. 459. 
 
 "Joseph Smith always denied that he had in any 
 way authorized the formation of the Danite band; and 
 in fact, in public he repeatedly repudiated them and 
 their deeds of violence. * * The outrages committed 
 by these Danites, and others like them, caused the ex- 
 pulsion of the Saints from Missouri." — Ana Eliza, Wife 
 No. 19, p. 48. 
 
322. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 COL. PITCHER AND GEN. DONIPHAN SPEAK 
 
 OF TIMES AND SCENES IN MISSOURI. 
 
 —EXPULSION DOCUMENT OF 
 
 1833 AND 1838. 
 
 MORMON HISTORY. 
 
 "Of the many pioneer citizens of Jackson county, 
 Missouri, who were present and took part in the Mor- 
 mon difficulties of the memorable year of 1833, but few 
 now live. It is, however, fortunate for the historian 
 that a few yet remain to relate the story of the events 
 of those troublous times, nearly half a century ago, as 
 they occurred, without prejudice. Among the very few 
 of the pioneers still living is Col. Thomas Pitcher, of 
 Independence, who has been a citizen of Jackson 
 county for most fifty- five years, and who, during the 
 troubles of 1833, was a colonel of the state militia, and 
 took a prominent part in all of the events of the early 
 history of the county. Knowing these facts, a Journal 
 representative at Independence was sent to Col. Pitcher 
 to interview him upon the Mormon history of Jackson 
 county. After learning the object of the visit, the 
 colonel lighted his pipe and related the following facts: 
 I came to Jackson county, in'the month of November, 
 1826, and located four miles southwest of Indepen- 
 dence. The Mormon immigration to the county com- 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 323. 
 
 menced in the fall of 1830, and continued until the 
 autumn of 1832. During the first two years of their 
 residence in the county, they and the citizens got along 
 together very peaceably, and no one had any thought 
 of a difficulty until the spring of 1833. In the latter 
 part of 183 1 the Mormons established a newspaper in 
 Independence, called the 'Morning and Evening Star,' 
 which was edited by one W. W. Phelps. This paper 
 published the so-called revelations of Joseph Smith and 
 other leading elders of the church, and other doctrines 
 of their religion. The Mormons, as a rule, were an 
 ignorant and a fanatical people, though there were some 
 very intelligent men among them. The troubles of 
 1833, which led to their expulsion from the county, 
 were originated by these fanatics making boasts that 
 they intended to possess the entire county, saying that 
 God had promised it to them and they were going to 
 have it. This of course caused ill feeling toward them, 
 which continued to grow more and more bitter, until 
 the final uprising took place. One Saturday, about the 
 middle of July, 1833, a citizens' meeting was held at 
 the Court House in Independence, to decide what was 
 to be done with the Mormons who were pouring into 
 the county, and to devise some means to put a stop to 
 their seditious boasts as to what they proposed to do, 
 etc. This meeting determined to destroy the Mormon 
 printing ofhce, located a short distance south of where 
 Chrisman & Sawyer's bank building now stands, which 
 determination was carried into effect that afternoon. 
 
 " 'Did the citizens give the Mormons any notice of 
 what they intended to do?' 
 
 " 'No, r don't think they gave them any notice 
 whatever, but when they had determined upon destroy- 
 
324. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 ing the printing office, they immediately proceeded to 
 do so.' 
 
 " 'Did the Mormons make any resistance?' 
 
 " 'No, they did not. Some of them tried to argue 
 the case, but it was of no avail. The printing office 
 was a two story brick building, and I don't think its 
 destruction occupied over an hour.' 
 
 " 'How many citizens were engaged in the affair?' 
 
 " 'I suppose there must have been over a hundred, 
 altogether.' 
 
 " 'Was there any personal violence or other indig- 
 nities offered the Mormons at that time?' 
 
 " 'Nothing of any particular consequence. Sev- 
 eral were knocked down, but as a general thing the 
 Mormons had sufficient discretion to keep out of the 
 way. ' * * 
 
 " 'Were the Mormons allowed to dispose of their 
 lands and other property before they left the county?' 
 
 " 'No, they did not have time, but afterwards a 
 great many came back and disposed of their lands with- 
 out molestation.' 
 
 " 'Did they own much property in the county?' 
 
 " 'Yes, they owned a large amount of land all over 
 the county, and a great deal of property in the town of 
 Independence.' * * 
 
 " 'Do you think, colonel, that the slavery question 
 had anything to do with the difficulties with the Mor- 
 mons?' 
 
 " 'No, I don't think that matter had anything to 
 do with it. The Mormons, it is true, were northern 
 and eastern people, and "free soilers," but they did 
 not interfere with the negroes and we did not care 
 whether they owned slaves or not.' * * 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 3^5. 
 
 " 'Did the Mormons practice or advocate polygamy 
 while in Jackson county?' 
 
 *' 'No, they did not. Polygamy, at that time, had 
 not been heard of.' — Kansas City Journal." Herald, 
 June 15, 1881. 
 
 "There is probably no man in Western Missouri 
 who is better acquainted with the various causes of the 
 difficulties between the citizens of Jackson and Caldwell 
 counties and the Mormons during the years of 1833 
 and 1838, than Gen. Alexander W. Doniphan, then a 
 resident of Clay county, but now of Richmond, Ray 
 county, Missouri, and there is, perhaps, no one who 
 took such an active part in the events of those years 
 who can now look back and relate the history of these 
 troubles as dispassionately as he can. In view of these 
 facts a representative of the Journal called upon Gen, 
 Doniphan at his rooms at the Hudgins' House at Rich- 
 mond, for the purpose of interviewing him upon the 
 subject. The general, after learning the object of the 
 visit, seemed very willing to communicate all he knew 
 in regard to the history of the Mormon troubles, and 
 after a few introductory remarks, related the following: 
 
 '* 'I came to Missouri in 1830, and located in Lex- 
 ington, where I lived until April, 1833, when I removed 
 to Liberty, Clay county. The Mormons came to Jack- 
 son county in 1830, and I met Oliver Cowdery, John 
 Whitmer and Christian Whitmer, three of the Elders, 
 in Independence, during the spring of 183 1. Peter 
 Whitmer was a tailor and I employed him to make me 
 a suit of clothes.' 
 
 " 'What kind of people were the Mormons?' 
 
 " 'They were northern people, who, on account of 
 their declining to own slaves and their denunciation of 
 
326. COMPENDIUxM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 the system of slavery, were termed ''free soilers. " The 
 majority of them were intelligent, industrious and law 
 abiding citizens, but there were some ignorant, simple 
 minded fanatics among them, whom the people said 
 would steal.' * * 'Governor Boggs used the expression 
 "that the Mormons leave the state or be exterminated," 
 whereas this order was entirely illegal. I paid no at- 
 tention to it. In my report to Gov. Boggs I stated to 
 him that I had disregarded that part of his order, as the 
 age of extermination was over, and if I attempted to 
 remove them to some other state, it would cause addi- 
 tional trouble. The Mormons commenced immediately 
 after this to move to Nauvoo, Illinois, and I know 
 nothing further about them. While the Mormons re- 
 sided in Clay county, they were a peaceable, sober, in- 
 dustrious and law-abiding people, and during their stay 
 with us not one was ever accused of a crime of any 
 kind.' 
 
 "Gen. Doniphan is now in his seventy- third year, 
 but is still hale and hearty. He is a man of fine appear- 
 ance and intellect, and is well known and highly 
 respected all over the State. He has resided in Rich- 
 mond during the past several years. His statements as 
 given above may be relied upon as strictly the truth in 
 every particular. There are a few old citizens still liv- 
 ing near Independence who were in this county during 
 the troubles of 1833, whose statements will be given in 
 the near future. — Kansas City Journal." Herald, July 
 I, 1881. 
 
 Not a crime — not even a personal misdemeanor — 
 of any kind could the mob find to charge the Saints with. 
 
 An account from the Western Monitor, of Fayette, 
 Missouri, the 2d of August, 1833. In this will be 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 327. 
 
 seen the alleged grounds and all the reasons the mob 
 could trump up in justification of their barbarous do- 
 ing: 
 
 *'mormonism! 
 
 "At a meeting of the citizens of Jackson county, 
 Missouri, called for the purpose of adopting measures 
 to rid themselves of the sect of fanatics called Mor- 
 mons, held at Independence on the 20th day of July, 
 1833; which meeting was composed of gentlemen from 
 every part of the county, there being present between 
 four and five hundred persons. 
 
 "The meeting was organized by calling Colonel 
 Richard Simpson to the chair, and appointing James 
 H. Flournoy and Col. Samuel D. Lucas, secretaries. 
 It was resolved that a committee of seven be appointed 
 to report an address to the public, in relation to the 
 object of this meeting, and the chair named the follow- 
 ing gentleman to wit: Russel Hicks, Esq., Robert 
 Johnson, Henry Chiles, Esq., Colonel James Ham- 
 bright, Thomas Hudspeth, Joel F. Chiles, and James 
 M. Hunter. The meeting then adjourned, and con- 
 vened again, when Robert Johnson, the chairman of 
 said committee, submitted for the consideration of the 
 meeting, the following address, etc. : 
 
 "This meeting, professing to act not from the 
 excitement of the moment, but under a deep and abid- 
 ing conviction that the occasion is one that calls for 
 cool deliberation, as well as energetic action, deem it 
 proper to lay before the public an expose of our pecul- 
 iar situation in regard to this singular sect of pretended 
 Christians, and a solemn declaration of our unalterable 
 determination to amend it. 
 
 "The evil is one that no one could have foreseen. 
 
328. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 and is therefore unprovided for by the laws, and the 
 delays incident to legislation would put the mischief 
 beyond remedy. 
 
 "But little more than two years ago some two or 
 three of this people made their appearance in the Upper 
 Missouri, and they now number some twelve hundred 
 souls in this county; and each successive autumn and 
 spring pours forth its swarm among us, with a gradual 
 falling of the character of those who compose them, 
 until it seems that those communities from which they 
 come were flooding us with the very dregs of their com- 
 position. Elevated as they mostly are but little above 
 the condition of our blacks either in regard to property 
 or education, they have become a subject of much 
 anxiety on that part, serious and well grounded com- 
 plaints having been already made of their corrupting 
 influence on our slaves. 
 
 "We are daily told, and not by the ignorant 
 alone, but by all classes of them, that we, (the Gen- 
 tiles), of this county are to be cut off, and our lands 
 appropriated by them for inheritances. Whether this 
 is to be accomplished by the hand of the destroying 
 angel, the judgments of God, or the arm of power, they 
 are not fully agreed among themselves. 
 
 "Some recent remarks in the Evening and Morn- 
 ing Star, their organ in this place, by their tendency to 
 moderate such hopes and repress such desires, show 
 plainly that many of this deluded and infatuated people 
 have been taught to believe that our lands were to be 
 won from us by the sword. From this same Star we 
 learn that for want of more honest or commendable 
 employment, many of their society are now preaching 
 through the states of New York, Ohio, and Illinois, and 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 329. 
 
 that their numbers are increased beyond every rational 
 calculation, all of vvhoui are required as soon as con- 
 venient, to come up to Zion, which name they have 
 thought proper to confer on our little village. Most of 
 those who have already come are characterized by the 
 profoundest ignorance, the grossest superstition, and 
 the most abject poverty. 
 
 "Indeed, it is a subject of regret by the Star 
 itself, that they have come not only to lay an inher- 
 itance, which means some fifteen acres of wild land for 
 ■each family, but destitute of the means of procuring 
 bread and meat. When we reflect on the extensive 
 field in which the sect is operating, and that there exists 
 in every country a leaven of superstition that erhbraces 
 with avidity notions the most extravagant and unheard 
 of, and that whatever can be gleaned by them from the 
 purlieus of vice, and the abodes of ignorance, it is to 
 be cast like a waif into our social circle, it requires no 
 gift of prophecy to tell that the day is not far distant 
 when the civil government of the country will be in 
 their hands, when the sheriff, the justices, and the 
 county judges will be Mormons, or persons wishing to 
 court their favor from motives of interest or ambition. 
 
 ''What would be the fate of our lives and property 
 in the hands of jurors and witnesses who do not blush 
 to declare, and would not upon occasion hesitate to 
 swear that they have wrought miracles, and have been 
 the subjects of miraculous and supernatural cures; have 
 converse with God and his angels, and possess and 
 exercise the gifts of divination and of unknown tongues, 
 and fired with the prospect of obtaining inheritances 
 without money and without price, may be better 
 imagined than described. * * 
 
;^;^0. COMPENDIUiM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 ''One of the means resorted to by them, in order 
 to drive us to emigrate, is an indirect invitation up, like 
 the rest, to the land of Zion. True, they say this was 
 not intended to invite, but to prevent their emigration; 
 but this weak attempt to quiet our apprehension is but 
 a poor compliment to our understandings. The article 
 alluded to contained an extract from our laws, and all 
 necessary directions and cautions to be observed by 
 colored brethren, to enable them upon their arrival here 
 to claim and exercise the rights of citizenship. Con- 
 temporaneous with the appearance of this article was 
 the expectation among the brethren here, that a consid- 
 erable number of this degraded cast were only awaiting 
 this information before they should set out on their 
 journey. With the corrupting influence of these on our 
 slaves, and the stench both physical and moral that 
 their introduction would set afloat in our social atmos- 
 phere, and the vexation that would attend the civil rule 
 of these fanatics, it would require neither a visit from 
 the destroying angel nor the judgments of an offended 
 God to render our situation here insupportable. True, 
 it may be said, and truly no doubt, that the fate that 
 has marked the rise and fall of Joanna Southcote and 
 Ann Lee will also attend the progress of Joe Smith, but 
 this is no opiate to our fears, for when the fabric falls 
 the rubbish will remain. 
 
 ''Of their pretended revelations from heaven — 
 their personal intercourse with God and his angels — the 
 maladies they pretend to heal by the laying on of hands 
 — and the contemptible gibberish with which they habit- 
 ually profane the Sabbath, and which they dignify with 
 the appellation of unknown tongues, we have nothing to 
 say, vengeance belongs to God alone. But as to the 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 33 1. 
 
 Other matters set forth in this paper, we feel called on 
 by every consideration of self-preservation, good 
 society, public morals, and the fair prospects, that if 
 not blasted in the germ, await this young and beautiful 
 county, at once to declare, and we do hereby most 
 solemnly declare: 
 
 "That no Mormon shall in future move and settle 
 in this county. 
 
 "That those now here, who shall give a definite 
 pledge of their intention within a reasonable time to 
 remove out of the county, shall be allowed to remain 
 unmolested until they have sufficient time to sell their 
 property and close their business without any material 
 sacrifice. 
 
 "That the editor of the Star be .required forthwith 
 to close his office and discontinue the business of print- 
 ing in this county; and as to all other stores and shops 
 belonging to the sect, their owners must in every case 
 strictly comply with the terms of the second article of 
 this declaration, and upon failure, prompt and efficient 
 measures will be taken to close the same. 
 
 "That the Mormon leaders here are required to 
 use their influence in preventing any further emigration 
 of their distant brethren to this county, and to counsel 
 and advise their brethren hereto comply with the above 
 requisition. 
 
 "That those who fail to comply with these requisi- 
 tions be referred to those of their brethren who have 
 the gifts of divination, and of unknown tongues, to in- 
 form them of the lot that awaits them. 
 
 "Which address being read and considered, was 
 unanimously adopted. And thereupon it was resolved 
 that a committee of twelve be appointed forthwith to 
 
332. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 wait on the Mormon leaders, and see that the foregoing 
 requisitions are strictly complied with by them, and 
 upon their refusal, that said committee do, as the organ 
 of this county, inform them that it is our unwavering 
 purpose and fixed determination, after the fullest con- 
 siderations of all the consequences and responsibilities 
 under which we act, to use such means as shall insure 
 their full and complete adoption, and that said commit- 
 tee, so far as may be within their power, report to this 
 present meeting. And the following gentlemen were 
 named as said committee: 
 
 ''Robert Johnson, James Campbell, Colonel Moses 
 Wilson, Joel F. Chiles, Hon, Richard Fristoe, Abner 
 F. Staples, Gan. Johnson, Lewis Franklin, Russel 
 Hicks, Esq., Colonel S. D. Lucas, Thomas Wilson, and 
 James M. Hunter, to whom was added Colonel R. 
 Simpson, chairman. 
 
 '*And after an adjournment of two hours, the 
 meeting again convened, and the committee of twelve 
 reported that they had called on Mr. Phelps, the editor 
 of the Star, Edward Partridge, the bishop of the sect, 
 and Mr. Gilbert, the keeper of the Lord's storehouse, 
 and some others, and that they declined giving any 
 direct answer to the requisitions made of them, and 
 wished an unreasonable time for consultation, not only 
 with their brethren here, but in Ohio. 
 
 "Whereupon it was unanimously resolved by the 
 meeting, that the Star printing office should be razed to 
 the ground, the type and press secured. Which resolu- 
 tion was, with the utmost order, and the least noise and 
 disturbance possible, forthwith carried into execution, 
 as also some other steps of a similar tendency, but no 
 blood was spilled nor any blows inflicted. The meet- 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. ;^^^. 
 
 ing then adjourned till the 23d inst., to meet again to 
 know further concerning the determination of the Mor- 
 mons. 
 
 "Resolved that a copy of these proceedings be 
 posted up at the post office in this place for the infor- 
 mation of all concerneci; and that the secretaries of 
 this meeting send copies of the same to the principal 
 editors in the eastern and middle states for publication, 
 that the Mormon brethren may know at a distance that 
 the gates of Zion are closed against them — that their 
 interests will be best promoted by remaining among 
 those who know and appreciate their merits. 
 
 Richard Simpso?j, Chairman 
 
 S. D. Lucas, ) ^^ . • 
 
 T TT t:, y Secretaries. 
 
 J. H. TLOURNOY, j 
 
 Times and Seasons, vol. 6, pp 832, 833, 834. 
 
 In the official address of Major General Clark to 
 the forces driving the Saints out of Missouri, November, 
 1838, he said: '*It now devolves upon you to fulfill 
 the treaty that you have entered into, the leading items 
 of which I now lay before you. The first of these you 
 have already complied with, which is that you deliver 
 up your leading men to be tried according to law. 
 Second, that you deliver up your arms — this has been 
 attended to. The third is that you sign over your 
 properties to defray the expenses of this war — this you 
 have also done. Another thing yet remains for you to 
 comply with — that is, that you leave the state forthwith; 
 and whatever your feelings concerning this affair, what- 
 ever your innocence it is nothing to me." 
 
334- COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 INTERVIEW AT PAINESVILLE, OHIO, AND 
 
 LETTERS OF SAMUEL MURDOCK.— 
 
 INTERVIEW OF CITIZENS OF 
 
 PALMYRA, NEW YORK. 
 
 FACTS FROM PAINESVILLE, OHIO. 
 
 ''Pres. J. Smith, Piano, Illinois: 
 
 "Dear Sir: — One week ago today I arrived in 
 this city, to look after the interests of the Reorganized 
 Church in its action in the state courts, to recover the 
 possession of the Kirtland Temple property, in Lake 
 county. * * 
 
 "So far, among the former acquaintances of Joseph 
 Smith, Jr., I have failed to find one who will say that 
 he was not a good citizen and an honest man. 'Joe 
 Smith,' say they, 'was an honorable man and a gentle- 
 man in every particular, let the histories say what they 
 may.' Now, if these things are true, history greatly 
 belies the man and in the eternal fitness of things, time 
 must correct the false and fickle stories and vindicate 
 his memory. My information is derived from such 
 men as Messrs. Quinn, Storm, Burrows and Axtell, who 
 are foremost citizens of the county. These parties say 
 that among some of the fanatical and ignorant there is 
 existing great prejudice and hatred against the early 
 Mormons, and I have found in Kirtland two persons 
 who are terribly bitter, but neither of these had any 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 335. 
 
 acquaintance with the parties and base their knowledge 
 on the 'stories told'. One of these is the present pastor 
 of the Methodist Church in Kirtland, and who is now 
 under the charge of being not only a fanatic, but crazy, 
 and his congregation ask his removal; the other, a Mr. 
 Harvey, of Kirtland, a member of the Baptist Church, 
 but ignorant, can neither read nor write, and abuses 
 his own wife for differing from him in religion, and 
 teaches his children to abuse their mother. 
 
 "As a sample of my testimony I give you my con- 
 versation with I. P. Axtell, Esq., a large farmer and 
 director in the First National Bank of Painesville for 
 many years; a man of energy and experience, and as 
 early as 1844, a member of the Whig convention at 
 Baltimore, which nominated Henry Clay for President. 
 The conversation was as follows: 
 
 "Q. — When did you come to this county, Mr. 
 Axtell? 
 
 "xA. — My father moved here with his family in the 
 year 1830. I was but a boy then. 
 
 "Q. — What was your father's business? 
 
 "A. — He was a Baptist minister, and kept a hotel 
 then. 
 
 '•Q. — Did you know Joseph Smith? 
 
 '•'A. — Yes, sir. I have seen him many a time; he 
 was often at my father's house; and I with many 
 young people, often went to Kirtland to see him and 
 his people. 1 knew his father also, who at the time I 
 knew him had charge of the Kirtland Temple. He 
 took me with others through the Temple at one time; 
 he appeared to be a fine old man. 
 
 "Q. — When did your father become acquainted 
 with Mr. Smith? 
 
336. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 "A.--Ir> about six weeks after he came to the 
 county he first met him; he went out of his way one 
 day six miles to see Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon. 
 He said he found them in Kirtland township, they had 
 been there but a short time and occupied a small log 
 house. He found them to be quite intelligent men, 
 and he said pleasant talkers, and quite free to converse 
 upon their religious views, which at that time was 
 known as the 'new sect.' My father always said Joseph 
 Smith was a conscientious and upright man. 
 
 "Q. — Did you know any other persons of the new 
 society? 
 
 "A. — O, yes, a great many. 1 knew Mr. Pratt 
 very well. He was a smart and a square man all 
 around. Those men were neither knaves nor rogues; 
 that is my opinion of them. I suppose some of them 
 may have been. It _was just as in all other bodies of 
 the kind, there will be some bad ones, but I don't 
 know of any that were. There were a good many 
 stories circulated about them that I knew to be false. 
 At one time an ox was found in Kirtland township, 
 killed and skinned; and there was a great to do about 
 the Mormons having killed it. My brother was sheriff 
 at the time, and with others went up to investigate the 
 matter, and he says that there was not the least evi- 
 dence which showed that the Mormons had any hand 
 in killing the ox. Persons around, however, who hated 
 their religion would tell that they did. 
 
 "Q. — How was it that people did not like them? 
 Were they not good citizens? 
 
 ''A. — Yes, they were as good citizens as those of^^ 
 any society. It was the fanatics in religion that tried 
 to drive those men out. There were a great many con- 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 337. 
 
 servative men in our county at that time who held these 
 fanatics back, and if it had not been for this they would 
 have gone in and killed them all. But our intelligent 
 and honorable citizens prevented this. 
 
 *'Q. — What about the Kirtland Bank swindle? 
 Mr. Axtell. you are a banker, and know how that was, 
 do you not? 
 
 "A. --Yes, I know about that bank; they started 
 in Kirtland. These parties went into the banking busi- 
 ness as a great many others in the state of Ohio and 
 other states. They got considerable money out at first, 
 and their enemies began to circulate all manner of 
 s ories against them and as we had a great many banks 
 then that issued what was known as 'wild-cat" money, 
 the people began to get alarmed at so many stories, 
 and would take the other banks' issue instead of the 
 Kirtland; and so much of it was forced in at once that 
 the bank was not able to take it up. Had the people 
 let these people alone there is no reason that I know 
 of why the Kirtland bank should not have existed to 
 4his time, and on as stable a basis as other banks. 
 
 "Q. — Then you think it was the fault of the 
 enemies of the bank that it failed? 
 
 "A. — Yes, I do; and it was not the only one that 
 failed either by a good many, and with which Smith 
 had nothing to do. 
 
 "Q.--What then do you consider the prime causes 
 of the expulsion of the Mormons from Kirtland? 
 
 *'A.^ — The ignorance and fanaticism of their 
 accusers did it; they thought public sentiment would 
 tolerate it and they did it. The same as Roger Wil- 
 liams was driven out and the witches burned in Mass- 
 achusetts. My position is that no fanatic, either in 
 
^;^8. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 religion or politics, should be permitted to hold an 
 office of trust in this country. 
 
 "The above is a fair average sample of the testi- 
 mony of those I have met and talked with as to the 
 character of the early Mormons in this county, among 
 those who lived here and knew these people. A gen- 
 tleman of Willoughby, this county, suggested to me, 
 that another reason was, their persecutors wanted their 
 property, and said he, 'They got from them thousands 
 of dollars worth too.' After canvassing the sentiment 
 here of these men, I feel a good deal like Col. R. G. 
 Ingersoll when he offered the gold for the evidence of 
 Tom. Paine's dying declarations; and I now affirm that 
 if any of the great newspapers of the day^ like the 
 Chicago Times, Tribune or Inter-Ocean wish to test 
 the truth of the statements and publish the facts by a 
 correspondent through their columns; I will undertake 
 the task of accompanying their correspondent and if 
 the general integrity, uprightness, honesty and patriot- 
 ism, of these men are not maintained by the evidence, 
 I will forfeit to the one the one hundred dollars in 
 gold. A letter will reach me at any time directed, 
 Glenwood, Iowa. 
 
 "Hastily, I am very respectfully yours, 
 
 "E. L. Kellev. 
 "Painesville, Ohio, Feb. 19th, 1880." 
 
 SAMUEL MURDOCK PROTESTS. 
 
 "Elkader, Iowa, April 13th, 1893. 
 "Editor Dubuque Daily Times: 
 
 "Dear Sir:— In your article on the Mormon 
 Church contained in your daily issue of April 12, you 
 say: 'It was founded by an ignorant, dissipated mem- 
 ber of a vicious family which had a well-earned repu- 
 
COMPENDIUM OF KVIDENX^E. 339. 
 
 tation of being thieves and drunkards, etc' Knowing 
 .your reputation for kindness, fairness, and sympathy, I 
 do not believe that you would willfully or knowingly 
 inflict a pang or a pain in the bosom of any one of our 
 fellow creatures unless it was done without a knowledge 
 on your part of the true facts in any case. 
 
 '^I have no more sympathy or feeling for either 
 branch of the Mormon Church than you have, but I 
 have a strong sympathetic feeling, and friendship for 
 some of the Smith family who are still living, and to 
 whom your language above quoted, does great injustice, 
 and I also know ihat when you hear from me a few 
 facts, your kindness will prompt you to repair in some 
 manner the wrong you have inflicted upon them. 
 
 "Kirtland is situated in the county in which I was 
 raised from youth to manhood, and at the time Smith 
 and his Mormons settled there I was nearly a man 
 grown, and some of them were my immediate neigh- 
 bors, with whose children I was often schoolmates, and 
 I often met their prophet, Joseph Smith, although I was 
 not personally acquainted with him. I was, however, 
 intimately acquainted with Mr. Cowdery, one of his 
 scribes, and to whom I was indebted for his special 
 kindness to me, as well as for the many lessons of in- 
 struction I received from him as my preceptor in the 
 schoolroom, and a Mormon as he was, I shall ever 
 cherish his memory. A more amiable, generous, kind- 
 hearted man, I have not met since. I lived among the 
 daily talk and excitement of the 'New Faith' or 'Latter 
 Day Saints,' as they were sometimes called at that time. 
 From the time they settled in my county until they left 
 it, I must say that during all that time I never heard 
 Joseph Smith called a thief, a drunkard or a vicious 
 
340- COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. -*^ 
 
 man, even by his worst enemies, and my recollection of 
 him to this late day is that he was a tall, graceful, good- 
 looking man, continually wearing a smile on his face for 
 everyone, and that he was a kind-hearted, generous 
 friend and companion, and that it was his winning man- 
 ners by which he succeeded more than anythingelse. 
 
 "Dupe, impostor, crazy fanatic, were the common 
 words applied to him by the Gentiles of these days, but 
 never thief, drunkard, or vicious. 
 
 "But all this is not where your language referred 
 to, cuts the deepest, and inflicts the most pain, for this 
 same Joseph Smith has a brother, the Rev. William B. 
 Smith, who is one of the old pioneers of Clayton county, 
 and who is still living among us, and a man whom I 
 have known for nearly forty years, and for nearly half 
 of that time, he has lived within a stone's throw of my 
 dwelling, and I do know that the citizens of Elkader, 
 and those of the county generally, will sustain me when 
 I say that there is not a single stain upon his character. 
 A kind, honest, just, and upright man is his life long 
 reputation here. 
 
 "He has preached to us, lectured to us, pro- 
 nounced funeral services over our dead, sat upon our 
 juries, mingled in our conventions, acted as chaplain 
 on our national holidays, and may be seen mingling 
 with his fellows at every reunion of both the old settlers 
 and the G. A. R., and, although he is a strong defender 
 of his brothers, and a devoted Mormon of the anti- 
 polygamy sect, yet, unless he is drawn out, no one 
 would ever know from any of his public or private talk 
 that he was a Mormon. When the first gun was fired 
 on Fort Sumpter he took the stump to arouse the peo- 
 ple to the impending danger, and then shouldered his 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 341. 
 
 rifle, bid adieu to his family, enlisted in the Union 
 army, and when the war was over came home with an 
 honorable discharge. He has raised up in this county 
 a bright and honorable family, all of whom are doing 
 well, and not one of whom has ever caused him to 
 blush, and it is here again where the language of your 
 article cuts like a knife. Deluded as they were, there 
 was among the early Mormons the best and noblest of 
 mankind, and where they missed it, was by admitting 
 among them without knowing it, rascals, horse thieves, 
 and murderers, and then defending them without inves- 
 tigation on the belief that the charge against them was 
 Gentile persecution. 
 
 "Samuel Murdock. 
 
 "The above communication was inspired by an 
 editorial appearing in the Times the date stated. There 
 were no intentions of saying anything to the detriment 
 of those of the faith of today, and what was said of the 
 founder of the sect was in line with the leading encyclo- 
 pedias, all of which give detailed account of the work 
 of Joseph Smith during the days of organizing the Mor- 
 mon Church. — Editor Times." 
 
 citizens of palmyra, new YORK, INTERVIEWED. 
 
 Elders W. H. and E. L. Kelley, having visited and 
 interviewed the old settlers in and around Palniyra, 
 New York, reported the following to the Saints' Herald, 
 regarding what they learned about Joseph Smith and 
 his family associations: 
 
 "Here is where they lived, and where, the stories 
 say, lived those who knew of their bad character, etc. 
 We were among some of their old neighbors, all unbe- 
 lievers in the faith they taught, and we remembered 
 
342. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 some of the names of the parties published by their 
 enemies as knowing facts against them, and determined 
 to "beard the hon in his den," and hear the worst, let 
 it hurt whom it would. So we set about it in good 
 earnest, to interview, if possible, all of those referred 
 to by the enemies of these men, as having a knowledge 
 of them, and with one writing during each interview, 
 we obtained the following as the result: 
 
 "Having the names of Messrs. Bryant, Booth, and 
 Reed, obtained from a published communication in the 
 'Cadillac News,' of Michigan, about a year ago, by 
 Rev. A. Marsh, of that place, who had received it from 
 a brother Rev., one C. C. Thorn, of Manchester, New 
 York, who claimed to have interviewed the above 
 named gentlemen, and obtained from them wonderful 
 revelations about the Smith family, Cowdery, etc., mak- 
 ing Mr. Bryant to say that Smith was 'a lazy, drinking 
 fellow, loose in his habits every way;' and Mr. Booth to 
 say that their reputation was 'bad,' and that Oliver 
 Cowdery was 'a law pettifogger,' and 'cat's-paw of the 
 Smiths, to do their dirty work,' etc.; and Mr. Reed to 
 say, 'they were too low for him to associate with,' with 
 a citation of the black sheep story, etc.; all of whom 
 were 'astonished beyond measure' at the progress of this 
 'imposture, which they thought would not amount to 
 anything.' All of which was sent to Rev. A. Marsh, of 
 Cadillac, in order to counteract the influence which 
 had been created in favor of the faith in that place, by 
 the efforts of M. H. Bond and myself. 
 
 "Believing then that the whole story was a trumped 
 up thing, I was determined to call on these gentlemen, 
 and ascertain whether this pious Rev. told the truth 
 about what they said or not. 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 343. 
 
 ''At about 10 a. m. we called at the house of Mr. 
 Bryant, and knocked at the door, which was answerd 
 by a lady who gave her name as Mary Bryant. She 
 gave us seats in the room where her husband, William 
 Bryant, was sitting. He is now eighty-five years of 
 age, tall, and lean in flesh, and, during our interview, 
 sat in a stooping posture, with open mouth. His wife 
 informed us that for the last few years his mind had 
 been somewhat impaired. She has a good memory, is 
 seventy-five years of age, intelligent, and seemingly a 
 great talker. We announced that the purpose of our 
 visit was to ascertain some facts from the old settlers, 
 with reference to the people known as Mormons, who 
 used to live there, as it is understood to have been the 
 home of the Smith family and others at the time the 
 Book of Mormon is alleged to have been discovered. 
 
 ''To this Mr. Bryant in a slow voice replied, 'Yes, 
 that big hill you saw coming along, is where they say 
 Joe Smith got the plates; you must have seen it coming 
 along. Well, you can't find out much from me; I don't 
 know much about them myself; I have seen Joe Smith 
 once or twice; they lived about five miles from where 
 I did; was not personally acquainted with any of them 
 — never went to any of their meetings, and never heard 
 one preach.' 
 
 "What do you know about the character of the 
 family? How were they for honesty? Were they in- 
 dustrious or lazy? We want to know their character 
 among their old neighbors. 
 
 " 'Well, I don't know about that. I never saw 
 them work; the people thought young Joe was a great 
 liar.' 
 
 "What made them think that? 
 
344- COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 '* 'They thought he lied when he said he found 
 that gold bible.' 
 
 ''Before this what was thought of him, as to his 
 telling the truth? 
 
 " 'I never heard anything before this.' 
 
 "What else did he lie about? And how did he 
 get the name of being such a great liar? 
 
 " 'The people said he lied about finding the plates; 
 I don't know whether he lied about anything else; they 
 were all a kind of a low, shiftless set.' 
 
 "What do you mean by that? 
 
 " 'The people said they were awful poor, and poor 
 managers. Joe was an illiterate fellow. If you come 
 from Palmyra, you could have got Tucker's work there 
 and it would have told you all about them. I have 
 read a great deal about them.' 
 
 "Yes, we have seen Tucker's work, but there are 
 too many big stories in that. Thinking people don't 
 believe them; they ridicule them, and demand the facts: 
 we wish to get some facts which we can stand by 
 
 " 'I don't know anything myself; I wish. I did. 
 Have you been to see Mr. Reed? He lives up north of 
 Manchester; he knows.' 
 
 "Mrs. Bryant. — 'My husband don't know anything 
 about them; they did not live in the same neighborhood 
 that we did, and he was not acquainted with them; he 
 don't know anything.' 
 
 "Well, were they drunkards? 
 
 "Mr. Bryant. — 'Everybody drank whiskey in them 
 times.' 
 
 "Did you ever see Joe Smith drunk or drinking? 
 
 " 'No, I can't say that I did; I only saw him once or 
 twice, when he came to the woolen mill where I worked.' 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 345. 
 
 *'Dici you not see Joe drink sometime? 
 
 *' 'N-o-e.' 
 
 "Mrs. Bryant. — *He ought not to say anything, for 
 he knows nothing about them; then it has been a long 
 time ago.' 
 
 "Have you stated now all you know about them? 
 
 "Mr. Bryant. — 'Yes; I never knew much about 
 them anyway.' 
 
 "Did you know any of their associates — Cowdery, 
 Harris or others? 
 
 " *No, I never knew any of them.' 
 
 "Mrs. Bryant. — 'I knew Cowdery; Lyman Cow- 
 <lery, I believe, was his name. They lived next door 
 to us; they were low shacks, — he was a lawyer, — he 
 was always on the wrong side of every case, they said,' 
 
 "Did he ever teach school? 
 
 " 'No, not this one.' 
 
 "Did you know any other one? 
 
 " 'No, I only knew this one and his family; I know 
 they borrowed my churn once, and when it came home, 
 I had to scour it all over before I used it. My father 
 owned the largest house there was in the country at that 
 time.' 
 
 "How were they at)Out being honest, and telling 
 the truth? 
 
 " 'I don't remember anything about that, now.' 
 
 "Were they religious people — pious? 
 
 " 'No they did not belong to any church; I know 
 they didn't, for there were only two churches there, the 
 Baptist and Methodist, — sometimes the Universalists 
 preached there — they did not belong to either of those 
 churches.' 
 
 "Mr. Bryant. — 'He (Cowdery), was strong against 
 
346. COMPENDIUiM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 the Masons; he helped to write Morgan's book, they 
 said.' 
 
 ''What do you know, now, about the Smiths, or 
 others; you have lived here about seventy-five years, 
 have you not, Mrs. Bryant? 
 
 " 'Yes, I have lived here all my life, but I never 
 knew anything about the Smith's myself; you will find 
 it all in Tucker's work. I have read that. Have you 
 been to see Mr. Booth? He lives right up here, on the 
 road running south; he knows all about them, they say.' 
 
 "Very good; we will call and see him. Thank 
 you for your kindness in allowing us to trouble you. 
 
 " 'Oh, it is no trouble; I wish we knew more to 
 tell you.' 
 
 "We then called upon Mr. David Booth, an intel- 
 ligent gentleman, hale and hearty, and upwards of 
 seventy years of age — and make known our business. 
 
 "Mr. Booth promptly stated that he knew nothing of 
 the Smiths, or their character; did not live in their 
 neighborhood, and never saw either of them; did not 
 know anything about them, or their book. 
 •Did you know the Cowderys? 
 • 'I knew one — the lawyer.' 
 'What kind of a character*was he? 
 ' 'A low pettifogger.' 
 'What do you mean by that? 
 
 ' 'Why, he was not a regular lawyer, but took 
 small cases and practiced before the justices of the 
 peace. We call them pettifoggers here.' 
 
 "What was his given name? 
 
 " 'Lyman; he never taught school; guess he was 
 no church member; he was a Mason; that was all there 
 was to him. They called him "loose Cowdery," ' 
 
COMPENDIUiNI OF EVIDENCE. 347. 
 
 "What did they mean by that? 
 
 " 'Why, he would take small cases; would be on 
 the wrong side, and pettifog before justices, was the 
 reason, I suppose.' 
 
 ''Are you certain his name was Lyman? Wasn't it 
 Oliver? 
 
 " 'It has been a long time ago. I think may be 
 his name was Oliver.' 
 
 "Did he drink? 
 
 " 'Everybody drank then. I never saw^ Cowdery 
 drink.' 
 
 "Mr. Bryant, here in the village, told us that he 
 was a strong Anti Mason, and helped to write Morgan's 
 work. 
 
 " 'Oh, that is all nonsense; they don't know any- 
 thing about it. Mr. Bryant hasn't been here more than 
 thirty-five years: his wife was raised here — is his second 
 wife. Cowdery was a strong Mason, so they all said; 
 that is all the religion he had.' 
 
 "Do you know Rev. Thorn, a Presbyterian minis- 
 ter at Manchester? 
 
 " 'Yes, I know him.' 
 
 "What kind of a fellow is he? 
 
 " 'He is a prettj^ sharp fellow, and will look after 
 his bread and butter, you may depend on that.' 
 
 "Did he ever interview you on this subject? 
 
 " 'No, sir; he never did.' 
 
 "Did he not call to see what you knew about the 
 Smiths and Cowderys about a year ago? 
 
 " 'No, he never did, to my recollection.' 
 
 "Did you know he had a statement of yours pub- 
 lished in Michigan, in regard to this, last year? 
 
 " 'No, sir; I never heard of it before.' 
 
348. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 "Did you ever give him one to publish? 
 
 " *I never did — did not know he wanted one/ 
 
 "He will look out for himself, will he? 
 
 " 'He will that; that is him.' 
 
 "You have lived here all your life. Tell us of 
 some one who can tell us all about the people we wish to 
 learn about— some of the old settlers. 
 
 " 'Squire Pierce and Mr. Reed live a few miles 
 north from here, in the neighborhood where the Smiths 
 lived; they know all about them, they say. The Smiths 
 never lived in this neighborhood.' 
 
 "Do you know Thomas H. Taylor, of Manchester? 
 
 " 'Yes.' 
 
 "What kind of a fellow is he? 
 
 " 'He is a pretty smart fellow; can do most any- 
 thing he undertakes; he is a lawyer, and lectures some- 
 times.' 
 
 "Mr. Booth, we were told, is a Free Methodist. 
 His address is Shortville, Ontario Co., New York. 
 
 "Following the directions of Mr. Booth, we re- 
 passed the town of Manchester, and at one o'clock, p. 
 m.*, arrived at the house of Ezra Pierce, a very pleasant 
 and hospitable New York farmer, quite well informed 
 in the political history of the country, especially on the 
 Democratic side. Approaching the subject of the de- 
 sired interview to him, he quickly answered by saying: 
 
 ".'Well, gentlemen, I must first ask you a question, 
 because I went on to give my statement to some parties 
 once, and as it did not suit them, they began to abuse 
 and insult me; said that I lied about it. Let me ask: 
 Are you Mormons?' 
 
 E. L. — I am a lawyer, myself; this other gentle- 
 man can speak for himself. We don't propose to be 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 349, 
 
 anything, especially during this interview; we are here 
 to try to find out some facts, and we don't care who 
 they hit; it is facts that we are after, and you may be 
 sure there will be no abuse, no matter which side they 
 are on. 
 
 '• 'All right; that's fair; go ahead.' 
 
 *'Were you acquainted with the Smith family? 
 
 " 'Oh, yes, I pulled sticks with Joe for a gallon of 
 brandy once at a log rolling; he was about my age. I 
 was born in 1806. I lived about three miles from the 
 Smiths. Was not very well acquainted with them, but 
 knew them when I saw them. I knew young Joe, who 
 claimed to have found the plates, and old Joe, his 
 father.' 
 
 ''Did young Joe drink? 
 
 " 'Everybody drank them times.' 
 
 "Did you ever see young Joe drink. 
 
 " 'No, I never did; it was customary in those early 
 days for everybody to drink, more or less. They would 
 have it at huskings, and in the harvest field, and places 
 of gathering; the Smiths did not drink more than others.' 
 
 "What about Joe's learning? 
 
 " 'I know that he was ignorant; and he knew no 
 more about hieroglyphics than that stove,' pointing to 
 the stove in the room. 
 
 "Well, go on and state what kind of a family they 
 were — all about them. 
 
 " 'They were poor, and got along by working by 
 the day; the old man had a farm up there, and a log 
 house upon it. The old man Smith and Hyrum were 
 coopers; I never went to the same school that the boys 
 did — they dug for money sometimes; young Joe, he 
 had a stone that he could look through and see where 
 
350. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 the money was; there were a good many others who 
 dug with them, and Joe used to play all kinds of tricks 
 upon them.' 
 
 ''Who said they dug for money? 
 
 '' *0h, I have heard it lots of times. If my brother 
 was living, he could tell you all about it.' 
 
 "Others dug besides the Smiths, did they? 
 
 " 'Yes; there were others who dug; but I always 
 heard that the Smiths dug the most; one of the Chase's, 
 a young lady had a stone, which she claimed she could 
 look through and see money buried.^ 
 
 "Did any body dig for her? 
 
 " 'Yes, I guess they did. They said so.' 
 
 "Then young Joe had some opposition in the see-' 
 ing money business? 
 
 " 'That is whafeverybody said.' 
 
 "Who was this Miss Chase? Where does she live? 
 
 " 'She is dead now; she was a sister to Abel 
 Chase, who lives upon the Palmyra Road. Have you 
 seen him? He will know all about this. He has been 
 in the cave with the Smiths where the sheep bones were 
 found — people used to think they were making counter- 
 feit money/ 
 
 "Did you ever see any of it? 
 
 " 'No.' 
 
 "Did any of the neighbors? 
 
 " 'No: I never heard any say they did.' 
 
 "Did any one ever catch them trying to pass coun- 
 terfeit money? 
 
 " 'No; oh! I don^t say they made any; it was only 
 talked around.' 
 
 "Who talked it; their friends or enemies, and when 
 was it talked? 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 35 1. 
 
 '* 'Well, they were not their friends of course; I 
 never heard it while they lived here; after they went to 
 Kirtland, Ohio, people were talking it.' 
 
 "Young lady, a daughter of Mr. Pierce: 
 
 *' 'The sheets, the sheets, pa; what was it about 
 the sheets? Ma said old Mr. Smith come here with the 
 sheets — and she told him to leave. How was it?' (look- 
 ing to other members of the house). 
 
 *'The sheets; what kind of sheets? (I began to 
 think of ghosts and hobgoblins). 
 
 '' 'The sheets, or the leaves, he was carrying 
 around in an old sack, or something.' 
 
 ''Our feelings were relieved somewhat when we 
 learned on further inquiry, that Mr. Smith had called 
 upon them when the Book of Mormon was first pub- 
 lished, with a few unbound volumes for sale, and was 
 ordered out of the house by 'ma;' nothing like ghosts 
 being connected with the event. 
 
 "Squire, did you really think they were in the 
 counterfeit money business? 
 
 " 'No; I never thought they did that.' 
 
 "Tell us about the cave you spoke of. 
 
 " 'The cave is over there in the hill now — a large 
 cave.' 
 
 "In what hill? The hill they call 'Mormon Hill?' 
 
 " 'No; it is about a mile from that, but what are 
 you so particular about it for?' 
 
 "We want to go and see it — we want to see the 
 thing itself. Now you have been there, give us the de- 
 scription, while we write it down, so that we can find it. 
 ^ " 'No; I never saw it; besides it is all caved in 
 now, so you could not see anything. There is no cave 
 there now, it is all fallen in.' 
 
352. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 "The young lady. — 'Well, why are yon so particu- 
 lar for, anyway; what good will it do?' 
 
 **We wish to know just how much truth there is to 
 these stories; and get some facts that we can stand on. 
 
 ''Y. L. — 'But what good will it do?' 
 
 "Just this; there has been a great many stories told 
 about these people, and the finding of the plates; some 
 believe there is truth in the stories, and some believe 
 they are lies. We are investigating the matter to sat- 
 isfy ourselves what there is in it. 
 
 "Y. L. — 'Now, you had better turn your backs up- 
 on it, and let it go; that is the way to do, there is no 
 truth in it.' 
 
 "That is just the thing at issue. Some say there 
 is truth in it, some say there isn't. It is right to inves- 
 tigate and prove all things; and we wish to find what 
 there is in this. 
 
 "Y. L. — 'But what good will it do to find out the 
 truth about the Book of Mormon?' 
 
 "If it is what it claims to be, we wish to know it; 
 if false, we wish evidence to prove that. 
 
 "Y. L. — 'What; you spending your time trying to 
 find out about that? If I only knew where your wives 
 are, I would write to them and let them know just what 
 you are doing.' 
 
 '*A11 right; do so. (Here we gave our names and 
 addresses). 
 
 "Did you ever read that book? 
 
 "Y. L. — 'No; I never saw one.' 
 
 "Well, I have; and there is something strikingly 
 strange about it. It is certain that no one, or multi-. 
 tude of men, ever possessed suflficient inventive genius 
 to produce it, or one similar to it, and have it so per- 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 353- 
 
 feet in its doctrinal teachings, history and general make 
 up, as to baffle the skill of learned critics to detect the 
 error and deception. This book bids defiance to the 
 whole learned world to prove it false; did you ever 
 think of that? 
 
 "Y. L. — 'No; but what good will it do, if it is true?' 
 
 ''If really true; Joseph Smith obtained the plates, 
 and men are telling falsehoods about him; and there 
 has been a divine communication from heaven in our 
 own day, which is contrary to the whole of the tradi- 
 tionary religious belief of the age. It unites with the 
 testimony given in the Bible concerning Jesus being the 
 Christ; and that he is indeed, the Redeemer of the 
 world; hence, another witness testifying in favor of His 
 mission and work. Quite a necessary thing when we 
 take into consideration the unbelief and skepticism 
 there is in the world at the present time, and it is on 
 the increase. Then it is very gratifying and instructive 
 to know about the ancient inhabitants of this country, 
 their origin, habits of life, form of government, laws 
 and religion. 
 
 "Y. L. — 'But does this book teach the same as the 
 Bible— our Bible?' 
 
 "The teachings of the two books are the same, so 
 far as religious duties and life are concerned. Besides 
 it is urged that many prophecies of the Bible refer to 
 the coming forth of this book, and we confess that we 
 are not enabled to explain satisfactorily the passages 
 referred to, in any other light. 
 
 "Y. L.— '\Vhy what are some of them? I never 
 heard of that before.' 
 
 "The twenty-ninth chapter of Isaiah is one directly 
 in point, where the prophet speaks with reference to a 
 
354- COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 sealed book coming forth, the words of which were to 
 be delivered to a learned man, but he could not be able 
 to read them; and the book itself was to be delivered 
 to an unlearned man, and he would be enabled to read 
 it. Also the stick of Joseph in the hand of Ephraim, 
 recorded in the thirty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel. It 
 is interpreted by the learned that the stick of Judah, 
 there mentioned, is the Bible; and the Latter Day 
 Saints hold the stick of Joseph referred to, is the Book 
 of Mormon. Then in the tenth of John, where Jesus 
 says: 'Other sheep I have which are not of this fold,' 
 etc., relates to Israelitish people who had to come to 
 this continent, and were unknown to the Jews, but 
 known to Jesus. It is held, too, that the fourteenth 
 chapter of the book of Revelations refers to this event, 
 where John saw an angel flying through the midst of 
 heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to all 
 people, just previous to the hour of God's judgment; 
 and many other passages. Did you never read them? 
 
 *'Y. L. — 'No; write some of them down, and I 
 will examine them.' (Here we wrote down some refer- 
 ences). 
 
 "Y. L. — 'Don't this book teach polygamy?' 
 
 "Oh, no; it is much more outspoken and emphatic 
 against that sin than the Bible. (Quoting a passage 
 from the Book of Jacob). The people in Utah, known 
 as Mormons, treat it as you would a last year's almanac. 
 They say it was good in its time, but they have out- 
 grown it. 
 
 *'¥. L. — 'Are there any other people who believe 
 in that book?' 
 
 "Yes; the Latter Day Saints who may be found in 
 almost every State and Territory in the Union, and 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDEN'CE. 355. 
 
 Other parts of the world. An intelligent class of peo- 
 ple, who have taken pains to examine all sides relating 
 "to this subject, and have become convinced that there 
 is truth in it. They do not believe in going to Utah; 
 neither are they more like them in faith and doctrine 
 than are the Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, etc. 
 They have a publishing house at Piano, Illinois, about 
 fifty-six miles from Chicago, and are an orderly class 
 ■of people. It was very easy for people in the days of 
 Jesus to say that He was an imposter — was possessed of 
 the devil — born of fornication — a glutton and a wine 
 bibber; an enemy of mankind generally, but He was 
 true, and the Christ just the same. Sensible people 
 'examined into the facts, then, relating to Him and His 
 doctrine; and the foolish were moved by gossip, stories 
 and popular rumor, until they raised their hands and 
 rejected the best friend of the human race. It is just 
 as easy for people to cry in this age 'Old Joe Smith — 
 Gold Bible — Money digger, Imposter,' etc. But what 
 are the facts in the case? That is what we wish to 
 know. I am a Latter Day Saint minister myself, not 
 of choice^ but from conviction, by force of evidence 
 adduced on that side of the question; I expect to con- 
 tinue to be one until convinced that it is not right, and 
 it will take something more than stories to do it. 
 
 "The Squire.— 'Well, if he believes that Joe Smith 
 was a prophet, that's enough; you can't do anything 
 with him. I never knew one to change yet,' 
 
 ''Now Squire, what do you know about it? 
 
 " 'I don't know anything about it,' 
 
 "Now, I am ready to affirm that the Book of Mor- 
 mon is a work of divine authenticity, and that Joseph 
 Smith was a prophet of God; and I say that I can 
 
356. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 prove it from the Bible and other evidences, and am 
 willing to undertake to do it right here, or in Palmyra, or 
 Manchester, where it is admitted the thing first started. 
 
 "Y. L. — *Why, I don't believe you would be safe to 
 do that here.' 
 
 ''You don't? Have you such a class of people 
 here, that they will break the laws of the country, and 
 refuse liberty of speech and conscience? Don't dare 
 to speak my sentiments in a country in which I have 
 followed the flag, and bore arms for its defense, in 
 order to continue a perpetual union? A country in 
 which every ounce of powder and pound of lead is 
 pledged to maintain human rights and religious equality 
 and freedom? 
 
 '' 'Oh, I guess they would let you, too; I will take 
 that back. It is right to let all have the privilege of 
 speaking their minds.' 
 
 "Of course, Squire, I should not expect you to be- 
 lieve in this, for it is difficult for any one to believe a 
 matter without evidence; and you say you never heard 
 one of them preach; never attended their meetings; 
 never read one of their books, and have read a great 
 many things written against them. Now would any of 
 us have ever believed in Jesus if we had never read any- 
 thing that he and the apostles said; never read any of 
 their books; but just took the stories their enemies cir- 
 culated about them — read the books put out by the pre- 
 tended pious Jews against them? And don't you know 
 that it is from that standpoint that the Jews reject Jesus 
 and the teachings of the apostles, unto this day? They 
 say they have hundreds of witnesses to one that Jesus 
 was a law-breaker, and a deceiver; and the apostles 
 false witnesses. 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 357. 
 
 " 'Yes, that is true.' 
 
 ''Y. L. — 'Can you speak in tongues and prophesy?' 
 
 "Suppose I can't, what has that to do with the 
 principle? Jesus says, 'These signs shall follow them 
 that believe.' It is in the Bible. I am not responsible 
 for it. 
 
 " 'But can you speak in tongues? That is my 
 question.' 
 
 "I have heard a great many of the Saints speak in 
 tongues and interpret. Have heard them speak in 
 prophecy, and have seen the sick healed many times. 
 
 " 'But can you prophesy 'and speak in tongues?' 
 
 "Well, what would you think, if I was to tell you 
 that I^can? 
 
 " 'Why, I should say you was crazy.' 
 
 "That is just what I thought. 
 
 " 'We have institutions in which ministers are 
 educated now, and we don't need such things.' 
 
 "Yes; I know there are a good many who seem to 
 think they know more than Paul and Peter did about 
 Christ and his doctrine; have gone on to invent creeds 
 and systems; but did you never think that this is the 
 greatest evil of the age — the very thing that keeps men 
 in fetters, ignorance and superstition. Here is a Roman 
 Catholic institution, that educates its priests to teach 
 Catholicism; and after they go through the training, 
 they know nothing else; hence, start out in their little 
 groove to make Catholics. They do not know any- 
 thing else, nor will they listen to others, in order that 
 they may become informed. It is the abominable sys- 
 tem of training is the difficulty. Take the Metholiist 
 ministers, or Baptist, or Episcopalian, or Quakers, or 
 Disciples, or Adventists, or others; and each has to 
 
358. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 pass through their respective institutions of training, 
 and when, through, they start out, not to preach what is 
 in the Bible, for many of them are forbidden to talk 
 ^octrine, but to proselyte to their peculiar creeds; for- 
 tify and build, them up. One to teach sprinkling for 
 baptism; another pouring, or immersion; another no 
 baptism at all, or only that of the Spirit; one that you, 
 must keep Sunday, and others, Saturday; another tha^ 
 you will be .saved by works; another by faith and grace, 
 ■yvithout works; one sprinkles infants, and others don't; 
 all owing to what scl^ool he was educated in. If any 
 courageous spir.it endeavors to break ,away from the 
 preed, they will whip, him into the traces or throw him 
 put. There is no genuine Christian unity and love be- 
 t:ween them, but ea.ch, rejoices at tl;ie others downfall, 
 for the sake of the advantage; not because it is accord- 
 ing to the Bible, but according, to the Cr^ed. 
 
 '< 'Well, I guess there is a good deal of truth in 
 that.' 
 
 "In this age of the conflict of ideas and investiga- 
 tion, people are getting tired of mythg, and are digging 
 deep and searching for facts, in religion as well as 
 everything else. If religion is a truth, the facts should 
 ^how it; . if false, the world ought to know that. We 
 t)elieve in discussion — 'proving all things, and holding 
 fast that which is good.' Hearing everybody; investi- 
 gating everything possible. But we must go. 
 
 "Mr. Pierce having referred us to Mr. Reed, 
 Orlando Saunders, and Abel Chase, , we took leave of 
 him and his. intelligent family, and called next at the 
 residence of Mr. Orin Reed. 
 
 "He was at his home, doing some work about the 
 barn. He is a gentleman, of about seventy years of age. 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 359. 
 
 hard of hearing, and of pleasant and intelligent counte- 
 nance. Breaking the object of our call to 'him, h^ 
 readily informed us that he" khew • nothing whatever 
 in regard to the character of Joseph Smith, or his 
 family. 
 
 ''Mr. Reed, were you not acquainted with the 
 Smith family, or some of those early connected with 
 them? 
 
 '' 'No, I was not. I lived in the town of Farming- 
 fon when the Smiths lived hfere. I ktiew nothing about 
 any of them; was not personally acquainted with them; 
 and never heard any of them preach, nor never attended 
 any t)f their meetings. I have seen Hyrum Smith. He 
 bought a piece of land near hefe, and lived on it some" 
 time after the others left; but I don't know anything 
 against him.' 
 
 ''We were given your name by a number of per- 
 sons, who claimed that you did know all about them, 
 Mr. Reed? 
 
 " 'Is that so? Well, they are mistaken; I don't 
 know anything about it. I think Mr. Orlando Saun- 
 ders, living up on the road to Palmyra, will know mord 
 about that pfeople than ahy one around hefe. He was 
 better acquainted with them, or lived right by them, 
 and had a better' opportunity of knowing them.' 
 
 "Yes, we have hisnanie already, but have liot seeil 
 him yet. Do you know Mr. Thorn, the Presbyterian 
 minister at Matichester, over here. 
 
 " «Yes, I know him slightly.' • ; 
 
 "Did you not make a statement to him in regard to 
 the character of these men; that they were low persons, 
 and not good associates, or something of the kind? 
 
 " 'I never did.' 
 
360. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 "Did he call on you to find out what you knew 
 about it? 
 
 " 'No, sir, he never did; at least he never let me 
 know anything about it, if he did.' 
 
 ''Did you ever see a statement he sent to Michigan 
 last year, and had published, purporting to be what you 
 and others knew about the Smiths and Cowderys? 
 
 " 'No, I never did; did not know that one was 
 ever published before.' 
 
 "You think we can find out about these persons 
 from Mr. Saunders, then, Mr. Reed? 
 
 " 'Yes; he is more likely to know than any one 
 round here.' 
 
 '•Leaving Mr. Reed, we at once drove to the house 
 of Mr. Orlando Saunders, and found that gentleman, 
 with his wife and two sons, at supper. Mr. Saunders 
 is a man seventy-eight years old, in April, 1881; a fair 
 type of the intelligent New York farmer, seemingly well- 
 to-do in this world's goods, and quite actiye for a man of 
 his years; and withal, has an honest and thoughtful face. 
 
 "Entering upon conversation with reference to our 
 business, Mr. Saunders at once said: 
 
 " 'Well, you have come to a poor place to find out 
 anything. I don't know anything against these men, 
 myself.' (Evidently judging that we wanted to get 
 something against them, only.) 
 
 "Were you acquainted with them, Mr Saunders? 
 
 " 'Yes, sir; I knew all of the Smith family, well; 
 there were six boys; Alvin, Hyrum, Joseph, Harrison, 
 William, and Carlos, and there were two girls; the old 
 man was a cooper; they have all worked for me many 
 a day; they were very good people; Young Joe, (as we 
 called him then), has worked for me, and he was a good 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 361. 
 
 worker; they all were. I did not consider them good 
 managers about business, but they were poor people; 
 the old man had a large family.' 
 
 "In what respect did they differ from other people, 
 if at all? 
 
 " 'I never noticed that they were different from 
 other neighbors; they were the best family in the neigh- 
 borhood in case of sickness; one was at my house nearly 
 all the time when my father died; I always thought 
 them honest; they were owing me some money when 
 they left here, that is, the old man and Hyrum did, and 
 Martin Harris. One of them came back in about a 
 year and paid me.' 
 
 ''How were they as to habits of drinking and get- 
 ting drunk? 
 
 '^ 'Everybody drank a little in those days, and the 
 Smiths with the rest; they never got drunk to my 
 knowledge.' 
 
 "What kind of a man was Martin Harris? ' 
 
 " 'He was an honorable man. Martin Harris was 
 one of the first men of the town.' 
 
 "How well did you know young Joseph Smith? 
 
 " 'Oh! just as well as one could very well; he has 
 worked for me many a time, and been about my place 
 a great deal. He stopped with me many a time, when 
 through here, after they went west to Kirtland; he was 
 always a gentleman when about my place.' 
 
 "What did you know about his finding that book, 
 or the plates in the hill over here? 
 
 " 'He always claimed that he saw the angel and 
 received the book, but I don't know anything about it. 
 Have seen it, but never read it as I know of; didn't care 
 anything about it.' 
 
362. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 /'Well, you seem to differ a little from a good many 
 of the stories told about these people. 
 
 '' 'I have told you just what I kfiow about them, 
 and you will have to go somewhere else for a different 
 story.' 
 
 "Mr. Saunders, giving us the directions to the 
 house of Abel Chase, we next called upon him and as- 
 certained the following: 
 
 "Mr. Chase. — 'I am sixty-seven years old. Knew 
 the Smiths; the old man was a cooper. I was young 
 and don't remember only general character. They 
 were poorly educated, ignorant and superstitious: were 
 kind of shiftless, but Would do a good day's work. 
 They used to call Joe, '.'Lobby Joe." He got a singu- 
 lar looking stone, which was dug up out of my father's 
 well; it belonged to my brother Willard, aiid he could 
 never get it. His mother, old Mrs. Smith, got the stone 
 from mother.' 
 
 "How do you know Joe ever had it? 
 
 " 'Oh, I don't know that; but my brother could 
 never get it back.' 
 
 "Your sister had a stone she could look through 
 and see things, so they have told us; did you ever see 
 that, Mr. Chase? 
 
 " 'Yes, I have seen it, but that was not the one 
 that old Mrs. Smith got.' ' 
 
 "Well, could yoii see things through that? 
 
 " 'I could not; it was a dark looking stone; it was 
 a peculiar stone.' 
 
 "Do you really think your sister could see things 
 by looking through that stone, Mr. Chase? 
 
 " 'Well, she claimed to; and I must say there was 
 something strange about it.' 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 363. 
 
 «'Where is your sister now? 
 
 f 'She is not living now: my brother Willard is 
 dead, also. He would know more than I do about 
 jthose things.' 
 
 "How did the stone look, you say Mrs. Smith 
 got? ..... . , 
 
 " 'I don't know; I never saw that. 
 
 ''How do you |cnow she got it? 
 
 " 'They said she did; I was young, and don't re- 
 member myself.' , , , 
 
 "Did you ever see the Smiths dig for money; or 
 did you ever see the cave where they say they met at? 
 
 " 'No. I never saw them ^dig, myself; I never 
 saw the cave.' , 
 
 "Well; you were a young man then, how did it 
 come you lived so n^ear^ and never saw thern do these 
 things? 
 
 I " 'I was young, and never went where they were. 
 Don't know anything about it but what I have heard. 
 Jf you will see Mr. Guilbert, at Palmyra, he can tell 
 you more about it than any person else; he knows it 
 ^11 and has been getting everything he could for years 
 to publish against them; he was in with Tucker in get- 
 jting oat Tucker's \!i^ork.' 
 
 "All right, Mr. Chase, we will see him this even- 
 ing if possible. Good day, sir, Much obliged for the 
 jtrouble. 
 
 " 'Oh! it is no trouble; I only wish I could tell 
 you more.' 
 
 ^ "Early in the evening we called upon Mr. John 
 H. Gilbert, at his residence, and made known our de- 
 sire for an interview, etc. He seemed quite free to 
 give us all the information he had upon the subject. 
 
364. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 and said he had been for the past forty-five or fifty 
 years doing all he could to find out what he could about 
 the Smiths and Book of Mormon. He is a man seven- 
 ty-nine years of age, and quite active even in this time 
 of life. 
 
 ''What did you know about the Smiths, Mr. Gil- 
 bert? 
 
 " 'I knew nothing myself; have seen Joseph Smith 
 a few times, but not acquainted with him. Saw Hyrum 
 quite often. I am the party that set the type from the 
 original manuscript for the Book of Mormon. They 
 translated it in a cave. I would know that manuscript 
 today if I should see it. The most of it was in Oliver 
 Cowdery's handwriting. Some in Joseph's wife's; a 
 small part though. Hyrum Smith always brought the 
 manuscript to the office; he would have it under his 
 coat, and all buttoned up as carefully as though it was 
 so much gold. He said at the time it was translated 
 from plates by the power of God, and they were very 
 particular about it We had a great deal of trouble 
 with it. It was not punctuated at all. They did not 
 know anything about punctuation, and we had to do 
 that ourselves.' 
 
 ''Well; did you change any part Qf it when you 
 were setting the type? 
 
 " 'No, sir; we never changed it at all.' 
 
 "Why did you not change it and correct it? 
 
 " 'Because they would not allow us to; they were 
 very particular about that. We never changed it in 
 the least. Oh, well; there might have been one or two 
 words that I changed the spelling of; I believe I did 
 change the spelling of one, and perhaps two, but no 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 365. 
 
 '•Did you set all of the type, or did some one help 
 you? 
 
 " 'I did the whole of it myself, and helped to read 
 the proof too; there was no one who worked at that 
 but myself. Did you ever see one of the first copies? 
 I have one here that was never bound. Mr. Grandin, 
 the printer, gave it to me. If you ever saw a Book of 
 Mormon you will see that they changed it afterwards.' 
 
 "They did! Well, let us see your copy; that is a 
 ^ood point. How is it changed now? 
 
 " '1 will show you,' (bringing out his copy). 
 'Here on the title page it says,' (reading) ' "Joseph 
 Smith, Jr, author and proprietor." Afterwards, in 
 getting out other editions they left that out, and only 
 claimed that Joseph Smith translated it.' 
 
 "Well, did they claim anything else than that he 
 was the translator when they brought the manuscript to 
 you? 
 
 " 'Oh, no; they claimed that he was translating it 
 by means of some instruments he got at the same time 
 he did the plates, and that the Lord helped him.' 
 
 "Was he educated, do you know? 
 
 " 'Oh, not at all then; but I understand that after- 
 wards he made great advancement, and ' was quite a 
 scholar and orator.' 
 
 "How do you account for the production of the 
 Book of Mormon, Mr. Gilbert, then, if Joseph Smith 
 was so illiterate? 
 
 " 'Well, that is the difficult question. It must 
 have been from the Spaulding romance — you have 
 heard of that, I suppose. The parties here then never 
 could have been the authors of it, certainly. I have 
 been for the last forty-five or fifty years trying to get 
 
366. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 the key to that thing; but we have never been able to 
 make the connecting yet. For some years past I have 
 been corresponding with a person in Salt Lake, by the 
 name of Cobb, who is getting out a work against the 
 Mormons; but we have never been able to find what 
 we wanted.' 
 
 "If you could only connect Sidney Rigdon with 
 Smith some way, you could get up a theory. 
 
 " 'Yes; that is just where the trouble lies; the 
 manuscript was put in our hands in August, 1829, and 
 all printed by March, 1830, and we can not find that 
 Rigdon was ever about here, or in this state, until 
 sometime in the Fall of 1830. But I think I have got 
 a way out of the difficulty now. A fellow that used to 
 be here, by the name of Saunders, Lorenzo Saunders, 
 was back here some time ago, and I was asking him 
 about it. At first he said he did not remember of ever 
 seeing Rigdon until after 1830 sometime; but after 
 studying it over a while, he said it seemed to him that 
 one time he was over to Smith's, and that there was a 
 stranger there he never saw before, and that they said 
 it was Rigdon I told him about Cobb, of Utah, and 
 asked him if he would send Cobb his affidavt, that he 
 saw Rigdon " before the book was published, if he 
 (Cobb), would write to him; he finally said he would, 
 and I wrote to Cobb about it, and gave Saunders' ad- 
 dress, and after a long time, I got a letter from him, 
 saying he had written three letters to Saunders, and 
 could get no answer. I then sat down and wrote Saun- 
 ders a letter myself, reminding him of his promise, 
 and wrote to Cobb also about it; and after a long 
 time Cobb wrote me again, that Saunders had written 
 to him; but I have never learned how satisfactory 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 367. 
 
 it was, or whether he made the affidavit or not.' 
 
 "Is that Saunders a brother of the Saunders living 
 down here, Orlando Saunders? 
 
 " 'Yes, sir; they are brothers.' 
 
 "Is he older or younger? 
 
 " 'Younger; about fifteen years younger.' 
 
 "Then he must have been quite young before the 
 Book of Mormon was published? 
 
 " 'Yes, he was young.' 
 
 "This Saunders down here don't talk like a great 
 many people; he seems to think the Smiths were very 
 good people; we have been there today. 
 
 " 'Oh, I don't think the Smiths were as bad as peo- 
 ple let on for. Now Tucker, in his work, told too 
 many big things; nobody could believe his stories.' 
 
 "Did the Smiths ever dig for money? 
 
 " 'Yes; I can tell you where you can find persons 
 who know all about that; can take you to the very 
 place.' 
 
 "Can you? All right, give us their names. 
 
 " 'The Jackaway boys — two old bachelors, and 
 their sister, an old maid, live together, right up the 
 street going north, near the north part of the town; 
 they can tell you all about it, and show you the very 
 places where they dug.' 
 
 "What will you take for your copy of the Book of 
 Mormon; or will you sell it? 
 
 " 'Yes, I will sell it.' 
 
 "How much for it? 
 
 " 'I will take Five Hundred Dollars for it, and no 
 less: I have known them to sell for more than that.' 
 
 "Well, I am not buying at those figures, thank you. 
 
 "What kind of a man was Martin Harris? 
 
368. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 " 'He was a very honest farmer, but very super- 
 stitious.' 
 
 "What was he before his name was connected 
 with the Book of Mormon? 
 
 " 'Not anything, I believe; he was a kind of a 
 skeptic' 
 
 "What do you mean by his being superstitious? 
 Was he religious? 
 
 " 'Well, I don't know about that; but he pretend* 
 ed to see things.' 
 
 "What do you think of the Book of Mormon, as a 
 book; you are well posted in it? 
 
 " 'Oh, there is nothing taught in the book but 
 what is good; there is no denying that; it is the claim 
 of being from God that I strike at.' 
 
 "Well, is it any more wonderful than that God 
 gave the Bible? 
 
 " 'No, not a bit; and there is a good deal more 
 evidence to show that that is divine than there is for 
 some of the books in the Bible. Why, it is all nonsense 
 to think that Moses wrote some of the books attributed 
 to him, in the Bible.' 
 
 "Then you don't believe the 'fish story,' either, 
 Mr. Gilbert? 
 
 " 'No; nor that Jonah swallowed the whale.' 
 
 "How about Sampson catching the three hundred 
 foxes, and the firebrands? 
 
 " 'Yes, that is a good one; you fellows will do.' 
 
 "Much obliged, Mr. Gilbert. 
 
 " 'You are quite welcome. I wish I could give 
 you more than I have.' 
 
 "Acting upon Mr. Gilbert's advice, we at once 
 called upon the Jackways, and found the older of the 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 369. 
 
 boys and the sister, ready to talk of what they knew. 
 They had Tucker's work on the small table by, which 
 they offered to sell us for three dollars, and then we 
 could read for ourselves; but being quite familiar with 
 its weaknesses, we declined to purchase at the price. 
 
 "The conversation upon the main topic was as 
 follows: 
 
 "What is your age? 
 
 " 'I will be sixty-six years old on my next birth- 
 day,' said Mr. Jackway. (The lady did not answer). 
 
 "How far did you live from town at the time the 
 Smiths, and those of their comrades, were in this 
 country? 
 
 " 'One-half mile south of Palmyra.' 
 
 "Were you acquainted with Joseph Smith and his 
 early followers? 
 
 " 'Yes, I knew them; seen them a many a time — 
 old Joe and young Joe.' 
 
 "How far did you live from them? 
 
 " 'It was about a mile.' 
 
 "You know about their digging for money, so Mr. 
 Gilbert said; he sent us to you? 
 
 " 'Oh, yes, 1 can show you the places now; there 
 are three places over there where they dug.' 
 
 "Well, we want to see them. Did you help them dig? 
 
 " 'No, I never helped them.' 
 
 "Well, you saw them digging? 
 
 " 'No, I never saw them digging.' 
 
 "How do you know they dug the holes you refer to? 
 
 " 'I don't know they dug them; but the holes are 
 there.' 
 
 "Did anybody else dig for money at that time 
 there? 
 
370- COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 " 'I believe there were some others that dug; but 
 I did not see them.' 
 
 "Do you know any of them? 
 
 " 'I only know one now; he lives up at Can- 
 andaigua.' 
 
 "(Mr. Jackway gave us the name, but for some 
 cause we fail to find it in our notes). 
 
 "What do you know about ihe Smiths' character? 
 
 " 'I don't know much about that.' 
 
 "Would they steal, get drunk, &c? 
 
 " 'Don't know anything about their stealing. Joe 
 and his father got drunk once.' 
 
 "Where was that? 
 
 " 'Tt was in the hay field; Joe and his father 
 wrestled, and Joe threw the old man down and he 
 cried.' 
 
 "What did he cry for? 
 
 " 'Because Joe was the best man I guess.' 
 
 "What did they drink to make them drunk? 
 
 " 'They drank cider.' 
 
 "Got drunk so they could not walk, on cider, did 
 they? 
 
 " 'No; they could walk, but they cut up and acted 
 funny? 
 
 "Did you ever see them drink, or drunk, any other 
 time? 
 
 "No; not as I remember.' 
 
 "What kind of a woman was the old lady Smith? 
 
 " 'I don't know; I never was at the house. She 
 was kind in sickness.' 
 
 "Quite a number here in town, today, have told 
 us it was two and a half to three miles from Palmyra to 
 where the Smiths lived; how is that? 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. » 37 1. 
 
 *' *Yes it was about three miles.' 
 
 <'(How Jackway lived within half a mile of town 
 and only a mile from them he did not explain). 
 
 "Where was Joe when he was translating his book? 
 
 " 'At home; it was translated in the farmhouse.' 
 
 "Mr. Gilbert, across here, said it was done in a 
 cave; now you don't agree? What does Tucker say? 
 (reading Tucker). 
 
 " 'They all differ. Now, Tucker has a statement 
 from Willard Chase in his book, and Chase said 
 Tucker never called on him at all to find out what 
 he knew.' 
 
 "Lady. — 'Yes; I have heard Willard Chase say 
 Tucker never even asked him for what he knew, and 
 Chase lived next door to him, too. Chase is dead 
 now.' 
 
 "Well, did you ever see Hulbert or Howe, that pub- 
 lished works? 
 
 " 'Yes; Hulbert came around first, I believe, soon 
 after the thing started, and they had gone to Kirtland, 
 Ohio, trying to find things against them; and there have 
 been a good many around trying to connect Sidney 
 Rigdon with them.' 
 
 "What kind of men were Martin Harris and Oliver 
 Cowdery? 
 
 " 'Harris was an industrious, honest man; lived 
 north here, two miles. The Cowderys were as good as 
 the general run of people. Have you seen Dr. Stafford? 
 He lives at Rochester. His father, William Stafford, is 
 the one that furnished the "black sheep" Tucker tells 
 about there.' 
 
 "He is? Well, do you know about that? 
 
 " 'No; only what Tucker says there.' 
 
372. * COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 "Taking leave of the Jackways, in due time we 
 called upon Dr. John Stafford, at Rochester, New York. 
 He is now a retired ph3'sician, being too aged and in- 
 firm to practice. i\nswering a question as to the char- 
 acter of Joseph Smith, he said: 
 
 " 'He was a real clever, jovial boy. What Tucker 
 said about them was false, absolutely. My father, 
 William Stafford, was never connected with them in any 
 way. The Smiths, with others, were digging for money 
 before Joe got the plates. My father had a stone, which 
 some thought they could look through, and old Mrs. 
 Smith came there after it one day, but never got it. Saw 
 them digging one time for money; (this was three or 
 four years before the Book of Mormon was found), the 
 Smiths and others. The old man and Hyrum were 
 there, I think, but Joseph was not there. The neigh- 
 bors used to claim Sally Chase could look at a stone 
 she had, and sec money. Willard Chase used to dig 
 when she found where the money was. Don't know as 
 anybody ever found any money.' 
 
 "What was the character of Smith, as to his drink- 
 ing? 
 
 " 'It was common then for everybody to drink, 
 and to have drink in the field; one time Joe, while 
 working for some one, after he was married, drank too 
 much boiled cider. He came in with his shirt torn; 
 his wife felt bad about it, and when they went home, 
 she put her shawl on him.' 
 
 "Had he been fighting and drunk? 
 
 " 'No; he had been scuffling with some of the 
 boys. Never saw him fight; have known him to scuffle; 
 would do a fair day's work if hired out to a man; but 
 were poor managers.' 
 
COMPENDrUM OF EVIDENCE. 373. 
 
 "What about that black sheep your father let them 
 have? 
 
 *' '1 have heard that story, but don't think my 
 father was there at the time they say Smith got the 
 sheep. I don't know anything about it.' 
 
 "You were living at home at the time, and it seems 
 you ought to know if they got a sheep or stole one from 
 your father? 
 
 " 'They never stole one, I am sure; they may have 
 got one sometime.' 
 
 "Well, Doctor, you know pretty well whether that 
 story is true or not, that Tucker tells. What do you 
 think of it? 
 
 " *I don't think it is true. I would have heard 
 more about it, that is true. I lived a mile from Smiths; 
 am seventy-six years old. They were peaceable among 
 themselves. The old woman had a great deal of faith 
 that their children were going to do something great. 
 Joe was quite illiterate. After they began to have 
 school at their house, he improved greatly.' 
 
 "Did they have school in their own house? 
 
 " 'Yes, sir; they had school in their house, and 
 studied the Bible.' 
 
 "Who was-their teacher? 
 
 " 'They did not have any teacher; they taught 
 themselves.' 
 
 "Did you know Oliver Cowdery? 
 
 " 'Yes; he taught school on the Canandaigua road, 
 where the stone school house now stands; just three 
 and a half miles south of Palmyra. Cowdery was a 
 man of good character.' 
 
 "What do you know about Martin Harris? 
 
 " 'He was an honorable farmer; he was not very 
 
374- COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENXE. 
 
 religious before the Book of Mormon was published. 
 Don't know whether he was skeptical or visionary. Old 
 Joe claimed he understood geology, and could tell all 
 kinds of minerals; and one time, down at Manchester, 
 in the grocery, the boys all got pretty full, and thought 
 they would have some fun, and they fixed up a dose for 
 him,' (We omit the ingredients of the dose, because 
 improper for publication). 
 
 "If Smith was as illiterate as you say, Doctor, how 
 do you account for the Book of Mormon? 
 
 " 'Well, I can't; except that Sidney Rigdon was 
 connected with them.' 
 
 "What makes you think he was connected with 
 them? 
 
 " 'Because I can't account for the Book of Mor- 
 mon any other way.' 
 
 "Was Rigdon ever around there before the Book 
 of Mormon was published. 
 
 " 'No; not as we could ever find out. Sidney 
 Rigdon was never there, that Hulburt, or Howe, or 
 Tucker could find out.' 
 
 "Well; you have been looking out for the facts a 
 long time, have you not. Doctor? 
 
 " 'Yes; I have been thinking and hearing about it 
 for the last fifty years, and lived right among all their 
 old neighbors there most of the time.' 
 
 "And no one has ever been able to trace the 
 acquaintance of Rigdon and Smith, until after the Book 
 of Mormon was published, and Rigdon proselyted by 
 Pratt, in Ohio? 
 
 " 'Not that I know of.' 
 
 "Did you know the Pratts, — Parley or Orson Pratt? 
 
 " 'No; have heard of them.' 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 375. 
 
 "Did you know David Whitmer? 
 
 " *No; he lived in Seneca county, New York.' 
 
 **Have you told now all you know about the 
 Smiths and the Book of Mormon? 
 
 *•' 'All that I can recollect.' 
 
 '•'Here we bade the Doctor, whom we found to be 
 quite a gentleman, — affable, and ready to converse, — 
 good day. 
 
 "During the time of making the interviews in Man- 
 chester, we accidentally met the Thomas H. Taylor, 
 referred to by Mr. Booth in the interview with him. 
 He is a Scotchman by birth, of advanced age, but very 
 robust and active. Somewhat of the knock-down and 
 drag-out style; is a public speaker and lecturer, and 
 practices law to some extent. He claims to be one of 
 the original parties with John Brown at Harper's Ferry 
 — all through the fight there — and previous to the war 
 of the rebellion, was engaged in piloting the darkey to 
 Canada and freedom. He was a soldier throughout the 
 war, and saw hard service. In religion he follows Col. 
 Robert G. Ingersol. To our inquiries if he was acquainted 
 with the Smiths, and the early settlers throughout that 
 part, sometimes called Mormons, he said: 
 
 " 'Yes; I knew them very well; they were very 
 nice men too; the only trouble was they were ahead of 
 the people; and the pfeople, as in every such case, 
 turned out to abuse them, because they had the man- 
 hood to stand for their own convictions. I have seen 
 such work all through life, and when I was work- 
 ing with John Brown for the freedom of my fellow 
 man, I often got in tight places, and if it had not 
 been for Gerritt Smith, Wendell Phillips and some 
 others, who gave me their influence and money. 
 
376. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 I don't know how I would ever got through.' 
 
 ''What did the Smiths do that the people abused 
 them so? 
 
 '' 'They did not do anything. Why! these rascals at 
 one time took Joseph Smith and ducked him in the pond 
 that you see over there, just because he preached what he 
 believed, and for nothing else. And if Jesus Christ had 
 been there, they would have done the same to him. Now, 
 I don't believe like he did; but every man has a right to 
 his religious opinions, and to advocate his views, too; 
 if people don't like it, let them come out and meet him 
 on the stand, and shew his error. Smith was always 
 ready to exchange views with the best men they had.' 
 
 "Why didn't they like Smith? 
 
 " 'To tell the truth, there was something about 
 him they could not understand; someway he knew 
 more than they did, and it made them mad.' 
 
 "But a good many tell terrible stories about them 
 being low people, rogues, and liars, and such things. 
 How is that? 
 
 " 'Oh! they are a set of d — d liars. I have had 
 a home here, and been here, except when on business, 
 all my life — ever since I came to this country, and I 
 know these fellows; they make these lies on Smith, 
 because they love a lie better than the truth. I can 
 take you to a great many old settlers here who will sub- 
 stantiate what I say, and if you want to go, just come 
 around to my place across the street there, and I'll go 
 with you.' 
 
 "Well, that is very kind, Mr. Taylor, and fair; if 
 we have time we will call around and give you a chance; 
 but we are first going to see these fellows who, so rumor 
 says, know so much against them. 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDEN'CE. 377. 
 
 *' -All right; but you will find they don't know 
 anything against those men when you put them down to 
 it; they could never sustain anything against Smith.' 
 
 "Do you think Smith ever got any plates out of 
 the hill he claimed to? 
 
 " 'Yes; I rather think he did. Why not he find 
 something as well as anybody else. Right over here, 
 in Illinois and Ohio, in mounds there, they have dis- 
 covered copper plates since, with hieroglyphics all over 
 them; and quite a number of the old settlers around 
 here testified that Smith showed the plates to them — 
 they were good, honest men, and what is the sense in 
 saying they lied? Now, I never saw the Book of Mor- 
 mon — don't know anything about it, nor care; and 
 don't know as it was ever translated from the plates. 
 You have heard about the Spaulding Romance; and 
 some claim that it is nothing but the books of the 
 Bible that were rejected by the compilers of the Bible; 
 but all this don't prove that Smith never got any 
 plates.' 
 
 ''Do you know Rev. Thorn, here in Manchester? 
 
 " 'The Presbyterian preacher?' 
 
 "Yes, that is the one. 
 
 " 'I know him.' 
 
 "What kind of a fellow is he? 
 
 " 'Well, originally he was nothing. He got some 
 money, and went off to college a while, and came back 
 a Presbyterian preacher. He knows just what he got 
 'there, and feels stuck up, and is now preaching for his 
 bread and butter; and if they should take away his 
 salary, he wouldn't last twenty-four hours.' 
 
 "We are much obliged, Mr. Taylor, for your kind- 
 ness. 
 
378. COiMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 " 'You are welcome, and if you will drive back, I 
 will go with you and show you persons who can tell you 
 all about those people.' 
 
 '*We thus left Mr. Taylor, but for want of time, 
 could not then return and accept his kind offer to show 
 us around; hope to be able to do so some time in the 
 future. 
 
 "These facts and interviews are presented to the 
 readers of the Herald impartially — just as they occurred 
 — the good and bad, side by side; and allowing for a 
 possible mistake, or error, arising from a misapprehen- 
 sion, or mistake in taking notes, it can be relied upon 
 as the opinion and gossip had about the Smith family and 
 others, among their old neighbors. It will be remem- 
 bered that all the parties interviewed are unbelievers in, 
 and some bitter enemies to, the faith of the Saints; and 
 it is not unreasonable to suppose that they all told the 
 worst they knew. So we submit it to the readers with- 
 out comment, with the expectation of sending each one 
 of the parties interviewed a copy when published. 
 
 '^Wm. H. Kelley. 
 "CoLDWATER, Michigan, Marcb, 1881." 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 379. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE SPAULDINCx MANUSCRIPT STORY 
 IN BRIEF. 
 
 The supporters of the "story" give the date of its 
 writing as 1809-12. The decease of Spaulding in 
 1816. Mrs. Spaulding the custod}' of the manuscript 
 till 1834, when at the instance of W. H. Sabine, Henry 
 Lake, Aaron Wright and others it was delivered to one 
 D. P. Hurlbut, who turned it over to E. D. Howe, who 
 stated in his book, published soon after, that "it did 
 not read like we expected and we did not use it." It 
 was then lost between forty and fifty years. 
 
 In 1880 Elder T. W. Smith wrote something for 
 the Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Leader; that paper declin- 
 ing to publish the article, the matter was disposed of, 
 setting forth solid facts in the following terse and pithy 
 manner: 
 
 "In reply to many criticisms, Mr. Smith, the Mor- 
 mon preacher of Pittsburg, sends us a small letter of 
 about forty pages, which he requests us to print as 'an 
 act of justice' to him. * * We have to be just to our 
 readers as well as to Mr. Smith, and can not therefore 
 surrender the space where they have a right to look for 
 news, to the missionary efforts of any sect whatever. 
 It should be sufficient justice to Elder Smith to say right 
 now and here, as we frankly do, that the evidence by 
 
380. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 which it is sought to prove that 'Joe' Smith or Sidney 
 Rigdon stole the manuscript copy of Rev. Solomon 
 Spaulding's romance, and made the Book of Mormon 
 out of it, is FATALLY DEFECTIVE. The thing can not be 
 proved. The Mormons successfully riddle the testi- 
 mony of those who assert it, and very fairly demand 
 that Spaulding's romance be produced and the compari- 
 son made or the slander be dropped. The fact that 
 this romance, though alleged tp have remained in Gen- 
 tile hands, never has been produced, and can not be 
 now, is prima facie evidence that it is not the original 
 of the Book of Mormon." — Pittsburg Leader, February 
 20, 1880. 
 
 The following year Mr. Smith wrote E. D. Howe 
 who replied as follows: 
 
 "Painesville, Ohio, July 26th, 1881. 
 
 "Sir: — Your note of 21st is before me, — and I will 
 answer your queries seriatim. 
 
 '^ist. — The manuscript you refer to was not marked 
 on the outside or inside 'Manuscript Found. ^ It was a 
 common-place story of some Indian wars along the 
 borders of our Great Lakes, between the Chicagoes and 
 Eries, as I now recollect — not in Bible style — but purely 
 modern. 
 
 ''2d. — It was not the original 'Manuscript Found,' 
 and I do not believe Hurlbut ever had it. 
 
 "3d. — I never saw or heard read the 'Manuscript 
 Found,' but have seen five or six persons who had, and 
 from their testimony, concluded it was very much like 
 the Mormon Bible. 
 
 "4th. — Never succeeded in finding out anything 
 more than was detailed in my book of exposure pub- 
 lished about fifty years ago. 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 381. 
 
 ''5th. — The manuscript that came into my posses- 
 sion I suspect was destroyed by fire forty years ago. 
 
 "I think there has been much mist thrown around 
 the whole subject of the origin of the Mormon Bible 
 and the 'Manuscript Found,' by the several statements 
 that have been made by those who have been endeavor- 
 ing to solve the problem after sleeping quietly for half a 
 century. Every effort was made to unravel the mystery 
 at the time, when nearly all the parties were on earth, 
 and the result published at the time, and I think it all 
 folly to try to dig out anything more. 
 "Yours, etc., 
 
 "E. D. Howe." 
 
 Howe being unable to use the manuscript to defeat 
 the Book of Mormon, suppressed it and concluded that 
 "much mist" has been thrown around the "whole sub- 
 ject," and that "every effort had been made to unravel 
 the mystery at the time." 
 
 The "mist has cleared away!" Extracts from 
 Prof. J. H. Fairchild and L. L. Rice on the matter: 
 
 " 'There seems no reason to doubt that this is the 
 long-lost story. Mr. Rice, myself, and others, com- 
 pared it with the Book of Mormon, and could detect 
 no resemblance between the two, in general or in detail. 
 There seems to be no name or incident common to the 
 two. The solemn style of the Book of Mormon, in 
 imitation of the English Scriptures, does not appear in 
 the manuscript. The only resemblance is in the fact 
 that both profess to set forth the history of lost tribes. 
 Some other explanation of the origin of the Book of 
 Mormon must be found, if any explanation is required.' 
 Signed, James H. Fairchild." — Bibliotheca Sacra, 
 P- 173- 
 
382. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 ''Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, 
 
 "March 28th, 1885. 
 
 "iMr. Joseph Smith: — The Spaulding Manuscript 
 in my possession came into my hands in this wise. In 
 1839-40 my partner and myself bought of E. D. Howe, 
 the Painesville Telegraph, published at Painesvile, 
 Ohio. The transfer of the printing department, types, 
 press, etc., was accompanied with a large collection of 
 books, manuscripts, etc., this manuscript of Spaulding 
 among the rest. So, you see, it has been in my posses- 
 sion over forty years. But I never examined it, or 
 knew the character of it, until some six or eight months 
 since. The wrapper was marked, 'Manuscript Story — 
 Conneaut Creek.' The wonder is, that in some of my 
 movements, I did not destroy it with a large amount of 
 rubbish that had accumulated from time to time. 
 
 "It happened that President Fairchild was here on 
 a visit at the time I discovered the contents of it, and 
 it was examined by him and others with much curiosity. 
 Since President Fairchild published the fact of its 
 existence in my possession, I have had application for 
 it from half a dozen sources, each applicant seeming to 
 think that he or she was entitled to it. Mr. Howe says 
 he was getting up a book to expose Mormonism as a 
 fraud at an early day, when the Mormons had their 
 headquarters at Kirtland, he obtained it from some 
 source, and it was inadvertently transferred with the 
 other effects of his printing office. A. B. Deming, of 
 Painesville, who is also getting up some kind of a book, 
 I believe on Mormonism, wants me to send it to him. 
 Mrs. Dickinson, of Boston, claiming to be a relative of 
 Spaulding, and who is getting up a book to show that 
 he was the real author of the Book of Mormon, wants 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 383. 
 
 it. She thinks, at least, it should be sent to Spaulding's 
 daughter, a Mrs. Somebody — but she does not inform 
 me where she lives. . Deming says that Howe borrowed 
 it when he was getting up his book, and did not return 
 it, as he should have done, etc. 
 
 "This manuscript does not purport to be 'a story 
 of the Indians formerly occupying this continent,' but 
 is a history of the wars between the Indians of Ohio and 
 Kentucky, and their progress in civilization, etc. It is 
 certain that this manuscript is not the origin of the Mor- 
 mon Bible, whatever some other manuscript may have 
 been. The only similarity between them, is, in the 
 manner in which each purports to have been found — 
 one in a cave on Conneaut Creek — the other in a hill in 
 Ontario county, New York. There is no identity of 
 names, of persons or places; and there is no similarity 
 of style between them. As I told Mr. Deming, I should 
 as soon think the Book of Revelations was written by 
 the author of Don Quixotte, as that the writer of this 
 Manuscript was the author of the Book of Mormon. * * 
 
 ''Deming and Howe inform me that its existence is 
 exciting great interest in that region. I am under a 
 tacit, but not a positive pledge to President Fairchild, 
 to deposit it eventually in the Library of Oberlin Col- 
 lege. I shall be free from that pledge when I see an 
 opportunity to put it to better use. 
 
 "Yours, etc., 
 
 "L. L. RlCE. 
 
 "P. S. — Upon reflection, since writing the forego- 
 ing, I am of the opinion that no one who reads this 
 Manuscript will give credit to the story that Solomon 
 Spaulding was in any wise the author of the Book of 
 Mormon. It is unlikely that any one who wrote so 
 
384. COMPENDIUxM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 elaborate a work as the Mormon Bible, would spend his 
 time in getting up so shallow a story as this, which at 
 best is but a feeble imitation of the other. Finally I 
 am more than half convinced that this is his only writ- 
 ing of the sort, and that any pretence that Spaulding 
 was in any sense the author of the other, is a sheer fab- 
 rication. It was easy for anybody who may have seen 
 this, or heard anything of its contents, to get up the 
 story that they were identical. L. L. R." 
 
 Now the following extract: 
 
 "Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, May 14th, 1885. 
 "Mr. Joseph Smith. 
 
 "Dear Sir: — I am greatly obliged to you for the 
 information concerning Mormonism in your letters of 
 April 30th and May 2d. As I am in no sense a Mor- 
 monite, of course it is a matter of curiosity, mainly, 
 that I am interested in the history of Mormonism. 
 
 "Two things are true concerning this manuscript in 
 my possession: First, it is a genuine writing of Solo 
 mon Spaulding: and second, it is not the original of 
 the Book of Mormon. Very respectfully yours, 
 
 "L. L. Rice." 
 
 In a postscript Mr. Rice says he found the follow- 
 ing endorsement on the manuscript: 
 
 "The writings of Solomon Spaulding, proved by 
 Aaron Wright, Oliver Smith, John N. Miller and others. 
 The testimonies of the above named gentlemen are now 
 in my possession. (Signed) D. P. Hurlbut." 
 
 Extract from Mr. Rice's letter: 
 
 "Honolulu, H. L, June 12, 1885, 
 "President J. H. Fairchild: — Herewith I send 
 you the Solomon Spaulding Manuscript, to be deposited 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 385 
 
 in the Library of Oberlin College, for reference by any 
 
 one who may be desirous of seeing or examining it. * * 
 
 "Truly yours, etc., 
 
 *'L. L. Rice." 
 
 ''Oberlin College, Oberlin, O., 
 
 "July 23, 1885. 
 "I hav^e this day delivered to Mr. E. L. Kelley a 
 copy of the Manuscript of Solomon Spaulding, sent from 
 Honolulu by Mr, L. L. Rice, to the Library of Oberlin 
 College, for safe keeping, and now in my care. The 
 copy was prepared at Mr. Kelley's request, under my 
 supervision, and is, as I believe, an exact transcript of 
 the original manuscript, including erasures, misspel- 
 lings, etc. Jas. H. Fairchild, 
 
 "Prest. of Oberlin College." 
 
 The correspondence in full on the matter, from 
 these gentlemen, is contained in the "Manuscript 
 Found," published from the copy President Fairchild 
 prepared. Can be bought at Herald Ofifice, Lamoni, 
 Iowa, at 25 cents. 
 
 This entire batch of Spaulding story nonsense and 
 alleged evidences in support of it was exposed by Ben- 
 jamin Winchester in a pamphlet in 1840, at Philadelphia, 
 Pennsylvania; by John E. Page in a pamphlet in 1843, 
 at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and by various others at 
 divers times and places, especially in the Braden-Kel- 
 ley debate on sale at Herald Office, Lamoni, Iowa; 
 also White-Box debate on sale at Ensign Office, Inde- 
 pendence, Missouri Also treated in brief in J. R. 
 Lambert's late work issued at Herald Office, entitled 
 "Objections to the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and 
 Covenants Examined and Refuted." 
 
386, COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 TESTIMONY AND AFFIDAVITS. 
 
 testimony of katherine salisbury. 
 
 ''State of Illinois, [ 
 ^'Kendall County. \ ^^■ 
 
 "I, Katherine Salisbury, being duly sworn, depose 
 and say, that I am a resident of the State of Illinois, 
 and have been for forty years last past; that I will be 
 sixty-eight years of age, July 28th, 1881. 
 
 ''That I am a daughter of Joseph Smith, senior, 
 and a sister to Joseph Smith, Jr., the translator of the 
 Book of Mormon. That at the time the said book was 
 published, I was seventeen years of age; that at the 
 time of the publication of said book, my brother, 
 Joseph Smith, Jr., lived in the family of my father, in 
 the town of Manchester, Ontario county, New York, 
 and that he had, all of his life to this time made his 
 home with the family. 
 
 "That at the time, and for years prior thereto, I 
 lived in and was a member of such family, and person- 
 ally knowing to the things transacted in said family, 
 and those who visited at my father's house, and the 
 friends of the family, and the friends and acquaintances 
 of my brother, Joseph' Smith, Jr., who visited at or 
 came to my father's house. 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 387 
 
 "That prior to the latter part of the year A. D. 
 1830, there was no person who visited with, or was an 
 acquaintance of, or called upon the said family, or any 
 member thereof to ray knowledge, by the name of Sid- 
 ney Rigdon; nor was such person known to the family, 
 or any member thereof, to my knowledge, until the last 
 part of the year A. D. 1830, or the first part of the 
 year 1831, and some time after the organization of the 
 Church of Jesus Christ, by Joseph Smith, Jr., and sev- 
 eral months after the publication of the Book of Mor- 
 mon. 
 
 "That I remember the time when Sidney Rigdon 
 came to my father's place, and that it was after the 
 removal of my father from Waterloo, N. Y., to Kirt- 
 land, Ohio. That this was in the year 183 1, and some 
 months after the publication of the Book of Mormon, 
 and fully one year after the Church was organized, as 
 before stated herein. 
 
 "That 1 make this statement, not on account of 
 fear, favor, or hope of reward of any kind, but simply 
 that the truth may be known with reference to said 
 matter, and that the foregoing statements made by me 
 are true, as I verily believe. 
 
 "Katherine Salisbury. 
 
 "Sworn to before me, and subscribed in my pres- 
 ence, by the said Katherine Salisbury, this 15th day of 
 April, A. D. 1881. 
 
 "J. H. Jenks, Notary Public." 
 
 "Princeville, 111., March 14th, 1872. 
 
 "Bro. Joseph: — I learn of late that some of the 
 
 opposers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day 
 
 Saints are resorting to an old story, that the Book of 
 
 Mormon was manufactured from a romance of one 
 
^S8. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 Solomon Spaulding, and was accomplished by one Sid- 
 ney Rigdon. * * 
 
 ''In the spring of 1833 or 1834, at the house of 
 Samuel Baker, near New Portage, Medina county, 
 Ohio, we, whose signatures are affixed, did hear Elder 
 Sidney Rigdon, in the presence of a large congregation, 
 say he had been informed that some in the neighbor- 
 hood had accused him of being the instigator of the 
 Book of Mormon. Standing in the door- way, there 
 being many standing in the door-yard, he, holding up 
 the Book of Mormon, said, 'I testify in the presence 
 of this congregation, and before God and all the Holy 
 Angels up yonder, (pointing towards heaven), before 
 whom I expect to give account at the judgment day, 
 that I never saw a sentence of the Book of Mormon, I 
 never penned a sentence of the Book of Mormon, I 
 never knew that there was such a book in existence as 
 the Book of Mormon, until it was presented to me by 
 Parley P. Pratt, in the form that it now is.' 
 
 ''Phineas Bronson, 
 *'HiEL Bronson, 
 "Mary D. Bronson. 
 ''Brother Hiel thinks it was in 1834, but sister 
 Mary, his wife, and I, think it was in 1833, ^^ ^^ have 
 put it in 1833 or 1834. 
 
 "Phineas Bronson." 
 Herald, June 6, 1891. 
 
 "Statement of William B. Smith, the surviving 
 brother of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, who in the clos- 
 ing years of a long life is waiting the summons of the 
 pale reaper to call him to his answer and his rest: 
 
 K <* * j^Q such man as Elder Rigdon ever visited 
 my father's house, to my certain knowledge, prior to 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 389. 
 
 the publication of the Book of Mormon. And the first 
 knowledge I ever had of Elder Rigdon was not until it 
 was publicly announced that he had become a convert 
 to the faith and doctrine of Mormonism, through the 
 instrumentality of P. P. Pratt and Oliver Cowdery, who 
 had presented him with the Book of Mormon while on 
 a mission from the state of New York to the town of 
 Kirtland, state of Ohio, where Elder Rigdon at the time 
 held a prominent position- as a Disciple minister in the 
 Christian Church. * * No stranger from a distance 
 could have visited your father, holding private or pub- 
 lic conference with him, without the family knowing it; 
 and to my certain knowledge no strangers visited about 
 my father's house during that period of time in which 
 the work of translating the found record was going on. 
 " 'Witness my testimony and seal, 
 
 '* 'W. B. Smith.' " 
 Herald, June 6, 1891. 
 
 The following is from the Braden-Kelley debate, 
 at Lamoni, Iowa, 1891, as reported by the Independent 
 Patriot: 
 
 Kelley. — ''I will offer an affidavit of Jno. W. 
 'Rigdon, son of Sidney Rigdon, a lawyer of Cuba, New- 
 York. This affidavit was given a short time ago. Sub- 
 scribed and sworn to before me this 17 of April, 1891. 
 W. F. Bement, Notary Public. Seal. I read this to 
 show yoa where his witnesses are with reference to this 
 matter. 
 
 ''[AH testimony condensed.] 
 
 "About 1832, while my father was preaching at 
 Mentor, O., Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery called 
 upon him and presented to him the Book of Mormon, 
 and told him it was found by Joseph Smith engraved 
 
390. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 on gold plates, and that Smith translated the engrav- 
 ings, and the book was a true translation. That they 
 had seen the plates, that Harris had written the transla- 
 tion given by Joseph Smith. They asked him to read 
 it and give them his opinion of it. He gave them per- 
 mission to preach in his church, and went to hear them. 
 At the close he told the congregation that they had 
 listened to some strange doctrine, but it was their duty 
 to investigate. Cowdery and Harris left next morning, 
 but returned in about six weeks. They asked my father 
 if he had read the book, and he said he had. They 
 asked what he thought of it. He asked if Joseph 
 Smith was*a man of intelligence Cowdery said Smith 
 had about as much knowledge as he had. Father re- 
 plied if that was the case Smith was not the author of 
 the book. 
 
 "Some time after this father met Joseph Smith 
 for the first time in the state of New York. After being 
 in Smith's company for some time, he joined the Mor- 
 mon Church, removed to Kirtland, and began preach- 
 ing Mormonism. He afterward went to Missouri, 
 thence to Nauvoo, 111. After Smith's death, my father 
 claimed it was his right to lead the church, but B.^ 
 Young was chosen. In 1847, father removed to Friend- 
 ship, New York, where he remained until his death, 
 July 14, 1876, aged 84. He retired to private life after 
 removing to Friendship. Would occasionally lecture. 
 Large crowds always came out when it was announced 
 that he would speak. By his calm and dignified de 
 meanor he gained the respect of all. 
 
 'Tn answer to the statements of Clark Braden in 
 'Saints' Herald,' under 'Christianity vs. Mormonism,' 
 I have only to quote Horatio Seymour who pronounced 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 39 1. 
 
 Rigdon a very eloquent man; Martin Grover, one of 
 New York's greatest jurists, who said Sidney Rigdon's 
 knowledge of the history of the world, and the political 
 history of our country, was perfectly surprising to him, 
 and that he was a very learned and eloquent man. 
 Prof. Hatch frequently said Rigdon was the best histor- 
 ian he ever saw and one of the most eloquent men he 
 ever listened to. Also Rev. Braden's statements about 
 Rigdon's extravagant yarns, highfalutin rant, his visions, 
 the power while speaking, and falling in trances in the 
 pulpit, have no truth in them whatever. 
 
 ''Sidney Rigdon was a devout Christian from his 
 youth to his grave. He preached and talked the Bible 
 on all occasions when necessary, to his children and 
 all. He died having a firm belief in the Christian re- 
 ligion. I never knew one who was a stronger believer 
 in the Christian religion than he. I therefore pro- 
 nounce such assertions as positively untrue. 
 
 "I am probably better acquainted with S. Rigdon 
 than any living person. Had better opportunities 
 through business and family relations to know his char- 
 acter, history, and religious belief than any one else. 
 Religion was his favorite theme. 
 
 '*0n returning from Salt Lake City in 1865, where 
 I had interviews with the leading dignitaries of the 
 Mormon Church at that place on the subject of Mor- 
 monism and the Book of Mormon, I asked my father 
 to tell me the facts as to the production of this book. 
 My father stated that all he knew of the origin of the 
 book was what Harris, Cowdery and J. Smith told him. 
 That Smith during the fifteen years he was intimate with 
 him, never stated anything else than that he found it 
 engraven on gold plates which he found in a hill in New 
 
392. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 York. He said after investigation he was confident 
 that the story about Spaulding writing the Book of Mor- 
 mon was untrue. He said the story about his writing 
 the book was false. That he never saw the book until 
 it was presented to him by Oliver Cowdery at Mentor, 
 O. Knowing my father as I do, I am confident he 
 told me the truth. 
 
 "My father never saw Solomon Spaulding in his 
 life, nor did he steal any of his MSS. as stated by Rev. 
 Braden. 
 
 ''My mother survived my father about ten years. 
 After father's death, in conversation with her about the 
 Book of Mormon, she always told me that my father 
 obtained it from Cowdery and Harris at Mentor, O., 
 and that the stories about father having written it were 
 untrue. Father and mother told me this same story in. 
 my youth and manhood, and they told it in their old 
 age, and they never told any other. I am not a mem- 
 ber of any religious denomination, and do not pretend 
 to say how that book came into existence. But I am 
 as certain as that I exist, that S. Rigdon never wrote 
 any part of the Book of Mormon, and that he never 
 saw it until Harris and Cowdery presented it to him at 
 Mentor, O." 
 
 This affidavit shows up all these tales from Howe's 
 work. This man testifies to nothing but what he knows. 
 And the way he writes and the intelligence he was shown 
 in getting up his own affidavit that his father might be 
 placed correctly before the world, show that he is a gen- 
 tleman in the highest sense. 
 
 Extract from Elder E. L. Kelley's article to Herald, 
 bearing date November 7, 1894: 
 
 ''Whatever may have been the opinion of the 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 393 
 
 enemies of Elder Rigdon touching his bold denuncia- 
 tion of the story implicating him in plotting or aiding 
 in anywise in the production of the Book of Mormon, 
 it must be admitted that all subsequently discovered 
 facts corroborate the statements of the witness, Rigdon, 
 and are at variance with the questionable yarns hawked 
 about the world by the enemies of this man, who hoped 
 to accomplish by these tales his overthrow, together 
 with the new faith which he had espoused. 
 
 ''The times and places definitely settled by this 
 corroborative evidence, as to the whereabouts, occupa- 
 tion, and business of Elder Rigdon during the years 
 mentioned, are as follows: 
 
 "I. November 2, 1826. Solemnized a marriage 
 contract between John G. Smith and Julia Giles, in 
 Geauga county, Ohio. 
 
 '*2. December [3, 1826. Returns and record of 
 marriage. 
 
 ''3. January, 1827. Held public meetings in 
 Mantua, Ohio. ('Hayden's History of the Disciples of 
 the Western Reserve,* page 237.) 
 
 "4. February, 1827. Preached funeral discourse 
 of Hannah Tanner, Chester, Ohio. 
 
 *'5. March, April, 1827. Held protracted meet- 
 ings in Mentor, Ohio, baptizing Nancy M. Sanford, 
 William Dunsen and wife and others. 
 
 "6. June 5, 1827. Solemnized Marriage between 
 Theron Freeman and Elizabeth Waterman, Geauga 
 
 Baptized Thomas Clapp and 
 
 Solemnized marriage between 
 James Gray and Mary Kerr, Mentor, Ohio. 
 
 county, 
 
 Ohio. 
 
 
 "7' 
 
 . June I 
 
 5, 1827 
 
 others, 
 
 Mentor, 
 
 Ohio. 
 
 '^S. 
 
 . July 3: 
 
 , 1827. 
 
394- COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 "9. July 19, 1827. Solemnized marriage between 
 Alden Snow and Ruth Parker, Kirtland, Ohio. 
 
 "10. August 23, [827. Meeting with the minis- 
 terial Association, New Lisbon, Ohio. (Hist. Dis., 
 
 PP- 55-57- 
 
 "II. October 9, 1827. Solemnized marriage of 
 Stephen Sherman and Wealthy Matthews, Mentor, 
 Ohio. 
 
 "12. October 20, 1827. Ministerial Council at 
 Warren, Ohio. (His. Dis. p. 137.) 
 
 ''13. November, 1827. Preaching at New Lisbon, 
 Ohio. (His. Dis., pp. 72-75.) 
 
 "14. December 6, 1827. Solemnized marriage of 
 Oliver Wait and Eliza Gunn, at Concord, Geauga 
 county, Ohio. 
 
 "15. December i^, 1827. Solemnized marriage 
 of Roswell D. Cottrell and Matilda Olds, Concord, 
 Ohio. 
 
 ''16. January 8, 1828. Return of marriage made 
 at Chardon, Ohio. 
 
 ''17. February 14, 1828. Solemnized marriage 
 between Otis Herrington, Lyma Corning, Mentor, Ohio. 
 
 "18. March, 1828. Instructing class in theology 
 in Mentor, Ohio, Zebulon Rudolph being a member; 
 also held great religious meetings in Mentor and War- 
 ren, Ohio. (His. Dis., p. 198.) 
 
 "19. March 31, 1828. Ret'irns made to Chardon, 
 Ohio. 
 
 ''20. April, 1828. Holds great religious revival at 
 Kirtland, Ohio. (His. Dis., p. 194.) 
 
 ''21. May, 1828. Meets Campbell at Shalersvilie, 
 Ohio, and holds protracted meetings. (His. Dis., p. 
 1550 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDEN'CE, 395. 
 
 ^^22. June, 1828. Baptized Henry H. Clapp, 
 Mentor, Ohio. 
 
 "23. August, 1828. Attended great yearly asso- 
 ciation at Warren, Ohio. 
 
 "24. September, 1828. Solemnized marriage be- 
 tween Luther Dille and Clarissa Kent. 
 
 "25. September 18, 1828. Solemnized marriage 
 between Nachore Corning and Pluebe E. Wilson, Men- 
 tor, Ohio. 
 
 ''26. October 13, 1828. Returns made to Char- 
 don,. Ohio. 
 
 '•27. January i, 1829. Solemnized marriage be- 
 tween Albert Churchill and Anna Fosdick, Concord, 
 Ohio. 
 
 "28. February i, 1829. Solemnized marriage be- 
 tween Erastus Root and Rebecca Tuttle. 
 
 ''29. February 12, 1829. Returns made to Char- 
 don, Ohio. 
 
 '^30. March, 1829. Protracted meeting. Mentor, 
 Ohio. 
 
 •'31. April 12, 1829. Protracted meeting, Kirt- 
 land, Ohio. 
 
 ''32. July I, 1829. Organized church at Perry, 
 Ohio. (His. Dis., p. 346.) 
 
 ^^2)2)' August 13, 1829. Solemnized marriage be- 
 tween John Strong and Ann Eliza Moore, Kirtland, Ohio. 
 
 "34. September 14, 1829. Solemnized marriage 
 between Darwin Atwater and Harriet Clapp, Mentor, 
 Ohio. 
 
 "35- September, 1829. Meeting at Mentor, Ohio; 
 baptized J. J. Moss, disciple minister of note. 
 
 "36. October i, 1829. Solemnized marriage be- 
 tween Joel Roberts and Relief Bates, Perry, Ohio. 
 
396. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 "37. October, 1829. At Perry, Ohio. (His. Dis., 
 pp. 207-409.) 
 
 ''38. November, 1829. Wait Hill, Ohio; baptized 
 Alvin Wait. (His. Dis., pp. 204-207.) 
 
 "39. December 31, 1829. Solemnized marriage 
 between David Cloudier and Polly Johnson, Chagrin, 
 Ohio. 
 
 *'4o. January 12, 1830. Returns to Cleveland, 
 Ohio. 
 
 "41. March 1830. Mentor, Ohio. 
 
 "42. June 1-30, 1830. Mentor, Ohio. (Millen- 
 nial Harbinger, p. 389.) 
 
 "43. July, 1830. Protracted meeting at Pleasant 
 Valley, Ohio; baptized forty-five. 
 
 "44. August, 1830. With Alexander Campbell at 
 Austintown, Ohio. (His. Dis., p. 209.) 
 
 "45. November 4, 1830. Solemnized marriage 
 between Lewis B. Wood and Laura Cleveland, Kirt- 
 land, Ohio. 
 
 "46. December, 1830. Was converted to the 
 faith of and united with the Church of Jesus Christ of 
 Latter Day Saints, under the preaching of P. P. Pratt 
 and Oliver Cowdery. 
 
 "The following certificates of the proper officers, 
 touching the record — evidence of the marriages, will 
 show the correctness of transcript as to these dates: 
 
 *'The State of Ohio, ) cc ti u * /- 
 ,,^ ^ ' y SS. Probate Court. 
 
 ''Geauga county, j 
 
 ''1, H. K. Smith, Judge of the Probate Court in 
 and for said county, hereby certify that the above and 
 foregoing certificate, numbering from one to sixteen 
 were truly taken and copied from the record of mar- 
 riages in this county, preserved in this office, where the 
 same, by law, are required to be kept. In testimony 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 397. 
 
 whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the 
 seal of said court, at Chardon, this 27th day of April, 
 A. D., 1891. 
 ^'(SEAL) (Signed) H. K. Smith, Probate Judge. 
 
 <'IN THE PROBATE COURT. 
 
 "State of Ohio, / g g 
 
 "Cuyahoga County, j 
 
 "I, Henry C. White, judge of said court, do here- 
 by certify that the foregoing is a true and correct tran- 
 script taken from the marriage records in this office, 
 where the same is by law required to be kept. 
 
 "(Signed) Henry C. White, Probate Judge. 
 "(seal) By H. A. Schwab, Dp. Clk." 
 
 EMMA smith's TESTIMONY. 
 
 Interview with Emma Smith shortly before her 
 death, April 30, 1879: 
 
 "Question. — W^ho performed the marriage cere- 
 mony for Joseph Smith and Emma Hale? When? 
 Where? 
 
 "Answer. — I was married at South Bainbridge, 
 New York; at the house of Squire Tarbell, by him, 
 when I was in my 22d or 23d year. 
 
 "We here suggested that Mother Smith's History 
 gave the date of the marriage as January i8th, 1827. 
 To this she replied: 
 
 "I think the date correct. My certificate of mar- 
 riage was lost many years ago, in some of the marches 
 we were forced to make. 
 
 "In answer to a suggestion by us that she might 
 mistake about who married father and herself, and that 
 it was rumored that it was Sidney Rigdon, or a Presby- 
 terian clergyman, she stated: 
 
 "It was not Sidney Rigdon, for I did not see him 
 for years after that. It was not a Presbyterian clergy- 
 
398. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 man. I was visiting at Mr. Stowell's, who lived in 
 Bainbridge, and saw your father there. I had no in- 
 tention of marrying when I left home, but, during my 
 visit at Mr. Stowell's, your father visited me there. 
 My folks were bitterly opposed to him, and, being im- 
 portuned by your father, aided by Mr. Stowell who 
 urged me to marry him, and p-referring to marry him 
 to any other man I knew, I consented. We went to 
 Squire TarbelPs and were married. Afterwards, when 
 father found that I was married, ■^le sent for us. The 
 account in Mother Smith's History is substantially cor- 
 rect as to date and place. Your father bought your 
 uncle Jesse's [Hale] place, off father's farm, and we 
 lived there till the Book of Mormon was translated, and 
 I think, published. I was not in Palmyra long. 
 
 ''Q. How many children did you lose, mother, 
 before I was born? 
 
 "A. There were three. I buried one in Pennsyl- 
 vania, and a pair of twins in Ohio. 
 
 "Q. Who were the twins that died? 
 
 "A. They were not named. 
 
 ''Q. Who were the twins whom you took to raise? 
 
 ''A. I lost twins. Mrs. Murdock had twins and 
 died. Bro. Murdock came to me and asked me to take 
 them, and I took the babes Joseph died at eleven 
 months. They were both sick when your father was 
 mobbed. The mob who tarred and feathered him, left 
 the door open when they went out with him, the child 
 relapsed and died. Julia lived, though weaker than the 
 boy. 
 
 '^Q. When did you first know Sidney Rigdon? 
 Where? 
 
 ''A. I was residing at father Whitmer's, when I 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 599. 
 
 first saw Sidney Rigdon. I think he came there. 
 
 '*Q. Was this before or after the publication of 
 the Book of Mormon? 
 
 "A. The Book of Mormon had been translated and 
 published some time before. Parley P. Pratt had united 
 with the Church before I knew Sidney Rigdon, or heard 
 of him. At the time the Book of Mormon was trans- 
 lated there was no church organized, and Rigdon did 
 not become acquainted with Joseph and me till after the 
 Church was established in 1830. How long after that 
 I do not know, but it was some time. 
 
 "Q. Who were scribes for father, when translating 
 the Book of Mormon? 
 
 "A. Myself, Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, and 
 my brother, Reuben Hale. 
 
 "Q. Was Alva Hale one? 
 
 ''A. I think not. He may have written some, but 
 if he did, 1 do not remember it. 
 
 "Q. What about the revelation on polygamy? 
 Did Joseph Smith have anything like it? What of 
 spiritual wifery? 
 
 "A. There was no revelation on either polygamy, 
 or spiritual wives. There were some rumors of some- 
 thing of the sort, of which I asked my husband. He 
 assured me that all there was of it was, that, in a chat 
 about plural wives, he had said, 'Well, such a system 
 might possibly be, if everybody was agreed to it, and 
 would behave as they should, but they would not, and, 
 besides, it was contrary to the will of heaven.' 
 
 ''No such thing as polygamy, or spiritual wifery, 
 was taught, publicly or privately, before my husband's 
 death, that I have now, or ever had any knowledge of. 
 
 "Q. Did he not have other wives than yourself? 
 
400. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 ^'A. He had no other wife but me, nor did he to 
 my knowledge ever have. 
 
 ''Q. Did he not hold marital relation with women 
 other than yourself? 
 
 "A. He did not have improper relations with any 
 woman that ever came to my knowledge. 
 
 "Q. Was there nothing about spiritual wives that 
 you recollect? 
 
 ''A. At one time my husband came to me and asked 
 me if I had heard certain rumors about spiritual mar- 
 riages or anything of the kind; and assured me that if I 
 had, that they were without foundation; that there was 
 no such doctrine, and never should be with his knowl- 
 edge or consent. I know that he had no other wife or 
 wives than myself, in any sense, either spiritual or other- 
 wise. 
 
 ''Q. What of the truth of Mormonism? 
 
 "A. I know Mormonism to be the truth; and be- 
 lieve the Church to have been established by divine 
 direction. I have complete faith in it. In writing for 
 your father, I frequently wrote day after day, often sit- 
 ting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face 
 buried in his hat, with the stone in it, and dictating 
 hour after hour with nothing between us. 
 
 "Q. Had he not a book or manuscript from which 
 he read, or dictated to you? 
 
 ♦*A. He had neither manuscript nor book to read 
 from. 
 
 **Q. Could he not have had, and you not know it? 
 
 '*A. If he had had anything of the kind he could 
 not have concealed it from me. 
 
 ''Q. Are you sure that he had the plates at the 
 time you were writing for him? 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 4OI. 
 
 *'A. 'I'he plates often lay on the table without any 
 attempt at concealment, wrapped in a small linen table 
 cloth, which I had given him to fold them in, I once 
 felt of the plates, as they thus lay on the table, tracing 
 their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable 
 like" thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound 
 when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does 
 sometimes thumb the edges of a book. 
 
 "Q. Where did father and Oliver Cowdery write? 
 
 "A. Oliver Cowdery and your father wrote in the 
 room where I was at work. 
 
 "Q. Could not father have dictated the Book of 
 Mormon to you, Oliver Cowdery and the others who 
 wrote for him, after having first written it, or having 
 first read it out of some book? 
 
 ''A. Joseph Smith [and for the first time she used 
 his name direct, having usually used the words, 'your 
 father,' or 'my husband] could neither write nor dictate 
 a coherent and well- worded letter, let alone dictating a 
 book like the Book of Mormon. And, though I was an 
 active participant in the scenes that transpired, and was 
 present during the translation of the plates, and had 
 cognizance of things as they transpired, it is marvelous 
 to me, 'a marvel and a wonder,' as much so as to any 
 one else. 
 
 *'Q. I should suppose that you would have un- 
 covered the plates and examined them? 
 
 ''A. I did not attempt to handle the plates, other 
 than I have told you, nor uncover them to look at them. 
 I was satisfied that it was the work of God, and there- 
 fore did not feel it to be necessary to do so. 
 
 ''Major Bidamon here suggested: Did Mr. Smith 
 forbid your examining the plates? 
 
402. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 "A. I do not think he did, I knew that he had 
 them, and was not specially curious about them. I 
 moved them from place to place on the table, as it was 
 necessary in doing my work. 
 
 ''Q. Mother, what is your belief about the authen- 
 ticity or origin of the Book of Mormon? 
 
 "A. My belief is that the Book of Mormon is of 
 divine authenticity — I have not the slightest doubt of it. 
 I am satisfied that no man could have dictated the writ- 
 ing of the manuscripts unless he was inspired; for, 
 when acting as his scribe, your father would dictate to 
 me hour after hour, and when returning after meals, or 
 after interruptions, he would at once begin where he 
 had left off, without either seeing the manuscript or 
 having any portion of it read to him. This was a usual 
 thing for him to do. It would have been improbable 
 that a learned man could do this, and for one so 
 ignorant and unlearned as he was, it was simply im- 
 possible. 
 
 ''Q. What was the condition of feeling between 
 you and father? 
 
 '^A.. It was good. 
 
 "Q. Were you in the habit of quarreling? 
 
 "A. JNo. There was no necessity for any quarrel- 
 ing. He knew that I wished for nothing but what was 
 right, and, as he wished for nothing else, we did not 
 disagree. He usually gave some heed to what I had to 
 say. It was quite a grievous thing to many that I had 
 any influence with him. 
 
 *'Q. What do you think of David Whitmer? 
 
 "A. David Whitmer I believe to be an honest 
 and truthful man. I think what he states may be 
 relied on. 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 403. 
 
 ''Q. It has been stated sometimes that you aposta- 
 tized at father's death, and joined the Methodist Church. 
 What do you say to this? 
 
 **A. I have been called apostate, but I have never 
 apostatized, nor forsaken the faith I at first accepted, 
 but was called so because I would not accept their new 
 fangled notion. 
 
 "Q- ^y whom were you baptized? Do you re- 
 member? 
 
 "A. I think by Oliver Cowdery, at Bainbridge. 
 
 ''Q. Vou say that you were married at South Bain- 
 bridge, and have used the word Bainbridge. Were they 
 one and the same town? 
 
 "A. No. There was Bainbridge and South Bain- 
 bridge; some distance apart; how far I don't know. I 
 was in South Bainbridge. 
 
 "These questions and the answers she had given to 
 them, were read to my mother by me, the day before 
 my leaving Nauvoo for home, and were affirmed by her. 
 Major Bidamon stated that he had frequently conversed 
 with her on the subject of the translation of the Book of 
 Mormon, and her present answers were substantially 
 what she had always stated in regard to it. 
 
 "Joseph Smith." 
 
404. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM GOV. FORD, BANCROFT 
 AND MRS. E. M. AUSTIN. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM GOV. THOMAS FORD's HISTORY 
 OF ILLINOIS, 1854. 
 
 'Tn the year 1840, the people called Mormons 
 came to this state and settled in Hancock county, and 
 as their residence amongst us led to amobocratic spirit, 
 which resulted in their expulsion, it is proper here to 
 notice other incidents of this sort in our previous his- 
 tory. In 1816 and 17, in the towns of the territory, 
 the country was overrun with horsethieves and counter- 
 feiters. They were so numerous and so well combined 
 together in many counties, as to set the laws at defiance. 
 Many of the sheriffs and justices of the peace were of 
 their number, and even some of the judges of the 
 county courts, and they had numerous friends to aid 
 them and sympathize with them, even amongst those 
 who were least suspected. When any of them were 
 arrested, they escaped from the slight jails of those 
 times, or procured some of their gang to be on the jury, 
 and they never lacked witnesses to prove themselves 
 innocent. (MS lacking page will be found preceeding 
 the next in order 233.) This gang built a fort in Pope 
 county, and set the government at open defiance. In 
 the year 1831, the honest portion of the people in that 
 region assembled under arms, in great numbers, and 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 405. 
 
 attacked the fort with small arms and one piece of 
 artillery." — p. 233. 
 
 "In 1837 a series of mobs took place in Alton, 
 which resulted in the destruction of an abolition press, 
 and in the death of one of the rioters and of one of the 
 abolitionists." Then follows ten pages relating the kill- 
 ing of this abolitionist, Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, a 
 Presbyterian preacher. (p. 234). ''Previous to the 
 year 1840, other mobs were rife in the northern part of 
 the state."- — p. 245. ''Then again, the northern part 
 of the state was not destitute of its organized bands of 
 rogues, engaged in murders, robberies, horse-stealing 
 and in making and passing counterfeit money. These 
 rogues were scattered all over the north, but the most 
 of them were located in the counties of Ogle, Winne- 
 bago, Lee and De Kalb. In the county of Ogle, they 
 were so numerous, strong and well organized, that they 
 could not be convicted for their crimes." — p. 246. 
 Hancock, where the Mormons lived, is not of the num- 
 ber. 
 
 Of Nauvoo regulations: "The common council 
 passed many ordinances for the punishment of crime. 
 The punishments were generally different from, and 
 vastly more severe than the punishments provided by 
 the laws of the state." — p. 266. 
 
 "A vast number of reports were circulated all over 
 the country, to the prejudice of the Mormons." — p. 269. 
 
 "The people affected to believe that with this 
 power in the hands of an unscrupulous leader, there 
 was no safety for the lives or property of any who 
 should oppose him. They affected, likewise, to believe 
 that Smith inculcated the legality of perjury, or any 
 other crime in defiance, or to advance the interest of 
 
4o6. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 true believers. * * It was likewise asserted." * * 
 p. 327. The readers attention is called to the phrases in 
 the above, ''affected to believe," "affected likewise to 
 believe," ''it was likewise asserted." 
 
 "This one principle and practice of theirs arrayed 
 against them in deadly hostility all aspirants for office 
 who were not sure of their support, all who have been 
 unsuccessful in elections, and all who were too proud 
 to court their influence, with all their friends and con- 
 nections. These also were the active men in blowing 
 up the fury of the people, in hopes that a popular 
 movement might be set on foot, which would result in 
 the expulsion or extermination of the Mormon voters. 
 For this purpose public meetings had been called, 
 inflammatory speeches had been made, exaggerated re- 
 ports had been extensively circulated, committees had 
 been appointed who rode day and night to spread the 
 reports, and solicit the aid of neighboring counties. 
 And at a public meeting at Warsaw, resolutions were 
 passed to expel or exterminate the Mormon population." 
 P- 33^- 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM BANCROFT'S NEW HISTORY OF 
 UTAH, ISSUED 189O. 
 
 Bancroft gives twenty-six pages of titles of authori- 
 ties, in the way of books and documents cited in the 
 preparation of his work, thirty-four or more on each 
 page. 
 
 On page seven of preface, says of works written 
 against Mormonism: "Most of these are written in a 
 sensational style, and for the purpose of deriving profit 
 by pandering to a vitiated public taste, and are wholly 
 unreliable as to facts." 
 
 "Thus is organized the Church of Jesus Christ of 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 407. 
 
 Latter Day Saints, in accordance with special revela- 
 tions and commandments and after the manner set forth 
 in the New Testament." — p. 66. 
 
 "The same night Joseph was arrested by a con- 
 stable on a charge of disorderly conduct, and for preach- 
 ing the Book of Mormon. * * Again he was acquitted, 
 and again escaped from the crowd outside the court- 
 house, whose purpose it was to tar and feather him, 
 and ride him on a rail. These persecutions were insti- 
 gated, it was said, chiefly by Presbyterians. While 
 Joseph rested at his home at Harmony, further stories 
 were circulated, damaging to his character, this time by 
 the Methodists." — p. 68. 
 
 ''On the night of the 25th of March, 1832, Smith 
 and Rigdon were seized by a mob, composed partly of 
 the Campbellites, Methodists and Baptists of Hiram, 
 twelve or fifteen being apostate Mormons." — p. 90. 
 
 **The spirit of mobocracy was aroused throughout 
 the entire country." — p. 91. 
 
 ''Thus it appears that the Missouri state militia, 
 called out in the first instance to assist the Mormon 
 militia in quelling a Missouri mob, finally joins the 
 mob, against the Mormon militia. In none of their 
 acts had the Saints placed themselves in an attitude of 
 unlawful opposition to the state authorities; on the 
 other hand, they were doing all in their power to defend 
 themselves and support law and order, save in the mat- 
 ter of retaliation." * * 
 
 "General Atchison was at Richmond in Ray 
 county, when the governor's exterminating order was 
 issued. 'I will have nothing to do with so infamous a 
 proceeding,' he said, and immediately resigned." — 
 p. 130. 
 
4o8. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 ** 'In the name of humanity, I protest against any 
 such cold blooded murder,' says General Doniphan." — 
 p. 131. 
 
 "But when the testimony on both sides is carefully 
 weighed it must be admitted that the Mormons in Mis- 
 souri and Illinois, were, as a class, a more moral, honest, 
 temperate, hard-working, self-denying, and thirfty peo- 
 ple, than the Gentiles by whom they were surrounded," 
 —p. 164, 
 
 "Of all that has been laid at their door, I find little 
 proved against them." — p. 165. 
 
 "Early in June, 1844, was issued the first number 
 of the Nauvoo Expositor, the publishers being apostate 
 Mormons and Gentiles. The primary object of the 
 publication was to stir up strife in the church, and aid 
 its enemies in their work of attempted extermination." 
 —p. ryo. 
 
 Gov. Ford is quoted in respect to the Mormons of 
 Nauvoo: "Upon the conclusion of my address I pro- 
 posed to take a vote on the question whether they 
 would strictly observe the laws, even in opposition to 
 their prophet and leaders. The vote was unanimous in 
 favor of this proposition." — p. 176. 
 
 "The govenor took his departure on the morning 
 of the 27th of June. * * The prison was guarded by 
 eight men, detailed from the Carthage Greys, their 
 company being in camp on the public square, a quarter 
 of a mile distant, while another company under Wil- 
 liams, also the sworn enemies of the Mormons, was 
 encamped eight miles away, there awaiting the develop- 
 ment of events." — p. 178. 
 
 "In view of this state of affairs, which was more 
 like old time feudalism than latter-day republicism, 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 409. 
 
 Gov. Ford made an inspection of the city, and declared 
 that fewer thefts were committed in Nauvoo, in propor- 
 tion to the population, than in any other town in the 
 state." — p. 208. 
 
 "This is why the people of Missouri and Illinois 
 drove them out — not because of their religion or im- 
 morality, for their religion was nothing to the Gentiles, 
 and their niDrals were as good, or better, than those of 
 their neighbors." — p. 368. 
 
 ''The only way the Mormons can live in peace with 
 Gentile neighbors, is for them to follow the example of 
 their brethren, the Josephites — leave politics and gov- 
 ernment out of their ethics." * * p. 369. 
 
 "The New Testament is all against plurality of 
 wives, and though it nowhere, in so many words, con- 
 demns the system, the books of Mormon and Doctrine 
 and Covenants do." — p. 572. 
 
 "The most successful of the recusant sects was the 
 one established by Joseph Smith, the prophet's son, 
 who, with his brothers Alexander H. and David Hyrum, 
 remained at Nauvoo ^fter the exodus. * * He at first 
 refused, but in i860, the number of members being 
 then considerably increased by the breaking up of other 
 parties, he accepted the call as prophet and began to 
 preach the faith of his father, as he affirmed, in its 
 original purity, repudiating the claims of Brigham and 
 the doctrine of polygamy." — p. 644. 
 
 "At first singly, then by dozens, and afterwards by 
 scores, converts were gathered into this fold, and in the 
 spring of 1864, the Josephites in Zion mustered more 
 than three hundred, the number of proselytes else- 
 where being, at this date, between two and three thous- 
 and. Persecution followed, as they claimed, and early 
 
410. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 in the summer about one half of the Josephites in Salt 
 Lake City started eastward, so great being the excite- 
 ment that General Connor ordered a strong escort to 
 accompany them as far as Green River. To those who 
 remained protection was also afforded by the authori- 
 ties." — p. 645. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM "MORMONISM" BY MRS. E. M. AUSTIN, 
 
 A RECENT ANTI-MORMON WRITER FROM 
 
 PERSONAL OBSERVATION. 
 
 "There were now (1831) hundreds who were called 
 people of good sense and judgment, men who were 
 valued in good society, yet they were firm believers in 
 Mormonism." — Mormonism, p. 62. 
 
 Of those in Kirtland in the early days of the church, 
 she says: "The members now numbered about one 
 hundred persons, the greater part of whom were the 
 brightest and best of the community, merchants, law- 
 yers and doctors. All were united in the belief that 
 God had set his hand again — the second time — to re- 
 cover the house of Israel." — Mormonism, pp. 58, 59. 
 Copied from Herald. 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 41I, 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 COURT DECISIONS. 
 
 KIRTLAND TEMPLE SUIT. — FINDINGS OF THE 
 COURT IN LAKE COUNTY, OHIO. 
 
 The following are the findings of the Court in 
 which the late suit of the Reorganized Church for the 
 quieting the title to the Kirtland Temple, was tried: 
 
 "In Court of Common Pleas, Lake County, Ohio, 
 February 23d, 1880. Present: Hon. L. S. Sherman, 
 Judge; F. Paine, Jr., Clerk; and C. F. Morley, Sheriff. 
 
 "Journal Entry, February Term, 1880. 
 
 "The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Lat- 
 ter Day Saints: Plaintiff. Against 
 
 "Lucian Williams, Joseph Smith, Sarah F. Videon, 
 Mark H. Forscutt, the Church in Utah, of which John 
 Taylor is President and commonly known as the Mor- 
 mon church, and John Taylor, President of said Utah 
 Church: Defendants. 
 
 "Now at this term of the Court came the Plaintiff 
 by its attorneys, E. L. Kelley, and Burrows and Bos- 
 worth, and the Defendants came not, but made default; 
 and thereupon, with the assent of the Court, and on 
 motion and by the consent of the Plaintiff a trial by 
 jury is waived and this cause is submitted to the Court 
 for trial, and the cause came on for trial to the Court 
 upon the pleadings and evidence, and was argued by 
 
412. COMPENDIUM OV EVIDENCE. 
 
 counsel; on consideration whereof, the Court do find 
 as matters of fact: * * 
 
 "That the said Plaintiff, the Reorganized Church 
 of Jesus Christ of I.atter Day Saints, is a Religious 
 Society, founded and organized upon the same doctrines 
 and tenets, and having the same church organization, 
 as the original Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day 
 Saints, organized in 1830, by Joseph Smith, and was 
 organized pursuant to the constitution, laws and usages 
 of said original Church, and has^ branches located in 
 Illinois, Ohio, and other States. 
 
 "That the church in Utah, the Defendant, of which 
 John Taylor is President,has materially and largely de- 
 parted from the faith, doctrines, laws, ordinances and 
 usages of said original Church of Jesus Christ of Latter 
 Day Saints, and has incorporated into its system of 
 faith the doctrines of Celestial Marriage and a plurality 
 of wives, and the doctrine of Adam- God worship, con- 
 trary to the laws and constitution of said original 
 Church. 
 
 "And the Court do further find that the Plaintiff, 
 the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day 
 Saints, is the True and Lawful continuation of, and Suc- 
 cessor to the said original Church of Jesus Christ of 
 Latter Day Saints, organized in 1830, and is entitled in 
 law to all its rights and property. 
 
 "And the Court do further find that said defend- 
 ants, Joseph Smith, Sarah F. Videon and Mark H. 
 Forscutt, are in possession of said property under a pre- 
 tended title, derived from a pretended sale thereof, 
 made by order of the Probate Court of Lake County, 
 on the petition of Henry Holcomb, as the administrator 
 of said Joseph Smith, as the individual property of said 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 413. 
 
 Smith; and the Court finds that said Smith had no title 
 to said property, except as the Trustee of said Church, 
 and that no title thereto passed to the purchasers at said 
 sale, and that said parties in possession have no legal 
 title to said property. 
 
 "And the Court further finds that the legal title to 
 said property is vested in the heirs of said Joseph 
 Smith, in trust for the legal successor of said original 
 Church, and that the Plaintiffs are not in possession 
 thereof." 
 
 APPEALED CASE IN CANADA COURT. 
 
 "Chief Justice Armour, and other Judges concurr- 
 ing, said: 'I have read the evidence over, and find 
 nothing contrary to the doctrine of Christ in the teach- 
 ing of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter 
 Day Saints.' *The great trouble is the Latter Day 
 Saints' doctrine is Christian in the highest sense, and 
 the rest of the religious world is opposed to them be- 
 cause they (the Saints) cling so closely to the Bible.' 
 'It seems as though it is jealousy, not justice, that 
 moves the action in this case.' 'These people teach 
 that one man should have one wife only, and they stand 
 by that.' 'The doctrine of this church is surely accord- 
 ing to the Bible.' 'God has a body.' 'Yes, they teach 
 that God has body, parts and passions. I think that 
 doctrine very elementary. Don't you believe that God 
 has a body? Does not the Bible say that God made 
 man in his own image? Now, I am a man; I have a 
 body. This point appears to be in their favor.' 'I 
 am surprised to see this trial, it seems as if some of the 
 Christians are wanting to go back to the dark ages; 
 they would have us try heresy here.' 'This is not pros- 
 ecution but persecution.' 
 
414- COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 "THE DECISION. 
 
 ''Rev. V. Dickhout.— J. C. Cartwright, Q. C, 
 and Dymond for the Crown. W. M. German (Wel- 
 land) for the defendant. Case stated by the Police 
 Magistrate for the Town of Niagara Falls, before whom 
 the defendant was charged for that he did on the 19th 
 May, 1893, at that town, unlawfully and without lawful 
 authority, solemnize a marriage between Abraham H. 
 Taylor and Alice E. Vance. The question raised by 
 the case was whether the defendant as a priest of 'The 
 Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day 
 Saints' was entitled as a minister of 'a church or denom 
 ination' within the meaning of R. S. O., ch. 131, sec. i, 
 to solemnize a marriage. Counsel for the Crown con- 
 tended, as Christianity was part of the law of the Prov- 
 ince, the words of the statute must be read as meaning 
 'Christian church or denomination,' and that the body 
 in question was not a Christian body. x\t the conclu- 
 sion of the argument the judgment of the court was 
 delivered by Armour C. J., as follows: We think it 
 quite clear that this conviction can not be maintained. 
 The defendant was clearly a duly ordained minister of 
 this religious body, and there is no doubt that it is a 
 religious denomination within the words of the statute. 
 Assuming that Christianity is the law of the land in a 
 sense, there is nothing contrary to Christianity in the 
 tenets of this body. It is true they have something 
 supplemental to the Bible, but that is the case with every 
 church or denomination. The Church of England has 
 its creeds and the Presbyterian Church its confession. 
 That does not make the church an anti-Christian one. 
 The statute does not say 'Christian,' but 'religious.' If 
 it said 'Christian' it would exclude Jews. The funda- 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 415. 
 
 mental law of the country makes no distinction between 
 churches or denominations. Every person is at liberty 
 to worship his Maker in the way he pleases. We have, 
 or ought to have, in this country, perfect freedom of 
 speech and perfect freedom of worship. Conviction 
 quashed." — Toronto Globe, Mail, Nov. 29th, 1893. 
 
 UNITED STATES CIRCUIT COURT. TEMPLE LOT CASE. 
 
 DECISION BY JUDGE PHILLIPS. 
 
 "Beyond all cavil, if human testimony is to place 
 any matter forever at rest, this church was one in doc- 
 trine, government, and purpose from 1830 to June, 
 1844, when Joseph Smith, its founder, was killed. It 
 had the same federal head, governing bodies, and faith. 
 During this period there was no schism, no secession, 
 no 'parting of the ways,' in any matter fundamental, 
 or affecting its oneness. 
 
 "The only authorized and recognized books of doc- 
 trine and laws for the government of the church from 
 1830 to 1846 were the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and 
 the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. The Book of 
 Doctrine and Covenants, which consisted principally of 
 claimed divine revelations to Joseph Smith, was the 
 edition published at Kirtland, Ohio, in 1835, and at 
 Nauvoo in 1845. 
 
 "No possible question could be made that had this 
 church, with its central governing power resident at 
 Nauvoo, asserted right of control over this property 
 up to 1845, it would have been recognized by the 
 ecclesiastical body and by Courts of Chancery, as the 
 beneficiary of the trust recognized by Edward Partridge 
 from 1832 and declared by him in his trust deed of 
 1839. 
 
41 6. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 ''Joseph Smith was killed at Carthage, Illinois, in 
 June, 1844. He was the President and the inspiring 
 spirit of the church. His violent death struck with 
 dismay the hearts of his followers; and out of the con- 
 fusion incident thereto was born disorder, schism, and 
 ambition for leadership. Disintegration set in and the 
 church split into factions, which under the lead of dif- 
 ferent heads, scattered to different parts of the country. 
 Among the 'Quorum of Twelve' — representing the 
 Apostles— was one Brigham Young, a man of intellect- 
 ual power, shrewd and aggressive, if not audacious. 
 Naturally enough such a man gathered around him the 
 greater numbers, and it was an easy matter for him to 
 seize the fallen reigns of the Presidency. He led the 
 greater portion of Mormons out to what was known as 
 'Winter Quarters,' near Omaha, and thence to Salt 
 Lake Valley in Utah, then a dependency of Old Mexico. 
 From this settlement has sprung the powerful ecclesias 
 tical body known as the Salt Lake or Utah Church. 
 While the Respondents are wary of claiming alliance 
 with this Salt Lake Church, it is evidently 'the power 
 behind the throne' in the defense of this suit; and 
 claim is made by Respondents' Counsel that it in fact 
 absorbed the Mormon Church, and is the real succes- 
 sor to the ancient church. 
 
 "There can be no question of the fact that Brigham 
 Young's assumed presidency was a bold and bald usur- 
 pation. The Book of Doctrine and Covenants (printed 
 in 1846) page 411, containing a revelation to Joseph 
 Smith, January 19, 1841, gave unto them 'my servant 
 Joseph, to be a presiding elder over all my church, to 
 be a translator, a revelator, a seer and a prophet. I 
 give unto him for counselors my servant Sidney Rig- 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 417. 
 
 don, and my servant William Law, that these may con- 
 stitute a quorum and first presidency, to receive the 
 oracles for the whole church. I give unto you, ray 
 servant Brigham Young, to be a president over the 
 twelve traveling council.' So that Brigham Young 
 was but president over the 'Twelve,' a traveling coun- 
 cil. The book clearly taught that the succession should 
 descend lineally and go to the firstborn. Joseph Smith 
 so taught, and, before his taking off, publicly pro- 
 claimed his Son Joseph, the present head of Complain- 
 ant Church, his successor, and he was so annointed. 
 
 ''The book also contains the following, when refer- 
 ring to Joseph Smith: 
 
 '' 'But verily, verily, I say unto you, that none else 
 shall be appointed unto this gift except it be through 
 him, for if it betaken from him he shall not have power, 
 except to appoint another in his stead; and this shall 
 be a law unto you, that ye receive not the teachings of 
 any that sh^ll come before you as revelations, or com- 
 mandments; and this I give unto you, that you may 
 not be deceived, that you may know they are not of 
 me. For verily I say unto you; that he that is or- 
 dained of me, shall come in at the gate and be ordained 
 as I have told you before, to teach those revelations 
 which you have received, and shall receive through him 
 whom I have appointed.' 
 
 ''Brigham Young's assumption of this office (under 
 the claim of something like a transfiguration) was itself 
 a departure from the law of the church. 
 
 "The Book of Mormon itself inveighed against the 
 sin of polygamy. True it is that Brigham Young taught 
 that these denunciations of the book were leveled at the 
 Indians — the Lamanites. But I confess to an utter 
 
4l8. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 inability to interpret human language if this be correct. 
 In chapter i, Book of Jacob, in speaking of the people 
 of Nephi, the favored people, they were arraigned for 
 growing hard of heart and indulging themselves some- 
 what in wicked practices, such as like unto David of 
 old, desiring 'many wives and concubines,' as also did 
 Solomon, David's son; and in chapter two, same book, 
 after alluding to the filthiness evidently of the Indian 
 tribes, it says: 
 
 '' 'Behold, the Lamanites, your brethren, whom ye 
 hate, because of their filthiness and the cursings which 
 hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than 
 you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of 
 the Lord, which was given unto our fathers, that they 
 should have, save it were one wife, and concubines they 
 
 should have none And now this commandment 
 
 they observe to keep, wherefore, because of this obser- 
 vance in keeping this commandment, the Lord God 
 will not destroy them, but will be merciful .unto them, 
 and one day they shall become a blessed people.' 
 
 "How it can be that the Lamanites please God in 
 sticking to one wife, and the Nephites displease him by 
 imitating David and Solomon in multiplying wives, and 
 yet polygamy is to be a crown of righteousness in the 
 teachings of the Angel Mormon, challenges my power 
 of comprehension. It requires transfiguration to do so. 
 
 ''Conformably to the Book of Mormon, the Book of 
 Doctrine and Covenants expressly declares "that we 
 believe that one man should have but one wife, and one 
 woman but one husband.' And this declaration of 
 the church on this subject reappeared in the Book of 
 Doctrine and Covenants, edition of 1846 and 1856. 
 Its first appearance as a dogma of the church [the dog- 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 419. 
 
 ma of polygamy] was in the Utah Church in 1852. 
 
 "Claim is made by the Utah Church that this doc- 
 trine is predicated of a revelation made to Joseph 
 Smith in July, 1843. ^^ such revelation was ever 
 made public during the life of Joseph Smith, and under 
 the law of the church it could not become an article of 
 faith and belief until submitted to and adopted by the 
 church. This was never done. 
 
 "No more complete and caustic refutation of this 
 claim made by Brigham Young can be found than in 
 exhibit 'W in this case, in a book entitled 'The 
 Spiritual Wife System Proven False,' issued by Gran- 
 ville Hedrick, the head of the Respondent Church, in 
 1856. He ridiculed the pretension of Brigham Young 
 that he had this revelation, unproclaimed, locked up in 
 his private chest for nine years. He says: 
 
 " 'Now how strangely inconsistent, that the revela- 
 tion should be given nine or ten years before its time, 
 and have to lie eight or nine years under his patent 
 lock before it would be time to proclaim it. Here, 
 then, we have a specimen of an abortive revelation, 
 come before its time, and had to be put in the sacred 
 desk, under a patent lock, for eight or nine years, and 
 shown occasionally — just often enough to get the thing 
 used to it so that when it got old enough it could go 
 abroad. So much for this curious revelation, come in 
 an abortion — got burned up — then locked up — and now 
 has gone forth to damn everybody that don't believe it. 
 Why! It is a perfect phoenix.' 
 
 "When the present President of the Salt Lake 
 Church, Wilford Woodruff, was on the witness stand, he 
 testified that on the 15th of November, 1844, there was 
 no marriage ceremony in the church except that pub- 
 
420. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 lished in the [Book of Doctrine and Covenants] edition 
 of 1835. He was then asked why the church, of which 
 he is President, in the publication of the Book of Doc- 
 trine and Covenants in the Salt Lake edition of 1876, 
 eliminated the section on marriage as found in the 1835 
 edition and in all editions thereof published up to 1876, 
 and inserted in lieu thereof the claimed revelation on 
 polygamy of July, 1843. 'Answer. I do not know 
 why it was done. It was done by the authority of who- 
 ever presided over the church, I suppose. Brigham 
 X Young was the President then.' 
 "The Utah Church further departed from the prin- 
 ciples and doctrines of the Original Church by chang- 
 ing in their teaching the fir^t statement in the Article 
 of Faith, which was, 'We believe in God, the EternaJ 
 Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy 
 Ghost,' and in lieu thereof taught the doctrine of 
 'A_dam God worship,' which, as announced in Journal 
 of Discourses by Brigham Young, is as follows: 
 
 '' 'When our father Adam came into the Garden of 
 Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought 
 Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make 
 and organize this world. He is Michael the Archangel, 
 the Ancient of Days, about whom holy men have writ- 
 ten and spoken — He is our Father and our God, and 
 fhe only God with whom we have to do.' 
 y' "It has introduced societies of a secret order, and 
 
 / established secret oaths and covenants, contrary to the 
 / book of teachings of the old church. It has changed 
 1 the duties of the President, and of the Twelve, and 
 \ established the doctrine to 'Obey Counsel,' and has 
 ^ changed the order of the 'Seventy, or Evangelists.' 
 
 "The next important and interesting question is, 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 42 1. 
 
 Does the Complainant Church represent the benefici- 
 aries of this property? 
 
 ''In controversies of this character, respecting the 
 rightful ownership of church property, the civil judi- 
 catories have nothing to do with the question as to 
 which faction expounds the sounder theology, or moral 
 philosophy, and which best accords with reason and 
 common sense. A good Chancellor may be an in- 
 different theologian; and when he should lay aside the 
 ermine for the surplice he might prove more bigot than 
 justiciary. As said in Smith vs. Pedigo, :^^ N. E. Rep. 
 777, 'Religious doctrines and practices are listened to 
 by the Courts solely as facts upon which civil rights 
 and the right to property are made to depend, regard- 
 less of the ultimate truth or soundness of such doc- 
 trines, practices, and beliefs.' 
 
 "In case of disorganization and factional divisions 
 of an ecclesiastical body, the settled rule of the civil 
 courts is that 'the title to church property '^ * is in 
 that part of it which is acting in harmony with its own 
 law, and the ecclesiastical laws and usages, customs 
 and principles, which were accepted among them before 
 the dispute began, and the standards for determining 
 which party is right.' The right of ownership abides 
 with that faction, great or small, which is 'in favor of 
 the government of the church in operation, with w^hich 
 it was connected at the time the trust was declared.' 
 McRoberts vs. Moudy, 19 Mo. App. 26; Roshi's Ap. 
 69 Pa. St. 462; Baker et al. vs. Thales, 9 Pick. 488; 
 Whitlick vs. Whitelick, S^ Ind. 130. 
 
 "The Courts will adjudge the property 'to the 
 members, however few in numbers they may be,' who 
 adhere to the form of church government, or acknowl- 
 
422. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 edge the church connection, for which the property was 
 acquired.' (Judge Strong's lecture on Relation of 
 Civil Law to Church Property, pages 49-59.) 
 
 "Justice Caton in Ferraria et al., vs. Vanconcellos. 
 et al., 31 111. 54, 55, aptly states the rule to be, 'That, 
 where a church is erected for the use of a particular 
 denomination or religious persuasion, a majority of the 
 members cannot abandon the tenets and doctrines of 
 the denomination and retain the right to the use of the 
 property; but such secessionists forfeit all right to the 
 property, even if but a single member adheres to the 
 original faith and doctrine of the church. This rule is 
 founded in reason and justice, . . .Those who adhere to 
 the original tenets and doctrines, for the promulgation 
 of which a church has been erected, are the sole bene- 
 ficiaries designed by the donors; and those who depart 
 from and abandon those tenets and doctrines cease to 
 be beneficiaries, and forfeit all claim to the title and 
 use of such property.' 
 
 "No matter, therefore, if the church at Nauvoo 
 became a prey to schisms, after the death of Joseph 
 Smith, and presented as many frightful heads as did 
 the dragon which the Apostle John saw in his vision on 
 the Isle of Patmos, if there was one righteous left in 
 Sodom, the promise of the covenant and of the law of the 
 land is to him. It is neither good law nor Bible history 
 to say that because the Saints became scattered and 
 without an organism, the faithful lost the benefit of 
 the church property. Forsooth the children of Israel 
 were carried captive to Babylon,— -'the mother of har 
 lots and abominations of the earth,' — they did not 
 cease to be children of the covenant, nor lose their 
 interest in Jerusalem. 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 423. 
 
 "A considerable number of the officers and mem- 
 bers of the church at Nauvoo did not ally themselves 
 with any of the factions, and wherever they were they 
 held onto the faith, refused to follow Brigham Young 
 to Utah, and ever repudiated the doctrine of polygamy, 
 which was the great rock of oifense on which the church 
 split after the death of Joseph Smith. 
 
 "In 1852 the scattered fragments of the church, 
 the remnants of those who held to the fortunes of the 
 present Joseph Smith, son of the so-called 'Martyr,' 
 gathered together sufficiently for a nucleus of organiza- 
 tion. They took the name of 'The Reorganized 
 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," and 
 avowed their allegiance to the teachings of the ancient 
 church; and their epitome of faith adopted, while con- 
 taining differences m phraseology, in its essentials is 
 but a reproduction of that of the church as it existed 
 from 1830 to 1844. Today they are twenty- five thous- 
 and strong. 
 
 'Tt is charged by the Respondents, as an echo of 
 the Utah Church, that Joseph Smith, 'the Martyr,' 
 secretly taught and practiced polygamy; and the Utah 
 contingent furnishes the evidence, and two of the 
 women, to prove this fact. It perhaps would be un- 
 charitable to say of these women that they have borne 
 false testimony as to their connection with Joseph 
 Smith; but, in view of all the evidence and circum- 
 stances surrounding the alleged intercourse, it is diffi- 
 cult to escape the conclusion that at most they were but 
 sports in 'nest hiding.' In view of the contention of 
 the Salt Lake party, that polygamy obtained at Nauvoo 
 as early as 1841, it must be a little embarrassing to 
 President Woodruff of that organization when he is 
 
424- COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 confronted, as he was in the evidence in this case, with 
 a published card in the church organ at Naiivoo in 
 October, 1843, certifying that he knew of no other rule 
 or system of marriage than the one published in the 
 Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and that the 'secret 
 wife system,' charged against the church, was a crea- 
 ture of invention by one Dr. Bennett, and that they 
 knew of no such society. That certificate was signed 
 by the leading members of the church, including John 
 Taylor the former President of the Utah Church. And 
 a similar certificate was published by the Ladies Relief 
 Society of the same place, signed by Emma Smith, the 
 wife of Joseph Smith, and Phoebe Woodruff, wife of 
 the present President Woodruff. No such marriage 
 ever occurred under the rules of the church, and no 
 offspring came from the imputed illicit intercourse, 
 although Joseph Smith was in the full vigor of young 
 manhood, and his wife, Emma, was giving birth to 
 healthy children in regular order, and was enciente at 
 the time of Joseph's death. 
 
 "But if it were conceded that Joseph Smith and 
 Hyrum, his brother, did secretly practice concubinage, 
 is the church to be charged with those liaisons, and the 
 doctrine of polygamy to be predicated thereon of the 
 church? If so, I suspect the doctrine of polygamy 
 might be imputed to many of the Gentile churches. 
 Certainly it was never promulgated, taught, nor recog- 
 nized, as a doctrine of the church prior to the assump- 
 tion of Brigham Young. 
 
 *'It is next charged against Complainant Church 
 that it has added to the Articles of Faith other revela- 
 tions of the Divine will, alleged to have been made to 
 Joseph Smith, the present head of Complainant Church. 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 425. 
 
 If SO, how can this be held to be heretical, or a depart- 
 ure, when in the Epitome of Faith of the ancient 
 church, is this article, -We believe all that God has re- 
 vealed, all that he does now reveal, and we believe that 
 he will yet reveal many great and important things per- 
 taining to the kingdom of God.' And in the Book of 
 Doctrine and Covenants, paragraph 2, section 14, it is 
 taught that such revelations might come through him 
 whom the^prophet might ordain. 
 
 "In the very nature of the doctrine of the church, 
 that God in the fullness of time makes known his will 
 to the church by revelation, additional revelations were 
 to be expected. No specification is made by learned 
 Counsel as to wherein the alleged new revelations de- 
 clare any doctrine at variance with that taught in ante- 
 cedent revelations. 
 
 "It is next charged that the Complainants have a 
 new Bible. The basis for this is that Joseph Smith, 
 the founder of the Church, was as early as 1830 en- 
 gaged in a translation of the Bible, which he is alleged 
 to have completed about 1833 or 1834. This work 
 seems to have been recognized also in a revelation in 
 section 13, paragraph 15, and in section 58. The evi- 
 dence shows that this manuscript was kept by his wife 
 and delivered to the present Joseph Smith, her son, 
 and was published by a committee of the church. It is 
 not claimed by Joseph Smith that this translation is a 
 substitute for the King James' translation, nor has it 
 been made to appear that it inculcates any new religious 
 tenet different from that of the ancient church. In 
 this day of multifarious and free translations of the 
 Bible it should hardly be imputed a heresy in this 
 church to take some liberties with the virgin Greek and 
 
426. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 Hebrew. It is also charged that the Complainant 
 Church has only eleven representing the Quorum of the 
 Twelve. I believe the New Testament records it as a 
 historical fact that 'Peter stood up with the eleven,' 
 after the apostasy of Judas Iscariot. There is nothing 
 in the Code of the present church to prevent the filling 
 out of the 'Twelve.' 
 
 "There are some other minor objections to the 
 present organization, the answer to which is so obvious 
 that it scarcely need be made. 
 
 "Who are the Respondents and in what do they 
 believe? Looking at their answer in this case, and their 
 evidence, the idea occurrs that in theory they are 
 Ecclesiastical Nondescripts, and in practice 'Squatter 
 Sovereigns.' They repudiate polygamy while looking 
 to Salt Lake City for succor. They deny in their an- 
 swer that this property was ever bought for the church, 
 or impressed with a trust therefor, and yet, when their 
 head men were on the witness stand they swore they 
 are a part and parcel of the original church, founded 
 and inspired by Joseph Smith, 'the Martyr,' and that 
 today they hold the property in question in trust for 
 that church. 
 
 "They are commonly called 'Hedrickites' because 
 their head is Granville Hedrick, who himself was a 
 member of Complainant organization as minister, and 
 participated actively in its General Conference as late 
 as 1857, receiving 'the right hand of fellowship,' and 
 moving the conference to works of evangelization in his 
 region of the country. It is inferable from the testi- 
 mony in this case that they reject measurably the 
 standard Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and accord- 
 ing to the testimony of Respondent Hill they 'repudiate 
 
COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 427. 
 
 the doctrine taught by the church in general after 1833, 
 1834 and 1835.', And also the law relating to 'tithes 
 and offerings,' and the doctrine of baptism for the 
 dead, which was taught by the Mother Church. They 
 also seem to reject the law relating to the Presidency, 
 and of 'the Twelve Traveling High Council,' and also 
 'the Quorum of Seventy Evangelists.' 
 
 "They are but a small band, and their seizure of 
 the Temple Lot, and attempt thus to divert the trust, 
 invoke the interposition of a Court of Equity to estab- 
 lish the trust and prevent its perversion. 
 
 "LACHES. 
 
 "It is urged by Respondents that the claim of 
 Complainant is stale, and that a Court of Equity will 
 not afford relief where party complaining has been 
 guilty of laches. There are several answers to this ob- 
 jection. In the first place, this is an express trust in 
 favor of Complainant, arising on the Partridge deed of 
 1839. The statute of limitation does not run against an 
 express trust. There was no repudiation of the trust by 
 the trustees. Eaches is a question determined by the 
 circumstances of the particular case. 
 
 "The delay in bringing this action is not inexcus- 
 able. The beneficiaries of the trust were driven from 
 the State in 1838-9 by military force, and were not per- 
 mitted to return to the State. A public hostile feeling 
 and sentiment were excited against them, which would 
 have blazed up from the slumbering fires at any time 
 thereafter prior to the Civil War, had they returned 
 here and attempted to occupy this property. No one 
 better knew this than the Respondents when they laid 
 hands to this property. The Complainants were not 
 here 'to stand by' while parties were giving and receiv- 
 
425. COMPENDIUM OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 ing deeds to this property. No improvements were 
 made on, and no visible possession taken of the Temple 
 Lot, until 1882, within ten years of the institution of 
 this suit, and when the trust deed had been on record 
 twelve years. Up to this hostile action of Respondents 
 the Complainant had a right to assume that the trust 
 character of this property was intact, and that the lot 
 was open for their entry at any time when the auspi- 
 cious hour came to build on it. 
 
 "In the language of Chief Justice P'uller in Sim- 
 mons Creek Coal Company vs. Doran, 142 U. S. 444, 
 'There was no delay, therefore, in the assertion of its 
 rights after they were invaded.' See also Burke vs. 
 Bachus (Minn.), 53 N. W. Rep. 458. 
 
 "A Court of Equity has jurisdiction in this case. 
 It belongs to it to remove clouds from title, 'the relief 
 being granted on the principle of quia timet.' It is 
 peculiarly its province in a case like this to vindicate the 
 trust, to determine the real beneficiaries of the trust 
 estate, and to prevent its diversion. 
 
 * 'Decree will go in favor of Complainant, estab- 
 lishing the trust in its favor against Respondents, re- 
 moving the cloud from the title, enjoining Respondents 
 from asserting title to the property, and awarding the 
 possession to the Complainant." 
 
 Decision in full text can be had at Herald office, 
 Lamoni, Iowa, or Ensign office. Independence, Mis- 
 souri, at fifteen cents per copy. 
 
 [the end.] 
 
iis[I3e:x:. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Abraham's Land Described ..,,. 51 
 
 x\ccount of Relics, Salt Lake Tribune 13-15 
 
 Advanced, Civilized, Cultured People 
 
 23, 24, 29, 30-38, 41-47, 103-107 
 
 Agriculture, Irrigation Used, 104, 105, 11, 96, 97, loi 
 
 Alphabet, Maya-Egyptian 76, 79-84 
 
 America Again Discovered 113 
 
 American Antiquity, when published 111-115 
 
 America to Awake 3, 113 
 
 To Tell its Tale after 1838 113 
 
 '' First People Crossed the Sea 22 
 
 '' Included in Bible Prophecy 48-63 
 
 Animals, Evidence of 10, 55-60 
 
 ** Found by Nephites 54 
 
 Antiquities of America Hardly Entered 20 
 
 " " " Confirm Scripture 20 
 
 Antiquity Great 24, 29 
 
 Anthon's Admission 136 
 
 Aqueducts for Irrigation 104, 105 
 
 Architecture, Egyptian 74, 75 
 
 *' Wonderful 15, 35-38 
 
 xArts and Sciences 29-34, 36, 37, 75 
 
 '' " " Egyptian 74, 75 
 
 Artistic, Scientific Skill 36-40 
 
 Astronomical Facts, B. of M. Confirmed 6^ 7 
 
 ** Attainments 3r-34, 41 
 
 Babel, Jaredites from 21 
 
 " Votan '' 25 
 
 " Traditions 26-28 
 
430. INDEX. 
 
 Bancroft, Americans, Jewish Descent 6^ 
 
 Bearded White Men 12 
 
 Boat, Hole in Outer Bottom 28, 29 
 
 " Submarine 29 
 
 Bones, Relics Deep in Earth 8, 9 
 
 Book Buried in Earth 93 
 
 " Mcllvaine Wonder 3 
 
 " " Ten Years Behind 3 
 
 Book of Mormon Admits Errors 4, 5 
 
 *' " " Name of i 
 
 '* '' " Period, it Covers 2 
 
 Book to Come Forth 119-135 
 
 Books Abundant 41-45, 93, 11 1 
 
 Brass Plates, etc 88, 89, 100, loi 
 
 Bridges, Stone-Suspension 104-106 
 
 Builders' Tools Very Old 17 
 
 Calendar, Stone, Interpreted 7, 40 
 
 '' System, American, Egyptian 75 
 
 Came in Ships 12, 23, 26 
 
 Camel 10,55-57,00 
 
 Catlin's Reasons, Israelites 64, 65 
 
 Cement 105, 106. 
 
 Christianity in America Anciently 19, 20 
 
 Cities, One to Four, Forty, Sixty 11 1, 112 
 
 Cities and Temples 102, 1 10 
 
 Civilization, Peru Begun 16 
 
 Cliff Dwellers, Robbers, etc.. Skulls 11, 12 
 
 Cloth, Different Varieties 14, 15, 35, 45, 47 
 
 Coin 94, 95 
 
 Colonies, Jaredite, Nephite 2 
 
 Columns, Obelisks 77, 78 
 
 Convulsions of Continent 8-10 
 
 Compass 108, 109 
 
 Conclusions 141-149 
 
 Copper 90, 91, 98, 100, 101 
 
 Corn II, 14, 15 
 
 Crossed the Sea 22 
 
 Cultivated, Polished People, 23, 24, 29, 30-38, 41-47 
 Customs, Jewish, Many 63-65, 70, 71 
 
INDEX. 431. 
 
 Dates of American Antiquity, when published, 111-115. 
 
 Davenport Tablet 91. 
 
 Decorations, Remarkable 37. 
 
 Destruction of Books 42. 
 
 Distinct People 29, 30, no. 
 
 Divine Command 25. 
 
 Domestic Animals 55-60. 
 
 Dye, All Colors 46. 
 
 Earth Convulsed, B. of M. Attested 8-10. 
 
 " Revolves, Knowledge Ancient .... 6, 7, 109. 
 Egyptian Alphabet 79-84. 
 
 " Art and Science 75. 
 
 " Embalming 75, 76. 
 
 Hieroglyphics 75, 76, 78, 79, S^, 84. 
 
 " Language 76-86, 
 
 " Resemblances 74-86. 
 
 '' Sculpture 75, 76, 78. 
 
 " Writing, Hieroglyphics Three Kinds. .. . 84. 
 
 Elephants 10, 55, 59, 60. 
 
 Empires, Mighty Cities no. 
 
 Enclosures 100 to 400 Acres 103, 
 
 Engineering Skill 107. 
 
 Ephriam, Stick 18, 62. 
 
 Errors Admitted, B. of M 4, 5- 
 
 Evidence Convincing 7. 
 
 Face of Land Changed 8-10. 
 
 Far Advanced Civilization... 39. 
 
 FJood Traditions 26, 27. 
 
 Forty-four Cities 37, (see also 1 12). 
 
 Four Brothers Colbnize Peru 16. 
 
 Furnaces, Twenty or Thirty 102, 35. 
 
 Gadianton Robbers 11. 
 
 Geology, Troano, a Treatise on 41. 
 
 Geometrical Precision 103. 
 
 Glass 47, loi. 
 
 Gold 15, 35, 96-98. 
 
 God Distributing Nations 17-21. 
 
 Gospel in America Anciently 20. 
 
 Great Works 103-107. 
 
432. INDEX. 
 
 Hebrew Customs 63-65, 70, 7 1 
 
 '' Engraving, Writing 66-70 
 
 *' Language 71-73 
 
 " Relics, Tablets 66-70 
 
 Hieroglyphics 43, 44 
 
 Egyptian 75, 76, 78, 8;^, 84 
 
 " Egypt and Mexico, Three Kinds, 76, S^ 
 
 High Civilization, 23, 24, 29, 30-38, 41-47, 103-107 
 
 History, Material for 44 
 
 Hog, Swine, 56, 57 
 
 Holes in Boat 28, 29 
 
 Home on Inspiration 5, 6 
 
 Horse 10, 55, 56, 60 
 
 " Extinct Recently 56, 57, 60 
 
 Human Relics Deep in Earth 8 
 
 Identity, Mexican, Peruvian, Egyptian 74-76 
 
 Implements and Instruments, Metallic 96-102 
 
 Indian Races, One Language 40, 84, 85 
 
 " not Mound Builders 23 
 
 Inspiration, McCalman on Smith 4 
 
 " Extent of. Home 5, 6 
 
 Iron 98-100, loi, 108 
 
 Isaiah 29, Ps. 85 Treated 1 19-136 
 
 Israelite Customs 63-65, 70, 71 
 
 " Language 71-73 
 
 '' Parallelisms, Bancroft 6;^ 
 
 " Relics 66-70 
 
 '' Scattered, Gathered 48, 49 
 
 Israel Traced to Western Continent 50-5 4 
 
 " LTsed Imperishable Records 87, 
 
 Jaredites from Babel 2, 21, 25 
 
 Jewish Customs 63-65, 70, 71 
 
 Language 7^-73 
 
 Jews, Recent Prominence 133-^35 
 
 Jewels 15 
 
 Judah, Stick of 18, 62 
 
 Key to American Civilization 25 
 
 Kinderhook Plates 88 
 
 Land, Face of Changed 8-10 
 
INDEX. 433. 
 
 Landa Alphabet 80 
 
 Language Confused 26 
 
 '' Egyptian 76-86 
 
 " Israelite 71-73 
 
 " American, Number of 84-86 
 
 Classified 86. 
 
 Linen Cloth 35 
 
 Llama 57, 60 
 
 Masonry, Massive 105, 36 
 
 Mastodon 8, 10, 57-60 
 
 '' Recently Extinct 56, 57 
 
 Maya Alphabet Language 76, 78, 84 
 
 Mcllvaine Rev. D. D. Wonder 3 
 
 " Ten Years Behind 3 
 
 " On Traditions of Nations 19-21 
 
 McCalman on Smith's Inspiration 4 
 
 Men, White, Civilized 12 
 
 Metal Plating 98 
 
 Metals Worked 39, 46, 96-102 
 
 Mining Works 104, 105 
 
 Mound Builders, Ancient 23 
 
 '* " Civilized 45 
 
 '' " Not Indians 23 
 
 Moses, Ten Commandments 67, 68 
 
 Mummies, Cliff Dwellers 14 
 
 Egyptian 75 
 
 " Peruvian 15 
 
 Nations Dwelt Alone 54 
 
 *' Perished, Unknown 23 
 
 " Distinct 29, 30, no 
 
 *' Distributed 17, 22, 25 
 
 Polished 28 
 
 White 12 
 
 National Traditions 19-22 
 
 Nephites Came 600 B. C 2 
 
 '* Landed in Peru 16 
 
 " Exterminated 2 
 
 Number American Languages 86 
 
 Obelisks, Columns 77, 78 
 
434- INDEX. 
 
 Observatory Mounds 104 
 
 Observations, 4,000 Years 7 
 
 Object, Joseph Smith's 116 
 
 Oldest Relics, California 9 
 
 Over the Wall, Sea 5o-53 
 
 Oxen 55. 56 
 
 Pacific Railroads Eclipsed 107 
 
 Paintings 28, 37, 40, 43, 46, 76, 77 
 
 Palestine Restored 1 24-133 
 
 Paper, names for 44 
 
 Peru Colojiized by Four Brothers 16 
 
 Peruvian Roads 106, 107 
 
 PJionetic Writing 4^? 43 
 
 Plates, Found by Joseph Smith 2 
 
 " Brass, Copper Tablets ^7-93 
 
 Plating Metals 97, 98 
 
 Polished Nations 28, 41, 47 
 
 Posts, System of 104 
 
 Races of One Blood 1 7? 18 
 
 *' Relics Many 13-15 
 
 " Traditions of 19-22 
 
 Rainbow 27 
 
 Records, Plates, Tablets, Books 87-94, iii 
 
 Relics, Cliff Dwellers 11, 12, 14, 15 
 
 " Human Bones, Deep in Earth 8 
 
 '* Israelite 66-70 
 
 " Mound Builders 45, 99-105, 
 
 '' Oldest 9, 10 
 
 Revolves, Earth 6, 7, 109 
 
 Roads, Peruvian 106 107 
 
 Ruins, Towns, Castles, Fortresses 105 
 
 Sciences and Arts 20-34, 75 
 
 Scientific Knowledge 103 
 
 Scriptures Coroborated, Mcllvaine 20 
 
 Sculpture Egyptian 75, 76, 78 
 
 Sculptured Stone 105 
 
 Sheep 57 
 
 Ships, Came In 23, 26 
 
 Silver , 15, 35, 97, 98, 100 
 
INDEX. 
 
 435- 
 
 Silversmith, Sculptor, Artist, Architect 36, 37 
 
 Skill, Engineering, etc 31-4^, 107 
 
 Skulls, Cliff Dwellers 1 1 
 
 " Trepanned 16 
 
 Smith's Object 116 
 
 Spinning, Weaving, Dyeing 46 
 
 Steel 101, 108 
 
 Stones Engraved, Israelite 66-69 
 
 Stucco Work 36, ^8 
 
 Stumps, Deep in Earth 99 
 
 Surprising Mechanical Power 105 
 
 Swine 56, 57 
 
 Tablets of Stone 91-93 
 
 " " " Hebrew 66, 70 
 
 Telescopic Tubes ^;^ 
 
 Ten Thousand Mounds in Ohio 103 
 
 Testimony of Witnesses 137, 140 
 
 Thousands of Monuments . 103 
 
 Tin and Silver 98 
 
 Tools in Variety 96-102 
 
 ' ' 4000 Years Ago 17 
 
 Tradition, Value of 24 
 
 " of Nations 19-22 
 
 Trepanning Skulls 16 
 
 Transmitted News 104 
 
 Troano on Geology 41 
 
 Truman, P. C, Before Institute 109 
 
 Veil Lifted Since 1830 iii 
 
 Velvet Like ~ Cloth 46 
 
 Villages Walled In 103 
 
 Vision, Joseph Smith 116 
 
 Votanic Tradition, Key 25 
 
 Waldeck on Skilled Work 37, 38 
 
 Warning Through Jeremiah 53 
 
 Weaving 14, 15, 35, 45-47 
 
 White Men 12, 
 
 Wide Spread Civilization 40, 
 
 Witnesses To B. of M 137-140 
 
 AVorks, Antiquity, Great 39 
 
436. INDEX. 
 
 Works Not To Be Excelled 36, 31-41. 
 
 Writing 41-44. 
 
 " Egyptian, Three Kinds 84. 
 
 " Hieroglyphical 78, 79. 
 
 '* Phonetic 4i-43- 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Allen's Book Reviewed 247-254 
 
 Allen Uses Titles Adroitly 247 
 
 " Commits Putnam, Denies Metals and Do- 
 mestic Animals 248 
 
 " Cites Very Ancient Fossil Remains .... 249 
 
 " Denies Metallic Tools 248-253 
 
 " Cites Bronze Pins 253 
 
 " Contradicted by Putnam 254 
 
 " On Mound Builders 248-50 
 
 " Describes Fine Stone Work 251-253 
 
 Ann Eliza's Book Examined 217-19 
 
 " " Smith as Messiah, Could Not Be Ar- 
 rested 218 
 
 Lumber Stealing for Coffins 218 
 
 Says it was Christlike — not Christ-like, 218 
 
 Introduction of Polygamy 219 
 
 Assassination of Smith 219 
 
 Furniture, What a Whopper ......... 219 
 
 Anthon Garbled by Smucker 226, see 156 
 
 Beadle Examined 196-204 
 
 " Book Complete 196 
 
 " Many Stories on Smith Only Report ....196 
 
 " Rests on Sworn Testimony 196, 197 
 
 ''Thinks it Was Stolen" 196 
 
 ** On Rigdon's Early Work 197 
 
 '* " Emma Smith 197-198 
 
 " '• Three Witnesses 198, see 137-140 
 
 *' " Trial of Forty Mormons 198-199 
 
 " " Building of Nauvoo 199-200 
 
 '* Quotes Gov. Ford 200 
 
INDEX. 
 
 437 
 
 Beadle, Missouri Expulsion, Cause 200-201, 
 
 '^ Joseph Smith's Wives 201, 
 
 -' Credits Smith With Honesty 201, 
 
 •' Monogamic-Polygamic-Periods 201-202, 
 
 " Reorganized Church 202, 
 
 " Flies, His Piracy 203-204 
 
 Bidamon, Mrs., Interviewed by J. W, B 193 
 
 Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants 
 
 Quoted on Marriage 164-167 
 
 Braden's Mistakes 255-264, 
 
 Braden Manufactures Sixteen out of Six 255-256 
 
 Enlarges on Smith and Miller 256 
 
 Manassehites, Gilbert, Bible, Spaulding, 
 
 256, 262 
 
 Enlarges on Testimony, Contradicts Self 
 
 and Others 257-259 
 
 Garbles Testimony of Witnesses to B. of M. . . 
 
 259, 262 
 
 Falsifies, Garbles, Inserts, etc 260-261 
 
 Lies on O. 'Cowdery, Marks, Gurley . . 262 -263 
 Manufactures Apostle Morton, Garbles Bible . . 
 
 '• 263 
 
 Bradish, Mrs., High Priestess 157 
 
 Briggs and McCord, Mission to Utah t6i 
 
 " Called on Brigham Young 162 
 
 Brigham Voung Ordained Apostle 159 
 
 " " Doctrines, Mrs. VVaite 167-168 
 
 Buffaloes on the Grass 157-158 
 
 Characters Altered by Nephites 154 
 
 Consecrate of Thy Properties 155 
 
 Clark's Address 229-230 
 
 Decatur County, Iowa, History 290-291 
 
 Difference Stated Officially 289-290 
 
 Doctrines of Brighamism 167-168 
 
 Dry Rivers, Luxuriant Grass 158 
 
 Eavesdropping, Mrs. Ward 156-157 
 
 Encyclopedias Examined 278-286 
 
 " American, Appleton's 1863. .. 278-280 
 
 " Britannica, Stoddard, '1884. .. 280-281 
 
438. INDEX. 
 
 Encyclopedias, Johnson's, 1888 281 
 
 " Columbia, 1891 282-283 
 
 '' '' Most Satisfactory Evi- 
 dence 282 
 
 " Reorganized Church 287-289 
 
 Four Prominent Men Speak 265-272 
 
 General O. Connor Escorted Three Hundred 
 
 Josephites East. 162 
 
 Gospel Itself, Mrs. Waite 163, 159 
 
 Greatest Change 1 64 
 
 Greene, Rev. S. D. Speaks 265-269 
 
 Hildreth Guided by Chief Prophet 271 
 
 Histories of United States' Examined 273-278 
 
 '•' Speak of New Gospel, Bible, Fanatics, etc. 273 
 " " '' Thriftless, Hunting, Trapping, 
 
 Beer 274-275 
 
 '' Smith Killed, July 7, 1844 276 
 
 " " " Mormons Expelled From Ohio, 
 
 1838 276 
 
 Howe's Book Examined 151-156 
 
 ' ' Wrote f'irst 151 
 
 " Garbles B. of M 152-156 
 
 Immortalized Nephites 153 
 
 Industry, Sobriety, Order, Cleanliness 283 
 
 Invited Back to Kirtland, Independence, Nauvoo, 
 
 Council Bluffs 293-298 
 
 J. F. D. at a Debate in 1837 269-270 
 
 Joseph Smith's and Wesley's Life Similar in His- 
 tory 286 
 
 '^ " Dead, Does Business 5, 12, 13 Years 
 
 After 270-272, 
 
 '' <' Wives 272 
 
 " " Urim and Thummim 154 
 
 '' " Death, One Version • • • ^57 
 
 Josephites, Press Statements 290-300 
 
 Joseph Smith, Son of Prophet, Loyal 161 
 
 Kit Carson on Record 270 
 
 Lamb, Rev. M. T., Book Examined 236-247 
 
 " Claims No Literary Excellence 236-237 
 
439 
 
 Lamb Adds an Angel to the Account 238. 
 
 Versus Creeeds and Sects 238. 
 
 Denies Civilizations, Then Admits. .. 239, 243, 
 
 Examines All Evidence on Both Sides 239. 
 
 Examines B. of M 240. 
 
 Versus Prof. Roberts 240. 
 
 Troubled Over Jared's Barges.. 241, see 28, 29. 
 
 Gives 52 Quotations on 3 Pages 241. 
 
 The Jumbo of All Liars on B. of M . . . 241-242. 
 
 On Modern Words 242, see 240. 
 
 " Circulation of Blood and Microscope 
 
 242-243. 
 
 " Mound Builders 243. 
 
 " Reformed Egyptian 243-244. 
 
 Denies Iron 244. 
 
 " Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Goats 244. 
 
 Sized Up by Le Plongeon 245. 
 
 Miller on B. of M. and MS. Found 280. 
 
 Monogamy, Till 1852 164. 
 
 Newspapers on Reorganization 290-300. 
 
 Orthodox, Monogamy, Till 1852 164. 
 
 Official Statement of Difference 289-290. 
 
 Piano, Illinois, Good by to Pres. Smith 291. 
 
 Polygamy no Part of Original Mormonism 
 
 i6q, 164, 167, 204, 207, 209, 212. 
 
 Introduced * 164. 
 
 Denied 167. 
 
 Beadle's View 201-202. 
 
 Stenhouse 204, 206. 
 
 Ann Eliza 219. 
 
 John D. Lee 220-221. 
 
 Smuckers 234-235. 
 
 School History 271. 
 
 " " Bryant 276. 
 
 '* *' Qaackenbos 276. 
 
 " '* Thalheimer 276. 
 
 Press Statements 290-300. 
 
 Rigdon's Whereabouts 1827 284-285. 
 
 Reorganized Church, Mrs. Waite 161. 
 
440. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Reorganized Church, Press Defends 290-300. 
 
 '' *' Encyclopedias on 287-289. 
 
 Smucker's Book Examined 229-236. 
 
 Smucker Garbles Anthon 226, see 156. 
 
 " On Boggs, Mormons of Missouri, Illinois, 229. 
 
 ''. Gives Clark's Address 229-230. 
 
 " " A preacher's Account, English- 
 man's Letter 231-234. 
 
 " Makes Rigdon Author of Polygamy, 234-235. 
 " Says Smith Had Forty Wives ... 235, see 272. 
 '.' Cowdery's Testimony Unchangeable. . . .236. 
 
 Spaulding a Prophet on B. of M 279. 
 
 " Seen When Dead 1 1 Years 267. 
 
 " Mrs., Letter 179. 
 
 " Samuel, a Preacher 281. 
 
 Stenhouse's Book Examined 204-2 1 1 . 
 
 Stenhouse 25 Years a Mormon, Quotes Many Works 204. 
 "• Early Mormonism, Bible Doctrine, Sin- 
 cere Faith 204. 
 
 " On Bennett, Quotes Ford, Hard on Brig- 
 ham 205. 
 
 " "■ Believers April 6,- 1830, "Devoted to 
 
 Christ" 206. 
 
 Smith and Cowdery and Smith's Sons 206. 
 
 Polygamic Revelation 206-207. 
 
 Rigdon, W. B. Smith 207. 
 
 Successor to J. Smith 207-208. 
 
 His Own Valor. . 208-210, Mrs. S. . . 216. 
 " Complete Book and Mrs. S. Book ... 
 
 2 TO, 204. 
 
 '' Elephants, Horses, Literary Quib- 
 bling 21 0-2 1 1 . 
 
 Mrs., Book Examined 211-217. 
 
 '< " Certified, Harriet Beecher 
 
 Stowe 21 T. 
 
 '' Whole Truth, Lamentation, * 'No- 
 tice," "Experienced." 211. 
 
 " Reports Early Teaching Mixed 
 
 212, 216, see 204. 
 
INDE^. 441, 
 
 Stenhouse, Mrs., Meetings as They Used to Be. . . .212 
 
 '• On Miracles '. 213-214 
 
 " '• Polygamic Revelation, Gentile 
 
 Stories, Brigham . . . 214, 215 
 ^' '- Missouri and Illinois Times. . . . 
 
 215-216 
 
 "" Contact With Polygamic People, 
 
 Pleasant, Difficult 216 
 
 " Under Oath Again, Thrice. . 216-217 
 
 Tucker's Book Examined 169-195 
 
 Tucker Wrote From Personal Knowledge 169 
 
 " Often Heard 170 
 
 " Money Digging, Black Sheep, Respectable 
 
 Farmers, 7 Years Scenes 170-172 
 
 " "It Is Believed," Evidence 173 
 
 ' ' On Three Witnesses, Moral Character . .\ . . i 74 
 
 '' Makes a Dive at B. of M." Plates 174-175 
 
 " . Mysterious Stranger 1 75-179 
 
 Rigdon, First Mormon Preacher 181 
 
 *' On Joseph Smith's Marriage 182 
 
 •' " Nephites and Earaanites From Babel.. . 
 
 183, 186 
 
 '* " Organization, June 6th, 1830.. ..184-185 
 
 " " First Patriarch, Prophet 185-186 
 
 " Plays Literary Critic 186-189 
 
 " On Missouri Troubles 189-192 
 
 " Work, Origin, Howe Affidavits, etc. . 192-193 
 
 Urim and Thumraim 154 
 
 Waite, Mrs. C. V., Book 159-168 
 
 Warcl, " Book 156-158 
 
 A^sley Written Up by Enemies 286 
 
 Wild West on J. Smith, 1 85 7 271 
 
 Wine for Communion 155 
 
 Wilfnesses by Power of God 153 
 
 " Renounce Testimony, 279-282, see 139-140 
 
442. INDEX. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 All Peace, No Thought of Difficulty till 1833 323 
 
 Affected to Believe 405 
 
 Affidavits and Testimony, Salisbury, K 386-387 
 
 '' " " Bronson, Bronson & B., ^88 
 Smith, W. B 388 
 
 " " '•' Rigdon, John W. . .389-392 
 
 " " " Smith, Emma 397-403 
 
 Austin, Bancroft and Ford, Extracts From. . .404-410 
 
 Atchison and Doniphan Not Murderers 407-408 
 
 Bancroft's Hist. Utah, 1890, Extracts From. . 406-410 
 
 *' On Reorganized Church 409 
 
 Best and Noblest of Mankind 341 
 
 Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants Con- 
 demn Polygamy (Bancroft) 409 
 
 Bryant vs. Mrs. B 344-345 
 
 Booth vs. Bryant 347 
 
 Booth on Thorn 347 
 
 Bryant Cites Booth 346 
 
 Booth did not Know Smiths 346 
 
 Booth Cites Squire, Pierce and Reed 348 
 
 Pierce's Brother Knew (See Reed) 350 
 
 Cause of Trouble in Illinois, Ford 406 
 
 Chase, Peep Stone 362 
 
 ' ' Nails Tucker .-37^ 
 
 " Implicates Gilbert with Tucker(See Gilbert) ^'^3 
 
 Chicago Times on Joseph Smith 3?h[ 
 
 Cookman, Geo. C 309-3 13 
 
 Council of Nauvoo Hard on Crime 405 
 
 Court Decisions: Kirtland Temple 411-413 
 
 Appealed Case, Canada.. ..413-415 
 
 Temple Lot 415-428 
 
 Cowdery Given a Good Name 339, 373 
 
 Creeds 315-316 
 
 Danite Band, Joseph Smith Exposes 319-321, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 443- 
 
 Destroyed Printing Office 323 
 
 Difficulty Not Thought of till 1833 323 
 
 Doniphan, A. W 325-326 
 
 Douglas, Steplian A 313 
 
 Expulsion Documents 327-333 
 
 False Stories Known 336 
 
 Fatally Defective, S. MS., Pittsburg Leader 380 
 
 '' " Gilbert Thought So 366 
 
 Howe Thought So 381 
 
 Rice and Fairchild 381-385 
 
 Ford Gives Leading Cause of Difficulty 406 
 
 Foster's Testimony 306-315 
 
 Gilbert, Typesetter 364 
 
 " Forty five or Fifty Years Trying 365 
 
 " Could Not WorkRigdon In 366 
 
 " Refers to Jackawaysfor Facts(See Stafford) 367 
 
 '' Says Harris Was Very Honest 368 
 
 Good Citizens at Kirtland 336 
 
 Harris, Honorable Farmer ^6S, 372 
 
 Hancock County Left Out on Rogues (Ford) 405, 
 
 Interview, Palmyra 341-378 
 
 " Painesville . . . , 334-33^ 
 
 Iowa State Register on Smith 301, 318 
 
 Joseph Smith Exonerated 301 
 
 " " At Nauvoo, Quincy 304-305 
 
 " '• Foster Bears Witness 306-315 
 
 Kelley, E. L. , Interview 334-33^ 
 
 " " " Locates Rigdon 392-397 
 
 Kirtland Bank 337 
 
 Law and Order Supporters 407 -408 
 
 Mobs, Who Were They? (Bancroft) 407 
 
 " A Series of, in Illinois , . .405 
 
 Mormon History, 1830-1838 322-332 
 
 " Character, New York, Ohio, Missouri, Illi- 
 nois, 323,325-6, 336-9,341,375,408-9-10 
 
 Militia Joins Mob 407 
 
 Murdock, S., Letter 338-341 
 
 Never Thief, Drunkard, or Vicious 340 
 
 Not One Accused of Crime (Doniphan) 326 
 
444- INDEX. 
 
 Peaceable, Sober, Industrious, Law-abiding 326 
 
 Pitcher, Col. Thos 322-324 
 
 Plates Described 401 
 
 Polygamy Denied by Quincy, Pitcher 305, 325 
 
 '' '' Emma Smith 399 
 
 Prophecies, Joseph Smith's on Geo. C. Cookman..3ii 
 
 Stephan A. Douglass .. 313 
 
 His Own Name 315 
 
 Creeds 315 
 
 A Bible, A Bible 317 
 
 Rebellion 317 
 
 Prophet, Was He? Iowa Register, "Yes." 319 
 
 Property Disposal Denied 324 
 
 Reed Cited by a Number 359, 
 
 " Nails, Thorn 359 
 
 " Refers to Saunders 359 
 
 '^ Saunders Don't Work in (See Chase) 360 
 
 Reports a Vast Number 405 
 
 Rigdon Located by E. L. Kelley 392-397 
 
 " '^ " Several People 386-392, 399 
 
 Saunders Don't Know Anything Against 360 
 
 Smith and Rigdon Mobbed 407 
 
 '' Wm. B., Highly Spoken of 340 
 
 Spaulding Story in Brief 379-3^5 
 
 Stafford, Dr. John, Nails Tucker 372 
 
 " Gives Standing of Smith, Cowdery, Harris .. 
 
 • :• -372-373 
 
 " Locates Rigdon in Ohio Till 1830, (See 
 
 Taylor, T. H.).. ' 374 
 
 Taylor T. H., Emphatic 375"377 
 
 '' " " Hits Thorn a Rap. 377 
 
 Thorn -Nailed by Booth 347 
 
 " " " Reed 359 
 
 Translation B. of M. Described 400, 401 
 
 Tucker's Work, Authority 344 
 
 Wesley in His Day 302-4 
 
 Works Against Mormonism Unreliable 406 
 
NOTES. 
 
 The dagger (f) used and explained in the preface 
 applies to copyrighted works. 
 
 The quotation credited to "Star of the West," on 
 page 45, was in print on that page before the reference 
 to it by the author in Herald and Ensign appeared. 
 The statement of Boudinot on page 93 and Dr. West on 
 94 should have been on page 45. 
 
 Of copper plates found by Mr. Morehead, page 91 
 he said in letter, to the author, of February nth, 1895, 
 'T found lots of copper plates in the Hopewell Mounds 
 of Ross County, Ohio, but none of them were in- 
 scribed." The eagle, he gave cut of in his '^Archaeolo- 
 fijist, May, 1884, published at Waterloo, Indiana. 
 
 The plates found by Mr. Peet, described on page 
 91, he gave cut of in his magazine soon after he dis- 
 covered them. R. E. 
 
V