ELDER R. ETZENHOUSER. THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. Archaeological and Historical Evidences. BY ELDER R. ETZENHOUSER, Of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Independence, Mo.: ENSIGN PUBLISHING HOUSE. 1899. - THE BOOK OF MORMON TRANSLATOR. AND ITS Is the Book of Mormon a valu- able feature of modern litera ture, and what was the charac- ter of its translator? Objections to the Book of Mormon have been many, and from every con- ceivable standpoint The multi- tude of them alone would indi- cate that the claims of the book were not easily defeated, for one well founded objection should have been sufficient. A supposed, vital and well founded objection urged, is, that the Book of Mormon is not need- ed, the Bible being sufficient. To the superficial thinker this wou;d seem unanswerable; but, is it? Before a hne of the New Testament was written, Christ said: "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which tes- tify of me." Would it not seem from this, that the New Testament was un- necessary? It could be urged from this declaration of the Savior, that the New Testament was out of place, and, those who object to the Book of Mormon from the standpoint that the Bible is all that is needed, could as well assert from the same standpoint of reasoning, that the New Testament was not needed. It could be said too, when Christ said, ''Search the scriptures," etc., he did not even infer that there was to be any additional scripture. That the Jew has persistently objected to the New Testament every one may know; but the New Testament has not been in- validated, neither has its mission been thwarted thereby. The ob- jection of the infidel has not been more successful. Paul wrote to Timothy : "From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto sal- vation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."— 2 Tim. 3: 15. The objector could well say, "There is enough to make wise unto salvation in the Old Testa- ment, and we do not need the New Testament. " Much of the New Testament was not written then, and the compilation forming it took place long after Timothy's day. Al- though there may have been THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. enough in the old, we have the new, and it is rated by many, more important than the old. If then, after there was suffi- cient to make wise unto salva- tion, the New Testament came forth, and exists by right, why not other writings in the same line exist by right, upon their merit? If such reasoning could not defeat the New Testament, neither can it overthrow the claim of the Book of Mormon. While the Bible was sufficient for the continent and its inhabi- tants where it originated, could it be sufficient for the ancient peoples of the western continent where it nefcer luas^ 'til since the day of Columbus? Myriads of people, through ages, had been upon this continent as the won- derful ruins, the evidence of their well developed civilized life, show, and the finding of their bones attest. They did not have the Bible. It came to this continent with Columbus, or at a later time. If even the Bible might be sufficient for this con- tinent and its people siiice the days of Columbus, how could it have been for those who were dead and gone before it was brought to this continent by Col- umbus, or still more recently. Is not all Christendom exerting much energy to get the Bible to all heathen people because all mankind shall be judged by Bible truth? Since it is an ad- mitted fact that the Bible has been accessible to people on this continent since the days of Col- umbus only, why not concede the mission of the Book of Mor- mon, supplying, as it did, the ancient peoples before the day of Columbus. According to Bible chronology, it was about five thousand, five hundred years from creation to America's dis- covery by Columbus. Must the western continent have waited all those ages without the revela- tion of God's will? If the Bible is all that God gave, and if it is all that is need- ed, why is the ever increasing effort being made by theologian and scientist, men of renown, to find additional matter to that of the Bible? Whether the search is rewarded by finding manu- script, tablet, or inscription on monument or elsewhere, is it not a confession that other writing or record than that contained in the Bible, has the right of exist- ence and consideration? The diligent searchers in this line have not been scrupulously particular as to whether Chal- dean plain, Arabian waste, Egypt's repository, or that of Rome, should yield their keep- ing and furnish a supply. The discoveries, too, have been many, as we shall see. Papers and periodicals of May, 1897, credited Prof. Paul Haupt with having deciphered Assyr- ian tablets in the British Museum 4,400 years old. Charles H. THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. Eaton, D. D., of New York, in commenting on this says: "The excavations in Babylon and As- syria have thrown afloodof li^ht on the beginnings of the human race, and the age and authentic- ity of the books of the Old Tes- tament. Thirty- two thousand inscribed tablets have been found in Nippur alone." The Cleveland, Ohio, Plain Deal- er^ during May, 1898, under the caption of "Christian Literature of the First Three Centuries Brought to Light," mentions "Discovery of catacomb inscrip- tions by Wilpert, " "Leblant's discoveries in Rome, Africa and Gaul," "Inscriptions unearthed by Huebner," "Antiquities dug up on the Dalmatian coast," "Ramsay's explorations in Asia Minor," "Bryennio's discoveries iti the Jerusalem monastery of Constantinople," "Fiuding of the gospel of Peter by the French arch88ological mission," "Recov- ery of Tatian's Diatessaron or Harmony of the Four Gospels," "Prof. Harris' discovery on Mount Sinai," "Papyrus dug up at Benesha. " The Plain Dealer makes this passing comment: "This is pre- eminently the day of the archae- ologist." Then, speaking of the gospel by Peter says: "The gospel of Peter was published in 1892, under the care of Mr. Bour- iant in the memoirs of the French Archaeological mission at Cairo. * * * Harnack assigns the gos- pel to the first quarter of the second century. Previous to this discovery, all that had been known of this gospel was allu- sions by Serapis, Bishop of An- tioch, Origen, Eusebius and Theodoret." CoQtinuing, the Plain Dealer says: "In this year of our Lord, re- markable discoveries on the Nile are astonishing the Christian world. The finding of the "Logia" or "Sayings of Jesus," is fresh in our minds, while the news comes that from the same great collection of papyrus rolls dug up at Benesha, a page of the gos- pel of Matthew has come to light. At this very hour com- petent scholars are patiently de- ciphering these wonderful doc- uments." Of the "Logia" or "Sayings of Jesus" above referred to, the Cleveland, Ohio, Press, of July 5, 1897, says: "As a result of the co opera- tions of Grendell and Hunt, in Egypt, a Greek manuscript writ- ten 100 A. D., giving detached sayings of Christ, has been found. It has every appearance of being genuine, and contains very interesting matter not in the New Testament. It will shortly be published and put on the market in a cheap edition. " AN OLD MANUSCRIPT UNEARTHED IN THE RUINS OF LECHISCH. Berlin, August 4, 1898.— For several years a German preach- THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. er from the town of Walbroel, has been at work personally, and through native agents, in col- lecting ancient manuscripts and coins from the excavations in Palestine. The preacher's name is Brusselbach, and he has just published a little monograph giving the result of his labors. The publication has attracted wide attention among archaeolog- ical and scientific men, for the reason that the discoveries which Brusselbach claims to have made, and which seem to be authenticated by the facts, are the most important made in many years. The finds possess other than scholarly interest, as they nearly all relate to Bible history. The most important of the dis- coveries related by Brusselbach is that of a manuscript suppos- edly written by Moses himself. The margin bears the name of Moses, and the writing relates to the subjects treated in the early books of the Bible which have come down to us as the books of Moses. If the explorer can prove the accuracy of his be- lief in the august authorship of the manuscript which he has un- earthed, it will be studied with interest, as one of the oldest, and probably the most valuable, speci- men of early writing in exist- ence. * * * "While the pictures are inter- esting, the most important part of the papyrus is the inscription across the top. It is written in ancient script, hitherto unknown, but so primitive as to approach very closely the hieroglyphic stage. It is translated by the discoverer, 'Their yearning for freedom from the oppressioQ is full; their loag continued sins cry unto thee, O God." — Cleve- land, Ohio, Leader^ August 14, 1898. Later the renowned Brussel- bach is reported to have found in the handwriting of the Savior a prayer of his, supposed to have been found shortly after the ser- mon on the mount. Whatever the merit, or lack of merit, of any or all these ancient relics, the world is committed, through its eminent men and their work in this direction, to the fact that additional and val- uable matter, in addition to the Bible, is sought for, and being found. The citation of such relics being found serves faith- fully the purpose had by the writer on the Book of Mormon question. A very few of the vast number discovered have been given. If the Bible is all, and all sufii- cient, why all the commotion about these discoveries? A CONSTANT SEARCH FOR STILL MORE, CONTINUES. Again, if almost anywhere on the old continent, important doc- uments of value are found, why not such a thing be possible on this continent? Did God leave THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. this continent out of his program after creating and peopling it? In the face of the claim that the Bible is all, and all sufficient, the entire continent, so to speak, where it originated, is ransacked for more; and yet the Book of Mormon story of this continent is denied, and as no compet- ing rival has been claimed to exist, why not let the Book of Mormon story stand until it is proven untrue, or something better is shown to take its place. The theory that the Bible is all God gave to man of the revela- tion of his will, and the indisput- able fact chat the Bible was not on this continent 'til since the day of Columbus, would make God a respecter of persons on a gigantic scale; while, on the other hand, the Bible declares God was mindful of all nations, in all times and places. Luke de- clares of him in Acts 17: 26, 27: } "And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before ap- pointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.'^ Notice the following points in this statement of Luke: First, All nations are of one blood, and are to dwell on "aZZ the face of the earth. " Second, "And hath determined the times before appointed''' and the ^^bounds of their habitation.'' Third, "That they should seek the Lord." According: to this, which reflects justice, the people of the western continent had as good claim on the Almighty as did those of the eastern continent. They also could seek the Lord. The Book of Mormon is the result of the relationship so secured between God and man on this continent. Philosophically then, as well as scripturally, the claim of the Book of Mormon is a proper one. Its defeat could only be brought about by something filling its mission better. Since neither the Bible nor its supporters claim it filled a mission on this continent before the days of Co- lumbus, the Book of Mormon is before us with a just claim, and without a rival. The Book of Mormon's state- ment of its mission in coming to light, in modern times, is, "The convincing of the Jew and gen- tile that Jesus is the Christ. " Why not let it have a trial in this? It is not yet an hundred years old, being published in 1830, while the New Testament is many centuries old, and yet has much to do in convincing men that Jesus is the Christ. The Book of Mormon presents God's saving plan, the gospel, through Christ, just as he taught it. Its mission and message, then, is a proper one. In past 6 THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. ages it had a field all its own on this continent. Now it is an ad- ditional witness for God, Christ and the gospel. If to the Bible there may be additional evidence in the many discoveries on the other continent, why not this be true of the Book of Mormon in relation to this continent, and the relation sustained between God and man through God's plan of saving truth contained in it? It is strange, yet true, that in the sixty-eight years the Book of Mormon has been be- fore the public, none have shown it to be at variance with the Bible on the gospel. Its morals, too, have been commended by some of its rankest opposers. Its emphatic condemnation of polygamy may be seen in large type edition page 102: 26, 29; smaU type edition page 116. As there are no objections ex- isting to the teaching of the book, we pass to examine some leading objections on other lines, leaving the reader to examine the book; to read its historic story and pure message of sav- ing truth. Second, to the thought that it was an innovation upon the Bible — which we have shown to be a fallacy — was the objection that it was claimed to have been trans- lated from metallic plates, na- tions generally having used other material upon which to re- cord their history and important matters. The claim of plates anciently inscribed, and found by Joseph Smith, was, therefore*, said to be false, although the eleven witnesses, whose names appear in the Book of Mormon, testified all their lives, that they saw the plates. Who is prepared to testify that they did not see themY In the Quincy (Illinois) Whig appeared an article describing plates found April 23, 1843: "A Mr. J. Roberts from Pike county, called upon us last Mon- day with a written description of a discovery which was recent- ly made near Kinderhook in that county. * * * It appeared that a young man by the name of Wiley, a resident of Kinderhook, commenced digging into amound ; finding it quite laborious, he in- vited others to assist him; final- ly a company of ten or twelve repaired to the mound and as- sisted. * * * 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 being handled. The plates were so completely covered with dust as almost to obliterate the char- acters inscribed upon them, but after undergoing a chemical process, the inscriptions were THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. ■° rought out plain and distinct. There were six plates four inches length, ] finches wide at the top, and 2f wide at the bottom, flaring at the points. There are four lines of characters or hiero- glyphics on each. * * * In the place where the plates were de- posited, were also found human bones, in the last stage of decora- position . * * * 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 were exhibited in this city last eek." Wiley and eight others testify, in the Times and Seasons, to the finding of these plates, as fol- lows: "We, the citizens of Kin- derhook, whose names are an- nexed, do certify and declare that on the 23d of April, 1843, -while excavating a large mound in this vicinity, Mr. Wiley took from said mound six brass plates of a bell shape, covered with an- cient 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. " Various other instances of in- scribed metallic articles, besides these Kinder hook plates, could be furnished, but we add only one additional. That of Rev. Stephen D. Peet, and of which he gave a facsimile in his Anti- quarian Journal. In the St. Louis Chronicle in February, 1889, appeared the following: "Rev. S. D. Peet, the well known antiquarian, is re- ported 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 hiero- glyphics SIMILAR to those on the famous Palmyra plates, said to have been discovered by Joseph Smith and from which he inter- preted the Book of Mormon.*' We have thus produced evi- dence that others besides Jo- seph Smith have found anciently inscribed plates; who can pro- duce the evidence that he did not find such plates and translate them? The claim of the Book of Mor- mon that the rude, barbarous Indian had been preceded by two different civilizations, was declared to be so clearly a myth, that it need not even be consid- ered. But nine years after the Book of Mormon appeared, the United States government sent out Catherwood and Stephens who discovered forty-four cities in Central America, just where 8 THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. the Book of Mormon described cities were most numerous, and civilization to have reached its best expression. The Book of Mormon claim for two civilizations is now support- ed by the distinguished archaeo- logical writers, Short, Pidgeon, Bancroft and Baldwin. "The NeoHthic and Bronze ages preceded the Paleolithic, at least in the Mississippi basin, not that the last inhabitants de- teriorated 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 civihzation, who were not their ancestors, but a dis- tinct people with a capacity for progress, for the exercise of government, for the erection of magnificent architectural monu- ments, and possessed of a re- spectable knowledge of geomet- rical principles." — North Ameri- cans of Antiquity (Short), p. 27. Rdgeon says: "From these facts in connection with the tra- ditions of De Coo Dah, respect- ing the ancient 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 anter- ior to the occupation of the pres- ent Indian race." — Traditions of De Coo Dah, pp. 176, 7. Bancroft says: "The resem- blance in the different groups of ruins in Chiapas, Yucatan and Honduras, are more than suffi- cient to prove intimate connec- tion between the builders and artists. The differences pointed out prove just as conclusively that the edifices were not all erecte(J 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 inter- est that these old constructions belong to different periods in the past, and represent somewhat different phases of civilization." * * * "The attention of investi- gators has lingered in specula- tion. They find in them a sig- nificance which is stated as fol- lows by Brasseur deBourbourg: 'Among the edifices forgotten by time ia the forests of Mexico and Central America, we find archi- tectural characteristics so dif- ferent 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.'" — Baldwin's Ancient America, pp. 155, 156. In this &ne/ treatise answering the principal objections to the Book of Mormon, we select, from the vast array of splendid evi- dences as to past civilization on this continent, one or two terse statements to represent the whole. r THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. 9 Pidgeon says: ''It cannot any longer be de- nied that there has been a day when this continent swarmed with millions of inhabitants, when the arts and sciences flourished. " — Antiquarian Researches p. 5. Professor McGee, acting presi- dent of the American Association of Sciences, for the advancement of science, during the conven- tion in Detroit, Michigan, August, 1897, stated, before a joint ses- sion of archaBologists and geolo- gists upon a case of trepanning of ancient times in Mexico, on which a paper had been pre- sented by Dr. Hirdlichka: "I have examined twenty-four cases of trepanning on nineteen skulls, out of a collection of one thousand. Trepanning, the most daring and difficult modern sur- gical operation, was performed more plentifully in Peru, in an- cient days, than in military hos- pitals of the present." The professor believed this to have been done with stone in- struments and before the day of metal instruments. But it is more rational to believe that the skill which could discover and develop trepanning, could also discover and make from metal, the instruments with which it was performed. The civilizations as claimed in the Book of Mormon, are thus attested by the discoveries since its origin. The sure defeat of the Book of Mormon story, by its setting forth that the horse and ele- phant were had and used by ancient people of this continent, was supposed to be secured in the assertion that the Spaniard had introduced the horse on this continent, and that the elephant was brought here since the ex- istence of the modern circus, and for that purpose. Both of these animals were denied being here anciently, and the Book of Mor- mon statement ridiculed. Evidence as to the existence of horse, elephant and other domestic animals, anciently, on this continent, is now abundant. "In North America * * 'f in the Champlain period, there were great elephants, and mastodons, oxen, horses, stags, beaver and some edentates in quaternary North America unsurpassed by any in the world." — Text Book of Geology, J. D. Dana, L. L. D., p. 325. Prof. A. Winchell credits America with "twenty-one species of horselike animals." — Evolution p. 82. "Dr. Leidy has reported twenty- seven species of the horse family which are known to have lived on this continent." — F. V. Hayden's Great West, p. 44. Of many other citations of evi- dence at hand as to the horse and elephant, also mastodon on this continent anciently, one signifi- cantly forceful in support of the Book of Mormon claim, that not 10 THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. only the elephant, but two larger animals were used for domestic purposes, follows: "My theory that the prehis- toric races used, to some extent, the great American elephant, or mastodon, I believe is new, and no doubt will be considered visionary by many readers, and more especially by prominent ar chsBologis ts. Finding the for m of an elephant engraved upon a copper relic some six inches long and four wide, in a mound on the Red House Creek, in the year 1854, and represented in harness with a sort of breast collar with tugs reaching past the hips, first led me to adopt the theory. That the great beast was contemporary with the mound builders, is conceded by all, and also that his bones and those of his master are crumb- ling together in the ground." — Ancient Man in America, by Frederick Larkin, M. D., p. 19. A complete skeleton of the mastodon thirteen feet in height may be seen in the museum in Lincoln Park, Chicago. As late as 1865, as will be seen by the following, the Spaniard was supposed to have introduced the horse here: but, thirty-five years before, the Book of Mor- mon said he had been here in ancient times. Prof. O. C. Marsh, in an ad- dress before the American As- sociation for the Advancement of Science, Nashville, Tennessee, August 30, 1877, page 30: "When a student in Germany, some twelve years ago, I heard a world-renowned professor of zoology gravely inform his pupils that the horse was a gift of the old world to the new, and was entirely unknown in America until introduced by the Span- iards. After the lecture I asked him whether no earlier remains of horses had been found on this continent, and was told in reply that the reports to that effect were too unsatisfactory to be presented as facts in science. This remark led me, on my re- turn, to examine the subject my- self, and I have since unearthed with my own hands, not less than thirty distinct species of the horse tribe in the tertiary de- posits of the west alone. " Joseph Smith then, according to the theory that he formulated the Book of Mormon, opposed the theories of his time; a thing quite improbable. The book is sustained, step by step, by the facts of scientific discovery. Again, the Book of Mormon was jeered at for its statement that the Jaredite colony had brought animals and plants from Asia in vessels. But in support of this fact, Prof. Winchell's statement in his "Sketches of Creation, " published 1873, is sig- nificant, stating, as he does, that the flora and fauna of Central America came originally from Asia. THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. 11 No one feature of the Book of Mormon, perhaps, furnished so much for the stock of ridicule in- dul^red in against it, as the boats it speaks of in Jaredite times, with holes in top and bottom, and capable in some degree of submarine passage. At our life preserving stations, boats may be seen with holes in the bottom as well as in the top. Subma- rine boats also now exist. John P. Holland, of Baltimore, pro- ceeded to Washington to have his submarine boat put into service in the destruction of Cervera's fleet in 1898. The Hanover, Pennsylvania, Record^ of January 7, 1898, con- tained this: "The argonaut's crew spent four hours under water in the boat at the Baltimore test." The Holland boat was tested by government board at New York, the 12th of November 1898. Re- sult to be passed upon by navy department. The Buffalo (New York) Courier of June 30, 1898, contained this: "Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Raddatz submarine boat was given a successful test of one and one-fourth hours under water this afternoon. The boat moved through the water at the rate of eight knots an hour. " Such a thing as a submarine boat was hardly thought of in 1830, when the Book of Mormon was pubUshed. On this impor- tant point it was ahead of scien- tific naval construction many years. That God instructed Noah to build an ark, long since passed as a fact with Bible be- lievers. Why not God have also directed the construction of Jaredite barges that could per- form submarine service. The Book of Mormon said he did, who can prove he did not? The Book of Mormon tells of marauding robber tribes who had their abodes in the fast- nesses of mountain cliffs through- out the continent. It is a sig- nificant fact that forty-four years after the Book of Mormon was before the public, Colonel Gun- nison discovered, in 1874, cliff dwellings m the canyons of the little Colorado and the Rio Grande. These were exhibited by fac- simile in 1876, at the Centennial. The cliff dwellers' mode of life being so clearly described in the Book of Mormon, and then cor- roborated by later discoveries is another striking fact in its favor, cliff dwellers' habitations were reproduced at the World's Fair. Another peculiar claim in the Book of Mormon has been won- derfully authenticated. It sets forth that there was, hundreds of years ago, a tremendous con- volution of nature, a continental cataclysm: upheavols of some parts, the sinking of others, or, in its own words, "for behold the whole face of the land was changed." This is corroborated by John T. Short in his "Ameri- 12 THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. can Antiquities," published in 1880, page 233, speaking of cer- tain people: "A great convulsion of nature which shook the earth, and caused the mountains and vol- canoes to swallow up and kill them." Baldwin in his "Ancient America," published in 1871, says of Central America, on pEige 176. "The land was shaken by- frightful earthquakes, and the waves of the sea combined with volcanic fire to overwhelm and engulf it." Short tells, on page 125, of a human skull and mastodon bones at a depth of one hundred and eighty feet, in a mining shaft at Table mountain, California. Dr. D. L. Yates presented be- fore the Historical Society of San Francisco, in March 1888, a paper which appeared in the "Bulletin" and stated among other matters: "Fossil remains of the rhinoceros and an extinct horse, are found under the lava layers forming the table moun- tains which are 1,400 feet thick, 1,700 feet wide * * * where the river beds have been washed out, and have been covered again to the depth of from three to four thousand feet more, since the lava flow." The paper set forth a great displacement of a vast area. Any one visiting the Great Salt Lake basin of CJtah, may notice what is said to be the ancient water line of Salt Lake, far up the range of the Wasatch moun- tains. The canyons having been formed since, the subsidence of the lake followed, of course, leav- ing the water line far up the mountain side. Along the line of the Union Pacific railroad, Wyoming pre- sents evidences of having been the bottom of a sea. At Leadville, Colorado, in March 1891, the papers described articles found four hundred and sixty feet below the surface, a copper arrowhead and human bones. Near Laconia, Arkansas, in October 1891, the papers report- ed a case of boring through brick at a depth of one hundred and twenty-five feet. Josiah Priest's work of 1833, describes the finding of a stump of a tree in each of three wells at the depth respec- tively of eighty, ninety and ninety - four feet, and that on one of the stumps, there was the rust of what was supposed to be the decayed ax. He also says the strokes of the ax were visible on the stumps. This was at Cin- cinnati, Ohio, in 1826. At Bradford, Pennsylvania, while boring for oil a few years since, at a depth of two hundred and fifty feet, a pine tree four feet in diameter was drilled through. Many other state- ments of similar displacement r THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. 13 could be presented. These given, are, however, quite sufficient to confirm the Book of Mormon claim on that point. The data of earthquakes, as given by Prof. Taylor, of Brook- lyn, New York, is significant in this connection. Up to the chris- tian era, he says, there was one in twenty-nine years, while from 1850 to 1868 he gives two hun- dred and seventy-seven in one year as the average. A reason- able conclusion, therefore, being, that the ancient displacements we have referred to, a very few of a vast number, represent too many for the earthquake or vol- canic theory ; for in ancient times they appear to have been too infrequent for such widespread displacement as discoveries show took place, and, therefore, the general cataclysm of which the Book of Mormon speaks, is the better sustained. The Book of Mormon tells plainly the origin of the Ameri- can Indian. When it is remem- bered by the reader that its claims: First, As to plates. Second, As to two civilizations. Third, As to mastodon, ele- phant and horse. Fourth, As to the flora and fauna of Central America com- ing from central Asia. Fifth, As to submarine going vessels. Sixth, As to the cliff dwellers. Seventh, As to the great con- tinental displacement — have been so wonderfully supported, and its story found to be true, why not its story relative to the Indian be accepted? It should be remembered, too, that the problem as to who the Indian is, and from whence he came dates with the civilized world from about 1492, over four hundred years. Many theories have been spun, but they have not settled the mysterious question. The fol- lowing project, begun in 1896 I believe, shows the question still to be open: "Morris K. Jessup, president of the American Museum of Natural History of New York city, is the originator of an ex- pedition, and will pay all the bills connected with it, which during the six years of its con- tinuance will reach considerably over $50,000." Descriptive of the purpose, the current report of the press was: "The principal point to be de- termined by the explorations is whether or not the primeval American Indians and Esqui- maux came from Asia originally. " The expedition was to explore in northeastern Asia and north- western America. A partial re- port was given at Detroit, Michi- gan, August 1897, at the con- vention of the American Associa- tion for the Advancement of Sciences. So on this point, the Book of Mormon story stands 14 THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. uncontradicted, the question still being open and investigation con- tinuing. Of a vast amount of evidence at hand, but few cita- tions are here given, brevity being the special point desired in the present treatise. The Book of Mormon clearly states that the Indian is the remnant of the second colonization on this continent, and that it was effect- ed by a Jeivish colony coming from Jerusalem about six hun- dred years B. C. Bancroft, whose research is, perhaps, as wide as any, says: "The theory that the Ameri- cans are of Jewish descent, has been discussed more minutely, and at greater lengtb, than any other. Its advocates, or at least those of them who have made original researches, are com- paratively few, but the extent of their investigations, and the multitude of parallelisms they adduce in support of their hy- pothesis exceed by far any- thing that we have yet encoun- tered." — Native Races of Pacific States, Vol. 5, pp. 77, 78. Bancroft's wide research then, has revealed that, though "but feiv have made original researches^ ' ' the ^'multitud.e oj parallelisms ex- ceed by far'' the support of other themnes. Of the Indians, Josiah Priest says: "Their Jewish customs are too many to be enumerated in this work. Hebrew words are found among the American In- dians in considerable variety." — American Antiquities, pp. 59, 65. Rev. Ethan Smith says of the Indians in his work: "Their languages in their roots, idioms and particular con- struction, appear to have the whole genius of the Hebrew; and what is very remarkable, have most of the p>eculiarities of that language, especially those in which it differs from most other languages." — See Ameri- can Indians, by Smith, pp. 98, 101. Mr. Bancroft describes an ancient relic: "The slab, which I saw my- self, was shown to the Episco- palian clergyman of Newark [Ohio], and he pronounced the writing to be the ten command- ments in ancient Hebrew. " — Na- tive Races Pacific States, Vol. 5, p. 95. Numerous other similar evi- dences are at hand, but, as it is seen by the statements of Ban- croft, Priest, and Smith, that the preponderance of evidence is in favor of, and maintains the Book of Mormon story, more evidence is, therefore, un- necessary. The Book of Mormon having furnished the facts in advance of modeom research, of ancient Ameri- cans having written on metalic plates, describing the two an- cient civilizations, the existence and domestic use of mastodon, elephant and horse, as well as THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. 15 that the plants of Central Ameri- ca, as also that animals, were introduced from Asia; its story also bein^ in advance of modern naval construction; and in ad- vance on information with re- spect to the ancient cliff dweller phase and type of life; the dis- closure of the fact of the great continental cataclysm of cen- turies agone, and finally, reveal- ing so clearly from whence the Indian came, it can truthfully be said to be a valuable feature of modern literature. The Book of Mormon has also been much criticized and ridi- culed because of literary inele- gance in its construction. Is that only true, which is written in the most scholarly style? Peter and other Galilean fisher- men did not write as elegantly as Paul, who was tutored at the feet of Gamaliel. Are Peter's writings less true because not so polished as those of Paul? Might a farmer write as true a story, though he did not dot all of his ''i's", or cross all of his "t's", as a lawyer with all his finish? Alexander Roberts D. D., author of "Comparison to the Revised New Testament," and who had the benefit of the experience of the eighty-two scholars and their ten years work of revision, says on page 11: "Biblical critics have adopted two great principles as guides to a decision with respect to the true text of scripture. The first is, that a difficult or obscure ex- pression, nay, even an almost unintelligible term, or a wholly ungrammatical construction, is generally to be regarded as the genuine reading, in preference to another which is easy, familiar, and correct." Literary elegance is admirable but not imperatively essential to a truthful story. It is a splendid compliment to the Book of Mormon that its crit- ics have been driven to such desj. erate straights, and have been defeated ail along the line. It is the prejudiced and intoler- ant who have tried to defeat it. In the language of Captain Sigs- bee to the American people in reference to the destruction of the Maine, we say to the reader, "suspend judgment till you know the facts. " Read the Book of Mormon for yourself. What of Joseph Smith and his work? Should not as fair and impartial aa examination be made of both, that, in justice, is accorded to every man and his work? How many have been willing to do this in the case of Mr. Smith? Whose case or cause is safe in the hands of enemies? If we listen to the enemies of the Savior, he came into the world an illegimate, and was an im- postor of the deepest dye. By his enemies he was crucified as such. Is it not a conceded fact, that to get proper information 16 THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. relative to the Savior and his work, his oion story, and that of his frierids must be investigated. Solomon wrote in Proverbs: "He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is a folJy and a shame unto him. " To the several reformers from Luther to the present, it has been accorded, that, though dif- fering from each other, each had the right to make such effort, and be heard in his own defense. Why not Joseph Smith be added to the list? Strange enough, those who have accorded such right to others, almost to a man, condemn Joseph Smith and his work, and that too, without an investigation. Is that fair? Most of those who have made a pretense of examining, have been content with what enemies have produced. Would they want enemies to represent them or their cause? Galileo, though alone, was right in the facts with which he dealt on the glob- ular theory. Joseph Smith may have been too. Reform is to form again. Which of the reformers got the gospel and church just as it was in the days of the Savior? Giv- ing them credit as honest men, was not that their attempt? Had they agreed, all would have pro- duced the same? Since they dif- fer, which is right? While all of them produced some things of the gospel and church, none in- cluded all. Joseph Smith, alone. held the church and gospel must be entirely identical in every re- spect, with what it was in the days of the Savior. Was it the mark of a bad man to do this? All his writings, during fourteen years of his eventful career, evidence this. The differences of the reformers and their variations from scrip- tural truth and fact, show they did not succeed in their respec- tive attempts. Mr. Smith did not ask that any Bible truth or principle be set aside, but that all be maintained and held of equal merit and importance. The religious, to whose dif- fering theories Mr. Smith's position was in opposition, manu- factured reputation for him, as did the Pharisees and Sadducees for the Savior. As that did not in- vahdate the work of the Savior, neither can it the work of Mr. Smith. Reputation may be made for a man by others, character he makes himself. Although the Bible tells us Moses killed an Egyptian and hid him in the sand, he and his work stand ap- proved with Bible believers. Although David had Uriah placed in the front of the battle and murdered, taking his wife to his harem, the Psalms are still read and revered as sacred truth. Although Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hun- dred concubines, the Proverbs still hold their place. Now, in the light of all this, if Joseph r THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. 17 Smith luas guilty of all claimed against him, should his good work be set aside? Joseph Smith passed through the fiery ordeal of many arrests and prosecutions, and not one action sustained, is recorded on the court dockets of the country against him. A pitiable con- fession of this is seen at once in the conditions of the cowardly and dastardly murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, which oc- curred on June 27, 1844, at Car- thage, Illinois. They being under arrest. Governor Ford pledged the protection of the state of Illinois, then detailed the Carthage greys as guard, who were the avowed and pronounced bitter enemies of the prisoners, disbanding the rest of the state militia. The murder followed. What man or men would select a guard for a prisoner who were pronounced and bitter enemies of his, from the standpoint of justice? Did our military and naval officers turn Spanish prisoners over to Cubans? The defenders of Joseph Smith and his work have demanded for years, that from the court records there be produced evi- dence against him, since he was arraigned before the law so often. Not one entry successfully main- tained has ever been produced. Mr. Beadle in his work, pro duced something that comes in nicely as corroborative evidence here. He says: "The Missourians found, in the meantime, that they had caught an elephant; they had Joe Smith, his brother Hyrum, and forty others in jail on a multitude of charges, but many of the wit- nesses were gone, the trial would have been long and expensive, 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." — p. 50. This was written of theaccum ulated Missouri troubles of which on page 48, Mr. Beadle wrote: "The evidence in the case was printed by order of the Missouri legislature and presents a singu- lar case of how a few knaves may lead to their destruction a whole people, if sufficiently ignorant and fanatical." What was the difference about the witnesses being gone, when the evidence had been printed by order of the Missouri legislature? Religious bigotry and intoler- ance, with the hatred that slave- holders had for those opposed to slavery, as were the Latter Day Saints, led to their lawless ex- pulsion from the state of Mis- souri; and having arrested many of them, and with no evidence with which to proceed, the trial did not take place. When later, in Illinois, arrests had been made, and they were again short on evidence, resort was had to the murder that followed. 18 THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. It is singularly strange that the encyclopedias and similar works have continued to present the old stale tales about Smith and his work; scarce two of them can be found to agree, and most of them are so utterly contra- dictory of known facts, as to be at once unreliable to even the casual reader. For instance; characterizing Smith as the em- bodiment of laziness and ignor- ance, and then crediting him with digging over what would seem considerable tracts of New York and Pennsylvania in quest of treasures, plates, etc. ; charg- ing him with being an ignorant profligate, then admitting his shrewdness; as the courts never made a case against him. Mr. Smith's position on gospel truth, in effect, declared the theology of the world in his time to have more of fallacy than truth. Strangely enough, the Presby- terian church, to which his mother and three other members of the family belonged (and were in good standing), rejected the confession of faith as formulated by Calvin in 1643, in its assembly of 1892. It is neither revised, nor another manufactured as the necessary "two thirds vote" to do so, has not yet been secured. The Methodist conference too, which met in quadriennial ses- sion at Cleveland, Ohio, in May, 1896, appointed a committee of seven on revision. Other churches have taken similar ac- tion. So Mr. Smith's position as to faulty theology is maintained. Not a position affirmed by him, has been shown to be erroneous; and the work of no man has been so unceasingly criticized and bitterly opposed; yet it has with- stood all criticism. The Solomon Spaulding ro- mance, written 1809-12, and traced in the custody of his wife 'till 1834, then turned over to K D. Howe, of Painesville, Ohio, who said in his work (the first against Latter Day Saints), it was not printed, because it did not read as expected, was sold in 1839, with other printer's belong- ings, to L. L. Rice, who removed to Honolulu, Sandwich Islands. It was brought to light by Prof. James H. Fairchildin 1885, when visiting Mr. Rice, and who, with Mr. Rice, compared it with the Book of Mormon, finding not the least point of similarity, and re- vealing why Howe did not use it. Prof. Fairchild prepared a copy from the authenticated original for the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who have published it to the world, exposing as a gross error what the clergy, publishers, and many others had clung to for fifty five years as their strong defense against, and defeat of the Book of Mormon. How are the mighty fallen. Swearing to that for fifty-five years, it is most too late for something else. When will the encyclopedias and the THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. 19 family Bible publishers -stop publishing that old exploded yam? Verily Mr. Smith and his work are hard to down, while pub- lishers are a difficult class to reform, though they should not be. An instance in evidence: "About a year ago Albert A. Pope, renowned for his persist- ent advocacy of good roads in the United States, addressed circulars to school teachers in- viting them to send him notes of any mis-statements of fact that appeared in any school book used throughout the country under the authority of a school com- mittee. As a result he received notes of no less than 5360 alleged errors, tabulations of which were sent to various publishers and authors. The errors admitted to be such by the publishers and authors themselves number 673, the rejections from the same 3114, and no answers have been received in regard to 1573. Mr. Pope states, what might have been expected, that those whose books appear to be extremely faulty, have refused to assist in making corrections; but that many of the leading houses wel- comed the criticisms in a friend- ly spirit, and arranged to make corrections in their plates of such errors as they admitted to exist. " — Chicago Tribune. In the days of the Savior they were loud in their praises of Moses and the prophets, but re- jected Christ and his gospel. The Jews and others have con- tinued their misrepresentations to this day. So it has been, and may continue to be with Joseph Smith — endless misrepresenta- tion. Although, throughout the fourteen years, in the vast amount published from his pen, nothing sanctioning polygamy appears, but much to condemn it, he has been charged with it; nor has the silly and unfounded charge ceased, though the Circuit Court at Painesville, Ohio, in Kirtland temple case in February, 1880, vindicated *him, as did also the United States court for the western district of Missouri, at Kansas City, in 1894, on Temple Lot case. The following extracts from decisions referred to, are given, showing that the courts have ex- onorated Joseph Smith from the corruption of Utah Mormon- ism. And also to show the iden- tity of the Reorganized church with the original church of which it is the legal successor: "That the said Plaintiff, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is a Religious Society, founded and organized upon the same doc- trines 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 20 THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. said original church, and has branches located in Illinois, Ohio, and other states. "That the church in Utah, the Defendant, of which John TayJor is President, has materially and largely departed from the faith, doctrines, laws, ordinances and usages of said original Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and has incorporated in- to its system of faith, the doc- trines of Celestial Marriage and a plurality of wives, and the doc- trine of Adam-god worship, con- trary to the laws and constitu- tion of said original church. "And the Court do further find that the Plaintiff, the Reor- ganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is the True and Lawful continuation of, and Successor to the said original Church of Jesus Christ of Lat- ter Day Saints, organized in 1830, and is entitled in law to all its rights and property." "The Utah Church further de- parted from the principles and doctrines of the Original Church by changing in their teaching the first statement in the Article of Faith, which was, 'We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost,' and in lieu thereof taught the doctrine of 'Adam 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 An- cient of Days, about whom holy men have written and spoken — He is our Father and our God, and the only God with whom we have to do. ' "It has introduced societies of a secret order, and established secret oaths and covenants, con- trary to the book of teachings of the old church. It has changed 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.' " "Decree will go in favor of Complainant, establishing the trust in its favor against Re- spondents, removing the cloud from the title, enjoining Respond- ents from asserting title to the property, and awarding the pos- session to the Complainant." When Joseph Smith could not be convicted of crime before the courts, he was murdered. Now that he has been vindicated by the courts, some people still misrepresent him. The Savior said of himself and those who would teach his truth, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. "— John 15: 18. Among the almost endless mis- representations of Joseph Smith and his work, there has appeared THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. 21 some things in his defense from those outside of church associa- tion with him. Some of these are presented: Smucker,inhis "History of the Mormons, gives the account of Joseph Smith as given by a Methodist minister named Prior (See Smucker, p. 151): " '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 I should behold a countenance sad and sorrowful, yet contain- ing 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 possess. 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 ap- pearance could not be wrested to indicate anything against him, yet he would manifest all I had heard of him when he began to preach. I sat uneasily, and watched him closely. He com- menced preaching, not from the Book of Mormon, however, but from the Bible; the first chapter of the first of Peter was his text. He commenced calmly, and con- tinued dispassionately to pursue his subject, while I satin breath- less silence, waiting to hear that foul aspersion of the other sects, that diabolical disposition of re- veoge, and to hear that rancor- ous denunciation of every indi- vidual but a Mormon. I waited in vain; I listened with surprise; I sat uneasy in my seat, and could hardly persuade myself but that he had been apprised of my presence, and so ordered his discourse on my account, that I might not be able to find fault with it, for instead of jumbled jargon of half connected sen- tences, and a volley of impreca- tions, and diabolical and malig- nant denunciations heaped upon the heads of all who differed from him, and the dreadful twist- ing and wresting of the Scrip- tures to suit his own peculiar views, and attempts to weave a web of dark and mystic sophis- try around the gospel truths, which I had anticipated, heglided along through a very interesting and elaborate discourse, with all the care and happ}'^ felicity of 22 THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. one who was well aware of his important station, and his duty to God and man. ' " Prom 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 un- born, will contain a question something like this: What his- torical American of the nine- teenth century has exerted the most powerful influence upon the destinies of his countrymen? And it is by no means impossible that the answer to that interrog- atory may be thus written: Jo- seph Smith the Mormon Prophet. And the reply, absurd as it will doubtless seem to most men now living, may be an obvious com- monplace to their descendants. History deals in surprises and paradoxes quite as startling as this. The man who established a religion in this age of free de- bate, and who was and is today, accepted by hundreds of thou- sands as a direct emissary from the Most High, such a rare hu- man being is not to be disp<^sed of by pelting his memory with unsavory epithets. Fanatic, im- postor, charlatan, he may have been, but these hard names fur- nish no solution to the problem he presents to us. Fanatics and impostors are living and dying every day, and their memory is buried with them. But the won- derful influence which this founder of religion exerted and still exerts, throws him into re- lief before us, not as a rogue to be criminated, but as a phenom- enon to be explained. * * * Jo- seph Smith claiming to be an in- spired teacher, faced adversity 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 instinctivjely have murmured up- on meeting the remarkable indi- vidual 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 im- pression that capacity and re- source were natural to his stal- wart person. I have already mentioned the resemblance he bore to Elisha R. Potter, of Rhode Island, whom I met in Washington in 1826. The like- ness was not such as would be recognized in a picture, but rath- er 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 in- trinsic right, the feeble or con- fused souls who are looking for THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. 23 guidance. * * * " In the Dubuque (la.) Daily Times, April 12, 1893, there ap- peared an article speaking of the establishment of the Latter Day Saint church, thus: ''It was founded by an ignorant, dissi- pated member of a vicious family which had a well earned reputation of being thieves and drunkards, etc." Mr. Samuel Murdock, who had as his neighbor the only surviv- ing brother of Joseph Smith, took up the defense in the issue of 13th, in these words: "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 lan- guage above quoted, does great injustice, and I also know that when you hear from me a few facts, your kindness will prompt you to repair in some manner, the wrong you have inflicted up- on them. Kirtland is situated in the county in which I was raised from youth to manhood. * * * 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 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 every one, and that he was a kind hearted, gen- erous friend and companion, and that it was his .winning manners by which he succeeded more than anything else. Dupe, im- postor, crazy fanatic, were the common words applied to him by the gentiles of those days, but never thief, drunkard or vicious. * * * Deluded as they were, there was among the early Mormons the best and noblest of mankind." Statement of Mr. E. S. Sebree, of Blendsville, Missouri, made May 21, 1895: "I was born in Kentucky, in 1816, and came to Missouri in 1835. I was a member of the State Militia that went from Lib- erty, Clay county, Missouri, to Far West, in Capt. Moss' com- pany, and was present at the surrender of Joseph Smith and others on the public square in the city of Far West; and was with the detail and went to Lib- erty with them as guard, where they were placed in jail in the month of November, 1838. "Joseph Smith was, in my opinion, a good man. I never saw or heard anything to the contrary. As for his being a thief, murderer, or a bad, vicious man, I did not believe it then, nor do I beheve it now. He was 24 THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. a fine appearing man, and would compare favorably with any other minister of my acquaint- ance. I never heard anything of the doctrine of polygramy. It was not talked of, nor heard of, to my knowledge; and the Lat- ter Day Saints, as a class, in my opinion, was as virtuous a class of people as I ever saw; not a taint of suspicion of any kind did I ever hear against any of them so far as prostitution was con- cerned. "I do not belong to any church; and have no motive in making this statement only that the truth may be known; neither am I prejudiced in favor of the Lat- ter Day Saints, for I was a pro- slavery man, and naturally op- posed to the free soil ideas of the Latter Day Saints, which, in my opinion, was the cause of their expulsion from the state of Missouri. "Signed, R S. Sebree. "Hearing the above conversation, we are witnesses. "Signed, T. W. Chatburn, "R. M. Maloney, "L. W. Maberry." Statement of T. R O Daniel: "Macon, Mo., Aug. 3, 1896. "This is to certify that I, T. F. O'Daniel, was born in PhiJa- delphia, Pennsylvania, and that I lived in Warsaw, Illinois, dur- ing the 'Mormon War' or Nau- voo troubles. Was well acquaint- ed with Joseph Smith the prophet, and regarded him then, and do yet, as an honest, upright man, conscientious and fearless in what he deemed right. I have heard him teach and preach in Nauvoo, but never heard him or anyone else teach or speak of polygamy being a doctrine of the church; in fact, I did not know of anything of that kind until in after years it came from Salt Lake City that the Mormons were pi'acticing polygamy. "I further state that I am ac- quainted with the facts leading to the killing of Joseph Smith, at Carthage jail, and know the men who were in the mob. The real cause, in my opinion, was that the Saints were all "Whigs," or an ti- slavery men, and voted the an ti- slavery ticket, which finally led to the troubles, and final killing of Joseph and Hy- rum Smith. "T. F. O 'Daniel. "T W. CHATBrRN, ) "M. M. TuRPEN, - Witnesses." "F. Palfrey. ) "Akron, O., March 9, 1899. "I, the undersigned, was born in York State, in the town of Sharzee, on March 9, 1816. In 1819 my father removed to Hunt- ington township, Chittenden Co., Vermont. In 1835 he removed to within four miles of Akron, Ohio, which locality has been my place of residence 'till the pres- ent. On the Dodge farm, three miles north of New Portage, we lived from 1836 to 1839. This was on the line of travel west- ward of the Latter Day Saints in those days. THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. "A more honest, nice people I never met. They bought sup- plies of my father and camped in front of our house near a large spring. A camp would remain for days, sometimes. '^Public meetings were held in New Portage, in the residence of a Mr. Palmer; also in a warehouse. When the weather would admit, in open air; also in tents and barns. I attended their meet- ings often. Honesty, morality and right living were character- istic of their teaching and their practice conformed to this. I never knew one to fail to pay for what he got. Father had much, too, they could have stolen, but we never missed a thing. ' 'They were quiet and orderly, especially on the Sabbath. They were a people who were well brought up, were good society, and I felt lonesome when they would break camp. "Various ones, Palmer, Baker, Whipple, Brunson, Griffith and Taylor owned farms; also still others, whose names I cannot recall. All were good citizens. "I heard Joseph Smith and his father, the patriarch, both preach. They preached good morals and manifested the same in their lives. 1 don't know why they were so misrepresented, there was no just cause for it; they were perfect gentlemen. "I knew Oliver Cowdery, heard him preach often; he, too, was a gentleman, and his preaching good and of an elevating influence on the rising generation. *'My parents at the time be- longed to the Free Will Baptists. They often took some of the camp- ers who were sick into the house and cared for them. I have never belonged to any church. "My object in this statement is simply to tell the facts in the case as m any other matter with- in my knowledge. "Signed, Smith Bunker. "A. R. Manchester, ) "Ella Manchester, >• Witnesses." "R. Etzenhousbr. ) Mrs. R A. Austin in her work "Mormonism," page 62: "There were now (1831) hun- dreds who were called people of good sense and judgment, men who were valued in good society. " On pages 58 and 59 is found: "The members now numbered about one hundred persons, the greater part of whom were the brightest and best of the com- munity, merchants, lawyers and doctors." The above refers to the Kirt- land, Ohio, colony. Bancroft,in his work published in 1890, page 164, says: "But when the testimony on both sides is carefully weighed, it must be admitted that the Mormons in Missouri and Illi- nois were, as a class, a more moral, honest, temperate, hard working, self-denying and thrifty people than the Gentiles by whom they were surrounded." 26 THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. In 1885 the writer of this, while urging Latter Day Saint claims at Viola, Iowa, with oth- ers, had vehement opposition from Rev. Nathaniel Pye of the Methodists, who, with Beadle as a basis, argued that the early church were a set of criminals of the deepest dye. Since it was but forty one years from 1844 to 1885, it was not too long for many yet to be found in the penitentia- ry who were in for life sentence. A man of age, twenty-one, in l*-44, in 1885 would be but sixty -two. Out of the thousands resident at Nauvoo a large number went into Iowa; from these, if crimi- nals, a good crop for the peniten- tiary should have been harvest- ed by the sickle of law. More- over the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints had been rep- resented in the state for about thirty years by quite a member- ship. If Latter Day Saintism is a factory producing criminals, then here was a field twice sown in plentiful abundance, covering f-o-r-t-y-o n e-y-e-a r-s. It would be the legal privilege, as well as heaven- born duty, for the good people of Iowa to land every criminal among them in that "secure abode" — the peniten- tiary. So just to see how Latter Day Saintism could stand that kind of a test, I repaired to the Animosa penitentiary. Not a Latter Day Saint was to be found, causing my joy to be larger than my surprise. The Animosa Journal of August 27, 1885, gave extracts from the Warden's Biennial Report, in which occurs under the title, RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. Congregational 8 Christian 11 Reform. 5 Campbellite 2 United Brethren 6 Adventist 2 EvangeUst 4 Episcopal 9 Protestant 3 Presbyterian 25 Lutheran 16 Jewish 1 Quaker 1 Baptist 24 Methodist 72 Catholics 68 Infidel 2 None 22 Total 281 Even in the days of the Savior, criminals got into the gospel net; so, likewise, the true church of Latter Day Saints has not been entirely free from them. But a just comparison with others is always favorable to it, as it should be, bearing as it does the pure message of life, and that only, to men. In this treatise, though brief, it may not be too much for the writer to say that, in relation to the Book of Mormon and its translator, a sufficient array of evidences in a comprehensive form has been presented to en- courage a more complete investi- gation of the entire problem in- volved in the mission of the book and that of its translator; a duty THE BOOK OF MORMON AND ITS TRANSLATOR. 27 which intelligence owes to every claim and effort the aim of which is "mankind to bless;" and the more the claim is supported hy evidence^ the more the investiga- tion is made imperative. That the reading of this work may lead to such investigation and it result in the searcher finding the ''pearl of great price," the pure gospel of the Son of God, and church of his own building and establishment, has been the pur- pose had in view by the writer, that men may be benefited and God thereby glorified. ADVERTISEMENT. The attention of the reader of this work is called to a larger work entitled ' 'Palmyra to Independence, ' ' by the same writer. It contains four hundred and fifty pages and treats more exhaustively the same subjects, as also others. Cloth binding, W^ per copy. We also keep on hand and for sale the Book of Mormon, the History of the Church, and all works treating on Latter I>Aj Saintism. The Standard Publishing Hpui>t; 65 Ne[son.st. Rozclle, N.S.W. /