The Seven Lines of Characters that were translated by Joseph Smith are
taken by Martin Harris to Prof. Anthon, fulfilling the words of the
Prophet Isaiah, 29th chapter: "Read this, I pray thee, but he says, I
cannot, for it is sealed."
The seven lines of characters presented in the accompanying engraving
were copied by the hand of Joseph Smith in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in
the year 1827, he then being in the twenty-second year of his age. They
were copied from a book of gold plates which he found hidden in a stone
box, the box being nicely jointed together and set in cement. The six
slabs of stone forming the box were so dressed that they were smooth
and square on the inside, but rough on the outside. Indeed, they were
so rough that the capstone, which was crowning, looked something like
a cobblestone, for at the time of being found a small portion was laid
bare and protruded from the hill side. No one, unless in possession
of the knowledge of what was therein contained, would have paid any
attention to the stone in passing.
Most certainly, it was very ingeniously constructed and hidden in a
very choice spot of ground. It was first found in the spring of 1823,
and the young man who found it was only in the seventeenth year of
his age. He was too young and inexperienced at that time to receive
so valuable a treasure, for it must be in weight about forty pounds
or more of pure gold, and in sheets that were very thin like unto
thin sheets of tin plate; and they were covered with engravings of
a very curious workmanship, showing great skill by those who were
the engravers. There were several different persons who did the
work of engraving. The plates contained a history which reached out
over a period of a thousand years, beginning 600 B. C., and continuing
until 420 AD. The history had necessarily to be very brief, and when
translated was called the Book of Mormon--that is, the portion which
was translated, for there is a portion yet held in reserve, which was
sealed with three extra rings, and which will yet, in the due time of
the Lord, be revealed and translated.
All these plates were fastened together with three great rings, so
that each plate could be turned over in the same manner as if hinged
together. So we are led to see that these people were very skilled,
and were also careful in preserving their history. That history brings
to light who the people were that left so many ruined cities, towers,
temples and other relics, many of which are found with hieroglyphics of
a similar character to the seven lines presented. The Book of Mormon,
translated from those plates, makes a book of 623 pages, and is at
the present time printed in about fifteen different languages. In the
box with the gold plates was a breast-plate made of gold and valued
at about five hundred dollars. Attached to this breast-plate was a
Urim and Thummim or interpreters. The latter was in form like unto
an old-fashioned pair of spectacles, two clear stones set in rims of
silver. I have conversed with Martin Harris, who handled them, and he
said he had placed them as he would a pair of spectacles, but they were
too large for him, as if they had been made for a larger race of people
than the present generation.
This Urim and Thummim was similar to what we read of in the Bible of
olden times and which only belonged to seers, revelators and prophets.
These were hidden with the book, to help the one to whom they should be
entrusted to translate them correctly.
The hill from whence those plates were taken is fully described in
another chapter.
I will vouch for the correctness of the characters, as I have compared
them with the original copy, which is still in existence, intact,
just as it was when Martin Harris, as a messenger, took it with the
translation Joseph Smith had made, to Professor Anthon of New York.
The copy here presented was traced from the original copy, and this
engraving, made by Mr. John Held, of Salt Lake City, is an exact
reproduction of it.
In the year 1871 I was favored with the privilege of bringing Martin
Harris from Kirtland, Ohio, to Utah. While on our journey, I had many
opportunities of conversing with him upon this subject, as well as
upon many other incidents which occurred at the early period of the
translation. Soon after presenting the seven lines of characters to
Professor Anthon, be (Martin Harris) aided the young Prophet by acting
as scribe during a portion of the translation. The learned Professor
Anthon, after having the lines of characters presented to him, examined
them carefully, and gave a certificate stating that they were Egyptian
characters and had been correctly translated. Mr. Harris, with the
certificate, started to leave, but when he had advanced as far as the
door, the Professor called to him, asking where he obtained those
plates. Harris replied:
"In a hill near Palmyra, New York."
"Then bring the book to me and I will translate the plates for you."
"I can not do so," said Martin, "for a part of them is sealed."
"Then," replied Mr. Anthon, "I cannot read a sealed book," upon which
he recalled the certificate and tore it up.
Martin Harris said to me, "At that time I was not aware that the
Prophet Isaiah, in the twenty-ninth chapter of his writings, had
predicted that those exact words would be uttered and the prophecy thus
fulfilled by Prof. Anthon. For the better information of the reader
we will refer to the book of Isaiah, beginning at the 11th and 12th
verses, which reads as follows:
"And the vision of all is become 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 said, I cannot, for it is sealed. And the book [not
the words or seven lines of characters] is delivered to him that is not
learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
It is well known that Joseph Smith was not learned, and claimed to
be only a farmer's boy without the opportunities for a scholastic
education; for he had, as Peter the fisherman, to work for his living.
Permit me to offer some striking evidence to show that the Prophet was
not learned, by the word directly over the lines of characters. How
natural it would be for a boy unlearned to leave out the silent h and
further to substitute the o for the e, as it is written by his own
hand, thus--Caractors. This I offer as evidence of the fulfillment of
Isaiah's words, 29th chapter and 12th verse, "I am not learned."
Well, indeed, may the prophet say in the same chapter:
"Cry ye out, and cry; they are drunken, but not with wine; they
stagger, but not with strong drink."
I ask what kind of drunkenness can this mean, unless as really inferred
by Isaiah's own words: "For the Lord hath poured out upon you the
spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your
rulers, the seers hath he covered."
At the time the book came forth there were upon the earth no prophets
or seers to guide the people. There had been prophets from the time of
Adam to Moses and from Moses to Jesus Christ, John the Revelator being
the last prophet of that time, 96 AD.
And the Book came forth and a new prophet arose after that long period,
and at a time when people were drunken with confusion regarding the
true religious light, for there were about six hundred different
religious sects staggering against each other, each one claiming to be
the true church that Christ established, with one lord, one faith, one
baptism, and one God and Father of all.
Every Bible student should know that Jesus placed in his church: first,
twelve apostles, then seventies, elders, pastors, teachers, gifts and
blessings for the perfecting of the saints. After the apostasy from
the Church of Christ, the mother of harlots made all nations drunken
with the wine of her fornication, divided up into fragments, without
prophets, seers or revelators. It was in this condition, as the
prophets have foretold, when the boy Prophet began so marvelous a work,
and which cost him his life to establish.