THE THREE WITNESSES.
In the investigation of the genuineness of the Book of Mormon we must
consider the nature of the direct evidence that we have with regard
to its origin. And in this respect the testimony is strong, clear,
complete and unimpeachable. The existence of the plates is testified to
in a most solemn and sacred manner by eleven witnesses in addition to
Joseph Smith. Eight of these witnesses actually handled, lifted, and
carefully examined the plates, satisfying themselves in a manner beyond
all dispute that the plates were real and tangible. It is altogether
unlikely that Joseph Smith could have imposed upon these eight
witnesses by giving into their hands something different from metallic
plates. So, at any rate, we have the evidence of eight men that they
handled certain plates and that they had the appearance of very ancient
workmanship. If these plates were not the plates from which the Book
of Mormon was translated, what were they? where did Joseph Smith get
them? and what did he do with them? are all pertinent inquiries. That
he had plates in his possession of the kind and description from which
he states he translated the Book of Mormon is strong _prima facie_
evidence in favor of his story. And the fact that he only showed them
to certain few individuals is another evidence of the truthfulness of
his statement; for if he, as is claimed, was an ignorant impostor, he
would have naturally argued that to the more persons he showed his
spurious plates, the wider would grow his influence and the greater
would be the number of believers in his story. To keep the plates
hidden from the multitude would naturally appear in the average mind
to be the surest way of retarding his success and blocking his own
progress; and assuredly if Joseph Smith had the cunning and dexterity
to invent the story of the discovery of the plates and to manufacture
a set of plates to agree with the story, he would have had cunning
enough to present them to the public, surrounded by so much mystery and
glamour that while they saw them they would not be able to examine them
critically.
But we have greater and stronger evidence than that of these eight
witnesses. We have the testimony of three other men that the plates
from which the Book of Mormon was translated were shown to them by
an angel of the Lord, and not the plates only, but the engravings
upon them; and still further they declare that they know that these
plates were translated by the gift and power of God, for His voice
had declared it unto them. Here, then, we not only have testimony of
the existence of the plates, but also to their genuineness and to the
truthfulness of the translation, which translation we have in the
shape of the Book of Mormon. And it must be remembered that not one of
these three witnesses has ever denied his testimony, or contradicted
it in the least particular, but under all circumstances and upon every
occasion all have in the strongest and most decided language declared
that their testimony was true. Again, there is one very note-worthy
fact with regard to these three men. They were all severed from the
communion of the Church during the life-time of the Prophet Joseph. If
Joseph Smith had been an impostor, he was in the power of each of these
"three witnesses;" for any one of them, whenever he pleased, could have
exposed the conspiracy, if conspiracy there had been, and shown to the
world how the testimony had been manufactured; but none of them have
ever done so. Although, at certain periods of their lives, they smarted
under the denunciations and reproofs they received from the Prophet and
entertained towards him the most bitter feelings for the course he took
towards them, going so far as to denounce him as a fallen prophet, yet
with all their acrimony and hatred they never once deviated from the
testimony that is printed above their names at the commencement of the
Book of Mormon. We appeal to all reasonable minds, and ask if it is
possible to suppose that, if the Book of Mormon were a fraud, Joseph
Smith would have dared to have treated these men in the resolute and
uncompromising manner that he did. To use a common expression, he would
have been under their thumb and would have had to conciliate them and
retain their silence by concessions, by flattery and by trimming his
course to their requirements. This the Prophet never did; he was as
independent of them as of any other men. He rebuked unrighteousness in
them as strongly as he did in others; and when their conduct could no
longer be tolerated in the Church of God, he and the Saints withdrew
fellowship from them. This is not the way of an impostor, but of an
honest, fearless man, who knows his cause is just and puts his trust
in God. Neither did any one of the eight witnesses ever turn from his
testimony and deny its truthfulness. They ever maintained that their
statement was the truth and nothing but the truth. They have all gone
beyond the vail now, to receive their reward; and all but one died
faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In considering the nature and value of the testimony of the Prophet
Joseph and the three witnesses, the following remarks by Elder Orson
Pratt are most pertinent: "No reasonable person will say that these
four persons were themselves deceived; the nature of their testimony
is such that they must either be bold, daring impostors, or else the
Book of Mormon is true. They testify that they saw the angel descend,
they heard his voice, they saw the plates in his hand, they saw the
engravings upon them as the angel turned them over leaf after leaf,
at the same time they heard the voice of the Lord out of the heavens.
What greater evidence could they have? They could have had nothing that
would have given them greater assurance. If they were deceived there is
no certainty in anything. If these four men could be deceived in seeing
an angel descend from heaven, on the same grounds the apostles may have
been deceived in seeing the Savior ascend up to heaven."
Then in answer to the suggestion that it is probable that these four
men had conspired together to deceive mankind, Brother Pratt asks:
"Is it probable that four men who were, for the most of their days,
strangers to each other, residing in three or four different counties,
should combine together to testify that they had seen an angel and
heard his voice, and also the voice of God, bearing testimony to the
truth of the Book of Mormon, when no such thing had happened? Three
of these witnesses, namely, Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery and David
Whitmer, were young men from twenty to twenty-five years of age; they
were men who had been accustomed from their childhood to the peaceful
vocations of a farmer's life. Unacquainted with the deceptions, which
are more or less practiced in large towns and cities, they possessed
the open honesty and simplicity so generally characteristic of country
people. Is it, in the least degree, probable that men so young and
inexperienced, accustomed to a country life, and unacquainted with
the world at large, would be so utterly abandoned to every thing that
was good, so perfectly reckless as to their own future welfare, so
heaven-daring and blasphemous as to testify to all nations that which,
if false, would forever seal their damnation? We are not aware
that there ever were three, or four, or five impostors who originated
an imposition, and succeeded in palming it upon the world as a message
from God. Such a thing might barely be possible, but such a thing would
be highly improbable."[E]
[Footnote E: From "Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon"]