fac-simile, handed to us by Mr. Benjamin Styles, which he said he
found while digging for a cistern in Cincinnati, Ohio.
No. 1 is a frame of gold containing a thin plate, No. 2, and
appears to have been executed by a very superior workman.
DRAKE AND CO., PRINTERS,
Saint Louis, Missouri. [2]
II.
_The Kinderhook Plates._
The Illinois discovery is summarized as follows from the "Quincy Whig,"
a paper published in Quincy, Illinois:
SINGULAR DISCOVERY. MATERIAL FOR ANOTHER MORMON BOOK.
A young man by the name of Wiley, a resident in Kinderhook, Pike
county, went by himself and labored diligently one day in pursuit
of a supposed treasure, by sinking a hole in the centre of a
mound. Finding it quite laborious, he invited others to assist
him. A company of ten or twelve repaired to the mound and assisted
in digging out the shaft commenced by Wiley. After penetrating
the mound about eleven feet, they came to a bed of limestone
that had been subjected to the action of fire. They removed the
stones, which were small and easy to handle, to the depth of two
feet more, when they found six brass plates, secured and 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 rust as almost to obliterate the characters
inscribed upon them, but, after undergoing a chemical process,
the inscriptions were brought out plain and distinct. There were
six plates, four inches in length, one inch and three-quarters
wide at the top and two inches and three-quarters wide at the
bottom, flaring out to points. There are four lines of characters
or hieroglyphics on each. On one side of the plates are parallel
lines running lengthways. By whom these plates were deposited there
must ever remain a secret, unless some one skilled in deciphering
hieroglyphics may be found to unravel the mystery. Some pretend to
say that Smith, the Mormon leader, has the ability to read them.
If he has, he will confer a great favor on the public by removing
the mystery which hangs over them. A person present when the plates
were found remarked that it would go to prove the authenticity of
the Book of Mormon, which it undoubtedly will. In the place where
these plates were deposited were also found human bones in the last
stage of decomposition. There were but a few bones found; and it is
believed that it was but the burial place of a person or family of
distinction in ages long gone by, and that these plates contain the
history of the times, or of a people that existed far, far beyond
the memory of the present race. But we will not conjecture anything
about discovery, as it is one which the plates alone can reveal.
The plates above alluded to were exhibited in this city last week,
and are now, we understand, in Nauvoo, subject to the inspection of
the Mormon Prophet. The public curiosity is greatly excited; and if
Smith can decipher the hieroglyphics on the plates, he will do more
towards throwing light on the early history of this continent than
any man now living. [3]
In a communication to the "Times and Seasons" (Nauvoo, Illinois), the
following testimony concerning the discovery was given:
On the 16th of April last, a respectable merchant, by the name of
Robert Wiley, commenced digging in a large mound near this place:
He excavated to the depth of ten feet and came to rock. About that
time the rain began to fall, and he abandoned the work. On the
23rd, he and quite a number of the citizens, with myself, repaired
to the mound; and after making ample opening, we found plenty of
rock the most of which appeared as though it had been strongly
burned; and after removing full two feet of said rock, we found
plenty of charcoal and ashes; also human bones that appeared as
though they had been burned; and near the encophalon a bundle was
found that consisted of six plates of brass of a bell shape, each
having a hole near the small end, and a ring through them all, and
clasped with two clasps. The rings and clasps appeared to be iron
very much oxydated. The plates appeared first to be copper, and
had the appearance of being covered with characters. It was agreed
by the company that I should cleanse the plates. Accordingly I
took them to my house washed them with soap and water and a woolen
cloth, but, finding them not yet cleansed, I treated them with
dilute sulphuric acid, which made them perfectly clean, on which it
appeared that they were completely covered with hieroglyphics that
none as yet have been able to read. Wishing that the world might
know the hidden things as fast as they come to light, I was induced
to state the facts, hoping that you would give it an insertion in
your excellent paper; we feel anxious to know the true meaning
of the plates, and publishing the facts might lead to the true
translation.
They were found, I judged, more than twelve feet below the surface
of the top of the mound. I am, most respectfully, a citizen of
Kinderhook.
W. P. HARRIS, M. D.
We the citizens of Kinderhook, whose names are annexed, do certify
and declare that on the 23rd of April, 1843, while excavating a
large mound in this vicinity, Mr. R. Wiley took from said mound six
brass plates of a bell shape, covered with ancient characters. Said
plates were very much oxydated. The bands and rings on said plates
mouldered into dust on a slight pressure.
ROBERT WILEY, GEORGE DECKENSON,
W. LONGNECKER, G. W. F. WARD,
J. R. SHARP, IRA A. CURTIS,
FAYETTE GRUBB, W. P. HARRIS,
W. FUGATE. [4]
Since these plates were sent to Nauvoo for the inspection of the
Prophet Joseph, it will be of interest to know what view he took of
them. The following occurs in his journal under date of Monday, May
1st, 1843:
I insert fac-simile of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook,
in Pike county, Illinois, on April 23, by Mr. R. Wiley and others,
while excavating a large mound. They found a skeleton about six
feet from the surface of the earth, which must have stood nine feet
high. The plates were found on the breast of the skeleton, and were
covered on both sides with ancient characters. I have translated a
portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person
with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the
loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom
from the ruler of heaven and earth. [5]
It is proper here to call attention to the fact that the genuineness
of this discovery of the Kinderhook plates is questioned by some
anti-Mormon writers, among them Professor William A. Linn, in his late
work, "The Story of Mormonism," where he says:
But the true story of the Kinderhook plates was disclosed by
an affidavit made by W. Fugate of Mound station, Brown county,
Illinois, before Jay Brown justice of the peace, on June 30,
1879. In this he stated that the plates were a humbug, gotten up
by Robert Wiley, Bridge Whitton, and myself. Whitton (who was a
blacksmith) cut the plates out of some pieces of copper; Wiley
and I made the hieroglyphics by making impressions on beeswax
and filling them with acid, and putting it on the plates. When
they were finished, we put them together with rust made of nitric
acid, old iron and lead, and bound them with a piece of hoop iron,
covering them completely with rust. He describes the burial of the
plates and the digging up, among the spectators of the latter being
two Mormon Elders, Marsh and Sharp. Sharp declared that the Lord
had directed them to witness the digging. The plates were borrowed
and shown to Smith, and were finally given to one Professor
McDowell of St. Louis, for his museum. [6]
Of this presentation of the matter it is only necessary to say that it
is a little singular that Mr. Fugate alone out of the three said to be
in collusion in perpetrating the fraud should disclose it, and that he
should wait from 1843 to 1879--a period of thirty-six years--before
doing so, when he and those said to be associated with him had such an
excellent opportunity to expose the vain pretensions of the Prophet--
if Fugate's tale be true? For while the statement in the text of the
Prophet's Journal to the effect that the find was genuine, and that he
had translated some of the characters and learned certain historical
facts concerning the person with whose remains the plates were found,
may not have been known at the time to the alleged conspirators to
deceive him, still the editor of the _Times and Seasons_--John Taylor,
the close personal friend of the Prophet--took the find seriously, and
expressed at once explicit confidence in an editorial in the _Times and
Seasons_, of May 1st, 1843, that the Prophet could give a translation
of the plates. And this attitude the Church, continued to maintain; for
in _The Prophet_, (a Mormon weekly periodical, published in New York)
of the 15th of February, 1845, there was published a _fac-simile_ of
the Kinderhook plates, together with the _Times and Seasons_ editorial
and all the above matter of the text. How easy to have covered Joseph
Smith and his followers with ridicule by proclaiming the hoax as soon
as they accepted the Kinderhook plates as genuine! Why was it not done?
The fact that Fugate's story was not told until thirty-six years after
the event, and that he alone of all those who were connected with the
event gives that version of it, is rather strong evidence that his
story is the hoax, not the discovery of the plates, nor the engravings
upon them.
III.
_The Tuccabatchey Plates._
In further evidence that the native Americans engraved records on
metallic plates I quote the following from Adair's "History of the
North American Indians." The passage is a footnote on the custom of the
Indians burying a dead person's treasures with him:
In the Tuccabatches on the Tallapoose river, thirty miles above the
Allabahamah garrison are two brazen tables, and five of copper.
They (the Indians) esteem them so sacred as to keep them constantly
in their holy of holies, without touching them in the least, only
in the time of their compounded first-fruit offering, and annual
expiation of sins; at which season, their magus carries one under
his arm, ahead of the people, dancing round in sacred armor; next
to him their head warrior carries another; and those warriors who
choose it carry the rest after the manner of the high priest;
all the other carry white canes with swan-feathers at the top.
Hearing accidentally of these important monuments of antiquity,
and inquiring pretty much about them, I was certified of the
truth of the report by four of the southern traders, at the most
eminent Indian trading house of all English America. One of the
gentlemen informed me, that at my request he endeavored to get the
liberty of viewing the aforesaid tables, but it could not possibly
be obtained, only in the time of the yearly grand sacrifice, for
fear of polluting their holy things, at which time gentlemen of
curiosity may see them. Old Bracket, an Indian, of perhaps one
hundred years old, lives in that old beloved town, who gave the
following description of them:
The shape of the five copper plates: One is a foot and a half long
and seven inches wide, the other four are shorter and narrower.
The shape of the two brass plates was circular, about a foot and a
half in diameter.
He [Bracket] said that he was told by his forefathers that those
plates were given to them by the man we call God; that there had
been many more of other shapes, some as long as he could stretch
with both his arms, and some had writing upon them which are buried
with particular men; and that they had instructions given with
them, viz., they must only be handled by particular people, and
those feasting [fasting?]; and no unclean woman must be suffered to
come near them or the place, where they are deposited. He said none
but his own town's people had any such plates given them, and that
they were a different people from the Creeks. He only remembered
three more which were buried with three of his family and he was
the only man of the family now left. He said, there were two copper
plates under the king's cabin which laid there from the first
settling of the town.
This account was taken in the Tuccabatchey square, 27th July, 1759,
per Will. Bolsover. [7]
The foregoing account of engraven records on gold and copper plates
is important as evidence to the truth of the Book of Mormon only this
far; the Book of Mormon repeatedly declares that such was the manner
of keeping records among the Nephites and the Jaredites, Mormon's
abridgment of the larger Nephite records being engraven in this manner
on plates of gold. And the discoveries related above, all of which were
unknown to Joseph Smith, prove that in ancient America records were so
kept, and constitutes at least important incidental evidence to the
truth of that part of the Book of Mormon statement.
Footnotes
1. Mill. Star, Vol. XIX., p. 103.
2. A fac-simile of the plate is to be found in Mill. Star, Vol. XIX.,
p. 632.
3. Mill. Star, Vol. XXI., p. 44.
4. Mill. Star, Vol. XXI., p. 44.
5. Mill. Star, Vol. XXI., p. 40.
6. "The Story of the Mormons," Linn, p. 87.
7. Lord Kingsborough's Mexican Antiquities, Vol. VIII., pp. 356, 358.
CHAPTER XXXIV
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE--MINOR COINCIDENCES--RACE UNITY
I.
_Central and Western New York an Ancient Battle Field._
According to the Book of Mormon the Hill Cumorah of the Nephites--the
Ramah of the Jaredites--must be regarded as a natural monument
overlooking ancient and extensive battle fields. Around it early in
the sixth century B. C., the Jaredites were destroyed. Here, also, a
thousand years later, at the close of the fourth century A. D., the
Nephites met with practical annihilation in a battle which, whether
judged by the importance of the changes it wrought in the affairs of
one of the world's continents, or the number slain, [1] ranks as one of
the world's great battles. In view of these Book of Mormon facts one
would naturally expect to find some evidences in this section of the
country for such wonderful historical events. Here one has a right to
expect the evidences of military fortifications; for, though a thousand
years had elapsed between the destruction of the Nephites and the
discovery of America by the Europeans, still some military monuments
would doubtless survive that length of time. Fortunately we are not
without kind of evidences that may be reasonably expected. We find such
historical monuments described in the "American Antiquities" of Josiah
Priest, published in Albany, New York. Before quoting, however, I call
attention to the fact that Mr. Priest regarded the fortifications
and other evidences of great battles fought south of lake Ontario as
marking the struggle between the descendants of Tartar races (our
American Indians, in his view) and Scandinavians, whom he assumes had
penetrated into middle New York during the first half of the tenth
century A. D. Of course, I am of the opinion that both the Tartar
theory of the origin of some of our American Indians, and Mr. Priest's
assumption that Scandinavians had pushed their way into the interior
of New York, are both improbable; but his theories do not vitiate the
facts of which he is the compiler and witness; but these facts, I am
sure, better fit the statements of the Book of Mormon than they do his
speculations. The reader will therefore bear in mind that it is the
facts of Mr. Priest that are of value to us, not his theories; and here
are the facts: [2]
There are the remains of one of those efforts of Scandinavian
defense, situated on a hill of singular form, on the great
sandplain between the Susquehannah and Chemung rivers, near their
junction. The hill is entirely isolated, about three-fourths of
a mile in circumference, and more than one hundred feet high. It
has been supposed to be artificial, and to belong to the ancient
nations to which all works of this sort generally belong. In the
surrounding plain are many deep holes, of twenty or thirty rods
in circumference, and twenty feet deep--favoring a belief that
from these the earth was scooped out, to form the hill with. It
is four acres large on its top, and perfectly level, beautifully
situated to overlook the country to a great distance, up and down
both rivers; there is on its top the remains of a wall, formed of
earth, stone and wood, which runs round the whole, exactly on the
brow. The wood is decayed and turned to mould, yet it is traceable,
and easily distinguished from the natural earth: within is a deep
ditch or entrenchment, running around the whole summit. [3] From
this it is evident that a war was once waged here; and were we to
conjecture between whom, we should say between the Indians and
Scandinavians, and that this fortification, so advantageously
chosen, is of the same class of defensive works with those about
Onondaga, [4] Auburn, [5] and the lakes Ontario, Cayuga, Seneca,
Oneida [6] and Erie. * * * * * * * In Pompey, [Onondaga county]
[7] on lot No. 14, 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, judging from the old
timber reduced to mould, lying round, which was one hundred years
old, ascertained by counting the concentric grains. In one of these
graves was found a glass bottle about the size of a common junk
bottle, having a stopple in its nozzle, and in the bottle was a
liquid of some sort, but was tasteless. But is it possible that the
Scandinavians could have had glass in their possession at so early
a period as the year 950 and thereabout, so as to have brought it
with them from Europe when their first settlements were made in
this country? We see no good reason why not, as glass had been
known three hundred years in Europe before the northern Europeans
are reputed to have found this country, the art of making glass
having been discovered in A. D. 664. But in other parts of the
world, glass had been known from time immemorial, even from the
flood, as it has been found in the Tower of Babel [8] * * * * *
* In the same grave with the bottle was found an iron hatchet,
edged with steel. The eye, or place for the helve, was round, and
extended or projected out, like the ancient Swiss or German axe.
On lot No. 9, in the same town, [Pompey] was another aboriginal
burying ground, covered with forest trees, as the other. In the
same town, on lot No. 17, were found the remains of a blacksmith's
forge; at this spot have been ploughed up crucibles, such as
mineralogists use in refining metals. These axes are similar, and
correspond in character with those found in the nitrous caves on
the Gasconade river, which empties into the Missouri, as mentioned
by Professor Beck's Gazetteer of that country. In the same town
[Pompey] are the remains of two ancient forts or fortifications,
with redoubts of a very extensive and formidable character.
Within the range of these works have been found pieces of cast
iron, broken from some vessel of considerable thickness. These
articles cannot well be ascribed to the era of the French war, as
time enough since, then, till the region round about Onondaga was
commenced to be cultivated, had not elapsed to give the growth of
timber found on the spot, of the age above noticed; and, added to
this, it is said that the Indians occupying that tract of country
had no tradition of their authors. [9] * * * * * * The hatchets or
iron axes found here were likely of the same origin with the pieces
of cast iron. In ploughing the earth, digging wells, canals, or
excavating for salt waters, about the lakes, new discoveries are
frequently made, which as clearly show the operations of ancient
civilization here, as the works of the present race would do, were
they left to the operations of time for five or six hundred years;
especially were this country totally to be overrun by the whole
consolidated savage tribes of the west, exterminating both the
worker and his works, as appears to have been done in ages past. In
Scipio, [10] on Salmon creek, a Mr. Halsted has, from time to time
during ten years past, ploughed up, on a certain extent of land on
his farm, seven or eight hundred pounds of brass, which appeared to
have once been formed into various implements, both of husbandry
and war; helmets and working utensils mingled together. The finder
of this brass, we are informed as he discovered it carried it to
Auburn, and sold it by the pound, where it was worked up, with as
little curiosity attending as though it had been but an ordinary
article of the country's produce: when, if it had been announced
in some public manner, the finder would have doubtless been highly
rewarded by some scientific individual or society, and preserved it
in the cabinets of the antiquarian, as a relic of by-gone ages of
the highest interest. On this field, where it was found, the forest
timber was growing as abundantly, and had attained to as great age
and size, as elsewhere in the heavy timbered country of the lakes.
[11] * * * * * * In Pompey, [12] Onondago county, are the remains,
or outlines, of a town, including more than 500 acres. It appeared
protected by three circular or eliptical forts, eight miles distant
from each other; placed in such relative positions as to form a
triangle round about the town, at those distances. It is thought,
from appearances, that this stronghold was stormed and taken on the
line of the north side. In Camillus, [13] in the same county, are
the remains of two forts, one covering about three acres, on a very
high hill; it had gateways, one opening to the east, and the other
to the west, toward a spring, some rods from the works. Its shape
is eliptical; it has a wall, in some places ten feet high, with a
deep ditch. Not far from this is another, exactly like it, only
half as large. There are many of these ancient works hereabouts;
one in Scipio, two near Auburn, three near Canandaigua, [14] and
several between the Seneca and Cayuga lakes. [15] A number of such
fortifications and burial places have been discovered in Ridgeway,
[16] on the southern shore of lake Ontraio. There is evidence
enough that long bloody wars were waged among the inhabitants. *
* * * * * From the known ferocity of the ancient Scandinavians,
who with other Europeans of ancient times we suppose to be the
authors of the vast works about the region of Onondaga, dreadful
wars with infinite butcheries, must have crimsoned every hill and
dale of this now happy country. [17] * * * * * * In the fourteenth
township; fourth range of the Holland Company's lands in the state
of New York, near the Ridge road leading from Buffalo to Niagara
Falls [18] is an ancient fort, situated in a large swamp; it covers
about five acres of ground; large trees are standing upon it. The
earth which forms this fort was evidently brought from a distance,
as the soil of the marsh is quite another kind, wet and miry, while
the site of the fort is dry gravel and loam. The site of this
fortification is singular, unless we suppose it to have been a last
resort or hiding place from an enemy. The distance to the margin
of the marsh is about half a mile, where large quantities of human
bones have been found, on opening the earth, of an extraordinary
size: the thigh bones, about two inches longer than a common
sized man's; the jaw or chin bone will cover a large man's face;
the skull bones are of an enormous thickness; the breast and hip
bones are also very large. On being exposed to the air they soon
moulder away, which denotes the great length of time since their
interment. The disorderly manner in which these bones were found
to lie, being crosswise, commixed and mingled with every trait of
confusion, show them to have been deposited by a conquering enemy,
and not by friends, who would have laid them, as the custom of
all nations always has been, in a more deferential mode. There
was no appearance of a bullet having been the instrument of their
destruction, the evidence of which would have been broken limbs.
Smaller works of the same kind abound in the country about lake
Ontraio. [19] But the one of which we have just spoken is the most
remarkable. * * * * * * North of the mountain, or great slope
towards the lake, [Ontraio], there are no remains of ancient works
or tumuli, which strongly argues, that the mountain or ridgeway
once was the southern boundary or shore of lake Ontario; the waters
having receded from three to seven miles from its ancient shore,
nearly the whole length of the lake, occasioned by some strange
convulsion in nature, [20] redeeming much of the lands of the west
from the water that had covered it from the time of the deluge."
[21]
These described fortifications and burial mounds make it clear that
Central and Western New York at some time have been the scenes of
destructive battles; and the fact constitutes strong presumptive
evidence of the statements of the Book of Mormon that great battles
were fought there. The only thing which leads modern writers to ascribe
a comparatively recent date to the wars whereof central and western
New York was the battlefields is the discovery of glass, iron and
brass within these fortifications. It is assumed that these metals and
glass were unknown to the ancient Americans, hence Mr. Priest sets
forth the theory that the battles were fought between wild tribes of
Indians and Scandinavians. Instead of taking this view of the case,
however, I shall rely in part upon the finding of these implements made
of iron and brass as sustaining the statement of the Book of Mormon
that the Nephites were acquainted with and used these metals; but of
this I shall have more to say later, when considering the objections
urged against the Book of Mormon. Meantime I merely call attention to
the fact which here concerns me, namely, that central and western New
York constitute the great battle fields described in the Book of Mormon
as being the place where two nations met practical annihilation, the
Jaredites and Nephites; and of which the military fortifications and
monuments described by Mr. Priest are the silent witnesses.
II.
_Miscellaneous Book of Mormon Historical Incidents and Nephite_
Customs Found in the Native American Traditions.
Besides what has already been set forth on the confirmation of Nephite
historical incidents in native American traditions and mythologies,
there remains several other Lamanite and Nephite historical incidents
and customs, mentioned in the Book of Mormon, that are preserved in
the traditions of the native Americans, and which ought to receive
consideration here.
_Blood Drinking._
One of the customs of the Lamanites, in the matter of eating raw flesh
and drinking the blood of animals, is mentioned in the book of Enos,
where a description is given of the barbarity of the Lamanites as
follows:
And I bear record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to
restore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God. But our labors
were vain; their hatred was fixed, and they were led by their evil
nature that they became wild, and ferocious, and a bloodthirsty
people; full of idolatry and filthiness: feeding upon beasts of
prey; dwelling in tents, and wandering about in the wilderness with
a short skin girdle about their loins and their heads shaven, and
their skill was in the bow, and in the cimeter, and the axe. And
many of them did eat nothing save it were raw meat. [22]
Jarom mentions substantially the same thing:
And they were scattered upon much of the face of the land; and the
Lamanites also. And they were exceeding more numerous than were
they of the Nephites; and they loved murder and would drink the
blood of beasts. [23]
Such the statement of the Book of Mormon. And now the native American
tradition bearing on this from Bancroft. Speaking of the Toltecs as an
enlightened race of native Americans, who are credited with the first
introduction of agriculture in America, our author says:
But even during this Toltec period hunting tribes, both of
Nahua and other blood, were pursuing their game in the forests
and mountains, especially in the northern region. Despised by
their more civilized, corn-eating brethren, they were known as
barbarians, dogs, Chichimecs, "suckers of blood," from the custom
attributed to them of drinking blood and eating raw flesh. [24]
III.
__Human Sacrifices. Cannibalism.__
Another statement in the Book of Mormon with reference to a Lamanite
custom concerning their treatment of prisoners taken in war is as
follows. Speaking of an invasion of the Lamanites into Nephite
territory the Book of Mormon says:
And they did also march forward against the city of Teancum,
and did drive the inhabitants forth out of her, and did take
many prisoners both women and children, and did offer them up
as sacrifices unto their idol gods. And it came to pass that
in the three hundred and sixty and seventh years, [A. D.], the
Nephites being angry because the Lamanites had scattered their
women and their children, that they did go against the Lamanites
with exceeding great anger, insomuch that they did beat again the
Lamanites, and drive them out of their lands. [25]
Later, referring to a second invasion of the Nephite lands, Mormon also
says:
And when they had come the second time, the Nephites were driven
and slaughtered with an exceeding great slaughter; their women and
their children were again sacrificed unto idols. [26]
Some years later, Mormon, in an epistle to his son Moroni, speaking of
the awful depravity which characterized both Nephites and Lamanites,
says of them: "They thirst after blood and revenge continually." [27]
Of the treatment of certain prisoners taken from one of the cities he
also says:
And the husbands and fathers of those women and children they have
slain; and they feed the women upon the flesh of their husbands,
and the children upon the flesh of their fathers; and no water,
save a little, do they give unto them. [28]
He describes how the Nephites defiled the daughters of Lamanite
prisoners, and then continues:
And after they had done this thing, they did murder them in a most
cruel manner, torturing their bodies, even unto death; and after
they have done this, they devour their flesh like unto wild beasts,
because of the hardness of their hearts; and they do it for a token
of bravery. [29]
This, doubtless, was the beginning--in the later part of the fourth
century A. D., "not early in the fourteenth century," as held by
Prescott [30]--of those horrible human sacrifices and acts of
cannibalism found among the Aztecs at the time of the Spanish invasion
of Mexico, and which so shocked even the cruel Spaniards. Bancroft, in
telling of the treatment of prisoners taken in war among the Aztecs,
describes an unequal battle for life that was sometimes accorded the
male prisoners, and then adds:
Those who were too faint-hearted to attempt this hopless combat,
had their hearts torn out at once, whilst the others were
sacrificed only after having been subdued by the braves. The
bleeding and quivering heart was held up to the sun and then thrown
into a bowl, prepared for its reception. An assistant priest sucked
the blood from the gash in the chest through a hollow cane, the
end of which he elevated towards the sun, and then discharged
its contents into a plume-bordered cup held by the captor of the
prisoner just slain. This cup was carried round to all the idols in
the temples and chapels, before whom another blood-filled tube was
held up as if to give them a taste of the contents; this ceremony
performed, the cup was left at the Palace. The corpse was taken
to the chapel where the captive had watched and there flayed, the
flesh being consumed at a banquet as before. The skin was given to
certain priests, or college youths, who went from house to house
dressed in the ghastly garb, with the arms swinging, singing,
dancing, and asking for contributions; those who refused to give
anything received a stroke in the face from the dangling arm. [31]
Prescott, referring to the chief object of war among the Aztecs, and
the treatment of prisoners taken, says:
The tutelary deity of the Aztecs was the god of war. A great object
of their military expeditions was, to gather hecatombs of captives
for his altars. * * * * * * At the head of all, [i. e., all the
Aztec deities] stood the terrible Huitzilopotchli. * * * * * * *
This was the patron deity of the nation. His fantastic image was
loaded with costly ornaments. His temples were the most stately
and august of the public edifices; and his altars reeked with the
blood of human hecatombs in every city of the empire. * * * * * The
most loathsome part of the story--the manner in which the body of
the sacrificed captive was disposed of--remains yet to be told. It
was delivered to the warrior who had taken him in battle, and by
him, after being dressed, was served up in an entertainment to his
friends. This was not the coarse repast of famished cannibals, but
a banquet teeming with delicious beverages and delicate viands,
prepared with art, and attended by both sexes, who, as we shall see
hereafter, conducted themselves with all the decorum of civilized
life. Surely, never were refinement and the extreme of barbarism
brought so closely in contact with each other. [32]
Such are the depths of depravity to which a people may sink when
once the Spirit of God is withdrawn from them. It is not to excite
reflections upon this condition of refined barbarism, however, that
these quotations are made. I am interested here only in pointing out
the fact that these revolting customs found among the native Americans
confirms the statement made in the Book of Mormon, that such horrible
customs had their origin among their Nephite and Lamanite ancestors.
IV.
_Burying the Hatchet._
Doubtless the native American custom of "burying the hatchet" (that
is, in concluding a war, it is the native custom, as a testimony
that hostilities have ceased, and as a sign of peace, to bury the
war-hatchet or other weapons of war), had its origin in the following
Book of Mormon incident: Early in the first century B. C., a number of
Nephites, sons of King Mosiah II., succeeded in converting a number of
Lamanites to the Christian religion; and such became their abhorrence
of war, which aforetime had been one of their chief delights, that they
entered into a covenant of peace and determined no more to shed the
blood of their fellow men. In token of this covenant they buried their
weapons of war, their leader saying:
And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us, behold,
we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in
the earth, that they may be kept bright. * * * * And now it came
to pass that when the king had made an end of these sayings, and
all the people were assembled together, they took their swords, and
all the weapons which were used for the shedding of man's blood,
and they did bury them up deep in the earth; and this they did, it
being in their view a testimony to God, and also to men, that they
never would use weapons again for shedding a man's blood. [33]
This circumstance of burying weapons of war in token of peace is
several times afterwards alluded to in the Book of Mormon.
V.
_Hagoth's Marine Migrations Preserved in Native Legend._
Another historical event very apt to live in the native traditions is
the first Nephite migration in ships after their landing in the western
hemisphere. This event took place in the latter half of the century
immediately preceding the birth of Christ. One Hagoth, described in the
Book of Mormon as "an exceedingly curious man,"
Went forth and built a large ship on the borders of the land
Bountiful, by the land Desolation, and launched it forth in the
west sea, by the narrow neck which led into the land northward.
And behold, there were many of the Nephites who did enter therein
and did sail forth with much provisions, and also many women and
children; and they took their course northward. [34]
Subsequently other ships were built and the first returned, and
migration by this method of travel was kept up for some time. Finally
two of the vessels conducting this migration by the way of the west
sea, were lost; and the Nephites supposed them to have been wrecked
in the depths of the sea. [35] So marked a circumstance as this, I
repeat, occurring as it did among a people that can not be considered
as a sea-faring people, would be apt to live in the traditions of their
descendants. Such a tradition, I believe, exists. Bancroft, speaking
of a war of conquest waged by the Miztec and Zapotec kings against
a people inhabiting the southern shores of Tehuantepec, called the
Huaves, says:
The Huaves are said to have come from the south, from Nicaragua,
or Peru, say some authors. The causes that led to their migrations
are unknown; but the story goes that after coasting northward, and
attempting to disembark at several places, they finally effected
a landing at Tehuantepec. Here they found the Mijes, the original
possessors of the country; but these they drove out, or, as some
say, mingled with them, and soon made themselves masters of the
soil. * * * * * * * But the easy life they led in this beautiful
and fertile region soon destroyed their ancient energy, and they
subsequently fell an unresisting prey to the Zapotec kings. [36]
A tradition which locates the landing of a similar maritime expedition
still further north is related by Nadaillac. Speaking of the
"Kitchen-Middens" or shell-heaps found here and there on the Pacific
coast, and which our author takes as indicating the location of the
former homes of numerous tribes, says:
When the Indians were questioned about them [the shell-heaps]
they generally answered that they are very old, and are the work
of people unknown to them or to their fathers. As an exception to
this rule, however, the Californians attributed a large shell heap
formed of mussel shells and the bones of animals, on Point St.
George, near San Francisco, to the Hohgates, the name they give to
seven mythical strangers who arrived in the country from the sea,
and who were the first to build and live in houses. The Hohgates
killed deer, sea-lions, and seals; they collected the mussels
which were very abundant on the neighboring rocks, and the refuse
of their meals became piled up about their homes. One day when
fishing, they saw a gigantic seal; they managed to drive a harpoon
into it, but the wounded animal fled seaward, dragging the boat
rapidly with it toward the fathomless abysses of the Charekwin.
At the moment when the Hohgates were about to be engulfed in the
depths, where those go who are to endure eternal cold, the rope
broke the seal disappeared, and the boat was flung up into the air.
Since then the Hohgates, changed into brilliant stars, return no
more to earth, where the shell heaps remain as witness of their
former residence. [37]
The word "Hohgates," I believe is but a variation of the word "Hagoth,"
the name of the man who started these maritime expeditions, and it
would be altogether in keeping with Nephite customs [38] for those who
sailed away in his vessels to be called "Hagothites" or "Hohgates."
The vessel of this tradition may be one of those lost to the Nephites,
which finally found its way to the Californian coast where its
occupants landed with their ideas of Nephite civilization, and lived
as described in the tradition. One is tempted to smile at the childish
ending of the tradition; but under it may not one see that it is but
the legendary account of the fact that the vessel sailed away from the
California shores and was lost, or, at least, was heard of no more by
the natives of those shores.
VI.
_Native American Race Unity._
The subject of American antiquities should not be closed without a
brief reference, at least, to the unity of the American race. Barring
such migrations of other races to America as may have taken place since
the fall of the Nephites at Cumorah, at the close of the fourth century
A. D., and such as to a limited extent may have been going on in the
extreme north via Behring Strait at an earlier date, the Book of Mormon
requires substantial unity of race in the later native American people.
That is to say, they ought to be of Israelitish descent, a mixture of
the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh and Judah--but chiefly, if not all, of
Hebrew descent; and even the Jaredites were but a more ancient branch
of the same stock. [39]
On this subject, as upon all others pertaining to American antiquities
and peoples, writers are divided; yet it is not difficult to marshal in
support of race unity for native Americans the very highest authority;
and what is of most importance is the facts are beyond question behind
their theory.
Citing the facts on which certain authors rely to establish the unity
of the American race, Bancroft says:
It was obvious to the Europeans when they first beheld the natives
of America, that these were unlike the intellectual white-skinned
race of Europe, the barbarous blacks of Africa, or any nation or
people which they had hitherto encountered, yet were strikingly
like each other. Into whatsoever part of the newly discovered
lands they penetrated, they found a people seemingly one in color,
physiognomy, customs, and in mental and social traits. Their
vestiges of antiquity and their languages presented a coincidence
which was generally observed by early travelers. Hence physical
and psychological comparisons are advanced to prove ethnological
resemblances among all the peoples of America. * * * * * * Morton
and his confreres, the originators of the American homogeneity
theory, even go so far as to claim for the American man an origin
as indigenous as that of the fauna and flora. They classify all the
tribes of America, excepting only the Esquimaux who wandered over
from Asia, as the American race, and divided it into the American
family and the Toltecan family. Blumenbach classifies the Americans
as a distinct species. The American Mongolidae of Dr. Latham are
divided into Esquimaux and American Indians. Dr. Morton perceives
the same characteristic lineaments on the face of the Fuegian and
the Mexican, and in tribes inhabiting the Rocky mountains, the
Mississippi valley, and Florida. The same osteological structure,
swarthy color, straight hair, meagre beard, obliquely cornered
eyes, prominent cheek bones, and thick lips, are common to them
all. * * * * * * Humboldt characterizes the nations of America
as one race, by their straight glossy hair, thin beard, swarthy
complexion and cranial formation. [40]
Dr. Daniel G. Brinton, professor of American archaeology and
linguistics in the University of Pennsylvania--than whom no higher
authority upon the subject can be quoted--says:
On the whole, the race is singularly uniform in its physical
traits, and individuals taken from any part of the continent could
easily be mistaken for inhabitants of numerous other parts. * * * *
* * The culture of the native Americans strongly attests the ethnic
unity of the race. This applies equally to the ruins and relics of
its vanished nations, as to the institutions of existing tribes.
Nowhere do we find any trace of foreign influence or instruction,
nowhere any arts or social systems to explain which we must evoke
the aid of teachers from the eastern hemisphere. * * * * American
culture, wherever examined, presents a family likeness which the
more careful observers of late years have taken pains to put in a
strong light. This was accomplished for governmental institutions
and domestic architecture by Lewis H. Morgan, for property rights
and the laws of war by A. F. Bandelier, for the social condition
of Mexico and Peru by Dr. Gustav Bruhl, and I may add for the
myths and other expressions of the religious sentiment by myself.
* * * The psychic identity of the Americans is well illustrated
in their languages. There are indeed indefinite discrepancies in
their lexicography and in their surface marphology; but in their
logical sub-structure, in what Willhelm von Humboldt called the
"inner form," they are strikingly like. The points in which this is
especially apparent are in the development of pronominal forms, in
the abundance of generic particles, in the overweening preference
for concepts of action (verbs) rather than concepts of existence
(nouns), and in the consequent subordination of the latter to the
former in the proposition. [41]
Following the same general line of thought Nadaillac says:
The Indians, who were successively conquered by foreign invaders,
spoke hundreds of different dialects. Bancroft estimates that there
were six hundred between Alaska and Panama. Ameghino speaks of
eight hundred in South America. Most of these, however, are mere
derivatives from a single mother tongue like the Aymara and the
Guarani. We quote these figures for what they are worth. Philology
has no precise definition of what constitutes a language, and
any one can add to or deduct from the numbers given according
to the point of view from which he considers the matter. As an
illustration of this, it may be mentioned that some philologists
estimate the languages of North America at no less than thirteen
hundred, whilst Squier would reduce those of both continents to
four hundred. These dialects present a complete disparity in
their vocabulary side by side with great similarity of structure.
"In America," says Humboldt, "from the country of the Esquimaux
to the banks of the Orinoco, and thence to the frozen shores
of the Straits of Magellan, languages differing entirely in
their derivation have, if we may use the expression, the same
physiognomy. Striking analogies in grammatical construction have
been recognized, not only in the more perfect languages, such as
those of the Incas, the Aymara, the Guarani, and the Mexicans, but
also in languages which are extremely crude. Dialects, the roots
of which do not resemble each other more than the roots of the
Slavonian and Biscayan, show resemblances in structure similar to
those which are found between the Sanscrit, the Persian, the Greek,
and the Germanic languages." [42]
The fact that the different dialects, or languages, as some call them,
"are mere derivatives from a single mother tongue," argues strongly, of
course, for ultimate race unity.
The following summary of evidences on the substantial unity of race in
American peoples is from Marcus Wilson, and will be found valuable:
Nor indeed is there any proof that the semi-civilized inhabitants
of Mexico, Yucatan, and Central America, were a race different
from the more savage tribes by which they were surrounded; but,
on the contrary, there is much evidence in favor of their common
origin, and in proof that the present tribes, or at least many of
them, are but the dismembered fragments of former nations. The
present natives of Yucatan and Central America, after a remove of
only three centuries from their more civilized ancestors, present
no diversities, in their natural capacities, to distinguish them
from the race of the common Indian. And if the Mexicans and the
Peruvians could have arisen from the savage state, it is not
impossible that the present rude tribes may have remained in it;
or, if the latter were once more civilized than at present, as
they have relapsed into barbarism, so others may have done. The
anatomical structure of the skeletons found within the ancient
mounds of the United States, does not differ more from that of
the present Indians than tribes of the latter, admitted to be of
the same race, differ from each other. In the physical appearance
of all the American aborigines, embracing the semi-civilized
Mexicans, the Peruvians, and the wandering savage tribes, there is
a striking uniformity; nor can any distinction of races here be
made. In their languages there is a general unity of structure, and
a great similarity in grammatical forms, which prove their common
origin; while the great diversity in the words of the different
languages, shows the great antiquity of the period of peopling
America. In the generally uniform character of their religious
opinions and rites, we discover original unity and an identity of
origin; while the diversities here found, likewise indicate the
very early period of the separation and dispersion of the tribes.
Throughout most of the American tribes have been found traces of
the pictorial delineations, and hieroglyphical symbols, by which
the Mexicans and the Peruvians communicated ideas, and preserved
the memory of events. The mythological traditions of the savage
tribes, and the semi-civilized nations, have general features
of resemblance--generally implying a migration from some other
country--containing distinct allusions to a deluge--and attributing
their knowledge of the arts to some fabulous teacher in remote
ages. Throughout nearly the whole continent, the dead were buried
in a sitting posture; the smoking of tobacco was a prevalent
custom, and the calumet, or pipe of peace, was everywhere deemed
sacred. And, in fine, the numerous and striking analogies between
the barbarous and the cultivated tribes, are sufficient to justify
the belief in their primitive relationship and common origin. * * *
* * * With regard to the opinion entertained by some, that colonies
from different European nations, and at different times, have been
established here, we remark, [43] that, if so, no distinctive
traces of them have ever been discovered; and there is a uniformity
in the physical appearance of all the American tribes, which
forbids the supposition of a mingling of different races. [44]
The well established fact, of race unity, is one more evidence for the
truth of the Book of Mormon to be added to that cumulative mass of
evidence we are here compiling, since unity of race is what the Book of
Mormon requires for the peoples of America.
VII.
_Did the Book of Mormon Antedate Works in English on American_
Antiquities, Accessible to Joseph Smith and His Associates.
In the presence of so many resemblances between native American
traditions and Book of Mormon historical incidents and Nephite customs,
I can understand how the question naturally arises in some minds
whether the ancient historical incidents, and the customs of American
peoples--purported to be recorded in the Book of Mormon,--whence the
traditions come, or is it from the native American traditions that the
alleged historical incidents and customs of the Book of Mormon come.
That is to say, was it possible for Joseph Smith or those associated
with him in bringing forth the Book of Mormon to have possessed such
a knowledge of American antiquities and traditions that they could
make their book's alleged historical incidents, and the customs of
its peoples, conform to the antiquities and traditions of the native
Americans? The question may appear foolish to those acquainted with the
character and environment of the Prophet; but to those not acquainted
with him or his environment the question may be of some force, and for
that reason it is considered here.
In the first place, then, it must be remembered how great the task
would be to become sufficiently acquainted with American antiquities
and traditions to make the Book of Mormon story and the alleged customs
of its people agree with the antiquities and traditions of the American
natives, in the striking manner in which we have found them to agree.
In the second place the youthfulness of the Prophet must be taken into
account--he was but twenty-five years of age when the Book of Mormon
was published, and it is the concensus of opinion on the part of all
those competent to speak upon the subject, that he was not a student of
books. But what is most important of all, and what settles the question
on this point (whether Joseph Smith, Solomon Spaulding, or Sidney
Rigdon be regarded as the author) is the fact that the means through
which to obtain the necessary knowledge of American antiquities, the
body of literature in English now at one's command on the subject, was
not then (1823-1830) in existence. The Spanish and native American
writers previous to 1830 may be dismissed from consideration at
once, since their works could not be available to Joseph Smith and
his associates because written in a language unknown to them, and
such fragmentary translations of them as existed were so rare as to
be inaccessible to men of western New York and Ohio. About the only
works to which Joseph Smith could possibly have had access before the
publication of the Book of Mormon would have been:
First, the publications of the "American Antiquarian Society,
Translations and Collections," published in the "Archaeoligia
Americana," Worcester, Massachusetts, 1820; but this information was
so fragmentary in character that it could not possibly have supplied
the historical incidents of the Book of Mormon, or the customs of its
peoples, even could it be proven that Joseph Smith had been familiar
with that collection.
Second, the little work of Ethan Smith, published in Vermont--second
edition 1825--in which the author holds the native American Indian
tribes to be descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel. In fact his
work bears the title, "View of the Hebrews; or the Tribes of Israel in
America."
Third, "The History of the American Indians," by James Adair, published
in England, 1775. Mr. Adair confines the scope of his work to the North
American Indians.
Fourth. The translation of some parts of Humboldt's works on New Spain,
published first in America and England between the years 1806 and 1809,
and later Black's enlarged translation of them in New York, 1811.
These are the only works, so far as I can ascertain, that could at
all be accessible to Joseph Smith or any of his associates; and there
is no evidence that the Prophet or his associates ever saw any one
of them. Moreover, notwithstanding some of these writers advance the
theory that the native Americans are descendants of the ten lost
tribes of Israel, and their books contain fragmentary and disconnected
information concerning American antiquities--no one acquainted with
these works could possibly regard them as being the source whence Book
of Mormon incidents or customs of Book of Mormon peoples were drawn,
a fact which will be more apparent after we have considered--as we
shall later consider--the originality of the Book of Mormon. Since,
therefore, from the very nature of all the circumstances surrounding
the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, neither Joseph Smith nor his
associates could possibly have become acquainted with the location of
the chief centers of ancient American civilizations, nor with native
American traditions and customs, it must be evident that Book of Mormon
historical incidents and the customs of Book of Mormon peoples were not
derived from works on American antiquities and traditions.
VIII.
_The Value of the Evidence Supplied by American Antiquities_
The evidence I have to offer from American antiquities is now before
the reader. Not all the evidence that could be massed upon the subject,
but all that my space in this work will permit me to present. I do not
claim that the evidence is either as full or perfect as one could wish
it to be, nor that it is free from what some will regard as serious
difficulties; but this much I feel can be insisted upon:
The evidence establishes the fact of the existence of ancient
civilizations in America; that the said civilizations are successive;
that their monuments, overlay each other, and are confused by a
subsequent period of barbarism; that the monuments of the chief centers
of American civilizations are found where the Book of Mormon requires
them to be located; that the traditions of the native Americans
concerning ancient Bible facts, such as relate to the creation, the
flood, the Tower of Babel, and the dispersion of mankind, etc., sustain
the likelihood of the forefathers of our American aborigines, in
very ancient times, being cognizant of such facts either by personal
contact with them, or by having a knowledge of them through the Hebrew
scriptures, or perhaps through both means. All this is in harmony with
what the Book of Mormon makes known concerning the Jaredite and Nephite
peoples; for the forefathers of the former people were in personal
contact with the building of Babel, the confusion of languages and
the dispersion of mankind; while the Nephites had knowledge of these
and many other ancient historical facts through the Hebrew scriptures
which they brought with them to America. The evidences presented
also disclose the fact that the native American traditions preserve
the leading historical events of the Book of Mormon. That is, the
facts of the Jaredite and Nephite migrations; of the intercontinental
movements of Book of Mormon peoples; of the advent and character of
Messiah, and his ministrations among the people; of the signs of his
birth and of his death; of the fact of the Hebrew origin and unity of
the race. All these facts so strong in the support of the claims of
the Book of Mormon--whatever else of confusion may exist in American
antiquities--I feel sure can not be moved. It should be remembered, in
this connection, that it is not insisted upon in these pages that the
evidences which American antiquities afford are absolute proofs of the
claims of the Book of Mormon. I go no further than to say there is a
tendency of external proof in them; and when this tendency of proof
is united with the positive, direct external testimony which God has
provided in those Witnesses that he himself has ordained to establish
the truth of the Book of Mormon, the Three Witnesses and the Eight,
this tendency of proof becomes very strong, and is worthy of most
serious attention on the part of those who would investigate the claims
of this American volume of scripture.
Footnotes
1. There were slain of the Nephites alone 230,000; see Mosiah vi: 10-15.
2. I quote from the 1838 edition. Mr. Josiah Priest's work, "American
Antiquities," first edition, was published A. D. 1833, three years
after the publication of the Book of Mormon. See Charles Tompson's
"Evidence and Proof of the Book of Mormon," also I. Woodbridge Riley's
"Founder of Mormonism," page 126, where in foot note 32 he says of
Priest's work: "the first edition appeared in 1833, two other editions
followed in that year."
3. The hill here described near the junction of the Susquehannah and
Chemung river is about ninety-five miles in a direct line southeast of
Cumorah.
4. Onondaga, about fifty-five miles due east of Cumorah.
5. Auburn, thirty miles east of Cumorah.
6. The lakes Cayuga, Seneca and Oneida, as is well known, lie a little
to the south and east of Cumorah. Ontraio is a short distance to the
north and Erie to the west.
7. Sixty miles east of Cumorah.
8. From this showing, then, there can be no objection to saying that
the glass vessel was of Jaredite origin. In describing how the brother
of Jared melted from the rock sixteen small stones it is said they were
white and clear "even as transparent glass" of which the late Orson
Pratt in a foot note says: "From this it is evident that the art of
making glass was known at that early period." Ether iii: 1, and note
"a."
9. The absence of traditions among the natives concerning these
monuments rather inclines one to the belief that they must have been
earlier than any possible Scandinavian occupancy of the country.
10. Scipio in Cayuga country, about forty-five miles east of Cumorah.
11. American Antiquities, pp. 259, 260, 261, 262.
12. Pompey between sixty and seventy miles east of Cumorah.
13. Less than fifty miles east of Cumorah.
14. Canandaigua, some ten or twelve miles south of Cumorah.
15. Both bodies of water but a short distance from Cumorah.
16. Less than seventy miles northwest from Cumorah.
17. The desperate ferocity of Nephite and Lamanite as described in
the Book of Mormon is as good and even better explanation of the
"infinite butcheries" here alluded to. See this volume, pp. 74-76, for
description of this ferocity.
18. Less than one hundred miles due west from Cumorah.
19. The southern shore of lake Ontario runs due east and west about ten
to twelve miles north of Cumorah for a distance of one hundred miles.
20. Was this convulsion in nature which changed the shore along
lake Ontraio connected with those mighty cataclysms which shook the
continent during the crucifixion of Messiah?
21. American Antiquities, Josiah Priest, pp. 324, 327, 328.
22. Enos i: 20.
23. Jarom i: 6.
24. Native Races, Bancroft, Vol. II., p. 344.
25. Mormon iv: 14, 15.
26. Mormon iv: 21.
27. Moroni ix: 5.
28. Moroni ix: 8.
29. Moroni ix: 10.
30. Conquest of Mexico, Vol. I., p. 73.
31. Native Races, Vol. II., pp. 310, 311.
32. Conquest of Mexico, Prescott, Vol. I., pp. 54, 63, 75, 76.
33. Alma xxiv: 16-18.
34. Alma lxiii: 5, 6.
35. Alma lxiii: 8.
36. Native Races, Vol. V., pp. 529, 530.
37. Pre-Historic America, pp. 64, 65.
38. Those who followed Nephi were called Nephites; those who followed
Laman, Lamanites; Zoram, Zoramites, the people of Jared, Jaredites; and
so on throughout the Book of Mormon.
39. See Vol. I., pp. 167, 168 and note.
40. Bancroft, Native Races, Vol. I., pp. 20-21.
41. The American Race, Daniel G. Brinton, pp. 41, 43, 44, 45, 55, 56.
42. Pre-Historic America, pp. 5, 6.
43. The remark of Mr. Wilson against the probability of colonies from
different European nations at different times having established
colonies in America may raise the question for a moment, "Is not
such a contention against the Book of Mormon theory of the origin of
American peoples, since that book distinctly accounts for the peopling
of America by migration of colonies, from the eastern hemisphere?" The
seeming difficulty is overcome at once when it is remembered that the
several colonies of the Book of Mormon migrations are all of one race.
Lehi's colony was made up of two families and the man Zoram, servant
of Laban. Lehi, it is well know, was an Israelite of the tribe of
Manasseh; Ishmael, the head of the other family, was an Israelite of
the tribe of Ephraim. Zoram was an Israelite, but his tribe is unknown.
Mulek's colony were undoubtedly Jews. So that from the repeopling of
America after the destruction of the Jaredites early in the sixth
century B. C.--so far as Book of Mormon migrations are concerned--the
colonies were all of one race. And we have also seen that even the
Jaredites were an earlier branch of the same race.
44. History of the United States (Marcus Wilson) Book I chapter iii.
CHAPTER XXXV
EXTERNAL EVIDENCES (CONTINUED.)--EVIDENCE OF THE BIBLE.
I.
_The Place of the Patriarch Joseph in Israel.--The Promises to Him_
and His Seed.
It is no part of my purpose to deal at length with any argument that
may be based upon Bible evidences to the truth of the Book of Mormon.
That field is already occupied by others. Indeed from the commencement
it has been one of the chief sources drawn upon by the Elders of the
Church in proof of the claims of the Book of Mormon. [1] I shall treat
that evidence, however, in merely an incidental way, and as deriving
its importance chiefly from the circumstances of its blending in with
the enlarged and general scheme of things pertaining to Israel, and the
work of Messiah brought to light by the Book of Mormon.
In pursuance of this treatment I call attention to the blessing of
Jacob upon the head of his grand sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. It should
be remembered that to Joseph, the son of Jacob, a double portion of
honor was granted in Israel. While no tribe is especially called by
his name, yet two tribes are his through his sons, viz., the tribe of
Ephraim and the tribe of Manasseh. This came about in the following
manner: Reuben, the first born of Jacob, defiled his father's wife,
Bilhah. For which awful crime he lost his place as a prince in the
house of Israel, which place was given indirectly to Joseph. Why I say
indirectly, is because Ephraim, Joseph's younger son, was the one who
received the blessing of the first born, and was placed as the first of
the tribes of Israel. It is for this reason that the Lord was wont to
say, "I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first born." [2] In
proof of the things here set forth I quote the following:
Now the sons of Reuben, the first born of Israel, (for he was the
firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his
birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel:
and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. For
Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief
ruler, but the birthright was Joseph's. [3]
That is, not after the natural birthright, but after the birthright
appointment made by the patriarch Jacob to Ephraim. Ephraim, then, will
take the place of Reuben--the place of the firstborn. But there was
also a tribe of Manasseh in Israel, as well as of Ephraim, and thus
was a double portion given unto Joseph in that from him are two tribes
in Israel. And now as to further blessings conferred upon Joseph and
his sons. When Jacob and his son Joseph were restored to each other
in Egypt, the old patriarch rejoiced to see the two sons of Joseph,
Ephraim and Manasseh--and now the Bible narrative:
And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed
himself with his face to the earth. And Joseph took them both,
Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh
in his left hand towards Israel's right hand, and brought them near
unto him. And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it
upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon
Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the
firstborn.
And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long
unto this day, the angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the
lads and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers
Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst
of the earth. And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right
hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; and he held up
his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's
head. And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father; for
this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. And his
father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it; he also
shall become a people, and he 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 blessed them that day, saying, In
thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as
Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh. [4]
Again when the patriarch Jacob gave his final blessing to his sons, of
Joseph he said:
Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose
branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him,
and shot at him, and hated him: but his bow abode in strength, and
the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mightily
God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel):
Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the
Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts,
and of the womb; the blessings of thy father have prevailed above
the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bounds of the
everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the
crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. [5]
Moses also seems to have been impressed with the idea that Joseph was
to receive a portion above his brethren; for in blessing the tribes of
Israel, when coming to Joseph, he said:
Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven,
for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, and for the
precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious
things put forth by the moon, and for the chief things of the
ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting
hills, and for the precious things of the earth and fullness
thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let
the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the
head of him that was separated from his brethren. His glory is like
the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of
unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends
of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they
are the thousands of Manasseh. [6]
A comparison of the blessings of the other tribes with the blessings of
Joseph's will convince him who makes it how much greater are to be the
blessings of Joseph than those of his brethren, especially in respect
of the extent and the fruitfulness of the lands that his descendants
shall occupy. Furthermore, in view of all that is said in these
prophetic utterances, there can be no question but what the descendants
of Joseph, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, are to be very prominent
in the affairs of Israel and take an important part in God's great
drama in which he will work out the restoration of his people, Israel,
and the redemption of the world.
Summarizing these prophetic blessings we may say, that to the tribe of
Ephraim is given the place and honor of the first born in Israel; that
to him pertains the "pushing of the people together"--Ephraim's part
in the gathering of Israel in the last days; that the seed of Manasseh
is to become a great people, while Ephraim is to become a multitude
of nations--greater than Manasseh, as is becoming to the tribe of the
first born--"they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the
thousands of Manasseh;" that the land possessed by Joseph's posterity
is to be peculiarly great and fruitful, blessed with the precious
things of heaven, with the precious fruits brought forth by the sun,
for the chief things of the ancient mountains, for the precious things
of the lasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth and the
fullness thereof; that Joseph is as a fruitful bough whose branches run
over the wall (i. e., his possessions extend in some way beyond the
recognized boundaries of Israel's Palestine inheritance); that Joseph's
arms and hands shall be made strong by the hands of the mighty God of
Jacob; that the God of Israel shall help Joseph and bless him with the
blessings of heaven above, of the deep, of the breasts, and of the womb
(i. e., he shall be blessed in his posterity); that the blessings of
Jacob had prevailed above the blessings of his progenitors, "unto the
utmost bounds of the everlasting hills," (perhaps a greater territorial
inheritance); that these blessings of Jacob which had "prevailed" above
(i. e., exceeded) the blessings of his progenitors, should be realized
by Joseph.
These are the promises of God to Joseph. But where are the evidences
either from the Bible history or from secular history that the
descendants of Joseph have ever attained to the fulfillment of these
very gracious and very remarkable promises? As a matter of fact are not
Joseph's tribes and descendants practically lost in Israel, so far as
any knowledge is obtainable from the Bible, or other Hebrew literature,
or general history? The tribe of Judah became the dominating power in
the history of Israel in Palestine, and is the only tribe in Israel
that has retained any distinctive existence in modern times. What,
then, have the promises of God to Joseph, uttered by Jacob, in his
inspired patriarchal blessings, and solemnly repeated by the great
prophet Moses, failed of their fulfillment? If not, where is the
evidence of their fulfillment? It is not to be found unless men turn
to and receive it from Joseph's record, the Book of Mormon. But the
Book of Mormon once accepted--a book that is a history, in the main,
of the descendants of Joseph, [7] behold what a fulfilment of the
prophetic blessings upon Joseph's seed is there revealed! Here in
America Joseph's descendants indeed became a multitude of nations;
here, indeed, they possessed a land blessed with the precious things
of heaven, for through Nephite prophets was made known the mind and
will of God, the coming of Messiah, and the redemption of man that
should be wrought out by Him; nay, the Son of God, in person, came
in his glorious resurrected state and taught them at first hand and
face to face the great things concerning man's salvation; inspired
apostles took up the same great theme and for centuries held a great
people closely to the path of both truth and righteousness, until the
harvest of souls in America exceeded such harvests among any other
people whatsoever. In America Joseph's descendants indeed possessed a
land noted for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for
the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things
of the lasting hills--the gold, the silver, the iron, the coal fields,
the oil fields, and all things else of which the mountains and hills of
America yield their rich store; a land noted for the precious things of
the earth and the fullness thereof--a land embracing all the climates
from earth's torrid equatorial regions, thence shading off both toward
the north and the south through temperate climates into the frigid
zones; a land of wonderous wealth in fertile plains and valleys, and
extensive forest tracts; a land that produces all vegetables and fruits
and fiberous growths essential to the feeding and clothing of man; a
land whose grandeur and very beauty holds the senses entranced with
its magnificence; a land sufficient for empires surrounded by fruitful
seas; a land consecrated to free institutions and to righteousness--in
a word, _the land of Joseph_.
By the descendants of Joseph migrating to this land, Joseph is truly
a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well whose branches
run over the wall; and while his descendants in this land had their
varied fortunes, dark days in which sin, both individual and national,
made dark their annals, still they had also remarkable periods of
righteousness, during which periods there were added many names to the
world's great list of warriors, statesmen and prophets, that deserve
to be remembered with the world's greatest and best characters. Of
warriors, such names as Alma, [8] Moroni, the hero of the Nephite
republic [9] (100 B. C. 56 B. C.), Mormon, Helaman, Teancum; and
though engaged in a bad cause, Amlici and Amalickiah, and many others
among the Lamanites. Of statesmen such names as the first Nephi, King
Benjamin, Mosiah II, Alma the younger, Nephihah, and Pahoran. Of the
prophets, Lehi, the first Nephi, Jacob, Mosiah I, Abinadi, Ammon, the
son of Mosiah, Alma the elder, also Alma the younger, Samuel, the
Lamanite, Nephi, the son of Helaman (last half of the century preceding
the Christian era), Nephi, the chief of Messiah's apostles, Mormon, the
author of the abridged record known as the Book of Mormon, Moroni, the
son of Mormon, and others.
Joseph's descendants in America established and maintained for a
thousand years what may be properly called a Christian civilization;
for, instructed by their prophets during the six hundred years that
they occupied the land of America, preceding the coming of Messiah,
they believed implicitly in the Christ that was to come, and looked
forward to the redemption of the human race through his atonement,
holding the reasonable view that there was as much virtue in looking
forward to the atonement of Christ and accepting in their faith his
redeeming power, as looking back upon it would have after it had become
an accomplished fact [10] For four centuries following the advent of
Christ the Nephites had, of course, the evidence of his appearing among
them and his personal instructions in the gospel, which affected the
character of their civilization.
During the time range mentioned, kingdoms, republics and Christian
ecclesiastical governments obtained. Such science and arts as might
naturally develop from a colony of enlightened Hebrews migrating from
Palestine to America six hundred years B. C., flourished; and the
ruined monuments of civilization seen in America were reared in part
by their hands; the extent of these monuments of civilization, and the
degree of civilization they represent are questions that have already
been considered. [11]
The Book of Mormon is also big with the promise of future events
concerning the redemption and glorification of the descendants of
Joseph in this promised land of America--the land of Joseph, for so
it is declared to be by the Lord Jesus himself. Addressing the twelve
disciples whom he had called to the ministry in the western world he
said:
Ye are my disciples; and ye are a light unto this people, who are
a remnant of the house of Joseph. And behold, this is the land of
your inheritance; and the Father hath given it unto you. [12]
The Book of Mormon makes known the fact that upon this land of Joseph
is to be founded a great city called Zion, or a New Jerusalem. The
risen Messiah, while still teaching the gospel in person to the
Nephites, and speaking upon this subject, said:
And it shall come to pass that I will establish my people, O house
of Israel. And behold, this people will I establish in this land,
[referring to the continents of America], unto the fulfilling of
the covenant which I made with your father Jacob; and it shall be
a New Jerusalem. And the powers of heaven shall be in the midst of
this people; yea, even I will be in the midst of you. [13]
Continuing his discourse he said:
For it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that at that day
whosoever will not repent and come unto my beloved Son, them will I
cut off from among my people, O house of Israel; and I will execute
vengeance and fury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as
they have not heard. But if they repent, and hearken unto my words,
they shall come in unto the covenant, and be numbered among this
the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their
inheritance, and they shall assist my people, the remnant of Jacob,
and also, as many of the house of Israel as shall come, that they
may build a city, which shall be called the New Jerusalem; and then
shall they assist my people that they may be gathered in, who are
scattered upon all the face of the land, in unto the New Jerusalem.
And then shall the power of heaven come down among them; and I will
also be in their midst. [14]
Moroni, however, is still more explicit. He represents that the
Jaredite prophet Ether saw the days of Christ, and he spake concerning
a new Jerusalem upon the land of America.
And he spake also concerning the house of Israel, and the Jerusalem
from whence Lehi should come; after it should be destroyed, it
should be built up again a holy city unto the Lord, wherefore it
could not be a New Jerusalem, for it had been in a time of old, but
it should be built up again, and become a holy city of the Lord;
and it should be built unto the house of Israel; and that a New
Jerusalem should be built up upon this land, unto the remnant of
the seed of Joseph, for which things there has been a type; for
as Joseph brought his father down into the land of Egypt, even so
he died there; wherefore the Lord brought a remnant of the seed
of Joseph out of the land of Jerusalem, that he might be merciful
unto the seed of Joseph, that they should perish not, even as he
was merciful unto the father of Joseph, that he should perish not;
wherefore the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon
this land; and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they
shall build up a holy city unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem
of old; and they shall no more be confounded, until the end come,
when the earth shall pass away. [15]
The continents of America, then, according to this passage, are the
inheritance of Joseph, and here a holy city is to be built unto
the Lord that shall be the capital of the western world, a New
Jerusalem--Zion. This city is to be founded and glorified by the
multitudinous descendants of Joseph, who will be gathered into the
land, and also those who will unite with them in righteousness--in so
great a work--especially the Gentile races; and together they shall
be established in peaceful possession of the land to the end of the
world. The exaltation and glory of this predicted future empire for
the descendants of Joseph and the Gentile races--the grandeur of its
civilization and the security of its righteousness; the brilliancy
of its achievements; the excellence of its physical comforts and the
beauty and simplicity of both its individual and community life, may
not yet be apprehended, though they may be partly seen in the light
of modern civilized life; sufficiently seen by aid of that light to
establish confidence that realization will outrun the dreams of the
ancient prophets, all glorious as they seem.
The Book of Mormon throughout is true to this Josephic idea; it is
impregnated with it. Joseph is the central figure throughout. His
spirit runs through the whole scheme of the book. We learn from
the Book of Mormon of a great Seer that is to arise from among the
descendants of this Patriarch Joseph, to bring forth the word of the
Lord to them, a thing quite in keeping with the important part to be
taken by Joseph and his seed in the affairs of the western world in
the last days. The matter is mentioned by Lehi in connection with a
blessing he was giving his own son Joseph, born to him while in the
wilderness, enroute from Palestine to America:
And now, Joseph, my last born, whom I have brought out of the
wilderness of mine afflictions, may the Lord bless thee forever,
for thy seed shall not utterly be destroyed. For behold, thou art
the fruit of my loins; and I am a descendant of Joseph, who was
carried captive into Egypt. And great were the covenants of the
Lord, which he made unto Joseph; wherefore, Joseph truly saw our
day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit
of his loins, the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto
the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to
be broken off; nevertheless to be remembered in the covenants of
the Lord, that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in
the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them
out of darkness unto light; yea, out of hidden darkness and out of
captivity unto freedom. For Joseph truly testified, saying: a Seer
shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice Seer unto the
fruit of my loins. Yea, Joseph truly said, Thus saith the Lord unto
me: A choice Seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins;
and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins. And
unto him will I give commandment, that he shall do a work for the
fruit of thy loins, his brethren, which shall be of great worth
unto them, even to the bringing of them to the knowledge of the
covenants which I have made with thy fathers. And I will give unto
him a commandment, that he shall do none other work, save the work
which I shall command him. And I will make him great in mine eyes;
for he shall do my work. And he shall be great like unto Moses,
whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O
house of Israel. And Moses will I raise up out of the fruit of thy
loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto
the seed of thy loins; and not to the bringing forth my word only,
saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall
have already gone forth among them. Wherefore, the fruit of thy
loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write;
and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also
that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah,
shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines, and
laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit
of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers
in the latter days; and also to the knowledge of my covenants,
saith the Lord. And out of weakness he shall be made strong, in
that day when my work shall commence among all my people, unto the
restoring thee, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.
And thus prophesied Joseph, saying: Behold, that Seer will the Lord
bless; and they, that seek to destroy him, shall be confounded; for
this promise, which I have obtained of the Lord, of the fruit of my
loins, shall be fulfilled. Behold, I am sure of the fulfilling of
this promise. And his name shall be called after me; and it shall
be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for
the things which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the
power of the Lord shall bring forth my people unto salvation. [16]
The reader will observe that this ancient prophecy is fulfilled in
the person of the Prophet Joseph Smith, who, both in his name, his
character and his work, meets completely the terms of the prophecy. [17]
One other matter in connection with the Patriarch Joseph I would
mention, insignificant perhaps in comparison of the greater things we
have been considering, yet really important for that it is made up of
those details so apt to be overlooked by an imposter who would attempt
to palm off upon the world, as a revelation, such a work as the Book of
Mormon.
It will be remembered that after Lehi's colony had journeyed some days
in the wilderness, the prophet-leader sent his sons back to Jerusalem
to obtain a copy of the Hebrew scriptures, and the genealogies of his
fathers. This copy of the scriptures and genealogies the sons of Lehi
obtained from one Laban, a man evidently of some considerable influence
in Jerusalem. This record was written in Egyptian characters. And now
to the point where these facts touch the Josephic idea of the Book of
Mormon.
Joseph, it must be remembered, attained the position of a prince in
Egypt, when that nation was doubtless the first political power of
the world, and in the kingdom was made second only to the Pharaoh
himself, so that he was a man of very high dignity, a fact not likely
to be forgotten by his posterity. He unquestionably was deeply learned
in all things Egyptian, including the written language, most likely
that form of it called the hieratic,--which, as well as the old
hieroglyphics, was used in the Egyptian sacerdotal style of writing.
I think I am justified in the conclusion that Joseph was learned in
this writing since he took to wife Asenath, daughter of the high
priest of Heliopolis, or On, and thus became closely associated with,
if not actually identified with, the priestly caste of Egypt. The
deeply religious character of the Patriarch and of his race would
also naturally interest him in the religious lore of so profoundly a
religious country as Egypt. Is it not possible that these facts would
be an incentive to his posterity to keep alive among them this Egyptian
learning of their great ancestor?
To Joseph, be it remembered, was given the birthright in Israel,
through Ephraim. Laban, of whom the sons of Lehi obtained the Egyptian
records, was a descendant of Joseph, [18] doubtless in line of the
elder sons since he kept the genealogies and also this Egyptian copy of
the holy writings.
Lehi was an Egyptian scholar [19] and was enabled to read this version
of the Hebrew scriptures and his genealogy recorded in Egyptian
characters.
This Egyptian record became the foundation of Nephite sacred
literature, that is, for the most part, their sacred records were
engraven in Egyptian characters, modified somewhat by them and called
the "reformed Egyptian." [20]
Let us consider these facts in condensed and succinct form:--
(1) Joseph, son of Jacob, he becomes a prince in Egypt, marries a
daughter of the prince On, doubtless becomes learned in Egyptian lore.
(2) Undoubtedly these facts would prove an incentive to his posterity
to perpetuate among them the Egyptian learning of their great ancestor.
(3) To Joseph is given the birthright in Israel through his younger
son, Ephraim.
(4) Laban, of whom the sons of Lehi obtained the Egyptian copy of the
Hebrew scriptures and genealogies was a descendant of Joseph, doubtless
in the line of the elder sons since he kept the genealogies and the
Egyptian copy of the holy writings.
(5) Lehi is an Egyptian scholar and is able to read this version of the
Hebrew scriptures.
(6) This Egyptian copy of the Hebrew scriptures becomes the foundation
of the Nephite literature.
Thus we have a series of facts that coalesce remarkably with the claims
made for the Nephite record, that it was written in "reformed," that
is, changed, Egyptian character, yet these circumstances are only
mentioned in an obscure, incidental way. They would never be worked out
by an imposter; and were never referred to by Joseph Smith or any of
his immediate associates as being valuable evidences in support of the
claims of the book. I cannot help thinking, however, that they are so,
and for that reason call attention to them here.
II.
_The prophecies of Isaiah on the Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon._
In the Book of Isaiah's prophecy is found the following remarkable
prediction:
Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken
but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. 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. 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 saith, I cannot; for it
is sealed: and the book is delivered to him that is not leaned,
saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I am not learned.
Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with
their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed
their hearts far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the
precept of men: therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous
work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for
the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding
of their prudent men shall be hid. Woe unto them that seek deep
to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the
dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? Surely your
turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's
clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not?
or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had not
understanding? Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall
be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be a
forest? And 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. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and
the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the
terrible one is brought to naught, and the scorner is consumed,
and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: that make a man an
offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the
gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of naught. Therefore
thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of
Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now
wax pale. But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands,
in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the
Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. They also that
erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured
shall learn doctrine. [21]
In the Book of Mormon we have a Nephite version of this prophecy taken
from the writings of Isaiah which, it will be remembered, were included
in those scriptures which Lehi's colony brought from Jerusalem. The
first Nephi applies this prophecy to the record of his own people, the
Book of Mormon, and the circumstance attendant upon its coming forth in
the last days; all of which will be found in the 27th chapter of second
Nephi. In the Nephite version of the prophecy it is made clear that the
reasons for keeping the original book from the world is the fact that
a portion of it was sealed. The opening verses of the 27th chapter of
II Nephi shift the scene of this prophecy to the land inhabited by the
Nephites, that is, to America, and describes the spiritual darkness
both in that land and in all the nations of the earth, after which the
record says:
And it shall come to pass, that the Lord shall bring forth unto you
the words of a book, and they shall be the words of them which have
slumbered. And behold the book shall be sealed: and in the book
shall be a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to
the end thereof. Wherefore, because of the things which are sealed
up, the things which are sealed shall not be delivered in the day
of the wickedness and abominations of the people. Wherefore the
book shall be kept from them. But the book shall be delivered unto
a man, and he shall deliver the words of the book, which are the
words of those who have slumbered in the dust; and he shall deliver
these words unto another; but the words which are sealed he shall
not deliver, neither shall he deliver the book. For the book shall
be sealed by the power of God, and the revelation which was sealed
shall be kept in the book until the own due time of the Lord, that
they may come forth; for behold, they reveal all things from the
foundation of the world unto the end thereof. And the day cometh
that the words of the book which are sealed shall be read upon the
house tops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ: and all
things shall be revealed unto the children of men, and which ever
will be, even unto the end of the earth. [22]
Then follows the declaration that there shall be Three Special
Witnesses to behold the book by the power of God, and a Few other
Witnesses that shall view it according to the will of God. Following
the description of the coming forth of this book is a description
also of the spiritual awakening among men in much the same order and
phraseology as the latter part of Isaiah's prophecy.
Of course this prophecy was fulfilled in the several events we have
already noted which resulted in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon
and the accompanying testimony of the Witnesses thereof. [23] That is
to say, it was fulfilled in the Nephite record being brought forth,
after so many ages, and becoming, to those who receive it, as the words
of those who have slumbered--the speech out of the ground--the familiar
voice from the dust; by Joseph Smith and Martin Harris delivering the
transcript of characters from the Nephite record to Dr. Samuel Mitchell
and Professor Anthon, "the words of the book that was sealed" were
delivered by men to those that were learned, saying, read this, I pray
you; by the answer of these learned men to the effect--mockingly, on
incidentally learning that the book was sealed--that they could not
read a sealed book; by the book being delivered to the one that was
not learned, Joseph Smith, who marveled that one not learned should be
required to translate the book; by the Lord disdaining those who draw
near to him with their mouths, and with their lips honored him, while
their hearts were far removed from him, and their fear toward him was
taught by the precepts of men; by the Lord proceeding to do a marvelous
work and a wonder, by which the wisdom of the world's wise men became
as naught; by exalting the wisdom of God above the wisdom of men; by
making the deaf to hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the
blind to see out of obscurity; by increasing the joy of the meek in
the Lord, and making the poor among men to rejoice in the Holy One of
Israel; by expressing his scorn for those who make a man an offender
for a word--(does he have in mind those who would reject the Book of
Mormon because of the imperfections of its language?); by declaring the
speedy redemption of the House of Israel--by the return of the favor of
the Lord to Jacob, whose face shall no more wax pale; by making those
who erred in spirit come to understanding, and they that murmured to
learning doctrine--all of which events have followed or are in process
of developing as a sequence to the coming forth of this American
volume of scripture, the record of Joseph, by which the world is being
enlightened upon the enlarged glory of Israel, both passed and that
which is yet to be.
The great difficulty concerning this prophecy being made to apply to
the Nephite record and its coming forth will be in the transference of
its scenes from Palestine to America. The opening verse of the chapter
begins with a reference to Jerusalem:
Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year
to year; let them kill sacrifices. Yet I will distress Ariel, and
there shall be heaviness and sorrow. [24]
"Ariel, the city where David dwelt," too plainly designates Jerusalem
to admit of any doubt; and it would seem that all that immediately
follows would be related to David's city, Jerusalem, that is, the
siege--the destruction--the humiliation--the speaking low out of the
dust--the terrible ones that shall become as chaff--and the destruction
that shall come upon those nations that fight against "Ariel"--all
this, I say, at first glance seems to relate to Jerusalem, or "Ariel,"
and makes the transference of the remaining prophetic parts of the
chapter to America and the coming forth of the Nephite record somewhat
difficult. Still, in the second verse of the chapter there is a sudden
transition from "Ariel" to another place that shall be unto the Lord
"_as_" Ariel; and on this point the late Orson Pratt was wont to say:
The prophet [Isaiah] predicts, first, the distress that should come
upon Ariel, and, secondly, predicts another event that should be
unto the Lord "as Ariel." This last event is expressed in these
words, "And it shall be unto me AS Ariel." How was it with Ariel?
Her people was to be distressed and afflicted with "heaviness and
sorrow." How was it to be with the people or nations who should be
"as Ariel," is clearly portrayed in the 3rd and 4th verses: "And
I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against
thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee; and thou
shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy
speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be as of
one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech
shall whisper out of the dust." Now, we ask, What nation upon the
earth has been visited with a distress resembling that of Ariel
or Jerusalem? We answer that the Book of Mormon informs us that
the nation of Nephites who were a remnant of Joseph inhabited
ancient America, were brought down to the ground by their enemies.
Hundreds of thousands were slaughtered in their terrible wars.
Their distress truly may be said to be "as Ariel." Ariel was sorely
distressed from time to time, and forts and other fortifications
raised against her--similar judgments happened to the remnant of
Joseph. Isaiah does not say that Ariel shall speak out of the
ground, but he clearly shows that the nation which should be
distressed "as Ariel," after being brought down, should speak out
of the ground. The words of the prophets of Jerusalem or Ariel,
never spoke from the ground, their speech was never "low out of
the dust." But the words of the prophets among the remnant of
Joseph have spoken from the ground, and their written "speech" has
whispered out of the dust. [25]
To this also may be added the further reflection that the coming forth
of the Nephite record, the circumstances attendant upon that event, the
results of enlarged knowledge concerning doctrine and the enlightenment
of the world concerning Israel in America, and the future glory that
will attend upon the restoration of that ancient people--all this
blends with the remaining prophecies of Issiah's 29th chapter, and of
which, nowhere else, have we any account of their fulfillment. We must,
therefore, say either that these remarkable prophecies of Isaiah have
not yet been fulfilled, or that they are fulfilled in connection with
the experiences of the Nephites in America, and the coming forth of
their abridged scriptures, the Book of Mormon.
III.
_The Prophecy of Messiah in Relation to the_ "_Other Sheep_"_ than_
Those in Palestine that Must Hear His Voice.
In St. John's gospel we have the following statement and prophecy from
the lips of Messiah himself:
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As
the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father; and I lay down my
life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this
fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and
there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. [26]
The usual explanation of the prophetic part of this passage is that
Jesus here makes reference to the Gentiles as being the other sheep.
One great commentary says:
He means the perishing gentiles already his "sheep" in the love of
his heart and the purpose of his grace to "bring them" in due time.
Then again the phrase "they shall hear my voice" is explained to mean:
This is not the language of mere foresight that they [the Gentiles]
would believe, but the expression of a purpose to draw them to
himself by an inward and efficacious call, which would infallibly
issue in their spontaneous accession to him. [27]
Against this exposition, however, there stands out the fact that
when Jesus was importuned by his apostles to heed the prayers of the
Cananitish woman, in the coasts of Tyre, he said to them: "I am not
sent but unto the lost sheep of the House of Israel." [28] Therefore,
when he says in John, "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold;
them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice and there shall
be one fold and one shepherd," he certainly had reference to some
branch of the House of Israel and not to the Gentiles. When the Messiah
appeared among the Nephites who, it will be remembered, were a branch
of the House of Israel, and a very great branch, too, as we have seen
since they are descendants of Joseph,--Messiah declared that it was in
that visit to the Nephites that the terms of his New Testament prophecy
were fulfilled. The occasion of his making known this truth to the
Nephites was when he chose the Twelve Disciples in the western world,
and gave them their commission. The passage follows:
And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words, he
said unto those twelve whom he had chosen, ye are my disciples;
and ye are a light unto this people, who are a remnant of the
house of Joseph. And behold, this is the land of your inheritance;
and the Father hath given it unto you. And not at any time hath
the Father given me commandment that I should tell it unto your
brethren at Jerusalem; neither at any time hath the Father given
me commandment, that I should tell unto them concerning the other
tribes of the house of Israel, whom the Father hath led away out
of the land. This much did the Father command me, that I should
tell unto them, that other sheep I have, which are not of this
fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice;
and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. And now because
of stiffneckedness and unbelief, they understood not my word:
therefore I was commanded to say no more of the Father concerning
this thing unto them. But, verily, I say unto you, that the Father
hath commanded me, and I tell it unto you, that ye were separated
from among them because of their iniquity; therefore it is because
of their iniquity, that they know not of you. And verily, I say
unto you again, that the other tribes hath the Father separated
from them; and it is because of their [the Jews'] iniquity, that
they knew not of them. And verily, I say unto you, that ye are they
of whom I said, other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them
also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be
one fold, and one shepherd. [29]
In view of the fact already pointed out that Jesus could not have had
reference to the Gentiles in this prophecy concerning "other sheep,"
I may say of this prophecy as I did of those in the 29th chapter of
Isaiah, that either we must say that we have no knowledge of the
fulfillment of this very remarkable New Testament prediction, or else
we must say that it had its fulfillment as the Book of Mormon teaches,
in the advent and ministry of Jesus to the branch of the House of
Israel in America.
I have pursued the matter of evidence and argument from the Jewish
scriptures to the truth of the Book of Mormon as far as it was my
original purpose to do so, referring those who care to enter more
minutely into this branch of the subject to the treatment of other
Elders who have devoted their works to it. [30]
Footnotes
1. One of the earliest writers in the Church in support of the claims
of the Book of Mormon was Elder Charles Thompson. He published a work
at Batavia, N. Y., in 1841 consisting of 250 pages. The title of the
book was "Evidences in Proof of the Book of Mormon Being a Divinely
Inspired Record, Written by the Forefathers of the Natives Whom we Call
Indians." It dwells at length on the scripture proofs of the divine
authenticity of the book, the nature of which may be judged from the
following statement of what the author expects to prove:
"In treating on this subject, I shall observe the following order, viz:
I shall first prove by the Prophets, that God will literally gather
Israel, the literal seed of Jacob, from all nations, unto their own
land, which God gave unto their fathers, by promise.
"Second: When he shall set his hand to bring to pass this gathering,
he will first lift up an ensign on the mountains for the nations--set
up his standard to the people, and set a sign among them. And then
immediately he will commission officers and send them to the nations,
bearing this ensign, to declare his glory among the Gentiles, and to
fish out and hunt up Israel, and bring them to their own land for an
offering unto the Lord.
"Third: The ensign, standard, and sign, consists of a book--a record of
the tribe of Joseph, taken by the Lord and put with the Bible (that is,
published to the nations as the Bible now is).
"Fourth: This record of Joseph is to come out of the earth in America
because Ephraim's seed dwell there.
"Fifth: America is a promised land to Joseph, and God brought a remnant
of his seed here to possess it.
"Sixth: God will make use of men as instruments in bringing this book
forth.
"Seventh: This generation is the time when this gathering is to take
place; consequently the time when this book is to come forth.
"Eighth: The Book of Mormon is this book, and the Elders of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are the officers commissioned to
bear this sign to the nations, and to declare God's glory among the
gentiles and gather Israel." (Evidences in Proof of the Book of Mormon,
pp. 7, 8).
The writings of Elders Parley P. Pratt (who preceded Elder Thompson in
this field by three or four years), and Orson Pratt upon this subject,
the first in the Voice of Warning, 1837; the second in his work on
Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon, England, 1850-1, are too
well known to require any summary as their works are still current.
2. Jeremiah xxxi: 9.
3. I. Chronicles v: 1, 2.
4. Genesis xlviii: 12-20.
5. Genesis xlix: 22-26.
6. Deut. xxxiii: 13-18.
7. I have already, at pages 167-8, and note, called attention to the
fact that the colony of Lehi was made up of families from the tribes of
Ephraim and Manasseh respectively. Orson Pratt also says, "The American
Indians are partly of the children of Manasseh though many of them are
of Ephraim through the two sons of Ishmael who came out of Jerusalem
600 B. C., and some of Judah through the loins of David and the kings
that reigned over Jerusalem." Pratt's Works, pp. 92; see also chapter
XXXIX and footnotes.
8. The reason that Alma, born late in the second century B. C., is
the first one mentioned of the Nephite warriors is not because he
was the first distinguished member of that class among the Nephites,
but because the secular history of the Nephites for the first four
centuries of their annals was lost through the criminal carelessness of
Martin Harris when he lost the 116 pages of manuscript which was the
translation of the first part of Mormon's abridgment of that Nephite
secular history. We have its place occupied by the translation of the
Smaller Plates of Nephi which record gives prominence to spiritual
things and to spiritual characters. (I. Nephi xix: 3, 4). But as
"there were brave men before Aggamemnon," so also doubtless there were
warriors among the Nephites before Alma, but in consequence of not
having a translation of the part of the record which dealt with the
affairs of government and of wars, they remain for the present, unknown
to us.
9. Not Moroni, the son of Mormon.
10. Alma xxxix: 17-19, I. Nephi xxv: 23-26, Mosiah iii: 13.
11. Chapters xxvi and xxvii.
12. III. Nephi xv: 12, 13.
13. III. Nephi xx: 21, 22.
14. III. Nephi xxi: 20-25.
15. Ether xiii: 5-8.
16. II. Nephi iii: 3-15.
I am not unmindful of the fact that the objector, with some show of
reason, could say that it would be an easy matter for an imposter to
set down such a prophecy as this--one that would coalesce with the
facts of his own life and claim it as a fulfillment of prophecy, and
hence an evidence of his calling. The shallowness of such a position
is, of course, apparent, but it is not in this way that I refer to the
circumstance, but to call attention to the fact that it is in harmony
with this Josephic idea of the Book of Mormon, and I am not at all
relying upon it in my argument as being a fulfillment of prophecy.
17. Compare I. Nephi i: 1-2. Mosiah i: 1-4. Mormon ix: 32-33.
18. "And thus my father, Lehi, did discover the genealogy of his
fathers; and Laban also was a descendant of Joseph, wherefore he and
his fathers had kept the records." I. Nephi v: 16.
19. I. Nephi i: 2. Mosiah i: 4.
20. Mormon ix: 32, 33.
21. Isaiah xxix: 9-24.
22. II. Nephi xxvii: 6-11.
23. See Vol. II, chapters iv and v.
24. Isaiah xxix: 1-2.
25. Orson Pratt's Works, p. 11.
26. St. John x: 14-16.
27. Commentary, Critical and Explanatory of the Old and New Testaments,
by Rev. Jamieson, Fausett and Brown, on St. John, ch. x. See also
Eidersheim's Life of Jesus, Vol. II., p. 192, where substantially the
same view is held.
28. Matt. xv: 24.
29. III. Nephi xv: 11-21.
30. For reference to such works see footnote, pp. 93-94.
CHAPTER XXXVI
EXTERNAL EVIDENCES.--THE EVIDENCE OF THE CHURCH.
The evidence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the
Book of Mormon grows out of the relation of the book to the Church.
That is to say, the Church is a sequence of the coming forth of the
book. Not that a description of the Church organization as we known it
is found in the book, or that its officers or their functions are named
in it, much less that the extent and limitations of their authority
are pointed out in it. All that pertains to the Church organization,
and largely to the development of its doctrines, all that pertains
to the Church, in fact, comes of a series of direct revelations to
Joseph Smith subsequent to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
These revelations were given for the specific purpose of bringing
into existence the Church as it now exists, the depository of the
divine authority, in the new dispensation, and the instrumentality
for proclaiming the truth to the world, and perfecting the lives of
those who receive it. The Church, in other words, is the after-work
of the inspired Prophet who translated the Nephite record into the
English language. Bringing into existence the Church and developing
its doctrines was the continuation of the work that began with the
first vision of Joseph Smith, the visitation of the angel Moroni,
and the translation and publication of the Nephite record. Does this
continuation of the work as seen in the organization of the Church and
the development of its doctrines justify the expectations awakened by
the Book of Mormon, and the manner of its coming forth? Has anything
worth while come because of the revelation of the Book of Mormon?
The principle, "By their fruits ye shall know them" may have a wider
application than making it a mere test of ethical systems or of
religious teachers. It may be applied as a test to anything claiming to
be a truth. So that what has resulted from the coming forth of the Book
of Mormon, is a question of importance. The answer to that question
may do much either for the book's vindication or its condemnation; may
establish its truth or prove it to be utterly unworthy of its claim to
divine origin. I hold it to be a self-evident truth that a revelation
from God must not only contain matter within itself that concerns
men to know and that is worthy of God to reveal, but it must lead to
results worthy of revelation and worthy of God. It is here therefore
that the Church becomes a witness to the truth of the Book of Mormon;
for while neither the Church organization nor all its doctrines come
immediately from a description of either of these in the book's pages,
yet the Church is an outgrowth of that movement of which the Book of
Mormon may be said to be an important factor. The Book of Mormon cannot
be true and the Church of Christ fail to come into existence as an
accompanying fact. Indeed, several predictions in the Book of Mormon
clearly indicate the establishment of the Church as a sequence to the
coming forth of that record, as witness the following:
And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall commence his work
among all nations, kindred, tongues and people, to bring about the
restoration of his people upon the earth. [1]
The Savior, also, in predicting the accomplishment of his work in the
last days, when the Nephite record should come forth, in speaking of
the Gentiles among whom it should be brought forth, says:
If they will repent, and hearken unto my words, I will establish my
church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant, and be
numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given
this land for their inheritance. [2]
To the first Nephi, also, it was given to behold the establishment of
the church of Christ in the last days, for he said:
I beheld the church of the Lamp of God, and its numbers were few. *
* * * nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were
the Saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and
their dominions were small, because of the wickedness of the great
whore whom I saw. [3]