THE PROPHET JOSEPH'S STATEMENT.
Perhaps it was the force of habit as well as the impelling power of
desire that caused the group, with whom we are now so familiar, again
to assemble at the place made somewhat memorable by recent events--the
verandah fronting the Marshall mansion. All the persons hitherto named,
excepting, of course, the minister, were present; that gentleman had
not only taken his departure from the house, but doubtless from the
town also.
It was Sunday evening, the weather was perfect, all things seemed
conducive to harmony, and a most pleasurable occasion, it being perhaps
the last they would enjoy together. The doctor and lawyer were so
anxious to begin the conversation that they could scarcely wait for all
to be seated; they desired to improve the opportunity, and learn what
they could of other principles of the missionary's faith.
"Mr. Durant," finally said the doctor, "we have listened with much
pleasure to different conversations with you since your arrival and
these have awakened a lively interest within us, and as there is
nothing to prevent this evening, we thought it would not be at all
unpleasant to you to spend an hour or so in answering what to us
appears to be some very important questions concerning the faith of the
so-called Mormons."
"I assure you it will be pleasant to me, indeed. I am here for that
purpose, and the more questions I have an opportunity to answer, the
better and more successfully will I perform my duty. Could I read your
thoughts and know what you desire explained, I assure you nothing would
be left untold; but this not being the case, I rely upon you to make
enquiries and will request that you keep nothing back, and I will be
honest in giving any information that I am capable of imparting."
"I am now inclined to believe," said the doctor, "after our experience
with you, that, like most of the good people of this nation we have
been in possession of only one side of the question regarding your
people. Never having heard, from your standpoint, the claims of Mr.
Joseph Smith, the founder of your Church, in regard to his being a
prophet, we would be pleased to learn what he said on this question."
"This is a frankness which I appreciate very much. As a general
thing, the majority of the people, when desirous of knowing anything
concerning us, are prone to ask any other person on earth than a
Mormon. They do not seem to think for a moment that we ourselves might
be able to place them in possession of the most reliable information on
the subject. Joseph Smith's claim to being divinely inspired to open up
a new dispensation of the gospel, is here given in his own statement so
that you will be getting it direct from the fountain head."
"By all means, read it," said two or three in concert; "there will then
be no room for misrepresentation."
"Joseph Smith has made the following statement regarding the subject,"
continued Durant:
"Owing to the many reports which have been put in circulation by
evil designing persons in relation to the rise and progress of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, all of which have been
designed by the authors thereof to militate against its character
as a Church, and its progress in the world, I have been induced
to write this history, so as to disabuse the public mind, and put
all inquirers after truth in possession of the facts as they have
transpired in relation both to myself and the Church so far as I
have such facts in possession.
"In this history I will present the various events in relation to
this Church, in truth and righteousness, as they have transpired,
or as they at present exist, being now the eighth year since the
organization of the said Church.
"I was born in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
five, on the twenty-third day of December, in the town of Sharon,
Windsor County, State of Vermont. My father, Joseph Smith, senior,
left the State of Vermont, and moved to Palmyra, Ontario (now
Wayne) County, in the State of New York, when I was in my tenth
year. In about four years after my father's arrival at Palmyra,
he moved with his family into Manchester, in the same County of
Ontario. His family consisted of eleven souls, namely: my father,
Joseph Smith, my mother, Lucy Smith (whose name previous to her
marriage was Mack, daughter of Solomon Mack), my brothers Alvin
(who is now dead), Hyrum, myself, Samuel Harrison, William, Don
Carlos, and my sisters Sophronia, Catherine, and Lucy,
"Some time in the second year after our removal to Manchester,
there was in the place where we lived an unusual excitement on
the subject of religion. It commenced with the Methodists, but
soon became general among all the sects in that region of country;
indeed the whole district of country seemed affected by it, and
great multitude united themselves to the different religious
parties, which created no small stir and division amongst the
people, some crying, Lo, here, and some, Lo there; some were
contending for the Methodist faith, some for the Presbyterian,
and some for the Baptists'. For notwithstanding the great love
which the converts for these different faiths expressed at the
time of their conversion, and the great zeal manifested by their
respected clergy, who were active in getting up and promoting
this extraordinary scene of religious feeling, in order to have
everybody converted, as they were pleased to call it, let them
join what sect they pleased: yet when the converts began to file
off, some to one party, and some to another, it was seen that
the seemingly good feelings of both the priests and the converts
were more pretended than real, for a scene of great confusion and
bad feeling ensued priest contending against priest, and convert
against convert, so that all the good feelings one for another, if
they ever had any, were entirely lost in a strife of words, and a
contest about opinions.
"I was at this time in my fifteenth year. My father's family was
proselyted to the Presbyterian faith, and four of them joined
that church, namely, my mother, Lucy, my brothers Hyrum, Samuel
Harrison, and my sister Sophronia.
"During this time of great excitement, my mind was called up to
serious reflection and great uneasiness; but though my feelings
were deep and often pungent, still I kept myself aloof from all
those parties, though I attended their several meetings as often
as occasion would permit; but in process of time my mind became
somewhat partial to the Methodist sect, and I felt some desire to
be united with them, but so great was the confusion and strife
among the different denominations, that it was impossible for a
person, young as I was, and so unacquainted with men and things, to
come to any certain conclusion who was right, and who was wrong. My
mind at different times was greatly excited, the cry and tumult was
so great and incessant. The Presbyterians were most decided against
the Baptists and Methodists, and used all their powers of either
reason or sophistry to prove their errors, or, at least, to make
the people think they were in error. On the other hand the Baptists
and Methodists, in their turn, were equally zealous to establish
their own tenets and disprove all others.
"In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often
said to myself, What is to be done? Who of all these parties are
right? Or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be
right, which is it, and how shall I know it?
"While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties, caused by the
contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading
the Epistle of James, first chapter, and fifth verse, which reads,
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth unto
all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.
Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the
heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter
with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on
it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from
God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get
more wisdom than I then had, would never know; for the teachers
of religion of the different sects understood the same passage so
differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question
by an appeal to the Bible. At length I came to the conclusion that
I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do
as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the
determination to ask of God, concluding that if He gave wisdom to
them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally and not upbraid,
I might venture. So, in accordance with this, my determination to
ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was
on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of
eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that
I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never
as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.
"After I had retired into the place where I had previously designed
to go, having looked around me and finding myself alone, I kneeled
down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had
scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power
which entirely overcame me, and had such astonishing influence
over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick
darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if
I were doomed to sudden destruction. But exerting all my powers to
call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which
had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to
sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction, not to an
imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the
unseen world, who had such a marvelous power as I had never before
felt in any being. Just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a
pillar of light exactly over my head above the brightness of the
sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner
appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me
bound. When the light rested upon me, I saw two personages, whose
brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in
the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said
(pointing to the other), 'THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, HEAR HIM.'
"My object in going to enquire of the Lord, was to know which
of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No
sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be
able to speak, than I asked the personages who stood above me in
the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it
had never entered into my heart that all were wrong), and which
I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for
they were all wrong, and the personage who addressed me said that
all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those
professors were all corrupt. They draw near to me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrine the
commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the
power thereof.
"He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other
things did he say unto me which I cannot write at this time. When I
came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up
into heaven.
"Some few days after I had this vision, I happened to be in company
with one of the Methodist preachers who was very active in the
before mentioned religious excitement, and conversing with him on
the subject of religion, I took occasion to give him an account
of the vision which I had had. I was greatly surprised at his
behavior; he treated my communication not only lightly, but with
great contempt, saying it was all of the devil, that there were no
such things as visions or revelations in these days; that all such
things had ceased with the apostles, and that there never would be
any more of them.
"I soon found, however, that my telling the story had excited a
great deal of prejudice against me among professors of religion,
and was the cause of great persecution, which continued to
increase; and though I was an obscure boy, only between fourteen
and fifteen years of age, and my circumstances in life such as to
make a boy of no consequence in the world, yet men of high standing
would take notice sufficient to excite the public mind against me,
and create a hot persecution, and this was common among all sects;
all united to persecute me.
"It has often caused me serious reflection, both then and since,
how very strange it was that an obscure boy of a little over
fourteen years of age, and one, too, who was doomed to the
necessity of obtaining a scanty maintenance by his daily labor,
should be thought a character of sufficient importance to attract
the attention of the great ones of the most popular sects of the
day, so as to create in them a spirit of the hottest persecution
and reviling. But strange or not, so it was, and was often a
cause of great sorrow to myself. However it was nevertheless, a
fact that I had had a vision. I have thought since, that I felt
much like Paul when he made his defense before King Agrippa, and
related the account of the vision he had when he saw a light and
heard a voice, but still there were but few who believed him;
some said he was dishonest, others said he was mad, and he was
ridiculed and reviled: but all this did not destroy the reality
of his vision. He had seen a vision, he knew he had, and all the
persecution under heaven could not make it otherwise; and though
they should persecute him unto death, yet he knew and would know
unto his latest breath that he had both seen a light and heard a
voice speaking to him, and all the world could not make him think
or believe otherwise.
"So it was with me; I had actually seen a light, and in the midst
of that light I saw two personages, and they did in reality speak
unto me, or one of them did; and though I was hated and persecuted
for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and while
they were persecuting me, reviling me and speaking all manner of
evil against me, falsely, for so saying, I was led to say in my
heart, Why persecute for telling the truth? I have actually seen
a vision, and who am I that I can withstand God? Or why does the
world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had
seen a vision. I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could
not deny it, neither dare I do it; at least I knew that by so doing
I would offend God and come under condemnation.
"I had now got my mind satisfied so far as the sectarian world was
concerned, that it was not my duty to join with any of them, but
continue as I was until further directed; I had found the testimony
of James to be true, that a man who lacked wisdom might ask of
God, and obtain and not be upbraided. I continued to pursue my
common avocations in life until the twenty-first of September, one
thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, all the time suffering
severe persecution at the hands of all classes of men, both
religious and irreligious, because I continued to affirm that I had
seen a vision.
"During the space of time which intervened between the time I
had the vision, and the year eighteen hundred and twenty-three
(having been forbidden to join any of the religious sects of the
day, and being of very tender years, and persecuted by those who
ought to have been my friends, and to have treated me kindly,
and if they supposed me to be deluded to have endeavored, in a
proper and affectionate manner, to have reclaimed me), I was
left to all kinds of temptations, and mingling with all kinds of
society, I frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed
the weakness of youth, and the corruption of human nature,
which I am sorry to say led me into divers temptations, to the
gratification of many appetites offensive in the sight of God. In
consequence of these things I often felt condemned for my weakness
and imperfections; when on the evening of the above mentioned
twenty-first of September, after I had retired to my bed for the
night, I betook myself to prayer and supplication to Almighty
God, for forgiveness of all my sins and follies, and also for a
manifestation to me, that I might know of my state and standing
before him; for I had full confidence in obtaining a divine
manifestation, as I had previously had one.
"While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a
light appearing in the room, which continued to increase until the
room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage
appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did
not touch the floor. He had on a loose robe of most exquisite
whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever
seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to
appear so exceedingly white and brilliant; his hands were naked,
and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so also were his feet
naked, as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His head and
neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing
on but this robe, as it was open, so that I could see into his
bosom.
"Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person
was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like
lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright
as immediately around his person. When I first looked upon him I
was afraid, but the fear soon left me. He called me by name and
said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of
God to me, and that his name was Moroni. That God had a work for
me to do, and that my name should be had for good and evil among
all nations, kindreds, and tongues; or that it should be both good
and evil spoken of among all people. He said there was a book
deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the
former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence
they sprang. He also said that the fullness of the everlasting
Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the
ancient inhabitants. Also that there were two stones in silver bows
(and these stones, fastened to a breast plate, constituted what is
called the Urim and Thummim,) deposited with the plates, and the
possession and use of these stones was what constituted Seers in
ancient or former times, and that God had prepared them for the
purpose of translating the book.
"After telling me these things, he commenced quoting the prophecies
of the Old Testament. He first quoted part of the third chapter of
Malachi, and he quoted also the fourth or last chapter of the same
prophecy, though with a little variation from the way it reads in
our Bibles. Instead of quoting the first verse as it reads in our
books, he quoted it thus: 'For behold, the day cometh that shall
burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly,
shall burn as stubble, for they that come shall burn them, saith
the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor
branch.' And again, he quoted the fifth verse thus: 'Behold I will
reveal unto you the priesthood by the hand of Elijah the prophet,
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.' He
also quoted the next verse differently: 'And he shall plant in the
hearts of the children, the promises made to the fathers, and the
of hearts the children shall turn to their fathers; if it were not
so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at His coming.'
"In addition to these, he quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah,
saying that it was about to be fulfilled. He quoted also the third
chapter of Acts, twenty-second and twenty-third verses, precisely
as they stand in our New Testament. He said that prophet was
Christ, but the day had not yet come when they who would not hear
His voice should be cut off from among the people, but soon would
come.
"He also quoted the second chapter of Joel, from the twenty-eighth
to the last verse. He also said that this was not yet fulfilled,
but was soon to be. And he further stated, the fullness of the
Gentiles was soon to come in. He quoted many other passages of
scripture, and offered many explanations which cannot be mentioned
here. Again, he told me that when I got those plates of which he
had spoken (for the time that they should be obtained was not
yet fulfilled) I should not show them to any person, neither the
breastplate with the Urim and Thummim, only to those to whom I
should be commanded to show them; if I did I should be destroyed.
While he was conversing with me about the plates, the vision was
opened to my mind that I could see the place where the plates were
deposited, and that so clearly and distinctly, that I knew the
place again when I visited it.
"After this communication, I saw the light in the room begin to
gather immediately around the person of him who had been speaking
to me, and it continued to do so, until the room was again left
dark, except just around him, when instantly I saw, as it were,
a conduit open right up into heaven, and he ascended up till he
entirely disappeared, and the room was left as it had been before
this heavenly light had made its appearance.
"I lay musing on the singularity of the scene, and marveling
greatly at what had been told me by this extraordinary messenger,
when, in the midst of my meditation, I suddenly discovered that
my room was again beginning to get lighted, and in an instant, as
it were, the same heavenly messenger was again by my bedside. He
commenced, and again related the very same things which he had
done at his first visit, without the least variation, which having
done, he informed me of great judgments which were coming upon the
earth, with great desolations by famine, sword, and pestilence,
and that these grievous judgments would come on the earth in this
generation. Having related these things, he again ascended as he
had done before.
"By this time, so deep were the impressions made on my mind, that
sleep had fled from my eyes, and I lay overwhelmed in astonishment
at what I had both seen and heard; but what was my surprise when
again I beheld the same messenger at my bedside, and heard him
rehearse or repeat over again to me the same things as before, and
added a caution to me, telling me that Satan would try to tempt
me (in consequence of the indigent circumstances of my father's
family) to get the plates for the purpose of getting rich. This
he forbade me, saying that I must have no other object in view in
getting the plates but to glorify God, and must not be influenced
by any other motive but that of building his kingdom, otherwise
I could not get them. After this third visit, he again ascended
up into heaven as before, and I was again left to ponder on the
strangeness of what I had just experienced, when almost immediately
after the heavenly messenger had ascended from me the third time,
the cock crew, and I found that day was approaching, so that our
interviews must have occupied the whole of that night, I shortly
after arose from my bed, and, as usual, went to the necessary
labors of the day, but, in attempting to labor as at other times, I
found my strength so exhausted as rendered me entirely unable. My
father, who was laboring along with me, discovered something to be
wrong with me, and told me to go home. I started with the intention
of going to the house, but, in attempting to cross the fence out
of the field where we were, my strength entirely failed me, and I
fell helpless on the ground, and for a time was quite unconscious
of anything. The first thing that I can recollect, was a voice
speaking unto me, calling me by name; I looked up and beheld the
same messenger standing over my head, surrounded by light, as
before. He then again related unto me all that he had related to me
the previous night, and commanded me to go to my father, and tell
him of the vision and commandment which I had received.
"I obeyed, I returned back to my father in the field and rehearsed
the whole matter to him. He replied to me that it was of God, and
to go and do as commanded by the messenger. I left the field and
went to the place where the messenger had told me the plates were
deposited, and owing to the distinctness of the vision which I had
had concerning it, I knew the place the instant that I arrived
there. Convenient to the village of Manchester, Ontario County, New
York, stands a hill of considerable size, and the most elevated of
any in the neighborhood. On the west side of this hill, not far
from the top, under a stone of considerable size, lay the plates,
deposited in a stone box; this stone was thick and rounding in the
middle on the upper side, and thinner towards the edges, so that
the middle part of it was visible above the ground, but the edge
all round was covered with earth. Having removed the earth and
obtained a lever, which I got fixed under the edge of the stone,
and with a little exertion raised it up; I looked in, and there
indeed did I behold the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the
breastplate as stated by the messenger. The box in which they lay
was formed by laying stones together in some kind of cement. In the
bottom of the box were laid two stones crossways of the box, and on
these stones lay the plates and the other things with them. I made
an attempt to take them out, but was forbidden by the messenger,
and was again informed that the time for bringing them forth had
not yet arrived, neither would arrive until four years from that
time; but he told me that I should come to that place precisely in
one year from that time, and that he would there meet with me, and
that I should continue to do so, until the time should come for
obtaining the plates.
"Accordingly as I had been commanded, I went at the end of each
year, and at each time I found the same messenger there, and
received instruction and intelligence from him at each of our
interviews, respecting what the Lord was going to do, and how and
in what manner his kingdom was to be conducted in the last days.
"As my father's worldly circumstances were very limited, we were
under the necessity of laboring with our hands, hiring by day's
work and otherwise as we could get opportunity; sometimes we were
at home and sometimes abroad, and by continued labor were enabled
to get a comfortable maintenance.
"In the year 1824, my father's family met with a great affliction,
by the death of my eldest brother, Alvin. In the month of October,
1825, I hired with an old gentleman, by the name of Josiah Stoal,
who lived in Chenango County, State of New York. He had heard
something of a silver mine having been opened by the Spaniards,
in Harmony, Susquehanna County, State of Pennsylvania, and had,
previous to my hiring with him, been digging, in order, if
possible, to discover the mine. After I went to live with him he
took me among the rest of his hands to dig for the silver mine, at
which I continued to work for nearly a month without success in
our undertaking, and finally I prevailed with the old gentleman to
cease digging after it. Hence arose the very prevalent story of my
having been a money digger.
"During the time that I was thus employed, I was put to board with
a Mr. Isaac Hale, of that place; it was there that I first saw my
wife (his daughter) Emma Hale. On the 18th of January, 1827, we
were married, while yet I was employed in the service of Mr. Stoal.
"Owing to my still continuing to assert that I had seen a vision,
persecution still followed me, and my wife's father's family were
very much opposed to our being married. I was therefore under the
necessity of taking her elsewhere, so we went and were married at
the house of Squire Tarbill, in South Bainbridge, Chenango County,
New York. Immediately after my marriage, I left Mr. Stoal's and
went to my father's and farmed with him that season.
"At length the time arrived for obtaining the plates, the Urim and
Thummim, and the Breastplate. On the 22nd day of September, 1827,
having gone, as usual, at the end of another year, to the place
where they were deposited, the same heavenly messenger delivered
them up to me with this charge, that I should be responsible for
them; that if I should let them go carelessly or through any
neglect of mine, I should be cut off; but that if I would use all
my endeavors to preserve them, until he, the messenger, should call
for them, they should be protected.
"I soon found out the reason why I had received such strict charges
to keep them safe, and why it was that the messenger had said,
that when I had done what was required at my hand, he would call
for them; for no sooner was it known that I had them, than the
most strenuous exertions were used to get them from me; every
stratagem that could be invented was resorted to for that purpose;
the persecution became more bitter and severe than before, and
multitudes were on the alert continually to get them from me if
possible; but, by the wisdom of God, they remained safe in my
hands, until I had accomplished by them what was required at my
hand; when according to arrangements, the messenger called for
them, I delivered them up to him, and he has them in his charge
until this day, being the 2nd of May, 1838.
"The excitement, however, still continued, and rumor, with her
thousand tongues, was all the time employed in circulating many
tales about my father's family and about myself. If I were to
relate a thousandth part of them, it would fill up volumes. The
persecution, however, became so intolerable that I was under
the necessity of leaving Manchester, and going with my wife to
Susquehanna County, in the State of Pennsylvania; while preparing
to start (being very poor, and the persecution so heavy upon us,
that there was no probability that we would ever be otherwise),
in the midst of our afflictions we found a friend in a gentleman
by the name of Martin Harris, who came to us and gave me fifty
dollars to assist us in our afflictions. Mr. Harris was a resident
of Palmyra Township, Wayne County, in the State of New York, and
a farmer of respectability. By this timely aid was I enabled to
reach the place of my destination in Pennsylvania, and immediately
after my arrival there I commenced copying the characters of the
plates. I copied a considerable number of them, and by means of the
Urim and Thummim I translated some of them, which I did between the
time I arrived at the house of my wife's father in the month of
December, and the February following.
"Some time in this month of February, the aforementioned Mr. Martin
Harris came to our place, got the characters which I had drawn off
the plates, and started with them to the city of New York. For what
took place relative to him and the characters, I refer to his own
account of the circumstances as he related them to me after his
return, which was as follows--
"'I went to the city of New York, and presented the characters
which had been translated, with the translation thereof, to
Professor Anthon, a gentleman celebrated for his literary
attainments. Professor Anthon stated that the translation was
correct, more so than any he had before seen translated from the
Egyptian. I then showed him those which were not yet translated,
and he said that they were Egyptian, Chaldaic, Assyric, and Arabic,
and he said that they were the true characters. He gave me a
certificate certifying to the people of Palmyra that they were true
characters, and that the translation of such of them as had been
translated was also correct. I took the certificate and put it into
my pocket, and was just leaving the house, when Mr. Anthon called
me back, and asked me how the young man found out that there were
gold plates in the place where he found them. I answered that an
angel of God had revealed it to him.
"'He then said unto me, 'Let me see that certificate.' I
accordingly took it out of my pocket and gave it to him, when he
took it and tore it to pieces, saying that there was no such thing
now as ministering of angels, and that if I would bring the plates
to him, he would translate them. I informed him that part of the
plates were sealed, and that I was forbidden to bring them; he
replied, 'I cannot read a sealed book.' I left him and went to Dr.
Mitchell, who sanctioned what Professor Anthon had said respecting
both the characters and the translation.'
"On the 15th day of April, 1829, Oliver Cowdery came to my house,
until when I had never seen him. He stated to me that having been
teaching school in the neighborhood where my father resided, and my
father being one of those who sent to the school, he went to board
for a season at his house, and while there, the family related to
him the circumstances of my having the plates, and accordingly he
had come to make inquiries of me.
"Two days after the arrival of Mr. Cowdery, (being the 17th of
April,) I commenced to translate the Book of Mormon, and he
commenced to write for me.
"We still continued the work of translation, when, in the ensuing
month, (May, 1829,) we on a certain day went into the woods to
pray and inquire of the Lord respecting baptism for the remission
of sins, as we found mentioned in the translation of the plates.
While we were thus employed, praying and calling upon the Lord, a
messenger from heaven descended in a cloud of light, and having
laid his hands upon us, he ordained us, saying unto us, '_Upon you,
my fellow-servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood
of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and
of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the
remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the
earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the
Lord in righteousness_.' He said this Aaronic Priesthood had not
the power of laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, but
that this should be conferred on us hereafter; and he commanded us
to go and be baptized, and gave us directions that I should baptize
Oliver Cowdery, and afterwards that he should baptize me.
"Accordingly we went and were baptized--I baptized him first, and
afterwards he baptized me--after which I laid my hands upon his
head and ordained him to the Aaronic Priesthood, and afterwards he
laid his hands on me and ordained me to the same Priesthood for so
we were commanded.
"The messenger who visited us on this occasion, and conferred this
Priesthood upon us, said his name was John, the same that is called
John the Baptist in the New Testament, and that he acted under
the direction of Peter, James, and John, who held the keys of the
Priesthood of Melchisedec, which Priesthood, he said, should in
due time be conferred on us, and that I should be called the first
elder and he the second. It was on the 15th day of May, 1829, that
we were baptized and ordained under the hand of the messenger.
"Immediately upon our coming up out of the water, after we had
been baptized, we experienced great and glorious blessings from
our Heavenly Father. No sooner had I baptized Oliver Cowdery than
the Holy Ghost fell upon him, and he stood up and prophesied many
things which would shortly come to pass. And again, so soon as I
had been baptized by him, I also had the spirit of prophecy, when,
standing up, I prophesied concerning the rise of the Church, and
many other things connected with the Church and this generation
of the children of men. We were filled with the Holy Ghost, and
rejoiced in the God of our salvation.
"Our minds being now enlightened, we began to have the scriptures
laid open to our understandings, and the true meaning of their
more mysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner which we
never could attain to previously, nor ever before had thought of.
In the meantime we were forced to keep secret the circumstances of
our having been baptized and having received the Priesthood, owing
to a spirit of persecution which had already manifested itself in
the neighborhood. We had been threatened with being mobbed, from
time to time, and this, too, by professors of religion. And their
intentions of mobbing us were only counteracted by the influence of
my wife's father's family (under Divine Providence,) who had become
very friendly to me, and who were opposed to mobs, and were willing
that I should be allowed to continue the work of translation
without interruption; and therefore offered and promised us
protection from all unlawful proceedings as far as in them lay."
"Have you any further proofs to offer respecting the divine
authenticity of this book you refer to?"
"Yes, we have evidence sufficient to establish its divinity beyond
doubt, before any impartial court on earth. I will read you from one
of our books the voluntary testimony of witnesses who have not; been
impeached, as follows:
THE TESTIMONY OF THREE WITNESSES.
"Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people unto
whom this work shall come, that we, through the grace of God the
Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which
contain this record, which is a record of the people of Nephi, and
also of the Lamanites, their brethren, and also of the people of
Jared, who came from the tower of which hath been spoken; and we
also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of
God, for his voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a
surety that the work is true. And we also testify that we have seen
the engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been shewn
unto us by the power of God, and not of man. And we declare with
words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and
he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the
plates, and the engravings thereon; and we know that it is by the
grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld
and bear record that these things are true; and it is marvellous
in our eyes, nevertheless the voice of the Lord commanded us that
we should bear record of it; wherefore, to be obedient unto the
commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And we know
that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the
blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment-seat
of Christ, and shall dwell with him eternally in the heavens. And
the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,
which is one God. Amen.
OLIVER COWDERY, DAVID WHITMER, MARTIN HARRIS.
"Can you give us any other evidences respecting this record?"
"Yes, here is also the testimony of eight additional witnesses, who
declare they saw the plates."
AND ALSO THE TESTIMONY OP EIGHT WITNESSES.
"Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people unto
whom this work shall come, that Joseph Smith, Jun., the translator
of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been
spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the
leaves as the said Smith has translated, we did handle with our
hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the
appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And this we
bear record with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shown
unto us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the
said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken. And we give
our names unto the world, to witness unto the world that which we
have seen; and we lie not, God bearing witness of it.
CHRISTIAN WHITMER, HIRAM PAGE, JACOB WHITMER, JOSEPH SMITH, SEN.,
PETER WHITMER, JUN., HYRUM SMITH, JOHN WHITMER, SAMUEL H. SMITH.
"There is one point," said Brown, "upon which I would like to hear
further: it is the restoration, before mentioned. If these things are
true, then the gospel was not upon the earth at the time of Joseph
Smith's birth, and, as you will admit, the Church was organized in the
days of Christ and left on the earth when He ascended on high: the
question then arises, how the Gospel was it taken from the earth?"
"Let me give you another quotation from the Bible on the subject," said
the Elder. "'From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of
heaven suffereth violence; and the violent take it by force.' (Matthew
xi: 12.) By parity of reasoning where would our own government be
if subjected to similar treatment? Suppose, that instead of Christ
being crucified, it were the President, that the Cabinet instead of
the Apostles were murdered, the Congress and not the Seventies were
scattered to the four winds, and our citizens were subjected to the
fate of the Saints of old in being driven beneath the earth--what would
then remain of our nation? It exists now proudly and gloriously, and
has existed for more than a century, but such treatment would leave
it to future generations as only an incident in history that is, it
came, it nourished and it passed away, just as did the true religion
in the early days; and it might again, also like the true religion, be
restored, even as the Roman Empire rose, fell and rose again."
"I understand."
"If you have no objections, I would like to read to you the words of
a wise man on this subject, which will illustrate my meaning in a
much clearer way than it is possible for me to express it myself. The
quotation is not long and you will all especially my legal friend--see
the force of his argument. He uses these words:
"'Now, in order to come at this subject in plainness, let us examine
the constitution of earthly governments in regard to the authority
and laws of adoption. We will say, for instance, the President of the
United States writes a commission to A. B., duly authorizing him to
act in some office in the government, and daring his administration,
two gentlemen from Europe come to reside in this country, and being
strangers and foreigners wishing to become citizens, they go before
A. B., and he administers the oath of allegiance in due form, and
certifies the same, and this constitutes them legal citizens, entitled
to the privileges of those who are citizens or subjects by birth. After
these things A. B. is taken away by death, and C. D., in looking over
his papers happens to find the commission given to A. B., and applying
it to his own use, assumes the vacant office; meantime, two foreigners
arrive and apply for citizenship, and being informed by persons
ignorant of the affairs of government that C. D. could administer the
laws of adoption, they submit to be administered unto by C. D., without
once examining his authority; C. D. certifies of their citizenship,
and they suppose they have been legally adopted, the same as the
others, and are entitled to the privileges of citizenship. But, by and
by, their citizenship is called into question, and they produce the
certificates of C. D.; the President inquires, 'Who is C. D.? I never
gave him a commission to act in any office, I know him not and you are
strangers and foreigners to the commonwealth, until you go before the
legally appointed successor of A. B., or some other of like authority,
who has a commission from the President direct in his own name.' In the
meantime C. D. is taken and punished according to law, for practicing
imposition, and usurping authority which was never conferred upon him.
And so it is with the kingdom of God. The Lord authorized the Apostles
and others, by direct revelation, and by the spirit of prophecy, to
preach and baptize, and build up His church and kingdom; but after
awhile they died, and a long time passed away; men reading over their
commission, where it says to the eleven Apostles, 'Go ye into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature,' etc., have had the
presumption to apply these sayings as their authority, and, without
any other commission, have gone forth professing to preach the gospel,
and baptize, and build up the church and kingdom of God; but those
whom they baptize never receive the same blessings and gifts which
characterized a Saint, or citizen of the kingdom, in the days of the
Apostles. Why? Because they are yet foreigners and strangers, for the
commission given to the Apostles never commissioned any other man to
act in their stead. This was a prerogative the Lord preserved unto
Himself. No man has a right to take this ministry upon himself, but he
that is called by revelation, and duly qualified to act in his calling
by the Holy Ghost."
"You give us abundance of authority, as well as your own testimony and
evidence," said the doctor. "You have developed a wide and profound
subject for our consideration, and for one I regret that we cannot at
once hear you out, that is, go to the end of the subject with you,
and know all that you are in possession of in regard to it. Right or
wrong, one thing is plainly manifest--that you convey a philosophy each
part of which is so reasonable, consistent and harmonious with every
other part, and with the ground-work itself, that he who doubts must
question himself as to why he doubts. And now, let me ask, will it not
be practicable for you to remain another day?"
"While it would give me, personally, the greatest pleasure to do so,
it must be remembered that I am not performing this work for my own
individual gratification. The field is a broad one, and just think how
small a portion of it I would be able to cover should I give way to my
present inclinations and remain unduly long in places where everything
is so pleasant as here. No, I must go, but hope to return to this
region again."
"Well, of course you understand your own affairs best, but you are
making such headway here that I hoped it might be desirable for you to
continue to the end."
"So it would but for the reasons stated. My train departs at 11 o'clock
tomorrow, and I must fill the appointments I have made."