Gleanings by the Way Part 13

CHAPTER XXV.

MORMON JESUITISM.

Denial of Mrs. Davison's statement in reference to the origin of the Mormon's Bible--The truth of her statement corroborated by a letter from the Rev. John Storrs--By another from the Rev. D. R. Austin.

Up to the period, in which the preceding sketch was published in the columns of the Episcopal Recorder, no attempt was made, as far as our information extends, to contradict the statement of Mrs. Davison, or in any way to invalidate her testimony. Shortly after the appearance of the sketch above referred to, a small pamphlet was issued by one of the Mormon ministers, who, we understand, bears the relation of Pastor to one of the societies of that people, established in Philadelphia, who call themselves "The church of the latter day saints."

Although we do not think, that the truth, or falsehood of Mormonism, in any degree turns upon the correctness, or incorrectness of the foregoing statement of Mrs. Davison, for deceit and imposture are enstamped upon every feature of this monster, evoked by a money digger and a juggler from the shades of darkness--still if her statement be correct and is to be relied upon, the facts brought out by Mrs. Davison would seem to be one of those singular developments of divine Providence, by which impostors are confounded, and their devices brought to nought; and therefore it may be well to look for a moment at the arguments that are offered to disprove, what the writer of the pamphlet just referred to denominates "THE SPAULDING STORY." The pamphlet itself abounds with low and scurrilous remark--just such as we should think would be likely to emanate from a Mormon leader.

The princ.i.p.al points upon which the writer rests his argument, are,

_First._ The worthless character of Dr. P. Hurlbut--who was deputed by a meeting called at New Salem to visit Mrs. Davison and obtain from her the ma.n.u.script written by her husband, Rev. Mr. Spaulding.

_Secondly._ That Mrs. Davison neither wrote nor signed the letter published in the Boston Recorder, but that it was the production of the Rev. Mr.

Storrs.

_Thirdly._ That Sidney Rigdon did not join the Mormons nor have any connection with them, till after the Book of Mormon was published: and did not reside at Pittsburgh at the time he was supposed to have done so by Mrs. Davison.

1. In reference to the first point: this writer depicts the character of Dr. Hurlbut, as made up of dissoluteness, depravity, and crime. He was for a considerable period a zealous Mormon, was ordained an elder, became a distinguished preacher among them, and continued so, until they could endure his vices no longer and cast him out--then he turned against them, and endeavoured to expose their deception and imposture. Whether this be a slander or true testimony, we have no means of ascertaining. But we do not see, that in either case it makes any thing for Mormonism, or in the least affects the truth of Mrs. Davison's statement. We can readily believe that a system of imposture like that of Mormonism, would have charms for just such a man as Hurlbut is described.

2. The a.s.sertion that Mrs. Davison did not write nor subscribe the letter published in the Boston Recorder, furnishes a fair specimen of the Jesuitical tricks resorted to, to keep up this imposture. A letter is inserted in the pamphlet above referred to, written by Mr. John Haven, in which a conversation is related, said to have taken place between Mrs.

Davison and the brother of the writer, and which is calculated and evidently designed to carry the impression that Mrs. Davison utterly disavowed the authorship of the letter, published in her name in relation to the Spaulding ma.n.u.script. To satisfy myself on the truth of this point, I addressed a letter to the Rev. Mr. Storrs, an extract from which I will subjoin:

"_Hollistown, June 28th, 1841._

"The results of my inquiries from Dr. Ely and from Mr.

Austin confirm me in the opinion the Spaulding ma.n.u.script was the foundation of the foolish affair called the Mormon Bible. This is my opinion though we may not be able to prove it directly. I have never supposed, I have never said that they were one and the same thing. Only that it was the _foundation_ of the Mormon Bible: supposing that its story, its incidents, and names, gave the Mormon leaders the idea of their own book, and supposing that from it they manufactured the book about which so much has been said. _So_ then in using the word '_identical_' in relation to the ma.n.u.script and Smith's book, it must be understood in a modified sense.

"We may never be able to prove by direct testimony that such was the foundation of the Mormon Bible. But we have circ.u.mstantial evidence enough. The communication made to the world by Mrs. Davison, it seems to me settles the question.

"And then this testimony is not at all invalidated by the letter written from this town by Mr. John Haven, and published in the pamphlet you sent me, ent.i.tled "the Origin of the Spaulding Story concerning the ma.n.u.script found." And here observe the sophistry of this communication. The questions and answers from the letter are as follows: 'Did you, Mrs. Davison, write a letter to John Storrs, giving an account of the origin of the Book of Mormon? _Ans._ I did not. _Ques._ Did you sign your name to it? _Ans._ I did not; neither did I see the letter till I saw it in the Boston Recorder: the letter was never brought to me to sign. _Ques._ What agency had you in having this letter sent to Mr.

Storrs? _Ans._ D. R. Austin came to my house and asked me some questions, took some minutes on paper, and from these wrote the letter. _Ques._ Is what is written in the letter true? _Ans._ In the main it is.' The quibbling here is palpable. It is very true Mrs.

Davison did not write a letter to me, and what is more, of course she did not sign it. But this she did do, and just what I wrote you in my former letter I supposed she did: she did sign her name to the original copy as prepared from her statement by Mr. Austin. This original copy is now in the hands of Mr. Austin. This he told me last week. But again, mark another and important thing in this catechism. It is the distinct avowal after all, and published by the Mormons themselves that what she had said was true. "Is what is written in the letter true? _Ans._ "_In the main it is._" It is just as you or any other honest man under similar circ.u.mstances would affirm such a production to be the truth. In fact she does not as I understand from the questions and answers disavow a single statement made in the communication to which her name was affixed. But she affirms it all as a verity. I must confess my wonder that the Mormons should ever have published the above quotations. It must be that they thought their quibble about Mrs. D. not signing the identical piece of paper sent to me, would cover up the great and important fact that, she affirmed that all that was sent to me was the truth. So then the circ.u.mstantial evidence contained in the communication published in the Recorder some few years ago that the Spaulding ma.n.u.script was the origin of the golden Bible remains sound.

"But another thing: I expect we shall never be able to lay our hands on the identical ma.n.u.script, and thus prove by comparison in the sight of all that one was the foundation or origin of the other. But be this as it may, the very fact that it is lost, is evidence in my mind that the ma.n.u.script was the foundation of the Mormon book. Dr. Hurlbut took the ma.n.u.script. It is reported in Missouri, that he sold it for four hundred dollars; that the ma.n.u.script is not to be found. I must confess that my suspicions are, that a deep laid plot has been consummated to obtain possession of the ma.n.u.script, and thus preclude all possibility of its ever being compared by competent men with the Book of Mormon. At least my suspicions will not be removed until the ma.n.u.script--and the _whole_ ma.n.u.script--is returned to the hands of its owner. I am suspicious that a deep and long game has been played by the Mormons to obtain and destroy the ma.n.u.script. Some one has got that ma.n.u.script and has got it secreted from the public eye. And if that ma.n.u.script cannot be found, in my mind will be proved that the Mormons have conveyed it away. The burden of proof is on the Mormons. To them it belongs to produce the ma.n.u.script.

If they have got the ma.n.u.script and will not produce it, it is plain they fear its publication to the world will destroy their pretended revelation.

"Your brother in the Lord, JOHN STORRS."

I also wrote to the Rev. Mr. Austin for information, who returned me an answer from which I make the following extracts.

"_Sturbridge, Ma.s.s., June 28th, 1841._

"The circ.u.mstances which called forth the letter published in the Boston Recorder in April 1839, were stated by Mr. Storrs in the introduction to that article. At his request I obtained from Mrs. Davison a statement of the facts contained in that letter, and wrote them out precisely as she related them to me. She then signed the paper with her own hand which I have now in my possession. Every fact as stated in that letter was related to me by her in the order they are set down. (There is one word mis-printed in the published letter--instead of "woman preacher," on the second column, it should be _Mormon preacher_.)

"That the pamphlet published to refute the letter should contain false statements is not surprising. A scheme got up in falsehood must be sustained by lies.

But the truth of the statements contained in that letter of Mrs. D. will remain unshaken, notwithstanding all the Mormons can do. It gives a very clear, consistent and rational account of the origin of that abominable piece of deception and fraud.

"Mrs. Davison is now living about twelve miles from this place; is an aged woman and very infirm. Dr.

Hurlbut was an entire stranger to her, and obtained her confidence by means of the letters of introduction which he brought from gentlemen in New-Salem. He promised to return the ma.n.u.script in a short time. Mrs.

D. would only consent to lend it to him. He stated some time after he had received the ma.n.u.script that he had made $400 out of it. Mrs. D. has not the least doubt now but that he obtained it in order to sell it to the Mormons. If Dr. H. can be found, I have no doubt but that the ma.n.u.script may be traced into the hands of the Mormons--which would be about as satisfactory as to find it. If they purchased it of him, (of which there is no doubt) and refuse to present it, the reason is obvious. I can give no information with respect to the present residence of Dr. H. I suppose light on this point may be obtained at New Salem.

"It is really wonderful how this most palpable delusion has spread. The foundation of it is the most weak and absurd of any delusion ever palmed upon the world. It is remarkable how these manias all tend to one point.

Perfectionism, Unionism, and Mormonism, as they have been developed in this region, have all aimed directly at licentiousness. They feed and fatten upon one base pa.s.sion. Mormonism will doubtless have its day and then die. Something quite as absurd will spring up in its place. There is an appet.i.te in the community which craves such food. If it can be garnished with the name of religion, it will go into more extensive use.

"This is one of the deepest plots of the devil. He has placed his golden hook under the name of a "golden book" in the nose of these miserable fanatics, and is leading them in the direct way to destruction.

"Yours in the bonds of christian fellowship,

"D. R. AUSTIN."

3. In relation to the a.s.sertion, that Sidney Rigdon did not embrace Mormonism till after the publication of the Book of Mormon; and that he did not reside in Pittsburgh at the time stated by Mrs. Davison, we have some remarks to offer in a subsequent chapter.

If Rigdon did not reside there at the time, still in accordance with Mrs.

D's suggestion, a copy might have been made of Mr. Spaulding's ma.n.u.script, which subsequently came into his hands. This copy, even if Rigdon had no hand in preparing the Book of Mormon, and was wholly ignorant of the existence of Mr. Spaulding's ma.n.u.script, might have reached Smith in some other way. It is enough to know that the one was the foundation of the other, no matter who the agents in the imposture are. Even if it could be proved that Rigdon had no knowledge of the ma.n.u.script, and no hand whatever in preparing the Book of Mormon, this would in no respect invalidate Mrs.

Davison's testimony, or show that Mr. Spaulding's historical romance was not the foundation of that book. Mrs. Davison merely conjectures that Rigdon must have been the agent--and that from circ.u.mstantial evidence--but she _knows_ that the outline of her husband's historical romance is actually the basis--the manifest substratum of the Mormon Bible.

This point is made very clear by her testimony, that, in some way or other, Smith and his coadjutors obtained a copy of Mr. Spaulding's ma.n.u.script, which evidently forms the basis of this pretended bible, and fastens upon it the undoubted mark of imposture.

But were not this the case--had Smith and those a.s.sociated with him no such basis, on which to build the scheme developed in the Book of Mormon, this would in no way strengthen the claims which this volume sets up for a divine origin. The book itself is full of internal evidence of imposture and fraud.

If the reader can have patience to follow us we will endeavour in the two subsequent chapters to furnish him with an outline of the princ.i.p.al topics contained in the Book of Mormon.

CHAPTER XXVI.

a.n.a.lYSIS OF THE BOOK OF MORMON.

According to the intimation given in the last chapter, we proceed to furnish our readers with a brief outline of the contents of that mysterious volume whose origin and history we have already given, and which, as we have seen, has exerted no small influence in imparting a degree of plausibility to the claims set up by this sect, and in gaining for them among the superst.i.tious and the credulous, hosts of converts. I have before me a copy of the BOOK OF MORMON, which I have read through in order to furnish the following a.n.a.lysis. Since reading this volume of nearly six hundred pages, I am more than ever convinced that there were several hands employed in its preparation. There are certainly striking marks of genius and literary skill displayed in the management of the main story--while in some of the details and hortatory parts there are no less unequivocal marks of bungling and botch work.

As I have already stated, this volume consists of fifteen separate books, which profess to have been written at different periods, and by different authors, whose names they respectively bear: all these authors, however, belonged to the same people, and were successively raised up by Jehovah, and by him inspired to carry on the progress of the narrative, and deposit the record when made upon metallic plates in the same ark of testimony which contained the plates handed down by their predecessors. The first book in the volume is called the Book of Nephi: it contains seven distinct chapters, and opens with an account of Lehi, the father of Nephi. Nephi, the writer of this first book, appears to be the grand hero of this epic.

His father, Lehi, resided in Jerusalem--was a devout man, and one that feared G.o.d. His mother's name was Sariah--and the names of his three brothers were Laman, Lemuel, and Sam. The narrative commences with the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah. During this year the prophets of the most high G.o.d came and uttered such fearful predictions in relation to the destruction of Jerusalem, that Lehi became greatly alarmed for the city and for his people. He was so impressed with the messages which the Hebrew seers proclaimed, that he was led to go and pray with great fervency before the Lord. While in this solemn act of prayer, there came down a pillar of fire and rested upon a rock before him, blazing forth in awful majesty, and speaking to him out of the flames. Awed and terrified by this divine manifestation, he went home and cast himself upon his bed overwhelmed with anxious thoughts and fearful forebodings. While he lay there thus meditating upon what he had seen, he was suddenly carried away in a vision, and saw the heavens opened, and G.o.d sitting upon his throne, "surrounded by numberless concourses of angels." "And it came to pa.s.s," I here use the language of Nephi, (page 6,) "that he saw one descending out of the midst of heaven. And he beheld that his l.u.s.tre was above that of the sun at noon day; and he saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament; and they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth; and the first came and stood before my father, and gave unto him a book, and bade him that he should read. And it came to pa.s.s as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord, and he read, saying, Wo, wo unto Jerusalem! for I have seen thine abominations; yea and many things did my father read concerning Jerusalem--that it should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof, many should perish by the sword, and many should be carried away captive into Babylon." Lehi, after this vision, became himself a prophet, and predicted the overthrow of the Holy City; on account of which he was persecuted by the Jews. While they were plotting to destroy him, he had another vision, by which he was instructed to take his family and depart into the wilderness. He immediately obeyed, leaving his house and land and gold and silver and precious things behind. In his journeyings he came near the sh.o.r.e of the Red Sea, and at length pitched his tent in a valley beside a river of water. His two eldest sons were quite unbelieving, and thought it absurd that their father should leave all his comforts behind, and come to dwell in a tent in the wilderness. But Nephi who was the third son, was piously disposed, and being led to seek the face of the Lord in prayer, had a revelation from G.o.d--that he should be led to a _land of promise_, and become a teacher and ruler over his brethren.

After this, Lehi also had another vision, in which he was commanded to send Nephi and his brethren back to Jerusalem to obtain "_the record of the Jews, and also a genealogy of his forefathers, engraven upon plates of bra.s.s._" This was a mission attended with great danger, and replete with sundry adventures of a marvellous character. After the three brethren had reached Jerusalem, they cast lots to decide which should go to Laban, who seems to have been the keeper of these sacred deposites, and ask for the records. The lot fell upon Laman. He was received very roughly by Laban, and had to flee from his presence for his life, without attaining the object of his wishes. The two elder brothers now determined to abandon the object of their mission and go back to their father; but Nephi, full of faith, wished still to persevere, and therefore proposed that they should go to their former residence and collect together the gold and silver and precious things belonging to their father, and endeavour to make an impression upon Laban's mind by the offer of all these, if he would give them "the plates of bra.s.s." Laban was pleased with the exhibition of their treasures, and determined to slay them, in order to possess their wealth.

They fled, however, into the wilderness, and hid themselves in the cavity of a rock. The two elder brothers now became utterly indignant with Nephi, and smote him with a rod, because he had led them into such an adventure.

An angel of G.o.d, however, appeared, and rebuked them--enjoining it upon them to go up to Jerusalem again, and not to give over the enterprise upon which they had embarked--a.s.suring them that the Lord would deliver Laban into their hands. Notwithstanding this divine reproof, the two elder brothers felt rather sorely towards Nephi, and went up again towards Jerusalem quite reluctantly. When they reached the walls of the city, they positively refused to go any farther. Nephi, however, offered to go again to the house of Laban. He proposed that they should hide without the walls, and wait till his return. It was night; and Nephi stole carefully into the city, directing his steps towards the house of Laban. As he drew near his residence, however, he found a man stretched out on the ground, drunk with wine. Upon examination, he found it was Laban himself. He was armed with a sword, the hilt of which was "of pure gold, and the workmanship exceeding fine." Nephi drew the sword from its scabbard, and as he held it up, he felt constrained by the Spirit to kill Laban. He had to struggle some time with the natural tenderness of his feelings, but his desire to obey G.o.d prevailed, and he therefore "took Laban by the hair of the head, and smote off his head with his own sword." He then stript off the garments of Laban, and put them on himself, and girded himself with his armour, and "went forth towards the treasury of Laban," and as he went, "he saw the servant of Laban that had the keys of the treasury." This servant mistook Nephi, who tried to imitate the voice of Laban, for his own master, and readily took out "the engravings which were upon the plates of bra.s.s" and carried them without the walls. When the servant discovered the mistake, he was very much frightened--but at length was prevailed upon to accompany these adventurers into the wilderness: therefore having obtained the object of their wishes, they returned to the tent of their father.

Lehi now examined, at his leisure, the records engraven upon the plates of bra.s.s, and found that they contained the five books of Moses, "and also a record of the Jews from the beginning even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, and also many prophecies spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah." He also found a genealogy of his fathers, from which he learned that he was a descendant of Joseph.

Here I cannot but remark that it is astonishing that he had not found out before this to what tribe he belonged; and it is not a little remarkable that as the sons of Joseph, Ephraim, and Mana.s.sah, were appointed to represent two tribes, in the place of Joseph and Levi, he had not told us from which of these descendants he sprang. We were all along at a loss to know what sort of officer Laban was, but here we are told at this stage of the narrative: "Thus my father Lehi did discover the genealogy of his fathers. And Laban also was a descendant of Joseph, wherefore he and his fathers kept the records." This seems to us quite a _non sequitur_.

But to proceed. Upon obtaining these plates of bra.s.s, Lehi began to be "filled with the spirit, and to prophecy concerning his seed; that these plates of bra.s.s should go forth unto all nations, _kindreds_, tongues, and people, which were of his _seed_. Wherefore, he said that these plates of bra.s.s should never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time."

Soon after this Nephi had a very wonderful vision, which he told to his two sons, by way of warning the two elder, Laman and Lemuel, of whom he had great fears--as they were disposed to be unbelieving and rebellious. This vision presented an allegorical representation. Lehi declared that he saw a man dressed in a white robe, who came and stood before him, and then bade him follow him. He did so. The white robed guide led him through a long, dark, and dreary waste. After travelling on for many hours in darkness he began to pray unto the Lord; and the Lord then led him into a large, s.p.a.cious field, in the midst of which he saw "a tree whose fruit was desirable to make one happy." He partook of this fruit, which was intensely white, "exceeding all the whiteness he had ever seen." As soon as he had partaken of the fruit, "his soul was filled with exceeding great joy." This led him to wish that his family should come and partake of the same. While looking around to see if he could discover his family, he beheld a river of water, which ran along near the tree of whose fruit he had been partaking.