LITTELL'S  LIVING  AGE. - No. 119. - 22 Aug, 1846.
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THE MORMON CAMP.

THE Hancock Eagle of the 10th July notices the arrival there of' Mr. S. Chamberlain, who left the most distant camp of the Mormons at Council Bluffs on the 26th ultimo, and on his route passed the whole line of Mormon emigrants. He says that the advance company of the Mormons, with whom were the Twelve, had a train of one thousand wagons, and were encamped on the east bank of the Missouri river, in the neighborhood of the Council Bluffs. They were employed in the construction of boats for the purpose of crossing the river.

The second company had encamped temporarily at station No. 2, which has been christened Mount Pisgah. They mustered about three thousand strong, and were recruiting their cattle preparatory to a fresh start. A third company had halted for a similar purpose at Garden Grove, on the head waters of Grand River, where they have put in about two thousand acres of corn for the benefit of the people in general. Between Garden Grove and the Mississippi river Mr. Chamberlain counted over one thousand wagons en route to join the main bodies in advance.

The whole number of teams attached to the Mormon expedition is about three thousand seven hundred, and it is estimated that each team will average at least three persons, and perhaps four. The whole number of souls now on the road may be set down in round numbers at twelve thousand. From two to three thousand have disappeared from Nauvoo in various directions. Many have left for Council Bluffs by the way of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers; others have dispersed to parts unknown; and about eight hundred or less still remain in Illinois. This comprises the entire Mormon population that once flourished in Hancock county. In their palmy days they probably numbered between fifteen and sixteen thousand souls, most of whom are now scattered upon the prairies, bound for the Pacific slope of the American continent.

Mr. Chamberlain reports that previously to his leaving, four United States military officers had arrived at the Mount Pisgah camp, for the purpose of enlisting five hundred Mormons for the Santa Fe campaign. They were referred to head-quarters at Council Bluffs, for which place they immediately set out. It was supposed that the force would be enrolled without delay. If so, it will furnish Col. Kearney with a regiment of well-disciplined soldiers, who are already prepared to march. Mr. Chamberlain represents the health of the traveling Mormons as good, considering the exposure to which they have been subjected. They are carrying on a small trade in provisions with the settlers in the country, with whom they mingle on the most friendly terms.

LITTELL'S  LIVING  AGE. - No. 166. - 17 July, 1847.
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THE MORMON BATTALION.

WE have not yet had a detailed account of the march of Col. Cook, and his command, to California, and the following letter, from an officer in the pay department, now with the battalion, will be found very interesting. -- St. Louis Reveille.

SAN DIEGO, UPPER CALIFORNIA,        
Feb. 1, 1847.        

DEAR BROTHER: I wrote you last from a point on the Rio Grande, about two hundred and fifty miles south of Santa Fe, designated on Mitchell's map Fra Cristobal. About forty miles south of this place, we left the river, and directed our course toward the setting sun. As we rose upon the most prominent point of our course in the neighborhood of the river, we saw spreading from our feet an extended plain, and on the remote horizon, chains of blue mountains lifting formidable barriers to our further march.

The battalion had been reduced, the day previous, to half rations. Knapsacks, containing a scanty supply of clothing and bedding, were secured to their shoulders, and in addition, heavy muskets, with the usual accompaniment of bayonets, cartridge-boxes, belts, &c., constituted the equipments for this arduous undertaking.

Our animals were hardly fit for service; many of them had been taken out of the harness about ten days before, after crossing the prairies and plains from Fort Leavenworth. The provision wagons were heavy and unwieldy, too many in proportion to the animals, yet insufficient for the amount of provisions called for, even at the "half ration rate."

Thus was commenced our march through a wilderness, known only to the wandering tribes of the Sierra de Acha, or the daring and adventurous pioneers of Sonora; and thus commenced a scene of privation and hardships, that, I am persuaded, remains without a parallel.

I saw athletic and vigorous men reduced, by thirst and fatigue, to the imbecility of children; their bodies attenuated and feeble; their faces bloated: their eyes sunken; their feet lacerated and bruised; mechanically moving forward, without a murmur, and without an object; the latter having been lost sight of in the gloomy contemplation of their present helpless condition.

I remember, on one occasion, after having marched two days without water, while leisurely riding about a mile in the rear of the troops, to have espied, a short distance in advance, a soldier of the battalion. My attention was not attracted by his slow and uneasy step, for it was a time of general suffering, and such a thing was to be looked for; but when, in passing, he turned upon me his ghastly visage, I involuntarily checked my mule, shuddering at this horrid picture of human misery. I was about to pass him, but my heart reproved me, and I offered him my mule. The poor fellow lifted his eyes to mine, and dropped them as suddenly; he was a Mormon and had been unused to favors. He made no further reply, but continued on his weary tramp, apparently careless whether each succeeding step was leading him to destruction or safety.

But the old proverb, that all things must have a termination, was realized in the case of our sufferings; and we. may date that happy period at our arrival in the valley of San Barnadin, although we afterwards had many long marches without water, before reaching our ultimate destination.

San Barnadin is the name of what once was an extensive "ranch," embracing several leagues of land and stocked with seventy or eighty thousand cattle.

The owners of this ranch paid an annual stipend, in cattle, to the tribe of Apaches, in whose territory it was situated; but they shared the common fate of all ranches attempted to be established in this part of Sonora. A want of punctuality in furnishing the stipulated supplies afforded to the Indians, who were desirous of such an excuse, an opportunity for making themselves masters of the herd. Such of the Mexicans as were fortunate enough to escape the merciless scalping knife made their way into the garrison towns of the frontier, preferring poverty and peace to fortune and the midnight serenade of the Apache bands.

This valley of San Barnadin is about thirty miles in width, and blocked in on either side by ridges of lofty mountains.

When we arrived at this place, and the broad plain of waving grass, watered by refreshing streams and dotted with numerous herds of wild cattle, opened before us, man and beast in that weary and dispirited company, by words and looks, acknowledged the auspicious prospect; it promised a prodigal abundance and a welcome rest.

We remained in the valley several days, recruiting our animals and providing ourselves with meat. During our stay we were attended by deputations from the neighboring tribe, and entered into terms of amity with them. When they learned the object of our march and the great number of our warriors, they appeared much rejoiced and expressed a hope that we would take many scalps. These Indians are expert horsemen and well skilled in the use of the lance, which together with the bow and arrow constitutes their only implement of war.

At the valley of San Barnadin, and for twelve days after leaving it, we had an abundant supply of fine fresh beef.

A few dilapidated houses and the immense herds, now scattered over an area of more than two hundred square miles, are all that remain of the once rich San Barnadin. Killing these wild animals afforded us an amusement at once exciting and dangerous, and in the pursuit of this sport, several men were severely wounded and five mules killed. It becomes a matter of remark that these "horned heroes" of San Barnadin made a more formidable resistance to our march through their territory that did the soldiers of Sonora, who had at stake their" altars and their homes."

LITTELL'S  LIVING  AGE. - No. 186. - 4 Dec., 1847.
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A MORMON CONVENTICLE.

BY JOHN G. WHITTIER.

PASSING up Merrimack-street, the other day, my attention was arrested by a loud earnest voice, apparently engaged in preaching, or rather "holding forth," in the second story of the building opposite. I was in the mood to welcome anything of a novel character, and following the sound, I passed up a flight of steps leading to a long, narrow and somewhat shabby room, dignified by the appellation of Classic hall.

Seating myself, I looked about me. There were from fifty to one hundred persons in the audience, in which nearly all classes of this heterogeneous community seemed pretty fairly represented, all listening with more or less attention to the speaker.

He was a young man with dark enthusiastic complexion, black eyes and hair; with his collar thrown hack, and his coat cuffs turned over, revealing a somewhat undue quantity of" fine linen," bending over his coarse board pulpit, and gesticulating with the vehemence of Hamlet's player, "tearing his passion to rags." A band of mourning crape, fluttering with the spasmodic action of his left arm, and an allusion to "our late beloved brother JOSEPH SMITH," sufficiently indicated the sect of the speaker. He was a Mormon -- a saint of the latter days.

His theme was the power of faith. Although evidently unlearned and innocent enough of dealing in such "abominable matters as a verb or a noun, which no Christian ear can endure," to have satisfied Jack Cade himself, there was a straight-forward vehemence and intense earnestness in his manner, which at once disarmed my criticism. He spoke of Adam, in Paradise, as the lord of this lower world -- "For," said he, "water couldn't drown him, fire couldn't burn him, cold couldn't freeze him -- nothing could harm him, for he had all the elements under his feet. And what, my hearers, was the secret of this power? His faith in God: that was it. Well, the devil wanted this power. He behaved in a mean, ungentlemanly way, and deceived Eve, and lied to her, he did. And so Adam lost his faith. And all this power over the elements that Adam had, the devil got, and has it now. He is the prince and power of the air, consequently, he is master of the elements and lord of this world. He has filled it with unbelief, and robbed man of his birthright, and will do so until the hour of the power of darkness is ended, and the mighty angel comes down with the chain in his hand to bind the old serpent and dragon."

Another speaker, a stout black-browed "son of thunder," gave an interesting account of his experience. He had been one of the apostles of the Mormon Evangel, and had visited Europe. He went in faith. He had "but three cents in his pocket" when he reached England. He went to the high professors of all sects, and they would not receive him; they pronounced him "damned already." He was reduced to great poverty and hunger: alone in a strange land; with no one to bid him welcome. He was on the very verge of starvation. "Then," said he, "I knelt down and I prayed in earnest faith, 'Lord, give me this day my daily bread.' O, I tell ye, I prayed with a good appetite; and I rose up, and was moved to go to a house at hand. I knocked at the door, and when the owner came, I said to him, 'I am a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, from America. I am starving -- will you give me some food?' 'Why, bless you, yes,' said the man, 'sit down and eat as much as you please.' And I did sit down at his table, blessed be God: but my hearers, he was not a professor; he was not a Christian, but one of Robert Owen's infidels. The Lord reward him for his kindness."

In listening to these modern prophets, I discovered, as I think, the great secret of their success in making converts. They speak to a common feeling; they minister to a universal want. They contrast strongly the miraculous power of the gospel in the apostolic time with the present state of our nominal Christianity. They ask for the signs of divine power; the faith, overcoming all things., which opened the prison doors of the apostles, gave them power over the elements, which rebuked disease and death itself, and made visible to all the presence of the living God. They ask for any declaration in the Scriptures that this miraculous power of faith was to be confined to the first confessors of Christianity. They speak a language of hope and promise to weak, weary hearts, tossed and troubled, who have wandered from sect to sect, seeking in vain for the primal manifestations of the divine power.

In speaking of Mormonism as a delusion, I refer more particularly to the apocryphal book of Mormon. That the great majority of the "Latter Day Saints" are honest and sincere fanatics, I have no reason to doubt. They have made great sacrifices and endured severe and protracted persecution for their faith. The reports circulated against them by their unprincipled enemies in the west are in the main destitute of foundation. I place no dependence upon charges made against them by the ruffian mob of the Mississippi valley, and the reckless slave-drivers, who, at the point of the bayonet and bowie-knife, expelled them from Missouri, and signalized their Christian crusade against unbelievers by murdering old men, and violating their innocent wives and daughters. It is natural that the wrong-doers should hate those whom they have so foully injured.

The Prophet himself, the master-spirit of this extraordinary religious movement is no more. He died by the hands of wicked and barbarous men, a martyr -- unwilling doubtless, but still a martyr -- of his faith. For after all, Joe Smith could not have been wholly insincere. Or, if so in the outset, it is more than probable that his extraordinary success, his wonderful power over the minds of men caused him to seem a miracle and a marvel to himself; and, like Mohammed and Napoleon, to consider himself a chosen instrument of the eternal power.
 

462                            A  MORMON  CONVENTICLE..                           

In the "Narrative of an Eye-witness of the Mormon Massacre," published in a Western paper, I was a good deal impressed by the writer's account of the departure of the prophet from "the holy city" to deliver himself up to the state authorities at Warsaw. It was well understood, that in so doing, he was about to subject himself to extreme hazard. The whole country round about was swarming with armed men, eager to imbrue their hands in his blood. The city was in a fearful state of alarm and excitement. The great Nauvoo legion, with its two thousand strong of armed fanatics, was drawn up in the principal square. A word from the prophet would have converted that dark silent mass into desperate and unsparing defenders of their leader, and the holy places of their faith. Mounted on his favorite black horse, he rode through the glittering files, and with words of cheer and encouragement, exhorted them to obey the laws of the state, and give their enemies no excuse for persecution and outrage. "Well," said he, as he left them, "they are good boys, if I never see them again." Taking leave of his family, and his more intimate friends, he turned his horse, and rode up in front of the great temple, as if to take a final look at the proudest trophy of his power. After contemplating it for a while in silence, he put spurs to his horse, in company with his brother, who, it will be recollected, shared his fate in the prison, dashed away towards Warsaw, and the prairie horizon shut down between him and the city of the saints for the last time.

Once in the world's history we were to have a Yankee prophet, and we have had him in Joe Smith. For good or for evil, he has left his track on the great pathway of life; or, to use the words of Home, "knocked out for himself a window in the wall of the nineteenth century," whence his rude, bold, good-humored face will peer out upon the generations to come. But the prophet has not trusted his fame merely to the keeping of the spiritual. He has incorporated himself with the enduring stone of the great Nauvoo temple, which, when completed, will be the most splendid and imposing architectural monument in the new world. With its huge walls of hewn stone -- its thirty gigantic pillars, loftier than those of Baalbec -- their massive caps carved into the likeness of enormous human faces, themselves resting upon crescent moons, with a giant profile of a face within the curve -- it stands upon the highest elevation of the most beautiful city site of the west, overlooking the "Father of Waters;" -- a temple unique and wonderful as the faith of its builder, embodying in its singular and mysterious architecture, the Titan idea of the Pyramids, and the solemn and awe-inspiring thought which speaks from the Gothic piles of the middle ages. -- Howitt's Journal.

LITTELL'S  LIVING  AGE. - No. 190. - 1 Jan., 1848.
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THE MORMON COLONY.

THE St. Louis Republican of the 1st, contains some information concerning the progress of the Mormon colony which is to be located at the "Great Salt Lake City" in California, derived from a Mr. Little who has just arrived from that place, which he left in August. The Republican says: --

We learn from him that the country selected for the habitation of the Mormons is about twenty miles east from the Great Salt Lake. In company with others, he explored the valley, and he represents that they found a range of some eighty miles in length, and perhaps ten to twenty miles in width. The preparations for the reception of the advancing company of Mormons, were not, we should infer, very extensive. A field of about one hundred acres ground had been planted with corn, potatoes, turnips, and other edibles, but as the rain seldom fell there, they had to resort to the uncertain and laborious process of irrigation. They had engaged in the erection of a stockade, to protect the colony from the attacks of the Indians, covering some ten acres of ground, within which from a hundred and sixty to two hundred dwellings were to he erected. Some parts of the valley have a very fertile appearance, but others, again, are exceedingly poor, and cannot he made to produce anything.

On his return route, Mr. Little, who holds, we believe, some high office in the Mormon church, met the Mormon emigrants in detached parties. He does not speak very flatteringly of their condition, though with some sanguine hopes, they were still moving on to their destination. Many of the heads of the families were, it will he remembered, taken to fill up the California battalion and are still in California, and the women and children were left to get along as they best could. In many cases, little boys were found driving the teams, barefoot, and the advanced parties were reduced to some extremity for the want of food. Two hundred of the oxen used in their teams had died after leaving Independence Rock. from eating some poisonous substance and exhaustion, and they were compelled to get along by using cows in their stead. All were, it is feared, stinted for provisions, and even after their arrival, unless game could be procured by their hunters, there is room to apprehend suffering from starvation -- Mr. Little representing, at the same time, that in and around the Salt Lake valley, very little game was to be found. On the whole, we are fearful that most distressing accounts will be received from this people, by the first arrivals next spring.

The following order, illustrating some of the difficulties which the California Battalion had to encounter, has been placed at our disposal: --

                       "HEADQUARTERS MORMON BATTALION,
                        Mission of San Diego, 30th January, 1847.

"ORDER No. 1.
"The lieut. colonel commanding, congratulates the battalion on their safe arrival on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, and the conclusion of its march of over two thousand miles. History may he searched in vain for an equal march of infantry; nine tenths of it has been through a wilderness, where nothing but savages and wild beasts are found; or deserts where, for want of water, there is no living creature.
 

30                             THE  MORMON  COLONY..                            

There, with almost hopeless labor, we have dug deep wells, which the future traveller will enjoy. Without a guide who had traversed them, we have ventured into trackless prairies, where water was not found for several marches. With crowbar and pickaxe in hand, we have worked our way over mountains, which seemed to defy aught save the wild goat; and hewed a passage through a chasm of living rock, more narrow than our wagons. To bring these first wagons to the Pacific, we have preserved the strength of the mules, by herding them over large tracts which you have laboriously guarded, without loss.

"The garrisons of four Presidios of Sonora, concentrated within the walls of Tucson, gave us no pause; we drove them out with their artillery; but our intercourse with the citizens was not marked by a single act of injustice. Thus marching, half naked and half fed, and living upon wild animals, we have discovered and made a road of great value to our country.

"Arrived at the first settlement of California, after a single day's rest, you cheerfully turned off from the route to this point of promised repose, to enter upon a campaign, and meet, as we believed, the approach of the enemy; and this, too, without even salt to season your sole subsistence of fresh meat.

"Lieuts. A. J. Smith and Geo. Stoneman, of the 1st dragoons, have shared and given valuable aid in all these labors.

"Thus, volunteers, you have exhibited some high and essential qualities of veterans. But much remains undone; soon you will turn your strict attention to the drill, to system and order, to forms also, which are all necessary to the 'soldier.

    "By order of Lt. Col. P. ST. GEO. COOKE.     "[Signed] P. C. MERRIEL, Adjutant."

LITTELL'S  LIVING  AGE. - No. 199. - 4 March, 1848.
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FUGITIVE, PERISHING MORMONS.

[A letter to Josiah Quincy, Esq., Mayor of Boston, from
Col. Thomas L. Kane, of Philadelphia, dated 14 Feb. 1848.]

IN our conversation, I had the pleasure of giving to you in full the views I derived from personal observation and experience with regard to the Mormons, during my recent journey to the far west. I mentioned to you what I saw of their highly upright and excellent moral character while in the Indian territory, and stated my often repeated opinion of the gratuitous injustice of their persecution. If I judge rightly, however, what is desired in my present letter is a simple, uncolored narrative, for the consideration of the charitable rather then the curious, of the position, numbers and condition of the chief sufferers of the sect. To this I will confine myself, as closely as I can, in the limited amount of time at my disposal.

Emigrating Mormons, to the number of nearly 20,000, are to be found west of the Missouri, from the country of the Platte, belonging to the Omaha and Otto Indians, to that beyond the notable Bear River Valley across the Rocky Mountains; but the condition of the majority of these persons, though undoubtedly forlorn, does not invite philanthropic investigation, since they are generally beyond the reach of timely help. The Mormons who can be counted as appealing to the immediate generosity of your townspeople, are certain stragglers in the rear of the main body in march, and whose camps are on this, the eastern side of the Missouri river, or immediately along its course. Of such the unhappy destitution is very great. It is, in part, the issue of circumstances in which their history differs from that of the emigrants further advanced; and which I think I cannot do better than detail.

They composed, originally, the refuse, lame, aged, sick, and pauper members of the church, who were found unable to attempt the great California pilgrimage of 1846. On this account, their friends who started at that date concluded, it seems, an especial treaty or armistice, for their benefit, with the anti-Mormon mob, and left them behind in Illinois under its protection. This treaty covenanted, with the most solemn formalities, that they were in no wise to be molested until another asylum could be prepared for their reception beyond the Rocky Mountains. Just so soon, however, as the Mormon host had made a progress of some months upon its travels, and could safely be considered out of the way, the instrument -- oaths, seals, and ribbons -- was broken by the anti-Mormons without ceremony or excuse, and the cripples who relied upon it, were ordered to take up their beds and walk. Upon this, the helpless beings, driven to desperation, made a remarkably resolute defence of their Holy City, which, being hardly more than a large hospital of incurables, could meritoriously have claimed of any other barbarians its privilege of sanctuary. It was bombarded, however, by an overwhelming force, and notwithstanding the beleaguered for two days supposed, as I am informed, they were replying to the fire upon them with three guns of their own of large muzzle they had forged out of a broken steamboat shaft; at last, after losing some of their soundest men in fight, they were glad to flee forth with their lives, that is to say, with little or nothing else.

I saw most of these poor folks while they were yet on the right bank of the Mississippi, opposite Nauvoo. It was just after the cannonade, and I think they had been there a matter of two or three days. Some of them had fled over before the assault to escape the balls that battered in their houses; the remainder had waited till ousted by direct force of arms.

Few had food enough to satisfy their hunger. Exposure and fatigue had combined to visit many of the nominally robust of them with the ague, and the bilious remittent fever, known as favorite
 

                      FUGUTIVE,  PERISHING  MORMONS..                       471

indulgences of the system in the western country; but, sick and well, conscientious yellow souls, they all lay down alike among the reeds and spatter-docks of the low river shore; the favored ones huddled together under tattered sheets, counterpanes or bed-spreads stretched gypsy-tent-wise over a tripod of sticks; others lodging outside of these shelters, and going to sleep with their pinched faces to the sky. I have not the satisfaction of a doubt that among those I looked upon thus shivering in the sharp night of autumn, many whom the screening of a roof might have saved, died looking across the stream upon their comfortable homes, in which the orthodox bullies of the mob were celebrating their triumph in obscene and drunken riot.

At the epoch of which I speak, they were bent on moving westward to overtake, as they hoped, the rearguard of their column in the advances, but were pitiably unprovided with adequate means for doing so. One had a cow, may be, which he could yoke to the crazy cart of his fellow. Another, by disclosing to the cupidity of the Iowa squatters his possession of his watch or other paltry treasure he had secreted, was able to hire a lift in a farm wagon. Several, they were few, appeared to own among them a mixed horse and ox team; the rest had no other means of transportation than their own bodily frames, though it may be observed that, by a natural Providence to whose effect I have already adverted, these were nearly everything they had to carry.

Thus jury rigged, unprovisioned, and almost unclothed, they started on their voyage -- an overland voyage that they intended to measure over one fourth the diameter of the world. It is little wonder then, that, being unsuccessful in overtaking their brethren, they have since literally fallen by the wayside in the wilderness, and there having eaten up the beasts of burden that helped them along so far upon their weary stage, now find themselves equally unable to push forward or to return. At sundry crossing places of the larger streams that have impeded their progress, in wooded clefts and sheltered copses of the prairie, in abandoned Indian villages -- wherever, in short, they have found life most easily sustained, or as some of them have said, and as their fate has proved in many instances, death most easily borne, they have halted and gone to work to strive to keep body and soul together till relief, either in the way of alms or of a propitious decease, should coma up and overtake them. With the aid of a quantity of Indian corn and garden roots they have raised for food, and of great fires of cottonwood brush -- these as a substitute for sufficient shelter and clothing -- many lived through the last winter, and so many will doubtless survive this one, though it presses upon the whole people with cold and famine in its train. But the return of spring is to bring them no better fortunes. The emaciated and pining survivors, if unaided by us, must still continue to be without the power of replenishing their stock of necessaries, or of changing their place to go to seek it; while it should be noted that their general health is already so impaired that they are becoming with every day less capable of vigorous effort for their own assistance.

I have limited my remarks to apply to individuals, concerning whose plight I am possessed of accurate information. I ought to add that there are still others whose numbers would with difficulty be correctly ascertained. Somewhere beyond the head waters of the Des Moines, and on the tributaries of the upper Missouri from the Nishnabotna to L'Eau qui Coule river, say from 800 to 1100 miles above St. Louis, there are, I suppose, some 3000 other dejected human beings, who are probably without any means to wave in our eyes their signals of distress. Yet many of these, I know, are dying of chill and hunger, without metaphor or exaggeration. They are dying while we are talking about them.

LITTELL'S  LIVING  AGE. - No. 285. - 3 Nov., 1849.
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                                  Correspondence of the Tribune.

FROM THE GREAT SALT LAKE.

                 Great Salt Lake City, July 8, 1849.

The Book of Mormon: an Account written by theHand of Mormon, upon Plates taken from the Plates of Nephi.

"Wherefore, it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites; written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile: written by way of commandment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation. Written and sealed up, and hid upunto the LORD, that they might not be destroyed: to come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof: sealedby the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the LORD, to come forth in due time by way of the Gentile; the interpretation thereof by the gift of GOD.

"An abridgment taken from the book of Ether also, which is a record of the people of Jared, who were scattered at the time the LORD confounded the language of the people, when they were building a tower to get to heaven; which is to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the LORD hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the LORD, that they are not cast off forever; and also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD manifesting himself unto all nations. And now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of GOD, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of CHRIST.

Translated by Joseph Smith, jun. First European, from the second American edition. Liverpool, Young & Co.

HERE is a bitter satire on the much talked of "march of mind," and the self-laudation of "this nineteenth century!" Here is a pretended revelation, so absurd, so puerile, that it would seem unlikely to impede on the most ignorant and uncivilized, which has found thousands of followers in England -- has been adopted by a party sufficiently numerous and wealthy to support a monthly periodical called the Millenial Star -- and has so far advanced in organisation as to possess synodical conferences, local councils, and a general assembly!

Can such things be,
And overcome us like a summer cloud,
Without our special wonder?

We have nothing to do with the religious tenets of the Mormonites; it is enough to say that they are nearly identical with those of the German Anabaptists in the days of Luther, and that there are grounds for suspecting the coincidences to have been intentional; but the audacious forgery before us belongs to literary history, and, if for no better reason than its novelty, deserves to be investigated: indeed, in boldness of assertion and nullity of evidence, it is without a parallel in the annals of imposture. We shall first state the account which the Mormonites themselves give of their pretended revelation, and then from external and internal evidence show what was the origin of the forgery, and some of the circumstances which have contributed to give it currency both in America and in England.

Joseph Smith, jun., the apostle of the Mormonites, declares that reflecting upon the many hundred denominations into which the Christian world is divided, he went into a grove, at a short distance from his father's house, and there besought Divine aid to show him which of all the rival claimants was the true Church. "While thus pouring out his soul," says the narrative published by the Mormonite church, "anxiously desiring an answer from God, he, at length, saw a very bright and glorious light in the heavens above; which, at first, seemed to be at a considerable distance. He continued praying, while the light appeared to be gradually descending towards him; and, as it drew nearer, it increased in brightness, and magnitude, so that, by the time that it reached the tops of the trees, the whole wilderness, for some distance around, was illuminated in a most glorious and brilliant manner." Into this cloud of glory Smith, says the narrative, was received, and he met within it two angelic personages, who exactly resembled each other in their features; they informed him that all his sins were forgiven, that all the religious denominations then existing were believing in erroneous doctrines, and consequently, "that none of them was acknowledged of God, as his church and kingdom." At the same time he received a promise, "that the fulness of the gospel, should, at some future time be made known to him."

It is worth pausing to observe the similarity between this story and the account Mahommed gave of the first revelation he received; the coming of the angel Gabriel to his cave; the purification from original sin, and the promise of a future revelation to be given when he made the night-journey to heaven.

Joseph Smith, like Mahommed according to some traditions, did not pay much attention to the first revelation; but a second was vouchsafed to him in his bed-room, on the night of the 21st of September, 1823. A single personage appeared by his bedside, and notwithstanding the brightness of the light which previously illuminated the room, "there seemed to be an additional glory surrounding or accompanying this personage, which shone with an increased degree of brilliancy, of which he was in the midst; and though his countenance was as lightning, yet, it was of a pleasing, innocent, and glorious appearance; so much so, that every fear was banished from the heart, and nothing but calmness pervaded the soul. The stature of this personage was a little above the common size of men of this age; his garment was perfectly white, and had the appearance of being without seam." This celestial being informed Smith that the American Indians were "a remnant of Israel," who had anciently prophets and inspired writers amongst them, and that some of their records, "by commandment of God, to one of the last of the prophets" had been deposited in a safe and sacred place, to keep them from the hands of the wicked who sought to destroy them.

The third revelation, which was vouchsafed on the following morning, informed Joseph Smith of the place where these relics were deposited; it was "in a large hill in the east side of the mail-road from Palmyra, Wayne county, to Canandaigua, Ontario

county, state of New York, about four miles from Palmyra, and within one of the little village of Manchester." Here Joseph Smith found a square stone chest, containing plates like gold, "about seven by eight inches in width and length, being not quite so thick as common tin." The Devil made his appearance while the box was being opened, but the purpose for which he came is not explained in the narrative.

The angel did not allow Smith to take these golden plates until he had been instructed in the Egyptian language, for it was in "the modern Egyptian" characters and language that these plates were graven. On the 22d of September, 1827, the angel delivered the record to Joseph Smith, Jun., and in the course of the following year he transcribed his translation of "the unsealed" portion of the records, under the name of 'The Book of Mormon,' which, as the narrative with truth declares, "contains nearly as much reading as the Old Testament." The work was, however, not published until the year 1830, and on the 6th of April, in that year, the Mormonites formed themselves into a sect, under the name of "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" -- that is, about the time that the Unknown Tongues began to make a noise in England. The first burst of this enthusiasm was terrific; in the words of the narrative, "Devils were cast out, and the sick were healed by the prayer of faith and laying on of hands." An impostor named Matthews, or as he called himself, Matthias, proclaimed himself the Supreme Being, and might have become the head of the sect, had not the death of one of his votaries under suspicious circumstances placed him as a criminal at the bar of justice, where his cowardice and his stupidity united to disenchant the female portion of his flock, which was both the larger and the more lucrative to the impostor. The disclosures made at the trial, of the influence of this man, were scarcely credible.

The Book of Mormon, included in a substantial structure of 634 pages, consists of two histories or romances very inartfully connected. The history of the Nephites, a portion of the tribe of Joseph, occupies the first portion. They are described as having emigrated from Jerusalem under the guidance of the prophet Nephi, and having been miraculously led to America, where they became the progenitors of the Indian race. Many years after their settlement they are supposed to discover the records of the Jaredites, an extinct nation, which came to America about the time of the building of Babel. The specimens we shall extract from this strange production will both serve as examples of its style, and also help us to trace the origin of the forgery. We shall first extract a portion of the vision of Nephi, in which he was foreshown the discovery of America by Europeans.

"And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me saying, look! And I looked and beheld many nations and kingdoms. And the angel saith unto me, what beholdest thou? And I said I behold many nations and kingdoms, and he saith unto me, these are the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles.

"And it came to pass that I saw among the nations of the Gentiles, the foundation of a great church. And the angel said unto me, Behold the foundation of a church, which is most abominable above all churches, which slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity. And it came to pass that I beheld this great and abominable church; and I saw the devil, that he was the foundation of it. And I also saw gold, and silver, and silks, and scarlets, and fine twined linen, and all manner of precious clothing; and I saw many harlots. And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the gold, and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine twined linen, and the precious clothing, and the harlots, are the desires of this great and abominable church: and also for the praise of the world, do they destroy the Saints of God, and bring them down into captivity.

"And it came to pass that I looked and beheld many waters; and they divided the Gentiles from the seed of my brethren. And it came to pass that the angel said unto me, behold, the wrath of God is upon the seed of my brethren! And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, which were in the promised land.

"And it came to pass that I beheld the spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters.

"And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles, upon the land of promise; and I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren; and they were scattered before the Gentiles, and they were smitten. And I beheld the spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles; that they did prosper, and obtain the land of their inheritance; and I beheld that they were white, and exceeding fair and beautiful, like unto my people, before they were slain.

The allusion to the Church of Rome in this part of the vision is so obvious a manifestation of forgery, that it may appear strange how an impostor could have been guilty of such a blunder; but from 1825 to 1832 there was a strong current of popular prejudice against the Roman Catholics in the state of New York, which was considerably strengthened by the publication of Maria Monk's pretended confession; some converts and chapels were destroyed by fanatical mobs, and these circumstances, no doubt, induced the author to court popular prejudice, to which, when at its full height, in America, no appeal can be too gross.

A still more palpable blunder occurs in a subsequent page. After the emigrants have sailed, they are described as mutinying against Nephi, as the Spanish crews did against Columbus, but they released him when a tempest came on, as he was the only person capable of working the ship. He is then represented as saying:

"And it came to pass that after they had loosed me, behold, I took the compass, and it did work whither I desired it. And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord; and after that I had prayed, the winds did cease, and the storm did cease, and there was a great calm."

The impostor was not aware that he was antedating the discovery of the needle's polarity by several centuries, and he speaks of the compass in such a way as to show that he was utterly ignorant of the nature of the implement. A Mormonite elder has unwittingly explained the probable source of this error; when pressed with this palpable mark of forgery, he unhesitatingly replied that the compass was mentioned in Scripture, quoting from the account of St. Paul's voyage, "We fetched a compass, (that is, took a circuitous course) and came to Rhegium." It would be fortunate if the misapprehensions of the sacred text, by such ignorant readers, were confined to a blunder so innocent as this whole whimsical misapprehension.

The history of the settlements of the emigrants in North and South America contains some romantic and some very puerile incidents; but passing these by, we turn to the prophecies of Nephi, to show how cunningly they are framed to support the imposture. The prophet is represented as predicting not merely the long concealment and future discovery of the sacred books or plates, but also that the language in which they were written should be unintelligible to the learned, and should be interpreted by one whose only learning was derived from inspiration:

" But behold, it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall say unto him to whom he shall deliver the book, take these words which are not sealed, and deliver them to another, that he may show them unto the learned, saying, read this, I pray thee. And the learned shall say, bring hither the book, and I will read them: and now, because of the glory of the world, and to get gain, will they say this, and not for the glory of God. And the man shall say, I cannot bring the book, for it is sealed. Then shall the learned say, I cannot read it. Wherefore, it shall come to pass, that the Lord God will deliver again the book and the words thereof, to him that is not learned; and the man that is not learned, shall say, I am not learned; then shall the Lord say unto him, The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore, thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee. Touch not the things which sealed, for I will bring them forth in mine own due time; for I will show unto the children of men, that I am able to do mine own work."

In a similar strain the prophet enters into an anticipatory argument with those who shall declare the Bible is the sole revelation of the Deity:

"Thou fool, that shall say a bible, we have got a bible, and we need no more bible. Have ye obtained a bible, save it were by the Jews? Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember they which are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth? Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together, the testimony of the two nations shall run together also. And I do this that I may prove unto many, that I am the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word, ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be, until the end of man; neither from that time henceforth and forever."

The history of the pretended Israelites is continued in the books of Enos, Jarom, Zeniff, &c., and through them all, we find one signal proof not merely of imposture, but of the ignorance of the impostor, repeated with singular pertinacity. Every successive prophet predicts to the Nephites the future coming of Christ; the writer has fallen into the vulgar error of mistaking an epithet for a name; the word "Christ," as all educated persons know, is not a name, but a Greek title of office, signifying "The Anointed," being in fact a translation of the Hebrew word Messiah; it is true that in modern times, and by a corruption which is now become inveterate, the term is used by western Christians, as if it were a proper name, or at least an untranslatable designation, but this is a modern error, and it has been avoided by most of the oriental churches. Now, the use of a Greek term, at an age when the Greek language was unformed, and by a people with whom it was impossible for Greeks to have intercourse, and moreover, whose native language was of such peculiar construction as not to be susceptible of foreign admixture, is a mark of forgery so obvious and decisive that it ought long since to have exposed the delusion. Unhappily, however, we are forced to conclude from the pamphlets before us, that the American Methodists, who first undertook to expose the Mormonites, were scarcely less ignorant than themselves.

A second Nephi takes up the history at a period contemporary with the events recorded in the New Testament. It avers that our Lord exhibited himself to the Nephites after his resurrection, and the words attributed to him bear still more conclusive evidence of the ignorance of the impostors:

"Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name. I came unto my own, and my own received me not. And the scriptures concerning my coming are fulfilled. And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the Sons of God; and even so will I to as many as shall believe on my name, for behold, by me redemption cometh, and in me is the law of Moses fulfilled. I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end."

In addition to the former blunder respecting the name "Christ," we have the name "Jesus" in its Greek form, and not as the Hebrews would have called it, "Joshua;" but we have furthermore the names of the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet given as a metaphorical description of continued existence to a nation that had never heard of the

Greek language. It is quite clear that the writer mistook Alpha and Omega for some sacred and mystical sounds, to which particular sanctity was attached, -- a blunder by no means confined to the Mormonites, -- and wrote them down without perceiving that they were an evidence of forgery, so palpable as to be manifest to school-boys.

The change of colour in the descendants of the emigrants is stated to have been a punishment for their sins, and the final sealing up of the sacred records before the arrival of the Europeans is attributed to the increasing wickedness of the people. The rules, principally relating to the necessity of total immersion in the sacrament of baptism.

Enough has now been said to show the nature and character of this extraordinary forgery. Had the success of the imposture been confined to America, we might have noticed its history briefly, as a strange example of the aberrations of the human mind; but it is making rapid progress in England, particularly in the manufacturing districts; and it is also spreading in Wales. Furthermore, its contents are not made from the lowest ranks; those sought and obtained by the Mormonite apostles are mechanics and tradesmen who have saved a little money, who are remarkable for their moral character, but who are exposed to delusion from having, as Archbishop Sharpe expressed it, "studied the Bible with an ill-balanced mind." We feel it therefore a duty to expose the origin of the imposture and to give some particulars respecting its authors, which we trust will be of service in preventing the spread of the delusion.

From the testimony of eighty different persons residing in Wayne and Ontario counties, New York, it appears that Joseph Smith, junior, was originally a "Money-digger." It is a common belief in America that large sums of money were buried in the earth by the buccaneers, and by persons compelled to fly from their homes during the Revolutionary war. Of this belief many impostors have taken advantage, declaring that they can discover the treasure by spells and incantations. The success with which Smith practiced these arts, pointed him out as a fit associate to Sidney Rigdon, and Oliver Cowdery, who had by accident become possessed of the manuscripts which were made the foundation of the 'Book of Mormon.' It is of some importance to observe that there were two sets of impostors, originally distinct, -- the pretended discovery of the metallic plates, devised by Smith and Martin Harris, and the pretended translation of these plates, published as the 'Book of Mormon,' which appears to have been suggested by Sidney Rigdon.

Smith, Harris, and some others, were known as the "Gold Bible Company," before the pretended discovery of the plates, and for some time after that event seem to have had no notion of founding a new religion. In the authentication of the pretended discovery, signed by seven witnesses only, which Smith published, the witnesses only testify, "We have seen and hefted (lifted), and know of a surety that the said Smith hath got the plates of which we have spoken." Hence the original fraud appears to have been a scheme of pretended treasures and forged antiquities.

We shall soon see how this fraud was connected with the 'Book of Mormon.' A clergyman named Solomon Spaulding left the ministry and entered into business in Cherry Vale, New York, where he failed in the year 1809. The discoveries of the antiquities of the "Mounds" occurred about the same time; and when he removed after his failure into the state of Ohio, he found much curiosity excited by these relics of extinct civilization.

Long previous it had been a popular theory with certain speculative writers, that the aboriginal Americans were the descendants of the Ten Tribes; indeed the theory has still many advocates in the United States. Spaulding hoped by combining this theory with recent discoveries to produce a novel, the sale of which would enable him to pay his debts. He resolved to call it 'Manuscript Found,' and to present it to the world as an historical record of the first inhabitants of America. As he was a vain man, he frequently read portions of the work to his friends and neighbors. His brother, his partner, his wife, and six of his friends testify. "That they well remember many of the names and incidents mentioned in Spaulding's manuscript, and that they know them to be the same as those found in the 'Book of Mormon.'"

The manuscript was prepared for press, and in 1812 Spaulding took it to a printer named Lambdin, residing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: before any arrangements could be concluded, the author died; and as the MS. was of great extent, Lambdin was unwilling to risk his money on the speculation. He lent the MS. to Sidney Rigdon, who, on the death of Lambdin in 1826, joined with Smith in palming it on the world as a new revelation. The worthy associates re-wrote and greatly altered the work; their additions to it can indeed be often traced by the clumsiness with which they are introduced, and among these additions we find prominent the promise, that the New Jerusalem should be founded in America, the command that the saints should have a community of goods, and the rule, that all admitted into the body should receive baptism by total immersion.

The history of the fraud is a proper introduction to the purposes for which it was designed. In addition to the 'Book of Mormon' the impostors have produced another work, called 'The Book of Doctrines and Covenants,' which they allow to be seen only by the initiated, and to be put into the hands only of those on whom they can depend. No copy of this work is to be procured in England, but we have been able to obtain some extracts taken by gentlemen in America. In this work the demand for money meets us everywhere. The following language is put into the mouth of the Supreme Being: --

"Let all the monies which can be spared, it mattereth not unto me whether it be little or much, be sent up unto the land of Zion, unto them whom I have appointed to receive.... Let all those who have not families, who receive money, send it up unto the bishop in Zion, or unto the bishop in Ohio, that it may be consecrated for the bringing forth of the revelations, and the printing thereof, and for establishing Zion." sec. 17. "He that sendeth up treasures unto the land of Zion shall receive an inheritance in this world. And his work shall follow him. And also a reward in the world to come.... It is meet that my servant Joseph Smith, jun., should have a house built in which to live and translate. And again it is meet that my servent, Sidney Rigdon, should live as seemeth him good, inasmuch as he keepeth my commandments," sec. 64.

The following reveals some particulars respecting Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses to the supernatural origin of the 'Book of Mormon:' --

"Hearken unto me, saith the Lord your God, for my servant Oliver Cowdery's sake. It is not wisdom in me that he should be intrusted with the commandments and the monies, which he shall carry up unto the land of Zion, except one go with him who is true and faithful. Wherefore I, the Lord, willeth that my servant John Whitmer shall go with my servant Oliver Cowdery," sec. 44.

In August 1831, the Mormonites, or "Latter-day saints," commenced their settlements in Missouri. In about two years their numbers had considerably increased, when the other inhabitants of the State took up arms against them, and a sanguinary civil war raged for nearly five years. We have no inclination to enter into the details of the lawless outrages committed on both sides, or the frightful picture they give of American life in the frontier provinces. It will be sufficient to say that true bills for murder were found against the Mormonite leaders, and that many of them contrived to escape from prison. Among the fugitives we find the names of several of the Mormonites in England, particularly Parley P. Pratt, the editor of the Millenial Star at Manchester. In the Mormonite appeal it is recorded:

"A bill was found against Parley P. Pratt, Morris Phelps, and Luman Gibbs for murder, and also a man by the name of King Follett for robbery.... In the evening when the jailer brought in their suppers, they walked out at the door: that is, Parley P. Pratt, Morris Phelps, and King Follett; Luman Gibbs continued; the others were closely pursued and Follett was retaken and carried back; but the other two effected their escape to the State of Illinois."

Since their expulsion from Missouri, the Mormonites have settled in Illinois, and founded three towns, the chief of which they call Nauvoo -- a name from which they have the hardihood to assert is derived from the Hebrew, and signifies Beautiful. They have sent missionaries into various parts of England to collect recruits; the deluded victims are persuaded to deposit their little stocks in the treasury of the sect, and are then sent over to the settlements on the Mississippi. They have been most successful in Preston, from whence no less than forty-four respectable persons, respectable at least in their class, have emigrated to the Mormonite colony within the last three weeks. This success may, in some degree, be attributed to the art by which the Mormonite leaders have connected themselves with the Temperance movement, In the 80th section of the 'Book of Doctrine,' the Temperance rules are strongly enjoined on the Mormonites, and hence they can present themselves to zealots in the cause as the only sect in which total abstinence is a matter of religious obligation. We find also that they are endeavouring to gain the Irvingites and Campbellites; for in a communication from Clithero it is stated, -- "As soon as the converts were baptized and confirmed, they spoke with unknown tongues." The last reports of the Mormonite Elders boast of increasing success, particularly in Staffordshire, Herefordshire, and Wales; and we have reason to fear that the boast is not wholly destitute of foundation.

Before closing this statement it is necessary to say a few words respecting the Mormonite hymns, for which they make a claim to divine inspiration, and which have really proved very efficient agents in their success. Greater balderdash than these productions can scarcely be conceived; they are devoid of grammar, sense, or rhyme; and yet they are compared by the deluded Mormonites to the Psalms of David. One specimen will suffice. It forms part of a contrast between the first and second advent of the Messiah: --

The first was persecuted
  And into Egypt fled, --
A pilgrim and a stranger
  Not where to lay his head.

The second at his temple
  Will suddenly appear,
And all his saints come with him
  To reign a thousand year.

The first a man of sorrows
  Rejected by his own;
And Israel left in blindness
  To wander forth forlorn.

The second brings deliverance,
  They crown him as their king,
The own him as their Saviour
  And join his praise to sing.

Human patience can copy no more. Before concluding, however, we must call the attention of those who are engaged in resisting the progress of this heresy, to plain internal evidences of forgery which we have shown in the 'Book of Mormon.' The imposture is artfully framed to catch those who are familiar with the language and style of our authorised version, but know nothing of the original; we see that its authors have adopted the most vulgar errors, but we may also see that they would not have adopted them. had not such errors been common. A very little general instruction would have saved most of the victims of this delusion; and assuredly nothing but a vast extent of popular ignorance can account for a success of such an imposture here, at the time when it had notoriously begun to fail in America.

CHAMBERS'S

M I S C E L L A N Y.

VOLUME II.

(1847 Edinburgh Edition)
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M O R M O N I S M.

LIFE  IN  THE "FAR WEST."

PART  THE  LAST.

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