THE  "MORMON  BIBLE."

An article has been going the rounds of the papers about "the original Mormon Bible." It started in the Detroit Post and Tribune, a reporter of which interviewed Major J. H. Gilbert, of Palmyra, who claims to have set up in type nearly all the matter for the first edition of the Book of Mormon, and worked it off on a hand press. He has the unbound sheets as he took them from the press and exhibits them as a great curiosity.

There is a great deal of nonsense talked about this first edition. It is said to be a very rare book, and in many respects essentially different from the subsequent editions. There are quite a number of copies of the first edition of the book in this Territory, and its contents are substantially identical with all other editions of the work. The chief difference is in the printing and binding, which are better in the later editions than in the first.

The article to which refer states that "nobody but Joe himself ever saw the golden tablets." It is evident that the writer of this statement is ignorant of the history of the book and of the facts in the case, and that he has never examined the work about which he talks so positively. The book is prefaced with the testimony of Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris, who state with words of truth and soberness that an angel of God came down from heaven and showed them the plates and engravings thereon, while the voice of God declared to them that the record was translated by the gift and power of God. And lest this testimony might be objected to, as partaking too much of the supernatural, the testimony of eight witnesses is appended who state that Joseph Smith had shown them the plates, which they handled with their hands. Thus eight persons saw the plates naturally, and three others in addition to Joseph Smith testify that they were exhibited to them by the power of God.

It has been represented that the three last named witnesses subsequently apostatized and denied their former statements. This is as grossly incorrect as the allegation that there were no witnesses. Those men, having been greatly favored, were tempted in a corresponding degree, and failing to endure were severed from the Church. But they never denied their statement concerning the plates and the heavenly manifestations in relation to them. On the contrary, they always maintained the truth of their testimony under every circumstance. Two of them -- Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris -- returned to the Church, and died within its fold, reiterating their first testimony to the last. The article in the Post and Tribune states that Martin Harris did not follow the "Mormons" eastward [sic] but "remained near his home where he died two years ago." This is also inaccurate. Martin Harris came to Utah asking forgiveness for his faults, was received into the Church and died in Cache Valley in this Territory, bearing testimony of the truth of the Book of Mormon. David Whitmer has not yet returned to the fellowship of the Church but, like the other two witnesses, when questioned concerning the Book of Mormon repeats his former statement in the firmest manner, and, so far as we are aware, and we have conversed with many persons who have interrogated him, he has never denied his original testimony in the least degree.

There is one point connected with theis argument about the expulsion from the Church of the three witnesses, which our opponents do not appear to perceive. If these persons were in league with Joseph Smith, to palm upon the world as a divine revelation a work written or adopted with the intention to deceive, would the chief conspirator have had the temerity to excommunicate his chief associates in crime on their infraction of the rules of his church? Does not the fact of his dealing with them as with ordinary members prove, if it proves anything, that the notion of a conspiracy between those four persons is a fallacy? And if they were not conspirators and deceivers does it not follow that their testimony is true?

The article closes with a repetition of the Solomon Spaulding story, which has been so often refuted during the last thirty years or more that we will not waste space upon the matter further than this: The connection between the supposed Spaulding and his manuscript about the "lost ten tribes," and Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon is always made to be Sidney Rigdon. He is represented as a printer in the Pittsburg office, where the manuscript was said to have been deposited, and to have cooked it up with Joseph Smith into the Book of Mormon. Passing by the fact that the Book of Mormon is not a history of the "lost ten tribes" and only mentions them once and that incidentally, it is well known that Sidney Rigdon never saw Joseph Smith nor had any connection with this Church until after the Book of Mormon had been printed for some time. Sidney Rigdon, a Campbellite preacher, was converted to "Mormonism" by Parley P. Pratt, and the latter was not baptized until September, 1830, several months after the Book was published. Elder Pratt first saw the Prophet Joseph Smith at Manchester, New York and being sent by him on a mission to the Western States, on his way met Sidney Rigdon in Ohio, to whom he presented the Book of Mormon, and whom, with many other Campbellites he convinced of its truth. This is well established history.

Those who desire to devise or accept some plausible story of the origin of the Book of Mormon, should be shy of such silly inventions as the Spaulding nonsense. Yet it is copied from paper to paper, and standard Cyclopaedias print it with the utmost gravity. When the story was started it was exploded and so entirely shattered that its inventors never touched it again. But of late years it has been picked up and patched together, as the only means by which the production of such a work as the Book of Mormon by an uneducated youth can be accounted for. All that any person need do to disprove the Spaulding story to his own entire satisfaction is, to hear it carefully and then read the Book of Mormon.

The testimony of the witnesses of that book cannot be gainsayed nor disproved. They could have no object in making it except to tell the truth. It was of no pecuniary benefit to them. They had no prospect of reaping any reward for it but persecution and contumely. And it stands to-day unproven and unshaken as a witness to this generation of the work commenced for the consummation of all things, and of the re-opening of the long lost communication of man with his Maker. The "Mormon Bible" is the same Bible that all Christian sects profess to believe. The Book of Mormon corroborates and supports the Jewish record, but does not supplant it, and both unite in bearing testimony to all nations, Jew and Gentile, that Jesus is the Christ and that the day of His everlasting dominion is near at hand.


Note 1: The "the original Mormon Bible" article referred to in the above report's first paragraph was the "Joe Smith" piece published by the Post and Tribune on Dec. 3, 1877. The Detroit paper printed a chance interview given by John H. Gilbert during a visit to that city. It is likely that the Detroit article came to the attention of Salt Lake City journalist James T. Cobb early in 1878, perhaps due to its citation in the weekly Deseret News. Cobb later corresponded with Gilbert at his Palmyra residence, acquiring first-hand information concerning the origin of Mormonism. Cobb soon began to investigate other elements of early Mormonism through similar correspondence with other persons, and eventually used much of the information he gained to write an unattributed series of article on the Mormons for the Salt Lake Tribune, Throughout 1878-79 the editors of the Deseret News responded indirectly to issues raised by Cobb in the anti-Mormon Tribune, by publishing their own, faith-promoting series of articles. Quite inadvertently, the Mormon editors' rebuttals helped to spawn news readers' prolonged frenzy of fascination with the "true origin" of the Book of Mormon, a publishing phenomenon lasting well into the mid-1880s.

Note 2: Although the Deseret News editors express an unwillingness to "waste space upon the matter" of the Solomon Spalding authorship claims for the Book of Mormon, they launch into a tirade against "the Spaulding nonsense" which appears to betray their true apprehension with the possible further popularization of those claims. See the follow-up presentation of Daniel Tyler's letter on the "often exploded," but still evidently bothersome "Spauldin' story" in the daily Deseret Evening News for this same date.

THE SPALDIN' STORY.

Editor Deseret News:

The Spauldin' story so often exploded and so often revived I am somewhat familiar with and have been since about the year 1824 or 1825. In 1823 my father, with his family, moved from New York State to what is now West Springfield, Erie County, Pennsylvania, about four miles from the village of Salem, now Conneaut, in Ashtabula County, Ohio where "the mound builders" had made their mark. A superannuated Presbyterian preacher, Solomon Spauldin by name, had written a romance on a few mounds at the above named village, pretending that the ten tribes crossed from the eastern hemisphere via the Behring Straits to this continent, and that said mounds were built by a portion of them, to bury the dead after some hard fighting. The novel, as I was told by those who heard it read, referred to them as idolaters and not otherwise religious.

I think Spauldin removed to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, prior to my information of his tale on the mounds. In 1832 Elders Orson Hyde and Samuel H. Smith preached a few times in our neighborhood and baptized three persons, among them Erastus Rudd, in whose house much of the romance was formerly written, and from whom I received much of my information. In 1833 a large branch of the Church was raised up in our township, but no talk of the Spauldin romance being connected with the Book of Mormon until about 1834 or 1835, when Henry Lake began to claim that Sidney Rigdon, Joseph Smith's counselor, had made the latter from the former, while it has often been proven that Sidney Rigdon never had any acquaintance with or even knew said Spauldin or even heard of him, and at the time, in public print, averred that until one Doctor Philander Hurlbut, well known to the writer of this article, who had been cut off the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for adultery, published said false statement, he had never heard of the romance of its author, and demanded the proof. To this day it has not been forthcoming.

Previous to the publication of E. D. Howe's book (virtually the adulterer Hurlbutt's) which went in his name as everybody understood because of Hurlbutt's reputation, the said Doctor, who was not a doctor or anything else but an ignoramus, but so named by his parents because he was a seventh son, went to Pittsburg with the avowed intention of obtaining the romance to publish in Howe's (Hurlbutt's) book. He returned and the book was published minus the romance. The statement was that the novel could not be found.

Thus the story went the rounds until the year 1839 or 1840 when a relative of Mrs. Spauldin, now Mrs. Davidson, wrote her, asking certain questions, among others what became of the "Manuscript Found," this being the title of the tale. Mrs. Davidson, former widow of Solomon Spauldin, wrote for [an] answer, that this same Doctor Hurlbutt came to her house and got it with the promise of publishing it in his book, and of a consideration and the return of the manuscript. Subsequently she said he wrote her that it did not read as they expected and they should not publish it, but never returned it or any consideration. Some day it will probably be found among E. D. Howe's or Hurlbutt's "old letters." Mrs. Davidson's letter will be found in files of Quincy papers and the Times and Seasons published in Nauvoo at the time.

                                  DANIEL TYLER.


Note 1: Having written (for the weekly Deseret News of Jan. 16th), a resolute rebuttal of the "the original Mormon Bible" articles then circulating in some eastern newspapers, the LDS editors apparently solicited the above letter from Mormon old-timer Daniel Tyler, in order to further discredit what they called "the Spaulding nonsense." Rather than put an end to the origins controversy, the information conveyed in Tyler's letter simply opened new possibilities for further developing the old Spalding authorship claims.

Note 2: Daniel Tyler (1816-1906) was baptized a Mormon in Springfield township, Erie Co., PA, on Jan. 16, 1833. He later traveled to Kirtland and was married there in 1836 before moving on to Far West, Missouri and Hancock Co., Illinois. Elder Erastus Rudd (who told Daniel Tyler about Spalding's writings), once lived just east of Spalding's old house on Conneaut Cr. (very near the north end of the OH/PA state line). Erastus was baptized an LDS in 1832-33, in or near western Erie Co., Pennsylvania. He died in Missouri, while a member of the Mormons' Zion's Camp march of 1834. Tyler moved west after the fall of Nauvoo, served in the "Mormon Battalion" during the Mexican War, and later wrote a popular history of that experience. Given his early residence in the Conneaut area and his demonstrated abilities in historical reporting, Tyler was likely a reliable witness in his telling what he knew of Solomon Spalding and Spalding's neighbors. Andrews Tyler, Daniel's father, was excommunicated from the Mormons at the end of 1833, and was probably the first Mormon to become disaffected over D. P. Hurlbut's circulation of the old Spalding authorship claims. However, Andrews rejoined the Saints a few days after D. P. Hurlbut's April, 1834 trial ended in Ohio.

THE  DEAD  REVIVED  AGAIN.

A few days ago we took occasion to notice in a general way an article in Sunday Afternoon for April, written by T. L. Rogers, and entitled "The Mormons." There is one point in it on which we offer some special remarks, not because it contains anything new or remarkable, but because it is being put forth in other quarters and is attracting some attention. It is the revival of the old and thoroughly exploded fiction called "The Spaulding Story." Our apology to our readers for alluding at any length to this dead and almost forgotten issue, is the attempt now being made to resurrect and fan it into life, as a desperate resource of a few priests and editors to account for the origin of the Book of Mormon. Rogers says:

"The evidence is complete that Smith discovered only what he and some associates had hidden in a box of their own making in a hole of their own digging. Smith came into possession of a copy of the work of Spaulding made by Sidney Rigdon, a workman in Patterson's printing office. Rigdon confessed the fact afterwards when he was cut off from the Mormon Church by Brigham Young. The three witnesses also quarreled with Joseph and Rigdon, and confessed to having sworn falsely. Rigdon on leaving the work of a printer, became a preacher of peculiar doctrines. Smith had quite a large following in certain views peculiarly his, and these two religious Ishmaelites coming together set to work to give the world a new Bible."

The above embodies the theory put forth many years ago, but which was fully refuted at the time of its invention. Rogers says "the evidence is complete." The fact is not a particle of this "evidence" is offered, neither can it be produced. Who is the "associate" referred to? When and where was the box made and the hole dug? Sidney Rigdon was never a printer in Patterson's printing office; he never "confessed the fact" asserted either verbally or in writing, neither did the three witnesses, or either of them, ever confess to "having sworn falsely." Not a particle of evidence to substantiate any of Rogers' statements can be adduced. On the contrary, an abundance of positive proof has been published repeatedly establishing the falsity of such charges.

All the absurd accusations and stupid remarks which have emanated from the pulpit and the press in regard to this Spaulding matter, are based upon a letter to the Boston Recorder, written by one John Storrs, a Congregational preacher of Holliston, Massachusetts. It was published in that paper, April 19, 1839 and contained an alleged statement of Matilda Davieson, widow of Solomon Spaulding. It gives what purports to be a brief history of Spaulding's life, from which it appears that he was a retired preacher, who, while living in New Salem, Ohio, amused himself in his latter days by writing a romance which he called the "Manuscript Found," in which was a pretended history of the early inhabitants of this country, which he read from time to time for the delectation of his friends, about the year 1812. He then removed to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he handed the manuscript to a Mr. Patterson, who edited a paper and who would have published it if Mr. Spaulding had furnished the title page and preface, which he refused to do for some cause not mentioned. The manuscript was returned to the author, who removed to Amity, Pa., where he died in 1816, and the manuscript was preserved by his widow. In the year 1834, extracts from the Book of Mormon having been read by a "woman preacher" at New Salem, the similarity between it and the Spaulding manuscript was perceived by persons present, and one, Dr. Philaster Hurlburt was deputed to obtain the original manuscript, for the purpose of comparing it with the "Mormon Bible," and by exposing the imposture, preventing the spread of the delusion. This letter of Mr. Storrs, with the alleged statement of Mrs. Davieson, has been reproduced in the Pittsburgh Telegraph, and appears in its issue of March 27, 1879. It forms the entire foundation for the books, articles and sermons that have been put forth to account for the Book of Mormon. Let us examine it a little.

We will admit, for argument's sake, that there was such a person as Solomon Spaulding, and that the pious old gentleman spent his last years on earth in composing this work of fiction, also that he made some attempt to get it printed, that the manuscript fell to his widow, and that she surrendered it to Dr. Philaster Hurlburt. The question now is, what became of this valuable document? If it formed the material from which the Book of Mormon was fabricated, why was it not published, or portions of it given side by side with extracts from the Book said to be made up from it? What did Mrs. Davieson pretend to know about the resemblance between the Book of Mormon and the "Manuscript Found?" She knew nothing but what Hurlburt told her. What did she know about Sidney Rigdon's residence in Pitttsburg, or connection with Patterson's printing office? Nothing whatever. Who wrote the letter signed by Mrs. Davieson and working up this theory? It was plainly the work of John Storrs, the pious preacher who was anxious to stop the spread of "Mormonism," which put his craft in danger. Who was the prime originator of the Spaulding story? This same "Dr." Philaster Hurlburt, whose history is too vile to present here in full, but we will give a small chapter from it because it is connected with the subject.

Hurlburt was a "seventh son," and hence received his title of "Dr.," a common appellation for such septenaries. He was a member of the Methodist Church, but was expelled for immorality, and afterwards imposed himself upon the "Mormon" Church from which he was excommunicated in the year 1833 for a similar cause. He swore that he would murder Joseph Smith, and for this was bound over to keep the peace in the sum of $500. It was after this that he, in company with E. D. How, of Painesville, Ohio, undertook to overthrow this Church by publishing a book called "Mormonism Unveiled." In this work the Spaulding story first appeared and it was claimed that the "Manuscript Found" was:

"A romance purporting to have been translated from the Latin, found on twenty-four rolls of parchment in a cave, but written in modern style, giving a fabulous account of a ship being driven upon the American coast proceeding from Rome to Britain, a short time previous to the Christian era; this country being inhabited by the Indians."

After the publication of that work an interview was held with Mrs. Davieson, and her daughter, Mrs. McKinstry, a report of which was published in the Quincy, (Ills.) Whig, from which we extract the following:

Q. -- Have you read the Book of Mormon?
A. -- I have read a little of it.

Q. -- Is there any similarity between Mr. Spaulding's manuscript and the Book of Mormon?
A. -- Not any.

Q. -- Did the manuscript describe an idolatrous or a religious people?
A. -- An idolatrous.

Q. -- Where is the manuscript?
A. -- Mr. Hurlburt came here and took it away, and said I should have half the proceeds.

Q. -- Did Hurlburt publish the manuscript?
A. -- No, he informed me by letter that the manuscript after having been examined did not read as they expected, and that they would not publish it.

Q. -- What was the size of the manuscript?'
A. -- About the third part of the Book of Mormon.

Mrs. McKinstry corroborated Mrs. Davieson in every particular.


Sidney Rigdon wrote to the Boston Recorder, [sic] under date of May 27th, 1839, in reply to the Storrs letter, in which he stated that he had never worked in a printing office in Pittsburg; never knew Mr. Patterson; that there was no such person in that town while he was there; but he had learned that a man by that name had previously owned a printing office in that place, but had failed; that he had never heard of Spaulding or his romance until he saw Hurlburt and How's book. He also related some of Hurlburt's history and character.

Parley P. Pratt in his auto-biography gives an account of his own conversion to "Mormonism," and his first visit to Joseph Smith, the prophet, who was in Ontario County, New York, and his journey in October, 1830, with others to Ohio as a missionary, where he met with Sidney Rigdon with whom he had formerly been acquainted. We extract the following paragraph:

"We called on Elder S. Rigdon, and then for the first time his eyes beheld the "Book of Mormon; I myself, had the happiness to present it to him in person. He was much surprised, and it was with much persuasion and argument that he was prevailed on to read it; and after he had read it, he had a great struggle of mind before he fully believed and embraced it; and when finally convinced of its truth, he called together a large congregation of his friends, neighbors and brethren, and then addressed them very affectionately, for near two hours,  *  *  *  The next morning, himself and wife were baptised by Elder Cowdry.  *  *  *  Early in 1831, Mr. Rigdon having been ordained under our hands, visited elder J. Smith, Jr., in the State of New York, for the first time."


Now, what foundation is there for this stupid Spaulding story? An elderly retired preacher is said to have written a romance about an idolatrous people from Rome, whose records, written in Latin, on twenty-four rolls of parchment, were hid in a cave. This manuscript was handed to Mr. Patterson in Pittsburg, in 1812, for publication, but he did not print it. Sidney Rigdon, who did not live in Pittsburg until after Patterson had left, saw the work and copied it, although it had been returned to the widow, and Joseph Smith, many hundreds of miles away, in the year 1827, made up a book from it about religious people who left Jerusalem, and whose records were inscribed in modified Egyptian characters on plates of gold, the translation of which contained the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, being assisted in the work by Sidney Rigdon, whom he never saw until more than a year after the book was published! Another account of the same affair says the Spaulding story was a history of the ten tribes. The Book of Mormon is not a history of the ten tribes, and makes but one brief allusion to them as being in a distant country.

Any one who has read the Book of Mormon can easily see that it is impossible to eliminate the religious from the historical part of the work, each being identified with growing out of and essential to the other, forming one harmonious and consistent whole. The witnesses to the book are unimpeachable. Eight testify that they saw and handled the plates from which it was translated. Three declare that an angel of God came down from heaven and showed them the plates, while the voice of God from on high pronounced the translation correct. The testimony of the eight proves the natural existence of the plates; the testimony of the three proves the supernatural character of the work of their revelation and translation; the witness of the Holy Ghost to scores of thousands, as well as the manifestations of angels, visions, dreams, healings and the gifts of the gospel in confirmation of the book, accord with the statements of Joseph and the eleven persons whose names are signed to their testimony; and the book itself bears to all who accept its message the promise of a divine witness to its truth, which has been amply and surely fulfilled.

None of these signatory witnesses have ever denied their testimony. The fact that the three witnesses were excommunicated is evidence in favor of the book rather than against it. If the work was an imposture, Joseph would not have dared to discard them, no matter what might be their offence. Two of them are dead, but returned to the Church before their demise, and whether in or out of its communion, among friends or foes, always maintained before God the truth of their testimony. One of them still lives, and, though unconnected with the Church, is as firm and steadfast as ever in his declaration as published to the world.

Those who are anxious to overthrow the claims of the Book of Mormon as a record divinely revealed and translated will have to adopt some other means than the reconstruction of the shattered and baseless Spaulding story, which was utterly refuted as soon as concocted, resort to which is the refuge of our opponents and is one of the strongest proofs of the lamentable weakness of their cause.

The Book of Mormon remains unshaken and unaffected by all that has been said and done against it. Corroborated in its history by the discoveries of modern travelers, established in its doctrines by the Old and New Testaments, and accepted as a Divine record by many thousands of people of various nations who have received numberless proofs of its authenticity from heavenly sources, it stands out before the world as the "Stick of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim." side by side with the "stick of Judah," as a witness for the Son of Man in the latter times, and a harbinger of the swiftly approaching day when the Lord will gather in one all the remnants of the chosen race, and make them "one nation upon the mountains of Israel." Let the priestly and editorial enemies of this wonderful record find some more potent weapon to fight it with than the Spaulding fiction, or hide their heads henceforth in shame.


Note 1: This article was subsequently reprinted in the weekly Deseret News of Apr. 16, 1879. The LDS editors continued print faith-promoting articles on the Book of Mormon throughout 1878-79 (Jan. 30, 1878; Nov. 16, 1878; Nov. 23, 1878, etc.), but in April of 1879 they again concentrated their attention upon the Spalding claims for Book of Mormon authorship. The stimulus for this renewed response was apparently the articles on Book of Mormon origins published in the Pittsburgh Telegraph of Feb. 6 and Mar. 27, 1879 (at least somewhat more so than the T. L. Rogers comments, as referenced at the beginning of their response). By this time, the editors of the News had also become distressingly aware of the efforts then underway by local anti-Mormon researcher James T. Cobb, to attack LDS origins and revive interest in the Spalding-Rigdon claims for Book of Mormon authorship. Cobb was then authoring a serious of biting articles for the Salt Lake Tribune, as well as helping to generate and sustain the flurry of news reports on these subjects then being published in the eastern press. The several allegiant responses published throughout 1879 by the Deseret News (to combat attacks by non-Mormon writers) can be seen as part of an virtual campaign to defuse Cobb's anti-Mormon literary efforts.

Note 2: The Deseret News response provides a faulty reading in its excerpt from the Jesse Haven letter (originally published in 1839 in the Quincy Whig.) Also, the LDS writer mistakenly conveys the notion that President Rigdon's May 27, 1839 letter was written for publication in the Boston Recorder. It was not -- and it is not known to have been printed in any eastern newspaper.

SIDNEY  RIGDON AND THE  SPAULDING  ROMANCE.
______

In reference to the exhumed Spaulding story, we have had a visit from Bro. Anson Call, of Bountiful, who was well acquainted with Sidney Rigdon in Lake County, Ohio, some years before he joined the Church, and who was familiar with the circumstances attending his first reception of the Book of Mormon. Brother Call says Sidney Rigdon went into that part of the country as a Campbellite preacher, being as much the founder of that faith [as] was Alexander Campbell whose name it bears. Brother Call's grandfather was a Baptist preacher, who raised up a number of churches in that region, and these were all converted to Campbellism when Sidney Rigdon came among them with the doctrines of the new sect. This was in 1827, and the popular preacher remained in that vicinity, highly respected and esteemed by the community.

In 1830, Parley P. Pratt, Oliver Cowdery, Ziba Peterson, and Peter Whitmer, arrived on their way to fill a mission on the western boundary of the State of Missouri. Parley had been formerly associated with Sidney as a Campbellite preacher, having received that doctrine from him in Loraine County, and it was while on a mission for that sect in the State of New York that he became acquainted with and convinced of the truth of the Book of Mormon. This book he now presented to Sidney Rigdon. Brother Call says that at first he spurned it, and ridiculed the idea of paying any attention to a book with such claims. He knew of the controversy between the two men, and says that the only reason why Rigdon consented to examine it at all was because Parley said, "You brought truth to me, I now ask you as a friend to read this for my sake." He studied and prayed over the matter for two weeks, and at length accepted it as true, and soon after he and his wife were baptized as were a few others of the Campbellites. In the following December, Sidney went to the State of New York, where for the first time he saw the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Bro. Call says he was acquainted with Hurlburt, the originator of the Spaulding story, and also with How, the publisher of "Mormonism Unveiled," in which the story was first promulgated, and says the people in that region paid no attention to the story whatever, as they were acquainted with Sidney Rigdon's antecedents, and also with those of Hurlburt and How.

The connection of Sidney Rigdon with the Spaulding myth is alleged to have taken place in Pittsburg, where it is said he worked as a printer in the office of Mr. Patterson, to whom it is claimed Solomon Spaulding showed his manuscript; and it is supposed that by some unexplained means Sidney Rigdon got hold of it and copied it, that Joseph Smith obtained it from him and that the Book of Mormon was manufactured therefrom. And all this, notwithstanding the fact that Sidney and Joseph never met until long after the Book of Mormon was translated and published, the well authenticated facts of his first acquaintance with the Book as above related. But in looking over Sidney Rigdon's history, we find the date of his residence in Pittsburg and the circumstances which led him there. He went to that city from Warren, Trumball County, Ohio, in February, 1822, having been called there to take the pastoral charge of the First Baptist Church. After obtaining much popularity there, his views changing in regard to the Baptist doctrines, he resigned his ministry, and while plying the new faith afterwards known as Campbellism, he supported himself by working as a tanner, and he moved back into Ohio, where he entered the ministry again as above related.

Now it should be understood that the authors and promoters of the Spaulding story say that Patterson received this manuscript about 1812 or 1816, but it is clear that it was not in Pittsburg after the latter date. Sidney Rigdon did not arrive in Pittsburg till six years after that, and by this time there was no printing office in the place owned by Patterson, who had become a bankrupt, and Sidney Rigdon was no printer at all.

The story which has been brought out of the tomb to which it was consigned by its own defeated concocters many years ago, is thus shown to be without any foundation in fact, and we now refer to it again, so that our readers who have not made themselves familiar with its particulars may be able to meet, when necessary, the stupid story which impudent preachers and auditors have revamped for the purpose of blinding enquirers into the merits of the Book of Mormon, which was preserved for centuries and has been revealed and translated by the power of God for the enlightenment of a scoffing and skeptical generation.

That Sidney Rigdon knew nothing of the Book of Mormon or its origin until Parley P. Pratt presented it to him in the early part of the fall of 1830 is as certain as that the Book is in existence; that the Spaulding manuscript was totally unlike the Book in every respect is equally certain, or the manufacturers of the Spaulding story would have been only too glad to publish some of its paragraphs in support of their statements; and that the Book of Mormon is truly what it purports to be is as sure as that the sun shines, and thousands of people of various nationalities have been thoroughly convinced of it as of the reality of the glorious luminary of day. The Spaulding story was killed at its birth by the two-edged sword of truth; its ghost is too shadowy to avail anything for them who are now attempting to invoke it, and who thereby only show that in opposing the Book they are reduced to desperation by their utter failure to find a substantial argument.


Note 1: This article was subsequently reprinted in the weekly Deseret News of Apr. 30, 1879. It was apparently written following the expenditure of considerable effort on the part of the LDS editors to locate a surviving early member of the Church who had known Sidney Rigdon during his years as a Campbellite in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The report of Anson Call (1810-1890) appears as one in a series of refutations of the Spalding claims published by the Deseret News throughout 1879.

Note 2: Anson Call's recollection of Elder Parley P. Pratt having gone "on a mission" in 1830 to New York (where Pratt encountered the Book of Mormon) for Rigdon's "sect," is an important point and should not be lost sight of. Rigdon himself confirms this fact in his biographical sketch, as published in the Times and Seasons on Aug. 15, 1843. He there makes the statement that "Parley Pratt had been a preacher in the same church with elder Rigdon... and had been sent into the State of New York, on a mission." By the fall of 1830 Rigdon and his coreligionists in Geauga Co., Ohio had broken with Rev. Alexander Campbell over matters of doctrine and church administration. Sidney Rigdon had essentially initiated his own splinter "sect" apart from the rest of the Ohio Campbellites. When Elder Pratt was "sent" east to perform his 1830 "mission," the "sect" he was representing was Rigdon's -- he was not acting as an official representative of Alexander Campbell and Campbell's associates. In fact, Pratt was operating as a Rigdonite missionary and was almost certainly dispatched eastward upon the instructions of Sidney Rigdon himself.

"INDEPENDENT"  ON  THE  SPAULDING  STORY.

Editors, Deseret News:

You have left little to be said in regard to the old "Manuscript Found" story, which, for the want of anything more substantial, is being revived just now. But, if you admit to your columns ideas which do not always coincide with your own, perhaps a line or two as to how this matter impresses one unconnected with your Church may not be inappropriate.

Whatever the facts in relation to the Book of Mormon, a careful perusal of it and of the statements of its opponents' long since convinced me of the absurdity as well as the falsity of this "Spaulding story" -- romance it may well be termed, for the whole story appears extremely mythical, and a more appropriate name would be "Manuscript Lost," for as no one seems to know what has become of it.

Having no time to spend on mere suppositions -- which as a general thing only excite antagonism -- permit me to ask, if the "manuscript found" ever existed and so much resembled the Book of Mormon" that the latter could be in the [slightest?] degree justly termed a plagiarism of it, is it likely that the opponents of "Mormonism" would have suffered such positive evidence of its fraudulent character to be lost or to pass out of their hands? Or, if in their possession, would they have allowed it to remain in obscurity until the believers in the Book of Mormon number hundreds of thousands. The eagerness with which they have grasped at every shadow of a weapon to use against "Mormonism" proves that they would not.

Would such evidence as that upon which this "Spaulding Story" rests be for one moment considered in any court of justice, even where only pecuniary considerations were at stake?

Your opponents find ground for sarcasm at the account given by Joseph Smith of the final disposition of the "plates." But Joseph's story has at least the merit of consistency and straightforwardness; while the disappearance of the "Manuscript Found" is abrouded in mystery, if not downright dishonesty. The facts no doubt are that the "manuscript" -- whatever it was -- proved to be so utterly unlike the "Book of Mormon," that it was deemed advisable to either secrete or destroy it.

Now, although I not only believe, but know, from personal experience that immortality is true and that God manifests Himself to those who earnestly and purely seek to know and do His will, as much to-day as at any time in the world's history, yet I am not and do not expect to be connected with any earthly "church," so should the writer be charged with being secretly a member of your Church, it is simply untrue. But can any sincere believer in the Bible and in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ, read the account of his visit to the Nephites on this continent, after his crucifixion and resurrection in Palestine, as given in the Book of Mormon, and believe for one moment that a corrupt and designing impostor, or set of impostors, would have concocted and palmed that account in the world? Permit me to quote what has long been considered a strong argument in favor of the truth -- in the main -- of the New Testament. "Bad men could not, and good men would not have written it unless true."

If you do not object I may hereafter add some reflections as to the "divine authenticity" of the "Book of Mormon" as a whole, though they may not concede with your own.

Allow me to subscribe myself an ardent lover of Truth and Justice, and on all subjects -- political, social or religious, in thought, at least, an absolute.
                        INDEPENDENT.


Note: The correspondent who used the pen-name "Independent" wrote a number of letters generally favorable to LDS views during this period. The writer may have been a Mormon who assumed the stance of an outsider, to provide a certain degree of credibility to these letters to the Deseret News. For more on this correspondent's views regarding Book of Mormon origins, see the letter, headed "Independent on the Book of Mormon" in the Deseret Evening News of May 26th.

DEATH  OF  EMMA  SMITH.
_______

The Carthage (Ill.) Republican of the 7th inst., announces the death at Nauvoo, on the 30th April, of Mrs. Emma Bidamon, formerly the wife of the Prophet Joseph Smith; she was in the 76th year of her age.

This lady was the daughter of Isaac Hale, and was married to Joseph Smith the Prophet, at South Bainbridge, Chenango County, New York, on the 18th of January, 1827. The following particulars of her second marriage are clipped from the paper above named:

"In the final exodus of the Mormons from Nauvoo, in 1846, Mrs. Smith was not molested either by word or act, or her preference to a continued residence in city, questioned by anybody.

On the 23d of December, 1847, Mrs. Emma Smith was united in marriage to Major L. C. Bidamon, by Rev. William Haney, a Methodist clergyman, as appears of record in the county clerk office in this city.

Major and Mrs. Bidamon continued their residence in the Old Mansion House -- formerly built and run as a hotel by Joseph Smith -- until about ten ago, a brick structure on the river bank, which was partially built by the Mormon prophet in his lifetime, was completed and their residence changed to it."

To the old members of this Church the deceased was well known, as a lady of more than ordinary intelligence and force of character. Her opposition to the doctrine of plural marriage which however she at first embraced, led to her departure from the faith of the gospel as revealed through her martyred husband. She chose to remain at Nauvoo, when the Saints left for the West, and in consequence lost the honor and glory that might have crowned her brow as "the elect lady."

She wasw the mother of four children, all the sons of the Prophet Joseph, viz. Joseph, now leader of the sect which commonly bears his name, Frederick, (deceased,) Alexander and David. It was mainly through her influence that they were led into the by-path wherein they were led into the by-path wherein they have gone astray. She has now gone behind the vail to await the great day of accounts. There is no feeling of bitterness to the hearts of the Saints toward Sister Emma, but only of pity and sorrow for the course she pursued. May her remains rest in peace.


Notes: (forthcoming)

"INDEPENDENT" ON THE BOOK OF MORMON.
_______

The revival of the old "Spaulding Romance" legend is only another exhibition of the flimsy and illogical hypotheses which either weak and indolent, or conceited and arrogant minds will adopt in preference to a careful, patient and scientific investigation of any new or strange phenomenon. This is no new phase of human nature nor has the manifestation been confined to religious subjects. Every new truth, so-called, whether in physics, politics or religion, has been opposed at first with the same weapons of falsehood, misrepresentation and ridicule.

No sane man would ever have dreamed of obtaining the slightest attention to or success for the Book of Mormon, as a romance. The genuine beauty, style and literary ability displayed in the works of Scott, Bulwer, and Dickins, and that so fascinate the reader, are wanting. Considered as a work of fiction, the intellectual mind cannot help regarding it as an exceedingly dull, uninteresting, awkwardly told story. No disrespect is intended by these remarks; the point is, that this book is not and could not be of the slightest possible interest or value to anybody unless it be true, or -- what is the same thing to the individual mind -- at least believed to be true. How utterly illogical and absurd to suppose that the men who first presented it to the world could expect it to be received, as it has been, by thousands of intelligent men and women, and to build upon it a mighty religious and political system, unless they had been convinced that it was just what it professed to be.

The more intelligent among its opponents will hardly dare to assume that the manuscript from which they profess to believe the Book of Mormon was compiled, was purposely mutilated and disfigured by Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, in order that their enemies might not be able to charge their success to its plausibility and attractive style. This would be attributing to them a power of foresight and a mode of action utterly inconsistent with human nature. Impostors always use the most plausible methods and neglect nothing however trifling, that will attract and fascinate those whom they wish to deceive. Had the Book of Mormon been an imposition no effort would have been spared to make it suit the popular taste; but, if it be true, then there certainly appears to be a profound degree of wisdom in permitting it to go before the world just as it is, for upon that feature alone does it depend for success.

There is one peculiarity among others, about the Book of Mormon, which is not possessed by any other book having no greater claim to genius or literary ability, or, indeed, by any work of fiction, namely, that when even the possibility of truth is admitted it becomes one of the most interesting books in the world. There are abundant evidences, however, both internal and external, that the man or men who wrote that book believed what they wrote, and if so, then it is not an imposture and they were not impostors. To those at all acquainted with the facts of their life and the history of your people no argument is necessary to prove this, and for others the facts are accessible in your own works if a knowledge of them is desired.

One of the prominent objections formerly made by smatterers in science to the Book of Mormon has recently been swept away by the logic of facts. The Book says that horses were used by the ancient inhabitants of this continent. Now, when America was discovered and its unfortunate people were subjected by such diabolically religious people as Cortez and Pizarro, not only were no horses found on the continent but the aborigines were utterly unacquainted with them. What sneers from the world over at Joseph Smith's ignorance and stupidity in putting "horses" into his book. But recent geological discoveries prove that there were -- at some former period -- numerous herds of horses on this continent. Had Mr. Smith and Mr. Rigdon concocted an imposture would they not have carefully excluded from their book this animal that was, for so many years, pressed into the service of their enemies? But, as one falsehood needs to be supplemented by another, perhaps it will be said that these gentlemen had, by some human means, become acquainted with this fact, although it was not then recognized in any geological work of which we have any knowledge.

The all-important question, as it appears to me, is not so much where the Book of Mormon originated, how it was translated, or why it was not clothed in more acceptable style and language, but, Is it true? That is what all men decide for themselves, not by the sneering criticisms of newspaper scribblers, but by careful, unbiassed investigation.

It is but a few years since it was the fashion to denounce Mahomet as a vile impostor; but a better acquaintance with the facts of his life has changed the opinion of most Christian scholars upon that point, whatever they may think of the religio-political system which he founded, and, to-day, those who thus speak of him are considered by literary people as uninformed and unphilosophical. And so will it be before many years in regard to Joseph Smith. This cry of "impostor" is worn threadbare -- indeed it always was "too thin." The men who resort to it are, in most cases, either impostors themselves or else shamefully ignorant of the ten thousand facts connected with the work they oppose, and upon which common sense would dictate they should thoroughly inform themselves before entering the lists against it. The time is not far distant when, unless they wish to become ridiculous in the eyes of all intelligent men, they will have to change their tactics.
                        INDEPENDENT.


Note: This article was subsequently reprinted in the weekly Deseret News of May 28, 1879. It is likely that the author was a Mormon who assumed the supposed stance of a non-member in order to add a certain kind of credibility to the views expressed in this letter. Oddly enough, Solomon Spalding also placed full-sized, domesticated horses in his romance of the pre-Columbian Americas. Of course, nobody has seen fit to attempt to justify Spalding's mistake on this point by demonstrating that tiny paleo-horses once ran wild in the uninhabited Americas, long before the onset of the last ice age.

THE  COURSE  OF  FOLLY  COULD  NO  FURTHER  GO.

At a meeting of the Historical Society of Washington County, Pennsylvania, on the 6th inst., among other resolutions adopted, was the annexed:

"Resolved that a committee of ten be appointed to take action to perpetuate the memory of Solomon Spaulding, the author of the Mormon Bible, of which A. M. Gow shall be chairman, the remaining members to be appointed by the executive committee."

The minutes of the meeting are published in the Review and Examiner of Washington, Pennsylvania, of June 11th, which makes the following arguments:

"As will be seen by the minutes elsewhere, the Historical Society has appointed a committee to take measures to perpetuate the memory of Rev. Solomon Spaulding, a citizen of this county and the author of the so-called Bible of the Mormons. The collection of marvelous statements which make up that wonderful piece of sacred fiction was written, it is generally believed by the above gentleman as a sort of intellectual gymnastic exercise, and to pass away the idle hours, never thinking it would become the standard of faith for a people gathered from all parts of the world controlling one of the richest territories belonging to the United States. The work was never printed, but the manuscript was left to careless hands as a thing of no value. How Joe Smith, the high priest of Mormonism, got possession of it, we have not heard, but it is said that it can be clearly proven that the story which Solomon Spaulding, the Washington county preacher, wrote for fun, is substantially the same that Joseph Smith, the apostle of polygamy, palmed off for gospel. The work of this committee will be, in addition to making this fact well understood beyond quibble, to devise some permanent memorial of the obscure country preacher, who, however unwittingly, shaped the foundation stones for the religion of Utah."

Of all the follies of memorial and monument building fanatics, this is the hugest and most absurd. In the first place, the story that the defunct religious romancer ever wrote anything like the manuscript of which he was the reputed author, rests upon the most insubstantial of foundations. It is probable, from the evidence, that there was such a person as Solomon Spaulding, and that he wrote some kind of novel concerning an imaginary people, of idolatrous character, who settled Ancient America. But the nature and character of the work, such contrary reports having been given, it is impossible to decide with certainty. Whatever it may have been it is beyond question, with those who have investigated the matter as closely as is possible in the absence of the manuscript, that it had no connection with or likeness to the Book of Mormon in any manner whatever. Take all the statements that have been made on this matter, by those who desire to foist the authorship of the Book of Mormon upon that "intellectual gymnast," separate and apart from their illogical deductions and gratuitous assumptions, and there is not a single link between that pious novelist and the Prophet Joseph Smith, nor any similarity between the described features of his alleged production and the volume translated from the sacred plates.

The nonsense, then, of an attempt to perpetrate the memory of Spaulding as "the author of the so-called Mormon Bible" is ludicrous in the extreme, and if the members of the Historical Society of a Pennsylvania county cannot find anything better to employ their time than in such a work, with an object, to say the least, of so doubtful a character, they had better be provided with some humming tops and marbles, or be initiated into the mysteries of "Simon says thumbs up," wherewith to beguile the hours when not engaged in historical debate.

But supposing the surmises of the jumpers at conclusions who connect the "Manuscript Found" -- which by the by nobody has found -- with the Book of Mormon to be correct, what claim has the author to public consideration, and why should his memory be perpetuated? The only remarkable thing reported of him is that he, a preacher of the gospel, wrote a work of fiction "just for fun," and could find nothing more attractive wherewith to while away his leisure time than to manufacture an imposition which he tried, in vain, to publish for the holy purpose of making money. This is a nice example to offer to succeeding generations! He is a splendid specimen of the American ecclesiast! He forms a striking subject for a monument or a memorial! Has that county historical society gone crazy? Or is it composed of a number of Pennsylvania Pickwicks, with less than the mental capacity of the famous antiquarians, who addled their learned brains over the mystic letters which, correctly deciphered, spelt "Bill Stubbs, his mark?"

We will offer a suggestion to this society which appears so anxious to keep the name and fame of an obscure story-making country parson before the world. That is, invest the means to be appropriated to the proposed memorial in the publication of his alleged work. Send out the Book of Mormon to all nations. Publish it in the leading languages of modern times. Let the world read what he wrote. If he is the author, and if any sane person of ordinary intellect who carefully peruses that book comes to the conclusion that it was concocted in deception and fabricated for gain, let Spaulding have all the glory which the Washington Historical Society desire to cover him with.

We will venture the guess that none of its members ever read the whole of the book, and that the Review and Examiner editor is densely ignorant of its contents. For, to a candid mind the best refutation of that thoroughly exploded but newly revived fabrication, the Spaulding story, is the Book of Mormon itself. There is not a sacred record of any religious body in the world, Christian, Mohammedan or Heathen which is so well authenticated; and to any honest-hearted person of fair understanding, it bears on its own pages the most convincing proofs of the fallacy of that foolish story concerning its origin and which evil men invented and craft-failing priests have promulgated, to blind the eyes of the multitude to the mission of the Prophet of the nineteenth century.

Should the Washington County resolvers carry out their absurd project -- rejecting our suggestion -- they will succeed in erecting a monument to their own folly, and making a memorial of their own fitness for an asylum for the harmless insane.


Note: This article was subsequently reprinted in the weekly Deseret News of July 2, 1879. The only known "monument" erected by the Historical Society of Washington County was a replacement headstone for the grave of Solomon Spalding in the Presbyterian churchyard at Amity, Pennsylvania. The need for such a replacement headstone is mentioned in the closing note of an article published in the Jan. 7, 1881 issue of the Washington Daily Evening Reporter. The writer of the Review and Examiner article and the Mormon reviewer both make the historical mistake of portraying Solomon Spalding as having been a clergyman during his declining years. He was, in fact, no such thing and had not assumed such a role for many years prior to his residence in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The title "Rev." is occasionally used to prefix Spalding's name, purely as an honorific remembrance of his ordination as a young Dartmouth graduate, long before he gave up his Christian orthodoxy.

ORIGIN  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON.

A suggestion having been offered in the Cincinnati Gazette that Joseph Smith discovered the plates from which the Book of Mormon was written, by means of "the divining rod," a long article in relation to that instrument subsequently appeared in the Gazette, by Henry Reed. We do not propose to copy the article, but clip from it the following, as the opinion of an intelligent opponent of "Mormonism" in regard to the old, exploded, but recently revived Solomon Spaulding story.

"From whatever quarter the Book of Mormon may have come, no person of much critical acuteness will attach any credit to the Solomon Spaulding theory of its origin. No scholar -- and Spaulding is represented a man of considerable erudition -- writing a romance of the "ten lost tribes," would have written in that manner. The notion that the American Indians were descendants of the Israelitish clans which seceded from the House of David under Jeroboam was, at the date of the appearance of the Book of Mormon, very prevalent in the United States; and many books and pamphlets were written, newspaper articles printed, and sermons preached, to give credibility to the idea of such relationship. Any one of these may have served as a hint. if hints were necessary, for the undertaking. Smiths announcement of the discovery of the golden plates and the crystal spectacles was as early as 1823, whereas his acquaintance with Rigdon who is supposed to have copied the Spaulding romance, did not commence until 1829 so that the revelation was, to say the least, projected before Smith could have had any knowledge of the production from which its substance has been putatively derived, and, to some extent, in the way of names, he may have made use of the Spaulding manuscript, is not improbable; but the Book of Mormon bears palpably, the evidence that it was produced for the purpose for which it was used, and by those who had such purpose distinctly in view in its production. in short, the end of the creation was not literary, as was the same with the Spaulding chronicle, but dogmatic and practical. And however amenable it may be to the rules of literary criticism, there is no denying the skill and knowledge of human nature with which it was adapted to the service for which it was employed. Besides this, although the Spaulding document was sent to a committee at Conneaut for the express purpose of being compared with the book, the silence that ensued, and mysterious disappearance of the manuscript, are tolerably strong evidence that the expected identity was not demonstrated by the comparison."

It is amusing to see the shifts and twistings to which men resort in an endeavour to account for the Book of Mormon, when they reject the truth in relation to its origin. The divining rod theory only leaves the matter where the true account places it, after the plates with hieroglyphics came into the hands of Joseph Smith, leaving the translation and object of the book to be accounted for; and the Spaulding story is too baseless and inconsistent with known facts and the nature and character of the book, to make any impression on the minds of thoughtful people. The testimonies prefacing the work give the only reliable account of its origin and they are plain, simple, straightforward, consistent and irrefutable.


Note: This article was subsequently reprinted in the weekly Deseret News of Sep. 17, 1879. There is convincing evidence to indicate that one or more members of the Mormon Smith family made use of the divining rod. Whether Joseph Smith, Jr. made use of this particular instrument at the time he reported first learning of the "Nephite record" remains possible but unsubstantiated.

THE  "SPAULDING  STORY."
_______

As the old skeleton of falsehood, called "The Spaulding Story," has been revived of late by the enemies of the Church, and thinking that perhaps some of the present generation may not be posted in regard to the complete refutation it met with in earlier days, we publish a letter of Elder Parley P. Pratt, written in New York on the 27th of November, 1839, and published in No. 3, Vol. 1, of the Times and Seasons, being copied from the New York Era, in which it was first published, having been written in reply to an article which appeared in that paper, taken from the Boston Recorder, headed "Mormon Bible," and signed "Matilda Davidson."

THE  MORMONITES.

See the Times and Seasons of Jan., 1840 for this text)

In the same number of the Times and Seasons, the following Editorial comment on the above letter shows that the statements of Brother Pratt were fully endorsed by the Saints, at the time: and the matter being thus settled by an unanswerable announcement of things as they really existed, the subject dropped more or less from the public mind, until of late years the bones of this defunct carcass of romance have been stirred up in all their rottenness to disturb the peace of the unwary who may not have been living at that time or were too young to comprehend and realize the wickedness of the plot devised for the destruction of God's work. It is found on the 43rd page of the first volume of the Times and Seasons, and reads as follows: --

"In this No. will be seen an article which we copy from the New York "Era," signed P.P. Pratt; it's in contradiction to the foolish simple priest fabricated tale that has been going the rounds, charging Sidney Rigdon with the crime of making the Book of Mormon, out of the romantic writings of one Solomon Spaulding..."

See the Times and Seasons of Jan., 1840 for the above text)

The letter above alluded to, written by a Mr. Haven, and copied by a Mr. Badlam, was taken from the Quincy Whig, and published on page 47 of the third number of the Times and Seasons, and shows in itself, without anything else, the utter fallacy and wicked design of the fabrication called the "Spaulding Story." But take this, with Elder Pratt's communication, and we maintain that the two letters combined must show that the matter was fully and ananswerably met at the time of its origination. No one did or could answer the contents of those letters, and the honest public mind was satisfied on the subject; but to some extent a new generation has arisen to investigate the Gospel, and as the romantic fable of Spauldingism is again introduced to defeat the work of God, we allude to it for the benefit of that class; and lest some should not have access to the works from which we quote, we publish the letter, with the comments by Mr. Badlam, as the article appeared in the pages of the Whig, and copied into the Times and Seasons in January, 1840: --

A  CUNNING  DEVICE  DETECTED.

See the Times and Seasons of Jan., 1840 for this text)

Note 1: Although he devoted considerable space to the topic of the "romantic fable of Spauldingism," the writer for the Millennial Star here avoids detailing any of the Spalding claims for Book of Mormon authorship. The writer also thus avoids having to respond to any of the then freshly gathered evidence various authors and editors had and compiled and published in support of those claims.

Note 2: Generally speaking, the writer of this article is correct in saying that no opponents of Mormonism had answered "the contents of those letters" published in the Jan., 1840 number of the Times and Seasons. The 1839 Pratt letter apparently never did receive wide circulation; Pratt's rebuttal of the Spalding claims consisted primarily just in his bearing of his own subjective testimony, to the effect that he knew the claims were false. Likewise, the 1839 Haven and Badlam letters were largely unavailable to critics of the Mormons, until the Mormons themselves began to make their contents more widely obtainable to interested readers. Despite LDS allusions to the contrary, the 1839 Haven-Badlam articles were created and promulgated fully by the Mormon leadership -- from the disingenuous "interview" conducted with Spalding's family by Haven, a disguised Mormon, to Elder Badlam's planting that document in a non-Mormon newpaper's columns, to disguise the origin and purpose of the deceptive "interview." Given these facts, it is not surprising that few non-Mormons had ever taken the trouble to respond to this obscure LDS defense against the Spalding claims for Book of Mormon authorship.

"THE  MANUSCRIPT  FOUND."

Since the publication in Scribner of Miss Ellen E. Dickenson's article on the Book of Mormon, and in Lippencott of F. G. Mather's contribution on the early days of "Mormonism," several papers have taken up these subjects, making copious extracts from the magazines we have mentioned. The Troy Times published Mather's article in full; the Syracuse Journal reproduced some portions of Miss Dickenson's and other papers have copied the affidavit of Mrs. McKinstry.

We have been requested to notice some of these effusions, and would be pleased to do so if the statements which are repeated with such great sameness had not been replied to over and over again. But we do not think it would be at all profitable to answer all the silly stories that are invented about the Latter-day Saints, nor to attempt to state that Joseph Smith did not try to walk on the water; pretend to raise the simulated dead, put salt in a water-hole and try to make out that he had discovered a salt spring; declare that the devil he cast out of a man was in the shape of a black cat; nor any of the absurd things that are gravely attributed to him by writers who ought to make better use of their talents.

However, as the old fable of the Spaulding origin of the Book of Mormon seems to be regarded with considerable credulity, notwithstanding its inherent weakness, and the complete refutation which ought to have buried it long ago in the grave of exploded theories, we will once more refer to it, chiefly to give place to the testimony of Bro. J. E. Johnson, of St. George, in relation to the man who first attempted to make capital out of the stupid Spaulding story. Our friend writes as follows:

St. George, Utah,          
December 28, 1880.        

Editor Deseret News:

We enclose affidavit of Mrs. McKinstry, from Scribner's August No., bringing to light an important fact in regard to the relation of Solomon Spaulding's "Manuscript Found" and the Book of Mormon. At an early day it was asserted by the enemies of the Church, that the Book of Mormon was copied from, or founded on the manuscript of Spaulding, and year after year new recruits have appeared and made unproved assertions to this same statement, and here is the last, with an appearance of being substantiated -- but really acting just the reverse of what was intended.

It would be ridiculous to suppose that man, woman or child, could thoughtlessly listen to the reading of a book or manuscript in 1812 and then in 1834 or 1880, be able to say with the least prospect of fact, on reading the Book of Mormon, that names and incidents were the same. But the facts are clear and startling, that in 1834 Dr. Hurlburt did write a book claiming to expose Mormonism -- that he went east to obtain the Manuscript Found -- that he absolutely obtained the work -- that when he returned he declared he could not find it -- and that his book was published without a sentence copied from Manuscript Found.

These facts, when coupled, should prove to any reasonable mind that the publishers of the first book exposing Mormonism well knew that their pretenses were false, and that "Manuscript Found" would never do as a foundation even for the Book of Mormon, and so fearing their falsehood might be brought to light, probably destroyed it. Dr. Hurlburt's book is still extant in many libraries, and doubtless a copy may he found in Salt Lake City. In A.D. 1834, I was 17 years old, and well remember Dr. Hurlburt from the time he first came to Kirtland and was fully acquainted with him till after his book was published.

[[Here Elder Johnson inserts the Matilda McKinstry statement of Apr. 3, 1880, as published in Aug. 1880 issue of Scribners. Johnson then continues with his own recollections.]]

In the year A.D. 1833, then living in Kirtland, Ohio, I became acquainted with a man subsequently known as Doctor Hurlburt, who came to investigate the truth of Mormonism. Claiming to be satisfied, he was baptized and became a member in full fellowship. He was a man of fine physique, very pompous, good looking and very ambitious, with some energy, though of poor education. Soon after his arrival he came to my mother's house to board, where he remained for nearly a year, while he made an effort to get into a good practice of medicine, sought position in the Church, and was ever stirring to make marital connection with any of the "first families."

Finally in 1834 he was charged with illicit intercourse with the [opposite] sex, was tried and cut off from the Church. He denied, expostulated, threatened, but to no use, the facts were too apparent, and he at once vowed himself the enemy of the Church -- threatened to write a book that would annihilate Mormonism, and went to Painesville, ten miles, and allied himself to a publisher there who agreed to print his book if he would furnish the matter. A fund was raised by the "Anti-Mormons" in the village around, and enough means raised to send Hurlburt east to hunt up and obtain the writings of Solomon Spaulding, called "Manuscript Found," which had already become famous as the alleged matter from which the Book of Mormon was written.

Hurlburt went east and was absent some two or three months -- and on his return publicly declared that he could not obtain it, but instead brought several affidavits from persons who claimed to have heard Solomon Spaulding read his Manuscript Found in 1812, and believed as well as they could remember that the matter and story was the same as printed in the Book of Mormon. And these were published in his book of "Mormonism Exposed," in that or the subsequent year, but not a sentence from the Manuscript Found, which it appears by the above that he did really obtain, but finding no similarity between the two, suppressed the Spaulding manuscript, while he publicly announced in his book that he had entirely failed to obtain it. Hurlburt proved himself to be a man of gross immorality, untruthful and unreliable.

According to the sworn statement of M. S. McKinstry, Dr. Hurlburt did obtain the Manuscript Found, and the only conclusion that can be reasonable is, that finding it would spoil his case and ruin his purposes, that manuscript was destroyed or suppressed, and may never come to the light, as it seems he still refuses to return it to the owners, no doubt fearing it would bring to light his falsehood and villainy.
                           J. E. JOHNSON.

---

The affidavit of Mrs. McKinstry is valuable because it establishes several points. First, that Spaulding's manuscript was but a small affair compared with the Book that is said to have been written from it -- it was but an inch thick of written, not printed, matter. Second, that it was only out of the author's hands a short time, and that as far back as 1812. Third, that afterwards it was in Mrs. Spaulding's possession until Hurlburt obtained it, and therefore could not have been used by Joseph Smith. Fourth, that Hurlburt never produced it, which he would have done if there had been any similarity between it and the Book of Mormon. Fifth, that the supposed identity of a few names in the two works depends on the memory of an old lady of 74, of what took place when she was six years old.

Against a mere supposition, unsupported by the slightest evidence, of some mysterious connection between this manuscript and Joseph Smith -- who never saw Spaulding or his people -- is the testimony of thousands to whom God has given a witness of the truth of the Book of Mormon, as well as the testimony of the eleven who saw and handled the plates and of the three who were shown them by Divine Power and angelic hands, and to whom the voice of God bore record. Need anything more be said on the subject?

---

 

MRS.   MATILDA   SPAULDING   MCKINSTRY'S   STATEMENT   REGARDING
THE   "MANUSCRIPT   FOUND."

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 3, 1880.  

So much has been published that is erroneous concerning the "Manuscript Found," written by my father, the Rev. Solomon Spaulding, and its supposed connection with the book called the Mormon Bible, I have willingly consented to make the following statement regarding it, repeating all that I remember personally of this manuscript, and all that is of importance which my mother related to me in connection with it, at the same time affirming that I am in tolerable health and vigor, and that my memory, in common with elderly people, is clearer in regard to the events of my earlier years, rather than those of my maturer life.

During the war of 1812, I was residing with my parents in a little town in Ohio called Conneaut. I was then in my sixth year. My father was in business there, and I remember his iron foundry and the men he had at work, but that he remained at home most of the time, and was reading and writing a great deal. He frequently wrote little stories, which he read to me. There were some round mounds of earth near our house which greatly interested him, and he said a tree on the top of one of them was a thousand years old. He set some of his men to work digging into one of these mounds, and I vividly remember how excited he became when he heard that they had exhumed some human bones, portions of gigantic skeletons, and various relics.

He talked with my mother of these discoveries in the mound, and was writing every day as the work progressed. Afterward he read the manuscript which I had seen him writing, to the neighbors, and to a clergyman, a friend of his who came to see him. Some of the names that he mentioned while reading to these. people I have never forgotten. They are as fresh to me to-day as though I heard them yesterday. They were Mormon, Maroni, Lamanite, Nephi.

We removed from Conneaut to Pittsburg while I was still very young, but every circumstance of this removal is distinct in my memory. In that city my father had an intimate friend named Patterson, and I frequently visited Mr. Patterson's library with him, and heard my father talk about books with him. In 1816 my father died at Amity, Pennsylvania, and directly after his death my mother and myself went to visit at the residence of my mother's brother, William H. Sabine, at Onondaga Valley, Onondaga county, New York. Mr. Sabine was a lawyer of distinction and wealth, and greatly respected. We carried all our personal effects with us, and one of these was an old trunk, in which my mother had placed all my father's writings which had been preserved. I perfectly remember the appearance of this trunk, and of looking at its contents. There were sermons and other papers, and I saw a manuscript about an inch thick, closely written, tied with some of the stories my father in had written for me, one of which he called "The Frogs of Wyndham." On the outside of this manuscript were written the words, "Manuscript Found." I did not read it, but looked through it and had it in my hands many times, and saw the names I had heard at Conneaut, when my father read it to his friends. I was about eleven years of age at this time.

After we had been at my uncle's for some time, my mother left me there and went to her father's house at Pomfret, Connecticut, but did not take her furniture nor the old trunk of manuscript with her. In 1820 she married Mr. Davison, of Hartwicks, a village near Cooperstown, New York, and sent for the things she had left at Onondaga Valley, and I remember that the old trunk, with its contents, reached her in safety. In 1828, I was married to Dr. A. McKinstry, of Hampden county, Massachusetts, and went there to reside. Very soon after my mother joined me there, and was with me most of the time until her death in 1844. We heard, not long after she came to live with me -- I do not remember just how long -- something of Mormonism, and the report that it had been taken from my father's "Manuscript Found"; and then came to us direct an account of the Mormon meeting at Conneaut, Ohio, and that, on one occasion, when the Mormon Bible was read there in public, my father's brother, John Spaulding, Mr. Lake and many other persons who were present, at once recognized its similarity to the "Manuscript Found," which they had heard read years before by my father in the same town. There was a great deal of talk and a great deal published at this time about Mormonism all over the country. I believe it was in 1834 that a man named Hurlburt came to my house at Monson to see my mother, who told us that he had been sent by a committee to procure the "Manuscript Found" written by the Rev. Solomon Spaulding, so as to compare it with the Mormon Bible. He presented a letter to my mother from my uncle, Wm. H. Sabine, of Onondaga Valley, in which he requested her to loan this manuscript to Hurlburt, as he (my uncle) was desirous "to uproot" (as he expressed it) "this Mormon fraud." Hurlburt represented that he had been a convert to Mormonism, but had given it up, and through the "Manuscript Found" wished to expose its wickedness. My mother was careful to have me with her in all the conversations she had with Hurlburt, who spent a day at my house. She did not like his appearance, and mistrusted his motives, but having great respect for her brother's wishes and opinions, she reluctantly consented to his request. The old trunk, containing the desired "Manuscript Found," she had placed in the care of Mr. Jerome Clark, of Hartwicks, when she came to Monson, intending to send for it. On the repeated promise of Hurlburt to return the manuscript to us, she gave him a letter to Mr. Clark to open the trunk and deliver it to him. We afterward heard that he had received it from Mr. Clark, at Hartwicks, but from that time we have never had it in our possession, and I have no present knowledge of its existence, Hurlburt never returning it or answering letters requesting him to do so. Two years ago I heard he was still living in Ohio, and with my consent he was asked for the "Manuscript Found." He made no response, although we have evidence that he received the letter containing the request. So far I have stated facts within my knowledge. My mother mentioned many other circumstances to me in connection with this subject which are interesting, of my father's literary tastes, his fine education and peculiar temperament. She stated to me that she had heard the manuscript alluded to read by my father, was familiar with its contents, and she deeply regretted that her husband, as she believed, had innocently been the means of furnishing matter for a religious delusion. She said that my father loaned this "Manuscript Found" to Mr. Patterson, of Pittsburg, and that when he returned it to my father, he said: "Polish it up, finish it, and you will make money out of it." My mother confirmed my remembrances of my father's fondness for history, and told me of his frequent conversations regarding a theory which he had of a prehistoric race which had inhabited this continent, etc., all showing that his mind dwelt on this subject. The "Manuscript Found," she said, was a romance written in Biblical style, and that while she heard it read she had no special admiration for it more than other romances he wrote and read to her. We never, either of us, ever saw, or in any way communicated with the Mormons, save Hurlburt, as above described; and while we have no personal knowledge that the Mormon Bible was taken from the "Manuscript Found," there are many evidences to us that it was and that Hurlburt and others at the time thought so. A convincing proof to us of this belief was that my uncle, William H. Sabine, had undoubtedly read the manuscript while it was in his house, and his faith that its production would show to the world that the Mormon Bible had been taken from it, or was the same with slight alterations. I have frequently answered questions that have been asked by different persons regarding the "Manuscript Found," but until now have never made a statement at length for publication. (Signed)                                         M. S. MCKINSTRY.
Sworn and subscribed to before me this 3rd day of April, A.D. 1880,
at the city of Washington, D.C.

CHARLES WALTER, Notary Public.    

Note: This article was subsequently reprinted in the weekly Deseret News of Jan. 12, 1881 and, nine years later, in Thomas Gregg's The Prophet of Palmyra. Elder Johnson avoids explaining why the apostate Hurlbut continued to live in the Johnson home at Kirtland for months after his 1833 excommunication. The answer is found in the fact that the head of that household, Mr. Ezekiel Johnson, never joined the Mormons (as did his wife and children). Ezekiel presumably associated with some of Hurlbut's anti-Mormon friends in nearby Mentor, where both he and Hurlbut eventually relocated. D. P. Hurlbut no doubt moved out of Kirtland following the adverse outcome of his January 1834 pre-trial hearing in Painesville.

DISCOURSE

BY

ELDER  WILFORD  WOODRUFF.

In the Salt Lake Assembly Hall,
Sunday Afternoon,
December 12th, 1880.
_______

Reported by John Irvine.
_______

When we hear a young man get up in our midst -- twenty-six years of age -- and say that he was born and reared in this city, it conveys to our minds in a limited measure something of the length of time we have dwelt here...

There has been a great deal said by our enemies since the organization of this church concerning Joseph Smith; concerning the Book of Mormon having been written by Spaulding as a novel; and of this work being a deception. Yet, after all, it is rather a wonder to the world that an illiterate boy like Joseph Smith, if he was not taught by the God of Israel and by the spirit of revelation, could possess the power to bring forth such principles as are recorded in the Book of Mormon and in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants and to organize a system of government, a system of religion, a system of the church upon the face of the earth, that was far beyond all the combined power of the whole Christian world. You may take all the learned men of the earth, all the doctors of divinity, with all the knowledge that they possess, put them all together, and they had not the power to oeganize such a church as has been organized by Joseph Smith.

This should be some evidence, a little evidence at least, to the world, and to the unbeliever, that there is something connected with Mormonism that they do not comprehend and understand. Let any man take the Book of Mormon and read it through from beginning to end -- read that history, read what the prophets say upon the principle of faith, hope and charity, the administrations of Jesus Christ upon the land, the organization of the Church, and the miracles wrought there upon the land of America -- and let them ask themselves if they suppose that Solomon Spaulding could sit down in a corner and write a novel covering these principles? No; they know better. Any reflecting mind on earth knows very well that the Book of Mormon never originated from a source of that kind, any more than they can accuse the Bible of having been brought forth by the same cause. If one originated from God, the other did.

Again. Let any man read the Book of Doctrine and Covenants; let him read the revelations therein... and see if any man could go to work and get up anything of the kind. Do they sould like the compositions of a man trying to write a novel? No...

(under construction)

Notes: (forthcoming)

THE  SPAULDING  STORY  KILLED  AGAIN

Scribner's Magazine for August, contained an article on the Book of Mormon by Ellen E. Dickinson, in which the writer revived the oft-refuted fable known as "The Spaulding Story." In the October number of the same magazine the lady has another communication on the same subject, containing letters and affidavits which we reproduce, as they form important links in the chain of evidence which encircles the Spaulding romance, axes it as a failure, and holds it up as a baseless attempt to account for the origin of the Book of Mormon. The lady may not see it in this light, but it will so appear to all unprejudiced eyes.

In order that the reader not acquainted with the Spaulding Story may understand what follows, we will briefly recapitulate. It is alleged that a preacher named Rev. Solomon Spaulding, just after the opening of the present century, wrote for pastime a work called "Manuscript Found, or the Lost Tribes." It purported to be a transcript from parchment written in Latin, found in a cave, and giving the history of the ten lost tribes of Israel in a journey from the old world to this continent, It described them as an idolatrous people and the builders of the mounds now seen in Ohio. It is said that in 1811-12 it was read by Mr. Donaldson to several persons and the preacher handed the manuscript shortly afterwards to a printer in Pittsburg, named Patterson, who did not think it worth printing at his own risk and so returned it. His widow, who afterwards became Mrs. Davison, had it in 1834, when it was obtained from her by one D. P. Hurlburt, from which time it seems to have disappeared.

The reason for Hurlburt's acquisition of the manuscript was this. After the Book of Mormon was published, the preachers of different denominations being very much stirred up concerning it made frequent efforts to account for its origin. People who had heard Mr. Spaulding read the manuscript in 1811 and 1812 -- about twenty years previous -- wereinterrogated as to their remembrance of the mames Mormon, Moroni. Lehi, Lamanite, &c., and they thought they could remember those names. Upon repetition they became sure they had heard them. It was then assumed that while in the possession of the printer Patterson, some one must have copied it and from him the matter must have been conveyed to Joseph Smith. Sidney Rigdon was the person selected as the probable go-between, and it was given out that he had been a printer, had worked for Patterson, had copied the document, and with Joseph Smith had worked it up into the Book of Mormon. The story obtained no credit in Ohio where it was started because the known facts did not bear out the theory. There was no connection between Rigdon and Patterson, nor between the former and Joseph Smith until long after the Book of Mormon was published. Parley P. Pratt, an old associate of Sidney Rigdon's in the Campbellite Church, being the first person to acquaint Sidney Rigdon in Ohio, several months after the Book of Mormon was printed, of the discovery of the plates in New York and the translation made by Joseph Smith.

But in the year 1834, D. P. Hurlburt, who had been a member of our Church, and had been excommunicated for adultery, swore vengeance against Joseph Smith and the Saints, and formed a partnership with one E. D. Howe, of Painesville, Ohio, to get up a work exposing "Mormonism." He it was who obtained the manuscript from the relict [sic - widow?] of Mr. Spaulding, but it was never published, no comparison was made between it and the Book of Mormon, but when Hurlbut and Howe's pamphlet was published they had evidently abandoned the Spaulding theory, which has since been resurrected several times by anti-"Mormons" in frantic endeavors to account for a work which thousands know to be of divine origin.

The writer is Scribners obtained from Mrs. Davison and her daughter Mrs. McKinstry, affidavits about their knowledge of the manuscript, and in the October number adds the following, to which we invite special attention:

"Sir -- In the number of this magazine for August, 1880, appeared an article by myself entitled "The Book of Mormon." The article contained a statement, together with evidence substantiating it in part, by Mrs. McKinstry, a daughter of the Rev. Solomon Spaulding, that the Book of Mormon was derived from a novel called "The Manuscript Found," written by her father in 1812, and that the manuscript of this novel was in 1834 delivered to one D. P. Hurlburt.

When the article appeared, there seemed to be no other proof that this manuscript was delivered to Hurlburt. Believing it to be important to follow up this clue, I recently visited Hurlburt at his home near Gibsonburg, Sandusky County, Ohio, in company with Oscar Kellogg, Esq., a well known lawyer of that vicinity. As the result of this visit, I have received the following sworn statement:

           GIBSONBURG, OHIO,
                        January 10th, 1881.

To all whom it may Concern:

In the year eighteen hundred and thirty-four (1834), I went from Geauga County, Ohio, to Monson, Hampden County, Massachusetts, where I found Mrs. Davison, late widow of the Rev. Solomon Spaulding, late of Conneaut, Ashtabula County, Ohio. Of her I obtained a manuscript, supposing it to be the manuscript of the romance written by the said Solomon Spaulding, called the 'Manuscript Found,' which was reported to be the foundation of the 'Book of Mormon.' I did not examine the manuscript until I got home, when upon examination I found it to contain nothing of the kind, but being a manuscript upon an entirely different subject. This manuscript I left with E. D. Howe, of Painesville, Geauga County, Ohio, now Lake County, Ohio, with the understanding that when he had examined it, he should return it to the widow. Said Howe says the manuscript was destroyed by fire, and further the deponent saith not.
          (Signed)            D. P. HURLBURT.

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 10th day of January, 1881.
          "(Signed)           J. Kinniger,
Mayor of the Village of Gibsonburg, Sandusky County, Ohio.


In this statement, Hurlburt gives the impression that he procured this manuscript from Mrs. Davison, at Munson, Massachusetts; but Mrs. McKinstry, in her statement, says he got it by an order addressed to Jerome Clark, at Hartwick, Otsego County, New York, and this is undoubtedly the truth. In fact, Hurlburt admitted as much to me before Mr. Kellogg, in the conversation I had with him at his house in Gibsonburg. This is further confirmed by George Clark, a son of the above-mentioned Jerome Clark, and his wife, in two letters copied below.

In a former statement signed by Hurlburt -- the original of which is in my possession -- dated August 19, 1880, he says: "I do not know whether or not the document I received from Mrs. Davison was Spaulding's 'Manuscript Found,' as I never read it."

In the conversation I had with Hurlburt at his house, and before Mr. Kellogg, he admitted that he "just peeped into the manuscript, and saw the names Mormon, Moroni, Nephi and Lamenite."

The original "Manuscript Found" was in existence at Onondaga Valley, Onondaga County, New York, in 1818, as appears in the following statement, never before published. Mrs. Redfield is now living at Syracuse, New York.

                "Syracuse, June 17th, 1880
In the year 1818 I was principal of the Onondaga Valley Academy, and resided in the house of William H. Sabine, Esq. I remember Mrs. Spaulding, Mr. Sabine's sister perfectly, and hearing her and the family talk of a manuscript in her possession, which her husband, the Rev. Mr. Spaulding, had written somewhere in the West. I did not read the manuscript, but its substance was so often mentioned, and the peculiarity of the story, that years afterward, when the Mormon Bible was published, I procured a copy, and at once recognized the resemblance between it and Mrs. Spaulding's account of 'The Manuscript Found.' I remember also to have heard Mr. Sabine talk of the romance, and that he and Mrs. Spaulding said it had been written in the leisure hours of an invalid, who read it to his neighbors for their amusement. Mrs. Spaulding believed that Sidney Rigdon had copied the manuscript while it was in Patterson's printing office, in Pittsburgh. She spoke of it with regret. I never saw her after her marriage to Mr. Davison of Hartwick.
          "(Signed)
                    Ann Treadwell Redfield.

The original "Manuscript Found" was in existence at Hartwick, N. Y., in 1831, as appears by the following letters never before published, of George Clark, the son of the Jerome Clark above referred to:

                "Sonoma, Cal., Dec. 30th, 188[0].
Mrs. Ellen E. Dickinson.
DEAR MADAM: I remember that Mrs. Davison spent a winter in my father's house nearly fifty years ago, and left there to go to Munson, Massachusetts. A year or two later she wrote to my father to sell her effects, bureau, feather-bed, linen, etc., and remit the proceeds to her, which he did. The old trunk still remained in the garret when I sold the farm in 1864, and was given away, to whom I know not. It was worthless and empty. My wife remembers that Mrs. Davison gave her a manuscript to read during her stay with us, and that she read a part of it and returned it to Mrs. Davison, who told her it was written by Mr. Spaulding as a pastime to while away the days of sickness.
           "Respectfully yours,
                "GEORGE CLARK."

Letter No. 2.

           "Sonoma, Cal. Jan. 24th, 1881.
Mrs. E. E. Dickinson.
"DEAR MADAM: My wife does not remember the words 'Mormon, Maroni,' etc., nor anything else of the contents of the Spaulding manuscript in question. She remembers perfectly that it looked soiled and worn on the outside. She thought it dry reading, and, after reading a few pages, laid it aside. She remembers perfectly, too, what Mrs. Davison said about it as being the origin of the Mormon Bible, and she thought it would die out in a few years. It was in 1831 Mrs. Davison left our house for Munson, Massachusetts.
           "GEORGE CLARK."


My interview with Hurlbut is too long to be inserted here. The gist of it is that he admitted before Mr. Kellogg and myself that he obtained a manuscript at Hartwick, Otsego County, New York, through an order from Mrs. Davison, in 1834, which he believes was written by Solomon Spaulding, that it was called "Manuscript Found," etc., that he peeped into it and saw the words Mormon, Maroni, Nephi, Lamanite, etc.

What is the fair conclusion from these new facts? Is it not that Hurlburt got the original "Manuscript Found" in 1834? It has probably disappeared. It was obviously of value to the Mormons. They have probably had it in their control, and the fate of it will never be known.

The writer of the above adds a couple more affidavits and some remarks concerning President Garfield's and his wife's residence in the neighborhood of Kirtland, Ohio, none of which are important to the subject in consideration.

It will be perceived from the foregoing that the manuscript about which so much has been said and imagined was preserved by Mr. Spaulding's widow from her husband's decease till 1834, when it passed into Hurlburt's hands. He was a notorious scoundrel and did all that lay in his power to destroy "Mormonism" and its founder. If this Manuscript Found had been anything like the Book of Mormon, it would then have been published by Hurlburt and Howe. But it is clear that there was no resemblance whatever between the two productions. It was obtained for the express purpose of exposing "Mormonism," and to show that the Book of Mormon was taken from it, and the fact that it was destroyed by the man who obtained it, or that they did not publish a line of it after gaining possession of it, should be proof enough that there was no connection whatever between it and the Book of Mormon. Hurlburt's statement about peeping into the manuscript and seeing certain names, contradicted by himself when he said he never read it at all, is not worthy of any credence. It is clear that the "Manuscript Found" turned out to be altogether different to the theory based upon its existence, and thus the stupid story once more bears his own refutation.

To one who has carefully read the Book of Mormon, the Spaulding story has no chance of serious consideration. It does not purport to have been found in a cave in Ohio, but in a hill in New York; it was not written in Latin, but in Egyptian characters, "reformed" by the writer; it was not on parchment, but plates resembling gold; it is not a history of the ten lost tribes, and only mentions them incidentally in one short paragraph; it does not give an account of an idolatrous, but a religious people; it does not confine their history to Ohio, but ranges from Chili in South America to the lakes of Canada in the north, and it is not the history of one colony, but several, the earliest of which came to this land hundreds of years before there was a tribe of Israel in existence.

We apologize to those of our people familiar with the controversy that was waged over forty years ago and the many statements that have been given of the absurd Spaulding fiction, for elaborating on the matter in this way. But while they are familiar with the facts, others are not informed on the subject, and it is for their benefit that we once more devote space to a story that never had the slightest foundation, but was conceived in the depraved minds of men, who hated the Book and the Church which swept away their congregations from under their very presence and influence, and flourished in spite of their malice and inventions. The Book of Mormon stands unshaken by all the assaults of its adversaries, and while it bears internal evidence of its divine origin, the relics left by the people whom it describes are continually being brought forth from the silence of centuries, to bear witness of the truth before the world.


Note: The article was reprinted in the weekly Deseret News of Oct. 12, 1881.

"SPAULDING  STORY."
_______

Doctor Philastus Hurlburt was the originator of the "Spaulding Story."

He was not a doctor by profession, but his mother gave him that name because he was the seventh son, a very common custom in some parts at the time he was born.

Those who adopt his fabrication with regard to the authority of the Book of Mormon would have people believe that he really was a doctor. It gives an air of respectability to their tale, and tends to make the public think that he must have been a man of good education, though he really was not.

We will now give some statements with regard to his life, and the causes that led to the invention of the desperate lie, regarding the Book of Mormon, which has tended to deceive so many people. These statements are, for the most part, abridged from the writings of one who was intimately acquainted with him.

Hurlburt embraced the gospel in 1832. Previous to this he had been a local preacher in the Methodist church, but had been expelled therefrom for unchaste conduct. Soon after his baptism he went to Kirtland, where he was ordained an Elder. In the spring of 1833, he labored and preached in Pennsylvania. Here his self-importance, pride and other undesirable traits of conduct soon shook the confidence of the members of the Church in him as a man of God; and before long his unvirtuous habits were so plainly manifested that he was cast off from the church, and his license taken from him by the conference.

Some may here ask, "How is it that men who leave the Church of Christ and come out in opposition to its truths are so often proven to have previously been men of immoral lives?" The answer is plain and simple: pure, honest, virtuous men do not apostatize and turn against the principles of the gospel. They remain faithful. But men who have been wicked, and who do not sincerely repent when they enter the Church, though they may profess to do so, are very apt to turn aside and fight against God's cause. It is for this reason that so many men of Hurlburt's stamp have unfortunately for them been proven to have led very wicked lives before their baptism. Had their repentance been sincere, their after lives would have been different.

Hurlbut went to Kirtland, the seat of the government of the Church, and appealed in the general conference. His case was there re-heard, and because of his confession and apparent repentance, his license was restored to him.

On his way back to Pennsylvania he stopped in Ohio. There he attempted to seduce a young lady, but his design was frustrated. For this crime he was expelled from the Church. Finding he would be tolderated by the Saints no longer, he determined to be revenged by injuring them all in his power. He went to Springfield, Pennsylvania, and commenced to preach against "Mormonism." Here he was received with open arms by those who had been vainly endeavoring to stay the progress of God's work in that region, and churches, chapels, and meeting-houses were crowded to hear him.

He was now dubbed the Rev. Mr. Hurlburt, and was petted and patronized by priest and people; but for all that he did very little in staying the progress of the truth. As an anti-Mormon lecturer he was a failure.

During his stay in Pennsylvania Hurlburt formed many acquaintances, and mingled with all sorts of people.

While in a small settlement called the Jackson, he became familiar with a family of the same name (possibly the persons who had given the name to the settlement). Some of this family had been acquainted with the now widely-known Mr. Solomon Spaulding, and from them, Hurlburt learned that the gentleman had once written a romance called "The Manuscript Found," which professed to recount the history of the ancient inhabitants of this continent.

Hurlbut had now given himself up to the work of opposing "Mormonism." He quickly perceived that this romance could be used as a weapon to carry on the warfare. If he could obtain possession of it and find any points in common between it and the Book of Mormon, he could exaggerate those seeming resemblances and falsify other statements. If he found no agreement between the two he could contrive to have "The Manuscript Found" accidently (?) destroyed and then claim that its contents were almost identical with the record of Mormon. He found it necessary to pursue the latter course.

In carrying out his design he repaired to Kirtland, and there made an appointment to deliver a lecture, calling upon all who were opposed to "Mormonism" to attend. They did so in force. At this lecture Hurlburt told his audience that in his travels in the State of Pennsylvania, lecturing against "Mormonism," he had learned that one Mr. Spaulding had written a romance, and that the probability was that it had by some means fallen into the hands of Sidney Rigdon, and that he had transformed it into the Book of Mormon. Hurlburt further stated that he intended to write a book, and call it "Mormonism Unveiled," in which he would reveal the whole secret.

His anti-Mormon hearers were delighted. One mobocrat, a Campbellite, advanced the sum of $300.00 towards the prosecution of the work. Others contributed for the same purpose, and Hurlburt, being thus provided with the funds, at once proceeded to hunt up the manuscript.

With this view he proceeded to New Salem or Conneaut, Ohio, the place where Mr. Spaulding had formerly resided. There he called a meeting and made known his intentions, His harangues created quite a stir. He told the same story about the manuscript and Sidney Rigdon, that he had told in Kirtland. The idea was new to his hearers, but as it was something which was to destroy "Mormonism," they did not object to it, and some helped him with more money. He was here advised to visit Mrs. Davidson, formerly the wife of Mr. Spaulding, who now resided at Monson, Massachusetts. This he determined to do.

It should here be mentioned that the gospel had already been preached with considerable success in the neighborhood of New Salem (Conneaut); and though it was the place where "The Manuscript Found" was written, the Spaulding story was never dreamed of there until Hurlburt mentioned it. But it was too good a thing for those who had rejected the truth to let pass. It afforded them some slight excuse for not receiving the doctrines of "Mormonism." Such persons clutched at it eagerly, as drowning men are said to grasp at straws. Nevertheless the work of the Lord did not stand still in those parts. Numbers were afterwards baptized in that very section, so little effect had Hurlburt's fabrication upon the minds of the people.

Hurlburt at once carried out the advice given to him by his New Salem acquaintances. He proceeded to Monson, called on Mrs. Davieson, and by representing his wishes in his own unscrupulous and not over-truthful manner, obtained from her the writings of her former husband. Further she told him that there was a trunk somewhere in the State of New York, that also contained papers which he might have, if they were found to suit his purpose;

Mrs. Davidson positively asserts that she gave Hurlburt the original of "The Manuscript Found," and that he promised to publish it, which however he never did. He claimed that it did not read as he expected, or he found nothing that would suit his purpose. In this he for once undoubtedly told the truth. Quite lately, however, he has made the following affidavit.

"GIBSONBURG, OHIO
                          January 10th, 1881.

"To all whom it may Concern:
In the year eighteen hundred and thirty-four (1834) I went from Geauga County, Ohio, to Munson, Hampden County, Mass., where I found Mrs. Davidson, late widow of the Rev. Solomon Spaulding, late of Conneaut, Ashtabula County, Ohio. Of her I obtained a manuscript, supposing it to be the manuscript of the romance written by the said Solomon Spaulding, called the 'Manuscript Found,' which was reported to be the foundation of the 'Book of Mormon.' I did not examine the manuscript till I got home, when upon examination I found it to contain nothing of the kind, but being a manuscript upon an entirely different subject. This manuscript I left with E. D. Howe, of Painesville, Geauga County, Ohio, now Lake County, Ohio, with the understanding that when he had examined it, he should return it to the widow. Said Howe says the manuscript was destroyed by fire, and further the deponent saith not.
     "(Signed)   D. P. HURLBURT.

Mrs Davidson says she gave Hurlburt "The Manuscript Found." He, in the above, says it was nothing of the