The American Octopus -- Mormonism.

(forthcoming)

 


Notes: (forthcoming)

The Utah Commission Report.

(forthcoming)

 


Notes: (forthcoming)

Profanities and Pollutions of the
Mormon Apostasy.

(forthcoming)

 


Notes: (forthcoming)

The Fate of Mormonism.

(forthcoming)

 


Notes: (forthcoming)

Mormonism -- Its Strengths and Weaknesses.

(forthcoming)

 


Notes: (forthcoming)

SMITH'S  SURVIVING  WITNESS.

There lives to-day in Richmond, Mo., an old man named David Whitmer, the only surviving member of the little band of fools and knaves who assisted Joe Smith in the work of founding the Mormon Church. This old man, who is said to have led a "blameless life," declares that he has in his possession the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon, and several members of that branch of the Mormon Church which does not uphold polygamy have recently called upon him for the purpose of comparing late editions of the book with the so-called original text.

The remarkable growth of Mormonism in Utah and elsewhere, and the efforts made by the ablest statesmen of our day to check that growth and put an end to the vile practices of polygamous Mormons, have tended to give the Mormon problem great prominence in the minds of thinking men, but there are undoubtedly thousands of intelligent citizens who know very little about the origin of the Mormon organization. Without the so-called Book of Mormon, Joe Smith would have accomplished very little in the way of founding a religion. The strong church that now controls the great Territory of Utah, holds the balance of political power in two or three other Territories, and sends missionaries to all parts of the civilized world, was born in the mind of a smart rascal, who devised the scheme while living on a farm in this State sixty years ago, and it has for its written authority a stolen novel. It is not the original manuscript of this novel which Whitmer guards so carefully, but a copy of the original, written by Oliver Cowdery, who was either Smith's dupe or a partner in the conspiracy. The Book of Mormon was written by the Rev. SOLOMON SPALDING, a graduate of Dartmouth College, who amused himself by composing historical and speculative romances relating to the origin of the races that formerly inhabited this continent. The manuscript of one of these tales was stolen by SIDNEY RIGDON, and Smith afterward declared that it was a translation of some hieroglyphics inscribed upon metal plates whose hiding place in the soil of Ontario County had been revealed to him by an angel of the Lord. After Smith had published his stolen "Scriptures" the fraud of which he had been guilty was fully exposed by the relatives of Mr. Spalding, (one of whose daughters is still living;) but the rascal's dupes clung fast to their delusions. The original book, as published by Smith, denounced polygamy, and the "revelation" authorizing each "Saint" to take several wives was not received by Smith until 1843.

This old man Whitmer was one of three witnesses who testified when Smith published his stolen novel, that an angel of God came down from heaven and laid before their eyes the plates that bore the characters of which the book was said to be a translation. Whitmer's associates were Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris. Cowdery wrote the manuscript from dictation, while Smith, concealed behind a suspended blanket, pretended to translate from the exhumed plates. Whitmer is approaching the end of his days, firm in his faith, and apparently ignorant of the fact that he was the associate and ally of one of the greatest rascals of this century, and that he aided this rascal in building an institution most foul and demoralizing. Upon one subject, however, the old man's head is clear. He heartily denounces polygamy. "It is a great evil," says this owner of the manuscript, "shocking to the moral sense, and the more so because practiced in the name of religion. It is of man and not of God, and it is especially forbidden in the Book of Mormon itself."


Notes: (forthcoming)

The Crisis In Utah.

(forthcoming)

 


Notes: (forthcoming)

M'CLELLAN AMONG MORMONS.

(under construction)

 


Notes: (forthcoming)

SOLOMON  SPALDING'S  MANUSCRIPT
 FOUND  AT  HONOLULU..
_______

BY THE REV. SERENO E. BISHOP.
_______

This famous lost manuscript of Solomon Spalding has obtained its very considerable celebrity as being the supposed original document from which the Book of Mormon was in part derived, Very many pages have been written about it in different books discussing Mormonism, as being with little doubt the source from which the associates of Joseph Smith derived much of the alleged contents of the golden plates. A late article in the Century Magazine, also a recent address of Mr. Joseph Cook, published in THE INDEPENDENT, have made such reference to the Spalding manuscript. Our knowledge of its contents, however, has hitherto been confined to what has been obtained from the memory of a number of persons who had read it some fifty years or more ago, none of whom are now living. The manuscript itself disappeared from sight long ago, in some way unknown.

By the favor of its present possessor, it is my privilege to announce that this long-lost and noted document has lately been discovered to be in existence here in Honolulu. About five years ago, the Hon. L. L. Rice, of Oberlin, O., came hither to make his home with his only daughter. Last July it occurred to the venerable gentleman to make some examination of a box of old papers, which had accumulated during twenty-five or thirty years of his life as a newspaper editor and publisher in Cleveland and other places in Northeastern Ohio. Among these was a small package, wrapped in strong buff paper, tied with stout twine, and plainly marked on the outside in pencil, in Rice's own handwriting, "Manuscript Story, Conneaut." The exterior of the package was familiar to its owner, but he had never inspected the contents. He now did so. It disclosed an old manuscript book of some two-hundred closely-written pages, carefully sewn in book form, about seven inches by six. It is brown with age. The first twenty leaves have been much handled, and, in consequence, somewhat gnawed and damaged by insects, without great injury to the writing. A few flyleaves remain attached to the end of the book, on the last of which, in a rough hand, is inscribed as follows:

   "The writings of Solomon Spalding proved by Aron Wright, Oliver Smith, John N. Miller and others.
   "The testimonies of the above gentlemen are now in my possession. *  *  * D. P. Hurlbut."

Mr. Rice is wholly unable to remember how or when this package came into his possession. He has no knowledge of any of the persons above named. Some forty years ago, Mr. Rice was editor of the Painesville Telegraph, about thirty miles from Conneaut, the residence of the Rev. Solomon Spalding, then deceased. He conjectures that it must have been put into his hands at that period for perusal, perhaps for publication. Since then Mr. Rice resided for twenty-seven years at Columbus, where he was at one time private secretary to Governor Chase, and for the last twelve years of his residence there supervisor of public printing. He personally knew Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, at Kirtland, their first location in the same county as Painesville.

Unlike the Book of Mormon, the Spalding manuscript is not sham Hebraistic, but in ordinary English. It contains, perhaps, no quotations from the Bible, unlike the other, which transfers large portions of Isaiah and other books. Both devise a number of uncouth names for their characters; both record a series of desperate wars; both narrate a voyage across the Atlantic in ancient times, and a settlement in North America. What other resemblances exist, I am not prepared to state.

I append a copy of the first few pages of the Spalding manuscript, given verbatin et punctuatin. The  *  *  * indicate where the manuscript is eaten away.

"INTRODUCTION.                       

"Near the west bank of the Conneaught River there are the remains of an ancient fort. As I was walking and forming various conjectures respecting the character, situation, and number of those people who far exceeded the present Indians in works of art and imagination I hapned to tread on a flat stone. This was at a small distance from the fort, & it lay on the top of a small mound of Earth exactly horizontal. The face of it had a singular appearance. I discovered a number of characters which appeared to me to be letters -- but so much effaced by the ravages of time, that I could not read the inscription. With the assistance of a leaver I raised the stone -- But you may easily conjecture my astonishment when I discovered that its ends & sides rested on stones, & that it was designed as a cover to an artificial cave. I found *  *  * examining that its sides were lined with *  *  * built in a connical form with *  *  * down -- & that it was about {page 2} eight feet deep. Determined to investigate *  *  * design of this extraordinary work of antiquity -- I prepared myself with necessary requisites for that purpose and decended to the Bottom of the Cave. Observing one side to be perpendicular nearly three feet from the bottom, I began to inspect that part with accuracy. Here I noticed a big flat stone fixed in the form of a doar. I immediately tore it down & so, a cavity within the wall presented itself -- it being about three feet in diameter from side to side & about two feet high. Within this cavity I found an earthen Box with a cover which shut it perfectly tite. The Box was two feet in length -- one & half in breadth one & three inches in diameter. My mind filled with awful sensations which crowded fast upon me would hardly permit my hands to remove this venerable deposit, but curiosity soon gained the assendancy, & the box was taken & raised to open *  *  * When I had removed the cover I  *  *  * that it contained twenty-eig *  *  * of parchment. & that when *  *  * {page 3} appeared to be manuscrip written in eligant hand with Roman Letters, and in the Latin Language.

"They were written on a variety of Subjects. But the Roll which principally attracted my attention contained a history of the author's life & that part of America which extends along the great Lakes and the waters of the Mississippy.

"Extracts of the most interesting & important matters contained in this Roll I take the liberty to publish ---

"{p. 4} To publish a translation of every particular circumstance mentioned by our author would produce a volume too expensive for the general class of readers. But should this attempt to throw off the veil which has secluded our view from the transactions of nations who for ages have been extinct, meet the approbation of the public, I shall then be happy to gratify the more inquisitive and learned part of my readers by a more minute publication. Apprehensive that skeptical illiberal or superstitious minds may cen *  * re this performance with great acrimo *  *  * I have only to remark that they will b *  *  * ved of a great fund of entertainment *  *  * {p. 5} of a contrary disposition will obtain. My compassion will be excited more than my resentment and there the contest will end.

"Now, Gentle Reader, the Translator who wishes well to thy present and thy future existence entreats thee to peruse this volume with a clear head, a pure heart, and a candid mind. If thou shalt then find that thy head and thy heart are both improved it will afford him more satisfaction than the approbation of ten thousand who have received no benefit.

"CHAPT. I.                
AN EPITOME OF THE AUTHOR'S LIFE & OF HIS                
ARRIVAL IN AMERICA.               

"As it is possible that in some future age this part of the Earth will be inhabited by Europeans & a history of its present inhabitants would be a valuable acquisition, I pro *  *  * to write one & deposit it in a box secured *  *  * so that the ravages of time will have no effect upon it that you may know the Author I will give a succinct account of his life and of the cause of his arival -- which I have extracted from a manuscript which will be deposited with this history.

"The family name I sustain is Fabius, being descended from the illustrious general of that name. -- I was born at Rome & received my education under the tuition of a very Learned Master. -- At the time that Constantine had arived at that city & had overcome his enemies, & was firmly seated on the throne of the Roman Empire, I was introduced to him as a young Gentleman of genius & learning, and as being worthy of the favourable notice of his imperial majesty -- He gave me the appointment of one of his secretaries, & such were the gracious intimations which he frequently gave me of his high approbation of my conduct that I was happy in my station.

"One day he says to me -- Fabius you must go to Brittain & carry an import *  *  * to the General of our army there *  *  * {p. 7} sail in a vessel & return when she returns. Preparation was made instantly and we sailed. The vessel laden with provisions for the army -- cloathing, knives and other impliments for their use had now arrived near the coasts of Britain when a tremendous storm arose and drove us into the midst of the boundless Ocean. Soon the whole crew became lost & bewildered."

The foregoing will suffice as a sample of the book. The party reach America and settle there, removing, after two years, to the Ohio region. Long accounts of the inhabitants and their wars are given, which I have not examined. The book having already achieved such note, partly, perhaps on the principle omne ignotum pro mirifico, further inquiry into its contents may be in order, which its venerable possessor has not been disinclined to gratify. Whatever result may be arrived at as to its supposed connection with the Book of Mormon, it furnishes at least a unique piece of literary history.
                                                   HONOLULU, HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.


Notes: (forthcoming)

FROM  CASE  TO  PULPIT
_______

THE SHORT-LIVED CAREER OF
A FOUNDER OF MORMONISM.

HOW THE SPAULDING MANUSCRIPT BECAME THE
MORMON BIBLE SUPERSEDED BY BRIGHAM YOUNG.

Cleveland, Ohio, Sept. 19. -- A shrewd and venturesome rascal, who won a large amount of fame of a questionable character, departed from this life on July 14, 1876, when Sidney Rigdon died at Friendship, Allegany County, N. Y. His part in the founding of Mormonism, and the wonderful influence he exercised on the ignorant and credulous people about him, leading them to adopt the new faith, have never been fully understood; and in the overshadowing impudence of Joseph Smith and the powerful leadership of Brigham Young, Rigdon's part in this wonderful melodrama of religion has not attracted the share of attention it deserved. In a recent ramble through Mentor and Kirtland and an examination of a number of old, but by no means dry, documents some new facts touching Rigdon have been found which seem worthy of record. It is not generally known that he was a Disciple, or Campbellite minister before his foray into Mormonism, and that the great Alexander Campbell once challenged him to a debate as to the truth of Mormonism, which he declined. The Disciple Church demanded of its pulpit teachers no regular ordination, and accordingly Rigdon's natural power of oratory and the surface knowledge he had gained while knocking about the world enabled him to step directly into the pulpit and make good use of his talents.

Rigdon was born in Pennsylvania. He acquired a fair English education and learned some Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. He learned the printer's trade, and rambled about after the manner of his craft. At the age of 23 he entered the ministry, and from the doctrines he enunciated it was afterward evident that he had even then seen the Spaulding manuscript, which subsequently appeared as the Mormon Bible. He was in Conneaut, Ohio, when Spaulding read his book to his neighbors, and there is evidence to show that he followed Spaulding to Pittsburg and made a copy of the book while it was in a printing office in that city. Rigdon wandered through the northern part of Pennsylvania for several years, of which little account has been kept, preaching when he could obtain engagements and making a close study of the Bible. In these wanderings he was thrown into the company of Joseph Smith through the aid of Orley B. Pratt [sic], who was then a tin peddler. In some manner not made known by either, and never fully plain to any one, these master minds of knavery, Smith and Rigdon, concocted their scheme, prepared their Mormon Bible from poor old Spaulding's manuscript, and arranged a plan by which they could make a living by imposing on the credulity of others, for no one who knew the man ever imagined they had any higher object in view. Rigdon settled in Mentor, Ohio, ready to give the new religion a welcome when his co-conspirators should introduce it in that fruitful field. During the Winter preceding the advent of the book and its sponsors Rigdon absented himself from his home for weeks, explaining to no one his whereabouts and behaving in a mysterious manner on his return. That he was with Smith during these absences promoting the scheme there can be little doubt. He prepared the ground with great care, so that when the time for planting the seed should arrive it would take firm root. He declared to his people that he had not the full comfort in his religion he should have, and behaved like one who was waiting for more light. He aided in the formation in his neighborhood of a society of fanatical persons who held their property in common, were looking for some wonderful event to take place in the world, and were prepared to embrace anything novel that should happen along their way. Rigdon managed matters with consummate skill and laid the foundations with a hand that showed him to be a genius in that species of fraud. Finally the movement was made. In the latter part of October, 1830, four men -- of whom Oliver Cowdery was one -- went to Mentor, carrying with them the Book of Mormon. They hailed as brothers, the Brethren of the Reformation, as the small society previously mentioned seems to have been named, asking them to accept the new gospel as one sent from heaven. Many read it and pronounced it a fraud. A part of the congregation accepted it. Rigdon played his part with consummate skill. He read the book with the air of one who had never heard of it. The strangers decided to form a congregation. In one night they baptized 17 persons. Rigdon pretended to be much displeased with their course, and asserted that they were proceeding without authority from the Scriptures. They replied that they had prayed for a sign, and an angel had come to them. Rigdon suggested that the devil might have appeared to them. Cowdery made a polemic set at him, and they argued the question for some time. Rigdon finally said he would ask God for a sign. This scene had been conducted in the presence of the people, and when he came back in two days and with apparent earnestness and emotion declared that the sign had been revealed to him, and that he was convinced that Mormonism was a truth and a revelation from heaven, its effect on his simple-minded followers may be imagined. Rigdon was baptized by Cowdery. He seemed to be altered to such an extent that his wife said the religion must have been of Divine origin, else it could not have produced so wonderful an effect.

In three weeks Rigdon went to New-York to meet Joseph Smith, while Cowdery and the other Elders moved to Indiana [sic]. Before their departure they openly declared that Smith was the prophet predicted by Moses in Deuteronomy xviii, 15, and applied to Cowdery the prophetic declarations which have always been supposed to apply to John the Baptist as the harbinger of the Christ. Immediately after Rigdon had gone East and the others West a scene of wild excitement broke forth, and, if the good Disciple farmers of Mentor and Kirtland came to the conclusion that the devil had taken possession of their neighborhood, one certainly cannot wonder at the belief. The young people especially seemed to be troubled. They would fall to the floor suddenly and roll about as if in agony; women would drop in the snow and lie there with no other covering than the sky. They would make grimaces and creep about on their hands and feet. In the midst of the excitement the young men would suddenly arise, go through the motions of killing and scalping imaginary enemies and engage in wild war dances. At other times they would run as though they were pursued. They would mount stumps and preach to imaginary congregations, baptize ghosts, jabber in a strange manner, and call it the gift of tongues from Divine power, and chase balls of fire over the hills.

Cowdery and his colleagues pretended to work miracles. A young woman had been confined to her bed two years. They prayed over her, laid hands on her, and in the name of Jesus Christ told her to arise and walk. There was no movement on her part. On the following day they persuaded her to leave her bed and make the trial. She took three or four steps, fell in a fainting condition, and had to be assisted to her bed, where she remained. Cowdery to conceal this failure declared that he had not told her to arise, and when confronted by witnesses his explanation was that he had not said it in earnest, but in a laughing, joking manner. A man in Painesville was in the last stages of consumption. Cowdery said he could heal him and tried it, while Rigdon declared he would get well "if there was a God in heaven." The man soon afterward died. Rigdon returned from his visit to Smith about the 1st of February. Two of his friends from Mentor called on him, and one of them has left a manuscript account of the visit. They asked him the reason for his hope and belief in Mormonism. He responded that he was tired and had lost sleep, and did not care to enter into any explanation of the matter at that time. They became involved in an argument, during which one of the visitors denounced the new religion as false. Rigdon sprang to his feet in forgetfulness of the patience and humility he had recently professed, and shouted: "Sir, you have insulted me in my own house. I command silence. If people that come to see us cannot treat us with civility, they may walk out of the door as soon as they please." The visitor apologized and Rigdon explained that had been so long trampled on and abused that he could bear it no longer. He denied that he had been angry, although he said there was sufficient cause for anger. He praised Joseph Smith, and said he fully believed in him.

A few days afterward Smith arrived at Kirtland on what seems to have been his first visit to the place. As the famous "Laws of the Church of Christ" were issued on Feb. 22, 1831, the month in which both Rigdon and Smith went to Kirtland from New-York, they were probably concocted by the precious pair and then issued as a revelation. The document contained "a commandment to the Elders," and special mention was made of the beloved "servants Joseph, Sidney and Edward," who were none other than Smith, Rigdon, and Partridge. There was no hint of polygamy in the document, as it was expressly ordered that "Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her and none else." Rigdon seems to have been a natural orator and a magnetic leader of men. He was versatile in his gifts, witty, shrewd and scheming. When the Mormon settlement was finally made at Kirtland he had no property to put into the common stock, but he had an influence and a personality which probably did more than anything else to afford them a foothold and aid their rapid growth. He became their advocate, and preached with great power and a thrilling eloquence. He could sway a crowd wonderfully, and there is a well authenticated account of his going into the Chagrin River to baptize one convert, and preaching with such power while standing in the water as to lead 30 who had not been before affected to enter the water and yield to the new faith. He often swooned either by force of his emotions or for theatrical effect, and was a power in the community. In 1832 Brigham Young joined them. The marriage certificate given to Mary Ann Angel, of Kirtland and Young yet exists in the books of the Probate Judge at Chardon, under the date of Feb. 10, 1834. Rigdon was a member of the first Presidency at Kirtland, Smith and F. G. Williams being the others, When the missionaries were sent west, in [1834], Rigdon remained in Kirtland, and during that year [authored] a volume entitled "The Book of Doctrines and Covenants" and "Lectures on Faith." He was probably the ablest man and the best scholar then in their church. On one occasion he announced that an angel had appeared to him and commanded him to visit Queen Victoria and hurl her from her throne if she should refuse to embrace Mormonism. There is no record that he ever attempted to execute the order. He founded the famous Kirtland Bank that flooded the country with worthless notes and became its President. He originated numerous schemes for money making, and was a leader in all the movements of his people, Smith being usually put forward as the figure head. In 1840 the Mormons emigrated to Nauvoo, Ill., and in 1844, when Smith was killed, Rigdon was shut out of the leadership by the superior force and cunning of Brigham Young, and on his refusing to recognize Young's authority he was given over to the devil to be buffeted for a thousand years. When he left Nauvoo in anger and disgust the Danites were ordered to hold him in sight, and an intimation was given him that he would do well to hold his peace.

Rigdon returned to Pittsburg, and practically dropped out of sight. No public importance is attached to his subsequent career, which was passed in obscurity and often in want. He was at times seen in the places where he had before wielded so much power, and in his old age is said to have been of remarkable personal appearance and to have had a pleasing address and wonderful memory. He returned to his belief in the Disciple doctrine after forsaking Mormonism -- in which he probably never had a belief.


Note 1: The above article shows a heavy dependence upon the less than reliable writings of Mrs. Ellen E. Dickinson. Her unfounded accusations -- that Rigdon was a printer; that he "followed" Solomon Spalding from Ohio to Pennsylvania; that an "Orley" Pratt introduced him to Joseph Smith, etc. etc. -- are all contained in her 1885 book New Light on Mormonism.

Note 2: Much of the story of the first advent of Mormonism at Mentor was adapted for the above article from the Feb. 15, 1831 testimony of Matthew S. Clapp and it may have been Clapp (or a member of his family) who preserved the "manuscript account of the visit" with Rigdon mentioned in the article. Given the circumstance that Clark Braden, Arthur B. Deming, and Edmund L. Kelley were able to uncover a great deal of local, first hand testimony concerning the Mormon stay in northern Ohio -- conducting their research at approximately the same time as this article was written -- it is surprising that the anonymous author was unable (or unwilling) to cite a single unique source for the uneven historical pastiche presented above.

THE  HONOLULU  MANUSCRIPT
AND  THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON.
_______

BY  W. H. WHITSETT, D. D.,
Professor in the Baptist Theological Seminary,
Louisville, Ky.
_______

An important advance has just been made in Mormon research. The first connected and satisfactory account of the business was given by the Rev. C. M. Hyde, D. D., of the North Pacific Institute, in the Congregationalist for the 30th of July, 1885. THE INDEPENDENT of the 10th of September, 1885, likewise supplies a notice, from the hand of the Rev. Sereno E. Bishop, of Honolulu. These statements, in connection with the brief allusions to the subject that were made by Pres. James H, Fairchild, in the Bibliotheca Sacra for January, 1885, pp. 173-4, have placed the student in a situation to pronounce upon the question of the genuiness and the importance of the document that has just been brought to light.

Mr. E. D. Howe, of Painesville, O., has written what must still be regarded as the best of all the hundreds of works that have been devoted to elucidate the history of Mormonism. None have been favored more highly than himself, alike by faculty and by opportunity; his industry was also of the most exemplary sort. It will be remembered that when he was preparing the materials for his book, entitled "Mormonism Unveiled," he had the enterprise to send one D. P. Hurlbut, first to Onondaga County, N.Y., and afterward to Monson, Mass., in order to confer with Mrs. Matilda Davison, whose first husband was the Rev. Solomon Spaulding.

The results of his praiseworthy exertions were, in this special instance, every way unsatisfactory. Like many another good wife, Mrs. Spaulding (Davison) was very indefinitely acquainted with the doings of her husband, particularly as respects his endeavors in the line of literary venture. Mr. Howe sets forth the following summary of her acquaintance with the matters in question: "She states that Spaulding had a great variety of manuscripts, and recollects that one was entitled the 'Manuscript Found'; but of its contents she has now no distinct knowledge. While they lived in Pittsburgh, she thinks it was once taken to the printing-office of Patterson & Lambdin; but whether it was ever brought back to the house again, she is quite uncertain. If it was, however, it was then with his other writings in a trunk which she had left in Otsego County, N. Y. This was all the information that could be obtained from her." (Howe, pp. 287-8.)

It would have been a happy thing for Mrs. Spaulding (Davison), and also for the student of Mormon history, if both herself and other members of the Spaulding family could have been content to abide by the comfortable ignorance which she displayed in the year 1834. Many other assertions and suggestions were later added by them, which have been almost uniformly incorrect, and, what is worse, misleading.

Since the old trunk had been left in Otsego County, the place of her latest residence in New York, Mr. Hurlbut was provided with an order directed to its custodian, Mr. Jerome Clark, of the township of Hartwick, by the terms of which that gentleman was required to place the literary contents of it in the hands of the bearer. These Hurlbut took away with him and fetched to Painesville, where he committed them to the care of Howe. Howe reports, p. 268:

"The trunk, referred to by the widow was subsequently examined, and found to contain only a single MS book in Spaulding's handwriting, containing about one quire of paper. This is a romance, purporting to have been translated from the Latin, found on twenty-four rolls of parchment in a cave on the banks of Conneaut Creek, but written in modern style, and giving an account of a ship's being driven upon the American coast, while proceeding from Rome to Britain, a short time previous to the Christian era, this country then being inhabited by the Indians. This old manuscript has been shown to several of the foregoing witnesses, who recognize it as Spaulding's, he having told them that he had altered his first plan of writing by going further back with dates, and writing in the old Scripture style, in order that it might appear more ancient. They say that it bears no resemblance the 'Manuscript Found,'"

The description of the Honolulu Manuscript which has now been supplied, renders it reasonably apparent that it is the same document as that which Hurlbut obtained from the old hair trunk in the garret of Jerome Clark. For example, Howe declares that the production under his hands, "purported to have been translated from the Latin." The Honolulu Manuscript affirms that the original from which it was derived "appeared to be manuscript, written in eligant hand, with Roman letters, and in the Latin language. *  *  * To publish a translation of every particular circumstance mentioned by our author would produce a volume too expensive for the general class of readers." Howe asserts that the original was claimed to have been discovered "in a cave on the banks of Conneaut Creek"; a full description of this cave may be read in the "Introduction" of the Honolulu Manuscript, which indicates that it was situated "near the west bank of the Conneaught River."

Further, the performance which Howe had inspected "was written in modern style," and the witnesses to whom he applied asserted that it bore "no resemblance to the 'Manuscript Found.'" President Fairchild reports that the present owner of the Honolulu document, "Mr. Rice, myself and others compared it with the Book of Mormon, and could detect no resemblance between the two in general or in detail." Professor Hyde also declares: "The story has not the slightest resemblance in names, incidents or style to anything in the Book of Mormon. *  *  * There' is no attempt whatever to imitate Bible language, or to introduce quotations from the Bible." This agrees to a nicety with the fact that the witnesses whom Howe consulted assured him that Solomon Spaulding had "told them that he had altered his first plan of writing by going farther back with dates, and writing in the old Scripture style, in order that it might appear more ancient." The above is fully confirmed by such extracts as Mr. Bishop has furnished for the use of THE INDEPENDENT.

Howe also states that the book which Hurlbut had fetched from its hiding place in the old trunk gave "an account of a ship's being driven upon the American coast, while proceeding from Rome to Britain;" the Honolulu book describes how "the vessel laden with provisions for the army, clothing, knives and other impliments for their use had now arrived near the coast of Britain when a tremendous storm arose and drove us into the midst of the boundless Ocean. Soon the whole crew became lost and bewildered."

Howe likewise reports his document as further representing that at the moment when the ship landed on the American coast the country was already "inhabited by the Indians;" according to the description supplied by Professor Hyde, the same is true of the Honolulu Manuscript. He says: "The wanderings of the shipwrecked party to the west are next described, and account given of the people, the Ohons, then living in the interior, with their manners and customs, and their wars with king Bombal and the Kentucks. Hadoram, king of Sciota, the emperor of Lambak and the allied nations under Habosan, king or Chianga, Ulipoon, king of Michegan, etc."

In conclusion, Howe affirms: "This old manuscript has been shown to several of the foregoing witnesses, who recognize it as Spaulding's." Mr. Bishop records an inscription that is found on the last page of the Honolulu Manuscript, as follows:

   "The writings of Solomon Spalding proved by Aron Wright, Oliver Smith, John N. Miller and others.
   "The testimonies of the above gentlemen are now in my possession. *  *  * D. P. Hurlbut."

On the other hand, there are certain discrepancies between the description supplied by Mr. Howe and those which have been recently given to the public, For example, Howe says that the romance was "found on twenty-four rolls of parchment." The Honolulu Manuscript mentions "twenty eig *  *  * of parchment," but this difference may be explained by reference to the fact that Howe, being naturally disgusted with the poverty of the document for his purposes, had cited it from memory, without giving himself the trouble to refer to the text.

Again, Howe asserts that the "MS book in Spaulding's handwriting contained about one quire of paper;" but Professor Hyde declares that, in the Honolulu book, "one hundred and seventy-one pages are numbered and written out in full." It is not a violent supposition to refer this second discrepancy to the same explanation as that given in the foregoing instance; and therefore it may be allowed to press the point that Howe speaks in general terms of "about one quire of paper."

Once more, Howe gives the date of the disaster which brought a Roman ship to the American coast differently from the Honolulu book, affirming that it fell out "a short time previous to the Christian era," while the original in Honolulu plainly signifies that the occurrence took place during the reign of the Emperor Constantine. This appears to be still another case where Howe trusted to his memory, without being at the trouble to consult the work before him.

Howe further declares: "The fact also that Spaulding, in the latter part of his life inclined to infidelity is established by a letter in his handwriting now in our possession." This letter was likely given a place in the middle of the manuscript for convenience of preservation and reference. It is an interesting circumstance that it has probably also been recovered along with the Honolulu book. Professor Hyde reports: "There are two manuscript leaves in the parcel, of the same size and handwriting as the other 171 pages of manuscript. A few sentences will show the views of the writer:
"'It is enough for me to know that propositions which are in contradiction to each other cannot both be true, and that doctrines and facts which represent the Supream Being as a barbarous and cruel tyrant can never be dictated by infinite wisdom. *  *  * But, notwithstanding I disavow my belief in the divinity of the Bible, and consider it a mere human production, designed to enrich and aggrandize its authors, yet, casting aside a considerable mass of rubbish and fanatical rant, I find that it contains a system of ethics or morals which cannot be excelled on account of their tendency to ameliorate the condition of man.'"

It may be worthwhile to inquire concerning the process by which this document was conveyed to Honolulu. Professor Hyde reports that, in the year 1839, just five years after it was deposited with Howe by Mr. Hurlbut, the former sold his printing office and the Painesville Telegraph, of which he was the editor, to Messrs. L. L. Rice and P. Winchester, who continued to carry on the business. Shortly after Rice and Winchester purchased the effects of Howe, they are believed to have bound up a certain stock of the loose sheets of Howe's Mormonism Unveiled," and to have sent them forth a second time into circulation. At any rate, there is an edition of that valuable production which is dated: Painesville, 1840, which goes under the title of "History of Mormonism," but which, with the exception of the title page, is asserted to be the same work as Howe had published in 1834. The parties in question were amply entitled to proceed in this way; for the reason that the unbound sheets above described were a portion of their purchase from the owner of the printing office.

After forty years of active labor, Mr. Rice retired from business, and in the year 1879 went to reside with his daughter, Mrs. J. M. Whitney, at Honolulu. In the month of July, l884, he received the honor of a visit from President Fairchild, of Oberlin College, who suggested that Mr. Rice should examine his collection of pamphlets, for the purpose of finding out whether he might have in it some rare productions relating to the conflict against slavery in the United States. Giving himself to the labor of this enterprise, his plans were rewarded by the discovery that has here been discussed. In his paper for the Bibliotheca Sacra, President Fairchild says: "Mr. Rice has no recollections how or when this manuscript came into his possession." But subsequent consideration, it would appear, has suggested to his mind the forgotten transfer of the Painesville Telegraph, "with all the appurtenances of the printing office." Perhaps the Honolulu Manuscript was not even mentioned in the transaction, because, before the year 1839, Mr. Howe had lost it out of sight and out of mind amid the rubbish of his establishment. Meanwhile, for the past five and forty years, both himself and Hurlbut have been exposed to a shower of old-wives' gossip and ignorant suspicion. Not withstanding Mrs. Spaulding (Davison) in the year 1834 was entirely unable to declare what fate had befallen the "Manuscript Found," and could not be at all sure that it had ever been returned from the printing-house of Patterson and Lambdin in Pittsburgh, it has been confidently claimed that Hurlbut actually recovered it in the old hair trunk, sold it to the Mormons, who destroyed it, and with the money obtained from that source, purchased a farm near Gibsonburg O.

Mr. Howe, in his turn, could give no account of it. He said it was in his possession "till after the publication of 'Mormonism Unvailed,' and then disappeared, and was lost, I suppose by fire." It will vindicate the reputations of both these gentlemen that it has now been brought to light. Professor Hyde gives us notice that Mormon missionaries of the Island of Oahu are eager to publish the Honolulu book. in order to show that it has no connection with the Book of Mormon. Nobody ever claimed that such a connection existed, who had any kind of right to form a judgment. This entire investigation has no bearing of any sort upon the issue whether Spaulding was the author of the Book of Mormon. That question rests upon grounds that are quite aloof from any that have been here traversed, and must be judged upon its own merits. But it is hoped that no obstacle will be placed in the way of Mormon missionaries who may desire to perform such a service to science and to Messrs. Howe and Hurlbut. A certified copy might speedily be committed to their charge. The original would be safe and serviceable in the keeping of the Librarian of Oberlin College.


Notes: (forthcoming)

A  MORMON  PATRIARCH.

ONE  OF  THE  ORIGINAL  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS
AT  THE  POINT  OF  DEATH.

RICHMOND, Mo., Dec. 16. -- David Whitmer, one of the founders of the Mormon Church, and a resident of this quaint and interesting village for almost a half century, lies at the point of death, and is not expected to live until morning. At the famtly homestead are gathered the children, grand children, and great-grandchildren of the dying patriarch, and bedside his deathbed is the devoted woman who linked her life and fortune with his more than 50 years ago. Whitmer was born in Pennsylvania in 1805, and lived for a number of years near Watkins Glen, in New-York State. There, in 1829, he claims to have seen the plates which Joseph Smith translated into the Book of Mormon, and to have been present during the work of translation. Whitmer became one of the apostles of the new church and moved with it to Ohio. When the church was driven from Ohio it found refuge in Missouri. Whitmer has lived in Richmond ever since, and has been Mayor and Councilman of the town. He owns what is said to be the original manuscript from which the Book of Mormon was printed, and has refused an offer of a very large sum for it from the Mormon Church. Whitmer has always opposed polygamy, and has been a respected citizen of Richmond.


Notes: (forthcoming)

SOLOMON  SPAULDING'S  "MANUSCRIPT  FOUND."
_______

BY ELLEN E. DICKINSON.
_______

THE INDEPENDENT of September 10th contained an article by the Rev. Sereno E. Bishop concerning a paper that has been discovered among the effects of L. L. Rice, formerly of Ohio, and now residing at Honolulu, S. I., which he attempts to prove is the long-lost romance called "The Manuscript Found," written by the Rev. Solomon Spaulding.

The historians of Mormonism have generally expressed the belief that the religion of the Latter Day Saints was formulated by Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith from a manuscript written by Solomon Spaulding, and loaned to D. P. Hurlburt by Mrs, Spaulding. ^(1.) The question has been, what became of that manuscript; and here the statement made by the Rev. Mr. Bishop assumes importance.

As the author of the articles on the origin of Mormonism alluded to in The Century -- then Scribner's Magazine -- by Mr. Bishop, and having thoroughly investigated the history of the Spaulding Manuscript for the purpose of defending the memory of an upright man in "New Light on Mormonism,"  recently published ^(2.) I have asked permission to answer Rev. Bishop.

Several months since, the direct information was communicated to me of the time-worn manuscript in the possession of Mr. L. L. Rice, and the prevailing opinion in Honolulu as to its being the genuine production of Solomon Spaulding, etc. It seemed then, as it does now, that this discovery was of slight significance in rembrance of a conversation with E. D. Howe and D. P. Hurlburt, in the autumn of 1880. Mr. Howe is still living at Painesville, O., and although very aged at the time of the talk alluded to, was of sound mind and memory. He is the author of the first book on Mormonism, called "Mormonism Unveiled." He admitted to me that a manuscript was given to him by Hurlburt, in 1834 (page 72 "New Light on Mormonism"), said it was "lying around his office for twenty-five years," and did not know what became of it. Later, in this conversation he said: "I believe Hurlburt had two manuscripts, which he obtained from Mrs. Spaulding, the one he gave to me having no resemblance to the  "Book of Mormon." ^(3.) When asked if he thought Spaulding wrote a story from which Rigdon and Smith made the "Book of Mormon," he replied, with emphasis: "Certainly I do." He also gave it as his firm conviction that the Mormons destroyed the manuscript delivered to them by Hurlburt, saying: "The Mormons had too much at stake to let it exist."

It will be seen in chapter 5th, that, in the interview with Hurlburt, he stoutly denied, before witnesses, that the original Spaulding Manuscript was in Illinois, as had been reported. The impression conveyed in this talk, was that which has been above suggested, that he found two manuscripts in the old trunk to which Mrs. Spaulding  gave him access: ^(4.) the one he gave to Howe, which was unimportant, and the other which he sold to the Mormons; the romance which Spaulding had written and rewritten, and had submitted to a publisher in Pittsburgh, with a view of having it printed, and where Rigdon had copied it without permission.

Mr. L. L. Rice was the successor of E. D. Howe in the publication of a newspaper at Painesville; and when Howe sold out to Mr. Rice, it is not only possible, but probable, that the manuscript attributed to Spaulding's authorship may have been among the papers "lying around" in the editorial sanctum, and carried by him (as he admits) first to Columbus, O., and later to Honolulu.

That Spaulding was a voluminous writer of essays, stories, etc., and that he made several attempts with the romance before he had satisfied his own ideal of the history of a prehistoric race who had inhabited America, has been the sworn testimony of many persons who were acquainted with him.

It is rumored that the Mormons welcome the Honolulu Manuscript as disproving the Spaulding origin of their religion; but as the editor of the Presbyterian Banner has well said, in view of their publication of this Manuscript: "It would simply prove that this recently discovered story is not the one which Spaulding himself was so anxious to have printed,  and nothing more." ^(5,)
 

        [[The Independent Editor's Comments, supplied by Wm. H. Whitsitt]]  

^(1.) There is reason to conclude that the name "Manuscript Found" was a generic title applied by Mr. Spaulding to each of his writings in the department of American archaeology. Both the Honolulu Manuscript and the Book of Mormon must have been known by that designation.

It is wholly a blunder to suppose that the particular "Manuscript Found" which fell into the hands of Mr. Rigdon was ever "loaned to D. P. Hurlbut by Mrs. Spaulding." The only document that came into his keeping is now in Honolulu: Hurlbut's signature inscribed on the flyleaf in 1834, will serve to identify it almost beyond any question.

Concerning the fate of the other "Manuscript Found," now known as the Book of Mormon, Mrs. Spaulding herself was in total ignorance. During the year 1834, when the events must have been comparatively well fixed in her memory, "she thinks it was once taken to the printing-office of Patterson & Lambdin; but whether it was ever brought back to the house again, she is quite uncertain." The good lady was too much concerned in her lardable exertions to keep the wolf away to give any special heed to the useless driveling of her shiftless husband. The above expression of the year 1834 sets forth all the knowledge she had relating to the business.

In the year 1839, however, she became certain that the manuscript was returned; but she had no right to become certain of it. There is evidence on record to the effect that the letter which was published above her signature in the year 1839 was not produced by Mrs. Spaulding, but by other parties, who desired to employ her simplicity to "strike a blow" against Mormonism. It is full of errors and could not have emanated from a person of her truthful temper. The "blow" which was there aimed at Mormonism has, unhappily, contributed much to aid and comfort Mormonism. The letter is dated the first of April; it is an evil "April fool" which cannot too speedily be set aside.

It is believed that never for a moment in her life did Mrs. Spaulding have in her possession the performance which came into the hands of Rigdon. It was likely left at the printing office as a bundle of useless rubbish when the family removed from Pittsburgh to Amity, in the year 1814, and sold to Mr. Rigdon for a mere song at the bankruptcy of Butler & Lambdin on the 1st of January 1823. Rigdon was at that time pastor of the Baptist Church, and somewhat later a tanner. He was never at any time a printer. 

^(2.) If the proofs that the author has "thoroughly investigated the history of the Spaulding Manuscript" are supplied in the volume entitled "New Light on Mormonism," it is plain there must be a mistake somewhere. The Appendix, however, is valuable, and kindly thanks are due for it. 

^(3.) Probably nothing more than the expedient of a feeble, aged gentleman to get quit of an importunate visitor. Moreover, it was six and forty years since the occurrences in question had befallen. Howe had no good right, at that remote period, to such an injurious opinion. Why was it not mentioned in the volume he sent forth in 1834? 

^(4.) A splinter new theory. Only last spring the author says that her opinion, after a careful study of the matter is that Hurlbut made a copy of the original manuscript (obtained from the trunk) which he sold to E. D. Howe of Painesville, to use in writing the book "Mormonism Unveiled," and sold the original to the Mormons, who destroyed it ("New Light" p. 63). Nowhere in previously published Mormon literature is so much as a hint given of two separate "Manuscripts Found" that were contained in the old hair trunk. In 1834 Mrs. Spaulding could not be sure what documents were kept in that receptacle. Examination displayed the fact there was that but a single "Manuscript Found" in the trunk; this Hurlbut fetched to Painesville; it is now at Honolulu. 

^(5.) It will also serve to vindicate the memory of Howe and Hurlbut against the suspicions to which they have been exposed. Advice from Mr. Rice represents that two separate editions of the Honolulu Manuscript are under the press; one of them at the charge of the Utah Mormons, and the other under the direction of the Reorganized Church. Both are welcome to all the comfort they can derive from it.

In conclusion, it may be announced that Mr. Howe passed away at Painesville, Ohio, on the 10th of November. His production, entitled "Mormonism Unveiled," is the most valuable single work that has appeared against Mormonism. Nearly all other writers copy from him, often at third or fourth hand. The book is uncommonly scarce; the copy we use was purchased for ten dollars, and is easily worth twenty dollars. Excellent service might be rendered to students of Mormonism, if it were published in a new edition, with annotations by a competent editor. -- EDITOR OF THE INDEPENDENT.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE  SPALDING  ROMANCE.

DISCOVERY OF THE STORY FROM WHICH JOSEPH
SMITH WROTE HIS "BOOK OF MORMON."

CHICAGO, Jan. 28 (Special). -- Professor Samuel S. Partello, writing to one of the newspapers, declares that he has discovered the veritable Spalding romance from which, it is said, Joseph Smith wrote his "Book of Mormon." Professor Portello says: "By the favor of the correspondent, now in Honolulu, it is my privilege to say that the long-lost and noted document has lately been discovered in the hands of Mr. L. L. Rice, a Honolulu resident, who removed from Oberlin, O., there about five years ago. Not long ago it occurred to the venerable gentleman to make an examination of a box of old papers which had accumulated during a period of twenty-five or thirty years of his life as a newspaper editor and publisher in Cleveland and other places in northeastern Ohio. Among those musty and dust-laden papers there was a small package wrapped in strong buff paper, tied with a piece of stout twine and plainly marked on the outside in pencil, in Mr. Rice's own hand; "Manuscript Story. Conneaut."

The exterior of the package seemed somewhat familiar to its owner, but yet he could not definitely fix on his mind the events in connection with his possession of it, and he did not remember having inspected its contents. He lost no time now in making an examination of it, calling in subsequently the writer's informant and another friend. The examination disclosed an old manuscript book of some two hundred closely written pages, carefully sewn in book form, about 7 by 6 . It was brown and dusty with age. The first twenty pages show the effects of much handling, and are somewhat gnawed and damaged by insects, but no great injury to the writing has been done. A few extra outside leaves remain attached to the back of the book, on one of which in a rough hand is inscribed:

"Writings of Solomon Spaulding, Proved by Aaron Wright, Oliver Smith, John N. Miller and others.

"The testimonials of the above gentlemen are now in my possession.   D. P. Hurlbut."

Mr. Rice was wholly unable to account for how or when this manuscript came into his possession. He says that he has no knowledge of the persons whose names are mentioned above. Some forty of fifty years ago Mr. Rice was editor of The Painesville Telegraph, about thirty miles from Conneaut, the residence of the Rev. Solomon Spaulding, then deceased. He conjectures that it must have been placed in his hands at that period for perusal and subsequently for publication. He personally knew Samuel [sic] Rigdon, one of Smith's right-hand men and later a Mormon apostle, their first location being at Kirtland, in the same county in which he lived.

Unlike the Mormon Bible, Spaulding's manuscript as found is not sham Hebraistic, but in ordinary English. It contains no quotations from the Bible, unlike the other, which transfers large portions of Isaiah and other books. Both devise a number of uncouth names for their characters; both record a series of desparate wars;,both narrate a voyage across the Atlantic in ancient times, and a settlement in North America. But whether this manuscript is the original is yet to be proved, although there have been witnesses who have stated that Spaulding told them that he had altered his first plan of writing by going further back with dates and writing in the old scriptural style in order that it might appear more ancient. But a closer comparison of the two nooks should be carefully made before accepting the manuscript as the original work of Spaulding. Below will be found a copy verbatim from Mr. Rice's find. The asterisks indicate where it is illegible or obliterated: * * *

"INTRODUCTION.                       

"Near the west bank of the Conneaught River there are the remains of an ancient fort. As I was walking and forming various conjectures respecting the character, situation, and number of those people who far exceeded the present Indians in works of art and imagination I hapned to tread on a flat stone. This was at a small distance from the fort, & it lay on the top of a small mound of Earth exactly horizontal. The face of it had a singular appearance. I discovered a number of characters which appeared to me to be letters -- but so much effaced by the ravages of time, that I could not read the inscription. With the assistance of a leaver I raised the stone -- But you may easily conjecture my astonishment when I discovered that its ends & sides rested on stones, & that it was designed as a cover to an artificial cave. I found *  *  * examining that its sides were lined with *  *  * built in a connical form with *  *  * down -- & that it was about {page 2} eight feet deep. Determined to investigate *  *  * design of this extraordinary work of antiquity -- I prepared myself with necessary requisites for that purpose and decended to the Bottom of the Cave. Observing one side to be perpendicular nearly three feet from the bottom, I began to inspect that part with accuracy. Here I noticed a big flat stone fixed in the form of a doar. I immediately tore it down & so, a cavity within the wall presented itself -- it being about three feet in diameter from side to side & about two feet high. Within this cavity I found an earthen Box with a cover which shut it perfectly tite. The Box was two feet in length -- one & half in breadth one & three inches in diameter. My mind filled with awful sensations which crowded fast upon me would hardly permit my hands to remove this venerable deposit, but curiosity soon gained the assendancy, & the box was taken & raised to open *  *  * When I had removed the cover I  *  *  * that it contained twenty-eig *  *  * of parchment. & that when *  *  * {page 3} appeared to be manuscrip written in eligant hand with Roman Letters, and in the Latin Language.

"They were written on a variety of Subjects. But the Roll which principally attracted my attention contained a history of the author's life & that part of America which extends along the great Lakes and the waters of the Mississippy.

"Extracts of the most interesting & important matters contained in this Roll I take the liberty to publish ---

"{p. 4} To publish a translation of every particular circumstance mentioned by our author would produce a volume too expensive for the general class of readers. But should this attempt to throw off the veil which has secluded our view from the transactions of nations who for ages have been extinct, meet the approbation of the public, I shall then be happy to gratify the more inquisitive and learned part of my readers by a more minute publication. Apprehensive that skeptical illiberal or superstitious minds may cen *  * re this performance with great acrimo *  *  * I have only to remark that they will b *  *  * ved of a great fund of entertainment *  *  * {p. 5} of a contrary disposition will obtain. My compassion will be excited more than my resentment and there the contest will end.

"Now, Gentle Reader, the Translator who wishes well to thy present and thy future existence entreats thee to peruse this volume with a clear head, a pure heart, and a candid mind. If thou shalt then find that thy head and thy heart are both improved it will afford him more satisfaction than the approbation of ten thousand who have received no benefit.

"CHAPT. I.                
AN EPITOME OF THE AUTHOR'S LIFE & OF HIS                
ARRIVAL IN AMERICA.               

"As it is possible that in some future age this part of the Earth will be inhabited by Europeans & a history of its present inhabitants would be a valuable acquisition, I pro *  *  * to write one & deposit it in a box secured *  *  * so that the ravages of time will have no effect upon it that you may know the Author I will give a succinct account of his life and of the cause of his arival -- which I have extracted from a manuscript which will be deposited with this history.

"The family name I sustain is Fabius, being descended from the illustrious general of that name. -- I was born at Rome & received my education under the tuition of a very Learned Master. -- At the time that Constantine had arived at that city & had overcome his enemies, & was firmly seated on the throne of the Roman Empire, I was introduced to him as a young Gentleman of genius & learning, and as being worthy of the favourable notice of his imperial majesty -- He gave me the appointment of one of his secretaries, & such were the gracious intimations which he frequently gave me of his high approbation of my conduct that I was happy in my station.

"One day he says to me -- Fabius you must go to Brittain & carry an import *  *  * to the General of our army there *  *  * {p. 7} sail in a vessel & return when she returns. Preparation was made instantly and we sailed. The vessel laden with provisions for the army -- cloathing, knives and other impliments for their use had now arrived near the coasts of Britain when a tremendous storm arose and drove us into the midst of the boundless Ocean. Soon the whole crew became lost & bewildered."

The foregoing will suffice as a verbatim sample of the book as taken from the manuscript found by Mr. Rice.

The party reach America and settle there, removing after two years to the Ohio region. Long accounts of the inhabitants and their wars are given, which I have not closely examined. The book having achieved such note, it would not seem out of order to make further and more direct inquiries into this manuscript, and which Mr. Rice would seemingly approve of. Whatever may be the result, its supposed connection with the "Book of Mormon" will furnish at least a valuable piece of literary history.
                            Prof. Samuel S. Partello.


Note 1: The Tribune reprinted this article from the Chicago Morning News of 1886. Partello's source in Honolulu was the Rev. Sereno E. Bishop. See Bishop's article in the NYC Independent of Sept. 10. 1885. This "special" news report from Chicago did not go unnoticed by the Mormons. See the response of the Editor of the Saints' Herald on  Feb. 21, 1886

Note 2: Note 2: The Tribune reprint was read by James A. Briggs, an old-time former resident of the Kirtland area, who had once served as D. P. Hurlbut's attorney. Briggs responded to the Partello report in a letter published in the Tribune on Jan. 31.

THE  SPAULDING  ROMANCE.

HOW  IT  CAME  INTO  THE  POSSESSION  OF  L. L.  RICE,
NOW  OF  HONOLULU.

To the Editor of the Tribune:

SIR: A special dispatch in your paper from Chicago says that the manuscript written by Rev. Solomon Spaulding, who was born in Ashford, Conn., in 1761, graduated at Dartmouth in 1785, and who in 1809 moved to Conneaut, Ashtabula County, Ohio, had been found by L. L. Rice, of Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, formerly of Ohio. In 1840 Mr. Rice was the Editor of The Painesville Telegraph, a Whig paper, formerly owned by E. D. Howe, the author of the book "Mormonism Unvailed," printed in 1835 by him. In a letter to me dated Honolulu, Dec. 4, 1885, Mr. Rice says: "After the death of my wife in 1877, at Oberlin, I came out here to be with my daughter Mary (Mrs. Dr. Whitney). I have a pleasant home here -- am in good health for a man now eighty-five." This is the Mr. Rice from whom the news comes to you of the manuscript of Spaulding.

In the winter of 1833-34, a self-constituted committee, consisting of Judge Allen, Dr. Card, Samuel Wilson, Judge Latham, W. Corning and myself, met at Mr. Corning's house, in Mentor, now known as the Garfield Farm, to investigate Mormonism and the origin of the Mormon Bible. Dr. D. P. Hurlbut. whose name is mentioned in the article in your paper this morning, was employed to look up testimony. He was present with the committee and had Spaulding's original manuscript with him. We compared it, chapter by chapter with the Mormon Bible. It was written in the same style; many of the names were the same, and we came to the conclusion, from all the testimony before us, that the Rev. Sidney Rigdon, the eloquent Mormon preacher, made the Mormon Bible from this manuscript. Of this the committee had no doubt whatever.

About this time Dr. Hurlbut had some trouble with the Mormons at Kirtland, where they had built a temple and he had the prophet, Joseph Smith, arrested on a warrant of a justice of the peace for assault and battery. He had an examination before two justices in the Old Methodist Church in Painesville. It lasted three days. Judge Benjamin Bissell was the attorney for Smith and I was the attorney for Dr. Hurlbut. The examination produced much interest. Cowdery, Hyde and Pratt, Mormon leaders, were there with "Joe" Smith. I said to Mr. Bissell, "let us get from 'The Prophet' his history of the finding of the 'golden plates.'" Mr. B. consented and for two days we had The Prophet, "Joe" Smith, on the witness stand. He swore, that is, under oath, that he found the golden plates buried in the earth in a field in Palmyra, N. Y., and when he found them he was kicked by an unseen foot out of the hole in which they were placed. All present knew that it was a Mormon lie.

Rigdon was a natural orator, and had much native genius. He got the manuscript in Pittsburg at the printing office of Mr. Robert Patterson, the father of the present Mr. Robert Patterson, who has published an interesting history of Mormonism, showing without a doubt that the Rev. Sidney Rigdon was the compiler of the Book of Mormon.

In 1879, Dr. Hurlbut was living at Gibbsonburgh, Ohio. In a letter to Mr. Patterson, of Pittsburg, he says: "I gave the manuscript with all my other documents connected with Mormonism to Mr. Howe." Mr. Rice was the successor of Mr. Howe in The Telegraph, and this accounts for his possession of the "manuscript found" at this late day in an island in the Pacific Ocean.

L. L. Rice was well known on the Western Reserve, Ohio, as one of the earliest and ablest of the anti-slavery Whigs. He has lived to see the "incurable injustice," slavery, abolished in the land of his birth, and to bring at this late date to light the Spaulding manuscript.   Yours truly,
                                            JAMES A. BRIGGS.
Brooklyn, Jan. 29. 1886.


Note: James A. Briggs' assertion that D. P. Hurlbut had Joseph Smith arrested and brought to trail during the winter of 1833-34 was first published in the International Review in Aug. 1881 and again in the Cleveland Leader in Jan. 1884. James A. Briggs has been largely ignored by writers of Mormon history. One author who took Briggs' claims at face value was William H. Whitsitt, the first biographer of Elder Sidney Rigdon. Whitsitt says: "The white feather was so apparent that the faithful at Kirtland began to suspect the prophet was incompetent for the position he was holding. Possibly it was a too open suggestion of that color, which brought about the personal conflict between Joseph and D. P. Hurlbut, for which the latter had the prophet arrested on a charge of assault and battery, that was heard for the space of three days before a magistrate's court in the old Methodist church of Painesville (Letter of James A. Briggs, counsel for Hurlbut, in New York Tribune, January 31, 1886)." See his "Sidney Rigdon, the Real Founder of Mormonism, pp. 800-801.

A  LITERARY  CURIOSITY.

Homer nods sometimes, and so does Tyrtaeus. The Tribune caught us in the error of cabling as a new poem one which had been published two years before. Now the Tribune publishes in a long telegraphic despatch from Chicago the discovery in Honolulu of that Spaulding manuscript of Mormon interest, of which our Hawaiian correspondent sent us word about a year ago, and which has since formed the basis of long and learned discussions. Indeed we saw lately an examination paper of a theological class in church history, in which it was fully considered.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE BOOK OF MORMON

Additional Light on the Question, Who Wrote It?

Competent Testimony from a Leading Citizen of Brooklyn, N.Y.,
that the Rev. Sidney Rigdon "Got Up" the Mormon Bible --
Spaulding's "Manuscript Found" the Basis of Its Historical Portion --
Rigdon and Joe Smith -- interesting connecting links.

Editor of the Watchman:

In the year 1833-'34 I was one of a self-appointed committee that met in the home of Mr. W. Coming, Mentor, O., for the purpose of investigating the origin of the Book of Mormon. Dr. D. P. Hurlburt had been in New York and Massachusetts looking up testimony; we had the manuscript of the Rev. Solomon Spaulding before us, that we compared with the Mormon Bible, and we had no doubt that from Spaulding's writings the Rev. Sidney Rigdon got up the Mormon Bible. I am convinced of it now. Here are some of the reasons:

The "Manuscript Found," written by the Rev. Solomon Spaulding in Conneaut, Ashtabula County, O., in 1809-'12 was the basis of the historical portions of the Mormon Bible, if any credibility is to be given to positive human testimony. Now what is this testimony? John Spaulding, a brother of Solomon, of Conneaut, says:

I visited my brother, and he told me he had been writing a book; it was entitled "Manuscript Found," of which he had read to me many pages. It was a historical romance, endeavoring to show that the American Indians are the descendants of the Jews, or the Lost tribes. It detailed their journey from Jerusalem by land and sea till they arrived in America, under the command of Nephi and Lehi . . . I have recently read the Book of Mormon, and, to my great surprise, I find nearly the same historical matter, names, etc., as they were in my brother's writings . . . He commenced about every sentence with "and it came to pass" or "now it came to pass," the same as in the Book of Mormon, and, according to the best of my recollection and belief, it is the same as my brother Solomon wrote, with the exception of the religious part,."

Mrs. Martha Spaulding, wife of John Spaulding, says: "I have read the Book of Mormon, which has brought to my recollection the writings of Solomon Spaulding, and I have no manner of doubt that the historical part of it is the same that I read and heard read more than twenty years ago. The old obsolete style, and the phrases of 'and it came to pass,' &c. are the same."

Henry Lake, the partner of Spaulding, from Conneaut in September, 1834 [sic.]: "He, Spaulding, frequently read [to] me from a manuscript which he was writing, which he entitled "Manuscript Found,"... I spent many hours in hearing him read said writings, and became well acquainted with its contents... One time when he reading to me the tragic account of Laban, I pointed out to him what I considered an inconsistency, which he promised to correct; but by referring to the Book of Mormon, I find to my surprise that it stands just as he read it to me then... I have no hesitation in saying that the historical part of the Golden Bible is principally if not wholly taken from the "Manuscript Found."

In the story of Laban in the first book of Nephi, where Nephi says, "They did speak many hard words unto us their younger brothers, and they did smite us even with a rod," whereupon an angel appears and says: "Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod?" Consistency would require that the number, whether plural or singular, should in both cases be the same. The oversight is in itself a trifle, but its occurrence in both the Spaulding Manuscript and the Book of Mormon is an unanswerable proof of identity.

John N, Miller in 1833 says:

In the year 1811 I was in the employ of Henry Lake and Solomon Spaulding at Conneaut, engaged in rebuilding a forge. While there I boarded in the family of said Spaulding several months. I was soon introduced to the manuscript of Spaulding and perused it as often as I had leisure. He had written two or three books or pamphlets on different subjects, but that which more particularly drew my attention was one which he called the "Manuscript Found,"... I have recently examined the Book of Mormon, and find in it the writings of Solomon Spaulding from beginning to end, but mixed up with Scripture and other religious matter... Many of the passages of the Mormon Book are verbatim from Spaulding, and others in part. The names of Nephi, Lehi, Moroni... are brought to my recollection by the Golden Bible.

Aaron Wright, Oliver Smith and Nahum A. Ward [sic] of Conneaut testify in the same manner and to the same things as being in the "Manuscript" as in the Mormon Bible. Some eight or ten other persons of irreproachable character testify as to the identity of the "Manuscript Found," as they had read it and heard it read, with the Mormon Bible. And their testimony has never been impeached or denied

I have believed since the spring of 1834 that Rigdon got up the Mormon Bible out of the "Manuscript Found," and there are many persons who have testified to Rigdon's connection with the manuscript. They have testified to the intimate acquaintance of Rigdon with Lambdin of Pittsburg, the partner of Patterson, printer, with whom Spaulding left his manuscript. The Rev. John Winter, D. D., says in 1822-'23, upon one occasion he was in Rigdon's study, when he (R.) took from his desk a large manuscript, and said in substance: "A Presbyterian minister, Spaulding, whose health had failed, brought this to the printer to see if it would pay to publish it. It is a romance of the Bible."

Mary W. Sevine [sic] a daughter of Dr. Winter, writes: "I have frequently heard my father speak of Rigdon having Spaulding's manuscript, and that he got it from the printers to read as a curiosity; as such he showed it to father; and at that time Rigdon had no intention of using it as he afterwards did; for father always said Rigdon helped Smith in his scheme by revising and making the Mormon Bible out of the Rev. Spaulding's manuscript." The Rev. J. A. Bonsall of Rochester, Pa., a stepson of Dr. Winter, says he "repeatedly heard Dr. Winter say that Rigdon had shown him the Spaulding manuscript romance... which manuscript he had received from the printers."

Mrs. Amos Dunlap of Warren, O., writes: "When I was quite a child I visited in Mr. Rigdon's family. He married my aunt. During my visit he went into his bedroom and came out with a certain manuscript, seated himself by the fire, and commenced reading it. His wife came into the room and exclaimed "What! you studying that thing again? I mean to burn that paper." "No! indeed, you will not. This will be a great thing someday."

Mr. Z. Rudolph, father of Mrs. Gen. Garfield, knew Sidney Rigdon very well, and says: "During the winter previous to the appearance of the Book of Mormon Rigdon was in the habit of spending weeks away from his home, going no one knew where... When the Book of Mormon appeared Rigdon joined in the advocacy of the new religion, and suspicion was at once aroused that he was not ignorant of the authorship of the Book of Mormon.

The Rev. Adamson Bentley, a very intimate friend of Rigdon, their wives were sisters, writing to the Rev. W. Scott, another friend of Rigdon of many years, says that "Rigdon told me there was a book coming out, the manuscript of which had been found engraved on gold plates, as much as two years before the Mormon book made its appearance." The Rev. Alexander Campbell, one of the strong and learned men of his time, known all over the land, confirms the truth of the conversation between "Father Bentley," as he was well known on the 'Western Reserve,' and Sidney Rigdon. These witnesses prove that Rigdon had the "Manuscript Found" of Solomon Spaulding, without any doubt. Now as to Rigdon's acquaintance with Joe Smith, "the Prophet."

Mrs. D. Horace Eaton of Palmyra, N.Y, in a sketch on the "Origin of Mormonism," says: "Early in the summer of 1827 a 'mysterious stranger' seeks admittance to Joe Smith's cabin. The conference of the two is most private. This person, whose coming immediately preceded a new departure in the faith, was Sidney Rigdon, of Mentor, O." Mrs. Eaton is confirmed in her statement by P. Tucker, Esq., of Palmyra. Rigdon was the first Mormon preacher in Palmyra.

Joseph Smith of Lamoni, Ia., has sent me a copy of the "manuscript" found by Mr. L. L. Rice of Honolulu and published by the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints. This is not a copy of the "Manuscript Found" of Solomon Spaulding. Mr. Joseph Smith of Lamoni assumes too much when he says: "This newly-found 'missing-link' completes the chain of evidence that the 'Manuscript Found' never was and never could be made the occasion, cause, or germ of the 'Book of Mormon.'"

The "manuscript" published at Lamoni is another one of Spauldlng's, and has no more to do with the authorship of the Book of Mormon than it has with the authorship of that most wonderful of all poems, the Book of Job, or the authorship of Junius' Letters. It proves nothing.


At the meeting at Mr. J. Corning's in Mentor, in 1834, I have no doubt we had this very identical "manuscript" now published among the papers submitted by Dr. Hurlburt. We also had a copy of the "Manuscript Found," that was compared with the Mormon Bible and satisfied the committee that it was the basis of the Mormon Bible. I have said and believed since 1834 that I had seen and examined the original "Manuscript Found" of Solomon Spaulding, out of which Sidney Rigdon got up the Mormon Bible. I believe, as Dr. Hurlburt stated, that he "sold the manuscript for $400." It is certain that he had it, and who but the Mormons would buy it? Three years ago I wrote to Hurlburt and asked him about the "Manuscript Found." He did not answer my letter. He is now dead. He was once a Mormon.

For some reason in 1833 he had some difficulty with "the Saints" in Kirtland. The last known of the "Manuscript Found" it was in Hurlburt's hands. It was not given to Mr. Howe of Painesville, O.

Now there is no doubt that the Rev. Solomon Spaulding wrote the "Manuscript Found": that the historical part of the Book of Mormon was taken from that manuscript, if human testimony is to be relied on as of any validity. That Sidney Rigdon had the original manuscript in his possession, read it first as a curiosity, and then used it to get up the Book of Mormon, a sham, a fraud, and a deception, and that he was the first to preach the delusion -- are facts. This fact should not be lost sight of -- that Solomon Spaulding wrote two or more pamphlets on different subjects.
                                            JAMES A. BRIGGS.
No. 177 Washington Street, Brooklyn.


Note: This letter by James A. Briggs was apparently written to the Editor of the New York Watchman on or about September 5th. It was reprinted in the Chicago Daily Tribune on Oct. 2, 1886. See comments appended to the Tribune reprint for more details.

A  LOOKED-FOR  EXPOSURE.
______

SECRETS  OF  THE  ORIGINAL  MORMON  BIBLE.

DEATH OF THE MAN WHO RELIGIOUSLY GUARDED THE MANUSCRIPT
-- SOME  QUEER  MORMON  MEMORIES.

PALMYRA, N. Y., Feb. 25. -- The demise of David Whitmer at Richmond, Mo., on the 25th of January last brings up many memories of the Mormon Bible, which took its origin, or a part of it, at "Gold Bible Hill," in the town of Manchester, four miles from Palmyra, on the road to Canandaigua. Mr. Whitmer was one of "The Three Witnesses" who swore by everything that was holy that they saw an angel of God come down with the golden book, which Joseph Smith interpreted. Subsequently all of these three men renounced Mormonism and declared their testimony false.

The Smith family came here from Vermont, which State was at that time -- about 1815 -- very much stirred regarding the mysteries of the divining rod. The elder Joseph Smith did odd jobs all about this neighborhood. The younger Joseph Smith (who was afterward the founder of the Mormons) gave his assistance occasionally. One day, in September, 1819, Joe's fathers and brothers were engaged in digging a well for Mr. Clark Chase, and Joe was lounging about the work with some of Mr. Clark's children when the stone, which resembled a child's foot, was thrown out of the well. The Chase children claimed the curiosity, as it was considered, but Joe seized and retained it, subsequently claiming that by its use he was enabled to discover the whereabouts of stolen property, locate the place where treasure was buried and such like impostures until the alleged finding of the magic spectacles with the golden book -- the spectacles thenceforward taking the place of the stone. This small stone was the famous "peek stone" with which young Joseph Smith claimed miraculous powers. In a kneeling posture, with a bandage on his eyes, so luminous was the light without it, with the stone in a large white stovepipe hat, and this hat in front of his face, he saw things unutterably wonderful, He could reveal, full too well, the place where stolen property or wandering flocks could be found. Caskets of gold stored away by the Spaniards or Capt. Kidd, coffers of gems, Oriental treasures, the "wealth of Ormus and of Ind" gleamed beneath the ground in adjacent fields and woodlands. Digging became the order of the night and sleep that of the day. Father and brothers, decoyed neighbors, and all who could be hired by cider or strong drink were organized into a digging phalanx. They sallied forth in the darkness. Solemn ceremonies prefaced the work. Not a soul was disturbed by the spades till Joe's mystic wand, the witch hazel, guided by the sacred stone, pointed out the golden somewhere. Entire silence was one condition of success. When hours had passed and the answering thud on the priceless chest was about to strike the ear, some one in a rapture of expectance always broke the spell by speaking, the riches were spirited away to another quarter, and the digging must be resumed another night.

This air of mystery prepared the way for greater pretensions on the part of Smith. Only a mile from the dwelling house of the Smith family was the farm of Alonzo Sanders, which included what is to-day known as "the Hill Cumorah," where the Angel Moroni announced to him the presence of the "Golden Plates," giving an account of the fate which attended the early inhabitants of America. With these plates would be found the only means by which they could be read, the wonderful spectacles known as the "Urim and Thummim." Joe was not averse to such a revelation, for his hazel rod and his "peek stone" had already failed him. There had been various religious awakenings in the neighborhood, and when the various sects began to quarrel over the converts Joe arose and announced that his mission was to restore the true priesthood. He appointed a number of meetings, but no one seemed inclined to follow him as the leader of a new religion. In September, 1823, an angel appeared to him. forgave his many lapses from grace, and announced the golden plates.

These plates, however, were not found for several years. In the meantime Joe Smith had been absent at Susquehanna and other places to work up the religious side of his assertions.

The time having come to secure the treasure, Smith returned to Palmyra and commenced to dig for the golden plates. The late William Van Camp of Lyons told the writer that as a boy at the time he heard that one night the spades struck a strong box. Thunder and lightning followed. The box sank deeper, and Smith explained the loss by the lack of faith on the part of the diggers. At last the plates were secured on the night of Sept. 22, 1826, the Prophet relating that he had been hit hard by the chief devil, who wished to have the plates remain concealed. Of the three witnesses named above, Martin Harris came back to this vicinity and died here; Oliver Cowdery moved to Missouri with the Mormons and was expelled, and David Whitmer abandoned them to their fate.

Time would fail us to give many of the details of the alleged translations of the plates in the small farmhouse in Susquehanna. No one about here had any faith in the book, Clark Chase even refusing to make a box in which the plates might be transported to Susquehanna, his prospective pay being in the profits of the book. So Smith hid them in a bag of beans and took them over to Susquehanna on horseback. The translation from the plates was a matter of several weeks. Martin Harris of Palmyra furnished the money for the work. When it was done Joe Smith and the three witnesses brought the translation here. At that time -- from September, 1829, to March, 1830 -- Mr. Van Camp (quoted above) and Major John H. Gilbert were working in the office of the Wayne Sentinel, E. B. Grandin, proprietor. During these months The Book of Mormon was in process of printing. The office was in the third story of a building now known as the "Exchange Row," in the principal street of Palmyra. The foreman was Mr. Pomeroy Tucker, who afterward published a work on Mormonism. Major Gilbert was a compositor and also a dancing master. His duties in the latter calling took him away from his "case" so frequently that Van Camp "distributed" in order to give him a chance to work the next day. The "copy" was on ruled paper -- an expensive thing in those days -- and the letters were so closely crowded that words like "and" or "the" were divided at the end of the line. The copy was in Cowdery's handwriting, but it was produced from a tightly-buttoned coat every morning by Hyrum Smith. One day's supply only was given at a time, and this was taken away at night.

There were no marks of punctuation in the copy -- a sore trial to both Tucker and Gilbert in "reading proof." At such times Cowdery occasionally "held the copy." In the absence of Cowdery the proofreaders often resorted to the orthodox Bible to verify some foggy passages. The "matter" was "paged" so that 32 pages could be printed at a time on one of Hoe's "Smith" six-column hand presses. After the sheets had been run through once and properly dried, they were reversed and printed on the other side, The bookbinder then folded them by hand and severed them with an ivory paper-cutter. The result was that 2,500 large sheets made 5,000 small sheets with 16 pages printed on each side.

It seems to be very well settled, both from direct and circumstantial evidence, that the alleged translation was adapted, if not more closely copied, from a book entitled "The Manuscript Fund," [sic} which had been written by a roving minister named Solomon Spaulding, and which he tried in vain to have published. This manuscript was in a printing office at Pittsburgh for several months, and was readily accessible to Sidney Rigdon, who was then engaged in the translation and in the subsequent spread of Mormonism. Rigdon afterward became an apostate, and died in Friendship, Allegany County, a few years ago. The original manuscript of Spaulding's work was lost for many years; but in 1885 it was discovered in the Sandwich Islands, and it is now in the library of Hiram College, in Ohio,

But what became of the original manuscript of the Mormon Bible? This is where David Whitmer becomes of interest. There were, years ago, rumors that he had these pages in his possession, and the writer sent to him a plain inquiry, which brought back this answer:

RICHMOND, Mo., Dec. 27, 1879.                

DEAR SIR: In reply to your inquiry can say that I am one of the witnesses referred to and am yet alive.

I have in my possession the original manuscripts referred to, and they are in a perfect state of preservation and I know of what I speak. Yours truly, &c.
                                  DAVID WHITMER.


Some months later the following came from a member of the family:

"David Whitmer requests me to say to you that it is not wisdom in him to grant your request at this time to have a page of the original manuscript photographed, &c.

"If granted he would be called upon by others perhaps in the same way, and it might lead to much annoyance, if nothing more.

"They are in his possession in a good state of preservation, and have been seen by many of our citizens, including lawyers, doctors, professors of learning, editors, and preachers of various denominations. He regards his as a sacred trust, and we feel curious to know the import of your article, as well as the character of the illustration, if any is intended. Of course he could not comply under any circumstances without knowing what would accompany the insertion of the photograph."


It is known that Mr. Whitmer was dared by the Mormons to produce the manuscript; also that he was threatened if he did not produce it. To neither of these hostile actions did he ever pay the slightest heed. It is the universal opinion that only a part of this manuscript ever found its way into print as the Mormon Bible. Therefore the exposure of the whole manuscript to the world is an event that is looked forward to with the greatest interest by all those who have made the Mormons and their doings a matter of study and investigation. There may be much in the pages now about to see the light which will explain some of the early record of the Mormons by furnishing links that are missing, and by reconciling testimony that is conflicting. The result of the exposure, therefore, cannot but be beneficial all around.


Note: A portion of this article was derived from Mrs. Horace Eaton's 1881 paper entitled, "The Origin of Mormonism." Other parts appear to rely upon the story told by Pomeroy Tucker in his 1867 book, The Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism. Much of the article, including the story of Smith, the plates, and the thunder and lightning, as told by William Van Camp, first appeared in Frederic G. Mather's 1881 article, "The Early Days of Mormonism." It is possible that Mather himself wrote this 1888 article for the New York Times.

THE  MORMON  BIBLE.

To the Editor of the New-York Times:

The article in your paper of yesterday on Mormonism contains some errors. The Rev. S. Rigdon, who unquestionably compiled the Mormon Bible from "The Manuscript Found" of the Rev. Solomon Spaulding, a graduate of Dartmouth College, never was an "apostate" from his Mormon faith. He was a man of much native eloquence. If the testimony of credible witnesses is to be believed, he got up the Mormon Bible. "The Manuscript Found," said to have been found in the possession of Mr. L. L. Rice, who died at Honolulu on the 14th of April, 1886, is no more like the Mormon Bible than the Book of Job is like "Pope's Essay on Man." I have a copy of the "Manuscript" that Mr. Rice had in his possession, and it came to him when he bought the printing office of the Painesville (Ohio) Telegraph of the late E. D. Howe, author of "Mormonism Exposed." It was among the papers of the office, and on the wrapper was written, "A Manuscript Story." When President Fairchild of Oberlin College was on a visit to his old friend, Mr. Rice, in Honolulu, a few years ago, he asked Mr. Rice to examine his documents, to see if he could not find some anti-slavery pamphlets for the library of Oberlin College. Mr. Rice was one of the first anti-slavery editors in Ohio. Among them Mr. Rice found this "Manuscript Story." It was copied "ver batim et literatim," and printed by Joseph Smith, a son of the Prophet; and I have now a copy of the little book, also a letter from Mr. Rice, telling how it was found, and of his giving it to President Fairchild to be presented to the library of Oberlin College, where it is now for safe keeping, and of no special value. Mormonism was a great fraud. I lived for some eighteen months in Willoughby, Ohio, in 1832-4, within two and a half miles of the Mormon Temple in Kirtland; knew Jo Smith, Cowdery, Pratt, and Hyde, leaders of the faithful; heard Jo Smith in a justice court, where he was before it on a charge of assault and battery, testify as to his finding the "Golden Plates" of the "Mormon Bible," and how he was kicked out of the hole in the earth where he was digging, when he struck the plates, by an unseen power. If there had been a newspaper reporter at that three days' hearing, in the old Methodist church in Painesville, it would have been one of the interesting and curious chapters in history. What a blessing reporters are! We cannot be too thankful for them.           JAMES A. BRIGGS.
115 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, Monday,
Feb. 27, 1888.


Note: The above letter to the Editor of the New York Times was very likely the last such comments ever submitted for publication by James A. Briggs, prior to his death later that same year. An excerpt from this letter appears in Dan Vogel's Early Mormon Documents I, p. 206. Briggs' final account of his encounter with the Kirtland Mormons is not much different from the story he had told previously in various letters to several different newspaper editors. See, for example, his similar letter of mid-April, 1887, written to the Editor of the Washington Daily Evening Star and reprinted in the Cleveland Leader.

THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON.
_______

The Original Manuscript Said to be in a Missouri Town.

From the St. Louis Republic.

Richmond, Mo., Sept. 15. -- The original manuscript of Joseph Smith's "Book of Mormon," the Bible of the Mormon Church, is kept in a bank vault in this town. The Elders of the Mormon Church in Utah made different attempts in past years to get possession of it, but failed. Once they offered $100,000 in cash for the old and yellow manuscript, but its keeper, David Whitmer, one of the founders of the Church, refused the offer because he believed the Utah branch of the Church wished to get hold of the manuscript to insert into it by forgery a clause that would authorize and sanction the practice of polygamy. Last week two representatives of the Mormon Church of Utah were here making another attempt to buy the manuscript.

This original manuscript, written at the dictation of Joseph Smith, is now in the possession of George W. Schweich of this town, a retired merchant, the grandson of David Whitmer, who was one of the three witnesses to the writing of the manuscript. The manuscript of the "Book of Mormon" contains 600 large sheets of linen paper the size of foolscap, written closely on both sides. The paper is yellowed with age and the ink is faded to brown. The pages are bound together with strings of yarn. The manuscript contains 350,000 words. It was written in 1829.


Notes: (forthcoming)