MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV) - FREDERICK MARRYAT (books to read this summer txt) 📗

_Comites_ Or Counts;

Their Chiefs Are _Conductors_, Or Dukes. Then Follow The Pontiffs, The

Bishops, &C., &C. This Plan Has Proved to Answer Well, As It Has Given

To Mormonism Many Wealthy Individuals From The Eastern States, Who

Accepted the Titles And Came Over To Europe To Act As Emissaries From

Joe, Under The Magnificent Titles Of Great Commander, Prince Of Zion,

Comte De Jerusalem, Director Of The Holy College, &C., &C.]  As A

Military Position, Nauvoo, Garrisoned by Twenty Or Thirty Thousand

Fanatics, Well Armed and Well Supplied with Provisions, Would Be Most

Formidable. It Is Unapproachable Upon Any Side But The East, And There

The Nature Of The Ground (Boggy) Offers Great Obstacles To Any Besieging

Operations. It Is Smith'S Intention To Congregate His Followers There,

Until He Accumulates A Force That Can Defy Anything That Can Be Brought

Against Him.

 

 

 

Nauvoo Is A Hebrew Word, And Signifies A Beautiful Habitation For A Man,

Carrying With It The Idea Of Rest. It Is Not, However, Considered by The

Mormons As Their Final Home, But As A Resting-Place; They Only Intend To

Remain There Till They Have Gathered a Force Sufficient To Enable Them

To Conquer Independence (Missouri), Which, According To Them, _Is One Of

The Most Fertile, Pleasant, And Desirable Countries On The Face Of The

Earth, Possessing a Soil Unsurpassed by Any Region_. Independence They

Consider Their Zion, And They There Intend To Rear Their Great Temple,

The Corner Stone Of Which Is Already Laid. There Is To Be The Great

Gathering-Place For All The Saints, And, In that Delightful And Healthy

Country, They Expect To Find Their Eden, And Build Their New Jerusalem.

 

 

 

What Passed between Joe Smith And Myself I Feel Not At Liberty To

Disclose; In fact, Publicity Would Interfere With Any Future Plans. I

Will Only Say, That The Prophet Received me With The Greatest

Cordiality, And Confirmed the Offers Which His Agents Had Made To Me

When I Was Among The Comanches. When, However, I Came To The Point, And

Wished to Ascertain Whether The Mormons Would Act Up To The Promises Of

Their Leaders, I Perceived, To My Great Disappointment, That The "Means"

At Least For The Present--The Operative Means--Were Not Yet Ready To Be

Put In motion. According To Him, The Foxes, Osages, Winnebegoes, Sioux,

And Mennonionie Indians Would Act For Him At A Moment'S Notice; And, On

My Visiting The Foxes To Ascertain The Truth Of These Assertions, I

Discovered that They Had Indeed promised to Do So, Provided that,

Previously, The Mormons Should Have Fulfilled certain Promises To Them,

The Performance Of Which I Knew Was Not Yet In the Power Of The Mormons.

 

 

 

In The Meanwhile, I Heard From Joe Smith Himself How God Had Selected

Him To Obtain And Be The Keeper Of The Divine Bible; And The Reader Will

Form His Own Idea Of Joe Smith By The Narrative. The Day Appointed was

The 22Nd Of September, And Joe Told Me That On That Day--

 

 

 

"He Arose Early In the Morning, Took A One-Horse Waggon Of Some One That

Had Stayed overnight At His House, And, Accompanied by His Wife,

Repaired to The Hill Which Contained the Book. He Left His Wife In the

Waggon By The Road, And Went Alone To The Hill, A Distance Of Thirty Or

Forty Rods. He Then Took The Book Out Of The Ground, Hid It In a Tree

Top, And Returned home. The Next Day He Went To Work For Some Time In

The Town Of Macedon, But About Ten Days Afterwards, It Having Been

Suggested that Some One Had Got His Book, His Wife Gave Him Notice Of

It; Upon Which, Hiring a Horse, He Returned home In the Afternoon,

Stayed just Time Enough To Drink A Cup Of Tea, Went In search Of His

Book, Found It Safe, Took Off His Frock, Wrapt It Round His Treasure,

Put It Under His Arm, And Ran All The Way Home, A Distance Of About Two

Miles. He Said He Should Think That, Being Written On Plates Of Gold, If

Weighed sixty Pounds, But, At All Events, Was Sure It Was Not Less Than

Forty. On His Return He Was Attacked by Two Men In the Woods, Knocked

Them Both Down, Made His Escape, And Arrived safe At Home With

His Burden."

 

 

 

The Above Were The Exact Words Of Smith, To Which He Adds, Somewhere In

His Translation Of The Book, That Had It Not Been For The Supernatural

Virtues Of The Stone He Carried with Him, Virtues Which Endowed him With

Divine Strength And Courage, He Would Never Have Been Able To Undergo

The Fatigues And Conquer The Obstacles He Encountered during That

Frightful Night.

 

 

 

Thus Smith Gets Possession Of His Precious Manuscript. But, Alas! 'Tis

Written In egyptian Hieroglyphics. Joe Calls To His Assistance The

Wonderful Stone, "The Gift Of God," And Peeping Hastily Through It, He

Sees An Angel Pointing Somewhere Towards _A Miraculous Pair Of

Spectacles!!!_ Yes, Two Polished pieces Of Crystal Were The Humble Means

By Which The Golden Plates Were To Be Rendered comprehensible. By The

Bye, The Said Spectacles Are A Heavy, Ugly Piece Of Workmanship Of The

Last Century; They Are Silver-Mounted, And Bear The Maker'S Name,

Plainly Engraved, "Schneider, Zurich."

 

 

 

The Book Of Mormon Was Published in the Year 1830, Since That Period Its

Believers And Advocates Have Propagated its Doctrines And Absurdities

With A Zeal Worthy Of A Better Cause. Through Every State Of The Union,

And In canada, The Apostles Of This Wild Delusion Have Disseminated its

Principles And Duped thousands To Believe It True. They Have Crossed the

Ocean, And In england Have Made Many Converts: Recently Some Of Their

Missionaries Have Been Sent To Palestine. Such Strenuous Exertions

Having Been, And Still Being Made, To Propagate The Doctrines Of This

Book, And Such Fruits Having already Appeared from The Labours Of Its

Friends, It Becomes A Matter Of Some Interest To Investigate The History

Of This Strange Delusion, And, Although It Does Not Deserve It, Treat

The Subject Seriously.

 

 

 

The Book Of Mormon Purports To Be The Record Or History Of A Certain

People Who Inhabited america Previous To Its Discovery By Columbus.

According To The Book, This People Were The Descendants Of One Lehi, Who

Crossed the Ocean From The Eastern Continent To That Of America. Their

History And Records, Containing Prophecies And Revelations, Were

Engraven, By The Command Of God, On Small Plates, And Deposited in the

Hill Comora, Which Appears To Be Situated in western New York. Thus Was

Preserved an Account Of This Race (Together With Their Religious Creed)

Up To The Period When The Descendants Of Laman, Lemuel, And Sam, Who

Were The Three Eldest Sons Of Lehi, Arose And Destroyed the Descendants

Of Nephi, Who Was The Youngest Son. From This Period The Descendants Of

The Eldest Sons "Dwindled in unbelief," And "Became A Dark, Loathsome,

And Filthy People." These Last-Mentioned are The Present

American Indians.

 

 

 

The Plates Above-Mentioned remained in their Depository Until 1827, When

They Were Found By Joseph Smith, Jun., Who Was Directed in the Discovery

By The Angel Of The Lord. On These Plates Were Certain Hieroglyphics,

Said To Be Of The Egyptian Character, Which Smith, By The Direction Of

God, Being Instructed by Inspiration As To Their Meaning, Proceeded to

Translate.

 

 

 

It Will Be Here Proper To Remark, That A Narrative So Extraordinary As

That Contained in the Book Of Mormon, Translated from Hieroglyphics, Of

Which Even The Most Learned have But A Limited knowledge, And That Too,

By An Ignorant Man, Who Pretended to No Other Knowledge Of The

Characters Than What He Derived from Inspiration, Requires More Than

Ordinary Evidence To Substantiate It. It Will, Therefore, Be Our Purpose

To Inquire Into The Nature And Degree Of Testimony Which Has Been Given

To The World To Substantiate The Claims Of This Extraordinary Book.

 

 

 

In The First Place, The Existence Of The Plates Themselves Has Ever

Since Their Alleged discovery Been In dispute. On This Point It Would Be

Extremely Easy To Give Some Proofs, By Making an Exhibition Of Them To

The World. If They Are So Ancient As They Are Claimed to Be, And

Designed for The Purpose Of Transmitting The History Of A People, And If

They Have Lain For Ages Deposited in the Earth, Their Appearance Would

Certainly Indicate The Fact. What Evidence, Then, Have We Of The

_Existence_ Of These Plates? Why, None Other Than The Mere _Dictum_ Of

Smith Himself And The Certificates Of Eleven Other Individuals, Who Say

That They Have Seen Them; And Upon This Testimony We Are Required to

Believe This Most Extraordinary Narrative.

 

 

 

Now, Even Admitting, For The Sake Of Argument, That These Witnesses Are

All Honest And Credible Men, Yet What Would Be Easier Than For Smith To

Deceive Them? Could He Not Easily Procure Plates And Inscribe Thereon A

Set Of Characters, No Matter What, And Exhibit Them To The Intended

Witnesses As Genuine? What Would Be Easier Than Thus To Impose On Their

Credulity And Weakness? And If It Were Necessary To Give Them The

Appearances Of Antiquity, A Chemical Process Could Effect The Matter.

But We Do Not Admit That These Witnesses Were Honest; For Six Of Them,

After Having Made The Attestation To The World That They Had Seen The

Plates, Left The Church, Thus Contradicting That To Which They Had

Certified. And One Of These Witnesses, Martin Harris, Who Is Frequently

Mentioned in the Book Of Covenants--Who Was A High-Priest Of The

Church--Who Was One Of The Most Infatuated of Smith'S Followers--Who

Even Gave His Property In order To Procure The Publication Of The Book

Of Mormon, Afterwards Seceded from The Church. Smith, In speaking Of Him

In Connection With Others, Said That They Were So Far Beneath Contempt,

That A Notice Of Them Would Be Too Great A Sacrifice For A Gentleman

To Make.

 

 

 

Some Of The Mormons Have Said That A Copy Of The Plates Was Presented to

Professor Anthon, A Gentleman Standing In the First Rank As A Classical

Scholar, And That He Attested to The Faithfulness Of The Translation Of

The Book Of Mormon. Now, Let Us Read What The Professor Himself Has To

Say On This Matter. In a Letter Recently Published he Expresses

Himself Thus:--

 

 

 

"Many Years Ago, The Precise Date I Do Not Now Recollect, A

Plain-Looking Countryman Called upon Me, With A Letter From Dr. Samuel

L. Mitchell, Requesting Me To Examine And Give My Opinion Upon A Certain

Paper, Marked with Various Characters, Which The Doctor Confessed he

Could Not Decipher, And Which The Bearer Of The Note Was Very Anxious To

Have Explained. A Very Brief Examination Of The Paper Convinced me That

It Was Not Only A Mere Hoax, But A Very Clumsy One. The Characters Were

Arranged in columns, Like The Chinese Mode Of Writing, And Presented the

Most Singular Medley I Ever Beheld. Greek, Hebrew, And All Sorts Of

Letters, More Or Less Distorted, Either Through Unskilfulness Or From

Actual Design, Were Intermingled with Sundry Delineations Of Half-Moons,

Stars, And Other Natural Objects, And The Whole Ended in a Rude

Representation Of The Mexican Zodiac. The Conclusion Was Irresistible,

That Some Cunning Fellow Had Prepared the Paper In question, For The

Purpose Of Imposing Upon The Countryman Who Brought It, And I Told The

Man So, Without Any Hesitation. He Then Proceeded to Give Me The History

Of The Whole Affair, Which Convinced me That He Had Fallen Into The

Hands Of Some Sharper, While It Left Me In great Astonishment At His

Simplicity."

 

 

 

The Professor Also States That He Gave His Opinion In writing To The

Man, That "The Marks On The Paper Appeared to Be Merely An Imitation Of

Various Alphabetic Characters, And Had No Meaning at All Connected

With Them."

 

 

 

The Following Letter, Which I Received, Relative To The Occupation Of

Joe Smith, As A Treasure-Finder, Will Probably Remind The Reader Of The

Character Of Dousterswivel, In walter Scott'S Tale Of The Antiquary. One

Could Almost Imagine That Either Walter Scott Had Borrowed from Joe, Or

That Joe Had Borrowed from The Great Novelist.

 

 

 

"I First Became Acquainted with Joseph Smith, Senior, And His Family, In

1820. They Lived at That Time In palmyra, About One Mile And A Half From

My Residence. A Great Part Of Their Time Was Devoted to Digging For

Money; Especially In the Night-Time, When, They Said, The Money Could Be

Most Easily Obtained. I Have Heard Them Tell Marvellous Tales Respecting

The Discoveries They Have Made In their Peculiar Occupation Of

Money-Digging. They Would Say, For Instance, That In such And Such A

Place, In such A Hill, Or A Certain Man'S Farm, There Were Deposited

Kegs, Barrels, And Hogsheads Of Coined silver And Gold, Bars Of Gold,

Golden Images, Brass Kettles Filled with Gold And Silver, Gold

Candlesticks, Swords, &C., &C. They Would Also Say, That Nearly All The

Hills In this Part Of New York Were Thrown By Human Hands, And In them

Were Large Caves, Which Joseph, Jun., Could See, By Placing a