Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1841-01-19
MISCELLANEOUS
From THE NEW-IoKKER.
THE BOOK OF MORMON.

i III DOOA vi -HCAe WV.
Oxr OF the greatest literary cuIiositics
Of the day is the much abused Book oil
l!ormon.' That a work of the kind should
Be planned, executed and given 10 the scru-
,.ny orthc world by an iIIieratc young man
Of twcnty-ihat it should gain numerous
and devoted partjzans, here and in Europe
Ind that il should agitate a whole State to
such Z degree that law, justice and human
Inv were set aside to make It war OF cHtcr-
nina ion on the new sect, seems scarcely
credible in the nineteenth century, and IN
der this liberal Government; yet such Is
.bo fact.
The believers in the Bool; Of Mormon
now number wclInigh so, eco soulsin Anne
Yea, to say nothing Of numerous con
Legations in Great Britain. They style
themselves Lattcr-Doy Saints, as it is 4
prominent point in their faith that the world
j, soon TO experience great and hnM
change. They believe aud insist upon be-
ueyi6g. Herallu, the Old aud New Tesla
uent. bu, they also hold that there are va
ra4s other inspired writings, which in due
season will be brought to light. Some Of
these, the Book Of Mormon for example,
arc even now appearing, after having been
5.t for ages. They think that in the pre-
sent generation will be witnessed the final
gathering together of tho true followers OF
Christ INTO one fold Of peace aud purity
IL other words, that the Millennium is near.
setting aside tho nca. approach OF the Md
.aium AMI the Book oil Mormon, they re-
sa!ble in faith and discipline the MctAo-
ls.s, AMI their meetings arc marked by
ITO fcryid simplicity that chorac'erlses that
tI1y OF Christians. 1t is in believing TIC
Book Of Mormon Inspired that Che chief
difference consists; but it must be admitted
hat this is an important distinction.
This is their own declaration Of faith on
aa, point. A young man named Joseph
Smith, in lhc western part OF New Y DIRK,
guided, as he says, by Divine Inspiration,
found, in 1880, kind OF stone chest or
}aal. containing a uumbc: Of thin plates OF
l'dh held together by a ring, on which they
we're all strung, and engraved with un-
known characters. The characters the
nprmons believe to be the ancient Egyp-
tan. and that Smith was enabled by m
sr,ra,ion to translate them in part only,
I3vever, for the plates arc not entirely
given in English. This translation is the
Book of Mormon, and so far it is faint
and distant parallel Of the Koran. In mach
the same way Mahomet presented his code
Of religion 10 his followers, and on that au-
hor,ty the sccptre-sword of lsiamlsm now
s1ays the richest and widest realms that
ever bowed 10 one faith. But the Nor
mons have a very different career before
them: their faith is opposed 10 all violence
aal from the nature OF their peculiar doc
,aos. they must soon die OF themselves
]. they are wrong. If the appointed signs
that are 10 announce the Millennium do not
.ae place Immediately, the LaIter-day
STUNTS. must, by their own shelving. be
mistaken, aud their faith falls quietly 10 the
gulAd. So TO persccutc them merely for
oa.aiaD's sake is as useless as II would be
.a'1s; and impolitic.
The Book Of Mormon purports to be
history of portion Of the children OF IS
4 ul, who found their way to this CONT
ANT after the first destruction Of JerusG-
n lem. 1t is continued from generation by
Gsucccss.on Of prophets, and gives in dit
'g-cnt books an account OF the wars and
dances Of the Lost Nation. The Gold
en- Book is an obridgomcnt by Mormon the
Jas, OF the prophets, o. all the works OF his
r.edecessors.
The stvle is a close imitation of the
s,rntural, and is remarkably free from
any alusions that might bctray know
edge of the present practical or
social state of the world. The writer lives
- the whole strength of his Imagination in
a, as. he por:rays. 1t is difficult to inn
,ae a more difficult literary task than to
wife vba, may be termed a continuation
o. ia2 Scriptures, that should not only
al collision with the authentic and sacred
word, but even Gil up many chasms that
row seems to exist, and thus receive and
ead confirmation in almost every BOOK
Il Poesiablish pplausibly-sustaned theory
LAT tho aborigines OF our Continent are
4 's,end~nts OF Israe! without committing
\ n'ej by any assertion or description