The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1851-08-21

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} iser object in view, whispered another
fraud in the ears of the crcdulous. They
pretended that in digging for money at Nor
mon Hill, they came across "a chest, three
by two feet in size, covered with dark
colored stone. In the centre Of the stone
was white spot about the size Of six
pence. EDlargng, the spot increased to
the size of a twenty-tour pound shot, and
then exploded with terrible noise. The
chest vanished and all was utter darkness
IL may he safely presumed that in no 9TH
er instance have Prophets and the chosen
and designated of apsels, been quite as cal
cuIatIng and worldly, as were those of
StraffOrd street, Mormon Hill and Palmyra
he only business contract-veritable in
strument in writiDg-that was ever execu-
tod by spiritual agents, has been preserved,
and should be among the archives Of the
new State Of Utah. Ii is signed by the
Prophet himself, and witnessed by Oliver
COwdry, and secures to Martin Harris one
half Of the proceeds of the sale of the Gold
Bible, until he was fully reimbursed ia the
sum of 800, the cost of printing.
The after thought has been alluded to-
the enlarging Of original intenlions-was
at the suggestion Of Sidney Rgdon, of
Ohio, who made his appearance, and blend
ed himself with the poorly devised scheme
Of imposture, about the time the book was
issued irc The press. He unworthily bore
the title of Baptist elder, but had, by some
previous freak, f the author is rightly in
formed, lost his standing in that respectable
tious and dishonest, under the semLlance of
sanclity and assumed spirituality, he was
just the man for The use Of the Smith house
hold and their half dupe and half designing
abettors; and they were just the fit instru-
ments he desired. He became at once the
Hamlet, or more appropriately perhaps, the
Mawworm of the play. Like the veiled
Prophet Mokanna, he may he supposed
thus to have soliloquised
"Ye too, believers of incredible creeas
Whose faith enshrines the which il breeds:
Who bolder, even than Nnrod think to rise
by neiisense heap'd on nonsense to the skies; '
Ne shall have miracles, ave, sosnd ones toe,
Seen, heard attested, every Thing but true.
Your preaching zealots, too inspired to seek
One grace of me aning for the things they speak;
Your martyrs ready Ia shed their blood
For truths too heavenly 10 be understood"
"They shall have mysreries-aye precious stuff,
For knaves to thrive by--inysterious enough
Dark, tangled d0ct; ines, dark fraud weave,
While craitier feign belief, till they believe"
Under the auspices of Rigdon, a new
sect, the Mornons was projected. Proph-
ecies fell thick and fast from the lips of Ju-
seph old Mrs. Smith assumed all the airs
Of mother of a Prophet; that particular
family of Smiths were singled out and be-
came axalted above all their legion of name
sakes. The bold, clumsy cheat, found here
and there an enthusiast, monomaniac or
knave, in and around its primitive locality, |
to help II upon its start; and soon, like
another scheme of inposture, (that had
little of dignity and pausibiIl,y in iI,) it had
its Hegira, or flight, to Kirkland, then to
Nauvoo; then to short resting place i'm !
MlssOuri--and then Oh over the Rocky !
Mountains, TO Utah or to the Salt Lake.
Banks, printing offices, temples, cities and |
inaiIy a State, have arisen under its auspi- |
ces. Converts have multiplied to tens of
thousands. In several Of the countries of
Europe, there are preachers and organized
sects of Mormons; believers m the divine t
mission of Joseph Smith & Co.
And here the subject must be dismissed. (
If it has been treated lighly-wth a SEEM
ing levity-it is because it will admit of no
other treatment. There is no dignity about
the whole thing nothing to entitle it TO a !
mild treatment. ii deserves none of the
charity extended TO ordinary religious fa-
natacism, for knavery and fraud has been
with 1t incipIently and progressively. 1t
has not the poor merit Of ingenuity. Its
success is slur upon the age. Fanatacism
promoted it at first; then ii-adyised perse-
cution; then the designs Of demagogues
who wished TO command the sutfrages of
its followers; until finally an American Con-
gress has abttted The fraud and imposition
ny its acts, and we are TO have a State of
our proud Union--in this boasted era OF
light and knowledge-lhe very name of
which will sanction aud dignity The fraud
and falsehood of Mormon Hill, the gold
plates and the spurious revelation. This
much, at least, might have been omitted out
of decent respect to the moral and religious