Washington telegraph., 1851-08-27

o.,,s MORMON lMfO6TURe-1 nero u =
Il in the press. entitled History Of Philips
W0,H Hl.o,b.m's Purchase" which contains, by way
anu Ia;sode. a brief sketch of the origin of the
o. ,nn ep imposture, and Of the early history of
MO NOUN Smith. 1t is very interesting. and We shall
!0' sf;,o service to our readers, by abreviating
e.. u their use. The facts narrated came within
.n,bor's personal knowedge:
tns NH Smith, the father Of the prophet JOSEPH,
', .S was from the Merrimack river, N. H. He
e",' e'D sr,ed in or near Palmyra village. but az
m' .l, as 1919 was the occupant Of some new land
ea' ,Is ,ovn Of Manchester. "Mormoa Hill" is
III M ,be plapk road, about half way between the
ppa' ~a,,as Of Palmyra and Manchester. He had
u,as Methodist; was good deal of smatterer
s"rn,ure oe great babbler, creduIous, not cspec-
m ,. Industrious, and prone to the marvellous.
M,s Smith was q woman Of strong uncultivated
.-."IIsct. imbued with an i'll regulated religious
'p'v" asm. The incipient hints that prophet
."s e"' 70 spring from her humble household, came
. her. The old man was rather her faithful
Nv vorker, or executive exponent Their son,
.,v.h was originally Intended or designated, by
s,ssde consultations and solemn and mysterious
~, ~, Joor hints, as the forthcoming prophet The
So,hsr and the father said he was the choseh one;
l', p, alvah. however spiritual he may have been,
Sa5 a carna appetite, ate too many green turnps,
"IL,nsd and died. The mantle Of the prophet
L;.h Mrs. and Mr. Smith and one Oliver Cow
S had woven hemselves--every thread of it,
e,, ,nou their mel eldest son, Joseph Smith, Jr.
And most uupromsing recipient Of trust was
.,;. same Joseph Smith, Jr, afterwards "Jo
,S.;tb" He was loungiug. idle, (not to say vici-
on and possessed Of less than ordinary intellect.
u,Ls authors own recoectiOns of him are distinct.
,,s ,sed to come into the village OF Palmyra with
sa,l laos of wood from his back woods home; some
.mss ua,ronizng village grocery too freely: and
me week he would stroll into the Office Of the
'0L PALMYRA Register for his fathers paper.
II is believed by those who are best acquainted
with the Smith family, that there is no foundation
far the statement that their original manuscript
,g,s W rit,en by Mr.. Spaulding, OF Ohio. A sup
ni4peni to the Gold Bible, "The Book O, Com
mandnents,' in all probability, Was written by
Rydcn, and he may have been aided by Spaulo-
iugs manuscripts; but the book itself is, without
doubt the prodnotion Of the Smith family. aided
bv Oliver Cowdery, " no an intimate Of the
Smith family, aud identified with the whole mat
ter Iz4e 1predaetion is not that of an educated
man or woman 1t is strange medley Of scrip
ture. romance and bad composition.
The projectors Of the humbug, being destitute
ormeans for carrying out their plans, victim was
selected to o5v4te that difficulty. Martin Harris
was farmer of FaIMyra, an honest, worthy ci
1eu but given te religious enthusiasm. Joseph
Smith informed Harms of the great discovery,
Harris was the cisssee iastruwent to aid in the
great work of surprising the world with new re-
yeIaton They had hit upea the right man. He
mortgaged bus fine farm 10 pay Cor printing the
book, and made here and there aaaoag his
ouainrances solemn xnnunciati0ns of the great
event that was transpring. His version OF the
discovery in substance as follows:
The prophet Joseph was directed by an angel
where to find, by excavation, at the place after
Al
was compelled by the angel, much against his
will to be the interpreter of the sacred record
they contained, and publish to the world. That
the plates contained record of the ancient IN
habitants of this country, engraved by Mormon,
the son of Nephi." That on the top of the box
containing the plates, ga pair of large spectacles
were found, the stones or glass SET in which were
opaque 10 all but the prophet. and these belonged
10 Mormon, the engraver of the plates, and with
out them the plates could not be read" Harris
exhibited TO informant of the author, the manu-
script title page. On il was drawn, ruJely and
buuglingy. cOnce niric circles, between. above and
below which were characters, with little resem-
bance 10 letters, apparently miserable limit alton
Of hierOgiyphics, he may somewhere have seen.
10 guard against Proiane curiosity, the prophet
had given out that one but himself. not even
bis chosen perpetrators, must be permitted to
them on pain of instant death. Harris had never
the plates, but The glowing account of their
massive richness excited other than spiritual hopes.
and he, upon ore occasion, got a village silver
snilh to help him to estimate their value, taking
asa basis, the prophets account Of their dimen.
sons This, and some anticipations he INDUCED
n as to the profits that would arise from the sale
Of the Gold Bible. made it then, az it is now, a
mooled Question whether he was altogether dupe.
Long before the Gold Bible demonstration, the
Smith iantiy had whispered another fraud in the
ears OF the ereduious. They pretended that in
digging for money at Mormon Hill, they came
across chest covered with a dark cOor-d stone.
ln the centre Of the stone a white spot about
lhe size Of sixpeuce. Euarging, the spot in
creased TO the size of twenty -four pound shot,
and then exploded with a terrible noise. The
chest vanished and all was utter darkness
Under the auspices OF Rigdon, Baptist elder,
VINO soon made his appearance among them-a
new sect. the MOrmohs, was produced Prophe.
es 'ei thick and fast from the lips Of Joseph old
hrs. smith assumed all the airs of a mother Of a
prophet. The bold, clumsy cheat found her. aud
'aefe an enthusiast, monomaniac or a knave, in
and around It's prstive locality, help il upon its
Start; and soon it had its Hegra flight, to Kirt-
iaad then to Nauvoo; then to a short resting place
10 \, Missouri and then on and over the Rocky
MOUNTAINS to Utah the Salt Lake. Banks,
pfaling offices, temples, cities and finally State
adVe rlseu under .its auspices. Converts have
multiplied 10 tens Oftbeusapds. In several of the
eOuntrles Of Europe there are preachers and
O'gan'zed sacts Of Mormons believers in the divine
mission Of Joseph Smith T. Co.
AND here the subject must be dismissed. II it
aas oeen treated lightly it is because it will ad-
~" 0: no other treatment There is no dignity
auuut u The whole thing; nothing to eutitle il to
"ld Treatment 1t deserves none OF the charity
ea'ehde6 ito ordinary religious -fanaticism, for
audVery and fraud has keeu u;fh II .;ncn;a nAI,
aud Progressively. 1t has not the poor nsert Of
Ingenuity dts success is a slur upon the age
sanatelsm promoted it at 6rst; then ILL advised
pe'senuion; then the designs of demagogues who
WISHED to command the suffrage of its followers;
au'l hnay an American Congress has ahetted
.ns fraud and imposition by its acts, and we
!" have State of our proud Un,on-in this boast
50 era Of light aud knowIedge-the very name of
Saeh will sanction and dignity the fraud and
ia!SeLnnd Of Ma.raa.,