Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1854-07-03
The History OF the Mormons.

We several weeks since alluded to the
habits Of the Mormons,, in connection, with
a Audience that had been5made thereof by
u female Of their own number. We will
now condense from very interesting ar
,icle we find 10 the National Magazines
detailing the History .s the tvefety, its
rise and Progression winch we are in.
dehted TO friend. Probably in the his
tory Of the civilized world, there never
has sprung so suddenly into vigorous ex-
istence, and eminent industrial prosperity,
any association or sect, equal TO that of the
Latter Day Saints. Appearing in she dis
lance, sIlego,ically speaking, 40 large,
ssssa mans hand, they hats risen 10 a
prominence and Importance, truly Start
ling. the contemplation of Which strikes
the rr'sa shec. IS SelHsion thar an &C.
tual fact. That saeh sn attractive crsani-
cation and prominen. governmental con.
sideration should spring from the low cum
ming, Of an ignorant. and unprinefpiea
mind istruly remarkable. Blu. the shame
less vices in which the followers Of Smith
indulge, which form the distinguishes
feature of the society, go in great de.
gfee to relieve the progress in numbers
and physical strength Of the association,
of much Of its mystery. To such code
Of morals the Vicious. naturally enough,
would most willingly subscribe, and hence
the unprecedented success Of the Society.
In scarcely more. than twenty years the
company, consisting Of the ihpostof, ind
his father and brother, has increased to
half million; they occupy one of the
richest portions Of this continent, have a
regularly organized government, and are
represented in the Congress OF the United
States. With missions in every part Of
the country, in every capital Of Europe,
in Mecca, in Jerusalem, and among the
islands Of the Pacific and the Indian
Oceans, all of whom are charged with the
duty Of making converts aud gathering
them 80 the promised Land of Deseret.
they mus. very soon have a population
sufficiently large to clam admission as
State Of the Union ard perhaps to hold the
balance Of power in its affairs.
eIn 1925 there lived near the village Of
Palmyra in NewYork, family of small
farmers Of the name Of Smith. They
were Of bad repnte in the neighborhood,
notorious for being continually in debt,
and needless Of their business engage.
ments. The eldest son, Joseph, SAYS ons
of his friends -"could read without much
difficulty, wrote a very imperfect hand.
and had very limited understanding Of
the elementary rules Of arithmetic" As
ISOLATED in some degree with Sidney Rig
don, who comes before us in the first place
as a johrneyman printer he was the found
er Of the new faith. The early history of
the conspiracy Of these worthless is imp.r.
fectly known; but it is evident that Rig.
don must have been in Smith S confidence
from the first Rigdon, indeed, probably
had more to do with the matter Than even
Smith but it was the latter Who was first
put eonspicuously forward, aud who man.
aged TO retain the preeminence. The &C.
count Of the pretended revelation, as given
By Smith, is as follows: He all. ut once
found himself laboring in state of great
darkness and wretchedness OF mind-was
bewildered among the conflicting doctrines
of Christians, and could find no comfort or
rest for his soul. In this state, he resorted
to earnest prayer, kneeling in the woods
aud fields, and after long perseverance was
answered BY the appearance of bright
light in heav N. which gradually descend
ed until il enveloped the worshiper, who
found himself standing face to face with
two supernatural beings. OF these he in.
CURED which was the true religion: The
reply was, that all existing religions were
erroneous, but that the pure doctrine and
browning dispensaiior Of Christianity
should at a future period be miracnlously
revealed to himself Several similar yisi-
tations ensurd, and at length he was IN.
formed that the North American Indians
were remnant Of Israel: tina. when they
ii,st entered America they were power
ful and enlightened people; that their
priests and rulers Kept the records Of their
history and doctrines; but thai, having
fallen of IRON the true worship, the great
body Of the nation were systematically
destroy ed--nnt, however, until priest
and prophet, named Mormon, had, by
heavenly direction, drawn up an abstract
Of their records and religious Opinions
He was told thatthis still existed buried
the earth, and that he was selected as the
instrument for its recovery and manifesto
ton to all nations. The record, it was
said, contained many prophecies as TO
these latter days and instructions for the
gathering Of the saints into q temporal and
spiritual kingdom. preparatory to the
second coming Of the Messiah, which was
At hand. After several very similar visions,
the spot in which the book lay buried was
disclosed. Smith went to II. and after dig
ging discovered sort Of box. formed Of
upright and horizontal flags, within which
lay a number Of pilates resembling gold
and of the thickness of common tin
These were bound together BY wire, and.
were engraved with Egyptian characters.
by the side OF them lay two transparent
stones, called by the ancIents, 'Urim and
Thummim," set in 'the two rims OF a
bow" These stones were divining crys-
tails: aud the angels informed Smith, that
by using them he would be enabled to
decipher the characters on the plates
What ultimately became Of the platcs-if