Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1856-11-06

all as very uuil scHo'af. AS i young man,
his prospects were anything but cheering
He was engaged in no steady employment,
and might often have been found lounging
around the bar-roolns4o Palmyra, in COM
pany with persons as idle and worthless as
himself. This was the general character of
Joseph Smith up to the time of his prophet
lc career, and no one would have surmised
that he was to become the founder of new
religion, or an inglorious martyr at Nauvoo.
Joseph's first prophetic powers were di-
rected to the acquisition of wealth, and mo-
ney digging soon eESged the attention of
the family, and parssuf the neighborhood.
Night after night these faoatics labored, ur-
ged on by visions of untold. wealth. Exca-
vations were made in hillside and valley, but
Fortune, the tickle goddess, refused to smile
upon them. Their golden visions were fruit
less the prophecy was false.
At this state of affairs circumstance oc-
Cured which retrieved the waning hopes of
the prophet, and gave new direction to his
genius. This was the discovery of the Book
of Mormon, or Mormon Bible. This event
proved to be the origin of Mormonism-the
feeble germ which produced the tree Of 81
ant proportions, whose branches have exten-
dedsEer large part of the known world
1t was pretended by the prophet that this re-
cord was found on hill, below the surface
of the ground, written on plates Of gold
This being transcribed by mysterious pro-
cess, became the work now known as the
Mormon Bible. This is the fabulous account
of its origin. Its authentic history is as fol-
lows: 1t was written by Vermont clergy
man named Spalding. 1t was intended as a
work Of fiction, and was entitled the "Nlanu-
script Found" The author died before its
circulation, and, after various fortunes: it fell
into the hands of Joseph Smith, who at once
made it necessary to his ambitious schemes
1t is probable that this book owes its ori-
gin to that sentiment which prompts us to
veneratc old manuscripts which contain an
account of men and times long since passed
away. 1t professed to be the history of a
people which had its origin at the time Of the
confusion of tongues, and whose prophets
name was Mormon. The style of the book
is in imitation of the Holy Bible, but in
point of beauty of diction, sublimity of
character, and divinity of its Author, it holds
no comparison. The only work with which
the Mormon Bible can be compared is the
Koran. Each is the oracle Of false relig-
ion, and the author of each was an impostor.
Well may Mormonism blush at its parcn-
tagc The life of its founder exhibits no
feature worthy of imitation, and his charac-
ter is associated with all that is vicious and
immoral NTormonism itself is but a spe-
cious' 'humbug, whose vital principle is po-
lygamy. Such is the man-such the rclig-
ion of which he was the founder
MAKE THE BEST OF EvERYTnING.-We
once knew man whom neither care nor
sorrow seemed to affect: who at sixty had
the digestion and flow of spirits of twenty
one; who had acquired large fortune appa-
rently without an effort; who, in short, was
the happiest of men, and the envy of all who
knew him. "IIow is it," we said to him,
'.that you are so fortunate? What talisman
secures to you all these advantages ?" He
smiled as he answered, ri have no talisman,
unless it is to make the best of everything"
TO make the best of everything! Like a
key to great problem, the answer unlocked
for us, at once, the whole of the great mystic
ry. Life is too short and happiness too pre-
cious to consume the one or throw away the
other, in idle, unayailing regrets. Even if
ill-fortunc swells into food, threatening to
undermine the very ground on which wa
stand, is it not wiser to strive to bridge the
torrent than to wait, bewailing our fate, till
waters swallow US? The weak and unstable
succumb to destiny, and are washed into OBJ
livion. The wise and brave, accepting cir
cumstances as they are presented, plunge
boldly, like Horatius of old, into the stream,
win the further shore in safety, and earn
immortal guerdon and renown.
Few men, if any, ever succeeded in life
who have not learned to make the best of
everything; and generally, their success is an
exact proportion to their adherence to the
rule. Does a debtor fail? Every merch-
ant knows that it is the best course, if the
debtor is honest, to accept his first offer of
compromition, and not squander money in
useless litigation. Have you become insol-
vent yourself? The worst thing you can do
is to give up to despair, and say that it is
folly trying to redeem yourself Has friend
misjudged you, or an enemy done you secret
harm? Don't lose precious moments in
sentimental grief over ingratitude, or pas
sionate threats at your wrong -doer; but so
to work on the instant, to shame your friend
or disarm your foe. Had Astor, when he
was poor German emigrant, made up his
mind that the attempt to be millionaire
was absnrd, he might have died bcggar in
the almshouse. Had Washington, when
CORVALLIS pursued him across New Jersey
with thirty thousand troops, said that it was
hopeless to save America with his fragment
of an army, his three thousand tattered con-
tinentals, we might all this day have been in
slavery to Great Britain; but he said, If
the British cross the Delaware 7 will cross
the Alleghanies, and if they are victorious
there I will fly to the wilderness beyond;"
and this resolution never to give up, but al
,vavs to make the best of everything, led to