Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1857-12-11

\ Aver seseral very Simlar VlSions, tlIe spot III
Fsllch the book lay buried was disclosed.
oGs'th wsff, 10 Il, and after digging, discovered
II SOFT OF box, formed of upright and horizontal
fagS, wlthin which lay number OF plates re-
embiing gold, and OF the thickness of common
lu. These were boand together by WIRE,
! lnd wers engraved with Egyptian characters.
! Rl the side OF them lag two transparent stones,
1 eaiAed hy the ancients ':Urim ami. Thumpln,' .
| sst N s'the two rias of bow These stones
/ we're divlnlng crgstals, and me angels inform
Cd saiTn, that By nsing them hewould be en-
9blei to deeyphsr the character on the plates.
Nha ultimately Leeame OF the plates---if such
lblpss existed at ALL does not appear They
@cresald to have been seen aud handled bp
elegq witnesses. With the exception Of three
! persns, these witnesses were, either members
"l Smith 5 family, or of neighborinc family
10! tn name Of Nhitmer. The Smiths, Of
/ eoure, give Suspicious testimony. The Whit
niers'tive disappeared, aud no one knows any
I thingaboQt them. Another witness, Oliver
! NoTGey, was afterwards an a,nanuensIs to } o.
sepb. and another, Martin Harris, was long a
eoasFcuouxldiseipie. There IS some confusion,
howeef. about this person, Although he
| S'gii>hIs name as a witness who has seen aud
han1ed theJpia,es, he assured Professor An
thou hat he never had seen them. that she
was rpt sufficiently pure OF heart,'' and that
joseErretused 10 show him the plates, but
gave am instead transcript on paper Of the
eharaters engraved on them Il is difficult
= trae the early, advances OF the imrosture.
EyerNhing is vague and uncertain. We have
no daes, and only the statements of the proph-
ct anc his friends
Neuiinie Smith must hoye worked success
fully ~ the feeble and supcrstiriogs mind Of
| MaFh H4rris. Ials man, as We have just
sara eeeiFet from hin written transcript Of
the Egsteilous Characters, aud conveyed il to
PcoeSser Anthem, competent pathological au-
tho1t.. Dr, AGthen's account of inc inter-
Yie7 Is one Of the unst important parts OF the
entig history. lIarris iold him be Lad not
seepthe plates, but that he intended to sell his
I iarsl and give the proceeds to unable S4uith 10
polish translation of them. This statement,
''th what ioilows, shaw4 that Smiths original
l'pleailon, qaogd the alleged plates, was 10 use
flem as q -.'ss.~-.-'S n-lse
Mormous have published accounts ot Professor
Anhon's Judgement on the paper Submitted to
him, which lac himself states to be s.perfeetir
false" The Morn9n version of the interview
irepl esenis Dr. AnthoG 'fas having been unable
10 decypher the characters correctly, but as
lhaYiug presumed that, il the original records
icould be brought, he eovid assist in translating
them" On this statement beiag made. Dr.
Anthon described the document submitted to
hin as having been sort of pot poarri Of an
Gent marks and alPhnbets lit had evidently
been prepared by some person who had before
j him book containing various alphabets;
Greek and Hebrew letters, crosses ana four
ishes, Roman letters, inverted or placed sIde-
ways, were arranged iii perpendicular columns,
and the whole ended in a rude delineation of a
circle, divided into various compartments, deck
ed with numerous strange marks, aud evidently
copied after the Mexican Calendar given by
! Humboldt, but copied in such way as not To
betray the source whence it was derived -
This account disposes Of the statement thatthe
Echaraoters were Egyptian, while the very jun
lble of the signs OF different notions, latiruaoes
aaud ages, proves that the inposter was def
.eient both in tact and knowledge. The scheme
Iseems 10 have been, at all events, in nsfto
when Smith communicated with Harris. but
satisfactory clue TO the fabrication il lost in
our ignorance of the time and the cireum-
stances under which Smith and Redon came
bge'her. IL must have been subseuuent to
that event that tie "tranSlatiou." by means of
tie magic Urim and Thumnin, was begun
This work Smith is represented as having IN
bored at steadily, assisted by Oliver Uowdrey.
uptila volume was produced coata1iuu a.
mucI matter as the Old Testament, written in
the Biblical style, and containing, as Smith
sad the Angel had informed him, history of
The lost tribes in their pilgrimag, to and in
America With copious doetrinaf and prophetic
Commentaries and revelations.
The devotion of Harris 20 the inposter se-
cured a fund sufficient for defraying the cost of
printing the pretended revelation, and the sect
| began slowly to increase. The doctrines Of
Smith we're not at frst very clearly deSns,!: l.
isprobahle that neither he nor Rigdon had de-
tenined what should be their precise charac-
ter; but like their early contemporary, the
pr'phet Matthias, tthe, interesting history Of
whose career was published in New York sew
eral years ago by the late Colonel Stone.1 tieF
hai no hesitation IN deciding on one cardinal
| pont, that the revelations made TO Smith Mt arv
tine should be received with rnauestiooing
and implicit faith, and the earliest of these rev
elalions contemplated liberal provision for all
theproPhet's personal necessities Thus, in
February, 1881, it was revealed to the disei-
ples that they should Immediately build the
| prophet house; on another occasion it was
enjSined that, if they had any regard for their
own souls, the sooner they provided him with
food and raiment, and everything he needed,
the better it would be for them; and 10 third
revelation, Joseph was informed that .she was
not to labor for his living" All these revela-
tions were received, and though the imposter
seemed to intelligent men little better chan a
buffoon, bis followers soon learned to regard
him as almost deserving of alteration, aud he
began to orevel in whatever luxury and proAi-
gacy was agreeable to his vulgar taste and am
bitlon. AS in the case Of the scarcely more
respectable pretender, Andrew jackson Davis,
! II was asserted that his original want Of culti-
| walton precluded the notion of his having BY