The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1858-01-20
The Oriyin Of Mormoni.m

reiered to.-CurOtthd L ms.
The Origin Of Mormonism.
lhe i"iIowing account of The origin Of |
the Mormon religion. which we.copy from |
the Journal of Commerce., will be read
Nth especial interest, l., the present time:
MoRMoSlsM.-As tins drsers,ing COM
pound OF sensuaEttr, .e,espotism and iero-
c'ous"oss Is CONTINUALLY thrustng itself
nPou pubic attention, it may interest
SOME OF our xeaders to recall the crcum.
stances IN which it origiraled. The ca.
itnhy has ccme upon us as one of the
results ot that excessive freedom. in the
exercise Of which we throw open the yates
OF our empire to all manner OF emyran.s
from the old world; for this anomalous
population is chiefly recruited from Eu
rope. Rev. Solomon SpauIding, grad
uate of Dartmouth College, was dstn.
gulShed for lively imagination and
love Of history. lie lived in a bart of
Ohio, ahonnding with mounds aud the
RUNS OF old forts, and tcuk much intere.,
IN the sIa'y Of these antiquities 10 pe
guile his hours Of retirement, he conceived
The idea Of giving historical sketch of
the lost race, about which there WAS so
much mystery. 1t w"s Of course u fan
cituI undertaking, giving wide scope for
The exercise Of imagination, and tempting
him to indulge in An antique styIe While
describing ancicnt things. The Old Tes
tn"ent containing the in"st ancient books
IN the world, he found il convenient to
initiate it's style. lie therefore launched
out at will into the region of free histnr
Cal ROMANCE. This was in 1912. HIS
ne'Shbors. hearing OF the progress of his
curious work, would come to his house. (
and hear portions of it Rad 1t claimed
to have been written 10y one of the lost
nations, TO have been recovered from the
earth. AMI was chriStened with the title
OF Manuscript Found" The self anu.
sing gentleman pretended to be decipher
'ng the mysteries Of the d.interrel man
u,cr'Pt, and regularly reported progress to
his neghbors. From the classics aud
from ancient history he introduced many
nnc"uth and unaccustomed names. winch
awakened curiosity.
M. SpauI'lng removed to Pit,sturp.
and found II friend in the person of an cd.
it"r-to whom he showed his manuscript. |
The editor was pleased, borrowed it, kept |
1t, and offered to print it, it Mr.. S. would |
make out a suitable title page. He pro-
posed to max" it source Of profit. Mr..
). declined any such use Of it. Sydney
Ryd"n. who has since figured so largely
among the Mornons, was then employed
III the editors printing office; he inspect
ed The manuscript and had an opportu
nifty 20 copy it. 1t was returned To the
author, who d;ed in 1916. But the an
huencs lie had unwiIt'nyI, originated, did
not die with him. There Is no douL, that
R,gdon took a copy Of the whole or paris
OF the manuscript. lie appeared in Pal
myra, Ne" York, in 1928, working at his
trade. About this tine there began to |
be talk If certain IN, sterious "pIates" |
being tou"d in that region. They had
bee discovered, it WAS said, hy Joseph |
smith, Jr., in the bank Of the Ere Canal. |
near Palmyra. Here Smith aud Rjy,lon
consp;red to start the fraud. Smith was |
man of low cunning, vulgar and sensual |
IN his habits. fitting accompIice for Rig
don. both being ready to execute any |
talsehood. Joe WAS to lie set M AS a |
leader. and to assume the title of Prophet. |
1t was given out that Joe was engaged
IN translaling the plates. This was in
1929. Some followers were Obtained, |
ch'rfy the ignorant and vicious, and the |
dishonest who had no character to lose.
They called themselves the Lntter Dav
SAINTS, and organized AT Manchester under
Joe smith, who issued AN edition of 200 |
copies of the "Book of Mormon" nj
Palmyra. Some three or four seemingly
respectable men Of that region Joined |
ih' M, which attracted more attention.
Smith and his followers selected Kirkland. |
OHIO, as their "City Of Refuge" hv in
sp'ralion, rs the blasphemer said-the |
Lord intending and directing the temple |
should he built there. Two hundred com. |
posed the first settlement. They called |
their book the "Golden Bible" Smith
founded bogus bank, which of course
failed, and he found it necessary to move
farther Vest. Thither has been the dis
astrops progress Of these miserable impos
tiers, whose subsequent history is known
10 the world. Ii would ee,D rs I there
was no form Of folly or irnpety which
some human beings will not embrace |
PoIygamy. hlaspbamy. rebellion, murder,
are the natural fruits OF this wretched con- |
sp'racy, which is troubling the whole
land. Smith was 0vertaken with the
judgments "f God, and died miserable
death, fonng is probably destined to a
similar end.