Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-12-20

xvo,,Ia = ~OSNiAs' Aitef prayer smith
Muulu SIT on one side Of table and the
amsnuenses, Ia turn as they became
.n9u' on the other. Those present and
, .ot actlYely engaged in the work seated
49,, Ule lnseiVes around the room, and then the
WorA began. After aftiXing the magical
sspectacies to his eyes, Smith would
sac The plates and translate the
la "cters one at time. The
glaFeh characters would appear in
succession TO the seer. and directly under
l1e character, when viewed through the
glasses, would be the translation in Eng
llSn' sometimes the character would be
single word, and frequently an entire
sentence. In translatng tie characters
ON IN, who was illiterate and but little
Vefsed In Biblical lore, was Outlines COM
peIied 10 spell the words out not knowing
the correct pronunciation, and Mr.. Whit
iner recalls the fact that at that time
smith did not even know that Jerusalem
was walled city. COwdery, however,
being a school teacher, rendered invaI-
uaoie aid in pronOunciug hard words and
giving their proper definition.
MORE MIRACULOUS DEvRLO PMENTs.
A miracle is related by Mr.. Whitmer
as occurring while the translation was in
progress. 1t seems that Smith, who was
puned up with his great Importance as a
cohhdenuaI secretary 10 the Lord, dis
pleased the Master by entering into some
cafnal confab IN relation to tla work For
tnls oHense he WAS punished by having
tne celestial visitant, who first commits.
sioued Min to inaugurate the work, sud
denly appear and carp off the plates and
spectaces. In this connection it might
also be mentioned that Martin Harris,
one OF the witnesses to the translation,
farmer in the same county and man of
simple mind and taee, was sent by Smith
with copy Of the characters to Prof.
Charles Anthem, a professor OF languages
IN Columbia College and author of sever
al well known works, who pronounced
the language inscribed on the plates Re-
formed Egyptian.
About this time Harris, inspired by GU
riosIty and citation, took sixteen Of the
golden tablets home to show his wife,
VINO is alleged to have stolen them from a
bureau drawer and peddled them among
ner friends. For this o1fense Harris was
severely reprimanded by the Lord,
through Smith, but the angel afterwards
recovered the plates and restored them.
Smiths Otfense of tattling the secrets of
the work among his neighbors was less
readily condOned, and for long time the
work was suspended. the angel being in
possession Of the plates and spectacies.
| Finally, when Smith mad fully repented
The plates, however, were not returned,
but instead, Smith was given by the an
gel UrIm and Thummim OF another pat
tern, ii being shaped in oval or kidney
form. This seer's stone, he was instructed
to place in his hat, and on covering his
face with the hat the character and trans
| lation would appear on the stone.
This worked just as satisfactorily as the
old method, but at no time thereafter was
fho Tr,fs tod
precious plates. However, the entire por-
tion of the golden volume, which the angel
said might be translated, was reduced by
| the nimble amanuenses to readable manu-
script. The other installment was with
held until the Lord could discover what
effect the first mad on the GentiIes. That
He was not pleased with the result is
manifested by the fact that the sealed
portion has not yet been delivered to the
world.
THE ANGEL IN THE PASTURE.
After the translation was completed
Smith informed COwdery, Whitmer and
| Harris that the Lord had instructed him
| that the time was at hand when they
| should testify to all nations, tongues and
| people concerning this work. These four
| Apostles of the Lord, as they were desig-
mated, accordingly assembled in pas
ture, cleared of underbrush, at a point
equally distant between two public high
WAYS. About the MONDAY hour they
were seated on a log waiting for the
promised manifestations, having previ-
ously knelt in prayer. All at once the
! heavens seemed to open and there appear
/ ed a dazzling shaft Of light, beside which
! the light ofthe sun appeared dim. Through
! this cleft in the sky, which seemed TO
lead way up to the pearly gates beyond,
| appeared an angel, disguised as man,
| bearing the semblance of a table. The
angel descended to the earth, landing
nearly at their feet. On this table were
! the plates of gold from which they had
ust translated the Book of Mormon, and
| the plates of brass on which were in
| scribed the commandments written by
Moses, and which had been taken from
Jerusalem by Nephi 800 years before
Christ and afterwards transported to
America. The four Apostles were then
commanded to 20 forth among men and
preach religion as set down in the Book
of Mormon.
After this wonderful manifestation
Martin Harris mOrtgaged his farm for
| 81 800 IN order to obtain funds for print
| ing the Book of Mormon, and AL four set
about founding a church, which was
! called the Church of Christ, as COM
manded in the Book OF Mormon. The
| four Apostles began preaching, and were
SO successful in securing converts to the
new religion that church was organized
| ApriI g. 1880. The Book of Mormon was
! also given to the world that year. Con-
| corning the converts, Mr. WhItmer says
that among the first adherents to embrace
the new faith were many of the most in
tellectual and refined men ard women in
| that locality, and the ranks were not
recruited from the ignorant and sensuous
| classes like the MormOns OF Utah. The
| year following the organization OF the
| church the disciples moved to Ohio, where
they had been most successful in prose-
! living. aud a temple was erected NJ kirt-
| land. 1t was at this place that Sidney
RiQdon and Brigham Young Joined the
| church. and IL was here that the first dis
sensions occurred.
Concerning Sidney Rigdon, who was
said to have stolen the manuscript OF the
! Book OF Mormon, which, it was alleged,
had been written by a Presbyterian
preacher named Solomon Spauldtng, and
originally intended as a romance, Mr..
Whitmer ASSERTS that nothing could have
been more improbable, as neither Smith,
himself. or the other disciples ever knew
RigdOn until they moved to OHIO.
HE KEPT THE RECORDS.
The original manuscript from which the
Book OF Mormon was printed Is still IN
Mr.. Whitmer's possession and most OF 1t
Ia in the handwriting Of bis brother Chris
tian and his brOther-in-law. Oliver Cow
derv. Mr.. Whitmer also has an exhaus-