The record-union., 1896-03-16
MORMON PROPHECY.
The History Of the Golden Tablets Un
earthed in New York.

A&0 AASSOAy III L1t6 OOluSA AaOAOtS CA-
earthed In New York.
In a discourse at Pythian Castle last
evening to the I4atter-day Saints on the
subject, The Golden Plates" the
speaker said:
Near Manchester, Ontario County,
n. Y, is hill which by the ancient in
habitants of America was called Gu
morah. From this hill, on the 23d day
of September, 1927, the plates under
consideration were taken. They had
the appearance of gold. The leaves
We're thinner than common tin and upon
them were engraven characters Of
ancient workmanship, which were
pronounced by Professors An
thon and Mitchell of New York
to be of Egyptian origin. The
plates were bound together by three
rings running through the back, on
which they turned, as the leaves of a
book. The collection was six inches in
thickness and about seven in width, by
eight in length.
'AThe contents of the plates were his
torical. doctrinal and prophetical in
their nature About 600 B. c., when
Isaiah, jeremiah and others were fore
telling the destruction of Jerusalem,
small colony left the great city, carry
ing with them records which prove
them to be descendants Of the Joseph
who was sold into Egypt. On leaving
the city they travelled till they reached
the Arabian Sea. There vessels were
built, by means of which they were
transported to the American Continent
Or this choice land they grew rapidly
and soon became a prosperous colony,
and as the centuries passed they
peopled this whole continent with ma
tions of civilized people.
'On coming from Jerusalem they
brought with them records engraven
upon plates of brass. Taking pattern
after these they made other plates
soon after their arrival, on which they
recorder their history, both secular
and ecclesiastical. Being of Israelitish
origin, their religion was similar to that
of their Oriental ancestors. They OBJ
served the Law of Noses built tenn
pies, etc. They had prophets among
them, who foretold the coming of the
Messiah, and wrote many other pre-
dictionS concerning events to trans
pire, even down to the last days.
THE Savior, speaking to his disciples,
said: Other sheep have I which are
not Of this fold This referred to those
on this continent, whom He afterward
visited, and to whom He also taught
His gospel, and among whom He es-
tablished His church. BY the precepts
OF the gospel those ancient Americans
lived, and upon the pages Of their re-
Hgfous history they recorded its princi-
pies. BY the Holy Spirit-the spirit of
prophecy-they foresaw the future and
recorded it as a warning to generations
to come.
These were needed and the gospel
observed for three centuries Civiliza-
tion and religion reached their climax;
reactions took place; the nations were
reduced to barbarity and sin; interne-
cine wars followed, from the effects of
which only the more dark and degrad-
ed survived. The last faithful man
wrote history of the wars and sealed
UP the records 421 A. D. He excavated
a place in the side of the hill Cumorah,
New York, cemented in the excavation
a stone box, and in it placed the history
of his people for 1000 years past. He
covered the box with a fiat stone, and
with the earth removed from the exca-
walton.
For centuries the records of a once
enlightened people lay entombed in
hill over which roamed the savage and
benighted descendants of that people
Civilized man came once more from
over the many waters To him was
revealed the stone box, which the CEN
turies had partially uncovered by
means of water erosion. The plates
were taken from their long hiding place
and their contents translated into the
English language. From them we de-
rive the only true account of the origin
and history of the civilized Americans
OF the centuries past, and from which
has sprung the savage American of
the present. The translated record is
called the Book of Mormon