The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-24

facts, and Claimed that Rigdon had
copied her husbands manuscript. II
has been shown that after Rigdon got
the copy of Spsuldings book. he quit
ted the printing Office and began to
preach the doctrine of the book. In
1929 he became associated with Smith
and the contention is that he gave him
the manuscript from which he read off
the pretended translation of the in
scription on the gold plates, with such
changes and additions as suited his
purposes. The Spalding manuscript
and the printed Book of Mormon were
compared, and their substantial identi-
ty established. though il is not denied
that there are discrepancies. All this
was fully threshed out b. public dis
cussiOn sixty-five years ago. Odd
copies of newspapers and magazines of
that period and some years later con-
tain excellent accounts of the testi-
mony given. The Mormons themselves
can hardly deny that Rigdon was ca
pable Of such fraud, for which he in
sisted on being chosen to succeed Smith
he was cut off from the communion as
Contumacious, and delivered to the
devil for a thousand years"
The Book of Mormon is written in
attempted imitation of the style of the
English translation of the Bible, and
consists Of sixteen books. It processes
TO tell Of the migration of Lehi and
certain other Jews and some Ishmae-
lites about 600 years before Christ, in
search Of a promised land. and states
that they reached America after d
long journey. The fortunes of this
colony are traced for many centuries.
After his crucifiXion Christ is said to
have appeared to them. and remained
forty days, thus instituting Christian
lily IN America. But in the year 1854
the Christians made their last stand on
the hill Cumorah. in Western New
York, and were practically annihilated,
the slain numbering 100000. One of
the survivors, Moroni. sealed up the
golden plates and hid them in the EARTH
where Smith says he afterward found
them.
The distinguished scholar. Charles
Anthem, long professor of ancient Ian
guages in Columbia College, New York,
was quoted as having said that the in
scriptions on the plates which Smith
pretended to have found were written
in Egyption hieroglyphics. AS this
would have implied a degree of culture
superior to that possessed by any of
the Mormons. the object of circulating
such a report is plain enough. Prof.
Anthem wrote a letter in which he said
that transcript on paper of the char
acters on the plates had been submit
ted to him. This paper" said Prof.
Anthem, was a singular scroll. 1t
consisted of AL kinds of crooked char
acters, disposed in columns, which had
evidently been prepared by some per-
son who had before him at the time
a book containing various alphabets.
Greek and Hebrew letters, crosses and
fiourishes, Roman letters. inverted or
placed in perpendicular columns, and
the whole ended in a rude delineation
of a circle. divided into various COM
partments. decked with various strange
marks and evidently copied after the
Mexican calendar given by Humboldt,
but copied in such a way as not to be-
tray the source from which it was de-
rived"
Such is the origin of the Book of
Mormon. 1t was based upon a pious
romance written by Spaulding, but it
was too dull to find a publisher on its
merits. Whether it is the Mormon BIZ
BILE or not, the church was founded on
the pretended revelation made to
Smith, and Prof. Anthem fully exposed
the crude manner in which these plates
were prepared to deceive the ignorant.