[ 3 ]

ORIGIN  OF  THIS  CANARD.

[ 4 ]

THE  MANUSCRIPT  FOUND  COMES  TO  LIGHT.

[ 5 ]

DUBIOUS  BUT  "WILLING"  WITNESSES.

[ 6 ]

[ 7 ]

MORE  FROM  PRESIDENT  FAIRCHILD.

[ 8 ]

NO  MANUSCRIPT  BY  SPALDING  COULD  SERVE  AS
A  BASIS  FOR  THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON.

[ 9 ]

MEN  WHO  HAVE  ABANDONED  THE  SPALDING  THEORY.

[ 10 ]

[ 11 ]

D. H.  BAYS  ON  THE  IMAGINARY  SECOND  MANUSCRIPT.

[12 ]

A  SPIDER'S  WEB  OF  SUPPOSITIONS.

[ 15 ]

REQUIESCAT  IN  PACE.

THE HISTORY of the church begins with the visit of an angel to a young man named Joseph Smith. The angel came to him while he was out in the woods, praying aloud. He was all alone when he began to pray, and he felt a little strange praying aloud in the quiet forest. He was used to being alone anywhere, but now he wanted the Lord to tell him which church he should join, for there were many churches. It was morning, the day beautiful and clear, and early in the spring of 1820.

After he began praying he felt very much discouraged, but he kept trying to pray, and just when he felt that there was no use trying to do anything more, he saw in vision over his head, a light brighter than the sun. This light came down around him. The sadness and trouble left him. He saw two persons standing in the air. One of them spoke to him. Then the boy Joseph asked which of all the churches was right, and wanted to know which he should join.

The angel told him to join none of them. Their creeds (the ways they believed) were wrong. The

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angel said many other things to this young boy, then went away.

A few days after this, Joseph told a minister of one of the churches about the vision, but the minister did not believe him and said that it came from the Devil. He said angels did come to the earth a long time ago, but they would not do so any more. The other people joined with the minister and made it a matter of faith. They even persecuted this boy of fourteen because he told them he had seen a vision. But Joseph would not join any of the churches. For nearly three years he kept at his work. He often prayed the Lord to keep him from doing wrong. On the twenty-first day of September, 1823, after he had retired to his bed, he began to pray, and what happened to him at that time he tells in the following words:

"While I was thus in the act of calling upon God I discovered a light appearing in the room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor. He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant; his hands were naked, and his arms also a little above the wrist. So also were his feet naked, as were his legs a little above the ankles:

1823]                                 YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY                                7

His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open so that I could see into his bosom. Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person. When I first looked upon him I was afraid, but the fear soon left me. He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me.... That God had a work for me to do, and that my name should be had for good and evil, among all nations, kindreds, and tongues; or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people. He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fullness of the everlasting gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants. Also that there were two stones in silver bows, and these stones fastened to a breastplate constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim, deposited with the plates, and the possession and use of these stones was what constituted seers in ancient or former times, and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book."

8                                 YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY                                [1823

The angel told him many other things, saying that when he got the plates he should show them to no one except those to whom he was commanded to show them. Then Joseph saw in vision the place where the plates were hidden, and it was so plain that he knew the place when he did afterward visit it. Then he tells his in his story of the vision:

"I saw the light in the room begin to gather immediately around the person of him who had been speaking to me, and it continued to do so until the room was again left dark except just around him, when instantly I saw as it were a conduit open right up into heaven, and he ascended up till he entirely disappeared and the room was left as it had been before this heavenly light had made its appearance."

1823]                                 YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY                                9



CHAPTER 2.

The Hill Where the Wonderful Things Were Hidden.

Three times that night in September the angel told Joseph these things, and, besides, gave him a warning. His people were poor, but the gold plates would be very valuable. The angel told Joseph he must not try to get rich with these things, but he should use them for the glory of God and the making of people better. It was nearly morning when the angel went away the third time. Joseph arose and went into the field with his fathers and brothers. He did not seem to feel so strong as usual and his father sent him to the house. He stopped on the way, and while lying on the ground he heard some one calling his name. He looked up and saw the same messenger, surrounded by light as before. The angel told him all the things he had told him the night before, in just the same way. Then he commanded him to go tell his father of the visions, and all of the story.

Joseph went back to the field and told his father everything that had happened. The father was

10                                 YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY                                [1823

named Joseph Smith, too. He was a kind and intelligent man. He had not joined any of the churches, but he was a good man. He listened to the boy's story. Then he said that he believed it was from God, and told Joseph to go do as he had been commanded. Joseph left the field and went to the place where the angel had told him the plates were hidden. He knew the place as soon as he saw it, because the vision had been very plain, and it was only two and one half miles from his home. The country was a land of many beautiful hills, and was very much admired by travelers; the angel must tell it very plainly; but he had an advantage, for this hill is very peculiar in its shape. It was the highest of the hills near to the village of Manchester, Ontario County, New York. On the west side of the hill, near to the top, under a stone, lay the plates in a stone box. The middle of the stone

1825]                                 YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY                                11

covering the box was above the ground, but the edges were under the soil. Joseph removed the soil from the edge of the stone, and with a lever lifted the stone and looked into the box. There were the things just as the angel had told him. They were in a box made of stones fastened together with cement. He was told by the angel that he could not take the things out of the box. It was not time for them to be brought out. They must remain there for four years more. The angel said he would meet him there in September every year until the time came, and as the years went by, and the Septembers came with their sunny days and cool, still nights, Joseph met the angel as commanded, and was taught many things.

In October, 1825, Joseph went to work for a man named Stoal, who lived in Chenango County, New York. This man was trying to find an old silver mine that he had heard about. He hired men to dig for the silver mine. But the old man finally gave up the search. This was the only time Joseph Smith ever dug for silver or gold. But while working for Mr. Stoal he discovered something of far greater worth; he found the lady whom he afterward married.

He found a boarding place at the home of Isaac Hale and fell in love with his daughter Emma, a darkeyed, dark-haired, tall, young lady. They were married at the home of Squire Tarbell, in South Bainbridge, Chenango County, New York, now called

12                                 YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY                                [1823

(pages 12-53 not yet transcribed)

54                                 YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY                                [1830



CHAPTER 13.

The Mission to the West.



The  village  of  Kirtland  on  the  flats.

THE ELDERS at once made ready to go west. Starting in October, they traveled through the villages and country, telling the people by their doors or firesides about the Book of Mormon and the church. They preached wherever possible. They came to Kirtland, a village in northeastern Ohio. This part of the United States was called the West at that time.

Among those who joined the church was Sidney Rigdon, who became a very important man in the church. When young Rigdon was twenty-six years of age, he had preached for the Regular Baptists, and afterwards preached for the First Baptist Church of Pittsburg. He was a brilliant and stirring speaker. His church was always well filled with interested listeners. But he did not find in those church creeds or doctrines the things Jesus taught in the New Testament. He stopped preaching and left his church, where he might have made himself rich and famous; but he was after truth.

1830]                               YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY                               55

While he was so popular as a preacher, there came to him the missionaries, Parley Pratt, his friend, with Ziba Peterson, Oliver Cowdery, and Peter Whitmer. They told the story of the Book of Mormon, and that the Lord had raised up a prophet and restored the priesthood as it was in the time of Christ.

Elder Pratt had been a preacher in the same church with Sidney Rigdon, and he was on a mission for that church when he found Joseph Smith and the church. He was so pleased with his new faith that he made this call on his old friends to tell them the good news and great things the Lord was doing. So the very first house at which they called was Sidney Rigdon's. They showed the Book of Mormon. Elder Rigdon objected to their statement that the Book of Mormon was a revelation from God. He was like many people to-day who think that there is no inspiration from God in any book but the Bible. He was kind and hospitable and advised his friends to "prove all things," and examine the book. He himself read the book, praying for light, and thinking about the things he read. In about two weeks, he was sure the book was true, and it was revealed to him from Jesus Christ. He told his wife and she agreed with him, and they were baptized November 14, 1830.

There were about one hundred and twenty-seven who had joined the church here, so they made a little branch in that part of Ohio, after ordaining Sidney

56                               YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY                               [1830

1830]                               YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY                               57

Rigdon, Isaac Morley, John Murdock, Lyman Wight, Edward Partridge, and many others to the ministry

The missionaries, bound for the Lamanites and western Missouri, went on their way, but they had one more in their party now. They had found a doctor, whose name was Frederick G. Williams, with a good practice in this land, and told him their story and their mission. He was soon ready, baptized, and went with them as they left for the land of the Lamanites. Joseph Smith says that he was full of love and kindness; was not a man of many words, but very winning in his ways; honest and upright, but not having much confidence in himself.

Sidney Rigdon had never seen Joseph Smith, and had been a very busy minister for the greater part of his life.

58                                 YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY                                [1830



CHAPTER 14.

Something More about the Book of Mormon.

IT is well to remember that the story written from the plates was a simple, plain story of the people who left the Old World, where Jerusalem was built, and came to this New World. It told them how they traveled, of their boats and cities and battles. It told of their church and how Jesus visited the people in this land after his resurrection; how the people became wicked Indians; and story after story written by different writers was engraven, cut in the gold or brass plates until there were many of the stories, some of them bound together. A man named Moroni was the last of the good people to write, and he put the plates in the box, as we have told you. -- hiding them in the earth until the time came. Then he came to tell the boy at Manchester, New York, about them. And at times he took the plates and kept them from the others, during the months after they were first given to the young man. When the time came, he showed them to the three witnesses, and when the story was written, he took them away again -- no man can tell where.

To men who were willing to read the book and think about it with fairness, the story bore its own testimony, and there were many strong-minded, fair-minded men joined this church, and carried their Book

1830]                               YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY                               59

of Mormon to others. It had many names. It was called the Record -- "The Stick (or book) of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim"; "The History of the Ancient Americans;" but the name, Book of Mormon, given it by the angel Moroni, was the real name, and the best for it

Many people failed to consider the power of God in the translating of the book from the strange writing. They said an ignorant boy could not do such a thing. "He has stolen it from some place." Others did not read it, but pretended they knew about it, and said it was a silly fable. Others claimed that Joseph Smith just made up the story to get money and fool the people. Among these stories was "The Story of the Manuscript Found."

This was a little story written by a man named Solomon Spalding, who it was claimed was educated, who had been a minister, but because of ill health, could not work in the ministry. To amuse himself, he wrote a story and read it to his friends. It was written at New Salem, Ohio, in 1812. The man died in Amity, Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1816. His wife carefully kept the story, still unprinted. She had it in this condition in 1834. The Book of Mormon went to the printer in 1820, and was all printed by March, 1830. Yet this story was believed about it: that Sidney Rigdon secured this Spalding Story, and Joseph Smith read it and fixed up the story into the Book of

60                               YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY                               [1830

Mormon. In fact, Sidney Rigdon never had anything to do with Joseph Smith until December, 1830, and then the Book of Mormon was being read by many people. Parley Pratt first showed the Book of Mormon to Sidney Rigdon, and he did not know of it until April 6, 1830. Oliver Cowdery stated in 1848:

:I wrote, with my own pen the entire Book of Mormon (save a few pages), as it fell from the lips of the Prophet Joseph Smith, as he translated it by the gift and power of God... I beheld with my eyes and handled with my hands the gold plates from which it was translated... That book is true. Sidney Rigdon did not write it. Mr. Spalding did not write it. I wrote it myself as it fell from the lips of the Prophet."

And Sidney Rigdon himself denies writing it in these words:

"In your paper of the 18th instant, I see a letter signed by somebody calling herself Matilda Davison, pretending to give the origin of Mormonism, as she is pleased to call it, by relating a moonshine story about a certain Solomon Spalding, a creature with the knowledge of whose earthly existence, I am entirely indebted to this production; for surely, until Doctor Philastus Hurlburt informed me that such a being lived, at some former period, I had not the most distant knowledge of his existence... It is only necessary to say, in relation to the whole story about Spalding's writings being in the hands of Mr. Patterson,

1830]                               YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY                               61

who was in Pittsburg, and who is said to have kept a printing office, and my saying that I was concerned in said office, &c. &c. is the most base of lies, without even the shadow of truth."

The county and state records of those years, from 1826, shows where Sidney Rigdon was and what doing, for he was a popular minister and performed the marriage ceremony for many people; and prior to that time his life was the quiet life of a young student and preacher.

We see in the story of Elder Rigdon's life nothing to lead us to believe that he was deceitful or in any way insincere. Anyone reading the Manuscript Found and then reading the Book of Mormon will find nothing in the one at all like the other, in spirit or letter. It has been many years since this story was told. The story by the Salem minister is almost unknown. The Book of Mormon is published by thousands in many languages, and men are discovering the cities town that it tells about. Many, many of them are found buried and ruined. Every year, some discovery is made that proves the truth of the Book of Mormon story. Parley Pratt, Oliver Cowdery, Ziba Peterson, and Peter Whitmer left two of this Book of Mormon with the Indians near Buffalo, New York, and told them that it was the record of their forefathers. The Indians received them kindly, and

62                               YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY                               [1830

some of them being able to read, accepted the books. These were the first Indians to read this history of the Indians, and their beginning in America.

MANUSCRIPT  OF  SOLOMON  SPALDING

Early opponents of the church made the claim that a manuscript of Solomon Spalding was the origin of the Book of Mormon. No manuscript of Mr. Spalding was produced, but various witnesses testified to having heard such a manuscript read.

But in 1884 Professor James H. Fairchild was in Honolulu, where Mr. L. L. Rice discovered a manuscript among the printed matter he had purchased from E. D. Howe about 1840. Its history is shown by the following letter written by L. L. Rice and already published as an introduction to the "Manuscript Found."
 

HONOLULU, Sandwich Islands, March 28th, 1885.        

MR. JOSEPH SMITH:
The Spaulding Manuscript in my possession came into my hands in this wise. In 1839-40 my partner and myself bought of E. D. Howe the Painesville Telegraph, published at Painesville, Ohio. The transfer of the printing department, types, press, etc., was accompanied with a large collection of books, manuscripts, etc., this manuscript of Spaulding among the rest. So, you see, it has been in my possession over forty years. But I never examined it, or knew the character of it, until some six or eight months since. The wrapper was marked, "Manuscript Story -- Conneaut Creek." The wonder is, that in some of my movements, I did not destroy or burn it with a large amount of rubbish that had accumulated from time to time.

It happened that President Fairchild was here on a visit, at the time I discovered the contents of it, and it was examined by him and others with much curiosity. Since President Fairchild published the fact of its existence in my possession, I have had applications for it from half a dozen sources, each applicant seeming to think that he or she was entitled to it. Mr. Howe says when he was getting up a book to expose Mormonism as a fraud at an early day, when the Mormons had their headquarters at Kirtland, he obtained it from some source, and it was inadvertently transferred with the other effects of his printing office. A. B. Deming, of Painesville, who is also getting up some kind of a book I believe on Mormonism, wants me to send it to him. Mrs. Dickinson, of Boston, claiming to be a relative of Spaulding, and who is getting up a book to show that he was the real author of the Book of Mormon, wants it. She thinks, at least, it should be sent to Spaulding's daughter, a Mrs. Somebody -- but she does not inform me where she lives. Deming

170                                           JOURNAL  OF  HISTORY                                          

says that Howe borrowed it when he was getting up his book, and did not return it, as he should have done, etc.

This Manuscript does not purport to be "A story of the Indians formerly occupying this continent;" but is a history of the wars between the Indians of Ohio and Kentucky, and their progress in civilization, etc. It is certain that this Manuscript is not the origin of the Mormon Bible, whatever some other manuscripts may have been. The only similarity between them, is, in the manner in which each purports to have been found -- one in a cave on Conneaut Creek -- the other in a hill in Ontario county, New York. There is no identity of names, of persons, or places; and there is no similarity of style between them. As I told Mr. Deming, I should as soon think the Book of Revelations was written by the author of Don Quixote, as that the writer of this Manuscript was the author of the "Book of Mormon." Deming says Spaulding made three copies of "Manuscript Found," one of which Sidney Rigdon stole from a printing office in Pittsburg. You can possibly tell better than I can, what ground there is for such an allegation.

As to this Manuscript, I can not see that it can be of any use to anybody, except the Mormons, to show that it is not the original of the Mormon Bible. But that would not settle the claim that some other manuscript of Spaulding was the original of it. I propose to hold it in my own hands for a while, to see if it can not be put to some good use. Deming and Howe inform me that its existence is exciting great interest in that region. I am under a tacit, but not a positive pledge to President Fairchild, to deposit it eventually in the Library of Oberlin College. I shall be free from that pledge, when I see an opportunity to put it to a better use.

Yours, &c.,                
L. L. RICE.      

P. S. Upon reflection, since writing the foregoing, I am of the opinion that no one who reads this Manuscript will give credit to the story that Solomon Spaulding was in any wise the author of the Book of Mormon. It is unlikely that any one who wrote so elaborate a work as the Mormon Bible, would spend his time in getting up so shallow a story as this, which at best is but a feeble imitation of the other. Finally I am more than half convinced that this is his only writing of the sort, and that any pretense that Spaulding was in any sense the author of the other, is a sheer fabrication. It was easy for any body who may have seen this, or heard anything of its contents. to get up the story that they were identical.

L. L. R.      

In a later letter, dated May 18 [sic], 1885, Mr. Rice wrote as follows:

HONOLULU, Sandwich Islands,        
May 14th, 1885.    

MR. JOSEPH SMITH,

Dear Sir: I am greatly obliged to you for the information concerning Mormonism, in your letters of April 30 and May 2. As I am in

                            MANUSCRIPT  OF  SOLOMON  SPALDING                             171

no sense a Mormonite, of course it is a matter of curiosity, mainly, that I am interested in the history of Mormonism.

Two things are true concerning this manuscript in my possession: First, it is a genuine writing of Solomon Spaulding; and second. it is not the original of the Book of Mormon.

My opinion is, from all I have seen and learned, that this is the only writing of Spaulding, and there is no foundation for the statement of Deming and others, that Spaulding made another story, more elaborate, of which several copies were written, one of which Rigdon stole from a printing office in Pittsburgh, etc. Of course I can not be as certain of this, as of the other two points. One theory is, that Rigdon, or some one else, saw this manuscript, or heard it read, and from the hints it conveyed, got up the other and more elaborate writing on which the Book of Mormon was founded. Take that for what it is worth. It don't seem to me very likely.     Very respectfully, yours,
                                           L. L. RICE.  

The following month, under date of June 12, 1885, he transferred the manuscript to President J. H. Fairchild, of Oberlin College, Ohio, where it is still to be found. President Fairchild had an exact copy made which was published by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1885.

Recently our attention was called to the following article published as tract number 77 by the Western Reserve Historical Society of Cleveland, Ohio. It was a paper read by President James H. Fairchild before the Northern Ohio and Western Reserve Historical Society, March 4, 1886. It has already been republished in the Saints' Herald for August 21, 1918, volume 65, page 818, but it is of sufficient importance to justify republication.

To the best of my information and belief, this manuscript is still in the museum at Oberlin College, and later development did not cause a modification of President Fairchild's opinion as here expressed. -- EDITOR.

MANUSCRIPT  OF  SOLOMON  SPALDING  AND
THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON

The accepted theory of the origin of the "Book of Mormon" connects it with a manuscript written by Solomon Spaulding, purporting to set forth the origin and civilization of the American Indians, and to account

172                                           JOURNAL  OF  HISTORY                                          

for the ancient mounds and earthworks and other remains of the ancient inhabitants which are scattered over the land.

The first publication of this idea seems to have been made by the late E. D. Howe, of Painesville, in a volume published by himself at Painesville in 1834, and entitled Mormonism Unveiled. He, with an associate, D. P. Hurlbut, of Conneaut, seems to have been the first to gather evidence on the subject from original sources; and most later writers on Mormonism have depended essentially upon the material furnished by him. The theory of the connection of the "Book of Mormon" with Spaulding's manuscript has become traditional, and has found its way into all anti-Mormon literature and into the general cyclopedias, such as the Britannica, Chambers', Appleton's, McClintock and Strong's, and probably others. Professor George P. Fisher, in his work on general history, just published, adopts the theory.

The question whether or not the "Book of Mormon" is based upon a manuscript of Spaulding is intrinsically of little importance. It required only a very moderate degree of literary ability and invention to produce the book, and several of the original leaders of the fanaticism must have been adequate to the work. It is, perhaps, impossible at this day to prove or disprove the Spaulding theory.

The unquestionable facts bearing on the case are as follows:

Solomon Spaulding was born in Connecticut in 1761; graduated at Dartmouth College in 1785, was ordained to the ministry, and practiced in New England a few years, taught an academy for a time in Cherry Valley, New York, or carried on mercantile business there and failed, and in 1809 removed to New Salem, now Conneaut, in Ohio, where in company with one Henry Lake he established an iron foundry. His business not prospering, he removed to Pittsburgh, or its vicinity, in 1812, and a year or two later, to Amity, Pennsylvania, where he died in 1816 at the age of fifty-five years. Spaulding had a literary tendency, and while living at Conneaut, he entertained himself with writing a story which purported to be an account of the original inhabitants of the country, their habits, customs and civilization, their migrations and their conflicts. From time to time, as his work went on, he would call in his neighbors and read to them portions of his manuscript, so that they became familiar with his undertaking. He talked with some of them about publishing his book, in the hope of retrieving his fortunes financially; and this appears to have been his purpose when he removed to Pittsburgh. There is evidence that he conferred with a printer, at Pittsburgh, by the name of Patterson, in reference to the publication, but the book never appeared.

Soon after the publication of the Mormon book in 1830, Mormon preachers appeared in considerable numbers in Northern Ohio, and attracted much attention in the neighborhood at Conneaut. At some of their gatherings where the new Bible was read, persons were present who heard the Spaulding manuscript, and were struck with the resemblance

                            MANUSCRIPT  OF  SOLOMON  SPALDING                             173

between the two. Thus the opinion arose and was propagated that the Mormon book was written by Solomon Spaulding. The fact that it obtained a foothold there affords a presumption in favor of the idea, and the testimony of parties on the ground, if fully trustworthy, established the fact beyond question. These testimonies were gathered in 1833, apparently with reference to their publication in Howe's book. As these are the entire basis of the theory, I will give from the book the essential portions of them found on pages 278-87. The first is from the testimony of John Spaulding, the brother of Solomon:

"In 1810 I removed to Ohio, and found him (Solomon) engaged in building a forge. I made him a visit in about three years after, and found that he had failed, and considerably involved in debt. He then told me he had been writing a book, which he intended to have printed, the avails of which he thought would enable him to pay all his debts. The book was entitled The Manuscript Found, of which he read to me many passages. It was an historical romance of the first settlers of America, endeavoring to show that the American Indians are the descendants of the Jews, or the lost tribes. It gave a detailed account of their journey from Jerusalem, by land and sea, till they arrived in America, under the command of Nephi and Lehi. They afterwards had quarrels and contentions, and separated into two distinct nations, one of which he denominated Nephites and the other Lamanites. Cruel and bloody wars ensued, in which great multitudes were slain. They buried their dead in large heaps, which caused the mounds so common in this country. Their arts, sciences and civilization were brought into view, in order to account for all the curious antiquities found in various parts of North and South America. I have recently read the Book of Mormon, and to my great surprise, I find nearly the same historical matter, names, etc. as they were in my brother's writings. I well remember that he wrote in the old style, and commenced about every sentence with "and it came to pass," or "now it came to pass," the same as in the Book of Mormon, and according to the best of my recollection and belief, it is the same as my brother Solomon wrote, with the exception of the religious matter. By what means it has fallen into the hands of Joseph Smith, jr. I am unable to determine.         "JOHN SPAULDING."

Testimony of Martha, wife of John:

"... The lapse of time which has intervened, prevents my recalling but few of the leading incidents of his writings; but the names of Nephi and Lehi are yet fresh in my memory, as being the principal heroes of his tale.... I have read the 'Book of Mormon,' which has brought fresh to my recollections the writings of Solomon Spaulding; and I have no manner of doubt that the historical part of it is the same that I read and heard read more than twenty years ago. The old, obsolete style, and the phrases of 'and it came to pass,' etc. are the same.         "MARTHA SPAULDING."

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Testimony of Henry Lake, partner of S. Spaulding, Conneaut, September, 1833:

"He (Spaulding) very frequently read to me from a manuscript which he was writing, which he entitled The Manuscript Found, and which he represented as being found in this town. I spent many hours in hearing him read said writings, and became well acquainted with its contents.... This book represented the American Indians as the descendants of the lost tribes, gave an account of their leaving Jerusalem, their contentions and wars which were many and great. One time, when he was reading to me the tragic account of Laban, I pointed out to him what I considered an inconsistency, which he promised to correct, but by referring to the 'Book of Mormon,' I find that it stands there just as he read it to me then. Some months ago I borrowed the 'Golden Bible,' put it into my pocket, carried it home, and thought no more of it. About a week after, my wife found the book in my coat pocket as it hung up, and commenced reading it aloud as I lay upon the bed. She had not read twenty minutes till I was astonished to find the same passages in it that Spaulding had read to me more than twenty years before, from his 'Manuscript Found.' I well recollect telling Mr. Spaulding that the so frequent use of the words 'and it came to pass,' 'now it came to pass' rendered it ridiculous.         "HENRY LAKE."

Testimony of Miller, an employee of Spaulding, Springfield, Pennsylvania, September, 1833:

"... While there, I lodged in the family of said Spalding, for several months. I was soon introduced to the manuscripts of Spaulding, and perused them as often as I had leisure. He had written two or three books or pamphlets on different subjects, but that which more particularly attracted my attention, was one which he called the 'Manuscript Found.' From this he would frequently read some humorous passages to the company present. It purported to be the history of the first settlement of America before discovered by Columbus. He brought them off from Jerusalem, under their leaders, detailing their travels by land and water, their manners, customs, laws, wars, etc.... I have recently examined the 'Book of Mormon,' and find in it the writings of Solomon Spaulding, from beginning to end, but mixed up with scripture and other religious matter which I did not meet with in the 'Manuscript Found.' Many of the passages in the 'Mormon Book' are verbatim from Spaulding, and others in part. The names of Nephi, Lehi, Moroni, and in fact all the principal names, are brought fresh to my recollection, by the 'Gold Bible.'         "JOHN N. MILLER."

Testimony of a neighbor, Aaron Wright:

"When at his house one day he showed and read to me a history he was writing, of the lost tribes of Israel, purporting that they were the first settlers of America, and that the Indians were their decendants.... He traced their journey from Jerusalem to America, as it is given in

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the 'Book of Mormon,' excepting the religious matter. The historical part of the 'Book of Mormon,' I know to be the same as I read and heard read from the writings of Spaulding, more than twenty years ago; the names more especially are the same without any alteration.... In conclusion I will observe that the names of, and most of the historical part of the 'Book of Mormon,' were as familiar to me before I read it, as most modern history.         "AARON WRIGHT."

Testimony of O. Smith, a neighbor, with whom Spaulding boarded:

"... During the time he was at my house I read and heard read one hundred pages or more. Nephi and Lehi were by him represented as leading characters when they first started for America. Their main object was to escape the judgments which they supposed were coming upon the old world; but no religious matter was introduced, as I now recollect. ... This was the last I heard of Spaulding or his book until the 'Book of Mormon' came into the neighborhood. When I heard the historical part of it related, I at once said it was the writings of old Solomon Spaulding. Soon after, I obtained the book, and on reading it, I found much of it the same as Spaulding had written, more than twenty years before.         "OLIVER SMITH."

Testimony of Nahum Howard, Conneaut, August, 1883 (1833):

"I first became acquainted with Solomon Spaulding, in December, 1810. After that I frequently saw him at his house and also at my house. I once, in conversation with him, expressed a surprise at not having any account of the inhabitants once in this country who erected the old forts, mounds, etc. He then told me that he was writing a history of that race of people; and afterwards frequently showed me his writings, which I read. I have lately read the 'Book of Mormon,' and believe it to be the same as Spaulding wrote except the religious part.         "NAHUM HOWARD."

Statement of Artemus Cunningham:

"... Before showing me his manuscripts he went into a verbal relation of its outlines, saying that it was a fabulous or romantic history of the first settlement of this country, and as it purported to have been a record found buried in the earth, or in a cave, he had adopted the ancient or Scripture style of writing. He then presented his manuscripts, when we sat down and spent a good share of the night in reading and conversing upon them. I well remember the name of Nephi, which appeared to be the principal hero of the story. The frequent repetition of the phrase, 'I Nephi,' I recollect as distinctly as though it was yesterday, although the general features of the story have passed from my memory through the lapse of twenty-two years.... The Mormon bible I have partially examined, and am fully of the opinion that Solomon Spaulding had written its outlines before he left Conneaut."

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This testimony of Cunningham is without his signature, but is called his statement.

Of these eight witnesses, five distinctly state that the religious matter in the "Book of Mormon" was not contained in Spaulding's manuscript. The others state that the historical part of the "Book of Mormon" is the same as of Spaulding's "Manuscript Found."

Mr. Howe inquired of Mr. Patterson, the printer, at Pittsburgh, with whom it was represented that Spaulding conferred in reference to the publication of his manuscript, but Patterson had, at that time, no recollection of the subject, but in 1842, some eight years after the publication of Howe's book, Mr. Patterson signed a statement certifying that a gentleman had put into the hands of the foreman of his printing office, "a manuscript of a singular work, chiefly in the style of our English translation of the Bible," that he (Patterson) read a few pages of it, but as the author could not furnish the means, the manuscript was not printed.

Mr. Howe sent a messenger, D. P. Hurlbut of Conneaut, to the widow of Solomon Spaulding (Mrs. Davison by a second marriage), who was then living with her daughter in Monson, Massachusetts, to ascertain further about the manuscript and to procure it if it were still within reach. Mrs. Davison stated that her husband had a variety of manuscripts, one of which was entitled the "Manuscript Found," but of its contents she had no distinct remembrance; she thought it was once taken to Patterson's printing once in Pittsburgh, and whether it was ever returned to the house again she was quite uncertain. If it was returned, it must be with other manuscripts in a trunk which she left in Otsego County, New York.

This was all that Mrs. D. knew of the manuscript in 1834, when Howe published his book; but in 1839, five years later, a statement was published in the Boston Recorder under her signature, in which she describes the manuscript very fully, states very definitely that Mr. Patterson took the manuscript, kept it, a long time, was greatly pleased with it, and promised. to publish it; if Mt. Spaulding would make out a title-page and preface, which Mr. S. refused to do. She further states that at her husband's death, the manuscript came into her possession and was carefully preserved. This seems to be a great enlargement of memory or of knowledge since 1834, and it is difficult to read the extended and elaborate statement without reaching the conclusion that Mrs. Spaulding-Davison had very little to do with it. Reverend Robert Patterson, son of Reverend Robert Patterson, the printer, now, editor of the Presbyterian Banner of Pittsburgh, published some years since a paper on this question, and in quoting a paragraph from this statement; of Mrs. Spaulding-Davison, he says that it was made to Reverend D. R. Austin of Monson, Massachusetts, written down by him and published in the Boston Recorder.

Mr. Hurlbut, on his visit to Mrs. Davison, obtained from her permission to examine the old hair trunk at her cousin's in Hartwick, New

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York, in which the manuscript, if in existence, was to be found, and to carry it to Mr. Howe for comparison with the "Book of Mormon." He found but one manuscript, and this he delivered to Mr. Howe who describes it briefly, but somewhat inaccurately in his book, page 283.

The manuscript, lost sight of since the date of Howe's book, came to light at Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, a year ago last August, in the possession of Mr. L. L. Rice, formerly State printer at Columbus, Ohio. I had asked Mr. Rice, who was an anti-slavery editor in Ohio many years ago, to examine his old pamphlets and papers and see what; contributions he could make to the anti-slavery literature of the Oberlin College library. After a few days he brought out an old manuscript with the following certificate on a blank page:

The writings of Solomon Spaulding, proved by Aaron Wright, Oliver Smith,, John N. Miller and others. The testimonies of the above gentlemen are now in my possession.

D. P. HURLBUT.

The three men named are of the eight witnesses brought forward by Howe. This manuscript is now in my possession, and it is at hand this evening. It is soiled and worn and discolored with age. It consists of about one hundred and seventy pages, small quarto, unruled, and for the most part closely written -- not far from forty-five thousand words. It has been printed by the Josephite Mormons of Lamoni, Iowa, from a copy of the manuscript taken since it came into my possession. As thus printed it makes one hundred and thirty-two pages of three hundred and twenty words each -- equal to about one-sixth part of the "Book of Mormon." No date attaches to the manuscript proper, but on a blank page there is a fragment of a letter containing the date, January, 1812. Mr. Rice probably came into possession of the manuscript in 1839, when he succeeded Mr. Howe in the printing office at Painesville, but he has no recollection of ever having seen the manuscript until it came to his notice in Honolulu.

The manuscript has no resemblance to the 'Book of Mormon,' except in some very general features. There is not a name or an incident common to the two. It is not written in the solemn Scripture style. It is a story of the coming to this country, from Rome, of a ship's company, driven by a storm across the ocean, in the days of the Emperor Constantine. They never returned to their own land, but cast in their lot with the aborginal tribes inhabiting the country; and it is chiefly occupied with an account of the civilization and conflicts of these tribes -- the Delawares, Ohions, Kentucks, Sciotans, Chiaugand, etc. etc. The names of persons are entirely original, quite as remarkable as those in the "Book of Mormon," but never the same -- such as Bombal, Kadocam, Lobaska, Hamboon, Ulipoon, Lamesa, etc. The introduction expresses the purpose or motive of the author in its composition, and is as follows -- orthography uncorrected, and a few words lost by the crumbling of the manuscript:

"Near the west bank of the Conneaught river there are the remains

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of an ancient fort. As I was walking and forming various conjectures respecting the character, situation and numbers of those people, who far exceed the present race of Indians in works of art and inginuity, I happened to tread on a flat stone. This was at a small distance from the fort, and it lay on the top of a small mound of earth exactly horizontal. The face of it had a singular appearance. I discovered a number of characters, which appeared to me to be letters, but so much effaced by the ravages of time, that I could not read the inscription. With the assistance of a leaver I raised the stone; but you may easily conjecture my astonishment when I discovered that its ends and sides rested on stones, and that it was designed as a cover to an artificial cave. I found by examining that its sides were lined with stones built in a conical form, with ... down, and that it was about 8 feet deep. Determined to investigate the design of this extraordinary work of antiquity, I prepared myself with necessary requisites for that purpose and descended to the bottom of the cave. Observing one side to be perpendicular nearly three feet from the bottom, I began to inspect that part with accuracy. Here I noticed a big, flat stone fixed in the form of a doar. I immediately tore it down and lo! a cavity within the wall presented itself, it being about three feet in diameter from side to side, and about two feet high. Within this cavity I found an earthen box, with a cover which shut it perfectly tite. The box was two feet in length, one and half in breadth, and one and three inches in diameter. My mind, filled with awful sensations which crowded fast upon me, would hardly permit my hands to remove this venerable deposit, but curiosity soon gained the ascendancy; the box was taken and raised to open ... of parchment, and that when ... the Latin Language. They were written on a variety of subjects, but the roll which principally attracted my attention contained a history of the author's life and that part of America which extends along the great lakes and the waters of the Mississippy.

Solomon Spaulding's attitude toward the sacred Scriptures and Christianity is brought to light by a record, apparently a copy of a letter, on two loose leaves found in connection with the manuscript, written on paper of the same quality, and in the same handwriting; the statement is without beginning or end, but the substantial part remains as follows:

But having every reason to place the highest confidence in your friendship and prudence, I have no reluctance in complying with with your request in giving you my sentiments of the Christian religion, and so far from considering the freedom you took in making the request, impertinence, I view it as a mark of your affectionate solicitude for my happiness. In giving you my sentiments of the Christian religion, you will perceive that I do not believe certain facts and certain propositions to be true, merely because my ancestors believed them and because they are popular. In forming my creed I bring every thing to the standard

 

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of reason. This is an unerring and sure guide in all matters of faith and practice. Having divested myself therefore of traditionary and vulgar prejudice, and submitting to the guidance of reason, it is impossible for me to have the same sentiments of the Christian religion which its advocates consider as orthodox. It is in my view a mass of contradictions, and an heterogeneous mixture of wisdom and folly, nor can I find any clear and incontrovertible evidence of its being a revelation from an infinitely benevolent and wise God.

It is true that I never have had the leisure nor patience to read every part of it with critical attention, or to study the metaphissical jargon of divines in its vindication. It is enough for me to know that propositions which are in contradiction to each other cannot both be true and that doctrines and facts which represent the Supreme Being as a barbarous and cruel tyrant, can never be dictated by infinite wisdom. Whatever the clergy say on the contrary can have no effect in altering my sentiments. I know as well as they that two and two make four, and that three angles of a triangle are equal to two right angles. But, notwithstanding I disavow any belief in the divinity of the Bible, and consider it a mere human production, designed to enrich and agrandize its authors and enable them to manage the multitude; yet casting aside a considerable mass of rubbish and fanatical rant, I find that it contains a system of ethics or morals which cannot be excelled on account of their tendency to ameliorate the condition of man, to promote individual, social and public happiness, and that in various instances it represents the Almighty as possessing attributes worthy of a transcendant character; having a view therefore, to those parts of the Bible which are truly good and excellent [I] sometimes speak of it in [terms] of high commendation, and indeed, I am inclined to believe that, notwithstanding the mischiefs and miseries miseries which have been produced by the bigoted zeal of fanatics and interested priests, yet that such evils are more than counterbalanced in a Christian land by the benefits which result to the great mass of the people by their believing that the Bible is of divine origin, and that it contains a revelation from God. Such being my view of the subject, I make no exertions to dissipate their happy delusions.  

The only important question connected with this manuscript is, what light, if any, does it throw on the origin of the "Book of Mormon?" This manuscript clearly was not the basis of the book. Was there another manuscript, which Spaulding was accustomed to read to his neighbors, out of which the "Book of Mormon" grew, under the hand of Sidney Rigdon or Joseph Smith, or both? If we could accept without misgiving the testimony of the eight witnesses, brought forward in Howe's book, we should be obliged to accept the fact of another manuscript. We are to remember that twenty-two years or more had elapsed since they had heard the manuscript read; and before they began to recall their remembrances they had read or heard the "Book of Mormon," and also the suggestion that the book had its origin in the manuscript of Spaulding. What effect these things had upon the exactness of their memory is

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a matter of doubt. No one was present to cross-question, and Hurlbut and Howe were intent upon finding the testimony to support their theory.

In its more general features the present manuscript fulfills the requirements of the "Manuscript Found." It purports to have been taken from an artificial cave in a mound, and thus was naturally called the "Manuscript Found." It sets forth the coming of a colony from the eastern continent, and is an account of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country, suggested by the mounds and earthworks in the vicinity of the author, and was written to explain the origin of these works. This purpose it pursues with a directness not found in the "Book of Mormon." These general features would naturally bring it to remembrance, on reading the account of the finding of the plates of the "Book of Mormon."

Of the eight witnesses brought forward by Howe, five are careful to except the "religious matter" of the "Book of Mormon," as not contained in the manuscript of Spaulding, and the theory is that this matter was interpolated by Sidney Rigdon, or some other man who expanded the manuscript into the book. This strikes me as an important circumstance. The "Book of Mormon" is permeated in every page and paragraph with religious and Scriptural ideas. It is first and foremost a religious book, and the contrast between it and the supposed manuscript must have been very striking to have led five of these witnesses to call this difference to mind and mention it, after the lapse of twenty years and more. The other three witnesses are careful to say that the "Book of Mormon," in its "historical parts," is derived from the Spaulding manuscript, thus implying the same exception expressed by the others. Now it is difficult -- almost impossible, to believe that the religious sentiments of the "Book of Mormon" were wrought into interpolation. They are of the original tissue and substance of the document, and a man as self-reliant and smart as Sidney Rigdon, with a superabundant gift of tingue and every form of utterance, would never have accepted the servile task. There could have been no motive to it, nor could the blundering syntax of the "Book of Mormon" have come from Rigdon's hand. He had the gift of speech which would have made the style distasteful and impossible to him.

The minuter features of the testimony of these witnesses are obviously of more weight in their bearing upon the probability of another manuscript. When they speak of the Scriptural style of the manuscript, the frequent recurrence of the expression, "and it came to pass," the names recalled, "Nephi," "Lehi," and others, the remembrance seems too definite to be called in question. But it must be remembered that the "Book of Mormon" was fresh in their minds, and their recollections of the manuscript found were very remote and dim. That under the pressure and suggestion of Hurlbut and Howe, they should put the ideas at hand in place of those remote and forgotten, and imagine that they remembered what they had recently read, would be only an ordinary example of the frailty of memory, and it would not be unnatural or improbable

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