07a Mormons Church Latter Day Saints
Chapter 7 The Mormons or Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints
VISIONS, revelations, ecstasies and the gift of tongues play a considerable part in the early history of Mormonism. The founder of the church, Joseph Smith, Jr., was born at Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, on December 23, 1805. About ten years later the family moved to Palmyra, New York. His home was thus in the Shaker country, as well as in the famous "burnt district" known in the history of revivals as the centre of a widespread movement characterised by ecstatic phenomena. Here also was the country of the beginnings of spiritualism, the home of the "Rochester knockings" and the settlement of the Oneida Community.
Smith was the fourth child of Joseph Smith and Lucy Mack, his wife. There were ten children born of the marriage. Lucy Mack was the daughter of Solomon Mack who had been a soldier in the French and Indian War, and had later seen service in the Continental Army. He is said to have been subject to the "fallickness.”1 One of Mrs. Smith’s sisters, Lovisa, a Mrs. Tuttle, is said to have been miraculously restored to health after an illness of ten years, 2 but died three years later. Another sister, Lovina, died of consumption. 3
1 Riley, I. Woodbridge: "The Founder of Mormonism." New York, 1903, pp. 14-15.
2 Smith, Lucy: "Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and his Progenitors for Many Generations." Liverpool and London, 1853, pp. 24-6.
3 Same: p. 26.
Mrs. Smith states that she also, shortly after her marriage,
"took a heavy cold, which caused a severe cough. . . . A hectic fever set in, which threatened to become fatal, and the physician pronounced my case to be confirmed consumption." 1 The Mormon prophet describes his father, Joseph Smith, Jr., as a farmer, and by his father he was in boyhood taught 2 "the art of husbandry." From many other accounts the father’s husbandry seems to have been of the intermittent sort. The father’s farming seems to have been devoted to the raising and crystallising of ginseng for export trade, in which venture a considerable sum of money was lost through the dishonesty, according to Mrs. Smith, 3 of persons in whom the Smiths confided. The reputation which both father and son enjoyed was 4 not in any sense of the best certainly not so far as industry, sobriety and general morality were concerned. Both spent considerable time in hunting and fishing so much so that they did not even own their own farm, but belonged to the "squatter" class. Both of them showed all the traits of vagrants including also a marked tendency towards financial irregularity, or, shall we say, indifference?
It has been stated that both father and son made considerable of what money they did make through divination. They located buried treasure, advised farmers where to sink wells, and rendered the usual services which those in touch with the occult are able to render to those* who are credulous enough to pay for such services.
1 Smith, Lucy: op. cit., p. 46.
2 Smith, Joseph: "Items of Church History," etc. Salt Lake City, 1886.
3 Smith, Lucy: op. cit., pp. 49, 50, 51.
4 See the collection of affidavits of neighbors of the Smiths in Howe, E. D.: "Mormonism Unveiled," etc. Painesville, Ohio, 1834, pp. 231-269. See also Clark, John A.: "Gleanings by the Way." New York, Philadelphia, 184*, PP. 342-3-4 No record of any treasure found by the prophet or by his father is extant. On the other hand, there are some interesting stories told of their efforts at finding treasure. The following is taken from the history of Chenango County, New York, and tells of an adventure in Afton:
"Joe Smith, the founder of Mormonism, operated quite extensively in this town and vicinity during the early years of his career as a prophet. The reputation of the family was very bad and Joe was considered the worst of the whole. Somewhere about 1828 or 1829 Smith made his appearance in Afton and attended school in District No. 9. Here his supernatural powers manifested themselves, by telling fortunes or ’foretelling futurity.’ This was done by placing a stone in his hat and then looking into it drawn over his face so as to exclude the light. He first organized a society at the house of Joe Knight, on the south side of the river, near the Lobdell House, in Broome County. Excavations were made in various places for treasures and rocks containing iron pyrites were drilled for gold. Previous to digging in any place a sheep was killed, and the blood sprinkled upon the spot. Lot 62 was the seat of one of these mining operations." 1 An account of much the same nature appears in Emily C. Blackman’s History of Susquehanna County (Pennsylvania).
"A straggling Indian who was passing up the Susquehanna, had told of buried treasure. Joseph, learning of this, hunted up the Indian, and induced him to reveal the place where it was buried. . . . He (Smith) induced a well-to-do farmer by the name of Harper, of Harpersville, N. Y., to go in with him. They commenced digging on 1 Quoted by Cake, Lu. B.: "Peepstone Joe and the Peck Manuscript." New York, 1899, pp. 13-14. what is now the farm of Jacob I. Skinner in Oakland Township. After digging a great hole, that is still to be seen, Harper got discouraged, and was about abandoning the enterprise. Joe now declared to Harper that there was an enchantment about the place that was removing the treasure farther off; that Harper must get a perfectly white dog, and sprinkle his blood over the ground, and that would prevent the enchantment from removing the treasure. Search was made all over the country, but no perfectly white dog could be found. Joseph said he thought a white sheep would do as well. A sheep was killed and his blood sprinkled as directed. The digging was then resumed by Harper. After spending $2,000 he utterly refused to go any further. Joseph now said that the enchantment had removed all the treasure; that the Almighty was displeased with them for attempting to palm off on Him a white dog, and had allowed the enchantment to remove the treasure. He would sit for hours looking into his hat at the round coloured stone, and tell of things far away and supernatural. At times he was melancholy and sedate as often hilarious and mirthful; an imaginative enthusiast constitutionally opposed to work, and a general favourite with the ladies.
"Smith early put on the airs of a prophet, and was in the habit of ’blessing’ his neighbours’ crops for a small consideration. On one occasion a neighbour had a piece of corn planted rather late, and on a moist piece of ground and feeling a little doubtful about its ripening, got Smith to bless it. It happened that that was the only piece of corn killed by frost in the neighbourhood. When the prophet’s attention was called to the matter, he got out of the difficulty by saying that he made mistake, and put a curse on the corn instead of a blessing. Rather an unneighbourly act, and paid for, too." 1
1 Quoted in Blackman, Emily C.: "History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania," etc. Philadelphia, 1873. pp. 579-80. See also Smith, Joseph, Jr.: "The Pearl of Great Price." Salt Lake City, 1891, pp. 66-7. Also Howe: op. c ., pp. 238-9.
Both of Smith’s parents claim to have been the recipients of visions of a religious nature. 1 When Smith himself began to be interested in religion through the influence of a revival, he, in like manner, became subject to visions and special revelations. 2
"I was at this time in my fifteenth year. My father’s family was proselyted to the Presbyterian faith, and four of them joined that church, namely, my mother Lucy, my brothers Hyrum, Samuel, Harrison and my sister Sophronia.
"During this time of great excitement, my mind was called up to serious reflection and great uneasiness; but though my feelings were deep and often pungent, still I kept myself aloof from all these parties, though I attended their several meetings as often as occasion would permit; but in process of time my mind became somewhat partial to the Methodist sect, and I felt some desire to be united with them, but so great was the confusion and strife among the different denominations, that it was impossible for a person, young as I was, and so unacquainted with men and things, to come to any certain conclusion who was right and who was wrong. . . .
"While I was labouring under the extreme difficulties, caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter, and fifth verse, which reads, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth unto all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. ... So ... I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. . . .
"After I had retired into the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me and finding 1 Smith, Lucy: op. cit., pp. 54-6.
2 Same: op. cit., pp. 56-9; 70-1. myself alone, I kneeled down and began to open up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But exerting all my power to’ call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair, and abandon myself to destruction, not to an imaginary ruin, but to a the power of an actual being from the unseen, world, who had such a marvellous power as Triad never before felt in any being. Just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the Sun, which descended gradually while it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me, I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above and in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said (pointing to the other) ’This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him.’
*’My object in going to inquire of the Lord, was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right . . . and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong, and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt.”.
"He again forbade me to join any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven." * On the 21st day of September, 1823, Smith is again the recipient of a vision. An angel named Moroni appeared at the prophet’s bedside:
"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 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. . . . He said . . . 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. ~ . . 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 fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Saviour 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. . . . He told me that when I got these plates of which he had spoken (for the time that they should be obtained was not yet fulfilled) I should not show them to any person, neither the breastplate with the Urim and Thummim; only to those to whom I should be commanded to show them; if I did, I should be destroyed. While he was conversing with me about the plates vision was opened to my mind that I could see the place where the plates were deposited, and 1 "Pearl of Great Price": pp. 58-9. that so clearly and distinctly that I knew the place again when I visited it.” 1 Twice again that same night the angel Moroni appeared, and repeated over substantially the same revelations.
"Almost immediately after the heavenly messenger had ascended from me the third time, the cock crew, and I found that day was approaching." 2 The next day, while walking with his father, Smith had another visit from the same angel, who this time commanded him to impart the secret to his father.
"I obeyed, I returned back to my father in the field and rehearsed the whole matter to him. He replied to me that it was of God, and to go and do as commanded by the messenger. I left the field and went to the place where the messenger had told me the plates were deposited, and owing to the distinctness of the vision which I had concerning it, I knew the place the instant that I arrived there. Convenient to the village of Manchester, Ontario County, New York, stands a hill.., of considerable size, and the most elevated of any in the neighbourhood. On the west side of this hill, not far from the top, under a stone of considerable size, lay the plates, deposited in a stone box; this stone was thick and rounding in the middle of the upper side, and thinner towards the edge, so that the middle part of it was visible above the ground., and the edge all round was covered with earth. Having removed the earth, and obtained a lever, which I got fixed under the edge of the stone, and with a little exertion raised it up, I looked in, and there indeed did I behold the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate as stated by the messenger. The box in 1 "Pearl of Great Price": pp. 62-4. * Same: p. 65. which they lay was formed by laying stones together in some kind of cement. In the bottom Of the box were laid two stones crossways of the box, and on these stones lay the plates and the other things with them." 1
Joseph was about to take the plates when he was forbidden and told to wait four years. In the meantime he was to come back and meet the angel once a year at the same place. In January, 1827, he married Miss Emma Hale, daughter of a Mr. Isaac Hale of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. The marriage was performed by "Squire Tarbill, in South Bainbridge, Chenango County, New York." 2 Mr. Hale opposed the match, and Smith was obliged to elope in order to secure his bride. The following is of interest as being an extract from a sworn statement Of Mr. Hale:
"I first became acquainted with Joseph Smith, Jr., in November, 1825. He was at that time in the employ of a set of men who were called ’money-diggers’; and his occupation was that of seeing or pretending to see by means of a stone placed in his hat, and his hat closed over his face. In this way he pretended to discover minerals and hidden treasure. His appearance at that time was that of a careless young man not very well educated, and very saucy and insolent to his father. Smith and his father, with several other ’money-diggers/ boarded at my house, while they were employed in digging for a mine that they supposed had been opened and worked by the Spaniards many years since. Young Smith gave the ’money-diggers’ great encouragement at first, but when they had arrived in digging to near the place where he had stated an immense treasure would be
1 "Pearl of Great Price"; pp. 65-6. Cf. also Clark: op. cit., pp. 225, 228. For another story of the Golden Bible, see Howe: op, cit., pp. 234-6.
2 "Pearl of Great Price": p. 67. found he said the enchantment was so powerful that he could not see.”1 On the 22nd of September, 1827, the prophet went to the prophet went to the hill Cumorah, for that was the sacred name of the hill, to claim and receive the plates. He took the plates with him to Harmony, Pennsylvania, and took up his residence near his father-in-law. Mr. Hale says:
"I was shown a box in which it is said they were contained, which had, to all appearance, been used as a glass box, of the common window glass. I was allowed to feel the weight of the box, and they gave me to understand that the book of plates was then in the box into which, however, I was not allowed to look." 2 While in Susquehanna County, the Prophet tells us:
"I commenced copying the characters of the plates. I copied a considerable number of them, and by means of Urim and Thummim I translated some of them." 3
Martin Harris, who had been a man of easily shifting religious opinions and "a firm believer in dreams, and visions, and of supernatural appearances, such as apparitions and ghosts," was a farmer living in Palmyra Township, Wayne County, New York. 4 He had become greatly excited over and interested in Smith’s Golden Bible, and on the strength of his interest, had lent Smith fifty dollars with which to go to Pennsylvania. Harris, according to Smith’s account, came down to see Smith in February, 1828, and "got the characters which I had drawn off the plates and started with them to the City of New York. For what
1 Howe: op. cit., pp. 262-3.
2 Howe: op. cit., p. 264.
3 "Pearl of Great Price": p. 68.
4 Clark: op. cit., p. 223. took place relative to him and the characters, I refer to his own account of the circumstances as he related them to me after his return, which was as follows:
" ’I went to the City of New York and presented the characters which had been translated, with the translation thereof, to Professor Anthon, a gentleman celebrated for his literary attainments. Professor Anthon stated that the translation was correct, more so than any he had before seen translated from the Egyptian. I then showed him those which were not yet translated, and he said that they were Egyptian, Chaldaic, Assyrian and Arabic, and he said that they were the true characters. He gave me a certificate to the people of Palmyra that they were true characters, and that the translation of such of them as had been translated was also correct. I took the certificate and put it into my pocket and was leaving the house when Mr. Anthon called me back and asked me how the young man found out that there were gold plates in the place where he found them. I answered that an angel of God had revealed it unto him.
" ’He then said unto me, "Let me see that certificate." I accordingly took it out, when he took it and tore it to pieces, saying that there was no such thing now as ministering angels, and that if I would bring the plates to him he would translate them. I informed him that part of the plates were sealed, and that I was forbidden to bring them; he replied, "I cannot read a sealed book." I left him and went to Dr. Mitchell, who sanctioned what Professor Anthon had said respecting both the characters and the translation.’ " I This is one account. The following is an extract from a letter by Professor Anthon himself:
"Many years ago, the precise date I do not now recollect, a plain looking countryman called upon me with a letter from Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell, requesting me to ex3 "Pearl of Great Price": pp. 68-9. amine, and give my opinion upon, a certain paper, marked with various characters which the doctor confessed he could not decypher, and which the bearer of the note was very anxious to have explained. A very brief examination of the paper convinced me that it was a mere hoax, and a very clumsy one, too. The ^characters were arranged in columns, like the Chinese mode of writing, and presented the most singular medley that I ever beheld. Greek, Hebrew, and all sorts of letters, more or less distorted, either through unskilfulness, or from actual design, were intermingled with sundry delineations of half moons, stars, arid other natural objects, and the whole ended in a rude representation of the Mexican zodiac. The conclusion was irresistible, that some cunning fellow had prepared the paper in question, for the purpose of imposing upon the countryman who brought it, and I told the man so without any hesitation. He then proceeded to give me a history of the whole affair, which convinced me that he had fallen into the hands of some sharper, while it left me in great astonishment at his own simplicity.
"The countryman told me that a gold book had been recently dug up in the western or northern part (I forget which), of our state, and he described this book as consisting of many gold plates, like leaves, secured by a gold wire passing through the edges of each, just as the leaves of a book are sewed together, and presented in this way the appearance of a volume. Each plate, according to him, was inscribed with unknown characters, and the paper which he handed me, a transcript of one of these pages. ... A proposition had accordingly been made to my informant, to sell his farm, and apply the proceeds to the printing of the golden book, and the golden plates were to be left with him as security until he should be reimbursed by the sale of the work. ... As Dr. Mitchell was our ’Magnus Apollo’ in those days, the man called first upon him; but the Doctor evidently suspecting some trick, declined giving any opinion about the matter, and sent the countryman down to the college, to see, in all probability, what the ’learned pundits’ in that place would make of the affair. On my telling the bearer of the paper that an attempt had been made to impose on him, and defraud him of his property, he requested me to give my opinion in writing about the paper which he had shown to me. I did so without any hesitation, partly for the man’s sake, and partly to let the individual ’behind the curtain’ see that his trick was discovered. The import of what I wrote was, as far as I can now recollect, simply this, that the marks on the paper appeared to be merely an imitation of various alphabetical characters, and had, in my opinion, no meaning at all connected with them. The countryman then took his leave, with many thanks, and with the express declaration that he would in no shape part with his farm or embark in the speculation of printing the golden book." l
Harris’s resolution was not long kept. In a short time we find him assisting the prophet in translating the plates. In this, Smith sat behind a curtain and read the plates with the aid of his Urim and Thummim. Harris, on the other side of the curtain, took down the words as they were dictated in English by the prophet. After over a hundred pages had been dictated, Harris at his earnest solicitation, was allowed to take them home and lost them. It is generally believed that Mrs. Harris, who did not share her husband’s visionary ideas, stole the manuscript. As Harris was one of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon, it might be well to note the following statement made under oath, by his wife:
"He is naturally quick in his temper, and in his mad fits frequently abuses all who may dare to oppose him
1 Clark: op. cit., pp. 233-4-5-6. Substantially the same facts are told in a letter from Professor Anthon to E. D. Howe. See Howe: op. cit., pp. 270-272. in his wishes. However strange it may seem, I have been a great sufferer by his unreasonable conduct. At different times while I lived with him he has whipped, kicked and turned me out of the house. ... In one of his fits of rage, he struck me with the butt end of a whip, which I think had been used for driving oxen, and was about the size of my thumb, and three or four feet long. He beat me on the head four or five times, and the next day turned me out of doors twice, and beat me in a shameful manner. . . . His main complaint against me was, that I was always trying to hinder him making money. . . . One day, while at Peter Harris’s house, I told him he had better leave the company of the Smiths, as their religion was false; to which he replied: ’If you would let me alone, I could make money by it.’" 1 The loss of the first pages of the manuscript was no small one to the prophet. Not only was his labour lost, but he was in a serious quandary. If he should attempt to reproduce the lost pages, he knew that the stolen copy would be produced and the discrepancies between it and the new manuscript produced from memory pointed out. While in this difficult situation, however, he received a special revelation in which he was told not to reproduce the missing pages.
It was about this time that Smith began to make use of the services as a scribe of Oliver Cowdery, a country school-teacher. Cowdery occupies an important place in Mormon history as one of the witnesses as to the divine origin of the Book of Mormon.
"Two days after the arrival of Mr. Cowdery (being the 17th of April) I commenced to translate the Book of Mormon, and he commenced to write for me.
"We still continued the work of translation, when, in 1 Howe: op. cit., pp. 254-6. the ensuing month (May, 1824), we on a certain day went into the woods to pray and inquire of the Lord respecting baptism for the remission of sins, as we found mentioned in the translation of the plates. While we were thus employed, praying and calling upon the Lord, a messenger from heaven descended in a cloud of light, and .Having laid his hands upon us, he ordained us. . . .
"Accordingly, we went and were baptised. I baptised him first, and afterwards he baptised me after which I laid my hands upon his head and ordained him to the Aaronic Priesthood, and afterwards he laid his hands on me and ordained me to the same Priesthood for so we were commanded. . . .
"Immediately upon our coming up out of the water, after we had been baptised, we experienced great and glorious blessings from our Heavenly Father. No sooner had I baptised Oliver Gowdery than the Holy Ghost fell upon him, and he stood up and prophesied many things which would shortly come to pass. And again, so soon as I had been baptised by him, I also had the spirit of prophecy; when standing up, I prophesied concerning the rise of the Church, and many other things connected with the Church and this generation of the children of men. We were filled with the Holy Ghost, and rejoiced in the God of our salvation." 1
After the translation of the Book of Mormon had been completed, it was printed with the financial assistance of Martin Harris, and hawked about. 2 It did not immediately attain that financial success which had been expected. The contents of the book were summarised by Smith, himself, as follows:
"In this important and interesting work the history of Ancient America is unfolded, from its first settlement
1 "Pearl of Great Price," pp. 69-72. See also Howe: op. cit., p. 15. Cowdery is said by Howe to have been a blacksmith by trade.
2 Cf . Smith, Lucy: op. cit., pp. 151-2 et seq. by a colony that came from the tower of Babel, at the confusion of languages to the beginning of the fifth century of the Christian era. We are informed by these records that America in ancient times has been inhabited by two distinct races of people. The first were called Jaredites and came directly from the tower of Babel. The second race came directly from the city of Jerusalem, about six hundred years before Christ. They were principally Israelites of the descendants of Joseph. The Jaredites were destroyed about the time that the Israelites came from Jerusalem, who succeeded them in the inheritance of the country. The principal nation of the second race fell in battle towards the close of the fourth century. The remnant are the Indians that now inhabit this country. This book also tells us that our Saviour made his appearance upon this continent after his resurrection, that he planted the gospel here in all its fulness, and richness, and power and blessing; that they had apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers and evangelists; the same order, the same priesthood, the same ordinances, gifts, powers, and blessing, as was enjoyed on the Eastern continent, that the people were cut off in consequence of their transgressions; that the last of their prophets who existed among them was commanded to write an abridgment of their prophecies, history, etc., and to hide it up in the earth, and that it should come forth and be united with the Bible for the accomplishment of the purposes of God in the last days. For a more particular account I would refer to the Book of Mormon, which can be purchased in Nauvoo, or from any of our travelling elders." 1
There has been a great deal of discussion on the part of those who do not believe in the supernatural origin of the Book of Mormon, as to the source from which Smith obtained his data for the Book. One theory was 1 "The Writings of Joseph Smith, the Seer." New York, 1889, p. 7. that he came into possession of the manuscript written by the Rev. Solomon Spaulding, but never published, called the "Manuscript Found," and copied this manuscript word for word. As has been pointed out, if the prophet had been in possession of such a manuscript, the loss of the pages taken by Mrs. Harris would not have called for a special revelation. It would have been a very simple matter for Smith to have dictated again to Harris the contents of the lost pages. A great number of volumes and pamphlets have been written x on this subject, both by Mormons and those who opposed them, and the old debate is being constantly revived. The object of the argument is, on the part of those who began it, to prove that on still another count, the prophet is both a liar and a fraud. But this is so obvious from his own conflicting statements, when we take time to wander through the maze into which they take us, and from the overwhelming testimony of those who had to do with him, that we need not be interested in obtaining any further evidence on that point. Why all this discussion about the book? Is there anything in it so eloquent or so noble that it challenges attention? Is there anything in it that is so painstakingly historical that it bears upon its face, evidence of truth? As a matter of fact, there is absolutely nothing in the Book of Mormon but what any country schoolboy, fifteen years of age, with a vivid imagination and plenty of confidence in himself, could have written.
We have noted Smith’s money-digging with the aid of a "peep-stone’* hidden in his hat, and his translation of the Book of Mormon by the aid of Urim and Thummim. The refusal of present day scholars of Mormonism to
1 Cf . Clark: op. cit., p. 246 et seq. See also Winchester, Benjamin: "Plain Facts, Showing the Origin of the Spaulding Story," etc- Philadelphia, 1840 et al. see anything but a divine instrument in the Urim and Thummim reflects no credit upon their critical intelligence. "Peek-stones" or "Peep-stones" or Urim and Thummim are all one and the same thing a survival of the superstitious practice of crystal-gazing. The story of famous Dr. Dee and Edward Kelly is so strikingly like the story of the Mormon Seer and Revelator that it will be worth while to turn back the hand of time for four hundred years in order to note the identity of the ideas underlying Mormonism with those characteristic of witchcraft and necromancy. Dr. Dee was one of the great ones in the annals of necromancy.
"As he (Dee) was one day in November, 1582, engaged in ... devout exercises, he says that there appeared to him the angel Uriel at the west window of his Museum, who gave him a translucent stone or chrystal, of a curious form, that had the quality, when Intently surveyed, of presenting apparitions, and even emitting sounds, in consequence of which the observer could hold conversations, ask questions and receive answers from the figures he saw in the mirror. It was often necessary that the stone should be turned one way and another in different positions, before the person who consulted it gained the right focus; and then the objects to be observed would sometimes shew themselves on the surface of the stone, and sometimes in different parts of the room by virtue of the action of the stone. It had also this peculiarity, that only one person, having been named a seer, could see the figures exhibited, and hear the voices that spoke, though there might be various persons in the room. It appears that the person who discerned these visions must have his eyes and his ears uninterruptedly engaged in the affair, so that, as Dee experienced, to render the communication effectual, there must be two human beings concerned in the scene, one of them to describe what he saw, and to recite the dialogue that took place, and the other immediately to commit to paper all that his partner dictated. Dee for some reason chose for himself^ the part of the amanuensis, and had to seek for a companion, who was to watch the stone, and repeat to him whatever he saw and heard.
"It happened opportunely that, a short time before Dee received this gift from on high, he contracted a familiar intercourse with one Edward Kelly of Worcestershire, whom he found specially qualified to perform the part which it was necessary to Dee to have adequately filled. Kelly was an extraordinary character, and in some respects exactly such a person as Dee wanted. He was just twenty-eight years younger than the memorable personage, who now received him as an inmate, and was engaged in his service at a stipulated salary of fifty pounds a year. . . .
"The first record of their consultations with the supramundane spirits, was of the date of December 2, 1581, at Lexden Heath, in the county of Essex, and from this time they went on in a regular series of consultations with and enquiries from these miraculous visitors, a great part of which will appear to the uninitiated extremely puerile and ludicrous, but which were committed to writing with the most scrupulous exactness by Dee, the first part still existing in manuscript, but the greater portion from 28 May 1583 to 1608, with some interruptions, having been committed to the press by Dr. Meric Cassubon in a well-sized folio in 1659, under the title of ’A true and Faithful Relation of what passed between Dr. John Dee and some spirits, tending, had it succeeded, to a general alteration of most states and kingdoms of the world/ " *
1 Godwin, William: "Lives of the Necromancers." London, 1834, pp. 376380. For the further use of the stone, see p. 382. See also Dixon, W. Hepworth: "New America." Philadelphia, 1867, pp. 362-4. See also Smith, Lucy: op. tit., p. 211. See also Howe: op. cit., pp. 215-6. The following addendum to the story is not in any sense foreign to the story of the Mormon prophet:
"Kelly at length started a very extraordinary proposition. Kelly, as an interpreter to the spirits, and being the only person who heard and saw anything, we may presume made them say whatever he pleased. Kelly and Dee had both of them wives. Kelly did not always live harmoniously with the partner of his bed. He sometimes went so far as to say that he hated her. Dee was more fortunate. His wife was a person of good family, and had hitherto been irreproachable in her demeanour. The spirits one day revealed to Kelly that they must henceforth have their wives in common. The wife of Kelly was barren, and this curse could not otherwise be removed. Having started the proposition, Kelly played the reluctant party. Dee, who was pious and enthusiastic, inclined to submit. He first indeed started the notion that it could only be meant that they should live in mutual harmony and good understanding. The spirits protested against this, and insisted upon the literal interpretation." 1 On April 6, 1830, a formal organisation for the Mormon church was effected at the home of Peter Whitmer at Fayette, Seneca County, New York. We are told that according to Orson Pratt it was just eighteen hundred years to a day after the resurrection of Jesus. It was not long before persecution became so bitter that it was necessary to remove to another section of the country. Joseph, who had been preaching in various places in New York, had received a revelation commanding
"Parley P. Pratt, Ziba Peterson, Peter Whitmer, and Oliver Cowdery, to take a mission to Missouri, preaching by the way. . . . On their route, they passed through 1 Godwin: op. cit., pp. 387-8.
Kirtland, where they preached a short time, and roused up a branch of twenty or thirty members. Before leaving this place, they addressed a letter to Joseph desiring him to send an Elder to preside over the branch which they had raised up. Accordingly Joseph despatched John Whitmer to take the presidency of the Church at Kirtland; and when he arrived there, those appointed to go to Missouri, proceeded on their mission, preaching and baptising as before." 1
It was not long, however, before Smith himself was summoned to Kirtland, to which place he moved with his family and a number of adherents. Among the most zealous of his new followers was the Rev. Sidney Rigdon, a preacher of considerable power and fame, who had been associated formerly with the Disciples or Campbellites.
"On Joseph’s arrival at Kirtland, he formed a Church consisting of nearly one hundred members, who were, in general, good brethren, though a few of them had imbibed some very erroneous ideas, being greatly deceived by a singular form, which manifested itself among them in strange contortions of the visage, and sudden unnatural contortions of the body. This they supposed to be a display of the power of God. Shortly after Joseph arrived, he called the church together, in order to show them the difference between the Spirit of God and the spirit of the devil. He said, if a man arose in meeting to speak, and was seized with a kind of paroxysm that drew his face o and limbs, in a violent and unnatural manner, which made him appear to be in pain, and if he gave utterance to strange sounds, which were incomprehensible to his audience, they might rely upon it, that he had the spirit of the devil. But on the contrary, when a man speaks by the Spirit of God, he speaks from the abundance of 1 Smith, Lucy: op. cit., p. 169. his heart his mind is filled with intelligence, and even should he be excited, it does not cause him to do anything ridiculous or unseemly. He then called upon one of the brethren to speak, who arose, and made the attempt, but was immediately seized with a kind of spasm, which drew his face, arms, and fingers in a most astonishing manner.
"Hyrum, 1 by Joseph’s request, laid hands on the man, whereupon he sunk back in a state of complete exhaustion. Joseph then called upon another man to speak, who stood leaning in an open window. This man also attempted to speak, but was thrown forward into the house, prostrate, unable to utter a syllable.
"These, together with a few other examples of the same kind, convinced the brethren of the mistake under which they had been labouring." 2 For some time prior to Smith’s coming to Kirtland, the preaching of the Rev. Sidney Rigdon and others of his type had been gradually arousing a state of religious excitement. So great was the general public interest that people came from the surrounding country much as they did although not in as great numbers in the days of the Kentucky revival.
"On Sundays the roads would be thronged with people, some in whatever vehicles they owned, some on horseback, and some on foot, all pressing forward to hear the expounders of the new Gospel, and to learn the particulars of the new Bible." 3
Frederick G. Mather in an article in Lippincott’s Magazine on "The Early Days of Mormonism" gives an interesting account from the pen of John Barr of Cleve1
1 One of Smith’s brothers.
2 Smith, Lucy: op. cit., pp. 171-2. ’
3 Linn, William Alexander: "The Story of the Mormons." New York, 1902, p. 123. land, "an authority upon matters of Western Reserve history," describing the magnetic powers as a preacher of Sidney Rigdon, who proved himself, for a time at least, a valuable asset to Mormonism:
"In 1830 I was deputy sheriff, and being at Willoughby on official business determined to go to Mayfield, which is seven or eight miles up the Chagrin River, and hear Cowdery and Rigdon on the revelations of Mormonism. Varnam J. Card, the lawyer, and myself started early Sunday morning on horseback. We found the woods crowded with people going in the same direction.
"Services in the church were opened by Cowdery, with prayer and singing, in which he thanked God fervently for the new revelation. He related the manner of finding the golden plates of Nephi. He was followed by Rigdon, a famous Baptist preacher well known throughout the eastern part of the Western Reserve, and also in Western Pennsylvania. His voice and manner were always imposing. He was regarded as an eloquent man at all times, and now he seemed fully aroused. He said he had not been satisfied in his religious yearnings until now. At night he had often been unable to sleep, walking and praying for more light and comfort in his religion. While in the midst of this agony, he heard of the revelation of Joe Smith, which Oliver Cowdery had explained. Under this his soul suddenly found peace. It filled all his aspirations.
"At the close of a long harangue in this earnest manner, during which every one present was silent, though very much affected, he inquired whether any one desired to come forward and be immersed. Only one man arose. This was an aged dead-beat by the name of Cahoon, who occasionally joined the Shakers, and lived on the country generally.
"The place selected for immersion was in a clear pool in the river above the bridge, around which was a beautiful rise of ground on the west side for the audience. On the east bank was a sharp bluff and some stumps, where Mr. Card and myself stationed ourselves. The time for baptism was fixed at two p.m. Long before this hour the spot was surrounded by as many people as could have a clear view. Rigdon went into the pool, which, at the deepest, was about four feet, and after a suitable address with prayer, Cahoon came forward and was immersed. Standing in the water Rigdon gave one of his most .powerful exhortations. The assembly became greatly affected. As he proceeded he called for converts to step forward. They came through the crowd in rapid succession to the number of thirty and were immersed, with no intermission on the part of Rigdon.
"Mr. Card was apparently the most radical, stoical of men; of a clear, unexcitable temperament, with unorthodox and vague religious ideas. While the exciting scene was transpiring below us in the valley and in the pool, the faces of the crowd expressing the most intense emotion, Mr. Card suddenly seized my arm and said, ’Take me away.’ Taking his arm I saw his face was so pale that he seemed to be about to faint. His frame trembled as we walked away and mounted our horses. We rode a mile toward Willoughby before a word was said. Rising the hill out of the valley, he seemed to recover and said, ’Mr. Barr, if you had not been there I certainly should have gone into the water.’ He said the impulse was irresistible." 1 Another description is from the pen of Professor Turner:
"During the fall and winter of ’30 and ’31, Kirtland was continually crowded with visitors, who came from all quarters to inquire after the ’New Religion.’ About this
1 Mather, Frederick S.: "The Early Days of Mormonism." Lippincott’s zine, 1880, p. 206. Quoted by Kennedy: op. cit. t pp. 92-94. time, as we are informed by credible historians and eyewitnesses, ’many in the church became very visionary and had divers operations of the Spirit/ They saw wonderful lights in the air and on the ground and had many miraculous visions and experiences. Their conduct grew more and more eccentric and absurd. Sometimes they imitated the grotesque antics of the wild Indian, in knocking down, 1 scalping and tearing out the bowels of his victim, thus anticipating the hour of their fancied mission to those lost sons of Jacob.
"Again they ran into the fields, mounted upon stumps, and while absorbed in vision, and insensible to all around them, they plunged into the water of baptism or harangued the imaginary multitudes by whom they thought they were surrounded. Some professed to receive letters direct from heaven, written on stones or parchment, in characters which they alone had power to translate, and vanished as soon as the work was performed. Others fell into a trance, and continued apparently lifeless for a long time, and woke only to relate the wonders they had seen touching the future glory of the saints, and the destruction of the unbelieving. Sometimes their faces, bodies and limbs were violently distorted and convulsed, until they fell prostrate on the ground. Indeed, it is reported by an eye-witness, that at first the laying hands on the heads of their converts to confer the gift of the Holy Spirit, generally produced an instantaneous prostration of both body and mind, often followed by a wonderful gift of tongues, as was supposed, in Indian dialects; which7 Indeed, none could understand except by direct inspiration. Some, in imitation of the prophet, received magic stones, through which they professed to see and describe not only the persons but the dress and employments of persons hundreds of miles distant." 2
1 Cf. the Shaker "Warring Gift."
2 Turner: "Mormonism in All Ages." Pp. 27-8. See also Howe: op. cit., p. 103.
Scenes like this were numerous. The preachers were fervent, the people "eager for the supernatural," and the message definite and dogmatic. The Shakers, the Campbellites, and a host of others, including Dilks, the "Leatherwood God," 1 who had declared himself as the Messiah, at a camp-meeting in Ohio in 1828 and who had been received by many with enthusiasm, had paved the way for Mormonism. The time was indeed at hand.
It was in February, 1831, that the prophet and his family came to Kirtland. He had been busy with a new translation of the Old Testament. It was Smith’s ability to translate the Scriptures from any language which to Sidney Rigdon’s mind was one of the proofs of the supernatural origin of the prophet’s mission. While busied thus apparently without the aid of the Urim and Thummim, he received a revelation that Kirtland "is the place of gathering and from that place to the Pacific Ocean, God has" declared to himself, not only in time, but through eternity, and he has given it to us and our children, not only while time lasts, but we shall have it again in eternity, as you will see by one of the commandments received day before yesterday." 2 The expectations of the Latter Day Saints ran at this time very high. Martin Harris, who had contributed so liberally to the material welfare of the Golden Bible, went so far as to tell a hotel man at Kirtland the proprietor of the Painesville tavern, in the bar room of which he had established himself as a preacher of the new gospel that "all who accepted Mormonism and believed, would see Christ in .fifteen years, and all who did not would be damned," 3
1 Turner: op. cit., p. 98.
2 Kennedy, J. H.: "The Early Days of Mormonism," etc. New York, 1888, p. 84.
3 Quoted from the Painesville Telegraph of March 15, 1831, in Kennedy: op. cit., p. 88. On another occasion Harris is said to have prophesied two coming events, the first of which was
’That Palmyra would be destroyed, and left utterly without inhabitants, before the year 1836. The other prediction was that before 1838 the Mormon Faith would so extensively prevail, that it would modify our national government, and there would be at that period no longer any occupant of the presidential chair of the United States." 1
Smith now faced the very practical problem of authority, in view of the fact that Harris, Cowdery and others began to claim the gifts of revelation and prophecy and to exercise their gifts in such a manner as to suggest the possibility of conflict with the revelations which he himself received. A timely revelation received at this juncture by Smith was of considerable help in doing away with the difficulty:
"Behold, I say unto thee, Oliver, that it shall be given unto thee that thou shalt be heard by the church in all things whatsoever thou shalt teach them by the Comforter, concerning the revelations and commandments which I have given. But behold, verily, verily, I say unto thee, no one shall be appointed to receive revelations in this church excepting my servant Joseph Smith, Jr., for he receiveth them even as Moses, and thou shalt be obedient unto the things which I shall give unto him, even as Aaron to declare faithfully the commandments and the revelations, with power and authority over the church." 2 On January 22, 1833, the gift of tongues appeared. From then on, especially in the making of proselytes, this gift played an important part in the history of Mormonism.
1 Clark: op. cit., p. 348. See also Howe: op. cit., pp. 14-15.
2 Kennedy: op. cit., p. 89.
"Whether the languages now introduced differed materially from those practised two or three years previous (and pronounced to be of the Devil) we have not been informed. It appears that this last device was all that was lacking to make the system perfect. They had long before professed to be fully endowed with the power of healing all manner of diseases, discerning spirits, and casting out devils. But a succession of failures had rendered them rather stale, and given distrust to many of the faithful. A new expedient was therefore indispensably necessary, in order to revive the drooping spirits of the deluded, and at the same time, insure a new crop of converts. The scheme proved eminently successful. Hundreds were soon convinced of the truth of the whole, by hearing of and seeing the manner in which the ’tongues’ were performed, although the trick would seem more susceptible of discovery than any previous one. This gift was not confined to the Elders and high priests, who in other respects were supposed to have a superabundant share of ’the spirit’; but nearly all the proselytes, both; old and. young, could show their faith by speaking with tongues. And it would appear from all the facts which we have been able to gather upon this subject, that if this gift were not supernaturally bestowed, it required but a few moments’ instruction from a priest, to render his pupil expert in various dead languages, which could never be understood by man or beast, except a supernatural power was at the instant given to some one present to interpret it. They sometimes professed to believe that these ’tongues’ were the same which were ’confounded’ at the building of Babel.
"Some curious particulars are related respecting these blasphemous practices by a Mr. Higby, who was eight months an Elder in the Mormon church. . . .
"About the tenth of April following, R. Cahoon and D. Patton came again to the place. A meeting was called, and previous to the meeting, they said that some one would speak with tongues, before they left the place. Accordingly he set himself to work at that meeting to verify his prophecy. During the meeting he said, ’Father H., if you will rise in the name of Jesus Christ, you can speak in Tongues.’ He arose immediately, hesitated and said, ’my faith fails me I have not faith enough.’ Said Patton, ’you have speak in the name of Jesus Christ make some sound as you list, without further thought, and God will make it a language.’ The old gentleman, after considerable urging, spoke and made some sounds, I which were pronounced to be a correct tongue. Several others spoke in a similar manner, and among them was myself. I spoke as I listed, not knowing what I said, yet it was declared to be a tongue. The sound of the words used by some in speaking in tongues, was a medium between talking and singing and all, I am now convinced, a mere jibberish, spoken at random and without thought.
"We had another meeting shortly after, at which there were present several others, besides those of the church Cahoon spoke in unknown tongues, as he pretended, going on at considerable length, which Patton interpreted. . . . The next time these men came among us, they gave us a rule for speaking in unknown tongues, and also for interpreting what was spoken by others. . . . The rule ... is this: ’rise upon your feet and look and lean on Christ; speak or make some sound; continue to make sounds of some kind, and the Lord will make a correct tongue or language of it."
Howe further adds:
"They would frequently sing in this gibberish, forming a tune as they proceeded. The same songs, they said, would be sung when the lost tribes appeared in Zion, in Missouri." 1
1 Howe: op. cit., pp. 132-135. See also Turner: op. cit., p. 28. Kennedy: op. cit., p. 43 et seq. Clark: op. cit., p. 328. A description of one of the Kirtland meetings will convey some idea of the manner in which Mormon worship in the inner circle was conducted. There were some fifteen or twenty Elders and High Priests present. The meeting was held in a small room.
"After sundry exhortations by the priests, the Prophet himself arose and with much seeming earnestness, warned his followers to be zealous, faithful in their duties, saying ’It is our privilege to see God face to face yes, (says he) I will prophesy unto you in the name of the Lord, that the day will come when no man will be permitted to preach unless he has seen the Lord people will ask each teacher, "have you seen the face of the Lord?" and if he say, nay, they will say, away with this fellow, for we will have a man to teach us that has seen the face of the Lord.’ After a short pause he added, ’the Lord is willing we should see his glory to-day, and all that will exercise faith, shall see the Lord of Glory/ They then concluded to spend the day in fasting and prayer. Each one kept his seat with his eyes closed and his body inclined forward. Soon after Joseph says, ’Sidney (Rigdon), have you seen the Lord?’ He answered, ’I saw the image of a man pass before my face, whose locks were white, and whose countenance was exceedingly fair, even surpassing all beauty that I ever beheld.’ Then Joseph replied, ’I knew you had seen a vision, Sidney, but would have seen more, were it not for unbelief.’ Sidney confessed that his faith was weak that morning. Hiram said he had seen nearly the same as Sidney, which was pronounced by Joseph to be the Redeemer of the world. Upon this, R. Cahoon fell upon his knees, holding his hands in an erect position. In fifteen or twenty minutes he arose, and declared that he had seen the temple of Zion, filled with disciples, while the top was covered with the glory of the Lord, in the form of a cloud. Another one then placed himself in the same position, but saw no vision, his faith being weak. Joseph next passed round the room, and laid his hand upon each one, and spoke as follows, as near as the narrator can recollect:
“’Ah, man oh son oh man ah ne commene en holle goste j| en haben en glai hosanna hos anne esso milken, Jeremiah,; Ezekiel, Nephi, Lehi, St. John/ etc., etc. After adminI istering the sacrament several of the brethren were called 1 upon to arise and speak in tongues. Several of them peril formed with considerable applause. Our informant says he was at length called upon to speak or sing ’in tongues’ at his own option; preferring the latter mode, he sang, to the tune of ’Bruce’s Address’ a combination of sounds which ’astonished all present.’
"This gibberish for several months was practised almost daily, while they were about their common avocations, as well as when assembled for worship." 1 The speaking with tongues, however, sometimes had the opposite effect from that for which it was intended:
"One apostate from the church at Nauvoo, in latter days, dates the first growth of doubt in his mind from attendance upon a meeting where this ceremony was being performed. Having thorough acquaintance with the Choctaw language he suddenly arose and delivered a long address in that tongue and was followed by a brother Mormon, who gravely translated it into an account of the glories of the great temple then in course of construction.’ 2 Lieut. J. W. Gunnison, in writing of the gift of tongues among the Mormons makes the following statement:
1 Howe: op. cit., pp. 135-6.
2 Kennedy: op. cit., p. 117.
"This is not the ancient gift, whereby one addressing a people speaking a different language from himself, was enabled to talk in their own words. It is, that persons among themselves in their enthusiastic meetings, shall be ’moved by the Spirit’ to utter any set of sounds in imitation of words, and it may be, words belonging to some Indian or other language. The speaker is to know nothing of the ideas expressed, but another, with the ’gift of interpretation of tongues,’ can explain to the astonished audience all that has been said. Any sounds, of course, then, are a language known to the Lord. If one feels a desire to speak, and has difficulty to bring words forth from the thoughts of his heart, or what the spirit is about to reveal through him, he must ’rise on his feet, lean in faith in Christ, and open his lips, utter a song in such cadence as he chooses, and the spirit of the Lord will give an interpreter, and make it a language." 1 He also relates the following frequently quoted incident:
"Sometimes a ludicrous scene occurs in their meetings, arising from over-wrought enthusiasm. One is related of a woman who sprang up and spoke ’in tongues’ as follows ’Melai, Meli, Melee,’ which was immediately translated into the vernacular by a waggish young man, f who first observed that he felt ’the gift of interpretation of tongues’ sorely pressing upon him, and that she said in unknown words to herself, ’my leg, my thigh, my knee.’ For this he was called before the council; but he stoutly persisted in his ’interpretation’ being by ’the spirit,’ and they let him off with admonition." 2
Rev. Peter Cartwright, the great Methodist "backwoods preacher," after telling the story of his meeting with Joseph Smith, Jr., continues:
1 Gunnison, J. W.: "The Mormons or Latter Day Saints," etc. Philadelphia, 1852, p. 53.
2 Op. cit., p. 24.
"I then gave him the following history of an encounter I had at a camp meeting in Morgan County, some time before with some of his Mormons, and assured him I could prove all I said by thousands that were present.
"The camp meeting was numerously attended, and we had a good and gracious work of religion going on among the people. On Saturday there came some twenty or thirty Mormons to the meeting. During the intermission after the eleven o’clock sermon they collected in one corner of the encampment, and began to sing, and they sang well. As fast as the people rose from their dinners they drew up to hear the singing, and the scattering crowd drew up until a large company surrounded them. I was busy regulating matters connected with the meeting. At length, according, I have no doubt, to a preconcerted plan, an old lady Mormon began to shout, and after shouting a while she swooned away and fell into the arms of her husband. The old man proclaimed that his wife had gone into a trance, and that when she came to she would speak in an unknown tongue, and that he would interpret. This proclamation produced considerable excitement, and the multitude crowded thick around. Presently the old lady arose and began to speak in an unknown tongue, sure enough.
"Just then my attention was called to the matter. I saw in one moment that the whole manoeuvre was intended to bring the Mormons into notice, and break up the good of our meeting. I advanced instantly toward the crowd, and asked the people to give way and let me in to this old lady, who was then being held in the arms of her husband. I came right up to them, and took hold of her arm, and ordered her peremptorily to hush that gibberish; that I would have no more of it; that it was presumptuous and blasphemous nonsense. I stopped very suddenly her unknown tongue. She opened her eyes, took me by the hand, and said:
" ’My dear friend, I have a message directly from God to you.’
"I stopped her short and said, ’I will have none of your messages. If God can speak through no better medium than an old, hypocritical, lying woman, I will hear nothing of it.’" 1
Burton, the traveller, gives us the following explanation of the unknown tongues in connection with an account of his visit to Salt Lake City:
"The gift of unknown tongues which is made by some physiologists the result of an affection of the epigastric region, and by others an abnormal action of the organ of language is now apparently rarer than before. Anti-Mormon writers thus imitate the ’blatant gibberish’ which they derive directly from Irvingism: ’Eli, ele, elo, ela come, come, como reli, rele, rela, relo sela, selo, sele, selum vavo, vava, vavum sero, seri, sera, serum.’ " 2
We have noticed that in the early days of the tongues at Kirtland, the tongues were looked upon not merely as the language of inspiration, unknown and unknowable, but the tongues were frequently in a definite language. The matter of these tongues came up frequently in the course of the debates which were held from time to time by representatives of the Mormon church in her missionary activities. One instance is reported of a man who delivered a long harangue in the tongues, so long that the audience showed signs of weariness. Then one rose and interpreted as follows: "Except ye repent, ye shall be lost," whereupon one of the sons of Belial there
1 Cartwright, Peter: Autobiography. Edited by W. P. Strickland. New York, 1857, PP. 343-42
2 Burton, Richard F.: "City of the Saints." London, 1862. Second Edition, P. 325. present remarked that all he could say about the tongues was that it was a very "wordy" language. In a debate held in France in 1851 at Boulogne-sur-mer in which Elder Taylor defended the Mormon tenets against a Rev. Mr. Robertson, a Mr. Cleeve and a Mr. Cater, the last named stated that a Mormon teacher had told him
"That he had a little servant girl who spoke Hebrew to a Jew through the gift of tongues, but unfortunately the Jew said there were two kinds of Hebrew, only one of which he understood, and the child spoke the kind he did not understand." 1
We are told also that the high priest in the Endowment House ceremony, which was a later development, "first prayed in an unknown tongue, and afterwards in English." On March 27, 1834, the first Mormon temple, costing about fifty thousand dollars, was dedicated at Kirtland, Ohio. In connection with the dedicatory services Sidney Rigdon is reported to have spoken in the tongues. 2 We hear also on this occasion of Brigham Young, who:
"Not to be too far behind Joseph in the manifestations of spiritual powers, was favoured with an eloquent outburst of tongues, and made an address which neither he nor anyone else could understand, but which some brother made an attempt to translate. A pillar of fire .was seen above the temple, and supernatural sounds heard in the air.” 3 We are further told that
1 Pratt, Orson: "Series of Pamphlets." Liverpool, 1851. Last Pamphlet, p. 22.
2 "Doctrine and Covenants." Sees. I and 2, 43-51."
3 Kennedy: op. cit. t p. 152.