| Harper's: "The Mormons" (1853) |
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? | Past, and the bright visions of
the peaceful Future, inspire them with indomitable perseverance and surprising
energy; and system, order, and political wisdom have there been wonderfully
developed among a heterogeneous mass gathered from many nations, and out
of almost every class of common society. In the midst of the vast solitudes of the Rocky Mountain region, where, six years ago, the Utah and the grizzly bear disputed possession, a nation has been born, and a populous city, encircled by broad fields, made richer by the tiller's culture, is full of busy men, plying the implements of almost every industrial pursuit, and is continually sending forth from its swarming hive energetic workers, to found other cities and plant other gardens in Deseret—the land of the Honey Bee. Let us consider the origin and brief history of this wonderful people. About thirty years ago, Joseph Smith, an illiterate and not over-scrupulous young man of eighteen years, residing with his parents, near Palmyra, in the interior of the State of New York, attracted the attention of his kindred and neighbors by his pretensions to the character of a favored recipient of direct revelations from the councils of the Most High. For some time his mind had been disturbed by excitements at religious meetings, when, as he asserts, while praying for light and spiritual guidance, two angels appeared to him, and announced that he was the chosen Apostle and Prophet of God, to preach the true gospel to the world in its purity and power. A few evenings afterward (September 21, 1823), he was again visited by a heavenly messenger, "whose countenance was as lightning, yet it was pleasing, innocent, and glorious." This personage announced himself as a special messenger from the Great Throne, to reveal to the chosen Apostle the hidden things of the Future, and to lead him to the depository of the written records of the lost tribes of Israel—"the progenitors of the American Indians." These records, engraved upon plates of gold, contained not only the history of the long-lost tribes, but also divine instructions pertaining to the promulgation of the true gospel, and vivid prophecies concerning the Millennial era, then about to dawn upon the world Twice during the night the angel visited the fledgeling Seer; and the following morning, while the Chosen was at work in his father's field, the Divine Instructor came and bade him go immediately to the "hill of Cumorah,"* and unearth the golden book. The task was easy, for the storms of centuries had removed the soil, and a portion of the stone box in which the plates were secured was visible. In the bottom of the box (which was carefully made air and water tight by cement), were three short pillars, and upon these were laid the sacred oracles of God. Beneath them was a breastplate, * This hill is about four miles distant from Palmyra, on the east aide of the post road leading from that village to Canandaigua, and near the little town of Manchester. The alleged place of deposit of the golden plates is marked by several trees on the western slope of the hill. [Next page] |
| [605] Within the last seven years, our Republic
has been the theatre of a spectacle unparalleled in the history of the world
in its general aspect and promised result. Two great migrations of people,
from the bosom of our confederated States to the wilderness of the farther
West, have taken place; and two distinct commonwealths, already populous
and full of progressive energy , have been founded, and added to our galaxy
of united republics. The motors which impelled these migrations were antipodal in essence, yet equally puissant in their attractive forces and interior energy. These were, acquisitiveness and religious enthusiasm, two powerful agents in moving the masses, and confined in their manifestations to no particular time, people, or creed. The former, addressing itself to the material nature of man—his to-day—makes him brave and enduring. With these qualities as a basis of action, a vast number of our political kindred have founded a flourishing State upon the far-off coast of the Pacific ocean, and are spreading the sails of trade upon the bosom of that hitherto almost solitary sea, bearing the key to the vast commercial treasures of the Oriental world. The latter, addressing itself to man's spiritual nature—his to-morrow—makes him still more brave and enduring, because the prize to be won lies beyond the events of Time, and is subject to no physical contingencies. Impelled by this higher motive, which has given martyrs to the fury of persecution in all ages, a large number of our political kindred, commingled with a greater host from the British Isles and the European continent, have congregated in fertile valleys among the rugged mountains of the interior of our continent, in the direct pathway from the elder States to the capital of the Pacific commonwealth. The memory of the fiery |
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