by the six disciples. Among these were Smith's father and two brothers; of the latter Hyrum was the most intelligent, and at the time of his death held a conspicuous place in the Mormon church.

The Book of Mormon professed tc contain a history of the ancient inhabitants of America, who were a branch of the house of Israel, of the tribe of Joseph; the present tribes of North American Indians being a remnant. It asserts that the principal nation of them having fallen in battle in the fourth or fifth century of the Christian era, one of their prophets, whose name was Mormon, made an abridgment of their history, prophecies, and doctrine, which he engraved on plates of gold. Being afterward slain, the record fell into the hands of his son, Moroni, who, being hunted by his enemies, was directed to deposit the record safely in the earth, with a promise from God that it should be preserved, and brought to light in the latter days by means of a Gentile nation who should possess the land. The sacred deposit was made about the year 420, on a hill then called Cumorah, where the prophet Smith found it through the ministry of angels, and translated it by inspiration. Such is the belief of the followers of the prophet.

It was evident to the Gentiles that the Book of Mormon was the production of a mir.d far superior in spirituality and cultivation to those of Smith and his confreres, but was disfigured by ignorant men in endeavoring to adapt it to the purposes of the pretended revelation. For some time its origin was a puzzle to unbelievers, but at length "its sin found it out." The well attested fact was revealed that almost twenty years before, a highly educated clergyman of Cherry Valley, New York, married, and, with his wife, settled at New Salem, Ohio. His health there declined, and he was obliged to cease preaching. At that time the literati were engaged in the discussion of the theory that the North American Indians are descendants of the lost ten tribes of Israel. In the vicinity of New Salem were mounds erected by the ancient inhabitants of the continent. These had excited the curiosity of the invalid clergyman, and together with the discussion then going on, turned his thoughts to the subject of the Aborigines and their early history. He had a live.y imagination, and he conceived the idea of writing a sort of religion novel, having that theory for its basis. He devoted the leisure of three years to the preparation of his work, which he entitled The Manuscript Found. It was written in the quaint style of the Scriptures, to give it the antique character claimed for it. In it Mormon and Moroni figured conspicuously. It was claimed to have been translated from a record made by one of the lost nation, and to have been recovered from the earth, where it was hidden by Moroni, the son of Mormon. In this manuscript, completed about the year 1813, was given most of the pretended history found in the Book of Mormon. The writer read many chapters to his wife and neighbors, and thus he beguiled the tedious hours of ill-health in the production of a work purely imaginative.

The appearance of the Book of Mormon awakened the memory of those who had heard chapters of The Manuscript Found read by the author. Among those was his wife, then a widow, and her testimony went forth to refute the imposture. It is clear and explicit; is corrob

orated by others, and is believed by all except the dupes of the prophet. The undoubted possession of this manuscript by Smith and his co-workers is as clearly proven as the strongest circumstantial evidence can establish a fact. The interpolations by hands guided by ignorant minds are every where visible in the Book of Mormon, and that "Bible of the Latter Days," upon which the faith of almost two hundred thousand souls is at this day grounded, is unquestionably the joint production of a pious heart and highly imaginative mind, innocent of all wrong, and of scheming men who became possessed of the fiction long after the pure spirit of its author had gone to its rest in

"The bosom of his Father and his God."

With great boldness and indomitable perseverance, Smith pressed forward in his scheme for establishing a new church upon the earth, with himself its founder and head. Promises of spiritual and temporal benefit were commingled in his doctrines, revealed from time to time, and his preaching soon began to show fruit. Men of character and cultivation became his disciples. On the 6th of April, 1830, they were organized at Manchester, Ontario county, New York, under the title of "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," and in June following their first conference was held, when Smith found himself at the head of a visible church of about thirty people. This was the grain of mustard seed now become a large and flourishing shrub.

Persecution began with the first organization of the Mormon church. A dam cast across a stream of water by Smith, for baptismal purposes, was destroyed by some of the people in the vicinity, and the prophet was boldly charged with robbery, swindling, and lying, and was menaced with personal injury. With the cunning of a shrewd tactician, Smith meekly acknowledged his past sins, plead his repentance, and called God to witness his present purity of life. This disarmed violence, if not opposition. Yet the future appeared lowering, and from that time the eyes of the "Saints" were turned toward the more generous soil of the West. Oliver Cowdrey, a schoolmaster, and Sidney Rigdon, and Parly B. Pratt, ready writers and fluent speakers, who had been preaching heterodoxy in Pennsylvania and Ohio, had embraced the Mormon faith, and soon arrangements were made to plant the church on the borders of the Western wilderness. In January, 1831, a revelation was made, commanding the Saints to emigrate to Kirtland, Ohio, where Pratt and Rigdon had already gathered over a thousand converts to receive them. Great rejoicings were had on the arrival of the prophet, and the meetings of the Saints exhibited some of the wildest phases of fanaticism. Intelligence of the new wonder spread abroad, and from all the lake country, a hundred miles distant, people flocked to see and hear the novelty. The infection spread, and many of the illiterate backwoodsmen illustrated the line,

"Those who came to scoff, remained to pray."

A new revelation was given. A command went forth to piant the new Jerusalem, where Christ was to reign with his saints, a temporal King,

deeper in the wilderness. Cowdrey explored the forests and prairles beyond the Mississippi, and made reports of the beauty and fertility of the country, as glowing as those of the Hebrew spies from among the grape-vines of Eschol. Smith and a few friends started for the land of promise. Leaving St. Louis, they penetrated the wilderness on foot to Independence, in Jackson county, Missouri, three hundred miles distant. They were charmed with the climate and the scene, and near Independence Smith chose the spot for building Zion. It was designated by a special revelation, and he immediately set about the great work. He preached fervidly to crowds of Indians, squatters, and negroes, some of whom became converts. He laid out the area for the great temple and dedicated the spot to the Lord. He established a bishop there, and after a sojourn of three weeks departed for Kirtland, accompanied by ten Elders of the church.

Kirtland was made a "Stake" or support of Zion, and it was resolved to remain there five years, until the temple in the wilderness should be built. A bank was established, with Smith for president, and Rigdon, cashier. The chief men were also partners in a mill and store, and soon the whole of the Prophet's family were raised from poverty to affluence. Joseph continued to preach in various parts of the country, proselyting and procuring money from his dupes for the ostensible purpose of building the Temple and the City of Zion. The preaching and the practice of the Saints did not always agree, and they fell into disrepute with their neighbors. Feuds arose in the body of the church, because "common men" pretended to receive revelations from God. Their meetings were often disturbed by the "Gentiles; " and on one occasion, in mid-winter, the Prophet was dragged from his bed, at a little village called Hiram, where he was residing, and after being severely handled, was tarred and feathered. Rigdon was in the same village, and similarly treated by the mob. Soon after this outrage Smith left Ohio to "fulfill the revelation" in Missouri.

A special revelation informed Smith that the spot he had selected for the Temple of Zion, was the very place where "Adam's altar was built, in the centre of the Garden of Eden." The corner stone of the Temple was laid, Saints were gathered, the forest was felled, and a city was soon seen springing up in the midst of the wilderness. All property was consecrated to the Lord; a tithe of all labor, and time, and earnings was devoted to the building of the Temple; public store-houses to receive the offerings and donations were built, and three hundred missionaries, approved by the Prophet, were sent out in all directions to preach the new gospel and gather the Saints to Zion. These apostles were success. ful, and company after company of converts crossed the broad Father of Waters and pressed forward to the New Jerusalem. In less than two years, more than twelve hundred Saints were collected in Jackson county, a motley gathering of people of almost every hue, character, and creed. There were ambitious men among them, and feuds, bitter and uncompro mising, soon disturbed the peace of the church, and jeopardized its exist tence. These were speedily hushed by menances of perils from without. The people of Jackson county became uneasy because of the clanship

exhibited by the Mormons, and resolved to expel them before they became too formidable in numbers. They were driven to the wilderness across the river, and their consecrated places fell into the hands of the "Gentiles." Smith and the heads of the church had returned to Kirtland. When the attack upon the Mormons was known, the Prophet sent a band of men called the "Army of Zion," to aid the persecuted brethren. Alone, these valiant men could not cope with the Missouri militia and armed settlers; and as Heaven did not seem disposed to assist the Saints, the expedition proved fruitless. Zion was left to the invaders This persecution was unprovoked, and the Governor of Missouri exerted all his influence for the protection of the persons and property of the Mormons.

The expelled Mormons seated themselves in Clay county, and many returned to Kirtland. In May, 1834, Smith and a company of one hundred Saints visited the distressed brethren in Missouri. On the journey through the wilderness, Smith adduced a wonderful proof of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. Among some ancient mounds was found a huge skeleton with an arrow between its ribs. It was immediately revealed to the Prophet that the skeleton was that of a Lamavite, the people treated of in the Book of Mormon; that his name was Zelph, a warrior known from Cumorah to the Rocky Mountains as one of the subjects of the great Prophet Omandagus; that the arrow was a Lamanitish one, and that the chief was killed in the last great battle fought between the Lamanites and Nephites. The people marveled, and the faith of all was strengthed.

In the autumn of 1834, Smith returned to Kirtland, and with others, entered largely into property speculations in 1835 and '36. The crash of 1837 came; the Bank of Kirtland failed; the managers were prosecuted for swindling, and Smith had a revelation commanding himself, Rigdon, and others to leave Kirtland under cover of night, and go to the brethren in Missouri. They found the church in great disorder. The numbers were rapidly increasing, and quarrels with the "Gentiles" around them often waxed into conflicts. A spirit of insubordination appeared in the church, and by revelation, Smith denounced Cowdrey, Rigdon, and other early associates. Contention within and without menaced the church with destruction, and for three years great excitement prevailed in Missouri. The Mormons and their opponents had frequent collisions, and many lives were sacrificed. Some of the fiery spirits among the Mormons openly defied the people of Missouri, and even threatened to march upon St. Louis, and lay it in ashes. These imprudent menaces exasperated the people to such a degree that the civil power could not restrain them. Tales of polygamy, debauchery, theft, and murder, were told of the Mormons, and their utter expulsion from the State was demanded. A lawless, heartless mob, under the implied sanction of the civil authority, assumed the task, and during the bleak days of November, 1838, the Mormons were driven before them like chaff on the blast, toward the Mississippi. Young and old, the sick, the feeble, delicate women and sucklings, were exposed to storms, hunger, and every privajon

In sad plight, weighed down with intensest sufferings, twelve