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"hearts to tempt the Lord their God, by altering their "words, that they did read contrary from that which I "translated, and caused to be written; and if I should bring forth the same again, they would publish that "which they had stolen, and Satan would stir up the hearts "of this generation, that they might not receive this work; "but behold the Lord said unto me, I will not suffer that "Satan shall accomplish his evil design in this thing: therefore shalt thou translate from the plates of Nephi, "until you come to that which ye have translated, which "ye have retained, and behold ye shall publish it as the "record of Nephi; and thus I will confound those who "have altered my words."

The facts respecting the lost manuscript, we have not been able to ascertain. They sometimes charged the wife of Harris with having burnt it; but this is denied by her. They were, however, taken from the possession of Harris, by a miracle wrought by Satan. The prophet has undertaken to inform the reader how the Lord got him out of this dilemma: "thou shalt translate from the plates of Nephi until thou come to that which ye have translated, which ye have retained, and behold ye shall publish it as the record of Nephi." Here the Lord, in order to counteract the works of the Devil, is represented by Smith as palming off upon the world an acknowledged falsehood,— the records of Lehi must be published as the records of Nephi. Again, how could Smith know when he came to that which he had translated, without looking at the plates, (which he could not read if he did,) for he does not pretend that there was any miracle in this operation. But who, except one fully endued with the folly and wickedness of the author," can believe for a moment, that the Lord would make known his will in such language. Again, an important record which had been made by a miracle,

kept for ages by a miracle, dug from the ground by a miracle, and translated by a miracle, was stolen by some one, so that even a miracle could not restore it, and thus were the designs of the Lord counteracted by "Satan putting it into their hearts to tempt the Lord."

CHAPTER III.

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.

"The Book of Mormon," is divided into a number of hooks, each one purporting to have been written by diffeent individuals upon plates of brass, so far as the history of Lehi, the founder of the vast settlements which were situated on the isthmus of Darien, were concerned; and upon plates of gold, so far as it relates to one Jared and his posterity, who were not confounded at the destruction of Babel, but were miraculously navigated by the hand of the Lord across the ocean. The history of Lehi and his posturity, commences in the reign of Zedekiah, King of Judh, six hundred years before the Christian era, and ends about four hundred years afterwards, which concludes the history, or fiction. The whole work is written in a miserable attempt to imitate the style of king James the first, and thesameness is such, and the tautology of phrases from the beginning to the end of the work, that no one can be leftin doubt in identifying the whole with one individual autlor. We are not aware that the style of king James is better calculated to reveal the will of Heaven, than is the

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modern and more refined language; but is a strong evidence against the work now under our consideration. If God chose to reveal himself, it would be reasonable to expect that it would be done definitely, and in such language as could be clearly understood by all; and why this long circumlocution of history? it has nothing to do with salvation. Christ, nor the inspired writers of the new testament, furnish no such example; the bare facts of the plan of redemption is set before us, and a few self evident rules to govern our moral conduct.

The first book is entitled "the book of Nephi," and commences its narrative with the departure of Lehi from Jerusalem. He had four sons, Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi; the last of whom is the principal hero in the present book, and the historian. He is a scholar, an engraver, and a worker of metals; for he says: "Behold I make an abridgment of the record of my father, upon plates of brass, which I have made with mine own hands; where fore, after that I have abridged the record of my father, then will I make an account of mine own life." Lehi dreams marvelous dreams previous to his departure from Jerusalem, and sees wonderful visions. He goes abou prophecying of the great calamities that await the Jews and warns them to flee from the wrath to come. The per ple become vindictive at his clamor, and threaten his de struction.

To rescue Lehi, and to bring about wonderful evens, God warns him to flee into the wilderness, and leave all is great possessions, his gold and his silver, and take nothng with him but his family, his tents, and provisions. A niserable condition for the wilderness indeed; no clothng, no weapons, nor tools to make them with.

The command is obeyed, and he travels until he arrives on the borders of the Red sea. The threel

der brothers become disaffected, probably from their adversity and privations, and accuse the father with being visionary, &c. Nephi represents himself as being a particular favorite with the Lord, (or his narrator does for him) for he says: "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceeding young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know the mysteries of God," &c. God blesses him, and makes a covenant with him, and promises him a choice land, which is above all others. p. 9. Nephi is commanded by his father, together with his three brothers, to go back to Jerusalem, to the house of one Laban, who has in his possession a record of the Jews, engraven on plates of brass, as he is informed by the Lord in a dream; and that it likewise contained the genealogy of his ancestors. Nephi is ready to obey, and by some little persuasion, the four brothers embark for the plates at Jerusalem. Laban, who has them in possession, refuses to give the plates to the embassadors. But Nephi was not to be foiled. Two unsuccessful attempts are made, and, the third time, Nephi finds Laban drunk within the walls of the city, and says: " And I, Nephi, beheld his sword, and I drew it forth from the sheath thereof, and the hilt thereof was of pure gold, and the workmanship thereof was exceeding fine; and I saw the blade thereof was of most precious steel." p. 12.

This is the earliest account of steel to be found in history. Alexander the Great, who lived about three hundred years after the period here spoken of, employed iron for points to his implements of war, as Josephus tells us ; and the same author says, that he complained that his weapons were so easily blunted; now, if steel had been in use, either at Rome, Jerusalem, or Damascus, at the time here spoken of, in Alexander's time it would. have been common, and he would have used it for his weapons instead of

iron. Damascus was once famous for manufacturing swords, but it was long after the Christian era. A coarse kind of steel, or iron carbonated, was used in the days of Julius Cæsar, about one hundred years before Christ.

The covenant with Nephi gives him a choice land. And again he says that his father has obtained a promise from the Lord that he should have a choice land, p. 14. Whether these are seperate lands, we are left to conjecture. If they are the same, one of the promises is gratuitous ; because when the Lord covenanted with Abraham, he promised him the land of Canaan, which should be inherited by his posterity forever. It is true, the covenant was renewed with Isaac; but he was the rightful heir. If the Lord had have covenanted with Abraham, and with Isaac, for a land, we should naturally infer that they were different countries, especially if the covenant had been made with Isaac first. Nephi says the promise of the choice land, is to him, exclusively, as can be seen on page 9; consequently each have a seperate land. But the sequel of the fiction informs us, that they all embark into one ship,-land on this side of the Atlantic, and dwell together until Lehi dies.

Nephi says, he drew forth the sword of Laban, and cut his head off, which enabled him afterwards to obtain the plates by false pretences and deception. Thus we see the author would have us believe, that the Lord sometimes accomplishes his designs by murder and lying.

Lehi receives the plates from his sons,-examines them, and finds to his great satisfaction, that he is a descendant from Joseph, the son of Jacob. "And now, when my father saw all these things, he was filled with the spirit, and began to prophecy concerning his seed; that these plates of brass should go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, which were of his seed. Wherefore, he said

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