The Travels and Adventures of Monsieur Violet in California, Sonora, and Western Texas

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER XLII.

  Nauvoo, the holy city of the Mormons, and present capital of theirempire, is situated in the north-western part of Illinois, on the eastbank of the Mississippi, in lat. 40 deg. 35' N.; it is bounded on the north,south, and west by the river, which there forms a large curve, and isnearly two miles wide. Eastward of the city is a beautiful undulatingprairie; it is distant ten miles from Fort Madison, in Iowa, and morethan two hundred from St. Louis.

  Before the Mormons gathered there, the place was named _Commerce_, as Ihave already said, and was but a small and obscure village of sometwenty houses; so rapidly, however, have they accumulated, that thereare now, within four years of their first settlement, upwards of fifteenthousand inhabitants in the city, and as many more in itsimmediate vicinity.

  The surface of the ground upon which Nauvoo is built is very uneven,though there are no great elevations. A few feet below the soil is avast bed of limestone, from which excellent building material can bequarried, to almost any extent. A number of _tumuli_, or ancient mounds,are found within the limits of the city, proving it to have been aplace of some importance with the former inhabitants of the country.

  The space comprised within the city limits is about four miles in itsextreme length, and three in its breadth; but is very irregular in itsoutline, and does not cover so much ground as the above measurementwould seem to indicate.

  The city is regularly laid out, the streets crossing each other at rightangles, and generally of considerable length, and of convenient width.The majority of the houses are still nothing more than log cabins, butlately a great number of plank and brick houses have been erected. Thechief edifices of Nauvoo are the temple, and an hotel, called the NauvooHouse, but neither of them is yet finished; the latter is of brick, upona stone foundation, and presents a front of one hundred and twenty feet,by sixty feet deep, and is to be three stories high, exclusive of thebasement. Although intended chiefly for the reception and entertainmentof strangers and travellers, it contains, or rather will contain, asplendid suite of apartments for the particular accommodation of theprophet Joe Smith, and his heirs and descendants for ever.

  The privilege of this accommodation he pretends was granted to him bythe Lord, in a special revelation, on account of his services to theChurch. It is most extraordinary that the Americans, imbued withdemocratic sentiments and with such an utter aversion to hereditaryprivileges of any kind, could for a moment be blinded to the selfishnessof the prophet, who thus easily provided for himself and his posterity apalace and a maintenance.

  The Mormon temple is a splendid structure of stone, quarried within thebounds of the city; its breadth is eighty feet, and its length onehundred and forty, independent of an outer court of thirty feet, makingthe length of the whole structure one hundred and seventy feet. In thebasement of the temple is the baptismal font, constructed in imitationof the famous brazen sea of Solomon; it is supported by twelve oxen,well modelled and overlaid with gold. Upon the sides of the font, inpanels, are represented various scriptural subjects, well painted. Theupper story of the temple will, when finished, be used as a lodge-roomfor the Order Lodge and other secret societies. In the body of thetemple, where it is intended that the congregation shall assemble, aretwo sets of pulpits, one for the priesthood, and the other for thegrandees of the church.

  The cost of this noble edifice had been defrayed by tithing the wholeMormon church. Those who reside at Nauvoo and are able to labour, havebeen obliged to work every tenth day in quarrying stone, or upon thebuilding of the temple itself. Besides the temple, there are in Nauvootwo steam saw-mills, a steam flour-mill, a tool-factory on a largescale, a foundry, and a company of considerable wealth, fromStaffordshire, have also established there a manufacture ofEnglish china.

  The population of the holy city itself is rather a mixed kind. Thegeneral gathering of the saints has, of course, brought together men ofall classes and characters. The great majority of them are uneducatedand unpolished people, who are undoubtedly sincere believers in theprophet and his doctrines. A great proportion of them consist ofconverts from the English manufacturing districts, who were easilypersuaded by Smith's missionaries to exchange their wretchedness at homefor ease and plenty in the promised land. These men are devotedlyattached to the prophet's will, and obey his orders as they would thoseof God himself.

  These aliens can, by the law of Illinois, vote after six months'residence in the state, and they consequently vote blindly, giving theirvotes according to the will of Joe Smith. To such an extent does hiswill influence them, that at the election in Nauvoo (1842) there werebut six votes against the candidates he supported. Of the Mormons, Ibelieve the majority to be ignorant, deluded men, really and earnestlydevoted to their new religion. But their leaders are men of intellect,who profess Mormonism because of the wealth, titles[30], rank, and powerwhich it procures them.

  [Footnote 30: As I have mentioned the word _titles_, I must make myselfunderstood. There are certain classes of individuals in the UnitedStates who, by their own fortune, education, and social position, couldnot be easily brought over to Mormonism. Joe Smith, as a founder of asect, has not only proved himself a great man, but that he perfectlyunderstands his countrymen, and, above all, their greediness for anykind of distinction which can nominally raise them above the commonherd, for it is a fact that no people hate the word equality more thanthe American. Joe Smith has instituted titles, dignities, and officescorresponding to those of the governments in the Old World. He has notyet dared to make himself a king, but he has created a nobility thatwill support him when he thinks proper to assume the sovereign title.Thus he has selected individuals expressly to take care of the Church;these form the order of the Templars, with their grand masters, &c., &c.He has organised a band of soldiers, called _Danites_, a sacredbattalion--the _celeres_ of Romulus--these are all _comites_ or counts;their chiefs are _conductors_, or dukes. Then follow the pontiffs, thebishops, &c., &c. This plan has proved to answer well, as it has givento Mormonism many wealthy individuals from the Eastern States, whoaccepted the titles and came over to Europe to act as emissaries fromJoe, under the magnificent titles of Great Commander, Prince of Zion,Comte de Jerusalem, Director of the Holy College, &c., &c.] As amilitary position, Nauvoo, garrisoned by twenty or thirty thousandfanatics, well armed and well supplied with provisions, would be mostformidable. It is unapproachable upon any side but the east, and therethe nature of the ground (boggy) offers great obstacles to any besiegingoperations. It is Smith's intention to congregate his followers there,until he accumulates a force that can defy anything that can be broughtagainst him.

  Nauvoo is a Hebrew word, and signifies a beautiful habitation for a man,carrying with it the idea of rest. It is not, however, considered by theMormons as their final home, but as a resting-place; they only intend toremain there till they have gathered a force sufficient to enable themto conquer Independence (Missouri), which, according to them, _is one ofthe most fertile, pleasant, and desirable countries on the face of theearth, possessing a soil unsurpassed by any region_. Independence theyconsider their Zion, and they there intend to rear their great temple,the corner stone of which is already laid. There is to be the greatgathering-place for all the saints, and, in that delightful and healthycountry, they expect to find their Eden, and build their New Jerusalem.

  What passed between Joe Smith and myself I feel not at liberty todisclose; in fact, publicity would interfere with any future plans. Iwill only say, that the prophet received me with the greatestcordiality, and confirmed the offers which his agents had made to mewhen I was among the Comanches. When, however, I came to the point, andwished to ascertain whether the Mormons would act up to the promises oftheir leaders, I perceived, to my great disappointment, that the "means"at least for the present--the operative means--were not yet ready to beput in motion. According to him, the Foxes, Osages, Winnebegoes, Sioux,and Mennonionie Indians would act for him at a moment's notice; and, onmy visiting the Foxes to ascertain the truth of these assert
ions, Idiscovered that they had indeed promised to do so, provided that,previously, the Mormons should have fulfilled certain promises to them,the performance of which I knew was not yet in the power of the Mormons.

  In the meanwhile, I heard from Joe Smith himself how God had selectedhim to obtain and be the keeper of the divine bible; and the reader willform his own idea of Joe Smith by the narrative. The day appointed wasthe 22nd of September, and Joe told me that on that day--

  "He arose early in the morning, took a one-horse waggon of some one thathad stayed overnight at his house, and, accompanied by his wife,repaired to the hill which contained the book. He left his wife in thewaggon by the road, and went alone to the hill, a distance of thirty orforty rods. He then took the book out of the ground, hid it in a treetop, and returned home. The next day he went to work for some time inthe town of Macedon, but about ten days afterwards, it having beensuggested that some one had got his book, his wife gave him notice ofit; upon which, hiring a horse, he returned home in the afternoon,stayed just time enough to drink a cup of tea, went in search of hisbook, found it safe, took off his frock, wrapt it round his treasure,put it under his arm, and ran all the way home, a distance of about twomiles. He said he should think that, being written on plates of gold, ifweighed sixty pounds, but, at all events, was sure it was not less thanforty. On his return he was attacked by two men in the woods, knockedthem both down, made his escape, and arrived safe at home withhis burden."

  The above were the exact words of Smith, to which he adds, somewhere inhis translation of the book, that had it not been for the supernaturalvirtues of the stone he carried with him, virtues which endowed him withdivine strength and courage, he would never have been able to undergothe fatigues and conquer the obstacles he encountered during thatfrightful night.

  Thus Smith gets possession of his precious manuscript. But, alas! 'tiswritten in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Joe calls to his assistance thewonderful stone, "the gift of God," and peeping hastily through it, hesees an angel pointing somewhere towards _a miraculous pair ofspectacles!!!_ Yes, two polished pieces of crystal were the humble meansby which the golden plates were to be rendered comprehensible. By thebye, the said spectacles are a heavy, ugly piece of workmanship of thelast century; they are silver-mounted, and bear the maker's name,plainly engraved, "Schneider, Zurich."

  The Book of Mormon was published in the year 1830, Since that period itsbelievers and advocates have propagated its doctrines and absurditieswith a zeal worthy of a better cause. Through every State of the Union,and in Canada, the apostles of this wild delusion have disseminated itsprinciples and duped thousands to believe it true. They have crossed theocean, and in England have made many converts: recently some of theirmissionaries have been sent to Palestine. Such strenuous exertionshaving been, and still being made, to propagate the doctrines of thisbook, and such fruits having already appeared from the labours of itsfriends, it becomes a matter of some interest to investigate the historyof this strange delusion, and, although it does not deserve it, treatthe subject seriously.

  The Book of Mormon purports to be the record or history of a certainpeople who inhabited America previous to its discovery by Columbus.According to the book, this people were the descendants of one Lehi, whocrossed the ocean from the eastern continent to that of America. Theirhistory and records, containing prophecies and revelations, wereengraven, by the command of God, on small plates, and deposited in thehill Comora, which appears to be situated in Western New York. Thus waspreserved an account of this race (together with their religious creed)up to the period when the descendants of Laman, Lemuel, and Sam, whowere the three eldest sons of Lehi, arose and destroyed the descendantsof Nephi, who was the youngest son. From this period the descendants ofthe eldest sons "dwindled in unbelief," and "became a dark, loathsome,and filthy people." These last-mentioned are the presentAmerican Indians.

  The plates above-mentioned remained in their depository until 1827, whenthey were found by Joseph Smith, jun., who was directed in the discoveryby the angel of the Lord. On these plates were certain hieroglyphics,said to be of the Egyptian character, which Smith, by the direction ofGod, being instructed by Inspiration as to their meaning, proceeded totranslate.

  It will be here proper to remark, that a narrative so extraordinary asthat contained in the Book of Mormon, translated from hieroglyphics, ofwhich even the most learned have but a limited knowledge, and that too,by an ignorant man, who pretended to no other knowledge of thecharacters than what he derived from inspiration, requires more thanordinary evidence to substantiate it. It will, therefore, be our purposeto inquire into the nature and degree of testimony which has been givento the world to substantiate the claims of this extraordinary book.

  In the first place, the existence of the plates themselves has eversince their alleged discovery been in dispute. On this point it would beextremely easy to give some proofs, by making an exhibition of them tothe world. If they are so ancient as they are claimed to be, anddesigned for the purpose of transmitting the history of a people, and ifthey have lain for ages deposited In the earth, their appearance wouldcertainly indicate the fact. What evidence, then, have we of the_existence_ of these plates? Why, none other than the mere _dictum_ ofSmith himself and the certificates of eleven other individuals, who saythat they have seen them; and upon this testimony we are required tobelieve this most extraordinary narrative.

  Now, even admitting, for the sake of argument, that these witnesses areall honest and credible men, yet what would be easier than for Smith todeceive them? Could he not easily procure plates and inscribe thereon aset of characters, no matter what, and exhibit them to the intendedwitnesses as genuine? What would be easier than thus to impose on theircredulity and weakness? And if it were necessary to give them theappearances of antiquity, a chemical process could effect the matter.But we do not admit that these witnesses were honest; for six of them,after having made the attestation to the world that they had seen theplates, left the Church, thus contradicting that to which they hadcertified. And one of these witnesses, Martin Harris, who is frequentlymentioned In the Book of Covenants--who was a high-priest of theChurch--who was one of the most infatuated of Smith's followers--whoeven gave his property in order to procure the publication of the Bookof Mormon, afterwards seceded from the Church. Smith, in speaking of himin connection with others, said that they were so far beneath contempt,that a notice of them would be too great a sacrifice for a gentlemanto make.

  Some of the Mormons have said that a copy of the plates was presented toProfessor Anthon, a gentleman standing in the first rank as a classicalscholar, and that he attested to the faithfulness of the translation ofthe Book of Mormon. Now, let us read what the professor himself has tosay on this matter. In a letter recently published he expresseshimself thus:--

  "Many years ago, the precise date I do not now recollect, aplain-looking countryman called upon me, with a letter from Dr. SamuelL. Mitchell, requesting me to examine and give my opinion upon a certainpaper, marked with various characters, which the doctor confessed hecould not decipher, and which the bearer of the note was very anxious tohave explained. A very brief examination of the paper convinced me thatit was not only a mere hoax, but a very clumsy one. The characters werearranged in columns, like the Chinese mode of writing, and presented themost singular medley I ever beheld. Greek, Hebrew, and all sorts ofletters, more or less distorted, either through unskilfulness or fromactual design, were intermingled with sundry delineations of half-moons,stars, and other natural objects, and the whole ended in a ruderepresentation of the Mexican zodiac. The conclusion was irresistible,that some cunning fellow had prepared the paper in question, for thepurpose of imposing upon the countryman who brought it, and I told theman so, without any hesitation. He then proceeded to give me the historyof the whole affair, which convinced me that he had fallen into thehands of some sharper, while it left me in great astonishment at hissimplicity."

  The professor also states that he gave his opinion in writing t
o theman, that "the marks on the paper appeared to be merely an imitation ofvarious alphabetic characters, and had no meaning at all connectedwith them."

  The following letter, which I received, relative to the occupation ofJoe Smith, as a treasure-finder, will probably remind the reader of thecharacter of Dousterswivel, in Walter Scott's tale of the Antiquary. Onecould almost imagine that either Walter Scott had borrowed from Joe, orthat Joe had borrowed from the great novelist.

  "I first became acquainted with Joseph Smith, senior, and his family, in1820. They lived at that time in Palmyra, about one mile and a half frommy residence. A great part of their time was devoted to digging formoney; especially in the night-time, when, they said, the money could bemost easily obtained. I have heard them tell marvellous tales respectingthe discoveries they have made in their peculiar occupation ofmoney-digging. They would say, for instance, that in such and such aplace, in such a hill, or a certain man's farm, there were depositedkegs, barrels, and hogsheads of coined silver and gold, bars of gold,golden images, brass kettles filled with gold and silver, goldcandlesticks, swords, &c., &c. They would also say, that nearly all thehills in this part of New York were thrown by human hands, and in themwere large caves, which Joseph, jun., could see, by placing a stone ofsingular appearance in his hat, in such a manner as to exclude alllight; at which time they pretended he could see all things within andunder the earth; that he could spy within the above-mentioned caveslarge gold bars and silver plates; that he could also discover thespirits in whose charge these treasures were, clothed in ancientdresses. At certain times, these treasures could be obtained veryeasily; at others, the obtaining of them was difficult. The facility ofapproaching them depended in a great measure on the state of the moon.New moon and Good Friday, I believe, were regarded as the mostfavourable times for obtaining these treasures. These tales, of course,I regarded as visionary. However, being prompted by curiosity, I atlength accepted their invitation to join them in their nocturnalexcursions. I will now relate a few incidents attending these nocturnalexcursions.

  "Joseph Smith, sen., came to me one night, and told me that Joseph,jun., had been looking in his stone, and had seen, not many rods fromhis house, two or three kegs of gold and silver, some feet under thesurface of the earth, and that none others but the elder Joseph andmyself could get them. I accordingly consented to go, and early in theevening repaired to the place of deposit. Joseph, sen., first made acircle, twelve or fourteen feet in diameter: 'This circle,' said he,'contains the treasure.' He then stuck in the ground a row ofwitch-hazel sticks around the said circle, for the purpose of keepingoff the evil spirits. Within this circle he made another, of about eightor ten feet in diameter. He walked around three times on the peripheryof this last circle, muttering to himself something I could notunderstand. He next stuck a steel rod in the centre of the circles, andthen enjoined profound silence, lest we should arouse the evil spiritwho had the charge of these treasures. After we had dug a trench ofabout five feet in depth around the rod, the old man, by signs andmotions, asked leave of absence, and went to the house to inquire of theson the cause of our disappointment. He soon returned, and said, thatJoe had remained all the time in the house, looking in his stone andwatching the motions of the evil spirit; that he saw the spirit come upto the ring, and as soon as it beheld the cone which we had formedaround the rod, it caused the money to sink. We then went into thehouse, and the old man observed that we had made a mistake in thecommencement of the operation; 'If it had not been for that,' said he,'we should have got the money.'

  "At another time, they devised a scheme by which they might satiatetheir hunger with the flesh of one of my sheep. They had seen in myflock of sheep a large, fat, black wether. Old Joseph and one of theboys came to me one day, and said, that Joseph, jun., had discoveredsome very remarkable and valuable treasures, which could be procuredonly in one way. That way was as follows:--that a black sheep should betaken on the ground where the treasures were concealed; that, aftercutting its throat, it should be led around a circle while bleeding;this being done, the wrath of the evil spirit would be appeased, thetreasures could then be obtained, and my share of them would befour-fold. To gratify my curiosity, I let them have the sheep. Theyafterwards informed me that the sheep was killed pursuant tocommandment; but, as there was some mistake in the process, it did nothave the desired effect. This, I believe, is the only time they evermade money-digging a profitable business. They, however, had constantlyaround them a worthless gang, whose employment it was to dig for moneyat night, and who, during day, had more to do with mutton than money.

  "When they found that the better classes of people of this vicinitywould no longer put any faith in their schemes for digging money, theythen pretended to find a gold bible, of which they said the Book ofMormon was only an introduction. This latter book was at length fittedfor the press. No means were taken by any individual to suppress itspublication; no one apprehended danger from a book originating withindividuals who had neither influence, honesty, nor honour. The twoJosephs and Hiram promised to show me the plates after the Book ofMormon was translated; but afterwards, they pretended to have receivedan express commandment, forbidding them to show the plates. Respectingthe manner of obtaining and translating the Book of Mormon, theirstatements were always discordant. The elder Joseph would say, that hehad seen the plates, and that he knew them to be gold; at other times hewould say, they looked like gold; and at other times he asserted he hadnot seen the plates at all.

  "I have thus briefly stated a few of the facts, in relation to theconduct and character of this family of Smiths; probably sufficient hasbeen stated without my going into detail.

  "WILLIAM STAFFORD."

  The following is a curious document from one of the very individuals whoprinted the Mormon Bible:--

  "Having noticed in a late number of the _Signs of the Times_ a notice ofa work entitled 'Mormon Delusions and Monstrosities,' it occurred to methat it might, perhaps, be of service to the cause of truth to state onecircumstance, relative to the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, whichoccurred during its publication, at which time I was engaged in theoffice where it was printed, and became familiar with the men and theirprinciples, through whose agency it was 'got up.'

  "The circumstance alluded to was as follows!--We had heard much said byMartin Harris, the man who paid for the printing, and the only one inthe concern worth any property, about the wonderful wisdom of thetranslators of the mysterious plates, and we resolved to test theirwisdom. Accordingly, after putting one sheet in type? we laid it aside,and told Harris it was lost, and there would be a serious defection inthe book in consequence, unless another sheet, like the original, couldbe produced. The announcement threw the old gentleman into greatexcitement; but, after a few moments reflection, he said he would tryto obtain another. After two or three weeks, another sheet was produced,but no more like the original than any other sheet of paper would havebeen, written over by a common schoolboy, after having read, as theyhad, the manuscript preceding and succeeding the lost sheet. As might beexpected, the disclosure of this trick greatly annoyed the authors, andcaused no little merriment among those who were acquainted with thecircumstance. As we were none of us _Christians_, and only laboured forthe 'gold that perisheth,' we did not care for the delusion, only so faras to be careful to avoid it ourselves and enjoy the hoax. _Not one_ ofthe hands in the office where the wonderful book was printed ever becamea convert to the system, although the writer of this was often assuredby Harris, that if he did not, he would be destroyed in 1832.

  "T.N.S. TUCKER."

  GROTON, MAY 23, 1842.