Chapter XXVI: Preface: To the Reader

As many false reports have been circulated respecting the following
work, and also many unlawful measures taken by evil designing
persons to destroy me, and also the work, I would inform you that I
translated, by gift and power of God, and caused to be written, one
hundred and sixteen pages, the which I took from the Book of Lehi,
which was an account abridged from the plates of Lehi, by the hand
of Mormon; which said account, some person or persons have stolen
and kept from me, notwithstanding my utmost exertions to recover it
again--and being commanded of the Lord that I should not translate
the same over again, for Satan had put it into their hearts to
tempt the Lord their God, by altering the words, that they did read
contrary from that which I translated and caused to be written;
and if I should bring forth the same words again, or, in other
words, if I should translate the same over 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 saith unto me, I will not suffer that Satan
shall accomplish his evil design in this thing: therefore thou
shalt translate from the plates of Nephi, until ye 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. I will not suffer that they shall
destroy my work; yea, I will show unto them that my wisdom is
greater than the cunning of the Devil. Wherefore, to be obedient
unto the commandments of God, I have, through his grace and mercy,
accomplished that which he hath commanded me respecting this thing.
I would also inform you that the plates of which hath been spoken,
were found in the township of Manchester, Ontario country, New York.

THE AUTHOR.

Thus from the beginning the Prophet boldly declared that which the Lord had revealed to him concerning this effort on the part of the conspirators to destroy the work; and there was not one who rose to contradict his statement, at the time, although some anti-"Mormon" writers of later years assert--but without any warrant of proof--that, enraged at the part her husband was taking in bringing forth the Book of Mormon, Mrs. Martin Harris burned the manuscript. This, however, she always denied. The first publication referring to this subject, aside from what the Prophet published in the above preface, is Howe's _History of Mormonism_, published at Painsville, Ohio, 1834. This is an anti-"Mormon" book, and of the manuscript incident it says: "The facts respecting the lost manuscripts we have not been able to ascertain. They sometimes charged the wife of Harris with having burnt it, but this is denied by her." [29]

Meantime, attention is called to the fact that there is nothing improbable in the statement of Joseph Smith; but on the contrary all the conditions obtaining in the neighborhood where he resided while bringing forth the work favor the probability of such a conspiracy as he charges: the unwarranted but repeated efforts made by his enemies to wrest the plates from his possession; the home of his parents repeatedly beset by mobs; the issue of warrants by justices of the peace for searching his wagon for the plates; and subsequently the actions of Mr. Grandin, his printer, who, after entering into contract to print the book was certainly in honor bound to render him all the assistance in his power in getting out the work in the best order possible, and protecting him in his copyrights--the actions, I say, of Mr. Grandin, in permitting Squire Cole [30] the use of his press on nights and Sundays in order to secretly publish his _Dogberry Papers_, in which was to appear a garbled edition of the Book of Mormon in weekly installments; the mass meetings held in Palmyra and vicinity in which resolutions were passed not to purchase the book should it ever issue from the press (which action caused Mr. Grandin to suspend the work of printing until the Prophet could be brought from Harmony, in Pennsylvania, to give renewed assurance of his ability to meet the price of printing); the confession of J. N. Tucker, one of the employees of Grandin's printing establishment, that after setting up a sheet in type, it was secreted and the story given out that it was lost, and that manuscript for another sheet would have to be produced, which when done is alleged to have been unlike the first [31]--these well-attested circumstances establish the fact of a wide-spread and bitter opposition to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon; and, failing in that, then a determination to prevent its acceptance as revelation from God. All these things make it very easy to believe that such a conspiracy as the Prophet describes existed against the work.

Footnotes

1. See _Life of Jesus_, Renan. (E.T.) Introduction; also _New Witnesses_, vol. I, ch. 1.

2. Matt. 24:31.

3. Malachi 4:5, 6.

4. Revelation 14:6, 7.

5. Rev. 14:8, 9, 10.

6. Rev. 18:1-3.

7. Ephesians 1:9, 10.

8. New Witnesses, Vol. I., chs. xxviii, xxix, xxx.

9. The reader will find the data for the foregoing view concerning Urim and Thummim in the following passages: Exodus 28: 29, 30; Leviticus 8:8; Numbers 27:21; Deuteronomy 33:8; I Samuel 28:6; Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65. He will also find an excellent article on the subject in Smith's _Dictionary of the Bible_, (Hackett edition), vol. IV, pp. 3,356-3,363; also in Kitto's _Encyclopaedia of Biblical Literature_, vol. II, pp. 900-903.

10. _Antiquities of the Jews_, bk. III, ch. 8.

11. Genesis 44:5-15.

12. Such is the Roman Catholic explanation of the matter; see note on passage, Gen. 44:5-15 in Douay Bible.

13. Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Art. Urim and Thummim.

14. The Cosmopolitan Magazine for September, 1896.

15. I soon found out the reason why I had received such strict charges to keep them safe, and why it was that the messenger had said that when I had done what was required at my hand, he would call for them. For no sooner was it known that I had them, than the most strenuous exertions were used to get them from me. Every stratagem that could be invented was resorted to for that purpose. The persecution became more bitter and severe than before, and multitudes were on the alert continually to get them from me if possible. But by the wisdom of God they remained safe in my hands, until I had accomplished by them what was required at my hand. When, according to arrangements, the messenger called for them, I delivered them up to him; and he has them in his charge until this day, being the second day of May, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight. (Church History, vol. I, pp. 18, 19.)

16. These records were engraven on plates which had the appearance of gold, each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were filled with engravings, in Egyptian characters, and bound together in a volume as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches in thickness, a part of which was sealed. The characters on the unsealed part were small, and beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited many marks of antiquity in its construction, and much skill in the art of engraving. Wentworth Letter, History of the Church, vol. IV, p. 537.

17. Matt. 27:40, 42.

18. Deut. 9:8-11.

19. Deut. 10:1-5.

20. Numbers 17.

21. The late Robert G. Ingersoll, for instance, asks where now the sword is with which the angel guarded "the tree of life" in Paradise; and then sarcastically answers his own question as follows: "Some angel has it in heaven!" Works, vol. 5, 372.

22. Luke 16:13, 31.

23. Acts 10:40-42.

24. John 15:26, 27.

25. Behold I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. (Moroni 10:3-5.)

26. See Plano edition of the above named work, 1880, note on page 91.

27. See preface to first edition of the Book of Mormon.

28. Words of Mormon, p. 158.

29. I quote from the first (1834) edition of Howe's work, page 22.

30. See pp. 77, 78 of part I, Y. M. M. I. A. Manual for 1903-4. It is unthinkable that this effort to publish a garbled edition of the Book of Mormon was unknown to Grandin and those employed in his establishment.

31. See chapter VIII, where this incident is treated and the fact pointed out that the Prophet's precautions had protected the work from the effects of such tricks as this described by Tucker.