Читать книгу History of Joseph Smith, the Prophet and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Joseph F. Smith - Страница 23

1. That is, from right to left.

2. Doctrine and Covenants, section 19. No words of the Prophet introduce this revelation in his History. Nothing is known of the circumstances which called it forth. And yet there are few revelations that have been given in the present dispensation of the Gospel more important than this one. The doctrine of the atonement of the Lord Jesus, as directly applying to the individual, and God's exposition of "Eternal Punishment," as here set forth, give it a place of first importance in the doctrinal development of the Church.

3. Nothing is said by the Prophet in his History of the difficulties that arose "whilst the Book of Mormon was in the hands of the printer;" nor of the care that was taken to prevent the manuscript falling into the hands of enemies of the work. It is proper, however, that these matters should be stated at this point. It appears that when the arrangements was completed with Mr. Grandin for printing the Book of Mormon, the Prophet went down to Harmony, in Pennsylvania. Before taking his departure, however, it was arranged:First: that Oliver Cowdery transcribe the whole manuscript; hence it came about that there were two manuscript copies of the Book of Mormon, the original, which was taken in charge by the Prophet after the publication of the book, and the copy made by Oliver Cowdery for the printer's use, and which finally was given by him into the custody of David Whitmer, with whose family it remains to this day (1901).Second: that the copy made by Oliver Cowdery from the original manuscript only should be taken to the printers, so that if that should be destroyed the original would remain in the hands of the Prophet and his associates from which it could be replaced; and even this copy was supplied the printer in small quantities at a time, usually enough only for a single day's work of the printer.

Third: that in going to and from the office whoever carried the manuscript—usually it was Oliver Cowdery—should always have a guard to attend him.

Fourth: that a guard should be kept constantly upon the watch, both night and day, about the house, to protect the manuscript from malicious persons, who might seek to destroy it. (The authorities for the above are: Lucy Smith's History of the Prophet Joseph, ch 31; the statements of Stephen S. Harding, who a number of times visited Grandin's establishment while the Book of Mormon was being printed; His statement is published in The Prophet of Palmyra, by Thomas Gregg, pg. 34-56—this is that same Stephen S. Harding who was governor of Utah Territory from July, 1862 to July, 1863; also the statement of J. H. Gilbert, the principal compositor on the Book of Mormon. The extreme care in allowing the printer to have but a small amount of copy at a time is subject of ridicule in nearly all anti-"Mormon" books that treat of this period. In addition to all this is the evidence of the manuscript in the hands of the Whitmer family, nearly every page of which is in the handwriting of Oliver Cowdery, and by being divided into "takes" clearly bears evidence of having passed through the printers hands. The evidence also in the existence of portions of the original manuscript, now in the possession of President Joseph F. Smith, which was taken from its depository in one of the corner stones of the Nauvoo House, where it was placed by the hands of Joseph the Prophet, with other relics, on the occasion of laying the corner stone of that building on the 2nd of October, 1841. Unfortunately a great part of the manuscript was destroyed by dampness, but enough is preserved to establish the fact that it is the original).

Notwithstanding all the precautions taken by the little group of brethren engaged in publishing the book, the Nephite record, mutilated by interlineations of human invention, omissions, and added vulgarisms intended to destroy the work, came nearly being given to the world before the Book of Mormon itself was published. This was the work of one Esquire Cole, ex-justice of the peace, who undertook to publish the Book of Mormon, in instalments, in a weekly periodical called Dogberry Paper on Winter Hill. He obtained the use of Grandin's press nights and on Sundays, and surely must have obtained the advance sheets of the printed forms of the Book of Mormon, which he was using, with the knowledge of Mr. Grandin; at least it is difficult to conceive how he could obtain and use them without his knowledge. Hyrum Smith, feeling uneasy concerning the security of that part of the Book of Mormon in the hands of the printer, induced Oliver Cowdery one Sunday to go with him to the printer's to see if all was well, and there they found Squire Cole at work on his Dogberry Paper, and publishing mutilated extracts from the Book of Mormon. He refused to desist from his unlawful course; but Joseph was sent for and came up during the week from Harmony, and by firmly asserting his rights under the copyright law and by threatening to prosecute those who infringed them, Cole was induced to abandon his intention of publishing the Book of Mormon in his paper.

This difficulty past, another arose. The people of Palmyra and vicinity held a mass meeting and passed a resolution pledging themselves not to purchase the Book of Mormon when published, and to use their influence to prevent others from purchasing it. This had the effect of causing Mr. Grandin to suspend printing until he could obtain renewed assurance of receiving the amount agreed upon for printing the edition of five thousand. Again the Prophet was sent for, and again he made the journey from Harmony to Palmyra, quieted the fears of Mr. Grandin by renewed assurance on the part of himself and Martin Harris that the amount agreed upon would be paid. The work proceeded, and at last issued from the press, notwithstanding all the difficulties it had encountered (see Lucy Smith's History of the Prophet Joseph, ch. 33).

4. The following statement is interesting as furnishing the names of these six: Names of the six members of the Church as they were organized April 6, 1830—Oliver Cowdery, Joseph Smith, Jun., Hyrum Smith, Peter Whitmer, Jun., Samuel H. Smith, David Whitmer. Some of these had been baptized previously; but were all baptized on the day of organization. These names were given to Joseph Knight by Oliver Cowdery.

(signed) Joseph Knight.

G. S. L. City

Aug. 11th, 1862.

Witnesses

G. A. Smith,

Robt. L. Campbell,

Thos. Bullock,

John V. Long.

(Copy)

There has been some question as to the number that had been baptized previous to the organization of the Church on the 6th day of April, 1830. David Whitmer in his "Address to All Believers in Christ," a pamphlet of seventy-five pages, published in 1887, says that there were six Elders and about seventy members before April 6th, 1830. Others have estimated the number at thirty, thirty-five, and forty. These estimates, however, are beyond all question too large. In the minutes of the second conference of the Church, held at Fayette, New York, on the 26th of September, 1830, this statement is made: "Number of the several members uniting to this Church, since the last conference, thirty-five: making in whole now belonging to this Church, sixty-two." "The last conference," referred to was one held on the 9th of June, 1830. If there were but sixty-two members in September, 1830, and thirty-five of them were added since the conference of the Church held on the 9th of June of that year, then there were but twenty-seven in the Church on the said 9th of June. In the last week of May, 1830, Newel Knight was baptized—one; on the 18th of April, 1830, Oliver Cowdery baptized seven, (the names are given on p. 81), on the 11th of April, Oliver baptized six persons (their names are also given on p. 81); on the 6th of April, 1830, the same day that the Church was organized, there were four persons baptized, two of whom were the father and mother of the Prophet (see p. 79). This makes a total of eighteen baptized between the 9th of June conference and the 6th of April meeting; and as there were but twenty-seven in the Church on the 9th of June, the number that had been baptized up to the 6th of April, 1830, must have been but nine. The Far West Record, containing the minutes of the conferences of the 9th of June, and the 26th of September, was kept by the clerks of the High Council in Missouri, and the minutes of the two conferences above referred to, and which give the information here set forth, occupy pages one and two of that record. The accuracy of the minutes of the conference of the 26th of September, 1830, which fix the membership of the Church at that time at sixty-two, is confirmed by the following remark of the Prophet, to be found in his history in December of that same year, which remark immediately precedes extracts from the prophecy of Enoch in this volume (ch. 12): "To the joy of the little flock, which in all, from Colesville to Canandaigua, New York, numbered about seventy members, did the Lord reveal the following," etc. When it is remembered that the Prophet is here speaking of conditions existing in December, 1830, and the figures given are exclusive of the additions which had been made in Kirtland, Ohio, it strongly sustains the correctness of the minutes of the conference of September 26th, which record the membership of the Church at that time to be but sixty-two. The correctness of this number is also still further confirmed by a brief historical sketch of "The Rise and Progress of the Church of Christ," published in the Evening and Morning Star under date of April, 1833, where it is said: "In October 1830, the number of disciples had increased to between seventy and eighty." (p.169.)

5. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 21.

6. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 22.

7. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 23.