166 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



have made, although in this case the assailant accepts with reverence 

 the Christian Scriptures, seeking to found thereon a revelation newer 

 and more complete. 



It is somewhat disappointing, if the Book of Mormon is to be ac- 

 cepted as the new revelation, to find it so very inferior, alike in matter 

 and in style, to its great predecessors. Nearly equal in hulk to the 

 Old Testament, it lacks altogether the jjoetic grandeur and the graph- 

 ic force of the Hebrew Scriptures, although the Biblical phraseology 

 has been laboriously imitated throughout. It is styled "An Account 

 written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates taken from the Plates 

 of Nephi. Translated by Joseph Smith, Jr. : " 



" Wherefore it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi, and 

 also of the Lamanites ; written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the 

 house of Israel ; and also to Jew and Gentile ; written by way of command- 

 ment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation. Written and sealed 

 up, and hid up unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed ; to come forth 

 by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof: sealed by the 

 hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, to come forth in due time by the 

 hand of Gentile ; the interpretation thereof by the gift of God. 



" An abridgment taken from the Book of Ether also ; which is a record of 

 the people of Jared ; who were scattered at the time the Lord confounded the 

 language of the people when they were building a tower to get to heaven ; 

 which is to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the 

 Lord hath done for their fathers ; and that they may know the covenants of the 

 Lord, that they are not cast off forever ; and also to the convincing of the Jew 

 and Gentile, that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself 

 unto all nations. And now if there are faults, they are the mistakes of men ; 

 wherefore condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the 

 judgment-seat of Christ." 



The sacred volume is divided into thirteen books, bearing the names 

 of various prophets, one of whom is Mormon. The last book is that 

 of Moroni, who says : 



" Behold I, Moroni, do finish the record of my father, Mormon. Behold, I 

 have but few things to write, which things I have been commanded by my 

 father. And now it came to pass that, after the great and tremendous battle 

 at Cumorah, behold, the Kephites, who had escaped into the country southward, 

 were hunted by the Lamanites, until they were all destroyed ; and my father 

 also was killed by them, and I even remained alone to write the sad tale of the 

 destruction of my people. But, behold, they are gone, and I fulfill the com- 

 mandment of my father. And whether they will slay me, I know not ; there- 

 fore I will write and hide up the records in the earth, and whither I go it mat- 

 tereth not. Behold my father hath made this record, and he hath written the 

 intent thereof. And behold, I would write it also, if I had room upon the 

 plates ; but I have not ; and ore I have none, for I am alone ; my father hath 

 been slain in battle, and all my kinsfolks, and I have not friends, nor whither 

 to go ; and how long the Lord will suffer that I may live I know not. Behold, 

 four hundred years have passed away since the coming of our Lord and Saviour. 



" And now, behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge 



