206 LIFETNTHE FAR WEST. 



deciphered and translated. Joe found the spot indicated without 

 any difficulty, cleared away the earth, and discovered a hollow 

 place formed by four flat ston'es ; on removing the topmost one of 

 which sundry plates of brass presented themselves, covered with 

 quaint and antique carving ; on the top lay Urim and Thummim 

 (commonly known to the Mormons as Mummum and Thummum, 

 the pebbles of wonderful virtue), through which the miracle of 

 reading the plates of brass was to be pe^i^ormed. 



Joe Smith, on whom the mantle of Moses had so suddenly 

 fallen, carefully removed the plates and hid them, burying him- 

 self in woods and mountains while engaged in the work of trans- 

 lation. However, he made no secret of the important task im- 

 posed upon him, nor of the great work to which he had been 

 called. Numbers at once believed him, but not a few were deaf 

 to belief, and openly derided him. Being persecuted (as the sect 

 declares, at the instigation of the authorities), and many attempts 

 being made to steal his precious treasure, Joe, one fine night, 

 packed his plates in a sack of beans, bundled them into a Jersey 

 wagon, and made tracks for the West. Here he completed the 

 great work of translation, and not long after gave to the world 

 the " Book of Mormon," a work as bulky as the Bible, and called 

 " of Mormon," for so was the prophet named by whose hand the 

 history of the lost tribes had been handed down in the plates 

 of brass thus miraculously preserved for thousands of years, and 

 brought to light through the agency of Joseph Smith. 



The fame of the book of Mormon spread over all America, and 

 even to Great Britain and Ireland. Hundreds of proselytes flocked 

 to Joe, to hear from his lips the doctrine of Mormonism ; and in 

 a very brief period, the Mormons became a numerous and recog- 

 nized sect, and Joe was at once, and by universal acclamation, 

 installed as the head of the Mormon church, and was ever after 

 known by the name of the " Prophet Joseph." 



However, from certain peculiarities in their social system, the 



