MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV), FREDERICK MARRYAT [easy novels to read .txt] 📗

Stone Of

Singular Appearance In his Hat, In such A Manner As To Exclude All

Light; At Which Time They Pretended he Could See All Things Within And

Under The Earth; That He Could Spy Within The Above-Mentioned caves

Large Gold Bars And Silver Plates; That He Could Also Discover The

Spirits In whose Charge These Treasures Were, Clothed in ancient

Dresses. At Certain Times, These Treasures Could Be Obtained very

Easily; At Others, The Obtaining Of Them Was Difficult. The Facility Of

Approaching Them Depended in a Great Measure On The State Of The Moon.

New Moon And Good Friday, I Believe, Were Regarded as The Most

Favourable Times For Obtaining These Treasures. These Tales, Of Course,

I Regarded as Visionary. However, Being Prompted by Curiosity, I At

Length Accepted their Invitation To Join Them In their Nocturnal

Excursions. I Will Now Relate A Few Incidents Attending These Nocturnal

Excursions.

 

 

 

"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 From

His House, Two Or Three Kegs Of Gold And Silver, Some Feet Under The

Surface Of The Earth, And That None Others But The Elder Joseph And

Myself Could Get Them. I Accordingly Consented to Go, And Early In the

Evening Repaired to The Place Of Deposit. Joseph, Sen., First Made A

Circle, Twelve Or Fourteen Feet In diameter: 'This Circle,' Said He,

'Contains The Treasure.' He Then Stuck In the Ground A Row Of

Witch-Hazel Sticks Around The Said Circle, For The Purpose Of Keeping

Off The Evil Spirits. Within This Circle He Made Another, Of About Eight

Or Ten Feet In diameter. He Walked around Three Times On The Periphery

Of This Last Circle, Muttering To Himself Something I Could Not

Understand. He Next Stuck A Steel Rod In the Centre Of The Circles, And

Then Enjoined profound Silence, Lest We Should Arouse The Evil Spirit

Who Had The Charge Of These Treasures. After We Had Dug A Trench Of

About Five Feet In depth Around The Rod, The Old Man, By Signs And

Motions, Asked leave Of Absence, And Went To The House To Inquire Of The

Son The Cause Of Our Disappointment. He Soon Returned, And Said, That

Joe Had Remained all The Time In the House, Looking In his Stone And

Watching The Motions Of The Evil Spirit; That He Saw The Spirit Come Up

To The Ring, And As Soon As It Beheld The Cone Which We Had Formed

Around The Rod, It Caused the Money To Sink. We Then Went Into The

House, And The Old Man Observed that We Had Made A Mistake In the

Commencement 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 Satiate

Their Hunger With The Flesh Of One Of My Sheep. They Had Seen In my

Flock Of Sheep A Large, Fat, Black Wether. Old Joseph And One Of The

Boys Came To Me One Day, And Said, That Joseph, Jun., Had Discovered

Some Very Remarkable And Valuable Treasures, Which Could Be Procured

Only In one Way. That Way Was As Follows:--That A Black Sheep Should Be

Taken On The Ground Where The Treasures Were Concealed; That, After

Cutting Its Throat, It Should Be Led around A Circle While Bleeding;

This Being Done, The Wrath Of The Evil Spirit Would Be Appeased, The

Treasures Could Then Be Obtained, And My Share Of Them Would Be

Four-Fold. To Gratify My Curiosity, I Let Them Have The Sheep. They

Afterwards Informed me That The Sheep Was Killed pursuant To

Commandment; But, As There Was Some Mistake In the Process, It Did Not

Have The Desired effect. This, I Believe, Is The Only Time They Ever

Made Money-Digging a Profitable Business. They, However, Had Constantly

Around Them A Worthless Gang, Whose Employment It Was To Dig For Money

At Night, And Who, During Day, Had More To Do With Mutton Than Money.

 

 

 

"When They Found That The Better Classes Of People Of This Vicinity

Would No Longer Put Any Faith In their Schemes For Digging Money, They

Then Pretended to Find A Gold Bible, Of Which They Said The Book Of

Mormon Was Only An Introduction. This Latter Book Was At Length Fitted

For The Press. No Means Were Taken By Any Individual To Suppress Its

Publication; No One Apprehended danger From A Book Originating With

Individuals Who Had Neither Influence, Honesty, Nor Honour. The Two

Josephs And Hiram Promised to Show Me The Plates After The Book Of

Mormon Was Translated; But Afterwards, They Pretended to Have Received

An Express Commandment, Forbidding Them To Show The Plates. Respecting

The Manner Of Obtaining and Translating The Book Of Mormon, Their

Statements Were Always Discordant. The Elder Joseph Would Say, That He

Had Seen The Plates, And That He Knew Them To Be Gold; At Other Times He

Would Say, They Looked like Gold; And At Other Times He Asserted he Had

Not Seen The Plates At All.

 

 

 

"I Have Thus Briefly Stated a Few Of The Facts, In relation To The

Conduct And Character Of This Family Of Smiths; Probably Sufficient Has

Been Stated without My Going Into Detail.

 

 

 

"William Stafford."

 

 

 

The Following Is A Curious Document From One Of The Very Individuals Who

Printed the Mormon Bible:--

 

 

 

"Having Noticed in a Late Number Of The _Signs Of The Times_ A Notice Of

A Work Entitled 'Mormon Delusions And Monstrosities,' It Occurred to Me

That It Might, Perhaps, Be Of Service To The Cause Of Truth To State One

Circumstance, Relative To The Authenticity Of The Book Of Mormon, Which

Occurred during Its Publication, At Which Time I Was Engaged in the

Office Where It Was Printed, And Became Familiar With The Men And Their

Principles, Through Whose Agency It Was 'Got Up.'

 

 

 

"The Circumstance Alluded to Was As Follows!--We Had Heard Much Said By

Martin Harris, The Man Who Paid For The Printing, And The Only One In

The Concern Worth Any Property, About The Wonderful Wisdom Of The

Translators Of The Mysterious Plates, And We Resolved to Test Their

Wisdom. Accordingly, After Putting One Sheet In type? We Laid It Aside,

And Told Harris It Was Lost, And There Would Be A Serious Defection In

The Book In consequence, Unless Another Sheet, Like The Original, Could

Be Produced. The Announcement Threw The Old Gentleman Into Great

Excitement; But, After A Few Moments Reflection, He Said He Would Try

To Obtain Another. After Two Or Three Weeks, Another Sheet Was Produced,

But No More Like The Original Than Any Other Sheet Of Paper Would Have

Been, Written Over By A Common Schoolboy, After Having Read, As They

Had, The Manuscript Preceding and Succeeding The Lost Sheet. As Might Be

Expected, The Disclosure Of This Trick Greatly Annoyed the Authors, And

Caused no Little Merriment Among Those Who Were Acquainted with The

Circumstance. As We Were None Of Us _Christians_, And Only Laboured for

The 'Gold That Perisheth,' We Did Not Care For The Delusion, Only So Far

As To Be Careful To Avoid It Ourselves And Enjoy The Hoax. _Not One_ Of

The Hands In the Office Where The Wonderful Book Was Printed ever Became

A Convert To The System, Although The Writer Of This Was Often Assured

By Harris, That If He Did Not, He Would Be Destroyed in 1832.

 

 

 

"T.N.S. Tucker."

 

 

 

Groton, May 23, 1842.

Chapter XLIII

Let Us Now Examine Into The Political Views Of The Mormons, And Follow

Smith In his Lofty And Aspiring Visions Of Sovereignty For The Future.

He Is A Rogue And A Swindler,--No One Can Doubt That; Yet There Is

Something Grand In his Composition. Joe, The Mean, Miserable,

Half-Starved money-Digger Of Western New York, Was, As I Have Before

Observed, Cast In the Mould Of Conquerors, And Out Of That Same Clay

Which Nature Had Employed for The Creation Of A Mahomet.

 

 

 

His First Struggle Was Successful; The Greater Portion Of His Followers

Surrounded him In kirkland, And Acknowledged his Power, As That Of God'S

Right Hand; While Many Individuals From Among The Better Classes

Repaired to Him, Attracted by The Ascendancy Of A Bold Genius, Or By The

Expectation Of Obtaining a Share In his Fame, Power, And Glory.

 

 

 

Kirkland, However, Was An Inland Place; There, On Every Side, Smith Had

To Contend With Opposition; His Power Was Confined and His Plans Had Not

Sufficient Room For Development He Turned his Mind Towards The Western

Borders Of Missouri: It Was But A Thought; But With Him, Rapid Action

Was As Much A Natural Consequence Of Thought As Thunder Is Of Lightning

Examine Into The Topography Of That Country, The Holy Zion And Promised

Land Of The Mormons, And It Will Be Easy To Recognize The Fixed and

Unchangeable Views Of Smith, As Connected with The Formation Of A

Vast Empire.

 

 

 

For The Last Twelve Or Fifteen Years The Government Of The United states

Has, Through A Mistaken Policy Been Constantly Engaged in sending To The

Western Borders All The Eastern Indian Tribes That Were Disposed to Sell

Their Land, And Also The Various Tribes Who, Having Rebelled against

Their Cowardly Despotism, Had Been Overpowered and Conquered during The

Struggle. This Gross Want Of Policy Is Obvious.

 

 

 

Surrounded and Demoralized by White Men, The Indian Falls Into A

Complete State Of _Decadence_ And _Abrutissement_. Witness The Choctaw

Tribes That Hover Constantly About Mobile And New Orleans; The

Winnibegoes, Who Have Of Late Come Into Immediate Contact With The

Settlers Of Wisconsin; The Pottawatomies, On Both Shores Of Lake

Michigan; The Miamis Of North Indiana, And Many More. On The Contrary,

The Tribes On The Borders, Or In the Wilderness, Are On The Increase. Of

Course, There Are A Few Exceptions, Such As The Kanzas, Or The Poor

Mandans, Who Have Lately Been Almost Entirely Swept Away From The Earth

By The Small-Pox. Some Of The Smaller Tribes May Be Destroyed by

Warfare, Or They May Incorporate Themselves With Others, And Thus Lose

Their Name And Nationality; But The Increase Of The Indian Population Is

Considerable Among The Great Uncontrolled nations; Such As The Chippewas

And Dahcotahs (Siouxes), Of The North United states; The Comanches And

The Pawnees, On The Boundaries, Or Even In the Very Heart Of Texas; The

Shoshones (Snakes), On The Southern Limits Of Oregon; And The Brave

Apaches Of Sonora, Those Bold Bedouins Of The Mexican Deserts, Who,

Constantly On Horseback, Wander, In immense Phalanxes, From The Eastern

Shores Of The Gulf Of California To The Very Waters Of The Rio Grande.

 

 

 

Admitting, Therefore, As A Fact, That The Tribes On The Borders Do

Increase, In the Same Ratio With Their Material Strength, Grows Also

Their Invincible, Stern, And Unchangeable Hatred towards The American.

In Fact, More Or Less, They Have All Been Ill-Treated and Abused, And

Every Additional Outrage To One Tribe Is Locked up In the Memory Of All,

Who Wait For The Moment Of Retaliation Revenge. In the Wisconsin War

(Black Hawk, 1832), Even After The Poor Starved warriors Had Surrendered

Themselves By Treaty, After A Noble Struggle, More Than Two Hundred old

Men, Women, And Children Were Forced by The Americans To Cross The River

Without Boats Or Canoes. The Poor Things Endeavoured to Pass It With The

Help Of Their Horses; The River There Was More Than Half A Mile Broad,

And While These Unfortunates Were Struggling For Life Against A Current

Of Nine Miles An Hour, They Were Shot In the Water.

 

 

 

This Fact Is Known To All The Tribes--Even To The Comanches, Who Are So

Distant. It Has Satisfied them As To What They May Expect From Those Who

Thus Violate All Treaties And All Faith. The Remainder Of That Brave

Tribe Is Now Dwelling On The West Borders Of Iowa, But Their Wrongs Are

Too Deeply Dyed with Their Own Blood To Be Forgotten Even By

Generations, And Their Cause Is Ready To Be Espoused by Every Tribe,

Even Those Who Have Been Their Hereditary Enemies; For What Is, After

All, Their History, But The History Of Almost Every Indian Nation

Transplanted on The Other Side Of The Mississippi?

 

 

 

This Belt Of Indian