Mormonism has in part changed its character, and assumed a different dress,
from that under which it made its first appearance on the Western Reserve.
Many extraordinary circumstances which then existed, have vanished out of
sight; and the Mormonites desire, not only to forget them, but wish them
blotted out of the memory of others. Those wonders, which they wish to have
forgotten, stand as the principal foundation of the faith of several hundred
of the members of their church.
With the Wonders of Mormonism, or some of them, I design to occupy your
attention in this letter; and I wish you to observe here, and hereafter
remember, that the evidence by which all my statements are supported, is
derived from my own experience and observation, or from testimony of persons,
who still adhere to Mormonism; and I hold myself responsible to any tribunal,
whether on Earth or in Heaven, for the truth of what I write, or at least, for
an intention to write the truth, and nothing but the truth.
"Being carried away in the spirit" and "I know it to be so by the spirit," are
well known phrases, and in common use in the Mormonite church. We will first
notice the gift of tongues, exercised by some when carried away in the spirit.
These persons were apparently lost to all surrounding circumstances, and wrapt
up in the contemplation of things, and in communicating with persons not
present. -- They articulated sounds, which but few present professed to
understand; and those few, declared them to be the Indian language. A
merchant, who had formerly been a member of the Methodist society, observed,
he had formerly traded with the Indians, and he knew it to be their dialect.
Being myself present on some of these occasions, a person proffered his
services as my interpreter, and translated these sounds, which to me were
unintelligible, into English language. One individual could read any chapter
of the Old or New-Testament, in several different languages. This was known to
be the case by a person who professed to understand those languages. In the
midst of this delirium, they would, at times, fancy themselves addressing a
congregation of their red brethren; and mounted upon a stump, or the fence, or
from some elevated situation, would harangue their assembly, until they had
convinced and converted them. They would then lead them into the water, and
baptize them, and pronounce their sins forgiven. In this exercise, some of
them actually went into the water; and in the water, performed the ceremony
used in baptizing. These actors assumed the visage of the savage, and so
nearly imitated him, not only in language, but in gestures and actions, that
it seemed the soul and body were completely metamorphosed into the Indian. No
doubt was then entertained but that this was an extraordinary work of the
Lord, designed to prepare those young men for the Indian mission; and many who
are still leaders of the church, could say, "we know by the spirit that it is
the work of the Lord." And now they can say, "we know by the spirit that it
was it is the work of the Devil." Most of those who were the principal actors,
have since apostatized, and the work is unanimously discarded by the church.
The limits, which my want of time to write, as well as your want of patience
to read, compel me to prescribe for myself, will allow me only to touch on
some of the most prominent parts of this newly-invented, and heterogeneous
system.
A new method for obtaining authority to preach the Gospel was introduced into
the church. One declared he had received a commission, directly from Heeven
[sic], written upon parchment. Another, that it was written upon the palm of
his hand, and upon the lid of his Bible, &c. Three witnesses, and they were
formerly considered persons of veracity, testified, that they saw the
parchment, or something like it, when put into the hands of the candidate.
These commissions, when transcribed upon a piece of paper, were read to the
church, and the persons who had received them, were ordained to the Elder's
office, and sent out into the world to preach. But this also sunk into
discredit, and experienced the fate of the former.
Visions, also, were in high credit, and sounded abroad as an infallible
testimony in favor of Mormonism. The visionary, at times, imagined he saw the
City of New-Jerusalem; unlocked its gate, and entered within the walls; passed
through its various apartments, and then returned, locked the gate, and put
the key into his pocket. When this tour was finished, he would entertain his
admiring friends, with a detailed description of the Heavenly City.
The condition of the ten tribes of Israel since their captivity, unto the
present time, has excited considerable anxiety, and given rise to much
speculation among the learned. But after all the researches which have been
made, the place of their residence has never been satisfactorily ascertained.
But these visionaries have discovered their place of residence to be
contiguous to the north pole; separated from the rest of the world by
impassable mountains of ice and snow. In this sequestered residence, they
enjoy the society of Elijah the Prophet, and John the Revelator, and perhaps
the three immortalized Nephites. -- By and by, the mountains of ice and snow
are to give way, and open a passage for the return of these tribes, to the
land of Palestine.
About this time, the ministration of angels was supposed to be frequent in the
church. The Heavenly visitants made their appearance to certain individuals:
they seldom made any communication, but presented themselves as spectacles for
the beholder to gaze upon, with silent admiration.
Smith is the only one at present, to my knowledge, who pretends to hold
converse with the inhabitants of the celestial world. It seems from his
statements, that he can have access to them, when and where he pleases. He
does not pretend that he sees them with his natural, but with his spiritual,
eyes; and he says he can see them as well with his eyes shut, as with them
open. So also in translating. -- The subject stands before his eyes in print,
but it matters not whether his eyes are open or shut; he can see as well one
way as the other.
You have probably read the testimony of the three witnesses appended to the
Book of Mormon. These witnesses testify, that an angel appeared to them, and
presented them the golden plates, and the voice of God declared it to be a
Divine Record. To this they frequently testify, in the presence of large
congregations. When in Missouri, I had an opportunity to examine a commandment
given to these witnesses, previous to their seeing the plates. They were
informed that they should see and hear these things by faith, and then they
should testify to the world, as though they had seen and heard, as I see a
man, and hear his voice: but after all, it amounts simply to this; that by
faith or imagination, they saw the plates and the angel, and by faith or
imagination, they heard the voice of the Lord.
Smith describes an angel, as having the appearance of "a tall, slim, well
built, handsome man, with a bright pillar upon his head." The Devil once, he
says, appeared to him in the same form, excepting upon his head he had a
"black pillar," and by this mark, he was able to distinguish him from the
former.
It passes for a current fact in the Mormonite church, that there are immense
treasures in the earth, especially in those places in the State of N. Y. from
whence many of the Mormonites emigrated last spring: and when they become
sufficiently purified, these treasures are to be poured into the lap of their
church; and then, to use their own language, they are to be the richest people
in the world. These treasures were discovered several years since, by means of
the dark glass, the same with which Smith says he translated most of the Book
of Mormon. -- Several of those persons, together with Smith, who were formerly
unsuccessfully engaged in digging and searching for these treasures, now
reside in this county, and from themselves I received this information. Yours,
affectionately,
EZRA BOOTH.
R
EV.
I. EDDY.
Note 1: Booth's recollections in regard to the Mormons' seeing with "spiritual
eyes," and seeing and hearing divine manifestations "by faith," are important
ones: the very prevalent, imaginative Mormon mind-set in the 1827-31 period
should not be lost sight of in any attempt to reconstruct the reported events
of those times. The notion that special persons (i.e. Mormon elders) possessed
the "restored power" to cause effects at a divine or celestial level, by their
performing certain actions at the mundane level, predated the Mormons' proxy
baptism and the Mormons' performance of other divine ordinances on earth,
recognized by them as being efficacious in heaven. This "imaginative mind-set"
of faith and spirituality must be taken into consideration whenever modern
students of Mormonism attempt to account for the singular and controversial
claims of the early Saints regarding their witnessing various types of divine
manifestations. For example, the early Mormon witness might well have seen an
angel, golden plates, and a far off heavenly city, while a gentile observer
standing next to him could see only a man, sheets of paper, and a distant
wilderness.
Note 2: In introducing the content of his Oct. 24, 1831 letter, Booth says:
"Mormonism has in part changed its character, and assumed a different dress,
from that under which it made its first appearance on the Western Reserve.
Many extraordinary circumstances which then existed, have vanished out of
sight; and the Mormonites desire, not only to forget them, but wish them
blotted out of the memory of others." His report of these fast-moving
doctrinal and practical changes should be kept in mind by any modern student
attempting to reconstruct Mormon origins or early Mormon history. However
fascinating and seemingly informative later recollections (given at some
considerable distance in time and space) may appear, they cannot generally be
depended upon to furnish anything like an accurate report of the earliest days
in the story of the Saints. In this regard, the modern student is cautioned to
always seek out the earliest available written examples of Mormon documents
like "revelations," "official records," contemporary correspondence, and
journal entries preserved by the Church, its members, or those associated with
the Saints.