| On February 15, 1831, editor Eber D. Howe publishes
a lengthy anti-Mormon article in the Painesville Telegraph. Included
is an anonymous letter dated February 1 that describes interviews some of
Sidney's "friends" had with him shortly after his return to Mentor
from New York. In his 1834 Mormonism Unvailed, Howe reprints the
letter with minor changes in punctuation and italics. |
| Sidney has an "irascible temper."
He defends Joseph and the Book of Mormon vigorously. Joseph's enemies have
failed to prove anything against him and he can translate Biblical texts
from their original languages. The Book of Mormon was not designed to be
confirmed by miracles, as the Bible was. It presents no new teachings about
God, virtue, or sin—it is "just intended to form and govern the
Millennial Church." Faith in the book only comes through prayer. |
Sidney's
temper
Weary from trip |
¶ |
Feb. 1, 1831.—Mr. Rigdon just returned from
the state of New York. His irascible temper only left him for a little season.
Two friends went from Mentor to see him—required of him a reason for
his present hope, and for his believe in the Book of Mormon. He declined;
saying he was weary, having just come off his journey, had lost much sleep,
and the like. |
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Mormonism unvailed,
112–114.
For the Telegraph article, see UDR
Link to source. |
| Friend
challenges Book Mormon |
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After a number of words had passed, by way of
solicitation on one side, and refusal on the other, one of the friends from
Mentor said he thought there was no more evidence to confirm the Book of
Mormon than the Koran of Mahomet. |
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| Feels
insulted |
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At this Mr. Rigdon seemed very angry— rose
up and said, "Sir, you have insulted me in my own [113] house —I
command silence—if people that come to see us cannot treat us with
civility, they may walk out of the door as soon as they please." |
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The person then made some apology. Mr. R. said
he had borne everything; he had been insulted and trampled upon by old and
young; and he would bear it no longer. |
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The other of the friends from Mentor
expressed his astonishment, that a man who had just been exhorting others
in so meek and humble a manner, as Mr. R. had been doing a few minutes before,
should manifest such a spirit. |
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Mr. R. denied that he was angry. The
two friends bade him good night and departed. |
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| Two
days later |
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Two days after, I accompanied several friends
to Mr. R.'s residence, we found him in conversation with a Methodist presiding
elder—that being soon broken off, one of my friends modestly approached
Mr. R. and solicited him to give some reason for his present faith. |
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| Sidney
defends Joseph's reputation |
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Mr. R. with great show of good nature, commenced
a long detail of his researches after the character of Joseph Smith; he
declared that even his enemies had nothing to say against his character;
he had brought a transcript from the docket of two magistrates, where Smith
had been tried as a disturber of the peace, which testified that he was
honorably acquitted. |
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But this was no evidence to us that the Book of
Mormon was divine. |
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| Joseph's
supernatural gifts |
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He then spoke of the supernatural gifts with which
he said Smith was endowed; he said he could translate the scriptures from
any language in which they were now extant, and could lay his finger on
every interpolation in the sacred writings, adding, that he had proved him
in all these things. |
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But my friends knowing that Mr. Rigdon had no
knowledge of any language but his own vernacular tongue, asked him how he
knew these things, to which Mr. R. made no direct reply.
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¶ |
Mr. Smith arrived at Kirtland the next day; and
being examined concerning his supernatural gifts by a scholar, who was capable
of testing his knowledge, he confessed he knew nothing of any language,
save the king's English. |
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¶ |
Mr. R. asserted that our revelation came
to us upon human testimony—this we denied, and gave him reasons which
he himself formerly urged against deists. |
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| Book
not confirmed by miracles |
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He then said the [114] old revelation
was confirmed by miracles, but the Book of Mormon would never be; it was
not designed to be thus confirmed. (And Mahomet said, nearly twelve centuries
ago, "Moses and Jesus were empowered to work miracles, yet the people
did not receive them; wherefore God had sent him without that attestation,
to be the last and greatest prophet.") But in this Mr. R. contradicts
his book, for that declares it is thus to be established. |
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| No
new teachings |
¶ |
We then asked Mr. R. what object we could have
in receiving the Book of Mormon—whether it enjoined a single virtue
that the Bible did not, or whether it mentioned and prohibited a single
additional vice, or whether it exhibited a new attribute of Deity? He said
it did not. |
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Millennial
church
No salvation without Book of Mormon |
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"The Book of Mormon," said he "is [just]
calculated to form and govern the Millennial Church; the old revelation
was never calculated for that, nor would [could]
it accomplish that object; and without receiving the Book of Mormon there
is no salvation for anyone into whose hands it shall come." |
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| Witness
from the Lord |
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He said faith in the Book of Mormon was only to
be obtained by asking the Lord concerning it. |
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To this scriptural objections were made. |
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He then said, [that]
if we had not familiarity enough with our Creator to ask of him a sign,
we were no Christians; and that, if God would not condescend to his creatures,
in this way, he was no better than Jaugeraut!!! |
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Original:
Jaugeraut. Spelled Jaggernaut (with four exclamation points)
in the Telegraph.
Juggernaut: A title of Krishna… spec. the image
of this god at Puri in Orissa, annually carried in procession on an enormous
cart, under the wheels of which many devotees are said to have formerly
thrown themselves to be crushed. |
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Mormonism Unvailed |
Telegraph |
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Thus I have given a simple statement of facts.
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Now, courteous reader, I have given a simple
statement of facts for the purpose that you might not be deceived by the
pretensions of these false prophets. |
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They proclaim the ancient gospel, putting their
own appendages to it. When they think it will best suit their purpose, they
say nothing about the Book of Mormon, and at other times make it their chief
topic. |
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Mormonism Unvailed |
Telegraph |
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Mr. R. said it was no part of his religion to
defend the Book of Mormon, he merely wished the people to give heed to the
old revelation. |
Mr. R. said to me, since he became a Mormonite, that it was
no part of his religion to defend the Book of Mormon, he merely wished the
people to give heed to the old revelation, to humble themselves, and enter
into the privileges which it conferred upon its believing subjects. |
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Again, there is no salvation without receiving
the Book of Mormon.—Mr. R. now blames Cowdery for attempting
to work miracles, and says [said
that] it was not intended to be confirmed in that [115] way. |
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Blue:
Telegraph
Red: Mormonism Unvailed
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How then are we to obtain faith? Does the book
offer any internal evidence of its divinity? If it does, it has not been
discovered. It contains nothing but what might have been, and evidently
was, borrowed from the sacred writings and from the history of the world.
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Was it so with the revelation that
was from the beginning? Far otherwise. |
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Mormonism Unvailed |
Telegraph |
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A celebrated English writer, (Soam Jenyns) has proved to a
demonstration, that the Christian religion is demonstrably divine, irrespective
of any miracle that was ever wrought, from these premises, viz. that there
were no writing or systems, then in the world, from which it could have
been borrowed. |
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Again, respecting Smith and his followers, do
they give any proof of their honesty? They can give none but their own
assertion; they have no sacrifice to make—no loss of fortune or reputation
to sustain—they are in a land of liberty. |
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Very different were the circumstances of those
who first promulgated the faith "once delivered to the saints."
They had to forsake their relatives—leave their possessions, and forfeit
their reputation. Scourging and torture, imprisonment and death, were often
staring them in the face, and always in the prospective. |
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Mormonism Unvailed |
Telegraph |
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Twelve apostles sealed their testimony with their blood. |
Thirteen apostles, all, save one, sealed their testimony with their blood.
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So whether their religion was true or false, they proved their
honesty. |
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But Mormonism is to be proved, from beginning
to end, by assertions, and this we have in whole numbers without
fractions. But we know that they cannot more roundly and positively
assert than hundreds of impostors who have gone before them.
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Blue:
Telegraph |
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Sidney Rigdon
Kirtland (1830–1831) |