Latter Day Saints; United States -- Description and travel
Three of the young converts pretended to have received commissions to
preach from the skies, after having first jumpt into the air as high as
they could. All these transactions were believed to be from _the Spirit of
God_. They very soon numbered in this region a hundred converts. To these
converts Rigdon, soon after joining Smith at Manchester, wrote a letter,
disclosing among other things that Kirtland was to be the seat of
empire--and that they were dwelling on their eternal inheritance, and that
the land of promise extended from that place to the Pacific ocean.
The facts above stated are principally taken from a volume entitled
"MORMONISM UNVEILED," sent the author by a most estimable clergyman of the
Episcopal Church, residing at Ashtabula, Ohio, with the information that
this volume is regarded by all candid and respectable people in the
neighbourhood of the Mormon settlement, as a correct and fair statement of
facts. It may tend to throw some new light upon some of the actors in this
grand drama of deception to insert a portion of the correspondence that led
the clergyman just referred to, to forward this volume to the author. The
Rev. Mr. Quinan, who now resides in Philadelphia, having formerly lived in
the neighbourhood of Kirtland, was requested by the author to open a
correspondence with some intelligent person in that neighbourhood, who
would be able to give some account of the first emigration of the Mormons
to Kirtland, and the line of operations which they had there pursued. Mr.
Quinan's letter was addressed to Dr. A. Hawley. Dr. H---- put this letter
into the hands of the clergyman above alluded to, who having obtained the
following communication from Dr. Rosa, forwarded it to the author, with a
postscript of his own appended, as will be seen in the insertion below. Dr.
Rosa's letter is dated _Painesville, Ohio, June 3d, 1841_, from which we
make the following extract.
* * * I think the history of Mormonism as published by
E. D. Howe--a copy of which can be obtained in our
place--contains all the material truths connected with
the rise and progress of that miserable deception.
There are occasionally new doctrines introduced and
incorporated with their faith, such as _being baptized
for the dead_. This is a common custom here. When a
member is satisfied that his father, mother, or
brother, or any other friend is in hell, he steps
forward and offers himself to the church in baptism for
that individual, and when properly baptised the
tormented individual will instantaneously emerge from
his misery into perfect happiness. There are many such
follies which the simple hearted are ready and willing
to believe. There is no permanent separation in the
society. There were a few seceders a few years since,
some of whom left them entirely, and became infidels,
and others held to the original purity of the doctrines
as they termed it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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