18. "_The Founder of Mormonism_. A Psychological Study of Joseph Smith, Jr., by I. Woodbridge Riley, one time instructor in English, New York University," (Dodd, Mead & Company, New York, 1902). It cannot be denied that Mr. Riley's book is an ingenious work, and bears evidence of wide erudition, and an intimate knowledge of the subject. Mr. Riley's treatise, a book of 426 pages, was offered to the Philosophical Faculty of Yale University as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. His materials were also used in 1898 for a "Master of Art" thesis on the "Metaphysics of Mormonism." The book has an introductory, preface, by Professor George Trumbull Ladd, of Yale University, commending the work by laudatory praise of it. The author himself explains that his aim is "to examine Joseph Smith's character and achievements from the standpoint of recent psychology." He makes a careful pathological study of the ancestors of the Prophet, and reaches the conclusion that Joseph Smith's "abnormal experiences" (meaning his visions, revelations and visitations of angels) are the result of epilepsy. This is his working hypothesis in accounting for Joseph Smith, supplemented by what he considers is the Prophet's unconscious liability to self-hypnosis, and his hypnotic power over others sufficient to make them partakers in his own vivid hallucinations. The hypothesis is an adroitly conceived one, and worked out on lines of sophistry that by many will be mistaken for sound reasoning. The whole theory is overthrown, however, by the work the Prophet achieved, the institution he founded, the Church, the religion he established, the philosophy he planted; all of which to madness would be impossible; besides, as remarked by M. Renan, "Hitherto it has never been given to aberration of mind to produce a serious effect upon the progress of humanity." _Life of Jesus_, p. 105. An extended review of Mr. Riley's book will be found in the author's work, _Defense of the Faith and the Saints_, pp. 39-61. 19. _The Founder of Mormonism_, by I. Woodbridge Riley, pp. 226, 227, 228. 20. _Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism_, by Pomeroy Tucker, p. 75. 21. _Mormonism Portrayed_, by Rev. William Harris, pp. 410. 22. _Mormonism_, Kidder, pp. 52, 53. 23. _Mormonism in all Ages_, Turner, p. 178. 24. _Mormonism, Its Leaders and Designs_, by John Hyde, Jr., pp. 269, 270. 25. _Mormonism, Its Leaders and Designs_, by John Hyde, Jr., pp. 269, 270. 26. _The Founder of Mormonism_, pp. 228-231. CHAPTER XXII. THE TESTIMONY OF INCIDENTAL WITNESSES. In addition to the testimony of the Three Witnesses and the testimony of the Eight Witnesses to the fact that Joseph Smith was in possession of the Nephite plates, the Urim and Thummim and the breast plate, I present also the testimony of persons who may be said to have become acquainted with these facts in an incidental way.