"Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people unto whom this work shall come, that we, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record--which is the record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, their brethren, and also of the people of Jared, who come from the tower of which hath been spoken; and we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for His voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true. And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates, and they have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man; and we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates and the engravings thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these things are true; and it is marvelous {111} in our eyes; nevertheless, the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it: wherefore, to be obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment seat of Christ, and shall dwell with him eternally in the heavens. And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God. Amen. OLIVER COWDERY, DAVID WHITMER, MARTIN HARRIS." This is plain, strong testimony. Joseph Smith or any other man could easily enough have made a promise like the one made in the 5th chapter of Ether, but he could not have called down an angel from heaven, nor caused the voice of God to be heard, in order to have the promise fulfilled. The Lord only could fulfill this prediction, and he did it, in his own way, time and place. But, says the skeptic, the three witnesses subsequently left the Church and deserted Joseph Smith. Yes, that is true, and this is what makes their testimony of ten-fold more weight. If their testimonies were not true, if any fraud or deception had been practiced in regard to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon they would undoubtedly have exposed the same as soon as the break occurred between Joseph Smith and themselves. But the facts are these: They always remained true to their testimony, even in their darkest hours. Then why did they leave the Church? They fell into transgression; they sinned against God and had to be dealt with the same as other transgressors; for although a man may have seen angels and had glorious visions, etc., he has no license to any more than those less favored. We will now briefly allude to the individual witnesses: