The Myth of the "Manuscript Found," or the Absurdities of the "Spaulding Story": Eleventh Book of the Faith-promoting Series. Designed for the Instruction and Encouragement of Young Latter-day Saints.
History
The Myth of the "Manuscript Found," or the Absurdities of the "Spaulding Story": Eleventh Book of the Faith-promoting Series. Designed for the Instruction and Encouragement of Young Latter-day Saints.
Book of Mormon
If the papers given to Hurlburt contained the "Manuscript Found," as
stated by Mrs. Davison, we know what became of it, if we can believe
D. P. Hurlburt. It was burned so that it might never be brought up to
confront those who claim that in it is to be found the origin of the
Book of Mormon. If Hurlburt did not receive it, Mrs. Davison must have
retained it. Then what became of it? Solomon Spaulding's family could
have no possible motive for not publishing it. To them it would have
been a mine of wealth; at least they thought so, as evidenced by the
agreement between Mrs. Davison and Hurlburt, that she was to have half
of the profits accruing from its publication, as hereafter shown in her
interview with Mr. Haven.
There is another fact that strongly bears out Mrs. Davison's statement.
It is this, that it is highly improbable that Mr. Spaulding would write
two entirely distinct and varying romances on the ancient inhabitants
of America. We never hear of him writing more than one on this subject.
If then the Roman story was not the "Manuscript," what was it? It
certainly in many particulars agrees with the statements of those who
profess to know something about Mr. Spaulding's writings. Both (if
there were two) are said to have been written in the Latin language;
both were found, supposedly, in a cave near Conneaut, Ohio. This is
altogether unlikely. The evidence, we believe, to be overwhelming that
Hurlburt did receive the "Manuscript Found," and not finding it what he
wanted, he destroyed it or had it destroyed.
We have previously referred to the Jacksons of Jackson settlement,
Pennsylvania, from whom Hurlburt first heard of Mr. Spaulding's
writings. In justice to Mr. Jackson it must be stated that on one
occasion Hurlburt called on him and asked him to sign a document which
testified to the probability of Mr. Spaulding's manuscript having been
converted into the Book of Mormon. This he indignantly refused to do.
He had read both books and knew there was no likeness between them.
He then and there stated that there was no agreement between the two;
adding that Mr. Spaulding's manuscript was a very small work in the
form of a novel, which said not one word about the children of Israel,
but professed to give an account of a race of people who originated
from the Romans, which Mr. Spaulding said he had translated from a
Latin parchment that he had found. The Book of Mormon, Mr. Jackson
continued, purports to be written by a branch of the house of Israel;
it is written in a different style, and is altogether different. For
this reason he refused to lend his name to the lie, and expressed his
indignation and contempt at Hurlburt's base and wicked project to
deceive the public.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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