In the battle which took place there the Nephites were practically annihilated, and all the fugitives were killed except Moroni, the son of Mormon, who undertook the completion of the "record." Moroni excuses the briefness of his narrative by explaining that he had not room in the plates, "and ore have I none" (to make others). What he adds is in the nature of a defence of the revealed character of the Mormon Bible and of Smith's character as a prophet. Those, for instance, who say that there are no longer "revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking with tongues," are told that they know not the Gospel of Christ and do not understand the Scriptures. An effort is made to forestall criticism of the "mistakes" that are conceded in the title-page dedication by saying, "Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him" (Book of Mormon ix. 31). Evidently foreseeing that it would be asked why these "records," written by Jews and their descendants, were not in Hebrew, Mormon adds (chap. ix. 32, 33):-- "And now behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech. "And if our plates had been sufficiently large, we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and if we could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no imperfection in our record." Few parts of this mythical Bible approached nearer to the burlesque than this excuse for having descendants of the Jews write in "reformed Egyptian." The secular story of the ancient races running through this Bible is so confused by the introduction of new matter by the "author"* and by repetitions that it is puzzling to pick it out. The Book of Ether was somewhat puzzling even to the early Mormons, and we find Parley P. Pratt, in his analysis of it, printed in London in 1854, saying, "Ether SEEMS to have been a lineal descendant of Jared." *Professor Whitsitt, of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, in his article on Mormonism in "The Concise Dictionary of Religious Knowledge, and Gazetteer" (New York, 1891), divides the Mormon Bible into three sections, viz.: the first thirteen books, presented as the works of Mormon; the Book of Ether, with which Mormon had no connection; and the fifteenth book, which was sent forth by the editor under the name of Moroni. He thus explains his view of the "editing" that was done in the preparation of the work for publication:--