The Story of the Mormons, from the Date of Their Origin to the Year 1901Linn, William Alexander
History
The Story of the Mormons, from the Date of Their Origin to the Year 1901
Linn, William Alexander
Latter Day Saints -- History; Utah -- History
"In the land of the Chaldeans, at the residence of my father, I,
Abraham, saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of
residence, and finding there was greater happiness and peace and
rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the Fathers, and the right
whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same, having been
myself a follower of righteousness, desiring to be one also who
possessed great knowledge, and to possess greater knowledge, and to be a
greater follower of righteousness."
Remy submitted a reproduction of these hieroglyphics to Theodule
Deveria, of the Museum of the Louvre, in Paris, who found, of course,
that Smith's purported translation was wholly fraudulent. For instance,
his Abraham fastened on an altar was a representation of Osiris coming
to life on his funeral couch, his officiating priest was the god Anubis,
and what Smith represents to indicate an angel of the Lord is "the soul
of Osiris, under the form of a hawk."* Smith's whole career offered no
more brazen illustration of his impostures than this.
* See "A Journey to Great Salt Lake City", by Jules Remy (1861),
Note XVII.
A visitor to the Kirtland Temple some years later paid Joseph's father
half a dollar in order to see the Egyptian curios, which were kept in
the attic of that structure.
A well-authenticated anecdote, giving another illustration of Smith's
professed knowledge of the Egyptian language is told by the Rev. Henry
Caswall, M.A., who, after holding the Professorship of Divinity in
Kemper College, in Missouri, became vicar of a church in England. Mr.
Caswall, on the occasion of a visit to Nauvoo in 1842, having heard of
Smith's Egyptian lore, took with him an ancient Greek manuscript of the
Psalter, on parchment, with which to test the prophet's scholarship. The
belief of Smith's followers in his powers was shown by their eagerness
to have him see this manuscript, and their persistence in urging Mr.
Caswall to wait a day for Smith's return from Carthage that he might
submit it to the prophet. Mr. Caswall the next day handed the
manuscript to Smith and asked him to explain its contents. After a brief
examination, Smith explained: "It ain't Greek at all, except perhaps
a few words. What ain't Greek is Egyptian, and what ain't Egyptian
is Greek. This book is very valuable. It is a dictionary of Egyptian
hieroglyphics. These figures (pointing to the capitals) is Egyptian
hieroglyphics written in the reformed Egyptian. These characters are
like the letters that were engraved on the golden plates."*
* "The City of the Mormons," p. 36 (1842).
CHAPTER V. -- SMITH'S OHIO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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