Page:History of Utah.djvu/104

 the wicked Lamanites. The greatest prophet of the Nephites, in the period of their declension, was Mormon, their historian, who after having completed his abridgment of the records of his nation, committed it to his son Moroni, and he, that they might not fall into the hands of the Lamanites, deposited them in the hill of Cumorah, where they were found by Joseph Smith.

On the 5th of April, 1829, there comes to Joseph Smith a school-teacher, Oliver Cowdery by name, to whom the Lord had revealed himself at the house of the elder Smith, where the teacher had been boarding. Inquiring of the Lord, Joseph is told that to Oliver shall be given the same power to translate the book of Mormon, ''The Book of Mormon; an account written by The Hand of Mormon, upon plates taken from the plates of Nephi. Wherefore it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile; written by way of commandment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation. Written and sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed; to come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof; sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, to come forth in due time by the way of Gentile; the interpretation thereof by the gift of God. An abridgment taken from the Book of Ether also; which is a record of the people of Jared; who were scattered at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people when they were building a tower to get to heaven; which is to shew unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever; and also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations. And now if there are faults, they are the mistakes of men; wherefore condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ. By Joseph Smith, Jun., Author and Proprietor.'' (Printed by E. B. Grandin, for the author, Palmyra, New York, 1830.)  Several editions followed. This first edition has 588 pages, and is prefaced among other things by an account of 117 pages, which Mrs Harris burned. This preface is omitted in subsequent editions. The testimony of three witnesses, and also of eight witnesses which in subsequent editions is placed at the beginning, is here at the end. The testimony of witnesses affirms that the signers saw the plates and the engravings thereon, having been shown them by an angel from heaven; they knew of the translation, that it had been done by the gift and power of God, and was therefore true. The book was reprinted at Nauvoo, at New York, at Salt Lake City, and in Europe. An edition printed by Jas O. Wright & Co., evidently by way of speculation, contains eight pages of introduction, and an advertisement asserting that it is a reprint from the third American edition, and that the work was originally published at Nauvoo, which latter statement is incorrect. The publishers further claim that at the time of this printing, 1848, the book was out of print, notwithstanding the several by which term the writing on