d possession of the golden plates, and had received
from heaven a pair of spectacles by means of which the unknown
characters could be decyphered by him. It may appear strange that such
absurd assertions should be credited, but the reader must call to mind
the credence given in this country to Joanna Southcote, and the
infatuation displayed by her proselytes to the very last.

The origin of Mormonism deserves peculiar examination from the success
which has attended the imposture, and the prospects which it has of
becoming firmly established as a new creed. At its first organization,
which took place at the time that the golden plates were translating,
which the reader may suppose was nothing more than the contents of the
book that Rigdon had obtained possession of, and which had been
originally written by S. Spalding, there were but six members of the
new creed.

These first members, consisting mostly of persons who were engaged with
Smith in the translation of the plates, forthwith applied themselves
with great zeal to building up the church Their first efforts were
confined to Western New York and Pennsylvania, where they met with
considerable success. Alter a number of converts had been made, Smith
received a revelation that he and all his followers should go to
Kirkland, in Ohio, and there take up their abode. Many obeyed this
command, selling their possessions, and helping each other to settle on
the spot designated. This place was the head-quarters of the Church and
the residence of the prophets until 1838; but it does not appear that
they ever regarded it as a permanent settlement; for, in the Book of
Covenants, it is said, in speaking of Kirkland, "I consecrate this land
unto them for a little season, until I the Lord provide for them to
go home."

In the spring of 1831, Smith, Rigdon, and others declared themselves
directed by revelation to go on a journey to Missouri, and there the
Lord was to show them the place of the New Jerusalem. This journey was
accordingly taken, and when they arrived, a revelation was received,
pointing out the town of Independence, in Jackson County, as the central
spot of the land of promise, where they were directed to build a temple,
&c., &c. Shortly after their return to Kirkland, a number of revelations
were received, commanding the saints throughout the country to purchase
and settle in this land of promise. Accordingly, many went and began to
build up "Zion," as they called