MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV) by FREDERICK MARRYAT (leveled readers txt) 📕

Stretch, It Affects His Nervous System. He Starts At The Falling Of A

Dried leaf, And, With A Keen And Painful Sensation, He Scrutinizes The

Withered grass Before Him, Aware That At Every Step He May Trample Upon

Some Venomous And Deadly Reptile. Moreover, In his Wanderings, He Is

Often Pressed with Hunger, And Is Exposed to A Great Deal Of Fatigue.

"Fast In the Wilds, And You Will Dream Of Spirits," Is An Indian Axiom,

And A Very True One. If To The Above We Add, That His Mind Is Already

Prepared to Receive The Impressions Of The Mysterious And Marvellous, We

Cannot Wonder At Their Becoming Superstitious. As Children, They Imbibe

A Disposition For The Marvellous; During The Long Evenings Of Winter,

When The Snow Is Deep, And The Wild Wind Roars Through The Trees, The

Old People Will Smoke Their Pipes Near Huge Blazing Logs, And Relate To

Them Some Terrible Adventure. They Speak Of Unearthly Noises Heard Near

Some Caves, Of Hair-Breadth Escapes In encounters With Evil Spirits,

Under The Form Of Wild Animals; And Many Will Whisper, That At Such A

Time Of Night, Returning From Some Neighbouring Market, They Have Met

With The Evil One In the Forest, In such And Such A Spot, Where The Two

Roads Cross Each Other, Or Where The Old Oak Has Been Blasted by

Lightning.

The Boy Grows To Manhood, But These Family Traditions Are Deeply

Engraved in his Memory, And When Alone, In the Solitude, Near The

"Haunted places," His Morbid Imagination Embodies The Phantoms Of His

Diseased brain. No Wonder, Then, That Such Men Should Tamely Yield To

The Superior Will Of One Like Joe Smith, Who, To Their Knowledge,

Wanders Alone By Moon-Light In the Solitude Of Forests, And Who, In

Their Firm Belief, Holds Communication With Spirits Of Another World.

For, Be It Observed, Smith Possesses All The Qualities And Exercises All

The Tricks Of The Necromancers During The Middle Ages. His Speech Is

Ambiguous, Solemn, And Often Incomprehensible--A Great Proof To The

Vulgar Of His Mystical Vocation.

Cattle And Horses, Lost For Many Months, Have Been Recovered through The

Means Of Joe, Who, After An Inward Prayer, Looked through A Sacred

Stone, "The Gift Of God," As He Has Asserted, And Discovered what He

Wished to Know. We Need not Say That, While The Farmer Was Busy At Home

With His Crop, Smith And His Gang, Ever Rambling In woods And Glens,

Were Well Acquainted with Every Retired, Shady Spot, The Usual Abode Of

Wild As Well As Of Tame Animals, Who Seek There, During The Summer, A

Shelter Against The Hot Rays Of The Sun. Thus, Notwithstanding His Bad

Conduct, Smith Had Spread His Renown For Hundreds Of Miles As That Of A

"Strange Man;" And When He Started his New Religion, And Declared

Himself "A Prophet Of God," The People Did Not Wonder. Had Rigdon, Or

Any Other, Presented himself, Instead Of Joe, Mormonism Would Never Have

Been Established; But In the Performer Of _Mysterious Deeds_, It Seemed

A Natural Consequence. As The Stone We Have Mentioned did Much In

Raising Joe To His Present High Position, I Will Here Insert An

Affidavit Made Relative To Joe Smith'S Obtaining Possession Of This

Miraculous Treasure.

     "Manchester, Ontario County, N.Y., 1833.

     "I Became Acquainted with The Smith Family, Known As The

     Authors Of The Mormon Bible, In the Year 1820. At That Time

     They Were Engaged in the Money-Digging Business, Which They

     Followed until The Latter Part Of The Season Of 1827. In the

     Year 1822, I Was Engaged in digging a Well; I Employed joe

     Smith To Assist Me. After Digging about Twenty Feet Below The

     Surface Of The Earth, We Discovered a Singular-Looking Stone,

     Which Excited my Curiosity. I Brought It To The Top Of The

     Well, And As We Were Examining It, Joseph Laid It In the

     Crown Of His Hat, And Then Put His Face Into The Top Of His

     Hat. It Has Been Said By Smith, That He Got The Stone From

     God, But This Is False.

     "The Next Morning Joe Came To Me, And Wished to Obtain The

     Stone, Alleging That He Could See In it; But I Told Him I Did

     Not Wish To Part With It, On Account Of Its Being a

     Curiosity, But Would Lend It. After Obtaining The Stone, He

     Began To Publish Abroad What Wonders He Could Discover By

     Looking In it, And Made So Much Disturbance Among The

     Credulous Part Of The Community, That I Ordered the Stone To

     Be Returned to Me Again. He Had It In his Possession About

     Two Years. I Believe, Some Time In 1825, Hiram Smith (Joe'S

     Brother) Came To Me, And Wished to Borrow The Same Stone,

     Alleging That They Wanted to Accomplish Some Business Of

     Importance, Which 'Could Not Very Well Be Done Without The

     Aid Of The Stone.' I Told Him It Was Of No Particular Worth

     To Me, But I Merely Wished to Keep It As A Curiosity, And If

     He Would Pledge Me His Word And Honour That I Should Have It

     When Called for, He Might Have It; Which He Did, And Took The

     Stone. I Thought I Could Rely On His Word At This Time, As He

     Had Made A Profession Of Religion; But In this I Was

     Disappointed, For He Disregarded both His Word And Honour.

     "In The Fall Of 1826, A Friend Called upon Me, And Wished to

     See That Stone About Which So Much Had Been Said; And I Told

     Him, If He Would Go With Me To Smith'S (A Distance Of About

     Half A Mile), He Might See It. To My Surprise, However, On

     Asking Smith For The Stone, He Said, 'You Cannot Have It.' I

     Told Him It Belonged to Me; Repeated to Him The Promise He

     Had Made Me At The Time Of Obtaining The Stone; Upon Which He

     Faced me With A Malignant Look, And Said, '_I Don'T Care Who

     The Devil It Belongs To; You Shall Not Have It_.'

     "Col. Nahum Howard."

I Must Pass Over Many Details Interesting In themselves, But Too Long To

Insert In this Work. It Must Suffice To Say, That After A Time Joe Smith

Stated that He Had 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 it.

In 1831, A Consecration Law Was Established in the Church By Revelation.

It Was First Published in the Book Of Covenants, In the Following

Words:--"If Thou Lovest Me, Thou Shalt Keep My Commandments, And Thou

Shalt Consecrate All Thy Properties Onto Me With A Covenant And Deed

Which Cannot Be Broken." This Law, However, Has Been Altered since That

Time. As Modified, It Reads Thus:--"If Thou Lovest Me, Thou Shalt Serve

And Keep All Of My Commandments, And, Behold, Thou Shalt Remember The

Poor, And Consecrate Of Thy Properties For Their Support That Which Thou

Hast To Impart Unto Them, With A Covenant And A Deed which Cannot

Be Broken."

In April, 1832, A Firm Was Established by Revelation, Ostensibly For The

Benefit Of The Church, Consisting Of The Principal Members In kirkland

And Independence. The Members Of This Firm Were Bound Together By An

Oath And Covenant To Manage The Affairs Of The Poor, And All Things

Pertaining To The Church, Both In zion (Missouri) And In shinakar

(Kirkland). In june, 1833, Another Revelation Was Received to Lay Off

Kirkland In lots, And The Proceeds Of The Sale Were To Go To This Firm.

In 1834 Or 1835, The Firm Was Divided by Revelation, So That Those In

Kirkland Continued as One Firm, And Those In missouri As Another. In the

Same Revelation They Are Commanded to Divide The Consecrated property

Between The Individuals Of The Firm, Which Each Separately Were To

Manage As Stewards.

Previous To This (1833), A Revelation Was Received to Build A Temple,

Which Was To Be Done By The Consecrated funds, Which Were Under The

Control Of The Firm. In erecting This Building The Firm Involved itself

In Debt To A Large Amount; To Meet Which, In the Revelation Last

Mentioned, The Following appears: "Inasmuch As Ye Are Humble And

Faithful, And Call On My Name, Behold, I Will Give You The Victory. I

Give Unto You A Promise That You Shall Be Delivered this Once Out Of

Your Bondage, Inasmuch As You Obtain A Chance To Loan Money By Hundreds

And Thousands, Even Till You Have Obtained enough To Deliver Yourselves

Out Of Bondage." This Was A Command To Borrow Money, In order To Free

Themselves From The Debt That Oppressed them. They Made The Attempt, But

Failed to Get Sufficient To Meet Their Exigencies. This Led to Another

Expedient.

In 1835, Smith, Rigdon, And Others, Formed a Mercantile House, And

Purchased goods In cleveland And In buffalo To A Very Large Amount, On A

Credit Of Six Months. In the Fall Other Houses Were Formed, And Goods

Purchased in the Eastern Cities To A Still Greater Amount. A Great Part

Of The Goods Of These Houses Went To Pay The Workmen On The Temple, And

Many Were Sold On Credit, So That When The Notes Came Due The House Was

Not Able To Meet Them. Smith, Rigdon, And Co., Then Attempted to Borrow

Money, By Issuing Their Notes, Payable At Different Periods After Date.

This Expedient Not Being Effectual, The Idea Of A Bank Suggested itself.

Accordingly, In 1837, The Far-Famed kirkland Bank Was Put Into

Operation, Without Any Charter.

This Institution, By Which So Many Have Been Swindled, Was Formed after

The Following Manner.