Concerning American Antiquities

CONCERNING AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.

[We present herewith two articles submitted by elders in this mission at about the same time, although neither knew that the other was writing. As a complete review, the one stopped too soon and the other began too late, but as an expression of the particular point in view, of each of the writers, they are entitled to place in these columns. In addition to these, we append a short article by a well-known Utah man who recently examined various antiqu­ities of the new “Old World.”—Ed.]

NEW LIGHT UPON THE PROPHET’S DIVINITY.

Seventy-two years ago Joseph Smith received, in revelation, knowledge of a truth which at the time was taken by the scoffers and doubters of his divine mission as the rock upon which “Mor­monism,” sooner or later, would be dashed to pieces. For were he to be proved a false prophet in regard to one prophecy which he had uttered as a divine revelation, doubt and uncertainty, of necessity, would be thrown over his work as a whole.

This supposed untruth, which to the inordinate delight of the prophet’s enemies, seemed to be the beginning of a cancerous growth of doubt which should finally eat its way into the very vitals of his claim to divine calling, had its inception in the revela­tion given in regard to Adam-ondi-Ahman and the plains of Olaha Shinehah, the land upon which Adam dwelt, the cradle of the human race, as being situated upon the American continent. This astounding statement of the prophet's, according to the archaeologists of the day, was a palpable absurdity. Scientific re­search and discovery in the countries of the Euphrates, Tigris and the Nile, the unearthing of buried cities of antiquity, the exhum­ing of well-preserved bodies of ancient dynasties, the finding of rolls of papyrus with their ancient writings—all led to the positive supposition that man first existed upon this earth in the countries of the East, or so-called “Old World.” In view of such knowledge and its consequent deductions, with the results of years of labor of some of the keenest scientific researchers, backed by the wealth of nations which had fitted out party after party to ex­plore these regions, this modern-day prophet, never having seen the lands of the East, nor having studied its archaeological mys­teries, boldly affirmed its civilization, its pomp and power, existed at a period when the new world of America was crumbling in ruins; that America was in actuality the old world. He stood alone against the world of geographers and historians—alone so far as the vindication of mortal intelligence was concerned, but upheld by the realization that the knowledge was God-given. He was cognizant of the fact that he proclaimed God’s truths and. though the learned scoffed, the time would come in the wisdom of the Lord when these things which were “hid from the wise and the prudent,” but “revealed unto babes,” would be vindicated; and as time rolled on and the true history of past ages was un­furled, the wisdom and knowledge of man would vanish before the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of His prophets.

Neither had he to wait long. Within a decade or two after his death the remnants of past ages of civilization, whose power and grandeur transcended that of the Babylonian or Egyptian coun­tries, were unearthed in America. The eyes of men were opened to the fact that the new world could no longer be called such, but that secrets were buried under the mass of dank and foul vegeta­tion and accumulation of past centuries, the unfolding of which would go a long way towards making plainer the terrestrial his­tory of man.

During the past few years, work of exploration in Yucatan and surrounding countries of Central America, carried on by Dr. Augus­tus le Plongeon and his wife, the indomitable French explorers, has brought to light a mass of evidence which, from a scientific standpoint, tends to a verification of the Prophet’s remarkable utterance of seventy odd years ago. In the London Magazine for April, Alice le Plongeon, the widow of the explorer, gives in a succinct article the results of a life’s work and the expending of a fortune to unravel the mystery of the buried cities of Central America. To answer the question of whence came Egypt’s ancestors, a question which has puzzled scholars for centuries, she takes her readers to the other side of the earth and lays before them incontrovertible facts of the antiquity of the buried civili­zation of America. “In Yucatan perhaps we find the beginning of the vast conceptions which culminated in the magnificent pyramids and other wonders, and have rendered the name of Egypt famous throughout the whole world. It may be that in Central America these ideas originated; and it is an extraordinary reflection upon those who profess a wish to unravel the mysterious past that they ignore the immense possibilities which might reveal themselves to scholars who would give to research in Mexico one tithe of the energy now devoted to Assyria and Egypt.” Exploration and discovery in America have brought to light the “remnants of a majestic civilization in its prime while Babylon, Assyria and Egypt were still inhabited by primitive and savage races.”

America the old world! What a bitter-coated pill for a theo­logical and scientific world to swallow, laying, as it does, its foundation upon man’s knowledge! What a silencer to the scorn and contumely heaped upon the Prophet Joseph Smith for his supposed audacity in giving to man, over half a century before science dared dream of its possibility, a revelation on the subject. Unsupported by profane or ecclesiastical history, with the conclu­sions of the archaeological world against him and no vestige of evidence to substantiate his statement, he relied upon the future to vindicate him before the world as a prophet of the Most High.

R.W. Young, Jr., Southport.

EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF THE BOOK OF MORMON.

The April number of 77m London Magazine contains an article by Alice le Plongeon., widow of the late Dr. le Plongeon, which proves by positive external evidence that there was some connec­tion between the ancient Americans and the ancient Egyptians.

Accompanied by his wife, Dr. le Plongeon spent many years in exploring and unearthing ruins in Yucatan, America. He found the ruins of Yucatan similar to ruins found in Egypt. “He mas­tered the writings and hieroglyphics which had hitherto baffled every other scientist,” and found an extraordinary resemblance between the letters used by the ancient inhabitants of the two countries. He found that the customs of the two peoples were similar, and that the mummy of the ancient American resembles the mummy of the ancient Egyptian.

We, the Latter-day Saints, believe that there was, indeed, some connection between the ancient inhabitants of America and the ancient Egyptians. The Book of Mormon explains fully the relation between these peoples: and the Book of Mormon is “a divinely inspired record of the ancient peoples who inhabited the American continent for centuries before and immediately after the time of Christ.” It tells us that early inhabitants of America came from the Eastern hemisphere.

There were two great nations “who flourished in America as the descendants of small colonies brought thither from the eastern con­tinent by Divine direction. Of these we may conveniently speak as the Nephites and the Jaredites.”

The progenitors of the Nephite nation were led from Jerusalem by a Jewish prophet named Lehi about 900 b.c. They landed upon the American continent about 590 b.c., somewhere near the present city of Valparaiso, Chili. The personnel of the company consisted of Lehi, his wife Sarah, their sons, Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi; a servant, Zoram, and Ishmael and his family. After the death of Lehi some accepted as their leader, Nephi, who had been appointed to prophetic office, and others accepted as their ruler Laman, the oldest son of Lehi. The choosing of two leaders caused a division, and after this the two factions were known as Nephites and Lamanites. “The Nephites advanced in the arts of civilization, built large cities, and established prosperous common­wealths; yet often fell into transgressions; and the Lord chastened them by permitting their foes to be victorious. They spread northward, occupying the northern part of South America; then crossing the Isthmus, they extended their domain over the southern, central and eastern portions of what is now the United States of America. The Lamanites, while increasing in numbers, fell under the curse of darkness: they became dark in skin and benighted in spirit, forgot the God of their fathers, lived a wild, nomadic life, and degenerated into the fallen state in which the American Indians—their lineal descendants—were found by those who re-discovered the western continent in latter times.” Many battles were waged between the Nephites and the Lamanites, and the final struggle—which resulted in the entire destruction of the Nephites—was waged in the state of New York, in the vicinity of the hill Cumorah, about 400 A.D. Moroni was the last repre­sentative of the Nephites, and before his death, wrote concluding parts of the Book of Mormon and hid the record in the hill Cumorah. “It was this same Moroni who, as a resurrected being, gave the records into the hands of Joseph Smith in the present dispensation.”

At the time of the confusion of tongues, the progenitors of the Jaredite nation left the Tower of Babel. After reaching the ocean they built eight vessels and set out upon the waters. They landed upon the western shore of North America at a place probably south of the Gulf of California and north of the Isthmus of Panama, where they became a flourishing nation. However, they gave way to internal dissensions, divided into factions and warred with one another until they were totally destroyed. The history of the Jaredite nation was written by Ether on twenty-four gold plates and hid away. These plates were found about 123 B.C., by an expedition sent out by king Limbi, one of the Nephite rulers. “The record engraved on these plates was subsequently abridged by Moroni and the condensed account was the Book of Mormon.”

Joseph Smith, the translator of the Book of Mormon, was an in­spired man and translated the book through the power of God. He was not a learned man or versed in linguistics as was Dr. le Plongeon. He received the ancient record from the angel Moroni.

We have proof that the ancient record was written in a lan­guage similar to the language used by the ancient Egyptians. While Joseph Smith was translating the Book of Mormon, his assistant, Martin Hands, obtained permission to take some of the transcripts to have them examined by learned men—“Professor Charles Anton, of Columbia College, who after careful examina­tion, certified that the characters were in general of the ancient Egyptian order, and that the accompanying translations appeared to be correct.” “A Dr. Mitchell, of New York, having examined the characters, gave concerning them a testimony in all important respects corresponding to that of Professor Anton.”

Three witnesses testify that an angel came down from heaven and showed unto them the records from which the Book of

Mormon was translated. All three of these witnesses were cut oil the Church but not once did they deny that an angel of God had shown unto them the ancient records.

Eight witnesses bear testimony that the ancient records were shown unto them by the Prophet Joseph Smith. Some of these men left the Church but none of them ever denied their testimony. We have abundant evidence of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon, but more proof is coming forth every passing day. Everytime Latter-day Saint has, burning within him, a strong testimony of the fact that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was the instrument in God’s hands in translating it from the ancient records.

The ideas advanced by Dr. le Plongeon should make our testi­mony concerning the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and “Mormonism” stronger. [Quotations regarding the Book of Mormon are from Talmage’s “Articles of Faith.”]

Martin W. Roylance, Chorley.