against religion itself. He may not always clearly discriminate in his own mind; and if he should not, he is not more guilty than thousands who pass for good Christians. And should he make the proper distinctions in his own mind, hẹ may fail to make others perceive them; for the vast majority of mankind identify religion with the abuses he would correct; and we need not, perhaps, be either surprised or angry, if, in his zeal for reform, wearied with effort after effort, opposed on every hand, and persecuted by the servants of the temple, he come to the conclusion, that it is best to cut the knot, and reject religion entirely. Men have so done, they may continue to do so, but no genuine friend to man ever did or ever will come to this conclusion, till driven to it by the professed guardians of the faith, "who neither enter into the kingdom of heaven themselves, nor suffer those that would to enter."

This should induce no Christian to decry reform. It should rather lead him to inquire, if he be not supporting religion under a form which is opposed to the progress of mind. The "overflowing scourge," which will sweep off "every refuge of lies," is now passing over the earth, and well doth it import us to surrender voluntarily whatever we love that is not based on eternal truth, that is not absolutely essential to the existence and free and healthy action of the religious sentiment. Well doth it import us all to return to the simplicity of the gospel, and to refuse, henceforth, to defend religion under any form not consistent with the endless progress of human reason and the ever advancing state of human society.

The consideration of my second position, namely, that the spirit of reform is in fact the very spirit of religion, is reserved for another number; as more room has been already occupied than was intended.

O. A. BROWNSON.

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

THE BOOK OF MORMON.

An Account, written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates, taken from the Plates of Nephi. By JOSEPH SMITH, JR., Author and Proprietor.

THIS is the title of the volume which contains the collection of writings held sacred by the Mormonites; in other words, it is the title of the Mormon Bible. The Mormonites, as they are commonly called, or, as they call themselves, the members of the true church of Christ, - as our readers are probably aware, are a new denomination of religionists. It is but a few years since they made their appearance in the western part of the state of New York. They have already met with some success in the spread of their opinions; and preachers of this denomination are now scattering themselves abroad over the land, labouring with much zeal to gain proselytes to their faith. The account which has been given of the origin of their sacred writings is, briefly, this: Joseph Smith, Jr., whose name appears on the title-page as author and proprietor of the work, was directed by the Spirit of God to dig, in a hill in the "township of Manchester, Ontario county, N. Y.," for certain golden plates, which were there concealed, and upon which were inscribed sacred records. He obeyed the direction and found the plates. The inscriptions upon them were in an unknown tongue. But, by the special power of the Spirit, Smith was enabled to translate them. This translation is the volume, the title of which is placed at the head of this article. To confirm the truth of this account, the volume contains two certificates, one of which is signed by three, and the other by eight witnesses. The three witnesses testify, "That an Angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates and the engravings thereon." The eight witnesses testify, "We have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken, and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work and of curious workmanship."

The volume contains a collection of writings, or, as they are called, of different Books, purporting to have been written at different times, and by the different authors whose names they respectively bear. The following are the names of the different Books, in the order in which they occur.

We shall not undertake to give a particular analysis of each of these Books. We shall give only a brief outline of the contents of the whole. The volume is composed of what purport to be, historical records, prophetical declarations, and direct exhortatory addresses. The following is a brief sketch of what purport to be the historical records of the volume.

Öne Lehi, a devout and holy man, was moved by the threatenings of Jeremiah and other prophets who foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, to flee from that devoted city. He left in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. From Jerusalem he went forth into the wilderness. After having travelled for three days, he pitched his tent in a valley, by the side of a river which emptied into the Red Sea. Lehi left behind, in Jerusalem, as he went forth, all his riches, and took with him only his family, which consisted of his wife Sarai and four sons, Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi. After he had pitched his tent, he sent his sons back to Jerusalem, to obtain the plates which contained the genealogical records of his family, that the remembrance of their origin might be preserved among his descendants. His sons succeeded in obtaining the plates, from which it appeared that Lehi was a descendant of Joseph, the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt. Again, Lehi sent his sons back to Jerusalem to seek out for themselves wives, who might go forth with them wherever the Lord should direct. The sons persuade one Ishmael to unite himself unto them, and to go forth into the wilderness, with his family, which consisted of daughters. The whole company now journey along the coast of the Red Sea for some days, and then strike off and journey in a direction due east, until they come to the great waters. Here, Nephi was directed of the Lord, to construct a vessel; and being assisted by the Spirit, he at length succeeded, notwithstanding his elder brothers laughed him to scorn for his attempt. The vessel is completed, and the whole company now

launch forth upon "the mighty deep." It is impossible to ascertain, precisely, from what place they sailed; and, as the direction and length of their voyage are not particularly mentioned, we lose all further geographical traces of them. During the voyage, the elder brothers, Laman and Lemuel, refuse to submit to their younger brother, Nephi. They rise in mutiny, seize Nephi, bind him hand and foot, and beat him with rods. While Nephi lay bound, a tempest arose, and they were driven from their proper course. As Nephi was the only one that had been instructed of the Lord in regard to the management of the vessel, the elder brothers, through fear, released him and restored him to the command. They at length arrive at a land unknown to the rest of the world. After their arrival, Laman and Lemuel revolted from the command of Nephi. This laid the foundation for two general divisions, called Lamanites and Nephites. These names came, however, in the course of time, to denote distinctions of character, rather than difference of family descent. Those, who disbelieved and disobeyed, were classed with the Lamanites, while the believing and the obedient were ranked with the Nephites. These two general divisions were each divided into various subordinate tribes. They scattered themselves over the land, cultivated the earth, built cities and towns. They enjoyed prosperity or experienced adversity, as the people were obedient or disobedient. There were frequent wars between the Lamanites and Nephites, and victory sided sometimes with one party and sometimes with the other. The history is more directly that of the Nephites, and it is only incidentally that we are made acquainted with the affairs of the Lamanites. The Nephites were sometimes governed by kings and sometimes by judges. After the ascension of our Saviour, as recorded in the New Testament, he is represented to have appeared to the Nephites. While among them, he healed the diseased, and gave religious instruction. The religious instruction, which he gave, accords well with what is recorded of his discourses in the New Testament, since it is but a copy, almost word for word, from those discourAfter our Saviour had ascended from the Nephites, his gospel was preached and spread rapidly among the Nephites and among a part of the Lamanites. But, at length, the Nephites "dwindled in unbelief;" the infidel portion of the inhabitants gained the ascendency, the true believers became extinct, and the plates, which contained the records of the nation, were "hid up unto the Lord in the earth, to be brought forth in due time by the hand of the Gentile."

ses.

Such is a brief sketch of the historical records contained in the Book of Mormon. In all this history, there is but one allusion which affords us an intelligible hint in regard to the geography of the land, in which the Nephites and Lamanites dwelt.

There is, incidentally, mention made of a narrow neck of land, which connects the North country with the South, which, we suppose, means the Isthmus of Darien. The preachers of this faith, we understand, endeavour to prove the truth of the history by a reference to the face of the country. They suppose the mounds throughout the western states, which have heretofore excited so much curiosity, are the remains of the cities of the Nephites and Lamanites.

The prophetical declarations of the Book of Mormon relate to the prosperity and adversity of the people to whom they are addressed, to the coming of Christ, and to "the hiding up of the plates and their being brought forth by the hand of the Gentile;" together with denunciations of woe upon all, who, at the time the plates may be brought forth, shall object to more Bible " and shall contend that miracles have ceased. The prophecies which relate to the prosperity and adversity of the people, are, many of them, clothed in the language of the Jewish prophets; or, in other words, are composed of expressions taken from the prophetical writings of the Old Testament. In one instance, the Prophet, instead of making new disclosures, professes simply to read to the people from the prophecy of Isaiah, and, consequently, we have several chapters of that Book, copied almost word for word. The prophecies in regard to the coming of Christ and his precursor, John the Baptist, are more definite than the prophecies of the Old Testament, being clothed, for the most part, in the language of the New Testament, or in the language of modern theology. We find the following prophecy in regard to John the Baptist :

"And he spake also concerning a prophet, which should come before the Messiah to prepare the way of the Lord; yea, even he should go forth and cry in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord and make his paths straight; for there standeth one among you whom ye know not, and he is mightier than I, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. And much spake my father concerning this thing. And my Father saith, that he should baptize in Bethabara, beyond Jordan; and he also spake that he should baptize with water, yea, even that he should baptize the Messiah with water. And after that he had baptized the Messiah with water, he should behold and bear record, that he had baptized the Lamb of God, which should take away the sins of the world."

We find the following prophetical vision of the times of the Saviour:

"And it came to pass, that the angel spake unto me again, saying, Look! And I looked, and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people, yea, the Everlasting God was judged of the world. And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world."