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Show Appraisal of the So-Call- Book ed - Continued from Page One his real meanings only to the panded Josephs alleged' gold inner circle while teaching the digging humbugs to include no one Is In the least alarmed public in ambiguous parables; the whole Smith family who at -the same time were so desperby It.. But Father Dwyer sets hinrup for study in a back-grou"of 'political, social,.-- and ately poor that all had. to toll will "should take note that unremittingly merely to live. probably be wisest for him to economic conditions; ofdwells beYet the author provides Joseph his humbleness the Upon his persistent snipinr. stop ginnings; selects instances and time to be" the leader of a band Now the appraisal them in light of the of idlers, and has the entire Mrs Brodies Intense atheism Interprets out alleged weak- family digging up thejvbole thesis; not only colors but actually de- nesses points of character failure to countryside, without compensaaltermines the approach and, live up to his own .teachings, tion in their feverish hunt for most completely, the content of inconsistencies and contradicburied treasure. For no one was her book. There is, in her con- tions. Point by point Mrs. Bro- found to testify that the Smiths, ception, no place in human ex- dies book runs parallel. It including Joseph, ever tried to weird perience for the transcendental. would be revealing to set the make gain out of their to say each magic. Nobody was found No supreme being, no divine- - two in coluraos-oppos- ite intervenes in or influ-- other. If one' wanted to be as that he had been solicited for events or reckless as she is in deducing money or had ever been bilked conclusions, it would be easy to out of a dollar. Neither was toward them a' goal or draw shapes some. anybody found who ever saw in is not God regnant destiny. at -- the outset the Smiths digging for treasure. By postulating history. MormonJsm, therefore, that Joseph Smiths claims Affiants and story wrters all has to be foundationed in a couldnt be true, Mrs. BrQdie rely on rumor, for, as Mrs. Brofable, which she at the very be- greatly simplified her task. His die says, it was a nocturnal ginning declares. That is her claims being by assumption operation. Why couldnt one of fixed predetermined premise. false, there is left - only - this Josephs banLofJdlers be iound Che would say the same thing question to be resolved Is the to certify their doings, or. one Of all Christian faiths and for falsity due to an honestly en- of the Smith' neighbors to swear that he had seen the treasure the same reason. If her book is tertained delusion growing out hunt in action, or that the desof of the the times, superstition n, it, is equally or is it a deliberate imposture? perately poor Smiths had sought Less wise than Klausner, she to capitalize on their allegedly She refers to the second com- chose the second" alternative, pretended occult powers or the "Christ" resurand the ing of and having done so pursues it practice of their necromantic as being among the with all the zeal and artifice of arts? rection culled by Jo- the retained advocate, lifting Irrationalisms Mrs. Brodie concedes that seph out of Isaiah and the Reve- excerpts out of their contexts, some parts of the affidavits lation of St. John, and to the wrenching sentences out of their are not true. By what divinapicking one sentence out tion does she know which primitive Christian Church she setting, scribes an antiquated theol- of a page and skipping over two part of a man's" statement is to pick another or three reliable when admittedly some ogy. She declares that In the out and pages the two toof it-i- s totally false? She has coupling New Worlds freedom the church to what without regard gether the convenient had disintegrated, and, under lies between, calling as witness throughout habit of leaving out or denythe impact of the ideas that had the hyperbolic railings of dising validity to whatever does not fit into the pattern of her brought about the Revolution reputable characters whose or known, and by her thesis. the path away from Christiaadmitted, corruption and malinity was being beaten out. TellAll that is said about the afrender them fidavits is equally applicable to ing us that America was ripe for cious extravagances a religious leader speaking unworthy of credence, accept- the Dogberry papers, plus the as established fact hearsay fact Gods word with authority, a ing (omitted by Mrs. Brodie) gossip hearsay piled on top of that in Dogberrys first article, at she of real stature," prophet and motives hearsay, attributing announcing his intention to pubonce hastens to add: His mispurposes with all the lish facts having any connecsion should be to those who assigning license of a novelist and by art- tion with the origin, rise and found religious liberty a bur-- , ful selectivity of episodes and of the book in quesden, who needed determinate strained correlations of , them, progress tion of Mormon), he Ideas and familiar dogmas, and bending circumstances, where offers a(Book free subscription to bis case the of the of who fled from the solitude exigency to postmasters or anyit, into support of her paper independent thinking. That is else who can furnish him body even by elliptical quotto say, religion is only a crutch thesis, notices on the subing, making purported quota- interesting d, for the timorous and ject, certainly a novel way to tions absolutely false. Her book, conduct of no use whatever to the which she likes to think of as research, but bne sure courageous and lonely few cap- being objective, is really an to be fruitful as the event discloses. But these Mrs. Brodie able of independent thought, to ardent defense of a predeteraccepts and uses to bolster up the "solitude of which select mined thesis. This estimate seems to call for the affidavits which she tacitly company she thus deftly elevates o a bill of particulars, but the admits to be untrustworthy.-T-- herself. she both forward fortify brings Her husband's qualities af specified defects so permeate the alleged admissions, citing Jowhole structure of the book and and perception Judgment journal where he was anshe tells ns. have ' affected are so woven into its interpreta- sephs swering, usually in crisp single detions and and to assumptions whole the my approach of ductions throughout that to sort sentences, a whole catalog book, which likely furnishes assembled questions. To the them out sevand them to expose the key her attitude, for whether he had been hla tradition and nphringing erally would involve the writ- question a money digger he answered, inof book. A another few ing probably inclined him away Yes. but it was never a very stances must suffice, and attenfrom gather than towards acjob for him, as he profitable -is tion aufirst directed to the ceptance of Christian beliefs. a month for" it. $14.00 got only sources. thors Smith had The angels announcement to Joseph The very nature of the answer to a have conformable to youth Mary, his warning to Joseph that it related to one to take the child Jesus Into her postulated pattern so she indicatestransaction and obvioussingle him makes the neer-do-wEgypt, most of the miracles, reference, to his workthe claim to Mtssiahshlp, the leader of a band of idlers who ly had ing for Mr. Stowell at the latresurrection, Pauls vision on spent theit time digging for ter's the way to Damascus, the buried treasure, to locate which an oldsolicitation to explore for Spanish mine, reputed to kingdom or God all these they indulged all the necroMrs. Brodie would chuck as mancies, occultisms, incanta- be rich and to lie in the neighout the win-- I tions, and humbuggery known to borhood. and the quest for which , unceremoniously dow as she does the claims the art of the sorcerer. She calls Joseph persuaded his employer abandon and went to - work- ef Joseph Smith to heavenly them gold diggers or treas- to ure hunters which designations for him on his farm. That to inspiration and revelation. court a - Indeed, a predecessor, the she deftly contrives to convert gether with Jewish Rabbi Klausner, has al- into terms of special approbri-u- m record presently to be mention-alWheres the evidence? It ed is the whole sum of the ready done just that in his book, Jesus of Nazareth, published lies (1) in affidavits, (2) in leged admissions. And thatMrs.is more than twenty years ago. Dogberry papers (so named for all the basis there is for assertion that the years Dr Klausner,' however, not the editor who published them), Brodies 1823 to 1827. the of waitdisrespectful, - He - gives - Jesus (3) injJoseph's alleged admis- ing for, delivery period of the plate?, sions in his and an In journal high praise.. His treatise, writwas characterized by his most ten in the Hebrew for Jews, alleged court record. It would be an' easy task to intensive money digging acexhibits a dignity and a mateai-t- he affidavits tea shreds-"$- a tivities. turity .sOupatently wanting in far as' their evidentiary-valu- e There probably Is no prospecMrs. Brodies work. StiU he Is concerned, but space tor who has not dug into old has a thesis: to prove that Jesus compels skipping over - sueS"-Ite- caves or abandoned holes probwas utterly Jew, a teacher as the malevolent and ing for rich finds, nor a mining versed in the law. but notjthe Messiah nor the Son of God, nor vengeful purpose and vile section in America, where quest - even- - a Prophet- - Between- - his character of the man who as- - forabandoned Spanish mines but has not beenprosecufed book and Mrs. Brodies there is sembled them, the time a startling similarity of approach did it, the widespread fren- -' never before nor since has that sled purpose to discredit Jo- - been made a character disqualiand organization. had become. fication, The puerile nature of ""' He speaks of 'the complexity sephSmlthwho a , notable . person, - the Ines the evidence attests the desperaof Jesus' character,' his gift of capable conclusion that tion of the need. But the author Imagination and his daydream- - were all conceived In , they forone-braihere .comes triumphantly about the of his ing redemption the notorious ease with ward with evidence thought to sudden the. people, flashing which signatures may always impart respectability to the through his mind at his baptism be . obtained, the equal ease, worthless affidavits and Dogof the idea that he is the hoped-fby proper prompting, of getberry papers. They must be Messiah; avers that there is ting the desired ideas incormade acceptable for on them in new ethical Jesus nothing porated; the total absence of she . stakes her whole conclu' his spiritual teachings, that their been subjected sion that Joseph Instead of being Ideal is strongly tinctured by to any having ordinarily accepted test a contemplative, pious, truth-seekithe material and worldly, that for accuracy or credibility, and youth was an irreligious he was afraid to let his miracles their language which Is wholly' of revivals contemptuous cynic, he publicized, because they were out of character with the Staover to and given not always successful; tells bow tion of affiants. mischievous pranks and threw him . into, de- -, 1 But It wljl be well to look at uponplaying , failures unsuspecting , neighbors, spondency lest his disciples lose some of 'the less obvious indading his own family, going fhith in him, that he revealed about the affidavits through silly ' mummeries and These, and the Dogberry , pa- weird mysticism to aid .hi pers, too, for good measure, ex nd if ; of anti-Christi- anti-Mormo- ed dull-witte- ell ed s ms - - or ng tale-spinni- -- i ies This clinching evidence which historians have hith-.eroverlooked or ignored in the production of which she lakes an obvlously special. pride, is declared unequivocally to be a court record of, a trial of Joseph Smith in a Justice of the peace court in Bainbridge in March 1826 on a charge of beinga 'disorderly person and an Impostor. But the alleged find is no dis- -' covery at all, for the purported record has been included in other books dating back, some of them, half a century and derived always from the same source. Neither is it any better than the flimsy documents it is dragged out to support. It is just one more of them, for after all her puffing and promise the author no court record at produces all, " though persistently call- ing it such. She produces an article on Mormonism written by she does not say whom for the new Schaff-Herzo- g Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge published in 1833 wherein is incorporated this purported court record. In a later edition of the same encyclopedia, the reproduced article on Mormonism drops out the alleged court record, obviously having no reliable evidence of its credibility. MrS. Brodie says the record was unearthed by Bishop Tuttle in southern New York." That is a pretty indefinite place. It is to be noted that she - carefully avoids saying that it was found among the records of the court, though she clearly intended that the casual reader would assume that it was. Why didn't Bishop Tuttle say something about it in his book? He clearly had the will to use any damaging evidence he thought supportable. Mrs. Brodie knew the court record of this trial was vital to her case for it is because of it that Hurlbuts affidavits can hardly be dismissed by the objective student. didnt Why she produce it instead of a secondary source, on its face disA justices court is credited? not what the lawyers call a court of record, the testimony of witto , ness is usually-no- t-t skew-do- wn nor preserved as a part of the record in the case. This alleged record is obviously spurious because it has Joseph testify first," giving the defense before the Drosecution has made its case. Indeed there is no record that the prosecuting witness testified at all, nor that any witness was sworn. Joseph didnt have to testify against himself at all, but here he is doing it before there is any proof against him. Then the recitaHs that the court finds the defendant guilty. Of what? He was charged with being a disorderly person and an impostor." Which was he guilty of? Mrs. Brodie says "he was found guilty of disturbing the peace. The record does not say so.- She must get that out of the air as she does so much else It is hard to think he guilty ,of something with which he was not charged. Then, more Wonderful still, the record . does not tell - what the judgment or sentence of 'the" court was. The really vital things which a true record must contain are not there, though there is a lot of surplus verbiage set out In - an - impossible - order which the court, was npt required to keep. This record could not possibly have been made at the ; time as the ease 'proceeded. It Is patently a fabrication of unknown authorship never in the court recordsand at all Oliver Cowderys direct" assertion that Joseph was- sc- quitted litr a fease that was brought against him the' author rejects for the astonishing reason that Cowdery says the trial "occurred before 1827, whereas the trial In 'question occurred in 1826, and In place the wholly nnanthenti-este- d, record is adopted. Such are the- fruits of objective scholarship The article in the encyclopedia, in which the spurious court record is Incorporated, relies for Us suthority upon the same venomous, authorities as Mrs. Brodia herself admits are not reliable. It is a great system ef documentation. One person publishes a falsehood. Later another' writer publishes the same' falsehood and cites the - fr non-existe- nt antl-Mor-m- first as his authority. Then a third can cite both the others and then a fourth all of them, and so on ad infinitum. Thus a formidable array of footnote .documentation slaps the reader in the face, who cannot -- know that all trace back to an original invention. Is that - historical scholarship? Perhaps the best commentary on the value of the kind of evidence Mrs, Bjrodie relies upon throughout comes out of the experience of one seeking his doctorate at one of our oldest and most renowned universities. His dissertation had to do with a certain phase of Mormon history, so he thought he should search out and document the various .writings to attest the thoroughness of his research. The faculty examining committee required him to delete them all as being unworthy of mention in a work of scholarly research. Every argument put fdrth in the book to sustain the preconceived claim that Joseph fabricated the whole story about the First Vision 18 years after the alleged event rests on evidence as worthless and reasoning as fallacious, and as easily discredited and dispatched as are the affidavits,- - papers and court record and the arguments based on them. It involves, too, the rejection of contrary personal statements of wholly reliable men speaking out of their own knowledge. A little more about authorities: Mrs. Brodie asserts categorically that Joseph Smith said: Whenever I see a pretty woman I have to pray for grace. For support a footnote reference is given to Wyls. Examination discloses that Wyls said that someone had told him that someone had said that Joseph had made that remark to rn unnamed friend. Similarly sue unqualifiedly asserts that Mrs. Buell had admitted that she did not know whether the Prophet or Buell was the father of her son but the assertion, also impressively footnoted, turns out to rest upon the hearsay report of a Mrs. Etta V. Smith whom Mrs. Brodie was reluctant to believe, as well she might have been, until she found an old blurred photograph allegedly of that son. which resolved all doubt, though too indistinct to be of value for any such use. One might just as- - well and could just as easily open any old photograph album of a hundred years ago and pick out the picture of almost any pioneer with black hair and a beard and say he resembled the Prophets children. Again Wyls is appealed to as tfje authorjty forthe unblushing and hilarious admission of Lucinda Harris that she had been the Prophets mistress for-fo- ur years, though-W- yls alleged informant told an entirely different story to another Interviewer, and isnt it odd that these women should have been so free with declarations of illicit relations, when Mrs. Brodie tells us that because of the natural delfcacy of the subject, none of the Prophets wives ever publicly admitted having conceived a child by him? Wyls stories were collected a anti-Morm- on . half century after events, and were all ex parte taken - under extremely ques- tionable circumstances. . The utter baseness of the man, his malignancy and total lack of veracity or character are too well known to require comment. But who is Mrs. Etta V. Smith who tells the Buell story? Ten minutes' spent reading her book would utterly shatter any intelligent persons faith In it. She relates, that she wa held, . prisoner in Salt Lake where many other women were likewise so held; that the governor and some of the most prominent men of the territory were so simple as to plot murder and robbery in her presence and to permit her to Witness their accomplishment. She tells a lurid and ctale of her attempted escape and of crimes without number, which she quite Inexplicably was always permitted to hear planned and often to seo executed. So ridiculous a narrative so full of Impossible occurrences and told in such stilted, artificial language and with such fantastic circumstance' that an eighth grade pupil could not be deceived Into lending it credence becomes the source of "" Continued on Pago Eight) bi-z- arr |
