" Next is this, "And also the testimony of eight witnesses. Be it know unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people unto whom this work shall come, that Joseph Smith,Jun., the translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work and of curious workmanship. And this we bear record of with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shown unto us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the said Smith was got the plates of which we have spoken. And we give our names unto the world, to witness unto the world that which we have seen. And we lie not, God bearing witness of it. Christina Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, Peter Whitmer, Jun., John Whitmer, Hiram Page, Joseph Smith, Sen., Hyrum Smith, Samuel H. Smith. "
" And when I am far on the road to conviction and eight men. be they grammatical or otherwise come forward and tell me that they have seen the plates too, and not only seen those plates, but hefted them, I am convinced. I couldn't feel more satisfied and at rest if then entire Whitmer family had testified. "
LOL!
” And when I am far on the road to conviction and eight men. be they grammatical or otherwise come forward and tell me that they have seen the plates too, and not only seen those plates, but hefted them, I am convinced. I couldn’t feel more satisfied and at rest if then entire Whitmer family had testified. “
That quote is dishonest dano1, you left off half the essay where Twain goes on to rip Smith a new one.
From "Roughing It" Chapter XVI
All men have heard of the Mormon Bible, but few except the "elect" have seen it, or, at least, taken the trouble to read it. I brought away a copy from Salt Lake. The book is a curiosity to me, it is such a pretentious affair, and yet so "slow," so sleepy; such an insipid mess of inspiration. It is chloroform in print. If Joseph Smith composed this book, the act was a miracle--keeping awake while he did it was, at any rate. If he, according to tradition, merely translated it from certain ancient and mysteriously-engraved plates of copper, which he declares he found under a stone, in an out-of-the-way locality, the work of translating was equally a miracle, for the same reason.
The book seems to be merely a prosy detail of imaginary history, with the Old Testament for a model; followed by a tedious plagiarism of the New Testament. The author labored to give his words and phrases the quaint, old-fashioned sound and structure of our King James's translation of the Scriptures; and the result is a mongrel--half modern glibness, and half ancient simplicity and gravity. The latter is awkward and constrained; the former natural, but grotesque by the contrast. Whenever he found his speech growing too modern--which was about every sentence or two--he ladled in a few such Scriptural phrases as "exceeding sore," "and it came to pass," etc., and made things satisfactory again. "And it came to pass" was his pet. If he had left that out, his Bible would have been only a pamphlet.
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The Mormon Bible is rather stupid and tiresome to read, but there is nothing vicious in its teachings. Its code of morals is unobjectionable- -it is "smouched" [Milton] from the New Testament and no credit given.
End of Chapter.