CHAPTER XI.

Spiritual Gifts, The Gift of Tongues

On the opening of the year 1833, the "gift of tongues" again made its appearance
at head-quarters, and from thence extended to all their branches in different
parts. Whether the languages now introduced, differed materially from those
practiced two or three years previous, (and pronounced to be of the Devil,) we
have not been informed. It appears that this last device, was all that was then
lacking to make the system perfect. They had long before professed to be fully
endowed with the power of healing all manner of diseases, discerning spirits, and
casting out devils. But a succession of failures had rendered them rather stale,
and given distrust to many of the faithful. A new expedient was therefore
indispensably necessary, in order to revive the drooping spirits of the deluded,
and at the same time, insure a new crop of converts. The scheme proved
eminently successful. Hundreds were soon convinced of the truth of the whole,
by hearing of and seeing the manner
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in which the "tongues" were performed, although the trick would seem more
susceptible of discovery than any previous one. This gift was not confined to the
Elders and high priests, who, in other respects, were supposed to have a
superabundant share of "the spirit"; but nearly all the proselytes, both old and
young, could show their faith by speaking with "tongues." And it would appear,
from all the facts which we have been able to gather upon this subject, that if
this gift were not supernaturally bestowed, it required but a few moments
instruction from a priest, to render his pupil expert in various dead languages,
which could never be understood by man or beast, except a supernatural power
was at the instant given to some one present to interpret it. -- They sometimes
professed to believe that these "tongues" were the same which were
"confounded" at the building of Babel.
Some curious particulars are related respecting these blasphemous practices, by
a Mr. Higby, who was eight months an Elder in the Mormon church, and which he
published in a small pamphlet. He says that shortly after he joined them, a
Mormon Elder said to him, "you must go to work in the vineyard of the Lord as
a preacher of the Gospel. I have viewed your heart by the spirit of discernment;
I see what is in your heart, and what the will of the Lord is, concerning you all,"
Mr. Higby says that he was soon after ordained an Elder in the said church, and
commissioned to preach and baptize, ordain Elders, confirm the churches, heal
the sick, in short, that he was ordained to all the gifts of the church, which were
the same as given to the apostles of old. He continues --
"about the 10th of April following, R. Cahoon and D. Patton came
again to the place -- a meeting was called, and previous to the
meeting, they said that some one would speak with tongues before
they left the place. Accordingly he set himself to work at that
meeting
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to verify his prophecy. During the meeting he said, 'Father H. if you
will rise in the name of Jesus Christ, you can speak in Tongues.' He
arose immediately, hesitated, and said, 'my faith fails me --I have
not faith enough.' -- Said Patton, 'you have -- speak in the name
of Jesus Christ -- make some sound as you list, without further
thought, and God will make it a language.' The old gentleman, after
considerable urging, spoke and made some sounds, which were
pronounced to be a correct tongue. Several others spoke in a
similar manner, and among them was myself. I spoke as I listed,
not knowing what I said, yet it was declared to be a tongue. The
sound of the words used by some, in speaking in tongues, was a
medium between talking and singing -- and all, as I am now
convinced, a mere gibberish, spoken at random and without
thought.
"We had another meeting shortly after, at which there were
present several others, besides those of the church . -- Cahoon
spoke in unknown tongues, as he pretended, going on at
considerable length, which Patton interpreted nearly as follows:
that the judgment of God should follow the men of this generation;
that their tongues should be stayed that they should not utter;
and their flesh should fall from off their bones; their eyes pine
away in their sockets; and it shall come to pass that the beasts
of the forest and the fowls of the air shall devour them, nearly as
it is written in the prophets. He then asked me to speak, which I
did, and he interpreted as he though proper.
"The next time those men came among us, they gave us a rule for
speaking in unknown tongues, and also for interpreting what was
spoken by others. This rule, they said, was perfect -- that as long
as we followed it we could not err. And so I believe; it was a
perfect rule to lead men astray. The rule, as given by Cahoon, is
this: rise upon your feet and look and lean on Christ; speak or
make some sound;
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continue to make sounds of some kind, and the Lord will make a
correct tongue or language of it. The interpretation was to be
given in the same way."
Upon this, Mr. H. justly remarks: --
"Men of sense may smile at this recital; and those who scoff at all
religion and know nothing of those feelings of the human heart
which the devotional man enjoys, in converse with his Maker, will
doubtless ridicule what they consider the weakness of folly; but
the man of religious feeling will know how to pity, rather than
upbraid, that zeal without knowledge, which leads a man to fancy
that he has found the ladder of Jacob, and that he sees the angel
of the Lord ascending and descending before his eyes; while the
Christian philosopher, who has read the history of mankind, will find
abundant apology for that man, who, by a constant and over
anxious exercise of mind, is led at length to fancy himself on the
banks of the Ulai with Daniel, or on the Isle of Patmos with St.
John."
They would frequently sing in this gibberish forming a tune as they proceeded.
The same song they said, would be sung when the lost tribes appeared in Zion,
in Missouri.
Another seceder from this delusion, relates that he was present on a certain
occasion, in an upper room in Kirtland, where were assembled from fifteen to
twenty Elders and High Priests. After sundry exhortation by the priests, the
prophet himself arose, and with much earnestness, warned his followers to be
zealous and faithful in their duties, saying, "It is our privilege to see God face to
face -- yes, (says he) I will prophecy unto you in the name of the Lord, that the
day will come when no man will be permitted to preach unless he has seen the
Lord -- people will ask each teacher, 'have you seen the face of the Lord,' and
if he say nay, they will say, away with this fellow, for we have a man to teach
us that has seen the face of the Lord,'" After a short pause, he added, "the Lord
is willing we should see
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his glory to-day, and all that will exercise faith, shall see the Lord of Glory." They
then concluded to spend the day in fasting and prayer. Each one kept his seat
with his eyes closed, and his body inclined forward. Soon after Joseph says,
"Sidney (Rigdon,) have you seen the Lord?" He answered, "I saw the image of a
man pass before my face, whose locks were white, and whose countenance was
exceedingly fair, even surpassing all beauty that I had ever beheld." Then Joseph
replied, "I knew you had seen a vision but would have seen more were it not for
unbelief." Sidney confessed his faith was weak that morning. Hiram Smith said he
had seen nearly the same as Sidney, which was pronounced by Joseph to be the
Redeemer of the world. Upon this, R. Cahoon fell upon his knees, holding his hands
in an erect position. In fifteen or twenty minutes he arose and declared he had
seen the temple of Zion, filled with disciples, while the top was covered with the
glory of the Lord, in the same position, but saw no vision, his faith being weak.
Joseph next arose, and passing round the room laying his hand upon each one,
and spoke as follows, as near as the narrator can recollect: --
"Ak man oh son oh man ah ne commene en holle goste en haben
en glai hosanne hosanne en holle goste en esac milkea jeremiah,
exekiel, Nephi, Lehi, St. John," &c. &c.
After administering the sacrament, several of the brethren were called upon to
arise and speak in tongues. Several of them performed with considerable
applause. Our informant says he was at length called upon to speak or sing, "in
tongues," at his own option -- preferring the latter mode, he sung, to the tune
of Bruce's Address, a combination of sounds, which astonished all present.
This gibberish for several months was practiced almost daily, while they were
about their common avocations, as well
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as when they assembled for worship. But we will not dwell upon this part of our
history. A particular recital of such scenes of fanaticism, gives too much pain to
the intelligent mind, and excites a contempt for our species.
We would here, barely ask the subjects of this delusion, and all others who may
become so, whether it be possible, that the great and intelligent Ruler of the
Universe, can be thus miraculously engaged in bestowing all sorts of language
upon a few people merely for their own amusement? -- languages that can
neither benefit themselves, or any one else, because no one can understand
them. For the full introduction of the Gospel, the gift of tongues was wisely
conferred upon the Apostles & some others who were engaged in its first
promulgation. But for what purpose? was it a mere pastime to them, by means of
which they could divert each other, while assemble d in their private rooms,
without knowing the import of any thing they said? If such were the facts, then
these modern tongues may be genuine -- But no -- they were for a wiser and
more noble purpose -- a purpose every way worthy of that exalted Being. The
gospel was to be proclaimed and published to "every creature," to perhaps a
hundred different nations, all speaking a distinct tongue -- and to be preached,
too, by a small number of men, who had been taught only a single language.
Whenever they spoke in a language not of their own, it was most clearly
understood, by themselves and others, who had assembled from various nations,
without the intervention of sooth-sayers, or one pretending to have the "spirit of
interpretation." Will any one presume to compare the wisdom of God in those
manifestations, with what has been related by Smith and his followers? Yes -- a
distorted imagination can discover infinitely more power and glory in the
unintelligible jargon of Mormonism.
If what has been exhibited here, are truly languages, they
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must be such as are spoken and understood by human beings somewhere:
otherwise the names of "tongues" or languages will not attach to them. But they
are a mere gibberish. If these people had the "gift of tongues," as they
impudently assert, how much more consistent with rationality, and worthy of the
Deity, would it appear for them to show it forth and test its true character,
before an audience of French or Spanish, or some of the numerous Indian tribes
in our country, all speaking different tongues, and to whom they profess to be
more especially sent? No -- such an attempt would explode the whole system of
folly and delusion. It would seem that they would much rather be talking their
nonsense to each other, and declaring it to the world as an extraordinary
manifestation of the power of God.