I N T R O D U C T I O N.

OF all the impositions which "flesh is heir to," none ought to be more abhorred or
dreaded, then those which come in the garb of sanctity and religion: But that
none are more ardently seized upon and cherished, by a certain portion of
mankind, all history goes to substantiate. Absurdities, like comets, move in orbits
both eccentric and peculiar. At one time they are obscured and lost in distance;
then again they are to be seen shining with a full face, frightening silly mortals
from their sphere, and turning into chaos the majesty of mind. Astronomy has
scarcely taught us to fortel the appearance of the one; but metaphysics will
enable us to calculate the periodical return of the other, when it shall have
enabled us to fathom the abysses of the human mind, and discover the springs
of human action.
There is nothing more curious than the connection between passion and credulity
-- and few things more humiliating and extraordinary, than the extent to which
the latter may be carried, even in minds of no vulgar order, when under the
immediate influence of any strong interest or excitement. It is also true that we
have frequently to encounter a perverse incredulity and a callous insensibility to
evidence, when we attempt to convince any one of what is contrary to his
opinions, wishes or interests. But this is only another exemplification of the
remarkable fact, that where any object, whether desirable, detestable, or
dreadful, agitate s the mind to a certain degree, our belief is very far from being
regulated by the weight of testimony. In such a frame of mind, men are not in a
situation to listen to the suggestions
vi
of sober reason; their attention is rivited to one particular view; they form their
opinions with seeming deliberation, from circumstances which would be little
regarded by minds of a sounder state, but which, seen through the medium of a
distorted imagination, appear with an overpowering magnitude; and in fact, if a
deep impression is made by any recital seriously delivered, or by any idea whose
falsehood is not manifest, the strength of the impression is very apt to be
mistaken for a sure proof of its reality. Even in cases where the greatest
calmness and deliberation might be expected, and among those whose profession
it is to investigate truth -- the ambition of founding a sect, or displaying
intellectual superiority -- the veneration for great names, or long established
opinions -- and the anxiety to penetrate into the mysteries of nature -- have
sometimes produced, not modest querists and patient inquirers, but zealous
preachers and zealous believers of the most fanciful creeds of philosophy; about
the influence of the stars; the whirlpools that guide the planets in their course;
about the concavity or internal regions of the earth; and about the formation of
the skull as furnishing a sure index to the passions and propensities.
If such dreams are indulged in the calm investigation of philosophy, what are we
to expect when the mind is dazzled by supernatural objects, animated by
supernatural hopes and pressed upon the understanding by supernatural terrors?
Our wonder therefore ceases, that mankind apparently delight in being misled by
the grossest delusions; that the pure truths of Christianity are so strangely
mingled with the wildest fancies that can be imagined by the lunatic, or invented
by the designing knave.
Every age of the world has produced impostors and delusions. Jannes and
Jambers withstood Moses, and were followed by Pharaoh, his court and clergy.
To say nothing
vii
of the false prophets of the Jewish age, the diviners, soothsayers, the magicians,
and all the ministry of idols among the Gentiles, by which the nations were so
often deceived, the Impostors which have appeared since the Christian era,
would fill volumes of the most lamentable details. The false Messiahs which have
afflicted the Jews since their rejection of Jesus Christ, have more than verified
the predictions of the "true and faithful witness." No less than twenty-four
distinguished false Messiahs have disturbed the Jews. Many were deceived, and
myriads lost their lives through their impostures. Some peculiar epochs were more
distinguished for the number and impudence of those Impostors. If the Jews had
fixed upon any year as likely to terminate their dispersion, and as the period of
their return, that year rarely failed to produce a Messiah. Hence in the 12th
century, no less than ten false Messiahs appeared. Numerous have been the
impostors among Christians, since the great apostacy began; especially since and
at the time of the reformation. Munzer, Stubner and Stork were conspicuous in
the 16th century. These men taught that among Christians, who had the
precepts of the Gospel to guide them, and the spirit of God to direct them, civil
offices and laws were not only unnecessary, but an unlawful encroachment upon
their spiritual liberty; that all Christians should put their possessions into common
stock; and that polygamy was not incompatible with either the Old or New
Testaments. They related many visions and revelations which they had from
above, but failing to propagate their doctrines by these means, they attempted
to enforce them by arms. Many Catholics joined them, and in the various
insurrections which they effected, one hundred thousand souls are said to have
been sacrificed.
Since the millennium became a subject of much speaking and writing, Impostors
have been numerous. In the memory
viii
of the present generation, many delusions have been propagated and received,
to a conside rable extent. The Shakers, styling themselves the "Millennium
Church," a sect instituted by ANN LEE, in 1774, still maintain a respectable
number. This "elect lady," as they sometimes styled her, was the head of the
party, and gave them a new bible. They asserted that she spoke seventy-two
different tongues, and conversed with the dead. Through her all blessings flowed
to her followers. She appointed the sacred dance and the fantastic song; and
consecrated shivering, swooning, and falling down, acts of acceptable devotion.
They hold all things in common, rank marriage among the works of the flesh, and
forbid all sexual intercourse.
In 1792, Richard Brothers published a book of prophecies and visions, and an
account of his daily intercourse with God, in London. He too had his followers;
and among them a member of the British Parliament, a profound scholar and one
of the most learned men of his time. He even made a speech in the House of
Commons, declaring his full belief in one of the craziest pieces of absurdity that
was ever presented to a British populace.
Joanna Southcott, the most disgusting old hag that ever pretended to 'set up for
herself,' in the business of blasphemy and dupe-making, was countenanced and
encouraged by respectable and wealthy individuals in England; who, not only
believed in the divine origin of her ministration, but swallowed with the most
implicit faith, her "Dialogue with the Devil," a farrago of filthy licentiousness that
would suffuse the face of a fisherwoman. By her arts of deception she succeeded
in procuring the certificate of a respectable physician that she was pregnant of
the Holy Ghost.
In Scotland a few years since, a Miss Campbell pretended to have come back
from the dead, having the "gift of tongues," was believed in by many of the
Clergy and Bar,
ix
and carried allong with her a numerous train of lesser note. The pretensions of
Jemima Wilkinson, the Barkers, Jumpers and Mutterers, of our own time and
country, are also well remembered.
But at these things we only intended to hint, in this place, in order to prepare the
mind for a detailed account of the more recent, more absurd, and, perhaps more
extensive, delusion of MORMONISM. It will present in somewhat a new light, to
the enquiring mind, the depths of folly, degradation and superstition, to which
human nature can be carried. It will show that there is no turning a fanatic from
his folly -- that the distemper is more incurable than the leprosy -- that the more
glaring the absurdity, the more determined the tenacity of its dupes -- and the
more apparent you can render the imposture, the stronger become its advocates.
Our object, therefore, in the present undertaking, will not be so much to break
the spell which has already seized and taken possession of great numbers of
people in our enlightened country, as to raise a warning voice, to those who are
yet liable, through a want of correct knowledge of the imposition, to be enclosed
within its fetters.
We make no pretens ions to literary merit, and anticipate adding but little to the
common stock of useful information. What is rela ted, is in a plain, unvarnished
style; such as we hope will be the more beneficial to those who are the most
usually obnoxious to religious impositions.