ANNIE C NELbON
Vol. XVI FEBRUARY, 1913 No. 4
ORGAN OF THE PRIESTHOOD QUORUMS THE YOUNG MENS MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATIONS.ANDTHE 5CHOOBS OF THE CHURCH- OF JE.5US CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE GENERAL BOARD AT SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.
I
BEFORE THE SMOKE CLEARS AWAY
On your fire-stricken shop, factory, office or store, you can resume busi- ness if insured with. us. No long unnecessary delays in adjusting1, no haggling over terms; but prompt pay- ment of losses every time. It's to our interest to get you set up in business again — we can Insure you again.
HOME FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY OF UTAH
Heber J. Grant & Go. K*
20-26 So. Main St. Salt Lake City, Utah
BOTH PHONES 351
Jos, Wm. Taylor
Utah's Leading Undertaker and Licensed Embalmer.
Fine Funeral Chapel, Private Parlor, Show Rooms and Morgue
OFPICE OPEN DAY AND NIGHT
31, 23 and 25 South West Temple St. SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
DESERET
NEWS
BOOK STORE
BOOKS
HEADQUARTERS
FOR ALL GOOD
BOOKS
Histories, Novels, Biographies and books by local authors
Special prices to Quorums and
Y. M. M. I. A. on
quantity orders
Deseret News Book Store
ZX.M.I. Factory
SHOES
Are made of solid leather throughout, they give splendid satisfaction. Bootees made especially for hard service — Wyoming or Summit Shoes for the man whose work demands s t r o n g , serviceable
shoes. School shoes for Boys.
"MOUNTAINERR"orTHE LEADER NEVER Rl°" Overalls are honestly made. Ask for them.
WHBH WHITWQ T9 4DVBKT1SERS, PLEASE MENTION THE "ERA'
I'll Trust in Him Who Rules on High
Words and Music by R. Michelsen
m$
m
^\-
zf==:
f-T
1. 2. 3.
I'll trust I'll trust I'll trust
in Him who rules on in Him whose pow'r and in Him, what-e'er be
higb, Re- love, Were falls, Nor
t£
-y—gj-
« — ^— i — j— -
9^
st
pe-t
r
i
deem - er, Lord of Hosts, To mark the way my
voiced through deep - est woes;"Thy will, 0 God, not
fear, though storms oppose, Come fol - low me, He
fr>f-7T'f PlH^^r^^
dL
S^-
rp
rsfc
steps to guide; I'll mine be done; I'll plead - ing calls; I'll
rv
* -•-
-s>-
^^
j .?_
up?
^T:
trust in Him,
trust in Him,
trust in Him,
,/— ^ i i^ —
He He He
tzp==
knows, knows, knows.
1
^^=7=1^4-+^
THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS' CHAPEL AT SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND
Here the Latter-day Saints taught the principles of the gospel, and served the Lord. Owing to prejudice, created in the minds of the people from hearing false and defamatory reports of the Latter-day Saints, a recent mob, numbering thousands, ignorant of what they did, let us hope, broke every window in the building; some went into the auditorium shown in the lower picture, stood upon the pulpit swearing, upset chairs, turned the stove over, and released into a crowded room foul-smelling fumes. The elders standing back of the pulpit are A. G. Brain, Joseph Parmley, R. Belknap, President Lichfield, Prof. J. J. McClellan, E. Stevenson Wilcox, Master Douglas Mc- Clellan, E. J. Meed and W. Simpson. In the upper picture the same group are shown in front of the chapel. Anti-"Mormon" posters on the building to the left, people "peeking" through the curtains in adjoining buildings, and the giggling boy on the right, show the spirit of the place. Should the mob come to Utah, singly or in com- pany, the Saints would gladly show them every courtesy, and with this same McClellan at the organ, give them an unexcelled musical entertainment, and convince them that Latter-day Saints are among the purest, most cleanly, virtuous, intelligent, and broad minded people in all the world. The citizens of Sunderland need enlightenment.
Improvement Era
Vol. XVI FEBRUARY, 1913 No. 4
The Conquest of Drouth
BY JOHN A. WIDTSOE, A. M., PH. D., PRESIDENT OF THE AGRI- CULTURAL COLLEGE OF UTAH, AND OF THE INTER- NATIONAL DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, 1912*
The Dry-Farming Congress, which was organized in Den- ver, Colorado, nearly six years ago, was no doubt at first intended to meet the needs- of the western United States; but, almost from the moment of its inception, its world-mission began to be under- stood. Within a year after the first session it had assumed a national character, and within two years it was truly an organ- ization of international interest.
Since the organization of this Congress, dry-farming has become a household word in almost every corner of the earth. To the six sessions, already held, practically all the great nations have sent delegates-, and upon the platform of this, the seventh session, sit accredited delegates from half a score of countries. From Australia to the United States, by way of South Africa, North Africa, Hungary, is a series of auxiliary dry-farming con- gresses. The correspondence of the Congress is in all the civilized tongues of the earth ; and the meagre literature of the subject is being translated into the half-dozen leading languages of man. Moreover, so far as I know, this session of the Congress is unique in that it is the first time that a purely agricultural organization without governmental support, has gone beyond the country of its birth.
This remarkable history of the Dry-Farming Congress cer- tainly indicates that the problems of dry-farming are of living, world-wide interest. I shall, therefore, take the liberty of devot- ing the time allotted me, to the definition of the purpose and prob- lems of the dry-farming propaganda.
*The president's opening address, delivered at Lethbridge, Canada, session 1912.
282 IMPROVEMENT ERA
Purpose of the Dry-Farming Propaganda
There would be no. dry-farming if plants were not large con- sumers of water, or if all parts of the earth received a sufficient and regularly-distributed supply of rain. The fact is that plants use in their growth immense quantities of water, and the rainfall of the earth is distributed very unequally, both as to the total quantity, and the time of the year during which it falls.
The question of rainfall is the pre-eminent one in dry-farm- ing, since some parts of the earth receive an excessively large annual precipitation, far beyond the needs of crops, while others receive much less than is necessary under ordinary methods of tillage for crop production. Moreover, in some places the rain comes chiefly in winter; in others in summer, and in yet other places during the spring and fall. In only a few localities is the rainfall distributed equally over the year. To further compli- cate the problem, the annual rainfall in a given localitv is not the same from year to year ; for, as is well known, a tolerably wet year may be followed by a dry year, or vice versa. The agricul- tural control of the water that falls from the heavens, in spite of varying seasons, and the use of even a limited supply for crop production, are the problems of the dry-farmer, and justify the existence of dry-farming as a science.
It must be said that while the total annual rainfall varies somewhat in any one place, from year to year, the variations are small and remain the same from generation to generation. The pioneers of a new land generally believe that the climate changes as settlement progresses, but exact records do not bear out this view. True, only about 150 years of records, with modern instru- ments, are at hand, yet during that period there has been no per- ceptible change of average climatic conditions anywhere on earth. The recorded history of the world bears out this view. For in- stance, the study of the history of the vineyards of southern France lead to the belief that during the last 500 years there has been no change in the climate of France, whether temperature or rainfall is considered. Likewise, the study of the production of date palms in the Orient has established with considerable cer- tainty that since the fourth century B. C, or during twenty-three centuries, in the date palm regions, there has been no appreciable climatic change. From generation to generation, the average cli- mate, the world over, has been constant, and no doubt will remain so for ages to come.
The only real climatic changes have been fluctuations from year to year, for climate, like a pendulum, swings with a some- what irregular motion from one extreme to another. A dry year, the driest in a series of years, is followed by wetter years until the wettest is reached; then there is a gradual irregular return
THE CONQUEST OF DROUTH 283
to the dry condition ; and the process is again repeated. Usually the cycle is short, from eleven to thirty-five years. The average difference between the coldest and the warmest years of such a climatic priod is small — seldom more than two degrees F. in tem- perature ; and the rainfall of the driest year is, on the average, only from one-eighth to one-fourth less than the rainfall of the wettest year. That is to say, in the driest year much rain falls, but ordinarily out of the growing season. Moreover, the driest year does not cover the earth at the same time. It is invariably local, and may occur in one place, at the same time that the wettest year occurs some other place. These variations are really so small that with improved methods of tillage they should interfere little with the progress of agriculture, yet they have been the cause of much human suffering, for the driest year in a short cycle of cli- matic change is the feared year of drouth.
The Deadly Drouth
The pages of history are crowded with the records of the dis- asters caused by the occasional deficiency of rainfall, the so-called drouth, representing the dry years in the cycle of climatic change. The Bible, which represents a very early period of man's history, abounds with references to drouth. The very beginning of the Hebrew nation is definitely connected with the great drouth which came over the countries adjoining Egypt, and which forced the people of these surrounding lands to come to this granary of na- tions for food. Even in Egypt itself, as will be remembered, the drouth raged for seven years, and had not Joseph saved the grain of the preceding fruitful years, not only the surrounding na- tions, but Egypt herself would have suffered. Later, when Israel entered into the promised land, their God took occasion to warn them that although it was a land flowing with milk and honey, if his law were not observed, drouths would overtake them and famine would destroy them. The early Assyrian code of laws, recently unearthed, declare, with the same fear of drouth, that when drouth settles upon the land the farmer who tills rented land shall be free from obligations to the owner of the land, for God has willed this irresistible evil upon the land.
The literature of all ages, whether of prophet, poet, or the teller of tales, abounds in reference to the terrible danger of drouth. You will remember that even in the fables of yEsop the fox who fell into a deep well said to the goat who was passing by, and who inquired what the fox was doing clown in the well, "Have you not heard that there is going to be a great drouth. I jumped down here to be sure to have water by me ; why don't you come, too," upon which the goat jumped down, in great terror of
284 IMPROVEMENT ERA
the coming drouth, and the fox, jumping on her back, was able to get out of the well.
The year of drouth, the driest year in the cycle of climatic change, with its crop failures, stalks through the ages, past and present, as the supreme enemy of agriculture, and therefore of mankind. Drouth has been looked upon as a providence of God, which mortal men could only accept and die. In the trail of drouth, and following it closely, have always been its deadly brood: hunger, famine, pestilence and all manner of human dis- tress. History, in its patient recording of famines, has indirectly given, often with minute exactness, the progress of drouth; and the burden Of the story is that if war and disease have killed their thousands, drouth has destroyed its tens of thousands. In view of the mission of dry-farming, it may be well to review, for a moment or two, the fearful effects of a few historical drouths.
The famines of India have been recorded with terrible fidel- ity. The known drouths in this poor country run into great num- bers, but a few of the great, outstanding ones will show their awful results. In 941 A. D. there was a famine of such terrible degree that cannibalism was permitted, and men ate their fellows, so that some might live. In the following seven centuries there was a rapid succession of drouths and famines, averaging above ten years per century. In 1344 the drouth was so intense that even the emperor had difficulty in securing food for himself and his immediate family. In 1769, in one of the great provinces, one- third of the population, or 10,000,000 souls, died from hunger. In 1790, the famine was. so fearful that the dead could not be counted, much less buried, and were left in the fields and on the roads as they fell ; in 1838, in one province alone, 800,000 persons perished from hunger; in 1861, the whole of northwest India was scourged by drouth-famine ; in 1869, one and one-half million per- sons died of famine ; in 1876 to 1878 five million persons died of famine, and we all remember the drouth of 1899-1901, in India, when one million persons died. That is, in 132 years of the most enlightened age of the world, five drouths in India caused the death of nearly nineteen million human beings, not to say any- thing of the many minor famines. This appalling story makes one feel that the greatest problem of India is the conquest of drouth.
While drouths have been recorded more completely in India than possibly in any other country, it does not follow that drouth- famines have not covered other lands. China has not yet opened her records, but we know that in recent times fearful drouths have devastated the Chines nation. In 1877-78 a famine occurred from which nine and one-half million persons perished; and in 1887-1889 another fearful drouth occurred in China. In the year
THE CONQUEST OF DROUTH 285
436 B. C. the famine resulting- from drouth in Rome was so in- tense that thousands of people threw themselves into the Tiber rather than to face the agony of starvation. In Egypt a great drouth occurred 32 B. C, and in 1064 A. D. another seven years' famine rested upon that country ; other smaller drouths have since occurred in Egypt. Europe, from which most of us here have been derived, has been scourged by drouth from the very begin- ning of its occupation. There are recorded drouths of fearful magnitude in 879, 1016, 1162, and scores of drouths since the lat- ter date. Russia, in recent days, has been subjected to several great drouths, among them one in 1891 and another in 1905, both of which caused large losses of life. In Germany the drouth of 1125 was so complete that one-half of the population died; in 1817 there was another great drouth, and as is well known, during the last two summers, Germany, especially in the northeastern part, has suffered seriously from a deficient rainfall. In Hungary, the drouth of 1505 was so intense that parents ate their children to save their own lives. England, which is supposed to be drouth- free, has had its share of recorded drouths, some of which have been national disasters.
Great famines, with their consequent loss of life, that have accompanied drouth, are not likely to recur as frequently as in the past, for modern methods of communication by rail and water will enable the countries of good seasons (and droutns are always local) to supply the drouth-ridden countries with the necessary food. Nevertheless, though human life be not lost, great econ- omic losses occur whenever crops are destroyed by drouth, and the loss in wealth retards, greatly, the progress of the people. It would be folly to attempt to estimate the gigantic losses that have been occasioned by drouths.
Man the Master
I have dwelt so long upon this matter, for it is one of the great problems of mankind that must be solved by an advancing civilization. With the historical record of recurring local drouths before us, and with the certainty of a practical permanency of climate, which means that the dry year is sure to recur, it is incon- ceivable that modern man will submit to the losses and distresses caused by drouths. Rather, he will rise in the might of the ac- cumulated knowledge of the ages, and forever banish the years of drouth from the knowledge of man.
How may it be done ? Naturally, by the proper conservation of moisture in the soil so that crops can pass through a rainless season without hurt. The rainfall even in the year of drouth, is usually large enough to produce fair crops, but it comes before
286 IMPROVEMENT ERA
the growing season, and falls on lands depleted of moisture. The soils must be so tilled that moisture is carried over in them, from year to year, and that the rainfall, whenever it comes, may be absorbed by the soil and there held until needed by plants. That is dry-farming pure and simple. To dry-farming, then, is com- mitted the task of so enlightening the world that drouths, here- after, will be due either to ignorance or to indifference. This, the conquest of drouth in humid and sub-humid regions, must be hereafter one of the main concerns of dry-farming. And, let it not be forgotten that if dry-farming methods are applied to humid and sub-humid regions to prevent crop failure from drouths, the yields during normal years will thereby also be greatly increased. Aside from any protection against drouth, the methods of dry- farming might well be adopted by the occupied parts of the earth, because of the increased crop yields that would result, every year.
The other and original problem of dry-farming is the exten- sion of the area now occupied by man, by devising methods whereby la ids that receive little rainfall, lands that may be said to be in a tate of permanent drouth, may be made to produce profitable t. "ops also. The present occupied agricultural areas of the woi! I receive an annual rainfall of twenty inches and up- ward. The areas that receive less than twenty inches of rain annually, the arid and semi-arid areas, have been until recently untouched by the plow and in fact have been denominated "des- erts." In fact, over many of them the average rainfall is smaller than during the fearful year of drouth in humid regions, before which the nations have bowed these many centuries. These so- called deserts cover more than one-half, nearly sixt-tenths, of the entire land surface of the earth, and offer an opportunity of conquest unequaled in any other domain. Until recent years the best use made of this vast area of land was for the support of herds of cattle and sheep, that grazed upon the scant natural herb- age for a few months in the year. Five to ten acres were often held to be barely enough for the sustenance of one sheep, and often one hundred acres were required for a steer !
In the minds of the few who dreamed of the conquest of this measureless "desert," the ancient art of irrigation seemed to be the only method of reclamation. In fact, the certainty of splen- did crops tinder irrigation is unsurpassed, and when irrigation water is placed upon the rich, arid land, a productive garden results. However, irrigation will always be of limited applica- tion. In arid and semi-arid regions, land is plentiful, and flowing water is scarce. When all the waters of the arid regions shall be properly stored, and led to the farms at the proper season, prob- ablv not more than ten per cent of the available arid lands will be under irrigation. The larger the area over which the irrigation
THE CONQUEST OF DROUTH 287
waters may be profitably spread tbe more successful will the ir- rigation project be. In this matter, also, dry-farming is destined to take a leading part.
Irrigation Not a Primary Art
Contrary to the popular idea, irrigation is not a primary art ; at its best it is only supplementary to the natural rainfall. The more water that falls upon the land, the smaller the quantity of water that needs to be applied in irrigation. By the same token, the more thoroughly the rainfall is stored in the soil, the less ir- rigation water is needed. The beginning of irrigation wisdom is the conservation of the natural precipitation. The high value of applying dry-farm methods under irrigation has been well dem- onstrated in a series of experiments recently reported from the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station. It was there shown that the part of a full crop, raised under irrigation, due to the rainfall stored in the soil, in the case of wheat and oats, was approxi- mately eighty-five per cent of the total yield ; of lucern about sev- enty-eight per cent, and of potatoes about sixty-eight per cent. That is, from two-thirds to five-sixths of the crops obtained on irrigated fields were in reality due to the natural precipitation carefully stored in the soil by the methods of dry-farming. The irrigation water saved by the proper storage in the soil of the rainfall, may be used in reclaiming other land, and thus, the ir- rigated area may be extended greatly by the application of dry- farming methods.
As already said, however, a perfected world-system of irri- gation will probably reclaim not more than one-tenth of the un- occupied portions of the earth ; before dry-farming, unassisted, lies the greater task of making the remaining nine-tenths, or more than one-half of the earth's surface, blossom and bear fruit for man. The area that formerly supported one sheep must be made to feed a family of men and women. This is the original problem of dry-farming, and in the end the largest one. Could we stop here and discuss the question of the food supply of the world, the ftill importance of the reclamation of the dry-farming areas of the world, would loom large in the economic salvation of man- kind. With increasing population and expanding needs, the arid regions will be the safety valve of the engine of civilization.
The Mission of Dry-Farming
The misison of dry-farming is, then, of a three-fold nature. First, it must eliminate the drouths that from time immemorial have plagued the farmers of somewhat humid countries ; and also
288 IMPROVEMENT ERA
increase the normal crop yields of such countries by a better utili- zation of the rainfall. Second, by teaching the proper methods of storing the natural rainfall and conserving the soil moisture, irri- gation water must be made to cover larger areas of arid lands, and thus the irrigated area may be largely extended, and third, it must reclaim by correct methods of soil tillage and every other means, the largest possible part of the unirrigated half of the earth which is under a low rainfall. This is a vast program of ambitious pur- pose which of necessity must be carried out by dry-farming, as that branch of agriculture which concerns itself directly with the utilization for the production of crops of the water that falls from the heavens. To accomplish this purpose, dry-farming must be dove-tailed into all other agricultural practices.
It may be asked in all candor if, indeed, any part of this program has been carried out, or if this is all only a dream that may never be realized. It is a joy to be able to answer that, already, the accomplishments of dry-farming are far beyond the reasonable hopes of its disciples. Dry-farming has "made good," and, from its practical results, holds out the promise that the day of triumph over drouth, whether in humid or in arid regions, is at hand.
In the United States, over fifty years ago, adventurous spirits tried out, and with success, the possibility of reclaiming the desert without irrigation. In Utah, California, Washington, and even in western Canada, independent beginnings of dry-farming were successfully made, one to two generations ago, on lands that re- ceive annually from eight to fourteen inches of rainfall. In the Great Plains area, which still presents very difficult dry-farm problems, thousands of men have grown crops successfully and profitably for a generation or more. In the western United States dry-farming is a firmly established system of profitable farming, and it is spreading with lightning rapidity. The Australian dry- farming conferences have shown that in their great continent dur- ing the last thirty or more years, numerous farmers have prac- ticed dry-farming successfully on lands under a very low annual rainfall. In various parts of the drier sections of Europe the same is true. .
At last, and as it were in confirmation of the claims for dry- farming, come now claims from southern Europe, from northern Africa and from a dozen places in Asia, that the practice of dry- farming was extensively successful there some thousands of years ago, and that we of this day are simply restoring to popular use an art that once belonged to the civilized portion of the world, but which, in the shifting of the scenes of the world's drama, had been forgotten ! There is much truth in these claims, as the history of northern Africa, Spain, South America, and many other
• THE CONQUEST OF DROUTH 289
lands, amply prove. If any doubting Thomas be here, let him look about him in this province of Alberta, and let him follow us over the western half of the United States, and he will return a con- verted man. Dry-farming has already reclaimed its millions of acres from the dominion of the desert, and the drouth, and its work is scarcely begun.
The Foundation Stones
This work of conquest, now well under way, is not based upon empirical rules. On the contrary it rests upon thoroughly established scientific principles. For that reason, dry-farming requires the application of high skill and intelligence, but it also nullifies the charge that it is precarious. It is not claimed that all is known ; but only that the steps that have been taken con- form with a well shaped system derived from scientific truths. Note the seven foundation stones of dry- farming:
1. One inch of rainfall is sufficient to produce from two to four bushels of wheat per acre annually, if it be made available to plants.
2. By proper methods of tillage, notably by deep plowing in the fall, from two-thirds to nine-tenths of the rainfall may be stored in deep soils from season to season for the use of plants.
3. By proper fallowing, the water stored in the soil one year may be carried over to another year, in order to give the crop the benefit of the rainfall of two years.
4. By the stirring of the top soil, the direct evaporation of water from the soil can be almost wholly prevented, so that nearlv all the rainfall that enters the soil may be used by plants.
5. By vigorous cultivation, by fallowing or by adding natural or artificial manures to the soil, the quantity of water taken from the soil by plants can be materially reduced.
6. The seed sown should be proportioned to the water in the so'l. The less water, the fewer plants should be produced, so that the soil water may not be exhausted too early in the season.
7. Plants may be so bred as to yield well even under conditions of small water supply.
These are well demonstrated principles which form a secure basis for the conquest of drouth in the humid regions and of the ultimate conquest for the use of man of the vast unoccupied ■ deserts. They should be taught to the race from infancy, and made as familiar to the men of tomorrow as are the common rules of arithmetic. Farmers, business men, engineers, doctors, law- yers and preachers should know by heart these elements of our material prosperity. Schools and colleges should teach them. Then will a time come when drouth, like the tamed lion, will bend before its master — man.
Much remains to be done. The principles that we^ possess are general in their nature ; their application must be varied with
290 IMPROVEMENT ERA
local conditions. New principles must be evolved; new ap- plications must be devised; machinery, especially adapted to the work, must be invented ; and, above all, the unoccupied part of the earth must be more fully surveyed as regards soil and climatic conditions. The depth, structure and fertility of dry-farm soils must be known ; rainfall and other meteorological stations must dot the land. Then on the frontier of the advancing area, dem- onstration farms must be established to try out for each locality the methods proposed. It is a vast work; but the prize justifies it.
Only by governmental aid can this work be properly done, and it is a pleasure to mention that such aid is now given by most of the governments of the world. Here in Alberta, in Sas- katchewan, and in other Canadian provinces, the departments of agriculture are giving vigorous aid to this movement. The same is done in many of the states of the United States of America, in Australia, in Mexico, in many of the South American repub- lics, in the South African Federation, in Russia, France, Ger- many, Hungary, Spain, Egypt, Turkey, China and in many other countries. I am proud to be able to say that Utah, the state to which I belong, was the first in our country to appropriate money for dry-farming investigations, and that the Utah Agricultural College was the first to dignify dry-farming by giving it a place in the college course of study.
In time, all these agencies will give us a great mass of infor- mation from all corners of the earth, which, however, to be of greatest use, must be made accessible to all, must be discussed by many men from many lands, and the conclusions must be given wide publicity. Some agency must be commissioned to labor by day and by night, throughout the year, for the collecting, unify- ing and publishing of the facts and achievements of the dry-farm- ing movement, and for the periodic bringing together of the lead- ers in the work. Here, it seems to me, is the main function of the Dry-Farming Congress. While dry-farming is undoubtedly a popular movement, we must not depend too greatly upon this for its final triumph. In this day of advertising and great publicity, the gospel of dry-farming should be shouted to all the nations, and a definite organization should have the publicity and unifying work in charge.
There is yet much prejudice to be overcome. As in the past, opposition, both honest and dishonest, will arise frequently and in unexpected quarters. The last voice against dry-farming has not yet been heard. We must assemble and have ready for use, when such opposition is manifested, the reason for our faith in dry-farming, and let those who have caught the spirit of the work stand squarely and firmly upon the doctrine that the basic scien- tific principles, and the work already accomplished, justify the
THE CONQUEST OF DROUTH 291
belief that the deserts of the earth shall eventually be conquered by the plow and the harvester. It is now only a matter of a rel- atively short time until all the nations of the earth, afflicted with drouth or blessed with "deserts," will take to heart and adopt the lessons taught by those who, in the face of the blistering" sun, arc conquering the sleeping land.
This Congress, as the clearing house of the world's dry-farm- ing ideas, must be perpetuated and made greater. It has shown its value, for the interest taken in dry-farming by the states and countries of the world is largely due to the activity of this Con- gress, notably through the efforts of its efficient secretary, Mr. John T. Burns. We are engaged in making a new earth, and the work has only just been begun. Through this Congress inspi- ration must be given to the scattered workers in the various cor- ners of the world.
What has been done is a small part of what should be done for this great movement. The crying need of this Congress was discussed by President Worst at the last session, that of an en- dowment sufficient to establish permanent headquarters for it, from which it may go out once a year, or as often as may be, to the sections that desire the inspiration and the help it gives in the conquest of drouth. If we should all joint Dr. Worst in "a strong pull, and a long pull, and a pull altogether," I believe that we shall soon find the man or men who are willing to build for themselves a noble monument of service to all men by founding permanently this central bureau for the development of the truths that eventually will reclaim the larger half of the earth and make crtain the crop yields of the other smaller half.
The Desert Will Be Conquered
Of more importance, however, than material gifts, in making this great work permanent, is the attitude that we shall maintain towards dry-farming. We must keep well in mind that, in all probability, the final solution of the economic and socialogical questions that are tossing the nations as in tempest, will be the subjection of all unoccupied lands to agricultural processes, and the rational distribution of the population upon the reclaimed lands. This movement, which as a world-movement is scarcely half a decade old, may become, as it broadens, and as the multi- tude catch its spirit, the determining factor in the establishment of the world-peace for which every right-minded person is wish- ing, and without which the high destiny of humanity can not be realized. The successful conquest of the unoccupied parts of the earth will be accomplished only in the face of hardships — many of them. That must be admitted. But, the price all pioneers pay
292 IMPROVEMENT ERA
for their victory, is a period of stern struggle to change things from their wonted way. The hardships encountered by the pres- ent day dry-farmer are not a whit greater than those that faced the pioneers of the East who wrested their farms from the pri- meval forests, or the pioneers of irrigation who toiled in the mak- ing of canals long before the first crop could be planted. There is only one crop of pioneers in any section ; blessed be their mem- ory ; but do not let us say that their lives were less full of joy than are ours. In spite of all, dry- farming has gone onward ; millions of acres are yielding crops by its method ; where the desert lan- guished before, thousands of homes have there been established, in which men and women have found independence. We can give the system and its results our fullest confidence.
Above all, however, those who labor in this cause must be- lieve that man, by his understanding of nature, shall acquire do- minion over all the earth. In the hearts of all who labor for the welfare of man must rest the certain faith that in all necessary things man shall triumph. As problems arise, they will be solved — one by one. If he sees through a glass darkly today, the vision will be transparently clear tomorrow. Before the eternal will of man the conquest of drouth shall be accomplished, and the account of the warfare shall molder in dusty volumes of musty histories, while the work will go on for the continued good of man. Our English poet has expressed it well :
"Yet I know that through the ages one increasing purpose runs, And the thoughts of men will widen with the progress of the suns."
May I be allowed to close here, as I did in my paper before the first Dry-Farming Congress : "The possibilities of dry-farming are stupendous. In the strength of growth we may have felt envious of the great ones of old ; of Columbus looking upon the shadow of the greatest continent ; of Balboa shouting greetings to the resting Pacific ; of Father Escalante, pondering upon the mys- tery of the world, alone, near the shores of America's Dead Sea. We need harbor no such envyings, for in the conquest of the non- irrigated and non-irrigable desert are offered as fine opportunities as the world has known for the makers and shapers of empires. We stand before an undiscovered land ; through the restless, as- cending currents of heated desert air the vision comes and goes ; with stirring eyes the desert is seen covered with blossoming fields, with churches and homes and schools, and in the distance with the vision is heard the laughter of happy children."
The desert and the drouth will be conquered.
LOGAN, UTAH
A Visit to Newcastle-on-Tyne
BY LYDIA D. ALDER
We sailed on the North Sea east of England from Step- ney, not far from London, on the Tynesides, 360 miles to Newcastle-on-Tyne. We dreamed away the delightful evening on deck, but later a strong wind forced us to seek our state-rooms. The boisterous wind screeched and howled, sobbed or wailed, throughout the night, but there was no genuine storm. An aged Scotch lady, however, in an adjoining stateroom, frequently moaned, "O this is serious; this is serious!" Perhaps hurrying footsteps and the clanking of chains on deck, and the fact that nearly everybody on board, was seasick, added to her distress. But the morning dawned fair and bright, the wind subsided, and we rejoiced that "night had flown away," giving place to balmy breezes, and sunny, blue skies. The vessel majestically swept past South Shields, at the mouth of the Tyne, then slowly drew up to the pier at Newcastle. Awaiting our arrival there was our fellow townsman, Frederick A. Mitchell. This was a happy meeting for our company, consisting of Miss Farnsworth, my companion in the London conference, my daughter Mae and myself. We were taken to the conference house, 37 Cavendish Road, by President Mitchell.
Here a number of missionaries were assembled, who, like ourselves, had come to attend the conference at Newcastle. Sister Parrish, wife of Elder Hyrum Parrish, of Centreville, was with her husband laboring in Newcastle. Sister Parrish is a lady of refined and gentle manner, and was the bright center of this conference home. She was both mother and sister to the elders who were laboring here, and who had left their own mothers, wives, and sisters, in their far away Utah homes. We ate the first home-made bread in Newcastle that we had tasted for two years. Sister Parrish had an influence for good upon all who came under her sunny smile. Her noble characteristics gained many friends for her, as well as welcome entrance into homes of
294
IMPROVEMENT ERA
wealth and culture. Some of her friends attended our meetings, perhaps out of courtesy, for they did not seem to want religion, nor to be disturbed in their preconceived ideas of God, nor the worship they accorded to him.
On the day following our arrival in Newcastle, President Mitchell invited his guests to visit the Jesmond Dene, a beautiful canyon presented to the city of Newcastle by Lord Armstrong, inventor and owner of the Armstrong gun. The city of New- castle has erected a very pretentious building in the Dene, at a point nearest to the city, where, in its spacious hall, 20,000 people have been banqueted in a single day, on holiday occasions. The
THE WATER HAS WORX ITSELF TWO BEDS AROUND THE ROCKS
Dene reminds one of our own City Creek canyon, and indicates what might be done with it, if a like sum of money were expended upon it, as has been used in beautifying the Dene. The glorious natural scenery of the Dene is wondrously enhanced by the in- genuity, art, and skill of man. In places are grassy, sloping banks, where a multitude of gorgeous wild flowers bloom. In some parts the white, canyon walks almost touch the winding stream. Near the old, deserted mill, that used to grind the corn,
A VISIT TO NKWCASTLE-ON-TYNE
295
the water has worn itself two beds around the rocks, forming a lovely waterfall. In this ideal place, Brother Parfish took a picture of the seated group. Farther up the stream, which, danc- ing, gurgling, loitering or speeding, as it flows along, are the step- ping stones, so named because one must step on them in order to cross over the water to the other side. Many merry bursts of laughter evidenced the progress, successful or otherwise, that we made in accomplishing this feat. But, like those of old of whom we read in the good Book, we succeeded in crossing over dry shod. Towering high at the head of the canyon, the Armstrong
PRESIDENT MITCHELL AND HIS GUESTS
castle crowns the beautiful scene. Buttercups, hyacinths, and daisies, red, yellow, white and pink, bloom in profusion on the side hills. Trees of other lands rear their stately crowns, and shrubs abound that grow beyond the seas.
In the grounds of a little historic house, preserved with its surroundings in the canyon, we saw a most unique natural flower- pot. It has the eyes, nose, and mouth of a man, a running vine forms his beard, and grows oh his head, like hair, giving him the appearance of a Zulu. From an upper bank we obtained a lovely view of the Falls and the Armstrong mansion, and the Jesmond Dene. The events of that day are passed into history, and we. prize the pictures taken then as pleasant reminders of that happy time.
296
IMPROVEMENT ERA
Continuing our walk, we visited the ruins of King John's cas- tle, and an ancient rock observatory. How picturesque is storied England ; not a foot of her soil is without a history, while stories of the long ago are breathed by every rock and stream.
Slowly wending our way downward, we reach the Bowling Green, a modern place of recreation. This is the spot where Brother Webster took a picture of us.
Happy as children, we wandered that day in a Land Beauti- ful, and like children, ever unsatisfied with the present and yearn- ing for the future, hastened on in eager search of new scenes, not
GROUP OF MISSIONARIES RESTING IN THE DENE
prizing those then with us. The flowers we hold in our hands are seldom appreciated, in our eager desire to find others more fair. We seldom stop to think that flowers of more brilliant hue may be out of reach, or that far over some dangerous cliff they may only sway tantalizingly before our wistful vision. As we look upon the flowers in our hands, we sigh ; for behold as we gaze upon them they are withering away ! The charm of anticipation dies with possession ; yet, there is an undefined yearning for other things, not now understood.
A VISIT TO NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE 297
The St. Nicholas Cathedral is a feature of Newcastle. The present structure is said to date from 1359, and was erected on the ruins of a church built in 1091. Its grand altar is made of ala- baster. The attendant proudly exhibited to us the altar cloths. The one for ordinary use is in green and gold. The one in blue and gold is for Lent ; the one in white and gold is for Easter. The ashes of many hundreds of people are built into their tombs in this church. A handsome painting, "The Washing of Feet," about twenty feet long, and ten feet high, was shown and is said to be about 350 years old. To the beholder, the eyes of the figures appear to follow him from every side. The work in this grand Cathedral, we were told, was done by Newcastle workmen, and is certainly wonderful, both in design and execution. On the south side is a very old chapel, which, it was claimed, belonged to the original church. We were also shown a very old grave cover, and the effigy of a Crusader. The model of a guillotine is shown, which French soldiers are said to have made out of the bones of their food. The Cathedral is a high church, with a fine organ, and costly, painted windows. The only difference between a high church, and a Roman Catholic, is the absence of the confessional. The crucifix is placed where all worshipers must bow as they pass before it.
The new castle was built, so the histories relate, on the ruins of the old one, erected by Henry II, in 1018, and rebuilt by Rufus, son of the Conqueror, in 1172. This circumstance gave the city its name of Newcastle. The old castle, though built of solid stone, with walls six feet thick, was almost totally destroyed. The present castle has a library containing many precious volumes, and some quaint, old chairs. The Antiquarian society holds its meet- ings here. We walked down the old stone steps, passing under the stone arches, where it is claimed Dick Turpin, the famous bandit, rode on horseback, and made his escape, going down and down through the stone openings to the mouth of the Tyne, where the river is now spanned by a handsome iron bridge.
Our very successful conference, coming back to the purpose of our visit, was followed by a most interesting Priesthood meet- ing. Lunch was served in an upstairs hall to all who attended. The lunch was followed by a social, get-acquainted hour of gen- uine enjoyment. At two of the street meetings, held during the
298 IMPROVEMENT ERA
conference, the sisters spoke to the large gatherings in the Market Place.
We paid a farewell visit to Jesmond Dene before we left Newcastle. Again we visited the waterfall and crossed over the stepping stones, but took another path that led among beds of beautiful flowers. Then, standing on the Lady Armstrong bridge, we gazed upwards to the castle. We crossed over, leaving Jes- mond Dene hidden from our view, perhaps forever. Some of the Newcastle missionaries accompanied us by sea to Scotland. To those remaining we bade farewell "till we meet again in Zion."
What Have We Done Today?
We boast- of our work in future years;
But what have we done today? We shall give our wealth to those in tears;
But what did we give today? We shall buoy the heart and feed the poor; In vain will none knock at our door; Fond castles we build, as our great minds soar,
But have we "made good" today?
Our harvest must be one of joy;
Have we sown good seed today? Our life shall be without alloy:
Have we lived that life today? We shall do so-and-so, in the "bye-and-bye;" We shall laud the truth from earth to sky. And shall press on and on to goals on high.
But what have we done today?
Don't wait to smile 'till the clouds have passed.
But give the smile today. Don't wait 'till the soul from earth has passed.
But give your rose today. Though you hitch your wagon to a star; Your thoughts soar on to hopes afar; You make your life right where you are,
Doing kindly deeds today.
0. F. Urse.-.-bacj
RAYMOND, CANADA
Dryden on Salvation for the Dead
BY CLAUDE T. RARNES, M. S., P. R.
Many a dust-laden volume, with faded pages and peculiar type, contains, should we but try to find them, great truths, sur- prising philosophies and beauties of phraseology which need but an alteration of lettering to make them the expression of a loftier contemporary thought and culture. Indeed, I confess 'tis a diversion never tiresome, to fish awhile with Walton, speculate for a time with Browne, take a mug with Addison at "Will's," or go on a lark with Fielding; in many respects their age im- measurably surpasses ours, for science and commerce have quite smothered our imagination.
Truth is as old as the sun ; it must be, for scattered here and there in the writings of by-gone centuries, are nuggets of thought which prove that we are, after all, but an ordinary step in the ladder of infinity. Thus, it is indeed remarkable that John Dryden (1631-1700) should have ignored the credenda of his time and courageously thrust upon his compeers, in the form of a poem called Religio Laid, a staunch belief in the possibil- ity of heathen salvation ; and, furthermore, that he should have argued concerning it with a clearness scarcely to have been ex- pected without the illuminating influence of revelation. What he has said, therefore, certainly deserves to be recorded in the con- firmatory literature of the subject. It illustrates and emphasizes the fact that the gospel is not new, but old, and that all down the ages there have been glimpses of it, saving truths to illu- minate darkness of error and tradition.
A logical interpretation of scripture, together with reflec- tions on the perfection of divine justice, must convince one that it were monstrous indeed to condemn forever the heathen who never heard the name of Christ. In fact, various passages* of
*The argument unfolds itself in the following citations: Mark 16:16; John 3:5: Luke 23:39-43: Jolin 20:11-17; I Peter 3:18-20; John 5:25; Isaiah 24:22; 42:6-7;61:l; Job 33:27-30; I Cor. 15:29; Mai. 4:5-6; Phil. 2;9-ll; I Kings 7:23.
300 IMPROVEMENT ERA
scripture lead one to suppose that even after death the spirit is still given an opportunity to accept the teachings of the Savior. Such, for instance, is I Peter 4 : 6, which reads :
"For, for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit."
The doctrine of salvation for the dead, made plain in the religion of the Latter-day Saints, with its rites and amplifica- tions, was, of course, unknown to Dryden, hence Religio Laid and its excellent preface are among the earliest arguments for this principle of universal justice. May it not be a remnant of the gospel truths first revealed to Adam, revived from the rubbish of false teachings through succeeding ages?
The following excerpt is from the preface to the poem :
"It has always been my thought that heathens who never did, nor without miracle could, hear of the name of Christ, were yet in a pos- sibility of salvation. Neither will it enter easily into my belief, that before the coming of our Savior the whole world, excepting only the Jewish nation, should lie under the inevitable necessity of everlasting punishment, for want of that revelation, which was confined to so small a spot of ground as that of Palestine. Among the sons of Noah we read of only one who was accursed; and if a blessing in the ripe- ness of time was reserved for Japheth (of whose progeny we are), it seems unaccountable to me, why so many generations of the same offspring as preceded our Savior in the flesh should be all involved in one common condemnation, and yet that their posterity should be entitled to the hopes of salvation; as if a Bill of Exclusion had passed only on the fathers, which debarred not the sons from their succes- sion; or that so many ages had been delivered over to Hell, and so many reserved for Heaven, and that the Devil had the first choice, and God the next. Truly I am apt to think that the revealed religion which was taught by Noah to all his sons might continue for some ages in the whole posterity. That afterwards it was included wholly in the family of Shem is manifest; but when the progenies of Ham and Japh- eth swarmed into colonies, and those colonies were subdivided into many others, in process of time their descendants lost by little and little the primitive and purer rites "of divine worship, retaining only the notion of one deity; to which succeeding generations added others; for men took their degree in those ages from conquerors to gods. Revelation being thus eclipsed to all mankind, the Light of Nature, as the next in dignity, was substituted; and that is it which St. Paul con-
DRYDEN ON SALVATION FOR THE DEAD 301
eludes to be the rule of the heathens, and by which they are here- after to be judged. If my supposition be true, then the consequence which I have assumed in my poem may also be true; namely, that Deism, or the principles of natural worship, are only the faint rem- nants or dying flames of revealed religion in the posterity of Noah; and that our modern philosophers, nay, and some of our philosophizing divines, have too much exalted the faculties of our souls, when they have maintained that by their force mankind has been able to find out that there is one supreme Agent or intellectual Being which we call God; that praise and prayer are his due worship; and the rest of those deducements, which I am confident are the remote effects of Revela- tion, and unattainable by our Discourse, I mean as simply considered, and without the benefit of divine illumination. So that we have not lifted ourselves up to God by the weak pinions of our Reason, but he has been pleased to descend to us; and what Socrates said of him, what Plato writ, and the rest of the heathen philosophers of several nations, is all no more than the twilight of Revelation, after the sun of it was set in the race of Noah. That there is something above us, some principle of motion, our Reason can apprehend, though it cannot dis- cover what it is by its own virtue. And indeed 'tis very improbable that we, who by the strength of our faculties cannot enter into the knowledge of any being, not so much as of our own, should be able to find out by them that supreme nature, which we cannot otherwise define than by saying it is infinite; as if infinite were definable, or in- finitely a subject for our narrow understanding. They who would prove religion by reason, do but weaken the cause which they endeavor to support; 'tis to take away the pillars from our faith, and to prop it only with a twig; 'tis to design a tower like that of Babel, which, if it were possible (as it is not) to reach heaven, would come to nothing by the confusion of the workmen. For every man is building a several way; impotently conceited of his own model and his own materials; reason is always striving, and always at a loss; and of necessity it must so come to pass, while 'tis exercised about that which is not its proper object. Let us be content at last to know God by his own methods; at least so much of him as he is pleased to reveal to us in the sacred Scriptures; to apprehend them to be the word of God is all our reason has to do; for all beyond it is the work of Faith, which is the seal of Heaven impressed upon our human understanding."
That part of the poem pertinent hereto reads as follows:
"But stay: the Deist here will urge anew, No supernatural worship can be true; Because a general law is that alone Which must to all and everywhere be known: A style so large as not this book can claim,
302 IMPROVEMENT ERA
Nor aught that bears Revealed Religion's name.
Tis said the sound of a Messiah's birth
Is gone through all the habitable earth;
But still that text must be confined alone
To what was then inhabited and known:
And what provision could from thence accrue
To Indian souls and worlds discovered new?
In other parts it helped, that, ages past,
The Scriptures there were known, and were embraced,
Till Sin spread once again the shades of night:
What's that to these who never saw the light?
Of all objections this indeed is chief
To startle reason, stagger frail belief:
We grant, 'tis true, that Heaven from human sense
Has hid the secret paths of Providence;
But boundless wisdom, boundless mercy may
Find even for those bewildered souls a way;
If from His nature foes may pity claim,
Much more may strangers who ne'er heard His name;
And though no name be for salvation known,
But that of his Eternal Son's alone,
Who knows how far transcending goodness can
Extend the merits of that Son to man?
Who knows what reasons may His mercy lead,
Or ignorance invincible may plead?
Not only charity bids hope the best,
But more the great Apostle has exprest:
That if the Gentiles, whom no law inspired,
By nature did what was by law required,
They who the written rule had never known
Were to themselves both rule and law alone,
To Nature's plain indictment they shall plead
And by their conscience be condemned or freed.
Most righteous doom! because a rule revealed
Is none to those from whom it was concealed.
Then those who followed Reason's dictates right,
Lived up, and lifted high their natural light,
With Socrates may see their Maker's face,
While thousand rubric-martyrs want a place.
Nor does it balk my charity to find
The Egyptian Bishop of another mind;
For, though his creed eternal truth contains,
'Tis hard for man to doom to endless pains
All who believed not all his zeal required,
Unless he first could prove he was inspired.
Then let us either think he meant to say
DRYDEN ON SALVATION FOR THE DEAD 303
This faith, where published, was the only way; Or else conclude that, Arius to confute, The good old man, too eager to dispute, Flew high; and, as his Christian fury rose, Damned all for heretics who durst oppose.
Particularly opportune, in view of recent abstruse discus- sions on vague and unprofitable subjects, such as the possible identity of Adam and the Savior, is the closing admonition of Rcligio Laid:
For no man's faith depends upon his will, 'Tis some relief, that points not clearly known Without much hazard may be let alo'ne; And after hearing what our Church can say, If still our reason runs another way, That private reason 'tis more just to curb Than by disputes the public peace disturb. For points obscure are of small use to learn: But common quiet is mankind's concern."
As We Journey Along the Road
It isn't the things we say, dear,
Nor the things we idly dream; It's the things we do every day, dear,
That carry us up the stream. It isn't the tears we shed, dear,
O'er things which are past and gone; It's the tug at the oar, For the sunny shore,
That carries us on and on.
It isn't the flowers which have blushed, dear.
And died on life's thorny way; It isn't the songs that are hushed, dear,
That gladden our hearts today; It isn't the love that is dead, dear,
That lightens life's weary load, It's the flower, and the song, And the love full strong,
As we journey along the road.
Theodore E. Curtis.
Little Problems of Married Life.'
BY WILLIAM GEORGE JORDAN
XVII — When the Family Interferes
Many a good matrimonial ship, with its sunlit cargo of hap- piness and hope, has been wrecked on the rocks of family inter- ference. If it were customary to erect tombstones to the memory of dead loves, the cause of the death of marital happiness in thous- ands of homes might be given in the chiselled epitaph : "Died from an Overdose of the Interference of Relatives !"
If there be one place in the world where the justice of "Home Rule" should be unquestioned, that place is — the home. Marriage makes the couple a new firm, an independent partnership, not a branch house under the management of a parent company. It is a home trust controlled by two. No matter how loving, kind, solicitous and anxious the family of either partner may be for the success of the new firm, they must realize that they do not own it, that they are not stockholders, are not on the board of directors and must not interfere in the management. They may stand ready and willing to give loving counsel, sympathetic suggestion, and help and service in any emergency when needed and desired, but it is unfair, unnecessary, unwarranted to interfere.
It was interference and bad advice that spoiled the first mar- riage, started the first quarrel, and broke up the first home in the world in those early days, long, long ago when Eden was the only spot on earth that had even a name. This was the first lesson to man, and now after sixty centuries some people have not learned it yet. Husband and wife must work out their own problems in their own way. They must do it by the best light of their united wisdom, not by the flickering torches of obtruded advice from the family. They must convert their experiments into experience, transmute little failures into great successes and little failings into
*Copyright 1910, by Fleming H. Revell Company.
LITTLE PROBLEMS OF MARRIED LIFE 305
finer strength, win confidence and closer union through fuller understanding of each other, learn the superiority of a caress to logic, master their own problems and gain the strength that comes from mastery.
The problems of two must be solved by two. They need only kindness, sympathy, a reserve of help in emergencies and a free open field all the time. There is no justification for gossip, criti- cism, complaint, condemnation and incendiary meddling by mem- bers of the family. These things should be put on the list of un- necessary luxuries in the home and gently, firmly, definitely cut off.
We may sometimes be privileged to help others to live their lives ; it is arrogant assumption for us to attempt to live their lives for them. We are told that we should not bury our talents, but there is one talent, — that of special aptness for impertinent management of the affairs of others — that we should carefully wrap in a napkin and on some dark night, quietly bury forever.
It is in the first years of married life that foreign interference is most trying and dangerous and it is this very time when it is most conspicuous and dominant. No need for the family to remind the wife that the husband is not eighteen karat, that he will never make a fortune, that they fear greatly — and then let their fear expand into a long catalogue of detail that fades away into the dim perspective of the unspoken. After the goods are bought and sent home and cannot be returned, what is the use of discour- aging the purchaser? Why not point out some recognized good points, something helpful and inspiring? It is manifestly unfair for the family to sit as a self-appointed jury of awards and criti- cize and condemn the exhibit.
The wife may think she has the finest little home in the world ; everything seems beautiful to her and she has even pride in the array of cooking utensils, dazzling and new in aluminum and tin, and the dishes ranged carefully on the pantry shelves. She often stands at the door and smiles as she looks in — to get the general effect at a glance. When the family makes a tour of inspection, her indiscreet sister may say, "Oh, what a mite of a kitchen. You can only wash the small dishes like cups and saucers in a little box like this." It had never seemed small to her, none of the rooms seemed small ; they held so much love and hope and happi- ness that the size did not count ; but now her heart sinks, and the
306 IMPROVEMENT ERA
joy note seems gone and a cloud comes over it all and she begins to compare her home with that of some friend and it suffers. She thinks of all the other deficiencies pointed out by the visiting- inspectors. She tries to be brave so she will be smiling when he comes home but it is hard to keep back the tears.
When her husband's sister tells her in confidence, "just to put you on your guard so you will know how to handle him," what a temper he has, it comes to her as a surprise and a grief, for it does not seem possible he could ever speak a cross word. When she hears, still in confidence, about the "girl he was so much in love with two years ago and was going to marry," she feels twinges of vague jealousy and she wants to be alone.
He, too, may suffer from the early stages of family interfer- ence if his mother begins her maternal vivisection of his wife. She doubts if she will prove a good housekeeper, but "of course we have to hope for the best." Little possible failings are discov-' ered, aired and discussed with genuine love for the son and honest wishes for the success of the marriage, but such a jumble of doubts and fears and such a strenuous effort to be just and to be optimistic in a heroic way like one trying to calm frightened pas- sengers in a shipwreck that he breaks away as quickly as possible knowing that his wife is really way above par, but the interview has wearied him.
Soon the family may begin a campaign of education on how she should manage him. She hears with irritation the words : "You surely won't let him smoke in the parlor! You know you can never get the odor out of the curtains and that cartridge paper drinks in smoke like blotting paper absorbs ink." If she weakly assents they increase the dose ; if she rebels they think she is over- confident and setting her right becomes more than a pleasure — it is a duty. "Never permit him to be five minutes late at dinner. Just assert your independence," is the next shot from this peace- congress in the interests of domestic war. So the siege goes on.
The husband may return home in the evening and find the wife nervous, irritable, brimful of suggested new arrangements in the home, and repairs that he might make in his manners and disposition. She does not tell him who has been there all after-, noon but he knows it as absolutely, from the traces left in her
LITTLE PROBLEMS OF MARRIED LIFE 307
conversation, as the hunter reads the passing of a bear from tracks in the snow.
She may later tell him of a change to be made in one of the rooms and she unwisely names the member of her family who made the motion ; or he to sustain a position may repeat some criticism his mother made. They are planting seeds of discord in each other's minds, unconsciously stimulating prejudice and opposition and intensifying- family interference. When a man buys a cheap hat he sometimes conceals the dealer's name with gilt paper initials. Let him be equally careful in the home to remove the identifying tag of authorship from any unpleasant advice that comes from his family.
As the days go on, critical appropriation from the family com- mittee on interference may grow harder and harder to bear. It is depressing to live under the microscope of criticism, like an im- paled insect. There is often condemnation where, if the full facts were known, there would be only praise. There is altogether too much judging in the world, too much idle intrusive censorship of the acts of others. It is uncomfortable to hear constantly that "you ought to do this" or "you should certainly do that." It is so easy to solve the conundrums of another's life.
The reason that advice is usually of little value is that it is not based on a perfect knowledge of the infinity of detail that makes up a condition. Perfect advice should fit the situation as a glove fits the hand ; most advice does not get much nearer than a boxing-glove in the matter of fitting.
That the family interference may arise from genuine interest does not excuse it nor even explain it ; where love is greatest it should be most tender and most considerate. There are times when some tiny flame of misunderstanding arises between husband and wife that a breath of kindly interpretation might blow into nothingness, but, talked over by the family and canvassed and debated and intensified, grows into a conflagration.
Under the gossip, often unthinking of its evil influence, a tiny molehill of difficulty may become an almost impassable Rocky Mountain range. Oil is a good thing to pour on troubled waters but it is poor to put out a fire. A difficulty that originally con- cerned only a duet now has been made to affect the whole family
308 IMPROVEMENT ERA .
choir. It is easier for two people to reach loving harmony than to distribute it among a dozen.
Sometimes the interference of families becomes even more active and aggressive than this, and because of a fancied grievance or a genuine opposition it actually comes between husband and wife and by harsh criticism or condemnation seeks to incite strife and discord between them. Here instant loyalty of the one to the other should assert itself and refuse to listen to the voice. In an instinctive spirit of protection there should be a calm, dignified protest against the recital of what if unessential should never be spoken, and if of serious import should be heard only in the pres- ence of the one thus charged with what he or she should have the opportunity of denying or disproving instantly, before the weeds of suspicion have time to root themselves in the heart of the other.
In many homes, there is some one in the family, on either side, whose visits bring a trail of sadness, sorrow, protest, bitter opposition, and unnecessary and unwarrantable intrusion of a dis- cordant element tending to worry, irritate and perhaps even to bring into inharmony husband and wife. In this delicate situation it often seems a problem how best to act. The health and happi- ness of the home must be considered as of first and greatest im- portance. If it be but a trivial inconvenience or jar to the domestic serenity, the wisdom of tolerance for a time should be manifested.
If it be of more serious menace, impossible to master by patient bearing, the privilege of hospitality should not be strained beyond the bearing point. There is a moment when sacrifice ceases to be a virtue and degenerates into cowardice, vice. There may be an injustice to oneself and to one near and dear that this unwelcome guesthood outrages. It is not true hospitality to mask the heart's continued protest under a smile, to submit unnecessarily to an atmosphere that saps one's mental and moral vitality, that dulls energy, deadens one's finer sensibility, and kills the joy of life, leaving one worried, weak, worn and weary, unable to meet as one should the questions of every-day living.
If we constantly suffer injustice that we can remove, we are slaves to the individuality of another and cowards to our own. The rankling irritation of the unjust bearing, if continued, will permeate our whole nature, like an emotional poison. We should
LITTLE PROBLEMS OF MARRIED LIFE 309
therefore act calmly, wisely, with kindness and dignity, and frankly recognize conditions and with perfect fairness take the gentlest action that will remedy them. Better a short, decisive battle fought to a finish than a constant series of petty squabbles and skirmishes.
We cannot be just to others if we are unjust to ourselves. If one lives ever under the sceptre of the decision of others, it is not free life — it is slavery.. One cannot keep emotion constantly corked up ; some time that cork will come out — perhaps inoppor- tunely. True love, true companionship, true living, can reign in the home only as there is in the home an atmosphere of liberty, of individual freedom in its highest sense.
If there be interference from outside forces, whether they be from the family or others, that tends to blight the joy, rest, peace and calm of the home, that threatens to bring in even the thin edge of the wedge of discord between husband and wife — that interference should be silenced forever. The home should be a sanctuary of refuge, not a battle-ground of discord ; it should be a place where the angel of love ever swings the censer of peace, and calm, and happiness.
["The Incubus of Constant Faultfinding" is the title of the next chapter in this series.]
I Would Not Know
I would not know the measure of today —
Lest blind, recursant I — Should seek to wile some potent hour away,
That pain would sanctify.
I would not list the monQchord of fate —
All erudite to be, Lest I should cringe from anguish consummate,
And chortle to be free.
Of alchemy, to probe erstwhile, the end,
I seek no whit of power — Suffice within my micr.ocosm's trend.
To face each little hour.
Bertha A. Kleinman.
MESA, ARIZ.
War
1 feel thy scorching breath upon my cheeks,
0 demon god, that broodest o'er the world.
Who, with the speed of maddened whirlwind, seeks To devastate the nations, to make faint, By hunger, thirst, that e'er thine allies are : And conflagration's cursed, swift-shod feet, Which were and ever are thy guiding star.
1 feel the wretched bane of thy caress, The vampire kiss that robs humanity, Throughout the ages, of her noblest, best, And leaves behind the venom of its sting Within the heart and soul of those bereft. Upon earth's vast expanse, I see a stain, A stain of crimson like unto a flood, Remembrancing the struggle and the pain Of those who upon thine altar placed their all, Obedient to thine insatiety.
And now, I see a face peer 'tween the bars That hold it captive, hear the rythmic beat Of snowy pinions, flecked by sanguine wars ; And know that not 'til sound of tramping feet, Which marks thy minions, shall forever cease, Will angel hands, that rolled away the stone, Thrice bless the world by liberating Peace.
Grace Ingles Frost.
WATERLOO, UTAH
"Joseph Smith, Jr., as a Translator.'
[Early in December of last year, the Rt. Rev. F. S. Spalding, Episcopal Bishop of Utah, put forth a brochure entitled, "Joseph Smith, Jr., as a Trans- lator." In it he tried to prove, among other things which will be clearly shown in quotations from his writings in the articles following, that the Prophet Joseph failed as a translator of ancient Egyptian language, and therefore, also as a translator of the Book of Mormon, and as a Prophet of God. His docu- ment aroused considerable interest, and especially among some of the writers of the Church who then prepared answers to his arguments. By consent of the authors, the Era is able to present these to its readers; and while other papers may appear hereafter, we believe that in the series here presented, the discrim- inating reader will not only be greatly interested but will discover sufficient to refute the Bishop's argument and find a vindication once more of the work of the Prophet Joseph. — The Editors.]
A Plea in Bar of Final Conclusions.
BY B. H. ROBERTS, OF THE FIRST COUNCIL OF SEVENTY
[This article was first printed in the Salt Lake Tribune, of Dec. 15, 1912, but has been enlarged and revised by the author for the Improvement Era. The rea- son for trie publication of the article in the Tribune, Elder Roberts states, was that there appeared in that paper on the 8th of December, 1912, a very sympa- thetic not to say fulsome review of Bishop Spalding's brochure, with predictions of its direful effects upon "Mormonism." Elder Roberts was therefore anxious to obtain a hearing before the readers of that paper, and accordingly applied to the management of the Tribune for that privilege, which was very willingly and courteously granted, and for which he here makes acknowledgment and tenders his thanks.— The Editors.]
I call what I have to say at present written, addressed to him as to whether on Bishop Spalding's pamphlet, "Joseph or not the "case" which the bishop ap- Smith, Jr., as a Translator," a plea in parently makes against the Book of bar of final conclusions, because I real- Abraham can be met. is the occasion ize that my remarks may not properly for this immediate, and what may be be regarded as a complete answer to considered, not without some reason, his- very adroitly presented case, spe- an inadequate reply, cifically against the Book of Abraham, My only object now is to call atten-
and inferentially against the Book of tion to such imperfections in the data Mormon, as genuine translations. And on which the bishop bases his conclu- here let it be admitted that the bishop's sions, as to indicate that they do not premises and argument are worthy of furnish sufficient grounds to warrant profounder consideration than it is pos- the deductions as being final, and that sible for this writer under present cir- the inquiry conducted by him is not so cumstances to give them. But the formidable as at first glance it would number of inquiries, both verbal and appear.
310
IMPROVEMENT ERA
As another item in the preliminary to my remarks upon the bishop's case against the Book of Abraham, permit me to acknowledge the courtesy and oven generosity to "Mormon" writers he displays in conducting his inquiry; and to say that his method of discus- sion is entirely legitimate, and the spirit of it irreproachable. I am willing to accord to him all the courtesy and generosity he exhibits in debate that the reviewer of his pamphlet claims for him in last Sunday's Tribune.
THE BISHOP'S CASE.
Briefly stated, the case of the bishop against Joseph Smith as a translator is this:
The competency of the Prophet as a translator of ancient records can be as- certained in but one way. "The original texts, together with his interpretations, must be submitted to competent schol- ars, and if they declare his translations to be correct, then they must be accept- ed as true."
Conversely, if the "competent scholars" shall declare his -transla- tions to be incorrect, then, of course, his claims as a translator fall to the ground; and with that failure as a translator demonstrated, his claims to divine inspiration cannot be allowed; he is no prophet of God. If he was not a truly inspired translator then he had no right to the religious leader- ship which "earnest men" accorded him.
"However sincere he may have been in believing in his mission," the bishop argues, "if the translation he gave to mankind is false, he is shown to have been self-deceived." And if he was self-deceived in the matter of his trans- lations, then those witnesses who testi- fied to the correctness of his transla- tion, by a supposed hearing of the voice of God, declaring the fact, were diso self-deceived (pamphlet p. 11;) and the result must be a repudiation (if "the whole body of belief," which has been built upon Joseph Smith's translations of ancient records — the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham.
As the bishop remarks, ''these ques-
tions are most critical," and, I might add, most searching, since they lay the ax at the root of the whole "Mormon" tree. I allow the bishop all his claims to the dire results to "Mormonism" if he can, to the point of demonstration, make his case good against Joseph Smith as a translator.
How may this end be achieved? Con- fessedly, as the translator of the Book of Mormon, the Prophet is beyond the reach of the bishop, at least by direct means; for the reason that "the plates" of the Book of Mormon are "not available" for the above purpose, being in the keeping of the messenger to whom Joseph Smith returned them after the translation was completed. But in certain Egyptian papyrus rolls, found in a sarcophagus in . Egypt, which came into Joseph Smith's pos- session in 1835, a translation of which he published in March, 1842 (Times and Seasons, vol. 3. Nos. 9 and 10.) the bishop finds something that will serve his purpose equally well; be- cause with the Prophet's translation and explanation of some parts of this ancient record, which the translator called the Book of Abraham, is pub- lished three facsimiles of the original Egyptian text from the Book of Abra- ham. These facsimiles may be sub- mitted to the learned Egyptolo- gists, and as "today the Egyptian lan- guage is readily translated by many scholars, we have just the test we need," says the bishop, "of Joseph Smith's accuracy as a translator." (Pamphlet p. 18.)
The bishop has appiied the test. That is to say, Bishop Spalding sent the facsimiles of the Egyptian re- cords with Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Abraham, with the Prophet's partial translation and ex- planations of these facsimiles, to cer- tain American, English, and German Egyptologists for their opinion of the accuracy of the translation, with the result that they all— and there are eight of them— give judgment against the Prophet.
"THE JURY" IN THE CASE. These scholars, world renowned, are: Dr. A. H. Sayce of Oxford, England;
"JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AS A TRANSLATOR"
311
Dr. W. M. Flinders Petrie, London uni- versity; James H. Breasted, Ph.D.. Haskell Oriental museum, University of Chicago; Dr. Arthur C. Mace, assistant curator, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, department of Egyptian art; Dr. John Peters, University of Pennsylvania, in charge of expedition to Babylonia-, 1888-1895; the Rev Prof. C. A. B. Mercer, Ph. D., Western The- ological seminary, custodian Hibbard collection Egyptian reproductions; Dr. Edward Meyer, University of Berlin; Dr. Friedrich Freiheer Von Bissing, professor of Egyptology in the Univer- sity of Munich.
Quite a formidable list of learned men, truly; and I give it, because I think the bishop is entitled to have it known by those reading these "re- marks" how eminent is the jury pro- nouncing on the case against the "Mor- mon" Prophet.
VALE BISHOP.
At this point we may leave the bish- op. He has done his duty; he has pre- sented the case, and has received a verdict. From this on we are to deal with that verdict, and the jury render- ing it.
One who can lay no claim to the learning of Egypt at first hand, by knowledge of original records, may well pause before such an array of Egypto- logists as listed above, before under- taking to comment upon their conclu- sions. And truly it is in no spirit of arrogance or flippancy or self-suffi- ciency that I undertake to make my comments; neither as despising nor flouting their learning. In their pres- ence it is becoming in me, and all others unschooled in ancient Egyptian lore, to speak with modesty and be- have with becoming deference. But I ask that due attention at this point be given to the very limited scope of what I propose: I am making a plea only in bar of final conclusions upon this subject, and I think I can point out from the decisions of these learned men sufficient reasons to warrant that stay of final judgment for which I plead. And meantime I call the at- tention of the youth of my own people to the fact that these questions that
depend upon special scholarship are questions that require time and re- search and discovery, and there is no occasion for hurry in dealing with them, and the conclusions of the learned in such matters are not as un- changeable as they seam.
For instance, qui'*, a remarkable re- volution has occured in Egyptology within recent years, within the period of Egyptian activities, indeed, of a number of Bishop Spalding's jury, es- pecially of Dr. Petrie, whose activities are credited with beginning the revolu- tion. "In the beginning of the year 1895," remarks Prof. George Stein- dorff, ''with the assistance of his pupil Quibell, he (Petrie) discovered many cemeteries on the western bank of the Nile, between the districts of Naquada and Eallas, the contents of which differed considerably from those of other graves in Egypt, and which he therefore regarded not as Egyptian but as belonging probably to a Lybian race." One of the remark- able differences was the posture of the buried dead. With few exceptions up to this time the dead were found lying on their backs or on their sides at full length, the bodies found by Dr. Petrie in the districts named were "doubled up, the knees drawn up, the hands before the face, and lying on the left side ... The funeral objects were peculiar." These considerations led Dr. Petrie to con- clude that the race they represented was not Egyptian, A year later, how- ever, the French Egyptologist Prof. E. Amelineau made discoveries of a similar character in the "rubbish mounds known as Umm el-Ga"ab, near the ancient, sacred city of Abydos." "The tombs of the kings of Abydos," remarks Prof. Steindorff, ''being pure- ly Egyptian (as the inscriptions found in them prove.) it naturally follows that the civilization brought to light through these tombs is also Egyptian, and does not belong to another peo- ple as Petrie at first assumed."
But what was more important in the discoveries of Amelineau, was the open- ing of several royal tombs; and "for- tunately, three kings are mentioned by their birth names on two stone
312
IMPROVEMENT ERA
fragments found at Abydos, and in these we recognize the kings Usaphais, Miebis, and Lememses, mentioned in the native lists, as well as 'by Mane- tho. All three belong to the First Dynasty, that is, to the period before the builders of the great pyramids (i. e. prior to 4,000, B. C.) which therefore is also about the time when the tombs of Abydos were built, and the period to which belong the other similar cemeteries of Upper Egypt, a date which has been otherwise con- firmed."
Among the discoveries at Abydos by Amelineau was the very tomb of Osiris! and in it the mumified re- mains of that ancient king. "Near the head were two hawks, and two more were at the feet: The dead was desig- nated by the inscription: "Osiris, the Good Being." The hawks were la- belled, Horus, the avenger of his father; and the Godess Isis is also designated by her name" (From Amelineau's own description of his dis- covery.)
Previous to these discoveries-18 9 6- Prof. Steindorff declares that "the earliest history and civilization of Egypt was, so to speak, terra incognita. For the period prior to the Fourth Dynasty we were dependent, to a great extent, on the information of Manetho. with a large mixture of mythical elements, on the royal lists of kings, taken from older sources, and on occasional passages in Egyptian texts of the Old Empire and of later times. From these, however, we learned little more than the names and prob- able order of the kings who ruled from Menes down to Snofru (Sephuris,) the predecessor of Cheops. Of the monu- ments of this period only the tomb pyramid of Zeser and a few remains of Mastabas of the Third Dynasty were known. In consequence of this paucity of information, it has often happened that serious scholars have considered the kings of this earli- est period of Egyptian history as mythical personages, or at least have come to the opinion that the lists of the kings were nothing but artificial com- pilations." (The above quotation, and
information preceding it, is from the paper, Excavations in Egypt, by Prof. George Steindorff, published in Explor- ations in Bible Lands, During the 19th Century— 1903— pp. 625-690.) "Little by little," he adds, "we are gaining more light upon this dark subject."
This is putting the results of the dis- covery into very conservative terms. Prof. Clifton Marby Levy, member of the Egyptian Exploration Fund, and American Oriental Society, was more enthusiastic in his comments on the result of the find about the time it oc- curred:
"The gods are men. That is the result of the latest discoveries in old Egypt. For Professor E. Amelineau, one of the most famous and trust- worthy of the explorers in Egypt, an- nounces positively that he has found the very tcmbs in which were buried the bodies of the Egyptian deities Osiris, Horus and Set. The discovery has made a tremendous sensation all over the world, for these names had been always supposed by modern schol- ars to be purely mythical.
"It would be impossible to exagger- ate the importance of Professor Ame- lineau's discovery, for it is more radi- cal and far-reaching than any of the many remarkable finds made in his- toric Egypt. Not one of the modern historians of that land of mystery from Flinders Petrie to Adolf Erman has ex- pressed any belief in the actual exist- ence of the first divine kings of Egypt. The names Osiris, Isis, Horus and Set have been supposed by every writer to be nothing more nor less than personi- fications of the powers of nature.
"But scholars are critical beings, readier with new theories to explain such stories than to accept them as containing the truth. It was incredible to them that such beings as Osiris and Horus ever lived, and in the legends of their adventures they saw nothing more than the personifying of the earth, the Nile, the sun and the stars. M. Amelineau, however, with his spade, upsets all of their theories, in so far as they deny the existence of these gods on earth, for he has found their
"JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AS A TRANSLATOR"
313
tombls," (Letter to the New York Sunday Journal, March 13th, 1898.)
Nor is this likely to be the last up- setting that new discoveries will bring concerning Egyptology. As remarked by Prof. Steindorff — "more, consider- able more, still remains hidden, wait- ing for the fortunate discoverer; and the day is far remote when the cry of 'nothing new from Africa' will be heard by the civilized world."
And now to apply this recent revo- lution to the present case. Suppose Joseph Smith, previous to 1895, had announced that the mummies with which was found the Egyptian rolls of papyrus, here in question, were doubled up, the knees drawn up, the hands before the face and lying on the left side. In that event some "Prof. Sayce," doubtless, could have been found who would have said: "It is difficult to deal seriously with Joseph Smith's impudent fraud" (Pamphlet, p. 23); "every one knows," such a Sayce would doubtless have added, "that no Egyptians have been found so buried, the mummies must be of some other race. And some "Dr. Mace" could have been found to denounce such a declaration as "a farrago of nonsense" (Pamphlet p. 27) — so easy is it, even for dignified, learned men, to speak contemptuously. But since 189 6 — since the discoveries of Dr. Petrie and Prof. Amelineau — the whole list of Egyptoligists would be in agreement with such a declara- tion, such virtue is there in the turn- ing of a spade — the opening of a tomb.
Or had Joseph Smith announced that the mummies with which the rolls of papyrus were found contemporane- ous with the ancient personages, Osiris, Isis, Horus, Set, then what a storm of impatient ridicule would have raged about the Prophet's head, and with what scorn the learned savants would have informed a listen- ing world that, all this was "a farrago of nonsense," that the names Osiris, Isis, Horus and Set are "nothing more nor less than personifications of the powers of nature" (Prof. Levy). It was incredible that "such beings as Osirus and Horus ever lived." "and in the legends of their adventures" the
learned "saw nothing more than the personifying of earth, the Nile, the sun and the stars" (Levy). And doubtless some "Professor Breasted" could have been found who would have said — in the event of our sup- position happening previous to 1896 — The fact of these names being pure- ly mythical, or representing only the natural elements — "This" our "Breast- ed" would have said, "was of course, unknown to Smith, but it is a fact not only of my own knowledge, but also a common place of the knowledge of every orientalist who works in the Egyptian field" (pamphlet, p. 25). But again the opening of a tomb, and all this "knowledge" vanishes, and the names that were "myths" yester- day, become the names of real person- ages today Much virtue in the open- ing of a tomb; and the opening of tombs in Egypt is not ended yet, nor the results following the opening of tombs.
But, to the consideration of this ver- dict.
BAD COPY, ILLEGIBLE.
1. Of "bad copying" of the original documents, and what may come of it. Let it be observed in passing that the genuineness of the facsimiles is not in question, they are conceded to be Egyptian, though all of the jury, save one, insist that the attempt at repro- duction has been badly executed.
"The hieroglyphics . . . have been copied so ignorantly that hardly one of them is correct."
The "hieroglyphics," again, "have been transformed into unintelligible lines. Hardly one of them is copied correctly." — Sayce .
This repetition in his letter in less than a dozen lines.
"The inscriptions are far too badly copied to be able to read them."— Petrie.
Commenting on figure "6," plate 3, Dr. Breasted says:
"The head should be that
of a wolf, or jackal, but which is here badly drawn."
"Cut 1 and 3 are inaccurate copies of well-known scenes on funeral papy- ri."— Mace.
"The reproductions are very Lad."— Meyer.
314
IMPROVEMENT ERA
"The hieroglyphics are merely illegi- ble scratches, the imitator not having the skill or intelligence to copy such a script."— Peters.
"It is impossible from Smith's bad facsimiles to make out any meaning of the inscriptions."— Bissing.
Question: If all this be true of the alleged facsimiles, how may the learned gentlemen pronounce judgment upon them with such certainty? May not the differences noted in these cuts from Egyptian documents with which they are compared and contrasted, and here assigned to bad copying, arise from a real difference in the documents themselves, due to p "O- duction of a different age, or by a so- journer in Egypt, such as Abraham was? A layman's question, of course but I venture to press it. M. Theo- dule Deveria, a young savant of the Museum of the Louvre, Paris, when the same facsimiles were presented to him for translation by M. Jules Remey, in 1860— M. Remey was a French traveler who visited Utah in 1855-6 and after- ward published his observations in two volumes, largely devoted to Utah and the "Mormons" — made the same com- plaint against the facsimiles, namely, that the reproduction was bad, that the hieroglyphics and figures in the copies submitted to him were in some cases dim and may not be deciphered. In other cases- he insists that the figures should be different, and claims that others still have been purposely al- tered in copying.
This is substantially the claim of our present learned jury. M. Deveria, as well as they, obtained a different trans- lation from that given by Joseph Smith; upon which, elsewhere, I have re- marked: "If it is the facsimiles thus changed that M. Deveria has interpret- ed, then of course his interpretation would differ from the translation made by Joseph Smith, who doubtless fol- lowed strictly the papyrus text. (Amer- icana, N. Y., April, 1911, p. 377, note.) I venture to make the same comment upon the work of the jury of savants now being considered.
HOW IT WAS ENGRAVED.
And now as to the "bad copying" and purposely altering figures in the "fac-
similes." The prophet describes the original documents as "beautifully written on papyrus, with black, and a small part red, ink or paint, in perfect preservation. The characters are such as you find upon the coffins of mum- mies— hieroglyphics, etc. — with many characters or letters like the present (though probably not quite so square) form of the Hebrew, without points." (Hist, of the Ch., vol. II, p. 3 and 8.) That is, the most ancient form of the Hebrew. From this it would appear that the original was not defective. The wood engraving for the cuts published in The Times and Seasoiib (Vol. Ill, Nos. 9, 19),wasdoneby Reu- ben Hedlock, an engraver from Canada. John Taylor, later President Taylor, also from Canada, and a worker in wood, was also present and working on The Times and Seasons at the date of the publication of the facsimiles, and there is little doubt but what the wood engraving was reasonably well done. As to purposely changing the figures or altering the text, that is out of the question, since that would have sub- jected the prophet to detection and ex- posure, as after the facsimiles and the Book of Abraham were both published, the mummies, with which the papyri were found, and the papyri, were on exhibition at the.home of the Prophet's parents at Nauvoo, subject to the in- spection of all who might choose to examine them. As late as May, "forty- three days before the death of the prophet", in 1844, they were examined by Josiah Quincy — the Josiah of "Figures of the Past" authorship. It is not, therefore, likely that Joseph Smith or his associates would designedly change any of the figures in their copy of these documents and run such risk of detection and exposure.
Again I say, such differences as are found to exist between these facsimiles and similar documents with which they are compared by our jury of savants, may not arise from "bad copying," but represent documents of different com- position from those with which they are compared; of different ages, and executed by a sojourner in Egypt, as was Abraham.
''JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AS A TRANSLATOR"
315
A Facsimile from the Book of Abraham.
122/ /~7
/ / /
£/////// ////"/// / / / / /T/7
> \ \ \ V \ \ \ \ V N -,
VVWV \ v \\ \V ,y, \\T\
//
\\\
\iWtUJ//j/t ///////////////// r/f //////// tTTTTTp
uiiniijiifiiniiKn
CUT NO. 1. EXPLANATION OF ABOVE.
Fig. 1, The Angel of the Lord. 2, Abraham fastened upon an altar. C, the idolatrous priest of Elkenah attempting to offer up Abraham as a sacrifice. 4, The altar for sacrifice by the idolatrous priests, standing before the gods of Elkenah, Libnah, Mahmackrah, Korash, and Pharaoh. 5, the idolatrous god of Elkenah. 6. The idolatrous god of Libnah. 7, The idolatrous god of Mahmackrah. 8, The idolatrous god of Korash. 9, The idolatrous god of Pha- raoh. 10. Abraham in Egypt. 11, Designed to represent the pillars of heaven, as understood by the Egyptians. 12, Raukeeyang. signifying expanse, or the firmament over our heads; but in this case, in relation to this subject, the Egyptians meant it to signify Shaumau. to be high, or the heavens, answer- ing to the Hebrew word Shaumahyeem.
316
IMPROVEMENT ERA A Facsimile from the Book of Abraham.
CUT NO. 2. EXPLANATION OF THE FOREGOING CUT.
Fig. 1. Kolob, signifying the first creation, nearest to the celestial, or resi- dence of God. First in government, the last pertaining to the measurement of time. The measurement according to celestial time, which celestial time signifies one day to a cubit. One day in Kolob is equal to a thousand years, according to the measurement of this earth, which is called by the Egyptians Jah-oh-eh.
Fig. 2. Stands next to Kolob, called by the Egyptians Oliblish, which is the next grand governing creation near to the celestial or the place where God resides; holding the key of power also, pertaining to other planets; as re- vealed from God to Abraham, as he offered sacrifice upon an altar, which he had built unto the Lord.
Fig. 3. Is made to represent God sitting upon his throne, clothed with power and authority; with a crown of eternal light upon his head; represent- ing also the grand Key- Words of the Holy Priesthood, as revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Melchisedeck, Abraham, and all to whom the Priesthood was revealed.
Fig. 4. Answers to the Hebrew word Raukeeyang signifying expanse, or the firmament of the heavens; also a numerical figure, in Egyptian signify- ing one thousand; answering to the measuring of the time of Oliblish, which is equal with Kolob in its revolution and in its measuring of time.
"JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AS A TRANSLATOR"
317
Fig. 5. Is called in Egyptian Enish-go-on-dosh; this is one of the govern- ing- planets also, and is said by the Egyptians to be the Sun, and to borrow its light from Kolob through the medium of Kae-e-vanrash, which is the grand key, or in other words, the governing power, which ^overns 15 other fixed planets or stars, as also Floeese or the Moon, the Earth and the Sun in their annual revolutions. This planet receives its power through the medium of Kli-flos-is-es, or Hah-ko-kau-beam, the stars represented by numbers 22 and 23, receiving light from the revolutions of Kolob.
Pig. 6. Represents the earth in its four quarters.
Fig. 7. Represents God sitting upon his throne revealing through the heavens the grand Key-Words of the Priesthood; as also, the sign of the Holy- Ghost unto Abraham, in the form of a dove.
Fig. 8. Contains writing that cannot be revealed unto the world; but is to be had in the Holy Temple of God.
Fig. 9. Ought not to be revealed at the present time.
Fig. 10. Also.
Pig 11. Also. If the world can find out these numbers, so let it be. Amen.
Figs. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20, will be given in the own due time of the Lord.
The above translation is given as far as we have any right to give, at the present time.
Plate from the Berlin Museum Collection,
In the New York Time* of I December 29th. 1912.
Magic Disk for use under mummy's head. Note similarity to Plate No- 4(2) from "The Pearl of Grea Price."
318
IMPROVEMENT ERA
A Facsimile from the Book of Abraham.
CUT N. 3. EXPLANATION OF THE ABOVE CUT.
1. Abraham sitting upon Pharaoh's throne, by the politeness of the king with a crown upon his head, representing the Priesthood, as emblematical of the ' rand Presidency in Heaven; with the sceptre of justice and judgment in his hand.
2. King Pharaoh, whose name is given in the characters above his head.
3. Signifies Abraham in Egypt; referring to Abraham, as given in the ninth number of the Times and Seasons. (Also as given in the first fac-simile of this book).
4. Prince of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, as written above the hand.
5. Shulem, one of the king's principal waiters, as represented by the char- acters above his hand.
6. Olimlah, a slave belonging to the prince.
Abraham is reasoning upon the principles of astronomy, in the king's ' "urt.
"JOSEPH SMI'
JR., AS A TRANSLATOR"
319
And this, too, might have an impor- tant bearing upon the date of the docu- ments which our jury insists "are all many centuries later than Abraham: . . . about 960 to 750 B. C."— Petrie. Such documents as facsimile No. 2, said by the jury to be a sort of funeral tablet, in common use, "did not appear in any Egyptian burials until over a thousand years after the time of Abra- ham."— Breasted. Of facsimile No. 3, also related to funeral uses— of which there are many of the kind— "yet it may be stated as certain that the scene was unknown until about 500 years after Abraham's day."— Breasted. It is fortunate for Joseph Smiths claims that the learned jury did not de- cide that the documents were of more ancient date than Abraham, for that would have presented a real difficulty, but being this side of his day, he may have been the author of such docu- ments, though copies of them may not have been multiplied until centuries later.
Since the above appeared in print, the New York Times has devoted a page and a half of its valuable space to this subject, and with sensational headlines announced how "Museum walls proclaim fraud of 'Mormon' Prophet." The tone of the Times ar- ticle in general is in sympathy with Bishop Spalding's jury, and contrib- utes its voice against the Prophet. The article is illustrated with cuts, one of the "Mormon" temple, the three facsimiles from the Book of Abraham, and a circular disc from the Berlin museum collection, and invites its readers to note similarity to plate No. 4 (the number it gives to circular plate No. 2 in the Pearl of Great Price). It is only reasonable to pre- sume that after all the claims that are made of this circular disc of the Book of Abraham being practically identi- cal with the funerary discs plentifully found in Egyptian tombs and modern museums, the one most nearly resembling the Book of Abraham disc was selected by the Times writer for reproduction, in fac-simile. That be- ing granted as reasonable, I for one thank the Times writer for giving me
the opportunity of putting these two discs side by side in this article for comparison and contrast, and they are accordingly published herewith.
Two things are established by this opportunity for comparison and con- trast; first that the fac-similes plate from the Book of Abraham is not un- skillfully executed as charged. As a bit of art engraving it is in every way superior to the reproduction of the Times plate fac-simile from the Berlin Museum. There is nothing incongru- ous between detail and general plan, as there doubtless would be if any of the pictographs had been designedly changed as is charged in respect of this plate (Deveria), or "copied so ignorantly that hardly one of them is correct" (Sayce.) And I leave it to the reader to say if in those parts that are most nearly alike in the two fac-similes the artistic execution is not superior in the Book of Abraham disc. The second thing established by publishing the fac-similes of these two plates side by side, is that they are not identical plates. That while there are certain similarities in the two, enough to show that they may in part treat of the same general subjects (and that is what is required by the circumstances as we shall later_see); yet the similarity is not so marked as to the distinctive features between the two (and that is what is required by the circumstances as we shall present- ly see). To establish this distinction in the conviction of the reader, let him take the middle line of combined pic- tographs and hieroglyphics and con- sider them. While the central figure has enough similarity to indicate the same -idea, yet in the Book of Abra- ham pictograph there is but one disced, dog-headed like animal on each side; and then four lines of closely written hieroglyphics on each side. In the Berlin plate there are three dog-like animals on each side, and no hieroglyphics, except two or three. In the central figure on the tcp line there is marked similarity; but in the Book of Abraham fac-simile there is a perpendicular line of hieroglyph- ics, and other details absent from the Berlin plate. Note also the difference
320
IMPROVEMENT ERA
in the two plates as to the pictographs to the right of this central figure. A comparison of the hieroglyphics circling the rim of the plate will also show distinctiveness; and there are a number of others, but this is sufficient to start the reader in making his com- parisons and contrasts.
Again, respecting these differences in the fac-similies from the Book of Abraham and the Egyptian documents of the museums, relating perhaps, at least, to similar subjects, and with which our jury of savants compare and contrast the fac-similies Riven out by Joseph Smith: I am of opinion that the Book of Abraham itself gives a key which may lead to a solution of the matter. In that record we are in- formed that the first Pharaoh, son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, was a righteous man, but being of the race, that was denied the right to the priest- hood, which had obtained among the ancient patriarchs, he nevertheless es- tablished his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order (i. e. of the priesthood) established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, "even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah." Allowing this in the account, and it may not be denied its place, then we of the "Mormon" side of the controversy have the right to say: "Differences in these leaves form the Book of Abraham and the leaves from the Book of the Dead in your mu- seums, and in the hands of your sa- ants? Yes, certainly; for our fac- similies were written by one holding the true and ligitimate order of the priesthood, and capable of representing in pictographs and hieroglyphics of his times its true signs and insignia, and history; what you find in the tombs of Egyptians kings and priests, and upon the walls of Egyptian temples, is but an imitation of that ancient order of things of which book our documents speak, but yours, doubtless, inaccura- tely from the first, being but an imita- tion, and that imitation (again doubt- lessly) varied from, in the course of
years while our record has remained uncorrupted. Hence the differences.
II — DISAGREEMENTS AMONG THE JURY OF SAVANTS.
Plate I. — As to the whole plate: "The well known scene of Anubis
preparing the body of a dead man."
— Petrie.
"Apparently the plate represents an embalmer [name evidently unknown — just a common undertaker, perhaps. R.] preparing a body for burial." — Pe- ters.
"Parts of the well known Book of the Dead." — Meyer.
"This figure represents Osiris rais- ing from the dead." (!) — Breasted.
Judging from the plate itself, if I were on the jury, I should vote with Breasted, for surely the whole scene is too animated for the embalming of the dead. The main figure on the bedstead- like altar, with both hands raised in protest, and one foot up, is evidently not ready for the supposed embalming process that Petrie and Peters think is under way. It should be observed, too, that the figure to be "embalmed" is clothed, and presumably in his right mind judging from the expression of the open and rather intelligent expression of the " eye. It is more like a book of the living than of the "dead;" more like re- sistance to an assassin, as Joseph Smith depicts it, an attempt to offer the patriarch Abraham as a sacrifice to false gods — than either an embalm- ing scene or a resurrection.
As to the separate figures on plat I: Figure 1 — The hawk-like bird.
"The hawk of Horus." — Petrie.
"A bird in which form Isis is repre- sented"— Breasted ("The hawk of Horus" and this alleged representation of Isis cannot be regarded as identical or as having anything in common, since Isis was the sister and wife of Osiris. and the mother of Horus; and Horus a solar deity, the avenger of his father — see Rawlinson and others. R.)
"The soul (Kos) is flying away in the form of a bird" — Peters.
"The soul in the shape of a bird is flying above it" (i. e. the body) — Meyer.
"The soul is leaving the body in the moment when the priest (3) is opening the body with a knife for mummifac- tion" — Bissing.
"JOSEPH SMITH. JR., AS A TRANSLATOR"
321
SOUL OF OSIRIS.
To these diverse interpretations or this figure 1, I add that of M. Deveria: "The soul of Osiris, under the form of a hawk." He also adds, in parenthesis, that the hawk "should have a human head." Yes, or the head of an ass, then it could be made to mean some- thing else than what these other learn- ed men describe it as meaning. De- veria also says that "figure 3"— which Breasted calls an "officiating priest;" Meyer "a priest approaching it" (i. e. the "bier"); and Peters, an "embalm- 'er" — Deveria, I say, calls "figure 3" "The God of Anubis." With this Petrie, of Bishop Spalding's jury, agrees; ex- cept that Deveria says he is "effecting the resurrection of Osiris," and Petrie that "he is the conductor of the souls of the dead." Petrie makes no com- plaint against the form of "figure 3," but Deveria insists that he "should have a jackal's head." Yes, or some other change might be suggested, and by such process some other meaning may be read into the plate and make it different from the translation of Joseph Smith.
Let us all stand together here a mo- ment— this jury of savants, and M. De- veria, and also you and I, bishop, let us Tor a moment join the group, though we be no savants we need not be much abashed for the moment; and let the "mad Hamlet" instruct us:
Polonius, the tiresome old courtier, has been sent to bring Prince Hamlet to the presence of his mother, then —
"Hamlet: Do you see yonder cloud
that's almost the shape of a camel?" "Polonius: By the mass, and 'tis like
a camel, indeed." "Hamlet: Methinks it is like a
weasel." "Polonius: It is backed like a weasel." "Hamlet: Or like a whale?" "Polonius: Very like a whale." "Hamlet: Then I will ccme to my
mother by and by."
All right, bishop, for one, I will change my belief in Joseph Smith's translation of these Egyptian plates, "by and by," perhaps, but it will not be until there is more harmony among your Egyptologists. After this digres-
sion let us proceed, for there is more to follow. I continue with plate No. 1, Figure 2:
"The dead person"— PETRIE.
"The body of the dead lying aba' (bier)"— MEYER.
"The dead man is lying abier"— BIS- SING.
"The reclining figure lifts one foot and both arms. This figure represents Osiris rising from the dead!" — BREASTED.
"Osiris coming to life on his funeral couch ! "—DEVERIA.
Again, were I on the jury, I should in this case vote with Breasted and Deveria, for the figure discussed rep- resents a very life-like attitude for a corpse. If Mark Twain was comment- ing on the alleged "dead man" he would doubtless say that the report of his being dead was "very much ex- aggerated."
If our good bishop was in any way responsible for all this confusion of interpretation of the plates, I should laugh outright, for he is no more of an Egyptologist than I am; but as it is a learned jury of savants that have each other by the ears, it will be be- coming in me to place my hand over my mouth and stand demure, as I do now.
Explanations of plates 2 and 3 are not as extended as in the case of this plate No. 1, for which reason, I take it, there is less conflict and more gen- eral agreement among members of the jury than in the explanations of plate No. 1. But we have tne dictum, on the high authority of Dr. Sayce of Oxford, that the hieroglyphic? of plate No. 3 "have been transformed into unintelligible lines;" "that hardly one cf them is copied correctly," and how what it stands for, under such cir- cumstances, is to be made out is dif- ficult for the lay mind to comprehend. It should also be remembered that these savants in their interpretation of the facsimiles are pointing out what they conceive to be the meaning of some few of the principal figures but give us no translation of what might be thought, by the layman, to be the "script" of the text, namely, the small characters around the bor-
322
IMPROVEMENT ERA
der of the circular disc, as also around and within the main part of the other facsimiles. If, as one of the jury de- clares (Mace), "Egyptian characters can now be read almost as easily as Greek," one wonders how it is that one or other of the plates was not completely translated, and its story "exhaustively told. Can it be that Egyptologists are not as sure of their knowledge of ancient Egyptian script as the above remark of Dr. Mace would lead us to think they are? Is not our knowledge of the Egyptian records still in its swaddling band of infancy? What is said of plate No. 2, however, is more important for an- other reason than for disagreements among our jury of savants, and which I now proceed to point out.
III.— IMPORTANT CONFIRMATION OF JOSEPH SMITH'S DECLARA- TIONS WITH REFERENCE TO PLATE NO. 2.
"No. 2 is one of the usual discs with magic inscriptions placed beneath the head of the dead."— PETRIE.
"Cut No. 2 is a copy of one of the magical discs which in the late Egyp- tian period were placed undei the head of the mummies." — MACE.
"Facsimile No. 2 * * * is commonly called among Egyptologists a hypo- cephalus. It was placed under the head of the mummy, and the various representations upon it were of a mag- ical power designed to assist the de- ceased in various ways, especially to prevent the loss of his head."— BREASTED.
It .is proper to say that our "jury- man" adds: "These did not come into use until the late centuries, just before the Christian era." (For an explana- tion of which see the paragraph quot- ed from Reynolds later.)
Figure 1. in the Book of Abraham fac-simile plate no. 2, is interpreted by Deveria to be:
"The spirit of the four elements, or rather of the four winds, or the four cardinal points; the soul of the terrestial world."
Figure 2, same plate; "Amon Ra with two human heads, meant prob- ably to represent both the invisible or mysterous principle of Amnion, and the visible or luminous principle of Ra, the sun; or else the double and
simulatneous principle of father and
son.
Figure 3: "The God Ra, the sun, with a hawk's head seated in his boat. In the field the two symbol- ical figures according to M. de Rouge, the fixed points of an astron- omical period."
Figure 5; "The mystic cow, the great cow, symbolizing the inferior hemisphere of the heavens."
Joseph Smith's explanation of this No. 2 circular disc is that it deals with the science of astronomy, and wtth sacred mysteries. For the former see his explanations of figures 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 ; circular disc and for the latter, the sacred mysteries — see his ex- planation of figure 8 — "contains writing that cannot be revealed unto the world but is to be had in the Holy Temple of God." "Figure 9 ought not to be re- vealed at the present time; figure 10 also. Figure 11 also; if the world can find out these numbers, so let it be. Amen." "Figures 12-20 will be given in the own due time of the Lord." "Figure 3," the prophet says, "is made to repre- sent God, sitting upon his throne, clothed with power and authority, with a crown of eternal light upon his head; representing also the grand key words of the holy priesthood as revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, and all to whom the priesthood was re- vealed."
"Figure 7," the Prophet also declares, "represents God sitting upon his throne revealing through the heavens the grand key words of the priesthood; as, also, the sign of the Holy Ghost unto Abraham, in the form of a dove."
To the idea of this plate being "sa- cred" or possessed of "magical" power "designed to assist the deceased in various ways, especially to prevent the loss of his head," and parts of it not to be revealed unto the world, and some of it only in holy places — to all this, several of cur jury of savants give contributing evidence. But how came Joseph Smith by this knowledge, that this plate treated of these two things, Astronomy and sacred mysteries if not by "inspiration," for confes- sedly he did not obtain it by Egyptian
"JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AS A TRANSLATOR"
323
scholarship? Neither could he by searching find it out, as no means of interpreting the Egyptian hieroglyphics was at hand until the publication of Champollion's Elementary Egyptian Grammar was issued, which did not come from the press until 1841; and the Book of Abraham and these fac- similes were published in March, 1842. It is safe to say that Joseph Smith never saw Champollion's grammar, pre- vious to the publication of the Book of Abraham if at all.
On this whole matter of fac-simile No. 2, the late George Reynolds has an enlightening passage:
•It has been urged as an argument against the veracity of the translation by the Prophet Joseph Smith, of the circular cut or disc, but why, we cannot comprehend, that numerous copies of it exist, scattered among museums of Europe. These copies have been found buried with numerous mummies in tne same way as the one that fell into the Prophet's hands. Instead of being an argument against the truthfulness of the translation given by Joseph Smith, we consider it a very strong one in its favor. For this reason, Egyptologists acknowledge that some peculiar poten- cy was ascribed to it by the ancient Egyptians, but their ideas are very vague as to in what that power con- sisted
"It was customary with the ancient inhabitants of Egypt to enshroud their dead in hieroglyphic wrappings, on which various facts relating to the life of the deceased were narrated. This writing was addressed to Osiris, the chief lord of Amenti, the land of tne departed, and amongst other things it stated that the acts of the Osir, tne deceased, had been scrutinized by the seven inquisitors appointed to investi- gate the lives of men, and that he was found worthy to pass by those who guarded the gates of the eternal worlds, and partake of the blessings of the saved.
"Accompanying the mummy is also often found this sacred disc, or hy- pocephalus, as the learned term it, which, if we mistake not, was usually placed under or near the head of the mummy. The translations given by the professedly learned convey no idea ■why this was so placed, but the reve- lations through our martyred prophet, |1j at it contains the key words of the holy priesthood, at once makes the reason plain. The Egyptians buried this disc containing these sacred words with their dead, for very much the same reason that the Saints bury
their dead in the robes of the holy priesthood.
"No doubt the true meaning of these 'key words' was soon lost among the Egyptians, but they knew enough to understand something of their value, and as ages rolled on, their apostate priesthood doubtlessly invented some myth to take their place."— The Bouk or Abraham. Its Authenticity estab- lished as a Divine and Ancient Record, 1870, George Reynolds, pp. 21, 22.
In passing I would call attention to the fact that this book by Mr. Rey- nolds has been very much neglected by the Latter-day Saints. Bishop Spal- ding seems not to be aware of its ex- istence, else I feel sure he would not have remarked that the "Mormons" bad paid little attention to the claims of M. Deveria, referred to in M. Re- mey's books. And if Bishop Spalding's brochure shall result in attracting any general attention to this very able work of the late George Reynolds, the "Mormons" may forgive the bishop for the slight shock he maj moment- arily have given them by hurling at their heads the opinions of his jury of savants on the translations of their Prophet. I commend the book of Mr. Reynolds to all interested in tne sub- ject, especially for its careful and scholarly treatment of tne interna) evidences of this fragment of the "Mormon" Prophet's work. But to return now to our argument.
Of the value of this incidental con- firmation of the Prophet Joseph's declaration concerning the general character of circular disc No. 2, es- pecially in the significant passage of Dr. Breasted, we at least may say mat we are more than compensated for what else of damage it may be thought has been inflicted upon the standing of Joseph Smith as a translator of ancient records by the testimony of this group of Egyptologists. PURPOSE OP BISHOP SPALDING. I have a mild, but at the same time, 1 trust, only a respectful curiosity, to know what interest Bishop Spalding can have in the question of Joseph Smith's accuracy as a translator, or the historicity of the Book of Mormon, or of the Book of Abraham. A« »
324
IMPROVEMENT ERA
understand his position, he follows those who go to the farthest frontiers of research in modern, or higher, crit- icism of the ancient Hebrew and Christian scriptures; and fearlessly ac- cepts the results of that school of thought, up to the point of believing with many of its leaders that religion may be founded and become a reality in the world, notwithstanding defective historical origins.
If I am right in this opinion of his mental attitude in respect to this sub- ject, and I should be sorry to mistake his position, then I might ask of what importance to him is the objective ex- istence of the plates of which the Book of Mormon is said to be a translation; or the genuineness of the Egyptian rolls of papyrus, from which it is al- leged Joseph Smith translated the Book of Abraham, or what matters it if Jo- seph Smith was or was not an accurate translator of ancient records, Egyptian or otherwise? If the recent deductions of higher criticism be accepted, and I understand the bishop to accept them, then these questions that concern them- selves with objective existences, histor- icity, and even accuracy of translations, or any translation at all, are merely matters of minor importance, the mere scaffolding of realities and not the real- ities themselves, and really not vital. Allow me to explain: One of the most emphatic utterances of higher criticism says:
"The time has come when it seems necessary deliberately to raise the ques- tion whether the story which we have in the four gospels of the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of their central figure, was designed by their authors to be taken as literal history. The higher criticism, indeed, is forcing this question to the front, and the time does not seem far dis- tnnt when all sections of the church will have to face it."
The result of the higher criticism on the New Testament he describes as fol- lows:
"But the result has been to show in almost if not every part of scripture that what we have is not history prop- er; that the author's purpose was not to write history, but to edify, to teach some religious truth which he regard- ed as all-important As a result
of the work of the higher criticism, the four gospels are a complete wreck as historical records. * * * * As au- thorities for the life of Jesus they are hopelessly shattered by the assaults of the higher criticism. How little they tell us of an historic Jesus! * * * There is only one way in which Chris- tianity can survive, and that is by the surrender of its claim of being a his- torical religion, and the placing of it on a purely spiritual foundation." *
Our author argues as follows foi this position:
"Why not listen to the mystic who tells us that it is nothing less than idolatry to fix. our thought and wor- ship on a historical Jesus, who is sup- posed to have lived in Palestine two thousand years ago, that a fiesh-and- blood Jesus is a contradiction in terms, and that what the gospel writers in- tended to give the world was not his- tory or biography, but spiritual alle- gory or drama." (!) (Rev. K. C. An- derson, D D., Hibbert Journal, Janu- ary, 1911.)
Now, if I am right as to the bishop's attitude on the matter of higher criti- cism, why does he not treat Mormon- ism as such criticism treats Judaism and Christianity; not on the ground of its historicity, or the accuracy of its translated documents, but from the conception that Joseph Smith's pur- pose, as higher critics say the purpose of the New Testament writers was, "not to write history, but to edify," to teach some religious truth "which they regarded as all important;" not to give out correct translations of an- cient documents, but to give the world some "spiritual allegory, or drama."
The above is written, not to seek to shift the basis of the argument, be- cause I would escape the difficulties involved in the "Mormon" side of the controversy, but just to point out the fact to the respected bishop, that however much others may call in question the historical facts in which "Mormonism" had its origin; the ob- jective existence of the plates, from which it is alleged the Book of Mor- mon was translated; or the accuracy of the Prophet Joseph as a translator of either the Book of Abraham or the Book of Mormon, it is not necessary to his school of thought to take us to task on these questions, since he must regard them as not at all vital to the maintenance of the real truth of "Mor-
"JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AS A TRANSLATOR"
325
monism." Hence for him, upon re- flection, his performance in the adroitly prepared argument against Joseph Smith as a translator, must ever be apropos to nothing.
PLEA TN BAR.
I trust that without laying myself open to the charge of egotism, I may claim that the modest task proposed at the outset of this writing has been achieved, namely, that a successful plea has been made in bar of final conclusions upon the questions in- volved in Bishop Spalding's criticism of Joseph Smith as a translator; that the case against the "Mormon" Prophet is not quite so formidable as it at first appeared to be; and that my readers will find sufficient reasons herein .'set forth to cause them to suspend judg- ment until some more worthy consid- eration may be given to the bishop's brochure — until those more compe- tent, both in scholarship, and in ana- lytical power, and skill in such learned controversy, may find oppor- tunity to give the subject the atten- tion it deserves.
Meantime, I would suggest to my own people that they should remem- ber that there is a wide difference be- tween the thing that one may not be able to explain and the thing which overthrows his theory altogether. One may not always account fully for his truth, nor beat down successfully all objections that may be urged
against it; but it remains truth, just the same. And so in this case.
I believe that in. the translations Joseph Smith has given to the world — confessedly not by scholarship but by inspiration, by his own spirit being quickened by contact with God's spirit — that in those translations are truths that are parts of a mighty system of truth, the like of which is not found elsewhere among men. And that sys- tem of truth, now being worked out in the experiences of both individual men and nations of men, will receive, ere the end, a splendid vindication both as a system and in all its parts.
And here I might paraphrase a pas- sage from George Rawlinson employed in his "Historical Evidences of the Truth of the Scripture Records: If any new form of evidence shall here- after be needed to meet new forms of attack, and authenticate afresh the word of truth, they will be found de- posited somewhere, waiting for the ful- ness of- time; and God will bring them forth in their season, from the dark hieroglyphics, or the desert sands, or the dusty manuscripts, to confound the adversaries of his word, and to mag- nify his name.
Secure in such a conviction, here let us stay ourselves, nothing daunted; and let the world's investigation of our truth be welcomed, confident, with the apostle of the Gentiles, that noth- ing can be done against the truth, but for the truth.
326
IMPROVEMENT ERA
The Book of Abraham.
BY J. M. SJODAHL, EDITOR OF THE DESERET NEWS
[On December 17, the following article appeared as an editorial in the Deseret News. The Era has permission from the author, Elder J. M. Sjodahl, to reproduce it in this series. — The Editors.]
We are indebted to the Right Rev. Bishop F. S. Spalding for a copy of his pamphlet on "Joseph Smith, Jr., as a Translator."
In this pamphlet the author quotes eminent scholars in proof of the as- sertion that the Prophet's translation of certain Egyptian documents accom- panying the "Book of Abraham" is wrong. And he argues that if the Prophet failed in one Instance, he failed in another, and his translation of the Book of Mormon must also be rejected.
The scholars quoted are: Dr. A. H. Sayce, Oxford, England; Dr. W. H. Flinders Petrie, London University; Dr. James H. Breasted, Haskell Oriental Museum, Chicago; Dr. Arthur C. Mace, assistant Curator, Metropolitan Mu- seum of Art, New York; Dr. John Pet- ers, University of Pennsylvania; Prof. C. A. B. Mercer, Western Theological Seminary; Dr. Edward Meyer, Uni- versity of Berlin, and Dr. Friedri^h Freiherr von Bissing, University of Munich.
This is, of course, a formidable array of scholarship, but not half as formid- able as that which could be quoted against the genuineness and authentic- ity of the Pentatuech, for instnace. Bishop Spalding is well aware of the truth of this proposition. In fact, the Rev. gentleman is, we believe, somewhat infatuated with the scholarship which has pro- duced a criticism known, since the days of Eichhorn, as "higher," though "negative" would describe its character more accurately. If he would state, freely and frankly, his views on cer- tain portions of the Bible, they would be found not to differ essentially from those expressed on the correctness of the translation of the Book of Abra-
ham. His effort to break down faith in the Book of Mormon by directing against it the heavy batteries of Egypt- ian scholarship, is, therefore, not sur- prising. But it will prove in vain.
UNFAIR REASONING.
Before taking up the "scholarship" argument, we may state that the rea- soning of the Bishop concerning the translation of the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham is hardly fair. The Book of Mormon was translated by inspiration, by means of "Urim and Thummim, the same instrument which enabled ancient men of God to render an infallible judgment and give to the people the mind and will of God. The Prophet Joseph, at the time he was called to render those ancient records into English, was an unlearned youth and the book itself was written in a language beyond the reach of the scholarship of our day. Its contents had to be revealed by the operation of the Holy Spirit upon the mind of the Prophet, or remain unknown. It was different with the Book of Abra- ham. That record came into his hands by purchase, as any other ancient doc- ument might have been procured. When it first attracted his attention he knew very little about its importance, but with the aid of W. W. Phelps and Oli- very Cowdery he began to decipher some of the hieroglyphics, and as this work proceeded, he found to his joy that he had before him a literary pro- duction traceable to Abraham. Then he took up the study of the letters and the grammar of the Egyptian language. In this research he found himself, virtu- ally, on pioneer ground, but, like Cham- pollion, he had an almost intuitive lin- guistic sense The work, however, pro-
"JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AS A TRANSLATOR"
327
Ifeedea slowly. It was begun in 1835. Not till seven years later, in 1842, could he begin the publication. (See "History of the Church" by Brigham H.Roberts, page 519, Vol. 4.) And it was never completed.
Here, then, is a difference between the two translations. The meaning of the characters on the Book of Mormon plates was given to him miraculously, by the direct operation of the Spirit of God upon his mind made receptive through prayer, visions, and meditation. The correct understanding of the Book of Abraham was fiven, also by the power of the Spirit of God but through the usual channels of research and as a reward for faithful Investigation and labor. That the Prophet prayed earnest- ly for light and knowledge during the time he was occupied upon the trans- lation, we need not say; for, like all the mighty men of God, he was a man of prayer and supplication; that the Lord answered his prayer, there can be no doubt. Both translations are, there- fore, given by. inspiration, but they came through different channels. That is the reason why the Bishop's argu- ment is not fair. If a mistake should be proved in the translation of the Egyptian documents, that would not in any way affect the translation of the Book of Mormon. For such a mistake might be due to the channel through which the inspiration flowed, without lessening the value of the Book itself. There can be no such mistake in the Book of Mormon which came without the aid of scientific channels.
THE SCHOLARSHIP ARGUMENT.
Bishop Spalding's chief argument is this: Because there is a difference of opinion between certain eminent schol- ars and the Prophet Joseph concerning the meaning of the hieroglyphics the Prophet translated, therefore he is wrong and the scholars are right. This is the most extraordinary attempt at logic ever put forth by a scholar. The con- clusion rests upon the monstrous as- sumption that there is an infallible, un- changeable scholarship, incapable of receiving more light, and to contradict which is heresy. We know better, and
the Rev. gentleman knows better. He knows that scholars sometimes are wrong, and that they are compelled by facts to abandon old theories for new ones. In the case of a difference of opinion, how does he know which side is certainly right? How does he know that the Prophet is not right, and that those on the other side are not wrong? Mathematics is an exact science, and its propositions may be demonstrated, but not so archeology.
SCHOLARS SOMETIMES ARE WRONG
Need we illustrate the fact that scholars sometimes are wrong?
It is still within the memory of man that Heinrich Schliemann was branded, by some pretty good scholars, as a dreamer, if not an impostor, when he first announced his startling discover- ies. And yet, today, it is generally ac- knowledged thai, as a result of his archeological researches, new light has been thrown on the ancient Greek civil- ization.
August le Plongeon. who devoted years to researches in Yucatan, was in his day regarded as little better than a charlatan, and some of his labors were necessarily expended on a defense of his claim to a hearing in the scientific world. Either he was wrong, or his critics were wrong. In either case the fact remains that, scholars sometimes are wrong.
But hear Dr. M. G. Kyle, an eminent Egyptologist:
"In 1904 one of the foremost archeolo- gists of Europe said to me: 'I do not believe there ever were such people as the Hittites and I do not believe 'Kheta' in the Egyptian inscriptions was meant for the name 'Hittites.' We will allow that archeologist to be nameless now, but the ruins of Troy vindicated the right of her people to a place in real history and the ruins of Boghatz-koi bid fair to afford a more striking vindication of the Bible repre- sentation of the Hittites."
We appreciate the courtesy of Dr. Kyle in not mentioning the name of the prominent European archeologist who manifested his ignorance by his skep- ticism. For ought we know, it might
328
.IMPROVEMENT ERA
have been one of the European scien- tists quoted by Bishop Spalding. But whoever he was, he was as mistaken as he was positive. For, through the researches of Winckler, and others, an entire Hittite empire has been recov- ered from the debris of the past. It was an empire in Asia Minor, extending in every direction, and it was important enough to enter into treaties with Babylonia on one side and Egypt on the other.
The Hittites occupy a prominent part in the Bible. In Joshua the country between Lebanon and the Euphrates is called the Land of the Hittites. Solo- mon imported horses from the king of the Hittites, and the Syrians, when making war upon Israel on one oc- casion, feared that they would have to fight the Hittites, too. And yet an eminent scholar, a very few years ago denied that they ever existed. Bible students were necessarily forced to take issue with such scholars on this ques- tion, without having the proofs at their command, until further light came. It has now been proved that Thotmes III., of Egypt, marched to the banks of the Euphrates and received tribute from the "greater Hittites" to the amount of 3,200 pounds of silver. It is known also that Rameses the Great was un- successful in his attempt to capture the Hittite stronghold Kadesh, and that he came near perishing. Four years later a Hittite princess became the wife of Rameses. Scholarship had a great deal to learn on the Hittites, and who, shall say that it has nothing to learn on the subject treated on in the Book of Abraham?
Another illustration: Until this time scholarship has confidently maintained that the religion of Palestine came from Babylonia. Another view has re- cently been announced by Albert T. Clay, an authority on cuneiform in- scriptions. He says "that the Semitic- Babylonian religion is an importation from Syria and Palestine (Amurru), that the creation, deluge, ante-diluvian patriarchs, etc., of Babylonia, came from Amurru, instead of the Hebraic stories having come from Babylonia,
as held by nearly all Semitic scholars." Here is a possible change announced in the conceptions of scholarship, which promises a complete scientific revolu- tion.
There is no infallibility in scholarship. To assume that the Prophet was wrong simply because scholars say so is to bea; the question.
DISCREPANCIES IN THE TESTI- MONY OF SCHOLARS.
We have no prejudice against schol- arship. Scholars are witnesses, and their testimony on any question is of as much value as "expert" testimony al- ways is, provided it is unprejudiced and based on facts. But as to that the jury, in this case the public, must be the judge. Scholarship certainly has a right to a respectful hearing but it happens that the authorities quoted by Bishop Spalding disagree on some essential points, in their translations. In fact, they contradict each other, and their testimony is, consequently, of less value than it would have been other- wise.
Dr. Sayce maintains that the hiero- glyphs are so ignorantly copied that hardly one of them is correct, but in the pictographs in the third illustration he recognizes a representation of the Goddess Maat leading "the pharaoh" before Osiris, behind whom stands the Goddess Isis.
Dr. Petrie almost agrees with Dr. Sayce. He also regards the third il- lustration as a representation of a judgment scene. Figure 1, he says, Is Osiris in the usual form; figure 2 is Isis behind him; figure 3 is the stand of offerings with lotus flowers; figure 4 is the Goddess Nebhat, or Maat; he is not sure which; figure 5 is the dead person, and figure 6 is the God Anubis, the conductor of the souls of the dead. Where Dr. Sayce sees the Goddess Maat (Ma't?) Dr. Petrie is not certain of the name, because of the bad draw- ing, and where Dr. Sayce recognizes the spirit of "the pharaoh," Dr. Petrie sees only a dead person — any dead person. Attention is called to this by the very wording of Dr. Sayce's translation, for he employs the definite article, indi-
"JOSEPH SMITH, JR.. AS A TRANSLATOR'
329
eating1 that a well known pharaoh — • "the pharaoh" — is here portrayed. But which of them?
Dr. Breasted agrees with Dr. Sayce and Dr. Petrie that the figure on the throne represents Osiris. But who is the figure behind him? Probably Isis, he says. He is not as positive as the two other authorities. Figure 5, he says, is "a man" (not the pharaoh) being led before Osiris. The figure which Dr. Sayce calls Maat. and Dr. Petrie either Nebhat or Maat, Dr. Breasted calls the Goddess Truth, (Ma't), but the figure which Dr. Petrie is sure is Anubis, Dr. Breasted leaves without a name. It is but fair to state that the diccrepancies in the ex- planations of this illustration are not material.
On the first illustration, however, the divergence is serious. Dr. fayce wisely ignores this illustration entirely, b"t Dr. Petrie offers the fol- lowing explanations: Figure 1 is the hawk of Horus; figure 2 is a dead person; figure 3 is Anubis; figure 4 is the usual funeral couch; figures 5, 6, 7, and 8 are the regular jars for embalm- ing parts of the body; figure 10 are the funeral offerings. His view is that the picture represents an embalming scene, but he ignores figures 9, 11, and 12, entirely. Do they not fit into the em- balming theory?
Dr. Breasted differs with Dr. Petrie. He considers that the reclining figure represents Osiris rising from the dead, although there is no resemblance be- tween the Osiris of this illustration and that of the third. The figure which Dr. Petrie tells us represents the hawk of Horus, Dr. Breasted says is the God- dess Isis — quite a different Isis from that in the third illustration. And the figure which Dr. Petrie feels sure is Anubis, Dr. Breasted says is an of- ficiating priest. Both these interpreta- tions cannot be correct. Either Dr. Petrie or Dr. Breasted, is wrong.
Dr. John Peters also offers a sugges- tion, or two, on the proper interpre- tation of the first illustration. He regards the figure which Dr. Petrie says is the hawk of Horus, and
Dr. Breasted calls Isis, as the soul of the departed Egyptian (Kos). Three different theories on one figure! In fig- ure 9, which Dr. Breasted ignores, ho sees a crocodile ready to devour the dead if he is not properly embalmed, which naturally suggests the question whether the Egyptians believed that crocodiles fed on the souls of the dead.
We cannot within the necessarily re- stricted limits of this article pay atten- tion to every detail of the learned tes- timony submitted, but it would not be proper to slight the opinion of Dr. Frederick Freiherr von Bissing, that the figure which Dr. Petrie calls Anubis is merely the "shadow" of the dead man. Will not Dr. Friedrich Freiherr von Bissing kindly explain how the shadow comes to wear a white apron?
On the second illustration there is practical unanimity. All the scholars quoted say it is a disc with magic in- scriptions intended as a protection for the dead on the other side. But none of them offers an interpretation of the inscription. This is all the more re- markable because they all agree that the object is very familiar to Egyptian scholars.
A QUESTION OF WORDS.
Dr. Sayce ventures the assertion that the word "kolob," used by the Prophet Joseph, is not Egyptian. How does he know? Does he know every word in the entire Egyptian literature? It in certainly a Semitic word. By referring to an Arabic dictionary we find that it is still used in the Arabian language As a verb it means "to turn," and. a derivative might very properly be used as a noun to denote the center around whish something turns, as it is used in the illustration in the Book of Abra- ham. The Arabian verb "qalaba" has. many derivatives. We find it in the term "inqilab ashshams" which means "solstice," and in "qalb ulaqrab," which is the name for the star Alpha in the constellation Scorpio. This is proof enough that the word is used in the Semitic group of languages as an astronomical term, whether it is Egyp- tian or not, and it is not improbable
330
IMPROVEMENT ERA
that Abraham, a Semite, should so use it.
Dr. Mercer remarks that the proph- et's transliteration of the Hebrew word for "expanse" is "far from cor- rect," but as he neglects to give us the transliteration which he- considers correct, we cannot judge >f the excel- lency of his spelling'. We note, how- ever, that the art of writing Hebrew words in English has not yet received fixed rules. It is like phonetic spell- ing. Each writer has his own con- ception of it. A common translitera- tion of the word referred to is "raw- kee'ah," but whether that is so much better than "raukeeang" we leave to any Hebrew scholar to say.
In this connection it may bt of inter- est to Dr. Mercer to have his attention called to the fact that most of the names we have from the Hebrew are very imperfect representations of the Hebrew letters. In the Hebrew there are no such names as "Moses," "Eve," "Solomon," "Samson," Jephthah," 'Saul," etc. The corresponding He- brew names are, "Mosheh," "Chavah," "Shelomeh," "Shimeshon," "Iepath- ach," and "Shaaul," as near as we can write these names in English. There are innumerable illustrations of this discrepancy between the Hebrew and the accepted names. We have them from the Greek, mostly, and they have suffered in the double translit- eration.
Dr. Mercer also suggests that "Jah- oh-eh" is a faulty transliteration of the Hebrew "Jehovah." Here again we must confess disappointment at the neglect of the learned doctor to tell the world how that Hebrew word ought to be transliterated in oraer to give the correct pronunciation. If he knows, he knows more than a.ny other living scholar, Jew or Gentile, "Mormon" or non-"Mormon," and he should not keep the secret to himself. Anr] since he questions the statement that the word is Egyptian, he should enlighten the world on the origin and meaning of it.
But some scholars are of the opinion that the word is akin to the Egyptian "A-Au," which they translate, "me- am." Willis Brewer, in "Egypt and Is-
rael," takes this view and writes it "Jehoah," a form not essentially dif- ferent from that of the Prophet. (Com- pare "Jeh-o-ah," and "Jah-ch-eh.")
Modern scholarship generally, as Dr. Mercer, of course, knows, does not, however, write the word ' Jehovah," but "Yahweh," and, in view of all the facts, it seems to us that the criticism of the learned doctor is, both small-souled and careless.
THE EXPLANATIONS GIVEN BY THE PROPHET.
When scholars tell us that the illus- trations under consideration are scenes from the Book of the Dead, represent- ing a judgment scene before the throne of Osiris, or that they contain instruc- tions to the dead relative to another life, they believe that they have com- pletely proved that the Prophet's ex- planations are false. But that does not follow.
There is practical unanimity that the third illustration represents a judg- ment scene before Osiris, although the testimony, as we have seen, differs in some details. But this does not contradict the explanation offered by the Prophet Joseph. The Egyptians had many festivals and their religion was rich in mythology. It was cus- tomary to give dramatic representa- tions of their legends, in which the priests played the part of the gods. With this fact in mind we can easily understand that a judgment scene may here be represented with Abraham, Pharaoh, and the prince as the main actors, and two servants taking in- ferior parts. In such a representa- tion Abraham would naturally take occasion to tell the audience something about the structure of the universe. The Prophet, in fact, intimates that this is a judgment scene, for he says that figure 1 is Abraham sitting upon Pharaoh's throne, with a crown upon his head, representing the Priesthood as emblematical of the presidency in heaven; with the sceptre of justice and judgment in his hand. He could state no more clearly that the illustration is a judgment scene before the divine throne. That Pharaoh stands behind
"JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AS A TRANSLATOR"
331
the throne may be explained on the very ground the Prophet gives — "courtesy" — for Pharaoh, being himself a priest as well as king, in this way may have recognized the higher priesthood held by Abraham. His part in the tableau was that of an attendant en the di- vine throne. The entire cast, as ex- plained by the Prophet, it, natural. There is the prince representing the exalted personage who leadr the man to the throne; a servant represent- ing the man to be judged, and a black slave representing the dark god of the underworld, Anubis. It is strange that the scholars who exam- ined this illustration did not discover how closely they follow, in their inter- pretation, the explanation offered by the Prophet Joseph.
On the second illustration there is also practical unanimity in regard to its character. It is explained to be a magical disc, a kind of talisman, de- signed to protect the dead on the other side. But the doctors do not give any interpretation cf it. The Prophet ex- plains a small part of it, as represent- ing the structure of the universe, anl containing certain "key-words" of the holy Priesthood. The rest he leaves unexplained. Is it wholly improbable that writings intended for the instruc- tion of those who have passed ov r to the other side should contain repre- sentations of the universe over whicb He reigns before whom they were to appear, or that it should have on it symbolic representations of principles pertaining to the holy Priebthood? On the contrary, that is just what we would expect such a document to con- tain. Here again scholarship has, though blindfolded and fumbling, add- ed confirmation to the work of the Prophet Joseph.
On the first illustration the schol- ars, as we have seen, disagree. Some consider it an embalming scene. Others tell us that it is a resurrection scene. We need not waste time over the dif- ferent explanations, but leave the argu- ment to the scholars themselves. But this is a fact, that of the explanations given, that of the Prophet Joseph is uie one which best agrees, with the
figures themselves. The figure on the altar cannot represent a corpse, for his attitude is that of a living being. He cannot represent the God Osiris, for there are none of the usual marks by which this- divinity is recognized in the Egyptian pictures. The picture can represent an attempt to sacrifice Abra- ham in the land of Ur, and the appear- ance of the angel of the Lord, in an- swer to prayer, to prevent the inhuman rite. The scholars have failed to offer any better explanation.
THE BOOK OF THE DEAD.
But can Abraham have had anything to do with Egyptian documents found in a tomb? The scholars tell us that the illustrations are part of the Book of the Dead, and that, they seem to think, excludes Abraham from further consideration.
What is then the Book of the Dead? It is a collection of manusscripts found with mumies. Some of them are very ancient. They are thought to contain writings of a magical character, though hymns are also found in the text. A collection of 165 sections, or chapters, were made at one time. All the manu- scripts discovered are said to be very corrupt, and most of them can only be translated by tracing them further back. In this respect the manuscripts that fell into the hands of the Prophet are not different from others. Accord- ing to this Book the dead are taken before the judgment seat of Osiris and 42 judges. Their hearts are weighed by Anubis and Thout, and according to this test their fate is decided.
Very little is known about this Book of the Dead, and nothing whatever or its origin. It was the literary growth of centuries, like our Bible, and un- doubtedly many authors contributed to it. It may have begun in oral tradi- tion. Choice sentences were at first written down on temple walls, and other suitable places. Later they were copied on papyrus and other material. There is, therefore, nothing unreason- able in the supposition that Abraham may have contributed to it, and that some part of his literary composition
3?>
IMPROVEMENT ERA
should finally find its way to this coun- try, and to Nauvoo. This, we say, is not unreasonable, and it cannot be suc- cessfully denied.
OSIRIS LEGEND.
The Osiris legend may be briefly told here. According to the Egyptians, Osiris was the son of the Earth and the Sky, and married to his sister Isis. He came to Egypt, where he found an un- civilized people whom he raised from barbarism to a state of civilization, by teaching them to till the ground and to worship God. He traveled far and wide. Finally he was slain by treach- ery. His body was thrown into the river Nile and carried out to sea. Isis, after a long search found it and would have it interred. But while she was visiting her son Horus, the wicked Set, who had caused the murder, tore it to pieces and scattered it all over the Earth. Isis now went in search of the scattered pieces and wherever she found a fragment she buried it, and the spot became sacred ground. Osiris lived in the world beyond, and became the ruler of the dead. The Osiris legend became the basis of the Egyptian doc- trine of immortality.
Le Plongeon sees in this myth an Egyptian version of the Bible story of the murder of Abel by his brother Cain. If there is any truth in this conject- ure, it would not be a far-fetched con- clusion that the Egyptians, probably had heard the story from Abraham himself.
But we would not be surprised to learn some day, on indisputable sci- entific evidence, that the historical basis of the legend is the narrow es- cape of Abraham from the idolatrous priests in Ur, and his appearance in Egypt as a standard bearer of civil- ization and religion. Abraham, like Osiris, came from a far-off land, be- yond the point where the Earth and Sky meet, and he, too, was married to his sister (half sister). If it should be to Jacob and to one branch of the decendants of Abraham, is iden- tical with "Osiris," the close con- nection of Abraham with the Osiris
myth and the Egyptian doctrine of immortality would be established. On this point we quote from "Egypt and Israel," by Mr. Willis Brewer:
"But this view might suggest that I-Sera-El was Asare-El or 'Osiris' himself; and the statement that the bones of Joseph were brought out of Egypt by Bene Ishera-El [the sons of Israel] and buried at Shechem tends to support the Osiris opinion, for Joseph is made son of I-Sera-El. . . . Besides, Sar means 'prince' both in Egyptian and Hebrew, and Osiris had the name Sar, while the God Raa declares him- self Sar-son-of-a-Sar. And the tablets found lately at Tel Amarneh, between Memphis and Thebes, prove that the Egyptians were in possession of Pales- tine at the time, or shortly after, the Bene I-Sera-El are supposed to have gone there from Mi-Zera-im (Egypt), find of course diffused both their language and religion."
The author quoted has some rather fantastic notions and theories, but on etaymoligy he seems to be perfectly sound, and the opinion he advances on the identity of the names Israel and Osiris deserves attention.
WHENCE THIS KNOWLEDGE?.
The Book of Abraham must not be judged, however, from the illustra- tions under consideration alone, but from its marvelous contents. Dr. John A. Widtsoe, in his excellent little book, "Joseph Smith as Scientist," points cut that the Prophet clearly under- stood that the stars form groups, or clusters, which revolve round some one point or powerful star, and that in this he anticipated the scientific world many years. He found this great truth in the Book of Abraham. Can a book which reveals such a truth in advance of science be a fraud?
Another point. In the Book of Abraham the relations between Chal- dea and Egypt are so intimate that Dr. John Peters says the interpreta- tion of the plates "displays an amus- ing ignorance. Chaldeans and Egyp- tians are hopelessly mixed together, although as dissimilar and remote in language, religion and locality as are today the American and Chinese."
Before the discovery of the Tel el- Amarna tablets this remark might
"JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AS A TRANSLATOR"
333
have been excusable, but now it is as- tounding. At Tel-el-Amarna a num- ber of letters were found, many of them dating back 1300 years before our era. And this correspondence was carried on, not in the Egyptian hieroglyphics, but in the Babylonian cuneiform letters. It would be inter- esting to have the learned doctor's opinion as to whether the Chinese had learned American, or the American Chinese.
At all events, some of these letters passed between the courts of Egypt and Babylonia. They show that the Egyptian king, Aken-Aten, had mar- ried a sister of the Babylonian king, and that his mother and grandmother were of the Babylonian royal house. They also show that a daughter of the Egyptian king had been sent to Baby- lonia to become the wife of the king there. They show that the Egyptian king asked for a daughter of the Babylonian monarch, for wife, in ad- dition to the sister, and that his Baby- lonian majesty diplomatically refused on the ground that he did not know how his sister liked Egypt, or what treatment she had received, where- upon the Egyptian king asked him to send a trusted representative to in- vestigate and report. All this looks like a "hopeless mixture" between
Babylonia and Egypt, but it is histori- cal.
The fact is that even scientists did hardly realize ihe close relations be- tween the great empires of the ancient world, until these old documents were recovered. But the Book of Abraham indicates these relations. But that is, we are told, "amusing." The Tel el- Amarna letters are still more "amus- ing," but we cannot reject them on that account.
Bishop Spalding's effort is not new to Latter-day Saints who have fol- lowed the history of the Church. His argument is one that has been heard before, without disturbing in the least the faith that rests on solid founda- tions. It has been fa.'rly and squarely met in the past, and will be answered again, whenever occasion requires, with increasing clearness as the re- searches continue to reveal further data.
The Latter-day Saints court inquiry, such as this. They want to know the truth, and only the truth. There is no ■important issue they are not glad to face, whether presented by friend or foe. Their religion has stood every test to which it has been submitted, and it will remain unshaken for ever, because it is founded upon the Rock, and i*s origin is the Source of all Truth.
The Spalding Argument
15Y DR. FREDERICK J. PACK, DESERET PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY
OF UTAH
[This article appeared in the Dcseret News, Dec. 21, 1912, and is reproduced in the Era by permission of the author. — The Editors.]
An article bearing the title "Joseph Smith, Jr., as a Translator," written by Dr. P. S. Spalding, bishop in Utah of the Episcopal church, has recently re- ceived a limited circulation among the Latter-day Saints. The manifest fair- ness of the inquiry and the apparently well founded conclusions came as some-
what of a surprise to the "Mormon" people. The Latter-day Saints are ac- customed to criticism of a malicious and rancorous sort. Fairness and breadth have rarely characterized the investigations of the past. And conse- quently the apparent fairness shown by Dr. Spalding made far into the ranks
334
IMPROVEMENT ERA
of the Latter-day Saints a well pre- parer! path along which the conclusions of his article might readily follow. And, so, for a moment, blinded as we were by the nature of his argument, some may have thought, that the claims of the Latter-day Saints, had been seri- ously shocked. A little distance, how- ever, lends perspective to the whole matter. But before an examination of the value of the article is made we shall endeavor to give a synopsis of his argument.
In the opening paragrapn of the arti- cle the writer states that "If the Book of Mormon is true, it is, next to the Bible, the most important book in the world." He then goes on to state that the world's knowledge would be greatly enriched if the claims of the Book of Mormon can be proved. (The present writer, however, does not share the opinion of Dr. Spalding that scientific theories would need serious readjust- ment because of it.) He gives credit for fairness on the part of the Latter-day Saints and mentions the names of a few individuals whom he regards as especially frank and intelli- gent. He deprecates the methods em- ployed by the anti-"Mormon" investiga- tor. He quotes extensively from "Mor- mon" publications, evidently for the purpose of instructing his readers in the nature of certain church records and the esteem in which they are held by the Later-day Saints.
He then turns to what appears to be the objective point of his argument, "Was the translation of the Book of Mormon correct?" He presents the testimony of Professor Anthon of New York as received from Martin Harris and published in the Pearl of Great Price. He gives the testimony of the Three Witnesses and also of the Eight Witnesses. He gives Joseph Smith credit for being logical in presenting the testimony of these witnesses in- stead of carrying the original records to learned men because of their inabil- ity at that time to decipher the Egyp- tian hieroglyphics. He quotes from the Articles of Faith in which it is im- plied that the Latter-day Saints place the Book of Mormon upon a high- er plane, from the standpoint of trans-
lation, than the Bible. In this, he says, they are not illogical. He has at- tempted to make it "clear to the reader that the correctness of the translation of the Book of Mormon is a most im- portant question." He then affirms that "If the Book of Mormon was not a correct translation, and yet Joseph Smith thought that it came to him by inspiration and revelation from God, all thoughtful men cannot be a.sked to accept other revelations which Joseph Smith, Jr., asserted were also given to him by Deity." (The logic of this con- clusion will receive attention later.)
He again asks this question, "Is the translation of the Book of Mormon cor- rect?" He makes the statement that "Joseph Smith's competency as a translator of ancient languages can be ascertained in but one way. The orig- inal texts, together with their inter- pretations, must be submitted to com- petent scholars." (There is room for difference of opinion here. Let our friend tell us whether he considers that even the most intelligent human beings are always competent to sit in judgment upon God's work. There are individuals who feel that the analysis of Deity's plans cannot always be made by the use of acid, fire and the micro- scope. My friend Spalding, your logic may lead you into difficulties.)
He speaks of the unavailability of the original Book of Mormon records, and concludes by stating, "Our purpose will be served equally well if the other translations of the Prophet referred to can be examined, and fortunately one of these translations, together with the original manuscript, is available." He presents evidence relating to the nature and origin of the Book of Abraham, and for this purpose quotes extensively from the Church records. He then con- cludes by stating, "It is now clear that in the translation of the, Egyptian hieroglyphics, known as the Book of Abraham, we have just the test we need of Joseph Smith's accuracy as a translator. The original text and the Prophet's translation are available for our investigation."
Dr. Spalding here very astutely ex- pands his argument to include the whole Book of Abraham. His st-ite-
"JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AS A TRANSLATOR"
335
merit that "The original text with the Prophet's translation are now available for our investigation," is a very mis- leading one. In the first place, we do not have the original text, at most only three small fragments of it, in fact only the fac-similes of these fragments. In the second place these fragments cannot be considered as forming part of the text of the Book of Abraham.
He finally concludes that "If, in the judgment of competent scholars, this translation is correct, then the proba- bilities are all in favor of the Book of Mormon. If, however, the trans- lation of the Book of Abrahom is incorrect, then no thoughtful man can be asked to accept the Book of Mormon, but, on the other hand, hon- esty will require him, with whatever personal regret, to repudiate it and the whole body of belief, which has been built upon it and upon the reputation its publication gave to its author."
He next present? from the Book cf .Abraham the fac-similes and their- translation. Appended Ic the article are the statements of eight eminent Egyptologists. These authorities are almost a unit in declaring that the hieroglyphics reproduced in the Book of Abraham were not correctly trans- lated by Joseph Smith, and that the fac-similes themselves are very poor copies of the original records. They disagree somewhat in their descrip- tions of details, but in the main their testimonies at first appear to present a rather formidable argument.
The. reverend gentleman's argument, in a word, is this: "Was the transla- tion of the Book of Mormon correct? This can be answered only by submit- ting the original records to scientific men. Ir this case the records are not available. Joseph Smith claimed to have translated the Book of Abra- ham. Three fac-similes of this record are available. If scientists declare that Joseph Smith incorrectly trans- lated these characters, no; only the Book of Abraham, but also the Book of Mormon and the "whole body of be-
lief" must be repudiated. To Dr. Spalding the testimony of the scien- tists is complete, and in consequence "Mormonism" must fall.
Now, I am quite sure that Dr. Spald- ing will concede to the Latter-day Saints a time for inquiry equal to that consumed by his investigation. Fair- ness would demand this. He has evidently written for opinions to a large number of scholar?, and as a result has published eight statements, some of which disagree with respect to details. Without intentionally questioning the gentleman's integrity, it might be asked as to whether any disharmonious statements may have been received and not published. The Latter-day Saints have been forced to be skeptical because of the unfair methods employed in most of the so- called investigations of the. past. But at any rate the Latter-day Saints themselves would like the privilege of obtaining the opinions of eminent scholars. But before conceding that the characters are not coirectly trans- lated they should like to see the Egyp- tologists much more united than they are at present.
They insist that it be constantly kept in mind that the conditions at- tending the translation of the Book rf Abraham were far different from those attending the translation of the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith had these Egyptian records in his posses- s"nn for many years, and throughout t^at period he undoubtedly spent much time in STUDYING them. Following efforts to work out an Egyptian alpha- het, he announced to his associates that he had been able to decipher prrne of the characters. It is evident that the translation came to him very largely as the result of persistent study, conditions far different from those attending the translation of the Book of Mormon. It is very impor- tant that we ascertain the extent to which Joseph Smith himself claim- ed divine inspiration in the translation of the Book of Abraham.
In a word, the Latter-day Saints insist that a thorough and compre-
336
IMPROVEMENT ERA
hensive investigation of the claims of "Mormonism" be conducted, in which every possible obstacle will be re- moved. It is not the purpose of this paper, however, to undertake this in- quiry or to analyze the testimonies of the eminent scholars — that would require much time and study. The article will be examined from quite another point of view.
In order to clear the field of any pos- sible objections, the reader is asked to imagine that a most comprehensive and exhaustive inpuiry has already been completed. Suppose that not only eight but that scores of scholars were united to a word in discredit- ing the claims of Joseph Smith as a translator of these Egyptian charac- ters. Suppose that the scholars had become fully acquainted with the Egyptian language and could read the hieroglyphics with ease. Suppose that they had even found the identical manuscript employed by Joseph Smith. Suppose that it had been established to the entire satisfaction of all parties concerned that the characters were incorrectly translated. What then?
The analysis of Dr. Spalding's arti- cle was at this point interrupted by other demands upon the present writer's time. Criticism of a large packet of examination papers has just been completed. In order that no in- justice be done, each answer has been carefully read and re-read, and as a result, in the judgment of the examin- er, proper credit has been allowed. The test, of which these papers are the result, consisted of ten questions, each more or less independent, but all per- taining to the same general subject. At the close of the test period the students left the room affirming that the questions were proper ones, and that the information for which they called had been fully considered in class discussions. Several of the stu- dents were emphatic in the statement of their beliefs that in every detail they had correctly answered the ques- tions.
And now the papers have been "cor- rected," and record has been made of the evidence upon which the standing
of the various students is based. The results are interesting. Three out of a class of twenty-four have failed, and of the remainder four are graded "a", ten are graded "b," four are graded "c," and three are graded "d," Not a single student, in the judgment of the examiner, gave complete answers to all of the questions. Even those who were positive in the belief that they had met all of the requirements were found to have failed, in some things. Some students were deficient in one thing and some in another — no two were alike. Some did well in the early part of the test and weaken- ed later, while others began poorly and braced later, and still others were more or less flighty and erratic throughout.
An examiner, in order to be just, must read each question and give due credit for every detail. His opinion as to the student's grade must not be formed until the ten answers have been examined and the summaries made. If the first answer be found perfect the examiner is not by this justified in so marking the remaining nine, and if the first answer be found wrong the examiner proves himself unworthy of his position, if, at this stage, he pronounces the verdict of failure.
And so if our examiner be fair and unbiased he will read carefully every paragraph, every sentence and every line, and his conclusion will be based upon the evidence submitted. This custom follows the individual from the school room into the field of life. He is rated by those who know him according to what.he is and the .things he can do. In order to be adjudged great his successes must overshadow his failures. But sorry would be his condition in life if a single failure on his part would cause the repudiation of every one of his successes.
And yet. under what is termed the spirit of fairness, this is what Dr. Spaulding asks of the Latter-day Saints with respect to Joseph Smith.
It will be remembered that, for sake of argument, we have conceded to Dr. Spalding that his inquiry has con-
"JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AS A TRANSLATOR"
337
clusively shown that the fac-similies reproduced in the Pearl of Great Price were grossly misunderstood and mis- translated by Joseph Smith. In fact we have imagined that the inquiry was so perfect that no question could be raised concerning the conclusion that Joseph Smith had incorrectly trans- lated the Egyptian characters. With this condition very far from being es- tablished Dr. Spalding states that "no thoughtful man can be asked to accept the Book of Mormon, but on the othe* hand, honesty will require him, with whatever personal regret, to repudiate it and the whole body of belief, which has been built upon it and upon the reputation its publication gave to its author."
The reasoning employed bv Dr. Snald- ing would require every Christian de- nomination to repudiate the translators of the Bible, and consequents the Bi- ble itself. It seems now to be pretty well agreed that errors, at tim°s mire or less grave, were occasionally made during the work' of translation. The translators were scholars and probably relied largely upon their ling- uistic attainments. But because they here and there made mis- takes shall we deny that they pos- sessed any knowledge of ancient languages? Let the reader say as to whether, because of this imperfection, we shall be justified in casting out the Bible and the "whole body of belief which has been built upon it." And shall we brand all those who will not repudiate it as ignorant and dishon- est?
The jury in the box, following the method advanced by Dr. Spalding, would convict one accused of murder if it could be shown that he had been guilty of theft— because once guilty al- ways guilty. The method would call upon the friends of the accused to be- lieve in his guilt and to repudiate whatever good he had done. Those who would not join in this denunciation would be classed among the ignorant and dishonest.
This method would require the Great Judge whom we all expect some day to meet, to brand every human being with-
out an exception, as a failure, and not worthy of the least consideration — because once wrong always wrong. Nay, it would require him to repudiate the work of his own hands and to cast all into outer darkness. The reader will undoubtedly turn with considerable re- lief from the consideration of a X'olicy so completely lacking in the first el- ements of justice.
It would be interesting to apply Dr. Spalding's method of reasoning to the results of an inquiry in which it had been shown that Joseph Smith was right. Let us suppose the case of a prophecy. The pre- diction with all of its essential details had been made many years before the occurrence of any of the events in- volved. The prophecy had been placed on record and the attention of the world called to it. It was of such a nature that an individual possessing even the keenest foresight could not have made it, unless he was inspired. Its fulfilment of lack of fulfilment would constitute a test of the prophet's claims.
Let it further be supposed that as years pass the events enumerated in the prediction actually occur and in the manner detailed in the prophecy. The events do not appear in a spec- tacular fashion, but rather as the re- sult of the operation and development of things temporal. The events are well known and of sufficient impor- tance to be recorded in important places in history. Then let it be sup- posed that the followers of the prophet call the attention of the world to the prediction and its fulfilment. In a word, suppose that they supply ample proof for every claim made.
And now our question, "What shall be the duty of the world with respect to this matter?" The reasoning adopt- ed by Dr. Spalding would demand that "no thoughtful person can be asked to deny any prophecy made by this In- dividual, but, on the otner hand, hon- esty will require him, with whatever personal regret, to accept his prophe- cies and the whole body of belief which has been built upon them and upon
338
IMPROVEMENT ERA
the reputation their publication gave to their author."* It may be & question in the minds of some whether Dr. Spaldin^- would be willing to per- mit his rule to operate both ways. Per- haps some day he will inform us.
Tt might be interesting to make fur- ther suppositions with respect to this man Joseph Smith. Let us suppose that as far back as 1833 he claimed 1o have received through revelation what is termed a Word of Wisdom. Sup- pose that this Word of Wisdom coun- selled against the use of alcoholic liquors, tobacco and hot drinks (inter- preted to mean caffein-bearing bever- ages), and against the use of meat, other than in "sparing" quantities, and that only in times of cold or excessive hunger. Suppose that this Word of Wisdom gave promise to all who com- plied with its teachings, and the other commandments, the blessings of stronger minds and healthier bodies, all of which would be accompanied by a marked reduction in the death rate. Suppose that this Word of Wisdom was given to the Church and published long before any serious scientific work had been done along the lines suggested. And further suppose that now for 80 years the members of the Church have fairly well complied with its teachings.
And then again let it be supposed that now some years after the appearance of the Word of Wis- dom, temperance organizations be- gin to increase throughout the land having for their purpose abstinence from .alcoholic bev- erages. Suppose that civic organ- izations and betterment leagues seri- ously discussed the matter. Suppose that the problem becomes so vital that the various states and cities throughout the United States find it necessary to enact more and more stringent laws pertaining to the pale and use of these alcoholic liquors. Suppose that several of the states enact absolutely prohibitory laws. Suppose that medical men al-
(* Slightly paraphrased by the present writer.)
most as a unit decide that hereafter alcohol must not be used in the treat- ment of disease, except occasion- ally for external use. Suppose that criminoligists recognize it as one of the chief causes of crime. Suppose that leaders in commercial activity avoid the employment of habitual users. Suppose that life insurance companies report an increased death rate of 2 5 per cent among non-abstiners.
Suppose further that a few years after the publication of The Word of Wisdom scientists contemporaneously discover a poisonous alkaloid pres- ent in these so-called hot drinks. Sup • pose that it becomes known that an astringent substance is also present. Suppose that scientists declare that these hot drinks give rise to numerous ailments including constipation and kidney trouble. Suppose that the chief chemist in the employ of the United States, in an article written for a trade journal, state that if these beverages are not used in greater moderation the time will soon come when the people of the nation will rise up and legislate against them.
And again let it be supposed that the niootine present in tobacco is recognized as a deadly poison and powerful depressant. Suppose that the use of tobacco is recognized by sci- entists as responsible for the presence of a multitude of physiological dis- orders. Suppose that coaches ab- solutely prohibit its use among athletes. Suppose that its use by stu- dents is invarialy associated with low scholarship. Suppose that among athletes of the most perfect type its use is associated with loss in lung capacity of practically 10 per cent. Sup- pose that judges in juvenile courts everywhere recognize it as the chief cause of juvenile delinquency.
And finally let it be supposed that many years after the publication of the Word of Wisdom the science of dietetics is recognized. Suppose that interest centers around the food re- quirements of the body. Suppose that scientists discover that in the large in- testine proteids undergo pronounced
"JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AS A TRANSLATOR"
339
purification. Suppose that it is rec- ognized that autointoxication may re- sult from intestinal putrifaction. Suppose that scientists insist that the proteids contained in meat givs rise to this autointoxication. Suppose that it is quite generally agreed among scientists that the American people are eating altogether too much meat. Suppose that it is shown that the in- gestion of large quantities of meat is responsible for numerous ailments. Suppose that it is declared by author- ities that meat is more obnoxious in warm weather than in cold. Suppose that is shown in the experience of the United States army that the death rate among soldiers is very greatly increased through eating much meat in warm weather. Suppose that it is announced by the acknowledged great- est bacteriologist in the world that purification in the intestines is large- ly responsible for old age and that through the elimination of this in- testinal purification old age may very materially be deferred.
In a word let it be assumed that scientists have completely vindicated the claims of the Word of Wisdom. What then will be the duty of the world with respect to Joseph Smith? The method employed by Dr. Spald- ing would require that mankind not only accept the Word of Wisdom but everything else which Joseph Smith claimed to have received through rev- elation. And, furthermore, those who did not join in this general acceptance would, by him, be classed among the thoughtless and dishonest.
With this singular reasoning adopted by our reverend friend the Latter-day Saints are forced to disagree. They have nothing inground into their na- tures more deeply than the statement of the Apostle Paul, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good," "Mor- monism" does rot feel that in justice it can ask the world to accept all of its claims because a single point has teen demonstrated. Some individuals require more evidence than others. AH that "Mormonism" can ask is an un- biased investigation. It does not want
to be finally adjudged upon the out- come of only one point. It asks, it de- mands, a complete investigation.
Anything short of this would result unfairly. To illustrate. Suppose that the first inquiry result in proving that Joseph Smith was, in that instance, wrong. Or suppose that chance de- signed that in the first instance he was found to be right. These facts prove two things only; in the first instance he was wrong, and in the second in- stance he was right, nothing more. They prove absolutely nothing with respect to other of his operations. It is true, however, that if he be found wrong in instance after instance, in- ferential evidence would lead one to believe that he was wrong in the majority of cases. (This rule will work both ways). But in order to prove that he was entirely wrong and that the "whole body of belief" should be repudiated, every case must be examined upon its own merits.
In the opinion of the writer, the Lat- ter-day Saints should not, and for that matter do not, maintain that Joseph Smith was infallible. He was human and possessed human weaknesses and human faults. Being such, he was un- doubtedly here and there mistaken. His followers claim, however, that his weaknesses were few and his virtues many. According to Christian belief, the Son of God was the only perfect man to grace the earth by his presence. If then, because of his weaknesses, we dismiss Joseph Smith, the prophets of ancient times must likewise go.
Shall it be argmd that because a man receives divine help at one time that he is always inspired? or the converse, that because he may at one time have been led by Satanic in- fluences that he is always evil? If so, the virtues of Christianity are at an end. Does it follow that because a man thinks that he is right at one time, and so proclaims himself, but is later shown to be wrong, that he is invaria- bly wrong? We do not judge tem- poral things In that manner. No Chris- tian ever lived who was guided in every act of his life by divine effulgence. And
340
IMPROVEMENT ERA
occasionally he was wrong when he thought that he was right.
If through future investigation, there- fore, it can be shown that Joseph Smith was absolutely wrong in his transla- tion of the characters reproduced in the Pearl of Great Price, shall we say that his other works of translation are wholly wrong? Or shall we be justified in going so far as to state that the re- maining part of the Book of Abraham is wrong? In the judgment of the writ- er, reason scoffs at the intimation of an affirmative reply.
The best men the world has ever known have here and there made mis- takes. There have been no exceptions. Scientists, philosophers and religionists alike have all erred. Would it not be suicidal to repudiate the work of man- kind because of these occasional mis- takes? Yet the method of sweeping denunciation advanced by Dr. Spald- ing would require that it be done, and that all who would refuse to follow in this senseless slaughter would be branded as ignorant and dishonest.
From the writer's point of view it Is not only probable but possible that the world's greatest prophets have now and again made mistakes. Prophets are human beings whose minds are illum- inated by divine intelligence, the- de- gree of illumination varying with the responsiveness of the human spirit. Some prophets have approached perfec- tion much closer than others, but abso- lute perfection for a lite time is never realized in the flesh.
And so it should not only be con- ceded but urged that Joseph Smith may have made mistakes. (Whether mis* takes were made in the translation of the Egyptian characters as reproduced in the Pearl of Great Price is not un- der discussion here.) Any other atti- tude would argue for his infallibility, a condition which the present writer does not accept, either for Joseph Smith or for the prophets of old. If the works of Joseph Smith were being investigated with fairness equal to that employed by the examiner in the college, or the jury in the court, he would not be adjudged a failure or convicted because a single error might have been found.
And so we ask the question, "What has Dr. Spalding's inquiry shown?" The incompleteness of the inquiry was pointed out early in this paper, but if the argument be accepted as complete and final, what then does it show? It gives an illustration of ONE case in which Joseph Smith was wrong. It shows that he was not infallible, a condition long held by the Latter-day Saints. He was mortal and his follow- ers knew it. They asserted, however, that his strength very greatly predom- inated over his weaknesses. If this case proves to be one in which Joseph Smith was mistaken the Latter-day Saints want to know it, and further- more they will assist in investigating it. They have not thought of this par- ticular instance as being a mistake, but if final investigation so proves it, they can accept the conclusion without in any way disturbing their confidence in the multitude of cases in which they know that he was right. They have ap- pealed to the world to investigate the claims of their religion, and stand ready to accept the results. But, mark you, these results must not be based upon the kind of reasoning employed by Dr. Spalding.
The inquiry ends, therefore, with the case in hand. It cannot be considered as applying to the text of the Book of Abraham, to say noth- ing of the Book of Moses also con- tained in the Pearl of Great Price. The absurdity of making sweeping conclu- sions has already been pointed out. The hope of testing the translation of the Book of Mormon by this particular in- quiry has led Dr. Spalding far afield.
It would be a very grep. t source of pleasure to the Latter day Saints if the world would appoint a committee consisting of wisa and honest men whose duty would be prayerfully and impartially to investigate the claims of "Mormonism." The committee could pass on each claim independent- ly, until the list was exhausted. Then summaries could be made and the ver- dict rendered. The Latter-day Sainfs, I am convinced, would be more than willing to submit their religion to such a test. They would not, how-
"JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AS A TRANSLATOR"
341
ever, be willing to have It. declared wholly wrong because of a very small number of errors. (Exists there a religious body who would?) No just and impartial judge would require it of them. They themselv-js do not look upon it as being faultless. It has cr me from God through human hands. They claim that it came as a revela- tion of God to man, and that here and there within it there are probably the finger prints of mortality. If man, the medium through which it came, had been perfect, the religion would have been perfect. The Latter-day Saints do claim, however, that "Mor- monism" is the most nearly perfect' religion upon the face of the earth, far from excepting that espoused by the writer of the pamphlet under ques- tion.
The reader is now asked to imagine the publication of a pamphlet bearing the title "Napoleon Bonaparte, as a General; an Inquiry." The first pages told of the sincerity of the general and the devotion of his followers. It also spoke of their fairness and integrity. And near the close of the argument
the author stated that if it could be shown that Napoleon had made a mis- take in one battle all other claims re- lating to his generalship would there- by be destroyed. To the pamphlet were appended the statements of a number of competent officers to the effect that Napoleon had made a mis- take at Waterloo. The author then called upon all men to repudiate Na- poleon not only at "Waterloo but else- where, and Anally branded all who would not do so as ignorant and dis- honest.
Reader, what would be the nature of the reception of this pamphlet? Would the reasoning of its author convince mankind that Napoleon was not a general in any sense of the term and should be repudiated, or would the author of the pamphlet be regarded with some degree of pity and quickly forgotten?
(Note: The present writer is by no means convinced that Joseph Smith incorrectly translated the Book of Abraham. An article dealing with this phase of the subject will follow later.)
Scholars Disagree.
BY JUNIUS F. WELLS
[On December 19 the following a author has permitted the Era to reprin Editor Deseret News:
Dear Sir — I read with deep interest the editorial review in Tuesday's paper of Bishop Spalding's treatise upon the cuts of the original drawings of the Book of Abraham and was particularly pleased with your wise and clever com- ments upon the discrepancies and dif- ferences of the world's eminent savants in their respective interpretations of the Egyptian hieroglyphics and hypo- cephali that have been so variously and learnedly deciphered by them.
It reminded me of an inquiry I had the opportunity of instituting while in London in 1903. Through the favor of Hon. James W. Barclay, M.P., a publi- cist of considerable note and friend of many of England's foremost inves-
ppeared in the Deseret News, which the
t. — The Editors.]
tigators in the field of archaeological research, and who took a keen interest in the matter, I had the Pearl of Great Price, containing these cuts and Joseph Smith, the Prophet's interpretation of t hem sent first to Sir Flinders Petrie, who, however, being away from London, could not then be reached, and second- ly to Dr. Henry Woodward, F.R.S., who, after examining it himself, passed it on to the very celebrated Dr. E. A. W. Budge, head of the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities of the British Museum for many years; the author of a voluminous History of Egypt; of the Dictionary of the Book of the Dead, and of numerous works upon the language, religion, poetry and
342
IMPROVEMENT ERA
mysticism of ancient Egypt and As- syria. I also, having cards of intro- duction, presented the Pearl of Great Price personally at the museum to Dr. Lloyd, keeper of Assyrian antiqui- ties. He, however, merely glanced at the engravings and, observing that the characters were Egyptian, told me to take it in to Dr. Budge. As the latter was not in his office, I was not able* to have the pleasure of a personal inter- view.
The purpose of this inquiry was to secure the opinion of those learned in ancient Egyptian writings of the genu- ineness and meaning of these cuts. In response I received letters written by Drs. Woodward and Budge. Mr. Bar- clay's comment after reading them and handing them to me was that there ap- peared to be room enough in the differ- ence of their interpretations to admit Joseph Smith's to at least an equal footing with them.
These letters are as follows:
12 9 Beaufort St., Chelsea, S. W.
October 10, 19 03. My dear Mr. Barclay:
Papyri and the literature thereof are all at Bloomsbury, so I have sent your request on to my friend, Dr. Ernest A. T. W. Budge, keeper of Egptian, and Assyrian antiquities, to reply to and I hope he will do so. Savigny wrote the account of the first Napoleon's Egyptian campaign and in it are papyri (drawn) before the year 1870. I think all Smith's drawings are very bad copies of early genuine papyri en- gravings which he must have seen somewhere. His interpretations are of course all rubbish! Abraham being sacrificed by Elkanah is an embalmer. knife in hand, preparing to disembowel a dead body to embalm it! and the gods are a row of mummvpots.
HENRY WOODWARD.
Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities,
British Museum
London W. C. No. 4272 9.10.03
My dear Sir: —
No. 1 is an imitation of the scene from the Book of The Dead in which Anubis stands by the side of the de- ceased on his bier. The interpreta- tion is bosh.
No. 2 is from one of the hvpocephali. I should say copied from the late Dr. Birch's papers. The interpretation is likewise bosh.
No. 3 is adoration of Osiris by some
deceased person. It is a falsified copy.
The letter press is as idiotic as the pictures, and it is clearly based on the Bible and some of the Old Test. Apocryphal histories.
I return the book and the letters herewith.
I am.
Yours very truly,
E. A. W. BUDGE. Dr. Henry Woodward, F. R. S.
I forwarded all the correspondence to President P. M. Lyman, then at Liverpool, for his perusal and com- ment, and take pleasure in quoting from his reply:
42 Islington, Liverpool,
October 16. 1903.
I fully endorse your estimate of the findings of Doctors Budge and Wood- ward, I hope Mr. Barclay observes that the learned Doctors are as adverse to each other as they are to the Prophet. They concede that the characters are copies of genuine originals even if they are poorly executed. They can be read by them. This in favor of the candor of the Prophet. Now we have three readings and two must stand con- demned for rendering a corpse with eyes open and limbs raised up.
Of the three readings there can be only one correct. The learned readings must be wrong, and the Prophet's may be right. It has this merit, it is rea- sonable, which cannot be said of the others. It is most fortunate that you o^+ained the two readings.
Preserve the documents and let them °-o home and they will be profitable to us.
At Prpsidfnt Lyman's request Elder Joseph J. Cannon. his assistant in the Liverpool office, also wrote me in part as follows:
Liverpool, Eng.,
Oct. 16. 1903.
President Lyman suggested my writing you regarding the letters from Doctors Woodward and Budge.
We were very much struck by their unity in declaring the Prophet's in- terpretation bosh, rubbish, and the ex- tremely wide difference between their own interpretations.
Dr. Woodward says: "Abraham beinsr sacrificed by Elkanah is an embalmer knife in hand preparing to disembowel a Head body to embalm it!"
Dr. Budge savs: "No. 1 is an imita- tion of the scene from the Book of the Dead in which Anubis stands bv the side of the deceased on his bier "
Anubis was the deity, according to EervDtian mvthology. that escorted the spirits of the departed to their abid- ing place. With this divergence of
"JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AS A TRANSLATOR"
343
opinion among the learned, we think it not unreasonable to accept the Pro- phet's views. As you remarked, the reclining figure looks anything but like a corpse.
Dr. W. writes "the gods are a row of mummy-pots!" That may be, but the sacred mummy-pots would themselves be objects of adoration, and the top, at least, is formed into characteristic shapes. Their difference of form indi- cates that they represent something.
Dr. Budge thinks that No. 2 is from the late Dr. Birch's papers. I could find none of Dr. Birch's early writings in the public library here. I found a list of them, however, and they might be examined at the British Museum.
As this inquiry with its responses from Egyptologists of eminence quite
equal to those Bishop Spalding quotes, antedates the latter's inquiry by ten or a dozen years, it at least serves to show that we have not been lax, nor afraid to learn from whatever light the wisdom -of the world might throw upon the illustrations of the Book of Abra- ham and their translation by the Prophet Joseph.
Believing the above might prove of interest to your readers and that it should find the permanence of publi- cation, I take pleasure in submitting it for your use and comment. Bespectfully,
JUNIUS F. WELLS,
Salt Lake City, 19th December, 1912.
Bishop Spalding's Jumps in the Logical Process
BY JOHN HENRY EVANS, OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS' UNIVERSITY
"In almost every act of our per- ceiving faculties," says John Stuart Mill, "observation and inference are intimately blended. What we are said to observe is usually a compound re- sult of which one-tenth may be ob- servation and the remaining nine- tenths inference."
If we substitute the word "fact" for the word "observation" in this pas- sage, we shall have a most accurate description of the logical process in- volved in the pamphlet on "Joseph Smith. Jr., As A Translator," by Bish- op F. S. Spalding, of the Utah Episcopal church. Fact and inference are here so "intimately blended" that special attention to this phase of the ques- tion is needed before one can appre- ciate the numerous errors in the rea- soning process. And so I shall un- dertake in this brief article to point out where links are missing in the bishop's chain of reasoning.
Bishop Spalding submits to eight Egyptologists tve three facsimiles in the Book of Abraham with expla- nations by the Prophet Joseph Smith, for the purpose of getting t^cir opinions as to whether they were translated correctly. The scholars answer substantially that they were not correctly translated. That is the fact. What is the inference drawn
from the fact? That the Book of Abraham as a whole was not trans- lated correctly! Is this leap in the logical process warranted?
For the benefit of those who are afraid of the scholars, let me say that this leap is not made 'by the eight learned men. They tell us only that the figures submitted to them were not translated correctly. Before they would be warranted in saying that the entire Book of Abraham was not properly translated, they would have to examine the original papyrus, or a copy of it, from which the Book of Abraham was translated. The infer- ence therefore is wholly the bishop's, so that we are not here -bucking the scholarship of the special scholar but rather the logic of the logician; and nobody has a corner on reasoning. Now, as a matter of fact, the hiero- glyphics submitted to the scholars con- stitute less than c ne-se-« nth of the Book of Abraham and that only an accompaniment of the text. The ques- tion therefore, becomes, "Is any one justified in drawing a conclusion re- specting an entire manuscript from a statement which was made with re- spect only to a very small part of that manuscript?"
The scholars are practically agreed
344
MPROVEMENT ERA
that the hieroglyphics are badly cop- ied. If so, and there is ample room for 'loubt of that, may not some part of the learned men's observations concerning them point to the conclusion that the translator was a poor copyist rath- er than a poor translator? This ap- pears to be the more probable from the fact of differences in the interpre- tation of the scholars. And then, too, may it not be possible that these par- ticular hieroglyphics present peculiar difficulties? For every one knows, who has done any work in translation, that not all parts of a given literary pro- duction are of the same ease in the translation. And the uninitiated in the lore of the ancientEgyptians would naturally imagine that the un- evenness would be still greater in hieroglyphic writing.
I do not wish to claim too much for my point. I do not say definitely and positively that this is so. But I do insist that the doubt thus thrown on the bishop's inference makes it impossible for him reasonably to build so high a superstructure as he does on so frail a foundation. The infer- ence is clearly unwarranted.
II.
In the next place, the bishop de- clares that, since the translation of the Book of Abraham was incorrect, and since also the inspiration in the translation of the Book of Mormon, and that of the Book of Abraham were the same, therefore the Book or Mor- mon, too, was incorrectly translated. This is a longer jump in the logical process than the one I have just pointed out. And here again I ask, "Is the inference warranted?"
The inference here turns on the point, Was there a sufficient differ- ence between the translation of the Book of Mormon and the translation of the Book of Abraham to weaken or destroy the reasonableness of this inference? If it can be shown that there is a single difference in an es- sential particular, then the inference falls to the ground.
A vital difference in the mode of
translating the two books lies in the directness of the inspiration, in the case of the Book of Mormon, as com- pared with the Book of Abraham. In the translation of the Nephite record the Prophet used the Urim and Thum- mim; in the case of the Abrahamic manuscript there is no mention of any direct means in the translation. Then again. Joseph expressly says thai he studied the writings of the ancient Patriarch for the purpose of con- structing a grammar of the language. Moreover, he was at work on the papyrus intermittently from February, 1835, to the same month in the year 1842 — a period of seven years. Do not these facts, which the bishop ad-