JOSEPH SMITH arrived in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in the month of December, 1827, and established himself in a house located on Mr. Hale's farm which, with a small parcel of land, he had purchased of his father-in-law. 1

No sooner was he settled than he began making a transcript of some of the characters from the plates. "I copied a considerable number of them, and by means of the Urim and Thummim I translated some of them." 2 He was so engaged from the time of his arrival in December, 1827, until the ensuing February.

Sometime in February, as previously arranged between them, Martin Harris arrived in Harmony from New York; and taking the transcription of characters Joseph had made from the plates, he departed for the city of New York, in order to submit them to men of learning for their inspection, and in order also that they might translate them if they could. It may be that this submission of the transcript of Nephite characters to learned men was undertaken in part to satisfy some lingering doubts in the mind of Martin Harris, as to whether or not Joseph Smith had in his possession a genuine, ancient record; but primarily the purpose was to fulfill a prophecy within the record itself, viz:

SUBMISSION OF "THE BOOK" TO THE "LEARNED"

"And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall bring forth unto you the words of a book, and they shall be the words of them which have slumbered. And behold, the book shall be sealed. * * * Wherefore because of the things which are sealed up, the things which are sealed shall not be delivered in the day of the wickedness and abominations of the people. Wherefore the book shall be kept from them, but the book shall be delivered unto a man, and he shall deliver the words of the book, which are the words of those who have slumbered in the dust, and he shall deliver these words unto another; but the words which are sealed he shall not deliver, neither shall he deliver the book. * * * But, behold, it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall say unto him to whom he shall deliver the book, take these words which are not sealed and deliver them to another, that he may shew them unto the learned, saying, read this, I pray thee. And the learned shall say, bring hither the book, and I will read them: and now, because of the glory of the world, and to get gain will they say this, and not for the glory of God. And the man shall say, I cannot bring the book, for it is sealed. Then shall the learned say, I cannot read it. Wherefore it shall come to pass, that the Lord God will deliver again the book and the words thereof to him that is not learned; and the man that is not learned shall say, I am not learned. Then shall the Lord God say unto him: The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee." 3

A fragment of the transcript of the Book of Mormon characters which Joseph Smith gave to Martin Harris to submit to the learned men of New York is given in a photogravure accompanying this chapter. I say fragment, because the Prophet gives us to understand that between the time of his arriving in Harmony, December, 1827, and the arrival of Harris, sometime in February, 1828, he had transcribed "a considerable number" of characters from the plates—certainly more than this seven-lined transcript. Martin Harris says he submitted two papers containing different transcripts, to Professors Anthon and Mitchell, of New York, one that was translated and one not translated; 4 and Professor Anthon himself, in his letter to E. D. Howe, under date of Feb. 17, 1834, says:

"This paper in question was, in fact, a singular scroll. It consisted of all kinds of singular characters disposed in columns, and had evidently been prepared by some person who had before him at the time a book containing various alphabets, Greek and Hebrew letters, crosses and flourishes; Roman letters inverted or placed sideways were arranged and placed in perpendicular columns, and the whole ended in a rude delineation of a circle, divided into various compartments, arched with various strange marks, and evidently copied after the Mexican calendar by Humboldt, but copied in such a way as not to betray the source whence it was derived."

In a letter to Rev. Coit, bearing date of April 3rd, 1841, Professor Anthon further said:

"The characters were arranged in columns, like the Chinese mode of writing, and presented the most singular medley that I ever beheld, Greek, Hebrew and all sorts of letters, more or less distorted, either through unskilfulness or from actual design, were intermingled with sundry delineations of half moons, stars, and other natural objects, and the whole ended in a rude representation of the Mexican zodiac." 5

Surely the seven-line transcript engraving, published with this chapter, does not meet this description. Hence, I refer to it as only a fragment of what was submitted to Professors Mitchell and Anthon by Martin Harris, and preserved with the copy of the printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon, by David Whitmer.

For what happened at the interview between Martin Harris and Professors Mitchell and Anthon, we are, of course, dependent upon the statements of those gentlemen. On returning from his expedition to New York, Martin Harris made the following report to Joseph Smith:

THE REPORT OF MARTIN HARRIS ON THE INTERVIEW

"I went to the city of New York, and presented the characters which had been translated, with the translation thereof, to Professor Charles Anthon, a gentleman celebrated for his literary attainments. Professor Anthon stated that the translation was correct, more so than any he had before seen translated from the Egyptian. 6 I then showed him those which were not translated, and he said that they were Egyptian, Chaldaic, Assyriac, and Arabic, and he said that they were the true characters. He gave me a certificate, certifying to the people of Palmyra that they were true characters, and that the translation of such of them as had been translated was also correct. I took the certificate and put it into my pocket, and was just leaving the house, when Mr. Anthon called me back, and asked me how the young man found out that there were gold plates in the place where he found them. I answered that an angel of God had revealed it unto him.

"He then said to me, 'Let me see that certificate.' I accordingly took it out of my pocket and gave it to him, when he took it and tore it to pieces, saying that there was no such thing now as ministering angels, and that if I would bring the plates to him he would translate them. I informed him that part of the plates were sealed, and that I was forbidden to bring them. He replied, 'I cannot read a sealed book.' I left him and went to Dr. Mitchell, who sanctioned what Professor Anthon had said respecting both the characters and the translation."

Some years after this, viz., in 1834, Professor Anthon, in a letter to Mr. E. D. Howe, of Painesville, Ohio, made a statement as to what took place on the occasion of Martin Harris' visit to him, and I give that statement below in full. By way of introduction it should be said, however, that Mr. E. D. Howe at the time (1834) was connected with a Dr. Hurlburt in the production of an anti-"Mormon" book, and the report of Harris' interview with the learned professor having become known, Mr. Howe wrote to Professor Anthon making inquiries about it, hoping, perhaps, that the fact of the interview might be denied. This is the letter he received in reply to his inquiries:

ANTHON'S LETTER TO E. D. HOWE

NEW YORK, February 17, 1834.

"Dear Sir: I received your letter of the 9th, and lose no time in making a reply. The whole story about my pronouncing the Mormon inscription to be reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics is perfectly false. Some years ago, a plain, apparently simple-hearted farmer called on me with a note from Dr. Mitchell, of our city, now dead, requesting me to decipher, if possible, the paper which the farmer would hand me. Upon examining the paper in question, I soon came to the conclusion that it was all a trick—perhaps a hoax. When I asked the person who brought it how he obtained the writing, he gave me the following account: A gold book consisting of a number of plates, fastened together by wires of the same material, had been dug up in the northern part of the state of New York, and along with it an enormous pair of spectacles. These spectacles were so large that if a person attempted to look through them, his two eyes would look through one glass only, the spectacles in question being altogether too large for the human face. 'Whoever,' he said, 'examined the plates through the glasses was enabled not only to read them, but fully to understand their meaning.' All this knowledge, however, was confined to a young man, who had the trunk containing the book and spectacles in his sole possession. This young man was placed behind a curtain in a garret in a farm-house, and being thus concealed from view, he put on the spectacles occasionally or rather looked through one of the glasses, deciphered the characters in the book, and having committed some of them to paper, handed copies from behind the curtain to those who stood outside. Not a word was said about their being deciphered by the gift of God. Everything in this way was effected by the large pair of spectacles. The farmer added that he had been requested to contribute a sum of money toward the publication of the golden book, the contents of which would, as he was told, produce an entire change in the world, and save it from ruin. So urgent had been these solicitations, that he intended selling his farm and giving the amount to those who wished to publish the plates. As a last precautionary step, he had resolved to come to New York, and obtain the opinion of the learned about the meaning of the paper which he brought with him, and which had been given him as a part of the contents of the book, although no translation had at that time been made by the young man with spectacles. On hearing this odd story, I changed my opinion about the paper, and instead of viewing it any longer as a hoax, I began to regard it as part of a scheme to cheat the farmer of his money, and I communicated my suspicions to him to beware of rogues. He requested an opinion from me in writing, which, of course, I declined to give, and he then took his leave, taking his paper with him. I am thus particular as to the contents of the paper, inasmuch as I have frequently conversed with friends on the subject since the Mormon excitement began, and well remember that the paper contained anything else but Egyptian hieroglyphics. Some time after the farmer paid me a second visit. He brought with him the gold book in print, and offered it to me for sale. I declined purchasing. He then asked permission to leave the book with me for examination. I declined receiving it, although his manner was strangely urgent. I adverted once more to the roguery which, in my opinion, had been practiced upon him, and asked him what had become of the gold plates. He informed me they were in a trunk with the spectacles. I advised him to go to a magistrate and have the trunk examined. He said the curse of God would come upon him if he did. On my pressing him, however, to go to a magistrate, he told me he would open the trunk if I would take the curse of God upon myself. I replied that I would do so with the greatest willingness, and would incur every risk of that nature, provided I could only extricate him from the grasp of the rogues. He then left me. I have given you a full statement of all that I know respecting the origin of Mormonism and must beg of you as a personal favor to publish this letter immediately, should you find my name mentioned again by these wretched fanatics.

Yours respectfully,

[Signed] CHAS. ANTHON." 7

In addition to this acknowledgment of the visit of Martin Harris to him with the transcript of the Nephite characters, Professor Anthon subsequently made another acknowledgment of Martin Harris' visit, in a letter written to Rev. Dr. T. W. Coit, Rector of Trinity church, Rochelle, West Chester county, New York, in answer to a note of inquiry from that gentleman, concerning the professor's connection with the Book of Mormon. 8

ANTHON'S LETTER TO DR. T. W. COIT

NEW YORK, APRIL 3, 1841

"Rev. and Dear Sir: I have often heard that the Mormons claimed me for an auxiliary, but as no one until the present time has even requested from me a statement in writing, I have not deemed it worth while to say anything publicly on the subject. What I do know of the sect relates to some of the early movements; and as the facts may amuse you, while they will furnish a satisfactory answer to the charge of my being a Mormon proselyte, I proceed to lay them before you in detail.

"Many years ago—the precise date I do not now recollect,—a plain-looking countryman called upon me with a letter from Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell, requesting me to examine, and give my opinion upon a certain paper, marked with various characters, which the doctor confessed he could not decipher, and which the bearer of the note was very anxious to have explained. A very brief examination of the paper convinced me that it was a mere hoax, a very clumsy one too. The characters were arranged in columns, like the Chinese mode of writing, and presented the most singular medley that I ever beheld. Greek, Hebrew and all sorts of letters, more or less distorted, either through unskilfulness or from actual design, were intermingled with sundry delineations of half moons, stars, and other natural objects, and the whole ended in a rude representation of the Mexican zodiac. The conclusion was irresistible, that some cunning fellow had prepared the paper in question for the purpose of imposing upon the countryman, who brought it, and I told the man so without any hesitation. He then proceeded to give me the history of the whole affair, which convinced me that he had fallen into the hands of some sharper, while it left me in great astonishment at his simplicity.

"The countryman told me that a gold book had been recently dug up in the western or northern part (I forget which), of our state, and he described this book as consisting of many gold plates like leaves, secured by a gold wire passing through the edge of each, just as the leaves of a book are sewed together, and presented in this way the appearance of a volume. Each plate, according to him, was inscribed with unknown characters, and the paper which he handed me, a transcript of one of these pages.

"On my asking him by whom the copy was made, he gravely stated, that along with the golden book there had been dug up a very large pair of spectacles! so large in fact that if a man were to hold them in front of his face, his two eyes would merely look through one of the glasses, and the remaining part of the spectacles would project a considerable distance sideways! These spectacles possessed, it seems a very valuable property, of enabling any one who looked through them, (or rather through one of the lenses,) not only to decipher the characters on the plates, but also to comprehend their exact meaning, and be able to translate them!

"My informant assured me that this curious property of the spectacles had been actually tested, and found to be true. A young man, it seems, had been placed in the garret of a farm-house, with a curtain before him, and having fastened the spectacles to his head, had read several pages in the golden book, and communicated their contents in writing to certain persons stationed on the outside of the curtain. He had also copied off one page of the book in the original character, which he had in like manner handed over to those who were separated from him by the curtain, and this copy was the paper which the countryman had brought with him.

"As the golden book was said to contain very great truths, and most important revelations of a religious nature, a strong desire had been expressed by several persons in the countryman's neighborhood, to have the whole work translated and published. A proposition had accordingly been made to my informant, to sell his farm, and apply the proceeds to the printing of the golden book, and the golden plates were to be left with him as a security until he should be reimbursed by the sale of the work. To convince him more clearly that there was no risk whatever in the matter, and that the work was actually what it claimed to be, he was told to take the paper, which purported to be a copy of one of the pages of the book, to the city of New York, and submit it to the learned in that quarter, who would soon dispel all his doubts, and satisfy him as to the perfect safety of the investment.

"As Dr. Mitchell was our 'Magnus Appollo' in those days, the man called first upon him; but the Doctor, evidently suspecting some trick, declined giving any opinion about the matter, and sent the countryman down to the college, to see, in all probability, what the 'learned pundits' in that place would make of the affair.

"On my telling the bearer of the paper that an attempt had been made to impose on him and defraud him of his property, he requested me to give him my opinion in writing about the paper which he had shown me. I did so without hesitation, partly for the man's sake, and partly to let the individual 'behind the curtain' see that his trick was discovered. The import of what I wrote was, as far as I can now recollect, simply this, that the marks in the paper appeared to be merely an imitation of various alphabetical characters, and had, in my opinion, no meaning at all connected with them. The countryman then took his leave, with many thanks, and with the express declaration that he would in no shape part with his farm, or embark in the speculation of printing the golden book.

"The matter rested here for a considerable time, until one day, when I had ceased entirely to think of the countryman and his paper, this same individual to my great surprise paid me a second visit. He now brought with him a duodecimo volume, which he said was a translation into English of the 'Golden Bible.' He also stated that notwithstanding his original determination not to sell his farm, he had been induced eventually to do so, and apply the money to the publication of the book, and received the golden plates as a security for repayment. He begged my acceptance of the volume, assuring me that it would be found extremely interesting, and that it was already 'making great noise' in the upper part of the state. Suspecting now, that some serious trick was on foot, and that my plain-looking visitor might be in fact a very cunning fellow, I declined his present, and merely contented myself with a slight examination of the volume while he stood by. The more I declined receiving it, however, the more urgent the man became in offering the book until at last I told him plainly that if he left the volume, as he said he intended to do, I should most assuredly throw it after him as he departed.

"I then asked him how he could be so foolish as to sell his farm and engage in this affair; and requested him to tell me if the plates were really of gold. In answer to this latter inquiry, he said, that he had not seen the plates themselves, which were carefully locked up in a trunk, but that he had the trunk in his possession. I advised him by all means to open the trunk and examine its contents, and if the plates proved to be gold, which I did not believe at all, to sell them immediately. His reply was, that if he opened the trunk, the 'curse of Heaven would descend upon him and his children.' However, added he, 'I will agree to open it, provided you take the 'curse of Heaven' upon yourself, for having advised me to the step.' I told him I was perfectly willing to do so, and begged he would hasten home and examine the trunk, for he would find he had been cheated. He promised to do as I recommended, and left me, taking his book with him. I have never seen him since.

"Such is a plain statement of all I know respecting Mormons. My impression now is, that the plain-looking countryman was none other than the Prophet Smith himself, who assumed an appearance of great simplicity in order to entrap me, if possible, into some recommendation of his book. That the Prophet aided me by his inspiration in interpreting the volume, is only one of the many amusing falsehoods which the Mormonites utter, relative to my participation in their doctrines. Of these doctrines I know nothing whatever, nor have I ever heard a single discourse from any of their preachers, although I have often felt a strong curiosity to become an auditor, since my friends tell me that they frequently name me in their sermons, and even go so far as to say, that I am alluded to in the prophecies of scripture!

"If what I have here written shall prove of any service in opening the eyes of some of their deluded followers to the real designs of those who profess to be the apostles of Mormonism, it will afford me satisfaction equalled, I have no doubt, only by that which yourself will feel on this subject.

"I remain, very respectfully and truly,

your friend,

[Signed] CHAS. ANTHON."

THE PROS AND CONS OF THE HARRIS-ANTHON INCIDENT

After his interviews with Professors Mitchell and Anthon, Martin Harris returned to Harmony, Pennsylvania, and reported to the Prophet Joseph the result of those interviews, thence went on to Palmyra where he arranged his business affairs and returned to the Prophet in Harmony about the 12th of April, 1828, and commenced writing as Joseph translated.

It will be observed that there is a discrepancy between the letter written by Professor Anthon to the Rev. Mr. Coit and the one he sent to E. D. Howe. In the latter he states that he refused to give his opinion in writing on the characters submitted to him; but in his letter to Rev. Coit he says that he gave a written opinion to Harris without hesitation, and to the effect that the marks on the paper appeared to be an imitation of various alphabetical characters that had no meaning at all connected with them. According to Martin Harris' statement Professor Anthon gave him a certificate to the effect that the characters submitted were genuine, and that the translation accompanying them was correct; but upon hearing that the existence of the Nephite plates was made known to Joseph Smith by a heavenly messenger, he requested the return of the paper he had given to Martin Harris, and he destroyed it, saying that the visitation of angels had ceased, etc., etc.

It must be left for the friends of Mr. Anthon to reconcile the contradictions that occur in his statements, merely remarking that since the doctor in one letter declares that he refused to give Martin Harris a written opinion on the characters; and in the other that he gave him a written opinion, increases very much one's faith in Martin Harris' statement as against that of Professor Anthon's upon this point, namely that the professor gave Harris a written statement, but afterwards recalled and destroyed it. The reader should observe also that in his letter to Rev. Coit, written in 1841, the professor says that no one until that time had ever requested from him a statement in writing on the subject of his connection with the Book of Mormon. Yet as a matter of fact E. D. Howe had addressed him a letter on the subject, in 1834, asking him for a statement, to which request the professor responded, telling substantially the same story as in this letter to Rev. Coit, excepting as to the written opinion furnished to Harris, and more detail in the second than in the first letter. The contradictions in Professor Anthon's letters leave him in a most unenviable situation; and doubtless account for anti-"Mormons" usually publishing extracts only from these letters.

The statements of Professor Anthon and Martin Harris are very contradictory, but the sequence will show that there is much that supports the statement of Martin Harris in the main as true; while the anxiety of the professor to disconnect himself as far as possible from any association with "these wretched fanatics," will account for his version of the incident. The object of Mr. Harris in presenting these transcribed characters to the learned professors was, undoubtedly, to learn if they were true characters, or only the idle invention of Joseph Smith. That the answers of both Professor Anthon and Dr. Mitchell were in favor of their being true characters is evidenced by the fact that Martin Harris returned immediately to Joseph Smith, in Harmony, made his report, and thence went to Palmyra to arrange his business affairs that he might hasten back to Harmony to become the amanuensis of the Prophet in the work of translation. This Martin Harris would not likely have done if Professor Anthon's answer had been what that gentleman represents it to have been in his letters to Mr. Howe and the Rev. Coit; nor is it likely that Martin Harris would have ventured, subsequently, to have furnished the money to pay for the publication of the first edition of the Book of Mormon, had he been assured by the professor that the whole thing was a "hoax" or a "scheme" to cheat him out of his money.

Footnotes

1. A photogravure of the house is given in this chapter. Joseph Smith sold this house to a Mr. McCune who built a two story addition to it—the part which appears on the left. The two story division of the house on the right, and the low addition between that and the part on the left, is the house as it stood when Joseph Smith occupied it; and it was in this house that a large part of the Book of Mormon was translated. The house stands on the north bank of the Susquehannah river, two miles west of the Twin river, and is now not more than sixty feet from the New York, Erie and Western Railroad. The building on the right, the old part, is very rickety, and looks as though it would soon tumble down from rot and age. Not many rods from the house is a country grave-yard which appears at the extreme left of the photogravure. Here is interred Isaac Hale and his wife, also a child of Joseph and Emma Smith. The photogravure is from a photograph taken by George E. Anderson of Springville, Utah.

2. History of the Church, Period I, vol. i, p. 19.

3. II Nephi, ch. xxvii.

4. Harris' statement follows later.

5. The engraving of the transcript of characters accompanying this chapter is photographed from the original transcript now in possession of Fred M. Smith, of Independence, Missouri, grand-son of the Prophet. It is by the courtesy of this gentleman that I am permitted to use the photographed facsimile presented here.

6. The writer is of the opinion that there is in this statement too wide a scope given to what Professor Anthon said of the translation of the Egyptian-Nephite characters. Of course in the transcripts the professor would doubtless recognize some Egyptian characters of the hieratic Egyptian, and in the translation would also find a right interpretation of those characters, as it will be seen by his letters, quoted later in the body of the work, he acknowledges that the characters submitted to him were true characters, but beyond this I do not think he could give confirmation as to the correctness of the translation; for, according to the writers of the Book of Mormon, they had changed somewhat the characters in both languages in which they made records, both in the Egyptian, and also in the Hebrew (See Mormon, ix:32, 43): and Moroni adds: "The Lord knoweth the things which we have written, and also that none other people knoweth our language, therefore he hath prepared means for the interpretation thereof" (Mormon ix:34), referring to the Urim and Thummim or 'Interpreters,' as the Nephites called that instrument. It follows from this that neither Professor Anthon nor any one else could have confirmed the translation beyond perhaps saying that some of the Egyptian characters which he recognized in the transcript had true significance.

7. Howe's Mormonism, ch. xviii, first edition.

8. I copy the letter from Gleanings by the Way, Rev. John A. Clark, D. D., where Anthon's letter is published in full. It is frequently quoted, or at least parts of it are, in various anti-"Mormon" works, but nowhere in full, so far as I am aware, except in Gleanings by the Way, and in connection with Professor Anthon's letter to Mr. E. D. Howe. This doubtless, for the reason that this second letter of Professor Anthon's contradicts several statements that he makes in his letter to E. D. Howe. Lengthy exerpts of the Coit letter will also be found in the appendix of Early Days of Mormonism, J. H. Kennedy, 1880.

(Source: B. H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. [Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1930], 1: 99-115.)