“The Book of Mormon.” Painesville Telegraph (Ohio) (30 November 1830).
The Book of Mormon— It being the business of an Editor to collect and lay before his readers, whatever seems to agitate the public mind, we took occasion two weeks ago to notice a pretended new revelation from God, which had recently visited this vicinity. To record the thousand tales which are in circulation respecting the book and its propogators, would be an endless task, and probably lead to the promulgation of a hundred times more than was founded in truth. In this way, we perceive that the Gazette last week, shot wide of the mark in many important particulars. There are rising of 100 in this and an adjoining county who have embraced the ideas and assertions of Joseph Smith, jr. many of them respectable for intelligence and piety.
If the book of Mormon, as it is called, with the pretentions of its apostles, is a fabrication, it is one of the most infamous and blasphemous character; and we must confess, after having an opportunity to canvass some of its claims to a true revelation from God, we have not been able to discover testimony which ought to elicit faith in any prudent or intelligent mind. It may, perhaps, be useless to condemn the thing by positive and absolute assertions—time will discover in it either something of vast importance to men, or a deep laid plan to deceive many.
The four persons who were here, have proceeded on their mission to the Indians, (or Lamanites, as they term them) in the “far west,” where they say a Prophet is to be raised up, in whom the tribes will believe.
As but few have had the opportunity of seeing the Book, we extract the following from the title page: . . .
The book closes with the certificate of 11 persons, who have seen the plates and many other marvellous things; among whom are the father and other relatives of the author.