In the evening of the day that the Eight Witnesses saw and examined the Nephite plates, according to Lucy Smith, the Witnesses held meeting at the Smith residence, "in which all the Witnesses bore testimony to the facts as stated above;"[[6]] that is, to the facts stated in their testimony as here given and which appeared in the first and in all subsequent editions of the Book of Mormon:
THE TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES
BE IT KNOWN unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That Joseph Smith, Jr., the translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And this we bear record with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shown unto us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken. And we give our names unto the world, to witness unto the world that which we have seen. And we lie not, God bearing witness of it.
CHRISTIAN WHITMER,
JACOB WHITMER,
PETER WHITMER, JR.,
JOHN WHITMER,
HIRAM PAGE,
JOSEPH SMITH, SR.
HYRUM SMITH,
SAMUEL H. SMITH.
The testimony of the Eight Witnesses differs from that of the Three Witnesses in that the view of the plates by the latter was attended by a remarkable display of the glory and power of God and the ministration of an angel. The glory of God shone about them; the angel turned the gold leaves of the ancient record; he spoke to them, or at least to David Whitmer, saying: "David, blessed is the Lord, and he that keeps his commandments;" and the very voice of God was heard out of the bright light shining about them, saying:
These plates have been revealed by the power of God, and they have been translated by the power of God. The translation of them which you have seen is correct, and I command you to bear record of what you now see and hear.[[7]]
No such remarkable display of God's splendor and power was attendant upon the exhibition of the plates to the Eight Witnesses. On the contrary it was just a plain, matter-of-fact exhibition of the plates by the Prophet himself to his friends. They saw the plates; they handled them; they turned the leaves of the old Nephite record, and saw and marveled at its curious workmanship. No brilliant light illuminated the forest or dazzled their vision; no angel was there to awe them by the splendor of his presence; no piercing voice of God from a glory to make them tremble by its power. All these supernatural circumstances present at the view of the plates by the Three Witnesses were absent at the time when the Eight Witnesses saw them. Here all was natural, matter-of-fact, plain. Nothing to inspire awe, or fear, or dread; nothing uncanny or overwhelming, but just a plain, straightforward proceeding that leaves men in possession of all their faculties, and self-consciousness; all of which renders such a thing as deception, or imposition entirely out of the question. They could pass the plates from hand to hand, guess at their weight—doubtless considerable, that idea being conveyed, "we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety, that the said Smith has got the plates." They could look upon the engravings, and observe calmly how different they were from everything modern in the way of record-making known to them, and hence the conclusion that the workmanship was not only curious but ancient.
I now proceed to consider the course pursued by these Eight Witnesses with reference to their testimony. I shall take them in the order they seemed to have signed the testimony.[[8]]
CHRISTIAN WHITMER.
This Witness was thirty-one years old when he beheld the plates, having been born on the 18th of January, 1798. The young man was among the first to embrace the gospel, being baptized on the 11th of April, 1830. He removed with the Church from New York to Ohio in 1831, thence to Jackson county, Missouri. He witnessed the storms of persecution rise against the Saints in the land of Zion; and shared the hardship and despoliation of the Saints incident to their expulsion from Jackson county. He died while in exile for conscience sake, in Clay county, Missouri, on the 27th of November, 1835. He held first the office of Teacher in the Church; and then successively rose to the office of Elder, High Priest, and member of the High Council of the Church in Missouri.
Few and troubled were the years of Christian Whitmer's life after he became a Witness for the existence of the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated; but few and troubled as the years were, they were glorious for the steadfastness of Christian's faith. He had seen his crops wasted by the wanton destructiveness of a mob, while he himself was seized and threatened with instant death if he did not make known the hiding place of brethren who were escaping from the mob. Christian Whitmer, however, did not betray his friends, notwithstanding the guns of the mob were leveled at him when their threats were made.
He remained true to his testimony and died a consistent member of the Church of Christ.