The writer is satisfied that there never was a greater prophet, seer and revelator on this earth than Joseph Smith, the Prophet of God. [p.31]
Chapter IV
The Seven Lines of Characters that were translated by Joseph Smith are taken by Martin Harris to Prof. Anthon, fulfilling the words of the Prophet Isaiah, 29th chapter: “Read this, I pray thee, but he says, I cannot, for it is sealed.”
The seven lines of characters presented in the accompanying engraving were copied by the hand of Joseph Smith in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in the year 1827, he then being in the twenty-second year of his age. They were copied from a book of gold plates which he found hidden in a stone box, the box being nicely jointed together and set in cement. The six slabs of stone forming the box were so dressed that they were smooth and square on the inside, but rough on the outside. Indeed, they were so rough that the capstone, which was crowning, looked something like a cobblestone, for at the time of being found a small portion was laid bare and protruded from the hill side. No one, unless in possession of the knowledge of what was therein contained, would have paid any attention to the stone in passing.
Most certainly, it was very ingeniously constructed and hidden in a very choice spot of ground. It was first found in the spring of 1823, and the young man who found it was only in the seventeenth year of his age. He was too young and inexperienced at that time to receive so valuable a treasure, for it must be in weight about forty pounds or more of pure gold, and in sheets that were very thin like unto thin sheets of tin plate; and they were covered with engravings of a very curious workmanship, showing great skill by those who were the engravers. There were several different persons who did the work of engraving. The plates contained a history which reached out over a period of a thousand years, beginning 600 B. C., and continuing until 420 AD. The history had necessarily to be very brief, and when translated was called the Book of Mormon—that is, the portion which was translated, for there is a portion yet held in reserve, which was sealed with three extra rings, and which will yet, in the due time of the Lord, be revealed and translated.
All these plates were fastened together with three great rings, so that each plate could be turned over in the same manner as if hinged together. So we are led to see that these people were very skilled, and were also careful in preserving their history. That history brings to light who the people were that left so many ruined cities, towers, temples and other relics, many of which are found with hieroglyphics of a similar character to the seven lines presented. The Book of Mormon, translated from those plates, makes a book of 623 pages, and is at the present time printed in about fifteen different languages. In the box with the gold plates was a breast-plate made of gold and valued at about five hundred dollars. Attached to this breast-plate was a Urim and Thummim or interpreters. The latter was in form like unto an old-fashioned pair of spectacles, two clear stones set in rims of silver. I have conversed with Martin Harris, who handled them, and he said he had placed them as he would a pair of spectacles, but they were too large for him, as if they had been made for a larger race of people than the present generation.
This Urim and Thummim was [p.32] similar to what we read of in the Bible of olden times and which only belonged to seers, revelators and prophets. These were hidden with the book, to help the one to whom they should be entrusted to translate them correctly.
The Seven Lines of Characters [p.33]