Respected Friend:

In this work of Chambers Miscellany, I find near sixteen pages devoted (as it is called) to the History of Mormonism. On a close examination of this History I find but little to praise and much to condem.

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3. That [Joseph Smith] was illiterate and yet achieved so much is not the remarkable thing about him. Men almost if not altogather as illiterate as he have created and perpetuated sects nor is it the mere fact that before that before he required notoriety as a prophet he was suspected of sheep stealing.

In this remark of sheep stealing the writer evidently designs to libill [libel] the character of the Prophet The decleration "Nor is it the mear fact that before he (Joseph Smith) required notoriety as a prophet he was suspected of sheep stealing"

Here it is propper to observe that my Brother Joseph was not at no period of his life guilty of the crime allege (viz.) sheep stealing nor was he ever suspected of committing such an offence. . . .

The charge is a base and wilful slander and carries the evident marks of falshood upon the face of it.

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Cirtingly it must be admitted that Joseph Smith was a man possessing most extroydinary wit and inteligence allmost if not entirely superhuman or else his followers was <most despert> ignorent and stupid beyond all posible endurence--. . .

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Joseph Smith at the age of 17 years with the moral training he had recieved from strictly pios and religious parents, could not have concieved the idea in his mind of palming of[f] a fabulous story <such as> seeing angels connected therewith the discovrey of golden plates upon which should be recorded the historey of a once enlightned people, their rise their progress, their origin, and their final over throw that once inhabited this American Continent all this and many other things was told him by the angel of God that appeard to him in heavenly vision.

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The statement in the story of the Spaulding romance that Sidney Rigden had taken a part in this farce by the Spaulding manuscrips falling into his hands is a falshood.

In <the> first place Sidney Rigden has denied time and time again that having any complicity whatever with this Mormon record or any portion of it, nor is it a fact that Mr. Rigden ever served as an aprintice expositer in any printing office belonging to a Mr. Patterson of Pittsburg. Such is the evidence we have from Mr. Rigden.

And furthermore the facts of the case are these — Rigden himself never knew anything about Joseph Smith, nor anything about the Mormon revelation not untill three thousand copies of - of the work (Book) was published to the world. Oliver Cowdrey, Parly P. Pratt, and Peter Whitmer were the first Mormon misionaries that <brought> the knowledge of Mormonism to Sidney Rigden.

And this was not done not untill after the Church was organized and the record contained on the tablets found had been translated and the plates from which the Book of Mormon was written <translated> shown to eight 11 witneses who testifies as follows. . . .

Added to the above testimony we append a paragraph from the fictious story of the Spaulding Romance and thus leave the reader to deside for himself which of the two testimonys is entitled to the greatest amount of credit. . . .

It is due <also> to say that for many years I have been personaly acquainted with the persons whose names are given in testimony of the record found and translated by my Brother Joseph Smith — and were I under oath I could not Say aught of these men for respectability or for their truthful varasaty no persons to my knowledge has ever attemted to impeach nor has either or any one of these witneses even to my knowledge Counteracted the testimony as given above concerning the real existance of these Mormon tablets

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It is to be remembered that Joseph Smith was only 17 years of age when he [illegible] first began his profesional career in the Minestrey.

That he was illitterate to some extent is admitted, but that he was enterly unlettered is a mistake. In sintax authography [orthography] mathamatics grammar geography with other studies in the common schools of his day he was no novis and for writing he wrote a plain intelegable hand.

And for religious morality Mr Chambers [illegible] list of falshoods

The improvements made on this farm was first commenced by building a log house at no small expense, and at a later date a frame house at a cost of several hundred dollars. After noticing these facts we crave the reader of this article to judge wheather their was much time for indalance or for endulgence in immorral or intemperal habbits. Here I wish to remark that I never knew my father Joseph Smith to be intoxicated or the worse for liquor nor was my brother Joseph Smith in the habbit of drinking spiritous liquors. Neither did my fathers family spend their time or any portion of their time in idle habbits. Such was the prevailing sircumstancies of the family, connected with the want of money and the scarcity of provisions that nesessaty made an imperitive demand upon evrey energy nerve or member of the family for boath economy and labour which this demand had to be met with the strictest kind of endustrey, and no persons speaking the truth can say to the contirary.

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Joseph and Hyrum Smith were the victims of the bigotrey, cupidity and priestly rules of this ungodly generation, their persecutions and assasan assassiantion for religious sake is a blot upon the ascutchen of [illegible] this American republic, and never will be blotted out while time or memirey shall call to mind the foul deed and murderous meanness of not onley the perpetrators of the foul deed but the putred meanness of slanderous historians who have helped by their falshood to and misrepresentations to ignight and to engender the spirit of mobocracy and murder in the minds of the populous crowd.

To be Continued

William Smith

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My father was bourn (and raised principly in the town Topesfield Mass his occupation in early life was that of a school teacher he was a man well letterd in [illegible] the common branches of our english studies he also was a teacher of music by note to a conciderable extent. It was from <him> I learned to sing Old hundred and Grunvik when I was but a child after <his> marriag my father engaged in merchandising about the time of the opning of the war in 1812 but not being successful he removed from the town of Royalton Vermont to the state of NY and settled for a short time in the town of Palmira here my father engaged in a coopering business for a livelyhood the times being hard just at the closing up of the war it required much hard labour and toil to gather up a support for the family.