A number of years ago thirteen years ago, to be exact in my treatises on the Book of Mormon under the general title "<A> New Witnesses for God," I discussed the subject "Did the Book of Mormon antedate works in English on American antiquities, accessible to Joseph Smith and his associates". The object in considering the question at that time was to ascertain whether or not the alleged historical incidents of the Book of Mormon and its subject matter generally were derived from speculations regarding the origin, migrations, customs, religion, language, or other lore of the American race, published previous to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon; or if the Book of Mormon truly indicated the source of those American Indian traditions and antiquities. Of course the discussion recognized the fact that such publications must not only exist before the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, but must also be accessible to Joseph Smith or his associates; in order to be of any force in the proposition that such publications might have furnished the material from which the Book of Mormon was constructed, or its general outlines suggested.