MORMON BIBLE,

We give place to the following article on the origin of the Mormon Bible, to oblige an old and much respected friend, and riot because the article itself contains any thing new, or because we have the slightest regard for the notorious John C. Bennett, from whose miserable catch-penny book the certificates respecting the authorship of the Mormon Bible are copied At the same times we do not wish to be understood as having the least sympathy for this Mormon monstrosity, which may, for any thing we know to the contrary, have been the production of Mr. Spaulding; but we place no sort of reliance, in confirmation of the fact, upon any testimony of Bennett him-self, and indeed the testimony which he says was given by others is rendered suspicious by his own contemptible treatment of the Mormons. He says he went among them a stranger; they gave him a friendly welcome, elevated him to stations of honor and trust, and for years he lived upon their bounty. When he could no longer fleece them, the ungrateful whelp, in return for their kindness, published to the world a large volume of their pretended vices and immoralities. We do not know, to be sure, that the volume is not true; but for all that we have no confidence in the statements of a fellow guilty of such consummate meanness and hypocrisy, and we cannot suffer any extract from his vile work to appear in our paper without saying beforehand, that we heartily despise and detest him. Boston, July 16, 1843.

MR. ABNER KNEELAND:—Dear Sir,-—Yours of the 14th of May came to hand three days since. I have noted its contents, and will briefly reply in •the Boston Investigator, agreeably to your re-quest. You observe, you had by request attended a Mormon meeting, and at which a Mr. Gleason preached; that in conversation with you he denied the statement of Mrs. Matilda Davidson, formerly the wife of Solomon Spaulding, as published in my Expose of Mormonism; and that a Mr. Duncan whom you also conversed with, attempted to confirm the statement of Mr. Gleason. If these Mormons will show the statement of Matilda Davidson, denying, as they say, her former testimony, I will take the pains to call the attention of Mrs. Davidson, if living, to the subject. Unless they do this, I shall conclude that they know their statements to be false. Mrs. Spaulding's statement has been alluded to in many public journals, and corroborated by more than twenty respectable evidences, and published in books now extant, which is sufficient to remove all the stories; any Mormon may bring to his aid to the contrary. I will now, Sir, give you a brief account-, relative to this subject, from a number of persons, as given in an Expose by a champion of their own party, John C, Bennett, which will be found in a work of 344 pages published by him in Boston, 1842. He went among the Mormons, it appears, to ascertain their true character, and has published the result of his observations. In his book, he refers to the testimony of John Spaulding, I will give you this entire, and a number of others briefly, as it would occupy the whole paper to publish them in full;—all of which prove, beyond a shade of doubt, the truth of the statement of Mrs. Davidson, alluded to in my Expose, to which you refer: — John Spaulding, a brother of Solomon Spaulding, now a resident of Crawford County, Pa.-, in his testimony, says:—Solomon Spaulding was born at Ashford, (Conn.,) in 1761, and in early life contracted a taste for literary pursuits. After he left school, he entered Plainfield Academy, where he made great proficiency in study, and excelled most of his class-mates. He next commenced the study o-f law, in Windham County, in which he made little progress, having, in the mean time, turned his attention to religious subjects. He soon entered Dartmouth College, with the intention of qualifying himself for the ministry, where he obtained the degree of A. M., and was afterwards ordained. After preaching three or four years, he gave it up, removed to Cherry Valley, N. Y., and commenced the mercantile business, in company with his brother Josiah. In a few years he failed in business, and in the year 1809 removed to Conneaut, in Ohio. The following year I removed to Ohio, and found him engaged in building a forge, I made him a visit in about three 3 years after, and found he had failed, and was considerably involved in debt. He then told me he had been writing a book which he intended to have printed, the avails of which, he thought would enable him to pay off all his debts. The book was entitled "The Manuscript Found," of which he read to me many passages. It was an Historical Romanec of the first settlers of America, endeavoring to show that the American Indians were the descendants of the Jews, or the lost tribes. He gave a detailed account of their journey from Jerusalem, by land and sea, until they arrived in America, under the command of Nephi and Lehi. They afterwards had quarrels and contentions, and separated into two distinct nations, one of which he denominated Nephites, and the other Lamanites. Cruel and bloody wars ensued, in which great multitudes were slain. They buried their dead in large heaps, which caused the mounds so common in this country. Their arts, science, and civilization were brought into view, in order to account for all the curious antiquities found in various parts of North and South America.—I have recently read the Book of Mormon, and to my great surprise, I find nearly the same historical Matter, names, &c., as in my brother's writings. I well remember he wrote in the old style, and commenced about every sentence with "And it came to pass," or, "Now it came to pass," the same as in the Book of Mormon; and, according to the best of my recollection and belief, it is the same as my brother wrote, with the exception of the religious matter.—By what means it has fallen into the hands of Joe Smith, Jr.. I am unable to determine.

(Signed,) JOHN SPAULDING.

Martha Spaulding, wife of John Spaulding, says:— She was at Solomon Spaulding's house when he was writing his novel, and when she read the Mormon Book it brought to her mind all that she had read in her brother's novel, as alluded to in her husband's statement.

(Signed,) MARTHA SPAULDING.

Henry Lake, a copartner with Solomon Spaulding when living in Conneaut, Ohio, says:—Spaulding frequently read to him from the novel, "Manuscript Found." He had no hesitation in saying that the historical part of the Mormon Bible was principally if not wholly taken from Spaulding's manuscript.

(Signed,) HENRY LAKE.

John N. Miller, who was employed by Spaulding & Lake in 1811, says:—He saw the manuscript of Spaulding, and examined it from beginning to end, and that many of the passages and names in the Mormon Bible are the same as in that manuscript:— j viz., Nephi, Lehi, Moroni, and, in fact, all the principal names. (Signed,) JOHN N. MILLER. Springfield, (Pa.,) Sept., 1833.

Aaron Wright says:—In 1809, Spaulding read a part of his manuscript to me; and the Book of Mormon, excepting the religious matter, is in substance the same. (Signed,) AARON WRIGHT. Conneaut, (0.,) August, 1833.

Oliver Smith says :—When Spaulding first came to Conneaut, he boarded at my house, and was engaged in writing an historical novel founded on the first settlers of this country. I have read 100 pages or more of his manuscript, and the Mormon Book is nothing more or less than the historical part of that manuscript. (Signed;) OLIVER SMITH. Conneaut; Aug.,-1833

Artemas Cunningham, of Perry, Geauga County, Ohio; says:-—In the month of October; 1811; I went to Conneaut to secure a debt due me from Solomon Spaulding-—was there two days—he could not pay it; his only prospect was the book he was then writing; The book was a romantic history of the settlement of this country—it purported to have been buried in the earth. 1 have examined the Mormon Bible; and am fully of the opinion that it is taken from Spaulding's manuscripts.

(Signed;) ARTEMAS CUNNINGHAM;

Thus I have given to you sufficient evidences to support Mrs. Davidson's statement, and to satisfy everyone that Solomon Spaulding was the author of a manuscript from which the Mormon Bible was got up.

Yours, respectfully, TYLER PARSONS.