Caswall, Henry. The Prophet of the Nineteenth Century; or, t

Caswall, Henry. The Prophet of the Nineteenth Century; or, the Rise, Progress, and Present State of the Mormons, or Latter-day Saints: To Which is Appended, An Analysis of the Book of Mormon, 13–50, 72–83, 231–77. London, England: Henry Caswall, 1843. THE PROPHET OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. …. CHAPTER II. SOLOMON SPAULDING UNCONCIOUSLY ASSISTS IN PREPARING THE WAY FOR MORMONISM. Spaulding’s birth and education—He becomes a preacher—then a tradesman—then a bankrupt—He removes to Ohio and becomes bankrupt a second time—He writes an historical romance respecting the American Indians—He removes to Pittsburg, where his manuscript remains in a printing office—He removes to Amity—He dies—The Book of Mormon appears— It is compared with Spaulding’s work, and found to be generally identical with it—Spaulding’s original work is lost. THE reader is now requested to look backward more than eighty years. In the year 17612, before the Revolution had separated the best portion of America from the British Empire, a person was ushered into existence, who unconsciously became a conspicuous character in the history of heresy. This was Solomon Spaulding, who was born in the town of Ashford, in the quiet and steady colony of Connecticut. From his youth he was distinguished [13] by a lively imagination and a great fondness for history.