- Dale R. Broadhurst's SPALDING RESEARCH PROJECT -
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The Dale R. Broadhurst "Spalding Papers" |
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Paper #11: The Secular and the Sacred...
A New Basis For the Spalding Theory (this paper's precursor) | Book of Solomon Battles
title-page | historical sketch | textual study | comments | endnotes | appendices | conclusion
1830 Book of Mor. | 1830 Book of Mor. (narrative) | Oberlin MS mark-up | Oberlin MS e-text
(Note: This web-document is still under construction)
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The Secular and the Sacred An Examination of Selected Parallels in The Writings of Solomon Spalding and The Book of Mormon Working Paper No. 11 by: Dale R.Broadhurst May 7, 1982 Rev. 1: January 1999 (e-text) Rev. 2: March 2007 (html) |
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- 1 - HISTORICAL SKETCH Since those early days when it was first rumored in and around the New York Finger Lakes area that a new scripture -- a Golden Bible -- had lately been discovered, people have been faced with the phenomenon of the Book of Mormon. This marvelous work has evolved from a modest printing peddled along the dusty roads of Wayne county and the flag-stops of the Erie Canal in 1830, to a morocco-bound sheaf of gilt-edged India leaves occupying prominent shelf space in hundreds of thousands of homes and libraries around the world. This fascinating volume is generally accepted as special divine revelation within all the several "Mormon" denominations which have over the years sprung up from the church founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1830. Skeptical neighbors of the first "Mormonites" distributing this new book were most often unimpressed with its purported revelation. Before long newspaper articles appeared condemning the book as "diabolical" and a "delusion;" the creation of the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. or of "an ex-parson from Ohio."(1) The early Saints could usually ignore such accusations; they were to be expected from an unbelieving public and they did not materially endanger the believers themselves. But in the last days of 1833 a short notice appeared which signaled a new and more serious turn in this opposition to the new revelation. The opening salvo in this new battle against the Saints first appeared in Joseph Smith's home town paper and was quickly circulated in the new Mormon promised land of northeastern Ohio. This was the initial published announcement of what soon came to be known as the Solomon Spalding Theory for the Authorship of the Book of Mormon: The original manuscript of the Book was written some thirty years since, by a respectable clergyman, now deceased, whose name we are not permitted to give. It was designed to be published as a romance, but the work has been superadded by some modern hand -- believed to be the notorious Rigdon. These particulars have been derived by Dr. Hurlbert from the widow of the author of the original manuscript.(2) A related newspaper notice appeared a few days later in Ohio, announcing Mr. Hurlbut's intention to "prove the Book of Mormon to be a work of fiction and imagination, and written... . in Salem, Ashtabula County, Ohio, by Solomon Spalding...(3) So began the claim that the Mormons had converted an eccentric Congregationalist preacher's writings into their sacred book.(4) Eber D. Howe's 1834 book, Mormonism Unvailed, expanding upon earlier renditions of the Spalding authorship claims, told readers that Hurlbut had recovered a Spalding manuscript and offered Howe's summary of the story told in that manuscript. As I have previously outlined some of the external complexities of the Spalding theory.(5) I will provide only a brief outline of the relevant history on this subject and limit most of my current reporting to a consideration of the alleged similarities in Spalding's writings and the Mormon book. Amid all the reports claiming that he wrote the Book of Mormon and the many counter-claim declarations that he didn't, the textual aspects of the theory have been sadly neglected. Beyond Howe's brief story synopsis no Spalding texts were accessible for study until 1885 when what came to be known as the Oberlin Spalding manuscript (the same one recovered by Hurlbut) was printed as a booklet.(6) A second alleged Spalding manuscript, "The Romance of Celes..." was also available for publication that year but it received no public attention and was never printed.(7) Those investigators who first examined the Oberlin manuscript in the 1880s knew little about the Book of Mormon story, but their statements saying that it bore little resemblance to Spalding's work appeared to settle the question in favor of the traditional Mormon viewpoint.(8) Nearly two decades passed by before anyone appears to have noticed that the printed Oberlin Spalding MS bore anything but the most superficial of resemblances to the Nephite record. A few writers eventually printed claims stating that there were some similarities, but with few exceptions those claims received little popular notice or acceptance.(9) Between 1935 and 1942 two investigators developed these previously neglected claims to a terminal stage of presentation by preparing compilations of the similarities they each found in the two works. The first compilation remained unpublished and the second received little attention until it was revised and reprinted some years later.(10) LDS scholar Hugh Nibley examined the revamped tabulation in 1959 and found it an unconvincing argument for the Spalding theory. His major criticism was that any two writings may share random similarities without necessarily having come from a common author. This approach to the matter assumes that unless such parallels can be shown to be substantial they remain insignificant, no matter how large the number of their total might be.(11) Following the failure of these mid-century attempts to connect the Book of Mormon with Spalding few writers on the subject of Mormon scriptures and origins have advocated the old authorship theory. Instead, there stands today what appears to be nearly a consensus belief that the Mormon book and the Oberlin document share little more than the superficial resemblance of recounting their respective bloody war stories and ancient American colonizations by transoceanic travelers. The historic disagreement on whether such similarities point to common authorship continues sporadically, but Spalding theory champions are few and far between in these latter days.(12) A COMPARATIVE TEXTUAL STUDY In continuing my own ongoing study of the Book of Mormon, I have examined that book's text and the known Spalding writings to determine the scope and depth of several already identified thematic parallels. In pursuing this study I used the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon in conjunction with occasional reference to its two preserved manuscripts. For the Spalding readings used my previously prepared a verbatim transcript of the Oberlin manuscript coupled with a personal inspection of that holograph. I supplemented this well-known source with a photocopy and transcript of the alleged second Spalding work, "The Romance of Celes..." After a thorough rereading of the 1830 Book of Mormon I selected four narrative segments from its pages for closer study. These selections cover the ocean crossing and bloody battle stories which previous observers noticed as resembling Spalding's writings.(13) For reference purposes I titled these: "The Stormy Voyage to the New World" (I Nephi 47:21 - 50:04); "The Nephite-Amlicite War" (Alma 224:35 - 225:20); and "The Night-time Stratagems of Teancum" (Alma 369:33 - 370:23 & 403:32 - 404:22). All citations make use of the 1830 edition chapter and line numbers. In my comparative investigation I noted any specimens of phraseology in the Mormon texts which were suggestive in my mind to the phraseology I had encountered in my reading of Spalding. I also noted any evidence of thematic parallelism which I encountered in the Mormon texts, marking for special reference those which were expressed in wording identical (or very nearly identical) with that used by Solomon Spalding. Finally, I marked for reference all words in the selected Mormon texts which occur in Spalding's Oberlin story and all words in that text which it shared with the Book of Mormon. With the completion of these tasks and the accumulation of a considerable amount of relevant information, I was able to tabulate numerous points of identity in the selected texts. By consulting that tabulation I am able to offer some informed comments regarding the scope and depth of my observed identifications in the Nephite record with reference to themes and vocabulary found in Spalding's writings. Before presenting my findings, I'll comment briefly on the concept of resemblance and how my understanding of that term affected my study methodology. In one sense, two items resemble each other if one copies or imitates the other. A dollar bill resembles a one hundred dollar bill and is printed upon the same paper by the same press as is the hundred dollar bill, but these bank-notes are not identical. In another sense, two items have resemblance if they possess comparable attributes. A chunk of iron pyrite resembles gold ore (and may even be mistaken for gold by some observers) but that supposed resemblance fades in the eye of the trained mineralogist. What appear to be points of resemblance or even identity at first glance may diminish greatly under careful scrutiny and analysis. My task has been to separate textual similarities of the fool's gold variety from those which are substantial. In performing this work I have not professionally utilized the tools of the grammarian or statistician to meet some predetermined standard for measuring substantiality, but I have tried to gain some appreciation of how those skills and tools might be applied an enlargement of my study. In approaching my task I have relied primarily upon my training as an academic researcher and cartographer. Rather than providing definitive statements based upon a comprehensive examination of all the collectible data, I have sought to provide a useful map others can follow in conducting their own textual explorations. Although this methodology is largely intuitive I believe that in documenting several instances of shared phraseology within shared thematic parallelism accomplishes that task.(14) THE STORMY VOYAGE TO THE NEW WORLD The Book of Mormon opens with a story of a party's journey from the Old World, They are commanded to sail out into the open ocean and, following their providential salvation from a near disasterous storm at sea, they sail to a divinely appointed landing in the unknown New World. Those familiar with the Book of Mormon will not be surprised to find that this description also summarizes the Jaredite voyage related in that work; but they might be surprised to discover that it describes equally well yet a third story: Spalding's Roman ocean voyage as told in the opening pages of his Oberlin manuscript. Except for its being framed in "King James" biblical English and using different story characters, the Lehite stormy ocean voyage is substantially the same as the Roman one. I base this statement not only upon the phenomenon of numerous common and sequential thematic parallels, but also upon the fact that both works utilize this episode for a specific theological purpose. Both texts borrow significantly from the New Testament for their storm sequence wording and use this borrowing to facilitate their polemics for a prayer-answering God who controls the natural elements in favor of the pious.(15) The episode serves to create an archetypical baptismal experience for divinely guided voyagers who must sever connections with a past life and give themselves over absolutely to God's direction. The thematic commonalities (my term for significant similarities) in the two stormy ocean voyage episodes are so apparent that they have repeatedly drawn the attention of investigators, Mormon and non-Mormon alike.(16) What has not been generally recognized is the fact that the Lehite passage shares considerable phraseology with the Roman episode. The Book of Mormon says, "after that we had been driven forth before the wind for the space of many days" (048:10-11), while Spalding says: "After being driven five days with incredible velocity before the furious wind" (008:05-07). The Book of Mormon says, "they were near to be cast into a watery grave" (049:15-16); while Spalding tells of his mariners' fear of being cast into "the insatiable jaws of a watery tomb"(007:17). The Mormon ocean voyage text being filled with Spalding's words and expressions when telling a similar story is a phenomenon mirrored in the Oberlin manuscript's telling a parallel ocean voyage story which is filled with words and expressions characteristic of the Book of Mormon. Spalding tells that the storm had a "furious wind" (008:07) which "drove" the voyagers upon "the face of the raging deep" (007:14); while the Book of Mormon tells that its voyagers went forth across the "raging deep"(543:39) "driven" by a "furious wind... upon the face of the waters" (548:34-35). Viewed individually, these short corresponding word sets are perhaps not so impressive as is their remarkable tendency to cluster conspicuously in those sections of the two texts where major thematic parallels occur.(17) Because of this double phenomenon the Lehites' stormy voyage is a major highpoint in the Mormon book's resemblance to the Spalding writing style.(18) Likewise the Romans' stormy voyage marks a major highpoint in the Oberlin manuscript's correspondence to the Book of Mormon, for exactly the same reasons.(19) Contrary to popular belief, the stormy voyage to the New World told in the first part of the Book of Mormon bears not a superficial similarity to Spalding, rather it has a substantial textual correspondence to that work. The resemblance is not one of the "fool's gold variety" which disappears after close study; rather, it reaches past numerous sequential details to the very words selected to convey the same important thoughts and sentiments. This remarkable correspondence of the Book of Mormon to the writings of Solomon Spalding is typified in the words both use to convey the chilling threat of a death at sea during the great storm. Lehi and Sariah were on the verge of falling into "a watery grave," while Spalding's Fabius and crew were faced with "a watery tomb." In a third parallel text (attributed to Spalding) that precise term from the Book of Mormon, "a watery grave," appears as a death threat to voyagers upon the deep during a terrible storm.(20) THE NEPHITE - AMLICITE WAR Near the middle of the Book of Mormon is the story of the war between the Nephites and their brethren, the Amlicites and Lamanites.(21) This war is only one of many in the Mormon book, but it is the first told in any great detail and it deserves special attention because of its resemblance to a war in the Oberlin Spalding manuscript. In the Mormon story a wicked, ambitious man who holds the Nephite religion in derision struggles to gain popular support so that he can realize his own selfish ambitions. He is successful in much of his effort, is recognized as a king by one faction of the people, and uses this position to initiate a great war between them and their brethren. For a time it appears that his side might win the bloody struggle, but the defender forces rally to a victory after this ambitious king is killed in single combat with their heroic general. The story is that of Amlici of the Order of the Nehors (224-228). If the initial portion of this description is changed to read "a wicked, ambitious king who holds the Sciotan religion in derision," the words essentially describe the major war story in the Oberlin manuscript.(22) In that story the king is named Sambal rather than Amlici and he is killed in the sword-fight by military leader Elseon rather than by military leader Alma. But if Spalding's names were changed to Nephite names, a few of his purple passages abridged, and some "King James" English added in, few readers could detect where the Mormon story ends and Spalding begins. Both kings engage in priestcraft and the political manipulation of their people, initiating a terrible civil war among what were the civilized and happy fair-skinned inhabitants of ancient America. The Oberlin Spalding manuscript ends abruptly before the foreshadowed extinction of its fair-skinned people can be detailed, but it is evident that civil warfare destroyed them long ago. As in the two texts' stormy voyage episodes already examined, these battle stories direct a special message to the modern reader. They witness that when the people remain moral and God-fearing, they conquer and live in peace; but when they fall into unbelief and wicked priestcraft -- killing their brethren in an avaricious struggle to "get gain" -- they are vanquished and threatened with divine destruction. Here the two works present essentially the same message, including the concept of divine intervention in warfare, a realization that the cancer of priestcraft leads the pious astray and brings divine retribution, and the fact that those who have thus wandered away from the divine commandments could have found the true path in their own sacred scriptures.(23) As in the two stormy ocean voyage texts, these war stories contain significant and far-reaching instances of common theme and phraseology. Here again may be found same pattern of word groups characteristic of the first text clustering together within thematic parallels in the second text. In terms of religious correspondence these two war stories depart somewhat from the patterns of parallelism observable in comparing the stormy voyage texts. The Lehites and Romans in the voyage texts are Christians, albeit each of a type not recorded in the history books. The religious implications of the stormy voyages are framed in terms applicable to primitive Christianity, Borrowings from the New Testament are apparent as is primitive Christianity's appreciation for visions and special divine revelation through seers and revelators. In the case of the two war stories, however, only the Book of Mormon characters are stamped with the Judeo-Christian die. Spalding's Ohians hold to a religion created in the eccentric Congregationalist preacher's own imagination. Spalding used their fictional worship of the "Great and Good Being" as a mask to partly obscure his parody of contemporary organized religion; but for comparison's sake we should accept the non-Christian facade he has provided. So while both war stories present theological messages, they do so in the context of rather different religions. The its initial civil war sequence the tone of the Spalding story is decidedly less religious than it was when it told of the stormy ocean voyage. The Book of Mormon retains something more of a religious character at this point in its story development, principally in its reference to "the Church of God." It is not appreciable from the text whether or not the Nephites are Christians in this war story, but that fact is confirmed by its contextual relationships with other, more "Christian" narratives in the book. Thus, while both texts at this point show less of a concern for the Christian religion than they did earlier, the Book of Mormon has not lost an explicitly Christian basis as has Spalding's story. His thematic emphasis now shifts noticeably from the sacred towards the secular. Though his earlier polemic for a rational, moral, and pious life remains supposedly in place, Spalding now plays the romantic satirist by relating accounts intended to arouse human sensibility and passion. It is always a bit difficult to separate Spalding the parodist from Spalding the moralist, but it is safe to say that at this point in the text he has placed his religious concerns temporarily out of sight. THE NIGHT-TIME STRATAGEMS OF TEANCUM The Book of Mormon war stories are a rich source of parallels in theme and vocabulary with Solomon Spalding. Where a series of these occur almost back-to-back in the book of Alma, that singular section represents the longest sustained Spalding-like narrative in the entire Nephite record.(24) Many of these book of Alma war texts provide good examples for correspondence with Spalding, but perhaps the best of these examples are to be found in the Teancum stories. In two related episodes in Teancum series the semi-heroic Nephite warrior with this memorable name manages to carry out night-time exploits of stratagem crippling to his Lamanite foe. In the first of these stories (369:33-370:23) Teancum takes advantage of a night-time lull in a battle to cross over enemy lines and slay the sleeping leader Amalickiah. In the second episode (403:32-404:22) Teancum again crosses over enemy lines and slays the sleeping leader Ammoron. At the end of the second exploit the fleeing Teancum is detected, pursued, and slain by the Lamanites. There are six other somewhat similar night-time exploit tales in the Book of Mormon, the events of which generally parallel activities in the two Teancum assassination stories. Taken together, the eight stories sound very much like a re-telling in various dress of an archetypical night-time stratagem story.(25) As might be expected, Solomon Spalding also wrote a night-time exploit of stratagem into his Oberlin manuscript.(26) Its resemblance to the two Teancum night-time stratagem stories is considerable, both in theme and phraseology; but the correspondence that Spalding's stratagem story shares with the eight member Book of Mormon set of night-time stratagem accounts is extraordinary. Spalding's story almost appears to belong with the episodes in that book as the ninth member of the set.(27) As in the previously examined texts, the resemblance between the stratagem episodes in each book extends past superficiality to include sequential thematic parallels and significant instances of common word sets used for the same story plot purposes. At one point in the Book of Mormon, the good guys of the story sneak past the enemy Lamanites in a night-time stratagem; they are able to do this because the enemies were lying "in a profound sleep" (206:39-40). At one point in the Oberlin manuscript story the good guys sneak past the enemy Sciotans in a night-time stratagem; they are able to do this because those enemies were "lying in a profound sleep" (155:08).(28) If this strange identity of words did not occur within the context of significant parallels in theme and in connection with clusters of similar vocabulary in both works, it might possibly be dismissed as a random coincidence. Appearing as it does, within a parallel episodic branch off from the main story, and enveloped by a cluster of concomitant textual parallels, it cannot be so easily dismissed. Points of textual identity such as this one do not arise through random chance; they result from phraseology borrowing, either directly from a related text, indirectly from a third written source pre-dating sister texts, or from a common literary tradition that gives rise to indirectly related texts. When previously comparing the two stormy voyage sequences I stated that each stands respectively as a major high-point of that text's resemblance to the other text. A more exact statement can be made in reference to the night-time stratagem stories in the two works. The Teancum stories especially stand as the major high-point of textual correspondence between the Book of Mormon and the Oberlin Spalding manuscript. The night-time exploit found on pages 154 and 155 stands as the major high-point in that work's textual correspondence to the Book of Mormon. In short, the two texts at this point so resemble each other in so many different ways that their respective high-points of similarity actually meet to form the kind of common ground one might expect in two accounts written by the same author. It is practically impossible to differentiate the two texts in terms of theme and writing style in this instance. Only the Nephite record's "King James" English and economical "abridgment" prose serve to separate them at all.(29) The resemblance I'm pointing out here is not only one of common theme and vocabulary; it is also one of parallel theological development. The same message is implicit in both texts: the murder of a sleeping, helpless enemy, even if for a supposedly noble purpose, is divinely punishable with death. In both texts the assassination stratagem episode serves to personalize and typify an otherwise largely impersonal account of nameless warriors being slain in needless warfare. And in both texts the parallel accounts show how the circumstances of bloody battling degrade the intended heroism of resourceful warriors. The unbelievable exploits of Teancum and his compeers in Spalding certainly do not measure up in terms of nobility to the antecedent night-time heroism of Ulysses and Diomed in Homer's Iliad nor to that of Nissus and Euryalus in Virgil's Aeneid. If anything, the Spalding and Mormon pericopes both inversely mirror the equally improbable night-time exploits of Ossian and Gaul in James MacPherson's purposefully overly chivalrous Lathmon story. At this point in Spalding and in the Book of Mormon the truly heroic theme is lost, along with the truly religious theme. There are no spiritual elements left in either text; no mention or churches, prayers, God's guidance, or even of God. God disappears from the scene, leaving only fate behind to see to the murderer's own death. Theologically speaking, God is dead, not only in the absence of the divine presence from the narrative but equally so in its absence from the hearts of even would-be heroes.(30) The tragic wars related in both works will eventually lead to a culmination in total destruction of the civilized people. Despite periods of divine favor, the people have shown n incorrigible disposition to fall away from the spirit and commandments their sacred religion to the point slaughtering of their brethren wholesale in bloody-handed massacres of even innocent women and children . The price of this falling away will be their extinction. All they will leave behind will be their bones, their records, and surviving tribes of barbaric savages(31) COMMENTS There is no question that the Book of Mormon resembles the Oberlin Spalding manuscript to a point far beyond that of probable coincidence. It resembles Spalding generally and in numerous specific instances, even though it is clearly a different story with different characters. In the past those who examined the two works from the personal perspective of a faith relationship with the Book of Mormon were reluctant, perhaps unable, to admit this truth. Perhaps the facts elluded their determinations due to their ignorance or intransigence; but more likely it was because they could not bring themselves to admit even the remote possibility of such things.(32) Those who conducted only superficial examinations, of course, saw only superficial resemblances. They were then left to their own imaginations and the reassuring arguments of their co-religionists in assessing the possible relationship of the texts. There were others who studied the works and made their shallow comparisons the works out of a desire to somehow prove the Book of Mormon "false." Perhaps some of these felt that to discredit the book was to remove the keystone of Latter Day Saintism. With this accomplished, the faith experiences of those who treasured the book would be shown to be falsifications and the Latter Day Saint movement would disintegrate. Unfortunately it was this latter group which adopted the Spalding authorship theory as its own. This intentionally destructive use of the theory in their hands has rather discredited the theory itself among the Saints and disinterested onlookers alike.(33) The damage already wrought in these ideological battles continues to impede what could be enlightening objective analysis of the Latter Day Saint scriptures. Attention to the patterns of textual resemblance in the Book of Mormon to other, prior writings in English could have long ago provided valuable insights into the structure and contents of this marvelous work. Hopefully, the time has now arrived when serious students of the Book of Mormon can begin to determine objectively just why it contains such strong parallels to Spalding and certain other old writings. It is still not too late for modern students to conduct productive research into the historical context relevant to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. In hopes of enabling and supporting this research I seriously suggest that the various historical details comprising the Spalding theory for Book of Mormon authorship be reexamined, and that the new investigation make use of all the tools and resources available to modern scholarship. The external particulars arguing in favor of certain claims of the Spalding theory have yet to be investigated in a competent and comprehensive manner, while the texts themselves announce problems too weighty to be ignored any longer. Perhaps such study and whatever findings it might bring forth will eventually justify those who have argued against the Spalding theory claims. Or, perhaps exactly the opposite may come to pass. In anticipation of either eventuality, we must now begin to determine why the texts speak so loudly for a common origin from the pen of Solomon Spalding. |
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- 11 - ENDNOTES Rather than providing a complete outline of the complex debate over the Spalding authorship claims and a listing of the major bibliographic sources documenting that debate and Spalding authorship theory's development, I direct the reader to Dialogue, A Journal of Mormon Thought X:4 (Autumn 1977) which contains just such an outline and encapsulated bibliography in the two articles published there: Lester E. Bush, Jr., "The Spalding Theory Then and Now," (pp. 40-69) and Charles H. Whittler and Stephen W. Stathis, "The Enigma of Solomon Spalding," (pp. 70-73); electronic texts of these articles can be found on the New Mormon Studies CD-rom published by Signature Books Software (Salt Lake City 1997) and at the Dialogue web-site. A less reliable presentation of the Spalding theory details can be found in Wayne L. Cowdrey and Howard A. Davis' book: Who Really Wrote the Book Mormon? (Santa Ana, CA: 1977). The Spalding-Rigdon authorship theory is also briefly reviewed and some bibliographic material provided in Rex C. Reeve, Jr., "Introduction," Kent P. Jackson (editor), Manuscript Found, The Complete Original "Spaulding Manuscript," Provo: 1996; an electronic text of this work can be found on the GospeLink CD-ROM published by Deseret Books Software (Salt Lake City: 1998). My citations in the current paper deal primarily with the topic of Spalding's MSs, especially the Oberlin Spalding MS. A more comprehensive bibliography of my compilation (largely supplemental to Bush's 1977 citations) may be derived from the Notes section of Dale R. Broadhurst "A New Basis For The Spalding Theory," (unpublished paper read before the John Whitmer Historical Association, Sept, 26 1980; revised as "Working Paper No. 10," Methodist Theological School in Ohio, April, 1980; these several reports are hereinafter cited as: Broadhurst, "Papers"). 1 Before the book was even fully printed, selections from it were circulated in western New York, both in the form of off-print sheets and pirated published excerpts. The editor of these illegal excerpts later called the "Gold Bible" translation "diabolical" in his Palmyra Reflector of Feb. 28, 1831. Upon publication the book was termed "blasphemy" in the Rochester Daily Advertiser of Apr. 2, 1830. While some subsequent reviews were not so harsh as these, the opposition was forcefully renewed by Alexander Campbell in his Millennial Harbinger II:2 (Bethany VA) of Feb. 7, 1831, where the book and Mormonism are condemned as a "delusion" and "the snare of the Devil." This criticism undoubtedly came in direct response to Sidney Rigdon's formal defection from the ranks of Campbell's "Reformed Baptists" into the Mormon fold in Ohio on Nov. 8, 1830 and his journey to meet with Joseph Smith, Jr., in New York the following month. According to Parley P. Pratt, Rigdon's journey to New York generated the first rumors that Rigdon "was the author of the Book of Mormon;" see Pratt's pamphlet, Mormonism Unveiled... (NYC: 1838), p. 42. The fact that such rumors were in circulation in western New York at an early date wass confirmed by James Gordon Bennett in his "Mormon Religion..." in the New York Morning Courier And Enquirer, Sept. 1, 1831, reprinted along with Bennett's personal journal entries in Leonard J. Arrington, "James Gordon Bennett's 1831 Report on 'The Mormonites,'" BYU Studies X:3 (Spring, 1970) pp. 353-364. Campbell (who maintained intimate communication with his followers in northern Ohio) likely knew of these claims for a Rigdon authorship as early as Dec. 1830. If not, he certainly heard of them soon after that and was certainly able to see that the Mormon book supplied the very same revelation and doctrines (adult baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, etc.) Elder Rigdon presupposed were available or forthcoming when he initiated his break with Campbell in 1829-30. In his Feb. 1831 review Campbell chose to ignore these circumstantial implications from the book itself (along with any Rigdon authorship rumors then in circulation which may have come to his attention) in order to credit the book directly to Joseph Smith, Jr. Beyond what he said in his 1831 book review, Campbell's reasons for doing this were never openly stated. The "Sage of Bethany" must have avoided mentioning his former close associate, Sidney Rigdon, for some purpose having to do to their personal relationship, in hopes of not alienating Rigdon's congregations in Ohio, or in order to avoid having the Campbellite "restoration movement" accused of having given rise to the Mormons' own "restoration movement." Quite likely all three factors played a role in his not speaking openly about his former protege, Sidney Rigdon. If this is the case, then Campbell's hopes for respite and reconciliation must have been short lived. Many of the initial Mormon converts in Ohio were his own "Reformed Baptist" coreligionists who never returned to Campbell's emerging Disciples of Christ denomination. Rather, his disciples and the Mormons became bitter religious enemies in the Western Reserve and Campbellism was not able to breath easily in that region until after Smith and Rigdon's departure for Missouri at the end of 1837. Following the Nov. 1834 publication of Eber D. Howe's Mormonism Unvailed, (Painesville, OH 1834), Campbell wrote a notice in his Millennial Harbinger, V (1835) op. cit., p. 44, in support of the Spalding authorship claims, though he again avoided mentioning that Rigdon's name figured prominently in those allegations. In fact, Campbell did not publicly mention Rigdon's name in this connection until four years later, Millennial Harbinger, ns. VII (1839)op. cit., p. 267. In 1844, Campbell admitted what must have been on his mind for many years, when he finally accused Rigdon of writing Campbellite teachings into the Mormon book and foretelling its appearance, Millennial Harbinger, ns. XII (1844) op. cit., pp. 9-10. For a discussion of the possible problems related to Campbell's evolution of published views on Rigdon's alleged secret involvement with the Book of Mormon see Brigham H. Roberts. "The Origin of the Book of Mormon," American Historical Magazine IV:1 (Jan. 1909) pp. 41-44, also my own comments in a 2007 review of Richard L. Bushman's Joseph Smith biography. 2 "The Mormon mystery developed," the Wayne (Co., NY) Sentinel, Dec. 20, 1833. By the time this notice was printed Hurlbut was likely on his way back to Ohio and making preparations to lecture on his recent findings. These public appearances he appears to have begun in the Kirtland area during the last half of December. Reports of his allegations began to appear in the local newspapers about a month later. The first of these articles was a reprint published in the Chardon Spectator and Geauga Gazette on Jan. 18, 1834. As cited in Marvin S. Hill, Quest for Refuge... (Salt Lake City: 1989), p. 24 fn. 49, the Chardon piece reproduced Hurlbut's Wayne Sentinel notice, prefaced with the remark that Hurlbut searched in New York "on behalf of his fellow townsmen" in the Kirtland area. Also on Jan. 18, 1834 the Guernsey County Register [Times] in Cambridge, Guernsey Co., Ohio reprinted the same notice. It was again reprinted by the Ohio Repository, Canton, Stark Co., Ohio, Feb. 28, 1834. Hurlbut's activities were further detailed in the Cleveland Herald, Mar. 22, 1834, cit. Hill, Quest, loc. cit., "where it is affirmed that Hurlbut was sent from Kirtland by a committee appointed during a 'public meeting;'" cf. note 3. 3 "To the Public," Painesville (OH) Telegraph, Jan. 31 and Feb. 7, 1834. 4 Solomon Spalding (1761-1816) has variously been reported as a Congregationalist preacher, a Presbyterian minister, and an atheist. According to George Chapman he was licensed to preach by the Windham, CT Congregationalist Association on Oct. 9, 1787 and was later ordained as an evangelist, Sketches of the Alumni of Dartmouth College, (Cambridge, MA: 1867), p. 39. An acquaintance of Spalding's remembered hearing that he became "a clergyman of the Presbyterian order, and for a time a settled pastor in the city of New York," see "Abner Jackson's Statement," Daily Evening Reporter (Washington PA), Jan. 7, 1881; cf. letter from "Clericus" in the Boston Christian Register of Dec. 24, 1836. Spalding's switch from Congreationalism to a theologically akin Presbyterianism is confirmed by a mention of him as being the ruling elder of a struggling new congregation in Cherry Valley, Otsego Co., NY in 1796. Spalding's ministerial assistance there was likely both unofficial and irregular. He was replaced the following year by the celebrated Rev. Eliphalet Nott, though the latter had not yet received his ordination; see Royden Woodward Vosburgh (editor) Records of the First Presbyterian Church of Cherry Valley, in Otsego County, N.Y. (NY Genealogical & Biographical Society, May 1920). Eber D. Howe deducted that Spalding was "in the latter part of his life, inclined to infidelity." Mormonism Unvailed, op. cit., p. 288. Howe came to this conclusion after reading an undated draft letter written by Spalding, which is now bound with the Spalding manuscript in the Oberlin College Archives. A close reading of that letter (assuming that it truly represents his views later in life) along with an interpretive reading of his fiction, indicates that Solomon Spalding was moving away from Calvinism in the direction of skeptical Universalism or Deism. Although Spalding may have held various views on Christian orthodoxy at various periods during his life, his Oberlin manuscript story indicates that he was cynical of organized religion and had no qualms about making up accounts of divine encounters or offering thinly veiled parodies of Christian beliefs and practices. While some contemporary liberal Christian clergy and reformers expressed similar ideas now and then, the publication of such views by an ordained Calvinist minister two hundred years ago would have been scandalous. For speculation on Spalding's theological views see George B. Arbaugh, "Evolution of Mormon Doctrine," Church History IX (1940) pp. 157ff. Whatever his private views may have been at the time, Spalding was a member of the Presbyterian congregation in Goodwill (later Amity), PA during the last years of his life and was buried in the church cemetery. A young boarder at his "temperance inn" there remembered Spalding as "a moral man, a strict observer of the Sabbath, and an attendant upon public worship... a true believer." Letter of Redick McKee to Arthur B. Deming, dated Jan. 25, 1886; original in the Arthur B. Deming file, Mormon Collection, Chicago Historical Society (hereinafter cited as: Deming, "MSs"). Given Spalding's religious vacillation and the peculiar religious satire manifest in his writings, the term "eccentric," which was early applied to him, seems appropriate. 5 Exactly what Spalding manuscript material was recovered by Hurlbut in 1833 and was subsequently exhibited in his 1833-34 anti-Mormon lectures remains debatable. It is certain that he recovered the Spalding manuscript and the accompanying letter now in the Oberlin College Archives. The summary on page 288 of Howe's book matches the essentials, if not all the particulars, of the Oberlin holograph. This is clearly the same story (if not the exact same document) read by Spalding's brother Josiah in 1812 and described by him in his letter to George Chapman, dated Jan. 6, 1855, cit. Samuel J. Spalding, The Spalding Memorial (Boston 1872), pp. 160-162. The story remembered by Josiah after more than forty years differs greatly from one recalled by Solomon's friends and relatives as little as twenty years after their encountering it. Others who read or heard Spalding's story, whether in Ohio or later in Pennsylvania, recalled a tale of Israelite colonization of ancient America which read very much like parts of the Book of Mormon and contained similar or identical character names. A Kirtland Justice of the Peace, John C. Dowen, claimed that Hurlbut recovered this Spalding Israelite story and exhibited it during his first lecture in Kirtland following his late December 1833 return from the east. This lecture appears to have been given at the Kirtland Methodist Church a few days before the end of the year. Dowen further claimed to have personally compared this Israelite colonization story to the Book of Mormon and to have found their historical narratives to have been essentially the same, Statement of J[ohn] C. Dowen, Jan. 20, 1885, Willoughby, Ohio; original in Deming, MSs op. cit. Another witness to Hurlbut's 1833 acivities in Ohio, James A. Briggs, Esq., confirmed Dowen's testimony in a letter to John Codman dated March, 1875. Briggs claimed to have seen Hurlbut exhibit a Spalding manuscript with some names and features identical with those in the Book of Mormon, cit. John Codman "Mormonism," The International Review XI (Sept. 1881) pp. 222-223. Briggs expanded this testimony in an open letter to Joseph Smith III dated March 22, 1886, adding that Hurlbut initially exhibited both the manuscript summarized by Howe and a second manuscript that greatly resembled the Book of Mormon, at the home of Warren Corning, Jr. in Mentor, following that investigator's return from the east, cit. Arthur B. Deming, Naked Truths About Mormonism, (Oakland CA; hereinafter cited as: Deming, Naked Truths) Jan. 1, 1888. The sequence of events related by Dowen and Briggs was likely this: first, Hurlbut's return from the east in the last two weeks of Dec. 1833; second, the meeting at Mr. Corning's house, shortly thereafter; and third, Hurlbut's first lecture exhibiting his findings, presented near the beginning of the last full week in 1833. Briggs reaffirmed his earlier testimony in two subsequent letters, saying Hurlbut recovered at least two Spalding works and that the one he gave to Howe was not the same as the one that greatly resembled the Book of Mormon, Letter in the New York Tribune of Jan. 31, 1886, and Letter to the New York Watchman, cit. Chicago Daily Tribune, Oct. 2, 1886, p. 10. Aron Wright's unsigned draft letter of Dec. 31, 1833 confirms that the Spalding manuscript Hurlbut gave to Howe was not the same as the one that allegedly greatly resembled the Book of Mormon, Unsigned Letter of Dec. 31, 1833 in the 1914 Mrs. Hiram Wright donation of Lake family papers, New York Public Library. Another Ohio resident claimed to have heard Hurlbut lecture in the Willoughby town hall late in 1833 or early in 1834, and there to have been invited to examine a manuscript exhibited by Hurlbut which contained a historical narrative identical to that in the Book of Mormon; soon afterward he attended a similar Hurlbut lecture in Painesville where the same Spalding manuscript was again shown to the public, Charles Grover's Statement of March 5th, 1885, cit. Naked Truths 2, (Apr. 1888) op. cit.; cf. statement of Miss M. A. Grover, Lamoni, IA Independent Patriot of Aug. 6, 1891. Finally, a fourth witness remembered attending a Hurlbut lecture at the Presbyterian church in Kirtland (presumably late in 1833 or early in 1834) at which Hurlbut publicly compared the Book of Mormon to a Spalding manuscript containing the same historical narrative, Jacob Sherman's Statement of Feb. 24, 1885, cit. Naked Truths 2, op. cit.; cf. reference and supporting testimony in "Braden-Kelley Debate: First Proposition," Lamoni, IA Independent Patriot of June 25, 1891; cit. Matthew B. Brown, Plates of Gold, (American Fork, UT: Covenant, 2003) pp. 194-196. On problems concerning the reliability both of the statements collected by Hurlbut for Howe's book and those collected by Arthur B. Deming for his Naked Truths newspaper. see Richard L. Anderson, "Joseph Smith's New York Reputation Reappraised," BYU Studies X:3 (Spring 1970) pp. 283-314, and Rodger I. Anderson, "Joseph Smith's Early Reputation Revisited," Journal of Pastoral Practice IV:3 (Fall 1980) pp. 71-108 and IV:4 (Winter 1980) pp. 72-105; cf. same author: Joseph Smith's New York Reputation Reexamined, (SLC: Signature, 1990). 6 Solomon Spaulding, The "Manuscript Found," or "Manuscript Story..." (Lamoni, IA 1885). The following year saw the publication of The "Manuscript Found"... (Salt Lake City, 1886. reprint Liverpool 1910). Both the RLDS and LDS editions remain in print through various reproductions made recent years; one of the more easily obtainable copies is a partial reprint of the 1885 edition in Robert L. and Rosemary Brown, They Lie in Wait to Deceive II (Mesa, AZ 1984, 3rd rev. ed. 1993) pp. 393-428. Neither the 1885 nor the 1886 edition is an accurate transcription of the Oberlin document. The "Manuscript Found" appearing in the titles of both of these editions is not based upon any wording found in the original holograph. A faint notation, "Manuscript Story -- Conneaut Creek," was penciled upon the paper wrapper for the Oberlin MS at some date before it came into the possession of Lewis L. Rice, according to his statement in a letter to James H. Fairchild dated June 12, 1885, original in the Fairchild Papers, Oberlin College Archives. RLDS Elder (later Presiding Bishop) William H, Kelley, attributed the penciled note to D. P. Hurlbut who had added another example of his handwriting to the reverse of MS's final written page at the end of Dec., 1885, while exhibiting the work to Spalding's old neighbors at Conneaut, Letter of William H, Kelley to W. W. Blair, cit. Saints' Herald Aug. 8, 1885, Solomon Spaulding, Holograph Manuscript, Oberlin College Archives, Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, op. cit. p. 288, and Wright, draft letter op. cit. It is most accurate to refer to the 167 page document recovered by Hurlbut as: "the Oberlin Spalding manuscript." 7 In a little known letter from Bay City, MI printer, Fred VanCampen, to James H. Fairchild, dated June 3, 1885, Fairchild was informed of this alleged Spalding MS; see Letter in Fairchild Papers, Oberlin College Archives. There is no record of Fairchild ever examining this work or even of his mentioning it in his various writings on Spalding. The MS remained in the Spalding family until 1946 when it was donated to the Library of Congress. Its full title reads: "The Romance of Celes, or The Florentine Heroes and The Three Female Knights of the Chasm." It is a religious romance of 498+ pages, probably in the handwriting of Arvilla Ann Harris Spalding. The author indicated on its title page was her husband, Dr. Solomon Spalding (1747-1862), a physician in Lorain Co., OH in the early 19th century and a cousin (one generation removed) of Solomon Spalding (1761-1816). The VanCampen letter and the Library of Congress both attribute the MS authorship to Solomon Spalding (1761-1816) and internal evidence seems to affirm him as its originator of at least a certain part of the work. What additions and interpolations were added after 1816 is unknown. The work is best referred to as: "The Library of Congress Spalding Manuscript (alleged)." 8 When the Oberlin MS was recovered in Aug. of 1884 near Honolulu it was examined by its possessor, Lewis L. Rice and soon after by three Christian ministers: James H. Fairchild, Sereno E. Bishop, and C. M. Hyde; all three eventually wrote articles on the discovery. The fiirst to appear was Fairchild's "Solomon Spaulding and the Book of Mormon," Bibliotheca Sacra XLII:1 (Jan. 1885) pp. 173-174. This was followed by Hyde's "Who wrote the Book of Mormon? Solomon Spaulding Not Its Author," The Congregationalist, Boston, July 30, 1885. Finally came Bishop's article, written in 1884 but delayed in publication, "Solomon Spaulding's Manuscript Found at Honolulu," The Independent (Syracuse NY) Sept. 10, 1885. A Fairchild letter on this subject dated Feb. 27, 1885 to Joseph Smith III was printed in the Saints' Herald Mar. 21, 1885. Fairchild later expanded and refined his opinions on Spalding and the Book of Mormon in "Mormonism And The Spaulding Manuscript," Bibliotheca Sacra XLIII:1 (Jan. 1886) pp. 167-174 and "Manuscript of Solomon Spaulding and the Book of Mormon," (paper read Mar. 8 and 23, 1886 before the Northern Ohio and Western Reserve Historical Society; this paper was printed in The Magazine of Western History IV (May-Oct. 1886) pp. 30-39 and was issued as subsequently issued as Tract No. 77 by the Northern Ohio and Western Reserve Historical Society (Cleveland, OH 1886). Two Lewis L. Rice letters to Joseph Smith III were published: Letter of Mar. 28, 1885, Saints' Herald, May 16, 1885 and Letter of May l4, 1885, Saints' Herald, Aug. 8, 1885. A third Rice letter (to Fairchild) appeared in the Saints' Herald, Aug. 23, 1885. Excerpts from LDS Apostle Joseph F. Smith's interviews with Rice in Hawaii appeared in the Deseret Evening News, July 14, 1885. Further excerpts from these Rice interviews appeared in the same newspaper a few days later, cit. Saints' Herald Aug. 8, 1885. All of these early reports equated the Hawaii discovery with the alleged Spalding work, "Manuscript Found," and all the reporters (except Bishop) initially saw the MS found in Hawaii as providing proof against the Spalding authorship claims. Both Rice and Fairchild later modified their views to incorporate or allow for some elements of the Spalding theory. None of these early investigators shows any evidence of having conducted a critical textual comparison; of all the reporters only Joseph F. Smith is known to have had any significant knowledge of the Book of Mormon. Although Smith examined the texts relatively carefully he relied upon Rice's statements in his reports and never issued his own analysis. Smith's negative opinions concerning textual resemblance and other Spalding authorship claims can be found throughout his three-part article, "The Manuscript Found," Improvement Era, III:4, 5, 6 (1900). 9 Some writers making claims for such similarities were: Theodore A. Schroeder The Origin of The Book of Mormon Reexamined . . . (Salt Lake City 1901), J. E. Mahaffey Found at Last! "Positive proof" that Mormonism is a Fraud . . . (Augusta, GA 1902), T. C. Smith The Book of Mormon and Mormonism II (Denver, Sept. 1912), Charles A. Shook The True Origin of The Book of Mormon, (Cincinnati 1914) and George Arbaugh Revelation in Mormonism, (Chicago 1932). Of these writers only Shook and Arbaugh received appreciable public attention; neither was especially influential in re-establishing the Spalding theory, although Arbaugh's findings inspired M. D. Bown's studies (see n. 10 infra). Schroeder's work was occasionally noticed by some contemporary writers addressing the subject, but his thoughts on the Spalding theory appear to have substantially influenced only Mahaffey and Shook. When Fawn M. Brodie's No Man Knows My History (NY 1945) appeared, her superficially researched but convincingly presented rebuttal of the Spalding authorship claims induced most subsequent writers on Mormonism to follow her lead and abandon the Spalding theory. 10 See M.D. Bown "One Hundred Similarities Between the Book of Mormon and the Spaulding Manuscript," (unpublished paper 1937? in Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, call no.: BX 8622.01.B68o) and James D. Bales "The Book of Mormon and Spaulding Manuscripts," The Christian Soldier lV:9 (Aug. 14, 1942) reprinted in expanded format in James D. Bales The Book of Mormon? (Rosemead, CA 1958) pp. 138-147. Of the two compilations the Bown work is by far the most complete and better constructed. Although they both fall short of providing exhaustive lists of thematic resemblances, these two works represent the termination of noteworthy attempts at such compilation. Without the application of augmentative textual analysis there was little to be gained in simply adding to the Bown and Bales tabulations. Vernal Holley Book of Mormon Authorship: A Closer Look, (Roy, UT 1983, 2nd rev. ed. 1989, 3rd rev. ed. 1992) attempts to present such analysis to accompany his review of numerous points of thematic similarity. Holley also provides a short list of phraseology parallels, but his essentially non-critical examination (though it usefully points out items worthy of closer study) basically adds little to what Bown and Bales have already accomplished. Other than Ted Chandler's 1998 on-line tabulations of some phraseology resemblances (http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/chatm/spauth.htm), there is little recent evidence of any incentive to extend these kinds of lists. 11 Hugh Nibley "The Comparative Method," Improvement Era, Oct., 1959, p. 741ff., revised as chapter 8 (The Prophetic Book of Mormon) in: Hugh Nibley The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley: Volume 8: The Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City 1989). 12 Writers advocating the Spalding theory after 1945 include: Joseph Welles White "The Influence of Sidney Rigdon Upon the Theology of Mormonism," (unpublished thesis, University of Southern California, 1947), Edward G. Miner "The Book of Mormon," The University of Rochester Library Bulletin, V:1 (Autumn 1949) pp. 1-12, Bales, op. cit., Walter Martin The Maze of Mormonism (Santa Ana, CA 1962, rev. 2nd ed. 1978) and The Kingdom of the Cults (Minneapolis, rev. 2nd ed. 1977), and Howard A. Davis op. cit. This does not include writers presenting the theory as a mere possibility or those simply quoting the work of others. 13 Even those writers who saw the Spaldingish sections of the Book of Mormon as being only coincidental and superficial oddities have usually at least noticed the ocean crossing and battle story resemblances. Reporters mentioning these thematic similarities include Josiah Spalding in his letter of Jan. 6, 1855 to George Chapman, cit., Samuel J. Spalding, The Spalding Memorial, op. cit. pp. 160-162, Sereno E. Bishop op. cit., George R. Gibson "The Origin of a Great Delusion," New Princeton Review II (July-Sept. 1886) pp. 203-222, Schroeder op. cit., Mahaffey op. cit., Brigham H. Roberts. "The Origin..." I op. cit., III:5 (Sept. 1908) pp. 441-468, T. C. Smith op. cit., Charles A. Shook op. cit., George B. Arbaugh op. cit., Letter, M. Wilfred Poulson Collection, bx. 10, f. 21, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University (undated and unsigned, but possibly written by Frank Wipper, c. 1927), M. D. Bown op. cit., Cecil E. McGavin Cumorah's "Gold Bible" (Salt Lake City 1940) pp. 175-177, Bales op. cit., Brodie op. cit., pp. 144-149, Mario S. DePillis "The Development of Mormon Communitarianism, 1826-1846" (unpublished thesis, Yale University, 1960, p. 43, Marvin S. Hill "The Role of Christian Primitivism . . ." (unpublished thesis, University of Chicago, 1968), p. 96, Bruce D. Blumell "I Have a Question" The Ensign VI:9 (Sept. 1976) pp. 84-86, and Lester E. Bush "The Spalding Theory..." op. cit., pp. 42-43. 14 See Appendix I and Appendix II infra for details. 15 This describes well the God who saves both Jonah and St. Paul in maritime biblical stories. Spalding's Christian God overlaps somewhat with the Roman's Neptune at this point in his Oberlin MS story. Both Spalding and the Book of Mormon writer appear to draw some of their story elements and vocabulary from John Dryden's English translation of Virgil's Aeneid, which also tells of a similar storm at sea and the divine rescue of the colonizing voyagers. However, both Spalding and the Mormon book's narrator set their probable Virgilian borrowings into a Judeo-Christian context. For a detailed discussion of this and other points of textual correspondence see Appendix II, Part I, infra pp. 10-13. 16 See note 13 supra. The best examples of Mormon writers noticing this are Roberts and Blumell. 17 For charts showing the distribution of Spalding-like narratives in the Book of Mormon see my "A New Basis..." Broadhurst "Papers" op cit., 2, Figure V. For a partial list of such major thematic parallels see my "A Compilation of Similarities..." Broadhurst "Papers" op cit. 3. 18 ibid. 19 Broadhurst, "Papers" op. cit., 10, p. 7 and loc. cit. 3. 20 The alleged Spalding story is "The Romance of Celes..." op. cit. see Appendix II, Part I infra. 21 The Lehites give rise to all the later peoples in the Americas (in so far as the Book of Mormon tells of those inhabitants). Thus the Nephites, Amlicites and Lamanites are all the descendants of brethren. This of course does not take into account the extinct Jaredites of former times. The Nephites merged with the Zarahemla Mulekites, a related Hebrew people who were "brethren" in a larger sense. In Spalding's Oberlin MS the Kentucks and Sciotans are political divisions of the Ohian people and thus are also brethren in the larger sense. As in the Book of Mormon, the founding leaders of these warring peoples are brothers from the same family of ancient travelers. Both works make use of the terms "brethren" or "brothers" to describe these related peoples. (OSMS 079:24, cf. 1830 BoM 291:39-43, 399:34-38, 538:20-22 etc.) The 1886 LDS printing of the Oberlin MS has "the Blood of Brethren," Spaulding "Manuscript Found"... op. cit., p. 40; while the 1885 RLDS printing has "the Blood of Brothers," Spaulding "Manuscript Found," or "Manuscript Story..." op. cit., p. 56. The RLDS reading of Spalding's holograph is the correct one, but that fact in no way diminishes the thematic and vocabulary parallels centering around the terms "the blood of brethren" and "the blood of brothers" in the two texts' war stories. 22 Both Sambal in Spalding's story and Amlici in the Book of Mormon sponsor priestcraft. This is implied on the part of Amlici, a leader in the apostate Order of the Nehors; it is explicit in the case of Sambal, who manipulates his people through false prophets, seers, and revelators who are sponsored by a self-righteous and hypocritical high priest; see Appendix II, Part E infra. 23 Spalding fabricated a set of divinely revealed scriptures for his mound-builder societies in the Oberlin MS story. He provides excerpts from these sacred records on MS pp. 055-064. Interestingly these pages occur in the MS at a point roughly paralleled in the Book of Mormon's respective presentation of its own excerpts from "the plates of brass." 24 See Broadhurst, "Papers," op. cit., 10, charts and text. 25 The assassination theme in the Teancum tales bears an obvious similarity to the recurring biblical motif of slaying an incapacitated (sleeping, drunken, etc.) enemy leader. Like Teancum, the young David twice has an opportunity to slay the incapacitated King Saul (I Sam 24 & 26). The fact that he does not murder the sovereign under such circumstances makes David a more heroic character than Teancum. In the Bible only women (Jael, JG 4:17-24, 5:24-27, and Judith, JD 12 & 13) assassinate incapacitated leaders. While the Teancum stratagem stories stand out from the full set of eight such accounts in the Book of Mormon (largely because of the Teancum accounts' thematic ties to parallel biblical and classical episodes), they are, nevertheless, solid members of that book's night-time stratagem genre. For a full identification and discussion of these stories see Appendix II, Part III infra. 26 OSMS 154-155. There are also other accounts of night-time stratagems in the Oberlin MS, scattered throughout its major war story. Note especially the very rapid, undetected night-time troop movements used to surprise the enemy. Similar impossible tactical troop movements are detailed in the Book of Mormon war stories. Each work presents night maneuvers that, while semi-believable for small groups, verge on being ridiculous when applied to "bands" numbering in the "thousands," moving silently through overgrown wilderness terrain in the dark. 27 See note 25 supra. Also see Broadhurst, "Papers" op. cit., 1, pp. 52-68. 28 ibid. 29 For what is probably a Spalding viewpoint on the power of biblical English to influence people in religious ways, see "The Romance of Celes . . ." op. cit., (003:02-08). Occasional examples of archaic and scriptural English can be found both in the "Celes" story and in Spalding's Oberlin MS, but neither work is especially typified by such usage. 30 Two types of "heroes" can be found in the war stories of Book of Mormon and Spalding's military accounts. Teancum is a semi-heroic figure who has his counterpart in Spalding heroes like Helicon (OSMS 167: 05-25), a lieutenant who attempts an exploit more rash than his commander would ever authorize. In the case of Teancum the more heroic figure is his commander Moroni who does not kill a sleeping enemy even when he has the opportunity. Other examples of more truly heroic characters are Nephites Alma the son of Alma and Mormon, while Spalding's non-military Lobaska parallels both Alma and King Benjamin in their Washingtonian aversion to assuming permanent political power. 31 Both the Book of Mormon and Spalding tell of an extinct American civilization, the records of which are preserved for the benefit of the modern reader. Spalding's story ends before this extinction is related but he gives hints to the reader concerning this in MS pp. 001-005. 32 There have been writers among the Saints who have come close to admitting this possibility however. See John H. Evans One Hundred Years of Mormonism (Salt Lake City 1905) pp. 102-103, Brigham H. Roberts "Manuscript of Parallels" (n.d., c. 1920, copy in RLDS Library and Archives), Howard R. Driggs "The Spaulding Manuscript" Juvenile Instructor L:10 (Oct. 1915) p. 634, Bown op. cit., and Broadhurst, "Papers," op. cit. 33 This destructive use is typified by such writers as Howe op. cit. and Mahaffey op. cit. It would be naive to think that the Spalding theory would have ever been well received in the official Mormon church circles in the past, but it might have at least achieved the near respectability generally extended to the Ethan Smith authorship theory among some scholars, had it not been associated with anti-Mormon attacks from its very beginning. |
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- 0 - The Secular and the Sacred ABSTRACT The theory that a former Congregationalist preacher named Solomon Spalding authored a manuscript that became a major source for the Book of Mormon was first popularized in 1833. Since that early date a heated debate in regard to the merits of this theory has been carried on among various interested writers. When in 1885 one of Spalding's manuscripts was made available and compared by investigators with the Book of Mormon, reporters on this important event announced that the two works had no significant resemblance; the entire matter appeared to be decided in favor of the traditional Mormon viewpoint. In following years however, several other investigators reported finding many points of thematic and textual similarity between the Book of Mormon and this same "Oberlin" Spalding manuscript. These generally undistinguished reports of significant resemblances between the two works were almost always ignored or dismissed by subsequent writers addressing the subject. So, today the popular opinion among those knowledgeable of such things is that the Book of Mormon resembles Spalding's work only in their sharing of those extremely superficial and common features any two ancient American histories might be expected to possess. In a recent reexamination of the Spalding texts and that of the 1830 Book of Mormon it became apparent that there was considerable merit in the old claims for significant thematic and textual correspondence. This fact becomes evident in a careful review of their similar stories relating a storm-tossed ocean crossing and the bloody wars carried on between the descendants of ancestral brethren. The resemblance in these selected texts from both sources is not merely superficial and therefore inconsequential; it is, rather, substantial and extends past coincidental generalities to sequential thematic development. The stories sharing this sequential thematic development are told using significantly comparable vocabulary and at some points contain specimens of nearly identical phraseology apparently derived from English language texts published prior to Spalding's death in 1816. While clearly fictional in their origin and nature, the Spalding writings are not a purely "secular" literary creation. The narratives and stories he composed also contain pseudo-scriptural decrees and exhortations concerning morality and piety which are not totally unrelated to teachings in the "sacred" Book of Mormon. The two works share some parallel religious concerns and manifest a significant correspondence in some of their sacred sections as well as in many of their secular segments. Similar structural patterns in the two texts occur in parallel with some of their respective theological and religious developments. These textual patterns are typified by the same relative locations of concurrent thematic and phraseology affinities within the two works. In short, the Book of Mormon and the writings of Solomon Spalding share significant textual relationships that almost certainly did originate by chance. |
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The Secular and the Sacred: Appendices I: Annotated Outlines of Selected Book of Mormon Texts Text 1: The Stormy Voyage to the New World (Outline 1) II: Thematic Parallels in Selected Book of Mormon Texts and Spalding Compilation 1: The Stormy Voyage to the New World |
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(see also annotated outline for the narrative of this text) - A 05 - 
Text 1a: Page 47 from the 1830 Book of Mormon (green = biblical parallels; red/magenta = Spalding words; blue = non-Spalding) 
Text 1b: Page 48 from the 1830 Book of Mormon (green = biblical parallels; red/magenta = Spalding words; blue = non-Spalding) 
Text 1c: Page 49 from the 1830 Book of Mormon (green = biblical parallels; red/magenta = Spalding words; blue = non-Spalding) |
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APPENDIX I PART II The Nephite-Amlicite War Links to 1830 Alma Chapter I (p. 224-228) Text 1830 edition: tops of pages: p. 224 p. 225 p. 226 p. 227 p. 228 Modern LDS edition: chapter and verse: ALM 01:27 ALM 01:28 ALM 01:29 ALM 01:30 ALM 01:31 ALM 01:32 ALM 01:33 ALM 02:01 ALM 02:02 ALM 02:03 ALM 02:04 ALM 02:05 ALM 02:06 ALM 02:07 ALM 02:08 ALM 02:09 ALM 02:10 ALM 02:11 ALM 02:12 ALM 02:13 ALM 02:14 ALM 02:15 ALM 02:16 ALM 02:17 ALM 02:18 ALM 02:19 ALM 02:20 ALM 02:21 ALM 02:22 ALM 02:23 ALM 02:24 ALM 02:25 ALM 02:26 ALM 02:27 ALM 02:28 ALM 02:29 ALM 02:30 ALM 02:31 ALM 02:32 ALM 02:33 ALM 02:34 ALM 02:35 ALM 02:36 ALM 02:37 ALM 02:38 ALM 03:01 ALM 03:02 ALM 03:03 ALM 03:04 ALM 03:05 ALM 03:06 ALM 03:07 ALM 03:08 ALM 03:09 ALM 03:10 ALM 03:11 ALM 03:12 ALM 03:13 1830 Alma Chapter I (p. 224-228) Text according to his strength; and they did impart of their substance every man according to that which he had, to the poor, and the needy, and the sick, and the afflicted; and they did not wear costly apparel, yet they were neat and comely: and thus they did establish the affairs of the Church: and thus they began to have continual peace again, notwithstanding all their persecutions. And now because of the steadiness of the Church, they began to be exceeding rich; having abundance of all things whatsoever they stood in need; an abundance of flocks, and herds, and fatlings of every kind, and also abundance of grain, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious things; and abundance of silk and fine twined linen, and all manner of good homely cloth. And thus in their prosperous circumstances they did not send away any which was naked, or that was hungry, or that was athirst, or that was sick, or that had not been nourished; and they did not set their hearts upon riches; therefore they were liberal to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, whether out of the Church or in the Church, having no respects to persons as to those who stood in need; and thus they did prosper and become far more wealthy, than those who did not belong to their Church. For those who did not belong to their Church, did indulge themselves in sorceries, and in idolatry or idleness, and in bablings, and in envyings and strife; wearing costly apparel; being lifted up in the pride of their own eyes; lying, thieving, robbing, commiting whoredoms, and murdering, and all manner of wickedness; nevertheless, the law was put in force upon all those who did transgress it, inasmuch as it were possible. And it came to pass that by thus exercising the law upon them, every man suffering according to that which he had done, they became more still, and durst not commit any wickedness, if it were known; therefore, there was much peace among the people of Nephi, until the fifth year of the reign of the judges. And it came to pass in the commandment of the fifth year of their reign, there began to be a contention among the people, for a certain man, being called Amlici; he being a very cunning man, yea, a wise man, as to the wisdom of the world; he being after the order of the man that slew Gideon by the sword, who was executed according to the law. Now this Amlici had, by his cunning, drawn away much people after him; even so much that they began to be very powerful; and they began to endeavor to establish Amlici to be a king over the people. Now this was alarming to the people of the Church, and also to all those who had not been drawn away after the persuasions of Amlici: for they knew that according to their law that such things must be established by the voice of the people; therefore, if it were possible that Amlici should gain the voice of the people, he being a wicked man, would deprive them of their rights and privileges of the Church, &c: for it was his intent to destroy the Church of God. And it came to pass that the people assembled themselves together throughout all the land, every man according to his mind, whether it were for or against Amlici, in separate bodies, having much dispute and wonderful contentions one with another; and thus they did assemble themselves together, to cast in their voices concerning the matter: and they were laid before the judges. And it came to pass that the voice of the people came against Amlici, that he was not made king over the people. Now this did cause much joy in the hearts of those which were against him; but Amlici did stir up those which were in his favor, to anger against those which were not in his favor. And it came to pass that they gathered themselves together, and did consecrate Amlici to be their king. Now when Amlici was made king over them, he commanded them that they should take up arms against their brethren; and this he done, that he might subject them to him. Now the people of Amlici were distinguished by the name of Amlici, being called Amlicites; and the remainder were called Nephites, or the people of God; therefore the people of the Nephites was aware of the intent of the Amlicites, and therefore they did prepare for to meet them; yea, they did arm themselves with swords, and with cimeters, and with bows, and with arrows, and with stones, and with slings, and with all manner of weapons of war, of every kind; and thus they were prepared to meet the Amlicites at the time of their coming. And there was appointed captains, and higher captains, and chief captains, according to their numbers. And it came to pass that Amlici did arm his men with all manner of weapons of war, of every kind; and he also appointed rulers and leaders over his people, to lead them to war against their brethren. And it came to pass that the Amlicites came up upon the hill Amnihu, which was east of the river Sidon, which ran by the land of Zarahemla, and there they began to make war with the Nephites. Now Alma, he being the chief judge, and the governor of the people of Nephi therefore he went up with his people, yea, with his captains, and chief captains, yea, at the head of his armies, against the Amlicites to battle; and they began to slay the Amlicites upon the hill east of Sidom. And the Amlicites did contend with the Nephites with great strength, insomuch that many of the Nephites did fall before the Amlicites; nevertheless the Lord did strengthen the hand of the Nephites, that they slew the Amlicites with a great slaughter, that they began to flee before them. And it came to pass that the Nephites did pursue the Amlicites all that day, and did slay them with much slaughter, insomuch that there was slain of the Amlicites twelve thousand five hundred thirty two souls; and there was slain of the Nephites, six thousand five hundred sixty and two souls. And it came to pass that when Alma could pursue the Amlicites no longer, he caused that his people should pitch their tents in the valley of Gideon, the valley being called after that Gideon which was slain by the hand of Nehor with the sword; and in this valley the Nephites did pitch their tents for the night. And Alma sent spies to follow the remnant of the Amlicites, that he might know of their plans and their plots, whereby he might guard himself against them, that he might prepare his people from being destroyed. Now those which he had sent out to watch the camp of the Amlicites, were called Zeram, and Amnor, and Manti, and Limher; these were they which went out with their men to watch the camp of the Amlicites. And it came to pass that on the morrow they returned into the camp of the Nephites, in great haste, being greatly astonished, and struck with much fear, saying, Behold, we followed the camp of the Amlicites, and to our great astonishment, in the land of Minon, above the land of Zarahemla, in the course of the land of Nephi, we saw numerous hosts of the Lamanites; and behold, the Amlicites have joined them, and they are upon our brethren in that land; and they are fleeing before them with their flocks, and their wives, and their children, towards our city; and except we make haste, they obtain possession of our city; and our fathers, and our wives, and our children be slain. And it came to pass that the people of Nephi took their tents, and departed out of the valley of Gideon towards their city, which was the city of Zarahemla. And behold, as they were crossing the river Sidon, the Lamanites and the Amlicites, being as numerous almost, as it were, as the sands of the sea, came upon them to destroy them; nevertheless the Nephites being strengthened by the hand of the Lord, having prayed mightily to him that he would deliver them out of the hands of their enemies; therefore the Lord did hear their cries, and did strengthen them, and the Lamanites and the Amlicites did fall before them. And it came to pass that Alma fought with Amlici with the sword, face to face; and they did contend mightily, one with another. And it came to pass that Alma, he being a man of God, being exercised with much faith, and he cried, saying, O Lord, have mercy and spare my life, that I may be an instrument in thy hands, to save and preserve this people. Now when Alma had said these words, he contended again with Amlici; and he was strengthened, insomuch that he slew Amlici with the sword. And he also contended with the king of the Lamanites; but the king of the Lamanites fled back from before Alma, and sent his guards to contend with Alma. But Alma, with his guards, contended with the guards of the king of the Lamanites, until he slew and drove them back; and thus he cleared the ground, or rather the bank, which was on the west of the river Sidon, throwing bodies of the Lamanites which had been slain, into the waters of Sidon, that thereby his people might have room to cross and contend with the Lamanites and the Amlicites, on the west side of the river Sidon. And it came to pass that when they had all crossed the river Sidon, that the Lamanites and the Amlicites began to flee before them, notwithstanding they were so numerous that they could not be numbered; and they fled before the Nephites, towards the wilderness which was west and north, away beyond the borders of the land; and the Nephites did pursue them with their might, and did slay them; yea, they were met on every hand, and slain, and driven, until they were scattered on the west, and on the north, until they had reached the wilderness, which was called Hermounts; and it was that part of the wilderness which was infested by wild and ravenous beasts. And it came to pass that many died in the wilderness of their wounds, and were devoured by those beasts, and also the vultures of the air; and their bones have been found, and have been heaped up on the earth. And it came to pass that the Nephites, which were not slain by the weapons of war, after having buried those which had been slain: now the number of the slain were not numbered because of the greatness of their number; and after they had finished burying their dead, they all returned to their lands, and to their houses, and their wives, and their children. Now many women and children had been slain with the sword, and also many of their flocks and their herds; and also many of their fields of grain were destroyed, for they were trodden down by the hosts of men. And now as many of the Lamanites and the Amlicites which had been slain upon the bank of the river Sidon, were cast into the waters of Sidon; and behold, their bones are in the depths of the sea, and they are many. -- And the Amlicites were distinguished from the Nephites, for they had marked themselves with red in their foreheads, after the manner of the Lamanites; nevertheless they had not shorn their heads like unto the Lamanites. Now the heads of the Lamanites were shorn; and they were naked, save it were skin, which was girded about their loins, and also their armour, which was girded about them, and their bows, and their arrows, and their stones, and their slings, &c. And the skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion against their brethren, which consisted of Nephi, Jacob, and Joseph, and Sam, which were just and holy men. And their brethren sought to destroy them; therefore they were cursed; and the Lord God set a mark upon them, yea, upon Laman and Lemuel, and also the sons of Ishmael, and the Ismaelitish women: and this was done, that their seed might be distinguished from the seed of their brethren, that thereby the Lord God might preserve his people, that they might not mix and believe in incorrect traditions, which would prove their destruction. And it came to pass that whosoever did mingle his seed with that of the Lamanites, did bring the same curse upon his seed; therefore whomsoever suffered himself to be led away by the Lamanites, were called under that head, and there was a mark set upon him. And it came to pass that whosoever would not believe in the tradition of the Lamanites, but believed those records which were brought out of the land of Jerusalem, and also the tradition of their fathers, which were correct, which believed in the commandments of God, and kept them, were called the Nephites, or the people of Nephi, from that time forth; and it is they which have kept the records which are true of their people, and also the people of Lamanites. Now we will return again to the Amlicites, for they also had a |
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(see also annotated outline for the narrative of this text) - A 15 - 
Text 2a: Page 224 from the 1830 Book of Mormon (green = biblical parallels; red/magenta = Spalding words; blue = non-Spalding) - A 16 - 
Text 2b: Page 225 from the 1830 Book of Mormon (green = biblical parallels; red/magenta = Spalding words; blue = non-Spalding) - A 17 - 
Text 2c: Page 226 from the 1830 Book of Mormon (green = biblical parallels; red/magenta = Spalding words; blue = non-Spalding) - A 18 - 
Text 2d: Page 227 from the 1830 Book of Mormon (green = biblical parallels; red/magenta = Spalding words; blue = non-Spalding) - A 19 - 
Text 2e: Page 228 from the 1830 Book of Mormon (green = biblical parallels; red/magenta = Spalding words; blue = non-Spalding) |
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Annotated Outline 2 THE NEPHITE-AMLICITE WAR (Book of Alma, Chapter I 224:35-228:19, 1830 ed.) Including Vocabulary and Phraseology Cross-Comparisons with The King James Version of the Bible and the Spalding Manuscripts I. AMLICI BECOMES LEADER OF A NEPHITE FACTION (224:35b-225:20) A. Amlici Draws Away a Portion of the Nephites (224:35b-225:01a) |
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(see also annotated outline for the narrative of this text) - A 25 - 
Text 3a: Page 369 from the 1830 Book of Mormon (green = biblical parallels; red/magenta = Spalding words; blue = non-Spalding) 
Text 3b: Page 370 from the 1830 Book of Mormon (green = biblical parallels; red/magenta = Spalding words; blue = non-Spalding) 
Text 3c: Page 403 from the 1830 Book of Mormon (green = biblical parallels; red/magenta = Spalding words; blue = non-Spalding) 
Text 3d: Page 404 from the 1830 Book of Mormon (green = biblical parallels; red/magenta = Spalding words; blue = non-Spalding) |
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Annotated Outline 3 THE NIGHT-TIME STRATAGEMS OF TEANCUM (Book of Alma, Chapter XXIII 369:33-370:23 and Chapter XXIX 403:32-404:22, 1830 ed.) Including Vocabulary and Phraseology Cross-Comparisons with The King James Version of the Bible and the Spalding Manuscripts I. TEANCUM REPULSES AMALICKIAH'S INVASION OF BOUNTIFUL (369:33-370:08) A. Teancum's Forces Battle Amlickiah's Forces (369:33-370:02) |
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The Secular and the Sacred Appendix II A Compilation of Thematic Similarities Between Selected Texts from The Book of Mormon and the text of The Oberlin Spalding Manuscript |
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Thematic Similarities Compilation 1 THE STORMY VOYAGE TO THE NEW WORLD (First Book of Nephi, Chapter V 047:21-050:04, 1830 ed.) OSMS = The Oberlin Spalding Manuscript, page and line(s) THE DEPARTURE FROM THE OLD WORLD: 001. Both accounts tell of the departure of a small party of both sexes from the capital city of an ancient Mediterranean land. Some of the members in each party were drawn together by chance circumstances. When these voyagers first embarked they did not know exactly where they would end their journey: BoM: Lehi, his family, and the family of Ishmael departed from Jerusalem, wandered in the wilderness, until they arrived at a seacost, from whence they sailed away in a ship. 002. Both accounts tell of the departure command coming from the highest of authorities: BoM: "the voice of the Lord came unto my father, that we should arise and go down into the ship." (047:35-36). 003. Both accounts tell of the departing company embarking on their voyage at a time when the New World was unknown to those in the Old World: BoM: "carry thy people across these waters." (042:43). 004. Both accounts tell of a preparation which the preceded the embarkation: BoM: "after that we had prepared all things... we did go." (047:37-40). 005. Both accounts tell of loading the ship with provisions for the journey: BoM: "provisions with all our loading loading" (047:39-41). 006. Both accounts tell of the ship's sailing (apparently both were sailing vessels: BoM: "we did put forth" (048:08) we sailed" (049:32). THE GREAT STORM AT SEA: 007. Both accounts tell of a great storm arising once the travelers are far out to sea: BoM: "there arose a great storm" (048:31-32). 008. Both accounts tell of the ship being driven off course, and out of control, by powerful storm winds: BoM: "we were driven back" (048:32-33) "driven back" (048:36). 009. Both accounts tell of the ship then being driven forth in front of the winds, indicating speedy passage over a great expanse of ocean: BoM: "driven forth before the wind" (048:09) "after that we had been driven forth before the wind" (048:10). 010. Both accounts tell of the travellers being propelled by the storm across the ocean for several days: BoM: "after that we had been driven forth before the wind for the space of many days" (048:10-11). 011. Both accounts tell of the ship's company being lost at sea: BoM: "they knew not whither they should steer" (048:30-31). 012. Both accounts tell of the travelers being frightened and dismayed at their terrible experience; both sets of travellers faced the prospect of being drowned in the storm: 013. Both accounts tell of that drowning in terms of being sent downward to a ocean sepulcher: BoM: "to be cast into a watery grave" (049:16). 014. Both accounts tell of this terrible, life-threatening storm lasting several days: BoM: "after that we had been driven back upon the waters for the space of four days" (048:39-40). 015. Both accounts tell of ththe travellers offering prayers to the biblical God for deliverance: BoM: "with her tears and prayers" (049:18-19) "I prayed" (049:28). THE AFTERMATH OF THE GREAT STORM: 016. Both accounts tell of the storm abating after the prayers: BoM: "after that I had prayed . . . the storm did cease" (049:28-29). 017. Both accounts state or infer that the ship and all its company escaped any critical damage or loss of life: 018. Both accounts tell of a God who controls the stormy elements for his own purposes: BoM: "that he might shew forth his power" (048:25-26) "the judgment of God" (048:41) "the power of God, which threatened them with destruction . . . to be swallowed up in the depth of the sea" (049:21-24). 019. Both accounts attribute the storm's end to God's intervention: 020. Both accounts tell of persons aboard the ship offering up praises unto God following their deliverance: BoM: "I did look unto my God, and did praise him" (049:03-04). 021. Both accounts tell of several days of calm sailing following the storm. 022. Both accounts tell of God directing the ship to the New World after the storm: BoM: (this understanding is explicit in the story up to and including the storm sequence, especially in its account of the magic compass given to the Lehites by God, in order that they might be directed to the promised land). 023. Both accounts tell of the successful crossing of the unknown ocean to the New World in an ancient sea-going vessel: BoM: (the ship was built to be able to navigate ocean waters; its ability to cross the ocean appears attributable to its having been operated in accordance with divine instruction). Comments on Compilation 1 Presumably the Roman and Lehite vessels were of comparable size and construction. Fabius' fictional ship was no doubt the product of a Roman shipyard; while Lehi's craft was the home-made production of his son Nephi, similar in origin (if not design and size) to Noah's ark. Given the divine intervention in Lehi's case, it hardly seems worthwhile to raise the point that ships of those days were not constructed with the thought of crossing an ocean. Dedicated ocean-going ships would have been rare or non-existent in those ancient days, although some ships did make coast-hugging excursions beyond the Mediterranean and Arabian seas. Only centuries later were true deep water vessels developed for crossing the open Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Both the Lehite ship and its Roman counterpart in Spalding's tale were well stocked with various "provisions" useful to colonists arriving in a new land. Ships laden with "provisions" are found elsewhere in the Book of Mormon: "sail forth with much provisions" (406:09), cf. "we sailed -- the vessel laden with provisions" (OSMS: 007:02-03. In fact, both texts frequently use the term "provision(s)" in exactly the same way: "had also a plenty of provisions" (BoM: 387:09-10), cf. had a plenty of provision" (OSMS: 044:17). Sailing Into a Sea of Parallels No good tale of the crossing of the unknown seas would be complete without at least one good, rip-roaring storm to heighten the suspense and open otherwise unavailable opportunities for the writer and the story characters alike. So, we almost expect this in the Spalding romance. The appearance of the tremendous storm serves a number of purposes for Spalding, the chief of which is that it propels his ship across the wide Atlantic without subjecting him to recounting the monotonous weeks of a real sailing voyage. The great storms encountered in the Nephite and Jaredite crossings may not have been included to heighten plot-line suspense, but they do accomplish some of the same purposes for the narrative as does Spalding's tempest. In all three stories the reader senses God's directing presence in both the storm and its aftermath. Such storms at sea are an inevitable story element, from the adventures of Odysseus, Aeneas, and Jonah, to St. Paul's travels and Shakespeare's "The Tempest." And, at least in the four former examples, the element of divine purpose and intervention in the storms is quite evident. Given its frequent occurrence in literature, the general parallel of texts containing a storm at sea is not particularly compelling evidence for textual inter-relationships between these various stories. It is only where this general parallel is accompanied by additional elements of sequence, vocabulary, phraseology, or purpose that our suspicions of textual inter-relationships may be rightfully aroused. The presence of similarities in theme and vocabulary use in the two writings are readily discernable, even in a superficial comparison of the "Stormy Voyage to the New World" accounts. A more meticulous, word-for-word comparison and quntative analysis would probably uncover several more points of similarity than have been listed here. It would be a mistake, however, to limit our comparisons of the two texts by considering on the inter-relationships between the two ocean crossing stories here outlined. In order to uncover even more textual parallels resident within the Book of Mormon's ocean voyage story, we need only compare with a wider range of Spalding texts. The entire Spalding ocean voyage text is typified by vocabulary and phraseology parallels with various passages found in the Book of Mormon. Among the many self-evident instances of similar phraseology telling similar stories are examples such as: "lamentations... for the loss of friends" (OSMS: 008:22-23) and "listen to my words" (OSMS: 009:02), cf. "lamentation for the loss of the slain" (BoM: 572:20) and "listen to my words"" (BoM: 201:32). The cross-referenced listings of such wording parallels associated with the ocean voyages would easily add up to several dozens of unique or especially distinctive words sets, many of which convey essentially the same thematic messages. Into the Midst of the Raging Deep The reverse comparison, of course, can also be carried out. For instance, Spalding's account might be compared to the Book of Ether's narrative, in which another stormy ocean crossing is recorded. That book's Jaredite ocean crossing closely parallels both the story of the Lehite expedition and the Roman travels related by Spalding. Numerous points of similarity can easily be listed following only a cursive examination of the texts. All tell of storms at sea. In Ether the phraseology describing this is: "a furious wind" (548:34-35) and "terrible tempests" (549:01), cf. OSMS: "the furious wind" (008:07) and "a tremendous storm" (007:06-07). Both accounts use the exact same term for the stormy ocean: "the raging deep" (BoM: 543:39), cf. "the raging deep" (OSMS:007:014). Both the Book of Ether and Spalding tell of the God-guided ships being driven out upon the unknown ocean in the exact same terms: "in the midst of the sea" (BoM: 543:08), cf. "into the midst of the boundless ocean" (OSMS: 007:07-08). Both the Book of Ether and Spalding tell of the ships being on ocean in the exact same terms: "on the face of the (ocean)" (BoM: 548:35), cf. "on the face of the (ocean)" (OSMS: 007:14). Both the Book of Ether and Spalding tell of the ships being propelled in the exact same terms: "driven before the wind" (BoM: 549:12), cf. "driven before the wind" (OSMS: 008:05-07). Putting some of the above parallels into a single context, we see that the Jaredite record speaks of its voyagers as being "in the midst of the sea;" of their going forth across the "raging deep;" and of their being "driven forth before the wind." Spalding's voyagers were "driven" "into the midst of the boundless ocean... the raging deep." Both Spalding's account and the Jaredite record tell of the same fear of burial at sea bringing on the cries unto God for deliverance. In the case of the Jaredites, they actually were temporarily "buried in the deep," while Spalding's characters remained upon the surface of the raging "deep," fearing imminent burial there. Finally, both accounts testify that the winds blew the ship constantly in the same direction toward the New World until the travelers arrived there. Even the advanced technology evident in the submersible vessels of the Jaredites is paralleled by a similar advanced technology evident in the flying machine of Spalding's tale (OSMS: 006:-5-10). Wind Tossed Voyagers Upon the Waves Returning to our examination of the Roman and Lehite ocean crossings, we can find much common phraseology to strengthen the general parallel of a storm at sea. Spalding says "A tremendous storm arose" (007:06-07) and the record on the small plates of Nephi says "there arose a great storm" (048:31-32); Spalding says the storm "drove us" (007:07) "after being driven... before the furious wind" (008:05-07) and Nephi's text says "we were driven back upon the waters" (048:32-33). The common phraseology continues with Spalding's "they knew not (their direction)" (007:0-10) and "darkness had spread her sable mantle over the face of the raging deep." (007:12-14). Nephi uses the same "they knew not (their direction)" (048:30) and the brother of Jared fears crossing the "raging deep" in "darkness." Spalding probably derived some of his wording from an English translation of Lucan's The Civil War. Book V of that classical work speaks of sailors being "tossed" upon "the raging deep... the furious sea" and their offering of "incessant prayers." Spalding has his sailors offering "incessant supplications" while being blown by "the furious wind." Lucan there speaks of "the wind," "waves," and "the sea." This same combination of words appears in the Book of Ether, where the voyagers "were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind. The Jaredite record says this tempest made "a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters." We might expect to see such a general, biblical-sounding word constellation in any number of stories about stormy ocean crossings. Shakespeare uses the same words in his Pericles, Prince of Tyre (act II, scene I), where he says: "For now the wind begins to blow; Thunder above and deeps below, Make such unquiet, that the ship should house him safe is wreck'd and split; And he, good prince, having all lost, By waves from coast to coast is tos't." The Bard of Avon ends this bit of stormy seafaring poetry with a couplet decrying the hazard of a "watery grave." We find variations of this same term in both Spalding's ocean tale and in the Book of Mormon's Lehite maritime story. Spalding probably picked up his "sable mantle" terminology from Edmund Spenser's play, The Faerie Queene. In book I, canto XI of that production Spencer speaks of a personified "Night, who with her sable mantle gan to shade the face of the earth." Spalding uses the "darkness" and "sable mantle" phraseology in his ocean voyage account (007:12-14), but he more closely copies Spenser later in his romance when he tells the reader: "Darkness spread itself over the face of the earth" (151:09-09). From the comments I've already provided we can see that the terrible storm is essentially the same in all three records (Roman, Nephite, and Jaredite), both in its attributes and in its effect upon the voyagers' ship. Spalding's Romans and Lehi's shipmates endured the monster tempest for about the same length of time. In both cases the furious winds drove the little vessels to their eventual landings much more quickly than would have the usual winds encountered in Atlantic crossings. Mormon tradition and scholarship has decided that Lehi's party crossed the Pacific Ocean in order to make its landing in the Promised Land, but the text itself nowhere makes such a statement. What little we have of the story, from the small plates of Nephi, says that the Lehites were "driven back" from their original course and that Nephi had to make use of their special compass to chart a new course across the waves. The Lehites, like Spalding's Romans, may well have crossed the Atlantic Ocean rather than the Pacific. The Prayers of the Voyagers In his stormy ocean crossing Spalding introduces the subject of Christian religious practice for the first time in his romance. We might expect these fictional Roman mariners and passengers to offer prayers to their natives deities, or perhaps to Constantine's Unconquered Sun, but they all apparently were supporters of the newly-approved imperial faith. Since Spalding probably no longer professed the Christian faith at the time he wrote this story, he probably introduced the prayers as a story element intended to add further suspense and verisimilitude to his ocean crossing. He himself did not believe in the intended effect of such prayers, but he expected a good share of his readers to accept their miraculous outcome. And, because of his loss of unquestioning Christian piety, he was able to make use of fictional prayers and divine revelation in what really amounts to an irreverent and parodying manner in this story. It seems perfectly natural that the God-fearing Jaredites, in the midst of their oceanic tempest "did cry unto the Lord . . . and when night came they did not cease to praise the Lord" (549:09-15 Spalding's travelers (in the same words as Lucan's The Civil War. Book V) likewise offered "incessant" prayers to the Judeo-Christian God. In the case of the Lehites, only Nephi appears to have offered the prayers of supplication. Perhaps young Jacob, Joseph, and Nephi's wife joined him in the prayers, but the rest of the voyagers appear to have done little more than repent of their prior bad handling of Nephi. Watery Graves and Deliverance from God His parents were deathly ill at the time and could not join Nephi in his prayers. In fact, they "were about to be brought down to lie low in the dust . . . they were near to be cast with sorrow into a watery grave" (049:14-16). This Nephite catachresis almost matches the disharmony evident in Spalding's own mixed metaphors when he speaks of his wind-tossed voyagers being near "the insatiable jaws of a watery tomb" (007:18-19). The Shakespearean antecedent of Spalding's salty burial terminology is well known, but where Lehi's atypical seafaring Israelites came up with such a term is not even hinted at. At any rate, the prayers were answered: The Romans escaped their "watery tomb" and the Lehites were rescued from their "watery grave." The term "watery grave" is not a particularly common one in English language literature, but it has entered our idiomatic language and may be encountered here and there in prose and poetic lines. The general use of "watery" or "wat'ry" was perhaps first popularized by John Dryden in his 1697 English translation of Virgil's Aeneid, a book with its own divinely commanded ship-building, stormy sea crossing, deliverance of some from a watery grave, and the voyagers' colonization of a distant, promised land. The term "watery tomb" is very rare in English language writings, but (besides in Spalding's story) it occurs in Philip Freneau's "Captain Jones's Invitation," one of several poems mentioning a watery fate (including the more common "watery grave") that were published in his 1786 Poems Relating to the American Revolution. This particular book of poetry contains a number of thematic and phraseology parallels both with Spalding's writings and with various Book of Mormon stories. All storms cease. But the reader understands, in each of the Jaredite, Lehite, and Roman stories, that the cessation of the storm comes through divine intervention. Nephi's tempest appears to have ended almost immediately after he finished his prayers; while Fabius' party appear to have won the sympathy of even a Miltonic "Old Ocean" before their five days of "cries and lamentations" (cf. "their cries, their howlings and lamentations," BoM: 572:21) reached the ears of the Lord. Here we encounter the first of many Spalding absurd overstatements and gross exaggerations which are more laughable than believable. The ex-clergyman here presents a parody of Christian prayer and perhaps a hint of his own disbelief in the validity of such religious cause and effect. The Voyagers find the Land of Promise After five days of being caught up in the storm the Romans find themselves safe and sound in calmer waters but continue their "cries and lamentations," which were so great and terrific that they defied description. This sad state of affairs is ended by nothing less than a revelation from God -- or at least Spalding's satirization of such an inspired communication. Five days later the Roman voyagers (as in a similar scene in Virgil's Aeneid) enter the Delaware estuary and sails for perhaps another day or so before anchoring the ship offshore from an Indian village located in the general vicinity of today's Wilmington. The Lehites, under Nephi's inspired guidance, come out of their four days of stormy passage, safe and sound, and apparently speedily reach the "promised land." All Nephi tells us is that after "the space of many days we did arrive." He does not tell us whether the count for those "many days" began with their Arabian embarkation or only the cessation of the storm. Both sailing parties are being sent to the New World under divine guidance. This story element might be expected in a scriptural account; its introduction into the Spalding romance would have struck a good number of his intended readers as being nothing other than blasphemy. The introduction of God's fictional guidance and revelation into a Pilgrim's Progress, or a Paradise Lost, was marginally acceptable, for those stories were the great classics of the Christian religion, filled with wondrous, faith-promoting morality scenarios and inspirational allegory. In his day, Spalding's words from heaven would have only been acceptable in the context of true scripture, or in a fictional episode from some pagan Greco-Roman epic. Coming as they do, in a romance, they represent a remarkable example of religious parody and sarcastic commentary. It is no wonder that E. D. Howe, in his 1834 unveiling of the Spalding authorship claims for the Book of Mormon, referred to Spalding as being "inclined to infidelity." Spalding not only introduces his first example of religious practice near the end of the stormy ocean voyage, he does so with resounding flourish. His fourth century "Christians" are clearly still living in the days before the advent of what modern restorationists might term "the great apostasy." Although some of the sailors occasionally revert to a Virgilian reverence for Neptune, the Christian Roman crew and passengers fully accept the human-voiced predictive revelation with "joy" and "full confidence," as though they were accustomed to experiencing miraculous events of divine communication. The possible parallels that might be drawn between this scene and events recorded in the Book of Mormon are well-nigh endless. A Second Witness of Spalding's Style? To follow the implications arising from an examination of these parallels to any logical conclusion necessarily involves a reconsideration of the old claims of there being a common authorship for the Book of Mormon and the Spalding writings. And, from the reconsideration of this authorship theory it requires no great leap in logic to infer that storm sequences upon the waters were possibly favored thematic elements in Spalding's story-line plotting. Of course, before this inference can be advanced as a probability it is first necessary to establish that Spalding wrote more than the one stormy voyage account found in his Oberlin manuscript. Luckily there is a probable candidate for just such a second Spalding stormy voyage tale. Such a story can be found in the pages of a manuscript cataloged under his name at the Library of Congress. This book-length story bears the title of "The Romance of Celes . . ." It was credited to Solomon Spalding of Ashford's pen as early as 1885, but that identification is not conclusive. Between pages 034 and 037 of this alleged Spalding manuscript its writer tells the fictional story of a divinely favored protagonist's stormy voyage upon the waters of Lake Erie in the early part of the nineteenth century. The narrative recorded there bears numerous signs of similarity with Spalding Oberlin tale's stormy voyage and with the two stormy voyage accounts found in the Book of Mormon. Despite its previous obscurity and uncertain development, the little studied evidence of this probable second Spalding writing effort may provide a key to understanding vocabulary and phraseology connections between the Oberlin account's ocean crossing and those found in the Book of Mormon. To better demonstrate some of the general similarities in the three texts a brief outline of their more easily distinguishable stormy voyage parallels is provided on the following page. As in other citations made within this Appendix, BoM = the 1830 Book of Mormon; OSMS = the Oberlin Spalding manuscript; and LSMS = the alleged Library of Congress Spalding manuscript entitled "The Romance of Celes . . ." Outline of the Three Texts' Stormy Voyage Account 1. A storm arises suddenly and drives the voyagers' ship from its intended course. OSMS 007:06b ff.: . . . a tremendous storm arose and drove us into the midst of the boundless ocean . . . the heavens were covered with clouds and darkness had spread her sable mantle over the face of the raging deep. 2. Those on board during the storm fear that they will die at sea: OSMS 007:08b ff.: Soon the whole crew became lost and bewildered -- Their minds were filled with consternation and despair . . . What could we? How to be extricated from the insatiable jaws of a watery tomb. 3. During the danger the characters turn their attention to the Divine: OSMS 007:17 ff.: Then it was that we felt our absolute dependance on that almighty and gracious Being who holds the winds and storms in his hands -- From him alonf could we expect deliverance. To him our most fervent desires ascended -- prostrate and on bended knees we poured forth uncessant supplication. . . 4. Following these prayers and prayerful meditations God causes the storm to cease and the ship and its passengers safely reach land. More About Watery Graves and Deliverance from God From this outline of story excerpts it may be seen that there is some degree of similarity in all three texts where they tell of storms at sea. The general similarity evident in these three texts can also be extended to the Jaredite stormy ocean crossing as related in the Book of Ether. Beyond just the general stormy voyage parallels shown in the outline there are numerous points of thematic and vocabulary similarity in the alleged Spalding Library of Congress manuscript and the other two sources. Of the many parallels and similarities which might be mentioned at this point, one appears to be unusually significant. Consider the expressions used in all three texts to express a fear of burial at sea: "How to be extricated from the insatiable jaws of a watery tomb." (OSMS 007:18), "For a moment a watery grave seemed my inevitable fate (LSMS 036:29), and "they were near to be cast into a watery grave." (BoM-049:04). How might we explain such a similar expression occurring in three different texts at the high point of a storm at sea? It is not a biblical expression, so we cannot credit its occurrence in the Book of Mormon to Hebrew idiom preserved among the Nephite writers. Its occurrence in Spalding's writings comes as no shock, in that he might easily have adopted it from Shakespeare or other literature of his own day. As to why it is found in the Book of Mormon (just as in the Spalding stories) only once and at the most critical point in the stormy voyage, the inevitable answer seems to be "because Spalding typically used this expression in his telling and re-telling of stormy voyages upon the waters." If the expression were to be found in the Jaredite voyage, we might even present this answer with some assurance. But that text tells only of its voyagers being buried beneath the waves; it offers no grave or tomb imagery. So, perhaps the question must remain unanswered or given the rejoinder that this is all a matter of unusual literary coincidence. Another thematic element which appease to be of some significance lies in the implicit Judeo-Christian theology of all three texts, a theological understanding made more clearly visible at the high point of the ship's voyage. In each case there is present a strong picture of the Divine Being who uses the natural elements both to scourge and save humankind according to the divine will and the spiritual attitude of the affected human beings. This image is especially clear in the expressions for the deity found in the two Spalding manuscripts: "that almighty and gracious Being who holds the winds and storms in his hands" OSMS 007:20-22) and "He who holds the elements in his fist, frequently overrules the elements to the advantage of his faithful servants (LSMS 035:04-06). While a similar expression is not evident in the Book of Mormon story, the very story of God's causing the storm to cease in answer to repentance and that volume knows the same God who holds the watery elements in his control in its quotation from Isaiah: "He who hath dried the sea." The story in both the Book of Mormon and the Oberlin manuscript is of God's causing the storm to cease in answer to fervent prayer. A similar theological implication is evident in the Oberlin romance at page 150, where a second storm and its effects are credited to special divine intervention on behalf of the worthy. Spalding's salving storms echo somewhat the interplay between divine forces and the natural elements as set down at the beginning of Virgil's Aeneid. There, as in Spalding and the Book of Mormon we find special reference to a divine power intervening on the behalf of storm tossed voyagers. In all these stories that God holds the elements under his control. Sickly Aged Parents and The Divine Gift Another point of textual similarity worth our consideration is that in both the "Romance of Celes" alleged Spalding manuscript and in the Book of Mormon's "stormy voyage" sequence considerable narration is devoted to telling about aged parents who lie upon their sick beds during the storm. In both cases those parents are sickened unto death with concern over their children. In both cases the terrible storm seems to worsen that sickness by adding upon it a sea-sickness. In both cases the aged individuals eventually recover and their bond with lost or strayed children is renewed. Could this be a sub-plot which Spalding typically injected into a point of peril in his stories? Yet another point of similarity in the texts which may be significant is the plot element involving a divine gift which somehow protects or guides the traveler upon the waters. In the Book of Mormon this concept can be found both in the magic compass (the Liahona) given to the Lehites and in the 16 stones of light which the brother of Jared also obtained through divine assistance. A very similar concept is found in the magic locket which the protaginist in "Romance of Celes" obtains from an angel and to which he turns in prayerful meditation during the height of the storm on Lake Erie. As in Nephi's case with the Liahona, when Philander's magic locket begins to function once again the reader learns that divine guidance is close at hand (see LSMS: 036:31-037:02). Finally, there are a many thematic and phrasing points of similarity shared by the alleged Spalding "Romance of Celes" and the Book of Mormon. These parallels are in no way limited to just the storm sequences in the two texts, but some examples from those particular texts might be worth our looking at here. Consider these word sets: "wave o'er wave . . . like mountains" (LSMS 035:14-15), cf. "the mountain waves which broke upon them" (BoM: 548:39); "The Captain was advised to put forth" (LSMS: 035:09), cf. "we did put forth, into the sea" (BoM: 048:05); and "Loud breaks the tempest" (LSMS: 034:10), cf. "terrible tempests" (BoM: 549:01) and "great and terrible tempest" (BoM: 048:32). The Biblical Connection In our consideration of the various foregoing examples of textual parallels the question must naturally arise, "Might they not all be attributable to the translator's or author's use of terms commonly known and used by nineteenth century English speakers. Wouldn't nearly all of these supposed points of identity also be found in a commonly consulted text such as the Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible?" Establishing what were and were not commonly used figures of speech in the days of Solomon Spalding and Joseph Smith would be a daunting task in itself, but checking the phraseology of Spalding and the Book of Mormon against the KJV Bible is a relatively straight forward task which should be undertaken by the discerning investigator of these kinds of textual parallels. Any reader will quickly notice that much of the language in the Book of Mormon storm sequences has the ring of biblical wording to it. More specifically, the Book of Mormon text frequently relies upon the phraseology of the KJV Bible, reproducing passage upon passage from that particular source. This is not the place for a lengthy discussion of this phenomenon. Book of Mormon scholars have studied the oddity in the past and have provided generally credible answers to explain how such a reliance came about. The question more germane to the study of textual parallels is: "Are there any instances of apparent reliance upon the KJV text in Book of Mormon storm sequences? And. if so, can these instances of textual reliance be shown to have any parallels in Spalding writings? The answer to both parts of this question appears to be "yes." Throughout the story of the Lehites' stormy voyage to the New World there is a repeated use of King James Version wording constructions. While these duplicated word sets appear throughout the KJV (including some instances in the KJV Apocrypha), they are most frequently borrowings from the Old Testament (or. at least, biblical phraseology which occur first in the Old Testament and then later in the New Testament). However, we can also find some apparent borrowings of words which occur exclusively in the KJV New Testament. One good example of this sort of duplication can be found in the phrase "should be swallowed up" (BoM: 048:18) which occurs only at II Cor. 2:7 in the KJV. There is another example of the Book of Mormon textual borrowing from the KJV NT which is much more substantial and more relevant to our study of stormy voyage stories, however. Between 048:31 and 049:30 the Book of Mormon text repeatedly shows a heavy reliance upon the phraseology of Mark 4:36-41. The phenomenon is so prevalent and so integral to the construction of the Mormon text that it will be useful to quote here the entire Markan pericope: And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" The following duplications of textual fragments from this pericope can be found in the Lehite ocean voyage text: "the ship" (048:31); "there arose a great storm" (048:3l-32); "they began to be frightened exceedingly" (048:34); "they must perish" (048:42); and "the wind did cease, and... there was a great calm" (049:29-30). Returning to the question of whether such biblical borrowing is paralleled in the Spalding texts; there is a possible evidence of his reliance this same pericope from Mark: "a tremendous storm arose" (OSMS: 007:06-07. The phraseology similarity is not particularly strong here and the vocabulary overlap with the KJV is not so obvious as it is in the Book of Mormon borrowings. However, the Markan thematic elements of a ship being caught in a storm upon the waters, the fear of the passengers, the calling upon divine authority for attention to their peril, the intervention of divine deliverance, and the resulting calming of the storm are story segments shared by all the texts examined here. Another example from Spalding can be cited where his borrowing from a KJV NT storm story is much more evident. These textual parallels with the KJV are to be found in the Oberlin story's storm sequence between pages 007 and 009. In that storm sequence there are a number of phraseology overlaps with Paul's stormy sea voyage as related in the Book of Acts. Excerpts from chapter 27 of that book is reproduced below: ...it was determined that we should sail into Italy... entering into a ship... we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia... they sailed close by Crete. But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind... the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive... and so were driven. And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. Consider these probable textual borrowings by Spalding: "They knew not the direction to the rising sun or polar star -- for the heavens were covered with clouds" (OSMS: 007:09-12), cf "neither sun nor stars in many days appeared" (Acts 27:20), "we gave the ship full sail & let her drive" (OSMS: 008:11-12) cf "And when the ship was caught and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive" (Acts 27:15), "a mariner stept forward into the midst & proclaimed" (OSMS: 008:25-009:01), cf "Paul stood forth in.the midst of them The evidence of Spalding's reliance upon a King James New Testament text for this particular narrative sequence is very strong. Whether this borrowing came through direct copying or a good memory of the biblical text is of little consequence; the fact is that he took substantial lengths of his phraseology from a New Testament storm sequence text in a manner which closely parallels the Book of Mormon use of the wording from the Markan perricope shown above. From this evidence it is possible to say that both the Rev. Solomon Spalding and the author (or redactor) of the Lehi's voyage narrative both borrowed significant portions of their phraseology directly out of the pages of the King James Version New Testament. This last structural parallel between the Book of Mormon "Stormy Voyage to the New World" and the opening pages of the Oberlin Manuscript is partticularly devestating to the prevalent notion that the two texts have no significant commonalities. Since these two ocean voyage selections from the two texts were constructed through the same methodology of New Testament borrowings, they share a common bond which cannot be explained away with the answer that all their parallels in theme and vocabulary are only the result of common language coincidences, which could be found in any two books containing vaguely similar ancient histories. Not only do the multiple instances of vocabulary parallels argue for the possibility of their having a ccamnon authorship, so also do sequential thematic parallels, a similarity of anachronisms in ancient technological understandings, parallel examples of biblical textual borrowings, and similarities in theological polemics. While it may be premature to credit the Lehite ocean crossing narrative in the Book of Mormon to the pen of Solomon Spalding, it is not premature to state that, based upon its style and content, Spalding remains a leading candidate for a writer living in the right time and place to have contributed to that book's story. If the Book of Mormon can be acknowledged to be a literary product of early 19yh century frontier America, Solomon Spalding stands out, as a would-be writer who was both capable of and interested in developing a goodly portion of that book's narrative. |
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Thematic Similarities Compilation 2 THE NEPHITE-AMLICITE WAR (Book of Alma, Chapter I 224:35-228:19, 1830 ed.) OSMS = The Oberlin Spalding Manuscript, page and line(s) A KING INITIATES A BLOODY WAR> IN ANCIENT AMERICA: 001. Both accounts tell of an evil king who plots self-advancement through political and military manipulations BoM: Amlici first plots to become a king and then pursues measures to extend his influence to a wider sphere OSI-IS - Sambal, already a king, pursues measures which cause him to be "honoured above all the other princes of the empire-- & even the heir apparent to the imperial crown'l (118:08-10) 002. Both kings stir up the people about them to go to war BoM: Amlici convinces his followers to begin a war against the Nephites osi@s - Sambal is the leading proponent for a war against the Kentucks whereby he could regain Lamesa and his potential for a position above the heir apparent of Sciota 003. Both kings have less than a pious view of the prevalent religion BoM: Amlici is a member of the Order of the Nehors which practice priest-7 craft and are contemptuous of the Church of God. Amlici himself plans to "destroy the Church of God" (225:08) OSMS: Sambal @romotes blatant priestcraft in his manipulation of the pecple 125:10-126:25a), his brother-in-law is the leading religious figure in Sciota, a hig@ priest who puts forth lies as revelation from God (129922-130:25) 004. Both cause their followers to assemble to promote their cause before the leading authbrties in the land BoM: Amlici causes his bid for power to be brought before the Nephite judges but his followers do not swing popular opinion to him OSMS: Sambal leads his people before the imperial council; he and his followers do swing national opinion to his favor A KING INITIATES A BLOODY WAR: (cont'd) 005. Both kings plot to gain favorable public opinion BoM: "if it were possible that Amlici should gain the voice of the Peoi)leli (225:05-06) OSMS: "the popular voice was against (Sambal's opponents)" (131:01-02) 006. Both kings do all they can to promote a political war against brethern BoM: "he commanded them that they should take up arms against against their brethern" (225,23-24) C)SMS - Sambal convinces the Sciotans to take up arms against the Ken- tucks, a people led by relatives of the Sciotan imperial family; the Sciatans and Kentucks are one people called the "Ohians'll ifyou thirsted for each other's blood, for the blood of brethern" (079:23-24) (of BOM: shed the blood of our brethern, 399:36-37) 007. Both kings prepare their people for a war BoM: Amlici arms'his followers and sets up a military organization with various leaders (225:37-39) OSMS - Sambal leads an army made up of the citizens of his realm into battle (notat it is almost certain that Sambal's preparation of his troops was originally detailed on lis pgs 133-134; however these pages are currently missing from the Oberlin document) THE BLOODY WAR BETWEEN BRETHERN: 008. The opponents of both kings prepare to fight a defensive war BoM: "the Neph'ites was aware of the intent of the Amlicites, and there- fore they did prepare to to meet them...they were prepared to meet the Am-licites" (225:28-34) C)Si4S -"(the Kentucks) agreed to make the most active & vigorous pre- paration for war" (138:32-33). "Thev.were now pre-oared for the hostile engagement" (142:28-2) 009. The warmongers gather their armies to a river flood plain flanked by a strategic hill BoM: The Amlicites gather to hill Amnihu by the Sidon River (225s4l-42) OSYZ - The Sciotans cross the C)waho (or Ohio) River into Kentuck and prepare-for battle on the plains of Geheno; the strategic hill nearby is not named, but it provides refuge for the Kentucks THE BLOODY WAR BETWEEN BRETHERN: (cont'd) 010. The opponents of the warmongers mnrch as armies to curtail the initial hostile activities; these armies are led by the greatest authority fig- ures in the land BoM: "Alm, he being the chief l@idge, and the governor of the people of Nephi, therefore he went up...at-the.head of his armies, against the Amlicites to battle" (225:43-226'-0.4aT 'tAt the he;d of this army (Hamboon Tnqrched against the Sciotang)ll k.l4Oz25-26) 011. The opposing armies meet in a terrible battle in which many are slain BoM: "they slew the Amlicites with a-zreat slaughter 0&4S - "The slaughter was emence" (11+9:20-21) "Great already had been the slaughter (16531-9-20) 012. It appe@@s thatdivine Providence intercedes on behalf of one of the two opposing armies BoM: "The Lord did strengthen the hand of the Nephites" (226907-08) OSMS - Ilthe Great & Good Being had miraculously interposed in their be- half" (l5Ot23-24) 013. There was a lull in hostilities after the initial terrible battle BoM: The Amlicites retreat to join forces with the LAmAnites before the continuation of the battle OSMS - The Sciotans and Kentucks withdraw from fighting, regrouping and calling in reinforcements before the continuation of the battle 014. There was a bloody pursuit at one point in the fighting BoM: The Nephites pursue and slay the Amlicites in the first battle; in the second they pursue the enemy into the refuge of a wilderness called "Hermounts" OSIMS -In the first battle the Sc4-otans pursue the Kentucks to the refuge of forested high ground; other battle scenes in the war are full of retreats and bloody pursuits 015. The horrible prospect of the battle dead and wounded being devoured by wild beasts in the area is mentioned BoM: "devoured by those beasts" (227:39) "by wild beasts' (227:36) OSI'IS - lisecure their remains from ... carnivorous beasts" (151:17-18) THE BLOODY WAR BETWEEN BRETHERN: (cont'd) 016. There was a remarkable incident of single combat between leaders from the two opposing armies in which the combatants fight each other on foot with their swords BoM: Alma contended with the warmonger Amlici in the midst of battle in a swordfight (227:07b--16a) OSMS - I-liseon contended with the warmonger Sambal in the midst of battle in a swordfight (168:18-169:10) 017. In this single combat sword fight one of the contenders pleads that his life be spared BoM: "have mercy and =are my life" (227:03) OSMS - "Spars, 0 St)are my life" (169:06) 018. The warmonger king is slain in this single combat by the sword of a hero from the opposing army BoM: "(Alma) slaw Amlici with the sword" (227sl5-16) OSl,4S - "(Elsson) plunged his sword into Samballs heart' (169zlO) 019. Following this single combat the army of the victor is also victorious BoM: The Nephites win the battle OSMS - The Kentucks win the battle 020.Following this single combat the course of the war changes BoM: The death of Amlici signals the coming end to the war OM4S - The death of Sambal turns the course of the war in favor of the Kentucks 021.While there is single combat between the opposing leaders, there are also battle incidents where leaders avoid just such single combat BoM: The King of the Lamanites avoids single combat with the Nephite military leader (227:16-18) 0&4S - "heroic chiefs prudently avoided a combat with each other"fkl49tlC-11) 022.Attention is given the large number of warriors slain on the battlefield BoM: flafter they had f:Lashed burvine their dead" (228:01-02) OSL@Z - "to bury their dead" (l5lso7-o8) "after the funeral rites were f'inished" (153:20) THE BLOODY WAR BETWEEN BRETHERN: (cont'd) 023. Both texts tell of helpless women and children being slain by the war- riors on the side of the warmongering king, but not by his opponents BoM: many women and Child had been slain ,4ith the sword"(228:04) OSMS - "the infuriated conqueror should turn his vengful sword against defenseless women & children (152tO5) 024. Both texts tell of the opponents of the warmongering king returning to their homeland from a battle to find their property destroyed and their famij.iss slaughtered BoM: "their flocks and their herds; and also many of their fields of grain were destroyed" (228,05@-06) "their wives and their children ... women and children had been slain" (228:03-0,4) OSMS - "the destruction 2L all their property" (159:01) "an indiscrimin- ate slaughter had taken place ... wives & children"(158:30@33) 025. Both texts tell of warriors returning to their homes at the and of a war; both armies in both texts were marshalled militia BoM: "they all returned to their landa" (228:02) OSMS - 'from an earlier battle narrative: "returned in peace to their oim .q ,ou ta.211 -.,n- (079:01) of "L=tttulr=ne_d ... in peace to their own IaacL KBOM: 198:17-18) 026. Both texts tell of the savages of ancient America being a people with a darker skin than the civilized people BoM: The Lqmanites who fight alongside the Amlicites are a dark-ski=ed people despite their common ancest--y with the NeDhites; the 1330 edition B014 text clearly shows a racial bias in favor of light skin OSMS - The Ohians are of a lighter skin than their savage neighbors, the Dbliwan; Lobaska, a highly civilized stranger, is of even a lighter complection than are the Ohians; the OSMS clearly shows a racial bias in favor of light skin 027. Both texts tell that the savages marked their heads with red pigment and had shaven heads BoM: "marked themselves with red, in their foreheads, after the mmnner of the Lamanites ... the heads oZ the Lamanites were shorn" (228:12-15) OSMS - "the head of the men was shayad & painted with red" (o2lsl6) 028. Both texts use similar language in describing the clothing and weapons of these shorn-headed, red-painted warriors BoM: "and they were naked, save it were 2=, which was girded about their loins ... and their MXX.2,XS,.,stones,..,11;Lngs (228:15-18) OSMS - "their clothing consisted of gkinn...only the middle part of their bodies' (021:11-13) 'shooting the arrow, .21;Lng stones"(021:08-09) Comments on Compilation 2 The above listing is by no means an exhaustive one for the Spalding parallels to be found in the Amlicite-Nephite War episode. Still, such a tabulation highlights the fact that that battle narratives in the two works can be very similar, not only in vocabulary used but in event sequences and storyline plotting. The similarities between Amlici and Sambal are multiple, but the similarities in the narratives telling of the respective wars which they caused are really quite remarkable. The Amlicite-Nephite War is only one of the many wars told of in the Book of Mormon. The other Book of Mormon war stories also have their parallels with episodes found in the Spalding story; the Amlicite-Nephite sequence was chosen for inspection over these other war stories primarily because of its simplicity and convenient length. But there is another reason why this Book of Mormon deserves the close attention of anyone investigating claims for a Spalding authorship for the Book of Mormon: this episode was credited to the pen of that writer long before it was known that it had extensive similarities with the story told in the Oberlin Manuscript. When Spalding was living out his last years in -Amity, Pennsylvania, he had a close friend and neighbor by the name of Joseph Miller, who was acquainted with his story-writing. In April of 1869 Miller was interviewed by the local newspaper of Washington County, Pennsylvania as to his knowledge of Solomon Spalding's literary production. In that interview Miller related that he had a memory of his old friend and neighbor having written a story in which certain warriors painted themselves for a battle. Here is Miller's testimony: "Sometime since, a copy of The Book of Mormon came into my hands... I noticed several passages which I recollect having heard Mr. Spalding read from his Manuscript. One passage... I remember distinctly. He speaks of a battle, and says the Amalekites (sic) had marked themselves with red on their foreheads to distinguish them from the Nephites. The thought of being marked on the forehead was so strange, it fixed itself in my memory. This, together with other passages, I remember to have heard Mr. Spalding read from his manuscript." Some ten years later Mr. Miller again gave his statement to a newspaper, this time one published in nearby Pittsburgh, and told substantially the same memory: "on hearing read the account from the book (of Mormon) of the battle between the Amalekites (sic) and the Nephites, in which the soldiers of one army had placed a red mark on their foreheads to distinguish them from their enemies... it seemed to reproduce in my mind not only the narrative, but the very words, as they had been impressed on my mind by the reading of Spalding's manuscript." Whether or not Mr. Miller had an accurate memory regarding the particulars of one of Spalding's manuscripts which he had read or heard read many years before is certainly debatable. His alleged memory may have been only a pseudo-remembrance taken instead from the actual pages of the Book of Mormon itself. Still, it seems a rather unusual coincidence that this old reader of Spalding's works should cite this particular episode from the Book of Mormon as having his old friend's very words in it. As demonstrated above this particular story has numerous similarities to at least one of Salomon Spalding's literary productions. Even the idea of marking the head with red is a notion of Spaldings, though that expression in the Oberlin manuseript does not seem the sort of mentioning which would stick in one's memory for decades. It would appear unlikely that Mr. Miller picked up the idea of warriors marking their heads with red pigment from the Oberlin Maiuscript; it is more likely that he either remembered it from another of Spalding's writings or that he manufactured the idea as a lie. Whatever the answer to this puzzle might be, it adds some external support to the textual evidence that this portion of the Book of Mormon text looks and sounds very much like the writing of Mr. Spalding. References: 1. "Who Wrote the Book of Mormon", _TIM Washington (Pennsylvania) Reporter, April 8, 1869. 2. "The Book of Mormon; A New Claim of Authorship", the Pittsburgh Telegraph, Feb. 6, 1879. |
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Thematic Similarities Compilation 3 THE NIGHT-TIME STRATAGEMS OF TEANCUM (Book of Alma, Chapter XXIII 369:33-370:23 and Chapter XXIX 403:32-404:22, 1830 ed.) OSMS = The Oberlin Spalding Manuscript, page and line(s) THE INVADING ARMY INTERCEPTED: 001. Both accounts tell of an invader army threatening a defender nation in ancient America OSMS: Early in the story a Kentuck army invades the Sciotan lands. In the great war in the latter portion of the story it is the Sciotan armies under leaders such as Rambock, Sambal and Ulipoon that invade the Kentuck lands. 002. Both tell of these invader and defender armies having the same general level of military technology. OSMS: The Kentucks and Sciotans are closely related peoples at the same level of military advancement. Their weapons and armour are primitive, about equal to late bronze age Old World cultures. 003. Both tell of military strategy primarily based upon either massive instances of hand-to-hand combat or upon daring exploits of stratagem. THE INVADING ARMY INTERCEPTED: (cont'd) 003. (cont'd) 004. Both tell of invader armies marching to conquer, unaware that the defender armies were ready to intercept their march. OSMS: In the war story the invading Sciotans are met by a Kentuck army as they attempt to enter Kentuck. Both Sambal and Ulipoon lead Sciotan armies that are intercepted or met by Kentdcks. Moonrod leads a Sciotan army against Gamba but is disappointed in that a Sciotan band of defenders hold him off from his goal. Rambock's march on the Kentuck capital city is intercepted by Hamboon's defenders. 005. Both tell of an invader army driving fleeing citizens before it. OSMS: (the Sciotan army)"arrived before the city of Gamba -- Great indeed was the surprize, the consternation & terror of the citizens -- many fled" (154:24-26). 006. Both tell of the slaughter (or intended slaughter)of helple citizens by the invading army. OSMS: "Wherever the Sciotans marched devastation attended their steps- & all classes of people without distinction of age or sex, who fell into their hands became the victims of their infuriated malice" (153:34-154:02), "The Sciotans... entered the villages, killing the inhabitants who had not made their escape" (156:21-23, "massacre all the citizens who should attempt to make their escape" (164SO2-03). THE INVADING ARMY INTERCEPTED: (cont'd) 007. Both tell of a timely intervention by the defender army which insures the safety of the fleeing citizens. OSMS: "This battle checked the progress of the enemy, which prevented an emmence slaughter of citizens" (157:30-31). 008. Both tell of defenders encircling the invader forces before morning OSMS: "During the night Hanock... surrounded the enemy" (161:17-19). 009. Both tell of attacks upon the enemy army planned for the next morning. OSMS: "Their orders were, as soon as the morning light began to appear, to rush into Ulipoon's encampment & to massacre his warriors (161:20-22). THE PEACEFUL INTERLUDE BETWEEN BATTLES: 010. Both tell of weary soldiers who require rest and thus are unwilling or unable to fight a nearby enemy army. OSMS: Spalding tells of warriors encamping to refresh themselves after a long day's battle (151:02-05). The two opposing armies recognize an implied truce and refrain from hostilities during the night. 011. Both tell that the opposing armies encamped near each other in tents OSMS: "As these two friends were sitting in their tent" (154:26-27). THE PEACEFUL INTERLUDE BETWEEN BATTLES: (cont'd) 012. Both tell of a heroic defender leader who resolves to kill the invader leader who is the main perpetrator of the great war. OSMS: Elseon seeks out the Sciotan leader, Sambal, so that he might slay the man who was the cause of the Sciotan-Kentuck War (167:28-168:18). 013. Both tell that the horrors of the great war could be primarily attributed to the ambition or avarice of two of the invader leaders. OSMS: The Spalding story tells that King Sambal and King Ulipoon were the causes of the death and destruction of the Sciotan-Kentuck War. THE DARING NIGHT-TIME EXPLOIT AGAINST THE INVADERS: 014. Both tell of heroic night-time stratagems by the defenders which are calculated the influence the entire outcome of the Great War. OSMS: Of the several night-time stratagems detailed in the Spalding story, the one in which Kelsock and Hamko slay the enemy warriors is among the most daring and important of the war. By undertaking this exploit they hope to "achieve a glorious deliverance to our country, by destroying our cruel enemies" (154:37-38). 015. Both tell of a sleeping invader in his encampment near the defender encampment at a time when hostilities have temporarily abated. OSMS: The Sciotans lie asleep in their encampment when Kelsock and Hamko sneak across enemy lines to destroy them. THE DARING NIGHT-TIME EXPLOIT AGAINST THE INVADERS: (cont'd) 016. Both tell of defender heroes sneaking across enemy lines to the nearby invader encampment in the dark of night. In each casq the defender heroes are able to approach and enter the enemy camp without detection. The defender heroes are able to move about considerably within the enemy camps without being noticed. OSMS: "these young heroes had accomplished their plan in getting into the camr) of tha Sciotans unperceived" (155:06-07). 017. Both tell of the defender heroes being able to move about the invader camp while the enemy is sleeping. In both cases the heroes are able to locate sleeping victims for their exploit. OSMS:"They found them (the Sciotans) lying in a profound for the fatigues of the day... brought weariness (155:07-09). 018. Both tell of the reason for the deep sleep among the invader warriors in quite similar language. OSMS: "They found them lying in a profound sleep -- for the fatigues of the day...bro't weariness upon them" (155:07-09). 019. Both tell of the sleeping invader enemy being slain by the deft strokes of the heroes weapons. OSMS: Kelsock and Haniko kill many of the sleeping Sciotan warriors. They use tomahawl-s and swords to do the killing. 020. Both tell of a hot pursuit by the invader guards once the defender heroes are discovered. OSMS: "the alarm was given- the Sciotans ... sallied forth"(155:17-19). THE DARING NIGHT-TIME EXPLOIT AGAINST THE INVADERS: (cont'd) 021. Both tell of the pursuing invaders overtaking and slaying the heroes OSMS: The pursuing Sciotans overtake Ramko and slay him before he is able to reach the safety of the Kentuck encampment; also Kelsock. 022. Both texts tell of a warrior being pierced in the chest with a weapon of death and subsequently dying during the exploit. OSMS: "plunged his sword into the heart" (155:29-30), "A spear pierced him in the side" (155:34). 023. Both texts give short eulogy passages mentioning the slain defender heroes who had carried out the exploits OSMS: (see 155:36-37) Comments on Compilation 3 The "Night-Time Stratagem" Stories The presence of thematic similarities between the Teancum exploit stories and the Spalding text is quite evident. The more significant of these similarities are found clustered on OSMS pages 154 and 155 where Kelsock and Hamko carry out their night-time exploit. When this short Spalding episode is subjected to careful examination it proves to be literally "packed" with vocabulary and phraseology characteristic of certain parts of the Book of Mormon text (mostly found in the latter half of Alma). Consider these examples: "all... who fell into their hands" (OSMS: 153:36-154:01), cf. "all the Nephites which fell into their hands" (BoM: 271:08); " fell into their hands became the victims of their infuriated malice" (OSMS: 154:01-02), cf. "fallen into the hands of the Lamanites, and become victims to their hatred" (BoM: 155:10-11); "to gain an advantage over" (OSMS 154:14), cf. "to gain advantage over the Lamanites" (BOM: 529:13-14);" in the great battle of Geheno" (OSMS: 154:23), "after the great and tremendous battle at Camorah" (BoM 532:02); "They found them lying in a profound sleep" (OSMS: 155:08), cf. "in a profound sleep" (BoM: 206:39-40); "to finish the destruction of their enemies" (OSMS: 155:14-15), cf. "even unto the destruction of their enemies" (BoM 058:10) and "unto the destruction of their enemies" (BoM: 075:27-28); "sallied forth in parties" (OSMS: 155:19), cf. "and began to sally forth" (BoM: 384:10-11) and "the Lamanites were sallying forth against us" (BoM: 390:20); "who was attempting to defend himself against" (OSMS: 155:24), cf. "he was preparing to defend himself against" (BoM 371:(09-10); "The young hero fell & with a groan expired" (OSMS: 155:3O-31), cf. "he fell dead without a groan" (BOM: 411:24-25). These examples are but a handful from among the many word-strings shared with the Book of Mormon text, which might be quoted from OSMS pages 154-155. These two pages of text are so like parts if the Book of Mormon text, in so many different ways, that they constitute an exemplary highpoint of Spalding material matching the "Nephite Record" both in story plot and in the words used to relate the story plot. The question must be asked, "Why does the night-time stratagem described in the Spalding text so closely match up with the Teancum night-time stratagem stories?" The primary plausible answer is that the resemblance may well be the result of a common authorship. Perhaps Solomon Spalding was predisposed in his in his writing efforts to repeatedly relate varities of the night-time stratagem tale. If this were the case one might expect to find supporting evidence elsewhere in the texts. Is there such supporting evidence? Indeed there appears to be such in the form of several other stories in the Book of Mormon which highly resemble the night-time stratagems already discussed. Situated between the two Teancum night-time stratagem stories in the Book of Mormon are two accounts of his comrade-in-arms, Captain Moroni, capturing two Lamanite-held cities. Like the Teancum episodes these two accounts also contain a number of structural and thematic elements which cause them to be quite similar to Spalding's Kelsock-Hamko tale (see BoM: 379:36 to 381:06 and 402:11 to 403:04). Two other Book of Mormon stories bearing such Spalding similarities are the episodes where Alma and Ammon each lead a people in their escape from the Lamanites (see BoM: 201:13 to 202:30 and 206:35 to 207:12a). Finally, two more Book of Mormon stories bearing remarkable parallels with the Spalding episode are those of Nephi murdering Laban (BOM: 012:07 to 013:05) and of Gilead the Jaredite's slaughtering the drunken army of Coriantumer (BoM: 560:03b-10). Each of these eight Book of Mormon accounts has structural and thematic elements which link it closely to the Spalding episode and with each of the other seven Book of Mormon stories. The primary elements common to the eight Book of Mormon stories and to the Spalding tale are as follows: (1) all the related major events take place in the darkness of the night, (2) all contain an unconscious "bad guy" enemy who is taken advantage of, and (3) all tell of a successful exploit or stratagem carried out by a resourceful "good guy." Beyond these three general shared plot elements there are numerous cross-similarities in theme and vocabulary which link the several stories one to another. The resulting literary patterns are extraordinary. This is not simply a case in which the Book of Mormon contains a few passages resembling's Spalding's writings; rather it is a case in which the Spalding tale is a ninth episode which fits almost exactly into the pattern of resemblance held in common by the other eight episodes from the Book of Mormon. This phenomenon bears every indication of resulting from something more than a coincidence; it looks very much like an example of shared authorship. In the tabulation which follows these nine stories are briefly compared in such a way as to indicate their leading literary similarities. These similarities generally extend to the majority of the nine stories, although in a few examples their occurance is less extensive. "Night-Time Stratagems" Similarities Tabulation 01. All of the nine similar stories have a night-time setting. BoM: "the brother of Shared did march forth... by night" (569:08-09) "the people of King Limhi did depart by night" (202:13-14) "all the night-time were they gathering their flocks" (206:37) "when the night had come, Teancum... stole forth" (370:09-10) "behold, this was done in the night-time" (380:36-37) "when the night came, Moroni went forth" (402:21-22) "any stratagem in the night-time" (403:39-40) 02. Several of the stories explicitly mention their extending into morning. "the day began to dawn" (155:15) BoM: "And in the morning the Lord caused" (206:38) "the Lamanites awoke in the morning" (380:37) "when the morning came... the Lamanites awoke" (402:36-37) 03. All of the nine similar stories tell of an unconscious enemy. BoM: "their task-masters were in a profound sleep" (206:39-40) "and they were all asleep" (402:26) (Ammoron was obviously sleeping in his camp: see 404:06-08) "they were all drunken... in a deep sleep" (380:14) ties they were drunken" (569:09-10) "he was drunken with wine" (012:17-18) "the Lamanites by night are drunken" (202:37) 04. Several of the stories stress the element of secrecy. BoM: "Nephi crept into the city and went forth" (012:15) "Teancum and his servant stole forth" (370:09-10) "those things were done in a profound silence" (380:23-24) "Moroni went forth in the darkness..to spy" (402:22-23) "resolve upon any stratagem in the night-time" (403:39-40) 05. Enemy lines are crossed; enemy territory entered into or exited from. BoM: "Nephi crept into the city... towards the house of Laban" (012:13-14) "Alma and his people departed (from the Lamanites)" (206:40-41) "went into the camp of Amalickiah" (370:11) "they went to the city Gid while the Lamanites were" (380:18) "into the city by night" (402:34-35) "did go forth into the camp of the Lamanites" (404:03-04) 06. The unconscious enemy is killed in several of the stories. BoM: "smote off his head with his own sword" (013:04-05) "the Nephites could have slain them" (potential only) (380:25-26) "forth against them and slew many" (402:41-42) "did pierce him near the heart... he died" (404:07-08) "and slew part of the army of Coriantumr" (569:09) 07. The hero or heroes of the exploit are pursued by an angry enemy. BoM: "they sent an army...to pursue them" (202:28-29) "the Lamanites had awoke and should come" (potential) (370:20-21) "they did pursue Teancum" (404:09) 08. In two cases the pursuing warriors overtake and slay the respective heroes "The young hero fell -- & with a groan expired" (155:30-31) BoM: "they did pursue Teancum and slew him" (404:09) 09. In two cases there were two of the defenders who crept into the enemy camp. BoM: (Teancum and his servant) 10. The heroes were encamped near their enemy in tents. BoM: "Teancum and his men did pitch their tents" (370:05) "they did pitch their tents" (402:15) "they did encamp for the night" (403:37) (presumed tents) 11. The deep sleep of the enemy had similar causes (exhaustion/intoxication). "the fatigues of the day" (155:08-09) "the revels of the night" (155:09) BoM: "their much fatigue... caused by the labors... of the day" (370:12-13) (see item #3 for revels/drunkeness parallels) 12. In two cases a death from a spear BoM: "a javelin... did pierce him tear the heart" (404:07) 13. Similar unusual and distinctive phraseology occurs. BoM: "in a profound sleep" (206:39-40)
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The common phraseology, thematic elements and sequential structuring of these nine stories should be easily evident to any careful reader. Although different observers may credit the origin of this resemblance to different possible explanations, its presence in the texts cannot be denied. Nor is this an isolated occurrence: the same pattern of shared story elements and similar language can be traced through most of the battle narrative in both texts and extends to various other story plot themes, such as bloodless victories; morality lessons on blood-letting among brethren; explanations of New World earthen tumuli and fortifications, etc. The list of overlapping battle and conflict themes in the two texts is far too extensive to document in this short paper. That narratives supposedly from different pens would rely on wording such as "in a profound sleep" and "in a profound silence" to describe accounts of defender heroes sneaking past similar unconscious enemies is quite remarkable! Use of the word profound in the Book of Mormon is limited to these two particular episodes which so resemble Solomon Spalding's story. While Spalding did not use the term "in a profound silence" in the Oberlin manuscript, a second story attributed to him does contain almost exactly the same prepositional phrase: "the most profound silence" (LSMS 052:13-149) as well as several other phraseology constructions which have the modfier profound. While this secondary evidence is admittedly fragmentary and inconclusive, it appears that Solomon Spalding may have had a predisposition towards using these terms in connection with secretive activities in his stories. The possibility thus exists that they occur the Book of Mormon's similar scenes, because those episodes share a common authorship with the Spalding writings. Even a brief examination of the Teancum night-time stratagem stories must quickly uncover the fact that they are only two of at least eight Book of Mormon stories which so resemble a thematically similar episode in the Oberlin manuscript. Beyond their sharing phraseology and thematic elements with one another and with this one story in the Oberlin manuscript, these eight stories also resemble the narrative comprising several other parts of the Oberlin text. Similarly, the story in the Oberlin document which they greatly resemble has a high degree of stylistic affinity to lengthy segments of the Book of Mormon text. Some of these vocabulary parallels even extend mutually to yet another manuscript which has been credited to Solomon Spalding ("The Romance of Celes"). Although thematic similarities between the two sources were noticed almost at the inception of the Spalding-Rigdon authorship theory, such deep and far-reaching parallels in the texts, as those discussed in this paper, have never before been brought to public attention: if they had been, then there would have been fewer assertions by the Book of Mormon's defenders that it bears no significant resemblances to Spalding's writings. Actually, certain parts of the Latter Day Saint scriptural book do look and sound remarkably like Solomon Spalding's known writings. The night-time stratagem tales, which have such a high degree of visibility in their resemblances to his writing style, are only the iceberg tips of lengthier textual segments in the Book of Mormon where the narrative reads very much like Mr. Spalding's prose, though intermingled with archaic biblical phrases and vocabulary. As such they stand as literary flags to alert even the casual reader to the possibility of there having been a common authorship for the two texts. The night-time stratagem episodes may well be "touchpoints" in story plotting which link together two storylines from the same pen. This deduction gains additional credibility in light of early reports that the Oberlin manuscript was only a rough draft artifact from Solomon Spalding's efforts to produce a fictional history of pre-Columbian America. Those early reports did not state that the manuscript now on file at Oberlin College was precisely a rough draft for sections of the Mormon book, but rather that Spalding's interest in ancient history and in the unexplained artifacts of the mound-builders led him to write speculative pseudo-historical accounts of colonists from the Old World and the rise and fall of their forgotton civilizations. Regardless of any possible literary relationship between the Book of Mormon, Spalding's reported "Manuscript Found," and the Oberlin story, it must be admitted that all three pseudo-histories share this same general plot theme. They are thus related one to another in their sharing this particular thematic element, regardless of any other textual influence or dependance. If the explanation of their having been a common authorship for the night-time stratagem stories indeed approximates what actually happened in Mr. Spalding's fiction writing efforts, then the apparent stylistic similiarties between the Oberlin document and the Book of Mormon begin to be explicable as something other than gross coincidence. This is a subject worthy of further investigation and reporting. Note: The Chronology originally appended to this paper has been moved to the on-line "Spalding Saga" series. |
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