Note 46 — VOL. XXVI., No. 152.—NOVEMBER, 1877. (continued 3)

Many suppose that Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum fabricated plates of some basemetal and imposed them upon their credulous followers. But if they had gone to the trouble of doing this it is probable that they would have shown them to a number of people, and not confined the exhibition to a handful of their immediate associates. The mere fact that evidence as to the existence of any plates at all is so defective seems to us conclusive that there were none—not even forged ones.