| 499 Account of Baska, Government and Money. The Introduction begins thus: "Near the west bank of the Coneaught River there are the remains of an ancient fort. As I was walking and forming various conjectures respecting the character, situation and numbers of those people who far exceeded the present race of Indians in works of art and ingenuity, I happened to tread on a flat stone." This is then described as being the cover of an artificial cave, eight feet deep. In the side of this cave a recess is seen, in which an earthen jar is found, containing twenty-eight parchment sheets, "written in an elegant hand, with Roman letters and in the Latin language." Then follows what purports to be a translation of one of these sheets, relating the adventures of Fabius, a young Roman sent by the Emperor Constantine from Rome to Britain, but driven by a storm to the coast of America. The wanderings of the shipwrecked party to the West are next described, and account given of the people, the Ohons, then living in the interior, with their manners and customs, and their wars with King Bombal and the Kentucks, Hadoram, king of Sciota, the Emperor Labmak and the allied nations under Habosan, king of Chianga, Ulipoon, king of Michegan, etc. Here is a specimen of the style: "While Labanco was engaged in conflict with another chief, Sambul thrust his sword into his side. Thus Labanco fell, lamented and beloved by all the subjects of Kentuck. His learning, wisdom and penetration of mind, his integrity and courage had gained him universal respect and given him a commanding influence over the emperor and his other counselors."
There is no attempt whatever to imitate Bible language, and to introduce quotations from the Bible, as in the Book of Mormon. On the contrary, Reverend Solomon Spalding seems to have been a man who had no very high regard for the Bible. There are two manuscript leaves in the parcel of the same size and handwriting as the other one hundred seventy-one pages of manuscript. A few sentences will show the views of the writer. "It is enough for me to know that propositions which are in contradiction to each other can not both be true, and that doctrines and facts which represent the Supreme Being as a barbarous and cruel tyrant can never be dictated by infinite wisdom. . . . But, notwithstanding I disavow my believe in the divinity of the Bible, and consider it as a mere human production, designed to enrich and aggrandize its authors, yet casting aside a considerable mass of rubbish and fanatical rant, I find that it contains a system of ethics, or morals, which can not be excelled on account of their tendency to ameliorate the condition of man." It would seem improbable from such avowed belief that Reverend Solomon Spalding was an orthodox minister, who wrote the Book of Mormon in biblical style, while in poor health, for his own amusement. The statement is more probable that he wrote this Manuscript Found, with the idea of making a little money, if he could find some one to print it for him.
It is evident from an inspection of this Manuscript, and from the above statements, that whoever wrote the Book of Mormon, Solomon Spalding
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