Part 724

MOREA: Origin of the name.

"The Morea must … have come into general use, as the name of the peninsula [of the Peloponnesus] among the Greeks, after the Latin conquest [of 1204-1205], even allowing that the term was used among foreigners before the arrival of the Franks. … The name Morea was, however, at first applied only to the western coast of the Peloponnesus, or perhaps more particularly to Elis, which the epitome of Strabo points out as a district exclusively Sclavonian, and which, to this day, preserves a number of Sclavonian names. … Originally the word appears to be the same geographical denomination which the Sclavonians of the north had given to a mountain district of Thrace in the chain of Mount Rhodope. In the 14th century the name of this province is written by the Emperor Cantacuzenos, who must have been well acquainted with it personally, Morrha. Even as late as the 14th century, the Morea is mentioned in official documents relating to the Frank principality as a province of the Peloponnesus, though the name was then commonly applied to the whole peninsula."

_G. Finlay, History of Greece from its Conquest by the Crusaders, chapter 1, section 4._

MOREA: The Principality of the.

See ACHAIA: A. D. 1205-1387.

MOREA: End--------

MOREAU, General, The Campaigns and the military and political fortunes of.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1796 (APRIL-OCTOBER); 1796-1797 (OCTOBER-APRIL); 1799 (APRIL-SEPTEMBER), (NOVEMBER); 1800-1801 (MAY-FEBRUARY); and 1804-1805; also, GERMANY: A. D. 1813 (AUGUST).

MORETON BAY DISTRICT.

See AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1800-1840, and 1859.

MORGAN, General Daniel, and the War or the American Revolution.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1780-1781.

MORGAN, General John H., and his raid into Ohio and Indiana.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863 (JULY: KENTUCKY).

MORGAN, William, The abduction of.

See NEW YORK: A. D. 1826-1832.

MORGANATIC MARRIAGES.

"Besides the dowry which was given before the marriage ceremony had been performed, it was customary [among some of the ancient German peoples] for the husband to make his wife a present on the morning after the first night. This was called the 'morgengabe,' or morning gift, the presenting of which, where no previous ceremony had been observed, constituted a particular kind of connexion called matrimonium morganaticam, or 'morganatic marriage. As the liberality of the husband was apt to be excessive, we find the amount limited by the Langobardian laws to one fourth of the bridegroom's substance."

_W. C. Perry, The Franks, chapter 10._

MORGARTEN, Battle or (1315).

See SWITZERLAND: THE THREE FOREST CANTONS.

MORINI, The.

See BELGÆ.

MORISCOES.

This name was given to the Moors in Spain after their nominal and compulsory conversion to Christianity.

See MOORS: A. D. 1492-1609.

MORMAERS, MAARMORS.

A title, signifying great Maer or Steward, borne by certain princes or sub-kings of provinces in Scotland in the 10th and 11th centuries. The Macbeth of history was Mormaer of Moray.

_W. F. Skene, Celtic Scotland, volume 3, pages 49-51._

See, also, SCOTLAND: A. D. 1039-1054.

MORMANS, Battle of.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1814 (JANUARY-MARCH).

MORMONISM: Start--------

MORMONISM: A. D. 1805-1830. Joseph Smith and the Book or Mormon.

"Joseph Smith, Jr., who … appears in the character of the first Mormon prophet, and the putative founder of Mormonism and the Church of Latter Day Saints, was born in Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, December 13, 1805. He was the son of Joseph Smith, Sr., who, with his wife Lucy and their family, removed from Royalton, Vermont, to Palmyra, New York, in the summer of 1816. The family embraced nine children, Joseph, Jr., being the fourth in the order of their ages. … At Palmyra, Mr. Smith, Sr., opened 'a cake and beer shop,' as described by his signboard, doing business on a small scale, by the profits of which, added to the earnings of an occasional day's work on hire by himself and his elder sons, for the village and farming people, he was understood to secure a scanty but honest living for himself and family. … In 1818 they settled upon a nearly wild or unimproved piece of land, mostly covered with standing timber, situate about two miles south of Palmyra. … Little improvement was made upon this land by the Smith family in the way of clearing, fencing, or tillage. … The larger proportion of the time of the Smiths … was spent in hunting and fishing … and idly lounging around the stores and shops in the village. … At this period in the life and career of Joseph Smith, Jr., or 'Joe Smith,' as he was universally named, and the Smith family, they were popularly regarded as an illiterate, whiskey-drinking, shiftless, irreligious race of people—the first named, the chief subject of this biography, being unanimously voted the laziest and most worthless of the generation. … Taciturnity was among his characteristic idiosyncrasies, and he seldom spoke to anyone outside of his intimate associates, except when first addressed by another; and then, by reason of his extravagancies of statement, his word was received with the least confidence by those who knew him best. He could utter the most palpable exaggeration or marvellous absurdity with the utmost apparent gravity. … He was, however, proverbially good-natured, very rarely if ever indulging in any combative spirit toward anyone, whatever might be the provocation, and yet was never known to laugh. Albeit, he seemed to be the pride of his indulgent father, who has been heard to boast of him as the 'genus of the family,' quoting his own expression. Joseph, moreover, as he grew in years, had learned to read comprehensively, in which qualification he was far in advance of his elder brother, and even of his father. … As he … advanced in reading and knowledge, he assumed a spiritual or religious turn of mind, and frequently perused the Bible, becoming quite familiar with portions thereof. … The final conclusion announced by him was, that all sectarianism was fallacious, all the churches on a false foundation, and the Bible a fable. … In September, 1819, a curious stone was found in the digging of a well upon the premises of Mr. Clark Chase, near Palmyra. This stone attracted particular notice on account of its peculiar shape, resembling that of a child's foot. It was of a whitish, glassy appearance, though opaque, resembling quartz. {2231} Joseph Smith, Sr., and his elder sons Alvin and Hyrum, did the chief labor of this well-digging, and Joseph, Jr., who had been a frequenter in the progress of the work, as an idle looker-on and lounger, manifested a special fancy for this geological curiosity, and he carried it home with him. … Very soon the pretension transpired that he could see wonderful things by its aid. … The most glittering sights revealed to the mortal vision of the young impostor, in the manner stated, were hidden treasures of great value, including enormous deposits of gold and silver sealed in earthen pots or iron chests, and buried in the earth in the immediate vicinity of the place where he stood. These discoveries finally became too dazzling for his eyes in daylight, and he had to shade his vision by looking at the stone in his hat! … The imposture was renewed and repeated at frequent intervals from 1820 to 1827, various localities being the scenes of … delusive searches for money [for carrying on which Smith collected contributions from his dupes], as pointed out by the revelations of the magic stone. … Numerous traces of the excavations left by Smith are yet remaining as evidences of his impostures and the folly of his dupes, though most of them have become obliterated by the clearing off and tilling of the lands where they were made." In the summer of 1827 "Smith had a remarkable vision. He pretended that, while engaged in secret prayer, alone in the wilderness, an 'angel of the Lord' appeared to him, with the glad tidings that 'all his sins had been forgiven'; … also that he had received a 'promise that the true doctrine and the fulness of the doctrine and the fulness of the gospel should at some future time be revealed to him.' … In the fall of the same year Smith had yet a more miraculous and astonishing vision than any preceding one. He now arrogated to himself, by authority of 'the spirit of revelation,' and in accordance with the previous 'promises' made to him, a far higher sphere in the scale of human existence, assuming to possess the gift and power of 'prophet, seer, and revelator.' On this assumption he announced to his family friends and the bigoted persons who had adhered to his supernaturalism, that he was 'commanded,' upon a secretly fixed day and hour, to go alone to a certain spot revealed to him by the angel, and there take out of the earth a metallic book of great antiquity in its origin, and of immortal importance in its consequences to the world, which was a record, in mystic letters or characters, of the long-lost tribes of Israel, … who had primarily inhabited this continent, and which no human being besides himself could see and live; and the power to translate which to the nations of the earth was also given to him only, as the chosen servant of God. … Accordingly, when the appointed hour came, the prophet, assuming his practised air of mystery, took in hand his money-digging spade and a large napkin, and went off in silence and alone in the solitude of the forest, and after an absence of some three hours returned, apparently with his sacred charge concealed within the folds of the napkin. … With the book was also found, or so pretended, a huge pair of spectacles in a perfect state of preservation, or the Urim and Thummim, as afterward interpreted, whereby the mystic record was to be translated and the wonderful dealings of God revealed to man, by the superhuman power of Joseph Smith. … The sacred treasure was not seen by mortal eyes, save those of the one anointed, until after the lapse of a year or longer time, when it was found expedient to have a new revelation, as Smith's bare word had utterly failed to gain a convert beyond his original circle of believers. By this amended revelation, the veritable existence of the book was certified to by eleven witnesses of Smith's selection. It was then heralded as the Golden Bible, or Book of Mormon, and as the beginning of a new gospel dispensation. … The spot from which the book is alleged to have been taken is the yet partially visible pit where the money speculators had previously dug for another kind of treasure, which is upon the summit of what has ever since been known as 'Mormon Hill,' now owned by Mr. Anson Robinson, in the town of Manchester, New York. This book … was finally described by Smith and his echoes as consisting of metallic leaves or plates resembling gold, bound together in a volume by three rings running through one edge of them, the leaves opening like an ordinary paper book. … Translations and interpretations were now entered upon by the prophet," and in 1830 the "Book of Mormon" was printed and published at Palmyra, New York, a well-to-do farmer, Martin Harris, paying the expense. "In claiming for the statements herein set forth the character of fairness and authenticity, it is perhaps appropriate to add … that the locality of the malversations resulting in the Mormon scheme is the author's birthplace; that he was well acquainted with 'Joe Smith,' the first Mormon prophet, and with his father and all the Smith family, since their removal to Palmyra from Vermont … ; that he was equally acquainted with Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery, and with most of the earlier followers of Smith, either as money-diggers or Mormons; that he established at Palmyra, in 1823, and was for many years editor and proprietor of the 'Wayne Sentinel,' and was editorially connected with that paper at the printing by its press of the original edition of the 'Book of Mormon' in 1830; that in the progress of the work he performed much of the reading of the proof-sheets, comparing the same with the manuscript copies, and in the meantime had frequent and familiar interviews with the pioneer Mormons."

_P. Tucker, Origin, Rise and Progress of Mormonism, chapters 1-5, and preface._

It is believed by many that the groundwork of the Book of Mormon was supplied by an ingenious romance, written about 1814 by the Rev. Solomon Spalding, a Presbyterian minister of some learning and literary ability, then living at New Salem (now Conneaut), Ohio. This romance, which was entitled "The Manuscript Found," purported to narrate the history of a migration of the lost ten tribes of Israel to America. It was never published; but members of Mr. Spalding's family, and other persons, who read it or heard it read, in manuscript, claimed confidently, after the appearance of the Book of Mormon that the main body of the narrative and the notable names introduced in it were identical with those of the latter. Some circumstances, moreover, seemed to indicate a probability that Mr. Spalding's manuscript, being left during several weeks with a publisher named Patterson, at Pittsburgh, came there into the hands of one Sidney Rigdon, a young printer, who appeared subsequently as one of the leading missionaries of Mormonism, and who is believed to have visited Joseph Smith, at Palmyra, before the Book of Mormon came to light. {2232} On the other hand, Mormon believers have, latterly, made much of the fact that a manuscript romance without title, by Solomon Spalding, was found, not many years since, in the Sandwich Islands, by President Fairchild of Oberlin College, Ohio, and proved to bear no resemblance to the Book of Mormon. Spalding is said, however, to have written several romances, and, if so, nothing is proved by this discovery.

_T. Gregg, The Prophet of Palmyra, chapters 1-11 and 41-45._

ALSO IN: _E. E. Dickinson, New Light on Mormonism._

_J. M. Kennedy, Early Days of Mormonism, chapters 1-2._

MORMONISM: A. D. 1830-1846. The First Hegira to Kirtland, Ohio, the Second to Missouri, the Third to Nauvoo, Illinois. The Danites. The building of the city and its Temple. Hostility of the Gentiles. The slaying of the Prophet.

"Immediately after the publication of the Book the Church was duly organized at Manchester. On April 6, 1830, six members were ordained elders—Joseph Smith, Sr., Joseph Smith, Jr., Hyrum Smith, Samuel Smith, Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Knight. The first conference was held at Fayette, Seneca county, in June. A special 'revelation' at this time made Smith's wife 'the Elect Lady and Daughter of God,' with the high-sounding title of 'Electa Cyria.' In later years this lady became disgusted with her husband's religion. … Another revelation was to the effect that Palmyra was not the gathering-place of the Saints, after all, but that they should proceed to Kirtland, in Ohio. Consequently, the early part of 1831 saw them colonized in that place, the move being known as 'The First Hegira.' Still another revelation (on the 6th of June) stated that some point in Missouri was the reliable spot. Smith immediately selected a tract in Jackson county, near Independence. By 1833 the few Mormons who had moved thither were so persecuted that they went into Clay county, and thence, in 1838, into Caldwell county, naming their settlement 'Far West.' The main body of the Mormons, however, remained in Kirtland from 1831 till they were forced to join their Western brethren in 1838. Brigham Young, another native of Vermont, joined at Kirtland in 1832, and was ordained an elder. The conference of elders on May 3, 1833, repudiated the name of Mormons and adopted that of 'Latter-Day Saints.' The first presidency consisted of Smith, Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. In May, 1835, the Twelve Apostles—among them Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde—left on a mission for proselytes. … The Mormons were driven from Missouri by Governor Boggs's 'Extraordinary Order,' which caused them to gain sympathy as having been persecuted in a slave State. They moved to Hancock county, Illinois, in 1840, and built up Nauvoo [on the Mississippi River, 14 miles above Keokuk] by a charter with most unusual privileges."

_F. G. Mather, The Early Days of Mormonism (Lippincott's Magazine, August 1880)._

In the midst of the troubles of Smith and his followers in Missouri, and before their removal to Nauvoo, there arose among them "the mysterious and much dreaded band that finally took the name of Danites, or sons of Dan, concerning which so much has been said while so little is known, some of the Mormons even denying its existence. But of this there is no question. Says Burton: 'The Danite band, a name of fear in the Mississippi Valley, is said by anti-Mormons to consist of men between the ages of 17 and 49. They were originally termed Daughters of Gideon, Destroying Angels—the gentiles say devils—and, finally, Sons of Dan, or Danites, from one of whom was prophesied he should be a serpent in the path. They were organized about 1837 under D. W. Patten, popularly called Captain Fearnot, for the purpose of dealing as avengers of blood with gentiles; in fact they formed a kind of death society, desperadoes, thugs, hashshashiyun—in plain English, assassins in the name of the Lord. The Mormons declare categorically the whole and every particular to be the calumnious invention of the impostor and arch apostate, Mr. John C. Bennett. John Hyde, a seceder, states that the Danite band, or the United Brothers of Gideon, was organized on the 4th of July, 1838, and was placed under the command of the apostle David Patten, who for the purpose assumed the name of Captain Fearnot. It is the opinion of some that the Danite band, or Destroying Angels as again they are called, was organized at the recommendation of the governor of Missouri as a means of self-defence against persecutions in that State."

_H. H. Bancroft, History of the Pacific States, volume 21, pages 124-126._

"The Mormons first attracted national notice about the time they quitted Missouri to escape persecution and took refuge in Illinois. In that free State a tract of land was granted them and a charter too carelessly liberal in terms. The whole body, already numbering about 15,000, gathered into a new city of their own, which their prophet, in obedience to a revelation, named Nauvoo; here a body of militia was formed under the name of the Nauvoo legion; and Joe Smith, as mayor, military commander, and supreme head of the Church, exerted an authority almost despotic. The wilderness blossomed and rejoiced, and on a lofty height of this holy city was begun a grotesque temple, built of limestone, with huge monolithic pillars which displayed carvings of moons and suns. … Nauvoo was well laid out, with wide streets which sloped towards well-cultivated farms; all was thrift and sobriety, no spirituous liquors were drunk, and the colonists here, as in their former settlements, furnished the pattern of insect industry. The wonderful proselyting work of this new sect abroad had already begun, and recruits came over from the overplus toilers in the British factory towns. … But there was something in the methods of this sect, not to speak of the jealousy they excited by their prosperity, which bred them trouble here as everywhere else where they came in contact with American commonplace life. It was whispered that the hierarchy of impostors grew rich upon the toils of their simple followers. Polygamy had not yet received the sanction of a divine revelation; and yet the first step towards it was practised in the theory of 'sealing wives' spiritually, which Smith had begun in some mysterious way that it baffled the gentile to discover. Sheriffs, too, were forbidden to serve civil process in Nauvoo without the written permission of its mayor. {2233} All these strange scandals of heathenish pranks, and more, besides, stirred up the neighboring gentiles, plain Illinois backwoodsmen; and the more so that, besides his 3,000 militia, the Mormon prophet controlled 6,000 votes, which, in the close Presidential canvass of 1844, might have been enough to decide the election. Joe Smith, indeed, whose Church nominated him for President, showed a fatal but thoroughly American disposition at this time to carry his power into politics. This king of plain speech, who dressed as a journeyman carpenter, suppressed a newspaper which was set up by seceding Mormons. When complaint was made he resisted Illinois process and proclaimed martial law; the citizens of the surrounding towns armed for a fight. Joe Smith was arrested and thrown into jail at Carthage with his brother Hiram. The rumor spreading that the governor was disposed to release these prisoners, a disorderly band gathered at the jail and shot them [June 27, 1844]. Thus perished Smith, the Mormon founder. His death at first created terror and confusion among his followers, but Brigham Young, his successor, proved a man of great force and sagacity. The exasperated gentiles clamored loudly to expel these religious fanatics from Illinois as they had been expelled from Missouri; and finally, to prevent a civil war, the governor of the State took forcible possession of the holy city, with its unfinished temple, while the Mormon charter of Nauvoo was repealed by the legislature. The Mormons now determined [1846] upon the course which was most suited to their growth, and left American pioneer society to found their New Jerusalem on more enduring foundations west of the Rocky Mountains."

_J. Schouler, History of the United States, volume 4, pages 547-549._

ALSO IN: _T. Ford, History of Illinois, chapters 8 and 10-11._

_A. Davidson and B. Stuvé, History of Illinois, chapter 41._

_J. Remy and J. Brenchley, Journey to Great Salt Lake City, book 2, chapters 2-3 (volume 1)._

_R. F. Burton, The City of the Saints, page 359._

MORMONISM: A. D. 1846-1848. The gentile attack on Nauvoo. Exodus of "the Saints" into the wilderness of the West. Their settlement on the Great Salt Lake.