imagine would be enough to shake the whole fabric of imposture she had raised, but, on the contrary, her dupes not only believed it, but actually prepared a gorgeous cradle for the Shiloh, and crowded round her residence at the appointed time, in expectation of the joyful event. Midnight passed, and they were told she fell into a trance. She died on the 27th of the following December, declaring that if she was deceived, it must be by some spirit, good or bad, and was buried in Paddington churchyard. A post mortem examination showed that she died of dropsy. Among other reveries, she taught the doctrine of the Millennium. The strangest thing of all is that the delusion did not cease at her death; her followers still exist as a sect, though not numerous. They are distinguished by wearing brown coats and long beards, and by other peculiarities. It is supposed they expect the reappearance of their prophetess.
9. A new sect sprung up in the United States of America only a few years since. They were called Mormons, or Latter-Day Saints. It is very generally believed along the sea-board of the States, that the buccaneers of the seventeenth century, and the loyalists in the late revolution, buried large sums of money, and that all traces of the place of concealment were lost by their death. Several idle persons pave taken up the trade of exploring for this concealed treasure, and are known by the name of "Money Diggers," calculating, like the alchymists of old, on the avaricious credulity of their dupes. The prophet and founder of Mormonism, {Joe Smith, followed this profession. Not he alone, but his whole family, were remarkable for a total absence of every quality which constitutes honest men. Smith was well aware, from his former profession, of the credulity of many of his countrymen, so he gave out that he had a revelation from above, that he was received up into the midst of a blaze of light, and saw two heavenly personages who told him his sins were forgiven, that the world was all in error in religious matters, and that in due season the truth would be revealed through him. It was next revealed to him that the aborigines, the "red men" of America, were a remnant of the tribes of Israel, whose colour was miraculously changed as a punishment for their sins, and whose prophets deposited a book of Divine records, engraved on plates of gold, and buried in a stone chest in a part of the State of New York. Smith searched for the treasure and found it, but was not allowed to remove it until he had learned the Egyptian language in which it was written. In 1827 he was at last allowed to take possession of it, and published an English version in 1830. His father and others were partners in the scheme. The rhapsody made a deep impression on the uncultivated minds of many—especially among the lower orders—in the States, and a congregation was formed, usually called Mormonites, from the Book
