| 201 To the Public.
I am informed that Henry Jackson is palming himself on some of the branches of the church, in Iowa, and soliciting donations as an elder of said church, whereas he has been excluded from the church and is not a member.
John Smith, Elder.
Times and Seasons,
City of Nauvoo,
Wednesday, May 15, 1843.
To the Saints Among all Nations.
According to a Revelation, received not long since, it appears to be the duty of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to bring to Nauvoo, their precious things, such as antiquities, and we may say, curiosities, whether animal, vegetable or metalic [metallic] : yea, petrifactions as well as inscriptions and hieroglyphics, for the purpose of establishing a Museum of the great things of God, and the inventions of man, at Nauvoo. We have just received the first donations at the office of President Joseph Smith. Who will come and do likewise?
We have just had the above handed to us, by one of President Smiths' clerks, and feel very much interested in the establishment of a Museum, which would be a receptacle of every thing new and old, ancient and modern, antique, fanciful and substantial-indeed any thing and every thing that has a tendency to throw light upon ancient nations, their manners, customs, implements of husbandry and of war, their costume, ancient records, manuscripts, paintings, hieroglyphics, models of any new invention in the arts and sciences, any thing that has a tendency to throw light upon Geology, Mineralogy, Anatomy, Philosophy, Mechanics or any thing that is calculated to enlighten the mind, enlarge the understanding, gratify the curiosity, and give general information.
Situated as we are, as a people, sending men of intelligence to every nation under Heaven, and to every clime, and having a society that will be composed of all nations, that will gather here from all parts of the world, there is no people that possess such facilities as the Latter Day Saints, for gathering together a collection of this kind.
We would recommend to the Elder that are travelling [traveling], either on this continent or any other, to pay especial attention to this subject. We have not conferred with President Smith on this subject, but would respectfully recommend to the Elders to forward every thing of that kind to Mr. Smith, that he may have the disposal of it.
For the purpose of throwing some light on this subject, we here append a very imperfect description of a collection of this kind which we saw when last in England during an exhibition of the Mechanics Institute in Liverpool.
The following are some notes that we took at the time, July 19th, 1840:
I visited the Mechanics Institute in Liverpool, and such a display of objects illustrative of the Fine Arts, Natural History, Philosophy, Machinery, Manufactures, Antiquities, and of every thing that is grand, noble, interesting, instructing and beautiful, I never before witnessed.
The building, which is large and commodous [commodious], and built at an enormous expense, is in the form of the letter L, and has a stone front Its size I have not ascertained, and can only give a description by saying that, there are seventeen rooms in all, five of which are seventy feet long. It is built on sloping ground, and is three stories high-owing to its location, hover, you go in at the second story, up a few steps. There is a large portico at the entrance, supported by large stone colums [columns]. There are six rooms in each story, beside a large lecture room that is on the second and third stories, with a gallery on three sides. This room is as large as a common sized church. On the top of most of the upper-most rooms in the Picture and Sculpture galleries are placed lantern lights, for a better display of the numerous pictures and sculpture, with which these rooms are studded.
As soon as you enter the door, you come into a spacious Hall, in which are stuffed animals, such as a Lioness and her Cubs, Paintings, specimens of Sculpture, and the Costume of Ancient Warriors, clad in armor; one in a suit of chain armor, another in plate, another armed cap-a-pie, and another in a suit of scale armor. Landscapes, Historical pieces, &c., &c. Two staircases prevent them both of which, as well ass ;the corridor, are studded with sculpture, paintings, statuary, &c., which present a beautiful appearace [appearance]. You ascend the left hand staircase and descend on the right; when you reach the top you turn to the left, on a lobby that extends the whole length of the building, with the exception of the rooms at each end; after going some distance you then turn to the left, on another lobby, which takes you into a large oblong room, at the back part of the building, in the picture gallery. There are above 250 pictures in these rooms, varying in size from 14 or 15 feet square to one foot, the works
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