About two years since, Smith pretended to have been directed, in a dream, or vision, to a certain spot located between the village of Palmyra and Manchester. A slight excavation of the earth, enabled him to arrive at this new revelation, written in mysterious characters upon gold plates. A pair of spectacles, of strange and peculiar construction were found with the plates, to aid the optics of the prophet. Soon after another very fortunate circumstance occurred. This was the introduction of Oliver Cowdery, to whom, and whom only, was given the ability—with the aid of spectacles-to translate the mysterious characters . . .