Source:John Quincy Adams:The Birth of Mormonism:Even when he put them on, the light became so dazzling that he was obliged to look through his hat

John Quincy Adams (1916): "it was instant death for any one but Joe to use them. Even when he put them on, the light became so dazzling that he was obliged to look through his hat"

John Quincy Adams (1916): "it was instant death for any one but Joe to use them. Even when he put them on, the light became so dazzling that he was obliged to look through his hat"

John Quincy Adams:

The process of translating the “reformed Egyptian” plates was simple though peculiar. It was all done with the Urim and Thummim spectacles, but it was instant death for any one but Joe to use them. Even when he put them on, the light became so dazzling that he was obliged to look through his hat. Moreover, when so engaged, no profane eyes were allowed to see him or the hat. Alone, behind a blanket stretched across the room, Joe looked into his hat and read the mystic words.