Samuel Hawthornthwaite, a former Latter-day Saint, in his 1857 book written against "Mormonism" acts as a hostile witness to early Latter-day Saint belief in baptismal regeneration (a doctrine many modern Church members seem to be embarrassed of):
No sooner was my head above
water, and I felt my feet again, than I made a rush from the watery element to terra
firma, leaving my companion to get out as best he could. The Saints struck
up a Mormon hymn, while two or three of the brethren gathered round me, and
gave me an extraordinary good rubbing with a rough towel, which in a few
minutes transported me from the torrid zone to a tropical climate. Before I
went into the water I was a Gentile and an alien, but now, being born again, I
entered into the brotherhood in first-rate style; the consequence was, they
flocked round me in groups, to wish me happiness on my advent into the new
family.
. . .
On the Sunday afternoon following
my water baptism, I attended the meeting of the Saints in the Hall of Science,
Manchester. This was a large square room, well filled with brethren and
sisters, who had assembled for the purpose of receiving the sacrament of bread
and wine, and holding their usual Church meeting. I no sooner entered the room
than I became the "observed of all observers," all eyes being fixed
upon me as their new-born brother. I seated myself in the most obscure part of
the room I could find, in order to screen myself from the scrutiny of my too
inquisitive relations. After singing and prayer, the presiding Elder gave out
the notice, that if there were any persons present who had been baptized and
had not had hands laid upon them for the gift of the Holy Ghost, they must sit
on a certain form placed near the stand. A person led me to the top of the
room, where I sat myself down on the form; the three principal Elders came down
from the platform and surrounded me; they then put their hands on my head, and
one of them delivered the following speech in a very solemn and distinct tone:
"Dearly beloved brother, we,
the servants of the Most High God, lay our hands upon your head in the name of
Jesus Christ, and by virtue and authority of the Priesthood invested in us, to
confirm you a member in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints; and,
inasmuch as you have been baptized for the remission of sins, we say unto you,
that your sins are all forgiven you. And also, by the same authority, we give
and confer upon you the gift of the Holy Ghost, which shall be in you as a well
of water springing up to eternal life; it shall show you things past, things
present, and things to come, and guide you into all truth. Which blessing we
seal upon you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and by
virtue and authority of the Priesthood invested in us. Amen." (Samuel Hawthornthwaite,
Mr. Hawthornthwaite’s Adventures Among the Mormons as an Elder, During the
Last Eight Years [Manchester, UK: Samuel Hawthornthwaite, 1857], 84, 85-86)
