Mormonism owes its birth to trifling employment of time by a minister of the gospel! Its Book of Mormon, on which it is built, was written by one Reverend Solomon Spaulding during a period of delicate health. To beguile the time, he composed a silly religious fiction, intending to publish it as a romance. This was certainly a trifling employment for a man of God, a supposed minister of Christ.

What was the result? He died without sending his manuscript to the press. Joseph Smith, by some means not known to the public, gained possession of it, and conceived the scheme of publishing it as a revelation from heaven. He executed his plan, published the book, founded a sect, and became the apostle of a most successful and dangerous imposture of modern times.
~ From an article in Biblical Treasury