[270]
CHAPTER II.
THE MORMON CHURCH UNTIL THE FOUNDATION
OF NAUVOO, 1830-1839.M
FIRST ACTS OF THE NEW CHURCH. -- FIRST CONVERSIONS. -- FIRST
MISSIONS. -- THE CHURCH OF KIRTLAND. -- ESTABLISHMENT OF
ZION IN MISSOURI. -- THE PROPHET TARRED AND FEATHERED. --
THE BOOK
OF ABRAHAM. -- CONSECRATION OF THE TEMPLE AT KIRTLAND. --
NEW PERSECUTIONS IN MISSOURI. -- THE PROPHET AS A
FINANCIER. -- FLIGHT OF THE PROPHET. -- WAR BY THE PEOPLE OF
MISSOURI AGAINST THE MORMON S. -- THE PROPHET PRISONER. --
TRIBULATIONS OF THE SAINTS. -- THE FIRST EXODUS. -- EPISTLE OF
THE CAPTIVE PROPHET. -- SECRET CEREMONY.
The epoch of travail, an epoch comparatively obscure in the history of
Mormonism, ends with the organization of the Church, which took place
on Tuesday, the 6th of April, 1830. From this period, uncertainty as to the
facts together with contradictory statements ceases, and give way to the light
of history. If there were some obscurity around the cradle of the new creed,
as there is around the origin of more ancient creeds, it now disappears, and
the system of imposture, upon which the new institution is based, is
[271]
henceforth exposed to the broad light of day. It may be admitted, -- and it is
assuredly a fact which has an important bearing on the study of history in
general, and on the investigation of religious truth in particular, that any
obscurity should have been possible respecting the origin of a dogma of
which the founder belongs to the present generation; -- it may be admitted, I
say, that we shall never know to a :certainty whether Joseph were or were
not a visionary at the commencement of his career; or it may be a matter for
dispute whether the discovery of the Book of Mormon, and of the plates,
were, or were not, the work of supernatural inspiration; but, at the point
which we have now reached, all possibility of doubt is at an end. The
remainder of the life of the founder of Mormonism, from this time, will
show him resolutely intent upon his work, and playing openly, or at least
under a veil easily seen through, the part of an impostor, a part one
hesitates to attribute to him when only fifteen, that is to say, at an age when
man is almost without self-knowledge or any experience of life, and when
he is more likely to receive impressions than to originate ideas.
In the new period we are about to enter, we shall meet at every step with
revelations, and even miracles; with all that supernatural apparatus which
accompanies and consecrates the birth of all religions; and, what is perhaps
even more striking, with that which, more than miracles themselves,
contributes to confirm and to propagate them, persecution
[272]
and martyrdom. In this spectacle of a new religion, developed in the midst
of the nineteenth century, in the bosom of a great and powerful society,
there will not be a single feature lacking of those which history proves did
accompany, or gives us reason to suppose must have accompanied, the
outset of all the early religions of the world.
If ever Mormonism fulfills the great destinies to which it professes to
be called, the Sunday which fell on the 11th of April, 1830, will ever be a
memorable moment in the world's history; for on this day occurred the
earliest celebration of the new religion. The first sermon was preached at
Fayette, in the house of the Whitmers, by Oliver Cowdery, and the effect of
the new word was not long without its results. The very same day six
converts were baptized in the water of Lake Seneca; and seven more, some
days after, followed their example.
During the same month of April the first miracle was worked by the
Prophet; it was at Colvesville (in Broom county, N. Y.), on the person of
Newel Knight, who was possessed with a devil. Joseph cast him out, by
imposition of hands, and immediately the possessed man saw the devil fly
out of him, and at once got rid of the contortions which had rendered him
an object of horror to the whole neighbourhood. Several individuals who
witnessed this miracle yielded to the evidence, and swelled the number of
the faithful by being baptized.
[273]
On the Ist of June, 1830, the Church, then numbering thirty, held its first
conference at Fayette, in the presence of a certain number of believers, yet
unbaptized. The Communion was administered in both kinds; then
confirmation followed; after which several persons were ordained to
different degrees of the sacerdotal order. Enthusiasm ran so high at this
meeting, that several fresh marvels were, performed. Under the inspiration
of the Holy Ghost, several prophesied; others. saw the heavens open, and
were in such ecstasies that they fainted away, and were obliged to be carried
to their beds, utterly exhausted by their excitement, the hearts of all of them
overflowing with love, "glory," and pleasure, to an inexpressible degree.
When they came to again, the faithful around them thundered forth
hosannahs to God and to the Lamb.
Many were baptized after this conference. The success of the Church went
on increasing daily, together with its miracles. The halt recovered the use of
their limbs, the blind their sight, the deaf their hearing; the dropsied became
immediately sound, and all kinds of ailments were miraculously healed.
Whether the miracles occurred or not, it is certain that some were found to
believe in them. Even now, persons are to be met with who affirm that they
witnessed them, and to whom the fact of their occurrence is of itself a
sufficient and certain sign of the truth of Mormonism.
But in no time, and in no country, not even where liberty
[274]
of conscience prevails, is the post of prophet without some peril; all that
departs from the usual order of things must pay for it in this world.
Mormons are not exempt from this fatal law. Some time after the
manifestation of these miracles, the people in their vicinity began to be
uneasy at the progress of the growing sect, and cabals were formed. The
Prophet was again brought up before a magistrate as a disturber of the public
peace, and as a swindler; charges which, though sustained by bitter enemies,
were victoriously refuted; Joseph was acquitted, not, however, until he had
been subject to barbarous treatment, which it is difficult, leaving opinions
out of the question, not to condemn.
Other persecutions succeeded to this first trial, but Joseph always managed
to foil the machinations of his enemies, and professed to find his reward for
these sufferings in new revelations, which he daily received. One of these
Divine communications, dated Harmony (Pennsylvania), July, 1830, named
Emma, the Prophet's wife, the Elect Lady, the daughter of God, and
commanded her to act as secretary to her husband during Oliver Cowdery's
absence, and moreover commissioned her to prepare a selection of Psalms
for the new Church.
All the brothers of the Prophet had been ordained priests, even Don
Carlos, who was scarcely fourteen. Samuel was sent to Livonia, to preach, and
diffuse the Book of Mormon. He had the glory of converting and baptizing
[275]
Brigham Young, who became a zealous apostle of the new faith, and for
whom was reserved an extraordinary destiny.
Whilst missionaries were sent to the east to propagate the doctrine, Joseph
preached at Harmony, where he had fixed his residence. In the month of
August new persecutions compelled him to leave this place and return to
Fayette (N.Y.). There, finding that some of his disciples, amongst others
Cowdery, arrogated to themselves the power of receiving communications
direct from God, Joseph quickly obtained a revelation by which Jehovah
reproved these presumptuous men, and accorded to the Prophet alone the
power of communicating with heaven.
About the same time a brilliant conquest, and one of immense importance,
was made by the new sect. Parley P. Pratt, a Campbellist minister, of rare
eloquence and acquirements, came to hear the Mormon orators, and to
refute them. A sermon of Joseph's, which he heard one Sunday in the
month of August, at Manchester, sufficed to convince him of the Divine
mission of the new reformer. The following day he applied for baptism and
admission into the priesthood. The ardent proselyte at once set to work to
make converts to the Mormon faith, and on the 19th of September he
baptized, at Canaan (N. Y.), his brother, Orson Pratt, who was only nineteen,
but who soon became one of the mainstays of the Church.
At the same time Joseph received a revelation commanding several
apostles to go and preach the, new religion to
[276]
the gentiles and the Lamanites. Among the missionaries who, in obedience
to this order from above, started for the west, as far as Missouri, were Parley
Pratt, and O. Cowdery. These two apostles stopped at Kirtland (Ohio), where
they converted to their faith the famous Sidney S. Rigdon, a preacher of
talent, but of a wavering mind, who had already several times changed his
religion. This was an acquisition of importance. Although deficient in
general knowledge, Rigdon was a very eloquent minister, well versed in the
Holy Scriptures. His conversion led to that of the greater part of the
followers whom his eloquence had attached to him in his former Church,
and Mormonism attained, in this manner, a footing, and the nucleus of a
religious community, in the State of Ohio.
John Whitmer was sent to preside over the Church of Kirtland, while the
missionaries continued their course towards Missouri. In the month of
December, Joseph received a visit from Sidney S. Rigdon and Edward
Partridge, a spontaneous homage which must have greatly flattered the
pride of the Prophet. Edward Partridge, after being at some pains to ascertain
the truth, was baptized, in midwinter, in the river Seneca, and received the
title of Bishop.
After the publication of the Book of Mormon, Joseph set to work
translating the Old Testament; but, about the month of December, God
commanded him to give up this translation, and to go to Kirtland. He started
in January
[277]
1831, accompanied by his wife, by Rigdon, Partridge, etc. Preaching as they
went, wherever they found an opportunity, they made numerous
proselytes, and arrived at Kirtland in the early part of February. In this place
the Mormon flock amounted to about a hundred believers: "but the spirit
of the devil had got possession of some souls, and propagated many errors."
Joseph lost no time in encountering and casting out the evil spirit.
Meantime revelations followed each other, according to the need of the
revealer and his cause. He received one which commanded the people to
build a house for the Prophet: a few days afterwards, on the 9th of February,
another commanded all the faithful, except the Prophet and Rigdon, to go
forth and preach in couples, and moreover proclaimed several laws for the
Church. A third, in the month of March, directed John Whitmer to write
the annals of the Church for the edification of posterity. This seed bore fruit.
About the month of May, many believers from the State of New York came
and settled at Kirtland, where they purchased land. W. W. Phelps, an
intelligent man, not perhaps of very deep, but of varied knowledge, of
restless imagination, and fitted to play many parts, came and placed himself
and his family at the disposal of the Prophet.
About the game time, on the 6th of June, a meeting of elders took place at
Kirtland, according to instructions given by God. The Order of Melchisedek
was there conferred for the first time, upon some of the elders. A few
[278]
days afterwards a revelation made known to the Saints that the land of
Missouri was destined to be their inheritance, and commanded the Prophet,
with many others, to go and visit the parts of the State which P. P. Pratt had
evangelized the year before.
Let us remark, once for all, that the Prophet, in the first years following
the organization of the Church, made strange abuse of revelations. He had
them at all times, and on all subjects, as if he found this an excellent
method of regulating, as he thought fit, everything, even down to the most
insignificant matters. The style of these revelations is a clumsy imitation of
the Bible. We will confine ourselves to one example, taken hap-hazard
from one of the revelations relating to the journey to Missouri. We there
meet with this passage: "And again, verily I say unto you, that my servant
Ezra Thayre must repent of his pride, and of his selfishness, and obey the
former commandment which I have given him concerning the place upon
which he lives: and if he will do this, as there shall be no divisions made
upon the land, he shall be appointed still to go to Missouri: otherwise he
shall receive the money which he has paid, and shall leave the place and
shall be cut off out of my Church, says the Lord God of Hosts; and though
the heaven and the earth pass away, these words shall not pass away, but
shall be fulfilled." Ezra Thayre, here alluded to, had declared that he could
not manage to accompany another missionary as his colleague, in a mission
which had been assigned
[279]
to them. It was the disobedience of this lukewarm Mormon which called
forth this communication from on high.
Joseph Smith, accompanied by several devoted disciples, set out on the 19th
of June to go into the State of Missouri, according to the orders of the Lord.
They passed through Cincinnati, through Louisville, and arrived at St.
Louis, whence they went on foot to Independence (Jackson county), which
they reached in the middle of the month of July, after a journey of a
hundred leagues, that is, from St. Louis.
The country pleased the Prophet. The quality of the soil; the great variety of
trees and useful plants which grew naturally; the quantity of cattle, horses,
sheep, poultry, etc., bred there without trouble; the beauty of the prairies,
the mildness and salubrity of the climate, all charmed the Prophet; and he
declared in the name of God that this was the promised land, reserved for
the Saints, that here should rise the City of Zion;that the Mormons should
purchase this land, and build a temple on the spot pointed out by Jehovah.
W. W. Phelps received the order to set up and to superintend a printing
establishment, while some of the believers were charged with duties having
reference to the organization and peopling of the colony, and to receiving
offerings, and opening stores.
On the 2nd of August, 1831, were laid the foundations of the new Zion,
twelve miles west of Independence; and
[280]
the ground was consecrated by religious ceremonies, as being henceforth the
rallying-point for all the Saints. The next day the spot intended for the
construction of the temple was likewise solemnly consecrated; and on the
4th of August was opened the first conference which had as yet taken place
within the territory of Zion.
After having regulated several other points, whether referring to the
new colony, or to missionaries and other ecclesiastical matters, Joseph, by
command of God, quitted Independence, accompanied by ten elders, in
order to return to Kirtland. While sailing on the Missouri, W. W. Phelps,
one of the Saints composing the Prophet's escort, saw the great destroyer in
his most horrible aspect curvetting on the surface of the water. The other
Saints heard the noise made by this apparition, but were not permitted to
see it,
On the 27th of August, the pious pilgrims re-entered Kirtland. Joseph
was now engaged in giving, by the usual channel of revelation, new
instructions to his people, and went, in the beginning of September, to
reside at Hiram, a small town situate to the south-east, in Portage, county,
only thirty miles from Kirtland, where it was the plan of the Prophet to set
up his store in connection with the Church for the space of five years, before
going to settle at Zion with all his people.
We must here relate an incident which for a time grieved him, and cast
a shadow over the brilliancy of his
[281]
triumphs. Ezra Booth, formerly a Methodist preacher, who, on seeing a
miracle, had recently become a convert to Mormonism, abjured in the
month of October the faith he had so lately embraced. This first example of
apostasy was afterwards followed by several others. Yet truth compels us to
acknowledge that such occurrences were not more frequent in the
commencement of Mormonism than in that of other creeds. All religions
have undergone the same kind of trials, and all have triumphed over
them. However, the doctrine spread. The year 1831-1832 was a fruitful
period. Besides the conversion of a clerk in his store, Orson Hyde, who was
destined subsequently to confer lustre on the Church, Smith had made
numerous conversions all around him, both by his preaching, and by the
action and influence of a newspaper, 'The Evening and Morning Star,'
which he had set up, and even still more by his revelations, which followed
each other with marvellous rapidity, and seemed to how from an
inexhaustible source. At the same time Joseph laboured with Sidney
Rigdon; at a translation of the Bible, which he annotated, and doubtless
accommodated to his own views; a translation which, be it said, has not yet
seen the light, but which his adepts state is put by for a future day. There is
room to believe that he was assisted in this work by Sidney Rigdon, and by
Phelps, who knew a little Hebrew, but his principal aid was the Urim anti
Thummim,
[282]
a marvellous optical instrument, by means of which he perceived all that
he desired to see. Finally, he published the book of revelations, under the
title of the 'Book of Doctrine and Covenants.'
Matters were getting on very well, and Smith had no great reason to repent
of his part as Revelator, when suddenly there burst forth a violent outbreak
of hatred, which imperiled the Prophet, if not the creed. He was residing at
Hiram, with an old man named Johnson, when, in the night of the 25th
and 26th of March, 1832, he was suddenly roused by his wife crying
'Murder! and the next moment was himself forcibly borne out of the house
by a dozen infuriated people, who grossly maltreated him, and did not let
him go till they had dipped him into a barrel of tar and covered him with
feathers; a kind of insult and punishment, which in the United States is
often had recourse to in popular commotions, and which is known by the
name of tarring and feathering. The remainder of the night was spent
in dressing the Prophet's wounds and cleansing his sacred body from head to
foot. The day following this ill-omened night was a Sunday. Joseph, bravely
making the best of a bad case, preached before a numerous congregation,
among which he recognized several of his persecutors. In the end, heaven
did not permit his courage to go unrewarded; he was fortunate enough to
baptize several after the sermon.
Sidney Rigdon, who experienced the same treatment, did
[283]
not escape so easily: he was out of his mind for several days.*
Nevertheless the Prophet's activity did not relax, but acquired, as it were,
new force from his persecutions. In the month of April, 1832, he paid a visit
to Missouri, where, in a general council of the Church, he was proclaimed
President of the High-Priests. At Zion he transacted both spiritual and
temporal business, ordered three thousand copies of the 'Book of Doctrine
and Covenants' to be printed, and a selection of hymns, made by Emma, his
wife, to be published. He then returned to Kirtland, passing through
Greenville, where he nearly became the victim of an attempt to poison
him.
At Kirtland fresh occupations awaited him. He devoted nearly all the
summer to the translation of the Scriptures, he established the School of
Prophets, and attended to the publication of the 'Evening and Morning
Star,' a source of great comfort to his people, who could thereby reply to the
attacks of the American press. But he was not so deeply engrossed in these
cares of internal administration, as to allow external events to pass
unheeded. Indeed he knew how to turn them to the profit of his cause.
Thus
_____________________
* The Prophet merely says Rigdon was mad; but his mother says that he
counterfeited the madness in order to mislead the Saints into the belief that
the keys of the kingdom had been taken from the Church, and would not be
restored, as he said, until they had built him a new house. This, she
says, gave rise to great scandal, which Joseph however succeeded in silencing.
Rigdon repented, and was forgiven. He stated, that as a punishment for his
fault, the devil had three times thrown him out of his bed in one night.
[284]
the cholera, which at this period decimated several large cities of the earth,
served him as an argument against existing religions, and as a proof that
God was preparing, so he said, "great things in favour of Mormonism."
Each year added a new stone to the edifice. On the 22nd of January, 1831, the
gift of tongues was first manifested; and the miracle was so thoroughly to
the taste of those on whom it was conferred, that they passed part of the
night conversing in languages which were unknown to them in the
morning. Next day the washing of feet was instituted amid prayers and
hymns expressed in these new tongues. On the 2nd of February the
translation of the New Testament was completed: the work was sealed up,
not to be opened until they should arrive in Zion. On the 27th of February,
the Prophet received the famous revelation entitled 'Word of Wisdom.' On
the 12th of March, missionaries started to diffuse the new light in the east.
On the 18th, the high-priests being assembled in the School of Prophets,
Joseph laid hands on Sidney Rigdon and Frederick Williams, and ordained
them Counselors of the Presidency.* On the 33rd, at a meeting of the
council, it was resolved to purchase land at Kirtland, on which to construct
a branch of Zion. On the 6th of May, a revelation commanded the building
of a temple for the Lord, and of a house for the Prophet. On the 25th of
June, the
_____________________
* The Counselors of the Presidency, together with the Prophet, constituted
what is called the Government of the High-Priests.
[285]
measurements and plans of the temple to be built at Zion, were sent from
Kirtland with the instructions of the " Revelator." Never had such great
things been so rapidly accomplished. Every day had its idea and its event.
But on that very account, and from the very progress thus made by the sect,
hatred was of necessity awakened, and persecution, as a matter of course,
revived and increased. It would seem to be a law that new ideas, good or
bad, cannot wake their way in the world without encountering obstacles. In
the month of July, in this same year of 1833, the inhabitants of Missouri
rose against the Mormons of Zion, and sought to drive them out of the
country; they were instigated by the ministers of the American Missionary
Society. War broke out on the side of the Protestants in the shape of
newspaper articles. The Mormons imagined they had a right to retaliate; but
they were soon undeceived, for on the 20th of July, 1833, a large number of
their enemies assembled, and required them to destroy their printing
presses, to close their stores, and, in fact, entirely to abandon their
occupations. As the Saints did not appear disposed to submit to these
exactions, and as they claimed the right to enjoy liberty in a free country,
their printing-house was plundered and destroyed; several of their leaders
cruelly and shamefully treated; and they came to a knowledge of this truth,
long since accepted, at least in the Old World, that laws are but feeble
barriers when they come into collision with manners, above all, when they
are confronted
[286]
by popular passions, and the fanaticism of infuriated mobs. Indeed the
whole course of events we have to narrate, during this period, is but a
constant demonstration of this melancholy truth.
The Protestant ministers of the different denominations could not rest
content with merely a few printing-presses destroyed, a few blows given
right and left, or even a wound or two here and there; they sought a more
substantial and decisive result, the expulsion of the Mormons from the
State of Missouri; and, as we shall see, in the end they effected their
purpose, despite the laws, despite even the efforts of the magistrates to
enforce the law. Alarmed at the spread of the new religion, which already
numbered, in Independence and the neighbourhood, over twelve hundred
followers, they were besides irritated at the pretensions of the new comers,
intruders who arrogated Missouri to themselves by virtue of divine right,
constantly proclaiming that this land had been promised them, as an
inheritance, by the Most High. At first an appeal was made to public
opinion. In Jackson county a committee was formed, composed of four or
five hundred persons, of which a Mr. Flournoy, and Colonels Simpson and
Samuel Lucas, were the most influential members. From it, as from a
fortress, attacks were daily directed against the Mormons; they were in every
possible form incessantly taunted with their profound ignorance, their
grovelling superstition, their abject poverty. Next followed a manifesto,
[287]
in which the adversaries of the Mormons pretended to be in fear for their
lives and property, while in the proximity of people without truth or
honesty, who dared to affirm on oath that they had seen miracles, that they
conversed with God, that they possessed the gift of tongues, etc. etc. They
accused them moreover of tampering with the slaves by their inducing the
free Negroes of Illinois to come and settle in Zion. Finally, at an influential
meeting, it was decided unanimously that the Mormons must not continue
to remain in the territory of Missouri, and that henceforth no one of that
creed should be allowed to reside there.
A few days after this meeting there was another, on the 23rd of July, still
more numerous, and partly composed of armed men. It was there decided
that a deputation should be sent to the principal Mormon leaders, to inform
them of the resolutions come to respecting them. This deputation acted on
its instructions, and the Mormons, to gain time, or to avoid a sanguinary
contest, agreed to what was required, stipulating only that those who were
on the spot were not to leave until the 1st of January: following, and the
remainder of their brethren on the 1st of April. This condition was agreed
to, and their adversaries; on their side, further undertook to, use their
influence to prevent any violence towards them, provided they fulfilled
their agreement.
But this kind of treaty, wrung from them by violence, was not approved of
by Joseph Smith. As soon as he
[288]
learnt, through Oliver Cowdery, what had taken place at Zion, he resolved
that a new paper, under the name of 'The Latter-day Saints' Messenger and
Advocate,' should be set up at Kirtland, to appeal to public opinion against
this violation of the law, and he despatched two influential Saints to
Missouri, commissioned to aid and advise their persecuted brethren. He did
not confine himself to these measures: he despatched W. Phelps and O.
Hyde to the Governor, Daniel Dunklin, to state their grievances to him, and
to present him a petition from the Saints of Missouri, on the subject of the
persecutions to which they were exposed. The petition was presented the
8th of October. The Governor answered it on the 19th. He condemned the
illegal acts committed against the Saints by a portion of the citizens of
Missouri, and directed the Mormons to bring the matter before the courts of
law, promising to make use of all his authority to protect them, if justice
were not done them.
Thus reassured, the Saints of Zion made preparations to bring their cause
before the State-Court. But this was not at all to the taste of their enemies,
knowing as they did very well that law was not on their side. So as soon as
they became apprised of what the Mormons meant to do, they determined
to be beforehand with them, and to eject them by force. On the night of the
31st of October* they
_____________________
* At this period (October 1833) Joseph had gone to preach in Canada,
accompanied by S. Rigdon, and he did not return to Kirtland until the 4th of
November, where he learnt, three weeks after they had happened, the sad
events in Missouri.
[289]
made their first attack; they destroyed ten houses, and brutally ill-treated
both women and children. The following night similar scenes of violence
were enacted. Houses were sacked, and Parley P. Pratt received a blow on the
head from the stock of a gun. On the 2nd of November things still
continued the same; firearms were used, and several Mormons wounded.
The 4th, at nightfall, the struggle became more violent. The Mormons, who
had vainly applied to the local magistrates for protection, found themselves
compelled to arm in their own defence. They killed two of their adversaries,
and lost one of their own number; many were wounded on both sides. The
following day the Mormons in mass were preparing to continue the
struggle, when Colonel Pitcher, at the head of the Militia, presented
himself, with orders from Lieutenant-Governor Boggs, to put all end to
hostilities. The Mormons were easily quieted: on the promise made to them
that their enemies should lay down their arms, they consented to give up
theirs, and rely on the public faith.
They soon had good cause to repent it. The moment their assailants knew
that the Mormons were without arms, they unscrupulously broke out into
all sorts of excesses against them, and summoned them to leave the place,
under pain of death. In the nights of the 5th and 6th of November, women
and children were to be seen flying in all directions to avoid the merciless
mob. Some wandered in the prairies for several days, others escaped to the
[290]
borders of the Missouri. During these days of terror the violators of the law
might be seen pursuing the Mormons and tracking them as one tracks
game, firing on them as on wild beasts, scourging them with whips, and
inflicting upon them every kind of suffering and indignity. A lamentable
spectacle indeed was this, exhibited by the descendants of the English
Puritans, and utterly at variance with their principles and history.
The day following these barbarous scenes, the unfortunate exiles were busy
ferrying themselves across the Missouri. The most excessive confusion of
course accompanied this precipitate flight, every one being desirous of
saving a portion of what was dearest to him. In the midst of the disorder,
husbands sought their wives, children their parents. Night closed in; the
weather was fearful; and this mass of fugitives, encamped in the open air
under a drenching rain, presented a heart-rending sight, as we have been
informed by those who witnessed it, and as we can too readily believe. At
daybreak they made themselves shelters with willows, and were somewhat
less miserable: at length, the greater part of them sought refuge in Clay
county in the same State, on the opposite bank of the river, where they were
well received; but some few were unfortunate enough to seek protection in
Van Buren and Fayette counties, where the inhabitants refused to receive
them. Some poor old men and women, only, whom age or infirmity had
prevented flying with their brethren, were at
[291]
first permitted to stay; but on the 24th of December a new outbreak of
animosity occurred, -- their houses were sacked, and they were pitilessly
driven out of the counties.
Lieutenant-Governor Boggs is accused, with some appearance of justice, of
having been the soul of these two movements of July and November. He is
accused of having transformed the rioters into regular militia. At all
events, it seems certain that if he had not induced the Mormons to lay
down their arms and take to flight, the mob would not have gone to the
extremes we have just described, and which will ever be a disgrace to those
concerned in them.
However, such acts of violence, such an armed aggression, could not
possibly pass without remonstrance on the part of the sufferers, or without
some exertion on the part of those administering the law to suppress them.
The Mormons sent a statement of the facts to the Government, which
immediately ordered a court of inquiry to sift the matter. They likewise
presented a formal protest to the State Government, and the latter
immediately appointed a commission to inquire into the affair. But nothing
came of this commission; the Attorney-General, however, on the 21st of
November, wrote to the counsel employed by the Mormons, saying, that if
their clients wished to return to their properties in Jackson county, they
would be protected by the State troops. He added, that if they chose to
organize themselves into a regular body of militia, the Government
[292]
would furnish them with arms. The District Attorney wrote some days after
to the same effect. Finally, a commission of inquiry, held at Liberty (Clay
county, Missouri), towards the end of December, decided that Colonel
Pitcher should be tried by a court-martial for his conduct on this occasion.
Moreover, the agitators at Independence allowed the banished Mormons to
transfer as much as remained of their printing-presses to Liberty, and paid
them a few hundred dollars as an indemnity; a sum utterly inadequate to
compensate them for the mischief done to their presses. However, they at
once took advantage of the opportunity, and set up a weekly paper, called
the 'Missouri Inquirer,' at the latter place.
But the concessions thus made were neither retraction, nor regret for the
past; and all attempts at legal redress came to nothing, in consequence of the
religious excitement.. As soon as it was known in Missouri that the
Government was prepared to protect the return of the Mormons to Jackson
county by physical force, there was a burst of indignation from the ministers
of the different denominations. The people again became excited, their rage
grew still more furious, and the position of the unhappy objects of their
persecution was rendered all the worse. The Governor of Missouri, Daniel
Dunklin, did certainly, in a letter dated February 4th, 1834, addressed to the
Mormons, assure them he would employ the power which the
Constitution reposed in him, to see them righted; that
[293]
no one could dispute their claim to recover possession of the homes from
which they had been ejected, and that he engaged to protect them by force
whenever they chose to do so. He even concluded with this expression, as if
to cheer them and to prevent their despairing of the future, -- " Justice,
though slow, is sure." But the good intentions of the Government were
powerless before the exasperation of the of the public in Jackson county. The
law was constrained to acknowledge itself impotent, and to adjourn its
intervention indefinitely. The only alternative now left to the Mormons
was to right themselves by force. And this they did, relying on the
righteousness of their cause, and cheered by the exhortations of their leader.
Joseph Smith, who was still at Kirtland, did not learn, until the 25th of
November, the events which were disturbing Zion. There is reason to think
the prospect of persecution was by no means unwelcome to him. He saw at
once that this was a natural and inevitable phase which he might turn to
great account in securing the triumph of his doctrine and the success of his
enterprise.* But, as one may well imagine, he never for one moment
thought of resting entirely on divine protection, or even of relying
exclusively on that moral force which he was sure to derive from the
indignation of his people at these grievous acts of injustice.
_____________________
* The shooting-stars on the 13th of November, 1833, were regarded by
Joseph as signs announcing the approaching coming of Christ, and he
returned thanks to God for them,
[294]
Not choosing to abandon Zion, which was as it were the palladium of the
new religion, he determined on recovering it by force, in the event of his
not obtaining from the law and the local magistrates anything better than
inefficient protection or powerless good will.
It was a great enterprise; and he could only bring it to a successful
termination by redoubled enthusiasm on the part of his people, backed by a
respectable armed force. He devoted several months to obtaining these two
means of action; and whatever, in other respects, may be the opinion we
ought to entertain of this man, it is impossible for us too much to admire
the energy and ability he displayed at this crisis.
Misfortunes never come alone; this is as true of prophets as of other men.
The misadventure in Missouri was coincident with difficulties of the most
serious kind, affecting the internal administration of the Church, with
which Joseph had at that time to contend. In the first place, he was obliged
to excommunicate several members whose conduct had been censurable,
and to suffer all the annoyances of a lawsuit, which one of these unworthy
persons, Doctor Hulbert, had commenced against him. Some time
afterwards he was himself the subject of a grave charge, which was not the
less painful from being made indirectly. According to a statement of Martin
Harris, Smith drank spirits too freely while engaged in the translation of the
Book of Mormon; and was too fond of wrestling and boxing;
[295]
in addition to this, Harris alleged he knew the contents of the Golden Book
before its translation, whereas Joseph knew nothing of it till afterwards.
Sidney Rigdon accused Harris before the great Council of having invented
these defamatory statements; and although Harris denied having stated that
Joseph was a drunkard, at least since the translation of the Holy Book; and
although he made a recantation on the other points, all this caused great
scandal, which did not fail to wound the feelings of the Prophet. But there
were more difficulties still; the finances of Kirtland were in a bad state, and
the people of Ohio threatened to pursue the same course as those of
Missouri. Everything, therefore, gave room to fear that the work must
succumb to violence, or to its own weakness, and would perish in its bud.
Smith mastered this formidable crisis, and his mind was hot for an instant
diverted from the great business of the moment. On the 24th of February he
received a revelation, in which the Lord told him that the persecutions in
Missouri were a chastisement for the disobedience of the brethren, but that
his wrath would pass away ; that the abandoned country belonged to the
Saints; that it had been given to them for ever; and that Zion should be
built on the Missouri. The revelation added, that he must raise five
hundred men, or at least a hundred, to re-conquer the Holy Land. Joseph
wrote to this effect, to his brethren in Missouri: -- They must see in the
events which had overtaken
[296]
them nothing else than a chastisement inflicted by God .upon the whole
body for the faults of some of its members; they must not give up their
property; the Land of Zion was the inheritance given by God. They must
submit to the will of the Lord, and merit his grace by redoubled faith, and
righteousness of life. Such was the duty they should make a point of
performing. These exhortations, which formed the usual theme of his
correspondence, were supported by various revelations.
The moral strength developed by these means was to be supported by a
material force; Smith was not unaware that it is a law of this world that
these forces should mutually sustain each other. The great revelation
occurred on the 24th of February; on the 26th Joseph set out in search of
volunteers, and, while raising troops, he collected from the converts, who
daily increased in number, all the money he could, both for the expedition,
and for replenishing the empty exchequer of Kirtland. His absence lasted a
month. On his return to Kirtland,* learning that the petition addressed by
the brethren of Missouri to the President of the Union begging to be
reinstated in their possessions in Jackson county had been rejected, as
referring to a matter not within the Federal jurisdiction, but appertaining to
that of the State of Missouri, he resolved to open the campaign
_____________________
* About this time the Mormon Church assumed, at the suggestion of
Sidney Rigdon, the name of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
[297]
possible. He had already sent a detachment of twenty men as an advance
guard.
On the 5th of May, 1834, Joseph Smith himself took the field. He was
accompanied by a hundred and fifty devoted and well-armed disciples. The
good order observed by this small army, during the whole of its march,
ensured the respect of people who might otherwise have been induced to
impede it. Its leader; moreover, neglected nothing which tended to keep up
the ardour of his men, and, while enacting the general, frequently called the
Prophet to his assistance. Thus, on the 25th of May, in an address to his
brethren, he told them that they were escorted on their march by the angels
of heaven; "we know that the angels have been companions, for we have
seen them." On arriving at the frontiers of the State of Illinois, some of his
people having exhumed a skeleton from a tumulus, he took advantage
of the circumstance to animate their courage by kindling their faith, and he
made them believe that this skeleton was that of a Lamanite, mentioned in
their sacred Book. To give greater weight to his words, be became more
precise, giving them the name of the person: he had the audacity to state
that they were the remains of a warrior chief, of the name of Zelph, who
lived in the time of the great prophet Omandagus, and, moreover, to relate
his history. inspired by so miraculous a confirmation of the truth of their
Bible, his soldiers crossed the Mississippi with renewed energy.
[298]
Joseph's army, recruited on its road by several brethren, arrived on the
territory of Missouri, numbering two hundred and five sturdy well-armed
men. As soon as the inhabitants of Jackson county learnt his approach, they,
after having made several offers of accommodation, which were regarded as
so many shams, collected a force to go and oppose him, and prevent his
reaching Clay county. Joseph Smith relates their first affair in these words:
"One of the leaders, named Campbell, swore, while placing his pistols in his
holsters, that the eagles and turkey-buzzards should eat his flesh if he
didn't, before two days, fix Joseph Smith and his army, so that their skins
should not hold shucks." They came to the ferry and endeavoured to pass
the Missouri after dusk, but the Angel of God thought fit to sink the boat in
the very middle of the stream; and seven of the twelve who attempted to
cross were drowned. "Thus suddenly and justly they went by water to their
proper place." Campbell was among the drowned. He was borne four or five
miles by the current, and lodged on a pile of drift-wood; where birds of prey
and wild animals picked him to the bone, thus in fulfillment of his own
words transforming him by the vengeance of God into a hideous skeleton,
which was discovered three weeks later by a Mr. Purtle. Owen (another
leader) got off with his life, after having been carried down four miles by the
current, which cast him on an islet, whence at daybreak he swam in a state
of nudity to shore, and was compelled to borrow a cloak to hide his
[299]
shame, and to slink home somewhat humbled by the vengeance of God.
In spite of these miraculous interventions, Joseph did not feel over-safe. He
perceived that he had to deal with formidable opponents, and that
enthusiasm was no less strong among his enemies than among his own
people. The idea of a compromise, which he had at first haughtily rejected,
he now turned over in his mind. On the 22nd of June he had a revelation,
wherein God told him that he was not satisfied with a portion of his people,
and that he must endeavour to make peace by purchasing land in Jackson
county, as the Missourians had proposed a few days since.
A great trial, well calculated to lead to thoughts of pacification, came upon
the Prophet and his followers. The cholera broke out in his army the night
of the 23rd of June. This, said he, was a special punishment from God, He
vainly strove to drive away the scourge by laying on of hands and prayer; he
lost thirteen of his men, and was himself attacked. He was thus compelled
to disband his force and retire to Liberty, in Clay county, where he arrived
the 2nd of July, after having passed the previous day in Jackson county, "to
have the pleasure," he said, "to set his foot once more on that goodly land."
Here he passed his time in transacting some spiritual and temporal
business, and made all his flock sign a remonstrance, to be addressed to the
public, setting forth the wrongs they had
[300]
suffered in Missouri. They therein stated, among other things, that they
desired peace, but that they could not give up the revelation which fixed
Zion in Jackson county and they offered to purchase the land there, payable
in a year, instead of in a month, as proposed.
These proposals had no immediate result, and Joseph, awaiting better
times, returned to Kirtland. He had nothing to fear from Missouri. His
disciples, who had given up all idea of re-entering Jerusalem, had located
themselves in Clay county, and were every day joined by new converts, as if
to repay them for the persecutions they had suffered. He was now able to
give himself up entirely to the internal administration of the church at
Kirtland, from which he had been for a moment diverted by certain charges,
some of them even affecting his probity, arising out of the recent
expedition. Put he soon triumphed over them; his accusers retracted; and
all ended in a solemn vow, which Joseph Smith made to God, to dedicate to
the use of the poor of the Church a tenth part of all he possessed, if Jehovah
helped him to pay his debts, and saved his reputation before the world. He
first formed the council of the twelve apostles, which met, for the first time,
at Kirtland, the 21st of February, 1835, and almost at the same time
organized the quorum of the Seventy. Brigham Young, H. C. Kimball,
Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, and Parley P. Pratt were elected Apostles, on the
first day of the establishment of the apostolic order. Joseph, about
[301]
this period, opened the class of the high school of prophets, wherein,
among other things, theology and Hebrew were taught. The 28th of March
he received a revelation defining the orders of Melchizedek and Aaron. The
4th of May he sent the twelve apostles on a mission. The 11th of May a
conference resolved that it was necessary to depute to Missouri experienced
men to purchase land in Zion. In the month of June he collected
considerable subscriptions, to finish the temple at Kirtland. The 5th of July
he purchased Egyptian mummies and rolls of papyrus (these were simply
rituals of Osiris), which he at once undertook to translate; and, by a singular
favour of Heaven, discovered among them writings of Abraham and of
Joseph.* The 17th of August he procured the unanimous adoption of the
book of Doctrine and Covenants.
So-much activity deserved reward. On the 17th of September a meeting of
the Great Council of the Presidency of Kirtland resolved that Joseph should
receive for services rendered by him to the church ten dollars a week, and
that all his expenses besides should be paid, The same allowance was voted
for his secretary; and Emma Smith, the Prophet's wife, was engaged the
same day, to complete the collection of sacred hymns, in order to fulfill the
commands of revelation. Heaven even sought to testify its gratitude. The
11th of October it permitted Joseph
_____________________
* See Note B;VII. at the end of the work,
[302]
to cure his father by his prayers; and every time that, at the request of his
disciples, Smith sought a revelation from God, God heard the prayer, and
liberally divulged his secrets.
The early part of the following year (1836) was marked by a recurrence of
similar events, and was of a thoroughly pacific character. The temple of
Kirtland was nearly finished by the commencement of the year. The 4th of
January a Hebrew professorship was established, and to fill it a, professor
was brought from Hudson. A singing school was also established. The 26th
of January Joseph had a vision: the heavens were opened to his gaze, with
their streets paved with gold. In this vision the Lord appeared to him, and
said: --
"All those who have died before this present dispensation, and who, had
they been able to enjoy this privilege, would have received baptism, shall be
saved; and also all those who die after it without knowing it, but who
would have conformed to it had they known of it, shall likewise be saved
without baptism; but it shall not be thus with those who, having known it,
shall not conform to it." Others present had similar visions; it must be
stated that all this passed during the night, and that they did not retire until
two in the morning. The following day, nevertheless, the same scenes
occurred again, and the Saints heard the voices of angels mingling with
their own.
On the 27th of March the Temple of Kirtland, which had cost forty
thousand dollars, was consecrated. The
[303]
ceremony was imposing. The different quorums of the church officially
recognized Joseph Smith in his character of Prophet and Seer. As if to
confirm this consecration, Moses, Elias, and Elisha appeared to him, and
handed him the keys of the priesthood, which confirmed to their possessor
absolute power as well in spiritual, as in temporal, matters. The Saints
around him had also visions; they saw angels come and seat themselves
among them during the ceremony. Brigham Young, favoured with the gift
of tongues, made an address in an unknown tongue; and one of the
assistants, on whom this gift was conferred by a sudden grace, was enabled
spontaneously to interpret it. Other prodigies occurred during the service
that night. A pillar of fire appeared over the temple; supernatural sounds
were heard; many of the brethren prophesied, etc., etc. The assemblage was
numerous, consisting of more than four hundred persons, who did not
leave the temple till eleven at night.
The festival continued for several consecutive days. On the night of the
29th of March they performed the ceremony of the washing of feet, and the
interval till morning was passed in glorifying God and in prophesying. At
daybreak they took bread and wine to make a jubilee in the church. They
cursed the enemies of Christ who inhabited Jackson county, and they
prophesied ail day long. As the faithful had fasted all this time, they supped
in the evening, and passed the night in the Temple, with the exception
[304]
of Joseph, who withdrew about nine o'clock. This night was the Pentecost of
the Saints; only, instead of the Holy Ghost, it was Jesus and the angels who
appeared to them.
The ceremonies of the dedication did not terminate until the 31st of March,
after five days' prayer and spiritual enjoyment -- a foretaste of heavenly
delights. But was mysticism alone the source of all these unspeakable joys?
There is reason to apprehend that they were derived from one much less
pure, if it be true, as stated by the profane, that intoxicating drinks were not
spared on the occasion.
Be that as it may, the attention of the Prophet was soon called in another
direction. A fresh storm arose in Missouri. The Mormons, who, after their
violent expulsion from Jackson county, had met with a generous hospitality
in Clay county, found a sudden change come over the feelings of the
inhabitants. The people, becoming more and more shocked at the tenets of
the new sect as they by degrees became unveiled to them, were consequently
alarmed at the constantly increasing number of the emigrants: they feared
they should find themselves some day overrun, or even absorbed by their
guests. At a meeting held at Liberty, the 29th of June, 1836, they resolved
that it was fitting the Mormons should be requested to withdraw from Clay
county, to avoid civil war. In other respects the assembly was animated with
a rare spirit of moderation: they took no account, they said, of the various
accusations
[305]
made by the multitude against the Mormons, which they admitted bore
traces of evident exaggeration; but believing war to be imminent, it became
their duty, in face of such an eventuality, no longer to tolerate the
Mormons in their country. They advised them therefore to withdraw,
recommending them to settle themselves in preference in some territory,
Wisconsin for instance, where their association would come in contact with
no other, and could develop itself in full liberty.
The Mormons, under pressure of this and other meetings, held in various
parts of the county, seemed disposed to yield to these suggestions. On the 1st
of July, in reply to the communications from the meetings, they expressed
their gratitude for the hospitality they had met with, defended themselves
from the accusations made against them, and declared themselves quite
ready, for the sake of peace, to put a stop to any further immigration into
the county, and to seek out a new home in some other part of the United
States, as soon as they could find one to suit them.
From this it would appear, that both sides were nearly coming to an
understanding. But it may be a matter of doubt if all were sincere on the
part of the Mormons. At the very time they were apparently yielding to the
demands of the inhabitants of Clay county, they were taking steps to prevail
upon the Governor of Missouri to urge him to secure them in the
possession of their property. They had not forgotten that the conduct of the
inhabitants of
[306]
Jackson county had been declared illegal by the head of the State, and they
might hope that two years' peaceable possession would be taken into
consideration, and become an argument in their favour, and a sufficient
reason for not again placing them beyond the pale of the law. They were
however deceived in their expectation. The Governor replied, on the 18th
of July, that personally he saw with regret the persecutions to which they
were subject, but that, in the face of the still increasing irritation against
them, of their unpopularity in every county, he must needs yield to the
force of opinion, right or wrong, and conform to the proverb, "Vox populi,
vox Dei." As soon as this answer reached them they came to an immediate
decision, and at once made preparations for departure. They withdrew into
Ray county, and founded a settlement at Shoal creek. Some time afterwards
they obtained an act of incorporation for a new county, named Caldwell. In
their new abode they soon recovered that prosperity which nowhere failed
to reward their industry and labour, whenever their tranquillity was not
disturbed by dissensions from without or within.
Things did not go on quite so smoothly at Kirtland. Joseph, during the
occurrences at Missouri, had certainly made a few conquests elsewhere;*
accompanied by Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, and Oliver Cowdery, he had
_____________________
* The 13th of June, 1837, the first missionaries destined for England left
Kirtland, with orders to preach in the first instance the Gospel only.
[307]
preached in Salem, Massachusetts, going from house to house, and had
brought over some few to his doctrine. He had even obtained a revelation,
wherein the Lord, after addressing some reproaches to him for his conduct,
announced that his debts would be paid, that Zion would be treated with
mercy, and that Salem would belong to him. But secret discontents were
now beginning to undermine the settlement, which had acquired a certain
degree of importance, and they soon burst forth. First appeared a sort of
heresy, which threatened to throw everything into confusion. A young girl,
asserting she was inspired, and perhaps believing it, had predicted that
Joseph would be overthrown, and succeeded by one of his apostles. A
certain number of the Mormons believed in her words, and formed
themselves into a party: here was the germ of a schism which might
increase. To this evil was added another still more serious, although of an
inferior character, since it only related to the temporal concerns of the
settlement.
Joseph, about the end of 1831, had established at Kirtland a bank, under the
name of the "Safety Society Bank." The profits were to be appropriated to
the propagation of the new faith, and towards the building, on an extensive
scale, of the capital of the Saints in Missouri. Unfortunately, Joseph,
although an excellent prophet, was a very indifferent financier. In the
month of November, 1837, the bank was obliged to suspend payment, and
its protested
[308]
notes were all over the country. The bank was ultimately declared
insolvent, and Joseph was proceeded against for swindling. He pretended
that one of his clerks had robbed it, which did not at all allay the irritation.
Pressed more and more, he resolved to get out of the way. Everything, in
fact, was going wrong around him. Although he had been unanimously
chosen President of the Church by the members of the Society, women
included, things did not meet his wishes even in the bosom of the Church,
and the views of all did not accord with his own. Abuses without end broke
out, and daily excommunications became necessary; apostasy showed itself
on every side. Brigham Young, his right-hand and future successor, was
pursued by the hatred of the people, who accused him of being his evil-
counselor, and of defending him right or wrong; so that he was obliged to
take to flight. Joseph resolved to do the same, and to seek refuge in
Missouri, where the Lord had commanded him, by a revelation, to find an
asylum. Before his departure, he left instructions with his apostles, and bade
them farewell, not without a certain dignity, or a becoming display of the
decorum required by his part:
"You will see me again, whatever happens," said he; " God has promised
me that nothing shall prevail against me, and that my life is safe for the
next five years to come." Afterwards, on the 12th of January, 1838, he
clandestinely quitted Kirtland to withdraw into Missouri, and thus
accomplish the will of the Lord. His family and Sidney Rigdon accompanied
him.
[309]
As soon as the enemies of the Prophet learnt his departure, they pursued
him, and such was their fury, that they pressed him close for over two
hundred miles. Ultimately he escaped them, and arrived the 14th of March
at Far-West, in Missouri.
Far-West was a Mormon settlement. This settlement, which was yet in its
infancy, was already torn by internal dissensions, and at the point of
dissolution. The heads of the Church had offended the faithful: W. W.
Phelps, O. Cowdery* and John Whitmer, among others, had been deposed
from their high functions, and some time afterwards Phelps and Whitmer
had been excommunicated and delivered up to the buffets of Satan, for
making away with the funds of the Church. Joseph arrived just in time to
restore order. Well received by his disciples, lodged and boarded, he
congratulated himself on having come, and wrote to Kirtland that all was
going on well in Missouri.
The presence of the Prophet, so serviceable to order in Far-West, was
calculated to give a new face and fresh importance to the settlement. This
point he destined in his own mind to become the centre of Mormonism,
instead of Kirtland, which was destroyed or dispersed. Joseph at once went
to work. The 26th of April he had a revelation wherein, among other
things, he was commanded to attract all the Saints to Zion (now transferred
to Far-West), so that
_____________________
* A short time afterwards, O. Cowdery was expelled from the Church on
nine different charges.
[310]
they might be more powerful against their enemies. His appeal was
responded to, and daily some of the brethren arrived from Kirtland, whom
he settled in their new abode. The 18th of May he went and founded,
twenty-five miles from Far-West, on the Grand River, a new city, which he
called "Adam-Ondi-Ahman," because it was there he said, "that Adam
would come again to visit his people," or because, in other terms, it was
there "that the Ancient of days would come and seat himself." It is
superfluous to state that revelations followed each other here, as
everywhere else, to meet his wishes and convenience. He had one in July,
which was somewhat important: it required the Saints to give the surplus
of their property to the Church, for the construction of a temple, and for
founding Zion, for the support of the clergy, and for the payment of the
debts of the Presidency. It moreover established a permanent ten per cen.
income-tax. We must not omit to mention a regulation prohibiting the sale
of spirituous liquors in Far-West, or that an official paper, called the 'Elders'
Journal,' was set up.
Under this powerful impulse, the Mormon settlements, the centre of
which was now in Missouri, entered into an entirely new phase of prosperity.
The sect increased daily in number and strength. Joseph, elated with this state
of affairs, did not conceal either his satisfaction, or even perhaps his pride.
He imagined himself henceforth above the reach of persecution, and this
opinion was shared by the
[311]
whole community. Sidney Rigdon carried his confidence even to temerity
and impudence. In a sermon he went so far as to threaten the enemies of
the Church and all apostates, with the power of the Mormons. It is believed
it was about this time that the idea of polygamy first appeared among them.
Joseph, it is surmised, had then a first revelation to that effect, and began
practising it on his own account.
However this may have been, the inhabitants of the county who did not
belong to the Mormon sect began to murmur, and to complain of their
insolence and pride. Some members recently expelled from the Church,
such as Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and apostates like
Orson Hyde, W. Phelps, and several others,* joined them, sowing
dissension, and exciting the feelings of the public. They misrepresented the
present, and bred uneasiness about the future. Lastly, in an unscrupulous
_____________________
* Doctor Sampson Avard, but recently converted to the Mormon faith,
sought by criminal intrigues to arrive at the supreme honours of the sect.
He formed a secret society under the name of Danites or United Brethren of
Gideon, the members whereof took the most terrible oaths, and bound
themselves to triumph over the Gentiles by all means, legal or illegal.
Apprised of his plans, Joseph cast him out of the Church, and then the
conspiring Doctor joined the enemies of the Saints. Joseph disclaims
conniving at, or being in any way mixed up with the Society of Danites,
which, in fact, died out almost immediately after its birth. The direction of
this secret police had been confided to the apostle David Patten, who
assumed the name of Captain Fear-not. It is to this corps of Danites that the
enemies of the Mormons have attributed numbers of infamous acts which
would appear never to have existed, except in their own imagination.
[312]
manner, as is generally the case with apostates, they accused Joseph of
participation in several criminal acts, and designs against the independence
of the State of Missouri.
The continuance of a good understanding between the Saints and the other
inhabitants of the three counties now hung upon a thread, which
threatened every moment to break, and very soon did so. The first Sunday
in August, 1838, elections were to take place at Gallatin, the county-town of
Davies. The candidate of the party opposed to the Mormons, William P.
Peniston, addressed the electors, and proposed to exclude the Mormons
from voting, "which they had no more right to do than the negroes
themselves." The Saints, however, by force of numbers exercised their right
as citizens. But one of their adversaries having been killed in a private
quarrel with one of the brethren, a general engagement ensued, and matters
becoming daily more embittered, a real civil war broke out.
The Missourians had been worsted in the elections. Under the sting of
this defeat, and the fear of seeing a sect they detested prevail, they formed a
league to preach up, and bring about, the extermination of the Mormon
race. Printed appeals were circulated; the citizens were called to arms;
sinister rumours spread abroad: it was even stated that Joseph, on the day of
the election, had killed with his own hand seven citizens, and had sworn to
exterminate all the inhabitants of the counties.
The authorities, alarmed at these rumours, thought it
[313]
right to take preventive measures, and, determining in the interest of
public safety to strike a vigorous blow, issued a writ for the arrest of Joseph
Smith. The Mormons relate with pride the nobleness and firmness
exhibited by Smith on that occasion. When the officers, charged with the
execution of the writ, presented themselves at his mother's house, he
happened to be there writing a letter. Without moving, or being at all
disturbed by their visit, the Prophet calmly went on writing. "When he had
finished," says his mother, "seeing he was at liberty, I said,' Gentlemen, let
me make you acquainted with Joseph Smith, the prophet.' They stared at
him as if he were a spectre. He smiled, and stepping towards them, gave
each of them his hand in a manner which convinced them he was neither a
guilty criminal nor yet a hypocrite." Joseph then sat down and explained to
them the views of the Church, his own course of conduct, and described the
ill-treatment, utterly unprovoked, to which he had been exposed. After
which, he quietly said to his mother, "I believe I will go home now, Emma
will be expecting me.'" Hereupon, two of the officers, all of whom were
much moved by what he had said, sprang to their feet, declaring it would be
unsafe for him to go alone, and that they would go with him, in order to
protect him. Moreover, they declared, that immediately after seeing him in
security, they would disband their men and go home, which accordingly
they did, and it was supposed that all would be quiet again. Such was the
[314]
Smith's manner and air of conscious innocence! Thus the matter ended.
The storm seemed to have passed over; but, before many days had elapsed,
riotous assemblages began to collect. Encouraged by the impunity they had
hitherto enjoyed, they gave themselves up to all kinds of excesses against
their enemies, for the purpose of provoking them to a quarrel, and so
bringing on a decisive contest. General Atchison sent troops to disperse the
mob, and restore order. They succeeded, but only for the moment. As soon
as the troops had departed, the tumult recommenced. They pillaged the
houses of the Mormons, and threatened them with death. The Governor, to
whom the latter appealed, hesitating between law and public feeling, was
unable to maintain even this miserable neutrality, and had the weakness to
reply, that his hands were tied, and that he could afford them no assistance.
From this moment the audacity of the rioters knew no bounds. The
Mormons, pursued and tracked like wild beasts, found themselves
hemmed in in the town of Far-West, and surrounded on all sides, were
exposed to the most fearful dangers.
It would be difficult to justify the conduct of the public officials under these
circumstances. It would not be too much to say that they were utterly false
to their duty. Instead of resisting the rioters, of maintaining the authority of
the law, of protecting citizens misled, it may be, but certainly in the right,
who did no more than exercise a liberty
[315]
conferred by the constitution of their country, the government sided with
the stronger party, and could give no other reason for this shameful policy,
than the impossibility of opposing an effectual resistance. And more than
this, finding the wave of popular fury incessantly rising and threatening to
engulf the unhappy Mormons, Governor Boggs thought it the simplest
plan to hurl them himself into the abyss. Towards the end of October* he
gave instructions to bring matters to a close with the Mormons; and the
more effectually to attain that end, it was resolved to lay hands upon the
principal leaders.
Joseph Smith, invited to an interview with the officers of the militia, was
arrested (the 31st of October, 1838) together with Parley Pratt, Sidney Rigdon,
Lyman Wight, George W. Robinson, Hyrum Smith, and Amasa Lyman,
and together with them was made, prisoner in the camp of General Lucas.
Condemned to death the following day, the sentence would have at once
been carried into effect,
_____________________
* The 27th of October, 1838, the Governor of Missouri, L. W. Boggs, in an
order to General Clark, wrote in these terms: "The Mormons must be
treated as enemies, and exterminated or driven from the State, if the public
weal requires it." General Clark, in a public address made the 6th of
November, 1838, at Far-West, thus expressed himself: -- "The Governor has
commanded me to exterminate you, and not to permit you to remain in the
State; and had you not delivered up your leaders, and executed the
conditions of our treaty, you would have been massacred; you, yourselves,
and your families; and your houses would have been reduced to ashes. You
are indebted to my clemency, etc. etc." See the extraordinary official order,
or, as it is properly denominated, "exterminating order," cited at length in
Joseph Smith's autobiography, under the date of October, 1838, published in
'The Deseret News' of October 15th, 1853.
[316]
but for the opposition of General Doniphan, who declared that he would
not assume the responsibility of such an act. Meanwhile, the city of Far-
West was sacked. Joseph and the other prisoners were taken to
Independence, in Jackson county, and afterwards to Richmond. Ultimately,
General Clark, thinking that the matter was not within the jurisdiction of a
court-martial, delivered up the prisoners to the civil authorities on a charge
of treason, murder, theft, arson, etc. They were detained in prison for six
months, and during the whole time were subjected to the most cruel
privations and to the most infamous treatment. If the account of Smith is
to be believed, they even sought to take their lives; several attempts were
made to poison them; the flesh of their co-religionists was given them for
food, which, in the brutal language of their persecutors, was called Mormon
beef. Their keepers loaded them with insults, boasted of having shed their
blood, plundered their goods, burnt their houses, and violated their wives
and daughters. The mind can hardly conceive the horrors they had to
undergo during this long imprisonment, or the ignominious conduct of the
greater part of those who had them in their custody, or of the jury who had
to decide upon their fate.
The trial, if Smith is to be believed, did not, by the way it was conducted,
reflect credit on the American character. The witnesses for the prosecution
were chosen from among the bitterest enemies of the accused. The
[317]
witnesses for the defence were cast into prison and hunted down by the
armed populace. The evidence of apostates was admitted, who made the
most outrageous charges against their former co-religionists.
Notwithstanding all this, the major part of the accused were released, and
the accusation was only followed up against Joseph Smith and the principal
Saints, five in number, who were confined in the prison at Liberty. Thence
Smith, who never lost sight of the part he had to play, or of his mission,
addressed to his Church a kind of epistle exhorting his brethren not to lose
confidence in God. This epistle, which is very long and is not wanting in
interest, is dated the 16th of December, 1838.
Meanwhile, a committee of Mormons, composed of citizens of Far-West,
had addressed a petition to the House of Representatives of Missouri,
stating their wrongs, and demanding redress. On the 19th of December a
great debate on this subject took place, in the State legislature, but it only
resulted in the adjournment of the question to the month of July following,
which was equivalent to a determination not to entertain it, and to a denial
of justice. An indemnity of two thousand dollars, which was, in fact,
nothing better than a shameful mockery, was, by a vote of the House,
appropriated to the people, Mormons and others, of Davies and Caldwell
counties; while, on the other hand, a vote for two hundred thousand
dollars was taken for the payment of the troops employed during this
[318]
lamentable prosecution, odious to all men, and ever memorable in the
annals of the new religion.
On his side Joseph, yet in prison, protested against the illegality of his
detention. That illegality was admitted; but the Secretary of State declared
that neither he, nor the Governor, could do anything in the matter, and
that there was nothing for him but to submit to it. What indeed could be
done when the principle had been admitted of the right of the strongest,
and when justice had been made to yield to popular violence? The
irritation of the inhabitants of Missouri did not calm down; in Davies
county were men who swore neither to eat nor drink, until they had slain
Joseph. The position of the jailers who had charge of the prisoners, became
one of difficulty. On the 6th of April, 1839, the judge before whom the case
was brought, whether apprehensive of offending those in power, or of a
riot, sent Joseph to Davies county under an escort of ten men, and placed
him in the hands of the sheriff. The day after his arrival, the prisoner
appeared before a jury who were all intoxicated, not excepting even Austin
A. King, their foreman. Joseph, as well as his friends, were accused of
murder, treason, theft, pillage, and arson. But having procured a change of
venue he was taken to Broone county the 15th of April, and during the
night of the 1Bth and 17th, perceiving that their jailers were drunk, Joseph
and his fellow-prisoners contrived to escape. They made off in the direction
of Illinois, taking care to keep out of the high-roads.
[319]
Illinois had become the asylum of the persecuted Mormons. A very painful
account would be that of this episode in Mormon history, if one could enter
into its details: it reminds us of the worst days of ancient persecutions. The
Saints had seen their property plundered, their houses given to the flames,
their children maltreated or butchered. Amanda Smith* records, in terms
which rend the heart, the sufferings, persecutions, murders, robberies, of
which she was the victim or witness. Her husband, and several children,
had been butchered by the crowd under her very eyes. An old white-headed
man had been cut down, and hacked to pieces by a fellow named Rogers.
One of the Saints, who had come to Jackson county to claim his property,
was trampled underfoot by the infuriated mob, until his bowels obtruded
from his body, and death ensued.** At Hawn's Mill (the 30th of October,
1838) a massacre took place, followed by pillage, in which fifteen Mormons
lost their lives, and many women and children were severely wounded.
The assassins, two hundred and forty in number, even went to the extent of
stripping the dead.
During this dreadful persecution, the losses of the Mormons amounted to
between three and four hundred, men, women, and children included. All
their property was destroyed or confiscated. The land they left behind them
_____________________
* Judicial deposition of the 18th of April, 1839.
** Gunnison: 'The Mormons, or Latter-day Saints,' p. 112.
[320]
in Missouri, which had cost them 200,000 dollars, was never restored to
them. When they arrived in Illinois they were in a most fearful state of
destitution; unhappy victims of a religious persecution, the more
deplorable from the fact of its occurring in a country where liberty of
conscience is proclaimed by the constitution, put in practice -- at least, on
the common ground of Christianity -- to the greatest possible extent, and
pushed, if one may say so, almost to despotism.* No regret, which the facts
just related may cause us, will be more than barely adequate to the occasion;
nor would it be possible, all religious considerations apart, to over-estimate
the constancy and courage exhibited by the Mormons during this period of
iniquitous persecution. The women even, and of these, Amanda Smith in
particular, exhibited a courage worthy of the noblest cause. As to the
Prophet, his firmness of mind did not desert him for a single instant; on the
field
_____________________
* Joseph denounces as the principal instruments of the persecution in
Missouri, Generals Clark, Wilson, and Lucas; Colonels Price and Cornelius
Gilliam, and Captain Bogart. The latter had stolen a horse, completely
harnessed, from Joseph, and afterwards sold it to General Wilson. The
General, being fully aware to whom the horse belonged, promised Joseph,
on his word of honour, to restore if, which promise he never fulfilled.
** During the few months that he resided in Missouri, Joseph had paid his
lawyers about 50,000 dollars for fees in the various suits which had been
brought against him. And for all this money he obtained very little justice,
for his counsel were frequently paralysed by fear of the mob, and sometimes
were so drunk that they could do nothing when required to act. See
autobiography of Joseph Smith, published in 'The Deseret News.'
[321]
of battle, in prison, before the judgment seat, he rose to the height of the
great part which as a religious regenerator he was enacting, and did so in a
way as sometimes to tempt us to believe in his sincerity, and to do him
honour as to a martyr to his faith. Singular inconsistency of human nature,
which, in the same individual, can sink so low as falsehood, and soar so
high as heroism!
As a termination to this chapter, we give one of the letters which Joseph,
when in prison, wrote to his people. It will prove that he was at times
capable of eloquence; it may perhaps explain to us the secret of the influence
which he exercised.
"Liberty Jail, Clay County, Missouri, March 20, 1839.
"TO THE CHURCH OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS AT QUINCY, ILLINOIS,
AND SCATTERED ABROAD, AND TO BISHOP PARTRIDGE IN
PARTICULAR.
"Your humble servant Joseph Smith, Jun., prisoner for the Lord Jesus
Christ's sake, and for the Saints taken and held by the power of mobocracy
under the exterminating reign of his Excellency the Governor Lilburn W.
Boggs, in company with his fellow-prisoners and beloved brethren, Caleb
Baldwin, Lyman Wight, Hyrum Smith, and Alexander M'Rae, send unto
you all greetings. May the grace of God the Father and of our lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ rest upon you all, and abide with you for ever. May
knowledge be multiplied unto you by the mercy of God. And may faith, and
virtue, and knowledge, and temperance, and patience, and godliness, and
brotherly kindness, and charity, be in you and abound, that you may not be
barren in anything, nor unfruitful.
[322]
"Forasmuch as we know that the most of you are well acquainted with the
wrongs and the high-toned injustice and cruelty that is practised upon us:
whereas we have be taken prisoners, charged falsely with every kind of evil,
and thrown into prison, enclosed with strong walls, surrounded with a
strong guard, who continually watch day and night as indefatigable as the
devil is in tempting and laying snares for the people of God:
"Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, we are the more ready and willing to
lay claim to your fellowship and love. For our circumstances are calculated
to awaken our spirits to a sacred remembrance of everything, and we think
that yours are also, and that nothing therefore can separate us from the love
of God and fellowship one with another; and that every species of
wickedness and cruelty practised upon us will only tend to bind our hearts
together and seal them together in love. We have no need to say to you,
that we are held in bonds without cause neither is it needful that you say
unto us, 'We are driven from our homes and smitten without cause.' We
mutually understand that if the inhabitants of the State of Missouri had let
the Saints alone, and had been as desirable of peace as they were, there
would have been nothing but peace and quietude in this State unto this day;
we should not have been in this hell, surrounded with demons; -- if not
those who are damned, they are those who shall be damned; -- and where
we are compelled to hear nothing but blasphemous oaths, and witness a
scene of blasphemy, and drunkenness, and hypocrisy, and debaucheries of
every description.
"And again, the cries of orphans and widows would not have ascended up
to God against them. It would not have stained the soil of Missouri. But oh,
the unrelenting hand! the inhumanity
[323]
and murderous disposition of this people! It shocks all nature; it beggars
and defies all description; it is a tale of woe; a lamentable tale; yea, a
sorrowful tale; too much to tell; too much for contemplation; too much to
think of for a moment; too much for human beings; it cannot be found
among the heathens; it cannot be found among the nations where kings
and tyrants are enthroned; it cannot; be found among the savages of the
wilderness; yea, and I think it cannot be found among the wild and
ferocious beasts of the forest, --that a man should be mangled for sport! --
women be robbed of all that they have -- their last morsel for subsistence --
and then be violated to gratify the hellish desires of the mob, and finally left
to perish, with their helpless offspring clinging around their necks.
"But this is not all. After a man is dead, he must be dug up from his grave,
and mangled to pieces -- for no other purpose than to gratify their spleen
against the religion of God.
"They practise these things upon the Saints, who have done them no
wrong; who are innocent and virtuous; who loved the Lord their God, and
were willing to forsake all things for Christ's sake. These things are awful to
relate, but they are verily true; it must needs be that offences come, but woe
unto them by whom they come.
"O God! where art thou? and where is the pavilion that covereth thy
hiding-place? How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea, thy
pure eye behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of
thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries? Yea, O Lord, how
long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before thine
heart shall be softened towards them, and thy bowels be moved with
compassion towards them?
[324]
"O Lord God Almighty, Maker of heaven, earth, and seas, and of all things
that in them is, and who controlleth and subjecteth the devil, and the dark
and benighted dominion of Shayole! Stretch forth thy hand, let thine eye
pierce; let thy pavilion be taken up; let thy hiding-place no longer be
covered; let thine ear be inclined; let thine heart be softened, and thy bowels
moved with compassion toward us; let thine anger be kindled against our
enemies; and in the fury of thine heart, with thy sword, avenge us of our
wrongs; remember thy suffering saints, O our God! and thy servants will
rejoice in thy name for ever.
"Dearly and beloved brethren, we see that perilous times have come, as was
testified of. We may look then, with most perfect assurance, for the rolling
in of all those things that have been written, and, with more confidence
than ever before, lift up our eyes to the luminary of day, and say in our
hearts, 'Soon thou wilt veil thy blushing face. He that said, 'Let there be
light,' and there was light, hath spoken this word. And again, thou moon,
thou dimmer light, thou luminary of night, shall turn to blood.
"We see that everything is fulfilling; and the time shall soon come, when
the Son of Man shall descend in the clouds of heaven. Our hearts do not
shrink, neither are our spirits altogether broken, at the grievous yoke which
is put upon us. We know that God mill have our oppressors in derision;
that he will laugh at their calamity, and mock when their fear cometh.
"Oh that we could be with you, brethren, and unbosom our feelings to you!
We would tell, that we should have been liberated at the time Elder Rigdon
was, on the writ of habeas corpus, had not our own lawyers interpreted the
law, contrary to what it reads, against us: which prevented us from
introducing our evidence before the mock court.
[325]
"They have done us much harm from the beginning. They have of late
acknowledged that the law was misconstrued, and tantalized our feelings
with it, and have entirely forsaken us and have forfeited their oaths, and
their bonds; and we have a come back on them, for they are co-workers with
the mob.
"As nigh as we can learn, the public mind has been for a long time turning
in our favour, and the majority is now friendly; and the lawyers can no
longer browbeat us by saying that this or that, is a matter of public opinion,
for public opinion is not willing to brook it; for it is beginning to look with
feelings of indignation against our oppressors, and to say that the Mormons
were not in the fault in the least. We think that Truth, Honour, and Virtue,
and Innocence, will eventually come out triumphant. We should have
taken a habeas corpus before the High Judge, and escaped the mob in
a summary way; but unfortunately for us, the timber of the wall being very
hard, our auger-handles gave out, and hindered us longer than we expected;
we applied to a friend, and a very slight incautious act gave rise to some
suspicions, and before we could fully succeed, our plan was discovered; we
had everything in readiness but the last stone, and we could have made our
escape in one minute, and should have succeeded admirably, had it not
been for a little imprudence or over-anxiety on the part of our friend.
"The sheriff and jailer did not blame us for our attempt; it was a fine
breach, and cost the county: a round sum; but public opinion says, that we
ought to have been permitted to have made our escape; that then the dis-
grace would have been on us, but now it must come on the State; that there
cannot be any charge sustained against us, and that the conduct of the mob,
the murders committed at Haun's Mills, and the exterminating order
[326]
the Governor, and the one-sided, rascally proceedings of the Legislature, has
damned the State of Missouri to all eternity. I would just name also that
General Atchison has proved himself as contemptible as any of them.
"We have tried for a long time to get our lawyers to draw us some petitions
to the Supreme Judges of this State, but they utterly refused. We have
examined the law, and drawn the petitions ourselves, and have obtained
abundance of proof to counteract all the testimony that was against us, -- so
that if the Supreme Judge does not grant us our liberty, he has got to act
without cause, contrary to honour, evidence, law, or justice, sheerly to
please the devil; but we hope better things, and trust before many days God
will so order our case, that me shall be set at liberty, and take up our
habitation with the Saints.
"We received some letters last evening, -- one from Emma, one from
Don C. Smith, and one from Bishop Partridge, -- all breathing a kind and
consoling spirit. We were much gratified with their contents. We had been
a long time without information; and when we read those letters, they were
to our souls as the gentle air is refreshing; but our joy was mingled with
grief, because of the sufferings of the poor and much injured Saints. And we
need not say to you that the floodgates of our hearts were hoisted, and our
eyes were a fountain of tears; but those who have not been enclosed in the
walls of prison, without cause or provocation, can have but little idea how
sweet the voice of a friend is; one token of friendship, from any source
whatever, awakens and calls into action every sympathetic feeling; it brings
up in an instant everything that is past; it seizes the present with the avidity
of lightning; it grasps after the future with the fierceness of a tiger; it
retrogrades from one thing to
[327]
another, until finally all enmity, malice, and hatred, and past differences,
misunderstandings, and mismanagements, are slain victorious at the feet of
Hope; and when the heart is sufficiently contrite, then the voice of
inspiration steals along, and whispers, 'My son, peace he unto thy soul;
thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then,
if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph
over all thy foes; thy friends do stand by thee, and, they shall hail thee again,
with warm hearts and friendly hands: thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do
not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression as they did
Job; and they who do charge thee with transgression, their hope shall be
blasted, and their prospects shall melt away as the hoarfrost melteth before
the burning rays of the rising sun; and also that God hath set to his hand
and seal, to change the times and seasons, and to blind their minds that they
may not understand his marvellous workings, that he may prove them
also, and take them in their own craftiness; also because their hearts are
corrupted, and the things which they are willing to bring upon others, and
love to have others suffer, may come upon themselves, to the very
uttermost; that they may be disappointed also, and their hopes may be cut
off; and not many years hence, that they and their posterity shall be swept
front under heaven, saith God, that not one of them is left to stand by the
wall.' Cursed are all those that shall lift up the heel against mine anointed,
saith the Lord, and cry, 'They have sinned' when they have not sinned
before me, saith the Lord, but have done that which was meet; in mine eyes,
and which I commanded them; but those who cry 'Transgression,' do it
because they are the servants of sin, and are the children of disobedience
themselves. And those who swear falsely against
[328]
my servants, that they might bring them into bondage and death, woe unto
them; because they have offended my little ones; they shall be severed from
the ordinances of mine house; their basket shall not be full, and their
houses and their barns shall perish, and they themselves shall be despised
by those that flattered them; they shall not have right to the priesthood, nor
their posterity after them, from generation to generation; it had been better
for them that a millstone had been hanged about their necks, and they
drowned in the depth of the sea.
"Wo unto all those that discomfort my people, and drive and murder, and
testify against them, saith the Lord of Hosts: a generation of vipers shall not
escape the damnation of hell. Behold mine eyes see and know all their
works, and I have in reserve a swift judgment in the season thereof, for
them all; for there is a time appointed for every man according as his work
shall be.
"And now, beloved brethren, we say unto you, that inasmuch as God hath
said that He would have a tried people, that he would purge them as gold,
now we think that this time he has chosen his own crucible, wherein we
have been tried; and we think if we get through with any degree of safety,
and shall have kept the faith, that it will be a sign to this generation,
altogether sufficient to leave them without excuse; and we think also, it will
be a trial of our faith equal to that of Abraham, and that the ancients will
not have whereof to boast over us in the day of judgment, as being called to
pass through heavier afflictions; that we may hold an even weight in the
balance with them; but now, after having suffered so great sacrifice and
having passed through so great a season of sorrow, we trust that a ram may
be caught in the thicket speedily, to relieve the sons and daughters
[329]
of Abraham from their great anxiety, and to light up the lamp of salvation
upon their countenances, that they may hold on now, after having gone so
far unto everlasting life.
"Now, brethren, concerning the places for the location of the Saints, we
cannot counsel you as we could if we were present with you; and as to the
things that were written heretofore, we did not consider them anything
very binding; therefore we now say once for all, that we think it most
proper that the general affairs of the Church, which are necessary to be
considered while your humble servant remains in bondage, should be
transacted by a general conference of the most faithful and the most
respectable of the authorities of the Church, and a minute of those
transactions may be kept, and forwarded from time to time, to your humble
servant; and if there should be any corrections by the word of the Lord, they
shall be freely transmitted, and your humble servant will approve all things
whatsoever is acceptable unto God. If anything should have been suggested
by us, or any names mentioned, except by commandment, or thus saith the
Lord, we do not consider it binding; therefore our hearts shall not be
grieved if different arrangements should be entered into. Nevertheless we
would suggest the propriety of being aware of an aspiring spirit, which spirit
has oftentimes urged men forwards, to make foul speeches, and influence
the Church to reject milder counsels, and has eventually been the means of
bringing much death and sorrow upon the Church.
"We would say, beware of pride also; for well and truly hath the wise man
said, that pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
And again, outward appearance is not always a criterion by which to judge
our fellow-man; but the lips betray the haughty and overbearing
imaginations of the
[330]
heart; by his words and his deeds let him be judged. Flattery also is a deadly
poison. A frank and open rebuke provoketh a good man to emulation; and
in the hour of trouble he will be your best friend; but on the other hand, it
will draw out all the corruptions of corrupt hearts, and lying and the poison
of asps is under their tongues; and they do cause the pure in heart to be cast
into prison, because they want them out of their way.
"A fanciful and flowery and heated imagination beware of; because the
things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and
ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O
man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the
utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and
expand upon the broad considerations of eternity's expanse; he must
commune with God. How much more dignified and noble are the thoughts
of God, than the vain imaginations of the human heart! None but fools
will trifle with the souls of men.
"How vain and trifling have been our spirits, our conferences, our
councils, our meetings, our private as well as public conversations! too low;
too mean; too vulgar; too condescending for the dignified characters of the
called and chosen of God, according to the purposes of his will, from before
the foundation of the world, to hold the keys of the mysteries of those
things that have been kept hid from the foundation until now, of which
some have tasted a little, and on which many of them are to be poured
down from heaven upon the heads of babes; yea, the weak, obscure, and
despisable ones of the earth.
"Therefore we beseech of you, brethren, that you bear with
[331]
those who do not feel themselves more worthy than yourselves, while we
exhort one another to a reformation with one and all, both old and young,
teachers and taught, both high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, male
and female; let honesty, and sobriety, and candor, and solemnity, and
virtue, and pureness, and meekness, and simplicity crown our heads in
every place; and in fine, become as little children, without malice, guile or
hypocrisy.
"And now, brethren, after your tribulations, if you do these things, and
exercise fervent prayer and faith in the sight of God always, he shall give
unto you knowledge by His Holy Spirit, yea by the unspeakable gift of the
Holy Ghost, that has not been revealed since the world was until now;
which our forefathers have waited with anxious expectation to be revealed
in the last times, which their minds were pointed to by the angels, as held
in reserve for the fullness of their glory; a time to come in the which
nothing shall be withheld, whether there be one God or many Gods, they
shall be manifest. All thrones and dominions, principalities and powers,
shall be revealed and set forth upon all who have endured valiantly for the
Gospel of Jesus Christ; and also if there be bounds set to the heavens, or to
the seas; or to the dry land, or to the sun, moon or stars; all the times of
their revolutions; all the appointed days, months and years, and all the days
of their days, months and years, and all their glories, laws, and set times,
shall be revealed in the days of the dispensation of the fullness of times,
according to that which was ordained in the midst of the council of the
Eternal God of all other Gods, before this world was, that should be reserved
unto the finishing and the end thereof, when every man shall enter into
his eternal presence, and into his immortal rest.
[332]
"But I beg leave to say unto you, brethren, that ignorance, superstition and
bigotry placing itself where it ought not, is oftentimes in the way of the
prosperity of this Church; like the torrent of rain from the mountains, that
floods the most pure and crystal stream with mire, and dirt, and filthiness,
and obscures everything that was clear before, and all rushes along in one
general deluge; but time weathers tide; and notwithstanding we are rolled
in for the time being by the mire of the flood, the next surge peradventure,
as time rolls on, may bring to us the fountain as clear as crystal, and as pure
as snow; while the filthiness, flood-wood and rubbish is left and purged out
by the way.
"How long can rolling water remain impure? What power shall stay the
heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the
Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the
Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven, upon the heads of
the Latter-day Saints.
"What is Boggs or his murderous party, but wimbling willows upon the
shore to catch the flood-wood? As well might we argue that water is not
water, because the mountain torrents send down mire and roil the crystal
stream, although afterwards renders it more pure than before; or that fire is
not fire, because it is of a quenchable nature, by pouring on the flood; as to
say that our cause is down because renegadoes, liars, priests, thieves and
murderers, who are all alike tenacious of their crafts and creeds, have
poured down, from their spiritual wickedness in high places, and from
their strongholds of the devil, a flood of dirt and mire and filthiness and
vomit upon our heads. No! God forbid. Hell may pour forth its rage like the
burning lava of
[333]
Mount Vesuvius, or of Etna, or of the most terrible of the burning
mountains; and yet shall Mormonism stand. Water, fire, truth and God are
all realities. Truth is Mormonism. God is the author of it. He is our shield.
It is by him we received our birth. It was by his voice that we were called to a
dispensation of his Gospel in the beginning of the fullness of times. It was
by him we received the Book of Mormon; and it is by him that we remain
unto this day; and by him we shall remain, if it shall be for our glory; and in
his Almighty name we are determined to endure tribulation as good
soldiers unto the end.
"But, brethren, we shall continue to offer further reflections in our next
epistle. You will learn by the time you have read this, -- and if you do not
learn it, you may learn it, -- that walls and irons, doors and creaking hinges,
and half scared to death guards and jailers, grinning like some damned
spirits, lest an innocent man should make his escape to bring to light the
damnable deeds of a murderous mob, -- are calculated in their very nature
to make the soul of an honest man feel stronger than the powers of hell.
"But we must bring our epistle to a close. We send our respects to
fathers, mothers, wives and children, brothers and sisters; we hold them in
the most sacred remembrance.
"We feel to inquire after Elder Rigdon; if he has not forgotten us, it has not
been signified to us by his writing. Brother George W. Robinson also; and
Elder Cahoon, we remember him, but would like to jog his memory a little
on the fable of the bear and the two friends who mutually agreed to stand by
each other. And perhaps it would not be amiss to mention Uncle John, and
various others. A word of consolation and a blessing would not come amiss
from anybody, while we are being
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so closely whispered by the bear. But we feel to excuse everybody and
everything, yea the more readily when we contemplate that we are in the
hands of persons worse that a bear, for the bear would not prey upon a dead
carcass.
"Our respects, and love, and fellowship to all the virtuous Saints. We are
your brethren, and fellow-sufferers, and prisoners of Jesus Christ for the
Gospel's sake, and for the hope of glory which is in us. Amen
"JOSEPH SMITH, Jun.,
"HYRUM SMITH,
"LYMAN WHITE,
"CALB BALDWIN,
"ALEXANDER M'RAE."
The original document which we have faithfully given above, with all the
errors and obscurities which occasionally characterize the style of Joseph
Smith, would it not seem to emanate from a pen guided by sincerity and
conviction? With the exception of some sentiments hardly consistent with
the charity to be expected from one aspiring to be a Christian prophet, it is
animated with so much fervour, and has such an appearance of sincere
faith, that were we to judge Joseph by this epistle alone, we should term
him a fanatic rather than an impostor. As to his followers, the sincerity of
their faith cannot be questioned. It would be possible to relate acts of theirs
which fully prove it, and which might be supposed taken from the most
trustworthy legends of ancient times. Thus, to fulfill
[335]
a revelation, -- that of the 8th of July, 1838, a few of the faithful left Quincy
the 26th of April, 1839, and, braving every peril, betook themselves secretly
to Far-West, where, during the night, after having laid the first stone of the
house of the Lord by rolling a huge block of marble to the south-west angle
of a site chosen for the temple, and already consecrated, they offered up the
prayers usual on such an occasion, and then took their way back to Quincy,
where they arrived in safety. Their pious mission had been miraculously
protected, and they might consider themselves fortunate in escaping the
death which awaited them had they been discovered by their enemies.
We shall relate in the next chapter the new era which dawned upon the
Mormons in Illinois, where, in the middle of winter, they had sought an
asylum from the persecution in Missouri, and where, after his escape from
prison, the Prophet had joined them on the 26th of April, 1839.
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