TEACHINGS OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH, 1843.
Change in Governors of Missouri and Illinois.--Prophet's
Release.--Discourse on Authority.--Signs in the Heavens.--New Arrivals
of Saints.--Death of Lorenzo Barnes.--Discourse on Knowledge.--Great
Truths.--Prophet's Knowledge of Men.--Wilford Woodruff's Bond for
Temple Funds.--Opposition to Revealed Truth.--Hell Defined.--Prophet
Arrested.--His Release.
Elder Woodruff celebrated New Year's day, 1843, by a sleigh ride over
in Iowa. There he had gone fifteen miles to perform a marriage ceremony
in behalf of Abraham Newbury and Miss Eliza Duty.
The New Year brought relief to the Prophet and to the Church in
consequence of a political change in the governorship of both Missouri
and Illinois. While Governors Carlin and Reynolds held the office of
governors of these states, justice was beyond all hope. They were
bitter and would yield themselves gladly to the demands of those who
were persecuting and hounding the Prophet.
The 17th day of January was appointed by general proclamation a day
of humiliation, fasting, prayer, and thanksgiving. The deliverance of
the Prophet from the hands of his enemies and his return to the Saints
in Nauvoo were sources of unbounded joy to them. Elder Woodruff met,
with others, at the Prophet's home and took part there in friendly and
brotherly greetings with those who welcomed the liberty and return of
their leader.
The day following, the Twelve were among those who met at Joseph's
home where he and his wife entertained about seventy people. Among
them were twenty men who had attended him at his trial in Springfield
and returned with him to Nauvoo. There was an apparently universal joy
over the outcome of his trial. The people in those days, however, like
Israel of old associated certain worldly successes with their ideas of
right, and misfortunes with their ideas of wrong. "Who hath sinned,"
Jesus was asked upon healing a man of His times, "he or his parents?"
Those sacrifices, tribulations, trials, and persecutions accompany
those who are valiant for their God and maintain His commandments.
{170} Men are prone, nevertheless, to attribute worldly misfortunes to
wrong doing even though men suffer in the performance of some God-given
requirement.
While Joseph was driven from his home and affairs into seclusion,
and persecuted and afflicted by his enemies, there were those who
were ready to listen to the sophistries and cunning arguments of the
hypocrite and the Pharisee in their midst. In his absence and in his
seclusion the powerfulness of his personalty was not so strongly felt,
and the evil inclinations of men found opportunities for gratification
and justification. Now that he had returned to their midst, free to
preach, and free to rebuke, there was rejoicing among even those who
have no higher conception of divine purposes than to associate worldly
success with God's favors and misfortune with His displeasure.
On the 22nd of January, 1843, at the Nauvoo Temple the Prophet
delivered a discourse to the multitude present. Elder Woodruff, ever
faithful to his mission as a journalist of early Church history, gives
a synopsis of the discourse from which the following is taken: "In
consequence of rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ and the prophets
whom God hath sent, His judgments have rested upon peoples, states, and
nations in various ages of the world. This was the case with the cities
of Sodom and Gomorah which were destroyed for rejecting prophets.
"I will now give my testimony. I care not what man can do. I speak
boldly and faithfully and with authority. Where there is no Kingdom
of God there is no salvation. Where there is a prophet, or a priest,
or a righteous man unto whom the Lord gives His oracles, there is the
Kingdom. Where the oracles are not, the Kingdom of God is not. In these
remarks I make no allusion to the kingdoms of the earth. We will keep
the laws of the land; we do not speak against them, nor have we ever
done so. We can scarcely make mention of the State of Missouri and our
persecutions there without a cry going forth that we are guilty of
treason. We speak of the Kingdom of God on the earth and not of the
kingdoms of man.
"The plea of many is that we have no right to receive revelations, but
if we do not receive revelations we do not have the oracles of God, and
they who do not have His oracles are not His people. You ask. 'What
will become {171} of the world and the various professors of religion
who do not believe in revelation and in the oracles of God as contained
in His Church in the ages of the world when he had a people upon the
earth?' I tell you in the name of Jesus Christ, they will be damned,
and when you get into the eternal world you will find it so. They
cannot escape the damnation of hell.
"As touching the gospel and baptism of John, I would say that John
came preaching the gospel for the remission of sins. He had authority
from God, and his oracles were with him, and the Kingdom for a season
seemed to rest with John alone. He was a legal administrator. Those
who were baptized were subjects for the Kingdom. The laws and oracles
of God were there; so also was the Kingdom of God. No man could have
better authority to administer than John, and even the Savior Himself
submitted to that authority by being baptized of John. John was a
priest after the order of Aaron and held the keys of that priesthood.
He came forth preaching repentance and baptism for the remission of
sins, but at the same time crying: 'There cometh one after me mightier
than I, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose.' Christ
came, according to the word of John. He was greater than John because
he held the keys of the Melchizedek priesthood and the Kingdom of God,
and had before revealed the priesthood to Moses. Jesus says in his
teachings: 'Upon this rock will I build my Church and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it.' What rock? The rock of revelation.
Yet Christ was baptized by John to fulfill all righteousness. He says,
'Except ye are born of the water and of the spirit ye cannot enter into
the Kingdom of Heaven; though the heavens and the earth pass away my
word shall not pass away.' If a man be born of the water and the spirit
he can enter into the Kingdom of God. It is evident that the Kingdom of
God was upon the earth and that John prepared subjects for that Kingdom
by preaching the gospel and by baptizing them. He preached the same
gospel and baptism that Jesus and the apostles preached after him.
"The endowment of Pentecost was to prepare the disciples for their
mission in the world. Whenever a man can find out the will of God and
find an administrator legally authorized from Him, there is the Kingdom
of God; but where these are not, {172} there the Kingdom of God is not.
All the ordinances, systems, and administrations on the earth are of no
use to the children of men unless they are ordained and authorized of
God. None others will be acknowledged either by God or by angels.
"I know what I say, I understand my mission, God almighty is my shield
and what can man do if He is my friend. _I shall not be sacrificed
until my time comes, then I shall be offered freely._ I thank the Lord
for delivering me from my enemies. I have no enmity, I have no desire
but to do all men good. I feel to pray for all men. We do not ask
people to throw away any good which they have, we only ask them to come
and receive more. What if all the world should embrace this gospel? We
should then see eye to eye and the blessings of God would be poured out
upon the people, which is my whole soul's desire. Amen."
We are not informed whether there were present men and women ready to
criticize this address as a want of discretion in the Prophet for the
use of such language. No doubt there were. He had just gotten out of
trouble and they, no doubt, argued, why should he use language that
would bring upon him more trouble. The Prophet was not thinking of
trouble; he was not occupied in selecting the most discreet words.
He had a mission that put upon him obligations; come what may, these
obligations must be fulfilled. He was not concerned so much about his
personal welfare and safety as he was about the welfare and salvation
of mankind.
Not long after this, on the 10th of March, Elder Woodruff gives an
account of peculiar signs which he witnessed in the heavens. The
occurrence took place about seven o'clock in the evening and lasted for
about three hours. There was a stream of light in the form of a drawn
broadsword with the hilt downward and the blade pointing upward from
the southeast at an angle of 45 degrees. This sign appeared for five
successive evenings. On the evening of the 14th it moved to a position
near the moon. It then formed itself into a large ring on the inside
of which appeared balls of light, something like sundogs. Another half
ring issued from these balls in the shape of a horseshoe. They extended
outside of the ring with one line running through the center of the
moon. Of this manifestation he quotes the Prophet as saying: "As sure
as there is a God who sits in the {173} heavens, and as sure as He ever
spoke by my mouth, there will be a bloody war; and the broadsword sign
in the heavens is a sign thereof."
Several days later other remarkable signs were seen in the heavens.
Orson Pratt, professor of mathematics in the University of Nauvoo,
sketched a diagram of the halos and perihelion, or circles; and mock
suns were discovered in the heavens on the morning of March 23rd, 1843;
there were still other signs. As in the case of the sword there was
seen on the opposite side of the horizon a streak of blackness, the
other appeared like the blaze of a comet.
During these times the river banks along Nauvoo presented busy scenes.
The city was full of activity and was constantly enlarging by reason of
the emigration from abroad. On the 12th and 13th of March steamboats
landed at Nauvoo bringing 480 Saints, 250 of these wintered in St.
Louis. Parley P. Pratt and Dr. Levi Richards were among the returning
elders. Many of the Saints were old acquaintances of President Woodruff
who hailed them with delight and they in turn were happy to meet again
the man who had first brought the gospel to them. They were made
welcome by the authorities and the Saints in Nauvoo. The day after
their arrival, they were addressed in public assembly by the Prophet.
About this time word came that Elder Lorenzo Barnes, then a missionary
of the Church, had died in a foreign land. Speaking of the death of
Elder Barnes, the prophet, in a discourse delivered on the 16th of
April in reference to Elder Barnes, said: "I should have been more
reconciled to the death of Elder Barnes could his body have been laid
in the grave in Nauvoo or among the Saints. I have very peculiar
feelings in the matter of receiving an honorable burial with my
fathers. The ancient Saints were very particular about their burial
places. Joseph, before his death, made his kindred promise to carry
his bones to the land of Canaan, and they did so. They embalmed his
body and buried him with his fathers. There is a blessing in such a
privilege which many do not comprehend; still it is true that in the
resurrection the Saints will all rise to meet the Lord and they will
all be brought together though their bodies be scattered on the face of
the whole earth.
{174} "I wish the Saints to be comforted by the thought of the victory
they will gain through the resurrection. The thought is sufficient
to encourage the Saints to overcome obstacles in the midst of their
trial, trouble, and tribulation. Though the thunders roar and the
earthquakes roar or bellow; though lightnings flash and war be on every
hand, suffer not a joint to tremble nor let your hearts faint for the
great Eloheim will deliver you. If you are not delivered before the
resurrection, you will be set free by it from all those things and from
pain, sorrow, and death.
"I have labored hard and endeavored in every way to prepare this people
to comprehend the things which God is unfolding to me. He hath given me
a vision of the resurrection of the dead and I saw the graves open, and
the Saints, as they rose, took each other by the hand and great joy and
glory rested upon them."
On the 19th of that month Elder Woodruff with Brigham Young, Heber C.
Kimball, Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, and William Smith were appointed
to missions in the East for the purpose of holding conferences and
gathering funds for the completion of the Temple. Others were appointed
to missions in England, and Addison Pratt, with three others, was
called to carry the gospel to the Sandwich Islands.
May 14th a meeting was held in Lima where the Prophet addressed those
present, among whom was Elder Woodruff. He records in his journal the
following from the discourse of the Prophet: "It is not wisdom that
we should have all knowledge presented to us at once, but a little at
a time that we may comprehend it. The principle of knowledge is the
principle of salvation. Any one who will not receive knowledge to be
saved will be damned. The principle of salvation is given to us through
the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Salvation is nothing more nor less
than the triumph over all our enemies in this world and over all evil
spirits in the world to come. In the case of Jesus Christ He was to
reign until He had put all enemies under His feet, and the last enemy
was death.
"There is a principle here that few men have thought of. No person can
have this salvation except through a tabernacle. In this world men are
naturally selfish and ambitious. They strive to excel, yet some are
willing to build up others as well as {175} themselves. In the other
world there is a variety of spirits, some of whom also seek to excel.
This was the case with the devil when he fell. He was seeking things
which were unlawful, he was, therefore, cast down and it is said that
he carried away many with him. His punishment is great in that he is
not permitted to have a tabernacle. Lucifer, planning to overthrow the
decree of God, goeth up and down the earth seeking whom he may destroy.
Any person who will yield to him, he will bind and take into possession
his body and reign therein and glorify himself, forgetting that he has
not a body of his own. By and by some one comes along having divine
authority and casts him out and restores the tabernacle to its rightful
owner."
Speaking upon the 19th verse, first chapter of Second Peter which
reads: "We have also a more sure word of prophecy: whereunto ye do well
that ye take heed as unto the light that shineth in a dark place, until
the day dawn of the day star arises in your hearts." The Prophet said:
"There is a grand secret here and a key that unlocks. Notwithstanding
the apostle exhorts them to add to their faith, virtue, knowledge,
temperance, and so forth, he still exhorts them to make their calling
and election sure. Though they had heard the audible voice from heaven
bearing testimony that Jesus was the Son of God, yet they have a more
sure prophecy. Wherein could they have a more sure word of prophecy
than to hear the voice of God saying, 'This is my beloved Son?' This
would be no evidence that their calling and election were made sure,
that they do have a part with Christ and be a joint heir with Him. They
would need that more sure word of prophecy that they were sealed in the
heavens, and had the promise of eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
Having this promise sealed unto them it was an anchor to their souls,
sure and steadfast. This knowledge would support the soul in their hour
of trial and tribulation.
"Knowledge through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the grand key
which unlocks the glorious mysteries of the Kingdom. Compare this
principle of knowledge with Christendom at the present time, and what
becomes of their religion and piety. Christendom is crying out against
prophets and apostles, angels, visions, and revelations; it is ripening
for the damnation of hell, for it rejects the most glorious principle
of the gospel {176} of Jesus Christ; it rejects and disdains the key
which unlocks the Heavens and puts into our possession the glories of
the celestial world. The men of Christendom with all their professed
Godliness will be damned unless they repent and turn unto the Lord. I
would exhort you, then, to call upon God until you make your calling
and election sure by obtaining this more sure word of prophecy and wait
patiently until you obtain it."
These words contained no element of compromise. The language of the
Prophet could not be mistaken. He was much less concerned about his
personal liberty than about delivering the message which he had to give
to the world.
Whatever the Prophet said was always of deep significance to the mind
of Elder Woodruff, and he recorded the private sayings of his leader
with the same fidelity that he recorded his public discourses. After
the meeting where the discourse above mentioned was delivered, he took
supper with the Prophet and others at the home of Calvin Beebe. In this
social pastime the Prophet gave utterance to sentiments and ideas which
he entertained. The following quotations from the Prophet find a place
in Elder Woodruff's journal:
"The way to get along in any important matter is to call to yourself
wise men, men of experience and age to give counsel in times of
trouble."
"Handsome men are not usually wise and strong-minded. The strength of
a strong-minded man will create coarse features like the rough, strong
bough of the oak."
"You may always discover in the first glance at a man, in the outline
of his features, something of his mind."
"Excitement has almost become the essence of my life, when it dies away
I feel almost lost. When a man is reigned up continually he becomes
strong and gains knowledge and power; but when he relaxes for a season
he loses much of his power."
"In all matters, whether temporal or spiritual, preaching the gospel
or leading an army to battle, victory almost entirely depends upon
moderation and good discipline. Let no confusion seize your breast, act
firmly, strike a heavy blow, and conquer."
"A man can bear a heavy burden by practice and by continuing to
increase it."
"The inhabitants of this continent were so constituted, that {177}
is, were so determined and persevering in their righteousness or
wickedness, that God visited them immediately, either with great
judgment or blessings."
"If the present generation receive any assistance from God, they will
have to obtain it by faith."
In the midst of his missionary activities, Apostle Woodruff began the
construction of a new home. During all the years of his labor in the
Church he had been without a home of his own. His unselfish devotion
to the work of the Church and the circumstances with which he was
surrounded led his brethren to encourage him in the erection of a house
for his family. He took up the work with the same heart-felt enthusiasm
that he gave to every undertaking. The home, when finished, was, for
those days, modest and respectable. It stands to-day in Nauvoo with the
homes of other leading brethren of those times in a fairly good state
of preservation.
"On the 27th of May," he says, "the Twelve and the First Presidency met
to try Benjamin Winchester for slandering the Saints in Philadelphia
and for rejecting the counsel of the Lord given through His servants.
His license to preach was taken away and he was required to repent
or lose his standing in the Church." Speaking of this circumstance
the subject of this biography says, "Hyrum pled for mercy; Joseph,
for right; and the Twelve decided according to the testimony." During
the trial, the Prophet gave the following instructions: "In all your
counsels, especially where you have cases to try, observe the spirit
relating to the subject, and discern the spirit by which either party
is governed. The council should not be imposed upon by any unruly
conduct."
"The Saints need not think because I am familiar and cheerful with them
that I am ignorant of what is going on. Iniquity of any kind cannot be
retained in the Church and it will not fare well where I am; for I am
determined that while I lead the Church to lead it aright."
Before taking their departure on their missions to gather funds for
the erection of the Temple, they each gave a bond in the sum of two
thousand dollars for the faithful performance of their duties in
making a strict return to the trustee-in-trust of all funds collected
by them. There had been much false accusation {178} and comment about
the use of funds contributed for the erection of the Temple. These
funds not only placed the Twelve under financial obligations, but did
what was of perhaps more consequence, gave assurance to those who made
contributions that their money would be strictly accounted for. The
bond given by Elder Woodruff was signed by Aaron Johnson as bondsman.
"To all the Saints and honorable men of the earth greeting:
"Dear Brethren and Friends,--
"I, Joseph Smith, a servant of the Lord and Trustee-in-Trust for
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, do hereby certify
that the bearer hereof, Wilford Woodruff, an elder and one of the
Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
has deposited with me his bond and security to my full satisfaction
according to the resolution of the conference held in this city on the
6th day of April, 1843.
"He, therefore, is recommended to all Saints and honorable people as
legal agent to collect funds for the purpose of building the Nauvoo
House and Temple of the Lord.
"Confident that he will honor this high trust as well as ardently
fulfill his commission as a messenger of peace and salvation as one
of the Lord's noble men, I can fervently say, may the Lord clear his
way before him and bless him and bless those that obey his teachings
wherever there are ears to hear and hearts to feel.
"He is, in the language of the Hebrews, 'The friend of Israel,' and
worthy to be received and entertained as a man of God. Yea he has (as
had the ancient apostles) the good word that leadeth unto Eternal Life.
"Wherefore, brethren and friends, while you hear the assurance of the
integrity, fidelity, and ability of this servant of the living God
I trust that your hearts and energies will be enlivened and deeply
engaged in the building of these houses directed by revelation for the
salvation of all Saints and that you will not rest where you are until
all things are prepared before you and you are gathered home with the
rest of Israel to meet your God. I feel strong in the belief and have a
growing expectation that you will not withhold any means in your power
that can be used to accomplish this glorious work.
{179} "Finally, as one that greatly desires the salvation of man, let
me remind you all to strive with a Godly zeal for virtue, holiness, and
the commandments of the Lord. Be wise, be just, be liberal, and above
all be charitable, ever abounding in all good works, and may health,
peace, and the love of God our Father and the grace of Jesus Christ be
and abide with you all is the sincere prayer of
"Your devoted Brother and Friend in the Everlasting Gospel,
"JOSEPH SMITH.
"City of Nauvoo
"June 1st, 1843."
On the 11th of June there was a meeting of the Saints in the Temple
wherein the Prophet addressed those present upon various subjects
such as baptism for the dead, spirits in prison, different degrees
of glory, and the Godhead. The Temple ordinances were occupying the
Prophet's mind and he was urging strenuously the completion of the
Temple. To its sacred ordinances he attached the highest importance,
and, indeed, he declared them necessary to a fulness of the glory of
God. He began by reading the words of Jesus: "O! Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
how oft would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not." "The main
purpose in gathering the people of God was to build unto the Lord a
house wherein He could reveal to them the ordinances and glories of His
Kingdom. There are certain ordinances and principles which were taught
and practiced which must be done in a temple of the Lord built for that
purpose. This was ordained in the mind of God before the world was and
through this purpose the Lord designed the gathering of the Jews, but
they rebelled against Him. For the same reason the Lord gathers His
Saints in the last days. One of the ordinances of the House of the Lord
is baptism for the dead. God decreed before the foundation of the world
that this ordinance should be administered in a house prepared for that
purpose. If a man obtains the fullness of the gospel, he must do as
Jesus did by keeping all the ordinances of the House of the Lord.
"Men will say, 'I will never forsake you but will stand by you at all
times,' yet the moment you teach them some of the {180} mysteries
retained in the heavens to be revealed in the last days they are
ready to stone you and put you to death. It was the same spirit which
crucified our Savior. The doctrine of baptism for the dead is clearly
shown in the New Testament, and if the doctrine is not good then throw
away the book; but if it is the Word of the Lord, let the doctrine be
acknowledged as coming from Him.
"In regard to the spirits in prison much has been said, especially
regarding the words of the Savior to the thief on the cross: 'To-day
thou shalt be with Me in paradise.' The translators and commentators
make Jesus say, 'paradise.' This is a modern word and does not answer
at all to the original which Jesus used. There is nothing in the
original of any language signifying 'paradise.' It should be, 'To-day
thou shalt be with Me in the spirit world.' He did not say 'paradise or
heaven.'
"Much has been said about the word 'hell.' But what is hell? It is
another modern term. It is taken from Hades, the Greek, or Sheol, the
Hebrew, and its true meaning is 'world of spirits.' The words 'Hades,'
'Sheol,' 'paradise,' and 'spirits in prison,' are used in the Scripture
as one word. The righteous and the wicked all go to the same world of
spirits. 'I believe,' says one, 'in one heaven and one hell. All are
equally happy or equally miserable.' Yet Paul speaks of three glories:
'celestial, terrestial, telestial;' and the Savior says that in His
Father's house there are 'many mansions.' Paul says he knew a man
caught up to the 'third heaven.'
"The world believes that the Godhead physically is all embodied in the
Lord Jesus Christ, but this is not true. Peter and Stephen say that
Jesus sat on the right hand of God, and any person who has seen the
heavens opened knows that there are three personages in the heavens
holding the keys of power. As the Father hath power in Himself so also
hath the Son power in Himself. Then the Father has at some time laid
down His body and taken it again: so He has a body of His own, so also
has the Son.
"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, and if a man claimed
to have that testimony and yet denied the spirit and principle of
revelation and prophets, he is damned by his own mouth. 'A man may
be happy in the belief that Jesus Christ is God, and yet not obey
His commandments. A man of God should {181} be endowed with wisdom,
knowledge, and understanding in order to teach and lead the people. The
blind may lead the blind and both fall in the ditch together.
"I will ask this assembly and all the Saints if they will build this
house and receive the ordinances and blessings which the Lord has in
store for them, or will they not, but let Him pass by and bestow His
blessings upon another?"
Passing from the mysteries and glories of the Godhead, Elder Woodruff
makes record of his work upon a plot of prairie land which he was
bringing under cultivation. In all of his thoughts and labors, whether
secular or spiritual, he sustained the same lofty inspiration. When
he preached, he preached in the name of the Lord, when he plowed,
he plowed for the glory of God's Kingdom. All that he said and all
that he did was to him but a united whole in the dispensation of
God's purposes. Life to him, in its highest and best sense, was the
fulfillment of the Divine will. Wherever he was, whatever he was
doing, he was thinking of his Maker with whom he worked, walked, and
talked in this life. It was all glorious, it was all a part of God's
decree. Work of the hands was with him a great privilege and he never
let an opportunity pass by to exercise his body, and he rejoiced in
the opportunity to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. How could
he think of work as a drudgery, how others could look upon it as such
was incomprehensible to him. Being always ready to put his hand to
the plow, he found many opportunities in the course of a long life to
gratify his passion for work.
The joy and peace of toil on his prairie farm were not left long
uninterrupted. The Saints were constantly disturbed by the never
ceasing demands made by the Governor of Missouri for the body of the
Prophet. The chief executive of that state made another call on the
Governor of Illinois to deliver Joseph to the state of Missouri. The
Prophet was twenty miles away from home when information reached him.
On Sunday, June 25th, Hyrum Smith came into a meeting and requested
the Masonic Fraternity there to meet him in the lodge room within half
an hour. It was an occasion of great excitement. When the members
of the lodge convened, the people, who were full of anxiety, also
gathered. Not a fourth of them could secure entrance to the house. They
thereupon formed in a {182} hollow square upon the green and Hyrum
conveyed to them the information that Joseph had already been arrested
with drawn pistols, by Wilson of Carthage and Reynolds of Missouri.
Stephen Markham went courageously to the Prophet's assistance and
threatened to knock their pistols down, but they pointed their pistols
at the Prophet and threatened if he did so to kill the Prophet and he
therefore desisted. They took Joseph to Carthage and then started for
Missouri. "They had gone about ten miles," says Elder Woodruff, "when
they were stopped by citizens in the country who swore they should
not take Joseph Smith any farther without giving him a hearing before
the law. Writ of habeas corpus was taken out in behalf of Joseph and
against sheriffs Reynolds and Wilson. A company was then called for to
go to the Prophet and to see that he had his rights. Hyrum called for
volunteers and the whole city spoke together in response. A choice was
then made of about a hundred mounted men under the command of Generals
Law and Charles C. Rich. Besides the mounted men about one hundred went
down the river by steam-boat, _The Maid of Iowa_.
"Five days later at one p. m., the citizens of Nauvoo went out in great
numbers on horseback, on foot, and in carriages to meet the Prophet.
The whole scene was a demonstration of great joy. He was escorted home
by a band of music and by the great multitude that had gone out to
meet him. Reynolds of Missouri, and Wilson of Carthage, who had taken
him by force of arms, were brought to Nauvoo with him. They looked as
though they had the ague. The Prophet, however, heaped upon their heads
coals of fire by reason of the great kindness he showed them. They had
treated him inhumanely, and in return they were taken to the Prophet's
home, seated at the head of the table and treated to the best his home
afforded. Joseph's wife, who had been denied by these men the privilege
of seeing her husband after his arrest, treated them with the utmost
kindness. After dinner they repaired to the court room where Joseph
was delivered to the municipal court for trial. Before he went into
the court he mounted a wagon and spoke to the assembled multitude. 'I
am out of the hands of the Missourians, thank God!' He thanked the
people for their kindness and love to him. He said he would address
them at four p. m. in the grove near the Temple. At that hour {183}
nearly seven thousand people assembled full of joyful anticipation in
the thought of hearing the words that should fall from their Prophet's
lips."
These were, indeed, exciting times; the depths of the human soul were
reached by the constant recurrences of the joys and sorrows of those
times. Anxiety, however, rested upon the Saints. They could feel the
increasing spirit of opposition; its murderous intent was more fully
revealed to them as time went on. Their joys were constantly broken by
the sorrows that were ever increasing and the dangers that constantly
threatened their peace of mind. They felt the approach of a coming
storm that might do irreparable harm to their peace of mind as well
as to their physical well being. The hearts of the more faithful
men were saddened by both the growing demands and the increasing
power of the enemy. The thought that the evil one was gaining power
over them saddened their lives, and their only support and courage
came from the assurance they had in the ultimate triumph of God's
purposes. The lessons of their sadness and the admonition that comes
to us through the gloom of those days have been our gain. Assurance
of God's deliverance in the past has always been helpful to men and
women in the support of their faith; what a tender and loving God in
the consummation of His purposes had once done, He would do again. In
all those trials there was greater buoyancy in the life of the Prophet
whose death was sought by his enemies than in the lives of any other
men of those times. He was their leader, the hope and assurance of
his words inspired others with confidence in his leadership. He was
their guiding star, and while his life lasted, its brilliancy eclipsed
the lights of all those about him. They knew that he was not a fallen
Prophet. There was no tremor in his voice; he never faltered by the
way-side. He stood up in the midst of his high and holy calling and
rebuked sin and sinners. It was a marvelous life, every detail of
which grows in importance as time goes on, and the greatness of the
Church affords the highest guarantee of the fulfillment of the glorious
predictions he made concerning it--thanks to the pen of Wilford
Woodruff. It gives us deeper and better insight not only into the
spirit of those times but into the life of the man, who, as days go on,
is becoming more and more a glorification of the age in which he lived.
{184}