unbelievers flocked to obtain a sight of the marvellous plates, and the
prophet and his mother were driven to great shifts to conceal them.
At length it was revealed to Smith that the desired sight should be
vouchsafed to three witnesses, whose "testimony" is prefixed to every
printed copy of the _Book of Mormon_. These witnesses aver, in their
strange language, "that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he
brought and lay before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and
the engravings thereon." But a more specific testimony was given by
eight other witnesses, to whom Smith was permitted to show the plates.
Mrs. Smith says that these eight men went with Joseph into a secret
place, "where the family were in the habit of offering up their secret
devotions. They went to this place because it had been revealed to
Joseph that the plates would be carried by one of the ancient Nephites.
Here it was that these eight witnesses, whose names are recorded in
the _Book of Mormon_, looked upon and handled them." The witnesses
themselves say:--"We have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that
the said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken." Of these
eight witnesses, three were members of Smith's own family. After these
witnesses had seen the plates, Mrs. Smith tells us, "the angel again
made his appearance to Joseph, at which time Joseph delivered up the
plates into the angel's hands;" and Joseph himself says:--"He (the
angel) has them in charge to this day;" thus disposing of any demand to
see the original plates. Smith carried on the process of _translating
the plates_ by retiring behind a screen, where he read the plates
though the "curious instrument called the Urim and Thummim," while a
scribe outside the screen wrote as he dictated.
_The Book of Mormon_ was published in 1830. In the previous year Smith
and his scribe had been baptized by an angel, and power given them to
baptize others.
Smith may now carry on the narrative. On April 6, 1830, "The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" was first organized in Manchester,
Ontario county, State of New York. Some few were called and ordained
by the spirit of revelation and prophecy, and began to preach as the
Spirit gave them utterance, and though weak, yet they were strengthened
by the power of God; and many were brought to repentance, were immersed
in the water, and were filled with the Holy Ghost by the laying on of
hands. They saw visions and prophesied, devils were cast out, and the
sick healed by the laying-on of hands. From that time the work rolled
forth with astonishing rapidity, and churches were formed in the States
of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. In
the last named State, a considerable settlement was formed in Jackson
county. Great numbers joined the Church; "we made large purchases
of land, our farms teemed with plenty, and peace and happiness were
enjoyed in our domestic circle and throughout our neighbourhood; but,
as we could not associate with our neighbours--who were many of them of
the basest of men, and had fled from the face of civilized society to
the frontier country to escape the hands of justice--in their midnight
revels, their Sabbath-breaking, horse-racing, they commenced at first
to ridicule, then to persecute; and finally an organized mob assembled
and burnt our houses, tarred and feathered, and whipped many of our
brethren [Smith himself was tarred and feathered], and finally drove
them from their habitations; these, houseless and homeless, contrary
to law, justice, and humanity, had to wander on the bleak prairies
till the children left their blood on the prairie. This took place in
November, 1833." The Government, he says, "winked at these proceedings,
and the result was that a great many of them died; many children were
left orphans; wives, widows; and husbands, widowers. Our farms were
taken possession of by the mob, many thousands of cattle, sheep,
horses, and hogs were taken, and our household goods, store goods, and
printing-presses were broken, taken, or otherwise destroyed."
Driven from Jackson, the Mormonites settled in Clay county, and being
threatened with violence, removed to Caldwell and Davies counties.
Here their numbers rapidly increased; but troubles again came upon
them; their bank failed, and Smith was obliged to conceal himself;
and finally, by an "extraordinary order" of the Governor of Missouri,
in 1838, they were violently ejected from their homes, plundered of
their goods, and subjected, the women especially, to the most frightful
atrocities.
Being thus expelled from Missouri, they settled in Illinois, and in
1839, on the Mississippi, laid the foundation of their famous city,
Nauvoo, or _the Beautiful_, which was incorporated in 1840. Smith
dwells with great delight on this city, which he had seen rise up under
his presidency from a wild tract to be a place of "1,500 well-built
houses, and more than 15,000 inhabitants, all looking to him for
temporal as well as spiritual guidance." He describes as provided
for--"the University of Nauvoo, where all the arts and sciences will
grow with the growth and strengthen with the strength of this beloved
city of the Saints of the Last Days." But the grand feature of the
city was the Great Temple, which Smith thus sketches: "The Temple of
God, now in the course of erection, being already raised one story,
and which is 120 feet by 80 feet, of stone with polished pilasters,
of an entire new order of architecture, will be a splendid house for
the worship of God, as well as an unique wonder of the world, it being
built by the direct revelation of Jesus Christ for the salvation of the
living and the dead."
The progress of Nauvoo was even more rapid than that of any of the
preceding places. Dangers of various kinds beset Smith, but he escaped
from them all; and by a provision in the city charter, formed an
independent civic militia, of which he was lieutenant-general: and he
consolidated his spiritual government, and made careful provision for
an ample succession of hardy as well as zealous missionaries. But Smith
becoming embroiled with the civil authority of the State, got up a sort
of social scheme of his own, and was actually in 1844 nominated for
President. The storm now gathered around him; the "gentile" inhabitants
of Nauvoo, who had always been most troublesome, supported by some of
the dissatisfied among the saints, established an opposition newspaper,
which denounced the morals of the Prophet, as well as his system of
government; the city council condemned the newspaper to silence; and a
mob broke into the office and destroyed the presses. The proprietors
charged some of the Mormon leaders with inciting the mob to this act,
and they were arrested, but set at liberty. The injured parties now
carried their complaint to the Governor of Illinois, who had long
been waiting for a legal opportunity to crush the power of Smith; he
was arrested on a charge of treason and sedition, June 24th, 1844. He
put Nauvoo into a state of defence, and his militia was drawn out;
but to avoid bloodshed, on the approach of the State troops, Smith
surrendered, on a promise of safety till his legal trial; and he, with
others, was committed to Carthage jail. A guard, small in number,
and purposely chosen from among Smith's declared enemies, was set
over them; but on the 27th of June, a mob of about two hundred armed
ruffians broke into the jail, and firing at the door of the room, shot
Smith's brother Hyram dead at once. Joseph Smith attempted to escape
by the window, but was knocked down, carried out, and shot. His dying
exclamation is said to have been, "O Lord my God." His body was given
up to his friends, and buried with great solemnity.
Smith had estimated his followers at 150,000, from among almost every
civilized people on the face of the earth. He had become intoxicated
with power and prosperity, and was lustful and intemperate. In the
Mormon creed, polygamy is not referred to; though there is no doubt
that in the last year of Smith's life this was one of the charges
brought against the Mormonites. Still, the doctrine of a _plurality of
wives_ was never openly taught until after Smith's death, and if he
proclaimed it at all, he confined the revelation to the initiated. He
is said, however, to have sealed to himself "_plural wives_," as the
Mormons express it, about two years before his death; and the privilege
may have been accorded to some of the chief of his followers.
He was still regarded as the glorified prophet and martyr. In Nauvoo
the popular cry was for revenge, but this was changed to forbearance.
Brigham Young was elected as Smith's successor; and he removed his
people beyond the farthest settlements of his countrymen, convinced
that only in a country far distant from societies living under the
established forms, could the vision of the Prophet stand a chance
of realization. They were allowed by their enemies to finish their
beautiful temple; and this being accomplished in September, 1846, the
last band of the brethren departed from the land of their hopes to seek
a new land of promise.
They chose the site of their new city beyond the Great Salt Lake,
in the territory of Utah, to be their appointed Zion, principally
governed by the maxims of the Mormon leaders, and Brigham Young, the
Mormon prophet. We may here state briefly that the Mormons profess
to be a separate people, living under a patriarchal dispensation,
with prophets, elders, and apostles, who have the rule in temporal
as well as religious matters, their doctrines being embodied in the
_Book of Mormon_; that they look for a literal gathering of Israel in
this western land; and that here Christ will reign personally for a
millennium, when the earth will be restored to its paradisaical glory.
Nauvoo, after the departure of the Mormons, became the seat of a colony
of French communists, or Icarians, under the direction of M. Cabet, who
were, however, far from successful. The population has much dwindled.
The great Mormon temple of Nauvoo was, in October, 1848, set on fire by
an incendiary and destroyed.
[Illustration: William Huntington. The Coalheaver Preacher.]
Huntington, the Preacher.
William Huntington, who, by virtue of his preaching, came to ride in
his coach, and marry the titled widow of a Lord Mayor, was no ordinary
man. He was born in the year 1774, in the Weald of Kent, between
Goudhurst and Cranbrook, where his father was a day-labourer. The boy
worked in various ways, and having "a call," he became an Arminian
preacher, at the same time that at Thames Ditton he carried coals
on the river, at 10s. a week: hence he was generally known as the
_Coalheaver_. He preached inordinately long sermons, sometimes of two
hours' duration; his prayers were mostly made up of Scriptural phrases.
It suited the purpose of Huntington to represent himself as living
_under_ the special favour of Providence, because he intended to live
by it: that is, upon the credulity of those whom he could persuade to
believe him: and the history of his success, which he published under
the title of _God the Guardian of the Poor, and the Bank of Faith;
or, a Display of the Providences of God, which have at sundry times,
attended the Author_, is a production equally singular and curious.
One reason which he gives for writing this marvellous treatise is,
that we are often tempted to believe that God takes no notice of our
temporal concerns. "I found God's promises," he says, "to be the
Christian's bank note; and a living faith will always draw on the
divine banker, yea, and the spirit of prayer, and a deep sense of want,
will give an heir of promise a filial boldness at the inexhaustible
bank of heaven." Accordingly, for great things and for little he
drew boldly upon the bank. Thus, he was provided with game and fish.
One day, when he had nothing but bread in the house, he was moved by
the Spirit to take a by-path, where he had never gone before; but
the reason was, that a stoat was to kill a fine large rabbit, just
in time for him to secure the prey. When his wife was lying-in, and
there was no tea in the house, and they had neither money nor credit,
his wife bade the nurse set the kettle on in faith, and before it
boiled, a stranger brought a present of tea to the door. At another
time, a friend, without solicitation, gives him half-a-guinea when he
was penniless; and lest he should have any difficulty in obtaining
change for it, when he crossed Kingston bridge, he casts his eyes on
the ground, and finds a penny to pay the toll. He borrows a guinea,
which he is unable to pay at the time appointed, so he prays that God
would send him one from some quarter or another, and forthwith the
lender calls and desires him to consider it a free gift. He wants a
new parsonic livery: "wherefore," says he, "in humble prayer I told
my most blessed Lord and Master that my year was out, and my apparel
bad; that I had nowhere to go for these things but to him; and as he
had promised to give his servants food and raiment, I hoped he would
fulfil his promise to me, though one of the worst of them." So, having
settled it in his own mind that a certain person in London would act
as the intermediate agent in this providential transaction, he called
upon him, and, as he expected, the raggedness of his apparel led to a
conversation which ended in the offer of a new suit, and of a greatcoat
to boot.
He lived in this manner seven or eight years, not, indeed, taking no
thought for the morrow, but making no other provision for it than by
letting the specific object of his prayers and their general tendency
always be understood, where a word to the unwise was sufficient. Being
now in much request, and "having many doors open to him for preaching
the Gospel very wide apart," he began to want a horse, then to wish,
and lastly to pray, for one. "I used my prayers," he says, "as gunners
use their swivels, turning them every day, as various cases required;"
before the day was over he was presented with a horse, which had been
purchased for him by subscription. The horse was to be maintained
by his own means, but what of that? "I told God," says he, "that I
had more work for my faith now than heretofore; for the horse would
cost half as much to keep as my whole family. In answer to which this
Scripture came to my mind with power and comfort, 'Dwell in the land,
and do good, and verily thou shalt be fed.' This was a bank-note put
into the hand of my faith, which, when I got poor, I pleaded before
God, and he answered it; so that I lived and cleared my way just as
well when I had my horse to keep as I did before."
Huntington was no ordinary man. The remarkable circumstance which
occurred concerning a certain part of his dress has been told in
various books. The old song says--
A light heart and a thin pair of breeches
Go through the world, my brave boys;
but the latter qualification is better for going through the world on
foot than on horseback; so Uncle Toby found it, so did Huntington, who,
in this part of his history, must be his own historian: no language but
his own can do justice to such a story.
"Having now," says Huntington, "had my horse for some time, and riding
a great deal every week, I soon wore my breeches out, as they were
not fit to ride in. I hope the reader will excuse my mentioning the
word breeches, which I should have avoided, had not this passage of
Scripture obtruded into my mind, just as I had revolved in my own
thoughts not to mention this kind providence of God. 'And thou shalt
make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even
unto the thighs shall they reach. And they shall be upon Aaron and
upon his sons when they come into the tabernacle of the congregation,
or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place;
that they bear not iniquity and die. It shall be a statute for ever
unto him and his seed after him.' Exod. xxviii. 42, 43. By which, and
three others, namely, Ezek. xliv. 18; Lev. vi. 10; and Lev. xiv. 4, I
saw that it was no crime to mention the word breeches, nor the way in
which God sent them to me; Aaron and his sons being clothed entirely by
Providence; and as God himself condescended to give orders what they
should be made of, and how they should be cut. And I believe the same
God, ordered mine, as I trust will appear in the following history.
"The Scripture tells us to call no man master; for one is our master,
even Christ. I therefore told my most bountiful and ever-adored Master
what I wanted; and he, who stripped Adam and Eve of their fig-leaved
aprons, and made coats of skin, and clothed them; and who clothes the
grass of the field, which to-day is and to-morrow is cast into the
oven, must clothe us, or we shall go naked; and so Israel found it,
when God took away his wool and his flax, which he gave to cover their
nakedness, and which they prepared for Baal: for which iniquity was
their skirts discovered and their heels made bare. Jer. xiii. 22.
"I often made very free in my prayers with my invaluable Master for
this favour; but he still kept me so amazingly poor that I could not
get them at any rate. At last I determined to go to a friend of mine
at Kingston, who is of that branch of business, to bespeak a pair; and
to get him to trust me until my Master sent me the money to pay him.
I was that day going to London, fully determined to bespeak them as I
rode through the town. However, when I passed the shop, I forgot it;
but when I came to London, I called on Mr. Croucher, a shoe-maker in
Shepherd's Market, who told me a parcel was left there for me, but what
it was he knew not. I opened it, and behold there was a pair of leather
breeches, with a note in them! the substance of which was, to the best
of my remembrance, as follows:--
"'Sir,--I have sent you a pair of breeches, and hope they will fit. I
beg your acceptance of them; and if they want any alteration, leave in
a note what the alteration is, and I will call in a few days and alter
them.
I. S.'
"I tried them on, and they fitted as well as if I had been measured
for them; at which I was amazed, having never been measured by any
leather breeches maker in London. I wrote an answer to the note to this
effect:--
"'Sir,--I received your present and thank you for it. I was going to
order a pair of leather breeches to be made, because I did not know
till now that my Master had bespoke them of you. They fit very well,
which fully convinces me that the same God who moved thy heart to give,
guided thy hand to cut: because He perfectly knows my size, having
clothed me in a miraculous manner for near five years. When you are in
trouble, Sir, I hope you will tell my Master of this, and what you have
done for me, and He will repay you with honour.'
"This is as near as I am able to relate it, and I added:--
"'I cannot make out I. S. unless I put _I_ for Israelite indeed, and
_S_ for sincerity; because you did not sound a trumpet before you, as
the hypocrites do.'"
The plan of purveying for himself by prayer, with the help of hints
in proper place and season, answered so well, that Huntington soon
obtained, by the same means, a new bed, a rug, a pair of new blankets,
doe-skin gloves, and a horseman's coat; and as often as he wanted new
clothes, some chosen almoner of the Bank of Faith was found to supply
him. His wife was instructed to provide for her own wants by the same
easy and approved means. Gowns came as they were wanted, hampers of
bacon and cheese, now and then a large ham, and now and then a guinea,
all which things Huntington called precious answers to prayer.
Some awkward disclosures were now made, and he became weary of Thames
Ditton, and having a well-timed vision, he secretly wished that God
would remove him from that place; and as London was the place where he
might reasonably expect to work less and feed better, it was "suddenly
impressed on his mind to leave Thames Ditton, and take a house in the
great metropolis, where hearers were more numerous, and that this was
the meaning of the words spoken to him in the vision." It was likewise
suggested to his mind that the people had been permitted of late to
persecute him more than usual, that they might drive him to this
removal. "And I much question," says Huntington, "if ever God sends his
word there again, for I think they are left almost as inexcusable as
Chorazin and Capernaum!" The impression which he had now received was
acknowledged as a plain and evident _call_ by the good friends who
negotiated his bills upon the Bank of Faith, and accordingly to London
he and his family went.
His next draft upon the Bank was to a larger amount. During three
years he had secretly wished for a chapel of his own, because, as he
says, he was sick of the errors that were perpetually broached by some
or other in Margaret Street Chapel, where he then preached with Lady
Huntingdon's people. Much, however, as he desired this, he protests
that he could not ask God for such a favour, thinking it was not to
be brought about by one so very mean, low, and poor as himself. But
fortune favours the bold. One of his friends looked at a suitable piece
of ground, by particular impulse of Providence; and he took Huntington
to look at it also. Another friend, under a similar impulse, planned
a chapel one day while he was hearing Huntington preach a sermon; and
he offered to undertake the management of the building without fee
or reward. Thus encouraged, he took the ground and began to build
Providence Chapel, when he was 20_l._ in debt, and had no other funds
than the freewill offerings of his hearers, and the money which they
were willing to lend him upon his credit with the Bank of Faith.
The first offering amounted to no more than 11_l._, which were soon
expended on the foundations. He bespoke a load of timber, and going
to the right person for it, it was sent him with a bill and receipt
in full as a contribution towards the chapel. Another "good man" came
with tears in his eyes to bless Mr. Huntington for the good which he
had received under his sermons, and to request that he might paint the
pulpit, desk, &c., as a grateful acknowledgment. A bed-room was very
handsomely furnished for him that he might not be under the necessity
of walking home in the cold winter nights. A looking-glass for his
chapel study was presented by one person, a book-case by another,
chairs for the vestry, a pulpit cushion, a splendid Bible, a set of
china, and a well-stored tea-chest, were supplied in like manner:
money was liberally lent as well as given; the chapel "sprang up like
a mushroom;" and when it was finished, he says, "I was in arrears for
1,000_l._, so that I had plenty of work for faith, if I could get
plenty of faith to work; and while some deny a Providence, Providence
was the only supply I had."
His never-failing friends settled him in a country-house, stocked his
garden and his farm for him; and that he might travel conveniently
to and from his chapel, they presented him with a coach and pair of
horses, and subscribed to pay the taxes for both. To crown all, having
buried his wife, the gleaner, he preached himself into the good graces
of Lady Saunderson, the widow of the Lord Mayor, and married her.
His uniform prosperity received but one shock. The chapel in Titchfield
Street, which he had raised from the ground and carried up into the
air, when ground-room was wanting, was burnt down. This was thought by
some of Huntington's followers to be a judgment upon him for having
inclosed the free seats, and "laid out the whole chapel in boxes like
an opera house." But Huntington looked at this misfortune otherwise.
Writing to one of his friends, he says: "Such a stroke as this
twenty-seven years ago would have caused our hope to give up the ghost;
but being a little stronger in the Lord, faith has heavier burdens laid
on. The temple built by Solomon, and that built by Cyrus, were both
burnt. It will cause a little rejoicing among the Philistines, as has
been the case often: they once triumphed gloriously, when the ark of
God was taken, supposing that Dagon had overcome the God of Israel;
but their joy was short. This I know, that it shall work for our good,
but how I know not; if I did, I must walk by sight, and not by faith."
He then held out a sort of threat of removing into the country; but
his London followers were presently in motion, "some looking out for
a spot of ground, some bringing their offerings, others wishing the
glory of the latter house may exceed that of the former." "But," says
he, "it is to bear the same name: this I gave them to understand from
the pulpit, and assigned the following reasons for it:--that unless
God provided men to work, and money to pay them, and materials to
work with, no chapel could be erected; and, if he provided all these,
Providence must be its name." The chapel, accordingly, was built in
Gray's Inn Lane, and upon a larger scale than the last: taught by his
former experience, Huntington took care not to make himself responsible
for any of the expenses, and when it was finished, managed matters so
well with his obedient flock, that the chapel was made over to him as
his own, for he is said to have refused to preach in it on any other
conditions.[28]