THE HOUSE OF THE LORD COMPLETED--A DIVISION IN THE CHURCH.
The house of the Lord went steadily forward, until it was completed,
notwithstanding the threats of the mob. When this work was
accomplished, there was much rejoicing in the Church, and great
blessings were poured out upon the elders; but as I was not present at
the endowment, I shall say but little about it.
Shortly after the completion of the house, Joseph and Martin Harris,
took a short tour through the eastern country. When they arrived at
Palmyra, on their return, Joseph had a vision, which lasted until he
besought the Lord to take it from him; for it manifested to him things
which were painful to contemplate. It was taken from before his eyes
for a short time, but soon returned again, and remained until the whole
scene was portrayed before him.
On his arrival at home, the brethren seemed greatly pleased to see him.
The next day he preached a sermon, and the following is a part of his
remarks:
Brethren, I am rejoiced to see you, and I have no doubt, but that
you are glad to see me. We are now nearly as happy as we can be
on earth. We have accomplished more than we had any reason to
expect when we began. Our beautiful house is finished, and the Lord
has acknowledged it, by pouring out his Spirit upon us here, and
revealing to us much of his will in regard to the work which he is
about to perform. Furthermore, we have everything that is necessary
to our comfort and convenience, and, judging from appearances, one
would not suppose that anything could occur which would break up
our friendship for each other, or disturb our tranquility. But,
brethren, beware; for I tell you in the name of the Lord, that
there is an evil in this very congregation, which, if not repented
of will result in setting many of you, who are here this day, so
much at enmity against me, that you will have a desire to take my
life; and you even _would do it_, if God should permit the deed.
But, brethren, I now call upon you to repent, and cease all your
hardness of heart, and turn from those principles of death and
dishonesty which you are harboring in your bosoms, before it is
eternally too late, for there is yet room for repentance.
He continued to labor with them in this way, appealing to them in the
most solemn manner, until almost everyone in the house was in tears,
and he was exhausted with speaking.
The following week was spent in surmises and speculations, as to who
would be the traitors, and why they should be so, etc., etc.
In the fall of 1836, a bank was established in Kirtland. Soon after the
sermon, above mentioned, Joseph discovered that a large amount of money
had been taken away by fraud, from this bank. He immediately demanded
a search warrant of Esquire F. G. Williams, which was flatly refused.
"I insist upon a warrant," said Joseph, "for if you will give me one, I
can get the money, and if you do not, I will break you of your office."
"Well, break it is, then," said Williams, "and we will strike hands
upon it." "Very well," said Joseph, "from henceforth I drop you from my
quorum, in the name of the Lord."
Joseph then went to Cleveland, in order to transact some business
pertaining to the bank; and as he was absent the ensuing Sunday, my
husband preached to the people. In speaking of the bank affair, he
reflected somewhat sharply upon Warren Parrish. Although the reflection
was just, Parrish was highly incensed, and made an attempt to drag
him out of the stand. My husband appealed to Oliver Cowdery, who was
justice of the peace, to have him brought to order; but Oliver never
moved from his seat. William, seeing the abuse which his father was
receiving, sprang forward and caught Parrish, and carried him in his
arms nearly out of the house. At this John Boynton stepped forward,
and drawing a sword from his cane, presented it to William's breast,
and said, "if you advance one step further, I will run you through."
Before William had time to turn himself, several gathered around him,
threatening to handle him severely, if he should lay the weight of his
finger upon Parrish again. At this juncture of affairs, I left the
house, not only terrified at the scene, but likewise sick at heart, to
see that the apostasy of which Joseph had prophesied, was so near at
hand.
At this time a certain young woman, who was living at David Whitmer's,
uttered a prophecy, which she said was given her, by looking through a
black stone that she had found. This prophecy gave some altogether a
new idea of things. She said, the reason why one-third of the Church
would turn away from Joseph, was because that he was in transgression
himself; that he would fall from his office on account of the same;
that David Whitmer or Martin Harris would fill Joseph's place; and that
the one who did not succeed him, would be the counselor to the one that
did.
The girl soon became an object of great attention among those who were
disaffected. Dr. Williams became her scribe, and wrote her revelations
for her. Jared Carter, who lived in the same house with David Whitmer,
soon imbibed the same spirit, and I was informed that he said in one of
their meetings, that he had power to raise Joseph Smith to the highest
heavens, or sink him down to the lowest hell.
Shortly after this, Jared came to our house, and I questioned him
relative to what he had said concerning Joseph. Not having mentioned
the matter to my husband, he did not understand what I meant at first;
but after a little explanation, he warned Jared to repent of the
injudicious course that he was taking, and speedily confess his sins to
the Church, or the judgments of God would overtake him, Jared received
this admonition, and acknowledging his fault, agreed to confess to the
brethren the first opportunity. The next morning he was seized with
a violent pain in his eyes, and continued in great distress for two
days. On the evening of the second day, he arose from his bed, and,
kneeling down, besought the Lord to heal him, covenanting to make a
full confession to the Church at meeting the next Sunday.
Accordingly, the next Sabbath he arose and stated to the brethren,
that he had done wrong; and, asking their forgiveness, begged to be
received again into their confidence. He did not, however, state what
he had done that was wrong; nevertheless his confession was received,
and he was forgiven. But the rest of his party continued obstinate.
They still held their secret meetings at David Whitmer's, and when
the young woman, who was their instructress, was through giving what
revelations she intended for the evening, she would jump out of her
chair and dance over the floor, boasting of her power, until she was
perfectly exhausted. Her proselytes would also, in the most vehement
manner, proclaim their purity and holiness, and the mighty power which
they were going to have.
They made a standing appointment for meetings to be held every
Thursday, by the pure church in the house of the Lord. They also
circulated a paper in order to ascertain how many would follow them,
and it was found, that a large number of the Church were disaffected.
In this spirit some went to Missouri, and contaminated the minds of
many of the brethren against Joseph, in order to destroy his influence.
This made it more necessary than ever, to keep a strict guard at the
houses of those who were the chief objects of their vengeance.