VISIT OF THE PROPHET TO SHOKOQUON--WOOD CUTTING BEE--THE PROPHET'S
SPEECH ON CONDITIONS AT NAUVOO--ON THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN.
[Sidenote: The Visit to Shokoquon.]
_Thursday, February 16, 1843_.--After breakfast, we [the Prophet, Mr.
Cowan and their party] proceeded towards Shokoquon. After traveling
five miles, Brothers Hyde and Pratt's sleigh upset. Brother Hyde hurt
his hand; the horse ran away, and we brought it back. After dinner, at
McQueen's Mills, we went to Shokoquon, viewed the place and found it a
very desirable location for a city, when we returned to the place where
we dined. Elder Hyde prayed and I preached to a large and attentive
audience two hours (from Rev. xix, 10), and proved to the people that
any man that denied himself as being a prophet was not a preacher of
righteousness. They opened their eyes, and appeared well pleased.
When we had returned as far as McQueen's Mills, Mr. Cowan halted and
proposed to call. While waiting a moment, Mr. Crane's horse, (Mr.
Crane came with our company,) which was behind us, ran and jumped into
our sleigh as we jumped out, and thence over our horse and the fence,
sleigh and all, the sleigh being still attached to the horse, and the
fence eight rails high; and both horses ran over lots and through the
woods, clearing themselves from the sleighs, and had their frolic out
without hurting themselves or drivers. It was a truly wonderful feat,
and as wonderful a deliverance for the parties. We took supper at Mr.
Crane's, and I stayed at Mr. Rose's that night.
{279} Dr. Richards invited the brethren to come to my house on Monday
next to chop and pile up my wood.
[Sidenote: The Prophet at Home.]
_Friday, 17_.--Mr. Cowan returned with me to my house, where we arrived
about noon; and I enjoyed myself by my own fireside with many of my
friends around me, the remainder of the day. Mr. Cowan proposed to give
me one-fourth of the city lots in Shokoquon.
_Saturday, 18_.--Mostly about home and at the office. Several called
for counsel on points of law. Esquire Warren, of Quincy, called on me.
He had hurt his horse, and said it was not the first time he had missed
it by not following my advice. While at dinner, I remarked to my family
and friends present, that when the earth was sanctified and became like
a sea of glass, it would be one great urim and thummim, and the Saints
could look in it and see as they are seen. [A]
[Footnote A: This is the first mention made in the history of the
Prophet of this idea which receives its fuller development in "Important
Items of Instruction" given by him on the second of April, 1843, and
found at length in the Doctrine and Covenants, section 130. In these
"Items of Instruction" we learn that the place where God resides is
a great urim and thummim, that the earth itself when sanctified and
made an immortal sphere will be a urim and thummim to the inhabitants
who dwell upon it, whereby all things pertaining to inferior kingdoms
will be revealed to them, and to each of such inhabitants an individual
urim and thummim will be given through which knowledge pertaining to
kingdoms of a higher order will be revealed.]
_Letter of the Twelve--Calling for Assistance for the Prophet_.
The Twelve to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in La
Harpe, greeting:--
BELOVED BRETHREN:--We wish to present, briefly, one important item
for your serious consideration. Our beloved President Joseph Smith
is now delivered from the prosecution and oppression from without,
by which he has been bound, and also by the same process has been
relieved of his property; so that he has nothing now to hinder his
devoting his time to the History of the Church and the spiritual
interest thereof, except he has to spend his time in gathering food
for his family.
This is the point, brethren, whether you will do your duty in
supplying the President with food, that he may attend to the
business of the {280} Church, and devote his whole time to the
spiritual affairs thereof; or shall he attend to your business [i.
e., that which the Saints ought to do for the Prophet] by running
here and there for a bushel of wheat or a pound of beef and pork,
while the revelations to the Church cease? This question is for the
Church to answer. Therefore we call upon the brethren in La Harpe
at this time, for immediate relief. You are all well aware that we
do not raise wheat, corn, beef, pork, tallow, lard, butter, eggs,
and provisions and vegetables in the city, such as you all use,
not excepting cotton, or woollen goods, or groceries, [a fact]
which you are all well acquainted with. And we are the same kind of
beings in Nauvoo as in the country; and what you raise and eat in
La Harpe, we would eat in Nauvoo, if we could get it, our President
not excepted. And everything which is required to fill a larder in
La Harpe is required in this place; and by this you may know what
is wanting by our President to prosecute the Lord's work and bring
about your salvation.
Brethren, we hope you will give an immediate answer to this by
loaded teams or letter.
BRIGHAM YOUNG,
President.
WILLARD RICHARDS, Clerk.
NAUVOO, February 18, 1843.
[Sidenote: Settlement of a Difficulty.]
_Sunday, 19_.--Spent the day from nine in the morning till midnight,
in the High Council, who were attending to the case of Wilson Law and
Uriel C. Nickerson, who were in dispute about the title to certain
lands on the Island. After hearing the testimony, I explained the laws
of the United States, Iowa, and Illinois, and showed that Nickerson
had the oldest claim and best right, and left it for Law to say how
much Nickerson should have; and the parties shook hands, in token of a
settlement of all difficulties.
The following is copied from the _Times and Seasons:--_
_Letter of Sidney Rigdon to Alfred Stokes--Correcting
Misrepresentations of Nauvoo Affairs_.
NAUVOO, ILLINOIS. February 19, 1843.
_Mr. Alfred Edward Stokes_.
DEAR SIR:--In obedience to your request, I send you one number of
each of the papers published in this place. I am well aware that
designing men, for sinister purposes, have put in circulation
reports concerning {281} the people here, which are so monstrous
that it is a matter of surprise how any rational being could
profess to believe them at all. If I were even to profess to
believe such incredible and ridiculous nonsense about any people,
I should consider the public would have sufficient cause to scorn
me as the mere tool of corrupt and foul slanderers: but anything
to stop the progress of that which cannot be stopped by fact
and scripture truth. That man must have a large stock of moral
courage who dare in anywise profess belief in such outlandish
representations as are made in the public papers concerning the
people of Nauvoo, and circulated orally by wicked and designing
men. The old, stale story about common stock, in defiance of fact
and truth, it would appear by your letter and that of your friend
Evans, is professedly believed by the people in the vicinity of
Waynesville, Ohio. This falsehood was invented by an ignorant
blockhead, by the name of Matthew Clapp, who, for want of any other
means to stop the progress of truth in its more incipient stages,
invented this falsehood, and, finding it took with persons of his
own stamp, circulated it with untiring perseverance, in direct
opposition to the testimony of his senses, knowing, at the time he
commenced circulating it, that it was false. He was a preacher of
the Campbellite faith.
It would require the ignorance of barbarians and the credulity of
savages to attempt a belief in the falsehoods which are circulated
against the Saints with great zeal by many. I have never supposed
that the authors of these defamatory tales ever expected the public
would believe them; but they expected that men of corrupt minds,
like themselves, would profess to believe them; neither do I now
believe that those who profess to believe them do actually believe
one word of them; but they profess to do it, thinking that, by so
doing, they can make some headway against us: but it is a vain
attempt; for every attempt of the kind has only excited inquiry,
awakened curiosity, and caused investigation, which have, in every
instance, resulted in an increase of members to the Church; so that
we grant full license to all defamers to do their uttermost.
Our city is a great thoroughfare: people of all classes are
crowding into it; multitudes who do not belong to the Church of
Latter-day Saints are seeking locations where they can prosecute
their respective callings. If you wish the papers, you can put the
money into a letter, and the postmaster at your place will send it
without expense.
Yours, with respect,
SIDNEY RIGDON, P.M.
[Sidenote: Beginning of the Work in South Wales.]
Elder William Henshaw having been directed by Elder Lorenzo Snow to go
to South Wales, he commenced {282} preaching in the English language
privately to several families in Pen y Darren, near Merthyr Tydvil,
Glamorganshire. A number of the people believed his testimony, and this
day he baptized William Rees Davis, his wife, and two of his sons, and
commenced preaching publicly in Brother Davis's house, about one-third
of the people only understanding the English language.
[Sidenote: Wood-cutting Bee at the Prophet's Home.]
_Monday, 20_.--About seventy of the brethren came together, according
to previous notice, and drawed, sawed, chopped, split, moved, and piled
up a large lot of wood in my yard. The day was spent by them with much
pleasantry, good humor and feeling. A white oak log, measuring five
feet four inches in diameter was cut through with a cross-cut saw, in
four-and-a-half minutes, by Hyrum Dayton and Brother John Tidwell. This
tree had been previously cut and hauled by my own hands and team.
From nine to eleven this morning, I was reading in German; and from
eleven to twelve, held mayor's court on assumpsit, Charles R. Dana,
_v_. William B. Brink, which was adjourned ten days.
Last night, Arthur Milliken had a number of books stolen, and found
them this afternoon in Brother Hyrum's hayloft. Two boys, Thomas Morgan
and Robert Taylor, were arrested on suspicion and brought before me for
examination. After a brief investigation, the court adjourned until ten
o'clock tomorrow morning.
[Sidenote: The Prophet a Peace Maker.]
While the court was in session, I saw two boys fighting in the street,
near Mills' Tavern. I left the business of the court, ran over
immediately, caught one of the boys (who had begun the fight with
clubs,) and then the other; and, after giving them proper instruction,
I gave the bystanders a lecture for not interfering in such cases, and
told them to quell all disturbances in the street at the first onset. I
returned to the {283} court, and told them that nobody was allowed to
fight in Nauvoo but myself.
In the evening, called at Brother Heber C. Kimball's.
John Quincy Adams presented to the House of Representatives of the
United States a petition signed by 51,863 citizens of Massachusetts,
praying congress to pass such acts and propose such amendments to the
Constitution as would separate the petitioners from all connection with
the institution of slavery. [B]
[Footnote B: This was but one of a series of such petitions from New
England which Mr. Adams presented to the House of Representatives. In
fact upon his entrance as a member of the House, in 1831, (following
his term as President of the United States) he had begun an agitation
of the slavery question in Congress, but his contention in the main
was for the maintenance of the sacred right of petition by the people,
which right had undoubtedly been abridged by some unwise resolutions
that had been adopted by the Congress of the United States. In 1838 a
set of resolutions was adopted in the House by a vote of 146 to 52,
in which, among other things, it was "Resolved, that petitions for
the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia and territories
of the United States, and against the removal of slaves from one
state to another, was part of the plan of operation set on foot to
affect the institution of slavery in the southern states and thus
tending, indirectly, to destroy that institution within their limits.
* * * And that every petition, memorial, resolution, proposition, or
paper touching or relating in any way or to any extent whatever to
slavery as aforesaid, or the abolition thereof, shall on presentation
thereof, without any further question thereon, be laid upon the table
without being debated, printed, or referred." In the Congress of 1842,
notwithstanding these resolutions, Mr. Adams, in January, presented a
petition from the citizens of Haverhill, Massachusetts, "praying the
immediate adoption of measures peaceably to desolve the union of these
states, signed by Benjamin Emerson and four hundred and fifty-six other
persons, in which the reasons of the petition were set forth with
instructions to report an answer to the petitioners showing the reasons
why the prayer of it ought not to be granted." (Stephens' History of
the U. S.) Mr. Adams of course had no sympathy with this and many other
petitions that he presented, but he held the right of petition to be
sacred, and he continued the fight for it until he saw such changes
in the rules of the House of Representatives as allowed petitions on
the question of slavery to be received without objection and freely
discussed.]
_Tuesday, 21_.--Opened mayor's court at ten o'clock forenoon, according
to adjournment. Robert Taylor was again brought up for stealing, and
Thomas Morgan for receiving the books, [referred to above] and each
sentenced to six months imprisonment in Carthage jail.
[Sidenote: Temple Workers' Difficulties.]
At eleven I went to the Temple, and found a large assembly, and Brother
Haws preaching about the Nauvoo House; after which, Mr. {284} Lucian
Woodworth, the architect of the house, continued the subject and said
"When I have had a pound of meat or a quart of meal, I have divided
with the workmen. ['Pretty good doctrine for Paganism,' said I. At
this time Mr. Woodworth was not baptized, and called himself the Pagan
Prophet.] We have had about three hundred men on the job, and some
of the best men in the world. Those that have not complained I want
to continue with me; and those that hate 'Mormonism' and everything
else that's good, I want them to get their pay and run away as quickly
as possible." When Mr. Woodworth had done speaking, I addressed the
multitude in substance as follows:--
_Remarks of the Prophet to Workmen on the Temple_.
Well, the Pagan Prophet has preached us a pretty good sermon
this morning, and I don't know that I can better it much; but I
feel disposed to break off the yoke of oppression, and say what
I have a mind to. If the pagans and the Pagan Prophet feel more
for our prosperity than we do for ourselves, it is curious; I am
almost converted to his doctrine. He has prophesied that if these
buildings go down, it will curse the place. I verily know it is
true. Let us build the Temple. There may be some speculations about
the Nauvoo House, say some. Some say, because we live on the hill,
we must build up this part on the hill. Does that coat fit you, Dr.
Foster? (Foster: "Pretty well.") Put it on, then. This is the way
people swell, like the toad in the fable. They'll come down under
the hill among little folks and say, "Brother Joseph, how I love
you; can I do anything for you?" and then go away secretly and get
up opposition, and sing out our names to strangers and scoundrels
with an evil influence. I want all men to feel for me, when I have
shook the bush and borne the burden in the heat of the day; and if
they do not, I speak in authority, in the name of the Lord God,
they shall be damned.
Some say that the people on the flats are aggrandizing themselves
by the Nauvoo House. But who laid the foundation of the
Temple? Brother Joseph, in the name of the Lord,--not for his
aggrandizement, but for the good of the whole of the Saints. Our
speculators say "Poor folks on the flat are down, and keep them
down." How the Nauvoo House cheats this man and that man, say the
speculators. Those who report such things as facts ought to hide
their heads in hollow pumpkins, and never take them out again.
{285} The first principle brought into consideration is
aggrandizement. Some think it unlawful; but it is lawful with any
man, while he has a disposition to aggrandize all around him. It is
a false principle for a man to aggrandize himself at the expense of
another. Everything that God does is to aggrandize His kingdom. And
how does He lay the foundation? "Build a Temple to my great name,
and call the attention of the great, the rich, and the noble." But
where shall we lay our heads? In an old log cabin.
I will whip Hirum Kimball and Esquire Wells, and everybody else,
over Dr. Foster's head, who, instead of building the Nauvoo House,
build a great many little skeletons. See Dr. Foster's mammoth
skeletons rising all over the town; but there is no flesh on them;
they are all for personal interest and aggrandizement. But I do
not care how many bones there are in the city; somebody may come
along and clothe them. See the bones of the elephant yonder, (as
I pointed to the big house on Mulholland Street, preparing for a
tavern, as yet uncovered,) the crocodiles and man-eaters all about
the city, such as grog shops, and card shops, and counterfeit
shops, &c., got up for their own aggrandizement, and all for
speculation, while the Nauvoo House is neglected. Those who live in
glass houses should not throw stones. The building of the Nauvoo
House is just as sacred in my view as the Temple. I want the Nauvoo
House built. It _must_ be built. Our salvation [as a city] depends
upon it.
When men have done what they can or will do for the Temple, let
them do what they can for the Nauvoo House. We never can accomplish
one work at the expense of another. There is a great deal of
murmuring in the Church about me; but I don't care anything about
it. I like to hear it thunder, and I like to hear the Saints
grumble; for the growling dog gets the sorest head. If any man is
poor and afflicted, let him come and tell of it, and not complain
or grumble about it.
The finishing of the Nauvoo House is like a man finishing a fight;
if he gives up, he is killed; if he holds out a little longer, he
may live. I'll tell you a story: A man who whips his wife is a
coward. When I was a boy, I once fought with a man who had whipped
his wife. It was a hard contest; but I still remembered that he
had whipped his wife; and this encouraged me, and I whipped him
till he said he had enough. Brethren, hurry on to the Nauvoo House
thus, and you will build it. You will then be on Pisgah's top, and
the great men will come from the four quarters of the earth--will
pile the gold and silver into it till you are weary of receiving
them; and if you are not careful, you will be lifted up, and become
full of pride, and will be ready to destroy yourselves, and they
will cover up and clothe all your former sins and, according to
the scripture, will hide a multitude of sins; and you {286} will
shine forth fair as the sun, clear as the moon, and you will become
terrible, like an army with banners.
I will say to those who have labored on the Nauvoo House, and
cannot get their pay--Be patient; and if any man takes the means
which are set apart for the building of that house, and applies it
to his own use, let him, for he will destroy himself. If any man
is hungry, let him come to me, and I will feed him at my table.
If any are hungry or naked, don't take away the brick, timber and
materials, that belong to that house, but come and tell me, and I
will divide with them to the last morsel; and then if the man is
not satisfied, I will kick his backside.
There is a great noise in the city, and many are saying there
cannot be so much smoke without some fire. Well, be it so. If the
stories about Joe Smith are true, then the stories of John C.
Bennett are true about the ladies of Nauvoo; and he says that the
Ladies' Relief Society are all organized of those who are to be the
wives of Joe Smith. Ladies, you know whether this is true or not.
It is no use living among hogs without a snout. This biting and
devouring each other I cannot endure. Away with it. For God's sake,
stop it.
There is one thing more I wish to speak about, and that is
political economy. It is our duty to concentrate all our influence
to make popular that which is sound and good, and unpopular that
which is unsound. 'Tis right, politically, for a man who has
influence to use it, as well as for a man who has no influence
to use his. From henceforth I will maintain all the influence I
can get. In relation to politics, I will speak as a man; but in
relation to religion I will speak in authority. If a man lifts a
dagger to kill me, I will lift my tongue.
When I last preached, I heard such a groaning, I thought of the
Paddy's eel. When he tried to kill it, he could not contrive any
better way to do it, so he put it into the water to drown it; and
as it began to come to, "See," said he, "what pain it is in; how
it wiggles its tail." So it is with the nation: the banks are
failing, and it is our privilege to say what kind of currency we
want. We want gold and silver to build the Temple and Nauvoo House:
we want your old nose-rings, and finger rings, and brass kettles
no longer. If you have old rags, watches, guns, &c., go and peddle
them off, and bring the hard metal; and if we will do this by
popular opinion, we shall have a sound currency. Send home all bank
notes, and take no more paper money. Let every man write back to
his neighbors before he starts for home to exchange his property
for gold and silver, that he may fulfil the scripture, and come up
to Zion, bringing his gold and silver with him. I have contemplated
these things a long time, but the time had not come for me to speak
of them till now. I would not do as the Nauvoo House committee have
done--{287}sell stock for an old store-house, where all the people
who tried to live in it died, and put that stock into a man's hands
to go east and purchase rags to come here and build mammoth bones
with.
As a political man, in the name of old Joe Smith, I command the
Nauvoo House committee not to sell stock in the Nauvoo House
without the gold or silver. We must excuse Brother Snider, for he
was in England when the committee sold stock for the store-house. I
leave this subject.
This meeting was got up by the Nauvoo House committee. The pagans,
Roman Catholics, Methodists and Baptists shall have place in
Nauvoo--only they must be ground in Joe Smith's mill. I have
been in their mill. I was ground in Ohio and York States, in a
Presbyterian smut machine, and the last machine was in Missouri;
and the last of all, I have been through the Illinois smut machine;
and those who come here must go through my smut machine, and that
is my tongue.
As I closed, Dr. Robert D. Foster remarked to the assembly--"Much
good may grow out of a very little, and much good may come out of
this. If any man accuses me of exchanging Nauvoo stock for rags,
&c., he is mistaken. I gave a thousand dollars to this house, (this
he said upon his own responsibility) and fifty dollars to the
Relief Society, and some to Fullmer to get stone to build Joseph a
house; and I mean to build Joseph a house, and you may build this,
and I will help you. I mean to profit by this: and I will divide
the mammoth bones with you. I am guilty of all of which I have been
charged. I have signed my name to a petition to have William H.
Rollison to have the postoffice. I did not then know of a petition
for Joseph Smith."
I replied--"I thought I would make a coat; but it don't fit the
doctor only in the postoffice. If it does fit any one let him put
it on. The doctor's mammoth bones are skeletons, and as old Ezekiel
said, I command the flesh and sinews to come upon them, that they
may be clothed."
_Wednesday, 22_.--At nine this morning Brother Abel Owen presented a
claim of considerable amount against Carter, Cahoon & Co., Kirtland,
and notes of Oliver Granger of about $700 for payment. He said he was
poor and unable to labor, and wanted something to live on. I told him
to burn the papers, and I would help him. He gave me the papers, and I
gave him an order on Mr. Cowan for fifteen dollars worth of provisions.
This was a gift, as the Church was not obligated to pay those debts.
I rode about the city with Mr. Cowan during the day, and also read
German.
{288} The latest accounts from the East Indies state that the cholera
was raging in Burmah, Asia, to a fearful extent, whole villages in the
interior had become desolate either by flight or death.
_Thursday, 23_.--This morning read German and rode out a few miles, but
did not get off my horse.
In the afternoon Mr. Bagby called to collect county and state taxes.
Brother Dixon called concerning some lost or stolen property. I
burned twenty-three dollars of city scrip, and while it was burning,
said, "So may all unsound and uncurrent money go down!" Gave my clerk
instructions not to pay any more taxes on the Hotchkiss purchase.
Elder Amasa Lyman started for Shokoquon this morning and commenced
preaching in that place.
Filed my bond as mayor of the city of Nauvoo.
_Friday, 24_.--Rode out with Elder Brigham Young; dined from home;
called on Dr. Foster; had some conversation about the postoffice and
several other matters; returned to my office; and at three o'clock
walked out with Elder Young.
In reply to W. W. Phelps's _Vade Mecum_, or "Go with me," of 20th of
January last, I dictated an answer: [It consisted of the "Revelation
known as the Vision of the Three Glories," Doctrine and Covenants,
section lxxvi, made into verse.]
_Saturday, 25_.--This morning Brother Samuel C. Brown made me a present
of a gold watch. Spent the forenoon in the city council. The council
passed "An ordinance in relation to interments," "An ordinance in
relation to the duties of city attorney," and "an ordinance concerning
a market on Main Street." Stephen Markham resigned his office as an
alderman, and Wilson Law was elected to fill his place.
At three o'clock the council assembled after an adjournment for dinner.
The subject of a sound currency for the city having previously arisen,
I addressed the council at {289} considerable length, giving, amongst
others, the following hints.
_Views of the Prophet on Constitutional Powers_.
Situated as we are, with a flood of immigration constantly pouring
in upon us, I consider that it is not only prudential, but
absolutely necessary to protect the inhabitants of this city from
being imposed upon by a spurious currency. Many of our eastern and
old country friends are altogether unacquainted with the situation
of the banks in this region of country; and as they generally bring
specie with them, they are perpetually in danger of being gulled by
speculators. Besides there is so much uncertainty in the solvency
of the best of banks, that I think it much safer to go upon the
hard money system altogether. I have examined the Constitution
upon this subject and find my doubts removed. The Constitution is
not a law, but it empowers the people to make laws. For instance,
the Constitution governs the land of Iowa, but it is not a law for
the people. The Constitution tells us what shall not be a lawful
tender. The 10th section declares that nothing else except gold and
silver shall be lawful tender, this is not saying that gold and
silver shall be lawful tender. It only provides that the states
may make a law to make gold and silver lawful tender. I know of no
state in the Union that has passed such a law; and I am sure that
Illinois has not. The legislature has ceded up to us the privilege
of enacting such laws as are not inconsistent with the Constitution
of the United States and the state of Illinois; and we stand in
the same relation to the state as the state does to the Union. The
clause referred to in the Constitution is for the legislature--it
is not a law for the people. The different states, and even
Congress itself, have passed many laws diametrically contrary to
the Constitution of the United States.
The state of Illinois has passed a stay law making property a
lawful tender for the payment of debts; and if we have no law on
the subject we must be governed by it. Shall we be such fools as
to be governed by its laws, which are unconstitutional? No! We
will make a law for gold and silver; and then the state law ceases
and we can collect our debts. Powers not delegated to the states
or reserved from the states are constitutional. The Constitution
acknowledges that the people have all power not reserved to
itself. I am a lawyer; I am a big lawyer and comprehend heaven,
earth and hell, to bring forth knowledge that shall cover up all
lawyers, doctors and other big bodies. This is the doctrine of
the Constitution, so help me God. The Constitution is not law to
us, but it makes provision for us whereby we can make laws. Where
it provides that no one shall be hindered from worshiping God
according {290} to his own conscience, is a law. No legislature can
enact a law to prohibit it. The Constitution provides to regulate
bodies of men and not individuals.
Alderman Wells and Counselor Orson Pratt objected to the ordinance
regulating the currency from taking immediate effect. Orson Spencer and
Brigham Young spoke in favor of the bill. I invited W. W. Phelps and
Dr. Willard Richards, who were present, to give their opinion on the
bill. They both spoke in favor of a gold and silver currency, and that
it take immediate effect in the city.
The bill was postponed until the next council.
_Sunday, 26_.--At home all day. My mother was sick with inflammation of
the lungs, and I nursed her with my own hands.
_Monday, 27_.--I nursed my mother most of the day, who continued very
sick. I issued a search warrant for Brother Dixon to search ------
Fidler's and John Eagle's houses for a box of stolen shoes.
_Tuesday, 28_.--Mostly with my mother and family. Mr. John Brassfield,
with whom I became acquainted in Missouri, called on me and spent the
day and night. In the afternoon, mother was somewhat easier; and at
four o'clock I went to Elder Orson Hyde's to dinner.
I saw a notice in the Chicago _Express_ that one Hyrum Redding had
seen the sign of the Son of Man, &c.; and I wrote to the editor of the
_Times and Seasons_, as follows:
_The "Sign" of the Son of Man_.
SIR:--Among the many signs of the times and other strange things
which are continually agitating the minds of men, I notice a small
speculation in the _Chicago Express_, upon the certificate of one
Hyrum Redding, of Ogle county, Illinois, stating that he has seen
the sign of the Son of Man as foretold in the 24th chapter of
Matthew.
The slanderous allusion of a "seraglio" like the Grand Turk, which
the editor applies to me, he may take to himself, for, "out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Every honest man who
has visited the city of Nauvoo since it existed, can bear record
of better things, and place me in the front ranks of those who
are known to do {291} good for the sake of goodness, and show all
liars, hypocrites and abominable creatures that, while vice sinks
them down to darkness and woe, virtue exalts me and the Saints to
light and immortality.
The editor, as well as some others, "thinks that Joe Smith has his
match at last," because Mr. Redding thinks that he has seen the
sign of the Son of Man. But I shall use my right, and declare that,
notwithstanding Mr. Redding may have seen a wonderful appearance
in the clouds one morning about sunrise (which is nothing very
uncommon in the winter season,) he has not seen the sign of the
Son of Man, as foretold by Jesus; neither has any man, nor will
any man, until after the sun shall have been darkened and the moon
bathed in blood; for the Lord hath not shown me any such sign; and
as the prophet saith, so it must be--"Surely the Lord God will
do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the
prophets." (See Amos 3: 7.) Therefore hear this, O earth: The Lord
will not come to reign over the righteous, in this world, in 1843,
nor until everything for the Bridegroom is ready.
Yours respectfully,
JOSEPH SMITH.
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