by some than by others, is the original spirit sight reinforced or
moved upon by the power of the Holy Ghost. By this means certain
persons, peculiarly gifted and sent into the world for that purpose,
are able, even while in the flesh, to see out of obscurity, "out of
hidden darkness," and behold the things of God pertaining both to time
and to eternity. Joseph Smith possessed this ability--this gift, but it
was the Spirit of the Lord that enabled him to use it. By that Spirit
he beheld the Father and the Son; and by that Spirit, operating through
the same marvelous gift, he translated the cryptic contents of the Book
of Mormon.
_How the Book of Mormon was Translated._--The reputed method
of translation was as follows: The Seer, scanning through the
"interpreters" (Urim and Thummim) the golden pages, saw appear,
in connection with the strange characters engraved thereon, their
equivalent in English words. These he repeated to his scribe--Oliver
Cowdery most of the time--and the latter wrote them. It was a
peculiarity of the process that, until the writing was correct in
every particular, the words last given would not disappear; but on the
necessary correction being made, they would immediately pass away and
be succeeded by others. [7]
_The Priesthood Restored._--The greater part of the Book of Mormon
was translated at Harmony, Pennsylvania, the home of Joseph's
father-in-law, Isaac Hale. While the Prophet and his scribe were thus
employed (May 15, 1829) John the Baptist, as an angel from heaven,
conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood. [8] Soon afterward they
were ordained to the higher or Melchizedek Priesthood, by three other
heavenly messengers, the Apostles Peter, James and John. [9] By virtue
of this authority, and pursuant to divine direction, the two young men,
associated with a few others organized the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
_Petty Persecution._--During their sojourn in the little Pennsylvania
village, Joseph and Oliver suffered considerable annoyance at the
hands of mischievous persons who, having no faith in their work and
regarding it as a hoax, seemed bent upon rendering their situation as
disagreeable as possible. Learning of their unpleasant situation, and
desiring to help along the sacred task to which they were devoting
themselves, Peter Whitmer, Sr., a farmer living at Fayette, Seneca
County, New York, sent his son David with a team and wagon to bring
them to the Whitmer home.
_David Whitmer's Account._--"When I arrived at Harmony," says David
Whitmer, "Joseph and Oliver were coming towards me and met me at some
distance from the house. Oliver told me that Joseph had informed him
when I started from home, where I had stopped the first night, how I
read the sign at the tavern, where I stopped the second night, etc.,
and that I would be there that day before dinner; and this was why they
had come out to meet me. All of which was exactly as Joseph had told
Oliver; at which I was greatly astonished." [10] It was at the Whitmer
farmhouse, in Fayette, that the Church was organized, April 6th, 1830.
_Newel K. Whitney and the "Stranger."_--Another instance of Joseph's
use of the seeric gift connects with the occasion of his arrival at
Kirtland, Ohio, where the Church, at an early day, established its
headquarters. A few months prior to that time, Oliver Cowdery and three
other Elders, on their way to preach the Gospel to the Lamanites, or
Indians, had tarried for a season at Kirtland, where they converted a
number of the white dwellers in that region. Among these were Sidney
Rigdon, Newel K. Whitney, and others who became prominent in the
"Mormon" community. The Saints in Ohio, learning that the Church would
probably move westward, began to pray for the coming of the Prophet.
The prayer was soon answered. About the first of February, 1831, a
sleigh, driven into Kirtland from the East, drew up in front of the
mercantile store of Gilbert and Whitney. A stalwart young man alighted
and walked into the store. Approaching the junior partner and extending
his hand cordially, as if to an old and familiar acquaintance, he
saluted him thus: "Newel K. Whitney, thou art the man!"
The merchant was astonished. He had never seen this person before.
"Stranger," said he, "You have the advantage of me; I could not call
you by name as you have me."
"I am Joseph the Prophet," said the stranger, smiling. "You have prayed
me here, now what do you want of me?"
Joseph Smith, while in the State of New York, had seen Newel K.
Whitney, in the State of Ohio, praying for his coming to Kirtland; and
therefore knew him when they met. [11] The purpose of this vision, in
all probability, was to pave the way for a meeting between the Prophet
and the man who was to have the honor of entertaining him during the
first weeks after his arrival in Ohio.
_Vision of the Three Glories._--One of the most glorious manifestations
ever vouchsafed to mortals, came to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, in
the month of February, 1832. They were at Hiram, Portage County, Ohio,
where the Prophet, assisted by Elder Rigdon, who had been a Campbellite
preacher, was occupied with revising the English translation of
the Hebrew Bible--a circumstance that may have given rise to the
oft-refuted story of Rigdon's authorship of the Book of Mormon. [12] The
manifestation referred to was a vision of human destiny, including the
three general conditions of glorified man--celestial, terrestrial, and
telestial. Concerning this marvelous vision, Joseph and Sidney thus
testify:
"We, Joseph Smith, Jr., and Sidney Rigdon, being in the Spirit on the
sixteenth of February, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight
hundred and thirty-two, by the power of the Spirit our eyes were opened
and our understandings were enlightened, so as to see and understand
the things of God . . . .
"Of whom we bear record, and the record which we bear is the fulness of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the Son, whom we saw and with whom
we conversed in the heavenly vision." [13]
Thus is furnished an additional proof that it is by the power of God,
and not of man, that mortals behold the visions of eternity.
_The Greenville Incident._--In May of the same year, Joseph Smith,
President of the Church, and Newel K. Whitney, Bishop of Kirtland,
were returning from a visit to Jackson County, Missouri, where, since
the summer of 1831, a "Mormon" colony had been laying the foundations
of the City of Zion, upon grounds consecrated by the Prophet for
that purpose. The returning visitors were detained several weeks at
Greenville, Indiana; the Bishop having a broken leg, caused by leaping
from a runaway stage coach. Surrounded by unfriendly people, some of
whom he suspected of an attempt to poison him, the Prophet proposed
that they forthwith leave that dangerous neighborhood. His record goes
on to say:
"Brother Whitney had not had his foot moved from the bed for nearly
four weeks, when I went into his room, after a walk in the grove,
and told him if he would agree to start for home in the morning, we
would take a wagon to the river about four miles, and there would be
a ferry-boat in waiting, which would take us quickly across, where
we would find a hack which would take us directly to the landing,
where we should find a boat in waiting, and we would be going up the
river before ten o'clock, and have a prosperous journey home. He took
courage and told me he would go; we started the next morning and found
everything as I had told him." [14]
_A White Lamanite._--Still another instance. In 1834, while the
"Zion's Camp" expedition [15] was on its way to Missouri, some of the
party exhumed from an ancient mound the skeleton of a man having a
stone-pointed arrow between two of his ribs. The Prophet, in a vision
of the past, discovered the identity of this skeleton, and informed his
brethren that the man's name was Zelph, that he was "a white Lamanite,"
[16] and had been killed in battle by the arrow found between his ribs.
[17]
_Kirtland Temple Visions._--By this same power Joseph Smith and Oliver
Cowdery, in the Temple at Kirtland, Ohio (April 3rd, 1836), beheld
Jehovah, the God of Israel; also Moses, Elias and Elijah, who committed
to them spiritual keys necessary for carrying on various phases of the
Lord's work. [18]
_Adam's Altar._--In 1838, after the main body of the Church had moved
to Missouri, the Saints built several towns and projected others in
Caldwell and other counties of that State. One of those towns was at
Spring Hill, Davis County, where the men who made the survey for a
new settlement came upon the ruins of an ancient altar, situated on
a wooded hill overlooking the surrounding country. Straightway they
reported to the Prophet their interesting find. He, upon beholding it,
said to those who were with him: "There is the place where Adam offered
up sacrifice after he was cast out of the Garden." [19]
_The Old-New World._--America, according to Joseph Smith, is the
Old World--not the New [20]. The primeval Garden was in the part now
called Jackson County. Our First Parents, after their expulsion from
Eden, dwelt in the place where this altar stood. The Lord named it
Adam-ondi-Ahman, "because it is the place where Adam shall come to
visit his people, or the Ancient of Days shall sit, as spoken of by
Daniel the Prophet." [21]
All this by the power of seership--all this and more; for many other
instances might be given. But these will suffice to show the nature
of this rare and precious gift, and the manner of its exercise by the
mighty Seer and Prophet holding the keys of this Gospel dispensation.
Footnotes
1. Mosiah 8:15.
2. Such men as Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American philosopher, and Count
Leo Tolstoi, the Russian writer, are sometimes referred to as "seers;"
it being thought by those who so designate them, that the power to
think profoundly and express wise and intelligent opinions, especially
on the future, constitutes seership. It is in this sense that the
term "vision" is so much used. But a great thinker is not necessarily
a seer; though a seer is apt to be a great thinker. Joseph Smith was
both; not so Ralph Waldo Emerson; not so Count Tolstoi. They were
great philosophers, but there is nothing in the life-work of either to
indicate that he possessed the power of a seer.
3. Moses 1:11. Moses further declares that he could look upon Satan "in
the natural man," but, says he: "I could not look upon God, except his
glory should come upon me and I was strengthened before him."
4. D. and C. 67:11.
5. 1 Cor. 2:9-14.
6. John 1:18.
7. David Whitmer's "Address to all True Believers in Christ." p. 12;
and Martin Harris' Statement to Edward Stevenson, Millennial Star, Vol.
44, pp. 86, 87.
8. D. and C. 13.
9. Hist. Ch. Vol. 1 pp. 39-42, Note.
10. David Whitmer's Statement to Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith, Mill.
Star, Vol. 40, p. 772.
11. Hist. Ch., Vol 1, pp. 145, 146. Note.
12. Sidney Ridgon had never so much as seen the Book of Mormon, until
several months after it was published, when a copy of it was handed
to him in Northern Ohio, by Parley P. Pratt, one of the Elders of the
Lamanite Mission. Parley and Sidney corroborate each other in their
separate accounts of this incident. Moreover Sidney's acquaintance
with Joseph Smith did not begin until almost a year after the Book of
Mormon came forth. Yet he was charged with creating it, with converting
a religious history into a secular romance entirely dissimilar in
character and style from the Nephite record--a romance written by one
Solomon Spaulding. A full account of this discredited theory of the
origin of the Book of Mormon may be found in George Reynolds' "Myth of
the Manuscript Found," and in "Whitney's History of Utah," Vol. 1, pp.
46-56.
13. D. and C. 76:11, 12, 14. See also Article Forty, this Series.
14. Hist. Ch. Vol. 1, pp. 271, 272.
15. See Article Twenty-four.
16. 3 Nephi 2:14-16.
17. Hist. Ch. Vol. 2, pp. 79, 80.
18. D. and C. 110.
19. "Life of Heber C. Kimball," p. 222; Taylor's "Mediation and
Atonement," pp. 69, 70; Whitney's "History of Utah"--Biography A. O.
Smoot, Vol. 4, p. 99.
20. The Prophet's inspired declaration to that effect finds confirmation
in the writings of Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Agassiz, and John Fiske.
21. D. and C. 116.
ARTICLE SEVEN.
What Joseph Foretold.
The Proof of Prophecy.--To prove one a prophet, it is necessary to
show, not only that he prophesied, but that things predicted by him
came to pass. Measured by this standard, Joseph Smith's claim to the
title is clear and unimpeachable. I shall not attempt to enumerate
all his prophecies, but will mention some of the more notable, as
demonstrating his possession of the wonderful power to unlock and
reveal the future.
Earliest Predictions.--The Angel Moroni's promise to the boy, that
he, an obscure and unlettered country lad, should live to do a work
that would cause his name to be known among all nations, [1] has been
often cited--too often to require extended comment here. The same
may be said of Isaiah's familiar declaration, that in the presence
of God's wondrous work, the wisdom of the wise should perish and the
understanding of the prudent be hid. [2] These promises are fulfilling
daily. Passing them by with this brief mention, I take up one of the
best known of Joseph Smith's predictions, namely, the "Revelation and
Prophecy on War."
An Ominous Christmas Gift.--This tremendous forecast, relating not only
to the fierce internecine struggle between the Northern and Southern
States of the American Union, but to other and mightier upheavals as
well, some past and some yet future, was launched at Kirtland, Ohio, on
the 25th of December, 1832. It may be said, therefore, that it came as
a solemn Christmas gift to the inhabitants of the world, warning them
to prepare for terrible events.
War and Other Calamities.--The Prophet declared that war would "be
poured out upon all nations," beginning at a certain place. That
place was South Carolina. The Southern States, divided against the
Northern States, would call upon Great Britain, and Great Britain would
call upon other nations, for defensive assistance against hostile
powers. Slaves, rising against their masters, would be "marshalled
and disciplined for war;" and the red remnants "left of the land"
would "become exceeding angry" and "vex the Gentiles with a sore
vexation." By bloodshed and famine, plague, earthquake and tempest, the
inhabitants of the earth would mourn and "be made to feel the wrath
and indignation and chastening hand of an Almighty God." The Prophet
exhorted his followers to "stand in holy places and be not moved, until
the day of the Lord come." [3]
For nineteen years this prophecy remained in manuscript, though
copies of it were carried by "Mormon" missionaries and read to their
congregations in various parts of the world. In 1851 it was published
at Liverpool, the first edition of "The Pearl of Great Price"
containing it. Therefore, it was a matter of public note and printed
record long before the dire fulfillment began.
Beginning of the Fulfillment.--The revelation had been in existence
twenty-eight years, three months, and seventeen days, when, on the
twelfth of April, 1861, the Confederate batteries in Charleston Harbor,
South Carolina, opened fire on Fort Sumter, thus precipitating the war
between the North and the South. As is well known, it arose over the
slave question, a circumstance fulfilling another of Joseph Smith's
predictions--one dated April 2nd, 1843. [4]
Southern States call on Great Britain.--How eleven of the Southern
States, bent upon withdrawing from the Union and establishing an
independent government south of the Mason and Dixon Line, called upon
Great Britain, and were accorded a measure of encouragement by the
ruling classes of that country, need scarcely be told here. The arrest
and release of the Confederate commissioners, Mason and Slidell, who
had been sent across the Atlantic to present the case of the seceding
States at the Court of St. James; and the subsequent payment by the
British Government of the Alabama claims ($15,500,000), for damages
sustained by United States commerce at the hand of Confederate
privateers, built and fitted out in British ports, tell in part the
story.
The Negro and Indian Questions.--It is also a matter of history, that
many of the negro slaves, set free by President Lincoln's edict of
emancipation, and trained as troops, fought in the Northern armies
against their former masters. Whether or not this was a complete
fulfillment of the forecast concerning the once enslaved people,
remains to be seen. The race question was not entirely settled by the
Civil War; it still hovers as a dark cloud on our national horizon.
As for Indian troubles, many of which have arisen since Joseph Smith
prophesied concerning them, while apparently they have ceased to "vex,"
more may yet be heard from that quarter before the problem is finally
solved.
An Effort to Avert Calamity.--Joseph Smith's last public act of a
political character was an effort to save his country from the awful
calamity that he saw impending. To some it may appear strange, even
inconsistent, that a prophet, after making a prediction, would try to
prevent it from coming to pass. But it is only a seeming inconsistency.
It should be remembered that divine promises and prophecies are
conditional. There is always an alternative, expressed or implied,
hinging upon a change of attitude or conduct on the part of the
person or persons toward whom the prophecy is directed. Deem it not
incongruous, therefore, that this Prophet, after predicting the Civil
War, should endeavor to open a way of escape from the evils he had
foreseen and foretold.
In January, 1844, only five months before his martyrdom, Joseph Smith
became a candidate for President of the United States. One of the
planks of his political platform was a proposition to free the slaves
of the South--not by confiscation, thereby despoiling their owners, but
by purchase, making their freedom a gift from the General Government;
the funds necessary for the purpose to be realized from the sale of
public lands. This just and humane proposition, repeated eleven years
later by Ralph Waldo Emerson, [5] and favored also by Abraham Lincoln,
was ignored; and it cost the Nation a million of lives and billions
of treasure to despise the counsel of a prophet of God, and adopt
instead what the hate-blinded politicians of that period deemed "a more
excellent way." [6]
How Stephen A. Douglas Fulfilled Prophecy.--Closely connected with
events immediately preceding the Civil War, is another prophecy of
Joseph Smith's, uttered May 18, 1843, and recorded at the time in
the journal of his private secretary. On the date given, the Prophet
dined with Stephen A. Douglas, at the home of Sheriff Backenstos,
in Carthage, Illinois, the same town where the brothers Joseph and
Hyrum afterwards met their tragic death. Judge Douglas was holding
court there. The principal topic of conversation after dinner was the
persecution of the Latter-day Saints in Missouri, not only the Jackson
County affair of 1833, but the more sanguinary tragedy of 1838-1839,
culminating in the mid-winter expulsion of the entire Church--then
numbering twelve to fifteen thousand members--and its establishment
in the adjoining State of Illinois. An account of these events, at
the Judge's request, the "Mormon" leader gave. His narrative included
a recital of the ineffectual attempts made by him and his people to
obtain from the Federal government a redress of grievances.
Douglas was deeply interested, and strongly condemned the conduct of
Missouri. He was very friendly with the Prophet, who, continuing the
conversation, predicted trouble for the Nation unless those wrongs were
righted. Then, addressing Douglas, he said: "Judge, you will aspire to
the Presidency of the United States; and if you ever turn your hand
against me or the Latter-day Saints, you will feel the weight of the
hand of the Almighty upon you. And you will live to see and know that I
have testified the truth to you, for the conversation of this day will
stick to you through life." [7]
God's Hand Against Him.--Judge Douglas reaped the full fruition of
those fateful words. The prophecy concerning him was first published
in the Deseret News, at Salt Lake City, September 24, 1856, and on
February 26, 1859, it appeared in the Millennial Star, at Liverpool.
Between those dates, Stephen A. Douglas, then a United States
Senator--made such by the aid of "Mormon" votes in Illinois--turned
his hand against his old-time friends and supporters. Joseph Smith was
dead, but his followers, driven from the confines of civilization, were
out in the wilderness, laying the foundations of the State of Utah. In
a political speech, at Springfield, Illinois, June 12, 1857, Senator
Douglas, basing a reference to the "Mormons" upon certain wild rumors
afloat concerning them, virtually accused them of all manner of crimes
and abominations. The speech was looked upon as a bid for popular favor.
Then came the Senator's race for the Presidency. His prospects at
the outset were favorable. His party held the preponderance of the
national vote, and he was the idol of his party. In June, 1860, he was
enthusiastically nominated by the Democratic Convention at Baltimore.
Men shouted for him, worked for him, and on election day voted for
him; but all in vain, God's hand was against him! His party, torn
by dissension, divided its strength among three candidates, and was
overwhelmingly defeated. "The Little Giant" was "snowed under," and his
great rival, Abraham Lincoln, elevated to the Presidential chair. A few
months later Senator Douglas died at his home in Chicago. He was only
in the prime of life--aged forty-eight--but he had lived long enough to
realize that God's prophets do not speak in vain.
Footnotes
1. Hist. Ch. Vol. 1, pp. 11, 12.
2. Isa. 29:14.
3. D. and C. 87.
4. Ib. 130:12, 13.
5. Josiah Quincy, who visited Joseph Smith at Nauvoo shortly before the
martyrdom, says of him and his views on slavery:
"Smith recognized the curse and iniquity of slavery, though he opposed
the methods of the Abolitionists. His plan was for the nation to pay
for the slaves from the sale of the public lands. 'Congress,' he
said, 'should be compelled to take this course, by petitions from all
parts of the country; but the petitioners must disclaim all alliance
with those who would disturb the rights of property recognized by the
Constitution and foment insurrection.' It may be worth while to remark
that Smith's plan was publicly advocated, eleven years later, by one
who has mixed so much practical shrewdness with his lofty philosophy.
In 1855, when men's minds had been moved to their depths on the
question of slavery, Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson declared that it should be
met in accordance 'with the interest of the South and with the settled
conscience of the North. It is not really a great task, a great fight
for this country to accomplish, to buy that property of the planter, as
the British nation bought the West Indian slaves.' He further says that
the 'United States will be brought to give every inch of their public
lands for a purpose like this.' We, who can look back upon the terrible
cost of the fratricidal war which put an end to slavery, now say that
such a solution of the difficulty would have been worthy a Christian
statesman. But if the retired scholar was in advance of his time when
he advocated this disposition of the public property in 1855 what shall
I say of the political and religious leader who had committed himself,
in print, as well as in conversation, to the same course in 1844? If
the atmosphere of men's opinions was stirred by such a proposition when
war-clouds were discernible in the sky, was it not a statesmanlike
word eleven years earlier, when the heavens looked tranquil and
beneficent."--"Figures of the Past," pp. 397, 398.
6. President Lincoln, toward the close of the Civil War, "wrote a
message to Congress, proposing to pay the slaveholders $400,000,000 for
their slaves, if the South would only cease fighting. All the Cabinet
objecting, with a sigh he put the message in his drawer." See article,
"Lincoln in Victory," by James Morgan, Deseret News, May 10, 1920.