Read Ebook: History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Volume 6 by Roberts B H Brigham Henry Smith Joseph Jr Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints

Font size: 10 px 15 px 20 px 25 px 30 px 35 px

Background color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Text color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Apply/Save settings

Ebook has 4221 lines and 313805 words, and 85 pages

The two first I fined five dollars, and the last one dollar and costs. One, p.m., called and gave licence for a circus performance, which I attended with my family until five, p.m.

"JOE SMITH, THE MORMON PROPHET."

This Joe Smith must be set down as an extraordinary character, a prophet-hero, as Carlyle might call him. He is one of the great men of this age, and in future history will rank with those who, in one way or another, have stamped their impress strongly on society.

Nothing can be more plebeian, in seeming, than this Joe Smith. Little of dignity is there in his cognomen; but few in this age have done such deeds, and performed such apparent miracles. It is no small thing, in the blaze of this nineteenth century, to give to men a new revelation, found a new religion, establish new forms of worship, to build a city, with new laws, institutions, and orders of architecture,--to establish ecclesiastic, civil and military jurisdiction, found colleges, send out missionaries, and make proselytes in two hemispheres: yet all this has been done by Joe Smith, and that against every sort of opposition, ridicule and persecution. This sect has its martyrs also; and the spirit in which they were imprisoned and murdered in Missouri, does not appear to have differed much from that which has attended religious persecutions in all ages of the world.

That Joe Smith, the founder of the Mormons, is a man of great talent, a deep thinker, and eloquent speaker, an able writer, and a man of great mental power, no one can doubt who has watched his career. That his followers are deceived, we all believe; but, should the inherent corruptions of Mormonism fail to develop themselves sufficiently to convince its followers of their error, where will the thing end? A great military despotism is growing up in the fertile West, increasing faster in proportion, than the surrounding population, spreading its influence around, and marshalling multitudes under its banners, causing serious alarm to every patriot.

What is the reason that men are so blind that they cannot or will not see the hand of the Lord in His work of the last days!

I requested my clerk to make out a bill of fare for the "Mansion."

Meeting convened pursuant to adjournment. The former chairman not being present.

Edson Whitney, Esq., was called to the chair, and the meeting being organized, the following preamble and resolutions were submitted by the committee, and unanimously adopted:--

PREAMBLE AND RESOLUTIONS.

This meeting having convened for the purpose of taking under advisement a subject of vital importance not only to this county, but to all the surrounding counties, regret that we are necessarily and irresistibly forced to the conclusion that a certain class of people have obtruded themselves upon us, calling themselves Mormons, or Latter-day Saints, and under the sacred garb of Christianity, assumed, as we honestly believe, that they may the more easily, under such a cloak, perpetrate the most lawless and diabolical deeds that have ever, in any age of the world, disgraced the human species.

In evidence of the above charge, we find them yielding implicit obedience to the ostensible head and founder of this sect, who is a pretended prophet of the Lord, and under this Heaven-daring assumption claiming to set aside, by his vile and blasphemous lies, all those moral and religious institutions which have been established by the Bible, and which have in all ages been cherished by men as the only means of maintaining those social blessings which are so indispensably necessary for our happiness.

We believe that such an individual, regardless as he must be of his obligations to God, and at the same time entertaining the most absolute contempt for the laws of man, cannot fail to become a most dangerous character, especially when he shall have been able to place himself at the head of a numerous horde, either equally reckless and unprincipled as himself, or else made his pliant tools by the most absurd credulity that has astonished the world since its foundation.

In the opinion of this meeting, a crisis has arrived, when many of the evils to be expected from a state of things so threatening have transpired. We feel convinced that circumstances have even now occurred which prove to us most conclusively that Joseph Smith, the false Prophet before alluded to, has evinced, in many instances, a most shameless disregard for all the forms and restraints of law, by boldly and presumptuously calling in question the acts of certain officers, who had fearlessly discharged the duties absolutely imposed upon them by the laws, particularly when they have come in contact with his own sordid and selfish interests.

He has caused his city council to pass laws contrary to the laws of the state, and subversive of the rights of citizens of this state.

Citizens have been arrested, tried and punished for breaches of those mock laws, from time to time, in such manner, that they have been compelled to the humiliating necessity of seeking an asylum elsewhere, in order to escape the tyranny and oppression of this modern Caligula.

Citizens from the adjoining counties have been denied the right to regain property stolen and taken to Nauvoo, even after they have discovered both the thief and the property; and themselves, under the most frivolous pretenses, arrested, fined, and other property rifled from them, to satisfy the mock judgments and costs of his cormorant officers.

Persons upon whom stolen property has been found in the city of Nauvoo, have been brought before this religio-political chief; and he, in the capacity of mayor of the city, has refused to convict, where the cases have been most clear and palpable.

We have had men of the most vicious and abominable habits imposed upon us to fill our most important county offices, by his dictum, in order, as we verily believe, that he may the more certainly control our destinies, and render himself, through the instrumentality of these base creatures of his ill-directed power, as absolutely a despot over the citizens of this county as he now is over the serfs of his own servile clan.

And, to crown all, he claims to merge all religion, all law, and both moral and political justice, in the knavish pretension that he receives fresh from heaven divine instructions in all matters pertaining to these things; thereby making his own depraved will the rule by which he would have all men governed.

He has caused large bodies of his ragamuffin soldiery to arm themselves, and turn out in pursuit of officers legally authorized to arrest himself; he being charged with high crimes and misdemeanors committed in the state of Missouri, and these officers arrested by the vilest hypocrisy, and placed in duress, that he might enable himself to march triumphantly into Nauvoo, and bid defiance to the laws of the land.

In view of the above grievances, this meeting feel that it is their bounden duty to resist, by every laudable means, all such unwarrantable attacks upon their liberties. Therefore--

In pursuance of the 7th resolution, the following gentlemen were appointed to act as a central corresponding committee at Carthage--namely, Captain Robert F. Smith, Major T. J. Bartlet, Harmon T. Wilson, Frank A. Worrel, and Walter Bagby.

On motion of Henry Stevens, it was ordered that committees, consisting of two persons, be appointed in each election precinct of this county, for the purpose of communicating with the central committee at Carthage; and that those two may add to their number at discretion.

On motion of Daniel Beaver, it was made the duty of the person whose name stands first on the list of each committee to act as chairman; and that all communications from the other committees, or from any other sources shall be added.

The following gentlemen were then appointed by the chair as committees in the several precincts, to wit:--

On motion of Levi Williams, Colonel Root, of McDonough county, was added to the central corresponding committee of Carthage.

On motion of Henry Newton, Esq.,

On the motion of Charles C. Stevens, the following supplementary resolutions were unanimously adopted:--

It was then moved and seconded, That this meeting adjourn, subject to the call of the central corresponding committee.

Edson Whitney, Chairman.

W. D. Abernethy, Secretary.

Editors throughout Illinois, Missouri, Iowa Territory, friendly to the Anti-Mormon cause, are requested to publish the proceedings, in today's paper, of a meeting held at Carthage on the 6th instant.

Messrs. Editors,--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded upon direct revelation, as the true Church of God has ever been, according to the Scriptures ; and through the will and blessings of God, I have been an instrument in his hands, thus far, to move forward the cause of Zion: therefore, in order to fulfill the solicitations of your letter of July last, I shall commence with my life.

Nauvoo, upon every point connected with increase and prosperity has exceeded the most sanguine expectations of thousands. It now contains near 3,500 houses, and more than 15,000 inhabitants. The charter contains, among its important powers, privileges or immunities, a grant for "The University of Nauvoo," with the same liberal powers of the city, where all the arts and sciences will grow with the growth and strengthen the strength of this beloved city of the Saints of the last days.

Another very commendatory provision of the charter is that that portion of the citizens subject to military duty are organized into a body of independent military men, styled the "Nauvoo Legion," whose highest officer holds the rank and is commissioned lieutenant-general. This Legion, like other independent bodies of troops in this Republican Government, is at the disposal of the Governor of the state, and President of the United States. There is also an act of incorporation for an Agricultural and Manufacturing Association, as well as the Nauvoo House Association.

Since the organization of this Church, its progress has been rapid, and its gain in numbers regular. Besides these United States, where nearly every place of notoriety has heard the glad tidings of the Gospel of the Son of God, England, Ireland and Scotland have shared largely in the fullness of the everlasting Gospel, and thousands have already gathered with their kindred Saints to this the corner stone of Zion. Missionaries of this Church have gone to the East Indies, to Australia, Germany, Constantinople, Egypt, Palestine, the islands of the Pacific, and are now preparing to open the door in the extensive dominions of Russia.

There is no correct data by which the exact number of members composing this now extensive and still extending Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can be known. Should it be supposed at 150,000, it might still be short of the truth.

Believing the Bible to say what it means and mean what it says, and guided by revelation, according to the ancient order of the fathers, to whom came what little light we enjoy, and circumscribed only by the eternal limits of truth, this Church must continue the even tenor of its way.

Called at the office, and administered the laying on of hands to Sister Partington and her two children.

Dreadful conflagration at Stuhlweissenburg, in Hungary. About six hundred houses destroyed.

Stephen Markham started for Dixon with the court papers in relation to the writ of habeas corpus, and as a witness.

Muster day of the first cohort.

The Twelve held a meeting in Boylston Hall, Boston. Present--Elders Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, George A. Smith, Wilford Woodruff, John E. Page.

General training of the Nauvoo Legion.

The quorum of the Twelve met the church in Boston, at Boylston Hall, in conference. Sixteen branches were represented, containing 878 members. A great deal of valuable instruction was given by the Twelve, and the hall, a very large one, was crowded. A number were baptized during conference, which lasted three days. The minutes of conference I here insert:--

Present of the Quorum of the Twelve--Elders Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, Orson Hyde, John E. Page, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith.

Conference opened with prayer by Elder George A. Smith.

After the various branches in the New England States were represented, Elder P. P. Pratt made a few remarks, of which the following is a synopsis:

Some Elders tell us that they have taught the gathering according to the Scriptures. But it is not sufficient to teach the principle from the Scriptures alone; for if there was no other guide, the people would be left in doubt as to whether they should gather to Jerusalem, Africa, America, or elsewhere. It is right to teach the gathering according to the Scriptures, although some predictions of the Prophets are obscure; but we are not left to them alone. We know and all the Saints ought to know that God has appointed a place and time of gathering and has raised up a Prophet to bring it about, of which we are witnesses. Our message is that we are witnesses of the fulfillment of the predictions of the Prophets.

We have not to lay down a long, round-about of arguments and calculations. The specific time and place are pointed out, the stakes are driven, the foundations of the city and temple are laid, and a people already gathered. We therefore know where to go; and to reject the revelations of God, which have pointed out these things to us, only brings condemnation. If this is not the case, then our faith is vain, and our works and hopes are vain also.

Share on: WhatsApp @Hash Facebook Tweet