THE VOICE, AND THE MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT.
And there came one as a "voice crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord!"
Thus ever!
A coming to Israel with "a new and everlasting covenant;" this was the theme of the ancient prophets, now unfolded.
There was the voice crying in the wilderness of Ohio, just before the advent of the latter-day prophet.
The voice was Sidney Rigdon. He was to Joseph Smith as a John the Baptist.
The forerunner made straight the way in the wilderness of the virgin West. He raised up a church of disciples in and around Kirtland. He led those who afterwards became latter-day saints to faith in the promises, and baptized them in water for the remission of sins. But he had not power to baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire from heaven. Yet he taught the literal fulfillment of the prophesies concerning the last days, and heralded the advent of the "one greater than I."
"The same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost."
That is ever the "one greater than I," be his name whatever it may.
Joseph Smith baptized with the Holy Ghost. But Sidney knew not that he was heralding Joseph.
And the prophet himself was but as the voice crying in the wilderness of the great dark world: "Prepare ye the way for the second advent of earth's Lord." His mission was also to "make straight in the desert a highway" for the God of Israel; for Israel was going up,—following the angel of the covenant, to the chambers of the mountains.
He came with a great lamp and a great light in those days, dazzling to the eyes of the generation that "crucified" him in its blindness.
Joseph was the sign of Messiah's coming. He unlocked the sealed heavens by faith and "election." He came in "the spirit and power of Elijah." The mantle of Elijah was upon him.
Be it always understood that the coming of Joseph Smith "to restore the covenant to Israel" signifies the near advent of Messiah to reign as King of Israel. Joseph was the Elijah of the last days.
These are the first principles of Mormonism. And to witness of their truth this testament of the sisters is given, with the signs and wonders proceeding from the mission of Him who unlocked the heavens and preached the gospel of new revelations to the world, whose light of revelation had gone out.
But first came the famous Alexander Campbell and his compeer, Sidney Rigdon, to the West with the "lamp." Seekers after truth, whose hearts had, been strangely moved by some potent spirit, whose influence they felt pervading but understood not, saw the lamp and admired.
Mr. Campbell, of Virginia, was a reformed Baptist. He with Sidney Rigdon, a Mr. Walter Scott, and some other gifted men, had dissented from the regular Baptists, from whom they differed much in doctrine. They preached baptism for the remission of sins, promised the gift of the Holy Ghost, and believed in the literal fulfillment of prophesy. They also had some of the apostolic forms of organization in their church.
In Ohio they raised up branches. In Kirtland and the regions round, they made many disciples, who bore the style of "disciples," though the popular sect-name was "Campbellites." Among them were Eliza R. Snow, Elizabeth Ann Whitney, and many more, who afterwards embraced the "fullness of the everlasting gospel" as restored by the angels to the Mormon prophet.
But these evangels of a John the Baptist mission brought not to the West the light of new revelation in their lamp.
These had not yet even heard of the opening of a new dispensation of revelations. As they came by the way they had seen no angels with new commissions for the Messiah age. No Moses nor Elijah had been with them on a mount of transfiguration. Nor had they entered into the chamber with the angel of the covenant, bringing a renewal of the covenant to Israel. This was in the mission of the "one greater" than they who came after.
They brought the lamp without the light—nothing more. Betterthe lightwithout the evangelical lamp—better a conscientious intellect than the forms of sectarian godliness without the power.
Without the power to unlock the heavens, and the Elijah faith to call the angels down, there could be no new dispensation—no millennial civilization for the world, to crown the civilization of the ages.
Light came to Sidney Rigdon from the Mormon Elijah, and he comprehended the light; but Alexander Campbell rejected the prophet when his message came; he would have none of his angels. He had been preaching the literal fulfillment of prophesy, but when the covenant was revealed he was not ready. The lamp, not the light, was his admiration. Himself was the lamp;Joseph had the light from the spirit world, and the darkness comprehended it not.
Alexander Campbell was a learned and an able man—the veryform of wisdom, but without the spirit.
Joseph Smith was an unlettered youth. He came not in the polishedformof wisdom—either divine or human—but in the demonstration of the Holy Ghost, and with signs following the believer.
Mr. Campbell would receive no new revelation from such an one—no everlasting covenant from the new Jerusalem which was waiting to come down, to establish on earth a great spiritual empire, that the King might appear to Zion in his glory, with all his angels and the ancients of days.
The tattered and blood-stained commissions of old Rome were sufficient for the polished divine,—Rome which had made all nations drunk with her spiritual fornications,—Rome which put to death the Son of God when his Israel in blindness rejected him.
Between Rome and Jerusalem there was now the great controversy of the God of Israel. Not the old Jerusalem which had traveled from the east to the west, led by the angel of the covenant, up out of the land of Egypt! The new Jerusalem to the earth then, as she is to-day! Ever will she be the new Jerusalem—ever will "old things" be passing away when "the Lord cometh!"
And the angel of the west appeared by night to the youth, as he watched in the chamber of his father's house, in a little village in the State of New York. On that charmed night when the invisibles hovered about the earth the angel that stood before him read to the messenger of Messiah the mystic text of his mission:
"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts."
AN ANGEL FROM THE CLOUD IS HEARD IN KIRTLAND—THE "DAUGHTER OF THE VOICE."
Now there dwelt in Kirtland in those days disciples who feared the Lord.
And they "spake often one to another; and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name."
"We had been praying," says mother Whitney, "to know from the Lord how we could obtain the gift of the Holy Ghost."
"My husband, Newel K. Whitney, and myself, were Campbellites. We had been baptized for the remission of our sins, and believed in the laying on of hands and the gifts of the spirit. But there was no one with authority to confer the Holy Ghost upon us. We were seeking to know how to obtain the spirit and the gifts bestowed upon the ancient saints.
"Sister Eliza Snow was also a Campbellite. We were acquainted before the restoration of the gospel to the earth. She, like myself, was seeking for the fullness of the gospel. She lived at the time in Mantua.
"One night—it was midnight—as my husband and I, in our house at Kirtland, were praying to the father to be shown the way, the spirit rested upon us and acloudovershadowed the house.
"It was as though we were out of doors. The house passed away from our vision. We were not conscious of anything but the presence of the spirit and the cloud that was over us.
"We were wrapped in the cloud. A solemn awe pervaded us. We saw the cloud and we felt the spirit of the Lord.
"Then we heard a voice out of the cloud saying:
"'Prepare to receive the word of the Lord, for it is coming!'
"At this we marveled greatly; but from that moment we knew that the word of the Lord was coming to Kirtland."
Now this is an Hebraic sign, well known to Israel after the glory of Israel had departed. It was called by the sacred people who inherited the covenant "the daughter of the voice."
Blindness had happened to Israel. The prophets and the seers the Lord had covered, but the "daughter of the voice" was still left to Israel. From time to time a few, with the magic blood of the prophets in them, heard the voice speaking to them out of the cloud.
Down through the ages the "daughter of the voice" followed the children of Israel in their dispersions. Down through the ages, from time to time, some of the children of the sacred seed have heard the voice. This is the tradition of the sons and daughters of Judah.
It was the "daughter of the voice" that Mother Whitney and her husband heard, at midnight, in Kirtland, speaking to them out of the cloud. Mother Whitney and her husband were of the seed of Israel (so run their patriarchal blessings); it was their gift and privilege to hear the "voice."
Hewas coming now, whose right it is to reign. The throne of David was about to be re-set up and given to the lion of the tribe of Judah. The everlasting King of the new Jerusalem was coming down, with the tens of thousands of his saints.
The star of Messiah was traveling from the east to the west. The prophet—the messenger of Messiah's covenant—was about to remove farther westward, towards the place where his Lord in due time will commence his reign, which shall extend over all the earth.
This was the meaning of that vision of the "cloud" in Kirtland, at midnight, overshadowing the house of Newel K. Whitney; this the significance of the "voice" which spoke out of the cloud, saying: "Prepare to receive the word of the Lord, for it is coming!"
The Lord of Hosts was about to make up his jewels for the crown of his appearing; and there were many of those jewels already in the West.
AN ISRAEL PREPARED BY VISIONS, DREAMS AND ANGELS—INTERESTING AND MIRACULOUS STORY OF PARLEY P. PRATT—A MYSTIC SIGN OF MESSIAH IN THE HEAVENS—THE ANGEL'S WORDS FULFILLED.
The divine narrative leads directly into the personal story of Parley P. Pratt. He it was who first brought the Mormon mission west. He it was who presented the Book of Mormon to Sidney Rigdon, and converted him to the new covenant which Jehovah was making with a latter-day Israel.
Parley P. Pratt was one of the earliest of the new apostles. By nature he was both poet and prophet. The soul of prophesy was born in him. In his lifetime he was the Mormon Isaiah. All his writings were Hebraic. He may have been of Jewish blood. He certainly possessed the Jewish genius, of the prophet order.
It would seem that the spirit of this great latter-day work could not throw its divine charms around the youthful prophet, who had been raised up to open a crowning spiritual dispensation, without peculiarly affecting the spiritual minded everywhere—both men and women.
It is one of the remarkable facts connected with the rise of Mormonism in the age that, at about the time Joseph Smith was receiving the administration of angels, thousands both in America and Great Britain were favored with corresponding visions and intuitions. Hence, indeed, its success, which was quite as astonishing as the spiritual work of the early Christians.
One of the first manifestations was that of earnest gospel-seekers having visions of the elders before they came, and recognizing them when they did come bearing the tidings. Many of the sisters, as well as the brethren, can bear witness of this.
This very peculiar experience gave special significance to one of the earliest hymns, sung by the saints, of the angel who "came down from the mansions of glory" with "the fullness of Jesus's gospel," and also the "covenant to gather his people," the refrain of which was,
"O! Israel! O! Israel! in all your abidings,Prepare for your Lord, when you hear these glad tidings."
"O! Israel! O! Israel! in all your abidings,Prepare for your Lord, when you hear these glad tidings."
An Israel had been prepared in all their "abidings," by visions and signs, like sister Whitney, who heard the voice of the angel, from the cloud, bidding her prepare for the coming word of the Lord. Parley P. Pratt was the elder who fulfilled her vision, and brought the word of the Lord direct from Joseph to Kirtland.
And Parley himself was one of an Israel who had been thus mysteriously prepared for the great latter-day mission, of which he became so marked an apostle.
Before he reached the age of manhood, Parley had in his native State (N.Y.) met with reverses in fortune so serious as to change the purposes of his life.
"I resolved," he says, "to bid farewell to the civilized world, where I had met with little else but disappointment, sorrow and unrewarded toil; and where sectarian divisions disgusted, and ignorance perplexed me,—and to spend the remainder of my days in the solitudes of the great West, among the natives of the forest."
In October, 1826, he took leave of his friends and started westward, coming at length to a small settlement about thirty miles west of Cleveland, in the State of Ohio. The country was covered with a dense forest, with only here and there a small opening made by the settlers, and the surface of the earth was one vast scene of mud and mire.
Alone, in a land of strangers, without home or money, and not yet twenty years of age, he became somewhat discouraged, but concluded to stop for the winter.
In the spring he resolved to return to his native State, for there was one at home whom his heart had long loved and from whom he would not have been separated, except by misfortune.
But with her, as his wife, he returned to Ohio, the following year, and made a home on the lands which he cleared with his own hands.[1]
Eighteen months thereafter Sidney Rigdon came into the neighborhood, as a preacher. With this reformer Parley associated himself in the ministry, and organized a society of disciples.
But Parley was not satisfied with even the ancientgospel formwithout the power.
At the commencement of 1830, the very time the Mormon Church was organized, he felt drawn out in an extraordinary manner to search the prophets, and to pray for an understanding of the same. His prayers were soon answered, even beyond his expectations. The prophesies were opened to his view. He began to understand the things which were about to transpire. The restoration of Israel, the coming of Messiah, and the glory that should follow.
Being now "moved upon by the Holy Ghost" to travel about preaching the gospel "without purse or scrip," in August, 1830, he closed his worldly business and bid adieu to his wilderness home, which he never saw afterwards.
"Arriving at Rochester," he says, "I informed my wife that, notwithstanding our passage being paid through the whole distance, yet I must leave the boat and her to pursue her passage to her friends, while I would stop awhile in this region. Why, I did not know; but so it was plainly manifest by the spirit to me.
"I said to her, we part for a season; go and visit our friends in our native place; I will come soon, but how soon I know not; for I have a work to do in this region of country, and what it is, or how long it will take to perform it, I know not; but I will come when it is performed.
"My wife would have objected to this, but she had seen the hand of God so plainly manifest in his dealings with me many times, that she dared not oppose the things manifested to me by his spirit. She, therefore, consented; and I accompanied her as far as Newark, a small town upwards of one hundred miles from Buffalo, and then took leave of her, and of the boat.
"It was early in the morning, just at the dawn of day; I walked ten miles into the country, and stopped to breakfast with a Mr. Wells. I proposed to preach in the evening. Mr. Wells readily accompanied me through the neighborhood to visit the people, and circulate the appointment.
"We visited an old Baptist deacon, by the name of Hamlin. After hearing of our appointment for the evening, he began to tell of a book, a strange book, a very strange book, in his possession, which had been just published. This book, he said, purported to have been originally written on plates, either of gold or brass, by a branch of the tribes of Israel; and to have been discovered and translated by a young man near Palmyra, in the State of New York, by the aid of visions, or the ministry of angels.
"I inquired of him how or where the book was to be obtained. He promised me the perusal of it, at his house the next day, if I would call. I felt a strange interest in the book.
"Next morning I called at his house, where for the first time my eyes beheld the Book of Mormon,—that book of books—that record which reveals the antiquities of the 'new world' back to the remotest ages, and which unfolds the destiny of its people and the world, for all time to come."
As he read, the spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he knew and comprehended that the book was true; whereupon he resolved to visit the young man who was the instrument in bringing forth this "marvelous work."
Accordingly he visited the village of Palmyra, and inquired for the residence of Mr. Joseph Smith, which he found some two or three miles from the village. As he approached the house, at the close of the day, he overtook a man driving some cows, and inquired of him for "Mr. Joseph Smith, the translator of the Book of Mormon." This man was none other than Hyrum, Joseph's brother, who informed him that Joseph then resided in Pennsylvania, some one hundred miles distant. That night Parley was entertained by Hyrum, who explained to him much of the great Israelitish mission just opening to the world.
In the morning he was compelled to take leave of Hyrum, the brother, who at parting presented him with a copy of the Book of Mormon. He had not then completed its perusal, and so after traveling on a few miles he stopped to rest and again commenced to read the book. To his great joy he found that Jesus Christ, in his glorified resurrected body, had appeared to the "remnant of Joseph" on the continent of America, soon after his resurrection and ascension into heaven; and that he also administered, in person, to the ten lost tribes; and that through his personal ministry in these countries his gospel was revealed and written in countries and among nations entirely unknown to the Jewish apostles.
Having rested awhile and perused the sacred book by the roadside, he again walked on.
After fulfilling his appointments, he resolved to preach no more until he had duly received a "commission from on high." So he returned to Hyrum, who journeyed with him some twenty-five miles to the residence of Mr. Whitmer, in Seneca County, who was one of the "witnesses" of the Book of Mormon, and in whose chamber much of the book was translated.
He found the little branch of the church in that place "full of joy, faith, humility and charity."
They rested that night, and on the next day (the 1st of September, 1830), Parley was baptized by Oliver Cowdery, who, with the prophet Joseph, had been ordained "under the hands" of the angel John the Baptist to this ministry,—the same John who baptized Jesus Christ in the River Jordan.
A meeting of these primitive saints was held the same evening, when Parley was confirmed with the gift of the Holy Ghost, and ordained an elder of the church.
Feeling now that he had the true authority to preach, he commenced his new ministry under the authority and power which the angels had conferred. "The Holy Ghost," he says, "came upon me mightily. I spoke the word of God with power, reasoning out of the scriptures and the Book of Mormon. The people were convinced, overwhelmed with tears, and came forward expressing their faith, and were baptized."
The mysterious object for which he took leave of his wife was realized, and so he pursued his journey to the land of his fathers, and of his boyhood.
He now commenced his labors in good earnest, daily addressing crowded audiences; and soon he baptized his brother Orson, a youth of nineteen, but to-day a venerable apostle—the Paul of Mormondom.
It was during his labors in these parts, in the Autumn of 1830, that he saw a very singular and extraordinary sign in the heavens.
He had been on a visit to the people called Shakers, at New Lebanon, and was returning on foot, on a beautiful evening of September. The sky was without a cloud; the stars shone out beautifully, and all nature seemed reposing in quiet, as he pursued his solitary way, wrapt in deep meditations on the predictions of the holy prophets; the signs of the times; the approaching advent of the Messiah to reign on the earth, and the important revelations of the Book of Mormon, when his attention was aroused by a sudden appearance of a brilliant light which shone around him "above the brightness of the sun." He cast his eyes upwards to inquire from whence the light came, when he perceived a long chain of light extending in the heavens, very bright and of a deep fiery red. It at first stood stationary in a horizontal position; at length bending in the centre, the two ends approached each other with a rapid movement so as to form an exact square. In this position it again remained stationary for some time, perhaps a minute, and then again the ends approached each other with the same rapidity, and again ceased to move, remaining stationary, for perhaps a minute, in the form of a compass. It then commenced a third movement in the same manner, and closed like the closing of a compass, the whole forming a straight line like a chain doubled. It again remained stationary a minute, and then faded away.
"I fell upon my knees in the street," he says, "and thanked the Lord for so marvelous a sign of the coming of the Son of Man. Some persons may smile at this, and say that all these exact movements were by chance; but for my part I could as soon believe that the alphabet would be formed by chance and be placed so as to spell my name, as to believe that these signs (known only to the wise) could be formed and shown forth by chance."
Parley now made his second visit to the prophet, who had returned from Pennsylvania to his father's residence in Manchester, near Palmyra, and here had the pleasure of seeing him for the first time.
It was now October, 1830. A revelation had been given through the mouth of the prophet in which elders Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, Tiber Peterson and Parley P. Pratt were appointed to go into the wilderness through the Western States, and to the Indian Territory.
These elders journeyed until they came to the spiritual pastorate of Sydney Rigdon, in Ohio. He received the elders cordially, and Parley presented his former friend and instructor with the Book of Mormon, and related to him the history of the same.
"The news of our coming," says Parley, "was soon noised abroad, and the news of the discovery of the Book of Mormon and the marvelous events connected with it. The interest and excitement now became general in Kirtland, and in all the region round about. The people thronged us night and day, insomuch that we had no time for rest or retirement. Meetings were convened in different neighborhoods, and multitudes came together soliciting our attendance; while thousands flocked about us daily, some to be taught, some for curiosity, some to obey the gospel, and some to dispute or resist it.
"In two or three weeks from our arrival in the neighborhood with the news, we had baptized one hundred and twenty-seven souls; and this number soon increased to one thousand. The disciples were filled with joy and gladness; while rage and lying was abundantly manifested by gainsayers. Faith was strong, joy was great, and persecution heavy.
"We proceeded to ordain Sidney Rigdon, Isaac Morley, John Murdock, Lyman Wight, Edward Partridge, and many others to the ministry; and leaving them to take care of the churches, and to minister the gospel, we took leave of the saints, and continued our journey."
Thus was fulfilled the vision of "Mother Whitney." Kirtland had heard the "word of the Lord." The angel that spoke from the cloud, at midnight, in Kirtland, was endowed with the gift of prophesy. The "daughter of the voice" which followed Israel down through the ages was potent still—was still an oracle to the children of the covenant.
1. She died in the early persecution of the church, and when Parley was in prison for the gospel's sake her spirit visited and comforted him.
WAR OF THE INVISIBLE POWERS—THEIR MASTER—JEHOVAH'S MEDIUM.
"You have prayed me here! Now what do you want of me?"
The Master had come!
But who was he?
Whence came he?
Good or evil?
Whose prayers had been answered?
—
There was in Kirtland a controversy between the powers of good and evil, for the mastery. Powers good and evil it would seem to an ordinary discernment. Certainly powers representing two sources.
This was the prime manifestation of the new dispensation. This contention of the invisibles for a foothold among mortals.
A Mormon iliad! for such it is! It is the epic of two worlds, in which the invisibles, with mortals, take their respective parts.
And now it is the dispensation of the fullness of times! Now all the powers visible and invisible contend for the mastery of the earth in the stupendous drama of the last days. This is what Mormonism means.
It is a war of the powers above and below to decide who shall give the next civilization to earth; which power shall incarnate that supreme civilization with its spirit and genius.
Similar how exactly this has been repeated since Moses and the magicians of Egypt, and Daniel and the magicians of Babylon, contended.
One had risen up in the august name of Jehovah. Mormonism represents the powers invisible of the Hebrew God.
Shall Jehovah reign in the coming time? Shall he be the Lord God omnipotent? This, in its entirety, is the Mormon problem.
Joseph is the prophet of that stupendous question, to be decided in this grand controversy of the two worlds—this controversy of mortals and immortals!
There are lords many and gods many, but to the prophet and his people there is but one God—Jehovah is his name.
A Mormon iliad, nothing else; and a war of the invisibles—a war of spiritual empires.
That war was once in Kirtland, when the first temple of a new civilization rose, to proclaim the supreme name of the God of Israel.
No sooner had the Church of Latter-day Saints been established in the West than remarkable spiritual manifestations appeared. This was exactly in accordance with the faith and expectations of the disciples; for the promise to them was that these signs should follow the believer.
But there was a power that the saints could not understand. That it was a power from the invisible world all readily discerned.
An influence both strange and potent! The power which was not comprehended was greater, for the time, in its manifestations, than the spirit which the disciples better understood.
These spiritual manifestations occurred remarkably at the house of Elder Whitney, where the saints met often to speak one to the other, and to pray for the power.
The power had come!
It was in the house which had been overshadowed by the magic cloud at midnight, out of which the angel had prophesied of the coming of the word of the Lord.
The Lord had come!
His word was given. But which Lord? and whose word? That was the question in that hour of spiritual controversy.
Similar manifestations were also had in other branches of the church; and they were given at those meetings called "testimony meetings." At these the saints testified one to the other of the "great work of God in the last days," and magnified the gifts of the spirit. But there were two kinds of gifts and two kinds of spirits.
Some of these manifestations were very similar to those of "modern spiritualism." Especially was this the case with what are styled physical manifestations.
Others read revelations from their hands; holding them up as a book before them. From this book they read passages of new scriptures. Books of new revelations had been unsealed.
In letters of light and letters of gold, writing appeared to their vision, on the hands of these "mediums."
What was singular and confounding to the elders was that many, who could neither read nor write, while under "the influence," uttered beautiful language extemporaneously. At this these "mediums" of the Mormon Church (twenty years before our "modern mediums" were known), would exclaim concerning the "power of God" manifested through them; challenging the elders, after the spirit had gone out of them, with their own natural inability to utter such wonderful sayings, and do such marvelous things.
As might be expected the majority of these "mediums" were among the sisters. In modern spiritual parlance, they were more "inspirational." Indeed for the manifestation of both powers the sisters have always been the "best mediums" (adopting the descriptive epithet now so popular and suggestive).
And this manifestation of the "two powers" in the church followed the preaching of the Mormon gospel all over the world, especially in America and Great Britain. It was God's spell and the spell of some other spiritual genius.
Where the one power was most manifested, there it was always found that the power from the "other source" was about equally displayed.
So abounding and counterbalancing were these two powers in nearly all the branches of the church in the early rise of Mormonism, in America and Great Britain, that spiritual manifestations became regarded very generally as fire that could burn as well as bless and build up the work of God.
An early hymn of the dispensation told that "the great prince of darkness was mustering his forces;" that a battle was coming "between the two kingdoms;" that the armies were "gathering round," and that they would "soon in close battle be found."
To this is to be attributed the decline of spiritual gifts in a later period in the Mormon Church, for the "spirits" were poured out so abundantly that the saints began to fear visions, and angels, and prophesy, and the "speaking in tongues."
Thus the sisters, who ever are the "best mediums" of spiritual gifts in the church, have, in latter years, been shorn of their glory. But the gifts still remain with them; and the prophesy is that some day, when there is sufficient wisdom combined with faith, more than the primitive power will be displayed, and the angels will daily walk and talk with the people of God.
But in Kirtland in that day there was the controversy of the invisibles.
—
It was in the beginning of the year 1831 that a sleigh drove into the little town of Kirtland. There were in it a man and his wife with her girl, and a man servant driving.
They seemed to be travelers, and to have come a long distance rather than from a neighboring village; indeed they had come from another State; hundreds of miles from home now; far away in those days for a man to be thus traveling in midwinter with his wife.
But they were not emigrants; at least seemingly not such; certainly not emigrants of an ordinary kind.
No caravan followed in their wake with merchandise for the western market, nor a train of goods and servants to make a home in a neighboring State.
A solitary sleigh; a man with his wife and two servants; a solitary sleigh, and far from home.
That they were not fugitives was apparent in the manly boldness of the chief personage and the somewhat imperial presence of the woman by his side. This personal air of confidence, and a certain conscious importance, were quite marked in both, especially in the man.
They were two decided personages come West. Some event was in their coming. This much the observer might at once have concluded.
There was thus something of mystery about the solitary sleigh and its occupants.
A chariot with a destiny in it—a very primitive chariot of peace, but a chariot with a charm about it. The driver might have felt akin to the boatman who embarked with the imperial Roman: "Fear not—Caesar is in thy boat!"
The sleigh wended its course through the streets of Kirtland until it came to the store of Messrs. Gilbert & Whitney, merchants. There it stopped.
Leaping from the primitive vehicle the personage shook himself lightly, as a young lion rising from his restful attitude; for the man possessed a royal strength and a magnificent physique. In age he was scarcely more than twenty-five; young, but with the stamp of one born to command.
Leaving his wife in the sleigh, he walked, with a royal bearing and a wonderfully firm step, straight into the store of Gilbert & Whitney. His bearing could not be other. He planted his foot as one who never turned back—as one destined to make a mark in the great world at his every footfall. He had come to Kirtland as though to possess it.
Going up to the counter where stood the merchant Whitney, he tapped him with hearty affection on the shoulder as he would have done to a long separated brother or a companion of by-gone years. There was the magnetism of love in his very touch. Love was the wondrous charm that the man carried about him.
"Well, Brother Whitney, how do you do?" was his greeting.
"You have the advantage of me," replied Whitney, wondering who his visitor could be. "I could not call you by name."
"I am Joseph, the prophet!"
It was like one of old making himself known to his brethren—"I am Joseph, your brother!"
"Well, what do you want of me?" Joseph asked with a smile; and then with grave solicitude added:
"You have prayed me here, now what do you want of me? The Lord would not let me sleep at nights; but said, up and take your wife to Kirtland!"
An archangel's coming would not have been a greater event to the saints than the coming of Joseph the prophet.
Leaving his store and running across the road to his house, Elder Whitney exclaimed:
"Who do you think was in that sleigh at the store?"
"Well, I don't know," replied Sister Whitney.
"Why, it is Joseph and his wife. Where shall we put them?"
Then came to the mind of Sister Whitney the vision of the cloud that had overshadowed her house at midnight, and the words of the angel who had spoken from the pavilion of his hidden glory. The vision had now to them a meaning and fulfillment indeed. The sister and her husband who had heard the "voice" felt that "the word of the Lord" was to be given to Kirtland in their own dwelling and under the very roof thus hallowed.
One-half of the house was immediately set apart for the prophet and his wife. The sleigh drove up to the door and Joseph entered with Emma—the "elect lady" of the church—and they took up their home in the little city which, with his presence, was now Zion.
It was the controversy of these two powers in the churches in the West which had called Joseph to Kirtland in the opening of the year 1831. The church in the State of New York—its birthplace—had been commanded by revelation to move West, but Joseph hastened ahead with his wife, as we have seen.
He had been troubled at nights in his visions. He had seen Elder Whitney and his wife and the good saints praying for his help. This is how he had known "Brother Whitney" at sight; for Joseph on such occasions saw all things before him as by a map unfolded to his view.
"Up and take your wife to Kirtland," "the Lord" had commanded. And he had come. The church, from the State of New York, followed him the ensuing May.
The master spirit was in Kirtland now. All spirits were subject to him. That was one ruling feature of his apostleship. He held the keys of the dispensation. He commanded and the very invisibles obeyed.Theyalso recognized the master spirit. He was only subject to the God of Israel.
"Peace, be still!" the master commanded, and the troubled waters of Kirtland were at peace.
There in the chamber which Sister Whitney consecrated to the prophet the great revelation was given concerning the tests of spirits. There also many of the revelations were given, some of which form part of the book of doctrine and covenants. The chamber was thereafter called the translating room.
Perchance the mystic cloud often overshadowed that house, but the angel of the new covenant could now enter and speak face to face with mortal; for Jehovah's prophet dwelt there. To him the heavens unveiled, and the archangels of celestial spheres appeared in their glory and administered to him.
Wonderful, indeed, if this be true, of which there is a cloud of witnesses; and more wonderful still if hosts of angels, good and bad, have come to earth since that day, converting millions to an age of revelation, unless one like unto Joseph has indeed unlocked the new dispensation with an Elijah's keys of power!
ELIZA R. SNOW'S EXPERIENCE—GLIMPSES OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SMITH—GATHERING OF THE SAINTS.
"In the autumn of 1829," says Eliza R. Snow, the high priestess, "the tidings reached my ears that God had spoken from the heavens; that he had raised up a prophet, and was about to restore the fullness of the gospel with all its gifts and powers.
"During my brief association with the Campbellite church, I was deeply interested in the study of the ancient prophets, in which I was assisted by the erudite Alexander Campbell himself, and Walter Scott, whose acquaintance I made,—but more particularly by Sidney Rigdon, who was a frequent visitor at my father's house.
"But when I heard of the mission of the prophet Joseph I was afraid it was not genuine. It was just what my soul had hungered for, but I thought it was a hoax.
"However, I improved the opportunity and attended the first meeting within my reach. I listened to the testimonials of two of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon. Such impressive testimonies I had never before heard. To hear men testify that they had seen a holy angel—that they had listened to his voice, bearing testimony of the work that was ushering in a new dispensation; that the fullness of the gospel was to be restored and that they were commanded to go forth and declare it, thrilled my inmost soul.
"Yet it must be remembered that when Joseph Smith was called to his great mission, more than human power was requisite to convince people that communication with the invisible world was possible. He was scoffed at, ridiculed and persecuted for asserting that he had received a revelation; now the world is flooded with revelations.
"Early in the spring of 1835, my eldest sister, who, with my mother was baptized in 1831, by the prophet, returned home from a visit to the saints in Kirtland, and reported of the faith and humility of those who had received the gospel as taught by Joseph,—the progress of the work, the order of the organization of the priesthood and the frequent manifestations of the power of God.
"The spirit bore witness to me of the truth. I felt that I had waited already a little too long to see whether the work was going to 'flash in the pan' and go out. But my heart was now fixed; and I was baptized on the 5th of April, 1835. From that day to this I have not doubted the truth of the work.
"In December following I went to Kirtland and realized much happiness in the enlarged views and rich intelligence that flowed from the fountain of eternal truth, through the inspiration of the Most High.
"I was present on the memorable event of the dedication of the temple, when the mighty power of God was displayed, and after its dedication enjoyed many refreshing seasons in that holy sanctuary. Many times have I witnessed manifestations of the power of God, in the precious gifts of the gospel,—such as speaking in tongues, the interpretation of tongues, prophesying, healing the sick, causing the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. Of such manifestations in the church I might relate many circumstances.
"In the spring I taught a select school for young ladies, boarding in the family of the prophet, and at the close of the term returned to my father's house, where my friends and acquaintances flocked around me to inquire about the 'strange people' with whom I was associated. I was exceedingly happy in testifying of what I had both seen and heard, until the 1st of January, 1837, when I bade a final adieu to the home of my youth, to share the fortunes of the people of God.
"On my return to Kirtland, by solicitation, I took up my residence in the family of the prophet, and taught his family school.
"Again I had ample opportunity of judging of his daily walk and conversation, and the more I made his acquaintance, the more cause I found to appreciate him in his divine calling. His lips ever flowed with instruction and kindness; but, although very forgiving, indulgent and affectionate in his nature, when his godlike intuition suggested that the good of his brethren, or the interests of the kingdom of God demanded it, no fear of censure, no love of approbation, could prevent his severe and cutting rebukes.
"His expansive mind grasped the great plan of salvation, and solved the mystic problem of man's destiny; he was in possession of keys that unlocked the past and the future, with its successions of eternities; yet in his devotions he was as humble as a little child. Three times a day he had family worship; and these precious seasons of sacred household service truly seemed a foretaste of celestial happiness."
Thus commenced that peculiar and interesting relationship between the prophet and the inspired heroine who became his celestial bride, and whose beautiful ideals have so much glorified celestial marriage.
There were also others of our Mormon heroines who had now gathered to the West to build up Zion, that their "King might appear in his glory." Among them was that exalted woman—so beloved and honored in the Mormon church—the life-long wife of Heber C. Kimball. There were also Mary Angel, and many apostolic women from New England, who have since stood, for a generation, as pillars in the latter-day kingdom. We shall meet them hereafter.
And the saints, as doves flocking to the window of the ark of the new covenant, gathered to Zion. They came from the East and the West and the North and the South.
Soon the glad tidings were conveyed to other lands. Great Britain "heard the word of the Lord," borne there by apostles Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde and Willard Richards, and others.
Soon also the saints began to gather from the four quarters of the earth; and those gatherings have increased until more than a hundred thousand disciples—the majority of them women—have come to America, as their land of promise, to build up thereon the Zion of the last days.
THE LATTER-DAY ILIAD—REPRODUCTION OF THE GREAT HEBRAIC DRAMA—THE MEANING OF THE MORMON MOVEMENT IN THE AGE.
It was "a gathering dispensation." A strange religion indeed, that meant something more than faith and prayers and creeds.
An empire-founding religion, as we have said,—this religion of a latter-day Israel. A religion, in fact, that meant all that the name of "Latter-day Israel" implies.
The women who did their full half in founding Mormondom, comprehended, as much as did their prototypes who came up out of Egypt, the significance of the name of Israel.
Out of Egypt the seed of promise, to become a peculiar people, a holy nation, with a distinctive God and a distinctive destiny. Out of modern Babylon, to repeat the same Hebraic drama in the latter age.
A Mormon iliad in every view; and the sisters understanding it fully. Indeed perhaps they have best understood it. Their very experience quickened their comprehension.
The cross and the crown of thorns quicken the conception of a crucifixion. The Mormon women have borne the cross and worn the crown of thorns for a full lifetime; not in their religion, but in their experience. Their strange destiny and the divine warfare incarnated in their lives, gave them an experience matchless in its character and unparalleled in its sacrifices.
The sisters understood their religion, and they counted the cost of their divine ambitions.
What that cost has been to these more than Spartan women, we shall find in tragic stories of their lives, fast unfolding in the coming narrative of their gatherings and exterminations.
For the first twenty years of their history the tragedy of the Latter-day Israel was woeful enough to make their guardian angels weep, and black enough in its scenes to satisfy the angriest demons.
This part of the Mormon drama began in 1831 with the removal of the church from the State of New York to Kirtland, Ohio, and to Jackson, and other counties in Missouri; and it culminated in the martyrdom of the prophet and his brother at Nauvoo, and the exodus to the Rocky Mountains. In all these scenes the sisters have shown themselves matchless heroines.
The following, from an early poem, written by the prophetess, Eliza R. Snow, will finely illustrate the Hebraic character of the Mormon work, and the heroic spirit in which these women entered into the divine action of their lives:
My heart is fix'd—I know in whom I trust.'Twas not for wealth—'twas not to gather heapsOf perishable things—'twas not to twineAround my brow a transitory wreath,A garland decked with gems of mortal praise,That I forsook the home of childhood; thatI left the lap of ease—the halo rifeWith friendship's richest, soft, and mellow tones;Affection's fond caresses, and the cupO'erflowing with the sweets of social life,With high refinement's golden pearls enrich'd.Ah, no! A holier purpose fir'd my soul;A nobler object prompted my pursuit.Eternal prospects open'd to my view,And hope celestial in my bosom glow'd.God, who commanded Abraham to leaveHis native country, and to offer upOn the lone altar, where no eye beheldBut that which never sleeps, an only son,Is still the same; and thousands who have madeA covenant with him by sacrifice,Are bearing witness to the sacred truth—Jehovah speaking has reveal'd his will.The proclamation sounded in my ear—It reached my heart—I listen'd to the sound—Counted the cost, and laid my earthly allUpon the altar, and with purpose fix'dUnalterably, while the spirit ofElijah's God within my bosom reigns,Embrac'd the everlasting covenant,And am determined now to be a saint,And number with the tried and faithful ones,Whose race is measured with their life; whose prizeIs everlasting, and whose happinessIs God's approval; and to whom 'tis moreThan meat and drink to do his righteous will.* * * *Although to be a saint requiresA noble sacrifice—an arduous toil—A persevering aim; the great rewardAwaiting the grand consummation willRepay the price, however costly; andThe pathway of the saint the safest pathWill prove; though perilous—for 'tis foretold,All things that can be shaken, God will shake;Kingdoms and governments, and institutes,Both civil and religious, must be tried—Tried to the core, and sounded to the depth.Then let me be a saint, and be prepar'dFor the approaching day, which like a snareWill soon surprise the hypocrite—exposeThe rottenness of human schemes—shake offOppressive fetters—break the gorgeous reinsUsurpers hold, and lay the pride of man—The pride of nations, low in dust!
My heart is fix'd—I know in whom I trust.'Twas not for wealth—'twas not to gather heapsOf perishable things—'twas not to twineAround my brow a transitory wreath,A garland decked with gems of mortal praise,That I forsook the home of childhood; thatI left the lap of ease—the halo rifeWith friendship's richest, soft, and mellow tones;Affection's fond caresses, and the cupO'erflowing with the sweets of social life,With high refinement's golden pearls enrich'd.
Ah, no! A holier purpose fir'd my soul;A nobler object prompted my pursuit.Eternal prospects open'd to my view,And hope celestial in my bosom glow'd.God, who commanded Abraham to leaveHis native country, and to offer upOn the lone altar, where no eye beheldBut that which never sleeps, an only son,Is still the same; and thousands who have madeA covenant with him by sacrifice,Are bearing witness to the sacred truth—Jehovah speaking has reveal'd his will.
The proclamation sounded in my ear—It reached my heart—I listen'd to the sound—Counted the cost, and laid my earthly allUpon the altar, and with purpose fix'dUnalterably, while the spirit ofElijah's God within my bosom reigns,Embrac'd the everlasting covenant,And am determined now to be a saint,And number with the tried and faithful ones,Whose race is measured with their life; whose prizeIs everlasting, and whose happinessIs God's approval; and to whom 'tis moreThan meat and drink to do his righteous will.
* * * *
Although to be a saint requiresA noble sacrifice—an arduous toil—A persevering aim; the great rewardAwaiting the grand consummation willRepay the price, however costly; andThe pathway of the saint the safest pathWill prove; though perilous—for 'tis foretold,All things that can be shaken, God will shake;Kingdoms and governments, and institutes,Both civil and religious, must be tried—Tried to the core, and sounded to the depth.
Then let me be a saint, and be prepar'dFor the approaching day, which like a snareWill soon surprise the hypocrite—exposeThe rottenness of human schemes—shake offOppressive fetters—break the gorgeous reinsUsurpers hold, and lay the pride of man—The pride of nations, low in dust!
And there was in these gatherings of our latter-day Israel, like as in this poem, a tremendous meaning. It is of the Hebrew significance and genius rather than of the Christian; for Christ is now Messiah, King of Israel, and not the Babe of Bethlehem. Mormondom is no Christian sect, but an Israelitish nationality, and even woman, the natural prophetess of the reign of peace, is prophesying of the shaking of "kingdoms and governments and all human institutions."
The Mormons from the beginning well digested the text to the great Hebrew drama, and none better than the sisters; here it is:
"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee;
"And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing;
"And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."
And so, for now nearly fifty years, this Mormon Israel have been getting out of their native countries, and from their kindred, and from their father's house unto the gathering places that their God has shown them.
But they have been driven from those gathering places from time to time; yes, driven farther west. There was the land which God was showing them. At first it was too distant to be seen even by the eye of faith. Too many thousands of miles even for the Spartan heroism of the sisters; too dark a tragedy of expulsions and martyrdoms; and too many years of exoduses and probations. The wrath of the Gentiles drove them where their destiny led them—to the land which God was showing them.
And for the exact reason that the patriarchal Abraham and Sarah were commanded to get out of their country and from their kindred and their father's house, so were the Abrahams and Sarahs of our time commanded by the same God and for the same purpose.
"I will make of thee a great nation." "And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and I will multiply thee exceedingly." "And thou shalt be a father of many nations." "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and thy seed after thee."
To fulfill this in the lives of these spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham and Sarah, the gathering dispensation was brought in. These Mormons have gathered from the beginning that they might become the fathers and mothers of a nation, and that through them the promises made to the Abrahamic fathers and mothers might be greatly fulfilled.
This is most literal, and was well understood in the early rise of the church, long before polygamy was known. Yet who cannot now see that in such a patriarchal covenant was the very overture of patriarchal marriage—or polygamy.
So in the early days quite a host of the daughters of New England—earnest and purest of women—many of them unmarried, and most of them in the bloom of womanhood—gathered to the virgin West to become the mothers of a nation, and to build temples to the name of a patriarchal God!
THE LAND OF TEMPLES—AMERICA THE NEW JERUSALEM—DARING CONCEPTION OF THE MORMON PROPHET—FULFILLMENT OF THE ABRAHAMIC PROGRAMME—WOMAN TO BE AN ORACLE OF JEHOVAH.
Two thousand years had nearly passed since the destruction of the temple of Solomon; three thousand years, nearly, since that temple of the old Jerusalem was built.
Yet here in America in the nineteenth century,among the Gentiles, a modern Israel began to rear temples to the name of the God of Israel! Temples to be reared to his august name in every State on this vast continent! Thus runs the Mormon prophesy.
All America, the New Jerusalem of the last days! All America for the God of Israel! What a conception! Yet these daughters of Zion perfectly understood it nearly fifty years ago.
Joseph was indeed a sublime and daring oracle. Such a conception grasped even before he laid the foundation stone of a Zion—that all America is to be the New Jerusalem of the world and of the future—was worthy to make him the prophet of America.
Zion was not a county in Missouri, a city in Ohio or Illinois; nor is she now a mere embryo State in the Rocky Mountains.
Kirtland was but a "stake of Zion" where the first temple rose. Jackson county is the enchanted spot where the "centre stake" of Zion is to be planted, and the grand temple reared, by-and-by. Nauvoo with its temple was another stake. Utah also is but a stake. Here we have already the temple of St. George, and in Salt Lake City a temple is being built which will be a Masonic unique to this continent.
Perchance it will stand in the coming time scarcely less a monument to the name of its builder—Brigham Young—than the temple of Old Jerusalem has been to the name of Solomon.
But all America is the world's New Jerusalem!
With this cardinal conception crowding the soul of the Mormon prophet, inspired by the very archangels of Israel, what a vast Abrahamic drama opened to the view of the saints in Kirtland when the first temple lifted its sacred tower to the skies!
The archangels of Israel had come down to fulfill on earth the grand Abrahamic programme. The two worlds—the visible and the invisible—were quickly engaging in the divine action, to consummate, in this "dispensation of the fullness of times," the promises made unto the fathers.
And all America for the God of Israel.
There is method in Mormonism—method infinite. Mormonism is Masonic. The God of Israel is a covenant maker; the crown of the covenant is the temple.
But woman must not be lost to view in our admiration of the prophet's conceptions.
How stands woman in the grand temple economy, as she loomed up in her mission, from the house of the Lord in Kirtland?
The apostles and elders laid the foundations, raised the arches, and put on the cap stone; but it was woman that did the "inner work of the temple."
George A. Smith hauled the first load of rock; Heber C. Kimball worked as an operative mason, and Brigham Young as a painter and glazier in the house; but the sisters wrought on the "veils of the temple."
Sister Polly Angel, wife of Truman O. Angel, the church architect, relates that she and a band of sisters were working on the "veils," one day, when the prophet and Sidney Rigdon came in.
"Well, sisters," observed Joseph, "you are always on hand. The sisters are always first and foremost in all good works. Mary was first at the resurrection; and the sisters now are the first to work on the inside of the temple."
'Tis but a simple incident, but full of significance. It showed Joseph's instinctive appreciation of woman and her mission. Her place wasinsidethe temple, and he was about to put her there,—a high priestess of Jehovah, to whose name he was building temples. And wonderfully suggestive was his prompting, that woman was the first witness of the resurrection.
Once again woman had become an oracle of a new dispensation and a new civilization. She can only properly be this when a temple economy comes round in the unfolding of the ages. She can only be a legitimate oracleinthe temple.
When she dares to play the oracle, without her divine mission and anointing, she is accounted in society as a witch, a fortune-teller, a medium, who divines for hire and sells the gift of the invisibles for money.
But in the temple woman is a sacred and sublime oracle. She is a prophetess and a high priestess. Inside the temple she cannot but be as near the invisibles as man—nearer indeed, from her finer nature, inside the mystic veil, the emblems of which she has worked upon with her own hands.
Of old the oracle had a priestly royalty. The story of Alexander the Great and the oracle of Delphi is famous. The conqueror demanded speech from the oracle concerning his destiny. The oracle was a woman; and womanlike she refused to utter the voice of destiny at the imperious bidding of a mortal. But Alexander knew that woman was inspired—that he held in his grip the incarnated spirit of the temple, and he essayed to drag her to the holy ground where speech was given.
"He is invincible!" exclaimed the oracle, in wrath.
"The oracle speaks!" cried Alexander, in exultation.
The prophetess was provoked to an utterance; woman forced to obey the stronger will of man; but it was woman's inspired voice that sent Alexander through the world a conquering destiny.
And the prophet of Mormondom knew that woman is, by the gifts of God and nature, an inspired being. If she was this in the temples of Egypt and Greece, more abundantly is she this in the temples of Israel. In them woman is the medium of Jehovah. This is what the divine scheme of the Mormon prophet has made her to this age; and she began her great mission to the world in the temple at Kirtland.
But this temple-building of the Mormons has a vaster meaning than the temples of Egypt, the oracles of Greece, or the cathedrals of the Romish Church.
It is the vast Hebrew iliad, begun with Abraham and brought down through the ages, in a race still preserved with more than its original quality and fibre; and in a God who is raising up unto Abraham a mystical seed of promise, a latter-day Israel.
Jehovah is a covenant-maker. "And I will make with Israel a new and everlasting covenant," is the text that Joseph and Brigham have been working upon. Hence this temple building in America, to fulfill and glorify the new covenant of Israel.
The first covenant was made with Abraham and the patriarchsin the East. The greater and the everlasting covenant will restore the kingdom to Israel. That covenant has been madein the West, with these veritable children of Abraham. God has raised up children unto Abraham to fulfill the promises made to him. This is Mormonism.
The West is the future world. Yet how shall there be the new civilization without its distinctive temples? Certainly there shall be no Abrahamic dispensation and covenant unless symbolized by temples raised to the name of the God of Israel!
All America, then, is Zion!
A hundred temples lifting their towers to the skies in the world's New Jerusalem. Temples built to the name of the God of Israel.
Mark this august wonder of the age; the Mormons build not temples to the name of Jesus, but to the name of Jehovah—not to the Son, but to the Father.
The Hebrew symbol is not the cross, but the sceptre. The Hebrews know nothing of the cross. It is the symbol of heathenism, whence Rome received her signs and her worship. Rome adopted the cross and she has borne it as her mark. She never reared her cathedrals to the name of the God of Israel, nor has she taught the nations to fear his name. Nor has she prophesied of the New Jerusalem of the last days, which must supersede Rome and give the millennial civilization to the world.
The reign of Messiah! Temples to the Most High God! The sceptre, not the cross!
There is a grand Masonic consistency in the divine scheme of the Mormon prophet, and the sisters began to comprehend the infinite themes of their religion when they worked in the temple at Kirtland, and beheld in the service the glory of Israel's God.