"'He laid his hands upon my head in the name of Jesus Christ, and rebuked the inflammation, and commanded them to be made whole and restored to sight; and it was instantly done.'
"'Well, give God the glory; for, as to this man, it is well known that he is an impostor, a follower of Joseph Smith, the false prophet.'
"'Whether he be an impostor or not, I know not; but this much I know, whereas I was blind, now I see! Can an impostor open the eyes of the blind?'"
The widow Walton was baptized, with all her household; John Taylor and his wife, also; and John soon became an able assistant in the ministry.
And here we meet two more representative women—sisters—whose family were destined to figure historically in the church. The narrative of Parley continues:
"The work soon spread into the country and enlarged its operations in all that region; many were gathered into the Church, and were filled with faith and love, and with the holy spirit, and the Lord confirmed the word with signs following. My first visit to the country was about nine miles from Toronto, among a settlement of farmers, by one of whom I had sent an appointment beforehand. John Taylor accompanied me. We called at a Mr. Joseph Fielding's, an acquaintance and friend of Mr. Taylor's. This man had two sisters, young ladies, who seeing us coming ran from their house to one of the neighboring houses, lest they should give welcome, or give countenance to 'Mormonism.' Mr. Fielding stayed, and as we entered the house he said he was sorry we had come; he had opposed our holding meeting in the neighborhood; and, so great was the prejudice, that the Methodist meeting house was closed against us, and the minister refused, on Sunday, to give out the appointment sent by the farmer.
"'Ah!' said I, 'why do they oppose Mormonism?' 'I don't know,' said he, 'but the name has such a contemptible sound; and, another thing, we do not want a new revelation, or a new religion contrary to the Bible.' 'Oh,' said I, 'if that is all we shall soon remove your prejudices. Come, call home your sisters, and let's have some supper. Did you say the appointment was not given out?' 'I said, sir, that it was not given out in the meeting house, nor by the minister; but the farmer by whom you sent it agreed to have it at his house.' 'Come, then, send for your sisters, we will take supper with you, and all go over to meeting together. If you and your sisters will agree to this, I will agree to preach the old Bible gospel, and leave out all new revelations which are opposed to it.'
"The honest man consented. The young ladies came home, got us a good supper, and all went to meeting. The house was crowded; I preached, and the people wished to hear more. The meeting house was opened for further meetings, and in a few days we baptized Brother Joseph Fielding and his two amiable and intelligent sisters, for such they proved to be in an eminent degree. We also baptized many others in that neighborhood, and organized a branch of the church, for the people there drank in truth as water, and loved it as they loved life."
Arriving at home the apostle Parley met continued examples of the fulfillment of prophesy. Sister Pratt is now the interesting character who takes the foreground. He says:
"I found my wife had been healed of her seven years' illness from the time Brother Kimball had ministered unto her, and I began to realize more fully that every word of his blessing and prophesy upon my head would surely come to pass."
"After a pleasant visit with the saints," he continues, "I took my wife with me and returned again to Toronto, in June, 1836. The work I had commenced was still spreading its influence, and the saints were still increasing in faith and love, in joy and in good works. There were visions, prophesyings, speaking in tongues and healings, as well as the casting out of devils and unclean spirits."
The work inaugurated by Parley P. Pratt seemed to have achieved a signal triumph almost from the very beginning. Indeed all had come to pass according to the prophesy of Heber C. Kimball, even not excepting the promised son and heir, who was born March 25th, 1837. But with this event came the mortal end of Parley's estimable wife. She lived just long enough to accomplish her destiny; and when the child was dressed, and she had looked upon it and embraced it, she passed away.
The following personal description and tribute of the poet apostle to the memory of his mate is too full of love and distinctively Mormon ideality to be lost:
"She was tall, of a slender frame, her face of an oval form, eyes large and of a dark color, her forehead lofty, clear complexion, hair black, smooth and glossy. She was of a mild and affectionate disposition and full of energy, perseverance, industry and cheerfulness, when not borne down with sickness. In order, neatness and refinement of taste and habit she might be said to excel. She was an affectionate and dutiful wife, an exemplary saint, and, through much tribulation, she has gone to the world of spirits to meet a glorious resurrection and an immortal crown and kingdom.
"Farewell, my dear Thankful, thou wife of my youth, and mother of my first born; the beginning of my strength—farewell. Yet a few more lingering years of sorrow, pain and toil, and I shall be with thee, and clasp thee to my bosom, and thou shalt sit down on my throne, as a queen and priestess unto thy Lord, arrayed in white robes of dazzling splendor, and decked with precious stones and gold, while thy queen sisters shall minister before thee and bless thee, and thy sons and daughters innumerable shall call thee blessed, and hold thy name in everlasting remembrance."
The interesting story which Parley tells of the visit of the spirit of his wife to him, while he was lying, a prisoner for the gospel's sake, in a dark, cold and filthy dungeon in Richmond, Ray county, Missouri, will be to the foregoing a charming sequel. While tortured with the gloom and discomforts of his prison, and most of all with the inactivity of his life of constraint, and earnestly wondering, and praying to know, if he should ever be free again to enjoy the society of friends and to preach the gospel, the following was shown to him, which we will tell in his own language:
"After some days of prayer and fasting," says he, "and seeking the Lord on the subject, I one evening retired to my bed in my lonely chamber at an early hour, and while the other prisoners and the guard were chatting and beguiling the lonesome hours in the upper part of the prison, I lay in silence, seeking and expecting an answer to my prayer, when suddenly I seemed carried away in the spirit, and no longer sensible to outward objects with which I was surrounded. A heaven of peace and calmness pervaded my bosom; a personage from the world of spirits stood before me with a smile of compassion in every look, and pity mingled with the tenderest love and sympathy in every expression of the countenance. A soft hand seemed placed within my own, and a glowing cheek was laid in tenderness and warmth upon mine. A well-known voice saluted me, which I readily recognized as that of the wife of my youth, who had then for nearly two years been sweetly sleeping where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest. I was made to realize that she was sent to commune with me, and to answer my question.
"Knowing this, I said to her, in a most earnest and inquiring tone: 'Shall I ever be at liberty again in this life, and enjoy the society of my family and the saints, and preach the gospel, as I have done?' She answered definitely and unhesitatingly: 'Yes!' I then recollected that I had agreed to be satisfied with the knowledge of that one fact, but now I wanted more.
"Said I: 'Can you tell me how, or by what means, or when, I shall escape?' She replied: 'That thing is not made known to me yet.' I instantly felt that I had gone beyond my agreement and my faith in asking this last question, and that I must be contented at present with the answer to the first.
"Her gentle spirit then saluted me and withdrew. I came to myself. The noise of the guards again grated on my ears, but heaven and hope were in my soul.
"Next morning I related the whole circumstance of my vision to my two fellow-prisoners, who rejoiced exceedingly. This may seem to some like an idle dream, or a romance of the imagination; but to me it was, and always will be, a reality, both as it regards what I then experienced and the fulfillment afterwards."
The famous escape from Richmond jail forms one of the romantic chapters of Mormon history, but it belongs rather to the acts of the apostles than to the lives of the sisters.
A DISTINGUISHED CANADIAN CONVERT—MRS. M. I. HORNE—HER EARLY HISTORY—CONVERSION TO MORMONISM—SHE GATHERS WITH THE SAINTS AND SHARES THEIR PERSECUTIONS—INCIDENTS OF HER EARLY CONNECTION WITH THE CHURCH.
Among the early fruits of the Canadian mission, perhaps the name of no other lady stands more conspicuous for good works and faithful ministrations, than that of Mrs. Mary I. Horne. It will, therefore, be eminently proper to introduce her at this time to the reader, and give a brief sketch of her early career. From her own journals we quote as follows:
"I was born on the 20th of November, 1818, in the town of Rainham, county of Kent, England. I am the daughter of Stephen and Mary Ann Hales, and am the eldest daughter of a large family. My parents were honest, industrious people; and when very young I was taught to pray, to be honest and truthful, to be kind to my associates, and to do good to all around me. My father was of the Methodist faith, but my mother attended the Church of England. As I was religiously inclined, I attended the Methodist Church with my father, who was faithful in the performance of his religious duties, although he never became a very enthusiastic Methodist.
"In the year 1832, when I was in my thirteenth year, there was great excitement in the town where I lived, over the favorable reports that were sent from Van Dieman's Land, and the great inducements held out to those who would go to that country. My father and mother caught the spirit of going, and began to make preparations for leaving England. Before arrangements had been completed for us to go, however, letters were received from Upper Canada, picturing, in glowing terms, the advantages of that country. My father changed his mind immediately and made arrangements to emigrate to the town of York, afterwards called Toronto. Accordingly, on the 16th day of April, 1832, our family, consisting of my parents, five sons, myself and a younger sister, bade adieu to England. We had a tedious voyage of six weeks across the ocean, and my mother was sick during the entire voyage. During the passage across there were three deaths on board—one of the three being my brother Elias, whom we sorrowfully consigned to a watery grave.
"Our ship anchored at Quebec in May, and after a tedious passage up the St. Lawrence by steamer, we landed in safety at the town of York, June 16th, thankful that we were at our journey's end. Here we were in a strange land, and to our dismay we found that the cholera was raging fearfully in that region; but through all of those trying scenes the Lord preserved us in health.
"In the spring of 1833 we removed into the country about eight miles, to a place located in the township of York, and in the spring of 1834 I attended a Methodist camp-meeting in that neighborhood, where I formed the acquaintance of Mr. Joseph Horne, who is now my husband.
"The most of the time for the next two years I lived in service in the city of Toronto, going once in three months to visit my parents.
"On the 9th day of May, 1836, I was married to Mr. Horne. He owned a farm about one mile from my father's house, and I removed to his residence soon after our marriage. I now felt that I was settled in life; and, although I had not been used to farm work, I milked cows, fed pigs and chickens, and made myself at home in my new situation, seeking to make my home pleasant for my husband, and working to advance his interests.
"About the first of June, of that year, report came to us that a man professing to be sent of God to preach to the people would hold a meeting about a mile from our house. My husband decided that we should go and hear him. We accordingly went, and there first heard Elder Orson Pratt. We were very much pleased with his sermon. Another meeting was appointed for the following week, and Elder Pratt told us that business called him away, but his brother, Parley P. Pratt, would be with us and preach in his stead. I invited my father to go with us to hear him, and the appointed evening found all of his family at the 'Mormon' meeting. Elder Pratt told us that God was an unchangeable being—the same yesterday, to-day, and forever—and taught us the gospel in its purity; then showed from the Bible that the gospel was the same in all ages of the world; but man had wandered from God and the true gospel, and that the Lord had sent an angel to Joseph Smith, restoring to him the pure gospel with its gifts and blessings. My father was so delighted with the sermon that he left the Methodist Church and attended the 'Mormon meetings' altogether; and in a short time every member of his family had received and obeyed the gospel. This made quite a stir among the Methodists. One of the class-leaders came to converse with us, and used every argument he could to convince us that Mormonism was false, but without avail. 'Well,' said he, finally, 'there are none but children and fools who join them,' and left us to our fate. In July (1836) I was baptized by Orson Hyde, and ever after that our house was open for meetings, and became a home for many of the elders.
"The following from Brother Parley P. Pratt's autobiography, is a truthful statement of a circumstance which occurred in the fall of that year, and to which I can bear witness, as it was of my own personal observation, the lady in question being a neighbor of ours. He says:
"'Now, there was living in that neighborhood a young man and his wife, named Whitney; he was a blacksmith by trade; their residence was perhaps a mile or more from Mr. Lamphere's, where I held my semi-monthly meetings. His wife was taken down very suddenly about that time with a strange affliction. She would be prostrated by some power invisible to those about her, and suffer an agony of distress indescribable. She often cried out that she could see two devils in human form, who were thus operating upon her, and that she could hear them talk; but, as the bystanders could not see them, but only see the effects, they did not know what to think or how to understand.
"'She would have one of these spells once in about twenty-four hours, and when it had passed she would lie in bed so lame, bruised, sore, and helpless that she could not rise alone, or even sit up, for some weeks. All this time she had to have watchers both night and day, and sometimes four and five at a time, insomuch that the neighbors were worn out and weary with watching. Mr. Whitney sent word for me two or three times, or left word for me to call next time I visited the neighborhood. This, however, I had neglected to do, owing to the extreme pressure of labors upon me in so large a circuit of meetings—indeed I had not a moment to spare. At last, as I came round on the circuit again, the woman, who had often requested to see the man of God, that he might minister to her relief, declared she would see him anyhow, for she knew she could be healed if she could but get sight of him. In her agony she sprang from her bed, cleared herself from her frightened husband and others, who were trying to hold her, and ran for Mr. Lamphere's, where I was then holding meeting. At first, to use her own words, she felt very weak, and nearly fainted, but her strength came to her, and increased at every step till she reached the meeting. Her friends were all astonished, and in alarm, lest she should die in the attempt, tried to pursue her, and they several times laid hold of her and tried to force or persuade her back. 'No,' said she, 'let me see the man of God; I can but die, and I cannot endure such affliction any longer.' On she came, until at last they gave up, and said, 'Let her go, perhaps it will be according to her faith.' So she came, and when the thing was explained the eyes of the whole multitude were upon her. I ceased to preach, and, stepping to her in the presence of the whole meeting, I laid my hands upon her and said, 'Sister, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven, thy faith hath made thee whole; and, in the name of Jesus Christ, I rebuke the devils and unclean spirits, and command them to trouble thee no more.' She returned home well, went about her housekeeping, and remained well from that time forth.'
"In the latter part of the summer of 1837," continues Mrs. Horne, "I had the great pleasure of being introduced to, and entertaining, the beloved prophet, Joseph Smith, with Sidney Rigdon and T. B. Marsh. I said to myself, 'O Lord, I thank thee for granting the desire of my girlish heart, in permitting me to associate with prophets and apostles.' On shaking hands with Joseph Smith, I received the holy spirit in such great abundance that I felt it thrill my whole system, from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. I thought I had never beheld so lovely a countenance. Nobility and goodness were in every feature.
"The saints in Kirtland removed in the following spring to Missouri. We started from Canada in March, 1838, with a small company of saints. The roads were very bad, as the frost was coming out of the ground, consequently I had to drive the team during a great portion of the journey, while my husband walked.
"On arriving at Huntsville, one hundred miles from Far West, we found several families of saints, and tarried a short time with them. There I was introduced to the parents of the prophet, and also to his cousin, George A. Smith. At a meeting held in that place I received a patriarchal blessing from Joseph Smith, Sr. He told me that I had to pass through a great deal of sickness, sorrow and tribulation, but 'the Lord will bring you through six troubles, and in the seventh he will not leave you;' all of which has verily been fulfilled."
Mrs. Horne, with her husband and family, reached Far West in August of that year, and received their full share of the privations incident to the settlement of that city, and also a full share of exposure, sickness and peril incident to the expulsion of the saints from Missouri. Finally thereafter they gathered to Nauvoo; and there for the present let us leave them—promising the reader that Mrs. Horne shall again come to the front when we treat of the wonderful missionary efforts of the Mormon women in Utah.
MORMONISM CARRIED TO GREAT BRITAIN—"TRUTH WILL PREVAIL"—THE REV. MR. FIELDING—FIRST BAPTISM IN ENGLAND—FIRST WOMAN BAPTIZED—STORY OF MISS JEANNETTA RICHARDS—FIRST BRANCH OF THE CHURCH IN FOREIGN LANDS ORGANIZED AT THE HOUSE OF ANN DAWSON—FIRST CHILD BORN INTO THE CHURCH IN ENGLAND—ROMANTIC SEQUEL—VILATE KIMBALL AGAIN.
The voice of prophesy was no longer hushed; the heavens were no longer sealed; the Almighty really spoke to these prophets and apostles of the latter days; their words were strangely, sometimes romantically, fulfilled; the genius of Mormonism was alike potent at home and abroad.
"Thou shalt go to Upper Canada, even to the city of Toronto, and there thou shalt find a people prepared for the fullness of the gospel, and they shall receive thee;" the prophet Heber had oracled over the head of a fellow laborer, "and from the things growing out of this mission shall the fullness of the gospel spread into England and cause a great work to be done in that land."
One part of this prophesy the reader has seen exactly fulfilled in the mission of Parley P. Pratt to Canada, enlivened with some very interesting episodes. It falls upon Heber himself—the father of the British mission—to fulfill, with the brethren who accompany him, the supreme part of the prophesy referring to Great Britain.
It will be remembered from the sketch of Vilate Kimball, that Mary Fielding gave to Heber five dollars to help him on his journey, and that she with her sister and her sister's husband, Elder R. B. Thompson, were on their way to Canada to engage in the second mission to that Province, while Heber, Orson Hyde, Willard Richards, and Joseph Fielding, with several other brethren from Canada, pursued their course to England.
It was July 1st, 1837, when these elders embarked on board the shipGarrick, bound for Liverpool, which they reached on the 20th of the same month.
On their arrival in that foreign land the three principal elders—Heber, Orson and Willard—had not as much as one farthing in their possession, yet were they destined to accomplish marvelous results ere their return to America.
Having remained two days in Liverpool, these elders were directed by the spirit to go to Preston, a flourishing English town in Lancashire, to plant the standard of their Church.
It generally came to pass that some singular incident occurred in all of the initial movements of these elders, opening their way before them, or omening their success. So now, the people of Preston were celebrating a grand national occasion. Queen Victoria, a few days previously (July 17th), had ascended the throne. A fitting event this to notice in a woman's book. The "Woman's Age" dawned, not only upon England, but, it would seem, upon all of the civilized world.
A general election was being held throughout the realm in consequence of the ascension of the Queen. The populace were parading the streets of Preston, bands were playing, and flags flying.
In the midst of this universal joy the elders alighted from the coach, and just at that moment a flag was unfurled over their heads, from the hotel, bearing this motto in gold letters: "Truth is mighty and will prevail!" It was as a prophesy to these elders, as if to welcome their coming, and they lifted up their voices and shouted, "Glory be to God, truth will prevail!" By the way, this flag proclaimed the rise of the temperance movement in England.
That night Heber and his compeers were entertained by the Rev. James Fielding, the brother of the sisters Fielding. Already was the other half of the prophesy uttered over the head of Parley being fulfilled—that the gospel should spread from Canada into England, "and cause a great work to be done in that land."
Previously to this the Rev. James Fielding had received letters from his brother Joseph, and his sisters, who had, as we have seen, embraced Mormonism in Canada; and these letters, burdened with the tidings of the advent of the prophet of America and the administration of angels in our own times, he read to his congregation. He also exhorted his flock to pray fervently that the Lord would send over to England his apostles, and solemnly adjured them to receive their message when they should come bearing their glad tidings. Thus in England, as in Canada, a people were "prepared" according to the prophesy.
On Sunday morning, the day after their arrival in Preston, the elders went to Vauxhall Chapel to hear the Rev. James Fielding preach. At the close of his discourse he gave out that in the afternoon and evening meetings ministers from America would preach in his chapel.
The news spread rapidly in the town, and in a few hours quite a sensation was abroad among the inhabitants, who flocked to the chapel at the appointed times, some out of curiosity, others from a genuine interest. Both in the afternoon and evening the chapel was crowded, and the apostles preached their opening sermons, Heber C. Kimball being the first of them who bore his testimony to "Mormonism" in foreign lands.
On the following Wednesday Vauxhall Chapel was again crowded, when Elder Orson Hyde preached, and Willard Richards bore testimony; and the Holy Ghost, we are told, powerfully accompanied the word on the occasion.
Only a few days had passed since the elders arrived on the shores of Great Britain, yet "a number believed and began to praise God and rejoice exceedingly."
The Rev. Mr. Fielding, however, saw now the consequence of all this. He was in danger of losing his entire flock. Many were resolving to be baptized into the Church of Latter-day Saints. A continuation of this result for a few weeks signified the entire dissolution of his own church. He was in consternation at the prospect. Trembling, it is said, as if suddenly stricken with the palsy, he presented himself before the elders on the morning appointed for the baptism of a number of his former disciples, and forbade the baptism. Of course this was in vain. He had met the inevitable.
On Sunday, July 30th, just one month from the time the elders embarked at New York, the eventful scene occurred in Preston, of the baptism in the River Ribble of the nine first converts to Mormonism in foreign lands. They were
George D. Watt, Ann Elizabeth Walmesley,
Thomas Walmesley, George Wate,
Miles Hodgen, Mary Ann Brown,
Henry Billsburg, —— Miller,
Ann Dawson.
A public ceremony of baptism in the open air was such a novel event in England at that time, when religious innovations were so rare, that seven or eight thousand persons assembled on the banks of the river to witness the scene. It is said that this was the first time baptism by immersion was ever thus administered in England, though at a later period several sects of Baptists arose who immersed openly in the rivers and for the remission of sins. Such scenes were picturesque, and some of the "new lights" seem to have delighted in them for their religious sensation, just as the Methodists did in their camp meetings.
The first woman whose name is recorded in the list of the baptized of the Mormon Church in England is Sister Ann Elizabeth Walmesley; and her case presents the first miracle of the Church in foreign lands. Here is the incident as related by Heber C. Kimball:
"I had visited Thomas Walmesley, whose wife was sick of the consumption, and had been so for several years. She was reduced to skin and bone—a mere skeleton—and was given up by the doctors to die. I preached the gospel to her, and promised her in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that if she would believe, repent and be baptized, she should be healed of her sickness. She was carried to the water, and after her baptism began to mend, and at her confirmation she was blessed and her disease rebuked, when she immediately recovered, and in less than one week after, she was attending to her household duties."
This incident will be the more interesting to the reader from the fact that to-day (forty years after the miracle) Sister Walmesley is living at Bloomington, Bear Lake Valley, Oneida county, Idaho.
Next came quite an evangelical episode, introducing, with a touch of romance, Miss Jennetta Richards.
This young lady was the daughter of a minister, of the independent order, who resided at Walkerfold, about fifteen miles from Preston. She was not only personally interesting and intelligent, but, from the influence she possessed over her father and his congregation, coupled with the fact that the most classical of the apostles "fell in love" with her, she appears to have been a maiden of considerable character. She was a proper person to be the heroine of the British mission, and her conversion was very important in its results, as will be seen in the following incidents, related by Heber:
It was several days after the public baptism in Preston. "Miss Jennetta Richards," says the apostle, "came to the house of Thomas Walmesley, with whom she was acquainted. Calling in to see them at the time she was there, I was introduced to her, and we immediately entered into conversation on the subject of the gospel. I found her very intelligent. She seemed very desirous to hear the things I had to teach and to understand the doctrines of the gospel. I informed her of my appointment to preach that evening, and invited her to attend. She did so; and likewise the evening following. After attending these two services she was fully convinced of the truth.
"Friday morning, 4th, she sent for me, desiring to be baptized, which request I cheerfully complied with, in the River Ribble, and confirmed her at the water side, Elder Hyde assisting. This was the first confirmation in England. The following day she started for home, and wept as she was about to leave us. I said to her, 'Sister, be of good cheer, for the Lord will soften the heart of thy father, that I will yet have the privilege of preaching in his chapel, and it shall result in a great opening to preach the gospel in that region.' I exhorted her to pray and be humble. She requested me to pray for her, and gave me some encouragement to expect that her father would open his chapel for me to preach in. I then hastened to my brethren, told them of the circumstances and the result of my visit with the young lady, and called upon them to unite with me in prayer that the Lord would soften the heart of her father, that he might be induced to open his chapel for us to preach in."
On the third Sabbath after the arrival of the elders in England, they met at the house of Sister Ann Dawson, when twenty-seven members were confirmed and the first branch of the Church was organized in foreign lands. In the forepart of the ensuing week Heber received a letter from Miss Jennetta Richards, and an invitation from her father to come to Walkerfold and preach in his chapel. The invitation was accepted, and Heber met with great success in laying the gospel before the congregation of Mr. Richards; so successful was he indeed that the reverend gentleman was forced to shut his chapel doors in order to prevent a complete stampede of his flock.
This evangelical success is crowned with an interesting incident between Jennetta and Elder Willard Richards. Willard, who had been on a mission to Bedford early in January, 1838, visited his brethren at Preston; and then, he says:
"I took a tour through the branches, and preached. While walking in Thornly I plucked a snowdrop, far through the hedge, and carried it to James Mercer's and hung it up in his kitchen. Soon after Jennetta Richards came into the room, and I walked with her and Alice Parker to Ribchester, and attended meeting with Brothers Kimball and Hyde, at Brother Clark's.
"While walking with these sisters, I remarked, 'Richards is a good name; I never want to change it; do you, Jennetta?' 'No; I do not,' was her reply, 'and I think I never will.'"
The following note in his diary of the same year, furnishes the sequel:
"September 24, 1839, I married Jennetta Richards, daughter of the Rev. John Richards, independent minister at Walkerfold, Chaidgley, Lancashire. Most truly do I praise my Heavenly Father for his great kindness in providing me a partner according to his promise. I receive her from the Lord, and hold her at his disposal. I pray that he may bless us forever. Amen!"
Passing from Sister Jennetta Richards, we now introduce the first child born in the British mission. It is a female child. She is also the first infant blessed in England; and the incidents of her birth and blessing are both pretty and novel, especially when coupled with the sequel of her womanhood. Heber thus tells the initial part of her story:
"She was the daughter of James and Nancy Smithies, formerly Nancy Knowles. After she was born her parents wanted to take her to the church to be sprinkled, or christened, as they call it. I used every kind of persuasion to convince them of their folly—it being contrary to the Scriptures and the will of God; the parents wept bitterly, and it seemed as though I could not prevail on them to omit it. I wanted to know of them why they were so tenacious. The answer was, 'If she dies she cannot have a burial in the churchyard.' I said to them, 'Brother and Sister Smithies, I say unto you in the name of Israel's God, she shall not die on this land, for she shall live until she becomes a mother in Israel, and I say it in the name of Jesus Christ, and by virtue of the holy priesthood vested in me.' That silenced them, and when she was two weeks old they presented the child to me; I took it in my arms and blessed it, that it should live to become a mother in Israel. She was the first child blessed in that country, and the first born unto them."
The child lived, and fulfilled the prophesy that she should become a "mother in Israel." Her birth was destined to glorify Heber's own kingdom, for she, twenty years afterwards, became his last wife, and is now the mother of four of his children.
The gospel spread rapidly during the first mission of the elders in England. In eight months two thousand were baptized, and the "signs followed the believers." We shall meet some of the British converts hereafter, and read the testimonies of the sisters concerning the great spiritual work of Mormonism in their native land.
Heber, and Orson Hyde, returned to America, leaving the British mission in charge of Joseph Fielding, with Willard Richards and William Clayton as councilors. Here the apostolic thread connects with the wife and family of Heber, who have been left to the care of Providence and the brotherly and sisterly love of the saints during this immortal mission to Great Britain. His daughter Helen, in her journal, says:
"In the absence of my father the Lord was true to his promise. My father's prayer, that he had made upon the heads of his wife and little ones whom he had left poor and destitute, was answered. Kind friends came forward to cheer and comfort them, and administer to their wants.
"Soon after my father's return to Kirtland he commenced making preparations to move his family to Missouri, where Brother Joseph Smith and a majority of the church authorities and nearly all of the members had gone. About the first of July he commenced the journey with his family, accompanied by Brother Orson Hyde and others, and arrived in Far West on the 25th of July, when he had a happy meeting with Joseph, Hyrum, Sidney, and others of the twelve, and numbers of his friends and brethren, some of whom were affected to tears when they took him by the hand. During our journey from Kirtland, the weather being very warm, we suffered very much, and were much reduced by sickness. Father continued quite feeble for a considerable length of time. Joseph requested him to preach to the saints, saying, 'It will revive their spirits and do them good if you will give them a history of your mission;' which he did, although he was scarcely able to stand. It cheered their hearts and many of the elders were stirred up to diligence.
"Soon after our arrival Bishop Partridge gave father a lot, and also sufficient timber to build a house. While it was being erected we lived in a place eight by eleven feet and four feet high at the eaves, which had been built for a cow. The brethren were remarkably kind, and contributed to our necessities. Brother Charles Hubbard made my father a present of forty acres of land; another brother gave him a cow. But about the last of August, after he had labored hard and nearly finished his house, he was obliged to abandon it to the mob, who again commenced to persecute the saints."
The history of those persecutions, and the exodus of the saints, is already sufficiently told. Suffice it to say that Sister Vilate nobly bore her part in those trying scenes, while Heber, with Brigham and the rest of the twelve, kept their covenant—never to rest a moment until the last faithful saint was delivered from that State, and the feet of the whole people planted firmly, in peace and safety, in a new gathering place.
SKETCH OF THE SISTERS MARY AND MERCY R. FIELDING—THE FIELDINGS A SEMI-APOSTOLIC FAMILY—THEIR IMPORTANT INSTRUMENTALITY IN OPENING THE BRITISH MISSION—MARY FIELDING MARRIES HYRUM SMITH—HER TRIALS AND SUFFERINGS WHILE HER HUSBAND IS IN PRISON—TESTIMONY OF HER SISTER MERCY—MARY'S LETTER TO HER BROTHER IN ENGLAND.
Already has the name of Mary Fielding become quite historical to the reader, but she is now to be introduced in her still more representative character as wife of the patriarch and martyr Hyrum, and as mother of the apostle Joseph F. Smith.
This much-respected lady was born July 21st, 1801, at Honidon, Bedfordshire, England. She was the daughter of John and Rachel Fielding, and was the eldest of the sisters whom the reader has met somewhat prominently in an apostolic incident in Canada, out of which much of the early history of the British mission very directly grew.
Mary was of good family, well educated, and piously raised, being originally a Methodist, and a devoted admirer of the character of John Wesley. Indeed the family of the Fieldings and their connections were semi-apostolic even before their identification with the Church of Latter-day Saints.
In 1834 Mary emigrated to Canada. Here she joined her youngest brother, Joseph, and her sister, Mercy Rachel (born in England in 1807), who had preceded her to America in 1832. As we have seen, this brother and his two sisters were living near Toronto, Upper Canada, at the time when Parley P. Pratt arrived there on his mission, and they immediately embraced the faith. This was in May, 1836.
In the following spring the Fieldings gathered to Kirtland. Soon the youngest of the sisters, Mercy Rachel, was married by the prophet to Elder Robert B. Thompson, one of the literati of the Church, who was appointed on a mission to Canada with his wife. At the same time Joseph Fielding was appointed on mission to England, to assist the apostles in that land. But Mary remained in Kirtland, and on the 24th of December, 1837, she was married to Hyrum Smith.
Here something deserves to be told of the Fielding family in amplification of the incidental mentionings already made.
The Rev. James Fielding (of Preston, England), Mary's brother, was quite a religious reformer, and of sufficient ministerial reputation and force to become the founder and head of a Congregational Methodist Church. Originally he was a minister of the regular body of that powerful sect, but becoming convinced that modern Methodists had departed from their primitive faith, and that their church no longer enjoyed the Holy Ghost and its gifts, which measurably attended their illustrious founder and his early disciples, the Rev. Mr. Fielding inaugurated a religious reform in the direction intimated. It was an attempt to revive in his ministerial sphere the spiritual power of the Wesleyan movement; nor did he stop at this, but sought to convince his disciples of the necessity of "contending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints."
Other branches of the family also became prominent in the religious reforms of England that arose about the time of the establishing of the Church of Latter-day Saints in America. One of the Fielding sisters married no less a personage than the Rev. Timothy R. Matthews, who figured nearly as conspicuously as the Rev. James Fielding in the early history of the British mission. This Rev. Timothy Matthews was at first minister of the Church of England, and is said to have been a very able and learned man. With the famous Robert Aitken, whom he called his "son," he attempted reformation even in the established Church; or rather, these innovative divines denounced the "apostasy" of that Church, and prosecuted a semi-apostolic mission. It was eminently successful, Robert Aitken and himself raising up large congregations of disciples in Preston, Liverpool, Bedford, Northampton and London. These disciples were popularly called Aitkenites and Matthewites. Quite relevant is all this to the history of the Latter-day Saints in England, for the congregations of the Rev. James Fielding, Rev. Timothy R. Matthews, and Rev. John Richards (father of Jennetta), gave to the apostles their first disciples abroad, and these ministers themselves were their instruments in establishing the British mission.
But the name of Fielding, after those of the apostles, was principal in accomplishing these results. The sisters Mary and Mercy, with Joseph, half converted by their letters, the congregation of their reverend brother in Preston, before the advent there of the apostles. In their Brother James' chapel the first apostolic sermon in foreign lands was preached by Heber C. Kimball, and it was one of the Fielding sisters (Mrs. Watson), who gave to the elders the first money for the "gospel's sake" donated to the church abroad.
But to return to Kirtland. Hyrum Smith was a widower at the date of Mary Fielding's arrival there from Canada. And this means that hisonlywife was dead; for polygamy was unknown in the Church at that time. It will therefore, be seen how pertinent is the often-repeated remark of the sisters that the saints were not driven and persecuted because of polygamy, but because of their belief in "new and continued revelation." In becoming Hyrum's wife, Mary assumed the responsible situation of step-mother to his five children, the task of which she performed with unwavering fidelity, taking care of them for years after the martyrdom of her husband, and taking the place of both father and mother to them in the exodus of the Church to the Rocky Mountains. And Mary was well trained for this latter task during her husband's lifetime, besides being matured in years and character before her marriage.
From Kirtland, with her husband and family, she removed to Far West, Mo., where, on the first day of November, 1838, her husband and his brother, the prophet, with others, were betrayed by the Mormon Colonel Hinkle into the hands of the armed mob under General Clark, in the execution of Gov. Boggs' exterminating order. On the following day Hyrum was marched, at the point of the bayonet, to his house, by a strong guard, who with hideous oaths and threats commanded Mary to take her last farewell of her husband, for, "His die was cast, and his doom was sealed," and she need never think she would see him again; allowing her only a moment, as it were, for that terrible parting, and to provide a change of clothes for the final separation. In the then critical condition of her health this heart-rending scene came nigh ending her life; but the natural vigor of her mind sustained her in the terrible trial. Twelve days afterwards she gave birth to her first born, a son; but she remained prostrate on a bed of affliction and suffering for several months. In January, 1839, she was taken in a wagon, with her infant, on her sick bed, to Liberty, Clay county, Mo., where she was granted the privilege of visiting her husband in jail, where he was confined by the mob, without trial or conviction, because, forsooth, he was a "Mormon."
While in this condition of health, with her husband immured in a dungeon and surrounded by fiends in human form, thirsting for his life, a company of armed men, led by the notorious Methodist priest, Bogart, entered her poor abode and searched it, breaking open a trunk and carrying away papers and valuables belonging to her husband. In this helpless condition also she was forced from what shelter she had, in the worst season of the year, to cross the bleak prairies of Missouri, expelled from the State, to seek protection among strangers in the more hospitable State of Illinois. Here is the story that her sister Mercy tells of those days and scenes:
"In 1838 I traveled in company with Hyrum Smith and family to Far West. To describe in a brief sketch the scenes I witnessed and the sufferings I endured would be impossible. An incident or two, however, I will relate.
"My husband, with many of the brethren, being threatened and pursued by a mob, fled into the wilderness in November, leaving me with an infant not five months old. Three months of distressing suspense I endured before I could get any intelligence from him, during which time I staid with my sister, wife of Hyrum Smith, who, having given birth to a son while her husband was in prison, on the 13th of November took a severe cold and was unable to attend to her domestic duties for four months. This caused much of the care of her family, which was very large, to fall on me. Mobs were continually threatening to massacre the inhabitants of the city, and at times I feared to lay my babe down lest they should slay me and leave it to suffer worse than immediate death. About the 1st of February, 1839, by the request of her husband, my sister was placed on a bed in a wagon and taken a journey of forty miles, to visit him in the prison. Her infant son, Joseph F., being then but about eleven weeks old, I had to accompany her, taking my own babe, then near eight months old. The weather was extremely cold, and we suffered much on the journey. This circumstance I always reflect upon with peculiar pleasure, notwithstanding the extreme anxiety I endured from having the care of my sick sister and the two babes. The remembrance of having had the honor of spending a night in prison, in company with the prophet and patriarch, produces a feeling I cannot express.
"Shortly after our return to Far West we had to abandon our homes and start, in lumber wagons, for Illinois; my sister being again placed on a bed, in an afflicted state. This was about the middle of February, and the weather was extremely cold. I still had the care of both babes. We arrived at Quincy about the end of the month."
The following interesting letter, from Mary to her brother Joseph in England, will fitly close for the present the sketch of these sisters:
"COMMERCE, Ill., North America,"June, 1839."MY VERY DEAR BROTHER:"As the elders are expecting shortly to take their leave of us again to preach the gospel in my native land, I feel as though I would not let the opportunity of writing you pass unimproved. I believe it will give you pleasure to hear from us by our own hand; notwithstanding you will see the brethren face to face, and have an opportunity of hearing all particulars respecting us and our families."As it respects myself, it is now so long since I wrote to you, and so many important things have transpired, and so great have been my affliction, etc., that I know not where to begin; but I can say, hitherto has the Lord preserved me, and I am still among the living to praise him, as I do to-day. I have, to be sure, been called to drink deep of the bitter cup; but you know, my beloved brother, this makes the sweet sweeter."You have, I suppose, heard of the imprisonment of my dear husband, with his brother Joseph, Elder Rigdon, and others, who were kept from us nearly six months; and I suppose no one felt the painful effects of their confinement more than myself. I was left in a way that called for the exercise of all the courage and grace I possessed. My husband was taken from me by an armed force, at a time when I needed, in a particular manner, the kindest care and attention of such a friend, instead of which, the care of a large family was suddenly and unexpectedly left upon myself, and, in a few days after, my dear little Joseph F. was added to the number. Shortly after his birth I took a severe cold, which brought on chills and fever; this, together with the anxiety of mind I had to endure, threatened to bring me to the gates of death. I was at least four months entirely unable to take any care either of myself or child; but the Lord was merciful in so ordering things that my dear sister could be with me. Her child was five months old when mine was born; so she had strength given her to nurse them both."You will also have heard of our being driven, as a people, from the State, and from our homes; this happened during my sickness, and I had to be removed more than two hundred miles, chiefly on my bed. I suffered much on my journey; but in three or four weeks after we arrived in Illinois, I began to amend, and my health is now as good as ever. It is now little more than a month since the Lord, in his marvelous power, returned my dear husband, with the rest of the brethren, to their families, in tolerable health. We are now living in Commerce, on the bank of the great Mississippi river. The situation is very pleasant; you would be much pleased to see it. How long we may be permitted to enjoy it I know not; but the Lord knows what is best for us. I feel but little concerned about where I am, if I can keep my mind scald upon God; for, you know in this there is perfect peace. I believe the Lord is overruling all things for our good. I suppose our enemies look upon us with astonishment and disappointment."I greatly desire to see you, and I think you would be pleased to see our little ones; will you pray for us, that we may have grace to train them up in the way they should go, so that they may be a blessing to us and the world? I have a hope that our brothers and sisters will also embrace the fullness of the gospel, and come into the new and everlasting covenant; I trust their prejudices will give way to the power of truth. I would gladly have them with us here, even though they might have to endure all kind of tribulation and affliction with us and the rest of the children of God, in these last days, so that they might share in the glories of the celestial kingdom. As to myself, I can truly say, that I would not give up the prospect of the latter-day glory for all that glitters in this world. O, my dear brother, I must tell you, for your comfort, that my hope is full, and it is a glorious hope; and though I have been left for near six months in widowhood, in the time of great affliction, and was called to take, joyfully or otherwise, the spoiling of almost all our goods, in the absence of my husband, and all unlawfully, just for the gospel's sake (for the judge himself declared that he was kept in prison for no other reason than because he was a friend to his brother), yet I do not feel in the least discouraged; no, though my sister and I are here together in a strange land, we have been enabled to rejoice, in the midst of our privations and persecutions, that we were counted worthy to suffer these things, so that we may, with the ancient saints who suffered in like manner, inherit the same glorious reward. If it had not been for this hope, I should have sunk before this; but, blessed be the God and rock of my salvation, here I am, and am perfectly satisfied and happy, having not the smallest desire to go one step backward."Your last letter to Elder Kimball gave us great pleasure; we thank you for your expression of kindness, and pray God to bless you according to your desires for us."The more I see of the dealings of our Heavenly Father with us as a people, the more I am constrained to rejoice that I was ever made acquainted with the everlasting covenant. O may the Lord keep me faithful till my change comes! O, my dear brother, why is it that our friends should stand out against the truth, and look on those that would show it to them as enemies? The work here is prospering much; several men of respectability and intelligence, who have been acquainted with all our difficulties, are coming into the work."My husband joins me in love to you. I remain, my dear brother and sister, your affectionate sister,"MARY SMITH."
"COMMERCE, Ill., North America,
"June, 1839.
"MY VERY DEAR BROTHER:
"As the elders are expecting shortly to take their leave of us again to preach the gospel in my native land, I feel as though I would not let the opportunity of writing you pass unimproved. I believe it will give you pleasure to hear from us by our own hand; notwithstanding you will see the brethren face to face, and have an opportunity of hearing all particulars respecting us and our families.
"As it respects myself, it is now so long since I wrote to you, and so many important things have transpired, and so great have been my affliction, etc., that I know not where to begin; but I can say, hitherto has the Lord preserved me, and I am still among the living to praise him, as I do to-day. I have, to be sure, been called to drink deep of the bitter cup; but you know, my beloved brother, this makes the sweet sweeter.
"You have, I suppose, heard of the imprisonment of my dear husband, with his brother Joseph, Elder Rigdon, and others, who were kept from us nearly six months; and I suppose no one felt the painful effects of their confinement more than myself. I was left in a way that called for the exercise of all the courage and grace I possessed. My husband was taken from me by an armed force, at a time when I needed, in a particular manner, the kindest care and attention of such a friend, instead of which, the care of a large family was suddenly and unexpectedly left upon myself, and, in a few days after, my dear little Joseph F. was added to the number. Shortly after his birth I took a severe cold, which brought on chills and fever; this, together with the anxiety of mind I had to endure, threatened to bring me to the gates of death. I was at least four months entirely unable to take any care either of myself or child; but the Lord was merciful in so ordering things that my dear sister could be with me. Her child was five months old when mine was born; so she had strength given her to nurse them both.
"You will also have heard of our being driven, as a people, from the State, and from our homes; this happened during my sickness, and I had to be removed more than two hundred miles, chiefly on my bed. I suffered much on my journey; but in three or four weeks after we arrived in Illinois, I began to amend, and my health is now as good as ever. It is now little more than a month since the Lord, in his marvelous power, returned my dear husband, with the rest of the brethren, to their families, in tolerable health. We are now living in Commerce, on the bank of the great Mississippi river. The situation is very pleasant; you would be much pleased to see it. How long we may be permitted to enjoy it I know not; but the Lord knows what is best for us. I feel but little concerned about where I am, if I can keep my mind scald upon God; for, you know in this there is perfect peace. I believe the Lord is overruling all things for our good. I suppose our enemies look upon us with astonishment and disappointment.
"I greatly desire to see you, and I think you would be pleased to see our little ones; will you pray for us, that we may have grace to train them up in the way they should go, so that they may be a blessing to us and the world? I have a hope that our brothers and sisters will also embrace the fullness of the gospel, and come into the new and everlasting covenant; I trust their prejudices will give way to the power of truth. I would gladly have them with us here, even though they might have to endure all kind of tribulation and affliction with us and the rest of the children of God, in these last days, so that they might share in the glories of the celestial kingdom. As to myself, I can truly say, that I would not give up the prospect of the latter-day glory for all that glitters in this world. O, my dear brother, I must tell you, for your comfort, that my hope is full, and it is a glorious hope; and though I have been left for near six months in widowhood, in the time of great affliction, and was called to take, joyfully or otherwise, the spoiling of almost all our goods, in the absence of my husband, and all unlawfully, just for the gospel's sake (for the judge himself declared that he was kept in prison for no other reason than because he was a friend to his brother), yet I do not feel in the least discouraged; no, though my sister and I are here together in a strange land, we have been enabled to rejoice, in the midst of our privations and persecutions, that we were counted worthy to suffer these things, so that we may, with the ancient saints who suffered in like manner, inherit the same glorious reward. If it had not been for this hope, I should have sunk before this; but, blessed be the God and rock of my salvation, here I am, and am perfectly satisfied and happy, having not the smallest desire to go one step backward.
"Your last letter to Elder Kimball gave us great pleasure; we thank you for your expression of kindness, and pray God to bless you according to your desires for us.
"The more I see of the dealings of our Heavenly Father with us as a people, the more I am constrained to rejoice that I was ever made acquainted with the everlasting covenant. O may the Lord keep me faithful till my change comes! O, my dear brother, why is it that our friends should stand out against the truth, and look on those that would show it to them as enemies? The work here is prospering much; several men of respectability and intelligence, who have been acquainted with all our difficulties, are coming into the work.
"My husband joins me in love to you. I remain, my dear brother and sister, your affectionate sister,
"MARY SMITH."
THE QUORUM OF THE APOSTLES GO ON MISSION TO ENGLAND—THEIR LANDING IN GREAT BRITAIN—THEY HOLD A CONFERENCE—A HOLIDAY FESTIVAL—MOTHER MOON AND FAMILY—SUMMARY OF A YEAR'S LABORS—CROWNING PERIOD OF THE BRITISH MISSION.
Scarcely had the saints made their exodus from Missouri—while many of them were still domiciled in tents on the banks of the Mississippi, and Nauvoo could only boast of a few rude houses to prophesy the glory of a "second Zion"—ere nine of the quorum of the apostles were abroad, working their missionary wonders in foreign lands. From that period to the present (1877), the history of the Latter-day Church, with its emigrations, has quite one-half belonged to the European mission, which has given to America one hundred thousand emigrants.
Early in the year 1840 (January 11th), apostles Wilford Woodruff and John Taylor, with Elder Theodore Turley, landed on the shores of England. They chose their several fields of labor and soon were actively engaged in the ministry.
On the 19th of March of the same year Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, George A. Smith, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, and Reuben Hedlock sailed from New York on board thePatrick Henry. A number of the saints came down to the wharf to bid them farewell. When the elders got into the small-boat to go out to the ship, the saints on shore sang "The Gallant Ship is Under Way," etc., in which song the elders joined until their voices were separated by the distance.
Liverpool was reached by these apostles on the 6th of April. It was the anniversary of the organization of the Church, just ten years before. The next day they found Elder Taylor and John Moon, with about thirty saints who had just received the work in that place, and on the day following they went to Preston by railroad.
In Preston, the cradle of the British mission, the apostles were met by a multitude of saints, who rejoiced exceedingly at the event of the arrival of the twelve in that land.
Willard Richards immediately hastened to Preston and gave an account of the churches in the British isles, over which he had been presiding during the interval from the return of Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde to America. The president of the twelve at once commenced to grapple with the work in foreign lands, convened a conference, and wrote to Wilford Woodruff to attend.
It was on the 14th of April, 1840, that the first council of the twelve apostles, in a foreign land, was held at Preston. There were present Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Parley P Pratt, Orson Pratt, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and George A. Smith. These proceeded to ordain Willard Richards to their quorum, and then Brigham Young was chosen, by a unanimous vote, the standing president of the twelve.
Then followed, during the next two days, "A General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," held in the Temperance Hall at Preston, with Heber C. Kimball presiding, and William Clayton clerk. There were represented at this time, one thousand six hundred and seventy-one members, thirty-four elders, fifty-two priests, thirty-eight teachers, and eight deacons.
The conference over, the apostles kept the old Christian holiday of Good Friday, to regale their spirits after their long journey, which had so quickly followed the many vicissitudes of persecution in their native land, and before separating again on their arduous mission.
The place chosen to spend their holiday was the village of Penwortham, two miles from Preston. That day Mother Moon made a feast for the apostles at her house. From her treasury of "fat things" she brought forth a bottle of wine which she had kept for forty years. This the elders blessed and then partook of it. That bottle of wine is spoken of to this day. The family of Mother Moon has also a history. Here is their page, from Heber's journal of his first mission abroad:
"Having an appointment to preach in the village of Wrightington, while on the way I stopped at the house of Brother Francis Moon, when I was informed that the family of Matthias Moon had sent a request by him for me to visit them, that they might have the privilege of conversing with me on the subject of the gospel. Accordingly Brother Amos Fielding and I paid them a visit that evening. We were very kindly received by the family, and had considerable conversation on the subject of my mission to England, and the great work of the Lord in the last days. They listened with attention to my statements, but at the same time they appeared to be prejudiced against them. We remained in conversation until a late hour, and then returned home. On our way Brother Fielding observed that he thought our visit had been in vain, as the family seemed to have considerable prejudice. I answered, be not faithless but believing; we shall yet see great effects from this visit, for I know that some of the family have received the testimony, and will shortly manifest the same; at which remark he seemed surprised.
"The next morning I continued my journey to Wrightington and Hunter's Hill. After spending two or three days in that vicinity, preaching, I baptized seven of the family of Benson, and others, and organized a branch.
"I returned by the way of Brother Fielding's, with whom I again tarried for the night. The next morning I started for Preston, but when I got opposite the lane leading to Mr. Moon's, I was forcibly led by the spirit of the Lord to call and see them again. I therefore directed my steps to the house. On my arrival I knocked at the door. Mrs. Moon exclaimed: 'Come in! come in! You are welcome here! I and the lasses (meaning her daughters) have just been calling on the Lord, and praying that he would send you this way.' She then informed me of her state of mind since I was there, and said she at first rejected my testimony, and endeavored to think lightly on the things I had advanced, but on trying to pray, the heavens seemed like brass over her head, and it was like iron under her feet. She did not know what was the matter, saying, 'Certainly the man has not bewitched me, has he?' And upon inquiring she found it was the same with the lasses. They then began to reflect on the things I told them, and thinking it possible that I had told them the truth, they resolved to lay the case before the Lord, and beseech him to give them a testimony concerning the things I had testified of. She then observed that as soon as they did so light broke in upon their minds; they were convinced that I was a messenger of salvation; that it was the work of the Lord, and they had resolved to obey the gospel. That evening I baptized Mr. Moon and his wife, and four of his daughters. * * * I visited Mr. Moon again, and baptized the remainder of his family, consisting of thirteen souls, the youngest of whom was over twenty years of age. They received the gospel as little children, and rejoiced exceedingly in its blessings. The sons were very good musicians and the daughters excellent singers. When they united their instruments and voices in the songs of Zion the effect was truly transporting. Before I left England there were about thirty of that family and connections baptized, five of whom—Hugh, John, Francis, William and Thomas Moon—were ordained to be fellow-laborers with us in the vineyard, and I left them rejoicing in the truths they had embraced."
After their short rest in Preston, refreshed and inspired by the communion of so many of their quorum, these apostles rose like giants to their work. Brigham Young and Willard Richards went with Wilford Woodruff into Herefordshire, where Brigham obtained money to publish the Book of Mormon; Heber C. Kimball visited the disciples whom he had brought into the Church during his first mission; Orson Pratt went into Scotland, George A. Smith went into Staffordshire, John Taylor continued his labors at Liverpool, where he raised up a conference, and Parley P. Pratt repaired to Manchester to publish theMillennial Star.
A year passed. Here is the summary of its history, from Brigham Young's journal:
"It was with a heart full of thanksgiving and gratitude to God, my Heavenly Father, that I reflected upon his dealings with me and my brethren of the twelve during the past year of my life, which was spent in England. It truly seems a miracle to look upon the contrast between our landing and departing from Liverpool. We landed in the spring of 1840, as strangers in a strange land, and penniless, but through the mercy of God we have gained many friends, established churches in almost every noted town and city of Great Britain, baptized between seven and eight thousand souls, printed five thousand Books of Mormon, three thousand hymn-books, two thousand five hundred volumes of theMillennial Star, and fifty thousand tracts; emigrated to Zion one thousand souls, establishing a permanent shipping agency, which will be a great blessing to the saints, and have left sown in the hearts of many thousands the seed of eternal life, which shall bring forth fruit to the honor and glory of God; and yet we have lacked nothing to eat, drink or wear; in all these things I acknowledge the hand of God."
But even this was eclipsed by the results of the next ten years. Besides the thousands who had emigrated, the British mission, at the culmination of this third period, numbered nearly forty thousand souls. TheMillennial Starreached a weekly circulation of twenty-two thousand; and there were half a million of Orson Pratt's tracts in circulation throughout the land. This crowning period was during the presidencies of Orson Spencer, Orson Pratt, and Franklin and Samuel Richards.
Too vast this missionary work abroad, and too crowded its events, for us to follow the historic details; but we shall, however, frequently hereafter meet representative women from Europe, and read in their sketches many episodes of the saints in foreign lands.
THE SISTERS AS MISSIONARIES—EVANGELICAL DIPLOMACY—WITHOUT PURSE OR SCRIP—PICTURE OF THE NATIVE ELDERS—A SPECIMEN MEETING—THE SECRET OF SUCCESS—MORMONISM A SPIRITUAL GOSPEL—THE SISTERS AS TRACT DISTRIBUTERS—WOMAN A POTENT EVANGELIST.
And what the part of the sisterhood in this great work outlined in foreign lands?
The sisters were side by side with the most potent missionaries the Latter-day Church found. They made nearly as many converts to Mormonism as the elders. They were, often times, the direct instruments which brought disciples into the Church. The elders riveted the anchor of faith by good gospel logic, and their eloquent preachers enchanted the half-inspired mind with well-described millennial views, but the sisters, as a rule, by the nicest evangelical diplomacy brought the results about. They agitated the very atmosphere with their magical faith in the new dispensation; they breathed the spirit of their own beautiful enthusiasm into their neighborhoods; they met the first brunt of persecution and conquered it by their zeal; they transformed unbelief into belief by their personal testimonies, which aroused curiosity, or made their relatives and neighbors sleepless with active thoughts of the new, and inspired doubts of the old; they enticed the people to hear their elders preach, and did more to disturb the peace of the town than could have done the town-crier; they crowded their halls with an audience when without their sisterly devising those halls had remained often empty and cold.
In the British mission—in England, Scotland and Wales—the sisters had much better missionary opportunities than in America. The vast extent of country over which the American people were sparsely scattered, forty to fifty years ago, and the almost immediate gatherings of the disciples to a centre place, or a local Zion, necessarily confined the missionary movement at home nearly exclusively to the apostles and their aids, the "Seventies;" and thus as soon as the disciples "gathered out of Babylon," American society lost even the little leaven which the elders had inspired in its midst.
But in England, Scotland and Wales, and at a later period in Scandinavia, it was very different. Not merely one local Zion and a score of branches scattered over a score of States, but in the British mission at its zenith of progress there were over five hundred branches, fifty conferences, and about a dozen pastorates—the latter very like Mormon provinces or bishoprics. There the sisters had grand missionary opportunities. From village to town, and from town to city, they helped the elders push their work until this vast church superstructure was reared. With such a leaven as the Mormon sisterhood in Great Britain, converts were made so fast that it was nearly twenty years before even the immense yearly emigration of the saints to America began visibly to tell in weakening missionary operations in that prolific land.
It has often been a matter of wonder how it happened that Mormonism was such a mighty proselyting power in England compared with what it had been in America. The two views presented suggest the exact reason; and in addition to the gathering genius of the Mormons, the very "tidal wave" of the country has swept migrating peoples westward. Three hundred Mormon cities have sprung up on the Pacific slope, just as five hundred branches did in Great Britain, which has required all the gathering energies of the Church for over a quarter of a century to deplete her of these proselyting saints. It was Great Britain that gave to the sisters their grand missionary opportunities.
Here another view of the sisters presents itself. Much of the success of "Mormonism" in foreign lands is due to the fact that the elders, like Christ and his apostles of old, went about preaching the gospel "without purse or scrip."
This apostolic custom captivated woman at once. Her sympathies were charmed. She admired the heroic devotion and self-abnegation of such ministers of Christ. Their examples directly appealed to her, so like were they to her own faith. The disinterested aims and efforts of these men for human good so accorded with her own divine aspirations, that she leapt with a glorious enthusiasm to their side. For once woman had found the opportunity to exercise her own methods of apostleship.
She saw these elders upon the altar of sacrifice for a Christian cause. Out in the wilderness of society were they, during the best years of youth, preaching without purse or scrip, trusting in Providence for their daily bread as truly as do the sparrows whom the Great Father feeds. Wandering through the world were these devoted men, often with blood in their well-worn shoes, preaching the glad tidings of a new dispensation which the angels had opened to bring immortality to mortals, and establish the order of heaven on earth. Such were the examples which the elders presented in their ministry, and such examples woman loved.
Though they bore the title of elders, these missionaries, especially the native ones, were generally young men from the age of twenty to thirty. Scarcely were they converted ere they were sent out to mission the land. The prophet Joseph had well cogitated on the saying of Christ, "The harvest is great but the laborers are few;" and it was at once a bold and happy stroke of genius on his part to leave the beaten track of choosing only matured and experienced divines, calling instead a multitude of youths and striplings to aid him in evangelizing the world. This was much like Mohammed's choosing of the youthful enthusiast Ali to be his lieutenant in his religious empire-founding mission. And so at one time might have been found in Europe nearly a thousand of these young men, out in the ministry, bearing the title of elders. Strange example! Elders at twenty; veterans at twenty-five, who had built up their conferences! This pleased woman. It was unique. The example touched her heart and stimulated her faith through her very sympathy for and admiration of the heroic.
Into the villages of England, Scotland and Wales these youths made their way, with hymn-book and Bible in hand, but with no ministerial recommendation except a forceful, innovative intellectuality, and souls inspired with the glories of a new and conquering faith.
Alone, at eventide, they would uncover their heads, on some green bit of common, or, if on the Sabbath day, would daringly near the old village church, which well might tremble at such sacrilege, as did they literally in those bold missionary attempts, that never had been made but for youth's rich unconsciousness of inability. Then would ring out the hymn of the Latter-day Saints:
"Go, ye messengers of glory,Run, ye legates of the skies,Go and tell the pleasing story,That a glorious angel flies;Great and mighty,With a message from on high!"
"Go, ye messengers of glory,Run, ye legates of the skies,Go and tell the pleasing story,That a glorious angel flies;Great and mighty,With a message from on high!"
Or perchance it would be this instead:
"The morning breaks, the shadows flee;Lo, Zion's standard is unfurled;The dawning of a brighter dayMajestic rises on the world."
"The morning breaks, the shadows flee;Lo, Zion's standard is unfurled;The dawning of a brighter dayMajestic rises on the world."
And many a village has been startled with this tremendous proclamation, from the lips of young men:
"Jehovah speaks! Let Earth give ear!And gentile nations turn and live!"
"Jehovah speaks! Let Earth give ear!And gentile nations turn and live!"
First the woman would come out to listen, on the threshold of her cottage, after supper; then she would draw near, and wonder about this boy-preacher—to her eyes so much like her own boy, who, perhaps, is playing at some evening game with his companions, near by. Next comes her husband, and after awhile the boys themselves leave their games, and with their sisters, gather to listen. And so are also gathered other family groups of the village to swell the impromptu congregation. This is a truthful picture, for the author is describing a literal experience.
Now comes the supplemental story of this boy-elder, that he is out in the world preaching the gospel without purse or scrip, that he has eaten nothing that day since breakfast, that he has journeyed miles and is tired out, and that he has no place in which to lay his head that night.
The mother and her daughters whisper. They have conceived an idea that will exactly fit that poor boy's case. Father is approached. At first he will not listen to the proposition; but at last he yields. What else could he do? When did woman fail if her sympathies were enlisted? To their home the boy-missionary is taken. A supper is gleaned from the humble peasant's leavings. Water is furnished to bathe the sore and blood-stained feet. The woman is half converted by the sight of so much youthful heroism. Mother and daughters dream of the boy-missionary that night.
'Tis a simple story; but from that house Mormonism is destined to spread through all the village, until the aged clergyman, educated at college, in his pulpit which he has occupied for a quarter of a century, fears that boy as much as a second Goliath might have feared the stripling David.
And thus Mormonism ran from village to town, and from town to city; carried, of course, to the larger places by the "veterans;" but in all cases very similar. How much the sisters—mothers and daughters—had to do in this work may be seen at a glance.
But the most salient view to be taken of Mormonism abroad is, as the great spiritual movement of the age. The reader may be assured that it was the beautiful themes of a new dispensation—themes such as angels might have accompanied with their hosannas—that charmed disciples into the Mormon Church. Spiritual themes and the gifts of the Holy Ghost were what converted the tens of thousands in Great Britain; not a cold materialism, much less a sensual gospel. Even to the simplest, who scarcely knew the meaning of idealities, the spiritual and the ideal of Mormonism were its principal charms. Indeed, it is to the fact that Mormonism was, in its missionary history, such a unique and extraordinary spiritual, and yet matter-of-fact, movement, that it owes its principal and rare successes.
In America, the splendid ambitions of empire-founding, the worldly opportunities presented by a migrating people and a growing commonwealth, sometimes charmed the dominating mind; but in the foreign missions, especially in Great Britain, where it received its highest intellectual interpretation from elders who championed it on the public platform against the best orthodox disputants in the land, it was Mormonism as a great spiritual work that captivated most, and above all it was this aspect of it that most captivated the sisterhood. In this view, and in this view only, can the explanation be found of how it took such a deep and lasting hold upon the female portion of society.
In the early rise of the Church abroad the disciples knew nothing of the society-founding successes of Brigham Young, which to-day make Mormonism quite potent in America and a periodical sensation to the American Congress. Nothing of this; but much of the divine, much of the spiritual, much of the angels' coming to reign with them in a millennium, with Christ on earth.
Such was Mormonism abroad. Such has it ever been, with the sisters, at home. Its success in making converts among women, both old and young, has no parallel in the history of churches. Its all-potent influence on the heart and brain of woman was miraculous. She received it in as great faith as was that of the woman who laid hold of the skirt of Christ's garment and was healed. She exulted in its unspeakably beautiful themes; she reveled in its angelic experiences; she multiplied its disciples.
In some respects Mormonism, in its history and manifestations abroad, compares strikingly with the more recent history of spiritualism in America. Their geniuses are undoubtedly very different, but their potency over society has been similar. The one was apostolic and Hebraic, with a God as the source of its inspirations, a priesthood linking the heavens and the earth as its controlling powers, and another Catholic or Universal Church as the aim of its ministry. The other has pulled down what it has dared to call the idols of Deity, makes war on priesthood, and on the Hebrew Jehovah, whom the Mormons serve, and disintegrates all churches. Yet the themes of both have been themes of the angels' coming to visit the earth again; "new revelations to suit the age;" another great spiritual dispensation for the world.