THE WOMEN
OF
MORMONDOM.
—
By EDWARD W. TULLIDGE.
NEW YORK.
—
1877.
PREFACE.
Long enough, O women of America, have your Mormon sisters been blasphemed!
From the day that they, in the name and fear of the Lord their God, undertook to "build up Zion," they have been persecuted for righteousness sake: "A people scattered and peeled from the beginning."
The record of their lives is now sent unto you, that you may have an opportunity to judge them in the spirit of righteousness. So shall you be judged by Him whom they have honored, whose glory they have sought, and whose name they have magnified.
Respectfully,
EDWARD W. TULLIDGE.
Salt Lake City, March, 1877.
CONTENTS.
[CHAPTER I.]—A Strange Religious Epic. An Israelitish Type of Woman in the Age.
[CHAPTER II.]—The Mother of the Prophet. The Gifts of Inspiration and Working of Miracles Inherent in her Family. Fragments of her Narrative.
[CHAPTER III.]—The Opening of a Spiritual Dispensation to America. Woman's Exaltation. The Light of the Latter Days.
[CHAPTER IV.]—Birth of the Church. Kirtland as the Bride, in the Chambers of the Wilderness. The Early Gathering. "Mother Whitney," and Eliza R. Snow.
[CHAPTER V.]—The Voice, and the Messenger of the Covenant.
[CHAPTER VI.]—An Angel from the Cloud is Heard in Kirtland. The "Daughter of the Voice."
[CHAPTER VII.]—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.
[CHAPTER VIII.]—War of the Invisible Powers. Their Master. Jehovah's Medium.
[CHAPTER IX.]—Eliza R. Snow's Experience. Glimpses of the Life and Character of Joseph Smith. Gathering of the Saints.
[CHAPTER X.]—The Latter-Day Iliad. Reproduction of the Great Hebraic Drama. The Meaning of the Mormon Movement in the Age.
[CHAPTER XI.]—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.
[CHAPTER XII.]—Eliza R. Snow's Graphic Description of the Temple and its Dedication. Hosannas to God. His Glory Fills the House.
[CHAPTER XIII.]—The Ancient Order of Blessings. The Prophet's Father. The Patriarch's Mother. His Father. Kirtland High School. Apostasy and Persecution. Exodus of the Church.
[CHAPTER XIV.]—An Illustrious Mormon Woman. The First Wife of the Immortal Heber C. Kimball. Opening Chapter of her Autobiography. Her Wonderful Vision. An Army of Angels Seen in the Heavens.
[CHAPTER XV.]—Haun's Mill. Joseph Young's Story of the Massacre. Sister Amanda Smith's Story of that Terrible Tragedy. Her Wounded Boy's Miraculous Cure. Her Final Escape from Missouri.
[CHAPTER XVI.]—Mobs Drive the Settlers into Far West. Heroic Death of Apostle Patten. Treachery of Col. Hinkle, and Fall of the Mormon Capital. Famous Speech of Major-General Clarke.
[CHAPTER XVII.]—Episodes of the Persecutions. Continuation of Eliza R. Snow's Narrative. Bathsheba W. Smith's Story. Louisa F. Wells Introduced to the Reader. Experience of Abigail Leonard. Margaret Foutz.
[CHAPTER XVIII.]—Joseph Smith's Daring Answer to the Lord. Woman, through Mormonism, Restored to her True Position. The Themes of Mormonism.
[CHAPTER XIX.]—Eliza R. Snow's Invocation. The Eternal Father and Mother. Origin of the Sublime Thought Popularly Attributed to Theodore Parker. Basic Idea of the Mormon Theology.
[CHAPTER XX.]—The Trinity of Motherhood. Eve, Sarah, and Zion. The Mormon Theory Concerning our First Parents.
[CHAPTER XXI.]—The Huntingtons. Zina D. Young, and Prescindia L. Kimball. Their Testimony Concerning the Kirtland Manifestations. Unpublished Letter of Joseph Smith. Death of Mother Huntington.
[CHAPTER XXII.]—Woman's Work in Canada and Great Britain. Heber C. Kimball's Prophesy. Parley P. Pratt's Successful Mission to Canada. A Blind Woman Miraculously Healed. Distinguished Women of that Period.
[CHAPTER XXIII.]—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.
[CHAPTER XXIV.]—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.
[CHAPTER XXV.]—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.
[CHAPTER XXVI.]—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 Labor. Crowning Period of the British Mission.
[CHAPTER XXVII.]—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.
[CHAPTER XXVIII.]—Mormonism and the Queen of England. Presentation of the Book of Mormon to the Queen and Prince Albert. Eliza R. Snow's Poem on that Event. "Zion's Nursing Mother." Heber C. Kimball Blesses Victoria.
[CHAPTER XXIX.]—Literal Application of Christ's Command. The Saints Leave Father and Mother, Home and Friends, to Gather to Zion. Mrs. William Staines. Her Early Life and Experience. A Midnight Baptism in Midwinter. Farewell to Home and Every Friend. Incidents of the Journey to Nauvoo.
[CHAPTER XXX.]—Rise of Nauvoo. Introduction of Polygamy. Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum. Continuation of Eliza R. Snow's Narrative. Her Acceptance of Polygamy, and Marriage to the Prophet. Governor Carlin's Treachery. Her Scathing Review of the Martyrdom. Mother Lucy's Story of Her Murdered Sons.
[CHAPTER XXXI.]—The Exodus. To Your Tents, O Israel. Setting out from the Borders of Civilization. Movements of the Camp of Israel. First Night at Sugar Creek. Praising God in the Song and Dance. Death by the Wayside.
[CHAPTER XXXII.]—Continuation of Eliza R. Snow's Narrative. Advent of a Little Stranger Under Adverse Circumstances. Dormitory, Sitting-Room, Office, etc., in a Buggy. "The Camp." Interesting Episodes of the Journey. Graphic Description of the Method of Procedure. Mount Pisgah. Winter Quarters.
[CHAPTER XXXIII.]—Bathsheba W. Smith's Story of the Last Days of Nauvoo. She Receives Celestial Marriage and Gives Her Husband Five "Honorable Young Women" as Wives. Her Description of the Exodus and Journey to Winter Quarters. Death of One of the Wives. Sister Horne Again.
[CHAPTER XXXIV.]—The Story of the Huntington Sisters Continued. Zina D. Young's Pathetic Picture of the Martyrdom. Joseph's Mantle Falls Upon Brigham. The Exodus. A Birth on the Banks of the Chariton. Death of Father Huntington.
[CHAPTER XXXV.]—The Pioneers. The Pioneer Companies that Followed. Method of the March. Mrs. Horne on the Plains. The Emigrant's Post-Office. Pentecosts by the Way. Death as they Journeyed. A Feast in the Desert. "Aunt Louisa" Again.
[CHAPTER XXXVI.]—Bathsheba W. Smith's Story Continued. The Pioneers Return to Winter Quarters. A New Presidency Chosen. Oliver Cowdery Returns to the Church. Gathering the Remnant from Winter Quarters. Description of her House on Wheels.
[CHAPTER XXXVII.]—The Martyred Patriarch's Widow. A Woman's Strength and Independence. The Captain "Leaves Her Out in the Cold." Her Prophesy and Challenge to the Captain. A Pioneer Indeed. She is Led by Inspiration. The Seeric Gift of the Smiths with her Her Cattle. The Race. Fate Against the Captain. The Widow's Prophesy Fulfilled.
[CHAPTER XXXVIII.]—Utah in the Early Days. President Young's Primitive Home. Raising the Stars and Stripes on Mexican Soil. The Historical Thread up to the Period of the "Utah War."
[CHAPTER XXXIX.]—The Women of Mormondom in the Period of the Utah War. Their Heroic Resolve to Desolate the Land. The Second Exodus. Mrs. Carrington. Governor Cumming's Wife. A Nation of Heroes.
[CHAPTER XL.]—Miriam Works and Mary Ann Angell. Scenes of the Past. Death-Bed of Miriam. Early Days of Mary. Her Marriage with Brigham. The Good Step-mother. She Bears her Cross in the Persecutions. A Battle with Death. Polygamy. Mary in the Exodus and at Winter Quarters. The Hut in the Valley. Closing a Worthy Life.
[CHAPTER XLI.]—The Revelation on Polygamy. Bishop Whitney Preserves a Copy of the Original Document. Belinda M. Pratt's Famous Letter.
[CHAPTER XLII.]—Revelation Supported by Biblical Examples. The Israelitish Genius of the Mormons Shown in the Patriarchal Nature of their Institutions. The Anti-Polygamic Crusade.
[CHAPTER XLIII.]—Grand Mass-meeting of the Women of Utah on Polygamy and the Cullom Bill. Their Noble Remonstrance. Speeches of Apostolic Women. Their Resolutions. Woman's Rights or Woman's Revolution.
[CHAPTER XLIV.]—Wives of the Apostles. Mrs. Orson Hyde. Incidents of the Early Days. The Prophet. Mary Ann Pratt's Life Story. Wife of Gen. Charles C. Rich. Mrs. Franklin D. Richards. Phoebe Woodruff. Leonora Taylor. Marian Ross Pratt. The Wife of Delegate Cannon. Vilate Kimball Again.
[CHAPTER XLV.]—Mormon Women of Martha Washington's Time. Aunt Rhoda Richards. Wife of the First Mormon Bishop. Honorable Women of Zion.
[CHAPTER XLVI.]—Mormon Women whose Ancestors were on board the "Mayflower." A Bradford, and Descendant of the Second Governor of Plymouth Colony. A Descendant of Rogers, the Martyr. The Three Women who came with the Pioneers. The First Woman Born in Utah. Women of the Camp of Zion. Women of the Mormon Batallion.
[CHAPTER XLVII.]—One of the Founders of California. A Woman Missionary to the Society Islands. Her Life Among the Natives. The only Mormon Woman Sent on Mission without Her Husband. A Mormon Woman in Washington. A Sister from the East Indies. A Sister from Texas.
[CHAPTER XLVIII]—A Leader from England. Mrs. Hannah T. King. A Macdonald from Scotland. The "Welsh Queen." A Representative Woman from Ireland. Sister Howard. A Galaxy of the Sisterhood, from "Many Nations and Tongues." Incidents and Testimonials.
[CHAPTER XLIX.]—The Message to Jerusalem. The Ancient Tones of Mormonism. The Mormon High Priestess in the Holy Land. On the Mount of Olives. Officiating for the Royal House of Judah.
[CHAPTER L.]—Woman's Position in the Mormon Church. Grand Female Organization of Mormonism. The Relief Society. Its Inception at Nauvoo. Its Present Status, Aims, and Methods. First Society Building. A Woman Lays the Corner-stone. Distinguished Women of the Various Societies.
[CHAPTER LI.]—The Sisters and the Marriage Question. The Women of Utah Enfranchised. Passage of the Woman Suffrage Bill. A Political Contest. The First Woman that Voted in Utah.
[CHAPTER LII.]—The Lie of the Enemy Refuted. A View of the Women in Council over Female Suffrage. The Sisters know their Political Power.
[CHAPTER LIII.]—Members of Congress Seek to Disfranchise the Women of Utah. Claggett's Assault. The Women of America Come to their Aid. Charles Sumner About to Espouse their Cause. Death Prevents the Great Statesman's Design.
[CHAPTER LIV.]—Woman Expounds Her Own Subject. The Fall. Her Redemption from the Curse. Returning into the Presence of Her Father. Her Exaltation.
[CHAPTER LV.]—Woman's Voice in the Press of Utah. The Woman's Exponent. Mrs. Emeline Wells. She Speaks for the Women of Utah. Literary and Professional Women of the Church.
[CHAPTER LVI.]—Retrospection. Apostolic Mission of the Mormon Women. How they have Used the Suffrage. Their Petition to Mrs. Grant. Twenty-seven Thousand Mormon Women Memorialize Congress.
[CHAPTER LVII.]—Sarah the Mother of the Covenant. In Her the Expounding of the Polygamic Relations of the Mormon Women. Fulfilment of God's Promise to Her. The Mormon Parallel. Sarah and Hagar divide the Religious Domination of the World.
[CHAPTER LVIII.]—Womanhood the Regenerating Influence in the World. From Eve, the First, to Mary, the Second Eve. God and Woman the Hope of Man. Woman's Apostleship. Joseph vs. Paul. The Woman Nature a Predicate of the World's Future.
[CHAPTER LIX.]—Zion, a Type of "The Woman's Age." The Culminating Theme of the Poets of Israel. The Ideal Personification of the Church. The Bride. The Coming Eve.
[CHAPTER LX.]—Terrible as an Army with Banners. Fifty Thousand Women with the Ballot. Their Grand Mission to the Nation. A Foreshadowing of the Future of the Women of Mormondom.
CHAPTER I.
A STRANGE RELIGIOUS EPIC—AN ISRAELITISH TYPE OF WOMAN IN THE AGE.
AN epic of woman! Not in all the ages has there been one like unto it.
Fuller of romance than works of fiction are the lives of the Mormon women. So strange and thrilling is their story,—so rare in its elements of experience,—that neither history nor fable affords a perfect example; yet is it a reality of our own times.
Women with new types of character, antique rather than modern; themes ancient, but transposed to our latter-day experience. Women with their eyes open, and the prophecy of their work and mission in their own utterances, who have dared to enter upon the path of religious empire-founding with as much divine enthusiasm as had the apostles who founded Christendom. Such are the Mormon women,—religious empire-founders, in faith and fact. Never till now did woman essay such an extraordinary character; never before did woman rise to the conception of so supreme a mission in her own person and life.
We can only understand the Mormon sisterhood by introducing them in this cast at the very outset; only comprehend the wonderful story of their lives by viewing them as apostles, who have heard the voices of the invisibles commanding them to build the temples of a new faith.
Let us forget, then, thus early in their story, all reference to polygamy or monogamy. Rather let us think of them as apostolic mediums of a new revelation, who at first saw only a dispensation of divine innovations and manifestations for the age. Let us view them purely as prophetic women, who undertook to found their half of a new Christian empire, and we have exactly the conception with which to start the epic story of the Women of Mormondom.
They had been educated by the Hebrew Bible, and their minds cast by its influence, long before they saw the book of Mormon or heard the Mormon prophet. The examples of the ancient apostles were familiar to them, and they had yearned for the pentecosts of the early days. But most had they been enchanted by the themes of the old Jewish prophets, whose writings had inspired them with faith in the literal renewal of the covenant with Israel, and the "restitution of all things" of Abrahamic promise. This was the case with nearly all of the early disciples of Mormonism,—men and women. They were not as sinners converted to Christianity, but as disciples who had been waiting for the "fullness of the everlasting gospel." Thus had they been prepared for the new revelation,—an Israel born unto the promises,—an Israel afterwards claiming that in a pre-existent state they were the elect of God. They had also inherited their earnest religious characters from their fathers and mothers. The pre-natal influences of generations culminated in the bringing forth of this Mormon Israel.
And here we come to the remarkable fact that the women who, with its apostles and elders, founded Mormondom, were the Puritan daughters of New England, even as were their compeer brothers its sons.
Sons and daughters of the sires and mothers who founded this great nation; sons and daughters of the sires and mothers who fought and inspired the war of the revolution, and gave to this continent a magna charta of religious and political liberty! Their stalwart fathers also wielded the "sword of the Lord" in old England, with Cromwell and his Ironsides, and the self-sacrificing spirit of their pilgrim mothers sustained New England in the heat and burden of the day, while its primeval forests were being cleared, even as these pilgrim Mormons pioneered our nation the farthest West, and converted the great American desert into fruitful fields.
That those who established the Mormon Church are of this illustrious origin we shall abundantly see, in the record of these lives, confirmed by direct genealogical links. Some of their sires were even governors of the British colonies at their very rise: instance the ancestor of Daniel H. Wells, one of the presidents of the Mormon Church, who was none other than the illustrious Thomas Wells, fourth governor of Connecticut; instance the pilgrim forefather of the apostles Orson and Parley Pratt, who came from England to America in 1633, and with the Rev. Thomas Hooker and his congregation pioneered through dense wildernesses, inhabited only by savages and wild beasts, and became the founders of the colony of Hartford, Conn., in June, 1636; instance the Youngs, the Kimballs, the Smiths, the Woodruffs, the Lymans, the Snows, the Carringtons, the Riches, the Hunters, the Huntingtons, the Patridges, the Whitneys, and a host of other early disciples of the Mormon Church. Their ancestors were among the very earliest settlers of the English colonies. There is good reason, indeed, to believe that on board the Mayflower was some of the blood that has been infused into the Mormon Church.
This genealogical record, upon which the Mormon people pride themselves, has a vast meaning, not only in accounting for their empire-founding genius and religious career, but also for their Hebraic types of character and themes of faith. Their genius is in their very blood. They are, as observed, a latter-day Israel,—born inheritors of the promise,—predestined apostles, both men and women, of the greater mission of this nation,—the elect of the new covenant of God, which America is destined to unfold to "every nation, kindred, tongue and people." This is not merely an author's fancy; it is an affirmation and a prophecy well established in Mormon myth and themes.
If we but truthfully trace the pre-natal expositions of this peculiar people—and the sociologist will at once recognize in this method a very book of revelation on the subject—we shall soon come to look upon these strange Israelitish types and wonders as simply a hereditary culmination in the nineteenth century.
Mormonism, indeed, is not altogether a new faith, nor a fresh inspiration in the world. The facts disclose that its genius has come down to the children, through generations, in the very blood which the invisibles inspired in old England, in the seventeenth century, and which wrought such wonders of God among the nations then. That blood has been speaking in our day with prophet tongue; those wonderful works, wrought in the name of the Lord of Hosts, by the saints of the commonwealth, to establish faith in Israel's God and reverence for His name above all earthly powers, are, in their consummation in America, wrought by these latter-day saints in the same august name and for the same purpose. He shall be honored among the nations; His will done among men; His name praised to the ends of the earth! Such was the affirmation of the saints of the commonwealth of England two hundred and thirty years ago; such the affirmation of the saints raised up to establish the "Kingdom of God" in the nineteenth century. Understand this fully, and the major theme of Mormonism is comprehended. It will have a matchless exemplification in the story of the lives of these single-hearted, simple-minded, but grand women, opening to the reader's view the methods of that ancient genius, even to the establishing of the patriarchal institution and covenant of polygamy.
That America should bring forth a peculiar people, like the Mormons, is as natural as that a mother should bear children in the semblance of the father who begat them. Monstrous, indeed, would it be if, as offspring of the patriarchs and mothers of this nation, America brought forth naught but godless politicians.
CHAPTER II.
THE MOTHER OF THE PROPHET—THE GIFTS OF INSPIRATION AND WORKING OF MIRACLES INHERENT IN HER FAMILY—FRAGMENTS OF HER NARRATIVE.
First among the chosen women of the latter-day dispensation comes the mother of the Prophet, to open this divine drama.
It is one of our most beautiful and suggestive proverbs that "great men have great mothers." This cannot but be peculiarly true of a great prophet whose soul is conceptive of a new dispensation.
Prophecy is of the woman. She endows her offspring with that heaven-born gift.
The father of Joseph was a grand patriarchal type. He was the Abraham of the Church, holding the office of presiding patriarch. To this day he is remembered and spoken of by the early disciples with the profoundest veneration and filial love, and his patriarchal blessings, given to them, are preserved and valued as much as are the patriarchal blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob valued by their own race.
But it is the mother of the Prophet who properly leads in opening the testament of the women of Mormondom. She was a prophetess and seeress born. The gift of prophecy and the power to work miracles also inhered in the family of Lucy Mack, (her maiden name), and the martial spirit which distinguished her son, making him a prophet-general, was quite characteristic of her race. Of her brother, Major Mack, she says:
"My brother was in the city of Detroit in 1812, the year in which Hull surrendered the territory to the British crown. My brother, being somewhat celebrated for his prowess, was selected by General Hull to take the command of a company as captain. After a short service in this office he was ordered to surrender. (Hull's surrender to the British). At this his indignation was aroused to the highest pitch. He broke his sword across his knee, and throwing it into the river, exclaimed that he would never submit to such a disgraceful compromise while the blood of an American continued to flow in his veins."
Lucy Mack's father, Solomon Mack, was a soldier in the American revolution. He entered the army at the age of twenty-one, in the year 1755, and in the glorious struggle of his country for independence he enlisted among the patriots in 1776. With him were his two boys, Jason and Stephen, the latter being the same who afterwards broke his sword and cast it into the river rather than surrender it to the British.
But that which is most interesting here is the seeric gift coupled with the miracle-working power of "Mother Lucy's" race. Hers was a "visionary" family, in the main, while her elder brother, Jason, was a strange evangelist, who wandered about during his lifetime, by sea and land, preaching the gospel and working miracles. This Jason even attempted to establish a body of Christian communists. Of him she says:
"Jason, my oldest brother, was a studious and manly boy. Before he had attained his sixteenth year he became what was then called a 'seeker,' and believing that by prayer and faith the gifts of the gospel, which were enjoyed by the ancient disciples of Christ, might be attained, he labored almost incessantly to convert others to the same faith. He was also of the opinion that God would, at some subsequent period, manifest His power, as He had anciently done, in signs and wonders. At the age of twenty he became a preacher of the gospel."
Then followed a love episode in Jason's life, in which the young man was betrayed by his rival while absent in England on business with his father. The rival gave out that Jason had died in Liverpool, (being post-master, he had also intercepted their correspondence,) so that when the latter returned home he found his betrothed married to his enemy. The story runs:
"As soon as Jason arrived he repaired immediately to her father's house. When he got there she was gone to her brother's funeral; he went in, and seated himself in the same room where he had once paid his addresses to her. In a short time she came home; when she first saw him she did not know him, but when she got a full view of his countenance she recognized him, and instantly fainted. From this time forward she never recovered her health, but, lingering for two years, died the victim of disappointment.
"Jason remained in the neighborhood a short time and then went to sea, but he did not follow the sea a great while. He soon left the main, and commenced preaching, which he continued until his death."
Once or twice during his lifetime Jason visited his family; at last, after a silence of twenty years, his brother Solomon received from him the following very evangelistic epistle:
"South Branch of Ormucto,
"Province of New Brunswick,
"June 30, 1835.
"MY DEAR BROTHER SOLOMON: You will, no doubt, be surprised to hear that I am still alive, although in an absence of twenty years I have never written to you before. But I trust you will forgive me when I tell you that, for most of the twenty years, I have been so situated that I have had little or no communication with the lines, and have been holding meetings, day and night, from place to place; besides my mind has been so taken up with the deplorable situation of the earth, the darkness in which it lies, that, when my labors did call me near the lines, I did not realize the opportunity which presented itself of letting you know where I was. And, again, I have designed visiting you long since, and annually have promised myself that the succeeding year I would certainly seek out my relatives, and enjoy the privilege of one pleasing interview with them before I passed into the valley and shadow of death. But last, though not least, let me not startle you when I say, that, according to my early adopted principles of the power of faith, the Lord has, in his exceeding kindness, bestowed upon me the gift of healing by the prayer of faith, and the use of such simple means as seem congenial to the human system; but my chief reliance is upon Him who organized us at the first, and can restore at pleasure that which is disorganized.
"The first of my peculiar success in this way was twelve years since, and from nearly that date I have had little rest. In addition to the incessant calls which I in a short time had, there was the most overwhelming torrent of opposition poured down upon me that I ever witnessed. But it pleased God to take the weak to confound the wisdom of the wise. I have in the last twelve years seen the greatest manifestations of the power of God in healing the sick, that, with all my sanguinity, I ever hoped or imagined. And when the learned infidel has declared with sober face, time and again, that disease had obtained such an ascendency that death could be resisted no longer, that the victim must wither beneath his potent arm, I have seen the almost lifeless clay slowly but surely resuscitated and revived, till the pallid monster fled so far that the patient was left in the full bloom of vigorous health. But it is God that hath done it, and to Him let all the praise be given.
"I am now compelled to close this epistle, for I must start immediately on a journey of more than one hundred miles, to attend a heavy case of sickness; so God be with you all. Farewell!
"JASON MACK."
"Mother Lucy," in the interesting accounts of her own and husband's families, tells some charming stories of visions, dreams, and miracles among them, indicating the advent of the latter-day power; but the remarkable visions and mission of her prophet son claim the ruling place. She says:
"There was a great revival of religion, which extended to all the denominations of Christians in the surrounding country in which we resided. Many of the world's people, becoming concerned about the salvation of their souls, came forward and presented themselves as seekers after religion. Most of them were desirous of uniting with some church, but were not decided as to the particular faith which they would adopt. When the numerous meetings were about breaking up, and the candidates and the various leading church members began to consult upon the subject of adopting the candidates into some church or churches, as the case might be, a dispute arose, and there was a great contention among them.
"While these things were going forward, Joseph's mind became considerably troubled with regard to religion; and the following extract from his history will show, more clearly than I can express, the state of his feelings, and the result of his reflections on this occasion:"
"I was at this time in my fifteenth year. My father's family was proselyted to the Presbyterian faith, and four of them joined that church, namely, my mother Lucy, my brothers Hyrum and Samuel Harrison, and my sister Sophronia.
"During this time of great excitement my mind was called up to serious reflection and great uneasiness. * * * * The Presbyterians were most decided against the Baptists and Methodists, and used all their powers of either reason or sophistry to prove their errors, or at least to make the people think they were in error. On the other hand the Baptists and Methodists, in their turn, were equally zealous to establish their own tenets and disprove all others.
"In the midst of this war of words, and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself, what is to be done? Who, of all these parties, are right? or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it? and how shall I know it?
"While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads, 'If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth unto all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.' Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did, for how to act I did not know, and, unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passage so differently, as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible. At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs—that is, ask of God. I at last came to the determination to ask of God. So in accordance with this determination I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful clear day, early in the spring of 1820. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt; for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally. After I had retired into the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I knelt down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue, so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair, and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such a marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said, pointing to the other, 'this is my beloved son, hear him:'
"My object in going to inquire of the Lord, was to know which of all these sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right—for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong—and which I should join. I was answered that I should join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight; that those professors were all corrupt. 'They draw near me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrine the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.' He again forbade me to join any of them; and many other things did he say unto me which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven."
"From this time until the 21st of September, 1823, Joseph continued, as usual, to labor with his father, and nothing during this interval occurred of very great importance,—though he suffered, as one would naturally suppose, every kind of opposition and persecution from the different orders of religionists.
"On the evening of the 21st of September, he retired to his bed in quite a serious and contemplative state of mind. He shortly betook himself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God, for a manifestation of his standing before Him, and while thus engaged he received the following vision:"
"While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in the room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noon-day, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor. He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen, nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so also were his feet naked, as were his legs a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but his robe, as it was open so that I could see into his bosom. Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person. When I first looked upon him I was afraid, but the fear soon left me. He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do, and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds and tongues; or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people. He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprung. He also said that the fullness of the everlasting gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Saviour to the ancient inhabitants. Also, that there were two stones in silver bows, and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the urim and thummim, deposited with the plates; and the possession and use of these stones were what constituted seers in ancient or former times; and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book. After telling me these things, he commenced quoting the prophecies of the Old Testament. He first quoted a part of the third chapter of Malachi; and he quoted also the fourth or last chapter of the same prophecy, though with a little variation from the way it reads in our Bible. Instead of quoting the first verse as it reads in our books, he quoted it thus: 'For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall burn as stubble, for they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.' And again he quoted the fifth verse thus: 'Behold, I will reveal unto you the priesthood by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.' He also quoted the next verse differently: 'And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers; if it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at its coming.' In addition to these, he quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, saying that it was about to be fulfilled. He quoted also the third chapter of Acts, twenty-second and twenty-third verses, precisely as they stand in our New Testament. He said that that prophet was Christ, but the day had not yet come 'when they who would not hear His voice should be cut off from among the people,' but soon would come. He also quoted the second chapter of Joel, from the twenty-eighth verse to the last. He also said that this was not yet fulfilled, but was soon to be. And he further stated the fullness of the Gentiles was soon to come in. He quoted many other passages of scripture, and offered many explanations which cannot be mentioned here. Again, he told me that when I got those plates of which he had spoken (for the time that they should be obtained was not then fulfilled), I should not show them to any person, neither the breast-plate, with the urim and thummim, only to those to whom I should be commanded to show them; if I did I should be destroyed. While he was conversing with me about the plates, the vision was opened to my mind that I could see the place where the plates were deposited, and that so clearly and distinctly that I knew the place again when I visited it.
"After this communication, I saw the light in the room begin to gather immediately around the person of him who had been speaking to me, and it continued to do so until the room was again left dark, except just around him; when instantly I saw, as it were, a conduit open right up into Heaven, and he ascended up until he entirely disappeared, and the room was left as it had been before this heavenly light made its appearance.
"I lay musing on the singularity of the scene, and marveling greatly at what had been told me by this extraordinary messenger, when, in the midst of my meditation, I suddenly discovered that my room was again beginning to get lighted, and, in an instant, as it were, the same heavenly messenger was again by my bedside. He commenced, and again related the very same things which he had done at his first visit, without the least variation, which having done, he informed me of great judgments which were coming upon the earth, with great desolations by famine, sword, and pestilence; and that these grievous judgments would come on the earth in this generation. Having related these things, he again ascended as he had done before."
"When the angel ascended the second time he left Joseph overwhelmed with astonishment, yet gave him but a short time to contemplate the things which he had told him before he made his reappearance and rehearsed the same things over, adding a few words of caution and instruction, thus: That he must beware of covetousness, and he must not suppose the record was to be brought forth with the view of getting gain, for this was not the case, but that it was to bring forth light and intelligence, which had for a long time been lost to the world; and that when he went to get the plates, he must be on his guard, or his mind would be filled with darkness. The angel then told him to tell his father all which he had both seen and heard.
"* * * * From this time forth, Joseph continued to receive instructions from the Lord, and we continued to get the children together every evening, for the purpose of listening while he gave us a relation of the same. I presume our family presented an aspect as singular as any that ever lived upon the face of the earth—all seated in a circle, father, mother, sons, and daughters, and giving the most profound attention to a boy, eighteen years of age, who had never read the Bible through in his life. He seemed much less inclined to the perusal of books than any of the rest of our children, but far more given to meditation and deep study.
"We were now confirmed in the opinion that God was about to bring to light something upon which we could stay our minds, or that would give us a more perfect knowledge of the plan of salvation and the redemption of the human family. This caused us greatly to rejoice; the sweetest union and happiness pervaded our house, and tranquillity reigned in our midst.
"During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of traveling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life with them."
Thus continued the divine and miraculous experience of the prophetic family until the golden plates were obtained, the book of Mormon published, and the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" was established on the 6th of April, 1830.
But all this shall be written in the book of the prophet!
CHAPTER III.
THE OPENING OF A SPIRITUAL DISPENSATION TO AMERICA—WOMAN'S EXALTATION—THE LIGHT OF THE LATTER DAYS.
Joseph Smith opened to America a great spiritual dispensation. It was such the Mormon sisterhood received.
A latter-day prophet! A gospel of miracles! Angels visiting the earth again! Pentecosts in the nineteenth century! This was Mormonism.
These themes were peculiarly fascinating to those earnest apostolic women whom we shall introduce to the reader.
Ever must such themes be potent with woman. She has a divine mission always, both to manifest spiritual gifts and to perpetuate spiritual dispensations.
Woman is child of faith. Indeed she is faith. Man is reason. His mood is skepticism. Left alone to his apostleship, spiritual missions die, though revealed by a cohort of archangels. Men are too apt to lock again the heavens which the angels have opened, and convert priesthood into priestcraft. It is woman who is the chief architect of a spiritual church.
Joseph Smith was a prophet and seer because his mother was a prophetess and seeress. Lucy Smith gave birth to the prophetic genius which has wrought out its manifestations so marvelously in the age. Brigham Young, who is a society-builder, also received his rare endowments from his mother. Though differing from Joseph, Brigham has a potent inspiration.
Thus we trace the Mormon genius to these mothers. They gave birth to the great spiritual dispensation which is destined to incarnate a new and universal Christian church.
Until the faith of Latter-day Saints invoked one, there was no Holy Ghost in the world such as the saints of former days would have recognized. Respectable divines, indeed, had long given out that revelation was done away, because no longer needed. The canon of scripture was said to be full. The voice of prophesy was no more to be heard to the end of time.
But the Mormon prophet invoked the Holy Ghost of the ancient Hebrews, and burst the sealed heavens. The Holy Ghost came, and His apostles published the news abroad.
The initial text of Mormonism was precisely that which formed the basis of Peter's colossal sermon on the day of Pentecost:
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall dream dreams;
"And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit; and they shall prophesy."
Here was a magic gospel for the age! And how greatly was woman in its divine programme!
No sooner was the application made than the prophesy was discovered to be pregnant with its own fulfillment. The experience of the former-day saints became the experience of the "latter-day saints." It was claimed, too, that the supreme fulfillment was reserved for this crowning dispensation. These were emphatically the "last days." It was in the "last days" that God would pour out His spirit upon "all flesh." The manifestation of Pentecost was but the foreshadowing of the power of God, to be universally displayed to his glory, and the regeneration of the nations in the "dispensation of the fullness of times."
This gospel of a new dispensation came to America by the administration of angels. But let it not be thought that Joseph Smith alone saw angels. Multitudes received angelic administrations in the early days of the Church; thousands spoke in tongues and prophesied; and visions, dreams and miracles were daily manifestations among the disciples.
The sisters were quite as familiar with angelic visitors as the apostles. They were in fact the best "mediums" of this spiritual work. They were the "cloud of witnesses." Their Pentecosts of spiritual gifts were of frequent occurrence.
The sisters were also apostolic in a priestly sense. They partook of the priesthood equally with the men. They too "held the keys of the administration of angels." Who can doubt it, when faith is the greatest of all keys to unlock the gates of heaven? But "the Church" herself acknowledged woman's key. There was no Mormon St. Peter in this new dispensation to arrogate supremacy over woman, on his solitary pontifical throne. The "Order of Celestial Marriage," not of celestial celibacy, was about to be revealed to the Church.
Woman also soon became high priestess and prophetess. She was this officially. The constitution of the Church acknowledged her divine mission to administer for the regeneration of the race. The genius of a patriarchal priesthood naturally made her the apostolic help-meet for man. If you saw her not in the pulpit teaching the congregation, yet was she to be found in the temple, administering for the living and the dead! Even in the holy of holies she was met. As a high priestess she blessed with the laying on of hands! As a prophetess she oracled in holy places! As an endowment giver she was a Mason, of the Hebraic order, whose Grand Master is the God of Israel and whose anointer is the Holy Ghost.
She held the keys of the administration of angels and of the working of miracles and of the "sealings" pertaining to "the heavens and the earth." Never before was woman so much as she is in this Mormon dispensation!
The supreme spiritual character of the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (its proper name), is well typed in the hymn so often sung by the saints at their "testimony meetings," and sometimes in their temples. Here is its theme:
"The spirit of God like a fire is burning,
The latter-day glory begins to come forth,
The visions and blessings of old are returning,
The angels are coming to visit the earth.Chorus—We'll sing and we'll shout with the armies of heaven—
Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb!
Let glory to them in the highest be given,
Henceforth and forever—amen and amen.The Lord is extending the saints' understanding,
Restoring their judges and all as at first;
The knowledge and power of God are expanding;
The vail o'er the earth is beginning to burst.Chorus—We'll sing and we'll shout with the armies of heaven!" etc.
What a strange theme this, forty-seven years ago, before the age of our modern spiritual mediums, when the angels visited only the Latter-day Saints! In that day it would seem the angels only dared to come by stealth, so unpopular was their coming. But the way was opened for the angels. What wonder that they have since come in hosts good and bad, and made their advent popular? Millions testify to their advent now; and "modern spiritualism," though of "another source," is a proof of Mormonism more astonishing than prophecy herself.
Yet is all this not more remarkable than the promise which Joseph Smith made to the world in proclaiming his mission. It was the identical promise of Christ: "These signs shall follow them that believe!" These signs meant nothing short of all that extraordinary experience familiar to the Hebrew people and the early-day saints. We have no record that ever this sweeping promise was made before by any one but Jesus Christ. Yet Joseph Smith, filled with a divine assurance, dared to re-affirm it and apply the promise to all nations wherever the gospel of his mission should be preached. The most wonderful of tests is this. But the test was fulfilled. The signs followed all, and everywhere. Even apostates witness to this much.
There is nothing in modern spiritualism nearly so marvelous as was Mormonism in its rise and progress in America and Great Britain. It has indeed made stir enough in the world. But it had to break the way for coming ages. Revelation was at first a very new and strange theme after the more than Egyptian darkness in which the Christian nations had been for fifty generations. It was the light set upon the hill now; but the darkness comprehended it not. Yet was a spiritual dispensation opened again to the world. Once more was the lost key found. Mormonism was the key; and it was Joseph and his God-fearing disciples who unlocked the heavens. That fact the world will acknowledge in the coming times.
CHAPTER IV.
BIRTH OF THE CHURCH—KIRTLAND AS THE BRIDE, IN THE CHAMBERS OF THE WILDERNESS—THE EARLY GATHERING—"MOTHER WHITNEY," AND ELIZA R. SNOW.
The birth-place of Mormonism was in the State of New York. There the angels first administered to the youthful prophet; there in the "Hill Cumorah," near the village of Palmyra, the plates of the book of Mormon were revealed by Moroni; there, at Manchester, on the 6th of April, 1830, the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" was organized, with six members.
But the divine romance of the sisterhood best opens at Kirtland. It is the place where this Israelitish drama of our times commenced its first distinguishing scenes,—the place where the first Mormon temple was built.
Ohio was the "Great West." Kirtland, the city of the saints, with its temple, dedicated to the God of Israel, rose in Ohio.
Not, however, as the New Jerusalem of America, was Kirtland founded; but pioneer families, from New England, had settled in Ohio, who early received the gospel of the Latter-day Church.
Thus Kirtland became an adopted Zion, selected by revelation as a gathering place for the saints; and a little village grew into a city, with a temple.
Among these pioneers were the families of "Mother Whitney," and Eliza R. Snow, and the families of "Father Morley," and Edward Partridge, who became the "first Bishop" of Zion.
Besides these, there were a host of men and women soon numbered among the founders of Mormondom, who were also pioneers in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois.
There is no feature of the Mormons more interesting than their distinguishing mark as pioneers. In this both their Church and family history have a national significance.
Trace their family migrations from old England to New England in the seventeenth century; from Europe to America in the nineteenth; then follow them as a people in their empire-track from the State of New York, where their Church was born, to Utah and California! It will thus be remarkably illustrated that they and their parents have been pioneering not only America but the world itself to the "Great West" for the last two hundred and fifty years!
As a community the Mormons have been emphatically the Church of pioneers. The sisters have been this equally with the brethren. Their very religion is endowed with the genius of migrating peoples.
So in 1830-31, almost as soon as the Church was organized, the prophet and the priesthood followed the disciples to the West, where the star of Messiah was rising.
As though the bride had been preparing for the coming! As though, womanlike, intuitively, she had gone into the wilderness—the chambers of a new civilization—to await the bridegroom.
For the time being Kirtland became the Zion of the West; for the time being Kirtland among cities was the bride.
But the illustration is also personal. Woman herself had gone to the West where the star of Messiah was looming. Daughters of the New Jerusalem were already in the chamber awaiting the bridegroom.
Early in the century, two had pioneered into the State of Ohio, who have since been, for a good lifetime, high priestesses of the Mormon temples. And the voice of prophesy has declared that these have the sacred blood of Israel in their veins. In the divine mysticism of their order they are at once of a kingly and priestly line.
There is a rare consistency in the mysticism of the Mormon Church. The daughters of the temple are so by right of blood and inheritance. They are discovered by gift of revelation in Him who is the voice of the Church; but they inherit from the fathers and mothers of the temple of the Old Jerusalem.
And so these two of the principal heroines of Mormondom—"Mother Whitney" and "Sister Eliza R. Snow"—introduced first as the two earliest of the Church who pioneered to the "Great West," before the advent of their prophet, as well as introduced for the divine part which they have played in the marvelous history of their people.
These are high priestesses! These are two rare prophetesses! These have the gifts of revelation and "tongues!" These administer in "holy places" for the living and the dead.
It was about the year of our Lord 1806 that Oliver Snow, a native of Massachusetts, and his wife, R. L. Pettibone Snow, of Connecticut, moved with their children to that section of the State of Ohio bordering on Lake Erie on the north and the State of Pennsylvania on the east, known then as the "Connecticut Western Reserve." They purchased land and settled in Mantua, Portage county.
Eliza R. Snow, who was the second of seven children, four daughters and three sons, one of whom is the accomplished apostle Lorenzo Snow, was born in Becket, Berkshire county, Mass., January 21st, 1804. Her parents were of English descent; their ancestors were among the earliest settlers of New England.
Although a farmer by occupation, Oliver Snow performed much public business, officiating in several responsible positions. His daughter Eliza, being ten years the senior of her eldest brother, so soon as she was competent, was employed as secretary in her father's office.
She was skilled in various kinds of needlework and home manufactures. Two years in succession she drew the prize awarded by the committee on manufactures, at the county fair, for the best manufactured leghorn.
When quite young she commenced writing for publication in various journals, which she continued to do for several years, over assumed signatures,—wishing to be useful as a writer, and yet unknown except by intimate friends.
"During the contest between Greece and Turkey," she says, "I watched with deep interest the events of the war, and after the terrible destruction of Missolonghi, by the Turks, I wrote an article entitled 'The Fall of Missolonghi.' Soon after its publication, the deaths of Adams and Jefferson occurred on the same memorable fourth of July, and I was requested through the press, to write their requiem, to which I responded, and found myself ushered into conspicuity. Subsequently I was awarded eight volumes of 'Godey's Lady's Book,' for a first prize poem published in one of the journals."
The classical reader will remember how the struggle between Greece and Turkey stirred the soul of Byron. That immortal poet was not a saint but he was a great patriot and fled to the help of Greece.
Precisely the same chord that was struck in the chivalrous mind of Lord Byron was struck in the Hebraic soul of Eliza R. Snow. It was the chord of the heroic and the antique.
Our Hebraic heroine is even more sensitive to the heroic and patriotic than to the poetic,—at least she has most self-gratification in lofty and patriotic themes.
"That men are born poets," she continues, "is a common adage. I was born a patriot,—at least a warm feeling of patriotism inspired my childish heart, and mingled in my earliest thoughts, as evinced in many of the earliest productions of my pen. I can even now recollect how, with beating pulse and strong emotion I listened, when but a small child, to the tales of the revolution.
"My grandfather on my mother's side, when fighting for the freedom of our country, was taken prisoner by British troops, and confined in a dreary cell, and so scantily fed that when his fellow-prisoner by his side died from exhaustion, he reported him to the jailor as sick in bed, in order to obtain the amount of food for both,—keeping him covered in their blankets as long as he dared to remain with a decaying body.
"This, with many similar narratives of revolutionary sufferings recounted by my grand-parents, so deeply impressed my mind, that as I grew up to womanhood I fondly cherished a pride for the flag which so proudly waved over the graves of my brave and valiant ancestors."
It was the poet's soul of this illustrious Mormon woman that first enchanted the Church with inspired song, and her Hebraic faith and life have given something of their peculiar tone to the entire Mormon people, and especially the sisterhood; just as Joseph Smith and Brigham Young gave the types and institutions to our modern Israel.
Sister Eliza R. Snow was born with more than the poet's soul. She was a prophetess in her very nature,—endowed thus by her Creator, before her birth. Her gifts are of race quality rather than of mere religious training or growth. They have come down to her from the ages. From her personal race indications, as well as from the whole tenor and mission of her life, she would readily be pronounced to be of Hebrew origin. One might very well fancy her to be a descendant of David himself; indeed the Prophet Joseph, in blessing her, pronounced her to be a daughter of Judah's royal house. She understands, nearly to perfection, all of the inner views of the system and faith which she represents. And the celestial relations and action of the great Mormon drama, in other worlds, and in the "eternities past and to come," have constituted her most familiar studies and been in the rehearsals of her daily ministry.
Mother Whitney says:
"I was born the day after Christmas in the first year of the present century, in the quiet, old-fashioned country town of Derby, New Haven County, Conn. My parents' names were Gibson and Polly Smith. The Smiths were among the earliest settlers there, and were widely known. I was the oldest child, and grew up in an atmosphere of love and tenderness. My parents were not professors of religion, and according to puritanical ideas were grossly in fault to have me taught dancing; but my father had his own peculiar notions upon the subject, and wished me to possess and enjoy, in connection with a sound education and strict morals, such accomplishments as would fit me to fill, with credit to myself and my training, an honorable position in society. He had no sympathy whatever with any of the priests of that day, and was utterly at variance with their teachings and ministry, notwithstanding he was strenuous on all points of honor, honesty morality and uprightness.
"There is nothing in my early life I remember with more intense satisfaction than the agreeable companionship of my father. My mother's health was delicate, and with her household affairs, and two younger children, she gave herself up to domestic life, allowing it to absorb her entire interest, and consequently I was more particularly under my father's jurisdiction and influence; our tastes were most congenial, and this geniality and happiness surrounded me with its beneficial influence until I reached my nineteenth year. Nothing in particular occurred to mar the smoothness of my life's current and prosperity, and love beamed upon our home.
"About this time a new epoch in my life created a turning point which unconsciously to us, who were the actors in the drama, caused all my future to be entirely separate and distinct from those with whom I had been reared and nurtured. My father's sister, a spinster, who had money at her own disposal, and who was one of those strong-minded women of whom so much is said in this our day, concluded to emigrate to the great West,—at that time Ohio seemed a fabulous distance from civilization and enlightenment, and going to Ohio then was as great an undertaking as going to China or Japan is at the present day. She entreated my parents to allow me to accompany her, and promised to be as faithful and devoted to me as possible, until they should join us, and that they expected very shortly to do; their confidence in aunt Sarah's ability and self-reliance was unbounded, and so, after much persuasion, they consented to part with me for a short interval of time; but circumstances, over which we mortals have no control, were so overruled that I never saw my beloved mother again. Our journey was a pleasant one; the beautiful scenery through which our route lay had charms indescribable for me, who had never been farther from home than New Haven, in which city I had passed a part of my time, and to me it was nearer a paradise than any other place on earth. The magnificent lakes, rivers, mountains, and romantic forests were all delineations of nature which delighted my imagination.
"We settled a few miles inland from the picturesque Lake Erie, and here in after years, were the saints of God gathered and the everlasting gospel proclaimed. My beloved aunt Sarah was a true friend and instructor to me, and had much influence in maturing my womanly character and developing my home education. She hated the priests of the day, and believed them all deceivers and hypocrites; her religion consisted in visiting the widow and the fatherless and keeping herself 'unspotted from the world.'
"Shortly after entering my twenty-first year I became acquainted with a young man from Vermont, Newel K. Whitney, who, like myself, had left home and relatives and was determined to carve out a fortune for himself. He had been engaged in trading with the settlers and Indians at Green Bay, Mich., buying furs extensively for the eastern markets. In his travels to and from New York he passed along the charming Lake Erie, and from some unknown influence he concluded to settle and make a permanent home for himself in this region of country; and then subsequently we met and became acquainted; and being thoroughly convinced that we were suited to each other, we were married by the Presbyterian minister of that place, the Rev. J. Badger. We prospered in all our efforts to accumulate wealth, so much so, that among our friends it came to be remarked that nothing of Whitney's ever got lost on the lake, and no product of his exportation was ever low in the market; always ready sales and fair prices. We had neither of us ever made any profession of religion, but contrary to my early education I was naturally religious, and I expressed to my husband a wish that we should unite ourselves to one of the churches, after examining into their principles and deciding for ourselves. Accordingly we united ourselves with the Campbellites, who were then making many converts, and whose principles seemed most in accordance with the scriptures. We continued in this church, which to us was the nearest pattern to our Saviour's teachings, until Parley P. Pratt and another elder preached the everlasting gospel in Kirtland."
CHAPTER V.
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. Better the light without 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 very form of wisdom, but without the spirit.
Joseph Smith was an unlettered youth. He came not in the polished form of 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."
CHAPTER VI.
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 a cloud overshadowed 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."
He was 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.
CHAPTER VII.
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."
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 ancient gospel form without 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.
Footnotes:
[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.
CHAPTER VIII.
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.