History of Utah, Part 11

Author: Whitney, Orson Ferguson
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Salt Lake City, Cannon
Number of Pages: 1026

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The Twelve being sent out, holding the keys, to open the door by the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ-and first unto the Gentiles and then unto the Jews.

Verily, I say unto you, says the Lord of hosts, there must needs be presiding elders to preside over those who are of the office of an elder ;

And also priests to preside over those who are of the office of a priest;

And also teachers to preside over those who are of the office of a teacher; in like manner, and also the deacons ;

Wherefore, from deacon to teacher, and from teacher to priest, and from priest to elder, severally as they are appointed, according to the covenants and commandments of the church.

Then comes the High Priesthood, which is the greatest of all;

Wherefore it must needs be that one be appointed of the High Priesthood to preside over the Priesthood, and he shall be called President of the High Priesthood of the church ;

Or, in other words, the Presiding High Priest over the High Priesthood of tlie church.

From the same comes the administering of ordinances and blessings upon the church, by the laying on of the hands.

Wherefore the office of a bishop is not equal unto it; for the office of a bishop is in administering all temporal things ;

Nevertheless a bishop must be chosen from the High Priesthood, unless he is a literal descendant of Aaron ;

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For unless he is a literal descendant of Aaron he cannot hold the keys of that priest- hood.

Nevertheless, a High Priest that is after the order of Melchisedek, may be set apart unto the ministering of temporal things, having a knowledge of them by the Spirit of truth,

And also to be a judge in Israel, to do the business of the church, to sit in judgment upon transgressors upon testimony as it shall be laid before him according to the laws, by the assistance of his counselors, whom he has chosen, or will choose among the elders of the church.

This is the duty of a bishop who is not a literal descendant of Aaron, but has been ordained to the High Priesthood after the order of Melchisedek.

But a literal descendant of Aaron has a legal right to the presidency of this priest- hood, to the keys of this ministry, to act in the office of bishop independently, without counselors, except in a case where a President of the High Priesthood, after the order of Melchisedek, is tried, to sit as a judge in Israel.

And again, verily 1 say unto you, the duty of a president over the office of a deacon is to preside over twelve deacons, to sit in council with them, and to teach them their duty -edifying one another, as it is given according to the covenants.

And also the duty of the president over the office of the teachers is to preside over twenty-four of the teachers, and to sit in council with them, teaching them the duties of their office, as given in the covenants.

Also the duty of the president over the priesthood of Aaron is to preside over forty- eight priests, and sit in council with them, to teach them the duties of their office, as is given in the covenants.

This president is to be a bishop; for this is one of the duties of this priesthood.

Again, the duty of the president over the office of elders is to preside over ninety-six elders, and to sit in council with them, and to teach them according to the covenants.

This presidency is a distinct one from that of the seventy, and is designed for those who do not travel into all the world.

And again, the duty of the President of the office of the High Priesthood is to pre- side over the whole church, and to be like unto Moses.

And it is according to the vision, showing the order of the seventy, that they should have seven presidents to preside over them, chosen out of the number of the seventy;

And the seventh president of these presidents is to preside over the six ;

And these seven presidents are to choose other seventy besides the first seventy, to whom they belong, and are to preside over them;

And also other seventy, until seven times seventy, if the labor in the vineyard of necessity requires it.

And these seventy are to be traveling ministers unto the Gentiles first, and also unto the Jews;

Whereas other officers of the church, who belong not unto the Twelve, neither to the

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seventy, are not under the responsibility to travel among all nations, but are to travel as their circumstances shall allow, notwithstanding they may hold as high and responsible offices in the church.

Early in May the Twelve Apostles started upon their first mis- sion. They traveled through the Eastern States and Upper Canada, preaching, baptizing, advising the scattered Saints to gather west- ward, and collecting means, for the purchase of lands in Missouri and the completion of the Kirtland Temple. They went two by two, but met together in councils and conferences at various points. Late in September they returned to Kirtland.

It is often asserted by opponents of Mormonism that the founders of the Church were coarse and illiterate men, and that the system itself fosters ignorance and is opposed to education. The assertion is for the greater part groundless. That many of the early Elders were at the outset of their careers uncultured and unlearned, is true. No Latter-day Saint disputes it. But that Mormonism fosters or favors ignorance, or in any way opposes education, they emphatically deny. "It is impossible to be saved in ignorance." "A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge." "The glory of God is intelligence." "Seek ye out of the best books words of wis- dom; seek learning even by study and also by faith." Sample precepts, these, of Joseph Smith's. No teacher ever taught more plainly that knowledge in any sphere, in or out of the world, is power.

Reference has already been made to the establishment of the School of the Prophets at Kirtland, and its counterpart the School of Elders in Missouri. These were instituted mainly for spiritual culture. Other schools were founded by the Prophet for secular instruction. A grammar school at Kirtland, taught by Sidney Rigdon and William E. McLellin, was supplemented by a school of science and languages, presided over by learned preceptors engaged for that purpose. Professor Seixas, a finished scholar, was one of these. The Prophet and many other Elders attended these schools.

At the age of thirty Joseph Smith was no longer an illiterate

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youth, but had become, if not a ripe and rounded scholar, at least a proficient student, uniting with the lore of ancient languages the far-seeing wisdom of a statesman and a social philosopher. Later he added to these acquirements a knowledge of law. It was about this time that he translated, from papyrus found upon some mummies brought from the catacombs of Egypt, the record known as the Book of Abraham.

The views of the Prophet and his people on civil government and its relationship with religion are set forth in the following pro- nunciamento of August, 1835 :*

We believe that governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man, and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them, either in making laws or administering them, for the good and safety of society.

We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life.

We believe that all governments necessarily require civil officers and magistrates to enforce the laws of the same, and that such as will administer the law in equity and justice, should be sought for and uplield by the voice of the people (if a republic,) or the will of the sovereign.

We believe that religion is instituted of God, and that men are amenable to him, and io him'only, for the exercise of it, unless their religious opinions prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others ; but we do not believe that human law has a right to interfere in prescribing rules of worship to bind the consciences of men, nor dictate forms for public or private devotion ; that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control conscience; should punish guilt, but never suppress the freedom of the sou).

We believe that all men are bound to sustain and uphold the respective governments in which they reside, while protected in their inherent and inalienable rights by the laws of such governments; and that sedition and rebellion are unbecoming every citizen thus protected, and should be punished accordingly ; and that all governments have a right to enact snch laws as in their own judgment are best calculated to secure the public interest, at the same time, however, holding sacred the freedom of conscience.

We believe that every man should be honored in his station : rulers and magistrates as such, being placed for the protection of the innocent, and the punishment of the guilty ; and that to the laws, all men owe respect and deference, as without them peace and harmony would be supplanted by anarchy and terror ; human laws being instituted for the express purpose of regulating our interests as individuals and nations, between inan and man, and

* Doctrine and Covenants, Section 134.

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divine laws given of heaven, prescribing rules on spiritual concerns, for faith and worship, both to be answered by man to his Maker.

We believe that rulers, states, and governments, have a right, and are bound to enact laws for the protection of all citizens in the free exercise of their religious belief; but we do not believe that they have a right in justice, to deprive citizens of this privilege, or proscribe them in their opinions, so long as a regard and reverence are shown to the laws, and such religious opinions do not justify sedition nor conspiracy.

We believe that the commission of crime should be punished according to the nature of the offence; that murder, treason, robbery, theft, and the breach of the general peace, in all respects, should be punished according to their criminality, and their tendency to evil among men, by the laws of that government in which the offence is committed ; and for the public peace and tranquility, all men should step forward and use their ability in bringing offenders against good laws to punishment.

We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government, whereby one religious society is fostered, and another proscribed in its spiritual privileges, and the individual rights of its members as citizens, denied.

We believe that all religious societies have a right to deal with their members for dis- orderly conduct according to the rules and regulations of such societies, provided that such dealings be for fellowship and good standing ; but we do not believe that any religious society has authority to try men on the right of property or life, to take from them this world's goods, or to put them in jeopardy of either life or limb, neither to inflict any physi- cal punishment upon them, they can only excommunicate them from their society, and withdraw from them their fellowship.

We believe that men should appeal to the civil law for redress of all wrongs and grievances, where personal abuse is inflicted, or the right of property or character infringed, where such laws exist as will protect the same ; but we believe that all men are justified in defending themselves, their friends, and property, and the government, from the unlaw- ful assaults and encroachments of all persons, in times of exigency, where immediate appeal cannot be made to the laws, and relief afforded.

We believe it just to preach the gospel to the nations of the earth, and warn the righteous to save themselves from the corruption of the world ; but we do not believe it right to interfere with bond servants, neither preach the gospel to, nor baptize them, contrary to the will and wish of their masters, nor to meddle with or influence them in the least, to cause them to be dissatisfied with their situations in this life, thereby jeopardizing the lives of men; such interference we believe to be unlawful and unjust, and dangerous to the peace of every government allowing human beings to be held in servitude.

The Kirtland Temple was dedicated on the 27th of March, 1836. Part of the interior at the time was in an unfinished state. It had occupied three years in construction, and had cost between sixty and seventy thousand dollars. The dimensions of the edifice were eighty by sixty feet; the walls being fifty-seven feet high to the eaves. It

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comprised two stories and an attic; the whole surmounted by a tower. The building, which was chiefly of stone, stood upon a hill, and was the most conspicuous object visible for miles.

The main purpose of the temple was the administration of relig- ious ordinances, but it was also designed and used for schools, meet- ings and councils of the Priesthood. Unlike all temples since erected by the Saints, there was no baptismal font in this building; the ordinance of baptism for the dead-for which such fonts are principally used-not yet being practiced in the Church. We will here state, for the benefit of the uninformed, that the Mormons believe that vicarious work, such as baptisms, confirmations, ordina- tions, marriages, etc., may be performed by the living for the dead ; for their friends and progenitors who died without a knowledge of the gospel. This is one of their chief objects in temple building.

Accounts of many miraculous manifestations are recorded in connection with the Kirtland Temple; among them the following by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, dated April 3rd, 1836 : *

The vail was taken from our minds, and the eyes of our understanding were opened. We saw the Lord standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, before us, and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold in color like amber.

His eyes were as a flame of fire, the hair of his head was white like the pure snow, his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun, and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying-

I am the first and the last, I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain, I am your advocate with the Father.

Behold, your sins are forgiven you, you are clean before me, therefore lift up your heads and rejoice,

Let the hearts of your brethren rejoice, and let the hearts of all my people rejoice, who have, with their might, built this house to my name,

For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here, and I will man- ifest myself to my people in mercy in this house,

Yea, I will appear unto my servants, and speak unto them with mine own voice, if my people will keep my commandments, and do not pollute this holy house,

Yea the hearts of thousands and tens of thousands shall greatly rejoice in conse- quence of the blessings which shall be poured out, and the endowment with which my servants have been endowed in this house;

* Doctrine and Covenants, Section 110.

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And the fame of this house shall spread to foreign lands, and this is the beginning of the blessing which shall be poured out upon the heads of my people. Even so. Amen.

After this vision closed, the heavens were again opened unto us, and Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north.

After this, Elias appeared, and committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, saying, that in us, and our seed, all generations after us should be blessed.

After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us, for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said-

Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi, tes- tifying that he (Elijah) should be sent before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come,

To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse.

Therefore the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands, and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.

Among those who came to Kirtland during this period, attracted thither not by the religion of the Saints, but by the advantages for lingual training in the Hebrew school founded by the Prophet, was Lorenzo Snow, a native of Mantua, Portage County, in that State, who had been pursuing his studies at Oberlin College. Lorenzo was then a youth of twenty-two. His sister, Eliza R. Snow, the poetess, had joined the Church in April, 1835, and at the time that her brother came to Kirtland was living in the Prophet's household. Lorenzo was baptized in June, 1836, by Apostle John F. Boynton.

Returning now to the Mormons in Missouri. Expelled with fire and sword from Jackson County in the fall of 1833, they had dwelt since then among the hospitable and kindly disposed people of Clay County. Nearly three years they had dwelt there in peace and amity. Though that section was regarded by them as only a temporary abid- ing place, where they awaited the day when law and justice should restore them to their former homes, they had nevertheless secured lands, purchased or erected dwellings, workshops, etc., and were re- ceiving constant accessions to their numbers by immigration. With these peaceful and legitimate pursuits little or no fault had hitherto been found.

But now a change had come. The people of Clay County had

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partaken in a measure of the anti-Mormon spirit which reigned in Jackson. The Saints were on the eve of another exodus, another general abandonment of their homes; though not threatened, as before, with "fire and brand and hostile hand," with robbery and expulsion from the roofs which of late had sheltered them. They had been requested, however, to remove as a community from Clay County, and "seek some other abiding place, where the manners, the habits and customs of the people would be more consonant with their own." Such was the action taken regarding them by a mass meet- ing of reputable citizens which convened at Liberty on the 29th of June, 1836.

No charge of crime had been preferred against the Mormons. It was not claimed that they had infringed upon the rights of their fellow citizens, broken the laws of the land, or been wanting in respect and loyalty to the local or the general government. True, the old charges were afloat of what they intended doing, what their opinions were on the negro and Indian questions, etc., and these, with their continuous immigrations into the county, were doubtless among the chief reasons for the change of sentiment concerning them. The men of Jackson County too, were constantly sowing the seeds of ill-will between the old settlers of Clay County and the Mor- mons. Doubtless some of the latter,-for there are cranks and criminals among all peoples,-warranted the adverse opinions formed respecting them. But this, despite the fly-in-the-ointment proverb, ought not to have condemned the whole community.

Yet they were not accused of crime, of any overt act against peace and good order. It was argued merely that "they were east- ern men, whose manners, habits, customs and even dialect, were essentially different" from those of the Missourians; that they were "non-slaveholders, and opposed to slavery ; " and that their religious tenets were "so different from the present churches of the age" that they "always had, and always would, excite deep prejudices against them in any populous country where they might locate." Such a prejudice, it was claimed, had taken root in Clay County, and had

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grown into "a feeling of hostility that the first spark might ignite into all the horrors and desolations of a civil war."

Hence, in the spirit of mediation, with an earnest desire to avert such a calamity for the sake of all, had the mass meeting spoken. Such was its candid and no doubt truthful claim. “We do not contend," said these citizens of Clay County, "that we have the least right, under the constitution and laws of the country to expel them (the Mormons) by force. We only ask them, for their own safety and for ours, to take the least of the two evils." The "least evil" in question was that no more Mormons should settle in Clay County, and that those already there should remove to some other place at as early a period as possible.

Though perfectly aware that in complying with this request they would surrender some of their dearest rights as American citizens, and that if they saw fit they might entrench themselves behind the bulwark of the Constitution and defy their opponents to legally dis- lodge them, for the sake of peace and through a sense of gratitude for former kindness, the Mormons decided to make the required sac- rifice and leave the county. First, however, they determined to put upon record their denial of the charges afloat concerning them.

At a meeting held on July 1st, presided over by William W. Phelps, a preamble and resolutions were reported by a committee previously appointed for the purpose. Therein the Mormons expressed gratitude and good will toward the people of Clay County for past kindness; denied having any claim to lands further than they purchased with money, or more than they were allowed to pos- sess under the Constitution and laws of the country ; denied being abolitionists, or that they were holding communications with the Indians, and affirmed their fealty to the government, its laws and institutions. They agreed, however, for the sake of peace and friendship, to comply with the requisitions of the mass meeting held in June.

Within three months they were on their way, migrating, after selling out at a sacrifice, to the spot selected as the site of their new

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home. It was known as the Shoal Creek region, comprising the upper part of Ray County, north and east of Clay. It was a wilder- ness, almost entirely unoccupied, seven men only inhabiting its solitudes. These were bee-liunters. The Mormons purchased their possessions, pre-empted other lands in the vicinity, and were left the sole occupants of that region. Here, in this isolated spot, where the question of social and religious differences could not well arise, at least for the present, they hoped to dwell unmolested, worshiping God in their own way,-in the way that they believed He had com- manded.

In December, 1836, in response to their petition, the Legislature of Missouri incorporated the Shoal Creek region and some adjoining lands containing a few settlers, as a separate county, to which was given the name of Caldwell. The Mormons were permitted to organ- ize the county government and select its officers. Here the Saints settled in large numbers, and founded during the winter of 1836-7 the city of Far West.

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CHAPTER IX. 1836-1838.

THE KIRTLAND APOSTASY-THE TEMPORAL

AT WAR WITH THE SPIRITUAL-FINANCIAL DISASTERS-"SOMETHING NEW MUST BE DONE TO SAVE THE CHURCH -OPENING OF THE BRITISH MISSION-HEBER C. KIMBALL AND HIS CONFRERES IN LANCASHIRE-MARVELOUS SUCCESS OF MORMONISM ABROAD-AFFAIRS AT KIRTLAND CONTINUED-A DARK HOUR- BRIGHAM YOUNG'S FIDELITY-JOHN TAYLOR-SETTING IN ORDER THE CHURCH-FLIGHT OF THE PROPHET AND HIS FRIENDS FROM KIRTLAND-THE CHURCH REMOVES TO MISSOURI- EXCOMMUNICATIONS-NEW CALLS TO THE APOSTLESHIP-THE LAW OF TITHING INSTITUTED.

HILE the events last narrated were occurring in Missouri, affairs at Kirtland had been hastening to a crisis. A spirit essentially antagonistic to the genius of religion,-opposed to the success of any great spiritual movement such as Mormonism, had crept into the Church and was playing havoc with the faith and once fervent zeal of many of its members.

The spirit of speculation, then so prevalent throughout the nation; the greed of worldly gain, so fatal to religious enthusiasm in all ages, was rapidly permeating the Mormon community at Kirtland, cooling the spiritual ardor of the Saints, and diverting the minds of many followers of the Prophet from the aims and purposes for which they had renounced "the world" to become his associates and disciples.

Even some of the leading Elders,-Apostles. High Priests and Seventies,-whose especial mission, unless otherwise directed by their superiors, was to administer in spiritual things, were neglecting the duties enjoined upon them and plucking greedily the golden fruit that hung so temptingly from the tree of mammon. Reproved for their remissness by the Prophet, they became angry, and falling

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away from their fealty to Joseph, sowed the seeds of disaffection among their friends and sympathizers.

Thus occurred the first serious apostasy in the Church. Before it was over, about half the council of the Apostles, one of the First Presidency and many other prominent Elders had become disaffected, and some of them bitterly hostile to the Prophet and all who adhered to him. Outside enemies were not slow to take advantage of this situation, and unite with the Church's internal foes in various schemes for its destruction.

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History of Utah, Part 11

Author: Whitney, Orson Ferguson Publication date: 1892 Publisher: Salt Lake City, Cannon Number of Pages: 1026

Author: Whitney, Orson Ferguson
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Salt Lake City, Cannon
Number of Pages: 1026