Chapter IX: Introduction (7)

Note:--There is still another important witness to the reality of the revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith. This witness does not testify, however, to the restoration of any authority of the Gospel. Section 76 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants relates the wonderful vision of glories. Joseph Smith was accompanied in this vision by Sidney Rigdon. Sidney Rigdon was excommunicated Sept. 8, 1844. Like the other witnesses, however, Rigdon remained true to the testimony that he had seen a vision. Sidney Rigdon died out of the Church. His son John W. Rigdon, testifies as follows:--"When I went to father just before his death, and told him that if he knew anything regarding the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, that had not been told, he owed it as a duty to himself and his family, to tell it, he reiterated that he had but one story to tell, and that was the story told him by the Prophet, Joseph Smith, that the records from which the book was taken were engraved on gold plates. Father then testified to me that Joseph was a prophet of God, and that an angel had handed him the plates from which was taken the Book of Mormon" ("Improvement Era," Vol. III, p. 697).

XXII.

THE TEST OF SECTION SIXTY-SEVEN.

Whatever Joseph Smith was or was not, he was certainly fearless in all his assertions of divine inspiration. We have learned that, at a time when high religious excitement proclaimed belief in an immaterial God, and in the actual unity of an immaterial trinity, the boy-prophet declared that he had beheld a vision in which the Father and the Son, had appeared to him, as two separate beings, and as beings of tangible existence in the form of man. Greatly elated over this incomparable vision, the young boy hastened to communicate the things he had learned to a distinguished friend, a sectarian minister; but to his utter astonishment, the boy was ridiculed and called a fool, maligned and persecuted. Yet he had seen a vision, and fearlessly he remained true to that assertion.

Again, not many years after, an angel visited him. Angels were, in Christian theology, however, supernatural beings of a bygone age. No one believed in them when Moroni came to Joseph. Yet, Joseph declared in soberness that an angel had visited him, and had restored the gospel of Christ. And for that fearless assertion, the young man was further persecuted.

Then Joseph published a book in his young manhood. He called it the Book of Mormon, and said it was a translation of certain ancient American records, revealed to him by divine power. The world stood aghast at his audacity. It tried to prove the book of spurious workmanship. It tried to prove the book merely a feeble effort of a literary quack. It tried in every way to throw discredit upon the book. But Joseph Smith remained undaunted. The world could not intimidate him, and so it persecuted him.

Then, in his maturity, this remarkable man declared himself to be a prophet of God. He claimed to hold divine communion with the Creator of the world, and issued revelation upon revelation to the Church and to its individual members. Unbelievers laughed in derision; enemies protested indignantly against such blasphemy; and even some followers of the daring prophet began to doubt his inspiration. But intrepid as ever, the prophet maintained that he was divinely called, and fearlessly gave to all the world an infallible test by which his revelations could be tried to the uttermost.

It was in the year 1831. A conference had been convened to consider the advisability of compiling and publishing the numerous revelations--professedly given by God to Joseph Smith--which had hitherto been preserved only in manuscript form. The conference deemed it proper, and even necessary, to publish these revelations; but a discussion arose concerning the language in which they were expressed. Joseph Smith was not a master of elegant English. His education had not trained him in artistic expression. There were some men in the Church far better educated than the Prophet. They criticized his language, and thought, apparently, that the revelations ought to be revised and couched in a more nearly correct, and certainly a more lofty, style. Then the Prophet again declared that he had received divine direction from God.

"And now I, the Lord," said the great I Am, "give unto you a testimony of the truth of these commandments which are lying before you. Your eyes have been upon my servant, Joseph Smith, Jr., and his language you have known, and his imperfections you have known; and you have sought in your hearts knowledge that you might express beyond his language; this you also know. Now seek ye out of the book of commandments, even the least that is among them, and appoint him that is the most wise among you; if there be any among you that shall make one like unto it, then ye are justified in saying that ye do not know that they are true; but if ye cannot make one like unto it, ye are under condemnation if ye do not bear record that they are true."[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. 67:4-8.]

It was a daring revelation to give to a body of enlightened followers. It was even a hazardous thing to throw such a gauntlet before men like Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon and William E. M'Lellin. Think of Joseph Smith--the poor son of an impoverished farmer, who had learned in school little more than to read common print and to write his own name--daring. William E. M'Lellin--who had taught school successfully in five states of the Union, and who was noted for a ready flow of good language--to write a single section like the least of the revelations in the book of commandments! Was it unparalleled conceit and presumption that prompted such fearlessness, or was it implicit confidence in the unique quality of the revelations dictated by divine inspiration? Would not so bold a declaration tempt even men of superior wisdom to pit themselves against the reputed man of God? Certainly, one man, at least, was brought low in the dust of humiliation because he presumed to apply the test and write a revelation in the name of the Lord.

"After the foregoing was received," writes the Prophet, "William E. M'Lellin, as the wisest man, in his ow estimation, having more learning than sense, endeavored to write a commandment like unto one of the least of the Lord's, but failed; it was an awful responsibility to write in the name of the Lord. The Elders and all present that witnessed this vain attempt of a man to imitate the language of Jesus Christ, renewed their faith in the fulness of the Gospel, and in the truth of the commandments and revelations which the Lord had given to the Church through my instrumentality; and the Elders signified a willingness to bear testimony to their truth to all the world."[B]

[Footnote B: "History of the Church," Vol.]

Thus was the test applied in the lifetime of Joseph, and thus was his declaration of divine inspiration vindicated. No one since the day of William E. M'Lellin has seen fit to make an attempt like his. Yet, the test was not for M'Lellin's day only. When the book of Doctrine and Covenants was finally printed, in 1835, the revelation prescribing the divinely appointed test was included as Section Sixty-seven. And the section has retained its place from that day to this. Not a word has been changed; not one element of the meaning has been altered. As a test, it is just as applicable at present, and just as forceful, as in the time of William E. M'Lellin. Any one who doubts may apply the test today, tomorrow, or at any time; though, some one has very wisely said, "it is a most dangerous thing to do."

As a revelation containing an applicable test, section sixty-seven is, then, of especial interest and value to us. The value is evident and important, even without making an actual application of the test. Let us suppose for a moment that Joseph Smith was never at any time divinely inspired--that he was nothing better than an unscrupulous impostor. It must be conceded then that he was a man of remarkable ability, though his education was limited. The Book of Mormon alone is a monumental work. In all its pages, from the lesser plates of Nephi, from Mormon's abridgment of the greater plates, from the record of Zeniff, from the story of Jared and his brother, and from other interpolated parts, to the end, there is not a single contradiction, not a single absurd doctrine or conclusion. On the other hand, the book shows a steady growth and development of the story; it reveals a philosophic system of theology; it displays perfect harmony between it and the Holy Bible. Again, in the many revelations contained in the book of Doctrine and Covenants, there are no contradictory statements, there is no obscuration of the doctrine of the Christ, there is no confusion in the duties of officers or members. On the contrary, the book is so clear that the whole Church is built up after its directions. There is no essential point of Church doctrine that was not revealed by Joseph Smith; there is no point of Church organization or discipline that was not provided for by Joseph Smith. Certainly then, if he were an impostor, he must have been a man of clear insight, of remarkable analytical power, of wonderful executive ability.

Now, if an impostor possessed the capability of successfully producing a work so complicated as the Book of Mormon, and of foisting upon the world a system of philosophy so nearly perfect as "Mormonism," and further, of effecting a Church organization far more perfect than that of the German army,--is it credible that he would throw into the face of the world a test of his labors so simple, and yet so infallible, as that contained in section sixty-seven of the Doctrine and Covenants? Consider again the fact that Joseph Smith was an unlettered man, that he had little skill in literary art. Remember further, that many of his followers, in his own day, were far more highly gifted in the way of the world than he. Would he then dare these men of superior literary ability to write a single revelation equal to the least of his? Remember also that we of today have better educational advantages than even the most favorably situated of Joseph's day. Would then an impostor, so farsighted as Joseph Smith seems to have been, have left on record a challenge for all succeeding generations to write a single revelation equal to the least of his? Would not, rather, an intelligent impostor refrain from calling undue attention to his purported revelations? Would he not certainly exercise the utmost care not to prescribe any test whereby those revelations might be detected as false? And if by chance some foolish test had been allowed to creep into the would-be sacred word, would not the impostor or his friends eagerly seize the first opportunity to expunge that test, and even the whole revelation in which it was contained? Certainly, a man who had planned his work so well as Joseph Smith--were he an impostor--planned his, would not be guilty of so gross an oversight as to leave among his printed revelations so easy a test as that in section sixty-seven.

The conclusion of the whole matter has, of course, been long self-evident. We are grateful to Joseph Smith for fearlessly giving the unbelieving world a test that may be applied to his work at any time. But the fair-minded man will see that an application of the test is unnecessary. The very fearlessness of Joseph's assertion that no uninspired man can write a revelation equal to the least of his, is evidence of his good faith and of his divine assurance. No mere impostor would dare place so unqualified a challenge before all the world.

XXIII.

THE TESTIMONY OF MARTYRDOM.

Thursday, the twenty-seventh of June, 1844, was a day of gloom for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Less than a quarter of a century had passed since the boy-prophet, Joseph Smith, had seen his first vision in the Sacred Grove. Scarce twenty-one years had passed since the angel, Moroni, had first appeared to him. Only fourteen years had passed since the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had been organized. Yet, during those few years, how much had been accomplished! And during those few years, too, how severe had been the persecution to which the Prophet and his followers had been subjected! Since the day that he had first divulged the fact that he had seen a vision, the Prophet had known hardly a moment of peace. He had been evilly spoken of even by those who had been numbered among his friends. He had been haled before courts of law near half a hundred times on the foresworn oaths of men who themselves should have been condemned by law. He had been thrown vilely into prison, and had endured all the indignities of the common felon. He had been hounded from cover to cover, as the fated stag is hunted by unleashed dogs. His devoted followers had been ruthlessly driven from their homes to build anew in the wilderness and in the desert. Always, however, the courts had been forced to admit, that, while the Prophet and his friends were compelled to pay much more than a reasonable penalty for the offenses of which they were accused, yet they were in every case perforce dismissed as innocent. Not a single charge could be sustained against them. But now, at last, the malignant hatred of his enemies prevailed against the Prophet. On Thursday, the twenty-seventh of June, 1844, the Prophet Joseph Smith, and his brother, the patriarch, Hyrum Smith, were brutally mobbed and shot to death, in the upper room of the old jail, at Carthage, Illinois.

No more flagrant act of mob-violence can be shown in the history of the modern religious world than this which brought Joseph Smith to a brutal and untimely death. It would not be appropriate, however, to take up here a detailed, critical study of the events that led up to the martyrdom. We need to know the sad story only in its outlines. On Friday, the seventh of June, 1844, there appeared in Nauvoo the first and only number of a weekly periodical called the _Nauvoo Expositor_. The _Expositor_ had been founded, according to its own prospectus,[A] for the avowed purpose, amongst others, of advocating, through its columns, "the unconditional repeal of the Nauvoo city charter," and of instigating the people of Nauvoo and adjacent parts to unite in persecuting the Prophet Joseph Smith and his friends. The first and only number of the _Nauvoo Expositor_ was true to the promises of the prospectus.

[Footnote A: "History of the Church," Vol. VI, pp. 443, 444.]

It is needless to say that the people of Nauvoo resented the vicious slanders published in the _Expositor_. They resented, moreover, the unrighteous purposes for which it was founded. The matter of this new periodical, the _Nauvoo Expositor_, was brought to the attention of the city council of Nauvoo. After several days' careful investigation, the council passed an ordinance declaring the _Nauvoo Expositor_ a nuisance, and issued an order to the mayor, Joseph Smith, to have the nuisance abated. On the night of Monday, June tenth, 1844, the city marshal, accompanied by the major-general of the Nauvoo Legion and the members of the Legion, carried the press, the type, the printed paper, and the fixtures of the _Nauvoo Expositor_, into the street and destroyed them.

This summary action of the city council of Nauvoo against the _Nauvoo Expositor_ was the beginning of the final trouble that led to the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith. There was raised such a hue and cry by the apostate publishers of the short-lived _Nauvoo Expositor_, that the whole state of Illinois was roused to attention. Mass-meetings were held in which the action of the city council of Nauvoo was denounced. Joseph Smith was arrested for riot. His case was heard before a non-Mormon justice. On June twelfth, he was acquitted. But the enemies of the Prophet had become thoroughly aroused. They banded themselves together, and determined to do him to death. He was arrested a second time for the _Expositor_ affair, and was again acquitted. But the disturbance continued to grow worse. The spirit of mobocracy took possession of the defamers of the Prophet. They began to clamor for his blood, and for the blood of those that should dare to remain loyal to him. Their frenzy had grown to such uncontrollable proportions that nothing short of the shedding of blood could satisfy them. The _Nauvoo Expositor_, though dead, was bringing to pass the very results for which it was first given life.

It was with the affair reduced thus to utter hopelessness, that the Prophet decided finally to try to save the situation by taking himself away from the seat of trouble. It was the evening of Saturday, June twenty-second, 1844. The Prophet had met with several men in an upper room of his house. The subject of discussion was naturally the serious difficulties that had grown out of the destruction of the _Nauvoo Expositor_--an act that had been twice justified by properly constituted courts of law.

"Brethren," said the Prophet, "here is a letter from the Governor which I wish to have read."

The letter was read.

Then the Prophet spoke again, sorrowfully, "There is no mercy--no mercy here."

"No," replied his brother Hyrum; "Just as sure as we fall into their hands we are dead men."

"Yes," said Joseph; "what shall we do, Brother Hyrum ?"

And Hyrum answered, "I don't know."

Then suddenly, with the light of inspiration brightening his countenance, the Prophet exclaimed, "The way is open. It is clear to my mind what to do. All they want is Hyrum and myself; then tell everybody to go about their business, and not to collect in groups, but to scatter about. There is no doubt they will come here and search for us. Let them search; they will not harm you in person or property, and not even a hair of your head. We will cross the river tonight, and go away to the West."

The plan seemed to be good. It was accepted by the men assembled. The Prophet gave several instructions for carrying the plan into effect. Then he recorded, as the last words in his own simple, direct narrative of his life these words: "I told Stephen Markham that if I and Hyrum were ever taken again we should be massacred, or I was not a prophet of God. I want Hyrum to live to avenge my blood, but he is determined not to leave me."[B]

[Footnote B: "History of the Church," Vol. VI, pp. 545, 546.]

With this complete appreciation of the seriousness of the situation, and with this sentence of death passed upon his own head, in case he should ever again be taken by the mob, Joseph Smith set out with his brother, Hyrum, for the Rocky Mountains.[C] Had he been permitted to go he might possibly have lived many years more to bless his people. But undoubtedly his days's work was done. He was called now to bear testimony to his great life-work with his blood. Joseph and Hyrum, with a few friends, had proceeded only as far as Montrose, Iowa, when messengers reached them from the wife of the Prophet. The people had become alarmed in the absence of their leader. They entreated him to return to them. They expressed their fears that if he did not return to Nauvoo-and, of course, to imprisonment--the city would be guarded by troops till he was found, "if it took three years to do it." Several of the brethren assembled at Montrose joined, too, in the plea that he should return. They accused him of cowardice, saying that it was now as in the fable: when the wolves came the shepherd fled from the flock, and left the sheep to be devoured.

[Footnote C: "History of the Church," Vol. VI, p. 547. The thought of going to the Rocky Mountains was not a new one with the Prophet Joseph Smith. Nearly two years before this, in August, 1842, he made the following entry in his journal:--"I prophesied [at Montrose, Iowa, while conversing with several brethren] that the saints would continue to suffer much affliction and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains, many would apostatize, others would be put to death by our persecutors, or lose their lives in consequence of exposure or disease; and some of you will live to go and assist in making settlements, and build cities and see the saints become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains." In February and March, 1844, a company was actually organized to explore the Rocky Mountain region, and Congress was memorialized to assist in the exploration of the West. When, a few months later, it became necessary for the Prophet to seek a place of refuge, it was but natural that he should turn his eyes in the direction of his great prediction.]

The Prophet, it need not be said, was sorely hurt. "If my life is of no value to my friends," said he, "it is of none to myself."

Thereupon he turned to Porter Rockwell, and asked, "What shall I do?"

Rockwell answered, "You are the oldest, and ought to know best; and as you make your bed, I will lie with you."

Still perturbed in mind, the Prophet turned to Hyrum and asked, "Brother Hyrum, you are the oldest, what shall we do?"

And Hyrum counseled, "Let us go back and give ourselves up, and see the thing out."

It was a serious step to take. This was a question of life and death. The Prophet considered the counsel awhile, then said, "If you go back I will go with you, but we shall be butchered."

"No, no," cried Hyrum; "let us go back and put our trust in God, and we shall not be harmed. The Lord is in it. If we live or have to die, we will be reconciled to our fate."

These were brave words. They revealed the fearless heart of the trustful man of God. But Joseph was not deceived. He knew that if he returned to Nauvoo, he should be slain. Yet, after considering the question again for awhile, he turned to Reynolds Cahoon and instructed him to have a boat ready that evening to take them back over the river. The Prophet had decided to return to his fate.

Perhaps nothing is more striking in the events of the next few days than the Prophet's foreknowledge that he was going to a violent death. On the way from Montrose to the river he fell behind the company with Porter Rockwell. Those in advance shouted to them to hurry. But Joseph answered, "It is of no use to hurry, for we are going back to be slaughtered." At five-thirty the company re-crossed the river and entered again the city of Nauvoo.

Early on Monday, June twenty-fourth, the Prophet and his company started for Carthage, Illinois. When the company reached the Nauvoo Temple, the Prophet paused. He looked with admiration at the Temple, then at the city of Nauvoo, the Beautiful, nestling in the bend of the river below them. The beautiful morning view seemed to affect him. He became again oppressed with the foreknowledge of certain death. "This is the loveliest place and the best people under the heavens," he cried; "little do they know the trials that await them." And as the company passed out of the city limits, the Prophet called on Daniel H. Wells. "Squire Wells," said the Prophet, on parting, "I wish you to cherish my memory, and not think me the worst man in the world either." Four miles west of Carthage, the Prophet's company met Captain Dunn, who had been sent to take possession of the arms of the Nauvoo Legion, with sixty mounted militia. Some of the Prophet's associates seemed to become alarmed at the sight of the soldiers. But Joseph quieted their fears with the rather doubtful comfort, "Do not be alarmed, brethren, for they cannot do more to you than the enemies of truth did to the ancient Saints--they can only kill the body." And only a few moments later, he made the startling statement, "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am calm as a summer's morning. I have a conscience void of offense toward God and toward all men. If they take my life, I shall die an innocent man, and my blood shall cry from the ground for vengeance, and it shall be said of me, 'He was murdered in cold blood !'"[D]

[Footnote D: "History of the Church," Vol. VI, p. 555.]

And that there was real cause for anxiety was proved by the testimony of Abram C. Hodge. While the arms of the Nauvoo Legion were being collected at Nauvoo for Capt. Dunn, Hodge had been sent to Carthage by Hyrum Smith, to learn what was the situation there. At Carthage, Hodge met a Rev. Mr. Dodge, a friend of Hyrum's. He warned Hodge that if Joseph and Hyrum came to Carthage they would be killed. Hodge also met Hamilton, the innkeeper, who pointed out the Carthage Greys and said, "Hodge, there are the boys that will settle you Mormons." Returning from Carthage, Hodge met the Prophet and his friends. Hodge reported what he had heard at Carthage, and said, "Brother Hyrum, you are now clear, and if it was my duty to counsel you, I would say, do not go another foot, for they say they will kill you, if you go to Carthage."

But Hyrum and Joseph were both possessed of a splendid courage. There was only one thing now to do to save Nauvoo from massacre by a lawless mob. The Prophet and his brother continued fearlessly on their way to Carthage--into the very arms of death. Indeed, perhaps equally striking with the Prophet's foreknowledge of certain death was his unflinching courage in facing that death. It was just a little before midnight, on the twenty-fourth of June, that the company reached Carthage, and put up at Hamilton's tavern. The temper of the mob-militia assembled at Carthage was displayed by the outcries of the Carthage Greys and the general mob while the Prophet and his friends were passing the public square.

"Where is the damned prophet?"

"Stand away, you McDonough boys, and let us shoot the damned Mormons."

"Clear the way and let us have a view of Joe Smith, the prophet of God. He has seen the last of Nauvoo. We'll use him up now, and kill all the damned Mormons."

If the mob had hoped to daunt the noble spirit of the Prophet by this manifestation of insatiable, bloodthirsty hatred, they were sorely disappointed. Joseph Smith continued calmly, fearlessly on his way. He knew that he was going like a lamb to the slaughter; but his spirit was, as he had said, calm as a summer's morning. There was no thought of fear in his heart. There was no thought of wavering there. He had set his hand to the plow; he did not look back.

It is needless to follow in detail the shameful proceedings of the next few days at Carthage. Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith were again arrested on a charge based on the destruction of the _Nauvoo Expositor_. They were violently dragged to prison by the Carthage Greys, without examination, on an illegal _mittimus_ prepared by Justice Robert F. Smith. The next day they were dragged forth from the jail, again by the Carthage Greys, though the _mittimus_ had ordered that they should remain imprisoned "until released by due course of law." And again, without examination, they were returned to the jail and thrust into close confinement. There was no attempt at a fair, legal trial. On the contrary, every effort was made to pervert the courts, to detain the witnesses for the defense, to delay proper proceedings, and otherwise to divert the course of justice. The mob leaders declared openly, "The law is too short for these men, but they must not be suffered to go at large"--"if the law will not reach them, powder and ball must." In short, Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum Smith, were overcome finally, not by the just decisions of a properly constituted court of law, but by the bloodthirsty passion of an infuriated mob. As with the lowly Nazarene, so with the humble American Prophet, the law would have washed its hands of the case, for it found in the Prophet an innocent man void of offense; but the lawless, passion-ruled mob would not have it so. They set aside the decisions of the courts. They revolted from the mild governance of the chief executive of the state. The final scene in the drama of the Restoration is a scene of mob-violence and murder. It occurred not long before sun-down on the eventful twenty-seventh of June, 1844. True to the threats that had been uttered; true to the determination that had been formed; true to the bitter, though unjust, hatred that had been aroused against the Prophet,--a mob of frenzied, lawless men rushed upon Carthage jail to fulfil their predictions of violence. When they fled precipitately into the woods a few minutes later, terrified by the grossness of their own brutality, they had accomplished their murderous resolve. The Prophet, Joseph Smith, and the Patriarch, Hyrum Smith, lay dead.

Three points are clearly manifest: first, the Prophet and the Patriarch were brutally mobbed, and murdered, without justifiable cause; second, the Prophet foreknew, by the spirit of inspiration, that he was going to a violent death; third, in the face of the violent death which he knew to be coming to him, the Prophet displayed a never-failing fearlessness--a complete reliance upon the righteousness of his cause. While his sworn enemies were seeking to destroy him, he was himself giving proof, by his humility and his uprightness, by his courage and his manliness, and by his unswerving devotion to his trust, that he was far and away removed from guilt, and that he was indeed a prophet of the living God. Before he was committed to prison, several of the officers of the troops at Carthage, curious to see the Prophet, visited him in his room at the inn. The Prophet asked them if they could detect anything in his appearance that would indicate that he was so desperate a character as his defamers represented him to be.

The visitors replied, "No, sir; your appearance would indicate the very contrary. General Smith, but we cannot see what is in your heart, neither can we tell what are your intentions."

"Very true, gentlemen," returned the Prophet, "you cannot see what is in my heart, and you are therefore unable to judge me or my intentions; but I can see what is in your hearts, and will tell you what I see. I can see that you thirst for blood, and nothing but my blood will satisfy you. It is not for crime of any description that I and my brethren are thus continually persecuted and harassed by our enemies, but there are other motives, and some of them I have expressed, so far as relates to myself; and inasmuch as you and the people thirst for blood, I prophesy, in the name of the Lord, that you shall witness scenes of blood and sorrow to your entire satisfaction. Your souls shall be perfectly satiated with blood, and many of you who are now present shall have an opportunity to face the cannon's mouth from sources you think not of; and those people that desire this great evil upon me and my brethren, shall be filled with regret and sorrow because of the scenes of desolation and distress that await them. They shall seek for peace, and shall not be able to find it. Gentlemen, you shall find what I have told you to be true."[E]

[Footnote E: "History of the Church," Vol. VI, p. 566.]

The events of the next two days proved that the Prophet's declaration of what was in the hearts of his, visitors was right. And the visitors had not long to live after the martyrdom of the Prophet to see a terrible fulfillment of all that he had predicted in the name of the Lord. The hearts of many of them were rent at the scenes of distress, of desolation, and of blood, that they witnessed before they were themselves taken away.

At the prison, the Prophet and his friends manifested the same fearless spirit, the same degree of divine inspiration, and the same devotion to the cause of Truth. Joseph Smith, and Hyrum Smith, and their associates, took turns preaching to the guards. These noble men explained to their keepers the true nature of their missions upon earth, and bore irrefragable testimonies to the truth of the Gospel that they preached. Now, the guards were themselves poisoned by bigotry, by prejudice, by bitter hatred. Many of them belonged to the mob-militia that was sworn to murder the Prophet. Yet, some of them were so affected by the preaching of the prisoners that they asked to be relieved before their watch was out. Many of them admitted freely that they had been imposed upon. Frequently, one of them was heard to call to the others, "Let us go home, boys, for I will not fight any longer against these men." So evident was the innocence of the prisoners, that, had they been given a fair, legal trial, the court would have acquitted them without question, and would have given them, moreover, the full protection of the law. It was the knowledge of this fact that led the Prophet's persecutors to say, "If the law will not reach them powder and ball must."

During the last night in Carthage jail, the brethren testified again of the divinity of their missions. There were present in the prison that night Willard Richards, John Taylor, John S. Fullmer, Stephen Markham, Dan Jones, Hyrum Smith, and Joseph Smith. Elder John Taylor prayed. After the prayer, Patriarch Hyrum Smith read from the "Book of Mormon." He selected certain passages relating cases of imprisonment of the servants of God for the Gospel's sake, and telling how they were miraculously delivered. Evidently, Hyrum still entertained hope that he and his brother would be delivered from their enemies. When Hyrum had finished his comments on the passages he had read, the Prophet himself addressed his friends and the guards. This address in Carthage jail was in the nature of a sermon--the last sermon delivered by the Prophet in mortal life. He bore a powerful testimony to the divine authenticity of the "Book of Mormon." He testified to the actuality of the restoration of the Gospel, with all its authorities and blessings. He alarmed solemnly that the restoration of the Gospel had been effected through the ministration of angels. He declared that the kingdom of God was again established upon the earth. He claimed that it was for the Gospel's sake that he was imprisoned, and not because he had violated any law either of God or of man. Thus devotedly, fearlessly, did the great Prophet, with the certain foreknowledge of death in his heart, testify to the divinity of his mission to earth.

On the day that he was foully murdered, it was reported to the Prophet that the mob had solemnly determined to kill him before sundown. He retained, however, his serene composure. Above all, he remained to the last true to the trust God had reposed in him. It did not once occur to him that he could save his own life by denying his claims to divine inspiration. On the contrary, on this last day of their life upon earth, with the certainty of death apparent undoubtedly to both of them, "Joseph and Hyrum bore a faithful testimony to the Latter-day work, and the coming forth of the 'Book of Mormon,' and prophesied of the triumph of the Gospel over all the earth, exhorting the brethren present to faithfulness and persevering diligence in proclaiming the Gospel, building up the Temple, and performing all the duties connected with our holy religion."[F] Almost with his dying breath the Prophet testified to the truth. And when he fell, it was with a cry to his God, who had appointed him to labor and to suffer.

[Footnote F: "History of the Church," Vol. VI, p. 610.]

It was undoubtedly in the wise economy of God that Joseph Smith was called upon to sacrifice his life. The Prophet was tried to the uttermost. Let us suppose again for a moment that Joseph Smith was an imposter--that he was trying to foist upon the world a monstrous fraud. Undoubtedly he would have been willing to endure much for the success of his undertaking. He might have yielded willingly to imprisonment, and might have paid gracefully any penalty, short of death, imposed by courts of law. But it is only fair to assume that life would have been as dear to him as to anyone else. It is not probable that he would have laid down his life for a mere imposture. It is not probable that he would have been willing to make so rich a sacrifice, had it been possible for him to recant--to deny what was an untruth anyway. More probably, if he had been an imposter, Joseph Smith would have saved his life, at the last, by avowing the imposture he had attempted to establish. But Joseph Smith did not deny his divine, prophetic calling. On the contrary, in the very presence of death, he testified to the divinity of the great latter-day work which he had inaugurated. Neither death nor the fear of death could break the assertion he had made many years before, "I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it." This fact forms another link in the chain of cumulative evidence. It does not prove that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God; but it does prove that he was sincere, that he was no mere imposter. Added to what has gone before, it strengthens the evidence that there was something more than earthly inspiration in the life-work of Joseph Smith.

Moreover, through the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, the world is left without excuse. If the Prophet's mission had run smoothly; if there had been no opposition; if there had been no persecution; if there had been no imprisonments; if there had been finally no martyrdom,--then the world might have justly derided the claims of the Prophet. He could then never have been tried; his own conviction of his divinely appointed mission could never have been tested. It could not then have been known how the fervent testimonies of either the Prophet or his followers would have withstood trial and tribulation. But the mission of the Prophet did not run smoothly. Opposition began immediately when he revealed the fact of the first vision, and followed him to his death. Malignation and persecution pursued him relentlessly. Mobs wreaked vengeance upon him for his Godliness, in acts of violence. Perjured judges committed him to prison, not for any criminal act, but for testifying of the Lord Jesus. Finally, he sacrificed his life, not for any offense small or great against the law of the land, but for being a prophet of the living God. He sealed his testimony with his blood. Is there left to the world any excuse for not accepting his testimony?

It appears then, that, throughout the terrible strain of those last days of his life, Joseph Smith had a strange foreknowledge of the coming martyrdom. Throughout those days, he faced fearlessly the death he knew to be awaiting him. In the presence of that violent death, he bore an unwavering testimony to the divine authority of the Church he had been appointed by God to establish. He saw the chief executive of the state of Illinois become faithless to his pledge of protection. He saw the mob rush upon the prison where he was lodged. He saw his devoted brother, Hyrum, fall dead before him. He knew what death was. He knew that he had no power against it--unless it were to declare himself an imposter and to deny his divine calling. This he could not do. Through all the years his testimony had not been broken. It was not broken now even by the fear of death. Could he have been an imposter?

No!

The fame of him has spread the world over. His followers are numbered by the hundreds of thousands. Everywhere he is spoken of for good or for ill. Gradually his friends are increasing. The good that is said of him is growing; the evil is diminishing. Already many declare that he was murdered in cold blood. The evidence of his great life-work is fast establishing him in the hearts of men as a true Prophet of God.