RIGDON'S MIRACULOUS CONVERSION.
Pratt having been converted, the next act of importance must, of course, be the conversion of Rigdon, and, so far as possible, the congregation whose members he had so carefully prepared for the reception of Mormonism.
Pratt is still in New York State with Smith, it being October, 1830. He has already converted his relatives. The Lord, by a revelation through Joseph Smith,[131] directs Pratt to go with Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, and Ziba Peterson "unto the wilderness among the Lamanites" (meaning the American Indians). Pratt, it will be remembered, had sold part of his clothing for passage money with which to travel in his quest for the Book of Mormon. He was, therefore, ill prepared for a winter trip to Ohio and Missouri. "As soon as the revelation was received, Emma Smith and several other sisters began to make arrangements to furnish those who were set apart for the mission with the necessary clothing, which was no easy task, as the most of it had to be manufactured out of the raw material." Pratt's wife was taken to the Whitmers,[133] that she might not want while he was away Converting Indians and Rigdon. Thus situated, Pratt took leave of his friends "late in October and started on foot."[134] According to his autobiography it was a hundred miles from Buffalo to Newark, ten miles from Newark to Macedon, where lived the Wells family,[135] and twenty-five miles from Palmyra to the Whitmers in Seneca County.[136] The distance from Buffalo to Cleveland is given as two hundred miles;[137] from Cleveland to Kirtland as thirty miles.[138] These distances were no doubt given as they were believed to be according to the roads as then traveled.
[Footnote 131: Doctrine and Covenants, section 32. Supplement 14, Millennial Star, 42. The date of this revelation was probably October 17, 1830. Howe's "Mormonism Unveiled," 212.]
[Footnote 132: "Joseph Smith, the Prophet," by Lucy Smith, 169.]
[Footnote 133: "Autobiography of P.P. Pratt," 49. 1 "History of the Church," 154.]
[Footnote 134: 1 "History of the Church," 154. "Autobiography of P.P. Pratt," 49.]
[Footnote 135: "Autobiography of P.P. Pratt," 37.]
[Footnote 136: "Autobiography of P.P. Pratt," 42.]
[Footnote 137: "Autobiography of P.P. Pratt," 36.]
[Footnote 138: "Autobiography of P.P. Pratt," 36.]
Adding fifteen miles from the distance from Macedon to Palmyra, we find the total distance to be traveled, all on foot, going from Whitmer's home in Seneca County, N.Y., to Kirtland, O., is three hundred and seventy miles, "preaching by the way,"[139] even to Indians.[140] When we remember the time of year and the almost certainty of inclement weather and the unimproved condition of the roads in that then wild west, it could hardly be expected that Pratt, "traveling on foot" and preaching by the way, could reach Kirtland before the middle of November. Rigdon must have been converted in great haste, because, by the end of November, he is already a Mormon visitor at Smith's home in New York, and on December 7 is the recipient of a special revelation from God.[141] These conclusions accord with the diary of Lyman Wight, who, being baptized on the same day as Rigdon, entered the fact as on November 14, 1830.[142] These facts also confirm Howe's statement that Rigdon was baptized on the second day after Pratt's arrival.[143] Another authority conversant with the occurrence, and desiring to be very exact, fixes the time as thirty-six hours after Pratt's arrival.[144]
[Footnote 139: "Joseph Smith, the Prophet," 169, by Lucy Smith.]
[Footnote 140: "Autobiography of P.P. Pratt," 49. 1 "History of the Church," 154.]
[Footnote 141: "Gleanings by the Way," 317. Howe's "Mormonism Unveiled," 107. Doctrine and Covenants, Section 32.]
[Footnote 142: 1 "History of the Church," 154; see also Pratt's Autobiography, 50.]
[Footnote 143: Howe's "Mormonism Unveiled," 104. "Gleanings by the Way," 312.]
[Footnote 144: H.H. Clapp in a letter to James T. Cobb.]
The Mormons are not all dull, and their cunning leaders readily saw that it would be unwise to advertise the suddenness of this conversion, since it might serve to identify the guilty conspirators. Therefore it is now represented that Pratt and Rigdon were at first in a state of great antagonism to Mormonism, which it took weeks to overcome.[145] This cannot be, unless Pratt could walk three hundred and seventy miles in less than no time at all.
[Footnote 145: Life of Sidney Rigdon in manuscript by his son, John Rigdon. 1 "History of the Church," 141. Supplement 14 Millennial Star, 47-48. 4 Times and Seasons, 290. 45 Saints' Herald. 61.]
The facts of this sudden conversion and the subsequent concealment of its precipitate character all reveal a guilt on the part of those who are conscious of having done some thing they wish to keep from the knowledge of others. Had this conversion been honestly miraculous, there would have been no thought of concealment.
November 14, 1830, the date of Rigdon's baptism, was Sunday, and of course the first Sunday after the arrival of Pratt. At their first interview during this visit, Pratt requested and "readily" received permission to preach Mormonism in Rigdon's church. The prophet's account says:[146]
[Footnote 146: Supplement 14 Millennial Star, 47.]
"At the conclusion [of Pratt's sermon] Elder Rigdon arose and stated to the congregation that the information that they had received was of an extraordinary character, and certainly demanded their most serious consideration, and as the Apostle advised his brethren to 'prove all things, and hold fast that which is good,' so he would exhort his brethren to do likewise, and give the matter a careful investigation, and not turn against it without being fully convinced of its being an imposition, lest they should possibly resist the truth. This was indeed generous on the part of Elder Rigdon, and gave evidence of his entire freedom from any sectarian bias."
But according to Elder Lyman Wight's diary and the other evidence here adduced, Rigdon was already a convert. Why, then, all this false suggestion and hypocritical cant about Rigdon's generosity and freedom from prejudice? There is but one answer, and that is, the authors of it are thereby attempting to conceal the real facts.
On December 7, 1830, and with due promptness, be it observed, Rigdon, through Smith, received a revelation making him (Rigdon) scribe to the prophet, and informing Rigdon how, all unconsciously to himself, he had been preparing the way for Mormonism.[147] This is speedily followed by another revelation,[148] in which Rigdon's Ohio home, where he so carefully prepared the people for the reception of his new faith, is designated as the gathering place of the faithful, the promised land of the "Saints."
[Footnote 147: Howe's "Mormonism Unveiled," 107. Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 32. 7 Journal of Discourses 372.]
[Footnote 148: Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 37.]