The Life of Joseph Smith, the Prophet

by George Q. Cannon

Footnotes

[1]. See [NOTE 2.], APPENDIX.

CHAPTER VI.

JOSEPH'S WILLING TOIL—FOUR YEARS OF WAITING—HE FINDS WORK IN PENNSYLVANIA—HIS MARRIAGE WITH EMMA HALE—THE PROBATION COMPLETED.

When Joseph first stood upon the sacred hill Cumorah, he was in his eighteenth year. The time in which the human character most strongly assumes its shaping was to be with him the ensuing four years.

Wondrous as had been the vision of the host of Heaven and the ranks of Lucifer; exalting as were the communications from the Lord; mighty as was to be the mission of translation; yet Joseph had day by day the humble labors of life to perform. Without a murmur he accepted his lot of toil, working with his hands to aid in the family maintenance, while his mind was busy with eternal truths. There is always a heroism in the honest, uncomplaining home-toil of youth: a necessary heroism, indeed, for without the early-formed habit of industry for man, the Almighty's purposes concerning mankind would fail. And that heroism is doubly beautiful in the life of Joseph, who knew already his destiny, divinely ordained. Left much to itself in the selfishness of earth, a weaker or an unsustained soul would have wasted its powers in vain dreamings or found its destruction in pride and self-glory.

The sweat of the face, therefore, was at once a necessity and a salutation: a requisite for the family welfare and comfort; a protection from enervating dreams. No husbandman of all that neighborhood was more industrious than he; and, except for the hatred bred against him by false teachers and their followers, no one would have had a better reputation.

As the younger sons of the family grew into vigor, the small farm and the home duties less exacted the diligence of Joseph; and when an opportunity came, in his twentieth year, for remunerative employment at a distance, he willingly accepted the offer. The engagement carried him to Susquehanna County, State of Pennsylvania, where the employer, Josiah Stoal, though dwelling in New York State, had some property upon which Joseph worked, while he boarded at the neighboring house of Mr. Isaac Hale. Stoal conceived the idea that there were signs of a silver deposit in his land, and he put his farming men to the work of mining. It was soon evident that he had become infatuated with the hope of achieving sudden and extraordinary wealth and was squandering his means in a pursuit which gave no promise of an adequate return. Joseph, who had become a favorite with Mr. Stoal because of industry and good judgment, remonstrated with him, and finally influenced him to withdraw from his sordid and fruitless project.

Isaac Hale had a daughter, Emma, a good girl of high mind and devout feelings. This worthy young woman and Joseph formed a mutual attachment, and her father was requested to give his permission to their marriage. Mr. Hale opposed their desire for a time, as he was prosperous while Joseph's people had lost their property; and it was on the 18th day of January, 1827, the last year of waiting for the plates, before Joseph and Emma could accomplish their desired union. On that day they were married by one Squire Tarbill, at the residence of that gentleman, in South Bainbridge, in Chenango County, New York. Immediately after the marriage, Joseph left the employ of Mr. Stoal and journeyed with his wife to his parental home at Manchester, where during the succeeding summer, he worked to obtain means for his family and his mission. The time was near at hand for the great promise to be fulfilled and for his patience and faithfulness to be rewarded.

As the hour approached for the delivery of the ancient record into his hands, Joseph prayed earnestly for humility and strength. He had not failed in any of his prescribed visits to Cumorah. Even when at work in Pennsylvania, he had obtained temporary release that he might journey to the hill and meet his Heavenly teacher.

His wife, his parents and brethren were made participants in his hopes, and they added their faith to his, and gave their hearty support to his labor and preparation.

The 21st day of September, 1827, completed the fourth year since Moroni first appeared at Joseph's bedside, and the occasion was deemed a fitting hour for prayer and thanksgiving. In that humble home God's chosen servant and his kindred offered their adoration to the beneficent Father. It was also a time for the review of the trying years since the call first came to Joseph. The family had remained in honest lowliness, unmoved by the assaults and ridicule of the world. Alvin, the eldest son of Joseph and Lucy, had died on the 19th of November, 1824, with a firm belief in the coming of the New Dispensation and with words of comfort and blessing for his brother Joseph upon his lips. The faithful Hyrum, like Joseph, was happily wed. And the younger children were nearly all at years of understanding.

Quiet came with the darkness, and peace dwelt upon the house and by the pillows of this devoted family. The tranquility of the night was long remembered, for it was almost the last time they had on earth in unfearing and undisturbed enjoyment of each other's society.

CHAPTER VII.

FINAL VISIT TO CUMORAH—DELIVERY OF THE PLATES BY THE ANGEL MORONI— SOLEMN CAUTION TO JOSEPH—ATTACKS BY ASSASSINS AND ROBBERS—POVERTY AND PERSECUTION—HELP FROM MARTIN HARRIS—REMOVAL TO PENNSYLVANIA.

For the fifth time Joseph stood by the place of deposit of the stone box and its precious contents, which for fourteen centuries had remained concealed from human vision and undisturbed by mortal hand. It was the morning of the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven. For the last time he removed the soil and lifted the stone cover, while he prayed that he might be as faithful to his trust as had been the inanimate hillside. The angel of the Lord was at his side and bade him stretch forth his hands and take from their long hiding place the Urim and Thummim and the record.

Joseph touched them and his being was thrilled with a divine joy. He lifted them to the surface and examined their beauty.

The Urim and Thummim was as the angel had described it—two precious stones set in an arch of silver which was fastened to an ancient breastplate of pure gold, curiously wrought. The breastplate was concave on one side and convex on the other, and seemed to have been made for a man of greater stature than is ordinary in modern days. Four golden bands were fastened to it, for the purpose of attaching it to the person of its wearer—two of the bands being for the shoulders, the others for the waist or hips.

The plates, also of gold, were of uniform size; each was slightly less in thickness than a common sheet of tin and was about eight inches in width; and all were bound together by three rings, running through one edge of the plates. Thus secured, they formed a book about six inches in thickness. A part of the volume, about one-third, was sealed; the other leaves Joseph turned with his hand. They were covered on both sides with strange characters, small and beautifully engraved.

Moroni instructed Joseph that he must not attempt to open that part of the book which was sealed, for the hour had not come wherein it was destined to be made known; but in God's accepted time he would bring that portion of the record to the knowledge of His children. Then the angel repeated all that he had formerly said in advice and blessing. Joseph was told that the Lord expected him to shield the record from profane touch and sight, even with his life, until his work of translation should be completed and the plates restored to the hands of Moroni; that all the former guardians had relinquished their trust and he alone would be held accountable for their safety; that efforts would be made to rob him of the holy writings, but if he proved faithful the Heavens would give their aid to his support and he would come off triumphant. And he was finally and solemnly warned that if he should betray his mission he must be cut off and destroyed.

With a crowning promise to Joseph that he should not be left to grope in darkness, and that upon the conclusion of the labor of translation, the angel would visit him and again receive the plates, Moroni disappeared, and THE PROPHET OF THE LAST DISPENSATION stood alone upon Cumorah, clasping to his bosom the priceless trust.

Joseph folded the golden record of past generations beneath his mantle and sped homeward. The words of Moroni had been prophetic; three different times in the brief journey to his house, the chosen minister of salvation was assailed by unknown men—emissaries of the evil one, who sought to strike him to the earth and rob him of his precious charge. Once they dealt him a terrific blow with a bludgeon, but he did not fall. He was a man of rare physical endowments, yet on this occasion his own strength and activity, without the help of the Lord, would not have delivered him or been sufficient to cast his assailants one by one prone in the dust with the irresistible force which he used against them.

With the plates unharmed, but himself bruised, and panting from the contest, Joseph reached his home.

After this important hour the powers of darkness arrayed all their subtle and murderous influences against him. Abominable falsehoods were cunningly circulated against him and his father's family, the purpose being to excite the rage of the populace against them. Constantly the Prophet's life was beset by assassins; the sacred record was sought by robbers. Each hour brought some new menace. Men, lurking by his pathway, discharged deadly weapons at his person; and mobs attacked him and invaded his home. Wherever the plates were supposed to be hidden, there were the despoilers breaking through bolts and walls. Open force failing, subtle stratagems were devised for the destruction of the Prophet's life and the abstraction of the plates.

These numerous efforts all failed to accomplish the ends at which they were aimed. But they prevented Joseph from obtaining the safe leisure necessary for his labor of translation. Anxious to pursue his heaven-appointed work without the interruption of these continued attacks, he was led to the idea of removing from Manchester. Personal fear was not an element of his nature, and no selfish motive prompted his resolve; but in no other visible manner could his sacred instructions be fulfilled. The home of Emma's parents in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, was the place which he selected, and thither he determined to journey.

Poverty seemed, however, to present an insurmountable barrier; but it was suddenly removed. Martin Harris, a prosperous and respected farmer of Wayne County, New York, and who was destined in the providence of God to afterwards fill an important part in connection with the divine record, was inspired to come to Joseph with a free offer of help. By the aid thus extended, the Prophet was able to take his departure to Manchester, carrying with him his wife and the sacred plates. As Joseph and Mary were warned to flee with the infant Jesus into Egypt to escape the destruction which Herod had planned, so the Prophet was led to seek another place of residence for the performance of his labor.

But Satan was not idle. Twice while on the journey was the servant of God stopped by officers, who, under a pretended warrant of law, searched his wagon for the plates. But the angel of the Lord blinded the eyes of the wicked and they found not what they sought.

It was in the month of December, 1827, when Joseph reached the house of Isaac Hale in Pennsylvania; and without delay he began his inspired work of translation by the aid of the seer stones.

It may seem strange and unaccountable that such extraordinary efforts should be made to destroy this young man and to get possession of the plates with which he had been entrusted. But his whole life from this time forward until he sealed his testimony with his blood was filled with incidents of the most remarkable character. The words of the angel were that God had a work for Joseph to do, and that his 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; and they were fulfilled to the letter. No man of this generation was so passionately loved; no man was so cruelly hated. Satan knew that if the work of which God had chosen him to be the founder on the earth should prevail, his power and dominion should be overthrown. Against this Prophet, therefore, the profoundest depths of hell were stirred up. While he lived he was the target at which the most deadly shafts of Satan were directed. For the succeeding sixteen or seventeen years from the time of which we write his steps were beset by peril. Violence and murder lurked in his pathway. He was never free from menace. Through his life he enjoyed peace, but it was the peace that came from above and not that which arises from auspicious surroundings and undisturbed quiet. He was a happy man; but his happiness was never due to worldly favor or popularity. God had endowed him with a buoyancy of spirit and a strength of faith that the most deadly opposition and the most threatening difficulties could not repress; with a courage which, in the midst of brutal mobs howling for his blood, never faltered or was quenched. His was a stormy career; but he was amply qualified for it. As he himself said on one occasion:

And as for perils which I am called to pass through, they seem but a small thing to me, as the envy and wrath of man have been my common lot all the days of my life, and for what cause it seems mysterious, unless I was ordained from before the foundation of the world for some good end, or bad, as you may choose to call it. Judge ye for yourselves. God knoweth all these things whether it be good or bad. But nevertheless, deep water is what I am wont to swim in. It has all become a second nature to me, and I feel like Paul, to glory in tribulation, for to this day has the God of my fathers delivered me out of them all, and will deliver me from henceforth; for behold, and lo, I shall triumph over all my enemies, for the Lord God hath spoken it.

CHAPTER VIII.

JOSEPH COPIES AND TRANSLATES FROM THE PLATES—MARTIN HARRIS AGAIN COMES OPPORTUNELY—PROFESSOR ANTHON AND THE CHARACTERS—MARTIN'S LABOR AS A SCRIBE—HIS BROKEN TRUST—THE TRANSLATION LOST TO JOSEPH—THE PROPHET PUNISHED FOR WILFULNESS.

Joseph's first labor with the plates was in obedience to the general command given to him through Moroni. The particular means by which the translation was to be effected and given to the world had not been made known; and this young, untaught, impoverished man was at that hour unable, within his own resources of education and purse, to arrange for the consummation of the work. He devoted every available moment, however, to his sacred task, constantly praying to the Almighty for aid; and yet the progress was slow.

In every step which Joseph took as the chosen messenger of God, human struggle and sacrifice, to overcome perplexing difficulties and delays, seemed necessary. In this way more than any other was he taught a patient trust, and was sanctified for the exalted destiny which awaited him. Though he had been instructed by Moroni that Jehovah designed the record to be translated for the edification and blessing of the race, he did not experience the direct interposition of God in the accomplishment of the work—except only as the power of the Heavens was manifested through the Urim and Thummim. And much he marveled that the Lord should permit His holy purposes to depend upon weak and slow-moving man. But the Prophet lived to learn and to demonstrate that God commits His decrees to His earthly children for fulfilment; and though he may often work miracles in their behalf, yet are they required to give their best endeavor—even though weak and human—to the appointed deed; and out of their trials, their stumblings, their failures and their ultimate successes, will he bring the triumph of their devotion and His word.

Joseph had leisure and safety, after establishing himself at the house of Isaac Hale, in Harmony, Susquehanna County, State of Pennsylvania, in the month of December, 1827, to examine the sacred history and treasure which had been committed to his ward. And he very soon began a somewhat desultory labor of copying the different styles of strange characters found upon the plates and translating some of them by the aid of the Urim and Thummim. He thus prepared a considerable number of characters on sheets; some of them being accompanied by translations and others being alone. It does not appear that he had any more definite object in this superficial work than to seek, half-blindly, to fulfill the command delivered by the lips of Moroni, the angel of the record. But the purpose, wisely ordained, was latter apparent.

Joseph continued his efforts until some time in the month of February, 1828. Then the man, Martin Harris, who had once before befriended him, appeared at the Hale homestead.

Martin Harris had been deeply affected by his former intercourse with Joseph; and he had come in the depth of winter from his home near Lake Ontario, to seek out the young Prophet and to learn more of his wondrous mission. Harris tarried a brief time with Joseph at the house of Isaac Hale; and then in this same month of February, 1828, with the Prophet's permission, he carried away some of the various copies and translations which Joseph, laboriously and patiently, had made. It was the purpose of Martin Harris to submit the characters to scientists and linguists; and possibly by their verdict to decide to establish or withdraw his half-yielded faith. In pursuance of this plan, he went to New York City, and there visited Charles Anthon, a professor of languages at Columbia College.

Anthon examined first a sheet of characters accompanied by Joseph's translation; and declared that the characters were Ancient Egyptian and that the interpretation was correct—more complete and perfect than any other translation of that language which he had ever seen. He then looked at the other sheets, not accompanied by translations, and pronounced the characters to be genuine specimens of various ancient written languages. He wrote a certificate which embodied the foregoing assertions and presented it to Martin Harris.

Afterward, Anthon made inquiry of Martin regarding the origin of the characters; and then for the first time the learned professor discovered what endorsement he had bestowed upon an unlearned youth who had received from the hands of an angel a golden record filled with these ancient writings. Anthon hastily demanded the certificate which he had given to Harris; implying in his request that he wished to give the paper a final examination or to add something to it. And as soon as the professor received it again into his hands, he destroyed it, saying: "There is no such thing in these days as ministering of angels."

He asked that "the book which the young man had dug up" might be brought to him; and stated that out of his worldly learning he would translate the whole work. Harris replied that a considerable portion of the record was sealed and might not be opened to human gaze. Then Anthon contemptuously responded.

"I cannot read a sealed book!"

And thus was fulfilled the word of Isaiah who wrote twenty-six centuries ago:

"AND THE VISION OF ALL IS BECOME UNTO YOU AS THE WORDS OF A BOOK THAT IS SEALED, WHICH MEN DELIVER TO ONE THAT IS LEARNED, SAYING, READ THIS, I PRAY THEE: AND HE SAITH, I CANNOT; FOR IT IS SEALED."

When the conference with Professor Anthon was ended, Martin Harris carried his manuscripts to one Doctor Mitchell, who claimed a knowledge of some of the characters; and learning what Anthon had said concerning their genuineness, the learned doctor endorsed the statements of the other scholar.

Harris returned to the Prophet's home, fully convinced. This man—generous, skeptical naturally, but honest—was seized upon by the spirit of the work. When he met Joseph he related the convincing occurrences of his visits to the learned men, and he proffered his services as a writer for the Prophet, in the great work of translation.

The proposal was gladly accepted; and Martin proceeded to Palmyra to arrange for a long absence from home. It was the 12th day of April, 1828, when he returned to Harmony, prepared to serve as a scribe.

From this time forward until the 14th day of June, 1828, Joseph dictated to Martin Harris from the plates of gold; as the characters thereon assumed through the Urim and Thummim the forms of equivalent modern words which were familiar to the understanding of the youthful Seer.

Martin Harris was a critical man without superstition. Listening to the words dictated day by day, and becoming familiar with Joseph, he sought to make another test.

One of Joseph's aids in searching out the truths of the record was a peculiar pebble or rock, which he called also a seer stone, and which was sometimes used by him in lieu of the Urim and Thummim. This stone had been discovered to himself and his brother Hyrum at the bottom of a well; and under divine guidance they had brought it forth for use in the work of translation. Martin determined to deprive the Prophet of this stone. He obtained a rock resembling a seer-stone in shape and color, and slily substituted it for the Prophet's real medium of translation. When next they were to begin their labor, Joseph was at first silent; and then he exclaimed: "Martin, what is the matter? All is dark."

Harris with shame confessed what he had attempted. And when the Prophet demanded a reason for such conduct, Martin replied: "I did it to either prove the utterance or stop the mouths of fools who have said to me that you had learned these sentences which you dictate and that you were merely repeating them from memory."

The work progressed through the two months from April until June; not steadily, for Martin was much called away. But at the expiration of that time, on the 14th day of June, 1828, Martin had written one hundred and sixteen pages foolscap of the translation.

And at this hour came a test, bitter in its experiences and consequences to the Prophet of God.

A woman wrought a betrayal of the confidence reposed in Martin Harris and a temporary destruction of Joseph's power.

The wife of the scribe was desirous to see the writings dictated to her husband by Joseph: she importuned Martin until he, too, became anxious to have in his own possession the manuscript. Long before the 14th day of June, he began to solicit from the Prophet the privilege of taking the papers away that he might show them to curious and skeptical friends; and thereby be able to give convincing to doubting persons, of Joseph's divine mission.

A simple denial was not sufficient, and he insisted that Jehovah should be asked to thus favor him. Once, twice, in answer to his demands, the Prophet inquired; and each time the reply was that Martin Harris ought not to be entrusted with the sacred manuscript. Even a third time Martin required that Joseph should solicit permission in his behalf; and on this occasion, which was near the 14th day of June, 1828, the word of the Lord came that Joseph, at his own peril, might allow Harris to take possession of the manuscript and exhibit it to a few other persons who were designated by the Prophet in his supplication. But because of Joseph's wearying applications to God, the Urim and Thummim and seer-stone were taken from him. Accordingly the precious manuscript was entrusted to the keeping of Martin Harris; and he bound himself by a solemn oath to show it only to his wife, his brother Preserved Harris, his father and mother, and Mrs. Cobb, his wife's sister. After entering into this sacred covenant, Martin Harris departed from Harmony, carrying with him the inspired writings.

Then came about the punishment of Martin for his importunacy and of Joseph for his blindness. Wicked people, through the vanity and treachery of Martin's wife and his own weakness, gained sight of the precious manuscript and they contrived to steal it away from Harris, so that his eyes and the eyes of the Prophet never again beheld it.

For his disobedient pertinacity in voicing to the Lord the request of Martin Harris, Joseph had been deprived of the Urim and Thummim and seer-stone; but this was not his only punishment. The pages of manuscript which contained the translation he had been inspired to make, and which thereby became the words of God, had been loaned to Martin Harris and been stolen; and now the plates themselves were taken from him by the angel of the record.

The sorrow and humiliation which Joseph felt were beyond description. The Lord's rebukes for his conduct pierced him to the centre. He humbled himself in prayer and repentance; and so true was his humility that the Lord accepted it as expiation and the treasures were restored to his keeping.

Martin Harris was also shamed and grieved; and he repented in anguish the violation of his trust. But, though a measure of confidence was restored to him, he was never again permitted to act as a scribe for the Prophet in the work of translation.

While Joseph was mourning the loss of the manuscript, the Lord revealed to him many truths regarding the situation to which he had brought himself, and also warned him of the designs of wicked men who plotted to overthrow him and to put the name of God and His newly revealed record to shame in the land.

A rebuke was given at this time in words which Joseph always remembered:

Although a man may have many revelations, and have power to do many mighty works; yet, if he boasts in his own strength, and sets at naught the counsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God upon him.

While these momentous events were in progress, Joseph and his wife were called to mourn. In July, 1828, a son was born to their house, but the babe died after a brief time, leaving its mother at the door of dissolution. The needs of the little household now required that the Prophet should give a time to toil; and he went forth to labor humbly and uncomplainingly.

While he was thus engaged, in the month of February, 1829, he received a comforting revelation from the Almighty:

Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men: * * * * *

For behold the field is white already to harvest, and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perish not, but bringeth salvation to his soul.

Joseph's desire to atone for his loss of the first manuscript impelled him to constant exertion. After his manual toil was ended each day, he contritely devoted his hours to the work of translation; and his young wife aided him by writing at his dictation. In this way some progress was made. But Emma was bowed with bodily suffering and with sorrow for her babe; and often the holy task languished, causing Joseph to pray earnestly to God for a writer who could give his whole time to the work.

CHAPTER IX.

OLIVER COWDERY IS SENT OF HEAVEN TO AID THE PROPHET—THE AARONIC PRIESTHOOD IS BROUGHT TO EARTH BY CHRIST'S FORERUNNER—FIRST BAPTISMS OF THIS DISPENSATION.

Almost a year had passed from the day upon which Martin Harris began his service as a scribe for Joseph, when once more an earthly messenger of help appeared to the Prophet.

It was at the hour of sunset on the Sabbath day, April 5th, 1829, when Oliver Cowdery came to the Prophet's door—in Harmony, Susquehanna County, state of Pennsylvania. This young man, Oliver Cowdery, a school teacher, had been carried in the autumn of the year 1828, in fulfillment of an engagement, to the town of Manchester, New York. Hearing there of the angelic visitations to the unlearned farm-lad, Joseph Smith, he was led to a deep and prayerful investigation of the subject. A powerful conviction that Joseph had been ministered to by heavenly beings, as he had testified, was wrought upon Oliver's mind, and he asked the Lord for direct guidance. His prayer was answered, and the Lord made plain to him that his would be the privilege and the duty to aid the young Prophet as a scribe or secretary. Situated as Oliver Cowdery was, he needed inspiration from the Almighty to enable him to decide to accept such a mission; for around and within the little village of Manchester at that dark hour surged the spirits of hatred, cruelty, falsehood and even murder, and no man from any selfish wish, would have cared to ally himself in acts or sympathetic words with the cause and the man condemned by all the power of the pulpit. As soon as he could gain honorable release from his school duties, Oliver journeyed to Pennsylvania and presented himself to Joseph as one who had a wish to serve God and aid His chosen servant.

This was the first conversion by the testimony of the Spirit of one who had not seen the Prophet. The Church speaks for itself of the hundreds of thousands of honest souls who have had the testimony of the Holy Ghost since that hour.

Joseph accepted Oliver as the embodied answer to his prayer for help; and on Tuesday, the 7th day of April, 1829—two days after they had first beheld each other in the flesh—the Prophet began dictating to Oliver in continuance of the work of translation. While they labored the revelations of God came to them in guidance of their daily work, in support of their hopes and in the enlargement of their understandings concerning the principles of salvation.

As they progressed, they encountered a passage of the revealed record which spoke of baptism for the remission of sins. Deeply imbued with the sense of their great responsibility, Joseph and Oliver felt as if a personal message had come to them, requiring their compliance with some sacred observance. They talked together long and earnestly upon the subject; and one day in the month of May, 1829, they went into the woods together and knelt before the Lord. They asked Him for light concerning the matter of baptism for the remission of sins. While kneeling with uncovered heads and lifting up their voices in supplication, a messenger of Heaven, clothed in dazzling glory, descended before their eyes. As in the other visitations which had come to the Prophet alone, this personage was also surrounded by a supernal light. He stated to them that he was John, known as John the Baptist at the time of Christ; and that he had come to minister to them, being under the direction of Peter, James and John, the apostles who still held the keys of the priesthood after the order of Melchisedec. He laid his hands upon their heads and said:

Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels and of the gospel of repentance and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.

Then this heavenly personage, concerning whom the Savior Himself had said: "Among those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist," and whose unique and glorious privilege it had been while in mortality to administer the ordinance of baptism to the Son of God, instructed them in the duties of the Aaronic priesthood to which they had just been ordained. He said to Joseph and Oliver that the Aaronic priesthood did not possess the authority to bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, but that such power belonged to the priesthood of Melchisedec, which in due time would be conferred upon them. John then commanded them that they should go forth unto the water: and by the authority which he had transmitted to them they should each baptize the other—Joseph to immerse Oliver first, and then Oliver to perform the same office for Joseph; and that each should, following baptism, re-ordain the other to the priesthood after the order of Aaron. Later, they would receive the Melchisedec priesthood and be ordained as elders; Joseph to be first and Oliver second.

When John left them and ascended in his encircling pillar of light, they went straightway to perform the command which they had received. Joseph led Oliver down into the water, and, by authority which he had received, the Prophet immersed his companion for the remission of sin. As soon as this was done, Oliver immersed Joseph in the same manner and by the same authority. They came up together out of the water; and ordained each other to the Aaronic priesthood.

No sooner had they fulfilled the requirements left with them by John than they felt the power of holiness resting upon them. Each one of them had instantly the gift of mighty prophecy. Joseph saw and foretold the establishment of a Church founded upon the rock of righteousness; having the everlasting Gospel; proclaiming the truth to all the nations of the earth; fulfilling the destiny designed by God in the redemption of humanity from darkness and misery. Oliver, too, prophesied of many glorious things, both for his own comfort and that of Joseph.

Thus filled with sublime delight, entertaining more hope and courage than ever before, they returned to their labor of translation. If anything had been wanting to banish every worldly thought from their minds and to fill them with a zealous desire to hasten the work, the promise of John supplied that requirement. Having so far been permitted to partake of the blessings and ordinances enjoyed by the chosen servants of Christ in another age; and having a promise that through faithfulness they should enjoy other gifts of this holy nature, nothing could restrain their ardor.

The bitter experience which Joseph had endured, through communicating so freely the glorious manifestations which he had received, taught him caution. When he received his first communications from heaven, he had supposed that he could relate what had occurred and the tidings would be gladly received; but he soon learned, as so many of those who have since espoused the truth have also learned, that the words of caution given by the Lord Jesus to His disciples, concerning giving that which is holy unto the dogs and casting their pearls before swine, were as applicable to these times as they were when He gave them. There was a class of persons who would trample such precious things under their feet and would turn again and rend those who presented the truth to them. Except, therefore, in things of this sacred character which he was commanded of the Lord to make known, he kept them to himself. So he and Oliver hid within their breasts the fact of John's visitation and their baptism, and the joy arising therefrom. Yet, notwithstanding their caution, every step taken by the Prophet in fulfillment of God's purposes in this dispensation, however quietly he had acted, had been followed quickly by a new outburst of persecution. The dawn of a new era was visible, and the evil one must exert every power he possessed to becloud the minds of men. The hatred of the people dwelling in the vicinity of Harmony was kindled, unaccountably even to themselves, against the two young men. A mob spirit reigned in the neighborhood; and a murderous attack upon Joseph and Oliver was only prevented by the influence of Isaac Hale and his family, who gave sympathy and help at this hour to the Prophet.

Joseph and Oliver, in the midst of their labors, did not fail to pray for that help and guidance which they needed. From the record itself they gathered a large store of religious truths; and their minds being opened to comprehend the principles of salvation, they also searched the other scriptures, the Old and New Testaments, with great profit to themselves. As a result, much blessing came to them through their devotion and industry. Joseph's concentration upon the work entrusted to him had such effect upon members of the Hale family, that they united in giving to him the assurance that he should be protected from the mob; and that he should be saved from all unlawful persecution, so far as their influence and strength could avail to defend him. The also extended to Oliver a promise to similarly protect him so long as he remained to assist Joseph.

After a little time, the spirit led the Prophet to impart to his friends and acquaintances some of the information which he had gained. Though at this time he was far from possessing the comprehension of the truth which he afterwards had, he was still rich in knowledge and blessings, compared with the people who surrounded him, and who were enthralled by the ignorance and intolerance which had been growing through all the ages since the ruin of the early church.

CHAPTER X.

THE PROPHET'S BROTHER SAMUEL BAPTIZED BY OLIVER—RENEWED DANGER TO THE WORK—HELP FROM FAYETTE—MIRACULOUS INTERPOSITION TO AID DAVID WHITMER—HYRUM SMITH AND OTHERS BELIEVE AND ARE BAPTIZED.

While thus busily engaged, Samuel H. Smith, a brother of Joseph, came down from Manchester to Harmony. Joseph proclaimed to him the truth, so far as it had been revealed; presented to his view the translation of the Book of Mormon, so far as it had been completed; and then besought him to gain by prayer to Almighty God, a knowledge for himself concerning the divine origin of that which he had heard and seen. Samuel, a man of integrity and singleness and fixity of purpose, was not easily convinced. Finally, however, he consented to ask for light from Heaven. For this purpose he retired to the woods and humbled himself in supplication before the Lord. A convincing answer came to his prayer, and he hastened to Joseph with his tidings of joy. At the request of the Prophet, Oliver Cowdery administered to Samuel in the ordinance of baptism for the remission of his sins, and later he was confirmed. The same signs followed in this case; and Samuel was filled with the spirit of prophecy and praise. He uttered many sublime truths of which his mind up to that moment had never conceived. Desiring that his kindred might be made partakers of his joy, he journeyed quickly back to Manchester to give to the family the news of Joseph's extended calling. Hyrum Smith came to Harmony immediately afterward to inquire of Joseph concerning these wondrous things. The young Prophet declared to his elder brother that an angel from Heaven had restored to earth the power to baptize for the remission of human sin; and that himself and Oliver had been made the recipients of this authority.

Hyrum Smith was a noble man, filled with earnest desire for truth and holiness. He asked Joseph to obtain further light, and at his request the Prophet solicited a direct revelation from the Lord, on Hyrum's behalf. The desire was answered in a revelation given to Hyrum, through the Prophet. In that revelation, these words occur:

Hyrum, my son, seek the Kingdom of God, and all things shall be added according to that which is just. Build upon my rock, which is my Gospel. Deny not the Spirit of Revelation nor the Spirit of Prophecy; for woe unto him that denieth these things.

Hyrum believed and awaited the proper hour for baptism.

While the light of truth was thus breaking upon the world, all the powers of hell allied themselves against it, with the determination that it should be extinguished. Mobs increased in strength and hatred. Added to this constant menace, Joseph once more found himself almost destitute of means. He would soon have been compelled to relinquish the glorious work of translation to engage again in manual toil for the sustenance of his family and to provide maintenance for himself and Oliver, had not Providence again raised up a friend to come to his aid.

In this eventful month of May, 1829, a man named Joseph Knight appeared at Harmony and sought out the Prophet. Mr. Knight had heard of Joseph's work and desired to contribute out of his means to the progress of the cause. He brought food and such other comforts as would enable the Prophet to continue his work of translation without being interrupted. Not only upon this occasion, but more than once subsequently, Joseph Knight journeyed from his home in Broome County, New York, a distance of thirty miles, to bring supplies to the Prophet's house.

Also in this month of May, Joseph received a revelation from God instructing him that the manuscript lost by Martin Harris had fallen into the hands of wicked men, who had made alterations with intent to bring shame and confusion upon Joseph, and distrust upon the word of the Lord; that the portion which was thus lost and changed was only a translation of an abridgment of certain records; and that, instead of translating once more this part of the work, Joseph should translate the record of the original plates from which the abridgment had been made—thus giving a more complete presentation of that portion of the history and thus preventing the wicked from bringing forth their forgery and casting discredit upon the Prophet by its means.

But the persecution did not cease, and the mobs seemed to be gathering their forces with some definite determination. At the opening of the month of June, 1829, immediate danger threatened the Prophet and his charge. But at this time a young man, calling himself David Whitmer, presented himself at the residence of Joseph and announced that he came with a message from his father, Peter Whitmer, of Fayette, Seneca County, New York. The message was an invitation from the elder Whitmer to Joseph, requesting him to remove with his work and his assistant to Fayette and there enjoy the hospitality of the Whitmers and the protection which they would be able to afford him, until his labor could be completed.

The young man David also related to Joseph a marvelous interposition which had enabled him to deliver his message so early. When David first felt an impression that he ought to journey to Harmony in search of Joseph, he questioned the wisdom of such a course; because his farm-work was in such a condition that much loss must ensue, he feared, if he departed at a time apparently so inopportune. He was pondering his doubts upon the subject, when he was instructed by the whispering of the Spirit that his duty required him to go down to Harmony as soon as his field labor should reach a certain state. He toiled during the ensuing day to harrow in the wheat of a large field; and at night he found that he had done more in a few hours than he could usually accomplish in two or three days. The next morning he went out to spread plaster, according to the custom of that region, upon another field. When he reached the spot where he had formerly deposited large heaps of the plaster, he found that it had been carried upon the field and spread just as he would have laid it by his own hand. He marveled much. His sister dwelt near the place and he asked her who had done the work. She answered him that three strangers had appeared at the field the day previous and had scattered the plaster with wonderful skill and speed. She and her children had viewed with amazement the progress made by the men; but she had said nothing to them as they were strangers, and she presumed that David had employed them to help him through his rush of work.

Both Peter Whitmer and his son regarded these events as miraculous interpositions to aid David to hasten down into Pennsylvania. The young man therefore departed with his horses and wagon the next morning and journeyed to Harmony, a distance, as traveled, of one hundred and fifty miles, in two days.

This aid came providentially; and Joseph, after receiving instruction in answer to prayer, accepted the invitation. When the Prophet was prepared to depart from Harmony, he asked the Lord to direct the manner in which the plates should be carried to Fayette. He was told in response that the angel would receive the treasures; and after the arrival of Joseph at the home of Peter Whitmer in Fayette, would again deliver them into his hands. Thus relieved, Joseph went serenely forth; and in a few days he was safe in Fayette. In the garden adjoining the Whitmer residence, the Prophet was visited by the angel and once more was placed in possession of the record.

The family of Peter Whitmer, and some other persons in the neighborhood, were very earnest inquirers after truth. The supernatural instruction and aid which David had received to go down into Pennsylvania and offer his father's house as a refuge to Joseph, amazed all who heard of the occurrence. Therefore Joseph found many people at Fayette anxious to receive him. Peter Whitmer and all the members of his household accorded to Joseph and also to Oliver every help and comfort within their bestowal; and thus, without further anxiety as to their maintenance or safety, they were enabled to progress with the translation of the sacred history.

While they were not laboring upon this work, they were praying and teaching among the people. Thus the Prophet and his assistant Oliver wrought much good. Several honest, God-fearing souls became convinced that Joseph Smith was entrusted with a divine mission. And in this month of June, 1829, three persons were baptized in Seneca Lake, after the pattern and under the authority received from John, the forerunner of our Savior. Hyrum Smith and David Whitmer received this ordinance under the hand of the Prophet himself, and John Whitmer, a brother of David, was baptized by Oliver Cowdery.

The work of translation went on rapidly. When Oliver's hand would grow weary after some hours of writing, either John or David Whitmer would take his place and continue at the Prophet's dictation.

CHAPTER XI.

ELEVEN CHOSEN WITNESSES VIEW THE PLATES—THEIR UNIMPEACHABLE TESTIMONY—RESTORATION OF THE MELCHISEDEC PRIESTHOOD BY DISCIPLES OF OUR LORD—THE APOSTLESHIP CONFERRED—OTHER BAPTISMS—THE TRANSLATION COMPLETED.

After establishing himself at the house of David Whitmer, and early in the month of June while engaged in translating, Joseph was instructed that three special witnesses should be blessed of God with a revelation of the truth of the Book and should be permitted to examine the plates. This was, also, in fulfillment of predictions published in the Book of Mormon. When this promise became known to Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, they begged that they might be numbered among the three witnesses. While they were still making their petitions for this favor, Martin Harris came to Fayette. Impelled by repentance and a desire to gain forgiveness, he had followed Joseph. Martin humbled himself in prayer to God and solicited the entreaties of Joseph in his behalf. Joseph joined with Martin in praying to Heaven that his humility and contrition might be accepted and that he might be received again into favor. The Lord answered Joseph that if Martin continued faithful and humble, and refused to be led away again by evil counsels or the vanity of the world, his sins would be forgiven. Then Martin, learning that witnesses were to be chosen to behold the plates of gold, bearing the engraved record, and to give testimony to all the world concerning this work of God, most penitently and anxiously solicited that he might be one of the witnesses with Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer. Much supplication was offered by these three men; and Joseph prayed to the Lord on their behalf. Soon the Prophet received a reply that through prayer and humility, Oliver and David and Martin should witness this manifestation of the power of God; that they should view the plates of gold upon which were written the sacred records; that they should see the Urim and Thummim—the breast-plate of gold, and also the seer-stones which were given to the brother of Jared upon the mount, when he talked with the Lord face to face; and that they should be permitted to behold the sword of Laban, which Nephi carried away from Jerusalem. After this promise was given in a revelation through the Prophet, he and his three fellow-servants, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris, withdrew into a retired spot in the woods, and there bowed themselves in humble prayer. Joseph first offered a supplication to the Lord and he was followed by the others in succession; all asking that the witnesses might be purified and forgiven before Heaven and be permitted to view the plates and the other treasures. At first they received no manifestation of Divine favor; and they contritely and fervently repeated their solicitations. Still there came no answer. Martin Harris then arose and confessed that his presence was the cause of their failure. He said that he realized, through the whispering of the Spirit, that his presence was objectionable because of the sins he had formerly committed, and that the Lord designed this as a rebuke to him and an admonition that he must continue to humble himself before Heaven. He proposed that he should withdraw to a little distance, beyond the sight of his companions, and engage in silent prayer; while they should continue their joint supplications for the favor of God.

After Martin was gone, the others knelt down again and engaged once more in prayer. While they were beseeching the Heavens, a light of exceeding brightness changed the shadowed air above their heads into wondrous brilliancy, and soon descended around about them. Within a pillar of radiance stood the angel holding the treasures in his hands. He turned over the leaves of the unsealed portion of the record one by one, and displayed to the gaze of Oliver and David the golden plates. So bright was the light that they could plainly discern the engraved characters. The angel also showed to them the other promised treasures. While the light was still about them, the voice of Heaven declared to them the divinity of the work of which they were the witnesses. And after they had been admonished to be forever faithful to the testimony bestowed upon them, the vision withdrew.

Joseph left Oliver and David engaged in thanksgiving to God for His infinite mercy, while he hastened away to find Martin Harris. At a little distance, still within the wood, Joseph discovered Martin praying hopelessly. He had not been able to obtain an answer to his supplication, and he earnestly entreated Joseph to join with him in his appeal to the Lord. Meekly they prayed to God; and at length came an answer in the renewal of the vision. Once more the holy personage descended in dazzling brightness and exhibited to Martin the plates and the other treasures as they had been shown to Oliver and David. And again the voice of Heaven gave testimony and admonition. So great was the glory of the vision that Martin Harris had not strength to long sustain his ecstasy; and he fell upon his face, crying,

"It is enough! Mine eyes have beheld of the glories of God!"

All the witnesses then returned with the Prophet to the house of Peter Whitmer. Later they gave to the world the testimony which has since gone forth with the Book of Mormon: declaring to all nations, kindreds, tongues and people that through the grace of God the Eternal Father and His Son Jesus Christ, they had seen the plates containing the holy record; that an angel of God came down from Heaven and laid before their eyes the plates; that they beheld the engraving thereon; and that the voice of God had declared unto them for a surety that the holy record was true and had been faithfully translated; and to this testimony they added the solemn words:

"We know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men and be found spotless before the Judgment Seat of Christ, and shall dwell eternally with Him in the Heavens."

The great happiness which the three witnesses experienced in thus being permitted to view the sacred treasure, and the great desire they evinced from this hour to aid the work of the Lord, made Joseph anxious that others who were worthy might, in part at least, participate in that blessing. He therefore obtained permission from the Lord, to show the plates of gold to eight other faithful persons: Christian Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, Peter Whitmer, Jr., John Whitmer, Hiram Page, Joseph Smith, Sen., Hyrum Smith and Samuel H. Smith. And these men also gave to the world a testimony which has linked their names forever with the Book of Mormon and the cause of Christ. They saw, and testified to seeing, the plates of gold and the engravings of curious workmanship upon them. And they closed their simple declaration with these words:

"And we give our names unto the world to witness unto the world that which we have seen; and we lie not, God bearing witness of it."

At length the translation was completed, and Joseph and his friends arranged to have the book printed. A contract was made with Egbert B. Grandin, of Palmyra, Wayne County, New York. And soon this sublime work, which details the history of the peoples who anciently inhabited the continents of North and South America; which describes the dealings of God with the nations of the past upon these lands; and which recounts the ministrations of Christ in this part of His vineyard after His crucifixion at Jerusalem, was opened to the gaze of the world. It is a marvelous book and a wonder. Its pages portray the history of powerful nations which flourished for hundreds and even thousands of years; and yet, despite the brevity of the work, this history is more complete and graphic than any that was ever penned by the unaided hand of man. The book also contains a record of a sublime system of religion and religious government, as perfect as any enjoyed by man upon this earth.

After the work of translation was ended, Joseph recommitted his charge to the care of the Angel of the record; and Moroni received it back into his keeping, to bring forth the yet unsealed portions of it only when God shall so decree.

Joseph, and Oliver under the Prophet's direction, labored assiduously to spread the truth among the people. And, though the powers of evil were often manifested against them, they still were blessed with much success. They had not waited for the completion of the work of translation in order to engage in preaching. They felt that the command was already definite, and that the need of the world was urgent. As they became more acquainted with the glorious truths which had been opened to their minds through the bestowal of the Aaronic Priesthood upon them, they became eager to obtain a better understanding of the work of God and to enjoy further blessings and gifts in accordance with the promise made to them.

Some time in the month of June, 1829, Peter, James and John, the ancient disciples of our Lord and Savior, and who, under Him, held the keys of that dispensation, appeared in glory to Joseph and conferred upon him the apostleship to which they themselves had been ordained by the Lord Jesus while in mortality. Then these holy personages ordained Oliver to the same Priesthood. After they had departed, Joseph re-ordained Oliver, and also accepted a re-ordination himself at Oliver's hands. Thus was the Melchisedek Priesthood in purity and power again received on earth. The gift of the Holy Ghost was sealed upon the heads of the Prophet and his fellow-servant, and they enjoyed its fullness of blessing. A momentous revelation soon followed from the Lord; directed not only to Joseph, but to Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, making known the calling of the apostles of the last dispensation and bestowing instructions concerning the building up of the Church of Christ, according to the fullness of the gospel.

So passed some months of blessing and industry. Truth was constantly developed by study and reflection upon God's goodness and the mysteries of His kingdom through the aid of revelation from Him. Much time was also given to inquiring acquaintances and strangers who came to seek for light. Whenever any person, being convinced of the truth of the mission to which Joseph Smith had been called, solicited baptism at the hands of the apostles, if Joseph became convinced of the sincerity and worthiness of the applicant, the ordinance was administered in faith and power. It never failed to produce its promised result.

Emma, the wife of the Prophet, had remained in Pennsylvania. After the manuscript translation had been placed in the printer's hands, Joseph found time to visit his wife. As fast as the truth was made known to him through revelation, he communicated it unto her; he desired that she might partake with him of the gifts which Heaven was bestowing. He paid two or three visits to Harmony during the autumn of 1829, and the succeeding winter; while Oliver, under Joseph's direction, gave close attention to the printing and publishing of the Book of Mormon. Early in the spring of 1830, the work was completed and the first edition of the book was given to the world.

And at this time the hour was come for the establishment, after the order revealed by God, of the Church of Christ once more upon the earth.

CHAPTER XII.

ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH AT FAYETTE—REVIEW OF THE PROPHET'S LABORS— HIS UNPRETENTIOUS CHARACTER—THE COURAGE WHICH ANIMATED HIM WAS SHARED BY HIS ASSOCIATES—THE WITNESSES AND EARLY MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized on the 6th day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty, in Fayette, Seneca County, in the state of New York. Six persons were the original members: Joseph Smith the Prophet, Oliver Cowdery, Hyrum Smith, Peter Whitmer, Jun., Samuel H. Smith, and David Whitmer. Each of the men had already been baptized by direct authority from Heaven. The organization was made on the day and after the pattern dictated by God in a revelation given to Joseph Smith. The Church was called after the name of Jesus Christ; because He so ordered. Jesus accepted the Church, declared it to be His own, and empowered it to minister on earth in His name.

The sacrament, under inspiration from Jesus Christ, was administered to all who had thus taken upon them His name.

This was a day of great joy to Joseph—a joy which was shared by those who became thus united with him in a holy work. It is also a day now reverenced by hundreds of thousands of the human family; a day to be held in sacred veneration throughout all the time to elapse until the Messiah Himself shall come in glory to accept the Kingdom from the hands of His authorized servants, and to give reward for all the woes and the persecutions which men have heaped upon His chosen ones.

Joseph was at this time twenty-four years of age. A period of ten years had passed since the hour in which the Father and Son had first appeared in answer to his prayer. During the most of this time he had been in close communication with the Heavens, and the organization of the Church was but the accomplishment of a definite purpose of the Almighty. Joseph had been led along, himself not knowing in complete fullness to what great result his life and labors were tending. He had only known to do the will of Heaven as expressed to him, and to patiently await the future. Doubtless at this hour of the organization he looked back with thanks and marvel at all which God had given for the benefit of His children. From out of the false religions of the earth the Lord had lifted this His servant, and had trained him from boyhood in the way most pleasing to Him.

In the very manner of the restoration of the gospel, Joseph learned that God requires even His elect to defer to the order and authority instituted by Christ. The power by which Joseph Smith was baptized was the same power by which every man must be baptized who has a membership in the Church of Christ. That power had been taken from the earth, leaving the human family without the authority to administer the ordinances of the gospel during many centuries. No earthly being could restore it, and none could use it until John the Baptist conferred it in its fullness upon Joseph and also upon his fellow servant, Oliver. There is something significant in the fact that the authority to baptize was bestowed upon Joseph and Oliver by the same personage who had stood in the waters of the Jordan about 1800 years before, to immerse in that stream the earthly tabernacle of God's Only Begotten. As Joseph had not been permitted to officiate in baptism, or to confer the Aaronic Priesthood, until John had visited him and transmitted that authority from Heaven, so after even this blessing had become his own, he was unable to seal the gift of the Holy Ghost, or to ordain an Elder, until after Peter, James and John had endowed him with the Priesthood after the holy order of Melchisedek. And even after both these holy orders of Priesthood were given to him, and he had ordained Oliver unto them; even after he had beheld in vision the establishment of the work of righteousness, he knew not how nor when the organization of the Church should be accomplished. It was necessary that God should define the mode and the principle of organization and should direct each step to be taken in this establishment of His kingdom; and it was not until He did this that Joseph knew in what manner to obtain the restoration of the power which belongs to the body of the Saints in Christ.

Joseph proceeded carefully, and exactly according to the instruction of the Almighty, and he laid the foundation of a work which will endure as long as earth shall last.

The people who thus became associated with Joseph were generally his seniors, but there was no hesitation on their part in yielding him the respect due to the representative of Christ on earth, and they united in giving him a devotion which supported and blessed him from hour to hour. Joseph was no longer an uncouth village lad, for the exalted course of his life during the years in which he had walked under God's guidance had elevated him intellectually until he was already the peer of any man. No doubt at this hour he was lacking, as he had been in his earlier youth, in the technical teachings of the schools; but he had a deeper knowledge and a finer judgment than any possessed by the most favored of all the students of the colleges. As a boy he may have been no more potent in swaying the feelings and judgment of those with whom he came in contact than were his fellow youths; but as a man of God, clothed upon with the Priesthood, filled with zeal, noble in carriage, majestic in deportment, no person could view him without bestowing veneration. Such is the testimony of all who knew him at this time. It is true that he had not yet received that broad culture, he had not penetrated to the depths of theology, astronomy, and all the higher sciences which govern the kingdom of Christ, and unto which the Spirit of God eventually led him; but from his almost transparent face there shone a light of such beauty and power, and from his lips there came such words of divine promise to mankind, that his associates accorded to him a greater respect than could have been elicited by the most learned minister of earthly churches, or the most powerful ruler of earthly kingdoms.

The men who were thus associated with him, and who thus freely tendered him, as the vicegerent of God on earth, the highest devotion of their souls, were not naturally enthusiasts in the matter of religion; nor were they men who could be deceived. They were of Puritan ancestry and demanded the conviction of their reason before yielding their faith.

That reason once convinced, they were men of such exalted courage that they dared the ridicule of the pulpit and the anger of mobs, to voice their convictions and to yield their adherence to the gospel. The witnesses to the Book of Mormon, and the men who supported Joseph in his fulfillment of the divine command to organize the Church of Christ in these last days, have left no room for a doubt of their sincerity. Conservative in character, thrifty in habits, they were not of a class who would venture from any slight motive to excite the hatred of a world which they knew would deem itself outraged by their avowal. Each one of them knew enough of the early experiences of Joseph to feel certain that he, too, would become the object of clerical ridicule and the vindictive persecution of the masses, incited by jealous religious leaders. At every step since Joseph's encounter with the intolerant spirit of the community in which he lived, he had been obliged to call upon the Lord to aid him with more than mortal courage, to meet and withstand the cruel assaults of his enemies. In thus joining him, the witnesses and early members of the Church provoked the hostility already raging against him, and they were obliged to seek the same source for the same reinforcement of their natural strength, moral and physical.

In this inception of the work its character was defined to a marvelous degree. Joseph himself, and much less his companions, may not have fully understood the divine simplicity and sublime comprehensiveness of the organization of the Church of the Lamb of God which he was commanded to effect upon that memorable day; but their minds were enlightened by the Spirit of God, and by the gift of prophecy they were inspired to foretell the grandeur of the results that would be accomplished through this organization. Standing at this distance of time from that day, the observer can clearly see how beautifully adapted it is for the purposes for which it is designed. Suitable in the beginning for the government of a Church of six members, and for branches of the Church composed of any number of members, experience has demonstrated that it is capable of furnishing heavenly government for the entire race of man. Coming from Deity, it possesses divine perfection and admits of magnificent and infinite expansion. No officers necessary for the correct government of the Church and for the growth and full development of its members were omitted, and their spheres of operation and labor were so well defined that, while they retain the Spirit of the Lord, there can be no conflict or even friction between them. Fully recognizing the free agency of man, the Lord designed that the officers should derive their power to control, and the system its wonderful elasticity and strength, from the cheerfully-yielded obedience of its members. In this way the requisite authority to govern, the power to enforce and maintain order, and complete personal freedom are harmoniously blended in the organization of the Church as revealed to the Prophet Joseph.

The gospel, as revealed in part and promised in full to him at that early day, was a pure and simple gift to all men upon the face of the earth who would make themselves worthy. It neither contemplated unrighteous espionage of thought and personal action, nor unholy servitude or worship of man by man. The barbarity of power, which characterized the apostate churches which swayed the world of Christendom for so many long centuries, did not exist in this divine plan for the salvation of the human race. Such gloomy tenets as infantile damnation or accountability, and the consigning of the soul to a place of eternal misery and torment from which there could be no deliverance and to which there could be no alleviation, embodied in the systems of religion which were taught and vouched for by their teachers as divine, were absent from this simple gospel. At the time of the organization of His Church, God made known His gospel in all the simplicity and fullness of truth, sublime and symmetrical as taught by the Redeemer, not as it had been perverted for ages. All the dark and cruel mysteries which had enshrouded so-called religion were swept away. Joseph had learned by most glorious and satisfactory experience that it was possible for man to approach and know God for himself. He taught his fellows that this is the true foundation of the gospel of salvation; that it is every human being's privilege to lift his eyes to God, to obtain revelation and every good gift from Him through obedience to His laws. Who can measure the great blossoming of human character which has already appeared, and the rich fruitage which the coming generations will yet yield through the enforcement of this grand truth? One of the accusations brought against the Savior, and for which His enemies sought to stone Him, was that He, being a man, made Himself equal with God. To a generation such as they, from whom God was so far removed that all communication between them had ceased, such a relationship between man and the great Creator, as the Lord Jesus taught as existing, was offensive and blasphemous. It was this elevating and ennobling truth that the Prophet Joseph taught to the world. He taught a gospel of man's worship to God, and not man's servitude to his fellow. One of its grand principles is that each soul must be accountable to its Creator for its deeds; and no person who has not reached the years of individual accountability is condemned for the non-performance of ceremonies or ordinances which he can neither understand nor attend to. Infants are all saved in Christ; and need no penance, no baptism, no church membership. But a man who has heard the word of God is personally responsible for his own life and must bear the consequences of its rejection in his own person.

The full recognition of God's authority as bestowed by Him and man's equality with his fellow-man constitute the vitality of the Kingdom of God. But Satan prompts man to establish creeds of man-worship, in which priestcraft, as opposed to priesthood, prevails. He appeals to the avarice and ambition of men and divides society into classes, making worldly learning, the possession of wealth, and the "accident of birth," the distinctions which command respect and honor. The theology of the churches, which flourished in the region where Joseph dwelt from boyhood to maturity, flowed from the muddy stream. But he was not influenced by it. Through the revelations of Jesus, the theology which he was inspired to teach was utterly unlike any system taught by man.

Instead of being lifted up by the favor which had been shown to him, Joseph was made to feel his own weaknesses. Chosen to be a prophet and the leader of God's people, he was conscious that he was only human, subject to human temptations and human frailties. Having the honesty and courage inspired by the Spirit of the Lord, he dared to confess this openly; and, under the same inspiration, acknowledge his transgression and make his contrition known. He was not above any law which applied to his fellow-man. Of his responsibility to God and his brethren of the Church, he was required by the law revealed through himself to the Church, to give as strict an account as any other member. They who participated with him in authority owed it not to him as an individual, but to the eternal power to which they were alike responsible.

The grandeur of Joseph's character is most shown in his lack of pretension. Christ declared Himself the head of the Church; and though Joseph was to be our Savior's representative here on earth, he exacted no homage from his fellow-believers, but only such respect as the gospel required them to pay. The thought of gaining glory for himself appears never to have entered his mind. His conduct in the beginning, in execution of the requirements of the Lord, was but a type of his whole life. The commands of God came through him to earth, and he gave them voice firmly and fearlessly. Speaking as a prophet of God under the influence of the Spirit, he brooked no opposition; but in his personal relations with his fellow-Apostles and Elders he gave them, according to their station and their deserts, as much deference as he asked, or was willing to receive for himself. This characteristic gave him power in the beginning. Only he who knows how to obey is worthy to command; only he who yields to others their due can expect compliance with his own order, however lawful it may be.

From this time of the organization of the Church, the revelations of God have come constantly, through Christ's chosen representative, to guide, to instruct, to admonish and to warn the people; and from this source the body of the Saints has received its daily life.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE ALL-COMPREHENDING CHARACTER OF JOSEPH'S INSPIRATION—FIRST PUBLIC MEETING OF THE CHURCH AFTER ORGANIZATION—BELIEVERS ASKING BAPTISM—MOBS SEEKING THE LIFE OR THE LIBERTY OF THE PROPHET—TWICE ARRESTED AND ACQUITTED—JOSEPH'S LAWYER HEARS A MYSTERIOUS VOICE—COPYING THE REVELATIONS.

Joseph saw his mission now in its full significance. The instruction which came to him when he first prayed in the woods at Manchester did not mean that he alone should find salvation outside of the creeds of man; but that the error of the ages was to be overthrown by the hand of God, and the way opened for the redemption of a race.

The organization of the Church, therefore, meant that the chief Apostle of Christ in this last dispensation should take upon himself the cross and bear it through life. The people must be edified and perfected, and the Gospel must be extended freely to the acceptance or rejection of all nations, kindreds, tongues and people.

Joseph knew now that through prayer to Heaven he must seek stores of wisdom for his own guidance and for the secure establishment and the perfect government of the Church of our Lord and Savior. He was not obliged to search the worldly records of the past for knowledge and inspiration. If at this hour, all the histories of earthly governments and religious organizations, with the books of philosophy and moral truths—accepted by the world, had been blotted out, Joseph Smith and his mission of enlightenment would have abated not one tittle of their power and significance. The light of God's all-comprehending wisdom was shining upon the Prophet's soul.

The first public meeting of the Church after the day of its organization was held at the house of Peter Whitmer in Fayette, on the 11th day of April, 1830. On that occasion Oliver Cowdery, under Joseph's direction, proclaimed the word of God for the comfort and instruction of Saints and strangers. The appointment for this meeting had gone forth through all the neighborhood; and many persons came to hear what wonderful things were to be spoken by the men who professed to be called directly of God to the ministry. This was the first public discourse delivered by an authorized servant of God in these last days. At the conclusion of the services a number of persons demanded baptism and membership among the people of God. They professed to have faith in Christ, avowed their penitence for all evil done by them, and asked to be baptized that they might obtain the remission of their sins. The ordinance was administered to such as were worthy.

Following this meeting, which gave him joy and called forth praise from his heart to Heaven, Joseph journeyed to Colesville, the home of the kindly Mr. Knight whose bounty had been extended to the Prophet and to Oliver in an hour of need. Joseph desired to make known to the family of Knight all that God had spoken in way of command and promise. Mr. Knight and several members of his family were Universalists. They were firm in their conviction, but were glad to listen to the message delivered by Joseph. It was a plain statement; for Joseph made no attempt to lend earthly adornments to the pure word of Christ. Joseph Knight listened and then argued with the Prophet. But he was deeply impressed and solicited Joseph to hold meetings, in which the public might hear the young Apostle and have opportunity to judge of the doctrines which he avowed. Newel, a son of Joseph Knight, became much interested in the Prophet's words. Many serious conversations ensued, and newel became so far convinced of the divinity of the work that he gave a partial promise that he would arise in meeting and offer supplication to God before his friends and neighbors. But at the appointed moment he failed to respond to Joseph's invitation. Later he told the Prophet he would pray in secret, and thus seek to resolve his doubts and gain strength. On the day following, newel went into the woods to offer his devotions to Heaven; but was unable to give utterance to his feelings, being held in bondage by some power which he could not define. He returned to his home ill in body and depressed in mind. His appearance alarmed his wife, and in a broken voice he requested her to quickly find the Prophet and bring him to his bedside. When Joseph arrived at the house, newel was suffering most frightful distortions of his visage and limbs, as if he were in convulsions. Even as the Prophet gazed at him Newel was seized upon by some mysterious influence and tossed helpless about the room. Through the gift of discernment Joseph saw that his friend was in the grasp of the evil one, and that only the power of God could save him from the tortures under which he was suffering. He took Newel's hand and gently addressed him. Newel replied, "I am possessed of a devil. Exert your authority, I beseech you, to cast him out." Joseph replied, "If you know that I have power to drive him from your soul, it shall be done." And when these words were uttered, Joseph rebuked the Destroyer and commanded him in the name of Jesus Christ to depart. The Lord condescended to honor His servant in thus exercising the power which belonged to his Priesthood and calling, for instantly Newel cried out with joy that he felt the accursed influence leave him and saw the evil spirit passing from the room.

Thus was performed the first miracle of the Church. Many people were present and witnessed it, and when they would have ascribed to Joseph honor and praise, he checked them, saying:

"It was not done by man, nor by the power of man, but was done by God and the power of His godliness; therefore let the honor and the praise and the dominion and the glory be ascribed to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever."

Since that hour thousands of miracles have been performed by the Elders of the Church, through the power of the Priesthood restored from Heaven and in fulfillment of the promises made by the Lord Jesus. But those who have been honored in performing them have not administered unto their fellowmen to gratify any wish to behold a miracle—a sign sought for by a wicked and adulterous generation; but to comply with the command of the Lord in administering an ordinance designed for the healing of the faithful sick and to comfort them and strengthen them in their faith.

Newel Knight believed and was made whole. He became enrapt in contemplation of the goodness of God, and the visions of eternity were opened to his view. He saw such a world of glory that he lost his sense of earthly things. His physical being participated in the exaltation, and while his spirit soared beyond the narrow confines of his earthly house, his body was caught up and suspended in the air. When the vision passed he sank, weak but happy, to the floor. So much was he overcome that it was necessary to carry him to his bed, and leave him to some hours of repose.

Of the many persons who witnessed these events nearly all subsequently became members of the Church.

When Joseph had completed a brief ministry among the people in that region he returned to Fayette, and found that much excitement prevailed there because of the coming forth of the word of God. "The Book of Mormon was accounted as a strange thing;" and persecution was heaped upon the adherents of the Church, and all who would entertain friendly relations with them.

The first appointed conference of the Church of Jesus Christ in this dispensation was held at Fayette on the 1st day of June, 1830. Thirty members were present on the opening day; and scores of people were there who already believed, or came with the desire to hear the principles taught by Joseph Smith. The sacrament of the Lord's supper was administered to all the members of the Church in conference assembled; and the faith of the congregation was so mighty that the Heavens were opened to their view, and many beheld the glory of the celestial kingdom. Newel Knight was one of the believers present, and he saw, through the parted veil of eternity, the Lord Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Prophetic vision flooded his soul with light, and he saw the mighty work of the dispensation carried to its fulfillment; he saw Joseph Smith laboring, as the instrument of God's choice, to redeem man and lead him back to the presence of his Creator. The effect of these visions upon Newel Knight and the others who beheld them, was to deprive them of their natural strength, and they were carried to couches, upon which they rested for a brief time. When their strength was restored they arose and shouted, "Hosannah, to God and the Lamb," and then, to the wonder and joy of all who heard them, they rehearsed the glories which they had beheld.

Many baptisms followed. Those of the brethren who were most suitable were ordained to the ministry, and received instantly the spirit of their holy calling. Joseph returned to his own home, at Harmony. Later, accompanied by his wife and three of the Elders, he went again to Colesville. Here they found many people awaiting baptism. Joseph prepared to accede to their demand. A suitable portion of a little stream in that locality was prepared for the purpose of the administration of the ordinance; but in the night sectarian priests, fearful of losing their congregations and their hire, instigated evil men to desecrate the spot and to destroy all the preparations of the Elders. But the candidates for baptism remained faithful, and were confirmed in their belief by this sign flowing from the hatred of the ungodly; and a few days later the ordinance was administered by Oliver Cowdery to thirteen persons at Colesville. Among them was Emma, the Prophet's wife, who believed and humbly went forth to perform the requirement of Heaven. The joy of Joseph when he welcomed his wife into the Church was unspeakable.

While the baptisms were in progress an angry mob collected, and threatened destruction to the Elders and believers. The mob surrounded the houses of Joseph Knight and his son Newel and railed with devilish hatred at the inmates. The Prophet spoke to them and made an effort to calm their passion, but without avail. Wearied with their own impotent wrath, the mobs departed; but only to concoct new plots.

That night a meeting was to be held, and when the believers and sympathizers had assembled, and Joseph was about to offer them instruction and consolation, a constable approached and arrested him on a warrant charging him with being a disorderly person, for setting the country in an uproar by circulating the Book of Mormon and by preaching a gospel of revelation. The officer was a kind man, and some time after the formal arrest he stated to Joseph that the object of the warrant was to place the prisoner in the hands of the mob who were determined to destroy him. These words were verified immediately after; because when the constable was taking Joseph away from Mr. Knight's house in a wagon, they found the mob in ambush awaiting the appearance of the Prophet, and ready to act murderously upon a signal from the constable, whom they vainly believed was in sympathy with them. The baffled mob, more enraged than ever, pursued the wagon a considerable distance, but were unable to overtake it; and the constable soon reached South Bainbridge, in Chenango County, with his prisoner. The hour was late and they went to an inn, where they were lodged in an upper room. Joseph occupied a bed and slept peacefully, after communing silently with his Maker. The officer threw his body across the entrance to the room, and slumbered lightly. He held a loaded musket in his hands ready to defend his prisoner from unlawful assault.

The next day was a time of intense excitement. A court was convened to consider the strange charges brought against the young man, Joseph Smith; and hateful lies, of every form which the father of falsehood could devise, were circulated to create popular dislike. But Joseph Knight appeared at the court with two of his neighbors, James Davidson and John Reid, outspoken men, learned in the law and standing high in public esteem, who were to appear on behalf of the Prophet. The bitter feeling of endangered priestcraft was visible throughout the trial; but all the accusations which were made were but lies, and none were sustained. The court declared an acquittal. The evidence in the trial was a high tribute to the character of Joseph Smith. Evidently preparations had been made to deal his influence a fatal blow; and people were brought from great distances who knew him intimately as a boy and as a young man. It was hoped by the inciters of the outrage that these former neighbors of Joseph would heed the public clamor against him and testify that his nature was evil. But on the contrary, all these witnesses declared that in all their intercourse with the Prophet, his life had been above reproach.

Unheeding this emphatic demonstration in Joseph's behalf, his enemies determined that they would not withhold their hands. They declared that he had committed other offenses in Broome County, and they must have a warrant for him in the interest of the public weal. This paper was secured on the oath of a sectarian bigot; and no sooner was Joseph acquitted by the court in Chenango County, than he was seized under the new warrant and dragged back to Colesville. The officer in charge this time was a sympathizer with the mob. He refused food to his prisoner and refused to allow him to call at the houses of his friends, or to see his wife. This constable carried him to a tavern, and then invited a number of persons to unite in abuse and ridicule of the Prophet. The rabble jeered and spat upon their victim. They pointed their fingers at him, crying, "Prophesy! Prophesy!" Joseph offered security for his appearance on the following day, and asked to be released; but the officer would not consent. The only favor which he would grant to Joseph was to bring to him a cup of water and a crust of bread.

When the morning came, Joseph was arraigned before the magistrate's court of Colesville. Arrayed against him were some of the people who had been discomfited at the trial in Chenango County. This time they were determined to secure a conviction. By the side of the Prophet were his friends and advocates who had aided him in the former trial. Despite the vindictive effort of the mob, the court discharged the Prophet, declaring that nothing was shown to his dishonor. Even the cruel constable who had abused his little authority to make Joseph's lot more miserable, became convinced of the entire innocence of his charge; and he besought the forgiveness of his former prisoner. He gave information to Joseph that a plot was in progress to secure his person.

The inciters of these outrages were two prominent Presbyterians of that region—Cyrus McMaster and one Dr. Boyington. The creature whom they secured to make oath against Joseph was also a Presbyterian; his name was Benton.

The honest and courageous man John Reid, who successfully defended the Prophet before the courts, himself had testified to the remarkable manner in which he was engaged in the case. A messenger came to his house and requested him to appear before the magistrate on behalf of Joseph Smith. Mr. Reid was busy at the time; he had never seen the young man Joseph Smith; and he determined not to enter the case. But before he could decline aloud, a low, strange voice uttered these words: "YOU MUST GO TO DELIVER THE LORD'S ANOINTED!" He was thrilled with awe at the mysterious sound. He knew that the messenger had not spoken; and upon inquiry Mr. Reid learned that the voice had been to himself alone. The impression caused by this experience was such that Mr. Reid hastened to the place of trial. While he was engaged in the case his mysterious emotion increased; and when he arose to defend the Prophet in argument, he was inspired to an eloquence beyond himself, and which was irresistible.^[[1]]

When Joseph was freed from custody after the second trial, the constable extended his aid; and thus the Prophet was enabled to escape while his enemies were organizing unlawfully to get him into their clutches. Joseph had been two days without food; and when released, his friends told him that he must flee at once, for the mob had organized and was determined. Night had already come; and he traveled until daylight the next morning, when he reached a place of safety at the house of an acquaintance many miles distant from Colesville. Here he found Emma, and they journeyed to Harmony without further molestation. But a few days later, when he returned to Colesville to confirm the persons who had been baptized, the mob assailed him with greater violence than ever before; and it was with difficulty that his friends aided him to preserve his life from the attacks of the sectarian priests through their bigoted followers.

Upon returning once more to Harmony after this last visit to Colesville, the Prophet engaged in the labor of making a record in proper order of the revelations which had come to him from the Lord. In this work he was aided for a time by Oliver Cowdery; but later Oliver went to Fayette, and Emma, under commandment of the Lord, once more served her husband as a scribe.

While Joseph was thus laboring in Pennsylvania, Parley P. Pratt visited Fayette to learn something of the young Prophet. Not finding Joseph, the seeker after truth made his investigations alone. He became convinced that he had found the gospel; and he asked and received baptism at the hands of Oliver Cowdery in Seneca Lake.

This was a momentous event.