"I feel very much obliged to you for the remarks you made on the subject of the French mission, a short time ago, wherein you requested the presiding Elders, of the conferences, to raise means for publishing the Book of Mormon in French. In noticing, however, the position of the churches in this country, and the many calls that have been made upon the brethren, I have been seeking to make other arrangements without troubling them, which I am very happy to inform you, I have accomplished, and therefore shall not be necessitated to make any calls upon the conferences. * * The scriptures say, that, 'it is more blessed to give than to receive,' and if in making the above move, I may have deprived some of an anticipated blessing, I hope they will excuse me; for perhaps there may be an opportunity afforded them of assisting some of my brethren in another way. If not, the world is large, and there is ample opportunity to do good."
A few wealthy members of the Church in England had privately furnished him the means, and he made such arrangements with the publishers that when copies of the book were sold a certain amount of the proceeds was put away for printing another edition. "And thus it can be continued from time to time," writes Elder Taylor, "as necessity shall require, until 200,000 copies are printed without any additional expense."
The translation is said to be a very correct one, the original simplicity of the Nephite writers is retained, and it is as literal as the genius and idiom of the French language will admit.
In addition to these literary labors Elder Taylor applied to the government authorities for permission for himself and the Elders to preach throughout France; and the prospects were fair for obtaining it; but at that juncture, a mob arose against the Saints in Denmark, their meeting house where they assembled was torn down and much excitement created. It was this circumstance which doubtless led the French ministry to prohibit the Elders from preaching altogether, instead of granting them the liberty for which they asked.
The political situation in France at the time was precarious, and did much to prevent Elder Taylor and his companions from spreading the gospel among that people. In 1848 Louis Philippe had been compelled to abdicate the throne of France by an insurrection of the people; the provisional government that succeeded was soon supplanted by the republic which was proclaimed by the voice of the people; of which Louis Napoleon, the nephew of the great Napoleon, was elected president for four years, as provided for in the constitution. This term of office was altogether too brief and too precarious for a Bonaparte, and the newly elected President soon set on foot secret measures for an increase of power and an extension of time in office.
Having won over the army to his views, he boldly seized such members of the National Assembly, and other prominent citizens, who were opposed to his interests and imprisoned them, suppressed the newspapers and proclaimed the dissolution of the assembly and council of state. He hastily sketched a new and more despotic constitution, which was accepted by the people, and had himself elected president for ten years.
These movements were soon followed by even bolder acts of usurpation. He secured the passage of a decree by the new senate, making him hereditary Emperor with the title of Napoleon III. And thus an empire was erected on the ruins of the fallen republic.
Such were the agitations and revolutions going on in France during the time that Elder Taylor was there introducing the gospel; and with such an irreligious and excitable people as the French, it is not to be expected that they will turn away from excited multitudes shouting now vive la Republique, and then vive l'empereur, with the whole country on the verge of civil war—it is not to be expected, I say, that a people, and especially the French people, are going to turn from all this to listen to a stranger preach on the peaceable things of the kingdom of heaven!
Still, meetings were held in Paris twice a week, and the work spread into Havre, Calais, Boulogne and other places. In the three cities named, as well as in Paris, branches of the Church were organized. In June, 1851, the Channel Islands,—hitherto belonging to the British mission—in which there were several branches of the Church, were added to the French mission and of course considerably increased its strength.
In the latter part of July or about the first of August, 1851, Elder Taylor accompanied by Elder Viet, a German, and a teacher of that language in France, and Elder George P. Dykes, went to the city of Hamburg, Germany. Here, with the aid of Elder Viet, a Mr. Charles Miller, whom he baptized shortly after his arrival there, and George P. Dykes, he made arrangements for and supervised the translation of the Book of Mormon into the German language. The work was finally completed and stereotyped; and the text so arranged that the French and German would face each other, each page containing the same matter in the same opening, and thus both could be bound together.