CHAPTER THIRTY NINE.
I must pass over many details interesting in themselves; but too long toinsert in this work. It must suffice to say, that after a time JoeSmith stated that he had possession of the golden plates, and hadreceived from heaven a pair of spectacles by means of which the unknowncharacters could be decyphered by him. It may appear strange that suchabsurd assertions should be credited, but the reader must call to mindthe credence given in this country to Joanna Southcote, and theinfatuation displayed by her proselytes to the very last.
The origin of Mormonism deserves peculiar examination from the successwhich has attended the imposture, and the prospects which it has ofbecoming firmly established as a new creed. At its first organisation,which took place at the time that the golden plates were translating,which the reader may suppose was nothing more than the contents of thebook that Rigdon had obtained possession of, and which had beenoriginally written by S. Spalding, there were but six members of the newcreed.
These first members, consisting mostly of persons who were engaged withSmith in the translation of the plates, forthwith applied themselveswith great zeal to building up the church. Their first efforts wereconfined to Western New York and Pennsylvania, where they met withconsiderable success. After a number of converts had been made, Smithreceived a revelation that he and all his followers should go toKirkland, in Ohio and there take up their abode. Many obeyed thiscommand, selling their possessions, and helping each other to settle onthe spot designated. This place was the head-quarters of the Church andthe residence of the prophets until 1838; but it does not appear thatthey ever regarded it as a permanent settlement; for, in the Book ofCovenants, it is said, in speaking of Kirkland, "I consecrate this landunto them for a little season, until I the Lord provide for them to gohome."
In the spring of 1831, Smith, Rigdon, and others declared themselvesdirected by revelation to go on a journey to Missouri, and there theLord was to shew them the place of the New Jerusalem. This journey wasaccordingly taken, and when they arrived, a revelation was received,pointing out the town of Independence, in Jackson county, as the centralspot of the land of promise, where they were directed to build a temple,etcetera, etcetera. Shortly after their return to Kirkland, a number ofrevelations were received, commanding the saints throughout the countryto purchase and settle in this land of promise. Accordingly, many wentand began to build up "Zion," as they called it.
In 1831, a consecration law was established in the church by revelation.It was first published in the Book of Covenants, in the followingwords:--"If thou lovest me, thou shalt keep my commandments, and thoushalt consecrate all thy properties unto me with a covenant and deedwhich cannot be broken." This law, however, has been altered since thattime. As modified, it reads thus:--"If thou lovest me, thou shalt serveand keep all of my commandments, and, behold, thou shalt remember thepoor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support that which thouhast to impart unto them, with a covenant and a deed which cannot bebroken."
In April, 1832, a firm was established by revelation, ostensibly for thebenefit of the church, consisting of the principal members in Kirklandand Independence. The members of this firm were bound together by anoath and covenant to manage the affairs of the poor, and all thingspertaining to the church, both in Zion (Missouri) and in Shinakar(Kirkland). In June, 1833, another revelation was received to lay offKirkland in lots, and the proceeds of the sale were to go to this firm.In 1834 or 1835, the firm was divided by revelation, so that those inKirkland continued as one firm, and those in Missouri as another. Inthe same revelation they are commanded to divide the consecratedproperty between the individuals of the firm, which each separately wereto manage as stewards.
Previous to this (1833), a revelation was received to build a temple,which was to be done by the consecrated funds, which were under thecontrol of the firm. In erecting this building the firm involved itselfin debt to a large amount; to meet which, in the revelation lastmentioned, the following appears: "Inasmuch as ye are humble andfaithful, and call on my name, behold, I will give you the victory. Igive unto you a promise that you shall be delivered this once out ofyour bondage, inasmuch as you obtain a chance to loan money by hundredsand thousands, even till you have obtained enough to deliver yourselvesout of bondage." This was a command to borrow money, in order to freethemselves from the debt that oppressed them. They made the attempt,but failed to get sufficient to meet their exigencies. This led toanother expedient.
In 1835, Smith, Rigdon, and others formed a mercantile house, andpurchased goods in Cleveland and in Buffalo to a very large amount, on acredit of six months. In the fall, other houses were formed, and goodspurchased in the eastern cities to a still greater amount. A great partof the goods of these houses went to pay the workmen on the temple, andmany were sold on credit, so that when the notes came due the house wasnot able to meet them. Smith, Rigdon, and Co then attempted to borrowmoney, by issuing their notes, payable at different periods after date.This expedient not being effectual, the idea of a bank suggested itself.Accordingly, in 1837, the far-famed Kirkland bank was put intooperation, without any charter.
This institution, by which so many have been swindled, was formed afterthe following manner. Subscribers for stock were allowed to pay theamount of their subscriptions in town lots, at five or six times theirreal value; others paid in personal property at a high valuation; andsome paid the cash. When the notes were first issued, they were currentin the vicinity, and Smith took advantage of their credit to pay offwith them the debts he and the brethren had contracted in theneighbourhood for land and other purchases. The eastern creditors,however, refused to take their notes. This led to the expedient ofexchanging them for the notes of other banks.
Accordingly the elders were sent off the country to barter Kirklandmoney, which they did with great zeal, and continued the operation untilthe notes were not worth sixpence to the dollar. As might have beenexpected, this institution exploded after a few months, involving Smithand his brethren in inextricable difficulties. The consequence was,that he and most of the members of the church set off, in the spring of1838, for Missouri, pursued by their creditors, but to no effect.
We must now go back for a short period to state another circumstance.In 1836, an endowment meeting, or solemn assembly, was called, to beheld in the temple at Kirkland. It was given out that those who were inattendance at the meeting should receive an endowment or blessingsimilar to that experienced by the disciples of Christ on the day ofPentecost. When the day arrived, great numbers convened from thedifferent churches in the country. They spent the day in fasting andprayer, and in washing and perfuming their bodies; they also washedtheir feet and anointed their heads with what they called holy oil, andpronounced blessings.
In the evening, they met for the endowment; the fast was then broken, byeating light wheat bread, and drinking as much wine as they thoughtproper. Smith knew well how to infuse the spirit which they expected toreceive; so he encouraged the brethren to drink freely, telling themthat the wine was consecrated, and would not make them drunk. As may besupposed, they drank to some purpose; after this, they began toprophesy, pronouncing blessings upon their friends and curses upon theirenemies; after which the meeting adjourned.
We now return to Missouri. The Mormons who had settled in and aboutIndependence, in the year 1831, having become very arrogant, claimingthe land as their own, saying, the Lord had given it to them, and makingthe most haughty assumptions, so exasperated the old citizens, that amob was raised in 1833, and expelled the whole Mormon body from thecounty. They fled to Clay county, where the citizens permitted them tolive in quiet till 1836, when a mob spirit began to manifest itself, andthe Mormons retired to a very thinly settled district of the country,where they began to make improvements.
This district was at the session of 1836-7 of the Missouri legislature,erected into a county, by the name of Caldwell with Far-West for itscapital. Here the Mormons remained in quiet until aft
er the bankexplosion in Kirkland, in 1838, when Smith, Rigdon, and others of theheads of the sect arrived. Shortly after this, the Danite Society wasorganised, the object of which, at first, was to drive the dissentersout of the county. The members of this society were bound by an oathand covenant, with the penalty of death attached to a breach of it, todefend the presidency, and each other, unto death, right or wrong. Theyhad their secret signs, by which they knew each other, either by day ornight; and were divided into bands of tens and fifties, with a captainover each band, and a general over the whole. After this body wasformed, notice was given to several of the dissenters to leave thecounty, and they were threatened severely in case of disobedience. Theeffect of this was, that many of the dissenters left: among these wereDavid Whitmer, John Whitmer, Hiram Page, and Oliver Cowdery, allwitnesses to the Book of Mormon; also Lyman Johnson, one of the twelveapostles.
The day after John Whitmer left his house in Far-West, it was takenpossession of by Sidney Rigdon. About this time, Rigdon preached hisfamous "Salt Sermon." The text was:--"Ye are the salt of the earth, butif the salt has lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it isthenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be troddenunder foot of men." He informed the Mormons that the Church was thesalt; that dissenters were the salt that had lost its flavour; and thatthey were literally to be trodden under the foot of the Church, untiltheir bowels should gush out.
In one of the meetings of the Danite band, one of the leaders informedthem that the time was not far distant, when the elders of the Churchshould go forth to the world with swords at their sides, and that theywould soon have to go through the state of Missouri, and slay every man,woman, and child! They had it in contemplation at one time to prophesya dreadful pestilence in Missouri, and then to poison the waters of thestate, to bring it about, and thus to destroy the inhabitants.
In the early part of the fall of the year 1838, the last disturbancebetween the Mormons and the Missourians commenced. It had its origin atan election in Davies county, where some of the Mormons had located. Acitizen of Davies, in a conversation with a Mormon, remarked that theMormons all voted one way: this was denied with warmth; a violentcontest ensued, when, at last, the Mormon called the Missourian a liar.They came to blows, and the quarrel was followed by a row between theMormons and the Missourians.
A day or two after this, Smith, with a company of men from Far-West,went into Davies county, for the purpose, as they said, of quelling themob; but when they arrived, the mob had dispersed. The citizens ofDavies gathered in their turn; however, the Mormons soon collected aforce to the amount of five hundred men, and compelled the citizens toretire; they fled, leaving the country deserted for many miles around.At this time, the Mormons killed between two and three hundred hogs, anda number of cattle; took at least forty or fifty stands of honey, and atthe same time destroyed several fields of corn. The word was given out,that the Lord had consecrated, through the Church, the spoils unto hishost.
All this was done when they had plenty of their own, and previous to thecitizens in that section of the country taking any thing from them.They continued, these depredations for near a week, when the Clay CountyMilitia was ordered out. The contest was a bloody one: suffice it tosay, that, finally, Smith, Rigdon, and many others were taken, and, at acourt of inquiry, were remanded over for trial. Rigdon was afterwardsdischarged on _habeas corpus_, and Smith and his comrades, after beingin prison several months, escaped from their guards, and reached Quincy,Illinois. The Mormons had been before ordered to leave the state, bydirection of the governor, and many had retired to Illinois previous toSmith's arrival.
The Mormons, as a body, arrived in Illinois in the early part of theyear 1839, in a state of great destitution and wretchedness. Theircondition, with their tales of persecutions and privations, wroughtpowerfully upon the sympathies of the citizens, and caused them to bereceived with the greatest hospitality and kindness. After the arrivalof Smith, the greater part of them settled at Commerce, situated uponthe Mississippi river, at the lower rapids, just opposite the entranceof the river Des Moines, a site equal in beauty to any on the river.Here they began to build, and in the short time of four years they haveraised a city. At first, as was before said, on account of their formersufferings, and also from the great political power which theypossessed, from their unity, they were treated by the citizens ofIllinois with great respect; but subsequent events have turned the tideof feeling against them.
In the winter of 1840, they applied to the legislature of the state forseveral charters; one for the city of Nauvoo, the name Smith had givento the town of Commerce; one for the Nauvoo legion, a military body; onefor manufacturing purposes, and one for the Nauvoo University. Theprivileges which they asked for were very extensive, and such was thedesire to secure their political support, that all were granted for themere asking; indeed, the leaders of the American legislature seemed tovie with each other in sycophancy towards this body of fanaticalstrangers, so anxious was each party to do them some favour that wouldsecure their gratitude. This tended to produce jealousy in the minds ofthe neighbouring citizens, and fears were expressed lest a body sounited religiously and politically, might become dangerous to liberalinstitutions.
The Mormons had at every election voted in a body with their leaders;this alone made them formidable. The legion of Mormons had been amplysupplied with arms by the state, and the whole body was under thestrictest military discipline. These facts, together with complaintssimilar to those which were made in Missouri, tended to arouse a strongfeeling against them, and at last, in the early part of the summer of1841, the citizens of Illinois organised a strong force in opposition;the Mormons were beaten in the contest. The disposition now manifestedby the citizens, appears to be to act upon the defensive, but at allhazards to maintain their rights.
As regards the pecuniary transactions of the Mormons since they havebeen in Illinois, Smith still uses his power for his own benefit. Hispresent arrangements are to purchase land at a low rate, lay it off intotown lots, which he sells to his followers at a high price; thus lotsthat scarcely cost him a dollar, are frequently sold for a thousand. Hehas raised several towns in this manner, both in Illinois and in Ioway.
During the last year, he has made two proclamations to his followersabroad, to come and settle in the county of Hancock. Theseproclamations have been obeyed to a great extent, and, strange to say,hundreds have been flocking in from the great manufacturing cities ofEngland. What is to be the result of all this, it is impossible totell; but one thing is certain, that, in a political point of view, theMormons are already powerful, and that the object of Smith is evidentlyto collect all his followers into one focus, and thus concentrate allhis power and wealth.
The designs of Smith and his coadjutors, at the time of the firstpublication of the Book of Mormon, was, doubtlessly, nothing more thanpecuniary aggrandisement. We do not believe they expected at that timethat so many could ever be duped to be converted; when, however, thedelusion began to spread, the publishers saw the door opened not onlyfor wealth, but also for extensive power, and their history throughoutshews that they have not been remiss in their efforts to acquire both.The extent of their desires is now by no means limited, for theirwritings and actions shew a design to pursue the same path, and attainthe same end by the same means, as did Mahomet. The idea of a secondMahomet arising in the nineteenth century may excite a smile, but whenwe consider the steps now taken by the Mormons to concentrate theirnumbers, and their ultimate design to unite themselves with the Indians,it will not be at all surprising, if scenes unheard of since the days offeudalism should soon be re-enacted.
I will here submit to my readers a letter directed to Mr Courtenay in1842 by a superior officer of the United States artillery.
"Yesterday (July the 10th) was a great day among the Mormons; their legion, to the number of three thousand men, was reviewed by Generals Smith, Bennet, and others, and certainly made a very noble and imposing appe
arance; the evolutions of the troops commanded by Joe would do honour to any body of regular soldiers in England, France, or Prussia. What does this mean? Why this exact discipline of the Mormon corps? Do they intend to conquer Missouri, Illinois, Mexico? It is true they are part of the militia of the state of Illinois, by the charter of their legion, but then there are no troops in the States like them in point of discipline and enthusiasm; and led on by ambitious and talented officers, what may not be effected by them? perhaps the subversion of the constitution of the United States; and if this should be considered too great a task, foreign conquest will most certainly be attempted. The northern provinces of Mexico will fall into their hands, even if Texas should first take possession of them.
"These Mormons are accumulating, like a snow-ball rolling down an inclined plane. They are also enrolling among their officers some of the first talent in the country, by titles which they give and by money which they can command. They have appointed Captain Henry Bennet, late of the United States' army, Inspector-General of their legion, and he is commissioned as such by Governor Carlin. This gentleman is known to be well skilled in fortification, gunnery, and military engineering generally; and I am assured that he is receiving regular pay, derived from the tithing of this warlike people. I have seen his plans for fortifying Nauvoo, which are equal to any of Vauban's.
"General John C. Bennet (a New England man) is the prophet's great gun. They call him, though a man of diminutive stature, the `forty-two pounder.' He might have applied his talents in a more honourable cause; but I am assured that he is well paid for the important services he is rendering this people, or, I should rather say, rendering the prophet. This, gentleman exhibits the highest degree of field military talent (field tactics), united with extensive learning. He may yet become dangerous to the states. He was quarter-master-general of the state of Illinois, and, at another time, a professor in the Erie university. It will, therefore, be seen that nothing but a high price could have secured him to these fanatics. Only a part of their officers and professors are Mormons; but then they are united by a common interest, and will act together on main points to a man. Those who are not Mormons when they come here, very soon become so, either from interest or conviction.
"The Smiths are not without talent; Joe, the chief, is a noble-looking fellow, a Mahomet every inch of him; the postmaster, Sidney Rigdon, is a lawyer, a philosopher, and a saint. The other generals are also men of talent, and some of them men of learning. I have no doubt they are all brave, as they are most unquestionably ambitious, and the tendency of their religious creed is to annihilate all other sects. We may, therefore, see the time when this gathering host of religious fanatics will make this country shake to its centre. A western empire is certain. Ecclesiastical history presents no parallel to this people, inasmuch as they are establishing their religion on a learned basis. In their college, they teach all the sciences, with Latin, Greek, Hebrew. French, Italian, and Spanish; the mathematical department is under an extremely able professor, of the name of Pratt; and a professor of Trinity College, Dublin, is president of their university.
"I arrived there, incog, on the 1st inst, and, from the great preparations for the military parade, was induced to stay to see the turn-out, which, I confess, has astonished and filled me with fears for the future consequences. The Mormons, it is true, are now peaceable, but the lion is asleep. Take care, and don't rouse him.
"The city of Nauvoo contains about fifteen thousand souls, and is rapidly increasing. It is well laid out, and the municipal affairs appear to be well conducted. The adjoining country is a beautiful prairie. Who will say that the Mormon prophet is not among the great spirits of the age?
"The Mormons number, in Europe and America, about one hundred and fifty thousand, and are constantly pouring into Nauvoo and the neighbouring country. There are probably in and about this city, at a short distance from the river, not far from thirty thousand of these warlike fanatics, and it is but a year since they have settled in the Illinois."