C66 



SMITH, JOSEPH. 



656 



the growth and strengthen with the strength of this beloved city of 

 the saints of the last days." But the grand feature of the city was the 

 great temple, which Smith thus describes : " The temple of God, 

 now in the course of erection, being already raised one story, and 

 which is 120 feet by 80 feet, of stone with polished pilasters, of an 

 entire new order of architecture, will "be a splendid house for the 

 worship of God, as well as unique wonder of the world, it being built 

 by the direct revelation of JCSUB Christ for the salvation of the living 

 and the dead." 



The progress of Nauvoo was even more rapid than that of any of 

 the preceding places. Converts flocked in from foreign countries as 

 well as from different parts of America; the people were peaceful and 

 industrious, the land was fertile, and the settlement was eminently 

 prosperous. Dangers of various kinds beset Smith, but he escaped 

 from them all. He had in 1841 been arrested on a charge of sedition, 

 &c., but being carried before the authorities of Nauvoo, he was set 

 at liberty. Again, he was charged with shooting at the ex-governor 

 of Missouri, and deemed it prudent to conceal himself for a time, but 

 eventually surrendered, and being able to prove that he was " some 

 hundreds of miles distant" from the scene of the attack he was 

 acquitted. Among his followers too there were occasional symptoms 

 of disaffection, but they never extended widely, and were easily sup- 

 pressed. With the ' gentiles ' settled in Nauvoo, and whom he could 

 not keep out, he had more trouble ; and, as might have been antici- 

 pated, the reports which had led to the xpulsion of the Mormons 

 from their former cities followed them here, and suspicion and hatred 

 gathered about them. But Smith from the foundation of Nauvoo had 

 been making provision against this danger. He had procured the 

 insertion of a provision in the city charter empowering the formation 

 of an independent civic militia, which he at once organised, and of 

 which he constituted himself ' lieutenant-general.' He also set about 

 consolidating his spiritual as well as civic government, and he made 

 careful provision for an ample succession of hardy and zealous mis- 

 sionaries. The Book of Mormon was an historical revelation : the 

 doctrine and discipline of the church were to be enunciated in subse- 

 quent revelations as circumstances called them forth. The first point 

 was his own acceptance as " prophet, seer, and revelator." In other 

 words, this " church of the latter days " was to be a theocracy, with 

 himself as its head and inspired legislator at once the Moses and 

 Aaron of this new house of Israel. Nor in this capacity was he ever 

 found wanting. He was always ready in the moment of difficulty 

 \vith the needful revelation. In this manner he successively defined 

 his own position, provided for his requirements, established his 

 'orders' of apostles, elders, priests, &c., in the church, and regulated 

 all ceremonies, as well as defined its creed. These later revelations . 

 will all be found in the ' Doctrines and Covenants of the Church of 

 Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, selected from the Revelations of 

 God, by Joseph Smith, President,' of whicli there have been numerous 

 editions published. But, whatever was Smith's power over his fol- 

 lowers, he was sadly deficient in wariness in his dealings with the 

 outer world. Again and again he suffered himself to coine into con- 

 tact with the civil authority of the state ; and his impunity led him, 

 notwithstanding the terrible lessons he had already received, to defy 

 the storm that was plainly gathering around him. So little did he- 

 heed the danger, that in prospect of the presidential election of 1844 

 he published his own ' Views of Government,' a sort of social scheme, 

 in which " honesty and love," so that all might form a brotherhood, 

 were declared to be the motive forces of just government; and he was 

 actually put in nomination for the presidency. 



But he did not live to the day of election. The storm that had 

 been so long gathering, burst before then and swept him away in its 

 fury. The ' gentile ' residents in Nauvoo, supported as it would appear 

 by some of the dissatisfied among the saints, had established an opposi- 

 tion newspaper ' The Expositor,' which, growing more and more bold, 

 ventured at length to denounce the morals of the prophet as well as 

 his system of government. The city council now interfered and 

 condemned the newspaper to silence ; upon which a mob assembled, 

 broke into the office and destroyed the presses. The proprietors 

 charged some of the Mormon leaders with inciting the mob to this 

 act, and they were formally arrested, but immediately set at liberty by 

 the public prosecutor entering a nolle prosequi, a practice said to have 

 become usual when a 'saint' was charged with any offence. The 

 injured parties now carried their complaints before the governor of 

 Illinois, who, having been long waiting, as is said, for a legal opportunity 

 to crush the power of Smith, readily granted a warrant for his appre- 

 hension, June 24, 1844, on a charge of treason and sedition. Smith's 

 first impulse was to put Nauvoo into a state of defence, and his militia 

 was drawn out. But on the approach of the state troops, he offered, 

 in order to avoid bloodshed, to surrender on condition that Governor 

 Ford would guarantee his safety till his trial could take place. This 

 was agreed to, and Joseph Smith, his brother Hyram, and some other 

 of the leading members of the council were carried prisoners to 

 Carthage jail. A guard small in number and purposely chosen, as is 

 affirmed, from among Smith's declared enemies, was set over them ; 

 but, on the 27th of June, a mob of about 200 armed ruffians broke 

 into the jail, and firing in at the door of the room in which the 

 brothers were confined, shot Hyram dead at once. Joseph Smith 

 attempted to escape by the window, but was knocked down, carried 



out, and shot. His dying exclamation is said to have been " Lord 

 my God." His body was given up to his friends, and buried with 

 great solemnity. 



Perhaps the death of Smith at that time did more than any other 

 event could have done, to confirm and consolidate the Mormon 

 church. Smith himself, it is evident, was becoming intoxicated with 

 power and prosperity. He is said to have given way to lust and in- 

 temperance, and though the statement is warmly denied, there appears 

 to be truth in the report, though the extent has been no doubt greatly 

 magnified. There is every reason to believe that he was beginning to 

 disgust even his followers, when his murder banished all feelings but 

 those of pity and reverence. Thenceforth, he was thought of only as 

 the glorified prophet and martyr; and his followers braced their 

 nerves to endurance by the remembrance of their master's fate and 

 example. In Nauvoo itself the impression produced by the event was 

 most profound. At first the popular cry was only for revenge, but their 

 leaders exhorted them to forbearance, and succeeded in their exhorta- 

 tions. They then proceeded to elect a successor to Smith. Three 

 candidates put forward their claims to the prophet's place. The choice 

 of the council fell on Brigham Young, who as soon as he was installed 

 took measures to remove his people far beyond "the farthest settle- 

 ments of his countrymen, convinced now that only in a country far 

 distant from societies living under the established forms, could the 

 vision of the Prophet stand a chance of realisation. The only stipula- 

 tion made with their enemies was that they should be unmolested 

 till they could finish and dedicate then? beautiful temple; and as soon 

 as that was accomplished, September 1846, the last band of tho 

 brethren departed from the land of their hopes to seek a new land of 

 promise. 



Shortly before Smith's death he estimated his followers at upwards 

 of 150,000, and declared that they were to be found among almost 

 every civilised people on the face of the earth. Probably he ex- 

 aggerated alike the number and the diffusion of his disciples, but that 

 their number was very great and that they were very widely spread 

 there can be little doubt. To what extent, if any, they have since in- 

 creased we need not now stay to inquire. Their present condition 

 will be more properly noticed in a future article. It only remains 

 now to state their doctrines as enunciated by Smith, and this will be 

 best done in the creed which he forwarded a few mouths before his 

 death for publication in Rupp's work, quoted above : 



" We believe in God the Eternal Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, 

 and in the Holy Ghost. 



"We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not 

 for Adam's transgression. 



" We believe that through the atonement of Christ all men may be 

 saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. 



"We believe that these ordinances are 1st, Faith in the Lord 

 Jesus Christ ; 2nd, Repentance ; 3rd, Baptism by immersion for the 

 remission of sins ; 4th, Laying on of hands for the. gift of the Holy 

 Spirit. 



" We believe that a man must be called of God by ' prophecy, and 

 by laying on of hands ' by those who are in authority, to preach the 

 Gospel and administer the ordinances thereof. 



" We believe in the same organisation that existed in the primitive 

 church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, &c. 



" We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, 

 healing, interpretation of tongues, &c. 



" We believe the Bible to be the Word of God, so far as it is trans- 

 lated correctly ; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the Word 

 of God. 



" We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal ; 

 aud we believe that he will yet reveal many great and important 

 things pertaining to the kingdom of God. 



" We believe in the literal gathering of Israel, and in the restoration 

 of the Ten Tribes; that Zion will be established upon this (the 

 Western) continent. That Christ will reign personally upon the earth; 

 aud that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisal glory. 



" We claim the privilege of worshipping Almighty God according to 

 the dictates of our conscience, unmolested, and allow all men tho 

 same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may. 



" We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magis- 

 trates ; in obeying, honouring, and sustaining the law. 



" We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and 

 in doing good to all men : indeed we may say that we follow the 

 admonition of Paul, ' We believe all things,' we * hope all things,' we 

 have endured very many things, and hope to be able to endure all 

 things. If there is any thing virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or 

 praiseworthy, we seek thereafter." 



In this creed it will be seen that there is no reference to what is 

 now commonly regarded as the characteristic feature of the Mormon 

 system polygamy, nor has it been mentioned in connection with 

 Smith himself. There is no doubt that during the last year of Smith's 

 life this was one of the charges brought against the Mormonites, 

 but the doctrine of a plurality of wives was never openly taught 

 until after his death, and if he proclaimed it at all, he confined the 

 revelation to the initiated. He is said however to have " sealed " to 

 himself " plural wives," as the Mormons express it, about two years 

 before his death ; and the privilege may have been accorded to some 



