Joseph Smith: His Mission and Persecution

THE SPEAKERS' CONTEST. 673 lowed by suffering, misery and death. The partial breaking of jit, by disgrace and dishonor. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." Such are the commandments of our God. Can we, will we, do we follow them? JOSEPH SMITH— HIS MISSION AND PERSECUTION. BY MARK C. BROWN. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell upon the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come; and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. It was thus ordained and established in the heavens, that the Gospel of Christ, which, through the formality, the idolatry, and the transgressions of mankind, had been taken from the earth, was again to be restored in its fullness. The Giver of all good, again took compassion upon fallen humanity. An angel of light waved aloft the scepter of love, of charity, and of forgiveness, and through the instrumentality of the boy-prophet, the gates of heaven were opened; the glory and power of God were again exhibited; the plan of salvation and everlasting life, was once more made manifest; and the Priesthood of God was given to man, never to be taken away. But pause while reason and imagination vainly attempt to fathom the supernatural mysteries of this divine proclamation! Darkness, delusion, and ungodliness, had reigned supreme for centuries. The beacon light of truth had been extinguished by the abominable practice of sham worship and idolatry, and the Great Master, in the anger of his soul, uttered in lamenting tones of sorrow, "They draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They teach for doctrine, the command-

674 IMPROVEMENT ERA. ments of men, having the form of godliness, butf they deny the power thereof." False pride and bigotry intoxicated the unscrupulous mind to the egotistical idea that direction from the Great Parent was unnecessary in such an age of intellectual development and progress. The declining barbarisms of wichcraft and superstition still bade defiance to the enunciation of any unpopular proclamation. 0, where is he who is endowed with the capabilities of receiving and carrying into execution such an omnipotent charge as the bringing forth, in such an untimely epoch, a message of truth, upon the success of which depends the fate of salvation of past millions, and millions yet unborn? Frail humanity would boastfully point to the learned doctors of logic and divinity. The unenlightened eye of mortality would confidently search among the influential despots of Alexandrian skill, and there expect to find an unrivaled champion who alone is equal to the task of ushering in a charge of such grave import and responsibility. But nay, "God hath chosen the weak things of the earth to confound the things which are mighty." Formerly, when the world was to be redeemed from the cursed bonds of eternal death, there came forth a lowly Nazarine from Judea, who conquered by a warfare more divine, triumphed by a conquest more supreme and celestial. This established precedent called from the ranks of poverty and obscurity the unlearned and unpretentious Joseph Smith, an unknown lad of fourteen years, yet intrusted with the mission, the extended import of which is beyond the realm of human conception. Of humble birth; reared in a locality whose primitive customs were undisturbed by the dazzling influence of modern etiquette and society; intimidated by the tender years of undeveloped boyhood; handicapped by his lack of celebrity and reputation, and possessing a lowly social station, yet he came forth boldly, and in the simplicity of his noble heart proclaimed the divine truths revealed by the Great Master of fallen humanity. The glad tidings of joy were greeted with responsive welcome in the yearning hearts of many, but the fierce multitude of opposition made the latter-day prophet the victim of inhuman and merciless persecution. From the hour he proclaimed his divine mission,

THE SPEAKERS' CONTEST. 675 he became the target of scandalous abuse and hireling cruelty. His motives were misconstrued; his deeds were misrepresented, and he was spurned as an imposter by the impious professors of divinity. Why did they not, as becometh their profession, take him by the hand and lead him back to the strait gate and the narrow path which leadeth unto everlasting life? Ah, he was encircled by a mysterious influence hitherto unmet in the ecclesiastical researches of the day. His was an uncommon doctrine, he was an uncommon man, and with his penetrating argument, aided by divine power, he unmasked the inconsistencies of unauthorized worship, and left the superstructure a helpless mass of ruin and abomination. His truth was too authentic to meet with the sanction of the learned ministers who "preached for hire, and devined for money ,n For this reason, they became his avowed enemies. They conspired to thwart the progress of his purpose, and when they reached the bounds of human decency, they instituted heinous persecution, of such base and ignoble character that hard-hearted heathendom would have blushed for shame, if her historic pages had furnished a parallel example. The last October sun of 1838, shed welcome rays of quiet upon a peaceful "Mormon" village in Missouri. The bounteous harvest of the verdant fields waved to and fro at twilight in the cool and refreshing autumnal breeze. The doors of the rude log-cabins remained unlocked, and the guards had retired from their watch with little fear of impending woe. But alas! envious sectarianism had decreed to annihilate its progressive rivals. Governor Boggs issued an order for the "extermination" of the "Mormons" from the "free republic" of Missouri, and before the shades of night settled on that peaceful village, its streets were filled with the blaspheming clamor of a malicious mob, enthused with the desire and power of carrying the decree into execution. The Prophet of the Saints and their leaders were seized and confined as prisoners of war. The citizens were commanded to surrender their arms, and when the command was obeyed, rapine and plunder deprived the unprotected Saints of their household comforts and necessities. The Prophet Joseph was court-martialed and sentenced to be

676 IMPR0VEMEN1 ERA. shot at 8 o'clock the next morning. His family and friends were to witness the vile deed, and brute force rendered resistance impossible. The hours of the night were spent in witnessing agonizing scenes, and when the morning came, the violence of the mob renewed its raging fury. A second court-martial decided to carry the prisoners back to Jackson County, deeming a more public execution better suited to satisfy their murderous desire. Before starting on this fateful journey, the innocent Prophet was led, by a strong guard, to bid his defenseless family a last farewell. His heart was filled with overflowing grief, and as he neared the threshold of his humble dwelling, he heard the bitter sobs of crushing sorrow from the broken hearts of his destitute kindred. The door was opened, and as he embraced his grief -stricken wife, their weeping children clung to the garments of their condemned sire, but were ruthlessly separated by the merciless hand of a soldier. The Prophet requested the privilege of a private interview with his unconsolable family. The request was scornfully denied, and he was torn from the embrace of his loved ones, and hurriedly marched off to join the profane mob on their way to Jackson County. Other leaders were treated in the same inhuman manner, and their suffering was his suffering. Their bodies were weighted down with galling chains, and during this tedious travel, they were subjected to unrelenting torture and blasphemous threats. In the presence of these shackeled heroes, their victors boasted of the murder and robbery they had committed among the "Mormon" element, and how they had shot and dashed out the brains of defenseless men, women, and children. The journey was at an end, and in the meantime, the penalty had been moderated; instead of a public execution, the prisoners were taken by a jeering crowd and dragged off to Liberty jail, where they remained for six long months, and where persecution was administered worthy of a Tower or a Bastile, but unfit to be called the product of enlightened civilization. The name of Joseph Smith was heralded throughout the civilized world, but the prevarications of churlish priests attached to it a stigma which signalized the Prophet as an ambitious impostor, and common enemy of all secular creeds.

THE SPEAKERS' CONTEST. 677 Words are inadequate to portray the mental and physical torture of which he was the unfortunate recipient. His people were berated and persecuted with Neronian cruelty, and he was the one to whom they looked for protection. He was their leader, their Prophet, and the expounder of the principles for which they gave their possessions and their life-blood. Yet, he had done everything which could have been done to allay the rising torrent of opposition. He had been patient beyond human endurance. His people had been outraged and murdered in the face of civil law which offered no protection or remuneration. And when he appealed to the chief magistrate of the republic for redress in hehalf of his fellows, that chief of executive power uttered in solemn words, "Your cause is just, but government can do nothing for you." 0 ! land of religious liberty, whose laws of justice stand as a light to all nations, seal the pages which record that ignoble answer, lest future generations disown the legacy of their inheritance! The dark ages had passed, but in the heart of advanced civilization there yet lingered a trace of the characteristic traits of that preceding epoch. An innocent and harmless Prophet was driven from city to city; arraigned before a court of justice forty-seven times during the short life of thirty-eight years. Thrice was he sentenced to be shot for refusing to recant and deny the divinity of his mission, yet his faith and determination increased as tribulation came upon him. He was the hero of the cause which he had espoused, and willingly endured the brunt of the persecution in order that his people might survive and prosper, notwithstanding the sweltering heat of opposition which was heaped upon them. But the end was not far distant. The grim and guarded walls of Carthage jail were destined to surround a prisoner who was to sacrifice his innocent blood to quench the desire of a fiendish mob of assassins, and hither went the meek and lowly Prophet, "as a lamb to the slaughter," and died that his cause might live. He who had spent his life as a benefactor to mankind; he who had accomplished a work unsurpassed since the crucifixion, now gave his precious blood to seal his testimony to the divinity of the command with which he had been entrusted. Stricken down as a martyr, ere he saw the yoke of bondage removed from his faithful