In the Name of the Lord

In the Name of ihe Lord By J. Arthur Home At the Institute of the Intermountain Christian Workers, held in Salt Lake City recently, one of the speakers undertook to challenge a prophecy of Joseph Smith. The particular proph- ecy to which he had reference was made on Christmas day, 1832, and relates to the rebellion of South Carolina and the Civil War. (Doctrine and Covenants, Section 87.) Now, this speaker sought to show that the prophecy was made under stress of the excitement that prevailed at that time, when South Carolina was trying to do the very thing the proph- ecy says she would do, and that, therefore, it was not a prophecy at all, but only a guess which any one might have made, under the circumstances. In order to understand the situation, we must go back a little in our history and find out just what was taking place in 1832. In 1798 Congress passed certain laws which were very objectionable to two of the states, Kentucky and Virginia. These states declared that when Congress passed a law that the states did not like they need not obey it. They went further: they declared that the states had the right to nullify such laws. This was placing the power of the states ahead of the Federal govern- ment, and later was designated as "State's Rights." Though nothing serious came of the controversy in 1798, the sentiment expressed by the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions remained, and when the high protective tariff law was passed, in 1828, the sentiment flared up again. The Southern states were almost wholly agricultural, while the New England section was largely devoted to manufacturing. The latter had everything to gain and nothing to lose by a high protective tariff, while the South had everything to lose and nothing to gain by it. In 1828, Andrew Jackson, a South- erner, became President of the United States. The South con- fidently looked to him to sweep away the objectionable tariff law. In April, two years after his inauguration, a banquet was held in Washington to which the president was invited. The company was composed largely of Southerners who thought it high time something was done about the tariff. The speech- making was devoted to that topic. The speakers upheld the right of the South to reject the tariff and even to withdraw from the Union, if necessary. The president listened in silence, but

310 IMPROVEMENT ERA when he was called upon for a toast he startled the assembly by saying, "The Federal Union — It must be preserved." Calhoun immediately responded, "Liberty, dearer than Un- ion." The Union men warned the South that the course they were pursuing might lead to war, to which the Southerners con- temptuously replied, "Should the descendants of the heroes of 1776 be afraid of war?" During the summer of 1832 a new tariff law was enacted. Although it was somewhat lower than the old law, it was still highly protective. The Southern members of Congress were in- censed. They wrote home to their states, "There is no hope of any relief from this quarter." The legislature of South Car- olina convened in November, and declared the tariff act "null, void, and no law." The people of the state were ordered not to pay the duties, after the first of the following February, and any attempt on the part of the government to collect these duties was declared to be sufficient cause for South Carolina to with- draw from the Union. Following this the governor called for 10,000 troops to defend the state. On the 25th of December, Joseph Smith uttered the follow- ing prophecy: Verily, thus saith the Lord, concerning the wars which will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls. The days will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at that place; for be- hold, the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations; and thus war shall be poured out upon all nations. And it shall come to pass, after many days, slaves shall rise up against their masters, who shall be marshalled and disciplined for war. Andrew Jackson, however, was not a man to sit idly in the executive mansion and watch South Carolina defy the authority of the Federal government. Whatever his faults may have been, disloyalty to the government was not one of them. He was in- tensely patriotic. "I consider the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one state, incompatible with the exist- ence of the Union," he declared, * * * and inconsistent with every principle on which the Constitution was founded." To a Southern senator who called on him before returning home, the President said, "My compliments to my friends in South Carolina, and tell them that if one drop of blood is shed in opposition to the laws of the United States I shall hang the first man I can lay my hands on." And to Poinsett, collectoi of the port of Charleston, he wrote, "In forty days I will have 40,000 men in South Carolina to enforce the law."

IN THE NAME OF THE LORD 311 That was enough. South Carolina abandoned her bellig- erent attitude. No state cared to take issue with such a man. The war spirit died down, and the following March a com- promise law was enacted which gradually reduced the tariff. But what about the prophecy? Was Joseph Smith cha- grined at the turn events had taken? The speaker at the In- stitute of the Inter-mountain Christian Workers said Joseph Smith was not only not a prophet, he was not even a good guesser. Did the Prophet himself feel that he had made a mis- take? Let us find our answer in his own words. On April 2, 1843, eleven years after the prophecy was made, he was talking to the Saints at Nauvoo. He said: "/ prophesy, in the name of the Lord God, that the commencement of the difficulties which will cause much bloodshed^ previous to the coming of the Son of man, will be in South Carolina. It may probably arise through the slave question. .This a voice declared to me, while I was praying earnestly on the subject, December 25th, 1832." (Doc. and Cov. 130:12, 13.) So he was not chagrined at all because the prophecy had not been fulfilled — he believed it to be still in the future. Not only was he not disturbed at the failure of South Carolina to put into effect her nullification of the tariff, but he had known all along that the tariff would not be the cause of the rupture. "It may probably arise through the slave question," he declared, in 1843, adding that this information was given to him on the very day that he made the prophecy. In this connection there is another incident which should not be overlooked. When at last the enemies of Joseph Smith had him in their power, they took him to Carthage, ostensibly to be tried, but literally to be executed. A number of the of- ficers of the troops in Carthage came to see the Prophet in the jail. In brief the following conversation took place: "Gentlemen, do I look like the desperate character my enemies repre- sent me to be?*' "No, Mr. Smith, you do not, but we cannot see what is in your heart." "Very true, gentlemen, you cannot see what is in my heart, but I can see what is in your hearts. You are thirsting for blood and nothing but my blood will satisfy you. I prophesy in the name of the Lord that you shall witness scenes of blood and sorrow to your entire satisfaction. Your souls shall be perfectly satisfied with blood, and many of you who are now present shall have an opportunity to face the cannon's mouth from sources you think not of, and you shall be filled with regret and sorrow because of the scenes of desolation and sorrow that await you." When I stood in the State Capitol, in Springfield, and looked at the battle-torn banners that were carried by the Il- linois troops during the Civil War, I wondered if the dusty and powder-stained men who had surrounded these banners would say, as the speaker did, to the Inter-mountain Christian Work- ers, "Joseph Smith was not even a good guesser."

312 IMPROVEMENT ERA There is one other statement in the prophecy whose truth- fulness has likewise been challenged, and that is the part Great Britain was to take. Any one familiar with our history knows how the Southern states, led by South Carolina, were divided against the Northern states, and that more than 100,000 former slaves were enlisted in the armies of the Union to fight against their masters. He also knows that the Southern states called upon the nation of Great Britain — an affair which turned out to be one of the most sensational of the whole war. Abraham Lincoln, shrewd, resourceful statesman that he was, put forth every effort to prevent so powerful an ally coming to the aid of the South, and though she did secretly do many things to assist the Confederate cause, Great Britain gave no official recognition, and the war was finally brought to a suc- cessful conclusion. The prophecy says: "The Southern States will call upon other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations to defend them- selves against other nations; and thus [or then] war shall be poured out upon all nations." Did part of this prophecy fail because Great Britain did not respond to the invitation of the South and call upon other nations to join in the fray? Again we must refer to the state- ment of April 2, 1843, which is the key to this whole prophecy. "I prophesy in the name of the Lord God that the commence- ment of the difficulties which will cause much bloodshed, pre- vious to the coming of the Son of Man, will be in South Caro- lina." According to Holy Writ, a long series of calamities will immediately precede the coming of the Son of God to earth — a very definite period encompassed by the life of a man, called a generation. Jesus referred to it in this wise: "Now, learn a parable of the fig tree; when his branch is yet tender and put- teth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." The prophecy of 1843 sets a definite time when the fig tree would commence putting forth its leaves, and the prophecy of 1832 enumerates some of the things that will hap- pen during that period, and one of the things is that Great Brit- ain "shall also call upon other nations to defend themselves against other nations; and thus [or then] war shall be poured out upon all nations." We need only review in our minds the part Great Britain took in the World War to realize the fulfilment of this part of the prediction — when her diplomacy brought to her side Japan, China, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Roumania, etc.; and if there is any nation which did not suffer, as a consequence of the outpouring of this great conflict, it is yet to be discovered.

IN THE NAME OF THE LORD 313 There are other things in this remarkable prophecy which I have not quoted here. Some of them have already been ful- filled, others are in process of fulfilment, and still others re- main wholly to the future, but I would like to suggest to the critics of modern prophecy, "Do not be disturbed because all has not yet come to pass. Possess your souls in patience, for not one item listed shall fail of accomplishment ere the Lord come." In part we agree with the speaker at the Inter-mountain Christian Worker's Institute. "Joseph Smith was not a good guesser" — he was not a guesser at all — he was a Prophet of God. Throw on the Yule Log Throw on the Yule Log! Pile it high We'll sit by the fireplace — you and I — And listen to its crack and roar, As it moaneth forth a tale of yore. It tells of shepherds in the field, Watching o'er their flocks by night, Who, on their native meadows, kneeled As they beheld a wondrous light. From out the light a company came Of angels, robed in spotless white, Who, with their songs of glad refrain, Awoke the stillness of the night. "Peace on the earth, good will toward men!" The angel message echoed round — God haste the day when men shall feel That they are by this message bound! When war and hatred shall have ceased, And "brothers' keepers" gather round Like shepherds, 'biding in the field, And listen to the angel sound. Throw on the Yule Log! Pile it high, We'll sit by the fireplace — you and I — And listen to its crack and roar As it moaneth forth a tale of yore. Tucson, Arizona G. Milton Babcock