--- title: Times and Seasons description: Issues of 1841 to 1842. authors: - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints editors: - Ebenezer Robinson - Don Carlos Smith - Smith, Joseph, Jr. - Taylor, John collections: - periodicals tags: - newspaper - times-and-seasons - nauvoo - nineteenth-century periodical: Times and Seasons volume: 3 number: 2 published: 1841-11-15 publisher: E. Robinson and D. C. Smith; later John Taylor publisher_place: Commerce and Nauvoo, Illinois language: en type: article reference: "“Touching the Signs of the Times, and the Political Destiny of the World,” *Times and Seasons* 3, no. 2 (November 15, 1841): 593." printed_title: TOUCHING THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, AND THE POLITICAL DESTINY OF THE WORLD. source: url: https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1841-11-15_3_2 transcription: Text from the Centerplace.org transcription (https://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v3n02.htm), with its page breaks; this Internet Archive scan is the reference copy (its OCR was used only as a witness for OCR repair) identifier: per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1841-11-15_3_2 start_page: 593 end_page: 593 curator_note: A Mormon newspaper published by the church in Nauvoo; included for historical study. Inclusion does not imply endorsement. rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1841 (Nauvoo, Illinois); published before 1931, so public domain in the United States source: https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1841-11-15_3_2 publication_year: 1841 --- # Touching the Signs of the Times, and the Political Destiny of the World TO HER GRACIOUS MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA.. SOVREIGN [SOVEREIGN] OF BRITAIN, It has fallen to the lot of your Majesty not only to live in a most eventful period of the world, but to occupy a station the most conspicuous of any individual of the present age. It has pleased the Almighty disposer of events, who governs and rules among the kingdoms of the earth, to raise your Majesty, while in the morning of life, to a throne of power, at the head of an empire, which, in many respects, stands foremost among the nations and kingdoms ef [of] the world. It is with feelings of that profound respect which is justly due to so high an office that I offer this address. The importance of the subject, and the obligation which I am under to the God whom I serve, and to the people of the age in which I live, are the only apologies which I offer for thus intruding upon the attentiou [attention] of your Majesty. Know assuredly that the world in which we live is on the eve of a revolution, more wonderful in its beginning-more rapid in its progress-more powerful in its operations-more extensive in its effect-more lasting in its influence-and more important in it consequences, than any which man has yet witnessed upon the earth: a revolution in which all the inhabitants of tho [the] earth are vitally interested, both religiously and politically-temporally and spiritually; one on which the fate of all nations is suspended, and upon which the future destiny of all the affairs of the earth is made to depend. Nay, the angels have desired to look into it, and heaven itself has waited with longing expectation for its consummation. I will now proceed to show from the Scriptures first, what this revolution is-secondly [secondly], that the present is the time of its fulfilment [fulfillment]. The first great and universal monarchy after the deluge was the kingdom of Babel, or Babylon. This was founded by Nimrod, on the plains of Euphrates, and continued to strengthen itself until the time of Nebuchadnezzar, whom the Lord raised up to be his servant, to execute his vengeance upon the nations. By a series of the most striking prophetic declarations of Jeremiah the Prophet and others, and their no less striking fulfilment [fulfillment], this monach [monarch] marched forth-till Tyro, Egypt, and Judea, and all the surrounding nations, were subdued and brought into captivity for seventy years. This was so extensive, that Daniel the Prophet exclaimed to the King of Babylon, "The God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and fowls of the heaven, hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all." This monach [monarch], standing at the head of nations, and swaying his sceptre [scepter] over all the kingdoms of the world, was the favored instrument to whom the Almighty made known his purposes touching the government of the world in all succeeding ages. While resting upon his bed in the deep silence of midnight, when the busy world was lost in slumbers, and waeried [wearied] nature hushed to silence and repose, an anxious inquiry arose in his mind in regard to the things which should "come to pass hereafter." His mind roamed down through the dark vista of future and distant periods, and would fain have understood and contemplated the events of the "latter days." Thus lost in contemplation, and overwhelmed in deep sleep, his mind was suddenly caught from the subject of his meditation, and the visions of heaven were opened to his view. A great image stood before him, whose head was of fine gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and thighs of brass, his legs of iron, and his feet and toes part of iron and part of clay. He beheld till a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, which smote the image upon the toes; then was the whole image broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer thrashing floors, and the wind blew it away; but the stone became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.-When the king awoke from this vision, he sent for his wise men, but none of them could unfold unto him his dream and the meaning thereof, till Daniel was forthcoming with this striking declaration, "There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets." This man of God then proceeded to tell the dream and the interpretation thereof. The head of gold represented Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdoms over which he reigned; the breast and arms of silver represented the Medes and Persians, who next succeeded in the government of the world; the belly and thighs of brass represented the empire of Alexander and his successors-this being the next in succession; the lege [legs] of iron represented the Roman empire, which was the fourth great monarchy [monarchy] of the world; and the feet and toes, part of iron and part of clay, represented the dissolution of the Roman empire and its subdivision into the kingdoms of Modern Europe, as they now exist in their divided state partly Roman and partly Protestant, and not cleaving one to another, even as iron and clay will not adhere or unite in mutual strength. Of course then the government of England is one of the toes of this image. Now, "in the days of these kings (or kingdoms represented by the feet and toes) the God of heaven should set up a kingdom which should not be left to other people, but which should break in peices [pieces] all these kingdoms and stand for ever," as represented by the little stone. This is the interpretation which the God of heaven himself gave to Daniel, and which Daniel has given in the scriptures; and England has given the scriptures to the world-thus actually revealing to the world, its destiny and her own. But before we proceed further we shall go back and take another view of the same subject, as revealed to Daniel on another occasion, and under a different figure. He saw (Dan. vii.) these same four kingdoms, viz. the Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Greeks, and Romans, rise and reign in succession under the figure of four beasts. Out of the fourth beast he saw, under the figure of ten horns, ten kingdoms rose, which are the same that the feet and toes represented. viz. the kingdoms of Modern Europe. "And he beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the ancient of Days did sit, and judgement [judgment] was given to the Saints, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." Again he said, "The saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever."-Again, "The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, Whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him" Again he says, "I saw in the night-visions, and behold one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." The kingdom so often spoken of in the 7th of Daniel, is evidently the same that is represented by the stone which smote the image, as recorded in the 2nd chap. From this it appears that this new kingdom will be established over the whole earth, to the destruction of all other kingdoms, by nothing less than the personal advent of the Messiah in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, but preceeded [preceded] by a personage called the "Ancient of Days." The 14th chap. of Zechariah confirms this testimony by predicting that the Lord will stand with his feet on the Mount of Olives; that he shall come and all the saints with him, and that in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name ONE, and he shall be king over all the earth. The Revelation of John bears the same testimony, saying, "The kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ." There are many other scripture illustrations of the same subject, which would be extremely interesting to your Majesty and to the world, but these must suffice. From all these facts, so clearly set forth in the scriptures, I feel warranted in saying that, as sure as all these events 2nd. have succeeded each other from the days of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, until the days of Victoria 1, on the throne of Britain, so sure will that portion be fulfilled which is yet future, and which relates to the casting down of thrones, the termination of the political and religious establishments of the earth, and the setting up of a new and universal kingdom, under the immediate administration of the Messiah and his saints. Connected with the ushering in of this new era will be the restoration of Judah and Israel from their long dispersion. They will come home to their own land, and rebuild Jerusalem and the cities of Judea, and rear up the temple of their God. This city will be the seat of empire for the eastern world and all the surrounding nations for the next thousand years at least. (See Zechariah 14) This restoration will take place by a series of miracles, signs, wonders, revelations, judgements [judgments], &c., which will far exceed the dispensation of Moses and the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage. (Jeremiah 16th; Ezekiel 20th; Isaiah 11th; Ezekiel 36th to 39th inclusive.) With this revolution will be connected the resurrection of the saints that have slept. See Daniel xii. 2; Job xix, 25, 29, 27; Rev. xx. A physical change also awaits the earth at this time. The mountains will be thrown down, the valleys exalted, the rough places will become smooth and the crooked places straight, the barren deserts fruitful, and the parched ground well watered and even the beasts of prey will be wrought upon by the spirit of God-will lose their thirst for blood, and become perfectly harmless, feeding on vegetable food only. Isaiah and others have written upon all these things so extensively that it would be needless for me to give the quotations in this place. Connected with this restitution will be judgments and signs in heaven above and earth beneath, which will distress the nations by famine, pestilence, sword, tempests, hail, earthquakes, floods, and whirlwinds, and which will finally terminate in a fire, as fatal to all the proud and them that do wickedly, as the flood of Noah and the fire that fell upon Sodom. Then as Noah was a survivor of a world destroyed, and himself and family the sole proprietors of the earth, so will the saints of the Most High possess the earth and its whole dominion, and tread upon the ashes of the wicked. (See Isaiah xxiv, 1st to 6th; Malachi last; Luke xxi, 25 to 36; Joel ii.) Having laid before your Majesty a faint description of that great revolution which awaits the world, I now come to the second part of my subject, viz. --