Show I 1 copyright secured HISTORY OF JOSEPH SMITH JULY 1839 wednesday ad 1 I baptized dr isaac gallaud galland and coli confirmed firmed him at the waters edge and about two hours after ordained him to tile the office of an all elder afternoon I 1 was engaged in ili dictating my history about this time the twelve wrote the following epistle to the elders of th the e char church c h of jesus christ of latter day saints to the churches scattered abroad and to all tho the saints we the undersigner undersigned under signed od feeling deeply interested in the welfare of zion the up building of the church of christ and the welfare of the saints it in general send unto you GREETING and pray that grace mercy and peace may mav rest upon you from god our father and the lord jesus christ but brethren the situation of things as they have of late existed have been to us of a peculiarly try trying T nature I 1 M my y of you have been driver from your homes robbed of your possessions and deprived of tile the liberty of conscience you have been stripped of your clothing plundered of your furniture I 1 robbed of your horses your cattle your sheep your hogs and refused the protection of law you have been subject to insult and abuse from a set of lawless miscreants you have had to endure cold nakedness peril and sword your wives and your children have been deprived of the comforts of life you have been subject to bonds to imprisonment I 1 nent to banishment and many to dath d sath for the testimony of jesus and for the word of god many of your brethren with those whose souls are now beneath the altar are crying for the vengeance of heaven to rest upon tile heads of their devoted murderers and saying how long 0 lord holy and true dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth eartha but it was said to them that they should rest yet for a little season until their follow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as aa they were should be fulfilled dear brethren we should remind you of this thing aud and altho you have had indignities insults and injuries heaped upon you till further su suffering floring would seem to be no longer a virtue we would say be dear brethren for as saith the apostle lye ye have need of patience that after being tried you may inherit tho the promise you yon have been tried triad in the furnace of affliction tile time to exercise patience is now come and we shall reap brethren in dw dite lime if we faint not do not breathe vengeance upon your oppressors but leave the case in tile the hands of god for vengeance is mine saith the alie lord and I 1 will repay we would say to the widow and the to the destitute and to the diseased who have been made so aliro persecution be patient pali ent you are not forgotten the god of jacob has his eye upon you the heavens llave have been witness to your sufferings and they are registered on high angels have gazed upon the scene and your tears your groans your sorrows and anguish of heart are had in remembrance before god they have entered into the sympathies of that bosom who is touched witt with the feelings of our infirmities who was tempted I 1 in all points like unto auto you they have entered aiuto the e ears a r s 0 of f the lord of be patient then until it the words of god bo be fulfilled and his designs accomplished and then shall he pour out his vengeance upon the devoted heads of your marder murderers ers and then shall they know that he is god and that you are his people and we would say to all the saints who have made ma de a covenant with the lord by sacrifice that inasmuch na you aro are faithful you shall not nn I 1 lose your reward although not numbered among i those who were in the late difficulties in tile the west we wish to stimulate all the brethren to faithfulness ful ness you have been tried you are now being tried and those trials if youage yon are not watchful will corrode upon the mind and produce un unpleasant pleas tilt feelings but bill recollect that now is the time of trial soon the victory will be ours oars now may be a day of lamentation then will be a day of rejoicing now may be a day of sorrow but by ai and 1 d by w we e shall see the lord our sorrow will be turned hato joy and our joy no man from us its be honest be men of truth and integrity let your word be your bond be diligent be prayerful pray for and with your families train up your children in the fear of the lord cultivate a meek a quiet spirit clothe the naked feed the hungry help tire ali destitute be merciful to the widow and orphan be merciful brethren and to all men mell bear with one an others infirmity s considering your own weakness bring no railing accusation against your brethren especially take care that you do not against the authorities or elders of the church for the principle is of the devil he is called the accuser of the brethren and michael the archangel arch angel dared not bring a railing accusation against the devil but said II the lie lord rebuke thee satan and any man who pursues this course of accusation and murmuring will fall in into 0 O the snare of the devil and apostatize except lie ile repent jude in the eighth verse says likewise these filthy dreamers despise dominion and speak evil of dignities and says he behold the lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints to execute judgment upon the ungodly and to convince all tharary that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have bave ungodly committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have leave spoken against them peter speaking on the same principle says the lord lora how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished but chiefly thern them that walk after the flesh in it the lust of unclean ness and despise government presumptuous are arc they self willed they are not afraid to speak evil 0 of dignities whereas angels which are greater in power and might bring not railing accusation against them before the lord if a man sin let liim him be dealt with according cording ao to the law of god in the bible the book of mormon and doctrine and covenants and then leave him in the hands of god to rebuke as michael left the devil gird yourselves with righteousness and let truth eternal truth be written indelibly on your hearts pray for the prosperity of zion for the tand his counselors for the twelve tile the high hi it council con keil the high priests the seventies the he t elders ellers the th e bishops and all saints that god may bless them and preserve liis his people in righteousness and grant unto them wisdom and intelligence li gence that his kingdom may inay roll forth we would say to tile the elders that god has called you to an all important office he has laid upon you an onerous duty he be lias has called you to an holy calling even to be the priests of the most high god messengers geis to the nations of the earth and upon your diligence your perseverance and faithfulness the soundness of the doctrines that you preach the moral p precepts re capt s that you advance and practice and upon t the h e sound 0 d principles that you inculcate hang the dest destinies udes of the human family while you hold that priesthood you are tho the men rl ten that god has called to spread forth his kingdom he has committed the care of souls to your charge and when you received this priesthood you became tile the legate of heaven and tile the great god demands it of you that you should be faithful and inasmuch as you are not you will not be chosen but it will be said unto you stand by and let a more honorable man than thou art take thy place and receive thy crown be Beca careful refal that you teach not for the word of god the commandments of men nor the doctrines of meni en nor the ordinances of men inasmuch as you are gods messengers study tile the word of god and preach it and not your opinions for no mans opinion is ia worth a straw advance no I 1 1 A L I 1 principle but what you can prove for one scriptural proof is worth ten tell thousand opinions we would moreover say abide by that revelation which says preach nothing but repentance to this generation era tion and leave tile the further mysteries of the kingdom till god shall tell you to preach them which is not now dow the horns horlis of the beast tile the toes of the image the frogs and the beast mentioned by john are I 1 not going to save this generation for if a man does not become acquainted with tile the first principles of tile gospel how shall he understand those greater mysteries which the most wise cannot u understand it der stand without revelation these things therefore have nothing to do with your mission we have heard of some foolish vagaries and wild speculations originating only in a disordered imagination which are set forth by some telling what occupation they had before they came into this world and what they would be employed with after they leave this state of existence those and other vain imaginations we would warn the elders against because if they listen to such things they will fall into tile the snare of the devil and when the trying time comes they will be overthrown we would also warn the elders according to previous con counsel usel not to go on oil to an others ground without invitation to interfere with abnot an others her s privilege for your mission is to the world all and d ii not 0 t to the churches we would also remark that no man has a right I 1 to usurp authority or power over any church nor has any man power to preside over any clinich clerch unless lie he is solicited and received by tile the voice ol 01 that church to preside preach the first principles of the doctrine of carist faith in m the lord jesus christ repentance towards god baptism ili in the name of jesus for the remission of sins laying on of hands for the gift of tile holy ghost tho the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment when you yot go forth foith to preach and the spirit of god rests upon you giving you wisdom and utter terance nice and enlightening your understanding be careful that you ascribe the glory to god and not to yourselves 5 ourselves boast not of intelligence of wis wis dom or of power for it is is only that which god lias has imparted unto auto you but be humble be meek be patient and give glory to god we would counsel all who have not received a recommend since since the difficulties in in missouri Mis soun to obtain one from tile authorities of the church if they wish to be accounted as wise stewards we are aie glad dear brethren to see that spirit of enterprise and perseverance pei winch which is is manifested by you in in reg regard ard to preaching the gospel and rejoice to know that neither bonds nor imprisonment banishment nor exile poverty or contempt nor all the combined powers of earth and hell bell hinder you ou from delivering your testimony to tile world and publishing those glad tidings which have been been revealed from heaven by the minister ing of angels by the gift of the holy ghost and by the power of god for the salvation of the world in ili these last days and we would say to you yoa that the hearts of the twelve are with you and they with you are determined et to fulfill their mission to clear their garments of the blood of this jus generation to introduce tile gospel to foreign nations and to make known to the world these great things which god has developed ta they e a are r e now on oil the eve of their departure for engla england y and will start in in a few days they feel to pray for you and to solicit an interest in your prayers pray eis and in in the prayers of the church that god may sustain them ili in their arduous undertaking grant them success ili in their mission deliver them from the powers of darkness the stratagem of wicked men and all the combined powers of earth and hot hell and if you seek after unity of pur P joao and 1 design if you are men of humility and of faithfulness of integrity and perseverance it you submit yourselves to the teachings of heaven and are guided by the spirit of god if u you at all times seek the glory of god and the salvation of men and lay your honor prostrate ili in the dust if need be and are willing to fulfil fulfill the purposes of god in all things ti lings the power of the priesthood will rest upon you 0 o and you will become mighty in ili testimony the widow and the orphan will be made glad and the poor among men rejoice in in the holy one 11 ID of f israel princes aces uces will hs listen ten to the things that you yon pro pio clann I 1 and the nobles of tho the earth will attend with deference to your conr words woi ds queens will rejoice in in tile glad tidings of salvati ot and kings bow to tile the sceptre of immanuel light will burst forth as tho the morning and intelligence spread itself as tile alie rays of he sun still tho the cringing sycophant will be aslia ashamed nied and the alie traitor flee from your presence superstition will hide its hoary head and infidelity he asha ashamed nied and amid the clamor of men tile dm din of war the rage of pestilence leme the commotion of nations nit ious the overthrow avei throw of kingdoms and the dissolution of empires truth shall sha walk forth with mighty might power guided by tile the arm of omnipotence and lay hold of the honest in in heart among all nations zion shall blossom as a rose and the nations flock to her standard stan and ana tile the kingdoms of tins this world dball sh ill soon become the kingdoms of our god and of ins his christ chi and he shull shall re reign i forever forever and ever amen BRIGHAM YOUNG UNG HEBER C KIMBALL JOHN E PAGE WILFORD WOODRUFF JOHN TAYLOR GEO A SMITH N B we have heard that a man by the name of george M hinkle is is preaching in in the iowa territory we would remark to the public that we have withdrawn our fellowship from him and will not stand ae accountable countable for any doctrines held forth by turn him nor will we be amenable for his conduct the minutes of a conference will be published mentioning the names of outliers ot lieis liers whom we have withdraw our fellowship from day ath I 1 dictated history to shew the situation of tile the prisoners at columbia I 1 quote from uder eder pratts persecution of oatlie the saints sister phelps orson pratt and sister phelps brother came from illinois on horseback aud and visited with us for several days on the fourth of july we felt desirous its as usual to ce cele lebrato tho the an niver sary of Aine american rican liberty we accordingly manufactured a white while flag consisting of tile the half of a shirt on oil which was inscribed the word liberty ill ii large letters and also a large american eagle was put on in ili red we then obtained a pole from our jailer and on oil the morning of the fourth this flag was suspended from tile the front window of our prison overhanging the public and floating triumphantly in ili the air to the full view of tile the citizens who assembled by hundreds to celebrate brate the national jubilee with this the citizens citi seemed highly pleased and sent a portion of the public dinner to us and our friends who partook with us in prison with merry hearts as we intended to gain our liberties or be in paradise diso before the close of that eventful day while we were thus employed in prison the town was alive with troops parading guns gaus firing music sounding and shouts of joy resounding on oil every side in ili the meantime we wrote the following toast which was read at their public dinner with many and long clie cheers ers the patriotic and hospitable citizens of boone county opposed to tyr tyranny anny and oppression and firm original principles of republican liberty may they in common with every part of our wide spreading ng con country long enjoy the blessings which flow from the fountain of american independence our dinner being |