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FIRST PERSECUTIONS OF THE SECT-EXPLORATORY JOURNEY TO THE FAR WEST-ESTABLISHMENT IN MISSOURI-THE PROPHET LYNCHED " BY THE POPULACE- QUARRELS WITH THE "GENTILES "-THE NEW ZION-PERSECUTIONS IN MISSOURI.

THE truth that no absurdity of fanaticism is too outrageous to attract believers, finds continual corroboration. The learned and the unlearned, the rich and the poor, the gentle and the simple, alike break through the trammels of reason, and become the dupes of religious impostors, or of persons who are still more dangerous-the religious maniacs, who strengthen their cause by their own conscientious belief in it. To whichever of these two classes Joseph Smith is most properly consignable, it is certain that his doctrine was no sooner preached than he began to make converts of the people around him. The idea of the "Latter Days," or days immediately prior to the second coming of Christ to establish the Millenium, is one that has a great hold upon the imagination of large classes of persons. Joseph Smith worked upon this idea, and every earthquake recorded in the newspapers, every

new comet discovered, every falling meteor that was observed, every war and rumour of a war in Europe or America, every monstrous birth among inferior animals, every great public calamity, tempest, fire, or explosion, was skilfully and pertinaciously adduced as a proof and a warning of the "Latter Days." He had two great elements of success in his favour, sufficient novelty and unconquerable perseverance. His doctrine was both old and new. It had sufficient of the old to attract those who would have been repelled by a creed entirely new, and it had sufficient of the new to rivet the attention and inflame the imagination of those on whose minds an old creed, however ably preached, would have fallen and taken no root. Basing his doctrine upon isolated passages of the Bible; claiming direct inspiration from the Almighty; promising possession of the carth, all temporal power and glory, and the blessing of Heaven upon true believers; and being gifted with a courage and audacity that despised difficulty and danger; Joseph Smith soon found himself the recognised head of a small but increasing body of ardent disciples. On the 1st of June, 1830, the first conference of the sect, as an organized church, was held at Fayette, which place was for some time the "prophet's" residence, and the head-quarters of the sect. The numbers of the believers, including the whole family of the Smiths, was thirty. Even at this early period in the history of the sect, they met considerable opposition from the people. Joseph ordered the construction of a dam across a stream of water, for the purpose of baptizing his disciples. A mob collected, and broke it down, and used language towards Joseph that was anything but flattering to him or his followers, threatening him with violence and assassination, and accusing him of robbery and swindling. He was nothing daunted, however. With a rare tact, as well as courage, he broke the keen edge of detraction, by confessing boldly that he had once led an improper and immoral life; but, unworthy as he was, "the Lord had chosen him—had forgiven him all his sins, and intended, in his own inscrutable purposes, to make him-weak and erring as he might have been--the instrument of his glory." Unlettered and comparatively ignorant he acknowledged himself to be; but then-was not St. Peter illiterate? Were not St. John, and the other apostles of Christ, men of low birth and mean position, before they were called to the ministry? And what had been done before, might it not be done again, if God willed it? By arguments like these, he strengthened the faith of those inclined to believe in the divinity of his mission, and foiled the logic of his opponents. But the more difficult that it became for the preachers of rival sects to meet him on Scriptural grounds, and to disprove his pretensions, either by his unworthiness as a man--which he

owned, or his incompetency as a scholar-which he as freely admitted, the more virulent became their animosity; until, at last, the family of the Smiths, father and brothers, who all joined in the scheme of Joseph for founding a new religion, removed from Palmyra and Fayetteville to Kirtland, in Ohio. The attention of the little band was directed, from the very commencement of their organization, to the policy and expediency of fixing their head-quarters in the Far West, in the thinly-settled and but partially explored territories belonging to the United States, where they might squat upon, or purchase good lands at a cheap rate, and clear the primeval wilderness. They required" elbow room," and rightly judged that a rural population would be more favourable than an urban one to the reception of their doctrine. Oliver Cowdery having been sent on an exploratory expedition, reported so favourably of the beauty, fertility, and cheapness of the land in Jackson County, Missouri, that Joseph Smith, after remaining but a few weeks in Kirtland, determined to visit this land of promise himself. Leaving his family and principal connections in Kirtland, he proceeded with Sidney Rigdon and some others upon a long and arduous journey to the wilderness, to fix upon a site for the "New Jerusalem;" the future city of Christ, where the Lord was to reign over the Saints as a temporal king in "power and great glory."

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They started about the middle of June, travelling by waggons or canal boats, and sometimes on foot, as far as Cincinnati. From this

place they proceeded by steamer to Louisville and St. Louis. At the last-mentioned village all further means of transport failed them, and they walked a distance of three hundred miles to Independence, in Jackson County, Missouri, the seat of the promised inheritance of the Saints. They arrived at their destination foot-sore and weary, in the middle of July. Joseph was in raptures with the beauty of the country, and his delight broke out into the following description, which occurs in his Autobiography, published in the Times and Seasons :

"Unlike the timbered states in the east, except upon the rivers and water-courses, which were verdantly dotted with trees from one to three miles wide, as far as the eye can glance, the beautiful rolling prairies lay spread around like a sea of meadows. The timber is a mixture of oak, hickory, black walnut, elm, cherry, honey locus, mulberry, coffee bean, hackberry, box, elder, and bass wood, together with the addition of cotton wood, button wood, pecon-soft and hard maples upon the bottoms. The shrubbery was beautiful, and consisted in part of plums, grapes, crab apples, and parsimmons. The prairies were decorated with a growth of flowers that seemed as gorgeous and grand as the brilliancy of the stars in the heavens, and exceed description. The soil is rich and fertile, from three to ten feet deep, and generally composed of a rich, black mould, intermingled with clay and sand. It produces, in abundance, wheat, corn, and many other commodities, together with sweet potatoes and cotton. Horses, cattle, and hogs, though of an inferior breed, are tolerably plenty, and seem nearly to raise themselves by grazing in the vast prairie range in summer, and feeding upon the bottoms in winter. The wild game is less plenty where man has commenced the cultivation of the soil, than it is a little distance further in the wild prairies. Buffalo, elk, deer, bears, wolves, beaver, and many lesser animals, roam at pleasure. Turkies, geese, swans, duck—yea, a variety of the feathered race, are among the rich abundance that graces the delightful regions of this goodly land of the heritage of the children of God. Nothing is more fruitful, or a richer stockholder in the blooming prairies, than the honey bee; honey is but about twenty-five cents per gallon.

"The season is mild and delightful nearly three quarters of the year, and as the land of Zion is situated at about equal distances from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as from the Alleghany and Rocky Mountains, in the thirty-ninth degree of north latitude, and between the tenth and twentieth degrees of west longitude, it bids fair to become one of the most blessed places on the globe.".

The longer he staid in Missouri, the more delighted he was with the "location" fixed upon for the Saints; and that there might be no difference of opinion upon the subject in the church, he had a direct

"revelation" from the Almighty upon the subject; establishing it as the future Zion, and setting forth his views relative to the organization of the church, the building of a temple, the allotment of lands, and the means of living of the people. So early in his career did this remarkable man begin to exercise authority over his followers, so bold and daring were his designs, and so confident was he in himself. This extraordinary document ran as follows:

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"Hearken, O ye elders of my church, saith the Lord your God, who have assembled yourselves together, according to my commandments, in this land which I have appointed and consecrated for the gathering of the Saints; wherefore this is the land of promise, and the place for the city of Zion. And thus saith the Lord your God, if you will receive wisdom, here is wisdom. Behold, the place which is now called Independence, is the centre place, and a spot for the temple is lying westward, upon a lot which is not far from the court-house: wherefore it is wisdom that the land should be purchased by the Saints; and also every tract lying westward, even unto the line running directly between Jew and Gentile. And also every tract bordering by the prairies, inasmuch as my disciples are enabled to buy lands. Behold, this is wisdom, that they may obtain it for an everlasting inherit

ance.

"And let my servant, Sidney Gilbert, stand in the office which I have appointed him, to receive moneys, to be an agent unto the church, to buy land in all the regions round about, inasmuch as can be in righteousness, and as wisdom shall direct.

“And let my servant, Edward Partridge, stand in the office which I have appointed him, to divide the Saints their inheritance, even as I have commanded; and also those whom he has appointed to assist him.

“And, again, verily I say unto you, let my servant, Sidney Gilbert, plant himself in this place, and establish a store, that he may sell goods without fraud; that he may obtain money to buy lands for the good of the Saints; and that he may obtain whatsoever things the disciples may need to plant them in inheritance. And also let my servant, Sidney Gilbert, obtain a licence that he may send goods also unto the people, even by whom he will, as clerks employed in his service, and thus provide for my Saints, that my Gospel may be preached unto those who sit in darkness, and in the region and shadow of death.

"And, again, verily I say unto you, let my servant, William W. Phelps, be planted in this place, and be established as a printer unto the church; and lo, if the world receiveth his writings, let him obtain whatsoever he can obtain in righteousness, for the good of the Saints. And let my servant, Oliver Cowdery, assist him, even as I have commanded, in whatsoever place I shall appoint unto him, to copy, and to correct, and select, that all things may be right before me, as it shall be proved by the Spirit through him. And thus let those of whom I have spoken to be planted in the land of Zion, and speedily as can be, with their families, to do those things even as I have spoken.

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