The Story of the Mormons, from the Date of Their Origin to the Year 1901 Part 40

Smith was the farthest possible from being what Spinoza has been called, "a G.o.d-intoxicated man." Real reverence for sacred things did not enter into his mental equipment. A story ill.u.s.trating his lack of reverence for what he called "long-faced" brethren was told by J. M. Grant in Salt Lake City. A Baptist minister, who talked much of "my dee-e-ar brethren," called on Smith in Nauvoo, and, after conversing with him for a short time, stood up before Smith and asked in solemn tones if it were possible that he saw a man who was a prophet and who had conversed with the Saviour. "'Yes,' says the prophet, 'I don't know but you do; would you not like to wrestle with me?' After he had whirled around a few times, like a duck shot in the head, he concluded that his piety had been awfully shocked."*

* Journal of Discourses, Vol. III, p. 67.

In manhood Smith was about six feet tall, weighing something over two hundred pounds. From among a number of descriptions of him by visitors at Nauvoo, the following may be cited. Josiah Quincy, describing his arrival at what he calls "the tavern" in Nauvoo, in May, 1844, gives this impression of the prophet: "Pre-eminent among the stragglers at the door stood a man of commanding appearance, clad in the costume of a journeyman carpenter when about his work. He was a hearty, athletic fellow, with blue eyes standing prominently out on his light complexion, a long nose, and a retreating forehead. He wore striped pantaloons, a linen jacket which had not lately seen the wash-tub, and a beard of three days' growth. A fine-looking man, is what the pa.s.ser-by would instinctively have murmured upon meeting the remarkable individual who had fas.h.i.+oned the mould which was to shape the feelings of so many thousands of his fellow-mortals." *

*" Figures of the Past," p. 380.

The Rev. Henry Caswall, M.A., who had an interview with the prophet at Nauvoo, in 1842, thus describes him: "He is a coa.r.s.e, plebeian, sensual person in aspect, and his countenance exhibits a curious mixture of the knave and the clown. His hands are large and fat, and on one of his fingers he wears a ma.s.sive gold ring, upon which I saw an inscription.

His eyes appear deficient in that open and straightforward expression which often characterizes an honest man."

* Millennial Star, November 1, 1850.

John Taylor had death-casts taken of the faces of Joseph and Hyrum after their murder. By the aid of these and of sketches of the brothers which he had secured while they were living, he had busts of them made by a modeller in Europe named Gahagan, and these were offered to the Saints throughout the world, for a price, of course.*

The proofs already cited of Smith's immorality are convincing. Caswall names a number of occasions on which, he charges, the prophet was intoxicated after his settlement in Nauvoo. He relates that on one of these, when Smith was asked how it happened that a prophet of the Lord could get drunk, Smith answered that it was necessary that he should do so to prevent the Saints from wors.h.i.+pping him as a G.o.d!*

* "Mormonism and its Author," 1852.

No Mormon ever concedes that proof of Smith's personal failings affects his character as a prophet. A Mormon doctor, with whom Caswall argued at Nauvoo, said that Smith might be a murderer and an adulterer, and yet be a true prophet. He cited St. Peter as saying that, in his time, David had not yet ascended into heaven (Acts ii. 34); David was in h.e.l.l as a murderer; so if Smith was "as infamous as David, and even denied his own revelations, that would not affect the revelations which G.o.d had given him."

CHAPTER XV. -- AFTER SMITH'S DEATH--RIGDON'S LAST DAYS

The murder of the Smiths caused a panic, not among the Mormons, but among the other inhabitants of Hanc.o.c.k County, who looked for summary vengeance at the hands of the prophet's followers, with their famous Legion to support them. The state militia having been disbanded, the people considered themselves without protection, and Governor Ford shared their apprehension. Carthage was at once almost depopulated, the people fleeing in wagons, on horseback, and on foot, and most of the citizens of Warsaw placed the river between them and their enemies. "I was sensible," says Governor Ford, "that my command was at an end; that my destruction was meditated as well as the Mormons', and that I could not reasonably confide longer in one party or the other." The panic-stricken executive therefore set out at once for Quincy, forty miles from the scene of the murder.

From that city the governor issued a statement to the people of the state, reciting the events leading up to the recent tragedy, and, under date of June 29, ordered the enlistment of as many men as possible in the militia of Adams, Marquette, Pike, Brown, Schuyler, Morgan, Scott, Ca.s.s, Fulton, and McDonough counties, and the regiments of General Stapp's brigade, for a twelve days' campaign. The independent companies of all sorts, in the same counties, were also told to hold themselves in readiness, and the federal government was asked to station a force of five hundred men from the regular army in Hanc.o.c.k County. This last request was not complied with. The governor then sent Colonel Fellows and Captain Jonas to Nauvoo by the first boat, to find out the intentions of the Mormons as well as those of the people of Warsaw.

Meanwhile the voice of the Mormon leaders was for peace. Willard Richards, John Taylor, and Samuel H. Smith united in a letter (written in the first person singular by Richards), on the night of the murders, addressed to the prophet's widow, General Deming (commanding at Carthage), and others, which said:--

"The people of the county are greatly excited, and fear the Mormons will come out and take vengeance. I have pledged my word the Mormons will stay at home as soon as they can be informed, and no violence will be on their part. And say to my brethren in Nauvoo, in the name of the Lord, be still, be patient; only let such friends as choose come here to see the bodies. Mr. Taylor's wounds are dressed and not serious. I am sound."

This quieting advice was heeded without even a protest, and after the funeral of the victims the Mormons voted unanimously to depend on the law for retribution.

While things temporal in Nauvoo remained quiet, there were deep feeling and great uncertainty concerning the future of the church. The First Presidency had consisted, since the action of the conference at Far West in 1837, of Joseph and Hyrum Smith and Sidney Rigdon. Two of these were now dead. Did this leave Rigdon as the natural head, did Smith's son inherit the successors.h.i.+p, or did the supreme power rest with the Twelve Apostles? Discussion of this matter brought out many plans, including a general reorganization of the church, and the appointment of a trustee or a president. Rigdon had been sent to Pittsburg to build up a church,*

and Brigham Young was electioneering in New Hamps.h.i.+re for Smith.

Accordingly, Phelps, Richards; and Taylor, on July 1 issued a brief statement to the church at large, asking all to await the a.s.sembling of the Twelve.

John Taylor so stated at Rigdon's coming trial. This, perhaps, contradicts the statement in the Cannons' "Life of Brigham Young" that Rigdon had gone there "to escape the turmoils of Nauvoo."

Rigdon arrived in Nauvoo on August 3, and preached the next day in the grove. He said the Lord had shown him a vision, and that there must be a "guardian" appointed to "build the church up to Joseph" as he had begun it. Cannon's account, in the "Juvenile Instructor," says that at a meeting at John Taylor's the next day Rigdon declared that the church was in confusion and must have a head, and he wanted a special meeting called to choose a "guardian." On the evening of August 6, Young, H.

C. Kimball, Lyman Wight, Orson Pratt, Orson Hyde, and Wilford Woodruff arrived from the East. A meeting of the Twelve Apostles, the High Council, and high priests was called for August 7, at 4 P.m., which Rigdon attended. He declared that in a vision at Pittsburg it had been shown to him that he had been ordained a spokesman to Joseph, and that he must see that the church was governed in a proper manner. "I propose," said he, "to be a guardian of the people. In this I have discharged my duty and done what G.o.d has commanded me, and the people can please themselves, whether they accept me or not."

A special meeting of the church was held on the morning of August 8.

Rigdon had previously addressed a gathering in the grove, but he had not been winning adherents. As we have seen, he had alienated himself from the men who had accepted Smith's new social doctrines, and a plan which he proposed, that the church should move to Pennsylvania, appealed neither to the good judgment nor the pecuniary interests of those to whom it was presented. Young made an address at this meeting which so wrought up his hearers that they declared that they saw the mantle of Joseph fall upon him. When he asked, "Do you want a guardian, a prophet, a spokesman, or what do you want?" not a hand went up. Young then went on to give his own view of the situation; his argument pointed to a single result--the demolition of Rigdon's claim and the establishment of the supreme authority of the Twelve, of whom Young himself was the head.

W. W. Phelps, P. P. Pratt, and others sustained Young's view. Before a vote was taken, according to the minutes quoted, Rigdon refused to have his name voted on as "spokesman" or guardian. The meeting then voted unanimously in favor of "supporting the Twelve in their calling," and also that the Twelve should appoint two Bishops to act as trustees for the church, and that the completion of the Temple should be pushed.*

* For minutes of this church meeting, see Times and Seasons, Vol.

V, p. 637. For a full account of the happenings at Nauvoo, from August 3 to 8, see "Historical Record" (Mormon), Vol VIII, pp.785-800.

On August 15 Young, as president of the Twelve, issued an epistle to the church in all the world in which he said:--

"Let no man presume for a moment that his [the Prophet's] place will be filled by another; for, remember he stands in his own place, and always will, and the Twelve Apostles of this dispensation stand in their own place, and always will, both in time and eternity, to minister, preside, and regulate the affairs of the whole church." The epistle told the Saints also that "it is not wisdom for the Saints to have anything to do with politics, voting, or president-making at present."

Rigdon remained in Nauvoo after the decision of the church in favor of the Twelve, preaching as of old, declaring that he was with the brethren heart and soul, and urging the completion of the Temple. But Young regarded him as a rival, and determined to put their strength to a test.

Accordingly, on Tuesday, September 3, he had a notice printed in the Neighbor directing Rigdon to appear on the following Sunday for trial before a High Council presided over by Bishop Whitney. Rigdon did not attend this trial, not only because he was not well, but because, after a conference with his friends, he decided that the case against him was made up and that his presence would do no good.*

* For the minutes of this High Council, see Times and Seasons, Vol. V, pp. 647-655, 660-667.

When the High Council met, Young expressed a disbelief in Rigdon's reported illness. He said that, having heard that Rigdon had ordained men to be prophets, priests, and kings, he and Orson Hyde had obtained from Rigdon a confession that he had performed the act of ordination, and that he believed he held authority above any man in the church. That evening eight of the Twelve had visited him at his house, and, getting confirmation of his position, had sent a committee to him to demand his license. This he had refused to surrender, saying, "I did not receive it from you, neither shall I give it up to you." Then came the order for his trial.

Orson Hyde presented the case against Rigdon in detail. He declared that, when they demanded the surrender of his license, Rigdon threatened to turn traitor, "His own language was, 'Inasmuch as you have demanded my license, I shall feel it my duty to publish all your secret meetings, and all the history of the secret works of this church, in the public journals.'* He intimated that it would bring a mob upon us." Parley P.

Pratt, the member of Rigdon's old church in Ohio, who, according to his own account, first called Rigdon's attention to the Mormon Bible, next spoke against his old friend.

* Lee thus explains one of these "secret works": "The same winter [1843] he [Smith] organized what was called 'The Council of Fifty.'

This was a confidential organization. This Council was designated as a lawmaking department, but no record was ever kept of its doings, or, if kept, they were burned at the close of each meeting. Whenever anything of importance was on foot, this Council was called to deliberate upon it. The Council was called the 'Living Const.i.tution.' Joseph said that no legislature could enact laws that would meet every case, or attain the ends of justice in all respells."--"Mormonism Unveiled," p.173.

After Amasa Lyman, John Taylor, and H. C. Kimball had spoken against Rigdon, Brigham Young took the floor again, and in reply to the threat that Rigdon would expose the secrets of the church, he denounced him in the following terms:--

"Brother Sidney says, if we go to opposing him, he will tell our secrets. But I would say, 'O, don't, brother Sidney! don't tell our secrets--O, don't!' But if he tells our secrets, we will tell his.

t.i.t for tat. He has had long visions in Pittsburg, revealing to him wonderful iniquity among the Saints. Now, if he knows of so much iniquity, and has got such wonderful power, why don't he purge it out?

He professes to have the keys of David. Wonderful power and revelations!

And he will publish our iniquity. O, dear brother Sidney, don't publish our iniquity! Now don't! If Sidney Rigdon undertakes to publish all our secrets, as he says, he will lie the first jump he takes. If he knew of all our iniquity why did he not publish it sooner? If there is so much iniquity in the church as you talk of, Elder Rigdon, and you have known of it so long, you are a black-hearted wretch because you have not published it sooner. If there is not this iniquity, you are a blackhearted wretch for endeavoring to bring a mob upon us, to murder innocent men, women and children. Any man that says the Twelve are bogus-makers, or adulterers, or wicked men is a liar; and all who say such things shall have the fate of liars, where there is weeping and gnas.h.i.+ng of teeth. Who is there who has seen us do such things? No man.

The spirit that I am of tramples such slanderous wickedness under my feet." *

* William Small, in a letter to the Pittsburg Messenger and Advocate, p. 70, relates that when he met Rigdon on his arrival at St.

Louis by boat after this trial, Orson Hyde, who was also a pa.s.senger and thought Small was with the Twelve, addressed Small, asking him to intercede with Rigdon not to publish the secret acts of the church, and telling him that if Rigdon would come back and stand equal with the Twelve and counsel with them, he would pledge himself, in behalf of the Twelve, that all they had said against Rigdon would be revoked.

At this point the proceedings had a rather startling interruption.

William Marks, president of the Stake at Nauvoo, and a member of the High Council (who, as we have seen, had rebelled against the doctrine of polygamy when it was presented to him) took the floor in Rigdon's defence. But it was in vain.