  What Joseph Foretold. The Proof of Prophecy.—To prove one a prophet, it is necessary to show, not only that he prophesied, but that things predicted by him came to pass. Measured by this standard, Joseph Smith's claim to the title is clear and unimpeachable. I shall not attempt to enumerate all his prophecies, but will mention some of the more notable, as demonstrating his possession of the wonderful power to unlock and reveal the future. Earliest Predictions.—The Angel Moroni's promise to the boy, that he, an obscure and unlettered country lad, should live to do a work that would cause his name to be known among all nations,[ An Ominous Christmas Gift.—This tremendous forecast, relating not only to the fierce internecine struggle between the Northern and Southern States of the American Union, but to other and mightier upheavals as well, some past and some yet future, was launched at Kirtland, Ohio, on the 25th of December, 1832. It may be said, therefore, that it came as a solemn Christmas gift to the inhabitants of the world, warning them to prepare for terrible events. War and Other Calamities.—The Prophet declared that war would "be poured out upon all nations," beginning at a certain place. That place was South Carolina. The Southern States, divided against the Northern States, would call upon Great Britain, and Great Britain would call upon other nations, for defensive assistance against hostile powers. Slaves, rising against their masters, would be "marshalled and disciplined for war;" and the red remnants "left of the land" would "become exceeding angry" and "vex the Gentiles with a sore vexation." By bloodshed and famine, plague, earthquake and tempest, the inhabitants of the earth would mourn and "be made to feel the wrath and indignation and chastening hand of an Almighty God." The Prophet exhorted his followers to "stand in holy places and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come."[ For nineteen years this prophecy remained in manuscript, though copies of it were carried by "Mormon" missionaries and read to their congregations in various parts of the world. In 1851 it was published at Liverpool, the first edition of "The Pearl of Great Price" containing it. Therefore, it was a matter of public note and printed record long before the dire fulfillment began. Beginning of the Fulfillment.—The revelation had been in existence twenty-eight years, three months, and seventeen days, when, on the twelfth of April, 1861, the Confederate batteries in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, opened fire on Fort Sumter, thus precipitating the war between the North and the South. As is well known, it arose over the slave question, a circumstance fulfilling another of Joseph Smith's predictions—one dated April 2nd, 1843.[ Southern States call on Great Britain.—How eleven of the Southern States, bent upon withdrawing from the Union and establishing an independent government south of the Mason and Dixon Line, called upon Great Britain, and were accorded a measure of encouragement by the ruling classes of that country, need scarcely be told here. The arrest and release of the Confederate commissioners, Mason and Slidell, who had been sent across the Atlantic to present the case of the seceding States at the Court of St. James; and the subsequent payment by the British Government of the Alabama claims ($15,500,000), for damages sustained by United States commerce at the hand of Confederate privateers, built and fitted out in British ports, tell in part the story. The Negro and Indian Questions.—It is also a matter of history, that many of the negro slaves, set free by President Lincoln's edict of emancipation, and trained as troops, fought in the Northern armies against their former masters. Whether or not this was a complete fulfillment of the forecast concerning the once enslaved people, remains to be seen. The race question was not entirely settled by the Civil War; it still hovers as a dark cloud on our national horizon. As for Indian troubles, many of which have arisen since Joseph Smith prophesied concerning them, while apparently they have ceased to "vex," more may yet be heard from that quarter before the problem is finally solved. An Effort to Avert Calamity.—Joseph Smith's last public act of a political character was an effort to save his country from the awful calamity that he saw impending. To some it may appear strange, even inconsistent, that a prophet, after making a prediction, would try to prevent it from coming to pass. But it is only a seeming inconsistency. It should be remembered that divine promises and prophecies are conditional. There is always an alternative, expressed or implied, hinging upon a change of attitude or conduct on the part of the person or persons toward whom the prophecy is directed. Deem it not incongruous, therefore, that this Prophet, after predicting the Civil War, should endeavor to open a way of escape from the evils he had foreseen and foretold. In January, 1844, only five months before his martyrdom, Joseph Smith became a candidate for President of the United States. One of the planks of his political platform was a proposition to free the slaves of the South—not by confiscation, thereby despoiling their owners, but by purchase, making their freedom a gift from the General Government; the funds necessary for the purpose to be realized from the sale of public lands. This just and humane proposition, repeated eleven years later by Ralph Waldo Emerson,[ How Stephen A. Douglas Fulfilled Prophecy.—Closely connected with events immediately preceding the Civil War, is another prophecy of Joseph Smith's, uttered May 18, 1843, and recorded at the time in the journal of his private secretary. On the date given, the Prophet dined with Stephen A. Douglas, at the home of Sheriff Backenstos, in Carthage, Illinois, the same town where the brothers Joseph and Hyrum afterwards met their tragic death. Judge Douglas was holding court there. The principal topic of conversation after dinner was the persecution of the Latter-day Saints in Missouri, not only the Jackson County affair of 1833, but the more sanguinary tragedy of 1838-1839, culminating in the mid-winter expulsion of the entire Church—then numbering twelve to fifteen thousand members—and its establishment in the adjoining State of Illinois. An account of these events, at the Judge's request, the "Mormon" leader gave. His narrative included a recital of the ineffectual attempts made by him and his people to obtain from the Federal government a redress of grievances. Douglas was deeply interested, and strongly condemned the conduct of Missouri. He was very friendly with the Prophet, who, continuing the conversation, predicted trouble for the Nation unless those wrongs were righted. Then, addressing Douglas, he said: "Judge, you will aspire to the Presidency of the United States; and if you ever turn your hand against me or the Latter-day Saints, you will feel the weight of the hand of the Almighty upon you. And you will live to see and know that I have testified the truth to you, for the conversation of this day will stick to you through life."[ God's Hand Against Him.—Judge Douglas reaped the full fruition of those fateful words. The prophecy concerning him was first published in the Deseret News, at Salt Lake City, September 24, 1856, and on February 26, 1859, it appeared in the Millennial Star, at Liverpool. Between those dates, Stephen A. Douglas, then a United States Senator—made such by the aid of "Mormon" votes in Illinois—turned his hand against his old-time friends and supporters. Joseph Smith was dead, but his followers, driven from the confines of civilization, were out in the wilderness, laying the foundations of the State of Utah. In a political speech, at Springfield, Illinois, June 12, 1857, Senator Douglas, basing a reference to the "Mormons" upon certain wild rumors afloat concerning them, virtually accused them of all manner of crimes and abominations. The speech was looked upon as a bid for popular favor. Then came the Senator's race for the Presidency. His prospects at the outset were favorable. His party held the preponderance of the national vote, and he was the idol of his party. In June, 1860, he was enthusiastically nominated by the Democratic Convention at Baltimore. Men shouted for him, worked for him, and on election day voted for him; but all in vain, God's hand was against him! His party, torn by dissension, divided its strength among three candidates, and was overwhelmingly defeated. "The Little Giant" was "snowed under," and his great rival, Abraham Lincoln, elevated to the Presidential chair. A few months later Senator Douglas died at his home in Chicago. He was only in the prime of life—aged forty-eight—but he had lived long enough to realize that God's prophets do not speak in vain. Footnotes"Smith recognized the curse and iniquity of slavery, though he opposed the methods of the Abolitionists. His plan was for the nation to pay for the slaves from the sale of the public lands. 'Congress,' he said, 'should be compelled to take this course, by petitions from all parts of the country; but the petitioners must disclaim all alliance with those who would disturb the rights of property recognized by the Constitution and foment insurrection.' It may be worth while to remark that Smith's plan was publicly advocated, eleven years later, by one who has mixed so much practical shrewdness with his lofty philosophy. In 1855, when men's minds had been moved to their depths on the question of slavery, Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson declared that it should be met in accordance 'with the interest of the South and with the settled conscience of the North. It is not really a great task, a great fight for this country to accomplish, to buy that property of the planter, as the British nation bought the West Indian slaves.' He further says that the 'United States will be brought to give every inch of their public lands for a purpose like this.' We, who can look back upon the terrible cost of the fratricidal war which put an end to slavery, now say that such a solution of the difficulty would have been worthy a Christian statesman. But if the retired scholar was in advance of his time when he advocated this disposition of the public property in 1855 what shall I say of the political and religious leader who had committed himself, in print, as well as in conversation, to the same course in 1844? If the atmosphere of men's opinions was stirred by such a proposition when war-clouds were discernible in the sky, was it not a statesmanlike word eleven years earlier, when the heavens looked tranquil and beneficent."—"Figures of the Past," pp. 397, 398. |
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