REMARKABLE PROPHECY
FULFILLED.
Liverpool, Food
Friday,
April 13th, 1838.
Dear Brothers and
Sisters in Preston,
It seemeth good unto
us and also unto the holy spirit to write you a few words which cause pain in
ours hearts, and will also pain you when they are fulfilled before you; yet you
shall have joy in the end. Brother Webster will not abide in the spirit of the
Lord, but will reject the truth, and become the enemy of the people of God, and
expose the mysteries which hav been committed to him, that a righteous judgment
may be executed upon him, unless he speedily repent.
When this sorrowful
prediction shall be fulfilled, this letter shall be read to the Church, and it
shall prove a solemn warning to all to beware.
Farewell in the Lord,
ORSON HYDE,
HEBER C. KIMBALL.
The foregoing letter
was written and sealed in our presence, and by the writers committed to our
special charge, that no one should know the contents but ourselves, until the
fulfilment thereof, which instructions were strictly adhered to. But that every
word might be established, when we return to Preston, we showed the latter to
Elder Clayton and afterwards to Deacon Arthur Burrows, who, after examining it
critically, placed thereon their marks and dates, so that they might know that
the letter ha d not been opened.
Feeling very desirous
that Elder Webster should prosper, we watched over him with peculiar ears, and
prayed much for him, and he continued to grow in the knowledge of the kingdom,
and spoke with power in the name of Jesus, for some months; but becoming dissatisfied,
he came before the council on the 22nd of September following, and read
some complaints which he had penned against Elders Richards, Fielding, and
Whitehead, which were soon proved to be false or of no account/ The council
required of him an acknowledgment for bringing forward such charges, and in
case of refusal, that he cease to set in his office, but he would comply with
neither.
The day following,
Sunday 23rd, he repaired to a private house with six members, (one
had been cut off and another had never been baptised,) and administered to them
the sacrament.
The Sunday following,
September 3, Elder Wester and the members who were with him were presented to
the Church, according to the order of the Gospel, for the foregoing offence,
and were cut off from the Church, after which Elder Fielding presented the
foregoing letter to Elder Clayton and Deacon Burrows, who examined it and
testified to the assembly that the letter had not been opened since they had
marked it months before, and that they knew not the contents of the letter.
Elder Fielding then presented the letter to Elder Richards, and requested him
to break the seal and read the contents to the congregation.
Elder Webster’s
popularity had become such that some feared he would take many along with him
when he was cut off, but the reading of the letter put their fears to silence,
and confirmed the Saints were more fully in the faith; and although a number
were cut off about the same time, yet it was not through his influence, for his
influence ended with his membership.
Sunday, Oct. 7., Mr.
Wester came before the Church and requested permission to plead his cause, but
he refused to appear and do it the Sabbath, before, and had consequently been
cut off. His request was denied, as he was no longer a member of his design was
evidently to disturb the Church/
Soon after, as if to
fulfil the prophecy to the very letter, placards were posted up in different parts
of Preston with these words—“A Lecture will be delivered at Mr. Giles’s Chapel,
to expose the Mysteries of Mormonism, by Thomas Webster, which announcement
be fulfilled, though he to little effect; yet as he attempted to make it appear
that we were the authors of the above letter, we hear this testimony to the
word, that all men may know that the prophecy and fulfilment thereof as above
is true.
WILLARD RICHARDS,
JOSEPH FIELDING. (“Remarkable
Prophecy Fulfilled,” in The Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star 2,
no. 1 [May, 1841]:8)