In his journal for December 16, 1843, Joseph Smith dictated the following to his scribe:
Saturday
Dec 16— <this monig [morning]> Considerably better. arose at 10— and sat
all day in the city coun[c]il which was held in my house. for my
accommodati[o]n. passed “an ordnanc [ordinance] Regulating Merchants and
grocers licences” also “an ordina[n]ce concerni[n]g the landing of steam boats.
in Nauvoo.” &c. investigatd the petition to congress for assista[n]ce to
repel mobs &[c].— And the Mayor & council officially sign[e]d the
[“]Memorial to congress for redress of grivanc [grievance]—” after council. had
conversation with som of the Twelve Turly [Theodore Turley]. &c— till 8
oclock
Prophe[c]y
before the city council while discussing the Petition to Congress— Joseph— I
prophe[s]y by virtue of the holy Priesthood. vested in me. in the name of Jesus
Christ. that if congress will not hear our petition. and grant us protection.
they shall be broken up as a governme[n]t and God shall damn them, and there
shall nothing be left of them, not even a grease spot.
With respect to the second
paragraph, as the Joseph Smith Papers website notes, “The following paragraph
is inscribed in smaller, more closely spaced handwriting, suggesting it was
possibly inserted later.” This can be seen in the following image:
This prophecy would be published in the British Isles in “The History of Joseph Smith,” The Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star 22, no. 29 (July 21, 1860): 455:
Saturday
16th. This morning I felt considerably better; arose at 10, and sat all day in
the City Council, which was held in my house for my accommodation.
The
Mayor, Aldermen, and Councillors signed officially the Memorial to Congress for
redress of losses and grievances in Missouri. While discussing the petition to
Congress, I prophesied, by virtue of the holy Priesthood vested in me, and in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that, if Congress will not hear our petition
and grant us protection, they shall be broken up as a government, and God shall
damn them, and there shall nothing be left of them—not even a grease spot.
I
informed the Council that it was my wish they should ask the privilege of
calling on Government of the United States' troops to protect us in our
privileges, which is not unconstitutional, but lies in the breast of Congress.
The language would be softened in
History of the Church 6:116:
Saturday,
16.—This morning I felt considerably better; arose at 10, and sat all day in
the City Council, which was held in my house for my accommodation.
The
Mayor, Aldermen, and Councilors signed officially the Memorial to Congress for
redress of losses and grievances in Missouri. While discussing the petition to
Congress, I prophesied, by virtue of the
holy Priesthood vested in me, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that,
if Congress will not hear our petition and grant us protection, they shall be broken
up as a government.
I
informed the Council that it was my wish they should ask the privilege of
calling on Government for the United States troops to protect us in our
privileges, which is not unconstitutional, but lies in the breast of Congress.
With respect to Congress being “broken
up” or “nothing be left of them,” B. H. Roberts, in a footnote to the above,
noted the following:
This
prediction doubtless has reference to the party in power; to the
"government" considered as the administration; not to the
"government" considered as the country; but the administration party,
the Democratic Party, which had controlled the destiny of the country for forty
years. It is matter of history that a few years later the party then in power
lost control of the national government, followed by the terrible conflict of
the Civil War. The Party against which the above prediction was made so far lost
its influence that it did not again return to power for a quarter of a century;
and when it did return to power it was with such modified views as to many
great questions of government, that it could scarcely be regarded as the same
party except in name.
Lest
it should be urged that the Whig party was in control of the government in
1843, I call attention to the fact that while General Harrison, a Whig, was
elected in 1840, he was President only one month, as he died on the 4th of
April, 1841. His whole cabinet, excepting Mr. Webster, Secretary of State,
resigned, and the Vice President became President. Though elected by the Whigs
Mr. Tyler was a Democrat "and the Whig administration had but a month's
actual existence.' (See History of the United States, Morris, pp. 311, 312
Assuming this is an authentic prophecy of Joseph Smith, and not a later interpolation, it was fulfilled is one understands "Congress" and like-terms to refer to the then-party/parties in control thereof. Indeed, Joseph did believe that the Constitution would survive, in spite of future difficulties, so clearly did not believe that the Constitutional Government would cease to exist. Indeed, this was an active meaning of “Congress” of the time, evidenced by Webster’s 1828 Dictionary:
4. The assembly of senators and representatives of the
several states of North America, according to the present constitution, or
political compact, by which they are united in a federal republic;
the legislature of the United States, consisting of two houses, a senate and a
house of representatives. Members of the senate are elected for six years, but
the members of the house of representatives are chosen for two years only.
Hence the united body of senators and representatives for the two years ,
during which the representatives hold their seats is called one congress Thus we say the first or second session of the
sixteenth congress
Further Reading:
Resources on Joseph Smith's Prophecies
