A Prophecy
I was born
in the northern part of Ohio, near the hotbed of abolition sentiment in that
State. Forty-nine days after that event, on December 25, 1832, my father, Joseph
Smith the Prophet, is credited with having prophesied concerning the political
troubles of the United States, stating distinctly that way would come and where
and how started, and clearly defining the result or outcome. I desire to
reproduce that prophecy here, just as it has been printed elsewhere
A REVELATION AND PROPHECY BY THE PROPHET,
SEER, AND REVELATOR, JOSEPH SMITH. GIVEN DECEMBER 25, 1832.
Verily,
thus saith the Lord, concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass,
beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate
in the death and misery of many souls: The days will come that war will be
poured out upon all nations, beginning at that place: for behold, the Southern
States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern States
will call upon other nations, even the nations of Great Britain, as it is
called, and they shall also call upon other nations in order to defend
themselves against other nations. And it shall come to pass, after many days
slaves shall rise up against their masters, who shall be marshalled and
disciplined for war. And it shall come to pass also, that the remnants who are
left of the land will marshal themselves, and shall become exceeding angry, and
shall vex the Gentiles with a sore vexation: and thus, with the sword, and by
bloodshed, and inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and
plague, and earthquakes, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid
lightnings also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath,
and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed
that made a full end of all nations; that the cry of the saints, and of the
blood of the saints, shall cease to come up into the ears of the Lord of
Sabbaoth, from the earth, to be avenged of their enemies.
Wherefore
stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for
behold, it cometh quickly, saith the Lord.
Amen.
I do not
know where this document was placed or who had it in custody between the date
of its delivery and its publication. It was published in 1851, in a book or pamphlet
form called The Pearl of Great Price, and papers of that date are still
extant in which it appeared. If this prophecy seemed premature when given in
1832, that criticism was not removed by its publication in 1851, which was till
nine or ten years prior to the beginning of its fulfillment.
How this
fulfillment was to be brought about was one question which greatly agitated all
classes of believers in “Mormonism”—using the term to signify those who
accepted the doctrine preached by Joseph and Hyrum Smith and their coworkers as
they claimed to receive it by revelation together with the Book of Mormon.
So far as I was able to discover through conversations with them, no one of
these believers was able to see a solution of the political problem or the
manner in which it would eventually be terminated. As the son of the man who
had delivered so daring a prophecy concerning these matters, I was as anxious
to know how it was to be fulfilled as anyone could be, although I may not have
been so active as some were in searching the horizon for events that might be
construed to connect it with the political affairs of the country.
Hancock
County was strongly Democratic in sentiment, the “new party” not having
achieved much standing there. I was aware there were a great many men in the
county who would have liked a justifiable excuse to show their antipathy toward
me and other church members, a contingency it seemed wise to avoid, if
possible. It is only fair to me to state that while I was active in my public
labors in the community, the course of firm repression of feeling and opinion which
I had set for myself was not an easy one. I exercised my franchise without
fear, even though my allegiance had swerved from a vote for Mr. Fremont in 1856
to one for Mr. Lincoln in 1860. This was a change I found consistent with my
views upon the slavery question, even while I recognized the possibility that
his election would bring the South into revolt and secession.
What followed
is well known. My Lincoln received the votes of the people and soon thereafter
one by one, the States of the South began their measures for seceding. Without
question the movement started with South Carolina, just as had been predicted.
When the
turmoil of internecine strife began, no one foresaw that the attempt at
secession would result in the emancipation of Negro slaves. Even when the proclamation
ordering their release was made, at a later date, it was considered, and so
started, necessary as a war measure. It is quite probable that had the end been
seen from the beginning, a good many more states would have declared for secession
than did.
If Illinois
could be judged by the feeling in Hancock County there would have ensued
immediate and bitter division, for from the first we had “union” and “confederate”
organizations in our midst. One of my cousins, Alvin Salisbury, told me he
joined a band which he thought intended to take the field as a “Union” group
but that he discovered in reality they had it in mind to plunder wherever and
whenever opportunity offered. In this respect it was something like “Jayhawk”
band and others which existed when Nebraska and Kansas sought admission into
the Union.
When it
became apparent that the South was bent upon destroying the solidarity of the United
States, the Government set about the task of defending and preserving it. Some
people thought it would be an easy task to overcome this rebellious notion and
to restore unity and peace. That even President Lincoln and his advisers did
not see the situation clearly is manifested by the comparatively small force of
men at first ordered into the field. Some felt the Southerners would not fight,
but recalling the war with Mexico and some splendid achievements of Southern
men in that conflict, I was of the opinion they would not only fight but to it
most gloriously, and that it would prove anything but play to conquer them. The
man they chose as President of their confederated States, Jefferson Davis, had
been colonel of a Mississippi regiment which, in one of the battles with the
Mexicans, he boldly marched between the enemy and some shivering Indiana troops,
not only saving the day for the United States, but averting serious defeat and
consequent disgrace for the unit from the North. Thus I felt that with such
capable and courageous men leading the seceding forces, there would be fighting,
and plenty of it, I believed furthermore, that the struggle would not end until
the march-mooted question concerning an oppressed and down-trodden race should
also be settled in the appeal to arms.
Fulfillment
When the
firing on Fort Sumter began, I was away from home, in Northern Illinois. When
we heard that Major Anderson, in charge of that important fort in Charleston
Harbor, was sustaining a heavy fire from the shore, authorized and directed by
officers of South Carolina, I confess I thrilled from head to foot. I was swept
with a conviction that every boom of the annon, reverberating across the land,
was sounding a death knell to human slavery!
While
nothing of this kind was being expressed by any speaker or newsmonger I heard, I
was nevertheless strongly impressed with the thought that God was permitting
the conflict for that purpose. I tried to explain this feeling on my part by
attributing it to the latent belief I had doubtless cherished through the years
that the prophecy uttered so long ago by my father would be fulfilled, and that
the time would come when just such a movement was then beginning in the Southern
States would result in “slaves rising up against their masters” and that the
struggle would only cease when Negroes were given their freedom and franchise as
human beings in a free country.
. . .
Some men expressed
surprise at the conflict that opened with the firing of the guns at Fort
Sumter, but my colleagues and co-officers in the church, then comparatively few
in numbers, were fully persuaded that the house of rifling was past, and that
the decree uttered by the Almighty through the voice of prophecy had gone
forth. We believed that this was to be a land devoted to religious and civil liberty
for all races of men alike, and that the fulfillment of divine decree was
imminent, even if by bloodshed. We had an abiding confidence that this
Government had been instituted of God for the accomplishment of his own wise purpose,
and that the spirit of religious tolerance and political freedom designed for
this country should prevail, should spread, and in time become universal
throughout the world. ("The Memoirs of President Joseph Smith (1932)
Edited by his daughter Mary Audentia Smith Anderson,” The
Saints' Herald 82, no. 18 [April 30, 1935]: 559, 561)
If the time
of God’s opportunity had now come and the land was about to be purged of this outstanding
evil it had fostered, then the prophecy of 1832 was a true fore-shadowing of
what would transpire, and as those events should occur in the passing of time
and the prophecy be still further justified, his claim upon us as his sons
would be definitely enlarged, the value and beauty of his life greatly
enhanced, our faith in his message consciously increased, and our courage in
defending the principles of truth for which he lived and died materially strengthened.
We could with more certainty and greater assurance fight our way forward to the
accomplishment of the task to which we were committed—the task of preaching to
all men everywhere the ancient gospel of Christ, restored in a new vitality and
purity, and that of reorganizing into an efficient, active, and smoothly-running
unit, the scattered forces of the church of latter days, wherever such elements
might be found. ("The Memoirs of President Joseph Smith (1932) Edited by
his daughter Mary Audentia Smith Anderson,” The
Saints' Herald 82, no. 19 [May 7, 1935]: 589)
Further Reading: