FREQUENT INQUIRY is received as
to the validity of the great prophecy said to have been made by the Prophet
Joseph Smith that the time would come when the Constitution would hang by a
single thread, and at that particular time the Mormon people would step forth
and save it from destruction.
For a number of years I have
searched through the writings and sermons of the Prophet, but to date I have
not found any record of the above prophecy as having been recorded by the
Prophet himself, or by those who worked with him in his office and assisted him
in writing his history.
The first reference to
substantiate this important prophecy was given in a sermon by President Brigham
Young in the old Tabernacle on the Temple Block, on July 4, 1854. The occasion was
the celebration of Independence Day by the people of Salt Lake City. President
Young was the principal speaker.
Following are a few excerpts from
his sermon:
"THE GENERAL Constitution of
our country is good, and a wholesome government could be framed upon it; for it
was dictated by the invisible operations of the Almighty. He moved upon Columbus
to launch forth upon the trackless deep to discover the American continent. He
moved upon the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and he moved upon
Washington to fight and conquer, in the same way that he has moved upon ancient
and modern prophets, each being inspired to accomplish the particular work he
was called to perform, in the times, seasons and dispensations of the Almighty
....
"If the framers of the
Constitution and the inhabitants of the United States had walked humbly before
the God who defended them and fought their battles when Washington was on the
stage of action, the nation would have now been free from a multitude of evils.
...
"Will the Constitution be
destroyed? No. It will be held inviolate by this people; and as Joseph Smith
said 'the time will come, when the destiny of this nation will hang upon a
single thread, and at this critical juncture, this people will step forth and
save it from the threatened destruction.' It will be so." (Journal History
July 4, 1854).
PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG does not
give the citation of his information regarding this important prophecy, whether
it came to him direct from the Prophet Joseph Smith or not, but he states it in
such a bold, fearless manner that it is evident that he knew exactly what he
was talking about.
On February 6 and 7 of the
following year, 1855, a celebration was held in the Social Hall, by the
surviving members of the Mormon Battalion to commemorate their long march to
the Pacific, made in 1846-47. On this occasion President Jedediah M. Grant made
a few appropriate remarks. Among other things he said:
"We are friendly to our
country and when we speak of the flag or our Union, we love it, and we love the
rights the Constitution guarantees to every citizen. What did the Prophet
Joseph say? When the Constitution shall be tottering, we shall be the people to
save it from the hand of the foe." (The Mormon Battalion by Tyler, page
350).
THREE YEARS later, on January 3,
1858, Orson Hyde was speaking in the old Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. At that
time he made this significant statement, which he worded somewhat differently
than the two speakers quoted above.
"It is said that Brother
Joseph, in his lifetime, declared that the elders of this Church should step
forth at a particular time, when the Constitution should be in danger, and
rescue it and save it. This may be so, but I do not recollect that he said
exactly so. I believe he said something like this-that the time would come when
the Constitution and the country would be in danger of an overthrow, and, said
he, 'If the Constitution be saved at all, it will be by the elders of this
Church.' I believe this is about the language, as nearly as I can recollect
it." (Journal of Discourses. Vol. 6:152).
IT APPEARS from the above that
Orson Hyde heard the Prophet Joseph Smith make the prophecy quoted, though he
differs somewhat from Brigham Young and Jedediah Grant in his understanding of
the same. However, we have a statement from Eliza R. Snow, that she actually heard
the Prophet make the remarks which she quotes. The following is from The
Deseret News Weekly of Jan. 19, 1870, page 556. It is the report of a meeting
of the women of Salt Lake City, held in the New Tabernacle.
Eliza R. Snow was speaking:
"My sisters, my remarks in
conclusion will be brief. I heard the Prophet Joseph Smith say if the people
rose up and mobbed us, and the authorities countenanced it, they would have
mobs to their hearts content. I heard him say that the time would come when
this nation would so far depart from its original purity, its glory and its
love for freedom, and its protection of civil rights and religious rights, that
the Constitution of our country would hang as it were by a thread.
He said also that this people,
the Sons of Zion, would rise up and save the Constitution and bear it off
triumphantly."
From all the above it is
abundantly evident that the Prophet Joseph Smith did make the marvelous
prediction that it is the destiny of the Latter-day Saints to some day save the
Constitution of the United States from destruction. (Preston Nibley, “What of Joseph
Smith's Prophecy that the Constitution Would Hang by a Thread,” The
Deseret News 352, no. 74 [December 15, 1948]: 157)
Further Reading:
Resources
on Joseph Smith’s Prophecies
