The following is the transcription of:
Orson
Pratt, Letter to Joseph F. Smith, August 12, 1875,
Joseph F. Smith papers, 1854-1918, MS 1325, Church History Library
P.S. Aug 13th. Your family, so
far as I know, are well. All the
articles which you sent have arrived.
Prest Geo. A. Smith is very low; the Dr. thinks that if some change does
not soon come, he cannot survive long.
Prest B. Young is in feeble health; he went yesterday to Cache valley;
Several of the Twelve are on a mission in the northern counties. The prisoner,
John D. Lee, arrived, last evening in charge of the U. S. Marshall. Two companies of U. S. soldiers are sent to
protect Corrine against Indians. We know
of no Indian outbreaks in that quarter. These expeditions are got up merely for
excitement. O. Pratt.
Historian
Office,
Salt
Lake City,
Aug.
12, 1875.
Hon. Joseph F. Smith:-
Dear Bro., Your letter, bearing
date July 19th, 1875, came duly to hand. You inquire, what information I have,
concerning a Revelation or Prophecy, given through Joseph Smith, the Prophet,
and contained in a letter, written by him in Kirtland, Ohio, under date of Nov.
27th, 1832, and directed to W. W. Phelps, then residing in Jackson County,
Missouri. The Prophecy reads as
follows:-
“And it shall come to pass that
I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong, holding the sceptre of power
in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words,
eternal words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order
the house of God, and to arrange by lot the inheritances of the Saints, whose
names are found, and the names of their fathers, and of their children,
enrolled in the Book of the Law of God; while that man, who was called of God
and appointed, that putteth forth his hand to steady the ark of God, shall fall
by the shaft of death, like as a tree that is smitten by the vivid shaft of
lightning.”
Soon after this was given, it was
generally understood in Kirtland, that the prediction was intended as a warning
to Bishop Partridge, then in Jackson Co., Missouri, who had been, for some length
of time, somewhat fearful and unbelieving in carrying out the law of God in
regard to consecration and inheritances, wishing to introduce some of his own
wisdom in modification of the divine law.
You will see by the revelations in the Doc. & Cov. that he, and some
others in high authority, dwelling in Zion, had, about that time been severely
chastened of the Lord: he, the only Bishop then in Missouri, had been
threatened with removal from his office, unless he repented. So far as I was in
the possession of information, the Prophet as well as the people in Kirtland,
believed the prophetic warning was to arouse up Bishop Partridge to a sense of
the important duties of his office, and to trust to God's plan, instead of
devising some other plan of his own, wherein he sought to steady the ark of
God. Who the personage, “mighty and strong” is, I am unable to say. It will be some one sent to officiate in the office
of the Bishopric, “to arrange by lot the inheritances of the Saints,” and to
execute the law of God, after the redemption of Zion, and “to set in order the
house of God;” whether he will be mortal or immortal is not revealed; but it is
revealed that he will “be clothed with light for a covering.”
Yours
Truly,
Orson
Pratt, Sen.
