"Be merciful and you shall obtain mercy." The word of the Lord unto His servant Heber. The word of the Lord unto His disciples in days of old. The voice of universal charity, breathing forth the spirit of Christ upon a weak, a sinful and a fallen world.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
Why should we rail at the fallen? Why not rather weep, when a brother or a sister sins? Why hate them for what is their misfortune? The heavens wept over fallen Lucifer, and even Michael, the archangel, contending with him for the body of Moses, "durst not bring against him a railing accusation?"
None but the tempted know what trials are; none but the fallen what the fallen suffer, or how they endured ere they fell. None but G.o.d can fully know the why and wherefore of their fall.
"We see but half the causes of our deeds, Seeking them wholly in the outer life."
What we deem chance, may be destiny; what we term accident, design. A greater knowledge than man"s, the knowledge of a G.o.d, can alone elucidate the mystery of mortal actions, as seen by the dim uncertain light of the flickering lantern of human wisdom.
He who is the Judge; who "putteth down one and setteth up another;"
who is angry with none save with those who will not in all things acknowledge and obey Him; who bringeth order out of chaos, light out of darkness, strength from weakness, life from death, and victory from seeming failure and defeat; He only can entirely tell why some succeed where others fail, why some are weak and some are strong, why false and true are found together; why "there must needs be an opposition all things;" why demons as well as angels are essential; why sun and shadow cross each other; why joy and sorrow, sweet and bitter, wine and wormwood, are in life"s cup commingled; why the beacon lights the breaker"s foam; why the stranded wreck, and the bark safely anch.o.r.ed, each must tell its tale and point its moral for the welfare of future generations.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
"To err is human; to forgive divine."
"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."
"About this time," says Heber, "Orson Hyde came to me feeling very sorrowful for the course he had pursued the past few months; he said it was because of fear (Brother Hyde was sick just before the Far West troubles commenced), and now lamented his folly and asked me what he should do. I told him to give up his school, remove his family and gather with the Church. He wanted to know if I thought the brethren would forgive him. I said, "Yes." He then asked, "Will you defend my case?" And I promised him I would."
Heber was as good as his word, and through his mediation Brother Hyde was forgiven, after a humble confession, and restored to fellowship.
He was also reinstated in his Apostleship, which he thenceforth magnified unto the end of his days.
Heber enlisted as his fellow champion of the cause of Brother Hyde, President Hyrum Smith, great-hearted and merciful as himself, and when, at the next conference of the Church, Joseph presented the name of Orson Hyde to the congregation for their action, Hyrum and Heber pleaded for him so earnestly that the Prophet said: "If my brother Hyrum and Heber C. Kimball will defend Orson Hyde, I will withdraw my motion."
Thus did the voice of mercy, the voice of G.o.d, in two of His n.o.blest sons, plead and not in vain for the fallen.
And what of Oliver, and David, and Sidney, and scores of others who fell from grace, but many of whom, penitent at life"s eleventh hour, returned to lay the offering of a broken heart and a contrite spirit upon the altar of G.o.d"s infinite love? Will they not find mercy, and meet a judgment more just, than we in our narrow charity know how to mete out to the erring?
Verily they will; and more joy will there ever be in the mansions of our Father, over the returning prodigal, the soul that was lost and is found, than in the steadfast faith of the righteous mult.i.tude, whose reward is that they need no repentance.
Another Elder who fell away during this time of trouble, was Isaac Russell, Heber"s fellow missionary to England. About thirty families followed him, accepting him as their leader. Viewing with sorrow the fall of such men, his former faithful companions in the ministry, Heber"s mind turned with some solicitude to the church in England, which they, with himself, had been instrumental in founding. He wrote to Joseph Fielding, President of the Church in that land, as follows:
"I have only received two letters from you since I came here. If you knew the feelings I have for the welfare of that people your pen would not be so idle. May G.o.d stir you up to diligence to feed His sheep; for they are children of my begetting through the Gospel. Think it not strange that I speak thus; for you know the feelings that a father has for his children.
"Now, brethren, be faithful and visit the churches, and exhort the Saints to be faithful in all things, and not lay down their watch for a moment; for there is great danger of falling beneath the powers of darkness. Don"t think hard of me, brethren, for my plainness, for I am a plain man, and G.o.d requires it of me, and the same of you. Don"t keep the Saints in ignorance of those things I have made you acquainted with--that is, our sufferings, for they will know them when I come, and they will have to pa.s.s through similar scenes. Don"t be selfish; for it will not impoverish you to tell them all that I tell you.
"Your sister Mary left here about eight weeks ago, also the rest of the wives of the prisoners, thinking that they would be out in a few days. There are ten in prison; they are all well and in good spirits. I am going to see them to-morrow if the Lord will.
"Mobs are common in this country; it is getting so that there is no safety anywhere in this land. Prepare yourselves for trouble wherever you go, for it awaits you and all others that love the Lord and keep His commandments.
"Brethren, I want you to go to the north where Brother Russell labored, and see what situation the Saints are in, for I have some fears about them. Go and strengthen them in the name of the Lord, for I think that Russell is leading them astray.[A]
[Footnote A: This letter preceded, only by a few weeks, an epistle from Isaac Russell to the Saints in Alston, England, of a nature "calculated to deceive and lead astray."]
"Brethren, I can truly say that I have never seen the Church in a better state since I have been a member of it. What there are left are firm and steadfast, full of love and good works.
"They have lost all their earthly goods, and are now ready to _go and preach the Gospel to a dying world!_
"We have ordained about one hundred Elders into the Seventies.
There are about one hundred and fifty who have gone into the vineyard this winter to preach the Gospel, and many more will go in the spring, and several will come to England with me in the summer or fall.
"Elder Rigdon was bailed out of prison, and has left Missouri.
About ten thousand had gathered to this state. By the first of May, next, there will not be one left who has any faith. Not one-fourth part had any teams to move with, and we had two hundred miles to travel before we could get out of the state. I think their deliverance is a great miracle."
CHAPTER x.x.xV.
THE BRETHREN IN LIBERTY JAIL--JUDGE KING"S COUP D"ETAT--THE MOB AGAIN THREATEN FAR WEST--FIENDS IN HUMAN FORM--THE PROPHET REGAINS HIS FREEDOM--THE APOSTLES FULFILL REVELATION--FIRST CONFERENCE OF THE CHURCH IN ILLINOIS.
Joseph and his brethren were still in the hands of the enemy, but the hour of their deliverance was drawing nigh. They had suffered severely in their confinement from the cruelty of their captors, but most of them had borne up bravely. Elder Rigdon, whose faith was beginning to fail under the terrible tension of trial, rashly exclaimed in a moment of despair: "Jesus Christ was a fool to me in suffering." Soon after, he was released on bail and set at liberty. The others were destined to tarry in chains a little longer.
Judge King now ordered the removal of the prisoners from Liberty to Daviess County, fearing a change of venue might be obtained to some other place where the feeling against them was less intense, and the prospect for a fair trial more favorable.
Heber C. Kimball and another of the brethren were appointed to visit Judge Hughes, a friend of Joseph"s, and get him to attend the sitting of the court in Daviess County.
"The Judge," says Heber, "who had formerly been an Indian agent, and was a very rough man in his language, cursed the judges, the governor, and everybody else who would not step forward and help the brethren out of the hands of their persecutors, for he did not believe they were guilty of any of the crimes alleged against them; he said there was no proof that they had committed any crime worthy of imprisonment or death, and that the Mormons had been meanly treated in Missouri.
"There were several men in Liberty who were very friendly to the brethren. I called on them when I went there, and they treated me with great civility. General Doniphan and General Atchison and several of the foremost men of the town were among them.
"Those I have mentioned and several others, revolted at the scenes enacted against the Mormons, and would have liberated the brethren had it not been for "outside pressure,"--that is, the strong prejudice against us by the people, and their bloodthirstiness to kill the prophets."
Meanwhile, the mob, not content with the ruin they had wrought, continued to threaten the few Saints who remained in Far West, evidently determined to carry out the order of their chief, Governor Boggs, to "exterminate the Mormons, or drive them from the state." The main body of the Church, numbering from ten to twelve thousand souls, had already left the state, and were beyond the reach of Missourian mobs, encamped upon the hospitable sh.o.r.es of Illinois.
"On the 14th of April, 1839," continues Heber, "the committee who had been left to look after the wants of the poor, removed thirty-six of the helpless families into Tenney"s grove, about twenty-five miles from Far West. I was obliged to secrete myself in the corn-fields and woods during the day and only venture out in the evening, to counsel the committee and brethren in private houses.
"On the morning of the 18th, as I was going to the committee room to tell the brethren to wind up their affairs and be off, or their lives would be taken, I was met on the public square by several of the mob.
One of them asked, with an oath, if I was a Mormon.
"I replied, "I am a Mormon."
"With a series of blasphemous expressions, they then threatened to blow my brains out, and also tried to ride over me with their horses, in the presence of Elias Smith, Theodore Turley and others of the committee.
"It was but a few minutes after I had notified the committee to leave, before the mob gathered at the t.i.thing house, and began breaking clocks, chairs, windows, looking-gla.s.ses and furniture, and making a complete wreck of everything they could move, while Captain Bogart, the county judge, looked on and laughed. A mobber named Whittaker threw an iron pot at the head of Theodore Turley and hurt him considerably, when Whittaker jumped about and laughed like a madman; and all this at the time when we were using our utmost endeavors to get the Saints away from Far West. The brethren gathered up what they could, and fled from Far West in one hour. The mob staid until the committee left, and then plundered thousands of dollars worth of property which had been left by the brethren and sisters to a.s.sist the poor to remove.
"One mobber rode up, and, finding no convenient place to fasten his horse to, shot a cow that was standing near, while a girl was milking her, and while the poor animal was struggling in death, he cut a strip of her hide from the nose to her tail, to which he fastened his halter.
"During the commotion of this day, a great portion of the records of the committee, accounts, history, etc., were destroyed or stolen.
"Hearing that Joseph and the brethren had escaped from their guard while they were on their way from Daviess to Boone County, to which place they had obtained a change of venue, I called upon Shadrach Roundy, with whom I started immediately towards Quincy.
"On reaching Keetsville, I stopped at the house of Col. Price. The Colonel, hearing of my arrival, came directly into the house, and discovering who I was, said, "Joseph and Hyrum Smith and the other prisoners have escaped." I enquired what he knew about them. He answered, "their guard took breakfast here this morning; they have turned back, saying they were going to Richmond, by way of Tenney"s Grove. I know that the guard has been bribed, or they would evince more interest by pursuing them." After we had partaken of refreshment, Brother Roundy and I pursued our course towards Quincy about fourteen or fifteen miles.