CHAPTER II.
It is not the design of the Author to present in this place an extended biography of Joseph Smith, but a brief sketch of his career may be appropriately commenced at that period of his life when he claims to have become an object of interest to the heavenly world. Of his ancestry, little is known beyond the fact that this branch of the Smith family is of Scotch extraction, and reached the New World in the beginning of the eighteenth century. Joseph himself was born December 23d, 1805, in Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, and was one of a family of six sons and three daughters. "When he was ten years of age, the family removed to Palmyra, Ontario County (now Wayne), New York, and thence, four years later, to Manchester, in the same county, and at this place, eighteen months afterwards, the Mahomet of the West, as he has appropriately been called, began his career as the originator of the new religion.
Of young Smith's personal appearance and life preceding this time, there is little to be said. In manhood he was very handsomely formed, tall, and athletic. In his fifteenth year the commencement of his religious experience he was doubtless much like any other farm youth of very limited education, and remarkable for nothing, either good or bad. In his family he was considered a "good boy," and throughout his chequered career no one ever charged him with lacking that native frankness of soul which generally characterizes the country youth. The charges afterwards made against him, of being "an indolent, worthless young vagabond," are, in all probability, somewhat exaggerated, for it is hardly possible that the vast energy and benevolence of his after life could have developed from any such roots.
After Joseph's announcement of his prophetic mission, the neighbours of his parents who were opposed to his claims remembered, with wonderful facility, that the Smith family had always been "dreamers and visionary persons," and applied these terms in their most offensive meaning. In a work published after Joseph's death,[1] his mother tells her story in an artless, guileless way, and narrates the incidents of his boyhood as a loving, tender mother alone can speak of a darling son. Her recital leads to the conclusion that his progenitors had been highly favoured, and that the heavens had showered upon him their highest honours and choicest gifts. Whatever may be thought of the claims of the Smith family to miraculous powers, there can be no doubt that the modern prophet came of a stock which transmitted to him moral, mental, and religious qualities, well adapted to the after-work of his life. With such predisposition and support in his father's family, and from the impulses of his own singular nature,[2] he was fairly prepared for the "ministering of angels," with which the history of his religious life begins.
He relates in his autobiography how, introductory to his first vision, his mind had been prepared, by the accidental reading of a portion of the New Testament during the excitement of a revival, to ask for heavenly wisdom, with the expectation of receiving an answer. This revival commenced with the Methodists and extended to other denominations, and a time of general conversion ensued. "While the Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists made a general rush among the sinners, and preached to them only Christ and Him crucified, there was harmony; but when the converts began to choose churches, discussion arose upon the relative superiority of the creeds of these denominations, and the confusion of claims perplexed the youthful prophet, as it has many others before and since. His mother, two brothers, and a sister were "proselyted" to the Presbyterian Church, but he experienced in his "deep and often pungent feelings" partiality for the "Methodist sect."[3] He was greatly excited, and in the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, his mind by some influence was directed to that Scripture which saith: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth unto all men liberally and upbraideth none, and it shall be given him." This admonition was peculiarly encouraging to one in his situation, and he resolved to test it practically. For this purpose he retired to a solitary place in the woods, and the following is his statement of what then occurred:
"After I had retired into the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction, not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such a marvellous power as I had never before felt in any being. Just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the power of the enemy which had held me bound. When the light rested upon me, I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said (pointing to the other), 'This is by beloved Son; hear Him!'"
The original purpose of the boy's prayer being to learn which of the sects he should join—for up to that time his mind had not embraced a wider range of freedom—as soon as he was able to speak he made the inquiry with the following results:
"I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong, and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt, they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrine the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. He again forbade me to join with any of them: and many other things did he say unto me which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again I found myself lying on my back looking up into heaven."[4]
From this period he relates that he became the subject of the hottest persecution and reviling; but he continued to tell what he had seen and what had been told him, taking comfort and encouragement from the similarity of his experience with that of St. Paul, who "saw a light and heard a voice," though few believed his testimony. He continued at his farm work, and on the evening of September 21, 1823, three years after his first vision, he received another and more important communication.
"During the space of time which intervened between the time I had the vision, and the year 1823, having been forbidden to join any of the religious sects of the day, and being of very tender years and persecuted by those who ought to have been my friends and to have treated me kindly, and if they supposed me to be deluded to have endeavoured in a proper and affectionate manner to have reclaimed me, I was left to all kinds of temptations, and mingling with all kinds of society, I frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth and the corruptions of human nature, which I am sorry to say led me into divers temptations, to the gratification of many appetites offensive in the sight of God. In consequence of these things I often felt condemned for my weakness and imperfections; when on the evening of the above-mentioned 21st September, after I had retired to my bed for the night, I betook myself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follies, and also for a manifestation to me that I might know of my state and standing before him; for I had full confidence in obtaining a divine manifestation, as I had previously had one.
"While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in the room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor. He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could ever be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant; his hands were naked and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so also were his feet naked as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that I could see into his bosom.
"Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person. When I first looked upon him I was afraid, but the fear soon left me. He called me by name and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Nephi;[5] that God had a work for me to do and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues; or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people. He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Saviour to the ancient inhabitants. Also that there were two stones in silver bows (and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim) deposited with the plates, and the possession and use of these stones was what constituted seers in ancient or former times and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book.
"After telling me these things, he commenced quoting the prophecies of the Old Testament. He first quoted part of the third chapter of Malachi, and he quoted also the fourth or last chapter of the same prophecy, though with a little variation from the way it reads in our Bibles. Instead of quoting the first verse as it reads in our books, he quoted it thus: 'For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall burn as stubble, for they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch;' and again he quoted the fifth verse, thus: 'Behold I will reveal unto you the Priesthood by the hand of Elijah the Prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.' He also quoted the next verse differently: 'And he shall plant in the hearts of the children, the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers; if it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at His coming.'
"In addition to these he quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, saying that it was about to be fulfilled. He quoted also the 3rd chapter of Acts, verses 22 and 23, precisely as they stand in our New Testament. He said that that Prophet was Christ, but the day had not yet come when ('they who would not hear his voice should be cut off from among the people,' but soon would come.
"He also quoted the second chapter of Joel, from the 28th to the last verse. He also said that this was not yet fulfilled, but was soon to be. And he further stated the fulness of the Gentiles was soon to come in. He quoted many other passages of Scripture, and offered many explanations which cannot be mentioned here. Again, he told me that when I had got those plates of which he had spoken (for the time that they should be obtained was not yet fulfilled), I should not show them to any person, neither the breastplate with the Urim and Thummim, only to those to whom I should be commanded to show them; if I did, I should be destroyed. While he was conversing with me about the plates, the vision was opened to my mind that I should see the place where they were deposited, and that so clearly and distinctly that I knew it again when I visited it."
After this, the light in the room immediately began to encircle the person of the angel, and "a conduit opened right up into heaven, and the angel ascended until he entirely disappeared."
Twice more during the night the messenger appeared in the same manner, and rehearsed the same things, adding at the third visit a caution to the effect that Satan, on account of father Smith's indigent circumstances, would tempt the son to get the plates for mercenary purposes, but that no other object than the glory of God was to be entertained in obtaining them, and that if he were influenced by any other motive than a desire to build up the kingdom, they could not be obtained at all. These interviews would appear to have continued through the whole night, and at daybreak Joseph arose and went to his labour, but was so exhausted and unwell that his father insisted on his returning home. In essaying to do so, he attempted to cross a fence, but his strength failed him; he fell helpless to the ground, and for a time was perfectly unconscious. The first thing which he recollected was hearing his name called, when he looked up and beheld the same messenger standing over his head, surrounded by light as before. All that had been related during the night was again told him, with the instruction to tell his father of the vision and the commandments that he had received. He returned and did so, and his father replied that it was of God, and bade him go and do as directed by the messenger. Joseph immediately repaired to the locality where he had been told the plates were deposited, and from the distinctness of the night's vision, he at once recognized their place of concealment.
Of his first view of the record, he says:
"Convenient to the village of Manchester, Ontario County, New Tork, stands a hill of considerable size, and the most elevated of any in the neighbourhood. On the west side of this hill, not far from the top, under a stone of considerable size, lay the plates deposited in a stone box; this stone was thick and rounded in the middle on the upper side, and thinner towards the edges, so that the middle part of it was visible above the ground, but the edge all round was covered with earth. Having removed the earth and obtained a lever, which I got fixed under the edge of the stone, and with a little exertion raised it up, I looked in, and there, indeed, did I behold the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and breastplate, as stated by the messenger. The box in which they lay was formed by laying stones together in some kind of cement. In the bottom of the box were laid two stones crossways of the box, and on these stones lay the plates and the other things with them. I made an attempt to take them out, but was forbidden by the messenger. I was again informed that the time for bringing them out had not yet arrived, neither would until four years from that time ; but he told me that I should come to that place precisely in one year from that time, and that he would there meet with me, and that I should continue to do so until the time should come for obtaining the plates."
The autobiography is not so explicit concerning this point of the Prophet's history as the early writings of the first disciples. In the latter, the Prince of Darkness is introduced at the critical moment, surrounded by an innumerable train of his associates, who are made to pass in review before the boy, so that he might become acquainted with them. A renewal of the "old dispensation" would have been incomplete without the " wicked one."
At the end of each year, in obedience to the instructions received, he went to this place, met with the same messenger, and from him received further information touching "the Lord's purposes in the last days," and in what manner His kingdom was to be constituted.
- ↑ Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and his progenitors for many generations. By Lucy Smith, mother of the Prophet.
- ↑ Before the dissenting Mormons asserted that Joseph was "nothing more than a highly developed medium," in the spiritualistic sense of the word, Brigham Young was in the habit of saying of Joseph that "he was a natural-born seer."
- ↑ The historian has recorded that, in 1814, when he was only nine years of age, "he was powerfully awakened by the preaching of a Mr. Lane, an earnest Methodist preacher."
- ↑ His unconsciousness during the reported interview, and the position in which he found himself on awaking, closely resemble the condition of those subject to trances among the Methodists and Spiritualists, but which phenomena appear to have been unknown to Joseph at that time.
- ↑ This should read, Moroni. In the "Book of Doctrine and Covenants," page 321, it is so stated. Moroni was the gentleman who is said to have "hid up" the plates, and it is very proper that he should reveal them.