brigham young receives the gospel—his memorable meeting with the prophet—his constant devotion—"that man will yet preside over the church"—a revelation on priesthood—joseph visits the eastern states—his numerous labors—prophecy concerning the civil war—its subsequent fulfillment.
while the prophet was on his way to missouri in the month of april, 1832, an event occurred afar off in mendon, monroe county, new york, which was the forerunner of mighty help to joseph and strength to the church. it was the baptism of brigham young on the 14th day of april, 1832, by elder eleazer miller. this destined successor of the prophet had heard and accepted the truth. his sincerity and force of character were visible at his conversion, and after his confirmation at the water's edge as a member of the church of jesus christ, he was ordained on the same day to the melchisedec priesthood.
in the month of june when joseph returned to kirtland from missouri he met and gave the hand of fellowship to brigham young, who had journeyed to kirtland to hear the voice of the prophet of god. a most memorable meeting was this of these two men whose names and fame were to become so indissolubly united! of all the men of their generation they were to be the most loved and hated, their words and deeds were to be heralded to every corner of the earth, and, beyond those of all their contemporaries, were to make the deepest impress upon the world. if the fact be not fully recognized and acknowledged to-day, the hour is not far distant when it will be, that joseph smith and brigham young were the two greatest men of their time. providence had assigned each his labor, and each faithfully performed the allotted task. joseph, under the direction of the almighty, marked out the design and laid the foundation deep and strong; and brigham, inspired from the same source, builded upon it carefully and judiciously. the labor of one was designed to be the fitting complement to the other.
at this first visit the prophet joseph heard, for the first time, the gift of speaking in tongues. brigham had received this gift, and at a meeting in the evening the spirit rested upon him and he spoke in tongues. the prophet received the gift of interpretation, and he said it was the language spoken by our father adam. the spirit also rested upon him and he spoke in tongues. after this, the gifts of speaking in tongues and interpreting tongues were received and enjoyed by many of the saints at kirtland and elsewhere.
from that day joseph and brigham were friends, attached to each other by a tie stronger and closer than that of earthly kinship. from that time on for twelve years brigham gave earnest help to joseph and demonstrated by his consideration and devotion that he knew the authority under which the younger man was acting. there was a time to come when oliver cowdery—the fellow apostle of joseph, who, with him, had received the aaronic priesthood under the hands of john the baptist, and the melchisedec priesthood under the hands of the apostles peter, james and john, heavenly messengers sent expressly to confer these two priesthoods upon them—would waver in his fidelity to the truth and would oppose joseph and leave the church. not many years from the time of which we write sidney rigdon, the trusted counselor, the eloquent spokesman of the prophet, who with him had beheld in vision the glories of the eternal world and borne solemn testimony that he had seen the savior and knew that he lived, would turn his back upon and be ready to desert joseph and to conspire against the church. but not so with brigham young; but not so with the prophet's brother hyrum, and many others less eminent than these two. hyrum smith was the embodiment of unswerving fidelity and fraternal love. ever by his brother's side to aid and comfort him, life had no charms for him when danger threatened the lord's anointed. he had a mother to whom he always rendered dutiful and loving obedience; he had a wife and children upon whom he lavished a wealth of affection; he had brothers and sisters to whom he was kind, considerate and helpful; but for his brother joseph he had a love which over-mastered all these affections; it surpassed the love of woman. when death stood in the pathway and menaced with its fearful terrors joseph and those who stood by him, the prophet besought hyrum to stand aside and not accompany him. but, however obedient he might be to the slightest wish of his brother in other directions, upon this point he was immovable. if joseph died, they would die together. as in his life, so in his death, hyrum smith exhibited the perfection of human love.
with similar fidelity and unshaken integrity brigham young, from the time of this meeting in kirtland, cordially sustained the prophet joseph in all his ministrations up to the day of his martyrdom. many times during the ensuing twelve years, and especially during the great defection and apostasy at kirtland, he had occasion, because of his devotion to joseph, to exhibit the decision of character and moral courage for which he was so distinguished in after life. when hesitation and doubt were far too common, and many leading men faltered and fell away, brigham stood in the midst of the storm of opposition like a tower of strength. the remark which he made concerning some of his brother apostles at nauvoo, after the death of the prophet joseph, when he said "their hands had never trembled and their knees had never shook in maintaining and defending the principles of righteousness" applied with peculiar significance to himself and his own past connection with the work of god. but it was not in joseph's lifetime alone that brigham manifested his admiration for and devotion to his great friend. during the long period—thirty-three years—which he outlived the prophet (when a common man under his circumstances might have been tempted to criticise the acts or peculiarities of his predecessor, or to contrast his own management of affairs with that of joseph's) no one ever heard a word drop from his lips that was not worthy of the two men. his own success and great and world-wide prominence never diminished nor obscured the deep-rooted love and loyalty he felt towards the man whom god had chosen to hold the keys of this last dispensation and to be his file-leader in the priesthood.
it appears that the prophet must have had something shown to him on this occasion concerning the future of brigham young; for heber c. kimball and joseph young, who both accompanied brigham to kirtland, each testified in his lifetime that the prophet joseph said to those who stood around him, "that man," pointing to brigham young who was a little distance off, "will yet preside over this church." levi w. hancock, also, frequently testified that he heard the prophet make this same statement concerning brigham.
in july joseph was gratified to receive the first number of the evening and morning star from independence. light was already beginning to radiate from the land of zion.
a few weeks later elders began to come in from their missionary labors in the eastern states. their reports were interesting, as from them could be gathered the nature of the difficulties to be contended with in bringing the people to a knowledge of the truth. the importance of this missionary work was apparent. the message which the lord had given to his servants had to be declared to all people. the prophet sought for definite instructions concerning this labor. on the 22nd and 23rd of september, 1832, he received the word of the lord defining some of the powers of the priesthood and giving consolation and strength to such as should be called to go forth in the ministry.
let no man among you * * * from this hour take purse or scrip that goeth forth to proclaim this gospel of the kingdom. * * *
and whoso receiveth you, there i will be also, for i will go before your face: i will be on your right hand and on your left, and my spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you to bear you up. * * *
search diligently and spare not; and woe unto that house, or that village or city that rejecteth you, or your words, or your testimony concerning me.
for i the almighty have laid my hands upon the nations, to scourge them for their wickedness:
and plagues shall go forth, and they shall not be taken from the earth until i have completed my work, which shall be cut short in righteousness,
until all shall know me, who remain, even from the least unto the greatest, and shall be filled with the knowledge of the lord, and shall see eye to eye, and shall lift up their voice, and with the voice together sing this new song, saying—
the lord hath brought again zion,
the lord hath redeemed his people,
israel, according to the election of grace,
which was brought to pass by the faith
and covenant of their fathers.
the lord hath redeemed his people,
and satan is bound and time is no longer;
the lord hath gathered all things in one;
the lord hath brought down zion from above.
the lord hath brought up zion from beneath.
the earth hath travailed and brought forth her strength;
and truth is established in her bowels;
and the heavens have smiled upon her;
and she is clothed with the glory of her god;
for he stands in the midst of his people;
glory, and honor, and power, and might,
be ascribed to our god; for he is full of mercy,
justice, grace and truth, and peace,
for ever and ever, amen.
* * * * * *
go ye forth * * reproving the world in righteousness of all their unrighteous and ungodly deeds, setting forth clearly and understandingly the desolation of abomination in the last days;
for, with you, saith the lord almighty, i will rend their kingdoms; i will not only shake the earth, but the starry heavens shall tremble;
for i, the lord, have put forth my hand to exert the powers of heaven; ye cannot see it now, yet a little while and ye shall see it, and know that i am, and that i will come and reign with my people.
early in the month of october the prophet departed with bishop whitney for the eastern states, and made hurried visits to the cities of albany, new york and boston, returning to kirtland on the sixth day of november, 1832. three days previous to the latter date, on november 3rd, a son was born to him, whom he named joseph.
to one not divinely sustained the burden of work now laid upon joseph would have been oppressive. the little time he could snatch from the labors of the ministry was devoted to diligent labor upon the translation of the bible; and in addition he was planning for the further progress of proselyting work and for the upbuilding of zion, in missouri. upon this latter subject he bestowed much anxious thought. he communicated with the elders there by letter, and gave them careful instruction concerning the distribution of inheritances to the saints and the general management of affairs in that land.
on the 25th day of december, 1832, the following revelation and prophecy were given to joseph, at kirtland, ohio:
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 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 on other nations, even the nation of great britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations; and then war shall be poured out upon all nations.
and it shall come to pass, after many days, slaves shall rise up against their masters, who shall be marshaled 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, the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquakes, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning 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 hath made a full end of all the nations; * * *
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.
this revelation was made known at that time to the saints and was a subject of constant remark in the church; in 1851 it was published to the world and obtained a somewhat wide circulation. nearly twenty-nine years after its date, its wondrous fulfillment began when the first gun was fired at fort sumter, south carolina. since that time wars and rumors of wars have prevailed throughout the world. peace has fled, and in view of all the lord has said, it is not too much to expect it has fled no more to return till the reign of righteousness shall begin.
it is strange that the solemn warning uttered by joseph in 1832 should have gone unheeded. his prophecy was not without its purpose. the lord inspired his mind with visions of the future and with power to view the paths by which the nation might escape the impending disasters, but like other parts of his message of salvation to the human race this warning also was rejected.
