joseph's dream—his last public address—consciousness of his impending fate—his love for his brethren.
events were now hurrying on to the last awful scene. joseph saw the sacrificial cup prepared for him and knew that he must drink its bitter draught. as he draws nearer to the final hour clearer and clearer becomes his mind, more nearly divine are his works, and more closely do we see the likeness to the sacred master of whom joseph deemed himself but the humblest follower. it is no mere accidental similarity this betrayal of the modern prophet by the modern judas and this sacrifice of a holy name to glut the hate of pharisees. the prophet's work is almost done. more plainly as the supreme moment draws on he tells his followers of the fate awaiting him. at first they scarcely understand, so used are they to see him in the midst of peril. it may be that the vision of the end is opened to hyrum's view, for he will not leave his brother's side. they have loved in life, the elder brother living by the other's prophetic words, and in death they shall not be separated. joseph says: "hyrum, take your family on the next boat to cincinnati. i want you to live to avenge me." hyrum replies: "joseph, i will not leave you." it is not a vengeance of blood that the prophet means: it is the triumph of the work over all murderous mobs, a triumph in which he wants his faithful brother to share in the flesh.
after the traitors had gone out from nauvoo to join with the pharisees in raising a mob, the prophet related a dream to his brethren, assembled in meeting. he said that he thought that he was riding in a carriage, and his guardian angel was with him. they saw two serpents in the road firmly locked together, and the angel told him that these were two of his traitorous enemies, robert foster and chauncey higbee, so fast bound to each other that of themselves they could not harm him. then joseph rode on farther, but his angel was no longer by his side; and william law and wilson law came out upon him, dragged him from his carriage, tied his hands and threw him into a deep pit. after a time he partly loosened his hands and climbed to the edge of the pit and looked out. he saw wilson law attacked by ferocious beasts and william law expiring in the coils of a poisonous snake. they cried for him:
oh, brother joseph! brother joseph! save us or we perish!
but he responded that they themselves had deprived him of the power to aid them. then, after a little time, his angel came once more and said: "joseph, why are you here?"
and he responded: "mine enemies fell upon me, bound me, and threw me into this pit."
the angel took him by the hand and drew him up, and they went away together.
impressive as was the recital of this dream, his brethren failed to comprehend its full significance; but scores of them recalled it at a later time and preserved it as a sacred remembrance.
on sunday, the 16th day of june, 1844, joseph preached in the grove east of the temple to the assembled saints. the rain fell heavily, but the people would not disperse while the prophet spoke. nor would he be stayed by all these tears of nature, for it was one of his last opportunities to advise the people for whom he was willing to give his life. often before the prophet had counseled his brethren that it was not necessary yet to preach from the revelations of st. john the divine; that the plain principles of the gospel should first be taught. but now, with the consciousness of his approaching death upon him, he read to the people the third chapter of revelation. it was to be a message of comfort to the saints when he was gone. he then turned to the first chapter and read:
and from jesus christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.
and hath made us kings and priests unto god and his father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. amen. (rev. 1:5-6.)
he carried the saints into a profounder depth of revealed theology than ever before. he talked of the plurality of gods and the different glories of the eternal realm. he said:
go and read the vision in the book of covenants. there is clearly illustrated glory upon glory—one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and a glory of the stars; and as one star differeth from another star in glory, even so do they of the telestial world differ in glory, and every man who reigns in the celestial glory is a god to his dominion.
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it is in the order of heavenly things that god should always send a new dispensation into the world when men have apostatized from the truth and lost the priesthood; but when men build without authority from god, and when the floods come and the winds blow, their whole fabric will crumble.
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oh thou god who art king of kings and lord of lords!
after the city had been declared under martial law, the legion was drawn up in front of the mansion to be addressed by the prophet. he stood upon the frame of a building opposite his house, dressed in his full uniform as lieutenant general.
william w. phelps read from an extra issue of the warsaw signal of the day before, calling upon all the old citizens to assist the mob in exterminating the leaders of the saints and driving the people into exile.
joseph then recounted the doings of the time at nauvoo, and demonstrated that he and his brethren had been willing and were still as willing as ever to submit to the authority of law; that they had not transgressed the statutes; that the effort making against them was the device of satan. he told them that a pretext had been sought by their enemies in order that a band of infuriated mob men might be congregated to fall upon nauvoo, to murder, plunder, and ravish the innocent. he said:
we are american citizens. we live upon a soil, for the liberties of which our fathers periled their lives and spilt their blood upon the battle-field. those rights, so dearly purchased, shall not be disgracefully trodden under foot by lawless marauders without at least a noble effort on our part to sustain our liberties.
will you stand by me to the death, and sustain, at the peril of your lives, the laws of our country, and the liberties and privileges which our fathers have transmitted unto us, sealed with their sacred blood? ["aye," shouted thousands.] it is well. if you have not done it, i would have gone out there, [pointing to the west], and would have raised up a mightier people.
i call all men, from maine to the rocky mountains, and from mexico to british america, whose hearts thrill with horror to behold the rights of free men trampled under foot, to come to the deliverance of this people from the cruel hand of oppression, cruelty, anarchy and misrule to which they have long been made subject. come, all ye lovers of liberty, break the oppressor's rod, loose the iron grasp of mobocracy, and bring to condign punishment all those who trample under foot the glorious principles of our constitution and the people's rights [drawing his sword and presenting it to heaven.] i call god and angels to witness that i have unsheathed my sword with a firm and unalterable determination that this people shall have their legal rights, and be protected from mob violence, or my blood shall be spilt upon the ground like water, and my body consigned to the silent tomb. while i live, i will never tamely submit to the dominion of accursed mobocracy. i would welcome death rather than submit to this oppression; and it would be sweet, oh, sweet to rest in the grave, rather than submit to this oppression, confusion and alarm upon alarm, any longer.
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peace shall be taken from the land which permits these crimes against the saints to go unavenged.
i call upon all friends of truth and liberty to come to our assistance; and may the thunders of the almighty, and the forked lightnings of heaven, and pestilence, and war, and bloodshed come down on those ungodly men who seek to destroy my life and the lives of this innocent people.
i do not regard my own life. i am ready to be offered a sacrifice for this people; for what can our enemies do? only kill the body, and their power is then at an end. stand firm, my friends; never flinch. do not seek to save your lives, for he that is afraid to die for the truth will lose eternal life. hold out to the end, and we shall be resurrected, and become like gods and reign in celestial kingdoms, principalities and eternal dominions, while this mob will sink to the portion of all those who shed innocent blood.
god has tried you. you are a good people; therefore i love you with all my heart. greater love hath no man than that he should lay down his life for his friends. you have stood by me in the hour of trouble, and i am willing to sacrifice my life for your preservation.
may the lord god of israel bless you forever and ever. i say this in the name of jesus of nazareth, and in the authority of the holy priesthood, which he hath conferred upon me.
and all the people cried amen!
the vast assemblage had listened to his words with breathless attention, for he spoke with a power transcending anything that the saints had ever before heard, even from him whose speech was always soul-touching. had he expressed a wish to fight, his people would have followed him with joy to the contest. it is no wonder that his words sank deep into their hearts; it is no wonder that to their sight he appeared grander than mortal. it was the last time for many of them in the flesh that they were to listen to the music of his voice or to feel the spell of his mighty inspiration. it was his last public address! in a few short days that godlike form, so perfect in its manly beauty, was to be locked in the embrace of the tomb; and that voice, whose angelic sweetness had comforted them in the hour of darkest woe, was to be hushed in death.
on the 20th of june he wrote to all the apostles who were absent on missions to come home immediately. only two of the twelve were with him, apostles john taylor and willard richards. he had often stated to the twelve that upon them would devolve the work when he was gone, and he knew that their presence would soon be needed.
his consciousness of his impending fate and his fortitude were divine. his last deeds and his last thoughts were for the cause and the people whom he loved.
