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| That the Destroyer May Pass
(1834) |
| W. W. Phelps'
August 24, 1834 letter to Oliver Cowdery for the Evening and Morning
Star, including the August 1 high council's authorization § for
four brethren to visit the scattered Saints in Missouri and a Phelps
poem § anticipating
the return to Jackson county. Bill to annex land between Liberty and
the Missouri river to the state failed. Wyandots have selected land in
the west, Pottowottomies
passed through Liberty en route to join the Kickapoos. Pottowottomie prophet
preached before Zion's Camp arrived in June. Four brethren appointed
to visit the scattered brethren. In July, John Corrill, Simeon Carter,
and the Pratt brothers visited the Saints throughout
western Missouri, teaching them "how to escape the indignation
of our enemies and to keep in favor with those who feel well disposed
towards us. And live as disciples in all lowliness of heart &c." Draught,
sickness, persecution.
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Liberty, Mo. Aug.
24, 1834. |
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DEAR BRETHREN:— |
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Because I feel a great
interest in the cause of our Redeemer, I take a little more time and paper
than usual, and write. You are, in general, so well informed of all that
is going on in this region of the Lord's vineyard, that I cannot give any
news. When I say all that is going on, I mean between us and the Jackson mob,
for there are many other things, I presume, that you and the Saints abroad
are ignorant of for months. |
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Bill
to annex land to state failed
Indian tribes |
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From petitions sent
to Congres[s] by the inhabitants of Clay and other counties, a bill was
got up in the house of Representatives, to annex all the land between this
county and the Missouri river, to this State, together with a considerable
quantity on the north, but it has all fell through, and I have understood
that the Wyandots have selected that on the west, for their spot of gathering. |
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| Indian prophet |
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A party of Pottowottomies
passed through Liberty, not long since, on their way to the Kickapoos,
whom they will join for the sake of their religion. Their prophet preached
in Liberty just before the brethren came up last June, on the subject of
their religion, and if he had had a true interpreter, would have given
great light. |
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| Letter
of authorization |
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We have had several
High Councils for the benefit of the scattered brethren; at one, the following
letter was issued to four brethren, viz: John
Corill, Simeon Carter, Orson
Pratt, and Parley Pratt (h). |
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"To the Latter Day
Saints who have been driven from the land of their inheritance, and also
those who are gathering in the regions round about, in the western boundaries
of Missouri,—the High Council, established according to the pattern
given by our blessed Savior Jesus Christ, send greeting: |
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DEAR BRETHREN, We have
had several High Councils for the benefit of the scattered brethren; at
one, the following letter was issued to four brethren, viz: John
Corrill, Simeon Carter, Orson Pratt
(h2), and Parley Pratt (h).
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Minutes
of July 31, 1834 |
| To Latter
Day Saints |
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To the Latter Day
Saints who have been driven from the land of their inheritance, and also
those who are gathering in the regions round about, in the western boundaries
of Missouri, the High Council, established according to the pattern given
by our blessed Savior Jesus Christ, send greeting: |
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Evening and Morning
Star, vol. 2 no. 24 (September 1834), 191. |
John
Corrill to meet with you
Purify, live word of wisdom, that destroyer may pass |
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DEAR BRETHREN,
We have appointed our beloved brother and companion in tribulation, John
Corrill, to meat [sic] you in the name of the Lord Jesus. He, in
connexion with others duly appointed also, will visit you alternately,
for the purpose of instructing you in the necessary qualifications of
the Latter Day Saints; that they may be perfected, that the officers
and members of the body of Christ, may become very prayerful and very
faithful, strictly keeping all the commandments, and walking in holiness
before the Lord, continually. That all that mean to have "the Destroyer
pass over them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them," may
live according to the
"word of wisdom;" that the Saints by industry, diligence, faithfulness,
and the prayer of faith, may become purified, and enter upon
their inheritance, to build up Zion according to the word of the Lord. |
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| Set example
for those outside the kingdom |
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We are sure, If
the Saints are very humble, very watchful and very prayerful, that few
will be deceived by those who have not authority to teach, or who have
not the Spirit to teach according to the power of the Holy Ghost, in the
scriptures. Lest any man's blood should be required at your hands, we
beseech you, as you value the salvation of souls, and are within,
to set an example which is worthy to be followed by those without
the kingdom of our God and his Christ, that peace by grace, and blessings
by righteousness may attend you till you are sanctified and redeemed." |
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(Signed) |
Clay Co. Aug. 1, 1834 |
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| Outsiders
mollified |
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Since this document
was issued, meetings have been held alternately at twelve different
places, to the joy of the scattered brethren, and so far as I learn to the
satisfaction of those who are "without" the kingdom. And they
will be continued. It is very sickly now. There has been no rain of note
since the first of July; every thing looks sorry for the want of it; and,
what is here called "the chill fever" is attacking hundreds.*
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Asterisks in original. |
Drought
Sickness is chastisement |
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Brother Drollinger,
a worthy elder died on Saturday. There is a great deal to humble the Saints
and make them possess their souls in patience. The great drought is an index
of famine, and so much sickness denotes chastisement, and the Saints have
only to say: "Though he slay us, yet will we trust in him." |
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* * * * * * * * *
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Asterisks original. |
| Persecution the lot of the Saints |
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We are looked upon as
slaves, and in many instances, treated so. In fact, we are treated just
as the Saints of God ever have been: despised, belied, slandered, whipped,
mocked, buffeted, reproached, and considered, by other professors among
the sects, as "the jest and riddle of the world," to be laughed
at, and "rendered any thing by every body:" and so be it, for
Christ's sake. The truth is in common meter, (as I have thought in poetry,)
as follows:—
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There is a land the
Lord will bless,
Where all the Saints shall come;
There is a day for righteousness
When Israel gathers home. |
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Before the word goes
forth—Destroy!
And all the wicked burn,
With songs of everlasting joy,
The pure-in-heart return. |
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Their fields beyond
Missouri's flood,
Are in perspective seen,
As unto Israel "Canaan stood
While Jordan flow'd between." |
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Though wicked men and
Satan strive,
To keep us from that land,
And from their homes the Saints they drive
To try the Lord's command:— |
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There all the
springs of God will be;
And there an end of strife;
And there the righteous rising free
Shall have eternal life. |
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There shall
the will of God be done,
And Saints and Angels greet;
And there, when all in Christ is one,
The best from worlds shall meet. |
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There, in the resurrection
morn',
The living live again,
And all their children will be born
Without
the sting of sin. |
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How long our Father,
O how long
Shall that pure time delay?
Come on, come on, ye holy throng,
And bring the glorious day |
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As ever, |
W. W. PHELPS. |
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| To Oliver Cowdery. |
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Missouri
1834
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