the evidence of prophecy—concluded.

on the 25th of december, 1832, the following revelation and prophecy in relation to the great american civil war, and war among all nations, was given through joseph smith:

"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 out 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 thus 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 marshalled 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 nations;

"that the cry of the saints, and of the blood of the saints, shall cease to come up into the ears of the lord of sabaoth, from the earth, to be avenged of their enemies.

"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."

as stated this revelation and prophecy was given in december, 1832; the elders carried manuscript copies of it with them in their missionary journeys, and frequently read it to their congregations in various parts of the united states. in vol. xiii of the millennial star, published in 1851, pp. 216 and 217, is an advertisement of a new church publication to be called the pearl of great price. in the announced contents is named this revelation of december, 1832, with a statement, that it had "never before appeared in print." subsequently, but in the same year, the pearl of great price with this prophecy in it, was published by franklin d. richards, in liverpool, england. there are copies of the first edition still extant.[1]

i am careful to make these statements that the reader may have ample assurance that the revelation and prophecy preceded the event of the great civil war. the revelation containing the prophecy was given on the 25th of december, 1832. the first shot fired in the great american civil war was fired early on the morning of april 12th, 1861. hence the prediction preceded the commencement of its fulfillment by twenty-eight years, three months and seventeen days. ten years before the war began, the prophecy was published in england and circulated both in that country and in the united states. there can be no question, therefore, as to the prophecy preceding the event.

let us inquire if the events predicted were of a nature that they could not be foreseen and hence foretold by human judgment, unaided by divine inspiration. the prophecy predicts,

first, that the war would begin with the rebellion of south carolina.

second, that it would terminate in the death and misery of many souls.

third, that the southern states would be divided against the northern states.

fourth, that the southern states would call upon other nations for assistance, even upon the nation of great britain.

fifth, that great britain would call upon other nations for assistance, and thus war would eventually be poured out upon all nations.

i submit that this is an enumeration of events twenty-eight years in the future altogether too definite for human wisdom, unassisted by divine inspiration, to give. profane history has nothing like it. to find a parallel to it, recourse must be had to the history of the jewish prophets. it is true there was considerable agitation about the time of the prophecy on the question known in american politics as "states' rights." in 1830 had occurred the great senate debate on that subject between robert y. hayne, of south carolina, and daniel webster, of massachusetts. on that occasion the champion from south carolina advocated the doctrine known as "nullification." the discussion had its origin in an effort to repeal the protective tariff laws of 1828, which south carolina, with several other states, regarded as unconstitutional because the laws were based upon the principle of federal protection to local interests in the several states, to the injury of the general interests of the country. but south carolina also held, which the other states did not, "that it was within the reserved rights of the states to have the question of constitutionality on this subject rightfully determined by the judiciary of the states severally, each for itself, instead of exclusively by the federal judiciary."[2]

the question again approached the acute stage in 1832, when the sovereign convention of the people of south carolina was called which adopted what was known as the "nullification ordinance." the leading features of this were (1) a declaration that the tariff act of 1832, being based upon the principle of protection to manufacturers, and not with the view to raising revenue, was unconstitutional and therefore null and void; (2) a provision for testing the constitutionality of this act before the courts of the state; (3) that in case the measures thus adopted for the purpose stated should be forcibly resisted by the federal authorities, then the state of south carolina was declared to be no longer a member of the federal union. the last measure was to take effect on the 12th of february, 1833, if before that time the principle of levying duties upon imports, not with a view to revenue, but for the protection of domestic manufactures, should not be abandoned by the congress of the states.[3]

but notwithstanding these hostile demonstrations on the part of south carolina, there was really no very great danger to the union at that time. andrew jackson, a man of great determination of character, and patriotically devoted to the union, was president; and his political principles ran parallel with his devotion. he issued a proclamation in which he urged south carolina not to persist in the enforcement of her ordinance as it would necessarily bring the federal and state authorities in conflict, and if the citizens of south carolina took up arms against the united states they would be guilty of treason. "the ordinance," said he, "is founded not on the indefeasible right of resisting acts which are plainly unconstitutional, and too oppressive to be endured; but on the strange position that any one state may not only declare an act of congress void but prohibit its execution, and that they may do this consistently with the constitution; that the true construction of that instrument permits a state to retain its place in the union, and yet be bound by no other of its laws than those it may choose to consider constitutional."[4]

it was in december, 1832, the same month in which the revelation and prophecy under consideration was given, that this issue between south carolina and the federal government about reached its climax. it is important to observe that these questions of nullification and a state's right to secede from the union were sharply agitated in december, 1832, because it gives direct testimony of the original date of the prophecy. that is, it is clear from the facts of history that the question in 1832 was before the nation; and very naturally the prophet inquired of the lord concerning it, with the result that he receive the revelation now under consideration.

that the prophet did make inquiry of the lord concerning this subject is evident from a direct statement of his to that effect. preaching at ramus, illinois, on the 2nd of april, 1843, the prophet in the course of his remarks said: "i prophesy, in the name of the lord god, that the commencement of the difficulties which will cause much bloodshed previous to the coming of the son of man will be in south carolina. it may probably arise through the slave question. this a voice declared to me, while i was praying earnestly on the subject, december 25th, 1832."[5]

no american statesman in 1832 believed that the doctrines of secession then talked of would result in a great civil war. none of them had the foresight to see that a great rebellion would occur, beginning in south carolina; that it would terminate in the death and misery of many souls; that the southern states would be divided against the northern states; that the southern states would call on great britain, and that war would eventually be poured out upon all nations. no one, i say, foresaw that this would be the result save only that inspired youth—then but twenty-seven years of age—joseph smith, and he saw it only by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. to be required to believe that the prophecy was merely the fortunate conjecture of a more than ordinarily astute mind, requires a greater amount of credulity than to concede the inspiration of the prophet; and then the question would still remain, why is it that sagacious minds in other generations have not paralleled this astuteness of joseph smith's? why did not some of the brilliant minds in the senate or house of representatives in 1832 make such a prediction? there was no dearth of brilliant minds in either senate or house at that time, yet none seemed equal to the task.

but was the prophecy fulfilled? did the great civil war begin with the rebellion of south carolina? let history answer.

i. south carolina took the initiative in the great rebellion. deeming her interests threatened, and the institution of slavery doomed if abraham lincoln was elected; on november 5th, 1860, her legislature met to choose presidential electors, and governor william h. gist in his message to that legislature recommended that in the event of abraham lincoln's election to the presidency, a convention of the people of the state be immediately called to consider and determine for themselves the mode and measure of redress. he expressed the opinion that the only alternative left in the event of lincoln's election was "the secession of south carolina from the federal union."[6]

on the 10th of november, 1860, the united states senators from south carolina, james n. hammond and james chestnut, jr., resigned their seats, being the first of the senators to take that step.[7]

on the 17th of november, 1860, an ordinance of secession was unanimously adopted by the legislature of south carolina, the first act of the kind by any of the states.[8]

on the 24th of november, 1860, south carolina's representatives in congress withdrew; they were the first representatives to do so.[9]

members to a state convention for the purpose of considering the method and measure of redress in the event to abraham lincoln's election, were elected on the 3rd of december, 1860; the convention was assembled in charleston.[10]

on the 20th of december, 1860, the convention passed the ordinance of secession and governor pickins—just elected—announced on the same date the repeal, by the good people of south carolina, the ordinance of may 23rd, 1788, by which south carolina had ratified the federal constitution, and declared "the dissolution of the union between the state of south carolina and the other states under the name of the united states." the governor's proclamation also announced to the world "that the state of south carolina is, as she has a right to be, a separate, sovereign, free and independent state and, as such, has a right to levy war, conclude peace, negotiate treaties, leagues, or covenants, and to do all acts whatsoever that rightly pertain to a free and independent state. done in the eighty-fifth year of the sovereignty and independence of south carolina."[11]

following is the complete ordinance passed by the convention, as it appeared in the charleston mercury extra for that date, the original of which the following is a copy is in the libby prison museum, of chicago:

passed unanimously at 1:15 p. m., december 20th, 1860.

"an ordinance to dissolve the union between the states of south carolina and other states united with her under the compact entitled 'the constitution of the united states of america.'

"we, the people of the state of south carolina, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, 'that the ordinance adopted by us on the 23rd of may, a. d. 1788, whereby the constitution of the united states of america was ratified, and also all acts and parts of acts of the general assembly of this state ratifying amendments of the said constitution are hereby repealed, and the union now subsisting between south carolina and other states, under the name of 'the united states of america' is hereby dissolved."

the act of rebellion on the part of south carolina was completed. she was the first state to take the several steps here enumerated leading up to that culmination. she was followed in the act of rebellion by ten other southern states, as follows—i take the date on which the state conventions passed their secession ordinances to be the date on which the rebellion of the respective states was completed:

mississippi, january 9th, 1861; florida, january 10th; alabama, january 11th; georgia, january 19th; louisiana, january 26th; texas, february 1st; virginia, april 17th; arkansas, may 6th; north carolina, may 20th; tennessee, june 8th, all of the same year, 1861.[12]

having proven that the great rebellion began with the rebellion of south carolina, i wish now to show that the war itself actually began there.

the states which seceded from the union in the last months of mr. buchanan's administration, quietly took possession of all the forts within their respective limits, except fort sumter, in charleston harbor, and fort pickens, at pensacola, florida; and transferred them to the confederate states. after the southern states united into a confederacy, that government "appointed a commission consisting of mr. john forsyth, of alabama, mr. martin j. crawford, of georgia, and mr. a. b. roman, of louisiana, to open negotiations for the settlement of all matters of joint property, forts, arsenals, arms, or property of any other kind within the limits of the confederate states, and all joint liabilities with their former associates, upon the principles of right, justice, equity and good faith."[13] separate states previous to this action of the confederate states had sent commissioners to accomplish the same purpose; but of course these gave place to the commission from the general government of the confederacy.

during an attempt of this commission to obtain official recognition from the administration at washington, active preparations for war were going on at the new york navy yard. early in april a squadron of seven ships, carrying two thousand four hundred men, and two hundred and eighty-five guns put to sea from new york and norfolk navy yards, under sealed orders. the design of the enterprise was to re-provision and re-enforce fort sumpter, which at the time was held by major anderson, with a small garrison of men very ill provisioned for a siege.

on the 8th of april washington authorities, ignoring the commission in washington from the confederate states, sent word to governor pickens of south carolina of a change in the attitude of the general government in regard to unofficial assurances given respecting the withdrawal of federal forces from fort sumter, and declaring the intention of the government to re-provision and re-enforce the garrison there, "peaceably if permitted; otherwise, by force."[14]

at the time general gustave t. beauregard was at charleston, with six thousand confederate volunteer troops, for the purpose of defending the city. governor pickens informed him of the notice he had received from the authorities at washington; and general beauregard immediately telegraphed the information to the confederate authorities at montgomery. the reply received by general beauregard was that, "if he had no doubt of the authenticity of the notice of the intention of the washington government to supply fort sumter by force, to demand at once its evacuation; and if this should be refused, to proceed to reduce it."[15]

on april the 11th the demand for its evacuation was made. major anderson refused to comply with the demand, and at 4:30, on the morning of the 12th of april, 1861, general beauregard opened fire on the fort, to which the guns of the fort promptly replied. the bombardment lasted thirty-two hours; and then major anderson capitulated, though the fleet from the north was within view during the bombardment. "this was the beginning of a war between the states of the federal union, which has been truly characterized as 'one of the most tremendous conflicts on record.' the din of its clangor reached the remotest part of the earth and the people of all nations looked on, for four years and upwards, in wonder and amazement, as its gigantic proportions loomed forth, and its hideous engines of destruction of human life and everything of human structure were terribly displayed in its sanguinary progress and grievous duration."[16] it began where the prophet joseph twenty-eight years before said it would commence—with the rebellion of south carolina.

ii. this war, beginning with the rebellion of south carolina, did terminate in the death and misery of many souls. though it is notorious that it did so, let us consider the history of it somewhat in detail. mr. alexander h stephens, in concluding the chapter he devotes to the civil war, in his history of the united states, says: "the federal records show that they had, from first to last, 2,600,000 men in the service; while the confederates all told, and in like manner, had but little over 600,000. * * * of federal prisoners during the war, the confederates took in round numbers 270,000; while the whole number of confederates captured and held in prisons by the federals was in like round numbers 220,000. * * * of the 270,000 federal prisoners taken, 22,576 died in confederate hands; and of the 220,000 confederates taken by federals, 26,436 died in their hands. * * * the entire loss on both sides, including those who were permanently disabled, as well as those killed in battle, and who died from wounds received and diseases contracted in the service, amounted, upon a reasonable estimate, to the stupendous aggregate of 1,000,000 of men."[17]

in 1887, the cincinnatti commercial gazette published the following interesting compilation of statistics in relation to the number that fell in the civil war on the side of the federal armies:

"official returns show that about 2,653,000 soldiers enlisted during the war in response to the successive calls of president lincoln, and of that number 186,097 were colored troops. reports show that the northern and southern armies met in over two thousand skirmishes and battles. in 148 of these conflicts the loss on the federal side was over 500 men, and in at least ten battles over 10,000 men were reported lost on each side. the appended table shows that the combined losses of the federal and confederate forces in killed, wounded, and missing in the following engagements were: shiloh, 24,000; antietam, 18,000; stone river, 22,000; chickamauga, 33,000; mcclellan's peninsula campaign, 50,000; grant's peninsula campaign, 140,000; and sherman's campaign, 80,000.

"official statistics show that of the 2,653,000 men enlisted, there were killed in battle 44,238; died of wounds, 49,205; died of disease, 186,216; died of unknown causes, 24,184; total 303,843. this includes only those whose death while in the army had been actually proved. to this number should be added first 26,000 men who are known to have died while in the hands of the enemy as prisoners of war, and many others in the same manner whose deaths are unrecorded; second, a fair percentage of the 205,794 men who are put down on the official reports as deserters and missing in action, for those who participated in the war know that men frequently disappear who, it was certain, had not deserted, yet could not be otherwise officially accounted for; third, thousands who are buried in private cemeteries all over the north, who died while at home on furlough.

"the dead are buried in 73 national cemeteries, of which only twelve are in the northern states. amongst the principal ones in the north are cypress hill, with its 3,786 dead; finns point, n. j., which contains the remains of 2,644 unknown dead; gettysburg, pa., with 1,967 known and 1,608 unknown dead; mound city, ill., with 2,505 known and 2,721 unknown graves; philadelphia, with 1,909 dead; and woodlawn, elmira, n. y., with its 3,900 dead. in the south, near the scenes of the terrible conflicts, are located the largest depositories of the slain: arlington, va., 16,264, of which 4,319 are unknown; beaufort, s. c., 9,241, of which 4,493 are unknown; chalmettee, la., 12,511, of which 5,674 are unknown; chattanooga, tenn., 12,972, of which 4,963 are unknown; fredricksurg, va., 15,257, of which 12,770 are unknown; jefferson barracks, mo., 11,290, of which 2,900 are unknown; little rock, ark., 5,602, of which 2,337 are unknown; city point, va., 5,122, of which 1,374 are unknown; marietta, ga., 10,151, of which 2,963 are unknown; memphis, tenn., 13,997, of which 8,817 are unknown; nashville, tenn., 16,526, of which 4,700 are unknown; poplar grove, va., 6,190, of which 4,001 are unknown; richmond, va., 6,542, of which 5,700 are unknown; salisbury, n. c., 12,126 of which 12,032 are unknown; stone river, tenn., 5,602 of which 288 are unknown; vicksburg, miss., 16,600 of which 12,704 are unknown; antietam, va. 4,671 of which 1,818 are unknown; winchester, va., 4,559 of which 2,365 are unknown. in all, the remains of 300,000 men who fought for the stars and stripes find guarded graves in our national cemeteries. two cemeteries are mainly devoted to the men who perished in the prisons of the same name—andersonville, ga., which contains 13,714 graves, and salisbury, with its 12,126 dead, among which 12,032 are unknown."

if to the 303,843 given above as the total number of union troops whose death while in the army was actually proved, be added, as the gazette suggests, first, 26,000[18] men who are known to have died while in the hands of the enemy as prisoners of war; second, many others whose death was not recorded; third, a fair percentage of the 205,794 put down on the official reports as deserters and missing in action; and then add to this all who were killed in the confederate army, all confederates who died in prisons through wounds and diseases contracted in the service, it will be seen that the estimate of mr. stephens, namely, that one million of men perished in the great rebellion, would not be considered exaggerated. indeed the same estimate is made by nearly all writers upon the subject. thus lossing: "the whole number of men called into service during the war (on the union side) was 2,628,523. of these about 1,490,000 were in actual service. of this number, nearly 60,000 were killed on the field, and about 35,000 were mortally wounded. disease in camps and hospitals slew 184,000. it is estimated that 300,000 union soldiers perished during the war. fully that number of the confederate soldiers perished, and the aggregate number of men including both armies, who were crippled or permanently disabled by disease was estimated at 400,000. the actual loss to the country, of able-bodied men, in consequence of the rebellion was fully 1,000,000."[19]

"both sides, during the struggle, relied for means to support it upon the issue of paper money, and upon loans secured by bonds. an enormous public debt was thus created by each, and the aggregate of money thus expended on both sides, including the loss and sacrifice of property, could not have been less than 8,000,000,000 of dollars—a sum fully equal to three-fourths of the assessed valuation of the taxable property of all the states together when it commenced."[20]

to the terrible loss of life and property let there be added the consideration of the suffering of the wounded and the sick who languished in loathsome prisons; the sorrow of widows and orphans who looked in vain for the return of husbands and fathers, who marched in the fullness of manly strength to the war; the anguish of parents, whose dim eyes looked in vain for sons thrown into unknown graves; and the gentler yet equally tender sorrow of sisters which in the fierce war lost the companions of their childhood. let all this, i say, be taken into account, and the fact that joseph smith was a prophet of the living god will be found written in characters of blood to this generation, and witnessed by the heartache and tears of millions!

iii. the southern states were divided against the northern states. the fact is too well known to need affirming. there were eleven states in all whose legislatures passed secession ordinances. these were south carolina, mississippi, florida, alabama, georgia, louisiana, texas, virginia, tennessee, arkansas and north carolina—all southern states. in the first confederate congress members representing districts in missouri and kentucky were also admitted, though those states did not secede from the union.[21]

iv. the southern states did call upon other nations, and upon the nation of great britain in particular, for assistance. as early as may, 1861, the confederacy sent commissioners abroad to seek recognition and aid from foreign powers. william l. yancy, of alabama; p. a. rost, of louisiana; a. dudley mann, of virginia; and t. butler king, of georgia. mr. yancy was appointed to operate in england, mr. rost in france, and mr. mann in holland and belgium. mr. king had a roving commission.[22] subsequently, in october, 1861, the confederacy appointed james m. mason and john slidell, ambassadors to england and france respectively, to solicit the assistance of the british and french governments in the southern cause. the ambassadors took passage from charleston to cuba in a blockade runner. at the latter place they engaged passage to england on the british steam packet trent. on the 8th of november, 1861, the trent was overtaken by the federal warship san jacinto, captain wilkes commanding; and messrs. mason and slidell were taken prisoners and carried to boston harbor where they were placed in fort warren. england promptly resented this violation of the rights of a neutral nation upon the high seas, and the united states as promptly disavowed the action of captain wilkes, made an humble apology, and as soon as might be restored messrs. mason and slidell to a british deck, the rinaldo, in which vessel the ambassadors were taken to england where they prosecuted their mission.

though messrs. mason and slidell did not succeed in securing the open assistance of great britain, yet it is well known that british sympathy was with the confederate cause; and so far did this sympathy lead england to violate the law of nations that, against the protests of the united states minister at the court of st. james, she allowed the war vessels alabama and florida built by messrs. laird & co., shipbuilders, liverpool, england, to put to sea. these vessels did immense damage to northern states shipping. the alabama alone captured sixty-five merchant vessels belonging to the united states; and destroyed some ten million dollars' worth of property. finally the united states warship kearsarge sunk her off the coast of france, near cherbourg. this alabama trouble led to ill feeling between england and the united states which was not finally settled until the 27th of june, 1872, when the geneva board of arbitration decided that england should pay to the united states the sum of fifteen million five hundred thousand dollars, an amount really in excess of the demands of merchants and others claiming the loss of property through depredations of the alabama.[23]

the evidence is surely sufficient that the southern states did call upon the nation of great britain for assistance (and that is as far as the prophecy goes on this point), and england did give at least indirect aid and comfort to the confederate cause, to the extent that she was found violating the law of nations so far that she paid a fine of $15,500,000 for her trespass.

thus in all these important items the remarkable prophecy has been fulfilled. it now remains to call attention to the events it predicts which are still in the future. these are:

first, great britain is to call upon other nations for aid, and she with her allies thus formed, is to call on other nations in order to defend themselves against other nations, until war is poured out upon all nations.

second, a great race war in america—slaves are to rise up against their masters who shall be marshalled and disciplined for war.[24]

third, the aboriginal inhabitants of america—the indians—will become exceeding angry, and marshalling themselves, will vex the gentiles with a sore vexation.

fourth, with sword and by bloodshed and finally with famine and plague, and earthquake; with the thunder of heaven and the fierce and vivid lightning—the inhabitants of the earth will mourn, and be made to feel the wrath and indignation and chastening hand of almighty god, until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations.

these several items yet to be fulfilled strengthen belief in the reality of the prophecy, for the reason that if the prophecy had originated in fraud, had it been written after the events it pretended to predict had taken place, the pseudo-prophet and his associates would not have dared in any respect to have ventured into the domain of the future. they would have clung exclusively to the past. but standing as we do now midway between what has been fulfilled of the prophecy and what is yet to come, we are made to feel the reality of the prophecy; and so much of it as the wheels of time have brought due having been fulfilled, gives ample assurance that the remainder will come to pass to the very letter.

if it shall be asked of what use is this prophecy about war, earthquakes, bloodshed, famine and general distress of mankind—what makes it worthy of inspiration—knowledge worthy of god to reveal and a prophet to proclaim—let it be answered that its value consists in this, that it is a warning to mankind, it cries repentance to the wicked, and gives all who will avail themselves of it an opportunity to make god their friend, escape the calamities predicted, and have the privilege of uniting with god's saints who, in the closing sentence in the prophecy, are admonished to stand in holy places unmoved until the day of the lord comes; and they are assured it will come quickly.

the evidence of prophecy is, in part, before the reader, all i design to introduce in this book;[25] and now i ask him to review it; considering first the importance attached to the peculiar power of prophecy as evidence of divine inspiration—how it is within itself a sort of miracle, as men understand miracles, and has ever been regarded as an evidence of the possession of a power peculiar to god and those whom he commissions. second, remember how definitely proven is the fact that these prophecies preceded the events they fore ell. third, that they so minutely describe the future events they predict that by no means can they be resolved into a fortunate conjecture of an uninspired mind. fourth, that they treat of things that from their nature are of importance to man to know and therefore are worthy of inspiration. fifth, that their remarkable fulfillment has been by agencies outside of the prophet himself.

side by side with all these facts consider how fatal to joseph smith's claims as a divinely commissioned prophet of god would have been the failure of his prophecies! after all this is carefully considered, without prejudice and with a candid desire to know the truth, let each for himself answer these questions: does not the fulfillment of the prophecies of joseph smith furnish a volume of testimony sufficient both as to quality and quantity to convince a reasonable mind that he was a divinely inspired prophet? if he was not a divinely inspired prophet, on what hypothesis shall we account for this remarkable list of predictions here set forth and their marvelous fulfillment?