Times and Seasons (, Hancock Co., IL), 15 July 1842, vol. 3, no. 18, pp. 847–862; edited by JS. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.
Historical Introduction
The 15 July 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons was the tenth published under JS’s editorship. This issue featured correspondence from missionaries and various articles about the and the wider world. The contents covered a wide range of topics and included a letter from in Europe to his fellow members of the , an installment of the serialized “History of Joseph Smith,” an article about a destructive fire in , minutes from a held by missionaries in Utica, New York, and an article reprinted from the Boston Investigator reporting on a debate between Dr. George Montgomery West and in .
In addition to this, content created by the editorial staff for the issue included two articles, as well as a notice from the and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The first editorial article advocated theocracy as the ideal form of government, while the second—written after a lengthy excerpt from Josiah Priest’s book American Antiquities—used excerpts from the Book of Mormon to expand on Priest’s argument about an ancient people who had lived on the American continent. Although these editorials were each signed “Ed.,” for “Editor,” JS does not appear to have authored them, and his involvement in writing them is unclear. As the acknowledged editor of the paper, however, he would have taken responsibility for the editorial statements and presumably approved the content; such content is therefore featured here.
Note that only the editorial content created specifically for this issue of the Times and Seasons is annotated here. Articles reprinted from other papers, letters, conference minutes, and notices, are reproduced here but not annotated. Items that are stand-alone JS documents are annotated elsewhere; links are provided to these stand-alone documents.
pendent of a boasting spirit, or any desire of vain glory, are jewels of light, truth, and knowledge, as far superior in lustre to any thing which they posses, as the purest diamond is to the common pebble of the rivulet!
I concluded, however, that I would try to discharge my duty before God, without subjecting any one to the humble mortification of giving me an introduction. For myself, I feel not very jealous of my popularity where the cause of truth requires me to hazard it, and am not so very particular. If my name be only recorded in heaven, on the list of the sanctified, it will abundantly compensate me for the sacrifice which duty calls me to make of it among men. Let them, therefore, look upon me as they may, a deceiver or a deceived, a wise man or a fool, I feel very thankful to the Lord for what mine eyes have seen, mine ears have heard, and, more than all, for what my soul has experienced; and it is my constant prayer to an over-ruling Providence, that his free grace may be amply sufficient to bear me triumphantly through life’s conflicting scenes, that my poor heart may swell the notes of praise and thanksgiving for ever and ever to Him who died to save me and wash me from my sins, in his own most precious blood.*
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You will discover by this letter, and more particularly by the one written from Alexandria, to in , England, that, through the goodness of the Lord, I have been enabled to accomplish that which was told me prophetically, several years ago, by Brother Joseph Smith.
Though the blustering snow-storm has thrown the gorgeous folds of his crimson mantle over the mountain tops, which half encircle us on our north and east as we lie here in quarantine, yet their sides towards the base, beautifully terraced and thickly set with vines and olives, though not in their summer dress, present a widely-extended scene of rural beauty and loveliness. All the irregularities and deformities of nature (if, indeed, there are any,) are completely lost in the distant view, though we gaze through the ships, powerful magnifier; so, when the
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[footnote] *This part of the letter has been published before, as extracted from the “Millennial Star.
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eye of imagination surveys the saints far in the west, their faults and foibles are lost in the distance, (if, indeed, any they have) and nothing but their virtues appear, which render the society very inviting and extremely desirable. The simple unrestrained language of my heart is—I want to see my brethren, for in their bosoms, I am sure, is a corresponding echo which—
Like the harp when the zephyr is sighing
To the breath of that zephyr, in music replying
Friendship can tremble with feelings as true.
I have just been upon deck to witness the king of day retiring in his robes of state to the western portions of his kingdoms, to proclaim there, in propia persona, the advent of 1842, after opening and lighting up the glory of the new year in the east. As his golden disk was sinking behind the western rim of the deep blue waters of the Adriatic, and throwing back, in rich profusion, his soft and glowing beam upon the clear blue sky, with a radiance and splendor peculiar to none but him, thought I, oh, that thou couldst take a thought or good wish from me and bear it on the pathway of one of thy golden beams to my dear little family, which perhaps at this moment is pouring his noon-day splendor obliquely upon the home where they dwell. But another thought succeeded—I will not be a Parsee. There is a Being whose throne is high, and whose glorious image shines forth in the mirror of all his works to feast the mental eye and heal the wounded heart, “His ear is not heavy that he cannot hear, neither is his arm shortened that he cannot save;” to Him, therefore, I will send a thought on the wing of my evening devotion, and breathe an asperation that his favor may gladden and cheer the cot where dwell all my earthly hopes and earthly riches: therefore, tarry not for me thou glorious orb of light, but speed thy course onward in the circut of the heavens, to dye the sheen of other climes, and to roll in the hour when the dead, small and great, shall stand before God.
at this time contains about twenty thousand inhabitants; about seven thousand are Jews, and the remainder mostly Turks and Arabs. It is enclosed by a strong wall from five to ten feet thick, On those sides which are most acccessible, and consequently most ex [p. 850]