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Letter from Orson Hyde, 17 April 1841

Source Note

, Letter, , Lancashire, England, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 17 Apr. 1841. Featured version published in “Communications,” Times and Seasons, 15 July 1841, vol. 2, no. 18, 482–483. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

In an effort to keep leadership apprised of his travels abroad, wrote the following letter from , England, to JS in , Illinois, on 17 April 1841. During a general of the church in April 1840, Hyde and , members of the , were appointed to travel abroad and collect information regarding the gathering of the Jews. Immediately after the conference, Hyde was given a recommendation letter in which he was officially authorized to travel to “, , Constantinople and ” to converse with “Elders of the Jews” and publish his findings “throughout the .” A week later, Hyde and Page departed for , where they intended to set sail for Europe.
’s and ’s mission reflected Latter-day Saint awareness of broader international discourse concerning the return of the Jews to —discourse that had been intensified by recent political developments in the Middle East. For Hyde, the assignment fulfilled scripture, a previous blessing from JS, and a vision Hyde reported having. Hyde stated that in his vision in March 1840, the Spirit showed him the various cities he would later visit and proclaimed, “Here are many of the children of Abraham whom I will gather to the land that I gave to their fathers; and here also, is the field of your labors.” Rather than proselytizing among the Jewish communities in those cities, Hyde’s mission was focused on obtaining and sharing information regarding the restoration of the Jews.
Although was assigned to accompany through Europe and the Holy Land, he remained in the eastern rather than traveling with Hyde to . Before their planned departure from the United States, Page felt he had been slighted by Hyde and treated unfairly. Based on these feelings and his purported lack of funds, Page decided to remain in the United States, stating he would raise funds and join Hyde later. Hyde wrote in a previous letter to JS about continuing the mission without Page, but having received no answer, he determined to carry on alone.
On 3 March 1841, arrived with fellow traveling missionary in , England, where they joined , , and . Hyde then traveled throughout with Adams and Fielding, preaching to congregations and ministering to converts. Six weeks into his time in England, Hyde penned the letter featured here, which was published three months later in the Times and Seasons. The letter was the first of three reports Hyde wrote to JS. The original letter is apparently not extant, and no response from JS has been located.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes and Discourse, 6–8 Apr. 1840.

  2. [2]

    Recommendation for Orson Hyde, 6 Apr. 1840.

  3. [3]

    Orson Hyde and John E. Page, Quincy, IL, 28 Apr. 1840, Letter to the Editors, Times and Seasons, June 1840, 1:116–117.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  4. [4]

    Hyde and Page were sent abroad in the midst of political turmoil in the Middle East and extreme polarization of attitudes toward the Jewish community. Egyptian viceroy Muhammad Ali Pasha’s efforts to wrest power from the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1838 eventually led to the Oriental Crisis of 1840, which was closely followed by American newspapers. The crisis was then compounded with the Damascus Affair of 1840, when several Jews were accused of murdering a Christian monk. The church’s British periodical, the Millennial Star, explicitly connected the crisis to the restoration of the Jews: “Memorials have been sent to all the Protestant Princes, soliciting their interference in the present dispute between the Sultan and Mehemet Ali, about Palestine, to secure that country for the speedy return of the Jews.” (Karsh and Karsh, Empires of the Sand, 38; Frankel, Damascus Affair, 1–5; “Restoration of the Jews,” Millennial Star, 1 May 1840, 1:18.)

    Karsh, Efraim, and Inari Karsh. Empires of the Sand: The Struggle for Mastery in the Middle East, 1789–1923. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999.

    Frankel, Jonathan. The Damascus Affair: “Ritual Murder,” Politics, and the Jews in 1840. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  5. [5]

    See Isaiah 51:18, 19; Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 77 [2 Nephi 8:18, 19]; and Orson Hyde, Letter Extract, Franklin, OH, 7 July 1840, in Times and Seasons, Aug. 1840, 1:156–157. According to Hyde’s 15 June 1841 letter, JS had pronounced a blessing upon him nine years earlier that in due time Hyde would “go to Jerusalem, the land of [his] fathers.” (Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  6. [6]

    See Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841.

  7. [7]

    See Letter from John E. Page, 1 Sept. 1841.

  8. [8]

    Hyde’s previous letter is apparently no longer extant.

  9. [9]

    In his journal, Fielding noted Adams and Hyde’s arrival in a rolling entry that covers 1–6 March but mistakenly dated the arrival as 3 February. (Fielding, Journal, Feb.–Oct. 1841, 9–10.)

    Fielding, Joseph. Journals, 1837–1859. CHL. MS 1567.

  10. [10]

    See also Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841; and Letter from Orson Hyde, 17 July 1841.

Page 483

You will undoubtedly have learned that I sailed from on the 13th of February, and landed in on the 3rd of March following. We had a good passage but a rough one—I have learned that the rougher the voyage, the sooner we arrive at our destined port.— Something so is the voyage of life. To meet once more with the , brought fresh to mind, many scenes of by-gone time; and caused my heart to swell with gratitude to Him whose providential care has preserved and restored me to the embraces of that honorable body. Let the name of Jehovah be forever praised for his condescending mercy towards my brethren; and more particularly towards me.
I have sent a little present to you and , by . He will hand it to my , and she will give it to you. It is only a little token, that I have not forgotten you; for when we were sick, you took us in. I hope you will accept it, with the best wishes, and grateful acknowledgments of an absent friend and brother.
In my last to you, from , I requested you to write me a letter about the propriety of going on without and direct it to in this country. But I feel perfectly justified at present in doing as I have; and I calculate to hasten on, just as soon as the brethren sail for . Yet I should be extremely glad to hear from you at any time, and shall be happy to abide by your advice and counsel. But if I hear nothing from you to the contrary, I shall if the Lord will, hasten on as fast as possible without him. I have been greeted with a hearty welcome in this by the saints where we were acquainted, I do assure you.
I can assure you, that although you are a stranger here in one sense, yet your name is engraven as with an iron pen, upon the tablet of many warm and affectionate hearts—and it is my faith and prayer that you may be delivered from the snares and violence of wicked men—Your days many on the earth.—and your name embalmed in the memory of the just forever. And in all your blessings I hope and trust will be a happy partaker.
I wish all the saints every good thing that I can think of, and hope they will pray for me that I may have power to “lay the foundation of ,” and return again to them. I do not feel at all disheartened at the prospect of going alone. I fully believe that the Lord will open my way before me. I trust that I shall have your faith and prayers, which I most earnestly desire. I should ask you to write me, but I cannot tell you where to direct, for I know not where I may be.
I hasten to a close, by saying, may the Lord bless and prosper you; and the saints and kingdom over which you are made a steward, and preserve you and me spotless until we meet again.
Farewell!
.
Pres’t. J, Smith. [p. 483]
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Page 483

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Orson Hyde, 17 April 1841
ID #
639
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:122–125
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Footnotes

  1. [1]

    On 7 April 1841 the apostles in England met in council and blessed Hyde for his mission to the Holy Land, “for the purpose of laying the foundation of a great work in that land.” Wilford Woodruff recalled how the “Spirit of God rested upon us when we blessed him.” (Woodruff, Journal, 7 Apr. 1841.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  2. [2]

    Kimball, along with most of the other apostles, planned to return to Nauvoo. He boarded the ship Rochester with his fellow apostles and 120 emigrating Saints on 20 April 1841. (Woodruff, Journal, 19–21 Apr. 1841; Fielding, Journal, Feb.–Oct. 1841, 30–31.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

    Fielding, Joseph. Journals, 1837–1859. CHL. MS 1567.

  3. [3]

    See Matthew 25:43. Hyde may be referring to a period of physical sickness he and his family experienced during the fall of 1839 when Emma Smith took them into her home to convalesce. (Letter from Emma Smith, 6 Dec. 1839; see also “History of Orson Hyde,” 16, Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861, CHL.)

    Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.

  4. [4]

    Hyde had already traveled from Cincinnati to New Jersey without Page but expected to reunite with him in Philadelphia and then travel together to New York. Page later complained because Hyde chose to continue the mission without him. In January 1841, JS chastised Hyde and “John E. Page in particular” in the Times and Seasons for “delaying their mission.” (Letter from Orson Hyde, 28 Sept. 1840; Letter from John E. Page, 1 Sept. 1841; Notice, Times and Seasons, 15 Jan. 1841, 2:287.)

  5. [5]

    Joseph Fielding reported that many members of the church who knew Hyde from his earlier mission in England in 1837–1838 welcomed Hyde and had dreams about him before his return. (Fielding, Journal, Feb.–Oct. 1841, 9–10.)

    Fielding, Joseph. Journals, 1837–1859. CHL. MS 1567.

  6. [6]

    See 2 Corinthians 3:3.

  7. [7]

    Hyde may be paraphrasing the blessing given him ten days earlier by the other apostles; Wilford Woodruff recorded that the blessing was “for the purpose of laying the foundation of a great work.” Hyde also later recalled JS’s blessing from several years earlier, which stated that Hyde would “go to Jerusalem, the land of [his] fathers,” to help facilitate the gathering. Drawing on the prophecies of Isaiah, Hyde himself wrote in a letter to the editors of the Times and Seasons that he was going to aid the Jewish people in their restoration, because Jerusalem “has no sons to take her by the hand . . . , Bro. Page and myself feel that we ought to hurry along and take her by the hand; for we are her sons but the Gentiles have brought us up.” (Woodruff, Journal, 7 Apr. 1841; Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841; Orson Hyde, Letter Extract, Franklin, OH, 7 July 1840, in Times and Seasons, Aug. 1840, 1:156–157; compare Isaiah 51:18.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

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