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Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 13 November 1843

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , , [New Utrecht, Kings Co.], NY, 13 Nov. 1843. Featured version copied [ca. 15 Nov. 1843]; handwriting of ; nine pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address and dockets.
Five leaves, the first four measuring 12⅞ × 7¾ inches (33 × 20 cm) and the fifth measuring 12¾ × 7¾ inches (32 × 20 cm). Each leaf was cut from a bifolium or a blank book. The fifth leaf exhibits an uneven edge on the left side of the recto. All five leaves are numbered (the first on both sides and the final four on the recto only), which indicates that leaves were already separated from the bifolium or book by the time of the document’s inscription. The letter was inscribed on the first nine pages with large margins on the left side of each page. The verso of the fifth leaf was left blank. The text on the verso of each leaf is written upside down in relation to the text on the recto, so that the pages are meant to be flipped vertically instead of horizontally when reading. The first four leaves are singed on the right side. The document was later folded in half twice horizontally for filing. Two dockets were later added to the verso of the fifth leaf.
The letter was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865, docketed it a second time. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  2. [2]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

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

  3. [3]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [3], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  4. [4]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 13 November 1843, JS wrote a letter from , Illinois, to in , New York, responding to a letter that Bennet wrote three weeks earlier. Bennet had informed JS that he was by but stated that “nothing of this kind would in the least attach me to your person or cause.” Despite this, Bennet pronounced JS the “most extraordinary man of the present Age” and advised him that he, Bennet, was “capable of being a most undeviating fr[i]end without being governed by the smallest religious influence” due to his mind’s “so mathematical & philosophical a cast.” Toward the end of the letter, Bennet suggested that he expected JS’s support if Bennet ran for governor of in the future.
JS received ’s letter by 9 November, when he “gave instruction to have it answerd,” apparently assigning the task to scribe . This “instruction” possibly included an outline or language dictated by JS. According to JS’s 13 November journal entry, Phelps called on him at the that morning and “read a letter which I [JS] had dictated to Gen. Jam Ariligtn Bennet whi[c]h pleasd me much.” Phelps apparently read the letter again at JS’s office later that morning, after which JS “made some correcti[o]ns.” Two or three days later, a fair copy and a retained copy of the letter incorporating JS’s changes and additions to the text were prepared. added a postscript to the retained copy. The fair copy was then mailed to Bennet. The fair copy is apparently not extant. The featured version is the retained copy.
In the featured letter, JS quoted liberally from ’s earlier communication and, while referencing the Bible, history, and foreign languages, reproved Bennet for making light of sacred things, critiqued many of his assumptions regarding religion, and explained the significance of revelation and JS’s prophetic mission. JS also declined to pledge support for Bennet’s potential bid for political office in .
received the letter by 7 December 1843, when the New-York Commercial Advertiser published it. The Nauvoo Neighbor published the letter the day before. Several other newspapers, including the Times and Seasons, New York Herald, New-York Spectator, and Niles’ National Register republished the letter.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 24 Oct. 1843, underlining in original.

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 9 and 13 Nov. 1843. In a December letter to Bennet, Willard Richards stated that “the Generals reply was dictated.” (Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, to James Arlington Bennet, Arlington House, Long Island, NY, 15 Dec. 1843, copy, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL.)

    Richards, Willard. Journals and Papers, 1821–1854. CHL.

  3. [3]

    JS, Journal, 13 Nov. 1843.

  4. [4]

    Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, to James Arlington Bennet, Arlington House, Long Island, NY, 15 Dec. 1843, copy, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL; see also James Arlington Bennet, Arlington House, Long Island, NY, to Willard Richards, [Nauvoo, IL], 1 Feb. 1844, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL.

    Richards, Willard. Journals and Papers, 1821–1854. CHL.

  5. [5]

    JS and his associates, including Phelps, had demonstrated an enduring interest in ancient languages for well over a decade. About a week after this letter was mailed, JS and Phelps collaborated on a pamphlet addressed to Vermont’s Green Mountain Boys that also included a variety of phrases in foreign languages with corresponding translations. (“Part 1: 2 October–1 December 1835”; “Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts”; General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, ca. 21 Nov.–3 Dec. 1843.)

  6. [6]

    “Letter from Joe Smith,” New-York Commercial Advertiser (New York City), 7 Dec. 1843, [2]. When the newspaper printed JS’s 13 November 1843 response, the editor informed readers that the printers were instructed to “‘follow copy’ in every particular—to make no change, even of a letter or a comma.” The editor’s preface to the letter mocked, “The prophet’s missive is a strange specimen of mingled shrewdness, ignorance, impudence and folly—the latter quality being chiefly manifested in the fact that the letter has been written. It is not cunning of Joe to lay himself out on paper; for surely a man of his divine pretensions should be able to spell and to write grammatically.”

    New-York Commercial Advertiser. New York City. 1831–1889.

  7. [7]

    “For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 6 Dec. 1843, [3].

  8. [8]

    “For the Times and Seasons,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1843, 4:371–375; “Singular Mormon Movements,” New York Herald (New York City), 10 Jan. 1844, [1]; “Letter from Joe Smith,” New-York Spectator (New York City), 9 Dec. 1843, [1]; “The Mormons,” Niles’ National Register (Baltimore), 3 Feb. 1844, 355–356. The Times and Seasons published its November 1843 issue around late December 1843.

    New-York Spectator. New York City. 1804–1867.

    Niles’ National Register. Washington DC, 1837–1839; Baltimore, 1839–1848; Philadelphia, 1848–1849.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 13 November 1843 Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 13 November 1843, as Published in Nauvoo Neighbor Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 13 November 1843, as Published in Times and Seasons Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 13 November 1843, as Published in New York Herald History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 3[a]

And every man a scribe by trade:
To write the love, of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the whole upon a scroll,
Be spread from sky to sky.”
It seems that your mind is of such “a mathematical, and philosophical a cast, that the divinity of Moses makes no impression upon you; and that I will not be offended when you say, that you rate me higher, as a Legislator, than you do Moses, because you have me present with you for examination;” <​that​> a Moses derives his chief authority from prescription and the lapse of time: you can not however say, but we are both right: it being out of the power of man to prove us wrong. It is no mathmatical problem, and can therefore get no mathematical solution.”
Now, Sir, to cut the matter short, and not da[l]ly with your learned ideas, for fashion’s sake, you have here given your opinion, without reserve, that revelation, the knowledge of God, prophetic visions, the truth of eternity can not be solved as a mathematical problem. The first question, then, is:— what is a mathematical problem? And the natural answer is, a statement, proposition, or question, that can be solved ascertained unfolded or demonstrated, by knowledge, facts, or figures: for “mathematical” is an adjective derived from [1 Greek word] (gr.) meaning in English, learning or knowledge: “Problem” is derived from probleme, French; or problema Latin, Italian and <​or​> Spanish, and in each language, means a question or proposition, whether true or false. “Solve” is derived from the Latin verb solvo, to explain or answer: one thing more, in order to prove the work as we proceed; it is necessary to have witnesses, two or three of whose testimonies, according to the laws or rules of God and man, are sufficient to establish any one point.
Now, two for the questions: How much are one and one? Two. How much is one from two? one. [p. 3[a]]
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Source Note

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Page 3[a]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 13 November 1843
ID #
1202
Total Pages
10
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:258–270
Handwriting on This Page
  • William W. Phelps

Footnotes

  1. [43]

    These lines derive from the Akdamut Milin, an Aramaic liturgical poem attributed to eleventh-century German rabbi Meir ben Yitshak. During the Jewish holiday Shavuot, a rabbi often reads the poem before reciting the ten mitzvot (commandments) from the Torah. (See Nulman, Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer, 14; and Hoffman, “Akdamut: History, Folklore, and Meaning,” 161, 169.)

    Nulman, Macy. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1993.

    Hoffman, Jeffrey. “Akdamut: History, Folklore, and Meaning.” Jewish Quarterly Review 99, no. 2 (Spring 2009): 161–183.

  2. [44]

    In the version of the letter published in the Nauvoo Neighbor, this Greek word is rendered as “Mathesis.” (“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 6 Dec. 1843, [3].)

  3. [45]

    See Deuteronomy 19:15; and 2 Corinthians 13:1.

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