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Letter to John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff, between circa November and circa 20 December 1843

Source Note

JS, Letter, [, Hancock Co., IL], to , , and “the Saints,” [between ca. Nov. and ca. 20 Dec. 1843]. Featured version published in “To the Saints,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1843, vol. 4, no. 24, 376–377. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

Sometime between November and late December 1843, JS submitted a letter to the publishers of the Times and Seasons, and , instructing the on the importance of reading the church’s flagship periodical and following the counsel of church leaders. His letter was likely triggered by apostle ’s published rebuke of church members in the eastern who were disregarding the Times and Seasons and the Nauvoo Neighbor—the newspapers published by the church in , Illinois—in favor of the “common newspapers of the day.” First published in November 1839, the Times and Seasons was designated as a devotional periodical. JS emphasized that the paper contained “treasures”—revelations, translations, and proceedings—and that it stood apart from other publications because it spread “the words of eternal life.”
In addition to championing the Times and Seasons, JS challenged church members to demonstrate their support of church leaders. He explained that any show of support from church members was ultimately an expression of loyalty to him: “When the brethren . . . sustain the ‘Times and Seasons,’ they sustain me.” JS condemned those who read only other periodicals for patronizing “the splendor of Babylon,” while leaving “the virtue of Zion to linger for want of bread.” To JS, Latter-day Saints who subscribed to the Times and Seasons were sustaining him by extending the influence of the church’s “revelations, faith, works, [and] history.”
JS wrote the nonextant original letter, as he stated, with “my pen,” and submitted it to and for publication in the Times and Seasons. The letter was published in the 1 November 1843 issue of the periodical; that version, featured here, was undated. If the immediate trigger for the letter was ’s rebuke—which was composed “in council, at , November, 1843” but was published in the 15 October 1843 issue of the Times and Seasons, which was not printed until after 2 December 1843—then JS’s letter may have also been written sometime in November 1843. Alternatively, JS could have written and submitted this letter sometime during the next few weeks. The 1 November 1843 edition of the Times and Seasons contains information regarding the Avery kidnappings, including developments that transpired as late as approximately 20 December, indicating that this issue of the Times and Seasons was completed and issued sometime thereafter. It most likely appeared in late December.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:94.

    Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.

  2. [2]

    Brigham Young, “To the Elders and Churches Abroad,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1843, 4:360. Immediately following Young’s statement in the Times and Seasons was an editorial from Woodruff to the elders and church members encouraging readers to assist in “circulating the Times and Seasons and [Nauvoo] Neighbor far and wide, to the extent of your influence.” (Wilford Woodruff, Editorial, Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1843, 4:360.)

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

  3. [3]

    The paper intended to publish articles on Jesus Christ’s gospel, the gathering of Israel, and the Missouri experience. (Ebenezer Robinson and Don Carlos Smith, “Address,” Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:1.)

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

  4. [4]

    The 15 October issue contained a letter dated 2 December 1843. (Francis Edwards, Nauvoo, IL, to John Taylor, [Nauvoo, IL], 2 Dec. 1843, in Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1843, 4:354.)

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

  5. [5]

    The Times and Seasons article on the Avery kidnappings summarized content from articles and affidavits dated 18–20 December 1843. (“Kidnapping,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1843, 4:375–376; “Kidnapping,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 20 Dec. 1843, [2]; Affidavit from Andrew and James Hamilton, 20 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

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

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter to John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff, between circa November and circa 20 December 1843
History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 376

Messrs. & :—
It has been so long since I addressed the through the medium of the Times and Seasons, that I feel confident that a few words from my pen, by way of advice, will be well received, as well as a ‘way mark’ to guide the ‘faithful’ in future. I was sorry to learn, by your remarks upon the resolutions of the ‘’ concerning your papers, which appeared not long since, that any of the saints abroad were more apt to patronize the common newspapers of the day, than yours: For the important reason, that the , has the words of eternal life, and your paper, as it has hitherto done, must continue to publish such portions of them for the benefit of the saints, and the salvation of mankind, as wisdom shall, from time to time, direct.
Freedom is a sweet blessing; men have a right to take and read what papers they please: But do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? It certainly is no more than just to suppose that ‘charity begins at home,’ and if so, what must such as profess to be saints think, when they patronize the splendor of Babylon, and leave the virtue of Zion to linger for want of bread?
Beside which, if virtue is justified rather than vanity: the best of every thing, calculated to happify man, and dignify society, will, yea, must be in : and as the new commandment, given anciently was, to love one another; even so, the works of the saints, at home and abroad, will bear its own testimony; whether they love the brethren.
In all the world, the Times and Seasons]- is the only paper that virtually sustains, according to the forms of Scripture and prophecy, ‘apostles, prophets, evangelists and revelations—and what shall be said of him that is like the ‘Levite’ passes on the other side of the way. When we behold men who ‘have borne the heat and the burden of the day;’ struggled against the popular opinions of a vain world, the burlesque of a giddy throng; the vulgarity of a self-wise multitude, and the falsehoods of what may justly be termed the ‘civilized meanness of the age,’ and not lend a helping hand? The 25th chapter of Matthew contains the simple answer.
Now let me say once for all, like the psalmist of old: ‘How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.’
As the precious ointment upon the head, that run down upon Aaron’s beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments, as the dew of Hermon, that descended upon the mountains [p. 376]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff, between circa November and circa 20 December 1843
ID #
1192
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:412–415
Handwriting on This Page
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Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS’s words, instruction, revelations, and history were regular fixtures in the Times and Seasons. JS last published letters to the editors of the Times and Seasons in February and May 1843. (“To the Saints of God,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1842, 3:951–952; Letter to Editor, 28 Feb. 1843; Letter to Editor, ca. 20 May 1843; see also, for example, “Special Conference,” Times and Seasons, 1 May 1843, 4:181–185.)

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

  2. [2]

    Brigham Young, “To the Elders and Churches Abroad,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1843, 4:360; Wilford Woodruff, Editorial, Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1843, 4:360–361.

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

  3. [3]

    In the Times and Seasons prospectus, the founding editors, Ebenezer Robinson and Don Carlos Smith, stated a similar mission for the paper. They wrote that the paper’s columns would be filled with “those principles that are calculated to make men happy in this world, and secure unto them eternal life in that which is to come.” (Ebenezer Robinson and Don Carlos Smith, “Prospectus of the Times and Seasons,” Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:16.)

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

  4. [4]

    See Matthew 7:16. Brigham Young referenced the same scriptural passage in his letter published in the Times and Seasons the previous month. (Brigham Young, “To the Elders and Churches Abroad,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1843, 4:360.)

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

  5. [5]

    See Browne, Religio Medici, sec. 4.

    Browne, Thomas. Religio Medici. [London]: Andrew Crooke, 1642

  6. [6]

    In the previous issue of the Times and Seasons, Brigham Young wrote that in Nauvoo one could find “the best news, the best people, and the best plan of salvation.” This optimism about Nauvoo’s prospects was also reflected in the October 1840 “Report from the Presidency,” which indicated that Zion, or in this case Nauvoo, would “become the praise, the joy, and the glory of the whole earth” as well as “the song of praise, glory, honor and majesty to him that setteth upon the throne.” (Brigham Young, “To the Elders and Churches Abroad,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1843, 4:360; Report of the First Presidency, 4 Oct. 1840.)

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

  7. [7]

    See John 13:34; and Leviticus 19:18.

  8. [8]

    Compare Ephesians 4:11.

  9. [9]

    See Luke 10:32.

  10. [10]

    See Matthew 20:12.

  11. [11]

    Matthew 25 contains Jesus Christ’s parables of the ten virgins and the talents, as well as teachings on the Son of Man’s judgment of the nations. The answer to JS’s question likely appears at the end of Matthew 25, where Jesus indicates that those who have not assisted others in need will suffer “everlasting punishment.” (Matthew 25:41–46.)

  12. [12]

    See Psalm 133:1.

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