Letters Exhibiting the Most Prominent Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day SaintsSpencer, Orson
Religion
Letters Exhibiting the Most Prominent Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Spencer, Orson
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- Doctrines; Latter Day Saint churches -- Doctrines
I do not expect to coerce you by motives of fear, but I know that
judgments will and do follow this gospel; and knowing the terror of the
Lord, I persuade--I dare not say less; I would say more if the power
of utterance were given me. All is not right with you; you acknowledge
that you do not understand the prophets and the apocalypse; also that
modern christianity is weak, divided, and contentious--not having the
power and order of ancient prophets and apostles. Pause and consider
well before you reject the only light that can save this generation!
Your old friend and acquaintance asks you to pause. The deplorable
prospect of your kindred for generations to come, who may be involved
in the consequences of your rebellion, require you to pause; the
interests of the denomination that look to you for spiritual guidance,
require you to consider well the decision you may make. I know that you
are in a strait place; Paul was once in a similar condition; but the
sterling integrity of his heart saved him. He burst off the shackles
of false religions, and overleaped the religious usages of ages, and
received counsel and baptism at the hands of the most despised people
that ever lived.
But enough, perhaps, has been said; what I say to you, I say unto all
men--rulers and subjects, priests and people! I have set before you
life and death. If you reject the gospel, I am innocent of your blood;
if you receive it, glory, and honour, and immortality await you. The
apostolic fathers and the angels of God watch to record your decision.
With sentiments of high respect, I subscribe myself,
Your humble servant,
ORSON SPENCER.
FAREWELL ADDRESS.
_Liverpool, December_ 20, 1847.
Americans and countrymen!--Farewell! I have been exiled from your soil
for cherishing the inalienable rights of man. The principles of liberty
and heaven-born truth have been the exclusive cause of the lawless
banishment of thousands, of which number I am one. My wife and worthy
brother have fallen victims to this cruel violation of constitutional
rights. For nearly two years my six motherless children, between the
tender ages of six and fifteen, have been inhumanly forced into the
solitary wilderness--nine months of the time dwelling in a tent, and
the remainder in a floorless log-cabin--often without flour, meal,
or meat, and surrounded by savages of the fiercest tribes. From easy
competence reduced to want, banishment, and the severest inclemencies
of a northern climate! This is a faint outline of the picture of tens
of thousands who have fallen victims to the unprovoked cruelty of an
ungrateful country!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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