To Redeem Zion.--The failure of the Latter-day Saints, through lack of unity and obedience, to build up Zion in Jackson County, has been dwelt upon. It remains to tell of an effort to "redeem Zion," to reinstate the plundered people upon the lands of which they had been unlawfully and violently dispossessed. This effort was put forth early in the year 1834, when an expendition was organized in Ohio for that purpose. The Zion's Camp Expendition.--So was it styled. The Camp consisted of two hundred and five men, led by Joseph Smith in person, and including quite a number of Elders subsequently called to positions of high prominence in the Church. The expendition failed of its object--its avowed object--for reasons similar to those which had caused the expulsion from Jackson County. Disobedience and rebellion on the part of some members of the Camp, and the continued disregard, by many of the exiles, of the divine requirements made of them, prevented their restoration to the homes and possessions of which they had been despoiled. A Want of Preparedness.--Zion might have been redeemed, even at that early day, had the redemptive machinery been ready and in condition to do the necessary work. [1] But such a condition did not exist. "Gather up the strength of my house," the Lord had said concerning those upon whom he proposed to lay the sacred duty of Zion's redemption. But "the strength" of his "house" did not hearken to the appeal, [2] and the few who enrolled themselves as members of that historic band were not all trained for the task nor equal to the trials that lay before them. "The Redemption of Zion Must Needs Come by Power." [3]--So spake the Divine Oracle. But "power dwells in unity, not in discord; in humility, not in pride; in sacrifice, not selfishness; in obedience, not rebellion." [4] Had all the Jackson County colonists borne this in mind and practiced accordingly, no such catastrophe as that which occurred would have befallen them. And if all who went to their relief had acted consistently with the same righteous principle, they would have escaped the tribulation that came upon them as a chastisement. Transgression the Cause.--The failure to build the New Jerusalem was due to transgression; [5] in other words, to a lack of preparedness on the part of those selected for the sacred undertaking. Had the players been ready, the play could have been staged and presented. But nothing could compensate for the absence of readiness on their part. There is no substitute for the qualities that men and women must possess who are chosen for so exalted an enterprise. All Not Responsible.--All members of the Church were not responsible for the Jackson County failure; [6] but all had to share in the consequences entailed. The strength of a chain is proverbially the strength of its weakest link, and the general average of the newly-formed and inexperienced community was not high enough to justify a better outcome.