Inspired Prophetic Warnings To All Inhabitants of the Earth

Letter of commendation from the Conference at Nauvoo to Elders Orson Hyde and John E. Page, appointing and confirming their appointment to the work whereunto they have been called. "To all people unto whom these presents shall come, Greeting: Be it known that we, the constituted authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, assembled in Conference, at Nauvoo, Hancock County, and State of Illinois, on this sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and forty, consider an important event at hand--an event involving the interest and fate of the Gentile nations throughout the world. From the signs of the times and from declarations contained in the oracles of God we are forced to come to this conclusion. The Jewish nation has been scattered abroad among the Gentiles for a long period; and, in our estimation, the time of the commencement of their return to the "holy land" has already arrived. As this scattered and persecuted people are set among the Gentiles as a sign unto them of the second coming of the Messiah, and also, of the overthrow of the present kingdoms and governments of the earth by the potency of His Almighty Arm, in scattering famine and pestilence like the frosts and snows of winter, and in sending the sword, with nation against nation to bathe it in each other's blood; it is highly important, in our opinion, that the present views and movements of the Jewish people be sought after, and laid before the American people for their consideration, their profit and their learning; feeling it to be our duty to employ the most efficient means in our power to save the children of men from the "abomination that maketh desolate" we have, by the counsel of the Holy Spirit, appointed Elders Orson Hyde and John E. Page, the bearers of these presents, faithful and worthy ministers of Jesus Christ, to be our agents and representatives to foreign lands, to visit the cities of London, Amsterdam, Constantinople and Jerusalem, and also other places which they may deem expedient; to converse with the priests, rulers, and elders of the Jews, and obtain from them all the information possible; and communicate the same to some principal papers for publication, that it may have a general circulation throughout the United States.

As Messrs. Hyde and Page have willingly and cheerfully accepted the appointment to become our servants and the servants of the public in distant and foreign countries for Christ's sake, we do confidently recommend them to all religions and Christian people, and to ladies and gentlemen making no profession, as worthy members of society, possessing much zeal to promote the happiness of mankind; fully believing that they will be forward to render them all the pecuniary aid they need, to accomplish this laborious and hazardous mission, for the general good of the human family. Ministers of every denomination upon whom these gentlemen shall call, are requested to hold up their hands, and aid them by their influence, with an assurance that such as do this shall have the prayers and blessings of a "poor and an afflicted people," who have tested the depths of their sincerity, and love for their religion, by the sacrifice of their blood upon a land, shadowed by the stripes and stars of political and religious liberty. Given under our hands at the time and place before mentioned. Signed: Joseph Smith, Jr., Chairman. Robert B. Thompson, Clerk,

From the Governor of Illinois. Quincy, Illinois, April 30, 1840. Having been informed that the Rev'ds Orson Hyde and John E. Page, elders in the Church denominated Latter-day Saints, are about to depart on their mission to Europe and having heard the former gentleman preach, and having been made acquainted to some extent with the characters of both, it affords me pleasure to say, that I was much pleased with the sermon delivered by Mr. Hyde; and the reputation of both gentlemen for talents and Christian-like deportment, so far as I have been made acquainted, are unexceptionable; and as such, believe them to be entitled to the respect and kind treatment of all. Signed: Thomas Carlin, Governor of Illinois. United States of North America State of Illinois.

I, Alexander P. Field, Secretary of State, of the State of Illinois, one of the United States of North America, and keeper of the great seal of said State, do hereby certify that Thomas Carlin, who took and signed the foregoing certificate, is now, and was at the time of signing the same, Governor of the State aforesaid, duly elected and qualified to office, with full power by the laws of this State to issue certificates as aforesaid; that said certificate is in due form of law, and that full faith and credit are due his official attestations. In testimony whereto, I have hereunto set my hand, and the great seal of State, at the city of Springfield, this twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and forty, and of the independence of the United States, the sixty-fourth. Signed: A. P. Field, Secretary of State. (SEAL)

Historical Sketch of Orson Hyde, By Jos. S. Hyde, pp. 5-7.

One could almost believe that President Woodruff's fellow Apostle, Orson Pratt, was gazing with seeric vision upon the same dreadful picture, when he thundered into the ears of the world this solemn admonition: "A voice is heard unto the ends of the Earth! A sound of terror and dismay! A sound of nations rushing to battle! Fierce and dreadful is the contest! Mighty kingdoms and empires melt away! The destroyer has gone forth; the pestilence that walketh in darkness; the plagues of the last days are at hand; and who shall be able to escape? None but the righteous; none but the upright in heart." (The Kingdom of God, July 14, 1849, p. 16.) Eight years later this same Apostle, then at Liverpool, about to embark for America, issued to the inhabitants of Great Britain this "Prophetic Warning:"

Expecting soon to leave Great Britain, and return to our mountain home in the Territory of Utah, we feel it a duty to leave with the inhabitants of these countries a solemn warning, concerning those things which will soon befall them; and to point out their only way of escape. Being called and sent of God, we humbly and in a most respectful manner, say to Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, and to all the Lords, Nobles, Rulers, Authorities, and Inhabitants in the United Kingdom of Great Britain, that God Almighty, in this nineteenth century, has set up His Latter-day Kingdom upon the earth, as predicted by His ancient Prophets and Apostles. Angels have been sent forth from heaven, by whom power and authority have been conferred upon many, not only to set up and organize the Kingdom, but to minister in all things pertaining to the same. These inspired messengers have been sent, by the commandment of God, to nearly every nation under heaven, and have testified in humility and meekness, but yet with great boldness, that the great and terrible day of the Lord is at hand, and that the preparatory kingdom is established in the heights of the mountains on the great western hemisphere.

The kingdoms of the world have waxed old; and, because of wickedness, they are destined to be speedily broken to pieces; but the kingdom of God will endure forever. It is destined to increase in strength, power, and dominion, and to bear rule over all the earth. Those nations and kingdoms which will not unite themselves with the kingdom of God, and become one with it, honoring its laws and institutions, will utterly perish, and no place will be found for them. In view of these things, we humbly, as a servant of the Most High God, entreat all the people of these countries to repent; and in the name of the Lord we exhort you to put away the evils and abominations in your midst, and seek the Lord and His kingdom, and you shall be forgiven, and your great transgressions shall be blotted out, and you shall become a great and mighty branch of that universal Theocracy which is to fill the whole earth, and thenceforth be governed by its laws.

But if you will not, as a nation, repent, and unite yourselves with God's kingdom, then the days are near at hand, when the righteous shall be gathered out of your midst; and woe unto you when that day shall come! For it shall be a day of vengeance upon the British nation; and your armies shall perish; your maritime forces shall cease; your cities shall be ravaged, burned, and made desolate, and your strongholds shall be thrown down; the poor shall rise against the rich, and their storehouses and their fine mansions shall be pillaged, their merchandise, and their gold, and their silver, and their rich treasures, shall be plundered; then shall the Lords, the Nobles, and the merchants of the land, and all in high places, be brought down, and shall sit in the dust, and howl for the miseries that shall be upon them; and they that trade by sea shall lament and mourn; for their traffic shall cease. And thus shall the Lord Almighty visit you, because of your great wickedness in rejecting His servants and His Kingdom; and if you continue to harden your hearts, your remnants which shall be left, shall be consumed as the dry stubble before the devouring flame, and all the land shall be cleansed by the fire of the Lord, that the filthiness thereof may no more come up before Him.

"Your armies in India have already been smitten with a sore judgment, because they cast out the Lord's servants who were sent to warn them and to prophesy to them; they were rejected by your missionaries and your officers; and being without purse or scrip, they "had not where to lay their heads." But they were faithful in delivering their warning message, until the Lord called them out of their midst, that He might execute speedy judgment, and show to all nations that His servants cannot be rejected with impunity. Let Great Britain take warning and not follow the wicked examples of the Europeans in India. Your fastings and your prayers will be a solemn mockery before God, if you receive not the message He has sent. Though you appoint days of fasting and humiliation before the Lord, yet He will not hear you nor answer your peti-ions, so long as you receive not His Kingdom, and treat His servants with scorn. He will mock at your calamities and multiply them upon you, until you are wasted away, as chaff by the whirlwind of the mountains.

Saturday, October 24, 1857. Millennial Star, Vol. 19, pp. 680-81.