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Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841

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Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841

Source Note

, Letter, , Middlesex and Surrey counties, England, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 15 June 1841. Featured version published in “Letter from Elder O. Hyde,” in Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1841, vol. 2, no. 23, 551–555. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

On 15 June 1841, wrote a letter from reporting on his mission to serve as an ambassador to the Jews abroad. Hyde sent the letter to JS in , Illinois, and intended it to be published in the Times and Seasons.
After proselytizing and raising funds throughout the eastern for several months, arrived in , England, on 3 March 1841. The letter featured here was the second one Hyde sent to JS from Europe, and it detailed his efforts to meet with the leadership of the Jewish community in and his authorship of materials describing the origins and tenets of the . Also included in the letter were excerpts from a booklet Hyde wrote while in . The booklet, patterned after ’s 1840 pamphlet A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, explained the founding of the church. Hyde copied the excerpts into this letter for JS to review; he planned to have the booklet translated and published once he arrived in .
also reported on his attempts to fulfill his original mission assignment to seek information regarding the “views and movements of the Jewish people.” After calling on the chief rabbi of Great Britain, , at the Great Synagogue of , Hyde was informed that the rabbi had suffered injuries from a recent accident and was unable to grant him an audience. In response, Hyde penned a letter—which he copied into his letter to JS—informing Hirschell of his “divine appointment” to meet with the Jewish communities in several major world cities. There is no evidence that Hirschell responded to Hyde’s letter.
’s original letter to JS is apparently not extant. The letter was published in the 1 October 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons; that version is featured here. Although there is no known response from JS, Hyde continued his communications to JS with another letter a month later.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Recommendation for Orson Hyde, 6 Apr. 1840; Letter from Orson Hyde, 17 Apr. 1841.

  2. [2]

    See Orson Pratt, A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, 1840. Pratt’s and Hyde’s writings were the first published accounts of JS’s first vision of Deity and were among the earliest works to systematically outline church doctrine for foreign audiences.

  3. [3]

    In an earlier letter to JS from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, the two missionaries mentioned a “great work to be done in Germany” and asked for permission to write and publish a book on the church to be spread throughout the German-speaking lands. JS responded to their request with “no objections whatever.” (Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 1 May 1840; Letter to Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 14 May 1840.)

  4. [4]

    Recommendation for Orson Hyde, 6 Apr. 1840.

  5. [5]

    See Letter from Orson Hyde, 17 July 1841.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”
“O! gracious Father! I ask thee in the name of thy holy child Jesus, to bless with thy Royal favor, the weak exertions of thy humble servant; and make this production a blessing to all people who may be favored with a perusal of its pages. Wherever it shall go, let it be a messenger of conviction to the wicked: and a harbinger of peace to the righteous. Let its contents be borne upon every breeze, and wafted to the remotest climes. Let the angel of the covenant go before it, and prepare its way. Let its heavenly influence be distilled upon the rich and fertile soil of humble and honest hearts.”
“Go forth, therefore, little volume to other nations and tongues; and may the Almighty speed your way; and like a sharp two-edged sword, cut thy way through the prejudices of this generation,—encamp with all thy virtues in the hearts of the people, and there let thy principles be enthroned.”
One thing I was pleased with, which I noticed in the Times and Seasons, the remarks made on the use of intoxicating spirits. In my heart, they found a corresponding echo. I should not be willing to indulge the thought for a moment that the in would quietly stand still, and see a brother gorge himself with that strong drink which makes a hell of his home, and rolls the fiery flood of ruin, over the affections of his once happy family. No; they will dash from his lips the cup of wretchedness; and sharply rebuke the homicide that sells to him the wine of wrath, and measures to him his wife’s tears by the pint, the quart, the gallon, and the jug-ful.
May the lightnings of heaven forever blast, (I had almost said) those brews of strong drink which send forth their corrupt and poisonous streams to sweep down, in their filthy current, men of sterling talents to an untimely grave.— May the saints of God stand as far from them, as Lot stood from Sodom in its evil day. This dizzy flood has sometimes entered the house of worship—invaded the sacred desk, and hushed, in death, forever, the voice that could plead, like an angel, the cause of God and man.
I have just received a note from Dr. Solomon Hirschell, President Rabbi of the Hebrew community in this , in reply to a very polite note which I sent to him, requesting the indulgence of a personal interview with him: But in consequence of a very severe accident which befel him, he is confined to his room, and unable, at this time, to grant the asked indulgence. -[His leg is broken.]-
I have addressed to him a communication upon the subject of my mission; a copy of which I transmit to you. It may not be altogether uninterresting to the saints and friends in
“Rev’d Sir,
I cannot but express my sorrow and regret at the misfortune under which you labor, in consequence of the severe accident which befel you; and by which you are confined to your room. Please accept Sir, the sincere wishes of a stranger, that you may speedily recover from the injury you sustained in consequence of the accident; and resume the labors which your high and responsible station calls you to perform.”
“Feeling that I may not enjoy the privilege and happiness of a personal interview with you, I hope you will indulge the liberty which I now presume to take in addressing a written communication to you, embracing some of those things which I had fondly hoped, would have been the foundation of a mutual interchange of thought between us: But as Providence has laid an embargo upon that distinguished privilege, I must forego, at this time, the pleasure of a verbal relation of those things pertaining to your nation, with which my mind is deeply affected.”
“Since I have arrived to years of more mature reflection, and become religiously inclined, the writings of the Jewish prophets have won my affections; and the scattered and oppressed condition of that people, has enlisted the finest sympathies of my heart. Believing therefore, that the words of Hosea the prophet 2. 23, connected with your magnanimity, will prohibit the indulgence of any prejudice in your feelings against the auther of this production, in consequence of his not being able, by any existing document or record, to identify himself with your nation.”
“About nine years ago, a young man with whom I had had a short acquaintance, and one, too, in whom dwelt much wisdom and knowledge—in whose bosom the Almighty had deposited many secrets, laid his hands upon my head, and pronounced these remarkable words: ‘In [p. 552]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841
ID #
659
Total Pages
5
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:167–180
Handwriting on This Page
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Footnotes

  1. [9]

    Hyde was likely referring to the opening article of the 15 April 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons, which praised the lack of drunkenness at the recent cornerstone-laying ceremony on 6 April: “Thank God, that the intoxicating beverage, that bane of humanity in these last days, that—what shall we call it? devil? is becoming a stranger in Nauvoo.” A similar sentiment had also been voiced by John C. Bennett in his inaugural address as mayor, which was also published in the Times and Seasons. Bennett stated, “The liberty of selling the intoxicating cup is a false liberty—it enslaves, degrades, destroys, and wretchedness and want are attendant on every step,—its touch, like that of the poison Upas, is death.” (“Celebration of the Aniversary of the Church,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1841, 2:377, italics in original; “Inaugural Address,” Times and Seasons, 15 Feb. 1841, 2:317, italics in original.)

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

  2. [10]

    See Genesis chap. 19.

  3. [11]

    Hyde’s stance on abstaining from alcohol reflected his understanding of a revelation dictated by JS in February 1833. The revelation, which became known as the Word of Wisdom, stressed that “strong drinks are not for the belly.” Hyde’s stance also aligned with some ideas of the general temperance movement of the time. (Revelation, 27 Feb. 1833 [D&C 89:7].)

  4. [12]

    Hirschell served as chief rabbi of the Great Synagogue in London from 1802 to 1842. (Simons, Forty Years a Chief Rabbi, 11.)

    Simons, Hyman A. Forty Years a Chief Rabbi: The Life and Times of Solomon Hirschell. London: Robson Books, 1980.

  5. [13]

    Hirschell “used to be very much annoyed at the arrivals of young men from abroad” who would “call upon the Dr. to pay their respects.” Especially since the establishment in 1809 of the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews, the growing numbers of Gentiles visiting from abroad contributed to Hirschell’s distaste for entertaining guests. (Margoliouth, History of the Jews in Great Britain, 2:193–194.)

    Margoliouth, Moses. The History of the Jews in Great Britain. 3 vols. London: Richard Bentley, 1851.

  6. [14]

    The Jewish Reform Movement was spreading through Germany and England at the time, and Hirschell stubbornly resisted the movement by excommunicating its leaders and advocates. By 1841, Hirschell was reportedly “broken in body and mind.” Some believed that his inability to deal with the shock of the reform movement was psychosomatically expressed in his physical frailty and that the “slight shock” overthrew his “tottering frame” as “he accidently fell and broke his thigh.” He also reportedly broke his collarbone months later. (Margoliouth, History of the Jews in Great Britain, 2:186–187.)

    Margoliouth, Moses. The History of the Jews in Great Britain. 3 vols. London: Richard Bentley, 1851.

  7. [15]

    The notion that JS enjoyed access to divine secrets is referenced in several revelations. (See Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28:7]; Revelation, 7 Dec. 1830 [D&C 35:18]; and Revelation, 11 Sept. 1831 [D&C 64:5].)

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