Times and Seasons (, Hancock Co., IL), 2 May 1842, vol. 3, no. 13, pp. 767–782; edited by JS. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.
Historical Introduction
The 2 May 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons, a periodical published in , Illinois, was the thirteenth number in its third volume.JS purchased the and the newspaper from in February 1842 and was identified as its editor from 15 February to 15 October 1842. Although JS was named as the editor in the 15 February issue, he did not consider himself the editor of the newspaper until the 1 March 1842 issue. , , and others helped JS produce the Times and Seasons from March through October 1842, but JS was directly responsible for the content of the newspaper.
The fifth issue that JS oversaw as editor was dated 2 May 1842 and contained a letter to the Saints from the , urging them to fund the construction of the ; letters from missionaries and church members in the eastern and Europe; an extract of the “History of Joseph Smith,” which was printed serially in the newspaper; and reprinted articles from several other newspapers, including the church newspaper in , the Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. In addition to this material, the issue also contained editorial content, meaning content created by JS as the editor or his editorial staff for the paper. This content in the 2 May issue included commentaries on articles about mummies, an editorial on the Nauvoo temple, news from proselytizing , commentary on an article about Judaism, and notices concerning temple donations and a position with the printing office staff. Selected editorial content from the 2 May issue is featured here, with individual introductions for each passage.
Note that only the editorial content created specifically for this issue of the Times and Seasons is annotated here. Articles reprinted from other papers, letters, conference minutes, and notices, are reproduced here but not annotated. Items that are stand-alone JS documents are annotated elsewhere; links are provided to these stand-alone documents.
The Millennial Star was a monthly church newspaper edited by Parley P. Pratt and first published in Manchester, England, in May 1840. (“Prospectus,” Millennial Star, May 1840, 1:1–2.)
stance shew a unity of purpose, and design, and all put their shoulder to the wheel, our care, labor, toil, and anxiety is materially diminished, “our yoke is made easy; and our burden is light.”
The cause of God is one common cause, in which all the Saints are alike interested, we are all members of the one common body, and all partake of the same spirit, and are baptized into one baptism, and possess alike the sa[m]e glorious hope. The advancement of the cause of God and the building up of is as much one man’s business as another. The only differance is that one is called to fulfil one duty and another another duty; “but if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, and if one member is honored all the rest rejoice with it, and the eye cannot say to the ear I have no need of thee, nor the head to the foot I have no need of thee;[”] party feelings, separate interests, exclusive designs should be lost sight off in the one common cause, in the interest of the whole.
The building up of Zion is a cause that has interested the people of God in every age; it is a theme upon which prophets, priests, and kings have dwelt with peculiar delight; they have looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we lived; and fired with heavenly and joyful anticipations they have sung, and wrote, and prophesied of this our day;—but they died without the sight; we are the favored people that God has made choice of to bring about the Latter Day glory; it is left for us to see, participate in, and help to roll forward the Latter Day glory; “the dispensation of the fulness of times, when God will gather together all things that are in heaven, and all things that are upon the earth, even in one,” when the saints of God will be gathered in one from every nation, and kindred, and people, and tongue, when the Jews will be gathered together into one, the wicked will also be gathered together to be destroyed, as spoken of by the prophets; the spirit of God will also dwell with his people, and be withdrawn from the rest of the nations, and all things whether in heaven or on earth will be in one, even in Christ. The heavenly will unite with the earthly, to bring about those great purposes; and whilst we are thus united in the one common cause to roll forth the kingdom of God, the Heavenly Priesthood are not idle spectators; the spirit of God will be showered down from above, it will dwell in our midst. The blessings of the Most High will rest upon our tabernacles, and our name will be handed down to future ages; our children will rise up and call us blessed; and generations yet unborn will dwell with peculiar delight upon the scenes that we have passed through, the privations that we have endured; the untirtng [untiring] zeal that we have manifested; the insurmountable difficulties that we have overcome in laying the foundation of a work that brought about the glory and blessings which they will realize; a work that God and angels have contemplated with delight, for generations past; that fired the souls of the ancient patriarchs and prophets—a work that is destined to bring about the destruction of the powers of darkness, the renovation of the earth, the glory of God, and the salvation of the human family.— -[Ed.
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Editorial Note
Correspondence from missionaries and information on their proselytizing efforts were recurring features in the Times and Seasons. Here the editorial staff compiled information from letters as well as from the Millennial Star, which included reports on missionary efforts. Extracts of some of the Millennial Star reports were reprinted in the 2 May issue of the Times and Seasons, including the minutes of a conference held in on 10 November 1841 and a summary of the growth of the church in Great Britain. Several letters from missionaries were also reprinted in this issue of the Times and Seasons, including those of Orson Hyde, William Appleby, and Eli Maginn. Rather than reprint a letter from , the editorial staff summarized his missionary work in the area around Utica, New York, and conveyed to readers his intention to hold a there the following month.
COMMUNICATIONS.
LETTER FROM .
TriesteDecember 21, 1841.
My Dear :—Once more I sit down to write to you, to let you know, that through the mercy of the Lord, I am still among the living; and what is still better, Jesus the sinner’s friend, I humbly trust lives in me. I arrived this morning in this port from Alexandria, after a passage of 21 & 1/2 days; and here I must remain 28 days more in quarantine. It is like a prison, but there is no avoiding it.
The city of , I have seen, and walked through it almost every way, and also the regions round about: but as I do not write this letter with the view of its being made public, I shall omit most of the particulars connected with my mission, and give them in a letter addressed to the Twelve, which will be mailed or sent at the same time as this. . . . . .
I hope the answer to the two letters which I wrote from , one to you, and the other to Br. Joseph will have arrived safely there. As I must remain here almost one month, I have written to requesting them forwarded to me at this place. It is only about 250 miles from this, to where I made a stop last summer; and as soon as I am released from this prison, it is my intention to go there and publish the principles of our faith in the German language, unless I shall be differently advised in the letters which I hope to receive. It is directly on my way to . If you look on the map of Europe, you will see my course from this to . First over the Alps to Munich, then to Ratisbon, from thence to Frankfort, on the Maine, and then to Mayenz and down the Rhine.
As soon as I can get the foundation of a good work laid in , I shall go to England, if the Lord will, and there [p. 776]