THE FIRST SERIOUS APOSTASY AND THE FIRST GREAT MISSIONARY MOVEMENT— DISSENSIONS AT KIRTLAND, AND SUCCESSFUL LABORS IN ENGLAND—JOSEPH MEETS JOHN TAYLOR IN CANADA—TRIALS AND MURDEROUS MOBS AT PAINESVILLE—THE PROPHET WADES THROUGH SWAMPS IN THE NIGHT, CARRYING SIDNEY UPON HIS BACK.  
I say unto all the Twelve, Arise and gird up your loins, take up your cross, follow me, and feed my sheep.
 
Exalt not yourselves; rebel not against my servant Joseph, for verily I say unto you, I am with him, and my hand shall be over him; and the keys which I have given unto him, and also to youward, shall not be taken from him till I come.
 
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Wherefore, whithersoever they (the First Presidency) shall send you, go ye, and I will be with you.
 
This was a commandment given through Joseph Smith unto Thomas B. Marsh, at Kirtland, on the 23rd day of July, 1837, concerning the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb. It was necessary; for pride and disunion and the ambitions of the world were doing their work among some of their number, and they would heed neither the counsels of Joseph nor the direct behest of the Almighty.
 
Not for many generations had men been favored of the Lord as they had been. They had received heavenly manifestations sufficient, one would think, to keep them from ever turning away from the truth. But after receiving these glorious evidences of divine favor, like their master, Jesus, they were "tempted of the devil;" yet not like their Lord, some of these men yielded to temptation and fell from their high estate. They did not resist the allurements of Satan. The desire for the glory of the world, the wealth of the world, the vain things of the world, overcame them. A mania to speculate, to make money, became almost universally prevalent. It was a general tendency in the United States, and especially in the west, at the time of which we write. Forgetting the visions of eternity they had beheld; forgetting the holy anointing they had received; forgetting their high callings and their dedication to the ministry of the Son of God, leading men became real estate dealers, merchants, organizers of "wildcat" schemes, and eventually deadly enemies of the work of God and of him whom He had chosen as His Prophet. Simultaneously with this spirit of speculation, came the spirit of apostasy and rebellion against the authority of heaven. So rife did this spirit become that those who rebelled were applauded, and even men were glad to find excuse in the example of the Twelve and other leading men for their own wrong-doing. The few of the Apostles who were willing to fulfill the requirements of the gospel in all things were ridiculed and every effort was made to dissuade them from the course they were pursuing. Jealousy and hatred of the Prophet cropped out on every hand. Those who disobeyed were called wise by all the disaffected spirits; and those who made every required sacrifice in humility were called foolish. But the generation had not passed away before the Lord repaid according to His promise. The men who had exalted themselves were abased into nothingness; while those who had bowed their heads in humility were exalted. Today the names of the proud and the vain of that time are almost forgotten; while the names of the Apostles who endured all things faithfully are held in most solemn and sacred remembrance by the congregation of Israel.
 
It was a time of great trial. In the winter of 1836-7 preparations had been made to establish a bank to be known as the Kirtland Safety Society—an institution wisely designed to ameliorate the financial condition of the community. The society was established; but the Prophet's plan for its usefulness and the general prosperity failed through the envy and covetousness of some of the leading men. The sorrow which this brought to Joseph cannot be described. He had labored and advised with no other object than the general benefit, carrying upon his own shoulders a greater burden than was imposed upon anyone else. He had not sought self-aggrandizement, nor would he willingly permit the avarice of other men to gain advantage over the community's welfare.
 
He took part in every labor; and had assumed personally a large share of the work and care of the printing office, which was at that time a great responsibility and expense.
 
So many evil surmisings, so much disunion and apostasy followed in quick succession the spirit of speculation to which reference has been made, that the Prophet was led to exclaim:
 
It seemed as though all the powers of earth and hell were combining their influence to overthrow the Church.
 
The integrity of all was tested. Instances of fidelity to the Prophet were not wanting, especially among the meek and humble, and when the Prophet met with these their presence and words brought solace and encouragement to his wounded spirit. Among the prominent men defection was too general. Several of them yielded to a spirit of murmuring and fault-finding who afterwards bitterly repented of their unstable and weak conduct and lack of integrity and courage. The feeling which Joseph had during these sorrowful days is illustrated by remarks which he made to Elder Wilford Woodruff, when the latter called upon him in the spring of 1837, on the eve of his departure on a mission to Fox Islands. At that time Elder Woodruff was one of the first seventy. The Prophet scrutinized him very closely, as though he would read his inmost thoughts, and remarked: "Brother Woodruff, I am glad to see you; I hardly know, when I meet those who have been my brethren in the Lord, who of them are my friends, they have become so scarce."
 
When Elder Woodruff reported to Sidney Rigdon, who was then the Prophet's first counselor, how strongly he was impressed to carry the gospel to Fox Islands, to a people who, he felt, were ready to receive it, Sidney said: "That is right; I wish you would go; for if you do, some of the devils who are now here in Kirtland will follow you, as they will every faithful man who goes out into the vineyard."
 
The enemies of the cause abroad were united with the spirits of dissension at Kirtland, to produce disaffection against the Prophet himself and to attribute to him those evils which were solely caused by disobedience to his counsel and the command of God expressed through him. As we have seen, some of the Twelve were so far blinded that they joined secretly with the enemy; but there was not a quorum in the Church that was entirely exempt from the evil influence.
 
Joseph was stricken with illness in June, 1837. And while he was wrestling with the adversary to overcome the physical affliction, the doubting members of the Church were taught by apostates that his woes had been sent upon him because of his transgressions. When the Prophet was once more restored through prayer and the blessing of the Almighty to his condition of health and power, he humbly said of his enemies:
 
The Lord judge betwixt me and them, while I pray my Father to forgive them the wrong.
 
While Satan was spreading this spirit of dissension through Kirtland, the Lord was directing to Joseph the magnificent missionary movement to the old world. About the first day of June, 1837, that devoted and ever-constant Apostle Heber C. Kimball was set apart by the spirit of prophecy and revelation to preside over a mission to England—the first in that dispensation. With him were associated Apostle Orson Hyde and Elders Willard Richards and Joseph Fielding; and when they reached New York they were joined by three brethren from Canada, John Goodson, Isaac Russell and John Snyder. They sailed from the United States on the 1st day of July, 1837, on the ship Garrick, and landed in Liverpool on the 20th day of that same month.
 
This was the commencement of a glorious work, which has brought the honest-in-heart by tens of thousands from foreign lands, and which yet continues and must continue until the elect shall be gathered and the judgments of God are poured out upon the nations. Though this was the first missionary work of the Church performed in another hemisphere, self-denying brethren had up to this time been diligent in laboring in Canada, in the states and among the Indians on the border, that the people of this continent might have an opportunity to hear and obey.
 
It was a glorious overcoming of the evil which menaced the Church at that hour. Drawing strength and means from abroad to the cause, the missionary movement also opened a glorious opportunity for Elders in Zion to forsake speculations, vanities, dissensions, and to prove their faith by their devoted efforts for the salvation of their fellow-men.
 
Apostles Kimball and Hyde, and Elder Richards and companions landed on this foreign shore absolutely moneyless. They did not have so much as a cent or a farthing, but they were not dismayed. The Prophet of God had pronounced upon their heads blessings which they knew could not fail. Immediately after landing at Liverpool the............