A BREATHING SPELL—JOSEPH'S ANTICIPATION OF HIS SACRIFICE—MANY PROPHECIES AND AN IMPORTANT THEOLOGICAL EPOCH IN THE EARLY PART OF 1843—WRESTLING AND OTHER MANLY SPORTS—EXTRACTS FROM HIS SERMONS— ATTACK ON THE NAUVOO CHARTER—THE LULL WAS BRIEF.  
One of the very few seasons of peace in Joseph's life now dawned upon him. It was none the less appreciated because it was brief.
 
The early part of 1843 is one of the marked epochs in the theological history of the Church. The Prophet, having his unrestrained liberty, was enabled to give to the Saints in writings, sermons and in personal conversations, many prophecies and principles for spiritual and temporal guidance.
 
Joseph must have known that this was but the lull which precedes the fiercer outburst of the tempest, for in January, 1843, outlining some work which he designed that the Twelve should perform very soon thereafter, he promised his assistance and leadership to them, with this very significant condition, upon which he placed emphasis:
 
"If I live."
 
A few days later, on Sunday, the 22nd day of January, he preached from the stand which had been erected inside the temple walls, a temporary floor having been put in that building for the purpose of holding meetings there. President Wilford Woodruff made a synopsis of the sermon, in which occurs the following:
 
God Almighty is my shield; and what can man do if God is my friend? I shall not be sacrificed until my time comes; then I shall be offered freely.
 
The Prophet recorded this same prophecy concerning his own fate in his journal, showing thereby that he recognized its weight and foresaw its fulfilment.
 
Among the many prophecies of this period was one concerning Orrin P. Rockwell, who had been captured, imprisoned and maltreated in Missouri. There seemed no human possibility of Porter Rockwell's deliverance; his murder was decreed before his arrest; and no one of the brethren would be permitted to enter Missouri to assist him with advice or bail, under penalty of death. And yet on the 15th day of March the Prophet publicly declared:
 
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I prophecy that Orrin P. Rockwell will get away honorably from the Missourians.
 
In the same month of March, Joseph, in company with Elders Willard Richards and Wilford Woodruff, discovered in the early evening a stream of light in the southwest quarter of the heavens. Its rays were in the form of a broad sword with the hilt downward; the blade was raised, pointing from the west to the southwest, at an angle of forty-five degrees, and extended nearly to the zenith. As they beheld this marvel in the sky Joseph said:
 
As sure as there is a God who sits enthroned in the heavens, and as sure as He ever spoke by me, so sure will there be a bloody war; and the flaming sword in the heavens is the certain sign thereof.
 
Two or three weeks later, he prophesied in the presence of Elder Orson Hyde and others that a struggle in which much blood would flow would begin in South Carolina, and would probably arise through the slave question. This was a repetition of the revelation which he had received and announced more than ten years earlier.
 
A delegation of young men from New York came to see Joseph at Nauvoo in February, 1843, and with great respect solicited his views concerning Millerism and the coming of Christ, and the day of judgment, which Miller had fixed for April 3, 1843. The Prophet warned them that Miller was in error; that before Christ should come the prophecies must all be fulfilled, the sun be darkened and the moon turned to blood. A Chicago paper of that time published a certificate of one Hyrum Reading, of Ogle County, Illinois, stating that he had seen the sign of the Son of Man; and the editor of the paper declares that Joseph Smith had met his match. The Prophet responded that Mr. Reading had not seen the sign of the Son of Man, as foretold by Jesus, neither had any man nor will any man, until after the fulfilment of the prophecies; and he declared:
 
Hear this, oh earth! the Lord will not come to reign over the righteous in this world in 1848, nor until everything for the bridegroom is ready.
 
Joseph was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of the Savior, when he heard a voice saying:
 
Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man. Therefore let this suffice and trouble me no more.
 
In recording this divine utterance, the Prophet says that he was left thus without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether he should die and thus see the face of Christ. Joseph would have been eighty-five years old on the 23rd day of December, 1890; and he says:
 
I believe the coming of the Son of Man will not be any sooner than that time.
 
The question was proposed at a lyceum which Joseph attended whether the kingdom of God was set up before the day of Pentecost or not till then? The Prophet's answer was recorded at some length by Apostle Wilford Woodruff from whose synopsis the following paragraphs are taken:
 
Some say the kingdom of God was not set up until the day of Pentecost, and that John did not preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; but I say, in the name of the Lord, that the kingdom of God was set up on the earth from the days of Adam to the present time.
 
Whenever there has been a righteous man on earth unto whom God revealed His word and gave power and authority to administer in His name, and where there is a priest of God—a minister who has power and authority from God to administer in the ordinances of the gospel and officiate in the Priesthood of God, there is the kingdom of God; and, in consequence of rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Prophets whom God has sent, the judgments of God have rested upon people, cities and nations, in various ages of the world, which was the case with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were destroyed for rejecting the prophets.
 
Now I will give my testimony. I care not for man. I speak boldly and faithfully, and with authority. How is it with the kingdom of God? Where did the kingdom of God begin? Where there is no kingdom of God, there is no salvation. What constitutes the kingdom of God? Where there is a prophet, a priest or a righteous man unto whom God gives His oracles, there is the kingdom of God; and where the oracles of God are not, there the kingdom of God is not.
 
In these remarks, I have no allusion to the kingdoms of the earth. We will keep the laws of the land; we do not speak against them; we never have spoken against them; though we can scarcely mention the state of Missouri and our persecutions there, but that the cry goes forth that we are guilty of treason, which is false. We speak of the kingdom of God on the earth; not the kingdoms of men.
 
These emphatic statements show the loyal position which the Prophet maintained toward his country, and the view he had concerning governments in general.
 
The Prophet gave his brethren three grand keys whereby to know whether any supernatural visitor was from God or from Satan.
 
When a messenger comes, saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand, and request him to shake hands with you. If he be an angel, he will do so, and you will feel his hand. If he be the spirit of a just man made perfect, he will come in his glory; for that is the only way he can appear. Ask him to shake hands with you, but he will not move, because it is contrary to the order of heaven for a just man to deceive; but he will still deliver his message. If it be the devil as an angel of light, when you ask him to shake hands, he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything: you may therefore detect him.
 
In the midst of these exalted labors, Joseph took great delight in mingling with the brethren in manly sports. On Saturday, the 28th day of January, 1843, he played a fine game of ball at Nauvoo with his brethren. During the same winter some of his friends saw him teaching his little son Frederick to slide upon the ice; and the Prophet enjoyed the exhilaration and was as merry as a boy. On Monday, the 13th day of March, 1843, Joseph met William Wall, the most expert wrestler of Ramus, Illinois, and had a friendly bout with him. He easily conquered Wall who up to that time had been a champion. About the same time he had a contest at pulling sticks with Justus A. Morse, reputed to be the strongest man in that region. The Prophet used but one hand and easily defeated Morse.
 
One evening in March, twenty-seven children were brought to a meeting to be blessed. Joseph took great joy in laying his hands upon the heads of the innocent little ones, and he blessed nineteen of them himself with great fervency. He turned pale and lost his strength, and was compelled to retire, leaving the meeting and its duties to his brethren. Elder Jedediah M. Grant inquired of him the next day concerning the cause of the strange manifestation. The Prophet replied that as he blessed the little ones, it was made known to him that Lucifer would exert an influence to destroy them, and he strove with all his faith to seal upon them security of their lives and virtue upon earth. So much power emanated from him into the children that he became weak. Joseph referred to the case of the woman who touched the hem of the garment of Jesus, by which her issue of blood was staunched, and the Savior said: "Somebody hath touched me; for I perceive that virtue has gone out of me."
 
Joseph told Elder Grant that the virtue referred to by the Savior was the spirit of life; and men who exercised great faith in administering to the sick, blessing little children, and making confirmations were liable to become weakened.
 
On Monday, the 6th day of February, 1843, the Prophet was elected mayor of Nauvoo by unanimous vote; at the same time Orson Spencer, Daniel H. Wells, George A. Smith and Stephen Markham were elected aldermen; and Hyrum Smith, John Taylor, Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, Sylvester Emmons, Heber C. Kimball, Benjamin Warrington, Daniel Spencer and Brigham Young were elected councilors.
 
Joseph put his accustomed vigor into his duties as chief officer of the municipality. At the first meeting of the council after the election Joseph urged the necessity of relieving the city of unnecessary expenses and burdens, and warned the members against demanding pay for every little service rendered. At the same meeting it was resolved to establish markets in the city; and the Prophet spoke earnestly about the regulation of prices, so that the poor should not be oppressed; that, while the farmer should have fair compensation for his products, the mechanic should also h............