, 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.
they ever been guilty of idolatry at all since their return from Babylon? No! Have they been guilty of sheding innocent blood, to that extent, since their return that they were, before they were taken captives by Nebuchadnezzar? The Jew says no. Very well: there will none deny, with any claim upon our credulity, but that the disaster and overthrow that befel the Jewish nation in the days of Vespassian, very far exceeded in severity, in almost every particular, the disaster and ouerthrow that befel them in the days of Nebuchadnezzar.”
“Now, then, if God be just, and mete out and apportion the chastisement or penalty to the magnitude of the offence or crime committed, it follows, of course, that your fathers committed some far greater crime subsequent to their return from Babylon, than ever they before committed. Be that crime whatever it may: Know ye, that for it, or because of it, the Roman armies were permitted to crowd their conquests to the heart of your city—burn your temple—kill your men, women and children, and disperse your remnant to the four quarters of the earth. The fiery storm that burst upon your nation at that time, and the traces of blood which they have, ever since, left behind them in their flight and dispersion, together with the recent cursed cruelties inflicted upon them in Damascus and Rhodes, but too plainly declare that the strong imprecation which they uttered on a certain occasion, has been fulfilled upon them to the letter. ‘Let his blood be on us and on our children.’ If condemning and crucifying Jesus of Nazareth was not the cause of this great evil; what was the cause of it?”
“Aware that I have written very plainly upon those points that have come within my notice; yet believe me, Sir, when I assure you, that my pen is pointed with friendship, and dipped in the fountain of love and good will towards your nation. The thoughts which it records have proceeded from a heart grateful to the Almighty, that the time has arrived when the day-star of your freedom already begins to dispel the dark and gloomy clouds which have seperated you from the favor of your God. Ere long it will be said to you; ‘Arise, shine, for thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon thee.”
“The morning breaks, the shadows flee,
Lo! Zion’s standard is unfurled;
The dawning of a brighter day
Majestic rises on the world.
The Gentile fullness now comes in,
And Israel’s blessings are at hand:
Lo! Judah’s remnant cleansed from sin
Shall in their promised Canaan stand.”
“Now, therefore, O ye children of the covenant! Repent of all your backslidings, and begin, as in days of old, to turn to the Lord your God. Arise! Arise! and go out from among the Gentiles; for destruction is coming from the north to lay their cities waste. is thy home. There the God of Abraham will deliver thee. (See Joel 2, 32) There the bending heavens shall reveal thy long-looked-for Messiah in fleecy clouds of light and glory, to execute vengeance upon thine enemies; and lead thee and thy brethren of the ten tribes to sure conquest, and certain victory. Then shall thrones be cast down, and the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God. Then will they come from the east, west, north and south, and set down in the kingdom of God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the children of the kingdom (Gentiles) shall be cast out, and the kingdom restored to Israel.
With sentiments of distinguished consideration I have the honor, Sir, to subscribe myself
Your most ob’t. servant
.
Rev. Dr. Solomon Hirschell,
Pres’t Rabbi of the Hebrew society in .
It is very hard times in .— Thousands that have nothing to do, and are literally starving. Trade of all sorts is at the lowest ebb. Very cold and dry. No harvest, unless rain come soon.
You will discover that the greater part of the English brethren, have always worked under masters; and they have not so much notion of planning and shifting for themselves, particularly in a strange country, as the Americans.— They want some one to be a kind of father to them, to give them plenty of work, and plenty to eat; and they will be content. They are a very industrious people whenever they can get employment; and by a little fatherly care, they will soon get way-wised to the conntry, and be enabled to shift for themselves. I trust that exertions are made to give employ to as many as possible [p. 554]
Hyde compared the destruction of Jerusalem and the first temple by Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BC with the later destruction completed under the reign of Vespasian in AD 70. Vespasian led military efforts to quash Jewish rebellion under Nero and assumed the emperorship after Nero’s death. With Titus as commander, Vespasian brought the first war with Judea to an end by destroying Jerusalem and the second temple built by the Jews. Hyde was likely familiar with this history through the popular writings of Flavius Josephus. (See Josephus, Works of Flavius Josephus, 210–211, 555.)
The Works of Flavius Josephus. Translated by William Whiston. Baltimore: Armstron and Plaskitt and Plaskitt, 1830.
In February 1840, in both Damascus and Rhodes, Jews were falsely accused of ritually murdering Christians—an accusation known as blood libel. The resulting conflict became an international issue, intensifying questions surrounding the return of the Jews to the Holy Land and stoking anti-Semitism. The Times and Seasons excerpted articles that connected the turmoil over blood libel to the final restoration of the Jews and reported efforts to advocate the Jewish cause in Palestine. (“The Jews of Damascus,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1841, 2:341–342; “The Jews,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1841, 2:563; see also Frankel, Damascus Affair, 1–5.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Frankel, Jonathan. The Damascus Affair: “Ritual Murder,” Politics, and the Jews in 1840. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
These verses are from a hymn titled “The Morning Breaks,” composed by Parley P. Pratt. The hymn was first published in the inaugural issue of the Millennial Star in May 1840 and was included that same year in a church hymnal. (“Morning Hymn,” Millennial Star, May 1840, 1:24; Collection of Sacred Hymns [1840], 5–6.)
The early 1840s in Europe were known as the “Hungry Forties” and were particularly difficult for the lower classes. In England a combination of a largely unregulated manufacturing industry, scaled-back welfare programs, and import taxes on grain made hunger a national issue. Shortly after his return from Britain in August 1841, Wilford Woodruff verified Hyde’s observations on economic hardship there. After reading New York newspaper accounts of European suffering, Woodruff wrote in his journal: “Thousands are starving to death & hundreds of thousands are in want. Banks are breaking, Merchants becoming Bankrups, Factories are stoping, men are out of employ & bread.” (King, Poverty and Welfare in England, 227–229; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Aug. 1841; see also Taylor, Notes of a Tour, 21–72; and Taylor, Natural History of Society, 2:253–261.)
King, Steven. Poverty and Welfare in England, 1700–1850: A Regional Perspective. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press, 2000.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
Taylor, William Cooke. Notes of a Tour in the Manufacturing Districts of Lancashire; in a Series of Letters to His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin. 2nd ed. London: Duncan and Malcolm, 1842.
Taylor, William Cooke. The Natural History of Society in the Barbarous and Civilized State: An Essay towards Discovering the Origin and Course of Human Improvement. 2 vols. New York City: D. Appleton, 1841.
In 1841 and 1842, England experienced an extreme drought, which increased the price of food. (Way and Ogston, “Report on the Analysis of the Ashes of Plants,” 655.)
Way, J. Thomas, and G. H. Ogston. “Report on the Analysis of the Ashes of Plants.” Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England 7 (1846): 593–678.