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Why Read this Revised and Enhanced
Version of Parley’s Book?
If you have read the Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, you
will love this book all the more. As you come upon stories and
events familiar to you, new insights offered in the endnotes will
deepen your feelings for Parley and his family. If you have not
read Parley’s work, you will be captivated and drawn into his
life in a matter of pages. Even if you already know the early
details of the Restoration, you will add to your knowledge. Here,
as in The Revised and Enhanced History of Joseph Smith by His
Mother that we completed in 1996, Church history comes alive.
The places, scenes, stories, and moments become real. This is
our heritage. It is a legacy that has been offered to us as a
gift.
The chapter endnotes are numerous, detailed, and designed to add
context, color, and texture to Parley’s story. It was tempting
to add a small alarm at the end of each chapter that would play
a tune that says, “Please read me.” The endnotes are the raison
d’etre for this new version.
Editors’ Introduction
From his youth, Parley P. Pratt felt eternal stirrings — a sense
of the spiritual and holy that he seemed to carry with him from
another world. At seven years old, he loved Jesus and the ancient
apostles. At twelve, he was intrigued by the doctrine of the Resurrection.
At eighteen he wondered about the differences between the Lord’s
ancient disciples and his modern followers.
I said to my father
one day while we were laboring together in the forest, “Father,
how is it there is so manifest a difference between the ancient
and modern disciples of Jesus Christ and their doctrines? If,
for instance, I had lived in the days of the Apostles, and believed
in Jesus Christ, and had manifested a wish to become his disciple,
Peter or his brethren would have said to me, ‘Repent and be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins, and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.’ I should then have known
definitely and precisely what to do to be saved...
“Now, father, how is this? I believe in Jesus; I wish to serve
him and keep his commandments; I love him: He has commanded all
men to repent and be baptized, and has promised to remit the sins
of all those who obey the gospel ordinances, and to pour out the
Holy Spirit upon them.” [1]
These thoughts nagged at Parley daily. He longed for the ancient
teachings of the Savior. He sought after the precepts of the apostles.
He felt compelled to find the pure doctrines and authority of
the apostleship.
Why? From the vantage of the sweep of
his life before us, the answer seems clear. Parley wondered about
the apostles because he was to become one of them, chosen for this
stewardship — as were Peter, James, and John of old — before the
foundations of the world. The seed of his life’s mission had been
planted in his eternal soul, and with the same urgency he felt to
find out about the ancient apostles, he also felt to witness of
the truth once he found it.
Eloquent Parley could not travel far enough or address enough people
to satisfy the burning he had to share the truth. He was like Alma,
who said, “O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine
heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with
a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!
Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder,
repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and
come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all
the face of the earth” (Alma 29:1-2).
Parley’s greatest desire was to let the whole world know that the
fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, with all the keys of the
priesthood, had been restored to the earth in these latter days,
and that Joseph Smith was the mighty prophet of the Restoration.
To accomplish that desire, Parley was given a trump: the spoken
and printed word. His autobiography is his way of continuing to
call to the earth and to speak to every people.
Through this work, Parley shares his testimony
with new generations, bringing to life the stories of the Restoration.
He wrote, “Should the author be called to sacrifice his life for
the cause of truth, yet he will have the consolation that it will
be said of him as it was said of Abel: ‘He, being dead, yet speaketh.’” [2]
The Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt
is invaluable in the study of the first thirty years of the
history of the restored Church. It comes to us from a passionate
writer in the spirit of truth and love. It comes from a bold individual
who knew and loved the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Original Autobiography
From his earliest days, Parley had a desire to record
his history. He knew he was a player on the stage of the early scenes
of the Restoration, and he wanted to record his role for Church
posterity. He had a sense that his voice would be carried well beyond
his life and that his personal witness and testimony would bless
millions yet unborn. He was full of faith.
He was gifted in communication, both
in writing and in speaking. He was a visionary. He had a feel for
legacy and heritage. His desires, whether he lived or died, were
to bear testimony on this side of the veil through his words.
He understood the power of a written record.
As most writers, Parley had a constant sense that he was working
under a deadline. He knew that he would be taken early and that
he must hurry to complete his history. He also knew that his history
would not be published in his lifetime.
Parley once wrote of the Prophet Joseph:
Had he been spared a martyr’s
fate till mature manhood and age, he was certainly endued with powers
and ability to have revolutionized the world in many respects, and
to have transmitted to posterity a name associated with more brilliant
and glorious acts than has yet fallen to the lot of mortal. As it
is, his works will live to endless ages, and unnumbered millions
yet unborn will mention his name with honor, as a noble instrument
in the hands of God, who, during his short and youthful career,
laid the foundation of that kingdom spoken of by Daniel, the prophet,
which should break in pieces all other kingdoms and stand forever.
[3]
It seems that Parley was not only extolling
the virtues and power of Joseph but was humbly looking in the mirror.
Parley’s autobiography has been in print for more than a hundred years
and will continue to bless untold generations in and out of the Church
and throughout the world.
A Deeper Look
Parley traveled by foot, horseback, or
boat, always making his way another few hundred miles to the next
destination to preach the gospel. He lived so close to the Spirit
that he would, at times, be awakened from his rest by a voice from
the unseen world: “‘Parley, it is time to be up and on your journey.’
In the twinkling of an eye I was perfectly aroused; I sprang to my
feet so suddenly that I could not at first recollect where I was,
or what was before me to perform.” [4] It didn’t
matter where he was going; what mattered was his unfailing willingness
to accept each and every call. He spent the vast majority of his twenty-seven
years in the Church on missions.
Parley was swift as a deer physically and quick as lightning mentally.
He called upon these abilities often in a variety of settings during
his life. Once, upon escaping from captivity in Ohio, Parley gained
a healthy head start on an astonished officer. The officer responded
by sending a bulldog after Parley, methodically clapping his hands,
pointing toward Parley, and yelling loudly, “Stu-boy, stu-boy — take
him — watch — lay hold of him, I say — down with him.”
With the dog gaining on Parley’s heels,
“quick as lightning, the thought struck me to assist the officer,
in sending the dog with all fury to the forest a little distance before
me. I pointed my finger in that direction, clapped my hands, and shouted
in imitation of the officer. The dog hastened past me with redoubled
speed towards the forest; being urged by the officer and myself, and
both of us running in the same direction.” [5]
Such clever thoughts were often Parley’s
gift and helped him in debating, preaching, writing, and sharing humor.
Historical Insights
Parley recorded many things that otherwise would be lost to history.
Through his eyes we see the Prophet Joseph in chains in Richmond,
Missouri:
In one of those tedious nights,
we had lain as if in sleep till the hour of midnight had passed,
and our ears and hearts had been pained, while we had listened for
hours to the obscene jests, the horrid oaths, the dreadful blasphemies
and filthy language of our guards, Colonel Price at their head,
as they recounted to each other their deeds of rapine, murder, robbery,
etc., which they had committed among the “Mormons” while
at Far West and vicinity. They even boasted of defiling by force
wives, daughters and virgins, and of shooting or dashing out the
brains of men, women and children.
I had listened till I became so disgusted, shocked, horrified, and
so filled with the spirit of indignant justice that I could scarcely
refrain from rising upon my feet and rebuking the guards; but had
said nothing to Joseph, or any one else, although I lay next to
him and knew he was awake. On a sudden he arose to his feet, and
spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering, as
near as I can recollect, the following words:
“SILENCE, ye fiends of the infernal pit. In the name of Jesus
Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still; I will not live
another minute and bear such language. Cease such talk, or you or
I die THIS INSTANT!”
He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible majesty. Chained,
and without a weapon; calm, unruffled and dignified as an angel,
he looked upon the quailing guards, whose weapons were lowered or
dropped to the ground; whose knees smote together, and who, shrinking
into a corner, or crouching at his feet, begged his pardon, and
remained quiet till a change of guards.
I have seen the ministers of justice, clothed in magisterial robes,
and criminals arraigned before them, while life was suspended on
a breath, in the Courts of England; I have witnessed a Congress
in solemn session to give laws to nations; I have tried to conceive
of kings, of royal courts, of thrones and crowns; and of emperors
assembled to decide the fate of kingdoms; but dignity and majesty
have I seen but once, as it stood in chains, at midnight,
in a dungeon in an obscure village of Missouri. [6]
Parley’s words and
writings ring with the Spirit. His gifted descriptions of experiences
are undergirded by a desire to testify of the truth of the Restoration.
He never took for granted that he was one of the holders of the
keys of the priesthood. Many times he called upon God in pure faith
that he might be healed from a terrible ailment or siege of sickness
that had swept over him. He was never without an answer from the
Lord, though at times his answer was to learn more patience.
One of his wives, Ann Agatha Walker, said, “His confidence in God
was unbounded and he would go to Him and ask Him for what he needed,
as a child would go to the father, with the same childlike simplicity.
I have seen his prayers answered almost before he had finished his
supplication.”
[7]
[Stay with us as next week we conclude the introduction to The
Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, Revised and Enhanced Edition]
Notes
[2] Times
and Seasons 3 (January 1, 1842): 648.
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Scot Facer Proctor and Maurine Jensen
Proctor are the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Meridian Magazine.
They live in the Washington, D.C. Metro area. |
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