An impostor may prophesy, but he cannot fulfill his own prophecies. If Joseph Smith was an impostor, as the world say he was, how could he know beforehand of the rise of this Church, and that the Gospel would be preached in all parts of this nation? Still more, how could he know, that it would go to every land, and be proclaimed throughout every nation of the earth, and even to those inhabiting the islands of the sea? Has this been fulfilled? All you have to do is to make yourselves acquainted with the fact. You will find that the Gospel message has been carried out by our missionaries to the nations of Great Britain and Ireland, to France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the countries of Scandinavia, to Austria and Russia, to Asia and Africa, to Australia and the island of New Zealand, and the various islands of the South Pacific Ocean, as well as to the Sandwich and Society Islands. Among all these nations, this work has gone in fulfillment of prophecy, published before there was any Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith, therefore, so far as the fulfillment of his prophecies is concerned, has so much to establish the divinity of his mission.

Let us refer still further to the prophecies contained in the Book of Mormon. We read in that book, that not only a Church should arise, etc., but that the blood of the Saints who should embrace its faith, should cry from the ground to the God of heaven, against the inhabitants of this nation. How unlikely a thing to be fulfilled! Here, upon this land, is one of the most free governments given to man, bestowing upon all, civil and religious liberty. In other lands, persecution existed in consequence of men's religious convictions; here all religious societies enjoyed the freedom of religious liberty to the fullest extent. If an impostor were going to prophesy, would he not be most likely to predict something that would suit the popular feeling of the people, something that would naturally come to pass? But for him to prophesy that the blood of the Saints, who were yet unconverted, should cry unto God for vengeance, against a people who glorified in their freedom, who could believe it? The people said such a thing never could come to pass; Joseph Smith must be an imposter. But how long was it before this met with its fulfillment? History shows that three years after the rise of this Church, the Latter-day Saints, numbering some twelve hundred persons, were settled in Jackson; one of the western counties of Missouri, where they possessed flourishing homes, which they had made out of the lands they had bought of the United States Government, and which they had paid for, and where, in consequence of their having preached the ancient Gospel, which had been restored to the earth through the ministration of angels, they met with serious opposition, insomuch that they were finally driven en masse from their possessions, their homes were torn down and destroyed, their animals were shot down as you would shoot the wild beasts of the forest, their hay stacks were burned, and their corn fields despoiled, and many of the Saints were also sleet dead by the hands of their persecutors. What for? Was it because they had committed crimes that merited this treatment? No, their court records do not show a single instance of our people having broken the laws. Was it polygamy? No, for the principle of plural marriage was not known among us then. They said, "You proclaim that God is a God of revelation. We do not believe it. You say that God has re-organized his Church on the earth, according to the ancient pattern. We do not believe it. We do not wish such doctrines, we do not wish our families corrupted by believing in them, for prophets, and new revelation, and miracles are all done away with; therefore you must leave us. We have pledged ourselves, our lives, and all we possess, to drive you from our midst." Perhaps you strangers may think I am telling you that which is false. It is written and printed by our enemies, and forms part of history; and it furnishes another testimony proving the divine calling of the boy who was inspired of the Lord to translate that book.

After we had again established ourselves in a new country, and built up a beautiful city, and when all was peaceful and prosperity attending us, this same Prophet, on assembling the Elders of this Church on a certain occasion at Nauvoo, told us that we would have to flee to the Rocky Mountains for safety. The fulfillment of this prediction is apparent to all. I might mention scores of others, and in no instance has that man uttered a single prophecy that either has not already been fulfilled, to the very letter, or will not have its fulfillment in the due time of the Lord. I will mention another prophecy, which was printed in several languages, and published among the various nations in whose languages it was printed, which was twenty-eight years reaching its fulfillment. The Lord revealed to the Prophet, Joseph Smith, that there would be a great rebellion between the Northern and Southern States, commencing in the State of South Carolina, and that it should terminate in the death and misery of many souls. This, as you all know, has been literally fulfilled. When I was a boy, I traveled extensively in the United States and the Canadas, preaching this restored Gospel. I had a manuscript copy of this revelation, which I carried in my pocket, and I was in the habit of reading it to the people among whom I traveled and preached. As a general thing the people regarded it, as the height of nonsense, saying the Union was too strong to be broken; and I, they said, was led away, the victim of an impostor. I knew the prophecy was true, for the Lord had spoken to me and had given me revelation. I knew also concerning the divinity of this work. Year after year passed away, while every little while some of the acquaintances I had formerly made would say, "Well, what is going to become of that prediction? It's never going to be fulfilled." Said I, "Wait, the Lord has his set time." By and by it, came along, and the first battle was fought at Charleston, South Carolina. This is another testimony that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of the Most High God; he not only foretold the coming of a great civil war at a time when statesman even never dreamed of such a thing, but he named the very place where it should commence.