Scandinavian Jubilee Album 1850 to 1900
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
University of California Berkeley ;'; .,'0 . .> -. r ' ; '- ' ; ,.-." .-"<. JOSEPH SMITH, Ttie Prophet. .Scandinavian Jubilee Album. ISSUED IN COmEMORTTTION OF THE riETIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INTRODUCTION OF THE GOSPEL TO THE THREE SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES BY ELDER ERASTUS SNOW, AN ftPOSTLE OF JESUS CHRIST; AND rELLOW IJJBORERS. 75-3 5353 PREEACE. the Among thoughts inspired by the Scandinavian Jubilee in 1900 was tr\e preparation of a Souvenir Album, containing views aqd portraits representing places of interest, and persons who h,ave beer) active workers in the Scandinavian, mjssion., since its corrirrieqcement in 1850. The plan, was laid before th,e Scandinavian Saints, in a circular, and generous responses were received from, all parts of the country. Trje publishers therefore epplied themselves to th,e work, and they now have the pleasure of pre- labor. senting to the public tne result of several monthX careful and conscientious In doing so, they hope th,at \3r\e perusal of faith- tr\ese leaves will bring to the hearts of th,e readers rnuch joy, rqany happy recollections of the past, and inspire continued fulness in ttie Gospel of Jesus, first proclaimed in the northern countries half a century ago. dare ot e ' have been able to The publishers, while doing their utrr\ost to present all th,e data with historic accurracy, n hP do so in every instance, the tim.e for publication being too short for an absolutely accurate work of this kind. But they trust that out its and for no serious errors rjave crept into th,e pages. And now, in sending this little volume am,ong friends, we rjope pray shall receive reward. thie speedy corning of the day when a " faithful laborers in the cause of trutr) tr;eir final ANTHON H. LUND, ANDREW JENSON, J. M. SJODAHL, C. A. F. ORLOB. Salt Lake City. June 14, 1900. ERASTUS SNOW, An Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. THE SCANDINAVIAN MISSION. HE general conference held in Salt Lake City in missionaries for the work of the ministry, according to the October, 1849, marked an important epoch in the his- pattern of the world; they were separated from civilization by (gra* tory of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. a stretch of desert, one thousand miles wide, and risked their On that occasion, for the first time in this dispensation, lives in untold perils, whenever they set out to cross this ex- a little army of soldiers of the Cross were sent forth to panse. But the voice of the Lord had come to them: "For unfurl the banner of the Gospel to different nations of verily, the sound must go forth from this place into all the the earth. world, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth the Gospel The noble Pioneers, escaped from the fury of mobs, had must be preached unto every creature, with signs following barely had time to erect for themselves and their families some them that believe. And behold the Son of man cometh." (Doc. primitive huts for shelter, and to provide, to some extent,for ex- and Cov. 58: 64, 65.) They knew that the Lord never gives a without to istence in these valleys, and then their first thought was of command imparting power comply with it, and reaching their fellowmen with the message entrusted to them therefore, notwithstanding their poverty and all other disad- by (ind. They were not in a position to form missionary socie- vantages, they offered themselves on the altar. The following had no fa- brethren were called to leave the for missions: ties, with monthly, or annual, contributions; they valley foreign cilities for rearing colleges and universities in which to equip To England 'Apostle Franklin D. Richards, and Elders countless as well as The situation here was Joseph W. Johnson, Joseph W. Young, Haden W. Church, insects, drought. described in the General the First is- George B. Wallace and John S. Higbee. Epistle by Presidency, sued in the spring of 1819: "In the former part of February, To France Apostle John Taylor, and Elders Curtis E. the took an of the breadstuff in the Eolton and John Pack. Bishops inventory valley, when it was reported that there was little more than three- To Italy Apostle, now President, Lorenzo Snow and !'.!- fourths of a pound per day for each soul, until the 5th of July; der Joseph Toronto. and considerable was known to exist which was not reported. To Denmark Aposte Erastus Snow and Peter 0. Hanscn. As a natural consequence some were nearly destitute, while To Sweden Elder John E. Forsgren. others had abundance. The common price of corn since har- To the Society Islands Elders Addison Pratt, James vest has been two dollars: some have sold for three; at present Blackwell. Brown, and Hiram there is. none in the market at 'any price. Wheat has ranged Two Scandinavian countries, Denmark and Sweden from four to five dollars, and potatoes from six to twenty dol- the first to selected to receive the invita- were thus among be lars per bushel, and though not to be bought at any price at tion to the "marriage feast of the Lamb." Undoubtedly among present, it is expected ilu'ix- will be a good supply for seed by the inhabitants of northern Europe the seed of Israel is abun- another year." dant. This will give an idea of the temporal condition of the The missionary zeal manifested at this early period of the Saints at the time the Scandinavian mission was founded. Did history of the Church is better appreciated, if it is remembered the world ever present a more striking example of that im- that at this time the Saints in Utah about numbered only plicit faith in God, which conquers all difficulties and obtains the 5,000 souls. They were battling against the climate, and victory? ^ HE student of history can clearly perceive that the Scan- children something out of the ordinary, something more di- dinavian countries at this time were being specially pre- rectly preparatory for the advent of His Son, He always ra pared to receive the Gospel of Jesus. In Denmark the up messengers to prepare the way. And in this light tin; var- ancient spirit of liberty, too long held captive in the ious nreachers of repentance in the Scandinavian countries in narrow formalism of the state-church, commenced to the first half of this century must be considered. In Ham- break its chains. We will only mention the eloquent plea burg, Pastor Oncken had succeeded in gathering a circle of for religious liberty by Dr. A.G. Rudelbach,and the iconoclastic friends who believed in baptism by immersion, as taught by the thunderbolts hurled with unerring precision by Dr. S0ren English and American Baptists. And from Hamburg this Kjerkegaard. Such efforts were not without effect. They pre- spark of Scripture light was brought to Copenhagen by P. C. pared the masses for the light that was to break forth, and M0nster and to Gothenburg by F. 0. Nilsson, a sailor. The gave an entirely new direction to the religious life. And their latter embraced the doctrines of the Baptists in the year 1847, voices were heard far beyond the boundaries of Denmark. They and gained some friends in Gothenburg, but he was promptly re-echoed through the valleys and mountains of the Scandina- banished from Sweden. In the year 1849 a young Lutheran vian peninsula, on both sides of Kj01en. clergyman, Pastor A. Viberg, wrote against the established Religious liberty and liberty of the press became two of church and was suspended for six months. But he never re- the characteristics of the constitution framed for the kingdom turned to that church. He embraced the faith of the Baptists of Denmark in 1849 the year when the Scandinavian mission and was baptized in Copenhagen by Mr. Xil.sson, who was then was decided on and later signed by King Frederik VII. With- in banishment. Mr. Viberg unfolded great religious activity, out these concessions, it is difficult to see, how the standard and was wonderfully successful. Through him thousands were of the Gospel could have been planted in the three northern drawn away from the state-church, and the path he had broken conn tries. w,i- followed by a number of various denominations. In Nor- Whenever the Lord undertakes to bring forth among His way the work of preparing the way for the Gospel may be said to have devolved upon the famous preacher of repentance, eled throughout the entire country of Norway, and finally went Hans Nilsen Hauge, who died in the year 1824, and upon hi= to Denmark, in the year 1800, where he also gained many fol- followers. He never renounced the doctrines of the established lowers. church, but he laid bare, without mercy, the rationalism and There were in the Scandinavian countries many noble hypocrisy of the clerical caste. He was a man without much messengers, who each in his day prepared the way for the book learning, but with burning zeal for what he considered the Gospel. It was all the work of the Almighty. It was a mani- truth. He insisted that he was commissioned by God to cry festation of that Power, which had set about to gather together repentance, and although he was incarcerated for ten years the dry bones in the valley, and which will not cease, until for his religion, he remained faithful. In his twenty-sixth they are all clothed over with new forms, in which the divine year he commenced to preach to his friends, and then he trav- Spirit lives.