Background
from Church Historian
Joseph Smith invited Nancy Rigdon, nineteen-year-old daughter
of his close friend and counselor, Sidney Rigdon, to meet
him at the home of Orson Hyde. Upon her arrival Smith greeted
her, ushered her into a private room, then locked the door.
After swearing her to secrecy, wrote George W. Robinson, Smith
announced his "affection for her for several years, and wished
that she should be his...the Lord was well pleased with this
matter...here was no sin in it whatever...but, if she had
any scruples of conscience about the matter, he would marry
her privately."
But Nancy was not cooperative. Despite her young age, she
did not hesitate to express herself. The prophet's behavior
shocked her; she rebuffed him in a flurry of anger. Wickliffe
Rigdon wrote that Smith, flustered, beckoned Mrs. Hyde into
the room to help win Nancy over. Hyde volunteered that she
too was surprised upon first hearing of the tenet, but was
convinced it was true, and that "great exaltation would come
to those who received and embraced it." Incredulous, Nancy
countered that "if she ever got married she would marry a
single man or none at all." Grabbing her bonnet, she ordered
the door opened or she would "raise the neighbors." She then
stormed out of the Hyde-Richards residence. (Sidney
Rigdon Biography by Richard S. Van Wagoner, p.295)
The following day Joseph Smith sent Nancy this letter, as
recorded in the Official History of the Church, Vol. 5, p.134-136:
"Church Historian Footnote Reads: ..it is borne in mind
that at this time the new law of marriage for the Church—marriage
for eternity, including plurity of wives under some circumstances—was
being introduced by the Prophet, it is very likely that the
following article was written with a view of applying the
principles here expounded to the conditions created by introducing
said marriage system."
Joseph Smith to Miss Nancy Rigdon, 11 April 1842
 "Happiness
is the object and design of our existence; and will be the
end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this
path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping
all the commandments of God. But we cannot keep all the commandments
without first knowing them, and we cannot expect to know all,
or more than we now know unless we comply with or keep those
we have already received. That which is wrong under one
circumstance, may be, and often is, right under another."
"God said, "Thou shalt not kill;" at another time He said
"Thou shalt utterly destroy." This is the principle on which
the government of heaven is conducted—by revelation adapted
to the circumstances in which the children of the kingdom
are placed. Whatever God requires is right, no matter what
it is, although we may not see the reason thereof till
long after the events transpire. If we seek first the kingdom
of God, all good things will be added. So with Solomon: first
he asked wisdom, and God gave it him, and with it every desire
of his heart, even things which might be considered abominable
to all who understand the order of heaven only in part, but
which in reality were right because God gave and sanctioned
by special revelation."
"A parent may whip a child, and justly, too, because he stole
an apple; whereas if the child had asked for the apple, and
the parent had given it, the child would have eaten it with
a better appetite; there would have been no stripes; all the
pleasure of the apple would have been secured, all the misery
of stealing lost."
"This principle will justly apply to all of God's dealings
with His children. Everything that God gives us is lawful
and right; and it is proper that we should enjoy His gifts
and blessings whenever and wherever He is disposed to bestow;
but if we should seize upon those same blessings and enjoyments
without law, without revelation, without commandment, those
blessings and enjoyments would prove cursings and vexations
in the end, and we should have to lie down in sorrow and wailings
of everlasting regret. But in obedience there is joy and
peace unspotted, unalloyed; and as God has designed our
happiness—and the happiness of all His creatures, he never
has—He never will institute an ordinance or give a commandment
to His people that is not calculated in its nature to promote
that happiness which He has designed, and which will not end
in the greatest amount of good and glory to those who become
the recipients of his law and ordinances. Blessings offered,
but rejected, are no longer blessings, but become like the
talent hid in the earth by the wicked and slothful servant;
the proffered good returns to the giver; the blessing is bestowed
on those who will receive and occupy; for unto him that hath
shall be given, and he shall have abundantly, but unto him
that hath not or will not receive, shall be taken away that
which he hath, or might have had."
Be wise
today; 'tis madness to defer:
Next day the fatal precedent may plead.
Thus on till wisdom is pushed out of time
Into eternity.
"Our
heavenly Father is more liberal in His views, and boundless
in His mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe
or receive; and, at the same time, is more terrible to the
workers of iniquity, more awful in the executions of His
punishments, and more ready to detect every false way, than
we are apt to suppose Him to be. He will be inquired
of by His children. He says: "Ask and ye shall receive,
seek and ye shall find;" but, if you will take that which
is not your own, or which I have not given you, you shall
be rewarded according to your deeds; but no good thing will
I withhold from them who walk uprightly before me, and do
my will in all things—who will listen to my voice and
to the voice of my servant whom I have sent; for I delight
in those who seek diligently to know my precepts, and abide
by the law of my kingdom; for all things shall be made known
unto them in mine own due time, and in the end they shall
have joy."
- Official History of the Church, Vol. 5, p.134-136,
See also "The Letter of the Prophet, Joseph Smith to Miss
Nancy Rigdon," Joseph Smith Collection, LDS archives
(Read more about the Nancy Rigdon incident here at http://olivercowdery.com/smithhome/1840s/ben1842b.htm#pg241a)
What does the above letter by Joseph Smith tell
us about his ethical character?
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