. . .

In 1831, a French Scholar and publicist, Alexis de Tocqueville, came to the United States. He became interested in the study of the machinery of the government and as a result wrote his famous treatise on “Democracy in America.” He predicted the “inevitable separation” of the North and the South after his study of existing conditions.

. . .

In the Annual Register of the History of Europe, published in London, 1832 (p. 406) is the following prediction of the conditions of the United States:

Civil war and a dissolution of the union seems thus to be approaching.

This statement was given at the same time that Joseph Smith gave his prophecy. The conditions at South Carolina pointed directly to war. Joseph Smith a man of foresight and wisdom, accurately interpreted the facts and information known. . . . The prediction was given at a period of actual preparation for war in South Carolina.

. . .

In view of the historical evidence, as presented, the most reasonable conclusion is that this Civil War prediction was the natural result of the stirring conditions of that particular period of history. The data in this short discussion indicates very forcibly that this utterance was not “Beyond the power of human sagacity to discern or to calculate.”