THE GOSPEL MESSAGE…

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

BEING A DISCOURSE, GIVING AN EXPLANATION OF SOME OF The PROMINENT DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, DELIVERED BY ELDER WILLIAM BUDGE, AT CHESTERFIELD, AUGUST 10TH, 1879.

(Phonetically Reported.)

My Brethren, Sisters and Friends:

I am thankful for the privilege of speaking to you a short time this afternoon. I am anxious to explain, whenever opportunity affords, the nature of our faith. And I presume that, on this occasion, I am justified in feeling that our friends who have kindly visited our meeting room have come for the purpose of learning something regarding that subject.

In this free country, where we congratulate ourselves in enjoying and allowing the greatest freedom to everybody, I presume we will, all of us, speaker and congregation, exercise the privilege of explaining and reflecting upon the things that may be said; so that our friends, I trust, will leave us understanding a little more about the nature of our religion than when they came to the meeting.

I can feel, in part, the interest that exists, even in the minds of our friends. They have, doubtless, heard about the Latter-day Saints. They have had the opinions of men who have spoken in the pulpits, and who have written books about the "Mormons," and they, very likely, have come here under certain impressions in regard to the "Mormon's" faith.

I am sorry to say that experience has taught me that the public generally have been deceived. I am gratified sometimes in listening to acknowledgments of this kind from our friends who have heard for themselves, and have thus been able to judge intelligently as to whether the reports which they have heard from our enemies are correct or not.

It seems strange, but it is nevertheless true, that many people who wish to know the faith of the Saints go to their enemies to learn of them. I do not know whether our kind {120} friends have thought of the inconsistency and injustice of such a course as this. If I wished to learn what the Roman Catholics believed in, I do not think, at present, that I would go to the Protestant Church to learn it; or, if I wished to learn what any denomination of professing Christians believe, I do not think it would be just for me to go to some other denomination to ascertain it. In the first place other churches might be led--perhaps unwittingly, perhaps intentionally--to misrepresent the faith of their neighbors, and I might be deceived through their misrepresentations. On the other hand, there is no need of my going to any one church to learn the faith of another people, because I can go just as easily to their own church to listen to their explanations, and thus be sure of getting information of their peculiar views, without trusting to the misrepresentations of their neighbors. Now I submit that such a course as this is right; it is just, and accords with our impressions of a fair and just hearing and consideration from the parties most interested, as to whether their faith be correct or not.

Of course we have no disposition, as Latter-day Saints, even if we had the power, to constrain any person to believe our doctrines. We have not the power; we have not the disposition. It is not for the purpose of using an undue influence in any respect, or in any degree, in favor of our faith, that we preach to our friends. We simply wish to explain to them the nature of that religion of which we are ministers--laboring under a feeling of anxiety to deliver the message with which we have been sent, that our friends may have the privilege of receiving or rejecting it, just as they think proper. But, in the meantime, while we are explaining it, my friends, be pleased to follow me with your faith and sympathy and good wishes, so far as your assistance may help me to lay before you the peculiar faith and doctrines of the Church with which I am connected, that you may be able to judge, and I will place before you, as plainly and briefly as I possibly can, some of the prominent doctrines of our Church.

I approach the subject feeling that I have the sympathy of many good friends, because I feel there exists an impression upon their minds that a system of religion that has more power with it than those now taught, is necessary. I approach the examination of this subject because I believe that many of our kind, honest, well-wishing friends--those who desire to serve God according to his will and pleasure--are under the impression that there exists a confusion so general, and errors so prevalent, that religion seems to be losing its {121} hold upon the minds of the people; and, of course, we, who have faith in God and in his revealed word--as contained in the Old and New Testaments--deplore a state of things which indicates a departure from that respect and reverence which we wish to see existing and manifested on the part of the people towards the Supreme Being.

What is the reason, my friends, that people are becoming irreligious? What is the reason that people talk of sacred things lightly? What is the reason that men, who have heretofore been respected as ministers of religion, are now little thought of? It is simply because the religions that are taught are losing their hold upon the minds and affections of the people; because the religions that are taught do not supply the want that men and women feel; because the word preached by most ministers carries with it no power to convince people as to the truthfulness of the doctrines that are presented, or the sinful condition of the people to whom they are taught.

The present condition of the Christian world does not present that union, that love, that we expect from the perpetuation of the doctrines that Christ taught, and it is this fact, understood by many, that increases their doubts and strengthens their objections to what is called "Christianity." The New Testament teachings lead us to expect a state of unity in the Christian Church. The admonitions of the Apostles were to the effect that the Saints in early days should be united together, that they should understand alike, that they should speak the same things, that they should be of the same mind and of the same judgment. Such are the words of the Apostle, to be found in I Cor., 1, 10.

Now, my friends, does such a state of things exist around us in connection with the Christian churches that we might expect from the nature of a perfect religion, introduced by Christ? Does there exist, at the present time, a state of things so perfect as to agree with the expectations raised from the teachings of St. Paul in this Scripture that I have quoted? I think not. I am safe, I believe, in stating--and I think our friends are prepared to agree with me--that there does not exist amongst the Christian denominations, that unity and that oneness of faith, peace, kindness, and love which, by reading the New Testament, we might expect to appear amongst them as the true fruits of Christianity. And it is upon this I wish to make a few remarks before proceeding to explain to you, from the Bible, the nature of our faith.

Of course the existence of a number of denominations called "Christian" cannot be denied. But we are told that all {122} the Christian churches exhibit to us one church: that if one denomination does not teach the whole perfect plan of religion revealed by the Lord Jesus Christ, all the churches put together do; although there may be divisions existing amongst the members of these denominations. Unless we accept this view we must object to Christianity on the ground that we cannot find which of all the Christian denominations teach the truth. Here is one church called Christian that teaches certain doctrines, another more or less in its teachings contradicts them, a third teaches doctrines that are in conflict with the other two; and so we might go through them all, and speak in like terms of those who think honestly enough that they are serving God.

Now, my friends, I will ask--First:--Is it reasonable to suppose that God would sustain two distinct religious churches as his churches? Is it reasonable to suppose that God would set up two distinct religious bodies, the ministers of which teach different doctrines? After learning from the Bible so much indicating the anxiety of God's inspired servants for a time of perfect unity, I say it is not reasonable to suppose it. And just so long as two distinct religious systems exist, teaching different doctrines and preaching different principles, there exist a conflicting influence, division, feelings perhaps very strong if the difference in doctrine is very decided. If it is not reasonable, what are we to do? How can we account for such a condition of things?

This leads to the position we occupy. We want to know something more.

Is it true that the bodies called "Christian" at present represent the Church of Christ? Or is it true that they have ignored some things belonging to the perfect doctrine of Christ, and taken as their guide, their own conclusions in regard to what is right, which leads to this division of doctrine? How is it? But I will endeavor to show that it is unscriptural as well as unreasonable for us to receive different Christian bodies as the Church of Christ.

I will direct your attention to a few passages from the word of God. Jesus, when he sent the Apostles to preach in the first place, said to them, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." Not any system that might be termed a Gospel. There was no choice left to anybody. He spoke definitely in regard to the Gospel plan which he, the Son of God, came to the earth to set up. Paul, in the first chapter of Galatians, 8th verse, says, "Though we or an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than {123} that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." Paul, one of the apostles, taught the Gospel, the same Gospel that Peter, James, John and others taught. They all taught the same system. And Paul said in another place, that he went up, by revelation to Jerusalem, taking Barnabas and Titus with him, and communicated the Gospel which he preached among the Gentiles (Gal. ii, 1, 2), thus showing that he taught the same thing everywhere. You see, Paul's words and practice show that he did not admit of the least change or alteration from the Gospel as taught by Christ, and preached by the apostles to the people. In another place it is said, "Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrines of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son," (2 John ix,) showing us that he taught strictly the necessity of abiding in that form of doctrine which had at first been delivered. I quote these passages to show you that the Gospel which Christ and the apostles first taught was intended to be taught continually, without change, and that none had a right, not even an angel from heaven, to preach any other Gospel than that which had been delivered at the first.

Do you agree with this? Because I am about to examine, in detail, some of the doctrines that will readily show to you the difference between the ministers of the true Gospel, and the ministers of the so-called Gospels that are preached at the present time. But are you prepared to come to the conclusion, with me, that it is the old Gospel, Christ's Gospel, the doctrine of the apostles that we ought to seek and follow, if we expect eternal life? Or do you think you are safe in following the teachings of men, who have made great changes from the ancient Gospel, with the following passage before you? If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed" (2 John, 10th verse). Do you think you can obtain God's blessing by being members of a church or churches that teach doctrines opposed to what Christ taught? How is this?

"Well, certainly," says one--a Bible believer--"of course I wish to have the religion of the Bible. I would like to have the religion of Christ. I do not admit of any departure." This is right. This is consistent. Of course, if there is a question as to whether God has made any change in his primitive faith, revealed through Christ, we shall consider it; for I am willing also to make a change, if God has authorized it. I am quite willing to accept any doctrine that God has revealed from heaven for my salvation. I confess to you that I have {124} no disposition whatever to maintain private views or speculations which may have been engendered on my own part, through reflection. I wish the doctrine of Christ, as Christ taught it, as the apostles taught it, and I will not, with the light that I possess, depart one particle from the letter and spirit of that ancient plan. And if there are any friends here who have heard that the Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not believe in the Bible, let them judge. There are no practices pleasing to God, or likely to bring his blessings upon the heads of the children of men, except those inculcated by him, through his servants by the power of revelation from heaven, so that we will not depart from the Book. We will not teach doctrines that are opposed to this book, but we are prepared to show our friends, in the spirit of kindness, that doctrines opposed to those contained in this Book are displeasing to God, and are not calculated to bring peace and salvation to the children of men.

"But," says one, "what matters it whether we go this road that you point out or some other? You know if we can get to heaven one way, is not that as good as another?" We will try to illustrate this idea. If a man wish to go to London, says the enquirer, may he not go the road that leads towards the south, or a road that leads towards the north, as the case may be; what matters it so that he gets to London? It would not matter in the least. He might go the road that led to the north, or that which led to the south, and by making a shorter or longer journey, as the case might be, he might get to London. But you see there is no parallel between this figure and the facts in regard to religion, because there are not two ways to get to heaven. This is the difference. There are two ways to get to London probably, perhaps more, but you see there is only one way to get to heaven, so that when we admit, as an illustration, a figure of this kind, we start with an error and it leads us astray.

The Bible speaks of one way. It speaks of two ways. It speaks of a broad road, that leads to destruction, and it speaks of a narrow way that leads to eternal life. So you see there is only one way that leads to heaven, and if any one persuades us that the wide road will lead us there, he deceives us, for there is only one way, and it is narrow. The Bible is very plain upon this, because the doctrines are steadfast and sure, and the words are plain that there is but one way that leads to life and glory. Now that is the way we want to find out.

Jesus came, he said, to do his Father's will, not his own. He called apostles and ordained them, and he said, "As I have {125} been sent, so send I you. Go and preach the Gospel to every creature." That was their business. But he said, "Tarry ye first in Jerusalem, until ye are endowed with power from on high." Jesus called the apostles. He ordained them himself. He instructed them personally, and he commissioned them to preach the Gospel to every creature. But he wished them to tarry at Jerusalem until they received power from on high; a certain gift which God had promised, that they might be qualified, in every sense, to discharge the important duty devolving upon them, of administering words of salvation to a fallen world. The apostles did this. They gathered in Jerusalem. They were there on the Day of Pentecost, and whilst there, in the upper room, the endowment of which Jesus spoke was given unto them. The Holy Ghost came upon them, in the upper room, as a mighty rushing wind, and it sat upon them as cloven tongues of fire. And, whilst under that influence, the apostles who were sent to preach the Gospel, stood up--at least Peter did, as the mouth-piece of the rest at that time--to preach the Gospel that Christ sent them to declare. Now, what was it? Let us lay a good foundation as we proceed.

Were they qualified to preach it? I do not think any Christian will doubt it. If they were not prepared to teach the Gospel of the Son of God, then I would have no hope, my friends, of hearing it in this life. Never. Jesus himself chose them. He ordained them; he instructed them, and after all this, as you will find, in the 2nd chap, of the Acts of the Apostles, 1st, 2nd and 3rd verses, they assembled in Jerusalem, and had fulfilled unto them the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ, receiving the endowment of which I have been speaking.

I think that all my friends here are certainly prepared to accept the words that Peter spoke, and acknowledge them to be true. What did Peter say? First, he preached Christ and him crucified. You see the people, who had gathered together on the day of Pentecost, were people who had no faith in Christ. They had rejected him and his instructions. They had been of those who persecuted Christ and the apostles. They were of those who had either personally or in their sympathies sustained the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, Peter, knowing this, stood up and preached to them, first Christ and him crucified, and he was successful. Who can doubt it? Peter, a servant of God, ordained by the Son of God. Peter, upon whom the Spirit of God rested as tongues of fire, as the Scriptures have it. This man stood up and argued the point, and explained about Jesus. And who can doubt the result? I am sure we would have been disappointed {126} if we had been told in the Bible that Peter was not successful. He was successful. Many believed on him, and the result of their belief was that they said, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts ii, 37). No wonder they asked that question. People who had either helped to crucify the Lord, or who had rejoiced when he was crucified, as many of them did, to be convinced that that same Jesus whom they had assisted to crucify was indeed the Lord, the Christ, and when they were convinced of this they cried out, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"

Peter was prepared to tell them. He had the very instructions that were needed, and the words of Peter are applicable to-day, my friends, to you and to me, so far as we have not obeyed them.

We are believers in Christ, I trust. We have fortunately made our appearance in this life, in the midst of a people who at least believe in the divinity of Christ, and we have received impressions favorable to this end; therefore the words of Peter, spoken to those who believed in the divinity of Christ, are applicable to us, and are the words of salvation to us, if that ancient Gospel is not changed. What were the words? He says, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts ii, 38).

Was that the Gospel? Yes, unless the apostles disobeyed the instructions of Christ, because they were sent to preach the Gospel, and they were endowed that they might preach it perfectly and represent God, the Maker of heaven and earth, in the words and spirit by which they presented it unto the people.

Now, my friends, faith in Christ was the first principle of the Gospel; repentance of sins was the second principle; baptism for the remission of sins was the third principle, and then the reception of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of hands, as taught by Peter on that day in Jerusalem. Is there any objection to this? "None at all," says one, "that is Scriptural; we cannot object to it." A Bible believer cannot object to it. But what is becoming of us if such doctrines are not taught? "Well," says one, "are they not taught?" No. "Faith in Christ" is taught, and "Repentance of sins is taught," although by some people the latter is taught first, before faith in Christ. Some teach that we must repent of our sins before we can have faith in Christ. This is a mistake. We cannot possibly repent of sin committed unless we are convinced that we have committed the sin. We cannot repent of laws broken, {127} which Jesus has taught through his apostles, unless we are first convinced that Jesus was divine, and had the authority to teach them; so that faith in Christ and his divine mission must be the foundation of our practice as Christians. And the first effect that faith in Christ produces, is repentance of the sins which we have committed. So repentance is the second principle of the Gospel. But we differ a little more about the third principle. Just read your Bible, and you will find that Peter taught baptism for the remission of sins (Acts ii, 38). Again, John the Baptist, who was the forerunner of Christ, baptized for the remission of sins (Mark, i, 4). "John was sent from God." You will find this in the 1st chapter of the Gospel according to St. John, 6th verse. John himself said, in the 33rd verse of the same chapter, "He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me," referring to the instructions he received from the Father regarding Christ. Both passages assert this, that John the Baptist was sent by God to baptize with water, and we are taught in the Bible that he did teach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. That is just what we might expect. John was God's servant. So was Peter. They both taught the same doctrine. John taught baptism, and Peter told the people to be baptized every one of them. You will remember the servant of God who was sent to speak to Paul, to instruct him just after his conversion. He went to him, and when the scales fell from the eyes of Paul, or Saul, this man of God said to him: "Why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord" (Acts xxii, 16.) Be baptized and wash away his sins? Yes. Now, that agrees exactly with the doctrine of Peter, and the doctrine of John the Baptist. They were all three servants of God, and they all taught the same doctrine, and those who heard and believed that doctrine possessed the self-same faith; so that so far as baptism is concerned, the ancient Saints did teach and practice the self-same doctrine--baptism for the remission of sins.

I want to talk a little about this. One says, "Well, I have always been taught that baptism was a doctrine of Christ anciently, but I have been under the impression that it was not necessary to salvation." That may be, my friends, we have been taught a great many things, and good Christian people have believed a great many things that Christian people have rejected since. But that is no reason why we should change the Bible doctrine. The thing is right here. "Well," says one, "I thought we were not able of ourselves to do anything to help to save ourselves." This requires proper understanding. {128} If baptism brings the remission of sins, and baptism is not attended to by us, we cannot obtain the blessing. Certainly not. God gives us bread to eat, but he does not present it to us. A man sows seed in the ground and he sees to it and he harvests it and it is threshed and prepared and placed before us in the shape of flour, but we have no disposition to deny that it is the gift of God. If it were not for God's goodness we should have no bread. If it were not for the gift of God, we could not attend to the ordinance that brings remission of sins. We have not power, of ourselves, to bring within our reach a single saving principle belonging to the plan of eternal life. It is all God's free gift. It is all in consequence of his mercy, and his charity, and his goodness and love, and pleasure manifested to us that we have any privilege at all that will help to make us better or that will bring us into his church and kingdom and give us a right to say that we are really his children. The fact that he has laid down ordinances, through which a remission of sins is brought to us does not warrant us in saying that we do it of ourselves, and when people talk like this it is likely to deceive.

Now, my friends, the Bible says, in the place I have quoted, that baptism is for the remission of sins. Do we believe this? If we do you know we must also come to the conclusion necessarily that we cannot have a remission of sins without it. If God has placed the ordinance of baptism in his church, as part of his divine system for a certain purpose, the object cannot be obtained without it. The means which God reveals for certain purposes must be used. We cannot say, and it would be unreasonable in us to say, that when God speaks from heaven in regard to any particular thing we can ignore his advice when we please and adopt something else that suits us. It is wrong, and it is this disposition that has led to the present deplorable state of things.

"Well," says one, "I have thought that baptism was for an outward sign of an inward grace, or of membership in the Church." Another error, you see! The Bible does not say anything about that. Of course the act of a person embracing the principles of the Gospel and becoming a member of the church, may be a sign, but baptism was not set in the church for that purpose. It was taught in the Church, and administered for the remission of sins and nothing else. And no man or woman can obtain a place in God's kingdom, or enjoy his presence here or hereafter, unless their sins are washed away in baptism, as Paul's were washed away when he accepted the advice of the good and inspired man, Ananias, who instructed him.

1{129} When I think of the importance of this offer which God has made, my heart is filled with thankfulness instead of a disposition to discard what he has taught. It is strange, and we can only account for it on the ground of the waywardness of men naturally, to think that we would attempt to do things in opposition to the will of God. Is there a more important blessing offered to mankind than the remission of sins? Have we any hope of enjoying the glory of God in our present sinful condition? Surely not, for nothing sinful or unholy can enter the courts of glory. Then if God has so put in his Church an ordinance for the purpose of enabling us, like Saul, to wash away our sins, why not be prepared to receive it with joy instead of cultivating or encouraging a disposition to ignore it?

Baptism for the remission of sins is the third principle of the Gospel of Christ. Then comes the ordinance of the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. Peter says on the day of Pentecost, to which we have directed your attention, "And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." What did that consist of? The gift of God's Spirit. The reception of God's power, a portion of his power. The reception of an influence which leads those who possess it near to God in their feelings and in their faith. A spirit which produces not only that inward consciousness of acceptance with God, as his son or daughter, but a power which gives outward manifestations of its divinity. Jesus did promise to the apostles when he sent them out first, that "These signs shall follow them that believe." Here are his words, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned, and these signs shall follow them that believe." The words of Christ, in the last chapter of Mark, 15th and following verses.

"Well," says one, "You know we do not believe in miracles now. These signs were miracles, but we do not believe in them now." That may he, my friends. This is the very reason why we are here, because there is such a great disbelief in the Bible; because there is a disposition to ignore the Bible; because there is a disposition to ignore the promises of Christ; and we wish to show you the things that are denied; we wish to point out to you the doctrines our fathers have denied; that our teachers have denied, and we wish to show you that they are in the Bible, the word of God, in the book which some have gone so far as to assert that the Saints do not believe in. But is it true that the promises of God were fulfilled anciently in regard to this matter? Yes! In the 19th {130} chapter and 6th verse of the Acts of the Apostles, you will find an instance related of the Apostles laying their hands on some that had been baptized, and they spake with tongues. This was one of the gifts that was manifested, in consequence of their receiving that spirit which produced them. See also Mark, 16th and 20th.

You must not consider that, in teaching these doctrines, we are advancing something of ourselves, something new. If we were teaching new doctrine you would have a right to call us to account and ask us for the proof. We are teaching old doctrine. We are teaching the New Testament doctrines, instead of those of our Christian friends. We have no spirit of enmity in the least degree, towards any living soul, and when we refer to the faith of our Christian friends remember, it is simply to make the difference between their views and ours more distinct to you. I say instead of our friends calling us to account, it is the Latter-day Saints who have the right to come out and say to their christian friends "See here, why do you deny signs which Christ said should follow believers?" What believers did Christ speak about? Why believers in his Gospel. He taught us that these signs should follow believers. Well then, if our Christian friends deny that, we have the right to call them to account. If Christ said that these miracles--manifestations of Almighty power--should follow the believers, I say what reason have you to deny it? The question is not now whether the Latter-day Saints possess the power or not. The question at issue at present is, not whether the teachers of other churches have the power or not. The question is, Does Christ promise that power to believers in the Gospel? I say he does, and I say that those who deny that such powers should follow believers, teach that which is contrary to the word of Christ, and contrary to the facts that appeared in connection with the teachings and administration of the doctrines of Christ. So that it is not the Latter-day Saints that introduce a new doctrine, and we say to our friends. Hear us, we beseech you. Hear the message we have to deliver, for God has sent us to teach the old religion, the religion of Jesus, the simple plan which was revealed from heaven in ancient days, to save the children of men.

Peter said, on the Day of Pentecost, speaking of the Gospel and its attendant blessings, "for this promise is unto you"--that is, to the people who stood before him--"to your children and unto all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."

You see it was not confined to the members of the church {131} in the first place, as some would have us believe. The promise of the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost was made to the children of those who heard Peter, and to all who were afar off, even as many as the Lord our God should call. And if it be true that God is calling sinners to repentance now, we should see the same power manifested to-day, that is, if we have the true Gospel. There can be no doubt of this.

Which will you have, my friends, the doctrine of the Bible or the doctrines of men? If you accept the doctrines of the Bible you will have to become Latter-day Saints, and of course that would be out of the question for a good many. But we cannot find these doctrines anywhere else, and that is a perplexity. What shall we do about them? When I am speaking to you I think of the position I occupied myself, when I heard the Latter-day Saints first. I went to their meeting, not expecting to hear anything that would interest me by any means, but I heard the Bible doctrine taught. I could not deny it. I found I had been mistaken. I did not incline in my heart to fight against God, but considerations came up. If I become a Latter-day Saint, people will call me a "Mormon." If I embrace these doctrines, my friends will point at me the finger of scorn. If I become a Latter-day Saint my good neighbors will say I am deceived and led astray, and that I have embraced a doctrine that is in opposition to the teachings of Christ. Of course these things flashed through my mind when I considered and read the Bible to ascertain positively whether these "Mormons" taught the truth or not. I thought this--well! I have been religious for the purpose of making my peace with God, but I have been mistaken and led astray by men whom God had not sent to preach the Gospel; but now I have found the truth, the old promises relating to God's power, all things as at the beginning, have been restored, and I have the promise of obtaining a place with the righteous, according to the mind and will of my Heavenly Father. Let friends say what they please, let them say I am deceived, but I believe this Bible is true. Let them say whatever they may in regard to my faith; no matter. I thought of the time of Christ. They called Christ hard names; and of the apostles they spake a great deal of evil. In fact the Bible says they called them all manner of evil, and although I expected my friends would denounce me, still when I thought of what Christ had suffered, I was reconciled and instead of fighting against God, I was willing to accept his doctrine, in order to obtain his blessings.

{132} I state to you my friends, that since the day I entered this Church, I have rejoiced exceedingly. I have found proofs upon proofs. I have had reason to rejoice in consequence of the manifestations of God's power, confirmatory of the doctrines, and I can say that the Church of Christ is set up, its doctrines are taught, its practices are practised, its promises are fulfilled, and the evidence of its divine power are manifested in the midst of this people.

I would like to say a few words in regard to another point. I have just said that I had been taught a religion by men whom God had not sent. I would like to explain. You will excuse us if we seem to be very extreme in our views. We have taken the liberty to teach you the truth, just as we have it, and when we say something that comes in contact with what you have received, excuse us. There is no bad feeling at all, or unfriendliness in the least. But we believe in persons being invested with the proper authority to preach the Gospel. Paul says, speaking of the authority of the holy priesthood, "No man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God as was Aaron" (Heb. 5, 4), Faith cometh by hearing, and how can we hear without a "preacher" (Rom. x, 14-17). "No man taketh this honor unto himself, except he be called of God as was Aaron." Now that is very plain, and what does it mean? Simply what it says. That no man has a right to administer in the ordinances of religion, except he be sent of God as was Aaron, for how can a man preach except he be sent? (Rom. x, 15). If that be admitted, of course the next question of importance is, How was Aaron sent? By turning to the history we have of God's dealings with Moses, in reference to the gathering of the Israelites, from Egypt, you will find that God instructed Moses to call Aaron to be his helper. (Ex. iv, 15, 16.) Here is the proof. No man can preach the Gospel simply because he feels inclined within himself to be a preacher. No man can preach the Gospel--that is with God's approval and authority--unless God commission him. God commissioned every one of his preachers in ancient times. He spoke from heaven. He directed those who held this authority to call others. Christ called the apostles as he was called. His Father called him: he called the apostles, and he said, "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you" (St. John xx, 21). "He that receiveth you receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me." The authority was here you see. God called Moses; he instructed Moses to call Aaron; so that Aaron stood exactly in the same relation to God as did the apostles: {133} the latter being called of God the Father through Christ. That would be evident, because one whom God had authorized to act as his servant was instructed by him to call Aaron. Now, you observe, no man has a right to exercise the authority of the Priesthood, unless he is called of God, as was Aaron.

Are the preachers--those who commonly preach in connection with the churches of the present day--called of God as was Aaron? Or, in other words, are they called by revelation from God? This is the question. We do not doubt the propriety of their being called in this way, because the Bible says they ought robe. Do our Protestant ministers, at the present time, profess to be sent of God as was Aaron? Is there a minister connected with the Christian denominations of the present day who professes to be sent of God by direct revelation? Not one. It does not require any argument at all. They do not profess that they have heard from God. They say that God has not spoken since the last book of the New Testament was written. They say it is a sin, and they find fault with the Latter-day Saints because we believe that God does speak; that he has a right to speak; and that it is necessary we should have his approval and commission in order to qualify us to attend to the business of his Church. So that our present Christian teachers do not profess to be called of God as was Aaron. They deny all revelation at present, or since the Bible was written.

You know the ministers, among their other errors, receive pay for preaching. That is an innovation also. The ancient apostles, and seventies, and bishops, and so on, were not paid for preaching. But our present ministers are. The preachers of this Church, with whom I am connected, are not paid for teaching. They preach without money, without purse, and without scrip. Now, the preachers of the present churches make a business of preaching. They learn to be preachers. They are brought up to be preachers in consequence of their parents or guides finding in this way a place where they make a living. Such ministers sometimes acknowledge one kind of revelation. Not that God tells the people about his will, or that he manifests his power, but they sometimes tell us they have received a call from one congregation to another. But there is one peculiarity about it, viz.: the congregation that calls them is a congregation that almost invariably offers them more money than the congregation to which they have been attached. This is the only instance of any kind of revelation being acknowledged by our Christian teachers. God has not spoken, say they, by inspired men, since the days of the ancient {134} apostles. He has not spoken directly to the Church. He has not authorized a single man to preach, but sometimes a call is given from less money to more. And though they are feeling full of love and affection for the congregation with which they have labored for years, yet they are sorry and regret so much that that call must be made, which takes them from among their old friends to a new congregation. But, you see, the new congregation offers the most money, and that cannot be disregarded.

My friends, these are a few of the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Are we displeased with anybody? No, not at all. All are at liberty to believe what they please. But we are placed under obligations to deliver the message which God has sent. We say we are not solely dependant on the Bible, because God has revealed the Gospel, and we possess a living Priesthood divinely appointed. We do not wish you to think that we regard the Bible lightly. Of course you will have noticed, from our remarks, that this is not the case. But we say from the Bible alone, without revelation, we could not have been able to obtain all the knowledge we have received. Why, millions of people have read the Bible but have not discovered some of these doctrines. They have not been led to preach even all the things contained therein, and if they had discovered the doctrine, this Bible cannot lay on hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. That part of the work that is necessary for man's salvation must be done by one whom God authorizes. Therefore the Bible alone is not sufficient. It contains the truth. It is the word of God. It contains the instructions of the apostles. But it does not contain the divine authority that is necessary to commission a man to baptize or administer in any ordinance pertaining to the house of God.

Now, my friends, may God bless you. And my brethren and sisters, may the Holy Spirit, which leads into all truth, abide upon us, and may we who have found the truth have a disposition to retain it. May we have the moral courage to say, "Let God be served. Let his truth be obeyed." Let the Almighty be honored, and if other people choose to follow their own fancies, or the deceptions presented before them by men whom God has not sent, as for us and our house, let us serve God.

May God bless us, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

{135}

He that judgeth a matter before he heareth it is not wise.--Solomon.

THE ONLY TRUE GOSPEL, OR THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN FAITH.

BY WILLIAM BUDGE,

An Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"Prove all things: hold fast that which is good."--1 Thess. v, 21.

"And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto nations, and then shall the end come."--Matt. xxiv. 14.

At a time like the present, when all society is impressed with a foreboding of coming changes in the affairs of men, we may, with propriety, call the attention of those who look to the Scriptures for divine guidance to the foregoing important text. It was given by the Savior as a warning, and its fulfillment is to be a sign of the end of the world as it is, under man's dominion, and of the coming of Jesus Christ, according to the predictions of the Prophets. It is like all other warnings given of God, simple, easy to be understood, and sure to be fulfilled. Let us try to understand its meaning and spirit, without prejudice and in the fear of God.

What is to be understood by this Gospel of the kingdom? Is it possible that another Gospel might have been mistaken for the one of which Jesus spoke? Paul, in his epistle to the Galatians (1-8, 9), prohibits any one from preaching any other Gospel than he had preached, and, no doubt, it was the danger of a false or perverted Gospel being accepted for the true one which led the Savior to express himself as he did, when he said this Gospel. He certainly had reference to the Gospel which he had taught and sent his Apostles to teach, and to none other. Let us try to find it. There is no other religious system like it, and we cannot find it unless we are guided strictly by the word of God.

{136} It is important it should be known to us, so that when it is preached as a "sign" of coming judgments and of the end of the world, we may be enabled to recognize it. Some may say, "we have had the Gospel preached for generations." Not the Gospel spoken of by Jesus, for its restoration was to be a Latter-day work and a "sign" or warning; something strange and remarkable. An appeal to the word of God will, however, decide the matter for such as seek the truth, and if we teach not according to the Scriptures, there can be no light in us. Besides, Christianity, as it is called, is represented by many forms and faiths, and without reference to the Bible it would be very difficult to make a distinction with any degree of assurance. We could not accept all the systems of Christianity as the Gospel of Christ, for the Apostle Paul says there is but one faith (Eph. 4-5), and to receive one religious system on the recommendation of its teachers as the true Gospel, and reject all the rest, without a substantial Scriptural reason, would be unwise, as we would still be in doubt. The true Gospel is one, not many systems. All but one are perversions of the Gospel of Christ, as truly now as anciently. I submit that the surest way to find the Gospel is to find it from the revelations of God, as taught by Jesus and other inspired men, and accept their doctrines even if we must, by so doing, reject the faith of our fathers, as it is God's ways and not man's we should seek and walk in, if we wish to obtain eternal life. Jesus says to his Apostles (Mark 16-15), "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature," and we believe they did so, and will endeavor to find what their instructions were. What effect did Jesus expect from the preaching? faith, for he continues (Mark 16-16) by saying, "he that believeth," etc., shall be saved. Again, Paul, when asked by the jailor what he should do to be saved, says (Acts 16-30, 31), "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," both of which Scriptures establish the fact that faith is the first principle or condition upon which salvation is promised; or, in other words, the first principle of the Gospel of Christ, or the beginning of true Christian worship. Faith must be the first principle of revealed religion as it is the first effect created in us, through the administration of the word. We hear and faith is the first consequence, the most immediate, natural and unchangeable result. The Scriptures say (Rom. 10-17), "faith cometh by hearing," and our experience confirms this. The principles of the Gospel are always the same, for the same purpose, and invariably taught in the same order.

Repentance of all sin is the second principle of the unchangeable {137} plan through which salvation is promised. Peter, the Apostle, tells the gathered multitude on the day of Pentecost, who already believed that Jesus was the Christ, and who then asked what they should do, that they should repent, and be baptized every one of them. (Acts 2-38). Repentance, according to the Scriptures, follows faith. But is it necessarily so? It is, for we cannot repent before we believe; we cannot repent of sin against God, until we believe that there is a God. We cannot repent of a wrong done by us, against our fellow-man until we believe we have wronged him. The propriety of the advice of the Apostle is very apparent. His hearers, under the influence of the power which rested upon the Apostles, believed that he whom they had crucified was the Christ. Repentance of the part they took in that great wickedness was to be expected. Baptism, being promised after repentance, and the history stating that many were baptized, we must conclude that repentance was a result of the preaching, and that effect agrees with the organization of our natures.

Baptism is the third principle of the Gospel of Christ, and follows repentance; Peter places it there when he says, "Repent and be baptized," and John preached the "Baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." (Mark 1-4). A little reflection will show how consistent the Scriptural citations are. Baptism is an ordinance of the Gospel, administered for a special purpose--as well as being simply a commandment, namely: for the "remission of sins." It is not reasonable to suppose that any person could receive the remission or forgiveness of sins without repentance, or that any one would desire baptism that his sins might be washed away (Acts 22-10) without having already repented. Baptism necessarily follows repentance, as through its administration the sins repented of are remitted: thus our necessities, and the Scriptures are in unison. This order must be right, as each principle follow as an effect of the one preceding it.

We will trace the Gospel plan a little further. It is a code of divine laws, calculated to improve the human race. Being perfect, every principle is revealed in its order, and for its own special purpose. Faith, Repentance and Baptism, as taught in the foregoing pages, administered by one having authority, prepares a disciple to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, as promised in Acts 2-38, which is the Comforter spoken of by Jesus, that would lead the Saints into all truth. How consistent are the doctrines of Christ, as taught in the word of God. Faith is begotten in the human mind by preaching, repentance naturally follows, and baptism is then administered {138} that the sins repented of may be washed away, preparing the sinner for the greatest gifts of God to man, the Holy Spirit, which is the seal of adoption into the Kingdom of God. No man can enter into the Kingdom except he be born of the water and of the Spirit (John 3-5).

The Holy Spirit, the Comforter, is given to all those who comply with the conditions herein set forth, by the laying on of the hands of the Elders of the Church of Christ, according to the ancient practice (Acts 8-18), in explanation of which I will quote from Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians, 12th chap., 4th to the 12th verse:

"Now there are diversities of gifts, by the same Spirit.

"And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

"And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

"But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

"For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

"To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

"To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues.

"But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ."

The fact of these miracles not existing in the so-called Christian churches of the present day, is no reason that we should deny the necessity of their existence. If they were enjoyed by the early Saints, why should not the Saints of God possess them now? If God promised these gifts to all those who kept his commandments in former times, and to their children, and to all that were afar off, even unto as many as the Lord our God should call (Acts 2-39), why should not the Church enjoy them now? If they were necessary for the comfort, encouragement, or edifying of the ancient Church (1 Cor. 14-12), why should not the followers of Christ be benefitted by them now? To these questions we can only answer, there is no reason. The word of God directs us to seek for and cultivate them (1 Cor. 14-1 & 39). We should therefore be prepared to reject every statement to the effect {139} that our heavenly Father did not intend that they should continue on the earth, as the promises of God are true, and not one jot or tittle of them will fall to the ground unfulfilled.

The next question of importance connected with this subject is that of authority; the authority which man must hold from God to make his administrations valid. We should not be prepared to acknowledge the action of any man who might take upon himself the direction of our affairs, but we ought to be prepared to sustain those whom we send or have commissioned to represent us. We understand this well enough to know that we should not expect a firm or company to be responsible to us for what a pretended agent might promise. It would simply be absurd on our part to do so. How much less then could we look for our heavenly Father to sustain those who administer in holy things without authority from Him? How foolish for us to expect that the special blessings of the Almighty would follow the pretensions of a fraud!

We are instructed by the words of Jesus, when He said, "As my Father sent me, so send I you" (John 20-21). And we are warned by Paul in the following words: "And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God as was Aaron" (Heb. 5-4.) The honor here referred to is the "Priesthood," or the authority to administer in the things of God, as will be seen by reference to the preceding verses. How was Aaron called? We answer by direct revelation from God (Ex. 4, 14 to 16). Modern ministers are now set apart by men who deny the necessity of revelation altogether, or take unto themselves the authority they seem to have, because they feel they are called to preach and administer in the ordinances of the House of God. There is in this no higher calling than may be found among the Hindoos, and the anger of the Lord is kindled against all those who solemnly attempt to usurp the powers and privileges of the holy "Priesthood," and he will destroy their influence among the people.

Beloved friends, be not deceived by those who take unto themselves the "honor" of the Priesthood, and who preach for hire and divine for money, for they are not sent, and they preach not according to the law and the testimony, and Paul says that if "we or an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed" (Gal. 1-8).

The principles herein explained are true and faithful, and confirmed by Holy Writ. The Elders of the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," who preach them, have not discovered {140} them by their own wisdom, for they have been revealed from heaven, by the power of God, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and are now being preached as a witness of the speedy coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This Gospel is preached as before without money and without price, by those whom God has sent, who have met with opposition in every form, and many of them have suffered even unto death. Still the work is onward, the kingdom is being set up, and it will grow and increase until it fills the whole earth.

We testify of its divinity, and that it is being preached in fulfillment of the prediction of Christ, as a "witness" to all nations of his near approach. But "as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man" (Matt. 24-37 to 40); many will reject the message and perish.

LIVERPOOL, February 1st, 1879.

We came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure before God in the Celestial Kingdom. The great principle of happiness consists in having a body. The devil has none, and this is his punishment. When cast out by the Savior he asked to go into the herd of swine, preferring a swine's body to none.

--Joseph Smith, The Prophet.

{141}

JOSEPH THE PROPHET.

BY ELDER B. H. ROBERTS, IN THE CONTRIBUTOR, 1890.

Among those who may be accounted the benefactors of our race, we claim for the Prophet Joseph Smith, the second place. To Him who died that man might live, upon whom was laid the iniquity of us all; by whose stripes we are healed; who brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel; who by way of pre-eminence is called the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father--to Him must be assigned, forever, the first place among the benefactors of mankind. And next to him is the Prophet, who was chosen to stand at the head of the dispensation of the fullness of times.

Born in obscurity--in the western wilds of the state of New York, and of humble parents, without the advantages of worldly education; with no knowledge of ancient languages or history to begin with; untutored in the sciences, and unlearned in theology, Joseph Smith has done more for the salvation of the children of men than any reformer, theologian or ecclesiastic that has lived since the days of the earthly ministry of the Son of God. It is to prove his right and title to the high place we have assigned him in the roll of honor--in the list of the benefactors of humanity--that this paper is written, rather than to give a biographical sketch of his well known career.

Notwithstanding the very explicit revelation, which God had given of himself; of His person, His attributes, His powers, through His Son Jesus Christ; for in Him dwelt all the fullness of the God-head bodily, the world had gone far astray, in its conception and knowledge of God. Men had conjured up to themselves a being without body, without parts and passions, and worshiped it for God--a being that never was, nor is, nor ever shall be. Of the absurdity of such a description of God, however, we need not speak.

Another idea equally false and equally baneful in its effects on true religion, and as universally accepted as the above conception of the being and character of Deity, was the doctrine that the volume of revelation was closed.

Such was the state of the world in respect to these matters, when Joseph Smith announced that he had received a {142} new revelation; that he had seen both the Father and the Son, and had conversed with them in a glorious vision, in the full light of day. His testimony was that both Father and Son possessed a body, parts, organs, dimensions in form like man, and each resembled the other. This revelation was soon followed by the visitation of an angel, Moroni, one of the ancient Prophets of the American continent, who made known the existence of the Book of Mormon; a volume of scripture compiled from the voluminous records kept by that enlightened people, who anciently inhabited America, the ruins of whose civilization are the astonishment of the archaeologists of today. Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, by the means of the Urim and Thummim, from the ancient and now unknown language in which it was written, into English, and thus gave the world a new volume of scripture, equal in bulk and equal in importance to the New Testament. Thus, since faith is bottomed on evidence, the foundation of faith was widened. The world now had two volumes of scripture instead of one; the testimony of each sustaining the other. That volume of scripture is not the voice of one witness merely, but like the Bible it contains the testimony of many witnesses for God. Who can estimate the value of this work, that comes in a day when unbelief is prevalent in the earth, to renew and sustain the sinking faith of humanity!

While yet the work of translating this valuable book was in progress, the Prophet and Oliver Cowdery were visited by John the Baptist, whom God had raised from the dead, and he conferred upon them an Aaronic Priesthood, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels; of the Gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. This ordination, therefore, gave the Prophet and his fellow laborer the authority to preach repentance and baptism. They began by baptizing each other.

Subsequently they were ordained to the Apostleship under the hands of the Apostles Peter, James and John. This gave them the right and power to build up the Church and Kingdom of God in all the world. Accordingly on the 6th of April, 1830, the Prophet organized the Church. The Gospel began to be publicly proclaimed; those who believed were baptized for the remission of sins; received the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost; and the gifts and powers of that spirit were manifested among the Saints by speaking in tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, inspired dreams, healing the sick, and all those gracious gifts and powers enjoyed by the ancient Saints. High Priests, Elders, Bishops, {143} Priests, Teachers and Deacons, were ordained as the work of the ministry increased. Branches of the Church were organized, and men holding proper authority set to preside over them. Finally these branches were grouped together and organized into stakes of Zion, with a presidency of three High Priests to preside over them. High Councils, consisting of twelve High Priests, with the Presidency of the Stake, as the presidency thereof were organized, forming courts possessing both original and appellate jurisdiction in the ecclesiastical affairs of the stakes, in which they were respectively established.

In 1835 he organized a quorum of the Twelve Apostles, men who are chosen especially to be witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ, and who constitute a traveling High Council, with authority to regulate all the affairs of the Church in all the world. At the same time quorums of seventy were organized to be their helps in the ministry, this being an order of the Priesthood designed to travel and preach the Gospel in all the nations of the earth. Thus he organized the Church and all the quorums thereof. But he did more than that.

In the Book of Mormon it is predicted that a splendid city called Zion, or New Jerusalem shall be built upon this continent, a city noted not for its manufactories, nor for commerce; but for its temples and sanctuaries for worship and learning; a city on which the glory of God will shine. The place where this city and where the chief temple is to be built was indicated by the Prophet, and the temple site dedicated under his direction. This was at Independence, Jackson county, Missouri. Between twelve and fifteen hundred of the Saints gathered to that place to lay the foundation of the city of Zion, but their enemies prevented them by driving them away from the lands they had purchased, and burning their houses Thus the work was hindered for the time being, but the location of Zion was pointed out, a commencement was made, and eventually the design of the Lord will be accomplished.

A temple was designed by the Prophet and built by the united efforts of the Saints at Kirtland, Ohio. In it the Lord Jesus appeared to the Prophet Joseph and Oliver Cowdery, and declared His acceptance of the house which had been built to His name. On the same occasion Moses the great leader and law giver to ancient Israel, appeared to them and committed upon them the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four quarters of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north. Thus the power to restore {144} Israel to their lands, from which they have long been exiled, was given to him; and the work of the gathering which ultimately will result in the restoration of all the tribes of Israel to their possessions has begun.

While he was in Nauvoo he translated from the rolls of Egyptian papyrus, obtained from the catacombs of Egypt, the Book of Abraham, containing an account of the patriarch's sojourn in Egypt, and many important principles relative to the work of God in the salvation of man. He also made an inspired translation, or, what would be more properly called an inspired revision of the Jewish Scriptures--the Bible. That work, however, was not published during his life time, and is practically lost to the world, because it is questionable if those into whose hands his manuscript fell have preserved the integrity of his work.

We should fall very short of stating the extent of the great work of the Prophet Joseph, if we stopped with what he did for the children of men this side of the grave. His work did not stop there. It reached beyond. At the time Moses visited him and committed to him the keys of the gathering of Israel, the Prophet Elijah came also, and revealed those principles of which the prophet Malachi speaks, which are to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers. The principles then revealed brought to light the doctrine of salvation for the dead.

Thus the work accomplished through the Prophet Joseph effects two worlds--the spiritual world as well as the one in which we dwell; and already the work in the former exceeds that which has been done in the latter. Salvation has been carried to those who sit in darkness in the spirit world; their hearts have been made glad and have been turned to their children, who can administer in the ordinance of salvation for them. A perfect flood of light has been thrown upon the sentence uttered by one of the prophets of old, who in speaking of the fathers, said: "They without us cannot be made perfect."

Nor must we omit to mention the new light which the Prophet shed upon the relationship of husband and wife. Under the darkness of an apostate Christianity, men and women were content to be united together, as husband and wife, until death did them part; but the Prophet Joseph brought forth the principle that the union of man and wife was designed in the economy of God to be eternal; that it was the means through which the race of the Gods was {145} multiplied and new kingdoms added to the dominions of the great Eloheim; and that as long as there was room in infinite space, or elements in the exhaustless store-house of nature, or as long as the bosom of the Gods glowed with affection, just so long would new worlds be created and peopled with the ever increasing offspring of the righteous.[A]

[Footnote A: The substance of the latter part of this paragraph is taken from P. P. Pratt's Key to Theology.]

Nor did he merely teach this principle as a theory; a beautiful thing to be contemplated at a distance; but qualified with the possession of that God-given power which binds on earth and in heaven, and so directed of the Lord, he established this order of marriage in the Church--an order in which tens of thousands rejoice, as they look forward with joyful anticipation, to an eternal union, with the families they have raised up in this life, in the midst of hopes and fears, poverty and toil, sickness and tears.

Such are the chief things accomplished by this great Prophet. We have given but an outline of his work. A volume would scarce suffice to point out its importance, or trace out its relationship to the general designs of the Lord in respect to the redemption of our earth and its inhabitants. It cannot be expected that we shall undertake it in this brief article. Let it be sufficient here to say that even our imperfect enumeration of what he did will prove what was claimed in the outset, viz.: That Joseph Smith, despised as he was by the world, has done more than any other man, save Jesus Christ, for the salvation of our race.

That the work he accomplished during his brief, but glorious career, was wonderful, goes without saying. The wonder grows upon us as we take into account the circumstances under which he did it. His life's labor was performed in the midst of stupendous difficulties. Opposition met him at every turn. Religious bigotry now ridiculed him for a fool, and now denounced him a knave; now claiming that he was beneath contempt; and now that he was the most dangerous imposter that had arisen since Mohammed, and invoked all powers at its command for his destruction. Poverty, hardship, and the hatred of his fellow men, dogged his footsteps through all his life. He was waylaid by assassins, beaten by mobs, cast into prisons, robbed of his property, worried with vexatious law suits, dragged before judges and betrayed by false brethren. He himself said in speaking of his life: "I have waded in tribulation neck-deep, but every {146} wave that has struck me has but wafted me nearer to Deity."

Such were the circumstances under which he stood forth as a witness for God; brought forth new volumes of scripture; restored to earth the Gospel of the Son of God, with authority to administer the ordinances thereof; organized the Church; set in order the quorums of the Priesthood, and defined their duties and powers; sent the Gospel into every state of the Union, into Canada and England; laid the foundation for the gathering of Israel; opened the door for the salvation of the dead; commenced the work of building up Zion; founded Kirtland, Far West and Nauvoo, with its magnificent temple--a work accomplished under circumstances which give him a fame and name that cannot be slain, but which will grow brighter as time on silent wheels rolls by.

So soon as we discover ourselves in a fault, we should repent of that wrong doing and as far as possible repair or make good the wrong we may have committed.

--Lorenzo Snow.

There is nothing that will lead to damnation and destruction quicker than self-justification of sin.

--Brigham Young.

{147}

FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE TRUE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.

J. H. PAUL.

The question "What shall I do to be saved?" involves the fate of every man and woman on earth; and rational persons cannot rest satisfied until they have a correct understanding in regard to it.

[Sidenote: First principles.]

[Sidenote: Heb. 6: 1, 2.]

The Scriptures teach that the first step toward salvation is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; that the second step is to repent and turn from sin; that the third step is to be baptized by immersion for the remission of sins; and that the fourth step is to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands by those having authority to confer it. These are first among the saving principles of the Gospel of Christ; and while men may claim that the requirements instituted by Him for the salvation of mankind are no longer necessary, the sincere seeker after salvation will prefer to believe the revealed word of God.

IS BELIEF ALONE SUFFICIENT?

[Sidenote: Rom. 1: 16. Heb. 11: 6.]

The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; and "without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." But what constitutes the faith and belief named here? Is it a mere intellectual assent or opinion? Must we also do as well as believe?

[Sidenote: Genuine Belief.]

[Sidenote: John 17: 3. 1 John 2: 3, 4.]

The beloveth disciple writes: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Construe this statement with another passage of Scripture, "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, {148} and the truth is not in him." The devils believe--and tremble. James 2: 19.

[Sidenote: Matt. 28: 19, 20.]

Jesus said to his apostles: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." The disciples were sent to teach all nations, and they were instructed to enjoin obedience to "all things whatsoever" Christ gave as commandments. His language is so comprehensive that no command can be omitted.

[Sidenote: Gal. 3: 7.]

[Sidenote: John 8: 39.]

[Sidenote: Gen. 26: 5.]

[Sidenote: James 1: 22.]

"Know ye therefore, that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham." But, "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham." "Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."

[Sidenote: Faith and works.]

[Sidenote: James 2: 14-22.]

"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?"

[Sidenote: Luke 6: 46.]

[Sidenote: Luke 11: 28.]

[Sidenote: John 14: 15-21.]

[Sidenote: Rev. 22: 14.]

"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" "But he said, Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." "If ye love me, keep my commandments. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Salvation is won by the works of a lifetime.

REPENT OR PERISH.

[Sidenote: True repentance.]

[Sidenote: Luke 18: 13.]

[Sidenote: Ezek. 18: 30.]

[Sidenote: Luke 13: 5.]

[Sidenote: Matt. 3: 7, 8.]

Belief in God is followed by an utterance which lies deep in the troubled heart of man: "God be merciful to me, a sinner!" The answer of the Almighty to the godly sorrow of His penitent children is: "Repent, and turn yourself from all your transgressions." "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Genuine repentance is such a sorrow for past sin as produces a reformation of life, and bears fruit in good works. It leads him that steals to steal no more; him that gets drunk {149} to break from that habit; him that blasphemes to desist from that evil and learn to do well. All need to repent. Even the best men fall far short of their ideal. Repentance is therefore one of the conditions of salvation. It must precede the forgiveness of sins; and those who do not repent are not eligible for baptism.

IS BAPTISM ESSENTIAL TO SALVATION?

[Sidenote: The counsel of God.]

One of the most remarkable fallacies of modern times is the wide-spread doctrine that we can be saved without complying with the ordinances and other requirements which our Savior instituted for the salvation of men.

[Sidenote: Luke 7: 29, 30.]

John the Baptist, a servant of the Most High, taught and administered baptism; the Lord said that those who received this baptism justified God, but that there were others who "rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him." Now, men cannot be saved by rejecting the counsel of God against themselves. Then, as it is the counsel of God for men to be baptized, they cannot be saved without baptism, which is therefore essential to salvation.

[Sidenote: The command of God.]

[Sidenote: Acts 11: 14.]

[Sidenote: Acts 10: 48.]

The Lord sent His angel to Cornelius, and told him to send for Peter, who would tell him words whereby he and all his house should be saved. Cornelius did so, and when the Apostle came, "he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord." If Cornelius had rejected baptism as non-essential, could he have been saved? No; for the angel informed him that Peter would tell him how to be saved, and the Apostle "commanded them to be baptized." The righteous man had to be baptized.

[Sidenote: Baptism essential.]

[Sidenote: Gal. 3: 26, 27.]

The Apostle Paul says: "Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." If it is necessary "to put on Christ" to obtain salvation, then it is essential to be baptized, for we put on Christ by baptism.

[Sidenote: Mark 16: 15.]

The Lord Jesus, in sending out His Apostles, said: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not," (and consequently is not baptized) "shall be damned." Here the Lord positively declares that it is only the baptized believer who shall be saved.

[Sidenote: The new birth.]

[Sidenote: John 3: 5.]

Jesus said to Nicodemus: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water" (that is, baptized in water) "and of the Spirit," (that is, baptized in the Spirit) "he cannot {150} enter into the kingdom of God." If entering the kingdom of God is essential to salvation, then being "born of water," or being baptized, is essential also, for by doing the latter we make the former possible.

BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD.

[Sidenote: The thief on the cross.]

[Sidenote: John 20: 11-17.]

Some have supposed that the thief who was crucified beside the Lord went to heaven, and it is believed that he was not baptized; therefore, it is argued, if one can be saved without baptism, others can. But the supposition is incorrect: Jesus said to the thief, "to-day shalt thou be with me in paradise," and three days afterwards said to Mary, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father." By this we learn that paradise and heaven are two distinct places, and as Jesus did not go to heaven on the day He was crucified, neither did the thief; for they were both together in paradise.

[Sidenote: The dead preached to.]

[Sidenote: I Peter 4: 6.]

Here the seeker after truth may properly inquire. "If it is necessary for all men and women to be baptized, what will become of the good people who have died without having that privilege?" To this the reply of the Scriptures is that the dead who died without hearing the Gospel will have it preached to them. They who obey it will be saved, but they who reject it will be condemned, as though they were in the flesh. "For this cause was the Gospel preached" [by Christ] "to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh."

[Sidenote: The dead baptized for.]

[Sidenote: I Cor. 15: 29.]

[Sidenote: The Spirits in prison.]

[Sidenote: I Peter 3: 18-20.]

"But a dead person cannot be baptized," says one. Very true; but God is just. He has provided a way in which the dead can be baptized for, by the living, as shown by the Apostle Paul in his questions: "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?" Paul referred to baptism for the dead, as a proof of the resurrection, his questions showing plainly that "baptism for the dead" was both believed in and practiced by the early Christians. Peter says: "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometimes were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water." That is: Those who rejected the Gospel in the days of Noah were kept in the prison of the spirit world until the Gospel was {151} again offered to them; and the same fate awaits all those who in this life reject this glad message.

OBJECT OR PURPOSE OF BAPTISM.

[Sidenote: The remission of sins.]

[Sidenote: Mark 1: 4.]

When John was in the wilderness he preached the "baptism of repentance for the remission of sins."

[Sidenote: Acts 2: 38.]

"On the day of Pentecost, many persons were convinced that Jesus was the Christ, and cried out, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Peter replied: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins."

Here we find the inspired Apostle, after Christ's ascension into heaven, teaching that baptism is for the remission of sins.

[Sidenote: The case of Paul.]

[Sidenote: Acts 22: 16.]

Paul saw a vision in which he was directed to go to a certain place, where it should be told him what to do. He did so, and there fasted and prayed three days. Then the Lord sent to him Ananias, who said, "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins." Why did not the Lord remit Paul's sins through his fasting and prayer? For the reason that He has instituted baptism for that purpose, and all who desire the blessing of remission of sins must comply with His law.

[Sidenote: "Inward grace."]

"But," says one, "that doctrine is strange to me; I was always taught that baptism was an outward sign of an inward grace." No such doctrine can be sustained by the Scripture. You must be baptized and have your sins washed away before you are even prepared for the reception of an "inward grace."

"But Peter tells us," urges the objector, "that baptism is 'not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God.'" And Peter states the truth. Ananias did not tell Paul to be baptized and wash away "the filth of the flesh," but to be baptized and wash away his sins.

[Sidenote: Infant baptism.]

[Sidenote: Mark 10: 14.]

Infant baptism is contrary to reason and Scripture; infants are without sin; "of such is the kingdom of heaven." It is true that the sin of Adam passed upon all mankind; but Christ took that sin upon Himself and atoned for it upon the cross. The Bible teaches that the sins for which men should be baptized are their individual sins, and not the sin they were born in, for the Lord Jesus atoned for that.

[Sidenote: Forgiveness is the gift of God.]

[Sidenote: Acts 8: 18.]

It will not do to say that baptism remits a man's sins, for that is the work of the Lord. The "laying on of hands" does not give the Holy Ghost, for it is the "gift of God." The {152} blowing of rams' horns did not throw down the walls of Jericho; it was the power of Jehovah. "Simon saw that through the laying on of the Apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given."

MODE OF BAPTISM.

[Sidenote: Buried in water.]

[Sidenote: Eph. 4: 5.]

[Sidenote: Rom. 6: 4, 5.]

[Sidenote: Mark 1: 10.]

[Sidenote: Col. 2: 12.]

[Sidenote: John 3: 23.]

The mode of baptism was also designated by the Lord, and His instructions were strictly obeyed by His servants. Paul testifies that there is "one Lord, one faith, one baptism," and describes the manner in which the ordinance was performed: "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." As the Lord had been buried in the watery element in the river Jordan, "coming up out of the water," so also were the Saints "buried with him in baptism;" they received the ordinance by immersion in the same element, according to the prescribed method. John baptized "in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there."

[Sidenote: Born again.]

[Sidenote: Matt. 3: 13-17.]

[Sidenote: Acts 8: 17-19.]

[Sidenote: Acts 19: 5, 6.]

Jesus insisted on receiving baptism "to fulfill all righteousness." When he had been "born of water," and had come up out of that element, the Spirit of God came upon Him, and the voice of God was heard: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." This is the pattern. So likewise the repentant believer goes down into the water, with the one sent of God to baptize, and is buried therein and raised up again in the likeness of Christ's resurrection; he is thus born of the water, receiving the baptism appointed by the Lord; the remission of his sins comes from God through His Son Jesus Christ, and is given in baptism; he is cleansed and purified, his past sins are blotted out; he is like a newborn babe before his God, and is then prepared to receive the Holy Ghost, which "dwelleth not in unclean tabernacles," and which is imparted to the baptized believer by the laying on of hands by those having authority to officiate in this ordinance. As his body was enveloped in the waters of baptism, so his soul is enveloped in the Holy Ghost, and he is baptized with divine fire; he is "born of water and of the Spirit," and made a citizen of the kingdom of God.

AUTHORITY TO BAPTIZE.

[Sidenote: Called of God.]

[Sidenote: Heb. 5: 4.]

[Sidenote: Exod. 4: 14-16.]

The Scriptures also teach that, for the ordinance to be effectual, it must be performed by one authorized to act in {153} the name of the Lord; for "no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." Aaron was called by the voice of God, through Moses.

[Sidenote: Divine authority.]

[Sidenote: Matt. 28: 19.]

[Sidenote: Mark 3: 14.]

[Sidenote: John 15: 16.]

The Savior commanded His Apostles to "teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." But He had given them the divine commission to act in His name wheresoever He should send them: "He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that he might send them forth to preach." The divine authority which they possessed was the source of their power. This fact He impressed upon them, saying: "ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." If they had started out on their own authority without being chosen, God certainly would not have recognized ordinances performed by them in His name.

[Sidenote: Imperfect baptism is not baptism.]

[Sidenote: Acts 19: 11-16.]

[Sidenote: Acts 19: 1-6.]

The Apostle Paul, by the power of God, cast out evil spirits; but when the sons of Sceva, on whom the divine authority had not been conferred, attempted to do this, they met with failure. When the Apostle went to Ephesus, he found certain persons who claimed to have been baptized "unto John's baptism." Paul discerned that they had not received John's baptism, for they knew nothing of the Holy Ghost. Probably some unauthorized person--perhaps with good intent, but nevertheless without authority--had been along that way baptizing "unto John's baptism," but not with it, for that could only be done by a duly commissioned servant of God. After they received a proper understanding of the true ordinance they were baptized again, "and when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied."

[Sidenote: Go thou and do likewise.]

The experience of the men of Ephesus affords an interesting lesson. They had been mistaken, but when the truth was presented to them they accepted it gladly. They received the Gospel ordinance, viz.: Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, administered by one having divine authority; the burial in, and the birth from the watery element, without which ordinance the Lord has said that no man can enter the kingdom of heaven. "Enter ye in at the strait gate" that leads to life eternal.

{154}

ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK OF MORMON.

Suggestions to the Reader.

BY ELDER B. H. ROBERTS.

The reader of the Book of Mormon will do well to remember that it is a translation of a record inscribed on gold plates, which was an abridgment made from more extensive records kept by the ancient civilized peoples of America--chiefly by the people known in the Book of Mormon as Nephites. The abridgment, for the most part, is made by one Mormon, a Nephite prophet who was born 311 A.D., and slain by his enemies in the year 400 A.D. The parts which are not his abridgment are the first 157 pages (N. E.), which bring us to the "Words of Mormon," page 158; and from page 563 (N. E.) to the end of the volume--sixty pages.

This latter part of the record was made by Moroni, the son of Mormon, who was also the one who hid up the plates containing his father's and his own abridgment, in the year 421 A.D.; and who, having been raised from the dead, revealed the existence of these plates to Joseph Smith, on the 21st of September, 1823. The first 157 pages are a verbatim translation from what are known as the "smaller plates" of Nephi--we will explain.

The first Nephi, who left Jerusalem with a small company of colonists led out from that city by his father, Lehi, 600 B.C., and who afterwards became their leader, prophet, and their first king, made two sets of plates, on which he proposed engraving the history of his people. On the larger of these two sets he engraved an account of his father's life, travels, prophecies, etc., together with his genealogy; and upon them also he recorded a full history of the wars and contentions of his people, as also their travels, and an account of the cities they founded and colonies they established. These larger plates were preserved in the care of succeeding kings, or judges of the republic when the kingdom was transformed into one; and, in a word, upon them was written a full history of the rise and fall of the nations which existed in America from the landing of this colony from Jerusalem to 400 A.D., a period of nearly one thousand years.

{155} It is quite evident that as these plates were transmitted from king to king, or from one ruling judge of the republic to another, or given into the possession of a prophet, that they each recorded the historical events of his own day, and gave to such account his own name--hence Mormon found in these "larger plates" of Nephi--the Book of Mosiah, the Book of Alma, the Book of Helaman, etc.

Furthermore, it happened that there were colonies from time to time that drifted off into distant parts of the land, and became lost for a season to the main body of the people; and there were missionary expeditions formed for the conversion of the Lamanites; and these parties, whether missionary or colonial, generally kept records; and when these colonists or missionary parties were found, or returned to the main body of the people, their records were incorporated within the main record, being kept by the historian--hence there was, sometimes, a book within a book, and the current of events was interrupted to record the history of these detached portions of the people, or some important missionary expedition.

Mormon, when abridging these plates of Nephi, gave to each particular division of his abridgment the name of the book from which he had taken his account of the events recorded--hence the Books of Mosiah, Alma, Helaman and III. and IV. Nephi in his abridgment. He also, in some instances at least, followed the subdivisions we have alluded to, hence we have the record of Zeniff within the Book of Mosiah (page 181, N. E.); the account of the church founded by the first Alma (page 213); and the account of the missionary expeditions of the sons of Mosiah to the Lamanites within the Book of Alma (page 283).

Again we caution the reader to remember that the Book of Mormon is, for the most part, an abridgment from the "larger plates" of Nephi; but it is quite evident that Mormon frequently came to passages upon the plates of Nephi which pleased him so well that he transcribed them upon the plates containing his abridgment, verbatim. An example of this will be found beginning on page 163, in the second line of the ninth paragraph, and ending with page 169--the words of King Benjamin to his people. The words of King Benjamin are also renewed on page 170, in the second line of the fourth paragraph, and continue to the close of the chapter. There are many such passages throughout Mormon's abridgment.

In addition to this, Mormon frequently introduces remarks of his own by way of comment, warning, prophecy or admonition, and since there is nothing in the text, either quotation {156} marks or a change of type to indicate where these comments, or what we might call annotations, begin or end, they are liable to confuse the reader--a difficulty that we hope will be obviated by this caution. So much for Mormon's abridgment. Now to consider the part of the work done by his son Moroni. This is from page 563 to the end of the volume. He closes up the record of his father, Mormon, and then gives us an abridgment of the twenty-four plates of Ether which were found in North America by the people of Limhi, in the second century B.C.; and then concludes his work with notes on the manner of ordaining priests and teachers, administering the sacrament of the Lord's supper, baptism, spiritual gifts, together with a sermon and some of his father's letters. In his abridgment of the record of the Jaredites, the peculiarity of mixing up his comments, admonitions and prophecies with his narrative, is even more marked than in the abridgment of Mormon, therefore the reader will need to be doubly on his guard.

We have already said that the first 157 pages of the Book of Mormon was not a part of Mormon's abridgment. Those pages are a verbatim translation of the "smaller plates" of Nephi, and became connected with Mormon's abridgment in this manner: Mormon had abridged the "larger plates" of Nephi as far as the reign of King Benjamin, and in searching through the records which had been delivered to him, he found these "smaller plates" of Nephi. They contained a brief history of events connected with the departure of Lehi and his colony from Jerusalem to their landing in America, and thence down to the reign of this King Benjamin--covering a period of about 400 years. These plates were made by Nephi, that upon them might be engraven an account of the ministry of the servants of God, among his people, together with their prophecies and teachings. They contain, in other words, an ecclesiastical history of the Nephites, while the "larger plates" of Nephi contained a political, or secular history of the same people. (See I. Nephi, ix chapter; also xix, 1-5.)

Mormon was particularly well pleased with the contents of these "smaller plates" of Nephi, because upon them had been engraven so many prophecies concerning the coming and mission of the Messiah; and instead of condensing their history into an abridgment, he took the plates and attached them to the abridgment of Nephi's "larger plates." "And this I do for a wise purpose," says Mormon, "for thus it whispereth me according to the Spirit of the Lord which is in me." (Words of Mormon, page 159 N.E.). Nephi, also, in speaking of these "smaller plates," says, "the Lord hath commanded the to make {157} these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not." (I. Nephi ix, 5.) What that wise purpose was we shall see further on.

By Mormon attaching these "smaller plates" of Nephi to his own abridgment of Nephi's "larger plates," it will be seen there was a double line of history of the Nephites for about 400 years, and the wisdom of this arrangement is seen in the following: When Joseph Smith had translated the first part of Mormon's abridgment--amounting to 116 pages of manuscript, he listened to the importunities of Martin Harris, who was giving him some assistance in the work of translating, and who desired to show that portion of the work to his friends. The result was the manuscript was stolen from him; the records were taken from Joseph by the angel, and he lost his power to translate for a season. After a time, however, he was permitted to go on with the work, but the Lord made it known to him that it was the design of those into whose hands the manuscript had fallen to wait until he had translated that part again, and then by changing the manuscript in their possession would bring it forth and claim that he could not translate the same record twice alike; and thus they would seek to overthrow the work of God.

But the heavenly messenger commanded Joseph Smith not to translate again the part he had already translated, but instead thereof he should translate the "smaller plates" of Nephi, and that account was to take the place of Mormon's abridgment up to the latter days of the reign of King Benjamin. (Doc. and Cov., D&C 10.) Thus it is that we have the "words of Mormon," beginning on page 158, explaining how the "smaller plates" of Nephi came into his possession and attached to the plates containing the record he himself was making, and connecting the historical narrative of the "smaller plates" of Nephi with his own abridgment of Nephi's "larger plates." The "words of Mormon," interrupting as they do the history of the Nephites, have caused no little confusion in the minds of unthoughtful readers; but after it is understood that they are merely the link connecting the ecclesiastical history engraven on the "smaller plates," of Nephi to Mormon's abridgment, and they take the place of the first part of Mormon's record, the difficulty will disappear.

One thing I cannot forbear to mention, and that is, in the part of the Book of Mormon translated from the "smaller plates" of Nephi, we find none of these comments or annotations mixed up with the record that we have already spoken of {158} as being peculiar to the abridgment made by Mormon--a circumstance, I take it, which proves the Book of Mormon to be consistent with the account given of the original records from which it was translated. There will be found, however, in this translation direct from the "smaller plates" of Nephi, as also in Mormon's abridgment, extracts from the old Jewish Scripture--especially from the writings of Isaiah--this is accounted for by the fact that when Lehi's colony left Jerusalem, they took with them copies of the book of Moses and the writings of the prophets, and a record of the Jews down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, all of which were engraven on plates of brass (see I. Nephi v, 10-13), and the Nephite historians transcribed passages from these sacred records into their own writings.

There are a few suggestions about these transcribed passages which may not be uninteresting to the reader, and which to the student will be invaluable, as they furnish an indirect evidence to the truth of the Book of Mormon.

The Nephites having transcribed passages from the brass plates they carried with them from Jerusalem into their records, wherever such passages occur in the Book of Mormon, and corresponding passages are found in our English Bible, it will be seen by the reader that so far we have two translations of the writings of the old Hebrew prophets; and it will be found on comparison that the passages in the Book of Mormon are stronger and more in keeping with the sense sought to be expressed by the prophet than the corresponding passages and chapters in the Bible. As a proof of this I ask the reader to compare I Nephi xx and xxi, with Isaiah xlvii and xlix.

In some instances there are sentences, in the Book of Mormon version of passages from Isaiah, not to be found in our English version, as witness the following:

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

BOOK OF MORMON. BIBLE

O house of Jacob, come ye and O house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the let us walk in the light of the Lord; _yea, come, for ye have all Lord.--Isaiah ii, 5. gone astray, every one to his wicked ways.--II Nephi xii_, 5.

In other instances it will be found that the sense of the passages is different, and that the passages in the Book of Mormon best accord with the sense of the whole:

{159} BOOK OF MORMON. BIBLE.

Therefore, O Lord, Thou hast Therefore hast Thou forsaken forsaken Thy people, the house Thy people, the house of Jacob, of Jacob, because they replenished because they replenished from the from the east, and east, and are soothsayers like unto hearken unto soothsayers like the the Philistines, and they please the Philistines, and they please themselves with the children of themselves with the children of strangers.--Isaiah 11, 6. strangers.--II Nephi xii, 6.

Their land is also full of Their land also is full of idols; idols--they worship the work of their they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own own hands, that which their own fingers have made; and the mean fingers have made; and the mean man boweth not down, and the man boweth down, and the great great man humbleth himself not, man humbleth himself; therefore therefore, forgive him forgive him not.--Isaiah ii, 8, 9. not.--II Nephi xii, 8, 9.

Thou hast multiplied the nation, Thou hast multiplied the nation, and increased the joy: they and not increased the joy: joy before thee according to the the joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice the joy in harvest, and as men when they divide the spoil.--II Nephi rejoice when they divide the xix, 3. spoil.--Isaiah ix, 3.

Observe, too, the difference in the clearness of the following passages:

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BOOK OF MORMON. BIBLE

And when they shall say unto And when they shall say unto you, seek unto them them that have you, seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and mutter; should that peep and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? not a people seek unto their God? for the living to hear from the for the living to the dead.--_Isaiah II Nephi xviii, 19. viii_, 19.

Again the English translators of the Bible, in order to make the sense of various passages more clear, inserted here and there, words of their own; which are always written in italics, that the reader might know what words have been inserted by the translator, and for which he will find no exact equivalent in the original text. It is worthy of note that in those transcribed passages from the brass plates into the Book of Mormon, in almost every instance, the words in the Book of Mormon version are different to those substituted by the translators of the common English version; or are left out, as follows:

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BOOK OF MORMON. BIBLE

What mean ye? ye beat my people What mean ye that ye beat my to pieces, and grind the faces people to pieces, and grind the of the poor.--II Nephi xiii, 15. faces of the poor?--Isaiah iii, 15.

{160} The above is a case where the inserted word of the translator, which I have written in italics, is omitted, and to my mind the passage as it stands in the Book of Mormon is stronger, more beautiful, because more harmonious. Here is a passage where different words are used than those inserted by the translators:

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BOOK OF MORMON. BIBLE

Say unto the righteous, that Say ye unto the righteous, that it is well with them; for they it shall be well with him; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. shall eat the fruit of their doings.

Woe unto the wicked! for they Woe unto the wicked! it shall shall perish; for the reward of be ill with him; for the reward of their hands shall be upon of his hands shall be given them.--II Nephi xiii, 10, 11. him.--Isaiah iii, 10, 11.

I think it will be readily conceded that the above passage as it stands in the Book of Mormon is much superior to the version given in our common Bible, indeed it is so throughout, and when it is remembered that Joseph Smith and those who assisted in translating that work were most likely uniformed as to the supplied words of the translators being written in italics, it is an incidental evidence that those passages in the Book of Mormon to which are found corresponding passages in the Bible were not merely copied from the Bible, but in the Book of Mormon we have really another translation of those passages taken from original records of the Hebrews, uncorrupted by the hand of man, and hence more perfect.

One suggestion more I would make to the readers of the Book of Mormon, and that is that they read it prayerfully, with a real desire to know if it is of God. If they will peruse it with that desire in their hearts, I am sanguine that the Spirit of God which searches all things, yea, the deep things of God, will bear witness to their understanding that the book is of divine origin, and they will have a witness from God of its truth. Such a promise, in fact, is contained within the book itself. When Moroni--into whose keeping the plates of the Book of Mormon were given--was closing up the sacred record previous to hiding it up unto the Lord until the time should come for it to be revealed as a witness for God, he engraved the following passage on the plates as words of counsel to those into whose hands the record should fall:

And when ye shall receive these things (i.e., the things written in the Book of Mormon) I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in {161} Christ, He will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost; and by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things (Moroni x, 4, 5).

Here, then, is a means by which every person into whose hands the Book of Mormon falls may find out for himself, not from human testimony, not from the deductions of logic, but through the power of the Holy Ghost, whether the Book of Mormon is of divine origin or not. This test must be final, either for or against it, to every individual who complies with the conditions enjoined by Moroni. Those conditions are, that they into whose hands the record falls shall inquire of God with a sincere heart, with real intent, and having faith in Christ; and to those who so proceed he promises without equivocation that they shall receive a manifestation of its truth by the power of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, if these directions are complied with faithfully and honestly, and the manifestation follows not, then they may know it is not of God. If the manifestation comes, of course the divine origin of the book is confirmed, for the Holy Ghost would not confirm by any manifestation of its power an imposition. Therefore, reader, whoever you may be, undertake the reading of the Book of Mormon with a prayerful heart, and you will find in it a new volume of Scripture to you, a treasury of sacred knowledge able to make you wise unto salvation.

"We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property and the protection of life."

--Joseph Smith, The Prophet.

{162}

THE SECOND COMING OF THE MESSIAH AND EVENTS TO PRECEDE IT.

BY ELDER B. H. ROBERTS.

Of all events that will take place in the immediate future, the most important to mankind is the glorious appearing of the Son of God, generally spoken of as the Second Advent of the Messiah. And if there is one thing that the writers of Scripture are more explicit in than another, it is in relation to this all-important event.

The writer of the Acts of the Apostles, giving an account of the last meeting of the risen Messiah with His disciples in Palestine, and His last words to them, says:

"And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And, while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts i, 9-11).

From this we learn that the same person whom the disciples had seen go up into heaven was to return in like manner. And this agrees with the words of Jesus Himself.

"For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father, with His angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works" (Mat. xvi, 27).

From this last quotation we not only learn that the Son of God is to come in the glory of His Father, accompanied by His angels, but that He at that time "Will reward every man according to his works." And to this testimony agrees that of other sacred writers.

St. Jude, after referring to certain wicked characters who were like clouds without rain, or like raging waves of the sea foaming out their own shame, says:

{163} "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." (Jude, 14, 15).

Paul bears witness to the same thing:

"For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch-angel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (i Thess. iv, 14-17).

And again:

"And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day" (ii Thess. i, 7-10).

From the foregoing passages of Scripture the reader learns two very important things: first--that the Son of Man in a glorious manner is to return to this earth; second--that when He shall so come, it will be to execute judgment--to reward the righteous for their faithfulness, and to punish those who "know not God, and who obey not the Gospel, with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power."

No believer in the inspiration of the Scriptures can possibly doubt the truth of what these passages teach, viz., that the Son of God will verily come, and that to judgment! But in all other ages of the world, when God has decreed judgments upon a people or nation, He has first sent divinely-appointed messengers to warn them of the impending evil, that peradventure, some might repent and be saved. For example,--when God decreed that He would destroy the Antediluvians by a flood for their wickedness, he first sent Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among them to warn them of the approaching calamity: When destruction was hanging over the cities of the plain--Sodom and Gomorrah--the Lord sent His angels {164} to first gather out righteous Lot and his family: When destruction was decreed against Nineveh, the prophet Jonah was sent to cry repentance to the people, and in this instance the warning was heeded, and the calamity was turned aside: Whenever bondage, famine, disease, or judgment of any character, was about to overtake ancient Israel for their wickedness, prophets were sent to warn them, that they might repent and escape the sore affliction.

This has been the course pursued by the Almighty in all ages and among all people; and now that mighty judgments are pronounced against the ungodly at the coming of the Son of God, may we not reasonably expect that God will be true to His custom in the past, and send messengers to warn the nations of the near approach of those calamities? Basing our conclusion on the experience of past ages, it would be reasonable to expect the Lord to so proceed. But the Scriptures themselves speak of a number of incidents that will take place as a preparatory work to the glorious coming of our Lord. Among these may be mentioned:

I.--THE RESTORATION OF THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL.

The great event is thus described by John the Revelator:

"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him: for the hour of his judgment is come" (Rev. xiv, 6, 7).

II.--THE COMING OF A MESSENGER.

to prepare the way for the Son of God, when He shall come in the glory of His Father. This event is foretold by the prophet Malachi:

"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years" (Malachi iii, 1-4).

III.--THE COMING OF ELIJAH.

to whom is given the peculiar mission of turning the heart {165} of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers. Malachi thus describes Elijah's mission:

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their father's, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (Malachi iv, 5, 6).

IV.--THE GATHERING OF THE SAINTS.

The Scriptures are replete with passages in relation to this event, but I can here refer only to a few. When John the Revelator was about to foretell the downfall of Babylon, he says:

"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye may not be partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double" (Rev. xviii, 4-6).

The Psalmist bears this testimony:

"Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself" (Psalm i, 3-6).

So Isaiah:

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it" (Isaiah ii, 2-4).

"And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from afar, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they will come with speed swiftly" (Isaiah v, 26, 27).

"And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel [not the Jews alone, but all Israel], and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth" (Isaiah xi, 12).

So Paul:

"Having made known to us the mystery of his will * * * that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him" (Eph. i, 9, 10).

{166} And lastly, the testimony of Jesus:

"And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of trumpet, and they shall gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Matt. xxiv, 30, 31).

All believers in the Holy Scriptures, then, must believe in and are looking forward to the glorious coming of the Son of God. They also must believe that these four events we have named, will precede that coming. That is, they believe and are expecting that when those judgments connected with the coming of the Messiah are about to overtake the inhabitants of the earth, an ANGEL will come with the Everlasting Gospel, which must be preached to all nations; that a MESSENGER will come to prepare the way before the Lord, that ELIJAH will come to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and vice versa; and that God's SAINTS will be gathered together.

And now, in all sincerity of heart, and in the fear of God, the writer testifies to all men unto whom his words may come, that the first three events have taken place, and the fourth, the gathering of the Saints, is now going on, and the coming of the Son of God, together with the attendant judgments, are near at hand.

THE RESTORATION OF THE GOSPEL

occurred in the following manner:

In the spring of 1820, Joseph Smith, then a lad between fourteen and fifteen years of age, being exercised on the subject of religion, and not knowing which of the contending sects of religion were accepted by God as His Church, fortunately came upon that excellent advice given by the Apostle James, viz.:

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James i, 5).

In full, child-like confidence that God would fulfil His word, he called upon the Lord in prayer, and in answer received an open vision, in which he beheld the Father and the Son, who revealed to him the startling truth that man had transgressed the laws of the Gospel, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant, and that none of the churches or sects were acknowledged of His as His church or kingdom, and he was commanded to join none of them. He was {167} also informed that the time was at hand when the Gospel would be restored, and was told that he was a chosen instrument to assist in bringing about the purposes of God.

Let not the reader impatiently cast away this tract at the statement that God did not acknowledge any of the sects or churches as His church or kingdom. Let it be remembered, according to the prophecy of the Revelator we have quoted (Rev. xiv, 6, 7), that every nation, kindred, tongue, and people in the hour of God's judgment, are to be without the Gospel, or why would there be any need of an angel being sent from heaven with it to the earth, if it was anywhere on the earth? The learned John Wesley said that the reason the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer enjoyed was because the love of many waxed cold, the Christians had turned heathens again and only had a dead form left (Wesley's works, vol. VI, ser. 89). The Church of England in her Homily on Perils of Idolatry (page 3) says: "Laity and clergy, learned and unlearned, all ages, sects and degrees have been drowned in abominable idolatry, most detested by God and damnable to man for eight hundred years or more."

But to return to our account of the restoration of the Gospel. More than three years passed before Joseph Smith was again blessed with a heavenly vision. But on the night of the 21st of September, 1823, while engaged in prayer in his bedchamber, "I discovered," says he,

"A light appearing in the room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bed-side, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor. * * * Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was gloriously beyond description; and his countenance truly like lightning. * * * He called me by my name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni. That God had work for me to do, and that my name should be had for good or evil among all nations, kindred, and tongues; or that it should be good or evil spoken of among all people. He said that there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this [the American] continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fullness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants [or America]. Also that there were two stones in silver bows (and these stones, fastened to the breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim of Thummim) deposited with the plates, and the possession and use of these stones was what constituted Seers in ancient or former times, and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book."

The angel then quoted a number of prophecies from the Jewish Scriptures, among them the first part of the third chapter {168} of Malachi, and also the fourth chapter of the same book, the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, and the second chapter of Joel, from the twenty-eighth verse to the close. He stated that these prophecies would be fulfilled in this generation.

Four years after this first visit of the heavenly messenger, in the meantime being instructed by him in doctrine and principle, the tablets containing the ancient history of America, together with the Urim and Thummim by which they were to be translated, were given into his charge. In the course of two years the work of translation was completed, and in the winter of 1829-30 the Book of Mormon--for so the record is called--containing the "fulness of the everlasting Gospel," as taught to the ancient peoples of America, was given to the world.

Nor is the world asked to receive this important message on the statement of Joseph Smith alone, but the Lord has given other witnesses, and their statement has been published with every edition of the Book of Mormon, and is as follows:

THE TESTIMONY OF THE THREE WITNESSES.

"Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people unto whom his work shall come, * * * We declare with words of soberness that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, * * and the engravings thereon, and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these things are true; and it is marvelous in our eyes, nevertheless the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it; wherefore, to be obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment seat of Christ, and shall dwell with Him eternally in the heavens."

"OLIVER COWDERY,

"DAVID WHITMER,

"MARTIN HARRIS."

Though these three witnesses; through transgression, lost the Spirit of God, and wandered away from the fold of Christ, they never denied the testimony they bore to the truth of the Book of Mormon. Two of them previous to their death came back to the Church, and died in the faith. The other--David Whitmer--died at Richmond, Mo., in January, 1888, and on his deathbed, as he had always done previously, solemnly declared that his testimony concerning the Book of Mormon was true.

THE COMING OF THE MESSENGER.

While the Book of Mormon was in course of translation, a very important event took place, viz, the coming of the MESSENGER {169} to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. This is described by Joseph Smith as follows:

"We (Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery) still continued the work of translating; when in the ensuing month (May, 1829), we, on a certain day, went into the woods to pray, and inquire of the Lord respecting baptism for remission of sins.

"While we were thus employed, praying and calling upon the Lord, a messenger from heaven descended in a cloud of light, and having laid his hands upon us, he ordained us; saying unto us--'Upon you, my fellow servants, 'in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins,' and this shall never be taken from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord of righteousness.'

"The messenger who visited us on this occasion, and conferred this Priesthood upon us, said that his name was John, the same that is called John the Baptist in the New Testament; and that he acted under the direction of Peter, James and John who held the keys of the Melchisedec Priesthood, and who would in due season visit us and confer that, the higher Priesthood, upon us, which holds the keys of the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and right to all the offices in the church."

Subsequently, in fulfilment of this promise, Peter, James, and John came to them, and conferred upon them the higher order of priesthood--the Melchisedec. This gave them the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the Church of Christ, and the power and authority to organize the Church and Kingdom of God upon the earth.

ELIJAH COMES.

In 1836, in the Kirtland Temple, Ohio, Elijah the Prophet came, in fulfilment of Malachi's prophecy (Mal. iv, 5, 6), and made known those principles which would turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers, viz., the doctrine of salvation for the dead. From the keys of knowledge which Elijah restored great light has been thrown upon the plan of salvation, showing it to be more perfect and more extensive than ever man dreamed of in his philosophy. It is learned from the keys of knowledge which he restored that the innumerable millions who have died without a knowledge of Christ or of His Gospel, together with those who have been deceived by the teachings of pseudo ministers of Christ, are not eternally lost, but that since the spirit of man when separate from the body retains all the faculties of mind, the gospel is preached in the spirit-world to the disembodied spirits, and that on condition of their {170} accepting the Gospel, and living according to the laws of God in the spirit, they may be saved on condition of the outward ordinances of the Gospel being administered vicariously for them upon the earth by their agents--their relations. That the Gospel is preached to departed spirits is evident from the Scriptures. Peter said:

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water" (I Peter iii, 18-20),

Men may turn and twist that passage all they please, but its plain simple statement is that the spirit of Christ, while His body lay in the tomb, went and preached to the spirits which were disobedient in the days of Noah. And again he says:

"For for this cause was the Gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit" (I Peter iv, 6).

That the ancient Saints also knew something about performing ordinances vicariously for the dead is evident from this remark of the Apostle Paul:

"Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead" (I Cor. xv, 29).

And we ask--if there was no such thing among the ancient Saints as baptism for the dead, why, then, does Paul refer to it in such positive terms?

The Gospel of Christ is not limited in its powers to save to this life, or this world alone. Its powers enter into the spirit-world. And by its proclamation in the world of spirits the fathers will learn that they are dependent upon the children still in this world for the performance of the outward ordinances of the Gospel; hence, their hearts will be turned to the children. The children on the earth will learn that it is within their power to attend to ordinances of the Gospel for their progenitors; hence, the hearts of the children will be turned to the fathers. It is because of this--because of the knowledge restored by Elijah, that the Latter-day Saints, wherever they have planted their feet, have sought, even in the days of their greatest poverty, to build a temple, the {171} proper place in which to attend to these ordinances for the dead; and they thus witness to the world that the hearts of the children are turned to the fathers.

KEYS OF GATHERING RESTORED.

The same day that Elijah came to the Kirtland Temple--3rd April, 1836--Moses came also, and committed the Keys of the Gathering of Israel from the four quarters of the earth, and the leading of the Ten Tribes from the land of the north. And it is because he came and restored that authority, and communicated the commandment for the Saints to gather together, that thousands have left their homes in the land of their birth, and have cast in their lot with the Latter-day Saints in the land of America, and are now where the prophets predicted the people of God and the House of God would be established in the last days--"in the tops of the mountains"--and some out of all nations are flowing unto them, and they are taught in the ways of the Lord, and are seeking to walk in His paths (see Isaiah ii, 1-4). The cry from heaven which St. John heard in his visions is now of a truth being sounded among the nations: "Come out of her (Babylon), my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues; for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities" (Rev. xviii, 4, 5). And the Saints by their flight to the gathering places which God has appointed, as well as by word, are testifying to the world that the hour of God's judgment is at hand, and they are seeking to be prepared for the coming of the Messiah.

Thus the most important events which are to take place before the glorious coming of the Son of God have been fulfilled. We know not the day nor the hour in which the Master will come, but we know that the preparatory work to that event has made considerable progress:--The GOSPEL has been restored to the earth, and is being preached to all nations for a witness that the end is near:--The MESSENGER has come and restored the authority of God to man, that the way might be prepared for His coming and judgment:--ELIJAH has come and performed his mission:--And the SAINTS are gathering together to the tops of the mountains, and are building up the House of God. And as the fig tree putting forth its leaves proclaims the approach of summer, so these things indicate the near approach of that time when the Son of God will be "revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God {172} and who obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." This is the word of God and remember, O reader! that it is written, though heaven and earth pass away, not one jot nor tittle of the word of God shall fail, but all shall be fulfilled.

Despise not this testimony and warning because he who bears it is a representative of a cause and people everywhere spoken against. Remember that Satan has ever opposed the work of God, and those who labored to establish it. If he did so in former ages, will not this opposition be more fierce in the dispensation when the work of God is to become triumphant, resulting in the overthrow of the powers of darkness and binding them? Such, it would seem, are the plain dictates of reason--such are the facts. Be not deceived, then, reader, whoever you may be, by the infamous falsehoods in circulation about the Latter-day Saints, but examine these things with a prayerful heart that you may know of their truth and escape the calamity that shall befall those who "reject the counsels of God against themselves."

"Seek to know God in your closets, call upon Him in the fields. Follow the directions of the Book of Mormon, and pray over and for your families, your cattle, your flocks, your herds, your corn and all things that you possess; ask the blessings of God upon all your labors, add everything that you engage in."

--Joseph Smith.

{173}

THE CHARACTER OF THE MORMON PEOPLE.

BY ELDER B. H. ROBERTS.

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Introduction

In the ancient City of Rome, at the time that St. Paul went there on an appeal to Caesar's judgment seat, about the year 62 A.D., the followers of Christ were denominated, "That sect which is everywhere spoken against." And as it was with the Christians then, so it is with the "Mormons" now. Everything that is wicked or damnable was once charged upon the Christians. Even the just historian Tacitus was so far deceived by the wicked misrepresentations of their enemies, as to speak of them as "a set of people who were holden in abhorrence for their crimes, and called by the vulgar 'Christians.'" He also says--speaking of them as a body--"They were criminals, and deserving the severest punishment." The same writer calls their religion a "pernicious superstition." Indeed, we may say to the opponents of "Mormonism," however skilful they may be in the use of calumny or the distortion of facts, it would be difficult for them to charge upon the "Mormons" more heinous crimes than were charged upon primitive Christians. It was commonly reported of them that in the celebration of the Eucharist they were in the habit of slaying a male child, whose flesh they ate, and whose blood they drank in remembrance of the body and blood of the founder of their religion. In short, they were held to be the enemies of mankind, the disturbers of social customs, and a standing menace to all governments; while their religion was looked upon as the sum of villainy and absurdity. In the same light the "Mormons" are regarded to-day. But perhaps I shall be pardoned for suggesting that it is just possible that the world is as much mistaken respecting the character and religion of the "Mormons" now, as it formerly was respecting the "Christians" and their religion.

No prejudice is so cruel as that growing out of religious controversy. At any rate, we know that the most cruel wars {174} have risen through a determination to resist religious innovations, or efforts to reform religious systems. While the acts of inhuman cruelty, which most disgrace our race, have been perpetrated in vain endeavors to suppress what have been considered heresies, and silence their advocates. In short, the most unrelenting hatred, the most lasting prejudices have grown out of differences in religious opinions. The Messiah, doubtless, was guided as much by His knowledge of human nature as He was by inspiration when He exclaimed:

"Think not that I have come to bring peace upon earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household" (Matt. x, 34-36).

It is because "Mormonism" involves a religious controversy that the prejudices against it are so deep seated, and the misrepresentation of its devotees so persistent.

Joseph Smith, in his youth, announced a new revelation from God; and as the Christian world had been, and are, taught that no more revelation is to be given, that the Bible contains all that God ever did, and all that He ever will reveal to man, the proclamation that God had again spoken aroused the ire of the religious teachers of that day, and when, in spite of their efforts to stay its progress, they saw the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints increasing in numbers and influence, these pseudo religious teachers sought to overwhelm with falsehood, misrepresentation and slander what they could not overcome with reason and fairness. And the absurd, childish stories then invented by religious opponents of "Mormonism" they still rehashed with variations to suit ever shifting conditions, the mass constantly growing as fast as new falsehoods or distorted facts can be marshalled into service.

On this point I quote the following from the New York World of recent date. The World is one of the leading journals of America, and, in giving an epitome of the history and faith of the "Mormons," it said:

"In matters of dogma there was little or nothing in its creed to distinguish it from any other orthodox sect, but its possession of an alleged addition to the Bible and the austerity and severity of the code of morals inculcated drew to it immediately a large following. The same spirit of intolerance which in Massachusetts slit the ears of Quakers and banished Baptists under pain of death, blazed forth as fiercely as in the days of Athanasius and Arius. The pulpit rang with denunciations of the new sect, every calumny that could be invented was {175} invented and believed, and the Mormons were driven from place to place, robbed, beaten, imprisoned and murdered, exactly as the founders of every other Christian sect were persecuted."

THE CAUSE OF MISREPRESENTATION.

There are two classes of men in Utah who are interested in defaming the character of the "Mormon" people. These are the religious and political adventurers who have drifted into the Territory. The former went there professedly to convert the "Mormons" from the error of their way; but not being successful in getting sufficient converts from the "Mormon" Church to establish congregations that could pay their salaries, they have ever been dependent upon the people of the Eastern States for their support and means with which to build churches. They soon discovered that the amount of means they could raise depended upon the strength of the feeling they could incite in the minds of their supporters in the Eastern States. The more licentious and blood-thirsty the "Mormon" community was represented to be, the greater Christian heroes were these ministers considered, and therefore the more readily were "ducats" poured into their laps to carry on this spiritual war, against the supposed man of sin situated in the Rocky Mountains. Granting a few honorable exceptions, these professed ministers of Christ have invented and retailed the most abominable falsehoods respecting the Latter-day Saints, well knowing that the prejudice existing against the "Mormon" religion would so blind the eyes and close the ears of the people that it would be next to impossible for their calumnies and misrepresentations to be exposed. And if now and then their base purposes were brought for a moment to the light, and some few of their falsehoods contradicted, the effect could only be momentary, and the exploded sensational reports of "Mormon" atrocities would be supplanted by ten thousand others more horrible but equally baseless.

The political adventurers, alluded to in the above, are men who have come into the Territory principally by being appointed to the Federal offices within the gift of the President of the United States. It must be understood that a Territory in the American Government occupies much the same relationship to that government that a crown colony does to the imperial government of Great Britain; and the President appoints the Governor, Secretary, the District judges, the Marshal, Commissioners, {176} and indirectly a number of other officers in the Territory. It has been the policy of the chief executives of the nation in the past to reward their supporters, or the supporters of their political friends in the respective states with appointments to these positions; and to satisfy popular clamor raised by religious opponents, men with avowed hatred of "Mormonism" have usually been sought to fill these Federal offices. Another fact bearing on the character of these appointees must be taken into consideration; and that is, as a general thing, men who will consent to accept an appointment to positions in the Territories are fifth or sixth rate politicians, whose political prospects where they are known have dwindled to a forlorn hope. No man who has an opportunity of succeeding in political or business life in his own state will consent to abandon his prospects and life long associations for a temporary position in a Territory where, from the very nature of things, he can never hope for a hearty support of the people among whom he thrusts his unwelcome presence. Why? Because he is not of them. He is not their choice for the position; he is not responsible to the community for the manner in which he discharges his official duties--a condition of affairs that is absolutely incompatible with the existence of harmony between the administrator of the laws and the community they effect, in a country where the people are educated to the idea that "Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed."

I find these two points relative to political and ecclesiastical adventurers sustained by the testimony of James W. Barclay, a member of the British Parliament, who visited Utah in 1883, and published the results of his observations in the January No., 1884, of the Nineteenth Century. The Century is a monthly magazine published in London. He says:

"I apprehend that the animosity of Mormonism is principally due to the efforts of the host of hungry office-seekers who would find lucrative posts in Utah were the Mormons disfranchised, and by the missionaries from the Eastern States who come to turn the Mormons from the error of their ways, and whose income depends on the strength of the feelings they can excite in their supporters. Utah is still a Territory, and, as such, its Governor, Lieutenant-Governor and Marshal, and other officials of the Federal Government, are nominated by the President of the United States, and are of course non-Mormons; but the municipal and other local officials are elected by the Mormons.

If the Mormons could be disfranchised in a body, 500 lucrative posts in Utah would be open to Gentile office-seekers. According to the legislature which might be adopted, the offices would be filled {177} either by the President of the United States or by the small minority of Gentiles in Utah."

MORMONS WRONGED BY A SENSATIONAL PRESS.

Unfortunately the religious and political adventurers in Utah can succeed in their designs the more readily because the agents sending out the Associate Press dispatches to the entire press of the country are in sympathy with these parties or controlled by them; so that all information going out to the country at large from that source is generally distorted to the disparagement of the "Mormons."

In addition to this, it will be remembered that the American Press is nothing if not sensational. This is true in a general sense, it is doubly so in relation to the "Mormon Question." Ever ready to pander to the prejudice of the populace, and finding the "Mormon" people the victims of popular hate and without political influence, the American Press has recklessly traduced the character of as noble a community as ever graced God's earth. Every sensational rumor derogatory to their character has been seized upon with avidity and published without reserve, while the correction of the mis-statements or the vindication of their character has seldom struggled through the columns of the press to the public eye. The people of America, and other countries, too, have taken everything for granted that has been said against the "Mormon" people, no matter how absurd it is, or how unreliable the source from whence it came. Very few men have had the fairness to investigate "Mormonism" for themselves, or inquire into the character of the "Mormon" people.

Respecting the misrepresentation of the "Mormon" people and the source from whence the public has drawn its views and fed its prejudices, I introduce the testimony of Mr. Phil. Robinson, an English journalist and correspondent of note, and a traveler of world wide experience; and who is at present the editor of the Court and Society Review, published in London. Mr. Robinson went to Utah in 1882, where he remained for three months. He visited nearly every town and village in the Territory, and saw the people at their firesides and at work in their fields, as well as in their public meetings--in fact he saw them in all the relations of life--and on the subject of their misrepresentation, he says:

"Whence have the public derived their opinions about it [meaning {178} Mormonism]? From anti-Mormons only. I have ransacked the literature of the subject, yet I really could not tell any one where to go for an impartial book about it later in date than Burton's "City of the Saints" published in 1862. There is not, to my knowledge, a single Gentile work before the public that is not utterly unreliable from its distortion of facts. How can anyone have respect for literature or the men who, without knowing anything of the lives of Mormons, stigmatize them as profane, adulterous and drunken? These men write of the squalid poverty of the Mormons, of their obscene brutality, of their unceasing treason towards the United States, of their blasphemous repudiation of the Bible, without one particle of information on the subject, except such as they gather from the books and writings of men whom they ought to know are utterly unworthy of credit, or from the verbal calumnies of apostates; and what the evidence of apostates is worth history has long ago told us * * * I am now stating facts; and I, who have lived among the Mormons and with them, can assure my readers that every day of my residence increased my regret at the misrepresentation these people have suffered" ("Sinners and Saints," Roberts and Sons, Boston).

TESTIMONY OF NON-MORMON WITNESSES.

I here introduce the testimony of a number of non-"Mormon" witnesses to the character of the "Mormon" people and their religion.

First, I refer to the article by Mr. Barclay, M. P., published in the Nineteenth Century, January, 1884:

"Mormon home-steads have a tidier appearance than is usual in the West, and the general air of comfort and prosperity which prevails is the best evidence of the persevering, industrious habits of the people...There is nothing peculiar in the Mormon creed to account for the great influence which Mormonism exercises among its followers.

"The success of Mormonism and its steady progress must therefore be due either to the manner in which Mormons carry into practice the religion they profess, or to its organization. In my opinion the results are due to two influences. First, there is no religious caste or class. From the president downwards, the office-bearers of the Church are selected by the voice of the Mormon community; they require no special qualification, and no one receives any salary or other emolument; the missionaries dispatched to all parts of the world do not receive even traveling expenses. And, in the second place, Mormonism interests itself as much in the temporal as in the spiritual concerns of its members: Church and State are, in short, identical.

"The Mormon community is an enlarged family, bound together by privileges and duties, one principal duty being to care for the helpless and the needy. At the same time, every individual has full freedom of action. There is no compulsion on any Mormon beyond the public opinion of his fellows, and none is possible. Apostasy {179} even does not appear to be attended with serious consequences to the apostate's material interests. Some of the largest merchants in Salt Lake City have apostatized from the Church, and although the population of Utah is about nine-tenths Mormon, their business seems to prosper as before....

"In morality, as far as shown by statistics, the Mormons greatly excel the Gentiles in their midst, and the general population of the States. In the winter of 1881, a census was taken of the prisoners in Utah, with the following result:--In the City prison were twenty-nine convicts, and in the County prison six convicts, all non-Mormons. In the penitentiary, out of fifty-one prisoners only five were Mormons, two of whom were for polygamy; and of 125 prisoners in the lock-ups, eleven were Mormons, some for polygamy.

"The arrests in Salt Lake City, from the 1st of January to the 8th of December, 1881, were classified as follows:

Mormons: Non-Mormons: Men and boys 163 Men and boys 657 Women 6 Women 194

Total 169 Total 851

"Of the population of Salt Lake City, about 75 per cent. is Mormon, and 25 per cent. non-Mormon. Of the suicides in Utah, 90 per cent., and of the homicides and infanticides 80 per cent., are committed by the 17 per cent. of non-Mormons. . . . .

"The Mormons, as a people, are tolerant, temperate, peaceable, and industrious. Temperance is in some cases carried to the extreme of abstinence from alcohol of all kinds, tobacco, and tea. Before the Federal Government exercised so much authority as now, drinking saloons and other establishments of vice were prohibited; and, although a few professing Mormons keep drinking saloons, they are held in disgrace....

"Certain it is that, whatever the causes may be, there is among the Latter-day Saints a mutual feeling of helpfulness and trust, and whatever the Gentiles may say, the sentiments towards the heads of the community are respect, confidence, and I might say affection. I had the pleasure of traveling for some days in the company of a Mormon Elder, a gentleman of great ability, intelligence and courtesy, and I was much struck by the evident cordiality of his reception by his co-religionists, as well as by his genuine kindness, without any tinge of condescension towards his humbler brethren. There was on both sides an evident feeling of perfect equality combined with respect and affection. It is the same with the President. So far as I observed and could learn, President Taylor is regarded with greater respect by the Mormons than is the President of the United States by its citizens, and at the same time his office is open to all, and he is prepared to hear what the humblest Mormon has to say."

Again I turn to the testimony of Mr. Robinson:

"I have seen and spoken to and lived with Mormon men and women of every class, and never in my life, in any Christian country, {180} have I come in contact with more consistent piety, sobriety and neighborly charity. I say this deliberately, without a particle of odious sanctimony, these folks are in their words and actions as Christian as ever I thought to see men and women . . . The Mormons are a peasant people, with many of the faults if peasant life, but with many of the best human virtues as well....The demeanor of the women in Utah, as compared with Brightan or Washington, is modesty itself; and the children are just such healthy, vigorous, pretty children as one sees in the country or by the sea-side in England...... Utah-born girls, the offspring of plural wives, have figures that would make Paris envious; and they carry themselves with almost oriental dignity. There is nothing, so far as I have seen, in the manners of Salt Lake City to make me suspect the existence of that licentiousness of which so much has been written, but a great deal on the contrary to convince me of a perfectly exceptional reserve and self-respect. It is only a blockhead that could mistake the natural gayety of the country for any other than it is. I know, too, from medical assurance, that Utah has the practical argument of healthy nurseries to oppose to the theories of those who attack its domestic relations on physiological grounds. . .. A healthier and more stalwart community I have never seen; while among the women I saw many refined faces, and remarked that robust health seemed the rule....

"Mutual charity is one of the bonds of Mormon union. It is published officially that the bishops of every ward are to see there are no persons going hungry.' What a contrast to turn from this text of universal charity to the infinite meanness of those who can write of the whole community of Mormons as 'the villainous spawn of polygamy!' . . . Instead of the Mormons being as a class profane, they are as a class singularly sober in their language, and indeed in this respect resemble the Quakers.

"The payment of the tithings is as nearly voluntary as the collection of a revenue necessary for carrying on a government can possibly be allowed to be... It is not true that the Church interferes with the domestic relations of the people. When I remember what classes of people their men and women are chiefly drawn from, and the utter poverty in which most of them arrive, I cannot in sincerity do otherwise than admire and respect the system which has fused such unpromising material of so many nationalities into one homogeneous whole."--Sinners and Saints."

Bishop D. S. Tuttle, for years an Episcopal clergyman in Salt Lake City, an opponent of "Mormonism," but an honorable one, in a lecture on "Mormonism," delivered in New York and published in the New York Sun, says:

"In Salt Lake City alone there are 17,000 Latter-day Saints. Now, who are they? I will tell you, and I think, that after I have concluded, you will look on them more favorably than you have been accustomed to do. Springing from the centre of your own State (N.Y.) in 1830, they drifted slowly westward until they finally rested in the Basin of the Great Salt Lake. I know that the people of the east have obtained the most unfavorable opinion of them, and have judged them unjustly. They have many traits that are worthy of admiration, {181} and they believe with fervent faith that their religion is a direct revelation from God. We of the east are accustomed to look upon the Mormons as either a licentious arrogant or rebellious mob, bent only on defying the United States Government and deriding the faith of the Christians. This is not so. I know them to be honest, faithful, prayerful workers, and earnest in their faith that heaven will bless the Church of Latter-day Saints. Another strong and admirable feature in the Mormon religion is the tenacious and efficient organization. They follow with the greatest care all the forms of the old church."

I next quote from the contribution of the Rev. John C. Kimball of Hartford, Connecticut, U. S. A., to The Index, published in Boston, Mass., 1884. After introducing the testimony of a number of writers to the general good character of the "Mormon" people, he says:

"Still stronger is the evidence derived from official statistics as to their intelligence and virtue. In Salt Lake City, in 1881, the published reports show that the arrests for crime were fourteen times as many among the Gentiles, in proportion to their number, as among the Mormons; and taking the Territory as a whole, the Gentile population furnished forty-six convicts in the penitentiary, where the Mormon population, number for number, furnished one! According to the United States census, Massachusetts has four times as many convicts to the same population as Utah; four and a half times as many idiots and insane, and nine times as many paupers. Utah in school attendance, according to the same authority [the United States census for 1880], is ahead of Massachusetts; and with all that has been said about the ignorance of its people and its immense foreign immigration, its proportion of people that cannot read and write is put down as less than that of New England. And still more striking, the women there instead of being kept in ignorance and subjection, are educated in the same studies and to the same extent as the boys and men, are equally fitted to earn their own living out in the world and to maintain an independent career."

Captain Burton, of the British army, published in 1862, a book on the "Mormon" people and faith called the City of the Saints. He says:

"Mormonism is emphatically the faith of the poor. . . I cannot help thinking that morally and spiritually as well as physically its proteges gain by their transfer from Europe to Utah. . . . In point of more morality, the Mormon community is perhaps purer than any other of equal numbers. . . . The penalties against chastity, morality and decency are exceptionally severe. . . . I was much pleased with their religious tolerance. The Mormons are certainly the least fanatical of our faiths, owning like the Hindus, that every man should walk his own way, while claiming for themselves superiority in belief and practice."

{182} Testimony of like character and of equal respectability could be adduced without limit, but we think sufficient is here set down to convince people disposed in the least degree to be fair-minded, however prejudiced they may previously, have been, that the reckless charges of crime and immorality made against the Latter-day Saints in Utah by their enemies, are wickedly false, and have been invented to deceive. I ask you again to cast your eye over the statements presented to you, and consider the character of the men who make them. They are not the statements of the occasional tourist of a day, but the conclusions of men of thought and travel and education, who visited Utah for the express purpose of becoming acquainted with the strange faith, and, to the world, the still stranger people.

"POLYGAMY."

I shall be told, however, that the "Mormons" believe in and some of them practise a plurality of wives, and therefore they must be a bad people. But not so fast. Before such a conclusion is drawn it will be necessary to prove that a plurality of wives as practised by the Mormons is in and of itself evil. That principle is as much a part of the religious faith of the women as of the men, and is practised by and with the consent of all parties concerned. It is practised because the people believe that God has commanded it by revelation direct to the Church, for the accomplishment of His own wise purposes--the rearing of a purer and better race of people. Their faith in that revelation is considerably strengthened by reading in the Holy Scriptures how God favored and blessed with His approval that form of marriage among the worthy patriarchs of old; nay, how even God Himself gave to David, according to His own Word (2 Sam. xii., 7, 8), a plurality of wives; thus becoming a party to the evil, if evil it was. But that which God sanctions and approbates can never be said to be evil. And that God did sanction the plural wife system of marriage and approve it is evident from the lives of nearly all the patriarchs and prophets spoken of in the Bible.

I know it is said by Christians that this was in very ancient times, when people lived under the Mosaic Law, and that the law of carnal commandments was superceded by the new dispensation under Christ. Very well, then, shifting the controversy to what is known as the Christian dispensation, we challenge {183} the whole world to produce a single passage from the New Testament directly condemning the plural marriage system of the old patriarchs, or a passage which, by fair interpretation, even by implication condemns it. Such a passage cannot be found. And yet the writers of the New Testament did not hesitate to condemn in the most direct and positive manner every species of sin;--strange, is it not, that they failed to condemn plural marriage, if it was by them or their Master considered sinful? The fact becomes more strange when it is understood that they lived in a country and among a people who practised it. Furthermore, Abraham, Jacob, and the prophets were frequently the theme of conversation and discourse with the writers of the New Testament, and if the plural wife system practised by them was sinful, is it not singular that no condemnation of it should creep into the pages of the New Testament somewhere?

I apprehend that much of the prejudice existing against the marriage system of the Latter-day Saints arises from confounding it with the polygamy of the East--with the harems of Turkey, or the bigamy occasionally practiced in Christian communities; yet we hope to show, so far as may be shown in a few brief sentences, that there is not and cannot be, from the very nature of society in Utah, anything that resembles the Eastern harem, nor do the evils exist which grow out of the ordinary case of bigamy.

In the first place, women in Utah are as free to marry whom they please as they are in any part of the world. Mr. Phil. Robinson says:--

"It is a mistake to suppose there are no educated women in Utah: . . . the young ladies appear as free and independent as in other parts of the United States. . . . if the women of Utah are slaves, their bonds are loving ones and dearly prized. They are today in the free and unrestricted exercise of more political and social rights than are the women of any other part of the United States."--"Saints and Sinners."

To this add the testimony of Mr. Barclay, in the article from the Nineteenth Century, before quoted:--

"The young ladies appear as free and independent as in other parts of the United States; and, if I might hazard an opinion, the young men of Mormondom will find considerable difficulty in persuading them to be content with the share of a husband."

The women of Mormondom are as free to bestow or withhold their hands in marriage as they are in England, and {184} there has not been a day since 1862--the year in which the first law of Congress was passed against polygamy--but what it has been within the power of the wife or wives of a man to send him to the penitentiary, the United States Courts being only too glad to entertain her suit, and break up the polygamous family associations. Yet, in all these years, there have not been half-a-dozen such cases. This entire freedom of women among the "Mormons" robs their plural marriage system of every feature of resemblance to the polygamy of the East; and what is here set down proves that whatever of plural marriage exists in Utah, does so by the mutual consent of all the parties concerned.

In common bigamy the first marriage is studiously concealed by the party contemplating the second marriage. A man represents himself to a lady as a bachelor, and under false pretences and fraud obtains possession of her person. Soon she discovers that she has been betrayed, deceived, degraded,--the sense of shame and sorrow following producing indescribable misery. Nor has it been less productive of evil to the first wife. Her happiness, too, has been wrecked by the perfidy of the wretch she called husband. She has been neglected, abandoned, made an outcast. Where she looked for loyalty, she found treason; where she implicitly trusted, she has been deceived, and her misery and shame is as great as the other victim's.

Now, none of these evils grow out of the plural marriage system of the Mormons. In the first place, a plurality of wives, under certain conditions and restraints, is one of the social institutions of the Society of Utah, and has been for more than a generation. As before remarked, it is practised because the "Mormon" people believe it is commanded of God; it is therefore accepted by both man and woman as part of their religious faith, and is regarded as such by the whole population,--as well by those who do not practise it as by those who do. Consequently it breeds no scandal; it brings no reproach. The position of the plural wife is just as honorable, in every sense of the word, as that of the first wife. She is, in fact, a wife, with all the holy associations growing out of that relationship, and is honored everywhere as such. The same ceremony which unites a man to his first wife is employed to unite him to his second or third, and the same authority--the authority of God--performs it.

As with the plural wife, so with the plural wife's children; {185} they are equally honorable with the children of the first wife,--society makes no distinction between them. When a man takes a plural wife no concealment is made of his first marriage, nor is his first family deserted; all is open and honest. There is no deceit, no fraud practiced, nor can there be. The sanction of the first wife, and the sanction of parents must be obtained, together with the sanction and recommendation of the Bishop who presides over the branch of the Church where the parties live, and who has to be able to state in his recommendation that the parties are members of the Church in good standing; that means that they are honest before God and man, virtuous, faithful in discharging every religious and moral duty, and temperate withal. And unless such a recommendation can be given, the relationship cannot be contracted.

Such, in brief, is an outline of the conditions hedging about the practice of this principle of plural marriage, against which Christians can find no law, either in the Old or New Testament, which even so much as bears the complexion of condemnation, but very much which will bear witness of God's approval of it, even allowing His only-begotten Son, so far as His earthly parentage is concerned, to come through such a lineage, a number of his earthly progenitors being the offspring of plural wives, and themselves practising it. Surely our Christian friends, who look forward to reclining upon Abraham's bosom as one of the highest privileges to be enjoyed in heaven, ought not to criticise too severely the system of marriage which he practised.

THE MISSION OF THE MORMON ELDERS.

Much complaint is made by the people of England because the Elders from Utah, who are traveling in this country as missionaries, do not make any particular effort to explain or urge upon people the doctrine of plural marriage. Strangers attend our meetings, and are surprised to hear nothing said upon the subject of plurality of wives, and go away disappointed; as if our Elders on every occasion should have something to say upon that subject. I assure my readers that it is not because the Elders have any disposition to conceal the fact that the Latter-day Saints believe in the rightfulness of the doctrine under the conditions herein set down; or through any fear that the Word of God can be shown to condemn it. The fact is, the Elders from Utah are servants of God sent {186} forth with a message to the nations of the earth to the effect that God has spoken from heaven, and restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which, in consequence of the wickedness and violence of men a few centuries after Christ, was taken from the earth, together with the authority to administer in its ordinances. But this Gospel is now restored, together with its ancient powers, gifts, blessings, and authorities, and by the faithful Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ is being preached as a witness in all the world. It is the business of the Elders from Utah to make this important proclamation to the inhabitants of the earth, and call upon them to repent of their sins, and warn them that the hour of God's judgment is here, and His glorious coming at hand. The practice of plural marriage in Utah is a very insignificant matter in comparison with the importance of the great message we are here to deliver. We are not here to urge upon people the acceptance of plural marriage, but to declare the message above alluded to; though, of course, at proper times and under proper circumstances, we shrink not from the most rigid inquiry into the various principles of our faith.

CONCLUSION.

In conclusion, I wish to say that I have been reared in Utah, have grown up in a Mormon community, taught in their schools, instructed in their faith. It has been my good fortune to listen frequently to the public discourses of their leading Elders, and to enjoy a personal acquaintance with many of them, and never, either in public or in private have I been taught anything contrary to the strictest interpretation of the principles of morality. I know that the entire people, and especially the young, are taught and always have been to regard virtue as the pearl of great price, while adultery and fornication are considered sins next in degree of enormity to the shedding of innocent blood.

It has fallen to my lot to travel through nearly all the States of America and the greater part of England, which has given me the advantage of comparing the "Mormon" community with communities existing under other systems of religion and different social customs. I need only say that that comparison--reviled, scorned, even hated as the "Mormons" are--has {187} made me more proud of my people, and my heart swells with gratitude to the Giver of all good that it has fallen to my lot to be reared among the "Mormons."

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Appendix

It is frequently claimed by our enemies, and especially by apostates, that the "Mormons" teach one set of doctrines in England as "milk for babes,"--doctrines which are harmless and even commendable, but that quite different doctrines are taught in Utah; and that murder, robbery, adultery, and, in fact, every crime known to man is not only winked at, but taught as a duty, as part of the religion of the Saints. To support these statements, garbled quotations and mutilated extracts from the utterances of the leading Elders of the Church are cited from the Journal of Discourses, followed up by the assertion that these discourses are only preached in Utah; when, in fact, the Journal of Discourses was a semi-monthly periodical published in Liverpool, commencing in 1854 and continued up to some two years ago, and widely circulated in England; the Church authorities having nothing to fear from a publication of their discourses, where all that they said was presented to the people.

THE MOUNTAIN MEADOW MASSACRE.

In the summer of 1857, a company of emigrants passed through Utah, en route for California. They took what is known as the southern route, and while going through some of the settlements in Southern Utah, they were both impertinent and abusive. They poisoned several springs, and also the carcass of an ox which had died. Several Indians drinking the water and eating the carcass died from the effects. The result was that the Indians became enraged, and being joined by a few white men--among them John D. Lee--who, unfortunately, were Mormons, the entire company, excepting a number of children, were cruelly and inhumanly murdered. This horrid crime has been charged upon the Mormon Church, and especially upon the leading Elders. The charge is not true. It is wickedly and maliciously false; was proven to be so by repeated failure of the efforts of his enemies to fasten the crime upon Brigham Young.

John D. Lee had two trials for complicity in the horrid affair. In the first trial the jury disagreed. At the second trial, one James Haslam gave the testimony which I here introduce. It is taken from the records of the court. But that the reader may understand its force, I may briefly explain that in 1857, upon the misrepresentations of a United States judge, the United States authorities at Washington had rashly ordered armed forces to Utah to put down a supposed {188} rebellion of the Mormon people, and in consequence of that "army" approaching Utah, there was considerable excitement throughout the Territory. This fact made the emigrants passing through Utah both arrogant and abusive to the people of the "Mormon" settlements, and a council of leading men in those settlements was held to determine upon the course to be pursued towards the emigrants, and it was decided to send a messenger to Brigham Young to learn his views upon it. That messenger was Haslam; but before he returned the massacre had taken place--John D. Lee having led the Indians to the attack. This is the testimony as it appears on the court records:--

"James Haslam, of Wellsville, Cache Valley, was sworn. He lived in Cedar City in 1857; was ordered by Haight to take a message to President Young with all speed; knew the contents of the message: left Cedar City on Monday, September. 7, 1857, between 5 and 6 p.m., and arrived at Salt Lake on Thursday at 11 a. m.; started back at 3 p.m., and reached Cedar about 11 a. m. Sunday morning, September 13th; delivered the message from President Young to Haight, who said it was too late. Witness testified that when leaving Salt Lake to return, President Young said to him, 'Go with all speed, spare no horseflesh. The emigrants must not be meddled with, if it takes all Iron County to prevent it. They must go free and unmolested.' Witness knew the contents of the answer. He got back with the message the Sunday after the massacre, and reported to Haight, who said, 'it is too late.'"

In opening the case of the second trial of John D. Lee, Mr. Sumner Howard, Ex-Chief Justice of Arizona, and the United States prosecuting Attorney said:--

"He proposed to prove that John D. Lee, without any authority from any council or officer, but in direct opposition to the feelings and wishes of the officers of the Mormon Church, had gone to the Mountain Meadows, where the Indians were then encamped, accompanied only by one little Indian boy, and had assumed command of the Indians, whom he had induced, by promises of great booty, to attack these emigrants; that in his attack on the emigrants he was repulsed; that finding he could not get the emigrants out, he sent word to the various settlements of Southern Utah for men to be sent to him, representing that the men were needed for various purposes, to some saying the Indians had attacked the emigrants, and it was necessary to have men sent to draw off the Indians, to others that men were necessary to protect the emigrants, and still others that the emigrants were all killed, and that they were required to bury the dead; these men went in good faith to perform a humane act; that he had arranged with the Indians to bring the emigrants out from their corral, or fort, by means of a flag of truce; that by this act of perfidy he had induced the emigrants to give up their arms and place themselves under his protection, loading the arms and the wounded with the helpless children into two wagons, which he had ordered for the purpose; that he then started the wagons ahead, following them himself, and the women following next, the men bringing up the rear in single file; that Lee, after having traveled from three-quarters of a mile to a mile, gave the order to fire, and the slaughter commenced; that Lee shot one woman with his rifle, and {189} brained another woman; then drawing his pistol, shot another, and seizing a man by the collar and drawing him out of the wagon, cut his throat; that he gathered up the property of the emigrants and took it to his own place, using and selling it for his own benefit and use. All these charges against John D. Lee, he (District Attorney Howard) proposed to prove to the jury by competent testimony beyond reasonable doubt, or beyond any doubt, and thought no appeal to the jury would be required to induce them to give a verdict in accordance with the evidence."

At the conclusion of the trial, Mr. Howard

"Repeated again that he had come for the purpose of trying John D. Lee, because the evidence led and pointed to him as the main instigator and leader, and he had given the jury unanswerable documentary evidence proving that the authorities of the Mormon Church knew nothing of the butchery until after it was committed, and that Lee, in his letter to President Young a few weeks later, had knowingly misrepresented the actual facts relative to the massacre seeking to keep him still in the dark and in ignorance.

"He had received all the assistance any United States official could ask on earth in any case. Nothing had been kept back, and he was determined to clear the calender of every indictment against any and every actual guilty participator in the massacre, but he did not intend to prosecute any one that had been lured to the meadows at the time, many of whom were only young boys, and knew nothing of the vile plan which Lee originated and carried out for the destruction of the emigrants."

"As stated by Mr. Howard, Lee misrepresented the facts to Brigham Young respecting the massacre, and kept him in the dark as to the part he had taken in the butchery, always saying it was the Indians who had done it, and whom he tried in vain to restrain. Nor did the facts in the case come to the knowledge of Brigham Young until 1870; and as soon as he and the Church authorities learned that Lee was implicated in the heartless deed, they immediately excommunicated him from the Church,--a thing they would not dare to do had they been connected with him in the crime, or in any degree responsible for it.

"Numerous efforts have been made to fasten, the responsibility of this awful crime upon the leaders of the Mormon Church. Inducements were held out to John D. Lee to implicate Brigham Young, but all to no purpose. After his death, however, a supposed confession of his is published by the enemies of the Mormon people, and on that the world is asked to believe that the Mormon Church and people are responsible for the bloody tragedy; the thing is too monstrous and absurd for credence. And no people more emphatically condemn that crime than do the Latter-day Saints. Of it the late President John Taylor said, in an article he furnished for the press, in 1882:--

"I now come to the investigation of a subject that has been harped upon for the last seventeen years, namely, the Mountain Meadows massacre. That bloody tragedy has been the chief stock-in-trade for {190} penny-a-liners, and press and pulpit, who have gloated in turns by chorus over the sickening details. 'Do you deny it?' No. 'Do you excuse it?' No. There is no excuse for such a relentless, diabolical, sanguinary deed. That outrageous infamy is looked upon with as much abhorrence by our people as by any other parties in this nation or in the world, and at its first announcement its loathing recital chilled the marrow and sent a thrill of horror through the breasts of the listeners. It was most certainly a horrible deed, and like many other defenceless tragedies, it is one of those things that cannot be undone. The world is full of deeds of crime and darkness, and the question often arises--Who is responsible therefore? It is usual to blame the perpetrators. It does not seem fair to accuse nations, states, and communities for deeds perpetrated by some of their citizens, unless they uphold it."

"It is by no means improbable that some future text book, for the use of generations yet unborn, will contain a question something like this: What historical American of the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful influence upon the destinies of his countrymen? And it is by no means impossible that the answer to that interrogatory may be thus written: Joseph Smith, The Mormon Prophet."

--Josiah Quincy, 1844.

{191}

A REJECTED MANUSCRIPT. THE OTHER SIDE.

LEON R. EWING.

"They are slaves who fear to speak For the fallen and the weak; They are slaves who dare not be, In the right with two or three."

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