Scrap Book of Mormon Literature (Vol. 1 of 2) / Religious Tracts

by Unknown

II.

Having seen, now, that continuous revelation is necessary for the guidance of men unto eternal salvation, and also that God through his ancient prophets has promised to manifest Himself preparatory to the foundation of the kingdom of the Son of God upon the earth, it becomes necessary to enquire into the evidences that present themselves of the truth of the claims of Joseph Smith, the Prophet. Did God speak through him, or, was he an enthusiast, an impostor? This question concerns every human being.

With a voice like that of the angel whom John saw in his visions on Patmos, Joseph proclaims in the name of the Lord:

"Hearken, O, ye people of My Church, saith the voice of Him who dwells on high, and whose eyes are upon all men, yea, verily I say, hearken ye people from afar, and ye that are upon the islands of the sea, listen together. For verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men" (Doc. and Cov. sec. i, 1, 2).

For centuries past the world had cherished the thought that the voice of the Lord should no more be heard, when suddenly, thunderlike, a messenger appeared, heralding from one end of heaven to mother the above quoted intelligence. God has spoken.

To the chosen seed these were, indeed, tidings of great joy, but the world at large, influenced, as the Jews formerly were, by priests and rabbis, denounced the messenger as a bold imposter. He offered the strongest proof a man ever can offer as a demonstration of the truth of his message; he gave his life, sealing his testimony with his blood. Yet a sceptical world refused to believe, refused, to a large extent, even to investigate.

What was, then, the nature of his message? That the day of the Lord is at hand; that the inhabitants of the earth must repent of their sins and false doctrines, and turn unto God; that those who would obey should be made happy in the kingdom of the Son of God, but on all disobedient souls fearful judgments would speedily fall. To prepare for the coming of Christ was the message sent from God to man through His servant, the Prophet Joseph. That was the nature of the message.

It will be perceived that this is in full harmony with the sacred writ, and its very nature should be a sufficient proof of its divine origin. If it harmonizes with the Bible, how can it be false? How can those who believe the one reject the other? Is not that the very same contradiction as that of which the Jews were guilty who believed the sacred writings of the Old Testament at the same time they rejected Christ? Clearly, when the Bible is first proved to be true, everything that is in perfect harmony with the Bible must be true, too. In such relation to the Bible stands the divine message of which we are speaking.

This is a subject that must not be treated lightly. The highest interests are here at stake—interests dearer than life itself, which lasts but a moment. If God has spoken to this generation, woe, woe, woe unto those who wilfully shut their ears and harden their hearts against the word of God! The antediluvian world was drowned by a flood because the people did not heed the warning voice. The cities of the plain were wrapped in flames and buried in a sulphurous tomb because they rejected the message of God. Jerusalem fell because she did not know the time of her visitation. And how can the present world escape a similar fate under similar circumstances?

With these lessons of past ages before us, let every honest soul investigate the evidences of the truth of this message of the latter days. An honest investigation is the very least that can be demanded for a subject of this vast importance.

The attention of theological students who are familiar with the evidences of the truth of Christianity is particularly called to the line of thought here offered, as it is proposed to show that the message delivered by Joseph Smith is supported by the same evidence as the message delivered by former prophets or apostles. Christianity and "Mormonism" must stand or fall together. If the evidence here presented is sufficient for the one, it is sufficient for both.

RETROSPECTIVE EVIDENCE.

The books of the Old Testament abound with predictions foretelling the work of Christ on earth. It is distinctly predicted that a deliverer should come, "the seed of woman;" he should spring out of the people of Abraham; a new covenant would be made; the deliverer would be despised, put to death, and yet reign for ever and ever. Such wonderful predictions run like a string through the Old Testament, and are always pointed to as an evidence of the truth of Christianity. This is what is sometimes called retrospective evidence. Christ himself points to these predictions as such evidence. "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter His glory? Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." (Luke xxiv, 26, 27. Compare John v, 46, 47.)

But the same prophets foretell with equal clearness the grand work in which the Latter-day Saints are now engaged, as will appear on investigation of the following passages.

Isaiah has many remarkable predictions, some of which were fulfilled shortly after their delivery. Syria and Israel, for instance, were to be conquered by Assyria, before the infant son of the prophet could say "my father" (Isaiah viii, 4). The glory of Kedar was to fail in one year (xxi, 6), that of Moab in three years (xvi, 14), that of Ephraim in sixty-five years (vii, 8), that of Tyre in seventy years (xxiii, 15). Other predictions relate to more distant times. Thus that portion of his book which is contained in chapter xl to lxiv embraces the whole period from the Babylonian captivity to the end of the Christian dispensation.

In this portion of the book the prophet predicts the deliverance of the Jews by Cyrus (xliv, 28; xlv, 1-5, xlvii); the return to Judea (xliv, 28), the coming, suffering and glory of the Messiah, the downfall of idolatry, the rejection of Christ by the Jews, and their consequent rejection by God; also their final conversion and recovery (lii, 3; lxii; lxv).

Speaking of this last event, the final gathering of the Jews—an event which is about to be fulfilled in our own time—the prophet (chapter lv) says that there should be a people or a nation, previously unknown to the Jews, who should be willing to join the Jews in their worship of God Almighty. "Behold, thou shalt call a people which thou didst not know; and a people which did not know thee shall run to thee for the sake of Jehovah, thy God, and for the sake of the Holy One in Israel, for he hath glorified thee."

Could language more clearly convey that at the time of the final restoration of the Jews there should exist another people, too, who would share with the Jews the glory in store for them? In the next chapter (lxvi, 6-8) this other people is more clearly described: "And the sons of the stranger who follow Jehovah in order to serve Him, and to love Jehovah's name * * * those I will bring to My holy mountain, and they shall rejoice in My house." These predictions are very clear, and it is a literal fulfillment thereof that the Saints are called out of all nations of the earth so that they may form that one nation here spoken of, and the latter part of Isaiah's predictions are as literally verified as that part which relates to former events.

Among the predictions of the prophet Micah we notice the invasion of Shalmaneser (i, 6-8), and Sennacherib (i, 9-16), the dispersion of Israel (v, 7-8) the destruction of Jerusalem (iii, 12). He also foretells the gathering of Israel and the exaltation of Christ over all nations. Speaking of the gathering of Israel, he says that a forerunner should first come, and this forerunner is described as a people with a leader at their head and Jehovah as their guide, alluding to Israel in the wilderness, where Moses was their prophet, Jehovah going before them. Thus saith Micah ii, 12, 13: "Certainly I will gather thee, Jacob, and bring together the rest of Israel. * * The forerunner (or rather the one who 'breaks' the way) goes before them; * * * the prince goes before them and Jehovah leads." In chapter iv. the prophet more fully describes what should happen before the gathering of Jacob: "At the end of the days the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established upon the top of the mountains, * * and the nations shall run thereto. * * * In the same days said Jehovah, shall I gather the remnant." Read chapter iv, 1-10 carefully. It predicts unmistakably that at the time of the final delivery of the Jews there should exist a people gathered among the mountains in order to serve the Lord, a people endowed with wisdom to exercise judgment in the affairs of the nations of the world, and yet be a peaceful, agricultural people, who had thrown away their swords for peaceful occupations. This prediction is as clear as any ever given concerning Christ and His work, and it is fulfilled in the gatherings of the Saints. If prophetic evidence is required, God has given it to us.

Let us turn to Jeremiah, who flourished a hundred years later.

The chronological arrangement of the predictions of this prophet, as has been already remarked, is not very plain, but passages relating to the first salvation of Israel are easily recognized. Chapter iii, 15-18, are among these. Here the prophet in words that cannot be mistaken says that the house of Judah shall go to the house of Israel, and "they shall come together from the land of the north to the land which I have given your fathers."

That this prediction does not relate to the deliverance from Babylon is evident from the fact that the prophet says: "the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel." The house of Israel must then already be gathered, or else the house of Judah could not go with them. At the return from Babylon Judah took the lead, and the Israelites who returned had to come to Judah. Judah took the lead. Here is a deliverance and return predicted in which Israel takes the lead. Israel must consequently be gathered as well as Judah and previous to Judah. Compare this with the message delivered through Joseph the Prophet, and the evidence is both strong and conclusive.

No less clear is Daniel. In his second chapter, this great prophet predicts coming events with the clearness of history. Four kingdoms are described: The Babylonian, under the dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar; the Medo-Persian, the Grecian and the Roman. The last named is divided into ten, all of which in their composition carry the seed of their dissolution. Iron (political power) and clay (man-invented religion) mixed together, was their inheritance from Rome, and the cause of their weakness. But in the days of these ten kingdoms the kingdom of heaven is founded, a stone cut out without hands of man yet of miraculous origin; mighty as a mountain, and finally, superior to the finest metals, the most splendid earthly thrones.

That this prediction was not fulfilled at the time of Christ is clear from two facts: First, that Christ came before the dissolution of the Roman empire; and, secondly, that Christ did not found a kingdom at all when He was here. Only by the most lamentable perversion of Scripture can this passage be made to apply to the first coming of Christ. It must apply to His second coming or have no meaning at all. But to His second coming it applies. Then His kingdom will fill all the earth, but the stone must first roll, and, while so doing, grow until it becomes fit to perform the work assigned to it.

In chapter seven the prophet treats of the same subject. The four kingdoms are represented by four beasts, and the ten kingdoms by ten horns; three of the horns or kingdoms are subdued by a little horn, the papal, anti-Christian power, which exercises its tyrannical reign, and overcomes the Saints for a period of one thousand two hundred and sixty years. Here, too, the time is fully defined, showing beyond the possibility of doubt that the restoration of the Kingdom of God belongs to this century, counting from the appearance of the little horn, the papal power.

Thus the ancient prophets have spoken of the time in which we live, and their predictions are irrefutable evidence of the truth of the message accepted by the Latter-day Saints.

Let us add one more testimony. John, the great prophet of the New Testament, while on Patmos, has a vision in which the Turkish conquest is shown (chapter ix). Four angels, bound in the great river Euphrates, are let loose to spread war and desolation upon the earth for a period of about four hundred years (Rev. ix, 15). Their great numbers are described, their armors, their national colors, their power to hurt an idolatrous "Christian" world, tormenting those who had abandoned the worship of God for the worship of Saints and images. After this (chapter x) a messenger appears with a little book, signifying that the Spirit of prophecy should again be manifested before "many people, and nations, and tongues and kings" (Rev. x, 1-11). How very clear is this prediction as to the great event of our time. In reading the vision we feel that John saw the youthful Prophet Joseph with the little book in his hand, and heard his mighty voice declaring that the fulness of times had come. "And the angel (or messenger) which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth (embracing both hemispheres) lifted up his hands to heaven and swore by him that liveth for ever and ever * * * * that there shall be time no longer, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel * * * * the mystery of God should be finished" (x, 5-7). Is not this the very essence of the message delivered by Joseph the Prophet?

With such frequency and with such clearness the Spirit of prophecy in all past ages foretells the work in which the Latter-day Saints are now engaged. If Christ can point to predictions as an evidence of His divine mission; if Christians can point to prophecy as an evidence of the truth of Christianity, why are not these predictions, these prophecies, equally infallible evidence of the truth of the divine mission of Joseph Smith? How one can be accepted and the other rejected I fail to see.

PROSPECTIVE EVIDENCE.

Our Lord refers more than once to prophecies delivered by Himself as evidence of His divine mission: "And now I have told you before it came to pass, that when it is come to pass ye might believe." (John xiv, 29.) This kind of evidence has been called prospective. When we read, for instance, the prophecy of our Lord announcing the destruction of Jerusalem, compare the prediction with the description of the fearful event given by Joseph, and see how literally everything was fulfilled, we can understand what strong evidence the prophecy is of the divine mission of the Lord. Jerusalem, Babylon, Nineveh are all witnesses of the truth of the word of God, and their testimony is unanimously accepted by everyone who is able to trace the finger of God. The conclusion is this, that when a man foretells an event which no human wisdom could foresee, the occurrence of such an event is a sure proof that God spoke through that man. So God Himself reasons: "Who hath declared this from ancient times? Have not I, the Lord?" (Isaiah, xlv, 20-22.)

If we apply this rule to the message delivered through Joseph Smith, we unavoidably reach the same conclusion. We are forced by the most plain logic to acknowledge his divine mission.

The following is offered for consideration: In the Book of Doctrine and Covenants many predictions are given concerning the Saints, some of which have already been fulfilled, while others are still awaiting fulfillment.

In 1830, when the Church was still in her earliest infancy, it was predicted: "Zion shall rejoice upon the hills and flourish before the final salvation of Israel" (Doctrine and Covenants, sec xxxv, 24, 25). This remarkable prediction is often repeated, and finally, in the year 1838, at Far West, Missouri, it is again announced: "Therefore, will I not make solitary places to bud and to blossom, and to bring forth in abundance, said the Lord? Is there not room enough upon the mountains?" (Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cxvii, 7, 8.)

From the very foundation of the Church the Spirit of God, through the prophet, thus announces in no uncertain way that Zion, the Saints, should move to "the hills," "the mountains," "the solitary places," and there be prosperous, "blossom" gloriously. It must be remembered that these predictions were delivered at a time when no human wisdom could foresee such an event. When the Church was founded in 1830, there was no possibility—speaking from a mere human point of view—of foreseeing her removal to the hills, much less that she would be removed and prosper in the "hills." Nor is there in the whole history of mankind anything analogous to this exodus of the Church. The probability, speaking from a human point of view, when the Church was founded, was either that she would be favored by the world and remain where she was, or that she would be crushed on the spot by an immense hostility. Either of these two occurrences might have been considered probable at the time; but none of them was predicted. The Church should blossom in the hills. Has not this prediction, delivered half a century ago, been remarkably fulfilled? Who can travel through the valleys of the mountains to-day, among fragrant gardens and orchards, and notice the friendly, peaceful homes that everywhere smile upon the stranger, or observe the condition of the Saints, without seeing that the predictions have come literally true? Zion now blossoms in the mountains.

The fulfillment of these predictions has not been brought about by man, otherwise than in this way that ungodly men, without their own knowledge, were the instruments. The Saints were driven from place to place. They went not with a calculation to fulfill prophecy, but because they could not help themselves. In the same way the Jews and the Romans fulfilled the predictions of our Lord.

Anyone who will honestly consider these facts will see that the events prominent in the history of the Latter-day Saints indelibly mark Joseph Smith as a prophet of God.

Other predictions delivered by Joseph the Prophet concern the nations of the earth. In 1832 the following prediction was given: "For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and man shall fall upon the ground, and shall not be able to stand. And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea, heaving themselves beyond their bounds. And all things shall be in commotion; and, surely, men's hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all men." (Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lxxvii, lxxxix, xci).

True, this prediction has not yet in all its details been fulfilled; still, the events of the last ten years fully indicate that the time is drawing near when the "testimony of thunders" shall roll over the earth. I refer to numerous calamities which the last years have witnessed. Earthquakes, floods, storms, fires, conflagrations, wars, anarchy have filled the newspapers with horrible reading matter. We need only remember the earthquake in Charleston, the overflow of the Yellow River in China, the conflagration of several theatres, the riots in Chicago. So noted have these years been for calamities of every description that astrologers have pointed out that they were caused by certain planets which, during the past years, have had a peculiar position in relation to each other and to the earth. Be this as it may, the fact remains that we live in a time of visitation—a visitation already foretold by Joseph the Prophet. Here, again, we see his words verified, and he himself vindicated as a prophet of God.

Another prediction, the fulfillment of which is written in letters of blood on the pages of the history of the American nation, cannot be contradicted. In 1832 God declared through Joseph Smith: "Behold the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern States shall call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves, and thus war shall be poured out upon all nations." (Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lxxxvii, 3). Concerning this war, it was foretold that it should terminate in "death and misery to many, many souls." Also the place where the first shot was to be fired was foretold: "Verily, thus saith the Lord, concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina." (Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lxxxvii, 1; cxxx, 12, 13.)

These minute predictions were given at a time when people generally did not believe it possible for the United States to engage in a war with each other. Those acquainted with the sentiments that prevailed in America at that time, all agree in this. Nay, even when the report reached the Northern States that their Southern brethren had actually commenced the tragedy, it was hard for the Northern States to believe it. There was no possibility at the time of Joseph for human sagacity to foresee this war. Yet the despised prophet predicted it with a clearness not surpassed by Isaiah or Daniel.

Did it come true? Did the war break out in South Carolina? Was the slave question the casus belli? Did the Southern States apply to other nations for help? Every particular came true, and the world knows it, even if it fails to acknowledge that all had been predicted years before it happened.

It would be a reasonable supposition that the literal fulfillment of a prediction like this should be proof enough of the divine mission of the prophet. Or, what is required of a true prophet? Is not that enough that his predictions are proved to be true? In the case of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, John, nothing more is required. When we see that their predictions have come true we grant that they were true prophets. Must we, then, reverse every rule of logic in the case of Joseph Smith? Must we say his predictions have been fulfilled; ergo he was a false prophet? The absurdity of this is too great to need refutation.

We know that an objection has been raised that the prediction of the war did not come true in every particular—that the war was confined to the United States, and was not poured out upon all nations.

To this objection we answer that, in one sense, it was poured out upon all nations. The population of the United States consists, as is well known, of people from almost every nation under the sun, and England, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, all were represented in the armies of that war. All contributed to the death list in that long and fearful combat. How much misery, how much sorrow, how many tears did that war cause far beyond the borders of the great republic, when aged mothers and fathers, and sisters and brothers in the old countries received the intelligence that a son or a brother was wounded or dead? If we will consider this in all its consequences we will soon find that the expression, "War shall be poured out upon all nations" is no idle figure of speech. It is a stern fact. Thousands beyond the rolling waves of the ocean drank the bitter cup filled with the curse of that war. Understood in this way, the prediction is literally fulfilled in all its details.

But it must also be remembered that we have not yet reached the last scene of the drama. It is a grave question with some clear-seeing politicians to-day whether the slave question has yet reached its final solution. If it has not, we may yet see the prediction in question fulfilled in every particular.

The prediction itself plainly states that some time would elapse between the fulfillment of its various parts. Verse 3, D&C 87, foretells that the war should be caused by the division of the United States into two great parties, and that the Southern States should call upon Great Britain; "and thus war should be poured out upon all nations." Then verse 4 explains that this should be continued "after many days," thereby that the slaves (the negroes) should rise up, and also the remnant (the Indians), and new wars, new bloodshed take place. The prophecy thus clearly marks two divisions, the events of which are separated from each other by a period of many days, or years; for days in the prophetic language are always understood to mean years. Thus the prediction itself is plain. It foretells the so-called War of the Rebellion, its subsequent result as well as its causes. It further intimates that the question out of which it arose should be settled for many years, but that again the flames of war should be kindled and spread wider than before. The first part of this prediction has been fulfilled. The second belongs to the future.

Having thus removed the objection made to the prediction, it may not be out of place to show that this way of putting close together, in prophetical sentences, events which are in time far separated from each other, is common to prophetical writers. In this respect the Prophet Joseph resembles the ancient prophets, a fact which ought not to be the ground of objection.

Isaiah, speaking of the mission of Christ (chapter lxi, 1-3), says: "The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me * * to proclaim the year of acceptance of Jehovah and the day of vengeance of our God." Christ, in reading and expounding this text in Nazareth, reads to the middle of the verse, closes the books and exclaims: "To-day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears." (Luke iv, 21.) Indeed, with the coming of Christ the year of acceptance of Jehovah had come. The first part of the verse was fulfilled, but the second portion—the day of vengeance—was not yet. Thousands of years lie between the first part of this verse and the second.

So the Prophet Joel, in his second chapter, verses 28-32, foretells in one sentence the wonders of the day of Pentecost (compares Acts ii, 16-21) and the great day of Jehovah, when no one can escape the judgments to come except those who take their refuge upon Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, events which are separated from each other by thousands of years.

The objection to the prediction of Joseph Smith is therefore no objection at all, unless the ancient prophets must be rejected on the same ground. On the contrary, an honest investigation leads to the discovery that the very language of prophecy as delivered by the Prophet of this dispensation is in harmony with ancient prophecies, that they flow from one and the same source—the Spirit of God.

DIRECT EVIDENCE.

With "direct evidence," theologians mean such evidence as is supplied by the miracles of the Lord and his servants.

It is true that miracles are often appealed to as evidence of the divine mission of Christ. Nicodemus says: "No man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him" (John iii, 2). Christ Himself supports this view. "I have greater witness than that of John; for the work which the Father has given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me" (John v, 36). "Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works' sake" (John xiv, 11). Also: "But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins (He says to the sick of palsy), I say unto thee, 'Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way unto thine house'" (Mark ii, 10, 11). Here, clearly, miracles are furnished as evidence of Christ's divine mission.

But it must be remembered that the performance of miracles is not always a proof of divine authority. The Egyptian magicians worked several miracles, it seems, in the sight of Pharaoh, thereby turning his heart away from God. The disciples of the Pharisees at the time of Christ also performed miracles. They charged Christ with the crime of being connected with the powers of darkness, and that He by such aid cast out demons; to which charge Christ with holy indignation, replies: "If I cast out demons with the aid of Beelzebub, by whom do your children cast out demons?" So that miracles were by no means something which Christ claimed as his exclusive prerogative. It has also been clearly foretold that anti-Christ should claim miraculous powers and thereby deceive many. "His coming is after the workings of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders" (II Thess. ii, 9). "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast" (Rev. xiii, 13, 14). From these passages it is clear that caution is needed in accepting this kind of evidence. Miracles may be evidence of the presence of God or the presence of anti-Christ.

Nor is the performance of miracles always necessary to prove divine authority. A man may be sent from God in order to fulfill a very important mission without having to prove this by miracles. Thus John the Baptist had a very important mission. He came to "prepare the way" for the appearance of Christ, yet it is not known that he proved his mission by miracles.

It is true that Christ and His Apostles after Him worked many striking miracles, even the raising of the dead, but these miracles were, after all, not so frequent as has sometimes been imagined. Those men of God did not touch everything with supernatural power, healing every sick person they saw, raising every dead one, changing the common day occurrences of life into scenes matching the stories of the "Arabian Nights." Not at all. Their miracles were comparatively scarce; they were exceptional occurrences. Thus when Paul was incarcerated in Rome, the cold prison walls forming but a poor shelter for his body during the winter, and his resources probably being exhausted, he asked Timothy kindly to bring with him the cloak which Paul had forgotten at Troas, at the house of one of the brethren, called Carpus. (II Tim., iv, 13). The passage is as prosaic as it could possibly be, and has nothing supernatural about it. Still more, in the same chapter we hear Paul diligently plead with Timothy to come to Rome to him, for he was now alone. All except Luke had forsaken him, and among other misfortunes was this—that he had had to leave Trophimus sick at Miletum. "Erastus abode at Corinth, but Trophimus have I left at Miletum, sick" (II Tim. iv, 20). Sick? Why did not the great Apostle cure him instead of leaving him sick? If the Apostles had been such miracle-makers as modern fancy has represented them to be, an occurrence of this nature would have been impossible. But this is not the only one recorded. Timothy, one of Paul's converts and fellow laborers, is always spoken of in terms of high praise, and he is a noble instance of eminent gifts and grace in one young in years. This favorite of the apostle was sick, however, and in his letter Paul therefor exhorts him to be careful about his health: "Drink no longer water but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities" (I Tim. v, 23). Let those who have overestimated the frequency of miracles at the time of the first Christian churches, consider this passage well, and they will be likely to see their mistake. Here was a prominent man of the church, himself possessing great spiritual gifts, constantly suffering from "infirmities." Here is the great "Apostle of the Gentiles," whose power always was great, advising that prominent man to use a little medicine. Why did he not promise him a miracle? Why? That we do not know, but this we do know, that miracles were never by God strewn round, "plenty as black berries."

Anyone who will study the miracles of our Lord and his apostles, will find that they were always performed for the glory of God, and conveyed a lesson necessary and appropriate. Although individuals were thereby benefited, yet this was not the only or ultimate aim. Christ, for instance, heals with a touch a man whom the law had pronounced unclean, and whom no Jew would touch. He shows by His miracles that he is the Lord over disease, over demons, over physical nature, over brute creatures, in order that we may have confidence in Him in all things. We see him forgiving sins, answering prayers, direct (Mat. ix, 20-22), intercessory (23-26), united (27-31), and even unuttered (32-33). The same characteristics may be observed in the miracles of the apostles. They were never performed for selfish purposes, nor for the gratification of curiosity, never for the sake of show. The epistles explain that miraculous gifts, including prophecy, were given to confirm the truth of the Gospel, promote its rapid dissemination, and edify the churches.

Such miracles, then, are from God, and may be relied upon as evidence of the truth of those revelations which they are intended to prove.

Two questions now become appropriate in our investigation: Did miraculous manifestations follow the message of Joseph the Prophet, and, if so, were these miraculous manifestations of such a nature as to warrant the conclusion that he had his power from God? Let us see.

In the year 1830 the Lord declared through His prophet: "And it shall come to pass that there shall be a great work in the land, even among the Gentiles * * * for I am God and mine arm is not shortened; and I will show miracles, signs and wonders, unto all those who believe on my name; and who shall ask it in my name in faith they shall cast out devils (demons); they I shall heal the sick; they shall cause the blind to receive their sight, the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak, and the lame to walk. The time speedily cometh when great things are to be shown forth unto the children of men" (Doctrine and Covenants, sec. xxxv 7-10.) Here we have an unmistakably clear promise that miracles should attend the message of our Prophet; and this promise is repeated at other times. But was this promise also kept? Were those "great things" shown unto the children of men? Or was the promise a false one?

How could it be false? This was one of the very first promises given. When we remember how rapidly the Church spread in those early days, no other conclusion is possible than this: that the promise given was also kept to the very letter. Men are not so foolish as to follow a man who promises "great things" and never keeps his promises. This the ministers of the world have learnt, wherefore they wisely abstain from promising any "great things" before the millennium, possibly. It is always convenient to have a future to draw on during present poverty. But here is a man who, contrary to most ministers of the world, declares in the name of the Lord that the time had now come for the manifestations of "great things." Thousands heard this and believed, in itself a sure proof that "great things" really were shown. The sick were healed, the blind received their sight, the deaf heard, the dumb spake and the lame walked.

At the time of Joseph it was generally accepted, even among the enemies, as a fact that the Prophet performed many great miracles. We remember a romance from that time wherein Joseph is represented as raising a dead lady. Of course, the author of this romance explains it as humbug, the apparent death being caused by a dose of morphine or something else. Other authors ascribe the works of the Prophet to magnetism. Joseph Smith, they say, knew the mysteries of magnetism and understood how to turn them to good account. These efforts on the part of the enemies to explain or account for the miracles of the prophet are a proof as sure as any one can desire that he showed those "great things" which he promised to show in the name of the Lord. Had there been nothing, the enemies would have nothing to account for. "He did it through magnetism" is the modern expression for: "He did it through Beelzebub." Had Joseph been an impostor, how easily that could have been exposed. Here he promises that the sick should be healed by faith. Yet no attempt has been made to prove that the promise was never kept, only that he kept it through magnetism! The enemies well knew that such works followed the testimony of Joseph the Prophet, works for which they could not account in the usual way.

As an instance of how commonly the enemies believed in Joseph's power, the following well-known incident may be referred to. A man once came to the Prophet and asked him to show a miracle. It was not the Prophet's way to make "show" of such works; wherefore he positively refused. But the man grew impertinent and abusive, and talked lightly of the work of God. Finally the prophet said in a voice which penetrated the soul of the miracle-seeking visitor: "You want a miracle. Tell me what you want. Do you want to be struck blind, deaf or dumb? In the name of the Lord God I tell you, you shall have it." Upon this the man left the presence of the prophet in a hurry. Now, why did not this man stay and have a fair trial? Joseph promised him a miracle. Why did he not wait and get it? Simply for the reason that he dared not. In common with all who knew Joseph, he was too well aware of the power of God through the Prophet. The enemies themselves are thus testifying to the fact that miracles attended this Prophet.

Orson Pratt in his work has recorded a number of cases of wonderful healing.

Nor are we referred exclusively to dead witnesses. There are still living men and women in Utah and elsewhere who were personally acquainted with the Prophet, and they are willing to testify, to the last of the great works they have seen with their eyes and heard with their ears, performed by the Prophet. Moreover, great works still continue. To deny, therefore, that miraculous manifestations followed the message of Joseph the Prophet is to deny facts.

These miracles, on the closest investigation, will all be found to partake of the nature of genuine Scriptural miracles. Their aim is the glory of God, as they are always ascribed to Him alone, not to the power of man. Nor are they performed in order to glorify any one man, or set of men. They are performed as a confirmation of faith, not to produce faith.

These points are important and instructive. While the miracles of the Catholic Church appear to be either silly nonsense or worked in support of some notoriously false doctrine, in order to gain proselytes, or otherwise exhibit their spurious origin, the miraculous manifestations following the Church of Christ exhibit no such marks. Their origin is divine, and they bear the divine in arks in themselves. Like God's works in nature, these miracles must be closely studied in order to be known in all their beauty. The indifferent pass them by without notice. There is nothing to "show" in them. But this is one proof of their divine origin. Man always works in a "showy" way when left to himself; God's ways are "in the deep."

I have pointed out that true miracles are referred to as evidence of a divine mission. We have proof that such miracles attended the message of Joseph the Prophet. The conclusion is therefore given. He was a man sent from God, and his message was divine.

When applied to Christianity no one doubts the correctness of the conclusion, if he believes in miracles at all; but if the promises are granted and the conclusion accepted in the case of Christianity, what a fearful corruption of mind there must be in a man who can deny both premises and conclusion when the rule is applied to test the claims of Joseph the Prophet. Surely, in order to be consistent, we must either accept or reject both. A third we do not see.

The evidence thus far considered is external and direct, appealing to our senses. Another class of evidence remains which has been called internal. Applied to Christianity this kind of evidence is thus explained: If Christianity is not of divine origin, it must be a cunningly devised fable. Which is the most probable supposition? Internal evidence tries to answer that question.

The same process of reasoning by which this question is answered when applied to Christianity can also be applied to the message brought by Joseph the Prophet. If this message is not from God it must be from man; it must be forged in order to deceive and must be termed the greatest fraud of the century. It is either a divine truth or a diabolical lie. Tertium non est. Which is the more likely supposition?

In order to decide this question we must consider the moral precepts given by the messenger, his own character, and the character of those who receive it and profess to follow its precepts. For it is very clear that any message which in itself is "good" and which also produces good results in the hearts and lives of men, is not likely to be from the evil one. What is good is from God. Was Joseph the Prophet a good man? Did he inculcate holy principles unto his fellow-men? Does the gospel he preached tend to make men holy? If so, his message must be from God.

MORAL EVIDENCE.

That the moral character of a man who professes to be a divine messenger is very important as an evidence of the truth of his message is admitted on all hands. The following is the opinion of an eminent writer: "The character of Christ is a wonderful proof of the divinity of the Bible. The Hindoo cannot think of his Brahmin saint other than possessing the abstemiousness and austerity which he admires in his living models. The Socrates of Plato is composed of elements practically Greek, being a compound of the virtues deemed necessary to adorn the sage. A model of the Jewish teacher might easily be drawn from the writings of the Rabbis, and he would prove to be the very deflection of these Scribes and Pharisees who are reproved in the Gospel. But in the life of our Redeemer a character is represented which departs in every way from the national type of the writers, from the character of all ancient nations, and is at variance with all the features which custom, education, religion and patriotism seem to have consecrated as most beautiful. Four different authors have recorded different facts, but they exhibit the same conception, a conception differing from all they had ever witnessed or heard, and necessarily copied from the same original. Moreover, this glorious character, while borrowing nothing from the Greek, Indian or Jew, having nothing in common with established laws of perfection, is yet to every believer a type of excellence. He is followed by the Greek, though a founder of none of his sects, revered by the Brahmin, though preached by one of the fisherman caste, and worshiped by the red man of Canada, though belonging to the hated paleface."

This very striking picture of our Savior is true in all its details. In the Gospels we see Him described as holy (John vii, xlvi, li, 8, 46, 10, 32; Matt. xxvi, lix, 27, 23, 24; Luke xxiii, 13-45); full of benevolence and compassion (John iv, Luke ix, 55; x, 30-37); kindness and affection (Matt. xiv, 27-31; Luke xix, 5; xli, 22-61; John xi; xix, 25-27); having meekness and humility (Matt. ix, 28, xviii, 22); moral courage, firmness and resignation (Matt. xxvi, 39-46; Mark x, 32; Luke iv, 23; John xi, 7; xviii, 4); abhorring hypocrisy and popularity (Matt. vi, 1-18; x, 16-39; xxii, 18; Mark xii, 38, 40; Luke xi, 44; John xvi, 1-16); being moderate and free from enthusiastic austerity (Matt. viii, 19; xxiii, 23; Luke v, 29, 35; John ii, 1; Mark xii, 17.)

Looking at all these characteristics of our Savior, so eminently "good," and hearing Him solemnly declare that He has a message from God to man, we feel bound to admit that He is no deceiver. His words are true. He is the Son of God. Thus His character becomes an evidence.

Now, concerning the subject under consideration, must we not also admit that Joseph the Prophet was a man sent from God, when we find that his character is in perfect harmony with those qualities that are peculiar to a servant of God?

Those who want to investigate this are referred to works extant, which treat on the "Life of Joseph Smith," and I think any unprejudiced reader will feel impressed with the fact that Joseph was a good man—a "man of God."

How he urges holiness as the condition of happiness! In his benevolence he seemed boundless, embracing every race of humanity, white, red and black! His kindness and affection are touching. Of meekness and humility he exhibits the most striking examples which shall ever be worthy of imitation. The moral courage and firmness which prompted him to face a hostile world and to die "calm as a summer morning," must be admired. His straightforwardness, for which hypocrisy ever stood rebuked, is well-known to his friends and acquaintances. His whole career and the doctrines he taught are indisputable proofs that, although he was inspired by a noble enthusiasm, yet he was far from being what is called an enthusiast.

Here, then, we find all the marks of a true disciple of Christ, proving, if anything at all, that Joseph the Prophet, was a man of God. His message must be therefore from God, too. We know that his antagonists have done all in their power to prove the bad character of the prophet. But we also know what credit must be attached to slanderers inspired by bigotry and hatred.

Were we to draw our information from such sources concerning Christ himself, we would have to reject even Him, the spotless Lamb of God. For the enemies did not fail to stain the character of Christ. "He casteth out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils" (Luke xi, 15.) "Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan (an infidel?) and hast a devil?" (John viii, 48.) A special charge against Jesus was that He was a drunkard (Matt. xi, 19), and generally he was accused of being on intimate terms with "sinners" (Luke xv, 2), by which term the Jews understood outcasts, reprobates, the company of which was contaminating in its influences. Finally, as is well known, our Savior was tried and condemned to death by the ecclesiastical authorities for blasphemy and by the civil court for treason. Must all this be believed? Certainly not. We know that those charges were dictated by hatred. Neither must we believe what hatred has dictated against Joseph the Prophet.

After all, the most diligent slanderers have not been able to bring anything against the Prophet worse than was brought as a charge against the first Christians. When a great calamity befell the Roman empire, or a part thereof, the Christians were the originators. Pests and famines, it was thought, came on account of the Christians, or even that the Christians made them through secret exorcisms in their private meetings. During the reign of Nero, Rome was consumed by a conflagration that lasted for seven days. Five-sevenths of the city were laid in ashes, including temples, palaces and other monumental buildings. Although the embittered people had reason to believe that the emperor himself had caused the fire, yet as soon as the report was started that the Christians had done it, this was willingly believed and a persecution broke out in which most of the apostles of our Lord were cruelly put to death. That the Christians practiced bloody sins in their meetings, that they killed and ate the children and that they plotted against the state were common charges. But we know that these and similar accusations had no foundation in reality.

A very strong proof (as anyone acquainted with human nature will admit) that Joseph the Prophet was a man whose life corresponded with his teachings is the fact that those who knew him best from private intercourse with him were his most earnest admirers. His wife, his brothers, his parents, are all found among the first who joined the Church. How could this be if Joseph the Prophet had not in his daily life been a living witness to the fact that he really communicated with God? This is well worth consideration. A man who professes to have a divine message-must live accordingly or else stand rebuked as a liar before those who know him.

Not less remarkable is the fact that even apostates testify to the truth of the claims of Joseph. Thus David Whitmer, although his position towards the Church in later years was not exactly a friendly one, yet on being asked if he believed that Joseph was a true prophet, he invariably answered: "Do I still believe that Joseph Smith was a divinely inspired prophet? I know he was; it is not a matter of belief," and this testimony the old man has given to the world on his very death-bed.

Considering all this, we must conclude that the life of the prophet and the doctrines which he taught were in such harmony with each other as to impress his surroundings and friends with the fact that he was a man of God. If so, his message must be divine, for no evil power could operate through a righteous person.

This kind of evidence, however, is more to be felt, as it were, than described. Its force on the mind will depend on the moral character of the investigator. Pure minds, practical in holiness, will feel its force stronger than other less pure minds. All will depend on those "relationships of spirits" of which even poets have dreamed. The Nathanael, the "Israelite, indeed, in whom is no guile," could feel in the mere presence of Christ, through the Spirit, that emanated from Him, that here was more than man, and he had to exclaim, "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel." So will men whose hearts are pure, in following Joseph the Prophet through his short but exceedingly eventful career, certainly feel in their hearts that here is a messenger of God and perhaps sing with the poet:

"We thank thee, O God, for a Prophet,
To guide us in these latter days."

PECULIARITIES OF THE MESSAGE.

When Christianity was introduced into the world it was brought in contact with many different religious and philosophical systems. The Romans were proud of their military glory, the Greeks of their superior wisdom. Among the Jews a pharisaic spirit prevailed, and the whole nation was divided in factions. They mutually hated each other and all agreed in hating their Roman oppressors and the gentile world at large. A mere human teacher, it has been justly said, would under such circumstances have become either a partisan or have flattered each sect by exposing the faults of the rest, or he would have endeavored to gain the favor of the nation by condemning their conquerors. Instances of this kind of Bessermachen are not unheard of in our time among the "Christian" world, when all stress is often laid on one principle at the sacrifice of the rest. But Christ did not follow this course. He stood up as an independent Teacher, rebuking all error, condemning all the sects, and yet taught principles contrary to the inclinations of the human heart. Hence, Christianity has several peculiarities of its own. In opposition to an empty ritualism it teaches personal holiness as the condition of eternal happiness. All men are alike brought before the bar of God. Even those who have been apostles and worked miracles will fall condemned if they be workers of iniquity. It bids men return good for evil, not to "get even" with everybody; it instructs men to love their enemies, to be humble and forgiving, qualities which philosophers considered weaknesses instead of virtues; it places every race and every station as on a level before God, except for the free mercy of God, whose choice has fallen upon one individual or one section in preference to another. Such doctrines were acceptable to none, and yet they are again and again repeated and enforced.

In the teachings of Christianity, moreover, sin is always spoken of as transgression against God, a contrast to the idea prevalent among the Greek philosophers, who taught, according to Cicero, that "the Deity is never displeased, nor does He inflict injury on man" (De Off. iii, 28). God is traced everywhere—in nature, in history, in revelation; and as for men's acts, they are traced to their very source in the human heart, and there, if evil, condemned. Christianity does not content itself with condemning sin, when already committed, like every human law; but it condemns the thought, the feeling, if not pure, thus striking at the very root of sin.

Well may we, when we rightly understand these facts, with the theologians exclaim: "It must be felt that the morality of the Gospel is not of man. Bad men could not have taught such truths, and good men would not have deceived the people."

But when we apply this great truth to the subject under consideration we reach the same conclusion. The message delivered by Joseph the Prophet, like Christianity in its primitive purity, has peculiarities of its own, all of which prove it to be from God.

First of all, let us consider the importance which this message attaches to faith. While theologians of the world either give the pre-eminence to works, like the Catholics, or like Protestants, give to faith a secondary place in their system, here comes a young man and declares, "Faith is the first principle of revealed religion, and the foundation of all righteousness." He gives to faith its right place as the very beginning of the new life, the foundation of the structure. Where had he learnt this? There is not a theological school within the sphere of our knowledge which has discovered this great truth. Men had for centuries been exhorted to repent first and then try to believe, as if it were possible to produce repentance without faith. Or, men were instructed to do good, as if works could be meritorious without faith. Not only is faith placed in its right place, but the definition of it is given strictly in harmony with ancient revelations. Faith is declared to be the only principle from which obedience and success can flow. In relation to God faith is, indeed, a confession of our weakness and utter inability for everything that is good; and yet, as to success in all things pertaining to our exaltation and glorification, it is omnipotent. (See Doc. and Cov. Lectures on Faith). Now, from whence had the youthful Prophet this discovery taught in the Bible, but not understood by the world? Who had pointed out this great philosophical truth to him? Who but God.

Nor is this all. In the message delivered through Joseph the Prophet, faith has been established on the only sure foundation ever given: The Word of God—REVELATION. This was done at a time when almost everybody thought revelation a thing of the past. No theologian in the whole wide world had discovered the great secret that faith must be based on a communication from God, given not only to people who belong to antiquity, but to the individual who is required to believe. Let everybody honestly investigate the real cause of the weakness of faith as it exists among men. How is it that, notwithstanding all preaching, faith is almost extinct on earth? It is this, that people are required to believe only that which God said anciently. This is the real cause. We are so constructed that we cannot by any force of will take the same lively interest in what happened thousands of years ago as what happened to-day; nor can we realize in the same way what happens to others as that which immediately concerns ourselves. Hence, naturally, all the preaching about what God revealed formerly has only a weak impression comparatively, and it does not make the effect that it should. The faith it produces is something as powerless as faith possibly can be. In order to produce this, preachers are under the necessity of resorting to all sorts of sentimental anecdotes, death scenes, war scenes, dreams, etc., or even to drums and tambourines. Revivalists know the effects of these artificial methods and prefer them to the simple tale of Him who died on Golgotha—a proof of the poverty, spiritually, of the prevalent systems. Now, how is this changed by the simple announcement: "God has spoken!" This at once stirs the whole world and the whole hell and something definitive comes out of that. It produces either faith or condemnation. Where faith is the result it is a strong faith. What gave the former-day Saints the power to endure all for their religion? What gave the Prophet and his fellow martyrs power to endure all hardship and death at the hands of enemies? This assurance: God has spoken. God has revealed His will. Such faith this assurance will always produce. How had Joseph the Prophet come to discover this fundamental truth? No Catholic, no Lutheran, no Episcopalian, no Presbyterian, no Methodist, no Baptist was in the position of teaching Joseph this truth; none but God.

Let us further consider the great truth revealed in these last days concerning God. While all the world, as far as the influence of Christianity is felt, knows how to repeat the words of the prayer which our Lord taught His disciples: "Our Father, which art in heaven," yet who has understood this one word "Father" in its full meaning? We call upon every honest, believing soul in the whole world to inquire into his own mind and see whether this beautiful prayer before the days of Joseph the Prophet had any more significance than being a beautiful figure of speech? Or was there one single theologian who had understood that God really is what He teaches us to call Him, Father? If there be, we are not aware of it. But here comes a young man, educated in no school, formed according to no existent religious system, and opens up to us an infinite view of eternities past and eternities to come by declaring that God is in reality our Father, that we are His children, and that we are here for certain purposes, which accomplished will bring us back to an eternal home, in a circle of real brothers and sisters. Say, O ye inhabitants of the world, can this glorious truth emanate from anybody but God?

Another peculiarity which marks this message is the importance it attaches to obedience to God. "By the prayer of your faith ye shall receive My law," (Doc. and Cov., sec. xli, 3); "None shall be exempt from the justice and the laws of God" (Ibid, cvii, 84); "Verily, I say unto you, that in time ye shall have no king or ruler, for I will be your King and watch over you; wherefore hear My voice and follow Me, and ye shall be a free people, and ye shall have no laws but My laws when I come, for I am your law giver." (Ibid, xxxviii 21, 22). Had Joseph the Prophet received his instructions from men he would have appointed a pope, a bishop, a presbytery, a synod, or something similar as the highest authority of the Church, but he did not. For God alone obedience is demanded; a proof that he was a messenger of God.

This will be better appreciated when it is considered that, although obedience is required, yet the liberty of man is fully preserved. Obedience is required, but not from fear, not from servitude, but from free choice. In looking over the history of the world we find that it has always been the great trouble of mankind to find the proper middle way in this respect. Nations have had their liberty, but it has not been possible to regulate this so as to give no room for abuses. Liberty has been perverted into lawlessness; the people have been the victims of unprincipled agitators who, under the cover of patriotism, seduced and robbed the masses, until the people, tired of this "liberty," after many sufferings, rose and laid the power down into the hands of a few, or even of one, preferring the chance of having one or a few public robbers to many thousands. But as anciently Scylla avoided, Charybdis was near, so here. What was once done as a safeguard against spoliation and lawlessness became in course of time a curse. It developed into despotism. The people suffered for centuries perhaps, but finally the oppression becoming too great, the burdens too heavy, the people rose and crushed the tyrants under its weight. Freedom was again established, and the progress in the circle again commenced. For these two extremes, equally dangerous, despotism and licentiousness have always been the trouble with mankind. Now, here comes a young man, Joseph the Prophet, who had studied no politics, no history, and teaches us a system by which both these extremes, both these dangers are to be avoided, how to obey without becoming serfs, and at the same time to enjoy personal liberty, without placing us in danger of licentiousness. If God had not taught the prophet this "Doctrine of common consent," who had? Who was his teacher?

Another peculiarity, not less marked, is found in what might be called the rites observed in this last dispensation. Almost the entire world had lost the right form of baptism, for instance, and all had forgotten the true signification and use of that rite. A man who had only human wisdom for guidance would under such circumstances probably have either disregarded the act altogether as a mere outward form or would have attached very little importance to it. Both these tendencies are found abundantly among Christian professors. But here comes a young man and teaches us not only the right form of baptism (although this was the most unpopular one), but also its true signification and its use both for living and dead.

Looking at baptism, the doctrine of gathering, the temple services, all the rites revealed through Joseph the Prophet, as an acceptable worship, we must ask: "Is it possible that all this is from men? Is it likely that a deceiver would have taught doctrines so unpopular, so little calculated to gain public favor?" We think not. When a man wants to deceive he must follow popular roads, flatter the vanity of the masses, yield to their prejudices and establish himself on the very ground of their ignorance. Advanced truth, truth trampled under the feet of men, always comes from God.

People who know the religious observances here spoken of only from representations given by a hostile press, where everything is ridiculed, cannot, of course, appreciate the force of the proof they convey. But every one who is familiar with these to the Latter-day Saint's peculiar rites, and who understands that their sole object is to teach the people "Holiness to the Lord"—any one who shall consider that similar means were adopted under the grand Mosaic dispensation in order to impress the people then living with this same lesson, "Holiness to the Lord," and any one who perceives how wonderfully well these rites, in every detail, are calculated to impress this very idea, that without holiness no one can see the Lord, he will feel in the contemplation of all this that here surely is the wisdom of God revealed to man. No analysis, however, can do full justice to this subject. It must be felt and realized in the experience of man in order to be appreciated.

In conclusion, like Scripture itself, the message of Joseph the Prophet begins its work with a recognition of our fall, our total ruin; it then brings the soul into harmony with God and with itself; it enlightens and educates the conscience, quickens and purifies the feeling, subjects instinct to reason, reason to love, and all to God. It provides us with ample means for reaching happiness never dreamt of, worlds without end. Hence, the conclusion necessarily follows that the man who taught us this must himself have been a scholar of God.

EFFECTS OF THE DOCTRINES.

When investigating the claims of a religious system it becomes necessary also to consider the effects which such a system produces in the lives and characters of those who embrace it, as well as its general influence. If a tree is known by its fruits, so are also doctrines. Those that produce good fruits cannot be evil.

It is, therefore, customary to refer to the effect of the gospel in the first part of our era as an evidence of the truth of its claims. These effects are well-known and worthy of consideration. Paul points out that some of the Corinthians had been "fornicators, adulterers, thieves, drunkards," previous to their embracing the gospel; but now they were "washed, sanctified, and justified" (I Cor. vi, 11). Peter speaks of some of the converts as having once been "walking in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries" (I Peter iv, 3). But these sinners who lived in a dissolute age and under the worst of governments, became converted, became eminent in virtue above their fellowmen.

This eminence is acknowledged by all unprejudiced writers of the age. Clement of Rome (A. D. 100) says: "Who did ever live among you that did not admire your sober and moderate piety and declare the greatness of your hospitality? You are humble and not proud, content with the daily bread which God supplies, hearing diligently His word, and are enlarged in charity." Justin Martyr (A. D. 165), formerly a Platonic philosopher, says: "We who formerly delighted in adultery, now observe the strictest chastity; we who used the charms of magic have devoted ourselves to the true God, and we who valued money and gain above all things now cast what we have in common, and distribute to every man according to his necessities." It has been supposed that the United Order of which we read, and which was founded in Jerusalem at the commencement of the Church, very soon collapsed. But, judging from this expression of Justin, it appears that that order still existed more than one hundred years after Christ. Minucius Felix, to a heathen opponent, says: "You punish wickedness when it is committed. We think it sinful to indulge in a sinful thought. It is with your party that the prisons are crowded, but not a single Christian is there, except it be as a confessor or apostate."

The influence of the gospel was gradually felt among the heathen nations who heard it. In Greece, men like Lycurgus and Solon had encouraged impurities. At Rome they were openly practiced and approved; and nearly all ancient nations are said to have commended self-murder. Human sacrifices and the exposure of children were allowed. But wherever the gospel was preached and believed all such practices were condemned and finally destroyed. That this was not the work of civilization, but of the gospel, may be gathered from the fact that it was nations far above the humble Christians in refinement and education, who committed the greatest outrages. Suppression of sin never keeps pace with the progress of civilization, but with the triumph of the gospel.

Another effect of the gospel was the many charitable institutions that always followed in its track. The relief of distress and the care of the poor are peculiar to Christianity. The gospel, if rightly understood, would have already abolished the horrors of war, prevented slavery, put down feudal oppression, made all men brethren. For such are its doctrines, that when once understood and practiced, they will naturally exterminate all miseries of the human family.

These effects are truly wonderful, and may justly be appealed to as evidences of the truth of the gospel.

But are such effects less strong evidence of the divine origin of the message of Joseph the Prophet, when it can be proved that they invariably follow the acceptance of this message? We think not. Here are facts open to the inspection of everybody. We need not refer to a bygone antiquity to ascertain the effects of this message upon the people who have accepted it. The Latter-day Saints live to-day and their works may be scanned by all. Every honest investigator will find that the fruits produced to-day, as seen among the Latter-day Saints, are precisely the same as those which were seen among the early Christians, and to which we have above briefly referred.

We do not say that everyone who professes to be a Latter-day Saint is an evidence of the divinity of the gospel. Nor was every individual who professed Christianity an evidence of its truth. On the contrary, many, even in the apostolic age, showed by their deeds that they were nothing but professors; and it is clearly not the profession that is the main feature. A man may profess to be what he is not.

Nor do we contend that the Latter-day Saints, considered as a religious community, are the best people on the earth. This is not for us to decide; nor is that our present question. The Saints may be the best people, taken as a whole, or they may not; yet in their present stage of development they have reached a high standard of excellence that is most desirable. This, however, does not affect our present argument.

What we do contend, and what we urgently invite everybody to ascertain for themselves, is this: that the message delivered through Joseph the Prophet, when accepted and honestly carried out in practice, has a tendency to change men for the better and produce fruits of faith, hope and charity, thus proving its divine origin by its fruits; for no deceptive fraud could produce these fruits. This is what we contend. Facts speak for themselves.

We live in an age when social questions threaten to blast society to its very foundations. Where in the whole world have these questions found their only possible solution to the satisfaction of all parties concerned? Not among the various religious bodies of the world; not among the capitalists, nor among the anarchists, communists, socialists, or nihilists, but among the Saints. Over the thresholds of their peaceful homes these troublesome questions—ghosts at the appearance of which the world trembles—cannot enter. In the valleys of the mountains they are unknown, and must remain so as long as the Gospel is being carried out in practice.

Again, who has solved the question of the true relation between the sexes, at once assigning to marriage its divinity of origin and eternal importance, thereby checking the waves of sin which inundate the world, and securing happiness to all? We answer: The Latter-day Saints. One of the first fruits seen as the result of their doctrines is absolute purity.

Further, who fills the prisons as criminals? Not the Latter-day Saints, but outsiders, those who habitually speak of the degradation of the "Mormons;" those Christian associates give the stuff that contributes to the filling up of the prisons—a fact which of itself ought to be enough to convince the whole world of the divine origin of the message delivered through Joseph the Prophet. It is clear that doctrines which are strong enough to keep humanity from committing crimes—to which every human heart is more or less inclined—must be from God.

It may be asked, who fills the saloons and gambling hells? Who swears and lies and slanders? Who is proud and vain, lazy and filthy? No one who has accepted the Gospel in reality—no Latter-day Saint. The Saints are, as such, temperate, industrious, humble, clean, loving, forbearing, long-suffering, rejoicing, fearing God; in short, bearing the fruits of righteousness. Such virtues the Gospel enjoins and such fruits always accompany its real acceptance.

Could we speak of all the cases where men who were in every respect worldly, walking in sin, accepted the Gospel and became changed in every respect, this evidence would, indeed, amount to demonstration. Thousands are our witnesses to these facts—men who were fallen, on their way down to ruin and hell—families who have been happy by the restoration of their fallen ones to virtue, to society and to God.

Finally, has the world exhibited any nobler examples of self-sacrificing faith, of firmness and endurance under suffering and persecution than have many of those despised followers of the martyred Prophet?

True, persecution has been raging against the Saints; but, like the palm tree, which is said to grow all the higher the more weight there is placed thereon, they have stood firm; in persecution they have been patiently enduring, knowing that, after all, God is the Supreme Ruler, and with this knowledge they have faced all adversity calmly and risen through their faith and hope far above the plots of those who know not God.

Such, then, are the effects of the message under consideration. Well may we ask: Is it possible that such noble fruits of faith, hope and charity could be produced from anything that men could invent? An honest inquirer must answer in the negative, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Gal. v, 22, 23), and it is evident, therefore, that where these are found the Spirit of God is manifested.

Here, then, we again arrive at the same conclusion: Joseph the Prophet was sent from God. If he was not, his whole career would be an enigma, and his work the most profound of mysteries. Then we would have the problem of a man working a system of peculiar doctrines for the salvation of mankind, a religion producing the fruits of the Spirit in accordance with the Gospel of Christ; and all this through whom? Through mere human wisdom? Or, shall we say through the devil? Can any rational man for a moment think that the devil, even if he felt so inclined, could frame a moral system the effects of which upon men would be purity and holiness? The idea is so absurd that it is hardly worthy even of suggestion, and yet the Rev. Mr. Lamb has suggested that the faith of the "Mormons" is possibly due to "demoniacal" influence—a theological possibility which the reverend gentleman may have from studying the theology of the Pharisees, who were perplexed at the manifestations of the power of God in Christ.

No honest man, however good an opinion he may have of the devil, can honestly believe the adversary of God capable of making men holy and virtuous. Nor is it possible for mere human wisdom to do it without the aid of God. Our only alternative is to acknowledge the hand of God, and humbly bow in obedience to the message delivered through Joseph the Prophet.

SPIRITUAL EVIDENCE.

Stronger than any of the evidences thus far considered is another kind of evidence which may be called spiritual, being the testimony of the Holy Spirit in the soul. This testimony has been promised to every one who is willing to "do the will of God."

When the Holy Spirit enlightens and operates upon the heart and mind of man, he is made to perceive intuitively, as it were, the perfect truth of the message of which we speak. Having received this testimony, a man is no longer dependent upon demonstrations for his belief. His eyes are opened; he can see for himself.

What a miserable existence we should have on this earth if everything had first to be "proved" to us before we would accept it as truth. We see that the sun shines; we hear the harmony of music; we feel or we are conscious of our existence. Such facts we do not require anybody to prove to us. So is it when our spiritual nature has been quickened and called into activity by the operations of the Holy Spirit. We "see the kingdom of heaven;" we feel and are conscious of its blessings through our spiritual senses. This is the testimony of the Spirit in our soul, and the strongest evidence that can be produced.

When we are told through the Gospel that "Ye have strayed from Mine (God's) ordinances," and "broken His everlasting covenant," and that "every man walketh in his own way," we feel this to be true. When the word of revelation declares that men stand incriminated before the bar of God, not only for the acts of transgression, but also for a deep and inveterate habit of ungodliness in the innermost recesses of the soul, we feel this to be so. If man, when honestly searching himself, found that, after all, he is good enough, and his desire is to serve God, to keep His commandments; that his highest anxiety is to promote not his own interests but the kingdom of God, then he might feel that the message which depicts man as a sinner, outwardly and inwardly, is not from God. But through the aid of the Spirit he feels the truth of the Gospel when it condemns sin, and is (with the Prophet) led to acknowledge the "corruption of human nature," as such. (Pearl of Great Price, p. 92.)

This is not all. Through the same Spirit he is led to feel that the provisions made through the Gospel are more than sufficient to restore himself and the human family at large, and even inanimate creation, to all its original beauty and glory. Is man guilty? Here is the pardon provided. Is he corrupt? Here is provision made for his edification. Is he surrounded by temptation? Here is divine strength imparted unto him. Is he surrounded by problems, many of which he cannot solve? Is he dying and fears a coming eternity? Has he lost his dearest upon earth, and feels as if life itself were lost? Oh, here are remedies for all wants. Here is a Gospel that opens the eternities to the eye once dim by tears, perhaps, and for the views the soul here perceives, all earthly troubles vanish like a light cloud, and the following words of Paul become clear: "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy, to be compared to the glory which Shall be revealed to us." (Rom. viii, 18). Thus it is observed that the message given is precisely what we in our fallen condition wanted, and, let us say, what we might expect from a merciful Father.

To this comes also that the experience of the believer in the message harmonizes exactly with the promises or threatenings accompanying it. Joseph the Prophet frequently told what would be the experience of those who would be faithful and of those who would not be faithful to their covenants made with God. Each promise of blessing to the faithful, each warning to the unfaithful, is a prediction, the fulfilment of which adds to the strength of the testimony. This experience grows with our growth, and multiplies with every step of our progress in the knowledge and love of truth.

It must be added, however, that this spiritual and experimental evidence is of value only to the believer, who already enjoys the testimony. But to him it is sufficient were it even alone. He cannot sometimes understand that it is possible for anyone to doubt what he himself already "feels," "sees," and "perceives" to be true. He has the witness within himself and needs no other; for he knows that Joseph the Prophet was a man sent from God, just with the same degree of certainty and in the same way that he knows Jesus is the Christ.

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

The several evidences now considered are indeed important enough to establish the claims of Joseph Smith, and all taken together are overwhelming. We have seen the Prophet stand forth, a man whose desire was to be just, true, and righteous, and we have heard him proclaim his message: "Thus saith the Lord." We have seen that the ancient prophecies predict that such a messenger should come just about the time of Joseph; we have proved that Joseph showed his authority from God by miracles and prophecies; that his message bears peculiar internal marks of divine origin, produces fruits of righteousness in the believers, and is accompanied by that testimony of the Spirit which God alone can give. To deny the divinity of the message, or the divine authority of the messenger, in view of this overwhelming evidence, seems to be nothing short of total blindness, or something much worse.

We do not claim that by each one of these evidences, nor by all together, all objections are answered, all difficulties are removed. To prove religious truth above a possibility of objection is beyond the possibilities of this earth. In religious matters, as in others, our views must necessarily be limited and dimmed by mists.

Nor is it necessary, or even desirable, that all difficulties should be removed. Were there no difficulties any longer, were everything clear even to a mere worldly mind, religion would no longer be religion, for there could be no room for the exercise of faith. Faith is, indeed, after all the very moving power of practical religion. It is therefore clear that difficulties must exist so that faith may be exercised.

It is so with Christianity at large and the Bible itself. Difficulties exist great enough to strengthen, by exercise, the faith of the believer, and to become stumbling blocks to those who do not want to believe. We are finite. Could we expect that God, when talking about matters of infinite interest, should always have that to say which we can understand in every particular, thus leaving no difficulties? Certainly not. Concerning the Bible, an eminent theologian of our own time has said: "We can dispense with nothing, not even the difficulties. Every element (the apparent discrepancies among the rest) is essential to the force of the whole."

But this important truth applies just as much to the message delivered through Joseph the Prophet. We can dispense with nothing in it, not even the apparent difficulties which follow it. Suppose that Joseph had given a code of laws or system of theology in which everything was plainly demonstrated like a handbook in geometry, having every idea defined, every step proved. Who would have believed such a work to have emanated from the Spirit of God? Would it not have carried with it a suspicion on its very surface? For God never before worked in that way. In nature everything is apparently huddled together without system. To man it has been given to arrange God's works in nature into classes, genera, and species, thereby encountering many difficulties but also learning what otherwise could not be learned. The same arrangement we find in the Bible. Principles, maxims, doctrines are given without regard to system, sometimes in plain words, sometimes in narrative or parables. To man it has been given to search diligently and arrange the facts presented into a system. Now, when we find that the message of Joseph the Prophet partakes of the same characteristics as God's works in nature and in revelations recorded in the Bible, this fact is certainly more in favor of the message than otherwise. The very difficulties are evidence of its divine origin.

There is also this peculiarity: that the more we learn of the ways of God, the wider our horizon becomes. That is, we see and understand more; at the same time, we perceive that there is more to comprehend beyond. Ever more; or as Pascal puts it: "The last step of reason is to know that there is an infinitude of things which surpasses it." When a man has learned to acknowledge this, there are no longer any real difficulties to him in connection with the message sent from God. They are all more or less solved. Some are cleared by diligent research and study; others are perceived by faith to melt into unity and harmony when they can be traced back to their first sources and studied in the light which flows from the throne of God.

Our investigation is finished. We have seen that the same evidences which are thought sufficient to establish the truth of the claims of the Gospel as preached in early ages, apply with equal force to the message delivered through Joseph the Prophet. Thousands upon thousands are willing to bear their testimony that they know this to be so. What can we do better than accept it? If true—and how can it be otherwise—what an awful thing to reject it! No less interests than life and salvation are at stake. When God speaks, our greatest wisdom is clearly to hear and obey.

"Let the mountains shout for joy and all ye valleys cry aloud, and all seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your eternal king. And ye rivers and brooks and rills flow down with gladness. Let the woods, and all the trees of the field praise the Lord, and ye solid rocks weep for joy. And let the sun, moon and morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy. And let the eternal creation declare His name for ever and ever." (Doc. and Cov., Sec. cxxviii, 23).

PIONEER SKETCHES—UTAH IN 1850.

BY ELDER JAMES H. MARTIN, IN THE CONTRIBUTOR, 1890.

It is very difficult for young men born in Utah, and still more so for those who have immigrated from other countries, to understand how Utah, with its fair valleys, which now bloom as a garden, could ever have been so barren and desolate as they have heard the old pioneers describe it. Now, look where they may, they see beautiful homes, lovely fields and orchards; majestic shade trees and waving meadows. "Is it possible," say they, "this beautiful scene could ever have been the dreary waste we have heard our fathers describe?" It is even so, and the writer, in whose memory those scenes are still fresh, will endeavor to illustrate by a few reminiscences.

It was on the 22nd of July, 1850, that on my way to the California gold fields I first entered the valley of Great Salt Lake, but it seems as if 'twere yesterday. As our little company of a half dozen wagons, emerged from the mouth of Parley's Canyon, a vast expanse of gray desert met the eye, livened only by a growth of stunted sunflowers upon the slopes of "benches" at the foot of the mountains. Gray, gray, everywhere; nothing but the bluish gray of sage-brush and greasewood covered the whole face of the land. Not an acre of meadow or green grass to be seen anywhere; the only green visible, being a thin line of willows along the Jordan, or the small streams flowing into the valley from the mountains. We saw squaws among the sunflowers with baskets and paddle in hand, beating the sunflower seeds into their baskets; the seed ground between two flat stones into a coarse meal, forming material for their only kind of bread. The Indians cultivated no land, but subsisted upon game, fish, sunflower seeds and roots; and when grasshoppers and crickets were plentiful, they gathered them by the bushel and baked them for future use in pits, which they dug in the ground and heated by fires made in them. Sometimes the poor natives had not even this to eat, and to preserve life, had to subsist upon the inner bark of cedar and juniper, and seed bearing grasses. Although the scene upon entering the valley of the Great Salt Lake was desolate in the extreme, away in the distance was a sight that gladdened the eye and caused tears of joy to flow from more than one of our party. For months had we toiled slowly onward, living upon bacon and flour—flour and bacon—month after month. "And now," we thought as we saw the distant houses, "now we may get something good to eat—some milk, butter, green vegetables!" What luxuries! who can appreciate such things until long deprivation has made them precious?

We drove through the scattered town of small one-story adobe or log dwellings, but saw nowhere a sign displayed to indicate store, grocery or other place of business. I afterward found there were a few small second hand stores in town; one on Emigration street, as Fourth South was then called; one east of President Young's block; and one or two in other places, but none on Main street, which at that time was lined on both sides by a simple pole fence. No shade trees or orchards were to be seen; if any fruit trees had been planted they were too small to be casually noticed. Some tall native cotton woods stood along the south branch of City Creek, which ran southerly through the lot formerly owned by General Wells. The other branch of the creek ran westward, through the Temple Block, and thence found its way to the Jordan.

The Old Fort on the present Sixth Ward, or Pioneer Square, was still inhabited by families who had not yet been able to build upon their own lots. Everybody was busy—no loafers standing about—every man engaged in the mighty work of building a new state in the midst of the desert. And every man was a farmer. Food is the most important requisite of life; people may and do live without clothing or comforts, but food they must have or soon they die. So every man's great desire seemed to secure food for himself and family—a desire sharpened by the sufferings of the infant colony during the two previous years of partial famine.

One thing struck a stranger as very odd—the sight of money disdained and refused in making trade. For instance, I buy some butter or vegetables, and offer money for it—"Can't you let me have some sugar, sir, or some dried apples, instead of money?" I answered that we have a little of such articles left—hardly enough to last us to California, and again offer the cash. "Oh, do let us have a little dried fruit; it is so long since I had any!" And so we found there are things more desirable than money. This was a common experience during the summer of 1850—money refused, and better pay—food—demanded. It may be different in Utah today.

Other things—strange things—were noticed by our party. Not an oath was heard from any of the Mormon settlers; and if a Gentile uttered one, he did so carefully, as we understood a man was liable to a fine for swearing. Not a drunken man could be seen—for there were no drinking hells allowed until Gentile Christianity forced them upon the people. And there were no houses of ill fame until the same corrupt but overpowering force introduced and sustained them. "Why," said they, "you must be like other people—you must have all these things." They judged Mormons by themselves.

No one thought to fasten a door at night—there were no thieves; and a woman might pass through the streets alone at any hour of the night with perfect safety. Is it so today? If not, is it "Mormonism" or its opposite that has wrought such a woeful change? There is no doubt as to the answer.

A few settlers lived in Davis county, and some where Ogden now stands; also at Provo and its surroundings in Utah county. The country about Bountiful—now so rich and productive—then lay an open waste, covered only by a short, stunted growth of sage and greasewood, and to all human appearances seemed utterly worthless. As the writer rode over it in those days he would not have taken a mile square of it as a gift. What was it good for? It would produce nothing—not even grass—without water, and there was no water for it. "Yes," says the reader, "but there is water for it now; why not then?" I will tell you. When the Latter-day Saints settled Utah they blessed the land by authority of the Holy Priesthood, that it should be fertile; and they blessed the waters, that they should increase. The Almighty heard, approved and verified their words. That is the reason in a nutshell; that explains the great change that has taken place since Utah Was first settled; a change well known to all the old pioneers. I hear President Kimball, one day, when, in the spirit of prophecy, say: "As the need for water increases among the people, so shall the waters increase from this time forth. Write it down if you like, for it is true." I heard his words and recorded them, and now testify to their truth, as shown by almost forty years' experience since the words were spoken. The waters in Utah have increased. Small rivulets, dry in summer, have become steady streams, and much larger, and large streams have grown larger. Springs have broken out where they never existed before, as the writer knows by personal observation.

In the spring of 1851 I went to where Payson now stands, selected a farm and proposed to settle. At that time—March 10th—not a house had been erected, but some were being built of logs, by seven families lately arrived. Making known to them my intention, I was answered: "Oh, yes, you may have all the land you want, but not water. We claim all the water, and there is not enough for us." And so I went down to Iron county. Water at Payson was scarce; the whole stream would have run in a ditch two feet wide or less. How many people live in and around Payson now? Hundreds, if not thousands, and all have water. So it has been all through Utah. I remember on one occasion while traveling in southern Utah, in company with Apostles George A. Smith and Amasa Lyman, we stopped for lunch one day at a small spring which oozed from a bank, ran a few yards and disappeared in the sand—the only water for miles around. And this is how we got water to drink: One sat beside the spring with spoon and tin cup, dipping a spoonful at a time until the cup was full. Years afterwards, I passed that place again, and found to my astonishment, five families living there, all supplied from the same spring, with water enough for gardens and fruit trees. Many similar examples might be noted, had we space.

For years after Utah was settled the country was considered the very worst. President Young used to say it was a good country for the Saints to live in, "for," said he, "no one else would or could inhabit it." For years it required constant persuasion from the Presidency and Twelve to keep people from wandering away to more favored lands, and nothing but the wonderful faith of the people retained them. In spite of all, many did go away, each year, feeling as if their hardships were more than they could bear. But the great majority remained, sustained by faith without parallel in the history of any people.

More than a thousand miles from the Missouri river; surrounded on all sides by powerful, unconquered tribes of bloodthirsty savages; poor, plundered of their all by ruthless Christian foes in Missouri and Illinois; hated and despised by all the world; what but suffering and death could they expect in their isolated desert home? Their clothing would soon wear out, their ammunition needed for self-defense would soon be expended, and all this would require a year's journey to replace. But they could at least raise bread. "No," says

Col. Bridger and other long residents there, "you can't raise anything here. Frost every month in the year." He said he would give one thousand dollars for the first bushel of corn they could raise, and felt secure in his offer.

But the Saints did conquer the desert, by the blessing of Him who rules all things; and their achievements in founding a prosperous commonwealth as they did, in the face of almost insurmountable difficulties, will yet be pointed to as some of the most remarkable upon record. The silly babble indulged in by some of the enemies of the Mormons—that Utah was desirable in the beginning—fertile, abounding in water and verdant meadows—can only bring a smile to the pioneer who remembers things as they were then.

Today Utah is a garden; but it has become so by the blessing of the Almighty upon the untiring, Herculean toils of the Latter-day Saints, who had faith in God and trusted their leaders. Their faith, so steadfast and sublime, is called by the world fanaticism; but the Saints know in whom they trust, and have no fears as to the future of Zion. The fires of persecution and the blows of their enemies have the same effect upon them as the flame of the forge, the anvil and the blacksmith's sledge, upon the heated steel, solidifying and shaping and tempering it more perfectly. And if some cannot endure the ordeal, but fly off like the sparks under the hammer, it is only an evidence that the remainder, purified from dross, is more coherent and stronger than ever.

"Ever keep in exercise the principle of mercy, and be ready to forgive your brother on the first intimation of repentance."

—Joseph Smith, The Prophet.

THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.

ITS PRIESTHOOD, ORGANIZATION, DOCTRINES, ORDINANCES AND HISTORY.

BY ELDER JOHN JAQUES.