Thrice was the shout repeated, the vast congregation of from eleven to thirteen thousand followed President Taylor as with one voice. The grand words of praise and triumph were not new to Israel. They had shaken the walls of the Temple at Nauvoo during the one day that it stood resplendent in all the glory of the House of God—though the Saints knew they would be compelled to abandon it the next day to their enemies. The same glorious shout in the midst of toil and hardships had rolled through the woods bordering the streams of Iowa, and had broken the silence that for ages brooded over the vast prairies of the west. Indeed the shout was older than that, older than the everlasting hills which now listened to it—aye, older than the earth itself! For was not this the shout which shook the heavens before the foundations of the earth were laid, when "the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"[[1]]

A celebrated press correspondent,[[2]] who was present in the interest of the New York World, thus describes the closing scenes of that conference:

"Acquainted though I am with displays of oriental fanaticism and western revivalism, I set this Mormon enthusiasm on one side, as being altogether of a different character; for it not only astonishes by its fervor, but commands respect by its sincere sobriety. The congregation of the Saints assembled in the Tabernacle, numbering, by my own careful computation, eleven thousand odd, and composed in almost exactly equal parts of the two sexes, reminded me of the Puritan gatherings of the past as I had imagined them, and of my personal experiences of the Transvaal Boers as I knew them. There was no rant, no affectation, no straining after theatrical effect. The very simplicity of this great gathering of country-folk was striking in the extreme, and significant from first to last of a power that should hardly be trifled with by sentimental legislation. * * * Nor could anything exceed the impressiveness of the response which the people gave instantaneously to the appeal of their President for the support of their voices. The great Tabernacle was filled with waves of sound as the 'Amens' of the congregation burst out. The shout of men going into battle was not more stirring than the closing words of this memorable conference, spoken as if by one vast voice."

Footnotes

[1]. Job xxxviii.

[2]. Mr. Phil Robinson who remained three months in Utah writing a series of letters for the World. They are now published in book form under the title of "Sinners and Saints." Mr. Robinson is one of the few writers who have endeavored to tell the truth about the Mormons.

CHAPTER XLII.

WORK ON THE "MEDIATION AND ATONEMENT"—ITS CHARACTER—"THE AARONIC PRIESTHOOD"—THE "STORM"—ARRIVAL OF THE COMMISSION—TEST OATH—"IN THE MARRIAGE RELATION"—HOW IT WORKS—FIRST CASE IN THE CRUSADE—PRESIDENT TAYLOR'S REFLECTIONS.

Notwithstanding the cares, labors and anxiety which his position as President of the Church thrust upon him, in these eventful years of which we are now writing, President Taylor still found time to write works on the gospel. In the year 1882 he issued his work on the Mediation and Atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is a book of some two hundred royal octavo pages.