ABOUT THE MORMONS.
The day upon which the Mormon Elder was to leave his missionary field to return to his home in the mountains, was rapidly approaching. Mr. Brown, the lawyer, had become so interested in the missionary and his peculiar people that this gentleman determined to accompany him to Utah, to see for himself what he had heard so much concerning.
On the evening before their departure, all the old friends were gathered at the Marshall residence, or hotel, and quite naturally the conversation turned to the contemplated trip to Utah, and from that to the motives which led the Mormons to settle in that territory.
"What were the considerations that led to the settling of Utah by the Mormons?" asked one of the members of the little company.
"Persecution by their enemies was the primary cause," said the Elder. "After the death of the Prophet Joseph, they were driven from their homes in Nauvoo, and hence sought a new abiding place in the West."
"How did the death of Joseph, the Prophet, occur?" asked Mr. Brown.
"He was murdered in cold blood by masked men. You understand that all innovations on existing conditions have been opposed from time immemorial. The gospel has particularly been combatted in all ages, as its history amply illustrates. The people of their time did not tolerate Christ and His apostles, and ceased not persecuting them as long as they lived upon the earth. They were all at last put to death. The truths which the Latter-day prophet taught were the same as were expounded by the Savior and his followers, and opposition to these came as naturally as that a similar cause produces a similar effect. The prophet was finally martyred for the testimony which he bore. He had been brought continually before the courts which, however, could prove no guilt against him, for he was innocent of any other offense than that of preaching the gospel of Christ, and bearing his testimony that the God of heaven had again spoken to man. Some three days previous to his assassination, he went to the city of Carthage, in Illinois, Nauvoo being then the abiding place of the Saints, to deliver himself up to the pretended requirements of the law. The governor of the state had pledged his word, as the chief executive, that the prophet should be protected, but no effort was made to fulfill this pledge, and so Joseph and his brother Hyrum were shot in Carthage jail, on the 27th of June, 1844, by an armed mob, composed of about two hundred persons who had painted themselves black."
"Did this murder of their prophet have the effect of discouraging the Saints, or rather, did they feel disposed to abandon the cause for which they had so far battled?"
"It is very natural that they felt discouraged and that some wavered in their course, but the great majority were inclined to continue with unfaltering zeal in the work, because they knew for themselves that the true gospel had been restored, and that they were engaged in the work of God. And here let me remark that the strength of the Church consists in the personal knowledge and testimony of the members. The Spirit of God fills each member with unfaltering faith, and he builds his superstructure of religious belief on personal knowledge, imparted to him, by the power of the Spirit, through revelation. This testimony remains as long as the person lives uprightly and honorably before the Lord, doing nothing to grieve it away. Instead of scattering and abandoning the Church, leaving it to die, as was expected and desired by its enemies, and which would doubtless have been the case if it had not been divinely established, the people gathered strength and, through the assistance of God, and the leadership of Apostle Brigham Young, forsook their homes in their beloved Nauvoo, crossed the trackless plains, scaled the mountains, and in the midst of a desolate wilderness founded a commonwealth which has attracted the attention and the admiration of the whole world."
"How did Brigham Young come to be the leader of the people?" asked Mr. Sutherland.