Alma and Amulon had known each other in the days when they both belonged to king Noah's priesthood, and with the venom so often conspicuous in apostates, the latter soon commenced to persecute those who were faithful to the Lord. He placed task-masters over them, imposed inhuman burdens upon them, and otherwise afflicted them grievously.
In their agony they called continually upon the Lord for deliverance. Their prayers annoyed their cruel masters and they were forbidden to pray aloud; but no tyrants, however powerful or cruel, could prevent them praying in their hearts. This the people of Alma continued to do most fervently, and in due time, though not immediately, deliverance came. In the meanwhile the Lord comforted and strengthened them in their afflictions, so that their burdens were easily borne.
The time for their deliverance finally came, for on a certain day the Lord promised them that he would deliver them on the morrow. The night was occupied in getting their flocks and provisions together, and preparing for their journey. In the morning, when their Lamanite guards and task-masters were in a deep sleep, they set out on their journey into the wilderness. After traveling all day they pitched their tents in a valley which they named Alma. The Lord warned Alma to hasten out of this country, for the Lamanites were in pursuit, but he said he would stop them in the valley where Alma was then camped. Alma and his company traveled yet twelve days, at the end of which time they arrived in Zarahemla. This, with the eight days occupied in traveling from the waters of Mormon to the land of Helam, makes twenty-one days' travel from Lehi-Nephi [5] to Zarahemla.
Amulon and the priests of Noah, possibly because of their Lamanitish wives, soon gained great favor with king Laman and were made teachers to his people. Educated in the language of the Nephites, they began to instruct the Lamanites therein. They, however, taught the people nothing of the religion of their fathers, or of the law of Moses, but instructed them how to keep their records, and to write one to another. All this time king Laman ruled over a numerous people, inhabiting distant regions, governed by tributary kings and rulers. Having no written standard, the language of the Lamanites had become greatly corrupted. The coming of the priests of Noah among them gave rise to the introduction of a higher civilization. As a result, they increased in wealth; and trade and commerce extended among them. They became cunning and wise, and therefore powerful, but were still addicted to robbery and plunder, except among themselves.
FOOTNOTE:
[5] To prevent confusion in the minds of our readers, we desire to draw attention to the fact that the city of Lehi-Nephi and the city of Nephi are not two separate cities, but one and the same city with two names.
CHAPTER XV.
MOSIAH'S GOOD REIGN—THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIS ADVENT—HE ASSEMBLES THE PEOPLE—THE BAPTISM OF LIMHI—CHURCHES ORGANIZED THROUGHOUT THE LAND.