Elder Adams told him that he had taken a dangerous stand; that signs followed believers, but did not go before them; that signs came by faith, not faith by signs. He informed him who the first sign-seeker was—Satan, whose children had always been faithful in following his example. He testified that the truths of heaven had been plainly laid before them, that the Spirit had given unmistakable evidence of its truth, and that unless he repented of his sins, rendered obedience to the gospel and lived up to its requirements, the curse of God would rest upon him.
The meeting was dismissed without the preachers being able to disprove any of the truths advanced by the Elders; the people were left to reflect at leisure upon what they had listened to, and the preacher, Hill, to accept the consequence of disobeying the servant of God.
* * * * * * *
After a lapse of sixteen years from the time of the events just narrated, I happened to be in the same part of Pennsylvania upon a mission.
Calling one day at a house to water my horse, I saw one of the most deformed and repulsive looking beings I ever beheld.
On arriving at my destination, I informed my brethren of the hideous sight I had met with, when I was told that the being I had seen was what was left of the man who had demanded a sign from a servant of God.
In 1878, Elder Butler, of Ogden, was on a mission to the same place, and I wrote to him for information concerning Hill. His reply was, "He is still alive, and an object of charity."
There are two ways of knowing the truths of the gospel. One is to obey and live up to them. The antediluvians took the other way and were overwhelmed; and the man who wanted a sign also took it, and, as a consequence, had to drag out a long and most miserable existence, manifesting by his appearance to every beholder, that the curse of the Almighty was certainly resting upon him.