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Kevin Kraut
Sermons and
Writings
of the
Restoration
Volume 4
April 1853 -
Feb. 1854
And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith. (Doc. & Cov. 88:118)
Table of Contents
compiled and published
by
Ogden Kraut
May 1995
PREFACE TO VOLUME 4
The information in this fourth volume of Sermons and Writings of the Restoration is taken primarily from the Deseret News and the Millennial Star, between the dates of April 1853 and February 1854.
Regrettably, many of today's sermons and writings fall short in demonstrating the inspiration, fire and knowledge of the early Church prophets. Much interesting and vital information is being disregarded and withheld from LDS members in general, so it becomes almost an individual search to locate these gems of knowledge.
Since many of these manuscripts, journals, issues of the Millennial Star and Deseret News are rare, expensive to buy, and difficult to extensively read and study, we are making available the most interesting and valuable selections that were given to the Saints over a century ago.
Early leaders, especially Brigham Young, encouraged the Latter-day Saints to read and study--especially in the area of theology:
We want every branch of science taught in this place that is taught in the world. But our favourite study is that branch which particularly belongs to the Elders of Israel--namely, theology. Every Elder should become a profound theologian--should understand this branch better than all the world. There is no Elder who has the power of God upon him but understands more of the principles of theology than all the world put together. (Brigham Young, JD 6:317)
--The Publisher
CONTENTS
Preface
The Right to Heirship . . . . . . 7
Brigham Young--April 8, 1853
Celestial Marriage in Deseret . . . . 11
Orson Pratt--April 8, 1853
Priesthood Authority and Heirship . . . . 15
Orson Hyde--April 8, 1853
Nelly and Abby (Conversation on Marriage) . . 23
Mill. Star, April 9, 1853
Manufacturing and Independence . . . . 40
Brigham Young--April 10, 1853
The Coming Crisis--How to Meet It . . . . 44
Mill. Star, April 30, 1853
Angels and Agency . . . . . . . 59
Brigham Young--June 26, 1853
Difficulties with the Indians . . . . 60
Brigham Young--July 1, 1853
Patriotic Remarks . . . . . . . 76
Orson Hyde--July 4, 1853
Eternal Nature of Priesthood . . . . . 82
Orson Pratt--July 30, 1853
The First Principles First . . . . . 88
Orson Pratt--July 30, 1853
Poor Utah . . . . . . . . 93
Des. News editorial, July 30, 1853
Monogamy, Polygamy and Christianity . . . 96
Mill. Star editorial, Aug. 6, 1853
The Living and the Dead . . . . . . 105
Mill. Star editorial, Aug. 6, 1853
Luther on Polygamy . . . . . . . 108
Mill. Star editorial, July 1853
Necessity of a Living Prophet . . . . 111
John Jaques--Aug. 13, 1853
Necessity of a Living Prophet (cont.) . . . 116
John Jaques--Aug. & Sept. 1853
The Mormons--The Mahometans . . . . . 137
Mill. Star reprint, Aug. 13, 1853
Covenants--A Word of Counsel . . . . . 144
Mill. Star editorial, Aug. 13, 1853
Has There Been an Apostasy? . . . . . 149
Elias L.T. Harrison--Aug. 27, 1853
Obedience . . . . . . . 155
John Hyde, Jr.--Sept. 17, 1853
Dreams, Visions, Tongues, etc . . . . 162
Mill. Star editorial, Sept. 10, 1853
Concluding Conference Remarks . . . . 167
Brigham Young--Oct. 9, 1853
Address to the Missionaries . . . . . 170
Brigham Young--Oct. 9, 1853
Foreign Missions . . . . . . . 173
Mill. Star editorial, Nov. 12, 1853
The Perpetual Emigrating Fund . . . . 178
Mill. Star editorial, Nov. 19, 1853
Indian Difficulties . . . . . . 182
Mill. Star editorial, Nov. 19, 1853
Adam, Our Father and God . . . . . 184
Brigham Young--Nov. 26, 1853
The Morality of the Latter-Day Saints . . . 188
Joseph Hall--Dec. 3, 1853
Change in Public Sentiment Towards Us . . . 193
Mill. Star editorial, Dec. 3, 1853
Adam, the Father and God of the Human Family . 197
Mill. Star editorial, Dec. 10, 1853
Fear Bringeth Torment . . . . . . 204
Mill. Star editorial, Dec. 17, 1853
* * * * *
Going Home to Zion . . . . . . . 209
John Jaques--Feb. 4, 1854
The Laying on of Hands . . . . . . 216
Joseph Hall--Feb. 4, 1854
The Gifts and Blessings of God . . . . 220
John Jaques--Feb. 11, 1854
Evil Speaking . . . . . . . . 229
Mill. Star editorial, Feb. 18, 1854
The Relations of the Sexes . . . . . 233
Burnap's Lectures, Feb. 18, 1854
Who Are These That Fly as a Cloud? . . . 244
Mill. Star editorial, Feb. 25, 1854
* * * * *
* * *
*
[7] Sermons and Writings
of the Restoration
Volume 4
The Right to Heirship
Brigham Young
April 8, 1853,
Deseret News, April 30, 1853
I will
now give the text, and probably shall call upon the brethren to fill out the
sermon. I do not know that I can refer you to the Bible for the particular
chapter and verse to find the text; but the text may be given here, and the
book referred to hereafter.
The text is the right to heirship. I
will, however, make an addition to the scripture before I proceed further with
my remarks and say, "the right of heirship is the Priesthood," for
unquestionably this will be connected with the text, and brought into the
discourse.
In the little that I shall say, I
will endeavor to point out the items of doctrine, and the right view to be
contemplated and spoken upon by the brethren, for I wish this subject to be
properly understood.
Pertaining to the Kingdom of God; to
this earth; to the organization of it; to the bringing forth of the children of
men upon it; to the preparatory gospel or law, to fit and prepare them, after
receiving their tabernacles, to enter again into the presence of their Father
and God, this heirship, this right, did belong, still belongs, and forever will
belong to the first born son in every family of Adam's race.
This is understood from the Bible,
not only by the Latter Day Saints, but also by the Christian world. Jesus
Christ, first begotten of the Father, of all the rest of the [8] children, and
of all they possess, alone is the lawful heir. This is no mystery.
After passing over the ages and
generations of the children of men for about six thousand years, we will come
to the present congregation and say, the right of heirship is the same now that
it was in the beginning. It is as it was, and as it ever will be, worlds
without end. This I wish the Latter Day Saints to understand a little better
than they have heretofore. I will give you my reason.
For instance, here are sisters in
this Church that have been bereaved of their husbands, who died full of faith
in the holy gospel, and full of hope for a glorious resurrection to eternal
life. One of them is visited by a High Priest, of whom she seeks information
touching her situation, and that of her husband. At the same time, the woman
has a son 25 years of age, is an Elder in one of the quorums of Seventies, and
faithful in all the duties connected with his calling. She has also other sons
and daughters. She asks this High Priest what she shall do for her husband, and
he very religiously says to her, "you must be sealed to me, and I will bring
up your husband, stand as proxy for him, receive his endowments, and all the
sealing, keys, and blessings, and eternal Priesthood for him, and be the father
of your children."
Hear it ye mothers! The mother that
does that, barters away the sacred right of her son. Does she know it? No! This
has been done in hundreds of instances, though innocently and in ignorance,
which makes it excusable. For my part, I am willing to wink at the ignorance of
the people, and I believe our Heavenly Father is.
But you that will hear, and be made
to understand the true principles that govern this matter, go from this place,
and do hereafter as has been done in by gone days; instead of the children
being robbed of their just rights, the woman shall loose her children, and they
shall yet stand in their place, and be put in the possession of their rights.
What is to be done? Let mothers honor their children. If a woman has a son let
her honor that son. But a mother may say, "my son is only 5 years old. I
never had but one son among a number of daughters; I am advancing in years, and
may die before I can be sealed to [9] my husband." Let that son wait until
he is old enough to officiate for his father, and though you may go into your
grave, let your son do his duty, and never hang to the skirts of a man that is
avaricious.
You may see a great many miserly
persons with regard to dollars and cents; it is just as natural for men to be
miserly with regard to their religious blessings. You may see hundreds of
elders who say to the sisters, "Come, and be sealed to me," crawling
round to make the holy ordinances of God a matter of speculation to administer
to their avaricious dispositions. They will tell you that you will go into
eternity, and find yourselves without husbands, and cannot get an exaltation,
that you cannot have this, that, or the other, unless you are sealed to them. I
am free, and so are you. My advice to the sisters is, never be sealed to any
man, unless you wish to be. I say to you High Priests and Elders, never, from
this time, ask a woman to be sealed to you, unless she wants to be, but let the
widows and children alone.
I will refer you to a discourse I
delivered here last season, upon the subject of the resurrection and the
millennium, setting forth before the people the work to be accomplished in that
period of time. We have at least one thousand years, counting 365 days, 5
hours, 48 minutes and 57 seconds to the year, if I recollect right, wherein the
Elders of Israel will enter holy temples of the Lord, and officiate for just
such persons as you and I, that have done the work we were called to do in our
day, whether it was much or little. There will be hundreds of thousands of the
sons of Jacob to administer in these temples for you and I. Joseph, Hyrum, Father
Smith, and many others will be head of this dispensation, and hold the keys of
it for they are not taken from him, they never were in time, they never will be
in eternity. I shall be there if I live, or if I die. If I die, my brethren or
my children will officiate for me; I shall lose nothing through death. Magnify
your calling in this Church, and I will warrant you an exaltation just as good,
and as great, as you can ask for.
I might notice many more items
pertaining to this matter; but the Elders going round telling the sisters they
must be sealed to them or they cannot get an exaltation, particularly, has
wounded my feelings. How ignorant such [10] men are! This to me is like a
shadow. To talk about it is sheer nonsense. Let every man and woman magnify
their calling in the Kingdom of God and He will take care that we have our
exaltation.
Sisters come to me and inquire what
they shall do, saying, Bro. A. or B. taught me so and so. They are as wild as
the deer on the mountains; their ideas and calculations are derogatory to every
shade of good sound sense, and to every principle of the Priesthood of Heaven.
Brethren, learn to be patient, and
submissive to your duty and callings in life, and not be anxious to accumulate
to yourselves that, which, when you have obtained, you are at a loss to know
what to do with it. There are scores of men in this house, that if they could
pile up an almost unlimited amount of gold, in a short time they would not
possess one dime of it. There are also scores of Elders here, if they had 500
women sealed to them, and a thousand children they would destroy themselves,
and those over whom they exercise any influence. They would not know what to do
with them. You want to have another wife; but do you use well the one you have
got? It is a bad omen to me when a man wants another wife, and the one he has
got is ready to leave him. If you cannot keep the jewel you already possess, be
cautious how you take more, lest you lose them both.
I did not design to speak long, as
it hurts me. I think I have laid out the text before the brethren, plain enough
for them to preach upon it; I wish them so to exhibit the subject before the
people, that they may carry it away in their understandings.
Let me hear no more of this,
"You must be sealed to me or you cannot get an exaltation." If a man
gets the widow of a good man, sealed, married to him, with a view to hold
control over, and rob every child in that family of their birthright, he will
be mistaken. It will not be. I say to you my brethren, young men, you elders,
rise up and magnify your calling, honor the Priesthood, and if a man has
stepped up and married your mother under the influence of such an expectation,
turn him out of your house and maintain your birthright.
[11] Celestial Marriage in Deseret
Orson Pratt, April 8,
1853
No man in Utah, who already has a
wife, and who may desire to obtain another, has any right to make any
propositions of marriage to a lady, until he has consulted the President over
the whole Church, and through him, obtains a revelation from God, as to whether
it would be pleasing in His sight. If he is not forbidden by revelation, the
privilege is granted, he still has no right to consult the feelings of the
young lady, until he has obtained the approbation of her parents, provided they
are living in Utah; if their consent cannot be obtained, this also ends the
matter. But if the parents or guardians freely give their consent, then he may
make propositions of marriage to the young lady; if she refuse these
propositions, this also ends the matter; but if she accept, a day is generally
set apart by the parties, for the marriage ceremony to be celebrated. It is
necessary to state, that before any man takes the least step towards getting
another wife, it is his duty to consult the feelings of the wife which he
already has, and obtain her consent, as recorded in the 24th paragraph of the
revelation published in first number of the Seer.
When the day set apart for the
solemnization of the marriage ceremony has arrived, the bridegroom and his
wife, and also the bride, together with their relatives and such other guests
as may be invited, assemble at the place which they have appointed. The scribe
then proceeds to take the names, ages, native towns, counties, states, and
countries, of the parties to be married, which he carefully enters on record.
The President, who is the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator over the whole Church
throughout the world, and who alone holds the keys of authority in this solemn
ordinance--as recorded in the 2nd and 5th paragraphs of the Revelation on
Marriage--calls upon the bridegroom, and his wife, and the bride, to arise,
which they do, fronting the President. The wife stands on the left hand of her
husband, while the bride stands on her left. The President then puts this
question to the wife:-- "Are you willing to give this woman to your
husband to be his lawful and wedded wife for time and for all eternity? If [12]
you are, you will manifest it by placing her right hand within the right hand
of your husband." The right hands of the bridegroom and bride being thus
joined, the wife takes her husband by the left arm, as if in the attitude of
walking; the President then proceeds to ask the following question of the
man:--"Do you, brother (calling him by name,) take sister, (calling the
bride by her name,) by the right hand, to receive her unto yourself, to be your
lawful and wedded wife, and you to be her lawful and wedded husband, for time
and for all eternity, with a covenant and promise, on your part, that you will
fulfill all the laws, rites, and ordinances, pertaining to this holy matrimony,
in the new and everlasting covenant, doing this in the presence of God, angels,
and these witnesses, of your own free will and choice?" The bridegroom
answers, "yes". The President then puts the question to the bride:--
"Do you, sister, (calling her by name,) take brother, (calling him by
name,) by the right hand, and give yourself to him, to be his lawful and wedded
wife for time and for all eternity, with a covenant and promise, on your part,
that you will fulfill all the laws, rites, and ordinances, pertaining to this
holy matrimony, in the new and everlasting covenant, doing this in the presence
of God, angels, and these witnesses, of your own free will and choice?"
The bride answers, yes. The President then says, "In the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and by the authority of the Holy Priesthood, I pronounce you
legally and lawfully husband and wife, for time and for all eternity; and I
seal upon you the blessings of the holy resurrection, with power to come forth
in the morning of the first resurrection, clothed with glory, immortality, and
eternal lives; and I seal upon you the blessings of thrones, and dominions, and
principalities, and powers, and exaltations, together with the blessings of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and say unto you, be fruitful and multiply, and
replenish the earth that you may have joy and rejoicing in your posterity in
the day of the Lord Jesus. All these blessings, together with all other
blessings pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, I seal upon your
heads, through your faithfulness unto the end, by the authority of the Holy
Priesthood, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,
Amen." [13] The Scribe then enters on the General Record, the date and
place of the marriage, together with the names of two or three witnesses who
were present.
In the Revelation on Marriage, we
are informed that there is never but one man on the earth at the same time who
holds the keys to minister the ceremony of marriage for time and for all
eternity, and to seal the same on earth with authority, so that it may be
acknowledged and sealed in Heaven. The keys of authority are conferred by
revelation, and by the holy anointing, upon the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator of
the Church, who is the President over all the Saints throughout the world. In
cases where it is inconvenient for him to attend, he has the authority to
appoint others to officiate in his stead. But in all cases of this nature, he
must be consulted by the parties, and his sanction be obtained.
When a man who has a wife, teaches
her the law of God, as revealed to the ancient Patriarchs, and as manifested by
new revelation, and she refuses to give her consent for him to marry another
according to that law, then, it becomes necessary for her to state, before the
President, the reasons why she withholds her consent; if her reasons are
sufficient and justifiable, and the husband is found in the fault, or in
transgression, then, he is not permitted to take any step in regard to
obtaining another. But if the wife can show no good reason why she refuses to
comply with the law which was given unto Sarah of old, then it is lawful for
her husband, if permitted by revelation through the Prophet, to be married to
others without her consent, and he will be justified, and she will be
condemned, because she did not give them unto him, as Sarah gave Hagar unto
Abraham, and as Rachel and Leah gave Bilhah and Zilpah to their husband, Jacob.
It is the duty of a man who takes
another wife, to look after her welfare and happiness, and to provide for her
the comforts of life, the same as for the first; for the Scripture, in speaking
of such a man, says, "If he take him another wife, her food, her raiment,
and her duty of marriage shall he not diminish." (Exodus xxi. 10)
There is no particular rule, as
regards the residence of the different branches of a family. It is very
frequently the case that they all reside in the same dwelling, and take [14]
hold unitedly and with the greatest cheerfulness, of the different branches of
household or domestic business, eating at the same table, and kindly looking
after each other's welfare, while the greatest peace and harmony prevail year
after year. Their children play and associate together with the greatest
affection as brothers and sisters; while each mother apparently manifests as
much kindness and tender regard for the children of the others, as for her own.
And morning and evening, when the husband calls together his family to worship
the Lord and call upon His name, they all bow the knee, and, with the greatest
union of feeling, offer their devotions to the Most High.
It is sometimes the case that the
husband provides for his wives separate habitations, as Jacob did for his four
wives, each of whom had a separate tent. (See Genesis xxxi. 33.) Where all the
wives are equally faithful, the husband generally endeavors to treat them all
without partiality.
Jealousy is an evil with which the
Saints in Utah are but seldom troubled; it is an evil that is not countenanced
by either male or female; and should any indulge such a passion, they would
bring a disgrace and reproach upon themselves which they could not easily wipe
away. And indeed, it is very rare, that there are any causes for jealousy; for
the citizens of that Territory think more of their virtue than they do of their
lives. They know that if they have any connections out of the marriage
covenant, they not only forfeit their lives by the law of God, but they forfeit
their salvation also. With such views resting upon the minds of both old and
young, the people have the greatest of confidence in each other's integrity;
they can entrust their wives and daughters, without any distrust, to the
protection and care of their neighbors. Under the strict and rigid laws of
virtue which prevail and are carried into general practice, wives are not in
constant fear of the inconstancy of their husbands; parents are not fearful of
their children being seduced and their characters being destroyed; neither are
they fearful that their children will form contracts of marriage without their
consent; for such a thing is not allowed in the whole territory. Such a state
of things actually existing, not in theory alone, but in [15] general practice,
removes every cause for jealousy, distrust, and want of confidence, and lays a
broad and permanent foundation for peace and union. If a man ill-treats any one
of his wives, he is looked upon as having violated the law of God, and it is
difficult for him to recover from the disgrace.
There are more quarrelings, and
jealousies, and dis-unions, and evil speakings, in one week, among two thousand
families, taken at random any where in the United States or England, than would
be seen throughout all Utah Territory in five years. And there is more
unvirtuous conduct practiced in one day in New York City, or Albany, or
Buffalo, or Cincinnati, or St. Louis, than would be practiced in Utah in a
thousand generations, unless they greatly degenerated from their present
standard of morals. (Mill. Star 15: 214-216)
Priesthood Authority and
Heirship
Orson Hyde, April 8,
1853
After President Young's sermon on
heirship at General Conference, April 8, 10 a.m., President O. Hyde spoke as
follows:
Brethren and Sisters, I think the
words that have just fallen from the lips of our President must have left an
impression upon all hearts susceptible of understanding, that time will not
easily remove.
I am sure there is no one in this
congregation, however he may be entangled in the meshes of the net himself, but
must be constrained to say, "true and righteous are Thy ways thou King of
Saints." When we hear the law which governs the right of heirship, laid
down so clearly, plainly, and forcibly as on the present occasion, we can but
see, and seeing we can but rejoice and be glad.
When a doctrine, with which we have
not formerly been acquainted, is first preached to us, it is not always that we
come into possession of the whole truth pertaining to it at once; this we do
not expect.
I will illustrate it by a principle
with which we are all acquainted. Does any person in this congregation doubt
the ability of those skilled in the manufacture of [16] sugar, to produce the
article from the beet root in this valley? I presume there is not one that
doubts it. Again, is there any one that doubts the ability of those who are
engaged in the iron regions, to produce, in time, that which is needful and
necessary for the comfort and convenience of the people, and for the
improvement of this valley? Did they produce, by the first blast, by the first
exertion, that quality of iron that was necessary to cast into andirons like
these? [Pointing to two andirons which were placed upon the desk.] No, there
were many comparatively fruitless attempts before any thing essential could be
brought out; but these fruitless efforts must of necessity precede the real,
the genuine product. So it is with regard to the manufacture of sugar. There
have been attempts made this year to produce sugar, and partially successful.
We are moving step by step, to produce the very article that we need.
How many times have the people of
this valley been engaged in various matters and things; but have they brought
forth the genuine articles they wished to produce the very first attempt? No.
Is it to be expected that heaven will pour out the fullness of the truth, in
all its brightness, at once upon us mortals, whose minds are naturally in
darkness, naturally mixed with the world and its errors? No. But the Lord first
sends mortals like unto ourselves to give us light in proportion to our
capacity, and by degrees prepares us to drink of the golden streams in all
their rich effulgence and glory.
We have had sudden impressions,
intimations and suggestions from time to time which were correct, though
perhaps, not so clear, and a little error mixed up along with them; therefore,
if the exertion to do right has been made, and error has stepped in, the
President has said he could exercise compassion, and wink at the ignorance that
has existed; but the time has now come, when this error is being swept away by
the light of truth, and the pure principles upon which we can ground our faith
are beginning to be made manifest.
Jesus Christ is the heir of this
lower world. Though He has been deprived, through the operation of the enemy to
all righteousness, for a long time, of enjoying His right; though the world was
His own, and everything in it; [17] though all things were made by Him that
were made, yet when He came to take possession of His inheritance, His own
would not receive Him; hence He said, "the foxes have holes, and the birds
of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head,"
even upon His own inheritance there was not room where He might be permitted to
lay His head. The day was postponed, and the time thrown in the future, when He
should come into possession of His own.
But will that time come? Will the
Son of God always be deprived of His right to the inheritance? No; it cannot
be; He will come armed with power and glory eventually, and take possession of
His own. When He came to take the world, to rule and reign over it, His effort
was comparatively a fruitless one; for instead of this, He was crucified.
Fruitless, did I say? Must there not be an experiment, an exertion made before
anything can be accomplished? Were there not many exertions made before that
andiron could be produced? Certainly. Were they fruitless? Comparatively not,
for they were necessary, and must precede that article to pave the way. The Son
of God came to take possession of His inheritance here. Did we say it was a
fruitless attempt? I will not say so; it was necessary, it was as it should be.
Yet He went from the world without becoming its ruler, He went to accomplish
the will of His Father, to gather strength and power to effect, in His own due
time, the very object and purpose for which He came. Though He had to lay down
His life, it all seemed to be right and necessary; yet this does not discourage
Him; He is resolved to try it again. Why? Because He is the Heir, and will not
give up His inheritance, no more than any son would yield up his heirship to a
stranger, when his eyes are opened, and his mind can comprehend his rights and
privileges.
I tell you, brethren, this is
beginning to look like the restitution of all things, when every right is
restored to its legitimate heir. When every man and woman are put in possession
of their own, then there is nothing to make life disagreeable. If I should see
one belonging to me, in the hands of another, I should feel that something was
lacking to complete my happiness; but if everything that belongs to me is restored
to my jurisdiction, and placed [18] under my control, where then is the aching
void? It cannot be, for every principle, desire, and affection of the whole
soul is satisfied, and I will say it is right. When all things are restored to
their proper place, every treasure to its rightful heir, there can be no ground
for dissatisfaction, no ground of complaint or of murmuring. And He that
sitteth in the heavens understands and knows well the time to bring about all
these things, the proper time to let the heir know and understand his right.
It would not be wise to tell the
inexperienced child that an extensive legacy had fallen to him, until he should
be old enough to appreciate it. If it were told him before, he might give way
to vanity, and a thousand foolish ideas and vices that would prove his ruin.
When he is kept in ignorance of it until he is able to appreciate it, it is
very likely, when he is informed of it, to make him a dignified being. These
principles have been wisely hid from us, while we were children. When the time
draws near that we can appreciate them, our Heavenly Father begins to make them
manifest, to show to the heirs what belongs to them, and those who have taken
the rights of others must relinquish them, they must fall back into the hands
of their legitimate owners. For just as sure as Lucifer, who has usurped
authority over this world, has got to resign it to the Son of God, so sure must
every right which has been taken from others be relinquished to its rightful
owner. Not that I would compare my brethren who may have transcended certain
bounds, to Lucifer; but I tell you that Lucifer has a little sprinkling in the
matter; this is the alloy. However, it is to be winked at, and heaven's truth
will purge the hearts that beat for immortality and eternal life from all this
alloy, and by and by they will find themselves right side up with care.
It is for us to attend to the
instructions we receive from those who are called to teach us, and do our duty
in the office and calling unto which we are appointed, and Heaven will provide,
and take care we get those things which we need. Why, says Isaac, (when his
father had prepared the wood and fire for the burnt-offering,) "where is
the lamb to sacrifice?" Oh, says Abraham, looking upon his son with eyes
that spoke volumes, and a heart containing a world of feeling, "God will
provide the sacrifice." [19] Little did Isaac think he was the individual.
The words of Abraham were enough to teach his son not to give himself any
anxiety about that at all. We are to provide the wood and fire, and the lamb
God will provide in His own due time. Our greatest concern ought to be how to
discharge the duties that are made obligatory upon us, how to act in our
respective callings, with an eye single to the glory of God.
If I understand my own feelings, and
am capable of judging of things, I want none of the blessings that belong to my
neighbor. I do not crave them. If I come in possession of anything that is not
mine, and I might entertain the strongest feelings of attachment towards it, if
I must have these feelings sacrificed, and the object of my tenderest regard
taken away and given to another, what shall I do? Why, suffer it and not
complain.
Brethren and sisters, I say things
are coming to light, hidden things are being made manifest, and we have reason
to rejoice and be glad.
I want to say a few words to the
Elders that are going abroad to preach the Gospel. If I had never been abroad
to preach, I could not speak upon this matter as I now can, though I have not
been abroad, perhaps, as much as many others have, but I have to a certain
extent, which has afforded me an experience I wish others to be benefited by.
Brethren, do we realize that we are not only seeking for a crown of eternal
life in a glorious resurrection, but that the destinies of the world depend
upon our course, our actions, and our conduct in life. What are we sent forth
to preach the Gospel for? To save the meek; but to the proud, the haughty, and
high-minded, we are not sent. Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance. And "how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him
that publisheth peace, and bringeth glad tidings to the meek." That is, in
other words, how beautiful are the feet of them that come from the mountains,
bringing glad tidings unto the meek. How enviable is their position. There are
no beings upon earth that, in reality, are so dignified and exalted as the men
that have these glad tidings to proclaim to the world, though the world may not
know it, may not see them in their true character.
The world does not know them because
it knew not their Master, but crucified and put Him to death. This, [20]
however, did not deprive Him of His glory; and although they did not appreciate
the blessings, it was known in heaven, and on earth by the faithful.
So we His servants are going forth
to save the meek--to proclaim the truth to the meek of the earth, and gather
them together. It is said in the Good Book that the Saints shall judge the
world. Who are going forth now to judge the world? Who are going forth to bind
up the law and seal up the testimony? To whom has this work been committed in
the last days? To the servants of our God.
But, says one, in the day of
judgment all these things are to be made known, and the destinies of men are to
be made manifest away in the future, sometime. What does the Savior say? He
says, "Now is the judgment of this world, and now shall the prince of this
world be cast out." I see, even in the kingdoms of the world, where their
laws are in force and prevail, yea even here in our city, I see men apprehended
for crime. Shall we give them a postponement of their judgment until the final
breaking up of the government away ahead? No. But immediately after the crime
is committed. I see them arraigned at the bar of justice, tried and condemned;
then they may be seen ornamented with a ball and chain in the street.
Now is the judgment of this world;
now are the laws of heaven and of earth in force. Shall crime be permitted to
accumulate in the Kingdom of God, and never meet its doom until the end of the
world? Now is the judgment of this world, and when an individual goes forth
with the everlasting Gospel, bears his testimony in meekness, and it is
rejected by any person or people, and he washes his feet in clean water,
bearing testimony of it before his God, what has he done to that people? Do
they want to wait for another judgment, when the judgment is already passed?
For it is said, thou shalt go thy way, and return not again to that manor, to
that house, city, or people.
When the servants of God bind up the
law, and wash their feet against a people, does not this look like the Saints
judging the world? With such a people the judgment is passed, though they do
not know it; but they will find it out when they wake up from the long sleep of
death, and reckon their history, they will find out away back at a certain time
a servant of God washed his feet against [21] them; ah! there the die was cast,
there their doom was sealed, there they were barred out against coming into the
Kingdom of God; that was the important moment when salvation passed from them.
Is there any such thing as men
having power to forgive sins on earth and they are forgiven in heaven, of
retaining them and they are retained in heaven? When the servants of God wash
their feet against those who reject His counsel against themselves, do they
retain their sins or forgive them? The Lord says, "What you do on earth I
do in heaven," because, "he that heareth you heareth me, and he that
rejecteth you, rejecteth me." Brethren, think of these things, and
remember the words spoken still further, viz., "But search with all
diligence and care." Be careful not to wash your feet against any but
those that are worthy; but endeavor, with long-suffering, and amid the
contradiction of sinners against yourself, to be diligent and patient until it
goes to the last extremity, but when you have done so against a house, an
individual, or people, be careful not to return there again, but go your way
even as it is said.
By and by, when we get through this
world, we shall have another sphere to act in. But, says the noble and proud to
the world, "I care not for your washing of feet, or your testimony,
because when I die I go into an eternal world, and there I will meet my God,
and not you--He will be more merciful to me--I will have nothing to fear from
you, for you will have no more power there than myself." But when you go
into the eternal world, if that same Elder who washed his feet against you in
this, should be the only God you should ever see or find in the eternal world,
then you meet with the rubbers again.
Now there are Lords many and Gods
many, but unto us there is but one God, the great Father of all. When He says,
"He that rejects you, rejects me," the same importance is attached to
your words as to His. What shall we do when we go into the eternal world, after
we have labored and toiled in this for the cause of truth? We are to act upon
our Priesthood still, for it is an everlasting Priesthood, without beginning of
days or end of life. It lasts forever. What, lasts forever, and still have
nothing to do, as some imagine! We have a great deal to do. When Brother Parley
[22] was speaking on the condition of the spirits in the spirit world, about
their being as dark and ignorant as they are here, I thought we should have
plenty to do. These Spirit Rappers that communicate with mortals, are no doubt
a grade of spirits that are as ignorant of celestial principles as the wild,
degraded Indian. The spirit that raps can tell about somebody that comes within
the circle of his knowledge; but what does he know about Jesus Christ, and the
eternal plan of salvation, any more than these Indians? Upon this matter they
are in the dark. Those men who hold the Priesthood will enter the abodes of
those spirits, and make a proclamation of the Gospel to them, and I presume it
will be something similar to Paul's proclamation at Athens; the people of that
city worshipped all the gods of the nations, and for fear there should be one
whom they did not worship, they erected an altar to the "UNKNOWN
GOD." "Whom you ignorantly worship," says Paul, "Him
declare I unto you."
Perhaps the very first proclamation
of the Priesthood among those spirits who give spiritual communications to
mortals, will draw forth a confession of their ignorance of the true God, and
the principles of life and salvation; but you will go there to put them right,
and declare to them the true God, the true principles of spiritual
communication, to point out wherein their way of communication is not lawful;
that there is but one eternal source to true and certain communication to the
other world, and that is through Jesus Christ. You will tell them He has been
upon our earth and visited their dominions long ago, and that He has sent you
now to fill His track and set them right.
How was it at the time the Savior
came on the earth? There were all kinds of spirits abroad ready to communicate;
hence there were false teachers and false Christs. But the Savior of the world
entered their dark abode and put them right; to redeem them, and have mercy and
compassion on them. So when we go hence, we shall go into just such a place,
into paradise, or the spirit world, to preach to them and regulate them. We
shall know better about it when we get there; we shall understand our mission
better.
[23] When Brother Parley was preaching about
the thief on the cross, who was ignorant of the principles of salvation (the
Savior would not stop to preach to him when He was expiring upon the cross, but
He postponed it until He got into the spirit world, and there He instructed).
Someone whispered to me, I cannot tell who it was, "would it not be a good
thing to send some of our thieves on a mission to take lessons in that
school?" It would perhaps be a higher school than this; they might feel
themselves exalted and elevated if they got into a higher class. [A voice in
the stand, "There are no stray cattle to look after there."] I expect
stray cattle do not belong to that department. These matters are of moment and
of vital importance to the Elders of Israel, and ought to rest with weight upon
their minds.
I do not feel disposed to trespass
further upon your time; I wanted to reiterate the remarks of the President. He
has illustrated the matter, and made it so clear, that every eye may see it,
and every heart understand. He knew what was necessary. He has not only given
us a text, but preached the sermon also. I cannot make it any plainer, and it
would darken counsel by words without knowledge, to attempt it.
I pray and beseech you to be awake
to these things, and may God bless us, and save us all in His Kingdom. Amen.
(Mill. Star, Sept. 3, 1853, pp. 577-581)
Nelly and Abby,
A Familiar Conversation
Between Two Cousins,
On Marriage
Mill. Star, April 9,
1853
Nelly--Dear cousin Abby, I have been
very anxious indeed to see you ever since I heard of the New Revelation. I know
that nothing has ever come up yet in this Church, (unless it is now) that could
stumble you. But I think now, when your John comes to get two or three more
wives, you will feel as keenly as any of us; for I know that he has always been
your idol; and to see him bestowing his affections upon others, as he has
heretofore so exclusively done upon you; now, as sure as your name is Abby--but
I [24] won't say what you may do, because you can always command your feelings;
but I really believe, that if my husband should provoke me in that way, he
might get a salutation from the candle-stick or broom-stick, sooner than I
would ever kiss him again! Why, really, if I must ever submit to see my husband
promenading about with, well, George knows better than ever to undertake such a
thing with me; but I was going to say, if one or two women for him that I could
select, I'll warrant that my George would learn to be content with his Nelly,
ever after! Now, Abby, if wives don't look out for themselves, who will look
out for them? I would get the ugliest looking women that I could find; I
wouldn't much care if they were black, and if they were to throw the fire-poker
at him sometimes. George knows that I love him dearly, but really I don't see
how you ever can submit to it, Abby!
Abby--Well, cousin Nelly, be assured
that I am very glad to see you, though rather sorry to see your mind fluttered
with the New Revelation! It is true, that I have never stumbled at any of the
doctrines of this Church, because they all seem so pure and so well calculated
to bless and unite all who will observe them in sincerity. Whenever anything is
revealed for my faith to rest upon as an abiding principle of salvation, I
always give it a prayerful and dispassionate consideration, knowing that GodŐs
ways are not as ours, and the wisest ways of men are often very foolish
compared with God's.
Nelly--Yes, Abby, but what wisdom is
there in my being tied to my George with a lot of other women, which can
flatter and simper, and make him believe anything they please? And George can
be flattered into almost anything, and I must bear it! There's one thing I
should like to have him know at once, and that is, I shall never work as I have
done. I shall be supported like a lady; then, if he has got any surplus to
bestow upon other wives--but I interrupted you in your remarks, Abby; but if
you had slept as little as I have since I heard of this, Abby--well, go on and
I will hear you.
Abby--I was about to say, cousin,
that I consider prayerfully whatever God reveals, before I make any harsh or
severe speeches, or grieve that Holy Spirit which will always both enlighten
and comfort those who are meek [25] and lowly, and willing to learn of Christ.
Now, cousin Nelly, to be plain, I do not know what right you have even to call
George your husband, or that I have to call John my husband. What the Lord has
not bound upon earth cannot be bound in heaven. I would not like to displease
the only authority that can legally unite me to the man that I dearly love.
Before I dare to set up an exclusive claim to John, who is to be Prince Regent,
and heir apparent to several thrones and principalities, I would like to have
my own marriage ratified and sealed, lest others should be sealed before me,
and refuse to admit me into a matrimonial relationship with them.
Now if God is appointing His sons on
the earth to fill thrones and occupy many principalities, and my husband means
to be as worthy to fill thrones as others, then I will be content to share with
him one throne, and rejoice at the same time to see others share with him other
thrones, while my capacity will not allow me to share any more than my own. I
know also, Nelly, that I appreciate a kind, intelligent, noble husband, that is
ordained and anointed like unto Abraham, to be King over innumerable myriads of
the human family, so highly, that I shall not make myself a widow or servant
throughout all eternity by opposing what God has clearly revealed by all His
Prophets since the world began. The consequence of my opposing the Patriarchal
Order of Marriage would be the loss of my husband for all eternity. If this
matter concerned us only for this life, it would then be a subject of some
comparative indifference whether we are admitted to a family relationship or
not, for our life is as a vapour that continueth for a little while and then
vanisheth away. But dear cousin, the great question is this--will we unite with
the plurality Order of Ancient Patriarchs, or will we consent voluntarily to be
doomed to eternal celibacy? This is the true division of the question. One or
the other we must choose. We cannot be married to our husbands for eternity
without subscribing to the law that admits a plurality of wives. I know that
you, Nelly, love your George, and I love my John, more than gold and silver,
and all earthly treasures; and to lose all conjugal claims upon him or upon any
other man whatever, is what I never can submit to while the present light of
[26] eternity shines upon my mind. The promise to me of being the mother of an
innumberable posterity of intelligent lives, will neither be lessened,
impaired, nor delayed if my husband should take more wives. Consequently, it is
my desire that he should bless other women even as he does me, if his doing so
does not diminish the sum of my blessings.
Nelly--Let me interrupt you a
moment, cousin Abby, before I forget the point that I wish to call up. Do you
mean to say that a female cannot have any husband for the next world or for all
the eternities to come unless she is agreeable to the same law of marriage by
which Sarah and Rachel were governed?
Abby--Yes, cousin, I understand it
in this light. The promise of God, to multiply Abraham, was made to all who
should have true faith in Jesus Christ, in whatever period of the world they
might live. And if any who were worthy of the promise made to Abraham, did not
in this life receive wives and children, so that their generations can be seen,
still the way is prepared so that they can receive a fulness of the same blessings.
The order of plurality of wives is an everlasting and ceaseless order, designed
to exalt the choicest men and women to the most superlative excellence,
dominion, and glory. But I perceive the idea that is running in your mind,
Nelly. You want to know if you cannot enjoy the society of your dear George as
a husband in the eternal world, without allowing other females to share him
with you?
Nelly--Yes, cousin, that is just
what I want to know; you have expressed my idea better than I could myself,
because the idea of not having my husband in all eternity is dreadful; I know
that I could never submit to it! Never see my husband again while eternity
wastes away! Darling George, bless him; I can hardly endure his absence for a
month! If I did not love him, I should not think so much about it. And I
believe that every wife that is not destitute of natural affection, and has a
kind, good husband, must prize the conjugal state above all other society. And
then our little Edward and Susan are so fond of their father, that I know we
could never endure a separation for eternity. But why cannot I be married to
him for eternity, and have him alone to myself?
[27] Abby--I have thought very seriously of
this question, cousin, as well as you; and what at first appeared to me as
desirable to a wife, I must confess now seems to wear a different aspect. If
your George and you should be alone by the side of such a king as Abraham or
Solomon, with all his queens and their numerous servants and waiting maids in
courtly livery, would he not look like a mere rushlight by the side of such
suns, or rather would he be seen at all? I should almost fear that your George
would be taken for a servant, and you for a waiting maid; or if they should, in
the galaxy and splendour of 144,000 such suns as Solomon, happen to see you and
your George with a king's coronet upon his head, they might think him short of
wedding garments, or that the selfishness of his wife had stinted his growth to
such an insignificant, crab-tree size! Besides, a Queen to him that has his
hundreds of wives in eternity, with children as numberless as the stars of
heaven, would receive intelligence, wealth, honour, children, and dominion, in
some measure proportioned to the exaltations of her husband and king; while your
George, not having much to look after besides you, could not demand the same
measure of wealth, honour, and dominion, because he could use upon you and your
little family but a small pittance of what pertains to one moving in a wider
and far more exalted sphere. Your intelligence, and that of your children,
could not rise higher than the intelligence of your husband. Consequently you
must see yourself and husband, and your children, continually outstripped in
intelligence by all others around you. Your social circle must consequently be
very limited at home. And your own offspring would not be as numerous. The
motive which would lead you to retain your husband exclusively to yourself,
would contribute to make you comparatively unfruitful, and also vitiate the
mental and bodily faculties of your offspring, and sow the seeds of death and
mortality in their systems. I have come to the conclusion, Nelly, that the
one-wife system not only degenerates the human family, both physically and
intellectually, but it is entirely incompatible with philosophical notions of
immortality; it is a lure to temptation, and has always proved a curse to a
people. Hence, I see the wisdom of God in not tolerating [28] any such system
among the celestial worthies who are to be kings and queens unto God forever.
Nelly--What's physically and
intellectually?
Abby--Why, their bodies are not so
well formed for health and long life, nor do their minds possess much sense.
Nelly--But what temptation is there
in the one-wife system, more than in the other?
Abby--Why, even the beasts leave
each other alone when there is not a prospect of increase. When God reveals the
Patriarchal system of plurality to any people, He reveals it for their good,
and for the blessing of both men and women; it is quite as great a blessing to
the latter as to the former. And if they cannot abide that order, it shows
conclusively that they cannot abide the purest and greatest blessings of
eternity.
Nelly--Why, Abby, how is that? For I
am sure that, if I know my heart, I can abide anything that is good. I desire
to have any and every real blessing. But if George should get some women that
are really undermining, and all honey to his face, it would be a queer mess; I
must be altered some before I could see such things with patience.
Abby--Well, one subject at once; and
if you wouldn't mix up your feelings with your questions so much, I might
answer your mind more distinctly perhaps. You say that you desire any and every
blessing. The new Covenant is revealed in order to bless both men and women
beyond what they otherwise could be blessed. When Jacob had many wives, he
loved each of them more than he could have done any one of them that he might
have had alone without the others. And his wives loved him and each other in
the same ratio, and the tide and current of union and love among the whole
family were stronger than they otherwise could be. For instance, Nelly, you and
George, when constituted into a large family like that of Abraham, would enjoy
a greater amount of intelligence, and a greater share of love also, than you
possibly could in that single, contracted order which you seem to desire. One
simple and irresistible reason is that God has determined to bestow His
greatest blessings upon the liberal order, and only very stinted favours upon
the narrow, contracted order which you seem to desire. In the [29] former order
your children are all the lawful heirs of thrones and kingdoms, and in your
favourite order they are only the heirs of servile inferiority.
Nelly--Well, I shouldn't like to
have my little darling Ned heir to anything very inferior. I would rather he
would have a dozen wives than to be eternally a servant to somebody else. You
know that Ned is as clever a boy of his age as any other, if his mother does
say it. But do you mean to say, Abby, (to bring the matter right home) that if
I am not married according to God's order and approbation, before the
resurrection, that I shall always have to remain single, and also be your
servant, or the servant of someone that is married according to that order?
Abby--That is what God has most
clearly revealed in many Scriptures. If God's obedient sons and daughters are
to be the reigning Kings and Queens over all people, and those only are
permitted to propagate lives eternally who are thus married and ultimately
crowned, then it follows, of course, that all others must obey their Rulers.
And whom they obey, His servants they are!
Nelly--Well, I believe there may be
some people who would sooner obey the very devil than bow to this order.
Abby--Yes, cousin, it may be that
very many will be so foolish as to travel the broad road; but still, as the
devils are all subject to God and His obedient sons, even then such as serve
devils must be the servants of such as are crowned Kings and Queens, because
devils are obliged to obey and tremble.
Nelly--You do beat all to prove your
points! I wouldn't like to have George hear your arguments, for I know that he
would swallow them down like so much honey. But is there not anybody to be made
Kings and Queens unto God over the earth but such as yield to this order?
Abby--I have already told you that
no others will be made Rulers.
Nelly--I know that Kings and Queens
rule over us here on the earth, and some of them are very cruel and
hard-hearted, but I shouldn't think that God would allow kings under Him to
conduct in this way.
Abby--No, Nelly; for God has said,
that he that ruleth over men must be just. And people will be much [30] better
off in the next world, (even if they are the servants of such good rulers as
Abraham, whose officers will be peace, and executors righteousness) than they
now are in bondage to the rich and proud.
Nelly--Yes; if persons can't pay up
rent the very day it is due, they are turned off with all their little ones,
and their furniture sold up to pay. It does nearly break my heart to see some
families turned into the street barefoot, to beg or sing for what people may
please to give them. And then, so many of them are almost obliged to take to
bad ways. And I shouldn't be very sorry to see some unfeeling masters have to
change places with their servants long enough to see and feel the difference.
You know that poor lass (and a sweeter beauty you never saw) whose father
failed business and died, and her heart-broken mother went crazy, and the
children were put out, and she went to service; and when the master couldn't
prevail upon her in any other way, he gave her chloroform, I think they call
it, in order to stupify her, and now she is riding about in her silk velvet,
wholly lost to all good society? There is no chance for a poor girl in these
times. I wish all the factories were burnt down, but I ought not to say so. How
few poor girls can keep a good character that go to them. But it is often the best
they can do, after all. When I first heard of this New Revelation, I thought it
was a cunning plan laid to make men and women conduct worse among themselves
than they now do, if possible, and I snatched it out of George's hand and threw
it into the fire; for I have seen so much abomination of this kind, that I
didn't want my George to get in such a way as most married men do. I believe
there is not another place in England as bad as this. Tell about a hundred
thousand common ladies in London! my scratch, it is more difficult to tell who
ain't bad here, than it is to tell who is profligate. Then, to see what
nice-looking females will drink and swear so! And I don't blame the women near
as much as I do the men. The men! They are the scamps, they have made women as
bad as they are. Then, to hear these women sneer at the idea of nursing an
infant, calling them brats, saying they had rather kill two of such troublesome
snarling things than to raise up one of them. It would make your blood chill,
[31] Abby, to hear their talk! Whether they have gotten so accustomed to murder
the young innocents, or whether the men they associate with teach them these
principles, I don't know.
Abby--Why, Nelly, how do you learn
that there is such profligacy and murder in this Christian land? I believe all
that you say, and even more, and much worse; but how do you find out such
things?
Nelly--Why you can't walk the
streets without finding out enough to make you ashamed to be seen abroad. But,
Ramsey, that keeps a large shop in Park Square, near the Opera, whose best
customers are of this sort of folks, tells his wife Susan, that is George's
sister you know, and she tells me. Now Ramsey, himself, has imbibed some very
singular principles about these matters, and he is rarely at home with his own
family, and much of his earnings are thrown away upon just such persons as we
are speaking about. His wife Susan sees it, and she don't hesitate to say that
she would rather Ramsey had a half-dozen of virtuous wives, who could be fit
for respectable women to associate with, and would be governed by the pure laws
of heaven, after the example of Abraham and Jacob's wives, than he should do as
he does. But such company as he now keeps, makes him wholly unfit for domestic
and social duties. And Susan says that she never wants to bring up a family
that shall be obliged to witness their father's example.
Abby--My dear cousin Nelly, I am
very happy to see that you are so well apprised of the awful profligacy and
sexual pollution that exist in this place; although the same complaint exists
in all other places, for the whole earth is defiled. I hope you are
sufficiently sensible that the Lord, by this New Revelation, is determined to
save a chosen few, whose garments shall not be defiled, and who will keep
themselves unspotted from the world. These few He will make rulers over the
rest. For righteous rulers will make happy and peaceful subjects; but when the
wicked rule, the people always mourn, and vile men walk on every side. And vile
men are the leading cause that produces vile women the world over. And I
believe it is generally admitted that the rulers, in these times, are often the
fruitful sources of the very worst examples. For [32] oppression and avarice,
and extravagant profligacy, gluttony and debauchery, they take the lead. And as
long as this is the case, evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse. But
you did not tell me what singular principles Ramsey had imbibed, which look so
strange.
Nelly--Oh, I was just going to tell
you. Ramsey believes that marriage is a mere human institution or device of
men, and consequently that one man has as good a right to administer the
ceremony of marriage as another has. And he says that a magistrate, while he
may have a legal right, has no more moral right to marry persons than he has;
and a priest that is not inspired directly from heaven, has no more right to
officiate than a magistrate. In short, he thinks that all persons should be
left to act in these matters for themselves, freely, as they would in any other
bargain or traffic; and when they choose to dissolve partnership, they should
be free to do so. He says that the magistrate or the parson has no more moral
right to keep a woman that he calls his wife, than he (Ramsey) has to keep one
that he calls his Dolly. He thinks that if one is prostitution, the other is
also. And if there is any difference, the prostitution of the parson is the
worst, because it is the most barefaced and unblushing, being a thing legalized
without shame. Now I believe that both Ramsey and the parson are wrong, and
that neither of them ought to take a wife without permission from God.
Abby--I perceive the ingenuity of
your brother-in-law, Ramsey. There is much plausibility in his arguments. But
the Scriptures tell us that God gives men their wives; and God takes them away
from transgressors; and God punishes with death the man or woman that violates
the marriage covenant; and those who will not conform to God's order and law of
marriage, He will judge. Ramsey's doom will be no worse than that of the
parson. But both are commanded to repent, or have their part in the lake which
burneth with fire and brimstone forever.
Nelly--Cousin Abby, it cheers my
heart truly, to hear that the law of marriage is so strictly guarded; and those
who transgress it will be so severely punished. I am sure, that God will never
give any man a wife who will not take good care to cherish and support her as
he ought to do. And when husbands and wives know that God watches [33] their
conduct, and for gross misbehavior and crime they are liable to lose their
standing as wives or husbands, they will be very careful what they do. But it
never came into my mind before now, that ministers and bishops, and those they
call their wives, are really prostitutes just as much as those harlots who
Christ said would enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, before the Scribes and
Pharisees. I know that Ramsey has always justified his conduct by saying, the
parsons were just as lewd in the sight of God as he is, and he would quit his
adulteries when they would theirs. But I see now, that the priests can't throw
stones at Ramsey for his conduct, till they themselves repent and practice
marriage according to the order of God. But do you think that the Lord would
permit me and George to be united; we have always lived very happily together?
Must we separate until we can be properly married?
Abby--God has instructed us to
observe most sacredly our Gentile marriage until it can be confirmed in the
Temple of the Lord. I do not know any reason why you should not have your
choice of a husband; yet there may be some others that will take a great liking
to your George, as well as you.
Nelly--O, George is too poor to
think of taking anybody besides me.
Abby--It is true he cannot take any other
in this land, nor even contract with another, but he is not poorer than Jacob
was when a wandering stranger from his father's house; Jacob had nothing but
his staff in hand, and at that time the Lord visited him and promised him a
very great family; and soon after, we see him with many wives and children, and
sufficient property to support them all, and something to give away to his
brother besides. He that increases the family will increase the substance that
is required in order to support them.
Nelly--But I shouldn't like for him
to get other women and young girls that he would like better than me.
Abby--As to that, I suppose that
young persons are not always as foxy rivals as older ones, but you have access
to the fulness of the same fountain of grace that they have; but if, through
your neglect, envy, or jealousy, and their greater diligence and humble
obedience, they come into possession of qualities more winning, not they, [34]
but you, should lose. The place that is given to you, can only be lost through
your folly or neglect. That place that you now hold, and I would advise you to
keep it. George is a good man, and that should content you; although he may be
but a plain, humble man, yet if he really has the same sterling faith that
Abraham had, he will be sure to exalt you in a time to come.
Nelly--I don't need any caution
about that. I shall be the last one that will forsake a man that I do know, for
one that I don't know so well. George don't make so much show as some Elders,
but I think that God must set a good store by him, if He knows him. There's
Elder Print flirting about with the sisters, and some of the sisters are just
silly enough to think he is somebody. Didn't you see how his eyes were roving
about upon the congregation, like a hungry dog that would steal something?
George says I ought not to have been looking, and I shouldn't if I hadn't heard
something before. I never like to believe anybody is bad till I'm obliged to.
If he ever saves one wife, it will be more than some think he will do. I should
think if a man has one good wife like his, he should try to secure her
confidence at home, before he undertakes to look after others, without the
permission of God or His Prophet.
Abby--Yes, cousin, such a man takes
the surest course to lose the one talent and precious treasure which he now
possesses, by destroying his wife's confidence in his obedience to the
authority and laws of the Kingdom of God. For a man that will persist in
violating the laws of God cannot save even one wife.
Nelly--But what will come of those
sisters that are misled by such a man? They say that they have been taught to
obey counsel!
Abby--That is very true; we should
all obey counsel. But we should remember well and never forget that it is only
the counsel of the Lord that will stand; any other is not counsel, but a device
of wicked persons or of the devil.
Nelly--How then can the sisters know
the difference always?
Abby--They always have a right to
know the difference. If they are faithful, God has promised to show them the
difference, and lead them into the truth by His Spirit.
[35] Nelly--Does He really promise to do that?
I do wish I could read the Scriptures as well as you can.
Abby--The Spirit is given to every
one to profit withal. In the absence of proper authority, the Holy Spirit is
the only teacher and comforter to show us how to act under all temptations. And
this is an infallible guide. And what the Spirit dictates, is the counsel of
the Lord, which we should always obey.
Nelly--Well, if George does take any
others, I should like to have him take my sister, Ann, for her disposition is
so obliging and mild. She is not near so hasty as I am; and if I have got to be
so pure and good in order to have the favour of God and my husband, and if he
should get some lass whose conduct would irritate me, then I should tell my
feelings at once and afterwards be sorry for it.
Abby--This relation will inevitably
lead you to be prayerful and watchful over your conduct; and you and your
husband should unite your faith in the purest affection in those movements that
will be designed to add to your family either wives or children. Otherwise, the
Lord may give your George wives that will scorn him, as Michal did David; and
children, too, that will be as wicked as were Ammon, Hophni, and Phineas. It is
not every husband and wife that can regulate a large household, as could
Abraham and Sarah. It was even after many years of experience and faithful
trial before Abraham and Sarah were thoroughly qualified to control a large
family of wives and concubines and children together, with servants and
handmaids, amounting to some hundreds. If you wish to honour your George by
giving him the delights of the sons of men, after the manner of holy women of
old, don't be in haste, but let the will of the Lord be manifest from a proper
source, else you may do more injury to George than good.
Nelly--Oh, I shan't be in any haste,
if he ain't, I warrant you; only Ann may be looking out for herself and engage
herself to some other one.
Abby--Oh, there are many good men
besides your George; and there are many choice girls besides your Ann, whom the
Lord of heaven designs to make queens, who are now on the floor of poverty as
much as the Virgin Mary ever was. They may generally be found in obscure
places, [36] at service in mills and factories, and sometime in haunts of
prostitution like Rahab.
Nelly--I wonder, Abby, why that
should be, that the Lord should leave them in such low conditions to be thought
so little of.
Abby--Why, cousin, the Lord will not
leave them there, he only put them there in order that they might know by
experience the evil from the good, and in the final day bear witness against
their oppressors and seducers. Oh, no, He will not leave them in obscurity,
where there is no eye to pity nor arm to save, but he will bring his daughters
from the ends of the earth, and carry the lambs in his bosom. The Church, the
bosom of Christ, will nourish them with the milk of kindness. The world don't
know them now, but they will know them when they are washed, and adorned, and
beautified with embroidered work, and with pearls and glittering coronets,
among the honourable women of the earth; and their feet shall scarcely touch
the earth for delicateness.
Nelly--Why, Abby, I don't wonder
that females are so much in love with this Gospel. But do you think that
females will be so much more polished and beautiful, and men so much more
noble, like objects of worship, if they are faithful to their calling? Why I
almost worship George now! I wish you would read me that chapter which tells
about three men that were transfigured. You know that I can't read; your
father, being the oldest, had the property, and my father's children have
always had to work hard, and were unable to go to school. I want to know if my
George, when he comes into his glory, will look as they did? He will forget me
then, unless I am transfigured too. If our husbands, Abby, have such glorious
bodies as Christ had when he was transfigured, and their faces shine like the
sun, and their locks, and their cheeks, and their bright eyes are surrounded
with milky whiteness--you know how it reads better than I do; it's some time
since I heard George read it. Won't the men look so grand that they will feel
above the women? George will forget me!
Abby--I think if you will pay more
attention when it is read to you again, that you will find that men's bodies
are not made so beautiful and glorious until they are resurrected; and that
Peter, James, and John, were allowed [37] to see what a beautiful change in
their bodies they might expect in the resurrection, if they were faithful. I
suppose that the Lord knew that they wouldn't be suffered to live long here,
and He wanted to comfort them by showing them that when they laid down their
mortal bodies, they would not only have real bodies, faces and feet, and wear
clothes again, but that their persons would be free from all blemish, and shine
with a thousand fold more captivating lustre than they now do. Paul says, dear
cousin, that there are bodies celestial, and bodies terrestrial, and the glory
of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
Nelly--Do you think that the wicked
who don't get any such handsome bodies, will know our husbands in the
resurrection? It would look curious if wicked people hereafter should take our
husbands to be angels or Gods, and want to bow down and worship them as though
they were Gods. I think if George's master ever thought of any such thing, he
wouldn't treat George so badly as he does.
Abby--I can't say how well the
wicked will know our husbands, when they have such glorious bodies as Jesus
Christ now has, but I do know that one man looked so much better after his
resurrection, that the Prophet John was desirous to worship him, until he told
him who he was. And, Nelly, if you will ask George to read you a description of
a good man's righteous wives in Solomon's inspired song, you will see that his
three score Queens, and four score concubines, with their virgin daughters,
were greater beauties than we should suppose could exist before they were
transfigured by the power of the resurrection.
Nelly--Don't you think that a great
many men and women would join the Church if they only know of these things?
Abby--There will be an innumerable
multitude besides, who will come to Mount Zion. But there will be a larger
multitude who will come forth to shame and everlasting contempt. They will look
very shabby by the side of those who shine as the brightness of the firmament.
Nelly--I am sorry I ever burnt that
Revelation. I shouldn't have done it for the world if I had known as much as I
do now. Can't George get another at Liverpool? [38] Don't you think that the
hundred thousand common girls of London would much rather have such husbands,
and be themselves so exalted, than lead out their present miserable short lives
as they do? And then, to be the mothers of such beauties as my little Susan and
Ned! Come here Ned, you little Prince, bless you; there will be a good many as
ready to worship you some day as I am to worship your father! I wonder how
Gideon felt, with seventy such sons as my Ned! And then every faithful mother
is to be blessed like Sarah and Rachel, as a mother of nations! And enough to support
them, and wait before them too! I shall never say any more against this work,
Ellen! And if they send George to the ends of the earth to preach this Gospel,
without purse or scrip, I think I can bear it, and sing, "All is
well." But I wonder if there are not as many bad men in England as there
are women? I suppose the men wouldn't publish it if there were.
Abby--It is true the men might not
like to see the facts that disgrace them put into print; yet, I think, Nelly,
if any one will take up a late edition of geography, they will there find that
the adult male population of Great Britain is carefully set down in figures.
That tells the number of bad men, although, strictly speaking, a little too
large, yet sufficiently accurate for round numbers. Why, Nelly, I always look
at the Lord's reckoning table, and that tells me that the whole earth has gone
astray.
Nelly--Surely, dear Abby, if all the
wicked men in Britain are to be destroyed by wars, pestilence, famine, and
their own drunkenness and debaucheries, there will be but few men left, but I
hope that we shall be moved away before that comes to pass. I expect that a
great many more than seven will want to take hold of my George, when there are
so few men and so many women! A man will be more precious than gold. You would
be surprised, Abby, if you should hear Ramsey tell whom he has seen at those
bad places where he visits--parsons, and even bishops, in disguise. But Ramsey
wouldn't expose them. He knows better, it would only throw him out of good employ.
And the Bible says, it is our strength to keep still, or sit still, I don't
know which, because I can't read. Some people thought that Mr. M. must be a
very virtuous minister, who delivered a lecture in St. Paul's Chapel [39]
against polygamy and the pollution of our Church, but Ramsey tells a queer
story on him. Ramsey having heard his lecture through, stopped in the door
passage to see if Mr. M. would know him. Mr. M. affected not to know him till
he came alongside, when he winked at Ramsey, and whispered in his ear,
"Rams, you rascal, don't you tell of me." Now, this may be only
Ramsey's gammon, and I shouldn't think that a parson would be such a hypocrite
and profligate, if Christ hadn't said that they were hypocrites, and like
painted sepuchres, having a fair outside. Jesus Christ must know better than I
do. But, I suppose it is a sure sign, when a minister lectures against the true
Church, that he is a bad man. Well, it's time I was going. I left Aunt Betty to
take care of Susan, only for a few minutes, and she will think I have forgot
myself. Do you know what offended Sister Hugall the other night?
Abby--I think that she must have
been offended at herself more than anybody else. It appears that she and Elder
Gamey had some conversation on this subject of marriage, in a little circle of
brethren and sisters; and you know her thoughtless manner of speaking,
according to the impulse of the moment, without considering how her expression
would look in the consideration of others. Why she simply said that she
required a husband wholly to herself, and she would tell Brigham Young so if he
were there.
Nelly--Did Elder Gamey say anything?
Abby--No, nor did anyone speak any
more. It was silent as heaven for several minutes; each one seemed to
think--and hang their heads, daring neither to laugh nor to speak. At length
Sister Hugall, not having where to hide her face, got up and shot out at the
door, and went home without so much as putting a handkerchief on her head.
Nelly--Well, I am glad that I wasn't in her shoes that time. Good evening.
(Mill. Star 15: 225-229, 241-244)
[40] Manufacturing and
Independence
Brigham Young
April 10, 1853
General Conference, 2 p.m.:
If the world could look upon us in
our present capacity, they would be constrained to say, "Surely Mormonism
is a stumbling-block." And true enough, it is a perfect stumbling-block to
the world; and it is right it should be; it was ordained of old to be what it
is.
I have a few remarks to make,
touching our operations in the manufacture of sugar from the beet. I should
have spoken of it yesterday, had it occurred to my mind. The machinery brought
from England for that purpose, is now owned by the Church, and entirely under
their control. We purpose to put it up this season, if the Lord will, in a good
building, and prepare for making sugar in the fall.
We are making preparations for
raising large quantities of sugar beets; and we wish the brethren generally to
direct their attention to the same object more than they have heretofore, and
cultivate the sugar beet extensively, taking great care not to adulterate it
with other kinds. It is necessary also to raise it upon ground that is as free
as possible from saleratus and salt. There is beet seed for sale in the Tithing
Store. We intend to put up the sugar factory near the north line of the Church
Farm, directly on this side of the bridge over Big Canyon Creek.
The erecting of a suitable building,
and preparing the machinery for operation, is in the hands of Elder Orson Hyde,
who will take the supervision of this work for the present. It forms a part of
our public works. I, for one, however, would have been glad to have had other
men engaged in the manufacture of sugar from the beet, and not have troubled us
with it at all; but so it is in the all-wise Providence of God, and He does
things right. We shall undertake the business and hope to be successful.
As to any doubt with regard to
manufacturing sugar from the beet in these valleys, there is none in my mind;
but we shall have the same difficulties to encounter that other colonies have
had in their infancy. In establishing [41] a work of this kind in these
isolated regions, we have not the facilities we could wish, touching
experienced workmen. In New York, or in Liverpool, a proprietor of sugar works
can send out word that he wants forty experienced hands, and in a short time
there will be more than double that number seeking to be employed. This is one
of the difficulties we have to encounter; but we shall never give up whatsoever
we list to perform. The Lord guiding and directing us, we shall continue our
operations, until we manufacture everything we wish to eat, drink, and wear, in
the midst of these mountains; so that we shall not be under the necessity of
going to any other place, in the whole earth, to get anything we wish to
consume.
My face is set like a flint for
this. I never expect to cease calculating, planning, and executing, until this
people can organize from the native elements, everything they wish for life,
for decoration, and for beauty, in their existence, upon this earth,
preparatory to their being laid away in the silent grave, as the fathers and
mothers of a free and independent nation, who in their life scorned to be
depending slaves to any nation or people upon the earth.
There are also the feelings of this
great people, of every man and woman who has the cause of Zion at heart. They
calculate to operate, and continue to operate, with all the ability, skill,
ingenuity and power that God pleases to bestow upon them, until they accomplish
every laudable object on earth, and have made it like the garden of Eden; until
they decorate it with vineyards, and orchards, and every kind of shrubbery, and
beautiful, sweet scented flowers, and every kind of delicious fruit; until they
have made everything that is necessary for comfort, for convenience, and for
ornament, to decorate the persons of the Saints, and the palaces and temples of
Zion. We calculate to continue our operations until we can make everything that
ever has been made by any people, and then keep on operating until we make a
great many things that never have been made.
We are in our infancy in the art of
manufacturing, and we must creep before we can walk. In learning to walk, we
may stumble and fall sometimes, but we will rise [42] again, and by degrees
gain strength, and so increase in strength and wisdom, from year to year,
until, like the child that has overcome the weakness of infancy, we can leap
the bounds that were once impassable barriers, or take our course over rough
and rugged places with ease and safety, or skip over a stream, make our way
through the brush, and thread the labyrinths of the mountains and forests. This
comparison will apply to this Church.
As a people we are of age according
to the laws of the land, and we ought to feel the strength and exercise the
wisdom of a man. This Church is in her twenty-fourth year. When she was about
fourteen years old, she was requested to choose a guardian, but she did not see
fit to make choice of the person who wished to become her guardian--choosing
rather to live guardianless, until of age.
Now brethren, we have had a good
Conference. I do not know that we have ever enjoyed a better. We have a
comfortable house to meet in, where we are secure from the rains and storms
from which we suffered in the old Bowery, and when we were obliged to transact
our business in the open air. Before this building was erected, I told the
Lord, if it was His will, and His people would come up to His help, we would
have a building to meet in, that would shield us from the falling weather, in
which we could do our business comfortably, and tell the devil to blow away
outside, and ask no odds of him. We have had very pleasant and beautiful
weather during the Conference; and a good spirit has reigned, if I may judge.
There has been much said of importance to this people, and you will see the
increased fire that has been kindled here, spread in all directions, like the
sparks from the blacksmith's anvil.
We know the Gospel we preach is a
stumbling-block to the world; and so was Joseph Smith in his life-time. If this
had not been prophesied by holy men of ancient times, some of us might have
wondered why it should be so. It, however, is so in the wise economy of God.
Brethren and sisters, I feel in my
soul continually to say, may God bless you every moment of your lives. My soul
blesses this people, while at the same time it is wounded when they do wrong.
Why not live in peace with each other, and love the Lord our God with all our
hearts? [43] What hinders us from doing this? Why should we ever have another
difficulty in our society? Why should there ever be another wrong word or feeling
in our families? There is no necessity for any man or woman to do wrong again
all the days of their lives. Let us guard ourselves against our weaknesses,
that we be not overcome with the adversary any more. Let trials and temptations
come; they will not hurt you if you retain the Spirit of the Lord in your
bosoms, which makes a Zion for you in your own heart. If you want to make Zion
in your families, and be happy in your homes, you must retain the Spirit of the
Lord in your own hearts; and let it be the first and the last, the Alpha and
Omega of your lives. Then you have Zion; and the little difficulties, losses,
crosses, and changing scenes of this mortal life will not disturb the
equanimity of your lives; but they will appear frivolous things, things of no
moment. But if you calculate to cling to the world, and expect somebody else to
make your heaven for you, if a woman expects her husband to make a heaven for
her, you will never get a heaven.
Elders of Israel, if you wish to get
a good name in this Kingdom you must live for it. If you wish to wield an
influence in the midst of this people, you must order your lives and conduct,
before God and the people, so as to gain it. No person can give another
influence and power in this Kingdom. Joseph Smith could not give it to me if he
was now living, if I was not worthy of it, if I did not conduct myself in a
manner to secure it. If we live to the glory of our Father in Heaven, and with
all our might try to build up Zion, and gather Israel, and fill the earth with
the knowledge of God, influence is given to us, it is an honor bestowed upon us
by the Lord, and our wisdom is increased daily. If you do not believe it, fetch
on the wise men of the east, and of the west, of the north, the south--the wise
men of all nations, who are instructed in all the learning and wisdom of the
world, and our native boys can instruct them in the mysteries of God's Kingdom.
We have been trained in the old snag
ship, that was made on purpose to clear snags out of every harbor it entered.
Fetch all your wise men, and we will teach them wisdom, and the tongues of
babes shall unfold knowledge to rulers. The path before us is straight and
plain to walk [44] in. Let every man and woman who purpose to be Latter-day
Saints indeed, be of one heart, and their path through life will be easy. But
if you are not one, you will have to travel the road in sorrow, your minds will
be dark, and you will not know your own minds, nor have confidence in your God.
But if you are of one heart and of one mind, the burden will be light, and the
yoke will lie easy upon your necks. If men undertake to wear the yoke of
Christ, and have not the Spirit of Christ, it will gall them so that they will
run to the gold mines, they will cast it off, they cannot endure it.
In the summer season, our meetings
will commence at ten o'clock, a.m., and at two o'clock, p.m., which is our
Sacrament meeting.
This Conference will now adjourn to
the 6th of October next; but we shall appoint a Special Conference to convene
on the Second Saturday in August next, at ten o'clock, a.m., at this place, to
transact business, and appoint foreign missionaries, who can leave before the
winter sets in. We shall wish them to leave this valley in September.
I trust we shall live to enjoy many
Conferences together, before we are called hence to resume our work in another
state. Brethren and sisters, inasmuch as it is my right and privilege, I bless
everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ. My heart is full of blessings for
every creature of God upon the face of His footstool. I wish no man evil, but
my heart breathes blessings upon the whole human family; and as God gives me
wisdom, I hope to measure it out in doing good to them, from this time,
henceforth and forever. This is all I desire to live for.
May God bless you. Amen. (Mill.
Star, 16:673-675; DNW 4:67)
The Coming Crisis--How to
Meet It
April 30, 1853
Millennial Star
A great and awful crisis is at
hand--such a crisis was never known before since the foundation of the world.
All nations are looking through the misty future, in order to descry, if
possible, what is about to happen. Many [45] sermons have been preached, many
speeches have been made, and some pamphlets have been published, with the hope
of lifting up the veil of the future. Yet none but the servants of God who have
the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy, can unfold the
mysteries of the future. They can give the trump a certain sound, and their
counsel will not be guess work. God will do nothing except He reveal His
secrets to His servants the Prophets. God, the Lord God of Israel, will take
the control of these great events which are shortly to come to pass. Not a sparrow
will fall to the ground without His notice. But His servants will be fully
advised of every important event that is to transpire. They will be the heralds
of blessings and also of vengeance. For the Lord hath a controversy with all
nations, and the hour of recompense is at hand. But, says the reader, I would
like to know of what this crisis is to consist! Who are the contesting parties?
Well, reader, if you will be patient and honest-hearted, praying withal, with
unceasing diligence and thanksgiving to God, you shall have the keys of such
knowledge as all the sectarian priests of Christendom are by no means able to
reveal, because they are only revealed to God's servants, the Prophets. Perhaps
you will be disappointed, if I tell you that the time is coming, and now is,
when, not only God, the Highest of all, shall be revealed in spirit and in
mighty power, but the Devil or Satan also, will be revealed in signs and
wonders, and in mighty deeds! This, reader, is the great key to all the
marvelous events that are to transpire shortly upon the earth.
Now just stop right here, and pause,
and mark emphatically this key. Then you and I will proceed to unlock the
mysteries and to prepare ourselves to the battle. For there will be no neutrals
in the approaching controversy. I say again, that God the Highest of all will
make bare His arm in the eyes of all nations. And the heavens even will be
rent, and the lighting down of His power will be felt by all nations. But this
is not all. Satan also will be revealed. He has made some manifestations of his
power in different periods of the world, but never before has there been such
an array of numbers on his side, never before such a consolidation of armies
and rulers, never before has there been such an imposing and [46] overwhelming
exhibition of miracles as Satan will shortly make manifest. Don't suppose for a
moment, that I am uttering dark sayings or speaking unadvisedly upon
speculation or the strength of mere human opinion. Don't tell me about Popes
and Prelates sitting in the temple of God as God. One far greater than any Pope
or Prelate is soon to be revealed, and he will claim to be worshipped as God.
Now remember, that it is no modern wicked man that is going to claim divine
honours. No, it is that old Serpent, the Devil. He it is that will head the
opposition against God and His Christ. And he, the son of perdition it is, that
will be allowed a much longer chain than heretofore. And such will be the
greatness of his power, that it will seem to many that he is entirely loose. He
will be so far unshackled and unchained that his power will deceive all
nations, even the world. And the elect will barely escape the power of his
sorceries, enchantments, and miracles! And even God, Himself, the true God,
will contribute to put means and instruments in his way and at hand for his
use, so that he can have a full trial of his strength and cunning, with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish.
It is not to be expected that Satan
will carry on his great warfare against Christ and His Saints, by means of any
one religion exclusively. It is not the Papal or Protestant religion alone that
you have need to fear, but the great and abominable Church which you should
expect to encounter is Anti-Christ. Whatever exalts and opposses itself to God,
that is Anti-Christ, whether it is a civil or religious power. But the most
formidable power that will be arrayed against Christ and His Saints in the last
days, will consist in the revelations of Satan. These revelations of Satan will
come through every medium and channel by which the cunning and power of Satan
can be brought to bear against the Saints and their Lord. It is a great mistake
to suppose that Satan is altogether a religious personage. No, far from this.
He is a politician, a philosopher, an erudite scholar, a linguist, a
meta-physician, a military commander, a prince, a god, a necromancer, an
enchanter, a diviner, a magician, a sorcerer, a prophet, and (if it were not
railing) a clergy man and liar from the beginning. With these universal [47]
endowments, he has never hitherto made a full and grand exhibition of himself,
as it remains for him to do. But the Lord, who gave him an opportunity to try
his battery upon good old Job, is fully designing to give him sufficient
apparatus to deceive all the nations that love not the truth, and have pleasure
in unrighteousness. His signs and tokens are as ancient as the apostacy of
Cain, and as varied as will suit the secret designs of all ages. Through him
men learn how to become "observers of times and seasons," with great
skill and astonishing accuracy. He presides over the arts of astrology,
clairvoyance, mesmerism, electrobiology, and all auguries and divinations.
Being Prince of the power of the air, he understands aeronautic and steam
navigation, and he can compose and combine the various elements, through the
cooperation of them that believe in him, with far more than human skill. Now
don't doubt what I say concerning this matter, but rather read the history of
his skillful exploits and his mighty power, as they are recorded in the Old and
New Testaments. Take a Bible and Concordance, (if you have any faith in the
Bible, left, in an age when the Bible is perverted beyond all other books,) and
read attentively for yourselves, and you will there learn that I am telling you
the truth.
Now there is a greater destruction
coming upon the wicked nations of the earth, than was even experienced by
Pharaoh at the Red Sea. But before that destruction can be made manifest, mens'
hearts will be hardened, and wickedness will rise to a more over-towering
height than many bye-gone generations have been allowed to witness. God,
through His Prophet, will roar out of Zion. His voice will be heard in spite of
all the confusion and indignant opposition from many nations. After the
testimony of His servants has been proclaimed to all nations, as a witness,
then shall the scene of the end come. And great shall be that scene. The Devil
in the last stage of desperation, will take such a pre-eminent lead in
literature, politics, philosophy, and religion; in wars, famines, pestilences,
earthquakes, thunderings and lightnings, setting cities in conflagration,
&c, that mighty kings and powerful nations will be constrained to fall down
and worship men. And they will marvel at his great power, and wonder after him
[48] with great astonishment. For his signs and wonders will be among all
nations. Men will be raised for the express purpose of furthering the designs
and marvelous works of the devil. Every description of curious and mysterious
arts that penetrate beyond the common pale of human sagacity and wisdom, will
be studied and practiced beyond what has been known by mere mortals. The great
capabilities of the elements of fire, air, earth, and water, will be brought
into requisition by cunning men under the superior cunning of the prince and
god of this world. And, inflated with the knowledge of these wonderful arts and
powers, men will become boasters, heady, high-minded, proud, and despisers of
that which is good. But the God who is above all, and over all, and who ruleth
in the armies of heaven, and amongst the inhabitants of the earth, will not be
a silent observer of such spiritual wickedness in high places, and among the
rulers of the darkness of this world. For the master spirits of wickedness of
all ages, and of worlds visible and invisible, will be arrayed in the
rebellious ranks before the closing scene shall transpire. Now just at this
time, God will come out of His hiding place and vex the nations in His hot
displeasure. By the mouth of His Prophet He will rebuke strong nations afar
off, notwithstanding their strong armies and great miracles, and cunning arts.
His servant, the Prophet, in Zion will have a marvellous boldness to rebuke
them, and to lay down before them in plainness and inflexible firmness the law
of the Lord. As Moses laid down the law to Pharaoh, and continued to multiply
evils and judgments until he made an utter end of Pharaoh and the Egyptians,
even so will the living God prescribe the line of conduct to be pursued, and
the penalties of violation, to great and mighty nations, until they rally
around the ensign established upon the mountains, and go up to the house of the
God of Jacob to learn His ways, or are utterly overwhelmed in keen anguish and
ruin.
The ways of the God of Jacob are
easily recognized in these days of general wickedness. It is true, that they
are clearly revealed in the Scriptures of truth, and by a living Priesthood of
inspired men, yet they have been so long and so grossly perverted by the
precepts and opinions of a hireling ministry, that doubts and contentions have
[49] sprung up in every land, and the plainest and simplest truths are denied,
abrogated, or accounted obsolete. God is not allowed to speak from the heavens
by the mouths of Prophets as in former days. Notwithstanding there is much
preaching and praying, still there is a virtual acknowledgment amongst all
nations that God, as He was known unto the Patriarchs and Prophets of old, has
forsaken the earth. And men are left to discover the way to heaven by the light
of nature, or the misty nebulae of a hireling Priesthood. And it is a fact
undeniable, that infidels in the school of nature have more true piety towards
the living God, than the hireling ministry of Christendom have. Hence priests
are doing so much, often unwittingly, to blind the eyes of the people, so that
they shall not see the approaching crisis in its true character until the
catastrophe is completed, and Great Babylon and all her lofty cities, great
wealth, princely merchants, chief captains, and mighty sovereigns, are laid low
in one general ruin. Oh ye great and strong nations! ye philosophers and
religionists! ye spiritual mediums and ye revelators, sitting upon thrones over
great nations! how can you fulfil the prophecies that are so clearly revealed,
concerning the destructions of the last days? Ye perhaps marvel that the great
men and governors over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces in ancient
Babylon, with a brave monarch at their head, should have been such firm
believers in the astrologers, magicians, and interpreters of dreams, in their
days! But marvel not, for when the greater power of the like class of persons,
under the direction of Satan, shall be brought to bear in your own day, the
delusion will be so much stronger, that Princes, Presidents, Governors, and
chief Captains will be constrained to bow to it. Their credulity will be taxed
beyond the power of resistance. The workers of these mysterious and
supernatural arts will bring to their aid both natural and supernatural causes
that will challenge and defy disputation. The senses and judgment of men cannot
withstand such imperative facts as will arrest their observation. For it cannot
be denied that facts and truths will constitute such a measure of the
ingredients of these mysterious and wonderful arts as to give them an
irresistible strength of conviction to those who are [50] unenlightened by the
Spirit of God. And so far as facts and truth are mingled, it must also be
acknowledged that God, the true and living Sovereign of heaven and earth, will
contribute to produce the delusion. He has said that "He will send them
strong delusions that they might believe a lie." He gives his reason and
apology for acting after this strange manner--because knowing the truth, they
do not love it unadulterated. And knowing God, they do not choose to glorify
Him as God. Therefore their foolish hearts become darkened, and God suffers
Satan to compound and mix up truth and error in such proportions as to be
captivating and strongly delusive. As a snare, this composition will be
ingeniously mixed and administered to all nations, by skillful and practiced
hands.
And who shall be able to withstand?
Do you think that your great sagacity and the compass of your profound,
philosophical turn of mind will enable you to detect the error and delusion of
these arts? Oh, man, this is a vain hope. Your mind will not be competent to
detect the delusion. God Himself will allow Satan to ply your scrutinizing eye
with powers and sophistications far beyond your capacity to detect. Do you say
then, I will shun all acquaintance with these mysterious workings, in order
that I may not be carried away with their delusive influence. Vain hope. Oh
man, you cannot be neutral. You must choose your side and put on your armour.
Those that come not up to the help of the Lord in the day of battle, will be
sorely cursed. The captive Hebrew, Daniel, stood up boldly against all the
governors and whole realm of Babylon with their monarch at their head. But
Daniel readily acknowledged that it was not from any wisdom in him, above other
men, that he could surpass the astrologers and magicians. But holding
intercourse with the God of heaven, he became endowed with a supernatural comprehension
that effectually shielded him against supernatural delusion. Thereby he escaped
the snare that entwined around the great statesmen and governors of that
immense empire of Babylon. Thereby those who take refuge in the name of the
Lord and in immediate revelation from heaven, will be safe, and no others. He
that is not for God and the principle of immediate revelation, will inevitably
be ensnared, overcome, and [51] destroyed. Because he that is not for Him must
be against Him. No man in any age was ever for God, or even a friend of God,
that did not hold intercourse with Him personally, and receive for himself the
revelations of His will. The rock of revelation, by which Peter knew Jesus
Christ, is the only basis upon which any man can escape the strong delusion
which God will send among the nations, through Satan and his mediums and
coadjutors. Reader, if you live long, you will be compelled to take a side for
God or for Satan. Satan was allowed to try a compulsory process upon as good a
man as Job. The whirlwind and tempestuous elements, with disease and death,
were put into Satan's hand that he might compel Job to abandon his integrity.
Had not Job possessed the key of revelation from God, he would have been
compelled to have made peace with Satan, and forsaken the Lord. His wife urged
him to do so--says she, "Curse God and die;" or, in otherwords, take
the side of Satan against God. Now reader, if you have ships of precious
merchandise, floating at sea, the time is fast coming when Satan will destroy
those ships, unless you bow down to his power and become a cooperator with him.
And if you do bow down to him, to work wickedness and say, no eye seeth
me--then God will destroy those ships and you, too, and peradventure He will
destroy your family also, and make a clean end of you, and blot out your name
under heaven. Your beautiful mansion and flourishing family still have to be
consecrated to God or to Satan, whichever you may choose. The controversy is
begun and the war will never end till the victory is complete and universal,
and there shall not be found so much as a dog to move his tongue against the
Lord, and the immediate revelations of His will. Your being a minister of some
Church, will not serve as the least testimony of the true and living God made
known to you personally. For the time has come that God will write His law upon
every man's heart, that will receive it, not with ink, but with the Spirit of
the living God. And against him that hath this law, the gates of hell never
have prevailed and never will prevail. Heaven and earth shall pass away before
a jot of this law shall be made to succumb to wicked men or devils. The heavens
have been shaken once when angels rebelled, and they are destined [52] to
another shaking even with the earth. Do you say you don't need any more
revelation from God? Then the Devil will be allowed to give you some which you
don't need. And by the time that he has revealed himself to you, and buffeted
you, and trained you under his rigorous discipline to fight in this awful
crisis against the heavens, peradventure you will not then feel so rich and
increased in goods, but that you can take a little counsel from the Lord, and
feel a little of your extreme poverty and destitution.
You cannot know God without present
revelation. Did you ever think of this most solemn and essential truth before?
You may have been accustomed to pray, all your life time, and as yet you, even
you, do not know God. You may have heard many thousand sermons, with a sincere
desire both to remember and practice them, and yet you do not know God. But it
has been decided in the court of heaven, that no man can know the Father but
the Son, and he to whom the Son revealeth Him. Now, has Jesus Christ ever
revealed God the Father to you, dear reader? Be honest with yourself and do not
err in your answer to this most important question. However much the Son may
have revealed the Father to the Prophets, Patriarchs, and Apostles of old, the
question still remains in full force--has He revealed Him to you? A revelation
to another man is by no means a revelation to you. For instance, God revealed
Himself to Samuel, and called him by name to be a Prophet. But the call to
Samuel is by no means a call to you to be a Prophet. God called Abraham to kill
Isaac, but that is no revelation to you to kill your son. God revealed the
baptism of repentance unto John the Baptist, before Christ's death, but that is
not a revelation to you. He revealed authority to Paul to preach to the
Gentiles, but what was told to Paul is not told to you, nor is it required of
you. Again, you need the righteousness of God, to go where God is, and be
happy--and how will you get it except it is revealed to you personally? You
cannot get it in any other way. Hence the Lord says, "The righteousness of
God is revealed from faith to faith." Don't say now, as some do, that
revelation was anciently given in order to establish the truth, and being once
established it is no longer necessary to be revealed to subsequent generations
of people. Don't say this for your [53] life, for revelation is just as
necessary to establish truth now as it was then. You need the ministry of
angels now, just as much as people did then. They in past ages could not know
God, nor say for a certainty, from personal knowledge, that Jesus Christ was
the Christ, only by the Holy Ghost--and you are just as weak and dependent as
they were. You most assuredly cannot call Jesus, Lord, only by the Holy Ghost.
If the Holy Ghost is confirmed upon you, by the imposition of the hands of the
true Priesthood, then you can know God for yourself. Why? Because the Holy
Ghost teaches all things, even the deep things of God. This generation needs
present revelations from heaven, as much as any other generation ever did,
because they are quite as wicked as Sodom ever was. They practice as gross
sensuality and beastliness, as glaring robbery and murder, as much treachery
and lying, and are as ardent for war and blood-guiltiness, as ever the ancient
Canaanites were. And among the many religions that have sprung up, calculated
to confuse people's minds, there is, now, as much jargon and schism, contention
and strife, and persecuting zeal, as there ever was before. Now, reader, you
need present revelation from God to your own dear self, in order to help you
out of this nasty, confused labyrinth, and to set your feet firmly upon the
solid rock of revelation. Mere flesh and blood cannot help you now. It requires
an Almighty arm to effect your deliverance. Therefore, put no more trust in
man, for a curse rests upon him that will be guided by the precepts of man. I
do not ask you to be guided by what I say to you, unless the Lord from heaven
shall reveal to you that I speak the truth, even as it is in Christ. Although I
know that I am declaring heaven's truth to you, in all sobriety, yet, my
knowing it, does not suffice for you. You also must know it for yourself, and
not for another. This is your right and your privilege. For God has made this
promise to you, and not to you, reader, only, but to all others whom He calls
to repentance. Now, go and get revelation for yourself. If you are penitently
desirous with all your heart to get revelation from God to your own self, go to
some one whom God has called and ordained to confer the Gift of the Holy Ghost
upon men, according to His promise in the Acts of the Apostles, and I promise
you in the name of [54] Jesus Christ, whose I am both by covenant and by
sacrifice, that you shall have the desire of your heart. Even so. Amen.
Reader, be resolute! This is a critical
and trying moment with you. And this is God's call unto you. Don't refuse when
He calls you! And if you are honestly, without prejudice, meditating upon what
you now read, then God's Spirit is sweetly persuading you to believe what I
say. The faint dawn of the Spirit is even now upon your mind. Now, reader,
cherish this little dawn of light until the day-light of more truth shines more
clearly upon your mind. Pray mightily for the Spirit of Revelation to rest upon
you, that you may know the things that are freely given to you of God. And
follow the Spirit of revelation, as fast as you receive its whisperings, down
into the water where Jesus went, for the remission of your sins, and you will
very soon become a witness to the truth, and put your own seal upon it even as
I have done. And you will not barely believe, and hope, and fear, but you will
know, from present and personal revelation, that the Lord is a God at hand,
revealing Himself as freely as He ever did in Patriarchal days. Will you not,
then, be a happy man, O reader! And you a happy woman, O reader, to come into
possession of the same gift of present revelation from heaven, that holy men
and holy women enjoyed in ancient times? Yes, I know you will. You will then
feel deep pity and sorrow for any one that says he doesn't need present
revelation! You will then discover the pride of such an one's heart, and mourn
over him as one that is blinded by the god of this world. But your peace will
be great and your joy unspeakable. Although you can hardly believe me now, yet
through your faithfulness, the Spirit of prophecy will in due time rest even
upon you, O man! And also upon you, O woman! The Spirit of prophecy has rested
upon many sons and daughters in as humble walks of life as you are, and they according
to "promise" have prophesied and dreamed dreams. Now when this
promise is fulfilled in your experience, you will feel very glad and very
happy. And you will feel thankful that you ever read this article with a
humble, prayerful heart. And when you see the promised signs following your
faith, as thousands have done in this day, then you will exclaim, "Surely
this [55] is not merely the form, but also the power of godliness--this kind of
Gospel is in very deed the power of God unto salvation to every one that
believeth!" And then if you have money, which so many worship, you will
not be afraid to give a tenth to rear up a Temple like Solomon's, in which God
will place the ark of His covenant, and reveal His will, through His servants
the Prophets, for the benefit of all the ends of the earth. When you yourself
have the promised gift of discerning of spirits, then you will not have to ask
your neighbour, who is an impostor and who is not--you will know from the
fountain head all about it just as well as the next person. He that is
spiritual judgeth all things. Many things are hard to be understood and
reconciled, which the unstable and unlearned stumble at, even as formerly--he
that is spiritual can easily judge all things, but he that is not spiritual can
judge nothing correctly, for he is blind, and he cannot see afar off.
And further, when you see also the
gross and beastly sexual abominations that are practiced and are increasing
among all nations, without shame or fear, you will not marvel that God is
determined to raise up a righteous seed and glorious branch, by re-establishing
the Patriarchal Order, as in the days of Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon, and
Elkanah. Neither will you marvel, while the Spirit of God is upon you, that men
and even women should sneer at the sacred institution of marriage being an
institution wholly under the control of God, as it was in the days of Abraham.
Why should you not marvel at their sneers? Because, we have been distinctly and
emphatically fore-warned that in the last days there shall arise scoffers,
wailing after their own hearts' lusts, who shall speak evil of dignities and
things that they know not, having men's persons in admiration because of gain.
You would have more cause to marvel and disbelieve the Scriptures of truth, if
sensual men and women did not speak evil of the Patriarchal Order of marriage,
and of men that conform to the pure sanction and penal restrictions of that
most Holy Order.
Now there are several ways in which
the pure and obedient get revelations. It will be your privilege in due time to
become acquainted with these various ways. One way is through the inspiration
of the Spirit. The Spirit is [56] given to every man to profit withal. All men
have such a measure of the Holy Spirit as to enable them to make a profitable
use of the light and opportunities that they have, and to obey the law under
which they are placed. All the different methods of revelation are not probably
given to all men now. God dispenseth His gifts severally as He will. The
inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding. Every various method of
immediate revelation, however, always accords with the inspiration of the
Spirit. If an holy angel talk with a man, what the angel speaks accords with
the inspiration of the Spirit. If the Urim and Thummim is consulted, it accords
with the teachings of the Holy Spirit. An open vision or dream, each accords
with the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Now one mark of a dream from God is
that it is distinguished for the clearness and simplicity of the impress that
it makes upon the mind of him that dreams. A dream from the Lord being always
true in all its legitimate bearings, will be so disembarrassed for error and
uncertainty to him that has the Spirit of truth in lively exercise, that he will
know it perfectly in distinction from all false hallucinations or deceptions of
the mind. Reader, take your Bible and read the Bible account of dreams. There
you will see that dreams from the Lord, for any important end, are plainly
distinguishable from all deceptive influences. When Jacob went toward Haran and
lay upon his stone pillow, and dreamed of seeing a ladder reaching up to
heaven, &c, after he awoke, he knew, beyond a doubt, that the dream was
from God. Hence he says, "How terrible is this place, &c. When Laban
wanted to cheat Jacob out of his just wages, the Lord appeared to Jacob in a
night dream, and told him how to increase the number of his cattle, so that he
could get the advantage of the cheating employer. Jacob understood the dream
perfectly, and so managed as to have the best of the increase fall to his
share. When Joseph told the simple dream of the sheaves, his brothers all
understood it well. And when he told the dream of the sun, moon, and eleven
stars bowing down to him, his father Jacob felt the force of the meaning,
although he rebuked Joseph. When God gives a dream to a wicked man, He makes
him fully to understand it, unless he wishes to hide the meaning from him.
Abimelech [57] understood his two dreams from the Lord, concerning Sarah,
Abraham's wife. The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, and riches, and dominion, in a
dream, and yet Solomon knew the import of the dream, and that the Lord had
appeared to him in that dream. The Lord does not suffer wicked spirits to foul
and blot and mar a dream, when He wants to communicate His mind and will in a
dream. For spirits are rebuked and commanded to depart when God wants to invite
the truth upon any one's mind. The angel of God guards the dreamer till a clear
and distinct impression is made. And that impression is of an unmistakable
character; it cannot be misunderstood, any more than the light of the sun can
be mistaken for the darkness of midnight. An open vision is another method of
revelation. David saw an angel of the Lord with a drawn sword, even the
pestilence, standing between the heavens and earth. The Prophet having prayed
that the eyes of his servant might be opened, showed him that the armies of
heaven were more numerous than the host of his enemies. Another method of
revelation is through the ministry of angels. An angel forewarned Lot to leave
Sodom. Angels gave the Law to Moses upon Mount Sinai. An angel opened a great
iron gate that liberated the Apostle Peter. Again, God reveals things by Urim
and Thummim, and by burnt offerings, and by divers tongues, &c.
Now, reader, I entreat you to seek
the aid of present revelations from God. You need them just as much as any poor
creature ever did that has been born into the world. Without them you never can
know God, worlds without end. Don't flatter yourself that because others know
God or have formerly known Him, you are any better off on that account, unless
you know Him for yourself.
Are you poor and oppressed? Then you
have the greatest need to receive revelations from God. There are very many
poor people in these days and in these lands. Even in England, rich men oppress
you, and many cheat you, and defraud you, and keep back your merited wages--and
you, who do the greatest part of the work that is done in the land, can hardly
get an honest living, while your masters roll in pomp, and fare sumptuously
every day. I have seen you and your little sons and tender daughters, hurrying
off early in the morning to work for them, and [58] returning late at night,
poorly fed and poorly clothed often. And all the time that you are making
others rich, they are keeping you in poverty and ignorance. And your daughters
are often insulted and sometimes seduced by masters, and you are threatened
with the workhouse if you don't grind for the oppressor, and you have but
little time to see your own families, and bless them with comforts, and educate
and train them up for usefulness and salvation. Now, if you knew how to take
counsel from the God of heaven, as Jacob did, you would not have to submit
always to such fraud and oppression. But God would help you out of your many
difficulties, and your enemies could not help themselves. God has seen your
afflictions, and has sent forth His servants to all nations, to preach
deliverance, for the acceptable year of the Lord has now come.
And ye rich men, the Voice is to
You. Gather up the poor and bless them, and your riches shall not waste, but
increase four fold, and great shall be your reward in heaven. But blessed are
the poor who shall obtain the gifts of revelation for themselves, for they
shall rejoice greatly in the Holy One of Israel. For not many rich, not many
noble, will be humble enough to seek revelations from God. But beware of the
counsel of any priests or ministers who are hired and paid for preaching. God
never hired any man to preach, nor did He ever authorize any man to hire
himself out to preach for wages. Therefore beware of all such, lest they
deceive you. Go not after them, neither listen to them for a moment, for they
are confederate with rich men and oppressors, and they are despisers of present
revelation, and consequently they neither know God themselves, nor are they
willing that others should know Him. And vengeance will shortly overtake all
that know not God, and obey not the Gospel. (Mill. Star 15:273-276, 289-292)
[59] Angels and Agency
Brigham Young, June
26, 1853
(recorded by Joseph Lee
Robinson)
I with a portion of my family
attended meeting at the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City and heard Elder O. Hyde
and Pres. Brigham Young preach upon the subject of angels being our guardian
spirits, proving from the scriptures the importance of their mission, and also
the great and mighty part they have to take in the great work of the last days,
even the marvelous work and a wonder that God our Heavenly Father is performing
and that the Latter-day Saints are engaged in, and have embraced, and are
accused of being the authors of, but it is God's work; He is the great author
of what is called Mormonism. He is responsible, and there are myriads of angels
also which are very deeply interested in this Latter-day work. They certainly
will act well their part in the great drama, doing all in their power to bring
to pass the restoration of the House of Israel, even God's elect, and the
fulfilling of all the promises of God, and the predictions of the Holy
prophets. They have their mission to perform; they will have as it were the
bulk of the burden to bear. Then how thankful we ought to be, as servants of
the most High God, how we the Elders of Israel ought to be encouraged, to press
on, not to get rich, but to build up the Kingdom of God on the earth, realizing
that all depends upon the Kingdom of God being established on this earth; if
that is not accomplished, then surely there will be no riches, honor, power,
glory and happiness for us, the Latter-day Saints, hereafter, for surely there
is not a son or daughter of Zion, on this earth, but there are angels, which
are charged to watch over them; and there never was a prophet, or any important
event transpired on this earth, but there were angels sent to instruct,
regulate and prepare them for their work, and to bring the necessary
intelligence with regard to that event; and now with regards to the agency of
men, God has made man a free agent. He has given unto him power to choose and
to refuse. He can perform a work that shall be meritorious. He may and can earn
an inheritance in the Kingdom of God. The power is with him if he will rise up
in the name of the Lord and in faith make a mighty effort and call [60] upon
the name of the Lord to help. He will surely help him, as Paul said, through
Christ strengthening me I can do all things and then again man left to himself
is very weak, and without faith he can do nothing. (Feb. 1854) To divine
acceptance, but as man has his agency he must be responsible for his acts, now
in these last days, God has revealed himself to man and hath sent his holy
angels, which hath communicated to man the great plan of salvation. He hath
sent His angels and committed the everlasting Gospel with all its gifts and
graces, and his angels hath given the power and authority of God, the holy
Priesthood, to administer the same to all men and give unto them the Holy
Ghost, even to every one of the whole human family that will receive it, while
those that will not receive it, shall be damned saith the Lord God. (Joseph Lee
Robinson Journal, pp. 59-60, typescript)
Difficulties with the
Indians
Brigham Young, July 1,
1853
Des. News, October 15,
1853
I wish to say a few words to the
Latter Day Saints this morning, as there seems to be considerable excitement in
the feelings of the people, and many inquiring what will be the result of the
present Indian difficulties.
I will give you my testimony as far
as I have one on the subject, concerning those difficulties in this Territory,
north and south, pertaining to our brethren the Lamanites. My Testimony to all
is: it is right, and perfectly calculated, like all other providences of the
Lord, of the like nature, to chasten this people until they are willing take
council. They will purify and sanctify the Saints, and prepare the wicked for
their doom.
There has nothing strange and
uncommon to man yet occurred; nothing has yet happened out of the ordinary
providences of the Lord. These common _________(?) of our Great Head with His
people have been manifested from days of old, in blessings and chastisements.
Wars, commotions, tumults, strife, nation contending against nation, and people
against people, have all been governed [61] and controlled by Him whose right
it is to control such matters.
Among wicked nations, or among
saints--among the ancient Israelites, Palestines, and Romans, the hand of the
Lord was felt; in short, all the powers that have been upon the earth, were
dictated, governed, controlled, and the final issue of their existence brought
to pass, according to the wisdom of the Almighty. Then my testimony is, it is
all right.
There seems to be some excitement
among the people; and fears are arising in the breasts of many as to the
general safety. Some person has been shot at by the Indians, or some Indians
were seen in a hostile condition. And away go messengers to report to
headquarters, saying, "what shall we do? For we cannot tell but we shall
all be killed by them. They have stolen our horses and driven off some cattle,
which has created a great excitement in our settlement," etc., when,
perhaps, tomorrow the very Indians who have committed these depredations will
come and say, "How do you do; we are friendly, cannot you give us some
content?" They will shake hands, and appear as though it were impossible
for them to be guilty of any of their hostility. And what is the next move?
Why, our wise men, the Elders of Israel, are either so fluctuating in their
feelings, so unstable in their ways, or so ignorant of the Indian character,
that the least mark of friendship manifested by these treacherous red
men________(?) fears, throw them entirely off their guard, saying, "It is
all right; wife, take care of the stock, for I am going to the canyon for a
load of wood."
Away he goes without a gun or a
pistol to defend himself, in case of an attack from some Indian, or Indians, to
rob him of his cattle, and perhaps his life. Herds of cattle are driven upon
the range; the feelings of the people are divested of all fear by this little
show of Indian friendship, and their hearts are at peace with all mankind. They
lay down to sleep at night, with the doors of their houses open, and in many
instances no way to close them if they were willing, only by means of hanging
up a blanket. Thus they go to sleep with their guns unloaded, and entirely
without any means of defense, in case they should be attacked at the night. On
the other [62] hand, they no sooner discover an Indian in an hostile attitude,
than the hue and cry is "we shall all be murdered immediately." That
is the kind of stability, the kind of unshaken self-command, the style of
generalship and wisdom manifested by Elders in Israel.
Today all are in arms, war is on
hand; "we are going to be destroyed, or fight our way through," is in
every mouth. Tomorrow all is peace, and every man turns to his own way,
wherever the common avocations of life call him. No concern is felt as to
protection in the future, but "all is right and is safety; there is no
fear of any further trouble," is the language of their thoughts, and they
lay down to sleep in a false security to be murdered in the night by their
enemies if they are disposed to murder them.
I can tell you one thing with regard
to excitement and war. You may take Israel here, as a community, with all their
experience, and with all they have passed through in the shape of war, and
difficulties of various kinds, and these wild Indians are actually wiser in
their generations, in the art of war, than this people are. They lay better
plans, display greater skill, and are steadier in their feelings. They are not
so easily excited, and when excited, it is not so easily allayed, as in the men
who have come to inhabit these mountains, from where they have been trained and
educated in the civilization of modern nations. You may not believe this assertion;
it is, however, no matter whether you do or do not, the fact remains unaltered,
as well as the conviction of my own mind regarding it.
I have been frequently asked, What
is going to be the result of these troubles? I answer, the result will be good.
What did you hear, you who have come to these valleys within the last few
years, previous to your leaving your native country? You heard that all was
peace and safety among the Saints in these regions; that the earth yielded in
her strength, giving an abundance of food; and that it is a splendid country to
raise stock. Your determination was then formed to go up to the valleys of the
mountains, where you could enjoy peace and quiet, and follow the avocations of
life, undisturbed. When the people arrive here, many of them come to me and
say, "Bro. Brigham, [63] can we go here, or there, to get us farms? Shall
we enter into this or that speculation? We have been very poor, and we want to
make some money; or, we want the privilege of taking with us a few families to
make a settlement in this or that distant valley?" If I inquire, why they
cannot stay here, their answer is "because there is no room; the land is
chiefly taken up, and we have a considerable stock of cattle. We want to go
where we can have plenty of range for our stock; where we can mount our horses
and ride over the prairies and say, I am lord of all I survey. We do not wish
to be disturbed in any way, nor to be asked to pay tithing, to work upon the
roads or pay Territorial tax, but we wish all the time to ourselves, to
appropriate to our own use. I want you, Bro. Brigham, to give us counsel that
we can get the whole world in a string after us and have it all in our own
possession by and by." If there is light enough in Israel, let it shine in
your consciences, and illuminate your understandings, and give you to know that
I tell you the truth; this is the object many have in wishing to settle, and
take in land that is far distant from the main body of the people. I have not
given you the language of their lips to me, but the language of their hearts.
Elders of Israel are greedy after
the things of this world. If you ask them if they are ready to build up the
kingdom of God, their answer is prompt, "Why to be sure we are, with our
whole souls; but we want first to get so much gold, speculate and get rich, and
then we can help the Church considerable. We will go to California and get
gold; or go and buy goods and get rich; trade with the emigrants; build a mill;
make a farm; get a large herd of cattle, and then we can do a great deal for
Israel." When will you be ready to do it? "In a few years, Bro.
Brigham, if you do not disturb us. We do not believe in the necessity of doing
military duty, in giving over our surplus property for tithing; we never could
see into it, but we want to go and get rich, to accumulate and amass wealth, by
securing all the land adjoining us, and all we have knowledge of." If that
is not the spirit of this people, then I do not know what the truth is
concerning the matter.
Now I wish to say to you who are
fearing and trembling, do not be afraid at all; for it is certain if we [64]
should be killed off by the Indians, we could not die any younger; this is
about as good a time as can be for us to die, and if we all go together, why
you know, we shall have a good company along with us; it will not be lonesome
passing through the valley, which is said, to have a vail drawn over it. If we
all go together, the dark valley of the shadow of death will be lighted up by
us, so do not be scared. But there will not be enough slain by the Indians at
this time to make the company very conspicuous in that dark valley. Do you
begin to secretly wish you had stayed in the States, and in England a little
longer, until this Indian war had come to an end? There is a mighty fearing and
trembling in the hearts of many. I know what men have done heretofore, when
they have seen the enemy advancing, they have skulked, they were sure to be
somewhere else than on hand when there was fighting to do. Although, upon the
whole, I have no fault to find with the Latter Day Saints, or with the Elders
of Israel upon that subject, for they love to fight a little too well. If I
were to have fears concerning them, it would not be that they would make war,
but in the case of war being made on them, I should have more fear in
consequence of the ignorant, and foolish audacity of the Elders, than of their
being afraid. I should fear they would rush into danger like an unthinking
horse into battle. So I will not find fault with regard to their courage. On
that point I am a coward myself, and if people would do as I tell them, I will
not only save my own life, but theirs likewise.
Suppose now, that we should say to
this congregation, and to all the wards in this City, the time has come for us
to fort up; do you not think a great many persons would come immediately to me,
and inquire if I did not think their houses quite safe enough, without being
put to that trouble and expense? Yes my office would be crowded with such persons,
wanting to know if they might not live where they are now living,
"for", they say, "we have got good houses, and well finished
off, besides, such a course will ruin them, and our gardens will go to
destruction; we really cannot fort up." Would there not be a great amount
of hard feelings upon the subject? I think so, whether you do or not. I think I
should want as many [65] as a legion of angels to assist me to convince every
family it was necessary, if it actually was so.
I do not know but the time may come,
and that speedily, when I shall build a fort myself in this city, and those who
are disposed can go into it with me, while the rest can stay out. When I see it
is absolutely necessary to do this, I shall do it. If the people of Utah
Territory would do as they are told, they would always be safe. If the people
in San Pete County had done as they were told from the beginning of that
settlement, they would have been safe at this time, and would not have lost
their cattle. Day before yesterday, Friday, July 29th, the Indians came from
the mountains to Father Allred's settlement and drove off all their stock
amounting to 200 head. If they had done as they were told, they would not have
suffered this severe loss, which is a just chastisement.
I recollect when we were down at
Father Allred's settlement last April; they had previously been to me, not only
to know if they might settle in San Pete, but if they might separate widely
from each other, over a piece of land about 2 miles square, each having a 5 acre
lot for their garden, near their farms. They were told to build a good
substantial fort, until the settlement became sufficiently strong and not live
so far apart and expose themselves and their property to danger. Father Allred
told me they were then so nigh together, they did not know how to live! I told
him they had better make up their minds to be baptized into the Church again,
and get the Spirit of God that each one may be able to live at peace with his
neighbor in close quarters, and not think himself intrigued upon. They wanted
to know if they were to build a fort. Why yes, I said, build a strong fort, and
a corral to put your cattle in, that the Indians cannot get them away from you.
"Do you think, Bro. Brigham, the Indians will trouble us here?" they
inquired. I said, it is none of your business whether they will or not; but you
will see the time that you will need such preparations; but I did not think it
would come so quickly. There will more come upon this people to destroy them
than they at present think of, unless they are prepared to defend themselves,
which I shall not take time, this morning, to dwell upon. I said also to the
brethren at Utah, do you make a fort, [66] and let it be strong enough, that
Indians cannot break into it. They commenced and did not make even the shadow
of a fort, for in some places there was nothing more than a line to mark where
the approaching shadow would be. They began to settle round upon the various
creeks and streamlets, and the part of a fort that existed, was finally pulled
up and carried away somewhere else. I have told you from the beginning you
would need forts, where to build them, and how strong. I told you six years ago
to build a fort, that the Devil could not get into, unless you are disposed to
let him in, and that would keep out the Indians.
Excuse me for saying Devil; I do not
often use the old gentlemen's name in vain, and if I do it, it is always in the
pulpit, where I do all my swearing. I make this apology because it is
considered a sin to say Devil, and it grates on refined ears.
I told the settlement in San Pete at
the first to build a fort; they did not do it, but huddled together beside a
Stone Quarry, without a place of common shelter where they could defend
themselves, in case of an Indian difficulty. They had faith they could keep the
Indians off; well, now is the time to call it into exercise. They did, after a
while build a temporary fort at San Pete, which now shields them, in a time of
trouble.
When the Brethren went to Salt
Creek, they wanted to make a settlement there, and inquired of me if they might
do so. I told them no, unless they first built an efficient Fort; I forbade
them taking their women and children there until that preparatory work was
fully accomplished. Has it ever been done? No, but families went there and
lived in wagons, and brush houses perfectly exposed to be killed. If they have
faith enough to keep the Indians off, it is all right.
From the time these distant valleys
began to be settled until now, there has scarcely been a day but what I have
felt a 25 ton weight, as it were, upon me, in exercising faith to keep this
people from destroying themselves; but if any of them can exercise faith enough
for themselves, and wish to excuse me, I will take my faith back.
[67] The word has gone out now, to the
different settlements in the time of harvest, requiring them to build forts.
Could it not have been done last winter better than now? Yes. Do you not
suppose people will now wish they had built forts when they were told? If they
do not, it proves what they have been all the time, shall I say fools? If that
is too harsh a term, I will say they have been foolish. It is better for me to
labor in building a house or a fort; to get out fencing timber, and wood to
consume through winter when I have nothing else to do, and not be under the
necessity of leaving my grain on the ground to do those things. Harvest is not
time to build forts, neither is it the time, when we should be plowing and sowing.
Now the harvest is upon us, I wish
to say a few words concerning it; I desire you to tell your neighbors and wish
them to tell their neighbors; and thus let it go to the several counties
around, now is the time for women and children to assist in the harvest fields,
the same as they do in other countries. I never asked this of them before, I do
not now ask it as a general thing; but those employed in the expedition South,
in the work of defending their Brethren from Indian depredations, who have
heavy harvests on hand, rather than suffer the grain to waste, let the women
get in the harvest, and put it where the Indians cannot steal it. And when you
go into the harvest field, carry a good butcher knife in your belt, that if an
Indian should come upon you, supposing you to be unarmed, you will be sure to
kill one of them.
Tell your neighbors of this, and go
to work men, women and children, and gather in your grain, and gather it clean,
leave none to waste, and put it were the Indians cannot destroy it.
Does this language intimate anything
terrific to you? It need not. If you will do as you are told, you will be safe
continually. Secure your bread stuff, your wheat, and your corn when it is
ripe, and let every particle of grain raised in these valleys be put where it
will be safe, and as much as possible from vermin, and especially from the
Indians, and then build forts.
Let every man and woman who has a
house, make that house a fort, from which you can kill ten where you can now
only kill one, if Indians come upon you. "Bro. [68] Brigham, do you really
expect Indians to come upon us in this city?" This inquiry I have no doubt
is at this moment in the hearts of a few, almost breathless with fear. Were I
to answer such an inquirer as I feel, I should say it was none of your
business; but I will say, you are so instructed, to see if you will do as you
are told. Let your dwelling house be a perfect fort. From the day I lived where
Bro. Joseph Smith lived, I have been fortified all the time so as to resist 20
men, if they should come to my house in the night, with an intent to molest my
family, assault my person, or destroy my property; and I have always been in
the habit of sleeping with one eye open, and if I cannot then sufficiently
watch, I will get my wife to help me. Let an hostile band of Indians come round
my house, and I am good for quite a number of them. If one hundred should come,
I calculate that only 50 shall be able to go to the next house, and if they use
up the other 50, the third house will be safe.
But instead of the people taking
this course, almost every good rifle in the Territory has been traded away to
the Indians, with quantities of powder and lead, though they waste it in
various ways when they have got it. The whites would sell them the title to
their lives for the sake of trading with the Indians.
They will learn better I expect by
and by, for the people have never received such strict orders as they have got
now. I will give you the pith of the last orders issued; "That man of
family who will not do as they are told in the orders, are to be treated as
strangers, yea, even as enemies, and not as friends." And if there should
be a contest, if we should be called upon to defend our lives, our liberty and
our possessions, we would cut them off the first, and walk over their bodies to
conquer the foe outside.
Martial law is not enforced yet,
although the whole Territory is in a state of war, apparently, but it is only
the Utah (Indians) who have declared war on Utah (Territory.) Deseret has not
yet declared war; how soon it will be declared, is not for me to say; but we
have a right, and it is our duty to put ourselves in a state of self defense.
The few families that settled in
Cedar Valley at the point of the mountain, were instructed to leave there last
[69] spring; they have gone back again upon their own responsibility, and now
want to know what they must do. They have been told to do just as they have a
mind to.
Those who have taken their wives and
children in the canyons to live, have been told to remove them into the city;
and if you want to make shingles, or do any other work that requires you to
remain there, have your gun in a situation that an Indian cannot creep up and
steal it from you before you are aware, that you can be good for a few Indians
if they should chance to come upon you.
If I wished to live away from the
body of the people, my first effort should be directed towards building a good
and efficient fort. When new settlements were made in the eastern counties they
built them of timber, and they were called "Block Houses" I would
advise that every house in new settlements should be made good for all the
Indians that could approach it with an intention to tear it down. If I did not
do that, I would go to where I could be safe; I would take up my abode with the
body of the people. I would take my family there at least. By taking this
course every person will be safe from the depredations of the Indians, which
are generally committed upon the defenseless and unprotected portions of the
community.
I know what the feelings of the
generality of the people are, at the time they think all the Indians in the
mountains are coming to kill off the Latter Day Saints. I have no more fear of
that, than I have of the sun ceasing to give light upon the earth. I have
studied the Indian character sufficiently to know what the Indians are in war,
I have been with them more or less from my youth upward, where they have often
had wars among themselves. Let every man, woman and child that can handle a
butcher knife be good for one Indian, and you are safe.
I am aware that the people want to
ask me a thousand and one questions, whether they have done it or not, touching
the present Indian difficulties; I have tried to answer them all in my own mind
by saying it will be just as the Lord will.
How many times have I been asked in
the past week what I intend to do with Walker. I say let him alone, severely. I
have not made war on the Indians, nor am I calculating to do it. My policy is
to give them presents and [70] be kind to them. Instead of being Walker's
enemy, I have sent him a great pile of tobacco to smoke when he is lonely in
the mountains. He is now at war with the only friends he has upon this earth,
and I want him to have some tobacco to smoke.
I calculate to pursue just such a
course with the Indians, and when I am dictated by existing circumstances, and
the Spirit of the Lord to change my course, I will do it, and not until then.
If you were to see Walker, do you
think you would kill him? You that want to kill him, I will give you a mission
to that effect. A great many appear very bold, and desire to go and bring me
Walker's head, but they want all the people in Utah to go with them. I could
point out thousands in this Territory who would follow these Indians, and
continue to follow them, and leave the cattle to be drove off by the emigrants,
and the grain to perish, and thus subject the whole community to the ravages of
famine and its consequent evils. I have been teased, and teased by men who will
come to me and say, "Just give me twenty-five, fifty, or an hundred men,
and I will go and fetch you Walker's head." I do not want his head, but I
wish him to do all the Devil wants him to do, so far as the Lord will suffer
him and the Devil, to chastise this people for their good.
I say to the Indians, as I have
often said to the mob, "go your length. You say you are going to kill us
all off. You say you are going to obliterate the Latter Day saints, and wipe
them from the earth. Why don't you do it, you poor miserable curses?" The
mob only had power to drive them to their duty, and to remember the Lord their
God, and that is all the Indians can do. This people are worldly minded, they
want to get rich in earthly substance, and are apt to forget their God, the pit
from which they were dug, and the rock from which they were hewn, every man
turning to his own way. Seemingly the Lord is chastening us until we turn and
do his will. What are you willing to do? Would you be willing to build a fort
and all go in there to live? I tell you, you would have a hell of your own and
Devils enough to carry it on. Do you suppose you will ever see the time you
would do that, and live at peace with each other; and have the Spirit of the
Lord enough to look [71] each other in the face, and say with a heart full of
kindness, "Good morning, Mary," or "How do you do, Maria."
You will be whipped until you have the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ
sufficiently to love your Brethren and Sisters freely--men, women and children;
until you can live at peace with yourselves, and with every family around you;
until you can treat every child as though it were the tender offspring of your
own body, every man as your brother, and every woman as your sister; and until
the young person treat the old with that respect due to parents, and all learn
to shake hands with a warm heart, and a friendly grip, and say God bless you
from morning till evening. Until each person can say, "I love you all; I
have no evil in my heart to any individual." I can then send my children
to school with yours, and can correct your children when they do wrong, as
though they were my own, and I am willing you should correct mine, and let us
live together until we are a holy and sanctified society. There will always be
Indians or somebody else to chastise you until you come to that spot; so amen
to the present Indian trouble, for it is all right. I am just as willing the
rebellious of this people should be kicked, and cuffed, and mobbed, and hunted
by the Indians as not, for I have preached to them until I am tired. I will
give no more counsel to any person upon the duties of self preservation. You
can do as you please. If you will not preserve yourselves, I may reason with
you until my tongue cleaves to the roof of my mouth to no avail. Let the Lord
extend the hand of benevolence to Brother Walker, and he will make you do it by
other means than exhortations given in mildness.
This very same Indian Walker has a
mission upon him, and I do not blame him for what he is now doing; he is
helping me to do the will of the Lord to this people; he is doing with a
chastening rod what I have failed to accomplish with soft words, while I have
been handing out my substance, feeding the hungry, comforting the sick; but
this has no effect upon this people at all; my counsel has not been heeded, so
the Lord is making Bro. Walker an instrument to help me, and perhaps the means
that he will use will have their due effect.
[72] Do you suppose I want to kill him? No. I
should be killing the very means that will make this people do what we wanted
them to do years ago.
There are hundreds of witnesses to
bear testimony that I have counseled this people from the beginning, what to do
to save themselves both temporally and spiritually.
In one of our orders issued lately,
the Southern settlements were advised to send their surplus cattle to this
valley. No quicker had the news reached them, than our ears were greeted with
one continued whine which meant, "We are afraid you want them." So we
did, to take care of them for you.
When Father Allred was advised to
adopt measures to secure themselves and their property, he replied, "O, I
do not think there is the least danger in the world; we are perfectly able to
take care of our stock, and protect ourselves against the Indians." All
right, I thought, let circumstances prove that.
Now as difficulties surround them,
they say to me, "Why, Bro. Brigham, if you had only told us what to do we
would have done it. Were we not always willing to take your counsel?" Yes,
you are a great deal more willing to take it, than to obey it. If people are
willing to carry out good counsel, they will secure themselves accordingly.
I have thought of setting a pattern
by securing myself; but were I to build a fort for myself and family, I should
want about a legion of angels from the throne of God to stay nine months with
me to get my folks willing to go into it. But I am so independent about it I
care not the snap of my finger for one of them. If my wives will not go into a
place of security with me, it is all right; they can stay out and I will go in
and take my children with me. I say, I do not know but I may take a notion to
set a pattern by building a fort; if I do, some one in this city may follow my
example, and then somebody else, etc., until we have a perfect City of Forts.
"Bro. Brigham, do you really
think we shall ever need them?" Yes, I do. All the difficulties there is
in the community this year is not a drop in comparison to the heavy shower that
will come. "Well, and where is it coming from?" From hell, where
every other trouble comes from. "And who do you think will be the
actors?" [73] Why, the Devil and his imps, (W. W. Phelps in the stand,
"We could not do very well without a Devil.") No sir, you are quite
aware of that; you know we could not do without him. If there had been no Devil
to tempt Eve, she never would have got her eyes opened. We need a Devil to stir
up the wicked on the earth to purify the Saints; therefore let Devils howl, let
them rage, and thus exhibit themselves in the form of those poor foolish
Lamanites. Let them go on in their work, and do not desire to kill them, until
they ought to be killed, and then we will extinguish the Indian title, if it is
required.
Did you never feel to pity them, on
viewing their wretched condition? Walker with a small band has succeeded in
making all the Indian bands in these mountains fear him. He has been in the
habit of stealing from the Californians, and of making every train of emigrants
that passed along the Spanish trial to California pay tithing to him. He
finally began to steal children from those bands, to sell to the Spaniards; and
through fear of him, he has managed to bring in subjection almost all the Utah
tribes.
I will relate one action of Walker's
life, which will serve to illustrate his character. He with his band about last
Feb., fell in with a small band of these Piedes, and killed off the whole of
the men, took the squaws prisoners, and sold the children to the Mexicans, and
some few were supposed to be in this Territory. This transaction was told by
Arapeen, Walker's Brother, though he was not at the affray himself.
The Indians in these mountains are
continually on the decrease; bands that numbered 150 Warriors when we first
came here number not more than 35 now; and some of the little tribes in the
Southern parts of this Territory towards New Mexico, have not a single squaw
amongst them, for they have traded them off for houses, etc. This practice will
soon make the race extinct. Besides Walker is continually, whenever an
opportunity presents itself, killing, and stealing children from the wandering
bands that he has any power over, which also has its tendency to extinguish the
race.
Walker is hemmed in; he dare not go
into California again. Dare he go East to the Snakes? No. Dare he go [74]
North? No, for they would rejoice to kill him. Here he is penned up in a small
compass, surrounded by his enemies; and now the Elders of Israel long to eat up
(as it were) him and his little band. What are they? They are a set of cursed
fools, do you rather pity them? They dare not move over a certain boundary on
any of the four points of the compass for fear of being killed; then they are
killing one another, and making war upon this people that could use them up and
not be a breakfast spell for them if they felt so disposed. See their condition
and I ask you, Do you not pity them? From all appearance there will not be any
Indians left, in a short time, to steal a horse. Are they not fools under these
circumstances to make war with their best friend?
Do you want to run after them to
kill them? I say let them alone, for peradventure God may pour out his Spirit
upon them, and show them the error of their ways. We may yet have to fight
them, though they are of the house of Israel to whom the message of salvation
is sent; for their wickedness is so great that the Lord Almighty cannot get at
the hearts of the older ones to teach them saving principles. Joseph Smith said
we should have to fight them. He said, "When this people mingle among the
Lamanites, if they do not bow down in obedience to the Gospel, they will hunt
them until there is but a small remnant of them left upon this Continent."
They have either got to bow down to the Gospel or be slain. Will we slay them
simply because they will not obey the Gospel? No. But they will come to us and
try to kill us, and we shall be u nder the necessity of killing them to save
our own lives.
I wished to lay these things before
the people this morning, to answer a great many questions, and allay their
fears. Yesterday, Bro. Kimball heard at his Mill ten miles North that I had
sent word to him that the mountains were full of Indians, and he and the
families with him were to move into the City; so they immediately obeyed this
report. Bro. Kimball came to me and inquired if I had sent such order. I said,
No. But it is all right, for I wanted the women and children from there. This
shows the excited state of the people.
[75]
One thing more. I ask you men who have been with Joseph through the wars he has
passed, and who were with him at the time of his death, what was it that
preserved us to all outward appearance? It is true, in reality God has done it,
but by what means did he keep the mob from destroying us? It was by means of
being well armed with the weapons of death to send them to hell across lots.
Just so you have got to do.
As for this people fostering to
themselves that the day has come for them to sell their guns and ammunition to their
enemies, and sit down to sleep in peace, they will find themselves deceived,
and before they know, they will sleep until they are slain. They have got to
carry weapons with them, to be ready to send their enemies to Hell across lots,
whether they be Lamanites, or mobs who may come to take our lives, or destroy
our property. We must be so prepared that they dare not come to us in a hostile
manner without being assured they will meet a vigorous resistance, and ten to
one they will meet their grave.
The Lord will suffer no more trouble
to come upon us than is necessary to bring this people to their senses. You
need not go to sleep under the impression that it is the North and South only
that is in danger, and we are all safe here. Now mind, let this people here lay
down to sleep, and be entirely off their watch, and the first thing they know
they are in the greatest danger. You must not dessert the watch tower, but do
as I do; keep some person awake in your house all night long, and be ready at
the least tap of the foot to offer a stout resistance if it is required. Be
ready at any moment to kill 20 of your enemies at least. Let every house be a
fort.
After the cattle were stolen at San
Pete, a messenger arrived here in about 30 hours to report the affair and
obtain advice. I told Bro. Wells you can write to them and say, "Inasmuch
as you have no oxen and cows to trouble you, you can go to harvesting, and take
care of yourselves." If you do not take care of yourselves, Brethren, you
will not be taken care of. I take care of them that help themselves; I will
help you that try to help yourselves, and carry out the maxim of Doctor Dick,
"God helps them that help themselves."
[76] I am my own policeman, and have slept
scores of nights with my gun and sword by my side, that is if I slept at all. I
am still a policeman; now is the day to watch. It is as important for me to
watch now, as well as pray, as it ever has been since I came into this kingdom
it requires watching as well as praying men; take turns at it; let some watch
while others pray, and then change round, but never let any time pass without a
watcher, lest you be overtaken in an hour when you think not; it will come as a
thief in the night. Look out for your enemies, for we know not how they will
come, and what enemy it will be. Take care of yourselves.
Again, let me reiterate to the
sisters, do not be afraid of going into the harvest field. If you are found
there helping your sons, your husbands, and your brethren to gather in the
harvest, I say God bless you, and I will also.
Take care of your grain, and take
care of yourselves that no enemy come to slay you. Be always on hand to meet
them with death and send them to hell if they come to you. May God bless you
all, Amen. (Des. News, Oct. 15, 1853)
Patriotic Remarks
Orson Hyde, July 4,
1853
Des. News, July 30,
1853
Friends and Brethren--I arise before
you this morning to reiterate in your hearing an interesting and an important
truth, with which however you are well acquainted. We are a branch of the tree
of liberty planted on the fourth of July, 1776; and as the first display of
oratory and burst of eloquence from this stand on this interesting occasion,
was a flower that bloomed on our boughs, and was immediately succeeded by the
precious fruit, there remains but little for me to do, but to feast myself and
you on the theme which has been so ably and beautifully presented, illustrated,
and enforced upon your heart, under the banner of our Common Country, on whose
folds is inscribed "the downfall of tyranny, and the rising Star of
Israel's hope."
The great family of nations on this
globe, among which ours occupies the most enviable position, stands in [77] the
same relation to the Supreme Ruler of all, that servants do to their earthly
master. There are some designed to perform an honorable part, and shine with
more brilliance and splendor, and exert a controlling influence; while many
others, like "the vessels of dishonor," are equally necessary to
cause action and reaction, until the elements of nature, in all their various
ramifications, shall retire to their common level, "and the knowledge and
glory of God fill the whole earth as the waters cover the great deep." Not
every member of this great family does the will of God by choice; but the
wisdom, providence, and power of Zion's King will over-rule the acts of every
nation to the furtherance and execution of HIS designs; and therefore the
nations will be constrained to say, "Not unto us! Not unto us! But unto
thy name belongs the glory." While, therefore, we acknowledge the hand of
Providence in all things, we acknowledge not the designs, plans, and schemes of
all nations, any more than we acknowledge the correctness of the plans and
designs of Joseph's brethren in selling him into Egypt.
Considering the earth a stage, and
the nations and powers thereof so many actors, what part has our nation chosen
to act in the grand scenes of the last days? The days of farces are gone by,
realities now claim our attention, and we should discipline our minds, and
accustom them to sober thought, and prepare our hearts and nerves for the
substances that have so long cast only their shadows before them to awaken our
fancy and speculations, and pleasingly or painfully excite our unstable souls.
Observe Christopher Columbus in his
silent meditations; mark his untiring and faithful observations! Behold him
watching the western breeze, and marking, with zealous eye and anxious heart,
every substance that floated on the ocean's eastward-bound current, as probably
from the New World he sought. Listen to the philosophy of his reasoning, that a
Western Continent was necessary to preserve the equilibrium of the earth, and
to balance it correctly on its own axis. Inspired of the almighty God of
heaven, he encountered the ridicule and jeer of a faithless and unbelieving
world. Bound and hampered by the chains [78] of poverty, he possessed not the
ability to prosecute the voyage of discovery, so dear to his heart, and so
intimately connected with his hopes of future greatness and renown. Brooding
every difficulty--combating opposition, calumny and reproach, from almost every
quarter, he surmounted every obstacle, obtained an outfit that was as little
fitting and proper for the great enterprise, as was the manger for the birth
place of the Virgin's son. The time had arrived for the discovery to be made!
Millions of spirits in the spirit world, who had not yet taken bodies, nor
passed the ordeal, in earthly tenements, of a residence on this benighted
globe, were waiting with anxious eye for the area of heaven-born intelligences
to be extended or opened to the gaze of mortal eye, that there might be room
for them to come down and play their part, in their time and in their season,
on the stage of human life; the three old crazy vessels were enough! The Spirit
Angel was their guardian and their guide, and was with them on the stormy deep.
Another important reason why the discovery should be made: the history and
records of a fallen people, containing light from the spirit land, and truth
from heaven, were buried in the soil of the Western Continent; and although
engraven on golden leaves in a strange and unknown tongue, still they must come
forth, being among the secret things that should be revealed.
With the view of raising up a Church
pursuant to the doctrine contained in these records of a fallen people, a
government has to be established on this chosen and promised land whose
provisions should be liberal enough to allow and tolerate every principle,
precept, and doctrine of the new Church which then existed only in prophetic
vision. The Constitution of the United States forms the basis of that
government, extending protection to all, and showing especial favor to none.
After this government became fully
established, and had time to command the respect of all nations, lo! the angel
of God from the courts on high, descended to earth; and "Cumorah's lonely
hill," in the State of New York, was made to yield up the golden records
to the stripling ordained and chosen of God as the agent to enlighten the world
with the words of nations long since extinct, whose [79] ruined cities, towns,
forts, and various other works of improvement are left as a striking momento of
fallen greatness.
Let it never be forgotten, but let
the minds' eye always be directed to it, as the eye of the storm-beaten mariner
is ever directed towards the polar star, or the beacon lights, that while they
ward off danger, they inspire with joy. It is a prophetic saying, relating to
the destiny of this country, contained in the records found in Cumorah and
translated by the stripling youth, whose blood has sealed the truth of his
translation; hear it all ye ends of the earth! "There shall no king be
raised up on his land; and whosoever seeketh to raise up a king on this land,
shall perish." "This Land," means both North and South America,
and also the families of Islands that geographically and naturally belong and
adhere to the same. There are promises and decrees of God, in relation to
"This Land," of an extraordinary character. No other land can boast
of the same. How beautifully does the spirit of the above prophetic sentiment
chime in with the great American principle, "that no foreign prince,
potentate, or sovereign will be allowed to interfere in the affairs of this
Continent!" * * * Mexico would not allow our agents to preach the Gospel
within her borders. The Catholic faith, sustained by political power, to the
exclusion of all others, is a cause sufficient for revolutions at home, and for
a conquest by a power whose policy it is to let religion stand upon its own
merits.
The great design of Providence in
raising up our nation, and freeing it from the yoke of a foreign power, and in
arming it with energy, strength, and skill, was to make it the honored agent to
suppress religious intolerance and usurpation, and to open effectual doors for
the free investigation of every subject that can enlist the interests and
attention of men, that every principle that will stand the test of a close and
scrupulous examination, whether moral, political or religious, may be drawn
out, and applied to practical use in that department to which it belongs.
The United States should therefore
be regarded by the Latter-day Church as the men that fall the timber and clear
the land, removing every obstacle in the way of [80] ploughing, and the sowing
of seed. Remember, that whatever land or country falls under the government of
the United States--there you may go and preach the gospel, and not be thrust
into prison for it as you now are in many countries. The press, also, that
mighty engine of power, is free and untrammeled wherever the American Eagle
builds her nest. I think I hear a voice in low tone from yonder corner
reproaching thus--but in the United States, your Prophets have been killed,
your houses burned, your fields laid waste, your grain consumed by fire, your
people driven and scattered before the bitter blasts of persecution, like
clouds before the wind!
Ah, too true! But the Constitution
and laws of the country were not guilty of these cruel and bloody deeds. It was
a lawless mob that did the mischief,--an outbreak to which every country is
subject; but, you may ask, why were the offenders not punished for their
cruelty? Because human legislation had failed to affix a penalty proportionate
to the offense; hence the Almighty has taken that matter into His own hands,
and will award to them a punishment that will be fully adequate, by making them
the eternal servants of the persecuted and martyred ones. If the nation had
done all she could to wipe out the stain of these cruel and bloody deeds,
herself would have been spotless.
In the spring of 1834, a move was
made from Kirtland, Ohio, to the State of Missouri, by the Prophet Joseph
Smith, and many of his friends. During the journey, from time to time, some
murmuring and insubordination were manifest in the camp. This called out many
reproofs and admonitions, from the Prophet until, at length, on one beautiful
day, when the sun shone in all its beauty and splendor, (having failed to
silence the murmurings in the camp) he uttered, in substance, the following
language. "Brethren, by your murmurings and complainings, you have grieved
the Holy Spirit. I have reproved you often, reasoned and remonstrated with you
from time to time, and you have not heeded the admonition, and now, therefore,
so sure and certain as you behold yonder sun, shining in the heavens, without a
cloud to obstruct its rays, just so sure and certain will the destroyer lay you
waste, and your carcasses shall fall and [81] perish like rotten sheep."
Only about two weeks after, the Cholera broke out in camp, and the awful
prediction was fully verified to the consternation of the stoutest heart. Some
eight or ten died and were buried in a night! But did the prophet cease his
anxiety for the welfare of the camp? Did he become alienated in his feelings
from his friends in their hour of chastisement and tribulation? Did he turn to
be their enemy because he had spoken hard things against them? No! His heart
was melted with sympathy--his bosom glowed with love, compassion and kindness;
and with a zeal and fidelity that became a devoted friend in the hour of peril,
he personally ministered to the sick and dying, and aided in burying the dead.
Every act of his during that severe trial gave additional assurances to the
camp, that with all their faults, he loved them still.
If the United States have been
guilty of a great dereliction of duty in not making an effort to redress the
sufferings and wrongs of the "Mormons," and the "Mormons"
have said that this inaction and indifference on the part of the government, in
relation to their grievances, will draw upon the nation a scourge and chastisement
from God, we have no more idea that the great purposes and destinies of the
Creator will be changed in relation to this nation in consequence of this
merited chastisement, than the purposes and designs of a father to rear up his
son in honor, integrity, and truth will become changed by the infliction of
chastisement for some transgression or misdemeanor.
The "Mormons" feel their
wrongs--they know them: and while they live they will not forget them; they
cannot if they would. They will remember them also in the spirit world, and in
the exalted courts of the celestial kingdom. When they enter, it will be asked
"who are these, and from whence come they?" The answer will be, these
are they who have come up through great tribulation, &c. They will not
forget! Still, like the Prophet who stood by his brethren until death, so will
the "Mormons" stand by their country while any foe dares to set his
unhallowed foot upon our shores, or upon our borders.
Under the guardianship of high
heaven, all things are moving gloriously onward. We have recently had a liberal
slice off from Mexico, but the whole loaf must [82] come. The north must give
up, and the south keep not back, while the Islands are waiting for Thy law. The
voice of God, through the American policy, with loud and thrilling notes cries,
Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved from the yokes of
tyrants--from the chains and fetters of bigotry, superstition and priestcraft,
and regale yourselves under the tree of liberty, whose branches are rapidly
extending, and whose fruit is rich and desirable, and whose leaves are for the
healing of the nations. (Des. News, July 30, 1853)
Eternal Nature of
Priesthood
Orson Pratt
to the Saints throughout the
British Isles
Saturday, July 30,
1853
Through the kind providence and
goodness of God, I have been permitted once more to visit for a short time some
of the Saints in this country. It has been a source of consolation and joy to
me to again stand in your midst, and to behold the countenances of thousands,
beaming with joy and gladness, because of the great light and important truths
which God has revealed, and which the Saints have received. It would have
afforded me great pleasure, to have had the privilege of remaining with you
sufficiently long to have visited the principal Conferences, but the duties of
my mission require my attention in the United States. I shall, therefore, be obliged
to take my departure, without seeing many tens of thousands of the beloved
Saints, who are dear to my heart for their love of the truth. The ties by which
the Saints are bound together, are stronger than the ties of kindred affection;
the relationship of the Saints is of a higher order; they are, indeed, born
anew, not of flesh and blood, but of the water and the Spirit, becoming the
children of the same heavenly Parent; and if children, they are in reality
brothers and sisters in a higher and more endearing sense, than those who only
sustain this relationship according to the flesh. Jesus says,"Whosoever
shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and
sister, and mother." The love which cements the [83] affections of the
Saints for each other, is so much greater than the love of kindred, that they
most cheerfully leave fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, homes and
native countries, to enjoy the society of the children of God, and partake,
with them, the choice blessings of their great common Father, who has begotten
them by the word of truth, and made them heirs of His heavenly Kingdom.
Dearly beloved Saints--Remember the
great condescension of our God, in permitting us to live in the favoured
generation when the foundation of the Latter-day kingdom is laid; when the
voice of God is again heard; when angels have again descended, arrayed in
glory, and clothed with eternal powers, to confer the everlasting Priesthood on
chosen vessels, ordained before the foundation of the world, through their
faith and good works, to hold the ministry of salvation in the latter times,
and the sealing powers of life and death among all nations; when the voice of
Prophets, and Seers, and Apostles, inspired by the Holy Ghost, is heard, as in
ancient times, proclaiming glad tidings of great joy, making known the
acceptable year of the Lord, testifying of the day of vengeance of our God,
crying repentance to all people, baptizing for the remission of sins,
confirming the Holy Ghost upon the meek and humble, gathering out the elect
from the midst of wickedness, preparing the way before the Lord, saying to all
people, nations, and tongues, Awake! Awake from a deep sleep! arise, and go
forth to meet the Bridegroom, for the great day of his coming is at hand;
clothe yourselves with the wedding garment; see that your lamps are filled with
oil, and properly trimmed and lighted up, for he that is not prepared in all
things, shall be cast out, where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of
teeth. How great is this message! How important its consequences to all
nations! How extensive in its application, both to the living and to the dead!
Its foundation is as broad as eternity! Its power is omnipotent, reaching from
the highest heavens, penetrating, and circumscribing the world of spirits, as
well as the world of flesh; opening the prison doors to the numberless millions
of the dead, and connecting ancient generations with the generations to come;
arranging all in their own order, according to their obedience or disobedience;
redeeming others to the [84] punishment due for their sins; uniting in one the
righteous of all generations, that heaven may be on earth, and earth in heaven!
O ye Saints of the last days, how glorious are your privileges! How great your
responsibilities! How inexpressively happy you will be if faithful! How fearful
the consequences if unfaithful! Language is inadequate to express the future
glory and joy that await you, if you are valiant in the testimony of the truth;
while on the other hand, no tongue can describe the misery and wretchedness
that await the apostates who turn away from the truth, and break the holy
covenant of the Gospel, and altogether reject the Kingdom of our God. For,
behold, their sins shall not be forgiven in this world, nor in the world to
come, but they shall be cursed with the heaviest of all cursings, being
withered branches, cut off from the kingdom of God, dried and prepared for the
burning, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever, where their
worm dieth not, neither is their fire quenched. Neither is there redemption for
such, for they cannot be sanctified by mercy, justice, or judgment, wherefore
they must remain filthy still, being devils, and angels to the devil,
captivated and bound by eternal chains that cannot be broken. O my dear
brethren, avoid the apostate's doom! Do not yield to the least temptation, lest
you be overcome, and the Spirit begin to withdraw from you, and darkness seize
upon your minds, and you be led gradually from one degree of wickedness to
another, until the Lord rejects you, and swears in His wrath that you shall not
enter into His rest, but that you shall be cursed forever.
Dear brethren of the Priesthood, and
fellow-labourers with me in the Kingdom of our God, it is to you that God has
committed the power to preach the Gospel of salvation, and entrusted authority
to administer the ordinances of eternal life. Continually bear in mind the
nature of your callings, and seek earnestly to be the Saviours of men, and not
their Destroyers. Cultivate sobriety and solemnity of mind, and give not way to
a light and trifling spirit. Light speeches, foolish jesting, and much
laughter, are calculated to grieve the Spirit, and bring with them darkness of
mind, and barrenness of understanding. God hath said, "Let the solemnities
of eternity rest upon your minds." He hath also said, "All [85] flesh
is corrupted before me, and the powers of darkness prevail upon the earth,
among the children of men, in the presence of all the hosts of heaven, which
causeth silence to reign, and all eternity is pained, and the angels are
waiting the great command to reap down the earth, to gather the tares that they
may be burned." If silence reigns among all the hosts of heaven, and all
eternity is pained because of the wickedness of this generation, surely the
Priesthood upon the earth should be exercised with the same spirit, and should
mourn over the wretched, fallen, degraded condition of mankind. While we
rejoice with joy unspeakable in our own happy condition, and in the foretaste
of that glory, of which we shall soon receive a fulness, our hearts should be
pained because of the miseries of our fellow beings, and of the fearful
judgments which must soon overtake them, because they will not repent. Who can
refrain from weeping over our fallen race? What man of God can contemplate,
through the light of the Spirit, the awful abominations which prevail, and not
be filled with sorrow! All the heavens wept over Lucifer and his angels when
they fell; Jesus wept over Jerusalem; the three Nephites who received a partial
change, so that death could have no power over them, neither sickness nor pain
of body, were filled with sorrow for the sins of the world; the angels and all
the heavenly host, and even God Himself, are pained for the wickedness of man.
Shall we then be light-minded and give way to a trifling spirit? No, brethren,
no. Let us gird up the loins of our minds, call upon God in faith and mighty
prayer, that the Holy Ghost may come upon us more abundantly, even the
testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy, that we may speak by the
power and authority of God, as the Spirit giveth utterance, otherwise we shall
be found under condemnation, and our garments will not be clean, and the sins
of the people will cry mightily against us in the great judgment day. O, then,
brethren, seek earnestly for wisdom to save souls--for power to convince the
world of the great message sent down from heaven in these latter-times. Seek to
be men of God yourselves, in meekness, in long-suffering, in much patience, in
virtue, in soundness of mind, in faith, in much assurance, in stability of
character, in hope of an eternal reward, in [86] love to God and to all men,
and to everything that is good. Seek to be patterns of righteousness, in your
conversations, in your public speakings, in your testimonies, in your
ministrations of the Word and of ordinances, in all your acts, in every word,
and deed, and desire, and thought, that you may be blameless before all men,
both in the church and out of the Church, and blameless before the angels who
have charge concerning you, and who go before you to prepare the way for your
testimony, and blameless before God, who shall bring every secret thing into
judgment, and shall justify the righteous, and reward the pure in heart, but
shall condemn the wicked, and mete out to them the punishment due for their
crimes.
Again, my dear brethren, let me
earnestly exhort you to be subject to the powers ordained of God, namely, the Priesthood
in all its various branches. Remember whence it came--that it was not
originated by man, neither was it conferred upon us by apostate Christendom,
but that it came down from heaven, pure and undefiled, and was conferred by the
holy Apostles, Peter, James, and John, who are Priests for ever, after the
order of the Son of God, holding the keys thereof, that whatsoever they bind
and seal, whether on earth or in heaven, is acknowledged and sealed by the Holy
One, and recorded in the eternal records, to abide and remain, when all human
authority and powers shall be no more. This heavenly Priesthood is without
beginning of days or end of years; it had no origin, but is from all
eternity--an endless Priesthood without beginning, being held by an endless succession
of Priests, who have inhabited an endless succession of worlds. Each world in
this endless succession, has been governed by this eternal power. All other
powers not included in this everlasting Priesthood, are usurpations, and must
have an end; hence thrones will be cast down, and all human governments vanish
away, while this heavenly power will remain unshaken, and abide for ever, and
shall be conferred upon the righteous in each successive world to all eternity.
Thus, dear brethren, you see that nature of this Priesthood; you see that the
callings, and ordinances, and powers of the Priesthood which we now hold, had
no beginning, neither will they have an end. He that receives this Priesthood,
is in [87] possession of a power that is from everlasting; and it can be said
of him, so far as the Priesthood is concerned, that his authority is from all
eternity to all eternity, like unto that of the Holy One, being after the same
order.
As the Priesthood is without
beginning, so are the laws and ordinances of redemption. The Gospel is
everlasting, being the plan by which all fallen worlds have been redeemed from
all eternity, and the plan by which all future worlds will be redeemed. All
celestial kingdoms are glorified by the same eternal laws, and the inhabitants
thereof are made perfect in one by the same eternal plan. As we have received
the same Priesthood, the same ordinances, the same great plan, all of which are
without beginning, being handed down through an endless succession of ages, and
adopted, but not originated, in the councils of eternity, before the foundation
of the world for the redemption of this creation; as we have been born into an
eternal Kingdom, where powers that are eternal govern and reign, let us be
subject to these powers in all things, for they are ordained of God, as the
only medium of salvation. To be subject to these powers is life, to rebel
against them is death. Also let him who holds these powers, or any portion
thereof, beware how he exercises them lest he abuse them, and bring down wrath
upon himself, and the sins of the people be answered upon his head.
Finally, beloved Saints, seek
diligently to obey every word of God, and keep yourselves pure, and virtuous,
and holy, that you may have claim on the promises, and be gathered in one, and
be prepared in all things for the coming of our Lord; for the day of the wicked
is far spent, and the earth must be redeemed, and the day of the righteous
come, when the powers of heaven shall come down and dwell in their midst. May
peace, and joy, and heavenly gifts, be multiplied upon you, through your faith
and obedience to the word of truth. And may salvation, and glory, and
everlasting honour, and eternal lives, be administered to you, through the holy
ordinances, in the house of our God which His people are building to His holy
name.
And with the most earnest desire for
your deliverance from Babylon, and for your eternal welfare, I [88] subscribe
myself, your humble servant in the Kingdom of God. (Mill. Star 15:497)
The First Principles First
Orson Pratt, July 30,
1853
If the Saints of God are to increase
in knowledge and wisdom, until the perfect day, they must have principles laid
before them, from time to time, of which they were previously entirely or
partially ignorant. They cannot increase in knowledge, unless this be the case.
In ancient times the people of God
had line upon line, and precept upon precept. Apostles and Prophets were given
for the very purpose of feeding the Saints with knowledge. These officers, and
others, were placed in the Church for the express purpose of perfecting the
Saints. And in latter times the Almighty has seen good to restore the
Apostleship to the earth, that all the sons of men might, if they would,
increase in intelligence, until nothing should be hid from their eyes. Many
principles which were well known to the ancients, and which modern generations
had lost sight of, through wickedness, have been revealed anew in plainness and
simplicity--yea, in such simplicity that a wayfaring man, though a fool, need
not err in them. Within the passing year, principles have been unfolded to the
Saints, of which, previously, they knew little or nothing. These principles, as
they go to the root of the multitudinous social evils that desolate the earth,
have caused the hearts of the faithful Saints to rejoice with joy unspeakable,
and full of glory. Those persons, whether Saints or sinners, who have objected
to the principles named, have manifested opposition from one of two
causes--from self-corruption, or from narrow, bigoted views shaped by the false
and dark traditions which have been handed down in the world, from father to
son, for many generations.
Where opposition to the advanced
principles of salvation, is the offspring of self-corruption, we think the
conscience has become seared as with a hot iron. Such characters must, we fear,
experience a foretaste, at least, of the day of burning, ere much hope can be
entertained on [89] their behalf. But where opposition to these advanced
principles is the result to early education--of traditions imbibed by the mind,
from its infancy, there is hope. Such characters should be carefully and
judiciously fed, as their respective capacities may warrant, with the words of
eternal life. It is in vain for the Elders to imagine that the mind which is
strongly imbued with false tradition, and whose conceptions are iron-bound by
the influence of early education, can receive, at once, the more advanced
principles of salvation. Can a man who has been long accustomed to dwell in the
profoundest gloom, endure the light of mid-day, if he be brought suddenly to
the test? Verily, no. Lessen his gloom by degrees--let light break upon him
gradually, from the faintest and most subdued twilight, and if his visual
organs be not radically bad, he will by and by be able to endure the glorious
blaze of noon. So it is with the mind of that man who has been educated in the
thick darkness of no-revelation. Repentance and remission of sins, if presented
in a judicious manner to him, he may be enabled soon to comprehend, and, most
likely, obey. But recklessly force upon such a man the doctrines of preaching
to, and baptism and ordination for, the idea, of marriage for eternity, of a
plurality of wives, of increasing a man's family, by proxy--and what is the
result? If you intend to bring such a mind to behold the glory of spiritual
day, you lose your labour, you destroy his spiritual vision, or, at best, so
seriously injure it, that it will take years to repair the damage done.
Now, O ye Elders of Israel, turn
your thoughts upon your own minds, and your past experience, and ask yourselves
what principles you comprehended first, and which first filled your expanding
capacities, and enlightened your minds, pertaining to eternal salvation. Your
answer will be--The first principles of the Gospel--faith, repentance, baptism
for the remission of sins, with the promise of the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
These were the principles which first caused you to lift up your hearts in
unbounded gratitude and hearty thanksgiving to your Father in heaven, for the
light and intelligence that He had been pleased to bestow upon your benighted
souls. A comprehension of these principles first caused you to sing, with the poet,
[90] "There is a sweet sound in the Gospel
of heaven,
And people are joyful when they
understand."
When you had obeyed these first
principles, you felt strengthened to reach after and circumscribe others,
until, from faith to faith, and from strength to strength, you are now able to
receive whatever principles are laid before you, from the proper source, and to
apply them, as wisdom dictates. Now, it is written that God fashioneth alike
the hearts of men. Therefore, if the first principles of the Gospel caused you
to rejoice, O ye Elders of Israel, and if these principles were most
appropriate for your situation, previous to your entering the church, they must
be most calculated to rejoice the hearts and befit the situation of other men,
who are yet in their sins, and ignorance, and darkness. Charity begins at home
first, and so does salvation. What is the sweetest sound to a man labouring
under a consciousness of his own sin? Repentance, and baptism for the remission
of his sins, through faith in a crucified Redeemer. This will soothe the
sinner's wounded feelings, and give relief to his burdened soul. The assurance
that light is at hand. Expatiate, to a chained and loaded slave, on the
beauties and enjoyments of liberty. Does that give him relief? Do you thus
become his saviour? No, you give him pain, you become his tormentor. But slip
the load from off his back, burst his fetters, and his heart is full of
gratitude to you, he appreciates your philanthropy, he calls you his
deliverer--the messenger of liberty and heaven to him. Then he is prepared to
listen to and understand your rapturous disquisitions on the blessings of
freedom, and the way to enjoy, without abusing, them.
Personal and present salvation is
what honest people want. What must I, myself, do now, at the present time, to
be saved? is the sinner's cry. An honest man feels that he must secure his own
peace with God, ere the salvation of kindred and friends can be accomplished.
Such a man also feels that he must first have the load removed which he has now
on his back, ere he can bestow much time upon the contemplation of duties and
privileges which are years ahead of the present time. For he knows he cannot
thoroughly understand those duties, and appreciate those privileges, until he
is liberated from the burden that now [91] damps his energies, and impedes his
exertions. Of what utility are elaborate discourses upon salvation for the
dead, or celestial marriage, to the soul who is panting for the remission of
his own sins, and for reconciliation to his God? Such a soul wants to hear the
preaching that will suit his own case, to learn something that will exactly
meet his own circumstances and satisfy his own desires.
That Elder is the most eloquent and
effectual preacher who discourses most judiciously and seasonably upon the
things which the Lord wants the people to do at the present time. These are the
things that should be constantly kept before the people, by their Elders, in
their teachings. No matter whether the audience be Saints or sinners, the
burden of the principles laid before the audience should be those which they
would manifest the greatest wisdom in immediately acting upon in the order that
might be pointed out. If the audience be Saints, let them know their duties of
the week, of the day, then the Saints may be stirred up to perform those
duties, and be prepared for the duties of the morrow, or the next week. If the
audience be sinners, let them know that the first duties required for such
persons, after they believe, are repentance, and baptism, promising them
remission of sins, and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. So shall the words of the
Priesthood be sought after, and relied upon, to the ends of the earth, by
Saints and sinners, as words of life and salvation, and they shall appear as
"apples of gold in pictures of silver."
But when the principles pertaining
to present duties are perfectly understood by the Saints, they should earnestly
seek after, and they should be carefully instructed in, every principle
revealed from heaven, or that exists upon the earth, that they may be fully
informed of their privileges and of the doctrines of salvation, and be
increasing and becoming more perfect day by day. Let the Saints first learn
perfectly the things that concern them to day, and then press forward with all
diligence to obtain all other knowledge of doctrine and principle, until they
shall attain to a fulness. But let not the things of the present be forgotten
by the Saints, in their over anxiety to seek after the things of the future. Search
diligently and perseveringly for all knowledge--[92] first the immediately
useful, then all other species of knowledge as circumstances and capacity
allow. By such a course the Saints will be ever able to give a reason for the
hope that is within them, and will be able to stand in the day of tribulation,
to miss the apostate's fate, and ultimately to overcome, and to be crowned with
eternal glory in the Kingdom of our God.
Certain contentious persons
sneeringly say that the Latter-day Saints have one class of doctrines for the
initiated, and another class for the uninitiated. The Latter-day Saints have
certain truths to teach unto the people, and, as the mind of man is so
constituted as to be unable to receive all truths at once, it naturally follows
that, if man receives all truths, he must receive them on a graduated scale,
or, in Scripture language, he must receive line upon line, precept upon
precept, here a little and there a little. The Latter-day Saints act upon this
obvious, simple, natural principle--they could not do otherwise. All teachers
act upon this natural law. The ancient Apostles acted on the same plan--the
nature of the mind of man is such that the Apostles could not have acted
otherwise. Paul had milk for babes, strong meat for men and women in Christ,
and things unlawful to utter, of which we have no account that he gave any
idea, to a second person--they might have been, and might now be, received and
understood in the same way that Paul received and understood them. What is the
use of attempting to teach a child grammar, before it knows words or letters?
Where would be the wisdom of attempting to teach a boy the Rule of Three,
before he knew how to add, subtract, or multiply? Such attempts would be folly.
Yet some men--"Anti-Mormons," are thus far foolish, or pretend to be.
But we apprehend a great many men are more wicked than foolish. There are no
persons so blind as those who will not see, or so deaf as those who will not
hear, or so dull as those who will not comprehend.
However, a word to the wise is
sufficient. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Mill. Star 15:505-507)
[93] Poor Utah
Deseret News, July 30,
1853
Poor, poor, POOR, MISERABLE UTAH!
Yes, doubly poor and miserable, if "what everybody says must be
true." "It is better to be out of the world than out of the
fashion" of the world, and we think it high time to rise at two o'clock in
the morning, as we now do, to declare the degradation of Utah.
After reading the papers from almost
all parts of Christendom, we tried to sleep, but all our trails were vanity,
and vexation of spirit, to think that Utah, our beloved Utah, who has boasted
so much of her free and liberal institutions, and of the light and intelligence
she possesses over and above many portions of the earth, is so far behind her
sister confederates; and unless she raises speedily from his lethargy, stupor,
and moral, philosophical, and religious death, must soon sink in ever-lasting
oblivion from even the remembrance of a name among civilized communities and
Christian society.
And why is this? Why is it that Utah
is so much worse than all the rest of the world? Oh! she is "out of the
fashion," and consequently had better be "out of the world." And
what has she done to get out of the fashion, which has rendered her so odious
and damnable in the eyes of Christian communities? A curious question truly,
and it would take a long time to answer it, and we can only, at this time, give
a few reasons of the many that might be given, in justice to the answer, for we
want to get a short nap before the sun is too high, and the hour too warm, to
bring out all the bed bugs to prevent a morning nap.
Poor Utah! She has not burned John
Rogers at the stake, in the presence of his wife "and nine small children
with one at the breast," because he was not Catholic. What is Catholicism
the world over, among all sectarian denominations? Answer: Think as I think,
and do as I do; that's Catholic, Christendom all over.
It was upon this principle that the
Baptists and Church hung, and drowned, and tortured the Salem and Lancashire
witches. Utah has not done this!
It was upon this principle that the
Independents hung the Baptists. Utah has not done this, and she is out of [94]
the fashion. All men can worship their gods as they please in Utah, if they
will mind their own business and not disturb their neighbors. This doctrine is
taught in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United states,
and because we believe it, we are "out of the fashion," and many
believe we had better be "out of the world," and we expect we shall
be, by and by, for we have been kicked into the tops of the mountains, about as
high as we can be without going out of the world, and if we should be kicked
much higher we might fall up off the "topless throne," and if we
should, the Devil don't know where we should go to.
We are out of the fashion in a great
many such like things, but we can't help it, neither can we stop to tell of
many of our unfashionables. Is it necessary, so long as all men who have eyes
can't see them?
Utah is out of the fashion because
she does not license grog shops, by scores and hundreds, where children can
"get drunk for a red cent," as they do in New York City, if we can
believe their own papers; and surely that city, the mercantile metropolis of
the "New world," must be the regular Gothamite fashion, in first
style.
Great Salt Lake City (and the same
of Utah en masse) is altogether behind the times, and out of fashion, when
compared with Washington, New York, London, Paris, Constantinople, Hamburg, St.
Petersburg, and a thousand other Christian cities, for she has not one house of
infamy, licensed or unlicensed; not one house of prostitution in all her
borders, "exceedingly inconvenient" as it may be to apostate
woolsacks; no, not one true of the street called five points by name or nature;
and if a father, husband, or brother should catch a seducer, his blood would be
the forfeit, and our highest judicators would be bound to sanction the deed,
for they live among a virtuous people; and in this thing we are exceedingly
unpopular in Utah.
Neither can we compare with the
great cities of the earth, because we have no houses of assignation, where the
banker, merchant, or gentleman can meet his miss, his kept, his lady when he
pleases leaving the dearly beloved of his bosom, the wife of his youth, to
enjoy the same privilege with another banker, merchant, or gentleman, at [95]
the same time, at the house of assignation, and quite possibly under the same
roof. What glorious times in many cities! We can't keep up with them. If New
York, and Congress, and London can truly declare us unpopular, we would be glad
to hear it.
We are altogether out of the fashion,
when compared with some missionary operations on the Western Islands, about 20
deg. north lat. We do not allow the wives and daughters of our missionaries to
stray round among sailors, in the twilight, for gew-gaw fandangoes, while their
husbands and fathers are out on a similar excursion among the queens and
princesses, striving to convert them to five point Christianity.
We are exceedingly unpopular and out
of fashion with the great "American Board," and Christendom of
course, because that when our missionaries, in foreign countries, find a man
who has "nine wives," and all want to join the Church, they do not
forbid his baptism till he has got rid of or put away eight of them, and the
dear husband fats and eats eight of them; and then he and his one wife are fit
subjects for baptism, and may join the church, and be very holy on the fat of
eight murders.
Utah is unpopular because she will
not allow six, nine, or twelve men to catch one unprotected woman, and run off
into the corn fields, and do what they please with her, without calling them to
an account, and making them atone for their acts.
And finally, Utah is most
exceedingly unpopular because she will not allow every libertine to make love
to every girl of ten years and upwards, promise her marriage, with all the
et-cet-eras, &c., without the consent of her parents, and then leave her
enceinte, and say no more about it, only "he's a fine fellow,"
"a most promising young man" (an old rascal perhaps of thirty, forty,
or fifty)' but she, poor, fair, lovely, inexperienced girl, (fit to have been a
goddess if she had had a true mother's care, and woman's experience, to protect
her from infernal demons,) must be banished from human society, and crushed
forever in feeling, simplicity, and everything that makes life desirable, and
driven an outcast from the world, to welter in dens of wickedness and filth
that her soul always abhorred. Yes! truly we are most exceedingly unpopular in
[96] this thing, for any infernal libertine of the kind--who might be lauded to
the skies in any Christian community, and be pampered with sweetmeats, and
cherry slop, and the best of Madeira, and ice cream, by fathers and mothers,
and genteel families, unprostituted(?), for the sake of securing the damned
rascal for one of their dear daughters! Yes! O yes! we are as unpopular as
hell, and a little more so--or if such a seducing murderer of affection and
love did not get his accursed throat cut, without judge or jury, before he
slept one night, it would be because his friends could not find him.
Unpopular as we are, we will take a
nap after this half hour's scribble, and let our popularity and unpopularity
lie over till more leisure. Consider--we have hinted at nothing but what the
newspapers tell us, and not a thousandth part of that. (Des. News, July 30,
1853)
Monogamy, Polygamy and
Christianity
S. W. Richards, Mill.
Star Editor
Saturday, August 6,
1853
Monogamy, or single marriage, (that
is, marriage to one wife at once,) is an old Roman practice, adopted by the
Roman Church, and thus introduced into Christendom. Whether the Apostles taught
it or not we cannot say, as St. Paul enjoins it only on bishops, thereby,
however, inculcating the propriety of it without enforcing it as a rule. No
Roman was allowed to have two wives at once, but was liable to be punished for
bigamy. Marc Antony was the first Roman who had two wives. Julius Caesar
attempted to have a law passed in favour of polygamy, but could not effect it.
It was no doubt owing to this national custom amongst the Romans, that the
early Roman ladies were so distinguished for their personal dignity and
propriety of conduct. Woman held a much higher rank amongst the Romans than
amongst the Jews. The early Christians so naturally adopted this habit of Roman
respectability, that we are apt to ascribe the monogamy of the western world to
Christianity; but this is a mistake. There is no evidence of it either in
Scripture or in history. Nay, it is a well-known fact, that even concubinage
was [97] sanctioned by the early Church. A man was allowed to keep a concubine
without marriage, but not a concubine and a wife together. (See Bingham's
Antiquities, Book xvi., c. 11.) To return to the habits of the early or
primitive Church would be a retrograde movement; and therefore, even if the
Mormons can show that there is nothing against polygamy in the New Testament,
it will be of little service to them. It is the practice of an age of
barbarism. (Family Herald, July 2)
The other day, our eyes came across
the above paragraph, and we thought that if inserted in the Star, with a word
of comment, the whole might prove acceptable to those good Christians who think
the principle of polygamy to be an innovation of Christianity.
We have heretofore said more than
once, that polygamy and primitive Christianity were not inimical to each other,
that neither the New nor the Old Testament had a line of condemnation for the
principle of a plurality of wives, and that the practice of this principle, in
righteousness, was not displeasing in the sight of God. We have given Scripture
references upon the matter, but all Christians are not convinced. Some have a
notion that, in primitive times, monogamy was the universal law amongst Christians,
and that Christ made void the Old Testament ideas and teachings concerning the
Propriety of a man's having more than one wife. Two witnesses are better than
one. The Family Herald comes forward, with profane historical references, to
assist in the enlightenment of such unbelieving Christians. He assures them
that many "are apt to ascribe the monogamy of the western world to
Christianity; but this is a mistake. There is no evidence of it either in
Scripture or in history. Nay, it is a well known fact that even concubinage was
sanctioned by the early Church." How do the Christians feel to hear this,
not what the "Mormons" say, but what the Protestants say?
But this is not the worst feature
for the Protestant Christians to look upon. Mr. Herald here plainly tells them
that they have derived their strict monogamic system from the Roman Catholic
Church. Protestant Christians agree to call this Church Antichrist, the great
whore who sitteth upon many waters, the mother of harlots and abominations of
the earth, and a variety of [98] other not very chaste or beautiful titles. And
the Protestants affirm stoutly that the Roman Catholic Church richly deserves
these titles. Well, let us believe the affirmations of the Protestants
concerning their venerable mother, lady Rome. Let us take for granted all that
the numerous and motley daughters of this ancient lady say of her. Let us
believe that the Roman Church is indeed the great whore, the mother of harlots
and abominations of the earth. What then? We are led to notice three things.
First--The Romish Church is lewd. Second--The daughters of the Church of Rome
are lewd. Third--The principal abominations upon the face of the earth are the
practices introduced by the Church of Rome, and persevered in by herself and daughters.
Let us briefly consider these charges separately, and see how far they can be
substantiated.
First--The Church of Rome is lewd.
The relation of the sexes is a matter of vital importance. Marriage--the legal
union of the sexesŃis the legitimate foundation of society. The laws regulating
the union of the sexes are of the first importance, for if the foundation of
society be bad, the superstructure must go to ruin. The Lord ordained marriage
for all who were worthy, and the Apostle Paul said marriage was honourable in
all. Incidental to certain exigencies, the same Apostle gave counsel that those
who married did well, but those who did not marry did better; and also that it
was well for Bishops and Deacons to have one wife each. The Roman Church, with
all the blindness characteristic of those who follow the letter and miss the
spirit, has founded arbitrary laws upon the basis of Paul's incidental and
local counsel. Her priests are forbidden to marry at all, and no one within the
pale of her influence is permitted to marry more than one wife. Rome has thus
strained this counsel of Paul, until she acts in direct opposition to other of
his teachings. Under her influence, providing the sexes were equal in number,
and it were the design of the Almighty to bestow the blessings of wives and
children equally among the righteous and the wicked who might marry, still a
portion of the female sex could not be blessed with a protector, and
consequently could not answer the end of their creation, and would be left open
to the passions of the unprincipled. To give these females a shadow of
protection, and perhaps to balance [99] the marriageable disproportion of the
sexes, Rome has institutions where young women are encouraged to take vows of
perpetual celibacy, with the idea that a thorough conquest over, or rather an
extermination of, sexual desire is peculiarly pleasing to God. This is a
pitiable delusion, for if the connection of man and woman were offensive to our
Maker, He could possibly have prevented all connection and all desire, by
making no distinction of sex. But it seems childish to speak of such doctrine
as voluntary perpetual celibacy, were it not that many people are corrupted
through it. The teaching of Christ and the Apostles, (excepting the incidental advice
of Paul,) and the old Prophets, recorded in the Bible, wisely leaves open the
subject of marriage, as to whether a man should have one wife or several wives,
those inspired teachers knowing that a righteous man would strive to do right
any way. Men, uninspired men, bind each other with chains, but the spirit of
the Gospel of Jesus makes men free to do right in all things.
In consequence of these foolish laws
and traditions the earth abounds in wickedness. Licentiousness prevails among
all nations. Adultery is so common as to be scarcely considered a punishable
crime. Hundreds and thousands of women, prevented by law from becoming the
wives of good men whom they love, and obeying the impulses God has endowed them
with, either throw themselves into the arms of those men they love, (though
such men be previously married,) or become the wives of wicked, brutal men who,
by their actions, evince that they have not the shadow of a right to the
control of a woman's affections or person, or of a posterity. In the first
case, infamy is the result; in the second, moral prostitution in both, a life
of misery--all through the traditionary, foolish, unchristian ungodly
restrictions of an apostate Church, respecting the gratification of those
desires which the Almighty planted in the bosom of man and woman for a wise and
happy development. Thus, under the colour of chastity of the purest cast, does
Rome manifest, to one who judges not by the outward appearance, that the spirit
which actuates her is a spirit of gross lewdness. Notwithstanding her
immaculate profession is not possession. As modest as a harlot, is synonymous
with a vulgar proverb.
[100]
Second--The daughters of the Church of Rome are lewd. By the harlots--the
daughters of the Church of Rome, may be understood all those societies whose
pedigree can be traced up to her, and all those who adopt those of other
principles and practices which foster lewdness. The whole Protestant world,
according to their own showing, come under condemnation here, for Rome enforced
the one-wife system upon the Christian world; the Protestants, to prove their
lineage to Rome, have followed in her track, and have continued the law of
monogamy to this day. None of the Protestant societies have shown themselves
pure and godly enough to condemn that law, though they could find no Scripture
to support it. Luther and Melanchthon allowed polygamy, but they counselled
against it, though, strange to say, Luther confessed that he could not see that
it came in opposition to Holy Scriptures. And some amongst the divers hosts of
Protestants will not even advocate monogamy, but, with their venerable mother,
recommend the adoption of perpetual celibacy. And thus do the whole body of the
Protestants, while professing otherwise, proclaim their true lewd character and
lineage, and consequently among Protestant nations we find licentiousness
prevails to an alarming extent. And the proudest, and, professedly, most
Christian cities take the lead in this demoralizing business.
Third--The principal abominations
upon the face of the earth are the practices introduced by the Church of Rome,
and persevered in by herself and her harlot daughters. Had the question of
monogamy or polygamy been left open, and allowed to work according to the law
of God, the tributaries and streams of lewdness would have been checked and
dried up long before this time. The startling figures on prostitution would not
have found their way among the statistical tables of the nations. But this
would not have suited the mother of harlots, nor her daughters--it would have
ill comported with their genius; consequently she, in all her holiness and
purity, set to work so to alter or modify the law of God as to leave her a
chance to work out her true character; and her daughters, whilst ostensibly
condemning her apostacy, have virtually sanctioned it by continuing those
practices which prin-[101]cipally differ from the laws and ordinances of God.
And so full is the earth of the consequent abominations, that the Almighty has
declared that all mankind have gone astray, and the kings and nobles of the
earth especially have corrupted themselves through the multitude of her
enchantments, and have committed fornication with her. And, according to the
prediction of His Apostle John, the Lord has commissioned His servants to
trumpet forth the command to the pure among all nations--"Come out of her,
my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her
iniquities." The pure in heart are commanded, for two reasons, to separate
themselves from her--that they partake not of her sins, and that they receive
not of her plagues. So full is the earth of her abominations, that even those who
would do right are in danger whilst in her midst--they are liable to imbibe her
false and ungodly traditions respecting marriage and celibacy, and consequently
to act upon them, and thus render themselves liable to share in the plagues
which God has determined to pour out upon her, as a punishment for her
abominations. By going out from her midst, those who love righteousness can
renounce her traditions, and be taught more perfectly in the laws of the Lord,
so that the earth may not be altogether cursed and desolated in the day of the
fierce anger of the Almighty. It is of no use to disguise the fact that things
have come to this pass--men must either take sides with the mother of harlots,
and with her monogamy, or with the Almighty, and with His holy law of polygamy
and sexual purity. Eventually none can stand neutral--all must take one side or
the other.
We will now offer a few further
remarks upon our text. The personal dignity and propriety of conduct which
distinguished the early Roman ladies, was, we think, the result of that proud
and lofty spirit that pervaded the Roman community ere luxury undermined
republican vigour and honour, rather than of the monogamic relations of the
sexes. Polygamy, as it may be handled, is a mighty instrument for good or evil.
When apostacy prevailed among the Jews, no doubt the principle was much abused,
and consequently woman then was not [102] treated with that consideration and
respect to which she was entitled. But we cannot conceive that the heathen
Roman nations understood and appreciated the true character of woman, better
than those Jews who were favoured with the revelations of the Almighty
concerning the purposes of man's and woman's existence. This does not seem
reasonable. If a people who have been the favourites of heaven, and the
recipients of revelations from heaven, sin and fall, the degradation of that
people becomes proportionate to the height they had advanced in heavenly
knowledge and intelligence. The greatness of a fall is always dependent on the
height from which the fall was made. This is the reason why the Jews are
represented, in the Bible, as at one time pursuing the highest virtues, and at
another the lowest vices. Whilst the Jews practiced polygamy in complete
accordance with the law of God, they must have entertained more just and
elevated views of the worth of woman, and the respect and consideration to
which she was entitled, than any heathen nation could have done. But when the
Jews gave way to sin, their very superior privileges and knowledge opened the
way for, and qualified the apostates to work, far greater wickedness than the
heathen could have done. When the Jews became transgressors before God, the
polygamic relations of the sexes, instead of fulfilling the law of God, and
honouring human nature, became powerful instruments of licentiousness,
ministers of reckless lust, providers of unbridled passions. Apostates are
cursed with the heaviest cursings, because such characters have been favoured
with superior knowledge, and their superior knowledge qualifies them for
sounding the lowest depths of wickedness.
The Herald says--"To return to
the habits of the early or primitive Church would be a retrograde movement; and
therefore, even if the Mormons can show that there is nothing against polygamy
in the New Testament, it will be of little service to them. It is the practice
of an age of barbarism." This is a wonderful discovery, truly--one that
opens wide the floodgates of apostacy to all the world, and palliates the
multitudinous perversions of Gospel truth, and the diverse changings of the
ordinances and institutions of the Most High God, which perversions [103] and
changings have, for seventeen centuries, cursed the nations of the earth, and
filled the world with darkness, corruption, and death, and will yet bring down
the hot vengeance of the Almighty in the terribly exquisite judgments of the
last days. What says the Prophet? "To the law and to the testimony: If
they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."
But now we are taught that to go to the law and the testimony is a
"retrograde movement!" a relapse into "barbarism!"
Again--"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for
the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest
for your souls." "O, no, say our modern teachers, that would be a
retrograde movement," those are the "practices of an age of
barbarism" O, no, "We will not walk therein." Then what saith
the Lord to such? "Also I set my watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the
sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. Therefore, hear, ye
nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear, O earth: behold, I
will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because
they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. To what
purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far
country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet
unto me. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks
before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them;
the neighbour and his friend shall perish."
As high as the heavens are above the
earth, so are God's ways above man's ways. To the polished, artificial society
of the present day, a return to the purity of primitive customs, as far as
those customs are inculcated in the law of God, may appear a "retrograde
movement," a return to the "practice of an age of barbarism,"
but to the pure in heart the matter presents a contrary appearance. Most admit
that the social fabric is radically rotten, and if so, we must go to the
foundation of society, before it can be made radically sound. To some, such a
movement may appear retrograde, and barbaric, but few can deny its wisdom and
utility, nay, its necessity. The inhabitants of Utah have pursued this course,
and we humbly imagine [104] that primitive, barbaric, polygamic Utah will
compare with enlightened, civilized, monogamic Christendom, and only be found
wanting in prostitution, whoredoms, debauchery, and the almost innumerable
abominations which constitute the most prominent features of all Christian
nations. In these things, we know from personal observation that Utah is very,
very far deficient. And be further assured that hundreds and thousands of pure
and honest souls will yet bid adieu to the monogamic traditions of Christendom,
and make a "retrograde movement" to the polygamic "practice of
an age of barbarism," and exclaim, "Surely our fathers have inherited
lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit."
According to the Herald's logic, to
preach faith, repentance, baptism for the remission of sins, and the laying on
of the hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost, would be a "retrograde
movement," a return to the "practice of an age of barbarism." To
"contend for the faith once delivered to the Saints," to seek for
visions and revelations from God, to pray for the ministrations of angels, to
desire the spiritual gifts of the primitive church, to plant Apostles and
Prophets in the Church, to obtain the Urim and Thummim as in days of old, to
gain the restoration of our "judges as at the first, and our counsellors
as at the beginning," to seek to bring about the "restitution of all
things spoken of by all the Holy Prophets since the world began"--all
these things would constitute a mass of overwhelming evidence that we were
making a deplorably "retrograde movement," and that many years would
not elapse ere would be seen again upon the earth, in full development, many a
"practice of an age of barbarism". So let it be, we will do our best
to bring the matter about, under the direction of the Almighty, for Christians
must yet know that they, in many things, are not so far in advance of the
heathen as many people may imagine.
It may be asked--Do we wish to
banish monogamy and celibacy, and make polygamy universal? No, we wish to do no
such thing. We only war against many of the existing traditions and laws among
the human family, pertaining to these principles, because those traditions are
[105] unscriptural, ungodly, and unpolitic, tending to debase the human family,
feeding the licentious cravings of the profligate, and exposing many of the
fairer portion of the human race to shame and wretchedness. We believe in the
perfect propriety of polygamy, monogamy, and celibacy. All the principles are
proper, true, and righteous. Under the law of God, monogamy is a blessing,
polygamy is a greater blessing, but celibacy is a curse. It is in the application
of these principles that the world goes wrong. Developed according to this law,
they establish and preserve society. Developed according to the tradition of
the world, they corrupt and eventually destroy society. How then, must these
principles be acted upon? By revelation from the Lord. Let the purest and most
faithful among the sons of men have each as many wives as God will allow them;
let other men have each one wife, or none at all, according to their merits or
demerits. This would bring more release and happiness to the world, in ten
years, than the practice of all the traditions of Christendom, Mahommeddom, and
Heathendom would do in a century of centuries. (Mill. Star 15:513-517)
The Living and the
Dead
S. W. Richards, Mill. Star Editor
August 6, 1853
The time has come when the Saints of
God are gathering to Zion, from almost all parts of the earth. They go, in
obedience to the heavenly commandment, to assist in building up the kingdom of
God. They go to learn more fully the great scheme of salvation, which is now
being developed upon the earth, and which, as did the mission of the Son of
God, extends its saving influence to the world of Spirits, as well as the world
of Flesh. The plan of salvation was ordained for earthy tabernacles, or whether
they have laid them down for a little season. The Father of the spirits of all
flesh numbers with the dead all who have not received the Gospel; and it is
written, that He is not the God of the dead, but of the living--those who are
alive in Christ. That portion of the dead who live in this world, possess
bodies or tabernacles; those who live in the world of spirits are disembodied,
the power of death [106] has dethroned them for a time, but their redemption in
this respect is sure; Jesus has purchased it with His own blood. This, however,
does not put them in possession of the redemption offered in the Gospel, nor of
its blessings, which are of the most exalted character. This is a work yet to
be performed by those who are clothed upon with mortality, for by the deeds
done in the body shall all men be judged and rewarded.
The Lord has told how and where this
work can be done. A Temple is being reared for this very purpose. Saints who
have received the power of God, and who live unto Christ, are ever anxious to
follow the example of their Lord, and stretch forth the saving hand to others.
Some who are in the flesh have been administered to, and now they gather to
minister for the dead in the spirit world. They go to do the works required of
mortal beings, for their kindred and their progenitors who are dead, that they
may also be judged according to those who, in the flesh, have had the benefits
of the Gospel, knowing that God is no respecter of persons. But how can the
Saints receive the ordinances for their dead unless they know who the dead are?
Here is an important question. Many thousands of Saints in Britain are anxious
to go where they can do a work for their dead friends, but have they ever
thought that unless they have the names of their dead friends, they can do
nothing for them? and that other items of information are very essential to
that work?
An important duty devolves upon all
Saints who gather in this dispensation, and that is, to take with them all the
information they can possibly obtain in relation to their dead friends, as well
as their living ones. Before you leave your native land, perhaps never to
return to it again, is the time for you to get the information you will require
to have. Now you have access to family and parish records, together with your
living kindred, by which you can learn of many of your fathers and mothers,
when and where they were born, whom they married, their children's names, and
when and where they were born, when and where they died, and many of those
particulars concerning them, which you must possess a knowledge of. You also
now have a favourable opportunity of getting the names of many of your uncles,
and aunts, and cousins, [107] and nephews, and nieces, as well as brothers and
sisters, the times of their birth, and every other desired particular
concerning them. Though many of your kindred may be still alive, they may not
live to be gathered to Zion, even if they should receive the Gospel; therefore,
do not forget that you may want all their names some day hence. Take them all
with you when you go. Could you appreciate the value of such information, which
you now have the means of obtaining, you would prize it more than hoarded
wealth or the gain of fine gold. If you neglect the opportunities you now have
of securing this information, you will see the time when you will perhaps seek
for it, but not be able to find it, until you have so far paid the debt of your
neglect, that some kind angel from the spirit world will be justified in
bringing to you the necessary intelligence. In the midst of your labours for
others, do not forget yourselves. We have seen those gathered with the Saints
who could not tell the time or place of their own birth, but such cases might
be less, if due inquiry was made by such parties, or their friends and
relatives before leaving them.
A great work is to be done before
all who shall be redeemed in the morning of the resurrection can be restored to
their lot and place in the endless succession of eternal lives. The Father will
not receive from the hands of His Son, the great work which he has received
power to do, until it is presented in its most perfect order, until every soul
who is redeemed occupies his proper place in the chain of relationship, which
must be unbroken from Adam to the last one numbered in the lineage of man. Some
may step out of their places for a season through transgression, or even commit
an unpardonable sin, from which they can never be redeemed, and thereby the
branch of their posterity be broken off through the transgression of the
fathers. But if the children will honour the Lord, and turn away from all the
iniquities of their fathers, they shall be grafted in again, and, by the law of
adoption, become children of holy parents, with whom they may enjoy every
blessing that belongs to the patriarchal order of Priesthood and government.
The God of the whole earth has
provided laws by which He will accomplish His own work, and neither death nor
hell can frustrate His designs; therefore let the [108] Saints engage in the
important duty of obtaining all knowledge which can increase their power to
save and redeem the lost of Adam's race, by administering, in the name of
Jesus, for and in behalf of the dead.
The Almighty has been pleased to
confer His Holy Priesthood once more upon men, and has authorized them to
administer in the name of His Son, for their fellow men, that all who will
receive the ordinances of that Priesthood may be saved. What an unspeakable
blessing! How diligent every Saint should be to aid that power in the
accomplishment of its glorious work. It is no less than the power of the
Heavens, for it has come down from God. It circumscribes the Earth, for by it
all things were made. It fathoms and purifies the affections of the soul, for
by it all hearts are searched, all reins are tried, and to its dominion every
knee must bow, and every tongue confess. It penetrates the depth of hell, and
because of it, even the devils fear and tremble as they behold the doors of the
prison world open, and the spirits of those whom they have led captive set
free. At its bidding, the vanquished grave no longer tries to enforce her
claim, but yields the earthly tenement, ordained eternally to be the habitation
of the spirit, immortalized and glorified to enjoy the associations of God, and
His Son, through whom it is redeemed.
Once allied to such a Priesthood, as
all true Saints are, who should fear? Devils may fear and tremble; it is their
province. But Saints should press onward, and never stop to betray that power
which alone can redeem and exalt them. "The wise shall understand."
(Mill. Star 15:521-523)
Luther on
Polygamy
(from Michelet's Life of
Luther)
Millennial Star, July
1853
We noticed at an early period of
this narrative, the melancholy state of dependence in which the Reformation was
placed on the princes that espoused the cause. Luther had time to forsee the
results. These princes were men, with men's caprices and passions; and hence
concessions, which, without being contrary to the principles of the [109]
Reformation, seemed to redound little to the honour of the reformers. The most
warlike of these princes, the hot-headed landgrave of Hesse, submitted to
Luther and the Protestant ministers, that his health would not allow of his
confining himself to one wife. His instructions to Bucer for the negotiation of
this matter with the theologians of Wittemburg, are a curious mixture of
sensuality, of religious fears, and of daring simplicity. "Ever since I
have been married," he writes, "I have lived in adultery and
fornication; and as I won't give up this way of living, I cannot present myself
at the holy table; for St. Paul has said that the adulterer shall not enter the
kingdom of heaven." He proceeds to state the reasons which drive him into
this course: "My wife is neither good-looking nor good-tempered; she is
not sweet; she drinks, and my chamberlains can tell what she then does, &c.
I am of a warm complexion, as the physicians can prove; and as I often attend
the imperial diets, where the body is pampered with high living, how am I to
manage there without a wife, especially as I can't be always taking a seraglio
about with me? . . .How can I punish fornication and other crimes, when all may
turn round and say, `master, begin with yourself?'"
. . . Were I to take up arms for the
Gospel's sake, I could only do so with a troubled conscience, for I should say
to myself, "If you die in this war, you go to the devil." ... I have
read both the Old and New Testament carefully, and find no other help indicated
than to take a second wife; and I ask before God, "why cannot I do what
Abraham, Jacob, David, Lamech, and Solomon have done?" The question of
polygamy had been agitated from the very beginning of Protestantism, which
professed to restore the world to Scriptural life; and, whatever his
repugnance, Luther durst not condemn the Old Testament. Besides, the Protestants
held marriage to be res politica, and subject to the regulations of the civil
power. Luther, too, had already held, theoretically, and without advising it to
be put in practice, the very doctrine advocated by the landgrave. He had
written years before: . . . "I confess, I cannot say that polygamy is
repugnant to Holy Scripture, yet would not have the practice introduced amongst
Christians, who ought to abstain even from what is [110] lawful, in order to
avoid scandal, and in order to maintain that honestas (decorum) which St. Paul
requireth under all circumstances." (Jan. 13th, 1524). "Polygamy is
not allowable amongst Christians, except in cases of absolute necessity, as
when a man is forced to separate from a leprous wife, &c." . . .
(March 21st, 1527. Having one day put the case to Doctor Basilius, whether a
man, whose wife was afflicted with some incurable malady, might take a
concubine, and receiving an answer in the affirmative, Luther observed,
"It would be of dangerous precedent, since excuses might be daily invented
for procuring divorce." (A. D. 1539.).
Luther was greatly embarrassed by
the landgrave's message. All the theologians of Wittemburg assembled to draw up
an answer, and the result was a compromise. He was allowed a double marriage,
on condition that his second wife should not be publicly recognized. "Your
highness must be aware of the difference between establishing a universal and
granting an exceptional law.... We cannot publicly sanction a plurality of
wives."
We pray your highness to consider
the dangers in which a man would stand who should introduce a law that would
disunite families, and plunge them into endless law-suits. . . . Your
Highness's constitution is weak, you sleep badly, and your health requires
every care. . . . The great Scanderbeg often exhorted his soldiers to chastity,
saying, that nothing was so injurious in their calling as incontinence. . . .
We pray your highness seriously to take into consideration the scandals, cares,
labours, griefs, and infirmities herein brought under your notice. . . . If,
nevertheless, your highness is fully resolved to take a second wife, we are of
the opinion that the marriage should be secret. . . . (Given at Wittemburg,
after the festival of St. Nicholas, 1539--Martin Luther, Philip Melanchtheon,
Martin Bucer, Anthony Corvin, Adam, John Lening, Justin Wintfert, Dyonisus
Melanther.) (Mill. Star 15:526-527)
[111] Necessity of a Living
Prophet
John Jaques, August
13, 1853
One of the distinguishing doctrines
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is, that a Prophet is
necessary to stand at the head of the Church to lead and guide it. It is well
known that this doctrine comes in contact with the teachings of the greater
part of Christendom. The faith of modern Christians is not in Prophets or
Apostles, that is, in living Prophets or Apostles. All Christians profess to
reverence the Prophets and Apostles who lived in ages long since past. Abraham,
Moses, Jesus, Peter, and Paul, are all believed in most faithfully. The most
gifted divines of Christendom weekly and daily point the multitudes to the
ancient Prophets, and enjoin their teachings upon the people. The Gospels,
Epistles, and Prophecies, declared and written by the ancient Prophets, who
spoke and wrote as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost, are read and
commented on with all diligence throughout Christian nations. The tombs of
those Prophets are garnished, or they would be if known. Magnificent churches, chapels
and colleges are reared on every hand to the memory of those ancients who are
renowned for having possessed the testimony of Jesus--the spirit of prophecy.
It is a shame, in a Christian land, not to profess some kind of faith in the
divine mission of the dead Prophets. It is scarcely considered respectable to
throw discredit on those ancient worthies, or to speak irreverently of them.
The man that does so is scouted from Christian society, branded as an infidel,
shunned as a serpent, and piously consigned to those scorching regions where
the thermometer rises to an unnameable height.
A common proverb says--"a bird
in the hand is worth two in the bush." Scripture says--"a living dog
is better than a dead lion." And I would humbly ask--Does it ever occur to
the pious, devoted Christians of modern times, that one Prophet living in our
midst is worth two dead ancient Prophets? I apprehend the Christians of these
times are far from applying proverb and Scripture after this fashion, for when
one talks about God's having [112] a living Prophet upon the earth, one is
looked upon with a vacant, idiotic stare, then follow sneers, scoffs, and sage
warnings of delusion, imposture, fanaticism. "A living Prophet in this
enlightened Gospel age! Oh most horrible blasphemy, most awful
presumption!" And many kindred interjections burst from pious lips, just
as though a Prophet never did live--never had a being--never walked upon God
Almighty's earth--never existed anywhere, except in the mystical regions of
imagination, like the redoubtable heroes of heathen mythology. A real live
Prophet? Impossible! But if possible, and really so a wonderful curiosity,
(there was a wonder in heaven--that was nothing to the wonder of a living
Prophet now upon the earth) such a curiosity ought to be heralded through the
world, by Barnum, then carefully stowed away in the British Museum, and secured
by a lock that would keep Hobbs outside. Reader, pardon apparent levity, but
such is the inconsistency of Christendom. Doubtless you can call to your
recollection manifestations of this inconsistency, but, if you cannot, just
take the trouble to tell the nearest church or chapel minister that God has a
Prophet now living on the earth--do this, and twenty to one but you will learn
something of the matter.
If a man, for disbelieving in dead
Prophets, is called an infidel, by what term shall we designate those who
disbelieve in a living Prophet? Something worse than infidel, certainly. There
is, generally, an air of mystery, more or less dense, surrounding the teachings
of ancient writers, which forms a shadow of excuse for disbelief in ancient
Prophets, but no such excuse can be urged on behalf of disbelief in a living
Prophet. When a character or object is present with us we can discern its features
distinctly, but in proportion as it recedes from us, does that distinctiveness
of feature vanish, therefore we are more able to appreciate an object when near
than when distant. Again, should a misunderstanding occur, we can ask an
explanation from a living Prophet, but from a dead Prophet we never think of
asking explanations; therefore, as a disbelief in Prophets is censurable and
displeasing to God, a disbelief in a living Prophet must be by far a greater
sin than a disbelief in dead Prophets. And further, the man who disbelieves in
dead Prophets does them no [113] personal injury, for they are beyond his
power, but the man who disbelieves in a living Prophet, very frequently does
him considerable personal injury by misrepresentation, slander, and physical
abuse; therefore, the disbeliever in a living Prophet has the worst position in
this particular. So the Christian should examine himself, and see whether he is
in the faith of a living Prophet, before that Christian condemns, as an
infidel, another man, for disbelieving in dead Prophets. Peradventure the
Christian may find himself more of an infidel, than is the man whom he wishes
to designate by that title.
It is no new thing for a living
Prophet to be discredited, despised, and rejected of men, and most by those men
who profess to reverence dead Prophets. Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, Peter,
Paul, and Joseph Smith, were successively disbelieved in while living, and
Brigham Young is disbelieved in now, and principally by those who professed and
profess to be the servants of God. Who disbelieved in Jesus while living? Those
who professed the strictest faith in Moses and the old Prophets. "Have any
of the rulers or the Pharisees believed on him?" asked the self-righteous
Pharisees of the officers who were sent to secure the person of Jesus, but who
were fascinated by the wisdom of his teaching. Said Jesus at one time--"O
Jerusalem, which killest the Prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto
thee," &c. Now, reader, you know, well enough, that in Jerusalem lived
the most pious professors and doctors of the Jewish religion, and that these
very professors and doctors were much more infidel in their opinions of the
divine mission of Jesus, than the common people were. The character which Jesus
gives of these learned and devoted rabbis, is by no means flattering, but very
forcible, and may exactly suit certain characters in our day--"Woe unto
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because ye build the tombs of the
Prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been
in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the
blood of the Prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are
the children of them which killed the Prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of
your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the
damnation of hell?" Now it may appear [114] strange to many, but it is
manifest, from the above passages, that amongst the greatest and most
determined enemies of God and His servants, are those who reverence dead
Prophets, preach up their teachings, garnish the sepulchres of those Prophets,
and build fine churches and chapels to their memory, yet deny that themselves
have any need of a living Prophet. It has ever been the case, where Satan has
had power amongst the children of men; and whilst man is subject to the
influences of the evil one, it ever will be the case. It was the case with the
Prophet Joseph Smith, and the religious professors of modern times, Joseph had
no greater or more unrelenting persecutors than those who made a profession in
dead Prophets. It is the case now with Brigham Young--he has no greater enemies
than religious teachers, and among his greatest enemies may be named some who
profess to revere the teachings of the dead Joseph. So ready is the human mind
to dishonour a living Prophet, and at the same time to profess to honour dead
Prophets.
Now there must be some cause of this
apparent phenomenon. It appears strange, indeed, that men should honour certain
characters who have long passed from this stage of action, and should, at the
same time, despise and persecute a similar character who lives in their midst!
What a marvellous perversity! How can the matter be explained? Very readily. It
all springs from the truth of the proposition this article started with--the
necessity of a living Prophet. Those teachings of dead Prophets which will
apply to subsequent generations, should be prized and acted upon by subsequent
generations. If this is not the case, a degree of condemnation will follow. But
the greatest condemnation that can fall upon a people, follows the rejection of
living Prophets. Why? Because those Prophets are commissioned by the Almighty
to go directly to that people, with a particular revelation of His will to
them--a revelation which, very likely, will only apply incidentally to future
generations. Now, if those Prophets be rejected by the very people to whom they
are sent, what will the most pious professions of faith in dead Prophets avail?
Nothing. Those professions will be a solemn mockery before God. Such a course
would add to the condemnation of any people. A living Prophet would be [115]
moved to rebuke them, as our Saviour rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees. Of what
avail was it for the antediluvians to profess a faith in Adam, Abel, or Enoch,
while, at the same time, the hiss of derision, and the finger of scorn, were
directed towards Noah, the living Prophet? Did faith in dead Prophets then
avail? Not a jot. If the Ninevites had rejected Jonah, and professed faith in
Noah, and Moses, what would have been the result? The destruction of Ninevah
within the forty days. No people ever made greater professions of faith in dead
Prophets than the Jews did in the days of Jesus and the Apostles, yet did those
very Jews reject living Prophets in the persons of our Lord and his disciples.
What did the reverential professions of the Jews avail? Let the razing of the
Temple of God, the destruction of Jerusalem, the dispersion of the Jews, their
broken, cursed, and despised condition through a dreary night of seventeen
centuries, be a sufficient answer. The ancient Lamanites and Nephites built up
churches to themselves and professed to follow Christ, while they rejected the
teachings of the living Prophets, Nephi and Mormon. What was the consequence?
Let the filthy, degraded, wretched condition of the American Indians suffice
for a reply. And in these days men--pious men--professed followers of the meek
and lowly Jesus, have rejected the Prophet Joseph, have persecuted him unto the
death--now his innocent blood crimsons the land that is foremost in professions
of Christian liberty. Will these empty professions avert the wrath of an
indignant God? Will not the people be visited by the Almighty for such things?
Verily the most pious reverence for all the ancient Prophets will not atone for
the innocent blood of one modern Prophet. Will those who reject the Prophet
Brigham be justified in the sight of God, by solemn protestations for faith in
Joseph? If they do, God will not prove Himself the same yesterday, to-day, and
forever. And should Brigham be taken away, will anyone be accounted righteous
before God, for rejecting future Prophets, though it is done under a profession
of faith in Brigham? Let such beware, for the Almighty expects His living
Prophet to be respected and listened to first. The Lord knows full well that as
living Prophets are respected, dead ones will be. But if living Prophets are
despised, how [116] can true respect be paid to dead ones? Reverence for dead
Prophets is a pious burlesque, when accompanied by contempt for living
Prophets.
It is folly for any people to follow
all the teachings of dead Prophets, for many of their teachings will not apply
to generations who exist after those Prophets are dead. Many of the teachings
of the Prophet of God, are local--only suited for a particular place and
people, and particular circumstances, and not designed for universal
application. For another people to apply to themselves such particular teachings,
would be gross perversion, and evidence of great ignorance or wickedness. If
any people were to build an ark because Noah did, what should we think of them?
We should almost doubt their sanity. How foolish it would be for modern
Egyptians to migrate to Palestine because the Israelites did! Equally unwise
would it be for modern Christians to flee to the mountains of Judea, because
Jesus instructed his disciples to do so at a certain time; or for Christians to
sell all that they possess, and have all things common, because the primitive
disciples did so. Who would now think of selling his garment, and buying a
sword with the proceeds, because the Apostles were instructed so to do? Would
it not be nonsense for a man who despises Brigham, and professes to regard the
words of Joseph, to go to Kirtland or Nauvoo to build a Temple, because Joseph
instructed the Saints to gather there, and build Temples? Most certainly it
would. Yet into such ludicrous dilemmas those persons who reject a living
Prophet, and profess faith in dead ones, are unavoidably led. Men of this
description reject the living Spirit that inspires a living Prophet and gives
life to all his teachings; and, instead thereof, follow the dead letter of
those Prophets who have long bid adieu to their ministry on earth. Yet it is a
well known Scripture maxim, that the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth
life. (Mill. Star 15:529-532)
Necessity of a Living
Prophet (cont.)
John Jaques, Aug. 20, 27,
Sept. 3, 10, 1853
One of the greatest tactics of the
Devil is to induce men to disbelieve in and reject a living Prophet. This has
[117] ever been a grand move with Satan. He has ruined thousands of souls by
it, and yet mankind will not learn to reject his sophistry. Said the martyr
Stephen to his persecutors--"Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart
and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye.
Which of the Prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain
them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been
now the betrayers and murderers." Satan knows well enough that a disbelief
in a living Prophet is virtually a disbelief in all Prophets. If a people
reject a living Prophet, and profess to believe in dead Prophets, how will that
people meet those Prophets in the resurrection morn, when they all stand forth
clad with immortal life? All will be living Prophets--living members of the
Holy Priesthood, then! How will they be greeted by those persons who in their
mortality scorned and rejected living Prophets. Ye Jews and Gentiles who lived
in the days of Jesus and his first Apostles, and rejected them, though you
professed to follow most rigidly the law of Moses, how will you meet Moses,
Jesus, and the Apostles in the resurrection, and hear them declare that they
all held the same Priesthood on the earth? Ye Gentiles who have rejected Joseph
Smith, and who now reject Brigham Young, yet profess a conscientious regard for
Jesus, Peter, and Paul, how will you meet these worthies in a few years' time,
and hear them all declare their divine appointment to hold the same Apostleship
on earth? How will the Christian who rejects living Prophets, and reveres dead
ones, act when he finds that all the Prophets are living ones? To be
consistent, he must then reject all Prophets without exception. Moses, Isaiah,
Jesus, Peter, Paul, Joseph, and Brigham, all being living Prophets then, must
be rejected by the Christian, for he does not believe in living Prophets. Then where
are his hopes of salvation? They will prove illusions, because they are not
founded on the rock. He will discover that Satan blinded him whilst upon the
earth, and led him by a skillful bait to reject the means appointed of God for
man's salvation.
People allow themselves to be very
readily deceived by the suggestions of Satan. If men would reflect a [118]
moment, they would surely discover that that friendship which esteems its
object best at a distance, is a very equivocal and a very suspicious kind of
friendship; they must see at once that it is tantamount to no friendship at
all, that it is only a subtle apology for the entire absence of friendship, and
congeniality of disposition. What should you think, reader, of the man who
calumniated and stoned you when present, but adored you when absent? Should you
not have substantial reasons for concluding that that man's friendship was all
profession--all a hoax? Would you rate that man in your list of friends? Now,
Christian, imagine yourself a rejected Prophet of the Lord, and answer these
questions to your own satisfaction.
Satan knows very well that if he can
always persuade people to reject living Prophets, all Prophets will be rejected
of men. He knows very well that if all generations reject the Prophets
respectively sent to them, all generations will reject salvation and will be
under condemnation. He acts religiously to induce all generations of men to
follow this principle, for he is well aware that if he can persuade people to
believe that the writings of dead Prophets are sufficient for salvation, the
idea of living Prophets would fall into disrepute, they would be deemed
superfluous, and, therefore, false Prophets, impostors, the deceivers foretold
by the dead Prophets, and would be despised and rejected of men, for the
despisers would say, how could it be possible for the Almighty to incorporate
in the plan of salvation anything superfluous? O no! We dare not harbour a
thought so derogatory to the wisdom of our Father in heaven! So you see, reader,
how the poor living Prophet would be received, and that all this kind of
reasoning would be the infallible precursor of stripes, imprisonment, stoning,
and even crucifixion.
Now it would be too bold and
ill-advised a stroke for Satan to come out in his true colours, and declare at
once that all Prophets were unnecessary--were impostors. That is not the way he
fishes for the souls of men. He is too expert an angler to expose his
well-barbed hook after that fashion, you may depend upon it. Men almost universally
would refuse to be caught in that style. Therefore does [119] Satan carefully
disguise his hook, with the savoury bait of faith in dead Prophets, and thus
are thousands unwittingly led down to destruction, and God's Prophets
successively condemned.
It is really surprising that men
learn so little from the experience of those who have gone before them. Turn
where we will in the sacred records of the past, and we are invariably led to
the conclusion that the greatest condemnation that can fall upon any people, is
caused by the rejection of living Prophets. Hear the parable of the
vineyard--"A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to
husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. And at the season he
sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the
vineyard; but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And again, he
sent another servant, and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and
sent him away empty. And again, he sent a third; and they wounded him also, and
cast him out. Then said the Lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send
my beloved son; it may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when
the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the
heir; come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him
out of the vineyard, and killed him. What, therefore, shall the Lord of the
vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall
give the vineyard to others." Now, condemnation rested upon these
husband-men because they rejected the messengers that were sent unto them, not
for disbelief in messengers sent to others. Jesus intended this parable to
apply to the people to whom he was sent. But many who heard it, said "God
forbid," no doubt thinking, as many now do, that rejecting living
messengers was not worthy of so great condemnation, especially if the rejecters
had faith in former messengers.
Instead of men's learning from the
experience of their predecessors, we find men now filling up the measure of
their fathers; as their fathers did, so do the sons. And if the sons fill up
the measure of the fathers, will not the condemnation of the fathers rest upon
the sons? Assuredly, how can it be otherwise?
[120]
How often we hear men now say--"Prophets are done away, we have no further
need of them." And when the Prophet Joseph came forth in this last
dispensation, and translated the Book of Mormon, by the gift and power of God,
the people rejected Joseph, and cried out, as foretold in the Book of
Mormon--"A Bible! a Bible! we have got a Bible!" Now it is not the
Book of Mormon, or the Prophets who wrote the Book of Mormon, that the people
dislike so extremely. If the Book of Mormon had been handed down from remote
antiquity among the learned and worldly wise, as the writings of certain
ancient Prophets, all would have been right, the Book of Mormon would have been
well received, and widely believed in, and read and expounded every Sabbath day
in the synagogues. The Prophets who wrote the Book of Mormon would have
received credit as men of God, and many of them would have been canonized.
Nephi's Church, and St. Alma's Church, and Mormon Chapel, would have figured
conspicuously in every large city. But here was the corn--the Book of Mormon
came forth in the present day, and was translated by the power of God, through
a living Prophet, and to have believed in the Book of Mormon would have
required a belief in the living Prophet. Ah! that altered the features of the
case most materially; that would never have done; that would have been a
death-blow to many of our beautiful systems of religion. Satan's old bait took
most surprisingly. Men seized upon it right greedily. The dead Prophets of
Judea were paragons, the living Prophet Joseph was a monster. Priests and
people, learned and unlearned, joined in the cry--"We have got a Bible! We
want no more Prophets, we want no more revelations, the canon of Scripture is
full; all that is necessary for salvation was revealed by the Holy Prophets and
Apostles of old. We need neither Prophets nor Apostles any more; they could not
teach us more than is left on record, that is sufficient to save us; therefore,
we are assured that Joe Smith is a wicked, false Prophet, a heartless impostor,
and the Book of Mormon an impudent and vile forgery." So the living
Prophet and his few followers were and are scorned, and everywhere spoken
against, and the Devil has a majority of the people safely hooked, like as he
had their ancestors, and he is fast [121] leading his deceived captives down to
the horrible pit, where there is no water. By and by they will wake up in
torment, and peradventure they will see father Abraham a great way off, and
will call upon him for a cup of cold water with which to cool their parched
tongues. But they will discover a great gulf between him and them. And Abraham,
having once lived on the earth, will recollect that however they may esteem and
venerate him at a distance, their esteem and veneration would grow "smaller
by degrees, and beautifully less" as he approached, and no doubt he will
prudently maintain a respectful distance, including the gulf, from them, lest
he should be stoned, or shot, or beheaded, or crucified by them. Besides, it
would be inconsistent with their principles to be ministered to by a living
Prophet. Abraham might readily imagine that their contrition was feigned,
because on the earth they believed--
"There's no repentance in the
grave,
Nor pardon offered to the
dead."
And he might suspect some ambush was
laid to entrap him. But having on the earth resisted the baits of Satan, which
these characters had so voraciously seized, Abraham would not be likely to
venture amongst them to accede to their request.
Now, good reader, do not imagine
that I am trifling with you, by the above remarks. I wish to enlighten your
mind, if possible, and to show you the folly of men's imagining that faith in
dead Prophets will avail, when the question of faith in living Prophets is
thrown overboard as untenable. Recollect that disbelief in a living Prophet is
a sure sign of apostacy. None but apostates, or those who have been brought up
in the traditions of uninspired men, will ever maintain such a belief. It is
contrary to Scripture, reason, and common sense. Nowhere in the Scriptures can
a particle of fellowship be found for those who reject living Prophets. Not a
word has been uttered in favor of their exemption from condemnation, by any
Prophet who ever lived. How could a Prophet declare that those who rejected
him, or any of his brethren, could be looked upon with favour by the Almighty.
Such rebellious characters are ever the especial subjects of God's fierce
indignation, and upon them He pours out His wrath in [122] plagues,
pestilences, famines, and terrible judgments. If God does not send a Prophet to
a people, the sins of that people will be "winked at," because there
is no one to teach them better, and God knows the dangers which written
messages are liable to, when not confided to the care of inspired
men--misinterpretations, spiritualizings, mis-translations, garblings,
interpolations, and a whole host of contingencies. And is it likely that a just
God would visit a people labouring under such disadvantages, with the same
strictness as He would visit a people who had a living oracle amongst them? We
cannot judge that the Almighty is so partial a Being. The people who had no
Prophets in their midst could plead a degree of uncertainty as to the truth of
the writings of old Prophets. But where a living Prophet existed, this plea
could not be urged, the Prophet and the power of God would be there amongst the
people, and the people could prove the same by obedience.
Having shown the unreasonableness of
disbelief in living Prophets, though faith in dead Prophets be substituted for
it, and also having shown some of the dilemmas into which the rejecters of
living Prophets are drawn, I will endeavour to give a few good and solid
reasons for the necessity of a living Prophet upon the earth.
Jesus Christ says--"This is
life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent." (Matt. xvii. 3) To have eternal life is a desire
that exists in every human heart. If all men were to tell the feelings of their
hearts, it would be found that all men wish to enjoy life eternally. But in
order to enjoy eternal life, they must know God and Jesus Christ. How is this
knowledge to be obtained? Now, reader, imagine to yourself a people who never
heard of the name of God, that is, of the true God; how are that people to know
God, and thus obtain their salvation? Can they find Him out by their own
wisdom, by their own learning, by their own searching, merely? Alas no! Now I
boldly aver that no people, however learned or refined they may be, or whatever
worldly wisdom they may be in possession of, can come to a knowledge of God, by
their own learning, refinement, or wisdom. The ancient Greeks were a very wise
and polished people, but did they attain to a [123] knowledge of God thereby?
In the very refined city of Athens, Paul found an altar with this
inscription--"To the unknown God." Hear what Paul says of such
persons--"Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of
this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? for after that
in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God," &c--(1 Cor. i.
20, 21). Now, here it is evident that men by their own wisdom cannot obtain
that knowledge of God, which is eternal life. Again, Paul says--"Eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that love Him." (1 Cor. ii. 8) Job
says--"Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the
Almighty unto perfection? It is high as heaven, what canst thou do? Deeper than
hell, what canst thou know? (Job xi. 7, 8) and Jesus says--"Neither
knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will
reveal Him." (Matt. xi. 27) Here it is most positively declared that no
man can obtain that knowledge which is eternal life, except by the revelations
of Jesus Christ. What course has the Lord taken in former times to communicate
this knowledge to men? Was it all given at once or by degrees? Were any
conditions required of men in order to obtain it? The knowledge was not all
given at once, and many conditions were required of those who obtained it.
The Lord has made use of human
instruments in communicating to man that knowledge which will save him, and in
administering in certain ordinances which are necessary to salvation. This
constitutes a necessity for a living Prophet, as Paul says--"How then
shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a
preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?" (Rom. x. 14,
15) Now, reader, if you will look back of the past, you will find that whenever
God did a work upon the earth, He always had a Prophet to take charge of that
work. Whenever God had a message of life to send to any people, He always sent
it by a Prophet, for a Prophet is one who has been called of God to communicate
His will to men, to reveal to them that knowledge which will save them, and to
administer in [124] those ordinances which every one has to attend to in order
to come to a knowledge of God. So fixed a principle is this, that, according to
Amos, it may be taken for granted that the Lord is not working upon the earth,
if He has no Prophets. Says Amos--"Surely the Lord God will do nothing,
but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the Prophets." (Amos iii. 7)
Malachi says--"For the Priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they
should seek the law a his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of
Hosts." (Mal. 11. 7) And Paul says--"Let a man so account of us, as
of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God." (1 Cor.
iv. 1.) Again, "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did
beseech you by us." (2 Cor. v. 20) From the above Scriptures, it is very
evident that where a people know nothing of the Lord of salvation, there is a
necessity for a living Prophet's being sent unto them, if they are to gain
salvation.
Many may be ready to admit that
where a people are entirely destitute of the knowledge of God, it may be
necessary for a ProphetŐs being sent to them to communicate the way of
salvation to them. But, perhaps, some persons who admit this, may imagine that
when the knowledge and will of God are once declared by a Prophet amongst a
people, they have no further necessity of a Prophet, that his words can be
written down, and the writings preserved for the instruction of posterity. This
brings us back to the old Bible-worshipping and Prophet-killing principle. Here
is the grand delusion of Satan again. Now, reader, if you understand anything
worth naming of what salvation and eternal life are, and you earnestly desire
to gain them, there is no danger of your being led away by this delusion of
Satan. There is a great deal of misunderstanding and of "learned
ignorance" concerning the meaning of salvation and eternal life. Many
people imagine that salvation consists in merely believing in God and the
Scriptures. "Only believe, and then you are saved," cry some who are
ever ready to run and preach before they are sent. Some men fancy that if a man
goes to church or chapel regularly, and "gets pardoned," and feels
persuaded that he has an "interest in the blood of Christ"--some men
fancy that such an individual has safely insured eternal life. Now these [125]
notions are very simple and erroneous, and their extensive prevalence in our
"Gospel age" only proves the great necessity that now exists for a
living Prophet upon the earth. Have the people forgotten that eternal life
consists in knowing God? If they have, of what use to them is their Bible? Of
what use to them are the writings of the dead Prophets?
To know God, is not the work of a
moment or a year. Have we any record of a man's arriving at a perfect knowledge
of God in so short a time as this? Has any man known any instance of the kind?
I might challenge all men to bring forward testimony of such an occurrence, and
would it not be in vain? What is it to know God? To know God, is to learn of
His attributes--His faith, wisdom, knowledge, power, glory, &c., so that we
may become like Him, be filled with His fulness, and be enabled to dwell
everlastingly in the most intimate association with him. This is "knowing
God," this is salvation, this is eternal life. Ye who revere the dead Prophets,
and profess to believe in them, hear what they have written. Paul declared to
the Ephesians, that he prayed, "that ye, being rooted and grounded in
love, may be able to comprehend with all Saints, what is the breadth, and
length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth
knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."--Eph.
iii. 17-19. Again--"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature
of the fulness of Christ"--Eph. iv. 13. The fulness of Christ was the
fulness of God. Says Paul--"To the acknowledgment of the mystery of God,
and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge. For in him (Christ) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead
bodily."--Col ii. 2, 3, 9. Jesus said to his disciples--"Be ye
therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is
perfect."--Matt. v. 48. Again, in praying for them to his Father, he
said--"That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in
thee, that they also may be one in us: That the world may believe that thou
hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them; that they
may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be
made [126] perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me,
and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom
thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which
thou hast given me."--John xvii. 21-24. And John says--"Beloved, now
are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as
he is."--1 John, iii. 2.
Probably the believer in dead
Prophets will accept the testimony which I have quoted. If so, I say again,
that it takes considerable time for any man to arrive at such a state of
perfection as to know God, and be fully qualified to associate with Him, and
share in His glory. A man must grow in grace and in the knowledge of God--a man
must go on from strength to strength until he arrives at the goal, his path
must shine brighter and brighter until the perfect day. It appears utterly
impossible that he should come in possession of all knowledge at once. We
cannot imagine that he could receive a fulness at once. He must require much
time to educate himself sufficiently in the knowledge of God, to become a fit companion
and associate of God. We know that men, naturally, are far from being in
possession of the knowledge which will save them. The Scriptures say that
"All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." And if men
have not attained to the glory of God, they cannot endure it, for it is a
consuming fire. Those who cannot endure the glory of God, cannot endure
salvation and eternal life, for salvation and eternal life consist in becoming
like unto God, in seeing Him as He really is, in beholding His glory, in
partaking of it, and in dwelling in the midst of it worlds without end. Now,
who, amongst all those who reject living Prophets, is prepared to enter upon a
state like this? Who can say that he is sufficiently versed in heavenly
intelligence as to be an acceptable companion to the Almighty? Who can endure
the brightness of the glory that surrounds the throne of the Eternal? Who has
approximated in any remarkable degree to the knowledge and glory of God? Have
those who believe in dead Prophets, advanced many steps towards perfection? If
such believers have not, how and when do they calculate upon arriving at [127]
perfection? Do they imagine that they will jump from imperfection to perfection
in an instant? If so, why did the dead Prophets write of "growing in grace
and knowledge," of "desiring the sincere milk of the Word, that ye
may grow thereby," of the righteousness of God being "revealed from
faith to faith," of the path of the righteous shining Ňmore and more unto
the perfect day," of men growing "up unto him (Christ) in all
things," and sundry similar things? Did the dead Prophets become perfect
in the knowledge of God at once? No. Says John--"It doth not yet appear
what we shall be: But we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like
Him." Has any Prophet received a fulness at once? No. Enoch walked with
God, and learned of Him, at least three hundred years, before God took him to
Himself.--Gen. v. 22, 24. Jesus, when he took upon himself the form of man, had
limited knowledge, like other men. "He received not of the fulness at
first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness, and thus
he was called the Son of God, because he received not the fulness at the
first."--Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lxxxiii. par. 2. Luke writes of him,
that "he grew, and waxed strong in spirit."--Luke, i. 80. And Jesus
himself prayed to the Father to impart glory to him, which he would not have
asked, providing he already had the fulness.
The reader will now, perhaps, be
convinced that men cannot gain eternal life in a moment. I will now show him
that a living prophet is necessary as an instrument in making men perfect. Paul
says--"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which
if perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away."--1
Cor. xiii. 9, 10. Here it is manifest that there must be Prophets among men
until they become perfect, for how can there be prophecy unless there be
Prophets? Again, Paul says--"And he (Christ) gave some, Evangelists; and some,
Pastors and Teachers; for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."--Eph. iv. 11, 12. A
Saint is one who believes in a living Prophet, and who has been baptized by
him, and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of his hands.
The body of Christ is any number of Saints, organized according to the laws of
God. The work [128] of the ministry is teaching Saints and sinners the
knowledge of God, administering in the ordinances of salvation, and promoting
the welfare of the Saints. So, reader, you will see that a living Prophet is
just as necessary after men have believed and obeyed the things he tells them,
first, as he was before men knew anything of God, or of His will. In fact, you
will see that a living Prophet is necessary as long as there exists upon the
earth any one who has not obtained to a perfect knowledge of God, which is
eternal life. And Paul expressly declares this, for he says, in the verse
following our last quotation, that the officers he names were gifts given unto
men by Jesus Christ, that would be required "till we all come in the unity
of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto
the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." And in the two
succeeding verses, he gives very good reasons why these officers should be with
men so long--"that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro,
and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and
cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive: But speaking the truth
in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even
Christ." Now, reader, you will see by the above, that Paul was very
strenuous on the point that living Prophets were always necessary, and you will
see that those who really believe in dead Prophets, must believe in living
ones.
From what has been already advanced,
it will be seen that wherever the Church of Christ exists, or when ever God is
doing anything upon the earth, in regard to the salvation of man, not only one
living Prophet is necessary, but many. However, what I wish more particularly
to direct attention to is the necessity of a living Prophet's being in the
Church to lead and guide it, to receive revelations from God, by dream or
vision, by the ministration of angels, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, by
Urim and Thummim, or by personal conference with God. Although there may be
many Prophets in the Church, yet only one has the authority to revive
revelations for the control, government, and guidance of the whole Church. It
may be asked--Does not Paul say that God set in the Church, first Apostles,
secondly [129] Prophets? Yes, but all Apostles may be Prophets, though all
Prophets may not be Apostles. And all Apostles are not Prophets to the whole
Church. One of the Apostleship is chosen from the rest to be a Prophet, Seer,
and Revelator to the whole Church. Now the necessity of a functionary of this
kind, is what I whilst to show.
Whenever God has owned a Church upon
the earth, He has always had one person appointed to be a Prophet, Seer, or
Revelator to that Church. Moses and Noah held this office to the people over
whom they respectively presided. In ancient times, when the Israelites wished
to inquire of the Lord concerning anything connected with their welfare, they
went to the Seer. Jesus held the revelatory office, to the primitive Church.
After his death Peter held this office. Subsequent to Peter's time, we have no
satisfactory record of the Church, from which we conclude that the office
ceased to exist upon the earth, and the Church gradually degenerated to
sectarianism. Certain it is, that the popular churches of Christendom now
acknowledge not the office of Prophetic leader. Even the Pope does not profess
to be a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to the Church; he claims infallible
judgment upon the teachings of dead Prophets. When a church has no living
Prophetic leader, it has no guarantee for its safety, but is liable to be
imposed upon by false teachings respecting the character of God, and the nature
of salvation; it is impossible that the "perfecting of the Saints,"
or the "work of the ministry," can be carried on; it is impossible to
edify the Saints, as they should be, or to bring them to the "unity of the
faith." Why? Because God appointed such a leader in His Church originally,
to lead it, to control the ministry, and to direct it according to His will. If
there be no such officer now, it is because the people do not desire the
knowledge of God, for it is according to the economy of God to give men up to
their own ways, when they refuse to respect His institutions. So long as the
people have a Prophet in their midst, they can be perfectly instructed in the
knowledge of God. If they lack knowledge upon any important particular, they
can apply to the Prophet, as Israel did of old, and the Prophet can inquire of
the Lord, and deliver the Lord's message to them. If any danger threatens the
Church, the Prophet at the head can by [130] revelation foresee the danger, and
prepare the Church for the emergency. Should any dispute upon doctrine arise
between two members or officers of the Church, the Prophet could inquire at the
hands of the Lord, and receive the word of the Lord upon the matter, and
enlighten the disputants, and put an end to the controversy. This short and
effectual method, if it had been acted upon for the last seventeen hundred
years, would have saved an immense amount of precious time, treasure, and
blood.
The moment any people cease to be
led by a Prophet, commences the downfall of that people, as far as eternal life
is concerned. Look at the history of the Israelites. While they obeyed the
teachings, of the Prophet Moses they were safe, they were blessed of the Lord,
they were united as one. But as soon as they neglected the counsels of Moses,
or turned a deaf ear to the word of the Lord by him, they became divided in
their hearts, and the judgments of the Lord were upon them. What is the cause
of all the sectarianism, all the bitter theological controversy, all the
divisions, and contradictory creeds, and ordinances, and forms, and fashions
that distract the religious world. Simply this--there is no Prophet to
communicate the mind and will of the Lord to mankind. In the absence of the
Prophet's master hand, religious doctrines have run into such a twisted,
ravelled state, that men are puzzled, and they know not to whom they should go
for light. They have no Seer to go to. To whom should they go? Should they go
to the pope? The Protestants will not agree to that, for they say that the pope
is but a man, and one man's opinion is just a good as another's, especially as
good as the opinion of "the man of sin." Should men go to the
archbishop of Canterbury? O no! say the dissenters, we cannot allow of his decision
by any means, for we protest daily against many of the doctrines and
proceedings of his law-established church. To which of the numberous bodies of
dissenters should men turn? Should men turn to the Wesleyans, the Primitive
Methodists, the Congregationalists, the Swedenborgians, or what not? O no, say
they concerning each other, we cannot pretend to go to other societies for a
decision, we must have our own opinion of the matter. And so the world wags on,
one generation after another, preaching, discussing, and [131] wrangling, yet
ever enveloped in profound ignorance and uncertainty--all being the result of
rejecting the idea of having a living Prophet to lead them.
If a church has no living Prophet in
it, it can never, as I have said, arrive at the "unity of faith."
This is a most important consideration. For about sixteen or seventeen hundred
years has Christendom run on, without a Prophet to lead it, and deliver the
word of the Lord to the people. Not an individual among all Christendom, during
this long night of darkness, has brought a message from the Lord. And what has
been the result? The nations have been in a deep sleep, the "Prophets,
Rulers, and Seers" have been covered. The voice of the Lord has not been
heard amongst the people during this dreary period of midnight darkness. The
miserable remnants of the once mighty and glorious Church of Christ have been
drifting on the dark sea of time, tossed to and fro with every wind of
doctrine, dashed time after time against the rocks, from which they had no
pilot's hand to guide them, until a thousand ricketty fragments now meet our
eyes. Taking the progress during these sixteen centuries as the ration for our
calculations, when will Christians come to the "unity of the faith?"
If one Church in sixteen centuries is divided into (say, as a moderate
calculation) six hundred jarring churches, how many centuries will these six
hundred jarring churches require to come to the "unity of the
faith"--that is, to become one grand, harmonious Church, "fair as the
moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?" An
exceedingly clever arithmetician he must be who can determine this point, and
give the figures. Now as the experience of the last sixteen centuries
demonstrates the fallacy of the opinion that a church, or several churches,
when destitute of a Prophet, can be brought to the unity of the faith, is it
wise for Christians to longer prosecute their fruitless endeavours? Is it not
hoping against hope, to believe that there is any possibility of unity ever
being arrived at? It is truly surprising that men, with the experience of
centuries before them, should advocate the doctrine that living Prophets are
not now needed, that the work for which they were instituted can now be carried
on successfully without them. How can men so delude themselves? It appears
[132] perfectly inexplicable. No Prophet needed now. When was one needed? Was
one ever, in the whole history of our world, needed more than now? I say again,
when a Prophet was in the Church, he could warn the members, of dangers at
hand, though in the future. Can the Pope do this? Can the archbishop of
Canterbury do this? Can any of the celebrated divines of Christendom do this?
Alas! no. They profess not the gift of prophecy. The societies under the
guidance of these teachers have no means of knowing the breakers ahead, and
consequently have no security for the future. These reverend guides are blind
guides, and those they lead know not how soon a fearful fall into the ditch may
occur, to the damage of all parties concerned.
Certain persons tell us that the end
of time is at hand, that grievous judgments are about to fall on the world,
that wars and violence will shortly prevail, and every manŐs hand will be
turned against his fellow's, until desolation shall lay waste the nations. Now
these are serious matters. Those Christian teachers who tell us of them, do it
on the mere strength of uninspired judgment on the prophecies of dead Prophets.
Notwithstanding this, the things may be true. But as long as we are not certain
of their truth, we are living in a not very agreeable state of doubt and
anxiety. Now who can release us from this state, and set our minds at rest on
one side or the other of this question? Who can tell us whether these things are
about to occur or not? If they are about to happen, is any preparation
necessary on the part of the righteous, in order to their escaping the
threatened troubles? If any preparation is necessary, how is it to be set
about? Who can answer these questions? Can the Pope? Can any cardinal,
archbishop, bishop, dean, priest, travelling or local preacher tell us? No.
None of these have the spirit of prophecy, and consequently none know more
definitely of the future than we do ourselves. All is doubt, all is darkness,
all is uncertainty. In the midst of this uncertainty, how glorious it would be
if a living Prophet existed, to tell us the truth, to give us the word of the
Lord about these things, to tell us whether danger was near or distant, and, if
near, to point out the best place and the precise time for escape for the
danger. We know that the dead Prophets wrote that the day of the Lord should
come [133] as a thief in the night, but we also know that the people of God
shall be children of the day, and that day shall not overtake them as a thief
in the night. But they will not be children of the day, if they know no more of
the future than the Christian world do. No people can be children of the day
unless they have a Prophet living amongst them to see what is coming. People
that have not a Prophet living amongst them are children of the night, and of
course cannot see any coming calamity until too late.
The inhabitants of Christendom are
children of the night, they know not what is before them, the secrets of the
Lord are not with them, they know not His purposes, and consequently cannot be
prepared for the marvellous events which dead Prophets have foretold shall
occur in the last days.
How has the work of the ministry
been carried on since the Lord had a Prophet living upon the earth? Hundreds
and thousands of teachers have arisen, and have preached divers kinds of
doctrines, and have called upon mankind to believe and obey those doctrines,
upon pain of eternal damnation. God did not send these teachers, they ran
before they had received any authority from Him. This was plainly manifested by
the disagreement of their messages. Had these teachers been sent of Him, they
would have all preached "one Lord, one faith, one baptism," for God
is one God, and there exists but one Gospel and one name under heaven whereby
men can be saved--that Gospel is the truth, that name is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Has God owned the labours of these
uninspired teachers, and will their bindings and loosings be recognized in the
heavens? No. Paul said--"Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any
other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be
accursed." And has God dishonoured Paul's word? Verily not. Has not
Christendom been cursed with thick darkness, since a living Prophet existed
upon the earth? Have not the priests contended with one another, as is declared
in the Book of Mormon, and taught with their worldly learning, and denied the
Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance. Have not the people, instead of coming to
the unity of the faith, become daily more and more divided among themselves?
Are they not, instead of being men [134] and women in Christ Jesus, yet but
little children in heavenly things? Have they not more need to milk than of
strong meat? Instead of teaching others, have they not much need of being
themselves taught again the first principles of the Gospel? Christians talk of
increasing in the knowledge of God--who can show that Christendom has advanced
one iota in heavenly knowledge since a living Prophet led the Church? It cannot
be shown. What does Christendom know of God without a Prophet, more than the
primitive Church knew with a Prophet? Does Christendom know half as much of God
and heaven, of salvation and eternal life, than the primitive Church did? No.
All the knowledge of God that Christendom is in possession of is what is
contained in a few dusty letters and narrations which dead Prophets have
chanced to leave on record. If Christendom has made any progress at all, it has
been similar to that of the school boy--two steps backward for one step
forward. In fact, so divided, so powerless has Christendom become, that many
earnest men begin to write it a failure.
Thus, it will be seen, that a living
Prophet is necessary upon the earth to carry on the work of the ministry, to
unfold the knowledge of God to the people, to settle controversy upon doctrine,
to unite the people of God and make them one, to point out the dangers of the
future, so that they can be avoided, and, in short, to act as the
representative of God upon the earth until men shall become perfect, and be
prepared to be ushered into the presence of their Maker. It is vain to trust
any longer to uninspired men in these matters. Uninspired teachers have filled
the world with doubt, darkness, distrust, division, strife, war, and bloodshed,
but have not taught one soul the way of eternal life, have not made one soul
perfect, and cannot, without the aid of a living Prophet, take the first step
towards either their own salvation or the salvation of those who cling to them.
There must be somebody upon the
earth, who can speak with authority, and not as the scribes, before the various
jarring, fighting sects of men are united as one. There must be a living
Prophet--the representative of the majesty of heaven, upon the earth, whose
word shall be a law--the law of God, unto the people, and whose decision [135]
shall bear an end of controversy to men, before much progress can be made in
bringing them to the "unity of the faith," or in perfecting them. So
long as there is no one to give the word of the Lord upon disputed subjects,
there is no hope of a solid decision being made, and men will be ever liable to
be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, as has been the case for many
past centuries.
What is it that men want in order to
grow in knowledge until they shall attain to the fulness of their Father in
heaven? They want a leader, a master mind, a man of authority, a connecting
link between this and a higher sphere, a sure channel through which the
knowledge that dwells in the bosom of the Father can be communicated in
unsullied dreams to mankind, that the way to eternal life may be pointed out
with unerring precision, and humanity gradually but surely approximate to
Deity. When God organized the Church, He made provision for this want, but
Christendom does not present that provision now. The Roman Catholics, indeed,
do profess to have that provision in their Church now, but if we examine
closely, we find that the Pope professes to be the man of authority, but not
the channel of intelligence. All his intelligence hangs on dead Prophets, and
the best he can make of his position is this--if there had been no Prophets of
old he would have had no authority, no intelligence. So it is plain that, if we
go to the root of the matter, the Pope has no more authority than anyone else.
All his authority and all his intelligence he derives from the dead Prophets,
he hangs on them entirely, instead of hanging upon God, consequently it is vain
to look to the Pope for increase of intelligence, he is not a living Prophet,
neither does he give the word of the Lord upon any matter.
Not only in spiritual matters but
also in temporal matters, it is necessary that a living Prophet should direct.
As physical power should ever be subject to moral power, so should temporal
things ever be subject to spiritual things, and be directed by spiritual
powers. Ah! some may say, this is the cloven hoof of priestcraft! this is
Church and State doctrine! We'll have none of that! Just as you please, good
friends. If you think that the flesh should govern the spirit, that the spirit
should be subject [136] to the body, that the things of the present life are
superior to the things of the next, you are welcome to your notions, but other
people must be at liberty to hold their private opinions too, and not only to
hold them but to tell them. It is said that there is to be a Millennium--a
thousand years reign of peace and happiness upon the earth, when there is to be
one king upon the earth, and his name one, to whom every knee must bow, and
when the people shall "beat their swords into plough-shares, and their
spears into pruning-hooks nations neither shall they learn war any more."
Well! reader, that will be a great and glorious time, especially for Cobden and
Bright, and Quakers, and Peace Societies, but have you any idea how this
"good time will be brought about?" Perhaps not a distinct one. The
times do not look very flattering any how. Ever and anon a dark "speck of
war" rises ominously above the horizon of the nations. The Russian bear
growls as though he would have a brush with somebody, if he cannot gain his
ends by craft. The Gallic cock crows defiance. The British lion makes a show of
magnanimous forbearance, except in the South and East. The American eagle has a
keen eye for land, gold, fish, and black flesh, and is apt to be rather saucy
over them. Now, how can these opposing elements be arranged so as to agree and
mutually aid and strengthen each other, without any fear of collision and
explosion? Ah! that's the question for statesmen and preachers. The statesman
says the "balance of power" keeps peace amongst the nations. The
preacher says the "grace of God" constrains men to love each other.
But supposing one scale of the balance should kick the beam, as has been the
case heretofore, and God should withdraw His grace, and leave men to the
imaginations of their own hearts--how then for peace, and a Millennium? I tell
thee what, reader, if God has not a living Prophet upon the earth to direct
even in temporal affairs, there is no guarantee for security. All the beautiful
dreams of the poets, concerning liberty, equality, fraternity, and universal
brotherhood, will fail of fulfillment, so long as God is kept out of the matter.
And if He is in the matter, He will have a Prophet as His representative upon
the earth. It may be possible to produce the grand spectacle, of one sovereign
swaying a sceptre universal upon the earth, and yet he not be a [137] Prophet.
But if a sovereign sway a universal sceptre upon the earth, and he be not a
servant of God, universal peace will not be the result. Men would know that God
alone has the right to universal rule, or to dictate a universal ruler, upon
the earth, and consequently the fire of rebellion would be there and would burn
in secret until the moment of revengeful outburst. The world's history shows
this. Only under a universal government can universal temporal and spiritual
peace be enjoyed, and there can be no enduring universal government but that of
God, consequently only under the guiding hand of a Prophet can lasting,
universal peace and harmony be established. Under a universal government, the
interest of each is the interest of all, and the interest of all is the
interest of each. But a house divided against itself, however bolstered up by a
"balance of power," cannot stand. The whole question of salvation,
temporal and spiritual, thus resolves itself into a question of authority.
There is no true authority on earth or in heaven but that of God, and God
exercises His authority upon the earth, when not personally, through the medium
of a living Prophet. Hence the necessity for one existing upon the earth in all
ages. (Mill. Star 15:545-548, 569-572, 587-589, 604-607)
The Mormons--The Mahometans
of the Nineteenth
Century
(From the New York
Herald)
August 13, 1853
Philosophers tell us that the grand
law of human progression does not hold good in respect of moral and
metaphysical science. If this be true--and we see no reason to doubt it--if,
while we may safely consider the steam engine, the printing press, the loom,
and the telegraph, to be the imperishable and inalienable property of man, we
have no guarantee for the stability of our religious creeds and schools of
ethics--if our descendants may be found more gross and earthly in their
passions, more debased in their feelings and desires, than we are--the birth
and infancy of new religious doctrines and strange sects deserve a peculiarly
careful notice at our hands. At a time when a devout Abbe confesses, with deep
sorrow, that [138] Christianity can no longer keep pace with the intellectual
progress of the world; and a mitred orator is heard to declare his conviction
of the inadequacy of the Protestant doctrine to satisfy the popular craving for
mental food; when the converts made by countless missionaries abroad are two
few to supply the void created by desertions at home--we may be permitted,
perhaps, for argument's sake, to suppose for a moment that the present forms of
Christianity will pass away, and to ask the appalling question--What religion
is to succeed them? At what shrine will posterity kneel? Some worship of a
higher Being is an imperative want in the human heart--some source of morality,
nobler than a mere penal code, is absolutely indispensable to cement the
elements of society. Among the new schools of religion which are springing up
around us, is there any which can absorb Protestant and Catholic, Unitarian and
Freethinker, and substitute a new faith for future ages?
We leave speculative philosophy to
suggest a reply. But we cannot refrain from making a few brief remarks, on the
growth and prospects of the most remarkable of the many religious factions
which have come to light in this country.
While to the thoughtless reader, the
name of Mormonism is only suggestive of ribald epigrams on the continency of
Mr. Brigham Young, and the existence of the sect is treated as a mere joke, the
eyes of thinking men are fixed on the young settlement of Deseret, with
apprehensions of no common magnitude. The colony of Salt Lake is no assemblage
of hairbrained socialists, or Agapemone of rogues and dupes--a haunt of
hypocrisy and beastly licentiousness; Brigham Young and his followers are
neither idle knaves nor corrupt profligates. The stumbling-blocks which have
led to the downfall of so many false sects, have been avoided by the Mormons.
Their religious code is imbued with enough mysticism to attract the
imaginative; but it is linked and coupled with a moral law framed on the wisest
basis.
"We believe," say the
Mormons, "in being honest, true, chaste, temperate, benevolent, virtuous,
and upright, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow
the admonition of Paul; `We believe all things, we [139] hope all things,' we
have endured very many things, and hope to be able to endure all things.
Everything lovely, virtuous, praiseworthy, and of good report, we seek after,
looking forward `to the recompense of reward.' But an idle or lazy person
cannot be a Christian, neither have salvation; he is a drone, and deserves to
be stung to death, and tumbled out of the hive."
Despite all the calumnious tales
which have been circulated, we have every reason to believe that the Mormons
are just in their dealings, and kind and charitable both to strangers and to
each other. Polygamy, it is true, is practiced among them, and has been
severely used as a weapon in the hands of their assailants. But so far from
being made subservient to depraved passions, it is only tolerated in order to
increase the number of the faithful, and on the principle quoted above, that
drones--whether male or female--must be driven from the hive. Female chastity
and conjugal fidelity are essential virtues; adultery and illicit intercourse
will be punished with death by the Mormon code. Both honour and religion oblige
the man whose wife, daughter, or sister, has been injured, to kill the seducer.
It would be foreign to our purpose
to attempt to analyze their religious belief. It is an eclectic compound of
Christianity, Platonism, Brahminism, Mahometanism, and that new spiritual
philosophy, which, under various names, is captivating the superstitious minds
of the nineteenth century. It is peculiarly calculated to satisfy the
aspirations of those who feel a void in their hearts, which Christianity cannot
fill. Like all successful sects, the political constitution of the Mormons is a
pure despotism, the President, or Chief Priest, holding undisputed sway over
the property and persons of his subjects. But according to the testimony of an
apparently trustworthy writer, "There is not (among the Mormons) the usual
man-worship found in the admirers of splendid abilities and achievements of the
founders of religious sects"--"each man watches, with an eagle eye,
that first principles are adhered to, and stands ready to proclaim apostacy in
chief or layman"--and "there seems to be as fair a sample of
intelligence, moral probity, and good [140] citizenship (among them), as can be
found in any Christian community."
Whether Joseph Smith did or did not
deal in imposture, a sect established on such principles as these, and which,
after a struggling existence of twenty years, counts its votaries by hundreds
of thousands, is entitled to something more than sarcastic and contemptuous
sneers. These but add fuel to the zeal of the acolytes; persecution braces
their energies, and strengthens their convictions. While we look on with indifference,
thousands in Europe and America are silently enrolling themselves under the
banner of Mormonism. Where is this to end?
All religions, which have been at
the same time civil polities, have been the work of a single individual, and
have seemed, in their origin, insignificant and ridiculous. Abraham was the
inspired founder of a sect which was destined to become immortal, and to
practice usury and sell old clothes throughout all generations; for many
centuries it was but a family. Egypt fought long against the hardy priests of
Isis; they purchased victory with their blood. Little did Zoroaster think, when
he taught his disciples the pure tenets of his simple faith, that Persia would
one day hold him to be a God, and that his creed would become the established
religion of the empire. Theseus and Romulus founded religions which were also
polities; how petty were their beginnings, how dis-heartening the scorn of
their neighbours? Yet each in turn threatened to subjugate the world. Who has
not heard of or stood in the damp vaults of the catacombs? where the trembling
few, who constituted the elect Christian church, used to meet and pray that
they might be permitted to practice with impunity a novel, harmless, moral form
of worship, which was destined to fill the universe! Thus it has been with all.
Cradled in martyrdom--physical or moral, according to the age--new forms of
belief have grown to puberty, and in the plenitude of their strength have
defied the scythe of time. They are all gone but the tottering Church of
Christ. None was better, perchance, than the other--the chief merit of each
successive creed was its fitness for the times.
How singular, how teeming with food
for speculation, the contrast between Mahomet and Joseph Smith! Both [141] were
men of indomitable energy, vivid imagination, and extraordinary power over the
masses. Both believed a great portion of what they taught, but did not scruple
to varnish their tale with flights of fancy. Both date their mission from a
vision from heaven--the command was given to both by a messenger from God.
Neither attempted to uproot or destroy, but to renovate. Pristine simplicity
was the avowed aim of both; Islamism was an attempt to restore the days of
Moses and Elias; Mormonism looks to the early ages of the Church as a model.
Both Mahomet and Smith sacrifice the social happiness of the female sex to the
interest of the state, by tolerating polygamy. The machinery of both religions
requires the intervention of supernatural beings--genii in the one, angels and
Seers in the other. Both appeal as well to the senses as to the moral
perceptions--the pleasures of conviviality and wholesome ablutions are
inculcated by both creeds. The Koran and the Book of Mormon, acknowledge alike,
one God, supreme, infinite; and from the name of the deity that of his prophet
is inseparable in prayer in both. Many points of resemblance can be found in
the iman of Mahometans, and the articles of Mormon belief. Both look forward to
a millennium of earth, when peace, plenty, and brotherhood shall reign--both
foretell a glorious resurrection, in which the body shall be perfected,
incorruptible. Both inculcate the soundest tenets of morality. Mahomet and
Smith were equally successful in rousing the populace by impassioned oratory; tumults
follow; Mahomet's adherents fly from Mecca; the Mormons are expelled from
Jackson County. The Koreish bind themselves by a league to have no
communication with the new sect; the Presbyterians and Methodists declare that
no reliance can be placed on contracts entered into by Mormons. Dissensions
break out in both camps, Smith is not a whit less energetic than Mahomet in
repressing them, and monopolizing the supreme control. Driven from Mecca to
Tayef, thence back to Mecca, and again forced to fly to Medina, Mahomet staked
his life on the success of his cause. The Mormons--men, women, and
children--are brutally hunted out of Zion in mid-winter--boys of nine years of
age are murdered in cold blood--defenseless men are trod under foot till their
bowels gushed forth; the wearied exiles, [142] hardly obtaining from their
persecutors time to complete the idol of their hearts--their temple, are
banished from Nauvoo, and the merciless enmity of fanaticism is now close on
their tracks in the distant Valley of Salt Lake.
Here the parallel fails. Mahomet,
driven to desperation, unites his little band of followers at Medina, makes a
political question of his creed, and after defeating a thousand men, with a
small force, barely exceeding a hundred, resolves to propagate Islamism by the
sword, conquers invincible Arabia in nine years, and dies, leaving behind him
half a continent of proselytes. Joe Smith, at a time when his martyrdom did
more for his cause than the most brilliant feats of prowess, is savagely
murdered at Carthage. He leaves behind him a devoted band of adherents, sealed
to the faith by their adoration of his memory, and sworn to avenge him. His
successor possesses all the qualities which were wanting in Smith--prudence, foresight,
cautious policy. Mormonism has ceased to be a mere question of religious
doctrine; a political question of his cree its unparalleled growth, its novel
polity, its attractive garb, has already drawn the anxious eye of statesmen
upon the Utah settlement. Men have not been wanting to advocate the entire
extermination of the sect, and experience is rife with examples of similar acts
of fanaticism. Should the blood-thirsty bigots who would extirpate Mormonism,
obtain the preponderance in our national councils, (which God forbid,) the most
desperate valour would be found among the persecuted race. Every spur which can
goad man to heroism--the love of country, of religion, of liberty, the voice of
natural affection, and the supernatural influence of a belief in a divine
mission--would unite to render their armies invincible. On the other side, mean
envy and cowardly persecution are not likely to inspire deeds of daring.
We forbear to speculate on the
probable result. Once already, in times long gone by, the banners of
Christianity and Islamism were unfurled in hostile array, and the faith of the
world depended on a successful charge. Had the prowess of Charles Martel
forsaken him on the plains of Tours, the conqueror, Abderame, would have
overrun Europe, and mosques might now have stood wherever the spires of
Christian churches point to realms above. [143] "History," says the
philosopher, "constantly repeats itself; but each successive revolution is
the birth of a new era."
Mahometanism
and Mormonism
We are not aware of any impurity in
the law of Mahomet; on the contrary, it is particularly strict and temperate;
it forbids even the use of wine, music, and dancing, and all manner of
licentiousness. Perhaps our correspondent's mind is dwelling exclusively on its
polygamic indulgence; but if polygamy be sufficient to blast its reputation for
temperance, in spite of all its other mortifications, it must have an equal
effect on the law of Moses. Indeed, the law of Mahomet is more strict in
respect to marriage than the law of Moses. But though polygamy be adapted to an
inferior state of civilization, namely, barbarism, it should not be forgotten
that it has the effect of preserving society, to a considerable extent, from
one of the grossest and foulest peculiarities of Christian civilization. We are
not aware that any Christian authority, human or divine, has ever said that
Mahometans should not enjoy everlasting life. The Scriptures say that, in every
nation, he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of Him; and
they also say, that there is no name in heaven or on earth by which we can be
saved but that of Christ. But they give us no authority to deny the truth of
the first of these passages, and twist the other into an ungenerous meaning.
The Mahometans are a much purer people than the Jews ever were.
A. Lyman, George S., and
Forget-Me-Not, all treat of Mormon Polygamy. The first two justify it by
quoting the Patriarchs and the Sweet Singer of Israel, the man after God's own
heart; and they say, that surely such men could never have been so highly
favoured if the practice were absolutely immoral. Forget-Me-Not is a lady, and
is deeply concerned at the immorality of the practice, and apparently fearful
of its making progress, if not checked by Scriptural argument; so she labours
hard to make the Scriptures condemn it. But it is not a Scriptural question at
all, any more than slavery; and if we are to be guided by Scripture in these
matters, both slave-owners and Mormon polygamists will have the advantage.
There is no [144] more danger of going back into slavery and polygamy, because
the Patriarchs practiced them, than there is of returning to bestial sacrifices
for a similar reason. Forget-Me-Not may rest content upon the subject, and
suffer the Mormon arguments to fly over her head, like the idle wind that she
regards not. But we advise her not to attempt to force the Bible to speak a
language which it does not speak; this is not candid. We have looked at her
clear passage (Malachi ii, and 16), but it has no reference whatever to
polygamy. It has been supposed that polygamy is forbidden in the 2nd verse of
the 7th chapter of the 1st Corinthians; but it is doubtful. The law, however,
of Christendom forbids it, and the law of nature forbids it, except in exceptional
circumstances, for the sexes are nearly equal in number.--Family Herald. (Mill.
Star 15:533-536)
COVENANTS--A WORD OF
COUNSEL
S. W. Richards,
editorial
August 13, 1853
The Lord has opened up this great
and last dispensation by restoring the Everlasting Covenant to man, and
covenant-making is one prominent feature of the plan of salvation. All
covenants have their obligations, and the faithful discharge of those obligations
brings certain blessings and rewards. But on the other hand, when covenants are
violated, and their obligations dishonoured, penalties, equal in magnitude with
the nature and importance of the covenants that are broken, are incurred.
The blessings of salvation are
received by virtue of covenant. When men covenant to keep the commandments of
God, He gives them of His Spirit; and in keeping the obligations of that
covenant, by receiving the ordinances, a relationship of the most exalted
character is formed. If the individual honours that relationship so as to
obtain the blessings of his covenants, the Lord soon reveals greater blessings
and privileges, which the individual can enjoy in the family by coming under
the obligations of another covenant equal in importance with the honours and
favours to be enjoyed; neither does the principle stop [145] here, but covenant
succeeds covenant, until man, through his faithfulness to them, becomes one
with the Son of God--a joint heir to the kingdoms, dominions, glory, and power
of the Father. It is not attained to in a day, a month, nor a year, neither is
this short life sufficient to possess all things, but the right of them may be
secured by keeping all the covenants of the holy Priesthood, and they are many.
There is also a penalty attached to all covenants, and as mercy and rewards are
obtained by sacredly keeping them, so justice and punishments are as surely
meted out to the transgressor. The punishment attached to the breaking of our
first covenants is the withdrawal of the Spirit of God. The violation of other
covenants would be punishable with immediate death and destruction in this
world, but leaving power to come forth in the first resurrection. Others of
still greater magnitude, if broken, would doom the transgressor to ruin, both
in this world and in the world to come; while others again are of that
magnitude, that, if broken, there is no redemption, but the transgressors of
such covenants become angels to the Devil, and they cannot come where God and
Christ dwell, worlds without end.
To have to do with covenants which
in anywise involve our eternal destiny, is a matter of no small moment. The
covenants and obligations of the holy Priesthood are eternal in their
consequences, and, when entered into with God, and recognized by Him, they are
not only made by virtue of an eternal principle, but they are made with an
Eternal Being.
There are other covenants
administered by this Priesthood, in which man is recognized as the higher
power, while in those already referred to, he is the lesser or dependent one.
The most important perhaps of all these is the marriage covenant.
As we do not here purpose to discuss
the nature of that covenant, suffice it to say, that it is, in principle,
precisely similar to those made with higher beings. The great object of
covenanting with the Lord Jesus Christ, is to become one with him, that each
may enjoy all the blessings, privileges, glory, honour, and power, which either
may be capable of imparting or receiving. The union of the sexes, by virtue of
the marriage covenant, is [146] for the same object and purpose, and entitles
each to all the blessings, glory, dominion, and power, which can spring from
the other, or which can grow out of the union. By virtue of this, they twain
become ONE. Both of these covenants are equally applicable to all beings; and
all who are capable of honouring them, should enter into them, and receive
their blessings, or they cannot attain to a fulness of glory. Otherwise it
would be in vain that those covenants were ever ordained for the use of man.
Now it is because of the folly of
many, that we write concerning the marriage covenant. There are those who
profess to be Saints, and even Elders, (though we speak it to their shame,) who
have families, and who will go about making covenants, privately, with young
women, which they have no right to make, and know not that they will ever be
able to keep. This course is not only directly opposed to the regulations and
restrictions of the laws pertaining to the marriage covenant, but exhibits a
degree of folly which is the fruits of profound ignorance, or a great degree of
wickedness. Such men who would venture upon the privileges and blessings of
such a covenant, without permission from God who ordained it, through His
servant holding the keys thereof upon the earth, would forfeit all claim to its
rights, and inherit a curse. When covenants are made, obligations are created,
and those obligations must be fulfilled, or condemnation follows, and a penalty
is incurred. When covenants are made at a time, and under circumstances, when
the blessings of those covenants cannot be enjoyed, the Devil takes the
advantage of that unwise position, and oft times makes those unlawful
obligations the very instrument of a man's destruction. In this way many have
fallen victims to their own unprincipled conduct.
When men place so small an estimate
upon the marriage covenan t, as to indulge in making covenants with women when
and where no benefits can arise from them, and when they are ignorant of
whether they would ever be permitted to keep them, we look upon such men as
those who would be the first to dishonour such covenants. And we would advise
all good women, both old and young, to be careful how they become ensnared by
such characters. Those who will thus trifle with sacred things, [147] and
indulge in trespassing beyond the limits of their right, in making covenants,
will find those covenants not only a source of trouble, but in most cases they
will result in lasting shame and reproach. How often we hear of the ruin of
both men and women, who have perhaps innocently ventured to tread upon the
grounds of covenant-making, and who have proven it to be but the first step to
their future misery--grounds upon which they were unauthorized to tread, hence
they could not divine the consequences.
It is supposed, by many, that some
Elders who are travelling in the ministry, are entitled to some wonderful
privileges, because they have come from Zion; but we will here admit that our
ignorance is so great, that we do not know of one in the British Isles, who,
having a wife living, is privileged by the law of God to make a marriage
covenant, in public or in private, with any other woman; and we hope none of
the sisters will feel bad because such is the case. It is very common for men
in England to have wives who cannot agree to live with them, but even in such
cases, men are not authorized to make contracts of marriage with other women,
before a lawful divorce is obtained.
We would say, therefore, to all such
men of families, cease your covenant-making with women, which can in any wise
have a bearing upon their future destiny, or yours; if you do not, you will
lose the Spirit, and be brought to shame. This is particularly applicable to
Elders, and if given heed to, they will not get into such a tremendous hurry to
go to Zion, just because they think they can get another wife there. Some men
with lustful desires suffer their affections to be weaned from their
companions, and sacrifice a family, which they ought to cherish as their own
lives, to follow their depraved appetites, which are leading them down to Hell;
and all is done under the cloud of religious liberty, while some women are so
weak as to follow such Elders, and feed their appetites.
The Lord has most strictly guarded
the relationship of the sexes, and He will not suffer such things to be trifled
with, therefore He has said that whoso looketh upon a woman to lust after her,
shall lose the Spirit, and if he [148] does not repent shall deny the faith.
What could be more jealously protected, when, without any outward commission of
crime, which the law could recognize, a man is liable to an apostate's doom!
This is a punishment which the Lord has decreed shall come upon those who thus trifle
with the affections and desires of the human soul. No one need go into the dark
to do his deeds of wickedness, and say "no eye seeth me," nor make
his unlawful covenants in secret, and say, "no one knoweth it;" for
this decree of the Almighty will reach all such cases, and such persons may be
sure their sins will find them out, when the Spirit has forsaken them, and they
are left withered branches--exhibitions of God's displeasure.
Every soul should govern and control
the affections, energies, and powers with which it is endowed. It is the use we
make of the abilities and faculties which God has given us, that determines our
worthiness in his sight. We are mainly prompted by our affections--they are a
wonderful stimulus to all our actions. If the affections are fully controlled,
every motive and desire which springs from the exercise of them, will be pure
and holy; but if the affections are suffered to run out heedlessly, and are
lavished upon everything that may appear pleasing or desirable, the judgment
will be overcome, and reason itself will finally be brought in subjection to
uncontrolled passions.
The love and affections of the soul
should be placed upon those things which are eternal, and from which they need
never be broken off. When this is done, the affection can be developed and
matured, without fear of being destroyed; and hopes of happiness can ripen into
joys unspeakable. When the affections are destroyed, hopes are blasted, and the
soul writhes under the agony of disappointment, until, not unfrequently, relief
is found in a premature death. The experience of many a fond heart, purely
innocent, yet betrayed, and the dictates of wisdom, would say, Love what God
loves, admire what God admires, and honour what God honours. But when woman so
far draws upon the fountain of her soul, as to voluntarily give her eternal
interests and destiny into the hands of any man, let it be to one who is
responsible, and one who will so far requite her love, as to protect her
interests at the [149] sacrifice of his life. Jesus laid down his life to save
the family which was given to him to exalt, and men should not take upon
themselves the responsibility of the salvation of others, with any other
expectation but to do as he has done. If men who hold the Priesthood of God,
duly appreciated their position, we think they would not require to be
cautioned about making covenants; and if women appreciated their dependence
upon men, they would be more careful upon whom they placed it. (Mill. Star
15:536-539)
HAS THERE BEEN AN APOSTASY?
Elder Elias L. T.
Harrison
August 27, 1853
The necessity for the establishment
and existence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints upon the earth,
is to be found in the fact, that previous to its organization in 1830, no true
church of Christ was existing upon the earth, a universal apostasy from that
system having prevailed. This I will proceed to prove.
The word Apostasy, means a departure
from anything that may have been believed or practiced, therefore in order to
prove an apostasy from the Church of Christ, we must first establish clearly
what order of organization or practice constituted that Church. Then if there
has been a universal departure, or apostasy, from that system, it will be
self-evident, and will require but little comment.
The Church established by Jesus
Christ was chiefly distinguished by the following characteristics--its
organization; its claims; and is proceedings, including its government, and
some peculiar internal evidence which flowed as results of the system.
Its organization was not an
accidental arrangement of its parts, but consisted of a beautiful and orderly
distribution of powers and authorities. Apostles stood at the helm, and steered
its course over nations and countries. Under these came Seventies, Evangelists,
Bishops, Elders, Teachers, and Deacons. These officers were not merely nominal,
but their appointment is stated, by Paul, to have been "for the perfecting
of the Saints, for the work of the ministry," and for "helps and
governments."
[150]
These authorities sustained the same relative importance and use to each other
and the members of the Church, that the members of the human body so gloriously
combined are found to sustain. As the human tabernacle, when tenanted, presents
a splendid amalgamation of powers, senses, and energies, all subservient to one
will, so did the above organization exhibit a union as perfect, a combination
of parts as essential for the existence of the whole, and a subserviency to the
will of the Head, as complete as those manifested in the human system, and this
sufficiently to entitle the Church to call itself the "body of
Christ."
The above is indisputable, all the
organization quoted is on record in the New Testament.
I will now produce its claims. These
were--that its authorities were the representatives of God upon the earth, and
to reject or receive them was to reject or receive the Almighty.--Matt. x. 40;
that it held power to open the Kingdom of God, and admit believers, and, in
certain cases of transgression, to reject the transgressors from the Kingdom of
God, and deliver them over to Satan.--1 Cor. v. 5; 1 Tim. i. 20. It claimed
power to bind on earth, and to have the same bound in heaven; to loose, with
the same effect--Matt. xvi. 19; to remit sins, or retain them--John xx. 23; to
impart the Holy Ghost to believers, by the laying on of hands--Acts viii. 17; 1
Tim iv. 14; and to cast out devils--Mark xvi. 17; in a few words, it spoke and
acted like Jehovah upon the earth, and asserted for itself that it was the
"pillar and ground of the truth"--1 Tim iii. 15. Here were claims and
authority worthy of its organization, and stated in so many words in the
Scriptures referred to.
It is usual to oppose these truths,
by stating that the Scriptures from which the inferences are drawn, are
ambiguous texts. But these are false statements, made to diminish the force of
Scriptures too plainly proving the apostasy of the opposers, to be palatable.
What more ambiguity is there in the words, "Whosoever sins you remit they
are remitted, whosoever sins you retain they are retained," than in the
words, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved?" The fact of
the matter is, men have found it impossible to apply such words to [151]
themselves, or the miserable imitations called churches, to which they have
belonged, and consequently they have been driven to the choice of either
acknowledging the existence of Scriptures that confounded themselves, or of
hiding up the passages from view or consideration altogether, by dubbing them
"ambiguous."
Having briefly examined the
organization and claims of the ancient Church, I will now draw attention to its
government and procedures.
Its government was by the officers
before-mentioned, acting directly under the counsel of the Almighty. Continual
revelation was its constant guide, in fact such wondrous powers and authority
could not be managed by any men without continual revelation to guide them, for
it is easy to see, that to invest men with such powers, and then to leave those
men to themselves, and to shut up the fountain of revelation, would be to give
the world over to priest craft and damnation. This view of the case upsets the
pretensions of the revelation-denying Church of Rome, who, while she claims
infallibility, denies the very means by which alone she could be instructed and
controlled in the use of power and authority; about as reasonable an idea as
that of giving a gun into the hands of a blind man, and allowing him to shoot
with it!
Here, then dear reader, I have laid
before you three prominent features of the church established by the Son of
God, the case has been fairly stated without any exaggeration for the purpose
of effect. And now I ask, did such a Church, with such an organization, such
claims and authority, such a mode of procedure or government, exist on the
earth previous to the rise of the Church of Latter-day Saints. The answer must
be, from Roman Catholics, No! from members of the Church of England, No! most
emphatically, No! and as the Dissenting sects bear even less resemblance, on
the points named, to the ancient Church, their answer must be even a louder No!
than the others'!
Should this be disputed, I will
compare, and take the first particular, that of "Organization."
Where, I ask, can the counterpart of this be found? Will it be amongst either
of the three above-mentioned systems? It is an indisputable fact that they
cannot exhibit it.
[152]
How little these churches look like the Church of Christ, when placed by its
side! Hear one and then the other on the subject of organization.
Church of Christ. "God hath set
some in the Church, first, Apostles; secondly, Prophets; thirdly, Pastors and
Teachers, helps and government," &c.
Church of Rome. "God hath set
some in the Church, firstly, Popes; secondly, Cardinals; thirdly,
Bishops," &c.
Church of England. "God hath
set some in the church, firstly Archbishops; secondly, Bishops; thirdly, Deans,"
&c. &c.
Dissenting Sects. "God hath set
some in the Church, firstly, Traveling Preachers; secondly, Local Preachers;
thirdly Class Leaders, Deacons," &c.
Much alike, dear reader, are they
not? It is not a curious thing that all people, especially Latter-day Saints,
should be so blind as not to see the similarity between ancient and modern
churches!
Supposing, to help the Protestant
Churches out of the difficulty, we adopt their oft-repeated dogma, that
"not singly, but together, they constitute the Church of Christ;"
then, as neither party acknowledges the pre-eminence of either of the other,
over its own peculiar head, it will read thus--"God hath set some in the
Church, firstly, Popes, Archbishops, and Traveling Preachers; secondly, Cardinals,
Bishops, and Local Preachers; and, thirdly, Bishops, Deans, and Class-leaders!
How the resemblance is increased!
How beautifully they amalgamate together! If Paul were alive now, would not he
have scope for his eloquence, in comparing the above systems, which by bands
and joints are so firmly (?) knit together, to the human body which is thus
united? Will not that man who resists the statement that modern churches are
continuations of the one established by the Son of God, be under condemnation,
when they are so evidently (?) alike?
It must be allowed, on all hands,
that as far as organization goes, there has been a universal apostasy from the
ancient system. Now if such an order or arrangement of authorities, endowed
with such powers, was essential in the infancy of the church, when its' numbers
were few, it must be so now that the Church is [153] supposed to have increased
its boundaries, swell its numbers, and to be carrying operations in all parts
of the globe.
We must either allow the above, or
believe the following absurdity --that God, after devising and instituting a
well organized system of government in His Church, while small and limited in
its operation, removed this orderly and effective system as soon as the church
became enlarged and complex, and left it to hit upon and follow any form of
organization that might suit its fancy.
Now for the claims and authority of
the ancient Church, the bare pretension to some of which, by the Church of
Rome, has branded it with infamy in the eyes of Protestants. I need not ask
whether a church possessed of the claims and authority of the ancient Church of
Christ is in existence now, for did I want to conjure up a nightmare that would
frighten all modern Christianity into fits, I should have only to portray the ancient
Church with its assumptions and assertions of authority, and tell them that
such a Church has been restored to the earth in these days. They would cry,
Blasphemy! Blasphemy!
Compare the authority-denying and
doctrine-speculating sects, in their decisions and pretensions, with the
Apostolic Church, in its declarations--"It hath seemed good to the Holy
Ghost and to us"--Acts xv. 28,. "We deliver such a one over to Satan.
Whosoever sins we remit, they are remitted; whosoever sins we retain, they are
retained. Whatsoever we bind on earth, is bound in heaven; whatsoever we loose
on earth, is loosed in heaven. He that receiveth us, receiveth Jesus Christ;
and he that receiveth not us, receiveth not Jesus Christ, nor the Almighty who
sent him!"
On reviewing the claims and
authority of the ancient Church, compared with modern systems professing to be
identically the same, we are compelled to admit that the dissimilarity, in both
organization and powers, is too great for any sane person to think there exists
any connection between the two! The modern bear evidence of being of the earth
earthy, contemptible, puerile, and inefficient; while the other carries with it
an air of majesty, divinity, completeness, and perfection, worthy of its
designer and establisher--God!
[154]
With regard to the mode of procedure and government, I am saved the trouble of
making a comparison here, for modern churches could not be insulted more than
by charging them with being governed and conducted in the same way as the
ancient Church--by inspired men, invested with the powers before-mentioned,
guided, controlled, and directed by immediate and direct revelation.
Here, then, dear reader, to
establish the point, that there has been a complete apostasy from the Church of
Jesus Christ, I have laid before you three prominent features of that Church,
and have shown an entire departure from that system on all three points. The
Church of Rome alone can claim a resemblance on one point--that of declaration
of authority, but I have shown that to reasonably possess this, she should be
able to show that she possesses continual revelation to herself, for her guide;
without the assistance of which she could not wield such tremendous powers.
The case, then, stands thus--if
Jesus Christ's Church existed on the earth, it was with a different
organization, bereft of all its sublime claims, and conducted in an entirely
different manner to what it was anciently. Such a miserable apology for a
Church, Jesus Christ could never expect any one to recognize as belonging to
him! Therefore, should it turn out by any means to be the case, notwithstanding
the vast difference existing, that Catholic or Protestant systems apart, or
together, constitute the true Church, I say, no one could ever be condemned for
rejecting them, for how could we be supposed to know that churches so unlike
Jesus Christ's belonged to him, unless he had told us so! For if he has so
frightfully altered his Church from the original pattern, that no one can
recognize it, and has done it without giving even a hint that such an
alteration might be expected, he alone is responsible for any ill effect, such
as disobedience, that may occur in consequence.
But, perhaps, Jesus Christ
authorized some one thus to transform his Church? Then who received the
revelation by which it was done, and by what signs or wonders did God give
evidence to the world that He approved of the alteration? Modern Christians
teach us [155] that all fresh revelation ought to be attested with miracles and
wonders!
Jesus Christ ushered in the Church,
delineated in the Scriptures. What mighty Prophet introduced the churches
delineated in the creeds and formulas of modern Christianity? The answer must
be--no Prophet introduced them. But an evident alteration does exist! Then it must
have been done by men without Jesus Christ's sanction or recognition, and
consequently all modern churches are apostate systems, the blighting, withering
curse of confusion attends them; and, therefore, a necessity did exist for the
establishment of such a Church as that professing to be the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, and an affirmative answer must be given to the
question, "Has there been an apostasy?" (Mill. Star 15:561-564)
OBEDIENCE
By Elder John Hyde,
Jr.
September 17,
1853
Obedience
is a subject that cannot too much occupy the attention of man, although,
generally speaking, the world are inclined to treat it with neglect. Obedience,
in the world, is rather impulsive than conscientious. Men do not do right for
the love of right, and hate evil for its own hideousness, but the fear of
punishment, rather than affection for rectitude, holds many from transgression.
This is a fact that our every day experience will prove to be true. From the
earliest infancy to the most decrepit old age, the vast majority of men are
deterred from the commission of sin, by fear of the punishment that will ensue.
Childhood dreads to disobey its parent because of that parent's frown. Youth
fears the ridicule and contempt of the world. Manhood remembers there is a
future; . . . rather than the love of virtue, have produced obedience. The law
of nature, codes of penalties, and the rules of society are formed on this
principle.
Obedience denotes the existence of a
law, a law implies the existence of a law-giver. Who has a right to enunciate
laws for the government of man? is a question both interesting and important.
It is an incontrovertible [156] fact, that where no right to exact obedience is
acknowledged, and where no power to enforce it exists, all must be approaching
anarchy and confusion. While man has passions, the gratification of which would
injure his fellow-man, and has not sufficient love for himself or for humanity
to restrain his passions, then laws are necessary to restrict and intimidate
him. If man desires to obtain certain blessings or rewards, these blessings are
only to be obtained by obedience to certain laws. Politically, man is bound to
obey the laws of his country for the benefit of his compatriots; religiously,
he is obliged to conform to certain rules for his individual advantage. On
disobedience to those political laws, the penalty will be inflicted; on
disobedience to those religious laws, the punishment will ensue. Men say, that
to transgress a human law would be folly, because of its effects in this life;
then to transgress a divine law is far greater folly, because of its effects in
eternity.
Who has authority to enunciate laws?
Is a question, to which the world, from the foundation of society, to this age,
have endeavored to frame a reply. To have laws, there must be lawgivers; for
those laws to have influence, there must be penalties; for those penalties to
be inflicted, there must be authorities. The Patriarch in the desert, like
Abraham, was one of the most anciently established authorities; his family, and
his flocks around him, swaying an influence without control or appeal; at one
time deserting Hagar in the desert, at another, arming his males to pursue the
kings, or at another time circumcising them. The shepherd kings of the east
followed, who having united several tribes, or families, governed the whole.
Such was Melchisedec, king of Salem, High Priest of God. Further on, we see
several kings leaguing together for mutual support; or their subjects revolting
against them, and creating republics, similar to the republics of Greece; or
one mighty spirit, such as Alexander of Macedon, subjugating the whole, and
erecting an empire. From the patriarchal, from the monarchical to the
republican, from the republican to the despotic, men have essayed to discover a
reply to the question, who has authority to enunciate laws? From the family
council in the tent of the Patriarch, to the assembled synod in the halls of
the [157] republics, have proceeded statutes, and from the palaces of despotism
imperative mandates--however, it is not my intention to inquire into political
authority, ancient or modern, but into the necessity of obedience to the
commandments of God.
No reasoning mind will dispute the
authority of God to give laws for the government of man. The Creator of the
world by His limitless intelligence, omnipotent power, and infinite mercy, is
entitled to command, and man is bound to obey. It is according to all
principles of philosophy, that the wise can direct the ignorant. The wisdom of
God is everywhere demonstrated--in every atom of dust, in every blade of grass,
in every ray of light, and in every particle of vapor. The gentle dew drop
imperiling the flower, or the mighty ocean engulfing the island; the animalcule
discovered only by the microscope, or the giant megatherium; the rolling
pebble, of the revolving world, all proclaim the unutterable majesty and
infinite wisdom of their Creator. By His wisdom He is able to govern, by His
power He is able to sustain. Would not disobedience to so great a Being be the
acme of impotent folly?
Many of the anticipations for the
future are to be obtained from the history of the past. Let us examine history,
and try to find what have been the effects of disobedience. At its birth, the
world rolled from the hands of its Creator, teeming with beauty, and abounding
with the principle of life, unblemished by one stain, unmarred by one defect.
Infinite wisdom regarded the creations of omnipotent power and pronounced them
"very good." Man was installed upon this globe. The symmetry of his
person, the adaptation and fitness of its parts, the loveliness and grandeur of
its proportions were great and glorious. Created in the image of God, formed
and fashioned after the likeness of His lofty model, the companion of angels,
receiving instructions from the high intelligences of heaven, who had obtained
their knowledge in the councils of eternity, visited by, and conversing with,
Jesus Christ, Adam stood noble and pure upon this once fair earth.
He sinned, he disobeyed the one law,
and fell. And what a fall! from life to death! The dark veil of obscurity [158]
was dropped between God and man; the world, rolling so gloriously near the
source of all light, was hurled back into the abyss of darkness; man was
ejected from Eden, and the garden of God was taken from the earth; the sea
burst its barriers, and commenced to form channels, continents, and isles; the
brute creation forgot their love and union, and began to war on each other.
Such were the first effects of disobedience on the earth.
Where God has had a Church upon the
earth, or has sent inspired Prophets to proclaim messages to man, He has ever
inflicted judgments the most summary and complete on those who refused to obey.
In the days of Noah, the world had waxed unclean and abominable, all flesh had
corrupted its ways. Enoch had preached, and endeavored to establish Zion on the
earth, but the earth was too foul for the purity of his principles, and he was
translated with his band of noble and unyielding spirits. God gave Noah a
revelation to proclaim the destruction of the wicked. He accomplished his
mission amid the scorn and contempt of a contented world. They rejected Noah.
Where are now the millions that once peopled the earth? Destroyed, and even the
foundations of the globe have been broken up, and we are forced to sink into
the seeking of geology to find a buried remnant of a passed world. The
principle of death has entered yet more largely into the elements of the earth,
and man, who used to number his centuries, now withers at three score years and
ten, a victim of disobedience!
At a period still posterior in the
history of man, we can discover a manifest example of the effects of
disobedience. Lot inhabited Sodom, the Sodomites had become filthy and
abominable, the Lord declared vengeance against them. Warned by angels, Lot
advertised his neighbors of their danger. They rejected Lot! Now where is
Sodom? Where the theater from scenes so horrible, the stage for a judgment so
just? Destroyed by fire from heaven, and, as if earth herself was moved in
anger against crimes so monstrous and foul, she has opened her bosom, engulfed
the calcine remnants of those cities, and shed a dark and noisome tear upon the
spot they occupied, for over their entombed ruins the Dead Sea now spreads her
sluggish waters, as though the ground [159] cursed by sins so execrable should
never again be the abode of man.
The children of Israel were driven
by famine into Egypt. After centuries had rolled away, the Egyptians began to
oppress and enslave them. God raised up a deliverer in Moses. The Egyptians
despised and rejected him. By signs and by wonders were demonstrated the
consequences of disobedience--the fire of pestilence was kindled, and plagues
raged among the rebellious; armed with full authority for the execution of his
dread mission, the destroying angel went forth; a wail ascended to God, that at
the same time was the dirge of their dead, the song of Israel's triumph, and
the thundering testimony of the fearful effects of prolonged rebellion.
The Israelites departed, but still
pursued by their relentless persecutors, guided by a pillar of fire by night,
and shielded by a pillar of cloud by day, they crossed the Red Sea, and saw
there the salvation of God, and the destruction of their enemies. The sea
closed upon them, and the rushing of its released waters was the requiem of the
fading power of Egypt. What is Egypt to-day? Where is the famous splendor of
the once magnificent Thebes? Where the rich luxury of the once grand Memphis?
They have passed away, and with them almost all of Egypt's glory!
There is one thing remarkable in the
history of the Jews--every nation fell, that rose against them. Where now are
Babylon, Ninevah, and Rome? Fallen, to rise no more. We should ever reflect
that these are the effects of disobedience to the commands of God, and or
persecution of His chosen people. Dynasties have been established, the
subverted, tyrants have sprung forth to tread the iron heel of despotism on a
subjugated world, glorious spirits beaming with intelligence, have tabernacled
among men, shedding a halo of light on surrounding darkness, but neither the
prowess of the one, nor the wisdom of the others, could save their feeble
systems that rose to fall, and were born to die.
From this brief examination of
history, we learn the necessity of obedience to the commandments of God. If we
wish a system to stand, its foundation must be true. Those systems whose
principles were most true, have survived [160] the longest. We also learn that
every nation which oppressed or persecuted the people of God was blotted out
from the page of human existence, and also those who refused the message which
that people brought.
We are told that in the last days,
God would establish a kingdom that should never be subdued, but stand for ever.
When that kingdom is established it will be incumbent on all men to receive it.
To establish the Kingdom of God, in the days of Noah, it was necessary to give
revelations, and inspire a Prophet. And Jesus declares that "as it was in
the days of Noah, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of man." In the
day of Noah, men were warned by Prophets, the obedient were saved, and the
rebellious destroyed, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of
man. If obedience was necessary then, it is also requisite now. If disobedience
was visited by judgments so summary and complete then, it will be visited with
equally summary and complete judgments now. Jesus Christ also predicted that as
it was in the days of Lot, so it should be in the days of his second coming.
The Lord sent angels to warn Lot, who had just sufficient time to escape from
the judgments by which the rebellious Sodomites were destroyed, so will it be
in the dispensation of the fullness of times. Prophets like Noah will be raised
up, angels like the visitors of Lot will be sent, the obedient will be saved,
but the warning will find its terrible accomplishment in the ruin and despair
of the rebellious and disobedient.
What! demand the world, will you
contend against the nations? We have nothing to do with governments, our motto
is love, and our weapon is truth. Antediluvians were destroyed, yet Noah and
his seven companions were shut in the ark. Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed
while Lot was a fugitive. The Red Sea engulfed the Egyptians, while the
children of Israel only beheld it. Babylon has passed away like a dream, the
Jews were mourning in captivity, and the Mede and Persian were their
deliverers. The Roman empire was destroyed, and the Jews were dispersed and
broken; Alaric, Sicambre, and hordes of north men were their avengers. The Lord
has used the nations as a scourge for each other. The Prophet of the last days
has been killed, the blood of his brethren has [161] been shed. Was there
deliverance for the Jews in the dispensation of justice, and shall there not be
succor for the Saints in the dispensations of justice and mercy combined?
Verily yes!
But if obedience be so necessary,
the world must hear and have the opportunity to obey! This Gospel of the
kingdom, said Jesus, shall be preached to all the world for a witness. The
Apostles and Seventies of this Church, will accomplish this prediction.
Regardless of trials and suffering, they will mingle with every nation and
people, and preach true liberty and proclaim salvation to the oppressed sons of
the earth. The king of his throne, the president in the senate, the rich in
their mansions, or the poor in their hovels, all will hear and all have the
opportunity to obey. The furthest corner of the globe will not be too remote,
the deepest valley will not be too profound, for the Elders of this Church in
the exercise of their boundless charity.
Already the progress of the
principles of truth has commenced to astonish the world. Born as of yesterday,
they have gone to half the earth, been proclaimed in America, the British
Isles, France, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and the Isles of
the Pacific, &c. Already the Book of Mormon is translated into English,
French, Italian, Danish, German, and Welsh languages.
To conclude, from these few rambling
remarks we learn that not only Scripture, but history also manifests the
necessity of obedience, and the impotent folly of rebellion; that God by His
position of Creator, has the right to govern, us, and make laws; that His
wisdom is infinite and His power uncircumscribed; that wherever God has had a
Church upon the earth, it was necessary to obey the inspired Priesthood
presiding in that Church; that God has ever punished disobedience with
judgments, summary and complete. The natural conclusion of all this is, that as
God has now a Church on the earth, it is presumption and madness to neglect,
danger and peril to rebel! Already we hear of the judgments of God, harbingers
of His advancing kingdom, making their presence known and felt. The greatest
nations and mightiest empires have fallen, fallen in their presumption and
pride. Already we [162] hear in this age also of subverted thrones,
extinguished dynasties, crushed altars, prescribed princes, and expatriated
nobles; terror has commenced its work. The only hope is in obedience to the
commands of God, the only deliverance is in His kingdom. Amen. (Mill. Star
15:613-617)
DREAMS, VISIONS,
TONGUES, etc.
S. W. Richards, Mill.
Star editor
September 19,
1853
It is a glorious privilege of the
Saints of God in all ages, to receive knowledge and intelligence from God, by
means of dreams, visions, tongues, &c. The Saints of old received
intelligence through these channels. Prophets and righteous men have sought
information from the eternal worlds, and in dreams and visions of the night,
and by the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit, have had unfolded to them scenes of
the past., the present, the future, have had their minds enveloped in the glory
and sublimity of eternal realities, and have been cheered, refreshed,
strengthened, and prepared for the emergencies of life.
Whether mankind realize the matter
or not, still it is true that these gifts and blessings--these channels of
instruction, and communication with inhabitants of other worlds, are appointed
of God for the benefit of those who wish to be instructed of Him. And although
a majority of mankind ridicule such things, still it is on record that in these
"last days" in which we live, men are not to be denied or deprived of
these blessings, where they are sought for from a fervent desire of learning of
the things of God. Joel, speaking of the latter times, plainly declares that
"it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all
flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall
dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; and also upon the servants and
upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit." And thousands
of Saints can testify that that Spirit is poured out, and that dreams and
visions, tongues and prophecyings, are now bestowed upon the children of men,
opening to their delighted view the glorious work of God in this last
dispensation, instructing [163] the mind in principles long lost sight of by
the sons of men. This is calculated to cause the soul to rejoice, and to return
thanks to the Great I AM, for these fresh manifestations of His mercy to the
workmanship of His hands.
By dreams and visions was Joseph
shown his own exaltation and the humble attitude in which his father's house
would present themselves before him, though at the time of receiving his dream
he was hated by his brethren, and was afterwards sold by them into bondage.
Daniel, in night-vision, had unfolded to his view the grand events of the future--the
rise and fall of kingdom, and the persecution and final triumph of the Saints
of the Most High. By vision was Ezekiel shown the resuscitation of the dry
bones, or, in other words, the restoration to the favour of the Lord, and the
resurrection, of the whole house of Israel, and also the coming forth of the
stick of Ephraim in the last days, and its union with the stick of Judah, and
the influence which this union should have in turning the hearts of the
children to the knowledge of their ancestors. By dreams was the life of the
child Jesus saved from the direful jealousy of Herod. By a vision was Peter
shown that Gentiles as well as Jews were entitled to the blessings of the
Gospel. By vision was Paul, when sailing for Rome, instructed that himself and
fellows would not be swallowed up by the angry waves of the mighty deep, and
also by vision was revealed to his understanding the transcendent glories of
the third heavens. By vision was this last dispensation opened, and by the same
means did the Prophet Joseph gaze upon the untold glories of the celestial,
terrestrial, and telestial worlds. But time and space will not permit us to
tell of the dreams and visions of Lehi, Nephi, Alma, the brother of Jared, and
of the Apostles and Elders of this last dispensation. Many of the visions and
dreams of these worthies are noted in records now extant, from which our
readers can learn, at their leisure, further particulars.
Should visions, dreams, tongues,
&c., be sought after now by the Saints? Certainly Saints should earnestly
contend for these things, but it should be done wisely. These gifts of God are
invaluable means of instruction. They were intended, and are calculated, to
prove blessings of a higher order than men are naturally prone to seek [164]
after. But all blessings, great or small, are invariably accompanied with
corresponding snares, of which the Saints will do well to take heed.
When blessings are poured out in a
remarkable degree upon a people, that people, unless they are very careful, are
liable to become puffed up in their hearts, and to lose that spirit of humility
and consistency which should characterize the Saints of God. It is quite true
that, although the heavens are full of blessings, and the Almighty is ever
ready to bestow them upon the persons who ask Him for them, but multitudes of
mankind are not prepared to receive them. Were certain blessings to be bestowed
upon people who are not prepared to receive them and who cannot appreciate them
sufficiently to apply them with judgment and wisdom to the circumstances of
life, the minds of such people would speedily be overbalanced, their stability
would fail, and they would become unfitted for their ordinary duties. In such
cases, the blessings given would not in reality prove blessings, they would
prove curses, and, instead of being instrumental in saving the receivers, would
prove instrumental in condemning them. Jesus said to his disciples--"Give
not that which is holy unto dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."
This parabolic advice illustrates the probability that exists of men's abusing
blessings which they are not able to appreciate, and not only the blessings,
but the bestower of the blessings also. Paul acknowledges the danger of a man's
being lifted up in his heart, because of the blessings poured out upon
him--"And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of
the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of
Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure."
Although it is the privilege and
right of all the Saints to receive intelligence by dreams, visions, tongues,
&c., yet such intelligence should be of that character which will be
instructive, and edifying, and peculiarly suitable to the circumstances of the
receiver. Though a Saint has a right to receive revelations, by dream or
vision, for his own guidance in the performance of duties pertaining
particularly to his own sphere, yet no Saint [165] has a right to receive
revelations to guide, or control, or dictate, the movements of those who are
higher in authority than himself. If this were allowable, there would soon come
an end to all order in the Kingdom of God, and the splendid confusion of sectarianism
would be manifest, distracting the minds of the honest in heart. Brigham Young
has the right to receive intelligence by dream, vision, &c., to instruct
him in the important duties of his high calling, and to guide the whole Church
of Christ upon the earth. But no other man upon the earth has the right to
receive revelations to dictate to Brigham Young, what he shall teach, and how
he shall act. The President of a Mission has a right to have dreams and visions
to instruct him in the duties of his Mission, but no man under his charge has
the right to obtain dreams or visions to dictate to the President of the
Mission. The President of a Conference has a right to get dreams or visions to
instruct him in his duties, but no man under the President has any right to
have dreams or visions to dictate to his President. The President of a Branch
has a right to obtain dreams or visions to instruct him in his duties, but no
other member of that Branch has a right to dictate to him through receiving a
dream, or vision, or the gift of tongues. The father of a family has the right
to receive revelations to instruct him in guiding and governing his family, but
neither the wife nor any of the children of that man has a right to dictate to
him in the guidance and governance of his family. The wife or children have the
right to have dreams or visions for their own instruction and benefit. Every
man and woman has the right to obtain dreams, visions, tongues,
interpretations, and as many of the gifts of the Spirit as he or she can for
his or her individual instruction, but no man or woman has a right to receive
these things to dictate to those who may be set over him or her in the Lord.
Neither should men, filling a responsible Presidency be influenced in
discharging their duties, by dreams, tongues, and visions, given through
members over whom they preside. The Lord does not step out of the order of His
Kingdom, to reveal to a President important duties, through a member, if that
President is honouring his calling, any more than He makes water naturally run
up hill. When a President has more confidence in [166] communications received
through those whom he should instruct, than in his own ability to get them by
virtue of his office, he dishonours his calling, and evidently has so far lost
the spirit of it, as to distrust the Lord. When this is the case the Lord will
soon leave that man to his own strength, that his folly may be made manifest by
his tumbling into the ditch himself, perhaps with some he was leading. Intelligence
is good, from whatever source it may come, but when a man looks down for light,
he must possess strength of vision sufficient to look up, and not allow the
rays from below to counteract the influence of those from above, otherwise his
light will become darkness.
We would exhort the Saints to
cultivate the gifts and manifestations of the Spirit, for every Saint may
receive a manifestation or manifestations to "profit withal." But
wisdom should ever be exercised in the use of these gifts, or the Spirit will
become grieved, and take its departure, leaving those who possessed it, a prey
to the "signs and lying wonders" of him who, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. The Saints should seek to purify
themselves before the Lord, and be prepared to receive the revelations of the
intelligence and glories which are to come, so that they may be neither exalted
above measure in the day of prosperity through the blessings they receive, nor
fail in their hearts in the day of adversity through their weakness, and the
unwise use which they may have been tempted to make of the manifestations of
the Holy Spirit. The gifts of God are not bestowed upon men for vain boasting,
or rebellion, or lording it over God's heritage, but for the especial profit,
instruction, edification, and strengthening and building up in faith, of those
who may receive them, that the Priesthood may be thoroughly furnished unto all
good works, and that the Saints may be able to overcome, and endure unto the
end. The gifts and those who use them should ever be in subjection to the
presiding power. (Mill. Star 15:600-602)
[167] Concluding Conference
Remarks
Brigham Young, October
9, 1853
Reported by Thomas Bullock
General Conference, 2 pm
President Young wished the
Latter-day Saints to hearken to this counsel, viz. --
We will now bring our Conference to
a close. I wish the Latter-day Saints to hearken to the counsel they receive
from time to time, and especially to the counsel I will now give to all the
Latter-day Saints in this house, in the valleys of the mountains, and all who
are scattered among the nations of the earth. I ask one thing at your hands,
and that is, to live your religion day by day.
The religion we profess is the
religion of the Lord Jesus Christ; a religion of revelation, ministering of
angels, and the power of God on the people, through the ordinances of God. My
counsel to all Saints is, TO LIVE THEIR RELIGION. If they do, they will live
watchfully, prayerfully, and humbly; and their hearts will be filled with
compassion one towards another, and they will seek to do good all the days of
their lives; and when an evil is presented to them they will shun that evil,
and will cleave to that which is right before the Lord; otherwise they will
bring a disgrace upon themselves, and dishonor their religion. This is my
counsel to all Saints, and I wish you to carry it from this Conference to your
neighbors, and spread it abroad throughout all the Churches of the Saints, upon
the face of the whole earth -- LIVE THE RELIGION YOU PROFESS.
You may say, "Brother Brigham,
will you fellowship men who do wrong?" Well, suppose Brother Brigham does
fellowship evil doers for a season, exercising long-suffering and mercy towards
them, he does not fellowship their evil actions. God has mercy upon us, and we
should have mercy on each other. Let us honor our God, our religion, our
profession, and our being on the earth, and we may be proud of our religion,
for it is the only thing on earth that is worthy of the pride of the heart of
man, it is the only thing we have any knowledge of, that is worthy the
attention of intelligence.
[168]
I have felt very thankful for this interview we have had; and if we are blessed
of the Lord, when our next Conference convenes, we will have a place large
enough to accommodate all the people, where all can be seated, and see, and
hear. This we will do, if the Lord will.
You may inquire what we are going to
do. Simply to occupy a portion of this ground which is being enclosed by the
wall, pave it nicely, rear timbers properly prepared, and make a canopy over
our heads with our wagon covers, &c., and put in our benches, and then all
can sit down comfortably. This will put an end to the little conferences that
are held by numerous individuals around this house, who cannot be accommodated
with seats. We hold a General Conference here, but outside there are numerous
Conferences and caucus meetings. We will endeavor to have a place where we can
have our councils and caucus meetings together. I wish to say one word in
behalf of brother Cyrus H. Wheelock. While he was telling you his dream, and
his feelings on arriving at this place, I wanted to testify in his behalf, and
say, he has come home with his heart pure, he is clean and pure; as he saw in
his dream, HIS SHEET WAS CLEAN.
I wish all the elders who go abroad
would come home in the same manner. Now and then one does. Some few come home
with clean shirts, and others return with their garments spotted.
Do you ask if I mean you? If your
own conscience condemns you, I shall, and so with the Lord. Those who have
white shirts know it for themselves; and those who have got spotted shirts,
will come to me and say, "Is my shirt clean?" To every man who comes
to me, saying, "Brother Brigham, do you think I have come home clean and
pure?" my answer is, YOU HAVE NOT, but your eye has been like the fool's
eye, at the ends of the earth. You have committed some wickedness, your mind
has become darkened, and you have been left to yourself until you have done
things which are a disgrace to you.
Let men come home with the Holy
Ghost on them, with the Spirit of revelation in them, do they want to know of
me, or any other person, if they are pure? They know they are pure, as well as
the angels know. But it is a [169] sure sign that a man is impure, when he
doubts in his own mind. I shall not single out any person but Brother Wheelock.
Be sure THAT A MAN WHO DOES NOT KNOW HE IS PURE, IS NOT PURE.
I could tell you a great many
foibles the Elders of Israel are guilty of. For instance, suppose a man goes
abroad preaching the Gospel, and tries to fill his mission as well as he can,
but as quick as he is out of the meetings of the Saints, or has done bearing
testimony of the truth to the world, and is alone, his mind is in the Valley,
and with a heavy sigh he exclaims, "I wish I was at home with my dear wife
and children." The Lord would not give a straw for such a man; his whole
soul should be engaged in the work at which he is laboring while in the
vineyard.
Let no man ever go out into the
world to labor as a minister of Christ, and leave his spirit at home. When the
power of God is on a man, he mows the earth as he goes, and gathers his sheaves
continually, gathering around him kindred spirits. He cannot speak or pray
without gathering spirits of his own kind.
When I find my kindred spirit, a man
or woman, who possesses the Spirit of the Lord, I am acquainted with that
person, and feel as though we had been acquainted a long time ago. These are
the men who will do good, and will never lack friends, for they will find them
here and there already made, and they will prove friends indeed. My mission is
to go and make more friends besides the ones I have at home, and gather up the
wheat from among the tares, and search out Israel wherever they are.
I wish to say a word now with regard
to Israel and the Gentiles, treated upon in an able and eloquent discourse by
Elder P. P. Pratt, touching the privilege of the Gentiles numbering with
Israel. Nine tenths of those who come into this Church are the pure blood of
Israel, the greater portion being purely of the blood of Ephraim. Joseph was a
savior to the house of his father, and will be to whole house of Israel in the
last days. We are Israel, we are already a portion of that venerable house.
Those who are Gentiles in our midst, have numbered themselves with Israel
through the ordinances of the Gospel, and all the Gentiles who will come in the
future can be adopted, and [170] become Israel, for Israel has been scattered
among the people, and, nationally speaking, all are Gentiles.
You will never see a man called to
preside in the Priesthood of God on the earth who is not purely of the blood of
Abraham. You may set every man down to be a pure descendant of Abraham, who
holds a position in this Kingdom, and holds the keys of, and officiates in, the
ordinances of the Holy Priesthood. Either God has not called him, or he is a
pure offspring of faithful Abraham. When strangers and aliens are talked of, we
talk of Gentiles.
I can see no necessity for going
through any particular form or ceremony in drawing this Conference to a close,
and I will say, the Conference is now adjourned to the 6th of April, 1854, at
10 A. M., to meet on this block, if the Lord will.
Benediction by President Young.
(Mill. Star 16:51-52: DNW 3:75)
A Synopsis of Brigham
Young's
Address to the
Missionaries
Deseret News, October
9, 1853
I have a few remarks to make to the
missionaries, I consider all the elders of this Church, missionaries, and I
will here say that every man who is clothed with the Priesthood can magnify it
while cultivating the earth, or following any other useful occupation, as well
as in preaching the gospel to the nations; for while an elder is diligent, and
by his labor produces man, and beast, he is administering life and salvation.
An elder magnifies his calling, has a right to bless his land, his fields, his
crops, his flocks and herds, his wives and children; he has a right to heal the
sick, and cast evil spirits out of man or beast. If any of his family or
animals are sick, he has a right to lay hands upon them, and heal them, and to
do all things which are right and lawful, but a man without the Priesthood has
not the legal right to do these things.
Now how is it with you, ye elders of
Israel? Do you magnify your calling in all these things, or do you take the
name of God in vain, and curse, lie, and steal a little? And when the devil
gets into your animals, do you partake [171] of the same spirit, and go to
fighting them, or do you cast the devil out of them? I leave you to judge.
When you first received the gospel,
and the light of eternal truth beamed upon your understandings, would you then
have cursed, swore, stolen, lied, or done any evil? No, these acts would have
caused you to shudder, but when your light begins to fade, and walk a long time
in the twilight, you begin to stumble a little, and after a time you can commit
much evil, and sleep easily over it. It is time for such to cry unto God to
have mercy upon them.
Were you going on a mission to the
opposite portions of the globe, and about to leave all, with no one to lean
upon but God, you would seek unto Him all the time, and when your missions are
given to you near home, if you cease to trust in God, and to call upon His name
with the same diligence as you would in a foreign mission, you will do but
little, if any good, and your missions will be in vain; and I warn you, that if
you do not fulfill this mission with an eye single to the glory of God, and
with a view to save Israel and the souls of men, that if your minds are upon
your farms, houses, lands, and families, you will find your garments soiled;
they will not be spotless. If you do not feel disposed to devote your time and
attention to your missions, you had better say, "brethren, please excuse
me," for you had better stay at home, unless your whole soul is in the
work.
I wish to say a few words concerning
the gathering of Israel, for my mind reaches forward, when I contemplate the
promises of God unto them, and the nations of the earth will accomplish the
will of the Lord without observing His hand in their operations. I will ask,
who in Nauvoo would have left that city, provided they could have stayed there?
No one; but we were driven to this place to fulfill the will of God. Joseph
tried to get access to the remnants of Jacob, and the people greatly feared,
lest we should preach the gospel to them. Could we have preached to the
Lamanites, if we had stayed in Nauvoo? No, we could not, but the people have
driven us to a place where we can do much more good, than we could have
accomplished by remaining in Nauvoo; they have driven us into the midst of the
Lamanites, where we can preach the gospel unto them.
[172]
It has been remarked that I have said there would be a railroad built from the
States to this Territory by the year 1861; now all the union are in favor of a
Pacific railroad, and when it is built our brethren from abroad can come here
without walking, as many are now compelled to do.
I wish the elders to be faithful
upon this mission, and much good will be accomplished, and if any elder is not
faithful in the mission assigned to him, let him be chastised, and if he does
not repent let him be cut off from this Church.
The elders have esteemed it a great
privilege to be sent to foreign nations to preach the gospel, and have, in a
message, seemed to forget the poor, ignorant Lamanites who surround us, and are
in our midst, at our own doors. They are a remnant of the House of Israel, they
are of the seed of Abraham, and the Book of Mormon, and all the prophecies
concerning that people declare that the gospel shall be preached unto them, and
we have it to do, and it is time for us to begin. This work is upon you; you
are sent unto the Lamanites, and to accomplish this mission, you cannot live in
your fine houses as you now do, but you must live with them, teach them, and
counsel them in all things, and be on hand to do them all the good that lies in
your power. If you cannot bring your feelings to a willingness to do this, and
cheerfully leave all for the purpose of saving this branch of the House of
Israel, you had better say, "let me be excused, and stay at home."
Your first business will be to
civilize them, teach them to work, and improve their condition by your utmost
faith and diligence. Every elder, who is now called unto this work, should
immediately commence to learn the Lamanite languages. Go to Bro. D.B.
Huntington and take lessons, and I hope soon to see a hundred good interpreters
where we now have but one.
When you go among the Lamanites deal
with them honestly and righteously in all things. Any man who cheats a Lamanite
should be dealt with more severely than for cheating a white man. An Indian
thinks it no sin to steal, or to kill his enemy, because he has been taught
from his childhood that there is no harm in it, but on the contrary, that it is
a brave act. Not so with the white man, [173] he has been taught from his
infancy that it is wicked either to steal, or kill, except in self-defense.
Walker will not kill a white man, nor go on a stealing expedition to California
until he offers sacrifice to his God, then he thinks he is doing right, and the
reason he has not done more of his war on the southern settlements is because
he could get no answer from his God. Had it not been for this, and the faith of
this people, he would have destroyed those settlements before this time. I am sorry
that some of our brethren have been killed by the Indians, but am far more
sorry that some of the Indians have been slain by the brethren. I have often
said, and I say again, if any person is to be killed for stealing, let that one
be a white man, and not an Indian, for white men know better, while Indians do
not, and you must lay aside your angry feelings toward them, and cease wishing
to kill them.
Now go to work, you elders of
Israel, fulfill your callings, magnify your office, get the Spirit of the Lord
and of your mission, begin to save the Lamanites, and not destroy them, for
they are of the House of Israel, and the blessings of God will rest upon you,
and I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. (Des. News, Oct. 9, 1853)
Foreign Missions
S. W. Richards, Mill.
Star Editor
November 12, 1853
The past year has been fraught with
many important events, connected with the spread of the Gospel among the
nations of the earth. The laudable exertions, in various countries, of the many
Elders, will be looked upon by them with lasting pleasure, and will serve to
heighten their joys, and hopes of an eternal reward. But a few short years have
rolled away since the Prophet Joseph heard the heavenly angel commanding him to
see that the Gospel of the Son of God, as declared to him, was carried to every
nation, kindred, tongue, and people, that the end might come. He commenced the
work this wonderful message dictated to him, with all the zeal and energy of
youth, fired by the inspiration of heaven. We can now gaze upon the scene which
the wide world presents, and behold "Mormonism" and its advocates
marching, with an [174] unwearied tread, upon almost every land, while even the
world around, proclaiming the power of truth which has once more descended from
above. Such has been the success of the Elders of Israel, who have gone forth
to open up foreign missions, declaring Joseph and Brigham to be God's Prophets
unto man, that a wondering, astonished world are compelled to admit that the
influence and power which sustain them are more than earthly; that the sword,
the bayonet, the blazing torch, and the excited prejudice of the multitude,
have all been used in vain to arrest the alarming progress of a work which
those men have power to control. This fact has not become so apparent, that the
many thousands of Saints, scattered almost the world over, are filled with that
unshaken confidence in each other and their God, which only heaven-born truth
can plant in the hearts of men. With which inconceivable delight those heavenly
messengers must be filled, to whom were committed the guardianship and keys of
this last dispensation, as they witness the blessing of Omnipotence upon that
work which is destined to become a kingdom, and fill the whole earth; while
even the earth itself conspires with heaven to bless her sons who only seek the
happiness of men, and the glory of their God.
We have observed, with no small
degree of interest, the course and policy of those who have been engaged the
past year in opening up new missions, the signal success which has attended
some fields of labor, and the resistance offered to Elders in condition of the
governments of the earth presents many important considerations to those Elders
who are endeavoring to spread Gospel truths among them. Those considerations
are so varied that no general rule could be applicable to all countries, for
introducing a message so revolutionizing as the Gospel message! But from our
own trifling experience and close observation we shall venture to offer a few
suggestions upon that course which appears to us most universally adapted to
the accomplishment of the desired object.
"Mormonism" is exceedingly
unpopular among almost all classes of people, where it has not been correctly
represented; and "Mormon" Elders, in a strange community, are but
little less so. Under these circumstances, where free toleration does not
exist, almost all [175] applications to the authorities, for liberty to
publicly disseminate the Truth, have been denied the Elders. Scarcely anything
better could be expected under the circumstances. Most governments in the old
world are becoming more and more sensible of their weakness. The utmost
vigilance of officials is barely sufficient to suppress the spirit of
insurrection that is so universally diffused among the people. This spirit is
daily threatening the peace of many nations, and only seeking an unguarded
moment, to make one universal wreck of thrones and powers now tottering upon
the very verge of ruin. Rulers, in very many instances, well know that the
hearts of their subjects are alienated from them, and are only subject to them
through fear, and under these circumstances every thing that is calculated to
excite or agitate the public mind, must be avoided. This is the rulers' only
policy to lengthen out a few short days their political existence, which is
their sole ambition. The petty tyrannical power that has been so successful as
to fasten its galling yoke upon the necks of enough to support it, is by no
means inclined to suffer its honors and titles to be extinguished, while it has
no other prospect but to wear the yoke itself. The people therefore must be
forced into subjection, and no one must be allowed to have influence among
them, unless that influence tends directly to strengthen the political
administration, and fasten it stronger upon the people. This is the policy of
most governments.
An Elder, therefore, bearing the
Holy Priesthood, and wishing access to the people, is at once denied. He
advocates the right of Messiah to reign over the children of men. His errand is
to publish the liberty of the Gospel, which makes men free indeed. His message
may not be known by those who thrust him out, and deprive him from having
access to the people, thousands of whom would hail his message with delight, as
the dawn of salvation to them; but the spirit which is in them is sensible when
it comes under the influence of the Holy Priesthood, and consequently resists
it. Having almost unlimited control over mankind, it operates instinctively
through them to resist the good, saying to him who administers the Law of
Righteousness, "We will not have thee to rule over us." Such is the
spirit which has been [176] universally manifested towards the Elders when they
have applied to authority, for permission to come publicly before the people.
This policy, to get before the
people, having been generally unsuccessful, the question arises--what other
policy can be adopted? The old adage may serve to answer the question--"If
you cannot do as well as you would, do as well as you can." If an Elder is
sensible that he cannot obtain public privileges, he may perhaps effectually
accomplish his object through a patient use of his private advantages, and in
many continental countries this appears to be the only hope of introducing the
true Gospel plan to the people. To depend upon making personal acquaintances,
when going into the midst of strangers, requires more time and patience, but is
often the most sure way of obtaining those public favors which are so
desirable.
There are but few places where an
individual with proper credentials is not allowed to visit as long as he
pleases, mingle with the people, and make as many acquaintances, both in high
and low circles, as is agreeable to him, so long as he does not excite the
public feeling, or take a stand which directly attracts the attention of the
authorities. When these common advantages are improved, and friends obtained in
respectable society, an Elder's power and advantages are increased in
proportion, and he may soon be able, assisted by the influence of his friends,
to urge his suit for public advantages, with success. When an Elder has
obtained friends, he has laid the foundation to his future labors for the
happiness of men, and the honor of his God. The hearts of men must be secured,
before the Gospel, which is the power of God, can be imparted to them. The ears
of the people constitute the highway to their hearts, and there are but few
places where they cannot be reached in a private capacity, while the public ear
is as strictly guarded by authority, as the Tree of Life was in the garden by
the flaming sword.
During our late visit to the
continent, our own personal observations fully confirmed our previous views,
formed by carefully observing the policy which has been pursued in opening up
many new missions the past year, [177] which views were, that in many countries
the liberty of public preaching could not reasonably be expected until the road
had been paved to it by private exertions, even where the letter of the law
guaranteed such liberty. To urge a demand even for the liberties of the law,
has often proved extremely prejudicial to all future operations of such Elders.
In some cases Elders are now laboring under great difficulties, and are barely
able to maintain their position, because of first introducing themselves to the
notice of the authorities, who not only denied them their requests, but most
jealously watched them ever after, while the law guarantees to them every
liberty they could wish. These Elders might perhaps be succeeded by others, who
could enjoy much greater liberties, simply by avoiding notoriety. When a denial
is met with from authority, all that is accomplished must then be by private
exertions. The fact of an Elder's having received that denial, prejudices the
minds of the people, and excites the vigilance of the police; difficulties
arise almost insurmountable, exertions prove futile, and perhaps the field is
entirely abandoned.
Some of the most successful missions
have been established where private introductions have been obtained from one
grade of society to another, affording the Elders a favorable opportunity of
establishing an unquestionable character for purity of motive, and peaceful
intentions, until they have applied for a public position in society and
obtained it by almost universal approbation of the authorities. This position
once gained is certainly an enviable one, and affords great advantages for
doing good. It is a lawful right, a universal privilege of the Elders, to gain
the confidence of all good and honest persons as fast as they can get access to
them. None are more worthy of that confidence that those who bear the Holy
Priesthood, and seek to administer life to the people. It is for this purpose
that God has conferred authority upon them, that they may have power over the
hearts of the children of men, to lead them in the way of righteousness, and
bring them home to God. An Elder naturally feels that it is his right to gain
friends wherever he goes, that he is sent forth into the world for that
purpose, and as fast as they are gained, to use them for the [178] extending of
God's glorious work. Herein he gets honor to himself, and glory to his God.
It has afforded us unspeakable
pleasure to hear, so frequently, such favorable tidings of the work abroad, and
we have watched with prayerful anxiety, the interests of foreign missions, as
well as that more immediately under our care. The work of the Lord is as dear
to us in India, the Continental countries, and the distant Islands, as in Great
Britain; and our suggestions and counsel, which have been given to the Elders
abroad from time to time, either in public or private communications, were only
to be used where they might be deemed appropriate and beneficial. It is for the
same object these suggestions are given, to be used where they may prove
advantageous, without dictating to those whose circumstances we cannot fully
appreciate. Most of the Elders now laboring in foreign missions are of our
personal acquaintance, and we would assure them of our most sincere favor and
regard, which we do not express by private letter as often as we could wish,
because of our multiplied and incessant labors. (Mill. Star 15:744-747)
The Perpetual
Emigrating Fund
S. W. Richards, Mill.
Star Editor
November 19, 1853
The Perpetual Emigrating Fund was
founded by the Holy Priesthood in Zion, through the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost, for the gathering of the Lord's poor from all nations to the home of the
Saints. The signal success which has characterized the Fund's operations so
far, shows that it is destined to become one of the grandest instruments which
the Lord will employ for the redemption of Israel from the curse of scattering,
which has, for thousands of years, prevented their union and progress as one
nation in the land. We cannot but entertain the most sanguine anticipations of
the operations of this Fund in ameliorating the condition of many honest souls
now groaning in Babylonish exile, and also in building up Zion. We are well
aware that the interests of this Fund are fostered with warm anxiety, and
lively [179] concern, by the authorities in Zion. And we know that the Saints
generally look upon the Fund as the "hope set before them" Many an
anxious eye, that has strained itself to weariness in trying to catch a glimpse
of that "good time coming," when the fetters of Babylon would be
broken, and the way to Zion be opened, is still tearfully and supplicatingly
directed to this Fund as the only probable means of accomplishing the desired
salvation. Many a Saint, poor, afflicted, and distressed, will yet turn to the
Emigrating Fund as to the guiding star to a better land; as to the day-spring
of hope, fore running brighter times; as to the chariot of salvation, sweeping
the earth to hail the abodes of oppression and wretchedness, and to bear the
poor and meek of the earth to Zion, to participate in the blessings of the
Lord's house, and to inherit the fat of the land.
Here is a subject worthy of the
purest and most philanthropic sympathies of the soul, and upon which the most
princely generosity may safely expend itself. The deliverance of the excellent
of the earth from sectarian strife and confusion, and grinding poverty, to a
land where truth, light, intelligence, and competence are within reach of the
earnest and diligent, is surely a subject worthy of more consideration than a
passing thought. Eternity alone will tell the magnitude and importance of such
a subject.
Then what ought to be the actions of
the Saints in supporting this Fund, and thereby enabling it to operate with
accelerated power in gathering the poor? Ought the Saints to stand still, and
not put forth a helping hand to aid this Fund, around which so many anxious
desires and hopes are gathering? No. The Saints know full well that it is their
privilege and duty to lay to with their might, and throw in their farthings,
their pence, their shillings, their pounds, to nerve with financial strength
this great instrument of the gathering. And we are glad to find that the
Saints, generally, are not slack to put their shoulders to the wheel, and help
roll on the purposes of Jehovah. "God helps them that help
themselves." And if the Saints set to with all diligence, and strengthen
the fund by all possible means, many years will not elapse before not only the
Gentiles, but also the Saints, will look with [180] wonder and astonishment, on
what the Lord will have wrought--
"Till every Saint's relieved,
and sinner stunned,
Will shout--Look here! at this
Perpetual Fund!"
But, although the Saints have done
well, generally, we apprehend that much more might be done. The bulk of the
donations which have been heretofore made to the Fund, have been the scrapings,
and small, hard savings of the poor, and the very-well-spread silver or gold of
the rich. But there is a class of Saints who probably do a little, but might do
a great deal, to the Fund, if not with immediate advantage, yet with little or
no disadvantage, to themselves, and with immense advantage to the church as a
whole.
There are many Saints who cannot, for
a number of years, raise sufficient money to enable them and their families to
go to Zion, but can save one, two, three, four, five, or more pounds per year,
merely by frugal living, and without suffering any special privation. Suppose a
Saint has six souls in his family, and by their united exertions they can only
save six pounds per year, twelve years or more would be required to emigrate
the family. Now twelve years is a long time to wait. The money as it
accumulates is resting in the family bureau, or, at most, put out to usury
among the Gentiles, to say nothing of the contingencies of the twelve years,
and the probable drawbacks which circumstances might make upon the family. Now
supposing this family contributed their six pounds annually to the Fund--at the
end of two years, one person might be emigrated; at the end of four years, two
more of the family might be emigrated--one by the refunded money, the other by
the exertions of the remaining portion of the family here. Now half the family
are emigrated to where their advantages for earning money can reasonably be
supposed to have increased, so that at the end of six years the three remaining
members of the family can be conveniently emigrated, and while they are
performing the journey, those in Zion could have [181] a comfortable home in
Zion, simply by availing themselves of the advantages offered by the Perpetual
Emigrating Fund. While, otherwise, the whole family might have been lingering
out a miserable existence in the midst of wickedness of Babylon, for the space
of twelve years. During this twelve years, that family might not be able to
survive the desolating scourges, the pestilence, the famines, the wars, and
civil commotions, which are to be witnessed as the judgments of God upon a
rebellious world; and to leave their remains behind, without having received
those ordinances and blessings necessary to an eternal exaltation, would be a
source of lasting grief. The advantages of gathering home to Zion the earliest
possible moment, both in a temporal and spiritual point of view, must be
obvious to the reflecting mind of every faithful Saint. The necessity of doing
it is so great, that neglect would incur the displeasure of God.
In considering this subject we
cannot look upon it as being a matter of individual or family interest alone,
but as involving the present and future happiness of all Saints. We will
therefore suppose all the Saints in the British Isles to be but one family. No
member of that family should cherish individual interests at the sacrifice of
the general good. The interests, happiness, and prosperity of every faithful
Saint, are supposed to be equally sacred in the sight of God, whose children we
all are. If God attaches the same importance to the interests of all those who
are equally faithful, then each member of the great family should regard
another's happiness as his own, and ever consult the general welfare. In this
we can see the utmost propriety of the Apostle's saying, "Let no man seek
his own, but every man another's wealth."
Now let us make a more extensive
calculation, considering as one family all the Saints in the British Isles, who
wish to emigrate, and number them, independent of those who are rich and able
to help themselves, at 30,000 souls. We will adopt a moderate calculation, and
suppose that,. by their industry and frugality, and the liberality of the rich,
they are enabled to average only one pound each per annum, here we have as the
result of the first yearŐs effort the snug little sum of L30,000. This amount is
supposed to emigrate, by the first year's [182] operation, one twelfth of the
great family, which would be 2500 souls.
A mighty effort must be made before
the work is accomplished, and no time could be more suitable to make it than
the present. Let the Pastors, Presidents, and traveling Elders make a few
mathematical calculations upon the subject themselves, and see if they cannot
gain texts and inspiration from them, so that something practical can be the
result--something that will cause the heart of our Father in heaven to rejoice
over His children upon the earth, and Satan to rage for the loss of his
wide-spread dominion.
Come then, brethren and sisters,
fellow workers with us in this Last Dispensation, let us sustain the Perpetual
Emigrating fund with all our surplus money, with our faith, with all the
energies of our souls, and, though your poverty and oppression may be great,
you shall be delivered therefrom, and made free indeed; though you are now
mourning exiles in the midst of Babylon, you shall ere long rejoice in the
abundance of peace, in truth, on the land which God your Father shall give unto
you for an everlasting possession. (Mill. Star 15:753-756)
Indian
Difficulties
S. W. Richards, Mill.
Star Editor
November 19, 1853
In our last, we furnished our
readers with the latest news received relative to the Indian troubles in Utah.
We learn, however, that discontent among the red men is not confined to that
territory, but that it is becoming universal among those western districts.
Washington territory, various portions of California and New Mexico, present
scenes of commotion among the savage tribes and their civilized neighbors. This
state of things in the West, and the fearful gloom of war in the East, are only
ominous of the inauspicious future, which is admitted, by almost all believers
of sacred prophecy, to be at our very doors, and known to be by Saints who are
acquainted with Jehovah's purposes. It is impossible to look upon the prophetic
future with other than the most serious concern. The Lord declared through His
Prophet Joseph, that peace [183] should be taken from the earth; that war
should be poured out upon all nations; that the remnants who are left of the
land of America should marshal themselves, and becoming exceedingly angry,
should vex the Gentiles with a sore vexation; that these things should burst
forth to make an end of wickedness upon the earth.
It is in view of these things that
the cry has been heard, both long and loud, for the Saints to gather, that the
wisdom of God through His servants might be exercised for their defense.
The Prophet Isaiah also gazed upon
this critical period of the world, and he saw no deliverance until he beheld the
work in which the Saints are now engaged--"Until the Spirit be poured upon
us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field
be counted for a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and
righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall
be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever. And
my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in
quiet resting places." It is to realize and fully enjoy what the Prophet
has here spoken, that the Saints gather, and convert the wilderness into a
fruitful field; it is because righteousness shall remain there, and there shall
be peace and assurance for ever.
Jeremiah saw the day when Judah should
flee to the "defensed cities" for refuge, but Ephraim is honored of
God to take the lead of the latter-day work, and his cities are being defensed
with walls for a cover. The promptitude and energy evinced in the movements of
President Young and seconded by the people, in preparing for the temporal
salvation of the Saints, indicate the importance to the approaching day. The
Saints have nothing to fear so long as they unitedly co-operate with those to
whom God has given the keys of prophetic vision and power. He has said it was
His business to provide for His Saints, and when they require it, the scourge
is as easily provided as the blessing. Both are necessary to purify the people.
Even now let Ephraim, while he may,
go forth and build, and dwell in defensed cities; let the Saints arise and go
forth to increase the strength of the Lord's house, and let not the manifest
fulfillment of His purposes, cause any [184] one to turn either to the right or
to the left, for all which is spoken of by the mouths of the Prophets must be
fulfilled. Jacob is the Lord's battle-ax and weapon of war, and by him He will
break in pieces the nations, and destroy kingdoms; and if we have evidence that
the work is already commenced, let Saints redouble their diligence, and flee
for the wrath to come, before the enemy is found in the way.
The sound of the hammer is again
heard upon the walls of a Temple. Nothing seems to excite so effectually the
rage of man's spiritual enemy. Past experience proves that he is determined to
avail himself of such an event to stir up the hearts of the children of men to
shed blood. The present indicates that his power is not yet taken from
him--that the devil is not yet dead. To avoid his contentions and destroying
influence, which he will pour out upon the wicked without measure, let Saints
cleave to the law of the Lord, and work righteousness, and they shall be
delivered; fear shall only seize upon the hypocrite. Those who never do wrong,
never yield themselves to a tyrant, their peace is undisturbed, the world
neither gives it nor takes it away. Whatever may be the scenes through which
the Saints pass, they glory in beholding the hand of their deliverer and their
God in all things.
We rejoice when we contemplate the
condition of the Saints in Zion, and behold the wisdom manifested in every
movement of those mighty men, who alone on earth are able to dictate salvation
to the people, for the eventful future. Notwithstanding those difficulties
which are present seem to exist in Utah, we are assured that all is well, and
that God will liberally provide for every emergency of His people, while every
succeeding year will prove more and more eventful, to the establishing of His
kingdom upon the earth. (Mill. Star 15:760-761)
Adam, Our Father and God
Brigham Young
(from the Journal of
Discourses)
Mill. Star, November
26, 1853
My next sermon will be to both Saint
and sinner. No thing has remained a mystery in this kingdom up to [185] this
day. It is in regard to the character of the well beloved Son of God; upon
which subject the Elders of Israel have conflicting views. Our God and Father
in heaven, is a being of tabernacle, or in other words, He has a body, with
parts the same as you and I have; and is capable of showing forth His works to
organized beings, as, for instance, in the world in which we live, it is the
result of the knowledge and infinite wisdom that dwell in His organized body.
His son, Jesus Christ has become a personage of tabernacle, and has a body like
his father. The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of the Lord, and issues forth from
Himself, and may properly be called God's minister to execute His will in
immensity; being called to govern by His influence and power; but He is not a
person of tabernacle as we are, and as our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ
are. The question has been, and is often, asked, who it was that begat the Son
of the virgin Mary. The infidel world have concluded that if what the Apostles
wrote about his father and mother be true, and the present marriage discipline
acknowledged by Christendom be correct, then Christians must believe that God
is the father of an illegitimate son, in the person of Jesus Christ! The
infidel fraternity teach that, to their disciples. I will tell you how it is.
Our Father in Heaven begat all the spirits that ever were or ever will be upon
this earth; and they were born spirits in the eternal world. Then the Lord by His
power and wisdom organized the mortal tabernacle of man. We were made first
spiritual and afterwards temporal.
Now hear it, O inhabitants of the
earth, Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner! When our father Adam came into the
garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of
his wives with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is MICHAEL,
the Archangel, the ANCIENT OF DAYS! about whom holy men have written and
spoken--HE is our FATHER and our GOD, and the only God with whom WE have to do.
Every man upon the earth, professing Christians or non-professing, must hear
it, and will know it sooner or later. They came here, organized the raw
material, and arranged in their order the herbs of the field, the trees, the
apple, the peach, the plum, the pear, and every other fruit that is [186]
desirable and good for man; the seed was brought from another sphere, and
planted in this earth. The thistle, the thorn, the brier, and the obnoxious
weed did not appear until after the earth was cursed. When Adam and Eve had
eaten of the forbidden fruit, their bodies became mortal from its effects, and
therefore their offspring were mortal. When the virgin Mary conceived the child
Jesus, the Father had begotten him in his own likeness. He was not begotten by
the Holy Ghost. And who is the Father? He is the first of the human family; and
when he took a tabernacle, it was begotten by his Father in heaven, after the
same manner as the tabernacles of Cain, Abel, and the rest of the sons and daughters
of Adam and Eve; from the fruits of the earth, the first earthly tabernacles
were originated by the Father, and so on in succession. I could tell you much
more about this; but were I to tell you the whole truth, blasphemy would be
nothing to it, in the estimation of he superstitious and over-righteous of
mankind. However, I have told you the truth as far as I have gone. I have heard
men preach upon the divinity of Christ, and exhaust all the wisdom they
possessed. All Scripturalists, and approved theologians who were considered
exemplary for piety and education, have undertaken to expound on this subject,
in every age of the Christian era; and after they have done all, they are
obliged to conclude by exclaiming "great is the mystery of godliness,"
and tell nothing.
It is true that the earth was
organized by three distinct characters, namely Eloheim, Yahovah, and Michael,
these three forming a quorum, as in all heavenly bodies, and in organizing
element, perfectly represented in the Deity, as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Again, they will try to tell how the
divinity of Jesus is joined to his humanity and exhaust all their mental
faculties, and wind up with this profound language, as describing the soul of
man, "It is an immaterial substance!" What a learned idea! Jesus, our
elder brother, was begotten in the flesh by the same character that was in the
garden of Eden, and who is our Father in Heaven. Now, let all who may hear
these doctrines, pause before they make light of them, or treat them with indifference,
for they will prove their salvation or damnation.
[187]
I have given you a few leading items upon this subject, but a great deal more
remains to be told. Now remember from this time forth, and for ever, that Jesus
Christ was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. I was in conversation with a certain
learned professor upon this subject, when I replied to this idea, "if the
Son was begotten by the Holy Ghost, it would be very dangerous to baptize and
confirm females, and give the Holy Ghost to them, lest he should beget
children, to be palmed upon the Elders by the people bringing the Elders into
great difficulties."
Treasure up these things in your
hearts. In the Bible, you have read the things I have told you to night; but
you have not known what you did read. I have told you no more than you are
conversant with; but what do the people in Christendom, with the Bible in their
hands, know about this subject? Comparatively nothing. (Mill. Star 15:769-770)
Our
Father Adam
The extract from the Journal of
Discourses may startle some of our readers, but we would wish them to recollect
that in this last dispensation God will send forth, by His servants, things new
as well as old, until man is perfected in the truth. And we would here take
occasion to remark, that it would be well if all our readers would secure a
copy of the Journal of Discourses as it is issued, and also of every standard
work of the Church; and not only secure these works, but attentively read them,
and thoroughly study the principles they contain. Those of the Saints who fail
to obtain the standard publications of the Church, will not be likely to prove
very intelligent Saints, and will be very liable to wake up some day and find
themselves wonderfully behind the times, and consequently will not be able to
stand the day of trial, which will come upon all the world. Without the
intelligence that comes through the Holy Priesthood, the Saints cannot gain
salvation, and this intelligence is given in the various publications of the
Church. Who then will endanger his salvation by being behind the times? Not the
wise, certainly. (editorial, Mill. Star 15:780)
[188] The Morality of the Latter-Day
Saints
Contrasted with the Immorality
of Their Accusers
Elder Joseph Hall
December 3, 1853
Long and loud, and in tones of
thunder, has been the voice which has rung in the ears of the public, and
terrible have been the charges of immorality against the Latter-day Saint. There
is not a crime scarcely in the long "black list" of which we, as a
people, are not guilty, if our accusers tell the truth. Newspapers have been
crowded, pamphlets have been filled--nay, volumes have been written and
multiplied, until the publisher's shelves have groaned beneath their lying
burdens. So fearful, too, have some writers of these falsehood been, of their
copyright being borrowed or stolen that they have secured it by an entry at
"Stationer's Hall."
Not only has the Press labored long,
hard, and incessantly, but the Pulpit also has been indefatigably employed in
the same ignoble cause. The reputed "man of holiness" has exhausted
himself, in his attempts to horrify his attentive, listening audience, with
accounts of the crimes of the "Mormons." He has indulged in the most
bitter, acrimonious feelings in his animadversions on the Latter-day Saints. If
the parson tells the truth, we are the most degraded, wicked and licentious
people that exist upon the face of the earth. And, according to his pious
notions, we ought not to be allowed to live in moral and virtuous society!
But is his reverence well informed
upon the subject on which he treats? Is he well, and personally, acquainted
with the history of the people he denounces? Have all, or any of the crimes he
charges upon us, come under his own observation? Has he sought carefully, and
even prayerfully, to make himself acquainted with our true history? Alas, no!
But he is lamentably ignorant of the true character of the people he so foully
and wickedly falsifies!
The press, the pulpit, and the
platform, have done their utmost to destroy an innocent people. They have
exerted all their influence, but in vain, to prevent the spread of truth. If
they have succeeded for a time in throwing a veil over it, that time has been
but very brief. [189] Like the sunshine after a storm, the truth has burst
forth with additional luster, power, and brilliancy. So it will continue to do.
No matter what the malice, the hatred, or the envy of the priest may attempt, the
true character of the people he seeks to traduce will appear, and will be seen,
and read, and duly appreciated by all honest men.
With our accusers, I have a
word--with loud boasting Christendom! And when they have read in a few words
their own character, and have been judged to of their own mouths, I should
think they would set a seal upon their lips, and never say a word against the
Latter-day Saints again.
I shall here say but little of the
multitudes of murders, accounts of which inundate the newspapers of the present
day, and which now excite but little attention, because they are so common.
Our daily records, too, teem with
accounts of seductions, rapes, adultery, beastiality, and other kindred crimes.
But says one, these crimes cannot be charged upon Christianity. They are
committed by the lawless, the wicked, the profane, and the vulgar. But let it
be remembered that the man of prayer, with black coat, and white neckcloth,
does not soar so high above these corruptions as to be clean from them. Hence
we see in the police reports--"A clerical beast;" "Seductions by
a clergyman, and attempts to procure abortion;" "clergyman charged
with exposing his person," &c. &c.
Prostitution pours its black
torrents down every street in our towns and cities to such an extent, that
modesty is chased before it like the dew before the morning sun! And this
crying sin has filled the coffers of many a now rich landlord! Hear a toast
given by one of these gentlemen, at a public dinner in London, "The
Publican's best friends--the prostitutes of London!" Virtuous (?)
landlord! Is it not rich? Does it need any comment, or does it not speak for
itself?
"Out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaketh." Then this man must have a foul, wicked, filthy
heart!
The savage, ferocious, brutal
conduct of men towards their wives, whom they have sworn to love, cherish, and
protect, is not peculiar to the law and vulgar. The more [190] refined,
intelligent, and the educated, have partaken of the same spirit. We also see
the perfidy of wives towards their husbands, the evil examples parents set
before their children, the disobedience of children to their parents, parents
pouring the most horrid invectives and curses upon their children, and children
rising up, and instead of blessing, cursing their parent's gray hairs; no
kindred tie to bind or seal "the heart of the fathers to their children,
and the heart of the children to their fathers;" each member of the family
filled with hatred, envy, and malice towards each other; seeking not each
other's happiness, but injury. And all this, too, in the heart of Christendom!
I will now make a few annotations
from printed documents. Dr. F. Winslow made the following startling disclosures
at a public meeting in London--"In London alone, out of a population of
2,350,000 there are--
Children
trained to crime 16,000
Receivers
of stolen good 5,000
Gamblers
by profession
15,000
Beggars
25,000
Thieves
50,000
Drunkards
30,000
Habitual
gin-drinkers 180,000
Persons
subsisting by profligacy 150,000
________
Total 471,000
Thus in the emporium of the
Christian world, we have the above sum of four hundred and seventy-one thousand
souls steeped in crimes, many of them sins of the most heinous and damning
nature. And this is considered a very moderate estimate. Now, gentle reader,
here is a picture for you to contemplate, in spite of the thousands of
religious houses and teachers, with their archbishops, bishops, clergy, and
school masters. You would search a long time before you would find a
corresponding amount of crime, and number of criminals in Salt Lake City,
amongst the "immoral Mormons." I do not stop now to say anything
about the other large towns and cities in pious England. I will continue to
quote. Hear [191] first a lamentation of the conductors of public schools,
after many years experience--"Our beloved schools are retrograding; 2,033
persons are directly engaged as teachers; but juvenile depravity is more than a
rival for that number. The system has failed to retain the affections of the
elder scholars. Their services are lost to the school. Too often they are heard
of no more. At present the condition of most of the schools resembles that of a
body diseased. Out of 9,960 in various county prisons, in this country, 6,261
have been trained in Sabbath schools. The number of boys admitted into the New
Bailey House of Corrections, from 1842 to 1849, were one thousand and fifty--of
this number nine hundred and seventy-seven attended Sunday schools, and seven
hundred and fourteen attended day and night schools. One master of a large
school in London complains that out of one hundred scholars ninety-one had
become drunkards. Another complains, that out of seventy-four scholars forty
had become drunkards. Another says, of sixty pupils thirty are drunkards. One
writer states, that on visiting a "Singing Saloon," he saw a number
of youths, male and female, seated at a table, some with their long pipe, others
with their "glass" or "jug;" and no less than fourteen of
these were members of the "Bible Class!" "These sinks of
iniquity," says he, "are thronged with Sunday scholars." There
they sat listening to the most obscene, disgusting, ribald songs and speeches!
A number of other members of the "Bible Class," who had attended
school twice, and divine service at chapel in the evening, were seen romping
through the streets at night partially intoxicated, (having called at a
public-house on their way home,) and singing, "There is a happy
Land!" and others chiming in, "Holy children will be there!"
&c. What lasting, savory influence did the instructions they had that day
received make upon their minds! None at all. One of two things is certain.
Either the words did not come to them "with power in the Holy Ghost, and
with much assurance," or the children are reckless and hardened. Whichever
way it is, it is very bad, and shows the dreadful condition of society.
Another gentleman states that out of
431 unfortunate females in the "penitentiaries," 311 of them were
scholars, and 15 of them were teachers in schools. Thus, it appears, [192] that
the time and labor of their instructors were entirely lost.
Such also, is the raging desire for
intoxicating drinks, that six judges, and the same number of clergymen
(magistrates), have one complaint. "There is scarcely a crime comes before
us, that is not directly, or indirectly, caused through strong drink."
From one printed document, we learn
that there are at least, in the United Kingdom, two millions of drunken Sabbath
breakers. Dr. Campbell says, "Protestant and pious Britain is annually
spending half a million of money in the world's salvation, and sixty-five
millions in strong drinks." Newman Hall calculates that the 1,500,000
religionists in the United Kingdom spend annually two millions in strong
drinks. Another gentleman states that, of this destroying element, the home
consumption for 1851 was: Rum, 2,902,206 gallons; Brandy, 1,861,034; Geneva,
28,273; Foreign Wines, of various sorts, 6,684,657; British Spirits,
25,844,887; and Malt Liquors 442,679,351; making a total of four hundred and
eighty millions of gallons of various intoxicating fluids. The "immoral
Mormon" community must be very much reduced if it can produce a
corresponding amount of drinks and drinkers. Salt Lake City must fall far below
her present standard before she can produce her proportion of 18,853 dealers in
male liquors, the number found in the model city of London at the present time.
I think that after our modest,
sober-minded, moral friends have taken a look at their own faces, in their own
mirror, they will be able to discover a few dark spots upon them. And before
they say anything more about their neighbors, it will be advisable to appear themselves
with a clean face. Could as much crime, wickedness, and abominations of every
kind, be found in Utah, as is seen at all hours of the day and night, in this
eminently Christian land, it would be sufficient to sink it to the lowest depth
of misery, degradation, and damnation. The mind shrinks from the contemplation
of such horrid scenes of wickedness and abomination that we are hourly
compelled to witness.
We turn, then, with some degree of
comfort to the peaceful vales of Utah! UTAH! "with all thy faults we love
[193] thee still!" There, "Industry meets its reward." There,
the care-worn sons of toil and wretchedness can find a shelter and a home.
There, every noble and generous sentiment find sympathy! There, virtue is
protected. There, chastity finds a nursery, and is nourished, and has room to
grow. There, the base libertine and seducer is not allowed to prowl about, and
laugh at the victim he robbed of virtue! But he must atone for his wickedness
with his blood, and thus be prevented from committing such crimes again. O,
Utah! the joy, the pride, the admiration of the righteous, but a terror to evil
doers. Thee and thy children have become the object oft of scorn, the envy, and
the hatred of the wicked, but of the favor of Heaven. One thing is certain, and
that is, the wicked will continue to wax worse and worse; and our Christian (?)
enemies will continue to be "boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false
accusers, incontinent, fierce, despises of them that are good; traitors, heady,
high minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God." They will
continue to have "a form of godliness," but will "deny the power
thereof." And from such all right-minded people will "turn away."
But the Saints will continue to "add unto their faith virtue, knowledge,
patience, temperance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity."
These things will be in the Saints
and abound, so that they will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge
of God, but the door will be opened to them, and they will be administered unto
in the kingdom of God. (Mill. Star 15:785-788)
Change in Public Sentiment
Towards Us
S. W. Richards, Mill.
Star editor
December 3, 1853
In our last, we gave an extract from
the New York Tribune, and another from "Chambers' Repository of Tracts, on
Mormonism." We considered these extracts appropriate for the Star, not
that they presented altogether accurate views of "Mormonism," or just
conclusions upon it, but from the tolerant spirit manifested, and the liberal
sentiments expressed, in the [194] articles, being so contrary to what we
mostly see exhibited towards the Latter-day Saints.
We are glad to see that the public
press is not so bigoted and prejudiced in all quarters, as it is in many parts
where the Saints attempt to preach the Truth. It is pleasing to every honest
man to see a degree of liberality exhibited among those who do not see exactly
alike in all things. And we shall be glad to see this spirit increase, until
every individual upon the face of the earth shall be at liberty to worship God
according to the dictates of his own conscience.
It appears that the article in the Tribune
was elicited by "seeing in some English journals a degree of editorial
unhappiness on the solution of the Mormon problem." The Tribune holds that
journalism, civilization, progressive enlightenment, American republicanism,
and the cession of woman's rights, will be of a sufficiently corrective nature
to smooth down those peculiar features of "Mormonism" which present
an obnoxious prominence to society in America, and in western Europe; that the
"unhappiness" manifested by certain English editors arises from their
misapprehension of the true character and influence of American principles and
institutions; that the only subject difficult of adjustment between the
"Mormons" and the people of the United States, is that of polygamy;
and that even this subject presents no real occasion of alarm, as the system of
a plurality of wives is a "false institution, and carries within itself
the certainty of its own extinction," of course when in contact with
civilization, American institutions, &c.
We do not design to make lengthy
remarks upon the extracts we have given but we will offer a few short
observations that may lead the mind in the channel of Truth. There is not the
least ground for "editorial unhappiness," or any other unhappiness,
regarding any principle advocated by the Latter-day Saints, except to those who
do not wish to work righteousness. We must confess that to men of this class,
whether editors, lawyers, divines, or what not, there is "something
considerable" in, "The day is near at hand when wickedness must be
swept from the earth," and the American continent will be very likely to
receive the first attention, as America was the [195] first to reject and
disobey the Prophet of the Lord. But the righteous have naught to fear. Let
them rejoice that the Church and Kingdom of God is now set up on the earth,
never more to be thrown down, according to the predictions of the Prophets.
That kingdom has been set up in America, under the only government on the face
of the globe where the Kingdom of God could have been set up. Have the United
States' people any just cause of fear or alarm respecting their relation to the
Latter-day Saints? The righteous have not the slightest ground for fear or
alarm; on the contrary, they have abundant ground for hope and rejoicing. Must
the laws and institutions of the Church and Kingdom of God fall before American
institutions? We suppose not, because there is no clashing between the laws of
God's King. The principles of that Constitution are in favor of the fullest and
freest toleration to all professions of religion. If the genius of that
Constitution be thoroughly developed by the American people, every man will
have full liberty to embrace that faith which his conscience may dictate, so
long as he interferes not with his neighbor's like rights--a man's religion
will be a matter between him and his God. Then will any American be justified
in saying that his brother American shall not believe in the faith of the
Latter-day Saints? No. Will any American deny an American Latter-day Saint the
right of accepting, as part of his religious belief, the doctrine of monogamy,
or of polygamy--one wife to one husband, or several wives to one husband, as
may appear righteous before God in that Saint's eyes, so long as he interferes
not with his neighbor's like rights? No American has the least right to do
this. An "Amendment" to the Constitution of the United States
provides that Congress shall enact no law to interfere with any man's religion,
but that all shall be protected alike. If Congress then has no right to make a
law to determine what religion a man shall profess, how can any state or
territory have the right to make any such intolerant law? It cannot be, unless
by trampling under foot the Constitution, or repealing it, with its amendments.
But we apprehend that no true American would prove himself such a renegade as
this. Even the old world would laugh to scorn such a backward step. The fact
is--[196]there is not the slightest ground for difficulty between the United
States and the Latter-day Saints, no matter the question--polygamy or whatever
else, unless the States repudiate the principles of their glorious,
heaven-inspired Constitution. If this be done, of course the question will
assume another phase to what it does now--a phase we will not discuss till a
more convenient and appropriate season. Those, whether English or American, who
imagine that American principles will wear away the polygamy of the Latter-day
Saints, or that the polygamy of the Latter-day Saints is a "false institution,
and carries within itself the certainty of its own extinction," are
laboring under a most egregious misconception of the genius of the Constitution
of the United States, and the principles upon which the Latter-day Saints base
the union of the sexes. The marriage covenant with the Saints is lying among
them is delusive, for those who once are polygamists must ever continue to be
polygamists, unless they fail in their covenants, which is not to be
anticipated, only in exceptional cases. Therefore it is vain for editors to
rejoice under such a hope, for it will prove as the fleeting shadow.
The work of Messrs. Chambers, on the
whole, exhibits a remarkable contrast to years ago. We are glad to see such a
reformation going on. We hope these enterprising publishers will not grow weary
in well doing, but we trust that they will increase in every good work until
the "perfect day;" if so, their bad works and words will be buried in
oblivion, and we will assure Messrs. Chambers that, "in an enterprise so nobly
philosophical and judicious, no unprejudiced or discerning mind can wish them
anything but a continued and prolonged success," in which we most
cordially and heartily join.
We must, however, be allowed to
confess ourselves rather amused at the conclusion which Messrs. Chambers come
to, with regard to the Saints--"Our own conclusion is that the Mormon
doctrines are for the most part nonsense, but that what the Mormons do is in
many ways commendable." This reminds us of a parable put by Jesus to the
"chief priests and elders," when they interrogated him concerning his
authority--"A certain man had two [197] sons; and he came to the first,
and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not;
but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said
likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir; and went not. Whether of them
twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith
unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into
the kingdom of God before you." The Latter-day Saints have not said that
they will not obey the will of their Father in heaven, but they have no
objection to being allowed the credit which Messrs. Chambers give them of doing
what is good and commendable. And if "publicans and harlots" went
into the kingdom of God before "chief priests and elders," because
the former received the testimony of John, and the latter rejected it, we may
indulge a hope, if God has not changed, that polygamist Latter-day Saints may
get into the kingdom of God before contemporary reverends and divines, because
the Saints received the testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, whereas the
divines and reverends rejected it.
Messrs. Chambers hope that
"there is natural health and virtue enough to lead them back to a nobler
and purer relation of the sexes," that is, in other words, from polygamy
to monogamy. We do not anticipate that. But we do hope that there ever will be,
among the Saints, "natural health and virtue enough to lead them back to a
nobler and purer relation of the sexes" than obtains in Christendom. And
it shall ever be our fond duty to foster and promote this virtue, until
seduction, adultery, and all licentiousness be banished from God Almighty's
earth; and lawful, honorable marriage be the sole condition and foundation of
the "relation of the sexes." (Mill. Star 15:792-794)
Adam,
The Father and God of the
Human Family
S. W. Richards, Mill.
Star editor
December 10, 1853
The above sentiment appeared in Star
No. 48, a little to the surprise of some of its readers; and while the
sentiment may have appeared blasphemous to the [198] ignorant, it has no doubt
given rise to some serious reflections with the more candid and comprehensive
mind. A few reasonable and Scriptural ideas upon this subject may be profitable
at the present time.
Then Adam is really God! And why
not? If there are lords many and Gods many, as the Scriptures inform us, why
should not our Father Adam be one of them? Did he not prove himself as worthy
of that high appellation as any other being that ever lived upon the earth?
Certainly he did, so far as history informs us, unless we can except the Son of
God. We have no account in Scripture that Adam ever willfully transgressed,
when we consider him independent of the woman. The Apostle informs us
distinctly that the woman was in the transgression, being deceived, but Adam
was not deceived. Adam fell, but his fall became a matter of necessity after
the woman had transgressed. Her punishment was banishment from the Garden, and
Adam was necessitated to fall, and go with her, in order to obey the first
great command given unto them--to multiply and replenish the earth; or, in the
language of the Prophet Lehi, "Adam fell that men might be." The fall
of Adam, therefore, was virtually required at his hands, that he might keep the
first great command, and that the purposes of God might not fail, while at the
same time the justice of God might be made manifest in the punishment incurred
by the transgression of the woman, for whom the man is ever held responsible in
the government of God.
The Scriptures inform us that Christ
was as a lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. If, therefore, the
plan of salvation was matured before the foundation of the world, and Jesus was
ordained to come into the world, and die at the time appointed, in order to
perfect that plan, we must of necessity conclude that the plan of the fall was
also matured in the councils of eternity, and that it was as necessary for the
exalting and perfecting of intelligences, as the redemption. Without it they
could not have known good and evil here, and without knowing good and evil they
could not become Gods, neither could their children. No wonder the woman was
tempted when it was said unto her--"Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and
evil." No wonder Father Adam [199] fell, and accompanied the woman,
sharing in all the miseries of the curse, that he might be the father of an
innumerable race of beings who would be capable of becoming Gods.
With these considerations before us,
we can begin to see how it is that we are under obligations to our father Adam,
as to a God. He endured the sufferings and the curse that we might be; and we
are, that we might become Gods. Through him the justice of God was made
manifest. Jesus came into the world, endured, and suffered, to perfect our
advantages for becoming Gods, and through him the mercy of God abounded. By the
first man, Adam, came death, the triumph of evil; and by the second, came life
everlasting, the triumph of good. Each was necessary in the order he appeared;
if the first Adam had not performed his part, the second could not have had his
work to do. Both acted the part assigned to them, in a most God-like manner,
and the Great Eloheim accepted the world at their hands as His own, "for
by the power of my Spirit created I them; yea, all things, both spiritual and
temporal; firstly, spiritual--secondly, temporal, which is the beginning of my
work; and again, firstly, temporal--and secondly, spiritual, which is the last
of my work." Thus the great I AM owns all things--the temporal and the
spiritual, the justice and the mercy, to be His own work. Then why may not Adam
be a God, as well as any of his sons, inasmuch as he has performed the work to
which the Great Eloheim appointed him?
In ancient times they were called
Gods unto whom the word of God came, because of which Moses became a God unto
Pharaoh. The Almighty was not so jealous of His Godly title but that He could
say to Moses--"See, I have made thee a God to Pharaoh." And if John's
saying be true, God has purposed to make him that over-cometh, a pillar in the
temple of God, and to "write upon him the name of my God." "His
name shall be in their foreheads."
This is the hope of all Saints who
have a just conception of the future; and why should we not be willing for
father Adam to inherit all things, as well as for ourselves? He is the first,
the Father of all the human family, and his glory will be above all, for he
will be God over all, necessarily, standing as he will through all [200]
eternity at the head of those who are the redeemed of his great family. Though
all the sons should, through their faithfulness, become Gods, they would still
know that the Son was not greater than the Father. Were we to trace this
subject in all its bearings, we should find the principles of the Godhead
planted in every righteous and well-organized family upon the earth, and that
they only require cultivation to cause their expansion and development to be
equal to anything we can now conceive of as adding power and glory to the God
of all worlds. The Great Eloheim rules over worlds. He is God over them, because
of His right and power to rule, govern, and control. The exercise of this power
is a natural right in the order of Priesthood, which belongs to every
Patriarch, or Father, in the human family, so long as he rules subordinately to
the laws of Heaven. According to the order of that God by whom we are ruled, a
man is not only permitted to hold full jurisdiction over his own family, but he
is held responsible for any violation, by them, of the revealed will of Heaven.
A man that controls a work, is the only one that can be held responsible for
that work. It would be most unjust to require responsibility where there is no
power to govern and control. Every man who has a family, and power to control
them, is exercising the rights and powers of a God, though it may be in a very
small capacity. There are two grand principles, by virtue of which all
intelligent beings have a legitimate right to govern and hold dominion; these
are, by begetting children from their own loins, and by winning the hearts of
others to voluntarily desire their righteous exercise of power extended over
them. These constitute a sure foundation for an eternal throne--a kingdom as
perpetual as God's. No usurped power, to be maintained by the shedding of
blood, is connected with such a government. It is upon this foundation that the
throne of Michael is established as Father, Patriarch, God; and it is for all
his children who come into this world, to learn and fully understand the
eternity of that relationship.
Could we view our first Parent in
his true position, we should find him acting in a similar capacity to the whole
family of man, as each father does to his individual family, controlling, at
his pleasure, all things which [201] relate to the great object of their
being--their exaltation to thrones and Godlike powers. We can conceive, from
Scripture, principle, and analogy, that Adam's watch-care is ever over mankind;
that by his own approbation and direction Gospel dispensations have been
revealed from heaven to earth in different ages of the world; that he was the
first that ever held the keys of Gospel power upon the earth, and by his
supervision they have been handed down from age to age, whenever they have been
among men; that under his direction a Deluge once swept the earth of the
wickedness which was upon it, and laws were given to Israel, as a nation, to
lead them to Christ; and that he will in the end call men to judgment for the
privileges which have been extended to them in this world.
Hear what the Prophet Daniel says
upon this subject--"I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the
Ancient of days, "Adam" did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and
the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame,
and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from
before him; thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand
stood before him; the judgment was set, and the books were opened. . . .And
behold, one like the son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the
Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him
dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages
should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass
away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."--(Dan. vii. 9,
10, 13, 14).
Again, the word of the Lord through
the Prophet Joseph, gives additional importance, if possible, to the part which
Adam acts relating to his children, which reads as follows--"but, behold,
verily I say unto you, before the earth shall pass away, Michael, mine
archangel, shall sound his trump, and then shall all the dead awake, for their
graves shall be opened, and they shall come forth; yea, even all."
From the foregoing we are enabled to
draw important conclusions, that before the coming of the Lord Jesus in the
clouds of heaven, to take the reins of government upon the earth, Adam comes
and gathers around him all [202] that have ever held keys of power under him
upon the earth, in any of the dispensations thereof to man; he calls forth the
dead from their graves, at the sound of his trump he brings them to judgment,
and they render unto him an account of their several stewardships; the books
are opened that a righteous judgment may be rendered by him who now sits upon
his throne, not only as the Father, but the Judge, of men; and in that capacity
assemblage are now gathered in one grand council around the great Patriarch of
all Patriarchs, consisting of his sons, who have been faithful in that which
was committed to them; and all this preparatory to that great event, when the
greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven should be given to the Saints
of the Most High. Daniel saw that the Saints possessed the kingdom, by virtue
of which Adam was once more in possession of the dominion given unto him before
the fall, which was over every living thing that moved upon the earth, which
rendered him the universal Sovereign and Lord of all.
At this important period, when Adam
is reinstated with full power upon the earth, seated upon his throne, as Daniel
saw him--a glorious and an immortal God, one like the Son of Man comes in the
clouds of heaven (as oft times represented by the Apostles), to the Ancient of
days, and receives from him dominion, glory, and a kingdom; or in other words,
Michael, having accomplished the work committed to him, pertaining to this
world, delivers up an account of his stewardship over the same, to that
character represented as Yahovah in the creation of the world, who reigns in
unison with those upon the earth, until his work is fully accomplished--till
the last great contest with the enemy, who has been released for a little
season, is won; then he in turn delivers up the kingdom to the great Eloheim,
that in the language of the Apostle, "God may be all in all."
This final surrender, we are to bear
in mind, does not detract from the God-like power and dominion of our first
Parent, nor of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Patriarchal order of government,
each and every ruler is independent in his sphere, his rule extending to those
below, and not to those above him, in the same order. While the God of
unnumbered worlds is acknowledged to [203] be his God and Father, Adam still
maintains his exalted position at the head of all those who are saved from
among the whole family of man; and he will be God over all those who are made
Gods from among men. Each and every God will be honored as a God, without any
violation of the laws of heaven--without any encroachment upon that command
which saith, "thou shalt have no other Gods before me," for the glory
and honor of all true Gods constitute the glory, honor, power, and dominion of
the great Eloheim, according to His own order of government.
We can conceive of no higher, or more
perfect order of government than that which is embraced in Patriarchal
authority. By virtue of this order, all Gods, whether in heaven or on earth,
exercise a righteous power, and possess a just dominion. In this order, all are
both subjects and rulers, each possessing Almighty rights and powers--Almighty
rules over those who have descended from them, at the same time rendering all
honor and power to those from whom they have descended. What a glorious system
of order is here portrayed--one in which an innumerable succession of Gods,
Patriarchs, and rulers, can reign forever in the greatest possible harmony that
can be comprehended by intelligences, while each is independent in his
position, as is all intelligence. As the great Eloheim is supreme and Almighty
over all His children and kingdom, so is Adam as great a ruler, or God, in his
sphere, over his children, and the kingdom which they possess. The earth and
all things upon it were created for Adam, and it was given to him of his Father
to have dominion over it. In that dominion he will be sustained throughout all
eternity.
In relation to this earth alone and
its inhabitants, Michael and Gabriel have perhaps held the greatest keys of
dominion and power. They were, both in their day, Fathers of all living, and
had dominion given unto them over all things. Gabriel, or Noah, held the keys
of this power under Michael, and to him he will render an account of all things
before Michael renders an account of his stewardship to Him whose dominion
reaches over many worlds, and who is God over all Gods. These two important
personages have ever been watchful of the interests of their children, hence we
find them [204] ministering from time to time to holy men upon the
earth--Gabriel often appearing unto Daniel, and opening to his view the most
wonderful visions of the future, by which he could act as a God to the people,
outlive the wisdom of the astrologers, and so control the elements that the
burning furnace could have no power over him; Michael also coming to the release
of Gabriel, when he was withstood one and twenty days from answering Daniel's
prayer.
We also read of Michael disputing
with the Devil about the body of Moses, probably because the Devil was not
willing that Moses should be translated, inasmuch as he had sinned; but even in
this, Michael was the great deliverer. Again we read that Michael shall stand
up for the children of his people in a time of trouble such as never was since
there was a nation, and at that time every one that shall be found written in
the book shall be delivered, and those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall
awake.
From these and many other
Scriptures, we find that those important personages are clothed upon with no
mean authority, and that Michael has power to deliver men from the power of the
Devil, which is death; that by the sound of his own trump--the trump of the
archangel, the nations of the dead shall awake and come forth to judgment, and
there render an account to the ANCIENT OF DAYS seated upon his burning throne. Then
shall the nations know that he is their Judge, their Lawgiver, and their God,
and upon his decree hangs the destiny of the assembled dead. Yes, our Judge
will be a kind and compassionate Father, by whom none can pass, but through
whom all glory, dominion, and power will be ascribed to the great ETERNAL.
(Mill. Star 15:801-804)
Fear Bringeth
Torment
S. W. Richards, Mill.
Star Editor
December 17, 1853
The nature of the human mind is such
as to be easily operated upon, and from the excitement which we often find
existing with men, both individually and collectively, we learn that they meet
with objects not in keeping with [205] their nature, their understanding,
belief, or desires. Such objects are generally repulsed by the mental powers,
and too often without a proper investigation of that which may at first appear
irreconcilable, but after more mature deliberation, becomes very desirable.
This more generally arises from ignorance, not knowing the result of the things
which they may have under consideration, or if knowledge is had, it is to the
effect that those objects or principles will prove destructive to their
happiness and fondly-cherished hopes.
Turn to the religious, political,
commercial, and other portions of mankind, and you find a degree of
consternation existing in the ranks of all classes, which either plainly
declares their ignorance of the future, or their knowledge that it will be
inauspicious to the fulfillment of their desires. In either case, the truly
lamentable condition of the world is betrayed to the careful observer.
Wherever the Spirit of the Lord
prevails, and leads into all truth, its tendency is to allay every excitement
of the mind, and afford to it a degree of calmness and serenity unknown to
those who possess it not--a peace not derived from the world, and which,
therefore, cannot be disturbed or taken away by the world. Persecutions,
misery, and even death may be endured, without that tormenting fear that
distracts the wicked, when we know that all is right, but this knowledge can
only be derived from that Spirit which leads into all truth. With this in
possession, a Jacob could gather up his feet and die rejoicing; the Prophet
Samuel could perform the deed of hewing down king Agag with his own sword,
without fearing reproach; the Hebrew children could meet the fiery furnace with
apparent indifference; and Israel would go against their enemies, and destroy
them, without fear of condemnation, because they knew that they were
justified--that all with them was right, and approbated by God; that which is
revolting in the extreme to the natural and uncultivated man, could be looked
upon, and engaged in, with the utmost composure. Under the influence of the
same Spirit, Jesus endured an ignominious death, without even reviling. And the
Almighty has said He will laugh and deride in the day of calamity and fear that
shall come [206] upon the wicked. From these and many other facts, we can
plainly see that no object or circumstance should be allowed to destroy our
peace, by agitating our minds with fearful apprehensions of its
results--apprehensions which may never be realized. When men richly enjoy the
Spirit of the Lord, they have peace and assurance; but fearful apprehensions
are a just measure meted out to increase the miseries of the damned. Where
doubt and uncertainty exist, fear is engendered, and distracts the mind, hence
says the Apostle--"He that doubteth is damned already." The wicked
know not the peace of God, for they have not that Spirit by which the doctrine
and will of God are known.
Many of the Saints endure extreme
sufferings in their feelings, and allow their peace of mind to be broken up, by
not guarding against this captivating evil. Perhaps one has heard something of
his brother, that he thinks is very bad, and if he had great confidence in him,
it has tried his faith very much, not in that brother alone, but peradventure
the devil has been successful in getting him to doubt the truth of his own
principles, as well as the integrity of his brother, and his soul becomes
harrowed up, until he finally loses confidence in himself as well as in his
brother. In this way many have given themselves up to the power of the evil one,
when they were as far from him as the east is from the west, until they gave
way to jealousy, distrust, and fear.
Many principles have been revealed
from time to time, which have proved a source of trouble to some, not because
they were untrue, but because Saints would indulge in fears lest those
principles might be untrue, while they knew very well that their anxiety of
mind could not affect the results of those principles in the least degree. The
idea that God should call a Prophet in the nineteenth century, and tell him
that the Gospel had not been preached in purity for many hundreds of years, and
that he must carry it to the ends of the earth, was considered a most
unpardonable impeachment of God's justice and mercy unto men. The most bitter
vituperations were indulged in by thousands who now know that such a
declaration is perfectly in keeping with the sacredness of their own professed
Scriptural faith, and many of them are [207] weltering under the very curses
they were so ready to heap upon others. Polygamy has unnecessarily disturbed
the feelings of some, from their fearful apprehensions of its consequences, and
thereby caused them to deny principles which they know to be true, while they
would appear far more sensible if they would let that alone which they may
never have to do with, or even be permitted to, if they should desire. Baptism
for the dead was considered a most wonderful superstition, giving trouble to
those who seemed wishful for something to make trouble from, nourishing and
fostering their unhappy feelings with all the zeal their ignorance could
support, while in a short time truth began to be more fully developed, and
their folly made to appear proportionately.
It has been said that Adam is the
God and Father of the human family, and persons are perhaps in fear and great
trouble of mind, lest they have to acknowledge him as such in some future day.
For our part we would much rather acknowledge Adam to be our Father, than hunt
for another, and take up with the devil. Whoever is acknowledged Father must
have the rights and honor that belong to him. No man may ever expect to attain
to more than he is willing others should enjoy. If these things have power to
disturb the pure mind, we apprehend that even greater troubles than these may arise
before mankind learn all the particulars of Christ's incarnation--how and by
whom he was begotten; the character of the relationships formed by that act;
the number of wives and children he had, and all other circumstances with which
he was connected, and by which he was tried and tempted in all things like unto
man. Whatever may prove to be the facts in the case, it certainly would exhibit
a great degree of weakness on the part of any one to indulge in fears and
anxieties about that which he has no power to control. Facts still remain
facts, whether kept or revealed. If there is a way pointed out by which all
beings who come into this world can lay the foundation for rule, and a
never-ending increase of kingdoms and dominions, by which they can become Gods,
we are as willing the Lord Jesus Christ should enjoy them all as any other
being, and we believe the descendants of such a sire would glory in ascribing
honor and power to him as their God. The [208] Apostle informs us that those
who are redeemed shall be like Jesus; not to say, however, that they shall be
wifeless and childless, and without eternal affections.
It should be borne in mind that
these wonderful mysteries, as they are supposed to be, are only mysteries
because of the ignorance of men; and when men and women are troubled in spirit
over those things which come to light through the proper channel of
intelligence, they only betray their weakness, ignorance, and folly. This
expels the enlightening influence of the Spirit of truth, the devil then takes
possession, and leads captive at his will. Surrounded as mankind are with these
besetments, it should be the study of all Saints to control, and not be
controlled by, influences which are destructive to their happiness and peace.
To do this they must begin at home--in their own bosoms, and if all will secure
the reign of peace there, they will have power to disseminate that principle
until it covers the whole earth.
Proper investigation, and a
prayerful desire to know the truth, are commendable in every intelligent being,
and these cultivate a familiarity with the Spirit of truth, that will lead us
in the way of inspiration. It is written that no man knoweth the things of God,
but by the Spirit of God. This Spirit should be prayerfully sought after, with
all diligence; and when it whispers approval to our spirits, and opens up to
our understanding, in silent meditations and in dreams, the pure principles of
intelligence, we can exclaim like Daniel of old, "Surely there is a God in
Heaven, that revealeth Secrets;" and then can we teach our fellow
creatures the way of truth and life; but how the folly of men appears when they
attempt to preach and expound things which are far beyond their comprehension,
and thereby bring the Gospel and those who live under it, into disrepute before
the world. Such wander in the dark themselves, and lead others into the same
mazy labyrinth, to share with them their merited reproach.
When men have to do with principles
of truth, they have to do with that which is Eternal; and whether adopted or
rejected they will have an influence over all those to whom they are revealed.
These principles may have been in the world before, or they may have been kept
by him for a wise purpose, but men now have the [209] assurance that all things
shall come forth which can have a bearing upon their exaltation; and concerning
the same it was long since said, The wise shall understand, but the wicked
shall not understand. This Key given by the Prophet, that the wise and the
wicked might be known, should never be forgotten by the Saints. (Mill. Star
15:824-826)
Going Home to
Zion
John Jaques
Millennial Star, February
4, 1854
The season for the gathering of the
Saints home to Zion has now set in. Hundreds are bidding adieu to their
friends, relations, and acquaintances, and to the country of their birth. The
step which such Saints are now taking is one of the most important in the
course of their mortal lives, for the period of emigration from his native land
forms an epoch in the history of a Saint, and the spirit in which the journey
is performed influences most unmistakably his future career.
It is a fact that hundreds who have
in years gone by emigrated for the land of Zion, have never made their
appearance at the head quarters of the Church. Some have scarcely been heard of
after their landing in America; others have stopped short on the way, being too
much engrossed in attending to fading riches; while others still have become
offended at something or other, and have turned back their faces to the
starting-place, bringing with them little else than evil reports.
Now it is grievous to see men and
women obey the first principles of the Gospel, combat the prejudice of their
friends and acquaintances, exert themselves commendably to preach the truth to
others, brave the scoffs of reputedly pious Christians, sacrifice worldly
prospects and property or order to gather, journey a few thousand miles towards
Zion, and, after all, stop short of the goal, and turn back to the beggarly
elements of the world. Seldom do such Saints regain the vigour and freshness of
spirit which once characterized them, indeed it is doubtful whether they can
ever reach that position which they would have attained had they not fallen
back, for in [210] watching their subsequent career one is forcibly reminded of
the Saviour's word--"No man, having put his hand to the plough, and
looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Doubtless, when the
judgments of God are abroad in the earth, these weak-faithed Saints, if their
minds are not altogether seared, feel keenly the effects of their want of
perseverance.
It is frequently said that
prevention is better than cure. This is true in respect to the falling away of
emigrating Saints. The first thing to look at in order to prevent falling away
is the starting-point--What is the object of gathering? The next thing to be
considered is--What is the expectation in the accomplishing of the gathering? Upon
these two points depends, in a great degree, the question of endurance to the
end of the journey. If a right foundation be laid at the starting-point, it
will be easier to continue right, and consequently the probability of failure
or backing out will be less. For the welfare of those who are not engaged in
gathering, a few brief reflections on the matter may, perhaps, be offered with
propriety.
What is the object of gathering? It
is essential that every Saint who emigrates should have clear and distinct
views of the proper object of the gathering. If he has not, it will be far
better for him to stay in his own land until he have, and he will then be less
liable to disappointment. There are, perhaps, some who gather for the sole
purpose of acquiring an easy competence, or the riches of this world. Now it is
not to be denied that in America the chances for a man obtaining competence or
riches are greater than in England, especially for a poor man, yet it is a most
unmistakable truth that any one professing to be a Saint, who emigrates with
the sole object of bettering his temporal condition, had much better stay in
his native place, for if he set out for Zion he will most assuredly meet with
disappointment somewhere. Every man and every woman who starts with the idea
that the gathering is for temporal blessing only, will inevitably become
dissatisfied, and be numbered with the murmurers and complainers, who are not
of the blood of Ephraim. And as behoves every one to search temporal welfare is
not the only nor the principal object he has in view in gathering.
[211]
The true object of the gathering is to build up the Kingdom of God, that the
honest in heart, living and dead, may be redeemed, and righteousness and
immortality prevail upon the earth. This great work cannot be accomplished by
gaining this world's riches, but by an unflinching obedience to the commands
and precepts of the Almighty, yea, by living by every word that proceeds from
the mouth of God, through His servants the Prophets, or in any way He may see
fit to communicate. Every Saint that emigrates should go with this object, or
it will be loss to him. When this object is faithfully kept in view, the reward
is certain, for, says Jehovah, "Them that honour me, I will honour."
As God has set His hand to gather Israel from every nation and kindred and
tongue and people, it is not to be supposed that He will trifle with
hypocrites--they may expect the mask of hypocrisy to be torn from them, and
their true character to be exposed in the light of day, to be seen and read of
all men. After having winked at the ignorance and folly of men for centuries,
and now again having sent the Gospel of salvation to the earth, as a final
testimony and warning, it is not to be expected that He will trifle with men, or
permit them unchecked to put on the Gospel as a cloak for their selfishness.
With a high hand and an outstretched arm, and with judgments poured out, will
the Almighty gather His people Israel in these last days. Therefore is it
necessary that all should be careful how they engage in the gathering for their
hands should be clean, and their hearts pure, for it is written that it will
yet be difficult, yea impossible, for any to go up to Zion except they be
upright in heart. It is well to make this the first consideration in gathering,
and it will be so with the man who knows the work is true, and who is honest.
What is the expectation in the
accomplishing of the gathering? It may be said that some start from their
native land in a right spirit, and with a desire to gather to the head quarters
of the Church to build up the kingdom, yet do not arrive there, and do not
retain the good spirit they had when they started, nor the desire for
progressing up to Zion. This may be very true. But why do emigrating Saints
lose their good spirits and their desires to build up Zion, and stop short if
their expectations concerning the [212] occurrences of the journey are not
realized, and the weakness of the flesh, and very probably a neglect of
watching and prayer finish the downfall which non-realized anticipations
originally induced.
Now it must be evident to every one
upon the least reflection, that a journey of eight thousand miles on land and
water cannot be accomplished, by the poor especially, without much inconvenience
and privation being encountered. Those who are accustomed to frequent
travelling would experience this; much more liable then, would be those persons
who never travelled twenty miles from their chimney corner, to meet with
circumstances of a very different character to any they have ever before been
acquainted with, and which might be calculated to ruffle their temper, and
disturb their peace of mind.
On arrival at Liverpool, a Saint
inexperienced in travelling might imagine inconvenience to be crowding upon him
he would most certainly think so by the time he was quartered on board this
vessel. It should never be forgotten that there are sharpers in Liverpool, as
well as other large towns, and that the fraud practised on emigrants are
innumerable. Here it is well for an emigrant to look out for himself, that he
is not taken advantage of by strangers. It is impossible to describe all the
methods that are pursued to impose upon the unsuspecting and inexperienced. The
best protective is prudence and wariness--not to trust to an unknown somebody
who is very officious, and seems wonderfully obliging, but who in the end
contrives, either in one way or another, to be paid liberally for all he does.
But supposing a Saint gets snugly
embarked on his vessel, without any special, unexpected inconvenience, he will
then find that watchfulness, a prayerful disposition, and a good store of faith
and patience, are indispensably necessary to his making a comfortable voyage. A
little thought will convince any one that when several hundred people, having
different habits, tastes, had dispositions, are suddenly brought from various
parts of the country to live together in one large room between the decks of a
ship, there to eat, drink, sleep, and perform many other duties and necessities
of life--a little thought will convince any one that many inconveniences will
arise, [213] and that when each fullness, patience, and forbearance are not
liberally exercised, much unpleasantness will result. Then may come a storm,
sea-sickness, and consequent temporary disability to some, which will not mend
the matter. But when a company come together, and all are fully determined to
make the best of everything, and to bear with each other's weaknesses, then the
voyage may prove a very pleasant one--in short, a pleasure trip.
On ship-board, and, indeed, in all
the journey, tattling, or talking too liberally of the brethren or sisters,
should be guarded against most strictly, because the deck of a ship is a small
place, and a word, though whispered as a secret, is likely to quickly run over
the whole vessel, and then hard feeling, or something worse, is sure to ensue.
At New Orleans, apostates may be met
with, but in St. Louis and vicinity, they are far more numerous. With oily
speech and air address do these persons insinuate themselves into the good
graces of those who are weak in the faith, and then things previously undreamed
of are unfolded, as solid facts, to the ears of the astonished Saints. Truth
there may be in these things, but it is truth adulterated, highly coloured, and
highly seasoned; the whole is not genuine. Satan and his emissaries know a
little of the power and value of truth, and consequently they use a degree of
it in order to accomplish their purposes more surely, and with greater
facility. But the Saint who is humble, faithful, prayerful, and power severing,
will have the small still whisperings of the Holy Spirit to enlighten his mind,
and to direct him in the path he ought to pursue. And first and foremost let
him suspect any person or influence that diverts his mind, in the least degree,
from the true object of the gathering, or turns aside his face from Zion. He
may hear of things of which he did not expect to hear, he may see things which
he did not anticipate seeing, but still his watchword should be--To the
mountains! And to honor it every nerve should be strained, every available
means put in requisition, and every enticing hindrance resisted. John Bunyan,
in his own quaint and forcible manner depicts the almost ceaseless opposition,
now alluring, and anon fierce and formidable, to which his Pilgrim was
subjected ere he reached the heavenly city. Now if a Saint can go up to [214]
Zion without being tempted and tried, in a greater or less degree, I do not see
rightly in the matter. I do not expect such a thing, because Satan does not
like to see the people of God assembling for the day of decision, and it is
contrary to reason to suppose that his Satanic majesty will not do all in his power
to prevent their assembling. It appears to me that an emigrating Saint should
keep his face set as a flint Zionward, his eye should be fixed unflinchingly
upon the end of his journey, he should press forward through good and evil
report, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left until he sit down
with Brigham, and Heber, and Willard, and the general assembly of the Saints,
in the kingdom of God. When a Saint starts for Zion, his business is to get
there. To accomplish this, everything should be made to succumb, and to render
aid. Nothing, but counsel from the proper source, should be permitted to change
the determination of the soul. Were this more generally the case, would there
be any falling back? If I were to give my decision upon this point, I think it
would be in the negative. When a Saint starts for Zion, let him make it the
object of his life to get there. This will prove his faith to be similar to
that of Habakkuk, who said--"Although the fig-tree shall not blossom,
neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the love shall fail, and the
fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there
shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in
the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet
like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places."
One may say--"But I actually
saw, with mine own eyes, actions by some of the Saints on ship-board which were
any thing but creditable, and when I arrived at St. Louis my eyes were opened,
for there men who professed `Mormonism' could drink, and swear, and conduct
themselves in a manner shameful to see." Very likely, but have you
forgotten that the Gospel net gathers fish both good and bad, and that even
when the Bridegroom comes, the kingdom of God will consist of half wise persons
with their lamps properly trimmed, and half foolish with no oil in their lamps?
The failings of others should stimulate you to greater watchfulness and
diligence and their [215] downfall should only point out to you the stumbling
block over which they fell, that you may be prepared to avoid it, and miss a
fate similar to theirs. Salvation is a personal concern, and the weaknesses and
short comings, of others should never prevent any man from working out his own
salvation, nor be urged as an excuse for altering in duty, or turning out of
the straight and narrow road to celestial exaltation and happiness. The
commandment in these last days is as personal as in ancient days--"Save
yourselves from this untoward generation."
An emigrating Saint may be
disappointed in the treatment he receives from his acquaintances. Do not expect
too much from them. Start prepared to go to Zion as though you had no
acquaintances with you, and expected to meet none on the way, nor even at the
end of the journey. Go in self reliance, knowing that God is your stay; and
then any assistance your friends may give you will be the more welcome. If you
have friends in Liverpool, New Orleans, or St. Louis, do not expect too much
from them, be prepared to help yourself, and then if your expectations are not
realized, the non-realization may not be of the most disagreeable character.
All the emigration passes through the places named, and through Liverpool and
St. Louis pass many of the Elders on missions, consequently it will be readily
seen that those Saints who reside at these places may have more friends call
upon them than can be made comfortable, though the most laudable desire may
exist to make them comfortable, and the best feelings may be filling the
breasts of the visited. Jesus Christ fed five thousand people with five loaves
and two fishes, but your friends in Liverpool or St. Louis, who have a small
stewardship, may not have sufficient faith, even when joined with yours, to
provide as they might wish for their friends. A little consideration in these
particulars may avert much unpleasantness and disappointment.
In short, he who wishes to go up to
Zion, should start for the sole purpose of building up the kingdom of God,
should not expect too much help from others on the way, should shut his ears to
the tales of evil designing men, and should give no rest to his soul until he
reach the [216] mountains of Zion. When there, he will meet with those who are
amply qualified to give him further counsel. (Mill. Star 16:65-68)
The Laying on of
Hands
Elder Joseph Hall
Millennial Star, February
4, 1854
The laying on of hands is as little
understood in the world, but as much ridiculed as many other doctrines taught
and practised by the Latter-day Saints, yet the principle and the practice of
this doctrine are as ancient as those of any other doctrine of which we have
any account, either in the Old or New Testament. The doctrine was well
understood by the Prophets and the Patriarchs, and by the Apostles of Jesus
Christ. It was practised by them for blessing, healing the sick, conferring on
men the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and ordaining them to the Priesthood. Surely
"darkness hath covered the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the
people," that they cannot see or else they have closed up their minds that
they will not see, these principles of truth. Hence I may be pardoned for offering
a few remarks upon the subject, although the Elders of the Church are preaching
it Sabbath after Sabbath.
If we commence the investigation on
the subject with the Patriarchs, we turn to Gen. xlviii. Here we find the old
man Jacob blessing his two grandsons--Ephraim and Manasseh. He conferred upon
them the name of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac, also his own name, and
conferred upon them one of the greatest blessing that righteous men ever
desire--posterity. "Let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the
earth," said the old man. Query--Was Jacob a Prophet of the Lord? Did he
speak by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? Would his predictions be ratified
in the heavens? And if so, may we not naturally expect them to be fulfilled?
All Bible believers will answer in the affirmative to these questions.
How did Jacob confer these blessings
upon his grand-sons? Through the laying on of hands. "And Israel stretched
out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and
his left hand upon [217] Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly, for
Manasseh was the first-born." If this was the order of God anciently, why
not now? If there are any servants of God now, they should possess like power,
for the order of God's kingdom is unchangeable. The power of God is eternal,
and its effects are felt in every age of the world, when men are duly
commissioned to act in His name.
There is no surer sign that a man
has not been legally called, and chosen, and set apart to the ministry, than to
hear him deny the necessity of the ordinances of the kingdom of God. No matter,
whatever, what way the Lord has appointed for the communication of
intelligence, blessings, power, or Priesthood, men should not presume to
despise that way, for without the appointment of the Lord the blessings cannot
be obtained any other way. If men attempt to obtain blessings from the Lord
through any other than His appointed channel, they become "thieves and
robbers."
It is not so stated, but it is
probable that in blessing his sons, as we read in Gen. xlix. Jacob laid his
hands upon them. And it is evident that many of his predictions are fulfilled.
Many yet remain to be fulfilled.
In Num. xxvii. we read that Moses,
before he was taken away from Israel, was commanded to take Joshua, the son of
Nun, and to lay his hands upon him, and to confer some of his (Moses') honour
upon him, and to set him before Eleazar the Priest, and before the
congregation, and give him charge in their sight, that they might be obedient.
Now the "honour" of Moses was his Priesthood, therefore he was
commanded to lay some of his Priesthood upon Joshua. That Moses was a great
Prophet and a Priest, no Bible believer will attempt to deny. And that his
administrations were valid, and acknowledged of the Lord, will be at once
admitted. In the last chapter of Deut., verse 9, we read--"And Joshua the
son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon
him; and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded
Moses."
Now let us see how the great Apostle
to the Gentiles was ordained to the ministry. He himself tells that "no
man taketh this honour (of the Priesthood) unto himself, but he that is called
of God as was Aaron."--Heb. v. 4. By [218] what authority did he himself
speak and act? "For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please
men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I
certify you, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached of me, is not after
man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the
revelation of Jesus Christ."--Gal. i. 10-12. "As they ministered to
the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for
the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and
laid their hands on them, they sent them away."--Acts xiii. 2, 3. Thus was
Paul ordained by the laying on of hands, by the Apostles.
In his teachings and
administrations, Paul exhibited the same doctrine. Timothy was ordained, and
received a gift by the laying on of hands of the Apostle Paul.--1 Tim. ix. 14.
Titus was ordained in like manner.
In Acts vi. we read that several
others were set apart to assist in the ministry, and they were ordained in the
same manner. Amongst them was Stephen. All acknowledge him to be an eminent
man, full of the Holy Ghost.
The anointing of oil is closely
connected with the laying on of hands, in the consecration to certain offices
of the Priesthood, in blessing, or in the healing of the sick. "And thou
shalt put them (the garments) upon Aaron they brother, and his sons with him;
and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may
minister unto me in the priest's office."--Ex. xxviii.41. James
says--"Is any sick among you; let them call for the Elders of the Church,
and let them anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of
faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise them up; and if they have
committed sin--"They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall
recover."
I need not quote the numerous other
instances of the laying on of hands for the purpose above specified. All who
feel interested can read them at their leisure.
We, the Latter-day Saints, are
thought very presuming, and awfully blaspheming, because we contend for the
faith once delivered to the Saints. James promised the forgiveness of sins at
the time of the anointing with oil. [219] This is considered dreadful. "No
man has power on earth to forgive sins," say some. Jesus said to Peter--"Whosoever
sins you remit, they shall be remitted; and whosoever sins you retain, they
shall be retained." This is either true or false. Those who believe Jesus,
believe it to be true.
But however much our opponents
object to this principle of power, it is no more than some of their own
ministers claim for themselves. Read the following extracts from the "Book
of Common Prayer." After examining the sick patient as to his faith in the
Articles of the Church, the minister says--"Our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath left Christ his church power to absolve all sinners who truly repent, and
believe in him, of his great mercy forgive thee thine offences. And by his
authority committed to me, I absolve thee from all thy sins, in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen." If our advocacy of
the power of the Priesthood which is given unto man is blasphemy, what is this?
If our pretensions are presumptuous, this is not the less so. But one thing we
can say--we do carry out the whole order of the ordinances of God, while our
opponents do not, "because they have transgressed the laws, changed the
ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant." Who then wonders at the
darkness and the blindness that have come upon the people.
It is the duty of all mankind to
investigate these and all other doctrines of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a
great responsibility resting upon those who stand forth as guides to the
people. John says--"If there come any unto you, and bring not this
doctrine (of Christ, including the laying on of hands), receive him not into
your house; neither bid him God speed for he that biddeth him God speed,
partakes of his evil deeds." Paul says--"Though we or an angel from
heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached, let
him be accursed."
In the midst of all the confusion
that surrounds us, it is pleasing to know the truth, to contemplate the
restoration of the true Church of Christ upon the earth with all its offices,
ordinances, gifts, powers, and blessings, and that it is destined to triumph
over the "world, the flesh, and the Devil;" and to accomplish the
[220] salvation of all the honest in heart out of every nation, kindred,
tongue, and people under heaven. The Lord hasten the day. Amen.
The Gifts and Blessings of God
John Jaques
Millennial Star, February
11, 1854
A MORMONITE
FLABBERGASTED--A short time ago as a gentleman, residing in a town not a
hundred miles from Shrewsbury, was returning home, he was accosted near his own
door by one of those persons calling themselves Latter-day Saints, who offered
him a tract. After some little conversation, the gentleman entered his house
and was followed into his parlour by the Saints, when, the door and window
being carefully closed, the following dialogue took place.--Gent.: Well, now
you are here I should like to become acquainted with the doctrines of the sect
that you belong to.--Saint: They are easily explained--we are in possession of
the Book of Mormon which supersedes the Bible, and teaches us to do wonderful
things--to perform miracles.--Gent.: Indeed, well what can you do? --Saint: We
can remove mountains, we can make the blind to see, the lame to walk, and the
deaf to hear.--Gent.: Wonderful, indeed, can you do anything else?--Saint: Yes
truly--we can cure the sick without the aid of a physician, and we can speak in
an unknown tongue. --Gent.: but am I to understand that when you are sick you
can cure yourself, and can you interpret this unknown language after you have
spoken it? --Saint: No; but my brother can cure me, and he can interpret the
language that I have spoken.--Gent.: Well now, suppose you met with an accident,
and were severely bruised, could you cure yourself and immediately get rid of
all the marks?--Saint: No, I could not cure myself, but my brother could effect
an immediate cure for me, and there would not be a trace of the bruises
left.--Gent.: Indeed! What you tell me is so wonderful that I am desirous of
testing your brother's powers. So saying, he closed with the Saint, and with a
flush [221] hit between the eyes, knocked him down and as similar causes
produce like effects, the astonished Saint was no sooner on his legs than he
was again floored. The same process was followed up until the battered Saint,
unwilling to become a martyr to his faith in the Book of Mormon, earnestly
entreated for mercy, when he was permitted to rise, and the doors being opened,
he was dismissed with a smart application of a boot to that part which is said
to be the seat of honour, and with it one solitary piece of advice--"There
my saintly friend, go at once to thy brother, and get thyself cured of thy
bruises; and when he has restored thy sight, and eradicated all traces of thy
punishment from thy disfigured visage, which thou sayest he can do immediately,
return to me, and I promise thee that I will become as good a saint as
thyself." Whether the severe ordeal through which the Saint had passed,
produced any wavering in his faith, or that his brother was not sufficiently
indoctrinated in the Mormonite method of healing, we (not having been enrolled
in the Army of Latter-day Saints) have no means of ascertaining; but, we understand
that this persecuted Saint was seen some days afterwards with one eye in deep
mourning, and the other somewhat obfuscated.--Shropshire Conservative, Jan 14.
A paragraph characterized by more
undisguised malignancy than is the above, seldom appears in the journals of the
day. There is an infidelity of sentiment, and a spirit of coarse brutality,
pervading the whole, which are equally repulsive to every inspiration of true
religion, and revolting to every feeling of humanity. The paragraph does discredit
to the writerŐs head and reveals the foulness of a heart of which none need
envy him.
In the same journal is the report of
"a splendid Banquet to Brother William Butler Lloyd, the first Orange
Mayor of the loyal borough of Shrewsbury." At this banquet was proposed a
toast which "is always received with enthusiasm amongst Orangement, and
especially when the brother is present," being that of the "Grand
Master of the Loyal Orange Institution of Great Britain." [222] The
"Grand Master, Brother T. J. Ouseley," who happens to be no other
than the editor of the Conservative, in responding to the toast, and in
enlightenment of the "gentlemen in the room, not connected with the
Order," and who "had asked themselves the question--What is Orangeism?"--the
"Grand Master," in answering to the toast, said that he had
"great pleasure in being enabled to give them an insight into the
character of the Order," that "of all institutions or societies in
the world, the Orange is without question the best. It is not like some,
founded for pecuniary purposes, and others solely for conviviality and good
fellowship, it is founded, as the worthy chairman so truly stated, on the
Bible." The "gentlemen in the room, not connected with the
Order," may have been satisfied with the "Grand Master's"
explanation, and it may be that Orangeism "is founded on the Bible,"
but when gentlemen out of "the room, not connected with Orangeism,"
read the "Grand Master's speech in the Conservative," in the next column
to that which contains an account of "A Mormonite
Flabbergasted"--when outside gentlemen read this, would not serious
thoughts cross their minds, that Orangeism was not such a super-excellent Order
as the "Grand Master" editor had represented? Or would they think that
the "Grand Master" must have put off his Orangeism, as he put off his
banquet garments, before he sat down to inform his readers the chapter himself,
before he inserted it in his journal, without disclaimer or a mad version?
Impartial readers must have thought one or the other of these things.
Any one acquainted with the faith of
the Latter-day Saints will at once perceive that the relation in the
Conservative is a gross misrepresentation of principle, for no Latter-day Saint
would converse as one in there stated to have done, because such sentiments in
relation to the gifts and blessings of God, the Bible, and the Book of Mormon,
are utterly unlike the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
But leaving the "Grand
Master" to develop the Orange theory in his own peculiar manner, a few
remarks upon the continuity of what are termed supernatural gifts, and for
which few but Latter-day Saints contend, may be appreciated by some, who like
this Salopian editor, and [223] his ferocious country "gentleman"
friend, imagine that Jehovah is not now well pleased to manifest His power
extraordinarily.
A question presents itself at the
outset--For what are the supernatural manifestations of God given to man in any
generation? The most direct answer which occurs to my mind, is given by St.
Paul.--"The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit
withal." 1 Cor. xii. 7. Now how can these manifestations or gifts profit a
man? Let us first consider the gift of healing, the one ridiculed and despised
in the Conservative.
How can the gift of healing profit a
man? Not at all, directly, if he is healthy and sound. But if he were sick of a
fever, as the Apostle Peter's wife's mother was, then the gift of healing would
be very profitable and acceptable. If a man were a leper, as was the man whom
Jesus met when he came down from the mountain, where he delivered his famous
Sermon; or afflicted with the palsy, like the centurion's servant; or blind,
like the two men whose eyes Jesus touched; or withered in limb, like the man
whom Jesus healed on the Sabbath day; or impotent like the man at Bethesda's
pool; or lame from birth, like the man who sat at the temple gate; or afflicted
with a running sore, like the woman who touched the hem of the garment of
Jesus; then the gift of healing would by no means be despised, but would be
prized as a most desirable blessing.
If a man were bitten by a venomous
reptile, as was Paul when shipwrecked on Melita, then the realization of the
glorious promise of Jesus--that believers should take up serpents, without
harm, would surely be coveted earnestly, as one of the "best gifts."
If anything of a poisonous nature
were given in malice to a man, or accidentally partaken of by him, then the
promise of Jesus to Gospel believers--"if they drink any deadly thing, it
shall not hurt them," would be truly appreciated.
If a man were being imposed upon by
a fair-faced professing friend, then "the discerning of spirits"
would be a decided blessing.
If a man were in danger from a
combination or conspiracy of wicked men, then the gift of prophecy, or of
revelation from God, would be of undeniable profit to him.
[224]
Neither is the ministration of angels by any means to be despised. The Apostle
Peter, when imprisoned by Herod, and he and the other Apostles, when imprisoned
by the Sadduces, were liberated through the instrumentality of angels. The
Apostle Paul, when bound for Rome, and in danger of shipwreck, was visited in
the night by an angel, and informed that the vessel, but no life, would be lost,
providing all kept in the ship. These manifestations were clearly profitable to
those who received them. And would not similar manifestations be equally
profitable now to men in similar circumstances? He who would answer in the
negative must think again, if he desires any credit for common sense.
Now in all the above supposed
instances, it will be very readily seen how the gifts of God profit men. Surely
no one who possesses the least claim to be called a Christian will deny that
these gifts and manifestations were enjoyed in ancient times, and were given
for the comfort and profit of the recipients. No, probably few will deny this,
but men have strange notions as to the continuity of these gifts and
manifestations among believers. But is there any reason why these things should
not be enjoyed now? Not the slightest. Men are sent into this world that they
may become more fully acquainted with evil, and be made more perfect through
suffering. But in order that they may be saved, or in other words, in order
that they may overcome the evil, instead of being overcome by it, the Almighty
assists them by His power and this power is manifested in various ways, some of
which I have mentioned. It would naturally be expected that if man were left to
himself, to grapple with evil unassisted, he would be altogether overcome by
it, and then the designs of His Creator would be frustrated. This idea is idea
is as fully borne out by the Scriptures, as it is by reason, and the experience
of men. Consequently the gifts and manifestations of God are necessary to aid
man's perfection.
The next thing to be considered
is--Is the nature of all men similar? If so, they all need similar assistance
to enable them to overcome. As far as observation and experience are concerned,
no other conclusion can be come to but that all men are of like passions,
though those [225] passions may be variously modified by sectional habits and
customs, and differing circumstances. And if all living men are of like
passions, analogy would teach us that all men who have lived, who do live, and
who may live, were, are, and will be of like passions. Scripture is entirely
coincident with analogy on this point. The Apostle Paul informs us that God
"hath made of one blood all nations for to dwell on all the face of the
earth." And every child knows that Scripture declares all men the children
of one earthly, and one heavenly Father. Then two thousand years separation by
time, or two thousand miles separation by space, cannot impair in the least the
claim which all men have equally on the assistance of the Almighty. Therefore
we cannot conclude otherwise than that all have a naturally equal right to
similar blessings from the hands of God.
The question now narrows down to
this principal point--As all men are of one family, and are sent here for one
purpose, and consequently have naturally equal right to assistance from their
one Great Parent, it necessarily follows that if they do not receive similar
assistance and blessings from Him, the fault lies either with Him or with them.
As regards the fault lying with the
Almighty, it can only do so upon two principles--either He is a changeable
being, or He knows, by His far-seeing wisdom, that it will be to men's
advantage if these blessings are withheld.
On the first principle the Bible
most unhesitatingly assures us that God does not withhold any blessings from
men. The Prophet Malachi informs us that He does not change. Jesus Christ says
that God is more willing to give blessings to men than men are to receive them.
The Apostle James informs us that with God there is no variableness nor shadow
of turning. The Apostle Peter declared, contrary to his early prejudices, that
God was no respector of persons, but that in every nation he that feared God,
and wrought righteousness, was accepted of Him. On the question of changeable
changeableness or partiality, then, doubt may be banished.
As to whether God sees it wisdom to
withhold His blessings, it may be answered--undoubtedly He does, independent of
the actions of those who desire the [226] blessings, but not independent of the
circumstances in which those persons are placed. When we recall to our minds
that man was sent here to experience evil as well as good, we must conclude
that if the power of God were fully accorded to Him on every occasion, he would
have no trial, no experience of evil, and consequently would pass his
probationary state here without attaining to that perfection in knowledge which
was desirable. The Apostle Paul had an affliction which he called a "thorn
in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me." "For this
thing," says Paul, "I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart
from me, and he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength
is made perfect in weakness." Paul had a correct idea of the reason why
his prayer was not answered--"lest I should be exalted above measure
through the abundance of the revelations." The revelations given to him
were a blessing, enlightening and comforting his mind, and imparting to him
knowledge which he could not otherwise have obtained. The withholding of the
answer to his prayer in regard to the removal of the "thorn in the
flesh," was also a blessing, for by reading his history we learn that Paul
was as liable as many others to be "exalted above measure," and then
to be overbearing, and imperious. The Lord Jesus, partaking of the nature of
man, was exceedingly sorrowful previous to his crucifixion, and he prayed more
than once--"O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me;
nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt." His desire was not granted.
Why? Because his Father saw it wisdom that Jesus should suffer, that the great
atonement might be made for the sins of mankind. But here a distinction would
be made--though God may see it wisdom, in exceptional circumstances, to
withhold blessings desired, yet it does not necessarily follow that blessings
desired should always be withheld, nor that whole generations of mankind would
pass away without receiving any of those manifestations which were so liberally
granted in ancient times. If it were so, those men would be borne down by the
evils with which they had to cope, instead of overcoming them, and being made
perfect by the contact. Considering this, then, it cannot be concluded that the
fault is with God, either with regard to His impartiality and [227]
unchangeableness, or the exercise of His wisdom, that His gifts and blessings
are not experienced among men universally.
When generations of mankind pass
away without enjoying the gifts and blessings of God, as did the ancients, the
fault must be in man. What is the first cause of failure in obtaining these
blessings? Unbelief. Jesus said they should follow the believers. He himself
could not do many miracles in his own country, because of the unbelief of the
people. The Apostle Paul declares that "without faith it is impossible to
please God." And it was a constant maxim of Jesus and his Apostles, that
according to a man's faith, he should receive. Here, then, we discover the
grand cause why the absence of these gifts and blessings constitutes such a
marked characteristic of the popular religions of the day--the people do not
believe in these gifts and blessings, consequently they never name such things
in their supplications to God, and, as may naturally be expected, God does not
bestow them, for it is not His custom to cast pearls before swine, nor to give
the childrenŐs meat to dogs, although He is full of goodness and compassion.
Many other Scripture reverences in
favour of the conclusions I have come to in this brief article might be
adduced, but probably sufficient has been written to show to a reflecting mind
that there is no solid reason why the gifts and blessings of God should not be
enjoyed now as in ancient times, notwithstanding the opinions of "Grand
Masters" editors, "gentlemen," doctors, lawyers, divines, or any
other class of men. It betrays a low, infidel, and irreverent spirit when a man
sneers at the gifts and blessings of God, whether enjoyed or withheld; and the
same spirit is manifested when those who contend for these gifts are derided,
much more when they are treated with brutal violence, and taunted for a sign
from God. How offensive must such ungodly characters as do this, appear in the
pure sight of Jehovah. Verily they have their reward.
In conclusion, I would recommend a
study of the following extracts from the Book of Mormon, in which extracts
there is more Gospel than many editors or preachers write or speak in the whole
course of their life--
[228]
"And the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and have
stumbled, because of the greatness of their stumbling block, that they have
built up many churches; nevertheless, they put down the power and miracles of
God, and preach up unto themselves, their own wisdom, and their own learning,
that they may get gain, and grind upon the face of the poor; and there are many
churches built up, which cause envyings, and strifes, and malice."--2
Nephi xi. 14.
"And again, I exhort you, my
brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come
from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are
administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given
by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them. For
behold, to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of
wisdom; and to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same
spirit; and to another, exceeding great faith; and to another, the gifts of
healing by the same spirit. And again, to another, that he may work mighty
miracles; and again, to another, that he may prophesy concerning all things;
and again, to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits; and
again, to another, all kinds of tongues; and again, to another, the
interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues. And all these gifts
come by the spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according
as he will. And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that
he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, and that all these gifts of
which I have spoken, which are spiritual, never will be done away, even as long
as the world shall stand, only according to the unbelief of the children of
men.
"And now I speak unto all the
ends of the earth, that if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall
be done away among you, it shall be because of unbelief. And wo be unto the
children of men, if this be the case; for there shall be none that doeth good
among you, no not one. For if there be one among you that doeth good, he shall
work by the power and gifts of God. And wo unto them who shall do these things
away and die, for they die [229] in their sins, and they cannot be saved in the
kingdom of God; and I speak it according to the words of Christ, and I lie
not."--Moroni x. 1,2. (Mill. Star 16:81-85)
Evil Speaking
Editorial, S. W.
Richards
Millennial Star, February
18, 1854
The practice of evil speaking has
become so prevalent among nearly all grades of society, and so interwoven with
every stage of life, that very few escape the guilt consequent upon such a
practice. To some, the evil created by those who indulge in this most deterable
vice may appear trifling, but it only can to those who have become so
habituated to it as not to discern its baneful tendency. Perhaps there is no
sin more frequently committed by those, who profess to be Saints, than that of
evil-speaking; they seem yet not to have learned the mighty influence that can
be wielded by the tongue for the happiness or misery of mankind; they seem not
to appreciate that a single word often destroys that confidence which must reign
supreme where happiness exists, and often produces more extensive injury than
almost any evil act that can be performed; they have not yet learned to watch
their words as though each one was an instrument of life or of death--a
blessing or a curse, to those who come under its influence.
The law of God is very strict in its
requirements upon this point, so much so that no man or woman can be saved who
will indulge in such wickedness--we say wickedness, because it is a flagrant
violation of the law. The organization of the holy Priesthood provides an
officer whose special duty it is to see that there is no evil-speaking
practised among the Saints, neither backbiting, nor hardness, which always
exists in connexion with the practice. The law of the Holy Priesthood, if
strictly enforced, would sever the one guilty of so foul a crime from the
fellowship of Saints and when the officers of the kingdom of God officiate in
perfectness before the Lord this sin, and all its evil consequences, will
perfectly cease.
It should be the study of the
Saints, in every position of life, to guard against the evil, especially of
occupying a [230] prominent one among the people--one where their every act and
word is expected to be a pattern for the people. We have had occasion to
observe the importance of this, particularly with Pastors and Presidents who
are called upon to succeed one another in their ministerial labours. The
principle is readily detected when one Elder succeeds another, disapproves of
his predecessor's general policy, and makes it his first business to demolish
the existing policy of conducting affairs, publicly disapproving of them, and
establishing new plans of operation after his own peculiar views and
inclinations.
When such a course is taken, it is
generally accompanied with remarks and expressions calculated to destroy the
work and influence of those who have been before, though their exertions may
have been great, their labours unceasing, and their motives pure, according to
the light and knowledge they possessed, as much so per adventure as any who
could succeed them. God is sure to bestow upon all such faithful labourers a
just reward. When one Elder is called upon to succeed another it should be his
study to guard the interests and influence of that brother, as he would wish to
have his own guarded under like circumstances. No man should suppose, a moment,
that the policy adopted by another is not a righteous one simply because it
differs from that which he would choose. There may be differences of administrations
and still all be prompted by the same Lord, as there are diversities of
operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. Now if this be
true, who can sit in judgment upon his brother, because he has his peculiar
mode of operation, and disapprove of it, without coming under condemnation? Men
differ in their disposition, temperament, and spirit, and God is the author of
that difference; and no one has a right to speak against his brother, because
God has thus endowed him, while his desires and efforts are to maintain
righteousness in the midst of mankind, and build up the kingdom of God.
Although this principle is true, and essential to be observed, it does not
interfere in the least with the responsibility which rests upon every one to take
proper steps to correct evils wherever they exist, but an [231] individual's
course may not necessarily be productive of evil, because it differs in some
respects from another's.
When a man has learned the truth, he
will know that if he takes the liberty to speak against his brother, the same
measure will be meted out to him in return, if God be true. A man may do evil,
and that action be very limited in its influence, while another may speak of
that evil to those who can have no control over it, and produce an almost
unlimited amount of injury, both of a public and private nature.
Elders may come out from Zion, and
take as much pleasure in speaking, both in public and in private, of the
weaknesses of the Saints there, and the faults they have discovered in the
authorities--how much they care for "Mormonism," how often they get
drunk, the danger there is in unprotected females going to Salt Lake Valley,
and many other equally important facts to be known by the Saints and the world;
and pride themselves in being as ready to speak evil as good; but they little
think how they appear in the eyes of those who see them thus trampling upon the
laws and principles which they profess to advocate. They little think that the
least Saint who possesses the Spirit of God knows they are violating the laws
of that government which must yet cover the earth, or else they have very
little respect for themselves, say nothing about the revelations and
requirements of God.
The time is past, that men can claim
a relationship with the people of God, and indulge in such practices without
being despised; and where Teachers do their duty, such person, whether high or
low, will find themselves in danger of being called to an account, and,
peradventure, dealt with according to the laws of the Church; while all those
who are acquainted with the higher order, and the covenants of the holy
Priesthood, will feel a degree of indignation, which they alone are capable of
feeling.
No one in the kingdom of God has a
right to publish or make known the faults of others, only to those who have the
right and power to reprove and chastise the transgressors. Nothing but evil can
result from any other course, and to add evil to evil is the work of the wicked
one. If a man discovers iniquity in his brother, whom it is his right to
counsel and reprove, it is his duty to use his [232] utmost endeavours to
reclaim that brother, by himself alone; if he does not succeed, it is then his
privilege to communicate the facts in the case of the Teacher, whose right it
is, by virtue of his office, to see that there is no iniquity in the Church,
and they unitedly may strive to save the wayward; if they both cannot prevail
upon the guilty to turn from his transgressions, then he may be brought before
the Church, and be lawfully dealt with. Until these steps are taken, no one has
a right to publish and declaim against the wickedness of a brother. This is a
degree of protection from exposure, which God has wisely provided for all who
are in His Kingdom, that they may have an opportunity of correcting their
faults before they have an evil tendency upon others. When a man discovers
iniquity or waywardness in one whom he has no power to call to an account, it
is his privilege to make it known to one who has jurisdiction in the case, then
his skirts are clear, and the sin rests with those who have power to put it
away, and by whom an atonement must be made that shall deliver them from the
justice of the law. Saints must observe these principles in all their
intercourse one with another, or they can never inherit eternal lives.
Many changes have been made, of
late, and many travelling Elders are and will be called to fill the places of
those who are emigrating; and we would say to all such bless your predecessors,
by maintaining their influence among the people, and never try to build up
yourselves upon the ruin of others. If the Lord has blessed those who have been
before you, and given them the hearts of the people, whereby they have had
power to do good, do not be jealous, and fearful that the Lord will not give
you the hearts of the people also. If you seek the salvation of the people, and
desire with all your hearts to do them good, the Lord will give you all that
you are worthy of, and all that you can control to His glory. If the Lord does
not give you the hearts of the Saints, because you are unworthy of them, you
will try in vain to get them, and be disgraced, if not damned, in the attempt
to obtain them. No man need be jealous of his authority, influence, or power.
If he has any that is worth possessing he has received it from God, and it will
abide with him as long as he is worthy of it; but if he will not honour it, it
will depart from him, and [233] he will publish his own folly by manifesting a
spirit of jealousy for that which he feels is forsaking him. That man who
appreciates his blessings as coming from his God, and feels to acknowledge His
hand in all things, will ever be found in wisdom's paths, and they are peace.
Let all evil-speaking cease from among the Saints; they corrupt good manners
and morals, and destroy good feelings. Be mindful of each other's happiness,
love one another, and seek the salvation of all; then shall you appear as
saviours upon Mount Zion, to enjoy the rich reward of the redeemed, and become
the ministers of our God forever! (Mill. Star 16:104-106)
The Relations of the
Sexes
Extracted from Burnap's
Lectures to Young Men
Millennial Star, February
18, 1854
The subject of the present lecture
is so deeply important, and demands so much wisdom and discretion in its
treatment, that I approach it with the greatest diffidence. I would gladly have
passed it over altogether, if I could have done so with any justice to the
general topics I have undertaken to treat. That subject is the relations of the
sexes, the duties and the happiness which spring out of them, and the vices,
the crimes, and the unutterable misery to which they may give rise. As the
relation between the sexes is the most fundamental and important that we
sustain, and the trials and temptations to which it leads assail human nature
in its weakest point, so ought it to be most thoroughly comprehended in all its
bearings, that the young man, in addition to the promptings and restraints of
religious principles, may have in full view the tremendous responsibilities
upon which he acts in all his intercourse with the other sex.
God has legislated upon this subject
in a manner more minute and emphatic than, perhaps, on any other whatever. All
the statute books of human invention, and even the Bible itself, give but an
imperfect sketch of the actual law--the rewards and punishments which God has
annexed to faithfulness or unfaithfulness to the mutual obligations which the
sexes owe to each other. This great law is clearly written in the constitution
and condition of [234] man, in his affections, his wants, his moral and
religious nature.
Next to the wonders of our
individual being, the marvellous organization of the body, and the still more
marvellous faculties of the mind, comes the difference of sexes. On this
difference, leading to marriage, the whole fabric of society rests. The family
is the primary element from which all society proceeds. As the fountain is
pure, so will be the streams which issue from it. Everything in society points
backwards and forwards to marriage as the most sacred of relations, and this
very fact, antecedent to all experience upon the subject, would lead us to
consider any deviation from the divine institute, the most criminal of acts,
and the most widely pernicious in its consequences. * * *
The union of two true hearts is a
scene which art decorates with the most splendid and imposing works of her
hands--innocent curiosity flocks to it as a marvel and a show--the moral
sentiments of mankind sanction it--religion blesses it--Christ himself once
hallowed it with his presence, and God adds to it the choicest smiles of his
providence.
With those who are thus happily
united, life starts afresh under new and happier auspices. Existence seems more
full and rich now it is shared with another with whom sympathy is complete, and
in whom confidence is unbounded. New and more generous motives of action are
substituted in the place of that exclusive reference to self, into which a
single life is so apt to contract. Time passes unheeded and unregretted by, as
lapse of duration has no reference to the soul, or to its best affections.
Prosperity comes and is doubly welcome, because its joyousness is reflected
from the sympathy of another. Adversity comes, and its sharpness is mitigated
by the mutual support which faithful hearts are able to impart to each other.
As they advance in life, and take a less vivid interest in its affairs, a new
generation comes forward under the most propitious auspices. Their education is
likely to be cared for, their morals watched over, and the example they witness
at home train them up to all that is good. And then, as the parents decline in
years, they reap the reward of their fidelity in the affection, the tenderness,
and [235] assiduity of their children. Decay and death shall seem to them less
terrible as their aged steps shall be supported, and their dying eyes closed,
by the hands of filial affection.
Such is the career and such are the
rewards of honourable love, and that connexion of the sexes which is hallowed
by the laws of God and man. It is no fiction--no picture of the imagination: it
is often witnessed in life. None who hear me will need to go far among their
acquaintance to find an original. Most beautifully was all this description
realized, and more than realized, in the life, lately published to the world,
of Walter Scott, the transcendent genius, the most excellent man. No one can
read his life, and compare it with his wonderful productions, without being
impressed with the conviction, that he owed much of that healthful, happy, and
buoyant tone of mind, and those cheerful views of life which characterize his
enchanting tales, to the benign influence shed over his whole nature by those
conjugal affections, so tender and so true, which blessed his matrimonial
connexion.
Such are the blessings which, in the
order of Providence, attend those who observe the great moral laws which govern
the relation of the sexes to each other.
It is now my duty to reverse the
picture, and exhibit the degradation, the misery, and the ruin which follow and
overtake the violation of those laws--the severe retribution which, even in
this life, punishes the reckless libertine. The first symptom which is
exhibited of this fatal declension from all good, is a fondness for low
company. But in order that low company should be sought and delighted in, there
must have been committed the original sin of a voluntary defilement of the
thoughts and imagination.
There is a profane and immodest
curiosity, a prying into the animal economy, that seeks its gratification in
obscene books or impure descriptions, which is itself polluting and defiling to
the soul. And here let me say to every young person, if there be any salvation
from this vortex of perdition, the stand is to be made in the heart, the
thoughts, the fountain of all action. But if the stand be not made, the next
stage toward ruin is delight in the [236] society of the coarse, the obscene,
and licentious in conversation. By association with such, the natural modesty
of youth becomes gradually soiled, the sacred charm of moral association, which
invests woman to an unsophisticated mind with an inviolable sacredness, is
slowly dispelled. The ideas of protection and respect, which an honourable mind
connects with the weaker and dependent sex, and those higher and better ties
which ought to bind them to the other, are lost sight of, and the soul
gradually descends so low as to consider them merely as the victims and the
instruments of a base, brutal sensuality.
When the train is thus laid, nothing
is now wanting but opportunity to complete that moral prostration for which the
mind is so well prepared. Under guidance of some of the emissaries of hell, the
young man crosses the threshold of that house whose doors are the passage-way
to moral death, and his fate is sealed. If there were any sympathies in nature,
such as are fabled to have spoken out when man committed the first sin, at that
fatal moment there would be heard a deep and universal groan.
From that hour what a difference in
the feelings, the conditions, and the prospects of a young man? He himself is
not aware of a hundredth part of the change and degradation which has taken
place within him. He, perhaps under the excitement of new scenes and the
intoxication of animal pleasure, may revel for a while in a kind of
bewilderment, and set all evil consequences at defiance. But it is all madness
and delusion. A most awful change has taken place in himself. The ingenuous
confidence of innocence is lost. He cannot any longer approach with bounding
step and buoyant heart the sacred precincts of home. The presence of father and
mother, hitherto full of peace, comfort, and encouragement, seems polluted and
insulted by his intrusion. In all his communications with them, hitherto so
frank and confiding, there is something now kept back, which clouds his
intercourse with them with constraint and disquiet. In the family circle, in
the place of that open, ingenuous, cheerful, sportive demeanour, which is
native to innocence and pure thoughts, there come a sullenness, reserve, and
irritability, which begin to isolate him from [237] those affections which used
to be his solace and delight. The society of the virtuous and refined of the
other sex gradually loses its charm. In their presence he feels himself
rebuked, awkward, and ill at ease. Every pure and elevated sentiment is to him
a reproof--every act of confidence a reproach. Quite as uneasy does he find
himself in his new position in the word. The shame of his fall is no secret,
and it is in the hands of those who are restrained by no principle of honour or
delicacy from its promulgation, and who would at any moment make it known to
serve any purpose of cupidity or revenge. Besides, if the secret be kept, he
cannot know that it is; and a guilty conscience, ever apprehensive, and
stimulating the imagination to the greatest extravagances, leads him to read
detection and scorn in every eye. The very street is no longer the same.
Nowhere does he feel safe from betrayal and disgrace. The terrible penalty of
fear and anticipated mortification is never long absent from his mind, and, O!
how much do even these overbalance any possible gratification which can be
derived from the society of the abandoned and the vile!
It is astonishing what a wreck
habits of licentiousness make of all that is good, even in respects which we
should not at first anticipate. It not only prostrates principle, but it
undermines the habits of industry and application to business. The
predisposition to form a virtuous connexion for life, and even the grosser
passion, which, for wise reasons, God has made strong in a pure and virtuous
mind, operate as a stimulus to endeavour, a motive to industry, probity, and
perseverance. But the desecration of a sacred affection, the gratification of
animal appetite, without those responsibilities which God intended should
accompany it, deranges the whole course of nature, and breaks up one of
heaven's wisest and most beneficent arrangements. The great purpose of marriage
and domestic happiness is rendered indifferent, and, of course, in the same
proportion, those habits of industry, probity, and economy, which are necessary
to prepare for it. Instead of long and honourable plans for the future, which
are the great props and buttresses of character, the young man becomes remiss
and unstable. His visions of the honourable citizen, husband, father, are
gradually [238] abandoned, together with that course of noble exertion which
belongs to such anticipations; and in their place is substituted the mean and
selfish man of pleasure, contented for a few years to expend the avails of his
industry upon the mere gratification of the basest of passions.
(Part 2) Another evil, which the
incipient sensualist did not anticipate, soon overtakes him--an utter
repugnance to everything of a religious nature. Nothing so unhallows and
pollutes the soul and all its thoughts as this vice. It stops the breath of
prayer, closes the pages of divine revelation, makes the Sabbath irksome, and
renders public worship a penance instead of an enjoyment. It follows that there
can be scarcely a worse sign than to see a young man fall off from religious
observances. It is almost certain that sin lieth at the door.
But his repugnance to religion does
not often stop at neglect. It usually goes on to a secret enmity and scorn,
thence to profane jests and open unbelief. The loss of the religious principle
in man, slight as it may be in some, is an awful and fatal loss. When it is
gone, there is no longer any safety: a man becomes his own greatest enemy. It
is plainly the conservative principle within him, like the compass to the ship
in the midst of the ocean. Throw that overboard, and he is lost. He drifts on
and on, without any other certainty than that of final shipwreck.
Habits of vicious indulgence are
never stationary; and this especially, being accompanied with the extinction of
the religious principle, rapidly prostrates in a man all that is good.
Association with the vile, and that infatuation which attends it, induce habits
of prodigality which must be supplied, honestly if it may be, but dishonestly
if it must. When he has spent everything of his own, he appropriates whatever
he can lay his hands on, come from whence it may. When he has advanced to this
point of his career, general vagabondism is not far off, and the blighted young
man either sinks into the grave, becomes the tenant of the penitentiary, or
drags out a miserable existence in the most degrading employments.
Another, whose standing in society
is more elevated, and whose means of dissipation are not so soon [239]
exhausted, is preserved only for the commission of worse crimes, and the
endurance of a more signal retribution. Sensuality has so polluted his
imagination, that he can think of nothing else. Beauty, ignorance, and
dependence no sooner catch his eye than the imagination is fired, and, with
black and guileful heart, he busies himself with schemes of seduction and ruin.
Where, in the catalogue of depravity, shall we place such a miscreant as this?
The soul of the murderer, who stabs in hot blood, is white when compared to
his. He despatches his victim at once, and with little suffering, and perhaps
with no preconceived malice. But here is a man who, without provocation will
plot for weeks and months the murder of body and soul, the shame of whole
families, and the abiding sorrow of the most virtuous affections. The unfeeling
wretch is perfectly aware of what he is doing at every step. He knows the fate
of his fictim, for he has seen hundreds of these deluded creatures cast out
from all the endearments of natural affection, from the peace and protection of
home, abandoned to the insults of the brutal and the drunken, the prey of
remorse, of want, of disease, and premature decay. And yet, in full sight of
all this, the seducer proceeds deliberately, step by step, by arts the most
mean, by flattery the most contemptible, by perjury the most profligate.
What renders this sin more deep and
damning, is the fact, that seduction is not often accomplished without a base
and treacherous use of the holiest of affections, that which was originally
intended to unite the sexes for life. Man is led into unlawful connexions by
lust, woman only by love. The greater freedom, or more lax morality of the male
sex, permits them to associate the idea of the gratification of animal passion
with looser ties--the native delicacy of the female mind only with the
permanent and virtuous relation of marriage. The seducer, therefore, does not
hesitate to excite this virtuous passion; he makes his advances under the
traitorous mask of honourable love. And where woman once gives her heart, her
unlimited confidence goes with it: she would as soon distrust her Maker, as
believe that the idol she has enthroned in her affections would deceive,
betray, and abandon her. On the one side, then, all is devoted and [240]
sincere attachment--on the other, the most cold-blooded dastardly selfishness
and treachery. The injured creature awakens to her situation, and finds herself
ruined, heart-broken, forsaken; and she shrinks into the companion-ship of the
loathsome and the vile.
Is there one feeling of truth,
honour, and humanity, that does not rise up within you at the fiendishness of
such conduct? And yet there are men, who deem themselves men of honour, and
claim a reception into the society of the pure and the virtuous, who have no
scruples to make seduction, I had almost said, the business of their lives. It
is in this way, by this system of moral murder, that the number of those
outcasts of society is kept up, who themselves, once corrupted, become the
source of corruption to the whole community. And is it possible that any human
being can treat this subject lightly, and make the fall and ruin of the young
and the innocent the subject of jest and ridicule? The time is not far distant,
I believe, when the moral feeling of the community will rise in its might, and
crush the perpetrators of this stupendous wrong.
But whatever may be thought of this
crime among men, there is an awful vengeance hanging over it in the providence
of God. In the breast of the seducer, however smooth his brow, courageous his
mien, or careless his demeanour, there are already lighted the fires of hell.
there are certain moral, psychological, and physiological causes, which, sooner
or later, avenge the cause of the ruined and betrayed in a manner most fearful
to contemplate. No man can commit this crime without being fully aware of its
turpitude in the sight of God and man. No man who is not a brute, can prevent
something like real attachment from weaving itself into the endearments of even
a base and treacherous connexion with the beautiful, the innocent, the devoted.
The highest pleasures thus become associated in the mind with the deepest
guilt, and to all time, therefore, this crime takes not the place of an
ordinary transaction, to be soon consigned to oblivion, but stands out in bold
and prominent relief, always to catch the eye in the retrospect of the past.
The whole thing, by the violence of passion, and the intense consciousness of
guilt, is burnt into the [241] soul, as it were, with letters of fire, and, as
far as we can see, it remains there painfully legible forever. The seducer is
haunted by it to the day of his death. The thought will steal over him wherever
he may be--what may now be the condition that injured, ruined whom he once took
to his brutal and polluting embraces? Imagination will paint her reduced to the
last extremity of wretchedness and woe, surrounded by the degraded and
abandoned, the sunny smile of innocence and youth supplanted by the worn and
haggard look of despair. This image will float before his mind in broad day--in
health and prosperity; but let trouble or disease shatter his nerves, or wreck
his constitution, and he can think of nothing else; he is racked by perpetual
remorse. He cannot close his eyes in slumber before his mental vision is
invaded by the apparitions of his victims, reproaching him with all the tones
and looks of anguish, for their betrayal and ruin. These scourges of guilt,
which, from the laws of nature I have mentioned, recoil upon the base seducer,
human nature cannot long endure, and the resort to drown memory and reflection is
almost universally to intoxication. In nine cases out of ten, libertinism ends
in habitual drunkenness. When you see a young man giving himself up to
licentious courses--though then he may have no inclination to strong drink--you
may be morally sure that if you meet the same person five or ten years
afterwards, his breath will reek of the strongest potations of the still-house,
and his whole constitution seem eaten out by their fiery and fatal poison.
It is a singular fact that in a
large proportion of the confessions of condemned criminals, you will find, in
the catalogue of crimes which brought them to the gallows, that seduction was
one; and the vile associations to which it led, were the principal causes of a
final and total abandonment to vicious courses.
Another course which this vice
sometimes takes among the more opulent classes, puts on for a while a less
atrocious aspect, but finally terminates in results even more unhappy and
disastrous to society. It is that of a temporary connexion, involving support
on the one hand and ostensible fidelity on the other. The young man may flatter
himself that such a course of conduct may screen [242] him from the more
immediate mischiefs of promiscuous libertinism. But he is only led into a more
fatal snare, to be overtaken by a more tremendous retribution. The
consciousness of this state of things generally drives a man from virtuous
society, or its publicity makes his intercourse with it uncomfortable and
embarrassing. His inclination to honourable marriage is sapped and destroyed,
and with it, generally, the opportunity of a happy choice.
In the meantime, he finds himself a
husband without any of the respectability, the security, and the happiness of
one, and the father of nameless heirs of ignominy and shame. What earthly
condition can be more miserable than this? How could a man, even if he went
deliberately about it, involve himself more inextricably in disgrace, remorse,
and wretchedness, for the rest of his life? How must that man feel, who is
conscious that his own offsprings are wandering about the earth, the outcasts
of society and the scorn of the world? The most affecting thing, I think, that
I have ever met with in my life, was a letter which I once found in looking
over the papers of a deceased person, written by an illegitimate son to his
father, whom he had never seen, and who, though surrounded by wealth, never
made the least provision for his support or education, or even recognized his
existence. He seemed to be a young man of good talents, and the most delicate
sensibility, but crushed and blighted by the consciousness of his dishonourable
birth. His mother, many years before, had abandoned him for a life of infamy,
and he was left, without friend or protector,, to drag out a miserable existence,
and to suffer, the innocent for the guilty, the stern punishment of his
parentsŐ sins. The touching tones of sorrow and despair, with which he appealed
to the heart of a father, filled me for a time with the profoundest melancholy,
and led me to reflect on the enormous guilt of a libertine with a deeper horror
than I had ever felt before.
On the whole, the crimes of
libertinism take a deeper hold on the conscience than any other, except that of
murder. I have sat by the side of many a death-bed, and marked the sins which
wring the departing soul with the deepest pang; and I can sincerely say, that
there is no sin [243] which so clings to the conscience, which so casts doubt
on the possibility of the Divine mercy, which throws such gloomy fears on the unknown
futurity the trembling soul is about to enter, as the criminal indulgence of
the baser passions.
I have cited the example of an
eminent literary man, as exhibiting the happy influence of virtuous love. There
is another no less distinguished, who has afforded as impressive a warning to
the world of the wretchedness which accompanies libertinism. Much of the
misanthropy, the bitterness, the blasphemy, and despair, which pollute the
otherwise exquisite poetry of Byron, is to be traced, I have not the least
doubt, to the subtle poison of a licentious life. When this sacred tie, which
is intended to bind us more closely than any other to our species, has been
vitiated, it cannot fail to destroy the harmony of feeling with mankind which
is so necessary to mental peace and satisfaction. His case, too, is a
demonstration of a truth which ought to be impressed on the mind of every young
man--that marriage is not a cure for the moral disorders introduced by
licentiousness. There is more probability that, instead of being cured, they
will utterly destroy the happiness of that connexion. That freshness and
singleness of affection, which alone can meet and satisfy the devotedness of
woman's heart, can never be found in the breast of a libertine. There was
nothing casual or accidental in the relation which Byron found himself with
regard to his wife soon after their marriage. It is the natural condition of a
libertine in the state of marriage. In his case it became known, merely because
he was a public character. The results in all cases are more or less the same.
Unhappiness in this relation is enough to blast the prospects of life, and send
a man forth to wander upon the face of the earth. His feverish restlessness,
his gloomy scepticism, his heartless contempt for his species, were the natural
consequences the life he led. And the unblushing confession, that he wrote in
the latter part of his life, on the inspiration of gin, only confirms the
observation I have already made, that the latter stages of the rake's progress
are passed under the maddening influence of intoxication.
[244]
Such are some of the tremendous penalties which, in the order of nature and
Providence, hang over and avenge the licentious intercourse of the sexes. They
are as sure to follow as day to follow night, and nothing but a miracle on the
part of God, changing the courses of causes and effects, could avert them.
There is, then, but one way for the young man to act; in that alone lies his
salvation--to shun, as a pestilence, the society of all who are in the habitual
practice of this vice, or whose conversation is loose, or who have a prevailing
taste for indecency of any kind whatever. There is no other way but to repress
that immodest curiosity which would find its gratification in the perusal of
indecent books, to restrain the lawless imagination which is stimulated by
licentious songs and conversation. Let him remember, that it is comparatively
easy to resist the beginnings of evil--that self-government belongs mainly to
the thoughts. While they are kept pure, there is safety; but evil, once
admitted here, is like a kindling fire, which spreads and rages till everything
is involved in conflagration.
Above all, let no enticement or
persuasion ever induce you to approach the threshold of those haunts of
perdition. Let the degradation, the cruelties, the blasphemies, the riots, the
filthiness of those sinks of pollution, be as repugnant to your curiosity as
the awful mysteries of the prison-house of the damned. (Mill. Star 16:97-99,
118-121)
[Editorial note: The extracts from
Burnap's Lectures contain many things which the Saints, the young especially,
will do well to study. Wisdom should peculiarly characterize their conduct in
the most important relations of life. (p. 122)]
Who Are These That Fly as
a Cloud?
Editorial, S. W.
Richards
Millennial Star, February
25, 1854
Once more the annual spectacle of
the flight of thousands of the Lord's people is presented to the astonished nations.
As doves to their windows are the Saints flocking to the strongholds of Zion in
the tops of the mountains, to be organized on heavenly principles, [245] and to
escape the fearful judgments which are decreed in these latter days.
Two motives combine to urge the
Saints to obey the great command of the gathering, without unnecessary delay.
The first and foremost is that only by the gathering of the righteous in one
can righteousness and truth be permanently established on the earth. The next
is that the Almighty is about to come out from His hiding-place and punish the
world for its iniquity, and no guarantee from this punishment is given except
by gathering from amongst the wicked nations, as the voice from heaven to the
Patmos exile commanded--"Come out of her, my people, that ye be not
partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."
For upwards of twenty years has the
commandment of the gathering been sounded in the ears of the world, and
thousands, through the love of the truth, have forsaken the land of their
birth, and the home of their childhood, to go to a land they knew not. Blessed
are such, if they continue faithful. Their gathering shall be handed down to
their posterity as a movement of the first importance to their salvation, and
the salvation of their generations before and after them. The gathering of
Abraham, and the gathering of the children of Israel under Moses, are both
notable events in sacred history, but they will pass into comparative oblivion
when contrasted with the gathering in these latter days. Who can tell the vast
influence which the shiploads of Saints that yearly take their departure from
Liverpool may have upon the destiny of the world! Insignificant as their
actions and fanatical as their purpose may appear in the eyes of the great and
honourable men of the day, it is true, beyond the shadow of doubt, that this
insignificance will be magnified to the highest import, and this fanaticism
will appear soundest wisdom, to a generation not far distant from the present.
Will not children then point with laudable pride and enthusiasm to the
gathering of their forefathers from the abominations of Babylon to the purity
of Zion? Most assuredly children will, and much more so when the parents
gathered through the love of the truth alone.
But undoubtedly some will gather
partly to avoid the judgments of an offended God. Such do well, but those who
[246] gather solely from a love of the truth, will do much better. The
judgments of God will be fearful enough, for they will be poured out with fury,
and in a day of vengeance, which He has long kept in His heart. He has for a
long time refrained Himself while injured innocence has been crying with tears
of blood for to be avenged, but in these latter days will He make inquisition,
and woe to those who incur His just displeasure, for He will not spare. The low
rumbling sounds of almost universal war are heard with a fearful distinctness
beneath the surface of the political world. And the wisest worldling knows not
how speedily the volcano may burst forth, how terrible may be the erruption, or
how awful and extensive may be the desolation. One thing seems clear--that this
year's emigration will safely quit Europe's shores. How much longer destruction
may be delayed remains to be seen, but come when or how it will, it will only
forward the work of God. Meantime let those who have set their faces toward
Zion look not back, lest sudden destruction come upon them. "Remember
Lot's wife." (Mill. Star 16:121-122)
* * * * *
* * *
*