Chapter III: Preface (2)

Such is the simple story of the divine calling of the Prophet of the nineteenth century, as told by Joseph Smith himself. He testified of these glorious things, and a few believed his words and were baptized. Thus were the initiatory steps for the establishment of the Church of Christ in completeness of power, gifts and ordinances established. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized on the sixth day of April, 1830, at Fayette, Seneca county, State of New York, and its history has been thrillingly eventful. From the time of its establishment the work has been spread abroad, the faithful Elders going forth, like the ancient disciples, proclaiming the Gospel, raising up and organizing branches. The gifts and power of God have been made manifest, the word being confirmed by signs following the believers.

In 1831, by revelation through Joseph the Seer, the few believers were directed to gather to the State of Ohio, the town of Kirtland being the headquarters of the Church. In the summer of the same year, Joseph Smith and a number of other Elders, by divine command, visited Jackson county, Missouri, which was designated as "Zion."

On April 3rd, 1836, in the Temple erected at Kirtland, the Prophet Joseph and Oliver Cowdery were blessed with a glorious vision of the Savior, whose appearance they described. He signified His acceptance of the Holy House, that had been erected to His name, promising many glorious blessings upon His people, on condition that the Holy Temple be kept free from pollution. They were also visited by Moses, who committed to them the keys of the gathering of Israel and the bringing of the Ten Tribes from the North country. Elias also appeared and bestowed upon them the dispensation of the Gospel of Abraham; and, lastly, there appeared Elijah the Prophet who, in fulfillment of the prediction of Malachi, conferred upon Joseph Smith the keys to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers, informing them that the great and dreadful day of the Lord was near; and by virtue of the authority conferred upon them at that time, the hearts of those living are turning towards their dead progenitors, and a sympathetic search for genealogy is going on among the Latter-day {22} Saints, to be used by them in the great temples of the Church; where the living perform a work of salvation for the dead.

To follow the believers in the divine mission of Joseph Smith through the terrible storms of persecution, to which they were subjected, would consume volumes. Wherever they established themselves they were beset on very side by mobs, who burned or despoiled their homes, in many cases murdered them in cold blood, and committed upon helpless women revolting crimes against chastity. This was particularly the case in Missouri, in which state they subsequently settled, and where they were driven from county to county, and abused with such merciless cruelty, that nothing short of the power of God saved them from annihilation, as an organized body. In fact, the Governor of the state, a wretched person named Boggs, issued an order for the extermination of the Saints, and several thousand volunteers were raised and sent to execute this execrable decree. Joseph Smith and numbers of the leading Elders were thrown into prison where they were offered for food the flesh of their brethren who had been murdered by the mobs. A council of the Volunteer Militia Mobocrats was held in relation to the disposal of Joseph Smith and his brethren. Seventeen sectarian priests, who took part in the murderous work, were urgent in the demands that they be shot. The commission of this cold-blooded deed was only prevented by General Doniphan threatening to withdraw his regiment and free himself from such devilish doings.

Being driven by ruthless, relentless persecution, having been expelled from their homes and last refuge in Missouri, the Saints wended their weary steps to Illinois. Hundreds of them perished during the winter from hunger, cold, and general exposure. They built the beautiful city of Nauvoo, with a population of over 20,000, in Hancock county, Illinois, on the banks of the Mississippi, where they also erected a beautiful temple. They flourished for a time, their numbers being greatly swelled by inflowing immigration from different parts of the Union and from Great Britain.

Again the fierce winds of persecution began to howl, as if the infernal regions had let loose their imps and commissioned them to take possession of the enemies of the people of God. Nothing seemed to satisfy them but the blood of the Prophet, and he seemed to realize it, for on his way to Carthage, Illinois, where he was murdered in cold blood, he said: "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am as calm as {23} a summer's morning. I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men; I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me, 'he was murdered in cold blood.'" Fifty times had he been arrested on trumped-up charges, and forty-nine times had he been acquired by the courts of the land, innocent of any crime. Desperate and maddened by being continually foiled in their wicked designs, the mob finally declared that, "if law couldn't reach them, powder and ball should." On the 27th of June, 1844, while in jail, in the town of Carthage, and under the protective pledge of the governor of the State, Joseph Smith the Prophet, and his brother Hyrum, the Patriarch, were cruelly murdered by a furious mob, led by religious fanatics. Appended to the book containing the revelations received from the Lord by the Prophet Joseph, known as the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, is published the following narrative of the "Night of Martyrdom:"

MARTYRDOM OF JOSEPH SMITH, THE PROPHET, AND HIS BROTHER HYRUM.

1. To seal the testimony of this book and the Book of Mormon, we announce the Martyrdom of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and Hyrum Smith, the Patriarch. They were shot in Carthage jail, on the 27th of June, 1844, about five o'clock p.m., by an armed mob, painted black--of from 150 to 200 persons. Hyrum was shot first and fell calmly, exclaiming, "I am a dead man!" Joseph leaped, from the window, and was shot dead in the attempt, exclaiming, "O Lord my God!" They were both shot after they were dead in a brutal manner, and both received four halls.

2. John Taylor, and Willard Richards, two of the Twelve, were the only persons in the room at the time; the former was wounded in a savage manner with four balls, but has since recovered; the latter, through the providence of God, escaped, "without even a hole in his robe."

3. Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more (save Jesus only,) for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and the power of God, and has been the means of publishing it in two continents; has sent the fullness of the everlasting gospel which it contained to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city; and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people, and like most of the Lord's anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood--and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!

4. When Joseph went to Carthage to deliver himself up to the pretended requirements of the law, two or three days previous to his assassination, he said, "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but {24} I am calm as a summer's morning; I have a conscience void of offence towards God, and towards all men. I SHALL DIE INNOCENT, AND IT SHALL YET BE SAID OF ME--HE WAS MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD." The same morning, after Hyrum had made ready to go--shall it be said to the slaughter? Yes, for so it was,--he read the following paragraph, near the close of the twelfth chapter of Ether, in the Book of Mormon, and turned down the leaf upon it:--

5. "And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me, if they have not charity, it mattered not unto you, thou hast been faithful; wherefore thy garments are clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness, thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father. And now I--bid farewell unto the Gentiles; yea and also unto my brethren whom I love, until we shall meet before the judgment-seat of Christ, where all men shall know that my garments are not spotted with your blood." The testators are now dead, and their testament is in force.

6. Hyrum Smith was 44 years old, February, 1844, and Joseph Smith was 38 in December, 1843; and henceforward their names will be classed among the martyrs of religion; and the reader in every nation will be reminded that the "Book of Mormon," and this book of Doctrine and Cov. of the church, cost the best blood of the nineteenth century to bring them forth for the salvation of the ruined world: and that if the fire can scathe a _green tree_ for the glory of God, how easy it will burn up the "dry trees" to purify the vineyard of corruption. They lived for glory; they died for glory; and glory is their eternal reward. From age to age shall their names go down to posterity as gems for the sanctified.

7. They were innocent of any crime, as they often proved before, and were only confined in jail by the conspiracy of traitors and wicked men; and their _innocent blood_ on the floor of Carthage jail, is a broad seal affixed to "Mormonism" that cannot be rejected by any court on earth; and their _innocent blood_ on the escutcheon of the State of Illinois, with the broken faith of the State as pledged by the Governor, is a witness to the truth of the everlasting gospel, that all the world cannot impeach; and their _innocent blood_ on the banner of liberty, and on the _magna charta_ of the United States, is an ambassador for the religion of Jesus Christ, that will touch the hearts of honest men among all nations; and their _innocent blood_, with the innocent blood of all the martyrs under the altar that John saw, will cry unto the Lord of Hosts, till He avenges that blood on the earth. Amen.

It was fondly hoped that, by the death of the great Prophet, the work he had been commissioned to establish would go out of existence. But it was destined to remain forever. Truth is imperishable. The enemies of the Church redoubled their efforts, thinking they could complete a work of demolition they imagined they had begun. But though, by the machinations of the wicked and the operations of fiendish hate, good and great men may be swept from the earth, the principles they advance remain behind. Men are subject to removal {25} from this sphere, it is true, but truth, eternal truth, is not susceptible to obliteration: "Truth crushed to earth will rise again." Joseph Smith was martyred, but another great man had been prepared to take up the link of the chain, which the wicked fondly hoped had been snapped never more to be welded. The Twelve Apostles, upon the death of Joseph Smith, were the highest authority of the Church. Brigham Young was their president, and recognizing this truth, he was, on December 5th, 1847, selected as president of the whole Church, and as such directed its affairs down to the time of his death in August, 1877.

Mob violence did not cease with the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum. The dogs of war continued to let loose upon the Latter-day Saints until, finally, they had to enter into a compulsory agreement, or written compact, to leave the State of Illinois, and betake themselves to the Western wilds of America, where is was proudly hoped by their enemies, they would inevitably perish.

The compulsory exodus commenced under the leadership of Brigham Young, in the depth of the winter of 1846, when the friendless wanderers passed through hardships and sufferings, in the midst of ice, snowdrifts and a temperature frequently twenty degrees below zero.

While encamped on the western bank of the Missouri River, the general government sent an agent, calling for 500 of the ablest men among the Mormon exiles to aid the United States in the war against Mexico. These were promptly furnished, showing that accusations of disloyalty made against this despised people were unfounded. To add to the distress of the camp, at this juncture they learned that the sick and infirm who were left behind in Nauvoo, from inability to move with the main body, had been actually driven out of that city at the mouth of the musket and cannon by the brutal, inhuman mob.

On the 24th of July, 1847, the pioneers, led by Brigham Young, entered the valley of the Great Salt Lake. Successive companies followed, and the cultivation of the soil proceeded. Until the harvest of 1848 many suffered from hunger, living upon small roots and rawhide.

Mammoth volumes might be filled with narratives of the trials, vicissitudes, travels, hardships, afflictions and persecutions to which the Church of Christ has been subjected. We might speak of the difficulties the Latter-day Saints have had to cope with in their present beautiful location in the formerly barren but now smiling and fruitful valleys of the West, beyond the Rocky Mountains; how their crops have in past years {26} been destroyed by hordes of grasshoppers and crickets, yet they have plodded on their way, rejoicing and trusting in the God of Heaven, who, although He has seen fit to try and prove them, has never deserted them in the hour of need.

Before the advent of Western railroads on the American Continent the pilgrim Saints, with faces turned toward the pastures of the Rocky Mountains, had to traverse, mostly afoot, the broad and almost trackless prairies, over mountains and across rivers and valleys, their baggage and the more feeble of the people being conveyed by wagons hauled by oxen. In 1866, the Latter-day Saints in Utah, inspired with deep solicitude for the pilgrims on their weary way westward, with a largeness of heart and generosity that has seldom been equalled, forwarded to the frontiers 500 wagons, with a sufficient number of cattle and men to transport them 1,100 miles--from the Missouri River to Salt Lake City.

By the magic hand of industry, under the blessings of the God of Israel, that Western wilderness has been transformed into a picture of smiling fruitfulness. Besides the beautiful city of Salt Lake--the admiration of passing tourists, who flock there by thousands every year--there are nearly 500 other cities and settlements which "blossom like the rose."

Temples have been erected in Salt Lake City, St. George, Manti and Logan, at a cost of over seven millions of dollars, besides hundreds of tabernacles and churches scattered throughout that region which represent other millions in money. Thus are the Latter-day Saints manifesting their solicitude for the welfare of the fathers who have gone before, by preparing places wherein they can officiate for them, "That they may be judged according to men in the flesh and live according to God in the spirit."

Since then thousands of Elders have gone into all parts of the civilized world, traveling as the Apostles of old did, "without purse and without script," crying repentance to the nations, and calling on them to be baptized and escape the "damnation of hell." These Elders have left the farm, the workshop, the forge, the store, and, all the comforts of home and loved ones, and gone into Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Holland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, East Indies, Cape of Good Hope, Mexico, South America, South Sea Islands, Sandwich Islands, Jersey Islands, Japan, Turkey and Jerusalem, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation and kindred, and tongue and people. As a result of their warning voice thousands and tens of thousands have yielded {27} obedience to the Gospel of the Son of God, and the Church now has a membership of over 400,000 souls, and fully that many more have kept the faith and passed beyond the vale, all during the remarkably short space of seventy-five years. There have been six presidents in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as follows: Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, and Joseph F. Smith, the present leader of the Church, who was a member of the Quorum of the Apostles for thirty-eight years, and who attained his present position through a long life of faithfulness. At the death of President Lorenzo Snow, his predecessor, he had become the chief Apostle and was finally chosen by the highest quorum in the Church to become the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, as was Brigham Young upon the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith. President Joseph F. Smith is a son of the Patriarch, Hyrum Smith, who met his death in Carthage jail, June 27th, 1844.

Efforts have been made to destroy the work of God as instituted through the instrumentality of Joseph Smith, and all manner of falsehoods have been circulated against him and his unselfish labors. Especially have the shafts of the Evil One been directed against the Book of Mormon, men having invented all manner of theories as to its origin in order to discredit its divinity. The Solomon Spaulding story is still used by hireling priests, who "lie in wait to deceive." For fifty years and more has this been the stock-in-trade of those who object to the genuineness of this divine record, and notwithstanding these divines (?) know that the story has long ago been exploded, yet they continue to blind the eyes of their followers, because their "craft is in danger" directly the truth dawns on those who are honest in heart.

The Rev. Solomon Spaulding romance is easily told: D.P. Hurlburt, a man who was once a member of the Church, but who, because of his lascivious conduct, was excommunicated, was the originator of the fabrication that the Book of Mormon had its origin in Mr. Spaulding's tale. This man Hurlburt wrote a bitter assault on the Latter-day Saints in 1836, entitled "Mormonism Unveiled," which was published in Ohio. During the time Hurlburt was gathering material for this work, he obtained from the family of the then deceased clergyman the original of the "Manuscript Story," as it was called, but discovering that it would, if published, prove fatal to his assumptions, he suppressed it; and from that time it was entirely lost sight of until the latter part of the year 1884, when a Mr. L. L. Rice, residing at Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, found it {28} among a numerous collection of miscellaneous papers which he had received from Mr. E. D. Howe, of Painesville, Ohio, the publisher of Hurlburt's "Mormonism Unveiled," when he, with his partner, purchased from that gentleman the business and good will of the Painesville Telegraph. In 1884 President James H. Fairchild, of Oberlin College, Ohio, was paying a visit to Mr. Rice, and he suggested that the latter look through his numerous papers, in the hope of finding amongst them some anti-slavery documents of value. In his search he discovered a package marked in pencil on the outside, "Manuscript Story," which, to their surprise, on perusal, proved to be the veritable, long lost romance of Rev. Dr. Spaulding, to which so much undeserved importance had been maliciously given. This manuscript was presented to Oberlin College, but not until an exact copy had been made by Mr. Rice, which has since been published in pamphlet form, and can be purchased at the Deseret News Book Store, Salt Lake City, Utah. Upon comparison it will be found that it does not bear the least resemblance in any manner to the Book of Mormon, and yet it was said that Joseph Smith obtained access to this manuscript and from its scanty pages elaborated this Book of Mormon, which he afterwards palmed upon the world as a divine record.

{29}

WHAT "MORMONS" BELIEVE.

EPITOME OF THE DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.

BY CHAS. W. PENROSE, OF THE "COUNCIL OF TWELVE APOSTLES."

The question is often asked, what do the "Mormons" believe, and wherein do their doctrines differ from those of other religious denominations? A reply will be found in the following epitome of "Mormonism," or rather of its leading principles, for it embraces all truth from every source.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the proper name of the body of religious worshipers commonly known as "Mormons." It was organized by the authority and commandment of God in the State of New York on the 6th day of April, 1830. It derives all its doctrines, ordinances, discipline and order of Priesthood from direct divine revelation.

FIRST PRINCIPLES.

The first principle of the Gospel as taught by this Church is faith. This embraces faith in God the Father and in his son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost.

The Father is a glorified and perfect person, and Jesus Christ the Son is in His express image and likeness. One is an individual as much as the other. Each is a spirit clothed with a spiritual, yet tangible, immortal body. Spirit is substance, not immateriality. It is eternal in its essence, and so are the elements of that which is known as matter.

The Holy Spirit is not a personage of tabernacle, and His influence permeates all things and extends throughout the vast domain of space, which is boundless and occupied by limitless elements, and that Spirit, proceeding from the presence of God, gives life and light to all things animate, and is the power by which they are governed, and by which the Father and the Son are everywhere present.

Man is a dual being, also in the image of God, who is the Father of his spirit and the Creator of his body. Jesus was the First-born in the spirit and the Only-begotten in the flesh. {30} All men and women are the sons and daughters of God, and Jesus is their Elder Brother. By obedience to His Gospel in all things, mankind, through the redemption He has wrought, may be exalted with Him as joint-heirs to the eternal inheritance of the Sons of God, and become like Him and reign with Him in the Ineffable Presence forever.

Faith in God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost leads to the second principle of the Gospel, which is repentance. That is, conviction of sin, regret for its commission, and reformation by turning away from it, by ceasing to do evil and beginning and continuing to do well.

Repentance leads to remission of sins, which comes through baptism administered by one having authority, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Baptism is the third principle, and is immersion in water in the likeness of a burial, succeeded by a birth. Becoming dead to sin by repentance, the believer is buried in the liquid grave and brought forth from the womb of waters, thus being born of water to a new life in Christ Jesus.

The repentant believer, thus baptized, obtains the remission of sins through the shedding of Christ s blood. He who knew no sin died that sinners might be saved by obedience to His commandments. He did that for them which they could not do themselves; what they are able to do is required of them, in order that they may receive the benefits of His atonement.

Thus cleansed from sin, the new-born disciple is prepared to receive the Holy Ghost. The fourth principle is the bestowal of that gift by the laying on of hands of men called and ordained of God to thus officiate in His name.

Born of the water and of the spirit, the regenerated soul becomes a member of Christ's Church, and is entitled to such spiritual gifts as he or she may deserve and obtain by the exercise of faith. Some of these are wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, visions, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, discerning of spirits, healing the sick, etc., etc. All the manifestations of the power of God enjoyed in former times may be and are enjoyed in His Church in latter times.

The gift of the Holy Ghost opens the avenue to all intelligence. That Spirit leads into all truth and shows things to come. It is the Comforter and the Revealer. It bears witness of the Father and the Son, and brings mortals into communion with them and into union with one another. It is the true light given to every one in coming into the world, but is bestowed and manifested in a higher and fuller degree when conferred as a gift to the baptized, repentant believer.

{31} No person has the right to baptize or lay on hands or administer any ordinance of the Church, unless he is called of God and ordained to act in the name of Deity. The commission given to the Apostles of old does not confer any authority upon men in this age. It was for them alone upon whom it was bestowed, and those whom they were inspired and directed to ordain unto the same power. Without divine communication now, there can be no divine authority today.

THE APOSTASY.

When the Apostles of Christ were killed and their immediate successors appointed, the disciples were tortured and slain, and gradually darkness came over the world and pagan institutions were mingled with the rites and order of the Church, until the apostolic authority and the true Christian spirit and doctrine were entirely subverted. Reforms that were subsequently introduced merely lopped off some evils and made some improvements; but did not and could not restore the authority and power of the primitive Christian Church and Priesthood.

THE RESTORATION.

In these latter days the Father and the Son have appeared and revealed anew the Gospel. Angels have ministered to man. John the Baptist brought to earth the authority of the Lesser or Aaronic Priesthood which he held when in mortality. Peter, James and John have conferred their keys of Apostleship received under the hands of Jesus of Nazareth, and the power and authority of the higher or Melchisedek Priesthood. Elijah the Prophet and others of the ancients have bestowed the keys they held, and they are all in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Under that authority the Church has been built up after the original pattern and with the same spirit, ordinances, gifts and blessings.

Joseph Smith, after accomplishing the work entrusted to him by the Lord, sealed his testimony with his blood, being cruelly slain with his brother Hyrum, at Carthage, Illinois, by a mob disguised, on June 27, 1844.

Joseph Smith was the instrument in the hands of the Lord to commence the work of restitution, and open the last dispensation, that of "the fulness of times." He received that divine authority under the hands of those heavenly messengers. He, by revelation and commandment, ordained others. Today there are on earth Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, {32} Elders, Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons, divinely called and authorized to teach and administer the things of the Kingdom of heaven, and the power of God attends their ministrations.

Faith, repentance and baptism of water and of the Spirit administered by divine authority are essential to salvation. There is only one way. There is some good in all religions, but there is and can be but one divine religion, that is, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is to be preached to every creature. Persons who have died after reaching years of accountability without an opportunity of receiving it, will hear it in the spirit world, and may there obey or reject it. Heathens, Jews and all races, creeds and tongues will thus have the door of redemption opened to them. Infants who die before they become accountable need no baptism, but are all redeemed by the blood of Christ.

The spirit of man is the intelligent, responsible being, an entity both before and after dwelling in the body. It was in the beginning with the Father. The sons and daughters of God, after probation in the flesh, return to Him and then, until the resurrection, associate in such sphere as they have fitted themselves to occupy; the good with the spirits of the just, the evil with the spirits of the unjust. A disembodied spirit can learn, believe, repent and yield obedience, but cannot be baptized in water, the earthly medium of purification.

REDEMPTION OF THE DEAD.

The living may be baptized for the dead. One who has received the ordinances of the Gospel can stand proxy for departed ancestors, who will receive the benefit of the earthly ordinances on obedience to the Gospel in the spirit. As the Spirit of Christ preached to the spirits in prison while His body was in the sepulchre, so His servants, bearing His authority, preach to "the dead" after finishing their work on earth. Ordinances for and in behalf of the dead are administered in temples built after a pattern revealed from heaven. Thus the living become saviors to the dead under Jesus Christ the Captain of their Salvation.

The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth was "the first-fruit of them that slept." All persons who have breathed the breath of life will also be raised from the dead, receiving their bodies again as He did. But everyone in his own order. Those who have put on Christ by obeying His Gospel will be Christ's at His coming, and will be quickened by His glory, the celestial, typified by the sun. After the lapse of a day of the Lord-a {33} thousand of our years-the rest of the dead will come forth, some in the terrestrial glory, typified by the moon, and others in the telestial glory, typified by the stars in their different magnitudes, the rest in a kingdom not of any degree of glory. All will be judged according to their works.

Progress is the eternal order of creation. The condemned will be punished for sin, as Divine justice shall determine both as to the severity and to the duration. The purpose of punishment is the vindication of the law and the reclamation of the transgressor. Eventually all who can be redeemed will be placed in some degree of glory and advancement. Only the sons of perdition who deny the Holy Ghost after having received it, who willfully pervert the power given to them to attain the highest exaltation and who shed innocent blood will be utterly lost.

The glory of those who are in Christ and become joint heirs with Him is to "inherit all things," and follow and participate with the Son and the Eternal Father forever in their glorious works. They will inherit the earth when it is purified and crowned with the glory and presence of God. They will reign as kings and priests and be ministers unto those of a lesser degree of glory in the eternal mansions.

This is the last dispensation. In it Israel will be gathered, Jerusalem be rebuilt, and Palestine be the abode of the sons of Judah. The elect of God will gather from all nations to Zion on the American continent. The earth will be cleansed from corruption. Paradise will bloom again, war will cease, peace will prevail, the enmity will depart from man and brute, the curse will be removed and this globe will be glorified, shining in its own light developed to perfection.

THE BOOK OF MORMON.

The Prophet of the nineteenth century was directed by the angel of God to the spot where the records of the history of the former inhabitants of this continent were deposited. He obtained and translated a portion of them into the English language. It is called the Book of Mormon, because the Prophet Mormon made an abridgment of more ancient records than his own, and inscribed them upon metallic plates in hieroglyphics reformed from the Egyptian.

That book has since been translated into other languages. It gives the history of two races. The first springing from a colony brought upon this land at the time of the dispersion from the Tower of Babel. The second descending from the families directed to this continent from Jerusalem six hundred {34} years before the Christian era, at the time when Zedekiah was king of Judea. It relates the wars, travels, religion, progress and decadence of those races-the progenitors of the American Indians, describes their cities, temples, forts, etc., and contains an account of the visit to this land of Jesus Christ, after His resurrection and ascension, with particulars of His ministry in establishing His Church here with the same principles, precepts, ordinances, Priesthood and blessings as in the Church on the Asiatic continent. It also speaks of the gradual apostasy of the people and the woes that came upon them through transgression.

The Book of Mormon does not take the place of the Bible, but is auxiliary to it and corroborates and supports it. The Bible is the record of God's dealings with His people in the eastern world; the Book of Mormon is the record of his dealings with His people on this western land, separated from the other hemisphere, and then unknown to its inhabitants. They, with the book of Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price, are the standards of doctrine and discipline of the Church.

Inspiration by the Holy Ghost as bestowed upon the ancient Hebrew prophets, is viewed as revelation by the Latter-day Saints. It conveys the word and will of God. Every individual in the Church is entitled to it for his or her own guidance. The President of the Church, who is a prophet, a seer and a revelator, is entitled to divine communication by any of the means which God chooses to use for this purpose. But revelation does not come by the will of man. It is God who reveals His word at the time and in the manner which He selects. Revelation for the whole Church comes through the head alone, and thus order is preserved and conflicting doctrines excluded.

CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.

The doctrine of celestial, that is eternal marriage, is a feature of the "Mormon" faith. By the authority vested in the head of the Church, that which is sealed on earth is sealed in heaven, and the man and woman united under that authority in an everlasting covenant are joined forever. Such was the marriage of Adam and Eve before death came by sin. The redemption of Christ restored them to their primeval state, and they stand at the head of their posterity, immortal, perfected and eternal. By obedience and fidelity to the laws of God, men and women may attain to a similar estate and enjoy unending bliss, "the man being not without the woman nor the {35} woman without the man in the Lord." The family, the home, the relation of parents and children are thus the basis of present and future happiness, and the increase thereof being perpetual, therein is the glory of the redeemed, who dwell in the presence of God and the Holy Ones, continued forever.

CHURCH GOVERNMENT.

The government of the Church of Christ devolves upon those who have been divinely appointed and have been accepted by the body of the Church, in which all things are to be done by common consent.

At the head is the Prophet, Seer and Revelator with two counselors. These three presiding High Priests thus selected form the First Presidency, having jurisdiction over the Church in all the world.

Next are the Twelve Apostles, forming a body equal in authority to the Presidency and constituting that Presidency at the death or removal of the head. They set in order the affairs of the Church in all the world under the direction of the First Presidency.

The patriarchs are Evangelists and are specially ordained to pronounce blessings on the Saints by the laying on of hands, declaring their lineage and predicting events in which they will figure in time and in eternity. There is a Patriarch to the whole Church, having authority to bless all its officers and members from the greatest to the least, holdings the keys of that power. There are other Patriarchs who hold authority within the various Stakes of Zion wherein they are appointed and in which they administer the sealing blessings.

The Seventy are a body of Elders forming an appendage to the Apostleship and traveling under their direction. Seven of the number preside over that body. There are a hundred and fifty of these "quorums," as they are called, each presided over by seven of their number, and all under direction of the First Seven Presidents. They form the chief missionary corps of the Church.

High Priests and Elders not belonging to the councils above mentioned, are local officers for local ministrations, but may be called into the missionary field if necessary. Ninety-six Elders form a "quorum," presided over by three of their number. There are a great many of these organizations. All these officers hold the Priesthood after the order of Melchisedek.

The Bishops stand at the head the Aaronic or lesser Priesthood, an appendage to the higher of Melchisedek Priesthood. {36} There are three who form the Presiding Bishopric of the Church. Other Bishops have charge of wards of the Church, and the function of the Bishopric is to minister in the temporalities of the Church. Priests, forty-eight of whom form a "quorum," presided over by a Bishop and two counselors; Teachers, twenty-four of whom form a "quorum," presided over by three of their number; and Deacons, twelve of whom form a "quorum," presided over by three of their number, constitute the rest of the organizations of the lesser Priesthood. They exist in all the wards, and are under the direction of the respective Bishoprics.

Apostles, Patriarchs, Seventies, High Priests and Elders may preach, baptize and lay on hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and perform any duty of the Aaronic Priesthood, as the greater includes the less. Aaronic Priests may preach, teach and baptize for the remission of sins, but cannot confer the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. Teachers visit the members and see there is no iniquity permitted to remain in the Church. Deacons attend to temporal duties under the Bishops.

A Bishop should be a lineal descendant of Aaron, but in the absence of one of that lineage, a High Priest is selected and ordained to that office. With his two counselors, also High Priests, he has charge of an organized ward and sits in judgment upon transgressors and in cases of disputes between members. An appeal is allowed to the High Council.

Members residing in a given locality form a ward. A number of wards, generally those within a county, are organized into a Stake of Zion, presided over by three High Priests. A High Council, consisting of twelve High Priests, constitutes an ecclesiastical tribunal, to which appeals may be taken from decisions of the Bishops' courts. It is presided over by the Stake Presidency, who have jurisdiction over all the wards and their officers in the Stake. There are now fifty-five of these Stakes of Zion and a number of conferences and mission organizations in addition. A High Council decision is subject to review by the Presidency of the Church.

All the officers of the Church are presented twice a year before the body of the Church for their acceptance or rejection. The Stake and ward authorities are periodically subject to a similar regulation. All serve without salaries. Persons engaged constantly in Church service are supported, or partly sustained, according to needs, from Church funds. Missionaries have no stipends, but travel "without purse or scrip," either paying their own expenses or relying upon friends whom the Lord raises up to their aid.

{37} The revenue of the Church is derived from the tithes. One-tenth of a member's interest or increase each year is tithing. It is a free-will offering, not a tax. Temples, church buildings, etc., are erected and maintained from the tithing, and large amounts are expended for the support of the poor and the benefit of new settlements.

On the first Sunday of every month a fast is held, and the amount saved from fasting is donated to the poor. The Bishops have charge of those in need and are required to see that none are left to want.

AUXILIARY SOCIETIES.

The Relief Societies, composed of ladies, are organized auxiliary bodies who also minister to the poor, aged and afflicted, and help prepare the dead for burial. They hold meetings of their own for instruction in women's work and intellectual, moral and spiritual advancement.

The younger women and also the younger men are organized into Mutual Improvement associations, which they, separately, conduct themselves, but sometimes assemble in joint session.

The Primary associations are organizations of children under older supervision, for training in Gospel principles and moral conduct.

There are Sunday schools in all the wards and Stakes of Zion, connected with the Sunday School Union, and all thoroughly organized and ably conducted.

Religion classes are organized in the different wards for the purpose of giving systematic training in the principles and doctrines of religion to little children, thus supplying the kind of tuition which cannot be given in the public schools, from which all religious teachings are entirely excluded.

Amusements are provided for the members of the Church under direction of committees appointed by Church or ward authority. Music is of universal use, both vocal and instrumental, and is cultivated assiduously.

Education is an essential feature in the Church system, and academies and colleges are maintained according to the funds available. All truth is recognized as Divine and an accepted motto is: "The glory of God is intelligence."

The public school system is separate and apart from the Church schools, and is entirely under the direction of the State, no doctrinal or denominational teaching being permitted therein. It is supported by taxation.

{38}

DIVINE AUTHORITY.

The great distinctive feature of "Mormonism" among the "Christian" denominations is its claim of direct divine origin. Present and continuous revelation from God to the Church through its earthly head, and to every member who seeks for it in his or her own behalf and guidance, is a fundamental principle of the "Mormon" faith. Divine authority is associated with it.

The Church is, literally, Christ's Church, because He established it by personal communication and guides it by present revelation and inspiration, and its ministers receive their commissions by His direction. The Holy Ghost is in and with the Church, exactly as with the primitive Church and the Prophets of old.

Thus, what is commonly called "Mormonism" is to its disciples verily the work of God; originating with Him and developed and promulgated under His commands and by His power; and, therefore, it will abide and prevail, and overcome all opposition, and spread over the whole earth, preparing the way for the second advent of the Messiah and the redemption and regeneration of the earth. Every soul who receives it in sincerity is entitled to a witness from God of its truth, and herein is its strength and unity and vital force.

It has no conflict except with error. It wars against no nation, sect or society. It exercises no compulsion. It is the Gospel and Church and authority of Jesus Christ, restored to earth for the last days and for the last time, and therefore it will triumph and flood the world with light and truth, until darkness shall flee and Satan be bound and the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and His Christ, and He shall reign over all the ransomed globe for evermore.

{39}

SALVATION: A DIALOGUE BETWEEN ELDER BROWNSON AND MR. WHITBY.

BY JOHN JAQUES,

ELDER IN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.

_Elder Brownson_. Good morning sir. Would it be agreeable to you to read a tract?

_Mr. Whitby_. O yes! thank you, sir. I take in many tracts, and read through most of them. What tracts do you distribute?

_Elder B_. They are upon the principles taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

_Mr. W_. The Latter-day Saints! Well, I cannot say that I exactly understand what their religion is. It is true, I hear a great deal about them, yet many things that I hear of them are so contradictory that I find it impossible to believe all. But if one fourth part of what is told me, is true, I must say that I cannot entertain a very high opinion of your religion. However, I think that every person ought to be at liberty to enjoy his own opinion, and I deem it especially wrong to condemn any party unheard. I make no profession of religion myself. My wife's sister, and her husband, are very staunch Wesleyans, and they tell me some extraordinary things of your people. But I always take a certain discount off what one religious person says of another's religion. Consequently I cannot believe all that Mrs. Whitby's sister and her husband tell me of your religion. And I think they are a little bigoted, for they sometimes say hard things of the Baptist and Church people, as well as of your people. But I have long wished to meet with one of the Latter-day Saint preachers, so that I might hear their own story, and I shall really consider it a favour if you will be pleased to give me a brief outline of your belief, that I may not judge your people wrongfully. I have a few leisure minutes just now.

_Elder B_. I shall only be happy to impart any information that may be beneficial to you, concerning our principles. I am aware that much misunderstanding prevails respecting the Latter-day {40} Saints, and it is ever a pleasure to me to dispel that misunderstanding, and enlighten those who are willing to learn.

_Mr. W_. Thank you. But we won't stand at the door. Would you walk in and sit down?

_Elder B_. I will, with pleasure.

_Mr. W_. Allow me to put your hat away.

_Elder B_. Thank you.

_Mr. W. [To his daughter]_ Mary, hand the gentleman a chair, and hang his hat up in the passage. _[To Elder B.]_ Now, sir, if you will be good enough to enlighten my mind concerning your principles, I will listen attentively, and, whether I approve of them or not, I shall certainly consider myself under obligations to you.

_Elder B_. I will gladly comply with your request.

_Mr. W_. But you will not consider me wearisome if I interrupt you, in the course of your relation, with an occasional question or remark, which I may be prompted to offer for my own satisfaction?

_Elder B_. Don't name it, sir. It will be pleasing to me to answer your questions, to the best of the ability that God may give me, or to listen to any remark which you may feel disposed to make. But to proceed. I will give you a brief view of the first principles of the doctrine of Jesus Christ, and will refer you to a few passages of Scripture in support of them.

_Mr. W_. Thank you. I am sure I shall be much gratified.

_Elder B_. In the first place, we believe that there is a God in the heavens, who is the Creator and Preserver of this world and of men. God, having the right, has, in times past, manifested Himself to men, and revealed laws whereby they might be governed. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, who were created immortal--not subject to death, disobeyed the law of God. Death, and all the evils that induce it, were the penalty to which Adam, and Eve, and all their posterity were then subjected. And men cannot, of themselves, overcome this penalty, and obtain immortality.--Gen. i. ii. iii. Rom. v. 12. 1 Cor. xv. 21, 22. But God did not leave men to perish without hope. He sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world, to take human nature upon him, and to satisfy the broken law by being put to death, thereby delivering men from the power of death.--John iii. 16. Rom. v. 8. 1 John iv. 9. As all men, through Adam's sin, without any agency of their own, were subjected to death, so will all men be redeemed there from, and placed before the throne of God, free from any condemnation for Adam's sin, for {41} Christ's atonement extends so far to men, unconditionally on their part, because they had no hand in Adam's sin.--1 Cor. xv. 22. But although men are thus, without conditions on their part, made free from the effects of Adam's sin, yet, as every man must, after this, answer for the deeds done in his body (Matt. xvi. 27. 2 Cor. v. 10. Rev. xx. 13), and as every man, in some thing or other, disobeys the law of God, it naturally follows that every man will need an atonement for his individual sins, as well as one from the sin of Adam. And in order that every man may escape the penalty for his individual sins, certain conditions must be complied with. I said that all men would be redeemed, unconditionally on their part, from the penalty of Adam's sin. I have referred you to a passage or two of Scripture upon the subject. I will refer you to another, Rom. v. 18, "Therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." Thus, you see, a man answers for his own sins only.

_Mr. W_. Just so. That seems reasonable.

_Elder B_. Now I will lay before you the conditions. But first, I will remark, that God has but one method of saving men. The scheme of salvation is an unchangeable scheme, both as respects the atonement of Christ, and the conditions required of men. Jesus Christ is the only name under heaven whereby men can be saved.--Acts iv. 12. 1 Tim. ii. 5. And although many men have preached divers kinds of contradictory doctrines, and have professed that they were all the doctrines of Christ, yet it is a fact that God does not send men to contradict each other. You cannot find, in the whole Bible, an instance of God's sending His servants to preach conflicting doctrines to a people, for that would conduce to endless discord, confusion, and strife, and it is written that "God is not the author of confusion, but of peace."--1 Cor. xiv. 33. And Paul the Apostle said that he or an angel from heaven, if found preaching any other Gospel than what he and his brethren had preached, should be accursed.--Gal. i. 9, 10. Depend upon it, sir, that two preachers, or two religious societies, who hold forth contrary doctrines, cannot both, in their teachings, be recognized of God. These inconsistencies cause many men to reject the Bible, and turn infidels.

_Mr. W_. Why that's just my argument. I say nothing against the Bible. I find no fault with that. But this is what puzzles me--how it is that two preachers, both believing one book, one revelation from God, one code of laws, should {42} preach contradictory doctrines, and form two religious societies, always opposing and differing from each other! I cannot fathom the matter. There are Mrs. Whitby's sister, and her husband, Wesleyans, as I told you, and his brother is a Baptist--all very strong in their faith. We have them all here together occasionally, and we get up quite lively discussions. Mrs. Whitby's sister's husband and his brother cannot agree at all with each other upon religious topics, especially baptism, and then I disagree with them both, and tell them that I am very well assured that either one is wrong, or both of them are, and, consequently, I cannot join either's society until a satisfactory decision is come to. I assure you we have matters rather warm at times. We all wax quite earnest.

_Elder B_. I have not the least doubt of it. Nothing is plainer than that God is not the author of both their systems of religion. But, as I was saying, the plan of salvation is unchangeable. So if we can find out what it was in the time of Jesus and the Apostles, we can decide what it is now.

_Mr. W_. True.