The Shiloh Chronicle - December Issue

Shiloh

THE SHILOH CHRONICLE BY DAVID HOLMQUIST

2023

Shiloh

THE SHILOH CHRONICLE BY DAVID HOLMQUIST

The Shiloh Chronicle - December Issue Trustwriter Press, Rexburg, Idaho, 83440 © 2023 by Trustwriter Press LLC. All rights reserved.

Digitalized and Printed in the United States of America ISBN 979-8-88526-100-5

The Shiloh Chronicle

01

Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

Luke 2 - Christmas Story 03

Wiseman Asked; “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?”

The Search For Jesus 08

The proper relationship between men and God gives life its purpose.

Show Us the Father 12

We live in one of the most important dispensations that God ever given to man.

Ten Virgins - Last Dispensation 25

Photo Credit by Sebin Thomas

St. Peter escaped from his enemies, was about to flee, the Savior called to him and asked him if he was afraid to die.

Journey To Palestine

The Shiloh Chronicle

38

There are two other Prophets, besides Malachi, who have spoken of the house of the Lord.

Temples To Be Built 48

Before the great day of rest the Lord will again speak and say to the north give up, the south, keep not back.

Second Coming - Preperatory Work 57

Paul met with a number of disciples at Ephesus, and he inquired of them if they had received the Holy Ghost.

The Gospel Of Jesus 69

Satan sought power. There are two great forces. Hate & Love.

Man’s Free Agency 75

Photo Credit by Sebin Thomas

The more we caroled and shared baskets of cookies, the more excited we became.

Cookies & Carols

The Shiloh Chronicle

76

When we arrived at the cemetery, we were touched by what we found.

A Small, Snow-Covered Tree 77

As I thought about the place where the Savior was born, I began to understand His role as the Shepherd of mankind.

In Shepherds’ Field 78

A gentle reminder of the value of compassion and charity.

The Little Matchstick Girl 79

“What, then, did Peterson do?” “He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

Photo Credit by Sebin Thomas

LUKE 2 1

Christmas Story

1 “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3 And all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing, which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord, 23 (As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) 24 And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.

2

26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, 28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: 30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; 32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.

34 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; 35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; 37 And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

38 And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

39 And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.

40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.

42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.

43 And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.

44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.

45 And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.

46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.

49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?

50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.

51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.

52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”

THE SEARCH FOR JESUS 3

October 1965

by Elder Thomas S. Monson

This has been a most inspirational conference. As this the final session draws to its close, it is not my desire to speak to a formal text, but rather to bear my personal testimony concerning Jesus of Nazareth and to suggest that each person undertake a personal search for him.

Many of you have traveled far to attend this conference. From Europe, from Canada, from Mexico, from the isles of the sea, and from many other points you have come.

They Seek After Jesus In the New Testament of our Lord, John describes a similar journey by those who would worship.

"And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: "The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus" (John 12:20-21 italics added).

I feel this is your desire even today. The little children have another way of expressing the same wish. Most often they say: "Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear; things I would ask him to tell me if he were here." (W. H. Parker, The Children Sing, No. 65.)

"And . . . I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, . " (Ether 12:38,41) For generations, enlightened mankind anxiously sought the fulfillment of prophecies uttered by righteous men inspired of Almighty God. For did not Isaiah declare: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isa. 7:14) And again, "For unto us a child is born . . . and his name shall be called . . . The Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9:6) ". . . A Savior, Who Is Christ the Lord" And on this continent God's prophets declared: ". . . the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent . . . shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay . . .

". . . he shall suffer temptations, and pain . . .

"And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mosiah 3:5,7-8) Then came that night of nights when the angel of the Lord came upon shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock, with the pronouncement: "For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:8-11) Thus, personally invited to undertake a search for the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, did these shepherds concern themselves with the security of their possessions?

Did they procrastinate their search for Jesus? The record affirms that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem . . .

"And they came with haste . . ." (Luke 2:15-16 italics added).

4 He taught men the higher law During his earthly ministry, he taught men the higher law. His glorious gospel reshaped the thinking of the world. He blessed the sick; he caused the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear. He even raised the dead to life.

What was the reaction to his message of mercy, his words of wisdom, his lessons of life? There were a precious few who appreciated him. They bathed his feet. They learned his word. They followed his example.

"Crucify Him"

". . . born King of the Jews" Wise men journeyed from the East to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

"When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

"And . . . they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh" Matt. 2:2,10-11 italics added).

With the birth of the babe in Bethlehem, there emerged a great endowment—a power stronger than weapons, a wealth more lasting than the coins of Caesar. This child was to be the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16) the Promised Messiah, even Jesus Christ the Son of God. Born in a stable, cradled in a manger, he came forth from heaven to live on earth as mortal man and to establish the kingdom of God.

Then there were the many who denied him.

When asked by Pilate, "What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?" (Matt. 27:22) they cried, "Crucify him." They mocked him. They gave him vinegar to drink (Matt. 27:34) They reviled him (Matt. 27:39) They smote him with a reed.

They did spit upon him (Matt. 27:30) They crucified him.

Can we, in part, appreciate the suffering of God the Eternal Father as his Only Begotten Son in the flesh was placed on a cross and crucified? Is there a father or a mother who could not be moved to complete compassion if he or she heard a son cry out in his own Garden of Gethsemane, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42)?

Offering a Son All of us love the beautiful account from the Holy Bible of Abraham and Isaac. How exceedingly difficult it must have been for Abraham, in obedience to God's command, to take his beloved Isaac into the land of Moriah, there to present him as a burnt offering. Can you imagine the heaviness of his heart as he gathered the wood for the fire and journeyed to the appointed place? Surely pain must have racked his body and tortured his mind as he bound Isaac and laid him on the altar upon the wood and stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

5 How glorious was the pronouncement, and with what wondered welcome did it come, "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now, I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou has not withheld thy son, thine only son from me" (Gen. 22:12) As God witnessed the suffering of Jesus, his Only Begotten Son in the flesh, and beheld his agony, there was no voice from heaven to spare the life of Jesus. There was no ram in the thicket to be offered as a substitute sacrifice.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16)

The Message Down Through the Ages Down through the generations of time, the message from Jesus has been the same. To Peter by the shores of beautiful Galilee, he said, "Follow me . . ." (Matt. 4:19) To Philip of old came the call, "Follow me" (John 1:43) To the Levite who sat at receipt of customs came the instructions, "Follow me" (Matt. 9:9) And to you and to me, if we but listen, shall come that same beckoning invitation, "Follow me."

But how do we follow him if first we don't find him? And how shall we find him, if first we don't seek him? Where and how should we begin this search for Jesus?

6 He is not found by Crusades

He is found by humble prayer and pure heart

Some have attempted to answer these questions by turning to idols, others by burning incense or lighting candles. In times past, great throngs journeyed in the crusades of Christianity, feeling that, if only the Holy Land could be secured from the infidel, then Christ would be found in their lives. How mistaken they were. Thousands upon thousands perished. Many others committed heinous crimes in the very name of Christianity.

Jesus will not be found by crusades of men.

The formula for finding Jesus has always been and ever will be the same—the earnest and sincere prayer of a humble and pure heart. The Prophet Jeremiah counseled, ". . . ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart" (Jer. 29:13) Before we can successfully undertake a personal search for Jesus, we must first prepare time for him in our lives and room for him in our hearts. In these busy days there are many who have time for golf, time for shopping, time for work, time for play, but no time for Christ.

Lovely homes dot the land and provide rooms for eating, rooms for sleeping, playrooms, sewing rooms, television rooms, but no room for Christ.

Do we get a pang of conscience as we recall his own words, ". . . foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" (Matt. 8:20) Or do we flush with embarrassment when we remember, "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7) No room. No room. No room.

Ever has it been.

. . . or by Councils or debates Still others searched for Jesus in councils of debate. Such was the historic Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. There, with the help of the Roman Emperor, the delegates did away in Christendom with the concept of a personal God and a personal Son—the two separate and distinct Glorified Beings of the scriptures. The Creed of Nicea, the "incomprehensible mystery" of which its originators seemed so proud precisely because it could not be understood, substituted for the personal God of love and for Jesus of the New Testament an immaterial abstraction. The result was a maze of confusion and a compoundment of error. Jesus will not be found in councils of debate. Men of the world have modified his miracles, doubted his divinity, and rejected his resurrection.

As we undertake our personal search for Jesus, aided and guided by the principle of prayer, it is fundamental that we have a clear concept of him whom we seek. The shepherds of old did seek Jesus the child. But we seek Jesus the Christ, our older Brother, our Mediator with the Father, our Redeemer, the Author of our salvation (Heb. 5:9) him who was in the beginning with the Father, him who took upon himself the sins of the world and so willingly died that we might forever live.

This is the Jesus whom we seek.

Offerings to Him And when we find him, will we be prepared as were the wise men of old to provide gifts from our many treasures? They presented gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matt. 2:11) These are not the gifts Jesus asks of us. From the treasure of our hearts Jesus asks that we give of ourselves.

"Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind" (D&C 64:34)

7 In this marvelous Dispensation of the Fullness of Times, our opportunities to give of ourselves are indeed limitless, but they are also perishable.

There are hearts to gladden. There are kind words to say. There are gifts to be given. There are deeds to be done. There are souls to be saved. "Go, gladden the lonely, the dreary; go, comfort the weeping, the weary; go, scatter kind deeds on your way, oh, make the world brighter today." (Mrs. Frank A. Breck, Deseret Sunday School Songs, No. 197.)

With a courage which we shall never fully know or understand, these boys of many faiths overcame insurmountable odds and found themselves anew. Through it all, Boyd Hatch not only found joy, but by willingly and unselfishly giving of himself, he also found Jesus.

As we remember that ". . . when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17) we will not find ourselves in the unenviable position of Jacob Marley's ghost, who spoke to Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens' immortal A Christmas Carol. Marley sadly spoke of opportunities lost. Said he, "Not to know that any Christian spirit working kindly in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness. Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunities misused! Yet such was I! Oh! such was I!" Marley added, "Why did I walk through the crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raised them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode? Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me?"

Fortunately, the privilege to render service to others can come to each of us. If we but look we too will see a bright, particular star which will guide us to our opportunity.

One who saw such a star and followed it was the late Boyd Hatch of Salt Lake City. Deprived of the use of his legs, faced with a lifetime in a wheelchair, Boyd could well have looked inward and, through sorrow for self, existed rather than lived. However, Brother Hatch looked not inward, but rather outward into the lives of others and upward into God's own heaven; and the star of inspiration guided him not to one opportunity, but to literally hundreds. He organized Scout troops of handicapped boys. He taught them camping. He taught them swimming. He taught them basketball. He taught them faith. Some boys were downhearted and filled with self-pity and despair. To them he handed the torch of hope. Before them was his own personal example of struggle and accomplishment.

Every member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the waters of baptism, has covenanted to stand as a witness of God ". . . at all times and in all things, and in all places . . ." and has expressed a willingness ". . . to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light" (Mosiah 18:9,8) By fulfilling this covenant in our lives, we will become acquainted with him who declared, "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world" (3 Ne. 11:10) This is the Jesus whom we seek. This is our brother whom we love. This is Christ the Lord, whom we serve. I testify that he lives, for I speak as one who has found him, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

SHOW US THE FATHER 8

April 1959

by Elder Sterling W. Sill

After the Last Supper, Jesus was giving some final instructions to his disciples. He was trying to prepare them for the heavy load of responsibility which would soon rest upon them. He talked with them a great deal about his own mission, his association with his Father and what their relationship with God ought to be. During the discussion Philip said to Jesus, ". . . Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us" (John 14:8) This question points out what is probably the greatest responsibility of our lives—not only to know God but also to understand the plan of the gospel and to live in harmony therewith. The proper relationship between men and God gives life its purpose. It doesn't matter very much whether we ride in an oxcart or on an interplanetary missile if our journey is purposeless.

Think how important it is that we understand that Jesus is the Redeemer of the world, that he expressed the divine will to men, that he was literally begotten of the Father. Jesus tried to help his disciples to understand the Father by understanding the Son who was in the express image of his Father's person (Heb. 1:3) To Philip he said ". . . he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9) As it was with the disciples, so it is with us. Our relationship to God involves the greatest rewards and the most important responsibilities that ever come to men and women in mortal life, and it is perfectly natural and proper that we should join Philip in his request to ". . . shew us the Father" (John 14:8) That is, the greatest need of man is for God. God created us. It is his Spirit that ". . . giveth light to every man that cometh into the world" (D&C 84:46) Every day he sends us food, energy and vitality from the sun. That is, our world is not an independent world. If the sun's rays were shut off for a very short time no life could survive upon this earth. Not only does God literally give us each day our daily bread, but he is also responsible for our mental and spiritual vitality (D&C 84:88)

It is because our greatest need is for God that the first and most important commandment centers in our maintaining a proper relationship to him. And the most serious sins are our abuses of that relationship, wherein we turn away from God. Satan sinned in the presence of God, which sets the high-water mark for sin.

Occasionally we ought to ask ourselves, how effective we are—individually and collectively—in this all-important relationship. We may be able to get a clue from some interesting statistics recently broadcast over the radio. A survey indicated that ninety-five percent of all of the people in America claim to believe in God. Eighty percent of those surveyed said they accepted the Bible as the authoritative word of God. Each year in America we spend over a hundred million dollars for Bibles. A bigger percentage of Americans presently claim membership in some Christian church than ever before in our history. Yet paralleling this great upsurge in religion is a corresponding upsurge in crime, delinquency, and actual spiritual illiteracy.

9 This survey indicated that only thirty-five percent of all of those questioned even knew the names of the four Gospels. And over one-half said that religion played no significant part in their business or political affairs.

Recently I read a book written by a popular minister, in which he attempted to analyze the great Christian doctrines as taught in the Bible, and then he made comparisons with some of the doctrines currently being taught.

Last summer in Madison Square Garden, Billy Graham indicated one of our problems when he said, "For all of our talk about religion there is tragically little actual personal Christian commitment in America today."

It is very easy for us to get disturbed when we hear about the Russians closing up their churches or trying to banish God from their country and the lives of their people. But what Russia has done officially millions of people are doing privately and individually. That is, what does it profit that our churches are open if we are not in them, or even if we spend a billion dollars for Bibles that we do not read? One thing is sure, and that is that not one of us can afford to fail to observe properly the first and most important commandment. Our eternal lives depend upon it.

It should stimulate us to remember that when Jesus was born in Bethlehem there was no room found for him in the inn. But there is a strange foreboding in this thought. "No room" was the Master's experience throughout his life. There was "no room" (Luke 2:7) for his doctrines, "no room" for the spirit of his mission. We must not allow history to repeat itself because we make no room in our country or our lives for the Savior of the world. Nor have we discharged our obligation to God and our own souls by thoughtlessly saying, "We believe in God," and then let it go at that, without understanding either God or the specific nature of our responsibility to him.

Teachers of religion who "call themselves" to the ministry and then "teach their own doctrines" must bear an awful share of the responsibility for our unfortunate world situation. Even Jesus did not teach his own doctrine. He said, ". . . My doctrine is not mine but his that sent me" (John 7:16) How much confusion and actual harm would be avoided if every religious teacher would follow the example of "the great Teacher."

For example, he said that the God of the Bible is a personal God—there can be no question about that. But he said, "We don't believe that anymore."

And then to substantiate his statement he quoted answers to direct questions about what some prominent ministers had said about their conception of God. One minister said, "No one can possibly know about God. He is absolutely immeasurable, undiscoverable and indiscernible.

He is not limited to boundaries, and we can be sure that he has no body or shape." Another minister said that "God is an eternal principle." Another said that God is "a giant electronic brain." Another said that God is "a mobile, cosmic ether." This minister pointed out how completely contrary these concepts were to those of the scriptures. He said, "Imagine Jesus praying to a mobile, cosmic ether.

Jesus prayed—'. . . Our Father which art in heaven' (Matt. 6:9) He said to Mary, '. . . go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father; and to my God, and to your God'" (John 20:17) That statement must be perfectly clear to everyone. And yet this great minister said, "We don't believe that anymore."

10 Then he discussed the resurrection. He said that those who wrote the Bible believed in a literal bodily resurrection. There could be no question about that. The body of Jesus came out of the tomb and ministered among men for forty days.

He said to Thomas ". . . Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing" (John 20:27) Then he read the paragraph in which Matthew said, ". . . And the graves were opened; and many of the bodies of the saints which slept arose, "And came out of their graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many" (Matt. 27:52-53) But this great minister also disposed of this particular doctrine by saying, "We don't believe that anymore."

The voice of the Father was heard at the baptism of Jesus (Matt. 3:17) and again at the transfiguration (Matt. 17:5) But in our own day he has manifest himself with a complete literalness which cannot be mistaken, misunderstood, or disregarded. In speaking about this important manifestation, the Prophet Joseph said:

There are those who through their teachings would deprive God of his body, deny his personality, take away his senses, faculties, and feelings. They would leave him sexless, thoughtless and helpless, without boundaries, shape, identity, or location. Some indulge the hopeless absurdity of merging three into one, and then in some mysterious incredible way, expanding the result to fill the immensity of space.

These false doctrines have contributed greatly to the indifference and unbelief of our day. That is, much of the current disbelief in God is not a denial of God but a denial of the false and unbelievable ideas about God. In the light of this tragic situation the importance of Philip's plea for understanding God takes on an urgent and compelling significance. What more important request could our generation make than a united, sincere, wholehearted prayer saying, "Show us the Father" (John 14:8) The work and message of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is centered in the literal physical fulfillment of Philip's request in our own day. In the early spring of 1820, in answer to this important need, God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ reappeared upon this earth to reestablish among men a belief in the God of Genesis, a belief in the God taught by Jesus, a belief in the God of the Bible, a belief in the Father of spirits whose will is that not one of his children should perish (Matt. 18:14)

". . . I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head above the brightness of the sun which descended gradually until it fell upon me. ". . . When the light rested upon me, I saw two Personages whose brightness and glory defy all description standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other, 'This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!'" (JS—H 1:16-17) In the midst of the persecution which followed, the Prophet said: ". . . I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of the light I saw two Personages and they did in reality speak to me. And though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true.

11 And while they were persecuting me, reviling me, and speaking all manner of evil against me falsely for so saying, I was led in my heart to say: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God? Or why does the world think to make me deny that which I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision. I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it; neither dared I do it" (JS—H 1:25)

I would like to close with a quotation of one of the most important utterances ever made in the world. After Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon had received an informative and glorious heavenly manifestation at Hiram, Ohio on February 16, 1832, an account of which is recorded in the seventysixth section of the Doctrine and Covenants they wrote these thrilling lines: "And now, after the many testimonies that have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: that he lives!

"For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father— "That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God" (D&C 76:22-24) To this I would like to add my own personal testimony, that I know that God lives and that his priesthood and his Church, teaching his doctrines, are now upon the earth, that we may in very deed be his disciples. May God help us to avail ourselves of this tremendous opportunity I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Life in this world is not man centered—it is God centered. As so many are doing in our day, the prodigal son squandered his inheritance because his world was centered in himself rather than in God. The greatest possible accomplishment of our world is to know God, and to believe in God, and to obey God. Philip said, ". . . shew us the Father and it sufficeth us" (John 14:8) The overwhelming importance of that plea was emphasized by the Master himself when on that last fateful night as he prayed to his Father he said, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3) How tremendously important it is therefore, that both of these great Personages have reappeared to men upon the earth in our own day, that we may know for ourselves.

IMPORTANCE OF THE LAST DISPENSATION

12

September 12, 1875

by Elder Wilford Woodruff

I will call the attention of the congregation to a few verses in the 25th chapter of St. Matthew.

[The speaker read the first thirteen verses; (Matt.

25:1-13) also the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth paragraphs of the fourteenth section of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.] (D&C 43:15-35) This revelation, a portion of which I have been reading, treats in a measure upon the subject of the parable that Jesus spoke, namely, the ten virgins; both refer to his second coming, and to his work in the latter days.

In no age or dispensation can a man be called to a greater calling than to administer in the ordinances of the house of God, and nothing but the power of God and the inspiration of the Almighty can sustain and uphold any man, no matter what age he may live in, who is called of God to declare the words of life and salvation, and to preach repentance to an unbelieving generation.

This may perhaps sound strangely in the ears of many people, but the inhabitants of the earth, both Jew and Gentile, should remember that the Lord God Almighty himself, his Son Jesus Christ, and his Gospel and work, have been very unpopular in every age of the world among the hosts of men. No more unpopular doctrine was ever presented to the human family, than the doctrine of life and salvation.

I do not care in what age of the world a Prophet, Apostle or inspired man has been raised up to declare the commands of God, he has had to contend with the prejudices of the inhabitants of the earth. It is so in our day, and it was so in the days of Jesus Christ.

When he came to the Jews, his own Father’s house, the house of Israel, as the great Shiloh of Judah, (Gen. 49:10) (Gen. 50:24 JST) and the Savior of the world, a more unpopular man than he never dwelt in Judea or Jerusalem, from the day of his birth to the day of his death, when he gave up the ghost on the cross, (Matt. 27:50) and went home to glory as a martyr for the word of God and the testimony which he bore. (Rev. 6:9)

And this is why I say that when any man, in any age of the world, is called of God to declare the words of life, he has to contend with the traditions of ages that rest upon the minds of the inhabitants of the earth.

The parable of the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1-13) is intended to represent the second coming of the Son of man, the coming of the Bridegroom to meet the bride, the Church, the Lamb’s wife, (Rev. 21:9) in the last days; and I expect that the Savior was about right when he said, in reference to the members of the Church, that five of them were wise and five were foolish; (Matt. 25:2) for when the Lord of heaven comes in power and great glory to reward every man according to (Matt. 16:27) the deeds done in the body, (2 Cor. 5:10) if he finds one-half of those professing to be members of his Church prepared for salvation, it will be as many as can be expected, judging by the course that many are pursuing.

13 I wish, if I can get enough of the Spirit of the Lord to answer my own mind, to say a few words on the present occasion to my brethren and sisters, the Latter-day Saints, those who have taken upon them the name of Christ. (3 Ne. 27:5) (D&C 20:37) We live in one of the most important dispensations that God ever gave to man, namely, the great and last dispensation of the fullness of times, the dispensation of all dispensations, and the one in which the whole flood of prophecy in the holy Bible will be fulfilled, for most all of the prophecies contained in that sacred volume, from Adam to John the Revelator, point to the great work of God in the last days, the days in which the God of heaven would set up a kingdom (Dan. 2:44) that should be an everlasting kingdom, (Dan. 4:3)

and to whose dominion there should be no end (Isa. 9:7) and the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heavens should be given into the hands of the Saints of the Most High God, and they are to possess it forever and ever. (Dan. 7:27) I wish to have the Latter-day Saints understand their appointment, position, and responsibility before the God of heaven, and their responsibilities to both Jew and Gentile, living and dead, on this and the other side of the veil.

The Lord never has built up his kingdom in any age of the world except by calling upon his servants and laboring through the tabernacles of men on the earth; but this he has done in a great many ages and dispensations.

14 the sanctifying of the people, the building of Temples to the Most High God, that his servants may enter therein and become saviors on Mount Zion, (Obad. 1:21) redeeming both the living and the dead, all these things are to be performed in our day. And an age fraught with greater interest to the children of men than the one in which we live never dawned since the creation of the world.

And whenever the Lord has had an Apostle, Prophet, or inspired man on the earth, he has had power to administer in the ordinances of the house of God, and he has labored for the advancement of the kingdom of God upon the earth, whether he has had few or many followers.

As it was in the days of Noah and Lot, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. (Matt. 24:37) We live in the day when God has set his hand to establish that great kingdom that Daniel saw. (Dan. 2:44) We live in the day when the angel of God has delivered the everlasting Gospel in fulfillment of the revelations of St. John, when he says—“I saw another angel flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them who dwell on the earth, to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people under the whole heavens, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.” (Rev. 14:6-7) There never was a generation of the inhabitants of the earth in any age of the world who had greater events awaiting them than the present.

As I before remarked, the fulfillment of this whole volume of revelation points to our day. The building up of the kingdom of God, the building up of the Zion of God, in the mountains of Israel, the erection of a standard for the Gentiles to flee unto, the warning of the nations of the earth to prepare them for the great judgments of our God, the building up of the Church,

Where is the man, priest, or people, in the whole sectarian world, today, who believes in the literal fulfillment of the revelations of God contained in the Bible? If there is one, I should like to see and converse with him. The whole Christian world profess to believe the Bible, and perhaps they do when it is shut. But open the Bible and read the declarations contained therein, concerning the last dispensation of the fullness of times, and where is the man who believes them? You cannot find one, and it requires faith even among the Latter-day Saints to believe the revelations of God, and to prepare themselves for those things which await the world.

The fig trees are leafing, the summer is nigh, the signs of heaven and earth all indicate the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; (Matt. 24:32-33) but who are really looking and preparing for the coming of the great Bridegroom? I do not know that any people on the earth, except the Latterday Saints, are looking for this great event.

There may be exceptions, there may be men who believe in the second coming of Christ. The people called Millerites, believe in the second coming of the Savior, and they have set a great many days when it should take place. But he did not come; and he never will come until the revelations of God are fulfilled and a people are prepared for his coming. He will never come until the Jews are gathered home and have rebuilt their Temple and city, and the Gentiles have gone up there to battle against them. He will never come until his Saints have built up Zion and have fulfilled the revelations which have been spoken concerning it. He will never come until the Gentiles throughout the whole Christian world have been warned by the inspired elders of Israel. (D&C 88:84) They are called to thrust in the sickle and reap, for the harvest is ripe (D&C 11:3) and the time has come, which is referred to in this revelation, when the Lord commands the Elders to go forth and warn the world for the last time and call upon the inhabitants of the earth to repent. (D&C 33:2-3)

15 And what I wish to say to the Elders and to the Latter-day Saints is—Have we faith in God and in his revelations?

Have we faith in our own religion?

Have we faith in Jesus Christ?

Have we faith in the words of the Prophets?

Have we faith in Joseph Smith, who, by the aid of the Urim and Thummim, translated the Book of Mormon, giving a record of the ancient inhabitants of this country, and through whom the Lord gave the revelations contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants?

We have been laboring now for forty-five years in preaching the Gospel of Christ throughout the Gentile nations. We say Gentiles, because the Gospel goes to the Gentiles first, (D&C 90:9) (D&C 107:33) (D&C 133:8) that the first may be last and the last first. (1 Ne. 13:42)

If we have faith in these things, then we certainly should prepare ourselves for the fulfillment of them.

I consider that as a people and as Elders of Israel we occupy one of the most important positions ever occupied on the face of the earth by those who have been called to work for the Lord. We have received our appointment for this work, and we should prepare ourselves to perform the duties devolving upon us in connection with it.

Truth is one of the attributes of the Lord, and he never makes a declaration but what is certain and true. And, as one of the Apostles says, “There is no prophecy of any private interpretation, but holy men of old spoke as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost;” (2 Pet. 1:20-21) therefore, what they said is true, and their prophecies will have their fulfillment.

No man can point to any of the revelations of God in the old prophets concerning events up to our day, but what have had their fulfillment.

Everything that Jesus Christ spake concerning Judea and Jerusalem has had its fulfillment to the very letter.

The Temple at Jerusalem was overthrown until not one stone was left upon another, (Matt. 24:2) (Luke 19:44) and the Jews have been scattered and trodden under the feet of the Gentiles now for eighteen hundred years, and so they will remain until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, (Luke 21:24) and that is pretty near. And, as the Lord has told us in these revelations, we are called upon to warn the world. (D&C 63:37) (D&C 88:81) (D&C 112:5)

Anciently the Jews were first in having the Gospel sent unto them, but they rejected it, and they were broken off through unbelief, (Rom. 11:20) and hence the Gospel turned to the Gentiles; and, as Paul says—“Ye Gentiles, take heed and fear, lest ye fall through the same example of unbelief, (Heb. 4:11) for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed also lest he spare not ye.” (Rom. 11:21) The Gentiles are fallen through the same example of unbelief as did the Jews. (Heb. 4:11) They have put to death every Prophet, Apostle, and inspired man since the days of Jesus Christ, and the Church went into the wilderness, (D&C 86:3) and the face of a Prophet, Apostle, or inspired man, called of God to administer the ordinances of the Gospel, had not been seen for some eighteen hundred years, (2 Ne. 27:1) until the Lord raised up a Prophet in the day and age in which we live. Therefore, the Gospel brought forth in the last days has to go to the Gentiles first. (3 Ne. 16:7)

16 Sometimes our neighbors and friends think hard of us because we call them Gentiles; but, bless your souls, we are all Gentiles. The Latter-day Saints are all Gentiles in a national capacity. The Gospel came to us among the Gentiles. We are not Jews, and the Gentile nations have got to hear the Gospel first. The whole Christian world have got to hear the Gospel, and when they reject it, the law will be bound and the testimony sealed, (Isa. 8:16) (D&C 88:84) and it will turn to the house of Israel. (3 Ne. 16:10-12) Up to the present day we have been called to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, and we have had to do it. For the last time we have been warning the world, and we have been engaged in that work for forty-five years.

When Joseph Smith was called of God, it required faith, inspiration, and the power of the Almighty to rest upon him to enable him to organize the Church and Kingdom of God, and to preach the Gospel against the traditions of the Christian world, for they had spiritualized the Bible until there was not a remnant left in a literal point of view.

Hence the inhabitants of the earth were not looking for the Church and Kingdom of God to be established in their midst. Darkness has prevailed upon the earth, and does today, in all the nations, and this causes silence to reign, and all eternity is pained (D&C 38:12) because of the sin, wickedness, and abominations which prevail throughout the whole Christian or Gentile world, and throughout the whole Jewish world, for darkness prevails upon the face of all the earth, and the Lord is calling upon all the inhabitants thereof to repent and receive the Gospel, and when they have done so to gather out of Babylon to the place he has appointed for the dwelling place of his Saints.

The Latter-day Saints heard this Gospel among the Gentiles wherever they dwelt, in almost every nation under heaven, and by this Gospel we have been gathered out unto Zion. We have been gathered here for a certain purpose, and that purpose is to fulfill the revelations of God. When we left Missouri and Nauvoo, leaving behind the graves of our fathers and children, we were driven by our enemies into this desert, in the expectation that we should perish, and for nothing but because we believed revelation and prophecy, and in living prophets and servants of God.

We thought it was hard to be driven from our homes and lands, which we had bought of our government, and paid the money for; but I will say to the Latter-day Saints that if we had not come here there certainly would have been a flood of prophecy fallen unfulfilled, prophecy in regard to the mountains of Israel, (Isa. 13:2) (Isa. 40:9) (Ezek. 34:11-16) and the great company gathering up thereto, (Jer. 31:8) with regard to the lifting up of a standard therein, (Isa. 49:22) and the building of cities and the Temple of God in their midst. (Isa. 2:2-3) All these things would have fallen unfulfilled if we had not come to these mountains and fulfilled them. And so, with many other prophecies.

We have been called together to perform the work of the Lord, and now the Lord looks to us to fulfill our covenants and keep his commandments. If we do this, he has made great promises unto us.

The Lord has given the holy Priesthood unto the Elders of Israel, and he requires at our hands to fulfill all these revelations and commandments; and in regard to the parable which I have read, I, as an individual, feel that it is necessary for me, and I may say that it is necessary for the whole people, to have oil in our lamps (Matt. 25:4) (D&C 33:17) (D&C 45:56-57) if we expect to see and comprehend the things of the kingdom of God. The Lord has chosen a royal Priesthood and a holy people (1 Pet. 2:9) from among the weak things of the world, (1 Cor. 1:27) (D&C 1:19) (D&C 35:13) in fulfillment of his revelations; and we have been commanded to go forth and bear record of these things, and we have done it. We should have been condemned and the curse of God would have rested upon us if we had not, because the full set time has come to build up and favor Zion, (Ps. 102:13) (D&C 124:6) to build up the kingdom of God, (Matt. 6:38 JST) to warn the world and prepare them for the judgments of the Almighty.

The Millennium is dawning upon the world, we are at the end of the sixth thousand years, and the great day of rest, the Millennium of which the Lord has spoken, will soon dawn and the Savior will come in the clouds of heaven (Matt. 24:30) to reign over his people on the earth (D&C 76:63) one thousand years. (Rev. 20:6)

17 The Lord has a great work ahead and he is preparing a people to do it before his coming.

Now the question arises here, brethren and sisters, are we prepared in our hearts? Do we realize these things? As a people do we realize our responsibilities before the Lord? The Lord has raised up a kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6) here in the last days to establish his Church and kingdom, and to prepare the way for the second coming of the Son of Man, and the God of heaven has put into the hands of his servants the keys of the kingdom, (Matt. 16:19) (D&C 27:13) and he has said—“Whatever I have decreed in these my servants shall be fulfilled, for to them is given power to bind and to seal both on the earth and in heaven, against the day of the wrath of Almighty God, which is to be poured out upon the world.” (D&C 1:6-9) Already forty-five years have passed away since that revelation was given, concerning the building of that House. And when he says to Hyrum Smith, “Study my word, etc., until you have obtained all which I shall grant unto the children of men in this generation,” (D&C 11:22) I do not know how long that generation was intended, in the mind of God, to be, and I do not think there is any person in the Church that does know, unless the Lord has revealed it to him. But we have every reason to believe that the time is not far distant, and that there are some living among the young now upon the earth, that will live to behold great numbers of revelations given, and will behold other books come forth and other records translated by the Urim and I think, many times, that we, as Elders of Israel and as Latter-day Saints, come far short of realizing our position before the Lord. The work required at our hands is great and mighty; it is the work of Almighty God. We are held responsible for presenting the Gospel of Christ to all the nations of the earth, to warn the Gentiles, to prepare for the return of the lost ten tribes of Israel, and for carrying the Gospel to the whole tribes of Israel. We are held responsible for all this, and for building Temples to the Most High, wherein we can enter and attend to ordinances for the salvation of our dead. There are fifty thousand million spirits shut up in the spirit world who never saw the face of a Prophet, Apostle or inspired man in their lives. No man having the authority of God ever declared the words of life and salvation unto them, and without authority their ministrations are useless, for this is what the Priesthood is for.

The God of heaven has ordained this from eternity to eternity. These persons in the spirit world died in the flesh without the law, without the Gospel, and they are shut up in prison.

Joseph Smith is preaching to them, and so are thousands of the Elders of Israel who have died and gone to the other side of the veil. (D&C 138:53-57) George A. Smith, who dwelt with us until within the last few days, will take part, with joy and rejoicing, with his brethren in the great work the other side of the veil.

When I saw ten or twelve thousand people met in this Tabernacle to pay their last respects to the body of that man, I thought to myself— “How much larger a congregation surrounds his spirit, in the spirit world.” Yes, they number millions there, to where we have units here, and the servants of God will preach to them the same as Jesus preached to the spirits in prison. (1 Pet. 3:1819) While his body lay three days and nights in the tomb he went and preached to the spirits in prison, (1 Pet. 3:18-19) that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, (1 Pet. 4:6) that they might receive part in the resurrection, according to the testimony which they received.

As I said before, the God of heaven requires this at your hands. They will not baptize anybody in the spirit world; there is no baptism there; there is no marrying or giving in marriage there; (Matt. 22:30) all these ordinances have to be performed on the earth. Paul says, in referring to this subject— “Why are ye baptized for the dead? If the dead rise not, why then are ye baptized for the dead?” (1 Cor. 15:29) The Lord holds us responsible for going to and building Temples, that we may attend therein to the ordinances necessary for the salvation of the dead.

In every dispensation the Lord has had those who were foreordained to do a certain work. We all dwelt in the presence of God before we came here, and such men as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the ancient Prophets, Jesus and the Apostles received their appointments before the world was made.

They were ordained before the foundation of the world to come and tabernacle here in the flesh and to work for the cause of God, and this because of their faith and faithfulness. (Alma 13:3)

18 You can see the great variety of spirits that have dwelt in the presence of God, from those who are in the presence of God, down to the devils. A good many of the hosts of heaven were cast out because of their wickedness. (Rev. 12:4) Lucifer, son of the morning, (Isa. 14:12) and those who followed after him were cast down to earth, (Rev. 12:9) and they dwell here to this day—a hundred to every man, woman and child that breathes the breath of life. (Gen. 2:7) They dwell here without bodies, only what tabernacles they can get into, to rule and preside over.

We are required to build Temples in which to attend to the ordinances of the house of the Lord, that the prison doors may be opened, (Isa. 61:1) and the prisoners go free. (D&C 128:22) The world say— “We do not believe in such stuff.” We know that perfectly well; it was so in the days of Noah and Lot, but the unbelief of the people did not stop the flood and the fire, neither will the unbelief of this generation stay the hand of God one moment. The angels of God have been waiting in the Temple in heaven for forty-five years to go forth to reap down the earth. (D&C 38:12) (D&C 86:5) The wheat and the tares must grow together until harvest; (Matt. 13:30) (D&C 86:7) the people must be warned, the Saints gathered out, Zion built up, Temples reared, the living warned, the dead redeemed, that the skirts of the Elders of Israel may be clean before all men.

It is by the power of God that the Elders have been sustained in days past and gone. And I want to say to my brethren—and what I say to them I take to myself—we should wake up, we should open our eyes to see, our ears to hear, and we should open our hearts to understand our appointment and position before the Lord; for if, as Latter-day Saints, we are going to stop praying, lose the light of the Holy Ghost, and turn to the beggarly elements (Gal. 4:9) of the world, the Lord will have to say to us—“Get out of my way, my purposes cannot be thwarted;” and he will raise up somebody else to perform this work. The Lord has never told any lies or made any false promises.

“Who am I,” saith the Lord, “that I promise and do not fulfill?” (D&C 58:31) “Who am I,” saith the Lord, “that I command and am not obeyed?” (D&C 58:32) The amount of it is that the promises of the Lord are yea and amen, and though the heavens and the earth pass away, his word never will fail of its fulfillment. (Matt. 24:35) (D&C 1:38) (D&C 56:11)

In one paragraph of the revelation which I read to you this afternoon, it says— “And again, the Lord shall utter his voice out of heaven, saying: Hearken, O ye nations of the earth, and hear the words of that God who made you. O, ye nations of the earth, how often would I have gathered you together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not!

How oft have I called upon you by the mouth of my servants, and by the ministering of angels, and by mine own voice, and by the voice of thunderings, and by the voice of lightnings, and by the voice of tempests, and by the voice of earthquakes, and great hailstorms, and by the voice of famines and pestilences of every kind, and by the great sound of a trump, and by the voice of judgment, and by the voice of mercy all the day long, and by the voice of glory and honor and the riches of eternal life, and would have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but ye would not! Behold, the day has come, when the cup of the wrath of mine indignation is full.” (D&C 43:23-26) How often has the Lord sent Prophets, as in the days of Noah, Lot, Abraham, Enoch, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith and Brigham Young? How often have the Elders of Israel lifted up their voices to the inhabitants of the earth and been rejected? Will not these things rise in judgment against them?

Yea, verily they will. The Lord has offered the fullness of the everlasting Gospel to the inhabitants of the earth today, and they refuse to receive it. Brother Pratt here, myself and thousands of us, have traveled ten thousand miles on foot, without purse or scrip, (Luke 22:35) carrying our knapsack or valise, and we have waded swamps, swam rivers, and begged our bread from door to door to preach the Gospel to this generation.

And how many have we got to believe it? Two of a city and one of a family, (Jer. 3:14) as the Prophet has said, and we have gathered them to Zion.

Nevertheless, the warning voice has gone forth to the world. But what do we see today? What do the Gods, the heavens and all eternity see? They see a generation of men and women making war against God and his Christ, making war against Prophets and Apostles, and laboring night and day to overpower and annihilate every principle of salvation and eternal life which God has restored to the world.

19 And I will here say, in the ears of this congregation, that were this not the dispensation of the fullness of times, (Eph. 1:10) and were it not for the decrees which the Lord has made in relation to it, one of which is that he will set up a kingdom which shall stand forever, (Dan. 2:44) there is not an Apostle or Latter-day Saint on the face of the earth but would have to seal his testimony with his blood, (D&C 136:39) as has almost every other Apostle that ever breathed the breath of life. (Gen. 2:7) I say that were it not for these things, we should all have to follow our leaders, Joseph and Hyrum Smith, who laid down their lives for the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Rev. 6:9) But hear it ye Gentile nations and all ye nations of the earth, the Lord Almighty has set to his hand to build up his kingdom on the earth, and he will not be thwarted. The Lord is going to make a short work in the earth, (Rom. 9:28) and he will defend his anointed, his Prophets, his Zion and his people.

This is the decree of Almighty God. The eyes of all heaven are over this people, they are over the earth, over the Gentiles, and over the Jews, and the Lord holds in his hands the destinies of all men.

And we are commanded of God to rise up and warn the nations of the earth,

and we call upon the Latter-day Saints, upon the Elders of Israel, upon the mothers and daughters in Zion to lay aside their fooleries and nonsense, and to no longer let their hearts be set upon the fashions of the world, but turn to and read the Bible, the Book of Mormon and the revelations of God given in these days, and get the Holy Spirit and walk in the light of the Lord, that your eyes may be opened, that you may see and comprehend the position you occupy on the earth, for you are held under great responsibility for the manner in which you do your duty and magnify your callings before the Lord, and he is not trifling with us, nor with this generation.

If the eyes of the Gentiles were opened one moment to see the things of eternity, and the judgments which await this generation, they would not wonder that the servants of God are moved upon to cry aloud to the nations of the earth. I tell you that the judgments of God are at the door of both Zion and great Babylon. Great Babylon has come in remembrance before God (Rev. 16:19) and His sword is bathed in heaven, and it will fall on Idumea (Isa. 34:5) (D&C 1:13) and the world. (D&C 1:36) Who can stand before the hand of Almighty God? No man, no nation, nor set of nations on the face of the earth.

I would to God that the eyes of the world were opened! I would to God that the eyes of the Gentile nations were opened, that they could see and understand what belongs to their peace!

How much has the Lord pleaded with the nations of the earth to give them celestial glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life?

He has pleaded with them for the last six thousand years and has raised up his servants from time to time and called upon the inhabitants of the world to prepare themselves for the great day of his second advent and coming, which is at hand. He is calling upon them loudly today; and, as I have said to some of my brethren lately, the Lord now wants to know whether the Latter-day Saints are willing to work with him or not. It is a day of decision. (Joel 3:14) I do not expect that more than half of us will have oil in our lamps (Matt. 25:2) and be prepared to enter into the marriage supper with the Bridegroom.

20 That will be about as much as we can expect, unless we repent of our sins and turn from our follies, fooleries, and the fashions of Babylon— things which our hearts have been set upon instead of upon building up the kingdom of God. It seems to me that there will be but a remnant even of the Latter-day Saints who will be prepared to inherit eternal life and for the coming of the Bridegroom.

I feel, in my bones and in my Spirit, that there is a change at the door, both with Zion and Babylon.

Great events await us and this generation. As I said before, judgments are at the door. (Matt.

24:33) (D&C 110:16) The angels of God are waiting for the great command to go forth and reap down the earth. (D&C 38:12) (D&C 86:5) All earth and hell are stirred up against Zion. The spirit of lying is abroad in all the world, and the people will not receive the truth. In my meditations, whether in regard to the past or present, it has always seemed one of the greatest mysteries why so few have been willing to believe the revelations of God. (Matt. 7:14) In the days of Jesus, among all the Jewish rabbis, with their Urim and Thummim, - (Ex. 28:30) ephod, (Ex. 28:4) sacrifices, giving the law, and all the blessings of Judah which they held in their hands, it has been a marvel to me that so few had an interest in their Shiloh, (Gen. 49:10) (Gen. 50:24 JST) their Savior, who came to die to redeem the world. The whole spirit of Jerusalem and Judea was— “Crucify him, crucify him. (Luke 23:21) Let his blood be upon us, and our children.” (Matt. 27:25) It was and has been, and they have felt it. And the Gentiles have cause to take heed lest they, too, fall through unbelief. (Heb. 4:11) I would tell Jew and Gentile, and all the earth if I had power, that God never had but one Gospel to deliver to the sons of men, and that Gospel is the same today, yesterday, and forever, (Heb. 13:8) it never changes. The Lord never had a Church in any age of the world that he acknowledged, but what it had a head to it, and it was organized with Prophets, Apostles, Pastors, Teachers, gifts, helps, governments, inspiration and gifts of the Holy Ghost; (1 Cor. 12:28) and God’s Church today is the same as in every other age.

This Gospel is offered to the world, and that men generally have such a desire to root it out of the earth, is the strongest proof imaginable that they are under the dominion and control of the father of lies. (Moses 4:4) If any man has a truth that we have not got, we say, “Let us have it.” I am willing to exchange all the errors and false notions I have for one truth and should consider that I had made a good bargain. We are not afraid of light and truth.

Our religion embraces every truth in heaven, earth or hell; it embraces all truth, the whole Gospel and plan of salvation, and the fulfillment of the whole volume of revelation that God has ever given. We have not power, men have not language, to show forth the eternal truths of God in all their fullness and beauty; all we can do is to warn the children of men, and the Lord has chosen the Elders of Israel for that very purpose.

That has been one fault that men have found with the work of the Lord. A man asked me a while ago— “Why did the Lord choose Joseph Smith to build up his kingdom? Why did he not choose Dr. Porter, Henry Ward Beecher, or some such men?”

Said I— “Such men would sell the kingdom of God and everything in it for money and popularity, and as the Lord lives, he never could rule and handle them, none of them would work with him, they are too much like the Pharisees, Sadducees, High Priests and Rabbis of Judea and Jerusalem.” Did the Lord ever choose such men to perform his work? Go through the whole history of the world, and you will find that whenever God wanted a servant, an Apostle or a Prophet, he chose the very humblest man that could be found.

When a king was wanted for Israel, he could not find one out of all the tall sons of Jesse; (1 Sam. 16:7) and when the Prophet asked if Jesse had not another son, he was told no, only the boy that looked after the sheep. (1 Sam. 16:11) Nobody thought anything about him, he was of no consequence. “Let me see him,” said the man of God; and when he was brought, the Prophet poured oil on his head and anointed him King of Israel. (1 Sam. 16:11-13) So it has been all the way through. Take Moses, the leader of Israel. His mother cast him in the bulrushes on the banks of the river Nile, to the crocodiles. But how carefully the Lord watched over him!

21 Finally, the daughter of Pharaoh got him out, while bathing, and gave him to his mother to be trained and nursed. (Ex. 2:1-10) You could see the hand of the Lord in this.

When the Lord called Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt, said he— “How can I do this? I am a man of a hard language and slow of speech.” (Ex. 4:10) He thought he could not get along, for he had not a good command of language. But the Lord told him that he would find a spokesman for him. (Ex. 4:13-16)

These are the eternal truths of the God of heaven, and eternity will reveal them to the inhabitants of the earth. It is by this power that this Church has been planted, not of man nor by the will of man, (Gen. 14:28 JST) (2 Pet. 1:21) but by the revelations of Jesus Christ. (Gal. 1:12) We call upon the Latter-day Saints, we look to them, and the Lord looks to them, the heavens look to them, to take hold and build up this kingdom.

So, all the way through the Lord has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the wise, and the things that are nought, to bring to nought the things that are. (1 Cor. 1:27-28) Jesus Christ himself was born in a stable and cradled in a manger; (Luke 2:7) and who were his Apostles?

Illiterate fishermen, (John 1:42 JST) men of the lowest calling almost in Judea, Salt Lake City, or anywhere else; but fishermen can be just as honorable men as any others, and they are generally regarded as very humble men, and that is the kind of men God has always chosen.

The Lord called Joseph Smith because he was foreordained before the world was to build up this Church and Kingdom, and he came through the loins of ancient Joseph. (2 Ne. 3:11-15) He was an illiterate youth, but the Lord used him, and he lived to fulfill the measure of his appointment; he lived as long as the Lord required him to live, and until he received every key held by every Prophet and Apostle that ever lived in the flesh from the days of Adam down to his day, which belonged to this dispensation.

Joseph Smith received his first ordination under the hand of John the Baptist, (D&C 27:8) (JS—H 1:68-72) who was beheaded, (Matt. 14:10) and who, while in the flesh, held the Aaronic Priesthood. (D&C 13:1) Peter, James, and John, who were Prophets, and were crucified and put to death, at least Peter and James were, they came and ordained Joseph Smith to the Apostleship; (D&C 27:12) and every ordination that he obtained, he obtained from the spirit world from men who had tabernacled here in the flesh.

Some of the outside world are finding a good deal of fault with the Indians. Who are the Indians? Read the Book of Mormon, and you will learn that they are the literal descendants of Israel; they have been cursed through the transgressions of their fathers, and a skin of darkness has come upon them. (2 Ne. 5:21) This history tells us that they were once a white and delightsome people, (2 Ne. 5:21) and had great power on this land, but that they were degraded and cast down because of their sins.

When we came here, we found them living upon crickets, grasshoppers, roots, and anything they could possibly eat, poor, miserable, degraded beings, though they have immortal souls, and are of the house of Israel. What is the Lord doing for them? He is stretching forth his hand over them, in remembrance of the promises made to their fathers.

22 President Young and his people are accused of stirring up the Indians against the general government, and against the white man. This is not true. We have preached to the Indians a good many years, as we have had opportunities, but what effect did it have? Not much.

We preached to Walker, Arapene, and many other chiefs who have dwelt here, but have now passed away, but our preaching had but little effect.

Now the Lord is stretching out his hand over the Lamanites, and their eyes are being opened, and they are receiving the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the hands of the Elders of Israel. Whose work is this? Not the work of man, but it is the work of God, and if the nations of the earth try to stay it, the warfare is between them and God, and not between them and us.

So with every other principle which God has revealed to us. This work is the work of the God of Israel, and not the work of man; not the work of Brigham Young, the Twelve Apostles, or anybody else. The hand of the Lord is feeling after that people, and if we, as Latter-day Saints, do not arise and magnify our callings and fulfill our missions, the Lord will take that people and build up his kingdom, and we will be cast out.

It is time that we awoke and realized this truth, and that, as Elders of Israel, we realized our position before the Lord.

Now there is a very general desire manifested by this people to get rich, and to labor for self rather than for the kingdom of God. But what will it profit you or me to give up praying and to go to and get rich? What will it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? (Matt. 16:26) Not much. What will a man give in exchange for his soul, (Matt. 16:26) when he gets on the other side of the veil? I marvel very much at the little interest manifested by the inhabitants of the earth generally in their future state.

There is not a person here today but what is going to live on the other side of the veil as long as his Creator—to the endless ages of eternity, and the eternal destiny of every individual depends upon the manner in which the few short years of the life in the flesh are spent. I ask, in the name of the Lord, what is popularity to you or me?

What is gold or silver, or this world’s goods to any of us, any further than to enable us to obtain what we need to eat, drink, and wear, and to build up the kingdom of God. And for us to stop praying, and to become crazy after the riches of the world, is the very height of foolishness and folly.

To see the way that some people act, you might suppose that they are going to live here eternally, and that their eternal destiny depends upon the number of dollars they have.

I sometimes ask the Latter-day Saints, how much we had when we came here? How much did we bring, and where did it come from? I do not think anyone of us brought a wife or a brick house; I do not think that any of us were born on horseback or in a carriage, or that we brought railroad scrip and cattle and houses with us, but we were born naked as Job, (Job 1:21) and I think that we shall leave here as naked as he did.

Then with regard to this world’s goods, what do they amount to with us, that they should induce us to lose salvation for them? I say, rather than that, let me be poor all the days of my life; if riches are going to damn me, and take from me the glory I have in prospect through keeping the commandments of God, I pray God that I may never possess them.

God holds the riches of this world in his hands; the gold and silver, the cattle and the earth are his, and he gives to whom he will give.

When Christ was upon the mount, Lucifer, the devil, showed him all the glory of the world and offered to give it to him if he would fall down and worship him. (Matt. 4:8-9) But do you know that that poor devil did not own a single foot of land in the whole world, and that he had not even a body, or tabernacle? The earth is the footstool of the Lord, (Isa. 66:1) and if we ever have any of it for our own the Lord will give it to us; and we ought to be just as faithful to our religion if we had ten thousand million dollars, as if we had not any at all. Eternal life is what we are or ought to be after, and that, whatever our circumstances and condition in life may be, should be our first object.

23 I say to the brethren and sisters—you have your appointment; the Lord has raised up these Elders of Israel, and I can prove from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants that you received the Priesthood from eternity, and your lives have been hid with Christ in God, and you knew it not.

(D&C 86:8-11) You are literally and lawfully heirs of the Priesthood through the lineage of your fathers, and that Priesthood will continue throughout eternity, therefore you have received your appointment, and the Lord looks to you to build up his Zion and kingdom upon the earth.

Let us try to be faithful and to live our religion; let us try to believe in the revelations of God. I think it will be better for our daughters, for our wives, for our sons and for ourselves to lay aside the New York Ledger and yellow-covered literature generally, and take hold and read the revelations of God, and comprehend them.

When I read the revelations, whether in the Bible, Book of Mormon, or Book of Doctrine and Covenants, I look upon them as true, and I look for their fulfillment. Up to the present day, one jot or tittle of them has never gone unfulfilled, (Matt.

5:18) and, as the Lord has said— “What I have spoken I have spoken, and I excuse not myself, and though the heavens and the earth pass away, not one jot or tittle of my word shall go unfulfilled, (Matt. 5:18) whether by my own voice or by the voice of my servants it is the same. Behold and lo, I am God, and truth will be and abide for ever and ever, Amen.” (D&C 1:3839) Now let us try and live our religion and keep the commandments of God. As Latter-day Saints let us see where we are, and if we have no oil in our lamps (Matt. 25:8) let us stop trying to get rich and let us pray to the Lord until we get his Spirit and oil in our lamps, (D&C 45:57) and light unto the glory of God, and take hold and labor to build up his Kingdom and Zion.

Before I close, I want to speak on one temporal point. I have been talking about getting riches. I do not find fault with riches. The gold and silver are the Lord’s. We want houses building and we must cultivate the earth.

This is all right. I do not find fault with a man getting rich, I find fault with our selling the kingdom of God, our birthright, selling the Gospel and depriving ourselves of eternal life, for the sake of gratifying the lusts of the flesh, the pride of life (1 Jn. 2:16) and the fashions of the world; and setting our hearts upon these things.

It is right to build houses, to plant vineyards and orchards, to cultivate the earth and to make the desert blossom as the rose, (Isa. 35:1) to adorn our dwelling places and to build Temples. This is all right. I have no objection to the ladies—our wives, daughters and mothers—in Zion adorning themselves as much as they please, if they only make what they wear.

Set out your mulberry trees and make your own silk; get straw and make your own bonnets; make your artificial flowers to adorn yourselves with and let all be the workmanship of your own hands, (D&C 42:40) and do not import these things at the expense of the means we have in the Territory. I have not any fault to find with your adorning yourselves, if you only make that which you require yourselves.

I want to say one word to our farmers before I close. I want to ask you if you ever heard brother Kimball tell, about laying up wheat? “Yes,” say some, “we have heard him, but the famine has not come yet.” No, but it will come. The Lord is not going to disappoint either Babylon or Zion, with regard to famine, pestilence, earthquakes or storms, he is not going to disappoint anybody with regard to any of these things, they are at the doors, and I want to give a word of exhortation to our farmers, and I say to them, lay up your wheat, for according to the spirit that has been in my bosom the last three or four months, and in the breasts of a good many others, the day will come when, if you do not take this counsel, you will want your wheat for bread.

I feel to exhort the brethren; and to say to them— lay-up bread, do not sell it for a song; let your wives and daughters go for a while without ribbons and ornaments, let your wheat stay in your bins; let us try to get along with old coats and old hats, and keep the wheat, and in a little while you will see the reason why this counsel has been given.

24 Lay up your wheat; and other provisions against a day of need, for the day will come when they will be wanted, and no mistake about it. We shall want bread, and the Gentiles will want bread, and if we are wise we shall have something to feed them and ourselves when famine comes. We have fed thousands of them in days past, who would have laid their bones on these plains if it had not been for the counsel of President Young to us to cultivate the earth and have wheat on hand to feed them. And the day will come again when corn will be wanted in Zion, and it will be sought for. I hope the Latter-day Saints will take heed to these things and be wise.

I pray that God will bless you, that he will give you his spirit, that you may see and understand your position before him. And I pray that he will open the eyes, ears and hearts of the Gentiles, that they may receive the Gospel of Christ, and be numbered with the house of Israel in the last dispensation of the fullness of times, that they may stand in holy places (Matt. 24:15) (D&C 45:32) (D&C 87:8) (D&C 101:22) through the nations, for they will come to both Jew and Gentile, Zion and Babylon. There is no getting away from them, for the Lord has said so, and what he has said will come to pass. Amen

JOURNEY TO PALESTINE 25

June 22, 1873

Brethren and sisters, I am exceedingly thankful, through the blessings of the Lord and your faith and prayers, that I have been permitted to perform a lengthy journey and to return and associate with you again, to behold your faces, and to lift my voice and bear testimony to the things of the kingdom of God in this Tabernacle.

I feel exceedingly thankful to my heavenly Father for his preserving mercy, and to my brethren and sisters for their prayers and faith, and for their kind assistance, which was bountifully rendered to me, enabling me to bear the cost of a lengthy and expensive journey. The principal object of that journey was to visit the lands in which the events recorded in the Bible transpired. Incidentally we visited many countries and had an opportunity of acquiring information and extending acquaintances into lands which heretofore have been barred against visits from our Elders, as the Elders, when they went abroad went expressly to preach, and were frequently prohibited from entering these countries, or if permitted to enter were not allowed to speak of the Gospel.

We, having means to travel, of course passed along as other travelers, for not being on a mission for preaching we were not interrupted, and this enabled us to acquire a knowledge of the laws and customs of the various countries we visited, and a variety of information that we had heretofore only got by reading;

by President George A. Smith

and I understand very clearly that a person may read almost any subject and yet a personal inspection will give better and perhaps more extended or different ideas from those gleaned solely from reading.

In reading books, you learn the views, thoughts and reflections of the individuals who wrote them, modified more or less by a great desire in the human heart to make books readable, in order that they may sell. It is really true that a great share of the books in the world are written more to be read than to communicate facts. It is said that when Henry the Fourth was on his sick bed, his son, knowing his father had always been very fond of history, proposed to read a little history to him.

“Oh,” said the dying king, “I am too far gone to bother my brains with romance.” That showed his opinion of history.

As soon as we reached Rome, we began to find the localities referred to in Scripture. It was in the reign of Augustus Caesar, that Christ was born. At that time Judea was a tributary kingdom to Rome, its king being Herod. The decree which went forth from Augustus Caesar, that all the world should be taxed, (Luke 2:1) of course included Jerusalem and the entire kingdom of Judea, which at that time was of considerable extent. Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to be taxed with the house of David, (Luke 2:3-5) and there being no room in the inn, (Luke 2:7) they took up their quarters in a stable, and there the Savior was born.

26 Some years after the ascension of Jesus, St. Paul went to Rome, in order to get a hearing before Caesar, on an appeal case, (Acts 22:25-30) which had been adjourned from time to time before the authorities in Caesarea Philippi, in consequence of his refusal, it seems from the reading of the Book of Acts to furnish the “backsheesh.” Thinking that Paul's friends would pay liberally for his relief, his judges had kept him bound in prison; but as the expected bribe was not forthcoming he was eventually sent to Rome on his own appeal; and while we were at Rome we were shown places where he was said to have been imprisoned, and one room where they said he used to hold meetings, and a variety of places and incidents connected either directly or indirectly with the mission of the Apostles in the first century.

In the church of St. Mark, in Venice, they showed us the coffin of St. Mark, and while there they showed us a casket said to contain the remains of St. John the Baptist, also the marble slab on which his head fell when he was executed. I ascertained, however, to my satisfaction, that this was a local saint, carried by the Venetians, seven or eight hundred years ago, from Marsaba, in Palestine, where he was recognized as St. John of Damascus. There is so much relic worship, that it has been overdone; but we commenced, when we got to Rome, to tread the ground where the Apostles labored. We visited a prison in which it is said St. Peter was imprisoned.

We saw the spot where he is said to have escaped from his enemies, and was about to flee, but the Savior called to him and asked him if he was afraid to die, so says tradition. They show the print that Peter's foot made when he heard the Savior's voice. That is on a spot outside of Rome.

They built a church on that place, and it contains a statue of St. Peter, the toes of one of the feet have been worn off, we were told, by kissing, and their place supplied with bronze. They showed us the stairs, brought from Jerusalem, which they say led up to Pilate's judgment seat. We saw a great many people crawling up and down them on their knees, weeping and wailing and kissing every step.

As we steamed towards the east, we passed the Isle of Candia, the Crete of Scripture, and were reminded by various places that we saw, of the incidents of St. Paul's shipwreck. (Acts 27:7-44)

In the cathedrals of almost all the countries which we visited we were shown relics that had been brought from Palestine. At Pisa there is a burying yard, probably an acre and a quarter in extent, nine feet of earth having been brought from Palestine as a covering for this burial place.

It takes a permit from the Pope to be buried in that sacred soil. In the cathedral of San Lorenzo, in Genoa, they showed us the chain with which John the Baptist was bound, and the casket which they said contained his head, and a variety of other relics.

Before leaving London, we made arrangements with the firm of Thomas Cook & Son, to supply us with railroad facilities, hotel coupons, steamboat conveyance and transportation from London to Palestine, for one hundred and thirty days, terminating at Trieste, in Austria, via Constantinople and Athens. By this means, much of the annoyance of traveling in countries where we did not understand the languages and manners and customs was avoided.

We reached Egypt and landed at Alexandria on February 6th. We were met on board our steamer by Mr. Alexander Howard, a dragoman of Messrs. Cooke & Co.

27 He took charge of our effects, assisted us in passing the custom house, and conducted us to the Hotel d'Europe, giving us choice rooms, where we had a magnificent view, and furnishing us all the information necessary to make our sojourn in Egypt pleasant and profitable.

In Egypt we were still on Scriptural ground.

Egypt, after the days of Constantine, until those of the Saracens, was a Christian country. In the seventh century it was conquered by the Saracens or Mahomedans. Alexandria is supposed to have contained 600,000 inhabitants when it was conquered by Amru. All the world has been horrified by the decision of Omar, Caliph of Medina, that the library of Alexandria—said to be the largest collection of books and manuscripts in the world—should be consigned to the flames.

“After a siege of fourteen months Amru, also called Amer, took it, and in his letter to the Caliph Omar, he informed him of the conquest he had made, saying that he had found there 4,000 palaces, a like number of baths, 400 places of amusement, and 12,000 gardens, and that one quarter alone was occupied by 40,000 Jews.” It is said that the books and manuscripts of that library furnished fuel for warming those baths for some four months.

There is in Egypt a sect of Christians called Copts, or the Coptic church. They are descendants of the inhabitants of Egypt that were conquered by the Saracens. At Cairo we visited one of their churches and were shown the place where they said the Savior, his mother and Joseph resided during their stay there, when they fled from the wrath of Herod, (Matt. 2:13-15) and the basin they washed in, and we saw many persons who had come there to be healed in consequence of the holiness of this place. This class of Christians—the Copts—have maintained their identity through the reign of Mahommetan power, Turkish and Arabic, down to the present time. There is probably a million of them, perhaps more, in Egypt and Abyssinia. There is also the Oriental Greek Church in Egypt; they showed us some traditionary holy places.

We went to visit Heliopolis, or the City of On. I have taken a great interest in family matters, believing in the doctrine of baptism for the dead,

and I went to Heliopolis because I had good reason to believe that Joseph who was sold into Egypt, married his wife there, Asenath, daughter of Potiphar, priest of On. Heliopolis is believed to be the On, of that day, and was the great college at which all the leading men of Egypt were educated. Probably Moses received his education there.

There is a needle or obelisk, some sixty feet out of the ground, at Heliopolis, containing inscriptions from top to bottom. How far it goes into the ground I know not, but the inscriptions on that needle, if rightly interpreted by Egyptian scholars, indicate that it was probably there when Joseph went to Egypt. The city and all its temples have gone to decay. Other needles of the same kind, which were there, have been carried away, one of them stands in Constantinople. The ground is in a state of cultivation though the ruins of the City of On, are to be seen scattered about, and when we were there, there was on the ground a luxuriant crop of sugar cane, showing that the soil was very rich.

Everything that grows in Egypt has to be irrigated from the river Nile. There is little, in fact no other, water, except that which comes from the Nile. I say there is no other water, but a little below the city of On, there is a very old tree—a sycamore, I believe, under which the Copts believe that Joseph, Mary and Jesus camped while they remained in Egypt, during their flight from Herod. (Matt. 2:13-15) A great number of the branches have been carried away, and portions of the tree, but its boughs are still very widespread. The owner of the tree has put around it a very decent picket fence of pine lumber—I do not know where he got it—and any man who will give him a franc, he will lend him a knife and he may cut his name on the fence, but if he will not give him a franc, he must not do that, and he must not carry away any of the tree. I did not care about cutting my name on the fence, so I saved my franc. But there was a spring or well close by, and the water was drawn up by a mute on a kind of rudely constructed wheel, with a number of earthen vessels tied to the ends of its arms. They told me that the spring was in ancient times brackish and unfit to drink, but when Mary came there, she bathed in it, and it became sweet and good.

28 I drank some of the water and found it so, tasting very much like the big spring at St. George. I remarked to the man I really wished she had made it cold while she was about it, for a drink of cold water would have been very refreshing just then. This cost me one franc.

I am not designing, however, to follow the incidents of my journey any further than they relate, more or less, to the history of those countries mentioned either directly or by tradition in the Bible.

There is a good deal of speculation as to where the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, (Ex. 14:21-22) but the most reasonable conclusion I can arrive at, so far as I have been able to investigate the matter, is that they followed this fresh water canal, and that they camped near its terminus on the Red Sea, and crossed over to the peninsula of Sinai, after which they were miraculously supplied with water, food and clothing through the deserts of Arabia.

In Cairo we were shown Joseph's well, and we were told by our guides that it was made by, and called after Joseph, who was sold into Egypt. But on investigation we found that when Saladin, Caliph of Egypt, undertook to select a place for a citadel in his new city of Cairo, he hung up meat in different parts around, and he found that fresh meat would keep longer at that point than any other in the neighborhood, and he came to the conclusion that, that was the healthiest place, and he had the ground cleared for a citadel, and in doing that they discovered a well filled with sand. The sand was cleared out, and as one of the names of the Caliphs was Yoosef, it was called Joseph's well, so it may be that Joseph who was sold into Egypt made it, and it may not.

Its present name, however, I believe, comes from the Sultan Yoosef Salah-ed-deen, Caliph of Egypt in the 12th century, a man known to fame. The water of the well is brackish and is chiefly used for laying the dust.

We all felt more or less interest in the locality anciently called the land of Goshen, (Gen. 45:10) but as nobody could tell precisely where the land of Goshen was, it was necessarily a matter of guesswork. But the streams of water must run now somewhere near the same as they did then, and we followed the course of a freshwater canal, which has recently been turned from the Nile, and which is some one hundred and fifty miles in length, to Suez and the Red Sea. This canal passes near Zagazig, which is probably in the vicinity of the land of Goshen; and when the children of Israel started for Canaan, (Ex. 6:4) (Ex. 16:35) they had to follow this route in order to secure themselves the necessary amount of water from that old fresh water canal, which is now known and identified as having run very nearly on the same ground as the present one, which has been made within a few years, and which the railroad follows.

We passed over that portion of the Suez canal, between Ismaila and Port Said. The Suez canal is certainly a very grand enterprise. Port Said receives its fresh water from the Nile. It has got pipes over fifty miles in length to bring that water from the canal at Ismaila to supply the town. Port Said is considerable of a place, and there is a good deal of enterprise there.

On the evening of February 22nd, we sailed from Port Said on the Vesta, one of the steamers belonging to the Austrian Lloyd's.

The next morning, we came in sight of Jaffa, the Joppa of the Scriptures. (Jonah 1:3) (Acts 9:36) Jaffa is a kind of promontory or headland, projecting into the sea. The anchorage is simply an open roadstead, and landing is sometimes very difficult. If we had had an unfavorable wind and been carried by that port, it would have cost us considerable time and expense; but when we reached there the day was pleasant and the sea smooth, and we landed without difficulty.

29 At Jaffa we were met by the before-named Mr. Howard, who conducted us to the Turkish customhouse officer, who, I believe, examined only one passport, and passed us, and we went directly to our tents, which were pitched not far from the seaside, near the burial place. They were very nice wall tents, well carpeted, with all the outfit necessary ready for use, and we at once commenced keeping house.

This Joppa is the place where King Solomon landed the cedars that he got from Hiram, King of Tyre, for the building of his Temple. (1 Kgs. 5:8-10) I am of the opinion that the place has undergone some physical changes since that time, although I, of course, could not determine to what extent.

In the vicinity of this city is a colony of about six hundred Germans, under the presidency of D. V. Christopher Hoffman, who consider themselves the spiritual temple of Christ. They have bought some land and have put it under cultivation, and they say the rains have increased there very much within the last few years, and the lands are very productive. They raise wheat and a variety of grains without irrigation. They say their gardens and orange groves require irrigation. I think the olives do not.

The most beautiful orange groves that we saw, perhaps, on our entire journey, were at Jaffa. We visited this German colony. The American viceconsul, Mr. Hardegg, met us and treated us with courtesy. He is a German by birth, never was in America, speaks English.

We also saw a number of persons who were connected with the scheme of one George J. Adams, and who, after its failure, were left in that country, one of whom, Mr. Floyd, is now a dragoman. They built some houses, but they have been purchased by this German colony.

We attended a meeting of a missionary and heard a Methodist sermon. It seemed to be a very difficult thing to get together people enough to have a meeting.

I believe the only place of particular Scriptural import which they pretend to have identified in Joppa is the house of Simon the tanner, by the seaside. (Acts 9:43) (Acts 10:6,32)

Some were so critical as to doubt whether it was the identical house in which Peter lodged when the messengers of Cornelius came; but then, there are the tan vats, and it is right by the seaside, and the Bible says that Simon was a tanner, and that he lived by the seaside.

They showed us the flat roof on which they say Peter was sleeping. In one end of the house—the end towards Mecca—there was a recess, such as the Mahometans have in their mosques to pray in. We inquired of the man in charge of the house whether Simon was a Mussulman? He said, “Yes, and there was where he prayed.”

It is not important, of course, whether that building is the identical one or not, yet it has been visited by thousands, and is a source of revenue. It was in this neighborhood that the Lord revealed to Peter that what God hath cleansed should not be called common or unclean, (Acts 10:15) and that it was proper for him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, and from that place he went to visit Cornelius, and administered the Gospel to those not of the seed of Israel. (Acts 10:28-48) Having obtained our horses and saddles, Monday morning, Feb. 24th, we started for Jerusalem. I could not obtain a Syrian saddle large enough for me to ride on, and I was compelled to ride on an English saddle. This made a great difference in my comfort. If I had carried a Spanish saddle from home, I should have been much more comfortable on my journey.

I was constantly afraid that the fastenings of my English saddle would give way. I did not think they were strong enough, and then its construction and shape were not comfortable and convenient, and in those particulars, it was nothing to be compared with a Spanish, or even with a Syrian saddle. I am pretty heavy and had not been on horseback for fifteen years.

Travelers in Palestine suffer greatly from the sun, but we were early in the season—two weeks earlier than travelers generally set out for Jerusalem. Mr. Cook was fitting out several parties; but they were two weeks after us, and we were comparatively alone, though some few travelers fell in with us incidentally.

30 At noon, we halted at what was called the Martyr's Tower, in Ramleh. Ramleh has a history relating particularly to the crusades. It is in the vicinity of the country anciently occupied by the Philistines, and from its tower, which we climbed, and which is probably a hundred feet high, we could see a portion of their country.

There is at this place a monastery of monks, who, it is said, feed travelers of all denominations, and they are spoken of by all travelers as being very kind. They are Roman Catholics. Of course, we had no need to test their hospitality, for we had everything within our reach that was necessary to supply our wants, carrying it right along with us.

In the evening we camped on a very nice stream at the entrance of the Valley of Ajalon. Our Sunday school children will recollect this very well, from the fact that Joshua said to the sun, “Stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.” (Josh. 10:12) I ought to explain that in Palestine what we call a ravine is called a valley, and wider valleys they call plains.

Before reaching Ramleh we passed through the plains of Sharon, where a kind of red flower, called the rose of Sharon, (Song 2:1) grows abundantly, and the land appears to be very fertile. We were rather surprised, having heard such accounts of the sterility of Palestine, to find on our entrance into it that the land was apparently fruitful; though we were told that if we had come later, it would have looked more barren.

Miss E. R. Snow and Miss Clara Little had a tent.; Elder Paul A. Schettler and myself, occupied another, over which floated the “Stars and Stripes.” Elders Lorenzo Snow, Albert Carrington, Feramorz Little and Thos. Jennings occupied another. My tent was used as our dining room.

Our dragoman and cook had each his tent, and we had another for convenience sake. We were supplied with good camp stools; we had ironframed bedsteads, with good mattresses, and good, clean nice blankets and sheets.

31 All the difficulty about it with me was that my bedstead was too small for me. I have always had a horror of being buried in a coffin not big enough, and I have always desired that my friends—whoever might live to put me in a coffin, would have it at least two inches bigger every way than I was. I have always felt annoyed at the idea of being buried in a cramped-up coffin. It often made me think of it when stretched out upon that bedstead, or in the berths of the ships which I have had to stay in so many days on this journey, for generally they have been too small for me. Our dragoman, Aushonny Makloof, of Beyrout, supplied us very well with provisions.

We had our Arab cook and our Turkish muleteers.

Only one of them all could speak a little English, and really, to this day, I never could tell how many there were, although on some days we had more and some less, for as we passed through the country we sometimes hired a sheik and one or two attendants, to go along with us, paying them for it, so that he need not help himself to our movables without our consent.

Our muleteers took down our tents and tent poles, and tied up tents, baggage and everything and put it all on to the backs of the mules. We had to ride out, or spend our time someway, looking at the country or waiting, as we chose, in the evening for these tents all to be pitched; but it was generally so arranged that, in our seeing the country, our muleteers would get on the ground and get the tents pitched and everything ready, so that when we went there we could go right in and sit down to the tables or do anything we pleased.

The second day we had our noon halt on the brook, which they told us King David got the stones out of, (1 Sam. 17:40) with one of which he killed (1 Sam. 17:48-52) the giant of Gath, (1 Sam. 17:4) and that the battle between the Philistines and King Saul took place along the two sides of this stream. It is called a valley, but it was simply a ravine. We saw a considerable number of sheep of various colors there, and some boys tending them, which, of course reminded us of the fact that King David was tending his father's sheep when Samuel went to his father's house to anoint one of the sons of Jesse to be king. (1 Sam. 16:11)

King David, it will be remembered, was the junior of the boys, and he was small of stature compared with the others. He was sent out to look after the sheep. When Samuel came to the house of Jesse and told him that one of his sons had to be king, and he wanted to pick the one, Jesse brought in six tall boys, one at a time, to each of which Samuel said, “That is not the one.”

(1 Sam. 16:8-10) When the sixth had been refused, said Jesse, “I believe that is all.” “Have you not another?” “O yes, little David, he is out with the sheep.” They sent for him (1 Sam. 16:11) and he was anointed king, (1 Sam. 16:12-13) and it was he who slew the giant Goliath; (1 Sam. 17:50-51) and I suppose if I had enquired of the monks, I might have brought home the identical stone with which he did it, but I did not take the trouble. The place where we had our meal was not far from Kirjath-Jearim where the ark is said to have rested, (1 Sam. 6:21) not the ark of Noah, but the ark of the Lord, for a considerable time after it fell into the hands of the Philistines. (1 Sam. 7:1-2) We again got into the saddle and started for Jerusalem across the mountain, for that country is one immense limestone quarry. If there ever was any soil it has blown away until very little remains. What there is left is evidently very rich where they can get the water to it: but as we crossed over and got a view of Jerusalem, a feeling of disappointment was evident on the countenances of every one of the party, or else I was disappointed and they were not, one or the other. But the whole thing presented itself to us in a different light from what we had anticipated, and I then understood why Dr. Burns, in his “Guide,” recommends people to pass round Jerusalem by another route and come in from the east and get a first view from the eastern side. It is because the view from the Mount of Olives—on the eastern side—is a very great deal better than when you go from the west. It is said that there is a great deal in first impressions.

The Russians have built some monasteries in and about Jerusalem, and the Latins have got some, and within the last few years there have been a number of good new buildings put up. Sir Moses Monteilore has built a block outside, and not far from the wall. The venerable Abraham Askenasi, the chief rabbi of Jerusalem, with the contributions of his friends throughout the world, has erected a considerable number of rooms as a home for widows and orphans.

32 At first view we could pick out the mosque of Omar—the place where Solomon's temple stood; we could also see the Church of the Holy Sepulchre—the place where the Savior was crucified. We pitched our tent in the valley of Hinnom, near the Jaffa gate—the gate at which most of the business in Jerusalem is done. While our tents were pitching, we passed in at the gate, and saw a good many beggars, some of them lepers, also quite a number of women dressed in white, some of whom were hired mourners and were wailing.

As we passed along, we found, not far from the gate, an old man lying in the street, almost naked and moaning piteously. He begged of us to give him something. When we got in we called at the banker's in Jerusalem, and were told that the old man who lay there in the street begging, whom we had probably noticed, owned six hundred olive trees, a garden containing quite a number of fig trees, and an orange grove—that the banker had known him for years, and he came every year to Jerusalem, and lay on the street almost naked, howling and moaning piteously, begging from the pilgrims, while he was in reality one of the wealthy men of the country.

It is not easy to describe that city, nor, so far as I have seen, any of those Asiatic cities. The streets, if they can be called streets, are very narrow, and many of them are so crowded with camels, donkeys and packhorses, that they can only pass each other at certain places.

The houses are rudely built, of a kind of concrete, or of rock and mortar. They are low and small and the roof flat, generally covered with cement.

There are many buildings in Jerusalem that go to show it off—mosques and churches, with their minarets, towers and rotundas.

The principal business street in Jerusalem is Christian street, which is fifteen feet wide. It leads up from the street that we enter from Jaffa's gate, and has an avenue that leads off to the entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In front of that church is a little open space filled with beggars, and men with articles for sale—beads, photographs, jewelry of different kinds, and relics of all kinds. We could get almost anything in the way of relics we wanted there, and be assured that they were genuine.

President Carrington remained at Jerusalem while we went to the Dead Sea. He wanted to do some business connected with the Liverpool office; and he is not very fond of horseback riding. As you are aware he has been afflicted with rheumatism considerably, so he remained in the Mediterranean Hotel while we went to the Dead Sea and the Jordan.

That gave him more time to pass around, and through and over Jerusalem, than any of us. He had several days, and he declared that he could never make up his mind as to what induced King David to locate his capital there. The chief rabbi told me that, anciently, Jerusalem was well supplied with water; but at the present time there was really no living water there.

The pool of Hezekiah, (2 Kgs. 20:20) and other pools were filled in the rainy season, but in a month from the time we were there a quart bottle of water would cost a farthing, and sometimes pretty hard to get. If the aqueducts from the pools of Solomon were repaired, they would not bring in sufficient water to supply the city, but in the days of Israel's prosperity, there was abundance of water there, and he believed there would be again.

I had a letter of introduction, procured by Mr. James Linforth, from the Rabbi of the Jewish congregation at San Francisco, to Rabbi Askenasi.

He is a very venerable looking man—tall, heavy set and a good supply of beard, like the Apostles in the picture.

He seemed very much pleased with my visit, treated me with courtesy, showed me their synagogue and the building they were erecting, and returned the visit, accompanied by several of the Jewish elders, at my tent, where we had a very pleasant interview. But there is no infidel on the face of the earth who can disbelieve the mission of the Savior more than they do. He says the condition of the Jews is much improved of late years. Now they can purchase, and if they have only the money to do it with, and the amount they can buy is only limited by their want of money.

They have also a title from the Turkish government for the ground upon which they are erecting their home for widows and orphans.

33 This gentleman told me that no Jew had been inside the enclosure of the Mosque of Omar, although he believed it stands on the sight of Solomon's temple, though not in the center of it.

In looking around Jerusalem, I did not regard it in the same light as President Carrington did.

Kingdoms, in those days, were small and densely populated, and it was necessary for a ruler, in locating a capital, to have it so that it could be easily defended; and until the time when modern arms were invented, Jerusalem could be easily defended. Its siege and capture by the Romans proved, to all intents and purposes, that it was a very difficult city to take, for though it was surrounded by several walls, fortified with strong towers, and naturally defended by its mountainous position and the ravines around it, each one of these walls was occupied by rival parties, for it will be remembered by readers of the destruction of Jerusalem, that there were three separate leaders, and that when the Jews were not fighting the Romans, they were fighting each other; and it is even doubtful to this day that, if either John or Simon had had absolute command in their city and the confidence of the people, whether the Romans could have taken the place at all or not. An old proverb says that whom the Gods would destroy they first make mad. It was so with these Jews.

They had slain the Savior, they had violated the commands of God, and they had brought upon their heads the curses pronounced upon them in the 27th chapter of Deuteronomy (Deut. 27:1526) and in a great many other places, if they did not abide in the law of the Lord; and notwithstanding their strong city and their numbers, they were so divided among themselves that they could not make a successful defense. Speaking of this destruction of Jerusalem carries me back to Rome and the Arch of Titus, erected to commemorate his victories, on which is engraved a representation of the seven branched candlestick, and a great variety of the treasures brought by him from Jerusalem.

King David had learned the strength of Jerusalem by the difficulty he encountered in taking it from the Jebusites; (2 Sam. 5:6-9) and it is more than probable that God commanded him to locate the city there.

Rabbi Askenasi, speaking of the ten tribes, said he had no idea where they were, but he believed they were preserved, and that their posterity would return, and the time would come when God would bless Israel, and when water would be abundant in Jerusalem.

We read in the 47th chap. of Ezekiel, that living waters were to come out from Jerusalem, and that they should run toward the east; and that the Prophet saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. He measured a thousand cubits, and the water was to his ankles; he measured another thousand, and it was to his knees; another thousand, and it was to his loins; another thousand, and it was a river with waters to swim in, that could not be passed over. (Ezek. 47:1-5) He goes on and describes this as something that should take place at Jerusalem. (Ezek. 48:35) I could but reflect, when standing on the Mount of Olives, on the saying concerning it in the last chapter of Zechariah, where, in speaking of the coming of the Savior, it says his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem to the east, and the mount shall cleave in the midst thereof, half going toward the north, and half toward the south. There shall be a very great valley, (Zech. 14:4) and the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, and shall be lifted up, and men shall dwell on it. (Zech. 14:10) The same Prophet tells us that living waters shall come out of Jerusalem, half toward the former sea, and half toward the hinder sea, and that in summer and in winter shall it be. (Zech. 14:8) The convent at Mar Saba is situated on the canyon, which is the outlet of the brook Kedron; but it was perfectly dry when we were there, not a drop of water running in it. There are seasons of the year, I suppose, when waters run there, but these prophecies declare that living waters shall run out of Jerusalem in summer and winter, (Zech. 14:8) and I am foolish enough to believe that they will be literally fulfilled. I agreed with Rabbi Askenasi in the belief that God would restore that land to Israel, and that Jerusalem would again be supplied with abundance of water and be a glorious and happy city. I saw many Christians of different denominations there who had no such faith.

34 One man came into our tent, and assured us that baptism by immersion was impossible, there never had been water enough in that country to immerse people. He had believed in immersion, he said, but since he had traveled through the country and had seen so little water, he was satisfied that they would all have to go to Jordan to be baptized.

This is the way people look at it.

The country is dry and barren, the rains have ceased upon it for many generations, though they have had occasional rains.

In going to the Dead Sea from Jerusalem, we visited a number of points of interest. One was the tomb of Rachel, (Gen. 35:19) another the pools of Solomon—three immense pools constructed to receive the waters of a spring and hold them in reserve, and the old aqueduct is still in repair almost to Bethlehem.

We visited Bethlehem and were shown the caves —called stables—in which the Savior was born, and the churches and ornaments. There was a great variety of people there, many begging and many trying to sell you relics.

The country is without fences. There are a good many spots where there is an opportunity for the Bedouins to come along and scratch the ground with a kind of shovel plough, they have, hitch some calves or very small cattle, and raise some barley. We purchased barley all the time for feeding our animals.

At the place which we supposed is called in Scripture the wilderness, (Matt. 3:1) or the border of the wilderness next to the Dead Sea, where John the Baptist commenced his preaching, is an immense convent. It was founded by a man named Saba. “Mar” in the Syrian language means saint, and when we speak of Mar Saba, it means saint Saba. This is the name of the convent. This man lived to be some ninety-four years old. He concealed himself from his enemies a considerable time in caves, but his power increased with the number of his friends, for he gathered around him a good many thousand monks, and they built this immense convent, which was strongly fortified for those times.

They allow no women to enter, and no person can go into their building without a permit from the Greek Patriarch at Jerusalem. We had a permit to enter that convent, but sister Snow and sister Little, of course, had to go to the camp. It would probably have been considered an outrage for them to have come in sight of the gates.

Having sent up our permit, we were admitted and passed through the building. There were sixty-five monks there, some of whom had been there thirty-seven years. A man has to be exceedingly holy to be permitted to go there. I looked at them, and wondered what could induce men to adopt such a life. They showed us one room filled with skulls.

They said there were fifteen hundred of them, and they were the skulls of their brethren who had been killed by the Saracens at different times. They had taken great pains to preserve the skulls, with their names and registers. They have a spring of water which has a miraculous history, and they have one palm tree growing, which they say was planted by Saint Saba himself. They seem to have an eye to business.

They had canes for sale, made from willows which they get the Arabs to bring from the Jordan. None of them are allowed to go out, and they are compelled to have everything brought to them.

They had a number of fancy articles of their own manufacture for sale. I bought a small string of shells, which they said were brought from the Dead Sea. They gather a few francs from every party of travelers in this way.

There was another party of Americans nearby who wanted to visit the monastery, but they had no permit; and a message was sent to us by them, saying, that if we would delay a little while we could all pass in with our permit. We had met the party and knew them to be nice, intelligent gentlemen. We stayed about an hour to accommodate these friends, and they passed in with us, otherwise they would have had to go clear back to Jerusalem for a permit.

These persons—four gentlemen and two ladies— finding that we were going down to the Dead Sea, went along with us, and made the journey safe and pleasant.

35 We went down to the Dead Sea the day following our visit to the monastery. I have seen a good many rough roads in Utah in the mountains, but of all the rough horseback riding I ever did see, I think that Palestine has the premium. Being pretty heavy, it was difficult for me to get on and off my horse, but because of the rough roads in some places, I dismounted and led my animal. I found, however, that he could stand better than I could, so I rode him, and I believe that some of the Saints here at home must have had faith hold that animal up, or he would have stumbled.

The country is subject to earthquakes and bears the evident marks of many of them. In 1837, Tiberium, the Tiberias of ancient times, (John 6:1) was very severely damaged by an earthquake, the effects of which are visible to anyone who visits it. I have wondered how the Lord would restore that country. I thought he had got to have some kind of a process to hoist the waters of the Dead Sea above the level of the ocean, so that a stream could run out of it in order for it to be healed.

Some of the party went into the Dead Sea and had a swim. I did not. Some of them inquired for Lot's wife—the “pillar of salt.” (Gen. 19:26) I expect she was at the other end of the sea, for we did not see her.

Prophecy says that the waters that should run out of Jerusalem should run down to the east sea, and the waters of the east sea (Zech. 14:8) were to be healed, and there was to be a multitude of fishes, (Ezek. 47:8-9) but now no living thing can exist in the Dead Sea. But if these prophecies are fulfilled, and I have not any doubt that they will be, these waters are to be healed, and I believe that the Lord will use natural means to bring it about.

The Dead Sea is a remarkable body of water.

According to scientific observations, as read in the report of Lieutenant Lynch and others, it is 1350 feet lower than the Mediterranean. It is probably one of the deepest holes in the world. It is perhaps eight or ten miles wide and about forty long. It occupies the site of the cities of the plain—Sodom and Gomorrah, and Admah and Zeboim, (Gen. 10:19) upon which, in consequence of their wickedness, we are told that God rained fire and brimstone and destroyed them.

We returned by way of Jordan. The stream is not so large as our Jordan here, but quite a nice river.

The Arabs were very much afraid when we went into it, that we would go beyond our depth. It was safe to go as far as certain rapids, but it was not safe to go beyond them. They said that some zealous fellows got in so far that they could not get out, and one or two were lost, and they had some difficulty to fish the others out. Some willows and different kinds of timber grow along its banks.

The probability is that they were buried by a volcanic eruption, and that they and most of the valley of the Jordan were sunk at the same time.

We were supposed to be at the place where the Savior was baptized, (Matt. 3:13-17) and also at the place where Elijah smote the waters with his mantle, and he and Elisha crossed over dry-shod, and Elijah then went to heaven in a chariot of fire, after which Elisha passed back in the same manner. (2 Kgs. 2:8-14)

I rode him four hundred miles, three hundred of which there was no road with any right to the name, and he never slipped or stumbled.

The probability is that that the Jordan ran through these cities, and that this deep basin being formed, the Jordan forms the Dead Sea, which has no outlet, much like our Salt Lake.

There is a wonderful similarity between that country and this, only this, of course, is on a grander scale. Our Salt Lake answers very well to the Dead Sea; our Utah Lake answers very well to the Sea of Galilee, and some of the streams that run into Utah Lake answer very well to the upper streams of the Jordan. It hardly seems credible to me, but all the guidebooks assert that the Sea of Galilee is 650 feet below the level of the Mediterranean.

We saw the place where it is supposed the children of Israel, under Joshua, crossed over the river dry-shod. (Josh. 3:9-17) There is good reason to suppose that they crossed in harvest time, and that the waters were high. They say the waters of the Jordan are highest in harvest time.

(Josh. 3:15) We had a ride across the plain probably seven or eight miles. That plain could be watered by irrigation. I was often asked if we were going to settle in Palestine.

36 I replied that we were not, but I could take a thousand “Mormons;” go up the Jordan, put in a dam to take out the water, and irrigate several thousand acres. But there is little, however, at present inviting about the country, but it would no doubt be productive if irrigated. The valleys near the source of the Jordan would be much the best for cultivation, and the climate would be more agreeable.

Jericho, or rather the old site of that city, has a good many mounds. (Josh. 6:1-5) Men have dug into many of them, but we were told that no valuables had been found. We camped that night at Aines-Sultain, generally called the fountain of Elisha, because tradition says that, on his return after Elijah had ascended to heaven, he healed the waters of this fountain. (2 Kgs. 2:19-22) Before then they were salt, but by a miracle he made them sweet. They are now delicious, and after our hard day's ride in the heat and dust, we found the waters of the fountain of Elisha very palatable.

That night there was a company of Bedouins came and danced and sang for us. They had a sham fight, and I think it requires a man of pretty good nerve to sit and look at them and not be afraid that they would whip some of their crooked scimiters through his body. Each one of our party paid them something like two francs, which satisfied them. I believe a ticket at our theater here in Salt Lake would cost more than that and take it as a whole their performance was not very expensive. They went off in a very fine humor. I could not understand their songs, but our dragoman interpreted the chorus of one of them to be, “May the ladies' eyes be like the moon.”

From that place to Jerusalem the route is very rough. Some years ago, a Russian lady, a very pious woman, went on a pilgrimage to the Jordan, and while riding over some of these rough ways she was thrown from her horse and had her arm broken and was badly hurt. She expended her money in improving a portion of the way, and on this account one of the canyons was much easier to go through than before that time.

We passed by other ancient sites, spoken of in the Bible as having been large cities, and no doubt they were but we must bear always in mind that that was an age when Israel paid their tithes and offerings, and God blessed the land.

At noon we stopped at a place called Christ's Hotel, all of us very much fatigued. Our luggage train went ahead. In the afternoon we passed by Bethany, (John 11:1) where Christ raised Lazarus, (John 11:43-44) and saw what was pointed out to us as the house of Mary and Martha, (John 11:2) and also the tomb of Lazarus. (John 11:38-39) In the evening we camped again at Jaffa's gate at Jerusalem, finding our tents pitched and everything comfortable. We used to sing about the flowery banks of Jordan, but it takes off the romance to go and see them; yet when irrigation and industry and the blessing of the Lord prevailed along them, I have no doubt they were as beautiful as any places in the world.

I made two careful visits to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and one to the Mosque of Omar and the grounds connected with it. I also visited many other places of interest about Jerusalem, but in giving you a detailed account of what we saw and passed through, in such a scattering way, I cannot communicate to so large an audience, to any extent, the impressions I felt at the time.

I had no doubt that I passed over the grounds where the Savior and his Apostles, and the Prophets, kings and nobles of Israel had lived, although I did not believe a great deal about the identical spots set down by the monks, yet I was satisfied that I was in the localities in which the great events recorded in Scripture took place.

But now little remains on the top of the ground that can be identified beyond the period of the occupation of the Crusaders or the Romans.

We certainly saw the top of Mount Moriah, on which stands the Mosque of Omar. There are the rocks and the caves in them. The rocks have not been made by men. The Valley of Jehosophat is there.

37 Learned men have dug deeply under Jerusalem in search of evidence to determine its original site, but an alarm was created that the monkery of the place might be spoiled by determining that certain localities were not where they are now represented, and the Turkish government was moved, so I was informed by some gentlemen, to stop the investigations and to close up the excavations, and we were not permitted to enter them.

President Lorenzo Snow's correspondence to the Deseret News, Elder Paul A. Sehettler's correspondence to the Salt Lake Herald, and Miss E. R. Snow's communications and poems to the Woman's Exponent, with other published letters, all composed under circumstances of great labor and fatigue, give a very correct idea of our visit to Jerusalem and journeyings generally.

Elder Paul A. Schettler speaks six languages, and in attending to the financial business of the party, he had to make exchanges and was compelled to keep accounts in the currency of a dozen different nations, and even among the Arabs he could generally find some one who could speak in some one of the languages with which he was acquainted.

God has preserved me. Our party of eight went through the entire journey without an accident.

We never missed a connection that amounted to any difficulty. We were in no manner injured; we had no sickness, except, peradventure, a little cold or a pinch of rheumatism now and again for a day or two.

Our minds were clear, we saw more, I believe, in the eight months, than ordinary travelers see in two years. We visited a number of places in Holland, Belgium and France. We crossed three times over Italy. We visited the Ionian isles, Egypt, Palestine and Syria, Turkey in Europe, Greece, Bavaria, Austria and Prussia, and other parts of Germany.

We spent eleven days in examining the mysteries of Rome. I paid four Italians to carry me to the crater of Mount Vesuvius. I think they earned their money, at any rate I was well satisfied with them. I had an idea in my own mind of how the crater looked, but I am now satisfied that I could form no correct opinion without seeing it.

To reach the crater you have to mount about 1,500 feet perpendicular in height above where we could ride on horseback, in loose volcanic sand, and every time a man's foot was placed in it, it would slip back about twice the length of his foot. I could not stand the walk, these Italians wanted the contract, and I gave it to them.

My time is exhausted. I thank God for the privilege, of seeing you. When on the Mount of Olives, with our faces bowed toward Jerusalem, we lifted our prayers to God that he would preserve you and confound your enemies.

We felt in our hearts that Zion was onward and upward, and that no power could stay her progress; that the day was not far distant when Israel would gather, and those lands would begin to teem with a people who would worship God and keep his commandments; that plenty and the blessings of eternity would be poured out bounteously upon that desert land, and that all the prophecies concerning the restoration of the house of Israel would be fulfilled. God has commenced his work by revealing the everlasting Gospel (Rev. 14:6) to the Latter-day Saints and may we all be faithful and fulfill our part is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

TEMPLES TO BE BUILT 38

October 7, 1873

I will call the attention of the congregation to a portion of the word of God contained in the third chapter of Malachi— “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap. He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” (Mal. 3:1-3) I have read these words, because of the peculiar prophecy, which is contained therein, of what the Lord will perform about the time of his coming.

A prophecy that the Lord would come, and the nature of that coming should be such that but a few comparatively will be prepared to endure that day; that when he does come, he will have a Temple on the earth, to which he will come. A part of the program, which was read yesterday morning, if I recollect right, for the Elders to speak upon during Conference, was in relation to building Temples. The building of Temples of the Lord is promised in his word, for there we read that in the latter days he would have a house built on the earth.

by Elder Orson Pratt

I know that in the ears of this generation it will sound very strangely to talk about the Lord having a house built on this globe of ours; yet we have such a promise, strange as it may be, and that when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, (2 Thes. 1:7-8) and shall sit as a refiner's fire and as fuller's soap on the sons of Levi, to purify them as gold and silver, (Mal. 3:2-3) he will, in that day, come to his Temple, and come very suddenly. (Mal. 3:1) That shows, at once, that he must have a Temple on the earth in the latter time.

There are two other Prophets, besides Malachi, who have spoken of the house of the Lord. Isaiah, in his second chapter, refers to the building of the Lord's house in the latter days. I will repeat the passage—“It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the tops of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and nations shall flow unto it. Many nations shall say, Come, let us go up unto the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he shall teach us of his ways, and we shall walk in his paths;” and “the Lord shall rebuke strong nations afar off”—meaning nations at a great distance from Jerusalem, where the Prophet delivered the prophecy.

Photo Credit by Josh Eckstein

39 “He shall rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” (Isa. 2:2-4) The fourth chapter of Micah contains a similar prediction, which it is not necessary for me to repeat, as it reads, almost word for word, like that in the second chapter of Isaiah, (Micah 4:1-3) showing plainly and clearly that in the latter days God would have a house built on the earth.

Perhaps there may be objections by our Christian friends to the Latter-day Saints proclaiming in the midst of Christendom that the Lord intends to have a house built on the earth.

They will probably say— “He has hundreds of them and has had for many generations. God has houses scattered here and there throughout all the Christian nations, and there never has been a time since the days of the Apostles but what the Lord has had a house, either at Corinth, Athens, or somewhere else; and you can read the inscriptions upon them as you pass through the towns and cities of Christendom.” These houses are called the houses of God, or Jesus, the church of St. John, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Mark and others, and all of them are considered the houses of God. Would to God that this were true! Would to God that he had given some directions concerning the building of some of these houses! But alas!

When we come to inquire concerning their origin, we find that they were built by uninspired men, that the architecture and everything pertaining to them has been devised by the cunning and wisdom of men. Ask them if God commanded them to select the particular location on which one of these houses stands? They will say— “No, God does not direct now-a-days.

There was a time when the Lord did direct in such matters, but now we have wise men, we have bodies of learned men who have studied theology. We do not need the Lord to interfere in our day; he doesn't speak anything to the people in the age in which we live; these houses were constructed according to the best plans and architecture we were acquainted with by our wisdom, without any commandment or revelation from the heavens.” Very well, then the Lord has nothing to do with them.

What I understand by the building of a house of God, is to build one after the pattern that he shall give. I do not mean a pattern that was given in ancient times, but one given to the very people to whom the revelation comes to build a house to his name. Has such been the case with the houses of worship throughout the Christian nations? Not in one instance.

You may travel all through this great Republic, from one end thereof to the other, and among all the Christian denominations who deny new revelation, is there one house which God commanded to be built? Indeed, these very prophecies would seem to indicate that, in the day when they should begin to be fulfilled, there should be no house of the Lord on the earth.

Is it not a peculiar kind of a saying that in the latter days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the tops of the mountains, and be exalted above the hills? (Isa. 2:2) (Micah 4:1) It shows that for a long period prior to the erection of the house of God in the mountains, no such thing could be found on the face of the whole earth, and it was needful for the Lord, in the latter days, to begin a work of that kind. No place for Jesus to come to. He is to come in the clouds of heaven, in flaming fire, (2 Thes. 1:7-8) in power and great glory, (Matt. 24:30) clothed upon with all the brightness of the celestial heavens; (2 Thes. 2:8) (D&C 5:19) his face will outshine the sun and cause it to withhold its light in shame. (D&C 133:49) No place for this glorious personage to come to—no Temple prepared into which he can come. When he does come, however, this work will have been accomplished —he will come to his Temple suddenly. (Mal. 3:1) It will not be like his first coming. Then, instead of coming to his Temple suddenly, we find him born in a very low condition, not even in the common mansions or dwelling places of the inhabitants of Palestine, but in a stable or manger. (Luke 2:7) When he visited the great Temple at Jerusalem, when about twelve years old, (Luke 2:41-49) and also after he began his ministry, when about thirty years old, (John 2:13-16) instead of sitting upon the sons of Levi and purifying them as gold and silver in a furnace of fire, that they might offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness, (Mal. 3:3) who was it who rejected the Son of God in that day?

40 The sons of Levi. They cried out against and persecuted him; they were his greatest enemies; they crucified him. They were not purged and prepared to offer in the Temple of the Lord an offering in righteousness. (Mal. 3:3) The glory of God did not appear in their midst, and their offerings were not acceptable in that Temple before the Lord, but he found his house, in that day, a den of thieves, occupied by moneychangers (Matt. 21:12-13) and brokers, speculation going on in the midst of the house of God, and he was under the necessity of making a small scourge and driving them out by whipping them. (John 2:13-16) Not so in the latter times, when he comes to his Temple. In that day, when the mountain of the house of the Lord is established in the tops of the mountains, (Isa. 2:2) (Micah 4:1) it will be an indication of a great period of peace, a period which is so often spoken of by the mouths of the ancient Prophets, in which nation shall no more lift up sword against nation, when they shall no longer have use for firearms or weapons of war, or anything that is calculated to destroy life; but these deadly implements will be converted into useful articles of husbandry. (Isa. 2:4) Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war anymore. (Isa. 2:4) That time has not come, and such a period was never known on the earth.

There is another thing connected with the building of the Temple in the latter days. When it is built, on the place, and according to the pattern that the Lord shall designate, it will be so strange to the nations, that they will actually come up from all parts of our globe. Many of them will say one to another— “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the house of the Lord, (Micah 4:1) to the house of the God of Jacob.” (Isa. 2:3) “What do you want to go up there for? Why do you want to travel several thousand miles across land and sea to go to the mountain of the house of the Lord?” (Micah 4:1) “That he may teach us of his ways, that we may walk in his paths?” (Isa. 2:3) “Can you not be taught in his ways in your own chapels, which you have built in England, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Austria, or wherever you may have resided? Can you not worship in your own chapels?”

“Oh, no, there is no house of the Lord, we have no teachers authorized of God, no Prophets and Apostles inspired by and called of God to officiate like the ancient Apostles; no one to say to us, ‘Thus saith the Lord God,’ (Ex. 4:22) by new revelation; no visions are manifested among us; no angels have honored our houses of worship with their presence; no glory, no fire descending from heaven to light up these chapels and sanctuaries which we have built, and we have lost all confidence in our teachers, consequently let us go up to yonder mountain on which God's house has been built, and when we get there, he will teach us in his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” (Isa. 2:3) “Is the only object you have in going to the mountain of the house of the Lord (Micah 4:1) to receive teachings?” No, there are other things to be attended to in the house of God or in Temples that may be built in the tops of the mountains besides teaching. We have a great many important duties to perform pertaining to the house of God, duties that cannot be performed anywhere else acceptably in his sight.

Would you like to know some of the uses of these Temples or houses of God? I will read a little from one of our modern revelations, given through Joseph Smith, in Nauvoo, on the 19th day of January 1841. I have not time to read the whole of the revelation but will select a few sections.

Speaking of building a house to his name, the Lord says— “Verily I say unto you, let all my saints come from afar” (D&C 124:25) this we have fulfilled so far as the gathering is concerned.

“And again, verily I say unto you, let all my saints come from afar. And send ye swift messengers, yea, chosen messengers, and say unto them: Come ye, with all your gold, and your silver, and your precious stones, and with all your antiquities; and with all who have knowledge of antiquities, that will come, may come, and bring the box-tree, and the fir-tree, and the pine-tree, together with all the precious trees of the earth; And with iron, with copper, and with brass, and with zinc, and with all your precious things of the earth; and build a house to my name, for the Most High to dwell therein.

For there is not a place found on earth that he may come and restore again that which was lost unto you, or which he hath taken away, even the fullness of the priesthood.

41 For a baptismal font there is not upon the earth, that they, my saints, may be baptized for those who are dead—For this ordinance belongeth to my house, and cannot be acceptable to me, only in the days of your poverty, wherein ye are not able to build a house unto me. But I command you, all ye my saints, to build a house unto me; and I grant unto you a sufficient time to build a house unto me; and during this time your baptisms shall be acceptable unto me.” (D&C 124:25-31) I want this Conference to understand that it is not only the Saints who are here assembled, but all in this Territory, and wherever our settlements extend, all who have entered into covenant with the Lord are under this command. I will read further.

“But behold, at the end of this appointment your baptisms for your dead shall not be acceptable unto me; and if you do not these things at the end of the appointment ye shall be rejected as a church, with your dead, saith the Lord your God. For verily I say unto you, that after you have had sufficient time to build a house to me, wherein the ordinance of baptizing for the dead belongeth, and for which the same was instituted from before the foundation of the world, your baptisms for your dead cannot be acceptable unto me; For therein are the keys of the holy priesthood ordained, that you may receive honor and glory. And after this time, your baptisms for the dead, by those who are scattered abroad, are not acceptable unto me, saith the Lord. For it is ordained that in Zion, and in her stakes, and in Jerusalem, those places which I have appointed for refuge, shall be places for your baptisms for your dead.

“And again, verily I say unto you, how shall your washings be acceptable unto me, except ye perform them in a house which you have built to my name? For, for this cause, I commanded Moses that he should build a tabernacle, that they should bear it with them in the wilderness, and to build a house in the land of promise, that those ordinances might be revealed which had been hid from before the world was. Therefore, verily I say unto you, that your anointings, and your washings, and your baptisms for the dead, and your solemn assemblies, and your memorials for your sacrifices by the sons of Levi, and for your oracles in your most holy places wherein you receive conversations, and your statutes and judgments,

for the beginning of the revelations and foundation of Zion, and for the glory, honor, and endowment of all her municipals, are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house, which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name.” (D&C 124:32-39) It seems to be a standing command to the Saints, wherever they may be located, to build a house unto the Lord, wherever there is a stronghold pointed out for the gathering of the Saints, such as Kirtland, (D&C 109:2) Nauvoo, (D&C 124:27,31) Jackson County, Mo., (D&C 57:3) (D&C 84:5,31) (D&C 115:8) and other places which are mentioned in revelation. The Lord has commanded his Saints in all these places to do a work, which will be effectually accomplished in due time. They are always commanded to build a house unto the Lord. (D&C 124:39) We have been here twenty-six years and have only a foundation and a few tiers of rock laid towards a house of the Lord. It is true we have a large tabernacle which will contain some fifteen thousand persons when they are closely seated, and the standing room also occupied. But this is not a Temple of the Lord.

We meet here to sing praises, and to be instructed in our duties as Saints, but this is not a house of ordinances; it is not a house for the baptism of the dead, or in which the Saints receive their washings and anointings; it is not a house in which you will receive statutes, and judgments, and laws pertaining to the kingdom of God. (D&C 124:39) God has ordained a building of a different pattern wherein laws, statutes, judgments, and ordinances are to be revealed for the benefit of his people.

“And verily I say unto you, let this house be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people; For I deign to reveal unto my church things which have been kept hid from the foundation of the world, things that pertain to the dispensation of the fullness of times.” (D&C 124:40-41) I think that portion of this revelation which I have read, will give you a general idea of the sacredness of the house of the Lord, which is to be built in the latter times, a place wherein the angels may come and visit, as they did in the ancient Temple; a place wherein you can receive all those ordinances which the Lord has revealed, and which he will, hereafter reveal, from time to time, preparatory to the great day of the coming of the Lord.

42 Now let me mention over some few things which should be administered in the Temple of the Most High.

Marriage, for instance, is an ordinance of God. We know it to be not only an ordinance administered among the various nations according to their civil laws, but know also that it is a religious ordinance, administered by authority from God. If anyone wants any proof on this point let him read the 6th verse of the 19th chapter of Matthew.

“What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.” (Matt. 19:6) It seems, then, that in marriage there is such a principle as the Lord officiating through his servants, in joining persons in this sacred and holy ordinance.

There are a great many marriages that may answer the requirements of the civil law of different countries and nations, and there are some marriages performed even in our Territory, but the Lord has not directed them, neither has he directed his servants in their administration.

He has not particularly forbidden these marriages, he permits and suffers them, but he has no particular hand in their performance. Do you wish me to explain this matter? I will.

For instance, in the distant settlements of the Territory oftentimes a young man and woman desire to be married. They go and find a justice of the peace, or an Elder of the Church, as the case may be, and he officiates in the ceremony and marries them, somewhat similar to what people are married among the various nations.

Does God really accept of this marriage, or does he merely suffer it to be so, for the time being?

Has he joined them together, or has the justice of the peace, by virtue of his civil office? “How is it?”

Says one— “I suppose it must be a legal marriage.” It is legal so far as the laws of the Territory are concerned.

If a young man and woman in any part of this Territory wish to be married, there is nothing illegal in a justice of the peace performing the ceremony, he has a right to do it, according to the laws of the Territory. But is it legal in the sight of heaven? No, it is not. Why not? Because God has appointed a place in which this sacred ordinance should be administered, and he has appointed certain authority to officiate in its solemnization, and a certain form, when it is done in the place and by the authority he has ordained.

It is then legal in the sight of heaven, then they are married or joined together, not for time alone, but the union is to exist throughout all the ages of eternity. This is the real order of marriage. This is one of the purposes for which God has commanded us to build a house, that our young people may have the privilege of entering into that sacred union not only for time, or until they are parted by death, but that they may have a legal claim, by virtue of the marriage covenant, upon each other after the resurrection.

Some may say— “I think I will wait until after the resurrection and then I will secure me a wife for eternity; or perhaps I will merely marry a woman here for time, and put off the eternal part, until after the resurrection.” What says Jesus on this subject?

“In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage.” (Matt. 22:30) Why not?

Because that is an ordinance, like baptism, that must be administered by those in the flesh. If, while in the flesh, we fail to secure to ourselves the remission of our sins, and the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost by going down into the water and being baptized for the remission of our sins, by one having authority to administer this ordinance, we cannot attend to it in our own persons after the resurrection. That is an ordinance that cannot be administered after the resurrection; if it is not done until then, it must be done by some person still living in the flesh, for and in behalf of the one who has gone into the spirit world.

Those in the spirit world have no claim upon blessings for eternity, unless they are secured while in the flesh. It is so with all the ordinances pertaining to eternity, they must be performed in the flesh, and not in the next life. Hence if an individual is so unfortunate that he fights against a principle, or becomes careless and indifferent; or if he goes to a justice of the peace, thinking that he will secure to himself a wife for eternity, he is grandly mistaken; and if he dies, having been married according to this form, he has no promise whatsoever that, after the resurrection, he will have a wife; for in that world, this sacred ordinance cannot be attended to.

Another thing which I wish to explain is, that, in the sight of heaven, their children are illegitimate.

Of course they are legitimate according to the laws of the country.

43 Such children can claim the property of their parents, they are the legal heirs to the property descending from parents to children by virtue of the laws of the country. But when I say illegitimate, I mean in the sight of heaven.

Now, all you young people who have been married in this Territory or abroad, by justices of the peace, or even by Elders of the Church only for time, when you have the opportunity of coming up here to the house of God, and receiving these ordinances, and do not, your children are illegitimate in the sight of heaven.

Perhaps you may enquire, “What is there to be inherited in eternity that makes it really necessary that our children should be legitimate, so far as divine authority is concerned?” The Lord our God is a God of law, his house is a house of order; (D&C 132:8) and all blessings, and honor, and glory, and inheritance, that are to be received in the eternal worlds must be according to divine law and divine ordinances, and whosoever complies with the law of heaven has a legal claim in eternity. That which is performed by man, without divine law, however perfect human law may be, has no bearing upon eternity.

Man's works are one thing and God's works another. A blessing bestowed upon men, such as the legitimate heirship to the property of their parents is one thing, and a blessing bestowed by the Eternal Father in the heavens is another. He performs all of his works by law, and he bestows blessings upon his children, by ordinances and by law. It must be secured here in this life, if we secure it at all in our own persons.

It may be said, “I do not understand this principle. What will become of our good fathers and mothers who have gathered up from the nations that were married before they heard this, Gospel?” “Indeed, were they married?” “Yes.” “How?” “According to the laws of their respective nations. Their offspring are legitimate, so far as the civil laws of their native countries are concerned, but they are not husbands and wives for eternity in the sight of heaven.” “How are you going to remedy this?” asks the enquirer. “In the house of God. Temples or houses of God must be built to remedy this thing.” “How can it be remedied there?”

They must be married over again, not according to the laws of men or nations, but according to the laws and institutions of heaven.” “Will that make their marriage legitimate?” “Of course.”

“But they have many children before they gather up here; you tell us they are illegitimate: how are you going to remedy this?” “God has provided a remedy for all children born out of the covenant.”

“What do you mean by that?” enquires one. “I mean the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, that has a bearing upon eternity as well as time.

All who are born before their parents enter that new and everlasting covenant have to be made legitimate heirs.” “In what way?” “According to the ordinance and law of adoption.” I may be asked— “Is this important?” “Yes, it matters a great deal. If there are family regulations, to preserve good order, in this world, you will find that God is more strict in such regulations, in regard to the world to come. If patents hold certain authority over their children in this life, you will find that such authority, though in higher perfection, is transferred to the eternal worlds, and in that world, there is a certain jurisdiction which parents hold over their children through all future ages of eternity. But in order that parents may have their children legitimately under their control, it is necessary that the ordinance of adoption in the house of God should be performed in regard to the children born before their parents entered into the eternal covenant of marriage. This shows the use or necessity of a Temple.”

Then again, we heard on Sunday afternoon considerable on the subject of baptism for the dead; it is not necessary, therefore, that I should dwell upon this subject. It is one thoroughly understood by the Latter-day Saints, and has been long preached to them, and they know that this, as well as the ordinance of marriage, pertains to the house of God. To be acceptable to him there must be a font, (D&C 124:29-30) the same as there was in the Temple of Solomon. You recollect there was a brazen sea, a large place in the basement of the Temple of Solomon, underneath which were twelve oxen, their heads pointing to the four points of the compass— three to each point. (1 Kgs. 7:25) (2 Chr. 4:2-4)

44 This great brazen sea, standing upon these oxen, was a place intended for baptisms for the dead.

As was said last Sabbath, it was underneath those courts, where the living, from time to time, assembled to attend to their worship; thus, representing those that were in their graves, underneath the living. That was the reason it was placed in that position; and as that was intended for sacred and holy purposes, the administration of holy ordinances, so God has commanded, in these latter days, that there should be a baptismal font, and the ordinance of baptism for the dead must be performed in the place that God designates, in order to be legal and acceptable in his sight.

We are told in the revelations which God has given, through his servant Joseph Smith, something about the pattern of this sacred and holy ordinance. We are told that the living are not only to be baptized for and in behalf of the dead, (D&C 124:29) by being immersed in water in their respective names, but that they are also to receive the ordinance of confirmation by the laying on of hands, not for themselves, but for the dead, as far back as they can trace them.

Hundreds of millions of people died before God gave this revelation, in these latter times, and they had not the opportunity of being married for time and all eternity, no man on the earth, in their day, having the authority to unite them.

Would you deprive them of the blessings of this eternal union, because they did not happen to live in a day when God revealed and restored anew, from the heavens, these ordinances? No. God is a consistent being, and to say that people who die in ignorance, without having an opportunity of attending to the ordinances of the house of God, should not be made partakers of the blessings thereof, would be imputing injustice to the great Jehovah. (D&C 137:7-9) To say that our fathers and mothers, who were only married for time, must be deprived of a union in the eternal worlds, because of their ignorance of these things, because there was no person having authority to administer to them, would be apparently unjust, and would almost seem to impeach the attributes of Jehovah, if we could suppose such partiality was his design.

But we cannot suppose that God is an inconsistent Being. And if we have the opportunity of attending to the ordinance of marriage in the house of the Lord, and of securing certain eternal blessings for ourselves, our ancestors, who are dead, must have a plan devised, adapted to their condition, by which they also may be exalted to the same blessings.

But it must be done by law.

No haphazard work, no work of chance or confusion, but everything must be accomplished by the laws, ordinances and commandments of the Great Jehovah; then, what is done by his servants here on the earth, being sealed here is sealed in the heavens, and hence, we not only keep a record of all the names of the dead, but of all the ordinances attended to for and in their behalf; and in the great judgment day, when the books are opened, it will be found that such and such parties have been baptized for, confirmed for, and administered for, in the marriage ordinance, and that these various ordinances were recorded in the presence of witnesses.

(D&C 128:2-4) The records kept by authority here, will agree with the records kept in heaven, for they keep records there, as well as we; and the books on earth, when they are kept by divine authority, will agree with the records in heaven. When there is divine authority in the administration of an ordinance here on the earth, that ordinance is sacred and holy, and is recorded here and in the heavens, and the records of heaven will agree with the records of earth; and by these records and books will mankind be judged. The dead will be judged according to men in the flesh, (1 Pet. 4:6) or, in other words, as we shall be judged according to our works in the flesh.

When we have been baptized, and it is recorded on the earth, it is for ourselves, and we will be judged by that, and if we are faithful, we shall receive the blessings and glories which the Lord has in store for those who are baptized here and are faithful to the end.

So will the dead be judged according to the works which are done for them; and when the books are opened, and it is found that they have been officiated for, by those works will they be judged. (Rev. 20:12-13)

45 If the Latter-day Saints want some evidence or proof in relation to the agency of spirits that are in prison, or in the spirit world, let me refer them to the prophecy of Enoch, with which they are familiar, though strangers may not be acquainted therewith. Enoch saw the people that should perish in the flood; he saw that there was a prison house prepared for them, (Moses 7:38) and that they dwelt there for a long period of time, until the Son of God was manifested, crucified and rose from the dead; (Moses 7:3857) and he saw, when that event should take place, that as many of the spirits in prison of the antediluvian world who perished in the flood, as repented, came forth and stood on the right hand of God. (Moses 7:57) As many as repented had this privilege. Does not this show that there were some who probably would not repent? Indeed, the very next sentence says that those who did not repent “were reserved in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day.” (Moses 7:57) Hence, the agency of spirits, as well as the agency of men here in the flesh.

A Temple is needed for the Saints who come from abroad, that their marriages may be recorded on the earth and in the heavens, that they may not only be for time, but for all eternity; that when they come forth, male and female, in the morning of the first resurrection, they may embrace each other as husband and wife by virtue of the covenant they entered into in the Temple of the Lord, while they were in the flesh.

Strangers will, perhaps, think that this is rather a partial doctrine, on one account. They may say, “Your fathers, whom you speak of, are not known; their names, in general, cannot be obtained for more than two or three generations back; in a very few instances, perhaps, they may be found eight or ten generations back; but what will be done with all the generations, nations, and ages, that have lived since the Priesthood of God was upon the earth, and since those holy ordinances were administered in ancient times? How are they going to receive any of the benefits from this baptism for the dead, seeing that the very names of the nations, to say nothing of the individuals, are lost?” Here comes in, again, the use of a Temple of the Lord.

The Most High says— “I deign to reveal unto you hidden things, things that have been kept hid from the foundation of the world.” (D&C 124:41) Among these hidden things that are to be revealed are the books of genealogy, tracing individuals and nations among all people, back to ancient times.

It may be inquired— “How can all this be done?” We answer, by the Urim and Thummim, which the Lord God has ordained to be used in the midst of his holy house, in his Temple. You may inquire— “What is the Urim and Thummim?” We reply, it is a divine instrument, prepared in ancient times, by which he who possessed it could call upon the name of the Lord, and receive from him answers to all matters it was necessary that he should know. Aaron, the chief Priest in the midst of Israel, had this instrument in his breast plate, (Ex. 28:30) (Lev. 8:8) in the midst of rows of stones representing the twelve tribes of Israel; (Ex. 28:15-21) and when he passed certain judgments, he did not do it by his own wisdom, but he inquired of the Lord and received the same, by this sacred instrument.

When that instrument is restored to the house of God, to the Temple of the Most High, our ancestry, that is, the ancestry of all the faithful in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will be made manifest. Not all at once, but by degrees. Just as fast as we are able to administer for them, so will the Lord God make manifest, by the manifestation of holy angels in his house, (Matt. 13:31-32) and by the Urim and Thummim, those names that are necessary, of our ancient kindred and friends, that they may be traced back to the time when the Priesthood was on the earth in ancient days.

If they could not be traced back, there would be a great chasm, a broken chain in the genealogies, and it would not be perfect, but when the Lord God comes suddenly to his Temple, (Mal. 3:1) he will come to a people who have made themselves perfect by obedience to his commandments.

46 They have sought after the redemption of their dead from generation to generation, until they can link on all those who were not officiated for in ancient times, and thus carry it back from one dispensation to another, until it reaches to our father Adam in the Garden of Eden, and then, the saying of Scripture will be accomplished— “The hearts of the children will be turned to their fathers,” and the hearts of all those ancient fathers, who lived thousands of years ago, will be “turned to their children, lest the Lord should come,” as the Prophet Malachi says, “and smite the earth with a curse.” (Mal. 4:6) Why smite it with a curse? Because the people are careless and do not look after the salvation of their dead, do not let their hearts be drawn out after their ancestry, do not seek to perform those ordinances that are necessary for their redemption, that they may be redeemed by law.

If we would not be smitten by a curse, let us seek after the redemption of our fathers, as well as of ourselves, for says the Apostle Paul, “they without us cannot be made perfect, (Heb. 11:40) neither can we without them be made perfect.”

(D&C 128:15,18) We may do all that we please for ourselves, and yet if we, through our carelessness and indifference, neglect to seek after the salvation of the dead, the responsibility will be upon our own heads; and the sins of the dead will be answered upon us, because we had the power to act for them, and we were careless and indifferent about using it.

Many more things might be said in relation to the dead, and what is necessary to be done in Temples. It was asked, by one of the speakers, in relation to inheritances, “What man or woman among the Latter-day Saints has an inheritance sealed to them?” What man among all this people can determine the very spot of ground that the Lord intends that he should inherit for an everlasting possession? Not one of us.

The Lord has told us that he intends to give a certain land to his people, for an everlasting possession. (D&C 38:18-20)

He told the ancients, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the same thing; but they wandered as strangers and pilgrims (Heb. 11:13) in their day; and the martyr Stephen said they had not as much as to set their foot upon. (Acts 7:2-5) Yet they had a promise which secured it to them after the resurrection, and also to their seed, and that personally, for an everlasting possession. (Gen. 17:8) (Gen. 48:4) Have you got any such promise? You have, as far as the great mass is concerned, the promise of a great region of country. We know where it is, God has pointed it out. But is there an individual among us who knows what portion of that great country he shall receive for his future inheritance, to possess either before or after the resurrection, and after this earth shall have passed away, and all things are made new? (2 Cor. 5:17) No. Why have we not got it? Because we have no house of the Lord built. When we have a house built, whether there be property, or inheritance, or union for eternity, or blessings for ourselves, or washings or anointing, or anything that pertains to eternity, it will be given to us by the ordinances of God's holy house, according to law.

No wonder then, that the nations afar off (Micah 4:3) will say— “Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us of his ways, that we may walk in his paths.”

(Micah 4:2) He has a great many ways to teach the people, pertaining to the salvation of the dead, many ordinances, many principles and laws, statutes and judgments, and the law will go forth from Zion, (Micah 4:2) and he will rebuke strong nations afar off, (Micah 4:3) and fulfill and accomplish that which he has spoken; and wisdom, and knowledge, and glory and intelligence, the laws of the Most High, and the ministrations of angels will be unfolded to the Latter-day Saints, just as fast as they are prepared to receive them.

47 Wake up, then, Latter-day Saints, and prepare yourselves Temples in the places that shall be designated, by the oracles of the Most-High God, so that your aged fathers that are in the southern part of the Territory may not be under the necessity of traveling some six hundred miles, back and forth, to attend to the ordinance of baptism for the dead.

They must have a Temple there, wherein these ordinances may be administered; another here, another in the northern part of the Territory, and multiply them according to the wants of the people; for the work is becoming continually greater and greater, and the Latter-day Saints must wake up to these principles, and not have their minds absorbed with the things of this world, forgetting the great plan of salvation revealed from heaven.

May God bless the Saints and wake up their minds to these important duties. Amen.

THE SECOND COMING 48

December 18, 1870

I will read a few passages of Scripture, which will be found in the 50th Psalm— “The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof.

“Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.

“Our God shall come and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.

“He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.

“Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” (Ps. 50:1-5) This congregation, the members of which are generally speaking Bible believers, have no doubt in their minds but the ancient servants of God were inspired by the gift of the Holy Ghost (2 Pet. 1:21) to utter many things concerning the future, to deliver many predictions concerning events which should take place among mankind down to the latest generations. (D&C 107:56) David, in a peculiar manner, was inspired, and composed his psalms by the spirit of prophecy; he foresaw, by that spirit that knows all things, (D&C 35:19) (D&C 42:17) (Moses 6:61) some of the grand events of the future, pertaining to the inhabitants of this world, and the purposes of God in relation to this creation.

by Elder Orson Pratt

These passages which I have read have reference to some of these great events, a portion of which have already, in a measure, been fulfilled; but the greater portion remains yet to be accomplished.

“The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken,” (Ps. 50:1) has literally been fulfilled so far as this present generation is concerned. It has been fulfilled also in relation to past generations; but it is very evident from the meaning of the context, that the speaking of the Lord here referred to was a work of latter times when God should again speak to the inhabitants of the earth; when he should again call upon all people, far and near, “from the rising of the sun,” as he expresses here, “to the going down thereof.” (Ps. 50:1) To show more fully that this was a latter-day work, he speaks or predicts that the “Lord our God shall come, and not keep silence.” (Ps. 50:3) This had no reference to his first coming; for though he did then come and utter forth his doctrine and did not keep silence, yet you will see by reading a little further, that the Psalmist had reference to another coming of the Son of God, very different in its character from his first advent. “Our God shall come and shall not keep silence.” (Ps. 50:3) Now mark, in an especial manner, the following sentence, and you will see that it has no reference to his first coming— “A fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.” (Ps. 50:3)

49 This was not a characteristic of his first coming; there was nothing specially connected with that event that would excite the attention of mankind generally. He came in a very meek and humble manner; his birth and advent into this world were in the most, humble position. Born, as it were, in a stable, laid down in a manger. (Luke 2:7) Not born in king's palace—not born among the great and noble, but in a very obscure manner.

He grew up from infancy to manhood engaged in the carpenter's business. Some thirty years of his life were spent at home with his reputed father, and with his mother Mary, dwelling comparatively in obscurity, occasionally breaking forth and arguing with the wise and the great. (Luke 2:46) Nothing characterizing him as the Great Creator of this world, or as its Redeemer, only to those who were well acquainted with the predictions of the Prophets.

But this last coming, or the coming here spoken of by the Psalmist, represents him as coming with power— “A fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. (Ps. 50:3) He shall call to the heavens from above,” says the next passage, “and to the earth from beneath.”

(Ps. 50:4) What object had he in view, in calling upon the heavens above and upon the earth beneath? What end had he in view in again speaking and breaking the silence of ages, and in giving a revelation to the heavens and then to the earth? It was in order to bring about a preparatory work before the face of his coming the second time, when he should come in flaming fire. A preparation was needed, and this preparation is mentioned in part in the last verse which I read, which declares that he should call to the heavens from above and to the earth from beneath.

He gives us some insight into the nature of that call. His call to his servants was, “Gather ye my saints together unto me; they that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” (Ps. 50:5) This seems, then, to be a work preparatory to the coming of the Lord in flaming fire.

The nature of the fire that will be exhibited at his second coming in the clouds of heaven will be such that it will consume the wicked and ungodly, and those who repent not and who do not sanctify themselves before the Lord. (Matt.

24:30) Our God in that day will be a consuming fire; (Deut. 4:24) (Heb. 12:29) the intensity of this fire will be so great that the very hills, the Psalmist David informs us in another place, “will melt like wax before his presence.” (Ps. 97:5) The Prophet Isaiah, in speaking of the fire or heat that would accompany the second advent of the Son of God, declares that the mountains shall flow down at his presence. (Isa. 64:1) The elements that now constitute these rugged mountains which we see here on this continent and in all parts of the earth where we travel will melt with fervent heat, (2 Pet. 3:10) and will flow down before the presence of the Lord. The brightness of this fire will be greater than that of the sun in its glory. (JS—H 1:16) I mean our temporal, literal sun, from which we receive light and heat, as you will find recorded in the last verse of the 24th chapter of Isaiah, which says that “when the Lord of hosts shall come to reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously, the sun shall hide his face in shame, and the moon shall be confounded.” (Isa. 24:23) With all the brightness of that luminary which lights this creation it will hide its face in shame; and the bright luminaries of heaven will be confounded as it were, so great will be the glory of his presence—a fire devouring before him, and all nature feeling the power of the Almighty, which will be exerted on that grand occasion.

Will the wicked be able to endure this intense heat and not be consumed? I now have reference to their physical tabernacles, their temporal bodies.

Hear what prophecy has declared in relation to this.

Read the last chapter contained in the Old Testament; that will answer the question.

“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.”

(Mal. 4:1)

50 Notice, now, how completely it will sweep the proud and those who do wickedly from the face of this creation. (Mal. 4:1) The fire that proceeds forth from the presence of God at his second coming shall burn as an oven and shall not only affect the mountains and the elements so as to melt them, but it will also consume the proud and them that do wickedly from the face of the globe.

(Mal. 4:1) What effect will this intense heat have upon the righteous? No more than the heated furnace of Nebuchadnezzar had upon the Hebrews who were cast therein; and though it was heated seven times hotter than it was wont to be heated and slew those who cast their fellows into it, yet they who were thrown into it received no harm, not even the smell of fire on their garments. They were protected by a miracle, and the fire that slew their enemies was their preservation. (Dan. 3:19-27)

To prepare the people for that great day it is necessary that the Saints should be gathered together, as predicted in the 5th verse, (Ps. 50:5) when he should give this great and grand revelation in the last days, when the mighty God, even the Lord, shall speak. (Ps. 50:1) He will call to the heavens (Ps. 50:4) to assist in the great latter-day work; and all the angels and the heavenly hosts, who do his bidding, will go forth as swift messengers (Isa. 18:2) to execute his decrees and fulfil his purposes in bringing about this grand gathering of his elect from the four quarters of the earth. (D&C 33:6) Who will they be? Those who have made a covenant with him by sacrifice. (Ps. 50:5) What kind of a sacrifice?

The sacrifice of every earthly thing required, their native countries, their fathers and mothers, for in many instances these who obey the Gospel are compelled to sever the nearest earthly ties— parents from their children, children from their parents and kindred from their kin, in order that they may come forth and be gathered into one grand body preparatory to the coming of the Son of God in flaming fire. (2 Thes. 1:7-8) There are many people who have believed that the coming of our Lord was near at hand. We might refer to many persons by name who have even set times for his coming—certain particular days, months and years in which the Lord would be revealed from heaven. But they have entirely overlooked the prophecies of the great preparatory work for his coming. If they had read closely, and instead of studying for dates had carefully looked for the great purposes to be fulfilled before he comes, they would have known that their predictions were false.

There is to be a grand gathering of all his people from the four quarters of the earth into one body, one family as it were; one people consolidated in one region of country, before he shall come.

So likewise, when the Son of God shall burn up the wicked and consume their bodies to ashes, both root and branch, (Mal. 4:1) leaving no remnants of them among all people, nations and tongues, the righteous will be prepared to enter into the midst of this flaming fire without receiving any harm; indeed, they will be caught up into the very presence of God, (1 Thes. 4:17) and they will be surrounded with a pillar of fire as Moses was when he came down from Mount Sinai, (Ex. 34:29-35) only to a far greater extent; but it will have no power over them, in fact it will be their protection and salvation, their glory, happiness and joy.

Let me refer to this great gathering of the Saints from every land and nation; we find it predicted in various portions of the prophetic writings. I will first refer you to the prediction recorded, if I recollect aright, in the 43rd chapter of Isaiah. There is a prediction that before the great day of rest the Lord will again speak and will say to the north give up, to the south keep not back! Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth (Isa. 43:6) the same thing that David has reference to.

51 This is not a work to be accomplished by the wisdom of man or by a combination of the wisest men that are uninspired, among the nations; but the Lord is to speak and will say to the north give up. A new revelation is to be given, he will say to the south keep not back, and he will command that his sons and his daughters be brought from the ends of the earth. (Isa. 43:6) Has any such thing happened in our days? Has the mighty God, even the Lord, spoken in our days? Yes, and connected with this proclamation we are informed that the elect of God, are to be gathered from the four winds of heaven; (Matt.

24:31) and we have been called upon to perform this work. How much have we accomplished during the forty years that have intervened since the Lord spoke? In the year 1827, '28, '29 and '30 the Lord spoke and gave many revelations, among which was this record called the Book of Mormon, unfolding to us not only the everlasting Gospel (Rev. 14:6) in all its plainness, simplicity and ancient purity, as it was taught to the inhabitants of this continent eighteen hundred years ago; but also many sacred predictions relating to the great work which God would accomplish when he should bring this record forth in the latter days.

This book was translated by a mighty Prophet who was inspired of God for the purpose; and since it came forth—in the short space of forty years—it has been published in many of the languages of the earth.

It has gone forth in the German, Italian, French, Welsh and Scandinavian languages, and also in the tongue spoken by the Sandwich Islanders; and it has been proclaimed, as it were, on the housetops, in the streets and highways, upon the hills and mountains and in all public places, so far as the Missionaries and Elders of this Church could find access and liberty to proclaim it; and wherever the people have repented and turned from their sins and have desired to receive the everlasting Gospel, they have continued to gather together in one.

This gathering has been going on for nearly forty years, until the effects can now be seen in this Territory, by any person who will travel through it in the towns and cities which have been built, the settlements which have been formed, the meetinghouses and schoolhouses and public halls that have been erected;

and in the fencing of farms, and the opening of water canals and ditches for irrigating the soil.

I say those who will travel through this Territory may see some of the effects of the gathering out of the Saints who have made a covenant with the Lord by sacrifice. (Ps. 50:5) If we had gathered together into a country that was well timbered, where we could go out and get a load of fence poles or firewood before breakfast; if we had settled in a country that was not, comparatively a desert, and that was blessed with the rains of heaven, we could no doubt have accomplished far more than we now see. But the Lord purposely led us into this desert to fulfil prophecy.

A great many people, perhaps, reflect upon and wonder at our coming into a sterile, barren district of country, inhabited by hostile savages, and which, to all-natural appearance, would not sustain a farming or agricultural population. But the Lord brought us into a country of this description in order that he might fulfil prophecies that must come to pass before “our God shall come in flaming fire.” (2 Thes. 1:7-8) In proof of this let me refer you to the nature of the country, the redemption of the desert and so forth, that is to take place before the Lord comes.

52 I will refer you now to some of the sayings of the Prophet Isaiah. In the last two verses of his 34th chapter he says: “Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.

“And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it forever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.” (Isa. 34:16-17) In the 35th chapter, first and second verses, you will find these words: “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

“It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.” (Isa. 35:1-2) Notice now that the Lord, by his Spirit, is to have a great gathering in the latter days of his people, and we are advised to seek out of the book of the Lord and learn of this gathering, (Isa. 34:16) and how his Saints should inhabit the land. It should be divided unto them by lot, (Isa. 34:17) the same as many people received their inheritances when they came into this desert.

They cast lots and drew their lots and inheritances. “And the wilderness and the solitary places shall be glad for them.” (Isa. 35:1) If you can find a country that answers better the description here given anywhere in the four quarters of the earth, I should like to know it.

When we came here, the country to all-natural appearance was so barren that it seemed impossible to locate a people upon it. But you see what we have accomplished. Not by our own wisdom nor by our own strength, but by being gathered by the voice of the Lord and by his commandment and being guided and directed by the spirit of inspiration.

After we are gathered, the desert is to rejoice and blossom as the rose. (Isa. 35:1) How often I have thought of this in the springtime, when all of this city, covering some four, or perhaps five square miles with orchards and gardens, is in bloom! Then is the time to realize how literally this prophecy has been fulfilled.

Everyone knows that fruitful as it now is, when we came here it was called a desert. If you do not believe me, go to the old maps, and you will find this section of the country laid down as “The Great American Desert.” That is the name that was given to it then.

People, when banded together in a numerous company, and well-armed, would hardly venture to pass through this desert country, it was so unpropitious and forbidding, the rains of heaven never having been, apparently, shed forth upon it.

When we came, we could dig down some eighteen inches or two feet, and in other places there was no moisture at all, and it looked as though there never had been any rain here. But “the wilderness and the solitary place shall be made glad for them, and the desert shall blossom abundantly, ever with joy and singing.” (Isa. 35:12) “But,” says one, “perhaps this had reference to some other period, and not to the preparatory work for the coming of the Lord.” Let us read a few verses further in this 35th chapter of Isaiah's prophecies. The third and fourth verses read: “Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees.

“Say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you.” (Isa. 35:3-4) Now notice, this is not the first coming. He did not come with vengeance then; he came to be spit upon, (Matt. 26:67) to be meek and lowly, (Matt.

11:29) to be ridiculed by the mob if they felt disposed, and finally to be lifted up upon the cross and crucified for the sins of the world. (1 Ne. 11:33 (D&C 35:2) But the people who are to be gathered together, (Isa. 34:16) and for whom the desert is to rejoice, (Isa. 35:1) are called upon not to fear (Isa. 35:4) Don't be fainthearted, don't be discouraged.” Says the Prophet, “Be strong, fear not, for behold your God will come with vengeance; he will come with a recompence, and he will save you,” (Isa. 35:4) that is, you who are in the desert. Then there will be splendid miracles wrought again, as in ancient days. Then the eyes of the blind are to be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped; then “shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing, for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.” (Isa. 35:5-6)

53 Latter-day Saints, and what I ask of you I might ask of the whole people of the Territory, have you seen a fulfilment of this saying of the Prophet Isaiah since you have been located here in the desert? Has there been any such things as springs breaking out in the wilderness and rivulets of water in the desert? (Isa. 35:6) Yes, not in one or two isolated instances, but in almost every settlement throughout this Territory.

Many places in which, in early days, there was not water enough for a settlement, of twenty individuals, now support their hundreds. In what way? By the great increase of water. How was Salt Lake when we first came here? We, that is, a few of the Pioneers, went over in July 1847, to the banks of Salt Lake, to what is called the Black Rock.

Some of us went in bathing, and we could walk out to Black Rock, and look down on the water on each side. But how is it now? The waters are some ten feet above that land that we trod upon then. What is the matter? Ought not the waters of the Lake to have decreased, seeing that the waters of the various streams that, before our arrival, emptied their contents into it, are turned broadcast over thousands and tens of thousands of acres of land? Certainly, one would think so, for when all this water is turned on the land it evaporates instead of going to increase the volume of the Great Salt Lake; but instead of diminishing, the waters of the Lake have risen some ten or twelve feet above the surface as it existed in 1847, when I first saw it. Hence streams have broken out in the desert, and waters in the wilderness, (Isa. 35:6) as it is prophesied, not only in this chapter, but also in various portions of the Psalms. (Ps. 65:9-10) (Ps. 107:33-35) (Ps. 114:8) When speaking of the great day of the coming of the Lord, how often do Isaiah and David speak of the desert, and the waters, rivers and springs that should break out to water the barren, thirsty land! “The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water.” (Isa. 35:7) We might go on and speak about the highway that the Lord would have there, (Isa. 35:8) (Isa. 40:3) that has also been thrown up since we came here. (Isa. 62:10) It is even called a highway by the world, that know nothing of these prophecies. I believe I will say, as I pass along, something about the highway, for the same Prophet that predicts about this alteration in the desert, also says there shall be a highway there.

Let me refer to another prophecy about this highway, by the same Prophet. It reads thus: “And the Lord shall proclaim to the ends of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.” (Isa. 62:11) But in the sentence preceding this the Prophet says: “Cast up, cast up a highway; gather out the stones; prepare ye the way of the people; lift up a standard for the people.” (Isa. 62:10) Then come in the words I have quoted. How was the great highway that crosses this continent constructed? You ought to know, for you were the ones who constructed it through these mountains; you were the ones who built some four hundred miles of this railroad, you therefore know how it was done. Did you gather out the stones? (Isa. 62:10) Did you prepare the level places for this great highway that the Prophet had predicted? Did you cast it up where there were hollows? (Isa. 62:10) Did you fill up the hollows and gather out the stones in order to make it level and convenient? O, yes. Did you make any tunnels and gateways? I don't suppose that the ancient Prophet knew what a tunnel was, hence, he says, “Go through, go through the gates; cast up, cast up a highway.” (Isa. 62:10) No doubt he saw in vision how the railroad looked, saw the carriages driving along with almost lightning speed, darting into the mountains on one side, and by and by saw them coming out on the other side; and he did not know how to represent it any better than to speak of it as a gate— “Go through, go through the gates,” &c. “Prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up a highway, and lift up a standard for the people;” (Isa. 62:10) and then come in those notable words, showing that it was a highway to be cast up before the coming of the Son of God. “The Lord has proclaimed to the ends of the world, Say ye to the daughters of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.” (Isa. 62:11) Don't you see from these passages that this is a latter-day work? That there is a proclamation connected with the casting up of this highway?

And that it is a proclamation which has reference to every nation, kindred, tongue and people? (Rev. 14:6) God was to speak, deliver a message, send forth his servants as missionaries;

54 they were to publish that message to the ends of the world, and to declare to all people that the Lord was to come, “Behold, thy salvation cometh; and his reward is with him, and his work is before him.” (Isa. 62:11) The Prophet further says, “They shall call them,” for whom this highway was built that their way might be prepared, and for whom a standard should be raised, “The redeemed of the Lord, a holy people; they shall be called, sought out, A city not forsaken.” (Isa. 62:12) Oh, how different from old Jerusalem, a city that has been forsaken! It is almost two thousand years since the Lord forsook it, and the Jews have been forsaken, and scattered among all people.

But when the Lord lifts up this highway, gathers out the stones, (Isa. 62:10) sends forth his proclamation (Ps. 50:1) and gathers out his Saints who have made a covenant by sacrifice, (Ps. 50:5) they will build a city, one that shall be sought out. (Isa. 62:12) Old Jerusalem was not sought out; it was built before the Jews went to inhabit it. It was one of the early cities of the ancient nations of Canaan. But this latter-day city, that is called Zion, is to be sought out, (Isa. 62:12) and the people that were to search it out were to be a very good people. “They shall call them the Redeemed of the Lord: they shall be called, sought out, A city not forsaken.” (Isa. 62:12)

55 Now, with all the difficulties we have encountered here, and with all the imaginations of our enemies in regard to us, I humbly trust and hope that the time has come for this prophecy to be literally fulfilled; when this city of the Lord, which is built up according to this prophecy will not be forsaken. (Isa. 62:12)

“And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.

“Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” (Ps. 107:1-8) This has been fulfilled since the day that David uttered it. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!”

(Ps. 107:2) What redeemed of the Lord? Not those who were gathered out of the land of Egypt before the days of David, but those who are gathered out of all lands, says the Prophet, “from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south.” (Ps. 107:3) From the four points of the compass, from every nation and every clime. “Let them praise the Lord (Ps. 107:8) and give thanks to his holy name, (Ps. 106:47) because of his mercy and his goodness to them.” (Ps. 106:1) They were not to find it at first all to their satisfaction; their journey was to be in a solitary way; they were to find no city to dwell in. (Ps. 107:4) I can bear testimony to this, for I was among the pioneers, and when we came here, we didn't find any great city, with houses already built to go into.

We had to live in our wagons and had to build a little fort to defend ourselves against the halfnaked Indians.

I hope that the Lord our God will protect his people and guarantee to them the rights already guaranteed by the Constitution of our Country to every religious denomination in the land.

There are some other prophecies about the gathering of the Saints. I think I will read one that has reference to our coming to this place. You will find it in the 107th Psalm, and it is very applicable to the journey which we performed when we came here.

“O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.

“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; “And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

“They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.

“Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

“Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

And thus, we located in the midst of a dried-up and thirsty land—a desert; and here in this region, where the solitude was so great that it was only broken by the yells of savages and the howling of wild beasts, we had to go to work to prepare a city for habitation. We had some afflictions— hunger and thirst; “and their souls fainted within them,” (Ps. 107:5) says David, “but they cried unto the Lord in their afflictions, and he had mercy upon them, and delivered them out of their distresses.” (Ps. 107:6) In the 31st and 32nd verses the Psalmist says— “Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!”

“Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly of the elders.” (Ps. 107:31-32) Why should they be so glad to praise him? He tells us in the next verses— “He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the water springs into dry ground;” “A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.” (Ps. 107:33-34)

56 This has reference to what will take place in the fruitful lands of the Gentiles by and by; but he is going to reverse this so far as his people in the desert are concerned, for he turns the wilderness into standing water, and the dry ground into water springs; and “there he makes the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitations.” (Ps. 107:35-36) Just as you did, brethren and sisters. “And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase. He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.” (Ps. 107:37-38) Has this been fulfilled? I have been away a great many years, and I do not know so much about it as some of these old farmers; but I think if we will traverse this Territory, we will find that our cattle have not decreased since we came here.

There is another prophecy in this Psalm to which I will call your attention, connected with this people that was to be gathered out from all lands into a wilderness and solitary place. (Ps. 107:4) The Prophet says— “Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.” (Ps. 107:41) Now, is that true? I would ask some of my brethren here, as I have been gone so much, is there any man here who has families like a flock?

If you have, you are fulfilling this prophecy of the Psalmist. I think I heard of and saw in my travels in the Territory quite a number of such men, quite poor men, just such men as David refers to.

What wonderful things take place in the last days, in order to fulfil prophecy! “The righteous shall see it and rejoice and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.” (Ps. 107:42) This latter clause has yet to be fulfilled, it has not yet come to pass.

“Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord.” (Ps. 107:43) Amen.

CELESTIAL MARRIAGE 57

August 15, 1869

“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

“But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

“Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. “(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

“He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and 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: “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:

by Elder George Q. Cannon

“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.”

(Eph. 4:1-14) These words are found in the 4th chapter of the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians.

Probably at no time in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has there been more interest felt in relation to the doctrines in which we believe and the nature of the organization with which we are connected and the bonds by which we are united together than at the present time. The completion of the railroad has brought us immediately in contact with the outside world, and it has also brought us prominently before the nations—not only our own nation, but other nations; and many people who have heretofore felt little or no interest in regard to the people called Latter-day Saints are now, through travel, being brought in contact with them, and are disposed to investigate and to inquire concerning their faith and the nature of their organization.

It is very agreeable to us to have our principles investigated, for the first Elders of the Church have endeavored for nearly forty years to disseminate a knowledge of them among all people unto whom they could get access. They have traveled throughout the length and breadth of the nation, having visited every State and nearly every township in the Union.

58 They have also traveled in Canada, and have proclaimed the Gospel in Europe and Asia, and some have even gone to Africa and to the islands of the sea. What we have done we have endeavored to do openly, and have striven to make plain the principles we have advocated.

The greatest difficulty we have had to contend with has been the indisposition of the people to listen. The idea that has seemed to possess the minds of many was that they understood our principles perfectly well, and that it was unnecessary to say another word about them.

Probably there is no people in the world concerning whom so much has been said, and there is probably no people on the face of the earth who are so little understood and concerning whom there are so many misrepresentations in circulation.

The prevalent idea concerning us in a great many circles is that we have thrown aside the Bible and have substituted in its stead a book of our own, the Book of Mormon, and other works, of modern origin, or works which they consider of modern origin. It is only a few weeks since that a gentleman from the Eastern States was invited to preach in the New Tabernacle. He did so and preached a very eloquent discourse.

He was followed by President Young, and after the latter had finished and the meeting was dismissed this clergyman said he had not the least idea that we had so large a Christian element in our faith until he heard that discourse from President Young. He had supposed that we had set aside the Bible and had taken the Book of Mormon and the doctrines and revelations contained in that and in the book of Doctrine and Covenants as our rule of faith.

He was not singular in that idea; it is the general belief in many circles, and among people who, on other subjects, are well informed. They have an idea that we are a very peculiar people, and that our peculiarities have their origin in those books.

Of course, among people who have read the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants these ideas do not prevail, because such persons are aware that those books corroborate the Bible and are witness of the truth of the great principles contained in the Old and New Testaments and teach precisely the same.

The peculiarities, if such they may be called, which distinguish us from other people, have their origin in our implicit faith in the Scriptures.

There is no principle nor doctrine of our faith that we are not willing to have tested by the revelations and teachings contained in King James' translation of the Bible; and our Elders have gone forth taking that as their textbook, preaching from it the principles which those now called Latter-day Saints have embraced, and which caused them to gather together from the nations of the earth, to the State of Ohio, then to Missouri, then to Illinois, and then to these valleys.

This statement may sound strangely to the ears of many. I have heard people express considerable surprise upon hearing it. I recollect in my early experience as an Elder, meeting and having considerable conversation upon our principles with a clergyman. I left with him the work called “The Voice of Warning;” and when I called upon him again after a lapse of a few days, he expressed his surprise at there being any diversity between the Latter-day Saints and the orthodox sects, “for,” said he, “I see that you base your faith upon and draw your arguments from the New Testament.”

I admitted that it was strange, but remarked to him that it was because we received the New Testament literally, and believed that the teachings contained in that book were intended to be understood as they were written, and that when God made a declaration, or his authorized servants preached the Gospel, or made certain plain and positive promises, the design was that the children of men should rely upon those promises and believe the principles of that Gospel with the most unwavering faith and expect their fulfillment to the very letter, if they would only comply with the conditions connected therewith.

This is the great difficulty today; this is the cause of the diversity of beliefs in the Christian world.

Instead of taking the word of the Lord as it is, they wish to place their own construction on that word so as to suit their own peculiar ideas and views; and having thus interpreted it, they frame their belief in accordance with that interpretation. But it is very plain, from words contained in the New Testament, that the Lord expected his children to believe the Gospel and to carry it out in their practice, as it was delivered anciently. For instance: Paul, on one occasion, when writing to the Galatians, said—

59 “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.” (Gal. 1:8) And, as if to make this so positive that it could not be misunderstood, he repeated the language.

(Gal. 1:9)

If we refer to the first discourse that was preached after the ascension of Jesus into heaven, we shall find what the Apostles taught on that occasion, when inspired by the Holy Ghost, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The people were excited over the strange event that had taken place in their midst; for men of various nations had gathered together to the Holy City and the Apostles stood up in the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. 2:4) (D&C 99:2) and declared to the people there assembled the startling intelligence that Jesus, whom they had so recently crucified as an impostor, was indeed the Lord of life and glory and was the veritable Son of God, the Messiah, (Acts 2:36) of which the prophets had spoken, and for who’s coming they had so long and anxiously looked.

This was unexpected intelligence to them; but the arguments of the Apostles on this matter were so convincing and the power of God so apparent—each man hearing the Gospel in his own tongue, (Acts 2:6) that they were pricked to the heart and were convinced that Jesus was the Son of God and the Savior of the world, and they cried out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

(Acts 2:37)

Here an anathema is pronounced upon the head of any individual who should attempt to preach any other Gospel than that which the Apostle Paul and the other Apostles had declared; even if an angel from heaven were to declare anything opposed to or differing from it he was to be accursed.

It is highly important that mankind should understand what was, the nature of that Gospel and whether the creeds to which they have rendered obedience in these days agree with the principles preached by the Apostles; if they do not, they who preach them are exposed to the anathema pronounced by Paul, or his words are not to be relied upon. It is a very easy matter to find out what the Apostles did preach; there need be no difficulty about this if people will receive the teachings contained in the New Testament, for there we have a record of their labors and an epitome of the doctrines they taught and administered to the people.

It is very reasonable to suppose that when the Apostles answered this question, made under such extraordinary circumstances, they would declare the doctrines and requirements which would be binding on all the inhabitants of the earth under similar circumstances. To imagine anything else would be to suppose that which would be contrary to reason and common sense.

To think that they would tell something that was not necessary and essential to salvation on such an important occasion, when so many were pricked to their hearts, is to suppose something that is not consistent with the character of the Apostles and the nature of their mission to the children of men. Peter said unto them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” (Acts 2:38-39) Thus, he set before them in simplicity and in the greatest plainness, the requirements with which they must comply in order to receive that which they desired.

60 It was not necessary for him to say unto them, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, (Acts 16:31) for they did already believe, having been convinced through the testimony of the Apostles. Peter, therefore, said unto them, “Repent”—that being the next principle they had to obey— “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38) He did not say unto them, “Here is an ‘anxious bench,’” or, “Come and throw yourselves at the foot of the cross and seek with prayer before the Lord until he remits your sins.” He did not tell them to do any such thing, but he told them to repent of their sins, that is, to forsake them, (D&C 58:43) and to be baptized for the remission of them, promising them that they should receive the Holy Ghost, “For,” said he, “the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

(Acts 2:39) How many did the Lord call? Why he has called all. He commanded the Apostles to go and preach the Gospel to every creature, (Mark 16:15) therefore every human being on the face of the earth was called by the Lord; and the promise was unto the multitude there assembled and to all afar off; (Acts 2:39) hence, it is quite clear that all the inhabitants of the earth had a claim on this promise on complying with the conditions prescribed—namely, faith in Jesus Christ, repentance of their sins, being baptized for their remission, and having hands laid upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost. (A of F 1:4) This was the Gospel which Peter preached unto the people on the Day of Pentecost, and several thousands of them went forth and were baptized on that occasion. (Acts 2:41) We find, by examining the “Acts of the Apostles,” that this was the nature of their teaching on every occasion when preaching to the people, and we also find that when the people did comply with these requirements the Holy Ghost did rest upon them.

A great many have had the idea that the Holy Ghost was only bestowed upon those who were called to act as officers in the churches; but an investigation of the labors of the Apostles will prove that this was not the case, and will establish the fact that every individual, whether male or female, who was baptized by the servants of God for the remission of sins, received the laying on of hands, and also the Holy Ghost.

You recollect, doubtless, the record contained in the 8th chapter of Acts, which contains an account of Philip preaching the Gospel in Samaria and baptizing some believers. (Acts 8:5,12) Philip, it seems, had only the authority that John the Baptist had, holding the same Priesthood as he did. It is written of John that he said, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear, he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” (Matt. 3:11) John never presumed to lay on hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost: he had not the authority. He was a priest after the order of Aaron; (Heb. 7:11) he held the Aaronic Priesthood, to which Priesthood belongs not the authority to lay on hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost. (JS—H 1:69-70) To do this it requires a priest after the Order of Melchizedek, which Jesus and his Apostles held.

(Heb. 6:20) Philip, after leaving Samaria, baptized the Eunuch, (Acts 8:38) but we do not read that he laid his hands upon him, evidently proving that he held only the Priesthood of Aaron. When the Apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, through Philip, they sent unto them Peter and John, two of the Apostles, who, when they came unto them, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost, and they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost. (Acts 8:14-17) It did not rest upon them previous to this ordinance being attended to; for the Testament says the Holy Ghost had not as yet fallen upon any of them, although they had been baptized. (Acts 8:16)

61 This shows that, not only is it necessary for men to believe in Jesus Christ, repent of their sins, and be baptized for the remission of them, but that they must receive the laying on of hands of those who have authority, or they could neither claim nor enjoy the Holy Ghost; but when they did have hands laid upon them, wonderful to relate in this age of unbelief, the Holy Ghost rested down upon them and they were filled therewith, and they were bound and united together, and they knew the things of God and enjoyed the gifts of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

On one occasion Paul met with a number of disciples at Ephesus and he inquired of them if they had received the Holy Ghost since they believed. (Acts 19:1-6) They told him they had not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. He then inquired unto what then were they baptized. They replied they were baptized unto John's baptism. Paul baptized them anew, and laid hands upon them, and, we are told, they received the Holy Ghost and spake with tongues and prophesied. Paul had authority; he held the Melchizedek Priesthood, in which was included the authority to lay on hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost.

This is the manner in which the Apostles preached the Gospel; there is no record of their doing it in any other way. We do not read of their teaching the people the plan of salvation in any other way.

A great many, to prove that baptism and laying on of hands are not necessary, have cited the case of Cornelius, who, though he was not baptized, received the Holy Ghost. (Acts 10:1-48) The case of Cornelius is the only case of the kind on record, and there were strong reasons why it should be as it was with him. The Gospel and its ordinances were administered only to the Jews; Cornelius was a Gentile, and between the two races strong prejudices existed, the Jews looking upon the Gentiles as far inferior to them.

Cornelius and his household were the first Gentiles to whom the Gospel was preached, they received it, and the Lord, to show to the Apostles that the Gentiles were entitled to the ordinances of salvation as well as the Jews, if they were willing to comply with the requirements of the Gospel, conferred the Holy Ghost upon Cornelius and his family.

When Peter saw this family he said, “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” (Acts 10:3435) And when afterwards, he heard them speak with tongues and magnify God, (Acts 10:46) he said, “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.” (Acts 10:47-48) Peter did not say, Cornelius, you have received the Holy Ghost as well as we have, and there is no necessity for you to obey any further ordinances, which, under the circumstances, if he had considered baptism or the laying on of hands nonessential, he would have been very likely to do; but instead of that he commanded them to be baptized. (Acts 10:48) Peter took this, as the Lord intended it, as an evidence that the Gentiles as well as the House of Israel were entitled to the Gospel. And he had them baptized, and without doubt laid his hands upon them to confirm upon them the gift they had received.

Had Cornelius, at that hour, stood upon his dignity and said,

62 “There is no necessity for me to be baptized for the remission of my sins, God having given me the Holy Ghost without obeying that ordinance, and having already received the Holy Ghost, I have no need to have hands laid upon me,” there is not a doubt in my mind but what that precious and inestimable gift would have been withdrawn from him, and he would not have enjoyed it after.

It could only be continued to him on condition of his obeying the ordinances which God had placed in his Church and which he required all the inhabitants of the earth to submit to without hesitation; and without doubt, Cornelius wisely went forward and obeyed those ordinances.

This was the manner in which the Apostles preached the Gospel to the inhabitants of the earth in those days. They did not say to the people, “You must seek the Holy Ghost and probably the Lord will give it to you if you will only exercise faith enough;” but they told the people plainly and positively, without the least hesitation, that if they would comply with certain requirements, they should receive the Holy Ghost. The only condition was their sincerity and faithfulness in obeying the requirements.

What were the fruits of this preaching?

Wherever the Apostles went and the people received their testimony the Spirit of God rested upon them and their hearts were united, and they enjoyed the gifts of prophecy, healing, tongues, interpretation of tongues, discerning of spirits, wisdom, knowledge and all the varied gifts of the Gospel necessary for their growth and development in the things of God. This was not the case at Jerusalem alone, but in far off Ephesus and in the various cities of Asia Minor where Paul preached; and throughout the length and breadth of the earth wherever the Apostles traveled these peculiar gifts and manifestations were enjoyed.

Paul, who had been separated from the rest of the Apostles for a number of years, found when he came to Jerusalem and was united with them, that he had precisely the same knowledge concerning the Gospel of Christ that they had; the Holy Ghost had taught it to him the same as it had to Peter, James, John, Andrew and the rest of the Apostles. And had they been permitted to continue their labors the inhabitants of the earth, if they had received the Gospel, would have been united together as one in the things of God.

Does anybody wonder that there is division now in Christendom? Does anybody wonder that, instead of there being “One Lord, one faith, and one baptism,” (Eph. 4:5) as recorded in the words I have read in your hearing, there are, it may be said, many lords, many faiths and many baptisms? Does anybody wonder at this? I cannot when I see how men have strayed from the path that Jesus marked out; when I hear men say that baptism is nonessential. What a wide difference between such persons and the Lord Jesus Christ! You will remember that when John came baptizing in the wilderness (Matt. 3:1) Jesus applied to him for baptism, and, in answer to the remonstrance of John, who seemed to think that he had more need to be baptized by the Savior than for the Savior to be baptized by him, (Matt. 3:14) Jesus said, “Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” (Matt. 3:15) The wonder is that there is a remnant of faith in Jesus left in the world when we see how widely men have diverged from the paths in which the Apostles walked, and from the doctrines which they taught.

We must always bear in mind that which 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.” (Gal. 1:8) We must bear this in mind when we investigate the nature of the Apostles' teachings and the ordinances and doctrines which they administered and taught. If they who profess to be preachers of the Gospel diverge in the least from the doctrines and principles taught by the Apostles, they place themselves in a position to receive the condemnation which Paul invoked.

I have endeavored in these remarks to bring your minds to the faith the Saints once enjoyed, (Jude 1:3) and to the teachings which the Apostles, in their day, laid before the people, and called upon them in all earnestness to obey. I have done this in order that you may be prepared for that which we teach, for we teach precisely the same principles that they did. Men wonder and say, “How is it that you Latter-day Saints can live together as you do?

How is it that you are so united?” The secret lies in the fact that we have the same principles to teach to the people that were taught by the ancient Apostles, and the same results follow in our case as in theirs.

63 It has been frequently remarked to the Elders, when abroad, “What necessity was there for an angel to come from heaven to earth to bring, as you say he did, the everlasting Gospel (Rev. 14:6) when we have the Bible and Christian organizations and Christian churches all through the land?” This is a very important question, and one to which I will try and give a satisfactory answer. There would have been no necessity of any such thing if the churches, at the time Joseph Smith sought for knowledge, had taught the same principles the Apostles declared, and if believers in these days had enjoyed the same gifts and blessings that they did in theirs.

But, while so doing, they ignore the fact that as long as there was a man on the earth who laid claim to authority direct from God the inhabitants warred against him, until they had succeeded in killing him, as they had all others.

But if there was such a church at that time history has failed to record the fact. There was no man on the face of the earth, of whom we have heard, who declared to the people that if they would believe in Jesus and repent of their sins and be baptized for the remission of them, they should receive the Holy Ghost. On the contrary, the bestowal of the Holy Ghost, as anciently, with its gifts and powers, was denied by the whole Christian world.

They tried to kill John; they immersed him in a cauldron of boiling oil and sent him to the Isle of Patmos to work in the lead mines, and persecuted him in various ways; but, owing to the promise of God, they could not kill him.

They declared that these gifts were not for this generation but were bestowed upon the primitive church for the whole and sole purpose of establishing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that when that was accomplished there was no longer any need for them.

That was the belief in Christendom then, and that is the belief there now; you may hear it expressed on every hand when conversing on these subjects. They will declare that there is no necessity for these gifts in this age, as if the Holy Ghost could be enjoyed by man and these gifts not manifested! Such a thing is impossible! There would have been no necessity for the restoration of the Gospel to the earth by an angel if the keys and priesthood by which the ancient Apostles officiated had not been taken from the earth. It is true that the Catholic Church claims direct succession from the Apostles; other churches claim the same; and all, claiming any authority whatever, endeavor to trace it back to them.

They all base their claims to authority on the fact that the Apostles received it.

The Catholic Church, especially, claim uninterrupted descent from Peter and the last of the Apostles.

This fact, though as familiar as any fact to the student of history, is lost sight of by the Catholic Church. So long as the Apostles lived, and so long as any man lived who had been associated with them in their labors, there was an incessant persecution carried on against them. And it is recorded that every one of them, except John, died a violent death.

Peter was crucified at Rome with his head downwards, not considering himself worthy to be crucified as his Lord had been.

Paul was beheaded in Rome; the other Apostles were killed in various ways, every one of them suffering an ignominious death because of their belief in Jesus; because they believed God was a God of revelation, and because they laid claim to authority from Jesus to administer the ordinances of his church.

This was the course pursued by the inhabitants of the earth until the Apostles and every man having authority had been killed, and the gifts and blessings had entirely disappeared from the earth.

After this, men took to themselves doctrines to accommodate themselves, the rites and many of the doctrines of Paganism and portions of existing institutions were incorporated into the Christian Church, until almost every vestige of the pure doctrines had disappeared, and nothing was left but mere forms.

Is it any wonder that the Latter-day Saints claim that it was necessary for an angel to fly through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to the nations of the earth? (Rev. 14:6) If authority to administer in the ordinances of the Gospel had existed among men there would have been no such necessity; but that authority had been taken back to God who gave it, and it had to be restored by him or it could not be exercised on the earth again.

64 Where were Apostles to be found? Why they were unpopular; every man that had held the Apostleship had been killed, yet in the words which I have read in your hearing it is said— “He gave to some, apostles; some, prophets; some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.” (Eph. 4:11) And yet men tell us today that Apostles are not necessary! Is it surprising that the results which we see have followed such unbelief in Apostles?

It was very dangerous to be called Apostles!

It sounded better to be called Bishops or some other title; it suited the popular ear better and did not excite the persecution which the name of Apostle did. Yet in the words of Paul, we are told that Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers were placed in the Church, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, the edifying of the body of Christ. (Eph. 4:11-12)

If there is any man on the earth who can prove from the Scriptures that Apostles are not necessary in the Church of Christ, then he can prove that the words of Paul and the rest of the Apostles are not trustworthy, for Paul tells us that they were placed in the Church for the work of the ministry, the perfecting of the Saints, and they were to continue there.

“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: 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.” (Eph. 4:12-14)

65 Is there room for wonder that men are carried about by every wind of doctrine, and that they are deceived by the cunning craft of men, (Eph. 4:14) when they no longer believe in Apostles and prophets, and have taken in their stead selfconstituted ministers, men who never received authority to administer in the things of God? Can any be surprised that Christendom is split up as it is today, and that men are so confused in relation to the doctrines of Christ? Or that infidelity rears its head so defiantly in the midst of Christendom? No, it cannot be wondered at, when men have so widely departed from and so flagrantly disobeyed the plain teachings of Scripture as we find them recorded in the New Testament.

The condition of Christendom alone is, of itself, sufficient to prove to every reasoning mind that if there is a God in heaven, as we know there is; that if there is such a principle as divine revelation, which we declare to be true; if there are such beings surrounding the throne of God as angels, of which we bear testimony, there never was a greater necessity for angels to be sent to earth, or for revelation to be given to man, than in the day in which we live. Some may say that we have the Bible and its divine teachings to peruse at our leisure; but it has frequently been remarked by those who scoff at it that it is like a fiddle, every kind of a tune can be played upon it.

It requires something more than the Bible to guide man to eternal life. It requires divine inspiration, it requires the Holy Ghost, it requires the Priesthood, as it existed in ancient days, to be restored; and I thank God with all my heart, this morning, that I do know it has been restored.

I thank God from the bottom of my heart that I have this knowledge.

Before me, in this Territory, I see the fruits of this restoration—precisely the same fruits that followed the Priesthood anciently. I see, here, people gathered from various nations, of various creeds, speaking various languages, and having been reared and educated in a very dissimilar manner, from limited monarchies, from despotic monarchies and from republics; and yet they dwell together in unity, worship God alike, live lives of good order, truth and holiness, and love one another, which is an evidence, as the Apostle says, that they have passed from death unto life.

(1 Jn. 3:14)

This unity, is one of the greatest types of evidence that can be given that we are the disciples of Christ, for he has said, “If ye are not one ye are not mine.” (D&C 38:27) And it is also one of the strongest types of evidence that can be given that Jesus is the Christ, for, on one occasion, when praying to the Father that his disciples might be one, he said— “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 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.” (John 17:20-21) As a people, the unity of the Latter-day Saints is proverbial, and furnishes a powerful testimony that we have walked with Christ and have received the blessings following the bestowal of the Holy Ghost.

These are some of the doctrines that the Latterday Saints believe in; time would fail to tell all. We believe that God is the same yesterday, today and forever; (Heb. 13:8) that he is a God of revelation, and that the reason he has not revealed himself for centuries is because the people so cruelly persecuted his anointed ones when he sent them into their midst.

Their blood has cried for vengeance on the inhabitants of the earth, and he has closed the heavens, as it were, for centuries, our forefathers having been left only with such light as they could obtain without the Priesthood. But has he not bestowed his Holy Spirit upon men? Yes, millions of people have received the Holy Spirit to a certain extent, although not in its fulness.

Luther had it, when he was inspired to war against the iniquities that existed in the Romish Church. He was raised up especially to prepare the way for the manifestation of the work of God in the last days.

Calvin and Melancthon had a portion of the Holy Spirit, and so had all the Reformers who followed them; and though they had not the authority to build up the Church of God in its ancient purity, they still had a work to do, and they have come in their days and generations and have labored zealously, indefatigably and fearlessly, regardless of death,

66 inspired of God to do the work which they performed in the various lands in which they labored—Germany, France, England, Scotland, and various parts of Europe, and also in our own land—America. John Wesley, also, was raised up and inspired of God to do a work, and he did it.

Not only have these religious reformers been inspired to do a work in preparing for the advent of the kingdom of God upon the earth; but others have been raised for the same purpose.

Columbus was inspired to penetrate the ocean and discover this Western continent, (1 Ne. 13:12) for the set time for its discovery had come; and the consequences which God desired to follow its discovery have taken place—a free government has been established on it.

The men who established that Government were inspired of God—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and all the fathers of the Republic were inspired to do the work which they did. (D&C 101:80) We believe it was a preparatory work for the establishment of the kingdom of God. This Church and kingdom could not have been established on the earth if their work had not been performed, or a work of a similar character.

The kingdom of God could not have been established in Asia amid the despotisms there; nor in Africa, amid the darkness there; it could not have been built up in Europe amid the monarchies which crowd every inch of its surface. It had to be built up on this land, hence this land had to be discovered.

It was not discovered too soon; if it had been it would have been overrun by the nations of the earth, and no place would have been found, even here, for the kingdom of God. It was discovered at the right time and by the right man, inspired of God not to waver or shrink; but, undaunted by the difficulties with which he was surrounded, and contending with a mutinous crew, he persevered, and continued his journey westward until he discovered this land, the existence of which God had inspired him to demonstrate.

It was necessary that George Washington should be raised up, that the battles of the Republic should be fought, that the Colonies should be emancipated from the fetters of the mother country and declared free and independent States.

Why? Because God had in view the restoration of the everlasting Gospel to the earth again, and in addition to this the set time had come for him to build up his kingdom and to accomplish the fulfillment of his long-deferred purposes.

Jesus said unto Jerusalem, “How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matt. 23:37) But the prophets tell us that in the last days the people of God shall be gathered together from the different parts of the earth and be united together in one people.

It was necessary, therefore, that a land should be prepared, and a form of government be established within its borders without conflicting with it.

Therefore, religious liberty and toleration have been proclaimed throughout the length and breadth of this land.

Men fought, bled and died in vindication of these principles, and they were incorporated into the Constitution, and we, today, are reaping the blessed results of their labors. Shall they not have glory in the sight of God for those labors?

Yes, glory and honor and blessings and immortality will rest upon men who have been instruments in the hands of God in bringing to pass his great and marvelous purposes.

We have the greatest charity for them; we know that God will save and bless them. We know, further, that their sins were sins of ignorance.

Where there is no law, it is said, there is no transgression. (Rom. 4:15) They had not the fulness of the Gospel declared unto them; but the generation in which we live, hear the law and the testimony, and they will be held accountable for this knowledge.

God will hold you, my brethren, sisters and friends, strictly accountable for that which you hear. You live in a day and age when the purposes of God are transpiring before your eyes, and when you see the mighty going forth of his great work. Men, generally, however, will not look at it, and yet they are ready to declare that, if they knew the work of God was progressing, they would be willing to help it forward. They are the same as the Jews were with the Lord Jesus Christ.

67 When he was with them, he was despised and put to death; now men think they honor him, but if he lived upon the earth today do you think he would be honored? He would be treated today as he was then. God sent his only Son, the Prince of life and glory; he came to the earth in humble mien, in the garb of poverty, speaking ungrammatically, yet he was heaven's Prince, the Lord of all things. He was born in a stable and cradled in a manger. (Luke 2:7) But God's noble sons are not always born to thrones; some of the noblest men who have lived on earth have not been found in the courts of kings. Where shall we look for them? Frequently among the humble and lowly. I thank God it is so.

I have found among the humble and lowly, men with minds which were like rich jewels; men who loved the truth, and who have been willing to die for principle. I have also found many of the rich and noble who have, “Crooked the pregnant hinges of the knee, that thrift might follow fawning.”

And who have been willing to do anything to curry favor, who worshipped popularity, and were ready to bow at its shrine in humble, abject reverence. While among the poor, the meek, and the lowly, I have known men, and we all doubtless have, who would die rather than step aside from principle.

Among such God has placed his nobles in this generation, in order to be pioneers in this work and lay its foundations. They could sacrifice, and endure poverty for the sake of truth, and they have done so, and have risked all, braving the world fearlessly, establishing principle after principle, and declaring truth, in all its simplicity and purity, to the nations of the earth.

Thus far God has vindicated their course and upheld them and has borne them off triumphantly, and he will continue to do so until the victory is achieved, and the desired consummation of his purposes is reached.

This work will stand and spread abroad, because it is the work of God. After a while it will gather within its fold men who, at the present time, consider it beneath their notice. It will accomplish the destiny that has been assigned to it. It will gather every honest man and woman on the face of the earth; all who will acknowledge truth will receive and rejoice in this work.

I thank God that it is restored to the earth. It is more precious than the good will of men to know God. To have the spirit of truth, and the union and fellowship which exist among the Latter-day Saints, is worth more than the riches of California, more than all the mines of the earth, or all the jewels in the crown of every monarch on the earth, or their entire treasures, because they will fade away, but these will endure forever.

And the man who obeys the Gospel of Jesus need not feel that he is bound or enslaved or deprived of the exercise of any of the faculties, as many suppose. He is emancipated from thralldom; he can rejoice in the light of truth, and go forward and embrace every principle of truth.

Not religious truth alone; it is a wrong idea that people who are religious must confine themselves to what are termed religious truths only. The Gospel of Jesus Christ embraces within its scope every truth known to man; every truth pertaining to astronomy, geology and every other science belongs to and is incorporated in that Gospel.

I have spoken thus far and have not said a single word about that much-mooted doctrine— plurality of wives. I expect there are gentlemen and ladies here who would rather hear that spoken of than all that could be said, besides, who would rather hear an Elder tell how many wives and children he has got than all that could be said about Jesus, his Apostles, the Holy Ghost or its gifts.

There is a prurient curiosity on the part of a great many people in relation to this subject, and were it not transcending the bounds of politeness, about the first question they would ask after being introduced to an Elder would be, “How many wives and children have you got?” That is about the extent of their desires. Here is a great phenomenon before their eyes in this Territory, of intense interest and of immense importance, yet their souls cannot rise high enough to comprehend the first feature of it, and no higher than to ask about the number of a man's wives!

When I hear such inquiries I pity the person who makes them. I think if a person cannot allow his or her mind to rise any higher than that, he or she is in a most deplorable condition.

68 I am satisfied that there is an immense amount of misunderstanding among the people of the world with respect to the Latter-day Saints and their belief in this peculiar doctrine. It is generally believed that we have embraced it for sensual purposes, and that we are a sensual people. We see these ideas frequently advanced in newspapers, and it is stated by them that we gather the people from the nations because of this doctrine. What a silly idea! Why, any man with a grain of common sense might know better if he would give a little reflection to the matter!

How much easier it would be, if we were licentious, to practice licentiousness according to the popular method! Why go to the trouble and expense and incur the odium of sustaining wives and children merely to gratify licentiousness, when we could do it to the fullest extent, on the popular plan, without incurring odium or assuming responsibility and care?

Read the records of New York, Washington, Chicago, and the records of all the cities east and west on our continent, and then go to the old world, and you may find that men can gratify their lustful desire without incurring odium. They can even destroy females by the thousands in the gratification of their sensual appetites, but because the Latter-day Saints choose to marry them, to make women and their children respected and honorable, all hell is moved against them. The devil does not like it.

I will tell you a rule, brethren, sisters and friends, that I have observed through my intercourse with men, in my travels, and that is, that they who have opposed this principle most bitterly when they understood it, have been the most corrupt men, the very men who have practiced adultery and whoredom in secret; while openly, to hear them speak of our system of patriarchal marriage, one might think them immaculate; but I never found pure-minded men or women, honest and true to their God, and to their partners if they had them, but what, when they heard it explained as the Saints in this Territory understand, preach and practice it, let them believe what they might on other points, they would acknowledge that there was something godlike in that doctrine, if we carried it out as we believed it. That has been my experience.

We are solving the problem that is before the world today, over which they are pretending to rack their brains. I mean the “Social Problem.” We close the door on one side, and say that whoredoms, seductions and adulteries must not be committed amongst us, and we say to those who are determined to carry on such things we will kill you; at the same time, we open the door in the other direction and make plural marriage honorable. What is the result? Why, a healthy, pure and virtuous community, a community which, in these respects, has no equal on the earth.

I say these few words by way of explanation; they are very inadequate to convey the ideas that we entertain, and that I would like to convey to my hearers, in relation to celestial marriage.

That God may bless and sustain you in the practice of truth, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

MAN'S FREE AGENCY 69

October 1965

Brethren and sisters: It is truly a joy to meet with you. I want to take this opportunity to thank you and to tell you how grateful I am for your thoughtful solicitations and your faith and prayers.

God bless every one of you for your integrity and devotion to the work of the Lord! It is an honor and a continual joy to be associated with you in the Church of Jesus Christ.

We are grateful for the blessing of the Lord to his Church in all the world, for the assurance of his divine guidance and inspiration.

With deep gratitude we acknowledge in your presence the Lord's nearness and his goodness, and in that spirit of prayerful appreciation, proclaim that our souls respond in harmony with the glorious vision given to the Prophet Joseph Smith.

"Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, and rejoice ye inhabitants thereof, for the Lord is God, and beside him there is no Savior.

"Great is his wisdom, marvelous are his ways, and the extent of his doings none can find out . . .

"For thus saith the Lord—I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and truth unto the end" (D&C 76:1-2,5)

by President David O. McKay

Two Great Forces

I deeply sense my inadequacy in trying to express in words the message I have in my heart this morning. I earnestly pray for your help and assistance, and especially for the inspiration of the Lord, that we may sense his presence during this opening session and all the sessions of this conference. I am delighted to see these doorways crowded by interested listeners. It is a sight we all should take to heart, a manifestation of those who love the Lord and keep his commandments.

Satan Sought Power These two great forces are, hate and love. Hate had its origin in our preexistent state. There is a significant reference in the Apocalypse to "a war in heaven" (Rev. 12:4) It is not only significant, but seemingly contradictory, for we think of heaven as a celestial abode of bliss, an impossible condition where war and contention could exist.

70 The passage is significant because it implies a freedom of choice and of action in the spirit world.

In the Pearl of Great Price, we are given this account: "Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down, "And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice" (Moses 4:3-4 italics added).

Two things you will note in that passage: one, that Satan was determined to destroy the free agency of man. Free agency is a gift of God. It is part of his divinity. The second point is that he desired to supplant God. I quote, "Give me thy glory" (Moses 4:1) The world does not comprehend the significance of that divine gift to the individual. It is as inherent as intelligence which, we are told, has never been nor can be created.

In the spirit of hate, as is manifest today in the world, the very existence of God is denied, the free agency of man is taken from him, and the power of the state supplanted. I do not know that there was ever a time in the history of mankind when the Evil One seemed so determined to take from man his freedom.

I do not know all the facts in regard to that family but I do know that they spent considerable of their time unmindful of their growing children, and I am wondering if by now, (the father is gone and the mother is still living), I am wondering now if she looked back and took into account what the father and mother did if it would not explain why these children now do not have much faith.

And so, brethren, as fathers, as brothers, as associates, as neighbors, why not lay-up treasures in heaven by going out of our way and encouraging these young people to do what the Lord would have them do, so that as they grow up it will be natural for them to do the things that our Heavenly Father would like them to do.

Free Agency Fundamental A fundamental principle of the gospel is free agency, and references in the scriptures show that this principle is (1) essential to man's salvation; and (2) may become a measuring rod by which the actions of men, of organizations, of nations may be judged.

"Therefore," we are told in the scripture, "cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life" (2 Ne. 10:23) "For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves" (D&C 104:17) "Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another.

"And for this purpose, have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood" (D&C 101:79-80) "My independence is sacred to me," said Brigham Young, "it is a portion of that same Deity that rules in the heavens. There is not a being upon the face of the earth who is made in the image of God, who stands erect and is organized as God is, that would be deprived of the free exercise of his agency so far as he does not infringe upon other's rights, save by good advice and a good example" (Discourses of Brigham Young, 1943 ed., p. 62).

The history of the world with all its contention and strife is largely an account of man's effort to free himself from bondage and usurpation.

Man's free agency is an eternal principle of progress, and any form of government that curtails or inhibits its free exercise is wrong.

Satan's plan in the beginning was one of coercion, and it was rejected because he sought to destroy the agency of man which God had given him.

God-Given, eternal principle of progress When man uses this God-given right to encroach upon the rights of another, he commits a wrong.

Liberty becomes license, and the man, a transgressor. It is the function of the state to curtail the violator and to protect the individual.

71 Next to the bestowal of life itself, the right to direct our lives is God's greatest gift to man.

Freedom of choice is more to be treasured than any possession earth can give. It is inherent in the spirit of man. It is a divine gift to every normal being. Whether born in abject poverty or shackled at birth by inherited riches, everyone has the most precious of all life's endowments— the gift of free agency, man's inherited and inalienable right.

Man's responsibility is correspondingly operative with his free agency. Actions in harmony with divine law and the laws of nature will bring happiness, and those in opposition to divine truth, misery. Man is responsible not only for every deed, but also for every idle word (Matt.

12:36) and thought.

Freedom of the will and the responsibility associated with it are fundamental aspects of Jesus' teachings. Throughout his ministry he emphasized the worth of the individual and exemplified what is now expressed in modern revelation as "his work and his glory" (Moses 1:39) Only through the divine gift of soul freedom is such progress possible.

Individual Freedom Threatened

Force rules in the world today. Individual freedom is threatened by international rivalries and false political ideals. Unwise legislation, too often prompted by political expediency, if enacted, will seductively undermine man's right of free agency, rob him of his rightful liberties, and make him but a cog in the crushing wheel of regimentation.

It is the impelling source of the soul's progress. It is the purpose of the Lord that man becomes like him. In order for man to achieve this, it was necessary for the Creator first to make him free.

To man is given a special endowment not bestowed upon any other living thing. God gave to him the power of choice. Only to the human being did the Creator say: ". . . thou mayest choose for thyself for it is given unto thee (Moses 3:17) Without this divine power to choose, humanity cannot progress.

Free agency—responsibility

With free agency, however, there comes responsibility. If man is to be rewarded for righteousness and punished for evil, then common justice demands that he be given the power of independent action. A knowledge of good and evil is essential to man's progress on earth. If he were coerced to do right at all times or helplessly enticed to commit sin, he would merit neither a blessing for the first nor punishment for the second.

Though it is not a pleasing thought, we must realize that over half the world is under the influence of hate, as manifest by the Chinese leader, manifest by the communist group in Russia, and manifest right next door to us in Cuba. Accompanying the spirit of hate is the denial of the existence of God. Satan was cast down because he tried to replace the Creator.

But his power is still manifest. He is active and is prompting at this moment the denial of God's existence, of the existence of his Beloved Son, and denying the efficacy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Associated Press sometime ago related some instances that are taking place in China to change men's minds in a nation of over six hundred million people, whose hearts, whose minds have been changed as far as they could be changed by the spirit of hate. Forty-five or fifty years ago there was a spirit of tolerance and respect in China for Americans. In a school at Peking, which was fostered by Americans, I personally saw some of the most active young men in junior high school that I have ever seen in my life. I have never seen more courtesy in any country in the world. Today all that is changed.

The Associated Press made this report:

72 Power Based on Hate

Jesus, the Man of Love and Goodwill

"A decade ago Mao Tze-Tung's newly-created People's Republic of China threw its Red Shadow across an alarmed Asia. Today, the lengthening Shadow has crept half way across the earth to the Americas. No one can say with certainty where it will stop . . . In his sixty-sixth year this round-faced lofty-browed son of peasants has been raised by his communist followers to the eminence of a demi-god. His words, actions, and even his thoughts, are holy writ for 630 million people. He is one of the most powerful men on earth, and much of his power is based on the most debilitating of human emotions—hate.

Hatred for the United States, hatred for rich landlords, for counter-revolutionaries, for Chiang Kai-Shek, hatred for anyone who fails to conform.

'Hatred,' said a traveler recently returned from Mao's China, 'has become an institution, particularly hatred for the United States. It is horrible to see this vast human machinery run by only one fuel—hatred! If it used love instead it could become the most powerful nation on earth'" (Associated Press, appearing in the Salt Lake Tribune, Sunday, December 11, 1960).

Let us for a moment or two consider Jesus, the man of love. He revered and worshiped God and is himself revered and worshiped by all Christian nations and classes of individuals. "Whatever may be the surprises of the future," wrote Renan, "Jesus will never be surpassed."

Millions of people, speaking different languages and cherishing various ideals, worship him and revere him today. We revere him because his wisdom and spirituality comprehend and exceed that of all others. He it is who said, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12) He also said to his disciples, ". . . I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you" (John 13:15)

Power Based on Hate

We do not have to go so far away. What about America? I was in a meeting, not very long ago, where a group of Boy Scouts stood and sang, "God Bless America," and they sang it beautifully, and all the time they were singing I asked myself the question, "How can he bless America until America repents?" Every great blessing that we desire is promised us by our Heavenly Father on condition that we honor him and keep his commandments. Praying is not sufficient. Not only must we pray but we must live to be worthy of the blessing.

A Modern Assault Upon God

In the spirit of hate these men would supplant God. In the spirit of hate they deny his existence.

They deny the existence of his Only Begotten Son. They would destroy the free agency of man.

Here, in the spirit of love, we praise his name and teach his precepts.

First, in the spirit of love, let us consider Jesus' attitude toward God. That is the great question before the world today. The communists deny him, Mao ridicules him, and they have poisoned untold millions of minds against Christ.

What about Jesus as manifest in the flesh? In announcing his birth, the heavenly hosts sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14) In that message there is godliness, peace, and brotherly kindness.

73 Godliness, Jesus exemplified every hour of his earthly existence. On the banks of the Jordan at the beginning of his ministry, we hear him say to John: "Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness" (Matt. 3:15) On the Mount of Temptation, which rises just above the Jordan where Jesus was baptized, he was tempted by that Tempter who tried to supplant God; tempted with all the things of earth and the power thereof. We hear him say in sublime majesty, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" (Matt. 4:10) When he taught the disciples to pray, he included in the first petition godliness—"Hallowed be thy name" (Matt. 6:9) Addressing the Twelve at the Last Supper, he said, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3) That is the spirit of love, the spirit of faith in God the Creator of heaven and earth through his Beloved Son. God is worshiped by his Only Begotten Son. "Peace be unto you" What about the condition of peace?

Peace has been defined as the happy, natural state of man, the "first of human blessings."

Without it there can be no happiness, and "Happiness," said the Prophet Joseph Smith, "is the object and design of our existence, and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 255).

Jesus said, ". . . In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33) On the same occasion, he said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you . . ." (John 14:27) All through his life peace was on his lips and in his heart, and when he came forth from the tomb and appeared unto his disciples, his first greeting was, "Peace be unto you" (John 20:21)

Peace as taught by the Savior is exemption from individual troubles, from family broils, from national riots and difficulties.

Such peace refers to the person just as much as it does to communities. That man is not at peace who is untrue to the whisperings of Christ—the promptings of his conscience.

He cannot be at peace when he is untrue to his better self, when he transgresses the law of righteousness, either in dealing with himself by indulging in passions or appetites, in yielding to the temptations of the flesh, or whether he is untrue to trust in transgressing the law.

Peace does not come to the transgressor of law, Peace comes by obedience to law, and it is that message which Jesus would have us establish among men—peace to the individual that he may be at peace with his God; perfect harmony existing between his Creator and himself, perfect harmony existing between himself and law, the righteous laws to which he is subject and from which he never can escape; peace in the home, families living at peace with each other and with their neighbors.

There are some who would say his teachings are not applicable today.

The Testimony of Joseph Smith

A few years ago there was a boy among boys who saw him, who heard him and received his teachings. Joseph Smith saw the Redeemer, and he has given that testimony to the world; he has recorded his message, and emphasized again the eternal truth that Christ's teachings are divine and as applicable to the civilized world today as to the people among whom Jesus walked and talked.

The Power of Thinking

Fundamental in all Christ's teachings was the crime of wrong thinking. He condemned avarice, enmity, hate, jealousy as vehemently as he did the results that avarice, enmity, and hate produce. Modern psychology, as all students know, proves the virtue of such teachings regarding the injury that follows the harboring of hate. He who harbors hatred and bitterness injures himself far more than the one towards whom he manifests these evil propensities.

74 Equally applicable to present conditions are his teachings regarding the value and sacredness of human life, the virtue of forgiveness, the necessity of fair dealings, the crime of hypocrisy, the sin of covetousness, the saving power of love, the immortality of man.

Attacks upon Peace and Righteousness If men ever reject the fact that Christ is our Lord and Savior and fill their souls with hatred as that nation of over six hundred million people are compelled to do, and not only deny Christ, but deny that his mission is to redeem man from the sordid life of selfish indulgence and sin, and lift him into a realm shown only by him of self-sacrifice, generosity, beauty, and love; if the majority of nations fail to recognize Christ as the only "name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12) if doubting men reject the possibility of obtaining that spiritual assurance of Christ's divinity disclosed by Thomas when he reverently exclaimed: "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28) if the acts of men generally be in accordance with such rejection rather than in accordance with their acceptance of him as the Divine One, then this world will continue to be torn by contention, made miserable by hideous warfare, and ignominiously wrecked on the shoals of materialism, selfish indulgence, and disbelief and hatred.

Rejecting Him will bring the bondage of the Jungle Without Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified Christ, the Risen Lord, the traits of the jungle will hold the human family in bondage.

In conclusion, the obligation and duty rests upon the Church of Jesus Christ to proclaim the mighty truth that the Man of Galilee, the resurrected Christ, is truly the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6) that he is in very deed the Savior of all mankind.

Pernicious efforts and sinister schemes are cunningly and stealthily being fostered to deprive man of his individual freedom and have him revert to the life of the jungle.

With faith in the revealed word of God, let all true believers in individual freedom cherish the spiritual ideals of the Christ, and ever strive to make real the dream that all men shall be free, and that someday many nations will unite, not for war, but for peace and the establishing of the kingdom of God on earth.

That this condition may soon be possible and real and that men may strive to bring it about, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

COOKIES AND CAROLS 75

December 2008

By Bethany F. Bingham

“The more we caroled and shared baskets of cookies, the more excited we became.”

Armed with 10 plates of cookies and 10 copies of a Church Christmas DVD, our youth group set out on a snowy Mutual night to sing Christmas carols to the neighbors. It was the bishop’s idea, a chance for leaders and youth alike to meet the people who live near our Church building in Connecticut.

The house across the street had a huge, barking dog, and the only way to get to the front door was by passing him. No one appeared to quiet the dog, and I wondered how we would be received. As we sang our first carol, the youth stood back, hesitant to be on the front line. A woman answered the door, and one of my fellow leaders handed her a plate of cookies and the DVD. The leader informed her that we were from the church across the street and wanted to express our appreciation to them for being good neighbors. She was pleasantly surprised and listened politely until the end of our song.

With the first home behind us, our confidence grew. We walked a little more quickly to the small apartment complex next to the church. This time the woman who answered the door recognized two of our youth. She had been their teacher in elementary school, and she reached out to give them a big hug.

This positive encouragement was all we needed.

From then on, Kourtney, one of our Mia Maids, wanted to deliver the cookies and DVD at every door. As leaders, we no longer had to physically move the youth closer to each doorstep—they encouraged each other.

Although one man listened uncomfortably to our song and declined our gift, every other person who answered a door was gracious and appreciative. One woman had tears in her eyes and gave Kourtney a kiss as she delivered the goodies and DVD. But the most amazing of all was door 19.

A man came to the door and stepped outside to listen to our carol. When we finished, he asked if we had heard of Fayette, New York. We excitedly said we had, and he responded with, “I was baptized in Fayette.” He went on to tell us that he had been baptized about 10 years before but that since moving to Connecticut, he hadn’t sought out the Church and no one in our area knew about him. He said, “Well, I guess this means I’d better come to church on Sunday.” As we walked away from his door, I recognized the Lord’s hand in our service and knew that this man had never been lost to the Lord.

By this time we were having so much fun we didn’t want to stop. So despite being emptyhanded, we caroled at one last house. The Spirit of the Lord filled us with joy as we then trekked, arm in arm, back to the church. We all felt grateful for this chance to spread the Lord’s love —and His joy—to the world.

A SMALL, SNOW-COVERED TREE 76

December 2008

By Darrell Smart

When we arrived at the cemetery, we were touched by what we found.

One day, shortly before Christmas, our third child and first son, Bay, was born. As I said good-bye that evening to my exhausted but joyful wife and left the hospital, the warmth and joy that accompanied the birth of my son overwhelmed the cold chill of that clear December night.

The following December we celebrated the first birthday of our dark-eyed, dark-haired son. The day after Christmas, during an evening of games at the home of my in-laws, our revelry was interrupted by an awful shriek from my motherin-law: “He’s not breathing!” She had gone to check on Bay, who had been sleeping on her bed, and discovered his cold, lifeless body. We immediately rushed our son to the hospital, attempting CPR on the way. We were griefstricken to learn that nothing could be done to save his life. He had died from sudden infant death syndrome.

Since then, Christmas has been filled with a much deeper meaning for our family. Each year on Christmas Eve when we take down our other children’s stockings to fill them, one solitary stocking is left on the fireplace mantle.

Throughout the remainder of the holiday the stocking serves as a reminder of Bay. Each year, around the time of Bay’s birthday, my wife and I drive to the cemetery where he is buried. At each visit we find that someone else has arrived before us and placed something on our son’s grave: one year it was delicate, small flowers; the next year, a stuffed bear; the next, a little Christmas tree decorated with miniature ornaments. We have no idea who is responsible; the gifts, which touch us deeply, are never accompanied by a note or card.

When I hinted to my mother-in-law that I knew her secret, she denied responsibility. The following year while she and my father-in-law were serving a Church mission abroad, we again found that someone had placed a gift on our son’s grave. Even after inquiring with other family members and friends, we were unable to solve the mystery.

Ten years after our son’s death, a series of snowstorms prevented us from traveling short distances. As a result, our annual visit to our son’s grave site was delayed until several days after Christmas. When we finally made it, we saw a small, decorated Christmas tree, mostly buried in the snow, standing bravely at the head of Bay’s small grave. The effort it must have taken for someone to get to the cemetery through the heavy snowfall overwhelmed us. Tears streamed down our faces as we realized that someone still shared our grief and loss.

After that, we were more resolved than ever to discover the identity of our benefactor and thank him or her for showing us such compassion. But as we reflected more, we realized that whoever was doing these acts of kindness did not want to be identified. We decided to allow our friend to remain anonymous. We replaced our need to thank our friend with a desire to simply live better.

It is now harder for us to speak ill of or criticize any of our friends or family members, because any one of them may be our anonymous friend.

Often while doing service, my wife and I pause to examine our hearts: are we doing good things to be seen by others or for the pure love of Christ and of our fellowmen?

For us, charity—humble and never seeking its own—is symbolized by a beautifully decorated Christmas tree, half-buried in snow, resting in a quiet cemetery.

IN SHEPHERDS’ FIELD 77

December 2008

By Annie Tintle

As I thought about the place where the Savior was born, I began to understand His role as the Shepherd of mankind.

While attending Brigham Young University, I studied in Jerusalem with approximately 170 students during the fall of 1998. As the Christmas season approached, we began to focus our studies and field trips around the birth of the Savior.

While the Wise Men were able to bring the Christ child gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, the shepherds could offer little in the way of material gifts. Their sacrifice was simply in coming to offer humble hearts and joyful spirits in partaking in the celebration of their infant Lord.

It was cool and windy the evening that 40 of us pulled up to our last and most anticipated stop for the day. Tradition held that Shepherds’ Field, located just outside of Bethlehem, was the place where the ancient shepherds sat watching sheep on the night of the Savior’s birth, never anticipating what would soon be proclaimed to them.

The Savior has brought the gift of joy to our cold and dreary world. He has promised to stand watch through the long, dark night, despite the terrors and hardships this life can bring. He knows us, His sheep. He is our Shepherd.

The field was nothing like I had imagined. I saw a terraced hill with hardly any greenery. We walked down a rocky path, and each of us found a quiet place to sit and write in our journals. I finally found a large rock to sit on. It was cold, uncomfortable, and surrounded by thorns.

When we were told we would be able to see the local shepherds and their sheep, I wasn’t prepared to see children in rags. But even though they were dressed in worn, secondhand clothing, their eyes were bright. Open-palmed, they approached our group’s chaperone. After asking the children their names, she gave each one a few shekels. One of the children carried a newborn lamb. He approached me and offered to let me hold it.

As I took the warm baby lamb in my arms, I began to see the situation differently.

The Savior knew about the life of a shepherd. He knew about the cold nights, rocky trails, and danger of thieves and predators. He knew shepherds sometimes held the baby lambs in their arms, standing watch while waiting for the darkness to pass.

That night, for the first time, I began to understand the promise in the gift of our Savior.

THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL 78

1845

By Hans Christian Andersen

A gentle reminder of the value of compassion and charity.

Most terribly cold it was; it snowed, and was nearly quite dark, and evening-- the last evening of the year. In this cold and darkness there went along the street a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet. When she left home she had slippers on, it is true; but what was the good of that? They were very large slippers, which her mother had hitherto worn; so large were they; and the poor little thing lost them as she scuffled away across the street, because of two carriages that rolled by dreadfully fast.

One slipper was nowhere to be found; the other had been laid hold of by an urchin, and off he ran with it; he thought it would do capitally for a cradle when he some day or other should have children himself. So the little maiden walked on with her tiny naked feet, that were quite red and blue from cold. She carried a quantity of matches in an old apron, and she held a bundle of them in her hand. Nobody had bought anything of her the whole livelong day; no one had given her a single farthing.

She crept along trembling with cold and hunger-a very picture of sorrow, the poor little thing!

The flakes of snow covered her long fair hair, which fell in beautiful curls around her neck; but of that, of course, she never once now thought.

From all the windows the candles were gleaming, and it smelt so deliciously of roast goose, for you know it was New Year's Eve; yes, of that she thought.

In a corner formed by two houses, of which one advanced more than the other, she seated herself down and cowered together. Her little feet she had drawn close up to her, but she grew colder and colder, and to go home she did not venture, for she had not sold any matches and could not bring a farthing of money: from her father she would certainly get blows, and at home it was cold too, for above her she had only the roof, through which the wind whistled, even though the largest cracks were stopped up with straw and rags.

Her little hands were almost numbed with cold.

Oh! a match might afford her a world of comfort, if she only dared take a single one out of the bundle, draw it against the wall, and warm her fingers by it. She drew one out. "Rischt!" how it blazed, how it burnt! It was a warm, bright flame, like a candle, as she held her hands over it: it was a wonderful light. It seemed really to the little maiden as though she were sitting before a large iron stove, with burnished brass feet and a brass ornament at top. The fire burned with such blessed influence; it warmed so delightfully. The little girl had already stretched out her feet to warm them too; but--the small flame went out, the stove vanished: she had only the remains of the burnt-out match in her hand.

She rubbed another against the wall: it burned brightly, and where the light fell on the wall, there the wall became transparent like a veil, so that she could see into the room. On the table was spread a snow-white tablecloth; upon it was a splendid porcelain service, and the roast goose was steaming famously with its stuffing of apple and dried plums. And what was still more capital to behold was, the goose hopped down from the dish, reeled about on the floor with knife and fork in its breast, till it came up to the poor little girl; when--the match went out and nothing but the thick, cold, damp wall was left behind. She lighted another match. Now there she was sitting under the most magnificent Christmas tree: it was still larger, and more decorated than the one which she had seen through the glass door in the rich merchant's house.

Thousands of lights were burning on the green branches, and gaily colored pictures, such as she had seen in the shopwindows, looked down upon her. The little maiden stretched out her hands towards them when--the match went out. The lights of the Christmas tree rose higher and higher, she saw them now as stars in heaven; one fell down and formed a long trail of fire.

THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE

By Conan Doyle

79

I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a purple dressing gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the purpose of examination.

“You are engaged,” said I; “perhaps I interrupt you.”

“Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one”—he jerked his thumb in the direction of the old hat— “But there are points in connection with it, which are not entirely devoid of interest and even of instruction.”

I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows were thick with the ice crystals. “I suppose,” I remarked, “that, homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to it—that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of some mystery and the punishment of some crime.”

“No, no. No crime,” said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. “Only one of those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have four million human beings all jostling each other within the space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be presented which may be striking and bizarre without being criminal. We have already had experience of such.”

“So much so,” I remarked, “that of the last six cases which I have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any legal crime.”

“Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. You know Peterson, the commissionaire?”

“Yes.” “It is to him that this trophy belongs.”

“It is his hat.”

80 “No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson’s fire. The facts are these: about four o’clock on Christmas morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was returning from some small jollification and was making his way homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the man’s hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose.”

“Which surely he restored to their owner?”

“My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that ‘For Mrs. Henry Baker’ was printed upon a small card which was tied to the bird’s left leg, and it is also true that the initials ‘H. B.’ are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any one of them.”

“What, then, did Peterson do?”

“He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who lost his Christmas dinner.”

“Did he not advertise?”

“No.” “Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?”

“Only as much as we can deduce.”

“From his hat?”

“Precisely.” “But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered felt?”

“Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this article?”

I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of red silk, but was a good deal discolored.

There was no maker’s name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials “H. B.” were scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a hatsecurer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the discolored patches by smearing them with ink.

“I can see nothing,” said I, handing it back to my friend. “On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in drawing your inferences.”

“Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?”

He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective fashion which was characteristic of him. “It is perhaps less suggestive than it might have been,” he remarked, “and yet there are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days.

81 He had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that his wife has ceased to love him.”

“My dear Holmes!”

“He has, however, retained some degree of selfrespect,” he continued, disregarding my remonstrance. “He is a man who leads a sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the last few days, and which he anoints with lime cream. These are the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid on in his house.”

“You are certainly joking, Holmes.”

“Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?”

“I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that this man was intellectual?”

For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. “It is a question of cubic capacity,” said he; “a man with so large a brain must have something in it.”

“The decline of his fortunes, then?”

“This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world.”

“Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the foresight and the moral retrogression?”

Sherlock Holmes laughed. “Here is the foresight,” said he, putting his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. “They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his way to take this precaution against the wind.

But since we see that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature.

On the other hand, he has endeavored to conceal some of these stains upon the felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not entirely lost his self-respect.”

“Your reasoning is certainly plausible.”

“The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in the best of training.”

“But his wife—you said that she had ceased to love him.”

“This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear Watson, with a week’s accumulation of dust upon your hat, and when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife’s affection.”

“But he might be a bachelor.”

“Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his wife. Remember the card upon the bird’s leg.”

“You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce that the gas is not laid on in his house?”

82 “One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with burning tallow—walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?”

“Well, it is very ingenious,” said I, laughing; “but since, as you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a waste of energy.”

Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with astonishment.

“The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!” he gasped.

“Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off through the kitchen window?” Holmes twisted himself round upon the sofa to get a fairer view of the man’s excited face.

“See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!” He held out his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric point in the dark hollow of his hand.

Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. “By Jove, Peterson!” said he, “this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you have got?”

“A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though it were putty.”

“It’s more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone.”

“Not the Countess of Morcar’s blue carbuncle!” I ejaculated.

“Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be conjectured, but the reward offered of £1000 is certainly not within a twentieth part of the market price.”

“A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!” The commissionaire plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us.

“That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are sentimental considerations in the background, which would induce the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but recover the gem.”

“It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan,” I remarked.

“Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady’s jewel-case.

The evidence against him was so strong that the case has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the matter here, I believe.” He rummaged amid his newspapers, glancing over the dates, until at last, he smoothed one out, doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: “Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst. abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, upper attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had remained with Horner some little time but had finally been called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder’s cry of dismay on discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, where she found matters as described by the last witness. Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was carried out of court.”

83 “Hum! So much for the police-court,” said Holmes thoughtfully, tossing aside the paper.

“The question for us now to solve is the sequence of events leading from a rifled jewelcase at one end to the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods.”

“What will you say?”

“Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: ‘Found at the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6.30 this evening at 221b, Baker Street.’ That is clear and concise.”

“Very well, sir. And this stone?”

“Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place of the one which your family is now devouring.”

When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and held it against the light. “It’s a bonny thing,” said he. “Just see how it glints and sparkles. Of course, it is a nucleus and focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil’s pet baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystalized charcoal. Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the gallows and the prison? I’ll lock it up in my strong box now and drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it.”

“Very. But will he see it?”

“Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?”

“Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor man, the loss was a heavy one.

He was clearly so scared by his mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his bird.

Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency and have this put in the evening papers.”

“In which, sir?”

“Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James’s, Evening News, Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you.”

“I cannot tell.”

“Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had anything to do with the matter?”

“It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple test if we have an answer to our advertisement.”

“And you can do nothing until then?”

“Nothing.”

“In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I should like to see the solution of so tangled a business.”

84 “Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop.” I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I approached the house, I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight.

Just as I arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to Holmes’ room.

“Mr. Henry Baker, I believe,” said he, rising from his armchair and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he could so readily assume.

“Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?”

“Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your purpose equally well?”

“Oh, certainly, certainly,” answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of relief.

“Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of your own bird, so if you wish— ” The man burst into a hearty laugh. “They might be useful to me as relics of my adventure,” said he, “but beyond that I can hardly see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive upon the sideboard.”

Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

“Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat.”

He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes’ surmise as to his habits. His rusty black frockcoat was buttoned right up in front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had ill-usage at the hands of fortune.

“We have retained these things for some days,” said Holmes, “because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise.”

Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh.

“Shillings have not been so plentiful with me as they once were,” he remarked. “I had no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a hopeless attempt at recovering them.”

“Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to eat it.”

“To eat it!” Our visitor half rose from his chair in his excitement.

“There is your hat, then, and there your bird,” said he. “By the way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a better grown goose.”

“Certainly, sir,” said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly gained property under his arm.

“There are a few of us who frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum—we are to be found in the Museum itself during the day, you understand.

This year our good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity.” With a comical pomposity of manner, he bowed solemnly to both of us and strode off upon his way.

“So much for Mr. Henry Baker,” said Holmes when he had closed the door behind him. “It is quite certain that he knows nothing whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?”

“Not particularly.”

“Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow up this clue while it is still hot.”

85 “By all means.”

It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors’ quarter, Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour, we were in Bloomsbury at the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from the ruddy-faced, whiteaproned landlord.

“Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese,” said he.

“My geese!” The man seemed surprised.

We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was helping a boy to put up the shutters.

“Good evening. It’s a cold night,” said Holmes.

The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my companion.

“Sold out of geese, I see,” continued Holmes, pointing at the bare slabs of marble.

“Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning.”

“That’s no good.”

“Well, there are some on the stall with the gas flare.”

“Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, who was a member of your goose club.”

“Ah, but I was recommended to you.”

“Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them’s not our geese.”

“The landlord of the Alpha.”

“Who by?”

“Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen.”

“Indeed! Whose, then?”

“Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden.”

“Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?”

“Breckinridge is his name.”

“Ah! I don’t know him. Well, here’s your good health landlord, and prosperity to your house.

Good night.”

“Now for Mr. Breckinridge,” he continued, buttoning up his coat as we came out into the frosty air. “Remember, Watson that though we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years’ penal servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and quick march!”

“Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?”

To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the salesman.

“Now, then, mister,” said he, with his head cocked and his arms akimbo, “what are you driving at?

Let’s have it straight, now.”

“It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the geese which you supplied to the Alpha.”

“Well then, I shan’t tell you. So now!”

“Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don’t know why you should be so warm over such a trifle.”

86 “Warm! You’d be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end of the business; but it’s ‘Where are the geese?’ and ‘Who did you sell the geese to?’ and ‘What will you take for the geese?’ One would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the fuss that is made over them.”

“Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been making inquiries,” said Holmes carelessly. “If you won’t tell us the bet is off, that is all. But I’m always ready to back my opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the bird I ate is country bred.”

“Well, then, you’ve lost your fiver, for its town bred,” snapped the salesman.

D’you see? Well, then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger.

Now, then! You see this other page in red ink?

Well, that is a list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just read it out to me.”

“Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road—249,” read Holmes.

“Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger.”

Holmes turned to the page indicated. “Here you are, ‘Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.’ ” “Now, then, what’s the last entry?” “ ‘December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.’ ”

“It’s nothing of the kind.”

“Quite so. There you are. And underneath?”

“I say it is.” “ ‘Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.’ ” “I don’t believe it.”

“What have you to say now?”

“D’you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that went to the Alpha were town bred.”

“You’ll never persuade me to believe that.”

“Will you bet, then?”

“It’s merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But I’ll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be obstinate.”

The salesman chuckled grimly. “Bring me the books, Bill,” said he.

The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great greasy backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging lamp.

“Now then, Mr. Cocksure,” said the salesman, “I thought that I was out of geese, but before I finish, you’ll find that there is still one left in my shop. You see this little book?”

“Well?”

“That’s the list of the folk from whom I buy

Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless fashion which was peculiar to him.

“When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the ‘Pink ’un’ protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet,” said he. “I daresay that if I had put £100 down in front of him, that man would not have given me such complete information as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves who are anxious about the matter, and I should—” His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke out from the stall which we had just left.

87 Turning round we saw a little ratfaced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of yellow light, which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure.

“But pray tell me, before we go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting.”

“Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I’ve had enough of it. Get out of this!” He rushed fiercely forward, and the inquirer flitted away into the darkness.

“No, no; the real name,” said Holmes sweetly. “It is always awkward doing business with an alias.”

“Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road,” whispered Holmes. “Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this fellow.” Striding through the scattered knots of people who lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of colour had been driven from his face.

“Who are you, then? What do you want?” he asked in a quavering voice.

“You will excuse me,” said Holmes blandly, “but I could not help overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. I think that I could be of assistance to you.”

“You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?”

“My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people don’t know.”

“But you can know nothing of this?”

“Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. Henry Baker is a member.”

“Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet,” cried the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. “I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter.”

Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. “In that case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this wind-swept market-place,” said he.

The man hesitated for an instant. “My name is John Robinson,” he answered with a sidelong glance.

A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. “Well then,” said he, “my real name is James Ryder.”

“Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you everything which you would wish to know.”

The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous tension within him.

“Here we are!” said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. “The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! You want to know what became of those geese?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in which you were interested—white, with a black bar across the tail.”

Ryder quivered with emotion. “Oh, sir,” he cried, “can you tell me where it went to?”

“It came here.”

“Here?”

“Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don’t wonder that you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was dead—the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. I have it here in my museum.”

88 Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it.

“Get back into your chair!” said Holmes sternly.

“It is very well to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing.”

“The game’s up, Ryder,” said Holmes quietly.

“Hold up, man, or you’ll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, Watson. He’s not got blood enough to go in for felony with impunity.

Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!”

“Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies your only hope of safety.”

For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring with frightened eyes at his accuser.

“I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case complete.

You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the Countess of Morcar’s?”

“It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it,” said he in a crackling voice.

“I see—her ladyship’s waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. What did you do, then?

You made some small job in my lady’s room—you and your confederate Cusack—and you managed that he should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man arrested.

You then—” Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my companion’s knees. “For God’s sake, have mercy!” he shrieked.

“Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I’ll swear it on a Bible. Oh, don’t bring it into court! For Christ’s sake, don’t!”

“I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir.

Then the charge against him will break down.”

Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. “I will tell you it just as it happened, sir,” said he.

“When Horner had been arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister’s house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would be best to do.

“I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the best detective that ever lived.

89 “My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds—a fine big one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and fluttered off among the others. “ ‘Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?’ says she. “ ‘Well,’ said I, ‘you said you’d give me one for Christmas, and I was feeling which was the fattest.’ “ ‘Oh,’ says she, ‘we’ve set yours aside for you— Jem’s bird, we call it. It’s the big white one over yonder. There’s twenty-six of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen for the market.’ “ ‘Thank you, Maggie,’ says I; ‘but if it is all the same to you, I’d rather have that one I was handling just now.’ “ ‘The other is a good three pound heavier,’ said she, ‘and we fattened it expressly for you.’ “ ‘Never mind. I’ll have the other, and I’ll take it now,’ said I. “

“ ‘Where are they all, Maggie?’ I cried. “ ‘Gone to the dealer’s, Jem.’ “ ‘Which dealer’s?’ “ ‘Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.’ “ ‘But was there another with a barred tail?’ I asked, ‘the same as the one I chose?’ “ ‘Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never tell them apart.’

“Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night.

Well, he has always answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now—and now I am myself a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which I sold my character.

God help me! God help me!” He burst into convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands.

There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes’ finger-tips upon the edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door.

“Get out!” said he.

“What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!”

“No more words. Get out!”

‘Oh, just as you like,’ said she, a little huffed.

‘Which is it you want, then?’ “ ‘That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the flock.’ “ ‘Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.’ “Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, rushed back to my sister’s, and hurried into the back yard. There was not a bird to be seen there.

And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running footfalls from the street.

“After all, Watson,” said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his clay pipe, “I am not retained by the police to supply their deficiencies. If Horner were in danger, it would be another thing; but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong again; he is too terribly frightened.

90 Send him to jail now, and you make him a jail-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of forgiveness.

Chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward.

If you will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief feature.”