George Reynolds

“ We will speak alone of Jacob. To him was repeated the divine promise: "Thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth;" and again, "A nation and a company of nations shall be of thee." Here let us pause for a moment and ask, are they whom the world regard as the only representatives of Jacob today—the dispersed of Judah—all that that holy man has to show as the fulfillment of so great a promise as the one last quoted? We think not, but believe that future research will vindicate prophecy, and prove that the promises of the Eternal are not cut short in their complete fulfillment. ”

“ A whole continent lay around about him, but there was nothing, in any place, to invite him either to tarry or depart. Weak from loss of blood, he staggered on, placing as great a distance as his failing powers would permit between himself and the horrors of the last battle ground. He passed onward through each deserted valley, each tenantless town; in neither was there any human voice to greet or to chide him; the homes of his own people and those of his enemies were alike — a silent desolation; all the land was a wilderness. ”

“ Education does not change the nature of men; it simply develops and polishes that which is in them; it makes the best of that which there is. As the limestone when it is polished is not changed into a diamond, but remains limestone still, though it is more beautiful and can be used for more varied purposes, so it is with the man who is educated in the learning of the schools only; his nature remains the same but the most is made of him; but when a man receives the gift of the Holy Ghost, it is then that his nature is changed. He learns to love the truth ”

“ The system of astronomy revealed by God to Abraham is so vast, so grand, so comprehensive, that no uninspired man ever searched out its depths or ascended its heights. Occasionally a patient searcher after truth caught a faint glimmer of its glory, but that was all. But they none learned as Abraham learned, nor did the profoundest astronomers of forty years ago have aught but the most meagre and vain conception of the truths given to the world by Joseph Smith in his inspired translation of Abraham's record. ”

“ I cause the wind and the fire to be my chariot; I say to the mountains, depart hence, and behold they are taken away by a whirlwind, in an instant, suddenly. My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning, therefore my hand shall be over thee, and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and priesthood unto all nations, and I will bless them through thy name ”

“ NEPHI, THE SON OF LEHI. One of the greatest prophets whose presence ever dignified this earth. He was one of the most lovable of men, true as steel, never wavering, full of integrity, faith and zeal; he loved the Lord with all his heart. It is seldom we find a character in the history of this fallen world that was as perfect or as complete as was that of Nephi. He was naturally a leader, his faith and courage made him so, while his devout humility gave him strength with Heaven. ”

“ And this chosen generation will, by right of kindred, administer to all people the word of God, and as saviors will they stand upon Mount Zion, drawing all men unto the great Savior of our race, who will stand in their midst, on the right hand of the Father, crowned and exalted as King of kings, and Lord of lords, the great Apostle and High Priest of our salvation. Truly the Lord is fulfilling His promises, Israel has blossomed and budded and filled the earth with fruit, but in the great future He will do it yet more abundantly and gloriously. ”

“ Further on an account of Abraham's visit to Egypt is given, and the revelations of God to him, with regard to the order of the planetary worlds, the condition of the spirits of mankind in their pre-existent state, and a history of the creation of this earth are laid before the reader in plain and simple, but inspired and soul inspiring language. No short synopsis can give any idea of the beauty, grandeur and value of the truths made manifest by the Most High to his friend and servant, Abraham; truths which the world, to-day, in part ignores and partly comprehends. ”

“ We have no conflict with the world only as they may bring it upon us. We are the friends of all mankind. We are sent forth to preach life and salvation to every soul who will hearken and obey. Our mission is one of good will to all men the wide world over. We seek the hurt or injury of no people upon the face of the earth. The principles that we proclaim are those which the Savior Himself taught to the sons and daughters of mankind when He was here upon the earth, and which His disciples in after years taught also. ”

“ Again the risen Redeemer spake: Arise, said He, and come forth unto me, that you may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
Now they who heard Him from the first to the last went forth and assured themselves that it was He of whom the prophets had spoken. Then with shouts of praise they cried: Hosanna! blessed be the name of the Most High God. And they fell down at His feet and worshiped Him. ”

“ To-day the scholars in the most radical school of astronomy will only admit that our system has a centre, and that the probabilities are that that centre has a centre also round which it and all its satellites move. Further than this they cannot go. However, the little they do admit, confirms the mighty truths revealed to Abraham of old and Joseph of today. On the other hand, the followers of the more conservative schools will simply acknowledge that our solar system has a proper motion of its own, independent of its relative or apparent motions with regard to other stars. ”

“ The vitality of the Jewish race is proverbial, and can we reasonably expect that when one branch of a tree shows such native strength, that the other branches will not be proportionately vital? Is it not more consistent to believe that, as the Jewish race under the curse of the Almighty and suffering centuries of persecution, still survives, so is it with the rest of Jacob's seed, rather than that they, ages ago, were blotted out of earthly existence? ”

“ But in our union lies our strength; because we cannot be united on any other principle than obedience to the law of the Lord. There is no spirit but the Spirit of the Most High God that will make this people one. They can trust in no one but in God our Father who has revealed His mind and will to them, and has established in their midst the principles that will make them wise unto salvation, if they will but give heed to them. It is useless, worse than useless, for us to attempt to be united on any principle but the principle of righteousness and godliness. ”

“ This war became one of the most bloodthirsty, cruel and vindictive that ever cursed our fair planet. It was not the work of a day, it was the outgrowth of centuries of dishonor, crime and iniquity. Men's most savage passions were worked up to such an extent that every better feeling of humanity was crushed out. The women and children armed themselves for the fray with the same fiendish activity, and fought with the same intense hate, as the men. It was not a conflict of armies alone ”

“ Joseph was about to remove the old man's hands, and bringing his right hand upon the head of the oldest boy, saying, 'Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.' And his father refused, and said, 'I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.' Ephraim has become mixed with all the nations of the earth, and it is Ephraim that is gathering together. ”

“ Men to-day as in ancient times are governed by the same loves and the same hatreds; by the same antipathies and the same prejudices; they are influenced by the same spirit; that spirit of evil which reared its head in the heavens and was cast down upon the earth, by which overthrow the warfare was transferred from heaven to earth,—that same spirit has instigated and carried on and continues to carry on the same warfare against the truth and against the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ to the present day. Civilization and education are no doubt potent factors in the present history of the world ”

“ It is not our intention here to detail the horrors of the three days of mental and physical darkness that followed the hurricane and the earthquake, nor to dilate upon the great and terrible mourning of the people for their kindred slain, their cities destroyed and their treasures lost. The mental horror of those black days was intensified by the fear that they had sinned away their day of grace, as they realized the tens of thousands of the dead had done. ”

“ God has declared that He will make of His latter-day Israel a nation of kings and priests. In former dispensations (except that lesser authority among the Jews given to the house of Aaron) the Priesthood was conferred upon the few, it was an honor of the highest kind; but in the dispensation of the fullness of times, the whole people are to be a race of kings and priests, and not less honorable because of the multitude. To our mind this is a great proof that that people will be of Ephraim. There is a cause for all God's promises—there is one for this. ”

“ It is no more remarkable that those who call themselves Christians should oppose the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this age than it was that the Jews, who claimed to be the children of Abraham, should oppose those same principles, in that which is commonly called the Gospel dispensation, when Christ the Son of God Himself was here. The causes are the same; the results are the same; men's natures are the same; and though the civilization of today may be somewhat different from the civilization of former ages, it has not changed the nature of mankind. ”

“ A voice, the voice of One whom they knew not, sounded in their affrighted ears, once, and again, yea, a third time, and each time that the voice came it was followed by the trembling of the earth and the shaking of the prison walls. All nature quivered at the presence of the Majesty on High, while the heavy, palpable, impenetrable darkness still enshrouded them. ”

“ Why are we hated? Why are we misrepresented? for surely there never were people who were more misrepresented than the Latter-day Saints. I will tell you, it is because the day approaches when Satan's reign upon the earth will be brought to a close. He knows and realizes this fact and fills the hearts of those over whom he has power on the earth with hatred towards the principles that the servants of God teach. ”

“ The change in the life of Alma brought down upon him the persecutions of the wicked, for others treated him as he before-time had treated the Saints. But in none of these things was he daunted or dismayed, for he had joy in preaching the word, and in the conversion of many from their ungodliness. So conspicuous as a champion of the cause of God did he become, that Mosiah considered him the most proper person to whom to confide the custody of the sacred plates, and to act as the recorder of the nation's doings and progress ”

“ Death had no power over them; swords would not slay them; fire would not burn them; prisons could not hold them; chains could not bind them; the grave could not entomb them; the earth would not conceal them, for they had passed through a glorious change which freed them from earthly pain, suffering and death. The age in which they ministered was a peculiar one. Under ordinary circumstances, the superhuman powers shown by them would have brought the wicked to repentance. But the happy age of peace and innocence that had followed the Savior's ministry was fast passing away ”

“ Passive non-resistance for the future should be their policy, but the blood of a fellow-being they would never again shed, no matter how great the peril, how intense the aggravation. As a witness of the completeness of this resolution, they took their weapons of war and buried them deep in the earth with an oath and covenant that they would never dig them up again. Their integrity was soon put to the test, for the unconverted Lamanites, incited and led by the Nephite apostates, fell upon them, and, with sword and spear, massacred one thousand and five of their innocent unresisting fellows. ”

“ The unburning flame, the tottering walls, the quivering earth, the impenetrable cloud of blackness, all conspired to fill their hearts with solemn fear and awful dread. They realized the almighty power of God; they where filled with the sense of their own abject insignificance. ”