The Sons of God

THE sons of men are called sons of God, because 1. God is the “father of spirits” before they came to our earth and had contact with flesh, Heb. xii, 9. 2. As his creations. 3. They are sons by adoption to him after being separated from him through the transgression of our first parents in some respect; and also, “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” having reached a knowledge of good and bad. After we became “foreigners and strangers,” our Father organized a way to adopt his rebellious sons as sons of God, and in this way it is seen that all the saints are “sons of God.” It appears that there were persons of this character on the earth from a very early time, Gen. vi, 2, 4. The patriarchs were called sons of God, i.e., adoptive sons. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others, are seen as sons of God, and it appears that many of them were on the earth in the time of Job, chap. i, 6, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.” The following scriptures show the conditions of adoption, or that plan which God has to adopt sons, namely the gospel. Because no one in this sense can be sons of God without forgiveness of sins, and receive the Spirit of adoption, through which they cry, Abba, Father, it is seen that the same gospel in its ordinances for the same purposes is had by the first one as well as by all, until the last one is adopted as a son of God; and also, that the “children’s bread” or the spiritual gifts, and the direct association with their father, are promised to all as well as to any of his sons in any age; for he is no respecter of persons.

The “Rev. W. R. Davies, from Dowlais,” and His Cruel and Shameful Persecutions Again!—Again!!

(Continued from page 123 of the August Prophet.)

WHAT more malicious accusation can one evil man proclaim over and over again completely without foundation, than that we are “bloody old Chartists?” He is trying in this way to incite the state against us, for he knows very well the punishments, the scorn and the exile suffered by those against whom the same accusation was brought! Doubtless the nobility of our country as well as the common folk have tired of and understood his lies; otherwise he would have drawn their wrath upon us before now; we thank them, but not him, that we have life and liberty to worship God, and live among the graves of our fathers. Letters have been written to the aristocracy of the country asserting that the Saints are “Chartists,” seeking revenge against them! We do not guarantee that it was he who wrote them, but we will say this, that we do not consider that the man who dares proclaim this in the Baptist, the Star of Gomer, his Treatise, and his Catechism, and from the pulpits of the country, is a jot above writing that even to his Majesty himself, if he could; and that he who does the one thing would certainly not be above doing something even worse to try to prove it as well! We do not have anything to do with Chartism, nor with any matters of state, or of politics; only the eternal gospel as it is seen in the holy scriptures is our confession and our creed, and why can we not be left in peace now by our cruel persecutors? Yet, we proclaim fearlessly, and we challenge you to allow us a fair trial, and let our accusers, yes everybody with their refutations, come forward,—

The Saints are Not “Chartists”

All we have to do with the laws and institutions of our government is to give full obedience to each one, and every respect to their administrators, as the scriptures command us and everyone to do, “Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles (the sectarians): that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers (calling you “bloody old Chartists”), they may by your good works, glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether it be to the king, as supreme, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him, for so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men,” such as Mr. Davies, from Dowlais. He is trying to hide his own disgrace by bringing this accusation also against us, as is seen from what follows:—A few days ago for the first time ever in the country, the Chartists’ publication was put into my hand, and almost the first thing that drew my attention was the correspondence of someone very contentious filling several columns, militating with all his might against one of the main state institutions, namely the church; and the surprise was seeing the full name of our accuser at the bottom of it as its author!! I could scarcely believe my eyes that there was a man who had been a fervent correspondent of Chartism’s Trumpet and who was shameless enough to accuse the innocent of being “bloody Chartists;” but, when I remembered that “W. R. DAVIS, DOWLAIS,” was the man, the surprise vanished then and there, for that is his habit! Plainer still, toward the end were words like these,— “Success to you (says Mr. Davies to the Chartists, note!) and your publication (namely to proclaim Chartism!!) is the HEART-FELT WISH (of our accuser!!!) of your well-wisher.

Dowlais, Merthyr. W. R. DAVIES.

Yes, reader, the same W. R. Davies who was that much of a Chartist at “heart” at that time, is now assuming the form of the angel of light to accuse others of being Chartists, when some of them did not know that such a thing as Chartism had existed, until it was dead and buried! This is one of Davies’s own miracles when he was a Chartist at heart! Come forward, Sir, and see who is the “Chartist;” you were not ashamed to attest with your hand in public that you were a well-wisher at heart of Chartism!! If you deny this, we will prove it in black and white: yes, I have it carefully filed away also, as it will likely come in handy again. If anyone doubts whether this is possible, let him read it in No. 9, Vol. 1, of Trumpet of Wales, and then let him say to our accuser, “Thou art the man.” “Physician heal thyself,” again for shame.

Again, he says, “one would think from reading that accursed book that is called “Star of the Saints,” that they are numerous.” How wonderfully do these things, these titles, sound through the splendid chapels when they are answered in one voice by the scholars! And oh, how he laughs up his sleeve while rejoicing in such revenge! Next for the refutations he brings to prove that book accursed and untruthful, what are they? Oh, the same proof as he brings for every other assertion, i.e., no proof whatsoever; nor any pretence of a proof! Only shouting three little words of ten letters! This is all he offers to prove hundreds of his fellowmen to be liars, shouting, “THEY ARE NOT.” He must be duller than the school children if he expects them to swallow his ipse dixit as the truth without proof, or perhaps he considers himself some sort of infallible being, so that he is not expected to lower himself to attempt to prove anything he says, although every accusation is as full of poison to the characters of better men than he, as the fangs of the asp or the viper are of venom. And yet, if we were not numerous, that is no proof against us, i.e., according to Mr. Davies’s own rule of interpretation, which is seen yet in the columns of Chartism as follows:—”Note that it is not the mass or the state that legitimizes any institution, rather justice and the tendency of the principle to benefit its subjects.” Well done\ And so he knows better than to condemn us if we are not numerous, then. It is fair to bring his own scales to weigh him, is it not? Yet, he said when a Chartist at heart, “Only three were to be found on the plain of Durah who did not bow to the state religion.” “The three young lads, Elias and others, would be merely the objects of scorn, apparently, to Sir R. Inglis and his brother Mr. Prejudice,” he says. So the Saints are merely the objects of scorn to this Sir W. R. Davies, because he shouted “They are not” numerous! What would you say about that, Sir? Are you not imitating those you condemned? Yet, the argument is ended by fair statistics about our increase and that of our accuser. Surely you will be satisfied by what your own assembly letter says, Sir! Well, it says on page 7, that 87 is the addition to your Glamorgan Conference in the past year. They also admit, “This year’s increase has been caused mainly by moves from other counties.” Not through baptism. Compare this with the letter of the Glamorgan Conference of the Saints, and it will be seen that 295 were baptized in the past year!! without counting the “move-ins.” This is almost four times the increase of the denomination of the man who cries “They are not.” “And in their midst there is not one responsible man,” says he. What! not one! Sir. It is useless to expect to attract enough money from them to buy ships, and “live in idleness” very long, since there is not “one responsible” man in their midst, for responsible and wealthy are synonymous to you, I should think! Are not some of your old members who came to the Saints “responsible?” What is responsibility? Is it going up into pulpits to shout “Satanists,” and bloody old Chartists, &c, at his neighbors that makes a man responsible, then? or is it by publishing all manner of false accusations, and lying, evil tales about religious people that responsibility is gained, according to your Dictionary? If so, you are the most responsible we know, and great will be your responsibility in days to come!

The poor Saints! Not one responsible man or woman among so many hundreds of those who were respectable members, zealous deacons, and gifted preachers with other religious denominations, some of them for thirty to forty years—not so much as “one responsible” person! They have baptized about a hundred in Dowlais in a few months. Mr. Davies, did you search them all for a responsible man? There are nearly five hundred now in one branch of the Saints in Merthyr, Mr. Davies; do you know every one of them? If so, why do you say “They are not” increasing? If you do not know every one; yes in every place where the “Star of the Saints” gives their story, how can you be sure that there is not ONE responsible person among them in some part of Wales? Poor Davies, we are afraid he has gone mad; at least “his speech accuses him” of it. We have his own words to throw in his face very nicely again. “When Sianco tells a lie, he always tells it so clearly that everyone knows it is a lie;” since the cap of the little old lady from Cardiganshire is in fashion and fits you so well, wear it Mr. Davies; and thank you for telling your lies about the Saints so clearly that everyone can see that they obviously are lies.

We ask, in the name of justice, what is to be done with a man like this? We have tried every way we can devise through arguments and scriptures, to defend our religion from the disgrace he tries to bring upon it: we have scourged him with his own whips so painfully and so often that we think he is so callous and unfeeling, his face so shameless, and his conscience so seared that it is useless to try to impress anything upon him, or to restore him any more; he will not be persuaded by facts or reasons. Yet he does not cease blowing out his threats and slaughter against the innocent. There is no peace for our characters to worship God! What more can we, or are we expected, to do for him? We were previously blamed for not putting up defenses against him; and having put up defenses, his brothers refuse to read them, but boast that they have often thrown the defense into the fire before reading it; this is done not infrequently! Yes, we have prayed a great deal for him, until we had sufficient facts to prove that it was knowingly and stubbornly that he published the ugly false accusations about us out of enmity for the truth! Now, our hands are clean of him and the results of his persecution. With easy consciences we can refer him henceforth to special care, and to the eternal arms he fights against; it is obvious that he has worked himself into such firm error, that he prefers, yes he is determined, to believe lies and reject the truth, after having a fair offer of both. Does he not prevent everyone he can, in every way he dares, from looking into, and finding the truth: no doubt there are many more of the honest in heart and lovers of the truth who have been blinded by him than dare search: may merciful God have pity on such ones, we say with all our heart, and shatter the cast iron creeds that oppress them. But as for him, he must know, or at least he had sufficient opportunities to know better; so we are now satisfied for the sake of those who are in two minds, and our accuser should jump onto the scales first. What say you, Sir? are you prepared for the one who can judge correctly to end the argument between us, so that everyone may understand which of us serves the God of heaven? You shouted a great deal for “a miracle” a miracle, and a sign from one direction or another; well now, Sir, we join you in prayer that he who possesses miraculous power should please you so much as to give you a sign all the same, at a time he wishes himself, remember. It is a pity that you have not had some little sign by now!

We have better things to do with our valuable time than notice the wrangling of such contentious men as these if they would leave us in peace; yet, it would be doing an injustice to our religion and our nation and everyone if we were to suffer defenselessly like murderers or thieves. A short time will bring an end to the argument, whether we know what we are dealing with, or whether we are practicing religion at random like our accusers.

The “Hater Of Deceit” Proving Himself a False Prophet Again!!

THIS anonymous accuser has filled various columns of the Revivalist for July, with his foolish false accusations against the Saints; and of the two it is more stupid than in the May issue, which in the eyes of every reasonable man, it would be supposed, was proven in the Prophet for May and June, to be beneath common sense. He admits that his skin is smarting quite harshly under the treatment he got, which signifies that he has not become completely without feeling; the truth is harsh in the eyes of a number of men, and who will console him! Instead of admitting his false accusations after receiving proofs of them, and taking them back, as every “hater of deceit” would do, he goes on stiffnecked to pile up a heap of stupid assertions without foundation again; without proving that the saints deserve one characteristic of all he says. He complains very pitifully that he has been proclaimed a “deceiver, a deist, and an atheist, &c, so that it is plain to see (he says) that it is by Beelzebub that they cast out a devil, if they do, and thereby show how little of the Saints’ principle is being shown.” We raise the last part of this disjointed sentence up to the wind, and we hold it before the eyes of our readers as an example of deceitful reasoning, the most foolish that could be got from the mouth of a babe. How does proclaiming you a “deceiver,” &c, prove that it is by Beelzebub that the Saints cast out a devil, Sir! What do you mean? Why put that if, having closed the assertion up already? This is stupidity too bad to get a place in any publication, we would have supposed. Concerning that first part of his sentence accusing us of calling him the above names, it is an example of his previous false accusations, and proves that these are his best weapons this time again to fight against us. We challenge him to bring forward the sentence, the page, and the words that prove that we call him names. Oh no, that is his work. We did not give him those names, but we showed that he proved himself thus, brought his article before him, and through fair reasoning we proved that “thou art the man” who is guilty of those characteristics. “Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I; yea, thine own lips testify against thee.” Why struggle then? He should stop putting the cord about his neck, if he does not want to hang himself. He should not blame us for putting it there, because that is where we found it. See how little of the “principle of a Saint” (not truthfulness) is in him in this matter. Listen reader to another example of our persecutor’s madness, and we are surprised that he was able to get a place in any publication! “But I thank him (he says, that is, he thanks us for whipping him “quite harshly” as he says); my only wish was to get him to oppose me,” and so, poor fellow, here you are not only having got your wish like everyone else who opposes our dear religion with lies, but also hanging yourself again with your own words like this;—In your first attack you asserted that it was not out of jealousy of the Saints, nor with any evil purposes, but that your only wish was to save your dear compatriots; then your next only wish was “love of the truth”, when it was proven that your only wish was to tell about a dozen lies of your neighbors, and your only wish now is to add evil to the deceit, and strive to tell lies horrible enough to excite men’s feelings, and bring them out to oppose you!! Well, that is what blackguards do when they are drunk and want to start a fight, and bring others out to oppose them, namely like you, planning the accusations that will excite us the most. This is the confession of a bully, you poor fellow, since that is your “only wish”, what will you win? Only shame and rebuke. Why is it necessary to publish these lies about our religion for the sake of getting us to oppose you, Sir? You also admit here, that you are one of the stubborn, corrupt-minded arguers that Paul talks about, not having the truth, and he urges us to retreat from such men, and we admit, if we had thought that this “hater of deceit” did not have a better reason or principle than what has appeared so far, that we would have left him to fight his own imaginary goblins. A very unworthy purpose for such a masterpiece, is it not? Why did you not get hold of some principle that we wrote about, poor fellow, since we publish so many principles so frequently, and so contrary to your traditions, and leave people’s characters in peace? That would be the nicest way by far for a man as zealous as you to expose deceit, instead of shouting deceit, deceit, deceivers all the time at the top of your voice, and threatening to show it, and only threatening, and then giving into passions for falsely accusing, and never proving any assertion true; you imitate that foolish shepherd who shouted “wolves, wolves” in order to frighten people, when there were no wolves nearby, and then he laughed in his sleeve, but the day of reckoning came to him before long, as it will come to you if you do not repent of your hypocrisy and evil. Who are you, poor thing, who shouts “Mormonism is deceit,” and then expects everyone to believe your babble without any proof, and then you blame them if they do not follow your lead to shout as you do; reasonable men judge you only by the contempt you show yourself; cannot everyone else judge our religion when they hear it, as well as you can? Your stupidity stinks in the nostrils of the readers of the Revivalist according to what we hear. You hear the sore threatener again; “He [that is, little old us!] and his religion will show themselves in their true colors before long.” Goodness gracious! What will become of us then! it will be the end of the world for us or worse, he supposes; apparently it will be better for us to settle our accounts and make ourselves ready to exit since this great Goliath is putting on his arms, and putting them before him like this!! “before long,” is it, Sir? only a short time for us and our religion to live, it appears. You poor thing, you remind us of the old saying, “barking dogs seldom bite.” You have long been threatening to publish our deceit; and trumpeting all the time that you are going to reveal something very terrifying. And so far you have disappointed us completely. Yes, you have been lent as much of the Revivalist as you wished; it did its part for you to fulfill your promise, and no doubt there is the odd man who has been expecting you to show something evil by now against the people you threaten so severely, and persecute so cruelly, but so far not one proof of any deceit or heresy of the Saints, no, not one! Neither can he, although it is seen that he would find it sweet to do so. Poor fellow, you want to get us to oppose you, do you, only to threaten and falsely accuse us. No wonder you refuse to reveal your name just like every deceiver or slanderer. Oh evil man, hiding in his black hole like the fox, gnashing his teeth from there at those who go by; is this fair? Give your name to the world, so that they understand who deserves the whip, and who are our accusers. We are never ashamed to own our names in public under what we publish in support of the truth, as you are ashamed to own up to your ridiculous lies! You asserted in the previous issue that you had been a member with the saints, which is greatly doubted, unless you are that Thomas Jones who was in one meeting only, but who joined another group in order to get higher pay from his master. If you are not he, you have been caught lying in your first assertion that you have been with the Saints. If you are he, you have been caught lying before witnesses denying the denomination; furthermore the letter written to people in Blackwood is still extant, and it condemns you as lying whichever way you turn, or whichever person you are. And your truthfulness has been completely forfeited; was it for the purpose of doing this that you hid your name, Sir? Shame on the man who falsely accuses his neighbors because of their religion, and does it under the cover of the city, with his name hidden! Another example of our persecutor’s stupidity is the “proverb” he quotes, that is, “When thieves fall out with each other an honest man gets the account of his property.” You suggest that you are a good thief, yes, you admit that when you admit that you yourself are one of the parties who are “complaining aloud!” For our part, we deny the suitability of the comparison to us completely, and it is not we but you who are accusing yourself of stealing the goods of an honest man; where are they? Hopefully you will tell their owner, so that he can retrieve them! Is this the sort of man who shouts deceit about his neighbors’ religion! And he is the one who said a while ago that his “ONLY wish” in all his attacks on the Saints was to get us to oppose him. Then after everything we proved that he is a lover and publisher of deceit; we have shown that he has proved himself a deist, a false prophet, and guilty of about a dozen intentional lies, and we have done all this to him fairly and unanswerably, but instead of admitting his faults, as an honest man would do, now he runs into his hole, shouting, “But since his wrangling [no, fair and irrefutable arguments, and scriptures not a one of which you can refute, Sir] is beneath attention [oh yes? beneath attention after you have got your only wish, is it? It is easy for every boy along the roads to shout this when he cannot give any other excuse] I shall not tire the reader this time by making any notes on it,” this aggressor says, yes, even having got his “only wish!” No rebut! Not one argument left in your defense! Is it not worth your trying to wash the dirty stains that you daubed on your character before! or any effort at all, I wonder? Oh, he is very poorly off, when he admits that he cannot make the least little effort against all the whipping he has had, after he has admitted it was HARSH. Where are his dear partners now? they will help him to clear his character somehow, poor thing, since he is the aggressor: we are on the field, with our full armor on all the time defending ourselves from the arrows of all our false accusers, and the slanderers, and the apostates, and the traitors, who make us a target for their rush arrows, and still our basket is full of the arrows of truth, although our persecutors’ baskets, one by one, are emptying; and the emptiest bag of them all, we suppose, is this last one, which is without so much as one arrow to shoot back; still, there is not enough humanity in him to admit that, but he continues to assert to the last what he said at first. “Beneath your attention,” is it? Like this was that little corgi who barked at the moon until he cracked his voice, and then he turned with his little tail wagging boastfully, suggesting that the moon was not worthy of his attention any more! Poor thing! what’s the difference if that dog or this one barks on, or who tried to get them to do so, and what good is the bark of the last any more than that of the first? The way this man tries to prove the Saints deceivers, and false prophets, is by quoting a list of scriptures from the Old Testament and the New, and asserting completely without proof that they refer to the Saints, when, in truth, he has stolen those, together with the observations about them, almost word for word from the little essay called “False Prophets,” in which we proved the Saints completely innocent in the face of everything; and not one of the characteristics the scripture gives as the fruits of false prophets, or false teachers, is to be had amongst the Saints after a fair examination; and since we have proven our accuser guilty of them clearly, every one, he tries to turn them back with assertions without any proof. This is the Irishman’s logic,—”It is said that there is a thief in the town, and you must be he,” he says to the first one he meets on the street. Concerning the godly man whom you (reviler) call “that deceitful monster, namely Joseph Smith,” you know nothing about him but the mendacious stories of our enemies, and you cannot prove to us that any one of the characteristics of a monster, or an evil man, belonged to his character, for we knew him better than that personally for years, and thus we are witness to what we know about him, which you cannot be; and we testify also that he was a good and godly man, despite the fact that you and your ilk, blasphemous revilers, try to falsely accuse him as you do to everyone more godly than you, practically. Regarding the prophecy you quote from Jeremiah, it does not refer to us, but to our accuser. You great prophet, we ask you, When did you see 301,000 reasonable men “jointly testifying to lies, and striving together to deceive!!” Oh man, do you yourself, on your baseless assertion alone, dare to condemn the religion of so many, in the face of over three hundred thousand opposing witnesses! Prove your foolishness, before trying to get anyone to believe you, rather than the whole lot.

When will the following accusing prophecies you make be fulfilled? “And when they become numerous enough, then their fruits will prove it.” Wait till that time comes, then, or stop denying the Spirit of prophecy. What prophet wants to prophesy evil and slander, as you do? “And when the Shareholders of the Joint Stock Company become numerous enough, then the principle of Mormonism may be seen,” you say. Oh, such eagerness you show to blacken this religion! Under what spirit did you prophesy, Sir? The saying has it that “it was an evil man of the heart’s evil treasure that brought out evil things” about others. Yes, the good principles of Mormonism will be seen, when you and all its mockers have gone to oblivion. As for the “Joint Stock Company,” there is not, nor has there ever been, any connection between it and Mormonism; and if you did not know this, you should have known before publishing your stupidity to the world. The former was a trading society only, which had been established according to the laws of Britain, and had been duly registered in the Chancery, like other lawful societies; and if it had been connected with our religion, would the government have defended it when our religion is not connected with the government? Oh, no, you are showing your eagerness to blacken our religion again with this, but failing. Mormonism is above your unhealthful odor to insult it. It is your shameless hypocrisy that causes you to pretend to pity so much the “dear Welsh” as you call them.

Love for the truth, and your own immortal soul, compels us to testify boldly that you are through this “galloping towards the land of woe!” And as for the rest of your deceitful hypocrisy, let it testify against you to your shame.

To the One Who Calls Himself “The Traveler of Nantyglo, or William Williams”

SIR,—In a small essay of yours, you accuse Prophet of the Jubilee of containing an article, in which there were the “most impudent and shameless lies that man could possibly imagine.” Our respect for that publication, together with our great desire for everyone to have the truth, compels us to call for proofs of that heavy accusation. We consider from both sides that we are worthy of this favor from you, for we would not wish for anything that anyone would lie under any kind of false accusation through the Prophet any more than we would suffer the Prophet to lie undefended under such an accusation as that one. We readily admit that we, like any other fallible editor, are prone to being wrongly informed; and if we were deceived in the story to which you refer, we plead, we demand, yes, humanity will force you, since you have made that accusation, to bring convincing and fair proofs that this story consists of impudent lies. A reasonable man will not consider “you are lying” as one proof of the matter in a debate. Oh no; nothing less than witnesses, or facts, will satisfy him who seeks the truth. The accusation that is brought in the March issue of the Prophet is that “the Committee of Lodge 299, Ivor Hael Lodge, excommunicated religionists from their midst because of their religion.” This is the subject under discussion: and so stand to it. You assert that it is an impudent lie, and if you will but send proofs of that, your defense will have the most prominent place in the columns of the publication that you accuse; and what do you want that is fairer than this? Now, we will stand on this until your accusers are brought to the disgrace that every attacker on other persons deserves: but, on the other hand, remember that if you do not do this after such a fair call and offer, the disgrace will fall on your own head. We consider this a generous and fair way to end the small debate under consideration, without wasting many words. Yet, we vow that neither you, Sir, nor anyone else, will ever be falsely accused through the Prophet while we are associated with it. But remember also that we, upon opening the columns of the Prophet to defend, that defending is what will be done, yes, defending in humane and gentle language and spirit, with good intent, and not for any quarrelling, or for the use of sentences such as, “these rogues, when spewing their blasphemy against their betters,” or “these rogues have a mouth to swear, but no teeth to chew,” or “secretive sneaks, despite scorn, slander, and reviling.” What good are names like these to prove a point, or to enlighten the mind of any wise man? Well, we say, for goodness’s sake, leave such language where it belongs, namely in debauchery. Please understand, and may all our readers understand, that truth is what you and they will get through the Prophet, or else we will not be at fault. Understand plainly also that this matter is not in any way between the Saints and the Ivorites, for the article in question admits in the following words that the Ivorites were not blamed, page 49,— “But, it is worthy of the others of this generous and respected society to publicly inform the circumstances, and the persons who caused them (namely the “respected society”) this shame (namely the excommunication of their members because of their religion); and it will be seen who of them (namely the others of the Ivorites) are so philanthropic and just as to take their broom to clean these foul stains from out of their remembrance.” Therefore, Sir, it is obvious that this was a personal matter, and something considered against the rules of the Ivorite society; and so you cannot be a defender for the Ivorites, but only for those persons of the Ivorites who are accused of excommunicating some other persons because of their religion. The only suggestion that is in the article for the society is these words, page 50, “Whether this (namely the excommunication referred to) is an example of Welsh Ivorism, or of oppression and the transgression of this clan of their rules, is proved through facts that undo the transgression, or their conformity through their tolerance of that.” This is fair enough, and stands as a firm standard. And so you cannot be a defender of Ivorism as appropriately as can your exiled brothers. What depends on you now is to prove that such a committee as your accusers mention was never convened, or that no persons were excommunicated because of their religion, which if you do will bring the names of your accusers to the world as publicly as your own names. This is what you ought to do in your essay; for a thousand essays, if they do not contain this, will do nothing but cause you to sink deeper into the bog; and this can be done (if in fact it can be done at all) without sinking into evil and shameful passions. Is it jealousy for a few persons whom you accuse of the aforementioned cruelty that causes you to revile and reproach the beloved religion which hundreds of thousands of people as wise as you depend on for eternal life? Is this humane? Is such temperament Christian that calls your compatriots, those who were born as free and independent, and received just as good an upbringing, and who are considered just as responsible as you, “SMITHITES ,” instead of the name they profess? Do they not have a right to choose their name, and to have it without being reviled, equal to the right of the Baptists, or any other denomination? What if they called you Waldenses, or Mennonites, or some other nickname out of scorn, would that be pleasing to your ears? Please consider that others have natural feelings also, and that it is to God they are responsible for themselves. As for the printing press that published the article, leave it alone until you prove, or until you offer as much as one proof, that it did not print the truth, and you will see that it will be as ready to publish your refutation, or your defense, as it was to publish the accusation. And until you do this, your surprise that your exiled brethren complain about their cruel treatment, will be like the little old woman who caned her son severely in case he did something wrong, until he cried, and then she caned him even worse for crying! So it is with you, say your brethren, for treating them so severely, and depriving them of the money they paid into your pockets, and now you revile them and mock them for expressing their complaint to their other brethren! Did they not have a right to complain when there was no law to defend them? Who would not do the same thing? And if you are not the guilty ones, it is easy for you to prove that, is it not? If you cannot, your previous defense proves to all men of discernment that you are defending yourself and your accused partners for excommunicating your brethren, and not defending one principle that is found in Ivorism. The article is not, as you say, “murdering society,” rather it is publishing the daggers, and showing the wounds that the assassins of society give to it like the Italian Assassin, by denying that, and twisting it against the society that is defended from him. Now, Mr. Williams, you see that no one uses pseudonyms, nor does anyone hide names, through the Prophet. You know the name of the one who urges you lovingly and earnestly, either to defend yourself, or to take the blame like a man. The one or the other now you cannot but do.

To you, Ivorites, we lovingly direct a query also, namely, Is it true that the “Saint David True Ivorites, Ivor Hael Lodge, No. 299, meeting at the sign of the Yew Tree, Aberystwyth parish, sent the following [aforementioned] defense, so that the Welsh in general will beware of SECRETIVE SNEAKS and murderers for the confidence and comfort of society, namely the Latter-day Saints”? Is it possible to have a lodge of Ivorites among barbarians, not to mention having them in the land of bibles, and in enlightened Wales, yes, in Blaenau, who profess religion, and who dare to revile, and behave so boorishly toward a party of religionists? If this is true, here is proof that the principle that defends and the principle that excommunicated are the same, and there is no need to blow much on this spark in order to have an ardent flame! If it was the Ivorites who sent out the aforementioned “defense,” what additional proof is needed that they excommunicate their members because of their religion, for to defend this is to confess the deed. But we will believe better of Ivorism for a while yet, than that they all hired this man and his little essay as a Goliath to defend them; otherwise their cause is a poor one in our sight! If their principle is just, they would defend the expelled, poor things, instead of defending those who expelled them! A character even worse for the Ivorites is this. We repeat, what knowledge we possess of Ivorism requires additional proofs, before we will believe that the society knows about, or that it approved the defense, any more than they knew of the aforementioned expulsion. A short time will prove whether the men will be restored according to their rights. That is the best fact. Or, whether the greatest Goliath will be praised, the one who scorns society most by defending its greatest enemies.

Garway Conference

TH I S Conference was held in Orcup, Sunday, July 18th. It was presided over by elder Henshaw. Nine branches were represented in a rather successful condition at present, and the officers unanimously proclaimed the success of the gospel. The number of members is 130. In the afternoon and the evening the crowd was addressed by elders Davies, Rhymni, and J. Morris, together with other visiting elders.

Hosts of listeners had gathered together, and appeared eager to hear the gospel, and there are good prospects for success yet in these environs. Some came forward at the end of the Conference requesting baptism. All the decisions of the Conference were unanimously approved. May the Spirit of the Lord lead us all along the paths of peace, is our prayer.

W. HENSHAW, President,

W. LEWIS, Scribe.

Accounts. America

CAMP OMAHA, May 30, 1847,—Apostle O. Hyde arrived here in good health on the 12th, and found his family well and in good spirits. He reports that apostles Pratt and Taylor arrived there in time to start with president Young, with a company of several hundred, to cross the Rocky Mountains to search for the best place to settle, which matter must be determined before the emigrants can be counseled to come there from Britain, unless the government agrees with the previous petition. They will probably be followed by two numerous companies, or three, during this summer, over the mountains. There are tens of thousands of acres of Indian corn planted on both sides of the Missouri river. The work that was done in the desert, and the crops that were put into the soil, are almost unbelievable. Under the blessing of heaven not one of the Saints will lack food when their harvest comes. All the wilderness, from Nauvoo to the Rocky Mountains, is alive with Mormons, with multitudes preparing to follow them from all the states. Great is the excitement that is in the west.

England

WE are very pleased to announce that president Spencer is improving from a heavy fever, and through the mercy of God he intends to fill his important office soon. Conference statistics show that the Saints in England are increasing by more than one thousand every quarter. Yet, their enemies shout, “They are declining, still declining.”

Ireland

IT is understood from an account of the Belfast Conference that the gospel is gradually increasing in many places in this country.

Scotland

SOME are being baptized in the Glasgow conference almost daily, and there is constant increase in the Edinburgh environs, &c.

France

SEVERAL additional preachers have gone to this country lately, and several have obeyed the gospel, with hopeful signs.

Wales

MERTHYR.—This branch is on a constant increase, with hardly a week that some do not come in, to the point that the members here number over five hundred faithful Saints, in a unity of the faith and a bond of peace. Some poor little man has been agitating Georgetown constantly on Sunday nights for several months, bringing with him a crowd of the same persuasion as himself, for the express purpose of deriding the Saints, and they are most zealous! Poor things, they unwittingly produce scores of people to hear the gospel for every one that used to come there. Among the persecutors are religionists who claim to be quite prominent with the denominations, running from the communion table, and gnashing their teeth worst in the faces of the preachers! The most gentlemanly procedure of their Goliath is to jump on a chair near a preacher of the Saints, and continue to shout with all his might, “You are a liar, you are a liar,” &c, constantly. When the Saints move to another place, he moves after them, and does the same thing there. And he is not ashamed to announce that he is determined to follow them and persecute them as long as he is able, wherever they may go. The greatness of God’s patience is remarkable in suffering such a thing for so long. We are reliably informed that religionists hire him for money to do this! Since we have heard that this man has asserted in public many times that he has spoken with us, and found us to be liars, and many other allegations, we announce to our readers that every syllable of it is an unfounded lie, that we have no recollection of our eyes ever having seen the man before, and that we do not know him from all the people of the world; nor are we anxious to see such an intractable wrangler. He has not been deserving of so much as this of our attention before, and we would be loathe to lower ourselves from our important calling to quarrel with a man, or men, so unprincipled and liberal. Our God will take care of such when they have done all the good they can for his work, by calling the attention of the honest in heart to the gospel through their persecution. “I will repay, saith the Lord.”

DOWLAIS.—The preachers in this town are awake in earnest now against the Saints, because almost all of them are losing a number of their members. The old tricks of these (with some respected exceptions) were to preach against the Saints, and publish every shameful and unfounded story about them, but they have a new method now, since their previous persecution only brought men to listen to the Saints for themselves, and the result was, if they were honest in heart, for them to believe the truth, and they joined with the Saints. Now, everyone who goes to hear the Saints preach is sorely threatened! And great is the excommunication after some come from their midst to the Saints, making them an example to frighten the others. But this did not succeed, for the people came to the Saints constantly; and the new device afoot now is to choose a select number of the most impudent brawlers from the different schools and chapels, and send them after the preachers of the Saints to oppose them wherever they are preaching, rather similar to the Spaniards’ sending their bloodhounds after the natives of America in the past, and great was the barking and hubbub they caused to keep the listeners from hearing the gospel. But let them go ahead, poor things, for their stupidity becomes obvious to all, and they cause hosts to come to listen, and many to believe. Despite “the father of lies,” and all his devices, the truth prevails until well over a hundred have been baptized by the Saints in Dowlais in a few months; and those being some from among nearly all the sects, and who would not for the world go back to the “empty husks” they left. May the gracious and good Lord yet tear the veil from the eyes of hosts there, so they may see this godly light.

CWMBYCHAN.—The sectarians work more cunningly through the works here than in some places. Here biting the heel is their game to turn the Saints from their work. Yet there are here attentive and dignified listeners searching for the truth, and embracing it despite every scowl and scorn also. We are informed some time ago that 11 have been baptized there since the last Conference (less than a month ago), and that several others have promised to obey soon. And lately several additional preachers went there, and some from the environs.

LLWYNI.—Excitement here once again has been blown up through persecutions and threats; nevertheless, the Saints are faithful and determined, and many have been baptized lately. We heard that false religionists have succeeded in getting some nearby gentleman to turn the Saints from their work because of their religion; but we hope, for the sake of humanity, freedom, Christianity, and reason, that within the borders of enlightened Wales—evangelical Wales, that there is no man as cruel as that.

LLANELLI.—The Editor of the Revivalist says that the Saints in his town are some insignificant little things, and that all one has to do to kill them is to pretend not to hear them. This is a prophecy that proves its author a false prophet! Remember it! But the Saints, despite it all, have caused great searching and excitement to take place in Llanelli, yes, even in his own chapel, that he will never extinguish, although he tries to smother it for a while. The Saints baptized 12 there last month to begin with. Rather good, is it not, Mr. Rees?

PONTYBEREM.—Elders H. Williams, Edward Thomas, and Ephraim Rowland are very diligent in these environs, and there is much call for preaching. We heard that they baptized two women lately. Success to them.

PEMBROKESHIRE.—It is the persecutions of the antagonistic preachers that are bringing hosts of listeners here also, and we are informed by brother Mitchell, and others, that some have been baptized since the Conference.

CARDIGANSHIRE .—Elder W. Evans, from Rhymni, and priests James Edwards, and J. Price, have been diligent throughout this County for some time, and are having a splendidly good hearing.

MACHYNLLETH.—We received a letter from elder A. Evans from there lately. The Saints are increasing in unity and love, and like all the congregations of the Saints, great are the gifts and blessings of God in their midst.

FLINTSHIRE.—Elders John Jones, and J. Parry, from Birkenhead, are presently assisting the previous preachers in this County, and several have been baptized. They complain that the family of Demetrius is stirring against them over toward the north, and that they are arming themselves with unfounded tales invented by its Sanhedrin here in the south. Here is proved true the old proverb that says, “A lie sets the whole province on fire while the truth is lighting its match;” yet the truth will be proven, and in time will overcome the sanctuaries of lies.

DENBIGHSHIRE.—Several hard-working officers are preaching the everlasting gospel very successfully in this area also, and many people are searching into it.

CAERNARVONSHIRE.—Elder E. Edwards and priest Lewis Jones are very diligent in this County. We have had several letters from them recently, showing zeal and determination not to turn back. The first stubborn opposition was around Bethesda, &c. The best weapons his enemies had were the lying stories of the newspapers against the character of Joseph Smith, and other elders of the church. We thank God for a doctrine from which they cannot budge one principle. We are also grateful for the certainty we possess that the accusations brought against the vessels that established it are unfounded lies. He says that neither he nor Lewis Jones have suffered from want of any necessity; and the two of them wish for us to announce that Lewis Jones had no intention of coming back, as the enemies of the truth had thought, but that he is preaching boldly and diligently everywhere throughout those environs; and using his own words in a letter lately from Bangor, he says, “I have my heart’s desire, and am determined to go forward with this godly work, let them say whatever they wish about me; I have been disappointed in them; and I send my best love to all the Saints.” I wonder whether those who caused such persecution to this faithful servant of God will be ashamed, when time proves their lies in their faces!

ANGLESEY.—Elder Robert Evans is preaching his best, and he says that some rascals called the “Sons of Anglesey” sent a request to him in one place to leave the County, or his life was in danger! He answered them that he was satisfied, if that was their desire, but that they should remember that his blood would be required of those “Sons of Anglesey” eternally. And he is still preaching bravely.

To Our Distributors

THE first part of the “SCRIPTURAL TREASURY” is off the press, price one shilling, and it can be received with the Prophet. The work contains about four or five segments sixpence each, in addition. We earnestly beseech you, dear friends, to continue your former diligence in spreading our publications, especially the Treasury, and returning the money as soon as possible. One need see only the first part to see the great need for such a book as an instructor to the Saints; and especially so the preachers can understand what we believe on all the topics it contains, and have the thoughts of the inspired writers gathered together at their service, so they may defend them against the attacks of their opponents. The Treasury will enlighten our fellow nation concerning our doctrines, which they oppose in their ignorance, for we believe that the publicity of our religion is proportionate to its success in persuading lovers of the truth to embrace it. It is our duty and our privilege to publish it; and the more we do of this, the more we benefit our fellowman, and we shall be rewarded by him who owns the divine work that has been entrusted to us. Now is the time to work, before the days of tribulation come!

* * * We beseech all our distributors to prepare to settle all their accounts by the end of the year, and if there are some books or Prophets on hand that cannot be sold, to return them at that time.

* * * We have on hand several “History of the Saints,” price one shilling, and we hope that not one of the Saints will be without one.

* * * We also have a selection of nearly twenty kinds of pamphlets of different prices, from a halfpenny to three shillings, which we have published in Welsh lately, and which can be obtained if you hasten.

* * * Also, a variety of English books, such as the “Book of Mormon,” and the “Voice of Warning,” “Millennial Star,” fortnightly, 3c.