Review.

Principles of the Latter-Day Saints weighed in the Scales of Logic and the Scriptures. By Williams Jones, Bethesda.

[Continued from page 287.]

(8.) “They believe that, after they go to California,” he says further, “Jesus Christ will come to meet them, and that they will reign with him for a thousand years, when everyone else will be destroyed.” Perhaps William Jones has read this, for the biggest part is true. Zion is commanded to get up on a high mountain, and to build a city and a house for God; and when Jesus Christ comes on the clouds of heaven, those who are alive and dead in Christ will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air; and we shall reign with him for a thousand years. (See Isaiah xl, 9; 1 Thes. iv, 17; Rev. xx, 4, 6.) With respect to the destruction of others, we believe that “the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God [namely, those who do not believe in the revelations of that time], and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,” not as it is preached by the sects of the age, and our fathers, rather as it was preached by Jesus himself and by his apostles, or as it is preached by the Latter-day Saints. (See 2 Thes. i, 7, 8.) All who do not know God, and who fail to say by the Holy Ghost that Christ is the Lord, a witness which is received by revelation, will be destroyed. Saints is the name of those in whom he will come to glory, and not any who call themselves by the names of men.

“I shall not mention the deceit of the Book of Mormon,” he says further on; no, he will not, we hope, before he reads it. Our author knows as much as the Koran of Muhammad, as he knows about the Book of Mormon, and as much about the two as he knows about “the whirlpool of perdition.”

Now, we shall go further along in our author’s book, and quote what he says on page 10:—“Theologians view the general government of our world in three parts, namely, from the fall of Adam until John the Baptist, the Father governed; from John the Baptist until the day of Pentecost, the Son governed, and from the day of Pentecost until the end of the world, the Holy Ghost shall govern. * * * In the Mosaic dispensation, God spoke on the earth through his angels; in the dispensation of John the Baptist, God spoke on the earth in the flesh; but in the present dispensation God speaks on the earth through his Spirit; and the ministry; and the ministry of the Spirit is called the last days,” (referring to Acts ii, 17, 18). We prefer to believe that the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost govern from the beginning to the end, than to believe what the theologians say. God spoke through his Spirit before John the Baptist, and also spoke through his angels after him, which shows the foolishness of the theologians.

In the foregoing quote, our author says that the ministry of the Spirit is called the last days; and then he recites the following verses:—“But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.’” Here he asks, “Was it on the day of Pentecost, 1800 years ago, or in the time of Joseph Smith, 23 years ago, that the dispensation of the last days began?” It is very easy to know which days are the last days; they are the last days, and not the others. These days are closer to being the last days than is the day of Pentecost. When God spoke of the last days, he knew which ones they were; and he said that in the last days he would pour out his Spirit upon all flesh, which did not take place on the day of Pentecost, or any other day since then.

Who on that day prophesied, or saw visions, or dreamed dreams? Yes, let us read the two following verses, which are as follows:—“And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come.” Did all these things happen on the day of Pentecost, or on the following days? No, never. What happened on those days was a pouring out of the “firstfruits of the Spirit,” about which Joel prophesied, which will be poured upon all flesh. When the words of Joel are fulfilled, the wolf and the lamb will be seen dwelling together, for the Spirit of God will have been poured upon all flesh. What Peter said on the day of Pentecost was, that “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel,” namely, the Spirit that was to be poured upon all flesh in the last days, and which was given as a firstfruit to them at that time. Therefore, it is not blasphemy and presumption to say that in the days of Joseph Smith, or the last days, the prophecy of Joel will be fulfilled. When God speaks of the last days, we can be sure that he knows that they are the last ones, and not some days previous to them. It is clear that our author has weighed this again with the incorrect weights.

Furthermore, on page 11, “The Mormons say,” says he, “that Joseph Smith was the first of the Latter-day Saints, and there is no one else by that name except for his followers. I myself believe St. Peter, that the 3000 who received his word willingly on the day of Pentecost, were Latter-day Saints.” If so, we must believe that the believers on the day of Pentecost were Latter-day Saints, and that the Saints of the former days were followers of Joseph Smith. It was quite easy for Paul to prophesy concerning the men who would leave the faith in the last days, when those days were in his own time!

On the same page, our author shows “the great foolishness of saying that the gospel and the church were taken from the earth!” “What a terrible thought,” he says, “after gracious God gave his Son to die for sinners;—for him to leave the world, for which his Son had suffered pain and agony on the cross, in darkness, despair, and misery, without hope and without God in the world, for 1600 years.” That is practically how it was, according to the sectarian creed of the country. Do they not know that it was Papism that overspread the Christian world during the majority of the above time? God permitted the mother whore of the earth to fill the world with religion for centuries; and presently he gives the same permission to her daughters, or those which derived from her. But if the religion of Christ was not on the earth during the above time, who was at fault? we are certain that God was not at fault, rather it was men. And if we allow that true religion was in the world at that time, God did not care for more than just a small handful of his creatures, although “the gift had been purchased,” and “a fountain had been opened.” God is merciful and just, and has organized a plan to preach the gospel to every creature, whether in this world or in the other world, whether in this age or some other age. Cease to weigh so unfairly, Mr. Jones.

It is true that the Christian dispensation is to stand its ground, and that Jesus Christ said, “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” That rock is revelation, and not that which will be affected by flesh and blood, or human wisdom. No one is a worthy rock to be placed as the foundation of the Church, if he does not know by the Spirit that Christ is the Lord. That the Church or the woman flew from the dragon to the wilderness was no proof that it was defeated; for the church was “nourished there for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” (See Rev. xii, 14.) It was necessary that there come a “falling away first,” before the Church could meet Jesus Christ (2 Thes. ii, 1—3); and it was not defeated by the serpent or the gates of hell, since it received “two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place.” If the bodies of the apostles and others were destroyed, the church was in no way destroyed: if it was not seen on the earth for a season, yet it was alive somewhere, and it is logical to suppose that its gospel was being preached also, though not among those who had refused it. Weigh more correctly, dear friend.

Next, on page 12, our author says that the Mormons claim “that some of them are apostles, some are prophets, some are teachers, and some have the gift of healings, others the gift of speaking with strange tongues, others the gift to interpret, and others the gift to work miracles.” Then he strives to prove by the light of reason and scriptural revelation, that those who call themselves apostles of the latter days do not fill the characteristic of apostle, because there is no one who can say that he has received his sight from them. We wish for our author to read the different publications of the Saints, so he can have the opportunity of knowing what it is that is done by the Saints. We dare not offer proof of the divinity of our religion by referring to our miracles, for that is the way used by the false prophets, when they draw fire from heaven to prove their divinity. If our author says that the Mormons have many excuses not to work miracles, he should note that even Jesus Christ had some also; for he did not work many miracles in one place, because of their unbelief (Matt. xiii, 58); we could not many excuses if there were need to do so. “One reason they have is,” says he, “that they cannot satisfy men; 2nd, they cannot without the faith of those who ask; 3rd, they cannot unless the one on whom the miracle is worked believes.” Now we ask, did Christ satisfy men when on the cross or did he cast out the deaf and dumb devil from the young boy without faith or believe on the part of his father (Mark ix, 23, 24)? Read also as an answer, Matt. viii, 5—13; ix, 2; xv, 28; xvii, 14—21; besides scores of other places we could note. “Christ had not,” he says further, “mentioned the thinking of the governors of the feast before turning the water into wine; rather he did it without the governor’s knowledge.” Christ’s mother and the servants were faithful, and the miracle was worked because of their faith. “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it,” said his mother, which shows that she had considerable faith with respect to getting more wine. “Also,” says our author, “Christ performed a miracle to satisfy strangers, yes, even his enemies.— St. Matthew xvii, 26, 27.” Let Mr. Jones read these verses again. Who saw this miracle, except for Peter? The piece of money was to satisfy the strangers, and not the scene of Peter fishing, and opening the mouth of the fish. That was a private miracle, and was worked because money was lacking.

On the following page, (namely 13) he says, “It is reasonable to ask for the proofs they have of their authority, in order to have the standard of their doctrines in accordance with the truth of the scriptures, if it is so.” If the Saints cannot give miraculous proofs, then their doctrines are not in accordance with the Scriptures, even though the doctrines of the sectarians of the age are amply in accordance without giving one proof whatsoever. Oh, such inconsistency and blindness! Christ did not do miracles to satisfy anyone in this matter, for miracles are not proofs to prove truth. The Spirit of God is what proves truth. “If any man,” says Jesus Christ, “will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” Now, the men who ask for miracles, if they have read that, are behaving foolishly, and deserve to be called a wicked and adulterous generation; and indeed, no sign will be given them, though they request their entire lives, except the sign of the false prophets.

At the bottom of the same page, and the beginning of the other, our author mentions Christ’s raising of the daughter of Jairus, his casting out the devil from the young boy, and his healing of the lame man at the temple, as deeds that were done without faith, and without anyone’s asking for them. Our friend does not even try to understand his Bible. Did not Jairus have faith? and did not Jesus command him, “Only believe?” (See Mark v, 35—43.) With respect to the young boy, Jesus said to his father, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark ix, 23); and after he believed, the devil was cast out. The reason the apostles could not cast it out was because of their unbelief (Matt. xvii, 20). And with respect to the lame man of the temple, it is better to read our halfpenny pamphlet, namely, “Prove all things.” There we prove that the gift of receiving health was in possession of the lame man, and that through that he received the blessing. It is too much work for us to answer the same things several times.

It is Mr. Jones who says that the miracles of Christ and the apostles were public, and that through them they proved their divine mission. The Jews tell another story; Christ and the apostles were killed by them because of their deceit. If the New Testament testifies of their miracles, a great number of other books among the Jews deny them. They reason that Christ had an opportunity to work a miracle on the cross, but he was unable to do so. In no way do we doubt the miracles of Christ and his apostles; rather we wish to show that there were not as many who believed in them at that time as believe in them now. If Christ were to come to the earth in this age, and if he were to do the same works as earlier, promising the Spirit of revelation to everyone, we believe that he would receive just as bad treatment as he received earlier, treatment from the most prominent reverends and godly men. The people of every age of the world tend to disbelieve the works of God in their age. Now, the behavior of the world in this age, with respect to miracles, is the same as it was in the time of Jesus Christ. In primitive times, this proverb was said, “Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.” In like manner our author says, on page 15, in this age; namely, “Now, I ask where have those who call themselves Latter-day Saints given a sign so obvious that it cannot be denied, or that it can be believed: it is said in this area that a remarkable miracle was performed in Machynlleth; there they say that it was in Carmarthen the thing happened, and in Carmarthen they say that it was in Merthyr Tydfil the blind man received his sight; there they say again that they heard that one of the apostles calmed the storm on the voyage to California.” Are not the two languages similar? The two parties wish to be eyewitnesses themselves, and then they will believe. There will be those like this who depend on seeing signs, who will be deceived by false prophets and false teachers, when they come to show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. There are no doubt many examples of men who believed in the time of Christ, and also in this age, by seeing the power of God, but those are not the men who seek signs. They are men, most often, who came to believe in the normal way, namely through preaching.

On pages 15 and 16, our author intimates that the Mormons believe that “the church of God cannot exist without having twelve Apostles in connection with it.” Perhaps the church can exist, under some circumstances, without having twelve apostles; but it appears that twelve are more normal than fewer than that; and we also think that the church can also exist having more than twelve. But the church cannot exist without apostles. Mr. Jones says that Mathias was chosen in place of Judas; and he gives the impression that no other apostles were ordained. “Consider,” he says also, “that all met with death, except the apostle John; but we have no account of twelve other apostles being ordained in their place. If the Latter- day Saints have an account of that, we would like to know who they were by their names;—and before their witness is solid, it must be from the book of God, and not from the Book of Mormon.” Our author now shows, not only his ignorance of the Book of Mormon, but also of the book of God. Does he not know of the apostles Barnabas and Paul (Acts xiv, 14), and of Andronicus and Junia, who are of note among the apostles” (Rom. Xiv, 7)? Furthermore, read the following:—“And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all of the apostles. And last of all he was of me also, as of one born out of due time” (1 Cor. xv, 5—9). It is seen from this that there were not only twelve apostles, but quite a few more of them. Is that witness solid enough, pray tell? there are more proofs available if necessary. “The opinion of the theologians [simpletons] of the ages is that no more than twelve apostles were ordained.” That is not the opinion of the scriptures, nor the Book of Mormon. “An apostle was one,” says our author, “he saw the Lord Jesus in the flesh, and who was a witness of his resurrection.” Further, “The speech of St. Paul proves that he could not have been an apostle, if he did not see Christ in the flesh; and had he waited a little it would have been too late for him.” Now, Paul did not see Christ before his resurrection, and he could not have been a witness of his resurrection; nevertheless, Paul was an apostle. That which the sectarians understand by seeing “Christ in the flesh,” was to see him before his crucifixion, which Paul did not; but Paul did see him in his resurrected flesh, and apostles in this age could see him thus also; and how does Mr. Jones know that the apostles of the latter days have not seen him also. How much better was anyone for seeing Jesus Christ before his crucifixion, to be a witness? they could not say, in spite of that, that Christ was the son of the living God, without having a revelation from heaven. Paul was, despite not have seen Christ before resurrecting, as much a witness of him as they; for not one of them saw him resurrect any more than Paul did; and the apostles in this age, by revelation, can be as good witnesses of that as can any of the early apostles.

Further on the above topic, our author says, on page 17, “Have I not chosen you the twelve, and ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. St. John saw, in the Revelation, the New Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God; and the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. From this it appears beyond any argument that only one apostolic age was ordained.” Did not the Lamb have twelve apostles when he began to edify his church? We do not see that there is any impropriety in having the names of those twelve apostles placed on the twelve foundations. But were Paul and Barnabas, &c., not apostles, because their names are not on those foundations? They were, says everyone. Well, if they were, can others not be in this age also? Indeed, how are the saints perfected without apostles and prophets? It is said in Eph. Iv, 11—13, “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 fullness of Christ.” By this we see that a church cannot exist without apostles, for it is necessary to have them for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ; and they will be necessary until we all come together in the unity of the faith, or until the edifying of the church is finished. The scaffolding is not taken down from the building until after it is finished; and apostles, prophets, &c., are not taken from the church until its edifying is finished. If Jesus Christ is to be with his church until the end of the world, and to continue as its Chief Architect, he will no doubt keep the apostles and prophets working, until he completes his purpose, namely, finishing building the body of Christ. The apostles are the head of the church or the woman on the earth, and Christ is the Bridegroom, who is another head, in the same sense as the man is the head of his wife. The body cannot ever exist without a head, as it possibly could without feet. A head was the first member which God placed on the body, for it was one of the most essential members for leading the body. Read our treatise The Body of Christ, or the Church, and you will see many additional reasons for the continuation of apostles in the church, and the necessity of having them to complete the building.

We see nothing on pages 18 and 19 that is worthy of attention, since it is all nothing more than the author’s supposition; and on page 20, our author quotes a few verses that shatter his whole building; they are as follows:—“For he will yet come a second time in all the majesty and glory of his Father, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And whoever takes it upon himself to preach any other gospel than this, let him be anathema Maranatha.” “Preach the word being instant in season, and out of season; for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” Now, we ask, who is it that professes to know God? Not those who deny revelation. And who but the Saints preach the same gospel as Paul, by exhorting men to seek the best gifts, and do not forbid speaking with tongues, and corning prophecies? And who fails to tolerate that which the apostles preached earlier from being preached in this age? The sectarians of the country: it is they who dare to persecute the Saints for preaching all things as did the apostles; and it is they also who heap to themselves teachers, as we prove in our treatise “Sound Doctrine.” The above verses speak so clearly in favor of the Mormons, that there is no need to say another word.

At the end of the 20th page, Mr. Jones says, “For my part, I would believe Muhammad as soon as I would believe Joseph Smith, and the Koran as soon as the Book of Mormon; and it would be a full hundred times easier for me to give credence to the foolish and insane assertions of Joanna Southcott, or to any other of the religious deceivers who arose before him, or after him, as it would be for me to believe theirs.” That is true, for our author knows nothing about any of them. He describes Joanna Southcott as a man, poor thing; and a little further, he shows more of his ignorance, by mentioning the “Valley of the Salt Glen.”

On page 21, our author tries to prove that Joseph Smith was not a prophet. “They say,” says he, “that he (J. S.) was the sun of the justice.” On, the foolishness of the man, when he still listens to the little old ladies, instead of reading our books: let him show that in any book if he can. If he wants to see the prophecies of Joseph Smith, let him read the “Book of Doctrine and Covenants,” newly published in Welsh, and he will see how many have been fulfilled. He could also benefit from reading more in his Bible, instead of saying things such as what he says on page 22, namely, that “all will be caught up to the air to meet” Jesus Christ. The dead and those who are alive in Christ will meet him, and not everyone, unless they are all “ever with the Lord.” With respect to the coming of Christ to his temple on the earth, there is nothing more logical and scriptural. Inasmuch as John, in the Book of Revelation, proves that Christ will reign on the earth for a thousand years, then why can he not go to his temple? We have neither space nor time now to note the scriptures; and therefore, we shall leave the reader to search for himself, while we hasten to finish.

Now, we shall leave the “Principles of the Latter-day Saints” in the scales of logic and scriptures, confident that no one will shout “Tekel,” until he looks at the weights. This, our author, on the whole, has made a better effort than many; but we hope that he will read a little more before he ventures to write another treatise. Since he ended with a bit of poetry, we shall do the same, confident that it will be beneficial.

Let Mormonism continue in its progress,

It is succeeding remarkably throughout the world; Let the sectarians come to the light,

Before they are all deceived; The false prophets, &c., will come,

To trip them up presently.

Before long the kingdom will be given, Not to the sects, but to the Saints;

The unrighteous will be destroyed,

And the righteous will be rewarded.

May the time come, &c.,

When the Saints are seen at the head.

“ Inconsistencies of the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants,” &c., AGAIN.

Mr. Ed.,—I am pleased to see your readiness to impart a little light, from your scarcity, to the foolish virgins who have no light in the lamps, together with everyone in general who is in need, of course. I do not know how many you have enlightened, but I know that everyone I have heard talking about your response, are greatly amazed at seeing such poor response that you gave; but one must be satisfied, and we should love you, since you did your best. No one can do better than one’s best. I feel desirous, despite that, to let you know that I do not entirely agree with you in your views. You said that no one could deny except for those who know. But I prefer to believe that which Thomas Harries said, in the Trumpet, page 290. “They (the sectarians) have denied him (namely the Spirit), by saying, ‘It is not needed.’” How much do these churches know about the Spirit of God, pray tell? Paul said also that there will be some men in the last days who have “a form of godliness, but who deny its power;” and the Saints say that these men are the sectarians; and the way they prove that the sects deny the power of godliness is, because they say there is no need for the spiritual gifts now. That is sufficient, I think, to prove that men can deny the Holy Ghost, without receiving it for themselves, according to the words of Paul.

Next, you said that Job was to return from his grave, although he said, “I shall go the way whence I shall not return.” I say that he must return along some other path when he comes; otherwise, he will be as dishonest as if he had returned the same day he went. Mention is made in 1 Kings xiii, of some man who had been commanded by the word of the Lord, to refrain from returning from Bethel along the path he had gone; but it did not occur to the man that he could not return some other way: and thus in the case of Job. It cannot be concluded fairly from the words, “I shall go the way whence I shall not return,” that he did not intend to ever return, but only that he would not return along the same path. You said also, that one can return from the place from which the Book of Mormon definitely says there is no return, because the Book did not say “ever,” or “forever and ever,” &c. I say, if they come from there some time, that is returning; and consequently, the Book of Mormon would be as dishonest as if they were to return from there the second day after going there, for the book says, “from which there is no return.”

If you look again at page 321 of the Book of Mormon, you will see there something similar to that which I have said, namely that after going to prison there is no hope of coming out of it. I understand this from the explanation that Alma gives of the word “Restoration.” It says in some other place in the Book of Mormon that men are to be put in prison until they pay the uttermost---; and where asks the one who said that, can they obtain a-----in the prison? This is as good as saying that they could not ever get one there; and consequently, they will have to stay there forever. At the moment I cannot give the pages, but I saw it somewhere in the Book of Mormon.

You said that there was nothing in the life of Oliver Cowdery that made him guilty of the evil mentioned about him in the Doc. and Cov. I cannot believe your assertion until I have reasons to prove that his excommunication from the Church, and his eleven-year absence, did not make him guilty of turning completely from the covenant of the priesthood. Although I am out of the church, it is fair for me to be enlightened in this matter, if it is possible to do so.

This at present, from

William Thomas.

[We are sorry we cannot satisfy this man: he needs so much light, that the Star of the Saints cannot supply it. Let him find the Sun, and perhaps he will be satisfied there. Nevertheless, we shall make one more attempt.—It is likely that we said, “One cannot deny, except what one knows.” That is what we think is the proper meaning of the word deny, and that is what the dictionaries say also. Yet perhaps the word can have a broader meaning, such as in the following example:—We ask a man who was not in Merthyr, if he was there. If he says, No, then we can say that he denies it, the same as the sects denying the power of godliness. Language is imperfect, and it is difficult to understand the mind of God without the Spirit of God to help us. This denial is different from the denial of those who have “denied what they knew by the Spirit of God,” as we said before. The Book of Mormon says that whosoever denies Christ and his works, to get gain, is like unto a son of perdition. One who does that to get gain, like Judas, denies the one he knew to be the Son of God, and thus commits an unpardonable sin.—Next, with respect to the words, “I shall go the way whence I shall not return.” Is there a way for Job to come from his grave, except for the way he went there? We think not; but there was another way for that man to return from Bethel, as we can judge. Let our correspondent be content to believe us or not concerning the “return” in the Book of Mormon, for that is not of great importance. If there are faults in the Book of Mormon, “they are the mistakes of men,” as stated on its first page; “wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ.”—When we look on page 321 of the Book of Mormon, we understand the return mentioned there in a different manner from that of our correspondent, and it is fruitless to say much of our opinion when he knows so much better. We are unable to say much about that which he saw somewhere in the Book of Mormon, except that there is some word he wrote in his letter that we cannot distinguish.—With respect to Oliver Cowdery, if that which we said previously is not enough, we prefer that W. Thomas believe himself.—Now, we feel to say to this our correspondent, that we have conversed with him sufficiently for the time being, and that he ought to repent speedily before he goes too far.—Ed.]

POLYGAMY AMONG THE MORMONS.

Currently there are several publications in the country that are creating a great ruckus about polygamy among the Mormons. They claim to have received a letter from someone that reveals that President Brigham Young has about twenty-five wives; and some say that Capt. D. Jones also has the same number, while others testify that he has two, and that one of them is a “spiritual wife,” which he took from Carmarthenshire. The person who says this is an eye- witness, say the publications; but they are afraid to give the person’s name. Polygamy among the Saints is an old story, and everyone can know that it is false like its devilish father. We think that the “spiritual wife” is Mrs. Lewis, formerly of Kidwelly, who emigrated the same time as Capt. Jones, leaving her husband and her sister behind to settle some legal matters, which were not finished in time for the emigration; and since Mrs. Lewis had made reservations on the ship for her family, and had made all the preparations, her husband and her sister consented to stay behind until the next emigration, in order to receive some other money that was coming to them. Her husband and her sister emigrated with the first shipload after her; and we have heard that they have joined the family in the Valley. Those are not the first lies about Brigham Young and Capt. Jones, nor will they be the last. For those who wish to know for a surety in relation to the truth, let them read the following from the “Doctrine and Covenants,” page 300:—“Inasmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy, we declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.” Polygamy is not tolerated in the church, and neither the president nor anyone else is allowed to practice it.

MISCELLANEOUS, &c.

Call for Welsh Books in England.—President F. D. Richards has requested that we send one hundred copies of the Doctrine and Covenants in Welsh without delay, and has promised to receive two hundred copies of the Book of Mormon in Welsh, after it is published. This shows the spirit of assisting the Welsh, for which we should be grateful. Before long the Saints will become desirous of purchasing the foregoing books in every language in which they are available.

Railway.—Last Wednesday ground was broken for the first Great Salt Lake City and Mountain Railway. An agreement has been made for sleepers and rails, and now work is the only thing necessary to get the way open for direct service. Everything will be made of wood; and as soon as it is finished, immediate preparations will be made to begin work on the Temple. If every Saint were to do his duty, three months would not pass before the rock would be moved to be made into walls. What will you do?—Deseret News.

“Mormons Bog.”—“One hundred “Mormons Bog,” namely the Book of Mormon in the Danish language, have arrived in Liverpool, and some of them will be sent without delay for the Welsh, those who wish to have books ready to set before the foreign brethren who may perhaps come to their homes in Zion.

News from the Valley.—General good health is thriving throughout the Valley, and plenty of wheat has been sown. The completion of houses is a daily event; and it is reported that clay vessels are beginning to be made. Every haste is being made to finish the public buildings, in order to begin work on the Temple.—It is intended to celebrate the 24th of July in an ostentatious way, by having a picnic party and a procession to the Great Salt Lake, with the musical choir in their coach drawn by fourteen horses, together with a military escort; and there will be a splendid boat on the lake for entertainment; and there will be feasts, discourses, &c., to entertain the company.

The wise man.—The wise man will organize the time gone by for comment and reflection, the present time to fulfill duties, and the time yet to come he will put in the care of Providence.

Wealth.—Lost wealth can be regained, and health lost can be restored; but if valuable time is lost, it can never be called back.

Space.

The builder of all existence—is the intermediary

Of the vast space;

Neither the Lord, nor all he has made,

Can immortalize away from his dwelling place.

Dinas. W. Roberts, Jr.

Payments from September 5 to september 18.—Monmouthshire, £2; West Glamorgan, £2 16s 6½c. and £2 5s 10c; Llanilltyd, 1s 3c; Pontytypridd, £2 12s 6c; Llanfabon, 8s 6½c; Cwmbach, £1; Cardiff, 8s 6c; Aberdare, £1 4s 1½c; Dowlais, 16s;Georgetown, £2 13s 3c; Merthyr, 10s; Cefn, 7s 9c; Gorllwyn, 7s 3c; Ffynnon Tydfil, 6s 2c.—Total, £17 17s 8½c.

Doc. and Cov.—We will give twopence each for as many as you may have of the 6th Segment of the Doc. and Cov.; and we wish for those who have sent here for odd segments, to be patient, and we shall supply them as we are able. There are many who have not sent information as yet. We hope that the segments for the Book of Mormon will be more well cared for.

Book of Mormon.—Names for the Book of Mormon have nearly reached 1500, not counting the order from Liverpool for 200 after it is published. The first Segment will come out with this Trumpet; and if the subscriptions increase to two thousand by the 10th segment, the segments from the 20th on will sell for one penny each! Understand this, brethren.

Large papers are being sent with this Issue to be placed in the rooms of the Saints, and also in windows, and other public places; and the place where the books are on sale can be written on them, in the space left for that.

Let the treasurers for the Emigrating Fund send the money on hand to Merthyr by the appointed times. This quarter ends on the 24th of this month, and the money is to be sent from all places by that time.

Send all correspondence, requests, and book payments, to John Davis, Printer, John’s Street, Georgetown, Merthyr Tydfil.