"Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns
or figs of thistles?" So said the Savior of mankind (Matthew 7:16).
The Latter-day Saints, or "Mormons," as they are commonly called,
have been derided and persecuted, and all manner of evil has been
spoken against them, even by people who call themselves Christians.
That in this, false witness has been borne against them, may be
definitely proved if the criterion given by Christ is accepted.
Having obeyed the gospel as restored to earth by angelic visitations
and administered by divine authority, large numbers of the Saints
have congregated in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains in obedience
to the command, "Gather my Saints together unto me, those that have
made a covenant with me by sacrifice" (Psalm 1:5). And also: "Come
out of her (Babylon), my people, that ye be not partakers of her
sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Revelation 18:4).
In the year 1847 a company of pioneers, led by the Prophet Brigham
Young, successor of the Martyr Joseph Smith, who was slain for the
gospel's sake, marched from the Missouri River across prairies and
mountains, and wastes and rivers, through the wilderness known as
the Great American Desert, to the place in the mountains where they
had been directed by Joseph Smith when living with them in Nauvoo.
On July 24th of that year they halted in the valley of the Great
Salt Lake, beheld by Brigham Young in vision before they commenced
their weary journey. Not a human habitation was to be seen. The
sun-baked land brought forth sagebrush and weeds. Rain was almost
unknown and the melting snows from the mountain tops came down but
in narrow and scanty streams. But they plowed the parched ground and
turned upon it the trickling waters; they sowed in faith and trusted
in God for the harvest which alone could save them from starvation.
The little band was composed of but 148 persons who had left
civilization more than a thousand miles behind. Today over five
hundred thousand people, gathered from all parts of the world, dwell
in peace and harmony in flourishing cities and towns or upon
fruitful farms and luxuriant ranches, reaping the results of thrift
and industry and the blessings of God upon the land and upon their
labors. In the cities are fine residences, comfortable cottages,
business establishments, manufacturing enterprises, railroads,
telegraphs and telephones, broad streets lined with magnificent
trees and with clear streamlets on either side, lighted by
electricity and supplied with pure water from works owned by the
people. Grand school houses have been erected, spacious places of
worship, noble public buildings and splendid temples costing from
one million to four million dollars each. All kinds of grains and
fruits and flowers are produced in abundance: the rainfalls have
wonderfully increased, springs have burst forth in dry spots, grass
grows on the hillsides, and in the meadows, cattle and sheep graze
on a thousand hills, and the face of nature smiles and shines with
beauty.
This marvelous transformation has been brought about by the
blessings of Almighty God upon the faith and works of his Saints
gathered from afar. Zion that brought good tidings--the everlasting
gospel restored to earth--has gone up "into the high mountain." The
Spirit has been poured out from on high, and the wilderness has
become a "fruitful field." "The people of the Lord dwell in
peaceable habitations, in sure dwellings, in quiet resting places."
They are sowing "beside all waters." "The wilderness and the
solitary place is glad for them, the desert rejoices and blossoms
abundantly." They are the "ransomed of the Lord, and have come to
Zion with songs of everlasting joy." (See Isaiah 40:9; 32:15-20;
35:1-10.)
Every Sabbath day the children assemble in Sunday Schools under a
system which is not excelled in any part of the world. In the
afternoon and evening the Saints assemble in their tabernacles and
meeting houses, and receive instruction by the voice of inspiration
and the reading of holy writ. Societies are organized for the
instruction of juveniles, of young men and young women, of ladies of
mature age and for all classes of the community. To serve God and
keep his commandments is held up as the first duty of his people. To
labor for the salvation of the living and the redemption of the dead
is placed above all earthly considerations. The Church has now in
the mission fields eighteen hundred or more missionaries, traveling
"without purse or scrip," without pay of any kind, depending upon
God and friends whom he may raise up to them for their daily
sustenance. The Church organization revealed from heaven is
recognized by all who investigate as the grandest and most complete
ever known on earth. The industry, order, devotion, unity and
brotherly love displayed by the Latter-day Saints are the admiration
and commendation of both friend and foe. The work they have
performed under divine direction is a marvel to all who have visited
the cities of the Saints or know of their achievements. What is the
tree that has brought forth those excellent fruits? It is the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Let the tree be judged by its
fruits.
It is true that the "Mormons" are a people who have been "everywhere
spoken against," but this was a characteristic of the Saints in the
original Christian Church. Paul said: "They that will live godly in
Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." Jesus exclaimed, "Woe unto
you when all men shall speak well of you." He prophesied of his
disciples: "Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake." But
there are a number of brave men who, after visiting Utah, have not
been afraid to speak their honest sentiments concerning that
despised people. Among them are the following, whose published
remarks are but samples of others that might be adduced:
Bishop D. S. Tuttle of the Episcopal Church, who resided many years
in Salt Lake City, had the following in the New York Sun: "We of the
East are accustomed to look upon the Mormons as either a licentious,
arrogant, or rebellious mob, bent only on defying the United States
government and deriding the faith of the Christians. That is not so.
I know them to be honest, faithful, prayerful workers, and earnest
in their faith that heaven will bless the Church of Latter-day
Saints. Another strong and admirable feature in the Mormon religion
is the tenacious and efficient organization. They follow with the
greatest care all the forms of the old Church."
Henry Edger says, in the New York Evolution: "Driven by mob violence
from one state to another, despoiled of their legitimate possessions
--fruits of honest toil--this despised and grossly wronged people
found their way at last across the trackless desert and by an almost
unexampled perseverance and industry created an oasis in the desert
itself."
Elder Miles Grant, editor of the World's Crisis, says: "After a
careful observation for some days we came to the settled conclusion
that there is less licentiousness in Salt Lake City than in any
other one of the same size in the United States; and were we to
bring up a family of children in these last days of wickedness, we
should have less fears of their moral corruption were they in that
city than in any other."
Gov. Safford, of Arizona, wrote as follows: "They have no drones,
and the work they have accomplished in so short a time is truly
wonderful. All concede that we need an energetic, industrious,
economical and self-relying people to subdue and bring into use the
vast unproductive lands of Arizona. These Mormons fill every one of
the above requirements."
Gen. Thomas L. Kane, of Pennsylvania, after four years' experience
with the Mormons, declared: "I have not heard a single charge made
against them as a community, against their habitual purity of life,
their willing integrity, their toleration of religious difference of
opinion, their regard for the laws, their devotion to the
constitutional government under which we live, that I do not from my
own observation or upon the testimony of others know to be
unfounded."
Chief Justice White, sent to Utah by the United States government,
testified: "Industry, frugality, temperance, honesty are with them
the common practices of life. This land they have redeemed from
sterility and occupied its once barren solitudes with cities,
villages, cultivated fields and farm houses, and made it the
habitation of a numerous people, where a beggar is never seen and
almshouses are neither needed nor known."
The late Hon. Bayard Taylor, United States minister to Germany,
remarked: "We must admit that Salt Lake City is one of the most
quiet, orderly and moral places in the world. The Mormons as a
people are the most temperate of Americans. They are chaste,
laborious and generally cheerful, and what they have accomplished in
so short a time under every circumstance of discouragement, will
always form one of the most remarkable chapters in our history."
Notwithstanding the facts set forth in the foregoing, the Congress
of the United States was moved upon for several years by anti-Mormon
preachers of different sects, and by petitions from good, pious, but
deceived "Christian" people, also by adventurers who desired to
profit by inroads upon the Mormons, to enact stringent and
oppressive measures looking to the suppression of what they called
"Mormonism." It was thought by the enemies of the Saints that they
could be driven again from their possessions, as they had been
driven by mob violence from the states of Missouri and Illinois,
where their property became a prey to their so-called Christian
persecutors, and where many of their number were brutally murdered
in cold blood, their Prophet and Patriarch, Joseph and Hyrum Smith,
being among that number. For some time these efforts gave great
promise of success. Much suffering was endured by the Saints, but
they possessed their souls in patience, having faith in the promises
of God made to them through their prophets and apostles, and the
testimony of the Holy Spirit. The day of their deliverance from this
injustice, sorrow, and tribulation has come. Their true character
has been measurably recognized, and Utah has been admitted into the
Union as a free and sovereign state, on an equal footing with the
other states in the federal compact.
There yet remains in the world great ignorance concerning the
Latter-day Saints, their purposes and works, their doctrines and
teachings, and the spirit and power of their faith. To these they
invite the investigation of every rational mind. They urge
comparison of their principles, their Church and the ordinances,
gifts, and spirit thereof with those set forth in the New Testament,
in contrast with the contending and discordant religions of modern
Christendom. They know that they have received the truth, and that
God has revealed it in the present age. They have obtained a divine
witness, every one for himself. They are building up Zion in the
West. They are sending forth the gospel into all the world as a
witness to the nations before the end shall come.
This is a day of warning. It will be followed by a time of
judgments. The Lord is about to shake terribly the kingdoms of this
world. War, pestilence, famine, earthquake, whirlwind, and the
devouring fire, with signs in the heavens and on the earth, will
immediately precede the great consummation which is close at hand.
These are the last days. All that has been foretold by the holy
prophets concerning them is about to be literally fulfilled. The
everlasting gospel has been restored to the earth as one of the
signs of the latter days. Israel is being gathered. The elect of God
are assembling from the four quarters of the earth. The way is
opening for the redemption of Judah. Soon all things will be in
commotion: "men's hearts failing them for fear and looking for the
things that are coming on the earth." The places of refuge appointed
are in Zion and in Jerusalem. The Lord, even Jesus the Messiah, will
come to his Holy Temple. He will be glorified in his Saints, but
will "take vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the
gospel." He will break in pieces the nations as a potter's vessel.
He will sweep the earth as with a besom of destruction. He will
establish righteousness upon it and give dominion to his people.
"The meek shall inherit the earth and the wicked be cut off
forever." Therefore, repent and turn unto him, all ye nations, and
obey him, all ye people, for these words are true and faithful and
are given by his Spirit! Salvation has come unto you; reject it not
lest ye fall and perish. The time is at hand!