"Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns
or figs of thistles?" so said the Savior of mankind, (Matt. VII; 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 L; 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." (Rev. XVIII; 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, sand 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 147 persons who had left civilization more than
a thousand miles behind. Today nearly three hundred thousand people,
gathered from all parts of the world, dwell in peace and harmony
in flourishing cities {259} 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, 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
XL; 9; XXXII; 15-20; XXXV; 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 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
consideration. The Church has now in the mission field fifteen hundred
or more missionaries, traveling "without purse and 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 {260} 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 these 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 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 nations 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 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. This 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 despaired 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 {261}
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 U. S. 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 alms-houses are neither needed
nor known."
The late Hon. Bayard Taylor, U. S. 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 the 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 {262} 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 received 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!
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