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Show i8 deed a "help in wise no Bishop will government." And of fail to appreciate the labors the Relief Priesthood. It is in very Society in his ward. What would a Bishop ? I would say to all the Bishops in the Church, encourage the sihters of the Relief Society, and support them in their work of charity and benevolence, and they will prove a bless ing to you and to the people. It might be thought by some that the labors connected with membership in the Relief Society would cause those sisters who belong to it to neglect their household duties. But this is not so. I will venture to say that the best wives and mothers and the most efficient housekeepers among us are members of the Relief Society, and I would advise the brethren to encourage their wives to join the society, where they can do so; for it would be a good thing to have the influence of this organization in every home. I ask you, my sisters, in your visits to the homes of the Litter-daSaints to carry this influence wherever you go. The Lord has clearly shown to you the nature of your relationship to Him and what is expected of you as wives and mothers. Teach these things to those whom you visit, especially to the young ladies. Encourage marriage among them, and impress upon them the sacredness of that relation and the obligation they are under to observe that great commandment which was given of God to our first parents, to This is multiply and replenish the earth. all the more necessary in view of the present tendency in the world to disregard that law and to dishonor the marriage covenant. It is saddening to note the frequency of divorces in the land and the growing inclination to look upon children as an incumbrance instead of as a precious heritage from the Lord. These evils should not gain a foothold among the people of God, and you, my sisters, as members of the Relief Society and as mothers of Israel, should exercise all your influence against them and in favor of pure motherhood and faithfulness to the marriage covenants. Now, it is not necessary for me to detail what the Relief Society has done in the past; its splendid work is known throughout Zion, and in many parts of the world. Suffice it to say, it has been true to its mission, and its record is not surpassed, if The equaled, by any other organization. Latter-daSaints are proud of it and of its achievements, and are grateful to our Father in heaven that He inspired t is servant, the Prophet, to establish such an institution. The future of the society is As the Church grows its full of promise. field of usefulness wil) be correspondingly enlarged, and it will be even more potent for good than it has been in the past. If all the sisters will rally to the support of the society, it will accomplish a mighty work and be a continued blessing uato the Church. It would be gratifying to see the middle-age- d as interested iu this institution as the aged, and by becoming so they will find that it will strengthen their faith, give them broader idtas of life and its responsibilities, and advance them materially along the path of progress and perfection. I feel to say, God bless the offi:ers and members of the Relief Society. You are performing a grand mission, and I would exhort you to not weary in well doing. We are all aiming for celestial glory, and the grandeur of the prospects before us can do without a Relief Society y y If not be expressed in human language. in to work the you will continue faithful which you are engaged, you will attain unto this glory, and rejoice evermore in the This is presence of God and the Lamb. worth striving for; it is worth sacrificing for, and blessed is the man or woman who God is faithful unto the obtaining of it. bless you all. Amen. OBITUARY. The many friends of Sister Marian R. Pratt will be pained to learn that she has Her demise ocpassed peacefully away. curred at 7:5 a. m. on the 19th inst, at her home in the 22nd ward, this city. She was born in Glasgow, Scotland, August 23, 1830, and with most of her brothers and sisters and immediate friends became a member of the Church of Jesus Saints with all her Christ of Latter-daand heart, although very young, a life of remarkable activity and usefulness immediately opened before her. Having been fully convinced of the tiuth of the Gospel as taught by the Elders of this Church, she has from the first felt that her course in yielding obedience to its requirements was in full accord with the mind and will of God, and with this never-failinassurance she has steadily pursued her way as consort of one of the greatest men of the nineteenth century. While distributing some of his tracts in the city of Edinbor-ougon one occasion, she was invited by a minister into his library, for he sought to destroy her faith in living prophets which had been raised up in these latter days, by reading to hei a passage from the writings of St. Paul: "Whether there be visions they shall ceare; whether there be prophesies they shall fail," etc., but he was utterly confounded when requested to read the explanation given in the following verses: "For now we see in part and know in part, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is iu part shall be done y g Some of her acquaintances, when they heard that she was about to start, tried to poison her mind by telli.ig her that the Saints in Utah believed in marrying many wives, to which she replied, "If all the principles in the Gospel of old had to be restored, the principle of plural marriage would also be," and she, like many other noble men and women in the present age proved her faith by her works. She came to this city in 1857, and soon after was married to Apostle Orson Pratt, and at his request took six of his children, wl o had lost their own mother, and cared for them as for her own Her house was open to the poor and the distressed, the orphan, the widow and thewavfaring man, and her gentle ministrations among the poor, sick and afflicted will be gratefully reniembeied both here and hereafter. Her family and host of friends do not feel to mourn at her departure from a life she has lived so blamelessly and from a condition at once distressing and almost hopeless. She has passed away as if in peaceful sleep, and with joy we say, "Good bye, Sister Marian, until we meet in that bright realm called "Home." N. NOTES AND NEWS. Rachel Foster Avery will refresh herself after the fatigues of the National Suffrage Convention by a 350 mile carriage ride. Accompanied by her three children and a lady friend she will drive from Philadelphia to New York and take the boat up the Hudson to Albany. From Albany the party will drive to Saranac Lake, N. Y., where they will spend the summer. Last year Mrs. Avery traveled in the same way from Pennsylvania to her summer home in the Alleghanies. She takes a small ice chest under the seat of the carriage, and has reduced the providing of food on the journey to a fine art. Last summer she took a book on flowers, and taught the children botany with object lessons. This year she will take a book on trees, and away." teach them to know the many kinds of Having distributed tracts for several trees they will pass on the roadside and months, and apparently meeting with in woods. Ex. the little success, she partly resolved to cease her labors in that direction when an angel The delegates to the National Suffrage was sent to Sister Wm. Gibbons, the lady Convention at Minneapolis were taken on with whom she was living at the time, say- a trolley ride, "personally conducted" by ing, "Tell Marian to continue going with Senator Stockwell, to the famous falls of the tracts, for now and then she will find Minnehaha. Unfortunately the water had one who will obey the message. This been diverted for some other purpose, and timely admonition stimulated her to re- very li tie was flowing over the falls; but newed vigilance, and consequently Dr. the delegates enjoyed the steep, wooded France and many others, long since gone glen, with the river running through it, to a happy reward, were among those she the trolley ride in cars through the open was privileged to introduce the Gospel to. d roads, and along the shores The Lord also blessed her with a great of the blue lakes that form a beautiful many beautiful visions sni dreams. On feature of the park systems of Minneapolis. one occasion she was shown the sky as it Mrs. Harriet' Taylor Upton, the National appears at night, "studded with stars un- Treasurer, could not get away from her utterably bright," and lo, a voice which duties to go on this excursion; and aftersaid, "As the light of the morning cometh wards in the convention she "brought in the east and shineth even unto the west, down the house" by declaring innocently so shall the coming of the Son of Man be." in an address of thanks that the hospitaliAnd the light of morning began to appear ty of the people of Minneapolis had been in the east and shine unto the west, and a as plentiful as the waters flowing over the new star arose, the like of which she had falls of Minnehaha. She had seen a picture never seen before. of the falls taken when the water was The words spoken by the angel, as may and was unaware that on the be seen, are somewhat different to the high,when the quite day suffragists visited them, the rendering given in the New Testament, water was only a drizzle. She could not which is evidently incorrect, as "lightning" understand the roar of laughter with which does not always come "in the east," and her luckless comparison was received; but she felt that what the angel had said'to her the Minneapolis friends took it all in good was the true rendering. part, as a joke. Ex. Mrs. h, tree-bordeie- |