Show GREAT MEN OP OF ANCIENT AMERICA LEHI any community will be affected la in a large degree by the character of its te founders this fact Is ie y v illustrated in the distinctive of the different agas of the united states which y these characteristics are divided alto the new groupp as england s northern and southern 8 etc and each group and a single state possesses liar social features derived from k original founders thus the english puritans who y 4 settled new england the bah and quakers who wied in pennsylvania the french guinote gu enote in the carolinas the elsh in florida and texas and w cormons mormons Mor mons in utah have ped ineffaceable marks maiks of pe manners and social traits n their air respective communities and so go the races which have frona from the jerusalem colony ible in ila clean cut linea lineaments line amente ments the caal and inherited constituents of a vind and physical abar actor this consideration should invest with peculiar interest the distinctive tive traits of the lehi emigrants ma and lehl lehi as the central figure should draw special attention the few glimpses afforded ia the book of mormon if f the private life and public career of this ancient father discover him in the light of a prudent and an anxious parent a faithful and zealous servant of god submitting with patient r resignation ignation es to the divine will and maintaining a steadfast trust in the lord while suffering the severest trials and performing uncommon and i ly difficult duties in his character and calling in his self sacrifice and faithful obedience to the voice of inspiration in his prophetic gifts and sacerdotal ministrations as aa a pioneer and empire founder lehi was preeminently eminently pre a leading spirit a venerable patriarch worthy to stand among the illustrious heroes who have stood for god and the truth in this wicked rebellious and god hating world As he was not one of the worlds favorites we may look in vain for his features among the sculptured busts of earths mighty ones but while art has essayed to perpetuate the names and forms of the nim rods and pharaohs Phara Phar aolis the alexanders and nd caesara caesars Cae sars by incising portraits in the cold dead granite gehis character act erand and practical virtues are impressed upon the face of the wide spreading continent and though we have not hie earthay image in antique sculpture or painting it endures in a still livelier and more palpable form lehi lives and speaks in ba the ahm characteristics of his descendants and in the relies relics and ruins in the monuments and colossal features stamped upon the broad face of the country nephi gehis fourth son writes as follows having been born of goodly parents therefore ej I 1 was taught somewhat la all the learning of my father yea I 1 make a record in the language of my lather which consi consists als of the iho learning of the jews and ana the language of toe the egyptians and now I 1 nephi do not make a full account of the things which my father hath bath written for he hath bath written many things which he saw in visions and in dreams slid and he also hath bath written many things which he prophesied and unto his children of which I 1 shall not make a full account I 1 nephi i 1 1 and now 1 I nephi do not give the genealogy iri eue of ray my fathers in this part of my record forit for it 1 Is 8 g given en in the record which has been ee n ilent kept by my father for it ceth me to say that we i are a descendant of joseph we learn from the above that lehi was an educated man a i prophet of of god and an inspired writer we learn further concern ling him that he left his home bs gold and silver and other valuable I 1 i property and at the comm command nd of ithe the lord took his wife and children i and departed from the then opulent 1 city of jerusalem out into the bar iron ren wilderness where in true patri jar barchal clial style he offered sacrifice and I 1 burnt offerings unto the god of i israel ism I 1 nephi il 11 14 1 4 v 9 the character and acts of this great man are worthy of the close study of the book of mormon student for from his india individuality ideality radiated as mes lines from a contral central point traits customs and essential characteristics which fastened themselves upon his descend descendants auts and took such root in the ancient institutions of this country that they are its distinguishing features today the character of lehi furnishes a key to many of the otherwise unsolvable problems problem of prehistoric pre historic america lehl lehi was acquainted with the leam tog of the jews and this is what he taught his children and this is the peculiar or leading type of knowledge sentiment customs and habits introduced by his colony and perpetuated in their generations the literature of the jews from the earliest times down to the beginning of Zede klahs reign in judah B C the date of gehis exodus was w remarkable for several striking stalking features great antiquity religious form and poetical vigor being among them but it was largely a literature of individual possession existing in oral traditions and carried in the memory not of written tablets or books the difficult and cumbersome method of engraving upon stone metal or coed was waa the only way of otherwise communicating or preserving knowledge before the time of david who reigned from 1058 to 1018 B C jewish literature has ha been divided into nine historical periods the lint first extending from an indefinite antiquity to B C this ancient lore consisted in great part of sacred oracles and emanations of divine inspiration its agents and authors were men who looked upon the personage of the creator and spoke face to face with jehovah prophets who wrote the history of their nation and of the world in advance of time poet kings and inspired minstrels whose poetry was fired by the glow of celestial intelligence legislatures and judges whose laws have supplied the gems of liberty the choice and precious parts of the civil codes that at present adorn and dignify the foremost nations of the earth A wondrous and unique literature embracing revelation prophecy law history lyric poetry legends and grotesque speculations and while the leading idea was independence and a passionate enthusiasm for distinct nationality an intensely religious order pervaded the entire system lehi an israelite indeed offspring of f the illustrious joseph prophet priest and historian was an embodiment of all these qualities and special endowments and in all the ripeness and falness of his character this learning of the jews was transferred to the new world and took permanent root in all its subsequent institutions there was something fortuitous and uncertain certain uA in the emigration of lehl lehi like the uncertain wanderings of his exiled progenitor abraham he be knew nothing definitely of the destiny and fiery ordeals awaiting him but his faith and trust were consummate and furnished the moral force requisite for his extraordinary experience he evinced his devotion to his calling and mission and manifested the weakness of his self interest by abandoning his gold and silver and other symbols of wealth serenely leaving all behind considering no doubt that such things would be useless encumbrances or that the promised land would yield to his colony all they could desire of earthly riches hence he departed into the wilderness and he left his house and the land of his bis inheritance and his gold and his silver and his precious things and took nothing with him save it were his family and provisions and tents and departed into the wilderness I 1 nephi ii 4 the specified reason for gehis flight from jerusalem is thus stated for it came to pass in the commencement men cement of the first year of the reign of zedekyah Zede klah ki king ng of judah my father lehi having dwelt at Jerusa jerusalem lemin in all his days and in that same year there came many prophets prophesying unto the people that they should repent or the great city jerusalem must be destroyed troyed tro ed and it came to pass pa that the lord commanded my rather father even in a dream that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness wild ernes 11 I 1 nephi i 1 4 the statement about the preaching of the prophets in jerusalem at the particular time named in the quotation is corroborated in the old testament in several places in 11 II kings xiv 18 we read that zedekiah Zede klah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign and he reigned eleven years in jerusalem in chapter xiv we read of the taking of the city in the eleventh year of reign the same events are recorded in I 1 II 11 chron with the explanation and the lord god of their fathers sent to them by his messengers rising up betimes and sending because he had compassion on b his people and on his dwelling place but they mocked the messengers of god and despised his words and misused his prophets until the lord arose against his people till there was no remedy josephus bears testimony to the same things happening at the date named giving minute particulars the jews who survived the dreadful visitation of destruction upon their devoted city were carried captives into babylon where they remained in abject servitude for seventy years but in the case of gehis separation and removal we discover the wise purpose and fatherly solicit solicitude of jehovah in saving 4 a branch ot the house of joseph from the degradation of vassalage to a foreign power and the peopling of a vast and magnificent country by S selected offshoot of his chosen race gehis first halting place was by the borders near the shore of the red bed sea prom from thence he traversed the desert and next pitched his tent in a valley by a river side in this sequestered vale the patriarch built an altar to the god of his fathers and gathered his wife sarah and the other members of the pilgrim band around the simple but bilt efficacious shrine As the sacrificial pillar of smoke and name rolled upward and spread in fleecy folds upon the tranquil air the prophet felt the responsive glow of heavens approving smile and then hen awoke the voice of inspiration and the sturdy poet and when my father saw that the waters of the river emptied into the fountain of the re eed sea he be unto laman saying 0 that thou lightest might est be like unto this river continually running into the th fountain of righteousness and he also unto lemla lemuel ea 0 that thou mightiest might est be like unto this valley firm and steadfast and immoveable in keeping the tb commandments of the low lord nephi li 11 9 10 it is worthy of remark that the sons of the patriarchs and holy men of old did not always follow the precepts and example of their fathers prom from the time of cain and abel the offspring of righteous men have been representative of the wheat and tares growing together the comprehensiveness of this rule rul I 1 seems to imply that in the celestial order the family organization is not 0 complete without different degrees and qualities lamat laman lemuel aud and sam were the Ishm ishmaels aels the esaus the W eons bons and the levis ily they did not enter into the j spirit of their fathers mission nor regard with favor the sacrifice they were apparently making in leaving abing behind them their comfort comfortably ablo home and its ite luxurious surroundings they complained and ibur ca aured and cherished wrath and aa defiance in their bosoms germs of impious rebellion grew S and rankled cled and eventually forth a rancorous harvest of raw c chiefs and deadly evils budr But wb blo their lather father was with then them sturdy bearing and potent awed them into submission i and it came to pus pass that g father did speak unto them in wa r valley benith of lemuel with power being with the spirit until their frames did shake before him and he did confound them that they did not utter against him wherefore they did as he commanded them I 1 nephi li 11 14 celivs literary acquirements acquire ments embraced in addition to the learning of the jews a knowledge of the language of the egyptians the language here referred to mean meant t undoubtedly the written language of the egyptians for it was probably the hebrew the common language an among the jews that was spoken and used in ordinary intercourse by the lehi colonists but both the egyptian and the hebrew languages had been altered by the at the time that mormon made his record moroni says and now behold we have written this record according to our knowledge in the characters which are called among us reformed egyptian being handed down and altered by us according to our manner of speech and if our plates had been sufficiently large we should have written in hebrew but the hebrew hath bath been altered by us also and if we could have written in iii debrew hebrew behold ye would have had no imperfection in our record mor ix 32 38 0 these alterations were so important that the writer adds ver 34 but the lord the things which we have written and also that none other people our language therefore he hath bath prepared means for the interpretation hereof the means referred to were the T arim and used by joseph the seer beer in the translation of the records ec one of the notable incidents connected with the advent of lehi was the introduction of the greater part of the old testament record into america this record was waa en staved upon plates of brass braes and the characters arac used were those of the egyptian language and of the styles embraced in their system of hieroglyphics the following extract shows the tt anee of these records as well 88 48 the language in which they were written and he king benjamin also taulba them concerning the records wh which ch were en graven on the plates or of brass saying my sons I 1 would that ulab ye should remember that were i not for these plates which contain these records and th these ese commandments we must have suffered in ig orance Dr Ruce even at this present time knowing 1101 oving the mysteries of god for it were not possible sible that our father her lehi could coul possible gos have kemem befth ered all these things to have taught them m to his children except it were for w the help of these plates for he having been taught in the language of the egyptians therefore he could read these engravings and teach them to his children 1 mos 13 4 these plates ot of brass contained the five books of moses which gave an account of the creation of the world and also of adam and eve who were our first parents and also a record of the jews how the beginning even down to the commencement of the reign of Zede zedekiah klah king of judah and also the prophecies of the holy prophets from the beginning even down to the commencement of the reign of ef Zedek zedekiah tab and also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of jeremiah iab I 1 nephi v 11 12 13 also see I 1 nephi 2124 21 24 alma 3 12 these extracts are particularly valuable as the show how the knowledge of the true god and of his dealings with his chosen people with the doctrines of ef faith in the promised messiah were introduced and perpetuated among the native races of the continent egypt the land of mystery and colossal enigmas enig mas also the cradle of the useful and beneficent arts and arts arta diabolical and of the occult speculations called sciences relating to alchemy magic necromancy and astrology was further the source and fountain of ofa a strange and peculiar language the written form of this language called is considered to be the most ancient formoe form of all written languages these hieroglyphics or sacred sculptures as the name signifies were an elaborate system of picture writing ideas and sounds being expressed by animate and inanimate objects as birds animals vases parts of buildings and so forth just as the syrians assyrians As expressed leading classes of thought by means of wedges |