Show GREAT MEN OF ANCIENT AMERICA NEPHI nephi was the fourth son of f lehi his birthplace was jerusalem and he was the last st son boru to that patriarch IM previous to the family leaving their ettive eity city he is one of the most illustrious lust rious characters of the book of mormon and of ancient america and to his skill in the art of picture writing and his faithful and zealous labors as an inspired historian we are e indebted for an account of leaps exodus and annals of the colony for fifty five years from the time that teat lehi left jerusalem ja cob 1 1 1 2 nephi was the choicest flower of is 18 family in reading his simple biography og raphy and observing the re incidents and thrilling exler lences of his eventful career E the mind almost spontaneously s reverts to the beautiful and touching story of his illustrious progenitor joseph the first born of rachael both were remarkable for their piety and exem virtues both were victims of the cruel jealousy and unjust persecutions of their nearest relations being hated and worshiped by turns both devoted their lives and sacrificed their self interest for the tm temporal salvation of their fa fathers therIs house and both became rulers bulera over their brethren 1 and even their parents did them reverence although lehi was the nominal head bead an I 1 leader of the jerusalem pilgrims the sturdy young chieftain through his humility and zeal in the work required of his family rose rapidly in favor with the lord and became the guiding spirit and indefatigable leader of the corn com pany from very early life nephi was moved by powerful religious feelings a yearning after righteousness and a desire to know the mysteries of god he humbled himself and prayed earnestly for personal communication muni cation with the lord and he had bad the privilege of beholding many great and marvelous visions and receiving many tokens of favor and approbation from the first he entered into the spirit of his fathers mission and with enthusiastic effort devoted to it his whole life the greater part of the company did not favor the breaking up of their homes and moving out into the desert and like the israelites they murmured and complained and oftentimes used active opposition against taking the journey they could not be expected to labor with any degree of zeal for its success nephi therefore was hunter and general provider for the camp while hunting nephi broke his bow and it would seem that this was the only or principal means they had of supplying themselves with game shortly after leaving jerusalem lehi said unto his son nephi the lord hath bath commanded me that thou and thy brethren shall return to jerusalem for behold laban hath bath the record of the jews and also a geneR genealogy logy of thy forefathers and they are graven engraved en upon plates of brass wherefore the lord bath commanded me that thou and thy brothers should go unto the house of laban and ald seek the records and bring them down hither into the wilderness 11 I 1 nephi iii 2 4 the importance of this divine command will be apparent when it is understood that these brass plates conW contained ned 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 from the beginning even down to the commencement of the reign of zedekiah king of judah and also the prophecies of the holy prophets from the beginning even down to the commencement of the reign of zedekiah and also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of jeremiah I 1 nephi v 11 13 the only records of a sacred or inspired character then known to exist upon the continent of america were the twenty four plates of gold found by the people of lemhi leahi among the jaredine Jar edite ruins at zara demla see mosiah chapter viii these records contained the book of ether and an account of the creation of the world and other sacred history sl similar aillar to that contained in the old testament down to the time of the building of the tower of babel ether i 1 1 4 but no further knowledge of god or his dealings deal ings with the children of men existed upon the american COnt continent iDent obedient to the will of the lord nephi and his brothers laman and lemuel undertook the hazardous task of obtaining this treasure from the hands of its custodian laban is described as a mighty man he was a military commander and a valiant warrior 1 nephi iii 31 iv 1 the first attempt of the young man to get the records failed when they reached the neighborhood of the house they decided by lot which of them should go in and laman was indicated as the one the young man told his story and made his request in respectful ful language but laban grew furious and ireful called him a robber and chased him ening to kill him the brothers then went to the house where they had left their wealth and they gathered together their gold and silver and precious things and it came to pass that we went in unto laban and desired him that he would give unto us the records which were en graven raven upon the plates of brass for for which we would give unto him our gold and our silver and our precious things and it ii came to pass that when laban saw our property and that it was exceedingly cee great he did lust after it ingo insomuch bluch that he thrust us out and sert seit his servants to slay us that he might obtain our pro property arty and it came to pass we did ree flee before the servants of laban and we were obliged to leave behind our property and it fell into the hands of laban 1 nep lit lii 2426 24 26 laman and lemuel became discouraged cou raged at these fallum failures and desired to abandon the effort to obtain the record but nephi braved their opposition and ill treatment and after some delay determined to go and face the formidable laban singly and make a final effort to obtain the object of their mission undoubtedly this man disbelieved theolea the plea of the young messengers that the lord had sent him upon this thia errand or like pharoah he disregarded the divine command he might have framed plausible excuses for retaining possession of the plates but he cef took wicked and criminal measures to retain them he exhibited the qualities of the robber and the murderer nephi chose the darkness of night for his visit to tn the house of laban for the purpose of inducing him to give up the records it was probably a late hour of the night as all but the night watchers had retired to rest and stillness reigned in the city we learn from I 1 nep ned that laban waa in the habit of being out at night with some of the elders or prominent men of the city it is further evident that the vice of drunkenness was among the dark qualities of his character As the intrepid youth approached the entrance to the jews jewa abode he encountered a brawny figure lying in his hie pathway 1 I beheld ja a man and he be had fallen to the earth before me for he was drunken with wine and when I 1 came to him I 1 found that it was laban and I 1 beheld his sword and I 1 drew it forth from the sheath thereof and the hilt thereof was of pure gold and the workman workmanship if thereof was exceeding fine and 1 saw that the blade thereof was of f the most precious steel and it came to pass that I 1 was constrained by the spirit to kill laban labad but I 1 said in my heart never at any time have I 1 shed the blood of man and I 1 shrunk and would that I 1 might not slay him and the spirit said unto me again behold the lord hath bath delivered him into thy hands yea and I 1 also knew that he had sought to take away mine own lite life yea and he would not hearken unto the commandments of the lord and he had also taken away our property and it came to pass that the spirit said antt me slay him for the lord hath bath delivered him into thy hands behold the lord slay eth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes it is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief and now when T I 1 nephi had heard these words I 1 remembered the words of the lord which he unto me in the wilderness saying that inasmuch as thy seed shall keep my commandments they shall prosper in the land of promise r mise yea and I 1 also thought that that they could not keep the com of the lord according to the law of moses save they have the law and I 1 also knew that the law was graven engraved en upon the plates of brass and again I 1 knew that the lord had delivered laban into my hands for this cause that I 1 might obtain the records according to his commandments therefore I 1 did obey the voice of the spirit and took labau laban by the hair of the head and I 1 smote off his head with his own sword 11 1 I nephi iv 7 18 some who have not given the subject careful attention have doubted whether nephi was justified in taking the life of laban nephi acted in accordance with a divine tom command mand he had no choice but as a servant of god his duty bound hm him to act as he did he believed in god almighty that his will was supreme and his wisdom and power infallible and infinite how could nephi have acted differently and retained his consistency the question as to how far men should obey god in de defiance flance or opposition to the sentiments senti mente opinions and mandates of his fellow men is one of profound gravity the question exists only where sin and unbelief abound its conflicts and have cost blood and treasure beyond price and computation all christians to be consistent must give the priority of alleg ance to the almighty yes say they god gods Is commends must be obeyed in preference to mans but how bow are we to know that god does co command thus doubt as a bottomless gulf cuts off the possibility of obedience many people are as honest in their doubting as they are in their faith it seems to be simply a matter of faith and infidelity the believer will obey god in preference to man md ind this is consistency sis tency the sceptic will make the laws of man his supreme rule of conduct hence the deadly conflict if the believer in obeying the voice of inspiration offends against man made laws he must abide the consequences and answer to man for his rebellion but h he will surely reap the reward refard of his obedience to the almighty but the unbeliever while he enjoys the favor of his bis fellow man must answer to god not only for his rebellion against his maker but for his unjust treatment of his loyal subjects the fatal delusion of the age is that god has ceased forevermore to speak to man there is as it were an universal spiritual deafness the lord might send the most important messages and threaten the direst judgments while m n cursed with this fearful insensibility will go down to des dee ft ruction nephi having got possession of the records secured to a mighty race the knowledge of the true god and thus conferred upon his fellow men the greatest boon that it is in the power of mortals to bequeath he now devoted the full energies of his forceful character to the great work before him the wanderings of the pilgrims in the wilderness lasted through eight weary years in ija the early part of their travels they we were joined rejoined by an Ismeli tish family the head bead of which was called ishmael this family whose descendants for many generations were called Ishma elites consisted of the patriarch his wife two sons and five daughters the sons were married and had families I 1 nephi vii 16 1 6 nephi and his three brothers and zoram the servant of laban each took one of the daughters of ishmael to wife thus the company sit a the outset numbered 16 adult per SOU adaa I 1 nephi 16 7 lehi had two SOUS sons jacob and joseph born to him in the desert and it is very likely that the company was considerably augmented by the natural law of increase before they reached the shore of america the care of conducting this mixed and inexperienced company through the adventures and hardships ps of an eastern desert de solved almost solely upon the heroic nephi this journey from the capital of palestine to the chilian shore of the new world considered in all its unique and romantic aspects has few if any parallels in history and aad the successful and clever leadership of the youthful prophet has seldom been rivaled in the campaigns or adventurous exploits of recorded heroism like abraham started out in search of an unknown country having faith alone aa guiding star he had bad to do with a rebellious and wayward band of men irritable women and fretful children he had to lead them through trackless and savage wastes with no warrant of control save the force and majesty of superior intelligence to command their obedience he had to meet unreasoning petulance and murmurs born of fatigues fe and the wearing frictions of a new nomadic life he was guard hunter and general provider for the sustenance of the camp he must create resources and invent expedients from the elements and draw supplies suited to stalwart men delicate women and nursing babes from the precarious fruits of the sandy plains and the chances of the chase he was not furnished with a base of supplies no interested government opened its treasury no company ambitious for fame and reward offered him a princely outfit if he needs a ship he must build it if he needs stores for the voyage he must collect them if he needs apparatus and instruments ments he must invent and manufacture them or get them by faith from the lord it should be remembered Te too that in all his labors ia and struggles many of the company opposed him bitterly so that he 1110 had to induce them to labor dinst ainest this inclination they did the work too without pay believing it to be worse than useless the israelites were led through the wilderness wilder by a shining cloud and a fiery pillar but the lord pro 1 ded other means for the guidance of the lehine pilgrims after tarrying for a time a few days journey from jerusalem Ju lehi received during the stillness of night a command from the lord that he be should lead the company upon theira 0 irney toward the promised land but how was he to know in what direction to travel and it came to pus pass that as my father arose in the morning and went forth to the tent door to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a round around ball of curious workmanship and it was of f fine ine brass and within the ball were two spindles and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness and we did follow the direction of the ball which led us in the more fertile parts of the wilderness I 1 16 it was by the aid of this instrument which is called the compass I 1 nephi 12 that the company was led through the wilds wilda of the desert and across the track less expanse of the pacific ocean it was a wonderful and most precious gift it was an agent of strange a and n d remarkable power and properties although described as a ball of brass this metallic mystery maul manifested an intelligent acumen anil emitted flashes of intelligence as though the brazen sphere con contained ta aed a human brain and its rational scintillations were from organic faculties this interesting object belonged to the same class clam of physical instruments as the arim and Thum mim the breastplate breast plate worn by the jewish high priests the ark of the covenant and its sacred contents the wonder working rod of moses and other agents of supernatural power belonging to the science of celestial theology and used only by the holy priesthood all these divinely inspired agents were utterly inert and useless as the engine without steam unless operated by the subtle force of faith in god it was the baudi handiwork of an ancient order of craftsmen who wrought by divine authority tho rity and the inspiration of the holy ghost those illustrious colleges have disappeared in the remote past and their occult and grand contrivances have perished with the |