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Show BOOK OF MORMON. <br><br> The following very interesting article, under the title "An Essay on the Book of Mormon," was read by Elder James A. Leishman in the District Meeting of the Y.M.M.I.A. of Cache county, at the Logan Tabernacle, December 30th, 1879. It is published in the Leader according to the request of many leading citizens. The coming forth of the Book of Mormon may justly be ranked among the leading events of the Nineteenth century; coming as it does through the channel of inspiration, its pages are authentic, the history it records, true. It sheds a flood of light upon the dark and hoary past, developing in its perusal the origin and source of the once mighty peoples that inhabited this land, and sets forth the peculiar care and regard that are manifest in the immigration and preservation of the fathers of those people. It directs the mind through the ages agone, to another portion of the earth, and presents to the vision scenes and circumstances that in themselves form an era in the world's history, of the greatest importance; viz., the confusion of language and dispersion of mankind from the tower of Babel into various parts of the world, thus opening up to our understanding more minutely and extensively the dealings of God with the human family in those remote times. That his hand guided and directed a colony from that unhappy spot across the mighty waters to this favored land, thus establishing a nucleus for a vast and powerful nation upon this continent, the history of which is made known in the book in question. That sacred record also contains the history of another colony, which left Jerusalem about 1400 years after the confusion of language, which colony was miraculously [miraculously] guided over the mighty ocean to this land by the Almighty through His servant Nephi. We learn also from its pages that the writers of this sacred book, were of the house of Israel, to whom the promises pertain, who were the legal heirs to the priesthood, whose progenitors were the favored ones of heaven, who walked and talked with the Almighty. This remarkable record made its appearance to this generation at a time when the so-called Christian world was racked and distorted with contentions and divisions regarding doctrinal points pertaining to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Old and New Testaments commonly called the Bible, were ostensibly taken as a guide and standard among professors of Christianity, which from the frequent ambiguities and lack of clearness upon vital points of doctrine in it and the absence of the holy Spirit among the Christian churches, gave rise to various and conflicting ideas and notions respecting those doctrines, that are so essential to the welfare of a Christian community. Nor is it to be wondered at, when we consider the fact that the Bible, notwithstanding its original purity and correctness, was written by holy and inspired men, coming to us through the hands of uninspired interpretors [interpreters], having been mutilated and interpolated by men whose minds were not illuminated by that spirit which actuated the writers of the original manuscripts. The interpretations they rendered were frequently the counterpart of their own ideas, which were at variance with the original text, and thus many of the plain and precious portions of gospel history and doctrines were excluded, or warped into another meaning than the one intended to be conveyed by the original writers of the holy scriptures. The Book of Mormon comes ???????????? to the manipulations of popes, monks, cardinals, prelates, kings, and the host of pretenders that struggled for pre-eminence among mankind through the dark ages and the reformation, as was the Bible. That record points to and delineates clearly the principles of the gospel as taught by Jesus and his apostles while they sojourned here in the flesh. That record being interpreted by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost by Joseph the Prophet rendered it pre-eminently an authentic record; and being written by the dictation of the Holy Spirit, and translated by the same power, we have a record that stands out in grand and bold relief, a distinct and reliable record declaring to plainness the fullness of the Everlasting Gospel and narrating to unmistakable terms the history of the ancient inhabitants of this continent, and God's dealings with them. Its pages point to the dispensation of the fullness of time. Its writer and the account given therein of the prophets and apostles who led and taught that people bear record of the Messiah and the atonement wrought by the Redeemer of the world, giving to this intended generation another testimony of the verity and truth of the divine ???? of the Son of God. He was crucified upon Calvary, which even took place upon the eastern continent, while the writers of the Book of Mormon and the people of whom it treats lived upon the western, whom the crucified and risen Savior visited and manifested himself unto a miraculous manner, thus fulfilling His saying in the land of Palestine, "That other sheep of that fold He also had, whom He would visit." Travelers and scientists of modern times have done much to determine the sources and origin of the aborigines of this continent, and to account for the singular geological structure and formation of this land, especially the western portions thereof. Volumes have been published with great care and cost concerning the legitimate owner of this continent, the poor despised Indian, and conjecture after conjecture has been put forward with no certainty of truth as to where he came from and also as to who and what people were the mound-builders, and also concerning the great cities the ruins of which are to be found in many portions of this continent. The geological formation of this land has puzzled the scientist to a great degree. To account for the disparity of the earth's stratas, of this portion of the globe as compared with other parts of it - surface developments, being similar to stratas hundreds of feet in depth in other parts of the world has been and is beyond the limits of the comprehension of the most astute geologist, who is content to conclude that science may yet harmonize and explain this geological phenomenon. The rejected Book of Mormon explains and unravels the mystery and explodes the narrow conjectures and ideas of men who had essayed to enlighten mankind upon these matters. That record reveals the origin of the Indian; sets forth that his fathers enjoyed the favor of Jehovah, were the recipients of his choicest blessings; that his ancestors centre in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who were the friends of God, upon whom He designed to confer blessings that no other received. That the poor degraded savage by whom we are surrounded, is of the royal lineage of Israel, to whom the promises pertain, and is entitled by kinship to the authority of heaven, and will yet be elevated to become the peer poor and superior of those who now persecute him, and despoil him of his inheritance. The Book of Mormon accounts for the geological formation of this part of the earth, which is due to the earthquakes and upheavals which took place upon this continent at the crucifixion of the Son of God, sets forth the causes that changed the map of this country, that nature as if in sympathy with the dying agonies of the Savior of Men, was convulsed and writhed with paraxysms, so much so that mountains were thrown up; cities were buried in the contortions of the earthquake, and water appeared instead thereof. Who were the Mound Builders of this continent is clearly defined in the pages of the Book of Mormon. Also much is said in relation to the deadly conflicts of that once happy people, and the myriads of them who hit bit the dust, who when accumulated and piled together, formed many of the mounds now extant. Also many of the mounds were built for military purposes in times of war. That sacred record reveals more truth than all the schools and colleges of Christendom put together, aided by the combined intelligence of all the sectarians in the world. It puts to shame the doctrines of men and the cunning of the crafty. It holds up to our view a portrayal of the retributive vengeance of the Lord where'n His wrath is kindled upon those who violate His laws and keep not his statutes. It points to the brilliance of the gospel and defines the plan of salvation and the path that leads to the Father. It is the harbinger of glad tidings to the honest in heart of all nations and is as the voice of the dead speaking in clarion tones to this generation, and warning them of the impending judgments of the Lord that shall shortly befall the wicked. It is the inaugural of the great latter-day work, of which all holy men have talked and written about since the world began. In short it is the stick of Ephraim, which has been joined to the stick of Judah and has formed a weapon in the hands of the servants of God that has wielded an influence among mankind for weal or woe. It forms a text book for the propagation of the truth of heaven, and a bulwark of that work, that must continue the even tenor of its way and spread undivided and operate unspent. |