Show DEATH OF APOSTLE ORSO PRATT A thrill of sorrow has this day dal caused tens of thousands of hearts t to vibrate orson Pratt the last mem her of tho the quorum of tho the twelve apostles that was first organized b by divine revelation and appointment in this latter day dispensation U breathed his last at a m today da y after an illness of nearly on one year elder pratt was a descendant ol 01 william and elizabeth pratt who came to this country with the pilgrim fathers from eases essex england in 1663 he le w was born at hartford washington washingto county NY sept 19 1811 and was baptized into the church of jesus christ of latter day esain exactly nineteen years from that day by his brother parley pale pa le Y on the ath of november following h he visited the prophet joseph smith for tho the express purposes of ascertaining taini fig the mind of the lord concerning him when the fol following lowin revelation was received through the seer my son orson hearken and hear and behold what I the lord god shall say my unto you even jesus christ your Ile redeemer deemer the light and the life of the world a light alight which chineth indars in darkness and the darkness eth it not who so loved the world that lie gave his own life that as in many any as a would believe might become th the sons on of god wherefore you arc are my eon son and blessed are you because you have believed and moro more blessed arc are you because you are called of me to preach my gospel to lift lih up your voice as with the th sound ofa trump both long and loud and cry repentance unto a crooked and perverse generation preparing tho the way ray of the lord for his second coming for behold verila verily I sa say unto you tile time is boon soon at hand ban that I shall como come in a cloud clou with power and great glory and it shall bo be a great day dy at tho the time of my coming for all nations shall tremble but before that great day dball corns the sun shall be dark darkened ened and the moon bo be turned into blood and the stars shall refuse their shining I S and some shall fall and great dest destructions u await the wicked 10 wherefore lift up your voice e and spare not for the lord god lias it spoken aken therefore prophesy and I it shall bo be given by T the ic power powe r of t the holy ghost 11 and if you arc are faithful behold I am with you until I come 12 and arid verily verily I say unto you I come quickly I am your you lord rd and your Ile deemer ev even so amen he traveled scores of thousands thousand of miles by sea and land and braved and encountered dangers of various kinds in his efforts to proclaim the tile message he lie was divinely commissioned to declare we regret that the meagre data immedi j abely at hand and the limited space at our command render it empra for us to give more belabor ate details of the career of this remarkable man his life and la a bors hors arc are however largely before the saints and many people of the th world arc are also moro morn or ices less familiar familia with them brother pratt waa was ordained an a apostle in 1838 1835 and in 1840 together with several other members of the quorum ho he was in great britain on oil a mission he opened up the work in scotland raising u up a large branch of the tile church in the th city of edinburgh quite a large larg number of those who were brought brough to a knowledge of the gospel through his labors labon there at that tha time being now in utah hedou he found great difficulty difficult y in opening A up a field in modern athena athens at first fin t and exercised mighty faith on the subject he ile adopted the course of retiring to the top of ai an adjoining mountain called ar tours scat seat and praying over tin city iio ire aa asked cd the lord lord to gh him im at least a specified number bouls we wo think ali ink it was either oi and lie was instrumental ii ill bringing b tho the exact number into UK tit church besides the immense amount ol 01 ex preaching caching he be did on oil this continent tie he was several times subsequent 13 on an missions to europe and on oil r number of occasions presided led avei the maion nil islon in that part of world the writer had an all opportunity if f becoming closely acquainted with elder pratt in ill the early part of 1865 in birmingham england abero lie spent about two month i immediately prior to his going on oil mission to austria during thai that ime be preached regularly iwic n sundays and from two to four times times on evenings during the week he ile was also engaged on a mathematical work on which he labored continuously from daylight in the morning till after midnight this routine being broken only by biz hi out to preach or when th ahr iv riter fearful that his health might bo be impaired by over study half halfin in bisted upon his going out to visit iome of the people even then the writer would occasionally by way of persuasion place his hat on tho the table in front of him as a gentle gentie reminder of an appointment t to visit somewhere the last important work done by E elder ider pratt wes the preparation and publication of the latest editions of the book of mormon and book of doctrine and covenants in in verses and with foot references he ile ment to england in 1877 t to publish the first fint named work woric but was called home hmo almost before he had bad time to begin it on oil account odthe of the death of tho the late president brigham young he ile returned t to england at tho the close of 1878 and accomplished the mission ass assign assigned him returning home in the fall of 1879 the references for the book of mormon were prepared by elder elde pratt at home ionic but those in th the doctrine and covenants were prepared in ill england during his bi last visit there he be also completed ind and published an astronomical work in which lie propounds a new theory in relation to the forces of the universe he ile did a good deal of preaching ind nd bore testimonies to the divine divin authenticity of the work established by the instrumentality of joseph smith that much of alie power of god and the fire of ix inspiration apostle orson pratt lias has probably had superior as a an n expounder of ile scriptures with which lie was probably moro more fam familiar than any ny man of the present age in fact we are not familiar familia with any man that was his ilia superior in n this particular line and we have no record of his bia superior in his for forte in n history but he was not only a arofo profound und theologian but his at ailments ain tain ments in tho the field of science were considerable having made mad lomo some discoveries in astronomy nofri of which branch of learning he lie was in an enthusiastic devotee j the extensive knowl knowledge edgo of scriptures of brother piatt platt corn com inca billed with his naturally logical turn um of mind stood him hit m in gooda turn um in the celebrated d discussion discussion on polygamy toly gamy in 1870 with dr new i nan man who met such a disastrous polemic klemic defeat at his hands it was F lhost universally acknowledged hat that victory wag was on the side of th thea word of god and elder pratt in ii hat that interesting contest wo we do not pretend to do all kind of justice in this brief sketch to a life so fruitful as that efelder of elder pratt we desire however to offer offic a i respectful tribute to the demor memory of f one who ranked among the th ablest noblest of earths sons hia his course courns of f life was by no means smooth like the divine master in whose service ho he so nobly worked lie was i a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief his ilia mind was eo so ab orbed with the things of the king dom orn of god that he gave but little litti attention to the accumulation of wealth his ilia natural bent was averse to devotion to material matters and lie lias lim consequently never at any time been rich in ill fact ho he had numerous tussles with poverty with the odd greatly against ainest him he ile was a roan man of great reat simplicity of character lie H was entirely devoid of cunning it might have been said of him behold an israelite gitil without guile ile P two weeks ago yesterday sept letb the saints assembled in the tabernacle salt lake city re rejoiced la K usia u SIA at i once more after an all interval of near familiar 11 voice ly a year to hear licar his ft it was the tile ilay day prior to ill alic an all creary emary of his hii birthday and tu 51 slat t of his birth into the tile church of jesus christ of latter day saints in 11 advancing b whose interests lie hac had p devoted a full hill balf A syn j of his remarks appeared in tb tin HERALD of monday MOll dlly sept 1901 S showing that his int jaa public utterances were vere for god mid his kingdom the tile memory of elder pratt wil will be cherished forever end and the record of the great noble and devoted work lie accomplished in this life will be preserved in the archives of eternity tern ity many ba bleas es his na name me 11 in this probation and myriads shall d do him lionor in the great hereafter I his departure is mourned by all i the latter day saints and al aho alo o by many who do not belinn belong g to to our u community but who know how low t to esteem b genuine worth wherever found he leaves R P numerous family who have the earnest sympathy of the whole people in their bereavement rea |