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Show rnoriiEtTEs and PuowiErs. We 11A n already shown by Indisputable In-disputable facts that the gift of receiving re-ceiving beforehand more or less clear Impressions of future events, iaono with which human beings sometimes are endowed. It is a psychological phenomenon which has been so frequently observed that to doubt it l, to say tho least, very unphllosophical. A few more remarkable instancej may bo quoted, before wc leave this part of cur subject. The Protectants themselves, although al-though they deny the continuation of the prophetic gifts, have the following fol-lowing recorded in their Apologia Oanfett Aus'. "Thirty years ago, there lived among us in tbe cit of Eisenach, Thuriusen,aFranca-can,Joba Ililtcn, who was incarcerated by his brotherhood brother-hood liecauso he bad denounced sonic of their most glaring sins. Wchae seen some of his writings and can Judge w hat his teachings w ere. Those that saw him describe him as a quiet old man, earnest but pleasant. This man lias foretold many tldngs, some of hith have already been fulflllwl, whilo others appear to be future. These we will not quote, that no one ma rccei.othe Impression that we wish to be partial to an bod j . Hut, flnaUy , n hen h", as a cousequenee of old age or from foul prison air, became be-came sick, bo called the jailer in order to tell him of his csiudition. The Jailer, however, was full of Pharisaical hatred hat-red and abused the man on account of his teachings. This, then, forgot bis sieknessand told him, sighing, that he would forget all otftnscs for Christ's sake. He had not written or taught anything wbcrtbj the brotherhood could be Injured, he Iiad only found fault with some notorious errors. But, he said, there will come another in tha earl5tC,who will pronounce a full scntcirco against you, and ou shall not be able to rcLst him." Here Is a clear prediction, giving the exact date of the beginning of the It-formation by Luther. Jacob Cazotte'd prediction of the French Involution is one of the most clear prophecies to be found outside tbe pages or Holy Writ It was published some time ago in the Xlws, wherefore we only mention it at this time. Cardinal Peter d'Aily who lived in the fifteenth century, predicted the same event in the following sentence: sen-tence: "If the world stands to that time (17S9), what God alone known, then there will lie great changes and revolutions, revo-lutions, jiartleularly with respect to tho Ian s." A prediction delivered byllilde-gard, byllilde-gard, of BIngen, Germiny, In the 1-th century, quoted by several authors, is remarkable for its clearness clear-ness and seems to be fulfilled in our own time. Tbe lady describes the apostary of tbe general church from truth and righteousness durlngscvcn times or periods, commencing with the J car 1103. This brings her to tbe beginning of our century, of which she says: "Tlun shall also the true angels of men bo near. Valiant and wise men shall stand up and gather all old aud new sayings of tho Iliblc, and nil tbe words that have been published by tho Uolj Ghost, and the understanding understand-ing of these they shall exhibit as an ornament with precious stones, and all tho faithful shall see themselves therein as in a looking glass. Then shall also the Jews and the heretics (non-Catholics) rejolco and say that their glory is drawing near. Many Gentiles shall be baptized, confess Christ and honor liim. Unrighteousness, Unrighteous-ness, howc er, shall also lift her head but again be put down. Famine, wars and pests shall also rage and again be taken awaj." Tills seems to be an unmistakably clear allusion to tbe glorious work now in progreja for the furtherance of theKingdom of God; the work for the inauguration of which the Lit-ter-day Saints have been called together to-gether from the various quarters of the world; a work,for which some of the noblest men that ever dwelt on tbe earth lived and died. The .various passages of the pre-prediction pre-prediction are worth while studying. O Reference ia made to theprrnro of saxeks; to the Talor and wisdom of the chosen aerranto of God in th g, to the collscUon and right under stand of oM aatl S6W sacred writings; te the acceptance of the Gospel by Jews aad Gentiles; to the last eflorta of tbe servant of unrighteousness, and to subsequent outpourings of divine judgments. There Is, In one word, m clear and bold outline or what the world calls "Mormonlsm," drawn on the pages of the history of tho 12th century. Hildeganl died 1178. Her remarkable re-markable prediction has been quoted by H. Arolm in acacia au Ycrgan-gtnkdl Ycrgan-gtnkdl und Uegenwart Vevitchlandt, Bremen 1347, and also by Johannes Kreyher, Die mytUchin Ertchehiia-gcnduSttUnltUtu, Ertchehiia-gcnduSttUnltUtu, Stuttgart, 1SS0 The fact beinK established that the human mind possesses -the faculty or perceiving what Is not actually present to the outward senses, although al-though having an actual existence, it ia easy to accept the prophecies with which revealed religion Is ao abundantly interwoven. True religion re-ligion claims every good gift, every n able faculty of man. It claims his masoning powers, whereby, It strengthened by the Spirit of God, be is enabled lo perceive the con; nectlon between the different parts of his Father's work and penetrate e en into the deep mysteries of the dl vino plans; it claims his feelings, his "heart," whereby he Is enabled to accept the Infinite lave of his Father, and reflect tho tame toward Him and towards the whole beau-tiul beau-tiul creation. It claims his speech, that be may proclaim the wonders won-ders of his God; his song, his every talent, eery emotion. How strange would it be, if this one mysterious gift of man should have been discarded aa useless in tbe divine worship? It cannot bs. lla man to soma extent this gift, as we have shown that he has, then it must be found In the service of God, exercised In behalf of true religion. In other words, divine predictions aro as natural and necessary to God's religion as are the speeches n hereby the Gospel is proclaimed, the songs aud music whereby God is honored and His children edified, or the expositions of tbe scripture whereby the Father's will is made plain to mankind. All are necessary. neces-sary. .Religion without one or any of these is defective. It would be a great mistake to sup pose that only good men, men of God, could possess the gift of pre-perception, pre-perception, if we may so call It. The Bible shows us Instances proving prov-ing tbe contrary. There is Uaalam (Numb. 31; 1G) who caused Israel to trespass against the Lord; there is that lying prophet who caused a man of God to turn from His counsel, coun-sel, but who nevertheless predicted the punishment that followed (1 Kings, 13; II 22). And there are other s'mllar characters. Kverj faculty of man can be used either in the service or Light or of Darkness. Dark-ness. It can be influenced aud guided either by a good spirit or by an evil spirit. Man cau use his mental or physical powers either for or against the Kingdom of heaven. A man's reasoning powers and gifts of oratory for instanco may be used in the defense of the truth or in the dlseminatlon of falsehood; his Lind may be used for the assistance of a brother, or for stabbing him In his heart. The faculties and powers are substantially the same, if we do not consider the difference of degree de-gree found in different inJ'-viduals. inJ'-viduals. The real differences is in tbe way in which they are used for good or for evil. So with this gift of pre-p-rception. It Is round to some extent, probably, iu every human being. In some it is found highly developed. A man who devotes this faculty, as will as others, to the service of God becomes, be-comes, when tho Spirit of GoJ accepts ac-cepts his service and operates upon and through tills faculty, lajiug open to the mind things past, present pres-ent and future wc say, under these circumstances he becomes a prophet of God, and his disclosures are divine revelations, if they refer to the past and present; they are predictions or prophecies If they refer to the future. fu-ture. Prophets of Uod liavo this distinguishing distin-guishing mark: that the knowledge they impart is given them from a divine source. This they claim and this their utterances mast prove themselves to be. Mohammed anu SAedenborg were jrophets. They held communion with the unseen un-seen world and were influenced influ-enced by spirits. But they were evidently ml-gulded In niaay instances in-stances and led astray, thus proving that they were not prophets or GoJ, In the true sense or the word. Others there have been and nr-probably nr-probably now in tho world, who are inspired by the Prince of darkness. Even such miy through their faculty facul-ty of pre-psrecption receive impressions im-pressions of tbe future, although mixed with falsehood and error But a prophet or Gad holds com munion with the Almighty and receives frcm Him light and truth and understanding according to the purposes of the Lord for the good of His people. Tills leads us to consider the pot-slbility pot-slbility of communicating with unseen un-seen beings, a. subject which will be presented in aulMquent articir. |