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Show 3m maSM .1- v DiHcourrsEn-'- f Pratt; delivered in ?y Elder Orion the Ogden; Sunday M'etninyj 'Slay TU-mnel- TA?lO-- BltrCRTSD BY .' II aving been', req'uWed . to speak tins lr,renoon, and to continue tbe subject yesterupcu which we were addressed dso, hopday afternoon, I cheerfully ing that 1 may live the attention of tbo uitgregation, m far as possible, that I loxy be able to make all hear. The subject upon which Pro. Taylor addressed the congregation yesterday nf:ernoon. and upon which a few words were aid by these who followed Kim, in, of very great importance in its bear-ii.; for all upon the present and been once liave revealed, that tl.jugi which are now lost, will be revealed i,new ,in order to fulfill that passage f Krfplttre recorded in tbe lltk chap, of Isaiah and 9ih Terse. "The knowledge if God shall cover the earth as the Things of witters cover the sea." ill former, dispensations will be ttda manifest and revealed anew of the in dispensation great fie fullness of times. And in crier to HuierstanJ more clearly the things that fcre'U) be revealed and made manifest fcirvmto the inhabitants of tbe earth,, it V'ir not be ami? for me to refer to iom f t' the p isl records of antiquity that were lovedltd from lloaveu, for the benefit of ui generations. The first one that oe- .r to my mind will be found mention ed in the Dock of Covenants, page i 'J, g gent-ration- T 29: ' ! . t i el Adam stood up is the midst of me cougregation, and notwithstanding i.f was bowed down with age, being full f the Holy Ghost, predicted whatsoever t& iul l befall his posterity unto tbe latest (nerttion. Theso things were all writ in the Book of Enoch, and are to be testified of in due time." Adam was the first personage placed a t'j.-- - earth, in tbe garden of Eden, km having transgressed, and having of Kden, )en eml out of tbe garden wod having fulfilled a long pro- I t;on. to a almost amounting i ob n 1 to gath-- r yeirs, he concluded together his children, which he did t tm jeare previouily to his dcathf.! ("Corded on tbo same page he gathered 8:h, Enos, Cainaau, Mahalaleel, Jured, Koicb and Methuselah', who were euc- esive descendants, making eight gen- rations in all, including himself, into This the valley of nearly a thousand years after Adau uii w us placed in tbe Garden of Eden, seven psaeratioas of his children or the r:gbteoua portion thereof, were gathered together in that valley. And here it niay not be amiss for me to say ft few w trd in relation to the location of that ,i Merest ing meetiug or conference, . .. acThe valley ct' views the and belief to of the cording Latter dat Saints, was located on the western hemisphere of oar glob. , (I n would here say that as the greater of tbUcngrgrtlon are Latter-da- y faints, tbo proofs and evidences which 1 .eha.ll bring fortn, in relation to tbe matters before ice, will be selected from those books which are believed by them, which may noi be particular evidence to strangers, but to the Latter-da- y F aims they will be undisputed evidenoe.) the Valley of God, where Adam dwelt, was located about ftfty miles north of Jackson County, in lie State of Missouri. The Lord has vealed to ua that Adanj dwelt there towards the latter period of his probation. Whether he had lived in that region of ecunlry frona the earliest period of bis existence on the earth, we know not. lie might have lived thousauds of miles dietant,, in hie early days. It might (five been upon what we now term the rreiC eastern Hemisphere; for iu those days the eastern and western Hemisphere were one, and were not divided asunder till tbe days of Teleg. Adain ight have migrated from tbe great gathered up with the people of t.'od in connection with the Church of I oych, and formed a location In the western boundaries of Missouri. This in not revealed. The object of this grand meet-laof our was great ancestors, ttwtt Adam might bestow a great Patriarchal blessing, upon hie descendants. Hence ;he riffhteoua of his posterity were fathered oo that occasion. He dpon them hie last blessing. favored on that Occasion; for wtre 1Ly the Lord appeared unto ; them. This meeting was very interesting in its nature, and the Lord was very mnch inter ti. -- Adam-ondiahma- n. Adam-ondi-ahuia- n. por-l.o- Alam-oivli-ahma- rst g pro-r.oetW- ited, as well as the people. He appear- ed t this vMlongrgation,and impart ! comfort to Adam in his old age. And Adam was filled with the Holy Ghost. Notwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being filled with the Holy Ghost, he predicted what should come to pass among his posterity to the latest generations. Heuce he must have spoken ccnouruing all the following dispensations, that wore to be revealed from time t time, to the children of men. He must bve spoken concerning the spreading of his posterity after the days of Noah, and of the great Work of God being established ou the earth in the luUer days and concerning tbo second advent of the Hon of G')d, concerning the great day of ret, the period when satan should be Wo ad All tuae tbingn were written lit the Fook of Lnooh. who was present eu that occasion. And this book is to l- lsii!ied of, in due time, to the faints - t kh Jat ) Oftye. Hi will it Ous of Ui They thought that tbe City of Enoch was caught up alittle "ways from the earth, and that the city was within the first sphere above the earth; and that if they could get a tower high enough, the they might get to heaven, wherethereinhabitant the Enoch and of City of were located; they weut to work and built a tower. They had this tradition, that there had been a translation of people from the earth, and tbey were anxious to become acquainted with Ibera; but tbe Lord saw that they were one, and that ihey all had one language, and that nothing would be restrained from them which they imagined to do; and as a curse, He sent a variety of tongues took from thein their own mother-tonguThe laugUMge of Adam was all forgotten in a moment; and independently of taking away from them the knowledge of their owu longne, He gttve them a multitude of other tongues, so that tney could not understand In those days there were a few righteous individuals living at tbe Tower, among whom was Jared, a very good man, and bis brother. When tbey understood by the spirit of prophecy, that the Lord was about to scatter the people to the four corners of the earth, the brother of Jared called upon the Lord, by the request of Jared, that the Lord might lead them to a choice land. Did they come upoi this great western hemisphere without a knowledge of God? No,, Without any written record? No, Head tho Book of Mormon, papc 530; or. in other words, the Jiook of Ether, and you will fiud there recorded, several generations after the Israelites came from the Tower of liabel und landed up on this continent, that there wu a certain woman, the daughter of one of the ancient men of note, that referred her father to those records which their fathers brought from tho Tower of told her lather what was recorded iu them. "Hath my father not read the record which our fathers Drought across the great deep? Behold, is there not au account concerning them of old; that they, by their secret plans did obtain kingdoms and great glory." She put it in the hem of her father, Jared, to follow those wicked acts wtiqh were entered into by Cain. .It shows that the Jarediies did not conic here without a record of the things from the days of Adam, down ; they bad it with them. They kept it with them, and multitplied copies in the midst of tbeir nation. But you may ask, how do wc know about this first eoleny that cuine to this continent? ilow came we in possession of this knowledge ? It was by the records which they themselves'kepc The Jarediies, acquainted with the arl of writing, kept their records.. And among the host of records kept by them, were twenty-four plates of pure gold, which were the Prophet Etber, some 1C00 by kept or 1800 years after their colouy came to this lanJ, from the Tower of Babel. He kept a record. These records were carried by Ether from the bill Baniah, afierwards called. Cumor.ih, where the Jarediies were destroyed, as wall as the He carried , them ..forth toNephiiesi. wards &6uth America, and placed them in a ''position norltt ot the .Isthmus; where a portion of the people of King Lipihi, about one huudred year before Christ, found them. I will read you a little' description ef their being found. Ou, page 101, Book of Mormon, it appears that the people of Liuihi were a certain colony- - that hud left the main body of the Nepbttv aud bad settled in the land whore Nepbi built aud located his little colony. soou after their landing ou the western coast of South America. After landiug, and after the death of hi father Lehi, Nepbi was commanded of God, to take lkve who would believe in the Most High, aud flee out from his brothrcu. Aul they traveled many days journey to the northward, and located in a laud which they called the Land of Nepbi, am dwelt there some four hunJie l years. And then because of she wickedness of the people tbey were threatened with a great destruction. The Lord led Mosiah out of the Land ot Nepbi; and lad him still further north,, twine twenty days jourthe Biver ney, and tbey" lcated Sidon, uow culUd Magdalcua. which runs from the south to iho north. And there tbey touud a people called the people of Zarabemla. ' And tome of the Nephites desired to return to the Land of Nepbi, which they did. In about a century afterward", there beiug no communication between tbo colouiee, they seut out a number of men to see if they could find the people of Zarabemla. And they were lo.it;.. and came to a part of a, country covered with bones. This ia what 1 am going to read. And as a testimony that tbene things were true, they brought twenty-fou- r plates of gold, and breast-plate- s of brass and copper, aud sword, etc. ., Book of Mormon, page 161: "And it catue to pasa that, after King Liuihi hid made an end of speaking to his people, for he xpake many things uuto them, and only a few of them have I written in this Book, he told his people all tbo things concerning their brethren who were iu tbe land of Zarahemla; and he caused that Amnion should stand op before the multitude, and rehearse untd them all that bad happened unto their brctbieu from the time that Zen iff went lip out the land. And he alsi rehearsed nate them the lust words which King Benjamin kad taught them.aa j explained them to the people of King Liuihi, o that they might understand all the heaven. words wLioh.hejimke. And it ria? to means by which God will fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah, that the knowledge of God will cover the earth ae the wa,', ters cover the great deep" Saying nothing about the prophecies of eth, Knos, Coinan, Mabalaleel and Jared, we will next come cown to the days of Enoeb. Fnocb prophesied of all thiiigs, as well as his great ancestor, Adum. A few of his words are translated, and brought to light by the prophet Joseph Smith, and published in tbe various publications of this Church in the "Evening ond Morning Star," the 'Pearl of Great Trice," etc. This prophecy, though very short, as far as it has been revealed, unfolds marvelous principles, showing that his eyes were opened to sec things that were pa-- and things in the future ; all of, which were recorded in tbe Book of Enoch, which is to be brought to light, and revealed iu the the things revealed latter to Enoch was the knowledge of the flood, which was to take place. And the Lord made ft covenant with Enoch, that lie would Eet His bow in tbe clouds just as it afierwards was given to Noah uot as a mere token alone thai the Lord would uo more drown the world, but as a token of Jbe new 6ud everlasting covenant that the Lord amdo with Enoch. The words of this covenant I will repeat, as far as my memory will serve: "I will set my bow in tbo clouds, and 1 will look upon it, aud remember the everlasting covenant I have made with you. That in the latter days, when men shall keep all my commandments, Zion shall look upwards and the. Heavens shall look downwards," etc. The .bow that was set in tbo clouds was to be a token, between God and the inhabitants of the earth, of tbe bringing again of Zion, and of tbe assembling of the Saints of all dispensations. Therefore, when I have seen the bow in the clcuds, it causes rue to remember tbe covenant that God made in those early ages, and which is Bonn to be. fulfilled in the last dispensation of. the fulness of limes. How great, and. hoiv important is this covenant with the Zion which was built np by Enoch, which was to be taken up into Heaven and remain sanctified as a place of the Lord's abode, forever where He should dwell in the mlJut of His people, and where lie should behold their faces, and they should behold His face. That this ancient Zion, and all thereof should come the inhabitant from heaven, and. reign on the eaath, and that Jesus should come with them. And for fear that the Saints should for-jthis, a beautiful bow was placed in the clouds, that they might remember Chat the Lord wn looking upon them, and that He would remember His covenant with Enoch in regard to bringing His Zion again. This we find in the periodicals of the Church. When this time shall come that tbe Lord will bring again ancient Zion,, this will assist in filling the earth with the knowledge of God as the waters, cover the great deep-and will serve to put us in poscssien of the history of Zien, of the order of that ancient people, when they ' walked three hundred and silly, Ave years hefore they tvefrc prepared for a translation to heaven. ,. r tJ ' When we come to converse with Enoch and his city face to face, und hear from their own mouths Jha declaration of their own history, and the preaching of the gospel in that "age of the world, it will unfold a vast amount of knowledge in regard to the events before the flood We come down to the days of Noah. He was a righteous man, and called of God to preach the gospel among the nations as it was revealed lo his forefaib. ers, and before the days of the flood, eo great was the faith of many of tbe people, after the days that Enoch's city was caught np, that the Holy Ghost fell upon them, and they were caught up by the power of heaven iuto the midst of Zion the Zion of Enoch. Thus we hate further knowedge revealed to us. Noah, after having preached the gospel and published glad tidings among the nations, was commanded to build an ark. He had a I' rim and Thumuiitn by which he vtas enabled to discern all things pertaining to the ark, and its pattern. He wa a great prophet, and predicted many thing, and his records, no doubt; wire hidden up, and will come forth in duo tifue, when the Lord shall cover the earth with Ilia knowl-edg- e as the waters cover the great deep. Many people' Lave supposed that Muses was the first man, and the people of hi day the .first generation that knew anything about written characters. And that all the people from the .days of Adam down to MVses, did not know how to put their thoughts in the form of writing. Bat let me inform you how writing commenced. We road la the Cook of Enoch, in the "Pearl of Great Price," that the Lord taught Adam how tb write recordsj ly tbe inspiration of Hjs spirit. And it was given him concerning the mode of ? placing his thoughts iu the torm of writing.' This U recorded" Ih the Hook cf Enoch, aud the Pearl of Great Price. Tbo people before the . flood did lose the rt of 1 writing; but they wrote their revelations, .vision etc., in the language of Adam the firtsl language given to tnn. This knowledge us1 retained through the flood. We come down to the days of the building of the Tower of Habel, soon after the flood.. About the time of Abraham the Tower of Uahel was built. The people being of one lanruace, efithered together to bnild a twilr t) reiach. as , , t, i times.-Amon- . e. oue-auotbe- 1 , et I , , . ! - ht . lej Euppo.t-- , .L rjsul.icd - . ,, : . pass that after he had done all this that King Limhi dismissed the multitude, and caused that they should return, ,every " " one unto his own house." "And it came to pass that he caused that the plates which contained the record of his people, from the time that ibey left tbe bind of Zarahemla should be brought before Amuion.that he might read them. Now, as soon as Amnion bad reud the record, the King inquite J of him to know if be could interpret languages, and Amnion told him, that he could not. And the King said unte him, being grieved for the afflictions of my people, 1 caused that forty and thre of ' my people should take a journey into tbo wilderness, that thereby tbey might find the land of Zarahemla.tba; we might appeal unto our brethren to deliver uh out of bondage; and they were!otin the wilderness for the space of many days, yet they were diligent.and found not the bind of Zarahetnlrt, but returned to this land, having traveled in a bind among many waters; having diseovered a laud which was covered with bones of men, and of beasts, &c, and was also covered with the ruins of buildings of every kind; having discovered a land which had been peopled with a people who were aa numerous as the hosts of Israel. And for a testimony that the things that they have said are true, they hove brought twenty-fou- r plates which are filled with engravings, and they are of pure gold. And behold, also, they have brought breastplates, wbich are large, and tbey are of brass and of copper, and are per fectly sound. And again, they have brought swords, the hilts thereof have perished, and the blades thereof were cankered with rust; and there is no one in the laud that is able to interpret the language or tbe engravings that are on the plates Therefore I said unto thee canst thon tran late? And I say unto thee again, knowesl thou of any one that can translate? for I am de ivous .that these records should be translated iuto our language; for, perhaps, they wil. give us a knowledge of a remnant of the people, who have been destroyed, from whence these records came; or perhaps they will give usaknowlcdge of this very people who have been destroyed; and I am desirous to know the cause of their . ' destruction." . ' a "Now Amnion said unto him, lean as suredly tell thee, 0 King, of a man that can translate the records; for be has wherewith that he can look, aud translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God. And the things are called interpreters, and no man can look in them except he be commanded lest he should look for that be ought not, and he should perish. And whosoever is commauded to look in them is ; called seer. And behold, the King of the peo ple, who is in the land of Zarahemla is the man who is commanded to do these things, and who has this high gift from ...... Uod." :. I have read this to give you an idea how the Israelites that ' inhabited this continent, before the days nf Chi iat.came to the knowledge of the first colony that came from the Tower, of Babel. This company, that was lost in the wilder ness, brought these plates, with' breast plates and swords, the hilts thereof hav ing perished, and the bhides thereof hav : ing cankered with rust. ,; Now Mosiah, the King, that, dwelt in the land of Zarahemla, was the man that was called of God to translate. ' He had the gift end power given to him to trans late these twenty four plates. ' W have an acconnt, on auother page of the Book of Mormon, of his translating these plates; and that it gave an account of the people from the days of Adam down to the flood, to tbe days of the Tower of Isabel, and down lo the days they were destroyed. Now will this record ever be brought to light to help fill the curth with the knowledge of God? Let me refer you to what is recorded in the Book of Ether, page ol6: "And now I, Moroni, proeeed to give an account of those ancient inhabitants who were destroyed by the hand of ibe Lord upon tbe face of this north country. And I take mine account from tbe twenty and four plates which were found by the people of Limbi, which is called the Book of Ether. And as I suppose that the first part of this record, which speaks concerning the creation of the world.and also of Adam, and an account from that time even to the great Tower, and what, soever things trauspired among the children of men until that lime, is had among tbo Jews, therefore I do not write those things which transpired from the days of Adam until that time;" (Now notice the next sentence; "but they are had upon tbe plates; and whoso findeth them, the game will have power that he may get the full account." Tbey ore not yet found. We have the Book of P.ther,that i not part of the contents cf those twenty-fou- r plates. But a very short account. Whoso findeth these twenty-fou- r plates will have power to get the full account; for they give a history from the days of Ad;;m through the variou generations to the days of the flood, from the days cf the flood down to the days of Peleg, and from the duya of P- leg to the Tower, which was very nearly cot with Peleg. And from that emporaiy time for some aixteen or eighteen centnries after they landed on this contiuent. The prophecies of their prophets in different generations, who published glad of jey upon the fuce'of i!P the northern portion of this continent. Tbeir records . . . : -- : tu - lid-ng- ad these will heln to fntfiii w. . f text that the kno.l,dg.-r Co- er the earth as the suver tbc great deep .but we will ra. n1 i t. me eveo u colony, uat the n,,i vom K i...... T fore Christ. wi.h them? 1.1 Did they thev ,hl.f, or n lf" T0ri VI"1 rmin,? Whin .k! j inru nmnnn i. the art of writing eeBfcfcrfc;: Yes. write in the trsufiu ,i was tha; Egyphan lung,, on.lfim pageofi Mormon. " Bft therefore I mke a rccJi of my proceedings ia my UJg; ' make a record in the languid father which consists of the hArnint iff tbe Jews and the lanmt.... Egyptians." A language which thr forefathers learned, while they J eit 1 : I?vpt, and which they were "faurliar with, but probably lost it income sure, but kiiII retained a portion of and wrote their records in the same. " you win apuem to Biblical tory you will find that the Israelite? it ' b; did write their recoids, in ancienV tim. upon metallic plates, and that these piwes were couneoiea together, with rings,, passing through ibe Through the whole a stick, was placed for carrying the record. Tbis descrip- : . tion we have given by those who hnvc deeply studied concerning the scriptures and the ancient doiugs of the Israelites. When Lehi left Jerusalem, tberi was a certain man that lived in Jerusalem that had kept records upon brass phui! And these records, we are informed had been hauded down from the eary jge of the Is nehtcs, until Lehi left Jerusalem. Thry contained a copy of the of the tribe of Joseph in lbs knd of Palestine. Laban being a dependent of Joseph, the records hod fallen intLi bands. Lehi was commanded lo send his aons to obtain these records; for ie had pitched his tent on the eastern borders of the Bed Sea. The history ofhu obtaining them you will find recorded in the Book of Mormon. On the 10th page it re dr. "And it came to pass. th; tbey did rejoice exceedingly, and did offer sacrifice and burst offerings uuto the Lord; and they gave thanks unto tie God of Israel. And after tbey lad givm tlianks unto the God of Israel my lather Lehi took the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, and be diil search tlient from the' beginning. And he beheld that they did contain the five books of Moses, which gave an account of the creation of the world, aud also of Adam and Eve, who were our rf parents; a.d also a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiuk, , king of Judah; and also th propLecies of the holy prophcts.frotn the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zcdekiah, and also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah." " And it eame to pas that my father ' Lebi also found upou the plates of brf, a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew tbnt he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph wbo was tbe Son of Jacob, who waaeold into Egypt, anJ who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father Jacob and all his household from perishaleo ing with famine. Aid ihey were land the of led out of captivity t P J out of Egypt, by that same God who hud preserved them. " And thus my fatber Lehi did discover the genealogy of bis fathers. And Laban also was a descendant of Joseph, wherefore he and I fiith ors had kept the record?." "And now when my father eaw all these things, he was filled with ihe spirit, and began to prophesy concerning his seed; that' these plates of brass should ge forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people who were of his seed. Wherefore he said that tbs plates of bra?s e'.ould neve'r perttn, neither should tbey be dimmed any more by time. And ho prophesied many things concerning his seed." I have read this in ' order to come w another thing' that ha a bearing upwi our text. These plates' of 'brass, eon-tnlneil the prophecies of all tbe holy tie prophets from the beginning from have day of Adam; hence they must of EnocB. contained the prophecie Jac! Isaac, Abraham. Adam,; Noah, and Joseph in Egypt. The propheciw of Isaiah tad many others of the "ly these prophets were contained upon plates of brass. metalM , NVwitbnonding brass U a substance capable of being dissolved aoa to crnmblvng buck, in a few years miracle a was there elements; yet wrought upon these plates of brass.I of brass prophet said that these platesthat Ooa sbouM not be dimmed by time, would preserve them to the latest generation. Wbatfor? In order b&ttll!' contents i might eorae forth ud their Toummim. translated by . Urim and that these content might be declared all nation, and kindred, and tongu. and people, who were the descendants conn- of Lehi upon the face of all ibis uent, from tbe froien regions north to the verr" itraost extremetKi South America. That all these n should come to ti Knowledge of the tbicg contained on those platea of brass. ci Now the Lord did many things this kind in ancient days. should be any strangers present let ary show you, bow ibe Lord can d . refer yeu wonderful things. Le nie of substance the of manna the pot . would rot k'oej over twenty-fou- r U F the fttid ou Sunday, dwLgarall tqceoi.li.i.aq,'.'uud expt genea-olbg- y ; ' ;, , - i . of-"- j"" . |
