I will read a portion of the 29th chapter of the second book of Nephi,
from the last edition of the Book of Mormon.
1. "But behold, there shall be many—at that day when I shall proceed
to do a marvelous work among them, that I may remember my covenants
which I have made unto the children of men, that I may set my hand again the second time to recover my people, which are of the
house of Israel;
2. "And also, that I may remember the promises which I have made unto
thee, Nephi, and also unto thy father, that I would remember your
seed; and that the words of your seed should proceed forth out of my
mouth unto your seed; and my words shall hiss forth unto the ends of
the earth, for a standard unto my people, which are of the house of
Israel;
3. "And because my words shall hiss forth—many of the Gentiles shall
say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any
more Bible.
4. "But thus saith the Lord God: O fools, they shall have a Bible; and
it shall proceed forth from the Jews, mine ancient covenant people.
And what thank they the Jews for the Bible which they receive from
them? Yea, what do the Gentiles mean? Do they remember the travails,
and the labors, and the pains of the Jews, and their diligence unto
me, in bringing forth salvation unto the Gentiles?
5. "O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant
people? Nay; but ye have cursed them, and have hated them, and have
not sought to recover them. But behold, I will return all these things
upon your own heads; for I the Lord hath not forgotten my people.
6. "Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we
need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the
Jews?
7. "Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not
that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember
those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the
heav ens above, and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word
unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?
8. "Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my
word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto
you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another?
Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another.
And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two
nations shall run together also.
9. "And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same
yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words
according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one
word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is
not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither
from that time henceforth and forever.
10. "Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that
it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not
caused more to be written.
11. "For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in
the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they
shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books
which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to
their works, according to that which is written."
There is much more of the next chapter and of the preceding chapter
that pertains to our time, to the day and age in which we live, and
these chapters, with many more, are full of predictions by the Prophet
Nephi, concerning the days when the Book of Mormon should come forth.
I want this morning, if I can have the Spirit of God to lead
and to assist me, to speak somewhat upon the predictions contained in
the Book of Mormon—the predictions which had to be fulfilled after the
publication of the book. It is alleged, as you know, that the Book of
Mormon is not an inspired record, but that Joseph Smith, if he was the
author of it, copied a great deal of it from the Old and New
Testament. Now, there is scarcely any need to say to those who have
studied the Book of Mormon, who have read it prayerfully and
carefully—there is scarcely any need to say to them that it contains
the internal evidence of its own divinity, that God wrote it through
inspired men, and that no one but an inspired man or men could have
written the book. There is no book in the English language that
compares with it, unless it be books which contain the pure word of
God. It has the advantage of the Bible in this: that it was translated
by the power of God, not by the learning of man, and not selected from
hundreds and thousands of versions as the Bible has been; for there is
no end to the versions which exist, of the books contained in the
Bible. Of course we have our version translated by learned men; but
there is scarcely a passage of any importance in the Bible concerning
which there is not some dispute among learned commentators. But with
the Book of Mormon it is different. God preserved those records for a
purpose in Himself. They were hidden up. This book, called the Book of
Mormon, is an abridgment prepared by one of the last prophets of the
Nephites, under the command of God, that it might come forth in the
last days. God revealed in part to him, and to his son Moroni, the
purpose which He had in view, in making this abridg ment, and in
concealing it in the earth, and they performed the labor connected
with this under the direct command and inspiration of the Almighty, to
come forth in the latter times, and to accomplish a great work. I wish
to allude to some of the predictions—not those that are contained in
other books, but those that are original with the Book of Mormon
itself, and that could not have been made, unless the man who wrote
them was inspired of God.
The words which I have read were written by Nephi, one of the first
prophets of the Nephite nation, and he describes, at great length, and
with wonderful plainness and minuteness, the condition of the
inhabitants of the earth at the time that this work should go forth.
Much of this, the caviller may say, could have been written by a man
of these days. But there are some things which Nephi wrote, that could
not have been written by a modern man who did not have the spirit of
prophecy, and that which I have read in your hearing is a part that
could not have been written by any human being, unless he had been
inspired of God, and was a prophet of God. If Joseph Smith—if the
divinity of his mission—his claims to be a Prophet rested upon this
chapter alone, or this portion of the chapter that I have read in your
hearing, according to my view his claims would be fully and
indisputably established, for the reason that at the time that he
translated this chapter he had no conception, neither could any human
being have any conception, unless inspired of God, as to the effect
the publication of the Book of Mormon would have upon the Gentile
world. But Joseph, inspired of God, translated the prediction of
Nephi, which pre diction states that when the Book of Mormon
should be published, it should be received by the Gentiles with this
expression: "A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot
be any more Bible." How many times has this expression been made by
clergymen, by professors of religion, and by Christendom generally,
since the publication of the Book of Mormon? Ye Elders who have
traversed sea and land, who have gone from continent to continent, who
have visited the isles of the ocean, who have lifted up your voices in
the cities of the Gentiles, and in their congregations; ye Elders, who
have thus labored, know full well, that in every land, and among every
people where you have labored, when you have spoken about God having
restored another record, the Book of Mormon—you know that you have
been met with these expressions, the literal words that Nephi said,
would be used in the last days by the Gentiles, in regard to this
work. You Latter-day Saints, who have endeavored to teach your friends
the doctrines that God had revealed, and endeavored to show them that
God had restored this ancient record—you know how your testimonies
have been received concerning the Book of Mormon. These remarkable
expressions have come from thousands of lips in many, many lands, and
in many, many languages, confirmatory of the Book itself, and of its
divine origin, and of its inspired translation. You read all the words
of Nephi in this 29th chapter, and you will find that he describes
with wonderful, and, I might say, photographic accuracy and
minuteness, the condition of the so-called Christian world—the spirit
that they possess, the crimes of which they are guilty, the condition
in which they are placed, and all the circumstances connected with
them.
In his next chapter, he makes further remarks concerning this work,
and the effect it should have. He says:
3. "And now, I would prophesy somewhat more concerning the Jews and
the Gentiles. For after the book of which I have spoken shall come
forth, and be written unto the Gentiles, and sealed up again unto the
Lord, there shall be many which shall believe the words which are
written; and they shall carry them forth unto the remnant of our seed.
4. "And then shall the remnant of our seed know concerning us, how
that we came out from Jerusalem, and that they are descendants of the
Jews.
5. "And the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among them;
wherefore, they shall be restored unto the knowledge of their fathers,
and also to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which was had among their
fathers.
6. "And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a
blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their scales of darkness
shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not
pass away among them, save they shall be a white and delightsome
people."
Now, that is one prediction. These are the words of Nephi. I will now
read the words of Jesus, recorded in the 16th chapter of the third
Book of Nephi, where He, in speaking about the last days, and the
coming forth of this work, says:
"And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day
when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall be lifted up
in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner
of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of
hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret
abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject
the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the
fulness of my gospel from among them.
"And then I will remember my covenant which I have made unto my
people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my gospel unto them.
"And I will show unto thee, O house of Israel, that the Gentiles shall
not have power over you; but I will remember my covenant unto you, O
house of Israel, and ye shall come unto the knowledge of the fulness
of my gospel."
These predictions are parallel; they point to the same period; they
describe the same events, the same condition of affairs—one uttered
600 years or thereabouts, before the other, and yet they are precisely
similar in their tenor, describing that which should be done with the
Gospel among the Gentiles. I wish you all to remember—you Latter-day
Saints, you young men and you young women, you little children who are
capable of understanding my words—I wish you all to remember that at
the time this was written, or rather at the time this was translated
into the English language—say somewhere about the year 1828—Joseph
Smith himself, had not received, or at least obeyed, the Gospel. He
had derived some knowledge of it through the ministration of angels,
and from that portion of the record that he had translated; but there
was not a Latter-day Saint upon the face of the whole earth that we
know anything about, or that he knew anything about. No man or woman
had received the Gospel; no church had been organized; no Priesthood
from the eternal worlds had been bestowed; not a man among all the
children of men had been clothed with the power of the eternal
Priesthood of the Son of God to administer the ordinances of life and
salvation unto the children of men. Yet the Prophet Joseph Smith in
this translation, showed forth with great clearness, that the Gospel
would be revealed, and that it should be received by some of the
Gentiles; that when it should be received by the Gentiles, it should
be carried by them to the descendants of Nephi and his brethren, who
by that time should have become a filthy and a loathsome people. The
Indians of our continent should receive the message of life and
salvation. The Gospel should be carried to them. They would receive it
with gladness. They would come to a knowledge of their Redeemer, as
well as to a knowledge of the principles and doctrines and covenants
which their fathers understood, and which their fathers had received.
Wonderful prediction! And most wonderfully has it been fulfilled. At
the time that the Prophet Joseph Smith translated this Book of Mormon,
I suppose the impression was general, as it is today, that the Indians
were a perishing race, that they would soon disappear from the face of
the land. But before Joseph had translated this, he had found in
previous predictions that the Gentiles—that is, our nation—that we as
a race and the nation to which we belong, should not have power to
destroy the Indians. This was a most remarkable statement to make when
we consider where Joseph was brought up, and the circumstances surrounding him. If he had not been inspired of God, he would not have
dared, in my opinion, and no man would have dared to have made such a
prediction. But what does Nephi say concerning this matter as
translated by the Prophet? He says:
"Nevertheless, thou beholdest that the Gentiles who have gone forth out
of captivity, and have been lifted up by the power of God above all
other nations, upon the face of the land which is choice above all
other lands, which is the land the Lord God hath covenanted with thy
father that his seed should have for the land of their inheritance;
wherefore, thou seest that the Lord God will not suffer that the
Gentiles will utterly destroy the mixture of thy seed, which are among
thy brethren.
"Neither will he suffer that the Gentiles shall destroy the seed of
thy brethren.
"Neither will he suffer that the Gentiles shall destroy the seed of
thy brethren" —that is, the Lamanites proper. They were not to be
permitted to destroy Nephi's seed that should be mingled among the
Lamanites, nor should they be permitted to destroy the Lamanites—that
is, the descendants of Laman and Lemuel. Nephi predicted this. Today
it is said that the Indians will perish, and that it is impossible to
save them. Here is the word of God recorded in this sacred book. We
have the words of God, the testimony of Jesus Christ arrayed against
all, or nearly all, the conclusions of the Gentiles. I look around and
I see here on this stand today, representatives of strange tribes of
Indians who have come here to visit, thus being in part a fulfillment
of the prediction of the Son of God, and also the fulfillment of that
prediction of Nephi, that I have read in your hearing. The Gentiles
did receive the Gospel of the Son of God, when it was revealed.
Burning with zeal to carry this Gospel to every nation, kindred,
tongue and people; inspired by the Holy Ghost, they went out among the
Indian races as well as others, and fulfilled the predictions of the
Book of Mormon in this respect. And strange to say—if anything can be
said to be strange connected with the work of God—the descendants of
those ancient covenant people of the Lord, have gladly received the
testimony of the servants of God. Wherever we have gone and mingled
with those people, with those Red Men, and been able to communicate to
them the truths of which we are in possession, which God has revealed
to us, they have received the same gladly; not only upon this
continent, but upon the islands of the sea, throughout Polynesia, the
Sandwich, the Marquesas, the Society and the Navigator Islands—yes,
and everywhere where those men with red skins dwell, they have gladly
received the testimony of God's servants concerning the Gospel, and
they rejoice in its fullness and in the knowledge that their fathers
once possessed, and of the redemption that Jesus Christ has wrought
out for them. Most wonderful has this prediction been fulfilled in
this respect! And God has done and is doing a great and a mighty work
among the people, fulfilling the words of the ancient prophets and of
Jesus. When the Gentiles do reject the Gospel—as I fear they will from
their conduct in the past—that is, as a nation—although I trust there
will yet be many hundreds and thousands—yea, I would that I could say
millions—of Gentiles gathered in by this Gospel; I trust that
this will be the case, though the prospects are not very hopeful at
present. It seems at present that as a nation, the Gentiles will
reject the Gospel. When they do reject it, as they have in part, then
God will commence, as the Savior said, to do a great work among the
house of Israel. He will carry his Gospel there, and the work will
commence then among all the scattered remnants of the house of Israel,
over the whole earth.
"I wish to read another prophecy connected with the coming forth of
this Book, and the results that should attend it, namely:
"Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the
loins of Judah shall write;" [the Prophet here is speaking of the
fruit of the loins of the Patriarch Joseph, who was sold into Egypt by
his brethren]; "and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy
loins" [that is, of Joseph's loins], "and also that which shall be
written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto
the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions,
and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them
to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the
knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord."
Now, here is a very remarkable prediction connected with the coming
forth of this Book. It should have the effect, when united with the
Bible—for it was the Bible that the Prophet was referring to as being
the writings of the fruit of the loins of Judah; when these two Books
should be united, it should have a remarkable effect—that is, their
union should. They should confound false doctrine; they should lay
down contentions, put an end to them and establish peace; and they
should be the means of bringing the people to the knowledge of the
covenants of God with those ancient Prophets, with His ancient
servants and people. Now, all those who know anything about the effect
of the Book of Mormon—of the preaching of the Elders with the aid of
the Book of Mormon—know that these words have been fulfilled to the
very letter. False doctrines have been put down. Contentions have
ceased. Peace has been established, and the people have been brought
to the knowledge of the covenants which God made with His ancient
servants. Those who have read this Book know how precious are the
words of God, contained in it—how plain the doctrine of Jesus Christ
is set forth in it. There are no mistranslations; there is no
mysticism infused into it by men who have had their own peculiar views
of the doctrine of Christ; for in consequence of the taking out from
the ancient records (the Bible) of many plain and precious parts of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the whole religious world is in confusion
as to the meaning of certain texts. So far as baptism itself is
concerned there is no end to contention. The Baptists say that
immersion is necessary and is right. Others say that it is wrong, and
that sprinkling is right. Others contend for infant baptism, while
others say it is not of God. Many claim that infant baptism is
necessary, and that if a child is not baptized, it is in danger of
being consigned to the regions of the damned. While others, again,
contend for the pouring of water; and still others who permit the
candidate to elect which mode of baptism he will have, whether
sprinkling, immersion or pouring; while men are thus divided upon this
subject, Paul says there is but one baptism.
Now, the Book of Mormon comes forth, and it speaks in exceeding great
plainness upon this point. It not only gives the mode of baptism which
Jesus gave to His ancient disciples on this continent; but the very
words to be used. It says that they shall immerse candidates in the
water; and it gives particular directions about the laying on of
hands, and about all the doctrines of the church of Christ, or of the
Gospel. No man who reads the Book of Mormon, need be at a loss to know
the doctrine of Christ. It is as plain as it is possible for the
English language to make it, and everybody can see it. Therefore, most
wonderfully, when united with the Bible, has it fulfilled this
prediction—the writings of the descendants of Joseph, of which this
Book is the record.
Another most remarkable prediction is given in this same chapter;
showing how plainly the Lord revealed to His ancient servants who
wrote this Book, that which should take place in the last times. Lehi
in speaking about Moses, said, that the Lord had revealed to Joseph
the Patriarch, that He would raise up a mighty prophet named Moses,
and that He should raise up for him a spokesman; that Moses would not
be mighty in word, but in deed. Here is what the Lord said unto Joseph
the Patriarch, as quoted by Lehi:
"And the Lord said unto me also:" [that is, Joseph the Patriarch], "I
will raise up unto the fruit of thy loins; and I will make for him a
spokesman. And I, behold, I will give unto him that he shall write
the writing of the fruit of thy loins, unto the fruit of thy loins;
and the spokesman of thy loins shall declare it."
After the church had been organized some months, Oliver Cowdery,
Parley P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer, and Ziba Petersen were appointed by
the prophet of God to visit the western boundaries of Missouri. On
their journey westward, they passed through the western part of Ohio,
where Parley had formerly lived and labored in connection with the
Reformed Baptists. They called upon one of the founders of that sect,
Sidney Rigdon. They found him in the town of Kirtland, gave him a Book
of Mormon, and bore their testimony to him of the restoration of the
Gospel. Sidney Rigdon said to them: "You tell me a strange tale. I
will examine this book;" and he commenced to do so. They were all young
men, Sidney Rigdon was many years their senior. Rigdon examined the
book, and became convinced that it was the word of God. He was
baptized in the town of Kirtland, and the foundation of a great work
was laid there. God afterwards revealed that this man was to be a
spokesman, and he became the spokesman to this people and to the world
for the prophet Joseph. Those who knew Sidney Rigdon, know how
wonderfully God inspired him, and with what wonderful eloquence he
declared the word of God to the people. He was a mighty man in the
hands of God, as a spokesman, as long as the prophet lived, or up to a
short time before his death. Thus you see that even this which many
might look upon as a small matter, was predicted about 1,700 years
before the birth of the Savior, and was quoted by Lehi 600 years
before the same event, and about 2,400 years before its fulfillment,
and was translated by the power of God, through his servant Joseph,
as was predicted should be the case, and at a time, as I have
said, when there was not a man upon the earth who was a member of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church had not yet
been organized, and Joseph did not know, unless he knew by the spirit
of revelation, whether any man would receive the Gospel. I doubt
whether he knew as to how the church would be organized. He had some
idea, doubtless; but there were many things which he himself did not
know, till he wrote this translation.
Time will not permit me to proceed much further with this subject; I
wish I had a day to speak upon it; but I am now trespassing on Brother
Joseph F. Smith's time.
There is one prediction, however, I wish, before I sit down, to allude
to, because I think it is most signally fulfilled, namely:
"And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only;" [this
was the angel speaking to Nephi in the vision,] "the one is the church
of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil;"
This is a new thing. It is supposed there are a great many churches.
The Lord here says there is but one church outside of his own church.
"Wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God
belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations;
and she is the whore of all the earth.
"And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all the
earth, and she sat upon many waters; and she had dominion over all the
earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues and people.
"And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and
its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of
the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the
church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the
face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were
small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw.
"And it came to pass that I beheld that the great mother of
abominations did gather together multitudes upon the face of all the
earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the
Lamb of God."
At the time this was written, a man would have been a bold man who
would have said—that is, unless he was inspired of God—that anything
of this kind could happen in these United States. One of the chief
foundation stones of the great fabric of Government in this land, upon
this continent, is religious liberty—liberty for every creed.
Persecution of people for religion was unknown at the time this was
written, and no man, unless he had been inspired of God, could have
contemplated such a possibility as that any church would be persecuted
for religion's sake. Yet here was a prediction made by Nephi, 2,400
years before it took place, in which he foretold the condition of
things in this land, and upon all lands where the church of Christ
should exist. There should be combinations and peoples gathered
together, by religious influences, against the church of God. Now,
what are the facts? Among the first persecutors of this church, when
its members were few, were those who were themselves religious
teachers. The earliest persecutors of Joseph Smith were religious
teachers, and the mobs in Missouri, and the mobs in Illinois, were led
by religious teachers. Even the mob that murdered our beloved Prophet and Patriarch, and wounded our revered President—that mob was
led by a local Baptist preacher, and our people were driven from
Nauvoo, as Brother Wells well knows, by a mob headed by a preacher. And
today, those who are inciting mobs against this people; those who go
to Congress, and incite persecutions against us; those who fulminate
threats and frame petitions; those who meet together in conventions;
those who gather together in conferences, are those who belong to this
"mother of abominations," this "whore of all the earth," and it
is
through the influence of that accursed whore, that they gather
together and marshal their forces in every land against the Latter-day
Saints, the Church of the living God. The blood that has stained
Georgia, and that cries from the ground for vengeance upon those who
shed it—that blood was shed by mobs who were banded together, headed
and aided and egged on by religious men; and if it were not for this
"mother of abominations," and those who are connected with her, we
could dwell in peace and in safety in the valleys of these mountains.
Here in this city, who has done as much or more than anyone else? The
religious teachers, men who came here to preach what they call the
Gospel. They are stirring up strife continually, instead of making
peace; going back to other religious associations in the east, and
telling the most abominable falsehoods about us, exciting the public
mind, in order that they may get money with which to come here and
accomplish their wicked designs. They tell lies without number about
us. Our newspapers have exposed such people time and time again, and
yet they shamelessly go forth and repeat those lies about the
wickedness of this people, about the intoler ance of this people, about
the dangers they run when here in this country, when they know, as we
all know who are here today, that they have never been molested, and
that we have never injured them, nor interfered with them in any form,
but that we have always treated them with that respect and kindness
with which we desire to be treated ourselves.
In this way, this word of God, through his servant Nephi, uttered
2,400 years ago, has been and is being fulfilled to the very letter.
Thus God is bringing to pass in the most wonderful manner the words of
this Book. It is going forth, as He said it should, to all the nations
of the earth. It is accomplishing that which He designed it should,
and it will go forth and accomplish its mission. There is no power
upon the earth that can stop it, because it is the word of God, and
the doctrines of Jesus Christ, and it will be the means, as has been
said, of gathering out the honest from every nation, causing them to
dwell in peace, uniting them in doctrine, and putting an end to all
controversy and contention concerning points of doctrine, because it
reveals the Gospel with great plainness unto all those who will
receive it.
Now, I want to read one more prediction and then stop. It is contained
in the last words of Moroni, concerning this work, namely:
"When ye shall receive these things" says Moroni (standing alone on
the continent, the last one of his race who had been true to God, not
knowing what his own fate would be; he leaves on record for us
Gentiles, the word of God, as he was inspired to give it, and thus he
writes), "I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father,
in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if
ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in
Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the
Holy Ghost.
"And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all
things."
These are the words of a prophet of God, standing in the face of
eternity, not knowing what his own fate would be. He leaves this, his
dying declaration, on record, at the close of this glorious book,
which he was the instrument in the hands of God, of hiding up to be
brought forth in the latter times. He testifies that if we will ask
God concerning these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, we shall
know concerning the truth of them by the power of the Holy Ghost. Let
me ask this vast congregation: Has not this word of God, through his
inspired prophet, been fulfilled?
You men and women and children, who have sought unto God, in the name
of Jesus, as he commanded you, have you not received, by the power of
the Holy Ghost, a testimony for yourselves, that these things are
true, that this is the word of God, divinely inspired, written by the
finger of inspiration, and translated by the power of God? [Yes]. I
know that if I were to call for a response it would be universal in
this congregation, and not only in this congregation, but in every
congregation of the Latter-day Saints throughout all these mountains,
and scattered abroad among all the nations of the earth. I ask you, at
the request of my brethren, if this is not true? All who know it is,
and have received this testimony by the power of the Holy Ghost, say
yes—[the vast congregation responded "YES" as by one voice.]
God bless you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
- George Q. Cannon