To Man

CONVERTED BY SIGNS. 653

is not at all improbable that each of these legends is the result of what was at first considered harmless exaggeration. The Latter- day Saint is privileged to see many marvelous manifestations that to the world are truly miraculous. As these sacred things are talked about and pass from mouth to mouth, there is, among too

many of us, a tendency to make the tale as large as possible, and if this practice were continued, there would be constantly arising stories that would have to be corrected, traditions that would have to be disavowed. It is sufficiently easy, even under the most fav- orable conditions, for the Saint to lapse into the errors and evils of the world, and it is devoutly to be hoped that a tendency to ex- aggeration will not lead to a copying of the world by turning spe- cial blessings into mere tradition, and making them the subject of idle gossip. The manifestations which are enjoyed by the people of God are the results of faith and obedience, and are not given to make converts, and they can never be considered with the tradi- tion, innocent though they may be, by which the churches of the world have too often been built up.

TO MAN. {For the Improvement Era.)

Planted as thou art, amidst a moving universe, Catch thou the tread, and linger not behind! List to the echoes, as the Gods converse, Thy soul shall be attuned; so, too, thy mind. Stretch forth thine hands, (permit, we call them five). Gather with them all. To squander? Nay, to hold And crown thy inner brow with truth to live. Then weave them into garments pure as gold. And as thy glorious thoughts, clothed as a dream. Rush on amid the current from above, Let the uncomely traits be drowned beneath the stream, Thy soul be wrapped in swaddling clothes of love. James Nielsen.