--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Grant, Heber J. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 22 number: 10 published: 1919-08 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Grant, Heber J., "Inspiration and Integrity of the Prophets," *Improvement Era* 22, no. 10 (August 1919): 841–853.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera22010unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera22010unse start_page: 841 end_page: 853 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1919-08) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera22010unse publication_year: 1919 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1919, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Inspiration and Integrity of the Prophets INSPIRATION AND INTEGRITY OF THE PROPHETS 843 the testimony of Eliza R. Snow, Zina D. H. Young, Bathsheba W. Smith, "Aunt Em." Wells, and others too numerous to mention, — was of their individual knowledge regarding the uprightness of the life of Joseph Smith, regarding the integrity of the man, regarding the inspiration of the living God that attended him in all of his labors. The Transfiguration of Brigham Young I have the testimonies from George Romney, from my mother, from other relatives of mine, and from scores of people, that, upon the day when Sidney Rigdon endeavored to steal the Church of Christ and to become the leader, God manifested to the people upon that occasion, by the transfiguration of — Brigham Young so that he appeared as Joseph Smith, so that — he spoke as Joseph Smith and thereby the testimony came to the Saints that Brigham Young was the man to succeed Joseph Smith the Prophet of God. Personal Testimony Concerning President Brigham Young became acquainted with Brigham Young when I was a I littlechild six years of age; from that time until the day of his death I was intimate with him. I was as intimate with one of — — his boys the late Feramorz L. Young from the time that we — were little children until he left to go to Mexico as any two boys ever could be. Perhaps no three young men were ever more intimate than Heber J. Grant, Feramorz L. Young and General Richard W. Young. We grew up together. We slept together. We played together. We attended Sunday school together. We attended day school together. I was almost as familiar in the homes of President Brigham Young as I was in the home of my own mother. In one home, that of Aunt Emily Partridge Young, if I was hungry I felt as free to go in and ask for something to eat there as in my own home. I have spent hours and hours, as a child, in the rooms of Eliza R. Snow, listening to her counsel and advice, and hearing her relate incidents in the life of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and bearing witness of the wonderful blessings of God to Brigham Young. As I say, I was familiar with the Prophet Brigham Young. I knelt down time and time again in his home in the Lion House at family prayers, as a child and as a young man; and I bear witness that as a little child, upon more than one occasion, because of the inspiration of the Lord to Brigham Young while he was supplicating God for guidance, I have lifted my head, turned and looked at the place where Brigham Young was praying, to see if the Lord was not there. It seemed to me ; 844 IMPROVEMENT ERA that ho talked to the Lord as one man would talk to another. I can bear witness of his kindness, of his love to me as an individual, of his love of God and of the inspiration of the Lord that came to him as he stood where I am standing, when I had the privilege of being in the audience and listening to his inspiring words. Revelation to President John Taylor I was called into the Council of the Twelve Apostles by a revelation of the Lord to President John Taylor, and from the time that I entered the Council of the Twelve, two years after John Taylor was made President of the Church, until the day of his death, I met with him, week after week, in the Endowment house, and I know that he was a servant of the living God 1 know that the inspiration of the Lord came to him; and I know that upon all occasions, whenever he said: "This is what the Lord desires," and his associates in the council of the apostles sustained his position, that upon every occasion he was vindicated and the inspiration of the Lord to him showed that his wisdom by the power of God, had been superior to the wisdom of other men. Several times I have gone to meetings in the old Endowment house, knowing that a certain matter was to be discussed, and my mind was as perfectly set upon a certain position on that question as it is possible for a man to have his mind set. I believe I am as decided in my opinions as the majority of people. I have heard it said that there is nobody as stubborn as a Scotchman except a Dutchman; and I am Scotch on my father's side and Dutch on my mother's (laughter). While I have gone to meetings in the old Endowment house determined in favor of a certain line of policy, I have willingly and freely voted for the exact opposite of that policy, because of the inspiration of the Lord that came to John Taylor. Upon every such occasion the servant of the Lord, President Taylor, was vindicated, and his superior judgment, by the inspiration of the Lord, asserted itself in favor of those things that were for the best good of the people. I could relate circumstance after circumstance when the apostles have been sent out to accomplish certain labors under the inspiration of the Lord to John Taylor, when they thought they could not accomplish the labors, they have returned and been able to bear testimony that by and with the help of the Lord they had been able to accomplish the labor placed upon them by President Taylor, the Prophet of the Lord. If time would permit, I would like to relate some of these incidents, because they are faith-promoting, but I have not the time INSPIRATION AND INTEGRITY OF THE PROPHETS 845 President Wilford Woodruff a True Prophet of God I can bear witness that Wilford Woodruff was in very deed a servant of the living God and a true prophet of God.Wilford Woodruff, a humble man, converted and baptized hundreds of people in a few months in Herefordshire, England. In eight months, as I now remember it, he baptized between fifteen hundred and two thousand souls. I believe that no other man who ever walked the face of the earth was a greater converter of souls to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was a man of the most wonderful and marvelous humility; a man who had never been engaged in any great business affairs; a man who had devoted himself to farming, who had been engaged in raising fruits and cultivating the soil; a humble man, of whom I had heard many people say that he lacked the ability to preside over the Church of Christ. But I want to bear witness to you that, under the inspiration of the Lord, and because of the humility of the man, because of his godlike life and because God loved him, he was blessed upon more than one occasion with wisdom that was superior to all the wisdom of the bright financial minds in the Church. Beginning of the Sugar Industry in Utah President Woodruff announced that the Lord would like the great business of manufacturing sugar established in our midst, and a committee was appointed from the directorate of two of the largest Church institutions, two of the most substantial in all Israel, to look into the matter. They investigated the advisability of establishing the beet sugar industry in this State and unanimously reported adversely. President Woodruff was not satisfied. Another committee was appointed. I was on the first committee and he appointed me on the second comittee. I beased to be excused, because I had already formed my opinion, had already signed my name to a report, but he would not listen to my request to be excused. We went into the matter again, thoroughly and carefully, and the second committee reported adversely. President Woodruff said: "Never mind the report. The inspiration to me is to establish the sugar industry." I was called upon a mission, and a letter was given to me in connection with other members of the Council of the Apostles, and we were sent out to ask men to subscribe for stock in the Utah Sugar Company. I took individual letters to different men asking them to subscribe. I delivered a letter to the late David Eccles, than whom I never met a clearer-headed business man in my life, and I have met men who draw their hundred thou- 846 IMPROVEMENT ERA sand dollars and more every year in salary. He had a comprehensive grasp on business affairs which to me was superior to that of any man I ever met. David smiled when the letter was presented to him, signed by President Woodruff and his counselors, asking him to invest five thousand dollars, or seven thousand five hundred dollars. He said: "Well, I would like to get off at the lowest figure. You can put me down for five thousand dollars." Then he added: "I hope they will buy lumber from me, so I may make a profit on a part of the five thousand dollars; and after I get the stock, if you can find someone who would like to buy it for twenty-five hundred dollars, I will be much obliged to you if you will come and get the stock." Years later, when he put hundreds of thousands of dollars into the sugar business, I don't know whether or not he felt to give credit to that humble man, Wilford Woodruff, for the inspiration of the Lord, whereby this great industry was established. But for the inspiration of the Lord to Wilford Woodruff I doubt if we would have any sugar business in this state or in Idaho, today, that would amount to very much. I am inclined to think that the Great Western or some other company would have established the business in Utah and Idaho, and that the people of these states would simply have been working for them instead of owning the majority of the stock in our great intermountain factories. After we had let the contract for the building of the sugar factory at Lehi, the panic of 1891 came on. There was a provision in the contract that before the machinery was shipped by the Dyer Company, if we would pay a forfeit of fifty thousand dollars the contract could be cancelled. I had been sent to New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco and other places, by the Presidency, to try to raise the money necessary to build this factory, but it looked like an impossibility to s;et the money. It was the opinion of business men and others that we should pay the fifty thousand dollars forfeit and abandon the enterprise; but when the recommendation was presented, Wilford Woodruff's answer was this: "From the day I received a knowledge of the divinity of the gospel of Jesus Christ revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith, from the day that I went out as a humble priest to proclaim that gospel, although it looked like death in front of me, if the path of duty that the gospel required me to tread called me to face death, I have never turned to the right nor turned to the left; and now the inspiration of the Lord to me is to build this factory. Every time I think of abandoning it, there is darkness; and every time I think of building it, there is light. We will build the factory if it bursts the Church," ; INSPIRATION AND INTEGRITY OF THE PROPHETS 84? We did build it and it did not burst the Church (laughter) and it and subsequent factories have made for our people and for the Church millions of dollars. President Snow's Work of Three Years I know that Lorenzo Snow was a Prophet of God. By his testimony, which I have rea,d to you, and by the testimony of my mother and hundreds of others who knew the Prophet Joseph, as well as by the revelations of the Spirit of God to me, I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know of my own knowledge that Brigham Young, and John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff were prophets of God. It is stated that men do not amount to much after they pass fifty, and that when they are sixty you ought to get some kind of a drug and put them to sleep, and that when they are seventy they are simply useless. But Lorenzo Snow came to the presidency of the Church when he was eighty-five years of age, and what he accomplished during the next three years of his life is simply marvelous to contemplate. He lifted the Church from the financial slough of despond, so to speak, from — almost financial bankruptcy when its credit was hardly good for a thousand dollars without security, when it was paying ten — per cent for money he lifted the Church out of that condition and made its credit A No. 1, so that people solicited and asked for the privilege of buying the bonds of this Church at six per cent. Ten per cent is sixty-six and two-thirds per cent more than six per cent, and in three short years this man, beyond the age of ability in the estimation of the world, this man who had not been engaged in financial affairs, who had been devoting his life for years to laboring in the temple, took hold of the finances of the Church of Christ, under the inspiration of the living God, and in those three years changed everything, financially, from darkness to light. I know that Lorenzo Snow was God's mouthpiece upon the earth, that he was the representative of the Lord and that he was in very deed a Prophet of God. Read the wonderful testimony that he received a few weeks after his baptism, as recorded in the Improvement Era, concerning the knowledge that he received that God lived, that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer of the world, and that the priesthood of the living God has been restored to the earth. I know that that knowledge guided his life from that day to the day that he became God's representative upon the earth. The Courage of President Joseph F. Smith Lorenzo Snow was drowned in the harbor of Honolulu, in the Hawaiian Islands, and it took some hours to bring him to 848 IMPROVEMENT ERA life again. At that particular time the Lord revealed to him the fact that the young man Joseph F. Smith, who had refused to get off the vessel that had carried them from San Francisco to Honolulu, and get into a small boat, would some day be the Prophet of God. Answering Lorenzo Snow who was in charge of the company, he said: "If you by the authority of the Priesthood of God, which you hold, tell me to get into that boat and attempt to land, I will do so, but unless you command me in the authority of the Priesthood, I will not do so, because it is not safe to attempt to land in a small boat while this typhoon is raging." They laughed at the young man Joseph F. Smith, but he said, "The boat will capsize." The others got into the boat, and it did capsize; and but for the blessings of the Lord in resuscitating Lorenzo Snow he would not have lived, because he was drowned upon that occasion. It was revealed to him, then and there, that the boy, with the courage of his convictions, with the iron will to be laughed at and scorned as lacking courage to go in that boat, and who stayed on that vessel, would yet be the Prophet of God. Lorenzo Snow told me this upon more than one occasion, long years before Joseph F. Smith came to the presidency of the Church. Eulogy and Letter of Sympathy in Memory of President Joseph F. Smith I now come to Joseph F. Smith. I apologize to his family for reading a personal letter of sympathy. I had no idea as I sat down and picked up my pen and poured out my heart in love and sympathy to the family, that I would ever read in public that letter; but I had failed to get my mind upon anything that I particularly desired to say upon this occasion, and last night I borrowed from one of his sons a copy of the letter; and although it may not be good ethics, I wish to read it, because therein are the sentiments of my heart, poured out in love to his family: At Home, November 20, 1918. To the family of President Joseph F. Smith. My dearly beloved friends: Language fails me to express to you my love for your dear departed father and husband. In dear Aunt Eliza R. Snow's words I can truthfully say, "He was beloved, beloved by all." For thirty-six years I have labored under his Presidency, while he was counselor to or the President of the Church. During all this time no man could possibly have inspired one over whom he presided with more love or confidence for him than President Smith did me. I have said many times that no man who ever lived, with whom I have been associated, had been beloved by me as much as your dear departed husband and father. I could not and did not in my heart bring myself to feel that he was going to leave us until the afternoon of the 18th, when I called, and David said he wanted to see me. The President took my hand and pressed it with a power and strength that was far from what one could expect from b dying man, and he blessed me with power and the Spirit of the living — INSPIRATION AND INTEGRITY OF THE PROPHETS 849 God, and there was love in his eyes and a strong pressure of his hand, and with nearly every word he spoke his pressure of my hand thrilled my being, and tears of gratitude to God and love for His mouthpiece upon the earth filled my heart. His blessing was all that I could ask or expect, had be been my own dear father. Sister Bowman entered and kissed and wept over her father, and I walked into the little front office and wept, feeling that the last words I would ever hear from his beloved lips had been spoken when he said to me, "The Lord bless you, my boy, the Lord bless you, you have a great responsibility. Always remember this is the Lord's work and not man's. The Lord is greater than any man. He knows whom He wants to lead His Church and never makes any mistakes. The Lord bless you." I returned to my office, but I did not even have the heart to mail some letters which I had written earlier in the day. I went home and after eating supper I again visited the President, whom I found in great pain, and he asked President Lund who was there to bless him and sup- plicate the Lord to release him, and call him home. We placed our hands upon his head and President Lund told the- Lord how much we loved our President and of our gratitude for the joy and happiness we had had in laboring with him, but asked that he be called home if his life could not be spared to us. The next morning I awoke at one o'clock and was not able to get to sleep until after six-thirty, as my mind was with the President. I got the November Era and reread the President's talk at the October confer- ence, and after doing so I wrote in my Era at the close of his talk: "Nov. 19/18. Re-read twice and wept as I think of how near death's door the President is. "It is 3:45 and I have been awake since one a. m." Heber ]. Grant. The President lived but one hour and five minutes after I had written that he was near death's door. The Lord has been very good to me in times of sorrow, and I hope and pray with all my heart that he will bless and comfort your sorrowing hearts, as you read of his goodness to me. I am enclosing a copy of a letter telling of the blessings given to me in times of affliction. There are two poems among those published with my letter to Brother and Sister Winters which have comforted and blessed me. "The Changed Cross," and "Providence is Over All."* Especially have I been blessed while reading Sister Woodmansee's inspiring words. I knew her from my earliest rec- ollection until the day of her death, and my love of her poem was no doubt increased from the fact that she lived in perfect harmony with its teachings. I was once talking of the favorite poems of our Church leaders and I turned to President Smith and asked him which of our hymns was his favorite and he said he hardly knew, but he thought that perhaps his favor- ite was the splendid hymn, "Uphold the Right, Though Fierce the Fight, I enclose a by that heroic little soul, Sister Emily Hill Woodmansee. 'f copy of this hymn with this letter. . I have never known the joy and comfort of a father s love, but Presi- dents Joseph F. Smith, Francis M. Lyman, John Henry Smith, and others of my near and dear associates, have given me a father s love and filled the place in my affections as completely as men not one's father could pos- Y those Never inmy life have I listened to more inspiring words than at the funeral ofmy dear departed mother and at the funeral of my dear brother, Joseph Hyrum, which were spoken by President Smith. beyond any power to tell for the inspiration to do my I am thankful *See page 851. tSee page 851. 850 IMPROVEMENT ERA fullduty in the battle of life which has come to me from the example and loving teachings of your beloved father and husband. Flowers fade in a day, and so I shall send each of you for Custa and myself in loving remembrance of your dear departed husband and father the book Their Yesterdays* I send this book for the reason that when I read it, March 20th, 1914, I marked one of the passages which seemed to me at the time I read the book to be inspirational. It is on pages 228-9. I wrote in my book the sentiments of my heart at the time regarding President Smith in connection with the words on those pages. What I wrote was as follows: "More than any man I have ever known, President Joseph F. Smith has done this. God bless him forever, and his posterity after him. The fact that he is the Prophet of God today is a great testimony to me of the divinity of 'Mormonism' so called." Little did I think when I wrote these words that he would have departed this life by now. One of the most sincere and earnest prayers of my heart has been that President Smith should live to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Church. I prayed for this some months ago at the close of a Temple meeting, and the Lord so abundantly blessed me that I felt fast my prayer would be answered, and I sat down weeping for joy. I could go on writing for hours, but I will close by sending my assurance and that of Sister Grant of our profound sympathy, and our most earnest prayer for God to comfort and bless your sorrowing hearts. President Smith sealed us as husband and wife for time and all enternity, and Gusta shares in all the expressions of love for him and admiration of his character in this letter. Again, may God bless you and your loved ones now and forever. Your affectionate brother, (Signed) Heber J. Grant. At the grave of President Joseph F. Smith I read a poem entitled "A Real Man"| and I expressed there the hope that I might live to be like Joseph F. Smith. I read at the grave the poem by Eliza R. Snow, written for the Prophet Joseph Smith. "He was beloved, beloved by all."f The praver that I had in my heart, the desire that I had to follow in the footsteps of this man of God, who presided over us with so much inspiration, with so much devotion, with so much integrity to God and to his fellowmen, the desire that I might be like him, is still in my heart. pray God to bless his memory. I pray God to bless I his wives and his children, that they may emulate his most wonderful and splendid example. I bear witness to you that from my early childhood days, when I could not thoroughly understand and comprehend the teachings of the gospel, that I have had my very being thrilled, and tears have rolled down my cheeks, under the inspiration of the living God, as I have listened to Joseph F. Smith when preaching the gospel. T believe that Joseph F. Smith and his son Hyrum M. Smith, more than any other men to whom I have listened, who were born in the Church of Christ in our day, were the greatest preachers *See page 852. ?See page 852. |See page 853. INSPIRATION AND INTEGRITY OF THE PROPHETS 851 of righteousness. I know that whenever I heard that Joseph F. Smith was going to speak in one of the wards, that time and lime again as a young man I have left my own ward and gone to listen to him, because he always filled my being and lifted m^ up as I listened to him proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. I bear witness that he was one of the greatest prophets of God that has ever lived; that God was with him from the day that he went forth as a little boy of fifteen years of age, to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in the Hawaiian Islands, until the day when, after giving sixty-five years of his life to the work of God, he closed his earthly career. May God bless each and all of us who have a knowledge of the divinity of the work in which we are engaged, and may we be faithful to the end as our prophet was, our beloved leader who has left us, Joseph F. Smith, is my prayer, and I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Providence is Over All When dark and drear the skies appear, And doubt and dread would thee enthrall, Look up, nor fear, the day is near, And Providence is over all. From heaven above, His light and love God giveth freely when we call. Our utmost need is oft decreed, And Providence is over all. With jealous zeal God guards our weal, And lifts our wayward thoughts above; When storms assail life's bark so frail, We seek the haven of His love. And when our eyes transcend the skies His gracious purpose is complete, No more the night distracts our sight — The clouds are all beneath our feet. The direst woe that mortals know Can ne'er the honest heart appall — Who holds the trust that God is just, And Providence is over all. Should foes increase to mar our peace, Frustrated all their plans shall fall. Our utmost need is oft decreed. And Providence is over all. — Emily Hill Jf oodmansee Uphold the Right Uphold the right, though fierce the fight And powerful the foe, And freedom's friend, her cause defend, Nor fear nor favor show. — — 852 IMPROVEMENT ERA No coward ran be called a man, No friend will friends betray; Who will be free, alert must be; Indiff'rence will not pay. Note how they toil whose aim is spoil, Who plundering plots devise; \et time will teach that fools o'erreach The mark and lose the prize. Can justice deign to wrong maintain. Whoever wills it so? Can honor mate with treacherous hate? Can figs on thistles grow? Dare to be true, and hopeful, too; Be watchful, brave and shrewd. Weigh every act; be wise, in fact, To serve the general good. Nor basely yield, nor quit the field Important is the fray; Scorn to recede, there is no need To give our rights away. Left-handed fraud let those applaud Who would by fraud prevail: In freedom's name, contest their claim, Use no such word as fail; Honor we must each sacred trust, And rightful zeal display; Our part fulfil, then come what will, High heaven will clear the way. — Emily Hill W oodmansee From "Their Yesterdays" "If the men of a race will perfect the manhood strength of the race; if they will exalt their manhood power; if they will fulfil the mission of life by perfecting and producing ever more perfect lives; if they will endeavor to contribute to the ages to come stronger, better, men than themselves; why, the work of the world will be done even as the plant produces its flowers and fruit, the work of the world will be done. In the exaltation of Life is the remedy for the evils that threaten the race. The reformations that men are always attempting in the social, religious, political, and in- dustrial world are but attempts to change the flavor or quality of the fruit when it is ripening on the tree. The true remedy lies in the life of the tree; in the soil from which it springs; in the source from which the fruit derives its quality and flavor. In the appreciation of Life, in the passion of Life, in the production of Life, in the perfection of Life, in the exalta- tion of Life, is the salvation of human kind. For this, and this alone, man — has right to live has right to his place and part in Life." Harold Bell Wright. A Real Man Men are of two kinds, and he Was of the kind I'd like to be. Some preach their virtues, and a few Express their lives by what they do. INSPIRATION AND INTEGRITY OF THE PROPHETS 853 That sort was he. No flowery phrase Or glibly spoken words of praise Won friends for him. He wasn't cheap Or shallow, but his course ran deep, And it was pure. You know the kind. Not many in a life you find Whose deeds outrun their words so far That more than what they seem they are. There are two kinds of lies as well. The kind you live, the ones you tell. Back through his years from age to youth He never acted one untruth. Out in the open light he fought And didn't care what others thought Nor what they said about his fight If he believed that he was right. The only deeds he ever hid Were acts of kindness that he did. What speech he had was plain and blunt, His was an unembellished front. Yet children loved him; babe and boy Played with the strength he could employ, Without one fear, and they are fleet To sense injustice and deceit. No back door gossip linked his name With any shady tale of shame. He did not have to compromise With evil-doers, shrewd and wise, And let them ply their vicious trade Because of some past escapade. Men are of two kinds, and he Was of the kind I'd like to be. No door at which he ever knocked Against his manly form was locked; If ever man on earth was free And independent, it was he. No broken pledge lost him respect, He met all men with head erect; And when he passed, I think there went A soul to yonder firmament So white, so splendid and so fine It came complete to God's design. Edgar A. Guest Hymn No. 303 Thou dost not weep to weep alone; The broad bereavement seems to fall Unheeded and unfelt by none: He was beloved, beloved by all. But lo! what joy salutes our grief! Bright rainbows crown the tearful gloom, Hope, hope eternal, brings relief; Faith sounds a triumph o'er the tomb. — 854 IMPROVEMENT ERA It soothes our sorrow, says to thee, The Lord in chastening comes to bless: God is thy God, and he will be A father to the fatherless. 'Tis well with the departed one; His heavendit lamp was shining bright, And when his mortal day went down, His spirit fled where reigns no night. 'Tis meet to die as he has died, He smiled amid death's conquered gloom, While angels waited by his side, To bear a kindred spirit home. Vain are the trophies wealth can give! His memory needs no sculptor's art; He's left a name —his virtues live, 'Graved on the tablets of the heart. -Eliza R. Snow The Home-Going, From Hawaii A ripple of joy o'er the bloom-bordered vale, So musical, innocent; clear A message half -breathed by the sea-faring gale, My home-speeding happiness near! Ye snowy crowned peaks of my fair, native land, Illumined thy white-crested smile; The glory I see from this far-distant strand, The green-waving summer-clad isle! O dear, precious tokens that lovingly come! O joy of the Absent One thinking of home! A fragrance of bliss 'mid the tremulous bower, Of free-flowing gladness and cheer, A gem-gilded treasure illumines the hour, (Those fond-cherished accents I hear!) At morn, or when sunset doth rosily burn, E'er present thou, theme of my choice, A cherished reunion, a welcome return, How deep doth my spirit rejoice! My Father, my Mother! yes, soon I shall come, O joy of the Absent One singing of home! Minnie Iverson Hodapp. First Nephi and Archaeology By Nephi Jensen, President of the Canadian Mission Every student of American history can instantly recall the time and place of the first landing of Christopher Columbus on American soil. But many of these students would hesitate before answering as to the date of the landing of John Cabot. Nor is it at all strange that the first event should be more easily remembered than the second. The mind naturally seeks for a starting place in history; and the circumstances incident to the beginning of an epoch impress themselves the most vividly upon the mind. Besides the almost universal custom of erecting monuments commemorative of historical beginnings, the equally prevalent ceremonial celebration of these events also tends to per- petuate the memory of great world movements. It is for these same reasons that mythology retains the most distinct stories of migrations and colonizations. Nor is America an exception to this rule. Each new effort of the American archaeologist to look behind the enigma of the American Indian reveals new proof that the circumstances attending the first settlement of America as told in the Book of Mormon, are the most perfectly preserved in the traditions of the American tribes. And to one who believes the Book of Mormon, it is not at all surprising that T. Athol Joyce's recent work, South American Archaeology, published in 1912, should furnish new and additional corroboration of the story of the Nephite migration to the "promised land." The salient historical incidents connected with this migration, as recorded in First Nephi are as follows: (1) That the four sons of Lehi, who left Jerusalem, 600 B. C, were the chief figures in the colonization of South America (I Nephi 2-3); (2) that Nephi, the youngest, became the ruler (lb. ch. 2-3); (3) that shortly after leaving Jerusalem, Lehi was shown, in a dream, that the four sons should return to Jerusalem for the brass plates containing a record of their forefathers, and that before these plates were obtained Laman, the oldest brother, became angry with Nephi and attempted to dissuade him from his determination to obtain the plates (lb. 3-4) ; (4) that before they embarked for the promised land a peculiar compass