MIA OL

AIMBOTLIAD

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FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS.

that the world, being left without guidance and abandoned to a diversity of opinions, had need of another more powerful and more comprehensive dispensation; and it was then that the Christian dispensation appeared. But this too, having in its turn become corrupt, and as a consequence of this corruption "the power of the priesthood and the gift of revelation having taken their flight towards the spheres of the Eternal, the world was again left during ages a prey to the sport of its own imaginations, until a third and a last dispensation should appear, which will comprehend all the others, and before which all powers of a purely earthly origin shall melt away and become as nothing." This grand and last dispensation is that of Joseph Smith. A long while expected, a long time promised, foreshadowed by the Reformation, and by the discovery of America, which prepared a field for it, it had for its mission "to accomplish in the social, moral, and religious world, the greatest revolution that had ever occurred since the beginning of things." There can be no mistake about it; Joseph Smith is the continuer and the successor of Moses and of Jesus Christ. "Summoned by an angel of the abodes of glory," say his followers, "to behold the sacred deposit of ages, young Joseph entered upon his career with a thorough conviction that the star of the day of universal truth had risen, and that the dispensation for a long while promised was about to commence, which would unite all things in Christ, both in heaven and upon

earth. All other dispensations were only partial; this alone is to be universal. . . . All the preceding dispensations were only progressive and preparatory stages, towards the realization of the eternal designs of God. In order that these designs should be realized, it was necessary that the knowledge, the keys, the power of former times should be restored. Thus the heavens, which during many ages were sealed against man, opened and revealed the Father and the Son, together 'gratifying' the new era. An angel descends from the everlasting world to bestow the everlasting Gospel in its purity, a favour without which the salvation of the world could not have advanced a single step, 'But the letter killeth, and the spirit giveth life.' Without a proper sanction, the decrees of this Gospel could not be administered. The scene now presents another view. John the Baptist, the last man who by heirship holds the priesthood of Aaron, appears in order to confer this power on man; and Joseph and Oliver bend down, their hearts overflowing with joy, before the representative of the Mosaic dispensation. The heavens, again opened, shower down blessings, when Peter, James, and John descend once more, bringing down to earth the keys of the kingdom, and the dispensation of the accomplishment of times. The apostolical authority, or the power to build the kingdom of heaven on earth, was now once more established, never again to disappear. The Gospel was preached, its ordinances administered, upright hearts made happy by

the accomplishment of prophecy, and blessings heaped upon them.

"The dispensation was thus fully opened. The principles of celestial truth were gradually revealed, and men, invested with a holy priesthood, received their mission to give them force and legal effect."*

According to the Mormons, therefore, true religion disappeared from the earth seventeen centuries ago. God was abandoned by the Christians, who had altered the doctrine of Christ. God no longer spoke :

"L'arche sainte est muette et ne rend plus d'oracles :" because they had everywhere strayed from his paths, and no more obeyed his commandments. A new organ of the Divine will was required; it became necessary to reestablish the communication, now suspended, between earth and heaven. Smith was selected for the work. "The covenant which God made with ancient Israel," says Joseph (March 2nd),† "was at hand to be fulfilled: the preparatory work for the second coming of the Messiah was speedily to commence; the time was at hand for the Gospel in all its fullness to be preached in power unto all nations, that a people might be prepared for the Millennial reign. I was informed that I was chosen to be an instrument in the hands of God to bring about some of his purposes in this glorious dispensation."

The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, vol. xxi. p. 37.

† Deseret News, vol. v., August 15, 1855.

Parley P. Pratt, in a sermon on the 10th of July, 1853,* has very clearly characterized the new dispensation. "What is Mormonism?" he asks. "It is a restoration, by new revelation, by the authorities of heaven, by the ministration of angels, by the ordination of prophets and apostles, and ministers or elders; by their testimony and ministry upon the earth, by the organization of Saints, by the administration of ordinances, by the operations of the Holy Spirit; it is a restoration of these ancient principles, revealed from heaven for the government of man.'

Hence it is really a new religion which we have to study. Is it worth the trouble? Has it principles, a metaphysical system, a theology, a system of morals worthy of our attention? Assuredly, if it be true that everything appertaining to man ought to interest us, then everything which nourishes his thought and directs his life, all that responds, rudely or not, to that need of the ideal which is ever influencing him, do what he will, and which lies at the bottom of all religions, then all this must furnish matter not merely for our curiosity, but for reflection and inquiry.

The first characteristic which strikes us when we take a near view of Mormonism, and regard it as a religion, is its universality, or at least its pretension to universality. In it there is nothing of that narrowness and exclusiveness to be found, as in the majority of religions, even the broadest and most flexible. "The most prominent

* Journal of Discourses,' by Brigham Young, his two counsellors, the twelve apostles, and others, p. 308: 1854.

point of difference in sentiment," said Joseph Smith to Judge Douglas and others,* "between the Latter-day Saints and sectarians was, that the latter were all circumscribed by some peculiar creed, which deprived its members of the privilege of believing anything not contained therein, whereas the Latter-day Saints have no creed, but are ready to believe all true principles that exist, as they are made manifest from time to time."

Not only does this flexibility impart to the new religion a character of originality, but it allows it to propose to itself a higher end than does any other, to comprehend a vaster area, and to summon, if I may say so, the whole world within its embrace. Like Channing amongst the Unitarians, Smith aspires to reconciliation and fusion. He invites all communions to meet on a common ground. To confine ourselves within Jewish and Christian deism appears to him too restricted; he struggles more and more to expand his framework at the risk of falling into the vague. We must hear what he says in a sermon on the 9th of July, 1843.†

"It is a love of liberty which inspires my soul, civil and religious liberty to the whole of the human race. One of the

...

grand fundamental principles of Mormonism is to receive truth, let it come whence it may. . . . If a skilful mechanic, in taking a welding heat, uses borax, alum, etc., and succeeds in welding together iron or steel more perfectly than any other mechanic,

* History of Joseph Smith, Deseret News,' March 5, 1856.

+ Deseret News,' January 21, 1857.