| 906 as Ephraim, and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh."
In the forty ninth chapter of Genesis, it will be seen that Jacob blessed all of his own children, and told them what should befal [befall] them in the last days.
The practice of blessing the heirs of the chosen seed, can be seen from the earliest ages.-When Seth was born, his name appears to have been called so, because God had appointed another "seed" in the place of Abel, whom Cain slew. Let the world say what it may, as to this piece of intelligence, it must have been copied from his patriarchal blessing, and leave the people to judge for themselves:
"And Lamech begat a son, and he called his name Noah, saying, this same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed."
When Rebecca was about to be sent to Isaac for a wife, her parents must have done something and kept a record of it, for it is thus written:
"And they blessed Rebecca, and said unto her, thou art our sister; be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them."
The Book of Doctrine and Covenants makes the subject plain; and the revelations by Joseph Smith in that book, renewed the order for the first time since the apostles fell asleep.-Evangelical ministers, or patriarchs, as designated by revelation, are to be set apart in all the various branches of the church, if the saints desire it.
Who can read the account of good old Simeon, in Luke, and not feel his heart burn with gratitude-that God, whenever he had a church that he acknowledged to be his, had patriarchs to bless? Of Simeon it is said,
"And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel."
But enough is said: no Latter-day Saint, having the spirit of God, will go to the world of spirits, before he receives his patriarchal blessing, if he lives within reach of the patriarch. A blessing is a great thing: even as Esau said, "bless me also, O my father!"
The blessings of good men compose an important portion of the sacred writings, and if it were in our power, to bring out the records of the patriarchs, containing the blessings of the saints from the children of Adam down what a catalogue of things past, present, and to come, would they exhibit? and another thing, ye blessed, if we only had the blessings of the spirits before they leave the Lord, we could glory. [ED.
ANOTHER WITNESS FOR THE BOOK OF MORMON.
A writer in the Buffalo Pilot gives us another witness for the Book of Mormon. It is a fine thing to have such specimens of antiquity found and then to have wise men look into the Book of Mormon and solve the mystery.
The writer states, that in the town adjoining Cooper, county of Allegan, Michigan, about a mile distant from the fertile banks of the Kalamazoo, is a small hamlet, commonly known as Arnold's Station. The first settlers of this little place, emigrants from the St. Joseph country, found in the township some extensive ruins of what had evidently been the work of human ingenuity, and which they christened the Military Post.
"It consists," says the writer, "of a wall of earth, running northwest and southeast, being about the height of a man's head in the principal part of its length, but varying in some places, as if it had been degraded, either by the hands of assailants or the lapse of time. Fronting the road, which runs parallel with the work, is the glacis, presenting a gentle slope to the summit of the wall, which extends for about the fourth of a mile. Along the entire face of the fortification is a cleared space of equal breadth in its whole extent, covered with a fine grass, but beyond the edge of this the forest is still standing. Such was the aspect of the remains when the first white settler emigrated to Michigan, and it has remained without perceptible change to the present time. The mound is covered with monstrous trees, of a wood slow in its growth, showing its great antiquity, but furnishing no clue to its origin. The popular theory seems to be that the French, who early traversed our country, were the builders; but this, of course, is erroneous. It must have been either the work of a large body of men, or the painful toil of a few. If the former, they might have conquered and subdued any tribe of Indians then in existence; if the latter,
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