| 918 neither the woman without the man in the Lord, perhaps Milauleph and his wife, as king and queen to God, and all the sons and daughters of the "head" will shout for joy, and the morning stars sing together again, at the "third" entrance of Idumia and sanctified millions!-Who knows?
JOSEPH'S SPECKLED BIRD.
FUNERAL OF MRS. CAROLINE SMITH.
At half past 9 o'clock A. M., on Saturday the 24th ult., a lengthy procession of carriages was formed in front of the residence of Mrs. Emma Smith, widow of the martyred Joseph Smith, at the front of which rested, upon a hearse, the coffin that contained the lifeless remains of Mrs. Caroline Smith, deceased wife of Elder William Smith, of the quorum of the Twelve.
At 7 o'clock P. M., of Thursday previous, her spirit took its flight to the spirit world, leaving her companion, two daughters, and numerous relatives and friends to mourn her loss.
The procession moved on slowly and majestically, and arrived at the stand east of the Temple, where it halted. The corpse was conveyed in front of the stand; the mourners were seated around it, and at 10 o'clock the services were opened by prayer from Elder Page.
After singing, Elder Orson Pratt arose and delivered an address, of which the following is the substance:-
"We will read a few passages of scripture contained in the seventh chapter of the revelations of St. John, commencing at the ninth verse. [He read the remainder of the chapter.]
The words of our text, which will be a foundation upon which to predicate some remarks upon the present occasion, will be found in the forty-fourth verse of the fifteenth chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Corinthians: 'It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.'
Brethren, sisters and friends,-we have assembled ourselves together, this morning, upon this solemn and important occasion, to pay our last earthly respects so [to?] a beloved sister, whose remains now lay before us. It is a custom among the nations of the earth to witness their respect for deceased friends by following them to the place of interment, and it is also a custom with the Saints of the Most High God, to assemble themselves together to hear a word of consolation and instruction upon such occasions.
It may not be amiss to make a few remarks, this morning, upon the subject of the resurrection of the dead. In reflecting upon this subject, the mind is led to inquire: why is it that the human family are subject to death, to a separation of soul and body? Why is it that the plan of the resurrection was devised? These are questions of vast importance, and are gratifying to be understood.
Death is no part of the original plan of salvation; that is, the Almighty did not decree it from before the foundation of the world, independent of the agency of man. But it has been entailed upon us as a curse; not in consequence of our own transgressions, but in consequence of the transgression of our first parents in the garden of Eden.
In the morning of creation all things were pronounced good by the Creator, as they rolled into organized existence unsullied and without a curse. Man, the last and noblest of God's creation was placed in the garden of Eden, being governed by laws and restricted by commandments, not being subject to sickness, disease, or death. Adam was placed upon the earth an immortal being. He was placed in the garden to dress, beautify and adorn it, and to hold the supremacy of power over all the things of God's creation.
Instead of our first parents eating animal food, they subsisted upon herbs and the fruits of the earth, which were originally designed for the food of man, and had they not transgressed they would have both been living upon the earth at the present day, as fair, as healthy, as beautiful and as free from sickness and death, as they were previous to the transgression. What was that transgression? It was violating a single commandment of God, and disregarding the counsel of those immortal beings who stood above them in authority. The Creator placed in the garden a certain tree and warned Adam that in the day he eat the fruit thereof he should surely die. He commanded him not to eat the fruit. His was a simple commandment; but the violation of it subjected Adam to a fall from his exalted station in the favor of God. Consequently a curse was passed upon all created things, and in the posterity of Adam were sown the seeds of dissolution.
Some have imbibed the idea that the fruit of the tree which Adam was commanded not to eat, contained the properties of death, which, when eaten by Adam, diffused through his system the nature of mortality. This may be the case, and it may not; I do not pretend to say at present. It is sufficient, for the present occasion, for us to know that it was in consequence of transgression that misery and death entered this fair creation. And you who mourn the loss of friends, do not harbor the
(page 918) |
