| 440 men, who have stood firm and unshaken in times of sorrow and distress; maintained their integrity in the face of tortures and death, and with whom it is a privilege for men or angels to associate with.
If the brethren, who feel themselves so much disappointed, would dig a little deeper than the surface, and could see the precious metal at the bottom of the furnace, they would probably feel more satisfied. While the metal is in the furnace, it sinks to the bottom, but the refuse rises to the top, and presents no very pleasing appearance; and a stranger upon a cursory examination might say; there is no gold there, See! it is all dross.
The brethren forget, that this is a state of trial, and the Almighty has designed to bring us together, to refine and purify his saints; consequently we are not perfect, but only, in a situation where we can become perfected; and while through the fiery ordeal, every evil passion, every thing false, vain and wicked immediately presents itself to the view of our brethren, and to the world but the gold remains concealed. Be not too hasty in your conclusions; but remember that while in this state of being, we are all subject to temptation, the enemy has great power, but by and by the saint shall overcome, and shall shine forth in the kingdom of their father.
In conclusion, we would press upon our friends who may feel disappointed in not finding the saints angels, to first cast the beam out of their own eye, and then they will see clearly to pluck the mote out of their brother's eye.
American Antiquities-More Proofs of the Book of Mormon.
We feel great pleasure in laying before our readers the following interesting account of the Antiquities of Central America, which have been discovered by two eminent travellers [travelers] who have spent considerable labor, to bring to light the remains of ancient buildings, architecture &c., which prove beyond controversy that, on this vast continent, once flourished a mighty people, skilled in the arts and sciences, and whose splendor would not be eclipsed by any of the nations of Antiquity-a people once high and exalted in the scale of intelligence, but now like their ancient buildings, fallen into ruins.
From the (New York) Weekly Herald,
Since the Introductory address of Mr. Stephens, which was noticed in the herald last week, Mr., Catherwood has completed his course of two lectures, on the Antiquities which he has visited in the ruined cities of Central America. Mr. Catherwood and Mr. Stephens left New York in the month of October, 1839, to examine these memorials of a people lost, and landed at Balize, in the Bay of Yucatan, or Honduras, the English Settlement, so remarkable for its produce of mahogany. From thence the travellers [travelers] proceeded through the interior of the country, into the State of Honduras, one of the States of Central America, and to Copan, where a mass of antiquities was found. This city was situated on the banks of the river Copan, and its ruins consist of massive stone walls, enclosing a considerable space, statutes, columns carved to a resemblance of human figures, alters, with base reliefs, and pyramids.
The statutes here were of very rich carved work; some of them were the idols or divinities of the ancient inhabitants; and not a few were decorated with ear rings, bracelets, and complicated head dresses, the backs and side being ornamented with festoons and hieroglyphic characters. The lecture, descriptive of these ruins, was illustrated by a plan of the city of Copan, called by the natives Las Ventana, or The Windows, from the appearance of a part of the wall overlooking the river. Several large drawings, representing the carved objects, were also exhibited.
The second lecture commenced with descriptions and illustrations of the ruins of Santa Cruiz del Quiche, once one of the most important cities of Central America, which the lecturer visited after leaving Copan.-This city, he said, had been of immence [immense] extent, but its houses had wholly disappeared, and nothing remains but a ruined Palace and Fortress. The fortress, which guarded the entrance to the Royal Palace, is still in a good state of preservation, and is unapproachable, except by a causeway from one point. The space of ground in front of the Palace has an area of a thousand square feet, and bounded by massive stone walls, on which are painted figures of various animals. In the centre [center] of the place rises a singular edifice, which is designated the Place of Sacrifice. Of this, the lecturer exhibited a drawing, a sketch of which was taken, during its exhibitions for the Herald, by an incomparable artist, and will appear in our columns hereafter.
This building was forty feet square at the base, and thirty feet high, with a flat, level, but now ruined space on the summit, of twelve feet square, where it is believed an idol was once placed, and human sacrifices were offered up by the the ancient inhabitants to their divinities. Access to the top is
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