| 594 Daniel and others spoke, which was to be set up "in the days of these kings," as represented by the feet and toes of the image; and it is well known to your Majesty and to all Christendom that these ten kingdoms out of the ruins of the Roman empire did not arise until many hundred years after the days of the Apostles.
Let us here enumerate the signs spoken of which are to precede the Messiah's second coming, and the setting up of his kingdom. "There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and upon the earth; distress of nations, with perplexity-the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken, and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
I beg leave barely to remind your Majesty that these signs have for the last ten years been fulfilling in the eyes of all people. I need not here particularize or point out their fulfilment [fulfillment], for passing events are too notorious to be hidden. I now beg leave to call the attention of your Majesty to an important discovery, which has poured a flood of light upon these subjects, and which has actually revealed and demonstrated that the present age is the time of their fulfilment [fulfillment]. I allude to the discovery of an ancient record among the antiquities of America, a copy of the translation of which was lately presented to your Majesty and another to his Royal Highness Prince Albert, by Mr. Brigham Young. The discovery of this record, and the things connected with it, as they are now ushering in upon the world, are of more importonce [importance] than any single event which transpired in modern times. The discovery of America by Columbus 300 years since opened a nnw [new] era upon the world, and poured a flood of light upon the startling nations. They awoke from the slumber of ages and gazed with astonishment and wonder. As the first transports of admiaation [admiration] subsided, a spirit of enterprise seized the peosle [people], and a new impulse was given to the minds of men, which has resulted in mighty changes in the scientific, commercial, and political departments, and which has mainly contributed in forming all the great outlines of modern character.
But it remained for the nineteenth century to open a treasure of knowledge, and to present to the world a discovery more extensive in its information, more glorious in its intelligence, and of greeter [greater] magnitude in its final bearing upon men and things, than all the discoveries of Columbus and his contemporaries. I allude to this ancient American record. By this means the history of the past, in relation to half the world, has been opened as far back as the confusion of languages at Babel. A nation [nation] whose "bones are dried" and whose ruined temples and monuments have reposed for ages in silent, solemn, and awful grandeur, has now spoken from the dust and revealed to the world their history, and with it their prophecies and their testimony of Jesus as the risen Messiah and the Saviour [Savior] of the world, not of Asia only, but of America also. From this record we learn the astonishing fact that the Gospel was revealed among the ancient inhabitants of that continent, and the risen Jesus ministered in person to them, setting in order all the offices and ordinances of his kingdom, and opening all the great outlines of his doctrine, together with a knowledge of the future, down to the times of restoration, of which we have spoken. By this means we are enabled to come to a knowledge of these points of doctrine and prophecy, and to understand clearly that which has been rendered obscure by coming down to us through the dark ages, robbed of its plainness by priestcraft and superstition, and mingled with the traditions of men. By this means we are enabled to understand definitely the signs of the times, and how and when the prophecies are to be fulfilled in relation to the great revolution so clearly set forth in this letter. And by this means we understand the fate of the world and the destiny to which the nations are hastening.
This ancient record was discovered in 1827, in Western New York, in the bowels of the earth, where it had been concealed for 1400 years. It was there deposited by a holy prophet, whose name was Moroni, in order to preserve it, at a time when a great naiion [nation] was overthrown. It was translated and published in English in 1830. Since that time it has been a principle means in the hands of God of working a greater revolution among men than was ever known in so short a time. It has given rise to the
(page 594) |
