friends who mourn with them, are
dependent upon the same source for
comfort in their serious bereavement;
and in fact we are all dependent upon
the blessing and Spirit of the Lord in
all the labors of life, and I hope that,
in our services this morning, a large
measure of that Spirit will be impar-
ted unto us.

I feel disposed to read the first
chapter of Job as a preliminary to
any remarks I may make. -[The
speaker read the first chapter of the
Book of Job.]- We also see in read-
ing the history of Job that the devil
did not finish with him there, as it
seems the devil had another conversa-
tion with the Lord on this subject, in
which he informed the Lord that a
man would give anything for his life,
and that if he, the devil, touched
Job’s flesh, he would certainly curse
God. And it seems from reading
this history that the Lord put
Job into the hands of the devil,
to do as he pleased with him,
only to spare his life. Of course
the history is familiar to you all
who have read the Bible, and you
are aware that the devil smote Job,
and he was covered with boils from
the crown of his head to the soles of
his feet, so that he was in great dis-
tress, trouble and tribulation, yet in
the midst of it all he did not sin, but
acknowledged the hand of the Lord. [Job 2:1-10]

I may say with regard to the case
which has brought us together this
morning, it is a little similar to that
of Job. We meet with some strange
things in the history of our lives in
the dispensations and dealings of God
with men. In the case before us we
are called to mourn the loss of two
children taken from Brother and
Sister Wheeler, we may say as sud-
denly and, in one sense of the word,
as miraculously, as were the sons and
daughters of Job. His affliction con-
sisted not only in the loss of two
children, but of all his children and
also of all the possessions that he
had, yet still, under all this he said—
"Naked came I out of my mother's
womb, and naked shall I return
thither; the Lord gave, and the
Lord hath taken away; blessed be the
name of the Lord." [Job 1:21]

I know very well it is hard for any
person to be called to pass through
the scenes that we sometimes are
called to pass through in this life, it
is so in the case before us this morn-
ing. The loss of these little children,
taken away as they were, is certainly
painful, not only to the parents, but
to eyery person who reflects; and it
is a very hard matter for any of us
teo enter into and appreciate the depth
of sorrow which parents feel on occa-
sions like this, it is difficult to bring
the matter home to our own hearts
unless we have been called to pass
through similar affliction and sorrow.
At the same time there is no doubt
that we all sympathize with our
friends when called to pass through
trials and bereavement. And I will
here say to Brother and Sister
Wheeler, and to all my friends, there
are a great many worse things in this
world than the case we are now call-
ed to mourn.

Our children are taken away from
us in infancy and childhood, and they
are taken away as Job's were, in one
sense of the word, through the dis-
pensations of Providence, causing us
severe trials. This we will acknow-
ledge; but, as I have already said,
there are many things in this world
that are far more painful and afflict-
ing than to have our children burned
to death. My friends may ask—
"What is Brother Woodruff driving
at in this remark?" I will tell you.
I have lived in these valleys twenty-
seven years, since the pioneers came
here. I have seen a whole genera-
tion of men and women grow up in

JOURNAL OF DISCOURSES.

friends who mourn with them, are dependent upon the same source for comfort in their serious bereavement; and in fact we are all dependent upon the blessing and Spirit of the Lord in all the labors of life, and I hope that, in our services this morning, a large measure of that Spirit will be imparted unto us.

I feel disposed to read the first chapter of Job as a preliminary to any remarks I may make. [The speaker read the first chapter of the Book of Job.] We also see in reading the history of Job that the devil did not finish with him there, as it seems the devil had another conversation with the Lord on this subject, in which he informed the Lord that a man would give anything for his life, and that if he, the devil, touched Job’s flesh, he would certainly curse God. And it seems from reading this history that the Lord put Job into the hands of the devil, to do as he pleased with him, only to spare his life. Of course the history is familiar to you all who have read the Bible, and you are aware that the devil smoked Job, and he was covered with boils from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, so that he was in great distress, trouble and tribulation, yet in the midst of it all he did not sin, but acknowledged the hand of the Lord.

I may say, with regard to the case which has brought us together this morning, it is a little similar to that of Job. We meet with some strange things in the history of our lives in the dispensations and dealings of God with men. In the case before us we are called to mourn the loss of two children taken from Brother and Sister Wheeler, we may say as suddenly and, in one sense of the word, as miraculously, as were the sons and daughters of Job. His affliction consisted of not only in the loss of two children, but of all his children and also of all the possessions that he had, yet still, under all this he said— "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither; the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21

I know very well it is hard for any person to be called to pass through the scenes that we sometimes are called to pass through in this life, it is so in the case before us this morning. The loss of these little children, taken away as they were, is certainly painful, not only to the parents, but to eyery person who reflects; and it is a very hard matter for any of us to enter into and appreciate the depth of sorrow which parents feel on occasions like this, it is difficult to bring the matter home to our own hearts unless we have been called to pass through similar affliction and sorrow. At the same time there is no doubt that we all sympathize with our friends when called to pass through trials and bereavement. And I will here say to Brother and Sister Wheeler, and to all my friends, there are a great many worst things in this world than the case we are now called to mourn.

Our children are taken away from us in infancy and childhood, and they are taken away as Job's were, in one sense of the word, through the dispensation of Providence, causing us severe trials. This we will acknowledge; but, as I have already said, there are many things in this world that are far more painful and afflicting than to have our children burned to death. My friends may ask— "What is Brother Woodruff driving at in this remark?" I will tell you. I have lived in these valleys, twentyseven years, since the pioneers came here. I have seen a whole generation of men and women grow up in