ally bound together in the bands of love,
cemented by holy sacred covenants made
on earth.

What a flood of light, what a heaven
of joy, came from God through His un-
cultured boy prophet! Until he came,
this world seemed as a black wilderness
of woe, beyond which no heavenly light
appeared. As the sun lights from the
east to the west, so the revelations of
Almighty God have penetrated our
hearts and given us comprehension of
earthly and heavenly things. This, or a
future generation, will produce historians
whose delight it shall be to trace the
effects among God's children of the mar-
velous light brought in the world in our
day through the instrumentality of the
great modern revelator. It was indeed
a startling declaration to the world when
he fearlessly proclaimed that God again
had spoken from the heavens! Ignorance
stood amazed, while scoffing hypocrisy
raged; but the work of human redemp-
tion goes bravely on, while the meek
and poor and honest rejoice.

Upon you, dear young brethren, much
depends. Upon your shoulders the Al-
mighty is rolling responsibilities the
magnitude of which has never been ex-
ceeded in any age. The kingdom of God
revealed by Joseph will be given to no
other people. It will never fall. Be ye
therefore to its interest and advance-
ment faithful and true. Its government
is of heaven, and under it human liberty
and the rights of man shall blossom and
bloom into perfect fruit, for the Gospel
of Christ is a perfect law of liberty. Why
should any dread its sway? Christ is the
king, and has not He earned the right
to the dominion and rule of His own?
His kingdom is not autocratic, neither
wholly theocratic. It is indeed theo-dem-
ocratic—the voice of God and the
sanction of the people. Its laws rec-
ognize everywhere the doctrine of com-
mon consent. The Almighty in the
beginning gave to man the right to ex-
ercise his own agency. He will never
deprive him of that privilege, for by no
other means can he ever develop the
godhead within him. Those alone who
sell their bodies and barter their souls to
Satan will be in danger of binding them-
selves with chains too strong to be
broken by man's love of freedom or by
God's decree of human liberty.

He who fought the Christ of God in
heaven and was cast down to hell, still
forges chains with which to bind the
souls of men. From the beginning Luci-
fer was an ambitious tyrant and accuser
of his brethren. Heavenly hosts wept
when they saw the misery and woe he
would work for the inhabitants of earth.
But the final great struggle is fast ap-
proaching. Let us fear not the result, for
Christ and His people shall conquer
here, as He and they conquered there.
Pending the great final day of the Lord
Almighty, let it be your duty, young
men of Israel, to fast and pray, so that
"your bowels may be full of charity
towards all men, and to the household
of faith, that virtue may garnish thy
thoughts unceasingly, then shall thy con-
fidence wax strong in the presence of
God, and the doctrines of the Priesthood
shall distil upon thy soul as the dews of
heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy
constant companion, and thy sceptre an
unchanging sceptre of righteousness and
truth, and thy dominion shall be an
everlasting dominion, and without com-
pulsory means it shall flow unto thee,
for ever and ever." [Doctrine and Covenants 121:45-46]

Wilford Woodruff,
Joseph F. Smith,
Moses Thatcher,

General Superintendency Y.M.M.I.A.

ally bound together in the bands of love, cemented by holy sacred covenants made on earth.

What a flood of light, what a heaven of joy, came from God through His uncultured boy prophet! Until he came, this world seemed as a black wilderness of woe, beyond which no heavenly light appeared. As the sun lights from the east to the west, so the revelations of Almighty God have penetrated our hearts and given us comprehension of earthly and heavenly things. This, or a future generation, will produce historians whose delight it shall be to trace the effects among God's children of the marvelous light brought in the world in our day through the instrumentality of the great modern revelator. It was indeed a startling declaration to the world when he fearlessly proclaimed that God again had spoken from the heavens! Ignorance stood amazed, while scoffing hypocrisy raged; but the work of human redemption goes bravely on, while the meek and poor and honest rejoice.

Upon you, dear young brethren, much depends. Upon your shoulders the Almighty is rolling responsibilities the magnitude of which has never been exceeded in any age. The kingdom of God revealed by Joseph will be given to no other people. It will never fall. Be ye therefore to its interest and advancement faithful and true. Its government is of heaven, and under it human liberty and the rights of man shall blossom and bloom into perfect fruit, for the Gospel of Christ is a perfect law of liberty. Why should any dread its sway? Christ is the king, and has not He earned the right to the dominion and rule of His own? His kingdom is not autocratic, neither wholly theocratic. It is indeed theo-democratic—the voice of God and the sanction of the people. Its laws recognize everywhere the doctrine of common consent. The Almighty in the beginning gave to man the right to exercise his own agency. He will never deprive him of that privilege, for by no other means can he ever develop the godhead within him. Those alone who sell their bodies and barter their souls to Satan will be in danger of binding themselves with chains too strong to be broken by man's love of freedom or by God's decree of human liberty.

He who fought the Christ of God in heaven and was cast down to hell, still forges chains with which to bind the souls of men. From the beginning Lucifer was an ambitious tyrant and accuser of his brethren. Heavenly hosts wept when they saw the misery and woe he would work for the inhabitants of earth. But the final great struggle is fast approaching. Let us fear not the result, for Christ and His people shall conquer here, as He and they conquered there. Pending the great final day of the Lord Almighty, let it be your duty, young men of Israel, to fast and pray, so that "your bowels may be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, that virtue may garnish thy thoughts unceasingly, then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God, and the doctrines of the Priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews of heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy sceptre an unchanging sceptre of righteousness and truth, and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee, for ever and ever."

Wilford Woodruff, Joseph F. Smith, Moses Thatcher,

General Superintendency Y.M.M.I.A.