QUARTERLY CONFERENCE.

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THE Conference of the Y. M. M. I. A., of Salt Lake Stake was held in the Assembly Hall, Sunday, January 22, 1882. Superintendent Joseph H. Felt, presiding. It was the first conference of the kind held in the city, to which the whole day was devoted. Eighteen of the city and four of the county associations had representatives present. The morning exercises were menced by singing, and prayer by Elder George Goddard, and consisted of the reading of the minutes of the previous conference, and of a statistical and financial report, and addresses by Supt. Felt, Sisters E. S. Taylor, Mary Freeze, E. B. Wells and Elder J. H. Moyle, all of whose remarks were excellent, touching upon the improvement which had been accomplished through the associations, and also the great work yet to be done in educating the young people at home in the principles of the Gospel.

The General and Stake officers were presented and unanimously sustained. The Stake officers as follows: Joseph H. Felt, Superintendent; George C. Lambert and John W. Taylor, Counselors, John A. Evans, Secretary; Rudger Clawson, Treasurer.

At the afternoon meeting highly interesting remarks were made by Presidents Wilford Woodruff, Joseph F. Smith and John Taylor, in the order named. They were followed by Elders Junius F. Wells, Royal B. Young and Rodney

C. Badger, each of whom bore testimony of the truth of the Gospel and proclaimed in behalf of the youth of Zion that they would follow in the footsteps of their parents.

The proceedings of the two meetings were extremely interesting, and all felt that a time of great benefit had been enjoyed, and expressed the hope that the conferences in the future might be extended over the whole day, allowing sufficient time for reports of officers and the imparting of needful instructions. The exercises were reported in full by the secretary, but are too lengthy for insertion. The conference adjourned. subject to the call of the Stake Superintendency.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS.

1. To open a northwest passage from Europe to the East has been an object of Arctic explorations. The possibility of a new continent occupied by the lost tribes of Israel has lent great interest to researches, and the proximity of the Pole to inhabited countries has made it more approachable. On the other hand the south pole is removed by almost a hemisphere of water and ice from the civilized or inhabited world, navigation is impossible for many degrees farther from the pole, and it lacks the features of utility or interest which scientists attach to the frozen north.

N. E.

2. ON the continent of America, there were anciently three distinct colon

ies, namely the Jaredites, the Nephites. and a colony led out from Jerusalem by Mulek, in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah. Book of Omni, 1, 14. The twenty-second and twenty-third verses of the seventeenth chapter of Isaiah read as follows: "Thus saith the Lord, God, I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar; and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing, in the shadow of its branches thereof shall they dwell."

Apostle Orson Pratt, in his pamphlet on the Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon, applying this passage to the migration of the colony above mentioned, says: "By reading this chapter it will be seen that the Jews were the "high cedar," that Zedekiah the king was the "highest branch," that the "tender one" cropped off from the top of his young twigs, was one of his sons, whom the Lord brought out and planted with his company upon the choice land of America, which he had given unto a remnant of the tribe of Joseph for an inheritance, in fulfilment of the blessings of Jacob and Moses upon the head of that tribe."

This company of Mulek's settled, as is supposed, in the northern part of south America, and took upon themselves the name of Zarahemla, and also applied that name to their country. They were discovered some centuries later by the Nephite king Mosiah in his northward wanderings, in search of an asylum where he and his people might rest secure from the persecutions of their brethren, the Lamanites. Having brought with them no records, the people of Zarahemla were in a state of gross ignorance and infidelity; and it was to them a source of great joy when they learned from king Mosiah that he was in possession of the records of their forefathers, the Jews.

united with the church and afterwards chose him to be their king. Thus was brought about a union which was perpetual, resulting in a mixture on this continent of the blood of Judah and o Joseph. Book of Omni, 1, 19.

During the succeeding centuries there remained but two kingdoms-the Nephites and the Lamanites; the latter sworn to eternal enmity; the former to unceasing vigilance.

Through the preaching of the disciples of Christ (who had appeared to the people on this continent after His crucifixion,) the entire people, both Nephites and Lamanites were converted to the Christian faith, the former still comprising the two families of Nephi and Mulek. They married and intermarried with each other, and lived during the next two centuries, in a state of perfect happiness and peace. In this way came the mixture of the blood of these three nations, of whom the American Indians are descendants. Hence they are not exclusively the seed of Joseph, but there is also among them a "remnant of the Jews."

Zechariah Ballantyne.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER. 1. Of what tribe of Israel was Ishmael who left Jerusalem with Lehi and com pany?

2. Was baptism required of the Church before the advent of the Savior upon the

earth?

3. In the seventh chapter of Revelations, why is the tribe of Dan omitted and that of Manassah inserted?

7. H.D.

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VI.

BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD.

President Joseph Smith, by request of some of the Twelve Apostles, gave instructions on the doctrine of Baptism for the Dead, which were listened to with intense interest by the large assembly. He presented baptism for the dead as the only way that men can appear as saviors on Mount Zion.

The proclamation of the first principles of the Gospel was a means of salvation to men individually; and it was the truth, not men, that saved them; but men, actively engaged in rites of salva1 on substitutionally, became instrumental in bringing multitudes of their kinred into the kingdom of God.

He explained the difference between an angel and a ministering spirit; the one a resurrected or translated body, with its spirit ministering to embodied spirits the other a disembodied spirit, visiting and ministering to disembodied spi rits. Jesus Christ became a ministering spirit (while his body was lying in the sepulchre), to the spirits in prison; to fulfil an important part of his mission, without which, he could not have perfected his work, or entered into his rest. After his resurrection he appeared as an angel to his disciples.

Translated bodies cannot enter into rest until they have undergone a change equivalent to death. Translated bodies are designed for future missions. The angel that appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos was a translated or resur rected body. Jesus Christ went in body after his resurrection, to minister

to translated and resurrected bodies. There has been a chain of authority and power from Adam down to the present time.

The only way to obtain truth and wisdom, is not to ask it from books, but to go to God in prayer, and obtain divine teaching. It is no more incredible that God should save the dead, than that he should raise the dead. There is never a time when the spirit is too old to approach God. All are within the reach of pardoning mercy, who have not committed the unpardonable sin, which hath no forgiveness, neither in this world, nor the world to come. There is a way to release the spirit of the dead; that is by the power and authority of the Priesthood-by binding and loosing on earth. This doctrine appears glorious, inasmuch as it exhibits the greatness of divine compassion and benevolence in the extent of the plan of human salvation.

The glorious truth is well calculated to enlarge the understanding, and to sustain the soul under troubles, difficulties and distresses. For illustration, suppose the case of two men, brothers, equally intelligent, learned, virtuous and lovely, walking in uprightness and in all good conscience, so far as they had been able to discern duty from the muddy stream of tradition, or from the blotted page of the book of nature; one dies and is buried, having never heard the Gospel of reconciliation; to the other the message of salvation is sent, he hears and embraces it, and is made the heir of eternal life. Shall the one be

come a partaker of glory, and the other be consigned to hopeless perdition? Is there no chance for his escape? Sectarianism answers, none! none!! none!!! Such an idea is worse than atheism. The truth shall break down and dash in pieces all such bigoted Pharisaism; the sects shall be sifted, the honest in heart brought out, and their priests left in the midst of their curruption.

Many objections are urged against the Latter-day Saints for not admitting the validity of sectarian baptism, and for withholding fellowship from sectarian churches. It was like putting new wine into old bottles, and putting old wine into new bottles. What! new revelations in the old churches! New revelations knock out the bottom of their bottomless pit. New wine into old bottles! The bottles burst and the wine runs out. What! Sadducees in the new church? Old wine in new leathern bottles will leak through the pores and escape; so the Sadducee saints mock at authority, kick out of the traces, and run to the mountains of perdition, leaving the long echo of their braying behind them.

He then contrasted the charity of the sects, in denouncing all who disagree

with them in opinion, and in joining in persecuting the Saints, who believe that even such may be saved, in this world and in the world to come (murderers and apostates execpted.)

This doctrine presents in a clear light the wisdom and mercy of God in preparing an ordinance for the salvation of the dead, being baptized by proxy, their names recorded in heaven, and they judged according to the deeds done in the body. This doctrine was the burden of the Scriptures. Those Saints who neglect it, in behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their own salvation. The dispensation of the fulness of times will bring to light the things that have been revealed in former dispensations; also other things that have not been before revealed. He shall send Elijah the Prophet, etc., and restore all things in Christ.

President Joseph Smith then announc ed. "There shall be no more baptisms for the dead, until the ordinance can be attended to in the font of the Lord's House; and the Church shall not hold another General Conference, until they can meet in said house. For thus saith the Lord!"

III.

"IF there is any field where the philanthropist and reformer is most urgently demanded, it is to limit the infant mortality which prevails to such an alarming extent in our great cities. In New York, Boston and Philadelphia, over one fourth, in Cincinnati nearly one third, of all the children born alive perish within the first year of life. What a portentous fact is this! What are the causes of this frightful mortality? We will mention one. physician of wide experience has calculated, after careful inquiry, that fourth on the list of causes is hereditary syphilis. But even this statement does not at all convey an adequate idea of the effect of this disease on limiting and corrupting

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population. Of the infants which are still-born, the number is very great, and of these, the most frequent cause of death, according to that cautious writer, Berkeley Hill, is syphilis. But even if the child survives its first year, the danger is not past. It may be the picture of health till five or six years of age, or to the period of puberty, or even to adult age, and then first reveal the long concealed poison which has lurked in the system ever since its being began. That poison shows itself under a hundred protean forms. It may be in eruptions on the skin and foul ulcerations, or in obstinate 'colds in the head', in swelling of the bones, in a peculiar affection of the eyes leading to blindness, in brittle and

loose teeth, in the protean symptoms of scrofula, in idiocy, stunted growth, and in insanity. Such are the legacies which parents who, through vice or misfortune, have been cursed with this disease, have to hand down to their offspring. "The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge."

"In the strong, and yet not too strong language of Dr. Calles, a well known English surgeon: The readiness with which syphilis in infants can be communicated by contact cannot be exceeded by any other disease with which I am acquainted. I look upon it as equally infectious with the itch itself.' And Dr. Barton adds: 'A common mode by which the syphilitic infant spreads the disease is by being kissed by the girl that carries it or by others.' If this is so, and there is no doubt of it, is it not time that the public received some warning about it? Are we to shut our mouths and see these perils to public health hourly increasing, and say nothing, do nothing? Let such a child by careful attention and sound hygiene survive to adult life, and become in turn the father or mother of a family, even then unrelenting nature may not be satisfied. There are undoubted cases on record where the disease was handed down, in spite of every care and strict virtue, to the third generation and perhaps the fourth."

Shall the Christians wonder at this? Has not that same God whom we have shown to have sanctioned and blessed polygamy, and exalted, not bastardized, as Congress would do, the issue of that divine marriage system, declared that it should be so? Can Christians wonder that "unrelenting nature" may carry the curse of the father even to the third or fourth generation? Why does not the Congress of our great nation enact a law to turn this decree back upon its Author, calling it a crime to visit the iniquities of the fathers upon their children? They having violated the first amendment of our national constitution, which expressly declares that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," and enacted a law making

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an ordinance of marriage approved by the Almighty, a crime, why do they not continue in the good work of dishonoring and criminalizing the laws and decrees of the Creator? Here is a plain decree that fixes a fearful curse, often premature death, upon children for the sins of their parents. Why do not suffering Christians cry to Congress for the enactment of a special law (not with special reference to Utah, for it is not needed there) to stop this decree of the great God of the Universe? For a pretext, it could be called unjust, murderous, "national dishonor." We continue quotations from Dr. Napheys.

"And all the misery, all the curses long drawn out, these consequences so dire to innocent generations, the penalty of one moment of illicit pleasure, the vengeance of a violated law which knows justice but no mercy! With these deplorable possibilities in view, it becomes a serious question how soon can a man, once diseased, marry? A French specialist of eminence does not hesitate to reply: Never!"

The evidences tend clearly to show that the marriage of such would almost surely bring evils, taint of blood, misery and perhaps premature death on the issue of such a father. Then why should not Congress pass laws prohibiting such persons from marrying, seeing that they are not without precedent in the marriage prohibition business? But why suggest such a thing? For who does not know how vastly more pleasant, and how vastly more human it is for those who are invested with brief earthly power, to pull at even imaginary motes in their neighbor's eyes than to pluck the beam from their own? Christ said such were hypocrites, but the Lord of the vineyard is not ruling in it just now, and that makes a very great difference indeed, in many things pertaining thereto. There will be many sorrowful and crestfallen servants when He does return. We now request the careful consideration of the reader to a few extracts from the same distinguished author on the sadly deplorable condition of our nation as to the so-called "social evil."