608 POETRY ETC. assaulted by a mob, principally composed of boys, who stoned him, and, as he termed it 'sludged" his clothes. The defendant was observed, by Police-constable Edward Smith, to knock complainant's hat off. Major M'Knight said that he had been compelled to send out officers specially to protect persons of the complainant's particular persuasion from outrage. It appeared that Mr. Brice had been compelled to flee from the mob into a private house. The Magistrate observed that he would protect persons of all religious opinions, and would put a stop to outrages like the present. The defendant would be fined £2 and costs, and in default would be committed to prison for one month; and he desired it to be understood that in future cases he would not give option of paying a fine, but commit at once.-Birmingham Daily Post. [It is so seldom the Saints can obtain the commonest justice, or receive the protection guaranteed to them by that law which they, as well as the rest of their fellow subjects, pay for and support, that we take pleasure in inserting the above. We are glad to see there is at least one Magistrate who is not afraid to do his duty, maintain the majesty of the law and defend human rights. Such men are an honor to their country; and, would all in authority pursue the same independent and upright course, with reference to all sects and parties, the people of Great Britain would be saved from the anarchy and desolation that will result from a contrary course-as witness the United States of America.-Ed.S.] ADDRESS.-Stephen W. Alley, care of Jesse Flowers, 11, North-street, Derby. ANYTHING ABOUT RELIGION." Naught of religion! O what then is left, To ease the widow's woes, the orphan's wail? These, to thy heart, were like a murky cloud I will not write of these, while earth abounds But know, that all that's beautiful and bright To heaven's religion all belong. All that is good flows from the boundless store SIRIUS. EDITED, PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GEORGE Q. CANNON, 42, ISLINGTON. LONDON: FOR SALE AT THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS' BOOK DEPOT, 30, FLORENCE STREET, ISLINGTON; AND FROM ALL BOOKSELLERS. THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS' MILLENNIAL STAR. "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the Prophets......The Lord God has spoken, who can but prophesy?”—Amos. No. 39, Vol. XXV. Saturday, September 26, 1863. Price One Penny. RELIGIOUS DESIRE AND ITS CULTIVATION. BY ELDER JOSEPH ROMNEY. But such persons All men have a desire to increase men use it as their capital-as a mask in some way. Some desire an increase beneath which to act selfishly, reof sensual pleasure, and of animal gardless of the rights of others, so vigor sufficient to restore to them the that a fair exterior and deportment vernal freshness of their youthful are maintained. morn, when everything was enjoyed are not happy in their belief; the with a zest peculiar to that period of very fact of their own duplicity and life. Others thirst for fame; ambi- double dealing renders them restless tion leading them from the rational and anxious, and, instead of confithings of life upon the slippery path dence in their fellow-men, they look of political and worldly duplicity, upon every one else as acting with the where, amid the surging and seething same deception as themselves. Many of fiendish passions, every vestige of of the greatest evils which ever afflicted innocence is swept away, and they society have been in consequence of continue to climb, regardless of the this abuse of religion; and men in the rights of others, until they, in turn, holy guise of expounders of God's law stumble in the path, when their rivals, have oppressed and led astray the taking advantage of their weakness, honest who desired salvation, but hurl them into the arena below from knew not how to obtain it otherwise such a dizzy height that they are than by listening to them. It is conspeedily lost sight of amid the strug-siderations such as these which make gling masses. But the best, the most unselfish and the most noble will seek for an increase of that Holy Spirit which the Apostles and the Prophets of God are guided by. the opposers of the Gospel so bitter in their persecution of those who dare expound the Scriptures and proclaim God's will to man. Fearful of losing the influence they possess, they resort Some consider religion to be simply to the iniquity of persecution to stay the invention of hypocritical and am- the advance of those principles calcu bitious men, who hope, by its influ-lated to diffuse universal light and to ence, the more easily to lead and make every man a judge of his own govern the blinded multitude. Such belief. The dread of being dispossessed latter being but a natural sequence of the former. The plan of salvation as revealed by Jesus Christ is the most exalting theme that could ever claim the attention of mankind. It is true it does not present the gratifying prospect of submission to our will and to our pleasure, such as the conquoror's pathway does; on the contrary, those who embrace it must expect the sneers and the scorn of all who love not God of power, of influence and of affluence, causes them to battle blindly and ignorantly against pure and virtuous principles, and to hope, in the advocacy of error, to triumph over the sworn decrees of our heavenly Father. But, as time passes, the Saints acquire greater knowledge of the principles of the Gospel, and with it they receive a greater power to resist evil impulses. The evil practices of those around warn them of the futility of human hope without celestial guid--to meet reverses and to be derided: ance, and, as they see farther, they but are we better than the Prophets are drawn more closely and more who have suffered? than He who sensibly towards the things of God, died to redeem a fallen world? Then and the chimerical speculations which should not we bear our cross for so would unite carnal indulgence with short a time as the duration of human spiritual advancement are swept farther life, and without repining at the disand farther away before the light of pensations of Providence? The Gossuperior revelation. The hope that pel of salvation is the same to-day each one has of salvation, must, to be that it was centuries ago; its circumreasonable, be built upon a foundation stances undergo modifications to suit of good deeds and not upon the times, but its fundamental principles chimeras of human judgment, for the are the same and ever will remain so. best and purest thoughts of man's brain are powerless without God's Spirit, and his mind left to its own efforts feels the bitterness of its own littleness and weakness, and shrinks appalled from the self-denials and the conflicts before it; but, upheld by the light of the Holy Ghost, it meets unconcernedly the serried phalanxes of the enemies of righteousness, and conquors them by the force of its superior worth. The course of knowledge is ever onward and upward, and the prospect of triumph is ever before those who seek diligently the nobler things within our reach-knowledge of God and godliness, instead of the mere gratification of passion and the possession of wealth. We cannot comprehend a future without an aim, nor the attainment of any object without an effort. The mind of man is of such a formation that to remain in inaction lessens its elasticity and powers of retention, while exercise continues to strengthen and increase its appreciation of happiness and its powers of attainment. By contemplating things of a noble and exalted character, the mind insensibly partakes of their grandeur; and that moral sublimity, which scorns the littleness of malice and revenge, is the result of noble thoughts and noble deeds, the They who look upon the mysteries of existence, and perceive no point to which all things tend, no object for which life was instituted, most certainly boast of but little discernment, and no appreciation of the designs of God or of his purposes. If such vast and boundless resources are in their exercise without aim, then can we as well say that the system of the universe is a myth, a compound of imaginative dreams, deduced from chaos and susceptible of no tangible realization. Such a thing would be an expenditure of strength and a waste of time, ridiculous, even if exercised by man; but if exercised by one whose power is infinite, whose domain is boundless, infinitely more So. Then, if the formation of spheres has an object, so has our existence; and if we let it pass, little by little, without improve ment, without aim, then are we not fulfilling the order of our creation, and some-day will we meet commensurate punishment. The world, however much it may boast of its prowess and its improvement, has not made such wondrous advancement; although invention, physical and intellectual knowledge may have each extended vastly its province, yet morally and religiously its status and its worthiness have decreased. Yet, man's pre RELIGIOUS DESIRE, ETC. sumption would lead him to reverse the doctrines taught by Jesus himself, and set up in opposition the manmade systems that bear upon their surface the impress of falsehood. The greatest reason, perhaps, that men are so slow in believing the truth is, that they are too little given to judging for themselves. It has been the custom, for ages past, of almost the entire civilized world, to look more after the things of an earthly nature, and the fleeting treasures of this life, than to store their minds with intelligence and wisdom. Few of the people of common education, such as is bestowed upon the masses of this and other countries, ever think that they have a right to read and understand the Scriptures, and they consequently leave to their ministers and spiritual advisers the task of taking care of their eternal salvation. They do not realize the responsibility they themselves are placed under, and it is the policy of those interested to keep them as much as possible in the dark with regard to their rights and privileges. The best of us are very liable to receive false impressions, and often, if once prejudiced against any particular thing or person, it would take something little short of a miracle to rid us of it. In like manner have thousands received the Gospel with scoffs and jeers, who, did they reflect upon it, would at once have embraced it; but it does seem, at times, that there are human beings who are void of all thought-whose minds are of such an abnormal construction that they cannot indulge in any reflection,— all taste for such a thing being eradicated or unformed. It is in this thinking power which we call mind, and almost in it alone, that we excel the brutes. In strength, in power of muscle, in the instinctive exercise of the various functions of the senses, the brutes far excel; but in the organization or the compounding of powers, in the proper and most skilful dis position of our forces, the thinker far excels, and the blind efforts of the huge Leviathan are nothing against the skill of a being not a thousandth part as physically powerful. But, at many times the mere creature of instinct lives purer and more in accord 611 ance with the laws of nature and of health, than he who boasts intelligence little inferior to that of the angels. The brute will not outrage the likes and dislikes of its nature; but man, by custom, by constantly vitiating the intelligence God has bestowed upon him, becomes every moment more corrupt and less capable of appreciating the responsibilities placed upon him, by thus being the possessor of superior attainments and talents. Religion, or belief in God, is necessary to man, for, a being formed as he is, having no ideas of reward and punishment, would become the most fearful and the most dreadful of creatures; the evil traits of his character, warmed by selfishness into malevolent action, would spread wide and wholesale destruction on every hand. But, governed by the knowledge of his mission, enlightened by the consciousness of power and of the height to which he can attain if faithful, his all is at stake, and he must triumph over evil if he would satisfy his desire to be happy. He must either be the most wicked and devilish of beings, or the most pure and the most unselfish. There is no stay for him-he must either go forward or go backward, either progress or retrograde, for, like nations, individuals appear, rise to their zenith or set in a night of darkness brought on by corruption and imbecility. Belief in God softens the realities of life, and tones down the harsher characteristics of our nature, and, by giving a system or a method to its efforts, enables human nature to triumph in the conflict with evil. It is this feeling of reverence which makes us better and wiser, reveals brighter prospects and hides the more repulsive aspects of self-denial and of adversity, causing us to be strong in the midst of weakness, wise in the midst of folly, peaceful and calma in the midst of jarring and contending elements. It makes us humble and reliant upon the providences and the promises of God, and causes us to rejoice in his future gifts, as harbingered in the green fields, the fruitful harvests and the genial sun. But this belief must be reduced to a system, and that system is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. All things, even those of an earthly nature are, for the better convenience of the learner, reduced to a method, for, by being so, they are more easily understood and mastered. In like manner our belief is methodized, for man, by the multiplicity of his transgressions, lost the Spirit of God, lost a knowledge of him and of his gifts to man, consequently was entirely ignorant of how to worship him. This worship the Gospel teaches, and it is onward and progressive in its principles, as much so as are the different sciences of the day. Hitherto the increasing information man has been able to obtain of the various arts and sciences, instead of exalting the possessor in humility and in reliance upon the arm of God, has made him more vain-glorious and boastful, and the real blessings God granted to him have been perverted and have proven injurious. The meekness which would cause a person to listen to the principles of the Gospel has passed away, and the self-sufficient sneer of fatalism and infidelity has taken its place. But the time will come, and that before the unwary look for it, "that every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is the Christ." Then will the man-made knowledge of the world be as nought before the wisdom of the Priesthood, and a terrible reckoning will it be for those who have abused the blessings they possessed. Information is to be desired, to be sought for by every honest means, is to be prized above the diamond of the dark Indian mine or the treasures of the richest potentate upon earth; but to have it and prostitute it to the base purposes of furthering unholy, selfish ambition, is to commit an error at which minor faults pale into nothingness. The science of religion is too simple to suit the philosophical minds of our dealers in sophistry, and they labor to make it more intricate and more difficult of comprehension, to further their own peculiar views. They do not believe in simplicity, but deal altogether in the labyrinthine turnings of a diseased brain, which imagines that intricacy is a test of eloquence and of truth. There are many who cling to darkness rather than to the light; to the obsolete traditions of their fathers in preference to the simplicity of truth; to the sophistry of sectaries instead of to the purity of God's words, as written in the book of his law; and, by their example, they drive many away, who, left to their own guidance, would gladly embrace the Gospel. Happiness is that which all seek, and is the follower or result of good deeds, and the practice of good deeds is taught by the Gospel. There is not one unholy or impure thought contained in it, and misery and despair will follow all who dare to use it despitefully, and make irreverent and blasphemous allusions to its principles. We cannot trifle with God's word and be safe, nor can we be free from the scorpion stings of an accusing conscience. PRIESTHOOD. BY ELDER GEORGE SIMS. Among the revelations given by the | Lord to Joseph Smith, we find one that declares that the Lord's servants in these last days are the sons of Ephraim. We naturally enquire why the descendants of one of the sons of Joseph who was sold into Egypt should have been selected for this important work? We should reasonably look for the Lord to select his servants from families that had, naturally, the qualifications of mind, when aided by inspiration, to enable them to perform the saving duties he required of them. If there were on the earth a family that had minds that could be clothed with salvation, and would readily receive the communications of the Lord in any way he might devise-whether by angelic messengers, the voice of a |