605 CHAPTER 32.
1871.
JANUARY 1, 1871, President Smith opened the record of the new year as follows:-
"We welcome the year 1871 with pleasure. We have reason to believe that the present year will be one of good to the cause dear to us all; if not so marked in peculiar evidences of advancement as the year 1870, the general results will be fully realized as indicative of the good intended by the Master for Zion's children. There should be a considerable ingathering this year, and there will be if the elders do as they say that they have a desire to do; but the idler and the transgressor will this year find little encouragement and less peace.
"There should be the most strenuous efforts put forth to insure faithfulness, energy, industry, and honesty in the saints. If any fancy that there is too much of these commendable qualities in the church, we most decidedly admonish them to get rid of that fancy, as it is a fallacy. Nor do we by this accuse the church of evil or of wrongdoing, but just state the fact that there is no fear that we have all reached perfection's graces yet.
"The good work still goes on. North, east, south, and west they cry, 'Come, let us hear the truth.' Remarkable evidences are occurring daily to strengthen the faith of the saints and to challenge the attention of the unbelieving. As the faith of the saints increases, these evidences of God's favor will increase also, until, by and by, they will be able to say the Lord blesses continually."-The Saints' Herald, vol. 18, p. 17.
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