| 513 in St. Matthew: 'Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.'
"Thus we shall send laborers into the Lord's vineyard to gather the wheat, and prepare the earth against the day when desolations shall be poured out without measure; and as it now is, and ever has been considered one of the most honorable and glorious employments of men, to carry good tidings to the nations, so we shall expect the clemency of all men, while we go forth, for the last time, to gather Israel for the glory of God, that he may suddenly come to his temple; that all nations may come and worship in his presence, when there shall be none to molest or make afraid, but the earth shall be filled with his knowledge and glory.
"We live in an age of fearful imagination. With all the sincerity that common men are endowed with, the saints have labored, without pay, to instruct the people of the United States, that the gathering had commenced in the western boundaries of Missouri, to build a holy city. . . .
"The faith and religion of the Latter Day Saints are founded upon the old Scriptures, the Book of Mormon, and direct revelation from God; and while every event that transpires around us is evidence of the truth of them, and an index that the great and terrible day of the Lord is near, we entreat the philanthropist, the moralist, and the honorable men of all creeds and sects to read our publications, to examine the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Commandments, and listen to the fullness of the gospel, and judge whether we are entitled to the credit of the world, for honest motives and pure principles.
"A cloud of bad omen seems to hang over this generation. Men start up at the impulse of the moment and defy and outstrip all law, while the destroyer is also abroad in the earth wasting flesh without measure, and none can stay his course. In the midst of such portentous times, we feel an anxious desire to prepare, and help others prepare, for coming events; and we candidly believe that no honest man will
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