BANCROFT
LIBRARY
•o
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
A SERIES OF LECTURES
ON THE
THE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY, THE DREAM OF
[NEBUCHADNEZZAR, THE VISION OF DANIEL, THE
PERIHELIA OF THE PLANETS, THE CONSTEL-
LATIONS OF THE SERPENT AND DRAGON,
STAR OF BETHLEHEM, SHEPHERD STAR
AND THE ORE A T SIGNS IN THE HE A V-
ENS, WITH THE SEVEN WONDERS
OF THE WORLD, PYRAMIDS AND
CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLES;
EVENTS IN HISTORY,
ITS SIEGES AND BAT-
TLES, WITH SCENES
IN ZION AND
BY
ELDER ROBERT SMITH,
PAYSON, UTAH.
1887.
PRINTED AT THE JUVENILE INSTRUCTOR OFFICE.
O
M/f.
CONTENTS.
Introduction. Page 13.
CHAPTER I.
Abraham, his Parentage, his Nativity — Extracts from the Talmud Concern-
ing his life — His Destruction of his Father's Idols — He leaves Ur of the
Chaldees — Visits Egypt — Incidents in his Life. 14.
CHAPTER II.
First Wonder— Outside View of the Great Pyramid — Distance from the Nile
— Singular Marks — Passage and Rooms-Herodotus' Description of Pyra-
mid— Abraham the Architect — Years in Building — Where the Rock was
Brought from — Size, etc — History of Grand Cairo — Object of Building,
etc — Great Causeway for Conveying Rock to Pyramid — Geographical
Position — Circle of Time — Israel and the Pyramid — Cephren the Sec-
ond Largest Pyramid — History of Sphinx — Myceranus the Third Larg-
est Pyramid. 19.
CHAPTER III.
Inside of the Great Pyramid — Date of Building — Astronomical Markings —
Hieroglyphics — Dragon Star — Uranus North Polar Star at Pyramid
Building — Perihelia of Planets — Entrance Passage — Meridian of Pyra-
mid— Lowest Position of Dragon in 1891 — Position of Serpent — Inch
Marks in Entrance Passage — Length of Passages — Time from Fall of
Adam to Birth of Christ— Length of Grand Gallery— Narrow Passage
—Stone Steps and 1830— Ante-Chamber— King's Chamber— Stone Cof-
fer and Ark of Covenant — Square Room or New Jerusalem — Pyramid
in Center of the Earth — Lower Room Representing Hades — Alma-
moun's Passage — Joseph Smith and the year 1891 — Pyramid a Sign and
Witness of End of World— Pyramid and Millennium. 29.
CHAPTER IV.
Perihelia of Planets— Date of Great Perihelia— Two Great Perihelia To-
gether—Their Mark in Great Pyramid— The Position of the Earth and
ii CONTENTS.
five Planets— The Star of Bethlehem— This Perihelia a Sign of the
End. 42.
CHAPTER V.
Cleopatra's Needles— Description of Pillars— Location— Size— Object of
Rearing— When Reared— By Whom— When Taken Down— Where
Moved— Needle in London— Pillar in New York— The Square and Com-
pass on .Needle— Free Masonry and the Cleopatra's Needles. 44.
CHAPTER VI.
Second Wonder— The City of Babylon— Its Origin— Its Location— Herodo-
tus' Visit— Nimrod and Babel— Tower of Babel— Palace of King-
Hanging Gardens — Euphrates River — Great Walls — Confusion of
Tongues and Brother of Jared— Cyrus Besieging the City— Fall of
Babylon— End of Jewish Captivity— Alexander the Great and Babylon
—Hand-writing on the Wall. 48
CHAPTER VII.
Third Wonder, Jupiter Olympus— Commencement of Image Worship —
Nimrod and the Star Jupiter— Phidas the Sculptor—Olympic games —
Dimensions of Image — Size of Temple — Description of Statue — When
Destroyed, and by Whom. 57.
•
CHAPTER VIII.
Fourth Wonder, Temple of Diana— Geographical Position of Ephesus —
Paul preaching in Ephesus— Origin of Diana— Description of the
Foundation— The Marble Columns— Size of Temple— 220 years in build-
ing— Incidents Pertaining to Temple — Justinian Destroys the Temple —
Gospel of John Written at Ephesus. 63.
CHAPTER IX.
Fifth Wonder, the Pharos— The City of Alexandria—Conception of Great
Light-house— By Whom Built— Incidents in life of Ptloemy Soter and
Ptolemy Philadelphus— Walls and Streets of Alexandria— Its Popula-
tion—Size of Pharos— Bible first Translated in the Time of the Pharos
—Great Alexandrian Library— Pharos Destroyed by an Earthquake —
Other Light- houses. 70.
CHAPTER X.
Sixth Wonder, the Mausoleum — Description of Caria and Halicarnassus—
Death of King Mausolus— His Queen Artemesia Mourns his Death
CONTENTS. iii
— Buildslone'of the Seven Wonders— Description of Tomb — Death of
Queen — Comments of Tomb. 74.
CHAPTER XL
Seventh Wonder, the Colossus — The City of Rhodes — Antigones and the
Rhodians — Siege of Rhodes— Origin of Image — Size — Description of
Colossus — Knight of St. John's — Monuments of Rhodes — Destruction
of Image. 79.
CHAPTER XII.
Siege of Jerusalem— The Holy City— Its Antiquity— Geographical Position
— Shem the Founder— Melchisedec— Who was Melchisedec— Abraham
and Jerusalem — Jebusites Occupation — David's overthrow of Jerusa-
lem—The City Under David— The Benjamites were the Christians who
Received the Gospel— The Revolt of the Jews A. D. 68— Siege of Jeru-
salem Under Titus — Sufferings of the Jews — Solomon's Temple — Also
Herod's— End of the Siege. 83.
CHAPTER XIII.
Colosseum of Rome, or Zion as it Was — Jews Build Colosseum — Vespasian
Emperor of Rome — The Great Amphitheatre — Its Size — The Dedica-
tion— Jews and Christians Destroyed by Nero — Flight of Early Chris-
tians— Their Sufferings in the Catacombs — Their Extinction A. D. 570
— The JVlelchisedec Priesthood and the Former- day Saints — Comparison
Between Former and Latter-day Saints— The Church Driven into the
Wilderness 1260 years — Prophetic Numbers — Restoration of Gospel
1830. 89.
CHAPTER XIV.
Zion as it Was— The Little Horn— Daniel's Explanation — The Latter-day
Saints the People Meant by Daniel — Must be the People as History
Proves— Never to be Overthrown— 1830 the Prophetic Year— 1891 the
End— Prison Scene, etc. 93.
CHAPTER XV.
Zion as it will be — Means of Knowing the Things Concerning Zion — Revela-
tion and Prophecy on Zion — Proof Positive that Zion will be Redeemed
— Prophecy of Babyloc — The Caliph Omar and Mohammed — The
Saracens — Isaiah on Zion — Battles of Zion to be Fought by the Lord —
The Tribes of the North — The icy Barriers to Melt at their Approach —
They will Come to Ephraim to Receive their Confirmations — Temples
to be Reared— The Ancient of Days— The Temple in Jackson County.
102.
vi CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVI.
Last Judgments — Rewards and Punishments — John the Revelator on last
Judgment — The Lake of Fire — Comments Thereon — Fate of the
Wicked — Rewards of the Just — Remorse of those who Neglect Salva-
tion—The Holy City— Its Streets of Grold— Precious Stones the Walls
—Comments on this Probation— The Law of Increase only by the Celes-
tial— The Twelve gates of the New Jerusalem — The Names over the
Gates— The Celestial life only Worth Living for— The Records Kept by
Man Himself and How — The Lagt Judgment Sure. 108.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
INTRODUCTORY.
HAVING been solicited by many patrons, who have wit-
nessed our exhibition of paintings, to print the lectures on the
subjects of our title-page, and, having carefully penned our
researches on said subjects, we cordially hope that this little
book may prove a source of good, and aid the students of his-
tory and prophecy to unravel some of the mysteries of godli-
ness, and to pursue the path of knowledge, leading upwards
to God, that by diligence and faithfulness in His most holy
cause, they might know more of the things that will surely
come to pass in the latter days. It is the earnest wish of the
author that this little work may be the means of inducing the
lukewarm to consider well their ways and be wise.
The times indicate rapid changes, and the mind, imbued
with heavenly aspirations, cannot fail to read in holy writ, in
the great pyramid and in the constellations of the heavens,
the signs of the near approach of the King of kings and Lord
of lords, to reign in power and great glory.
That the seed sown may bear precious fruit, and the les-
sons of history and prophecy contained herein leave their
lasting impress, I subscribe myself the friend of the truth-
loving everywhere.
ROBERT SMITH.
CHAPTER I.
ABRAHAM.
ABRAHAM was the first great patriarch. He was born in
Ur of the Chaldees, beyond the Euphrates. His father's name
was Terah, who was a descendant of Shem. Abram lived in
Ur until he was seventy-five years old, when, being called of
God by revelation, he left his native land and emigrated to
Canaan (Gen. xii, 1 — 5). A famine drove him into the land of
Egypt, where he fell in favor with the king, and afterwards
influenced him to build the "Great First Wonder," the pyra-
mid of Gizeh, or Cheops, as called by moderns. It will interest
our readers to give a short account of this great character,
who was the "Father of Israel," and the most faithful of the
human family. Extracts from The Talmud (Chap, ii, page 30)
read:
Terah was chief officer to King Nimrod, and a great
favorite with his royal master, and was granted many priv-
ileges, and when Abram was born, Terah, as was the custom
of the country, made a great feast to commemorate the event,
and asked his friends and relatives to the celebration, for in
the ancient time they rejoiced over the birth of a son. The
guests on entering early in the morning saw a brilliant star
arise in the east, and they also saw four other stars arise from
the different points of the compass in the heavens, and the first
star swallowed up the other four stars from the four quarters
of the heavens. The magicians, who were guests of Terah and
witnessess of this remarkable phenomena, considered this an
evil omen to the new-born child of Terah, so they returned to
the king, and said that the wonderful event of the stars was a
symbol that the child would grow up to be a faithful man, and
that his descendants would increase in the land until they
would destroy this kingdom and possess its lands, so they ad-
vised the king to buy the child and destroy it before its matur-
ity, or the event predicted by them would surely come to pass.
So the king sent for Terah, and related the story of the magi-
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 15
cians concerning the stars, with the modest request that he sell
him the child. Terah evaded the request of the king by ask-
ing him about the sale of a horse. Terah said, 'Ayon, the son
of Morad, came to my house yesterday desiring to purchase
the beautiful steed, which thou, oh king, didst graciously give
me. 'Sell me the horse,' says Ayon, and I will pay you his full
value and likewise fill thy stables with straw and provender,
and I answered him I could not without the consent of the
king.' 'What,' said the king, 'art thou in such need that thou
wouldst sell the gift of the king and barter a steed unequalled
in all the land for gold or silver?' And the king was wroth;
then Terah bowed down before the king and said if such was
the feeling of the king concerning a horse, how could he ask
him to part with his child for gold or silver? 'But,' said Terah,
'all I have is thine, oh king, so, without force, take the child/
'No,' said the king, 'but with money will I buy the child.' Tar-
don me,' said Terah, 'but give me three days for consideration,
and [ will lay the matter' before the mother of the boy and
give thee word of the result.' But after three days the king
sent to Terah demanding the infant, or he and all his house
should be destroyed. Terah then took the child of one of
his slaves, born on the same day as Abram, and sent it to
the king. Terah received the money for the child
from the king's purser, and the king slew the child,
thinking it to be Abram. And Terah hid the mother and
child and its nurse in a lonely cave, where they were concealed
for ten years, until the king and his courtiers had forgotten
the episode of the birth and death of the child. Then Terah
took the child and his mother from the cave and sent him to
Noah and Shem, his (Noah's) son, that he might learn the ways
of the Lord, who had saved them (Noah and Shem) in the
great flood, and Abram lived with them thirty-nine years.
Being then about fifty years old he returned to his father's
house, and was grieved to find that his father had forgotten
the God of Noah and Shem, and had turned to worshiping
idols, as the Chaldeans did, and on entering a room, where
were twelve images of wood and stone, (each one of these
idols were for different months in the year) Abram, when he
beheld these images, said: 'By the life of the Lord, if these
idols remain here three days longer, may the God who created
me make me such as they.' So Abram sought his father and
asked him to show him the Gods who had made the heaven
and the earth, thee, me, and all the people of the earth; and
Terah said, 'My son, the creator of all things is here in mine
1G THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
house.' Then Abram asked him to show him to him. Then
Terah led Abram into an inner apartment, and pointing to
the twelve images, he said: 'These are the gods who made
the earth, thee, me, and all the people of the earth.'
The next day Abram requested his mother to prepare a
kid in her best manner, and he brought it before the gods,
and laid it conveniently beside them, but none stretched forth
a hand to partake of the savory mess. He went to his mother
and told her to prepare two kids, 'for,' said he, 'it is not to their
taste or mayhap the quantity was not great enough;' so he
caused his mother to prepare two kids in her best manner, and
he laid them, as before, at the feet of the images, with the
same result as on the previous day. Then said Abram: 'Woe
to my father and this evil generation, woe to those who wor-
ship senseless images, without power to smell or eat, to see or
hear. Mouths have they but sounds they cannot utter; eyes
they have but lack power to see. hands and feet, but cannot
move or walk, senseless as they are the men who wrought
them, and senseless all who bow down to them or put their
trust in them.' And, seizing an iron implement, he broke in
pieces all except one, and he placed the iron tool in the hand
of the remaining image. Terah, in his house, heard the noise
made by the destruction of his gods, and hastened to the
apartment, and found Abram there and the food he had laid
at their feet, and Ire demanded of Abram how the destruction
had been done. Abram said: 'I brought them savory meat,
and behold, they all grasped for it with eagerness, but the
largest one, displeased at their greed, seized that iron imple-
ment which he holds and destroyed them all.'
'False are thy words,' said Terah, with anger. 'Did not
I fashion these with mine own hand, and know that they
could not move or speak, or act as thou sayest they did.'
'Then,' said Abram, 'how could the larger destroy the
smaller ones? Then why serve senseless gods who cannot
help thee or hear thy supplications? Cease, oh, my father,
to serve such gods.' And, seizing the iron implement, he
destroyed the remaining idol.
Terah, in great rage, hastened before the king, and re-
hearsed the act of Abram, and the king commanded that
Abram be seized and cast into the fiery furnace, which was
heated to a great and consuming heat, and Abram was led out
to be thrust therein. Then cried out the magicians, 'we know
this man: this is none other than the child at whose birth one
large star consumed four others. His father hath mocked
TIIK SHIN'S Ol< TIN'] TI.MKS. 17
thee, and played thee false, and has given thee another child
in his stead/
Then the king in great wrath commanded. Terah to be
brought before him, and demanded of him why he had
mocked him, and Terah answered: 'It is even as they have
said. I had compassion on my child, and took one of my
slave's children, born on the same day, and sent in his stead.'
Then the king demanded who had counseled him to do
the deed, and Terah in his consternation and without founda-
tion, said Charan, my son, counseled me. Then the king
commanded Charan to be also cast into the fiery furnace.
Now the heat was so great that it slew the men who cast them
into the furnace, but God remembered His servant Abram,
and although the ropes that bound him were burned off from
his limbs, he arose unharmed from the bottom of the furnace,
but Charan, the brother of Abram, perished in the flames;
but Abram walked to and fro in the furnace, and when it was
told the king he refused to believe it, until viewing the servant
of God walking in the midst of the fire he commanded that
they take him out, but the men who attempted to do the bid-
ing of the king were driven back by the intense heat, and
eight men were slain in the attempt to do the king's bidding.
Then the king came as near the furnace as he could, and he
called thus: 'Servant of the living God, come forth!' And
Abram came out of the furnace, and not a hair of his head
was singed or the smell of fire upon his clothing. The king
expressed great wonder. Then said Abram: 'The God of
heaven, whom I trust, hath delivered me from the flames.'
Then the king made him presents, and he was in favor with
the king, until the latter remembered the episode of the stars,
and he then sent secret assassins to take Abram's life; but,
learning the king's plans, the intended victim went again to
Noah, where he remained until the king had forgotten him.
Terah, being still a favorite of the king, requested per-
mission to go and visit his friends in Haran, but the king
would not allow him, so he went secretly to visit Noah and
his son Abram, who persuaded him (Terah) to accompany his
son to the land of Canaan. So he did, and they settled in
Charan, where Terah died."
There God appeared to Abram in Charan and blessed
him and made His covenant with him, that in blessings he
would bless him, and that his seed should be as the sand upon
the sea-shore for multitude (Gen. xvii). Here God changed his
18 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
name from Abram to Abraham, which signifies "father of a
multitude." He was eighty-six years old when Ishmael was
born, and Ishmael was sixteen years old when Isaac was born,
Abraham being one hundred years old (Gen. xxi). The token
of the covenant was circumcision, and Abraham was ninety-
nine years old when he was circumcised, Ishmael thirteen
years old, and all the males of Abraham's house were circum-
cised that day. (Gen. xvii, 24 — 27.)
After this Abraham reared altars to the Lord of hosts,
and when he was driven from the land of Canaan, by a severe
famine, he became the architect of the greatest altar on the
footstool of God. It is considered by pyramid-readers, both
Israelite and Gentile, that the great pyramid is of divine
origin, and, as Professor Seiss, of Philadelphia, expresses it, it
is a "miracle in stone." We call it the stone-book of Abra-
ham, who, knowing all things that would come to pass in the
last days, made it as an imperishable mile stone in the journey
of time; that when the Ephrairnites, who should become the
head (for the birthright of Reuben was lost to him through
transgression), it should then be given to Joseph, who, trans-
mitting it to his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, in the last
days were to open up the dispensation of the fullness of times,
and prepare the house for the return of the scattered tribes.
In this great altar to the Lord, as Isaiah calls it, we have the
record of Abraham to the Ephraimites, a sure guide, a record
that cannot be ignored by infidel or skeptic. We now proceed
to the history of the "Great First Wonder," the pyramid of
Cheops.
TIIK SIGNS OF THK TIMKS. 19
CHAPTER II.
PYRAMID OF CM HOPS, OR GREAT FIRST WONDER.
ON a fine plateau, nearly half a mile from the river Nile,
stands the most remarkable building ever erected by man. Its
immense size, shape, artistic workmanship, remarkable inter-
ior, with its singular marks and passage-ways, rooms and
tubes, all prove it of divine origin. It has been explored by
many learned men of different nations, who have attempted
to prove when and by whom it was built, arid the purpose of
its erection. They have tried to decipher its curious signs,
figures and problems, astronomical bearings, etc., and nearly
all writers, both in the old and new world, agree as touching
its divine origin. Dr. Seiss calls it a "miracle in stone," and
Pyazza Smythe, of Edinburg, has written one of the best works
on the pyramid, extant, entitled "Our Inheritance in the Great
Pyramid," which the late Prof. Orson Pratt preferred to all
others. The last named work is undoubtedly authentic, as
Mr. Smythe went to Egypt expressly to take observations on
the pyramid, and, that he might not be retarded by family
ties, he took them with him. He spent five months at the
pyramid, his wife an*d children living in a rifled Egyptian
tomb, adjacent thereto, that they might benefit him in his re-
searches. His drawings contain measurements, angles, squares,
circles, with planetary markings, passages, rooms, tubes, etc.,
to aid the reader in unraveling the mysteries recorded in the
altar of Abraham. We will refer to some of these points as
we proceed.
A celebrated historian, Herodotus, who was born in Hali-
carnassus, in the kingdom of Caria in the year 484, B. C., and
who had to flee his native country to escape that tyrant ruler
20
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
Tllfl SU'JNS OF THE TIMES. in
Lygdamus, arriving at Greece, was received favorably by the
Grecians, and wrote an account of his travels and observa-
tions in the countries he visited, in such truthful style that he
won the name of the father of history, from the great Cicero.
In his travels through Egypt, he visited the pyramids in the
year 445, B. C., and states that he received his information con-
cerning the great building from the priests of Memphis, who
had an oracle and a temple adjacent to the pyramid at that
time. They informed him that they were forbidden to men-
tion the name of Cheops, as he was a renegade or apostate
from the worship of the gods of his fathers; he and his brother
Cephren having been influenced by Philetus, a shepherd king,
to forsake the worship of idols and adopt that of the God of
heaven. He then influenced him to rear the great pyramid,
and Herodotus states that Cheops employed one hundred
thousand men, thirty years in constructing the building. Ten
years of the time was spent in laying the foundation.
The pyramid stands on four feet, on a flinty granite ledge
of rock, which the builder has let into the granite 8 inches
•deep, and 16 feet square on each of the corners of the building.
The first course, or foundation layer, is 4 feet thick and covers
the entire 13J acres of land. Commentators cannot explain
the use of these feet or corners let into the rock of the build-
ing, which surely did not need to be secured by such means,
to prevent its sliding into the Nile. It is also cemented with
a cement of lime and sand to make it as nearly solid as pos-
sible. The first course, as we mentioned, covered the entire
surface of 13J acres and was 4 feet high. Then, all around
the entire building it receded 4 feet inward, and this peculiar-
ity was maintained clear to the top, or where the caption rock
was placed. The courses of rock are not all uniform in thick-
ness, as the pyramid, when completed, was but 511 feet high,
and there are 208 courses of rock, now forming the platform
or top of the pyramid, as they have taken 30 feet from the top,
and left a 32 foot square platform. This was done by the
Caliphs and builders of Grand Cairo, a city a few miles down
the Nile from where the pyramids stand. The rock of which
22 THE SIGNS OF THE TD*ES.
they are composed, is limestone, and was taken for the pur-
pose of making lime. Probably the great pyramid was thus
roughly handled by the builders of Cairo, as this has been a
city from time immemorial, some writers stating that it was
the first city built in Egypt, and that a son of Ham, named
Mesraim, or Mezraim, was its builder; which has a shade of
truth, as the natives call the city by that name to this day)
and one of the sons of Ham bore that name (Gen. x, 6).
The 32 foot platform, comprising the top of the pyramid,
is composed of six rocks and upon it are the names of
Greek, Italian, German, Russian, Spanish and American trav-
elers, who have visited the pyramid and left their mark there;
and, as we have been informed, a name or two from Utah is
inscribed on this high platform. The workmanship is of a
very high grade, and critics of our own age confess that it
equals any modern work of art in every particular. The rocks
are immense in size, mostly 12 feet long, 4 feet thick and 8
feet wide. It is stated by Professor Seiss, in his "Miracle in
Stone/' that these rocks were brought a distance of 700 miles
from the quarries of Syena, on the borders of Abyssinia, in
Upper Egypt, and that 90 miles of the journey lay over a
branch of the desert of Sahara, a sandy waste; but how they
managed to convey such ponderous blocks so far, is a query to
the scientific world. Herodotus does not enlighten us much
on this question, he, however, mentions a machine made of
short pieces of wood whereby they were enabled to raise the
immense rock from one step to another above it. That is all
our information on so great a question; as there are none of
the Egyptian hieroglyphics that throw light upon it, we are
simply left to conjecture how it was done. There is an account
in "Chambers' Information for the People" ( Vol. ii, page 487)r
which states that the Egyptians were adepts in mechanical
expedients, and conveyed their rocks, often weighing 1,000
tons, by means of sledges, the men being yolked in rows with
rings fastened to the rock and ropes attached, and as many
men were in this wise attached as could drag the block along;
that it took a long time to reach the pyramid one can easily
THE* SIGNS OF THE TIMKS. 23
conjecture. Chambers tells of one instance that required 2,000
men three years to bring a single rock to its place of deposit.
When possible, they conveyed them on floats on the Nile; but
it must have cost a great labor and expense to convey the im-
mense pile of material composing the pyramid, over the 90
miles of loose, shifting sand, from Syena to the Nile. The
men were trained to pull together to the cadence of a song,
and there were men ready with jars to throw water on the
ground before the sledges. A master to each squad
of men was in attendance, .to mark the time of the song,
so that all would pull simultaneously.
Herodotus states that a causeway was made from the edge
of the Nile to the plateau where the building was being
erected, and that it was 8,000 feet long, 60 feet wide, and was
beautifully sculptured and finished, by aid of which they were
enabled to drag the huge blocks up the causeway, and with the
lever and inclined plane they placed the rocks in position. The
height of the causeway commenced like a sharp wedge at the
river; it arose to 48 feet at the plateau. This grand piece of
masonry was exhumed from the sand where it has so long
been hid, and found to be as described by Herodotus. On the
sides the hieroglyphics give a true history of the tools and
implements used in the times we are describing. The archi-
tect spared no time or expense in the work of this causeway,
as the fine cut stone and pictures on its sides testify. Here,
then, is a monument of artistic skill unsurpassed by man,
even in modern times, with all of his inventions. The ques-
tion will be asked, why did not the king use the rock imme-
diately under the pyramid to rear his building? This is readily
answered by stating that anciently nothing but hardened cop-
per was known or used in the manufacture of tools, and the
limestone could be wrought with them, whereas the red granite
could not be easily worked, its flinty nature turning the edge
of the best tools known. The king, therefore, chose to bring
the material from a distance, and have rock that he could
fashion as he desired. It would have taken ten times as long
to prepare six millions of tons of flinty granite, that being the
24 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
quantity used in the great building, as the same amount of
soft limestone.
The pyramid stands on the 30th degree of latitude, north
of the equator, and is, therefore, the perpendicular or plum-
line of the earth, and as Pyazza Smythe states, on the exact
centre of the land portion of our globe, which proves that
something vastly important was intended by its architect,
something requiring no less than the earth's centre as a base,
but this point we will fully explain in the chapter on the con-
stellations. Our patriarch father knowing that nothing short
of a wonder would attract all nations to this master stone book,
erected an altar so large that it could never be lost or hid away
in some dark recess, to moulder and decay like the stupendous
edifices of the eastern and western world.
Now, having sufficiently described the great pyramid for
present purposes, we will endeavor to explain its use and the
object of its erection. As before stated, Abraham, the archi-
tect, knowing that in the end of the time, when the Gentiles were
come to the fullness, and apostles and prophets would again
be restored, that there would be needed a sure guide, a monu-
ment that had always been in sight of the different generations
who should come after him. To prove that this great record
had not been put up by any new sect, or religious body, con-
structed it to portray in signs, marks, symbols, types and star-
markings, dates and great events, what would come to pass
before the end of this week of Satan, as the six thousand years,
from the fall of Adam to the end of the world, is called by
some, therefore, that the prophets understood what the build-
ing was reared for. Joseph, when in the palace of Pharaoh could
look upon the great pyramid, and when the exodus transpired,
the children of Israel, under Moses, had to pass near it on their
way to the Red Sea; the great law-giver thus probably knew
the object of its erection. Isaiah knew it to be for a sign and
witness of the Lord of hosts, and so records it in his 19th chap.,
verses 19 and 20. The building was a land-mark for many
miles, from any point of the compass. It could be distinctly
seen from Alexandria at the mouth of the Nile; also from
THE SKINS OF THE TIM KS. 25
•
Memphis, the capital city of Egypt. During the time of Jos-
eph, Moses, and the Exodus, and from the city of On, and on
the desert which lay immediately behind it, it was a land-
mark most conspicuous. The Israelites, while under their
cruel task-masters, could lift up their eyes from Goshen and
see the emblem of deliverance from, all trials and tribulations
after their former and latter-day brethren had suffered even as
they. It is only through tribulation we can expect to win sal-
vation; as the Redeemer suffered to give us redemption through
the atonement, so we must be in some degree like Him, to
join Him in the mansions He is preparing.
Now, where is Israel, on whom so many promises are
centered? Judah is scattered over all the earth. Nine and a
half tribes are in the north country. Benjamin is in a scat-
tered condition, for, after the day of Pentecost the apostles
who were of that tribe, carried the gospel to the world. Paul
was sent to the Gentiles; for the wild olive branches could, by
being grafted into the tame olive become part of the tree (Rom-
ans Hth chap. 17th to 27th verses); but we must look to Ephraim^
the first-born of Israel, who was blessed by Jacob before his elder
brother Manasseh, and who received the birthright through
the transgression of Reuben( see j Chronicles oth chap., 1st
and 2nd verses)tev great works in the last days; and where
is he? We trace him in the dispersion, under Shalamanezer
king of Assyria, to the borders of the Arctic regions, thence
back to Normandy and Saxony and the British Isles, the
greater group of the tribe settling in Saxony and when that
country(England)was taken by the Saxons we have the be-
ginning of the fulfillment of prophecy that Israel should pos-
sess the gates of her enemies( Gen . xxii, 17)being literally fulfilled.
The English nation is, therefore, according to all signs and
texts, the nation spoken of by the prophets, for they do pos-
sess the gates of their enemies, which means the holding of
the entrances to the nations, or water-ways; and to show this
we note their possession of the Guernsey Islands, in the Eng-
lish Channel, which is nearer France than England, as the
majority of the inhabitants speak the French language; then
26 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
t
Gibraltar and Malta, the gates of the Mediterranean; the Suez
Canal, the gate to the Red Sea in Egypt and to the Indian
Ocean; the Island of Perim in the Straits of Babelmandeb in
the Red Sea; Socata and Aden covering Arabia and Peshawar;
the gate from India, Afghanistan, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras,
Rangoon, in the Irawaddy River, commanding the entrance
to the Burmah nation; the gates of Hong Kong, Penang
Mallacca, Singapore and Cowloon. Now we come to an im-
portant point; does England hold the gates to America, the
land of Joseph? She does in partnership with her brother
Manasseh, as he owns America by birthright or right of pos-
session, therefore Ephraim and Manasseh hold the Golden Gate
at San Francisco, the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of St. Lawrence
and, as we have gone round the world surely Ephraim and
Manasseh hold the gates of their enemies. Shall they alwavs
hold them? Only on condition of obedience to the revealed
commands of God. For transgressing His commands the
tribes were scattered, and their countries given to the Gentiles,
but God has again spoken and expects Israel to obey. The
command was "Come out of her, my people, that ye partake
not of her sins and receive not of her plagues."
Israel and Judah were punished seven times for trans-
gression. In 725 B. C. the House of Israel was taken captive
to the north country when they entered upon the seven times
of punishment (Leviticus xxvi, 14-46.) Now, when Ephraim
(England) made her treaty with Manasseh (America), A. D.
1783, she commenced to prosper. The seven times ended, and
the return of Israel commenced. This being the land of Jos-
eph and he the firstborn by partriarchal blessing, conferring
his right on his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. They com-
menced in the year 1783 to return to the land of their fathers?
the land of Joseph. The prophet Hosea(w, l-3)speaks of Ephraim
and his return thus: "After two days he would revive us and
the third day he would raise us up." Now, the prophetic day
in Israel was counted one thousand years which was God's
mode of computing time; the two days, therefore, would be
2,000 years. Now, in the the third day of the 3,000 years, not
THK SIGNS OF THE TIM MS 27
at the end, or past meridian (Israel computed time at the
middle of the day) we shall see how these figures give us the
time of reviving. In the year 1783 America was given by
treaty to Ephraim and Manasseh, add the 725 years B. C.
when the Israelites were carried away captive, and you have
the past of the middle of the third day 2508, so we say Israel
headed by the firstborn, Ephraim, is now reviving, and let
us inquire if he knows the Lord, as Hosea says (mi), would be the
only way God would accept him, (13-16 verses) for how he will
deal with him if he does not find God and know Him.
This gospel of a tangible God with body, parts and pas-
sions was revealed to Joseph Smith, and the fullness of this
restoration of Israel in our day, agreeing exactly in dates and
particulars. We, therefore, know the Lord. The Book of
Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants were presented to
Queen Victoria, who, some writers claim, is a literal descend-
ant of the house of David (see Lost Ten Tribes by Joseph Wild D.
D.) but she did not accept the call to "come out of her," my peo-
ple and to know the Lord, but to this day, in their book of com-
mon prayer, they acknowledge a God without body, parts or
passions — a nonentity or nothing. The Ephraimites will in
the day of revival hear the voice of the Shepherd and will an-
swer by name, for, although it might be asked what is in a
name we think much depends upon it. No people can lay
claim to being Saints but the early Christians and the Latter-
day Saints. Why? asks one. Because a church is known by
the name it takes. History accounts for only two churches —
Former-day Saints (early Christians) and Latter-day Saints
(last-day Christians). The Savior placed in His church apos-
les and prophets, pastors, teachers, etc; healings, gifts, miracles
and tongues. Does any sect answer to this description but the
Latter-day Saints? No, the early Christians did until they
were driven from the earth, and the year 570 saw the last of
the Church of Christ of former days. In the year 1830 it was re-
stored with every officer, gift and ordinance. A few of the inhab-
ants of Babylon are taking the warning and fleeing to Zion. They
are of Ephraim. These have forsaken all: native land, kin-
28 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
dred, home, natural ties, the graves of their loved ones and, in
some instances, husbands and wives, to learn God. Here His
royal Priesthood are honored.
One pyramid sign of Ephraim is the grand gallery which
measures in cubic inches 36 millions, and in straight line
measurement the same gallery measures 1,882 inches, which
singular to relate, was the number of England in that very
year (1882) so that we have the mark of the tribe, as the ma-
jority of the Ephraimites came from England. Another
sign of the restoration of this date (1882) is in the Queen's
Chamber: in the year referred to, the Jews in all the world
numbered just nine millions, which is the cubic inch measure
of the Queen's Chamber, or place of the Jews, as it is called,
in that year 1882, and, most singular to state, in that same year
the little horn prefigured by Daniel was making war on the
Saints. For in 1882 the nation passed the Edmund's law,so called,
and Ephraim is to be prevailed against from that mark 1882 until
1891, which will be further explained. Now, we have shown
that the majority of Ephraim is of England; but, says an object-
or they (England) do not speak the language of Ephraim. We
read that the sons of God, in the restoration would speak
another tongue (Zephdnia, Hi, 9). Now, did it never strike you,
dear reader, that the English language is gaining prestige in
all the world, that nations owning possessions round the globe
make that a fact, and that America, the land of Joseph, are al-
most all English speaking, most speakers and lecturers ad opting
that form of utterance? Thus the prophecy is being literally
fullfiled. As present indications are, it is destined to become
universal. The Ephraimites, then, predominate in the Anglo-
Saxon, Norman, ancient Briton, also in England, and, to
a greater or less extent, among the Scandinavians, etc., in
which countries we trace them in their wanderings. Now, the
Jewish language had only 7,000 words, whereas the English
has 100,000, according to Chambers, and in English there are
1,000 Hebrew roots, in the names of persons and places. We
hope, therefore, dear reader, that we know without doubt who
the people of God are, where they are, and where Zion is; and
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 29
we will in future chapters prove more about the Kingdom of
God. We now turn to the inside of the pyramid, and note
its curious signs, symbols, and star-markings, measurements
etc., which will be the subject of our next lecture.
CHAPTER III.
INSIDE OP THE GREAT PYRAMID.
THE date of the building of the pyramid is set at 2170 B. C.,
which is plainly marked by the different tubes and passages in
the building, as the shafts and openings were made to mark the
position of certain stars, which we will explain as we proceed.
Our best proof that Abraham was the architect of this build-
ing is that, firstly, it was built when Egypt was at its climax
in idolatry, yet, not one of its many gods are found painted or
sculptured in all the stupendous fabric; nor yet on any of its
approaches, nor even on the mighty causeway, but on the
other pyramids the individual gods of the founders or occu-
pants wer<3 always found, and the hieroglyphics on every one
of them show the gods and persons for whom they were built;
secondly, no painting or hieroglyphic is found in or around
the pyramid, except two insignificant ones in the narrow pas-
sage between the Grand Gallery and the ante-chamber, which
merely refer to the two brother kings of Egypt, Cheops and
Cephren, proving that the building was not of Egyptian struc-
ture; for they invariably covered their great buildings with
sculpture and hieroglyphics of their gods, but so modest was
the architect of this vast structure, that he left not a trace of
his name or object to signify it in the building. At this time,
let it be remembered, Israel was not born, and one capable of
rearing such a structure would, if an idolator, would have been
30 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
sure to place his name there that it might be transmitted to fu-
ture ages, but Abraham was a meek servant of God, who left it
for the faithful to discover, by inspiration, who was the architect.
The third proof that the Egyptians were not the builders is,
that it is built throughout astronomically, and, at that time,
2170 B. C., we learn by history, and by the hieroglyphics of
the period, and even before, that they understood nothing
about astronomy; and Josephus, a Jewish historian, states that
Abraham taught the Egyptians astronomy, and the best proof
of this is that after his time the hieroglyphics of Egypt were
plentifully bestowed in representation of the heavenly bodies.
We now turn to the star-markings of the great pyramid.
The south polar star, at that time, 2170, looked down a tube
on the south side of the building made of red granite, and
which is eight inches in diameter, nicely polished, and runs
to the king's chamber and marks a period about 250 inches
from the entrance, and as the inch, in the pyramids, denotes
one year in time, about the year 250 of the Millennium we
shall have some great event which we are unable to explain
at present, but we can assure our readers, who remain faithful
till that period, that they will find the star in its place as
marked in the pyramid. On the opposite side there is another
tube of the same size and material, and although at a differ-
ent angle, marks the position of the north polar star at the
date 2170, B. C. and strikes the grand gallery at the twelfth
inch from the south end, and as the gallery measures 1891
inches (according to Orson Pratt's interpretation of the stone
step which we will explain) 12 from 91 leaves 79 so in the
year 1879, the polar star Uranus (which was polar star at the
time 2170) is to mark some great event in that year, and as
that year is already past, the event was that the star Uranus
appeared, as truly as he is marked in the pyramid, and in that
year 1879 he governed a 4 planet perihelion of planets, and
marked the beginning of signs, we believe, that were pre-
dicted by our Savior, as appearing in the last days, who,
when asked by His disciples what would be the sign of His
coming and of the end of the world, said "There will be signs
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 31
in the heavens, and on earth; earthquakes in divers places,
etc." (Matthew xxiv). Uranus gives the first sign, which with
its mates remained in perihelion until 1881, when we had the
second great sign: a perihelia of five planets, and, as there
have never been five planets in perihelia before in all planet
history, it is regarded as one of the signs of the coming of our
Lord; the polar star, therefore, gave us a sure mark both of the
building, and also of the great sign of destruction which com-
menced in that year, for the angel of the Lord flew through the
midst of heaven with the everlasting gospel to preach to those
who dwell on earth, saying with a loud voice, "Fear God, and
give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment is come."
Now, according to good authority, sixty years with us is
one hour with God, and, as the angel came in 1830 with wit-
nesses sufficient to prove to honest minds, that He did come
in that year; for four witnesses have given their names to the
world in testimony thereof. We know, therefore, that the
prophetic hour commenced in that year. During the first
part of that hour God sent messengers to almost every nation
proclaiming that the kingdom had come, and within the last
ten minutes of the hour He has preached with judgments,
and since 1879 the world's statistics record earthquakes, as on
on the Isle of Java where 300,000 lost their lives; another in the
Grecian Archipelago where a city was hurled down in a
moment, and thousands perished. Read the record of lives
lost by cyclones since the year 1879 which is one hundred
times greater than in any previous year. Let us note a few only
In the year 1885 there were 172 tornadoes; on the 19th of Feb.
one which killed 800 persons, and wounded 2500, demolish-
ing 15,000 homes and sweeping millions of dollars worth of
property out of existence; and since the year 1879 there have
been earthquake shocks in different parts of our globe, one
for every day of the year. The record of accidents by rail-
road since 1879 is unparalleled, as also that of destructions by
fire; the sea's dark record is appalling in wrecks and loss of life.
The next great star mark is Draconis, or the Dragon, as
it is termed in Revelation, located in the constellation of the
32 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
Serpent. At the building of the pyramid it shone down the
entrance passage to the lower room, which is located just 100
feet below the foundation, and was placed there to represent
the lower regions, or prison house for refractory spirits until
the time of restitution, and is the only star that ever did look
down into that miserable room. It is recorded by Professor
Seiss that the Turks under Al Mamoun when they first entered
this lower room were overcome x by the fumes of sulphur
to such an extent that they had to be carried out before they
could be restored to consciousness. He states, on page 84 of
his book, that the astronomical markings of the pyramid
are proved to be time charts. The tubular passages are
scrolls of human history and the notations of the one cor-
respond exactly with the fulfillment of the other, or world's
history. To illustrate: the entrance passage is downward,
directly under a Dragon star, reaching to the room called the
bottomless pit, but the inch markings on each side of the pas-
sage give the year from the building of the pyramid to the
end of time; thus, the first ascending passage marks exactly
the time of the exodus, 628 years from the time the entrance
passage was made to the date of Israel's leaving Egypt, of the
world's history 2577. The first ascending passage commences
at that date, then the inch marks give a sure guide for the
mark 1542 inches, or years to the end of said passage-way.
Before entering the Grand Gallery, and describing its interest-
ing symbols, let us trace the course of the Dragon from the
Fall of Adam to the end of the world; and here we observe,
that the term "end of the world" signifies the end of the
reign of wickedness, the commencement of the reign of right-
eousness which will endure forever. The position of the Dra-
gon star at the fall of Adam was exactly overhead, or high
meridian. The pyramid stands on the perpendicular of the
earth which stands at an angle of 23 degrees north up, and
south down the perpendicular or plumb-line of the earth
which is on the 30th degree north of the equator, exactly the
position of the pyramid, and still more singular, the pyramid
stands on the exact center of the land portion of our globe;
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 33
thus we have the symbol of the impartiality of God, who,
through His servant placed his altar or "sign and witness" on
the center and perpendicular of our globe. The position of
the Serpent, a constellation of stars, was at high meridian at
that time, the Fall of Adam, the Dragon being one of the stars
in the constellation of the Serpent; thus, that reptile beguiled
Eve and she fell. This is a remarkable coincidence, if nothing
more; but we assure our readers that it is more than a coinci-
dence, a symbol of the great kingdom of the latter-days
which we will show in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. We
read (Rev. xii.) what the Dragon would do to destroy the wo-
man and child (the Church of Christ) but was not to succeed,
and that the Dragon "gave power to the beast." Now, the
beast means Babylon, and Babylon, the world, and the world
the wicked people of the earth, so that the wicked derive their
power from the Dragon. We have then, at once, a key, for if
the Dragon gives power to the beast we would like to know
his position, and when he will wane, or cease to have power
over the earth, which is all nicely shown in the pyramid and
in the circle that surrounds it (in our illustration) we trace a
period of 12,000 years. This circle of time is obtained by
placing the point of the compass in the center of the pyramid
at the foundation, and the other point at the top of the build-
ing, then making the circle with the compass and we have
it squared, which exactly fits the square of the base of the
building. The four corners of the foundation would rest on
this circle when laid horizontally as the radius does the build-
ing proper with circle. We thus get the 12,000 year circle of
time, and the Dragon star was exactly at zenith or high meri-
dian at the time of the Fall, the serpent, then standing pre-
cisely overhead, or over the earth, with head erect, on its feet,
so to speak; the Dragon on the meridian or looking down the
plumb-line of the earth. That this was the position of the
Dragon at the Fall, all astronomers agree.
Now, the Dragon star, as marked in the pyramid, com-
menced his downward course, and Adam and Eve being
driven from the Garden of Eden, commenced their down-
34 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
ward course also, their descendents being on the downward
journey, or a great majority of them, and we show, by this
circle of time and the Dragon star, when this downward
tendency will terminate. From the Fall of Adam, as marked
by the Dragon at upper meridian of the building, at the
entrance passage we have exactly 1949 years. We get this
result in two ways: first, the Dragon, then, was looking down
the entrance passage, mark it, at that identical time, the year
1949 from the fall of Adam; secondly, the entrance or mouth
of the passage-way, gives in the outer frame-work, (the stones
that are so nicely fitted with arched rocks and beautiful key-
stone) the remarkable measurement in cubic inches of 1949
inches, or the key that the Dragon has been governor 1949
years. From that time, the building of the pyramid, to the
birth of Christ, measuring from the mouth or entrance, we
have just 2170 inches, the exact years from the building of
the pyramid to the birth of Christ; thence from the birth of
Christ the entrance to the Grand Gallery 1882 inches to the end,
which is the straight line measure of the Grand Gallery. Thus
we have in demonstrated marks, the duration of the Dragon,
1949, plus 2170, plus 1882, making exactly 6001 years, which
is the week of Satan, the Creator having taken six days to
frame the earth, and Satan probably demanding a similar
time to try to rear himself a kingdom, the Father in His
mercy and justice, let him try. The result we know, being
under his power for a time, but deliverance comes on the
beginning there of 1891, or the exact end of the measurement
of the week of Satan. At that time, 1891 , the Dragon will be at
lower meridian, precisely opposite where he was at the Fall
and the Serpent, one of the group of stars which form the con-
stellation, will be on its back, instead of standing erect as at
the time of the Fall. The Dragon, which is one of the feet,
will be looking upward, along the line or perpendicular, as if
pleading for mercy. Then commences the upward travel of
the Saints, they being under the guidance of the Shepherd
star, for, curious to relate, precisely as the Dragon is passing
under the lower meridian, the Shepherd arises and takes the
THE SIG-XS OF THE TIMES. 35
upper; this star representing the Shepherd of Israel, being
located in the constellation of Aries (or the ram) we thereafter
shall be governed by the Shepherd, a guarantee of a better
reign. We commence our upward journey, as the circle
plainly shows, under a shepherd, therefore, brethren, look for
the reign of righteousness to commence in the year 1891, and
during the journey upward from 1891, or lower meridian, we
shall gain the knowledge to become children of our great
Father!
As soon as we enter the pyramid the sign-marks, on each
side of the passage, are finely cut and polished to represent
something important, and as the inch, in the pyramid, gives
one year, we have exact dates for all that occurred from 1949
to 2170 B. C. These lines run cross- wise to the passage, at
irregular intervals, up the side of the wall, as if to represent
some extra event, as, for instance, the epoch of the burning
bush is clearly marked by a long line up the wall, at the exact
year represented in sacred writ; then we have the Exodus at the
junction of the two passages where the choice can be made
either to the right hand up to the place of the atonement,
or the left downward to the bottomless pit or prison-house.
A curious incident is related of this junction of the two
passages, by Prof. Seiss, relating to the Turks under Al Ma-
moun, the Caliph of Egypt, who first entered the pyramid: the
entrance passage-way was hidden by the casing rock which cover-
ed the entire pyramid, and Al Mamoun thinking the building
was filled with treasure forced a passage 16 feet from the
foundation. The original one was 40 feet from the base.
The sand of the desert had filled up to that point, 16 feet, in
the year 825 of the Christian Era. The workmen were a long
time in forcing their tunnel through the hard lime-stone, as
they had only drills and dry wooden plugs, which they wet
and the expansion would break off the piece of rock required.
By this slow process they toiled, and by chance chose the spot to
enter the building immediately under the main passage-way.
When, they, the workmen, had labored a long time and found
no room, or vacuum, they were on the point of abandoning
36 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
the scheme, thinking the building to be solid, when lo, as they
were consulting on the question of abandonment, and yet in
the tunnel they had made, and on the very eve of departure,
a crash of some large body falling is heard by all; they bound
to their feet and the cry is "a room, a room" for the sound of
the falling body plainly indicated that such was the fact. The
men were now encouraged to prosecute the work and were re-
warded by striking the passage at the junction. The falling
body was found to be a dove-tailed rock, suspended on an in-
clined plane and which had been gradually slipping for 2900
years, and at the precise moment that Al Mamoun's men were
going to quit their tunnel-work, the rock falls, they learn that
the building is not solid, as supposed, and open the great
pyramid to the world. Now, it is. supposed that had Al Ma-
moun been suffered to fail none would have attempted the work
in future. Skeptics may doubt the matter of the falling rock
after so many years, but when they view the rock with its
dove-tailed edges, and grooves on each side, its gradual incline
and length, they generally become converts to the theory of
its original intention, viz., a rock of warning that the build-
ing was not solid. For a full description of this part of the
pyramid see "Miracle in Stone."
The Grand Gallery has a very fine mark at its entrance
and a line running across the passage-way and up the wall on
each side, which marks the exact time of the birth of the
Savior in the 4119th year from the Fall of Adam. Here the
gallery enlarges from 4 feet in height to 28 feet, or just 7
times, and 7 red granite lines are found running the entire
length of the gallery, which, it is understood, mark the seven
dispensations, we being in the last or seventh. By the 33
inches from the entrance of the grand gallery, we come to the
tomb of the Savior, or its representation, at the exact time re-
corded in the gospels, viz., 33 years. This tomb has no bottom,
as it descends through a long well and terminates in the pris-
on-room, at the end of the downward passage; which signifies
that the Savior descended into the prison-house after death,
and preached to the captives, that through the atonement they
might have a way of escape. Precisely at this 33 inches from
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
37
the entrance of the Grand Gallery a passage-way runs horizon-
tally from the tomb of the Savior, or place of the Jews, as it
is named by pyramid readers. Its real name, however, is the
Queen's Chamber. It runs straight and level to the entrace
where it sinks one step, showing that the Jews are still falling.
They will not arise to salvation until the Dragon passes the
lower meridian, when righteousness predominates. Through
the atonement Jesus will save Judah by signs and wonders.
There are 56 tombs, 28 on each side of the Grand Gallery, and
it is thought, by some of the Latter-day Saints, that they mark
38 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
the ascension of as many of the saints as arose at the time of
the resurrection of the Savior. Their little lids are leaning
against the wall indicating that they have been opened, and
that the object they held has departed. At the 1815 inches we
come to the stone step which reaches across the passage, and is
three feet high. The first dead level is reached at this point.
The great men, who have investigated this step, are at a
loss to account for the greatest sign-mark in the pyramid.
Nations have applied it to themselves. The French say 1815
was when Napoleon's star waned. The English claim it as
the year when the gospel was sent to India, but let us reason
upon it. Prof. Orson Pratt was inspired to square this step.
As the angle of ascension is twenty-three degrees, he placed
the square upon it, and the squaring of that angle gave the
year 1830 as the top or commencing of the step, so the great
mark, by that measurement notes the setting up of the king-
dom of God through Joseph Smith. Now, who, in all the
world can claim that year as the time of the setting up of the
kingdom of Christ? Simply, the "Mormons." The Prophet
Daniel, in his vision of the four beasts, wherein we get the
world's history, gives that as the time when the kingdom
should be set up never to be thrown down. In our lecture of
Nebuchadnezzar's dream we will prove this point. Now, the
square is the key to the pyramid, and by laying it on the
angle 23, which is the angle thereof, both outside and in, and
also the earth's angle of inclination we get Prof. Pratt's theory
of the squaring of the circle, and also the step referred to, by
placing the common 24 inch square thereon. We measure in-
to the masonry 15 inches to enable the upward angle of the
square to strike the outer corner of the step at the top, then
measure 61 inches to the end of the gallery making the 6(V
years, which the angel declared to be the time of the Lord,
for 60 years with man is one hour with God; and, in that year
the angel proclaimed to Joseph Smith the hour of God's judg-
ments. Now, the end of the gallery proves the end of the
Christian era, it began at the sign -mark of the birth of Christ,
and terminates at the sign-mark 1891, and as the room meas-
THK SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 39
ures, in straight line measurement, 1882, and by squaring the
step 1891, we have a very peculiar sign that 1882 would be
very marked in the history of the people of the kingdom, as
the freedom of the Grand Gallery ends at 1882.
Those wishing to continue the journey to the King's
Chamber must endure a time of trial, as the narrow passage-
way at the end of the gallery is only 42 inches high and lies
under a shaking, frowning rock, placed overhead, loose and
rolling, but cannot fall as it is fitted on two side ledges
which support it; but it shows the time of trials upon
those who remain steadfast in the endeavor to reach the
upper rooms above or beyond the Grand Gallery. We then
learn that we are in the narrow passage-way according to
man's time and that the little horn (the United States) passed
the law to stop celestial marriage in 1882. Now, dear reader,
is this chance or prophecy fulfilled in the time of the Lord,
1891, as striking the center of the pyramid, which denotes
the center of time, or 6000 years, the reign of the Serpent?
In that year we look for great events. We have shown that
the Christain Era ends in that year, and that the end of the
reign of the Dragon is then. We have proved that the lowest
point in the downward scale of the circle of time is then reached,
and that the beginning of the upward tendency is also in that
year.
Now, we will prove by the prophet Joseph Smith that
the same year, 1891, is the commencement of the reign of
righteousness. In Section 130, Doctrine and Covenants, Jos-
eph was told that if he lived to be 85 years old he would
live to see the scene wound up or the Redeemer on the earth.
He was born December 23rd, 1805, and if we give him the 85
years, we could not count the year 1805, we should have to
count 1806, as the year 1805 was mostly gone before he was
born, therefore, we have 1806 and 85, making 1891; again in
the year 1835 Joseph was told positively that 56 years would
wind up the scene, which we believe was the reign of iniquity
and transgression: 56 and 1835 are 1891. Thus we have
abundant proof that that year will begin the reign of right-
40 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
eousness, and God's people be acknowledged, for the earth is
to be given to them. He has said: "Fear not, little flock,
for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
Therefore, we trust to__see iniquity commence to wane, on
this planet, with the Dragon and (Serpent in 189 L.
On leaving the Grand Gallery we enter the narrow pas-
sage 42 inches high, and leading to the ante-chamber a room of
preparation. This passage is 53 inches long, with two frown-
ing rocks hanging overhead. There is quite a space above
them, as they have been probed, and a large vacuum found
there. Our opinion is that the records of the architect will
be found above this aperture of the two loose rocks, as in all
this vast building no hieroglyphic, sculpture, picture, or
device of any kind has, so far, been found to give a trace of
the object of the architect. Perhaps the records of Abraham,
the architect, concerning the pyramid could be found here,
which, like many of the records of the family of God, have
been hid for wise purposes until a certain time known to the
Lord. When Cumorah and other repositories of the records
of God's people are revealed you may be sure that the great
altar of the Lord of hosts will not be dumb, as at present, on
the matter of record. Parley P. Pratt in Liverpool, England,
prophesied that in 1945 the first conference would be held
in the Millennium on the 6th of April. The measurement of
the pyramid from the birth of Christ, or beginning of the
Grand Gallery, to entrance of ante-chamber is exactly 1945
inches, so that we must undergo trials 53 years before the
millennial era, when a great battle will be fought between
Christ and Satan, prior to the resurrection morn. The
ante-chamber has a few interesting rocks for the general
information of which we refer our readers to the "Miracle in
Stone"
We pass into the King's Chamber and note its peculiari-
ties; it is nearly 37 feet long by 17 wide, making what is
called the 1000 inch chamber, representing the millennial era:
it has nine large, flat, red, granite, polished slabs for its ceil,
ing, which reach from wall to wall. The walls are about
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 41
20 feet high. In the center of this room stands the only arti-
cle of furniture in the pyramid, viz., a stone box, length 7
feet 6 inches, width 3 feet 3 inches, and depth 3 feet 6 inches,
made to represent the ark of the covenant that Israel carried
in the wilderness, its dimensions being identical in measure-
ment therewith. Another very peculiar coincidence is that
the King's Chamber was made the same size as the "holy of
holies" in the tabernacle of the wilderness, and also that of
the holy of holies in the temple at Jerusalem. The chamber,
therefore, represents the millennial year or day of the Lord.
Above the King's Chamber are five rooms, called the
rooms of construction which are reached by a narrow tube
25 feet up the south wall of the Grand Gallery, and are very
finely finished on the walls and ceiling, but the floors are
rough, typifying that perfection is not yet reached. It is
supposed that these rooms denote the degrees of glory. There
is supposed to be a room above the King's Chamber to rep-
resent the new Jerusalem coming down from above. Pyazza
Smythe, astronomer royal, discovered the rock of which it is
made, in the yard adjacent to the building, a fine granite
rock, enough of which was dressed to make a room 16 feet
square, with three gates on each side and 16 feet high. That
this room will be found is believed by most pyramid readers,
and that it will give us more keys is plainly forecast in the
entire structure. The object of the building is to awaken
Israel to the regeneration, and as Ephraim is the first born,
he is now reading it; and as the Latter-day Saints are Eph-
hraim they will yet decipher it.
Joseph Smith was a descendant of Joseph and revealed
to the world the message he was commanded of angels to de-
liver, but like many ancient prophets he sealed his testimony
with his blood, but he first set in order the kingdom by rev-
elation, and commandment. We know he was a true prophet,
and trust the youth of Zion know it also, as they may yet be
entrusted with the keys of the great structure, and become
versed in history, biography, ancient and modern, and that
they will especially study the sacred scriptures that they may
42 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
have power to refute error and establish the truth in this in-
fidel age.
CHAPTER IV.
PERIHELIA OF THE PLANETS.
ON the 19th day of June 1881, the singular phenomena
of five planets in perihelia transpired. The Salt Lake Herald
commenting upon it, inserted a diagram in its columns, of its
position in the heavens, with comments on the singular phen-
omena, arid further 'commenting on the singular coincidence
of two great perihelia coming almost together, as the perihe-
lia of the above date was superceded by a four planet perihelia
which occurred in the year 1879, a singular fact of which was
that the star that was governor of the perihelia of 1879, called
Uranus, and marked in the pyramid at the north air tube,
striking the Grand Gallery at the 12th inch from the end, we
were convinced that these are some of the signs referred to by
Jesus, who foretold "signs in the heavens, wars, and rumors of
wars, earthquakes, etc." (Matt. xxiv).
Now, students of the signs of the times agree that the end
approaches. Saints and sinners, Jew and Gentile believe this
to be the evening of time, and that, therefore, we may look
for signs and wonders on earth and in the heavens, as foretold
by prophets ages ago. Only instance the fearful accidents,
the daily horrors, devastation by cyclone, water and fire to
show that these are the last days. Astronomers state that
this perihelia of 1881 has never had a parallel; for never have
five planets been in perihelia before, and as this followed the
four-planet perihelia of 1879, marked in the pyramid as com-
ing in that year, which was followed by the star of Bethlehem,
which became visible in that year, and now is shining in the
constellation of Andromeda, and it is recorded by some
THE SIGNS OF THE TI.MKS 43
astronomers will shine brilliantly in the day-time in 1887: this
without doubt, is markedly indicative. In the mouth of two
or three witnesses truth is established; we have, then, three
great signs in the heavens; viz, the four-planet perihelia, the
five-planet perihelia, and the star of Bethlehem, following in
succession; the first recorded in the pyramid as shown in
1879, and the five planets in perihelia after. We had Mars,
which is represented as the war planet controlling star or gov-
ernor of the perihelia, we therefore look for war after this ad-
vent. The second planet is Saturn, the beautiful, with three
rings or belts of light and 8 moons; next is Mercury, the
nearest the sun except the moon, of any of the planets.
Mercury requires only 88 days to complete a revolution
therefore a year in that planet is but 88 of OUP days. Next'
in the perihelia, is Jupiter, the largest, fourteen hundred
times larger than ours, with 4 moons; the 5th planet Nep-
tune, farthest from the sun, requires 33 years to complete a revolu-
tion. Comstock states that if Adam and Eve had taken rail-
road at the Fall, at fifty miles an hour without stoppages they
would now only be two-thirds of the journey from Neptune
to the sun, and, judging from our relative distance from the
sun, should the concentration of the sun's rays be the same as
on our own planet, Neptune must be frozen through with no
living thing upon it. It is probable, however, that they are
not under the same laws as we are, and other provisions may
be furnished. We believe the great north tube and star Ura-
nus mark 1879 is the sign of the angels being in the land, as
statistics, since 1879, give no such record before, as since,
Cyclone, earthquake, fire and flood have been common events.
To the people of the kingdom this is not unlocked for. "Be
ye also ready" is the warning, Saints understand these signs,
and will frame their lives accordingly. Avoid selfishness.
"Seek first the kingdom" and all things will be added. Be
valiant. Revile not the revilsr. Let temperance prevail.
Preserve yourselves unspotted by evil. "Avoid fleshly lusts
that war against the spirit," and remember these signs were
given to warn you that the end is near.
44 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
CHAPTER V.
CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLES.
THE Cleopatra's needles are two red granite obelisks or
pillars, 96 feet. high. One stands on the banks of the Thames
River, London, the other in Central Park, New York. They
are very ancient, having been built by a king of Egypt,
named Thothmes, the third king before Moses. He reared
them at the gateway on each side of the temple of the Sun, in
the city of On, called Heliopolis, in profane history, but On
in scripture. It is situated 4 miles above Memphis on the
river Nile, and was a great college in the time of Joseph and
Moses. Joseph was sent here to be educated, as a prince, in
Egyptian lore, and here he found his wife, states the sacred
narrative. He married the daughter of the priest of On.
The pillars stood at Heliopolis until 33 B. C., when they were
taken down and removed to Alexandria to beautify the city,
as some writers say, for the reception of Mark Antony, who
was paying his addresses to the Egyptian queen. They were
reared near the Nile gate to Alexandria, and when Mark
Antony, riding from his vessel in a chariot of queen Cleo-
patra, came to the tall pillars, he commanded a halt, and
viewing them, asked where they came from, was told by the
attendants, that the queen had brought them from Heliopolis.
"Well," said he, "they are truly queen needles," hence their
name Cleopatra's needles, which they bear to this day. They
were square and of red granite, tapering very gradually from
base to top, and on each side, in hieroglyphics, were recorded
the histories of the kings of Egypt. The one in London, bears
the name of Thothmes, and records a period from 1550 to
1450 B. C. or the time before Moses, Thothmes being the third
king before his time; it also bears the name of Ramasses who
lived about the time of the Exodus 1495 B. C. On the base
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 45
of the American needle were found the emblems of ancient
masonry, the square and compass. The fraternity were elated
at this find, as substantiating the order of Free Masonry in
its ancient origin. Even the progressive steps of the order
are represented on this pillar, the three steps of the pedestal; the
author being one of the fraternity and knowing that ancient
Free Masonry commenced with Solomon king of Israel, at the
building of the great temple at Jerusalem. How, therefore,
does this pillar give the signs or mystic emblems of the order
when made ages before it existed? We will endeavor to solve
this problem historically.
There is no doubt that the children of Israel, being the
only people serving the true and living God, had a code of
laws, signs, pass-words and grips, whereby one tribe might
know another to be as represented; for the mark of circumci-
sion could not be relied on, as the Ishmaelites circumcised their
children, therefore it is reasonable to suppose that these signs
would exist for mutual protection, that none may be taken into
trust but the genuine. Thus an enemy could not take advan-
tage. It is believed that after the flood when the dispersion
had caused colonies to settle the eastern country that the sons
of Noah, his son Shern being at the head, Melchisedec ruling
in Salem, this order was known, and that Abraham taught it
to Isaac, he to Jacob, and Jacob to his son Joseph, and that when
Joseph was sold by his brethren to the Ishmaelites he was
carried into Egypt and there found favor with the king, who
put him in college to learn the science of the Egyptians.
He, after marrying the priest's daughter, it is reasonable
to suppose, would teach his father-in-law the knowledge of
the true and living God, and that he would accept the same,
knowing that Joseph's God had done so many mighty things
for him. Therefore, we presume, the mystery was given by
Joseph to his father-in-law, and that he taught it to the
princes and great ones who came to this temple of learning.
By this means Thothmes obtained (for we cannot find another
clue in sacred or profane history to give us any other theory),
the emblems recorded on the American pillar. Solomon was
46
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
of the blood royal, the son of David from whom even the
Savior of the world descended. He, knowing these mysteries
of the Priesthood, with the aid of the king of Tyre organized
the degrees of workmen, and building a holy house used the
mystic emblems, words, etc. of the Priesthood, with some vari-
ation to accomodate the different people engaged in the work.
The order after the completion of the temple, left many of
the lower orders or degrees without a knowledge of the higher
orders of the master mason, and it is supposed that they
would use what knowledge they had, and add all they could
to what they knew to aid them to get employment elsewhere;
hence the decline of the Priesthood, and the adoption of the
ancient order. The knowledge of the true and living God,
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMKS. 47
being the foundation of masonry, proves this to be probable,
as after Solomon's time it was carried into foreign countries
far from Palestine, (where only the great Jehovah was known.)
Immediately after the building of the temple these lodges
commenced and increased until to-day it is the greatest and
most honorable society of men on earth, being numbered
by millions. The British needle was bought from the Egyptians
and a vessel made purposely to handle the pillar constructed.
The front part was taken out and a small rail-way laid to
convey the needle into the hold; for each one weighed 200 tons.
When snugly shipped they started with the needle boat in tow,
but in the Bay of Biscay a storm parted the needle boat and its
convoy, and they thought it had sunk during the night, and
returning to London reported its loss, but instead thereof,
the needle boat weathered the storm. Some fishermen
found the dismasted vessel and towed it into Flanders. When
the English found this to be a fact they claimed their prop-
erty, but the fishermen claimed such a price for their find
that the English could not entertain it. It was finally left
to arbitration. It was afterward erected on the Thames
embankment, a beautiful garden on the bank of the river.
The other needle was presented to the United States. Major
Goring was sent to bring the needle home: he took ma-
chinery and a ship that could be taken apart, and then
made a canal from the Nile to where the pillar stood, to be
able to ship it. It was, however, shipped without accident,
reaching New York safely, and after immense labor reared
in Central Park, New York.
48 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
CHAPTER VI.
THE CITY OF BABYLON, OR SECOND WONDER.
THE city of Babylon, the capital of the Babylonian
Empire was situated on the Euphrates River, about 50 miles
south of Bagdad. Its origin is so remote that the time
thereof is simply traditionary. It is strange that Herodotus
gives no intimation of the founder; we, therefore conclude
that its antiquity was so great that this historian and traveler
could not satisfy himself concerning its origin. It was
located in a great plain called Shinar, anciently. In the
midst of this vast plain, on both sides of the river Euphrates,
this wonderful city was built, and Nebuchadnezzar turned
the river through its center. The city was founded by Nim-
rod, for we read (Gen. x) that he built the city of Babel, and
that he was a mighty hunter before the Lord, and became a
great king or leader and was called Belos, in the allotment
of land to the sons of Noah. The rich plain of Shinar was
given to the sons of Shem, but Nimrod and his people
rebelled against the allotment, left their territory and settled
on the banks of the Euphrates and, with the rest of the des-
cendents of Noah commenced a tower whose top should reach
to heaven. They were acquainted with the history of the
flood; and, although Noah told them that the Lord had prom-
ised that the world should never again be drowned, they
doubted and proceeded with the work, reaching a height of
600 feet before they were stopped by the confusion of tongues.
This, according to the best commentators, was a most singular
phenomenon, for no man could understand his neighbor;
utter confusion reigned and dispersion resulted. There was
one exception, however: the brother of Jared, a mighty man
of God who, it is thought, believed the words of Noah, but
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 49
aided in the work of the tower, either through" policy or, as
some writers say, from compulsion. When he beheld the
confusion among the people went immediately before God,
and in earnest supplication besought Him that his people
might retain their language, and the Lord granted his request
and they left the plain of Shinar and migrated westward
across the mighty deep, landing on the west coast of America,
where they multiplied until they became a mighty nation,
but were finally destroyed in a great civil war among them-
selves, (see Book of Ether in Book of Mormon, page 572.)
Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabopolessar, who is noted
in the Book of Daniel as the head of gold, was the builder
of the great city of Babylon. Nabopolessar, his father, had
been sent by the king of Assyria to drive back the Medians,
who had invaded the kingdom; but when he met the invaders,
who had probably offered him a kingdom, if he would come
over to their side and turn his arms against his king and
country. He laid the flattering bait in most glowing colors
before his officers and soldiers, who, to a man, agreed to follow
where he led; so they deserted the Assyrians, joined the Med-
ians, and laid seige to the capital of Ninevah which fell
under their combined attack. The king of Assyria, with
his family, shut themselves up in their palace, set it on fire,
and all therein perished. Nabopolassar was rewarded for his
treachery by getting the kingdom of Babylon for his share of
the campaign. His son Nebuchadnezzar became king after
him, and figures historically as the mightiest on record, as
his works amply prove. His city, the second wonder, we
here explain that he took the city of Babel and enlarged it
to 15 miles square, a circumference of 60 miles, and reared a
wall around this vast square 350 feet high and 87 feet thick.
The material of this stupendous wall was taken from a deep
ditch or moat, and made into brick which were baked in
large ovens, and hot bitumen poured over them to cement
them together and to strengthen the wall. At every thirtieth
course a layer of reeds was laid on and cemented; the sides of
the ditch were lined with brick, when it was filled with water
50 ' THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
rendering it inaccessible to an enemy. In the walls were 25
brass gates on each of its four sides, at the ends of the 25
streets that crossed the city. These brass gates were lowered
and raised by grooves on the inside of the walls, so that they
could not be reached by battering-rams. The river ran on
the outside of the city, but Nebuchadnezzar, to beautify the
city and give it a plentiful supply of water, cut a channel
through it 15 miles in length, and turned the Euphrates
down through it. The wall spanned the river by an immense
arch, and on the inside thereof a huge brass gate was placed
to prevent persons from entering by means of the river; and at
both the entrance and exit of the river to the city the brass
gates were placed.
Now, the king having besieged many cities, knew that the
river was a weak point, so he endeavored to strengthen it by
these gates; but after they were in position he was not satis-
fied, so, for safety, he set men to make a high wall along the
river, and at the ends of the 25 streets that came down to the
river. On each side he placed brass gates in the wall. At
night fall the law of Babylon required the close of these gates
as well as the ones on the outer or great wall. The channel
through the city was straight as an arrow, and paved with
flag rock. Steps of cut stone were placed at the ends of the
streets that came down to the river. On the top of the
outside wall six horsemen could ride abreast the entire
60 miles. Between every two gates on the wall, forts 10 feet high
were built for the shelter of the guards. There were 626
blocks in this great city. The streets were all wide, and on
each side shade trees were planted to beautify and make a
delightful shade. Herodotus visited Babylon in the year 455
B. C., five years after he had visited the pyramids, and in his
narrative concerning the great city says that the temple of
Belos was walled in by gates of brass, making a stronghold
in case of siege, and as the royal treasures were deposited
there, a constant guard was necessary; and that the reason
of this repository being selected, was probably on account of
its sacredness: none, unless an actual brigand, would touch
THK SIGNS OF THE TIMKS. 51
anything in the temple, lest he might incur the anger of the
gods. The sacred enclosure was two stada in length on each
side, making a perfect square, and the massive building was
600 feet high, composed of 8 stories of 75 feet each from
ceiling to floor. The top story was fitted up most magnifi-
cently, with a golden bedstead, table and chairs, with hang-
ings and furnishings that far excelled those of the king's
palace, as this was supposed to be the home of the god, Bel,
who on coming from heaven to attend to his interests on
this planet, was supposed to have a fitting palace for a god
above the turmoil of the busy city. Bel was the god of
heaven and earth: he was Nimrod deified, and was wor-
shiped by all the eastern countries, in Canaan as Baal, in
Greece as Jupiter, in Babylon as Bel.
The temple of Belos in Babylon was so huge a building
that Strabo, an eminent historian, considered it almost
equal to the great pyramid. He states that it was half a
mile around at the base, but was not built by Nebuchad-
nezzar, but many years before his time, and was merely
enclosed with the walls and brass gates set in their place by
this king. Herodotus says the ascent was made by means
of a winding roadway commencing at the base, and, by a
gradual ascent wound its way to the top. He also states
that it never was finished, but after reaching a height of 600
feet was abandoned, proving the building to be the notorious
tower of Babel. On the top was the celebrated observatory
of the Babylonish astronomers, who, in the time of Abra-
ham were noted for their knowledge of the heavenly bodies,
for when Alexander took Babylon, Calisthenes, the philoso-
pher, who accompanied him, found they had made astronomi-
cal observations for 1903 years backward, which would carry
the account up to 215 years after the flood. This is proved
by the Grecian account, which was sent by Calisthenes from
Babylon to Aristotle, and is handed down to us by the
authority of Prophyry. In the different rooms of the temple
(except the upper one) there were massive images of gold
and silver, valued by Herodotus at about 5000 talents, which,
52 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
in our currency, would make nearly $120,000,000. Diador-
ous Siculus mentions one of gold, 40 feet high, that was
worshiped in this temple, which was brobably the one Nebu-
chadnezzar set up on the plains of Dura. This image, in
scripture, is called 60 cubits high; but this must be under-
stood as the image and pedestal, as none of the ancient
historians record such an image. Diadorus states that it
contained 1000 Babylonish talents in gold, but if it had
been as high as the Bible narrative states, without the ped-
estal, it would have cost nearly three times as much. The
temple with its immense treasure was despoiled by Xerxes
who carried away its images and treasures, the accumulation
of a thousand years.
The palace was next in order of wonder which was
exactly on the opposite side of tho old one, and was, with
the residences of the nobles, 8 miles in circumference, and
guarded by three walls inside of each other, with a moat
between each, and secured by solid brass gates. But the
most wonderful of all his works were the hanging gardens,
made to please his queen, who being a native of Media,
longed for her native forests and green fields, and it was to
wean her from that notion that the gardens were made.
They contained a square of 4000 feet, and by terraces were
carried up one above another to the height of the city walls.
Immense arches sustained the terraces, and steps from them
ten feet wide, so that a person would not get weary in the
ascent, and the whole garden was surrounded by a wall 22
feet thick. The floors of the terraces were cemented and
leaded, to prevent moisture from escaping. Here the giants
of the forest were transplanted — the oak the larch, and the
elegant mimosa, and the silk tasseled acacia; indeed, every
fruit and flower known to the Orient, grew luxuriantly in this
paradise. On the ascent or broad steps, flowers and beauti-
ful trees shaded the pathway on either side; making as Hero-
dotus describes "a paradise on earth, the most delightful spot
in all the world." From the top a lovely view of the city
and the winding Euphrates could be seen, and as far as the
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 53
could reach, the vast plain of Shinar, with its great
canals which Nebuchadnezzar had made to carry of the
surplus water of the river in high water time was visible.
He made a reservoir, probably the largest in the world; its
circumference was 40 miles and so deep that pleasure boats
sailed on its ample bosom. This also, was a great source of
wealth, for in the dry time of Summer, the water was drawn
off to irrigate the parched land and made abundant harvests.
Cyrus, no doubt, was more persistent in pushing the siege
of Babylon that he might view its wonders and, especially
its remarkable gardens of which he was passionately fond;
for wherever he went he caused beautiful gardens to be
planted. Of him Xenophon writes that his first care after
subduing a city was to plant gardens, and Plutarch in his
"Lives of Great men" says that Lysander, the Spartan gener-
al, praised the gardens of Cyrus. In ancient times gardens
were thought to be superior to any luxury, and kings and
queens were their patrons.
Thus after explaining somewhat of the .wonders of Baby-
lon, its wall, temple and palace, hanging gardens, and river,
all of which were completed in the reign of King Nebu-
chadnezzar, who was rightly designated the "head of gold",
for no king ever left behind him such marvellous works;
his son Belshazzar succeeded him and in his reign the king-
dom ended. The prophet had already predicted its fall.
"Babylon, the glory of the Chaldees shall be as when God
overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabi-
ted neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to genera-
tion. The Arabian shall not pitch tent thereon, nor the
shepherd make fold there, but the wild beasts of the desert
shall-be there, and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures,
and owls shall dwell there." (Isaiah xiii). All of this pro-
phecy has been literally fulfilled; its downfall commenced
in the reign of Belshazzar by Cyrus the Persian king, whom
the Lord raised up for this express work. He laid siege to
the city and spent months in vain attempts to break down
the wall, but, after repeated attempts, finding it invulnera-
54 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
ble, being 87 feet thick the battering-rams could not pene-
trate such immense thickness, he had to resort to other
means. To attempt to scale the walls was impossible; 350 feet
in height could not be reached with scaling ladders; in.
the face of a vigilent army. Two vast canals were cut around
the city and when the troops of Cyrus informed them that their
object was to rear a high bank to enable them to reach the
top of the wall, the Babylonians laughed them to scorn. The
Babylonians had always considered the Euphrates their
greatest security, with its huge walls spanning the river by
a mighty arch, the mammoth brass gates shutting everything
out, and the same protection at the lower end of the city
at the exit of the river, they never thought of danger in
this direction; but Cyrus, the servant of the Most High, although
he did not know it was inspired to make the river the
means of destruction, was over a year, in making the two
canals, and on the night of the festival of Bel, Cyrus had
completed his arrangements for entrance. He placed his
men so that as the sun went down they cut the sluice-ways
from the river to the canals and dammed it above the
city. In a short time the troops were walking under the
brass gates, and the dry bed of the river made a level road
for them; for the bottom of the Euphrates is quicksand, and
when the water is removed, it becomes hard. The guards of
the city, partaking of the wine that is freely distributed on
such occasions, were speedily slain, and Cyrus distributing
his men in different parts of the city, even the temple of Belus,
and the hanging gardens became scenes of carnage.
While this was going on a remarkable scene was transpir-
ing in the palace. Belshazzar had made a feast for his nobles
on this great holiday, a thousand of whom were entertained
at this royal banquet, here he committed an act which God
could not overlook, a sacrilegious act of which even his father
Nebuchadnezzar never dreamed, that of drinking wine from
the sacred vessels of the temple, which Solomon had made
and dedicated for its use. Belshazzar sent for them to the
temple of Belus where Nebuchadnezzar had placed them.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
55
After destroying Jerusalem and making captives of the Jews
he destroyed the temple and its treasures, carried them to
Babylon, and placed them in the temple of Belus, where they
remained during his life and were not disturbed until the
56 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
feast, when they drank wine from the sacred vessels and praised
the gods of gold and silver, of wood and stone; but in that
hour came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote over the
candlestick Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin. The king was appalled
by this apparition, the joints of his loins were loosened, and
his knees smote together. He called for the wise men, and
astrologers to read the writing, but they could not. The
queen thought of Daniel who was brought in and, as is well
known, predicted, in the interpretation, the capture of the
kingdom that very night. How short a period for so absolute
a monarch, how dreadful to tamper with Jehovah! The fate
of an empire hangs upon the fact of an invasion of the holy
places and an unhallowed use of the sacred vessels. The
scene has changed, the cup of trembling is substituted for the
wine-cup. How dreadful to invade the domain of God's holy
places. The guards whose duty it was to lock the gates at
evening were drunk. God had said that Cyrus should break
down the gates of brass and enter. Who shall prevent it? Not
Belshazzar, he fell a victim to the sword. His men fell around
him like hail. Babylon is taken. Darius, the Median king,
an alley of Cyrus, took the lower part of the city. When the
water was withdrawn they filed right and left and in ONE
HOUR Babylon was taken.
Cyrus, on becoming the sovereign of Babylon, was kind
to the Jews and aided them to return to their own country and
to build their temple, which they did 515 B. C. He was a
good king and exercised • sovereignty, peaceably, until his
death. In a good old age he was succeeded by his son Cam-
byses who also had a peaceable reign. He was succeeded by
a Persian monarch named Darius Hystaspas, when the line of
Cyrus became extinct. Alexander the Great in the great bat-
tle of Arebella, beat Darius and the last great battle of the
Persians was fought. He moved the seat of his empire from
Media to Babylon, the beauties of that place enchanting him,
and tried to rebuild the walls, that had partly been thrown
down in the seige, but he did not know or care for what the
prophet of God had said, She shall become a desolate waste;
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 57
doleful creatures shall dwell in her palaces, and he who
attempts to rebuild it shall do so in the death of his firstborn,
which befell Alexander; yet was. he determined to prosecute
the work. The Lord removed him and he died at the age of
33. The city gradually sank to decay, and became literally a
"doleful place" for the satyr, owl and venomous reptile dwelt
there. No man could pitch tent there. Even the Arab who was
wont to pass the night here dare do so no more. Thus was
God's word fulfilled upon it. Babylon is to fall again accord-
ing to the Revelator John, in the "last days." He could not
refer to the ancient city, but to its emblem in the world, the
wicked which we will explain in our chapter on the last judg-
ment.
CHAPTER VII.
%
JUPITER OLYMPUS, THE THIRD WONDER.
IMAGE worship is stated by Bancroft, in his "Footprints
of Time" as commencing in the worship of nature. On page
44 he writes that "the religious nature was first awakened by
the mysteries of growth, the power of wind-storms and waters,
the calm beauty and brilliancy of the sun, moon and stars,
riding undisturbed in the heavens, impressed in man a sense
of something superior to himself, and his sense of weakness
and dependence led him to propitiate these unknown powers
to aid him." The head of the family was naturally looked up
to as a priest or head that all revered, and, after his death it
was supposed that he was taken to some of the heavenly bodies.
They thus worshiped the hosts of heaven, the scriptural writ-
ers said, and it was to call the attention of the head to a cer-
tain star such as Jupiter, which was supposed to contain Nim-
58 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
rod, the mighty hunter, that they supplicated the persons who
lived in certain stars, but as the stars would be hid from their
view part of the time, they made images of their deities, and
worshiped the representation until the star returned, and
finally they lost the worship of the stars in the worship of the
representative or image. Nimrod was deified, after his death,
and was supposed to have taken his abode in the star Jupiter,
and was invariably worshiped by the sons of men, who were
under him at the building of the great tower. Some called
him Bel, others Baal, and the Grecians, Jupiter, the great head
or god of gods, and many minor images were made to gratify
various cities who held the worship of Jupiter as most sacred;
but it was left for Elis, a city of Greece, situated near Olympia,
to carry off the palm of victory in its worship of Jupiter.
In the year 490 B. C., a child was born at Athens, who
was destined to become the greatest sculptor the world ever
saw. From his youth he showed great genius, and many of
his works are still extant, one image, especially, of the god-
dess, Diana, now in the British Museum, and allowed by mod-
ern critics to be nearly perfection. " He was commissioned by
the Athenians to make them an image of the goddess, Miner-
va, and everything needed was furnished by the city — gold,
silver, ivory, precious stones, etc. He made it so beautiful and
life-like that it was pronounced the goddess herself, and the
sculptor was almost deified, but he had rivals who circulated
a story that Phidias, the sculptor, had stolen part of the ivory
and gold entrusted to his care for rearing the image, and the
story gained ground. The enemies of Phidias worked faith-
fully for his destruction; theft, in those days, being a death
punishment. The rivals bribed false witnesses who swore
that they saw him carry off gold, ivory, and precious stones;
he could not disprove it, and therefore fled the country to save
his life, settling in a city of the Spartans near where the
Olympic games were held, a principality not governed by the
Athenians. When the Elians found they had the great sculp-
tor in their midst, they commissioned him to make a statue of
Jupiter Olympus, for them, and he to avenge himself on the
THE SIGNS OF THE TI31KS. 59
Athenians for their lack of confidence, and their willingness
to credit false rumors determined to make this image so vastly
superior to Minerva that she would not be accounted a wonder,
and therefore set to work on the celebrated idol. Minerva was
only 39 feet high; he made Jupiter 55 feet high. He placed
him upon a throne covered with ivory and gold and precious
stones. A celebrated writer, Pausanias states, "He sits majes-
tic and appears endued with life," and, although the temple
was 60 feet high to the ceiling, it would appear that if Jupiter
were to arise from his throne and stand erect he would lift the
roof from the temple. His head was covered by an olive
branch to denote peace to the faithful; in his right hand he
held an image of the goddess of victory. This image was 18
feet high, of gold, ivory and precious stones; its wings were
bespangled with precious stones, mostly rubies and pearls; in
his left hand he held the sceptre as king of kings. This scep-
tre was also of gold, and surmounted by a golden eagle to
show that the fowls of the air were the messengers of Jupiter;
at his feet were full grown lions, of solid gold, to denote that
the animal kingdom was subservient to their god, they being
represented by their king, the lion. The sides, back and
top of the throne, were supported by gods of gold to denote
that the throne of Jupiter was supported by the aid of the lesser
gods, of the statue of full-grown mortals. These were lavish-
ed in profusion around the throne and were of solid gold.
His robe was elaborated with figures of lilies, animals and
birds; his sandals were wrought in festoons of flowers, the
dew-drops being pearls.
The great throne was as much a marvel of workmanship
as the image itself; it was made of ivor}- and gold and the
pedestal was pure pentelic marble; its four sides were elabor-
ately wrought in figures of the victories of the gods, who were
the subjects of Jupiter and under his especial care. Thus
Phidias labored most assidously for the Elians and immortal-
ized himself forever, the critics of every age accredit him as
being the master of sculpture. Phidias, says tradition, wish-
ing to know whether his work was accepted by the gods or
60 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
not, evoked them to manifest it by some sign, and no sooner
was the request made than it was answered by a bolt of light-
ning striking the marble pavement in front of the image, do-
ing no damage. A beautiful vase was placed there to mark
the spot forever.
The temple was in every way worthy of the god; its di-
mensions being 350 feet in length, 200 feet wide, and 60 feet
high on the inside; eighty feet outside the dome, and was sus-
tained by 220 columns of fine white marble, each a solid
piece 60 feet high. They were fluted most elaborately, and so-
deeply that a man could stand inside of one, and be hidden
from view. This part of the history is amply proved, for, to
this day, 17 of those grand columns remain standing in the
ruins of the temple of Jupiter, and three of the immense rocks,
spanning from column to column, are still in their place on
the top. In this century an old hermit made his home there,
but being missed a search was made, and his body was found
on top of the columns where he had died.
The Olympic games were a national series of athletic
sports, open to all competitors who were riot under bane.
They were celebrated at a city called Olympia, close to Elis.
There was an oracle of Jupiter at Olympia, and, tradition
states that Hercules came there in person and established the
games, in honor of Jupiter, after a great victory 1222 years
B. C. They were to be celebrated every 59 years. The care
of the games was given to the Elians, and by these national
festivities we get accurate dates for history, as the winners
were recorded in a great book and their names immortalized
in song; and even kings did not think it beneath them to con-
tend for the championship. Every person tried to visit the
temple as many times as possible, as it was considered a calam-
ity to not have visited it and worshiped the god, at least, once
in a life, and not to have their names recorded in the temple
book. The Olympic, citizens of Elis became very wealthy, as
crowds wended their way to and from the temple at all seasons
of the year; but, there is an end to all mortal things, and the
great Jupiter, with its magnificent temple, had to yield to the
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 61
inevitable. The Greeks and Persians were rivals, the latter
jealous of their growing renown, invaded their country and
tried to subdue it, but were repulsed again and again, but
still persisted until Xerxes, with a million of men, beaten and
retreating, finally lays waste all he finds and plunders all
worthy thereof; among the rest the temple of Jupiter falls
under his scourge. He pillaged the temple of its immense
treasure and caused the image, with its attendant gods to be
taken down and melted into bars convenient for transporta-
tion, and then carried them to Persia. The treasures of this
temple alone made him very rich.
These were the times of greatest glory for Greece. Hon-
or and liberty were regarded of more value than life, and
it, although a small kingdom, was so united, that with an
army of only 10,000 men beat Darius on a fair battle-ground
with 300,000 on the famed field of Marathon. The valor of
the Greeks lay in their unity and bravery, for, when once
engaged, they never turned to the foe. Death was preferable
to that. At the time of the famed destruction of the temple
of Jupiter, the Greeks, with a small army drove Xerxes,
with two millions before them, and he could not have entered
Athens but for the treachery of a malcontent who showed
him a hidden passage between the mountains but the Greeks
were not yet discouraged, but united more closely, and the
result was the destruction of the Persian fleet at Salamis,
which compelled Xerxes to abandon 200,000 of his men, and
compelled his retreat to his own country with his great
spoils, but the 200,000 left, the Greeks cut into pieces at
the battle of Platea, they having only 40,000 .men. After
these great victories by the Greeks, the Olympic games
were revived, and from being celebrated every 59 years
were celebrated every fifth year. The games consisted of char-
iot races, boxing, running, leaping, throwing the hammer and
pitching quoits. No criminal was allowed to compete with the
wrestlers, and competitors were chosen by lot. The eques-
trian competitors were mostly of the higher caste, as they
had to furnish horses, chariots, etc., at their own expense.
62 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
Those competing for prizes had to eater their names ten
months before the festival and to name the prize they would
compete for, and on the day of the festival their names
were proclaimed from the Stadium. They were then led
to the throne of Jupiter and there they swore before the
great god that they would not be guilty of any under-handed
measure or hinder the fair course of the games. At first
the prizes were very valuable, but they finally became mere-
ly honorary, such as a garland of white olives cutfcfrom the
grove- of Olympia; but great triumphs awaited the victors
in their native city. There they were seized and carried
through a breach made in the wall of the city, on purpose
for this mark of their approval; and a great feast was made
to honor them, and poets composed songs in their praise, and
they were exhibited in their processions. These games were
found beneficial in holding surrounding nations in friendly
relations, for all were eligible to the Olympic games, and all
were anxious as to the result. There was no betting — noth-
ing but the victor's prizes are recorded in history. This was
the acme of ambition. Pindar, the Grecian poet, entered
the lists and competed for a prize in an ode in which he in-
vokes Jupiter to aid him. The ode runs in one stanza, thus:
Thy circling hours immortal Jove
Who makes the unvaried lightning move
With songs and lyres ascendant string,
Rouse me the victor's praise to sing.
When friends succeed the good rejoice,
And hail the sweet-tuned Herald's voice.
Greece has an immortal record. She has given the world
the greatest warriors, the greatest poets, philosophers and law-
givers, the greatest gods and temples, and her ruins vie with
those of the Egyptians. To her we are indebted for much art
and science. Our alphabet was copied by Greeks from the
Egyptians and afterwards improved. They invented most of
the arithmetical figures in use. We have the Grecian mythol-
ogy; their marks in literature are found in all the world and
their festival styles are somewhat still in existence, such as
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 03
May-day, the festival of the harvest home, but now we need
not mythology to enlighten us, the more sure word of proph-
esy is our guiding star to the mansions of eternal bliss.
CHAPTER VIII.
TEMPLE OF DIANA, FOURTH WONDER.
EPHESUS was situated 38 miles from Smyrna, in Asia
Minor, and was anciently one of the most splendid cities, and
in the time of John the Revelator, the seat of one of the seven
churches of Asia. Strabo calls it "the best and most glorious
city," another writer calls it the "Eye of Asia." It was situated
on a rolling table-land, with a round hill, in the center, called
Mars Hill, and a splendid public building erected upon it.
On the steps of this building, Paul the Apostle, preached the
gospel. The people listened with rapt attention; but while
he was unfolding the plan of salvation, a tumult caused by a
mob's taking Aristarchus and Gaius, ensued. The mob,
headed by Demetrius and other silversmiths, (whose craft was
sustained by making images of the temple and the goddess, Di-
ana), pushed them into the theatre, and there, for two hours, a
tumult, so great, was kept up, that Paul could not be heard, their
cry being "'Great is Diana of the Ephesians." This cry was
raised by these smiths, who, knowing, that if Paul's doctrine
succeeded, their craft was ruined. The religion of Paul was
offered them without price. Paul, however, was not dis-
couraged by this first reception at Ephesus, but worked dili-
gently, soon establishing a church there, which became one of
the greatest of the early churches of Asia; but was afterwards
hreatened by the Revelator John (Rev. ii.) with "The removal
64
THE SIONS OF THE TIMES,
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 05
of its candlestick" if they did not return to iheir "first love."
(For the history of Paul's mission to Ephesus see Acts xix). Diana
was reputed to be the daughter of Jupiter, and was sent, tradi-
tion states, to the earth by her father to rule and govern it (the
absurdity originated with a man named Cananatus, who
brought the image to Ephesus and told this story).
"I was working in my field one day, and saw
this image descend from heaven and alight therein; it ad-
vanced towards me and calling me by name said, 'I am the
daughter of Jupiter and am sent to rule over the earth during
my father's absence and you must take me to Ephesus/ at the
same time pointing with her hand towards me, 'and tell them
what I have told you, and that it is the express command of
Jupiter that they build me a temple to dwell in, failing to do
so they would incur the displeasure of the god of heaven and
earth.' );
Cananatus took the image, which he had made out of a
block of black ebony, to Ephesus and told his story; and, won-
derful to relate, it was believed, and he was rewarded hand-
somely as the messenger of Jupiter and the patron of Diana.
The Ephesians, then built a temple of wood which perished
by fire; another of wood shared the same fate; a third, made
of the same material, on the night of the birth of Alexander
the Great, also perished by fire. The image was every time
saved by the Ephesians rushing in and carrying her out bodily.
By this time they were tired of building 'temples, but finally
at a great conference, concluded to build one that would not
burn, and, that all the world could be pleased to contribute to-
wards the erection. This proclaimed, Alexander, who was
then climbing the ladder of fame, proposed to build it, if he
could be allowed the front part of the building in which to
place his victories in sculpture. The generous offer was re-
spectfully declined, as they preferred to have all the space for
sculpture appropriated to the wars of the gods and their vic-
tories, so they went to work. The first wooden temple was
built on Mars Hill, in the reign of Servius Tullius 570 B. C.,
the second in the year 540 B. C., which was finished on the
day the philosopher Socrates was poisoned. The third was
66 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
destroyed, as we stated above, on the night of Alexander's
birth. Ephesus has been, from time immemorial, subject to
shocks of earthquake, therefore the commissioners of the build-
ing concluded to move its site from Mars Hill to a low spot of
land between the Mediterranean Sea and the city; it was a
low, marshy spot, but they determined to drain it. Here,
they supposed, earthquakes would not be so severe, and the
building would escape cracking. The temple was built of
marble, not an atom of anything combustible being allowed in
its construction. The foundation was laid after the marsh
had been drained by vast sewers, eight feet wide, and 16
feet deep; at the bottom charcoal was rammed solid, 18 inches
of wool were laid over it, then the foundation rock. It was
thought charcoal and wool, being imperishable, would make it
last forever. The building was made of pure white marble?
and was 425 feet long, 220 wide, and 88 feet high; it had 127
columns of marble to sustain the roof, each 60 feet high and
eight feet eight inches thick; each was a solid piece of marble
and was the gift of a prince or king, who had merely the privi-
lege to place his name and country on the square chapter of the
top of the columns; 36 of them were richly carved and placed in
the front part of the building; a marble pavement surrounded
the entire building and three polished marble steps extended
around the temple. In the parapet the lesser gods, composed of
pure pentelic marble, were placed on pedestals to guard the ex-
terior of the temple. On the inside a great throne was erected,
covered with gold and ivory, and the goddess seated thereon.
Seventeen gods of silver were placed on pedestals surrounding
the goddess, whose duty it was to protect the image.
Tradition says during the progess of the building Chesis-
phron, the architect, contemplated suicide, on account of his
troubles in rearing the building, as far as constructed, and had
sought a secluded place to end his troubles by a cup of poison,
when Diana appeared to him and encouraged him to live and
push the work with a promise of reward both here and
hereafter; and, to the time of his death he kept all his plans
in sketch on the tressel-board, but feeling the- hand of death
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 67
upon him, he perfected the plan of the building, which
aided afterwards materially in its completion. It cost the
Ephesians 220 years' labor, and the idolatrous world contrib-
uted to its erection; even the ladies gave the commissioners
their earrings and nose-rings to aid in its decoration.
The rites of the temple are worthy of note, one of which
consisted in slaying a fat bullock, without blemish, at the
festival of Diana, in her honor, the people partaking of the
flesh after the rite ended. Thus we see here a custom of the
Jews adopted by the heathen; and to such an extent was
this festival engrafted upon the lives of the people that, even
after the true worship of Messiah was adopted, the people
still celebrated the feast of the fat buck, as we read in the
history of England. The city of London had a temple to
Diana, and slew a fat buck at the festival, when the carcass
was given to the people, which was done by blowing of bucks'
horns amid the cheers of the multitude; and, after Christi-
anity became the religion the custom could not be abolished,
for even at the St. Paul cathedral, during divine service on the
holiday of Diana, they introduced the fat buck with the
blowing of horns and cheers of the people. It is even
recorded that Gregory Thamaturgas, a Christian bishop,
instituted annual festivals to the saints, to wean the people
from their heathen ones, and to put them out of mind.
Thus Christianity was inaugurated as Christ's Day (Christmas)
as a national holiday, happening at the time of the festival of
Bachanalia and Saturnalia. The May-day was made to take
the place of the festival of Floralia, the Goddess of Flowers,
and the holidays to the virgin Mary and the apostles, to
supersede the solemnities of the ancient Julian Calendar.
Pope Gregory in the 6th century, in a letter to August-
ine, first archbishop of Canterbury, says "Destroy the idols,
but not the temples, and cause the people, instead of sac-
rificing oxen to the gods, to sacrifice them to the memory of
the martyrs, and to cleanse the temples." He says, "Sprinkle
them with holy water, and have them, in these parts, build
temporary huts of green boughs, and not permit them to
68 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
enter the temple on these days, that the heathen worship may
die out." That the heathen derived their rites and festivals from
God's ancient people is easily proved; for instance, in the
front of the temple of Delhi the words THOU ART were en-
graved in mystic letters. The Egyptians inscribed on one of
their temples i AM, and on one of the temples of Mars Hill
at Ephesus, Paul saw the engraving TO THE UNKNOWN GODT
and in the mythology of the gods, we read that some names
of the heathen gods could not be written. It is recorded in
the Antiquities of the Jews, that the Almighty appeared to
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as Al Shaddai, but my name
Jehovah was not known to them, and that Moses, by hav-
ing this great name of God engraved on his staff, was enabled
to perform the mighty miracles that he did before Pharoah.
To prove that the customs of ancient idolators have not
wholly died out, even in this day of revealed religion, we
note the unlucky day of Friday, which was devoted to the
worship of Priga, an ancient god of whom it is recorded that
being improperly propitiated, the reverse being given, there-
fore Friday became an unlucky day. To this day the judges
choose black Friday on which to execute criminals. To show
our connections with ancient customs and rites would re-
quire a volume, we, therefore desist and continue our narra-
tive of the fourth wonder.
The temple of Diana, it is written, was destroyed by the
Goths, but it can easily be shown that Justinian, in the
6th century, laid seige to Ephesus and conquered it, and
that he entered the temple and plundered it; that even Xer-
xes, the Persian king, when he plundered the temple of
Jupiter Olympus, Memon and Minerva did not touch the
temple of Diana, or allow his troops to set foot in the sacred
enclosure, regarding it as too holy for pollution, but Jus-
tinian was a Mohammedan and cared not for idols, indeed,
the instructions of the Koran required their destruction and
that of the idolator. After he had thrown down Diana on
the marble pavement, and had stripped the gold and ivory
from the throne and appropriated the 17 gods of silver, he
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 69
commanded his troops to destroy the marble images that
surrounded the temple; then looking upon the beautiful
columns in the front part of the building, he transported
them to Constantinople and reared a mosque upon them, and
they stand there now. Even the names of the kings are
visible. They should be seen by all who visit Constantinople.
The apostle told the church at Ephesus that if they did not
return to their first love he would remove their candlestick.
Have they remained steadfast? Do they exist now? No.
Look at what they were in the time of Paul. Ephesus was
the "eye to Asia, the glorious city," now it is a rude hamlet;
a few poor people till the impoverished soil of the spot of
the once famous temple, not a vestige of which remains.
Behold here prophecy fullfilled; the candlestick is removed.
Some historical item, worthy of recollection, touching
Ephesus deserve note. Timothy, the beloved disciple of Paul,
was its first bishop, who was finally martyred by the Ephe-
sians, who fastened him to a horse's tail and dragged him to
death. John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, with Mary, the
mother of our Lord, came to Ephesus, and while there, Mary
sickened and died. John wrote his gospel there, and John
the Revelator passed through the city on his way to the Isle
of Patmos to which he was banished where he was shown the
things recorded in his book of Revelation. In closing this lect-
ure, we would say to the youth of Zion: study well the word of
the Lord, remembering that the words of God's prophets
never fail. We shall be held accountable as were the early
churches to hold fast to our love of the gospel.
70 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
CHAPTER IX.
THE PHAROS OR GREAT LIGHT-HOUSE AT THE MOUTH OF THE
NILE, FIFTH WONDER.
THE city of Alexandria was founded by Alexander the
Great when returning from the conquest of India by the great
highway of nations, the pyramids and the isthmus of Suez.
At the the mouth of the river Nile stood Alexander viewing
the Mediterranean and the fine harbor of Alexandria. He,
turning to his generals, said, "If we only had a city built
here, with a proper lighthouse to aid the mariner in passing
that reef of rocks, we should have the key to the East." On
arriving in Babylon and commencing the rebuilding thereof,
he did not forget this fine location, but sent Ptolemy Soter
with men and means to build a city and a lighthouse there.
This general commenced his labors, but during the building
of the city Alexander died at Babylon, and the council decreed
to entomb him at Macedonia, but although the body was taken
to Memphis it was finally deposited at Alexandria, and Ptol-
emy made a tomb befitting the conqueror of the world, the
ruins of which can still be seen. The city was enclosed by a lofty
wall, having 150 towers, after the manner of Babylon, and
the center street was most magnificent. It was 2,000 feet
broad, and ran the length of the city, from the gate of the sea
to the Canopic gate, which commanded a view of the harbor
and shipping, both on the Mediterranean and LakeMareotic.
On each side of the broad street, and through its center, trees
were planted for a delightful shade for the promenaders, who
•could either walk or drive in the delightful avenue. Outside
of the Canopic gate was a spacious circus for chariot races, and
on the east of the circus a gymnasium 600 feet in length,
with baths, saloons and booths, tables and seats, that all might
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 71
gratify their tastes in eating and drinking, or in games and
plays to their fancy.
In the distribution of the provinces, Egypt was given to
Ptolemy Soter who soon made it an independent kingdom.
During his reign he developed its great resources and lived to
see the prediction of Alexander verified, as it became the
greatest commercial city of the world, the commerce of the
eastern world entering its ports and enriching its citizens.
Ptolemy Soter lived to build the lighthouse to the third story
and died. His son, Ptolemy Philadelphus, succeeded him,
and finished the building which was built in the bay on an
island called Pharos, quite a distance from the main-land.
Dinocrates, the architect, united the main-land with the island
by a causeway of rock and earth, thus dividing the bay in two.
It is thought that Ptolemy Soter contemplated ruling Egypt
as he was vieing with Babylon during the life of Alexander.
The city, even in his lifetime, was 15 miles in circumference,
and contained a population of 300,000 free people with nearly
as many slaves.
In 640 A. D., when the Saracens captured Alexandria,
they found 4,000 palaces, 4,000 baths, 400 theaters, 12,000
shops and 40,000 Jews attending them, who paid tribute for
the privilege. Ptolem}7 Philadelphus was of a literary turn
and collected all the manuscripts he could find; and it was his
ambition to have in his library a copy of every book in the
world. He therefore tried to get the Jewish scriptures but
was, of course, refused; but he at length invited 70 of the
Jewish Rabbis, who were learned in Hebrew and Greek, to
translate their sacred scriptures into his language, who agreed
to the proposition and translated the Old Testament from the
Hebrew to the Greek. Thus the scriptures were first given to
the Gentiles. It required over a year to complete the trans-
lation. They were maintained by the king. During his reign,
he collected a library of 700,000 volumes which were des-
troyed by Omar in the sixth century.
This Mohammedan caliph, on pillaging the city, found this
noted collection of books and asked the question of those who
72 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
wanted to save them: "Do they agree with the Koran? If they
do we don't want them, and if they don't we must destroy
them. Burn them anyway," and the precious volumes were
fed to the furnaces to heat the baths for his soldiers. The
books were kept in a building constructed for that purpose, on
shelves. Librarians were in attendance to find any volume
wanted. The burning of this library was a great loss to the
world, as many unanswerable questions could be solved by
them, such as the art of embalming dead bodies, as note the
body of Myciranus in the British Museum, embalmed in the
time of Abraham. The art of hardening copper has been
lost since the time of Omar.
The Pharos was made of freestone of several stories, each
receding as erected. Ptolemy Soter finished the third story
before his death and Ptolemy Philadelphius made a round shaft
or column which he carried to the height of 450 feet and erected
a room or place for fire on the top which could be seen at sea 100
miles, and the smoke a much greater distance by day. The
smoke was as essential as the fire, there being no mariner's com-
pass in those days some familiar object was needed to steer by.
Ptolemy, for the benefit of the sailors, kept fire continually burn-
ing, and ordered his architect to place his inscription on the
building, thus: "King Ptolemy to the Gods, the Saviors for
the Benefit of Sailors," but Sostratus, the architect, wishing to
claim all the glory for the celebrated building engraved his own
name on the hard marble which read: "Sostratus the Snidian to
the Gods, the Saviors for the benefit of Sailors." and coated it
with cement, and on the cement he placed the king's inscription.
When time had decayed the cement, the name of Ptolemy
disappeared and that of Sostratus became visible, but instead
of immortalizing his name it became a proverb for evil
among all nations, or a by-word for fraud. (The "snide").
This celebrated wonder stood for many years the glory of
the Egyptians when it suddenly came to an end by an earth-
quake. As the tidal wave rushed shoreward the Pharos was
toppled from its immense height of 450 feet and disappeared
in the sea. Its cost was 800 Alexandrian talents, which in our
THE SIGNS OF THE TI.MKS 73
coin would be $1,650,000. It was finely ornamented with
marble and surrounded by a sea wall to protect it from storms.
Many buildings in its imitation have been reared but none
have approached this great wonder. The nearest approach
to it was the Eddystone lighthouse situated in Plymouth
Sound, about ten miles from Ram's Head, England.
This Pharos (for all lighthouses are called after the great
fifth wonder) of the British is a great boon to the sailors of the
sound, as it is high tide at Plymouth Rock at full moon at
5:15, when the tide rises eighteen feet and the current runs
with a great velocity in a contrary way to that of the channel,
making it very dangerous for navigators.
The first Eddystone lighthouse was begun by Henry
Winstanley in 1696 and and finished in 1703. While super-
intending some repairs that year the unfortunate architect and
all his men were caught in the lighthouse in a terrific storm,
and they, with the entire building, were blown into the ocean.
Nothing but an iron stanchion and a piece of chain were left to
tell the sad story of their destruction.
In 1706, Rudyerd, a silk mercer of Ludgate, London,
advanced the theory that a wooden building constructed on a
certain plan would stand the storms of the sound better than
anything else, so he was commissioned to build one which he
did on an improved plan of his own, which did resist the fury
of the waves that so frequently visit the sound, but could not
resist fire and in 1755 it perished by that element. In 1756
John Smeaton commenced to build the present Eddystone
lighthouse, copying after the great fifth wonder, making it of
stone and round, and each story receding inward like the
Egyptian wonder. He completed it in 1759. It stands to this
day, and, from indications, will stand for centuries, proving
that the pyramidal plan is the only one for standing severe
usage. Ptolemy Soter, living in the third century before
Christ, knew this, and built his fifth wonder in this shape?
which, but for the earthquake, would be standing yet.
74 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
CHAPTER X.
THE MAUSOLEUM, SIXTH WONDER.
THE kingdom of Caria flourished in the fourth century
B. C. and was a powerful nation previous to the time of Mau-
solus, to whose memory the wonder was reared. The city of
Halicarnassus was the capital which was built on the Mediter-
ranean where the Turkish city of Budrun now stands. It
was beautifully situated; the bay of Halicarnassus receding
inland in the shape of a horse-shoe. The city was built on
both sides of this circle, the celebrated tomb of the king, the
Mausoleum on what would be called the toe calk of the horse-
shoe, the site being visible from any part of the city. The death
of the king was 353 B. C., and Artemesia, the queen, was so
grief-stricken thereat that she committed one of the most sin-
gular freaks recorded in history, viz., that of taking the king's
heart from his body, reducing it to ashes and drinking them
in wine. It was the custom to reduce bodies to ashes. The
king's were placed in a very magnificent urn made of gold?
ivory and precious stones. As a repository for this little urn
the great sixth wonder was reared as a loving tribute to the
memory of Mausolus, the king. Artemesia, after the crema-
tion df the body of her beloved, conceived the idea of making
a tomb for the urn that held these ashes, so she gathered her
architects and the result of their decisions was the celebrated
Mausoleum. As we before stated, the city was in shape an
amphitheater. In the lowest part was the forum; up the hill
in the middle of the curve was a large square; in this square
the tomb was erected; above the tomb on top of the hill stood
the temple of Mars, which contained a colossal statue of the
god; on the right were temples to Venus and Minerva. The
palace commanded a view of the harbor, temples, forum and
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
75
and the square referred to. Artemesia chose this site for the
tomb that it might ever be in view from the palace which
was built by Mausolus so strong and lasting that Pausanias
found it in splendid shape 500 years after Mausolus' time.
The tomb was commenced by the great architects Pythis and
Satyrus and was nearly square; its length was 113 feet, width
93 and height 140 feet. The first terrace was 60 feet, and was
TOMBS IN INDIA.
supported by 3G columns of polished marble, and 'between the
columns on the ground floor were placed statues of the gods of
the Carians, and four different artists were engaged on these
statues. Scopus of Ephesus made the statue of Venus, which
is still to be seen in the British Museum, Leochares the
Spartan, made all the statues on the !.west side, Timothus
those on the south side and Bryaxis, those on the north..
76 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
The steps, three in number, to reach the floor were polished
marble and extended around the building. The first terrace
was ornamented with bass reliefs, instead of statues, and on
these were painted the wars of the Trojans. Two doors in
the second terrace were placed east and west to enter the
tomb, the terrace receding inward, like the pyramid, left a
walk wide enough for six persons to walk abreast, and at the
four corners of the terrace the four favorite gods of the king
were placed in statue to guard his tomb. On the top of
the second terrace was a flower garden with forest trees.
Artemesia intended to walk in the beautiful garden with her
maids of honor and mourn the loss of her beloved king, but
she did not live to see the garden planted, nor even the
second terrace completed, but died two years after her hus-
band and her body was reduced to ashes, and it is supposed
they were deposited with those of her husband. The archi-
tects did not abandon the work after the death of the queen,
but completed it according to the plan laid down by her, for
the benefit of science and for their own honor. The third
terrace was most beautifully decorated with sloping panels,
with hieroglyphics of the wars of the Greeks and Amazons,
Hercules being among the combatants, and these finely fin-
ished sculptures were eleven in number and are now in the
British Museum. The Sultan, Ab-dul-Megid, gave them to
Sir Stratford Canning for the British government. They
were found by the Knights of Rhodes in A. D. 1522 in a heap
of rubbish at Halicarnassus and were used by them in con-
structing the castle of St. Peter in the city above mentioned.
On the top was a splendid statue of Pheaton with a four horse
chariot supposed to represent the charioteer driving the
king to the realms of bliss. On the angle of the terrace
facing the city, was a high monument and on top a full-life
statue, on the other angle opposite another monument was
reared to represent the good queen, a female figure wringing
her hands, the hair dishevelled and the tears flowing, and
she in a prostrate position, as though looking for the return
of her lord. The expense of this tomb must have been
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 77
enormous; for the great philosopher Anaxagoris, on viewing
it said, "What an immense amount of money is here ex-
changed into stone!"
The sight of the mausoleum on entering the bay, when
the trees were in full bloom as also the lovliest flowers, left
an impression for the beauties of nature not easily forgotten.
At the erection of the base of the mausoleum the queen
offered a large reward for the best elegy on the virtues and
excellencies of Mausoles which was awarded Theopmpus,
a pupil of Socrates. This tomb was vastly the finest ever
conceived by man and should justly rank as one of the
seven wonders. The urn containing the king's ashes was
placed on an altar covered with ivory and gold, and the
interior most elaborately bespangled with gold. The bar-
barians, in after ages, overran the eastern world and tore it
down in their search for treasure.
We must not, however, omit to mention some of the
great tombs of both ancient and modern architects, in our
description of this great wonder, which, although vastly
inferior to the mausoleum, are still worthy of notice in our
lecture. One of the tombs of the ancients worthy of note
is that of Darius, king of Persia, which was carved out of a
huge rock to hold his remains when he should die, which,
although made 2300 years ago still exists in an excellent
state of preservation. The portico is supported by four
columns, 20 feet high; in the center is the form of a doorway,
the entrance to the tomb. The doorway consists of an ark
supported by two rows of figures, life size, holding the ark
with uplifted hands, and on each angle stands a griffin
to guard it. This animal was one of the gods of the ancient
Persians. On each side of the ark were nine niches con-
taining each a statue in bass relief; on the ark stands the
image of the king with a bent bow in his hand, worshiping
the sun, which is seen above the altar where he stands, while
over his head stands his ferouher or disembodied spirit.
Darius was placed in this tomb, his body being preserved in
honey and wax.
78 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
Diodorus Siciclus mentions a tomb, made by Alexander
the Great in honor of Hepastion, a Macedonian officer much
endeared to Alexander, and his constant companion in scenes
of conquest or of pleasure, at whose death Alexander was
so inconsolable that he shed tears and ordered the sacred
fire to be extinguished which had only been done at the
death of a Persian king. The physician who attended
Hepastion in his last illness, was accused of negligence and
inhumanly put to death. This tomb was made in the same
style as the great mausoleum, benching in, the lower part
was adorned by the beaks of 240 ships; the next story
was decorated with statues of the gods of the Grecians;
the third story was finished with various animals and birds,
and on the top were figures of syrens. The singers, who
sang dirges for the dead, were concealed within them.
The tomb of the emperor Hadrian also deserves note.
It was a circular building of the characteristics of those men-
tioned, consisting of one smaller story above another, and
was square at the base, having a circular building above it,
then a smaller, etc. On the top were numerous fine marble
statues, which were broken to pieces and hurled down upon
the Goths, by the soldiers of Belisarius, when the Goths were
attempting to storm the building. This tomb of Hadrian
stands without the portico aurilla, about a stone's throw from
the walls and is called the castle of St. Angelo since the time
of Pope Gregory the Great, who, it is said, in crossing the
bridge as he went to pray for the cessation of a pestilence
then raging, beheld on the summit of the tomb of Hadrian
the figure of an angel waving a sword. In commemoration
of this very doubtful vision, the brazen statue, which now
crowns the top of the building, with its new name was given
to the tomb of the Maximilian church at Jarspruck and is wor-
thy of note as being a modern tomb; this tomb is placed in
the middle of the church on a platform approached by steps
of red marble. The sides of the tomb are divided into twen-
ty-four compartments, on the sides of which are represented
in sculpture, the warlike deeds of the emperors. The work-
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 79
manship of these bass reliefs is most exquisite and comprises
the most princely decorations ever seen. The tomb is sur-
mounted by a colossal statue of the emperor, kneeling in
prayer, and around it are four figures of smaller size in bronze;
but the most striking feature is two long lines of bronze stat-
ues on each side, as if to guard it. There are 28 statues
of which 20 represent kings and princes of the house of
Hapsburg, and 8 of them represent relatives of Maximilian.
Nothing more impressive than these rows of guards can be
conceived. They appear solemn and gloomy and as though
waiting for the occupants to arise and start them off to their
palaces.
CHAPTER XL
THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES.
RHODES is a city on an island in the Mediterranean,
lying nearly opposite the coasts of Lycia and Caria, from
which it is about twenty miles distant. The island is 120
miles in circumference, with an uneven breadth, and, as
Josephus relates, was settled by the Phoenecians as a supply
station in their voyages between Egypt and the British Isles. The
tin mines of Cornwall were known to those early navigators and
commerce in tin established. Their vessels being small they
had supply stations for their accommodation. The city of
Rhodes has a renowned history and is situated on the east side
of the island, being built in the form of an amphitheatre with
many splendid buildings. Of its sufferings the world can
attest. Like all the rest of Greece it submitted to Alexander
the Great, but at his death the Rhodians drove out his troops
and regained their independence; and perceiving the grow
80 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
ing importance of Ptolemy Soter, they were wise enough to
court his favor and allied themselves to the Egyptian king.
Their island had been invaded by the barbarian hordes, who
overran the eastern world, and Antigones was implored for
aid to repel the invaders, who expelled them by aid of the
Rhodians and pledged themselves to aid them again when
needed. After a time Antigones declared war against Egypt,
raising an army to invade it. He called on the Rhodians to
assist in prosecuting the war, but they being allies to the
Egyptians and receiving their supplies from Egypt, thought
it impolitic to make enemies of their best friends; they, there-
fore refused to aid Antigones which incensed that monarch
to such a degree that he sent his army to conquer Rhodes.
His son Demetrius, its commander was furnished with the
best war armaments, consisting of battering-rams, engines
catapults, etc., as Rhodes was no mean city, being defended
by no less than three walls on the sea side, and a huge wall
and inoat on the land side. Setting sail with 370 vessels of
war and 40,000 soldiers, he beseiged the city and for 14
months tried, ineffectually, to enter it, but the Rhodians,
having received aid from their ally Ptolemy, were ena-
bled to repulse him and compelled him to accede to peace
on condition that they should be his allies against all but
Ptolemy. These terms he accepted, the seige was raised, and
being invited to participate in a festival given in honor of
their ally he entered Rhodes and was so well treated by his
late enemy, whose valor in defending their city against his
veterans he greatly admired, he presented them with his war
implements.
After his departure, the Rhodians, believing that Apollo,
their tutelary god, had been there in person aiding them
against Demetrius: they sought to show him gratitude by
public demonstration; they therefore sold the war implements,
the present of Demetrius, for 300 talents which enabled them
to buy brass and rear the Colossus. The finest building in
the city was the temple of Apollo, containing a magnificent
image of that god, yet they must have an image outside
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 81
that all might view, and thus remember this great victory.
The Colossus was therefore set up on the outer wall of the
harbor, its face to the sea and holding in its right hand a
torch or vessel containing fire. It was admirably made,
with fine flowing hair, the lyre, an instrument of music, in
his left hand; a bow and torch in his right, as though looking
for his prey. He stood with one foot on each side of the
harbor wall on an abutment made to sustain his immense
weight. The vessels sailed into port between his feet. He
was made hollow and of plates of brass riveted together, and
stood 125 feet high. Strabo, the historian, says that when he
was set upon the outer wall and the torch lighted, a gale
blowing inland revealed the fact that he was top heavy, and
that a severe gale, (no uncommon thing for the Isle of Rhodes,)
would topple him over, they therefore ballasted his legs with
cut stone, riveting them to the inside of the leg up to the
knee. Strabo states that the fire tender would open a door
in the right heel, and that a winding staircase went through
the leg, body and right arm, and in this way he could reach
the fire vessel and replenish it. This was the only way to
the top of the Colossus. From the torch of the Colossus a
magnificent view could be had of the Mediterranean Sea,
Syria, and of the ships sailing to Egypt; as also the main,
land. The image was most artistically executed, and when
viewed at a distance from the shore, looked like a golden man
holding up his inviting torch to light mariners to the hospi-
table port of Rhodes.
The colossus was first constructed 300 years B. C. and
after standing 60 years it was thrown down by an earthquake
which rent the island. It fell backwards through a large
building called the arsenal, where the arms and war imple-
ments were stored. The Rhodians after the fall of the image
discovered that a great source of wealth was lost to the city
as vast numbers constantly came to gaze upon this great wonder.
Urged by the loss of this revenue they therefore solicited aid
from the various powers of Asia to raise the fallen image.
This was speedily sent by all the powers called upon, and the
82 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
fallen statue would soon have been reinstated but it was for-
bidden by the oracle at Delhi; it therefore remained in ruins
894 years, and was finally sold as old brass by the Saracens,
who had taken possession of the island, in 672, A. D., to a Jew
of Odessa. The Jew loaded 900 camels each with 800 pounds
of this metal. This gives the weight of the Colossus, 720,000 fibs.
There were also in Rhodes 100 other magnificent statues
on such a scale of grandeur that the historian states that any
one of them would ennoble a city.
The Saracens took Rhodes in the sixth century and re-
tained it until the eighth, when it was restored to the Greeks
who retained it until the year 1365 of the Christian era. It
was then taken by the Knights of the order of St. John, and
became the headquarters of the order. Five years after their
occupation they sustained a formidable siege from Ottoman,
sultan of Turkey, but repulsed him. They then carried the
war into the enemy's country and took Smyrna, maintaining
it as an outpost. In 1365 they made a descent on Egypt and
plundered Alexandria, which had been taken by the Turks
1401, A. D. Tamerlane, emperor of the Turks, took Smyrna
back from them and sought to take Rhodes, but was repulsed
by the Knights. Three times after this the city was besieged
by the Turks without avail, but in 1552 Solyman, sultan of
Turkey, laid siege to it and with cannon and gunpowder over-
powered the Knights, who were abandoned by their breth-
ren in Europe, who thought it useless to try to relieve
Rhodes as they held such a distant outpost. Valeret, the
grand master of the order, on learning this concluded terms
with Solyman, and the vanquished were allowed to take all
their effects and depart as free men with their wives and chil-
dren. The island has remained in possession of the Turks ever
since. There are none of the splendid monuments of the
Knights left in the city of Rhodes, the Turks having demol-
ished all of the fine towers and monuments.
The climate here is most delightful, the air is fragrant
with rare flowers, orange and citron groves and aromatic herbs
which everywhere abound. The fig tree, lemon and vine
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 83
grow luxuriantly. In ancient times an export trade was car-
ried on with the island but Turkish misrule, as it always has
done, has caused it to be dependent on import for the sustain-
ance of its inhabitants. Apollo was the god of fine arts,
medicine, music, poetry and eloquence, of all of which, he is
stated in mythology, to be the inventor. Mythology also says
that he invented the flute, hence his worship by the Rhodians,
a people inventive in the above-named arts.
CHAPTER XII.
THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM.
THERE is no city more revered than Jerusalem. Almost
every nation considers it a sacred city. The psalmist says it
is "beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth."
It stands on a fine plateau and is surrounded on three
sides by deep ravines, or valleys, as called in scripture. The
main road and gateway, as well as the Mount of Olives, are
on the east. It stands in latitude 31° N. and longitude 35° E. and
32 miles east of the Mediterranean, and 18 from the Jordan
River, 36 from Samaria and 20 from Hebron. It was founded by
Shem, son of Noah; Arphaxad, son of Shem, built the city and
reigned king and was the Melchisedec of Bible histor}- to whom
Abraham paid tithes when returning from the slaughter of
the five kings. In the Book of Mormon, (Alma xii.,) we find
the record of Melchisedec's reigning king of Salem, under
his father. So Shem lived longer than Abraham and was the
great high priest by right, Ham and Japhet losing their right
by transgression, it follows that Arphaxad, the son, must have
been the noted Melchisedec. The city was taken by the Jeb-
usites after the time of Melchisedec, and made a stronghold,
84 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
its three natural fortifications making it -an easy place to pro-
tect. When Joshua crossed the Jordan, after taking Jericho,
he laid siege to Jebus but could not take it. The children of
Benjamin tried to capture it but failed, (Judges xxi.,21.) It
remained in the hands of the Jebusites through the reign of
the Judges. It was afterwards besieged by King Saul who
also failed, but David, when he became king, went up against
it and took the lower city as Judah and Simeon had done
before, but the citadel they could not take. They were on the
point of raising the siege when the Jebusites brought on
their own destruction, for, thinking this fortress impregnable,
they sent their lame and blind upon the walls and taunted
the Israelites with cowardice, which fact enraged David to
such an extent that he proclaimed to his army that the first
man who scaled the wall and slew a Jebusite should be made
chief captain of the host. A rush of the warriors followed
this proclamation, but Joab, being most agile of foot, got upon
the wall first. The warriors soon followed and the way to enter
the city was found and the city quickly taken. (Samuel v, 6-8
and I Chronicles xi., 4-6). David then made it his capital,
reared many splendid buildings therein and when Solomon
became king he made his palace and built the temple there,
and thus it received the name of the city of the great king.
No city has sustained so many sieges and been taken so
many times. It was taken by the Philistines and Arabians
in the reign of Jehoram, 886 B. C. It was thrice taken by
Nebuchadnezzar 607, 597 and 586 B. C., and was utterly des-
troyed in the last mentioned year. Cyrus restored it to the
Jews.
In 332 B. C. it was taken by Alexander the Great, and
Antiohus Epiphanes sacked it 170 B. C. Pompey took it 63
B. C. and the temple was plundered by Crasus 54 B. C. and
the city by the Parthians 40 B. C. The siege it sustained in
70 A. D. under Titus, the Roman general, was, however, the
most terrific siege of any recorded either in ancient or modern
times.
The magnificent temple that Herod built was completely
destroyed by fire. The first temple was built by Solomon in
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 85-
the fourth year of his reign, 1012 B. C., he being assisted by
Hyrum, king of Tyre. It was built on Mout Moriah, on the
spot where Abraham stood when he attempted to offer up
Isaac; and it afterwards became the threshing-floor of Arnon.
The whole area was 600 feet, but we will not attempt a des-
cription of that magnificent temple where gold was plentiful
as silver and silver as brass and brass as iron; where no sound of
a hammer or any iron tool was heard, but the rocks were pre-
pared in the quarry, numbered and sent by floats to Joppa and
landed at Jerusalem, nor yet how Solomon, in his wisdom,
arranged his men in classes or orders, first the apprentices,,
who were bearers of burden or tenders, then the fellow crafts,
who assisted the master masons. So well did every part fit
together that when, with wooden mauls they were driven into
place, they fitted so exactly that it appeared to be the work of
the Deity and not of human hands. This temple was destroyed
by Nebuchadnezzar 586 B. C. Zerubbabel rebuilt it 520 B. C.
It was afterwards enlarged by Herod. It was finally destroyed
by Titus 70 A. D., of which we will make mention as we pro-
ceed.
After the death of Herod, who was the last king of
Judah, the Jews were governed by governors sent from Rome,,
but, after the advent of the Messiah, whom they hoped would
have freed Israel, they revolted and tried to gain their inde-
pendence, for they looked for a temporal prince who would
raise them to the glory of Solomon and David, and when
Jesus came, born in a manger of a lowly maiden, they could
not accept Him as their deliverer to wrest the kingdom from
the hated Roman. Even the disciples did not fully under-
stand his mission. We read of two who were journeying to
Emmaus to whom the Savior appeared, who said, "We trusted
it had been He who should have redeemed Israel," showing
that they looked for a temporal prince. (Luke xxiv., 21.)
After most of the apostles were slain for the testimony of
Jesus, the Jews revolted 67 A. D. In that year they were in-
stigated to revolt by the cruelty of Florses, the Roman gover-
nor. (Josephus xvi., Wars of the Jews.} Agrippa, with his
S6 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
sister Bernice, stood before the multitude and eloquently
sought to dissuade them from revolt, but to no purpose. The
war began by the Jews taking the fortress of Massada by
treachery, and slaying the Roman garrison. Josephus was
elected general by the Jews, who looked upon him with dis-
trust as he tried to unite and discipline them for the common
defense, but they had brought on the war for the purpose of
plundering the city. Vespasian was sent by the Roman emper-
or to Judea to quell the rebellion. Titus was son of Vespas-
ian and a general in the Roman army, and, after subduing
many of the cities of Judah and while preparing to lay siege
to Jerusalem, the news came that the emperor of Rome, Nero,
was dead. Vespasian was elected emperor and he returned to
Rome, leaving Titus to prosecute the war. When Titus threw
his legions around the city it was the feast of Tabernacles and
it is estimated that there were three and a half millions of
Jews there; some to attend the ceremony, others as refugees
from the cities taken from the Jews in different parts of Judea,
conquered by Vespasian, and Titus shut them all in, and
what was worse there were different factions of the Jews who,
with their followers, were trying to get the mastery of the
city. These factions, in their insane fights, destroyed the pro-
visions that should have been kept for the defense of the city.
Josephus states that the famine was more severe on the Jews
than the terrible war. Many of them went over to the enemy
on account of the famine. Titus received them kindly, placed
food before them, but they ate so voraciously that many died.
Two thousand of these deserters were murdered by the sol-
diery and their stomachs were cut open in the search for the
gold they had swallowed before deserting. There was no
•escape, for the Jews had slain the Messiah, and the curse fol-
lowed them and is with them to this day.
Josephus says: "The Jews now were so wicked that if the
Romans had not come against them, God would either have
caused the ground to swallow them up or water to overflow
the city and destroy them or thunder and fire to devour them
as Sodom and Gomorrah," (Josephus, Page 639.) When we read
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 87
of the awful scenes enacted in this most terrible siege in which
rats and mice were hunted for food, and mothers ate their own
children, we can say truly that it is a fearful thing to sanction
the shedding of innocent blood. Josephus further says that
100,000 Jews who died by famine and war were thrown over
the wall to be buried by the Romans, there not being room to
bury them in the city. The Savior, when gazing upon the
city previous to His betrayal, wept over it, saying pathetically,
"Oh, Jerusalem! Thou that killest the prophets and stonest
them that are sent unto thee, how oft would I have gathered
thee as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye
would not." Surely such a terrible destruction as did occur
in the year 70, just 37 years after Jesus had delivered His
touching prediction concerning the city, was enough to cause
weeping.
There is one item of history concerning the tribe of Ben-
jamin not generally known that we will explain here as it re-
lates to the siege and to a warning of the Savior. We read
( I. Kings xi. 13-29) that Solomon's kingdom would be divided in
the time of his son and, that Jeroboam, having clad himself
in a new garment, was met by the prophet Ahijah, and as the
two were in the field Ahijah caught the garment that was on
him and tore it in twelve pieces and gave him ten pieces,
leaving two tribes or pieces for Judah. This fact is also prov-
en (xii. 21) when Rehoboam assembles Judah and Benjamin
to try to restore the kingdom to him again, but were com-
manded by the prophet not to do so, and they obeyed. We
also read that Paul was of that tribe, and it is believed that
the twelve apostles were mostly of Benjamin, but what we
wish to show is the Jews rejected the Messiah. The tribe
of Benjamin had been united to Judah for 800 years, and
when the Savior came they gladly accepted the gospel and at
Pentecost they, with devout Jews, scattered to the four quar-
ters of the earth to preach the glad tidings to their brethren.
At the siege of Jerusalem were many Christians, and their
deliverance from the doomed city was miraculous. Titus had
commanded a strict blockade; none could enter or leave the
88 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
city, but the Savior had said, "When ye see Jerusalem encom-
passed with armies flee to the mountains," which admonition
was strictly carried out by the Christians at the siege, for the
Roman general Cestius, who should have obeyed the orders
of his superior, Titus, withdrew his army a short distance
from the gate he was guarding, from some unaccountable
cause, and the Christians fled through the gate, crossed the
mountains of Judea and founded a city called Plevna, which
stands to this day. Here is an instance of God's special pro-
tection when His people obey him.
The Jews, after the most heart-rending suffering, sur-
rendered to Titus and 30,000 prisoners were taken to Rome
where Vespasian set them to work on a large public building
called the Colosseum and on other works.
After this awful seige wherein, according to Josephus,
1,100,000 people perished, the city passed through many
frightful scourges. In 637 the patriarch Sophronius surren-
dered to the Caliph Omar which was retained under his des-
cendants until 1084 A. D. when it was taken by the Turkish
chief Ortok who, with his sons, were so severe upon the Chris-
tians that the war of the Crusades resulted and in 1099 A. D.
it was taken by the Christians. In 1187 A. D., it was retaken
by the sultan, Saladin; in 1191 Richard Coeur De Lion met
Saladin on the field of Askelon, and with 30,000 German,
French and English troops beat him in a hard fought battle
wherein 40,000 Turks were slain, but the Christians, after los-
ing two millions, were finally driven from the Holy Land
1291 A. D. In 1837 it was ceded to the sultan of Turkey and
remains in his realm.
Jerusalem is destined to be the theatre of startling events.
The Mount of Olives will be cleft in twain and a highway
cast up for the righteous to pass to their inheritance. The
door has been opened for the Jews to return to their Zion. In
1841 Joseph Smith, the prophet of the Lord, sent Apostle
Orson Hyde to Palestine to dedicate the land for the gather-
ing of the Jews to their Zion, who accomplished that mission
and on a fine Sabbath morning in January, 1841, knelt
THE SIGNS OF THE TIM US. 89
down on the Mount of Olives, with his face to Jerusalem, and
dedicated the Holy Land for the return of Judah. Since that
time they are slowly returning to the land of their fathers,
and after the passage of the Dragon, or low meridian in 1891,
they will build a temple which will vie with that built by
Herod.
Then the Savior has promised to visit them after the ad-
vent of the two witnesses who will be slain. He will then show
them the prints of the nails; they will believe on Him and
the scriptures saying that a nation will be born in a day will
be verified. (For full particulars of the Wars of the Jews
and of -the siege of Jerusalem see Josephus and Chamber's
Information for the People, Vol. II., also William Smith's
Dictionary of the Bible.)
CHAPTER XIII.
COLOSSEUM OF ROME, Z1ON AS IT WAS.
AFTER the fall of Jerusalem, the emperor, Vespasian had
so many captives in Rome that to keep them in employment
he conceived the idea of an amphitheatre, which became a
wonder. It was called the Colosseum. 30,000 Jews were en-
gaged on it. Gibbon, the Roman historian, gives its dimen-
sions at 564 feet long, 467 feet wide and 140 feet high, having
four ranges of seats, with seating capacity for 87,000 specta-
tors. It was oblong in shape and covered nearly five acres of
ground. The seats were so arranged that the people in the
back seats, although they could not hear all that was said,
could see all that was going on in the arena. The seats sold
according to the range; the front or lowest one being for the
90
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
aristocrats, the next for the middle class, the third for arti-
zans, merchants and traders; the fourth or back seat for
slaves, beggars, and the scum of society, for all were admitted.
The great building was not completed in Vespasian's time: he
was succeeded by Titus, his son. At the dedication of the
Colosseum 100 days were spent, during which, 5000 wild beasts
were slain by human beings, necessarily entailing a great
loss of human lives, so that it was baptized in blood, and
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 91
the awful scenes afterwards enacted here were characteristic
of its opening. Here gladiators fought each other to the
death, and when one had vanquished another and the victor
had placed his foot upon the neck of the fallen, he would
look up to the royal pavillion for his cue as to whether to
slay the fallen outright or not. If the court ladies held their
thumbs down he was to be slain; if up, he was to be spared,
but not many were spared. Their weapons were a short
sword and shield. Soldiers were brought into this arena to
meet the wild, starved lion, leopard or tiger; soldiers of the
cross too, who being hated by the tyrant Nero, were set upon
by this fiend, persecuted and martyred in many cruel ways.
This tyrant caused the city of Rome to be set on fire in a
number of places simultaneously, and sat upon a high balcony
viewing the conflagration, at the same time amusing himself
by playing a flute. He, then, accused the Christians of setting
the fire and condemned many of them to death for his crime,
he often aiding the executioners in the work. He ordered a
number of Christians to be burnt after covering their bodies
with pitch, oil, etc. He also descended into the arena and
threw combustibles upon the poor, helpless victims, and threw
many to starved lions. This destruction continued, in one
form or another, until it resulted in the final overthrow of the
early Christian faith.
Nero was the bloodiest tyrant of Rome. He had a loving
wife, who tenderly showed her affection for this inhuman
brute, who finally kicked her to death in a fit of passion. He
also killed his own mother and finally had to kill himself to
prevent assassins from doing so. So detested was he by the
Romans that his very name was vexatious. This monster
had, however, started a kind of show that did not die with
him, viz., the public execution of Christians in the arena.
Vespasian and Titus, and many of the Roman emperors, kept
up the shows in the Colosseum, which were looked upon with
admiration and fiendish delight, and those refusing to bow
down to heathen gods perished by hundreds rather than to
apostatize. Some fled into foreign countries to escape their bloody
92 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
persecutors, but were often caught and returned to be placed in
the arena of the Colosseum where in view of nearly 100,000 of
their enemies they would pass into eternity. Many fled to
the catacombs of Rome, underground tunnels, where three
different stories, miles in length, were made. Under the seven
hills of Rome a recent survey gives the measurement of 900
rniles of tunnel. Here the Christian could find a safe retreat.
Many lived and died in the catacombs and many saw the day.
light but seldom, as the Roman governor had a price on their
heads; they therefore kept underground, and made their liv-
ing by cutting rocks for builders andf contractors; taking them
to the mouth of the catacombs, from whence they were re-
moved by the purchasers who furnished food, raiment and
fuel in exchange. Here they could worship God without fear
of being thrust into the Colosseum and devoured by wild
beasts. They had a little chapel cut out of the rock, contain-
ing stone benches and pulpit, where the true gospel was
preached, the Saints assembling by torch light. On each side
of the tunnels where the Christians buried their dead can still
be traced the names of those who sleep there awaiting the
resurrection morn. They are cut in the soft rock of the panel
of the Christian's grave, who is named and recorded as being
faithful to the last. On reading these inscriptions a spirit of
holiness permeates the air and you are led to pray that your
awakening may be as glorious as theirs. They were the form-
er-day Saints having the true Priesthood of Melchisedec, and
because of this power Satan was arrayed against them, and
through his agents sought to destroy their lives.
Daniel (vii), speaking of them says, they would be worn
out and in A. D. 570 this was accomplished, the Roman gov-
ernment driving the woman into the wilderness that year, and
the church of the mother of harlots, with a counterfeit priest-
hood was set up, whom John saw drunken with the blood of
the saints and martyrs, (Rev. xvii, 5, 6). We now trace her
origin:
Constantine the Great, on the eve of going to battle saw
(a mirage it is supposed) a cross in the air whereon were these
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 93
words: "By this conquer." He was baptized and became a
Christian and from this authority came the church of Rome.
Paganism was abolished by Constantine at the conference of
Milan, who repealed all laws unfriendly to Christianity, but
instead of apostles and prophets, with the gifts of the spirit,
we have emperors of heathen origin setting up and pulling
down to suit themselves, as instance Alexander, son of Mami-
ca, who built a chapel and set up three images therein, one for
Abraham, one for Jesus Christ and one for Apollo. He, like
the Irishman, not knowing whose hands he would fall into,
prepared for Judaism, Paganism and Christianity. From this
it is said the image worship of Rome began. Martin Luther
without a revelation or angel's visit, and from this bitter
fountain, himself as monk, has given us modern Christianity,
and these man teachers, totally uninspired, say there is no
need of present revelation. The Latter-day Saints have the
New Testament gospel with the gifts pertaining thereto. Paul
says, (/ Cor. xiv,) they shall continue in the church as
proof of its genuineness, and that unbelievers may know the
true from false churches.
CHAPTER XIV,
THE DREAM OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND ZION AS IT IS.
DANIEL was the fourth prophet, there being three greater:
Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah and twelve lesser: Hosea, Joel,
Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbakuk, Zephania,
Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. Daniel was taken captive to
Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in the year 588 B. C. Though of
royal blood, of his parentage we have no account. His agree-
able manners won for him the king's favor, who adopted him
94 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
with three other Hebrew youths, and a provision from his
table was ordered for them, a mark of the highest esteem.
But Daniel refused the rich food and requested a test of the
vegetable diet of his country, which was granted, and at a
stated time he looked so much better than his companions, that
the king granted his request for pulse and cold water. By
keeping these laws of diet, which are our "Word of Wisdom,"
they received knowledge of heavenly things, and Daniel had
understanding in all visions and dreams. In the second year
of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the king had a most singu-
lar dream. It is recorded in the second chapter of Daniel, that
when he awoke in the morning he had forgotten it; in his
perplexity he called to his aid the soothsayers, astrologers,
magicians and wise men informing them of the dream and
that it had left him; and that he required them to recall both
it and give its interpretation, under penalty of death. They ex-
postulating said, "No man can make known this thing unless his
habitation is with the gods, but tell us the dream and we will
give the interpretation;" but the king proclaimed that unless
the dream was produced they should all be slain, but that a
great reward awaited them if they made it known. Daniel
was absent, at the time, on business for the king, but when he
found that the king had so harshly decreed, and that he and
his comrades, the three Hebrews were included among the
wise men of Babylon, although hated by the Babylonians
through jealousy of their position in court, and also on ac-
count of their parentage, he hastened to Babylon and asked for
time, promising the recall of the dream and its interpreta-
tion. After fasting and prayer the dream was made known
in a night vision to Daniel who quickly appeared before the
king and stated thus:
"Thou sawest, a great image whose form was terrible; its
head was of fine gold; its arms and breasts of silver; its belly
and thighs of brass; its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and
part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out of the
mountain, without hands, which smote the image upon its
feet, that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces:
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 95
then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the
gold broken to pieces together and became as the chaff of the
summer threshing-floors, and the wind carried them away
that no place was found for them, and the stone that smote the
image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
This is the dream and we will tell the interpretation thereof
to the king. Thou, oh king, art this head of gold, and after
thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and a third
kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron. * * * In the
feet and toes miry clay and iron were equally divided, there-
fore, the kingdom is represented as partly strong and partly
broken. Whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they
shall mingle with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave
one to another. In the days of these kings shall the God of
heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and
the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall
stand forever."
We have quoted the dream and interpretation somewhat
fully and will endeavor to analyze the same by the light of
history and revelation, for, from the time of the hand-writing
on the wall, when Belshazzar's dream was interpreted by the
prophet, this great, historic dream has been fulfilling. We
mark the stages of this dream. From 600 B. C. to 1945 of our
era A. D., by using Daniel's vision of the four beasts (mi) it be-
ing the same as the dream of the king, in theory, but in
the shape of four beasts instead of an image. To begin our
research we lay the image on its back to see what countries it
embraces; the head of gold will rest in Babylon; the arms
and breast will cover Media and Persia; its belly and thighs
will include Greece, and the legs will make Rome, which are
the four great monarchies mentioned by Daniel, and corrobo-
rated, historically, as the great image seen by Nebuchadnezzar.
Russia is Babylon and Czar is a part of the head or great king
Nebuchadnezzar. By putting a C before the last syllable we
have a part of the head of Babylon, viz., Czar. Persia is rep-
resented as silver, next in value to gold. It seemed once that
Persia would never decay, but it has dwindled to a little mon-
96 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
archy, which remains to this day. The kingdom of brass is
Greece which in history stands unequalled; its brass has, how-
ever, corroded, and, from being the most glorious kingdom,
has fallen quite low. Rome, the iron and clay, which brake
in pieces all other kingdoms has only a name left to represent
her proud history. The little stone kingdom must stand, for
it has the word of the Lord that it shall never be thrown down
or given to another people, and that it shall subdue all other
kingdoms. We read (Daniel, vii,) that the fourth beast was
strong and terrible, having great iron teeth, and it devoured^
brake in pieces and stamped the residue under its feet. It
was diverse from all the other beasts and had seven heads
and ten horns. The Romans in their conquests did all they
could to remove every vestige of the customs and habits of
the people they subdued, changing laws, governments and
land-marks, and removing all that would remind the van-
quished of their former glory and independence, but were kind
and indulgent to their subjects, until they showed rivalry,
which they could not bear, but would crush out of existence
rather than have an enemy match them in anything.
We have now noticed the image to the setting up of the
little stone kingdom, and as there are many versions in history
of this stone kingdom, all trying to make Protestant Christian-
ity the true church, we shall see whether it will agree with
the image, or with the plan of Apostle Paul, who states what
the officers of the church or kingdom of Christ would be:
First apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then mira-
cles, gifts of healing, etc. Now, as this is the form and these
the ordinances of the Church of Christ, there need be but
one faith, one baptism, and one Lord over all. Do the Chris-
tian sects have these officers and gifts? They answer, that
they used to be in the church but are now done away. We
will establish the fact that the true church, with all these offi-
cers, gifts and blessings, has been restored to the earth, and as
the explanation of the ten kings and the little horns with their
times, and position will help to prove the divinity of this
church, we use the figures the prophets have given us and
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 97
note the prophetic numbers. Angel's time, which means one
revolution of our earth around the sun, or 365 days, times,
signifying two revolutions or 720 years; half a time, 180 years.
Man's time, times and a half, signifies three and a half years;
and as we need both times to explain the little stone kingdom,
we trust our readers will understand these different number-
ings of time. Our authority for using these numbers we find
in Genesis, (xxix, 27), where a week is called seven years; also
Numbers, (xiv, 34), where a day stands for a year. We note
also the 1260 years that has passed since the church was driv-
en from the earth which Daniel sets as time, times and a half
or 1260 years. The angel (Rev. xii, 6,) calls the same time, in
which the woman is taken care of 1260 days, which we know
by history is 1260 years. Again, we have it recorded (Dan. ix,
26), that from the decree of the Persian king to rebuild the
walls of Jerusalem 62 weeks are determined, making 434
years, a day for each year, which were exactly the years from
the commencement of rebuilding to the crucifixion of Messiah.
Ten weeks were given as the time of the Babylonish captivity,
which was 70 years, and seven weeks are recorded by Daniel
from the crucifixion to the destruction of Jerusalem, which
seven weeks make 49 years, which was exactly the time Titus
dispersed the Jews. Seventy and one half are given (Dan. ix,
24,) as the time of the people of God after the destruction of
the holy city to their being driven into the wilderness, and
this half week added to the seven weeks makes the exact time
of the woman's being pursued into the wilderness, or 570, the
year of the Priesthood's being taken from the earth. Its re-
storation in 1260 years would give 1830, according to "Pro-
phetic Numbers," a book published by Angus McDonald. He
makes the 1290 years that were given to Daniel by the angel
to be 30 years before the 1260 began, and carries his prophet-
ic numbers up to 1945, and takes up the the birth of Joseph
Smith, Brigham Young and John Taylor which are finely
carri ed out. (see his Table of Numbers, page 14.)
Having given the reader proof of the accuracy of these
prophetic numbers, we now resume our history of the ten
98 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
horns of the beast, or the ten toes of the image: Constantine
changed the religion of Rome from Pagan to Christian by the
edict of Milan, A. D. 313, and moved his capital from Rome
to Constantinople. From this beginning we trace the Christi-
anity of to-day. The ten toes were formed by a mingling of
races with the Roman, which is where the clay and iron ap-
pear. The Vandals were first in their descent on Italy. The
Goths were next. They and the Vandals were of German ex-
traction, who in 455 A. D., descended on Italy, took Rome and
plundered the city fourteen days. These, with the Ostrogoths,
Huns, Visigoths and Tartars settled in Europe and thus we
find the toes or horns forming, and about the time of Moham-
med, when the Church had all passed away, these bands of
adventurers had settled in Europe and Asia Minor, and Rome
had fallen, and that shortly after they had accomplished the
banishment of the woman and child. We have not space to
give the history of the middle ages, but jump from Moham-
med's time to Luther's. The Reformation beginning in the
fifteenth century, we find the clay and iron trying to unite in
the case of Henry VIII. of England. Henry was a zealous
Catholic and had written a book against the Reformation by
Martin Luther, for which he was blessed by the pope and given
the title of Defender of the Faith. He was amply prepared
for this defense of the church, for, being the second son of
Henry the VII. he was educated for the church, but the death
of his brother Arthur made him heir to the throne. He mar-
ried Catherine, a Spanish princess, who had married his
brother Arthur before him, and it was to annul this marriage
with Catherine that caused the formation of the first toe, or a
separation from the body politic, or iron rule of the pope.
Henry had fallen in love with a gentlewoman, an attendant
upon his wife, and he conceived the idea of divorcing Cather-
ine on account of her former marriage with his brother,
which then would leave him free to marry again, but the
pope, when applied to for a divorce, refused to grant it on ac-
count of the influence of Charles V. emperor of Germany and
brother of Catherine, who was one of the pope's chief sup-
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 99
porters. Clement VII. was very much perplexed by this re-
quest, yet did not dare a direct refusal, but put Henry off
from time to time, for two years. Henry saw through the
ruse of the pope, who hoped that his love for Anne Boleyn
would wane and that he would retain his good, virtuous queen;
but this deception enraged him to such an extent that he
vowed he, himself, would become a pope and that he would
divorce himself and marry Anne. He, therefore, proclaimed
himself head of the church in England, put away Catherine
and married Anne Boleyn. He was excommunicated by the
pope, but persisted in making new queens for England until
his death. The only daughter of Anne was Elizabeth, who
on becoming queen, ratified what her father had begun, and
the result was the established church of England which makes
the separation, or first great toe.
The second toe is France. Read her history and learn
how she has fought the popes to free herself from their iron
rule. Napoleon Bonaparte went so far, in teaching them their
place, as to besiege Rome and take it, but seeing twelve im-
ages, life-size, of the apostles, in solid silver, he took them,
converted them into cash, and paid himself, partly, for the ex-
penses of the war. The clay and iron could not adhere, and
another separation from the body politic resulted. We can-
not in this little work give the history of each toe; that would
form a large volume, itself; but will name the other eight and
leave the reader to find them in history, as they show the
cause of the separation from the pope's temporal power. Al-
though most of these kings representing the toes, acknowledge
the pope spiritually they ignore him temporally. The third
toe we find is Germany, the fourth is Spain, the little toe of
the right foot Greece, which was under the Turkish yoke until
1820, when it become an independent kingdom by aid of the
French and English. In this year the little stone kingdom
made its appearance.
Joseph Smith jun., while asking the Lord which of all
the religious sects was the true church, was visited by the
Father and Son, in the woods, where he had retired to pray,
100 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
and was instructed by them that none of these churches were
right but that he should be instructed to set up the true
church. According to "Prophetic Numbers," the first woe com-
menced in this year, there being but nine toes on the image now,
and the kingdom was to be set up in the time of ten kings. On
the left foot of the image we find Russia, Turkey, Austria,
Italy, and Belgium, which last toe did not make its appear-
ance until 1830. In that year the Netherlands gained their
independence and Leopold I. ascended the throne of Belgium
and in a few months after, the tenth toe made its appearance.
On the 6th of April, 1830, the little stone kingdom was set up
with six members, and every gift and blessing established in
proper order. The church thus established was named the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph was
instructed continually by holy angels, and by the Savior himself,
who gave it His name. Jesus said His church should be hated by
all men. Does it ever occur to you that the Mormon Church, so
called, is the only church of which this hatred is true? Driven
and persecuted since its rise, and finally expelled to the Rocky
Mountains, it still survives. The little horn is still making
war upon the Saints, imprisoning and harassing, as Daniel
says it would do until the Ancient of Days would sit.
This little horn is easily known as it was to arise after the ten
kings, have two eyes and a mouth speaking great things
against the Almighty, and think to change times and laws.
The blind horn is, in this verse, clearly defined as the beast.
Rome, ruled over blind subjects, put itself in place of God,
and wore out the Saints who were given into its hands until
a time and times and the dividing of time, or 1260 years.
The seeing horn, referred to above will make war on the Saints
and prevail against them until the Ancient of Days will come.
This horn is the United States, which came out of the ten
kingdoms of the beast. Three kings fell before it, viz., Eng-
land, France and Spain who had possessions in the land of
Joseph, but the little horn fought one and bought out two,
thus all fell from possessing a hold on Zion, the Zion of Eph-
rairn and Manasseh, but the Ancient of Days will come and
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 101
give the judgment and dominion to the Saints who will retain
it forever.
When this kingdom is given to the Saints it will not be
by bloodshed, but by the judgments of an offended God. The
Apostle Paul says "No man taketh this honor upon himself
except he be called of God as was Aaron." (Heb. v, 4.) Aaron
was called of God by a prophet and Moses was called out of
the burning bush. Joseph Smith proves his divine commis-
sion by three witnesses who testify to the world that they saw
an angel, that he held the plates in his hand and spoke to
them, and that they heard him commission Joseph Smith.
These men have given their names to the world in solemn
soberness and one of them, David Whitmer is living to-day,
1887, in Richmond, Mo., and is not a Mormon, but belongs to
one of the sectarian churches, yet avows the truth of his tes-
timony of the visit of the angel and of Joseph's being divine-
ly inspired, and Mr. Whitmer retains as a most sacred relic the
manuscript of the Book of Mormon, as translated by the gift
and power of God through the aid of the Urim and Thum-
mirn. After Joseph suffered martyrdom, Brigham Young was
proclaimed president of the Church, and many fell on that
account, but it was through ignorance or wilful faithlessness,
for in 1841, Joseph received a revelation naming the officers
of the Church and denning their duties, (Doc. and Cov. Sec.
124) and in paragraph 127 of said section Brigham Young is
called to do a certain work which he did faithfully, as the
legal successor of Joseph Smith, he being the president of the
Twelve Apostles in the time of Joseph. Brother John Taylor
became president of the Church for the same reason, he being
president of the Twelve at the death of Brigham Young.
102 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
CHAPTER XV.
ZiON AS IT WILL BE.
WE mast depend on prophecy and revelation for what
Zion will be, starting out with the rule given by Peter that
"no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation."
The Bible to the truth-seeker is a positive guide, revealing
the future in a most marvelous manner as in the predictions
on Babylon and concerning the captivity and dispersion of
Israel. Let us refer for accuracy of prophecy to the 53rd
chapter of Isaiah and compare it with history for a complete
account of the birth, life and sufferings of the Savior which
commences "Who hath believed our report and to whom is
the arm of the Lord revealed?" There are any number of
witnesses who prove this verse to be literal. Infidelity is
seizing upon many and a person believing the Bible is set
down as being behind the times and unversed in scientific
knowledge. Even preachers, in some instances, aid this idea.
One divine said recently that scientifically speaking the Bible
is no better than a last year's almanac, and the student of
geology labors to show that the world is much older than the
Bible account makes it. Isaiah saw all this, hence his ques-
tion. He further says, "He hath no form nor comeliness, and
when we shall see Him there is no beauty that men should
desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our
faces from Him."
The Jews looked for a Messiah whom they hoped would
free Israel from the hated Roman, come in pomp with a reti-
nue of angels, set up a temporal kingdom that would excel
the pompous reign of Herod. The Jews thus fulfilled to the-
letter the first part of the prophecy. The literal fulfillment
of every other word is so plainly seen by the truth-seeker
THE SKINS OF THE TIMES. 103
that some of the most profligate have been converted when
brought to investigate this remarkable prophecy. When we
consider the time it was given, about 600 B". C., its divine
origin becomes apparent. "But", says the infidel, "How can
you prove that the prophecy was uttered as you have stated,
which might have been written years after the events occurred.
To such we say, and challenge successful contradiction, that
the prophecies of the old Testament were translated over two
hundred years before the birth of our Savior. Ptolemy Philr
adelphus sought to purchase the Jewish scriptures, but the
Jews could not be induced to sell their holy record, the
king therefore hired 70 of the Jews most learned in the
Greek language to translate a copy of their scriptures from
the Hebrew into the Greek, which they did, and our Bible
is a copy of that very translation as every student of history
will testify. For after this translation was placed in the
Alexandrian library it was copied into every known language
and it spread even to the Indies, and that hundreds of years
before the advent of the Savior. Here, then, is positive
proof that this narrative of the birth, life, suffering and
death of our Savior was written in almost every language
nearly 200 years before it happened, and the other prophe-
cies were also in the same book, as our King James' transla-
tion is a copy of that same Greek copy. Coupled with this
proof please note one that will make the connecting link of
the chain of years, which we gave in the life of the early
Christians, which brings the 70 weeks or 490 years of the
prophet Daniel to an end. The prophet says "Seventy weeks
are determined on thy people and on thy holy city to finish
the transgression," etc. Each day of the week was a year,,
therefore the seven weeks from the time of the command-
ment until the finish of the work was 49 years (7 times 7);
then from the finishing of said building 62 weeks or 434
years elapsed to the anointing of Jesus as the great High
Priest. His 3} years then commence, for in the midst of
the week Messiah will be cut off, but not for himself, mak-
ing the 483 years, for in the midst of the last week, he shall
104 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in the
midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice to cease. He
being the great sacrifice, of course, it ended in his offering
himself at the end of his 3J year's ministry.
Now for the last half of the week. Jesus, after His
resurrection, gave commandment to His disciples to "tarry
at Jerusalem until they were endowed with power from on
high," which they did, and in just 3J years after the cruci-
fixion they were driven out of Jerusalem, the 70 weeks being
ended and the 490 years of Daniel accomplished. The
abomination of desolation was set up in the holy city, the
Saints were persecuted, righteous Stephen heading the list of
martyrs. All this remarkable prophecy, like his interpreta-
tion of the vision of the image, was literally fulfilled as even
profane historians amply prove, and even Herodotus the
Grecian traveler testifies of the fulfillment of very many
things recorded in the prophecies.
Again, Isaiah foretold about Cyrus and his siege of
Babylon 150 years before he (Cyrus) was born, calling him
by name and even mentioning the animals and water-fowl
that should inhabit her beautiful palaces which would have
been a bold step for any man to take. Suppose an imposter
to predict that the great city of London would be destroyed
by abandonment, and her streets become infested by wild
beasts, her palaces by owls, etc., how soon his reputation would be
jeopardized. Had some of the infidels of to-day lived in
the time of Christ how they would have made capital of
the prophecy concerning the destruction of the temple where
the Savior says, "See ye not all these things? Verily I
•say unto you there shall not be one stone left upon another
that shall not be thrown down." Titus burned the temple,
but left the walls standing, and through the entire persecu-
tion of the early Christain church, and past the time of its
banishment and to the time of the Caliph Omar and the
siege of Jerusalem these walls still stood as in refutation of
the prophecy of the Son of God. But when Omar conceived
the idea of building a mosque on the sacred site he caused
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 105
every stone of these walls to be removed to make place for
the great mosque which still stands on the temple ground:
thus fulfilling the words of Jesus literally; not one stone was
left standing upon another. It was over 600 years in its ful-
fillment, but like all the words of the prophets it was veri-
fied.
John the Revelator (ix) speaks of an event that should
come to pass thus: "And the shape of the locusts was like unto
horses prepared for battle, and on their heads were as it were
crowns of gold, and their faces were as the faces of men, and
they had hair like women, and their teeth were as the teeth of
lions, and they had breast plates as it were breast plates of
iron, and the sound of their wings were the sound of many
chariots driven to battle." This was foretold several hundred
years before it transpired, but herein was a minute description
of the Saracen army, the scourge of the east. Their cavalry
was such as had never been seen before or since. Their Arabian
horses were proverbial for speed. They charged with the
impetuosity of the wind; their steel scabbards clanking and
the noise of the horses rushing in the furious charge made the
earth tremble. Their long hair waving in the wind gave
them the appearance of women and each having a yellow
turban of silk, it looked like a crown of gold on the head of a
king; and their extended line sweeping over the plain was the
most imposing sight ever looked upon. They were com-
manded to eat no green thing. Now had they been locusts
they must have eaten green things to live, but the Saracen,
wherever he went, never cut down a tree nor trampled down
grain nor anything that gave sustenance to man. This was
the universal law of the Saracens. The Koran taught it to
them and that is the only army with a written history which
requires this humane law.
The prophet Isaiah (i. 26) says, Zion shall have judges
and counsellors to rule over her as at the first. We know
that has not yet taken place, for the little horn is ruling over
her and will continue until the Ancient of Days sits and gives
them dominion, all nations and languages serving Jesus. He
106 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
further says, "The Saints will possess the kingdom forever and
ever." Can we endure the trials, the hatred and the frowns
of the world, and its persecutions for such a kingdom? Most
assuredly with the help of the Lord. When the Lord has
purged Zion, and she has come under bondage and the weak
that cannot see His hand in the great work of redemption
spoken of by the prophets (for it will seem as though the Lord
had forsaken Zion) shall have gone over to the other side, then
will the Lord deliver Zion. (Isaiah li.) He says, "Fear not
man who dies and forgets his Maker, but fear Him who can
save and exalt him." Now this work cannot be done by the
Saints rebelling against the governments under which they
may live. The revelations of our Church forbid to shed blood
or to fight against human governments, but the Lord will
fight our battles as He has abundantly promised. We are
taught by Jesus to be merciful as we hope to obtain mercy.
We should use every means but force to convert all to the gos-
pel of Christ, but never exterminate men because they do not
believe as we do.
Preach repentance, not war and extermination that savors
of Lucifer. The Latter-day Saints are willing to endorse all
truth. We hope to endure all things for Christ's sake, having
the word of the prophet Daniel that three and a half years
will end it. The kingdom will then commence to shine forth
and Zion will be a delight. The Lord says, "I will rebuke
the devourer for your sakes, and all nations shall call you
blessed. Neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time
for ye shall be a delightsome land." The land of Utah is be-
coming thus, pools of water are breaking out, but the nations
do not call us blessed. Instead of being a delightsome people
we are represented as being the most monstrously degraded
and deluded beings; but the Lord has promised to redeem
Zion.
Read the newspaper accounts of the awful accidents by
land and sea; the dreadful fires, earthquakes and cyclones, and
with all our modern improvements, the fearful loss of life.
These prove that the judgments of an offended God are upon
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMKS. 107
us. Ephraim, we trust, will be faithful and do the work as-
signed him as the first-born, and as the lost tribes will soon
come from the north to receive their ordinations under his
hands, we should be very zealous. They will bring their rich
treasures to Ephraim and fall down and be crowned with glory
even in Zion by the hands of the servants of the Lord. In
view of this what manner of persons should we be? Already
the ice is coming southward. Read accounts of the ice moun-
tains in the Atlantic which are frequently met between New
York and Liverpool causing dreadful shipwrecks, often delay-
ing vessels for days. In the JUVENILE INSTRUCTOR you will
find nine pictures of these ice fields of the Atlantic.
The Latter-day Saints are building temples to receive
their northern brethren. With them we can unite in restor-
ing the Kingdom of God and in building the temple at Jack-
son County, Missouri, where the pillar of fire by night and
cloud by day will appear. Thus shall we know that the Lord
remembers His people. A deliverer like unto Moses will be
with us and the former deliverance from Egypt be absorbed in
the greater one in Zion. Those who have not the mark of the
beast in their foreheads will enjoy the millennial morn and
prepare for the New Jerusalem which will be let down from
above and there will be no more persecutions.
Israel and Judah will occupy their proper places. The
Saints will enjoy perpetual peace and the door to the deliver-
ance of the honest dead be opened. Those who have suffered
persecution will have part in the first resurrection and be
-crowned kings and priests to the Most High and reign with
Him a thousand years.
108 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE LAST JUDGMENT.
"AND I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it
from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there
was found no place for them. And I saw the dead both small
and great stand before God, and the books were opened, and
another book was opened which is the Book of Life, and the
dead were judged out of those things that were written in the
books, and the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death
and hell delivered up the dead that were in them and they
were judged every man according to his works, and death and
hell were cast into the lake of fire: this is the second death,
and whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was
cast into the lake of fire." (Rev. xx. 11 to end.)
Some few have taken exceptions to the lake of fire and a
,few would rather it were cut out, but the majority wish it re-
tained, as the Savior and the Apostles use the term. John(Rev*
xxii. 18, 19) uses it with a positive threat that whosoever should
change the text should be accursed. It makes no difference
to the Saints what the punishment of the wicked will be as
the Saints enter upon their exaltation. We thus leave the sol-
ution of the lake of fire to the wicked and ungodly, and to aid
the righteous we refer to the last judgment. John refers to a
new heaven and a new earth, and describes the Holy City,
stating that God will wipe away all tears from the eyes ' of the
pure in heart. There shall be no more death nor sorrow, pain
nor crying. The city is of pure gold like unto clear glass, and
the twelve gates each a pearl. The city wall is composed of
precious stones, at each gate is an angel, and on each gate
one of the names of the twelve sons of Jacob, which are the
twelve tribes of Israel.
We find (Rev. xiv, 6) that an angel should bring the
gospel arid we are also told what shall befall those who wor-
ship the beast. The beast is Babylon, and Babylon is the
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 109
world, and the world is the wicked who will fall under the
overwhelming judgments of an offended God, it therefore
behooves all to search diligently for salvation. The time of
the end is at our doors, and one of the signs thereof is the
great increase of merchandise in all the world. It would
seem that the world is turning to merchandise. John saw
the merchants mourning the fall of Babylon. The righteous
will have joy in their reign of a thousand years and increase
to all eternity. INCREASE, dear reader, is a word we should
contemplate; it is the key to eternal glories; it is the key of
this probation, for without increase labor would be useless.
Without it, we could never hope to gain anything. Without
it, the farmer would plow and sow in vain, the merchant
speculate in vain, the manufacturer produce for naught; in
fact, increase is life's incentive. Without it, there would be
no hope for hereafter, no reward, no punishment, no advance-
ment. Creation would be at a standstill forever. There
could be no family ties as this is the key to the family rela-
tion. There could be no children. In fact, our lives hinge
on this one word, and Satan is using his utmost endeavors to
found his kingdom upon this very word, but he makes his
subjects interpret it as they choose. One part of the human
family say "God is love", and that he will never damn any-
one, another says "Only believe in Jesus and you will be
saved;" still another "All I have to do is to join such a church,"
and a third, "It is predestined that I should do exactly as I
am doing, and it is no use my trying to do otherwise, and,
therefore, I will risk it." A fourth says there is no hereafter,
that all ends in death; that there is nothing beyond the grave:
thus all are in one way or another arranging the future to
suit themselves although the Father has laid down a code of
laws to govern all things. Who does not love his family?
All the human family love more or less and yet the majority
utterly fail to understand the greatest point in this all-impor-
tant question, the way to increase or perpetuate posterity
forever. To illustrate, we will relate an instance that came
under our observation:
110 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
We were in a distant territory exhibiting our paint-
ings and while in the capital city of the county to spend
the Sabbath we encountered at a hotel an infidel whom
we should judge would scorn to do a wrong action and
would suffer death rather than dishonor his good name
and bring reproach on his family. He engaged us in conver-
sation, after our noon meal, and the subject turned on the
future or destiny of man. He expressed himself thus: "Give
me a good living for myself and family and you can have all
the hereafter." He was quite willing to give all his interest
in the world to come for a very moderate sum down, and,
with a hearty laugh, gave us to understand he was in earnest
in his convictions of the hereafter. I asked him if he had a
family; he promptly answered with a proud look upon his
handsome face, "Yes Sir," at the same time taking a photo
from his breast pocket, of a sweet little girl. "There," said
he, "is my daughter, and here is her mother," exhibiting
another photo of a very fine looking lady; "These are my
family and I am not ashamed of them either. I am soon
going home to see them. I have been gone some months
from them, and it seems an age."
"Ah," replied I, "and for these loved ones you travel,
risking life and limb to increase their happiness, and, although
you value them higher than any other thing mortal, still
you virtually give them a deed of separation at death, for
there is no marriage in heaven as all things must be sealed
up for eternity in this life. Peter was given the keys that
bind on earth and in heaven, and that loose on earth and in
heaven. This power has been restored to earth through the
ancient presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ, even Peter,
James and John who conferred it upon Joseph Smith jun.,
and he upon the Church; thus the same power is restored by
the holy angels in our day, and I am thankful to inform you
that I can claim my wife and children when I am resurrected,
but when the record is searched it will show that you have
cut yourself off from the only thing worthy of retaining from
this mortal sphere. Should you complain you would be
shown that it was your own act, and the comparison might
be shown you of how careful you were of securing your title
to houses and lands, the deed of which gave your right to
your heirs and assigns forever, but which you knew (admit-
ting a hereafter) you could not hold, as the owner, Jehovah,
said He would make the earth new and change and prepare it
for his Saints. Thus the only real property (your wife and
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 1 11
children) you were willing to deed away after death. Not so
with the "Mormons", to whose God we are indebted for
the fact that a man can marry a wife for all eternity, and the
children born before the parents were sealed up for eternity
could be adopted as their own in the house of the Lord, mak-
ing record to fall back to for reference."
Our friend was very much entertained with our recital,
and expressed himself that if that was "Mormonism" he liked
it exceedingly, and that he wished he could believe it; and
said if he ever could see into any religion it would be one like
that.
A large majority of the human family are in this pre-
dicament, and this is why so many will be shut out of the
Celestial kingdom where alone there is increase. The other
glories comprise the angels etc., who have no increase, and here
is where, in our opinion, is the fire that is never quenched.
When men see others with their families and a kingdom
that will endure forever, after having lost the same oppor-
tunities through refusing to accept the unpopular doctrine
called "Mormonism," the fire of conscience will, indeed, be
most awful, as no torment equals that of mental agony. The
New Testament teaches that unless we have faith and works
we can in no wise enter the Celestial city. The Savior says
''When ye see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob sit down in my
father's kingdom and ye yourselves are shut out, there
will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth."
Such choose the things of the world which fade away; and
reject those pertaining to eternity. Many will thank God
that they were poor as they will learn that it is hard for the
rich to enter the kingdom of heaven, on account of the many
temptations to allure them, such as taste, fashion, luxury
and a neglect of the poor, waste of precious time, thank-
less squandering of God's stores, and neglect to prepare for
the second coming of the Lord. Others will mourn over
sins of omission, ever trifling with something they knew
should be done. Others will meet in judgment their broken
vows. How many will meet the record of Sabbath-breaking
and neglect of worship! We are commanded to fast and pray
112 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
and bring our donations to feed the poor. On the first
Thursday of every month how many can say "I have a clean
record in this covenant?" There is a revelation which
concerns us now living, that is much neglected, a revelation
of promises and benefits in this life to all who will obey it,
viz., the "Word of Wisdom." He who keeps that law has
the promise that the destroying angel shall pass by him, and
that he shall have rich stores of knowledge, and run and not
be weary, walk and not faint. Read it, for one of our omis-
sions is that we perhaps do not read sufficiently. Strong
drink is therein forbidden except for the washing of the body.
The filthy weed tobacco is also forbidden in that revelation
and is pronounced as only good for sick cattle. There is
more cash expended on this noxious weed, and on spirituous
liquors in all the world, than would enrich every poor person
on the globe. What a crying disgrace is this to meet in
judgment. What a wilful waste of means and strength;
enough to bring happiness to every family. Who can estimate
the misery entailed to the human race by the wilful breaking
of this "Word of Wisdom?" How many will be punished,
not only for their own sins, but for their influence on others!
How many will bless their friends who, in the time of danger,
warned them faithfully of such practices!
One of the regrets of the condemned will be for loss of
time. A grain of sand on the ocean shore is all we can call
this probation; even Methusalah's 969 years was but an atom
in the great ocean of time. If you do not grasp the idea fully
by this illustration, take all the waters on the face of the
earth and convert them into ink, -and if you could use the
canopy of heaven for a copy book, wherein to make a little
stroke every year, when you had covered the sky with tiny
marks, eternity would still expand before you. In the econo-
my of God every man is an agent unto himself; there is no
force employed to coerce agency. All are volunteers in the
army of Emmanuel. Such will have come up through sore
trials; choosing imprisonment, suffering and death itself to a
loss of title to exaltation and glory.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
113
We may ask ourselves a few questions, the answers to
which will determine our present status. If we have a family
do we command it as did Abraham, for God said of him, "I
know that he will command his household." Where are your
children at night? Do you know what company they keep?
Do you instruct them in things pertaining to the Kingdom of
God? Thorough instruction on the nature of atonement is
all-important. To attract children to the home circle they
114 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
should have home amusements, such as music, innocent games;
but never allow card-playing, as many are thereby led off into
gambling. We should correct our children when they need
correction, instruct them in cleanliness, tidiness and accom-
pany them to Sabbath School, instilling a love for divine
things into their hearts. Never show violent passion in cor-
recting a child, better your child see you in tears than to see
you in angry passion. By thus guarding ourselves our child-.
ren will grow up as "plants of renown," dispensing the frag-
rance of love wherever they may reside.
Thus conducting ourselves we may be able to pass the an-
gels and the Gods to glory celestial.
The question may be asked: how are the records of the
recording angel to be kept for each individual of our globe,
which numbers at present fourteen hundred million souls; and
some have excused themselves in wrong-doing on what they
have regarded as the impossibility of such record. The Book
of Mormon says, "All things are written by the Father," but
the system of writing there and the number engaged in the
business are matters we know little about; besides, anatomists
believe, from the nature and structure of the brain itself, that
not a thought rolls through the mind without leaving its im-
press there. If this is not so, whence do we call up the dead
forms of those who have left us years ago? We certainly call
them up from the mind. Then they must be impressed upon
that delicate structure or purposely constructed register. It
is believed that not even a shadow falls against a wall with-
out leaving its impress there, and it has been chemically
demonstrated that if a wafer be placed upon a highly polished
steel surface and removed for months, that, by resorting to the
proper chemical processes, the wafer impression can be restor-
ed. How much greater must the purposely constructed reg-
ister of the mind or brain be in its capability for such impress.
Here is a record we cannot deceive, and every moment, we
are writing indelibly upon it. Men under the impressions
made by fearful accident prove this theory beyond question.
I am informed by persons rescued from drowning that the
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 115
events of life have passed in regular succession from child-
hood, vividly and distinctly before them. What methods,
besides that of the mind itself, there are for recording the acts
of men our finite minds can have but feeble conception of.
He who formed the mind must have methods of record-mak-
ing infinitely above our comprehension.
But I pass on. Some have thought that the final judg-
ment will occur at Christ's next or first personal appearance
from this time. This is a great error. Every scripture on
the subject conveys a contrary idea. That judgment will be
after the thousand years reign. "Blessed is he that shall come
unto the thousand years, on such the second death shall have
no power."
Our ambition is that this little work may be the means of
converting one soul who may yet take us by the hand and say,
"I am indebted to you or your exhibition of paintings for the
idea of starting me on the path to endless life," if so, we
shall be extremely happy. Do not let anything deter you
form choosing the way of life. Make your calling and elec-
tion sure. Whatever tends to happiness will be yours. If
gold, the streets of the heavenly city will be adorned there-
with, its gates of pearls and its walls of precious stones.
"Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be add-
ed unto you." Honors that never fade, powers that pertain to
celestial spheres are yours. That we may meet each other in
those blest realms is the earnest prayer of the author of these
humble pages.
OFFICE,
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.
DEALS IN
All kinds of S. S. Cards, Chromos, Tickets, Text and Prize
Books, Stationery, Books for Private Libraries, etc., etc.
BOOK & JOB PRINTING k BIf IlfC
in all styles and at low rates.
The Best and Cheapest Illustrated Magazine issued. Pub-
lished Semi -Monthly, only $2. per year.
A. H. CANNON7
OODEN CITY UTAH.
DEALER IN
Books, Stationery and Toys. .
Day and Sunday School Supplies, Office Fixtures, Fancy
Goods, Magazines, Chromos, Pocket Cutlery, Sheet Music,
etc., etc.
ORDERS BY MAIL PROMPTLY and CAREFULLY
FILLED.
Send for Catalogue.
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11