History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 Addenda

  • Source Note
  • Historical Introduction
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the men at the wheel labored hard for five hours to turn the boat round before they accomplished it, so that they could run before the storm. At length day light appeared and with it a cessation of the storm in a measure, we returned to Manitou Island at 4 o’Clock being 24 hours out mostly in the storm.
Addenda • 15 July 1842
<​1842 15 July​>
The Government of God. Times & Seasons Vol 3 No. 18 Editorial
<​page 1356​> “The government of the Almighty, has always been very dissimilar to the government of men; whether we refer to his religious government, or to the government of nations. The government of God has always tended to promote peace, unity, harmony, strength and happiness; while that of man has been productive of confusion, disorder, weakness and misery. The greatest acts of the mighty men have been to depopulate nations, and to overthrow kingdoms; and whilst they have exalted themselves and become glorious, it has been at the expence of the lives of the innocent— the blood of the oppressed— the moans of the widow and the tears of the orphan. Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Persia, Carthage, Rome— each were raised to dignity amid the clash of arms, and the din of war; and whilst their triumphant leaders led forth their victorious armies to glory and victory, their ears were saluted with the groans of the dying, and the misery and distress of the human family;— before them the earth was a paradise, and behind them a desolate wilderness; their kingdoms were founded in carnage and bloodshed, and sustained by oppression, tyranny and despotism. The designs of God, on the other hand have been to promote the universal good, of the universal world;— to establish peace and good will among men;— to promote the principles of eternal truth; to bring about a state of things that shall unite man to his fellow man— cause the world to “beat their swords into plough shares, and their spears into pruning hooks”— make the nations of the earth dwell in peace; and to bring about the Millenial Glory— when “the earth shall yield its increase, resume its paradisean glory and become as the garden of the Lord.”
The great and wise of ancient days have failed in all their attempts to promote eternal power, peace and happiness. Their nations have crumbled to pieces; their thrones have been cast down in their turn; and their cities, and their mightiest works of art, have been annihilated; or their dilapidated towers; or time [p. 32]
the men at the wheel labored hard for five hours to turn the boat round before they accomplished it, so that they could run before the storm. At length day light appeared and with it a cessation of the storm in a measure, we returned to Manitou Island at 4 o’Clock being 24 hours out mostly in the storm.
Addenda • 15 July 1842
1842 15 July
page 1356 “The government of the Almighty, has always been very dissimilar to the government of men; whether we refer to his religious government, or to the government of nations. The government of God has always tended to promote peace, unity, harmony, strength and happiness; while that of man has been productive of confusion, disorder, weakness and misery. The greatest acts of the mighty men have been to depopulate nations, and to overthrow kingdoms; and whilst they have exalted themselves and become glorious, it has been at the expence of the lives of the innocent— the blood of the oppressed— the moans of the widow and the tears of the orphan. Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Persia, Carthage, Rome— each were raised to dignity amid the clash of arms, and the din of war; and whilst their triumphant leaders led forth their victorious armies to glory and victory, their ears were saluted with the groans of the dying, and the misery and distress of the human family;— before them the earth was a paradise, and behind them a desolate wilderness; their kingdoms were founded in carnage and bloodshed, and sustained by oppression, tyranny and despotism. The designs of God, on the other hand have been to promote the universal good, of the universal world;— to establish peace and good will among men;— to promote the principles of eternal truth; to bring about a state of things that shall unite man to his fellow man— cause the world to “beat their swords into plough shares, and their spears into pruning hooks”— make the nations of the earth dwell in peace; and to bring about the Millenial Glory— when “the earth shall yield its increase, resume its paradisean glory and become as the garden of the Lord.”
The great and wise of ancient days have failed in all their attempts to promote eternal power, peace and happiness. Their nations have crumbled to pieces; their thrones have been cast down in their turn; and their cities, and their mightiest works of art, have been annihilated; or their dilapidated towers; or time [p. 32]
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