There trooped along the children An angel face watched o'er each place Beside the Path went searching Who pointed out with warning shout As, searching, they went in the byways, And I saw the mark of their priesthood, Yet sad is the scene I must picture- Their light was lost in the ways they crossed And some I saw who tarried, Or dallied beside the trail, And turned about with despairing shout So I turned again to my journey, Where Hope and Faith shine fair, And a Father kind and a Master mind The Land of the Nephites. By Elder H. A. Stebbins, author of I "THE MOVING HAND OF GOD." 'N THE MAY, June, July, and August numbers of AUTUMN LEAVES for 1909, were published four chapters under the heading of "The ancient land of the Jaredites," with subhead, "The moving hand of God," wherein I endeavored to set forth not only some ancient history, but also the present conditions and future prospects of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Salvador, Yucatan, and Mexico, and to present facts indicating the encouraging progress that has been made in recent years, and that which is planned for and expected in those regions in the near future. It was shown that the present state of good in those lands has come about by a combination of causes, not only from improved government conditions and policies, but still more from the union of money and power and of diligent labor in the lines of agriculture, fruit growing, mining, lumber products, railroad construction, the building of substantial cities, with sanitary, electrical, and other modern improvements, and the establishing of schools, colleges, and of other forces for the well-being of every resident race and color; and also that all signs mark the clear fact that the present time is indeed "the day of the Lord's preparation," even "the latter days," wherein he will fully usher in the millennium, with its increasing and world-wide blessings for all nations. BUSINESS BLOCK IN LIMA, PERU. Lima is called, "The city of the Kings.", The World To-Day says, "No capital in the world enjoys such a location combined with such advantages of climate." Among the great benefits obtained, will be those to the posterity of the ancient peoples who received especially choice regions of the earth by covenant promise from the Lord. Even though their children went astray and were dispossessed for periods of time, yet the promise everywhere was like this, "And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it." Hence those lands anciently designated in sacred and prophetic history as having been given of God to colonies and tribes of his chosen people, will again be inhabited by them in a happy gathering to the old home scenes. Not only will their lands be restored to their original fertility and prosperity, but in the millennium they will be de veloped to the higher degree, and those regions will become the dwelling places of millions of happy peoples, who, by God's blessing over all, by every art, by every possible invention of man, and by every discovery of science, will reach the sublimest state of peace with all its blessings and benefits, under the providence of God and the rulership of Christ the Son as the great Prince of Peace. After writing those papers it had been my hope to compile many historical and statistical facts from different sources about the ancient lands of the Nephites; namely, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, and indeed about other regions of South America which are closely connected. And these also may be counted as within the covenant, and fully so in the one that includes all lands as to be "blessed by and by" much more completely than they are now. And as the writer has been comforted and encouraged by the already fulfilled portions of sacred prophecy, and by the evidences and increasing proofs that much greater blessings are not far off in fulfillment, so also he desires that others who may not have looked up these evidences shall have their attention called to the fast accumulating proofs of what is before us. For all should rejoice in unison while watching for the further evidences as they unfold before our eyes. We need to see the great truth that "the moving hand of God" is working out the divine will and purpose to bring to pass the redemption of the earth from sin's power, also the immortality and eternal life of man. For assuredly, the whole earth shall "be filled with his glory," and "he (Christ) shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth." Under the glorious reign of the Prince of Peace all nations will rejoice and will be glad to "call him blessed."" All believers in the Book of Mormon know that there are sufficient proofs in that book that the Lord regarded some portions at least, of South America as being very fertile and choice regions in which to dwell. Therefore he led, by revelation and promise, two colonies to the Western Continent about twenty-five hundred years ago, and finally both were merged into one people, either in Ecuador or Colombia, as they are now called. To one of them he spoke saying: "And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands."-1 Nephi 1: 19. Further along in Nephi's account mention is made of the "promised land," and that which should be after they arrived there; and the history shows that finally they reached the promised land and there began to sow their grains and seeds and till the earth. Still later we read that Lehi said: "We have obtained a land of promise, a land which is choice above all other lands; a land which the Lord God hath covenanted with me should be a land for the inheritance of my seed. Yea, the Lord hath covenanted this land unto me and to my children for ever."-2 Nephi 1: 1. Very likely the titles "choice land" and "promised land" were intended to include all the Americas, South America, where they landed and dwelt so long, Central America, and North America, that is the word choice taking in all the fertile and beautiful lands in all of America. But modern discovery shows that the word choice particularly fits a large part of the regions where the Nephites dwelt for five hundred years and where their descendants prospered for about fifteen hundred years longer, until the Spaniards despoiled them of their wealth, slaughtered them, and drove the remainder to despair and ruin. However, as they had been divinely led to South America, and were then there, and for centuries remained in South America, we must believe that the promise and the covenant embraced much of that broad land as being within the contract made by the Almighty with the Lehi colony as to be a blessed and a bountiful land for his people; also for their eternal, at least their millennial, inheritance as well as for their immediate possession. Evidently the meaning of the words for ever found in the above quotation from Lehi, did not have all its fulfillment during the five hundred years that they dwelt in Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. Now we find in the published works of archeologists, discoverers, and historians, not only sufficient, but also abundant proof of the former great value of the South American possessions of the ancient inhabitants. Undoubtedly those ancients were the Lehi-Nephi colony and their posterity. And I will quote from the writings of learned antiquarians and travelers about the past greatness before proceeding to the proofs of the present condition and prospective excellence and glory of those regions in the near future. Such a future is being freely predicted by present-day students and scientists, and these men are now visiting, inspecting, and writing up what they discover. And from the present condition of improvement they are judging the coming years, that they will be glorious, both to lands and to peoples. PERU. The earliest glimpse that we obtain of Peru, the most ancient historical tradition of its settlement by man, has been gathered from the writings of Ferdinand Montesinos, a Spanish scholar who was sent to Peru by the king of Spain in 1630. He made an extensive and careful study of the traditional history of that land, and his two manuscript books were taken to Spain and placed in the archives at Madrid. And there they remained for about two hundred years. Finally a French scholar was permitted to translate one of them into the French language, and it was published in France about 1840. The first extracts from it in the English language that I have been able to find, were given in 1872 in Prof. J. D. Baldwin's Ancient America. He states that Montesinos had "the best possible opportunities for observation," and that no one exceeded him in archæological knowledge of Peru. Then comes Professor Baldwin's very valuable statement as to what Montesinos discovered in a historical way, as found in Montesinos' manuscript. It is as follows: "According to Montesinos, there were three distinct periods in the history of Peru. First, there was a period which began with the origin of civilization and lasted until the first or second century of the Christian era. Second, there was a period of disintegration, decline and disorder. . . . Third, and last, came the period of the Incas, who revived civilization and restored the empire."-Ancient America, p. 264. But the most important agreement between Montesinos and the Book of Mormon is stated by Professor Baldwin on the same page as the above. His quotation is a statement that the origin of the ancient Peruvian nation was "a people led by four brothers who settled in the valley of Cuzco and developed civilization in a very human way. The youngest of these brothers assumed supreme authority and became the first of a long line of sovereigns."-Ancient America, p. 264. The Book of Mormon was copyrighted in New York on June 11, 1829, which was a number of years before the above very remarkable statement was printed, even in the French language, and many years before it saw light in any English book. I own a copy of the original edition of the Book of Mormon, printed in 1830, and it has the same statement as later editions have, viz, that Lehi's four sons who came from Jerusalem with him were Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi, and that Nephi became the leader, and indeed "the first of a long line of sovereigns," just as stated by Montesinos, that he found in Peruvian traditional history. And Jacob 1:2 says that those who succeeded in rulership were called "second Nephi, third Nephi, etc." Professor Baldwin states that Montesinos wrote a list of "sixty-four successive sovereigns who reigned during the first period." But the Book of Mormon only gives the names of the men who kept the sacred record and who wrote the history they handed down. It does not give the name of any ruler until the first Mosiah, and he did not reign until about four hundred years after the colony left Jerusalem. The second Mosiah, grandson of the first, died in the five hundred and ninth year, after ruling thirty-three years, as recorded in Mosiah 13:7. However, it is evident that the four brothers were together in southern Peru, in the valley of Cuzco, probably immediately after their landing in South America, because the Book of Mormon gives no account of their removing together from their first location. The first removal recorded is that of Nephi, Sam, Jacob, Joseph and others who in a new region made the nucleus of the real Nephite people. This separation took place so soon after the colony landed that we are warranted in believing that it was the first separation, and that the Nephites then went further north in Peru, or possibly into Ecuador. Of the second four brothers, the youngest (Joseph) did not become ruler. Hence it was the first four who located in the valley of Cuzco, as Montesinos claims, and there they became divided by the withdrawal of the Nephite portion. The Book of Mormon states that the Nephite people prospered in agriculture, in mining, in manufacturing many implements and articles, also that they made clothing, carried on the arts of trade, and attained to some degree of commerce among themselves. Scientific men of our time have advocated that probably the ancients used ships on the Gulf of Mexico, and they find traditions that vessels were used on the Pacific in very olden time: And, as for the ancient cultivation of the soil in Peru and north, there is great proof, so say learned men. In one cyclopedia, I find the following clear statement: |