Of course the only punishment which is within the power of the church to inflict if the decisions of its councils or courts are not respected, is to disfellowship or excommunicate such offenders. In the former case the transgressor is merely suspended from the privileges of church communion; this punishment may be inflicted by the bishop, until satisfaction is made. In the latter case--excommunication--the person absolutely loses his membership in the church, together with all the priesthood he holds; and if he ever regains a standing it must be by baptism and confirmation as at first. To those who hold lightly their standing in the church, suspension of fellowship, or excommunication has no especial terror; but to the man of faith, whose full hopes of eternal life with all its advantages stand or fall with his standing in the church of Christ, no greater punishment can threaten him. The punishment of excommunication is a serious one in the estimation of the faithful, and since man in his imperfect state is influenced to righteousness by his fear of punishment, as well as by his hope of reward, the punishment of excommunication has a wholesome effect in preserving the discipline of the church. Such, in brief, is a description of the judiciary system of the church, and also of the church itself. And as one contemplates its completeness and its efficiency; the arrangements made for carrying on the work of God within the organized stakes of Zion and throughout the world--both at home and abroad--the wonder of it all grows upon him. And furthermore, a contemplation of the church judiciary system, the elaborate and yet inexpensive [15] arrangements made for dealing out even-handed justice to all, and making all, even the highest, amenable to its courts and its laws--gives intense meaning to the emphatic question of Paul--"Dare any of you having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust and not before the saints?" and also bears strong testimony to the deep wisdom that created it--a wisdom greater than that possessed by a youth reared in the rural districts of the state of New York!