The Prophet Joseph instructed the Twelve and the Elders, in preaching the Gospel, not to tear down the tenets of other men's faith, but in the spirit of meekness explain the Gospel and bear testimony to its divinity, leaving all mankind absolutely the keeper of their own consciences, to do as they please and meet the responsibility of their own acts at the bar of eternal justice. Neither should it be forgotten that much of the labor of mankind, without a knowledge of the Gospel, in many respects has been directed by a divine Providence to ameliorate the condition of mankind. "There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding." The achievements of the reformation by Luther and others, the inventions of the printing press, of electrical machinery, the locomotive and the steamboat, the discovery of America, the revolution, the rounding, establishment and perpetuity of our civil government in the United States, all were events preparing the way for the restoration of the Gospel and the final establishment of the kingdom of God in these last days. A striking instance of divine purpose in the labors of men outside the true church is pointed out in a revelation given in December, 1830, to Joseph Smith, Jr., and Sidney Rigdon. The Lord said: "Behold, verily, verily, I say unto my servant Sidney, I have looked upon thee and thy works. I have heard thy prayers and prepared thee for a greater work. Behold, thou wast sent forth, even as John, to prepare the way before me, and before Elijah, which should come, and thou knewest it not. Thou didst baptize by water unto repentance, but they received not the Holy Ghost. But now I give unto thee a commandment, that thou shalt baptize by water, and they shall receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, even as the apostles of old." (Doctrine and Covenants, sec. xxxv, 3-6.) The revelation given December, 1830, from which the above is quoted, was upon the occasion of the first visit of Sidney Rigdon and Edward Partridge to the prophet Joseph Smith. The labors of Sidney Rigdon, referred to in the quotation, must have alluded to his ministry in the Campbellite church, for he had been in the Church of Christ only about six weeks when this revelation was given, having embraced the Gospel at the hands of Parley P. Pratt and fellow missionaries near Kirtland, Ohio, late in October or early in November, 1830.