Within that period it has fallen to the lot of the "Mormon" Church to make more history than any other religious denomination of modern times. Ridicule has laughed at it; Satire has mocked it; Bigotry has refused to hear its defense; Hatred has slandered it; Intolerance has armed the red, right hind of persecution against it; the Government of the United States has seized upon and escheated its property; Mob Violence has opposed its promulgation by murdering its missionaries and driving its devotees from city to city, from county to county, from state to state; and the Civil Authorities refusing the protection guaranteed alike in state and national constitutions, at last permitted those who accepted its faith to be exiled from their native country. "Mormonism," however, has survived not only the violence which murdered its prophets, burned the houses of the Saints, laid waste their fields and destroyed their temples, but also an exodus which, for the distance covered and the dangers encountered, has not a parallel in ancient or modern history. Its followers settling in a desert land a thousand miles from the frontiers of civilization, like drilled cohorts made war upon the sterile elements of the inter-Rocky Mountain region, and like magic there sprang into existence, as the result of their untiring efforts and divine blessing, cities, towns, hamlets; temples, churches, schoolhouses; peaceful homes surrounded by fruitful fields and gardens and orchards, which, with the peace and good order everywhere prevailing, challenge the admiration of all who become acquainted with the Saints and the land they inhabit. Meantime, the Elders of the Church, full of sublime faith and trust in God, without purse or scrip, have visited nearly all the nations of the earth and have preached the gospel to them. Not, perhaps, with that nice skill and polish which refined education in renowned institutions of learning may give, but in the power and demonstration of God's Holy Spirit; and nearly every nation under the whole heaven has given to the new faith some of its sons and daughters. By reason of this missionary work "Mormonism" is becoming recognized in the earth as one of the potent religious forces of the age, and as such claims the right to be heard in this Parliament, in giving expression to its faith and distinguishing characteristics.