"Your name shall be known among the nations; for the work which the Lord will perform by your hands shall cause the righteous to rejoice and the wicked to rage; with the one it shall be had in honor and with the other in reproach." (_Historical Record, page_ 362.) These prophetic sayings have had so literal a fulfilment that no further explanation is necessary. If the predictions here made were Joseph's own productions, and no angel of God had a part in it, is it not strange that every word of it should prove true? TRIBULATIONS PREDICTED. In 1831 the Saints were commanded to gather to Jackson County, Mo., which was designated as a land of inheritance for the Saints in the last days, and also as the identical spot where they should build that great city, the New Jerusalem, about which the ancient Prophets and Saints had sung, prayed and rejoiced so much. Joseph Smith had just arrived in that {97} goodly land, together with a number of his brethren, when a revelation, containing some very strange sayings was given on the 1st of August, 1831. The Lord said: "Hearken, O ye Elders of my Church, and give ear to my word, and learn of me what I will concerning you, and also concerning this land unto which I have sent you. For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he _that is faithful in tribulation_, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven. Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning these things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall _follow after much tribulation_. For after much tribulation cometh the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand. Remember this, which I tell you before, that you may lay it to heart, and receive that which shall follow." (Doc. and Cov., lviii: 1-5.) Here is an opportunity for sound reasoning. If Joseph Smith was an impostor, and if he was trying to carry out a scheme with a view to benefit himself financially; or if he was ambitious and seeking for vain glory or the honor of men, could anything be more absurd than to predict troubles and difficulties, when none such were immediately apparent. If a schemer was doing that which Joseph on that occasion was doing, namely, planting a colony of his followers in one of the most desirable sections of country within the borders of the United States, would he not have enlarged upon the prospects ahead and predicted success and prosperity instead of difficulties and tribulations? Most assuredly he would. But Joseph spoke as he was directed by the Lord, and his own desires or ambition, if any such he possessed, cut no figure in the matter.