Of the first class, the prophetic, the first Nephi stands out most prominently; for he gives such a vivid description of the leading outlines of Messiah's life and labors on the earth, that it makes one feel in very deed that "prophecy is but history reversed," for had he lived and written in the first century of the Christian are instead of the fifth century preceding it, I feel sure that he could not have been more vivid or exact in writing the life, mission and doctrines of the Son of God;[B] and all that he predicts is in strict accord with what is contained in the New Testament. [Footnote B: For the remarkable prophecies which foretell the events here alluded to, I refer my readers to the xi, xii, xiii and xvi chapters of I. Nephi, Book of Mormon.] Next to Nephi we may place King Benjamin, whose testimony is found in the book of Mosiah, chapter iii, and next to him, Abinadi, whose prophecies in relation to the coming and mission of Jesus, are contained in the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of Mosiah; and, lastly, Samuel, the Lamanite prophet, whose testimony is in the fourteenth chapter of Helaman. All these prophets give the outlines of the life and mission of Jesus Christ, and, as before stated, what they say is in strict accord with what is written in the New Testament, by those who witnessed the events that these prophets of the Western hemisphere foretold. On the other side of the line, that is, of the historical witnesses, they who lived at the time Jesus visited the western hemisphere and wrote an account of what took place, the III Nephi, the one whom the Lord made the chief of the apostles, is most conspicuous. He records the fact of Messiah's visit to the Nephites, after his resurrection and departure from his disciples in Judea; and gives a most particular account of the several visits of Jesus to his people, and of his organizing a church, after the pattern of the one organized in Jerusalem; also of the doctrines and moral precepts which he taught; in all of which there is a substantial agreement with what is recorded in the New Testament.[C] [Footnote C: The reader is recommended to read carefully the whole Book of III Nephi, and compare it with the teachings of the New Testament.]