''i'^^,\ j>W. i (Vl I "' ; 1 ; W ,\ 
 
 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 ALBERT & CHARLES HULL 
 MEMORIAL ENDOWMENT 
 
Cornell University Library 
 3X8678.L94 A3 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 029 467 382 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis bool< is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029467382 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 
 
AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 OF' 
 
 ELDER JOSEPH LUFF, 
 
 ONE OF THE 
 
 TWELVE APOSTLES 
 
 OP THE 
 
 Reorganized Church or Jestjs Christ of 
 Latter Day Saints. 
 
 LAMONI, iowa: 
 
 HERALD PUBLISHING HOUSE., 
 
 1894. 
 
WHOSE TOILINa FINGERS FED AND WHOSE PRATERS AND' 
 
 TEARS ENLISTED HEAVEN'S GRACE TO SAVE 
 
 HER WAYWARD EOT; 
 
 AND 
 
 Td my WifEj 
 
 WHOSE PATIENT TOIL AND CHEERFUL SACRIFICE NOW 
 FREES MY LIFE FOI^ GOSPEL SERVICE, 
 
 THIS HUMBLE VOLUME IS APFECTIONATELT 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Emeeson has said, "There is for every man a 
 statement possible of that truth which he is most 
 unwilling to receive — a statement possible, so 
 broad and pungent, that he cannot get away from 
 it, but must either bend to it or die of it." 
 
 Looking out upon the world as we find it to-day, 
 upon the mind of the thoughtfully observant indi- 
 vidual, (the individual who knows that in the 
 gospel plan Of salvation the truth and righteous- 
 ness of God is revealed,) is forced the conviction 
 that there is no truth men are so unwilling to 
 admit as this great fundamental one upon which 
 the destiny of the human family depends. 
 
 For the world's great and urgent needs, men are 
 seeking, in every direction save this, a remedy. 
 Of the stupendous social problems growing out 
 of these urgent needs they are diligently seeking 
 solutions ; and, above all, because inseparably 
 connected with all, they are seeking to quench 
 their thirst from broken cisterns and refusing to 
 draw from the wells of living water. 
 
 It is because of these deeply seated convictions 
 that this volume is published; and the hope near- 
 est the heart of its author in giving it to the world 
 
viii PEEFACE. 
 
 is that in it the statement of the grand and soul- 
 inspiring truths of the gospel of Christ may be 
 put in such a way as to make it impossible for 
 some, at least,' to "get away from them." 
 
 Various minds are reached in various ways. 
 The wriier of this preface remembers well the 
 fascinating power which biography always 
 possessed for her, especially in her youth, and 
 hence has urged the author to preserve his plain, 
 unvarnished story in a more lasting form than 
 that of a magazine article. 
 
 In these pages the author, taking you by the 
 hand, leads you side by side with him along the 
 rough and thorny paths of toiling poverty, sure 
 pledge to those who do not know him (for those 
 who know him do not need this pledge) that his 
 tender sympathies are ever enlisted upon the 
 side of those who toil and suffer; that to him the 
 knowledge of another's need ever comes as a 
 personal appeal. 
 
 An eminent writer has said, "If I wanted to 
 teach a man, I would let loose a life at him. 
 Words are weak, but the logic of a life is irre- 
 sistible." In these pages the reader will com- 
 pany with one upon whom "a life was let 
 loose" while yet a boy, one who very early 
 was compelled to assume the responsibility 
 which Wendell Phillips calls "educating" and 
 to contend with the poverty of which Garfield 
 said, "It is uncomfortable, as I can testify," 
 and in the outcome of this history they will 
 
PEEFACE. ix 
 
 find an added proof of the assertion, ' 'but in nine 
 cases out of ten the best thing that can happen to 
 a young man is to be tossed overboard and com- 
 pelled to ^sink or swim for himself. In all my 
 acquaintance," he adds, "I never knew a man to 
 be drowned who was worth the saving." 
 
 In this kind of literature, our church is all too 
 poor, and we ought, as a people, to welcome 
 gladly this addition to our meager supply; for 
 each separate chapter will be found rich in expe- 
 riences all tending to the encouragement of those 
 who are climbing upward along life's uneven 
 pathway. 
 
 Nor is this all, but in its pages will be found a 
 tribute so tender and true to woman as mother and 
 wife as can but inspire in the hearts of those who 
 read an earnest desire to be worthy of the same 
 from their own sons and husbands. 
 
 It is a book which from the first page to the last 
 cannot fail of carrying with it the assurance of 
 earnestness of purpose and adherence to the truth 
 of convictions, no matter how trying the circum- 
 stances, and it is our firm conviction that it will be 
 blessed of God to the enlightening of many and to 
 the bringing many to a knowledge of the truth. 
 
 Frances. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 Piige 
 
 Elder Joseph Luff (Frontispiece). 
 
 Mrs. Ann Devine (Elder Luff's Mother). 21 
 
 Elder Lijff and Family. . . 313 
 
 'Chapter. 
 
 I. An Ominous Greeting . . .1 
 
 II. Kith and Kin . . . 8 
 
 III. Earliest Recollections . . .21 
 
 IV. Signs Indicative ... 37 
 V. Capering Nature . . . .61 
 
 VI. From Nature to Grace . . 79 
 
 VII. New Responsibilities . . .94 
 
 VIII. Approaching the Truth . . Ill 
 
 IX. Into the Sunlight . . . . 133 
 
 X. Getting Experience . . . 160 
 
 XI. "Differences of Administration" . 190 
 
 XII. "The Manifestation of the Spirit" . 212 
 
 XIII. First Mission to Utah . . . 227 
 
 XIV. From West to East . . .247 
 ': XV. From East to West . . .270 
 XVI. Notes by the Way. — Promotion . "• 291 
 
 XVII. New Fields and Duties . . . 313 
 
 SERMONS. 
 
 Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood 
 
 OP Man ..... 329 
 
 The Modern Stumbling-stone . . 349 
 
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 AN OMINOUS GREETING. 
 
 There's something in a noble boy, 
 
 A brave, free-hearted, careless one, 
 
 With his unchecked, unbidden joy. 
 
 His dread of books and love of fun, 
 
 And in his clear and ready smile, 
 
 Unshaded by a thought of guile. 
 
 And unrepressed by sadness — 
 
 Which brings me to my childhood back, 
 
 As if I trod its very track, 
 
 And felt its very gladness. 
 
 N. P. Willis. 
 
 Has the evening of October 31 in any of 
 the years of the last half century ever found 
 the reader in a Canadian city? If so, his 
 memory will be revived by what is here re- 
 cited. If not, he will, perhaps, be surprised 
 to learn that on that night, throughout the 
 Dominion and also in all other places where 
 Scotch and English traditions obtain, things 
 
 terrestrial get into a strange uproar. 
 1 
 
2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 The monotony of a year's associations and 
 quietude is suddenly broken, and every mova- 
 ble thing seems to be seized with an irresistible 
 impulse to go off at a tangent. Wagon 
 wheels start from the old familiar axle, round 
 which they have contentedly revolved for a 
 year, and are found next morning sheltered 
 among the spreading branches of some distant 
 oak or chestnut tree. Wheelbarrows climb to 
 the top of neighboring barns, garden gates 
 and shed doors go off on a pilgrimage and 
 only return upon arrest by their original 
 owners, their whereabouts having been learned 
 after days of diligent quest. Balls of twine 
 climb out of the merchants' store drawers and 
 find their way to some dark street, where 
 they attach to door-knobs on one side and 
 bell-knbbs on the other. Chimney flues sud- 
 denly refuse to conduct the smoke from fires 
 below and transform themselves into resting 
 stools for renegade window-shutters-, or furnish 
 shelter to some fugitive garden hose that has 
 sought refuge in their sooty retreat. 
 
 Nor are these strange phenomena confined to 
 things inanimate. The family horse becomes 
 discontented with his native stall and normal 
 attitude, and, wandering off at midnight, seeks 
 a neighboring woodshed or factory, into which 
 he deliberately backs himself and pulls the 
 
BLDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 3 
 
 door close after him. There he meekly 
 stands till invited out by the astonished host 
 in the morning. Goats effect an entrance to 
 distant cellars and familiarize themselves with 
 the glassware and canned goods therein, for 
 which liberty they bow their apologies next 
 morning and obtain permission to leave 
 unmolested. Cows become bewildered and 
 mistake the velvety lawn adjoining some 
 convenient parsonage for their accustomed 
 pasture and assume the liberties of the place. 
 Pigs go picnicing in biped reserves, and fowls 
 are frequently found roosting on office desks 
 at late hours on November i. Cats varnish 
 their tails with coal tar, tie their feet in pairs, 
 and quietly drop backward into grandpap's 
 overcoat pocket, where they instantly begin a 
 solo that thrills the air with its melody to the 
 tune of "Mortals heed my plaintive cry," with 
 variations, till the atmospherte is blue and 
 grandpapa's hands are black, as he responds to 
 the appeal. Then the tune is changed, for 
 the old gentleman begins where the emanci- 
 pated feline leaves off, and in staccato tones 
 breaks into a melody that ends with, "Hades! 
 quick 1 thy vengeance hurl," or something 
 equally expressive. Here and there an odd 
 dog escapes the contagion ; but it is only 
 where he 'has been assigned a special post of 
 
4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 duty, and where the witches (for prudential 
 reasons, unnecessary to explain) do not exert 
 their subtle influence. 
 
 Even vegetation is found in sympathy, for 
 cabbages wrench themselves from the soil and 
 turn up their stalks appealingly to the passing 
 hordes of boys, as if agonizing to be relieved 
 thereof Touched by the earnestness of such 
 appeals the generous lads rush in, and, with 
 an alacrity unknown to our jury system, sever 
 the Gordian knots, thus relieving the suppliant 
 head; then, seizing the divorced stalks with 
 which to arm themselves against the floating 
 elves, they parade the streets, shouting, "Hal- 
 loween ! Halloween ! !" to warn the inhabitants. 
 This course is pursued through the principal 
 streets ; but, upon entering those avenues 
 where the balls of twine have adjusted them- 
 selves, as already intimated, the juveniles post 
 themselves, each before a door, and, at a 
 given signal, the cabbage stalks begin an 
 irregular tattoo on the panels. This lasts less 
 than a minute, but the inhabitants thus 
 aroused rush to the doors, and all along either 
 side of the street they busy themselves in 
 ringing up their neighbors over the way. 
 Merchants respond to the hoodlum cry that 
 rends the street air, and dump the contents of 
 their apple barrels on the outer pavement to 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 5 
 
 be scrambled for and consumed hurriedly, by 
 the clamoring juveniles. 
 
 Early in the evening children gather in the 
 kitchen round a wash tub, half filled with 
 water, on the surface of which floats a number 
 of apples. Kneeling on the floor, and with 
 hands bound behind them, they reach their 
 heads over the sides of the tub and duck for 
 the apples, each vying with the other in an 
 effort to catch the dodging fruit and bring it 
 out in their mouths. In the dining room 
 apples are suspended from the ceiling at the 
 end of long cords, and set in motion. At 
 either end of the sweep stands one or more 
 boys or girls, with jaws distended, eager to 
 seize the oscillating fruit, but more frequently 
 doomed to develop a lump or blister through 
 miscalculation, as the apple plants itself with 
 emphasis on the upper lip. At midnight the 
 maidens rise and perform some antiquated 
 ceremonies requisite to getting a glimpse in 
 dream of prospective husbands, while old 
 wives try to swallow red herrings whole, at a 
 single gulp, to exorcise the stalking demons 
 and obtain release from the fiats of fate. In 
 fact all nature seems agog. 
 
 Days and sometimes weeks elapse before 
 the country recovers fully from the effect of 
 this annual masquerade of the witches ; and 
 
6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 sometimes the wandering objects referred to 
 forget the landmarks of their journeying and 
 fail to ever return. 
 
 Such were the events and such was the 
 commotion in progress in Toronto, the 
 capital city of Upper Canada, when the writer 
 — forty years ago — made his advent among 
 mortals; and, without fail, in rain or shine, 
 the celebration of his birthday has been thus 
 faithfully observed each following year to 
 date. Who, then, among those to whom his 
 present faith is such a delusion, can wonder 
 that one born in the midst of such baneful 
 surroundings, with superstition thickening the 
 very atmosphere, should become, in later 
 years, an easy prey to the "mysterious influ- 
 ences of that crowning superstition which 
 ensnared so many thousands of earth's inno- 
 cents." Surely if people were better informed 
 as to the character of the goblins that 
 heralded my coming they would condone the 
 eccentricities that characterize my stay. Or, 
 on the other hand, they might conclude that if 
 
 Demon spell and human skill, 
 Combined, could not disturb us, 
 
 It must be that, in Sovereign will, 
 We've been spared for a purpose. 
 
 However it may be, the writer is here, and 
 in the following chapters will be found a brief 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 7 
 
 mention of some of the circumstances by 
 which the course of his pilgrimage has been 
 influenced. No effort will be made to extol 
 or debase himself in the reader's estimation. 
 No attempt will be made to meet the 
 exactions of literary critics. The bad with 
 the good may be unskillfully interblended, yet, 
 if the medley but represents in miniature the 
 facts of a life, and that life be the writer's, it 
 is at least true to its design. The conscious- 
 ness that a divine hand has led him, and the 
 hope that his brief recital may help to nerve 
 the faltering trust of his youthful readers, 
 together with the intent that some older eyes 
 may detect hopeful signs in other boys whose 
 effervescent mischief invites upon them so 
 many maledictions, are the incentives to the 
 publication. 
 
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 KITH AND KIN. 
 
 Sometime when all life's lessons have been learned, 
 
 And sun and stars forevermore have set, 
 The'things which our weak judgment here has spurned. 
 
 The things o'er which we grieve with lashes wet, 
 "Will flash before us out of life's dark night, 
 
 As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue; 
 And we shall see how all God's plans were right. 
 
 And how what seemed reproof was love most true. 
 
 Anon. 
 
 My father, John Luff, was born in Sussex, 
 England, in 1818, and at a very early age left 
 his home, migrated to America, and settled in 
 Toronto, where he remained till his death, in 
 1865. Of his parents 1 know nothing, save 
 that they were reported to have been poor 
 but industrious people. His father died while 
 he was but an infant and his mother a few 
 years later. Even of my father himself I 
 remember but little ; for my seventh year had 
 not been completed when he left our home; 
 and, though we met occasionally, he did not 
 return until the beginning of the year in 
 which he died. Just five months after his 
 return he was taken sick with what would 
 now be called pneumonia, and in one week 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 9 
 
 thereafter, on the twenty-third day of May, 
 while I was absent at my place of employment, 
 he passed away. What I had been in point 
 of benefit for years I was now in fact — 
 fatherless. 
 
 I do not know that my father had any 
 religion. I learn from mother th4t he favored 
 the Episcopalian form of faith and died in its 
 professsion. His long absence from home 
 (about six years) had the effect of alienating 
 the affection of his children, to a limited 
 degree at least, so that his command and 
 influence over them was not recognized by 
 me as fully after his return as it might other- 
 wise have been. With the circumstances 
 that attended his leaving and long absence I 
 never sought to become fully acquainted. 
 Being too young to sense the seriousness of 
 the matter at the time, I never made inquiry, 
 nor have I ever done so to this day. I know 
 he returned and died at home, and with his 
 dying breath bore testimony to the faithful- 
 ness of the good wife he was leaving a widow, 
 expressed sorrow that her goodness had not 
 been fully rewarded by him, and urged the 
 children to honor and obey her. These 
 things I learned from the lips of friends who 
 watched by his side when he closed his eyes 
 in death. 
 
10 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Some time after his marriage he was thrice 
 stricken with paralysis, which resulted in the 
 loss of his hearing, and my memory does not 
 recall a time when he could hear a sound of 
 any kind distinctly. All communication with 
 him was |Condueted by writing, except when 
 Ije could detect the words uttered by the 
 motion of the speaker's lips, at which he 
 became quite expert. 
 
 He was for years engaged solely in the 
 manufacture of shoe blacking and lucifer 
 matches, his chances for success remaining 
 quite fair until a large firm, backed by ample 
 capital, entered the field and left him without 
 ability to compete in the market with its 
 wares. He continued, however, to follow his 
 business in a limited way as long as he lived, 
 engaging at intervals in such other work as 
 gave promise of remuneration to one in his 
 condition. Afflicted as he was he was an 
 object deserving sympathy, and as memory 
 portrays him before me to-day, I wish I had 
 loved him rnore, and that my boyhood 
 history contained no record of impudent 
 retort or stubborn resentment toward him; 
 but it does, and that which my riper years 
 and better sense condemns as havingf been 
 wrong, (though I was but a child,) may God 
 in his tender compassion forgive. He was 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 11 
 
 my father, and no mistake of his could ever 
 justify an unfilial word in me. It would be 
 consolation to me also could I know that he 
 was now aware of my" repentance. 
 
 My mother's maiden name was Ann 
 Garbutt. She was born in Yorkshire, Eng- 
 land, February 6, 1831, but was brought by 
 her parents, Joseph and Mary Ann Garbutt, 
 to Canada when she was but three years of 
 age. They settled in what was then known 
 as Muddy York, but what is now known as the 
 beautiful city of Toronto, situated upon the 
 Toronto Bay (or harbor) of Lake Ontar,io. 
 Her parents were poor ; but by dint of 
 economy and perseverance they succeeded in 
 raising their quite large family to manhood 
 and womanhood before the hand of death 
 removed them. Of the family left when they 
 died there were three sons and four daughters. ' 
 
 James, the oldest son, appears dimly before 
 my mind as I saw him once in Toronto, and 
 afterwards in Cincinnati, Ohio ; but of his 
 record I cannot speak from personal knowl- 
 edge as of others. His death occurred some 
 twenty or more years ago, neither the exact 
 date nor the cause being known to me. The 
 members of his family, at last account, were in 
 Cincinnati, where they probably still remain. 
 
 Joseph, the second son, a man whose Intel- 
 
12 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 lectual competency was such as to have fitted 
 him to grace almost any important position, 
 had opportunity or fortune even shown an 
 inclination to smile upon him, lived during 
 the greater part of his life in his native city ; 
 and many were the happy hours spent by the 
 writer in company with him, in conversation 
 upon such themes as called out the results of 
 his profound thought and extensive research. 
 He was a good man, and under the writer's 
 influence was led to unite with the Primitive 
 .Methodist Church, where he remained in 
 fellowship till 1882, when he too was taken 
 hence by death's hand, leaving a widow and 
 three sons. One of the sons remains in the 
 home city, one is in the new State of Wash- 
 ington, and the other in Detroit, Michigan. 
 
 Benjamin C, the youngest son, was of a 
 roving disposition and remained in one place 
 no longer than was necessary to wear off the 
 novelty of its attractions. When in the city 
 he always made his home with my mother, 
 and this gave me excellent opportunity to get 
 acquainted with him. He had a temper 
 characteristic of the family, or at least all the 
 members of it with whom I enjoyed intimate 
 acquaintance. It was prolific in words, 
 vehement in expression, and collapsed before 
 it had well started, always followed by deep 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 13 
 
 regrets, if ought of damage had been done to 
 the feelings of another. He was as generous 
 as he was jovial, and I used to think him the 
 "jolliest man alive." Finding me to be a "chip 
 off the Garbutt block," in point of mischief, he 
 took a peculiar fancy to me, and I was 
 generally found at his heels when it was 
 possible to have me there. 
 
 In return for my child service in running 
 short errands he gladdened my heart with 
 many a penny, and took delight in making 
 odd articles for my amusement. Only one 
 real bad thing do I remember of him. 
 The family cat had been guilty of some 
 depredation in the room he occupied, and 
 upon its discovery, he seized the unsuspecting 
 feline by what he called its "narrative," and, 
 going outside the door, whirled the poor thing 
 around his head several times and then let go 
 hurling Tabby to the other end of the garden. 
 As I stood watching that cat sail through the 
 air, without fin or feather to propel her, I 
 thought it would be safest for me not to make 
 Uncle Ben mad while I was small and wing- 
 less, and I didn't. 
 
 He never married. In 1869 or 1870 he left 
 Canada for California. He also left a blank 
 in ' the writer's heart and life that long 
 remained unfilled. O, how I secretly wished 
 
14 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 that I was big enough to go with him, for 
 California had a wonderfully fascinating sound 
 in my ear after hearing him talk about it. 
 
 Ten years afterward — in 1879 — when the 
 Reorganized Church sent me as a missionary 
 to the Rocky Mountain mission, I gathered 
 ■together several documents and letters re- 
 cently received, determined on going to 
 Carson City, Nevada (where I learned he had 
 located), before coming East again. My love 
 for him was still alive, and I wanted him to 
 see his nephew a man, and let him hear from 
 that little boy's lips the story of the restored 
 gospel ; but in this 1 was grievously disap- 
 pointed, for I had not been three months in 
 Utah before the tidings reached me that 
 Uncle Ben was dead. A stranger at Bodie, 
 California, wrote and sent papers certifying to 
 the fact, also forwarded his, Bible to my 
 mother. Mother then raised money and sent 
 it to put a headstone over his grave. Whether 
 it has been placed there or not I have not 
 learned ; but whether marked or unmarked, 
 there is a spot of earth in Bodie that is dear 
 to my thoughts and must ever remain so till 
 the trumpet's blast shall call forth the sacred 
 relics it entombs. By his merry spirit and 
 generous hand many a gleam of sunlight was 
 turned in upon my boy-life ; and while 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 15 
 
 memory holds its seat, 'twill always reserve a 
 verdant spot for jolly Uncle Ben. 
 
 Rachel, the oldest daughter, married John 
 Goodall, a thrifty farmer, residing near 
 Toronto, but afterwards removed to the 
 township of Garafraxa, close to where the 
 town of Bellwood is now located. There 
 they settled on a tract of land and remained 
 till their retirement recently from the toil and 
 responsibility incident to farm life. The old 
 farm is rented to their Son Thomas, who is at 
 present mayor of Bellwood. Another son, 
 James, conducts a grain and cattle business in 
 the same town, and one daughter, Dillie, is 
 the wife of William Hamilton, and resides 
 somewhere in Washington. The other, re- 
 maining daughters, Rachel and Mary Ann, 
 are happily married and located near their 
 parents' present residence and close to the 
 old homestead. Prosperity smiled upon the 
 toil, patience, honesty, economy, and perse- 
 verance of my aunt and uncle, and they are 
 to-day exempt from the necessity to work and 
 worry. May they long continue to enjoy 
 their well-earned rest is the wish of the 
 nephew whose religious notions they have 
 such grave suspicions about. 
 
 Martha, the next daughter, married a Mr. 
 Spencer, with whom I never became ac- 
 
16 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 quainted, and who afterwards died. Later, 
 she married a widower named Neil C. Love, 
 one of the best men I ever knew, and to whom 
 reference will be made further on. His 
 business in Toronto was that of a chemist 
 and druggist, in which he prospered and 
 accumulated considerable wealth. He also 
 held prominent positions in the city's gift, 
 being alderman for fifteen years, also magis- 
 trate, and was frequently solicited to accept 
 various other honorable positions, but de- 
 clined. Through the extremities of our early 
 home life I frequently obtained views of his 
 generous nature, and as years passed had 
 opportunity to learn that he was one of the 
 number whose history proves the correctness 
 of the words of inspira.tion, "The liberal soul 
 shall be made fat." A man against whose 
 record no word or hint of suspicion was ever 
 heard; and when, with the suddenness char- 
 acteristic of apoplectic attacks, his earthly 
 career was terminated a few years ago, the 
 immense city was in tears and mourned its 
 irreparable loss, while the newspapers teemed 
 with unstinted eulogium of the dead. A good 
 man — a noble spirit went to the reward of its 
 earth-service. 
 
 His widow and seven children remain, three 
 of whom were the fruits of his former mar- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 17 
 
 riage. With a possible exception, all of these 
 are in positions of honor and emolument, and, 
 with wealth like a luxurious garden around 
 them, they pass their years free from the 
 cares incident to reverse conditions. ' To their 
 pleasure and plenty the writer only hopes 
 there may be added the richer possessions 
 that strew the pathway of obedience to Christ 
 and his gospel, the undimmed realities of 
 which stretch far beyond all mortal limitations 
 and remain coequal with the years of God. 
 
 Mary, the youngest daughter, married Mr. 
 Wallace Millichamp, of Toronto, one of the 
 shrewdest and most successful business men 
 of that city, a man whose sole capital not 
 many years ago was his remarkable business 
 sagacity and indomitable will, by force of 
 which he has earned a fortune for himself 
 He, also, has served as city alderman and 
 been connected with numerous public enter- 
 prises. His immense showcase and silver 
 plating, also mantle and tile works, are among 
 the leading establishments of the country, 
 to which he has added other branches of 
 business. His success in wealth accumulation 
 has been phenomenal. Still in the prime of 
 life, his business energy shows no sign of 
 abatement, and just where ambition's goal is 
 by him located we may not surmise. 
 
18 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 Quite a large family has been given to 
 them, of whom four sons and two daughters 
 are still living; all of the former occupying 
 places of trust and profit, and promising to 
 follow close upon the heels of their fortunate 
 sire. The daughters are beautiful and prom- 
 ising, and they carry well the accomplishments 
 with which wealth and refinement of spirit 
 have so liberally endowed them. Could all'of 
 these but see and feel the splendor of God-life 
 that is revealed in the ancient gospel as again 
 committed to earth, how absolute would then 
 become the completeness of their possessions. 
 We wish for them no less of earth's, but more 
 of heaven's wealth. May it be theirs to 
 acquire eternal truth and reap its final glory. 
 
 The object of this brief reference to the 
 standing and character of mj' immediate 
 relatives may indistinctly appear as the reader 
 continues his perusal of the life-story thus 
 introduced. There is sometimes a measure 
 of satisfaction to be drawn from comparisons 
 such as this permits me to make. As I grew 
 up under the pressure of poverty's environ- 
 ments and looked out upon the condition and 
 surroundings of the relatives referred to, 
 whom I knew were free from the weights that 
 held me down, I frequently indulged in solilo- 
 quies that were full of complaint, dissatis- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 19 
 
 faction, bitterness, and even envy. My 
 ambition strengthened however, and my 
 determination as a lad became fixed to some 
 day be the peer of them all. I never lost 
 sight of that resolution till the gospel of the 
 Son of God subdued me. 
 
 As I take a retrospect now I stop to thank 
 God for interposing such events as deflected 
 the current of my life-purpose, and changed 
 my will. I still delight in reflecting upon 
 those earlier days ; but I look with diff"erent 
 eyes and feelings than I once did. We look 
 back, ofttimes, from the higher plane of ma- 
 tured experience and see the effects of early 
 contact with people and things; and the 
 intolerable mysticism that hung around the 
 awful then finds ample and satisfactory ex- 
 planation in the development of the great 
 now. How plain the lesson, but how slow 
 are we to learn it ! To-day will soon be 
 to-morrow's yesterday, and, if the past con- 
 tinues to repeat itself, we shall, from the 
 loftier plane of to-morrow, look back upon the 
 severe conflict and apparently unnecessary 
 inflictions of this hour and discover to our 
 delight that God's disciplinary programme 
 comprehended all the hidden necessities of 
 our character. 
 
 Let us but be sure that our righteousness 
 
20 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 is of the kind that entitles to a place in his 
 hand, then with an uncomplaining trust we 
 may patiently toil and wait for the dawn of 
 explanation day. "What I do thou knowest 
 not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." So 
 said Jesus to Peter, and so. the writer believes. 
 If the little advances in knowledge and 
 wisdom we make here justify such material 
 changes in our judgment of the past, and if it 
 be found that the crucible of earlier years 
 contributed most liberally to the spiritual 
 wealth of the present, may it not be- believed 
 that in the distant future, when it becomes 
 the eternal noxo, the true saint will stand side 
 by side with his "elder brother," and, from 
 the supreme heights of the celestial hills, look 
 back over the valley where his or her feet 
 now bleed, and, in the clearer light of divine 
 interpretation, see that the rocks of human 
 extremity, which once seemed so barren and 
 cold and cruel, were the spots where God 
 stood closer than at other times, and the soul 
 from thence took on immortal fatness, while 
 fed on manna fresh from heaven. Those 
 times, those places, will then challenge higher 
 estimate, and, as we scan the map of our 
 mundane pilgrirnage, I verily believe that 
 whenever the eye shall fall upon those 
 Gethsemanes we shall there dwell most lov- 
 ingly and praise most fervently. 
 
MRS. ANN DEVINE, 
 Elder Luffs Mother. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 BAELIEST RECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 The bravest battle that ever was fought, 
 
 Shall I tell you where and. when? 
 On the maps of the world you will find it not, 
 
 'Twas fought by the mothers of men. 
 
 Joaquin Milleb. 
 
 Such as this 
 Is many a poor one in her humble home, 
 Who silently and sweetly sits alone. 
 Pouring her life all out upon her child. 
 What cares she that he does not feel how close 
 Her heart beats after his — that all unseen 
 Are the fond thoughts that follow him by day 
 And watch his sleep like angels? 
 
 N. P. Willis. 
 
 The marriage between John Luff and 
 Ann Garbutt occurred on the 26th day of 
 May, 1847, the latter being but sixteen years 
 of age. As a result of this union seven 
 children were born, four of whom remain. 
 Two of the others passed away before their 
 ages were numbered by weeks, and one, 
 William James, lived to be nine months old, 
 when the ailments incident to teething termi- 
 nated his earth life. 
 
 Of the four children remaining, my Brother 
 John, now resident in Independence, Missouri, 
 
22 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 is the oldest. He was born in Toronto on 
 the nth day of July, 1850, and was therefore 
 two years and nearly four months old at the 
 time of my birth. My Sister Elizabeth Mary 
 (now wife of Bro. Thomas Hattey, of Inde- 
 pendence, Missouri), was born March 9, 1857, 
 and my youngest sister, Mattie Ann, on the 
 6th of July, 1859. The last named is now 
 the happy wife of Mr. Thomas Smellie, of 
 Toronto. In addition to these, two other 
 children were born as the fruit of mother's 
 subsequent marriage, to which reference will 
 be made later on. 
 
 Before my first year of life had been com- 
 pleted I was taken to the Methodist church, 
 of which mother was a member, and by her 
 turned over to the Rev. John Douse, then 
 minister in charge, who, from the miniature 
 Jordan improvised upon the pulpit for the 
 occasion, took a few drops of wat«r in his 
 hand, and, dropping them upon my forehead; 
 repeated a customary formula and pronounced 
 me baptized. Tiie venerable clergyman then 
 stretched forth his arms before the large 
 congregation, holding me firmly, and formally 
 consecrated me to God, concluding with an 
 earnest prayer that I might bear the name 
 given me, in honor, and like Joseph of old be 
 ever found valiant for the truth. 
 
ELDER. JOSEPH LUFF. 23 
 
 From the lips of my mother I learn of the 
 
 above circumstance, and with her I am fully 
 
 agreed that the good old parson's prayer on 
 
 that occasion was like hundreds of those now 
 
 being offered for "Pentecostal showers'' — it 
 
 comprehended more than he anticipated or 
 
 his church had room to contain; and if the 
 
 answer came at all, it must seek elsewhere for 
 
 shelter and for welcome than within the 
 
 smoky quarters and narrow limits of a modern 
 
 creed: — 
 
 "Full many a shaft at random setit- 
 Finds mark the archer never meant." 
 
 The ceremony thus observed answered the 
 parental conscience at that time, without 
 inflicting any. injury upon the ibabe, which 
 continued to grow and "wax fat," contentedly 
 ignorant as to the design of such maneu- 
 vering. 
 
 From infancy to the point where memory 
 begins its service, the years were passed as 
 are those of most rugged boys born of poor 
 parents in a big city. Mother's account leads 
 me to believe I was not lacking in the 
 elements that combine to make "music" in 
 the family. My brother, though older, was' 
 rather delicate;- and it became my lot to drop 
 in between him and trouble with the neigh' 
 borboys when juvenile altercations were in 
 
24 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OP 
 
 order, and such privileges gave me "no small 
 delight." Much of our mother's time was 
 taken up in nursing the sick ; and during the 
 great cholera scourge and smallpox epidemic 
 that swept over the city and resulted in such 
 terrible mortality, she was in constant de- 
 mand. I have heard those who knew her 
 well in those days tell of the horror and sur- 
 prise that was depicted on neighbors' faqes as 
 they saw her voluntarily go about from house 
 to house, nursing the sick and the dying and 
 laying out the dead, while many of the rela- 
 tives of the smitten ones would fly from the 
 dread contagion and leave their sick to die. 
 Everybody but mother expected she would 
 bring home the disease and destroy her chil- 
 dren ; but the hand that was over her life 
 when, amid the blackness of the plague, like 
 a ministering angel she moved, was also over 
 her little ones, and He to whose kind care 
 she commended them did his work well in 
 protecting them from the destroyer's power. 
 
 Years afterward the story of her heroism 
 was related in my hearing by those who had 
 witnessed it, and the effect of it was never 
 entirely lost. Many a time I have caught 
 myself wondering, as a child, what I could do 
 to show that her spirit lived in me. Can 
 anyone wonder at my being proud of such a 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 25 
 
 mother? What son would not feel his blood 
 course more warmly through his veins as he 
 listened to the recital of his mother's bravery? 
 The thought of that mother moving to and 
 fro among the dead and dying, performing the 
 humble services that looked toward an 
 alleviation of human agony, facing the deadly 
 peril that threatened, without a single thought 
 of self, while thousands of stronger women 
 and men were fleeing for life before the face 
 of the stalking pestilences, was an inspiration 
 that gave birth to holy resolve within me. 
 Others may point with greater assurance to 
 distinguished names and titles along their 
 ancestral lives and boast of honored lineage ; 
 but to me my mother's self-sacrificing devo- 
 tion to humanity's interests during those 
 perilous months is evidence enough of royal 
 blood. I say it unhesitatingly, that a hundred 
 times in my early life I have been kept from 
 doing improper things by the thought that I 
 bore that mother's name. 
 
 Just when my schooling began I do not 
 know; but I remember with what ease I 
 learned to read and spell, and what impa- 
 tience I used to feel while standing up in 
 class and having to wait while some other 
 boys drawled along and blundered. History, 
 grammar, geography, and writing were quite 
 
26 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 another thing and entirely out of the range 
 of my ihclination. In fact I do not reme.mber 
 ever trying to learn them, though they were 
 pressed upon me with other studies. If by 
 any means it was possible they were avoided, 
 and the result was, that when compelled to 
 leave school at ten years of age, I could write 
 a barely readable hand, but was about as ig- 
 norant of those other three branches of study 
 as any boy who had not spent over two 
 months in school. What little I know of 
 grammar to-day comes of a natural faculty for 
 observation, and is solely of the practical 
 kin.d; book definitions, school theories, and 
 the like are .unknown to me. To parse a 
 sentence correctly and use book terms and 
 phrases in doing it would require a skill never 
 acquired by me. As for history and geogra- 
 phy, my acquaintance with them has been 
 limited to the actual necessities that this lat- 
 ter-day work has pointed out. I found no 
 trouble in keeping at the head of my class in 
 reading and spelling, and holding a fair aver- 
 age in arithmetic ; but the other matters were 
 seldom disturbed by my inquisitiveness ; in 
 fact they were despised. 
 
 My experience in Sunday school began 
 very early in life and for eleven years scarcely 
 a dozen entries were made against me for 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 27 
 
 absence, except when away from the city. 
 The credit for this is hardly due to me, how- 
 ever, for had my inclination been consulted; 
 the time thus occupied would have b^en spent 
 elsewhere. The trouble was, my poverty 
 always stood in the way of any pleasure tp be 
 found there. My pride suffered under the 
 exhibition of that poverty that was constantly 
 being made by contrast with my surroundings. 
 My clothes, though clean, were patched, and 
 fight it as I would, the conviction hung to me 
 that other boys shunned me because my attire 
 was not equal to theirs. Some of them were 
 not slow in making parade of their superi- 
 ority ; but my o\vn feeling was such as to 
 magnify every movement and construe every 
 utterance into a reflection upon ray appear-, 
 ance, whether it was so intended or not. 
 Several of them were rich and came from pala-. 
 tial homes, and my fancy led me to think the 
 teacher regarded them more highly than me, 
 on that account ; but there is nothing' too 
 mean or unreasonable for a boy of soured 
 feeling to think at such times. To learn was 
 no trouble for me, however, and I had my 
 revenge frequently in committing and reciting 
 more verses of Scripture than did they, by 
 which means I often ranked above them. 
 Anything that discomfited them was a grati- 
 
28 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF 
 
 fication to me, whether it was caused by the 
 above means or the accidental insertion of a 
 piece of cobbler's wax between them and the 
 seat. Fair means or foul — anything to take 
 the "starch" out of them and break the mo- 
 notony of Sunday school sessions for me. 
 Often since then I have wondered where the 
 teachers got their patience, and have wished 
 I could see them again and tell them that all* 
 their labor was not lost on that headstrong 
 and apparently good for nothing lad. 
 
 How thankful I have been, a thousand 
 times since then, that mother's word was law 
 with me in those days. My observation has 
 led me to believe that much is lost to willful 
 boys by overindulgence on the part of par- 
 ents in this regard. Had my wishes been 
 respected in the matters referred to, the pres- 
 ent would probably have had a different tale 
 to tell of my character and work. God only 
 knows. Suffice it for me to behold what 
 is, and bless the conditions that have con- 
 tributed thereto. 
 
 As already stated, my regular attendance 
 there was due to the fact that mother so 
 ruled. To disobey her was out of the ques- 
 tion. The benefits that have come to my 
 life in consequence of that ruling I can never 
 overestimate; nor can I find a place to stop 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 29 
 
 admiring her for it. It. is but one of a num- 
 ber of instances where her will and mine were 
 not at an agreement, and where submission 
 on my part was mortifying to the flesh ; but I 
 have since learned that a parent's eye can 
 discern and a parent's wisdom provide against 
 a host of ills that, unseen by him, threaten 
 the character of a mischievous and independ- 
 ent spirited boy. I never think of these 
 things now without blessing God for so excel- 
 lent a mother, and wishing that I could 
 impress upon the. youth of to-day the impor- 
 tance of yielding to parental government, and 
 thus preparing themselves for the benediction 
 of heaven in later years. 
 
 The work of providing for four children 
 was no trifle; but when it fell upon mother's 
 shoulders alone, because of my father's de- 
 parture from home, she assumed the task 
 without any murmuring that I ever heard, 
 and nobly continued it through long years 
 till relief came. It was no uncommon thing 
 for me to wake up long after midnight — 
 sometimes towards daybreak — and, looking 
 toward the light in the next room, see that 
 patient toiler, with swollen eyes and worn 
 fingers, plying the needle and thread, not 
 having had a wink of sleep. Cajling to her, 
 I would ask why she did not go to bed. 
 
30 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 ■There was but one answer to this. It came 
 so often that I learned it: "I must finish this 
 coat first. Go to sleep, my son, I will come 
 after awhile." And thus the years went by. 
 Day and night, the same patient, tired look 
 remained upon that face till my young heart 
 would rebel as I thought of wealth, wealth all 
 around, and yet my mother must be a' martyr 
 to such conditions. Whenever my thoughts 
 took words and she heard them, how she 
 would come with outstretched arms to catch 
 me in their embrace, and planting a kiss upon 
 my brow or lips would exclaim, "If my boy 
 only grows up to be a good man and to be 
 useful, his mother will be, O, so proud of him, 
 and so glad that she toiled alone for him and 
 the rest." 
 
 Reader, those words burn in my heart to- 
 day, and the tears break forth as I see even 
 now the look of joyous anticipation that ac- 
 companied their utterance. I can see those 
 tears and hear that benediction, "God bless 
 my children," whenever I think of mother, 
 and the former days. I can also remember 
 the joy akin to ecstacy that seized her when 
 on one occasion two ladies sent a small pres- 
 ent to each of us. The thought that some- 
 body' remembered her children was rapturous 
 to her. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 31 
 
 While the burden incident to providing 
 food and raiment for us fell thus upon her, 
 the domestic service rested with my brother 
 and myself, as my sisters were quite small. 
 We had the dishwashing, sweeping, dusting, 
 scrubbing, and woodcutting to attend to 
 regularly. The boy who can sit quietly by 
 the warm hearth or parlor fire and while away 
 his winter nights, amusing himself with pretty 
 books or toys, can hardly appreciate the ex- 
 periences here referred to. Some of my boy 
 readers may feel it quite an infliction to be 
 required on a winter's evening to run to the 
 ■coal house for a scuttle of coal or an armful of 
 wood; but if my Brother John and I could 
 have gotten off with such a moderate service, 
 we would have hailed the privilege as a fore- 
 taste of the millennium. It was a rare things 
 for us to have a huge pile of cordwood, either 
 cut or uncut, within a hundred feet of the 
 stove, to refer to as a replenisher. I remem- 
 ber once seeing a man drive into the yard 
 with a whole cord of wood on his wagon, and 
 our consternation was so great that we ran 
 pell-mell into the house to tell mother, whose 
 surjprise was not much less than our own; 
 but it was no mistake, for Uncle Love had 
 sent it,, without consulting us, as a present. 
 Our child eyes spread at the sight and the 
 
32 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 news, till it seems to me they must have 
 looked as big as his heart felt when he did 
 the kindly act. 
 
 It was a bonanza to John and myself and 
 we figured on the lasting quality of that pile 
 of wood with a satisfaction unknown to hosts 
 of boys nowadays. As already stated, it was 
 a rare thing to see such a quantity of wood 
 near our rear house door, and it meant won- 
 ders for us. No more need for trudging 
 through snow and sleet for firing while that 
 lasted, and we wished it might last forever; 
 but it didn't. We enjoyed it, however, for a 
 few weeks and then resumed the old custom 
 when necessity called for it. When enough 
 money could not be raised to buy a quarter 
 of a cord of wood at a time, John and I 
 would go a considerable distance to a wood 
 yard and buy three or four sticks, which we 
 would carry home in the cold and through 
 the snow and then cut it up. This was no 
 exceptional occurrence either. It became 
 part of the routine work of weeks sometimes. 
 And what a time we did have trading work. 
 John would buck the wood if I would scrub 
 the floor, sometimes; then I would trade him 
 marbles to do the sawing and leave me the 
 splitting, and in fancy I still see myself sitting 
 for fifteen minutes figuring out a trade to get 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. SB 
 
 rid of some unpleasant job that could be done 
 in perhaps ten minutes. 
 
 John was lean and long-winded while I was 
 short and fat, and he could outwear me on a 
 steady pull. My nervous nature would start 
 in when work had to be done and something- 
 had to give in a hurry ; but when my breath 
 gave out and the sweat would stand in great 
 beads on my red face, while, my heart thumped 
 against my ribs and my breath came and 
 went like steam puffs, I would stop and look 
 at the progress John was making. There he 
 would be, keeping up the regulation seesaw 
 gait, and seeing me stop he would probably 
 ask a little of my fat to grease his saw. 
 During my resting spells he would outstrip 
 me and it generally happened that his pile 
 was higher than mine at the finish, besides 
 having saved both his wind and perspiration. 
 Wood-sawing as a health recruiter is good 
 enough exercise; but the novelty of its hygi- 
 enic property wears off in a boy's imagination 
 when it becomes a daily prescription in such 
 proportion as we had to take it. The man 
 who pronounced medicine all right in its 
 place, but questioned the advisability of tak- 
 ing a washtub full a day was not far off In 
 fact, to be honest about it, my ambition never 
 reached out in the direction of wearing a 
 
 3 
 
34 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 badge as champion woodcutter. My opinion 
 on the subject agrees with that of Josh 
 Billings on boils. They may be a good thing 
 to wear, but the best place to wear them is on 
 the other fellow. The story was told me of a 
 small boy who was sent out about six o'clock 
 one morning to saw stove wood. About seven 
 o'clopk his father came to him and asked how 
 much he had done. Pointing to the stick 
 upon which his knee was planted, he replied: 
 "When I get this one cut, and that one over 
 there, and two more, I'll have four done, and 
 it's early yet." That boy was not entirely 
 without my sympathy. Of course this does 
 not speak for John, for he seldom complained 
 over his share of that kind of work. But 
 how we did barter and jangle about who 
 should wash and who should wipe the dishes, 
 especially when there was a kettle or two in 
 the consideration. Quite frequently mother's 
 interference would become a necessity at 
 these times and a mandate would be issued in 
 settlement. I would not, however, have the 
 reader suppose that the settlement was always 
 made by mandate. Occasionally something 
 more "impressive" was introduced by way of 
 variety and emphasis. 
 
 Our service as helpers at home was not 
 limited to the chores above referred to, for 
 
EEDEK JOSEPH LUFF. 35 
 
 there were often long errands to go upon in 
 delivering work done or calling for material 
 at the places for which tailoring work was 
 done by mother. Frequently the finishing of 
 a vest or a pair of pantaloons would occur 
 about eleven o'clock on Saturday night, and 
 they must be delivered when done. John and 
 I would go together, perhaps a mile or more 
 while mother remained at home to prepare 
 for Sunday. 
 
 It not seldom happened that our errands 
 included the purchase, on our return, of such 
 things as were necessary for Sunday's supply, 
 provided we were fortunate enough to "collect 
 on delivery" for the work done. Sometimes 
 we failed in this, and, of course, the character 
 of next day's dinner was affected somewhat 
 thereby; but we never missed a meal of some 
 kind so far as I can remember. 
 
 This kind of business drew, of course, very 
 heavily ypon our time for amusement; and 
 we used to wish that girls would grow 
 quicker, so that our sisters would the sooner 
 take the presidency of certain, departments of 
 domestic life and relieve us of the responsi- 
 bility. After deducting the school hours 
 there was not too much time between morn- 
 ing and night for sport, anyway; and when 
 even that was trenched upon to the above 
 
36 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 extent it cut deeply into either our chances 
 for fun or the hours for sleep. 
 
 To make matters worse, my brother was 
 taken down with some kind of a swelling in 
 one of his knees, which made it impossible for 
 him to get about conveniently. This lasted 
 several weeks; and he had not long recovered 
 when ulcers began to grow over his eyes and 
 he gradually lost his sight, until I had to lead 
 him about wherever he went. This added to 
 the load of work and took away the help that 
 had borne half the burden ; but, worse than 
 all, it added to the care and anxiety of our 
 mother, as Ayell as incurring expense that she 
 was ill able to meet. 
 
 How I used to vow my willingness to do 
 all the work and never dispute or quarrel 
 with him again if the Lord would only give 
 him back his sight. No means of determin- 
 ing whether my child petitions were heeded 
 or not are known to me; but the sequel 
 suited me, Drs. Aiken and Constantinides 
 were in constant attendance upon him, and 
 what with leeches and fly-blisters and a string 
 of internal remedies, they kept him a living 
 martyr for several months, but finally brought 
 him through to the delight of us all. When 
 he could really see clearly again, we had a 
 happy home and things began to assume a 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 37 
 
 more normal condition, and I allowed him to 
 do his full share of the work as before. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SIGNS INDICATIVE. 
 
 And when moved 
 By some sore needed, Providence, he stops 
 In his wild path and lifts a thought to heaven. 
 What cares the mother that he does not see 
 The link between the blessing and her prayer. 
 
 N. P. Willis. 
 
 ' 'Only a boy, with his fearless tread. 
 
 Who cannot be driven but must be led; 
 ******* 
 
 "Only a boy with his wild strange ways. 
 
 With his idle hours on busy days: 
 
 ******* 
 
 "Only a boy, who will be a man, 
 
 If nature goes on with her first great plan — 
 ******* 
 
 "Our torment our joy! 
 
 Only a boy. ' 
 
 Shortly after the completion of my tenth 
 
 year, it was necessary* for me to leave school 
 
 and go to work. Hearing that a dealer in 
 
 kerosene oil, lamps, etc., wanted a boy, I 
 
 applied for the place and was engaged at a 
 
 'salary of one dollar per week, my time to be 
 
38 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 occupied in running errands and doing all 
 kinds of chores incident to the business. 
 Here I remained for several months. My 
 employer, whose name was Kelley, was a very 
 fine man and a member of the Baptist 
 Church. His business was on a rather small 
 scale, and his capital limited, but he was 
 a man of large heart and kindly disposition. 
 I well remember how he made my boy-heart 
 leap for joy when on Thanksgiving eve he 
 handed me a great big dressed duck, and told 
 me to take it home to mother for Thanks- 
 giving dinner, and that I might have all the 
 day for a holiday. He was a man of small 
 stature; but that night he looked bigger than 
 anybody I had met for a long time. I ran 
 nearly all the way home, carrying my burden, 
 and went panting into the house, where the 
 duck was dropped on a table and I began a 
 recital of all the good things I knew about 
 Mr. Kelley to mother, who listened patiently 
 and agreed with me at last that he must have 
 been a boy himself once ; for he knew exactly 
 how to make boys feel jolly. There is some- 
 thing about the name,, Kelley, that sounds 
 musical or suggestive of pleasure yet, to me, 
 though all the Kelleys I have since met were 
 not Baptists, nor small of stature, nor dealers 
 in kerosene ; but that duck and that first 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. . 39 
 
 holiday (for which I received full pay), always 
 seem to belong by right with the name of 
 Kelley. 
 
 While working there I learned some good 
 lessons. On Christmas eve I was instructed 
 to fill a five gallon can with oil, polish up a 
 serviceable lamp, and get several other items 
 from the stock. After doing so, and putting 
 all into a large box, they were placed on a 
 small wagon and I was sent to the house of a 
 poor man on a distant street, with instruc- 
 tions to deliver the goods and when asked 
 who sent them to reply that Mr. Good Will 
 had done so, and to give no other name. I 
 did as directed, and wondered why my em. 
 ployer did not want his name divulged. 
 When he and his wife would afterwards men- 
 tion the circumstance the thought that they, 
 out of their limited store, had been able to 
 make some more needy ones happy, seemed 
 to fill them with delight. I question if the 
 receiver of those goods ever enjoyed a tithe 
 of the measure of joy that their benefactors 
 did over the gift. I have since learned that 
 Jesus was not mistaken when he said, "It is 
 more blessed to give than to receive." The 
 secret of true happiness is in trying to make 
 others happy. This truth, however, had not 
 then become fixed in my mind; hence the 
 
40 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 illustration of its force excited my curiosity; 
 but it paved the way for a more ready indorse- 
 ment of the truth when it afterwards came to 
 my notice. It was but one incident of a num- 
 ber; and when those parties, thus benefited, 
 appear at the upper court on explanation day 
 and the books are examined to find Mr. Good 
 Will's name, I shall be there to bear witness 
 that the correct way to spell it is K-e-1-l-e-y, 
 and certify to the fact that the credit belongs 
 to the same man who made our home so 
 happy on Thanksgiving- day in 1863. 
 
 Early in 1864 I quit the service of Mr. Kel- 
 ley and entered the store of a grocery firm 
 then doing business on Yonge street (one of 
 the main streets of the city). Here I received 
 three dollars per month and my meals. My 
 hours were from seven in the morning until 
 ten and (on Saturdays) twelve o'clock at 
 night. The surroundings at my new place 
 contrasted strongly with those of the old. 
 Generosity was not discernible. Scheming 
 was the order of the day. The conversation 
 between parties congregating there was fre- 
 quently such as should not salute the ears of 
 an eleven year old boy; and it was work, 
 work, almost without intermission except for 
 about one hour each day and some of the 
 work was questionable in character. Upon 
 
. ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 41 
 
 the arrival of a crate of strawberries, the 
 boxes must be taken out, gone over, and 
 extended until three boxes made four, and all 
 the large berries appeared on the top. To 
 quiet the diminutive conscience I was sup- 
 posed to . possess, I was told that they had 
 been packed in the berry gardens closely to 
 economize space, and that the retailers were 
 compelled to spread things a little in order to 
 "come out even." When a mixture of 
 molasses and water was copiously adminis- 
 tered to the currants, it was not to add weight, 
 but simply to clean them; hence I was required 
 to spend ten or fifteen minutes in rubbing 
 them or stirring them around in the big 
 drawer, while the liquid was being poured 
 upon them. If the goods delivered were not 
 exactly up in quality to those shown the pur- 
 chaser when buying, it was not to deceive but 
 simply a mistake, the frequent repetition of 
 which was owing to having trusted the matter 
 to the boy. Thus it was explained to the 
 customer, if he chanced to complain. 
 
 These things did not escape the notice of 
 "the boy," who was groaning under the strain 
 of his long hours and heavy work; and they 
 helped make him what the "boss" called 
 "sassy." Mr. Tracy was a Southerner, and 
 may or may not have been used to slave driv- 
 
42 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP . 
 
 ing, but he certainly had but little mercy on 
 the child then in his employ. He stood on 
 one occasion by the store door and laughingly 
 chatted about the toughness of the boy, while 
 he watched me carry a hundred pounds of 
 flour in a sack for half a block. At another 
 time he sent me up unto the roof of the two- 
 story building to sweep the rubbish from a 
 hanging guttering, at the risk of my life. He 
 would put half a bushel of potatoes into a 
 basket and place it on my head and hang 
 another on an arm loaded with goods and 
 send me off with it to the customer. The 
 novelty of such experiences wore off in time, 
 and the sight of other boys at play was often 
 contrasted with my own lot, till I would grow 
 heartsick, and grumble at the fate that made 
 me poor. Many a night my feet have been 
 blistered and my limbs tired, and I would 
 trudge home at nearly twelve o'clock and 
 wish that morning might never come. At 
 mealtimes on going up to the dining room 
 after all others had finished, the sound would 
 ring up the stairway after me, "Now, Joe, eat 
 quick; this order is ready." And after spend- 
 ing from five to ten. minutes bolting a few 
 cold. potatoes, or grinding on some other rem- 
 nant of the meal proper, a summons would 
 hurry me down to the store to take up the 
 
-.'.»:•.'.»: 
 
 ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 43 
 
 horrid drudgery where I had laid it down a 
 few minutes before. No delivery wagon was 
 employed, hence everything had to be carried 
 by me to the purchaser. 
 
 One night, about ten o'clock, while wearily 
 trudging along the street with a half bushel 
 of potatoes in a basket on my head, I fell 
 asleep. I suppose it was only for a minute ; 
 but I suddenly became aware that I was 
 plunging about on all fours, with an empty 
 basket under me and half a bushel of potatoes 
 rolling around the sidewalk and in the ditch. 
 It did not take more than a second to realize 
 the situation ; but it took longer to recover 
 from it and get those potatoes back into the 
 basket, for the night was dark and the street 
 lamps shone but dimly from a distance. One 
 by one they found their way back, however, 
 till all I could locate by feeling around the 
 pavement were again balanced on my head 
 and the journey was resumed. I have not the 
 remotest idea as to how many of those 
 potatoes were left in the gutter, or what the 
 judgment of the customer was regarding the 
 nonscriptural measure she received. I have 
 neither explanation nor apology to offer for 
 any seeming impiety attending my course that 
 night. I was puzzled and frightened then; 
 and as I think now of my tired feet and ach- 
 
44 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 ing arms and bitter spirit, I wipe the tear that 
 memory starts and leave some more profound 
 philosopher to fathom the intricate depths of 
 that circumstance, and from moral ethics 
 explain to the fastidious or aesthetic soul the 
 degrees of responsibility attaching to my boss 
 or myself on account of the customer's loss. 
 
 On another occasion, after running errands 
 all day and on till about 11:30 at night, I was 
 allowed to start for home.' It was raining 
 and I was already drenched. I had a full 
 mile to go ; but it was mostly along a well- 
 lighted street. Raising the old umbrella I 
 carried over my head, I started along at a 
 fair gait,, and kept it up for a quarter of the 
 distance, then gradually slackened, for it 
 seemed as if I could hardly get one foot 
 ahead of the other. After going along, 
 probably three fourths of the distance, I was 
 startled by hearing the voice of a woman, and 
 on looking up, saw a fair sample of woman- 
 kind, using her tongue at my expense. She 
 stormed away at me, and. I looked on, almost 
 dazed, till I found it would be better for me 
 to make tracks before a policeman arrived 
 upon the scene. I had fallen asleep, and had 
 staggered up against her and almost jostled 
 her off the sidewalk ; and she, supposing me 
 to be drunk, was lavishing her eloquence 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 45 
 
 upon my devoted head. When I took in the 
 situation, I well knew that a plea of drowsi- 
 ness would be but poor oil to pour on waters 
 so troubled ; hence I vacated the ground and 
 allowed the insulted lady to expend the 
 remainder of her rhetoric on the heavy mid- 
 night air. To some this may have a suspi- 
 cious sound ; but there are others, who have 
 been similarly situated, so far as the feeling 
 of exhaustion and weariness is concerned, 
 and to such I need not add that I have not 
 overstated the facts. 
 
 During my stay at this place I formed 
 acquaintanfces such as have wrecked and 
 ruined hundreds of boys, and my deliverance 
 from like fate can be attributed bv me to * 
 nothing less than the merciful interposition 
 of Him who afterwards told me that I had 
 been preserved from my birth to preach his 
 truth. I, at least, prefer to acknowledge my- 
 self under lifelong obligations to him for what 
 seems now to have been the working out of a 
 divine purpose, having in view my everlasting 
 good. No good object can be served by a 
 recital here of the many forms in which temp- 
 tation was presented ; but to the glory of my 
 Preserver, I repeat that on many occasions 
 there occurred what I now look upon as 
 special deliverances. The evils were inviting^ 
 
46 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 my inclinations were strong in their direction, 
 and I am at a loss now to find a single reason 
 for my escape except in the fact that a loving 
 Father in heaven was listening to the tender 
 and constant appeals of my faithful mother 
 and was interested in her boy. 
 
 I would not have the reader suppose, how- 
 ever, that the exhibition on my part was such 
 as to impress the observer that I was devel- 
 oping a celestial title or character. There 
 were some traits discernible to even a super- 
 ficial onlooker which indicated that I was 
 booked the other way, and no particular pains 
 were taken by me to disguise them. If the 
 entire story of those days were detailed it 
 would strengthen the conviction that heaven 
 had odd notions about the material to be 
 selected for its enterprises. 
 
 One day, during a brief lull in the business, 
 a boy of my own age and spirit with whom I 
 was acquainted pointed to a bigger boy who 
 was seated in a wagon, holding a team of 
 horses, about two rods away down the street, 
 and offered a wager that he could come 
 nearer hitting him than could I. Nothing 
 could suit me better than to take the chal- 
 lenge, so we selected our missiles from a box 
 of half spoiled tomatoes which had been set 
 aside to be thrown away. One after another 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUPP. 47 
 
 those tomatoes went through the air and 
 landed with a spat all around the boy in the 
 wagon, till the horses and wagon were any- 
 thing but tastily decorated, and the boy was 
 huddled down in front of the seat, hanging 
 onto the lines and hallooing whoa ! every time 
 he dared to lift his head. The seriousness of 
 the offense we were commiting did not strike 
 us till the boy's father appeared on the scene, 
 when we suddenly remembered an engage- 
 ment elsewhere. Away we ran and hid in an 
 old outbuilding a short distance from the field 
 of operation ; but were followed by the irate 
 father, who located us at last and brought us 
 out into an open space in the yard. He 
 threatened to have us imprisoned ; but we 
 begged so hard for him to give us a "licking" 
 instead, that he finally consented and we 
 danced to every tune he chose to play with 
 the horsewhip for about five minutes, much to 
 the gratification of his son whose time to 
 laugh had now come. Of course it was 
 rather unenjoyable and the humiliation at- 
 tending such an "indignity" was "mortifying to 
 the flesh;" but we took our medicine and- paid 
 the doctor by cleaning off his wagon, and ■ 
 promising to remember him (the latter inaudi- 
 bly, however). Those exact symptoms of our 
 ailment did not again develop, so we never 
 
48 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF 
 
 had to have the prescription repeated,, at least 
 by that physician. The disease was constitu- 
 tional, however, and other symptoms were 
 noticeable continuously. 
 
 Having a few minutes leisure time one day, 
 I, with the same boy, slipped into the mould- 
 ing room of a stove foundry, next door to my 
 employer's store. No sooner had my absence 
 been discovered than his familiar whistle rang 
 out and I hurried back to the store. Upon 
 learning where I had been my employer 
 raised his foot and kicked me, ordering me 
 up stairs to dinner, and requesting my return 
 to the store in a very short time. Then 
 there occurred a sudden uprising of the Adam 
 in my blood ; but going upstairs I deliberately 
 ate all the dinner I could get, and, regardless 
 of whistles or calls, remained at the table till 
 my plan was matured. Going downstairs I 
 encountered a volley of billingsgate, and an 
 order to deliver some goods at once. But 
 quietly walking over to a place where some 
 articles of my own were lying, and, securing 
 them, I turned round to my employer and 
 told him to deliver his goods himself, for I 
 was going home. His threats to withhold 
 my wages and give me trouble fell on stub- 
 born ears, for I marched out of the store and 
 was soon at home, where I poured into moth- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 49 
 
 er's ears a story about that kicking work that 
 made her feel worse than ever I had done. I 
 forget just how I told it ; but one thing is 
 certain, mother's impression concerning it and 
 ■her indignation were not a shade less than 
 the event justified. I had gotten sick of that 
 place, and there seemed to be no way of get- 
 ting out of it unless I made her believe that I 
 had been terribly abused. That little kicking 
 scrape served the purpose admirably; for it 
 was magnified in the recital, till mother deter- 
 mined I should not return to the store. 
 Thus the desired end was reached, though 
 the means may not have been fully justifiable. 
 I have never felt proud of what I did in that 
 connection ; but the object of this writing is 
 to show the boy as he was, and not as he 
 ought to have been. 
 
 After a couple of weeks' vacation I secured 
 a position with a Mr. Florence, a boot and 
 shoe dealer, where I had shorter hours, and 
 could be home evenings. He was a Primi- 
 tive Methodist, and an average good man, so 
 far as his treatment of the writer went. But 
 my stay with him was limited to less than 
 four months ; for what seemed a much better 
 opening for me presented itself and I accepted 
 it. 
 
 While I was in the employ of Mr. Florence, 
 
50 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 I was also employed by the church to which 
 mother belonged, as an assistant organist; 
 that is, I was to preside at the bellows handle 
 and do the pumping by which wind was fur- 
 nished for the instrument. My services were 
 required on all choir rehearsal nights and at 
 both of the Sunday services, for which I 
 received six dollars per quarter. One thing 
 was accomplished by this occupation — -it kept 
 me regularly at church. There was a small 
 wooden box, about the size of a large ther- 
 mometer, fixed stationary in front of me, as I 
 stood with the bellows lever in my hand. 
 Inside this box (which had a glass face) hung 
 a metal bob, or weight, which moved up or 
 down as the wind in the bellows increased or 
 diminished. Certain marks on the dial indi- 
 cated the proper place to keep the weight 
 registered, and all was easy to understand and 
 perform ; but one Sunday morning, while a 
 hymn was being sung, I became somehow 
 interested in finding out why that thing 
 moved as it did without anybody touching it. 
 So absorbed was I in this study that I watched 
 the bob go up to the top of the box, not 
 thinking that anyone else would be affected 
 by my investigation nor stopping to consider 
 that the wind was getting scarce, when, lo ! 
 the organ music ceased, and the whole con- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 51 
 
 gregation stopped singing, in the middle of a 
 verse. This sudden lull in the proceedings 
 startled me, and seizing the lever I charged 
 the concern hurriedly, so that not more than 
 a second was lost. I learned, however, that 
 it broke a terrible "hole in the ballad," and 
 produced considerable consternation among 
 those who were ignorant of the real cause. 
 My reputation as a mischievous scamp gained 
 somewhat by the incident ; but it was a clear 
 case of absent-mindedness, nevertheless. 
 
 About this time my uncle, Mr. N. C. Love, 
 to whom reference has already been made, 
 offered to take me into his employ and teach 
 me the business of dealing in drugs, chem- 
 icals, etc., provided I would behave myself and 
 stay with him for several years. By some 
 means I had become noted among all my 
 relatives as an irresponsible citizen and they 
 predicted all manner of bad fortune for me. 
 Doubtless their fear in this direction led to 
 the proposal to take me and make a man of 
 me, conditionally ; for they all gave me credit 
 for being intelligent enough for most emer- 
 gencies of boy life. It was easy enough to 
 promise good behavior to my aunt, who took 
 me aside and advised me generously ; and I 
 really thought I was going to be good. But 
 I appeal to all the boys who are now about 
 
52 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 twelve years old to know whether old folks' 
 ideas of goodness are not outrageous. I used 
 to think so anyway, but was willing to surren- 
 der considerable of conceit in that line, even 
 then, provided they gave me decent treat- 
 ment. 
 
 As before stated, my relatives were com- 
 paratively rich. I was poor, extremely poor; 
 and like many other foolish boys I interpreted 
 every undesirable act in them as an intended 
 slur at my poverty. This feeling made me 
 suspicious and resentful ; which feeling, with 
 the independent spirit I had inherited, made 
 it extremely hard for me to climb up and stay 
 on their ideal platform of goodness. How- 
 ever I was received and initiated into the 
 secrets of bottle washing, shelf dusting, ashes 
 sifting, and in course of time into the higher 
 degrees of pill rolling and cutting, Seidlitz 
 powder making, and pestle and mortar ma- 
 nipulation. I was required to be on hand at 
 about half past five in the morning, for my 
 uncle always took an early walk of a couple of 
 miles and left his Son Charles and myself to 
 dust the shelves and bottles during his 
 absence. Upon his return we took breakfast 
 (for I boarded there) and then Charles kould 
 go to school and leave me to run the errands 
 and do the day chores for either the store or 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 53 
 
 house. About half past seven at night I went 
 to night school, my uncle kindly paying for 
 my tuition while I was with him ; though I 
 fear that those few months of school were 
 wasted upon me. It would be ten o'clock 
 when I arrived home ; thus making seventeen 
 hours from my rising till bedtime, which was 
 too much ; and I felt it, though nobody else, 
 except mother, seemed to notice it. 
 
 Mr. Love was a man in whose company 
 anyone could feel comfortable. He was cheer- 
 ful, chatty, young-hearted, and full of good 
 nature towards me. But he had a lightning 
 temper, which, try as I might to be meek, I 
 would occasionally provoke; for my mischief- 
 loving propensities were then in process of 
 development, and Charley and myself were 
 well matched. He would back almost any 
 scheme I would suggest, and some of them 
 were far from being innocent or trifling. I 
 had no time before or after business hours to 
 enjoy a game or get among the boys; so I 
 had to make the most of Cousin Charley's 
 company (when chores were not crowding) 
 and get in all the fun possible. It seemed 
 sometimes as if I would explode or fly to 
 pieces if some chance for sport did not 
 materialize. On one occasion while we were 
 together blazing powder in little patches along 
 
54 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 the ground in the alley back of the store, I 
 stood a three ounce bottle that was about one 
 third full of gunpowder, upon the upper edge 
 of a wagon wheel and deliberately walked up 
 and dropped a lighted match into it. The 
 bottle disappeared rather hurriedly, a piece of 
 it catching Charley in the leg about twenty 
 feet away, but I escaped untouched, except 
 by fright. I have never been able to account 
 for it, for I stood within reaching distance of 
 the bottle and it gave me no time to plead 
 exemption rights. 
 
 Charley was older than I, by some three or 
 four years, and though in for excitement, 
 always needed somebody in the lead. I was 
 willing to take all the risks and he was will- 
 ing I should. One morning, while his father 
 was off on his regular early round, Charley 
 complained of some trouble inwardly and 
 decided to take a couple of Ayer's pills as a 
 remedy. Taking a box from the show case, 
 he broke it open and took out two of the 
 sugar-coated beauties. Placing one in his 
 mouth he tried to swallow it; but the faces he 
 made over the effort furnished a fund of 
 amusement for me, and I twitted him over his 
 babyishness, until he dared me to swallow 
 one. Taking the box out of his hand, I took 
 out one of the pills and almost threw it down 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 55 
 
 my throat, swallowing it quite easily. Then I 
 took another and another, in bravado, until I 
 had swallowed seven of them. Thinking 
 those were quite enough for one meal I .put 
 the box away and kept bantering Charley 
 over his cowardice, for a couple of hours, or 
 until the appetite for fun left me, which 
 occurred about the time of my uncle's return. 
 On entering the store he looked at me in 
 passing, and inquired what ailed me — said I 
 looked paje. Just then I was feeling quite 
 pale, but was determined to keep upright if 
 possible. The effort was almost too much for 
 me, however, and I will never be able to detail 
 the agonies of that forenoon; for it would 
 beggar my descriptive powers were the 
 attempt made. About noon my uncle found 
 me nearly dead, and taking me into the store, 
 he mixed up an immense dose of cholera mor- 
 bus medicine and made me down it without 
 taking the glass from my lips. He had a 
 name for the disease from which he said I was 
 suffering — -I have forgotten just what it was; 
 but he said I would have soon been dead if he 
 had not doctored me so promptly and lavishly 
 One fact stays with me, and that is the cer- 
 tainty that that dose had no ice in it. For 
 about half an hour it seemed as if my breath 
 could set snow on fire; but it was down to 
 
56 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 stay and it was better than the pil-grim feel- 
 ing that preceded it. As if to add insult to 
 injury, Charley would leer at me from behind 
 the partition and repeat the motions I had 
 made when taking those pills. He knew I 
 dare not give the case away, and he enjoyed 
 to the full the privilege of having his laugh 
 last, after he learned that I had passed the 
 danger line. 
 
 On another occasion I filled a small vial 
 with aqua ammonia, and carried it in my 
 pocket to help keep the boys awake at night 
 school. A neat perfume label adorned the 
 outside of the bottle to encourage heavier sniff- 
 ing when it was passed around. I need 
 scarcely add that a second sniff was seldom 
 called for. I received many a thump for my 
 generosity and once a boy on whom I had 
 played a trick with that bottle gave me a ter- 
 rible blow in the pit of the stomach that made 
 me sick of ammonia for a month, and cured 
 me of the propensity for carrying it around to 
 benefit others. Juvenile philanthropy was at 
 a discount in those days, and, as a conse- 
 quence, my career in that line was short lived. 
 
 My uncle was a very precise man in his 
 methods, and everything about his store must 
 be kept in the neatest possible order. The 
 windows had to be polished regularly; the 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 57 
 
 sponges had to be washed till the last speck 
 of sand or pebble had been removed from 
 them ; the powder papers had to be folded 
 and creased almost to a mathematical exact- 
 ness; the sidewalk in front of the store had 
 to be sprinkled and swept twice every day,- 
 and the counters dusted a score of times. It 
 seemed to be as easy for uncle to move 
 around among the goods without disturbing 
 them as for him to walk ; but on the other 
 hand, it seemed that at the very sight of 
 me the olive oil bottles would fall over and 
 break, and the tumblers slip off the counter, 
 and holes get into the seed packages and let 
 the contents spill over the shelves or floor. 
 Brush and dust and wipe as carefully as I 
 might, it was a rare thing for a week to pass 
 without something occurring to remind me 
 that I was not yet ready to graduate in my 
 uncle's line of business. The fact is I was a 
 boy; and the more I think of those days and 
 times the more I am convinced of that fact. 
 
 A great many incidents come up now before 
 me, which time and space forbid relating, and 
 which at that time made me think my uncle 
 was a fearful man ; but mature reflection has 
 led me to decide that the fearful part applied 
 to the boy whose clumsiness he had so often 
 to abide the consequences of It used to 
 
58 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 seem hard for a boy to have to pass by an 
 organ grinder with a monkey attachment, 
 without stopping to watch the cute maneuvers; 
 and it took only such a little while to stand 
 half an hour after he had determined just to 
 take a look. But it was nearly forty years 
 since uncle had been a boy and he could not 
 understand how I occupied forty minutes in 
 going on a ten minute errand. He had for- 
 gotten some things and I was very sorry his 
 memory was failing so rapidly. Charley and 
 I got permission, one day, to go and learn the 
 whereabouts of a fire which seemed to be in 
 the direction of my mother's home. It was 
 shortly after noon when we left and about 
 supper time when we returned. We had 
 spent a good part of the time in pelting snow- 
 balls at the burning building and in sporting 
 with the crowd of boys we found near there. 
 It seemed as if uncle must have been there 
 too, for the way he did spit fire after our 
 return was interesting. We were obliged to 
 . stand under it, however, and I can remember 
 how like martyrs we felt and appeared. My 
 aunt came and counseled with me afterward 
 and tried to show me how improper it was to 
 act in such a way, and reminded me of my 
 agreement to be good. I was subdued — for 
 the time — and after supper started off to 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUPP; 59 
 
 night school. Next morning uncle was as 
 good natured as ever; but I was, never 
 allowed to run to any more fires. 
 
 Among other duties falling to my lot, was 
 the work of polishing or helping to polish the 
 shoes for the entire family on Saturday even- 
 ings. Being of strong pious inclination, my 
 uncle wouM not allow such work to be done 
 on Sunday. At the appointed hour I would 
 retire to the basement kitchen and there, 
 with Charley's help, shine 'em up in the 
 most approved style — I mean the shoes — 
 with one exception. One of my younger 
 cousins, a boy of about five years, came 
 down while this work was in progress one 
 evening. He was clad only in a night- 
 gown and came to say good night. After 
 teasing about for a time, he somehow got 
 across my knee and got blackened and shined 
 till his hide resembled anything but alabaster, 
 and with a whine he rushed upstairs to show 
 his mother what Joe had done. It was but a 
 moment before my aunt put in an appearance 
 with a view to annihilating me ; but the ludic- 
 rous picture of that boy as he stood beside 
 her holding up his gown overcame her and 
 she burst into a fit of laughter and left me 
 only half scolded. She only helped to com- 
 plete the scene, which to me resembled a 
 
60 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 tableau at a negro minstrel performance, and 
 I rolled on the floor and laughed outright till 
 the tears ran down my cheeks, while Charley 
 and the servant girl held their sides and 
 shared the entertainment, scoring one for me 
 as a victory over my aunt. She had come to 
 annihilate, but had been annihilated. Of 
 course it was wicked, awfully wicked ; but it 
 happened, and can't be wiped out. Boys are 
 better nowadays, but they are not required to 
 shine about twenty pairs of shoes every Sat- 
 urday night. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 61 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CAPERING NATUEE. 
 
 Saint Augustine! Well hast thou said 
 That of our vices we can frame 
 A ladder, ***** 
 All common things — each day's events 
 That with the hour begin and end, 
 Our pleasures and our discontents 
 Are rounds by which we may ascend. 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 You cannot dream yourself int5 a character; you must 
 
 hammer and forge yourself one. 
 
 Fkotjde. 
 
 It was while I was in my uncle's employ 
 
 that my father returned to our home, after 
 
 nearly six years' absence, and five months 
 
 later, on the morning of May i6, he was taken 
 
 sick while lathing a house some distance 
 
 away. The doctor was called and everything 
 
 possible done to stay the disease, which was 
 
 called inflammation of the lungs; but he grew 
 
 worse, steadily, until the morning of the 23d, 
 
 when he died. When leaving the house early 
 
 that morning I was told he was quite low ; so, 
 
 after the ordinary routine of my morning's 
 
 work at the store was through with, permission 
 
 was given me to run home and see him. I 
 
 hurried away as fast as possible only to find, 
 
62 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 on arrival, that the crape was already on the 
 door. He had been dead nearly two hours. 
 All the children but myself had seen him die, 
 and they told me of his words of advice. I 
 was only twelve years and a half old ; but the 
 presence of death in our home made me feel 
 peculiarly solemn and thoughtful. My 
 thoughts were of mother. The resolution of 
 my heart then and there was to be a good 
 boy, and to be better to her than ever. 
 Looking up into her careworn face the resolu- 
 tion was that thereafter I would endure any- 
 thing for her sake. Though wild and 
 mischievous, and also inclined to be stubborn, 
 yet I was neither vicious nor mean and a tear 
 in my mother's eyes would subdue the most 
 wicked feeling my heart ever harbored. I 
 knew she was afraid that my love of fun might 
 lead me into places and company where my 
 ruin would be wrought ; and she was always 
 apprehensive lest my independent spirit would 
 make me insubordinate towards my employers. 
 She had plead with me to be patient, so that 
 I might make a man of myself in time; and, 
 though but a child when my father was buried, 
 I verily believe that the resolutions made 
 about that time, God recognized, and that to 
 some degree he has helped me to observe 
 them ever since. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 63 
 
 The feeling occasioned by my father's death 
 was not as intense as if we had been depend- 
 ent upon him in life ; but it was the first 
 death in our family that I had been brought 
 into direct contact with, and it started 
 thoughts that, for a time, gave a more sei-ious 
 tone to my deportment. I had beeh fretting 
 over my long hours of work and my few 
 chances to get out among the boys for play, 
 and was wishing for a break of some kind to 
 occur by which freedom could be had. But 
 my decision now was to be more patient and 
 careful on mother's account, that I might help 
 her and make her feel more safe about me 
 and my future. Of course it was but a child's 
 determination, and not reached after counting 
 possible costs; but I never forgot it, though 
 excuses were sought by me afterwards for 
 conduct not in complete accord with it. 
 Older boys than I then was have vowed and 
 afterwards failed to perform. It is the history 
 of humanity, but my failures htive been none 
 the less grievous on this account. The 
 recollection of them is painful still as the 
 trifling incidents which were allowed to cause 
 them recur to the mind. The most serious 
 question, however, is, "As a man how much 
 wiser and better am I ?" 
 
 I continued to work for my uncle for some 
 
64' AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 tirne after this, and was progressing finely; 
 but, after some months, my restless, Impatient, 
 and independent spirit again asserted itself to 
 my hurt. While mother was away nursing 
 some sick friend I overslept myself one 
 morning, and did not get to the store till 
 nearly seven o'clock. This annoyed my uncle 
 and he scolded me; and in his temper he told 
 me to stay at home altogether if the offense 
 was repeated. I was full of resentment and 
 resolved to take him at his word, though 
 knowing that he did not mean it. Arising 
 late the next morning I did not go to the 
 store at all, but spent the day playing with 
 the neighbor boys, though my conscience 
 kept reproving me, and the day was far 
 from being a happy one. I cared but little 
 about leaving the store, but felt guilty and 
 more troubled because of having taken 
 advantage of mother's absence to do it. 
 The next day she returned, and, learning of 
 my conduct, felt terribly grieved and scolded 
 me quite sharply. This made me feel resent- 
 ful and determined for awhile and I went 
 to bed feeling about as mean as boys well can. 
 Very late that night, it must have been after 
 one o'clock, I awoke, and, looking through the 
 door into the room where a light was burning, 
 I saw mother sitting and sewing. The tears 
 
ELDEK JOSEPH LUFF. 65 
 
 were coursing down her cheeks. Soon she 
 heaved a wearisome sigh and turned her eyes 
 upward, with an imploring look that melted 
 my heart. I knew she was thinking of and 
 praying for me, and that my conduct was 
 causing her the trouble that was written in 
 her face. Jumping from the bed I rah to her 
 side, threw my arms around her neck, con- 
 fessed my wrong, and begged her to forgive 
 me and not to weep. I would do anything 
 that she required of me if she would only be 
 cheerful. All the imaginary wrongs that had 
 been heaped upon me, seemed to grow insig- 
 nificant, and I realized how guilty, very guilty 
 was my course, and that by one foolish stroke 
 had been blasted my mother's fondest hope 
 concerning me, and deliberately thrown away 
 what she considered to be the golden oppor- 
 tunity of my life. My promise to endure any- 
 thing for her sake was broken and I was 
 about as wretched as. a repentant boy could 
 well be. Poor mother, she placed her hand 
 on my head and for a long time reasoned with 
 me regarding the danger of my acting in such 
 a way. She told how she had endured hard- 
 ship, privation, and oppression for her chil- 
 dren's sake; how her hopes had been 
 centering largely in my success, and how fear- 
 ful she was that my willfulness would rob me 
 
66 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF 
 
 of much good that might otherwise be within 
 my reach. 
 
 I listened willingly to all she had to say 
 and then explained everything connected with 
 the circumstance of my leaving the store- 
 She then asked me to go back to my uncle 
 next day and ask him to receive me back into 
 his employ. To this I agreed, and, with a 
 tear of hope glistening in her eyes she kissed 
 me tenderly and bid me return to bed. 
 
 Next day I went as agreed, but entered the 
 building by the back way, fearing to confront 
 my uncle before my aunt had interceded for 
 me. Meeting her I told the object of my 
 coming, and after a mild chiding she advised 
 me to go in and tell my uncle of my anxiety 
 to come back and my determination to be 
 punctual in the future. I replied to my aunt 
 that if told in that way it would not be the 
 truth, for it was not my desire to return, but 
 my mother wished me to, and for her sake I 
 would try to abide the rules my uncle had 
 made. There was more honesty than diplo- 
 macy in that remark; but it had a bad effect. 
 She told me it would be no use to speak to her 
 husband if such was the case ; for he would 
 not want me if he knew it. She advised me 
 to go home, and I returned there, feeling 
 mixed in my mind. I had told the truth, and 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 67 
 
 yet there was, or seemed to be, something 
 wrong about it, and I dreaded the effect it 
 would have on mother when she learned of it. 
 To my surprise, however, when she heard my 
 story, she did not appear either grieved or 
 angry, but took it calmly and without uttering 
 a word of complaint against me. Will the 
 reader answer to him or herself whether that 
 was a case where all the truth should not have 
 been told by me, or was it an instance of 
 injudiciousness on the side of my aunt? Was 
 not a boy worth trying again and trusting 
 who would surrender his own feelings to 
 please his mother.? Doubtless she feared 
 that my heart was not deeply enough in it to 
 insure faithful service long and she may have 
 been right; I was only a boy and boys forget 
 so soon. 
 
 Several weeks later I entered the wholesale 
 confectionary store and factory of Mr. Wil- 
 liam Hessin, but remained only three or four 
 months, leaving then to take a position as 
 route boy in the Daily Globe office where 
 they gave me one of the regular runs, in 
 which about one hundred and fifty papers 
 were to be delivered every morning, beginning 
 at about five o'clock. I generally got through 
 by nine o'clock and then went to school for 
 the remainder of the day. This was not for 
 
68 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 long, however, for I obtained a situation with 
 a tinsmith, named George Sawdon, where my 
 services were only needed in the afternoons 
 and evenings. At this time my brother was 
 also carrying a route in the same newspaper 
 office, and it afforded a little more time for 
 both of us to take recreation in such sport as 
 was pleasant and available. After getting 
 through with our morning delivery we had 
 from nine till nearly two o'clock before it was 
 necessary for me to commence my afternoon 
 work .at Mr. Sawdon's. We moved along 
 finely while this programme continued, but 
 after awhile my brother quit the newspaper 
 carrying and went to learn his trade as a 
 plumber, at which business he did not remain 
 very long, however, for mother rented a store 
 building from' my uncle, Wallace Mil]ichamp> 
 next to his then place of business, and lightly 
 stocked it with groceries, when my brother 
 and myself entered my uncle's employ and 
 worked at filing and preparing carnage irons 
 preparatory to silver plating them. Soon tir- 
 ing of this work I was for a time employed in 
 the mailing room of the Globe office, after 
 which I went to work in a cigar factory, for a 
 Jew named Moses Benjamin, who lived next 
 door to our home, and with whom I remained 
 for about fifteen months. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 69 
 
 During this time my mother married again. 
 Her new husband's name was Edward De- 
 vine, a printer by trade. Soon after this mar- 
 riage the grocery business was dispensed with 
 and we went back to live in the house from 
 whence we had moved to the store. I still 
 remained at the cigar business, however, for 
 some time after the above event, and there 
 learned to smoke, and so practiced upon my 
 new acquirement that soon four or five cigars 
 a day seemed not too much for me. This 
 was kept from my mother, who would have 
 been incensed had she discovered it. I also 
 became addicted to the use of words that 
 before would have seemed terrible to me. It 
 got to be easy to swear, and the associations 
 had a very demoralizing effect upon me in 
 general ; though there were never more than 
 half a dozen persons employed there at the 
 same time, all of whom were considered 
 respectable. 
 
 The installation of a new president over 
 our home circle created no unpleasantness 
 for a considerable time ; but it was quite 
 evident that sooner or later a scattering or a 
 clash must occur. He was a man who would 
 brook no variation by us from the rule he 
 made, and in me was a disposition to view 
 him as a usurper and to heed him as little as 
 
70 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 possible. This, of course, was wrong in me, 
 and I have no disposition to defend it ; but it 
 was apparent then and has been confirmed 
 since that his spirit and mine could not har- 
 monize. 
 
 The first trouble of any importance that 
 occurred between him and me happened thus: 
 We were moving from one house to another. 
 I had risen earfy to help get things in readi- 
 ness, and while standing on the steps at the 
 rear of the house polishing a stove, made an 
 abrupt answer to a remark from my mother. 
 My stepfather was lying in bed in a room 
 close by. Jumping from the bed, he came 
 out of the door, and struck me wickedly in 
 the face with his hand. Seizing a large claw- 
 hammer that was lying beside me, I fell back 
 about a dozen steps and threw it at him with 
 all my might. As it struck the door jamb 
 close by him it seemed to frighten him, and 
 he went back to his room, dressed, and 
 started after me. With my pockets full of 
 rocks I dodged from one corner of the street 
 to another till he gave it up and returned 
 home, and I went to my work for the day. 
 At night he worked pleasantly with me till 
 the moving was finished, but after we were 
 all safely in bed at the new house, he came 
 and thrashed me with a three-ply rope. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 71 
 
 Being completely in his power I could do 
 nothing except resolve; but what that resolu- 
 tion was will never be told. Thank God it 
 was never carried out. Mother came to me, 
 and softened my bitter spirit. She ^as in a 
 strait, and knowing it, I relented, for her 
 sake. But she never knew what a demon was 
 in my heart for a few days. After awhile the 
 affair blew over and I lost my strong thoughts 
 entirely, until they were revived by subse- 
 quent events. 
 
 One of the printers at the office where my 
 stepfather worked rented a small job office up 
 town and started business for himself He 
 needed a boy to help, and it was thought a 
 good chance for me to learn an excellent 
 trade. Being now fifteen years old it was 
 high time for me to begin. Consequently I 
 quit the cigar shop and started with Mr. 
 Samuel Piddington and was duly installed as 
 "devil" in the new office. Here, for the first 
 time, a business was found for which I seemed 
 adapted, and which presented suitable attrac- 
 tions to my mind. The office was not large 
 nor very modern in its appointments, but it 
 was a wonder world to me; and I told 
 mother she need look no further to suit me, 
 for my intentions were to be a printer. I had 
 a hand in every job that was done, in the 
 
72 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 office, for there was no other help; and the 
 more I saw the greater became the desire to 
 see and learn. Mr. Piddington was a good 
 printer and a very good man ; but he was not 
 a business man; nor did he possess the faculty 
 for "rustling" around and making things lively 
 in the way of trade. Hence we were fre- 
 quently without enough to do to keep us 
 active. We had a good time, however; for 
 he was as mischievous as myself, and we fol- 
 lowed our inclinations to excess sometimes. 
 While working on a small Washington hand 
 press one day I was rolling the ink on the 
 form from one side while he stood upon the 
 other, working the crank and lever. Just as 
 I moved back from the press on one of my 
 turns he drew a long ink mark across my face 
 and started to laugh, but had hardly opened 
 his mouth before the paste brush landed in 
 the aperture. The paste was all of two 
 months old and rather loud of expression, so 
 as quickly as he could recover himself and his 
 breath, he started after me. I shot down 
 stairs, followed by two slippers, and dared not 
 return until assured that the smoke had cleared 
 away. When it was safe to do so I climbed the 
 stairs again, apologized for my outrageous con- 
 duct, and the press work proceeded. Mr. Pid- 
 dington thought I came nearest to filling the 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 73 
 
 bill of his ideal "devil" of any lad he had ever 
 seen. But we liked each other nevertheless ; 
 and it was with regret that I found myself 
 compelled to look elsewhere for work, after 
 five months association with him. He could 
 not make the office pay and therefore gave it 
 up and took a situation where he had for- 
 merly been employed. I obtained a situation 
 in the Christian Guardian Office, and thus 
 continued the business I had formed a fond- 
 ness for. 
 
 The Guardian was the organ of the Wes- 
 leyan Methodist Church in Canada. Attached 
 to the paper was a large job printing office, 
 where books, pamphlets, periodicals, and 
 church documents of all kinds were printed, 
 as well as commercial work generally. Here 
 was ample opportunity for learning the vari- 
 ous branches of the business, and I applied 
 myself as diligently as a boy of my disposi- 
 tion could well do. One would naturally 
 suppose that in a place of this kind the foster- 
 ing influences of religion would be thrown 
 around me, and that my better nature would 
 be developed; but such was not the case. 
 The only man in the printing office who made 
 a profession of religion was the foreman, Mr. 
 Thomas Wilson, who was a member of the 
 church where I attended Sunday school. He 
 
74 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 seemed to take quite a fancy to me and tried 
 to help me to an understanding of the busi- 
 ness, so far as he had time and opportunity. 
 All the rest of the men and boys were of the 
 godless order, and as I was more in their 
 company than in that of the foreman I drank 
 more into their spirit, yet could not go with 
 them to the excess of profanity and vileness 
 that they indulged in. I could swear when 
 vexed, and could maintain my reputation for 
 juvenile deviltry; but there was always a 
 restraining something that prevented my 
 using the Creator's name, or that of the 
 Savior, in my reckless talk. Whenever mis- 
 chief was on the tapis the boys could safely 
 count on me; and when, on Saturday after- 
 noons, the big bucket of beer was brought into 
 the engine room in the basement, I was on 
 hand to respond to the frequent invitations to 
 dip my tin cup in and drink until the bucket 
 was empty. All this was slyly done, however, 
 for the rule of the establishment was against 
 it. Let me say right here that I always loved 
 the taste of liquor of every kind, and drank it 
 whenever it was offered to me. The taste of 
 it is pleasant to me to this day. On several 
 occasions drink was taken until a dim uncer- 
 tainty seemed to hang around me, though I 
 never was fully overcome by it. The reason 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 75 
 
 why I never became intoxicated is unknown 
 to me, unless I was afraid to become so. I 
 was then approaching an age when observa- 
 tion and reason were urging their claims upon 
 me for acknowledgment and respect, and con- 
 science was continually arraigning me before 
 its bar. My mother's prayers were beginning 
 to count in my favor, and there always seemed 
 to be a limit in every direction beyond which 
 I dared not venture except when the boys 
 were in for genuine sport. Then I would 
 usually shut my eyes and "go it blind," as the 
 sages told me. 
 
 There were about ten persons employed in 
 the job room, and six in the news room. On 
 one occasion I somehow obtained possession 
 of a bottle of Dr. Wolcott's catarrh snuff, 
 which was rather slow in operating but re- 
 markably vigorous and emphatic when once 
 it got in motion. Passing quietly around 
 among the men I gave to each a liberal 
 "pinch" and then retired to the anteroom, 
 from whence, through a partly opened door 
 the cataclysm could be witnessed. There 
 was scarcely time to notify the two other 
 boys, when there was a fizz and a snap, and 
 soon, as if by prearrangement, seven or eight 
 heads simultaneously swayed backward and 
 then suddenly forward, and every man ex- 
 
76 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF 
 
 pressed himself as though he was trying to 
 scare a regiment of cats from the premises. 
 The foreman looked up from his desk and 
 adjusted his spectacles just in time to take in 
 the second round and sat watching with eyes 
 bulging while about twenty rounds were fired 
 over the whole room. Just as the job room 
 hands reached about the fifth volley the news 
 hands upstairs started in, and the scenery and 
 music were simply immense. I am sure the 
 foreman could not doubt the men's earnest- 
 ness, for the tears- were starting from their 
 eyes, the handkerchiefs were kept afloat, and 
 every man who had sneezed three or four 
 times would return his head to position after 
 the forward plunge, with a pathetic "ah-h-h," 
 which was interrupted by the suddenness of 
 another attack, until the curtain fell on the 
 last act, and seven or eight clear-headed men 
 resolved upon taking a course in religion — 
 that is, they agreed upon an effort to suppress 
 the "devil." By this time the "devil" had 
 found his way down to the cellar and was 
 waiting for the clouds to roll by before ven- 
 turing near the stricken locality again. 
 
 Such capers did not always end as harm- 
 lessly as the above. Sometimes I came out 
 of such ventures with the laugh on my side, 
 but not always. One evening I stooped down 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 77 
 
 and crept under the type frame to prod a 
 workman on the other side with a pin and 
 succeeded in starting him, but while working 
 forward, one of the other boys jumped into 
 my place just vacated, and threw his foot 
 forward to give me a surprise from behind. 
 Just as he did so I turned around to escape 
 the man that was punctured with the pin and 
 received the heel of my chum's foot right over 
 my left eye, cutting quite a long gash. This 
 tempered my ardor for such sport for a few 
 hours at least. I was taken by one of the 
 office hands to a druggist, who drew the parts 
 together and secured them in position with a 
 , liberal supply of court plaster. Next morn- 
 ing, when at the foreman's desk "holding 
 copy," it was hard for me to keep track of the 
 words, while he "read proof," on account of 
 the soreness of my eye. But it was twice as 
 hard to explain to him how the thing hap- 
 pened, when he asked me for the particulars. 
 Being rather an apt citizen, however, I was 
 equal to the demand and gave him an outline 
 of facts, leaving ample room for filling. He 
 rewarded me with some expression of sympa- 
 thy, but I rather thought or "felt" that there 
 was a tinge of suspicion in the corner of the 
 foreman's eye as he heard the account of 
 the accident. But perhaps I could not see 
 
78 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 clearly, for my eye was bandaged and I did 
 not look at him very closely during the 
 recital. 
 
 This was quite a setback, but did not pre- 
 vent my participation in the carnival with 
 some boys at night, in which a part was 
 assigned me which was unique if not elegant. 
 It was my duty, under the arrangements, to 
 furnish bagpipes and the music characteristic 
 thereof. With tin whistles and inverted 
 chairs and every other conceivable and out- 
 rageous thing, the boys went through 'the 
 motions of playing band, while I talked 
 around the crowd with the family cat under 
 my left arm and the end of her anecdote in 
 my mouth. A slight pressure of the teeth on 
 the anecdote and a regular churning with the 
 left arm on the ribs of the feline produced 
 the closest imitation of the bagpipes that the 
 boys had ever listened to and it was voted a 
 success. Shameful! you say. So say I ; but 
 that will not wipe it out. The boy did it. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 79 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 FROM NATURE TO GRACE. 
 
 There is nothing more to be esteemed than a manly- 
 firmness and decision of character. T like a person who 
 knows his own mind and sticks to it; who sees at once 
 what is to be done in given circumstances and does it. 
 
 Wm. Hazlitt. 
 
 By this time the reader will begin to con- 
 clude that such a lad as the last chapter por- 
 trays was void of serious thought ; but at the 
 risk of taking his breath, let me here state 
 that my nightly prayers were never omitted 
 and that hours were spent at times in deeply 
 solemn thought about my spiritual needs. I 
 record this, not from any desire to gain con- 
 sideration for myself, but as a gentle hint that 
 possibly all of the rattle-headed urchins upon 
 whom so many denunciatory epithets are 
 being poured to-day are not so utterly 
 destitute of serious feeling as some of their 
 judges may decide. Observation has con- 
 vinced me that my case was not the world's 
 exception. Some boy will look at this life 
 picture and mistake it for a mirror. 
 
 I was now sixteen years of age and on the 
 
80 AUTOBIO-GKAFHY OJh' 
 
 eve of certain (the reader will think, neces- 
 sary) changes. Even in my hilarity, I was 
 thinking; and while those who were in any 
 way interested in me were doubtless ready to 
 give me up as incorrigible, I was feeling quite 
 keenly the necessity for quitting some of 
 my acquired habits. I saw in others the 
 effects of liquor drinking, and had heard some 
 persons say they could not break off from the 
 indulgence. One man, not thirty years old, 
 with whom I became quite intimately ac- 
 quainted, seemed to really try hard and pray 
 for freedom from the slavery of drink, but 
 was apparently unable to pass a saloon with- 
 out entering. His friends talked to him, 
 prayed for him, and 1 heard him tell of his 
 struggles, and finally saw him go to jail for 
 stealing some clothing while he was drunk. 
 He had asked in my hearing for the prayers 
 of the church that he might get self-control, 
 but he went down to disgrace and death under 
 the blighting, paralyzing touch of the demon. 
 I thought of that young man as he must have 
 been once — a boy — and that he had liked the 
 taste of liquor, and somebody had offered it 
 to him ; and the appetite had grown with his 
 years, until what he might easily have done 
 at the age of sixteen he could not now do at 
 all — he could not let it alone. He was a 
 
ELDEK JOSEPH LUFF. 81 
 
 miserable, abject slave, and — to such a master. 
 Reader, I prayed. 
 
 It was customary then to set the tumblers 
 of hot toddy down whenever visitors came 
 to the house, and on one winter evening^ 
 this custom was being observed at our home. 
 While the glasses were being filled I was busy 
 thinking, and my thoughts ran on till all but 
 myself had emptied their glasses. One of the 
 company urged me to drink while the liquor 
 was warm. I hesitated, and made some kind 
 of indifferent reply, which led another of the 
 company to jokingly r'emark that "Joe" was 
 "going to turn teetotaler." This started a 
 laugh and turned the attention of all present 
 to me ; and, of course, I was expected to "get 
 even" with them in my reply. They knew 
 what I was at repartee and, therefore, were 
 the more surprised when I deliberately pushed 
 the glass from me and quietly said, 
 
 "You may enjoy your laugh; I never intend 
 to drink any more liquor." 
 
 This rather sobered some of them and one 
 asked, 
 
 "Why, don't you like it?" 
 
 To this was replied, 
 
 "Yes, I do like it ; and that's why I think it 
 is time to quit." 
 
 Many times has that answer been thought 
 
of by me since then ; and though now forty 
 years old, I do not think a better one could 
 be framed by me impromptu than the one 
 given before I was seventeen. My mother 
 spoke out and said, 
 
 "Stick to it my son ; your mother will never 
 laugh at you nor ask you to drink." 
 
 From that night, except as a medicine, 
 strong drink has never crossed my lips, My 
 thoughts had' been maturing, and it only 
 required the trifling circumstance of that 
 time to provoke an expression to which I 
 have felt myself honorably committed ever 
 since. The last I saw of one of the young 
 ladies who laughed at my boy talk that night, 
 was a few years ago, when she bore the unde- 
 niable traces of being a slave to appetite for 
 liquor. 
 
 About this time I went one Sunday to visit 
 a family of acquaintances who lived about two 
 and a half miles northwest of the city. Their 
 name was Robinson. David, the father, and 
 Betsy, the mother, had been kind friends to 
 my mother when they formerly lived in the 
 city. He had been a class leader for many 
 years and was a man of sterling character, a 
 little eccentric in his methods, but the soul of 
 honor. His wife was of a different mental 
 cast, nervous, excitable, always on the stir, but 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 83 
 
 generous and sociable withal. At the time of 
 the visit referred to, their daughter, Annie, 
 was up into young womanhood. James, the 
 son, was somewhere about my own age, and 
 Asenath, the youngest child, was a girl of 
 about thirteen or fourteen. 
 
 My business was with James, or "Jim," as I 
 familiarly called him then. Together we went 
 over to Sunday school in a little room back 
 of the small church building in which they 
 worshiped; and what a contrast! I had never 
 before been to a Sunday school where less 
 than three, to four hundred assembled. But 
 here I was in a place that could not be made 
 to hold over fifty ; and such a difference in, the 
 general appearance in the scholars and in 
 their manners. I stared around the room 
 until lesson time, and then took my seat 
 beside Jim in one of the classes, with a dozen 
 boys around us, all looking about as far 
 removed from wealth as myself Before a 
 quarter of an hour more had passed I found 
 myself interested, which had not been the 
 case in eleven years of previous Sunday 
 school life. I was interested and at home. 
 
 From that day Jim and Joe almost grew 
 together. For over six years I walked that 
 distance and kept my place in that Sunday 
 school ; and that, too, from choice. There 
 
84 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF 
 
 was the turning point in my life ; and let 
 others think as they may, I shall ever bless 
 God for directing my steps thither. 
 
 Some slight disaffection had occurred among 
 them before the time of my visit, and pretty 
 soon the usurpation and overbearance of cer- 
 tain parties led about fifteen or more of the 
 oppressed ones to sever their connection with 
 the Wesleyan body, and to send for a Primi- 
 tive Methodist minister to come and form 
 them into a society, and to receive them 
 into fellowship with the body of that 
 name. This was done. My chum and I were 
 among the number who felt "oppressed," — I 
 suppose because his parents were, — and we 
 attended the new school that was formed. A 
 small cottage was rented, partitions taken out, 
 and there, in that room, I spent the first 
 happy hours, under religious experience, of 
 my life. How we did sing in school; and the 
 number of verses Jim and I would learnf 
 Each had a good memory, and reciting a hun- 
 dred or more verses on Sunday seemed but a 
 small matter. 
 
 No task was assigned us, but we loved to- 
 do it. All had something to do, and began to- 
 feel a measure of responsibility, which, by the 
 way, is a secret worth knowing. Give a boy 
 some token by which you make him feel that 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 85 
 
 you set some value on his services, and that 
 results depend upon his part, and, if he has 
 any nerve and soul in him, you will call it out. 
 But let him feel that he has no place but what 
 could be filled as well with a storekeeper's 
 dummy, and you will soon "freeze him out." 
 
 Only a few weeks more passed before I was 
 "converted" at a revival service in that cot- 
 tage, and soon my name was enrolled as a 
 member of the church. The bitterest night 
 of those Canadian winters was never cold 
 enough, nor did the snow ever fall deep 
 enough, nor the sleet pelt wickedly enough, 
 to prevent me from footing it after the day's 
 work was done, to and from those meetings, 
 Saturday evenings I would go out to Mr. 
 Robinson's, and there remain over night, to 
 be on hand next morning early for Sunday 
 school and class meeting ; and many of the 
 blessings of those days stay with me and are 
 helps to this hour. 
 
 Poor Jim, he couldn't become converted so 
 quickly. He kept going to the mourner's 
 bench every time a protracted meeting was 
 held, and he would pray fervently, and listen 
 to the advisers who gathered around him ; 
 but yet didn't unite. The fact is the boy had 
 too much sense — hard sense — to take a "stone 
 for bread," and he was too honest to profess 
 
86 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF 
 
 what he did not possess. During one of those 
 "times of refreshing" I was sent to talk him 
 into an understanding of the conversion idea. 
 But what a job it was. The conversation ran 
 about thus: — 
 
 "Can't you let go everything and rest on 
 Christ?" 
 
 "What do you mean by letting go — let go 
 whatr 
 
 "Let go of all hope of saving yourself, and 
 simply believe on Jesus." 
 
 "That's what they've been telling me for 
 nine years. Now I don't expect to be able to 
 save myself; but what am I to believe?" 
 
 "Believe he died to save you." 
 
 "I've, believed that all my life; what else is 
 necessary ?" 
 
 "Believe that he saves you now." 
 
 "What, without feeling any different than I 
 have done?" 
 
 "Never mind the feeling ; just believe that 
 God, for Christ's sake, has saved you; and you 
 are saved right then." 
 
 "Now, Joe, honestly, — is — is that all you 
 did?" 
 
 "That's all, Jim." 
 
 "And the happiness came just as soon as 
 you believed that way ?" 
 
 "Exactly." 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 87 
 
 "My, how long I've been finding out that 
 simple idea ; I'll try it, Joe." 
 
 A young minister was present, and I 
 appealed to him to go and supplement my 
 dialogue with Jim. He did so ; and I am 
 strongly persuaded that Jim plied him about 
 as he did me, for after leaving him, the minis- 
 ter asked the people to rise from their knees 
 and listen to him ; whereupon he said : — 
 
 "It does seem ridiculous to ask a person to 
 believe he is saved before he feels any evi- 
 dence of it, but such is our duty, and if there 
 is anything else needed by the repentant soul 
 I know nothing of it." 
 
 He was in the same fix as myself; and I 
 never forgot his remark. After that time he 
 filled acceptably several churches for the 
 Methodists, but later on, for education's sake, 
 he joined the Presbyterians, and occupied 
 their pulpit at Pingree Grove, Illinois; Mid- 
 dleton, Iowa ; the First Scotch Church of 
 Chicago ; and is now pastor of a church not 
 far from London, Ontario. I wonder if that 
 admission satisfies people everywhere. He was 
 honest in stating it, and it was as "ridiculous" 
 as he admitted it seemed. Contrast such 
 counsel with that given by Jesus, and Paul, 
 and Peter, and how supremely "ridiculous" it 
 sounds. 
 
88 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 But Jim "got through" at that meeting, and 
 I was relieved and happy. He is there yet; 
 though the cottage was afterwards abandoned, 
 and we built a church; then the Methodist 
 churches united in Canada, and a large church 
 building now stands on the old corner where 
 the writer once happily and humbly wor- 
 shiped as a Primitive Methodist. 
 
 Becoming converted, as above related, I 
 took my stand firmly against the old forces 
 that had been swaying me, and it was soon 
 noticed in the printing office that a change 
 had come over me. They could not tltiake 
 me swear, and I left whenever they started to 
 tell vulgar stories. Finally, whenever they 
 pressed me with old time methods, I told 
 them squarely that I had turned over a new 
 leaf, joined the church, and was going to try 
 to live a Christian life. One or two of them 
 commended my course and told me to stick 
 to it; but the others would delight in singing 
 hymns, offering mock prayers, mixing up most 
 foul and blasphemous stories with Scriptural 
 quotations. To this they would add all they 
 could think of from my former doings and 
 sayings; unholier medleys were never impro- 
 vised than those which greeted my ears when- 
 ever I was at work near them. 
 
 Reader, it was a terrible fight. To hear 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 89 
 
 funny things and not laugh, lest you yield the 
 adversary a point. To be twitted, and, while 
 able to give back with usury, yet to refrain 
 from utterance, lest you betray your cause to 
 gratify self To have all kinds of nasty, mean 
 things said and done to you to make you 
 angry, and yet keep your lightning temper 
 under subjection for fear of exposing your 
 Master to shame. To begin right where you 
 had mixed up with the wild, the profane, and 
 the godless, and hold out against the tide- 
 forces you had helped to augment, is noble 
 work, and heroic in autobiographies; but it 
 has a side to it that is by no means poetic. 
 It is prosaic, to the broader line of cruci- 
 fixion. 
 
 To erect a royal or lofty character-standard 
 is within the scope of nearly all mortals who 
 are fairly up in "ideality;" but there must be 
 other sources than imagery from whence to 
 draw when the conflict, precipitated by your 
 effort to climb there and "hold the fort," is at 
 its heat; otherwise you only build and enter 
 to vacate and surrender in disgrace. I had 
 registered for the fight, long or short ; and, 
 though only a boy, God helped me. I do not 
 mean by this that I maintained my standard 
 and kept the banner high always; but I so 
 far succeeded that those around me finally 
 
90 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 gave up the idea of getting me back under 
 their control ; and I believe they admired my 
 course. 
 
 I became more attentive to my work, and, 
 being of an accommodative disposition, the 
 foreman found me willing to take hold of any 
 job, whether it was directly in the line of my 
 regular duties or not. Therefore, part of the 
 time I was in the job room, next in the news 
 room, then at the presses; afterwards in the 
 mailing room, or down in the engine room; 
 and thus I picked up a knowledge of various 
 branches, such as less willing apprentices 
 remained ignorant of. Besides this my wages 
 were increased faster than was the common 
 rule of the office, and thus ample reward came 
 to me for enduring for right's sake. 
 
 I remained in this office about three years 
 and seven months, or until four years had 
 been spent at the business. Just then the 
 great printers' strike for a nine hour day 
 occurred, and foolishly, as it now seems, I 
 allowed myself to be influenced against the 
 advice of my old friend, the foreman, and left 
 with the strikers. On the last Saturday of 
 our work before the strike he came and 
 handed me my wages. The tears were in his 
 eyes when he put out his hand and shook 
 mine, and he said. 
 
ELDEK JOSEPH LUFF. 91 
 
 "I thought you would have stayed with me, 
 my lad ; but good-bye." He left me, and I 
 wished at that moment to stay ; but my word 
 was pledged ; and I really believed that the 
 cause of the strikers was just. 1 regretted it 
 afterwards ; but it was too late to mend the 
 mistake. The old man afterwards gave me 
 work when I applied to him, and he favored 
 me all he could in that direction. 
 
 When passing through Toronto on my way 
 to the Eastern mission last September I 
 called on my old friend and spent a few hours 
 with him. He is now over seventy years of 
 age ; but he still holds a place in the same 
 office, though the position of foreman is now 
 held by another. My visit delighted him ; 
 and I was made glad to think that he still had 
 a warm place in his heart for the lad who had 
 caused him tears some twenty years before.- 
 The thought that I remembered him enough 
 to visit him gave him peculiar delight, and we 
 parted, each having the other's blessing on 
 his head. May life be his while it is desirable, 
 and may his end be peace. 
 
 Soon after my union with the church my 
 Brother John followed me to the little chapel, 
 and he, too, was captured and enrolled as a 
 member. This was added comfort for me. 
 He became as deeply interested as myself. 
 
■92 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 and the time went happily on. Let others 
 tell of their doubts and dissatisfaction regard- 
 ing the doctrines of the churches they were in ; 
 and of how they looked and hoped for some- 
 thing better and more consistent. Let them 
 tell of how they were prepared thus for the 
 "fullness of the gospel" when it saluted their 
 ears; but I must tell the truth about myself, 
 though it may make me appear intellectually 
 deficient. I was contented, was indeed happy, 
 never once stopping to, think that there might 
 be something lacking, or something superflu- 
 ous about my religion. To me it was pre- 
 sented as a divine system, and it was so 
 accepted, without question. 
 
 And, permit me to state here, that as I now 
 look back upon it and its influence upon my 
 character at that critical formative period, I 
 -tearfully raise my eyes towards heaven and 
 bless the day, and the circumstances, and the 
 people that conveyed it and its influences to 
 my heart and life. Defects it has many; 
 inconsistencies are inwrought with each fiber 
 of its doctrinal fabric; anomaly is stamped 
 upon its organic and governmental policy ; 
 and, compared with the order, symmetry, and 
 general excellence of all appointments of the 
 divine government under which, as a Latter 
 Day Saint, I now worship, it pales into seem- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 93 
 
 ing insignificance; but notwithstanding all 
 this, it was a medium through which forces 
 were introduced to my character such as 
 changed, cleansed, and fixed it at least on the 
 side of goodness, and under God, it proved an 
 effective stepping-stone to the higher spiritu- 
 ality, the diviner philosophy, and the greener 
 pasturage found within the realm of the 
 Church of Jesus Christ. 
 
 While this tribute is paid cheerfully and 
 deservedly to the religion of my first choice, 
 do not let the conclusion be hastily reached 
 that my life was changed suddenly by it from 
 nature to grace, nor that my roguish disposi- 
 tion was entirely eliminated by its influence. 
 A fear lurks with me that quite a measure of 
 that element will characterize my individuality 
 till the final change comes. 
 
U AUTOBIOGEAPHY OP 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 NEW RESPONSIBILITIES. 
 
 O fortunate, O happy day, 
 When a new household finds its place 
 Among the myriad homes of earth. 
 Like a new star just sprung to birth, 
 And rolled on its harmonious way 
 Into the boundless realms of space! 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 "If a man is thoroughly Christian, the nerve that 
 runs from his brain to his wallet will be just as much 
 Christianized as the one that runs from his brain to his 
 tongue. ' ' 
 
 The struggle to overcome the evil within 
 my character was a hard one. My inclinations 
 were strong; but never did the thought occur 
 to me to give up. I had entered for life and 
 was determined to make the best showing 
 possible. If my temper got the better of me 
 at times, or a swear word escaped my lips, 
 while it mortified me, it never had the effect 
 of discouraging me, for the conviction was 
 settled within me that it was possible to over- 
 come and the wonderful change that had been 
 wrought already argued in favor of still bet- 
 ter results if the fight was continued ; hence 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. - 95 
 
 every lapse only stimulated renewed energy 
 to fight harder in future. 
 
 On the evening of my eighteenth birthday, 
 while walking along the main road leading to 
 the chapel, my mind ran out over the past, 
 and humiliation filled me as the thought of 
 my unworthiness pressed upon me. Wonder- 
 ing what my future would be and how far my 
 life could contribute to the good of others, I 
 lifted my hat and in humble prayer conse- 
 crated myself anew to God for life, asking 
 faith and courage to abide in righteousness. 
 The consciousness seemed to be then with 
 me that my main life service would be with 
 the church. 
 
 Soon after this the presiding minister ooti- 
 fied me that by action of the quarterly board 
 my name had been placed on the printed 
 preachers' plan, and several appointments to 
 exhort and preach had been made for me, 
 which were indicated by the figure shown on 
 the plan, corresponding with that set oppo- 
 site my name. When a copy of the paper 
 reached me, sure enough, there was the entry 
 and arrangement for several services; and, 
 accepting the honor, I prepared myself to fill 
 them, believing it to be a duty divinely 
 imposed. This was my "call" to the ministry, 
 and from that time till my twenty-third year 
 
96 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 I continued as a local preacher, with varying 
 success. I was also made a Sabbath school 
 teacher, afterwards assistant superintendent ; 
 then a class leader and society steward, and 
 continued to hold these offices until my resig- 
 nation was tendered the church in 1876. 
 
 After being out on a strike with the printers 
 for about two weeks, I was approached by my 
 stepfather who was then publishing a weekly 
 paper and conducting a job printing office. 
 He offered me all that was demanded by me 
 as a striker, and a fair salary, to take charge 
 of his business. I accepted, and continued 
 with him for about two years or more, except 
 at intervals when we disagreed and I refused 
 to work for him. He was a man with enter- 
 prise sufficient to push a very large business, 
 but had not moral ballast enough to steady 
 or maintain a very small one. 
 
 His knowledge of printing was limited to 
 the duties of a newspaper compositor; job 
 printing and machinery were out of his prac- 
 tical range, but by no means beyond the realm 
 of his conceit. Nothing was too formidable 
 for him to undertake, but anything was too 
 heavy for him to carry if it involved moral 
 responsibility. As a stepson I was expected 
 to take a deeper interest in his business than 
 a stranger would ; and at the same time be 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 97 
 
 willing to go without my wages oftener, and 
 to do it without complaint. His irregularity 
 and his unreasonable exactions frequently 
 exhausted my reserve store of piety, and with 
 temper at white heat I would manifest my 
 indignation ; if it did not effect anything, I 
 would leave his employment and go else- 
 where. This occurred several times; but in 
 each instance the trouble was followed by a 
 reconciliation and by his promise of larger 
 wages, prompt payments, and better treat- 
 ment, till the culmination hereafter referred 
 to was reached and our business relations ter- 
 minated for a long time. 
 
 Meanwhile my work on Sundays and week 
 evenings, as local preacher, etc., was con- 
 tinued, and a little matter of a more private 
 or personal character was also being devel- 
 oped. 
 
 John Parker and his wife, Elizabeth, the 
 former a Scotchman and the latter a Lower 
 Canadian, lived close by our cottage chapel, 
 with their six children. By some appoint- 
 ment of heaven, or fortunate happening of 
 earth, (or as I now believe, both,) my atten- 
 tion was specially drawn to their second 
 daughter, Janet; and the attraction proved to 
 be mutual. We were but children when we 
 met; she was but fourteen and the writer not 
 
 7 
 
98 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 seventeen. As such, however, our inclination 
 for each other's society was sufficiently strong 
 to bring us often together, till friendship, with 
 passing years, ripened into that kind of affec- 
 tion which made us believe that we were des- 
 tined for each other, and led us to conclude 
 that in time our lives would run together. 
 Her parents were members of the little 
 Methodist Church; and, through the writer's 
 influence, she was finally led to an acceptance 
 of the religion we all then believed to be 
 right. Our companionship was favored by 
 her parents, and we were happy as little tur- 
 tle doves. 
 
 Some time after or about the year 1871, 
 John Parker and wife moved to London, 
 Ontario, taking with them the four younger 
 children, and leaving the two older daughters 
 behind to board with their grandparents. 
 This latter arrangement was made to allow 
 them to continue at their employment in a 
 shop that was quite close to our chapel. Of 
 course this was quite satisfactory to the 
 writer, and not at all objectionable to at least 
 one of the girls. Grandfather and grand- 
 mother lived next door to the chapel, and 
 everything was as convenient as if some good 
 spirit had ordained it specially for our benefit. 
 The old lady, with knitting in her hands and 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 99 
 
 spectacles low down on her nose, would 
 genercilly seat herself directly opposite our 
 familiar corner in the cottage, and over the 
 bows of her glasses would cast frequent 
 glances at the "innocents at home," doubtless 
 enjoying our reproduction of the scenes in 
 which she had participated in "ye olden tyme." 
 Her cheery remarks and pleasant smiles indi- 
 cated as much, and we rather prided ourselves 
 in our succcess at double service, considering 
 our own joy first, but feeling delighted over 
 the measure also furnished to her. But, as 
 my writing is not designed for a modern love 
 story, I must brush aside, for the reader's 
 sake, this soft-colored picture, and proceed 
 with the main recital. 
 
 My career as a Methodist preacher was not 
 without occasional evidences of strange and, 
 to me, divine supervision. In company with 
 a fellow preacher, William Matthews, I went 
 in a buggy once to fill some appointments, 
 twenty miles west of the city. After per- 
 forming the required service, to our mutual 
 happiness, we were returning at night, chat- 
 ting pleasantly together. It was very dark, 
 and the rattle of the buggy drowned all other 
 sounds. A high bank ran along the left side 
 of the road, and by it all objects were hidden 
 from us, even though they might be suiifi- 
 
100 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 ciently luminous to overcome the darkness. 
 Suddenly, and without any reason that I have 
 ever been able to assign, an impulse seized 
 me to draw on the rein and stop the horse, 
 which was going at quite a rapid gait. 
 Hardly had the animal been checked before 
 there dashed from behind the bank at our 
 left a locomotive and freight train, and not 
 more than ten feet ahead of us it crossed our 
 path directly; nor did the whistle sound till 
 the train had run its full length beyond our 
 road. 
 
 The sudden flash of the headlight in the 
 face of the horse caused her to plunge and 
 rear for a moment until we succeeded in 
 turning and letting her go in the opposite 
 direction for a few hundred yards. After 
 recovering from the shock thus produced, we 
 turned and hastened along as before. After 
 a few moments Bro. Matthews asked me why 
 I had so suddenly stopped the horse. I was 
 unable to answer him; for I had heard no 
 sound and seen no reflection. After a mo- 
 ment's thought he said: — 
 
 "Evidently, Bro. Luff, we have a work yet 
 to do ; for which God has remarkably pre- 
 served us. I hope we may find it out, and be 
 faithful in doing it." 
 
 To this I responded with an amen that 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 101 . 
 
 would have attested my Methodism anywhere. 
 Whether there was anything special about it 
 or not; I am unable to affirm ; but that there 
 was cause for gratitude I know, and I freely 
 offer it to Him who at least permitted it to so 
 occur. 
 
 The degree of success attending my labors 
 as a local preacher, and the calls for a more 
 frequent appearance of my name on the forth- 
 coming plans (which were issued quarterly) 
 led the minister in charge to urgently press 
 me to give my life entirely to ministerial 
 work. He spoke flatteringly of my ability, 
 and seriously of my call, as evidenced by my 
 success ; and, after many months of persua- 
 sion, he almost led me to believe that perhaps 
 I ought to drop everything else and become 
 an itinerant minister. 
 
 The law of the church required that young 
 men who entered the regular ministry should 
 remain four years on probation, during which 
 time they were required to go through a 
 course of graded studies ; and they only 
 received a very small allowance or salary. 
 This salary was not more than sufficient to 
 barely provide necessary books and clothing. 
 Of course this made it impracticable for a man 
 to marry ; and it formed a barrier against the 
 reception of married men. If, at the end of 
 
102 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 his probation, he passed the examination pre- 
 scribed he was ordained and his salary 
 increased. There was, I believe, a fixed mini- 
 mum limit to this ; but the maximum was to 
 be reached and determined by the market 
 value of the man's attractiveness as a preacher, 
 and the ability and willingness of his church, 
 or circuit, to pay him. In other words, he 
 received above the stipulated allowance what- 
 ever he could command by virtue of his 
 talents. ^ 
 
 While I was willing to take all chances, 
 and to make the necessary sacrifices in this 
 matter, one thing troubled me,— Did God 
 want me to do it; was I called to that minis- 
 try ? This question puzzled me. The minis- 
 ter and other earnest advisers reasoned with 
 me that my success proved my call. I replied 
 that if such was the case then the measure of 
 a man's success must prove the genuineness 
 of his call, and the acceptability of his doc- 
 trine. I knew that a certain Baptist minister 
 near there had made more conVerts than any 
 of our ministers ; that a certain evangelist had 
 secured still more ; and, beyond all, a noted 
 infidel in that city had outstripped every min- 
 ister, and had taken followers from all our 
 societies. If success was the criterion, then 
 the Baptist had a surer call than our minis- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 103 
 
 ter; and, if so, the doctrine of his church was 
 more acceptable to God. The evangelist was 
 still ahead of him, and the infidel was leading 
 all ; so, with only the "success" idea to 
 measure by, I had to seriously consider 
 whether or not oUr "holy religion" was not at 
 a discount in the estimation of God. 
 
 Just at this time a circumstance occurred 
 one evening which made further worry on the 
 above score needless. My stepfather, in one 
 of his fits of ungovernable passion, rushed at 
 my youngest sister (then a mere child) and 
 was about to punish her severely and unrea- 
 sonably for some trifling offense. Hearing 
 him advance towards her, after some boister- 
 ous threatening, I rushed down stairs and 
 instantly stood in his way, with a threaten- 
 ing gesture. This unexpected interference 
 heightened his wrath, and he turned his 
 attention to me, uttering a most unworthy 
 threat. I posed for war, my temper at boiling 
 point, and determined to finally settle all 
 claims against him for what I considered his 
 many acts of tyranny and abuse, both to me 
 and to my younger sisters, as well as concern- 
 ing his unfair treatment in business. My 
 religion was forgotten : I was arrayed for 
 revenge, and he saw it. He knew me too 
 well to risk very much, and I would not have 
 
104 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 trusted him within the limit of his power. 
 Just as we struck at each other, my mother 
 — poor mother — rushed between us and 
 fainted. Perhaps it was providential ; for it 
 suddenly checked our movements, and I 
 turned my attention to bringing her back to 
 consciousness. By the time this was accom- 
 plished my temper had subsided and I felt 
 ashamed, though I tried to justify myself. 
 Poor mother, she was in a dilemma. He was 
 her husband — I was her son. She knew that 
 a stage had been reached in' our relations 
 where she could no longer feel safe as to our 
 conduct towards each other, either in her 
 presence or absence; and her heart was 
 broken. I saw it, and hated him the worse 
 for it. Perhaps he felt so toward me also. 
 He ordered me to leave the house and I 
 refused and dared him to carry out his threat 
 to compel me. An appointment or engage- 
 ment had been made for me that night and 
 when the time came to leave I told mother I 
 would return about eleven o'clock. My step- 
 father said I should not enter the house ; but 
 my answer assured him that there were no 
 fears in my mind on that score. 
 
 Leaving the house I walked out to the little 
 chapel neighborhood a couple or more miles 
 away, thinking and wondering, and disgusted 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 105 
 
 with myself. I had fallen below the standard 
 of manhood I had erected ; I had violated my 
 covenant as a Christian ; I had been a party 
 to, a transaction that had added a pang to the 
 heart of the mother I most tenderly loved. I 
 stood before the bar of my conscience con- 
 demned and disgraced. Reason as I might 
 that my stepfather was wrong and cruelly 
 wrong, and pile up, as I could, a long list of 
 unjust acts upon his part ; and knowing as I 
 did that my mother was totally ignorant of 
 much concerning him that was only too well 
 known to me ; still I was wrong — wrong — ■ 
 wrong, and could not escape the conviction. 
 I had dishonored -my religion ; and for a time 
 I seemed to literally abhor myself My heart 
 was bitterness itself. The mixed feelings of 
 revenge, self-justification, remorse, and dis- 
 grace were indescribable. However, before 
 reaching the end of my journey, I had deter- 
 mined to either leave at once for California, 
 to join my Uncle Ben there, or to settle down 
 in a home of my own. I could not consent to 
 longer remain at home while my stepfather 
 was there ; and the only question was what 
 change to make for the best. 
 
 Upon meeting the one who might be af- 
 fected by whatever change occurred, I related 
 to her the entire story concerning the colli- 
 
106 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 sion, the bitterness felt, and the resolution 
 made, leaving her to decide the matter within 
 the coming week as to whether I should leave 
 for the West, or we should marry and make a 
 home of our own. Only one question was 
 seriously to be considered: We were young; 
 she had not long entered her eighteenth year, 
 and I was but twenty; I had a trade, how- 
 ever, and she understood housekeeping, hav- 
 ing been employed in that line for some time 
 prior to beginning the more profitable work 
 she was now engaged in. 
 
 Having thus submitted the miatter to her 
 and filled the engagement I returned home 
 and found no difficulty in entering. That 
 night was spent in anything but a restful or 
 pleasant state of mind. There was a severe 
 struggle going on, but by the morning my 
 resentfulness had been conquered and, going 
 down to the office, I determined to make 
 amends, as far as possible, for my part of the 
 wrong, whether my cause was just or not. 
 Certain it was my methods were wrong. I 
 now think that it was the biggest victory I 
 had up to that time ever achieved over self. 
 I waited till the arrival of my stepfather, 
 entered his private office, and there confessed 
 to him frankly that I was ashamed of myself, 
 my acts had been unchristian ; and I was 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 107 
 
 sorry indeed. My purpose was to redeem my 
 religion and manhood from the disgrace to 
 which I had subjected them. But if the effort 
 had been aimed directly towards crushing and 
 humiliating him, it could not have succeeded 
 more completely. Astonished beyond meas- 
 ure, he looked and listened, then stretched 
 forth his hand and shook mine warmly. 
 He took all the blame on himself, but 
 explained and apologized, and uttered many 
 -regrets, and promised better treatment in 
 the future. He expressed his admiration 
 of me and my action in coming to him, 
 and he paid a tribute to the religion that 
 could so work in a man of my disposi- 
 tion! All this was in excess of my anticipa- 
 tion ; and though my knowledge of the man 
 allowed me to repose but little confidence in 
 the permanency of his good feeling and con- 
 duct, yet somehow I felt that my duty was 
 done. 
 
 I wanted, however, to leave home while the 
 good feeling lasted. Upon telling mother 
 what I had done her tender heart melted at 
 the recital. Undoubtedly she knew some- 
 thing of the nature of the struggle I must 
 have had before humbling myself under such 
 conditions. The expression of gladness that 
 lit up her dear face,, and the tears of joy that 
 
108 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 fell from her eyes, voiced to me in distinct 
 articulation the relief she found in the new 
 hope thus begotten. I was thus more than 
 rewarded; but I was afraid to trust myself 
 very far in the old direction. 
 
 These incidents maybe of but trifling inter- 
 est to the reader, and are only mentioned 
 here, because, painful as they appear, and dis- 
 creditable to the writer as some of them 
 undoubtedly were, they seem, as I now look 
 back upon them, to have been operative 
 causes tending to certain results, which, if not 
 appointed, were certainly overruled by Provi- 
 dence as a means to a desirable end. 
 
 After a week had passed, and the use of 
 some little persuasion on my part. Miss Par- 
 ker concluded that I had better not go to 
 California; so we agreed upon a date, three 
 months ahead, when we should become one. 
 Accordingly, after obtaining the parental con- 
 sent, we made preparations. The time passed 
 gloriously on until May 23, 1873, when to- 
 gether we went to London, Ontario, and on 
 the following day, at the residence of her 
 parents, and in the presence of all the family, 
 celebrated the birthday of Queen Victoria by 
 getting married, Rev. W. S. Hughan of the 
 Methodist Church officiating. Having fur- 
 nished and left a home ready for occupancy, 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 109 
 
 we returned in a few days to Toronto, and 
 began life under our own rooftree. 
 
 This occasion of so much joy to us was one 
 of regret to the presiding minister; for it 
 spoiled all his calculations concerning my 
 entering the regular ministry. No married 
 men need apply; so I continued as a local 
 preacher. Trivial as this occurrence may 
 appear to some, as they read, it appears 
 before my mind as an important link in the 
 chain of providential ' circumstances which 
 held me for a day then future, and for a 
 service then unknown to me. Had I entered 
 the regular itinerancy at that time, it is im- 
 possible to tell whither the influences of that 
 kind of life would have led me; what preju- 
 dices its associations would have strength- 
 ened within me, and how far my will would 
 have been steeled against the golden truth of 
 after revealment. It is not for me to divine 
 'whether I should ever have become obedient 
 to the gospel of the Son of God when it 
 finally came to me, or not. All I really know 
 is that it closed the door referred to against 
 me, for which I now thank God. It will be 
 seen later on that certain spiritual good came 
 in consequence of it, by which my career as 
 a Latter Day Saint was the more easily 
 commenced. 
 
110 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 Our new home life was started by a conse- 
 cration of ourselves and interests to Christ. 
 We believed the hand of our heavenly Father 
 had brought us together ; and, though such a 
 law as tithing was not heard of in the church, 
 we gathered knowledge concerning it from 
 the Bible, and had placed in a secluded part 
 of our home a box which we called the Lord's 
 box, and so labeled it. Into this we regularly 
 put one tenth of my weekly earnings, to be 
 used for church purposes alone; and when its 
 contents were found insufficient, we added 
 thereto ; but the tenth was held sacred for 
 that purpose. I have since wondered why 
 this was done ; for there was not another 
 member of the church who believed in, or 
 practiced it, that we are aware of. Was this 
 also a work of preparation? 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. Ill 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 APPROACHING THE TRUTH, 
 
 There lives more faith la honest doubt, 
 Believe me, than in half the creeds. 
 
 He fought his doubts and gathered strength, 
 He would not make his judgment blind, 
 He faced the spectres of the mind 
 
 And laid them: thus he came at length 
 
 To find a stronger faith his own. 
 
 Tennyson. 
 
 Subsequent to the events noted, and as 
 the result of another serious unpleasantness 
 with my stepfather in regard to business mat- 
 ters, I held several interviews with a Mr. 
 Robert S. Weir, who had been bookkeeper in 
 the same office, but who had become very 
 much dissatisfied with the manner in which 
 things were being conducted. Like myself 
 he was also ambitious, and was seeking 
 opportunity to improve his condition finan- 
 cially. Both of us had determined to quit my 
 stepfather's employ ; and, understanding each 
 other as we did, it was but natural that we 
 should suggest a coalition for mutual advan- 
 tage. He was a. competent accountant and 
 fine business man, whose honesty and integ- 
 
112 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 rity I had full confidence in. The result of 
 our interviews was that together we left my 
 stepfather's employ, and, forming a partner- 
 ship, we purchased a small job printing plant 
 and commenced business under the firm name 
 of Weir and Luff, in the west end of the city, 
 far distant from the location of our old em- 
 ployer's office. 
 
 Our hope was to build up a business for 
 ourselves, without directly affecting his, but 
 he either failed to note that fact or was too 
 reckless ■ to respect us in an honest effort to 
 strike out for ourselves, hence he tried to 
 give us all the trouble he possibly could. 
 
 Finding that we had not only gone, but 
 gone beyond recovery, he became enraged 
 and in his frenzy moved his business from the 
 center of the city to a point still west of us, 
 where he hoped to "freeze us out." His 
 methods, however, were hurtful to himself; 
 for he took work at prices that would not 
 cover original outlay for material ; and after 
 considerable time his business collapsed and 
 the entire plant was disposed of under the 
 sheriff's hammer. 
 
 Meanwhile our business prospered and 
 improved. Additional facilities were added, 
 which of course involved quite an outlay; but 
 our credit was good, and by dint of honesty 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. lia 
 
 and push we succeeded admirably. The 
 Methodist Church at that end of the city 
 gave us the benefit of its patronage and influ- 
 ence, and I was bidding fair to reach some 
 day the goal of my earlier ambition , namely, 
 an independent position in point of wealth ;. 
 that is, the start in that direction was encour- 
 aging. 
 
 Our church work was also keeping pace 
 with the progressive elements around it, andi 
 the little cottage, chapel in which we had 
 been worshiping soon proved too small for 
 us. Accordingly a new site was purchased 
 and a more sightly and commodious building 
 was erected thereon. The old building was 
 again converted into a tenement, and was 
 purchased some time afterwards, together 
 with the premises adjoining, by the writer. 
 
 Thus my wife and I became the possessors 
 of the home in which we had wooed and won 
 each other, and also the one in which both of 
 us had gone through the processes incident to 
 a genuine Methodist conversion. Into one 
 house we moved, and the other we rented. 
 We were now looking out upon the future 
 with much to encourage, while happiness 
 smiled pleasantly upon and within our home, 
 into which two additional ones had entered, a 
 son and daughter. 
 
114 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 My success as a preacher had not waned, 
 and again I was besought to enter the regular 
 ministry. I was now in a condition to sup- 
 port myself and family for four years of proba- 
 tion, if my business and home were sold; 
 hence the main objection was lifted, and the 
 old question came back — Am I called to that 
 ■work? If I could have been satisfied in that 
 regard everything would have been quickly 
 disposed of, and I should have gone forth 
 trusting in God. The good minister in 
 charge, Rev. Thomas Griffith, visited and 
 conversed with me earnestly about the matter; 
 I was in a state of doubt, but honestly praj'- 
 ing for light on the matter. 
 
 Just then a letter from the parents of my 
 wife brought with it a leaflet on which was 
 printed an epitome of the faith of the Reor- 
 ganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day 
 Saints. These old Methodists of twenty or 
 more years standing had joined tliat body, 
 and in their anxiety to do good had sent this 
 little leaflet, with a request that it be read. 
 It was soon followed by a few others, which I 
 read, as did my wife, and, though impressed 
 with the apparent Scripturalness of the doc- 
 trines set forth therein, I maintained a show 
 of indifference regarding the matter. The 
 peculiar character of the testimonies borne by 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 115 
 
 the letter writers struck me, however, as 
 remarkable ; but in my replies I confined my- 
 self to a criticism of the doctrine and a light 
 ridicule of the testimonies. This was done 
 more to draw out the defense and give me a 
 clearer insight into the strange doctrine than 
 to oppose from a disposition to belittle or 
 denounce. More tracts came after a timq, 
 revealing new evidence and awakening a 
 deeper interest. I read whenever opportunity 
 offered, and examined the Bible carefully in 
 search of weapons with which to crush or 
 annihilate the new faith. Not that I felt any 
 special dislike for the doctrine ; but my pride 
 made me anxious to find something where- 
 with to defend the faith to which I was 
 already committed; and to defend one was to 
 annihilate the other. I hated to confess in 
 letters that my religion was without Scriptural 
 warrant. 
 
 My first study and writing was done out of 
 respect for those who had shown such a kindly 
 interest in me ; but the discoveries made 
 thereby led me to a closer investigation and 
 comparison of church doctrines ; and my 
 interest increased proportionately. The re- 
 sult was painful; for I discovered for the first 
 time that the religion my mother had taught 
 me was defective. It did not require many 
 
116 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OP 
 
 days of searching to reach this conclusion. 
 Whether the church publishing those tracts 
 was right or not, one thing was certain, and 
 that hurt me; namely, If the Bible was cor- 
 rect my religion was in many respects incor- 
 rect. I spent months in searching; but 
 became only the more confirmed in the con- 
 viction thus forced upon me. I saw at once 
 by reference to Mark i: 4; Acts 2: 38; 22: 16; 
 John 3 : 5, that baptism was "for the remis- 
 sion of sins"; and all my subsequent searching 
 seemed but to add force to this conviction. 
 Methodism did not teach that; and I did not 
 even pretend to believe that my church was 
 truer than the Bible. I read passages regard- 
 ing the laying on of hands, such as found in 
 Genesis 48:14; Numbers 27: 18-23; Mat- 
 thew 19: 13-15; Acts 8: 14-ig; 19:6; I 
 Timothy 4: 14; 2 Timothy i : 6; Mark 16: 
 18; 6:5; Luke4:4o; 13:13; James 5 ; 14, 15 ; 
 and as I read my mind was filled with surprise 
 that these texts had never seemed to read that 
 way before. 
 
 It was quite plain to me now that the. gos- 
 pel had reference to the diseased body as well 
 as the sinful soul of man, and that its provi- 
 sions were made that man — the entire man — 
 physical and mental, as well as spiritual — all 
 that was blasted under the Adam — could be 
 
ELDEK JOSEPH LUFF. 117 
 
 redeemed under the Christ. This was simply 
 glorious. 
 
 Again, when the doctrine of the resurrec- 
 tion and eternal judgment was treated upon, 
 such scriptures as are recorded in i Corinthi- 
 ans 15: 22, 23, 40-42; I Thessolonians 4: 
 13-18; Revelation 20: 2-15; 22: 12; John 
 14: 1-3; Matthew 16: 27; Romans 2: 6; 2 
 Corinthians 5 : 10; i Peter 1:17, were made 
 use of and my old theory of but one resurrec- 
 tion and but two places hereafter was ruined. 
 Here was evidence of the plainest and most 
 forcible character, r. That all men would rise, 
 2. That every man would receive in the resur- 
 rection just what he prepared himself for here, 
 and that conditions as numerous and various 
 as the stars of the firmanent are to be revealed, 
 and 3. That I could inherit the "glory of the 
 sun" or the "moon" or of the "stars" — just as 
 I elected to live here. If I loved Christ 
 supremely and kept the faith he enunciated 
 and observed, I could live with him for ever ; 
 if not my inheritance would vary from his in 
 proportion as my character revealed a dis- 
 parity, for character alone would be the test 
 of worth at last. This made clear to me the 
 fact that in my own hand was lodged the, 
 power and the privilege of electing what my 
 life in the resurrected state might be. Every 
 
118 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 life deed is to be brought into account and be 
 rewarded or condemned. The faithful Christ 
 servant is to be raised from death at "his 
 coming" and to reign with him for ever, while 
 the others must reap the consequences of 
 their failure to love and obey him as they 
 might and should have done. 
 
 In addition to this I learned from Matthew 
 5:5; 6 : 10; Revelation 5:10; 20 : 9, as well 
 as Job 19 : 25-27 and Psalms 37 : 10, 11, 18, 
 20, 2j, 28, 29, 34, that the final abode of the 
 Saints of God would be upon this earth after 
 its redemption, and, as a consequence, the 
 pretty picture of a home beyond the skies 
 which had been held before my eyes for so 
 many years was stripped of its beauty — it was 
 a thing of human invention and looked like a 
 gilded fancy beside the substantial and 
 divinely endowed philosophy that revealed 
 earth as a perpetual habitation for man. 
 Adam's sin brought curse upon himself-and 
 his habitation ; but Christ's mission was to 
 remove the curse and restore the beauty of 
 the habitation as soon as man prepared him- 
 self to worthily occupy it. 
 
 The announcement of God and Christ's 
 unchangeability and impartiality, as made in 
 Malachi 3 : 6 ; Hebrews 13:8; James i : 17; 
 Acts 10: 34, together with the revelation of 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 119 
 
 his kindness, shown in what at certain ages 
 was done by him among his faithful followers, 
 (see Ephesians 4:11-14; 1 Corinthians 12: 
 1-3 1 ; Mark 16 : 15-20, and other places,) made 
 the conclusion easy and consistent that the 
 religion of Jesus would carry these same char- 
 acteristics wherever it existed, for his gospel 
 was ordained for man, and not for a few favor- 
 ites at stated periods. If the design of it 
 regarding the life beyond remained the same, 
 who could claim that the portion relating to 
 present life and experience would not be sup- 
 portive of that hope which it was evidently 
 intended to conserve? 
 
 One of the most startling discoveries made 
 by me was that Christ gave but one model of 
 a church, and according to it, apostles, 
 prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, etc., 
 were a necessity. The texts already pre- 
 sented were sufficient to convince me of this, 
 and coupled with the charge delivered in 
 Matthew 28: 19, 20, a case was made suffi- 
 ciently strong against my Methodism to for- 
 ever spoil any hope of safety under its shelter. 
 
 Added to this was the clear announcement 
 of Hebrews 5: 4, and the significant inquiry of 
 Rom. 10:15, which, together with their con- 
 texts and the examples of Acts 2 i : 24-26 ; , 1 3 : 
 1-4; and John 15 : 16, convinced me that no 
 
120 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF 
 
 man had a right to go forth and represent 
 heaven without getting his credentials direct 
 therefrom, authorizing him so to do. It 
 became easier then to understand why my 
 mind had shrunk instinctively hitherto from 
 going out as an itinerant minister. The fact 
 was that both my church and myself were 
 destitute of authority. ' It was quite clear now 
 that only to those whom God selected as he 
 had selected Aaron, Peter, Paul, and others 
 did the promise hold good that what they 
 should "bind on earth" would be "bound in 
 heaven." Only to duly commissioned agents 
 did the right belong to bless children, baptize 
 believers, and impose hands for the gift of the 
 Holy Spirit, the ordination of ministers, and 
 the healing of the sick. All others who 
 denied present revelation and ignored the 
 Scriptural organization and doctrine were des- 
 titute. While, in some sense this discovery 
 was painful, it helped strengthen my confi- 
 dence in the Bible, for therein was manifest a 
 startling fulfillment of Isaiah 24 : 5 ; Acts 20: 
 35, 36 ; 2 Timothy 4: 3, 4; 2 Peter 2:1,2; 
 and Revelation" 12:1-6 and other passages 
 which foretold a terrible apostasy from the 
 primitive church organized by Christ; and 
 thus my mind was prepared partially to 
 believe that Revelation 14: 6 would possibly 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 121 
 
 have a fulfillment also, and the angel of God 
 would restore the ancient gospel and church. 
 
 To me the character of God was magnifi- 
 cently displayed in the universal provision for 
 the race — the fulness of the atonement — -and 
 I was led to ask myself the question, my 
 faulty religion had brought me so much 
 happiness, what must God's own true religion 
 do for me could I but find it; for even with 
 these convictions fastened upon me, I did not 
 conclude that the Latter Day Saints were 
 right. I tried to think that perhaps they had 
 learned all this by study and had counter- 
 feited the church in doctrine and organiza- 
 tion. I reasoned upon it ; but that did not 
 help my Methodism. The fact that other 
 religions might be wrong, did not make mine 
 any nearer right. 
 
 About, this time William Clow, who had 
 meanwhile married the oldest sister of my 
 wife, while she was visiting in London, came 
 to Toronto on business. He had united with 
 the Saints Church also, and, though his stay 
 was limited and my business kept me engaged 
 much of my time, yet when we were together 
 at my home I 'tried to oppose his doctrine 
 mildly. He allowed me to select my own 
 scripture, and then seemed to take delight in 
 applying it for me. Of course I did not let 
 
122 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 him know what effect his visit had upon me 
 for I was not yet convinced that his church 
 was right, though I felt that mine was wrong; 
 but his visit crippled me. He came to my 
 church and heard me preach. He came to my 
 class meeting and took part under my leader- 
 ship; but it seemed that when he quoted a 
 passage of Scripture it suddenly became full 
 of new significance ; and yet I well kne_w that 
 he had added nothing to its original meaning. 
 I was perplexed; I was in- a quandary; and 
 in this condition he left me, though without 
 ever learning from me anything as to my feel- 
 ings. 
 
 After this visit I pressed my investigations 
 more closely, and, as a consequence, became 
 more disturbed in mind. The pledged un- 
 changeability of God and Christ compelled 
 me to believe they were the same in every 
 respect — in character, purpose, and feeling — 
 as they appeared to the ancients. The 
 announcement that "God is no respecter of 
 persons," made it easy for me to believe that 
 the children of this generation were of as 
 much importance to God as those of former 
 time, so far as the conditions and times of 
 birth affected the case. The only question 
 then left for settlement, was as to the attitude 
 maintained by the ancients when they 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 123 
 
 obtained such favor from God as the Bible 
 bore witness of. Learning of this, I was 
 pledged to the belief that if believers to-day 
 would but assume like attitude and maintain 
 it, an unchangeable and impartial Father 
 would thus be brought under the obligation 
 imposed by himself to treat these later born 
 members of his family as he had treated those 
 of earlier birth. 
 
 This simply meant a restoration of ancient 
 glory to the church, — all its spirituality and 
 miraculous energy in relation to the human 
 body as well as spirit. The Bible bore wit- 
 ness that for over four thousand years God had 
 communed with his people whenever they 
 had "ears to hear." I could readily admit 
 that man had departed from God, "trans- 
 gressed the laws, changed the ordinance, 
 broken the everlasting covenant," thus mak- 
 ings his ears incapable of hearing ; for the 
 statement was clear, "He that turneth away 
 his ear from' hearing the law, even his prayer 
 shall be abomination." This explained why 
 the churches were without revelation and 
 angel ministrations; for I knew they neither 
 taught nor believed many of the important 
 items of the ancient gospel law. I could not 
 escape the conviction that if God should 
 again restore the covenant once broken, and 
 
124 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 men should once more observe the old law, 
 or in other words would go back to where 
 their forefathers walked with God, they too 
 would find him just where he had been left 
 by the church at its departing. 
 
 I could not help admitting that for men to 
 find God in this age and to walk with him, 
 meant for them to enjoy all the holy and 
 blissful advantages that others enjoyed when 
 pursuing the same course. I did not believe 
 that the angels were all dead, nor that they 
 had changed their employment, but being 
 formerly "ministering spirits, sent forth to 
 minister for them who shall be heirs of salva- 
 tion," they waited the return of men to the 
 gospel which makes men "heirs of salvation," 
 before they could resume their original service 
 as fully as- before. I knew well that the idea 
 of angel visits and direct revelation was being 
 denounced in the churches. I had often heard 
 it said that the awful voice of revelation ceased 
 at Patmos, and I could not help concluding 
 that if such was the case then there had not 
 been a minister on earth since that time who 
 was "called of God, as was Aaron." 
 
 This made me shudder, as I thought of the 
 many "forms of godliness," which denied "the 
 power thereof"; and of the words of Christ, 
 "Many will say to me in that day. Lord, 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 125 
 
 Lord, have we not .... in thy name done 
 many wonderful works? And then will I pro- 
 fess unto them, I never knew you: depart 
 from me." I studied over that word many, 
 and wondered how many were engaged in a 
 work which they professed to do in Christ's 
 name or by Christ's authority, who in the next 
 breath denied that any word had been heard 
 from God for eighteen hundred years, either 
 by themselves or by any other. I asked and 
 asked again. If God has not spoken for so 
 long a time who can have called these men? 
 Were they called "as was Aaron"? If not, 
 will God recognize their service, so that what 
 they "bind on earth shall be bound in heaven"? 
 If not, what good can their service be to me 
 as gospel ministers ? 
 
 So the time wore on. I was being pressed 
 to enter the ministry; yet was losing faith in 
 my religion. I was engaged in preaching fre- 
 quently on Sundays, and in counseling as a 
 class leader and Sunday school laborer. My 
 ministry work was increasing, and calls came 
 to fill the pulpit for the, Wesleyan minister 
 not far away, and for the Bible Christian min- 
 ister in another direction. I read, and studied, 
 and compared, and prayed, and feared, and 
 'wept. 
 
 While I was in this state of mind my wife 
 
126 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 resolved upon paying her parents a visit and 
 made arrangements accordingly. When the 
 day of her departure arrived, I accompanied 
 her to the train, and in parting, jokingly 
 remarked that the next thing I expected to 
 hear was that I had a Mormon wife. Not 
 knowing how deeply I had been delving into 
 the matter she replied that there was no 
 immediate danger. I then advised her to 
 listen carefully to what the Saints had to say, 
 and, if she became satisfied that they were 
 right, to, join with them, without delaying a 
 monrfent on account of my feelings. After a 
 few weeks she wrote, asking my consent to 
 her baptism, and after the counsel I had given 
 her when leaving I could not well refuse. In 
 fact there was no inclination in my heart to 
 refuse, though the denouement was precipitated 
 sooner than was looked for. My answer 
 advised her to be sure she was right, then act, 
 as she was her own agent ; and my Metho- 
 dism, if continuing ever, would never cause 
 an interference with her convictions. 
 
 Accordingly she was baptized ; and in her 
 account of it to me she bore witness of the 
 satisfaction felt in consequence. On the even- 
 ing of her confirmation, while the Saints were 
 assembled in the church house, and just as the 
 rite was about to be observed the door 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 127 
 
 opened and Elder A. Leverton, of Bothwell, 
 entered. He was called upon to assist, and 
 in regular turn it fell to his lot to confirm my 
 wife, who then looked like and .was suppose^ 
 by him to be a girl of about sixteen or seven- 
 teen. Proceeding, however, the Spirit led 
 him to promise much good, conditionally, to 
 her; and, among other things, that her part- 
 ner, who was then preaching a gospel in 
 Toronto, would yet preach this everlasting 
 gospel to the world. As he afterwards told 
 me, Elder Leverton felt bad after uttering 
 this, until he was informed as to who she was. 
 Of course the news of this reached me 
 quickly by letter, and provoked a smile and 
 considerable criticism. Still it did not strike 
 me as being impossible or altogether unlikely, 
 for the conviction that my life would be spent 
 in church service had never left me. Still it 
 was difficult for me then to guess just where 
 my study would end for with the assurance 
 that my Methodism was honeycombed with 
 traditions of men and unauthorized practices, 
 came the recognition that millions of honest 
 and intelligent people were indorsing it and 
 living worthy lives under its influences. A 
 disposition seized me to question the relia- 
 bility of the Bible and to doubt almost every- 
 thing. This feeling, however, was not lasting 
 
128 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF 
 
 for. I continued to pray most earnestly for 
 divine direction and to be preserved from it 
 and from wrong paths and parties. 
 , Weeks passed by until about eight months 
 had elapsed since the time when my ears 
 were first saluted with the sound of this 
 strange philosophy. My health was failing in 
 consequence of too close confinement indoors, 
 and yet it seemed impossible to change my 
 condition. I worked hard, all day and fre- 
 quently sat up late at night to read and write. 
 Some of the letters written to me about this 
 time had drawn out a little cross fire from me 
 and considerable banter. In one of my let- 
 ters I had recklessly challenged them to use 
 their faith to bring me among them by a cer- 
 tain day, which I named. I told them it was- 
 impossible for me to get there, but their faith 
 ought to laugh at impossibilities and produce 
 any kind of miracle. I did not suppose they 
 would ever pay any attention to it ; but the 
 sequel pro-Cred they did. Like much of the 
 balance of my writing it passed from my 
 mind. 
 
 Business began to press more heavily upon 
 me. Every moment was demanded of myself 
 and partner in order to preserve our credit. 
 We had bought some expensive material to 
 meet growing demands, and were partly 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 129 
 
 indebted for it. Our notes were falling due, 
 and we could not afford to fail in meeting 
 them. One note for several hundred dollars 
 was to mature in about a month, and every 
 nerve was being strained to meet it. My 
 health was breaking, and one Friday evening 
 I called on our regular physician for advice,, 
 and was told that my only hope was in quit- 
 ting business for a time and getting away 
 from care and anxiety. I told him that was 
 about impossible under our circumstances, to 
 which he replied that if death was preferable 
 I could take my choice. I felt discouraged, 
 and returning to the office reported the mat- 
 ter to my partner, who sympathized with me, 
 but could see no way out, as our credit was at 
 stake in meeting the outstanding obligation. 
 Closing the office at night, after the hands 
 had left, we walked together till we reached 
 the street leading towards his home. There 
 we parted, and I went to the home of the pre- 
 siding minister to arrange some church work. 
 While there, in answer to his comments 
 regarding my sickly appearance, I told him 
 what the physician had said, whereupon he 
 insisted that I should go away for a time. I 
 told him how impossible it was, and explained 
 the situation. Turning to me he said, "Go, 
 Brother Luff, recruit your health, and I will 
 
130 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 see that the note is paid when it matures." 
 I was surprised and gratified, but hesitated. 
 He insisted, and after leaving him I called 
 -upon my partner and related what had 
 •occurred, and was advised by him to go at 
 once. 
 
 That night I thought long about the course 
 to pursue, but at seven o'clock in the morn- 
 ing took train for London, where my wife 
 still remained. Arriving there about noon I 
 started towards the residence of her parents, 
 and when within about a rod or two of the 
 house was met by my brother-in-law, William 
 Clow, who gave me to understand that their 
 faith in miracles and prayer was not weak- 
 ened in the least by my arrival, as that was 
 the very day I had so carelessly named in my 
 bantering letter some time before. I don't 
 know whether God had anything special to do 
 with my getting there at that time and in 
 that way or not ; but I was there ; of that I 
 am certain, and without any known reason 
 for congratulating myself either. 
 
 I found my wife as happy as the rest of the 
 Saints, and as anxious to tell of the light she 
 had discovered and the joy she had found. 
 She found in me a willing listener, though 
 perhaps a little exacting in criticisms and 
 demands. I had come with a covenant in my 
 
ELDEK JOSEPH LUFF. 131 
 
 heart to obey if I found the work satisfac- 
 tory. I knew that to unite with the Saints 
 was to lose the support of the old church in 
 my business, and to finally lose business, 
 home, and all the friends of my former life, 
 not excepting mother. However, I had 
 come determined to take all risks, provided I 
 could see divinity associated with the work. 
 I had come pledged to do anything necessary, 
 and in my power, to advance its interests if I 
 but discovered God in it ; yet I told no man 
 of my resolution or feelings. 
 
 On the following morning I heard Elder J. 
 J. Cornish preach on the first principles, and 
 he announced the "Book of Mormon" as his 
 subject for the evening. During the after- 
 noon service of prayer and testimony there 
 were manifestations in prophecy and tongues, 
 which, though producing considerable enthu- 
 siasm and furnishing comfort to the Saints, 
 did not bring any conviction to my mind or 
 pleasure to my heart. The old question of 
 questions worried me, "Are they of God?" 
 What would I not haV^e given that day to 
 have known just that one thing. At night I 
 attended, expecting to take notes on the 
 strange subject; but becoming interested 
 found it impossible to follow closely and do 
 much writing. At the close of the service I 
 
132 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF 
 
 stepped upon the platform, met the elder, and 
 congratulated him upon his success in making 
 out so apparently clear a case for the Book of 
 Mormon. That while I could not say he was 
 right, I was satisfied the subject was worthy 
 of a careful study, and it should be so treated 
 by me. 
 
 At this juncture, Priest (now Elder) Wil- 
 liam Newton stepped forward and greeted me 
 with some expression affecting the work, 
 which led us into a , friendly discussion for 
 about twenty minutes, resulting in my admis- 
 sion that the Bible was clearly in favor of 
 their position on the first principles, but say- 
 ing that it still remained unproven to me that 
 their gifts and church were genuine, as all 
 might easily be counterfeited. He seemed 
 dis,appointed that his arguments and testi- 
 mony did not affect me convincingly ; but I 
 told those present that I believed God under- 
 stood me and could reach me, and that I was 
 ready for the benefit of their prayers. Thus 
 we parted. 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUPP. 133 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 INTO THE SUNLIGHT. 
 
 They are slaves who fear to speak 
 
 For the fallen and the weak; 
 
 They are slaves who will not choose 
 
 Hatred, scoffing, and abuse, 
 
 Eather than in silence shrink 
 
 From the truth they needs must think; 
 
 They are slaves who dare not be 
 
 In the right with two or three. 
 
 Lowell. 
 
 For the following evening a prayer and 
 testimony meeting was announced at the 
 home of my wife's parents. It was customary 
 among them at that time to hold several 
 meetings of this kind during the week, so full 
 of zeal and fervor were they. Having heard 
 considerable about the Book of Mormon, I 
 secured a copy and shut myself up in the par- 
 lor nearly all day to read it. While thus 
 engaged I was visited several times by as 
 peaceful an influence as ever pervaded my 
 frame. The words before me seemed to be 
 filled with a something that in an indescriba- 
 ble way took hold of my intelligence and 
 elicited my approval in frequent ejaculations. 
 
134 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 The persuasive force of that influence drew 
 tears from my eyes and praise from my lips 
 almost involuntarily and my suspicions regard- 
 ing the book melted under it. Just why such 
 was the case cannot by me be explained in a 
 philosophical way, but some, at least, of my 
 readers who have been under like influence 
 can appreciate the condition as presented. It 
 was strange to me then, for it was no mere 
 feeling of gladness or ecstacy, but the distinct 
 consciousness of a presence and power near 
 me that was associated in some way with the 
 book. Whatever my will may have been con- 
 cerning the Book of Mormon, I certainly 
 could not, while under such an influence, con- 
 demn nor speak lightly of it, for to have done 
 so would have seemed like talking against 
 God. To urge any objection against the 
 work one must get out from under that halo ; 
 but no one while under it ever desires to get 
 away. I can easily understand how, had I 
 been in a more susceptible or receptive con- 
 dition of spirit, the enlargement of this pre- 
 sentation could have made heaven feel very 
 near, and the book exceedingly precious. 
 
 At the prayer meeting quite a number were" 
 present, and all seemed to be full to the brim 
 of some gladdening grace, which was pleasing 
 to witness. When liberty was given for any 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 135 
 
 to speak, I rose in turn and expressed my 
 confidence in God and my pleasure in behold- 
 ing their happiness. As to their religion or 
 doctrine and church I could, not, like them, 
 say I knew it was of God. One thing I did 
 know, however, namely, that my heavenly 
 Father had blessed to me the church I was in ; 
 and, while I was anxious to obtain and do all 
 the good possible, yet I could never think of 
 discarding or renouncing that church and 
 entering another until I was certain that by 
 so doing I would please him better than by 
 remaining. I wished them well, and hoped 
 their joy might never be less; but I was in 
 God's hands and did not feel like speculating 
 or experimenting with my soul or with its 
 interests. 
 
 Tshe meeting continued, and somewhere 
 during its progress, when all were kneeling 
 and some engaged vocally in prayer, I men- 
 tally commended my case to Heaven, asking 
 my Father to overlook my presumption if it 
 appeared as such and to answer me that night 
 whether or not this was indeed his church, 
 whether I should be baptized therein, and if 
 that peculiar power which had visited me 
 occasionally, while investigating the doc- 
 trine, was really the Holy Spirit. I fur- 
 ther entreated that the answer might be 
 
136 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OP 
 
 given through my wife's brother, Robert 
 Parker, who was a member of the church 
 and present, though not over ten years old. 
 I knew there was no guile in him; and I 
 promised obedience to the first principles 
 upon being satisfied as to God's will being so. 
 No mortal heard that prayer; it was not 
 voiced in human speech ; but it ascended, and 
 I believe God heard it and forgave my pre- 
 sumption. 
 
 When the number so desiring had prayed 
 vocally, the company rose and was seated, 
 and the singing and testimony were resumed. 
 Soon Robbie, as he was familiarly called, 
 stood up and began to speak as any child of 
 that age would in testimony. He had not 
 uttered many words till his face became 
 waxen and the tears started from his eyes and 
 flowed profusely down his cheek, and turning 
 till he faced me, he raised his hand and said, 
 as nearly as I can remember: "Verily, thus 
 saith the Lord God unto you, O son of man. 
 Go now and obey my gospel, for this is indeed 
 my church. It is my will that you shall be 
 baptized at the hands of one of these my 
 servants, for you have received of my Spirit, 
 saith the Lord." 
 
 Here was just what I had asked for. It 
 had come through the channel I had desig- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 137 
 
 nated. It had brought the very information 
 I had desired. I knew the lad was not aware 
 I had asked for it, and I believed he had not 
 power in himself to frame the answer as it was 
 given, even though the question had been 
 known to him. Reader, what would you 
 have done under such circumstances? But, 
 pardon me, I am here to tell what was done 
 by me, and not to interrogate others. Rising 
 from my seat, without emotion or display of 
 any kind, I told them ^11 how I had asked for 
 that revelation through the boy, and that I 
 now accepted it ; that while I could not yet 
 see as far, perhaps, as they could into the 
 doctrinal or prophetic mysteries, I was, never-/ 
 theless, now ready to move forward as far as 
 the light shone ahead of me. I could see bap- 
 tism and the laying on of hands, and was 
 ready for those ordinances. The question of 
 authority with me was not completely settled. 
 I knew the elders had at least as much 
 authority as other ministers, with a strong 
 showing of more. The revelation just given 
 implied the. genuineness of their calling, and I 
 was content to use what light I had and test 
 the matter by obedience, trusting for more 
 light when it was really needed. 
 
 The entire company wept and rejoiced and 
 when I took mv seat, Elder Cornish arose, 
 
138 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 and, walking over to me, spoke in tongues, 
 the interpretation of wliich was given and was. 
 of a nature to comfort me in view of the step 
 I had decided to take. It was about half past 
 ten, I believe, when the meeting closed, and 
 it was supposed that I would be ready to go 
 with others for baptism two days later ; but 
 as I expressed a desire to go at once, arrange- 
 ments were made for me. Quite a company 
 repaired to the river Thames, — scarcely a 
 quarter of a mile away, and in their presence, 
 witnessed also I hope by the angels and our 
 Master and God, I took the most solemn and 
 important step of my life. Elder J. J. Cornish 
 performed the ceremony, and I arose from the 
 liquid grave with a calm consciousness that a 
 just God would at l6ast credit me with honest 
 purpose in what I had done. Just then there 
 flashed before my mind the experience of 
 that dark night when William Matthews and 
 myself were so remarkably preserved from 
 collision with the freight train ; and his words 
 came forcibly to my recollection, "Evidently, 
 Bro. Luff, we have a work yet to do, for which 
 God has remarkably preserved us. I hope we 
 may find it out and be faithful in doing it." 
 I thought I saw a glimmering of a coming 
 light upon my life, one by which that work 
 would be clearly indicated and my destiny be 
 
ELDBK JOSEPH LUFF. 139 
 
 unfolded; and in my soul, as on that dark 
 night, years before, I again said, "Amen, Lord, 
 here am /." 
 
 Beyond these impressions, or mental con- 
 secrations, no change was experienced. I 
 moved about, however, with a freer spirit, feel- 
 ing that I had done as far as I knew, and was 
 ready to meet my heavenly Father and tell 
 him so. On the following Wednesday even- 
 ing the confirmation service w^s observed; 
 but this brought no additional evidence or 
 revelation to my mind. It was a ceremony 
 according to the letter of the law, so far as I 
 could discern or feel, nothing more; yet that 
 was a satisfaction in itself; for I felt that I 
 could now take the Bible with me to the 
 eternal bar and by it, if backed by a Christian 
 character, urge my claim for unending life, 
 and use its utterances as my authority before 
 the God of all the earth. 
 
 I spent several days among the London 
 Saints after my baptism and received promise 
 by revelation that I should yet hold the priest- 
 hood and raise up a branch where I lived, and 
 from thence move into broader fields of use- 
 fulness. I then started back to Toronto, 
 leaving my ^ife behind to complete her visit. 
 Back to the great city of my birth, where one 
 hundred thousand people moved and wor- 
 
140 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 shiped in contentment and peace as I had 
 formerly done — that bliss of ignorance. Back 
 there I went to stand alone, the sole advocate 
 ■of the most despised doctrine on earth. 
 
 I can never tell how I felt. Up to the very 
 last Sunday before leaving home I had occu- 
 pied the Methodist pulpit ; and, though teach- 
 ing no particular doctrinal tenets, had been 
 reckoned as one who indorsed all that was 
 embodied in the creed. Now I felt that I was 
 to be a target for every shaft. Where should 
 I begin? How should I convince my thou- 
 sands of friends that I was not only honest 
 but had divine warrant for my course ? My 
 heart beat with unusual vigor when stepping 
 from the cars, and along the streets where I 
 had been a thousand times before. There 
 Mjas something so different about me as though 
 I was not the same person that had left there 
 two weeks before. The load of that city 
 seemed to be on my heart, and I carried 
 responsibilities as never before. But there I 
 was, back again, and, with an oft repeated, 
 "God help me," on my lips, I returned to my 
 home and business. 
 
 One of the first things learned was, that my 
 name had been presented before the annual 
 conference of the Methodist Church, which 
 had convened during my absence, for admis- 
 
ELDEK JOSEPH LUFF. 141 
 
 sion to the regular ministry. My good friend 
 Mr. Griffith had presented it, and the matter 
 was under advisement, when he was horror- 
 stricken by the startling announcement from 
 the lips of Rev. W. S. Hughan (who had just 
 arrived from London) that I had joined the 
 Mormons! That settled the case instanter. 
 The name was at once dropped as an unholy 
 thing, and my notoriety was assured. 
 
 The news spread rapidly throughout the 
 cityj and I became an object of sympathy,, 
 commiseration, and even contempt. 
 
 I wrote out my resignation to the Quar- 
 terly Board of the Methodist Church, and 
 went personally to see my particular friend, 
 the minister. He seemed to feel distressed, 
 but as he was engaged, our interview was 
 postponed. I called afterward to relieve him 
 of his obligation to meet my note, stating 
 that the changed conditions might make him 
 feel anxious for release ; but he generously 
 expressed his confidence in my manhood, and 
 announced his perfect willingness to assist 
 me as formerly agreed. This he afterwards 
 did, and in due time I made it good to him; 
 and, while our church relations were severed, 
 our regard and esteem for each other as men 
 remained unaffected, and the Rev. Thomas 
 Griffith, wherever he may be or go, has a 
 
142 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF 
 
 warm place in the writer's affection, because 
 of the noble and Christian spirit he exercised 
 toward me, both prior and subsequent to 
 that time. ♦ 
 
 In this same connection I wish to mention 
 the name of Rev. James Edgar (now dead), 
 who came and conversed freely and affec- 
 tionately with me, and after hearing my 
 defense, did then, and on subsequent occa- 
 sions, heartily bid me "Godspeed," expressing 
 himself as satisfied that I had the word of 
 God for my bulwark against the attacks of 
 either creed worshipers or infidels. He asked 
 me on one occasion, some years afterwards, 
 for the Book of Mormon, but his death 
 occurred before I reached there again. 
 
 In his kind zeal and solicitude for my wel- 
 fare Mr. Griffith visited me at my office, and 
 expressed his regret and fear for me. Upon 
 being asked why he felt so, he answered that 
 by cutting loose and drifting from the church 
 he feared my influence for good would be lost, 
 if not myself as well. Turning to him, I 
 asked if he believed what together we had 
 preached ; namely^, that simple belief in Christ 
 was the only thing essential to salvation. He 
 replied that he did. I then asked if he had 
 any reason for supposing that, because of 
 leaving Methodism, I had therefore lost faith 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 143 
 
 in Christ, to which he answered, "No." I 
 further inquired whether he believed that 
 God would damn me for being baptized, or 
 for receiving the laying on of hands in 
 perfect accord with the Bible requirements, 
 notwithstanding I still believed in Jesus Christ. 
 Again he answered, "No." Whereupon I 
 replied that if his doctrine of simple faith was 
 correct I was certainly safe, for I had many 
 times more reason for believing than I ever 
 had before, and I certainly did believe with 
 all my heart. Further, if the Latter Day 
 Saints' doctrine was correct, and I met 
 its demands, I was also safe. In case of 
 either doctrine being correct my safety was 
 guaranteed. 
 
 "But if," said I, "this doctrine shall be found 
 correct upon Bible testimony at last, and 
 Christ stands by the Bible, where will you 
 appear, having ignored these important points 
 of doctrine.?" I felt that it was my turn to 
 feel sorrowful for him. 
 
 He replied, "Brb. Luff, I do not really feel 
 that you are in absolute danger; but I am 
 sorry to lose you and your influence for good 
 to the church." He then left. That was our 
 last interview on the subject, though I met 
 him several times afterwards. 
 
 Shortly after reaching home I was visited 
 
144 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 by an old friend, though a young man, Thomas 
 J. Rodgers, with whom I, as a Methodist, had 
 enjoyed many pleasant seasons, socially and 
 otherwise. He had just arrived in town from 
 East York, and came to my house to spend 
 the day. .There were present in the room, 
 my wife's sister, Mary (now Mrs. George 
 Harrington, of Independence, Missouri), and 
 her grandfather. Beginning with the causes 
 leading to my trip, I related to my friend each 
 incident along the route, including my bap- 
 tism, confirmation, and the promises' made 
 me. Then, taking a Bible in my hand, I 
 addressed him by name, stating that this faith 
 was interlined and interwoven with the Bible 
 and adding, that if this doctrine was not 
 approved of God and true, he might destroy 
 the Bible for my part as I had no further use 
 for it. 
 
 As I uttered these words dispassionately, 
 there came a something over me and around 
 me that seemed to fill the room and convert 
 the very atmosphere. 
 
 I was as literally immersed in the Spirit as 
 formerly in theVater. Looking around I saw 
 grandpa in tears, though he had been an 
 indifferent listener. Mary also wept, and my 
 friend was moved perceptibly. There came 
 at that moment to my heart and mind an 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 145 
 
 assurance that the author of the Bible and of 
 this church was one. That to stand by either 
 one was to stand by the other ; and to stand 
 by them was to walk with God ; that whoso- 
 ever "abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath 
 both the Father and the Son." — 2 John 9. 
 For the first time I was really baptized of the 
 Holy Ghost, and my soul was in ecstasy. It 
 was past utterance ; it was glorious ; it was 
 divine. The room was full of light ; and, 
 whether so sensed by the others or not, to me 
 it was heavenly. I had known the joys of 
 religion and the wondrous delights of relig- 
 ious service before ; but in the presence of 
 this they paled. They were happiness ; this 
 was bliss ! 
 
 Does the reader wonder why I now believe 
 that my steps were "ordered of the Lord" ? 
 why I hold to the thought that the peculiar 
 incidents of my life, my early marriage, and 
 the cause leading to it were somehow asso- 
 ciated providentially ? I had secured all the 
 spiritual benefit that Methodism was able to 
 confer, when an unpleasant episode led to my 
 sudden determination to marry, and my wife's 
 entrance upon the scene prevented rrie from 
 taking the higher (?) and unnecessary degrees 
 in that order or church, and stopped, right at 
 
 the critical moment, the movement that might 
 10 
 
146 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 have led me — :where? To my wife, and 
 through her parents, came the tidings of 
 restoration and latter day glory. She led the 
 way and was first obedient ; her testimony, 
 which I knew contained no disguised deceit, 
 3iad more weight with me than preachers' 
 argument; her child brother was the channel 
 through whom came the information I had 
 sought so earnestly ; and there I was, filled 
 with the Spirit which unites men and women 
 to God, permitted to look back along a chain 
 of events as through an unbroken lineage, 
 which seemed to aim at but one culmination. _ 
 
 Stop with me, and think a moment : Had 
 that marriage not taken place at that time I 
 certainly should have been in the distant 
 West within a few weeks thereafter ; and 
 probably, like many others, have become 
 reckless regarding religion, and would have 
 formed other associations. And probably 
 never again would I have come in contact 
 with the family through whose line came the 
 good news referred to. Had I been brought 
 in contact with the gospel in any other way, 
 it is doubtful whether it would have exerted 
 so favorable an influence over me and shaped 
 my course so readily. 
 
 Ofttimes since that day have I heard that 
 little Canadian girl say that there was no 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 147 
 
 event in her life, or work of her performance, 
 that she could call to mind that was of suffi- 
 cient importance to demonstrate her value to 
 the church. Like many other humble ones 
 who toil and endure and sacrifice in the seclu- 
 sion of home, she often wonders by what pos- 
 sible achievement she can become worthy of 
 the higher estate, which more illustrious ones 
 give show of title to. But, as I contemplate 
 the events connected with my preservation for 
 this work, and as I study daily the uncom- 
 plaining, self-sacrificing disposition she carries 
 with her under the weight of increasing 
 responsibilities and during the long, lonesome 
 hours, stretching into months when I am 
 absent from her, I bless the day that brought 
 us together, and the God who shaped our des- 
 tinies. I might have fared as well elsewhere, 
 but better would have been impossible. If I 
 shall eventually be permitted to stand with 
 her in the realm to which her patient worthi- 
 ness entitles her, I shall ' expect to find her 
 credited with at least an equal share of what- 
 ever honor and glory n?ay attach because of 
 the fruit of my labor as a minister for Christ. 
 She alone bears the home cares which I 
 should share equally with her, that I may 
 move hence and bear aloft the banner of 
 truth. An excellent wife has been given me 
 
148 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OP 
 
 of God ; and I consider it no mere sentimen- 
 talism to here pay tribute to the Giver and 
 the gift. But back to my story. 
 
 My friend was dazed at the recital of my 
 doings, and 'at the peculiar change which 
 occurred in the atmosphere around us ; but 
 he was not convinced that I was right; nor 
 did he ever become so, that I am. aware of; 
 for he died not a great while afterward. He 
 remained my friend, however, and I hope that 
 fact, if no other, will stand him in good stead 
 when the accounting day shall come. How 
 different his spirit seemed when compared 
 with those who had fawned around and flat- 
 tered me in years before, but who were now 
 ready to believe and say anything efil about 
 me. His was the kind that proved a friend 
 indeed ; for never in my life before had I felt 
 so keenly the need of one. 
 
 My wife returned home in about two weeks 
 after my arrival, and together we counseled 
 and resolved to meekly and kindly face and 
 endure whatever came for the truth's sake. 
 It was no trifling mabter, however, for I could 
 not keep still on the subject of religion, and 
 to talk was to draw the fire of opposition, 
 possibly of persecution. We became the 
 observed of all observers if we went to church. 
 We were the theme on nearly everybody's 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 149 
 
 tongue in the neighborhood ; and such opin- 
 ions, such speculations as to the cause of my 
 terrible procedure were circulated as were 
 perhaps never before ventilated concerning 
 any mortal in that locality. Everybody said 
 that a change had been noticeable for months 
 in the tone of my sermons and class room 
 exhortations. Some believed it was a result 
 of over study, and thought they had detected 
 a strange stare in my eyes for some time, indi- 
 cating approaching insanity. Some feared it 
 was an initial step, leading to the abomina- 
 tions of Utahism. Others speculated that it 
 was a dash for-notoriety. But I had the com- 
 fort of learning that nearly all had confidence 
 that I would tire of the novelty in a short 
 time, and within a year or two at most, would 
 return to the Methodist Church, a wifser man. 
 But the strange aspect of affairs to me was 
 discernible in their painful reticence when 
 conversing with me. They were mum as 
 oysters when I broached the subject of relig- 
 ion ; and I could seldom provoke a dialogue 
 or discussion with them. A few words, 
 expressive of contempt, or disgust, was the 
 rule, and on those I might feed or starve so 
 far as they were concerned. My wife was 
 generally considered a victim of circumstances 
 and environments, and not to be blamed. 
 
150 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF 
 
 The reader can perhaps Imagine the sensa- 
 tions produced in my mind when such inci- 
 dents as the following occurred: Passing a 
 house where I had formerly, at intervals, been 
 feasted and favored for years, and meeting a 
 child which belonged there, I stopped to chat 
 with it as my custom had been. Instantly 
 the house door opened and a voice that I had 
 heard before, voting me to positions of trust 
 and honor, pealed forth mandatorily, requir- 
 ing the child's return indoors immediately. 
 The little one obeyed, and the door closed 
 with an emphasis that convinced me I had no 
 admirer behind it. I knew that a conversion 
 had taken place in that house, and I won- 
 dered if the spirit that caused it was as com- 
 forting to the convert as was the one that 
 accompanied my change. As the echoes of 
 that abrupt door closing rent the air I turned 
 away, thinking of the strangely reversed 
 attitudes in which people and doctrines would 
 appear when God finally adjusted matters. I 
 still think that that poor, mistaken mortal 
 will be more surprised at her own conduct, 
 when the straightening out processes are 
 completed, than I was when her act sent a 
 pang to my heart and started the warring of 
 my mind within me for a few seconds. That 
 was not an isolated instance, but subsequent 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 151 
 
 events of like character found me better pre- 
 pared to cope with them. Perhaps they were 
 permitted by Providence as a training or dis- 
 cipline for my proud spirit. If so, I am glad 
 they occurred, and hope no ill may accrue to 
 the agents operating. 
 
 While the people, almost as a unit, de- 
 nounced the step I had taken, still there. were 
 some who felt a degree of sympathy for me 
 and seemed anxious to express it ; but they 
 would not for a long time allow me to even 
 name the subject of religion to them. Among 
 the latter was my mother, and some other 
 relatives. As one 'good old Methodist sister 
 expressed it, "If the delusion is strong and 
 subtle enough to capture Bro. Luff, we had 
 better avoid contact with it ; for it must be a 
 dangerous business." 
 
 Perhaps I cannot better convey to the 
 reader's mind an idea of the way in which my 
 action was regarded by the people, than by 
 reproducing a few stanzas written about this 
 time in a private letter to a friend. It ran 
 thus : — 
 
 "He's turned a Mormon," they say in surprise, 
 
 While beholding me with dismay; 
 "Satan, the father of mischief and lies, 
 
 Hath craftily led him astray. 
 
 "How woeful his state — once, safe in the fold — 
 Now, far from its shelter and care; 
 
152 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF 
 
 Beguiled by Satan, like many ol old, 
 Hastening to death and despair. 
 
 "The cares of life at length have succeeded 
 
 (.Through devilish direction) to win 
 A soul for whom hath Christ interceded 
 
 And suffered to rescue from sin^ 
 
 ' 'Tell me it's of God ! No never shall I 
 
 Such fatal delusion admit! 
 Mormon! — thy mission is truth to deny; 
 
 Thy future the bottomless pit. 
 
 "Cease, now, such pernicious doctrines to preach, 
 
 And return to the fold again; 
 Nor ever attempt such folly to teach 
 
 To parsons and college taught men. 
 
 "Wouldst thou, in ignorance, try to subvert 
 
 The Orthodox faith we proclaim? 
 Or with simple doctrines like these, convert 
 
 Intelligence, learning,, and fame? 
 
 "Vain is thy hope; 'twill end in despair; 
 
 The thousands on earth do not err; 
 Though Scripture's thy basis, 'twill never compare 
 
 With what we through reason infer. 
 
 "Centuries now have elapsed since the hour 
 
 When miraculous energy fled; 
 Nor ever again shall man feel its power, 
 
 Till called from the tomb of the dead. 
 
 "If what thou declarest were true, 'twould flow 
 Through channels more pleasing to men; 
 
 But thou art a Mormon! Hence nothing can flow 
 Through thee, save corruption and sin." 
 
 These are the compliments Saints have to share. 
 
 The Holy Ghost in us is denied. 
 Our motives impeached, — the cross which we bear, 
 
 And Christ, our commander, belied. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF 153 
 
 Yet would we glory in sorrow, like Paul, 
 And deem ourselves blest among men; 
 
 If counted worthy to suffer at all, 
 While preaching this gospel again. 
 
 O honor divine! Permitted to spend 
 
 A lifetime in serving our God, 
 To share in his sufferings, and in the end 
 
 Enjoy an eternal reward. 
 
 O endless delight! 'Twill be ours to share 
 
 The glory as well as the pain ; 
 To enter his kingdom, freed from all care. 
 
 Eternally there to remain. 
 
 "Disciples indeed, inspired of heaven, 
 
 Sent forth by commandment divine. 
 To spread through the earth a life given leaven 
 
 That doth to the Savior incline." 
 
 This be our mission ; nor will we despair. 
 Though few our friends, legion our foe, 
 
 Upborne by his power, whose truth we declare. 
 Fear nothing as onward we go. 
 
 These joyful tidings, this message of light. 
 
 Through every nation must run; 
 And we, the heralds of joy and delight. 
 
 Must bear them till Christ says, "Well done." 
 
 Then with the glorified host will we sing 
 
 More sweet than the angels above; 
 And Zion with Jesus' praises shall ring, 
 
 While the ransomed behold him in love. 
 
 Burst, then, ye threat'ning clouds that appear, 
 
 And pour forth your fury; 'tis vain; 
 He whom we obey says, "Lo I am near.;" 
 
 So, Latter Day Saints we'll remain. 
 
 V 
 
 About this time Brn. E. C. Briggs and J. S. 
 
154 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Patterson arrived in Canada and visited Lon- 
 don ; but the former was compelled to return 
 home on account of his wife's illness, (or so I 
 learned,) leaving Bro. Patterson to take 
 charge of affairs during his absence. My cor- 
 respondence with' the Saints in London was 
 kept up, and by some means a portion of it 
 cahie under his observation and resulted in 
 his determination to visit Toronto, as I after- 
 wards learned, to ordain me. Word reached 
 me as to his intention and we were filled with 
 delight at the prospect of a visit from one of 
 the Seventy. He came rather sooner than 
 was anticipated, and stepped into our printing 
 office unexpectedly one day, but was wel- 
 comed heartily. Quitting my work I accom- 
 panied him home; and, together we tried to 
 arrange for meetings. Failing to secure a 
 meetinghouse we announced service at our 
 home, but only about half a dozen persons 
 came. My mother was visiting with us on 
 that day, but refused to remain for meeting, 
 or to talk with Bro. Patterson. She seemed 
 to believe him responsible in some way for 
 leading her boy astray, and had no patience 
 to listen to him; so she left. Evidently the 
 time had not come for beginning the work 
 there. 
 
 Before leaving the city Bro. Patterson 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 155 
 
 intimated to me that wiienever I was ready 
 he had authority and advice of the Spirit to 
 ordain me an elder. I was hardly prepared, 
 but accepting his advice, and receiving the 
 construction he put upon certain revelations 
 in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, I 
 submitted, and the ordination took place. 
 This occured in August, and soon afterward 
 he returned to London. During his stay, 
 however, I learned considerable in regard to 
 church proceedings and methods, and per- 
 formed my first official work, assisting him in 
 blessing my two children. 
 
 Just prior to this I had learned that a 
 merchant in the city had once been a Latter 
 Day Saint and was inquiring as to our 
 identity. I visited him and found that he 
 had once lived in Nauvoo and clerked as a 
 lad in the store of William Law. He had 
 left there at the breaking up, and, not agree- 
 ing with the different claimants to leadership 
 rights, had moved to Toronto, and in course 
 of time engaged in business for himself As 
 a result of our interview, he made the trip to 
 London and was baptized, thus adding one 
 to our number. His name was William Hall, 
 and a noble, enthusiastic helper he proved to 
 be. His wife was a Roman Catholic, how- 
 ever, and as cruel an opposer as ever man 
 
156 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 had, her bigotry and intolerance leading her 
 to enter the store and openly insult customers 
 whom her husband was waiting upon, under 
 the impression that they were Latter Day 
 Saints. She was also addicted to the use of 
 liquor, which added no little to the discomfort 
 of her husband. Bro. Patterson came in for 
 a share of her display of temper when he was 
 visiting there, to the great mortification of 
 Bro. Hall. 
 
 But, hard as was his lot, Bro. Hall per- 
 formed well his part and nobly sustained 
 every effort to get the doctrine before the 
 people. He was much blessed of the Spirit, 
 and seemed to draw peculiar delight from the 
 fact that God had brought the old unadul- 
 terated faith of his boyhood back to his life 
 again. He received several letters from his 
 old employer, William Law, in which the 
 whole fabric of Mormonism, root and branch, 
 was denounced as fraudulent ; but these never 
 served their: writer's purpose ; for our brother 
 was in constant receipt of that which daily 
 certified to the divinity of the gospel to him. 
 He said it made him young again. On one 
 occasion, when returning home from a visit 
 at our house, he felt unusually well, and com- 
 ing to a fence, he placed his hand on the 
 upper board and made a spring, as he had fre- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 157 
 
 quently done when a boy, with the intention 
 of leaping over it; but, by some mishap, 
 which was not fully explained to me, he 
 slipped, and in falling on the fence ruptured 
 himself badly, necessitating medical attention 
 and the wearing of a truss. In this condition 
 he remained for several weeks without inform- 
 ing us as to the fact, until one .day he inci- 
 dentally referred to it and asked to be 
 administered to. I respected his request, 
 and he returned home, took off his truss and 
 never wore it again. He was healed instantly 
 and permanently, and frequently testified of it 
 afterward when among the new converts who 
 entered the church later on. Lest I should 
 fail to refer to him again let me here state 
 that Bro. Hall met with business reverses, 
 which with other cares upon his mind, would 
 have made life intolerable, and a few years 
 afterward, when the writer was far away on a 
 mission, he was taken sick and died. When 
 visiting his wife at a later period, she told me 
 of his noble spirit, and how the church had 
 helped him and made him still better than he 
 had been. She wept over the manner in 
 which she had treated him, and finally said, 
 "Your church was a blessing to him, and yet 
 I would not let him enjoy it while he lived." 
 She apologized for her former doings, and 
 
158 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 wished it was possible to show him her regret. 
 I tried to comfort her, but the effort seemed 
 unavailing. 
 
 In October, 1876, I attended district con- 
 ference for the first time. It was held in 
 London. Upon our arrival there, my wife 
 and I found that a serious division existed, 
 and that, while the time and place of holding 
 conference were agreeable to former adjourn- 
 ment, it was, nevertheless, in opposition to an 
 agreement reached between the acting mis- 
 sionary in charge and the district president 
 and published in the Herald. Hearing the 
 revelations bearing on the question read and 
 the decision based thereon offered, I con- 
 cluded from the ex parte showing that the 
 conference was all right, and so participated 
 in it. I will not burden the reader with a re- 
 cital here of the pros and , cons connected 
 then and afterwards with that gathering ; but 
 simply inform them that I was there, and 
 under the showing made was a ready partici- 
 pant. Among other things my ordination was 
 considered, and after paragraph sixteen, sec- 
 tion seventeen Book of Doctrine and Cove- 
 nants, had been read and interpreted by 
 elders present, it was decided to have been 
 illegal, because they considered me a member 
 of London branch (I having been baptized 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUPP. 159 
 
 there), and no vote of that branch had been 
 taken upon the question. There was hot a 
 soul there to make any other showing, so the 
 question was easily settled, and to my relief 
 too; for I had been greatly troubled and per- 
 plexed over the matter; because I had re- 
 ceived no special testimony regarding the 
 ordination. 
 
 Later on during the session a manifestation 
 was had in which I was named for the elder- 
 ship, and was again ordained. Here I formed 
 a quite intimate acquaintance with Brn. Rob- 
 ert Davis, John Shippy, George Cleveland, 
 and other local celebrities. To me the con- 
 ference was a source of pleasure ; though I 
 did not feel the degree of enthusiasm that 
 many did, for I was not as susceptible to in- 
 fluences as others, At the close of the 
 sessions Bro. Patterson arrived and pronouncd 
 the entire business illegal. Some were condi- 
 tionally silenced for insubordination, and 
 were cited to appear at General Conference 
 the following April. My name was not in- 
 cluded, but I was passively, at least, com- 
 mitted to the proceeding, and was counted on 
 for a witness, in which capacity I afterwards 
 acted. I believed they were right, but my 
 faith was based on ex parte evidence. I was 
 beginning to get my education. 
 
160 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 GETTING EXPERIENCE. 
 
 "Great Master, touch us with thy skillful hand; 
 Let not the music that is in us die! 
 Great Sculptor, hew and polish us; nor let, 
 Hidden and lost, thy form within us lie! 
 
 "Spare not the stroke! Do with us as thou wilt! 
 Let there be naught unfinished, broken, marred; 
 Complete thy purpose, that we may become 
 Thy perfect image, thou our God and Lord!" 
 
 ' While at conference I resolved to make 
 arrangements, if possible, to enter the field ; 
 and soon after it returned home to carry the 
 resolution into effect. In this I succeeded 
 admirably, though at a heavy loss to myself. 
 Knowing that my partner in business was not 
 a practical printer, and that in the event of 
 his failing to secure a practical man to fill my 
 place, he might suffer materially, I determined 
 to allow him the privilege of stating the terms 
 of my withdrawal and the amount I should 
 receive for my interest. Approaching him I 
 announced my desire to withdraw, and my 
 willingness for a settlement on the above 
 terms. Taking a short time for consideration, 
 and finding an available, competent man, he 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 161 
 
 accepted my proposition. In less than two 
 weeks he brought me the papers to sign, 
 which I did unhesitatingly ; and, though los- 
 ing heavily, I stepped out of business with 
 the feeling that my motive was amp'le justifi- 
 cation for the course pursued, and that God 
 would compensate me in other ways. I now 
 think the action was rather hasty, and the 
 consequent loss unnecessary ; but have no 
 regets to express. I did it because the latter- 
 day work seemed richer than wealth and bet- 
 ter than position ; and it was the only object 
 of any considerable moment to me. My 
 former ambition was subdued. Leaving home 
 and family, I went back to London within a 
 month from conference adjournment, and was 
 ready for service. My object in going there 
 was to associate myself with some traveling 
 elder, and thereby learn more readily than 
 otherwise. I found Bro. Robert Davis there, 
 and he was willing to take me along as an 
 auxiliary. So in a few days we were out in 
 real earnest, and I was happy. After calling 
 at Blenheim, Appledore, and Chatham, and 
 visiting the Saints at each place, we went to 
 Dover, and there lived for a short time among 
 the colored Saints. They had been neglected 
 by the ministry, and their condition demanded 
 
 attention. So we made our home among 
 
 11 
 
162 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 them for some days, preaching and regulating 
 according to the wisdom in Brother Davis; 
 then returned to Appledore, where we were 
 ■cared for by Elder G. W. Shaw and family. 
 Prom there we moved to the residence of Sis- 
 ter Lively, at Prairie Siding, west of Chatham, 
 who with her daughter (now Sr. Roderick 
 May of Independence, Missouri), were the 
 only members of the church in that neighbor- 
 hood. 
 
 Our work began in their house, and from 
 thence extended, by invitation, to, other 
 houses in the locality. Mr. Lively and his 
 wife, with others, thought that the Primitive 
 Methodist minister. Rev. Heywood, would let 
 us have his church for preaching. We 
 doubted it, but went one Sunday afternoon to 
 hear the gentleman preach, (I had sat with 
 him in Methodist conference not long before,) 
 with the idea of having Mr. Lively, who was 
 one of his staunch members, ask the use of 
 his house for us at night. In his sermon the 
 reverend gentleman, having heard of our 
 work in the neighborhood, took occasion to 
 refer slightingly to some points of our doc- 
 trine, and to exhibit his contempt for us. At 
 the close of the service, just as the preacher 
 was stepping down from the pulpit, Brother 
 Davis arose and said : — 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 163 
 
 "Will you allow me, sir, the privilege of 
 asking you a question regarding something 
 stated by you ?" 
 
 The answer came in thunder tones, without 
 hesitation, "No sir; if you don't believe what 
 we preach, you have no business here." 
 
 That settled the matter, not only with Bro. 
 Davis, but with several others who had 
 assured us of Brother Heywood's liberality. 
 That was no place for inquirers or truth-seek- 
 ers. One must believe in the divinity of 
 Methodism or he was not wanted there. It 
 was an eye-opener to quite a number. One 
 member, a Mr. Brown, quickly sized up the 
 situation, and having a soul bigger than his 
 church, invited us to occupy the large room 
 at his house that night. We accepted, and 
 voiced our announcement, which brought out 
 quite a large crowd. 
 
 The result of this first assault upon my old 
 superstructure of religion was a baptism by 
 me of four of its members, among whom were 
 Mr. Lively and his Son Henry. Others have 
 since accepted the gospel in that neighbor- 
 hood. Thence we moved into Michigan and 
 succeeded in following up the interest that 
 had been created in and around what is now 
 Brown City, and in the locality of Goodland, 
 Lapeer county, and in Burnside and Dean- 
 
164 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 ville. In the latter place Brother Davis held 
 a debate with Rev. Oliphant of the Discipl'e 
 order. In these places I baptized several. 
 Leaving Brother Davis at Davison Station to 
 go to Reese, I went with Mr. Matthew Pear- 
 son to Thomas Station to fire a few gospel 
 shots. It was a new place, and the inhabit- 
 ants, with few exceptions, seemed to be either 
 infidels or Universalists. This was my first 
 real venture alone ; but the Lord stood by 
 me and I survived. One old atheist chal- 
 lenged me at the close of my first meeting to 
 speak in tongues. I offered to accomodate 
 him next evening publicly if we could agree 
 as to the language I must speak and to some 
 other preliminaries. Before leaving the hall 
 the old gentleman hailed me again and asked 
 me how he was to know what I said unless 
 he could understand the language. He pro- 
 posed Latin, French, or German first, but 
 after I had agreed to any he asked how he 
 was to know whether or not I had learned 
 them. I told him I was only agreeing to do- 
 the work demanded — not to be responsible 
 for his conclusions. I then proposed to speak 
 in a language he did not understand ; but he 
 said he would not then know but it might be 
 mere gibberish. I proposed to interpret it 
 for him, but he was still superstitious that I 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 165 
 
 might manufacture the whole thing of myself. 
 I then told him to settle in his mind just 
 what would satisfy him and let me know next 
 night, and if possible I would accomodate 
 him. 
 
 He sent word for miles around among his 
 friends, and a large assembly greeted me that 
 evening. The hall was packed. Approaching 
 him privately I asked for his conclusion. He 
 informed me that no matter which way or what 
 language I talked he would simply have my 
 word for the divinity that inspired it, and he 
 didn't care to trouble me for any display 
 whatever. I then told him that he had 
 reached the conclusion I wanted him to from 
 the beginning, and informed him that I did 
 not know any language but English, and 
 that imperfectly; nor had I the ability to 
 grant his request if he had insisted upon it ; 
 but that I wanted him to see the absurdity of 
 his own test, and therefore tried to give his 
 proposition all the advantage he might ask 
 for it. I had never done the like before, and 
 doubt if I ever will 'again ; but it won the old 
 man's good will, and he acknowledged that I 
 had the advantage of him at least. Splendid 
 liberty was granted me, and several of the 
 infidels came up and complimented me and 
 the work I was engaged in. Then they asked 
 
166 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 me to remain longer, but finding that I could 
 not, they begged me to return. I visited 
 several families and found that a good impres- 
 sion had been made. I have never been able 
 to visit them since, but perhaps others have. 
 
 Leaving there I moved on to Reese, in 
 Tuscola county, where I found Brother Davis 
 at work, and with appointments out for me. 
 Brother Edward De Long and wife were also 
 there, and I found a home and welcome with 
 Sister De Long's people, Wm. Stocks and 
 wife, who were also Saints. Here we aroused 
 the ire of the Baptist and Methodist ministers, 
 until a local paper near there, after describing 
 their conduct, wound up its editorial with the 
 significant statement that we had behaved 
 ourselves creditably so far as they knew; but 
 allowing, for argument's sake, that our church 
 was not orthodox or of divine origin, still the 
 methods and spirit of our religious opponents 
 in the above named churches was "morally 
 damnable." They did everything to incite 
 the people to mob violence ; but I baptized 
 either ten or eleven persons before leaving, 
 and some of them came from the above-named 
 churches, and one from the Roman Catholic 
 body. 
 
 From there I returned home for a short 
 time, and afterwards joined Brother Davis 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 167 
 
 again near Imlay City, Michigan, and con- 
 tinued laboring with him for some months. 
 
 It will be impracticable to make detailed 
 mention of all the incidents of my travel ; 
 they are so common to the ministerial work 
 everywhere; nor would they prove suffi- 
 ciently interesting to warrant a use of space 
 for that purpose. So, having introduced my 
 initial labor to the reader, I will briefly touch 
 upon such main incidents hereafter as will 
 reveal a Fatherly supervision of my life, and 
 furnish a reason for my effort at continuance 
 in the faith. 
 
 I attended the General Conference of 
 April, 1877, at Piano, and there got a clearer 
 insight into the modus operandi of church 
 government and procedure. There I met 
 with men, who untrammelled with local 
 jealousies and unhampered with petty per- 
 sonalities, were able to express an unbiased 
 judgment upon matters that had crowded 
 themselves upon my mind and stimulated 
 inquiry. I looked, and prayed, and asked, and 
 learned. The Canada matters referred 
 thereto were settled, an4, I found that my 
 first ordination was approved, and that the 
 district conference, in which I had so inno- 
 cently participated, was pronounced an 
 unwarranted and rebellious convention. I 
 
168 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 didn't like the verdict, but swallowed my 
 share of it as gracefully as my unsubdued 
 nature would allow, and returned to Canada 
 a wiser if not a better member. 
 
 After a few months more labor I returned 
 to Toronto to close up my old deferred 
 business accounts, and to dispose of what 
 other interests I had that prevented con- 
 tinuous field work. My stepfather, who had 
 again commenced business and needed a 
 manager, came to me and urged strongly that, 
 for a time at least, I take hold of his business 
 for him, as he was afraid to trust it with any 
 other at its then critical juncture. I consented 
 and continued with him for nearly a year, I 
 think. 
 
 During that time I preached on Sundays 
 at my house, and baptized some thirteen or 
 fourteen persons, among whom was my older 
 sister and her husband. We purchased a 
 church building and lot not far distant and 
 made some payments thereon. Our audiences 
 were small, generally, but we kept up the 
 services and did our best to give opportunity 
 to the people to hear the word. 
 
 I sold my home property, subject to what 
 encumbrance was upon it, freed myself from 
 every obligation, and, after moving my family 
 into part of my sister's house, prepared 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 169 
 
 again to take the field for missionary service. 
 
 This year proved to be one of severe trial 
 and anxiety to me, though there were 
 occasional bright spots intervening. The 
 enemy laid heavy siege against my faith and 
 all but shattered it. I shall refer to a more 
 pleasing experience first, and allow the 
 somber ones to find their place in turn. 
 
 I succeeded in one thing which gave me 
 more than ordinary pleasure; viz., getting 
 access to my mother's mind with the gospel 
 story. It came about in this wise: Knowing 
 of her honesty I was confident that if she 
 could but hear the truth she would admire 
 it; but, like others, her prejudice made her 
 unwilling to listen. She believed Methodism 
 to be the soul of divinity, and she looked 
 with suspicion upon everything that opposed 
 it. To secure her ear, therefore, was the 
 main object. After studying the matter over 
 I hit upon the following plan : A lady friend 
 and relative, the mention of whose name here 
 would serve no good purpose, who was of 
 rather an inquisitive turn of mind and quite 
 conversational, visited my mother's home 
 occasionally, and I decided to make it a 
 point to drop in on the same day that she 
 did, for the sake of being interviewed by her 
 in mother's hearing. 
 
170 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 The scheme worked admirably; for I had 
 no sooner seated myself than she began to 
 quiz me and exhibit her skill. After allowing- 
 her to make an apparent case against me, I 
 ventured an explanation, only to draw out a 
 heavier fire than before. After a few dia- 
 logues in that line I discovered that my plan 
 was a success ; for, though I had no hope of 
 impressing the visiting lady favorably, I 
 secured mother's attention. This was followed 
 by anxious inquiry on her part, and a request 
 for the church books. 
 
 Many visits were made after that time, and 
 I sat for hours and told her the blessed story, 
 while she listened eagerly, lest a word should 
 be missed. I saw the tears course down her 
 cheeks on those occasions, and heard her 
 frequently exclaim, "Bless the Lord ; I believe 
 it is true." She came to hear me preach, and 
 I well remember a tableau presented in our 
 church one Sunday evening after I had 
 finished my discourse. She waited till a few 
 persons left ; then, seeming to have exhausted 
 her patience, she came up the aisle to the 
 platform, and throwing her arms around me, 
 in the presence of the people, kissed me most 
 affectionately ; and reader, I was not a bit 
 ashamed to have it so. It was the yielding 
 of the last vestige of prejudice against the 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 171 
 
 work, and an expression of affectionate pride 
 that her son was honored and blessed as 
 much as he was. 
 
 At this time one of the severe trials before 
 referred to was upon me. It seemed as if all 
 the bad elements of my old nature were being- 
 rallied by the Devil for one determined and 
 final siege upon my character. I prayed 
 earnestly against it, and in going home from 
 work each evening, would, at a certain point, 
 turn from the main thoroughfare and take a 
 quiet, untraveled road or path, purposely to 
 avoid the people, and to pray. Evening after 
 evening I followed that line, for months. 
 Holding my hat in my hand I prayed fer- 
 vently for grace to overcome this uprising of 
 evil within me. When reaching a vacant 
 space, I would kneel on the grass and urge 
 my plea with all the earnestness of which I 
 was capable. Frequently I have risen with a 
 song of praise in my heart and exclamations 
 of joy on my lips; for I thought that power 
 was given me to overcome. But, no sooner 
 would my thumb touch the latch of my 
 kitchen door, than it seemed as if the very 
 blackness of Egypt was turned in upon my 
 soul again. It seemed impossible to speak a 
 civil word. If the cat crossed my track I 
 wanted to kick it away. If supper was steam- 
 
172 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 ing on the table, I growled because it was too 
 hot. If not ready I stormed because of my 
 wife's tardiness. If it was waiting and cool I 
 would not eat, because it was not hot. If the 
 children came toward me with outstretched 
 arms, I had a cross rebuke for them on the 
 tip of my tongue. Nothing was right for me, 
 and my wife's tears only enraged me the 
 more, and made me feel more demonlike than 
 human. 
 
 Let the reader, untutored in such experi- 
 ences, smile at the above if he may, and say 
 it was too childish or too trivial for "a man's 
 notice ; but I will here say that such experi- 
 ences continued with me for months ; and 
 that the change at my door each evening was 
 as literal as when a dozen incandescent lights 
 are suddenly turned off in a room at mid- 
 night. Night after night I dreaded it and 
 prayed against it, only to feel it as soon as 
 I reached the . threshold of my own home. 
 Frequently I crossed the entrance room and 
 went into the bedroom, where I knelt and 
 prayed for power to behave myself, deter- 
 mined not to go into the other room and eat 
 till I secured the needed help. Rising I have 
 re-entered the other room and again been con- 
 fronted and almost instantly mastered by that 
 cruel spirit. Mortified and ashamed all day I 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 173 
 
 would determine upon a better course at 
 night, only to find myself comparatively power- 
 less when night came. 
 
 One evening, while walking alone, my hat 
 swinging in my hand, and this terrible bur- 
 den on my mind, I was praying most fer- 
 vently for grace to overcome this power, 
 and for ability to rise above it and adorn 
 my profession of sainthood at home. I felt 
 that I did not want to live if I could not 
 be at least a kind husband and father. No 
 other ambition was in my mind than the 
 intense desire to be good. I wept in my 
 soul-agony as I walked along. No person 
 was on the street or block besides myself. 
 Just then I heard a voice — not by my physi- 
 cal ear, but just as distinctly, nevertheless — 
 utter these words: "you shall yet stand in 
 the Quorum of the Twelve" My inner man, 
 or spirit, heard the words as clearly articu- 
 lated as did my natural ear any words ever 
 spoken. I stopped suddenly and looked up 
 and around, but saw no person. There was 
 nothing in my mind to suggest or invite such 
 an announcement. A thought in that direc- 
 tion had never occurred to my mind that I 
 am aware of. But I heard it; and to this day 
 do not know whether it was the voice of God, 
 angel, spirit, or demon ; all I know is that I 
 
174 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 heard it. Why that sentence should have 
 been spoken to me at such a time I am at a 
 loss to understand; but I determined that the 
 revelation it made, whether proving true or 
 false, should never have the effect of feeding 
 my vanity or of spoiling me for the humblest 
 service. I reported it to my wife, and after- 
 wards to some half dozen persons in different 
 parts of the country where I traveled. 
 
 Still the adversary plied faithfully his 
 vocation and kept his forces around me, 
 evidently bent on my overthrow, yet never 
 for a moment did I lose my determination to 
 conquer, if there was grace enough with God 
 and at my disposal to give me final advantage. 
 Shortly after hearing the voice referred to — 
 possibly two months— we were visited by an 
 elder from Western Canada who preached 
 several times, and before leaving delivered a 
 prophecy in which I was told that a trial 
 awaited me. It was to be severe and to be 
 introduced in ways and through channels 
 outside of all my calculations. It would 
 press me sorely, and its object would be 
 'to drive me into infidelity. But if in the 
 hour of extremity I would remember and 
 call upon God he would deliver me ; and 
 in due time I should rise higher in the Mel- 
 chisedek priesthood and become an especial 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 175 
 
 witness to carry the gospel to the world. 
 
 The latter part of this revelation agreeing 
 with what I had before received made me 
 consider it somewhat significant ; for the one 
 uttering the prophecy knew nothing of what 
 I had heard. My wife and self agreed to 
 make note of it. But I did not believe I 
 <;ould well be tried worse than I had been ; 
 and, as the burden then upon my mind 
 began to leave, I allow^'ed the matter to pass"^ 
 from my thoughts. 
 
 I had drafted a skeleton of the prediction, 
 however, embodying what is set forth in the 
 foregoing, and placed it in my pocket book. 
 I doubted whether anything could ever make 
 me a skeptic, and was inclined to believe that 
 the prophecy was overdrawn. The trial 
 which for months had been galling me so 
 sorely had never once squinted in the direc- 
 tion of infidelity, and I held to the opinion 
 that after escaping that I was proof against 
 the adversary's attacks, with such an object 
 in view. How far I was mistaken let the 
 sequel show. I intended, however, to keep 
 the facts of the prediction with me and learn 
 its origin by the development of time. I was 
 now about relieved of the terrible strain I 
 had been under for months, and things, like 
 •myself, were assuming a normal condition. 
 
176 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 Our meetings were enjoyable, by reason of 
 the Spirit's presence ; and the fact of mother 
 becoming a believer seemed to fill my cup 
 with pleasure for a considerable time. 
 
 Elder John Shippy came and labored for a 
 short time and reported a need for special 
 labor where he had recently been at work, 
 and invited me to return with him. Accord- 
 ingly I started forth on a trip to Carlingford 
 in his company. We 5pened fire at the house 
 of Brother and Sister John Hartnell; then by 
 invitation changed about with the residence 
 of a Mr. Robert Brown, who with his family 
 were of the Baptist Church at that place. Ou'r 
 labor there was blessed, and nearly the entire 
 family was baptized. Eight members entered 
 the church at that time, and others during the 
 coming year. Elder Samuel Brown, how 
 laboring constantly in the field, was one of 
 the number baptized at that time by the 
 writer. His father and mother have since 
 proven the genuineness of their conversion to- 
 the faith by as noble and complete a conse- 
 cration of means as the law provides for, and 
 in other ways have contributed to the build- 
 ing up of the work. 
 
 Later on in the city of Saint Mary's, where 
 they afterwards moved, they purchased a 
 commodious -church building and lot, and, as 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 177 
 
 a result the writer had the honor of occupy- 
 ing its pulpit and baptizing Mr. (now Elder) 
 Mortimore and wife, and a Mr. Rainey. May 
 God add many such willing workers to the 
 present list. Bro. Robert Brown and family 
 are now residing at Blenheim, Ontario. 
 
 From Carlingford I went to London and 
 visited some few of the Saints, among others 
 an elder who had recently been brought in 
 contact with some writings and people and 
 arguments that had the effect of staggering 
 him on the leadership question. I found him 
 dark in mind and in no condition to listen to 
 anything I might say. Our President was 
 held up to stinging ridicule and biting sar- 
 casm, and his claims were scouted as unwar- 
 ranted, while the revelations of the Doctrine 
 and Covenants were being used to prove that 
 he was a usurper. The spirit in which this 
 was done was torturing to me; for I knew 
 that this same elder had been used as an in- 
 strument in working miracles, and in confer- 
 ring some of the grandest blessings that I had 
 ever heard of I had a hundred times, in the 
 barrenness of my experience, considered him 
 the biggest illustration of divine power in 
 human form I had ever met, and had thought 
 that I did not need any greater evidence of 
 the Christ power in the work than was found 
 
 12 
 
178 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 manifest in him. Yet there he was^ dark as 
 night, and I had to attempt a defense of the 
 very work I thought he iHustrated; and that, 
 too, against attacks made by himself With 
 but two or three exceptions, where communi- 
 cations were direct, my faith had been based 
 upon his testimony regarding divine manifes- 
 tations. I had looked upon him as being a 
 pillar when others failed me; but there was 
 the evidence before me that I had leaned 
 upon a broken reed. To say that I was 
 dazed is but to put it mildly; but I carried it 
 and pondered it in my mind. Afterwards,, 
 when I heard the same elder speak publicly, 
 and in unmistakable terms send the old stream 
 of divinity into other channels of leadership, 
 I felt like asking where there was any ground 
 for me to stand upon, when he who had re- 
 ceived' a hundred manifestations to my one 
 was now ready to renounce the very organiza- 
 tion through which alone had come to him 
 such marvelous power. 
 
 As a basis for part of his criticism he had 
 gone outside of the Book of Doctrine and 
 Covenants, and had used the following, which 
 was given through the Seer and incorporated 
 in a letter sent by him to W. W. Phelps in 
 1832:— 
 
 "And it shall come to pass that I the Lord 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 179 
 
 God, will send one mighty and strong, hold- 
 ing the scepter of power in his hand, clothed 
 with light for a covering, whose mouth shall 
 utter words, eternal words, while his bowels 
 shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order 
 the house of God, and to arrange by lot the 
 inheritance of the Saints, whose names are 
 found, and the names of their fathers, and of 
 their children, enrolled in the book of the law 
 of God." 
 
 I was challenged to show where the "scep- 
 ter" had been wielded by the present Joseph 
 (to whom the elder presumed I applied this 
 clause); where had he proven himself "mighty 
 and strong;" where had he uttered "eternal 
 words," thereby putting down contention and 
 false doctrine, and silencing cavilers? Where 
 had the "house of God" been "set in order?" 
 These, and a host of other questions were 
 defiantly flaunted before me. I was incapable 
 of a reply, such as would have then answered. 
 But I have since learned that Saints often 
 entertain thoughts regarding such promises 
 that are by no means warranted. While I 
 am not necessarily pledged to the application 
 of this revelation to our esteemed President, 
 yet I would here suggest that my idea of 
 might and strength as therein promised is not 
 what it once was. Strip it of all association 
 
180 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 with physical or carnal warfare, and it is left 
 with a purely spiritual significance. 
 
 The mightiest and strongest man in a 
 spiritual sense this earth ever held was Jesus 
 Christ ; and if we accept his illustration of 
 these qualities, we find no destruction of foes, 
 no crushing of opponents, no reviling of revil- 
 ers, no resenting of insults, no silencing of 
 cavilers by brute or muscular force ; no clash- 
 ing of steel or trumpets of war; no visiting of 
 revenge upon his persecutors and murderers, 
 but always the reverse. If twelve legions of 
 angels awaited his bidding to defend him and 
 destroy his foes, why did he meekly hold the 
 reed and wear the crown of thorns and robe 
 of mockery.? Why did he allow the angry 
 mob to spit upon his sacred face and smite 
 him from behind? Why did he endure so 
 patiently the frequent banter" to display his 
 power? Why, with power to save his life, did 
 he consent to die? Let us learn, reader, that 
 he is mightiest by far who can possess the 
 requisite strength to smite a foe and yet with- 
 hold the blow ; whose soul is moved by loftier 
 impulse than leads to carnal resentment. 
 Never did the wise man write more truly 
 than when he penned the words, "He that is 
 slow to anger is better than the mighty, and 
 he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 181 
 
 city." Almost any man can resent a sudden 
 attack upon him to the extent of his strength ; 
 but how few can hold in check the rising 
 impulse and can bless the hand that smote, 
 and breathe a final prayer for the hands made 
 gory with his own life blood. 
 
 The mission of Jesus was to demonstrate 
 the possibility of that diviner potency by 
 which our spirits can be ruled. There was 
 his "scepter of power." 
 
 In illustration further of this he spake 
 "eternal words," and how beautifully did they 
 harmonize with his practice. Hear him as 
 he says, "Ye have heard that it hath been 
 said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a 
 tooth ; but I say unto you. That ye resist not 
 evil." "Love your enemies, bless them that 
 curse you, do good to them that hate you, and 
 pray for them which despitefully use you, and 
 persecute you; that ye may be the children of 
 your Father which is in heaveit!' To do all 
 this, not only in patience but in the Christ 
 sense, requires more of the "mighty and 
 strong" element than as a church we have yet 
 exhibited. As long as I have reason to 
 admire those qualities in Jesus I shall not fail 
 to admire their approximate in any other. As 
 long as they prove the Son of Man to have 
 been "mighty and strong," will they not also 
 
182 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 prove any other possessor of them to be near 
 the standard required in the above revelation? 
 If any claimant to the office referred to in the 
 prophecy shall speak "words" differing in sen- 
 timent or wield a "scepter" of "power" diverse 
 from this, can he help us by so doing to 
 become "the children of "our Father which is 
 in heaven," unless Jesus was woefully mis- 
 taken ? Allow me to here state that the best 
 evidence I have ever had supportive of the 
 possibility of our beloved President being 
 the "one" provided for, has been in the fact 
 that my long and intimate acquaintance with 
 him has proven him nearest the standard 
 above referred to. 
 
 Whoever may eventually prove to be the 
 "one" must bring and employ weapons, not 
 carnal, but spiritual, and we need look for no 
 more startling results from his speaking "eter- 
 nal words" and holding a "scepter of power" 
 than followed in the wake of Jesus Christ 
 when he did like work. It is possible the sad 
 blunder of the Jews rrtay be repeated among 
 us. They refused Jesus because his "scepter" 
 did not fill their carnal expectations, and we 
 in our eager straining to catch the sound of 
 "eternal words" to be yet spoken, may ignore 
 the divinity of those above quoted ; and, in 
 consequence, may lose title to the "inherit- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 183 
 
 ance of the Saints," which the expected "one" 
 is to "arrange by lot." 
 
 This learn and know, that we who can 
 
 Hold power to crush and yet restrain 
 Its exercise — whose love for man 
 
 Forbids him lower to the plane 
 Where grace to nature yields its sway, 
 
 And self-wreaked vengeance is the height 
 And span of honor, — he whose way 
 
 Well-chosen and pursued, the light 
 Of heaven commands, — whose constant care 
 
 Subdues uprising self and spurns 
 Resentment, though the circling air 
 
 With slanderous invective burns, 
 Is mightier and hath truer claim 
 
 To hero's place and fame unfurled. 
 Than he whose dead -strewn track proclaims 
 
 Him conqueror of a world. 
 The spirit — poised in righteousness 
 
 And training for celestial spheres. 
 Though housed in mortal tenement, 
 
 And vexed with myriad cares — 
 Which climbs o'er clam'ring self and crucifies 
 
 Its carnal impulse, — that can bless 
 The tongue that cursed it and, without parade, 
 
 Relieved a foe's self -earned distress, — 
 Can feed an enemy and nurse the hand 
 
 That smote, — that hastes to clasp 
 In fond embrace and e'en unsought 
 
 Forgive the life pledged to its ruin, — 
 That o'er the sepulchre of buried self 
 
 Erects no monument, but lives to extol 
 Another's virtue, and in silence shed 
 
 A holy luster o'er the lives of all. 
 Is strength-possessed and fortified, 
 
184 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 In likeness of the model given, — 
 Earth's king — man's hope — the Crucified, — 
 God's ideal in earth or heaven. 
 
 To be reviled and not in kind return* 
 
 Revilement, — in the Son of G-od 
 Was princely attribute. It was the crest 
 
 Or pinnacle of lofty bearing — better still: 
 'Twas the sublime towering of the divine 
 
 Above, yet through, the human — the resplendent 
 Luster of the Infinite (like diamond setting 
 
 In the character of finite life) — "Thy will. 
 Not mine. Father, be done." 'Twas yielding flesh 
 
 To make God manifest; and, while I stand 
 Transfixed before this scene, let my fond heart 
 
 Admire, yet not in empty forms of praise; 
 But ' 'likewise" doing — lost to selfish pride — 
 
 Submerge my soul in the Christ principle- 
 Be ever moved by love and still abide 
 
 In virtue, — finding shield and staff 
 Therein, — and bear within this character 
 
 My Master's photograph. 
 
 I may here state that the elder referred to 
 above came out of his season of darkness and 
 doubt in due time, and with probably better 
 assurance regarding the Reorganization than 
 ever before. His work since that time has 
 proven his worth and I am of the opinion 
 that the genuineness of his metal and the 
 excellence of his service for Christ and the 
 church had brought upon him the jealous 
 rage of the adversary to such an overwhelm- 
 ing extent as I have testified of. It was his 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 185 
 
 time of heavy trial ; but God overruled it all 
 to his own glory and the brother's permanent 
 good. So I now view it, but not so at that 
 time, for though I did not publish it abroad, 
 my faith was wounded sore and I returned 
 home nursing my bitterness and apprehen- 
 sion. Upon my arrival home my wife was 
 taken sick and called for administration at 
 my hands. I observed the rite as required in 
 James 5:14, and she revived for an hour, 
 then relapsed. Again she called, and again I 
 administered to her, with the same results. 
 This was several times repeated, until I re- 
 fused to proceed further. With streaming 
 eyes and broken heart I pleaded for recogni- 
 tion at the hands of God, until, wearied with 
 constant effort, oppressed with the doubt that 
 had already sprung up in my heart, and dis- 
 gusted with what seemed to be the mockery 
 of the affair, I abandoned myself almost to 
 despair. I went for a physician and commit- 
 ted my wife's case to him ; but still, for her 
 sake, because it pleased her, I prayed on, but 
 with fast waning faith. After a few weeks 
 my wife's health was restored, and I tried to 
 cheer myself again. Her sisters, Mary, al- 
 ready referred to, and Elizabeth (now Sister 
 Allen Bailey of Independence, Missouri), 
 were stopping at our home. We kept up the 
 
186 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 family altar and the branch meetings, regu- 
 larly, and not a soul knew of the battle that 
 was raging within me. I did not want to 
 hurt my wife's faith, nor rob her of any of the 
 comfort I knew it brought her. 
 
 Meanwhile her parents had moved from 
 London to Independence, Missouri, and her 
 mother had written for the two sisters to 
 come West to her. They had delayed in 
 order to provide several things before going, 
 and to earn sufficient to pay the cost" of the 
 long journey. This delay caused their mother 
 some uneasiness, and she wrote me a very 
 pathetic letter, asking me to use my influence 
 to induce them to start quickly and promis- 
 ing to send financial help to them if they 
 required it. She stated twice in the letter 
 that she knew by the Spirit that they should 
 come to her, but could not tell why. 
 
 Upon receipt of this letter we wrote at 
 once, and promised that they would start 
 immediately upon receiving such an amount 
 of money as would complete their railroad 
 fare. After sending this word we waited for 
 a letter, bringing the amount required. The 
 letter came, but not with the expected mes- 
 sage. Instead thereof, it brought tidings of 
 an accident, by which their mother had been 
 thrown from a wagon, down a hill and onto a 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 187 
 
 railroad track, crushing her face, and causing 
 her death in about five hours. 
 
 This was a terrible blow. Need I tell that 
 our house was filled with a grief that seemed 
 inconsolable ? Need I add that it occurred 
 at a time when I was in the worst condition 
 of mind possible to bear it.? It was simply 
 crushing; and I felt as though I cared neither 
 for God nor religion ; nor for aught that my 
 eyes could not rest on and understand. Still 
 I tried to comfort the rest, and to keep up 
 the form of worship for the sake of others, 
 until, a month or two later, I reached a con- 
 dition of mind where I abhorred myself for 
 acting the hypocrite, and determined to take 
 all risks in renouncing the entire religious 
 fabric. 
 
 One night I entered my chamber alone and 
 knelt down, determined to make a final effort 
 to secure recognition at the hands of God, 
 if such a being really existed. Mortal never 
 prayed more devoutly. I pleaded, and rea- 
 soned, and wept, that some token of even 
 God's existence might be given ; but every- 
 thing was denied me. Rising from my knees, 
 after a long siege, I flung the chair away 
 from me and resolved to abandon myself to 
 whatever might be my fate and cease to pray. 
 In this state of mind, bordering on frenzy — 
 
188 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 a hell indeed— I got into bed and tried to 
 silence my remnant of conscience by arguing 
 my case in justification. I traced the long 
 series of trials that for half a year had borne 
 down upon me so heavily, the vain appeals 
 I had made for deliverance, the ease with 
 which one a thousand times more blessed 
 than myself could renounce the church, the 
 repeated and useless administrations to my 
 wife, the refusal of heaven to even notice my 
 agony of distress, the cruelly sudden death of 
 my mother-in-law who was one of the truest 
 Saints I ever knew, and at such a critical 
 time, and the long siege of cruel abandon- 
 ment to such fiendish influences as had op- 
 pressed me without just cause, and that too 
 right in the face of my most tender and loyal 
 devotion to the work of the church. All this 
 and more I argued, and felt wicked and full 
 of resentment. O, the impenetrable black- 
 .ness of that period when I felt fully justified 
 in shaking my puny fist in the face of Deity 
 and daring him to do his worst, if he had any 
 power at all. I tremble now as I think about 
 it. 
 
 While lying on the bed in this horrible 
 condition of mind, trying to sleep, and caring 
 little whether I ever should wake again, there 
 stole gently and sweetly over me a sensation 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 189 
 
 akin to that which had visited me shortly 
 after my entrance into the church, and sud- 
 denly the question was forced into my 
 thoughts, "Did I not forewarn you ?" I in- 
 stantly remembered the revelation that had 
 been given, its prediction of peculiar trials, 
 and its remarkable statement that the object 
 would be to drive me into infidelity. There 
 I was on the verge of the very precipice re- 
 ferred to ; and, as the fact and the warning 
 stood together as if in vision before me, my 
 whole nature changed. An unutterable glad- 
 ness filled my heart; and my soul magnified 
 the Lord. My freed spirit seemed to really 
 float in an atmosphere of divine peace, and 
 my feelings found vent in tears, and songs, 
 and prayers. I slept the first peaceful sleep 
 that I had for months. No language can 
 ever describe the contrast of feelings that 
 was experienced that night. And if it were 
 possible to write it, only those who had 
 passed through a like ordeal and transition 
 could appreciate it. 
 
190 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 "DIFFERENCES OF ADMINISTRATION." 
 
 He rests his hand upon the watcher's brow — 
 But more than that, he leaves his very breath 
 Upon the watcher's soul ; and more than this, 
 He stays for holy hours where watchers pray ; 
 And more than that, he ofttimes lifts the veils 
 That hide the visions of the world unseen. 
 
 Fathek Rta'n. 
 
 Like too many others I had brought ex- 
 travagant notions with me into the church. 
 Without stopping to consider that therein 
 was to be found the arena on which was to be 
 waged the "conflict of ages," and that mortals 
 were to learn not only the wonderful works 
 of God, but also the terrible works of Satan, 
 I expected to find men and women moved by 
 a single impulse and equipped by one Spirit, 
 acting in concert, without a jarring element 
 discernible. I did not look for absolute per- 
 fection, but I rather looked for results of 
 church service than the details and minutise 
 of service. 
 
 But I soon found that, as with myself, so 
 with most others, the gospel had very much 
 to do in eliminating the old Adam before the 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 191 
 
 new could occupy chief place for perpetual 
 control. I was brought into contact with 
 people who were in the transition state, as to 
 character, and who, like myself, were expect- 
 ing more of others than they were exhibiting 
 in themselves. I found some who were very 
 eager to enjoy the manifest visitations of the 
 Holy Spirit; but who were utterly unwilling 
 to endure the sqouring necessary to make 
 their vessels fit places for the Spirit's pro- 
 longed stay. They enjoyed royal visits of 
 the above order better than they did house 
 cleaning for the guest's comfort. 
 
 Like boys at school, there were more at- 
 tending than were likely to graduate, though 
 all the helps and facilities necessary were at 
 hand. The school and text-books were all 
 that could be desired, but scholarship calls 
 for more than these. The church and doc- 
 trine and Spirit were commensurate with all 
 moral necessities, but some had all these in 
 reach and did not "abound." Some gloried 
 in the fact that God had chosen the "base 
 things of the world" and were keeping as 
 "base" as they could all the way along, ex- 
 pecting, perhaps, to be "chosen" again in the 
 crowning day because of fidelity to the 
 original quality. Still the possibilities of the 
 church were freely manifest in that others 
 
192 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 who were "base" had been transformed till 
 the Master's nature was discernible in their 
 lives. 
 
 I found that my calling as a minister must 
 necessarily bring me into direct contact with 
 people in all stages of development, and it 
 was for me to "study to show myself ap- 
 proved" as a workman. I early discovered 
 that while Saints, under the Spirit, could love 
 as could no others, Saints, after losing that 
 Spirit, could hate as no others. It was evi- 
 dent that the adversary planted his forces in 
 strength proportioned to the amount of 
 good he had to combat and overcome, and 
 that, finding all truth comprehended in the 
 gospel creed, he ransacked his dominions at 
 times to muster force sufficient for the 
 demolition of its strongholds and defenders. 
 The safety of the soldiery was in eternal 
 vigilance and unceasing activity. The sleeper 
 and the idler were easily overcome, and, 
 being overcome, soon became hindrances 
 rather than helps. 
 
 All this was manifest to an acute observer, 
 and I found that Canada needed occasional 
 visitation at the hands of the authorities of 
 the church, that she might be "set in order." 
 There were "wills" and "won'ts" sufficient to 
 produce friction and prove that all were not 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 19a 
 
 yet of the "same mind and the same judg- 
 ment." There was need of the "helps" and 
 "governments" provided so wisely. Yet the 
 divinity of the great work was being fully at- 
 attested by what it was performing among 
 the obedient and humble ones. 
 
 During the above year, Pres. W. W. Blair 
 had visited Canada, and I had met him at 
 district conference at Blenheim. His presence 
 and counsel helped many of the Saints to a 
 better mental and spiritual condition, but 
 there were some old jealousies and dissatis- 
 factions existing which were not entirely re- 
 moved from the district. However, things 
 were improving, I was told, and it is probable 
 that the Saints, like myself, were undergoing 
 a necessary discipline. 
 
 I had also attended the General Confer- 
 ence of April, 1878. at Piano, in company 
 with Bro. J. J. Cornish. There, as before, I 
 saw and heard many things that had a ten- 
 dency to broaden my views, or, at least, to 
 encourage me in the idea that the church of 
 God gave ample scope for the exercise of 
 personal conviction, and that every good 
 man's soul could find elbow room therein. 
 
 This was peculiarly comforting to me, be- 
 cause my mind had been made remarkably 
 skeptical on some things which had found 
 
 13 
 
194 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 local shelter in places, and which, while I had 
 not openly attacked or opposed, I could not 
 conscientiously indorse. 
 
 At this conference Brn. Joseph Smith and 
 W. H. Kelley were appointed to visit Canada 
 and investigate irregularities there. They 
 attended our district conference at Corinth, 
 shortly after, and at that session, the Kent 
 and Elgin district was divided, the London 
 ■district was formed, and over it I was elected 
 president. The ministrations of these visit- 
 ing brethren were decidedly helpful and the 
 good effects remain to this day, though their 
 appointment and labor were not directed 
 towards all the hurtful forces, as, indeed, they 
 could not possibly be in so short a time. 
 
 The coming to Canada of so great and 
 illustrious a personage as the "Mormon 
 Prophet" was a signal for quite a gathering, 
 and, had he been caged and properly con- 
 cealed, a considerable amount might have 
 been realized by charging an admission fee 
 to see him. There was not Yankee shrewd- 
 ness enough in us innocent Canucks to 
 avail ourselves of this prospective bonanza, 
 however, and so the exhibition was made 
 gratis to about a thousand people. 
 
 A grave suspicion was prevalent that our 
 innocent-looking "Bro. Joseph" was a polyga- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 195. 
 
 mist from the western hills and that he was 
 around after more recruits for his harem. He 
 seemed to take in the situation and rather 
 disarmed their fears immediately upon rising 
 to speak. After announcing himself a resi- 
 dent of Illinois, where the laws were strenu- 
 ously monogamous, he frankly admitted 
 having taken full advantage- of what show 
 they did afford, by getting all the wife he 
 could in one dress, hence had married a lady 
 weighing nearly two hundred pounds. 
 
 This unexpected statement produced a 
 kind of mirthful explosion which effectually 
 dissipated the long-drawn expression of hor- 
 ror and suspicion on the faces of his auditors. 
 He had a good-natured lot of listeners during 
 the remainder of his discourse. 
 
 After, the close of conference he went to St. 
 Thomas, thence to London, preaching in both 
 places, and at the latter place I left him and 
 hurried on to Toronto to advertise his comingf. 
 
 His visit to Toronto did not produce much 
 of a sensation. The audiences were small, 
 but the Saints were edified. This visit 
 occurred just a few weeks before the time 
 referred to when I reached a final settlement 
 of all business and property affairs and moved 
 my family into rooms at my sister's house, 
 preparatory to entering the field. 
 
196 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 In this determination I was encouraged by 
 Bro. Joseph, and he left me, having my assur- 
 ance that my chief life-object was to tell the 
 gospel story. In the course of our conversa- 
 tion together I heard him express the convic- 
 tion that my strange experiences of the past 
 had been disciplinary, with a view to fitting 
 me for effective ministerial work. 
 
 Arrangements thus completed, I once more 
 parted company with wife and babies and 
 started forth under my appointment in the 
 district. New official responsibilities were 
 upon me and everywhere in the district were 
 demands for judicious educational work as 
 well as public preaching. My youth and com- 
 parative inexperience made me slow in either 
 introducing private ideas or antagonizing old 
 ones that I did not favor. 
 
 In preaching to those without, I had very 
 fair liberty. My memory was strengthened 
 remarkably, and the truth seemed all-suffi- 
 cient for every occasion. I visited the Carling- 
 ford, Usborne, London, St. Thomas, and 
 Corinth branches, and made some new open- 
 ings, one at Walsingham Centre, where Bro. 
 G. T. Griffiths afterwards baptized some 
 twenty-eight persons. 
 
 My visits among the branches brought me 
 more directly in contact with Saints of all 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 197 
 
 varieties and shades of peculiarity and made 
 me more than ever sensible of the fact that 
 the mere acts of baptism and laying on of 
 hands did not make men and women holy. I 
 met some of the finest and truest souls one 
 could desire to associate with, and from that 
 pinnacle of excellence the morals and spiritual 
 sensibilities seemed to be graded till a much 
 lower stratum was reached. 
 
 My ministry was unto all. All the pecul- 
 iarities that characterized people without the 
 church also characterized those within. There 
 were the lovers of the profound and there 
 were those whom only the smatterer could 
 please. There were men and women who 
 had desire and place only for the quiet, steady 
 communications of truth, while others, and 
 the bigger part at that, loved the sensational 
 and boisterous presentations. There were 
 those with whom a solitary testimony of the 
 truth lasted forever, and others who needed a 
 repetition every few days or they stumbled 
 and fell. 
 
 There were those who were naturally 
 endowed in the ordinary way with mental and 
 moral qualities by or through which, without 
 special or open revealments, they received 
 steadily and continuously the helpful grace 
 which enabled them to stand unmoved for 
 
198 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 the truth. On the other hand I found many 
 who could hardly live from month to month 
 without some extraordinary or supernatural 
 manifestation. 
 
 Again I observed that, even while open 
 manifestations abounded, to the feasting and 
 ecstasy of some, others present at such festi- 
 vals seemed to "almost starve, because their 
 souls or mentality were not reached thereby. 
 I found myself more frequently in tune with 
 the latter class, and found my only joy on 
 such occasions, in witnessing the pleasure of 
 others. 
 
 Furthermore, I discerned, or thought I did, 
 that the enemy of souls occasionally took 
 advantage of the susceptibility of some, and 
 either directly supplied the demand for gifts 
 himself or smilingly allowed the individual to 
 overstep the line and, mistaking intense 
 desire for Spirit authority, to supply the 
 demand himself. 
 
 On such occasions the spectacle was pain- 
 ful, for I remembered that "the Lord will not 
 hold him guiltless that taketh his name in 
 vain." I observed, with sadness, that if a 
 quiet testimony was being borne or prayer 
 offered into which was meekly injected the 
 voicing of the Spirit, but few seemed to dis- 
 cern it, while a boisterous or demonstrative 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF 199 
 
 cry of "Thus saith the Lord" almost invaria- 
 bly produced a sensation upon .quite a num- 
 ber which was taken or mistaken for a 
 "witness" that the approaching communica- 
 tion was from God. 
 
 I have stated that some of these discover- 
 ies pained me. Let me give my reasons. 
 First, because I clearly discerned that some 
 of them were not from God; second, because 
 the effect of them upon the average mind was 
 not to establish men and women in the truth 
 that Jesus was the Christ, but they were 
 merely a temporary gratification of the inor- 
 dinate desire that clamored for them ; third, 
 because many of them communicated nothing, 
 but were frequently a recital of oft-repeated 
 phrases having no bearing upon the condi- 
 tions existing in the localities where given ; 
 fourth, because they had no beneficial effect 
 upon the moral characters of those most 
 receptive to them ; fifth, because some of 
 them proved absolutely false ; sixth, because 
 in some instances when I called the attention 
 of older ministers to the apparent abnormi- 
 ties, they, either from fear that a frank admis- 
 sion of unreliability would weaken my faith, 
 or because they were feeding at the same 
 stall, would try to reason me into an indorse- 
 ment of the medley. 
 
200 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 They did not know that such an indorse- 
 ment would have been given at the expense 
 of conscience and reason. I always believed 
 that God knew more than I did and that his 
 revealmeats would enlarge and expand rather 
 than cramp and stultify the intellect and con- 
 science of those to whom they came. But, 
 reader, the chief burden upon my mind was 
 caused by the lack of understanding as to how 
 to proceed to correct the trouble. 
 
 My mission was to save, not to destroy. 
 To move abruptly or take radical ground 
 might put me in a position where the very 
 good I sught to do would, with myself, be 
 evil spoken of. Those from whom I differed 
 in appetite and judgment were probably as 
 honest as myself, and had been attracted to 
 the church, because some unwise elder had 
 put a bigger display of such matter in the 
 shop window of his discourses than was judi- 
 cious or harmonious with the divine law that 
 forbids such parade. 
 
 How to get at the secret by which I could 
 take a stand for the exact right in the matter 
 and, at the same time, hold within the body 
 those who most needed the benefit of correc- 
 tive measures, was the question of questions, 
 and I was not equal to it. To pit my child 
 judgment against that of men would seem 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 201 
 
 audacious. To array my inner consciousness 
 against the conviction of a majority in locali- 
 ties would involve the suspicion of egotism 
 and destroy my influence. I found that 
 knowledge and wisdom were not alike. I 
 often wondered why God made me so differ- 
 ent from other men, why I knew certain 
 things and yet had not the material with 
 which to make a convincing case before all. 
 In other words, why he forced upon my inner 
 being such convictions, but did not in actual 
 words give me that which I could use as my 
 authority against some of the things I was 
 compelled to witness. 
 
 Day after day I besought him in silent 
 prayer to show me just how to move and 
 what to do, but I heard no voice, saw no 
 vision, received no angel visitor, dreamed no 
 spiritual dream, nor obtained any supernatu- 
 ral manifestation in open or visible form 
 whatever. What had I, then, upon which to 
 base my conduct in moving forward under the 
 silent conviction of my soul ? 
 
 Quietly I carried the trouble, trying at 
 times to enter an occasional mild objection or 
 protest, where my silence was being construed 
 as a committal to things occurring, but rarely 
 finding an appreciative response. I, of course, 
 magnified the trouble, being inexperienced and 
 
202 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF 
 
 fearful. Wfhile I was not susceptible to the 
 influences referred to, I was extremely sensi- 
 tive as to my fitness for the office I held, 
 under the circumstances, and I about con- 
 cluded, after some months, that the better 
 way would be for me to go back to my old 
 business and support the family of some good 
 man who would be better qualified for the 
 office of district president; but this seemed 
 cowardly, and when reading the lectures on 
 faith in the Book of Covenants one day, I 
 became impressed with the idea that divine 
 blessing comes in return for sacrifice, and I 
 began to wonder what I could sacrifice in 
 order to make myself more acceptable to 
 God. 
 
 Home, business, and money had all gone — 
 what had I left ? After a time I agreed- to 
 begin a perpetual fast in a moderate sense. 
 I entered a room at the house where I was 
 then stopping and, upon my knees, cove- 
 nanted with God that I would not use tea, 
 coffee, nor flesh meat during the remainder of 
 my life, if he would grant me my chief desire, 
 wisdom as a gift, with ability to educate the 
 Saints and preach the gospel to all. 
 
 I expressed my willingness to have all the. 
 other gifts withheld, if these were only 
 granted. I prayed long and earnestly, but 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 203 
 
 the above embodies the special object of my 
 petitition. Though I waited long, I received 
 no reply, no communication, other than an 
 assurance of peace, and of having done my 
 best to get right. 
 
 Moving on from thence, I continued labor- 
 ing, and, though I got no special answer to 
 my plea, I began to observe my part of the 
 covenant, which, though made under the 
 impulse that arose from deep anxiety and 
 possible ignorance, I felt was made in candor 
 and honesty, and that I was under moral obli- 
 gation to observe it. Wise or unwise, I did 
 it, and was ready for the consequences. In a 
 short time I returned to Toronto, to look 
 after home and branch interests there, and 
 upon returning, found a letter awaiting me. 
 It had the Piano postmark and was from 
 President Joseph Smith, in answer to my 
 inquiry about a matter of interest in the 
 branch there. 
 
 At the conclusion of the matter under con- 
 sideration, he wrote as follows : (I give it 
 verbatim, for the letter is before me, bearing 
 date, August, 1878.) "Concerning yourself. 
 Brother Luff, this is the voice of the 
 Spirit to me: 'Say unto my servant 
 Joseph Luff, that his sacrifices are accepted 
 
204 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 of me ; he shall receive wisdom to act 
 for the good of my cause in his ministry, 
 and I will bless him in preaching to the 
 Saints and in declaring the gospel to them 
 that are without. Other manifestations are 
 withheld from him that he may be tried and 
 sanctified. Let, him labor diligently as he 
 may be directed, being not impatient or over- 
 hasty, and he shall reap a goodly harvest. 
 He shall become an excellent counselor to 
 the church and to the ministry, for unto this 
 is he called. His heart shall be made glad in 
 the truth. Amen.' " 
 
 Upon a first reading of this I felt unusually 
 glad. The covenant I made had been 
 acknowledged, my sacrifices accepted, and the 
 special qualifications I had sought for were 
 promised. But the statements that "other 
 manifestations are withheld from him that he 
 may be tried and sanctified," were not so rel- 
 ishable. I have since learned, however, from 
 careful observation, that while God designs to 
 "sanctify" all, he proceeds differently in sepa- 
 rate cases. There are "differences of admin- 
 istration and diversities of operations." One 
 man is to be sanctified by a liberal outpour- 
 ing of certain gifts upon him, while another is 
 to be "sanctified" by their being "withheld." 
 The conferring is to occur from necessity, but 
 
BLDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 205 
 
 divine wisdom alone must decide as to the 
 necessity and its degrees. 
 
 While this discovery may have forced me 
 into an attitude which has been misinter- 
 preted by many at first sight and hearing, it 
 nevertheless has strengthened my confidence 
 in God and my hope for humanity. I see one 
 Saint's faith kept alive and active by frequent 
 open revealments, while another's is preserved 
 by and manifest through severe trials and 
 divine denials. Elisha's faith was great when 
 he secured a withdrawal and afterwards a 
 return of the rain ; but Job's faith was 
 greater when he suffered the loss of all he 
 possessed and even health itself, yet in pros- 
 pect of death' from loathsome disease and 
 with his wife advising a surrender of integ- 
 rity, cried, " Though he slay me yet will I trust 
 himr 
 
 One man's faith was manifest in working 
 miracles, the other's in patient endurance 
 under denial and severe affliction. Christ's 
 faith was manifest in both, for in one instance 
 we find him setting death at nought and 
 delivering its captive, in another we find him 
 pleading that a certain cup might pass from 
 him, if it could be possible, yet upon the dis- 
 covery that it was his Father's will that it 
 should be otherwise, he temporarily surren- 
 
206 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 dered the exercise of his power over death 
 and meekly drank and died. 
 
 If the eleventh chapter of Hebrews be care- 
 fully read, it will be found that by faith king- 
 doms were subdued, lions' mouths were 
 stopped, the violence of fire was quenched, 
 armies were put to flight, dead were raised, 
 the sword was turned away from saints, and 
 all manner of wonders were achieved; but it 
 will be well for all who call this alone the 
 ■"faith once delivered to the saints," to read 
 further and learn that "others had trial of 
 cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover 
 of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, 
 they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were 
 slain with the sword : they wandered about 
 in sheepskins and goatskins ; being destitute, 
 afflicted, tormented." "They wandered in 
 deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and 
 caves of the earth." 
 
 They had not the power or kind of faith to 
 change their conditions. There were no 
 miracles wrought to deliver them. There 
 were no open manifestations of divine power 
 in answer to their prayers for deliverance. 
 
 But, remember, reader, that these all 
 "received a good report, through faith," 
 and the Inspired Translation finishes this 
 chapter better than does the King James' 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 207 
 
 with the remarkable statement that God 
 had "provided some better things for them 
 through their sufferings, for without suffer- 
 rngs they could not be made perfect." 
 
 These strange truths stared me in the face 
 when I read the revelation sent to me, and I 
 naturally expected that others would rejoice 
 and be "sanctified" by receiving much, while 
 probably I would have to undergo a sanctify- 
 ing process which involved many refusals and 
 repeated withholdings. I vaguely surmised 
 it then, I know it now. At that time it was 
 faintly anticipated, but since then it has been 
 painfully realized. 
 
 We preach abroad that the gospel's mis- 
 sion is not to bring God down to men, but 
 men up to God ; yet, in our practices within, 
 we too often show a determination to have 
 him come below his own appointments in the 
 matter of spiritual communications and meet 
 us on the plane of self-gratification. Hence 
 we too often get, not what is absolutely best 
 for us, but what we choose for ourselves and 
 steadily importuned fbr, determined to "take 
 no denial" when we prayed. 
 
 Many a Saint has stood well in adversity 
 but perished when prosperity came. Many a 
 minister has proven valiant and faithful when 
 alone and away, battling for the truth under 
 
208 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 God's direction, but has wilted and waned 
 after leaving the lonesomeness of such a life 
 and moving into large branches where he 
 hoped to have his desire for Saintly associa- 
 tion gratified. 
 
 It is better, always, to abide the seemingly 
 slow and unpretentious methods of divine 
 arrangement, even though we smart under 
 them, than to draw a line for ourselves and 
 insist that the Eternal shall walk by it. At 
 least, the writer has so concluded after more 
 than a dozen years of observation and experi- 
 ence. 
 
 One point in the revelation, contained in 
 Bro. Joseph's letter, surprised me. It was 
 the promise made towards its close. I could 
 not fathom it nor realize its probability. I 
 could not exactly doubt it ; but it seemed too 
 large to be real. However, I resolved that if 
 it did fail of fulfillment it should not be 
 because of my neglect to try and abide cheer- 
 fully such conditions as should obtain in my 
 life, nor because of my breaking the covenant 
 I had made. 
 
 Upon the first promises therein made, I 
 have hundreds of times since planted myself, 
 when worn out and mentally perplexed, and 
 when I seemed to have not a single word to 
 say from the platform to which I have been 
 
ELDEK JOSEPH LUFF. 209 
 
 suddenly called, or when I had seemingly 
 exhausted every resource of thought or argu- 
 ment. I can solemnly declare that the 
 divinity of that portion of the revelation has 
 been attested in every instance of the kind. 
 
 Following out the suggestions that fre- 
 quently occurred to my mind thereafter, I 
 learned the truth of another statement con- 
 tained elsewhere in Bro. Joseph's letter; viz., 
 that the Spirit would be with me in shaping 
 my thoughts in times and cases of exigency 
 to the work. In short, I learned that if I 
 would but prove faithful in my conduct and 
 in reporting myself for duty, God would take 
 care of the credit of the work intrusted to me 
 and would give me the experience most es- 
 sential to my spiritual well-being. I tried 
 from thenceforward to study human charac- 
 ter in its varied phases, and to learn, if possi- 
 ble, just what attitude Jesus would be likely 
 to assume in view of such conditions as 
 .confronted me that I might, by such acquaint- 
 ance, be better able to carry into effect the 
 counsel he gave: "Occupy till I come." 
 
 While I am painfully conscious of sad de- 
 fects and deplorable failures, and have been a 
 thousand times mortified over my misrepre- 
 sentation of his character, in my practice, I 
 nevertheless believe myself much nearer the 
 
 14 
 
210 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 mark aimed at, than had I not covenanted 
 and received the revelation referred to ; hence 
 that covenant is as much delighted in to-day 
 as when years ago it was so innocently and 
 enthusiastically made. Trying to act upon 
 the advice, "Let him labor diligently as he 
 may be directed, being not impatient or over- 
 hasty," I have become convinced that no 
 exigency ever takes the Lord by surprise, 
 and that no labor thus performed is ever 
 "wasted. 
 
 The revelation thus given did more for me 
 than had it come directly to myself. It made 
 me feel more than ever that we were members 
 of a family and our Father knew nothing of 
 the difficulties of distance. Though Bro. 
 Joseph was six hundred miles away from me 
 when I prayed and covenanted, yet the Spirit 
 that heard me in Canada answered in Illinois. 
 It undoubtedly gave to Bro. Joseph an insight 
 into my character, condition, and needs, that 
 he could not question, and by which he could 
 the better "size me up" and counsel me at any 
 future time. It proved to me that God still 
 respected the organization he had effected, 
 and honored Bro. Joseph as its earthly head. 
 It disarmed the enemy of all power to after- 
 wards persuade me that I had wrought myself 
 up to a pitch of enthusiasm which made it 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 211 
 
 easy for me to imagine anything compre- 
 hended in my desire. It was impossible to 
 human skill. It was contrary to Satanic prac- 
 tice, having no sensational display attending 
 it. // was divine and carried the impress of 
 its author. 
 
212 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 "THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT." 
 
 O what a scale of miracles is here ! 
 
 Its lowest round high planted on the skies; 
 
 Its towering summit lost beyond the thought 
 
 Of man or angel. 
 
 Young. 
 
 So let it be. In God's own might 
 
 IVe gird us for the coming fight, 
 
 And, strong in him whose cause is ours 
 
 In conflict with unholy powers, 
 
 We grasp the weapons he has given, — 
 
 The Light, and Truth, and Love of Heaven. 
 
 Whittiek. 
 
 After receiving this encouragement I 
 resolved to continue and do my best. The 
 fall district conference convened at which I 
 was sustained as president and my work 
 thereafter was performed with more confi- 
 dence and hope. I feel it but just to here 
 mention that, during these initial stages of 
 my development, I was greatly helped and 
 stimulated by the timely counsel and minis- 
 trations of some good sisters, who as mothers 
 in Israel seemed to consider the young and 
 unexperienced ministry the objects of their 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 213 
 
 jealous watchcare. Among them I will name 
 Sr. Harriet Harrington, wife of Bro. Edgar 
 Harrington, of London, (now of Kansas City, 
 Kansas,) Srs. Janet and Rebecca Pearson, of 
 Corinth, the two latter having been over a 
 score of years in the work. When about dis- 
 couraged or feeling downcast and almost 
 spiritless, these sisters would invariably have 
 a timely word of cheer or testimony of expe- 
 rience which never failed to buoy up the sink- 
 ing spirit and arouse the flagging zeal. As 
 memory brings back those days and scenes, 
 the lips instinctively pronounce a "God bless 
 you" upon each of them and many others 
 whom they represented. 
 
 My diary to which I have not referred for 
 data in this writing, contains several entries 
 of healings and blessings which marked the 
 course of my ministrations, but they are so 
 common in the experience of nearly all Saints 
 that I will not attempt to detail them. Suf- 
 fice it that I mention an occasional instance. 
 Others have been more remarkably blessed 
 in this direction than I. May God add. unto 
 them a hundredfold more, if it please him, 
 and let them dwell more particularly upon 
 such themes when they write for your in- 
 formation and profit. 
 
 One Sunday morning while preaching in 
 
214 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 the church at London, I noticed a stranger 
 present, and in the evening, I saw him again 
 with a woman by his side. Doubtless there 
 were several visitors present, but to these 
 strangers my attention was drawn because of 
 the changing posture of the man as my dis- 
 course continued. On the next Sunday 
 evening I was informed that this man (whose 
 name was Rae) desired me to call on him. 
 He had while working in the cooper shop of 
 the oil refinery, fallen backward into a large 
 caldron of boiling glue, and had been terribly 
 burned. Taking some oil, I started for his 
 house, in company with Elder George Mot- 
 tashed, Edgar Harrington, and others. Upon 
 entering and ascending the stairs, we found 
 it almost impossible to endure the stench oc- 
 casioned by the glue and putrid flesh. 
 
 The accident had occurred on Friday, and 
 the doctor had bandaged the poor sufferer in 
 cotton and applied such lotions as were com- 
 mon in medical practice. We found the poor 
 man with his elbows and the lower portion of 
 his arms resting upon pillows, so, also, his 
 limbs from the knees down and his chin 
 propped with cushions. His back, which was 
 upward, was one mass of blackened and 
 blistered flesh, extending around under and 
 unto his breast and stomach, also down his 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 215 
 
 limbs and up to his neck, then over his arms. 
 It was sickening to behold. 
 
 Going up to the bedside, I told him who 
 we were and that we had come at his bidding. 
 He then informed us that his name was Wil- 
 liam Rae, that he had been an ignorant per- 
 secutor of the Saints, but had been influenced 
 to go and hear us the Sunday before, that 
 what he heard had so surprised and pleased 
 him that he took his wife out at night, and he 
 was of the opinion that we had the truth, and 
 would like to know if we were willing to give 
 him the benefit of our prayers and faith. 
 
 At his request for administration, we took 
 all the bandages off and poured the conse- 
 crated oil upon his festering flesh and brushed 
 it around with a feather, then wrapped clean . 
 cloths around him and in prayer committed 
 him and our work to God, while our hands 
 rested upon his head. He told us that the 
 pain ceased with the anointing, and that he 
 was determined to trust God. 
 
 Next morning we returned and adminis- 
 tered to him again and arranged with Bro. 
 William Burch to stay and nurse him for a 
 few days. This method of procedure was 
 new to the household, and Mrs. Rae inquired 
 of us what she should do when the doctor 
 arrived. Without waiting for either of us to 
 
216 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 answer, her husband called out to dismiss the 
 doctor as he intended to trust in God, This 
 had the effect of making her feel apprehensive 
 and we therefore advised her to act her own 
 pleasure in the matter. Mr. Rae, however, 
 protested against allowing any further medi- 
 cal interference, and said he was ready to 
 take the consequences. An hour later the 
 doctor came and was told that his services 
 were no longer required. Upon inquiring he 
 learned the reason for this sudden change in 
 the programme and he became angry. Going 
 down stairs he warned Mrs. Rae against the 
 extreme fanaticism which would result in her 
 husband's death in all probability. He said 
 that the ninth day would settle the matter, 
 and, though her husband was evidently much 
 better now, he would never tide over the 
 critical point a week hence unless skillfully 
 treated by a physician. Mrs. Rae was trou- 
 bled and inclined to yield, but her husband 
 was inflexible, and so the doctor left. 
 
 Next day the Free Press contained the fol- 
 lowing article: — 
 
 London, Ont., Feb. 22, 1879. 
 
 The leading spirits of the Latter Day 
 Saints in this village claim to have performed 
 a miracle. It will be remembered that a man 
 named Wm. Rae was badly scalded at the 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 217 
 
 Victor oil works several days ago. Dr. 
 DeLom was called in and attended the man 
 for four days, getting him, by skillful treat- 
 ment, out of danger. At this stage the chief 
 Saints of the above-mentioned sect put in an 
 appearance, and informed the doctor his serv- 
 ices would be no longer required, as they 
 wished to "anoint the injured man, and heal 
 him by a miracle." They took the precau- 
 tion, however, to ask the doctor if he would 
 resume his treatment in case the miracle 
 failed. 'He very naturally replied in the 
 negative. Nothing daunted, they set to work, 
 removed all the dressing, anointed their sub- 
 ject and went through the ceremony incident 
 to the performance of their miracles. Strange 
 to say the miracle did not in any way inter- 
 fere with the previous action of Dr. DeLom's 
 treatment, and Rae continued to progress 
 favorably. It seems a trifle strange, however, 
 that these economical healers did not "per- 
 form" on the injured man previous to the 
 time mentioned, but they evidently had "a 
 method in their madness." 
 
 This drew forth from me the following 
 reply: — 
 
 TRUTH VS. RUMOR. 
 
 Editor Free Press: — In your issue for Sat- 
 urday evening last, under the head of "Lon- 
 
218 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 don East Notes," a paragraph appears 
 containing many misstatements. Now, inas- 
 much as you have published the matter 
 referred to, and it is calculated to create a 
 false impression upon the mind 'of the public, 
 to the injury, perhaps, of the Latter Day 
 Saints in London, will you kindly allow us, 
 through your columns, the privilege of pre- 
 senting the facts as they occurred, and which 
 may be abundantly proven. When Rae was 
 badly scalded, on Friday morning, Dr. 
 DeLom came at the request of others, and 
 against the expressed wish of Mr. Rae. He 
 attended him three days (not four), and on 
 the fourth morning was informed by Mr. Rae 
 that his services were no longer required, and 
 he has not attended him since. If his skillful 
 treatment brought the man out of danger, 
 then the praise is for him ; but he informed 
 Mrs. Rae to the contrary, and told her to 
 watch him about the ninth day, etc. The 
 "chief Saints" referred to never saw the doctor 
 at all, hence the statement that "they informed 
 him that his services were no longer required, 
 as they were going to anoint the injured man 
 and heal him by a miracle," also that they 
 "took the precaution to ask a resumption of 
 the doctor's treatment in case the miracle 
 failed," is a glaring falsehood. The Saints 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 219 
 
 referred to never heard of the accident until 
 Sunday, when they were specially requested by 
 Mr. Rae (through his messenger) to come up 
 and administer to him according to the direc- 
 tion given in James 5: 14, 15, which they did 
 that evening. This statement will perhaps 
 remove the cause for wonder "why these eco- 
 nomical healers did not perform before." 
 They never mentioned "miracle," nor do they 
 now "claim that a miracle has been wrought." 
 Whatever conversation was had with the 
 doctor in the house was by Mr. and Mrs. Rae 
 themselves, not the "chief Saints." Mr. Rae 
 is still alive, and willing to answer any ques- 
 tions put to him. It would be well, therefore, 
 before the result of his injury is finally 
 decided, for interested parties to visit the 
 house and inquire of him or his wife as to the 
 truth of either of the contrary statements. 
 Truth, being scarce, is precious, and some- 
 times found where not expected, as well as 
 
 vice versa. , r, ^r n 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 Joseph Luff. 
 
 London East, February 24, 1879. 
 
 We noticed in a couple of days that the 
 old flesh was fast dropping off and that under 
 it there were patches all over his body, look- 
 ing like pools of blood at first, covered with 
 
220 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF 
 
 a fine transparent skin. I had occasion to 
 leave the city just then, but on returning 
 after some days, called again at the house 
 and found several Saints there, and Mr. Rae 
 seated in a corner of the room with the com- 
 pany. It was peculiarly gratifying, and I felt 
 to praise God more than ever before. 
 
 As I started to leave, he rose, and coming 
 over to me, stretched out his hand saying: 
 "These signs shall follow them that believe." 
 Together we rejoiced and praised the kind 
 Father who had acknowledged us so gra- 
 ciously. 
 
 On another occasion after laboring steadily 
 in a new field I reached London, desiring to 
 get to Toronto, one hundred and twenty 
 miles away, to fill appointments for Sunday. 
 This was on Friday and I had left an appoint- 
 ment for the following Tuesday at the place 
 of my recent labor, expecting to return in 
 time to fill it. I had about three dollars in 
 my pocket, and the fare. to Toronto and back 
 was six dollars and forty cents. I knew there 
 was no financial help for me in Toronto even 
 though I got there. Not knowing what to 
 do, I went to God in prayer, but received 
 no light, except that the revelation before 
 referred to came to my mind, and especially 
 the part where God had promised me "wis- 
 
ELDEK JOSEPH LUFF. 221 
 
 dom to act for the good of his cause in my 
 ministry." 
 
 I rose and, after thinking for a few minutes 
 as to what would be the wisest thing to do, 
 decided to go up town and telegraph to the 
 Toronto Saints that I could not get there, so 
 that they could cancel the appointments. 
 Telling Bro. Edgar Harrington of my conclu- 
 sion, he agreed with me that it was best, and 
 started up town with me to the telegraph 
 office, arranging by the way, that I should 
 spend Sunday in London. 
 
 There were two telegraph companies in 
 Canada, the Montreal and the Dominion, and^ 
 never having done any business except with 
 the former, I determined to go to its office on 
 this, occasion. In doing so, we had to pass 
 the office of the Dominion Company. After 
 walking a number of steps past, an impression 
 seized me to stop, which we did, and laughing 
 at the fogyism that was taking us some blocks 
 further than was necessary, simply to keep up 
 an old custom, we turned around and I 
 walked back to the office we had passed, 
 leaving Bro. Harrington outside. 
 
 After entering the office and seizing the 
 tablet containing blank spaces for writing 
 messages, I dropped my head thoughtfully 
 upon my hand and sought to reduce the com- 
 
222 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF 
 
 munication to as few words as possible, 
 before writing. While thus in thought, I 
 espied a handbill lying on the counter, with 
 the words, "Excursion to Toronto" in large 
 letters thereon. Picking it up, I read, in 
 addition to the above, "Tickets good for 
 return till Tuesday. Fare, $2.00. Train 
 leaves at five p. m. to-day." 
 
 Rushing out to where Bro. Harrington 
 stood, I read it aloud to him. There was 
 but one hour before train-leaving time, so, 
 hurrying along, we secured my satchel and by 
 quick motion got to the depot in time. I 
 never savy another copy of that handbill till 
 the depot was reached. I learned that the 
 excursion had been determined upon sud- 
 denly, to connect with certain excursion trains 
 leaving Toronto for Montreal. 
 
 Paying my two dollars and receiving a 
 return ticket therefor, I boarded the train and 
 rolled into Toronto a little after midnight and 
 found my wife quite sick and the branch in a 
 poor condition. There was much to be done . 
 the following day and three meetings for Sun- 
 day, besides extra work, necessitated >by the 
 condition of the branch as already referred 
 to. My coming was opportune; the branch 
 was helped into shape again and after visit- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 223 
 
 ing and administering and doing home chores 
 on Monday, I was tired out and threw myself 
 upon a lounge to rest. My mind was wor- 
 ried over my wife's sickness, as she was worse 
 than on my arrival. Her anxiety for the 
 church had made her less thoughtful of her- 
 self and she had kept a knowledge of her real 
 feelings from me lest I should relax my 
 efforts elsewhere in order to relieve her. But 
 tired, suffering nature was compelled to yield 
 at last and I felt troubled as the evidence of 
 her suffering faced me. Three times she had 
 gone down stairs to iron the clothes she 
 had washed for me on Saturday, and as 
 many times she had returned to rest. Finally 
 on coming into my room she aroused me 
 from the half stupor into which I had fallen, 
 by dropping on her knees before the couch, 
 and exclaiming, "I can't live long this way, 
 for I am nearly dead now!" 
 
 Allowing her head to fall upon my breast, 
 she moaned and seemed to be suffering con- 
 siderably. I do not remember uttering a 
 word; but lifting my left arm, which hung 
 down to the floor, I brought it around her 
 head and placed my hand upon her forehead. 
 My heart was then lifted to God in one ear- 
 nest mental prayer, asking that, if my work 
 was accepted and should be continued as per 
 
224 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 appointments made, he would instantly heal 
 my wife. 
 
 It was a brief petition, but at that moment 
 I seemed to have hold upon the promises of 
 the word, and there was a necessity that I 
 should prevail. I was physically exhausted 
 and dropped off into a doze almost instantly 
 afterwards, only to be awakened by a move- 
 ment on the part of my wife. Upon express- 
 ing my grief over her condition, she smiled 
 and looked up, exclaiming, "I never felt bet- 
 ter in my life!" 
 
 I affected surprise at hearing such a state- 
 ment after what she had uttered not five 
 minutes before, but looking into my face, with 
 a kind of quizzical expression in her own, she 
 asked, "Haven't you been praying for me?" 
 Then rising, she actually skipped with glee 
 before me, and hurried down stairs to finish 
 her ironing. That night I rested well, and at 
 seven a. m. next day I was aboard the train 
 and whirling away to fill my appointments two 
 hundred and more miles away. 
 
 Perhaps there was nothing remarkable in 
 all this from first to last, but as I boarded 
 that train and thought over the parting that 
 had just taken place between myself and wife 
 and the two little treasurers God had given 
 us, and while my heart was sad to a degree. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 225 
 
 there came stealing over me a something that 
 brought the prayer in London, the telegraph 
 office, the handbill, the unusually low-rate 
 excursion, the branch troubles, and the sick 
 and suffering wife in panorama before me, 
 and, as I thought that I was now leaving her 
 in health, and able to go on with my work 
 for God and humanity, something said, "There 
 is a divinity in it all." 
 
 I know some may reason it all away and 
 consider it a happening merely; but, dear 
 readers, I perfer to believe these were evi- 
 dences that the angels were interested in me 
 and mine. The thought comforts me; hence 
 my will to indulge it. 
 
 Soon after this I moved my family to Lon- 
 don where we located, after they had spent a 
 time visiting Saints at Carlingford. We 
 rented a couple of rooms in a small house and 
 continued to occupy them until our removal 
 from Canada. 
 
 About the close of March, 1879, ^ stahed 
 westward to attend General Conference, leav- 
 ing my family behind and expecting to return 
 in a few weeks. Upon reaching Piano I found 
 that one of the brethren employed in the Her- 
 ald Office was about to take a vacation for his 
 health's sake, and needed a "sub" to fill his 
 place. I volunteered my services, and, after 
 
 15 
 
226 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 conference, began to work as a "typo" on the 
 Herald. My stay in the office was prolonged 
 unexpectedly, until about the time for hold- 
 ing the fall conference at Galland's Grove, 
 Iowa, during which time I did considerable 
 preaching at Piano, Catville, Mission, Sand- 
 wich, and Shabbona Grove, on Sundays and 
 at vacation intervals. 
 
 About two months after leaving home, our 
 third child was born, and in less than a month 
 thereafter my family moved to Piano, Illinois, 
 where they remained till my return from the 
 fall conference. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 227 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 FIRST MISSION TO UTAH. 
 
 Home, with thy wealth of love, 
 
 To thee, with pain intense, 
 I say farewell, for he who gave 
 
 Thy joys, hath bid me hence. 
 
 Early during the sessions of conference 
 my name, together with the names of W. W. 
 Blair, Charles Derry, R. J. Anthony, G. E. 
 Deuel, and E. W. Tullidge, was presented for 
 appointment to the Utah mission. Action 
 upon the recommendation was deferred for a 
 couple of days, during which time I heard a 
 considerable amount of earnest talk over the 
 advisability of sending one so young as I on 
 such an important mission and among such 
 people as the Utah Mormons. Several per- 
 sons told me they felt apprehensive and 
 would not vote for it. Brethren Z. H. Gur- 
 ley, W. H. Kelley, and a number of others ia 
 authority, informed me of their intention to 
 oppose my appointment out of regard for me. 
 To each and all I made answer that I was in 
 the hands of God and the church, and wanted 
 to go only where the Spirit directed. 
 
228 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 While the case thus rested, I repaired a 
 number of times to quiet places of seclusion 
 and committed myself to God, urging that, in 
 this important matter, he would manifest his 
 will, and turn or overturn if necessary, so that 
 the final action of conference in the matter 
 might be an expression of his purpose regard- 
 ing me. Thus I rested the matter, feeling 
 assured my prayer would be answered, but 
 not knowing just where it would leave me. 
 Before time for voting came many privately 
 remarked that it was too bad to sacrifice me 
 in such a way, and I heard them refer to the 
 bad effects of that mission upon several whom 
 they named. 
 
 The day for action at last came, and to my 
 surprise, not a word in opposition was 
 uttered, not a question as to making an 
 exception in my case was asked, and the 
 motion to appoint was adopted by a unani- 
 mous vote, so far as could be judged; hence 
 I took it for granted that all was right and 
 determined to abide the conclusion. 
 
 A few hours later, during recess, I asked 
 some of the brethren who had decided to 
 oppose the matter why they had kept silent 
 and then voted contrary to their- statements 
 to me. The answer was in each case, about 
 like this: "I don't know, but. somehow I 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 229 
 
 changed my mind about it." Two or three 
 persons stated, however, that while they could 
 not oppose it, they nevertheless felt appre- 
 hensive, because of my youth and inexperi- 
 ence. During the conversation Bro. A. H. 
 Smith was sitting on a bench at the end of 
 the rostrum and I stood by him. Turning to 
 the brethren speaking, I thanked them for 
 their interest in me, but submitted two ques- 
 tions to them in order, asking for .direct 
 answers. First, I desired to know whether, 
 according to their calculation, the missions 
 under this church's appointment were to be 
 conducted in. the wisdom and strength of men 
 or of God. They instantly answered, "That 
 of God, certainly." Then my second ques- 
 tion was, "Is it any harder for God to keep 
 and use a young man than an old one, simply 
 on the ground of age ?" 
 
 I remember just how Brother Alexander 
 punched one of them on the shoulder and 
 laughingly called on him to "Chew on that!" 
 
 I then added that, so far as I had observed, 
 it was the older men who fell in such cases. 
 While they were young, they had humbly 
 trusted in God and were preserved ; but, 
 when older, they had trusted to their experi- 
 ence and past conquests, forgetting where 
 their safety and strength lay, and had fallen. 
 
230 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF 
 
 A great many matters were discussed and 
 decided at that conference, but my appoint- 
 ment was of most importance to me. I was 
 to make my first long trip and stay from 
 home and to work among a people, who, 
 according to my idea, had forgotten more 
 than I then knew. It was a solemn affair for' 
 one who was only three years old in the 
 church, and the more I thought about it, the 
 nearer it became a case of heart failure with 
 me, till one day, just after a meeting had 
 closed and Brother Joseph was still standing 
 upon the platform, I climbed up at the rear 
 end of it and, being quite close to him, told 
 him of the apprehensions expressed by some, 
 and asked him how he felt about it. 
 
 I shall never forget his answer. Turning 
 partly around and looking me full in the eyes, 
 he held forth his hand, which I took in mine, 
 and as the tears started from his own eyes, 
 he said, "Bro. Luff, you are one of the men 
 whom I can trust anywhere on God's green 
 earth. It is all right; go, and God go with 
 you." Welling up from within me, I felt just 
 then, a something rise that swept before it all 
 my apprehensions and left nothing but a 
 sense of rest. 
 
 A few minutes later, when entering the tent 
 of Bro. George Hawley, I was about passing 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 231 
 
 Bro. Joseph who was standing at the door in 
 .conversation with Bro. John T. Kinnaman 
 when he stopped me and repeated the above 
 words, with slight variations, calling Bro. 
 Kinnaman's attention to the fact that he had 
 before uttered them. I was not affected to 
 dizziness nor carried off my terra firma by 
 the. compliment thus paid; but thought then, 
 have thought a number of times since, and 
 still think, that I would sooner lose my head 
 than betray that cofidence. I had reason 
 long before for believing that he "spiritually 
 discerned" me, and was not without reason 
 then for thinking that my heart's integrity 
 rather than my brain competency was the 
 basis upon which he and the Spirit figured in 
 that utterance. I did not feel flattered then 
 nor do I feel any measure of vanity now, in 
 writing it, but it made me resolve never to 
 betray or lessen the confidence it expressed. 
 
 Returning from conference I found my wife 
 anxious to move to Independence, Missouri. 
 Her father, stepmother, four sisters, and 
 brother were all there or near by. She 
 believed she could make her permanent home 
 there with more contentment than anywhere 
 else, if I was to be abroad the rest of my life. 
 Hence we packed up once more and started, 
 leaving Piano on the 31st of .October, 1879 
 
232 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OP 
 
 (my twenty-seventh birthday), and arrived 
 at Independence on the following day. 
 
 We put up at the house of my father-in- 
 law, Bro. John Parker, for a few days, then 
 secured a small house in the north end of 
 town into which we moved. After patching 
 up the old fences and barn, and doing inside 
 work for a couple of weeks, I once more 
 packed my trunk and satchels, gave and 
 received the parting words, looks, and em- 
 braces, and started away on the longest term 
 of separation from family I had yet known. 
 
 Let others dwell on these scenes of part- 
 ing, if they can. With me, the least said as 
 nearly describes the real experience as could 
 a \^olume. Words cannot reach it. Lan- 
 guage is inadequate ; nor is there need for an 
 attempted description, if success were possi- 
 ble. If, reader, you have tried to make your 
 home, though humble it may be, your earthly 
 paradise, look once into the faces and listen 
 to the words of those who have furnished its 
 chief enchantment and have made it above all 
 places on earth the one desirable and hallowed 
 spot, and then think of separation for long 
 months, and resting only on faith for a return, 
 and try to say, "Good-bye." Your heart will 
 then furnish, better than can the writer's 
 pen, all that is of advantage to know. 
 
ELDEK JOSEPH LUFF. 233 
 
 At Council Bluffs I met Brethren Blair, 
 Anthony, and Deuel, with whom I remained 
 over Sunday, preaching once, and started 
 early the following week. We were joined 
 at Columbus, Nebraska, by Bro. Derry and 
 from thence continued our journey till we 
 reached the Mecca of Utah Mormonism, 
 Salt Lake City. 
 
 The scenery along the route was grand and 
 majestic. Pens with better descriptive skill 
 than mine have staggered in the attempt to 
 do justice to the sublimity and magnificence 
 of that panorama, hence I shall not commit 
 my imbecile quill to the task for which it is so 
 inadequate. 
 
 While tarrying at Council Bluffs, true to 
 my boyish instinct I ran to a fire one cold 
 night, and took cold in my face. The drafts 
 from the train windows fanned the original 
 deposit, so that by the time we arrived at 
 Salt Lake City I was ready to ornament any 
 pedestal and pose as a model "swell head." 
 
 I was assigned a home with Brother and 
 Sister Joseph O. Clark, in the tenth ward, 
 where, under the motherly care and treatment 
 of "mine hostess" my superfluous bloat and 
 ill-humor were soon disposed of and I was 
 again ready to look a good-humored man in the 
 face. I made my home with Brother and Sis- 
 
234 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 ter Clark for a couple of months or more and 
 was entertained royally, when they left the 
 city on a visit to their daughter in Cache 
 Valley. I then moved to the home of Brother 
 and Sister Thomas Hudson, where I made 
 my headquarters during the remainder of my 
 stay in the territory. They were father and 
 mother to me and never can I forget the lov- 
 ing, pleasant spirit Bro. Hudson always 
 exhibited, and how he anxiously guarded and 
 cared for me as his own. He has since been 
 taken to his rest in the paradise of God. May 
 the good Lord reward, as he only can, their 
 kindness to the writer when he so much 
 needed their ministrations. 
 
 Brn. Blair and Derry preached on the first 
 Sunday, after our arrival, in the old Seventies' 
 hall, after which the Liberal Institute was 
 secured and a series of meetings announced. 
 
 A missionary council was held and our 
 several divisions of the territory agreed upon. 
 I was assigned a field south of the city, 
 with Provo for my headquarters. It was 
 arranged that we all remain and finish the 
 series of meetings before separating and 
 that a letter be drawn up addressed to 
 President John Taylor of the Utah Church, 
 announcing our arrival and purpose, as also 
 our readiness for a private or public inter- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 235 
 
 view and discussion of the questions involved 
 in our antagonistic work. 
 
 This letter was afterwards prepared by Bro. 
 Blair and indorsed by the other missionaries, 
 when it was mailed to President Taylor, but 
 provoked no acknowledgement or reply. It 
 was then published in the Salt Lake Tribune 
 and Saints Advocate, and thus the people of 
 Utah were apprised of our arrival and design. 
 
 The first discourse of the series referred to 
 was delivered by Bro. Derry, and my name 
 was published for the second. After hearing 
 Bro. Derry's effort, together with the two 
 Sunday sermons preceding it, I concluded 
 that there was nothing left to be said, or, at 
 least, if there was it was outside of the realm 
 of my knowledge. Next day I thought and 
 read and prayed; but it seemed as if there 
 was not even a nail left for me to hang a ser- 
 mon on. Feeling thus badly, I shut myself 
 up in the room and wept, wondering whether, 
 after all, I was not mistaken in believing God 
 sent me there. Night came, and with it the 
 time for meeting. While walking to the hall 
 I earnestly prayed that God would give me 
 undoubted assurance of his will concerning 
 my stay, by imparting a special qualification 
 to me when rising to speak. There was 
 quite a large turnout, and there were several 
 
236 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 ministers and prominent men on the big plat- 
 form besides our own missionaries. 
 
 During the preliminary services my knees 
 knocked together and I groaned in spirit, but 
 the revelation sent through Bro. Joseph to 
 me over a year before, came to my mind, and 
 against its promises I braced my trembhng 
 confidence. Rising to speak, the picture of 
 David and Goliath came before my mind and 
 in a few words I referred to it and expressed 
 my opinion of its resemblance to the present 
 situation. I had scarcely done this when I 
 became conscious of the descent of something 
 (which I have since described as feeling like 
 a mantle) that rested on me and encircled me. 
 Instantly my brain seemed fired, my tongue 
 loosed, and my range of vision and thought 
 extended. The Book of Mormon and the 
 Book of Doctrine and Covenants seemed to 
 unfold their meaning and suggest their intro- 
 duction, while many of the passages therein 
 which I at one time had looked upon as being 
 at least unnecessary or unimportant, took on a 
 special significance and a divine potency, and 
 for an hour and a half I traversed that long 
 platform and, without Interruption, talked on 
 the living issues of the campaign we had 
 inaugurated. There was no room for self- 
 congratulation, for what was there used was 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 237 
 
 given of God, and the ability to apply it came 
 with each argument. To God alone be the 
 praise. 
 
 So remarkable was the manifestation on 
 this occasion that it was immediately decided 
 to change the programme we had arranged, 
 and the brethren determined that I should 
 remain for some time in the city; so for five 
 months Bro. Blair and myself kept the work 
 moving there, holding four meetings a week 
 most of the time, and occasionally visiting 
 other points convenient thereto. 
 
 Never in my life before or since, have I 
 experienced a more marvelous ministration of 
 the Spirit in preaching than during this, my 
 first mission in Utah. No condition or exi- 
 gency seemed to find me unprepared. Never 
 had my trust in God been so complete, and 
 never was my satisfaction more perfect. 
 Weak of myself, I committed all to the Mas- 
 ter and he strengthened me throughout. 
 
 At the expiration of about five months, it 
 was thought best that I should go south as 
 far as Provo and the towns convenient 
 thereto. I therefore started and began opera- 
 tions in the Methodist church in Provo. 
 Prior to starting south for continuous work, 
 however, I visited Union Fort and preached 
 in the schoolhouse for two nights by. the per- 
 
238 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF 
 
 mission of Bishop Ishmael Phillips. At the 
 end of the second night's discourse, the 
 Bishop, as soon as the benediction was pro- 
 nounced, called the people to order and 
 requested them to stay a few minutes to hear 
 him. He then took the stand and poured his 
 vials of wrath upon my devoted head for 
 twenty minutes, not noticing the points or 
 arguments by me submitted, however, but 
 simply abusing me and the nasty Josephites 
 in general. 
 
 During his harangue he insinuatingly 
 referred to the risk I was taking by such a 
 course in the hive of Deseret. The bees 
 were numerous and might get angry and I 
 should remember it was their country and 
 they had just cause for provocation, etc. I 
 asked for five minutes to answer him, but he 
 refused even one. I then notified the people 
 that a blufif game would not work with me. I 
 had come to visit, but was now resolved to 
 stay till they heard me out and would preach 
 at the home of Bro. Wm. P. Smith close by. 
 
 At the time appointed, quite a number 
 came, and I notified them, in the course of 
 the service, of my intention to stay in that 
 region till they recognized me, I urged them 
 to send to Salt Lake City and import talent 
 to defend them if they had not sufficient in 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUl^'F. 239 
 
 the locality. Waxing more bold than wise 
 perhaps, I told them we expected to be able 
 to preach there when some of them dare not 
 do so. 
 
 The result of my persistence or obstinancy 
 was that a debate was finally arranged for 
 between Elder Rupert Brown and myself on 
 the polygamy question. He left me to choose 
 the place, and he was to arrange the time. 
 He agreed publicly that it should be a fair 
 issue, he to represent authoritatively the 
 Brighamite and I, the Josephite Church. 
 Salt Lake City was then named as the place 
 and we left him to set the time. He agreed 
 to come to the city in a couple of days to 
 select a hall and publish the time. 
 
 After waiting some days, without getting 
 word from him, I wrote to him for explana- 
 tions and learned that President John Taylor 
 had forbidden him the liberty of representing 
 their church and of holding a debate in Salt 
 -Lake City. He expressed his willingness to 
 meet me in the country schoolhouse fifteen 
 miles away, and agreed to afterwards come 
 and repeat it in Salt Lake City within thirty 
 days on his own responsibility, should I desire 
 it. 
 
 With the last item, over his own signature, 
 in my possession I agreed to go and meet 
 
240 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 him. We held for two nights, when he 
 seetned to have run out of matter, or to have 
 discovered that his stock-in-trade was value- 
 less, and he announced a close of the discus- 
 sion. 
 
 I then rose and challenged him to meet me 
 the following Saturday and commence on. the 
 subject again in Salt Lake City, producing 
 his letter to prove his promise. He admitted 
 the promise but declined to fulfill, assigning 
 as a reason that it might sour his employer's 
 feelings to go off again so soon, and the 
 expense of hall, travel, etc., were more than 
 he could stand. I then agreed to extend the 
 time for two months, to provide a hall and 
 meet all expenses, but he would not consent 
 to again discuss with me, and the matter so 
 ended. 
 
 I was satisfied with the result of the 
 short contest. Brn. Anthony and Deuel 
 were present and said it was a pronounced 
 victory, but there was not much credit attach- 
 ing to a victory over an enemy so poorly 
 equipped as was Elder Brown. He under- 
 stood the use of his weapons well enough, 
 but they were not calculated for a conflict 
 with a "Josephiter." (On my last trip to 
 Utah, in 1885, I went to Union Fort and 
 preached in the absence of Bishop Phillips, 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 241 
 
 he having taken a vacation to escape the 
 clutches of the deputy marshals. I called the 
 attention of those present to what I had told 
 them years before, about my preaching there 
 sometime when they dare not. A few of them 
 winced when we remarked that the tables 
 were turning and the "Josephites" were get- 
 ting on top.) 
 
 By letter from Elder William Summerfield, 
 now (1892) laboring as missionary in Utah, I 
 learn of the death of Elder Rupert Brown, 
 and of the fact that he left the, Utah Church 
 soon after our debate. His statement to sev- 
 eral was that he would not have discussed 
 with me had he known that "the books" were 
 against him. How many hundreds there are 
 still in that apostate church, who honestly 
 believe, upon the word of their leaders, that 
 the books are in their favor, and who are 
 unwilling, nevertheless, to go and hear the 
 men of the Reorganization who confine them- 
 selves entirely to the testimony of these 
 books. We met scores of them, over thirty 
 years of age who had never read a line in 
 either the Book of Mormon or Book of Doc- 
 trine and Covenants, and many who had 
 never seen a copy of either to their knowl- 
 edge, yet who would rather believe their lead- 
 ers' testimony as to the contents and meaning 
 
 16 
 
242 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 of those books, than accept of our advice to 
 read for themselves. Still, in their blind and 
 inconsistent course they claim to be the "light 
 of the world." But back to the thread of 
 recital. 
 
 Calling on the Methodist minister at Provo, 
 the use of his church was asked for. He 
 offered it conditionally; was willing that I 
 should fight Brighamism hard and steady, 
 knock it into fragments, so that there would 
 not be enough left to sweep up, but did not 
 want me to present those "peculiarly distin- 
 guishing features" of our faith, by which any 
 "orthodox" body would be antagonized. He 
 did not wish the Book of Mormon or Joseph 
 Smith and like questions to be ventilated. 
 
 In reply I told him that the English of all 
 that, as I interpreted it, was that I was to 
 denounce heresy and sin, not because they 
 were heresy and sin, but simply because they 
 happened to have lodgment in the Brighamite 
 Church, that, if I happened in my preaching 
 to run across the like anywhere outside of 
 that church, I must not notice it. It was the 
 location of the wrong and not the wrong 
 itself I was to antagonize. I added that he 
 might keep his building closed till the day of 
 judgment, if those were the conditions, for my 
 liberty was worth more than his house. If I 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUPP. 243 
 
 went in, my liberty must go in with me. 
 
 This sudden change in the appearance of 
 his visitor from the attitude of a humble appli- 
 cant to that of an independent preacher of a 
 truth he esteemed bigger than a Methodist 
 chapel, rather took him by surprise, and, as I 
 rose to leave, he intimated that he was anxious 
 to be liberal and guessed I could have the 
 church anyhow. 
 
 Thus I entered untrammeled and preached 
 without regard to the proximity of either 
 Mormons or Methodists as such. So unex- 
 pectedly successful was the effort in securing 
 large audiences, that the minister requested 
 me to fill his Sunday appointments, which I 
 did, continuing until compelled to send for 
 Bro. Blair to come to my aid, as I was wear- 
 ing out from constant preaching every night 
 and twice on Sunday. 
 
 Springville was my next point, where Bro. 
 Blair came to relieve me again, and in each 
 of these places we kept up running appoint- 
 ments for some time. At each place I bap- 
 tized several persons and thus continued until 
 the fall of 1880. Bro. Blair was in charge of 
 the mission, and I found him to be what I 
 had always believed and still believe of him, a 
 man of sterling integrity and one whose love 
 for the gospel overreached every other con- 
 
244 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 sideration and made him a willing toiler and 
 endurer for its sake. He was a splendid 
 president, companion, counselor, and - co- 
 worker. 
 
 My preaching during this mission was 
 rather of the radical stripe, and many persons 
 feared that I would meet foul play at the 
 hands of some reckless dupe of priestcraft, but 
 fear on that score never troubled me. One 
 evening a young man, answering closely to 
 my description, was stabbed, when passing 
 the alley next the Salt Lake theater. It was 
 on the evening of my regular appointment 
 and on the line of my regular home journey. 
 
 When reading the account next morning in 
 the paper, it struck me that possibly the aim 
 was for me, and on the following Sunday I 
 was quietly approached by a gray-bearded 
 gentleman, who called my attention to the 
 circumstance, and informed me that it was 
 intended for mei He said he knew whereof 
 he affirmed but was not in a position to tell 
 anything. He wished us prosperity in our 
 work but would not openly avow it. He 
 warned me against going out alone after dark, 
 and advised that I always take the road 
 rather than the tree-shaded sidewalks. I 
 thanked him for his interest but told him to 
 rest easy for no harm would come to me. I 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 245 
 
 don't know how much or little of truth there 
 was in his statement ; but one thing I be- 
 lieved ; namely, that I would return to the 
 church in the East in safety. One reason for 
 this was because I accepted the following vis- 
 ion given to a sister, as being from God: — 
 
 She saw a large building and just in front 
 of it a large, deep pool, like a cesspool. The 
 corruption seemed to have worked into the 
 basement of the building. While looking at 
 it and wondering what it meant, she saw me 
 enter the building and go over to a table and 
 write my name in clear characters oh a sheet 
 of clean paper which was lying there. I then 
 went outside and stood by the side of the 
 pool, surveying it for a moment; then I 
 stepped down into it and started for the oppo- 
 site side. She trembled for me as she saw 
 me go down deeper and deeper, yet fearlessly 
 until I could barely hold my chin up out of 
 the filthy flood. I then, as I passed the mid- 
 dle, began to step up, the pool becoming 
 shallower as I neared the other side. As my 
 shoulders, arms, body, and finally my limbs 
 and feet came up, she noticed to her astonish- 
 ment that my clothes were as clean as when I 
 stepped into the pool. 
 
 Just as I reached the shore or solid landing 
 on the other side, a most beautiful woman, 
 
246 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF 
 
 arrayed in neat' and becoming attire, and with 
 joyous expression on her countenance, ap- 
 peared, and, putting her arms around me, 
 embraced me affectionately, and retired with 
 me. The vision then vanished. 
 
 If the building represented the Utah struc- 
 ture, the pool its doctrinal philosophy, and 
 the beautiful woman the Reorganized Church, 
 then all is clear; for I recorded my name in 
 the center of their stronghold; I waded chin 
 deep into their abominable heresies ; I came 
 back without moral taint from contact ; and 
 was welcomed gloriously at the fall confer- 
 ence upon my return. 
 
 During my stay I had baptized thirty-five 
 persons. To Him who made all this possible 
 for a stripling elder, I here,, as often before, 
 ascribe my gratitude and praise. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 247 
 
 CHAPTER XrV. 
 FROM WpST TO EAST. 
 
 I have not seen, I may not see, 
 
 My hopes for man take form in fact, 
 But God will give the victory 
 
 In due time: in that faith I act. 
 And he who sees the future sure. 
 
 The baffling present may endure, 
 And bless, meanwhile, the unseen Hand that leads 
 
 The heart's desires beyond the halting step of 
 
 deeds. 
 
 Whittieh. 
 
 The clouds, which rise with thunder, slake 
 
 Our thirsty souls with rain ; 
 The blow most dreaded falls to break 
 
 From off our limbs a chain. 
 
 And wrongs of man to man but make 
 
 The love of God more plain. 
 
 Whittier. 
 
 At the conferences of 1880 and 1881, the 
 question of sending out only the Twelve and 
 Sev^enty on missions until no more available 
 men were found therein, was discussed and 
 the rule obtained. I favored it, though by it 
 I was excluded. My belief was that if there 
 were men outside of those quorums more 
 worthy of missions than some within, the 
 Lord certainly knew it and he should be con- 
 
248 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 suited upon the matter, with a view to having 
 the unworthy ones within removed and others 
 substituted. 
 
 I did not believe that good men should be 
 barred from service because drones occupied 
 the quorums from which selection was to be 
 made; but it was evident that unavailable 
 men held many of the places, and it seemed 
 to me that the best way to force a necessary 
 change, by getting drones out and workers in, 
 was to support the above legislation and 
 thereby compel the work of reconstruction in 
 order to honor the law and, at the same time, 
 make room for willing workers. 
 
 That such was the result is evidenced by 
 the fact that many names, probably forty or 
 thereabout, were dropped from the Seventy 
 within a couple of years and a larger number 
 of "minute men" enrolled. My name was 
 several times proposed, but I refused on each 
 occasion, because the way seemed dark when 
 I thouofht of it. 
 
 During this period, however, I busied my- 
 self in looking after home interest, which had 
 been seriously neglected. My youngest 
 daughter, Ethel, was afflicted with a, serious 
 deformity, known only to her mother and 
 myself. We had often prayed regarding it, 
 but no change came, and we feared to allow 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 249 
 
 her to grow up to womanhood and reproach 
 us for not remedying what was in our power 
 to correct when she was a child. Hence we 
 resolved that I should take her to Chicago or 
 elsewhere for an operation. I had not the 
 money, however, for such a trip and felt 
 despondent. Just then, or shortly after, I 
 received unexpectedly a letter from a gentle- 
 man far distant, containing a draft for seven- 
 ty-five dollars to be used for my family's 
 benefit, and forbidding any mention of it. I 
 had told him about my trouble some time 
 before. He claimed, however, to have been 
 impressed to send it. Of course I was 
 ■delighted and thankful. My wife agreed with 
 me that it looked like a providential interpo- 
 sition to meet the emergency before us. It 
 was, therefore, decided that I should take the 
 child to ah institute. One evening I again 
 anointed her while she was asleep, and 
 together with my wife prayed for the removal 
 of the trouble, so that we might not be under 
 necessity of submitting to an operation at the 
 hands of men. 
 
 Imagine, if you can, my ecstasy, when, on 
 the following day, my wife told me the trouble 
 had been removed. Upon examination I 
 found her statement to be correct, and 
 together we rejoiced in being thus remembered 
 
250 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 of God. I immediately wrote to the gentle- 
 man who had sent me the money, told him I 
 was of the opinion that he had sent it because 
 of the need I had spoken of in a former letter, 
 and, as God had kindly healed my child, the 
 necisssity was removed, and I therefore 
 returned the draft, not being willing to take 
 other advantage of a generosity so admirable. 
 
 I needed money, for we were trying to 
 build, but could not use that with a clear con- 
 science. In less than a fortnight, however, 
 we received another letter from my friend 
 expressing his gladness over our own good 
 fortune, but declining to receive the money 
 back, and, instead of so doing, he increased 
 the draft to one hundred dollars and asked 
 me to do him the favor of using it in improv- 
 ing or building my house, which we did. 
 
 Later on in the season, our little one took 
 sick and, though able to move around and 
 play occasionally, I seemed to have a 
 premonition of her approaching death when 
 looking upon her, and communicated the fact 
 to my wife. For several weeks she gradually 
 failed, but kept upon her feet, so that but few 
 noticed the decline until her weakening limbs 
 refused to support her, and she was compelled 
 to submit to the inevitable and go to bed. 
 We committed her to God in prayer and the 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 251. 
 
 ordinances of his house, calling elders in for 
 that purpose and then obtained the service of 
 a competent physician, who candidly informed 
 us that it would be better to avoid distressing 
 her with medicines; for, though she might 
 linger for a long time, there was no earthly 
 remedy for her disease. 
 
 Within a fortnight thereafter, her sweet 
 spirit took its departure and we mourned the 
 loss of one of the most intellectual and 
 attractive children we had ever looked upon, 
 though she was hardly ever known to smile 
 during the two and one half years of her stay 
 with us. 
 
 We buried her on Sunday, the 6th day of 
 November, 1881. It was the first time death 
 had entered our happy home, and his visit 
 cast a gloom over our feelings that we had 
 bgen strangers to before. On the following 
 Sunday morning, however, another little 
 daughter came to our home to try to fill the 
 place made vacant by death, and- its advent 
 was hailed as though it had been sent directly 
 from heaven to console us in our hour of 
 sadness. We called her Hattie. She is now 
 in her eleventh year. 
 
 Others have since been added to the house- 
 hold, but as I sit at present writing, nearly 
 two thousand miles from home, and not hav- 
 
252 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 ing seen her for about a year, I feel again the 
 joy of that hour when first her black eyes 
 opened before me, and seemed to say, "I 
 come to make you happy. God sent me." 
 
 She proved to be a mischievous bird; but 
 whether I found her, afterwards as the years 
 sped along, in the tree top or on the barn 
 door, or turning somersaults on the lawn, or 
 with arms akimbo, swinging her hat and try- 
 ing to outrun the fleetest of her companions; 
 whatever the predicament into which her 
 roguish nature led her, there always came a 
 thought, when I discovered her therein, that 
 softened my indignation and tempered my 
 correction. Sometimes her mother has 
 approached me and asked if I did not think 
 "just a leetle bit" more of that "Tomboy" than 
 I ought. Perhaps she is right, but I can 
 never forget the special joy with which her 
 advent thrilled my heart, and I have always 
 felt like letting her "make me happy," as that 
 was what her twinkling baby eyes once 
 declared her mission to be. 
 
 While free from General Conference 
 appointment, the time was spent in serving as 
 branch and district president, by selection of 
 the local bodies, and my work extended to 
 several points quite distant from home. 
 Meanwhile the branch at Independence kept 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 255 
 
 growing by additions from abroad and bap- 
 tisms occasionally, until the body felt suffi- 
 ciently strong to care for a General Conference, 
 and asked for the privilege of doing so. 
 Accordingly the sessions for April, 1882, were 
 appointed and held there. 
 
 It ought to be here stated that, at that con- 
 ference, I was appointed a mission to Texas,. 
 Arkansas, the Indian Territory, and other 
 points in the mission then presided over by 
 Elder Heman C. Smith, but, with the excep- 
 tion of about six weeks, spent in the Indian 
 Territory, the appointment was not honored. 
 Some events transpired shortly after confer- 
 ence which made it about impossible for me 
 to go, and under the counsel of the First 
 Presidency, I remained most of the time near 
 home. 
 
 During this time, my brother, John, who 
 had been living for some years on Manitoulin 
 Island, Lake Huron, came to Independence 
 and arranged to send for his family which he 
 had left behind, while prospecting in the 
 West. He and his wife had heard me preach 
 one sermon in Toronto about four years 
 before, and it had stayed with them and pro- 
 duced an appetite for more, which he now 
 had an opportunity to satiate. 
 
 While he remained, our fall conference 
 
S54 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 convened at Lamoni, which I attended and at 
 which I was reappointed to the Utah mission. 
 
 Returning home preparations were made to 
 go as soon as possible and an evening or two 
 before the time set for my departure, my 
 brother came to me and requested baptism. 
 This was a privilege to be appreciated, and 
 with a gladness uncommon I performed the 
 rite. A short time after my departure for 
 Utah, his family arrived and located in Inde- 
 pendence, and in a few weeks his wife was 
 baptized and made happy with him in the 
 gospel. Her brother was the Methodist min- 
 ister ^referred to in an earlier part of this 
 autobiography, with whom I was associated 
 in revival meetings in the little cottage chapel, 
 where the dialogue occurred between myself 
 and my old chum, James Robinson. 
 
 Arriving in Utah, I was received and wel- 
 comed in the house of Bro. and Sr. Robert 
 Warnock, where for several months the 
 bounty and hospitality of their home was 
 shared by me. A change had come over the 
 scene in Salt Lake, however, since the time of 
 my former visit. The new chapel had been 
 built, and we were no longer dependent in this 
 respect, but the interest in hearing seemed to 
 have died out or nearly so. The attendance 
 at public preaching averaged from twenty-five 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 255 
 
 to fifty and no efifort we could make seemed 
 to improve the situation. 
 
 We therefore found it necessary to devote 
 more time away from the city in places where 
 people were more willing to hear. Bro. Blair 
 still presided over and directed the mission, 
 but the ministerial force was so limited (as, 
 indeed, it always has been in Utah) that no 
 systematic effort could be made. The needs 
 of the mission seemed to demand a prolonged 
 effort, and I was urged to move my family 
 there for a couple or more years. Help was 
 promised me for that purpose, and I finally 
 consented. My wife reluctantly yielded to 
 persuasion and came along, when we moved 
 into a small tenement and tried to keep house. 
 
 This proved to be an unwise move, for 
 about seven months later, my brother's wife 
 died in Independence, leaving him with five 
 small children, and very ill-prepared to attend 
 to them. After duly considering the situa- 
 tion, my wife returned there with our three 
 children, to help care for the motherless ones. 
 LJpon returning, however, she found them in 
 kind care of my sister, Mrs. Hatty, where 
 they remained. I then was invited to make 
 my home again at Bro. Warnock's, and did 
 so, and never was minister treated more 
 kindly than was the writer during his stay. 
 
256 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 During this second mission to Utah which 
 lasted about twelve or thirteen months, I 
 traveled a portion of the time with Brn. H. 
 N. Hansen and Thomas Burt, Salt Lake 
 City, Union Fort, Sandy, Lehi, American 
 Fork, Pleasant Grove, Provo, Springville^ 
 Spanish Fork, Payson, Salem, Nephi, San 
 Pete Valley, and Beaver to the south, and 
 several points northward, between Salt Lake 
 City and Ogden, were visited and labored in^ 
 besides Malad and Oxford in Idaho. 
 
 Nothing of unusual importance occurred,, 
 though I baptized thirty persons. Prejudice 
 ran high. The Edmunds Bill legislation 
 made us enemies, because of the presence of 
 Brn. Z. H. Gurley and F. L. Kelley at Wash- 
 ington during its deliberation. The Deseret 
 News volunteered the prediction at first that 
 the presence and labor of these brethren in 
 the halls of national legislation would amount 
 to no more than the barking of two diminu- 
 tive canines; but no sooner had the bill 
 become a law than all Utah reverberated 
 with the echoes of the News' bowlings. The 
 yosephites had done it all, and we were 
 politely informed in a couple of places that if 
 the Bishop would but advise it, the parties 
 addressing us were ready to shoot us like 
 dogs. We took it for granted that the Bishop 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 257 
 
 did not so advise, for we are still unslaugh- 
 tered. 
 
 We thought then and still think of the 
 Utah people as an honest but badly deceived 
 community. Their leaders have fed them on 
 false doctrines and bolstered them with false 
 hopes. The confidence they had in the pure 
 gospel which, when received in other lands,, 
 brought them the Spirit of assurance and ■ 
 peace, was taken advantage of by the leaders,, 
 who crowded themselves between the people 
 and the objects of their faith, until finally the 
 priest was made to appear larger than the 
 priesthood, and priesthood gave place to 
 priestcraft. God, Christ, the gospel, and 
 everything else were made to take on just 
 such form and complexion as criminals in 
 authority desired, in order to reach certain 
 ends. It was one of the most cruel impo- 
 sitions ever practiced upon a confiding and 
 honest people. To-day, after about forty 
 years of wandering (polygamy was first pub- 
 licly proclaimed in 1852) the masses of 
 deluded ones, who have been pointed to first 
 one false bait and then another, all for the 
 express purpose of preventing them from 
 going to God and being undeceived, are noti- 
 fied (by the abandonment of polygamy) that 
 they must go back and begin again just where 
 
258 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 the first falsehood was told them by the 
 manufacturers of the fraudulent theory. They 
 are mortified by the discovery that polyg- 
 amy's god cannot keep faith with them. His 
 luring was to dishonor and defeat, while their 
 leaders were the first to flee and leave the 
 dupes exposed when the inevitable calamity 
 came. 
 
 It was hard for a Josephite to convince the 
 people of it then, but they can now hear it in 
 the murmurings of every breeze. One point 
 we tried to impress upon the people was that, 
 in order for Jehovah to authorize or indorse 
 their theory, he must turn his back upon the 
 record he had made for himself for thousands 
 of years. On one occasion I found it neces- 
 sary to burn this thought in upon some 
 parties who were strongly advocating the 
 divinity of their nastiness, and it was done in 
 this wise: After securing their frank admis- 
 sions that up to 1843, whenever God had 
 clearly spoken on the subject of polygamy, he 
 had condemned it, I quoted the words of 
 Jacob from the Book of Mormon, where he 
 advises the polygamists to arise and "shake 
 themselves from the slumber of death and 
 loose themselves from the pains of hell, lest 
 they become angels to the devil and be cast 
 into that lake of fire and brimstone which is 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 259 
 
 the second death." With this evidence, 
 placed alongside of that from the Book of 
 Covenants and the examples in the days of 
 Adam, Noah, and Nephi, I maintained that 
 God was always on the monogamous side of 
 the controversy, and Satan on the polyga- 
 mous ; that Satan was interested for nearly 
 six thousand years in making angels to him- 
 self and peopling his lake of fire and brim- 
 stone, while God was equally in earnest in 
 warning people against being ensnared 
 thereby — until 1843. This was not denied. 
 
 I then remarked that while some men had 
 been known to go to the extreme of believing 
 that even Satan himself would at last be con- 
 verted and receive some kind of reward, it 
 had been reserved for Utah Mormonism to 
 project the astounding theory that after six 
 thousand years of unwavering opposition God 
 Almighty should face about and, without even 
 suggesting a compromise, should become a 
 convert to the Devil, and announce that 
 Satan's angel-making, hell-filling philosophy 
 was the only means of securing highest favors 
 at his divine hands. 
 
 To this I added that if the Brighamite idea 
 was correct, then Satan was the paramount 
 power and instead of our trying to be friends 
 with a God who could at last be converted 
 
260 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF 
 
 from his six thousand year record, we ought 
 to bow the knee at once to Beelzebub, who 
 was certain of final conquest. To avoid this 
 consistent conclusion I must necessarily reject 
 the premises which Brighamism furnished. 
 
 Brighamism, to-day, with its cargo of unful- 
 filled predictions, its freightage of blasted 
 hopes, interminable record of broken confi- 
 dence and the ruined faith of multiplied 
 thousands, who are now feeling among the 
 mazes of spiritualism and other forms of 
 atheism, like blind men seeking the wall; not- 
 withstanding its load of responsibility, too 
 heavy for human hefting or measurement, is 
 nearing the time of its most paralyzing 
 discovery. 
 
 It now sees through the mist, but the fog 
 is dissipating and when a clearer vision of 
 God dawns upon it ere long, it will behold 
 him as an antagonist, the hater of its prac- 
 tices, root and branch. The Utah ministers 
 say that the Jews will be astonished some day 
 over the discovery that the wounds in their 
 Messiah's body were received in the house of 
 his friends ; but I believe a greater surprise 
 awaits these very ministers. They have yet 
 to learn that Christ's body (church) received 
 its most cruel piercing at their own hands. 
 What must their consternation be, if they 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 261 
 
 have conscience left ! Then, perhaps, the 
 long-despised "Josephite" will be respected 
 and honored by the remnant which will be 
 saved from the ruins of apostate Zion. 
 
 The writer has never felt so great an inter- 
 est in any field as the one in Utah, and if 
 returns do not yet come from there, such as 
 shall show warrant for the labor, sacrifice, and 
 endurance exhibited by the Reorganization, 
 he will be most grievously disappointed. If 
 it was his will, I would that our heavenly 
 Father might send one final appeal through 
 his chosen prophet to the Utah people and 
 open the way that every ear might hear it ; 
 for I cherish dearly the thought that there are 
 still thousands there who have not yet 
 become permanently deaf to the Spirit's 
 entreaty. 
 
 One event is worth noting here: A young 
 sister, Florence Johnson, daughter of Sr. Rob- 
 inson of Salt Lake City, was suffering from 
 St. Anthony's dance, and could not feed her- 
 self in presence of others, because of inability 
 to control the muscles and joints of her arms 
 and hands. I was called upon to administer 
 to her and did so. She received the blessing 
 asked, and to this day has never been troubled 
 again with even the faintest visitation of that 
 distressing affliction. At the present time she 
 
262 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 resides in Colorado with her husband, to 
 whom she has since been married, and doubt- 
 less retains in happy memory, the above 
 occurence by which her kind heavenly Father 
 proved his love for a needy and supplicant 
 child. 
 
 While on this second mission to the valleys, 
 my health failed me for a time. The water in 
 many places was heavily charged with lime 
 and alkali, and I am of the opinion that my 
 suffering was largely attributable to a too liberal 
 use of it for drinking purposes. Of this I am 
 not certain, however. I have become fully 
 convinced that my habits of preaching have 
 been injurious and would prove hurtful in any 
 country. 
 
 To remain for an hour or more under such 
 heavy nerve tension as has characterized my 
 efforts, night after night, and suffer the loss of 
 sleep that is thus occasioned, and made worse 
 by changes from house to house and from 
 bed to bed, will, in a few years, wear out any 
 constitution as weak as mine. I have suffered 
 almost everywhere from it, and still I continue 
 the folly, to some degree, finding it hard to 
 preach, without giving liberty and latitude to 
 brain and nerve as occasion may excite. I 
 am wise enough in understanding the wrong; 
 but foolish enough to fail in applying the 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 263 
 
 remedy ; hence I must suffer while I remain, 
 and probably shorten my stay. 
 
 By the use of such remedies as were sug- 
 gested to me by my tender guardians, Bro. 
 and Sr. Hudson of Salt Lake City, Sr. Ster- 
 rett of Pleasant Grove, Sr. Gammon of Provo, 
 and others, I was in a short time relieved of 
 acute pain and enabled to continue opera- 
 tions till the fall of 1883, when I returned 
 home to Independence. There I found my 
 family well and remained for some time. 
 
 While at home I found it necessary to dis- 
 pose of the place I had secured, because of 
 the mortgage upon it, and with the amount 
 left to myself I made first payment upon 
 another place. This I also sold in a couple 
 of months, and so continued, each time mak- 
 ing a little, till I finally secured a home close 
 to town, though still under heavy mortgage. 
 These operations continued till August, 1884, 
 at which time I left home for Canada and 
 Michigan on a mission assigned me by the 
 conference of April, preceding. 
 
 While I made considerable money, sufficient 
 to have cleared my house from debt, had the 
 means been so applied, my little store was 
 drained by drafts from other sources, which, 
 though legitimate, left it impossible for me to 
 reach the goal I had aimed at so devoutly ; 
 
264 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 viz., a home free of debt. However, I could 
 no longer delay, so, leaving things as they 
 were, I started for my native country. 
 
 I must not fail to mention here that just 
 about a month before starting, another little 
 cherub came to our house and claimed per- 
 mission to stay. She was a little blue-6yed 
 tot, and her coming added to the attraction 
 of home and made the good-byes linger more 
 tremblingly on the lip, as I turned to go. We 
 had given her the name of Melissa Permelia, 
 and she really looked as if that was about all 
 the cognomen she could bear up under, but 
 with passing years she has gathered strength 
 and is now as rugged as the rest, and her 
 presence has helped to make the sorrow of 
 parting greater several times since that day. 
 
 I landed in Toronto, my old home city, on 
 the evening of August 17, just in time to wit- 
 ness the ceremony that united my youngest 
 sister. Mattie, in marriage to Mr. Thomas 
 Smellie, a contractor of that city and an excel- 
 lent man. Of course, it was a surprise all 
 round. I found present some of the wealthy 
 relatives of the family, who,' as I walked 
 before them,, expressed astonishment at the 
 change that had come over "little Joe." 
 They had scarcely noticed his development 
 while their prophecies of ill regarding him 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 265 
 
 had been melting, and still less were they pre- 
 pared for the amazing change that eight 
 years of gospel life and light had wrought in 
 him ; but how mother's eyes sparkled as she 
 witnessed the attitude her boy was enabled to 
 maintain before them when the conversation 
 turned upon the intervening years and the 
 influences at work which had silently wrought 
 the change so apparent. Well, we tried to 
 put the work on record and assign it the 
 credit. Whether the effort will result in a 
 showing for good or not, I know not, but shall 
 so hope. 
 
 Having but a couple of days at my dis- 
 posal, I hurried forward so as to assume my 
 share of the burdens of the mission. Bro. 
 John H. Lake was in charge and under his 
 direction I labored first, attending the dis- 
 trict conference at Alliston and following with 
 a series of meetings in the chapel there. The 
 town was all agog over the approaching elec- 
 tion which, by the acceptance or rejection of 
 the "Scott Act," was to go "wet" or "dry." 
 This gave me an opportunity to get our work 
 on record. By invitation, I spoke to a large 
 audience one evening in the public hall, occu- 
 pying the platform with Rev. G. Webber, a 
 Methodist minister, with whom I had been 
 acquainted formerly in Toronto. From 
 
266 AUTOBIQGEAPHY OF 
 
 thence I moved to Holstein, after having the 
 satisfaction of seeing the town go "dry." 
 
 Here I met with Bro. Willard J. Smith and 
 labored a short time in his company, continu- 
 ing my work in that neighborhood also after 
 his departure. From there I went to St. 
 Mary's where, as formerly stated, I occupied 
 the church just purchased by Bro. Robert 
 Brown. I continued services there, till find- 
 ing myself myself failing, I sent for Bro. 
 Arthur Leverton, who came promptly to my 
 help and did excellent service. 
 
 Three persons had already been baptized 
 whom we confirmed. Together we went 
 thence by sleigh to Carlingford and after- 
 wards through a blinding storm to the home 
 of Bro. George Brown, some twenty or more 
 miles further. At each place we held meeting 
 and then returned to St. Mary's, where we 
 continued laboring for a short time together. 
 Bro. Leverton is an able advocate and 
 defender of the faith, and gifted withal in the 
 open manifestations of the Spirit, and is just 
 such a companion and helper as makes mis- 
 sionary life enjoyable even under disadvan- 
 tages. His genial spirit and happy methods 
 are factors of value. He ought to be out 
 continually. The work is safe in his hands 
 while he maintains the integrity of grip on 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 267 
 
 right that has characterized him hitherto. 
 My labors thereafter took in Usborne, Lon- 
 don, XZorinth, and Toronto. 
 
 From thence I moved into Michigan and 
 preached in Lansing, Juniata, and Brown City. 
 Here I again met my old and tried friend and 
 brother, Robert Davis. I found him under a 
 cloud, however, and suffering intensely. Our 
 old and very intimate acquaintance with each 
 other caused me to make his trouble my inter- 
 est, and upon inquiry I learned from his lips 
 everything connected with his spiritual de- 
 cline. 
 
 I felt uncommonly sad; for from him had I 
 learned the first practical lessons in this work. 
 Together we had tramped the dusty roads 
 from town to town, sometimes as much as 
 thirty-two miles in a day, with our satchels 
 strung on sticks over our shoulders; together 
 we had turned into the timber scores of times 
 and poured forth the anxious longings of our 
 hearts into the ears of the God of Sabaoth, 
 and together we had endured the scorn and 
 derision, publicly and privately, of those who 
 delighted to make the gospel the target for 
 their abuse. A hundred times had the old 
 man advised and persuaded and reasoned 
 with me, as together we trudged along the 
 corduroy roads and swamp patches of Michi- 
 
268 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 gan. He had told me that some day I would 
 hold one of the first positions in the church, 
 and he was jealous of the record I should 
 make while on the way up. He was as a 
 father pointing out the slippery places and 
 fitting my feet to stand. Need I repeat, 
 reader, that I was sad to find him in trouble ? 
 His love for the work had not waned, nor his 
 anxiety to push it ahead, nor yet his willing- 
 ness to sacrifice ; but he had made a serious 
 mistake and was suffering the consequence. 
 I prayed with him, and told him he would be 
 restored in time and have time and- opportu- 
 nity to redeem his reputation, and that he 
 could count on all the help I could give. He 
 feared, but thank God, he has since had 
 opportunity and embraced it and is yet as 
 active as his enfeebled body will allow him to 
 be. He is waiting for the reaper and ready 
 for the garnering. God keep him till the 
 final hour! 
 
 While visiting Bro. Davis I also met with 
 Brn. John, Richard, Samuel, and Thomas 
 Hartnell .whom I had fellowshipped with in 
 Canada years before. They were in the lum- 
 bering and shingle mill business, and seemed 
 to be prospering. It was good to meet with 
 them again. 
 
 While on this trip, I made the run to Sagi- 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 269 
 
 naw City and called upon a couple of old 
 acquaintances, Mr. and Mrs. Ahrens. The 
 former was foreman of the cigar shop where 
 for a year and a half I had stemmed and 
 looked, and rolled and smoked tobacco, six- 
 teen years before, and I found him the pro- 
 prietor of a successful business, and very glad 
 to see and entertain me for sake of "auld lang 
 syne." 
 
 After this I returned home to Independ- 
 ence. It was now March, 1885, and the Gen- 
 eral Conference was to be held there in the 
 following month ; hence some preparation 
 was necessary. 
 
270 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 FROM EAST TO WEST. 
 
 I sit and gaze in that blue yonder, 
 
 Until my soul 
 Is filled with awe; and yet I wonder — 
 
 When Time unrolls 
 Its mystic page, and bids me trace, 
 
 Through all the years, 
 
 The lines I've written — if His grace 
 
 Will calm my fears. 
 
 Hewett. 
 
 My mission to Canada and Michigan was 
 not marked by many extraordinary events, 
 but I had seen the effect of the sowing done 
 years before and the splendid changes 
 wrought here and there along the line under 
 the faithful labors of the host of young men 
 whom God had raised up since the time of 
 my leaving there, five years before. 
 
 I had also seen some things that confirmed 
 the apprehensions felt by me at the time I was 
 led to covenant with God in 1878, of which I 
 have already written quite lengthily. Those 
 who had entered the church from pure love 
 of truth had been preserved, while those who 
 had been lured into it by a display of "signs" 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 271 
 
 had, some of them, gone to decay and were 
 worse than before they entered. They were 
 footballing the very things that they once 
 held out to me as being the undeniable evi- 
 dences of the work's divinity. 
 
 Some who had shot up like a rocket at first 
 and mourned over the snail gait and barren- 
 ness of spirit of others, had fizzled and 
 dropped out and disappeared, while the slow 
 traveling ones had gotten up sufficiently high 
 to admit of their light being seen over a 
 wider area, and the record behind them made 
 me happy in following them up. I found 
 some whose gospel experience of ten years 
 had not cost them half that many dollars for 
 tithes and freewill offerings, though they had 
 abundance, and I found them stereotypes as 
 to the letter of their former selves, but won- 
 dering how it was that others saw so "terrible 
 much good in tendin' meetin's and bearin' tes- 
 timonies." It was getting stale to them. 
 
 I found a few others who had private 
 grievances to settle or ideas to ventilate, and, 
 while ignoring the law ordained for such cases 
 nevertheless believed the church should stop 
 all its machinery, call in its forces, and hold 
 its breath till these matters were adjusted, 
 and that, too, in precise accord with the 
 notion of the individual who had the honor 
 
272 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF . 
 
 or misfortune to feel- pouty. They were 
 ready to explain to us the reason why the 
 church was not moving ahead. It was all 
 because their little matter was not settled, 
 and the church never would prosper till they 
 were acknowledged and the magnitude of 
 their individual wisdom and importance was 
 appreciated. Poor souls ! Their light had 
 well-nigh gone out and they did not know it. 
 The fact was that, while they were nursing 
 their darling grievances, the church was moving 
 ahead of them. They were not keeping up, 
 and as they were being outstripped they were 
 losing the fire, and life, and bliss of associa- 
 tion, and, like nearly all other poor demented 
 mortals, they considered that they were the 
 only sane persons on earth. The church was 
 all out of joint and' ready for the wrath of 
 heaven. There they sat like hounds at night, 
 barking at the moon, while the moon mean- 
 while kept moving along and flinging her 
 pale splendor over the earth, totally heedless 
 or ignorant of the pastime she was furnishing 
 the boisterous quadrupeds. Still the evidences 
 of growth and prosperity were as before 
 stated abundant. While a few had failed, 
 others had profited by their experiences and 
 it was clear that the work was advancing at 
 an encouraging pace. I left the mission, 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 273 
 
 hoping that the feeble efforts I had made 
 would prove a contribution in the right 
 direction. 
 
 The short time remaining between my 
 home-coming and the convening of General 
 Conference was occupied in works of prepara- 
 tion, so that I was again ready when missions 
 were assigned and it fell to my lot to go tO' 
 Utah once more. Bro. Joseph Smith had 
 made arrangements to go, also, and Bro. 
 Alexander H. Smith was appointed to Cali- 
 fornia. Inside of two months we were on the 
 way to our fields. Bro. A. H. Smith was 
 then residing at Independence. Together we 
 started and met Bro. Joseph at Council Bluffs, 
 from whence we moved westward, a jolly trio, 
 notwithstanding we were feeling mellow over 
 leaving home and the dear ones behind. 
 
 The journey was an unusually pleasant one 
 to me. It could not well be otherwise consid- 
 ering the company I was in. We were met 
 at the depot in Salt Lake City by Bro. R. J. 
 Anthony, who escorted us to the prayer 
 meeting which was in session. There we 
 separated, each going on invitation to differ- 
 ent places for the night and to make homes 
 during our stay. My lot fell, fortunately, 
 with my old guardians, Bro. and Sr. Joseph 
 O. Clark, and with them I found rest, com- 
 
 18 
 
274 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 fort, and more, as the following pages will show. 
 
 Bro. Alexander remained several days in 
 the city, preaching and visiting, before leav- 
 ing for California. The Walker Opera 
 House was secured soon, and Bro. Joseph 
 occupied it several times, addressing large 
 audiences, also interchangeably with the 
 writer in the little chapel. 
 
 It was then arranged that together we 
 should make a tour of such parts of the mis- 
 sion as might be opened before us and as 
 we might be directed to enter. Our jour- 
 neying, preaching, and visiting included all 
 the places reached by me on my former mis- 
 sion to this field and Soda Springs, Idaho, in 
 addition, besides Deer Lodge, Reese Creek, 
 Willow Creek, Bozeman, Butte, Anaconda, 
 and other points in Montana. 
 
 Our longest stay at one place was made at 
 the home of Bro. and Sr. Thomas Reese of 
 Reese Creek, where we helped pitch oats and 
 wheat with the harvesters for sake of exercise, 
 and where we found time to take a day's out- 
 ing to fish in a branch of the Madison River 
 above the point where it joins its fellow 
 branch and moves on to catch the flood of 
 the Jefferson and Garrison and form the 
 "mighty Missouri" which rushes madly on to 
 the sea. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 275 
 
 During this portion of our trip, my health 
 improved and my weight increased about 
 fifteen pounds. I was availing myself of the 
 excellent model I was traveling with and was 
 rounding out in the most approved style. 
 The kindness of Bro. and Sr. Reese will never \ 
 be forgotten though it may never be repaid 
 by the writer in this life. At every point we 
 were well received by the brethren and sisters 
 and our needs anticipated and amply sup- 
 plied. 
 
 It would be impossible to detail the pleas- 
 urable scenes and resorts we were permitted 
 to visit or witness. The hot springs, gold 
 and silver mines, mountains of pictured rocks, 
 boiling springs, extinct craters, sulphur lake 
 and beds, formation springs, and Swan Lake 
 are a part. We climbed mountains, gathered 
 arrowheads and obsidian chips of varying 
 shades, hunted for moss agates and plucked and 
 pressed the juniper berries from the trees that 
 grew on the summit of mountains which made 
 us dizzy to climb. I also peeled some small 
 varieties of the cactus plant from the rough 
 rocks that crowned the tips of those "everlast- 
 ing hills," and sent them home by express, 
 but I afterwards learned that they died. The 
 transfer from a cold barren rock in Montana, 
 eight thousand or more feet above the sea 
 
276 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 level, to the moist, rich, warm soil of Missouri, 
 was a death blow to my prickly treasures. 
 
 On one occasion I lay face downward, upon 
 a fiat rock that crowned the very summit of 
 Ensign Peak, near Salt Lake City, and went 
 into rhapsodies over writing a letter home. 1 
 had puffed and perspired and braced myself 
 and held my hand over my thumping heart 
 more than a score of times while ascending to 
 that eminence. I looked down upon the little 
 speck of a valley below, which, from that 
 exceeding' height, had the appearance of a 
 market garden, sniffed the cool air, watched 
 the floating clouds and received happy 
 responses to my appeal for inspiration front 
 every source, all of which was crowded into 
 that letter. It was so novel, so inspiring, so 
 majestic ! After carefully sealing the letter 
 and carrying it down from the cloud-bathed 
 region where its inspiration found birth, I 
 adorned the envelope with chromos sufficient 
 to satisfy Uncle Samuel's demand for tribute 
 and committed it to the tender care of his 
 mail transmitters. It was addressed to my 
 gentler half in Missouri, but it never reached 
 her. Whether or not inspiration obtained at 
 such cost and condensed to such narrow quar- 
 ters and under such inflexible seal as was that 
 could not endure through a three-days' transit 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 277 
 
 or not, I will not attempt to discuss. It may 
 have exploded and returned to original condi- 
 tions, carrying its appendages with it to rest 
 among the juniper brush. 
 
 I have thought of it and my precious cactus 
 plants more than once since and wondered if 
 they were the only things I had toi]ed and 
 sweated to procure, and after getting, had 
 received only my trouble for my reward. I 
 wish they were; but they were not. I could 
 remember having stayed up nights and read, 
 and studied, and written, and revised, to get a 
 sermon in just such shape as would make it a 
 "powerful awakener," among my brethren of 
 the church I was once in. I could remember 
 learning it all off by heart and entering the 
 pulpit for its delivery, only to find it fall flat 
 as a circumstance and be pronounced "insipid" 
 and "tame," by the very ones I had calculated 
 to entertain. I could remember having stayed 
 about home for a year or more, determined to 
 make a herculean effort for absolute freedom 
 from home debt, and had gathered all the 
 elements around me for final adjustment when, 
 just as I was about to wipe out the last, rem- 
 nant of the annoying incumbrance, an unex- 
 pected call or appeal would be made upon me 
 and I would suddenly be emptied of all I had 
 accumulated and left to either repeat the folly 
 
278 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 or go out as I was and trust in God for neces- 
 sary relief. 
 
 I had seen men wait to pay their tithing till 
 they had straightened out this, and regulated 
 that, and paid everybody else, and gotten 
 business and property into just such a shape 
 as to make the matter easy for them. They 
 had toiled and planned to that end, and, just 
 as they were on the verge of realization, with 
 hand stretched out to grasp the coveted prize, 
 a business depression and money panic swept 
 the country, and they were ingulfed and left 
 almost without bread. That is not all, but it 
 is sufficient from my cactus and letter text. 
 
 While in Utah Bro. Joseph and myself 
 were witnesses of that most idiotic move on 
 the part of the Utah Church authorities, in 
 half-masting the national flag on July 4. 
 Over the City Hall and Co-operative Store 
 and other buildings of note the flag floated as 
 if in distress over our national independence 
 and glory. To the Utah Church it was a 
 time of sadness, for their institution was crum- 
 bling under the fast falling blows of the repub- 
 lic, which God had brought Into existence and 
 preserved for the protection of human liberty 
 and religious freedom. Their leaders were in 
 hiding because of crime. It was a time of dis- 
 appointment and chagrin, but they had 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 279 
 
 invited it all by just such foolhardy proceed- 
 ings in the past, and this unfortunate circum- 
 stance was but an addition to the long list 
 that had placed them in an attitude of defi- 
 ance to the very government God raised up 
 for the protection of his work on earth. The 
 city was in an uproar. The governor and 
 others appeared upon the scene, and old sol- 
 diers, some of whom had fought as rebels 
 against the Union, moved towards the mast 
 to raise the emblem of freedom higher. This 
 was prevented, and it was feared for a time 
 that blood would flow. The governor ordered 
 the militia in readiness, and one overt act in- 
 volving blood would have precipitated a colli- 
 sion, the end of which could not be easily 
 surmised. It was expected that the city would 
 be placed under martial law; but the neces- 
 sity for this was averted by the governor 
 ordering the flag either up or down entirely. 
 Then was made apparent the spirit of the 
 movement. The flag was lowered and taken 
 away. We stood close by during the agita- 
 tion at the City Hall, and wondered whether 
 that scene did not truly illustrate the apostasy 
 of Israel. We thought of how that flag would 
 be waving in Lamoni and Independence and 
 Kirtland where the church existed doctrinally 
 just as it did when God placed it under the 
 
280 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 protection of that emblem of liberty and 
 human rights. By some means the news 
 reached the hidden authorities, and at their 
 instigation an attempt was made to correct 
 the unfortunate mistake, by bringing out the 
 flag and sending it to the masthead before the 
 sun went down. An indignation meeting was 
 held in the Methodist church at night where 
 a large crowd assembled and was addressed 
 by Governor E. H. Murray and several 
 others, including President Joseph Smith. 
 
 The visit of Bro. Joseph to Utah at that 
 time was opportune. Everywhere people 
 turned out to hear the son of the Prophet, 
 and on every occasion they learned from his 
 lips that which proved his loyalty to primitive 
 Mormonism. At Provo, we were visited by 
 persons who knew his father, had wrestled 
 with him, and one man had had his leg broken 
 while thus exercising in Nauvoo. He "knew" 
 all about it, and came to instruct the "son of 
 his father" about those important things, of 
 which he supposed Joseph to be so ignorant. 
 I don't know by what sort of a flank move 
 "Old Joseph" so easily broke the wrestler's 
 leg, but it was more than amusing to witness 
 the encounter between "Young Joseph" and 
 him, and to see with what ease and grace 
 Bro. Joseph tilted his theory and broke his — 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 281 
 
 confidence. It would be interesting to know 
 whether the texture of his leg, forty-five years 
 before, was no stouter than that of his theory 
 when he came to "wrestle" with "Young 
 Joseph." The martyr's credit as a wrestler 
 might be affected by a knowledge of the facts. 
 
 While in Salt Lake City we were visited 
 several times by Apostle John Henry Smith, 
 the only one who either cared or dared to 
 recognize the official standing and presence 
 of our "leader." He was pleasant, sociable, 
 and open in his movements, and acted the 
 part of a relative, and a man as fully as his 
 environments would allow. Bishops Murdock 
 of Beaver and Peterson of Ephraim were con- 
 siderate, the former remarkably so. An 
 interview was also had with Apostle Franklin 
 D. Richards, while at Soda Springs, Idaho. 
 In all such meetings, our work had as full 
 representation as occasion justified. 
 
 In our preaching services we occupied 
 alternately, except in rare cases where wisdom 
 seemed to direct a variation from this rule. 
 After six or seven months spent in traveling 
 together we returned to Salt Lake City, from 
 whence Bro. Joseph went on a short trip to 
 Ogden, accompanied by Bro. Anthony. They 
 returned about the latter part of December, 
 and then started together for the East, leav- 
 
282 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Ing behind them one of the most lonesome 
 mortals that ever occupied territory. It had 
 been the happiest misson of my life; I had 
 learned and profited much, and had been 
 favored with opportunities such as but few in 
 the church shared, and now I was left entirely 
 alone. 
 
 About three months before they left I had 
 purchased the Saints Advocate from Pres. W. 
 W. Blair and was editing it. Rev. M. T. 
 Lamb had issued his first pamphlet against 
 the Book of Mormon, and 1 was busy gather- 
 ing notes for a work I intended to publish in 
 reply. I traveled constantly, preaching nearly 
 every night and twice on Sundays. My 
 labors extended back into Idaho, and in 
 Malad, Samaria, and Oxford I baptized several, 
 thence to Ogden, where my efforts to secure 
 a hearing failed, thence to Plain City and 
 later to points between Ogden and Salt Lake 
 City. I was also arranging for a semiannual 
 conference of the mission to beheld in March, 
 which necessitated the securing of reduced 
 rates on the various railroads. My mail cor- 
 respondence increased after the brethren left 
 me, and to meet all these demands every 
 nerve was being taxed to the utmost, till, with- 
 out any particular warning, I suddenly broke 
 down, and my work was stopped. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 283 
 
 While sitting in the house of Sr. P. Ster- 
 rett, at Pleasant Grove, writing, I felt my 
 brain grow tired. I was preparing an article 
 for the Advocate. Night came on and a lamp 
 was furnished me. I continued writing and 
 looking up items, when suddenly I noticed 
 the material receding from before me. Look- 
 ing up, I found myself unable to retain my 
 vision of any person or object. Thinking it 
 was, probably, a local derangement of the 
 liver or stomach, I moved out into the yard 
 to get the air, but had to feel my way back. 
 
 All that the kind heart or brain of Sr. 
 Sterrett could suggest was done for me, but 
 everything seemed so unreal around me, and 
 after exhausting all our skill in trying to tide 
 over the spell, I retired to bed, when, for the 
 first time in a number of years, my head 
 began to ache and ached almost to distrac- 
 tion. I prayed for relief but it did not come. 
 Alcohol with all the camphor it would absorb 
 was applied, and after peeling the skin from 
 my entire forehead, the pain relaxed. 
 
 My Sunday appointments were canceled, 
 for I was not able to fill them. By Monday I 
 felt much better and left for Salt Lake City ; 
 but on the following day, while trying to 
 write a letter, the old symptoms came back, 
 and I hastened to my home at Sr. Clark's, 
 
284 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 where for six weeks I remained an invalid 
 under treatment. My brain had lost its elas- 
 ticity, and refused almost entirely to operate. 
 
 The conference I had appointed convened, 
 and friends from everywhere came to see me, 
 but the sight of their faces almost distracted 
 me at times. I could not call their names to 
 mind, and they were not allowed to speak to 
 me. 
 
 My brain and spine were partially para- 
 lyzed, and physicians declared that I had 
 been studying too hard and too long in one 
 direction and must rest from all mental effort. 
 One went so far as to say I must quit the 
 ministry forever, if I recovered. Beef was 
 recommended, but I refused to eat it, under 
 my old covenant, preferring to die rather than 
 to break it. 
 
 I shall never forget it. To think was tor- 
 turing ; but to try to stop thinking was worse. 
 A thousand and more miles from home and, 
 to all appearances, dying, or, what was worse, 
 losing my mental balance, the visions of 
 asylums and hearses and caskets that con- 
 stantly floated before my mind and the worry 
 over wife and children and home debts were 
 simply indescribable. Nearly four weeks 
 passed without sleep, and the date for going 
 home came and I went. I was administered 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 28& 
 
 to several times but received no perceptible 
 benefit. Then came the words of the revela- 
 tion sent me years before: "Other manifesta- 
 tions are withheld from him that he may be 
 tried and sanctified," and I concluded that 
 there was no restoration for me through such 
 means. I dared not try to check a thought 
 that came. It had to take its course and float 
 along. Along the current came the words I 
 had heard in 1877 about yet entering the 
 Quorum of the Twelve and the promise in 
 the other revelation ; but I did not know the 
 source of that voice I had heard, and I had 
 no power to reason. 
 
 Thus the weary weeks went by, Sr. Clark 
 and her daughters, Clara and Vilate (the 
 former now Mrs. George Frick and the latter 
 Mrs. Harry Hattey of Independence, Mis- 
 souri) waited on me and tenderly cared for 
 me day and night, anticipating my every look 
 or gesture, and when I gradually gathered 
 strength to get on my feet, they supported 
 me from room to room and made all my sur- 
 roundings as comfortable as though I had 
 been at my home. 
 
 Sr. Warnock sent me her buggy, in which 
 I was placed and propped with pillows, but 
 the motion of the buggy hurt my spine and 
 confused my brain. Ohl how I longed to be 
 
286 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OP 
 
 home, if it were only to die there in the midst 
 of my family. 
 
 One evening, a week or two after I had 
 gained suffcient strength to rise and move 
 about, I knelt and asked God to give me 
 sleep, and to let his angels watch me, so that 
 I might have sufficient strength to get to the 
 train and start for home. I prayed about as 
 fervently as ever in my life, then disrobed 
 and got into bed. The next thing I remem- 
 bered was that it was daybreak and time to 
 rise. 
 
 I rose and dressed and then entered the 
 dining room where I found Bro. Clark. He 
 told me that it had required all his will power 
 to restrain him from shouting to me about 
 twenty minutes after I retired the night 
 before. He further said, in explanation, that, 
 though my room door was closed and he was 
 in the next room, he saw me lying upon the 
 bed sound asleep. Beside my head stood an 
 angel with one hand a little above my head 
 and the other in constant motion, as if mov- 
 ing back authoritatively some person or 
 persons. Looking in the direction indicated 
 by the looks and movements of the angel, he 
 saw no one; but the personage was evidently 
 there to guard me while sleeping, and to ward 
 off some power or personage of evil. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 287 
 
 When he related this clear open vision, 
 which he saw while wide awake, I remembered 
 my prayer and took this as its answer. The 
 buggy was sent from Sr. Warnock's and I was 
 taken to the depot in it. Sr. Clara Clark 
 agreed to accompany me home, as she wished 
 to visit her brother in Omaha, so I started 
 from Salt Lake City on the morning of April 
 4, 1886, and reached home safely on the even- 
 ing of the 6th, having been delayed some 
 eight hours in Denver. 
 
 Upon my arrival my strength gave out and 
 it was some time before I recovered suf- 
 ficiently to collect myself and connect objects 
 and persons around me. 
 
 Conference had just convened at Lamoni, 
 and how I longed to go, but it was impossi- 
 ble. Gradually I recovered after being 
 administered to by Brn. F. G. Pitt and Ems- 
 ley Curtis, and in the course of a couple of 
 months, I began to feel safe in stirring 
 about and talking on subjects involving 
 thought. 
 
 After arriving home and resti.ng a week or 
 two I read the first letter I had dared to open 
 for two months. It was from Bro. Joseph and 
 contained words of cheer and promise of 
 health apace. 
 
 During the year, Bro. Ells, of the Twelve, 
 
288 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 had died, and at the conference just closed, 
 Brn. J. W. Briggs and Z. H. Gurley had with- 
 drawn from the church. Thus three vacan- 
 cies had been made certain in the quorum. 
 
 While lying upon the bed one morning, 
 these things came before my mind, and also a 
 prediction made by Bro. Clark some months 
 before, and rising from my recumbent posture 
 I was led to remark to my wife that Satan 
 had hindered me from attending the confer- 
 ence at Lamoni, for which we had calculated 
 so long, but I should attend the Kirtland con- 
 ference next April and while there I should 
 be made an apostle. 
 
 Hardly had the wprds escaped my lips, 
 however, before I wished they had not been 
 uttered. It was simply an impulse to speak 
 and I had spoken. 1 thought to remove the 
 idea from my wife's -mind; but decided that 
 any effort in that direction would but 
 strengthen her memory of it. I was sorry, 
 but could not well change it. I had not a 
 reason to assign for the rash utterance, and' 
 my mental and physical condition were 
 against the presumption it involved. I knew,, 
 however, it would never be repeated by her, 
 and so let it go, hoping she would forget it. 
 
 As soon as able I began to turn things 
 about to provide for home and family, and to- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 289 
 
 improve the appearance of the grounds about 
 our house. This furnished me plenty of 
 employment for a long time and left my 
 brain in a restful condition; but calls for 
 preaching came in so pressingly that it 
 seemed impossible to remain idle, hence the 
 year's labor was pretty evenly divided be- 
 tween spiritual and temporal concerns. 
 
 By this time the Independence branch had 
 about outgrown its chapel accommodation, 
 and a movement was set on foot to provide 
 more commodious quarters. A committee 
 was appointed, of which I was made chair- 
 man, whose business it was to look up a loca- 
 tion and report upon the advisability of 
 moving towards a purchase and the erection 
 of a building. 
 
 The committee found a suitable location 
 immediately opposite the Temple Lot, and 
 were offered a lot by Bro. Daniel S. Bowen, 
 upon condition that a building be commenced 
 thereupon within a year. 
 
 This offer was accepted and the deed 
 secured. The committee reported its labor 
 and recommended the construction of a house 
 of considerable size. The report was adopted 
 and a committee appointed to carry our sug- 
 gestions into effect. Of this new committee I 
 was made a member and chairman, and with 
 
 19 
 
290 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 this matter on hand found enough work to 
 engage all my time and a great deal more than 
 was wise for me to assume while in such con- 
 dition. The main part of the burden of rais- 
 ing money for a time fell upon me, and I set 
 about laying plans to that end. 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 291 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 NOTES BY THE WAY.— PROMOTION. 
 
 "What God decrees, child of his love, 
 Take patiently, though it may prove 
 The storm that wrecks thy treasure here; 
 Be comforted ! Thou needst not fear 
 What pleases God." 
 
 "I like the man. who faces what he must 
 With step triumphant and a heart of cheer; 
 Who fights the daily battle without fear, 
 Sees his hopes fail, yet keeps unfaltering trust 
 That God is God; that somehow, true and just, 
 His plans work out for mortals. " 
 
 After the manner described in the fore- 
 going chapter I busied myself till the year 
 had worn away and the time for holding Gen- 
 eral Conference had again rolled round. The 
 building committee had authorized me to go 
 to Kirtland and solicit aid for our new house 
 of worship. 
 
 Just before leaving home my wife asked me 
 if I remembered the statement I had made 
 one year before about going to Kirtland and 
 being promoted in the priesthood. I had 
 hoped she had forgotten it. But out it came, 
 and I tried to excuse the reckless statement 
 
292 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 by referring to the condition I was in at the 
 time of uttering it. She feigned an accept- 
 ance of the explanation, and soon I was 
 on the way East. Some power seemed to be 
 at work to prevent my getting even to that 
 conference, for the evening I left home my 
 oldest child fell from a high swing and lay 
 unconscious for some time, then recovered 
 only partially. The impulse was to telegraph 
 for me to come back, and so the neighbors 
 advised; but my wife's faith prevented this 
 break upon my journeying, and secured my 
 boy's recovery also. 
 
 To attend a conference within the walls of 
 the old Temple was a privilege indeed to me 
 and I enjoyed it immensely. The Master 
 was there, and his presence was felt to a gra- 
 cious degree. In answer to the prayers and 
 fasting of the Saints our heavenly Father 
 made known his will concerning several mat- 
 ters and four of the brethren were called to- 
 the office of an apostle, James W. Gillen, 
 Heman C. Smith, Gomer T. Griffiths, and 
 myself. 
 
 After action upon the revelation by the 
 quorums in regular order and then by the 
 assembled body, we were called upon to 
 express our feelings in regard to accepting 
 the office. To me it was a serious moment 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 293 
 
 and all I could do was to tell of the evidences 
 already referred to in this Hfe-sketch and then 
 commit myself to the will of the body. This 
 was done and no claim was made by me as 
 to the divinity of those testimonies — that 
 was left for the conference to decide upon 
 after hearing them. By unanimous vote the 
 revelation was indorsed and the ordinations 
 ordered. Elder Heman C. Smith was not 
 present ; but the other three were set apart 
 on the following day and began at once to 
 participate in the quorum sessions and share 
 the responsibilities attendant upon this sacred 
 and important office. 
 
 Thus ended for me the peculiar pleasure of 
 attending General Conference. Thenceforth 
 it was to be work, work, work, but how con- 
 soling to know the work was for God. Were 
 it not for this one fact I would not have held 
 the office more than a year, for our very first 
 action in preparing an epistle placed us under 
 suspicion with many, and though it was the 
 result of much prayer, deliberation, and ear- 
 nest effort, yet it was made to take on features 
 of intention that were never dreamed of by 
 those preparing it. 
 
 This suspicion was limited to a few, I have 
 reasons to believe, but whether or not; it mat- 
 tered but little — our responsibility was to 
 
294 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 God who had assigned us the place, and with 
 him and the day of final accounts in view, I 
 had performed my humble part therein. I 
 had been in so-called solemn gatherings in 
 other societies, and had associated for eleven 
 years with Saints locally and generally — in 
 public and private ; but never in my life had 
 I mingled with a body of men who seemed so 
 absolutely free from a disposition to coerce or 
 persuade one another. I thank God that my 
 knowledge of those brethren authorizes the 
 statement that never have I met a more inde- 
 pendent, sincere, God-fearing, and noble- 
 minded company of men. Like myself, they 
 may fail and fall, but until I see in them the 
 reverse of what they have yet displayed, I 
 shall never believe them capable of any quo- 
 rum action with sinister design. The reader 
 will please pardon this voluntary defense of 
 self and associates; but I have believed my 
 brethren entitled to it. 
 
 Before the close of the conference I was 
 administered to by Brn. Joseph Smith, W. 
 W. Blair, and J. H. Lake, and my health 
 improved quite perceptibly thereafter. 
 
 Two years before this my mother and step- 
 father had moved from Canada to Detroit, 
 where the had engaged in business. Failing 
 to accomplish his ends, he had moved thence 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUPP. 295 
 
 to Chicago. Worn out in body and broken 
 spirited, mother had remained behind. She 
 was just beginning to learn what I had known 
 for years in regard to her husband. He was 
 utterly unreliable as a business man and 
 unworthy the confidence of a heart as true as 
 hers, 
 
 Leaving Kirtland, I went at once to Detroit, 
 where my worst fears regarding her were 
 realized. Upon her face were the unmistaka- 
 ble marks of care and sadness. Her hair was 
 silvering fast, and as I met her at the gate of 
 her residence, I scarcely knew her for a 
 moment. She had not written me all, but I 
 read it in a moment when I looked into her 
 face. For some months she had lived there 
 with my half-brother, the only living child of 
 her second marriage, earning her own bread, 
 while her husband revelled amid the gratifica- 
 tions offered in a distant city. More I shall 
 not add. Let God reveal it in the end 
 and be as merciful as he can to the man whose 
 perfidy has crushed as true a heart as ever 
 throbbed within the human breast. 
 
 After some persuasion, mother consented to 
 move with me to Independence, Missouri, so 
 we packed up her goods and started thither, 
 accompanied by my half-brother. They 
 remained with us over a year, during which 
 
296 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 time I baptized tiiem both. Not feeling at 
 home in so small a place as Independence, 
 after spending her entire life in a large city, 
 and being unaccustomed to the ways of west- 
 ern people, she decided to return to Toronto, 
 where she has remained till the present, and 
 where I visited her while on my way to the 
 Eastern mission in the fall of 1890, and on my 
 return in 1891. 
 
 From that time (1887) till the conference 
 of 1890, held at Lamoni, my mission was 
 Missouri and Kansas. Local matters, such as 
 have already been referred to, prevented much 
 travel on my part. I sought, however, to get 
 everything of a temporal character into such 
 shape as to admit of permanent service abroad' 
 when once I could leave. 
 
 My health varied much during this time. 
 At times it seemed that my hope of final 
 recovery was vain. My nervous system 
 seemed almost shattered, and it was only with 
 considerable effort that I plodded along, 
 helped by the prayer and faith of kind Saints. 
 I engaged in the publishing business with the 
 idea that the arrangements would admit of 
 my leaving at any time when the church so 
 advised. Some changes took place later that 
 made this difficult and I found myself ham- 
 pered more than ever. It seemed impossible 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 297 
 
 to get free. I was impressed on one occasion 
 that when the time of necessity for departure 
 came the way would open and I should see 
 the Lord's hand in it. This gave me a degree 
 of comfort and made me more patient. 
 
 At the Lamoni conference referred to, 
 without any suggestion or request from me, I 
 was relieved of the special burden I had been 
 bearing in connection with others of the 
 branch building committee, by the Bishopric 
 being authorized to take hold and direct or 
 oversee. 
 
 When asked by the First Presidency as to 
 my preference of field for labor I refused to 
 express any. Wherever they appointed I 
 would go, for I had finally reached the con- 
 clusion that my duty was to move out, and I 
 was determined to do it, if I lost everything 
 in the effort. Now that the church burden 
 was lifted I was ready for any sacrifice of a 
 personal kind in order to honor my calling. 
 The Eastern mission was named for me, and 
 after conference had closed I returned home 
 to dispose of everything that hindered me 
 and prepare for the ministry service forever, 
 wherever it might be appointed. 
 
 It took me some months to accomplish this, 
 and even then the loss entailed made it 
 impossible for me to go forth free from 
 
298 V AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 property incumbrance. However, I resolved 
 to go, and let all waste away if it must. I 
 would trust God and never again leave the 
 ministry on account of those things, unless he 
 commanded me to do so. Thus I left home 
 September 29, 1890, for Boston, Massa- 
 chusetts. 
 
 On the iith of March, 1887, I had been, 
 invested with additional responsibility and 
 honor by the arrival of a brand new boy upon 
 whom we fastened the name of Alma Clark 
 in addition to the parental surname to be 
 carried by him while he remains mortal. This 
 was a circumstance of special interest, or at 
 least the writer thought so at the time, and 
 the little fellow has tried his best to empha- 
 size the idea ever since. He seems to feel 
 under perpetual obligation to furnish the 
 house with abundant music and sensation, 
 without consultation as to class or volume. 
 Granted the correctness of his conviction in 
 this regard and he has been faithful in a 
 phenomenal sense, as all who visit there can 
 readily attest. More could not reasonably 
 be required of him. May he live to as faith- 
 fully fill the sphere unto which our hearts' 
 love has consecrated him for the future. 
 
 During the three years just referred to, the 
 Independence branch continued to grow, under 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 299 
 
 the presidency (for the most part) of Elder 
 (now High Priest) Frederick G. Pitt, whom 
 the Lord had, a few years before, wisely and 
 kindly directed to move and settle there. 
 While I believe that many men are qualified 
 for offices as presidents, I believe that this 
 brother was specially qualified and had been 
 disciplined peculiarly, till he developed into 
 the very man for the place, and God took 
 him put of Illinois and dropped him in Inde- 
 pendence at the right time to do the work for 
 which he had been thus equipped. 
 
 Those who have not lived there do not 
 know" it, perhaps, but almost every species of 
 biped that has ever been brought into direct 
 or other contact with any phase of Latter 
 Day Saintism, has had its eye on that city 
 and through some kind of representative' or 
 another has made itself felt, sometimes inside 
 and sometimes outside the branch member- 
 ship. 
 
 To keep a cool head, maintain a steady 
 hand, and carry a tender heart throughout all 
 the attending "seances" required considerable 
 wisdom and grit in the presiding officer. 
 
 The membership had increased beyond the 
 five hundred mark (now seven hundred and 
 fifty) and, like all other large branches, it had 
 elements within it that needed directing, and 
 
300 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 those needing it most \yere generally least 
 willing to acknowledge the fact or consent to 
 the process. 
 
 The writer has frequently been "called to 
 answer" to the charge of some irate individual 
 for preaching things which trespassed upon 
 the sacred territory of his practices or meth- 
 ods. Oh, how they would kick! We have 
 sympathized with their devoted feet on a 
 number of occasions; but reward and recom- 
 pense came in witnessing the improvement 
 among even these as time passed along. 
 
 The slovenly ones learned that it was pos- 
 sible to be clean without being "tony," and 
 the haughty learned that it was possible to be 
 humble without being low-minded. One 
 learned that it was possible to be of soft 
 speech without being insipid and another 
 learned that it was possible to be frank and 
 candid without being impudent and boister- 
 ous. A few learned that it was quite possible 
 to find a true friend in one who differed most 
 widely from them in judgment, and others 
 found that a man's motive might be as good 
 as gold while some of his acts were questiona- 
 ble. Some found that there were Saints not 
 up or abreast \yith themselves in the intellec- 
 tual or moral scale, who, nevertheless, had 
 traveled farther than they themselves had 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 301 
 
 since startin'g out, and were to that degree 
 better illustrations of gospel potency and 
 virtue than were they. Some learned that 
 just as one man possessed the faculty by 
 which he could make a dime go farther than 
 another could a quarter, so in spiritual expe- 
 rience, God gave less to one than another in 
 the way of open manifestation, because he 
 already possessed a faculty to enlarge upon 
 and utilize, and that faculty required develop- 
 ment, while others, destitute of the quality 
 referred to were oftener visited, and "more 
 abundant honor was bestowed upon that part 
 which lacked." 
 
 Many learned that an abundant display of 
 open manifestations in certain persons was 
 not so much a certificate of God's approval 
 of their course as an evidence of their ina- 
 bility to endure without them. It was a dona- 
 tion to meet a necessity rather than a reward 
 of merit. Sometimes we give a man a dollar 
 because he has earned and deserved it. At 
 other times we have given a dollar to a beg- 
 gar because he badly needed it, regardless of 
 his actual past deservings. So, I believe, 
 God frequently does with Saints. 
 
 Some people grew wealthy outside the 
 church while others, with the same income 
 
302 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF 
 
 and no larger family remained poor. The 
 poor ones became jealous and talked about 
 their "stylish neighbors," who owned a horse 
 and thumped a piano. Our good Saints 
 thought this was wrong in the "naughty Gen- 
 tiles," for the wealthy ones, they said, had se- 
 cured their competency by economy, sacrifice, 
 and abstinence from many indulgences the 
 others were not willing to forego. Yet when 
 these good brethren and sisters saw a choir 
 of good singers making heavenly melody as 
 they blended their trained voices with the 
 eloquent strains of an instrument deftly 
 swept by educated and skilled fingers they 
 pronounced it "highfalutin'," and looking 
 through green eyes upon such work they pro- 
 nounced it a "bilious business," too rich for 
 saintly blood. 
 
 Others looked upon, some who had started 
 with them from the same strata of intellectual- 
 ity and morals; but who had outstripped them 
 in the race, until the tallow candles of former 
 days were now gas jets or incandescent lights 
 or even arc illuminators in the church and to 
 the world, while they themselves remained 
 just where they had sat down and folded their 
 arms when the gospel light first touched 
 them. They sat there, whining about the 
 "importance" and the "swell airs" of the 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 303 
 
 brethren or sisters who had heeded the coun- 
 sel to "come up higher." 
 
 If one of those luminaries when preaching 
 or writing happened to flash a ray of gospel 
 brilliance over the spot where the complainer 
 sat and expose the mustiness of stagnation, it 
 would bring out a reply that was intended as 
 no compliment to the fellow who was parad- 
 ing his "smartness" and swinging his lantern. 
 
 A little girl was once sweeping the floor of 
 a room into which the sunlight was streaming 
 through a large window, and on looking up 
 sl'^e noticed that within the space where the 
 streak of light crossed the room the dust was 
 floating thickly. Going over to the window 
 she drew the blinds down and darkened the 
 room. When asked why she had done this, 
 she answered that she wanted to exclude the 
 sunlight because it made the room so dirty. 
 She did not think that the dust was already 
 filling the air, and that the sun's rays only 
 revealed it more clearly. So the stagnant 
 one who complains at the success, triumph, 
 and ability of another, whose efforts have 
 raised the blinds and let in the light upon 
 conditions already existing, tries to have the 
 blind drawn and the Spirit shut out, because 
 the light when let in "makes the room dirty." 
 They forget that the distance between those 
 
304 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 whom they criticise and themselves in spir- 
 itual force and influence like that between 
 their wealthy and poor neighbors, whom they 
 have passed judgment upon, is but the meas- 
 ure of sacrifice, devotion, diligence, endurance, 
 patience, and charity in the advanced ones. 
 By dint of these all may climb, if they will, at 
 least to that eminence where jealousy cannot 
 live; to that point where delight is felt in 
 lending a shoulder to help another go where 
 we cannot yet climb; that point where Christ 
 is esteemed as the one character resplendent 
 with perfect light and glory and all brethren 
 and sisters who have reached positions where 
 as reflectors of his radiance, they can send 
 rays here and there of helpful intelligence, 
 are loved and admired for the places they 
 hold and the righteousness with which they 
 occupy tl^em. 
 
 These things came to notice and the Inde- 
 pendence branch, as a training school, had 
 work to do under these conditions. Every 
 progressive step had to be taken carefully, so 
 that the effect might not drive away those for 
 whom the benefits were mostly intended. 
 Quite a number learned that as much good 
 could be accomplished by waiting God's time of 
 adjustment, as by crowding things prema- 
 turely in the settlement of disputed questions. 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 305 
 
 that God had not lost interest in his work but 
 intended to "hasten it in its time" and not 
 ours. 
 
 A host of us learned that quicker and more 
 successful work in, securing the Holy Spirit 
 could be done by purifying the heart and life 
 so that the Spirit could not remain absent, 
 than by neglecting this important matter and 
 spending the time in clamoring for the Spirit 
 in prayer. Nor was the writer exempt from 
 the necessities or benefits of such revelations 
 and training. As he learned he taught, and 
 as he taught he felt the responsibility to do; 
 but he grew with the branch's growth and he 
 developed under the mortification produced 
 by snubs and the humiliation caused by fail- 
 ures and mistakes, as well as the joys of asso- 
 ciation. He learned that his business was to 
 take as willingly as he gave advice and criti- 
 cism. 
 
 He learned tb.at his religion was likely to 
 bring back to him in confidence and esteem 
 of the Saints only the amount of the value of 
 its fruits in the markets. If he practiced his 
 professsed faith, he was rewarded by the con- 
 fidence and love, ultimately, of those who 
 were benefited by his work, though the 
 genuineness and practicability of his ideas and 
 methods might be temporarily questioned. 
 
 30 
 
306 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 He learned that before making an attack 
 upon practices, doctrines, and methods he 
 disliked, it would be better to stop long 
 enough, at least, to think how he would feel, 
 if he was the one holding the position 
 attacked. He learned also that it was much 
 easier to erect standards for others than to 
 live up to them himself He found it harder 
 to develop a virtue than a vice. As in nature 
 so in man. The flower must be cultivated, 
 tenderly handled, and protected against 
 threatening surroundings. It is easily marred 
 and quickly ruined, while the weeds grow up 
 unsought, uncultivated, and can scarcely be 
 destroyed. Our virtues need to be developed, 
 watched over, arid maintained against the odds 
 of environment and Satanic visitation, while 
 vice asserts itself at nearly every step, and 
 grows in the neglected character, and cannot 
 be downed and eradicated by a single effort 
 or series of efforts less than life long. 
 
 But a short time ago a brother who was 
 undergoing a siege of testing, said to the 
 writer: — 
 
 "If I could make my calling sure and be a 
 true Saint forever, as the result of a great 
 effort for a month or even a year or two, I 
 would then be more certain ; but this every 
 day, every hour, every moment, watching, 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 307 
 
 fighting, and enduring idea makes me tremble 
 for the outcome." 
 
 God has rrjade the length of life the period ' 
 for character-forming, and so long as there 
 remains new beauty in Christ, so long will 
 there be an unattained virtue to develop or 
 extend in the discoverer. Our Holiness 
 friends tell of the perfected state to which 
 they have attained, but the writer believes 
 that virtue is developed by resistence to the 
 evil presented. That the Devil will continue 
 to present evil till the terminus of earth life is 
 reached. That so long as the Devil works, 
 resistance will be necessary, either to produce, 
 develop, or maintain virtue; that till the bat- 
 tle ceases and the field is canvassed, results 
 are not absolutely certain ; that no character 
 or possessor of virtue can claim "perfection" 
 until the last test designed has been endured 
 and nothing comes forth from the crucible 
 but "pure gold" carrying upon its face the 
 reflex of divinity, the Christ photograph. 
 
 I may know what I have done to-day, but 
 I know not how I may act to-morrow. New 
 tactics, new scenes of attraction to decoy, and 
 greater force may be introduced to bewilder 
 and overpower me, and my very certainty of 
 being able to stand to-morrow because I 
 stood yesterday and to-day (if I so argued) 
 
308 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF 
 
 may prove to be the unguarded door through 
 which my ever watchful enemy may enter and 
 pollute my spiritual estate — "Let him that 
 thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." 
 
 My observation during fifteen years of gos- 
 pel ministry has led me to so conclude, and 
 let me here state that my most convincing 
 testimony of the divinity of this latter-day 
 work has not come by tongues, or prophecy, 
 or vision, or miracle; but in the gradual reve- 
 lation of its strange adaptation to human 
 necessity. In no instance has human exi- 
 gency cried out for God, under the canopy of 
 this gospel protectorate, without hearing the 
 answering "Here am I" in some divine pro- 
 vision, formerly undiscovered, perhaps, but 
 hidden wisely to await the emergency which 
 would demonstrate its amplitude and utility, 
 and in no place and at no time have I had 
 better opportunity to witness this infinite 
 adaptation than while at Independence. Not 
 that my field of observation was limited tO' 
 that place and the people there ; but because 
 in addition to local presentations, events 
 transpired which led me to look far back over 
 the church history and far around outside of 
 any city or town, and trace the divine pro- 
 cesses in selecting men and women of varying 
 quality and disposition for places and pur- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUPP. 309 
 
 poses of his work, and the methods intro- 
 duced for their development. During these 
 years I saw the sick healed on a number of 
 occasions, I discerned the operation of adverse 
 spirits, I heard many things testified of by 
 Saints of every degree; but beyond and 
 above all these gracious manifestations, there 
 was a silent force operating and I traced it in 
 its unheralded transformations, transitions, 
 and achievements in human character, worldly 
 attitudes, and church fortifications. 
 
 One thing further I learned to believe ; 
 that God never forgets — "God is not mocked, 
 for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he 
 also reap." 
 
 Jacob played the deceiver's part when he 
 covered his hand and brought the goat's 
 meat to his blind father, calling it venison, 
 and thus received the blessing of the first- 
 born. He may have repented of his wrong 
 later; but there came a time when his sons 
 brought a coat of many colors, dripping with 
 blood, to him and deceived him regarding his 
 darling Joseph. 
 
 He cheated his Brother Esau out of a bless- 
 ing which was his by birthright, and he 
 seemed to enjoy the result of his falsity and 
 deception ; but there came a time when, after 
 h^ had toiled seven years for the object of his 
 
310 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 affection and believed she was in his embrace 
 (for she was his by right) he awoke and 
 beheld the contraband Leah by his side ; she 
 had been smuggled under cover of night into 
 his bed. David sowed adultery and murder 
 and reaped a harvest of adultery and murder 
 in his own household. God has not changed, 
 nor will he be mocked. 
 
 The Saint who sows to carnal gratification 
 will reap in spiritual barrenness, and corruption 
 of character, reputation, and influence. The 
 man or woman who deals in scandal or 
 delights in peddling slanders will likely live 
 to be scandalized. The soul that loves truth 
 will be pastured with truth as harvest for his 
 sowing. The heart that yearns after Christ 
 and delights in the study of his life and char- 
 acter, will, even imperceptibly to itself, take 
 on the beauties of that model nature, and 
 shed a luster and fragrace around that will 
 make the place of its residence heavenly. 
 The child that abuses its parent will most 
 likely live to be abused in turn by its offspring 
 and he who runs to spread a net for another's 
 feet will doubtless have enough to do in time 
 in extricating himself from the meshes of an 
 unexpected snare. 
 
 I do not write these things merely to 
 parade words before the reader's eyes but 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 311 
 
 simply to say that even in such matters have 
 I discovered a divinity connected with what I 
 have heard Bro. Joseph Smith call "The law 
 of compensation." 
 
 It is, therefore, the more painful to behold, 
 here and there, the evidences of recklessness 
 in the directions named. In some instances 
 a false idea of modesty prevails, by which 
 even parents are prevented from warning 
 their children against the corrupting influences 
 of what they behold in them, notwithstanding 
 they see all around them the demoralized and 
 imbecile fruitage of such conduct in the gen- 
 eration now fading. 
 
 , While it may be truthfully urged that this 
 autobiography is not the fittest place for such 
 references, it cannot be denied that any min- 
 ister for Christ who beholds the evil that 
 threatens even the houses and families of 
 Saints in some cases, has the right to cry out 
 anywhere. Parents beware! 
 
 A ministry of sixteen years, which has 
 taken me from Maine to the Rocky Moun- 
 tains, has proven to me that even the families 
 of Saints are not entirely exempt from the 
 baneful influences of hidden vice. It is pain- 
 ful for a sensitive elder to see suffering any- 
 where; but it is peculiarly distressing to be 
 called upon to administer to a young person 
 
312 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 and to discern that the shattered tlerves and 
 lost vitality are conditions which a little 
 wisdom and candor on the parents' part in 
 the years agone might have avoided, or which 
 the suffering one might escape by wholesome 
 restraint of self. In such cases we feel that 
 the gift of healing, by which such persons are 
 sometimes restored, may well be lauded and 
 God's mercy extolled ; but if the exercises of 
 the gift of either knowledge or wisdom had 
 prevented the admission of such disease into 
 the system it would have been better, even 
 though none but God and Christ had known 
 that the individual possessed the gift. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 313 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 NEW FIELDS AND DUTIES. 
 
 "There is never a life of perfect rest, 
 And not every cloud has a silver crest, 
 But there is a Power unseen and true 
 That out of the struggle is leading you; 
 In patience and faith to the Father cling, 
 You are the subject and God is king." 
 
 In the foregoing chapters the reader has 
 been led hurriedly along from my cradle to the 
 time when the pen was lifted to- commence 
 this autobiography and but little now remains 
 to be added. But few of the incidents that 
 have marked my life have I taken his time to 
 dwell upon, but those few will be sufficient to 
 convince him that God's eye keeps track of 
 and his hand ministers to the needs of even 
 willful boys, and that sooner or later they will 
 be brought face to face with the obligation 
 thus revealed and have opportunity to try 
 and honorably discharge that obligation, and 
 in so doing find occasion to be compassionate 
 and forbearing with all the children of men. 
 
 Many events dot the diary of my experi- 
 ence which if recited in detail, would but 
 
314 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 corroborate like testimony borne by others. 
 They would tell of sick ones instantly healed, 
 of suffering relieved in perhaps hundreds of 
 instances, and in a few instances of devils cast 
 out by the power that attended the humble 
 elder's rebuke and command in his Master's 
 name ; but I have refrained purposely from 
 much of this because others have made of 
 them a specialty in writing and have had 
 more marvelous things in that line to relate 
 than I have experienced. I have also a wish 
 to honor the command which forbids me to 
 talk of faith or boast of mighty works. 
 
 I prefer that my autobiography, such as it 
 is, shall present me in my peculiar indi- 
 viduality before the readers. My calling, as 
 I understand it, is to preach the gospel. I 
 have not received the gift of healing or 
 miracles that I am aware of, though my priest- 
 hood has been honored when administering, 
 where those gifted in that line were not pres- 
 ent. 
 
 I have been richly blessed of God in 
 preaching and because of this gift, which the 
 Book of Mormon calls the "gift of preaching," 
 have been called upon in numbers of new 
 places, by Saints who foolishly supposed that 
 a man so blessed in preaching must be 
 equally blessed with every other gift. They 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 315 
 
 insisted I sliould administer to them or their 
 sick friends, notwithstanding they have been 
 told that their local elders, who were not con- 
 sidered as able preachers, would do them 
 more good. They forget that the good book 
 says that "to one" is given one gift and "to 
 another" some other. 
 
 I have known some to suffer longer on 
 account of this mistake, which they refused to 
 correct, than they otherwise would have done ; 
 but hesitation on my part when called upon 
 to go would have been interpreted as an evi- 
 dence of indifference or cruelty and I have 
 submitted. 
 
 The fact remains, however, that we have 
 scores of elders who have but limited ability 
 in preaching publicly, but who have gifts, 
 designed for the healing of the Saints and for 
 other purposes of presidency and counsel. 
 Many of these are ignored in the idea that an 
 apostle, or prophet, or president, or seventy 
 who happens to be favored when in the stand 
 with a free outpouring of the Spirit to preach, 
 must also have mor^ power or faith to heal 
 than local elders have. I cannot speak for 
 others, of course, but I know that in some 
 cases under my own observation, they have 
 experimented to their hurt. 
 
 Leaving home in September, 1890, was the 
 
316 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 hardest effort of the kind of my life. My 
 oldest son was in his seventeenth and my 
 oldest daughter in her fifteenth year. Then 
 there was the nine year old girl, the six year 
 old girl, and the three year old boy, (and such 
 a boy !) besides' the little womah who was to 
 bear alone the care of their guardianship in 
 addition to her own loneliness. On the 
 Sunday evening I had stood while hundreds 
 of Saints, who seemed about as dear to me as 
 mortals can well be, shook my hands, and 
 tearfully said good-bye, and had endured the 
 parting fairly well till I got to the seclusion 
 of home and found freer vent for my feelings; 
 but when, after nearly four years of stay, 
 (excepting short trips away,) I reached the 
 point where "Good-bye" must be said to my 
 family, and some of them hung on my neck, 
 while others looked what they could not 
 speak, I confess it was trial enough, without 
 thought of any ahead in my field of labor. 
 So, with a sadder heart than I had felt for 
 many years, I left the weeping group of chil- 
 dren. 
 
 My wife accompanied me to Kansas City 
 where, in company with Brn. J. A. and W. N. 
 Robinson and their wives, Sr. Belle Robinson, 
 Bro. F. G. Pitt, and Sr. Jennie Newton, we 
 spent most of the day. Learning that the 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 317 
 
 members of the First Presidency were at the 
 reunion at Logan, I determined to call there 
 on my way East to learn whether the death 
 of Bishop Blakeslee (which had occurred) 
 would necessitate any call upon the leading 
 quorums, and thus make delay on my part 
 advisable. 
 
 The train for Independence left before my 
 train for the East, and took my wife and the 
 others away. I was then alone, and what that 
 feeling meant I can never describe. I walked 
 the entire length of the Union Depot plat- 
 form between the cars and wept like a child. 
 It might be childish, but I could not help it. 
 I there covenanted with God to remain in the 
 field as long as he would gi've me health, and 
 asked for grace to preserve me in righteous- 
 ness. 
 
 My sister and her husband (Bro. and Sr. 
 Thomas Hattey) came to the depot in time 
 to see me before leaving. Then Bro. J. A. 
 Robinson returned from Independence and 
 accompanied me as far as St. Joseph, Mis- 
 souri. Next morning I reached the camp 
 ground and for nearly two days enjoyed the 
 association of the assembled Saints and 
 preached once. 
 
 Finding that everything had been arranged 
 for the Bishopric work, I left for the East,. 
 
318 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OP 
 
 though it was hard to leave the reunion before 
 its close, a thing I had never been guilty of 
 before. But duty said go, and I had been 
 delayed too long already, so I pushed on to 
 Toronto, where I visited my mother and sis- 
 ter and several relatives and friends, also the 
 house of my birth, an^d the Methodist church 
 (now replaced by a grand structure) where I 
 used to preach and pray. 
 
 I talked the gospel to a good many people, 
 but did not know that a number of Saints 
 had moved in there and were holding meet- 
 ings. This visit was too short ; but go I 
 must, and, bidding farewell to my dear old 
 mother, I started for my new field. The 
 journey to Montreal and thence to Boston 
 was monotonous, for I was in no condition to 
 admire anything. Reaching Boston on the 
 8th of October I repaired to the home of ,Bro. 
 and Sr. Frank Steffe, where I met Bro. W. H. 
 Kelley and others, who were present to attend 
 conference. 
 
 From this point my labors in the East 
 began and included work in Providence and 
 Pawtucket, Rhode Island; also in Fall River, 
 New Bedford, North Weymouth, Massa- 
 chusetts; Deer Isle, Jonesport, and Lamoine, 
 Maine; New Canaan, Connecticut; and 
 Brooklyn, New York; as well as Cape Cod. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 319 
 
 The spring conference of. 1891, at Kirtland, 
 appointed me in charge of the Rocky Moun- 
 tain mission, but by request of the First 
 Presidency I returned to the East for a few 
 months first, making my home for several 
 months at the residence of Bro. and Sr. Wil- 
 liam Blood in Providence, and it was such a 
 home as any elder may well feel proud of. 
 The gospel is the theme there and its fruits 
 are manifest. Sr. Blood, is one of the first 
 workers in the church and Sunday school 
 there, and around her cluster the young ladies 
 of the branch, like ivies around the pine. 
 
 My health failed me and after some months 
 I reached that condition where it seemed I 
 must return home. I prayed over it and 
 finally told the Lord that I wished to take 
 back the promise I made to stay in the field 
 while I had health, and substitute a pledge to 
 stay in the field, health or no health. I 
 resolved to stay, though I should die. After 
 this my health improved. 
 
 In the Eastern mission I found the foot- 
 prints of Adam and Beelzebub. Adam had 
 been aroused by the other and had put down 
 his foot with a vengeance in one or two places. 
 To uproot evil and maintain the dignity of 
 our gospel standards, Brn. E. C. Briggs, W. 
 H. Kelley, M. H. Bond, F. M. Sheehy, A. H. 
 
320 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Parsons, and several, local brethren, including 
 Brn. John Smith and Thomas Whiting had 
 been at work, and excepting Bro. Briggs, were 
 still working in the district. Differences of 
 judgment had led to different attitudes on 
 questions under investigation and serious con- 
 sequences were threatened. The mission- 
 aries had done noble work which, in time, 
 will be vindicated fully to their credit ; but 
 where iniquity gains a foothold and Satan 
 has clinched its rivets it requires long patience 
 and endurance of opposition to bring about 
 the reformation desired. 
 
 i entered the field to supplement the labors 
 of my predecessors, for I believed they were 
 right and had done well ; but my methods of 
 approach and dealing with the troubles before 
 me were not in exact line with some of theirs, 
 which may have led some of them to misin- 
 terpret me a little. 
 
 The great purpose, as I conceived it, was 
 to call the attention of all hands away from 
 the objects which had been magnified to 
 their hurt, and to securely fasten it and their 
 affection upon something more worthy of 
 their interest, leaving the other matters to 
 develop, and when a crisis came, if ever, it 
 would hurt the few who preferred to be hurt, 
 rather than the many who loved the gospel 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 321 
 
 more than their own wills or selfishness. 
 How far success was attained by this process, 
 I am unable to state. 
 
 The limits of such a writing as this will not 
 admit of a mention of the names of scores of 
 excellent Saints whose study day and riight 
 seemed to have particular reference to the 
 advancement of gospel work, and who worked 
 heart and soul with the writer to that end. A 
 host of young ladies were banded together 
 in Providence and other branches, and with 
 voice and hand contributed freely and richly 
 to the measure of success under achieve- 
 ment. 
 
 Extending my labors to Maine, I found a 
 host of earnest toilers at Deer Isle and Jones- 
 port and proved that the reputation in which 
 they were held throughout the East was fully 
 warranted. They ought to be oftener heard 
 through the channels of church literature. 
 While among them I grew in mental, spiri- 
 tual, and physical stature, and breathed all 
 the more freely because I was not called upon 
 to do any other work than preach and live 
 the gospel. 
 
 August arrived, however, and with it the 
 time set for me to start westward. So, part- 
 ing from the Maine branches, I called at 
 Providence and Boston, and from thence 
 
 31 
 
322 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 started at noon, August 4, for Toronto, 
 Canada. 
 
 Arriving in my native city again, I found 
 mother in better health than for a long time 
 before, and intensely interested in the gospel 
 work. A dozen or more Saints from different 
 points had settled there and were holding 
 meetings weekly in a hall which they had 
 secured. A preaching meeting was adver- 
 tised with my name as bait for old Methodist 
 acquaintances. As a result of this and what 
 visiting I done, a few of them were attracted 
 to the meeting, and for over one hour I gave 
 them reasons not only for leaving, but also 
 for staying away from Methodism. I was 
 blessed and hoped they were. All seemed to 
 feel well pleased and satisfied. Perhaps they 
 will remain satisfied without any more, but I 
 hope not. 
 
 I availed myself of the opportunity to visit 
 some of my relatives and also of "posting" 
 them as to my religious whereabouts, They 
 gave me splendid audience and made many 
 inquiries, and assured me of their fullest con- 
 fidence. One of my aunts also expressed her 
 faith in the doctrine so far as I had time to 
 explain it. It was a busy time for me till the 
 expiration of my railroad ticket time limit, 
 but I enjoyed it hugely. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 323 
 
 Monday, August lo, I parted from mother, 
 sister, and many other dear ones and con- 
 tinued my journey home, where I arrived on 
 the morning of the 13th, and found all well 
 except my wife who showed traces of care 
 and extreme nervousness, but who improved 
 during the few weeks of my stay before start- 
 ing for the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 A few weeks later found me again battling 
 with the evils of Brighamism. My home in 
 Salt Lake City was with Bro. and Sr. Joseph 
 Wilson. Considerable of my time was 
 devoted to visiting among the people. A 
 change had taken place. The President of the 
 Utah church had issued a manifesto which in 
 a way, forbade further polygamous marriages, 
 and which he afterwards stated was intended 
 to prevent all relations under former polyga- 
 mous marriages. The public presentation of 
 that doctrine was therefore, a thing of the 
 past, and I only wish the evidences confront- 
 ing me had been such as to convince me that 
 the practice was abandoned. However, my 
 labor continued till time to return to confer- 
 ence at Independence. There I was reap- 
 pointed to the mission together with Bro. A. 
 H. Smith and others. 
 
 Hoping to improve her health by the trip 
 my wife accompanied me to Idaho, where, for 
 
324 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 a short time we enjoyed the kind and gener- 
 ous hospitality of Sr. Eliasson. Scarcely had 
 I started operations there, when a telegram 
 from Bro. A. H. Smith called me to Salt 
 Lake City to help care for Bro. T. W. Smith, 
 who, while stopping over there on his way to 
 California and Australia, had been suddenly 
 stricken with paralysis. Thither we hastened 
 by first train and remained till his removal 
 home, whither he was accompanied by Bro. 
 A. H. Smith. From thence, after holding a 
 few meetings in the city and at Pleasant 
 Grove, I started for Idaho, and was there 
 joined by Bro. R. J. Anthony. Together we 
 held services at Little Blackfoot and thence 
 proceeded to Deer Lodge, Montana, where 
 we were hospitably entertained by Bro 
 Andrew Cristofferson and family. After- 
 holding several meetings in the little chapel 
 there, I left Bro. Anthony to pursue the work 
 in adjoining parts and took train for Belgrade, 
 where for a short time my labors were confined 
 to the Reese Creek branch. Here as before 
 I found a band of Saints with abundance of 
 every material thing to keep things flourishing. 
 The enemy knew also of their equipment in 
 this respect and as he always does, directed 
 special attention to prevent the accomplish- 
 ment of the splendid work possible. In his 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 325 
 
 line he was faithful, and if all the Saints had- 
 been as markedly so, that region of country 
 might easily resound with the reverberating 
 echoes of the blessed message of life; but 
 unfortunately the diligence of the Devil does 
 not always provoke like diligence in us, and 
 he gets the start of us and often holds ground 
 that we might possess to God's honor. I was 
 treated well by all while there and made my 
 home with Elder J. E. Reese and wife. 
 
 During my stay here I went to a small 
 place called Bridger, high up in the canyon a 
 few miles from Bozeman, to fill an appoint- 
 ment made for me by the brethren before my 
 arrival. Here I baptized Mrs. Standridge and 
 two of her children, whom I also confirmed, 
 and blessed her other children, being assisted 
 by Brn. J. E. and Gomer Reese, the latter 
 being branch president at Reese Creek. A 
 fact came to my knowledge that may be 
 worth relating. Some months before this the 
 lady above-named had been reading a sermon 
 of mine in the Ensign, and after reading and 
 noticing my name at the head of it was dis- 
 tinctly told by the Spirit that I should bap- 
 tize her. At that time I was in Missouri, and 
 was a stranger to her ; biit what she had read 
 convinced her of the truth of the work and 
 what the Spirit told her assured her that the 
 
326 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Lord would some day permit her to meet me. 
 Weeks passed into months until on the 14th 
 of August the Brethren Reese announced at 
 the close of their meeting that Elder Joseph 
 Luff, of Missouri, would preach there the fol- 
 lowing Sunday. Immediately, upon hearing 
 this name, Mrs. Standridge rose up before the 
 people and exclaimed, "Glory be to God, that 
 is the man the Lord told me would baptize 
 me." She then told the elders she would be 
 ready for baptism when I came. While these 
 were not the fruit of my labor in any sense, 
 yet the mention of the matter will serve to 
 show that God goes before his servants and 
 prepares the hearts of the people in ways 
 peculiar to himself. Before leaving that sec- 
 tion I preached at Spring Hill schoolhouse to 
 a quite large and intelligent audience. 
 
 Legal matters requiring my attention neces- 
 sitated a return to Missouri, hence I called at 
 Salt Lake City where my wife and youngest 
 child were being cared for by Bro. and Sr. 
 Joseph Wilson, and with them started east- 
 ward, arriving home about September i- 
 Answering an invitation from the committee 
 in charge, I attended the fall reunion at 
 Logan, Iowa, and contributed my mite toward 
 its success. From that time till the confer- 
 ence of 1893, at Lamoni, Iowa, my time was 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 32t 
 
 spent in preaching in places in Missouri and 
 Kansas within a radius of one hundred miles 
 from home, as it was found impracticable for- 
 me to return to the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 One result of the conference at Lamoni 
 was an addition to my responsibilities, having 
 been appointed a member of the Board of 
 Publication, and by the Board corresponding 
 editor of the Saints Herald. My field of 
 labor as a missionary includes Missouri, Illi- 
 nois, Iowa, and Central and Southern Indiana, 
 and the concluding lines of this autobiography 
 are being written at home, from whence, in 
 its revised form, it is sent forth to serve as 
 best it may the heart purpose of its writer. 
 
 Forty years since my first and seventeen 
 years since my second birth have passed and 
 with what little that has been learned by 
 experience and observation, I am prepared to 
 more cheerfully and contentedly commit my 
 interests for time and eternity into the hands 
 of the Lord than ever. He who has done so 
 well for me in the past may surely be trusted 
 for the future. May the influence of this life- 
 story be such as to impel the boys who read 
 to consecrate their years to God and reap a 
 benediction of peace here, and glory hereafter. 
 May the kind hand that has preserved the 
 writer since the days of innocence and 
 
228 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 infancy, through the roguishness of boyhood, 
 and the willfulness of following years and on 
 till his arrival at the plane of highest spiritual 
 possibilities, also bless the boys and girls who 
 look through this brief autobiography as 
 through a window at his character. May the 
 foregoing prove a stimulus to hope and 
 endeavor in at least some of those who have 
 perused it and thus bring fresh cause to the 
 writer for praise, and added glory to God. 
 
SERMON. 
 
 FATHERHOOD OF GOD 
 
 AND 
 
 BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. 
 
 Text. — Acts 17: 28: "For we are also Ms off- 
 spring." 
 
 Matthew 23: 8, 9: "All ye are brethren. . . . 
 One is your Father, which is in heaven. " 
 
 For the contents of the Bible we, of to-day, 
 are in no sense responsible; the book was 
 here before we came. Only for the treatment 
 it receives at our hands can we be held 
 accountable. Pleasing or painful, winning or 
 repelling, rigorous or lenient as its aspect and 
 implied requirements may appear, they must 
 forever stand to us, severally, as the expres- 
 sion of whatever will we perceive behind 
 them. To modify its phraseology will in no 
 sense affect the fixedness of whatever purpose 
 it was intended to serve. To modernize its 
 
330 SERMON BY 
 
 recommendations will not release us from 
 whatever of obligation they were intended 
 anciently to impose. 
 
 Between it and us human creeds may inter- 
 pose to relieve us from the arbitrary force of 
 its decrees, but when these creeds are dead, 
 this law will live, and we in future days may 
 sadly find that we have not escaped, but simply 
 deferred arraignment before its inexorable 
 bar. It may be, too, that what we then shall 
 lack, will tell the tale pf blessings missed, 
 between the now and then, because of such 
 postponement. 
 
 We approach this book to-day with rever- 
 ential feeling, for to us it tells the will of 
 Heaven. Its story is the God revealment. 
 Hence, 
 
 Where its voice is heard all controversy dies 
 
 And human skill is wasted that aims at compromise. 
 
 Anxious to know our origin, our mission, 
 and our destiny, we consult its pages. It is 
 important that we shall know what part in 
 life's great drama our Creator intended or 
 desired we should play, that thus performing, 
 we may stand acquitted finally, and gain pro- 
 motion at his hand. Life can be a success 
 only in so far as this purpose is served. 
 Hence we ask : — 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 331 
 
 1. To whom are we indebted for present 
 existence and what are our Creator's attri- 
 butes ? 
 
 2. What is our heritage here under his 
 design ? 
 
 3. Upon what conditions is the enjoyment 
 of our heritage dependent? 
 
 Opening the book our first question is 
 answered in plainness: — 
 
 "God that made the world and all things 
 therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and 
 earth, . . . hath made of one blood all nations 
 of men for to dwell on all the face of the 
 earth, and hath determined the times before 
 appointed, and the bounds of their habita- 
 tion." — Acts 1 7 : 24-26. 
 
 "Our Father which art in heaven." — Mat- 
 thew 6: 9. 
 
 "Have we not all one Father? hath not 
 one God created us?" — Malachi 2: 10. 
 
 "But to us there is but one God, the Father, 
 of whom are all things, and we in him." — 
 Corinthians 8 : 6. 
 
 "One God and Father of all." — Ephesians 
 
 4: 6. 
 
 "For I am the Lord, I change not." — -Mala- 
 chi 3 : 6. 
 
 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is 
 from above, and cometh down from the 
 
332 SERMON BY 
 
 Father of lights, with whom is no variable- 
 ness, neither shadow of turning." — James 1:17. 
 "For there is no respect of persons with 
 God." — Rom. 2:11; (i Peter 1:17; Acts 10: 
 
 24-) . .' . 
 
 Three points are thus settled; viz., God is 
 
 our Father. He is unchangeable. He is 
 impartial, or no respecter of persons. 
 
 Faith in these declarations pledges us to 
 an acknowledgment of the common father- 
 hood of God and brotherhood of man. It 
 fastens upon him the responsibility of our 
 existence as to time and place, as fully as it 
 does the existence of Paul, or Moses, or 
 Abraham, and their surroundings, for it 
 declares that he "determined the times before 
 appointed and the bounds of their habitation," 
 of "all that dwell upon all the face of the 
 earth." In view of this foreordination, whey 
 we also consent to the foreknowledge claimed 
 in Isaiah 46:9, 10, and Acts 15:18, it is but 
 reasonable to expect that a father who never 
 intended to change, and who was no respecter 
 of persons, would so ordain from the start, 
 that not one member of his family would ever 
 be deprived of any good he made possible for 
 another. We are justified from these dec- 
 larations in looking for one universal provision 
 for the entire family ; so far, at least, as 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF.. 333 
 
 relates to the interests of the soul he had 
 assigned a tabernacle here. 
 
 It is with gladness therefore, that we hail 
 the announcement of Ecclsiastes 3:14, 15: 
 "I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall 
 be for ever : nothing can be put to it, nor 
 anything taken from it : and God doeth it 
 that men shall fear before him. That which 
 hath been is now ; and that which is to be 
 hath already been ; and God requireth that 
 which is past." 
 
 God's original gospel provision was com- 
 mensurate with the moral exigencies of the 
 race, and neither time nor circumstance has 
 ever increased or decreased human necessity 
 in that direction. "That which hath been is 
 now; and that which is to be hath already 
 been ; and God requireth" and always will 
 require of men the same as he required in the 
 past, as a condition upon which his infinite . 
 provision shall cover those necessities. We 
 have neither need nor disposition to apologize 
 for the character of that original, ancient, 
 divine provision. If it represented God once 
 it must represent him for ever, for he cannot 
 change. "Nothing can be put to it, nor any- 
 thing taken from it," for with any addition to it 
 or subtraction from it, it would cease to repre- 
 sent his invariable mind. To lessen its 
 
334 SERMON BY 
 
 obligations or increase its exactions would 
 indicate a "respect of persons" which his 
 eternal Fatherhood is not chargeable with 
 according to the book. 
 
 Again we open the book and in answer to 
 our second question read : — 
 
 "Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth 
 the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, 
 Abba, Father." — Galatians 4 :6. 
 
 "Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
 Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to 
 your children, and to all that are afar off, even 
 as many as the Lord our God shall call." — 
 Acts 2:38, 39. 
 
 "The manifestation of the Spirit is given to 
 every man to profit withal. For to one is 
 given by the Spirit the word of wisdom ; to 
 another the word of knowledge by the same 
 Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; 
 to another the gifts of healing by the same 
 Spirit; to another the wol-king of miracles; 
 to another prophecy ; to another discerning 
 of spirits ; to another divers kinds of tongues; 
 to another the interpretation of tongues ; but 
 all these worketh that one and the selfsame 
 Spirit dividing to every man severally as he 
 will." — I Corinthians 1 2 : 7-1 1. 
 
 "These signs shall follow them that 
 believe: In my name shall they cast out 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 335 
 
 devils ; they shall speak with new tongues ; 
 they shall take up serpents, and if they drink 
 any deadly thing it shall not hurt them. 
 They shall lay hands on the sick and they 
 shall recover." — Mark 16:17,18. (Also see 
 John 14:26; 15 :26; i6;i3-i5.) 
 
 "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh ; 
 and your sons and your daughters shall 
 prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, 
 your young men shall see visions : and also 
 upon the servants and upon the handmaids 
 in those days will I pour out my Spirit." — 
 Joel 2 : 28, 29. 
 
 Glorious heritage, indeed, and worthy of 
 such a Father. By means of this we are to 
 cry "Abba, Father." By this we are to know 
 he is our Father and prove his unchangea- 
 bility and impartiality. His Spirit is to be in 
 us. That Spirit is life (Ezek. 37 : 14; John 6 : 
 63 ; 2 Cor. 3:6; I Pet. 3:18; Rev. 11: 11), 
 and that life, being one with God (i John 5 : 
 7), is eternal. Eternal life is our heritage 
 even here. It is to be given us, first, that we 
 may know our Father and our elder brother, 
 Jesus Christ, for "this is [the object of] life 
 eternal, that they might know thee the only 
 true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast 
 sent." — John 17:3. This knowledge cannot 
 be obtained except by this agent. (i Cor. 
 
336 SEEMON BY 
 
 12: 3; Matt. 11: 27.) It is given that we 
 may commune with him through the exercise 
 of the gifts enumerated. It is given that 
 futurity may be lifted, and we may gaze on 
 things to come. It is given that we may be 
 preserved from the treachery of enemies who 
 seek to inflict evils upon us. It is given to 
 heal our diseased bodies. It is given that we 
 may abound in righteous fruit. (Gal. 5:22; Eph. 
 5:9.) It is to redeem our bodies from thegrasp 
 of death at the resurrection morn. (Rom. 8: 
 II ; I Cor. 15 : 44.) It is made accessible to 
 us through the suffering endured by Jesus 
 Christ. (Gal. 3 : 13, 14.) 
 
 vTo slight this proffered seal of sonship is 
 to trample on the blood that made it availa- 
 ble. He is an unworthy son who slightly 
 esteems a heritage so divine and dearly 
 bought. Eagerly we turn again and press 
 our third question : "Upon what conditions 
 can we enter and enjoy this heritage.?" Will 
 the book answer this important question as 
 plainly as the others ? Let us open and see: — 
 
 "He that heareth my words, and believeth 
 on him that sent me, hath everlasting life." — ■ 
 John 5: 24. 
 
 "Fear God, and keep his commandments: 
 for this is the whole duty of man." — Ecclesi- 
 astes II : 13. 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 337 
 
 "... Observe all things whatsoever I 
 have commanded you: and, lo, I am with 
 you alway, even unto the end of the world." 
 — Matthew 28 : 20. 
 
 "Believe on the Lord jesus Christ, and 
 thou shalt be saved." — Acts 16: 31. 
 
 "This is his commandment that we should 
 believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ." 
 —I John 3 : 23. 
 
 "God . . . commandeth all men every- 
 where, to repent." — Acts 17: 30. 
 
 "Repent, and be baptized every one of you 
 in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission 
 of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the 
 Holy Ghost."— Acts 2 : 38. 
 
 "He that believeth and is baptized shall be 
 saved; . . . and these signs shall follow." — 
 Mark 16 : 16, 17. 
 
 "They were baptized in the name of the 
 Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his 
 hands on them, the Holy Ghost came on 
 them ; and they spake with tongues and 
 prophesied." — Acts 19:5, 6. 
 
 "Then laid they their hands on them and 
 they received the Holy Ghost. . . . Through 
 laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy 
 Ghost was given." — Acts 8: 17, 18. 
 
 "Therefore leaving the principles of the 
 doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection; 
 
 33 
 
838 SERMON BY 
 
 not laying again the foundation of repentance 
 from dead works, and of faith toward God, of 
 the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of 
 hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and 
 of eternal judgment." — Hebrews 6: i, 2. 
 
 What could be plainer? By creation I am 
 God's son, but the possession of my inheri- 
 tance depends upon my obedience. Here I 
 am clearly informed as to what was required 
 of other portions of the common brother- 
 hood of man, and our Father has not changed. 
 He is not partial. Hence, if I would enjoy 
 that heritage, he "requireth [of , me] that 
 which is past," or, what he demanded of 
 others. 
 
 We frankly admit that these spiritual gifts 
 are not to be found among what are commonly 
 known as evangelical churches to day. We 
 grant that the popular educators of the age 
 have long pronounced them necessary ; but 
 these same teachers have put this book in our 
 hands and insisted that we abide its counsel. 
 Acting upon their advice we have opened and 
 read of what our Father in heaven has done 
 for man and found that "whatsoever God 
 doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be 
 put to it, nor anything taken from it." Hence 
 as a part of his family we claim under the 
 ordinances that provide for the race and 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 339 
 
 protest against human proscription. Right 
 here an objection is urged, that our admission 
 as to the absence of these things in the mod- 
 ern churches is against this argument. In 
 reply, we invite the objector to go with us on 
 a tour of investigation among those religious 
 bodies, to examine well their articles of faith, 
 their creed formulas, and to listen carefully to 
 their public and authorized enunciations. Let 
 him, with us, catechise those theologians who 
 are supported to voice the popular religious 
 sentiment, and then answer us one question : 
 "Are the conditions being observed upon 
 which this divine pledge was to hold good to 
 the race?" If not, the objection fails. 
 
 It would be the extreme of folly to claim 
 exemption from duty and at the same time 
 expect the reward of service. The divine law 
 has been given for our go>rernment. "Whoso 
 looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and 
 CONTINUETH THEREIN, he being not a forget- 
 ful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man 
 SHALL be blessed IN HIS DEED." — James 1 : 25. 
 But "He that turneth away his ear from hear- 
 ing the law, even his prayer shall be abomina- 
 tion." — Proverbs 28 : 9. 
 
 The church we represent has suffered 
 ostracism since its organization in 1830, 
 because it could not affiliate with Christen- 
 
340 SEEMON BY 
 
 dom on any terms that involved a com- 
 promise with the divine law. It may be that 
 baptism is not "for the remission of sins;" but 
 if so, the misconception originated with God. 
 It may be that the laying on of hands, as an 
 ordinance, is unworthy the notice of men who 
 can frame creeds and confessions; but. it 
 comes to us direct from hiiH who made the 
 world and all things that are therein. Our 
 folly, like Paul's heresy, consists in "believing 
 all things which are written in the law and in 
 the prophets," and in conscientiously observ- 
 ing what thiey enjoin. (See Acts 24: 14-16.) 
 If we hope for as full a salvation as was 
 promised ancient saints we should claim no 
 exemption from the obligations imposed upon 
 them, and we should not esteem that church 
 an enemy to us that clings most closely to 
 God. "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth 
 not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. 
 He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he 
 hath both the Father and the Son." — 2 John g. 
 This is no' truer of men than of churches, 
 and if a church has not God and Christ, what 
 can it confer upon man ? This scripture 
 means, if it means anything, that God will 
 stay with his doctrine,, hence he who stays 
 closest by that doctrine lives nearest to God. 
 The importance of the conditions already 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 341 
 
 referred to is thus magnified, in that they tell 
 us what this doctrine is that God and Christ 
 stand so closely by. As already shown from 
 Hebrews 6: i, 2, it embraces faith, repentance, 
 baptism, laying on of hands, resurrection of 
 the dead, and eternal judgment. He who 
 feels disg-raced or offended when asked to 
 contend for a faith that reflects the best wis- 
 dom of God, ought to be ashamed to own 
 God as his Father, and deserves to remain 
 forever destitute of the Holy Spirit by which 
 that faith shone so gloriously resplendent in 
 Bible days. For God to confer that Spirit 
 and its gifts on those who reject those princi- 
 ples of ancient law, would be to cast dishonor 
 on the law itself, and forfeit claim upon the 
 respect and love of martyrs long since dead, 
 whose blood, like that of their Master, was 
 poured out in expression of their faith in him 
 who authorized the proclamations, "I change 
 not;" "I am no respecter of persons;" "My 
 purposes shall stand ;" "The word of the Lord 
 endureth forever. And this is the word, 
 which by the gospel is preached unto you." — 
 I Peter i : 25. 
 
 Where the law is dishonored by man the 
 Spirit is fenced out, and the church is dead. 
 A dead church can transmit no life to its 
 adherents. A human body may be preserved 
 
342 SERMON BY 
 
 after death by chemical process for a long 
 time, and thus be made to serve a purpose in 
 demonstrating human skill; but for the pur- 
 poses of its original creation it is useless. A 
 church may exist for ages and command the 
 support of millions who admire its ingenious 
 escape from ancient Bible obligations; but 
 where those doctrines are not, neither is the 
 Spirit, and that church is powerless to per- 
 form the functions that alone can confer life 
 on those affiliating. 
 
 Who wants a church for ornament or 
 religion for a show? Who wants the Bible 
 for a means to prove that his wisdom has out- 
 stripped that of his God? Who )vants to 
 pray merely because it is pleasant pastime?. 
 
 All who believe that the church, religion, 
 the Bible, and prayer are of divine appoint- 
 ment and too sacred to be made the toys of 
 human caprice, please go with us a little farther 
 and look through "nature up to nature's God;" 
 judge of his design in providing for spiritual 
 man by his arrangement for physical man and 
 nature throughout. "The invisible things of 
 him from the creation of the world are 
 clearly seen, being understood by the things 
 that are made, even his eternal power and 
 Godhead." — Romans i : 20. 
 
 From Genesis i : 14-17 we learn that God 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 343; 
 
 "set" the sun, moon, and stars in the firma- 
 ment of the heavens to rule by day and night, 
 to give light and to be for signs, and seasons, 
 and days, and years, as well as to separate the 
 day from the night. All are agreed that not 
 only our well-being but our very existence 
 itself is made dependent upon these orbs — 
 life, light, heat, vegetation, the tides, and in 
 fact almost all things material are the result 
 of their service. Who can imagine the 
 anarchy of matter that would be entailed by 
 the cessation of their functions for a single 
 second ? 
 
 When, therefore, God "set" them in the fir- 
 ment he did not seek to provide merely for 
 Adam or the people of any favorite genera- 
 tion, but for the race of man and the earth as 
 man's habitation. One general provision was 
 made for all time, and nothing in the line of 
 human necessity has since arisen for which 
 that provision has not been found commensu- 
 rate. In the line of physical necessity "that 
 which hath been is now ; and that which is to 
 be hath already been;" and to meet that 
 necessity what God once did "shall be for 
 ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing 
 taken from it." As long, therefore, as human 
 life is to be continued and the products of the 
 soil, atmosphere, and tides, together with 
 
B44 SERMON BY 
 
 light, are essential, so long will their original 
 causes continue. 
 
 Nor will the Almighty ever attempt an 
 improvement upon those orbs with a view to 
 better serving the purposes unto which they 
 were originally ordained. His wisdom at the 
 commencement was as great as it now is, and 
 was manifest in E^ppointing a means commen- 
 surate with all the existing and subsequently 
 recurring exigencies of physical creation for- 
 ever. Should I, therefore, be asked why 
 these orbs shine as they shone centuries ago, 
 I should find ready and full answer in the fact 
 that the same necessity that called for their 
 first appointment continues. God's ordina- 
 tions were to meet necessities and not to con- 
 fer exceptional good upon certain favorites. 
 Wherever the need exists, those involved 
 therein are comprehended in the provision 
 once made. Hence no man has ever found 
 occasion to complain of, or apologize for, any 
 of these orbs of day or night because of their 
 being inadequate to the service assigned them. 
 Nor lias human ingenuity ever suggested as 
 good or better means of accomplishing the 
 work. It was Godlike, not only in the full- 
 ness of its efficacy, but also in the perpe- 
 tuity of its adaptation and design. It was a 
 Creator's supply for the needs of creation 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 345 
 
 — the provision of a Father for his family. 
 Follow the entire work of creation through 
 and the same principle holds good. The 
 organs of which the human body was com- 
 posed when Adam was created, are the 
 organs essential in man to-day and the 
 functions remain unchanged. The eyes to 
 see, the ears to hear, the feet to walk, the 
 hands to labor, the tongue to speak, and the 
 brain to think. The external agents and 
 influences which operated upon, excited, or 
 inspired those members in early man still 
 exert their power upon man of to-day and 
 will do so while the race continues. God set 
 them in the human body, and the lapse of 
 centuries has never shown a need for improve- 
 ment. Physical man is "of the earth, earthy," 
 and his framework was ordained as a means 
 of adapting him to the conditions of earth 
 life. Hence while light remains the eye as an 
 organ will be affected thereby, and the ear by 
 sound. While labor is required either mental 
 or physical, the brain and hands will exhibit 
 the wisdom of the God who adapted them 
 thereto ; so with the feet for travel and the 
 tongue and mouth for speech, the nose for 
 smelling, etc. Never has the thought entered 
 the mind of man that these organs will ever 
 cease to be essential while light, and sound. 
 
346 SERMON BY 
 
 and odor, and motion, and labor, and commu- 
 nication are associated with mundane condi- 
 tions. Just as he decides regarding the sun, 
 and moon, and stars in the firmament, so he 
 concludes concerning these organs in the 
 body of man — they were ordained of God 
 with specific objects in view, and while the 
 ancient necessities continue unchanged the 
 appointments hold good and will never be 
 extended or modified either in character or 
 design. 
 
 All of this clearly emphasizes the wise 
 man's words, already quoted, "What God 
 doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be 
 added to it, nor any thing taken from it." If 
 then, as already shown, "the invisible" or 
 spiritual things of God "from the creation of 
 the world are clearly seen, being understood 
 by the things that are made," what conclusion 
 must we reach as to the perpetuity of his 
 appointments for spiritual man? Let us 
 read : — 
 
 "God hath SET some in the church, first 
 apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teach- 
 ers, after that miracles, gifts of healings, 
 helps, governments, diversities of tongues." — 
 I Corinthians 12 : 28. 
 
 Let us now learn of the purpose to be 
 served by this: — 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 347 
 
 "He gave some, apostles ; and some, 
 prophets; and some, evangelists ;• and some, 
 pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting of 
 the saints, for the work of the ministry, for 
 the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all 
 come, in the unity of the faith, and of the 
 knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect 
 man unto the measure of the stature of the 
 fullness of Christ." — Ephesians 4 : 1 1-13. 
 
 Let us remember that the same word is 
 employed here as in Genesis regarding. the 
 sun and moon — God ''set" them in the church. 
 What was the necessity? "For the perfecting 
 of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for 
 the edifying of the body of Christ." 
 
 Let us not forget that "what God doeth it 
 shall be forever." This was a provision, not 
 to favor a few members of his family, but for 
 the entire family. No man will dispute that 
 the necessity still exists. Saints need perfect- 
 ing, the ministry work is in demand as much 
 if not more than ever, and the church needs 
 edification. Who, then, can be so foolish as 
 to believe that what God once ordained to 
 meet this necessity is no longer required, 
 that the church can as well get along without 
 apostles and prophets as with them. As well 
 might we conclude that a man can get along 
 without eyes and ears and other members as 
 
348 SERMON BY 
 
 with them, or the earth and its inhabitants 
 without the sun and moon. The argument 
 of Paul in i Corinthians 12:1-27 is directed 
 against such position. 
 
 As in the physical so in the spiritual realm 
 — the necessities have never changed. "That 
 which hath been is now ; and that which is to 
 be hath already been; and God requireth that 
 which is past." To meet those necessities 
 "whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever" 
 — what he once required of man he still 
 demands. Man to-day should not be satisfied 
 with less assurance of sonship to God or cer- 
 tificate of inheritance than was enjoyed by 
 children of the same family and Father cen- 
 turies ago ; but while this is true he should 
 not expect those tokens on any other terms 
 than were declared jn the Father's will at that 
 time. He who appreciates his Father's pro- 
 vision will be satisfied with no less favor. He 
 who honors his Father's wisdom will ask no 
 easies terms. While, therefore, we spread 
 our hands and cry, "Our Father, which art in 
 heaven," let us beconsistent in our pleading, 
 remembering the pertinent question of the 
 Savior: "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and 
 do not the things which I say ?" Let us heed 
 the counsel, "Examine yourselves, whether 
 ye be in the faith;" and to "earnestly contend 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 349 
 
 for the faith which was once delivered unto 
 the saints." 
 
 THE MODERI^ 8TUMBLING-8T0NE. 
 
 ' 'Beware of false prophets, which come to you 
 in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening 
 wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits." — 
 Matthew 7: 15, 16. 
 
 "This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, anc 
 it seemed great unto me: There was a little city, 
 and few men within it; and there came a great 
 king against it, and besieged it, and built great 
 bulwarks against it. Now there was found in it a 
 poor wise man, and he, by his wisdom delivered 
 the city; yet no man remembered that same poor 
 man. Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: 
 nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, 
 and his words are not heard."— Ecclesiastes 9: 
 13-16. 
 
 The fortunes or fate of revealed truth seem 
 to be nearly alike in all ages. In the blood 
 of its advocates and defenders can be traced 
 the line of its march in the dispensations of 
 history, and the- records now being faithfully 
 made will furnish to the world nothing but 
 duplicates of what is already possessed. Like 
 
350 SERMON BY 
 
 its author, truth comes to its own but its own 
 receives it not. 
 
 The inquisition connected with the bloody 
 apprenticeship it seems destined to serve is 
 generally instituted by the Phariseeism of its 
 time. Those busiest in painting and garnish- 
 ing the tombs of dead prophets are generally 
 first to bring the stone, the fagot, and the 
 •cross for living ones. Those who make them- 
 selves hoarse in crying, "We know that God 
 spake to Moses" are generally ready to vary 
 their speech with an occasional "Away with 
 him, crucify him," when their attention is 
 called to Jesus Christ. 
 
 All ancient revelation was once modern 
 and its first advocates in any age were anathe- 
 matized. Noah's proclamation was as divine 
 and genuine as God could authorize, yet it 
 convinced not a single soul outside of his 
 own family. It was new and somewhat novel, 
 was the only objection that could be urged 
 against it. They had their traditions of God, 
 handed down from Adam ; and yet in their 
 lives and teachings they were far from right- 
 eousness, hence Noah's preaching was an 
 offense to them. Pharisees of this age shed 
 tears as they read and think of one hundred 
 and twenty years spent by this faithful patri- 
 arch in a fruitless effort to reclaim those 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 351 
 
 heedless hearers and they denounce the hard- 
 heartedness and stiff-neckedness of such 
 people, yet they forget or are indifferent to 
 the intimation, "As it was in the days of 
 Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming 
 of the Son of Man." They are to-day despis- 
 ing as grand an overture from heaven as was 
 extended by Noah. 
 
 Jesus asked his auditors to "Search the 
 Scriptures," for they testified of him, and 
 said, "Had ye believed Moses ye would have 
 believed me, for he wrote of me;" but they 
 did not believe- Moses nor the Scriptures 
 intelligently. They believed the corrupted 
 traditions that had reached them and which 
 were being presented as interpretations of the 
 Scriptures by their priests, hence their eyes 
 were blinded to the true intent and facts of 
 ^'Moses and the prophets." Jesus came to 
 magnify, fulfill, and unfold the law — God sent 
 him for that purpose; but their traditions 
 stood between them and him, hence they 
 murdered their best friend whom they had 
 been pleading and waiting for. 
 
 Paul stood up for the "hope of Israel" and 
 endeavored from their own Scriptures to prove 
 Jesus to be the central figure connected there- 
 with — the Christ indeed; but he was branded 
 a heretic and denounced as a pestilent fellow, 
 
352 SERMON BY 
 
 a stirrer up of strife. He was beaten, impris- 
 oned, and finally slain. Unto all these dis- 
 tresses he was delivered by the very persons 
 upon whom he ought to have been able to 
 rel)' for protection and succor, for they 
 claimed to be the custodians of the "law and 
 the prophets," in the contents of which he 
 declared himself a believer. 
 
 So to-day, we are called heretic, not because 
 we denounce the Bible, but because we 
 uphold it. We appeal, as did our Master, to 
 the Scriptures, and "contend for the faith" 
 therein revealed; but we are confronted with 
 creeds and commentaries us an answer in 
 which the wisdom of men alone stands 
 revealed. Thousands are building churches 
 to the names of dead apostles and prophets 
 but will not believe that there stand among 
 them living ones. Not only this, but like 
 others of former time they will distort and 
 misapply the Scriptures to defend a tradition 
 though they crucify Christ's gold{;n truth in 
 so doing. 
 
 In evidence of this let the text chosen be 
 introduced. Since 1830 or thereabouts the 
 words "Beware of false prophets" have been 
 used by creed defenders against Joseph Smith 
 and those engaged with him in proclaiming 
 the gospel of Jesus Christ, until they have 
 
ELDER JOSEPH £.UFP. 353: 
 
 become household words and the impression 
 has obtained among thousands, if not millions,, 
 of honest people that this application of 
 Scripture was legitimate. Their only ground 
 for thus believing is the testimony of the 
 chief priests and Pharisees among them. If 
 the reader has been thus influenced let us 
 offer a few thoughts in regard to the matter, 
 both as to the incorrectness and injustice of 
 such treatment of Scripture and men, and 
 also with reference to the causes that have 
 led thereunto. 
 
 Let it be first stated that we are the vic- 
 tims ofttimes of a prejudice that has been 
 created by false education. While nearly all 
 churches and societies have been called upon 
 to furnish a representation of themselves for 
 publication in encyclopaedias and schoolbooks, 
 our enemies, or those interested in the over- 
 throw of our church and work, have almost 
 invariably been called upon to speak and 
 write for us. The result of this has been just 
 as might be expected. When the name of 
 Latter Day Saint is mentioned in a commu- 
 nity, or one of our elders appears there, to 
 preach for the first time, instead of going to\ 
 hear him speak for himself, a resort is had to 
 the encyclopaedias, and from thence as 
 cruelly false and base an impression as is pos- 
 
354 SEKMON BY 
 
 sible to obtain is gathered and the prejudice 
 against us is strengthened in proportion. If 
 the early day Pharisees alone had been con- 
 sulted in order to learn the mission and char- 
 acter of Christ and only their testimony had 
 been handed down, very few in this age would 
 tolerate even the mention of his name in their 
 homes. 
 
 Next, let us consider the text referred to 
 and examine the application made: — 
 
 Jesus had chosen his ministry and endowed 
 them with supernatural gifts and declared 
 that when the Comforter should come it 
 would testify of him, and show them things 
 to come. These divine endowments were 
 for their enlightenment and protection after 
 his departure. He also told them that the 
 prince of this world was coming and would 
 lie in wait to deceive and seek to overthrow 
 the work commenced. To deceive those 
 endowed with gifts of prophecy and miracles, 
 the enemy would need to do as in Moses' 
 day when the rods of the magicians became 
 serpents also — imitate the divine, hence he 
 would inspire men to prophesy and perform 
 miracles closely resembling what was accom- 
 plished by the divine Spirit in the apostles. 
 Foreseeing this, Jesus kindly and clearly fore- 
 warned them in the words before us, "Beware 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 355 
 
 of false prophets." A provision was made 
 against these false spirits which would seek 
 to destroy the church by decoys of this kind. 
 In First Corinthians, twelfth chapter, we have 
 mention of nine supernatural gifts given to 
 the church, among which are prophecy, 
 tongues, and miracles, and all who read will 
 agree that these were, appointed to the church 
 because there was a necessity for them. What 
 then shall be said of that strange gift, also 
 named in the same chapter, the "discerning of 
 spirits"? Was that not also given because in 
 God's foreknowledge it was found to be neces- 
 sary .? If so, it is evident that God and Christ 
 knew that false spirits would attempt to 
 inspire men in the church to prophesy, as 
 they had done in the days of Elijah and 
 others. This gift was to make detection 
 easy that the church might be saved. The 
 gospel as then introduced reopened the way 
 of communication with God, and the enemy 
 stood ready to take advantage of the confi- 
 dence of the people in these divine gifts, and 
 to transform himself like unto an angel of 
 light, if necessary, in order to "deceive the 
 very elect" by his counterfeiting work. Jesus 
 knew that not only would the divine Spirit — 
 the Comforter — come when he left, but "many 
 spirits" would go "abroad in the world," hence 
 
356 SERMON BY 
 
 he cried, "Beware of false prophets who come 
 unto' you in sheep's clothing" — appear and 
 prophesy much like yourselves, in order to 
 win you from the favor of God in time. 
 
 Now compare the situation of that time 
 with that of the age when Joseph Smith 
 began his work. Where was the church that 
 believed in those supernatural endowments, 
 as a necessity, when this young man made his 
 first proclamation? Every one of them 
 declared that prophecy had ceased long cen- 
 turies before, never to be heard again in the 
 Christian church on earth. They had, no con- 
 fidence in such things, hence there could be 
 no advantage taken of confidence that did not 
 exist. There was nothing of the kind on 
 earth. . Satan's work of counterfeiting could 
 not begin where no genuine was in existence. 
 Suppose a banker should throw back a coin 
 you presented and tell you it was counterfeit. 
 In reply you ask how he has decided and he 
 gives you nothing but his word to condemn 
 it. Therefore you insist that he shall pro- 
 duce a genuine coin for comparison, but he 
 informs you that there is not one in exist- 
 ence. Would you not ask him what the 
 counterfeiter had to work by when yours 
 was made ? Would you not promptly tell 
 him that all coin in existence of that denomi- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 357 , 
 
 nation, according to his statement, piust be 
 spurious, and if he had nothing but spurious 
 coin to compare with, it was presumption for 
 him to so denounce yours? Might it not be 
 that yours, being unlike what was in circula- 
 tion, thus bore one evidence of possibility in 
 favor of its genuineness ? 
 
 If there was not a living true prophet on 
 earth with which to compare this young man 
 how did they pronounce him false? How 
 could he come to deceive a people by imita- 
 tion who had no faith whatever in any such 
 thing as a prophet in the church? 
 
 Again, let us notice the description given 
 of the kind referred to by Christ: They were 
 to come in sheep's clothing. It would be 
 interesting in this connection to know just 
 who were the "sheep" at the time when Joseph 
 Smith began his religious career. The 
 sheep's clothing referred to certainly will not 
 bear a strictly literal interpretation. It did 
 not mean that prophets would come with 
 literal sheepskins on them. It can only mean 
 that they would in every noticeable respect 
 bring a striking resemblance to the "sheep" 
 or members of "the fold" — they would talk, 
 and act, and appear like them. 
 
 Let us see: The first announcement that 
 this young prophet made to the churches 
 
358 SERMON BY 
 
 was, "You are all wrong and your creeds are 
 an abomination in God's sight." This he 
 said on the strength of what the angel told 
 him and this was what provoked the bitter 
 and persistent persecution which ever after- 
 wards followed him. His language was 
 unequivocal and he placed himself on record 
 openly before the world in a way to invite 
 criticism and condemnation rather than favor 
 and flattery. The first announcement made 
 by him was a virtual challenge to every 
 religious body on earth. No hypocritical 
 deceiver would ever attempt to openly 
 denounce every religion in existence with the 
 hope of ingratiating himself into the affections 
 of those connected therewith. To reach this 
 thought directly and avoid possibility of being 
 mistaken let us again ask, Who were the 
 "sheep" in his day? There were Presbyte- 
 rians, Methodists, Baptists, and possibly others 
 close to his home. If either or all of these 
 represented the "sheep" and his aim was to 
 lure and destroy, did he put on the doctrine 
 and enter the fold of either of them? Did 
 he imitate the Methodist customs, or pat the 
 Presbyterian confession, or talk sweetly about 
 Calvinism in order to gain the good will of 
 each or all ? A deceiver would have so done, 
 according to Christ's warning and prophecy 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. SS^ 
 
 if these were indeed the "sheep"; but an hon- 
 est man and a true prophet, if he spoke on the , 
 matter at all, would do just as Joseph Smith 
 did. He claimed that he had been visited 
 from heaven, and that the Lord had told him 
 the churches "were all wrong and their creeds 
 are abomination in his sight." He served 
 this notice on all the churches, by the 
 authority of heaven and took the conse- 
 quences. Hence, as all thinkers must admit, 
 he did not fill the programme for a false 
 prophet, therefore every application of this 
 text to him and his work is a perversion of 
 its divine intent. All who are acquainted 
 with his history know that if he had 
 agreed with the churches and favored their 
 proceedings he might have lived to this day. 
 Whatever else may be said of him, he cer- 
 tainly presented himself and his calling hon- 
 estly before the world. He donned no fleece 
 for the purpose of affiliating with those of 
 like appearance. He came before men vvith a 
 doctrine so utterly unlike everything found 
 in the churches of his time, that all raised 
 their hands and voices against him and 
 denounced him. They loudly proclaimed 
 that he bore no resemblance to the "sheep"' 
 whatever. Let this fact be noted, for it will 
 be referred to later. 
 
-360 SERMON BY 
 
 He claimed to have been visited by the 
 angels of God and to have received informal 
 tion regarding the early inhabitants of 
 America — that the descendants of Joseph in 
 Egypt had dwelt here, that they had been 
 visited by the Savior after his crucifixion at 
 Jerusalem, that his church had been organized 
 as in Jerusalem, that divisions occurred 
 a,mong the people, followed by wars and 
 calamities. He was told that a record had 
 been kept on metal plates by the righteous 
 among these people, and that just prior to 
 the death of the last prophets — Mormon by 
 name — he was commanded of God to hide up 
 the plates in the earth and told that in the 
 latter days they would be disinterred and in 
 the Lord's hands become a testimony by which 
 the restitution work among Jew and Gentile 
 ■would be introduced and the identification of 
 the offspring of Israel be made easier. The 
 angel also showed Joseph Smith the location 
 of the buried plates and gave him authority 
 to obtain them, after which, by inspiration, he 
 translated them and published their contents 
 to the world. This was shown to him to be 
 in fulfillment of Isaiah twenty-ninth chapter, 
 also Ezekiel 37: 15-28 and other Bible 
 prophecies. 
 
 During and after the time of translating 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 361 
 
 and publishing this record (Book of Mormon) 
 to the world, which was completed in 1830, 
 many revelations were given to him by the 
 authority of which the Church of Christ was 
 organized after the ancient Bible pattern, 
 men and women having been baptized and a 
 ministry ordamed. Thus was this strange 
 work commenced upon earth. But what of 
 its doctrines? Did the representatives of this 
 new church seek favor at the hands of other 
 churches by repeating the old theories and 
 traditions which a few centuries had made 
 popular.? No! By the Holy Spirit given 
 them they read and understood the Bible as 
 it was intended by the writers of it, and they 
 were helped by the plain teachings of the 
 same doctrines as found in the Book of Mor- 
 mon, hence they went forth and preached 
 Christ after the manner of eighteen hundred 
 years ago, and invited men and women into 
 the church, reorganized by command of 
 God, in fulfillment of prophecy, and identical 
 in organization and doctrine with the church 
 of the first century. They promised just 
 what Jesus had authorized anciently (see 
 Mark 16: 17, 18) and what had been Included 
 in the commission as renewed to themselves. 
 
 Instantly, the sects of the day rose up and 
 their pulpits scintillated fury. Creeds felt 
 
362 SERMON BY 
 
 the force of the onslaught made by the Bible 
 in the hands of inspired men, and churches 
 long "at a disagreement combined to crush 
 this new evangel. Powerless to resist by 
 Scripture or reason the advancement of this 
 divine enterprise, the creed worshipers seized 
 upon this text and prostituting it to unholy 
 service cried aloud, "Beware of false proph- 
 ets." Then turning to their creeds they 
 exclaimed, "Great is our Diana ! these men 
 say our creeds are an abomination in God's 
 sight, and that they are doomed; but our 
 ancestors have framed them and. by them we 
 will stand, for they shall never be over- 
 thrown !" 
 
 Against this combination which was backed 
 by the press and wisdom of the age, this little 
 church planted its proclamation of divine 
 authority and began to storm the citadels of 
 heresy. The doctrine that infants were pre- 
 destined to damnation was attacked with such 
 weapons as, "Of such is the kingdom of 
 heaven;" "Except ye be converted and become 
 as little children, ye can in no wise enter in;" 
 "As in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be 
 made alive," and other equally pointed scrip- 
 tures. It was denounced as monstrous and 
 utterly unlike the declared purpose and char- 
 acter of God. The dogma that hell was a 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 363 
 
 lake of fire and brimstone into which all who 
 failed to become Christians were to be cast, 
 and there to be tortured eternally, never find- 
 ing release or cessation, was declared to be 
 an infamous misrepresentation of the divine 
 purpose and without warrant in the Scriptures. 
 It was shown that hell was but a prison house 
 into which the unsanctified spirits of men 
 were cast between death and the resurrection, 
 and where the mercy of God could still reach 
 them, and from whence redemption was possi- 
 ble, and that after the final resurrection, even 
 hell itself would be cast into the lake of fire 
 (see Revelation 20: 14) where none but the 
 finally and hopeles'sly incorrigible would ever 
 be cast. It was also proclaimed on Bible 
 authority that every act of goodness would be 
 brought into account in the judgment and 
 not a cup of cold water given to a disciple 
 would escape the notice and remuneration of 
 God. That every man would be rewarded 
 or punished according to his earnings or 
 deserts, some inheriting the "glory bf the 
 sun," others the "glory of the moon," and 
 still others would difi"er in glory as the stars 
 vary in magnitude. (i Corinthians 15: 41.) 
 That every man should receive according to 
 his works. 
 
 It was announced also that death of the 
 
S64 SERMON BY 
 
 body did not end human probation, but that 
 every man and woman would hear the gospel 
 of Christ in the spirit world before the resur- 
 rection, if na opportunity had reached them 
 while in the flesh; that the millions of 
 Heathen would there come into remem- 
 brance and the atonement of Christ would be 
 published till all who had lived on earth 
 would have privilege to believe and obey, and 
 that Jesus had opened up the work of preach- 
 ing in the spirit prison house just as 'he had 
 commenced it among men in the flesh and for 
 the same purpose. (See i Peter 3: 18-20; 4: 
 5, 6 ; John 5 : 25.) 
 
 The prophecies of the Old Testament were 
 freely used to prove that the Jews would 
 again come into remembrance; that the 
 former fertility and glory would be restored 
 to Palestine; that Israel and Judah would 
 return there and be reinstated, and that 
 according to Isaiah 29:11-17 as interpreted 
 and explained by the Book of Mormon the 
 day of that wondrous restoration was at hand. 
 The crowning result of all this was declared 
 to be the second coming of Christ to dwell 
 among his people on the earth. It was 
 announced that his coming would be as 
 literal as at the first. Further it was taught 
 that the new church as then organized was 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 36& 
 
 to be one of the great factors in developing 
 these promised conditions, and as a testimony 
 to those believing the proclamation, the Holy 
 Ghost was promised to give prophecy, 
 tongues, miracles, healings, etc., as in former 
 times. 
 
 In. consequence of this proclamation the 
 pulpit and press retaliated upon the new 
 religion with open denunciation and abuse as- 
 well as secret methods to overthrow. The 
 fire and brimstone definition of hell was more 
 boisterously proclaimed than ever and scrip- 
 ture was distorted from its original intent to 
 bolster this fearful misrepresentation. Cal- 
 vinism bristled and reasserted its predestina- 
 tion ideas with an enthusiasm worthy of 
 a better cause, and all churches combined in 
 denouncing the Book of Mormon and Joseph 
 Smith for daring to assert the restoration of 
 Palestine and reoccupation by the Jews. The 
 second literal appearance of Christ was- 
 branded as the base materialistic conception 
 of an untutored, carnal mind, and worshipers, 
 everywhere were exhorted to look for the 
 coming of Christ only in the hour and article 
 of death. It was to be only a figurative or 
 spiritual coming. Probation after death was- 
 execrated upon sectarian altars and the old 
 quotations, "There is no repentance beyond 
 
366 SERMON BY 
 
 the grave," and "As death leaveth us so 
 judgment will find us," were vociferated 
 loudly, though neither preachers nor hearers 
 had ever found them in the Bible. The 
 ordinance of "laying on of hands" for healing 
 the sick and for the gift of the Holy Ghost 
 was said to be a piece of blasphenlous jugglery, 
 and everywhere holy hands were raised 
 against this innovation upon popularized 
 religious customs of the age. 
 
 Truly it was a time of testing to the infant 
 church. Judged from a human standpoint all 
 the odds were against it. Palestine for 1700 
 years had lain a barren waste, the Jew was a 
 hiss and a byword in all the earth, and citizen- 
 ship was denied him under popular govern- 
 ments. Not a circumstance could be pointed 
 to as indicating the possibility of his return 
 to build up and reinhabit the land of his fore- 
 fathers. The wisdom of the world had for 
 generations been strengthening creed fortifi- 
 cations, till everything was being interpreted 
 in their light and by their standards, even the 
 Bible itself not escaping. What had these 
 advocates of the new revelation to fall back 
 upon in facing these giant conditions? Upon 
 what could they rely for support and defense 
 in executing the mission assigned them of 
 God? Simply the impregnable barrier 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 367 
 
 behind which their Master sheltered himself 
 when confronted by the archenemy — "it is 
 WRITTEN." There they stood and compelled 
 the churches of the day to attack their own 
 pretended foundation — the word of God — if 
 they would uproot or annihilate this faith. It 
 was and is to this hour a spectacle such as 
 heaven gazed upon when the early day 
 apostles were denounced as heretics for con- 
 tending for the faith set forth in the very 
 Scriptures their persecutors pretended to 
 revere. Christ in the preparation work for 
 the final "restitution of all things" is as great 
 a stumbling-stone to this age as was Jesus the 
 crucified 1800 years ago. The gospel then 
 was too insignficant to command the admira- 
 tion of the Pharisees and to-day it is too 
 contemptible to enlist the respect of church- 
 ianity. 
 
 When the work began, however, notice was 
 served on its despisers, as in Christ's day, 
 that it was the kingdom of God in the germ, 
 and though like the tiny mustard seed it 
 seemed too small to excite respect, yet it 
 would grow until the birds of the air would 
 lodge in the branches of it. And we who live 
 in the time of its maturing can see the fulfill- 
 ment of this in the fact that its philosophy 
 has extended and permeated society until 
 
368 SERMON BY 
 
 every once popular creed is tottering to its 
 fall, and every revision thereof is being made 
 in a way that brings them nearer into line with 
 this doctrine which provoked their hatred and 
 called forth their anathemas sixty-five years 
 ago. They are meeting the advanced educa- 
 tion, sentiment, and demand of the present by 
 striking out of their creeds what this church 
 condemned over half a century ago, and they 
 are beginning to introduce into their sermons 
 and platforms now many of the features 
 which were embodied in this faith when they 
 despised it at that time. 
 
 The revision of the Bible has practically 
 eliminated the old idea of hell, "and scarcely 
 any of the forward men of thought will now 
 use sputtering brimstone as a means of win- 
 ning souls to Christ. The creeds are being 
 revised so as to eliminate the infant damnation 
 feature as also the theory of eternal roasting 
 because God had ordained some thereunto 
 for his own pleasure and glory. 
 
 Many of the leading divines in England and 
 America have either directly or indirectly 
 taught or favored the idea of probation after 
 death in some form, among whom may be 
 named Canon Farrar, Henry Ward Beecher, 
 Prof Briggs, and others. The Congrega- 
 tional Church is divided pretty evenly upon 
 
ELDEE JOSEPH LUFF. 369 
 
 this question and some have been ordained 
 to carry consolation to the Heathen by pubr 
 lishing this doctrine. The chief school of its 
 theology has been made a feeder for this 
 so-called heresy, until the law of the land has 
 been invoked by creed-lovers to stop it. 
 
 Twenty-three years after the Book of Mor- 
 mon was first published, the early and latter 
 rain, after seventeen hundred years absence, 
 returned to Palestine, and the land has since 
 beqome fruitful as in ancient years. This has 
 caused the long exiled Jew to turn his eye 
 thitherward and many thousands have gath- 
 ered there to build the waste places and to 
 abide till their Messiah shall come. A line 
 of railroad has been constructed from Jerusa- 
 lem to Jaffa and from American shops have 
 been furnished the locomotives that now dash 
 aci^oss the territory once traversed by the 
 weary feet of the Son of God. Meanwhile 
 the Jew has been relieved of much of the disa- 
 bility that once attached, and has climbed to 
 the head of nations and helped control and 
 regulate the machinery of Gentile govern- 
 ments. Wealth unto multiplied millions has 
 poured into his lap and by it he has placed 
 vast territory subject to his control and made 
 nations heedful of his diction. In fact he has 
 thus established his feet more firmly than 
 
some of the dynasties of the present. Reli- 
 gious leaders of the present are engaged in 
 convening conferences wherein the Jew and 
 Gentile pulpiteers may announce their views, 
 compare their arguments, and beter under- 
 stand and appreciate each other. Govern- 
 ments have been considering means of relief 
 for the oppressed Hebrews in certain places, 
 and indications on every hand omen the 
 speedy fruition of the ancient Jewish hope, 
 for which through long years they have 
 prayed. 
 
 The second coming of Christ is now a 
 theme in almost every popular pulpit, and the 
 more venturesome ones among our preachers 
 are vying with each other in trying to empha- 
 size their faith in this glorious event. 
 Scarcely a man of note among the churches 
 will now seriously question the probability of 
 it. The press has fallen in line and the popu- 
 larity of the theme is already assured. Not 
 only this, but scores of pamphlets and leaf^ 
 lefts of various sizes are being published and 
 circulated by the authority of popular 
 churches, through chosen committees, setting 
 forth the Scriptural warrant and reasonable 
 ground for belief in the doctrine of healing 
 the sick by faith, including prayer and the 
 anointing with oil and the laying on of hands- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 371 
 
 Thus, one by one, the points of doctrine 
 embodied in what the world denounced as 
 heresy sixty-five years ago are being incorpo- 
 rated into the systems of the present and are 
 being hailed with delight as evidencing the 
 progress of intelligence and piety in the 
 church. 
 
 As we enter these institutions where the- 
 ology is prepared for the masses, to suit the 
 growing demands, it is at least interesting to 
 be able to step up to the tables on which 
 thiese doctors of divinity have been dissecting 
 the old creeds, and to pick up a discarded 
 fragment of Calvinism or a dismembered 
 branch of Arminianism or a number of aban- 
 doned points of Protestantism, around which 
 once clustered the devotion of worshiper^ a 
 generation or two ago, and for the preserva- 
 tion of which the fagots were piled and the 
 torch applied, and to be told by the men who 
 hold the scalpel that these were damnable 
 heresies, unfit to be taught and unworthy of 
 place in the theology of this enlightened age. 
 Our interest merges into gratification when 
 we learn that the places from whence these 
 offensive dogmas have been carved have been 
 filled with fragments of what we recognize at 
 once as being part of the doctrine proclaimed 
 by Joseph Smith over half a century ago. 
 
372 SERMON BY 
 
 When he "piped" they "would not dance," 
 when he "mourned" they "would not lament." 
 When he preached the above items of doc- 
 trine or denounced the creeds, he was derided 
 and persecuted and slain as a dangerous and 
 damnable heresy breeder ; but now that the 
 despicable "mustard seed" has become a tree 
 and the tottering creeds are seeking shelter 
 in its branches or plucking twigs therefrom to 
 cover the deformity discovered in themselves, 
 they all enter for the dance. But who among 
 them all has ever given credit to the young 
 man who first faced the fire and endured the 
 obloquy that these doctrines invited or pro- 
 voked. The second part of our text tells of a 
 poor wise man whose wisdom delivered the 
 city, but who was not remembered by those 
 who enjoyed the benefits of his service. Reli- 
 gious history of this and the past generation, 
 if faithful, should tell of the divine wisdom 
 given a young man by which provision was 
 made nearly seventy years ahead for the exi- 
 gencies of Christendom. It should tell of the 
 curses heaped upon him by those who should 
 have loved him best. It should tell how, after 
 denouncing his doctrine as infamous, they 
 finally pilfered from that doctrine the points 
 requisite to deliver their creeds from disaster. 
 It should tell that, notwithstanding this was 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 373 
 
 done and Christendom reveled in the tempo- 
 rary advantage thus secured, and the deliver- 
 ance of their citadels from dishofior and ruin, 
 they failed to even remember that same young 
 man, but boasted in the advancement they 
 themselves had made under the wise direction 
 of hired theologians and skillful revisers. i 
 
 Reader, if those doctrines, now becoming 
 popular, are true, they were no less true sixty- 
 five years ago, and the clergy who denounced 
 them were not the servants of God. If the 
 religions of that time were the standards by 
 which the religion introduced by Joseph 
 Smith was measured when they pronounced 
 him an impostor, what shall be said of the 
 men who are now patching their fleeces or 
 philosophy with pieces taken from his system 
 which was so utterly unholy and impious then 
 as to invite upon it their most terrible impre- 
 cations ? 
 
 Joseph Smith introduced his doctrine by 
 God's command and never attempted to don 
 any fleece then known to religious bodies in 
 order to gain favor with the flock. For this 
 boldness they denounced him as a false 
 prophet. Since then the God who authorized 
 him has been supplementing his work and the 
 work of his colaborers, and what is the result? 
 Simply that the world is rising to indorse hsi 
 
374 SERMON BY 
 
 utterance. If he voiced an untruth when he, 
 said the churches were wrong arid the creeds 
 were an abomination in God's sight, if he was 
 guilty of blasphemy in this, what shall be said 
 of the wise men who a couple of years ago, 
 when considering the revision of a certain 
 creed, declared that specific features therein 
 were damnable heresies, that they did not be- 
 lieve in and ought not to be held by them and 
 should not extend the infamy and disgrace of 
 them to their children? In short, let us ask 
 you to remember that the points referred 'to a 
 few paragraphs back were no part of the 
 •creeds sixty-five years ago, and in so far as 
 they may be now, they -justify us in pointing, 
 to the men who use them in connection 
 therewith, and asking you to "beware of false 
 prophets, who come unto you in sheep's 
 •clothing." These doctrines belong not to the 
 creeds but to the gospel proclaimed by Joseph 
 Smith and for which he was denounced a false 
 prophet by the admirers of the very systems 
 that have been repaired by material first 
 •declared in this generation by him. If it is 
 now being discovered that he alone wore the 
 genuine sheep's garment, then all those unlike 
 his were false. 
 
 Hence, we submit finally, the fact that "by 
 their fruits ye shall know them." The fruit 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 375 
 
 of a prophet is prophecy. If the prophecy is 
 fulfilled then he was a true prophet. If not, 
 then he was a false one. This is the oply 
 legitimate test; but failing to see any hope of 
 •defeating the young man's work by such 
 honorable means, his enemies misapplied this 
 scripture as they did the other part and tra- 
 duced his reputation, as the Pharisees did 
 that of Christ. He was charged with various 
 crimes against the law, including immorality, 
 and these charges were held up as evidence 
 that he could not be a prophet of God. 
 Those who thus vilified him were reckless of 
 the fact that even were their charges true, 
 such judgment as they passed thereupon 
 would destroy the testimony of Moses, and 
 David, and Solomon, and even Abraham and 
 Peter, and numerous other Bible worthies. 
 If Joseph Smith's lapses from virtue could 
 prove that God had never chosen him as a 
 prophet, and his revelations and testimony 
 wei^e false, then let us be consistent and strike 
 out all the Bible that. contains the testimony 
 of the others, for they certainly lived wide of 
 the mark appointed of God as a gauge of 
 moral conduct. 
 
 This will not do, however, for should I 
 prophesy to-day in God's name of the coming 
 of a pestilence one week hence, and jt should 
 
376 SERMON BY 
 
 come as predicted, its coming would confirm 
 me a true prophet, even though I fell into 
 sin before it came and perished by it when it 
 arrived. By the fulfillment or failure of the 
 young man's prophecies we determine him a 
 true or false prophet and we submit the fore- 
 going evidences in support of the claim that 
 he was sent of God. Much other evidence is 
 at hand ; but we forbear introducing it as we 
 have already passed the limit of our intended 
 space, hence we conclude with our humble 
 testimony to the truth of the gospel delivered 
 to Joseph Smith by an angel of God and by 
 him proclainied to the sons of men. Of his 
 character we only know what those who had 
 opportunity to learn have said of him, and 
 from that we have always believed and do 
 now believe him to have been a good man. 
 If he lived by the doctrine he published he 
 must have been great. Of the message he 
 brought we ask no man's opinion. Its 
 divinity is self-evident; its potency for good 
 in the human character we have abundantly 
 proven; its adaptation to human necessity is 
 witnessed by its effects within the church that 
 has closely adhered to its principles. If an 
 increased love for Christ and humanity, a 
 closer communion with God, a more intense 
 dislike for iniquity, and a more complete con- 
 
ELDER JOSEPH LUFF. 377 
 
 secration to the cause and interests of holi- 
 ness and heaven are the fruitage of heavenly 
 sowing, then the claim of divine origin for the 
 doctrine he published is fully vindicated, and 
 we expect to lay these evidences at last, 
 together with the testimony of the Bible, 
 at the feet of God and his Son Jesus Christ 
 as reasons for our adhering thereto. To us 
 this later revelation is a treasure of untold 
 worth and we rejoice in its possession 
 though to others it has proven to be "the 
 modern stumbling-stone."