LABORS CONTINUED IN LIVERPOOL—MANNER OF MEETING OPPOSITION—INTRODUCTION OF THE GOSPEL INTO IRELAND—A PROPHECY—FIRST BAPTISM—VISIT TO SCOTLAND—LOVE OF THE SAINTS.

Elder Taylor continued calling upon ministers and other gentlemen in Liverpool, bearing testimony to them of the restoration of the gospel. For this purpose he called upon an aged Methodist minister who accompanied Doctor Coke in some of his missionary tours, and who was with him when he died.

The conversation with him was very pleasant, but he did not receive the message of the gospel. He inquired if his visitor intended calling upon all the ministers in the city, to which the Elder replied that it was his determination to deliver the message he had been commissioned with; he had called upon some ministers and intended to see others; and if there was liberality enough among the Methodists or other denominations to open their chapels, he would preach. To this the minister replied that he thought the doctrines Elder Taylor had to advocate would not agree with theirs, and that he would have to do as the venerable founder of Methodism had done—go into the highways and the fields.

"But when Paul, the despised Christian, went into the synagogues of the Jews, bigoted and fallen as they were," replied the Elder, "they said to him and his companions, 'Brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on."

"That is what I say," answered the Methodist, "say on."

"Yes," replied Elder Taylor, "but this is not in your synagogue, sir."

To this gentle hint he could only say that he thought the trustees would not consent to it. In parting, he shook the Elder by the hand and wished him God-speed.

Elder Taylor also called upon Mr. Radcliff, agent for the Bible Society and superintendent of the School of Arts. In a conversation lasting over of three hours, that gentleman made many admissions relative to the condition of the religious world, which, when his visitor began to make use of them to show the necessity of a re-opening of the heavens and a restoration of the ancient gospel, he stopped alarmed, and observed that "Mormonism led to tremendous conclusions!"

"I am aware that it does," quietly replied his visitor, "but the words I have used are not mine, but the words of God."

There was present at this interview a Miss Brannan, from the Isle of Man, who expressed a fear of Elder Taylor's religion; and who, as the conversation drew to a close, ventured to censure him because he condemned others.

"No, he does not," said Mr. Radcliff, "he only says they have been wrong ignorantly, and that they have doubtless lived up to the best light they had."

Miss Brannan did not relish this remark, and relapsed into silence.

Before leaving them, Elder Taylor remarked to her that he was thinking of going to the Isle of Man, and he would be pleased to call upon her. She would be glad to see him, but not as a religious teacher. Or if he was like other preachers, she would be pleased to receive him. To this the Elder replied that he should visit the Isle of Man whether she desired him to or not; that there were others there who would receive the gospel if she rejected it, and as to the matter of being like other ministers, it reminded him of the story of the Prophet Micah, who was told to speak as the other prophets of king Ahab had spoken, and it would be well with him; but Micah replied: "As the Lord liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak." So, likewise, he could only declare that which God had revealed; if that came in conflict with the doctrines and practices of men, so much the worse for their doctrines and practices.

In this manner Elder Taylor continued to labor day after day, neither avoiding the poor and lowly nor shunning the high and the learned. Conscious that he possessed the truth, he fearlessly came in contact with all sorts and conditions of men; and so gentlemanly and pleasing was his bearing that it compelled men to listen to the message he delivered with respectful attention.

On the 6th of April, 1840, Apostles Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, George A. Smith and Elder Reuben Hedlock arrived in Liverpool, from America. The next day they found Elder Taylor, who was overjoyed to see them. In a few days they repaired to Preston and held a council—seven of the quorum of Apostles being present.

The first business of the council was to ordain Willard Richards an Apostle, and receive him into the quorum. This addition made eight Apostles in the council. Brigham Young presided; Elder Taylor was made clerk. The former was also sustained as the President of the Twelve Apostles, he being next in seniority of ordination to Thomas B. Marsh, the former President, who apostatized in Missouri.

It was resolved that a periodical should be published and called the Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, of which Parley P. Pratt was appointed editor. A hymn book was also to be published, John Taylor being one of a committee of three to select the hymns. It was also decided to print an edition of the Book of Mormon.

In appointing the several Apostles to fields of labor, it was decided that Elder Taylor continue to preach in Liverpool and vicinity.

On his return to that city, the work spread more rapidly than before the council at Preston. Opportunities for preaching were plentiful, and baptisms frequent. In May he called those who had been baptized together, and ordained a number of the brethren Priests and Elders, which gave them the right to preach the gospel and to administer the ordinances thereof. These brethren, filled with zeal, went out into the public parks, to the commons, the fields and even the streets, proclaiming everywhere the gospel and bearing testimony of its truth.

When the opposition of the priests increased in bitterness, and they sought by every conceivable device to hinder the work and disturb the meetings, Elder Taylor instructed several of the most zealous of the brethren to hold auxiliary meetings simultaneously on the public thoroughfares—just prior to the time appointed for the main central meeting—and announce to their hearers that a discourse would be delivered in the public hall, engaged for that purpose. In this way an interest was awakened in the work, and the meetings crowded with people, notwithstanding all the efforts of the hostile ministers to prevent it.

These labors, and assisting in selecting the hymns suitable for the worship of the Saints, together with reading the proofs and superintending the printing of the Book of Mormon, occupied the early summer of 1840.

In July, however, Elder Taylor took the Music Hall in Bold Street, a large hall, capable of seating some fifteen hundred people, in which he proposed delivering a course of lectures.

Pending the opening of this hall for the lectures, he went to Ireland to proclaim the restoration of the gospel in that land. Among many others he baptized in Liverpool was a Mr. McGuffie, who had some acquaintances in Newry, County Down, Ireland. This man and a Brother William Black he took with him as his companions.

A large company of Saints went with them to the dock to see them off. It was but natural that Elder Taylor should contrast his situation, now that he was departing for Ireland, with what it was when he landed in England a few months before. Then he was friendless, unknown and among strangers; now he was surrounded by a multitude of friends, anxious to administer to his necessities and willing to assist him in his mission, while few men in Liverpool were more sought for, or filled a larger space in public attention.

The company remained on the pier-head waving their adieux until they could no longer be seen.

The day after sailing, Elder Taylor and companions arrived in Newry, a beautiful Irish village nestled among rolling hills, characteristic of that part of Ireland. Brother McGuffie obtained the Court House to hold a meeting in, and sent around the bell-man to give notice of it. A congregation of six or seven hundred gathered in at seven o'clock in the evening, and Elder Taylor preached to them. This was the introduction of the gospel into Ireland.

An appointment was given out for the next evening, but only a few attended, and Elder Taylor turned the meeting into a sort of conversational, promising to explain anything those present wished to know respecting the message he had delivered to them the night before. Thus the evening was passed.

It was determined that night—as his stay in Ireland could only be brief, in consequence of his appointments in Liverpool—that the next day they would proceed to the other points they had proposed to visit.

In the night Elder Taylor in a vision saw a gentleman approach him and ask him to stay, saying he would be pleased to hear him. The next morning, as himself, Brothers McGuffie and Black and a gentleman of the name of Thomas Tate were leaving the village in a jaunting car, the same man whom Elder Taylor had seen in the vision stopped them and requested him to remain; but as Brother McGuffie expected to return to Newry and remain there some time, Elder Taylor concluded to go on his way.

After a ride of seven miles through a beautiful, fertile, undulating country, cut up into small farms by green hedges closely trimmed, and plentifully dotted with neatly white-washed cottages, they arrived at the four towns of Bellimacrat, where, in the evening, Elder Taylor preached in a barn owned by a Mr. Willie. The following morning they started on foot for the town of Lisburn, Mr. Tate going with them to assist in carrying their valises. This Mr. Tate Elder Taylor had met in Liverpool, and prophesied that he would be the first person to be baptized in Ireland. As he and Elder Taylor walked on, side by side, that beautiful, fresh morning they left Bellimacrat, the latter opened the scriptures to his understanding and taught him the gospel in its simplicity. The listener was carried away with admiration for the plan of redemption which God had established for the salvation of His children, and as conviction of its truth had taken hold of his mind, he was ready to receive it; and on reaching the summit of a hill, which suddenly brought them in full view of the beautiful Lock Brickland, he cried out in ecstacy:

"There is water, what doth hinder me being baptized?"

At this the party stopped, and Elder Taylor, going down into the water, baptized him. He was the first to receive the gospel in Ireland in this dispensation.

In the town of Lisburn Elder Taylor preached four times in the market place to large and attentive crowds.

The preaching in Market Square created considerable interest in that place, but no one applied for baptism. The whole of County Down had been considerably excited by the meetings held, and before leaving Lisburn Elder Taylor learned that Brother McGuffie on his return to Newry had begun to baptize.

Having thus opened the door of salvation to the Irish nation by the proclamation of the gospel, Elder Taylor, on the 6th of August, took passage on a steamer at Belfast for the city of Glasgow. On board he formed the acquaintance of a gentleman who had met with Elder Orson Pratt in Edinburgh, where that Apostle was laboring; and also with an Irish gentleman from Belfast. The latter was a friend of a Mr. Mulholland, of Illinois, who had written him an account of the persecutions of the Saints in Missouri. He had the letter published in one of the Belfast papers.

On arriving in Glasgow, Elder Taylor met with Elders Hedlock, Clark and Mulliner, and the following Sunday preached to the Saints there, and ordained two brethren Elders. He also visited a small branch of the Church in Paisley, Renfrewshire. Here that love which the gospel inspires in the hearts of those who receive it was abundantly manifested. Though Elder Taylor was a stranger to the Saints there, they gathered about him, pleaded with him to remain in their midst and teach them something further concerning the Kingdom of God. Failing to persuade him to remain longer, as the time for him to be in Liverpool drew near, they flocked about him for his blessing, and it was not until the night was gone and day was approaching that he could get a chance to retire to rest.