PARLEY PRATT. 73
practice? Had I lived and believed in the days of the apostles, and had so desired, they would have said, 'Kepent, be baptized, and receive the holy ghost.' The scriptures are the same now as then; why should not results be the same?" In the absence of anything better, he joined the baptists, and was immersed; but he was not satisfied. In 1829 Sidney Rigdon, of whom more hereafter, preached in his neighborhood; he heard him and was refreshed. It was the ancient gospel revived — repentance, baptism, the gift of the holy ghost. And yet there was something lacking — • the authority to minister; the power which should accompany the form of apostleship. At length he and others, who had heard Rigdon, organized a societ}^ on the basis of his teachings, and Parley began to preach. The spirit working in him finally compelled him to abandon his farm and go forth to meet his destiny, he knew not whither. In this frame of mind he wan- dered eastward, and w^hile his family were visiting friends, he came upon the book of Mormon and H}^- rum Smith. Now did his soul find rest. Here was inspiration and revelation as of old; here was a new dispensation with attendant signs and miracles.
As he left Smith's house the following morning, having an appointment to preach some thirty miles distant, Hyrum gave him a copy of the sacred book. Travelling on foot, and stopping now and then to rest, he read at intervals, and found to his great joy that soon after his ascension Christ had appeared in his glorified body to the remnant of the tribe of Joseph in America, that he had administered in person to the ten lost tribes, that the gospel had been revealed and written among nations unknown to the apostles, and that thus preserved it had escaped the corruptions of the great and abominable church.
Returning to Smith's house. Parley demanded of Hyrum baptism. They went to Whitmer's, where they were warmly welcomed b}^ a little branch of the church there assembled. The new convert was bap-
