



Produced by the Mormon Texts Project
(MormonTextsProject.org), with thanks to Paul Freebairn
and Cheryl Jennings for proofreading.







[Frontispiece Image: Mount Calvary.]


THE HAND OF

PROVIDENCE,


AS SHOWN IN THE

HISTORY OF

NATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS,


From the Great Apostasy to the Restoration of the Gospel.


ILLUSTRATED.


BY ELDER J. H. WARD.


SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH:

Published at the Juvenile Instructor Office. 1883.



PREFACE.

Don't throw this book down carelessly. It will do you no harm. It
assumes no dictation. It may benefit you if you will read it carefully.

"We have plenty of histories."

True. But most are too large to be of practical value to the sons and
daughters of toil. Many are written in the interest of some party or
sect, and in order to gain favor, they flatter the vanity of men.

"But they tell of wonderful deeds, and thrilling adventures."

Very true. Some of them are mostly composed of recitals of legalized
slaughter, and praise of tyrants who have climbed to power over the
mangled bodies of their fellow-men, and whose names will not live
in one grateful memory; while the real benefactors of the race, the
unfolding of new and higher truths and, above all, the over-ruling hand
of God are unnoticed, or, at most, barely mentioned.

"Does God rule the world?"

Yes, verily. The greatest actors on the theatre of the world are only
instruments in the hand of God, for the execution of His purposes.

"Where have you obtained the facts contained in this volume?"

From many authentic works, some of them not easily accessible to most
readers.

{IV.}

"This will be a good book for the young, and all those who have not the
opportunity to consult larger works, will it not?"

With this idea it has been written and to this end I dedicate it to my
children as heirs in the kingdom of God, to the youth of Zion and to my
earnest friends everywhere.

THE AUTHOR.

Salt Lake City,

March 16th, 1883.



CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Injustice of Roman Governors--Nero Emperor--Vespasian and Titus
Sent to Judea--Fortifications of Jerusalem--Titus Offers Terms of
Peace--Horrors of the Siege--Women Devour their own Children--Temple
Burned--City Destroyed--Dispersion of the Jews--Universal
Apostasy--Priesthood no More--Ideas of God Perverted--Worship
Corrupted with Heathen Rites--Persecution of Christians--Emperor
Constantine--Rise of Monastic Order.

CHAPTER II.

Description of Arabia--Arabian Customs--Birth of Mahomet--Early
Life--Journey to Syria--Christian Sects--Doctrines Taught by
Mahomet--His Marriage--Proclaims Himself a Prophet--Persecution--Flees
to Medina--Becomes Powerful--Sickness and Death--Personal Appearance.

CHAPTER III.

Causes of Triumphs--Abou-Beker Elected Caliph--War Declared--Fall of
Bozrah--Battle of Aiznadin--Siege of Jerusalem--Departure of Roman
Emperor--Saracen Fleet--Eastern Conquests--Fall of Alexandria--Conquest
of Northern Africa--Conquest of Spain--Battle of Poictiers--Extent of
Saracen Empire.

CHAPTER IV.

Intellectual Stagnation--Saracens and Jews Revive Learning--University
of Bagdad--Public Schools--Medical College of Cairo--Circulating
Library--Modern Form of Books--Arabic Notation--Discoveries in
Chemistry--Rotundity of the Earth--Mariner's Compass--Discoveries of
Alhazin--Astronomical Observatories--Golden Age of Judaism--Cities of
Andalusia--Saracen Dwellings--Condition of Women--Female Physicians.

CHAPTER V.

Jerusalem the Sacred City--Alexandria Noted for Philosophy--School of
Hypatia--Mob Murders Her--Doctrines of Cyril--Jerusalem a Scene of
Suffering--Fulfillment of Prophecy--Herculaneum and Pompeii--Their
Destruction--Evidences {VI.} of their Wickedness--Excavations--Roman
Rule--Removal of Capital--Crimes of Constantine--Commencement
of Greek Empire--Description of Constantinople--Its
Capture by Crusaders--Taken by the Turks--Intellectual
Degradation--Priestcraft--Debauchery--Turkish Rule.

CHAPTER VI.

Growth of Relic-Worship--Schemes of the Roman Pontiffs--Manufacture
of Relics--Their Great Variety--Value of Relics--Insults Offered to
Pilgrims--Peter the Hermit--Crusades--Disorderly Rabble--Terrible
Suffering--Capture of Jerusalem--Terrible Massacre--Capture
of Constantinople--Crusades of the Children--Results of the
Crusades--Revival of Learning.

CHAPTER VII