cerning who should be their king. And it came to pass that the voice of the people came, saying, we are desirous that Aaron, thy son, should be our king, and our ruler. Now Aaron had gone up to the land of Nephi, therefore the king could not confer the kingdom upon him: neither would Aaron take upon him the kingdom; neither were any of the sons of Mosiah willing to take upon them the kingdom, therefore king Mosiah sent again among the people, yea, even a written word sent he among the people. And these were the words that were written; saying: Behold, O ye my people, or my brethren, for I esteem you as such; for I desire that ye should consider the cause which ye are called to consider; for ye are desirous to have a king. Now I declare unto you, that he to whom the kingdom doth rightly belong, has declined, and will not take upon him the kingdom. And now if there should be another appointed in his stead, behold I fear there would rise contentions among you; and who knoweth but what my son, to whom the kingdom doth belong, should turn to be angry, and draw away a part of this people after him, which would cause wars and contentions among you; which would be the cause of shedding much blood, and perverting the way of the Lord; yea, and destroy the souls of many people. Now I say unto you, let us be wise and consider these things, for we have no right to destroy my son, neither should we have any right to destroy another, if he should be appointed in his stead. And if my son should turn again to his pride and vain things, he would recall the things which he had said, and claim his right to the kingdom, which would cause him and also this people to commit much sin. And now let us be wise and look forward to these things, and do that which will make for the peace of this people. Therefore I will be your king the remainder of my days; nevertheless, let us appoint judges, to judge this people according to our law, and we will newly arrange the affairs of this people, for we will appoint wise men to be judges, that will judge this people according to the commandments of God. Now it is better that a man should be judged of God than of man, for the judgments of God are always just, but the judgments of man are not always just; therefore, if it were possible that ye could have just men to be your kings, who would establish the laws of God, and judge this people according to his commandments; yea, if ye [p. 231]